No matter how brave the sailors and soldiers on the warship were, they always had to live on food. And the grain in the bilge of the Northern Expedition Fleet was all undertaken by the Cao Gang. They took out the bags of grain from the cargo hold of each business and transported them directly to the Shencheng wharf for loading; Whether it is a problem in one of the links or a few rats on board, it is a matter of course, and it is not worth making a fuss about at all.

Therefore, the matter of rats is one of the many troubles for people who go to sea.

Huang Tianhao, the commander of the Northern Expedition Fleet, is an experienced old pirate background. He has long been accustomed to such things as rats on ships. With many years of experience in running ships to sea, he is certainly prepared for this common problem. And this method is not a unique skill, it is just a cat on the boat.

It's a pity that the head ship has not been out of the shore for three days, and the raccoon cat, which is used as a "pet tool", was killed by several big rats that came out of the bilge! According to the keeper of the barn, the rats who were making trouble in the barn were half a circle larger than the poor cat; The two little eyes are blood-red, only afraid of light and not afraid of people. If he hadn't run fast last night, he might have added a few blood marks on his calf, and he would have been fine! Maybe even he brought the cat, and he had to feed the rat together!

Huang Tianhao is a handsome talent recommended by Chen Qingtai, and it is one of the important conditions for Elder Chen and President Guan to secretly reach a "peace agreement". As the "head horse" of Nankang's "Liangjiang Gang", of course, he is also a native of Minjiang, and since he can remember, he has never been afraid of mice, and even salivates a little......

So after receiving the reward, he immediately went to the grain tank to catch rats! Facts have proved that although Huang Tianhao's appearance is not amazing, his ability to catch mice with one hand is far above the unfortunate civet cat! Three times five divided by two, and the four big rats were caught by him from the grain hold.

In order to appease the soldiers who were frightened by the giant rats, Huang Tianhao cleaned up the four big rats with the length of his small arms in public. Two of them were roasted in a fire, two of them were hung on the mast to dry, and they introduced the delicacies of their hometown to the onlookers, the dried rat meat......

Unfortunately, the results are not very ideal.

However, that night, the grain guard who was bitten by a rat in the calf made a swing in his "sleep" for no reason. It wasn't until he danced and woke up his fellow brothers that the feces pouring out of his lower body had already stained half of the bunk, and the smell in the cabin was naturally disgusting...

Until the early morning of the next day, the soldier who was full of spasms and incontinence died alive......

It is not uncommon for people to die on board for people who have been begging for a living at sea all year round. The solution is nothing more than to put a firecracker to dispel bad luck, then burn three incense sticks, and worship the god of the sea; Then throw the man into the sea to prevent the corpse from breeding the disease. And this time, in order to win the hearts of the army and boost morale, Huang Tianhao also made a special speech, and even cried a few times in a pretended manner.

Unfortunately, neither firecrackers nor the sea god could stop the ravages of cholera and plague; And this situation of the head ship does not exist in isolation. The 1,800 ships of all sizes in the Northern Fleet are as good as this!

If everyone sets sail in the cold winter, then the sea breeze in the East China Sea will mostly go to the northwest, and they can also go all the way to Ludong Dengzhou City; But now it is summer, and the monsoon in the East China Sea mostly goes southeast......

Due to the extremely dense population on the ship, the inconvenient air circulation in the cabin, and the warm and humid climate, the top epidemics such as cholera and plague, which are extremely destructive, quickly spread among the northern fleet. After a few days, the original mighty and sweeping Northern Expedition Fleet could no longer maintain a neat formation like a "water dividing dragon......

Soon, Huang Tianhao, who was once called "Sea Wolf", died. He did not die on the deck of struggle for half a lifetime; did not die in the field of the two armies that they were fascinated by; He was just beaten by an "inexplicable" plague that destroyed his body in cast iron; In an appearance that he had never imagined, he died in the cabin of the ship, which did not see the light of day......

The corpse festered extremely quickly, and the death was even more horrific......

Whether it is a commander, a sailor, or a soldier...... Everyone is equal in the face of epidemics, and there is no chance to be left to chance. When Huang Tianhao died at the hands of cholera, there was no one left to stand up and do the rough work of "sacrificing the sea and throwing corpses......

These large and small warships, which have lost control one after another, soon became ownerless and lonely boats; They rode the midsummer monsoon in the East China Sea, some drifted to the Fuso Islands, and some landed near Silla. There are also a large number of lonely boats, which drifted overseas with the direction of the wind and do not know where to go...... Perhaps the heavenly spirits of the sick and dead people on the ship can find the legendary "Overseas Immortal Mountain" for His Royal Highness the Ancient King Qin......

It's just an elixir of immortality, and it's useless for souls......

Later generations referred to this northern expeditionary fleet, which was defeated by the epidemic, as the "ghost ship". A few years later, there are still countless warriors from all over the world who are keen on seafaring, with the intention of making a fortune or finding out, searching for traces of ghost ships...

Of course, this "unprovoked" expeditionary fleet will not change Chen Ziling and Pang Qingshan's plan to march into Jishui City, the capital of Ludong Road.

It's just that the distribution of benefits agreed upon by the two sides before was to draw a line between the city of Zizhou after the war; Luxi inland, owned by the Qin army; The east of Zizhou, including the entire Jiaodong Peninsula, is owned by Nankang. But now the two armies have converged under Jishui City, but the 120,000 northern fleet seems to have evaporated from the world; Dengzhou City, an important coastal defense town, did not hear the news of the pressure of the army......

In order to avoid affecting the overall layout, no matter what, Chen Ziling was unwilling to accompany Pang Qingshan to spend any longer.

So early this morning, in the big tent of the Qinnan coalition army, a joint combat meeting was launched. As is customary, before the lunch break, both sides are trying to blame each other and repeatedly test the possibility of passing the buck. After grinding down the skin of the morning, Pang Qingshan and Chen Ziling both had the bottom in their hearts, and their attainments in this area were regarded as chess opponents, and no one got into anyone's set.

When noon came, the two sides dissolved the meeting and hastily finished lunch; The afternoon meeting resumed, and it was time to see the real chapter.

"Pang Shuai, someone Chen has already said it! For our Qin army, whether or not a mere Ludong Road is surrendered or not will not affect the overall situation at all. Therefore, we will never wait endlessly, so as not to delay the fighters in Yanjing City. But considering that you and I are allies, and Nankang wants Ludong Road, our Qin army will not stand idly by. But my brothers also have to settle accounts, and the Nankang brothers ask us for help, so we have to show some sincerity, right? ”

"Whether he Huang Tianhao comes or not, the Nankang infantry army under my Pang Qingshan can be described as strong and strong. It's just that we in Nankang are based on business, and we have little interest in the inland, so we will bring the brothers of the Qin army to participate in the grand event! Now that our side has given up half of Ludong, why does Chen Shuai say that our Nankang Army is not sincere? ”

"Since the forces are different, the interests should also be redivided......"

"I've already said it, it's impossible!"

"Pang Shuai, you Nankang said that the two armies of water and land go hand in hand; But now only you have 60,000 soldiers arriving in Jishui, in order to divide Ludong equally? Hehe, no wonder they all say that the southerners are cunning, hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters of our Qin army spilled blood on the battlefield, and after repeated fierce battles and countless casualties, they finally got this good situation today; And you Nankang only sent a mere 60,000 soldiers to help in the war, so you want to change back to a springboard to the north? Pang Qingshan, I advise you to think clearly, how can there be such a good advantage in this world! ”

is the so-called eating people's soft mouth and taking other people's hands short; Before, the Qin army took Nankang's grain, grass and ordnance, but now that the war has entered the final stage, and the Nankang people have gone north to pick up cheap, he can only eat this dumb loss alive.

The previous agreement between the two sides was that Nankang was willing to send no less than 200,000 troops to help the war, and the Qin army would be willing to cut Lu Dong into the middle, one and a half. But now you only brought 60,000 soldiers, but you still want to divide Lu Dong equally, which is a bit too deceitful! If Chen Ziling agrees to come down and spread it in the future, how will the children of Sanqin behave?

After an afternoon of verbal arguments between the two sides, Pang Qingshan finally decided to abandon the original way of dividing east and west, and instead use Jimo as a point to divide the north and south of Ludong Road.

In fact, how the interests are divided is not worth mentioning for Pang Qingshan; Because since he sent troops to the north, he didn't plan to share it with Chen Ziling at all! And the reason why he was willing to spend a day and spend countless spit grinding his teeth and arguing with Chen Ziling, a dying man; It is because he wants to use this negotiation style to dispel the other party's vigilance.

Can a guest who has been cutting the price with you for a day have the intention of robbing?

The opinions of both sides were finally agreed before sunset; In the army, there was a banquet for the army, chickens and cattle were slaughtered, the wine was opened, and the officers and men of the two armies got together to drink happily, and the scene looked very lively.

After the banquet dispersed, Pang Qingshan led the army back to the camp; And Chen Ziling also poured a few cups of strong tea, and quickly summoned all the close generals under him:

"Tomorrow will attack the city, everyone should be vigilant. Try to blast Nankang's bunch of rabbits and me, at the enemy's knife edge; If the strength of the Jishui defenders is not good, we can also secretly help and do our best to consume Pang Qingshan's department! ”

Coincidentally, after Pang Qingshan led the army back to the camp, he also quickly summoned the generals who relieved the army:

"After the war starts tomorrow, my voice will be broken, but my pace will be the slowest for me! Tell the soldiers that as soon as Jishui City is broken, or the Northern Yan guards will go out of the city to surrender, they will immediately aim their swords at the neck of the Qin army! Brethren, this is a group of tired soldiers who have not yet recovered, and their combat strength is not worth mentioning! Whether or not the stigma of the Nankang Infantry Army can be completely washed away depends on the outcome of this battle tomorrow! ”