As Zhao Hongrun had predicted, as the war dragged on for a few days, the poor military rations of the Qiangjiao people were gradually exposed.

According to the accounts of the tribal chiefs in the city, the cavalry of the Qiang tribe basically carried only about three days' worth of food, and the source of food after that was plundered from hostile forces.

And the slave soldiers in the horns were treated even more miserable.

These slave soldiers, who were regarded as "battlefield consumables" by the Kayakers, had no stable access to food at all, and it was very common for them to go hungry and have a full meal.

What the? Not having enough to eat will affect combat effectiveness? So that the casualty rate has increased dramatically?

In fact, the Horns didn't care about the casualties of the slave soldiers, or to put it more cruelly, the Horns didn't even think about whether the slaves would return alive in the end.

Of course, not caring about the casualties of the slave soldiers does not mean that the Qiang people do not give the slaves food to eat, because of the experience of the "Qiang people", in fact, the Qiang people do not dare to really force these slave soldiers to die, lest these slaves from the Hu people, like the former Qiang people, fight hard to resist, and drag the Qiang and the Qiang from the position of slave owners to kill.

Therefore, the people of the Qiang tribe have learned to give their slaves a humble hope, just like the promise that the Qiang tribe had told the slaves before the war, "When the Wei people win the war, they will release you free."

What does it mean to win the Wei people?

This can be understood as winning the Wei people in a battle, or it can be understood as destroying the entire Wei state, all depending on how the Jiaojiao people interpret this sentence in the end.

But it was this humble hope that once sustained the slave soldiers in a frantic attack on the city.

But in reality, any intelligent person could have predicted that the Karma would not be able to let go of their slaves so easily, unless the latter died.

And the successive delivery of meager food was also an act of giving the slave soldiers some hope, after all, once a man starved to the point of unbearable hunger, it was even more terrible than a wild beast.

Because of this, during the advance of the army of Kajiao to the city, Bitatu asked those small and medium-sized tribes that depended on him, including those who were subdued along the way, to bear the daily food problem of the more than 200,000 slave soldiers.

In fact, the slave soldiers did not receive much food every day, and sometimes there might only be one piece of mutton cake for a whole day, and that kind of mutton cake, even Zhao Hongrun could eat two to three pieces of a meal.

But it was the food consumption of "one piece of sheep cake per person per day" that caused those small and medium-sized tribes to fall into the embarrassing situation of running out of food in the clan in a few days.

It's no wonder, after all, there were more than 200,000 slave soldiers.

You must know that in order to supply the Dangshan army and the merchant army, the Wei State has almost emptied the granaries hoarded in the interior of Chenggao Pass, and at present, the warehouses under the jurisdiction of the Household Department of the Wei Imperial Court are urgently purchasing grain from those grain-rich counties in the country and transporting it to Chenggao Pass in full swing.

In other words, in this war, the Wei State had already used the power of the state, allowing several local counties to "raise" the Dangshan Army and the Shangshui Army; On the side of the Qianjiao tribe, it is clear that the strength of the army is nearly ten times that of the Wei army, but some small and medium-sized tribes with weak strength supply military rations, and these tribes have not been completely dragged down so far, which is already quite a remarkable thing.

On August 23, it was overcast, but it did not rain.

On this day, several chiefs of small and medium-sized tribes begged to see Bitatu, and bluntly revealed that their tribe could no longer afford to feed more than 200,000 slave soldiers every day.

Bitatu complied to these people's requests, and quickly summoned the hardcore tribes of the 'Blackhorn', 'Greyhorn', and 'Blackhoove' to discuss the matter of attacking the city again.

To be honest, a cloudy day after a rainstorm is not the best time to siege a city, after all, the muddy ground in the outskirts of the city is not conducive to a siege.

But Bitatu couldn't care so much, because he knew that if the army continued to delay and wait for the food to run out, they would no longer be able to defeat the Wei army and conquer the city, and when the time came, they would have to retreat to their respective tribes.

However, it seems that this kind of move to mobilize troops to fight against the Wei army, and as a result, they withdraw their troops in embarrassment without achieving any results, which will make their tribes the laughing stock of the rest of the tribes in Sanchuan, and become the object of ridicule by the Wei State and the 'Yushui Alliance'.

"Fight, Great Patriarch!"

"It can't be delayed any longer."

"Yes, now is not the time to worry about casualties, and at all costs, we must defeat the Wei army and capture the city."

After some deliberation, the tribal chiefs spoke out in favor of an immediate siege.

Because they knew very well that once the small and medium-sized tribes responsible for the food of the slave soldiers these days withdrew, then the huge daily food consumption would obviously fall on them.

Instead of asking those slave soldiers to consume food every day, it is better to let them consume the Wei people in the city of Yucheng, in this situation, even if ten or twenty slave soldiers are exchanged for one Wei person, it will be earned in their opinion.

And just when the tribal patriarchs were indignantly echoing the tactic of "attacking the city at the cost of casualties", there was bad news from the rear of their army.

"(Patriarch) Great Patriarch, the big thing is not good, the big thing is not good!"

With a loud cry from far and near, a young Qiangjiao man broke into the felt tent and shouted loudly and pantingly: "The Wujiao tribe has been destroyed by the Wei people!" ”

Bitatu was about to scold this young man who didn't know the severity, but when he heard this, he was stunned.

At this time, a person stood up in the felt tent, it was the patriarch of the Wujiao tribe, Gorgan, who looked at the young man with a blank face, and asked in astonishment: "You say...... What do you think happened to my Blackhorn tribe? ”

"Defeated!" The young man from the Horn took a few breaths and said with a heavy expression: "There is a Wei army that sneaked up on the landing of the Wujiao tribe and killed all the men in the land......" Speaking of this, he glanced at the patriarch of the Wujiao tribe, Gorgan

, added in a low voice: "And the flock." …… All the sheep were slain. ”

『……』

At first, when he heard that all the men in the tribe had been killed, the patriarch of the Wujiao tribe, Gorgan, was only shocked, but after hearing that all the sheep of their tribe had also been killed by the Wei army, his whole person seemed to have been pulled out of his bones, and he sat down softly, his eyes glazed and his soul was distracted.

It is no wonder, after all, the sheep flock is the most important wealth of the Sanchuan tribe, and its significance is beyond the comprehension of the Wei people.

The whole felt tent was silent.

After a long time, a tribal patriarch cautiously spoke: "The one who will do such a shameless and vicious act should be the Wei army, right?" …… Dangshan Army! ”

As soon as the words fell, a tribal patriarch next to him frowned and said, "Dangshan Army...... Aren't you forced into the woods in the north and don't dare to show your face? ”

The "......" Bitattu complexion changed slightly.

Only then did he realize that these **** had attracted all the attention of Yucheng and Zhao Hongrun, so that he didn't pay attention to the Horned cavalry sent out to block the Dangshan Army.

"Could it be that more than 10,000 brave warriors of my Qiangjiao tribe were all killed by the Dangshan army, and none of them fled back?"

Bitatu was secretly frightened.

He didn't know that Sima An, the general of the Dangshan Army, had escaped from the cavalry of the tribes in the city last time during the hunting in the forest, so that this time he specially lured the more than 10,000 cavalry to the depths of the forest in the north, and waited until night fell before he began to hunt.

And, for the sake of the secrecy of the next surprise attack on the camp of the Qiangjiao tribe, he did not hesitate to let his subordinates risk attacking, and paid for this heavy casualties that have not occurred so far.

And all this is to punish the more than 10,000 Qiangjiao cavalry, so that Bitatu cannot detect the movements of his Dangshan army, and facilitate the Dangshan army to attack the hinterland of the Qiangjiao tribe in a roundabout way.

"Click-"

A croissant fell to the ground, and milky white goat's milk wine spilled on the ground.

The people in the tent subconsciously looked at the person who had missed, but found that this person was not the patriarch of the Blackhorn tribe, Gorgan, but the patriarch of the Blackhoof tribe, Lilhachi.

"The tribe of the Black Hoof tribe has landed, as if it is not far northwest of the Black Horn Tribe...... Since the Wujiao tribe has suffered from the seedlings, then I am afraid that the next one will be the turn of the Wujiao tribe......

The patriarch of the Wubian tribe, Cheralhe, glanced at it, and couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the two patriarchs.

In addition to sympathy, Çellal also reaffirmed his judgment that Wei was no less powerful than Qin.

"The despicable Wei people actually attacked the tribe ......"

"(Zong language) Damn! Damn it! ”

What can I do about that? There aren't many soldiers left behind in my tribe......"

"Shut up! Who isn't? ”

Gradually, the noise in the felt tent became louder and louder, and almost ninety percent of the tribal patriarchs said that they wanted to return to the reinforcement department.

Seeing this chaotic situation, Bitatu's forehead was bruised, and he slammed the croissant cup in his hand to the ground, and shouted: "Shut up!" ”

"......" The faces of the tribal patriarchs froze, and suddenly the felt tent became silent again.

At this time, I saw Bitatu glance around at the tribal patriarchs present, and said in a heavy tone: "We were negligent. The despicable Wei people have long had the idea of sneaking up on our tribal camps. …… Just like the mood of the patriarchs, I am also worried about the landing of my Karma Horn Division, if nothing else, the target of that Wei army is my Karma Horn Tribe. However, if we withdraw our troops and return to the reinforcements, we will really lose, and we will lose with nothing...... Not only will we lose our troops, but we will also become weak because we ran out of food on the way back, and we will eventually be killed by the Wei people......"

Hearing this, the tribal patriarchs who were clamoring for help gradually calmed down.

"Great Patriarch, what do you mean ......?"

"Only the Wei army that defeated the city ......" Taking a deep breath, Bitatu stood up, a trace of awe flashed in his expression, and said in a deep voice: "In Luocheng, there is a hairy boy named Ji Run, the son of the king of the Wei people, since the Wei people want to force us to wait for reinforcements by attacking our tribal camps, then we can also use that kid named Ji Run to force the Dangshan army to return to the aid of Luocheng...... If the patriarchs still believe me Bitatu, then go together and attack the city! ”

The patriarchs looked at each other and nodded one after another.

On the same day, more than 200,000 troops were dispatched, and at the same time, Chen soldiers were in the western, southern, and northern suburbs of the city, and the merchant and naval troops who were aware of the enemy's situation also stepped up to the city wall and waited solemnly.

The atmosphere that seemed to have frozen before the confrontation seemed to reveal a message.

This battle will be a cruel and tragic battle! (To be continued.) )