Li Yanzhao stood on the slope of the mountain on the side of the temporary camp, planning this small-scale camp. Then, with the joint efforts of the horsemen and the homeless people, it was only an hour before a few days had been erected in this slightly wide valley that was enough to shelter in the shacks.

When the construction of the makeshift camp was nearing completion. Zhao Duwei, who was still stationed on the other side of the river, had already arrived here with 200 infantry battalion soldiers and some felt tents and other materials. Seeing that there were many shacks and displaced people in the valley, he hurriedly pulled Li Yanzhao aside and whispered: "This time the preparation is insufficient, and I came in a hurry." There is not much food, and I am afraid it will not be enough for so many displaced people and our soldiers to share it together. ”

Li Yanzhao smiled when he heard this, waved his hand and said to Commander Zhao: "Captain Don't worry, I have sent Cao Shichang, a senior hunter in the camp, to lead people to hunt in the mountains and forests. Presumably, the hunt, coupled with the food that the lieutenant brought to make porridge, should be enough to eat. ”

After a pause, Li Yanzhao said again: "I have sent someone to the county government to inform the county government of the situation here and the number of displaced people. Presumably, the prince of the government will also transport grain and grass to meet the needs of the displaced people. ”

Hearing this, Commander Zhao nodded, and then said to the soldiers who followed behind him: "And hand over the food brought to the headquarters of Commander Li, and I will pick up a ready-made food today." Yan Yan patted Li Yanzhao on the shoulder, laughed to himself, and went aside.

After receiving the grain handed over by Zhao Duwei's subordinates, as well as the marching pot and other things, the cavalry dug a dozen earthen stoves on the side of the valley, and then cut firewood, filled the pot with water, and then lit a fire to add firewood and burn it.

Because of the large number of displaced people, the marching pot was obviously not enough, so Zhao Duwei ordered his subordinates to cross the river to bring all the marching pots of the soldiers left behind on the north bank, and put them all in water and put them on the stove to burn.

Zhao Duwei belonged to two hundred soldiers, carrying enough grain and grass to support five days. Li Yanzhao ordered his subordinates to divide the grain and grass into two parts, intending to provide two meals for this group of refugees, together with the sergeants and soldiers.

As the more than a dozen marching pots were boiled one after another, and the horsemen took rice and wheat and poured them into the pots, and when the fragrance of rice porridge began to waft out from those marching pots, the valley was scattered everywhere, starving all the way, and the frightened homeless people finally looked directly at the steaming marching pots with hopeful eyes, and gradually quieted down.

When night fell, Cao Jian finally returned with a few horsemen. This time, they hunted a deer, five snakes, thirteen hares, and more than a dozen birds, birds, pheasants, and other birds. Seeing the high-spirited cavalry hunting team, whether it was the friendly troops under Captain Zhao or the homeless people in the valley, they were all amazed and admired.

The cavalry on the side had already taken the prey in the hands of the hunting team, and then led Cao Jian and others to rest. The soldiers began to deal with the prey. Peeling, dehairing, and gutting. Then he found a wide stump, and put the prey on the stump, and chopped it into pieces with a ring-headed knife. Then the best game is thrown into a boiling pot and boiled.

It didn't take long for the game boiling in the pot to spread the steam with the smell of meat as the soup evaporated. The homeless people craned their necks and sniffed in the thick smell of meat in the air.

Running all the way here, these homeless people are terrified, unclothed, and hungry. Hungry and starving, how could he have thought that after encountering this Liangzhou army, he would still be able to receive help from these soldiers and eat a hot and full meal that they couldn't think of on the way to escape?

What's more, the aroma of porridge and stewed meat in the pot wafted in the camp at this time, which really stimulated the taste buds of everyone here. The displaced people looked at the Liangzhou soldiers who were busy and patrolling in the valley, and their eyes no longer had the initial vigilance and fear, but turned into respect and gratitude.

The Liangzhou soldiers obviously enjoyed this feeling of respect and gratitude, and after the porridge was cooked, the Huotou army gave the camp's robes enough food, and then organized the homeless people to line up to make porridge. These homeless people have been starving for a long time, and when they see food available, how can they all obey the order? Some of the able-bodied men rushed forward, trying to get themselves to eat first. For a while, the scene was a little chaotic.

Seeing this, the commanders and soldiers of the Liangzhou Army, who were responsible for maintaining order among the displaced people, spoke out one after another. The rioting ranks calmed down a bit. However, there are still some young people who are deaf to the soldiers' drinking. It wasn't until those soldiers drew their swords to repel each other that they settled down a little, and under the threat of the ring-headed knives that flashed with cold light, they had to stand back in the line, and the good students lined up to receive porridge and food.

The distribution of porridge and food to these thousands of displaced people lasted for nearly an hour. More than a dozen cauldrons were beaten clean. After the fight, some of the homeless people who had previously served porridge came one after another, and only after beating the soup at the bottom of the dozen or so marching pots was not left that they left unsatisfied.

After the little girl woke up, she stayed in the temporary camp built by Li Yanzhao and his soldiers, without saying a word, and she didn't go forward to receive the porridge and food distributed by the Huotou Army. Fortunately, Li Yanzhao ordered Liu Jiwu to call her back, and under Li Yanzhao's unremitting persuasion, the little girl finally ate some, and then fell asleep in Li Yanzhao's shack in a daze.

Li Yanzhao ordered his subordinate cavalry to disperse and guard in shifts. There are two people for each sentry and one for the sentry commander. During the shift change, the sentry commander returned to the camp to wake up the guards who were off duty and handed over the shift. And Zhao Duwei is also facing a great enemy in this situation. He ordered the infantry soldiers to build a temporary camp on the hillside, with a sentry on the top of the hill. On the one hand, it is convenient to guard against possible foreign enemies. On the other hand, it is also convenient to monitor the displaced people in the camps.

In case there is a change in the people, the foot camp will hold the hillside, throw it and hold on to it, or evacuate calmly. Seeing Zhao Chengzhi's arrangement, Li Yanzhao was also secretly amazed in his heart. Although the Guangwu Army is just an ordinary county soldier, it can be seen from the arrangement of these officers in the army in special circumstances that they are all veterans of long-term battles.

In time, when the county has sufficient household registration, a part of the military households will be selected to serve as the army, and it will not take much effort at that time, and the Guangwu county soldiers will be able to be organized and trained into an elite army. With these outstanding middle- and low-level officers in command and training non-commissioned officers, we can undoubtedly achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Li Yanzhao experienced such a major event for the first time, and he was worried about everything, so he didn't feel sleepy. He has been in the temporary camp of the cavalry halfway up the mountain, monitoring every move of all parties. Zhao Duwei's subordinates changed sentry posts one after another, the cavalry under his command came and went, and the night movements of the people in the valley were all visible.

It wasn't until it was dark that Li Yanzhao fell next to his shack and took a nap in a hazy way.

When he woke up from a sleep, he opened his eyes to see the little girl looking at him with a haggard face. She didn't care about the dirty ground, so she sat directly on the ground. In the expression on his face, there was still a lot of melancholy and blank color.

Seeing this, Li Yanzhao got up, sat opposite the little girl, and sighed slightly: "Little lady, life is in the world, blessings and misfortunes are unpredictable, people cannot be resurrected after death, please mourn and change." ”

The little girl heard what Li Yanzhao said, and her expression was sad again. couldn't help but drive Li Yanzhao's heart to twitch. He hurriedly got up to support the little girl and asked, "Does the little lady have any other relatives?" Isn't Ling Zun practicing medicine in Longxi County, but where is he now? ”

Li Yanzhao didn't say it, but as soon as this remark came out, the little girl's nose was sour again, and tears flowed down the corners of her eyes. Li Yanzhao suddenly felt that he had said the wrong thing, and he regretted it for a while.

"The medical hall in Longxi...... Has been ...... by thieves robbed. They...... They killed both father and mother...... He also set fire to the medical hall...... Uncle Zhong took me with him...... Go to the neighbor's house...... took refuge in the cellar before escaping a catastrophe. The little girl sobbed and described with horror what had happened that day.

Li Yanzhao already roughly understood the little girl's life experience at this time. Thinking about the kind doctor who prescribed medicine for himself, a dry homeless person, and allowed him to pay most of the medical expenses with gold beads, he was already separated from his daughter at this time, and he also felt a heartache for no reason.

He leaned down, patted the little girl's back, comforted her for a while, and then said gently: "Before Uncle Zhong died, the only thing that could not be relieved was you." He has offered to entrust you to my care. Although Li is just a reckless man, he also knows how to be entrusted by others and be loyal. ”

Li Yanzhao paused, and then said: "From now on, if I have a bite to eat, I will have you a mouthful." When the little girl heard this, her tearful eyes showed a little brilliance, and then the teardrops rolled down like beads with broken threads. just nodded silently in the face of the person in front of her who comforted her with gentle words.

When the sun rose in the east, both the Liangzhou soldiers and the displaced people in the valley also dismantled the shacks they lived in under the shouts of their respective leaders, brought all the necessary things, and embarked on the road north to Liangzhou.

Li Yanzhao took the map, carefully surveyed, and saw that this place was only forty or fifty miles away from the big river, so he made a statement to encourage the displaced people, saying that after crossing the big river today, when they arrived in Liangzhou, the grain received by the government would definitely be prepared, and they would be free to worry after crossing the border. When the homeless people heard about this encouragement, they were full of longing. As the brigade continued to drive north.

And when most of the displaced people finally arrived at the bank of the big river, looking at the many boats urgently mobilized on the river, and the land of Liangzhou on the other side of the river, these exiles who had been in exile for many days gave an inspiring cheer!