"I observed that the Wei soldiers were all cavalry, coming and going in a hurry, presumably the time was extremely urgent, and there was no time to burn all the grain and grass."

"I just paid attention to it, and if I count it, there should still be a small half of the grain and grass (about one-fifth) on the site."

After Cao Jun finished saying two sentences, no one in the Shu army at the scene suddenly cried.

Even the few people who sighed were much quieter.

At this time, another senior soldier asked, "However, even if we miss a small half of grain and grass, we can't take it back!" The Prime Minister will not forgive us. ”

Cao Jun recalled the news brought back by the sentry on horseback before, and deduced: "Don't forget, everyone, three or four miles ahead, there is a robbed convoy, presumably the Wei army will also leave some grain and grass down, if the two are in one place?" ”

After Cao Jun's two reminders, everyone's breathing suddenly became much lighter.

It seems that from this dead end, I saw a glimmer of hope to complete the task and live.

Someone else asked: "Even so, it is not enough to count these two grains and grasses, how can you make a difference to the prime minister?" ”

Having said that, the mood of the other soldiers was much better.

The military discipline of the Shu army is strict, and if the grain transportation team is delayed for more than three days, the accompanying officers will be beheaded, and the non-commissioned officers will also be punished lightly.

If there is a shortage of two catties and too much damage, it will be regarded as a failure of the escort, and the punishment will be equivalent to a three-day delay.

But if you encounter the Wei cavalry intercepting food, or other irresistible objective factors, then there is a little bit of affection to talk about.

This undoubtedly gave everyone at the scene a little hope.

In order to boost morale and calm people's hearts, Cao Jun said: "Who said that we should be transported to the Qishan camp? ”

This whimsical question is like pouring a scoop of cold water into a boiling oil pot, which startles everyone on the outside and tender on the inside.

Suddenly, a nimble soldier asked, "You mean?" We transported to Xiegu Road, and the prime minister ordered General Zhao to lead 5,000 vanguard soldiers to feint to attack Meixian County, and should we arrive at Meixian County at this moment? ”

"That's right, the Qishan camp needs grain and grass, and General Zhao should also need grain and grass here."

Cao Jun cooperated with everyone's inference, patted the trunk, and shouted excitedly: "That's right, we all know that the prime minister is the most stern in governing the army, and he can't tolerate mistakes in his eyes, and he can't talk about it, but General Zhao is a bit easier to talk to, if he knew that the Wei army sent cavalry to intercept my grain route and destroy my grain transportation team, he would definitely not severely punish us and others." ”

Sure enough, after this explanation, the more than 50 Shu soldiers around gradually surrounded Cao Jun unconsciously, and the panic on their faces faded, and they somewhat regained some of their brilliance.

Another soldier shouted, "Commander, what do you think we should do now?" ”

Cao Jun glanced at everyone and found that the five chiefs and one uncle in the original grain transportation team were nowhere to be seen, but there were still a few Wu commanders of the same level as him.

At this time, they all knew that Cao Jun was what everyone wanted, and in order to fight for the hope of survival, they were all silent, and acquiesced to Cao Jun's supreme leadership in the team.

Cao Jun was silent for a while, and slowly saw a little opportunity to make meritorious contributions from this extremely unfavorable start.

"It's daytime, I'll use some dry food to replenish our strength first, and after the Wei soldiers leave, we'll go out of the valley to rescue grain and grass, repair the damaged wheelbarrow, and then rush to the next robbed convoy."

"Good."

When everyone heard this, they felt that what Cao Jun said was reasonable, and they all found a flat place to rest.

After a while, no movement of the Wei army could be heard outside.

Without Cao Jun's urging, a few brave soldiers took advantage of the cover of the bushes to climb down the slope, and after a while, they ran back with surprise.

"Captain Wu, as you said, those miscellaneous pieces did not burn all the grain and grass, and there was still some left at the scene."

The morale of the scene was another shock.

They glanced at Cao Jun, saw that he nodded, and they didn't care about resting, and struggled to get up from the spot.

Cao Jun led more than 50 Shu soldiers to the scene to collect the grain and grass that the Wei army had left out at the scene.

This was also expected by Cao Jun.

The crowd felt that he was like a god, and he was more sure of what he would do next.

These more than 50 Shu soldiers and soldiers, pushing and resisting, cautiously walked forward for a few miles, and came to the scene of the grain transportation team that was robbed by the Wei army in front, and after some searching.

Although the grain and grass in the two places are in one place, although it is less than half, it gives them some hope to live.

"Captain Wu, what should I do next?"

All the soldiers spontaneously regarded Cao Jun as the backbone of the team, and they all waited for him to give an order.

Cao Jun pondered for a moment and chose to follow the previous plan.

"At this time, it is still daytime, and we may encounter the Wei army's grain interception team at any time, so we will retreat a few miles back first, go to the unique terrain of Hulukou to rest, and wait for the next team of grain transportation team to arrive, and set off with them."

"Good!"

The people pushed the grain cart back, and the soldier, who knew how to carpenter the trade, used his tools to cut some dead branches, intending to repair the damaged grain cart.

It's also good to save some energy for the rest of the journey.

Cao Jun was left alone and silent.

I don't know if it's his delusion.

Although the scene of the robbery of the second grain transportation team also omitted a lot of corpses of the Shu army, the number was much less than that of the first place.

Judging by the degree of decomposition of the corpses, it should be which convoy they had before.

According to the regulations, the departure time between the two groups of convoys is generally three days apart.

"Could it be a beast in the woods, coming out at night to feed?"

Cao Jun was just an airborne, not a local native, and he didn't know what fierce beasts would haunt these mountain ranges, so he stood in place for a while, a little confused.

"Who else but the beasts foraging in the woods would have the idea of fighting these rotting corpses?"

Cao Jun recalled according to the memory of later generations, this place has passed Hanzhong, and should be located in the southwest of Shaanxi Province in the later generations, leaning on the Qinling Mountains in the north and Daba Mountain in the south.

The surrounding jungle is dense and the mountains are steep.

It is reasonable to say that there are predators and beasts.

If the time was more relaxed, these robed corpses would naturally not let them storm the wilderness.

But at this time, the Wei army will come back at any time, and his own life will not be saved, and he will not care about burying these robed corpses.

"Alas!"

Cao Jun observed the scene for a while, but he had no clue, worried that the large army would go away, so he had to leave first.

The gourd mouth, according to the previous sentinel report, was before the first place was robbed by the grain team, and after the second place was robbed by the grain team.

After collecting the surplus grain of the second grain transport team, they retreated a few miles back before arriving at Hulukou.

The so-called gourd mouth is naturally narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, and it is a natural cave, embedded in the rock wall.

It was damp inside, and water droplets could be seen everywhere, dripping down from the side of the rocks, which solved their water problem.

This terrain can not only hide everyone's whereabouts, but also use it to hide, but it is the best for this pair of soldiers of more than 50 people.

If nothing else, the next food convoy behind them will arrive within three days, and they will be able to join together and set off together.

After placing the grain truck in a dry place on slightly higher ground, the soldiers seemed to have unloaded their burdens, and each found some slightly flatter places, took off their armor, and rested on the spot.

Cao Jun also selected a few young and energetic soldiers from the accompanying soldiers, one team was on guard outside the cave, and the other team followed the terrain of the gourd mouth and leaned inside.

After settling these things, he also went to the place.

In a daze, like everyone else, his eyes narrowed.