Heavy snow fell, and the Northern Liang Army left Suzhou on the eleventh day.

Cai Yan and Zhang Feng, who first arrived in the city, were woken up early in the morning.

Lin Bei personally came to invite the two.

"General Lin, what's wrong?" Zhang Feng was still wearing his belt and ran out.

Cai Yan was also next door, and the two lived next to each other temporarily, and they got up immediately after being knocked on the door.

Lin Bei waited for the two of them to come out before he spoke:

"Eight people froze to death last night and two starved to death."

"Someone died so soon?" Both were alarmed.

Because hunger will spread, and starving to death is a signal.

Even with the coordination of the Yulin Army, what should have come is still coming, which is something that cannot be resisted.

"Check it out." Cai Yan frowned.

Under the leadership of the soldiers of the Yulin Army, Lin Bei led the two to a dilapidated City God Temple in the city.

The temple is so big and looks so big that you can see that there used to be a lot of incense here, but now no one cares about it.

As soon as he approached the City God Temple, Cai Yan found that the walls on both sides of the temple were bare.

"Lord Cai," Lin Bei explained when he saw that he had found this, "someone was picking up the skin of the wall a few days ago. ”

Zhang Feng also noticed this and asked, "Is this wall skin made of batter?" ”

"Rice paste." North Lim Road.

Cai Yan and Zhang Feng glanced at each other, and immediately realized the seriousness of the matter, the people were already hungry to this extent, indicating that there was nothing to think about at home or in the wild.

In this era of feudal superstition, no ordinary people are willing to come to the temple to grab food.

Nowadays, even the walls of the City God Temple have been cleaned by the common people, which shows that the people in the city have become full of hunger.

"General, two adults, please."

In the City God Temple, a soldier came out and invited the three of them in.

Just went in to take a look, Cai Yan's throat moved slightly, and he almost vomited.

Zhang Feng, on the other hand, was much calmer, but there was also a little chill in his eyes, and he exclaimed: "The corpse ......"

Lin Bei nodded: "That's why I called the two of you here." ”

Walking into the main hall, I looked at the dry bones of one or two corpses that had been torn clean of flesh and blood, the blood stains on the ground had long since dried up, and only the head was still hanging on the corpse.

The deputy general of the Yulin Army waited here early, and after giving it up, he forcibly endured the nausea:

"General, Lord Cai, Lord Zhang...... There are already signs of this in the city, and I am afraid that it will not be too far away from the appearance of the real mob. ”

Lin Bei looked at the two: "If the grain and grass provided by the imperial court for disaster relief do not come again, the city will reproduce the situation of people eating people in the ancient tribal period." ”

Not that it will, but that it has already appeared.

It's just that it's just an exception, and if it takes two days, people who haven't starved to death will be driven crazy.

People can't stand hunger, and when they are hungry, all ethics and morals will be left behind, and living is the only thought.

"Near Suzhou, are there no small towns and villages, can some be requisitioned from those places for emergency?" Cai Yan didn't want to see such a bloodstained reappearance of history.

The adjutant shook his head:

"There are more homeless people outside the city, and our soldiers have gone out to hunt without any harvest, and the game here is almost exhausted."

"Our Yulin Army has been operating in Suzhou for more than ten days, and it is already enough to save a lot of food, and even the soldiers have saved a lot of food...... If this continues, the barracks will run out of food. ”

Lin Bei Zhengse: "Now the soldiers are also suffering from hunger, but they still have reason, relying on the law and military power to suppress the demons in their hearts, if it will take another three or five days...... I don't know if they'll follow my orders. ”

In a few days, the barracks will also run out of food, which is what Lin Bei is most worried about.

Once such a situation occurs, the mob and the Yulin army bomb the camp, which is absolutely devastating for Suzhou. When the time comes, I am afraid that there will be a group of unscrupulous people who will survive and gather together.

As for what to do together, it goes without saying.

"But what can I do...... Zhang Feng shook his head, "The excerpt was only sent back to Beijing the day before yesterday, and I'm afraid it hasn't arrived today." ”

"I can only hope that the young master can bring some food from Ganzhou."

"Where are Liangzhou and Lizhou?" Cai Yan couldn't bear it, and looked forward to some support from there.

But I saw that Lin Bei and the deputy general were shaking their heads.

The deputy general said: "Lord Cai, the official food of Liangzhou Mansion has been emptied, and the people in the city have been relieved, otherwise Suzhou would have been starving all over the place." ”

"And Lizhou and Liangzhou, we can't force too much, then Luoyang deliberately created such a situation, if we transfer too much grain and grass from Lizhou and Liangzhou...... Luoyang will inevitably attack Lizhou or Liangzhou, and the defenders will not be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Lin Bei shook his head and said.

The two of them, who were not familiar with martial arts, also suddenly understood that they could not move the grain of Lizhou and Liangzhou.

"Could it be that we can only wait for the young master, but we can't do anything?" Cai Yan was unwilling.

Zhang Feng said lightly: "I'm afraid that's the case, we have no other way than to wait for rescue." ”

At this time, a soldier came on horseback, dismounted not far away, and ran to give a report.

The lieutenant passed, and after listening to this, his eyes widened, and he turned around with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" Lin Bei asked.

The adjutant general said: "The scouts outside the city found someone in a mass grave......"

"......" didn't need to finish, and all three of them were silent.

Zhang Feng: "The situation is more serious than what we have just considered. ”

"In two days at most, there will be a mob." Cai Yan came to a terrible result based on the experience of the previous disaster area.

Lin Bei:

"If there is a large number of mobs in Suzhou, the Yulin Army will only have more than 6,000 people, and the people will be tired and thin, and they will not be able to suppress it."

Hearing Lin Bei's words, Cai Yan's eyes suddenly lit up and said:

"I suddenly thought of a solution."

Zhang Feng shook his head: "I know what you're thinking, but none of us dare to make this decision." ”

"What are you talking about?" Lin Bei and the deputy general still didn't understand.

Cai Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Kill the horse!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the deputy general suddenly said: "Impossible, Lord Cai, do you know what you are talking about?!" ”

Lin Bei thought about it.

Seeing that the main general was a little shaken, the adjutant general hurriedly said: "General, you can't kill horses, absolutely not!" ”

The war horses of the Yulin Army to the north are all the belongings of the Yulin Army, and even the various departments raised some war horses for the Yulin Army when they left the capital.

Changing horses along the way, plus some natural damage, now the Yulin Army has less than 7,000 war horses, which can barely support one person.

"General Lin, the people in the city are more important now." Cai Yan was serious and honest, and he couldn't bear to see anyone starving to death or cannibalism.

Lin Bei also shook his head: "Even if you kill the horse, you can only supply the military camp, and you can't take care of anything else." ”

"Why?" Cai Yan asked.

"I have to ensure the soldiers of the Yulin Army first, and then the others, because only if the Yulin Army maintains its combat strength, can it face all emergencies." Lin Bei Zhengse.

Cai Yan: "What else can I do?" As long as there is food in the city, it will not deteriorate. ”

In the face of this naïve imperial history, Lin Bei and Zhang Feng looked at each other and shook their heads secretly.

It would be nice if this was the case, Lin Bei sighed secretly, when the Yulin Army first entered the city, it killed many people who took the opportunity to make trouble, and only then did they pacify the hidden dangers in the city.

In the face of disaster, it is very naïve and stupid to overestimate the human morality of the masses.

"Lord Cai, if there are thieves attacking the city, or if there are remnants of the Northern Liang Army harassing Suzhou, will my Yulin Army go hungry one by one?" Lin Bei's tone became a little heavy.

"You're just speculating, but the situation in front of you is real, and it can't be delayed!" Cai Yan argues with reason.

Zhang Feng: "Lord Cai! You and I are only patrol messengers, not presiding officers. ”

Zhang Feng reminded Cai Yan not to interfere too much in Yulin Jun's decision-making, this is beyond his duty.

The deputy general of the Yulin Army was silent on the side, as long as the boss did not have a problem with his brain, he would not stalemate with the patrol envoy at this time.

Lin Beidao: "I still hope that the young master will arrive as soon as possible." ”

"Report ......"

Another soldier came on horseback, dismounted and said excitedly:

"Report to the general, there have been caravans in the direction of Ganzhou and in the north of Suzhou, and someone has been sent to ask if it is to deliver grain!"

"What?" The crowd rejoiced.

The adjutant general smiled: "General, great, you don't have to kill the horse!" ”

For cavalry, horses are the second life, and no one will kill horses unless they really want to starve to death.

Cai Yan arched his hands and knelt on the ground to thank God: "God has eyes!" ”

"The young master came so quickly?" Zhang Feng was a little puzzled.

On the day when the Yulin army entered Suzhou, the young master rushed from Lizhou to Ganzhou, and it would take two days no matter how fast it was.

In Ganzhou, it will take a day to raise food for the first batch as soon as possible.

It will take at least nine or even ten days to set off from Ganzhou and arrive in Suzhou.

In other words, no matter how fast the young division's grain team is, it will take two or three days before the first batch of grain can be delivered.

"I'm afraid it's not the young master's food team." Lin Bei also judged.

"Will it be from the surrounding to help?" As soon as Zhang Feng finished speaking, he shook his head.

In this era, the news is closed, and other places around receive the news of the disaster in Suzhou, but I am afraid that it will be a few days later, and it will not be so fast when they send people.

What's more, in addition to the official grain depot at this time, no one has any surplus grain.

"Let's go check it out." Lin Bei gestured.