This time the Qiang people rebelled, those big tribes are not easy to say, but the small tribes participated in the rebellion, it was really because they couldn't survive.

The big tribe may still have some surplus food, and can leave the old and weak women and children on the grassland, and the strong men go south to plunder, but the small tribes, which are really dragging their families to the south, can live one by one.

Therefore, if the front is defeated, these old and weak women and children in the rear will definitely suffer, and when it comes to the ability to escape, they will definitely not be able to outrun those in the prime of life.

With Zhuge Liang personally leading the army, Zhang Xi's army has always been strict, and the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty has always been well treated, so it is not uncommon to attack these old and weak women and children, so they let them run along the road all the way to the outside of Xixian County.

But the problem is that these Qianghu women and children ran too slowly, and when they ran to Xixian according to the way they remembered, the Qianghu coalition army had already broken up for the second time.

And these women and children obviously couldn't keep up with the speed of those routs, and after retreating all the way, the dry food they carried with them had almost been consumed.

As for the cattle and sheep, these things have long been looted by those armies, and these women and children do not have the ability to keep an eye on those cattle and sheep, and when they arrive in Xixian, they are basically no different from beggars who have fled.

In this way, it will be difficult for Zhang Xi to do it.

Although these Qiang people are old, weak, women and children, they participated in the southward raids, and none of them are innocent.

Yes, they couldn't survive anymore, so they were forced to go south to plunder and survive.

But the question is, do the Han people who were robbed by them deserve to be robbed?! Can they survive in this troubled world?!

Therefore, Zhang Xi really doesn't have much sympathy for these Qiang women and children.

Really, Zhang Xi is not the Virgin, he knows very well who started this war, don't talk about what women and children are innocent.

Therefore, when thousands of Qiang women and children gathered outside the city of Xixian County, Zhang Xi directly ordered the whole army to be on guard, and those who dared to approach the city wall were killed.

But as time went by, three days later, nearly 10,000 Qiang women and children had gathered outside Xixian County, and at this time, the snow outside Xixian County was already a foot thick.

Really, this difference in quantity suddenly made Zhang Xi a little entangled.

When there were hundreds of people, Zhang Xi was not too touched, and felt that even if he starved to death and froze to death, it was the crime of these Qiang people.

But when nearly 10,000 people were starving and freezing in the snow, it would be a bit too much to say if they really watched them freeze to death Zhang Xi's conscience in the snow.

Not to mention, the Qiang women and children outside the city have asked Zhang Xi to surrender more than once, even if it is to act as slaves, as long as they are given a chance to live. Zhang Xi really relented.

At this time, Zhang Xi was really hesitant, he didn't know what he should do.

Help these Qiang people, Zhang Xi's heart is not a good person, he was fierce and vicious when he robbed, and now he wants to surrender to himself with a few good words, how can there be such a good thing.

But if you don't help, Zhang Xi's conscience is a little uncomfortable. Nearly 10,000 people, it's not a cold number, it's a black piece right in front of you, alive, people who can move.

One more. Nearly 10,000 old and weak women and children, even if Zhang Xi wants to help, he won't be able to last long.

This time, Zhang Xi's combat mission was to lead 5,000 soldiers to attack Xixian and cut off the Qiang people's back road.

Therefore, the soldiers and horses of Zhang Xi's headquarters only set off with about fifteen days of military rations, and after entering Xixian County, the grain stocks in Xixian County had already been looted by those Qiang people.

Pang De also led his troops out to guerrillas, and he didn't carry too much military rations, and the only one who brought military rations was Ma Dai's 3,000 reinforcements.

But the problem is that the supply of grain and grass brought by Ma Dai was prepared by Zhuge Liang according to the calculation of the current strength of Xixian County, which is enough for Xixian to hold on to a month's military rations. There are no extra portions.

If the city gate is opened and the nearly 10,000 Qiang women and children are rescued, the military rations of Zhangxi's headquarters may only be enough to support about ten days.

If a large group of Qiang soldiers suddenly attack the city at this time, their own food is not enough to eat, and there are nearly 10,000 Qiang women and children in the city. That's the real problem.

For this reason, Pang De has repeatedly advised Zhang Xi in the past few days that he cannot accept these Qiang women and children to enter the city, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble.

Zhang Xi knew that Pound's exhortation was right, but. After another day of hesitation, it snowed outside the city for another day and a night, and Zhang Xi finally did not bear the torture of his conscience, and ordered the city gate to be opened to accommodate these Qiang women and children.

Yes, Zhang Xi knew that he was a fool, but seeing more than 10,000 people freezing to death in front of his eyes, Zhang Xi really couldn't be so cold-blooded.

However, it is not unprepared.

Zhang Xi ordered that these old and weak prisoners entering the city must be searched and inspected, all assets must be confiscated, and at the same time these people should be enclosed in a fixed area, except for the time for meals, any activities are prohibited, and if they are found, they will not be pardoned.

To put it simply, it is to get a temporary cell and watch it.

At the same time as making these preparations, Zhang Xi asked Pang De and asked him to use the Liangzhou scout under his command to send a message to Ji County, and let Zhuge Liang use a sleigh to transport a batch of grain and grass supplies to him

Otherwise, the food in Xixian County is really not enough to eat.

In this way, after making these preparations, Zhang Xi put more than 10,000 women and children outside the city into the city.

And in the end, things did not develop in the worst direction, in the most important ten-day buffer period, Xixian did not encounter the Qiang army to attack.

A large part of the reason here is that it has been snowing for five or six days in a row, and the snow is almost two feet thick, who can fight in this kind of weather.

Again, now the Qiang people are also in chaos.

In the first battle of Ji County, the attack was unfavorable, and in addition to God's lack of cooperation, it was impossible to capture Ji County with sudden heavy snowfall.

Therefore, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes adopted the second plan, intending to use the hands of the Han people to weaken and annex the small and medium-sized tribes.

But the leaders of the five Qiang tribes didn't expect that they would lose so badly.

Ji County was defeated once, and it is reasonable to say that it originally meant to kill people with a knife, but the West County was defeated, and the five Qiang people were also a little injured.

Failed to capture Xixian, which means that the looted money, grain, cattle and sheep could not be transported by the road, although they bypassed Xixian and desperately fled back to Nan'an County, but most of the looted things were lost.

In addition, in such weather, retreating from the small road around Xixian County, there are not a few people who freeze to death and frostbite along the way, and after retreating to Nan'an County, they have to face the reproach of some small and medium-sized tribes.

There are very few people who can become a tribal leader.

The first battle of Ji County, the fight was inexplicable, the defeat was confused, when attacking, it was the Qianghu small tribe attacking, and when escaping, it was the Qianghu tribe who was responsible for breaking off. What kind of truth is this?!

Along the way, if there are Han chasing soldiers, they are in a hurry to flee for their lives, maybe this matter will pass in a blur, and wait until they return to the grassland with the five tribes of the Qiang people, and then in order to survive the winter, everyone can only admit what happened.

But now, the Han pursuers did not catch up because of the snow, and now the Qiang-Hu coalition army is also unable to return immediately for layoffs because of the snow, and must spend the winter in the Han city.

Everyone will understand that the defeat in this battle is called a strange thing, and after coming back to take stock, it is easy to find that compared with those small and medium-sized tribes, the losses of the five tribes of the Qiang people can be said to be negligible.

This kind of thing can't be hidden from someone with a heart to investigate.

In this way, people's hearts are scattered, and the team can still be brought?!

Some of the leaders of small and medium-sized tribes who were in a hurry immediately jumped out.

Qiang people are not very good at speaking with their mouths, and they are generally good at using knives in their hands to speak. A small-scale infighting just happened.

Actually, this is quite easy to deal with, the lord who jumped out to make trouble at this time, even if he is not a fool, his brain is not going anywhere, and the leaders of the five Qiang tribes easily suppressed this infighting.

But most people can see this matter clearly, and they can also think of what the fate will be waiting for them after returning to the grassland, and the leaders of the five Qiang tribes are also very clear that the next internal strife will not be so easy to settle.

One more. The leaders of the five Qiang tribes are not always of one mind, and sometimes everyone can unite, but when necessary, it is actually a choice to put the responsibility on the head of a certain family and stand up to "uphold justice".

Anyway, in a short period of time, it is impossible for the Han people to brave the heavy snow to fight them, so making some internal "adjustments" has become their top priority now.

The Qiang people were busy spending the winter in Nan'an County and fighting among themselves, so they naturally didn't have time to care about the situation in a western county that they didn't care about at all.

And Zhang Xi didn't know the inside story of these messes at this time, and he still held on to it in Xixian County with fear.

The scouts sent to Ji County have returned, bringing Zhuge Liang's letter.

With such a heavy snowstorm, even if the grain is transported by sleigh truck, it must be delivered in batches, and 25,000 people will be given a month's worth of military rations at one time, and Ji County does not have the ability to do so.

Tianshui County has just experienced the war, and now the Qiang-Hu coalition army has just retreated, Ji County must first contact Tianshui counties to inquire about the military situation and the supply of grain and grass, and it is impossible to use all the sleds in one direction of Xixian.

Again, such as the top priority of today's water county, is the people's winter, there are wood in the city is also a priority for the people to heat up, and there are so many sleigh cars that can be transformed, the number is not enough, and it must be planned and used as a whole, so it can only be transported in batches of military rations and materials.

Anyway, Zhang Xi calculated, according to the share of the sleigh car allocated to him by Zhuge Liang, if he continued to transport grain, he could barely hold on. There must be no accidents in the middle, otherwise, there is a real risk of running out of food.

But fortunately, the snow is still falling, and the snow is getting worse and worse. In all probability, it is unlikely that the Qiang people will invade Xixian again.

The only thing to pay attention to is the period when the snow melts in spring.

(End of chapter)