"Xianggong, the surname is folded and sent someone to make trouble again."

"Didn't you give it to him two days ago?"

"Said that he had finished eating, but the minister didn't give out enough food."

"Give him another five hundred stones."

"Please use the public seal to sign it."

“……”

The reason why the soldiers stationed at Xiegu Pass wanted to escape, in addition to the successive defeats on the front line and the countless prisoners in front of them, the most important reason was that there was not enough food to eat!

Countless military rations were delivered to the front line, all of which were already cheaper for Zhu Ming.

And here in the planter, it is just the starting point of grain transportation.

It was more than enough to supply the guards, but it was better to suddenly bring back 20,000 remnants. The meal has been reduced in the past few days, and the slightly experienced Western sergeants can guess that the food must not be enough.

The lack of food and grass means that the army is about to be defeated, so they are quietly packing their bags.

The planter has already sent people to urge grain, and Gao Yu can't conjure it out of thin air, so he can only send people to the Shaanxi Shipping Division to ask for grain.

More than 17,000 people returned safely, and 500 stone of grain was only enough to eat for two or three days. This is still based on the premise of reducing meals, and there will be no normal meals for a day.

According to the official records of the Northern Song Dynasty, the average daily consumption of each soldier was 2.7 liters, which translates to about four or five catties. No matter how many people are greedy for ink along the way, at least the data is reliable, and it is normal for a strong man to eat four catties of grain when fighting in a lack of oil and water.

Seeing that the captives were about to repair the plank road, the Zhejia army suddenly began to make trouble.

On the one hand, it's really noisy, and the meal reduction has reduced the hunger.

On the one hand, out of connivance, it was very organized.

Not only did the family army make trouble, but the family army was also complaining.

Because there is still some food, in order to keep the pass for a long time, the planters only give a little military ration every day.

On average, the daily food of the soldiers is only more than half a catty. According to the calculation of two meals a day, one meal is only a pitiful few or two meters, and there is no oil and water to ingest.

In addition, he brought back not only soldiers, but also a large number of grain carriers, who also wanted to eat!

Among the planters, the generals of the folded family were invited to a meeting, mainly to discuss the issue of military rations.

At this moment, the pro-soldiers came to report in surprise that Chong Yansong had come back in a small boat.

The meeting ended hastily, and the planter hurriedly went to see him, and after careful questioning, he learned that most of his relatives were still alive.

The seed master was overjoyed and asked, "The Zhu thief asked you to persuade you to surrender?" ”

Chong Yansong shook his head: "Zhu ...... Zhu Thief was not embarrassed, nor did he persuade me to surrender, but only asked me to come back and report safety. ”

"Good news!" The planter was completely convinced.

The cunning Zhu thief used all the tactics were yang schemes, and all the tricks made you understand the intentions, but you had no way to resolve them at all.

The reason why Chong Yansong was put back is very simple, it is just to weaken the will to resist among the seed masters. He also showed that he was holding a bunch of breeders, so that the breeder could cast a mouse.

Chong Yansong whispered: "Zhu Thief only wants to pass through the Xiegu Pass, and once it passes, all the generals will be released." ”

The planter sighed: "How can you let him pass?" ”

Chong Yansong no longer speaks, and the education of the children of the seed family is like this. Not loyal to any emperor, but loyal to the Great Song court.

At this moment, there was a commotion from the rear, and it was estimated that there were soldiers making trouble with food.

The seed master knows that he is asking for a ghost, and it is normal for the army to make trouble with food, but it is nonsense to make trouble every day, and it is impossible without the connivance of the main general.

"Oh no, no!"

"The soldiers of the Folding Army who made trouble with food opened the North City Gate and ran away!"

The middle of the seed division was about to lead the troops to suppress it, and suddenly the pro-soldiers who could ask for it came over: "The soldiers fled without food, and my family husband led people to chase them." The minister of my family said that he must guard the Xiegu Pass, and he will only need a few days to catch all the deserters. ”

There is nothing to say in the planters, and the reason why the Zhejia army abandoned the pass and fled is too fresh and refined.

He could only impeach him afterwards and beg for the same impeachment, saying that he had withheld grain and grass to cause the Zhejia army to flee with food.

After the war, they just dumped each other.

The army of more than 17,000 people fled north after opening the gate. Although it was chaotic on the surface, the grassroots military units were not chaotic, and the soldiers were all running with them, and they were all carrying luggage.

Two or three miles out of the customs, the terrain suddenly opened up.

One or two hundred sergeants gathered in a group and ran in a fan shape towards the north.

Pretending to chase with his own soldiers, he fled north from the western part of Yixian County, and even some passed directly outside the city.

Liu Qi, who led the troops stationed in Yixian County, was shocked, thinking that Xiegu Pass had been lost, so he hurriedly ordered to strictly guard the city of Yixian County, and at the same time sent people to Xiegu Pass to inquire about the situation.

Before the Tanma approached the mouth of the valley, he saw countless kinds of soldiers also escape.

The bombs in the division can no longer be suppressed, whether it is the folded army or the seed army, there is only one reason for escaping in advance: the captives are about to build the plank road, and when tens of thousands of captives come back, the righteous army will inevitably follow. If you run away at that time, you will definitely not be able to take your belongings with you, and you may even die in a daze.

Of course, the Western Army can hold the Xiegu Pass and let the prisoners cry and not let them in.

But there is not enough food and grass, at most if you insist on it for another month, you will run out of food!

Running away when there is no food and running away without food are two completely different concepts.

Tanma didn't dare to go any further, hurried back to Yixian, and said to Liu Qi: "The seed army has also fled, and the Xiegu Pass has been lost!" ”

Liu Qi was not frightened to lead the troops back to Fengxiang, but only sent someone there to report to Gao Yu, he decided to defend Yi County first, and arrange a defense line for Gao Yu to buy time.

Half a day later, the seed division took a remnant of the army and rushed to Yixian to call the door outside the city.

Liu Qi hung the basket and hung the seed master in, and asked, "Why did Xiegu Pass suddenly fall away?" ”

The planter deliberately concealed the prisoners, and did not mention what he had done, and pushed everything on the military rations: "There is not much grain and grass in Xieguguan, and the soldiers and civilians who fled back from the front line consume countless amounts every day. Meals were reduced for many days in a row, and the soldiers mutinied with food, which was really difficult to suppress. ”

Liu Qi suddenly realized that it was because of food, this thing was too common.

In recent years, the imperial court has sent many archers (village soldiers) from Shaanxi to Hehuang to guard the border. Because of the lack of food, the archers fled every once in a while, and the escape rate of the soldiers in each walled fort exceeded 50%.

Liu Qi asked again: "How many thieves are coming?" ”

Where did the seed master know this, he didn't even see the shadow of the thief, and speculated indiscriminately: "It is estimated that there are twenty or thirty thousand, and if the thief hides his strength, it may be forty or fifty thousand." ”

said that it was equivalent to not saying it, Liu Qi was quite speechless.

The seed master said: "Yixian must be defended, otherwise Baoji and Xulu will be lost, and the western army of Chencang Road and Fu Luo Road will be cut off from retreating." ”

The urban area of Baoji in the Northern Song Dynasty is called Baoji, and the Chencang District of Baoji City is called Yu County.

Zhu Ming led his troops to kill from the sloping valley, if he occupied Yixian. To the east, you can take a boat to attack Baoji, to the west, you can take a boat to attack Baoji, and to the northwest you can kill Fengxiang Mansion City, where Gao Yu is located.

Even if Liu Qi only has 3,000 soldiers in his hands, he has to take his life to defend Yixian!

The seed master suggested: "Gao Taiwei does not have many soldiers in his hands, instead of dividing his troops to defend Fengxiang and Yixian, it is better to move the Shuaifu to the side of Yixian and gather all the troops to defend here." ”

Liu Qi muttered: "Although the words are reasonable, I am afraid that Gao Taiwei will not come." ”

Gao Yu learned of the military situation ahead, and was shocked, and hurriedly sent troops to rescue Yixian.

But he didn't dare to come to Yixian himself, so he just asked the troops to come over.

Once Yixian fell, Gao Yu immediately slipped away, and even asked his entourage to pack up the goods.

Just when Liu Qi was defending Yi County, a car was transported from Fengxiang to Chang'an.

In addition to the military salaries that Gao Yu embezzled, and the silver that the prison army Li Xun fished, they all understood that they couldn't stop the thieves. I just want the front line to block for a few more days, so that the money in hand can be transported away smoothly.

Two days later, tens of thousands of captives were released and rushed back to their hometowns in droves.

Passing through Yixian County did not stop, and even looted villages along the way, because each person had three buckets of grain, and they could not escape back to their hometowns.

Liu Qi and the seed division led troops to intercept them, and finally stopped hundreds of people, and all of them were pulled to a single independent village near Yixian County - for fear of mixing in with the spies, they did not dare to bring them into the city.

Another day later, Zhu Ming led the army slowly.

The attack on Yixian is fake, and the surprise attack on the Guancheng of Chencang Road and Fu Luo Road is real. Two thousand elites have been sent to attack the east and west cities, and the main force attacking Yixian is purely to divert attention.

At this moment, Liu Xi had already brought troops to help, and 8,000 Western troops were stationed in Yixian County.

The iron-cast heavy cannon could not be brought, only some tiger squat cannons were brought, and Zhu Ming ordered the trees to be cut down to make a leveling cannon.

During the production of siege equipment, Zhu Ming sent people to call the battle every day, and the planters, Liu Xi, and Liu Qi could not defend it.

A few days later, Gong Bin, who led the troops to make a surprise attack on the Dasan Pass, led the remnants to flee back in embarrassment, and knelt in front of Zhu Ming covered in blood: "My surprise attack failed, the officers and soldiers were already prepared, and they deliberately pretended to be defenseless, and waited for me to lead the troops to the outside of the pass before killing the ambush soldiers." I was surrounded by the front and rear, 2,000 soldiers, and I only brought back more than 600 after fighting to the death. ”

"Get up, it's not your fault." Zhu Ming sighed.

Gong Bin is an old man who followed Zhu Ming to exterminate Heifeng Village, and because of the difficulties in life, he simply took refuge in Daming Village with his family.

The troops he brought to attack Dasanguan were all the elite soldiers of the righteous army, and 2,000 soldiers were surrounded by ambushes, and it was enough to come back more than 600.

"It's a good general who is stationed at Dasanguan, and he actually guessed that I was going to send someone to attack and seize the pass." After Zhu Ming decided to negotiate peace, he forcibly asked the court for the unknown general.

Since Zhu Ming raised the army, this is the biggest loss, because all the dead are elites.

The Great Scattered Pass.

The guard general Yao Fan said with palpitations: "Fortunately, Jin Qing is alert, otherwise the Dasan Pass will be lost, and my brother's more than 20,000 troops will not be able to come back." ”

Wu Jue replied: "It was the general who commanded properly. ”

Yao Fan smiled and said, "When this battle is over, I will personally repay you for it." ”

Wu Jue said: "I'm afraid it's hard to reward merit, this time it will definitely be a big defeat for the official army." Those thieves were too brave, and they could still fight in formation when they were ambushed, and hundreds of people broke out of the siege. If there are 10,000 such elites, they are not afraid to fight head-on with the Western Army. ”

Yao Fan said: "Since it is a surprise attack, it is natural to send elite soldiers over, and there are not many such elite soldiers if you want to come to the thieves." ”

Yao Gu had already repaired the plank road, and the whole person was irritable and irritable.

After receiving Gao Yu's military order, he immediately returned to the division at full speed, and his soldiers and horses were not damaged much, only some were shot dead while repairing the plank road.

After all, Yao Gu was engaged in infrastructure construction in Chencang Road throughout the whole process.

(End of chapter)