Chapter 303 Responsibility
“Don’t let them run away!”
“Kill them all!”
“Come to Yingchuan to kill people, do you treat me like nothing? ”
After a simple mobilization, the officers of the government army immediately asked their men to get on their horses. They did not care about the nuisance of the locusts and chased them out for a while. When they intercepted an enemy army, they again They all dismounted, defeated them, and left them to disperse.
This was repeated, and eventually most of the enemy's baggage troops driving carts were cut off.
Chen Yougen used his long sword to open the curtain covering the carriage. The fishy smell hit his face, mixed with flies flying everywhere, making people want to feel sick.
"Hmph!" He snorted coldly and said: "Gather all the food and put it in the car. Bury the preserved meat to avoid harming anyone."
The soldiers immediately started Clean up.
Horses will definitely not eat the so-called "dried meat", and they are not willing to eat it.
The food was very miscellaneous, ranging from millet to beans. It was obvious that the thieves were grabbing whatever they wanted and trying to collect every bit of food they could.
For two consecutive years, droughts and locusts have alternated, coupled with wars, the people's food reserves have indeed been squeezed out. This year, large-scale deaths are inevitable.
This miserable world is almost comparable to the Yellow Turbans in the late Han Dynasty. I hope it doesn’t last that long.
The Yu family members who were chasing with the soldiers smacked their lips, feeling a little pity. They have never eaten human flesh, they just subconsciously feel it is a pity.
There is still some property in the enemy's baggage convoy.
A chief guest from Yujiazhuang's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he subconsciously reached out to get it.
"Bang!" Chen Yougen's heavy sword struck the carriage hard, sending sawdust flying everywhere.
"Get out." He shouted angrily.
The leader of the banker was dissatisfied and wanted to argue, but was quickly pulled away.
“This is a vicious man, why did you provoke him?”
"This man is cruel and bloodthirsty, and he always kills. Don't mess with him."
"He's just a greedy man. He will definitely end badly in the future. Just sit back and watch how he dies. Try to avoid him first."
Everyone tried to persuade him, and then the leader of the dealer calmed down and went to clean up the battlefield with a gloomy look on his face.
Chen Yougen, alone with his sword, patrolled back and forth on the battlefield.
Wherever he pointed his sword at armor, food, and property, the soldiers would take them away. Everyone in the Yu family dared not speak out in anger, so they could only avoid him.
"Overseer, what should we do with these people?" General Chen Jingen ran over and pointed at a group of men and women tied to a car.
There are not many people, maybe more than a hundred, but one characteristic stands out: the old, weak, sick and disabled.
Or an old man with white hair and beard.
Or a very young child.
Or a half-dressed woman.
Chen Yougen walked over.
He saw it just now, but he didn't have time to pay attention to it.
As the Yu Family Trilogy said, Chen Yougen is a vicious man.
A heavy sword on the battlefield, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere. So far, the heads, arms, legs, etc. that have been chopped off by him seem to be able to fill a large cart if piled up. .
He also looks very fierce. He likes to stare at people, and there is no one he is not afraid of.
However, everyone in the car looked at him with numb eyes. They were neither afraid nor happy. They seemed to have lost all emotions and turned into a walking zombie.
"Is this a rookie?" he asked slowly.
"Yes..." Chen Jingen replied with some uncertainty.
I haven’t heard the title Cai Ren for a long time.
To be fair, except for a few perverts, no one likes to eat people.
Even when Zhang Fang's troops withdrew from Luoyang and took away more than 10,000 official and private slaves, it was because there was really not enough food to support their return to Chang'an, so they killed people and ate meat.
If the military rations are sufficient, who can eat people? Not responding?
"The old man, the strong man, and the healthy woman are each given a biscuit and left to disperse." Chen Yougen waved his hand and ordered.
"No." Soon someone went to execute it.
"Self-dispersion" means to fend for itself and perish by itself. Whether you eat locusts or eat soil, I can't control it and I can't do anything about it.
Chen Jingen quickly brought a basket of Hu biscuits, which were cold, hard and coarse dry food, even soaked with sweat.
He asked people to untie the waiters in the car, and then distributed dry food one by one.
Seeing the food, the waiters seemed to come to life, and there was a little light in their eyes.
“Eat the cake as soon as you get it, and get out of here after eating it.” Chen Jingen said loudly.
Sparse thanks came from the waiters.
The old man, the strong man, and the strong woman took the cakes and immediately ran away, gobbling them down as they ran.
Not long after, everyone dispersed, leaving only eight or nine young women holding more than ten children in their arms, still staying where they were.
The women begged the soldiers for some water.
Chen Jingen sighed, took off the cowhide water bag from his waist, and handed it over.
The soldiers followed suit and took off their water bags.
The women were extremely grateful and fed their children first before taking a few bites themselves.
They were so careful that they even picked up the crumbs of biscuits spilled on the ground and stuffed them into their mouths.
Chen Yougen was waiting patiently.
After a long time, when he saw that they had all finished eating, he said: "Get in the car."
The women exclaimed and trembled subconsciously.
Do you want to raise them as vegetables? I heard that some beast soldiers like to eat women and children...
"Get in the car as soon as I ask you to get in the car. What are you waiting for?" Chen Yougen raised his voice and shouted.
The women did not dare to resist. They wiped away their tears and took their children into the car.
“Drive!” Chen Yougen waved his hand and got on a carriage first.
There were two or three women and four or five children sitting in the car, crying.
Chen Yougen turned a deaf ear and drove to Yujia Wubao with a car full of women and children just like he did for the emperor.
When he reached the gate, he stopped.
He looked at the stunned Yu family at the gate, and said: "These women and children, twenty-four in total, please help me raise them, Yu Dianxue, and we can move them when we get back."
< br>After a pause, he pointed to several bullock carts piled with goods on the battlefield, and said: "The fees are there, Yu Dianxue can just get them by himself." After that, he jumped off the carriage, turned around and walked towards the soldiers, saying : "Everyone mount up and follow me to chase the enemy! This time I will definitely kill him with his head rolling."
"Kill him and his head will roll." The soldiers cheered and shouted in unison.
******
In the direction of Changshe, when Li Zhong received the news, it was already two or three days later.
Locusts are all over the sky and it is not easy for people and horses to travel. It is not easy to get the news.
Zheng Dong, Zhang Gu, Yu An and others looked at him eagerly.
"Send an order to Master Liu Bao of Yushanwu, and ask him to lead three thousand soldiers to set up a fence on the south road."
This is to block the road that bypasses Liang County through Yangzhai.
"Zhulou Quan led two thousand Luyang field troops and stationed in Xiangcheng."
This was to block another road into Guangchengze.
"Shao Shen led two thousand men from Ganchengwu to go south and stationed in Green Willow Garden."
This is to protect Shao Xun's family.
Generally speaking, these second-line troops will not be used easily.
Their fighting power is relatively weak. They are scattered everywhere to serve the people in peacetime, but only serve as soldiers in wartime. There has just been a locust plague, and the grain harvest may not be completely completed. Even if it is completed, there is still a lot of follow-up work to be done, which will be troublesome to use.
But since you have decided to lead your troops in pursuit, there is no need to look forward and backward, just go out directly.
"The rest of the people, follow me to attack Yangxia. In addition, send someone to report to the prince."
After giving the order, Li Chong no longer hesitated and led his troops directly Eastbound.
It can be seen that his style is relatively conservative.
As others have said of him, he thinks too much and tries to take care of every aspect.
He cannot do the kind of thing that magnifies his own danger and creates fighter opportunities at the same time. He is not brave enough and diligent, but it is perfect for stabilizing the rear.
After the army marched eastward, there seemed to be fewer locusts, but they still hindered the speed of the advance.
Along the way, there are bare trees and fields everywhere.
In places like Yuzhou, planting winter wheat is not very common, and most people still sow millet in spring. After the locust plague, this year's harvest was considered a waste.
The only remedy is probably to plant a batch of crops with a short growth period, such as beans, after the locust plague abates, and harvest as much as possible to recover losses as much as possible.
There seem to be more refugees on the roadside.
At first glance, it does not seem surprising, because there have always been a lot of refugees in Sizhou, Yuzhou, Jingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou and other places. The dispute between residents and refugees is a common topic, and there are many arguments in the court. , not to mention among the people, fire incidents are often heard of.
But if you listen carefully, you will find that many refugees speak with local accents, which is surprising and makes you feel heavy at the same time.
The causes of refugees may not all be war, and war may not even be the main factor. Natural disasters are the real "killers".
If last year’s severe drought could still be borne by stocking up on grains, how will you deal with the epic locust plague this year?
Perhaps some people can still plunder their property and survive with their little savings, but there are more people who cannot.
Without food, being affected by the war, and even more desperate for the future, it is not surprising that there are a large number of refugees.
Li Chong led more than 2,000 Yamen troops and 3,000 young auxiliary troops, a large force of 5,000 people. It was well-equipped and well-equipped. It was not easy to mess with at first sight, but there were still a large number of refugees watching eagerly from a distance. Lingering, refusing to leave.
Hunger tortured them, and they only had food in their eyes, which even made them temporarily forget the threat of death, leaving only the instinct of eating.
Can we still call ourselves human in this state? Perhaps, they have become walking beasts, because they don't even let their companions go.
Li Chong is a standard professional soldier.
I am usually polite and courteous to others, likes to read books, is gentle and elegant, and has always been praised by others.
At this time, he implemented perhaps the most reasonable and ruthless strategy: sending people to shoot arrows from a distance to drive away those refugees who dared to approach.
Every time a refugee was shot to death or injured, a burst of cheers immediately erupted in the wilderness.
The refugees who were in good health dragged back the dead and injured, and slaughtered them on the spot regardless of whether they died or not.
There are many haggard people sitting on the roadside. Looking from a distance, they look like sculptures.
In front of them were large and small earthen pots, in which floating bones were boiling and the aroma was lingering.
The woman was naked and lying on the ground with her legs crossed. Whenever they see someone coming, their eyes immediately flash with hope. It is obvious that they are using their bodies in exchange for something to satisfy their hunger.
With just a little bit of cake crumbs or a small bag of locusts, you can do whatever you want to her.
In this difficult world, dignity is not worth mentioning.
Some old people were rubbing "meatballs" on the ground.
The origin of the meat is very suspicious, and it is not all meat. It is mixed with at least half soil and some locusts - to be honest, locusts are not that easy to catch for these people who are about to faint from hunger. .
And this kind of "food" is still being robbed.
From time to time along the way, we saw some huge steamer baskets, filled with smoke, with balls of "food" wrapped in cloth, vaguely shaped like children.
The army marched in a meandering way.
Even a warrior who was used to seeing killings still felt goosebumps all over his body when he saw such a tragic situation.
It's not that I'm afraid, but it's scary.
When people turn into animals, beasts, and abandon all dignity and etiquette, people feel sad.
In this world, we still have to squeeze out food and resources to fight wars...
Whose fault is it?
Who is responsible?
Who will save the people?
"嘘嘚" the sound of horse hooves sounded.
Not long after, two messengers came from afar. After turning over and dismounting, he quickly handed a military order to Li Zhong.
"The prince has an order, and the troops are divided into two groups. The light troops rush to Yangxia and Chen counties, intercept the canal boats, seize half of them and release the other half." The messenger added.
Li Zhong was startled and asked: "Aren't you going to pursue the enemy?"
"The prince said that Shi Le can attack at any time. It is important to save the people first, and how many can be saved. "The messenger replied: "If Luoyang is short of food and the Huns spy on them, he will lead his troops to fight back the thieves."
Li Chong was silent for a long time.
No heavy hammer is needed to play the drum.
It doesn’t require any rhetoric to move people’s hearts.
At critical moments, just have the courage to take responsibility.
Isn’t it true that the ministers are alive but not the common people?
Training troops for war, for what purpose? To pursue military victory only is to put the cart before the horse.
"Scatter some of the military rations." Li Chong ordered: "Tell these people that those who can keep up should go to Yangxia and Chen County."
(End of this chapter)