*****
Hearing that the Tartars were searching for civilians and preparing to use them as human shields, Qin Mu was racking his brains for a countermeasure when suddenly a dense sound of horse hooves came from the west bank of the Ju River. Qin Mu could not help but be secretly startled.
Li Jiu couldn't have come so quickly. Where did these cavalrymen come from? I didn't even receive and report it in advance.
Qin Mu's eyes shot coldly at Yan Gaofei, who was so frightened that he fell to his knees and said in panic, "Please forgive me, sir. I will go and investigate right away..."
"What's the point of investigating? They're already here. Do you still need to investigate?" Qin Mu let out a long sigh and tried his best to control his temper. Now every decision he made might affect the life and death of the 20,000-strong army, so he had to control his emotions.
Fortunately, he was already in a desperate situation, with the Ju Shui River separating him. Even if it was an enemy, it would be impossible for him to attack for the time being.
However, if the people coming are really enemies, it will definitely disrupt all of his plans and have a huge impact on the subsequent battles.
Qin Mu raised the telescope worriedly and looked across the river.
After a while, accompanied by billowing smoke and dust, a cavalry of two to three hundred people galloped over. Through the telescope, one could see a person in front wearing a red shirt, red pants and a red cloak, flying like a ball of burning flame.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but become extremely curious. Hongniang, hadn't she been fighting in Henan? Why was she here
Qin Mu, full of doubts in his heart, looked at Yan Gaofei again. Yan Gaofei knelt down and shook his head, with a look of shame and regret on his face.
"Get up. Next time something like this happens, you won't have to stay in Yebushou any longer."
After Qin Mu finished speaking, he was too lazy to pay attention to him. After Hong Niang's men stopped on the other side, she started shouting anxiously. Qin Mu asked Yan Gaofei to row the boat over and pick them up.
Hongniangzi was covered in dust, and her clothes were stained with dark red blood, which showed that she had fought on the battlefield and had no time to change her clothes.
As soon as she came up, she said rapidly, "Qin Mu, lend me a few thousand soldiers. My men are fighting fiercely with the Qing army at Wuyang Pass and are almost unable to hold on. Please lend me a few thousand soldiers."
"Wuyang Pass? Tell me first, what's going on?"
"Who has time to waste on you? My men are almost dead. Will you lend me the money?" Lady Hong shouted anxiously. Her eyes were red and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Look for yourself." Qin Mu pointed to the Qing army a few miles away and said, "I am also in a desperate situation now..."
"Are you saying you can't borrow soldiers?"
"Not really..."
Lady Hong's eyes were red. She interrupted him and shouted, "What do you mean by 'not '? Just tell me whether you want to lend it to me or not. Tell me the truth. My troops are still fighting a bloody battle with the Tartars. Do you know that?"
"Why are you like this? As the commander-in-chief of a large army, your rashness will only lead to more people following you to death. Can you please listen to what I have to say?" Qin Mu was a little angry after being interrupted again and again by Hong Niangzi.
"Okay, go ahead and speak quickly."
Qin Mu pointed to the Qing army in the north and said, "This battle is not only related to my personal life and death. It is also related to the war situation of the whole world. At this time, if you don't explain the situation clearly, I will not lend you troops. This is absolutely impossible. Besides, will it be useful if you are anxious? No matter how anxious you are, it doesn't matter if you explain the situation clearly first, so that I can make corresponding arrangements."
"Then I'll make it short. My men were forced to retreat to Wuyang Pass. The Tartar Lekedehun was chasing us relentlessly and even brought artillery. My men were running out of arrows and food. They were so hungry that they could hardly lift their swords. Now there was no place to retreat, so we could only fight the Tartars head-on. There were many casualties..."
"Lekedehun? How many troops does he have? How many troops do you have?"
"The Tartars have 6,000 men, and we have 30,000... but... most of us are the elderly, the weak, women and children."
"You are stupid. To the west of Wuyang Pass is Tongbai Mountain, and to the east is Dabie Mountain. Can't you just let the elderly, the weak, women and children retreat into the mountains first?"
"What will they eat if they retreat into the mountains? We have no food. Many people have starved to death, you know?" Hongniang's eyes turned red again, and her emotions tended to get out of control again.
At this time, Yue Zhongliang next to him rushed to say: "Sir, Wuyang Pass is 70 miles north of Xinyang and less than 300 miles from here. This pass protects the Central Plains in the north and locks Jinghu in the south, controlling the throat of north-south traffic. It is one of the nine great passes and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Moreover, if Wuyang Pass falls into the hands of the Tartars, Lekedehun's troops will only need two days at most to reach here, which will definitely have a major impact on this battle."
After Yue Zhongliang's analysis, Wuyang Pass suddenly became a strategic location that could not be ignored at the moment.
But this would undoubtedly make things worse for Qin Mu, because there was one more uncertain factor, and because of the uncertainty, the pressure became even heavier.
He turned around and asked Yan Gaofei, "Where are Li Jiu and the others?"
Yan Gaofei quickly replied: "According to the itinerary, we should have reached Suizhou."
"Hurry up and pass on my order. Have Li Jiu immediately dispatch 2,000 troops to rush to Wuyang Pass for support. Go quickly."
“Yes!”
"Wait, Lady Hong, send a few people to Suizhou with my people for communication purposes."
"Okay, I'll take my leave now." Hong Niangzi turned around and was about to leave.
Qin Mu hurriedly stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, aren't you short of weapons and food? It's useless for you to rush back now. I'll send a message back to Wuchang and have someone gather some weapons and food for you to take back to Wuyang Pass."
"How long will this take?"
"Considering the distance from here to Wuchang, the earliest we can get there is tomorrow night."
Hongniang hesitated. Wuyang Pass was in danger and she didn't want to delay for a moment.
But to put it another way, she had 30,000 people, and although most of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children, there were still 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers who could fight. The reason why she could not defend Wuyang Pass was mainly because of the lack of weapons and food.
She weighed the pros and cons, gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you until tomorrow evening." After that, she sent a message across the river and sent a few people back to Wuyang Pass to tell the subordinates there that reinforcements were coming and weapons and food would arrive soon, so as to strengthen their confidence in defense.
At this time, a few miles to the north, Ajige captured nearly a thousand unarmed civilians, and then dispatched troops, using swords and guns to drive these civilians to serve as human shields, gradually approaching the front of the Qin army, and the sound of horns resounded throughout the fields again.
The Qin soldiers looked from afar at the old, weak, women and children, who were in tattered clothes and had terrified expressions, trembling and wailing under the swords and guns of the Tartars. Those who were a little slow were immediately whipped by the vicious Tartars, their clothes were torn and their skin was torn.
Who doesn't have parents, wives, and children? Who doesn't have brothers and sisters? Seeing this scene, the Qin soldiers' eyes were bloodshot and their steel teeth were clenched. They wanted to rush up and cut all the Tartars into pieces.
"You son of a bitch, come over here if you dare."
"Ajige, I'm going to fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations."
"If you have the guts to let go of these unarmed civilians, I will fight you to death."
... ... .
The Qin army was furious, shouting curses one after another, and they wanted to rush up and fight the Tartars. However, as senior generals, Su Jin and others knew that if the Tartars drove these people over, it would be a disaster for the Qin army.
On this plain, once the infantry formation was broken, facing the fierce charge of the Qing cavalry, the entire army would most likely be wiped out.
"Sir, what should we do?" Su Jin asked urgently, the veins on his hand holding the knife throbbing.
Qin Mu felt a pang of pain in his heart. He faced a difficult decision. He could accept any number of casualties from the fighting on the battlefield, because a soldier's mission was to defend the country and the people with his life.
But the thousands of people on the opposite side were unarmed civilians after all. If he wanted to avoid being disrupted by these civilians, he had no choice but to order them to be massacred in front of the battle.
Reason told Qin Mu that he had to be ruthless, but humans are not cold-blooded animals after all. Faced with thousands of innocent lives, it is extremely difficult to make an immediate choice between reason and humanity.
"My lord, there is no time to hesitate."
"Sir, if we grant the Tartars their wish this time, they will do the same thing again next time."
"Sir, give the order."
As the people got closer, Su Jin and others began to persuade them.
Hong Niangzi suddenly shouted, "Why are you like this? Don't you have parents, wives, and children? I've heard your military oaths, about loving the people, loving the nation, not fearing sacrifice, and dying rather than surrendering. Have you forgotten all of that? You are soldiers, used to protect the people, that's what you said, I, Hong Niangzi, never said such words, but for the sake of 20,000 or 30,000 people, my people are almost gone, do you know that..."
*********************
ps: Lady Hong yelled: My people are almost gone, I have no weapons, no food, I beg you brothers to give me some firepower support, help me kill the enemy, kill the enemy, kill the enemy... ... .
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.(To be continued..)
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