But outside of Pengcheng, Xuzhou, which was besieged by the Tuan Tuan, there were still mules and horses on the dangling Caohe frozen into a dazzling river, and the full load of ice paddles dragged by them was endlessly flowing, leaving a trail of horizontal and vertical trails. The dense trajectory comes. With the extension of these trajectories, it is within Huainan Road, which has been recuperating for more than a year.
And on a guard station made of soil by the Cao River, next to the artillery position responsible for monitoring and blocking the South Gate of Pengcheng, a group of soldiers in charge of guarding also sat around a large basin of open-air charcoal fire, reaching out their hands and feet slowly. While roasting, from time to time, I sniffed my nose to enjoy the aroma of canned meat and vegetables being stewed over the charcoal fire.
"Do you know where all the locust plagues that flew to Huainan went?"
Deng Liao, the head of the battalion camp from the Chuzhou defense zone on Huainan East Road, was wrapped in a half-old jacket and was squinted by the sun, and said to the novice:
"The overwhelming locusts, all over the mountains and plains, were all eaten, chickens and ducks, cattle, and people, and the government offered a bucket of twenty dollars to buy them. As a result, men and women, young and old, came back with a whole car and a whole car. Send it to the workshop to bake, dry and grind to make the addition..."
"Is it possible that it can be made into food?"
A young soldier with a face full of sleep can’t help,
"Of course I can eat it!"
Deng Liao said decisively:
"For a bucket of insects for twenty dollars, you can buy one and a half catties of clear (brown) oil, save ten catties and eight catties, and find a cauldron to boil it, let alone locust bugs, even cicadas, stingrays, and centipedes. , To promote the weaving, there are not enough insects to deep-fry; the bamboo fence can be taken out to dry and it can be fragrant, and it can be eaten or served without any condiments. Then every family has never tasted their own taste.
"If there are hot peppers and salt, you can also boil the locust fly in the water and fry it in the pan to fry it. That is also a good side dish for wine. Some people use the fried locust fly to make a special insect paste. It is said that You can put it for a year or a half and still be edible raw. In those days, everyone racked their brains and changed their way to eat this stuff, and the sauce maker was rewarded for it!"
"Rewarded? This can still be rewarded!"
Suddenly someone made a fuss and was surprised:
"Because, he created a special product for the place where the insects are plagued, and he also has an official in charge of purchasing it. Isn't it a long-term business with a small leader?"
Speaking of this, Deng Liao couldn't help showing some conspicuous expression.
"Of course, more people use this locust fly as a raw material. As long as it is scalded to death in hot water and then dried and added to the forage and soybean meal, the animals will also like to eat it. If they eat too much, they will gain energy and strength. , So someone specially made a worm cake so that people can take it on the road to feed the animals..."
"Is it possible that the locust plague was eaten up like this,"
The young soldier before could not help but lose his voice:
"Otherwise, what else? The government has mobilized all men, women and children, officials, people, civilians, military lieutenants, and even lieutenants to catch the stuff; any poultry and animals will use this stuff to cook, cook, and eat. It has lasted for more than half a month, even if there are still some who slip through the net, what can happen
Deng Jiulao was slightly proud and disapproving:
"By the time the summer was collected, the yield was only reduced by about 20 to 30%, and it was easy to deal with it by growing some jicama and so on. Therefore, not only did we starve to death in the states and regions along the Huaihe River. There are others who have eaten too much and have suffered from problems..."
At this time, the stew in the straight cauldron on the fire was finally completely boiled off; then, Deng Liao first used a horse spoon to stir a little soup to taste, the stew nodded with a slightly satisfied expression; then The soldiers who were not on the side of the charcoal fire took out the dry cakes and the squashed rice balls in their arms one after another, and they broke them into pieces and placed them in their respective tin food boxes.
Add a lot of ginger slices and dried peppers to a full scoop, and stew the hot stew with taro cubes and beans, chicken offal, blood sausage, and pig skin. It is immediately poured into the hot soup pouring down. It inspires the clear aroma of the newly harvested wheat noodles and rice, and is wrapped in the greasy, hot and spicy soup, which makes one mouthful and unstoppable.
Therefore, in a blink of an eye, a big pot of canned food and paper wrapped military rations, and the meat and vegetable broth stewed with snow water, is visible to the naked eye and disappeared in countless arm additions, and only scraped. The polished bottom of the pot was brightened; then, Deng Liao, who was full of burps, was slightly discounted and he added a few chunks of snow. Then he took out a pot of specially rationed wine and poured it into it, and threw in a bag of ground tea and most of the sugar. Plate, a handful of prunes.
In the constant stirring and heating, it turned into half a pot of dark tea soup. Then, one person took out a close-fitting small-mouthed pot-bellied kettle to fill up most of them one by one; only when the pot of tea soup was scooped to the fourth person After that, suddenly a horn sounded from the outpost near the Pengcheng South Water Gate in the distance. Immediately let them throw away all the objects in their hands, and grab the firecrackers and knife cards nearby.
At the location of the Pengcheng Water Gate, the hole burst open from the inside out, rushing out a large number of soldiers. However, the Wu Ning Army, who was resolutely resisting the city, took the initiative to counterattack the camps and walls surrounding the city in this broad daylight, and once again launched a corresponding counter-attack and assault momentum. And on the earth turret artillery fort where Deng Liao was located, the first cannon was fired with the rush of the artillery group that was busy completing the loading and sighting.
Afterwards, it was like the prelude to the bombardment of many artillery fortresses outside the city. One after another, the tumbling artillery shot to the ground between the Wuning troops that had rushed out, blasting open the big cannon snow and the mud and bloody fragments. Then, suddenly the pure white snowy ground turned into patches of red and black mottled.
And when they passed the diffuse smoke and rushed towards the outer trenches and fence walls of the barracks, the densely cracked gunpowder smoke and ignition light like fried beans once again caused them to fall one after another in rows. It was overturned to the ground; and then there was a more rapid and crisp shelling sound, sweeping the big canopy's shotgun into the crowd, blasting a bloody, corpse-laden gap.
Just as the defenders in Pengcheng failed and frustrated their counterattack again; in Mizhou, dozens of miles away to the northeast, Zhu Laosan, who had led his troops north to Qingzi Town, was in an uncontrollable defeat. . The Pinglu Army had no time to visit outside due to civil strife. The news that at least two people were fighting in Yidu City, Qingzhou, is certainly a good thing for the coalition forces in Xuzhou;
As for one of the parties who initiated the civil unrest, Dizhou Governor Zhang Chan sent an emissary for foreign aid, which is undoubtedly another good news. However, when he personally led troops through Yizhou and Mizhou, and smashed into the Pinglu Military Institute in Qingzhou, under Yidu City, he faced another situation. (End of this chapter)