Although Chen Hai had long expected that the main force of the rebels would use a secret crossing strategy and tried his best to cross the snow-capped mountains at the eastern foot of Qintong Mountain and sneak into Jiyang and other northern counties, Wen Boyuan and Fan Chun were naturally pretending to be crazy. Silly, deliberately indulgent, but when Chen Hai saw this scene with his own eyes, it was hard to imagine that the main force of the rebels would continue to cross the remaining two to three thousand miles of snow-capped mountains. How many people would be left alive by the time they reached Jiyang County? Go down.
When the third refugee camp was occupied, the number of rebel prisoners collected by the vanguard was less than 50,000. In addition, there were hungry people who were coerced out of Tongbei Mansion and the old, weak, women and children who were still alive among the rebels. , then there are more than 200,000.
Although the refugee army had left more than 100,000 generals in the camps around Yehuling, at this moment, there were only 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers left, and they were all so weak that they had no fighting power. Tu Ziji and his troops were able to disarm them without even a single blow. The armor of these remnants of the rebels.
Being possessed by a demon caused damage to her spiritual veins, and the blow to the Xuanxiu disciples can be said to be extremely fatal. It may mean that she will never be able to return to her previous cultivation level in this life - Chen Hai's initial cultivation level was abolished, and he only had a completed spiritual level. The veins were just destroyed.
In addition, there are still nearly 300,000 people in Tongbei Prefecture who were forced into the mountains by the rebels.
Fortunately, after the beginning of summer, the northern foothills of Qintong Mountain survived the most unbearable famine. The stored grains in Dacang in Tongbei were quite abundant. Although it was very difficult to transport them to Yehuling, they would not run out of food.
On the recommendation of King Yingshu of England, Ning Zhize, the leader of the Ning family and general of chariots and cavalry, was awarded the title of general of Zhuguo. He led more than 10,000 elite soldiers of the Ning family and 150,000 elite tiger and wolf troops of the Ning family to enter Jiyang to suppress the bandits.
No matter how you look at it now, it's all a losing business.
From Yehu Ridge to the northeast, there are all the snow-capped mountains. Even the lowest mountain pass is above the snow line. However, just in front of these dangerous mountain passes, rebel generals who freeze to death, starve to death, or fall to death can be seen at any time.
There were nearly 400,000 prisoners of war and hungry civilians. They were all extremely weak, and there were many injuries and illnesses. Even if they received food assistance, hundreds of people would still die every day, and it was impossible to transfer so many people immediately.
A few years ago, hundreds of thousands of rebels threatened a large number of people in Tongbei Prefecture and fled into the mountains at the northern foot. Although a large number of people had starved to death before, and corpses were everywhere, filling the valleys around the camp, but logically speaking , the proportion of surviving rebel generals in these camps should not be lower than that of the hungry people of Qin Tong who were trapped.
And the valleys between the snowy peaks are mostly above the snow line. The cold wind howls, and the heat penetrates into the bones like thousands of needles piercing them.
These rebel generals must be lagging behind and injured. They have no way to keep up with the large army, so they can only stay and wait for death, and they have no strength to return to the starting camp.
After occupying each refugee camp, the prisoners of war and hungry people will be counted.
At that time, in addition to the refugee rebels, there were nearly 100,000 elite thieves wearing black scarves and wearing armor. Before the main force of the Xiyuan Army rushed to the rescue, the rebels withdrew to the deep mountains at the northern foot of the Qintong Mountains in advance. Since the number of generals and soldiers is not 700,000 or 800,000, it will not be less than 500,000.
When the third refugee army camp was opened without any bloodshed, Yao Xuan and others also came to their senses and realized that a lot was wrong.
It’s just that these prisoners of war are too weak. Although they are provided with normal meals, a large number of prisoners of war die of illness every day. No general is willing to accept such trophies, and they are completely unqualified to serve as hard labor. Some generals even suggested that they be killed directly.
During the period when Prince Yingdan was in power, the Ning family naturally took advantage of him. In order to seize Hu Ben's military power, he even went to the extent of creating a large number of injustices, framing dissidents, and creating a large number of human tragedies, which offended many people.
The rebels abandoned the old, weak, women, children, and the hungry people who were heading northward into the mountains. Where did so many refugee army generals and nearly one hundred thousand black-turbaned thieves and armored soldiers go? Have you already spread your wings and flown out of Qintong Mountain
This was done to prevent the small amount of food from being intercepted by the refugee soldiers who were stranded in the camp, and to ensure that more hungry people could get food and save their lives.
At this time, at the northern foot of Yehu Ridge, which was still regarded as a "battlefield", the supply camp and the main forward force led by Tu Ziji were still advancing slowly; the collection of prisoners of war and the relief of the hungry were all going on in an orderly manner, and the work was done very carefully. It is also very time consuming.
It can never be more than this number.
In the seventy-third year of Emperor Yitian, civil unrest broke out in all counties in Yanzhou. The situation in Jiyang, Qintong and other places was extremely dangerous. Dozens of bandits from Jiyang and other northern counties jointly formed the Black Yan Army to plunder The county government and all directions are covered with rice.
It doesn't even take a hundred kilograms of finely forged iron to get a strong slave worker; but the more than 50,000 prisoners of war in Yehuling are too weak, and some people will continue to die of illness one after another, even if they can survive After most of the people came down, their bodies were almost broken. They were unable to work for more than half a year after being nursed back to health. In addition to wasting food, they also had to use a large amount of medicine to heal their injuries and illnesses.
Chen Hai didn't know what these rebel generals were thinking before they died. He and Tu Ziji finally stopped at the top of a snow-capped peak that was over 10,000 feet high and the strong wind blowing on their faces was like knives cutting needles. Instead of continuing to investigate eastward, Yao Qitai and Yao Xuan may have bypassed Wen Boyuan and Fan Chun and reported everything that happened deep in the northern foothills of Qintong Mountain to the Taiwei Mansion and to Prince Yingdan.
Regardless of the large number of casualties along the way, only the valleys near the refugee army camps were cleared, and nearly 200,000 corpses were accumulated. Chen Hai could even feel that these valleys were filled with strong resentment.
Chen Hai didn't care what Yao Qitai, Yao Xuan and his son, and other generals who were loyal to the prince Yingdan would do after discovering all this; he didn't care whether Wen Boyuan and Fan Chun were determined to kill him, and he would directly kill those who were loyal to the prince. The generals who won Dan were detained or killed directly. With the cooperation of Tu Ziji, Fan Cheng and others, Chen Hai continued to work on relieving the hungry people.
While Chen Hai was organizing people to help the hungry people in Yehuling, he was also arranging for the hungry people to be transferred out in batches with the baggage convoy. The pressure on Yehuling was also reducing day by day.
Chen Hai ignored other people's opinions. He could keep the five million kilograms of finely forged iron ingots in arrears for now, and arrange heavy vehicles first to transfer these prisoners of war to Juquan Ridge in batches for resettlement.
The famine-stricken people in Tongbei Prefecture naturally arranged to return home, and some of the refugee army rebels, who were themselves people of Tongbei Prefecture, also arranged to return home in confusion; there were more than 50,000 rebels who were exiled to Tongbei Prefecture. , even if they are not put to death, according to the law, they will be demoted to slavery, or given to participating generals as trophies, or directly incorporated into the supply camp and served as hard labor.
Chen Hai had not had a good impression of the Red Eyebrow Sect before, and at this moment he was doubting whether Fang Leyi had made the right decision by bringing the "Military Training Record" back to the Red Eyebrow Sect.
Even if Yao Qitai, Yao Xuan and other generals loyal to Prince Yingdan have been detained by Wen Boyuan and Fan Chun, they have delayed long enough north of Yehu Ridge - if the rebels are not ready to attack Jiyang Huben at this time, If they continue to delay the preparations of the army, it will probably be meaningless.
"Old traitor Ning is in danger!" Although Tu Ziji was frightened when he saw this scene, he was still more concerned about the changes in the war situation after the rebels left Qintong Mountain eastward. Looking at the distant snow peaks, he clenched his fists and fiercely said.
The impact on Su Ling's heart was too severe. Although she tried hard to endure it in front of Chen Hai and did not want to expose her true inner thoughts to Chen Hai, she almost went crazy during the two practices. Both Hand Jueyin suffered severe tearing injuries. After finally cultivating to the late stage of the Spiritual Realm, he suddenly fell back to the middle stage of the Spiritual Realm.
Although the famine in Tongbei Prefecture and Nanzhang Prefecture had passed through the most difficult moments, there were still a large number of people willing to sell their children, women, or directly into slavery.
Looking eastward at the top of the vast snowfield, the corpses of the rebels, standing or lying, continued to extend eastward, becoming more and more dense as they went eastward. They could not see the end at a glance. Chen Hai was used to seeing scenes in the blood-cloud wasteland, and he felt slightly scared. palpitate.
Chen Hai finally paid the price of 5 million kilograms of finely forged iron or 50,000 kilograms of quenched iron ingots to take the remaining 50,000 prisoners of war into his pocket.
At this time, Chen Hai could not imagine what kind of decisive courage the rebels had to think of climbing over the endless snow-capped mountains and jumping from Qintong Mountain to Jiyang County...
It is difficult for exotic birds like the black-feathered eagle to grab heavy objects and fly long distances in such a harsh environment. Fortunately, Chen Hai transferred dozens of giant eagles in rotation this time, flying three to five times a day to provide each Putting five to six thousand kilograms of grain into a refugee camp can barely save the lives of the hungry people.
Although the dozens of black-feathered giant vultures compiled by Tongbei Dacang are not of particularly outstanding blood, they can still grab grain bags weighing thousands of kilograms and fly over the cliffs. These black-feathered giant eagles have been domesticated and trained in spirituality. Under the control of the eagle trainer, they flew over the refugee army camp, tore up the grain bags, and scattered thousands of kilograms of grain directly into the camp below.
The Ning family is the mother clan of the Crown Princess, and even the future grandson Ning Chan'er is also the adopted daughter of the Ning family. Naturally, the Ning family is also the staunchest supporter of the Crown Prince Ying Dan, and the most effective helper for the Crown Prince Ying Dan to govern the country and suppress dissidents. .
The cold wind howls above the cliffs. These winds can directly hurt the souls of humans and animals. Even the spiritual cultivator disciples who stand on the top of those snow-covered mountains will find it difficult to breathe. His skin and flesh seemed to be about to be blown off by the strong wind.
Of course, Chen Hai's feelings for this land are still indifferent.
A quarter? one third
The main force of the vanguard could not quickly cross these cliffs and valleys. Chen Hai and Tu Ziji personally led an elite guard to pursue them along the road, over many cliffs and thousands of miles eastward. They saw many fallen rebel generals along the way. There were more than 30,000 people.
Yao Xuan followed his father Yao Qitai and participated in almost all the Qintong wars from beginning to end. Especially when he retreated to Zuojin Valley with Chen Hai, he saw with his own eyes that the rebels gathered at the northern foot of Qintong Mountain were at their strongest at that time.
There are frequent wars in the counties, and medicines that nourish qi and blood are much more precious than food.
After all six refugee camps were occupied, the whereabouts of the main rebel force could no longer be concealed.
After all, Yao Xuan was not stupid. After seeing the suspicion, he immediately made excuses and led his guards to leave Yehuling early. He had no intention of participating in the subsequent battle and returned directly to Leiyang Valley.
Moreover, starting from the last refugee army camp, as the road along the cliffs extended, the number of people who fell dead on the side of the road became increasingly dense. Chen Hai even saw a scene of two to three hundred people freezing to death in a mountain col on the way.
Seeing such a ratio, Yao Xuan would be too slow if he really wasn't suspicious.