time! time! time!
The most important thing right now is time.
As soon as the baggage troops moved all the belongings of the White Lion, the Palatine army immediately set out to destroy Bianli - at this moment, many troops were still on their way back to the main camp.
However, the work of destroying Bianli was quickly stopped.
By a strange combination of circumstances, heavy rain not only destroyed the gunpowder, but also turned the originally dry and flammable Bianli into a water-saturated sponge.
Choking green smoke filled the city of Bianli, but few houses were actually set on fire.
Houses can still catch fire from the inside, but the problem is that the fire spreads too slowly.
It is necessary to wait for all the water soaked in the thatched roof and wooden walls to dry out before the flames can be transmitted to the next house.
It is far different from the previous situation where fire followed the wind and wind assisted the power of fire.
According to the plan before the war began, Bianli should be completely destroyed: the city walls would be broken down, the temples and tombs would be razed, and the entire population would be kidnapped as a warning.
But according to the current situation, if the Plato army dares to waste time poaching the corner of the border - literally, the white lion will laugh out of his dreams.
It was impossible for Szekler and Arpad to waste precious gunpowder on blasting the city walls.
Therefore, the soldiers who broke down the city wall were quickly withdrawn, and Szekely only sent a part of the auxiliary troops into the city to set fire to it.
…
Winters threw a torch down the well, but it did not go out.
"Okay!" Seeing that the well had almost been filled, Winters stopped his men: "This well is abandoned, next one."
The militiamen carried shovels and ran to the next well.
Looking at the dark wall of the well, Winters couldn't help but think to himself: "How long has the White Lion been preparing for this battle?"
Bianli is adjacent to the confluence river, so drafting water should not be difficult.
But this is actually a thinking trap, because water resources are too easy to obtain, and their importance will be ignored.
Once Bian Li was surrounded, if he wanted to go out of the city to fetch water, he would have to risk his life, or even be completely strangled on the water fetching route.
Even when the little lion led troops to attack Beizhai, he knew to intercept and kill the soldiers collecting water.
White Lion not only did not ignore the drinking water problem, but also prepared a countermeasure-drilling a well.
Winters also entered Bianli and discovered that there were wells in the city, and there were more than a dozen wells evenly distributed in the residential areas.
Bianli is located on a hill and the terrain is relatively high. It is very difficult to dig a well.
What's more, the confluence river is just outside the city and within reach. No one would be foolish enough to go to the trouble of digging a well in Perian—unless he was a white lion.
Walking to the next well, Winters saw Pierre and Belle dismembering a dead horse.
The two Dussacs wielded their sharp axes and neatly split the horse's corpse into bones and flesh.
Dark red blood flowed all the way to Winters' feet, and the horse corpses were thrown into the well piece by piece.
Ishi, a militiaman from Ganshui Town, was also in the team filling the well. He muttered distressedly: "This is all meat! There is also skin."
"Don't worry, Mr. Ish." Winters recognized the speaker and reassured: "General Sackler has ordered that each centurion be given two horses. We are not afraid of not having enough food, but we are just afraid that everyone will not be able to finish it."
"I can finish it!" Ish's eyes lit up: "I promise I can finish it, sir."
Soon, a horse corpse with blood and flesh was thrown into the deep well.
According to the instructions in the officer's manual, it is best to use dead animals to destroy wells.
However, time was short and Winters could not find any sick animals, so he had to make do with horse carcasses.
Along with the horse corpses, there were more than a dozen buckets of human and animal excrement thrown into the well.
It didn't disgust the Hurds for the time being, but it did make the surrounding Platoans and Winters nauseous.
After pouring the dirt into the well, the militiamen filled the well without Winters' order.
By filling in two wells in succession, the militiamen were already familiar with this task.
Pierre grabbed the soil and wiped the blood off his hands, took out a small tube of salt from his pocket and poured it into the well. He also muttered: "[Old saying] From now on, the six animals of the Er people will not prosper, and from now on, the married women will have no color..."
Others did not understand the old slang used by Pierre and felt confused.
"Sprinkle salt?" Winters laughed dumbly: "[Ancient proverb] Capture the city and kill the people; demolish the city and sprinkle salt?"
Now it was Pierre's turn to be confused: "What are you talking about?"
Winters repeated it again in Common Tongue. He asked Pierre: "[Old Tongue] Do you know Old Tongue?"
Pierre replied proudly: "I know a little bit about [old language]. My mother taught me a little bit, and I taught a little bit in school."
"That's it." Recalling Mrs. Mitchell's speech and behavior, Winters felt that it was not surprising that her son could speak the old language: "Who taught you the ritual of spreading salt?"
"It's not a ceremony, it's just the stories my mother told me when I was a kid." Pierre replied sheepishly.
Winters couldn't laugh or cry: "Pierre, how can the Hud people be afraid of spreading salt? The sheep in the wilderness are rushing to lick the salt bricks. Salt has been expensive since ancient times, and salt is only sprinkled ceremonially. Don't do this in a place like this It’s a waste of salt, just pinch a handful and sprinkle it on.”
Pierre scratched his head.
The militiamen first pushed down the walls of the well, and then began to dig soil into the well. Soon another well was filled up.
"Okay!" Winters waved his hand: "Next bite."
…
The army is setting off, and there are so many things going on.
Before the entire army was assembled, the two brigades had already set off as the vanguard.
Normally, all equipment must be carried by the soldiers themselves.
But this time was different. In order to increase the marching speed, Sackler assigned each centurion a single carriage to carry heavy objects.
The carts and horses were both captured from the Huds, and it was hard to say how long they would last.
The baggage in the military camp was loaded onto carriages, but there was still a lot left.
Initially determined to fight a war of attrition, the Palatine army took two and a half months to transport a large amount of baggage—there was even room left to transport luxury goods to the officers.
The mountains of grain piled up in the warehouse next to the legion headquarters gave Sackler the courage to continue fighting even if the supply line was cut off.
Even if the Palatine army loses its rear supplies, the Heds in Bienli City will definitely starve to death first.
Now these supplies have become a burden because the carriage cannot fit them.
"Take as much as you can." Szekler gritted his teeth and ordered: "If you can't take it away, burn it all. Not a grain of wheat or a blade of grass will be left for the Hud people. Except for grain and hay, everything else will be thrown away! "
In the camp of the Jessica Brigade, the lieutenant colonel also gave Mason an order: "Nail all the artillery fire doors and push them all into the center of the river."
"They will definitely be needed in the future." Mason was dejected and stood there without executing: "They are all good guns."
Lieutenant Colonel Jessica frowned and replied: "It's not them, it's them! This journey won't be easy. Instead of carrying it reluctantly, waiting until the draft horses collapse one by one, and finally having to abandon them. It's better to abandon them from the beginning. It also saves some energy for the draft horses.”
Mason knew he was in the wrong, saluted and walked out of the tent.
Four light and three heavy guns, a total of seven artillery pieces, finally disappeared into the waves of the converging river.
Along with the cannons, captured armor and weapons were thrown into the confluence.
All the luxury goods brought to the officers by the baggage train from hundreds of miles away were also destroyed.
Robert and Jessica, two lieutenant colonels, stood by the river and watched as the soldiers smashed the porcelain with the handles of their swords and threw the entire box of wine directly into the confluence river.
"The old man is still not decisive enough." Jessica's brows furrowed: "Speed comes first. Nothing matters except food and grass. You have to throw away everything. You also have to throw away your war trophies. Carry one more knife with you, and you will walk one less mile with one. road."
Robert sighed: "You should also be considerate of the old man. If he forces the people below to hand over the loot, the big soldiers will mutiny directly."
"No." Jessica shook her head: "Life is the most important thing. Go home alive first, and then talk about the spoils."
"Remember that fable? That fable about gold?" Robert asked back: "There are only a few people who are willing to throw away the gold and swim ashore. Most of them are reluctant to let go and will not throw away the gold until the moment they drown, but it is already too late. .Human nature is like this, you and I can’t do anything, and the old man can’t do anything either.”
A thick smoke rose behind the two lieutenant colonels. It was the Plato Camp burning supplies.
To the south and north, more plumes of smoke rose.
It was the Platuan people who were stationed in various places who were setting fire to fortifications and camps.
Winters and Andre in Border City also polluted and filled all the wells to death.
The smoke in the city gradually became thicker, and Winters and Andre quickly took people out of Bianli.
Everyone sat paralyzed on the river beach in the north of the city, breathing heavily to rest.
"Let's go!" Winters licked his chapped lips and urged his men to take action: "Don't stay here, go back to camp and rest."
The militiamen slowly got up, slumped their shoulders, dragged their tools, and followed the centurion toward the camp.
"Someone is coming!" A sharp-eyed militiaman pointed forward and shouted: "It seems to be the Hud!"
Winters' heart tightened, he stepped on the stirrups, stood up and looked out.
"It's a Hurd." Winters confirmed, and added: "But it's okay, it's a Hurd prisoner."
Two infantry brigades escorted the prisoners and passed by everyone.
Winters' eyes swept over the Hurd crowd. The Hurd people - to be precise, they should have been Hurd slaves - looked sad, painful, and a little numb.
Winters saw Plato soldiers using violent methods to separate men, women, and children, and the women and children of Hed were crying.
All Hurd men who could ride horses had broken out with the White Lion. The men who remained in the city were either too old or wounded.
Like separating egg whites from egg yolks, the Palatine soldiers separated the Hed men from the crowd and drove them to continue eastward toward the river beach at the confluence of the two rivers.
The Hurd men understood their fate, and several wounded soldiers roared with grief and anger, and threw themselves at the Plato soldiers in front of them.
But they were wounded and unarmed. They were no match for the heavily armed Platoans, and they all died miserably.
Plato soldiers carried bloody weapons and continued to drive the remaining Hed men towards the beach between the two rivers.
"Deal with all the Hurds." Winters instantly remembered the order relayed by Andre.
The Platuan method of dealing with this was execution.
The men must be dealt with first, and the next step is to deal with the women and children.
Winters also "handled" many prisoners.
But women and children...he hadn't crossed that line yet.
Seeing the Hud women and children who were left in the same place crying out in agony and in extreme misery, Winters felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Let's go." Even a heartless person like Andre couldn't bear it. He lowered his head and whispered: "It's uncomfortable to watch. Let them do it."
"Wait! Don't go!" Winters suddenly pinched the horse's ribs and galloped towards the beach between the two rivers: "I have something to say to the officer in charge of 'dealing with the Hurds'!"
