There is no longer the excitement of entering the city just now.
Quanzi just glanced at the white bones scattered randomly not far away, and the weak residents lying on the ground to greet the army by the roadside. His face became increasingly ugly, and he asked in a low voice to Cui Li, who had just surrendered next to him;
'Cui Shouwei, how many households are there in the city? '
Cui Li's face turned ugly when he saw Quan Zi. He didn't dare to touch his troubles, so he quickly called the servants around him to question him.
After hearing this, he had a look of confusion on his face for a moment. He didn't dare to look directly into Quan Zicai's eyes and whispered softly, "There are probably more than a thousand households and more than 600 defenders." '
Although Cui Li's voice was low, but the two were very close to each other, his words still reached Quan Zicai's ears clearly.
After listening, Quan Zi suddenly realized that his vision went dark, and there was a roar in his mind. Even the lieutenants next to him became very ugly after hearing this.
The scene suddenly became extremely quiet. Cui Li, who lowered his head, secretly looked at Quan Zicai's reaction. I saw that the other party's face had turned pale, without any blood.
Suddenly, Quanzi collapsed to the ground, covering his head and crying bitterly;
"There used to be millions of residents in Bianliang, Tokyo! Unexpectedly, in just a hundred years, there were only a few thousand people, old and young, left in the city. How can I explain this to His Majesty and to the world?"
Just as he was crying, Quanzi suddenly rolled his eyes and fell unconscious on the ground in front of the public.
'General! General...! Call the doctor quickly. Cui Li and his subordinates, who were always paying attention to him, saw that he had fainted from grief and immediately screamed in panic.
It was night, and the huge Kaifeng City loomed in the night, like a ghost.
Only a few torches were lit scatteredly at the top of the city, and a few lights were lit in the back hall and living room of the garrison house in the city, bringing some light like will-o'-the-wisps.
"Bah...!" The guest room door was opened.
Then a trembling doctor came out of the room.
The doctor didn't wait for Quan Zicai's men who had gathered to ask questions, and opened his mouth to comfort him: "Generals, don't worry! General Quan only fainted because of excessive grief. My husband has given him silver needles, and now General Quan has passed away." wake up.
oh! When you came out, General Quan specifically asked me to tell you to go in. "
"Thank you, doctor! Come here, send the old man back safely, and double the consultation fee." Vice General Quan Zicai first expressed his gratitude to the old doctor, then turned and ordered the soldiers on duty outside the door to take the doctor away.
"No! Please, old gentleman."
After the doctor left, the deputy general led the generals into the house.
As soon as they entered the door, they saw Quanzi wrapped in a turban and leaning on the bed. Opposite him, a maid in green was feeding him porridge.
Hearing the noise, Quanzi raised his eyes and saw the deputy general bringing in all his subordinates. He quickly swallowed the porridge in his mouth, pointed to the chair next to him and said to everyone;
"Everyone, sit down!"
"No!" All the subordinates breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Quan Zicai looked fine.
After everyone had finished sitting down, Quanzi waved away the maid in green who was feeding porridge in front of him, and turned to the deputy general and asked;
'Has the city defense been arranged? How long can our food last? '
Upon hearing this, the deputy general quickly stood up, took two steps forward, and replied, "I have already arranged for the city wall to be changed. It should have been completely taken over by this point. It's just..."
"Where's the food? Say...!" Food is the focus of his attention. Quanzi saw that the deputy general was hesitant, and his voice could not help but rise a little higher.
The deputy general gritted his teeth and faced his boss who was staring at him with stern eyes, so he had no choice but to reveal the truth;
“We didn’t bring much food to begin with, and although we supplemented it at Yingtian Mansion in Nanjing, it was only enough to last until now.
Tokyo was in ruins, we...we counted. Even if you try your best to raise money, it will last about six days at most. Moreover, the Mongols dug up the embankments of the Yellow River, and now the Lianghuai area in the southeast is a muddy swamp, making food transportation very protracted. Unless... Marshal Shi from the Jinghu area is willing to transport grain, otherwise..."
Only then did Quanzi understand what the deputy general meant. Like Zhao Mao, Quan Zicai was full of confidence when he first entered the Central Plains, but then he was directly hit. Because transporting grain from the Huaihe and Huaihe areas is really expensive, and the Central Plains area is very empty, there is no way to supply food on the spot. The longer we enter the hinterland of the Central Plains, the more serious the food problem becomes.
Quan Zicai could already keenly feel that the key to the success of this operation was not the outcome of the battle with the Mongols, but the timely supply of food and grass in the rear.
Thinking of this, Quan Zi felt angry at Shi Songzhi. This guy has no overall perspective. If he can transport food from his Jinghu area, how can he be in the dilemma of running out of food? The success rate of regaining the three capitals this time can be increased by at least 50%.
But, there is no but!
Therefore, Quan Zicai had no choice but to say to the deputy general: "Don't worry about Shi Songzhi, collect our remaining grain. If the supply is reduced by a quarter, it can barely support General Zhao Kui and others.
In this way, you immediately arrange for three people. On the first route, pay close attention to the Mongols on the north bank of the Yellow River to prevent sneak attacks.
The second route reported the victory to Lin'an, saying that we had recaptured Bianliang in Tokyo with overwhelming force, and asked for credit for his subordinates to urge the court to supply food and grass as soon as possible.
The Third Route informed General Zhao Kui and asked him to bring a large force to Kaifeng to gather and study the next military action. "
After hearing this, the deputy general quickly agreed and took a group of his men out to do what Quanzi had just told him.
At the same time, Zhao Kui, the commander-in-chief of the Song Army, looked at Zeguo in the darkness with a livid face.
From the weak torch light, it could be seen that his hands were clenched tightly, and the veins on his raised forearms were protruding. The calf stood directly in the dark mud, and there was a splashing sound from time to time as he walked.
He was doing well, but the soldier behind him was drowned up to his neck. From time to time, streams of muddy water were poured into his mouth, and his face was as pale as an evil ghost.
From time to time, there was a gurgling sound of water behind him, and a soldier drowned directly, even if the people around him could not save him.
After Zhao Kui heard this, the corners of his mouth kept twitching and his face became even bluer.
After three consecutive days of reorganizing on the spot, Zhao Kui led his 50,000-strong troops to take a detour.
The Yellow River burst formed a yellow flood area with a radius of thousands of miles in the southeastern part of the Central Plains. Roads were silted up, causing grain road blockage. Zhao Kui had no choice but to take a detour to Kaifeng City with his army while sending people towards Lin'an for rescue.
It was already fifteen days before he and Quanzi met in Kaifeng.
On the Mongolian side, after confirming that Kuo Chu, the third son of Wokuotai, would lead troops to reinforce Tachaer, Kuo Chu immediately recruited thousands of Nayan tribesmen from five hundred miles near the Onan River and organized a large army to go straight to Han.
Kuo brought a total of 20,000 cavalry this time, and combined with the 20,000 to 30,000 men in Tachar's hands, the total force invested by Mongolia in this campaign was close to 50,000.
The Central Plains is now in a state of turmoil and uncertainty. The few people in the Central Plains region were once again hit hard.
In the area along the south bank of the Yellow River, the Mongols had already collected all their food supplies when they retreated. Most of the southeastern part was washed into a swamp by the Yellow River. The southwest region was completely destroyed by the last Caizhou War.
It can be said that except for a few lucky people who hid in the mountainous areas, the southern part of the Central Plains and the northern part of Huaiyang have become completely desolate and uninhabited no man's land.
Just half a year after the armistice, the sporadic vitality of the people in this ancient fertile soil was once again extinguished due to the war.
"Mom, I'm hungry!" A three- or four-year-old boy climbed on the back of an unkempt woman and shouted softly.
"Shhh!... Don't make trouble, dear. There will be food later. You can eat some kapok first."
The woman who was lying on a sorghum heard the shouting from behind, and she took out a piece of rhizome that was not much of a plant from her lapel.
First he looked at it reluctantly, then gritted his teeth and stuffed the root into his mouth and started chewing it.
The rhizome didn't taste good, and the rough particles inside made her teeth hurt when she bit it. From time to time, a bitter juice splashed out from the rhizome.
But even with such unpalatable food, this woman actually had an expression of enjoyment on her face, as if she had eaten some delicacy.
But soon she showed a hint of annoyance, and she quickly chewed the loose root in her mouth, turned her head and fed it to the mouth of the baby on her back with a smile.
This child was extremely sensible at such a young age. He ate the food in his mouth carefully. Except for frowning from time to time because of the bitter taste, he lay quietly on his mother's back the whole time without crying or making a fuss.
Because my mother said when she came out, it is very dangerous here! But he didn't know where the danger came from. He just felt that his little face was pressed against his mother's slightly uncomfortable back, and he felt unusually comfortable and stable.
His mother was right, it was indeed dangerous here.
Because if you look down from a high altitude, you can see that the mother and son are quietly crawling behind a tree on the ridge more than a hundred meters away from the Song Army camp. At this time, Song Jun at the foot of the mountain was packing his luggage and preparing to continue on his way.
Suddenly a Song Army messenger ran on horseback from the southeast, passing fifty meters below the feet of the mother and son.
When the woman saw it, she was so frightened that she quickly covered her son's mouth on her back to prevent him from making any sound. He slowly moved his body two inches back, then stretched out a hand and pulled a pile of leaves in front of him.
The messenger on horseback was in such a hurry to deliver the message that he had no time to pay attention to the ridge above his head! It can only be said that the woman is too careful.
After the messengers had entered the Song Army's camp, about five minutes passed before the woman let go of the boy, whose face was red from holding it back. She slowly patted her heart, which was about to beat out, and breathed a sigh of relief.
As if he noticed her nervousness, the boy suddenly kissed her dusty face, and then climbed on her thin back again.
The woman smiled, even the sunlight shining through the leaves was not as bright as her smile.
After the messenger entered the camp, he immediately dismounted and panted, and ran towards the Chinese army.
At this time, the Song Army's camp was almost packed, and Zhao Kui and several generals were looking at a map.
"General, there is news." The deputy general next to him pulled his sleeve and reminded him.
By the time Zhao Kui looked back from the map, the messenger had already run up to them. Zhao Kui asked, "What's the matter?"
The messenger quickly took out a letter from his waist and said, "General, a letter from Lin'an!"
Zhao Kui was so happy that he grabbed the envelope from the ordering soldier and couldn't wait to open it and check it. The expression on his face alternated between sadness and joy, which made all the generals puzzled.
After a long while, he finally saw Zhao Kui put the letter back into the envelope. The deputy general couldn't wait to ask, "General Zhao, what did Lin'an say?"
When Zhao Kui saw all the generals looking at him, he spoke out what was in his heart.
"The letter said that the court has received our request for help, and there is currently no food in the court's treasury. In order to supply food, the court has organized food collection in various places, but it will take some time."
