Yuan Xi marched for several days, but unexpectedly suffered serious attrition.
Half the mules fell.
One was because he was in a hurry, and the other was because he drank unclean water and fell ill due to illness.
Now the sick mule cannot be used and can only be released on the spot. Even the hundreds of soldiers are lying on the mule cart, holding their stomachs and groaning.
As for the reason, we should also mention that it was getting late the day before yesterday, so they camped to rest by the river, made a fire to cook, and the soldiers led the mules and horses to drink water by the river.
At that time, there was not much firewood for cooking. Although Yuan Xi had people boil several large pots of water for drinking, most of the soldiers were still accustomed to drinking raw water and drank directly by the river.
As a result, while everyone was eating, they saw countless corpses floating in the river from upstream.
Judging by their appearance and clothing, most of them were civilians, with a few sergeants. Their bodies were covered with weapons wounds.
At that time, most of the sergeants did not wear armor and could not afford to raise them. Most of them would be fine if they had a helmet. Yuan Xi could only raise a hundred or so fully armored sergeants with the strength of a city.
At this time, he could tell that there were sergeants among them, rather than civilians. Because they were all wearing uniforms of the same color, they were extremely easy to identify.
As for ordinary people, they don’t even have such neat clothes.
"The Biography of Cui Shi in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty" - The soil of Wuyuan is suitable for hemp, but the common people do not know how to weave. The people have no clothes in the winter months, and they accumulate fine grass and lie in it. When they see the officials, they bring out the clothes and grass.
This is talking about the barren land in Lu Bu's hometown, the households are poor, and the people don't even have clothes. In winter, they can only lie naked in haystacks to keep out the cold, and when they see officials, they come out wrapped in straw.
The hardship of the people at that time was mostly like this.
This situation was not unique in all dynasties and lasted for nearly two thousand years.
Seeing dead bodies rushing down from the upper reaches, the soldiers were used to this scene, so they still lowered their heads to cook and drink water from the river with a normal expression.
However, Yuan Xi felt bad and quickly ordered everyone to stop drinking water from the river and find another spring to drink.
However, it was still too late. The next day, most of the mules and people started to suffer from diarrhea.
The soldiers could still lie down on the cart to rest, but the mules suffering from diarrhea had no choice but to give up.
After going back and forth, only about 300 of the 500 people who could fight were temporarily left. Yuan Xi felt a little worried. Among these 300 people, except for dozens of cavalry soldiers with iron armor, the rest were infantry, so he brought a The helmet and body were all made of the worst cloth armor, with just a few pieces of iron underneath the cloth, far inferior to Yuan Xi's own fully armored soldiers.
But even such cloth-armored soldiers are considered to be well-equipped among these states!
At that time, wearing armor was the exclusive preserve of cavalry, and infantry was considered expendable. Cao Cao's Qingzhou soldiers were said to be elite, but they were only relatively strong, so it was almost impossible to be issued armor.
Armored infantry are the great weapons of this era.
"Heroes" - (Gao Shun) commanded more than 700 soldiers, named Thousands. Their armors and fighting tools were all well-equipped and well-organized. Every attack was invincible, which was called a trapped camp.
Gao Shun's 700 armored infantrymen can be famous all over the world. Compared with other unarmored infantrymen, Gao Shun is already a dimensionality reduction blow.
Yuan Xi thought about it in his heart.
Now that they are fully prepared, the combat strength here is only 300 infantry and dozens of cavalry.
If Qu Yi and Gao Lan set out on time, they should bring dozens of armored cavalry, which is a key trump card for him.
But the key variable is still on the opposite side.
Everyone's target is Cao Song's family of more than fifty, together with hundreds of carts.
The first force was Zhang Kai's hundreds of cavalry.
The second force is the support team sent by Ying Shao, the prefect of Taishan.
The third force, the support force that Cao Cao may send, should be the same as Ying Shao.
The fourth force is the Liu Bei force that may be encountered.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi wanted to give himself a slap in the face. At first, he thought Liu Bei's casual move as an insurance policy might now become his biggest obstacle.
If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also come, how can Zhang He on his side stop him?
Probably not?
That’s weird!
At this point in time, Liu, Guan, and Zhang never separated. When they did meet, the three of them would most likely appear together!
Yuan Xi's headache got worse.
He deserves to say to Zhang He: "Brother Junyi, we need to speed up and travel lightly."
"Throw away all the unnecessary baggage, leave the sick soldiers and mules behind, and let them rest while they march slowly."
Zhang He praised: "Young Master is wise, I want to say the same."
"These sick soldiers are already very weak. After all the hard work, they are no longer able to fight even when they arrive at the place. They are of no use at all. It is better to stay behind and respond slowly."
"But while I was still hesitating, Young Master had already made a decision. It's really amazing!"
Yuan Xi didn't know whether Zhang He really thought he was powerful or was flattering him, so he quickly said: "No, brother Junyi has been in battle for a long time. I just said it casually. When the time comes, brother will still follow his words."
The two boasted to each other, and Zhang He left the sick soldier behind, and everyone continued to march. After entering Taishan County, the scene gradually became tragic along the way.
The village was burned down, corpses were everywhere, and there was no sound of chickens or dogs. Yuan Xi sat on his horse and saw dead old, young, women and children everywhere on the roadside. He thought that the city could not stop the killing, let alone the unprotected village.
Thieves pass by like a comb, soldiers pass by like a grate. Officers and soldiers harm the people more than thieves.
The world is huge, but there is no place for the common people.
Maybe only when the world is at peace and the rivers and seas are clear can people live and work in peace and contentment, right?
But how many years can this kind of peace last?
Because the Wu Huan Hua hundreds of years from now will be countless times more tragic than the scene before us.
In 451 AD, the battle between Song and Wei. "Zi Zhi Tong Jian·Song Ji" records: "When the Wei people invaded the six states of Nan Yan, Xu, Yan, Yu, Qing, and Hebei, they killed and plundered without a plan. The strong ones were cut off, and the babies were impaled on the stems. The dance is considered a play. There is no bare land left in the counties and counties we pass through. In spring, the swallows return and nest in the trees..."
Spring swallows make their nests on the eaves of houses and perch on forest trees, indicating that there are no houses anymore.
This kind of chaos will continue for hundreds of years, and living a peaceful life has become the most unrealistic dream for the people.
The stench of burnt and rotten things filled his nostrils. Yuan Xi rode past a half-remaining baby corpse. He caught a glimpse of the empty eyes that seemed to be staring at him, and couldn't help but roar.
Zhang He looked over in surprise.
After another two days of this, the team finally arrived between Hua Fei.
At that time, there were people fleeing from various places blocking the roads, some heading towards Xuzhou, some towards Jizhou, and some towards Qingzhou.
As for what I will encounter on the road and whether I can survive, I don’t know.
Before Yuan Xi and his group could walk in, the people on the road exploded and fled to the woods on both sides. The woman abandoned the car and ran away with her child in her arms, leaving her clothes on the ground to defecate.
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly in his heart. He was using the banner of Yuan Shaojun and was on the same side as Cao Cao. The people did not admit their mistake.
He said to Zhang He: "It's not too late, we can search quickly. Cao Song's family should be bringing a large convoy with hundreds of cars. It's difficult to hide them."
After hearing this, Zhang He immediately ordered the cavalry to disperse as scouts and search in all directions.
(End of chapter)
