…
In Munro's army camp, after a fortified battle, the camp was filled with the painful wails of injured soldiers. Soldiers with severed arms and legs could be seen everywhere being randomly abandoned in the corners of each camp. No matter how they moaned, they could not receive effective treatment.
Compared with the Han army, the Mongolian army seriously lacked military doctors and had no concept of medical care and logistics. Fighting relied on sheer bravery. Once injured, they could only resign themselves to fate. The remaining doctors who accompanied the army only served those soldiers who were worthy of treatment.
It can be said that the Mengluo Army and the Han Army both belong to the cold weapon era, but there is a generational gap between the two armies in military concepts and systems, which cannot be made up by just a few ingenious weapons.
Compared with the injured Mongolian soldiers, what is even more frightening is that a pessimistic atmosphere is spreading among the army.
In more than three months of fighting, the confrontation between the two armies caused more than 30,000 casualties to Mengluo's soldiers. Many of the former brave warriors in the army unconsciously doubted whether the war was worth fighting.
In order to conquer the newly born Han Empire in Xuanwu Pass, Tuoba Hongye, the king of Mengluo Empire, resolutely summoned a total of 600,000 soldiers from all tribes in the empire and hundreds of soldiers, regardless of the opposition of his brother Tuoba Yuhai and the high-level officials of various banners. Thousands of slaves participated in this battle.
At first, the Mongolian soldiers thought that this battle was the same as the previous Western Expedition. The cowardly Central Plains people would immediately collapse when they saw the Mongolian troops, and then rush into the prosperous hinterland of the Central Plains, plundering the wealth, women and food of the farming civilization.
But the repeated failures taught these Mongolian soldiers an extremely painful lesson, not only physically, but also psychologically.
That majestic city wall is like a life-and-death line that can never be crossed.
Gradually, over the past few months, the Mongolian soldiers have gradually become depressed from being high-spirited at first. They just want to end this damn war as soon as possible and then return to their own grasslands to recuperate.
In addition, due to the trade city (Guining City) established between the Mengluo Empire and the Han Dynasty outside the Great Wall, many Mengluo people who had been fortunate enough to visit this city yearned for the Han Dynasty.
After all, if you can get the cloth, salt, tea and even grain that you urgently need in life through reasonable and fair transactions with just the cattle and sheep you raise and the animal skins you hunt, why do you have to kill each other? To kill? Isn't it good to do business with those Central Plains people?
Therefore, with this resentment, many of the Munro soldiers even hoped that the Munro Empire would be defeated and relieved as soon as possible.
In addition, some people in the military camp are starting to move.
"Hey, why do we come here to fight the Han army? Tens of thousands of people died but we couldn't even enter the Xuanwu Pass gate. What can we do even if we conquer the gate?
The Central Plains is rich in resources. If every place is so difficult to conquer, wouldn’t it mean that we Mengluo people will be exhausted to death? "
An officer with a white flag, named Hater, was sitting in front of the tent with a dissatisfied look on his face and sulking!
At this time, a foreign warrior with oil paint on his face came up with a smile and said to Hater: "I say Hater, you are complaining again, be careful not to let the minions of the two yellow flags hear it, otherwise it will inevitably happen. Another beating!"
Hater glanced at the warrior, but still sat on the ground without getting up at all. He waved his riding crop casually, smashed an insect under his feet into a puddle of mud, and said: "Doren Basang, what are you doing here? If you want Just complain, just go ahead! Am I, Hater, afraid of a whip?"
Doren Basang smiled and sat down next to Hater, looked at the indifferent soldiers in the camp and said: "Don't get me wrong, we are best friends, how can I file a lawsuit against you?
In fact, like you, I already hate this war, and I even wish it would end quickly so that I could live the life I want. "
Dorenpasang's words aroused Hater's attention.
"Don't look at me like that, I mean what I say from the bottom of my heart!" Doren Basang said, "Both you and I should know by now that if this war continues, the only losers will be us Mengluo people.
Autumn has arrived, and we have missed the best time for grazing. Even if we can win this war, our tribe will still lose a lot of people. "
Hater sneered and said: "Doren Basang, don't I know you? How can you care about the life and death of your clan members? I heard that you lived in Guining City for a long time.
You have gained countless benefits from trading with the merchants of the Han Dynasty. Even if your entire clan dies, you will still be alive and well! "
Hearing this, Dorenpasang did not refute, but asked with a half-smile: "Then my brother Hater, to be honest, do you envy me?
My family now has enough food and cotton clothes to last two winters, and more tea and salt than our clan leader.
At least I don’t have to worry about my family not surviving the winter because they can’t graze. My kids even have snowflakes to eat.
Even those stubborn nobles may not be as comfortable as I am, don’t you want to live like this? "
Hater heard the words and stopped talking. Of course he envied his friend's life in his heart. Unfortunately, due to his arrogance and contempt, he refused Dorenpasang's invitation to go to Guining City to do business with the Han people. As a result, his current life is still the same. It’s a matter of not picking up the slack.
Looking back now, I really regret it. Seeing the smoke coming out of the Duolen Basang felt bag every day, I can eat the white flour scones called "flour" with my children without restraint, but I and my family can only nibble on them. It's really unpleasant to eat dry hard cheese with highland barley noodles, and often have to be supported by Duoren Basang's family.
"well!"
Thinking that his family might be starving, Hater punched the soft earth angrily.
Seeing the resentment in Hater's heart, Dorenpasang felt that the time had come, so he said to him: "Good brother, it's not too late for you to wake up now.
See that majestic city wall? As long as we can go in, are you afraid that you won't be able to live like this with your abilities? "
Hater said: "Don't bury me. If we can successfully break through Xuanwu Pass, we won't have to die so many people and still stand still!"
Doren Basang shook his head and said: "Wrong, my brother, I don't mean to fight in, but to take the initiative to surrender to the Han army in the pass."
Hater's eyes widened immediately, and he glanced around. When he found that no one was paying attention, he immediately said in a deep voice: "Are you crazy? It is an unforgivable crime to seek refuge in the Han Dynasty!"
Dorenpasang: "Staying here will lead to death!"
Hater frowned: "What do you mean?"
Dorenpasang leaned into Hater's ear and said: "To be honest, I have a brother who works in the king's tent, and he told me a secret.
Our army doesn't have much food anymore. We will run out of food in seven days at most. At that time, I'm afraid we will have to kill horses to satisfy our hunger.
If we Mengluo people have no horses, how can we fight with the Han army! "
Hater: "Don't talk nonsense. Yesterday I saw the royal court's grain transport team transporting tens of thousands of carts of grain to the Khan's Golden Tent..."
Duoren Basang shook his head: "What's in it is not food at all, most of it is silt. The Holy Emperor did this to stabilize the morale of the army. The tens of thousands of cars that actually contain food are only a few thousand at most. Now There is already a shortage of food on the grassland!”
Hater was shocked when he heard this. Once the army was short of food, Mengluo's army would only face two problems: either they would starve and continue to fight against Xuanwu Pass, or they would withdraw and end the campaign against the Han Dynasty.
Judging from the current situation, the Holy Emperor is determined not to retreat, so what everyone is about to face is a mutiny that is very likely to break out.
