The scout went to conduct reconnaissance for a whole morning, and then returned from Luoyi when the sun turned west.
A team of seven soldiers, all with pale faces and frightened expressions in their eyes.
When Murong Xue saw their ghostly looks, she knew that the situation in the city must be very bad. She couldn't help but said in a deep voice: "What did you see? Tell the truth!"
The scouts looked at each other in shock, and no one said a word. Finally, the captain complained with a bitter face: "General, Luoyi is so miserable! There are corpses chewed to pieces by monsters everywhere, and the whole city stinks."
"Even the drainage ditch is full of rotting flesh, dirt and blood!" A young soldier added, suppressing the feeling of nausea.
The captain nodded and continued: "We didn't dare to go through the city gate. Instead, we used ropes to climb up the city wall, and then came down the stairs to enter the city. Because there were too many poisonous soldiers and monsters, we only explored the area around the inner street of the east gate. Please forgive me, sir."
"There are more than 500 houses in the four lanes next to the street. There are no living people now. We hid in the dark and did a rough count, and we probably saw nearly a hundred poison soldiers. They were spread out widely. They also ignored each other, and it didn’t look like they were being directed.”
Murong Xue frowned and calculated in her mind: Luoyi is only a little smaller than the imperial capital. There are about eighty miles in the city. According to what the scouts saw, there are nearly a hundred poisonous soldiers gathered in four miles. So the whole city must be at least There are two to three thousand ferocious monsters. In addition, the palace, which occupies an extremely large area, is not included, so there is probably a lot hidden there.
Damn, we may not have enough troops!
He raised his head and looked at the scout team: "If you find anything else, please tell me freely. Don't ask any questions."
The captain thought for a while and then said: "The states of those monsters are also different. Some seem to be gentler, either eating people or taking a nap, which is relatively quiet. But some look very manic and seem to be in pain. , howling."
Another soldier also said: "Yes, I saw a guy rolling on the ground, howling very miserably, as if he was in pain."
Murong Xue nodded. He had heard Shen Lie say before that Blood Demon and Soul Eater were in a similar situation. Before he died, Soul Eater said that when the toxins in his body broke out, his whole body felt like he was in pain, and his ferocity also skyrocketed. The Turks relied on drugs that alleviated the poison to control them.
However, the poison soldiers in Luoyi City are obviously different from the blood demons. The Turks seemed to have no intention of taking care of these monsters. They neither issued instructions nor provided antidotes. They just allowed these guys to squat in the city like wild beasts and feed on the people.
Could it be that...the Turks just let these monsters out to do evil?
This guess flashed through his mind, and he continued to listen to the scout captain's sermon: "In addition to different states, the poison soldiers are also very alert. If there is the slightest sign of trouble, they will immediately rush over together. We deliberately threw it several times The stone test is like this every time. I guess that when we were attacked last night, it was because the monsters nearby heard the noise and ran over."
Murong Xue's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she thought to herself: This is such a great love. If you can create noise to attract poison soldiers, you don't need to use living people as bait as Shen Lie said. You can also set up traps to surround and kill those monsters.
-
Li Bing looked at the military report sent back by Murong Xue, and his ups and downs could not calm down for a long time.
Twelve days ago, my favorite general led his troops on an expedition, with 10,000 elite warriors as the vanguard, and went straight into the Eastern Capital to kill the evil ghosts and poisonous soldiers.
Murong Xue used the local terrain to set up traps and set up fifteen battlefields in the east of Luoyi City. He fought fiercely with nearly 2,000 monsters for three days and killed more than 1,300 of them.
Later, he personally led five hundred crossbowmen deep into the city, shot and killed two hundred poisonous soldiers, and drove most of the ferocious monsters to the southwest corner of Luoyi, where they were surrounded by more than a dozen lanes.
However, what he didn't expect was that just when Murong Xue was preparing to expand his victory and annihilate the remaining poisonous soldiers in one fell swoop, countless poisonous soldiers and demons suddenly flooded into the west of Luoyi City, covering the sky and the sun with a menacing force.
Fortunately, the scouts warned in advance, and Murong Xue reacted very quickly. His main force immediately retreated under cover, and exited Luoyi from the east and north of the city before a large number of poisonous soldiers rushed forward.
Unexpectedly, those poisonous soldiers went crazy and killed, chasing after the Shengtang army, forcing Murong Xue to run for more than ten miles before giving up.
However, because there were almost no living people in Luoyi City at this time, the man-eating monsters felt that there was not much fresh food, so they did not stay in the eastern capital. They dispersed into dozens of groups, large and small, and moved to nearby towns to continue causing harm to the people.
Murong Xue immediately divided the troops into parts and rushed to various places to provide reinforcements. At the same time, he quickly mobilized the follow-up troops to come for reinforcements.
When this military report was written, he had returned to Luoyi and was commanding the Liaodong Army and the Hebei Army to eliminate the remaining lone poisonous soldiers in the city, and at the same time stepped up repairs on the city gate fortifications.
Li Bing put down the military report, sighed softly, and said to Shen Lie: "I have imagined the scenario of recapturing Luoyi many times before, but I never expected that the mighty Eastern Capital would be recaptured from a group of demons and devils. Yes. Hundreds of thousands of people in the city were slaughtered by those beasts, and I’m afraid they won’t be able to recover for ten to eight years.”
"Your Highness, don't worry too much," Shen Lie advised: "According to Jie Zhichuan, in addition to the heavy casualties suffered by the people of Luoyi on the night when the poisonous soldiers attacked the city, the next day, the third day, and even the following days, there were also casualties one after another. Many people escaped. I estimate that the number of casualties may be around one hundred thousand at most..."
Li Bing interrupted him: "One hundred thousand people are quite a lot! Besides, with so many people who died tragically in the city, and the grievances and resentments are gathering, who will dare to live in Luoyi in the future? Oh, it's ruined, completely ruined. ”
Shen Lie nodded sadly: "The Turks are so crazy and outrageous! They are currently in a bad situation, so they just do this despicable act. If the trapped beasts still fight in the future, I don't know what more cruel tricks they will use. The most troublesome thing at the moment is that one Ge Shuxuan is obviously accelerating the refining of poison weapons, and the number is increasing day by day, making it difficult to guard against them."
Li Bing remembered something and asked: "I remember what you said last time. According to Miss Xiahou's investigation, Ge Shuxuan was in urgent need of a material called lead for refining poison soldiers, so that the number of finished poison soldiers was not enough." Only six to seven hundred. Why are there suddenly thousands more people now? Could it be that he got lead weights from Western Xinjiang?"
"Absolutely impossible." Shen Lie said: "Right now, the second Turkic prince Tanli is leading his troops to threaten the two passes. The Zhenjiang Army under Li Jiangyao has assembled fifteen troops to fight. Zijin Pass and Shengyuguan are now completely blocked, and Ge Shuxuan simply cannot There is no way to transport lead from Western Xinjiang."
Li Bing frowned: "Could it be that lead ore was discovered in Longxi or Guanzhong?"
Shen Lie shook his head: "This possibility is not high. First of all, we have never heard of any lead mines in Longxi Guanzhong before. Secondly, the Nilin Division has spread its intelligence widely in the northwest. If the Turks mine lead lead, they will not There wasn’t even a hint of wind.”
He paused briefly and analyzed: "The only explanation is that Ge Shuxuan has given up using this material. According to the Xiahou Sect, the main purpose of the lead weight seems to be to control the onset of toxins in the poison soldiers' bodies, and vice versa. It is said that if Ge Shuxuan does not use lead, it means that after he creates the poison soldiers, it will be difficult for him to effectively control and command these monsters. Combined with the different situations in Luoyi and Zhongmu, this speculation exists. "
Li Bing thought carefully and agreed: "Well, that's true. After the Zhongmou tragedy, all the poisonous soldiers quickly withdrew from the city and disappeared. However, Luoyi was completely different. Two to three thousand monsters were actually in the city. It has been occupied for more than half a month. Comparing the two, the former is more like a soldier, while the latter is more like a beast."
He looked at Shen Lie: "How have you considered the countermeasures? Apart from sending troops to annihilate it, is there any other better way?"
Shen Lie responded: "Reporting to Your Highness, we have not yet found an effective method. However, the Yizhou Military Department and the Zhenjiang Army are working hard."
Li Bing nodded slightly: "Well, it seems that we can only count on Yizhou. The people in the Ministry of War are experienced and the court is full of talents. They should find a way. Besides, they are close to Yunnan and Miao Border, and the people there They are all good at using poison, so if you go and ask the experts for advice, you may be able to find a way to solve it."
-
The prince's idea of seeking advice from poison experts did coincide with the military department far away in Yizhou. However, the Ministry of War mentioned here does not refer to the Ministry of War yamen, but a person.
Dong Tianxing, a member of the Ministry of War.
Dong Tianxing is sixty-six years old this year. He is the oldest fifth-rank official in the entire Ministry of War, and even among the entire imperial court's three provinces, six ministries, and twenty-four divisions.
This old gentleman was originally a first-class scholar in liberal arts. I don’t know how he got to such a high starting point. At that time, he neither entered the Hanlin Academy nor the Yushitai. After passing the exam, he directly followed the second-class and third-class people. Together they were sent to the Sixth Department as casual officials.
He served as the seventh-rank Xuanyi Lang for five years; as the seventh-rank Xuandelang, he worked for six years; as the sixth-rank pastoral supervisor, he worked for seven years; as the sixth-rank Ku Lingshi, he worked Eight years; Yuanwailang, who finally got through to the fifth rank, was allowed to work for another nine years.
Dong Tianxing passed the Jinshi examination at the age of thirty-one and entered the political arena. He worked hard for thirty-five years before becoming a Yuanwailang, and his promotion speed was as fast as a snail. You should know that Nian Jinsong, the Taifu of the same age as him, started as a minor official in the county government, and in only twenty years he ascended to the court and received the title of Minister.
However, although the official promotion was slow, it did not affect Mr. Dong's good mood. No matter what he does, he is serious and meticulous, and has the character of a scholar.
Currently, Dong Tianxing works in the Ordnance Department of the Ministry of War, specializing in manufacturing and deploying weapons, armor and other equipment for the army, as well as building various large-scale combat equipment. In order to support the front line, the old man was so busy every day that he didn't even bother to eat a hot meal. However, he didn't feel tired at all, and he still looked cheerful.
Until he heard about the poison soldiers.
