The morning wind was extremely cold, blowing on my body like a knife cutting me. It was August weather, and the soldiers had not yet changed into winter clothes. How could they bear the cold wind blowing on them? I can only keep accelerating my pace. If I walk faster, I will use my fatigue to drive away the cold.
After leaving the village, Du Wulang followed the army. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't drive him away, and Jiang Min had no choice. Entering the mountain, the road became more and more rugged, and Du Wulang gradually couldn't keep up. Jiang Min wanted him to retreat despite the difficulties and deliberately ignored him. After walking for more than an hour, he unexpectedly followed me.
Jiang Min sighed and sent a soldier over to help Du Wulang.
Du Wulang was out of breath and blood was coming from the corner of his mouth. Jiang Min said: "Du Wu, you'd better go back to the village first. When we catch up with Jin Bing, we will definitely bring back your junior officials. Seeing how weak you are, how can you keep up with the army?"
Du Wulang smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter! The officials just lead the army away, I can follow behind!"
"Why bother-" Jiang Min sighed deeply, feeling helpless.
Du Wulang was silent for a while. He raised his head and said: "My lord, those Jurchens are like animals, leading the beasts to eat people. The mountain road is not easy to walk, so why do they have to take a few children with them? I'm afraid -"
Speaking of this, Du Wulang choked up.
Jiang Min was taken aback. After the Jurchens occupied the place, taking slaves was a common practice, and children were more popular. So Jin Jun took away a few children from the village. Jiang Min didn't think much about it and just thought it was the same as before. Now after listening to Du Wulang's statement, it seems that this is not the case?
No more words were said. Jiang Min asked his soldiers to support Du Wulang and follow the army.
After climbing over the top of the mountain and reaching the leeward side, it was already noon. Jiang Min looked at the terrain and said to everyone: "Rest here for an hour and let everyone eat something. After a while, the scouts will come back and ask about the situation of the Jurchens in front, and we will catch up."
Everyone promised. We each found a place to sit down in the leeward valley, took out pancakes and ate them. Because they were not far from the Jin Army, in order to avoid exposing their whereabouts, they did not boil hot water.
The soldiers asked Du Wulang to sit down on a big rock. He took out the pancakes and made a bowl of fried noodles for him to eat. Du Wulang took the pancakes and thanked him repeatedly. After taking two bites, I couldn't move anymore, so I took it in my hand. I picked up the fried noodles and took two big mouthfuls.
Putting the bowl down, Du Wulang said: "Brother, go and have a rest. I'm tired from walking on the road, so I just need to sit here."
As he spoke, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. Du Wulang hurriedly wiped it with his sleeve and said to the soldier: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."
The soldier didn't say much and sat on the big rock next to him. Take out the pancakes and chew them carefully with the prepared fried noodles. Without boiling water, the fried noodles cannot be cooked, and the soup is thin and watery and tastes bad. There was still a big lump that couldn't be flushed away, and I choked in my mouth.
Looking back at Du Wulang, he was leaning on the stone and fell asleep with a pancake in his hand. The soldiers knew that he had a hard time walking on the road and ignored him.
Half an hour later, the scouts from the front came back. Tell Jiang Min that Jin Jun is on the other side of the opposite mountain. He is also exhausted and resting there. According to estimates, if we travel faster on the road, we can catch up with the Jin Army as soon as tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.
Jiang Min thought for a while and said: "Based on the distance, in three days, the Jin army can cross the mountains and enter Yicheng County. However, there is no army of Jin soldiers in Yicheng County, and there is no city wall. When they get there, I just want to add that we should escape back to Jiangzhou as soon as possible. We can catch up in one day, and we have enough time. As the so-called attacking the enemy is unprepared, tonight and tomorrow morning are both good times to attack. However, in order to prevent more people To escape to the mountains, it is better to attack early tomorrow morning. Okay, I will make arrangements."
The soldiers retreated, and Jiang Min thought for a while. Order the army to rest for an extra hour and camp later tonight. We must chase and camp not far from the Jin army, and set out before dawn tomorrow to attack the Jin army.
After another hour, Jiang Min ordered the entire army to set off. It is required to move quickly all the way, be sure to catch up with the Jin army and hold on tightly.
The soldier stood up and stretched. Seeing that Du Wulang hadn't gotten up yet, he went over to call him.
He patted Du Wulang's shoulder with his hand, but Du Wulang made no movement at all. The soldier shook his head and thought that this old man was really tired from walking on the road. How could he sleep so soundly on a stone in such a cold weather.
He patted Du Wulang's body hard, but there was still no movement at all. The soldier was impatient and pushed hard, saying: "Du Wu, we are about to set off! You must still think of your grandson and get up early!"
Unexpectedly, with this push, Du Wulang's body rolled down from the stone. He closed his eyes tightly and remained motionless. The piece of millet pancake given to him was held tightly in his hand and placed on his chest.
The soldier was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to test Du Wulang's breath. He suddenly jumped up and said: "Zhizhi, Du Wu seems to have run out of energy!"
Jiang Min was getting ready to go on the road. Hearing this, he hurried over to take a look. Seeing Du Wulang lying there motionless, he stepped forward and tried to breathe, but he was already out of breath. Straightening up, Jiang Min looked at Du Wulang and said, "Why did you come here? Why don't you stay in the village and wait for us to go back?"
Looking around, I saw green mountains and a small river flowing slowly next to it. The wind has stopped, and there is no shadow from the snow that fell yesterday. The sun shines on people, and they actually feel lazy.
The soldier said: "Commander, what should I do about this? Although this old man is not liked by others, he still has a life. It is just gone. What should we do? I kept supporting him on the way, and it was not very tiring." "
Jiang Min said: "Du Wulang was already injured when we saw him. He came out in a hurry this time and didn't bring a military doctor with him, so he couldn't get him some medicine. He followed us all the way, and it seemed that he had an old injury. He lost his life. - What can be done? The only option is to bury him."
The soldiers around him didn't speak and stood there in a daze. Soldiers have seen a lot of life and death, so it shouldn't be surprising. But no one had ever seen this kind of death, and they were a little at a loss.
Jiang Min said: "I know that no one has ever seen such a thing. Who has seen it before? When the Jin army came south, there were bones everywhere they passed. How many wives were separated and families were destroyed. This kind of thing, How can it be explained clearly in just a few words? When I was in Xiangyang, I was in the Jieshuai Mansion, and I didn’t know how many of these stories I had read. Many things were too tragic to be spread out, so they could only be kept on paper. Face. Today we are fighting behind enemy lines, and there will be many more such things in the future. These people, including Du Wulang, are all our flesh and blood compatriots, and we should feel for their suffering. When facing the Jin people, we should encourage Take courage, fight bravely, and avenge these people! Don't be insensitive just because you have seen it too much. Don't be afraid just because you have seen it with your own eyes."
tomato
The soldiers crossed their hands together: "Obey the commander's orders! Fight the enemy bravely and fulfill your mission!"
Jiang Min looked at everyone and nodded heavily: "Take care of things and bury Du Wu properly. Let's get on the road and don't let the golden man escape!"
The soldiers promised. He stepped forward to sort out Du Wulang's remains, dug a hole by the stream, and buried Du Wulang.
Du Wulang's son and daughter-in-law died early, and the remaining grandson was captured by the Jin people. All he wanted was to save his grandson, even if it cost his own life. Unfortunately, his life was not that tough, and he fell early in the pursuit.
