Chapter 3267 Soldiers Change

Chapter 3266 Soldiers change

Looking up, there are endless mountains.

If it is leisure time, the scenery of the Taihang Mountains in front of you is undoubtedly pleasing to the eye.

The mountain range is like a winding dragon, with steep mountains and peaks.

Walking in the Taihang Mountains is like walking on the fingernails of a giant's feet.

The mountain road is winding, and the trees rustle in the wind.

And Xiahou Dun and his party are terrified.

A month ago, Xiahou Dun thought he could hold on in Jinyang City.

At least for half a year.

At that time, Xiahou Dun was very confident.

He also thought that he would become an important pillar of Cao Cao's great cause and a hero that everyone is paying attention to.

Hero...

But now, he has become a clumsy bear fleeing.

The beginning of the ambush was just scattered soldiers and falling rocks on some mountain roads.

But it soon expanded into various types of sneak attacks. In addition to falling rocks, sometimes there were one or two cold arrows, and sometimes there was a straw fireball rolling down from the top of the mountain.

Xiahou Dun and others were just passers-by. Except for a main passage, they knew nothing about other herb-collecting paths, goat-paths, etc.

The Baishi Qiang people were familiar with the land and roads here.

Of course, these small roads could not pass large troops, so a small team of three or five people was very suitable.

Chasing Xiahou Dun with a large force would be twice the result with half the effort. On the one hand, Huang Cheng needed to guard Taiyuan and clean up the remnants of Jinyang. On the other hand, Xiahou Dun must be prepared, and fighting in a narrow mountain road might not have any good effect.

But if he didn't chase him, he was unwilling to let Xiahou Dun run away, so Huang Cheng finally let some soldiers join the Baishi Qiang people to chase Xiahou Dun and other Cao's remnants together.

At the beginning, the Baishi Qiang were quite high-profile, thinking that they could kill Xiahou Dun by themselves, so they came with a roar, chasing Xiahou Dun's traces, and were soon beaten black and blue by Xiahou Dun's counterattack.

Xiahou Dun was happy for a while.

But soon the Baishi Qiang learned their lesson, combined with the team under Huang Cheng, and eventually evolved into a nightmare for Cao's army.

The Baishi Qiang people have been active in this mountainous area for a long time, from Taiyuan to Beidi, from Beidi to Mobei, there are their footprints.

Huang Cheng was the first general to implement Fei Qian's mountain soldier training drill. When he was in Hanzhong, he trained a group of mountain soldiers who entered Sichuan, and later Wei Yan took over.

So now, Huang Cheng's side has a guide and mountain soldiers, why should they face Xiahou Dun head-on?

And there is an additional benefit, that is, even if Cao's army wants to kill such a team, it is not cost-effective.

Because the attacks were launched from cliffs or mountain tops, and the locations chosen were often difficult to climb directly from the front, Xiahou Dun could not immediately counterattack these teams even if he found them. If too few soldiers were sent, Huang Cheng's team would not be afraid at all. If too many soldiers were sent, these teams under Huang Cheng would run away, and it would be hard to say whether the Cao army's team could go back and catch up with the main force...

In this way, in most cases, the Cao army could only passively withstand these attacks. Only in a few areas where they could climb directly from the front, Xiahou Dun would attack and drive away these teams under Huang Cheng.

…

…

Several Baishi Qiang people climbed on the trail and then climbed onto a rock.

After walking a few steps on the rock, a small camp appeared in front of them.

A dozen soldiers under Huang Cheng were resting in the camp.

『Where did the Cao army go? '

The Baishi Qiang stretched out his hand and gestured, 'They are climbing over the highest hill over there...'

The mountain soldier's military school stood up, looked in the direction of the Baishi Qiang's finger, estimated the distance, and ordered: 'Everyone get up! Get ready to go! This time we have to take a shortcut, it's not easy to walk! Bring all the equipment! '

'Captain, do you want to take the big yellow crossbow? 'A mountain soldier asked.

Two big yellow crossbows.

The big yellow crossbow is heavy, and if you want to carry it, you have to divide it into three parts, and then assemble it at the end of the field.

Once you bring the big yellow crossbow, you also need to bring the special crossbow arrows for the big yellow crossbow, which requires a fourth person.

Two, it means that it will occupy the carrying space of six people...

The mountain soldier was also scratching his head.

A few days ago, he brought a large yellow crossbow to snipe Xiahou Dun, but he was not in the first batch of troops, so when he caught up with Xiahou Dun's remnants, Xiahou Dun was no longer so conspicuous...

There were no flags, no tall horses, and he was mixed in with the soldiers.

This resulted in that even with the large yellow crossbow, it might not be able to kill Xiahou Dun in the mixed soldiers.

Even with grenades, it would not work.

The power of grenades is not as great as imagined.

Especially when they are used together, one plus one may be less than two...

The reason is very simple, because the burning of the fuse is inconsistent. The ignition time cannot be as neat as in later generations, and the error of the fuse manual makes it possible that one of the grenades exploded first and the others have not yet exploded.

This is why the effect of using grenades to blow up boulders was mediocre before.

The captain of the mountain troops suddenly remembered a sentence.

"You must know how to choose", this is the most common saying of craftsmen in the army.

If you want everything, you will get nothing. Because the armor itself is like this, if you want it to be strong and have high defense, it must be heavy. If you want it to have a long range, it must be inconvenient to shoot. There is no such thing as the best of both worlds in military weapons.

Thinking of this, the mountain soldier waved his hand, "No! Bring some light weight to make it easier to travel... That's right, bring kerosene and ropes! Bring more, and then we will give Cao Jun a little gift! '

It's beautiful to kill Xiahou Dun with a big yellow crossbow, but now we have to travel quickly and it's not easy to determine the target. If we miss it, there will be no good chance. It's better to change to kerosene, which is more convenient to carry and has a certain range of damage.

The soldiers laughed when they heard it, as if they were rushing to a banquet.

……

……

"General, be careful!"

A grass fireball stained with kerosene jumped down and smashed more than ten steps in front of Xiahou Dun.

The flames exploded, igniting several Cao soldiers, causing those unlucky ones to scream shortly like burning torches, and then fall down.

The Cao soldiers who were burned to death were undoubtedly miserable. This misery comes from the fact that people often still feel pain when they are burned to death. After the surface skin is burned, it does not mean that the nerves are gone, but there are more nerves inside, including the respiratory tract, lungs, and other parts of the nerves. When all these nerves are sending violent neuronal signals to the brain, it can be said that people who can go into shock on the spot are a kind of happiness, otherwise...

In the scattered fireball, the kerosene splashed out, and wherever it touched, there was a big fire.

Xiahou Dun no longer rides a horse.

The reason is that the target of riding a horse is too big.

His guards have been covered by flames, burned, screaming and struggling, but no one cares.

Including Xiahou Dun himself, they are all fleeing forward frantically, like a herd of cattle and sheep chased by wild beasts, and no cattle and sheep will care about their companions who are pounced on by wild beasts.

『Ahhhhhhhh!』

The ignited guard fell to the ground and rolled, like a madman, stretching out his arms, as if he wanted to ask for help from his comrades.

But the next moment someone raised a spear and stabbed him to death.

『General! Go!』

War is not something that can be taken for granted.

Xiahou Dun thought he had made a lot of preparations for this war, but in fact his preparations were not sufficient.

The night was low, the stars were sparse, and the ridges on both sides seemed to be squeezing this remnant army into minced meat.

Xiahou Dun leaned on a spear and led the exhausted Cao army soldiers, walking silently on the mountain road with a gray face.

He was lucky, but the Cao army soldiers around him were not as lucky as Xiahou Dun.

Some people were injured, groaning and struggling.

Very miserable.

If it was earlier, such as when Xiahou Dun had not yet fallen, there would definitely be someone to take care of the wounded.

And now...

It's like a company. When the company is developing upward, the welfare is good, the logistics can keep up, and there will be people to help each other if there are any difficulties. Even if they are busy and tired, there will still be laughter. But once the company starts to go downhill, even if they see other employees fall down, get fired or laid off, they will not have any sympathy, because everyone knows that the next one may be themselves.

The emergence of involution is vividly demonstrated on Xiahou Dun's escape.

Who will take care of the wounded now?

Those who fall behind deserve it.

The heavy footsteps of the troops are like wailing between the mountain roads.

They have just escaped from an ambush.

At first, Xiahou Dun still wanted to attack the top of the mountain and eliminate those ambushing teams, but later on, there was only escape, endless escape, and no one wanted to waste energy to attack the mountain, nor did they want to compete with those teams...

Because Xiahou Dun and others had run out of food and grass.

The dry food they carried was burned by the fire.

Now the soldiers' stomachs were empty, and they could only fill their stomachs with wild vegetables and tree barks.

There were not many wild vegetables on the mountain trails, and those on the top of the mountain or on the cliffs were difficult to pick.

The bark was equally difficult.

The taste of the bark varied depending on its type and part, but it was usually not pleasant.

Most barks tasted bitter.

The best of them was probably the elm bark.

This was the most popular and frequently consumed bark by Cao's soldiers during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Because there was still a certain amount of starch in the elm bark, the starch could be separated from the woody part by chopping, drying, and rolling, and the starch inside could be eaten. However, this starch was not as delicious as the starch from Zhuanghe, but was full of indescribable greasiness and odor.

In addition, birch bark was slightly sweet.

As for other barks, they were basically bitter.

This bitterness, that is, the human taste organ was reminding that it was harmful or poisonous...

Even so, it took more time to grind, and Cao's army was quite short of time.

"General, if this continues... I'm afraid we can't hold on..." The remaining guard whispered beside Xiahou Dun, "It's hard to hold on just by eating these..."

The guard frowned.

Xiahou Dun's face was also bleak.

Everyone knows that an army without food is like a rootless duckweed, and it may fall at any time.

"We must persevere... we must unite..."

Xiahou Dun said.

This is almost nonsense, because without the blessing of faith, all verbal persistence and unity will be easily defeated by some meat, eggs and milk.

But Xiahou Dun quickly said something that was not so nonsense.

"Remember the supplies we transported back to Jinyang before? Xiahou Dun said, "If we go forward, we will have supplies!" 』

The guard suddenly became energetic, "General, you mean..."

Xiahou Dun nodded.

"Very good! The general is wise! ” The guard suddenly became energetic and spread the news at the same time.

Cao Jun's soldiers lowered their voices and cheered, as if they had seen a new sun and new hope.

…

…

Maybe it had rained and snowed enough before, so the weather was fine these days.

It’s so clear that even the clouds are missing.

The sun stretched out lazily, showing eighteen shining teeth and mocking Xiahoudun and his party.

The marching team was like a river on the verge of drying up, slowly crawling on the endless loess.

The steps of Cao Jun's soldiers were frivolous, and every time they raised their legs, they seemed to have exhausted all their strength.

Hunger made their eyes look empty and blank, leaving only the desire for survival.

"Yingzhai!" 』

Someone shouted from the front.

The ranks of Cao's army seemed to be suddenly infused with vitality, and everyone rolled forward and started running forward in unison.

"food! There is something to eat..."

Almost all of Cao's soldiers began to salivate in their mouths, and then they rushed forward with green eyes.

But Xiahou Dun's expression changed a little, and he felt that something was wrong.

Although Xiahou Dun also lost his original food and grass due to the ambush and his rhythm was disrupted, logically speaking, since there is a camp here, there should be sentries early...

And now...

After turning around the mountain col, Xiahou Dun felt a chill in his heart when he saw the camp gate wide open.

Like falling into an ice cave.

The previously excited soldiers of Cao's army gradually realized something was wrong and slowed down.

The soldiers of Cao's army who rushed into the camp first let out a heart-rending cry: "No!" Nothing! What... nothing..."

The queue suddenly became chaotic with a roar.

It was like a spark thrown into a pile of dry straw and spread quickly.

"No food!" No food! 』

"General!" How much longer do we have to go? We haven't had anything to eat all day! 』

"We would rather die on the battlefield than starve to death in the mountains!" 』

This kind of anger, dissatisfaction, and resentment spread among the team like a plague.

Many people shouted crazily, and then some collapsed on the ground and cried loudly.

Xiahou Dun felt the surge of emotions. He knew that if the soldiers' emotions could not be calmed down as soon as possible, the mutiny would only happen in an instant.

Xiahou Dun immediately shouted loudly: "Quiet!" quiet! 』

The soldier's voice became slightly quieter.

"Soldiers!" Xiahou Dun shouted, "I understand your pain!" But now we must persist and unite! Our patience and sacrifice are for our families and for those families who are still waiting for us to go back..."

Before Xiahou Dun finished speaking, Cao's soldiers stopped fighting.

Before they suffered all this, Cao Jun's soldiers could still listen patiently to Xiahou Dun's Shandong clichés, but now, no matter how passionate Xiahou Dun's words were, they could not touch their numb hearts or soothe their hungry bellies.

The setting sun in the sky was like blood, reflecting the growing resentment in the team.

Of course, Xiahou Dun hoped to take a temporary rest to ease the mood of the soldiers.

But hunger made everyone's minds go crazy, and everyone lost their patience.

"We want food!" 』

Among the soldiers, someone suddenly howled, and it became the straw that broke the camel's back.

"food! We want food! 』

The shouts echoed among the crowd, and more and more Cao Jun soldiers raised their arms, as well as the swords and guns they held.

What flashed in the eyes of Cao's soldiers was not obedience and timidity, nor fear or exhaustion, but anger.

Anger that burns like fire.

"We want to go home!" We want to get home alive! 』

"We want food!" food! 』

"go home! 』

"food! 』

They began to make loud noises, and some even started to snatch the few dry rations that were left.

When Xiahou Dun saw this, his expression suddenly changed.

He was very aware of the consequences of the mutiny. When Cao Cao and he went to Danyang to recruit troops...

The soldiers of Cao's army followed the Xiahou family of Cao's family, not for the rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty, nor for loyalty and filial piety, but just to have a bite to eat.

This is the biggest difference between the soldiers in Shandong and Guanzhong today...

Ordinary soldiers in Shandong have no room for advancement.

Therefore, no ideal, no future, no great career is as real as a bowl of rice for people who have lost their room for advancement.

When there was food to eat, Cao Jun's soldiers would listen to Xiahou Dun's orders, but now there is no food to eat!

Xiahou Dun's face darkened, and he understood that if he could not take immediate action, the entire army would fall into complete chaos.

The soldiers roared in anger. They no longer obeyed the orders of Xiahou Dun and the military schools around Xiahou, and began to try to find a way out on their own.

『Pass my order! Everyone return to the team immediately! Do not move rashly! Those who disobey the order will be charged with the crime of rioting the army and will be killed without mercy! 』

Following Xiahou Dun's order, Xiahou Dun's private soldiers immediately took action. They had stronger bodies and more elite weapons than ordinary Cao soldiers, and soon separated the mutinous Cao soldiers from each other.

A melee was inevitable.

Although Xiahou Dun did not want to cause more casualties in the current situation, bloody suppression was still the only thing he could do.

The threat of death finally overwhelmed hunger and anger.

The chaotic situation was finally under control.

The sun rose again.

But the dead will not wake up again...

The mutiny of soldiers once again reduced Xiahou Dun's current military strength. The number of soldiers he now commands has shrunk again, to less than 300 people, and he did not expect that his bad luck was far from over.