Chapter 1600 1602【Food Grass Crisis】
After passing through Tongtian Gorge, Liu Jin did not let the soldiers rest, but let them take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack Laojun Temple as soon as possible, so the soldiers had to rush all night.
Because of the steepness of Laojun Mountain and the lack of lighting, many soldiers rolled down the mountain when their feet were empty, resulting in a large number of unnecessary attrition.
After walking for a short time, we came to the fifth pass - Tianlu.
Tianlu is also a section of plank road suspended among the mountains, with a total length of three miles, winding up and down, straight to Xiaohan, hence the name.
Xiang Nan and others had completely demolished the Tianlu when they retreated.
So the soldiers stood at the starting point of the Tianlu, looking at the long and damaged plank road, full of despair.
Before in Stone Forest, they paid the price of more than a thousand people to build a plank road of more than 300 meters.
And now this celestial road is so far away that you can't see the end, and it's afraid that even 10,000 people won't be able to stop it.
So everyone is timid and hesitant to move forward.
Seeing this, Liu Jin couldn't help but look extremely ugly.
I didn't expect that the terrain of Laojun Mountain is so dangerous, one pass is connected with another pass, and the pass is sad. His army has almost lost half of it.
Such a huge loss made him heartbroken.
What made him even more angry was that those rebels were unscathed. Even until now, he hadn't seen their real faces.
After fighting for a long time, there were heavy casualties, but they didn't even know who the opponent was and how many people there were. It was really aggrieved!
"Elder-in-law, what should we do?" Asked Deputy Dao Tong who was temporarily promoted.
"Order people to cut logs as soon as possible and repair the plank road." Liu Jin then ordered, "Tell the brothers, if you pass this level, you can enter Laojun Temple. At that time, I will give you a big reward."
"Yes." The Vice President said immediately.
All the soldiers couldn't help complaining when they saw that they had finally passed Tongtian Gorge, but Liu Jin didn't allow him to rest at all, and wanted to cut down logs to repair the plank road.
They have been attacking the mountain since dawn, and it has been almost ten hours until now. They have not eaten or rested, and they are almost exhausted. To make matters worse, it is unknown how many people will die when repairing the plank road.
Therefore, many soldiers sneaked down the mountain and ran away under the pretext of logging. At the beginning, it was just a few runs. Later, whole teams of soldiers appeared to flee.
Wait to check again in the early hours of the morning. Of the 6,000 troops, there are less than 5,000 left.
After Liu Jin heard the report from the Deputy Swordsman, he was naturally furious. It was a disgrace that those soldiers ran away in fright before they fought.
After he captures Laojun Temple and executes everyone in Taijimen Ling Chi, he must capture all those deserters and hang them one by one in front of the gate of the barracks.
…
After dawn, Liu Jin continued to order people to repair the plank road.
"Wait a minute, that's Laojun Temple. As long as you break into it, I will give you a big reward." He pointed to the magnificent Taoist temple on the top of the mountain.
Looking up from the starting point of Tianlu, you can just see Laojunguan on the top of the peak. The straight-line distance is probably less than 300 meters, and it is almost in front of you.
But because all the plank roads have been demolished, the straight-line distance of 300 meters in this area may not be enough to fill 3,000 people.
When the soldiers heard Liu Jin's words, they couldn't get motivated at all.
The so-called vigorous effort, then decline, three exhaustion. They have been frustrated several times, and countless brothers have been killed or wounded. And their little lives, it is very likely that they will be ruined at some point.
So next, the officers and soldiers' attacks seemed violent, but they were actually dealing with official business.
When going forward to build the plank road, as long as Xiang Nan and others threw stones down, the soldiers would immediately retreat. Then, under the urging of the supervising team in every possible way, he came back again. And when a stone was thrown from above, he ran back immediately.
After doing this over and over again, seeing the sun rising to the sky, the plank road has been built less than 50 meters away, so it can be said that there is no progress.
Seeing this, Liu Jin was naturally furious, and wanted to kill a few soldiers as an example, but was finally persuaded by his subordinates.
"Father, please calm down. Now that the brothers are exhausted and their morale is low, I'm afraid it will be counterproductive. It's better to let the brothers rest for the time being and eat and drink enough before fighting again." The subordinate persuaded.
Liu Jin thought for a while, and had to agree, "By the way, has the food and grass been transferred?"
"I have applied for grain adjustment to three counties including Song County, Ruyang, and Yichuan, and it is estimated that it will arrive soon." Deputy Dao Tong quickly reported.
Xiang Nan and Jun Bao set fire to Liu Jin's food and grass. Although the fire was finally extinguished, the grain and grass suffered heavy losses, and thousands of shi of grain and grass disappeared.
And the army needs a lot of food and grass every day. After all, thousands of people eat. Moreover, when marching and fighting, the physical strength is doubled, so the food and grass needed are also doubled.
So when the grain and grass were burned, Liu Jin immediately ordered people to adjust the grain to the granaries in the surrounding counties.
"Hmph, how far are the three counties from here? One day and one night, the food and grass are so late. I don't think the three county magistrates want to wear a crown on their heads anymore."
But in fact, Liu Jin misunderstood the three county magistrates.
With Liu Jin's status as guarding eunuch, how dare the three county magistrates disobey his orders. After they received the order to adjust the grain, they immediately organized manpower, opened the granary, and transported the grain to the camp.
It's a pity that something happened when the food was delivered halfway.
Because Liu Jin did a lot of evil and oppressed good people on a daily basis, the common people suffered greatly from it, and their anger could no longer be suppressed. All it takes is for the heroes to rise up with a response.
This time, Liu Jin led the army to conquer Taijimen, which resulted in an empty force. So Taoist Ling took the opportunity to organize the villagers to fight, dig traps and set up ambushes.
There are pits everywhere on the road for dozens of miles. The food convoy stopped at every step, and it took only two days to cover a distance of more than a dozen miles.
What's more troublesome is that there are still heroes and righteous men who lead people to fight and rob all the food. Therefore, the thousands of shi of grain mobilized by the three counties were gone before they reached Daying.
…
Because the army was too exhausted and morale was low, Liu Jin had no choice but to allow them to rest where they were. At the same time, he ordered people to bring the food up quickly.
But unexpectedly, the quartermaster came first before the meal came.
Reported the robbing of military rations to Liu Jin.
"What?! A bunch of trash!" Liu Jin stretched out his hand, and the general's supply officer was slapped all over his face.
The army is dispatched, but there is no food and grass, what a joke.
"Elder-in-law calm down, there are too many rebels. Ruyang County sent 300 soldiers to **** the food, but they were robbed and killed by rebels halfway." The quartermaster explained.
"Then don't go to the transfer again, and send a large army to protect it." Liu Jin shouted.
The soldiers have not eaten for two days and one night, and if they continue to suffer, it is time for a mutiny.
"The grain depots in Ruyang, Songxian, and Yichuan are already empty. If you want to adjust the grain, you have to go back to Luoyang." The quartermaster explained, "It takes another day to come and go."
"Then hurry up." Liu Jin shouted immediately.
The quartermaster had no choice but to nod.
(end of this chapter)