Water Margin people

"Look at you, you can't handle it after just reading the military report. Xin Qiji experienced it himself and even wrote it down."

"Some people are born to be on the battlefield. Xin Qiji is such a kid. He is smart and learns things quickly, but he is restless. The battlefield is the only place he should go."

Sun Lei said.

"Okay, the army will be leaving soon, so you need to pack your things in advance! Why are you looking for so many people from the Western Regions?"

Sun Lei frowned and looked at Li Qingzhao and asked, Li Qingzhao found many local knowledgeable people in Yumen Pass, and most of these people were from the Western Regions.

"If you want to understand the culture of the Western Regions, you have to ask the locals."

Li Qingzhao replied.

"This is war. I don't want you to get too close to the enemy. War is cruel. It's a fight to the death. You'd better stop at the right time. Kindness is not allowed here!"

Sun Lei looked at Li Qingzhao and spoke. This was a reminder because he found that Li Qingzhao was a little too chaste, which was unacceptable.

“I’m just studying local culture!”

Li Qingzhao said with some guilt that Hu Sanniang, Qiongying and Pang Qiuxia had all reminded her implicitly in the past few days not to have too much communication with the enemy.

"Just keep it in mind!"

Sun Lei didn't say much, he just reminded her that Li Qingzhao was also a smart person and would know what she meant. If she insisted on her own way, she might be sent back.

"Your Majesty, Yue Fei and his men have withdrawn from Xingxing Gorge and have retreated a hundred miles!"

Pang Wanchun walked into the tent and reported to Sun Lei.

"Well, the stench of corpses is overwhelming in Xingxing Gorge now. It is right to retreat. The plague is more terrible than the enemy. If we retreat a hundred miles, there shouldn't be any big problems."

"By the way, send a team of military doctors with medicine to the front line. Although the distance is far enough, it is better to be safe."

Sun Lei looked at Pang Wanchun and said that things like plague must be completely eradicated.

"Yes!"

Pang Wanchun took the order and went out.

"Won't the enemy clean up the battlefield?"

Li Qingzhao asked in confusion. Everyone knew that plague could easily break out when corpses rotted.

"Cleaning up the battlefield? That's a huge project. Killing 100,000 people is easy, but digging a pit that can bury 100,000 people is not easy!"

Sun Lei smiled and said that killing people on the battlefield is the easiest thing, but dealing with the aftermath is the most troublesome.

"If we can't dig a pit, we can find a valley to deal with it!"

Li Qingzhao was somewhat unconvinced. Although she was not ignorant of military affairs, she had been in the army after all and had read several military books. During the Warring States Period, corpses would be buried after annihilation wars, either in mass graves or by filling valleys.

"Zhao Kuo thought so too. The plan is always simple! Have you ever thought about how many corpses there are without 100,000? How can the enemy transport them without enough vehicles? There was a heavy rain after the battle. The corpses have begun to rot. What will the situation be on the battlefield? Even if the corpses are dealt with, the ground soaked in blood will still stink. What should we do?"

Sun Lei looked at Li Qingzhao and asked.

The series of questions left Li Qingzhao at a loss as to how to answer. She was only reading from military books and had no idea of ​​the actual situation.

"Humph, I'm Zhao Kuo, just don't listen to me!"

Li Qingzhao left in a huff. Zhao Kuo is not a good metaphor.

……

On Star Gorge.

The stench of the corpses was becoming more and more severe, and the Western Liao army could no longer bear it.

"Jiu'erhan, this smell is too strong!"

Bilege covered his mouth and nose and looked at Yelu Dashi and spoke.

"Has the body not been taken away yet?"

Yelu Dashi frowned and asked. He had already ordered the army to clean up the battlefield for two days. "Jiuerhan, the battlefield is too complicated, the valley we want to throw is far away, and only a small part of the battlefield has been cleaned up."

Bilego replied that this time they only brought the main army, not the vassal army, and the soldiers were unwilling to do these things, so the procrastination resulted in slow progress.

For the people of the Western Regions, the battlefields in the wild are never cleaned. They just leave after the fight, leaving the corpses to rot and dry out. The weather in the northwest will quickly turn the corpses into mummies.

"Jiu'erhan, why don't we retreat as well? It's really hard to hold on here!"

Ajisi said that he couldn't stand the unpleasant smell.

"Wouldn't retreating now mean giving up on Xingxing Gorge?"

Someone immediately spoke up and said that they had finally recaptured Xingxing Gorge and the news had already been passed back to Hami. Now the people were excited and morale was high. If they suddenly retreated now, then all the morale of the army would be lost.

Everyone was looking at Yelu Dashi, waiting for him to make a decision.

"Leave 10,000 people to guard this place, and the main army will retreat!"

Yelu Dashi said that he could hardly bear it anymore, and the soldiers were even more unbearable.

There were still flags flying over Xingxing Gorge, but 90% of the defenders had already withdrawn.

"Let's go. Obviously there are fewer defenders!"

Yue Fei, wearing a mask, looked at the movement in Xingxing Gorge and spoke.

"We can smell it from such a distance. I don't know how those people managed to stay in the mountain!"

Lin Chong shook his head.

"Be careful in the next battle. The enemy may have been infected with the plague. If you are fighting the enemy, you must quickly leave the battlefield."

Wang Jin said that we must pay attention to the plague.

"Your Majesty has sent a military doctor with medicine. If you pay attention, there shouldn't be any major problems!"

Suisheng said.

"We can't attack with such a strong smell. Let's wait a few more days. With the sun so strong, we'll be dried into a mummy in a few days!"

Yue Fei said that what is rotting now are mainly the internal organs, and by the time the skin and flesh are almost dry, there will be no smell.

For the next period of time, both sides lived in peace. Except for the 10,000 defenders in Xingxing Gorge, both sides retreated and remained in a stalemate.

In Xingxing Gorge, in the Western Liao camp, coughing sounds were heard from time to time, and even the guards would cough from time to time.

"what happened?"

The garrison commander frowned as he looked at the sickly soldiers. The soldiers all looked pale and their lips were a little pale, as if they were sick.

"General, many soldiers are sick. They say that evil spirits are lurking here. If you stay here for too long, the evil spirits will steal your life!"

A soldier spoke fearfully. They were all religious believers. Although there were various religions, every religion told them to stay away from places with many dead bodies, because people would turn into evil spirits after death, and evil spirits would definitely harm the living.

"What nonsense!"

The general was furious, thinking that the soldiers' words would disrupt the morale of the troops.

"General, it's true! The soldiers have been secretly praying in the barracks, asking for the gods' protection."

The soldiers quickly spoke up and said that this matter was no longer a secret.

"Stay at your posts!"

The general roared angrily.

The soldiers retreated timidly, and the general had a gloomy face. He knew that this was not a solution. If all the soldiers fell ill, then Xingxing Gorge would be impossible to defend.

The garrison commander quickly wrote a military report and asked his trusted confidant to deliver it to the military camp in the rear. (End of this chapter)