Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 119 Who Can Ask Lian Po’s Old Age? (Part )

Zhang Chou is decisive and efficient in his work.

The plan was made in the early morning. Just after 9:00 a.m., Zhang Chou only had time to send someone to say hello to Cui Hema before he gathered the farmers, armed with sharp weapons, and led them out of the village.

After gathering together with the farmers from several other small villages to form a group of 800 people, Zhang Chou led his troops, using the small paths between the villages as cover, and slowly moved towards the camp of the loyal and righteous army.

In Ma Jintuo's opinion, there was only one reason why Zhang Chou acted so quickly, and that was that he panicked.

It was not because of the goodwill shown by the Loyal Army and the rumors of land distribution that made Zhang Chou panic.

Rather, it was the Jin Dynasty's years of extortion and heavy taxation that made the people of Shandong seethe with resentment. As the middleman between the government and the people, Zhang Chou was like sitting on the crater of a volcano where the sky was about to collapse, and he had already been pulled into a panic.

Wei Sheng's method can only be described as lighting the fuse of explosives.

The explosives were set by the Jin Dynasty.

As for Zhang Chou, who was sitting on the explosives that were about to explode, there was nothing wrong with doing anything to save himself.

But the consequence of sending troops in a hurry was that, except for Zhang Chou and other senior officers and small farm owners, not only were ordinary farmers confused for a while, but even some squad leaders and foreman began to hesitate.

Seeing that the autumn harvest was about to end and the weather was getting worse, instead of rushing to harvest, we had to gather all the precious young and strong people to fight.

What the hell is going on?

Ordinary farm families wouldn't accept this either. Many of their young and strong men had already been conscripted by the government, making the autumn harvest difficult. Now, at this critical moment, you're calling the remaining strong laborers out to fight. Are you, as a farm owner, truly determined to kill people? Do you really not want the rent anymore?
Because the army was relatively small in number, the pressure was quickly transmitted to Zhang Chou, forcing him to drive his horse in front and behind the troops and repeatedly explain things to the farmers.

This time when we went to the Song army camp, we were not going to fight the Song army to the death, but to show our power. We could take advantage of the loyal army not being able to react and burn down part of their camp, or simply yell a few words at them outside the camp and then escape back with our lives intact.

After all, although Zhang Chou boasted that his ancestor was Zhang Liao, a famous general in the Three Kingdoms period, he ultimately lacked Zhang Liao's abilities. Even defeating a thousand with only eight hundred would have cost him his life, let alone attacking the Loyalty Army's fortified camp.
You must know that when Zhang Chou's elder brother He Boqiu led the elite troops to fight against a small group of loyal and righteous troops, he could not gain any advantage at all!
However, after these words were spoken, although the farmers did not complain openly, they immediately began to criticize in their hearts.

So you're delaying the farming season just to show off your power as Master Zhang?! Do you really have to show off today?!

However, this kind of manor is a quasi-military organization after all. Once the owner gives an order, the farmers can only follow him.

In this situation, we can only say that Mrs. Wang from the house of Pushan Taishou was truly foresighted.

What does it mean that there is resentment from above and below, suspicion from left and right, and people are uneasy?
That’s it!

Although Zhang Chou's marching route was extremely careful and he avoided the locations of the loyal soldiers and civilians, he could not avoid the eyes of the local farmers.

Soon, local farmers grabbed the loyal soldiers who were helping with the autumn harvest in the fields and gave them some shelter.

The civilians of the Loyal and Righteous Army had a sense of belonging to the Loyal and Righteous Army because they had been allocated land or were about to be allocated land. Some of them quickly reported to the Loyal and Righteous Army soldiers who maintained order and security.

Although the middle-level officers of the Loyal Army did not understand how many enemies had arrived or what their purpose was, they knew that the most urgent task was to recall all the civilians.

To protect the autumn harvest, the Loyal Army had previously formed a tacit agreement with these farms not to attack the other side's peasants and laborers. If they were to open a gap now, who knew if it would end in a massacre of the laborers? Ding Daxing, carrying a spear and wearing an iron crotch, leaned against a poor horse, drinking from his water bag. He heard a horn behind him and suddenly turned around.

Seeing his comrade waving a black flag vigorously at the distant intersection, he quickly picked up the gong beside his horse's neck and started beating it.

The farmers at the edge of the field were horrified for a moment, and their faces turned pale when they saw the civilians of the Loyal Army throwing down their farm tools and quickly walking towards the main road at the edge of the field.

At this time, there were still a large number of crops that had not been harvested, generally from families with fewer young and strong people. These families were almost grateful to the Loyal Army, because without the help of these laborers, they would not have been able to complete the autumn harvest before the rain.

But now the civilians of the Loyal Army are leaving.

"Sir, Mr. Ding, what's going on? Why are they all gone?"

A skinny old man staggered over, grabbed Ding Daxing's sleeve and asked anxiously.

Ding Daxing was quite familiar with the old man; he had been the one who filled his water bag with the starch. He put down his gong and pointed northward with the hammer: "Old man, which big village is that to the north? There's an army coming from that village, and it seems they're going to attack our camp. We're worried about the civilians getting hurt, so we need to withdraw them first."

The old man's mouth twitched a few times. "North, north... North is Zhangjiazhuang. Why did Ugly Kid come to fight? Isn't this nonsense? There are still so many crops to harvest!"

Seeing the laborers gathered on the road, Ding Daxing quickly shouted at the top of his voice: "Team leaders, take care of yourselves! Count the number of people and see if anyone has been left behind. If they haven't been left behind, grab the belt of the person in front of you and follow the regular army holding the black flag back to the camp! Don't run, walk fast, there's enough time!"

The old man continued to pull at Ding Daxing's sleeve: "Mr. Ding, since the people who came are from Zhangjiazhuang, then it's easy to deal with. I still have some face left in me, enough to protect the safety of these... these heroes."

Ding Daxing hung the gong beside the shabby horse's saddle and grasped the old man's muddy hands. "Father, I don't dare take the risk. These people are the pillars of their families. They were born and raised by their parents. They have parents, wives, and children who are waiting for them. How can I dare to take such a risk based on your promise? Let me ask you, father, if your son encountered such a situation, would you want him to stay?"

A few turbid tears flowed from the old man's eyes, but he still did not let go: "I am the third uncle of Zhang Chou, the owner of Zhangjiazhuang. He will definitely take me into consideration."

"Old man, don't you understand?" Ding Daxing finally became a little impatient. "Do you really think that Zhang Chou didn't know the consequences of sending troops? Is he a fool? Can a fool be the owner of the manor? Zhang Chou knew that as long as he sent troops, this situation would definitely happen. He knew it! The moment he chose to send troops, he no longer cared about you! He had already abandoned you! Do you understand?!"

The old man finally let go of his hand in a daze, allowing Ding Daxing to command the civilians to retreat to the camp.

The old man stared blankly at the old woman sitting in the field wiping her tears, then looked at his two daughters-in-law who had stood up in the field with pale faces, and several grandchildren who were just ten years old and were picking up ears of corn. Then he looked at the gloomy sky, and after being stunned for a moment, he finally picked up the sickle again, staggered towards the crops, and continued to cut the corn.

Anger, grievance, confusion, fear and several other unknown feelings mixed together, leaving the old man's mouth full of bitterness.

Almost all the farmers who were still working had the same idea as the old man.

God is forcing us, the government is forcing us, and now the loyal landlords are also forcing us!

Why, why doesn't anyone let us live a good life?!
No one answered them.

This is war. Although the times change, the world mutates, and the world changes, the war remains the same.

(End of this chapter)