Chapter 395 Beast Army
After noon, raindrops fell sporadically.
The winter rain fell on the face, freezing cold.
Before the rain got heavy, Zhou Boxu rushed to the military camp to check on the soldiers who were injured by poisonous snakes and tigers on the battlefield.
As soon as he approached the tent of the wounded, he heard continuous cries of pain, and when he went inside, the cries of pain became louder.
"Sir." The military doctor saluted Zhou Boxu.
Zhou Boxu nodded, walked in the tent to check on the wounded, and asked the military doctor about the situation.
After each battle, there were many wounded, and they were treated separately according to the type of injury. These tents were all filled with soldiers bitten by poisonous snakes.
The people of Nanyan are very mean. The venom of the poisonous snakes they raise will not kill people immediately, but will paralyze the limbs of the bitten person, and the pain will penetrate into the bone marrow. Ordinary painkillers have little effect. ×
Military doctors have tried every possible method and tried all kinds of medicines, but they can only slightly relieve the pain and cannot remove the toxins.
All the generals bitten by poisonous snakes either committed suicide because they could not bear the pain, or died of the poison after a month or two of pain.
The reason for this is not that the people of Nanyan cannot raise poisonous snakes that are instantly fatal, but that they deliberately consume the manpower and material resources of Dazhao.
Dazhao is based on benevolence. For the generals bitten by poisonous snakes, even if they know that they cannot be saved, they cannot kill them. They can only try every possible way to treat them.
In this way, whether it is manpower, medicine, or food, there will be huge losses. Besides, the morale of the army will also be lost due to fear.
As generals, they are ready to die on the battlefield at any time, but they don't want to suffer this. They struggle in pain, but in the end they still can't escape death, which makes people sad and desperate.
Therefore, every time they face the poisonous snakes of the Nanyan people in battle, the generals are terrified. They would rather be bitten by a tiger than be bitten by a poisonous snake.
The beast army of Nanyan has a great influence on the generals of Yicheng. If they don't think of a way to break it, the morale of the army will be difficult to stabilize. In battle, they are always restrained and afraid, and they have already lost half of the battle before the battle.
"Haven't you found a way to detoxify yet?" Zhou Boxu asked solemnly.
The military doctor said in a panic, "Please forgive me, sir. I am incompetent."
Zhou Boxu understood that the military doctors were not to blame for this. They had already tried their best.
Looking at the soldiers who were troubled by the pain and wailing with distorted faces, Zhou Boxu said in a serious voice, "Continue to find a way to detoxify."
"Yes." The military doctor replied solemnly.
This is a difficult task that is almost impossible to complete. Ten years ago, General Zhuang and his son tried for many years but failed to find a way to detoxify.
Zhou Boxu left the tent and went to the tent where the generals who were bitten by the tiger were placed.
The howling of pain here is much smaller. Most of the injured are sleeping and recuperating after applying medicine and bandaging.
Tigers are not poisonous, but they are deadly.
Almost all those who were attacked had their necks bitten off and died instantly. A few who were bitten on the limbs and survived were also missing limbs or had difficulty moving. After recovering from their injuries, they could only serve as logistics troops or return home.
Although tigers are not as scary as poisonous snakes, their power should not be underestimated. Both are Nan Yan's reliance.
When they left the tent again, the raindrops became bigger, and they fell down densely and rushed, hitting people so hard that they couldn't open their eyes.
Lin Jun opened an umbrella and asked Zhou Boxu where he was going next.
The rain was too heavy and would not stop for a while. He could not return to the general's mansion, so Zhou Boxu went to the military meeting account and summoned the generals in the camp to discuss matters.
A quarter of an hour later, all the generals arrived. Zhou Boxu asked about the tiger and snake incident in detail, especially how General Zhuang and his son dealt with it ten years ago.
An old general sighed and said, "The situation ten years ago was different from today."
"How is it different?" Zhou Boxu asked.
The old general said: "Nan Yan started using tigers and venomous snakes on the battlefield 20 years ago. But at the beginning, the ability to control them was not good enough, and the tigers and venomous snakes would occasionally lose control and not distinguish between friend and foe, so they were not used much."
"After a few years, the Nan Yan people's ability to control them became stronger, and they could completely control the tigers and venomous snakes. But the tigers and venomous snakes at that time had weaknesses, so they could still be dealt with."
"For example, snakes hibernate because they are afraid of realgar, and tigers are afraid of fire, and they can be lured with prey, etc. Moreover, the venom of the venomous snakes at that time was different from that of today, and those who were bitten almost died immediately."
"For this reason, General Zhuang and his son trained an armored army specifically to deal with the Nan Yan Beast Army."
"The Iron-Armored Army is covered in tough iron armor from head to toe, and is not afraid of the bites of tigers and poisonous snakes. However, its movements are clumsy and slow, so it can only be used to resist, not to pursue."
But as long as the Nanyan beast army is defeated, and then combined with the cavalry and infantry, Nanyan will be defeated and flee, and the southwest will be peaceful for ten years.
But unexpectedly, Nanyan will come again as a beast ten years later, and after years of training, tigers are no longer afraid of fire and are not tempted by prey, and poisonous snakes are not afraid of realgar and appear as usual in the cold winter, and the snake venom is so poisonous that people are helpless.
Zhou Boxu frowned after hearing this, and asked after a moment: "Where is the Iron-Armored Army?"
He did not see the Iron-Armored Army in this battle.
The general said: "Since the death of General Zhuang and his son, the Iron Armored Army has been aging year by year, and most of them have retired and returned to the fields. There has been no trouble in the past ten years, so no new Iron Armored Army has been formed."
The Iron Armored Army is covered in iron armor, which is too expensive. If it is kept ready all year round, it will be a considerable expense
. Although Da Zhao is strong, it has experienced several wars and its national strength has been severely damaged. In peacetime, it will naturally cut everything that can be cut to reduce the pressure on the treasury.
Zhou Boxu thought about it and understood the reason.
After a moment of silence, he asked: "How long will it take to rebuild an Iron Armored Army?"
The general estimated: "At least one month."
Casting iron armor and training armored soldiers are not easy.
A full body of armor weighs nearly 100 kilograms, and not everyone can wear it, let alone swing a sword to kill a snake.
"No matter how long it takes, organize it immediately." Zhou Boxu was firm.
The military pay he brought this time is enough to build an armored army, and as for the subsequent military pay, he will think of a way later.
The general agreed, and finally said solemnly: "It is obvious that Nanyan has been planning for many years and is fully prepared. The beast army's formation is several times that of ten years ago. Even if we organize an armored army, we can't fully cope with it."
Unless they can organize an armored corps of tens of thousands of people.
However, judging from the physique of the lieutenant general and the military pay, it is obviously impossible.
Zhou Boxu pondered and said: "It is better to be able to resist some than to have no way at all. We can think of other ways to deal with the shortcomings."
Iron armor is only a temporary solution. If you want to really break the Nanyan beast army, you must find a way to detoxify the snake venom and a way to restrain the tiger.
Zhou Boxu was thinking, and suddenly thought of a person.
The strange doctor Du Zhong.
He remembered that in addition to being good at treating epidemics, Du Zhong also liked to study poison.
People who can make poisons must also be able to detoxify.
Zhou Boxu immediately ordered someone to bring a map to check the distance from Yicheng to Dapan City.
If you ride fast, you can reach Dapan in five days. But Du Zhong is old and it is impossible for him to ride a horse to Yicheng. He can only take a carriage, which takes about ten days.
After calculating clearly, Zhou Boxu picked up a pen and wrote a letter to invite Du Zhong to come to Yicheng for help.
This time he did not use provocation, but invited sincerely, writing about the strange and terrible Nanyan snake venom, the unbearable pain of Dazhao’s generals, and the helplessness and urgency of urgently needing Du Zhong’s help.
After meeting him, Zhou Boxu knew that although Du Zhong had a strange temper, he had a great sense of justice.
He believed that Du Zhong would definitely come.