Chapter 398 Test
The Dazhao generals were very excited, and the Iron Armored Army, which had been nervous, was no longer afraid and bravely went forward.
The Nanyan generals and Xiao Lin, who were sitting in the back, looked very unhappy when they saw this situation.
"Your Majesty, it's the Iron Armored Army." General Zuo reported.
Ten years ago, the Nanyan Beast Army was defeated by the Iron Armored Army, so when they saw the Iron Armored Army again, they had an instinctive fear.
Xiao Lin snorted coldly: "I want to see how powerful they are."
"Why haven't the snakes arrived yet?" Seeing the tigers fall one after another, Xiao Lin was furious.
After a while, someone came to report that the poisonous snakes had arrived.
Xiao Lin's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he immediately gave an order.
One cowhide drum after another was transported to the front of the battlefield. When the drum hammer was struck, poisonous snakes crawled out one after another. The snake-controlling master blew the whistle and forced the poisonous snakes to join the battle.
The poisonous snakes that had been fed with medicine were not afraid of the cold, and they quickly swam to the battlefield and attacked General Dazhao.
The armored soldiers tried their best to stop and kill them, but the poisonous snakes were small and agile, and they had to deal with tigers, so they were overwhelmed. Most of the poisonous snakes swam to the back.
Looking at the black poisonous snakes spitting out bloody snake tongues coming towards them, the cavalry and archers were terrified. They gritted their teeth and tried their best to kill them, but there were too many poisonous snakes, and it was inevitable that some people would be bitten.
"Throw sulfur and fire rockets." The general ordered urgently.
The cavalry tried to avoid them as much as possible, luring the poisonous snakes to gather together. Bunches of sulfur wrapped in paper were thrown into the snakes, and the flaming arrows hit the paper, detonating the sulfur, killing and burning the poisonous snakes.
Although this method was effective, it was very limited. Because the snakes were too flexible, it was difficult to kill, and if you were not careful, you would be bitten, which made people panic and nervous.
And the poisonous snakes and tigers together were even more powerful.
With the beast army charging and clearing the way, the Nanyan army was as if assisted by God, and followed closely to fight with the Dazhao generals. The battle was very fierce.
The Iron Armored Army can indeed restrain the tigers and venomous snakes, but the number of people is too small to form an iron wall to block the venomous snakes and protect the generals in the rear.
Xiao Lin looked at the Iron Armored Army from afar, who were entangled by the tigers and cavalry and could not escape, and then looked at the frightened and panicked generals of Da Zhao in the rear, with a disdainful sneer on his lips.
Da Zhao Jing Wang, the Iron Armored Divine Army, is nothing more than that.
Time passed quietly, and the two sides had been fighting for an hour without knowing it.
Yu Zheng stared at the battlefield and asked: "How long have the venomous snakes been dispatched?"
Zhui Yun said: "Half an hour."
Half an hour, according to Zhou Boxu, the venomous snakes can still fight for another half an hour.
Yu Zheng clenched his fists and waited, and saw that the speed of the venomous snakes seemed to slow down.
After a while, the speed slowed down more obviously.
Seeing this, the archers and cavalry cooperated tacitly to throw paper bags and fire arrows to kill as many poisonous snakes as possible.
The people of Nanyan saw that the situation was not right and hurried back to report.
Xiao Lin asked angrily: "What's the matter?"
The snake master said: "Today's weather is too cold, and the medicine has been reduced in duration."
After all, it is winter, and the nature of snakes is hard to change. Even if you use medicine to strengthen them, the time is limited.
After waiting for a while, seeing that Xiao Lin had not given the order, the snake master worriedly said: "If you don't recall them, I'm afraid they will suffer heavy losses."
"Retreat!" Xiao Lin gritted his teeth and ordered.
The snake master immediately blew the whistle to recall the poisonous snakes.
The left general personally led his men to the battlefield to fill the vacancy of the venomous snake.
Across the fierce battlefield, Xiao Lin looked at the high ground behind the Dazhao generals, facing Yu Zheng from a distance.
Yu Zheng also saw Xiao Lin and several beast masters.
As the saying goes, hit the snake at its weakest point. If those beast masters can be eliminated, the Nanyan beast army will collapse without a fight.
Zhou Boxu noticed Yu Zheng's thoughts and pursed his lips and said, "The beast masters are surrounded by layers of protection, and they can't get close, and bows and arrows can't shoot through them."
That is Nanyan's reliance, so they are carefully protected.
Yu Zheng sighed secretly, knowing that this method would not work, and he could only think of another way.
He looked up at the gloomy sky, then looked into the distance, and saw Nan Yan mobilizing troops for reinforcement. Yu Zheng ordered: "Retreat!"
They only brought 30,000 troops, and even without the beast army, they could not fight against Nan Yan's 100,000 troops. Today was just a test, and since the result has come out, there is no need to fight again.
The people of Nan Yan, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, were a little confused when they saw Da Zhao suddenly withdraw its troops. They hesitated and asked Xiao Lin whether to pursue.
What to chase? The venomous snakes cannot be used within five days. If they chase, Da Zhao will also have reinforcements. What's the point of fighting to the death?
Xiao Lin cursed him as a "fool", turned around and returned to the camp.
After midday, Da Zhao returned the soil to the barracks, counted the goods, and had a meal and treated his wounds.
Yu Zheng sat in the meeting room, listening to the generals' report on the battle.
"In this battle, our army suffered 3,000 casualties and 323 deaths. Among them, 1,900 were slightly injured, 800 were seriously injured, and 289 were bitten by poisonous snakes. In addition, there were losses of war horses..."
Yu Zheng listened to the report with a serious expression, and asked Zhou Boxu: "How does it compare with the last time?"
Zhou Boxu said: "Much better."
The number of casualties in the last battle was twice that of today, and most of them were bitten by poisonous snakes, which was no different from death in battle.
Yu Zheng nodded and asked the generals to have dinner first and discuss other things later.
Jiang Shu was waiting outside the tent. After seeing the generals come out, he led people in, put the food on the table, and ate with Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu.
After dinner, Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu discussed matters with the generals, and Jiang Shu went to the rear service camp.
It was already the 28th day of the 11th month, and the day after tomorrow was New Year's Eve. Zhang Wei and Jiang Shu were discussing arrangements for the New Year.
The meals in the army were simple, but every New Year's Day, the food would be improved appropriately.
"According to the custom of previous years, we started to add dishes on New Year's Eve, two dishes and one soup. But this year the situation is serious, and the food and wages are insufficient. In addition, the number of people has increased, so it is difficult to achieve." Zhang Wei looked embarrassed.
After hearing this, Jiang Shu pondered and asked: "Is there enough food in Yicheng?"
120,000 people can get a lot of meat and vegetables by adding food for four days.
Zhang Wei said: "Yicheng is not rich, but the people have poultry and livestock, and grow crops and vegetables. If there is enough money, the source of vegetables will not be a problem."
Jiang Shu asked again: "Then will there be enough time to purchase?"
Zhang Wei thought: "As long as there is enough money, we can buy a batch tomorrow and the rest the day after tomorrow."
But the key problem is that there is not enough money.
Zhang Wei sighed and wanted to suggest reducing the expensive dish of braised beef.
But before he opened his mouth, he heard Jiang Shu said: "How much money is still missing? I will make up for it."
Fighting the enemy on the battlefield is a fight for life, and it should not be treated unfairly. Besides, people die in every battle, and no one knows whether they can live to the next New Year.
For many people, this is the last New Year, the last time to add dishes, how can they be disappointed.
"What are you doing, calculate it quickly." Jiang Shu reminded Zhang Wei who was distracted.
"Yes..." Zhang Wei hurriedly came back to his senses and took the abacus to calculate.
In order to avoid miscalculation, Zhang Wei calculated twice before whispering: "My humble servant roughly estimated that there is still a shortfall of 80,000 taels."
Jiang Shu said without hesitation: "Come with me to the Marshal's Mansion to get the banknotes later. If there is fruit wine, buy some more. Don't worry about the money."
Zhang Wei was surprised and stunned for a moment before agreeing.
80,000 taels, not 80 or 800 taels, Jiang Shu did not hesitate at all.
Finally, thinking of Jiang Shu's identity, Zhang Wei figured it out.
For ordinary people, 80,000 taels is a huge fortune that cannot be accumulated in several lifetimes, but for the young master of Jiang's family, it is just a wave of his hand.