Chapter 822 A Dream of Youth 354
Looking at the meat and vegetables in front of her, Yan Xi thought of the soldiers who leaned against the city wall and ate biscuits and grains.
Generally speaking, the amount of military equipment, supplies, and provisions that can be stored in a city is limited. Under siege, it means that they must abandon the civilians, farmland, forests, and water sources outside the city...
Even a prosperous city like Kyoto, after being besieged for so long, was not so bad for the wealthy, but those who were already poor could not survive. They had no choice but to eat rats, dig up tree bark, and gnaw on white paper. In more serious cases, they resorted to cannibalism.
After all, the city was surrounded by siege ladders and stone-throwing troops, the middle layer of cavalry fired arrows, and the outer layer was also heavily guarded by soldiers. The city was completely surrounded, and ordinary people simply could not get out.
Under these circumstances, Chen Wanniang and Xie Yun went from house to house, asking them to give some grain to the poor households who had no food reserves so that they could get through this difficult time.
When the scholars who came to the city to take the imperial examinations saw women distributing porridge, they assumed they were female relatives of some family and, despite the starving people who might try to steal the food, came to provide relief themselves.
Upon closer inspection, the kind-faced old woman with white hair turned out to be Yuan Can, a candidate who passed the exam last year!
I just don't know what she's been through, she looks so much older.
"Let's go help too." Seeing the woman taking the imperial examination with him doing this, some students looked at him with respect, rolled up their sleeves, and volunteered to help carry things.
"In times of national crisis, we should help each other." When the thugs came to harass them, they were chased away with wooden sticks.
Yuan Can put down the spoon in her hand and let her granddaughter take over for her. Then she bowed to the students who came to help.
The students, looking embarrassed, returned the greeting.
Some students whose families had extra food also went back and persuaded their parents to donate some of it, saying they would help as much as they could.
Because of these people leading the way, even though the capital was under siege, far fewer people starved or froze to death compared to the number of besieged cities recorded in history books, and the chaos was also significant.
The county magistrate, who was in charge of the government office, sighed when he heard about these things. He ordered his men to calculate the remaining grain in the granary and squeeze out some to distribute to the poor households.
The registrar didn't really approve of the magistrate's approach; the grain in their granaries should be reserved for the army.
With so many people in the city, how could we possibly save them all?
Every family is tightening their belts to make ends meet.
There are wealthy families who are moved by the plight of the starving and freezing people, and there are also powerful and influential people who keep their doors tightly shut to protect themselves. The current situation in the capital is not bad.
Gu Yan and his generals stood on the watchtower and saw a remnant army running towards the main camp in the distance. They were still wondering who this person was when a loud noise almost made their hearts stop beating.
Like a thunderbolt in winter, the ground was smashed into a two-meter-wide crater, and judging from the fallen soldiers around it, the range of the gunpowder blast was much more than two meters!
"What is that?"
Hearing the exclamations of the soldiers beside him, Xiao Chu immediately thought of Xie Ning.
"Where are the scouts?!" Wasn't it said that the reinforcements from Hedong wouldn't arrive for more than a day?
The answer he received was a series of loud explosions. The Great Zhou soldiers, who had been struggling to put up a fight, were dumbfounded. What did they see? Reinforcements!
"Beat the drums!"
The city gates opened, and the Zhou soldiers, who had been waiting in full battle array, rushed out led by the vanguard.
At the same time, the cavalry led by Xie Ning and Xu Hongying in the rear of the Northern Jin army also shouted and charged forward.
Xie Ning was fighting under the protection of his personal guards when, in the blink of an eye, he saw Xiao Si again and was shocked to find that the man was still alive.
It was as if enemies were meeting, their eyes blazing with hatred.
The opponent raised his knife and slashed at him. Xie Ning kicked his horse's belly and went forward to meet the attack. The swords clashed, producing a piercing sound. At the same time, he leaned back, loosened his grip, and the curved sword immediately swung horizontally. In the midst of the clash, Xie Ning immediately turned his sword and thrust diagonally.
Because of his momentum, the opponent missed his target with his sword and had no time to parry. Moreover, Xie Ning's angle was tricky, and he actually stabbed at the part of him that was not covered by armor.
"The cunning Zhou people!" Xiao Si was extremely angry, his face flushed, and he charged at Xie Ning again, raising his scimitar.
However, Xie Ning was different this time. He was unprepared and had personal guards by his side. Even Xiao Si had personal guards. After more than twenty moves, he still couldn't touch Xie Ning. Instead, he himself was stabbed several times.
Xie Ning was agile and his sword strikes were extremely fast, but the armor could not be broken by the sword.
Her sword can only harm low-armored soldiers.
However, based on her previous experience of being ambushed, she had already prepared an armor-piercing hammer. She wasn't very good with a spear, so a hammer would be better. The reason she used a sword at the beginning was to provoke the opponent's anger and make them focus their attention on her.
Xiao Si was indeed furious. Even though his guards were urging him to retreat, since he still had to protect Xiao Chu and the Crown Prince from leaving, he was so provoked by Xie Ning that he only wanted to kill Xie Ning before leaving.
When the opponent charged again, Xie Ning immediately swung his hammer, a hammer specifically designed to break armor. Xie Ning's strength was greater than that of an ordinary person, and he immediately caused the opponent's blood and qi to surge. Then, Xie Ning thrust out a crossbow bolt from his sleeve, and Xiao Si's pupils widened, causing his body to lean back.
"mean!"
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