Pharmacist Guo was a very stubborn person. Although he could see that snowballing to attack the city was a bad move, he still ordered his soldiers to snowball with all their might regardless of casualties.
The purpose of this was to show off to the Jin army and to get the soldiers below to move.
When two armies face off, the most feared thing is that the soldiers are idle. They are all at the age of full vigor and vitality, and it is easy to cause trouble when they are idle.
Several days passed, and after suffering heavy casualties, Pharmacist Guo's troops had only managed to build a gentle slope under the Ice City, about ten feet wide and more than one person high, which was nearly two feet high from the top of the wall.
One day, Pharmacist Guo and his subordinates stood at a distance of an arrow outside Zhang Xiaozhuang, staring blankly at the tall ice city wall.
Zhen Wuchen said, "General, we can no longer push it up the slope."
Pharmacist Guo said calmly, "We can't let a living person die from holding their urine. If the big snowball can't be pushed, then we can use a small one... Hmm! Have the soldiers make snowballs the size of a human head and carry them upwards."
Zhen Wuchen was shocked and tried to dissuade him: "General, this will only lead to heavy casualties."
"Where in war is there no death?"
"But... there are only so many people left in the Resentful Army. If one dies, one less will be lost. If too many die, our influence in the Jin Kingdom will become less and less, and in the end, it will be worthless."
"Shhh!" Pharmacist Guo stopped him from continuing, turned around and glanced behind him, whispering, "Five ministers, be careful with your words. It's better to say less of such things. If Sai Ci gets to his ears, he might skin you alive."
Although Saici was a deputy general, he was actually a military supervisor sent by the Jin army marshal Oli Bu'an into the resentful army to prevent them from rebelling.
Wuli was not a meticulous person, and he was very wary of people like Guo Yaoshi who were fickle.
Pharmacist Guo pointed at the tall ice wall of Zhang Xiaozhuang and asked Zhen Wuchen, "Wuchen, do you think we can capture Zhang Xiaozhuang?"
Zhen Wuchen sighed and said, "It's difficult! Too difficult, unless the weather gets warmer and the ice and snow melt."
Pharmacist Guo smiled bitterly, "It's a pity we can't wait. Marshal Wuliebu won't let us wait. So, even if we know we can't take it, we have to pretend to do it in front of them. Otherwise, we will definitely be transferred back to the main camp."
"Just transfer back, it's better than staying here."
Pharmacist Guo shook his head. "Wu Chen, you're good in every way except that you're too simple-minded. Think about it, if we were transferred back, what would they ask us to do?"
Zhen Wuchen thought for sure, "It's nothing more than hard labor. Although it's tiring, at least you won't lose your life."
"It would be great if they could just let us do the hard labor. The only thing we're afraid of is that they'll drive us forward like ducks to attack the city."
When Zhen Wuchen heard this, he couldn't help but shudder.
Given the nature of the Jin army, it is very likely that they would do so.
Seeing that he was silent, Pharmacist Guo patted his shoulder and said, "We are both attacking the city, but we are much more comfortable staying here."
Zhen Wuchen nodded, "General, you are very thoughtful. I will listen to you."
…
In Zhang Xiaozhuang, five or six large pots were lined up along the street, with charcoal fires burning red underneath.
The pot was filled with horse meat, all of which came from war horses that had been killed or wounded by goads.
The Sai Shi were burned to a crisp by the "fire from heaven", and their war horses were either dead or escaped, and the whole army was completely lost.
After he escaped in a panic, Wang Dong sent people out of the village to bring back the living war horses, carry back the dead and injured war horses, slaughter them, and transport half of them to Zhang Xiaozhuang.
Of course, it was transported through a tunnel.
He himself followed.
"Horse meat soup with pot cakes, drink as much as you want."
Zhang Shixun stood in front of a big pot, holding a big iron spoon in his hand, and personally served soup to the soldiers of the National Protection Army and the farmhands.
Li Shishi and Ding Dusai stood on his left and right, distributing pot-cakes to the soldiers respectively.
These pot cakes were made by the two of them and their team.
The soldiers squatted on both sides of the street, drinking from bowls with red faces.
Drink as much broth as you want and eat as much pot-cake as you want. This is something most soldiers have never encountered in their lives, or even heard of.
In this era, it was a luxury for poor families to have enough to eat, let alone drink meat soup and eat pot cakes, which was something they could not even dream of.
A young soldier of the National Protection Army took a big sip of meat soup and ate a large piece of pot cake, and said happily: "It's good to follow Zhang Tianshi. There is meat and white bread to eat."
Next to him sat a big bearded man who said with a smile, "You are such a fool! That's a pot cake. Although it is made of white flour, it is not called a white flour cake."
"Oh! So it's called Guokui. This is the first time I've eaten this."
The bearded man ate a piece of horse meat, savoring it slowly with his eyes narrowed, and said, "Remember this, kid. From now on, don't call me Zhang Tianshi. Call me Zhang Tianwang. Do you understand?"
"Zhang Tianwang?" The young soldier blinked. "Is Zhang Tianwang higher in rank than Zhang Tianshi?"
"Of course it's big, my king, how could it be big?"
…
Ding Dusai heard what the soldiers said and said to Zhang Shixun, "Did you hear that, sir? They think Zhang Tianshi's rank is too low and have started calling you Zhang Tianwang."
Zhang Shixun laughed and said, "The soldiers think that the higher my rank, the more proud they are."
Li Shishi said meaningfully, "Perhaps you won't be able to hold this position of Zhang Tianwang for long. As time goes by, they might even promote you to a higher position."
Zhang Shixun glanced at her, smiled and shook his head.
Where can we go higher?
Unless you become emperor.
Ding Dusai put his hand on Li Shishi's shoulder and whispered something in her ear, looking at Zhang Shixun while speaking.
Li Shishi listened with a smile, sometimes nodding and sometimes shaking her head.
Zhang Shixun didn't have time to ask the two beauties because Wang Dong was walking towards them.
He shouted from a distance: "Shixun, horse meat is a good thing, you should eat more."
Zhang Shixun glanced at his two "Heng Ha" generals, Sun Sansi and Zaohua, and said with a smile, "Thank you for the horse meat. Look how happy the soldiers are eating it."
"We have to thank that idiot Saici for rushing all the way to Gao Village and bringing us so much horse meat... Let the soldiers eat more. Only when they are well fed can they have the strength to fight the enemy."
When this guy spoke, his voice was so loud that the soldiers on half the street could hear it.
"Master Wang, the horse meat soup is delicious, thank you!"
"Master Wang, thanks to you, we can drink such delicious soup."
…
The soldiers expressed their gratitude to Master Wang one after another.
"You're welcome! Feel free to eat as much as you can. If you're not satisfied, Gao Laozhuang still has plenty. Just send someone to get it."
Wang Dong puffed out his chest and approached Zhang Shixun triumphantly.
"Shixun, Sun Sansi suggested that we hold a concert at our two farms after the snow stops. What do you think of this idea?"
Before Zhang Shixun could answer, Ding Dusai said, "That's a good idea. I agree!"
Seeing Ding Dusai's words, Zhang Shixun nodded and said, "Okay, since we're going to do it, let's make it exciting and let the soldiers and civilians of several villages have fun together."
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