Chapter 1017: Change of Strategy
First, use boulders to block the passage, then use chevaux de frise to kill the beasts, and finally use a combination of tripwires and rope nets. This combination of punches immediately killed and injured a lot of beasts.
Countless alpacas, horned deer, wild donkeys, and yaks fell to the ground in the chaos, and were finally hit and trampled to death by the swarming beasts. However, after paying a huge price in casualties, these beasts still rushed out and successfully opened a passage to the south.
The cannibal hunting army did not expect to completely stop these beasts. They were purely for hunting. Besides, even if they really killed all the beasts, they could not transport them back, nor could they store them. Instead, all the food would be wasted, and they would not be able to catch new prey in the future.
The herds of animals rushed through the canyon, making a loud rumbling noise. It took about half an hour for all the animals to pass through. However, there were still a large number of dead beasts or injured large animals such as cattle and deer in the canyon. The cannibal hunting teams also hurriedly took their spears and went forward to harvest the lives of the prey. After working for a long time, the whole canyon finally quieted down.
On the high ground of the mountain not far away, there were also several groups of Shen Ce Wei scouts who were using telescopes to monitor the situation here from a distance. When they saw the enemy was cleaning up the bodies of the prey, they also hurriedly sent people back to report.
The thousands of cannibal hunting teams were busy processing the prey there. They had to peel off the skins of these beasts, dig out the internal organs, make clean steaks and transport them back together. This would greatly reduce the weight of the prey and transport more food back at a time.
And the dug out internal organs became the delicacies of the young and strong men in the hunting teams. The old and weak who stayed in the village were not worthy of enjoying the internal organs of the prey.
The cannibal warriors processed the prey and ate them directly. What's more, many people drank the steaming blood, and they were covered in blood. Some dug out the heart of the prey, which was still beating in their hands, and then they started to bite it.
They really lacked food, and it was not convenient to make a fire here. Most of them had been ambushing here for more than ten days, and the little food they brought had been eaten long ago. Now they encountered so many fresh prey, and their eyes turned green. Who can wait to eat it now? Besides, these steaming blood and internal organs can also replenish a lot of calories. It was
also thanks to the strong digestive ability of humans in this era. Otherwise, if modern people ate raw like this, they might get a stomachache and eat themselves to death. As for whether there were parasites, they had no idea at all.
It took three days to skin and decompose the prey, but it was still not finished. There were too many prey caught, and the cannibals did not have sharp metal knives, so the efficiency was very low.
Take skinning for example. It was easier at the beginning, after all, they were still fresh at that time. However, in such an icy and snowy environment, the bodies were frozen hard before a day had passed. The skin and flesh were frozen together. They couldn't get them apart even if they wanted to. In the end, they had no choice but to send back a batch of prey that had been processed.
The harvest of various prey this time totaled about four or five thousand, which was almost the same as their number. However, no matter how strong the cannibal warriors were, it was impossible for each of them to carry a yak back alone, even if they dragged it on the snow. Therefore, they could only transport it in batches.
In the end, they decided to send out three thousand people to transport a thousand prey back. Of course, it was impossible for three people to carry one prey, but to use a makeshift sled to pull it.
They made a sled with branches and ropes, and tied a layer of freshly peeled animal skin underneath to reduce friction. Then the three thousand people were divided into two groups, one group pulled the sled, and the other group followed and protected it. The two groups took turns to maintain sufficient physical strength and speed.
When they were hungry, they would eat the meat that was transported directly. They would not organize more people to carry it until they reached the village in the forest.
As for the remaining more than 1,000 people, they had to stay in the valley to guard the prey that had not been transported away to prevent it from being snatched by other people or carnivorous beasts.
On the Han tribe side, when the cannibals began to make transport sleds, the scouts reported this situation. The enemy was preparing to go back, but it was not clear how many people would go back.
But now that we know their transportation method, it will be much easier. After all, not all places can be passed by sleds. Since the enemy has chosen sleds, there are only a few roads that they can take, and it is easier for Qubing to decide the ambush position.
On the cannibal side, their return transport team had just set off, and Qubing received another report from the scouts. The enemy was divided into two parts. There were about 3,000 people returning, and the rest stayed in place to guard the prey. The return transport team was divided into two groups, one pulling the sled and the other protecting the team. The route and direction of the enemy's return were also marked by the scouts.
As soon as they got the news, Qubing and Youye gathered in front of the map, looking for a suitable place to ambush the enemy.
"Hehe, now they can't run away. We have 6,500 people to ambush their 3,000 people. We guarantee to eat them all. Qubing, take a look, where should we choose to start?" Youye said happily standing beside the map. Qubing
looked at the map for a while, and then looked at the intelligence sent by the scouts in his hand, but suddenly said to everyone in the room, "We won't attack this group of transport teams, let them go back."
"Ah? Why? Such a good opportunity, how can we let them go? In order to eat this elite enemy, we gave up the positions of two battalions. Now the troops are assembled, how can we let them go? What do you mean?" Youye didn't react at first, and when he realized what Qubing was saying, he immediately disagreed and objected.
"Of course it's for the maximization of benefits. Uncle You, don't worry, take a look at these pieces of intelligence, and then listen to my analysis." Qubing quickly comforted Youye and said.
"Well, if what you said doesn't make sense, I definitely don't agree with you letting this group of enemies go." Youye said angrily.
"Uncle You, look, now they are all using sleds for human transportation, right? Each time they send out 3,000 people to be responsible for transportation, and more than 1,000 people have to stay to guard the remaining prey." Qubing began to analyze several intelligence reports.
"Well, isn't this normal? And it's also within our expectations. This is not a reason for you to change your mind at the last minute." Youye continued to emphasize.
"I know, that's because we didn't know how much prey the enemy could catch before, and we ambushed them on their way back. That was calculated based on the situation that the enemy would go back all at once, but now the enemy is separated and the situation has changed, so we have to change the plan accordingly.
"Also, according to the observation of the scouts, this time the enemy sent out 3,000 people as a transport team, but only transported nearly a quarter of the prey, so we can deduce how many times they need to transport all the remaining prey back?" Qubing asked Youye in return.
Youye was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly reacted.
"Oh, I understand what you mean. You mean the enemy can't transport all of them in one go? Even if we let them go now, they will come out again, right? In this case, we still have a chance to ambush them again."
Youye immediately understood what Qubing meant, but it didn't seem right.
"No, Qubing, no, think about it. Even if they come out again next time, they have already taken away a quarter of the prey this time. Those are all meat. If we ambush these 3,000 people now, then their prey will all be ours. They can't even think of sending back any meat. If you let them go now, then we will suffer a great loss, right? So much meat, it would be great for our people to eat." Youye shouted anxiously.
"Uncle You, don't get excited first, listen to me first, didn't we say how many trips the enemy will take, why are you talking about meat again?" Qubing pressed Youye's shoulder again to make him sit down.
Youye still had a painful expression, "Those are all our spoils of war, so much meat, just put them back like this? I feel bad, I can't bear it."
"You have to sacrifice to gain, Uncle You, listen to me first, they used 3,000 people to transport a quarter of the prey at a time, right?" Qubing asked again.
"Well, then what?"
"Then how many times do you think they have to transport back and forth to transport all the prey?" Qubing asked again to guide Youye's thoughts.
"A quarter at a time, transport four times?" Youye didn't understand why Qubing asked this, so he tentatively replied.
"No, at most three times, don't forget, they transported a quarter with 3,000 people, but the last time everyone went back together, and they would definitely transport more at that time, so at most three times can be transported." Qubing immediately shook his head and said.
"Three times is three times, what does this have to do with you letting them go?" Youye still asked puzzled.
"I mean under normal circumstances, they will transport three times, and there is another situation, they can transport all in two times." Qubing explained.
"Two transports, that's impossible. Didn't you just say that they have to transport at least three times? No, no, oh, I see. What you mean is that these three thousand people may call more people to help with the transportation, and then they will bring all the remaining prey back at once next time, right? You are targeting those who come to help?" Youye said with sudden realization.
"Hehe, Uncle You is really amazing, he gets it right away." Qubing also nodded and smiled.
"You kid don't have to compliment me, wait a minute, I still have a question I haven't figured out." Youye waved his hand and said hurriedly.
"Well, Uncle You, tell me."
"How can you be sure that they will call more people to help next time? If they don't call people, and they carry it back and forth three times as you said before, then won't we suffer a loss?" Youye still asked in confusion.
Qubing spread his hands and said indifferently.
"I can't be sure, and I can't guarantee it. This is just my guess, it's just a gamble. If they don't call for help, then we will lose at most a quarter of the meat. The meat was not originally ours, so I won't feel bad about the loss. I can fully afford this loss.
"But if they really call for more people to help, then we may ambush more cannibals. Uncle You, you must know that if you can lure the enemy out and destroy them outside, you must never let them hide in their lair. There are not many opportunities for the enemy to come out and die on their own initiative. We would rather lose some meat trophies than let more enemies come out.
"First of all, you have to know one thing, that is, they will definitely come out again. There are so many prey outside that have not been sent back. They can't not come out. At worst, no one will come to help. Then we will only lose a batch of meat at most. It is definitely worth it to be able to exchange more prisoners at this price." Qubing was still persuading there.
Youye pondered for a while after hearing this, and also felt that there was some truth in it. This was a gamble, a gamble of exchanging a quarter of the meat for more captives. If the gamble was lost, the enemy's prey would be lost, and if the gamble was won, the Han tribe would gain more captives. Youye thought for a while, and began to be moved by Qubing's plan.
"Okay, then I'll listen to you and let them go back. I hope they can call more people to help, but what should we do now? So many soldiers have come, and they have been sent to the mountains in the hunting grounds. We can't let them hide in the ice and snow all the time, right? Who knows when the enemy's transport teams will come back!"
Youye finally decided to agree to Qubing's plan, but he immediately raised another question, asking about the current arrangements.
"Hehe, of course we can't let the army sit there idle. We have to send some scouts to continue tracking the transport team and keep an eye on their movements, and the two of us will immediately lead the main force to the valley in the south to eat up the more than 1,000 defenders left by the enemy there." Qubing smiled cunningly and immediately told his plan.
"Ah? Hahahaha, you are still the bad guy, but this is a good idea. We can eat the defenders there now, and it won't affect our ambush of the next transport team. Anyway, when they come, we will wipe them out halfway, and they won't find the abnormality in the valley at all."
Youye laughed when he heard it, but then asked, "But to deal with the more than 1,000 enemies left behind, there is no need to send all the main forces over. 4,000 troops are enough to crush them."
"No, if you want to go, go. Of course, I don't care about the more than 1,000 defenders, but Uncle You, don't forget that there are nearly 4,000 various prey there. We have to transport all the spoils." Qubing reminded immediately.
"Oh, right, right, right, I almost forgot if you didn't say it. Alas, if we lose a quarter, we lose it. We must get all the remaining three quarters. That's a lot of meat." Youye also wiped away the painful expression just now. Now that he knew that he was about to get so much meat, his whole face was smiling like a chrysanthemum.
(End of this chapter)
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