Chapter 612: Unexpected Harvest (Happy New Year to Everyone)
Due to the snow on the ground and the unfamiliar terrain, the scouts had to clear the way in front, so the marching speed of the large army was not fast. However, they also knew that the sailors on the side of Youfu were very tired, and they didn't know how long they could hold on, so everyone tacitly accelerated the speed. After all, this was the first battle of the Han tribe army, so the generals also
attached great importance to it. The scouts in the front were still arresting people, but what the generals didn't expect was that they captured hundreds of people in just the first day, both men and women, and these people were not from the same tribe. This immediately made the generals feel embarrassed. What should they do with these people?
People certainly can't be killed casually, but if they are tied up like this, they must be assigned troops to guard them, and they must also be provided with food. It is impossible to let them go, at least not now, because they all know the arrival of the Han army, and they must not be let go without guaranteeing that they can keep it secret for themselves.
Finally, several generals discussed and decided to assign some people to guard the prisoners. They directly left more than 100 people from the logistics troops of the two guards and put them under centralized custody. However, they could not untie them, otherwise it might lead to collective riots among the prisoners.
At the same time, Xue Dongliang and Ying Rui also gave orders to their logistics soldiers that they did not need to join this battle. As long as they could keep an eye on these people and feed them some food, and if they could communicate with them and even persuade them to join the Han tribe, they would definitely ask for merit for these soldiers in front of the leader.
Everyone thought this was a good thing. The logistics troops did not have many opportunities to make merit. If they could make merit through this matter and did not have to fight on the front line, it would be great.
So they gathered these people together, tied up most of them, and only untied one or two prisoners from each faction. Then they fed the prisoners through them, explained the actions of the Han tribe, and finally began to persuade these people to join the Han tribe.
When the captives saw that the people who had captured them did not kill them directly, but provided them with food, their resentment for being captured was reduced by half. Then, through the explanation of these logistics soldiers, they learned that this powerful army from afar was not going to deal with them, but to deal with the barbarian tribe to their south. They captured them only because they were worried about exposing the whereabouts of the army, and they also said that they would be released directly afterwards.
Everyone was even happier, but soon some people began to disobey. They were not worried about themselves, but about their own tribesmen. After all, those who could run to the snow to find food at this time were all poor tribesmen who could not even afford to eat. If they could not go back for a few days, the children in the tribe might starve to death, which they did not want to see.
At this time, the fake blind man among the logistics soldiers spoke. He spoke to several leaders who came out to hunt while gesturing.
"We in the Han tribe can provide you with enough food, but if you want food, you must join our Han tribe. We have many ways to produce food. When you come to us, as long as you are not lazy and are willing to work hard, you can easily feed your family.
Now tell this to your companions. If you are willing, I can give him some food and let him go back, and we will send someone to follow him. If you dare to lie, our army will come back and kill you all. You can choose now."
After saying this, many people did not respond. After they thought for a while, they began to talk to their companions, and then began to discuss with each other. After a while, a group of people made a decision first.
"Is what you said true? If we join your tribe, we can have food?" A very young but very thin man asked.
"Of course, our Han tribe is so powerful, of course we will not lie to you. You have also seen our army. These men are only a small part of our tribe. If our tribe does not have enough food, how can we support so many people to fight." The fake blind man gestured again to explain.
The young man nodded after hearing this. He had seen the armies that had just passed by. They were very powerful. Just like what the man in front of him said, the warriors of the other tribe were more than the entire population of his own tribe.
The reason why the young man could make the decision was mainly because he was the leader of the tribe. His tribe was not large, with less than a hundred people. The food stored in the previous autumn had run out, so he had to lead people to find food. However, he did not expect that he would be affected by the barbarian tribe not far away. It didn't matter if he was tied up here for a few days, but the people in his tribe would starve, or even starve to death, so he had to make a decision quickly.
The strange tribe in front of him was indeed very powerful. Of course, he would lose his position as the leader if he joined them, but compared with the lives of all the people in the tribe, what could it count for? However, to be on the safe side, he asked the fake blind man again.
"You just said that as long as we get to your tribe and are willing to work hard, we will have enough food. What do we need to do when we get there?"
"I have no say in what we do. Someone will arrange it for you when the time comes. But you must build a house for yourself, do farm work, or raise livestock. Someone will teach you these things when the time comes.
Do you see this cake? As long as you are willing to work hard, I guarantee that you can eat this every day when you get there."
The fake blind man made another promise and explanation, and the boy opposite finally made up his mind.
"Okay, I agree to join your tribe. Can I take these people with me now?"
"No, you can only go one person, and I will send two people to follow you. Also, don't think about hurting our people. If they don't come back, your companions will die." The fake blind man shook his head immediately.
The young leader hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded. He looked back at the companions who were tied up, and then walked firmly in the direction of the tribe. The fake blind man immediately sent two logistics soldiers to follow him.
The young leader's tribe was not far from here. After all, they went out to look for food in winter and could not go too far. So the three of them brought all the people back in less than an hour. Those hungry savages were trembling with their children in their arms, walking in the snow in ragged clothes.
They heard their leader say that he would take them to join a powerful tribe, that tribe would give them food and take them in. Basically, they all agreed without any objection. The days at the end of winter were the most difficult. They could no longer bear the life of having only one meal every few days. If they could live a better life, why not join another tribe?
Seeing how cooperative they were, the fake blind man immediately had his companions untied, and then had some logistics soldiers take off their blankets and wrap them up for these people. Many of them didn't even have animal skins, and they were already frozen all the way.
Then the fake blind man got a big pot, commanded a few soldiers to dig a smokeless stove on the ground, shoveled some clean snow into it, and started to boil water to cook for these people. Snow water, rice, and smoked sausages soon stewed into thick meat porridge, which was distributed to the tribe that had just joined.
The savages who hadn't eaten for a long time licked the bowls clean, but because they were afraid that they would get an upset stomach, the fake blind man didn't dare to give them more.
But when the scene of distributing porridge appeared, many people who were still hesitating could no longer sit still, and they all expressed their agreement to join the Han tribe. It wasn't that these people were not firm enough, but because everything could be fake, but the strength and food of the Han tribe were real. They had seen the army of the Han tribe, and now they saw them distributing food to the newcomers, so there was no need to hesitate.
So many people began to volunteer to go back to the tribe to contact them. The fake blind man followed the same method as before, only releasing one person from each tribe and sending two people to follow. Because he was worried about insufficient manpower, he also temporarily recruited the young leader from before and brought the young and strong people from his own tribe to help guard the captives.
Soon, those who went back to contact also came back one after another. Some small tribes came directly to surrender, and others did not have the power to make decisions, so they called the elders or leaders of their tribes to take a look, and then the fake blind man continued to negotiate with them.
There were even more bizarre ones, because they were worried that the leaders of their tribes would not agree to their joining the Han tribe, so they went back and killed their leaders.
Or they told the leader that they found something to eat outside, but they couldn't get it back by themselves, and needed help, and then they brought their whole family out and secretly joined the Han tribe
. The fake blind man accepted everyone who came. As long as someone came, he would immediately have someone cook porridge for them. There was no need to worry about food. Although they didn't bring much here, there was plenty on the big ship behind. If these were not enough, those cargo ships could always return to the tribe to load another batch of supplies.
The fake blind man believed that as long as it could increase the population of the Han tribe, the leader would never be stingy with that little food.
The efforts of the logistics soldiers were not in vain. After this operation, many people really came to the Han tribe. Among them, three small tribes with less than 100 people chose to join the tribe. The rest of the people also came with their families, but the number was not large. There were only about two or three hundred people in total. In addition, there were some people who led half of the population to defect from their own tribe and then came to join the Han tribe.
By the evening of that day, the total number of people who came to surrender, including the captives, had exceeded a thousand, but there were still three or four hundred people tied up. However, it was still difficult to manage such a large population with only more than a hundred logistics soldiers.
So the fake blind man sent someone to catch up with the main force to report the situation here, and asked to send the newcomers who were willing to join to the big boat parked by the river in the Han tribe. That boat could hold seven hundred people, which was just enough to hold the six or seven hundred people who came to surrender.
The news was quickly delivered to several generals, which surprised them. They didn't expect that the more than one hundred logistics soldiers could really get the job done, but it was a good thing to recruit more people, so after discussing it, they immediately agreed to the fake blind man's plan.
A messenger was sent to leave a ship to transport these people back to the tribe, and all the remaining ships were ordered to move towards the target river basin to participate in the encirclement operation. After a day and a half of trekking, the large army was very close to the periphery of the barbarian tribe. At this time, the fleet was notified in advance so that everyone could appear together when the final encirclement was completed, leaving no chance for the enemy to escape.
Those who chose to join the Han tribe were sent to the big ship by the river in the last sunset before dark. After all, it was so cold, they were short of food and clothing, and there were not many tents and cotton-padded quilts in the logistics department. If they were left to spend the night in the wild, it was estimated that many people would freeze to death by tomorrow morning. Although the cabin was not very warm, it could at least shelter from the wind and rain and could be used as a temporary residence.
The young leader was half expectant and half nervous. He didn't know whether the decision he made today was right or wrong. But when he came to the river and saw the huge monster parked in the middle of the river, he really saw the strength of the Han tribe.
"Were these made by the Han tribe?" The young leader asked the small flag officer who led them in amazement.
"Yes, these were made by our Han tribe. We came here from far upstream on these boats. You will all follow the instructions in a while. We will send a big ship to send you back to the tribe. At that time, you will need to work and support yourself." The small flag officer of the logistics soldier introduced.
As soon as he said this, more people began to marvel at the strength of the Han tribe. Let's not talk about how this thing works. The fact that the Han tribe has the ability to make such a large man-made tool can already explain everything. However, he still doubted it.
"Just this one can fit all of us?"
"Of course, you are far away now. When you get there, you will naturally know how big it is." The small flag officer explained impatiently, and then began to signal the sailors who stayed on the ship. Three landing crafts were quickly sent over to pick up the people. They loaded these people into the cabin in batches of hundreds of people.
Then they quickly raised the sail and turned around, heading towards the upper reaches of the Liuyang River.
After receiving the order to continue southward, the remaining dozens of large and small sailboats also began to converge on the main battlefield. At this point, the Han tribe had initially formed a circle around the barbarian tribe. As long as everything went smoothly, the mission would be completed.
(End of this chapter)
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