Chapter 833 The Militia in Action
The two men acted as if they had discussed it beforehand, playing a double act in this group of militias, one asking questions and the other running out to answer them, and then the other man continued,
"At the beginning of the year, the commander-in-chief did ask all tribes and villages to prepare arrows and cut arrow bamboo. At first, I thought that this time, as usual, they were all sold to the grassland people, but later I found out that it was not the case, because the number of arrows the commander-in-chief wanted was too large.
Later, when I escorted that batch of arrows to Qingquan Valley for delivery, I also saw arrows sent from other places. The number was unprecedented, and it was simply piled up like a mountain.
In addition, there were other bamboo armors, rattan shields, wooden shields, bamboo spears, bamboo ladders, various copper spears, and copper arrowheads. It didn't look like they were being sold to the grassland people, but rather like they were going to fight."
"That's right. Not only that, I don't know if you've noticed, but when we sold weapons to the grassland people, the commander-in-chief also asked several elders' families to select a lot of young and strong men, wearing those bamboo armors and weapons, and escorting those weapons to the grassland across the strait.
You also know that my father is the elder of the village, and I am the oldest in the family. Usually, whether it is delivering grain or dealing with the Han tribe in the village, I am mostly the one who comes forward. When I sent weapons to Qingquan Valley that time, I also led people there in person.
At that time, I saw several familiar clans of young and strong men wearing bamboo armors and holding copper spears, a total of two to three thousand people. I asked them what they were doing, and the man told me that there were too many weapons sold to the grassland people this time, and they had to go to the grassland to escort these weapons. If all goes well, they can exchange them for a lot of good things.
"I felt something was wrong at the time. Although the shepherding tribes on the grassland fought each other every year, no force had ever been able to demand so many weapons. Think about the number, which tribe has so many people?
And I don't know if you noticed that there were countless tall bamboo ladders in the weapons. You have to know that the shepherds all lived in felt tents, which were short and they didn't need to climb ladders at ordinary times. So why did they need so many ladders?
I saw those ladders with my own eyes. They were taller than our ordinary bamboo houses. Why did a group of shepherds living in felt tents need so many tall ladders when they were fighting? "
Xun Ge'er suddenly stopped talking here, and instead asked several important questions in succession, letting the militiamen analyze and guess for themselves, while he was just guiding them from the side, waiting for others to take over.
Fighting, and fighting with ladders, these two words quickly occupied the militiamen's minds. Just as Xun Ge'er said, they were a group of people living in tents fighting each other, so why would they need ladders? Since they needed ladders, their target was definitely not the people living in tents.
Following this line of thought, someone soon thought of something.
It was the old man who had just given the beans who reacted first, and he said in surprise.
"I heard that the Han tribe is good at building cities, using wooden boards as frames, filling them with loess, and pounding them solid to make city walls to defend against attacks from wild beasts and enemies. The earth walls they built were indestructible and taller than our bamboo houses.
Moreover, I heard two years ago that the Han tribe had built such a city on the grassland, specifically for the convenience of trade with the grassland people, exchanging salt, ironware, cloth and other items for their cattle, horses and sheep. There were countless treasures in the city. "
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and couldn't help cursing inwardly, 'Gan Liliang, the commander-in-chief would not send people to rob the city of the Han tribe together with those grassland people?! If so, the feud will be huge. Even if they come to attack their Zhudao, they will be in the wrong.'
Listening to the heavy breathing of the crowd and the angry curses, Xun Ge'er knew that they had figured it out, so he continued.
"Brothers, you guessed right, it is just as you thought. Just look at our contact with the Han tribe in the past two years. It is not difficult to know that the Han tribe delegation has promoted many production technologies here, but the more powerful technologies, such as shipbuilding, car manufacturing, and iron smelting, are also what the commander-in-chief and the elders want. The Han tribe did not give them, so they tried every means to rob them, and finally this incident happened at the beginning of this year.
However, as far as I know, the strength of the Han tribe is far from being as simple as it seems. The general and the grassland people joined forces to attack the city of the Han tribe, but in the end they did not win, but were defeated. The grassland people were beaten to pieces, and none of the two or three thousand people sent by our general came back.
Although the Han tribe won this time, it is inevitable that people will die in a war. I heard that many people from the Han tribe also died. How could the Han tribe, which is so powerful, swallow this breath? So the Han tribe has been retaliating.
I have a lot of contact with the Han envoys. The last time the Han envoy came to promote ironware, he told me that they had built two new cities on the grassland, which happened in the first half of this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, you should be able to understand it. The Han tribe just built a city on the grassland to buy and sell livestock, cloth, white salt, ironware, etc., just like building an embassy on our Zhudao Island, which is also used for trading and promoting technology. They used to get along with us, and they were all kind. Even if they let us take advantage of us a little during the transaction, they never cared.
In this case, what does it mean that the Han tribe suddenly built two new cities on the grassland?
Although the Han envoy who revealed the news to me did not say it, based on my own speculation, I think the Han tribe must have been frantically retaliating against the grassland people who attacked them in the first half of the year, which is why those grassland people had nowhere to hide and finally fled to us.
The commander-in-chief was also worried about being retaliated by the Han tribe, so he also allowed those grassland people to come to our Zhudao, preparing to let them help resist the Han tribe. Think about it carefully. If the commander-in-chief had not robbed the Han tribe first, why would he let these grassland people come to our Zhudao, live on our land, and eat our food? How did he know that the Han tribe was going to fight us? If it wasn't for this reason, it doesn't make sense at all.
Tell me, are these grassland people coming to help us, or are we just implicated by the commander-in-chief and those grassland people? They have a grudge against the Han tribe, what does it have to do with us? Why should we bear the revenge of the Han tribe for the mistakes made by the commander-in-chief's clans?
Now they have cheated us of our food and asked us to work for them. Working for them is fine, but they don't even give us enough food. Instead, they let those grassland people who made big mistakes eat the food we planted with great difficulty. How can this be justified in the world? ! "
As soon as Xun Ge'er finished speaking, the tent was immediately filled with curses.
Ordinary people have limited knowledge and little contact with the Han tribe. Some have never left the village for a long time in their entire lives, so they have no idea what is going on. It is not surprising that they are easily deceived by the leaders of the Xin tribe, but this does not mean that they are stupid
. After Xun Ge's analysis, they all understood why the grassland people came half a year ago and how they knew that the Han tribe would come to fight them. Now after listening to this explanation, everyone understood everything.
However, older people are always smarter and still have some doubts about what Xun Ge said. After all, he has no evidence to confirm what he just said, so he can't help but ask.
"Xun Ge, according to what you said, if our commander-in-chief and the grassland people attacked the Han tribe at the beginning of the year, why did the Han tribe come to seek revenge on us only now? "
Xun Ge'er was stunned. He had not thought of this question in advance. However, he was naturally smart and intelligent, so such questions were not difficult for him. He just listened to him.
"Didn't I just say that the Han envoy who came to promote ironware told me that they built a city on the grassland in the first half of the year, which must be seeking revenge on the grassland people in the first half of the year. Compared with us, the grassland people are closer to them, and the grassland people are the biggest threat to them. Even if they want to seek revenge on us, they must clean up the enemies at their doorstep.
On the other hand, the Han tribe is too far away from us. If we take the dark bridge in the northwest, there will be only one chance to pass through in a month. If the Han tribe sends fewer people, they may not be able to beat us. If they send more people, the landing time will be a problem. If they are blocked by the commander-in-chief when landing, I am afraid that all the soldiers will be drowned in the sea.
Therefore, the Han tribe must use the most advantageous method for them, that is, to take a boat, but with so many people, it will take a lot of time to prepare the boat. Then transport the army to the other side of the sea of Zhudao, and there are so many weapons and food. Even if the fastest preparation is required, it will take until now. "
The old man nodded, agreeing with Xun Ge'er's statement, which was indeed impeccable and took all aspects into consideration. However, the last question now is.
"What you said makes sense and it does seem to be the case, but we can't really turn against the commander-in-chief and his men based on your conjecture. Our women and children are still in Qingquan Valley. How can you prove that what you said is true? "
The tent suddenly became quiet. Yes, they didn't want to get involved in the feud between the commander-in-chief and the Han tribe. They just wanted to return to their homes and live a good life with their women and children. So the most important thing was what to do next. No one wanted to die in this damn war and leave their women and children widows and orphans.
Xun Ge knew how to answer this question, because Tie Zhen and the other Jinwu guards had already thought of how to prove his statement and made a rigorous plan. So Xun Ge seemed very calm when asked this question, but he pretended to be silent for a while, as if he was thinking of a solution. After a while, he suddenly said.
"Well, I got it. It's impossible for us to go to the people of the Han tribe to ask what's going on. It's impossible for us to ask the elders and the commander-in-chief, and they will never tell the truth. The only people who know the truth of the matter are the grassland people who are in the same camp with us, and we can contact them.
Think about it, since they were hunted by the Han tribe and fled to us, they must know the specific reasons. Let's secretly capture a few grassland people from the camp and interrogate them about the truth. Then we will know whether what I just said is true or not. "
"Catching people in the camp? What if you guessed wrong?" Someone suddenly got scared.
"What's there to be afraid of? If I guessed wrong, the worst that can happen is that I will kill a few of them and throw them into the river at the foot of the mountain. Anyway, I have long disliked them. Why should I let them eat our food and let us starve?
Helping us fight the Han tribe sounds good, but if we don't ask in person, who knows what's going on.
The Han tribe is about to attack, I think we should just stop delaying, it's better to do it today than to wait for a day. I will go tonight to capture people. Who dares to go with me? We can capture a few people while they are defecating at night. No one will know. We will definitely not be discovered."
(End of this chapter)
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