Chapter 317 Elegy
The biggest snow this winter is here.
The heavy snow covered the sky, covering up all the smoke, sin and greed, and giving people a brief and beautiful false white.
Due to the long-term procrastination of the Eastern Palace and the decision to withdraw troops for the Northern Expedition, the rebel areas in the central part of the Nan Kingdom were short of troops, and the 30,000-strong Black Armor Army was completely wiped out.
Veteran generals Cao Fang and Meng Jianyun fought to the end. They remained standing despite being hit by dozens of arrows and still let out bursts of killing roars that frightened the enemy. However, they were both killed in the battle and their bodies were hastily buried in a mass grave.
The entire central region fell under the control of the rebels, cutting off all contact between the Lion Army and Kyoto, and surrounding Guying City from the west and north.
The rebels even joined forces with 140,000 Black Scale Cavalrymen, using the Killing Valley as a covert route to lure two groups of Black Scale Cavalrymen into the interior of the pass.
One group ambushed Yun Chen and the seriously injured soldiers of the Lion Army; the other group robbed food and supplies in the valley and attacked Huo Gannian and others.
Relying on his excellent fighting tactics of wits and courage, Huo Gannian led everyone to persist in the valley for several days, fought more than ten battles, and killed more than a thousand enemies.
By the time Luo Dongdong arrived with reinforcements in time, only Huo Gannian, Ye Yan, Rong Jiang and more than 200 others were left.
Luo Dongdong felt extremely scared. If he had come a little later, he would have been able to collect Huo Gannian's body.
Carrying the wounded Huo Gannian and others, Luo Dongdong quickly returned. He heard the deafening sound of killing from a distance. The Black Scale Cavalry had broken through the Lion Army's defense line and reached the foot of Guying City again.
Fortunately, a sudden heavy snowfall blocked the charge of the Black Scale Cavalry and gave Guying City a chance to catch its breath.
Huo Gannian and others hurried into the city to rest.
At the last moment when the Black Scale Cavalry and the rebels were jointly encircling Guying City and completely closing the encirclement, everyone narrowly received an urgent report from Kyoto:
The 400,000-strong Northern Expeditionary Army encountered resistance on its way north, suffering a series of crushing defeats and falling victim to Luojiang. During the chaos, Nan Lijun disappeared, his whereabouts unknown, and his life or death uncertain.
The Northern Expedition was defeated and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace disappeared.
This news was undoubtedly a heavy blow, casting a shadow of panic over the entire land of Nan Kingdom, fearing the imminent destruction of the country.
The giant ship of the Nan Kingdom sailed into a dangerous area full of rapids and reefs.
As they were out of reach, Huo Gannian and others had no energy to plan for the north and plunged into Guying City.
Huo Gannian was covered in wounds and looked as dirty as a savage. He could only stand by holding on to the Hidden Moon Sword. He stared blankly at Yun Chen, who was also covered in scars and had a face that was pale and bloodless.
Both of them had been to the underworld and thought that they would be separated from each other forever in this life.
At this moment, they stood face to face, looking at each other without words, and could only shed tears.
Without caring about anyone around them, Huo Gannian and Yun Chen hugged each other tightly.
When the two separated, they found that the brothers Rong Jiang and Rong Yi were hugging each other and crying, and the others were also hugging each other in groups of three.
Having survived another disaster, we should celebrate by drinking and eating meat.
Unfortunately, over the past ten days, all the food stores have been emptied, and there is not a single grain of rice left.
All the food in Guying City had been bought and eaten, leaving only a little coarse grain for the people to feed their families, which was absolutely not to be fought over.
Everyone then understood why Rong Yi and the Shiwei Army were losing ground, their defenses breached, and they were driven back to Guying City.
They had not eaten any food for five days and had to rely on wild grass and water to fill their stomachs. The soldiers went to the battlefield on an empty stomach.
He didn't even have the strength to walk or talk, let alone fight with the powerful Black Scale Cavalry who ate human flesh with a knife.
All the birds and beasts around the Lion Army's camp had been hunted, and all the grass had been eaten up. The soldiers were almost lying on the ground chewing the dirt.
Even the war horses were so hungry that they had no strength to stand and could only lie on the ground and whine.
The Black Scale Cavalry did not rush to attack, but instead firmly guarded outside the city, as if they were determined to wear down the Lion Power Army until it had no combat capability left.
Huo Gannian wanted to order the dozen or so Huo Gang branches closest to Guying City to gather some food, but there was no response.
In the past two years, Huo Gannian has been busy with military affairs, and all his focus has been on the Lion Army, and he has neglected to strictly manage the Huo Gang.
Without Huo Gannian's authority, Ye Yan's management alone was far from enough.
A group of Huo clan members, led by Huo Xianghao, had long been secretly colluding with Qu Kuang with the intention of setting up their own faction.
Today, Guying City is surrounded by rebels and Black Scale Cavalry, making it difficult to enter or exit.
Huo Xianghao and others immediately expressed their intention to draw a clear line with Huo Gannian and cut all ties with the Huo Gang.
As a result, the Lion Army was isolated and helpless, with no food, weapons or medicine coming in, and no news of seriously injured soldiers or requests for help going out.
The Lion Army was facing a catastrophe of running out of ammunition and food.
At first, when arrows ran out, they cut down trees to make new ones, and when food ran out, they killed horses to eat.
In the end, more than half of the war horses that were registered with names, carefully cared for by the soldiers, and fought side by side day and night were killed, reaching the limit of the cavalry regiment's ability to continue using horses in combat.
The soldiers were extremely hungry. Driven by the primitive desire for survival, they had lost their reason and morality.
Some people sneaked into people's homes to steal food, while others secretly dug out the bodies of their comrades buried under the snow and ate them.
In the end, some people even set their sights on the few ordinary people in Guying City.
Looking at the babbling child, I no longer found him strange and cute. My mind was filled with only one thought:
The Black Scale Cavalry can eat people, so why can't we?
Once this terrible idea arises and spreads, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The Lion Army will no longer be an excellent army to defend the country, but will become beasts like the Black Scale Cavalry.
No, the Black Scale Cavalry feed on the enemy troops and the people of the enemy country.
If the Lion Power Army attacks its compatriots, it will be worse than beasts.
Without any hesitation, Huo Gannian ordered the arrest of several soldiers who stole food and corpses, and beheaded them according to military regulations. Huo Gannian carried out the execution personally, and the heads were hung in front of the military camp.
In this way, the morale of the army was temporarily stabilized.
It’s a pity that violence can stop violence, but it can never stop the attack on the heart.
One night, there was dead silence inside and outside Guying City.
The soldiers lay on the ground and ate snow silently. No one had the strength to speak or move.
The rebels and the Black Scale Cavalry began to celebrate their victory in advance, beating drums loudly and holding banquets.
With the help of the winter wind, the soldiers of the Lion Army could clearly smell the aroma of wine, meat and food coming from the enemy camp.
Just when the soldiers were hungry and becoming increasingly discouraged.
Suddenly, the surroundings gradually fell into silence.
From afar came the sound of mournful singing. Someone was singing:
"Who says the east is vast? A colt can walk half the way there. Who says the east is far? I can see it by standing on tiptoe. Frost keeps the daylight long, and the moon never shines brightly."
Gradually, the singing became louder and louder, coming from all directions. It seemed particularly sad in the snow on a winter night, like a funeral song.
What a heart-wrenching song of homesickness...
For the soldiers of the Lion Power Army, Nanguo is their ancestral homeland, but Zhaoguo, where they have lived for decades, is also their hometown...
Why on earth would we have to come all the way here to fight?
A feeling of sadness, doubt, dejection and homesickness quietly circulated among the camp.
"I want to go home..."
"I miss my mom... I want to eat the dumplings she made..."
The soldier who spoke burst into tears.
If it were in the past, I would have been ridiculed and scolded.
But no one has the strength to stop it now.
Soon, the crying sounds came one after another and became continuous.
It seemed unnecessary to fight this battle anymore, as the air was already filled with a decadent atmosphere that this battle was bound to be lost.
Huo Gannian and Yun Chen stood at the gate of Guying City, quietly listening to the elegies all around and the cries of the soldiers who were homesick.
This time, killing is not the only solution.
Yun Chen's eyes were moist. He looked up at the stone plaque of Guying City and muttered:
"It's not 'Gu', it's 'Kun'... Ah Nian, this was originally called 'Kun Yingcheng'..."
Huo Gannian looked up and saw that there were indeed traces of old covering on the plaque, and an old word "困" (trapped) could be vaguely seen.
Trapped in Yingcheng.
This city seems to have trapped many heroic souls for their entire lives. They can only look at their hometowns that they can never return to and their loved ones that they can never see, trapped forever in this place of endless war.
As the main general, Huo Gannian knew very well that they were in a desperate situation, the morale of the army was in chaos, and this battle was definitely hopeless.
"Chen'er, do you miss Youzhou?" Huo Gannian asked.
After thinking for a while, Yun Chen said: "I prefer Yancheng... There are many beautiful memories there..."
Huo Gannian was silent, and so was he.
He had a premonition that tonight the sad song had already taken a toll on his heart, and tomorrow the Black Scale Cavalry would attack the city.
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