Chapter 354

On the 23rd day, a large number of soldiers began to get sick. Zhang Zhou led his retinue and became a medical staff himself

On the 27th day, the road to Huju pass was opened by a group of people. These people were not border troops, but civilian households subordinate to Kyushu commerce. The forest tree led more than 10000 members of the family and spent 20 days trying to open the way. It sent the first batch of relief food and grass to the location of its home director position. Although for the whole army, this batch of food and grass is at most three days, it has inspired everyone's morale!

On the 31st day, good news finally came. The road to Lijian town was opened!

It turned out that after learning about the situation of liemaguan and jubeiguan, the grain transportation team also began to take the initiative to clear the snow and open the way, so that the whole road was connected, several days ahead of schedule.

On the 37th day, the life-saving food and grass that had been delayed for more than a month finally arrived at jubeiguan! Although the food and grass were especially consumed on the road, the number was 30% less when they arrived at jubeiguan! But the food crisis has finally been solved.

In the 19th year of Dawu, Longzhou suffered the worst snow disaster in decades, which led to the food and grass crisis of the border army. There were five passes and one camp. Those in the most difficult situation refused Beiguan, and those who handled it most properly refused Beiguan. There was no commotion by sergeants.

On this day, all the officers and men of Beiguan, led by Zhang Zhou, kowtowed to Kyoto to thank the emperor for his kindness!

On this day, countless people knelt down to Zhang Zhou alone to express their inner respect!

On the evening of this day, the people and horses of quanguan gathered outside the city to pay tribute to the more than 100 soldiers who died in the snow disaster. There was a loud cry and the momentum was overwhelming!

……

Zhang Zhou was idle again, put his power down again, and completely became a palm throwing cabinet. However, it became his habit to walk around the city gate every day, not to inspect military discipline, but purely to chat. The soldiers were also used to seeing the Lord general at the city gate every day, saying hello, bragging, and even complaining.

The weather eased, and the Rangers began to leave the pass as usual. At the gate, they naturally couldn't escape. They wanted to say hello to the chief General. One of them was particularly excited when he saw Zhang Zhou, and shouted at the top of his voice, "general, do you count what you promised me?"

Zhang Zhou smiled: "don't worry, Liu Dashui, I'll definitely take your business as the first major event!"

"That's all right. I must cut off more heads today!"

"Don't blow it. Don't lose yourself at that time!" a familiar person laughed loudly.

Liu Dashui glanced at the man with a white eye.

"I think you are jealous! When I come back from meritorious service, I must be greedy!"

No one can take part in the tour. In order to get this opportunity, Liu Dashui rubbed his tongue and found a lot of relationships before he got the job of this one-day trip out of the city!

"As long as you can do meritorious service, I will definitely fulfill your promise whether you blow or cut!"

"Just look at it, general!" Liu Dashui was very confident.

No one will shout "safe return" to these people. It's uncomfortable to say it.

Zhang Zhou watched the hundred riders leave and continued to wander around the gate square for a while before being called back to dinner by Yan Xinxin.

The situation is very similar. The wife is not satisfied with the way her husband doesn't work and hurried home.

……

"When the weather gets warmer, some places will be muddy and slippery, which will bring trouble to the grain team transportation. The matter of road construction should be done as soon as possible instead of late. Seize the time!"

"OK, I'll do it myself to ensure that the grain team transportation will not be affected!" Zhong He said.

"It's said that someone is accusing Li Jian Guan of refusing to go out to help him at that time. Be sure to suppress it!"

"General, what they have done is not authentic! If they are willing to give some manpower, they can at least advance two or three days!"

Dozens of border troops died of frostbite caused by the snow disaster, most of which occurred in the last few days, so the soldiers were very angry with lijianguan.

"If you want to complain about this, you have to blame me. Li Chongxian and I had so many unpleasant things first, so that the other party will have a resistance to help. But don't forget that personal contradiction is a personal contradiction. As partners who depend on each other, sincere unity is the foundation to maintain the stability of the border. We can't have such emotion!"

"But..."

"But you head, don't tell me that you can't do such a small thing?"

"I'll try my best at the end!" he was reluctant.

"Alas! I know you want to use this excuse to embarrass Li Chong first, and you also intend to vent your breath for me! However, if this matter is endless and makes more and more noise, it will only be more disadvantageous to me. You don't have much contact with things in the court, and you won't understand some situations. On the contrary, if you want me to be good, don't make trouble for me!"

Even if he didn't understand, he didn't dare to be careless. He patted his chest and promised that he would calm the matter.

While the two were talking, a squire hurried in.

"What's the matter, flustered?"

"My Lord, there is news from the city gate that the rangers who left the pass have been badly hurt and have sent someone to meet them!"

"What? A heavy blow? Make it clear!"

"It is said that they were trapped by Beiyan and suffered heavy casualties. Only a small number of Rangers rushed out."

"Go and have a look!"

……

It is very common for a Ranger to suffer death or injury, but Zhang Zhou encountered such a big loss for the first time. Hundreds of people went out, 34 came back, and each was injured.

The number of casualties recorded in the understatement of the war situation is cold. When watching the bloody soldiers stagger back, the visual impact is definitely different!

Zhang Zhou and the retinue behind him are all people who have had "great scene experience". For them, the death and injury of personnel will not cause psychological impact, but at the moment, they are very different emotionally, even if they don't know these people. When others didn't know, Zhang Zhou felt an uncontrollable palpitation in his heart!

For a long time, Zhang Zhou has no strong sense of national belonging to Datang, nor has he been born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Sri Lanka. He can make profits for the country in occasional external contacts, which is also based on the principle of "he can make profits". Even the idea of "leaving Datang and choosing another place to live" is not unprecedented!

Because of his previous life, he thought more habitually and positioned himself as a lodger! Therefore, it is one thing to hope for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but it is another to talk about national feelings.

But today, seeing these border Army Rangers who died for his country, he had an inexplicable panic in his heart! Yes, just panic!

He finally found the familiar figure in the team - Liu Dashui. Before the team entered the city gate, he rushed up, held the locked and shaky man with his own hands, and took him off his horse.

There is a great gap between the armor worn by ordinary soldiers and the armor worn by school captains. The soldier's armor is just a belt connecting iron armor pieces to provide the simplest protection for important parts of the body. It can't withstand the attack of weapons at all.

Liu Dashui's armor was in tattered condition. There was a deep bone wound on his chest and back. His face turned pale because of excessive blood loss.

Perhaps he knew that he was "home" and safe. Liu Dashui slowly opened his eyes and saw that Zhang Zhou was holding him. His lifeless eyes had some light, and his lips moved for a long time. It seemed that he had something to say.

Zhang Zhou didn't dare to move any more. He hurriedly put him on the ground and held him in his arms. Then he heard Liu Dashui say intermittently: "will... Army... I didn't... Give you... Shame... Tell... That... Boy... I killed... Killed... An... Enemy... No... Not... Coward..."

Liu Dashui died in Zhang Zhou's arms without finishing the last word! Zhang Zhou only felt that his heart was deeply hurt by something. He stretched out his hand to close Liu Dashui's eyes and put them in his arms. His tears could not stop.

Many soldiers were stunned by this scene. A general guarding the pass, a noble Marquis, a rich man, hugged the most humble and unfamiliar soldier and cried so regardless of dignity. But no one dared to disturb him. He could only let Zhang Zhou vent his sadness.

One hundred and three men met the cavalry of the other party's five hundred men. Sixty nine died in the battle and thirty-four came back. Seven more died just after entering the city.

For the vast majority of soldiers who refused to Beiguan, it was just a battle, a battle with heavy casualties. It may be hard to feel, but it won't make much waves. Maybe it's numb. After all, for Rangers, death in battle is a common thing; Perhaps I have seen through. As a border army, I should look down on life and death; Perhaps, they think this is their doomed life mode. Living one day is earning one day. If they die, they can leave a considerable pension silver for their family, and they will not waste their name!

But Zhang Zhou's feeling is different.

Soldiers like Liu Dashui have not received any "patriotism" education. He may not understand what a national mission is and what a military honor is until his death. He just wants to prove that he is not ashamed at the last moment of his life. He is not a coward in the eyes of others! However, what kind of feelings is this simple and plain idea?

In this world, the vast majority of ordinary people belong to uneducated people. They act recklessly and have simple ideas. They dare not touch their actions on the height of the country and the great righteousness of the nation. Respected by future generations and remembered by the world, those who are successful generals and dignitaries should be treated! They are just grass-roots mayflies that can exchange silver for life, and they themselves frankly accept this reality!

Liu Dashui, who was only worth 200 taels of the silver, died in his arms, but it touched a barrier in his heart.

He has seen so many people die, and some people make him feel distressed and remorse! But never let him have such a feeling of soul palpitation!

The biggest reason is that Liu Dashui died for this country! Then, his behavior should be remembered by future generations and the country, rather than simply ending with 200 liang of silver!

What Zhang Zhou wanted to do before was implemented inside Kyushu business, because that was the place where he could show his ideas. He never thought of changing anything other than Kyushu business. More external is to learn, use, or numb! Most of the problems are beyond his responsibility and should not be changed by him.

At this moment, he had an idea that he should do something for Liu Dashui who died in his arms and do something for these worthless border troops!

Zhang Zhou personally picked up Liu Dashui, stood up, and then whispered his orders!

"Summon all the people above the school captain in the army to gather here. I have something to say!"

……

Some well-informed people know that this gathering is probably related to the heavy damage suffered by a Ranger. They speculate that the Marquis has never seen so many people die. He is a little flustered and wants to find some unlucky people to reprimand or even punish! If you don't know, you think something big has happened again, and you will inevitably get nervous. But no matter how they guessed, Zhang Zhou's dignified position in their hearts has been generated through a heavy snow, and no one dares to delay and neglect.

The small square inside the city gate was soon full again.

People saw Zhang Zhou in the camp on one side, personally involved in cleaning up the bodies of the dead. For a time, they had all kinds of ideas, whispered and talked one after another!

Zhang Zhou didn't take care of it. He took care of his work carefully until Yin Dongshan and more than a dozen other strong force school captains came together. He also changed his clothes for the last dead!

According to the previous rules, the deceased had no new clothes, but Zhang Zhou specifically ordered him to come!

Zhang Zhou did not wipe the blood on his body, nor did he greet anyone. He walked through the crowd and came to the wooden platform that had not been demolished. As he stepped onto the stage, the noise around him soon quieted down. It can be seen from Zhang Zhou's expression that he is now in a very "serious" and "unhappy" mood. No one dares to make a noise and feel uncomfortable at this time!

After looking around for a week, Zhang Zhou took a deep breath and said loudly, "today, a Ranger who left the pass encountered a strong enemy, more than 100 brothers and lost 76 people! This situation should not be an earth shaking event in refusing Beiguan. You may be used to it!"

Zhang Zhou paused a little and then continued: "I don't want to blame anyone, because we are all soldiers. It's the most natural thing to die on the battlefield! Who is responsible for directing the war can't be the undead..."

Those generals in charge of Rangers were secretly relieved. It seems that they won't be reprimanded and blamed for this today.