My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 662: Thick Horse? Devil's Den!
In the wilderness east of Nongma City, within the sight of the soldiers patrolling the city wall, a black line stretching for dozens of miles in the distance was slowly withdrawing.

"Quick, take the news to the palace!"

The commander of the corps guarding the city, Amov, excitedly sent his soldiers down the city wall to bring the news that the Seres army had withdrawn from the camp to the emperor.

After several days of silence, the Seres army finally moved, and this move was a retreat.

Is it because there is no food and fodder to support it?
The army of Ceres was huge, and its logistics had been attacked once, so a lot of Egyptian and Macedonian legions were burned. Almost all the generals leading the troops in Nunguma knew this.

The most likely reason why the other side withdrew their troops at this time was that there was not enough food to support them to continue fighting.

However, the Western Expedition Army that he was thinking about was indeed dismantling fences and packing up tents at this moment. More than a dozen camps were busy in an orderly manner under the orders of Emperor Su Chen and Commander Han Xin.

The fence was dismantled into wooden stakes, loaded onto a cart bed, and pulled away by a slow horse.

The tents were managed by a team of soldiers in charge of logistics in each battalion. They folded up the tent frames one by one, packed them up and stacked them neatly onto a six-wheeled cart.

Craftsmen came and went in the artisan camp, carrying baskets on their backs, throwing all the eating utensils into the baskets, and then pushing them to the stove made of adobe bricks.

The young and strong laborers used wooden shovels and wooden spades to shovel soil and fill up the toilet pits.

The ecological system of an army of more than 200,000 is huge and complex, taking into account all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation. When they first entered the Western world, most of this was done by Su Chen, and almost all his energy was put into it.

After Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin, took over the position of commander-in-chief, Su Chen became much more free. Accompanied by Dian Wei and Xu Chu, he patrolled the central army camp and took a look at the residues in the pots and pans. He would then find out what the soldiers' rations had been recently and whether anyone had withheld their food.

"Your Majesty, General Jia said that an outbreak has started over there. How did he confirm it?" Wu Zixun is two years older than Su Chen and is already thirty years old. He has followed Su Chen for so many years and has seen and experienced countless things, but there are still many things that make him feel he will never be able to learn enough.

Su Chen touched the bottom of the pot, then smelled the food residue left on his fingertips. It was okay, there was no musty smell.

After lowering his hands, he smiled and replied, "Some things I tell you, you may not understand. That thing spreads very quickly, and the maggots inside should turn into flies in the next few days..."

Having said that, Su Chen stopped and looked to the west.

"I'll give you a simple example so you can understand it immediately."

Dian Wei and Xu Chu also moved their feet, got closer and pricked up their ears, and heard Su Chen ask a question in return.

"Empress Wu... have you ever smelled a fart?"

Wu Zixun looked strange, but he nodded: "Well... people eat grains, so it's natural that they can expel foul qi."

"Qi... is actually tiny... particles that cannot be seen by the naked eye... but it is also a real thing." Su Chen held back his laughter and said as he turned around and walked back, "When you smell it, it's actually... not much different from eating shit..."

Wu Zixun was stunned for a moment.

puff!
Just at this moment, a muffled sound was heard from behind Dian Wei who was passing by him, and a foul smell filled the air. Wu Zixun's face turned green, and his breathing stopped when he thought of what the emperor had just said. He quickly raised his hands to cover his mouth and nose, rushed to the side and bent down.

"vomit!"

Wu Zixun's stomach cramped and he felt nauseous and started retching.

"So, how much plague did those people who smelled the stench of corpses and were contaminated by corpse water inhale? One or two breaths might not cause illness, but long-term contact... hehe..."

Su Chen did not look back. Amid the sound of Wu Zixun retching, he raised his hand and waved: "Back in Milantel, General Jia had an experience. This old fox must have recorded the time of the onset of the disease, and made such a calculation. Do you understand?!"

"I understand... Ugh..."

Even Xu Chu couldn't help but retching in nausea.

Lian Heng's military camps were gradually dismantled, and a large number of cavalry and infantry began to assemble in the wilderness, slowly retreating with a large amount of baggage. At the same time, there was a completely different scene in Nongma City.

Trample, tramp, tramp...horse hooves tumbling on the street.

On the straight official road leading to the palace, war horses galloped across the rugged road surface. The cavalry who brought the message of the retreat of the Seres army was now looking at the surrounding street scenes.

On both sides of the spacious street, there are many listless men, women, old and young. Most of them are poorly dressed, unkempt, with gray faces. They are either standing or sitting under the eaves, their eyes half-closed and lifeless. Even if they are motionless, their whole body is shaking slightly.

In the dry air, green flies were flying everywhere, flapping their wings and making a buzzing noise.

Occasionally, a civilian would be walking around, and then suddenly sit down against the wall, tilt his head, and then lie motionless.

A large number of flies landed on him, but he did not drive them away and let these green-headed insects crawl back and forth.

"It's only been two days since we went down the city walls, how did the city become like this?!"

The cavalryman looked at the horrifying scene on the street and could not help but speed up his horse, running towards the palace as if escaping. The carriage that passed by him was coming out of the palace.

Merlin lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the cavalrymen galloping past. His eyes then turned to the sick civilians on the street.

Not only civilians, he also learned recently that many soldiers in the city had also developed symptoms such as fever, fainting, and convulsions.

Several of the sick soldiers died this morning in the wounded camp.

"Stop!"

Merlin suddenly stopped the soldier driving the carriage and then got off. He was not worried about being infected with this strange disease, but the soldier driving the carriage was different.

"Just wait for me in the car."

Merlin, leaning on his cane, walked towards the right side of the street. Outside a square earthen house made of white clay, a little boy was squatting against the wall, his face pale and in a daze.

The old man reached out and touched the child, and the latter moved his eyelids.

"Where are your parents?"

The boy turned his head slightly and looked weakly at the door which had a crack.

Merlin stood up and pushed the door open. He wanted to get close to the patient and observe his symptoms.

Push the door open and enter.

The furnishings in this house were simple, with a common four-legged table, and a large and small bed on each side of the east and west. Two people were lying side by side on the big bed. Before Merlin approached, he could hear the buzzing sound of flies flying around.

They were the parents of the child outside. The woman had disheveled hair and a thin face. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was open as if she was shouting. The husband next to her had his hands clenched into fists and his legs had marks of kicking. It seemed that he had struggled unwillingly before his death.

Flies and insects were crawling all over their faces and bodies.

Merlin waved his hand to shoo away the flies on the bodies, walked to the bedside, leaned forward slightly, and examined the two bodies, looking over the heads, limbs, and torsos once or twice.

He had never seen such symptoms in his lifetime.

"The Seres did it..."

Merlin's face gradually became heavy. It was hard to imagine that the people of Seris were not only outstanding in military affairs, but also knew how to control this disease.

"If we allow this disease to spread in the city, I'm afraid the city will collapse from within without them having to attack it."

His Majesty must be told to mobilize the city's doctors to lead people to collect herbs... With this thought in mind, the old man left the house and returned to the door. The boy leaning against the wall was lying on the ground on his side, no longer making any sound.

Soon, the old man, who had patrolled several streets, returned to the palace in a carriage.

At this time, Arthur was still feeling happy because the Ceres had withdrawn their camp, but the news brought by the old man was like a bolt from the blue, booming over his head.

"This disease was spread by the Seris people?"

His smile gradually faded and his fists clenched. Thinking about the news that the Seris had just withdrawn, he finally understood that the other side was not withdrawing because of lack of food, but because they were afraid that the epidemic would spread outside the city.

Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table had no experience in this area, let alone the name of plague. The day after they discussed how to deal with this situation, the plague in the city seemed to ferment and spread at the fastest speed in Nongma. The patrol team sent countless messages to the consul, and then all of them were delivered to the palace.

"A large number of civilians were infected with the disease in the city, and many died in the streets and houses."

The next afternoon, Arthur tightly grasped the piece of news that carried huge information, gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

The severity of the situation was beyond his imagination.

At that moment, he did not bother to discuss a complete response method, and immediately sent a message to the doctors in the city to study the epidemic and then prepare targeted medicine.

Afterwards, the 8th Auxiliary Unit of Nongma, which was on standby in Nongma City, was dispatched to search for the bodies of civilians who had died of disease. The bodies were burned in a centralized location, and all the sick civilians were taken to the north of the city and placed in a designated area. No one was allowed to leave, but anyone was allowed to enter.

By nightfall, a piece of land in the north of the city had been cleared, and the soldiers of the Eighth Auxiliary Corps of Nongma City built simple sheds there. The soldiers who were searching for the sick brought all of them here, threw them in, and then began to block the area.

By late night, a large number of corpses had been gathered in another open space in the northwest corner of the city, with the densely packed corpses piled up into three small hills.

There are more than 3,700 people.

Then they piled up a lot of dead branches, poured kerosene on them and set them on fire. Three huge bonfires instantly illuminated the night sky northwest of Nongma City.

In the second half of the night, almost the entire Nongma City could smell the choking smell of smoke and the stench of burning corpses.

Day three.

The Eighth Auxiliary Corps had soldiers infected with the disease.

Fourth day.

More and more soldiers were infected with the disease, and the number of infected civilians in the city was increasing rapidly. The camp in the north of the city that housed the patients had been sending out corpses continuously in the past two days.

On the fifth day, thick smoke and flames almost never ceased at the burning site in the northwest corner.

……

The sky is dry and the earth is dry.

The scorching wind blew across the fields and over the city walls of Nongma, the city that was united in hatred of the enemy and had high morale.

Now it is dead silent inside and outside.

Ragged corpses fell on the streets or rotted rapidly in the wounded camps, with flies and insects crawling all over the flesh and blood that was oozing with pus.

Occasionally, a staggering, swaying figure would stagger over with a weapon in hand, startling a large group of dense black shadows flying in the air.

There were buzzing sounds all around. A horrible plague was sweeping across the place, and the entire Nongma City almost became a dead city in just a few days.

It then spread to the west of the city. Fallen corpses crawling with maggots could be seen everywhere on the roads and in the mountains. The heat wave wind carried the stench of corpses across the devastated farmlands. Huge black spots and countless burnt wheat ashes danced in the sky with the wind.

Villages and towns were ravaged by the epidemic, and hundreds of people and livestock died every day.

Under the dazzling skylight.

A large number of civilians who wanted to escape the spread of the disease crowded towards the western gate. The cries and the commotion made the silent city suddenly become chaotic and noisy.

The old woman who was suffering from respiratory failure suddenly collapsed, and the child who was feverish and shivering squatted beside his dead mother and cried loudly.

The woman sitting by the road holding a swaddled baby had a dull look in her eyes and was humming a ballad softly to coax the soundless baby in the swaddle. The little face exposed from the swaddle was covered with dense blisters.

Inside the palace, the number of guards was almost half as small as usual.

Merlin coughed, and with Arthur's approval, he changed into a clean white robe hung with bronze ornaments of the sun, moon, stars, and rare animals.

The old man, leaning on his cane, slowly lit a few candles on the altar he was building. He stood on the stone platform among the symbols drawn with human blood, and spoke silently to communicate with the Heavenly Father.

Arthur looked at the altar and Merlin silently chanted the sacrificial prayer. He didn't know if God could help him.

He can only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

"What the Seris people have done this time... they want to kill them all!"

Arthur cursed a few times helplessly. This time the opponent almost hit his blind spot. Epidemics were rare according to the era and geographical environment at that time.

Even if there were, they would soon pass due to the vast area and sparse population.

If Heavenly Father did not give him any revelation this time, he would have to wait until winter. However, a terrible thing would be waiting for him in winter.

--famine!
If the Seris began to attack the city along the way, war and death would follow.

Arthur looked at Merlin on the altar for a while exhausted, then he called the wise knight Gawain, hoping he could give him some comfort.

"My king, disease and war will not take everyone's life, but famine will."

After the outbreak of the epidemic, Gawain had already made his analysis. Since he could not cure the plague and could not stop the war, he would try his best to find a way to ensure that the soldiers and civilians could have something to eat.

Otherwise, in the end, there would be no soldiers or civilians left in the city.

"Where is the food?"

"In the hands of a noble!"

Arthur fell silent. No matter in the West or the East, the nobles have always been the privileged class. They must have stored a large amount of food and money in their homes. But at the same time, the aristocratic class laid the foundation for the middle part of the entire country.

If we take the nobles in the city...

Arthur was unable to think any more. This situation was much more complicated than it was back then.

"Gawain, take the soldiers and inform every noble in Nongma, no matter how high or low their status is, to find a way to get food. If anyone does not give food to the soldiers and civilians, I will start killing people."

Gao Wen knew the seriousness of the matter. In the past, he would not recommend using violence, but he had to do so at this moment.

"I obey your will, my king."

……

The goshawk spread its huge wings, overlooked the dry land below, and let out a long cry in the clouds.

The soaring figure flew around the city and then landed on the field east of the city. More than 200 riders were galloping among the weeds and then stopped on a gentle slope.

Watched from a distance for a while.

Su Chen retracted his gaze and said to Han Xin and Li Jing who were following him with a smile: "Is it almost ready?"

"If there is enough food and grass, we can hold on for a while."

Han Xin looked at the patrol team on the city wall, which was obviously insufficient, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "But it's a pity that we can't wait that long."

"The plague does not recognize anyone, so our soldiers must also be careful." Li Jing spoke cautiously.

"First, use the catapult to hit the barbarians in Nongma City a few times to seduce them and put pressure on them!"

Su Chen had already made up his mind, so he said so.

(End of this chapter)