Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 1358 Despair

   Early morning dawn.

  The winter sun, like consumer protection laws.

  The corpses of Qiang people were thrown from the city wall like dead dogs. The blood quickly coagulated into lumps in the cold wind, as if a layer of purple-black paint had been spread on the ground, which was smelly and sticky.

The exhausted Ji County soldiers sat on the base of the wall, twisted and fell together, ignoring the noisy noises, corpses and blood around them, just opened their mouths wide, leaned against each other, and fought snore.

The archers on the city put their arrows in front of them and waited for the Qiang people to **** the ladders and other utensils under the city. Shoot them all.

  However, early this morning, the Qiang people were like coyotes whose spines were severed, wandering listlessly outside, without any desire to compete for the siege equipment under the city.

Under the sunshine, the exhausted Qiang people shook their bodies, as if they had lost their souls. They were really tired, and the kind of exhaustion that went deep into the bone marrow made their current state similar to that of The Walking Dead is no different. This is often the case with people. After the passion is over, it is the time of the sages, and after the pride of the Qiang people is soaring, what is left is the sadness all over the place.

If such a Ji County in the front can be directly pushed, fought and captured with flesh and blood, these Qiang people can't wait to rush directly to the city, hack and stab with knives and guns, and even hit them with their own heads. To bite, to occupy this **** city.

  But after paying an unknown amount of flesh and blood, this city is still there, quietly, like a gluttonous monster that is full, and the breath it exhales is full of blood.

  The Qiang people yelled and cursed, but after venting, when exhaustion surged up like a tide, they found that they still had no way to do anything, cross over to lay down a city? Do you want your own way out? And what if the next city can't be defeated?

   Going deep alone has always been a strategy of ten deaths and no life, and the Qiang people dare not gamble.

  The sheep carried have been killed, and the horses are gradually decreasing.

   If you continue to kill like this, I'm afraid you won't even be able to guarantee your own mount. What's more frightening is that winter has come, the surrounding grass has withered, and all the trees except some pines and cypresses have lost all their leaves. Without fodder, in this increasingly cold winter, in the desolate snow field, the war horses would starve to death, and without horses, they would lose all their property, just like refugees who lost their farmland.

The Qiang people have already begun to waver. They lost their former vigor. In order to save food and grass, the Qiang people dug three feet around the ground, ripped off the leaves, scraped off the bark, and even brought the sheep bones and horses that were discarded at random in the past. The bones were also reluctant to be thrown away, and they were kept in the pot and boiled over and over again. Even the dirty and tattered leather robes of the war dead were peeled off, cut into small pieces, and put into the pot to boil. cook…

   How much can deceive the hungry stomach.

  Under such circumstances, even if Ma Chao did not propose to withdraw, Quinoa Xiangli has always been considering this issue. Quinoa Xiangli rode on the horse, looking at Ji County from a distance, he pursed his mouth, the corners of his mouth were as sharp as a knife, and the sunlight burst out from the gap between the clouds, falling into his eyes full of resentment.

   Ma Chao is dead.

  Ma Chao's people probably fled overnight because they were afraid of being implicated.

   Quinoa sent a small number of people to Chali to catch up, but let most of them stay, ready to implement Ma Chao's plan before his death. He has placed too many bets here in Ji County. These bets that have already been placed are like opportunity costs, which makes him worry about gains and losses, and it is difficult to give up.

For the dead Ma Chao, Quinoa Xiangli didn't even think of collecting his body for him, because Quinoa Xiangli believed that the main responsibility for the failure to conquer this time was on Ma Chao, and it was Quinoa Xiangli's kindness to leave his whole body .

  Quinoa Xiangli slowly took out the last piece of dry bread, put it in his mouth, slowly moistened it with saliva, and ground it with his teeth, letting the bread melt in his mouth, exuding the aroma of wheat...

If in the past, it has been left like this for an unknown amount of time, it has completely dried and hardened like a stone, and quinoa would not even look at it at all, but now, the bread that was hard to swallow before is now How precious, the aroma of wheat that bloomed in his mouth soothed his heart, spleen and stomach.

  The guard beside Quinoa Xiangli stared straight at the slowly wriggling mouth of Quinoa Xiangli, swallowing his saliva.

When horse meat is cooked, the blood foam will give off an indescribable sour smell. Strictly speaking, it is not very tasty in the Qiang people who have no spices and even a shortage of salt, but compared to those The stinky fur robes, shriveled tree bark and extremely sour grass roots and leaves are much more upscale.

   And the best food right now is the serious food, such as quinoa bread into the mouth. Not to mention quinoa Xiangli before, even the guards around him, such as bread, can eat as much food as they want, but now it has become a delicacy that only quinoa Xiangli is entitled to enjoy.

   Quinoa Xiangli swallowed the last bit of bread residue in his mouth, then turned his horse's head, "Let's go!"

Abandoning hundreds of corpses, exhausting the cattle and sheep they carried, even eating the war horses that they regarded as treasures, and even eating the leather robes that were originally stored for the winter, but nothing was gained. When winter comes, retreat empty-handed...

The cold winter is approaching day by day, and Quinoa Xiangli knows that there will be a heavy snow soon, and once the heavy snow blows, Longyou to Xiliang will become a cold hell, and the violent snowstorm will devour all animals and plants that do not have reserves , become solid ice, until the spring of the coming year, it will gradually rot.

   If there is still not enough food and grass when the heavy snow comes, then for the Qiang people, livestock and people will have the same fate, and they will all die.

  Under the brutal winter, quinoa Xiangli can even imagine what kind of scene will appear.

  On the grasslands and deserts, hungry wolves that cannot find prey will start to devour themselves and eat those weak wolves to survive the severe winter.

If it really comes to that point, the feat that the Han Dynasty failed to accomplish for thirty-four years will be accomplished in the hands of Quinoa Quli, because Quinoa Quli knows that in order to protect his people, he will go to court. Seeing the surrounding weak Qiang people take the lead in raising their butcher knives, the first to kill must be Ma Chao's people.

  The exhausted Qiang people didn’t know whether to be relieved, or packed their bags in grief and anger, and prepared to leave. In fact, they didn’t have many bags to pack. One by one, they got on their horses, lowered their heads, and staggered back west...

  ………………

   "The Qiang people have retreated! The Qiang people have retreated!" Seeing the retreating Qiang people, the soldiers on the head of Jixian City cheered and jumped with joy, and their expressions of excitement were beyond words.

Yang Fu looked up to the sky and sighed, let out a long breath, and said: "Heaven has eyes, the Qiang people have finally retreated... retreated... the soldiers and civilians of Ji County, they are finally saved..." As he spoke, Yang Fu also felt a little bit. Excited, choked with sobs, and with some ambiguity, said to Jiang Jiong: "Thanks to Brother Jiang's **** battle, otherwise...otherwise..."

  The people above the city couldn't help turning their grateful eyes to Jiang Jiong after hearing the words.

The Qiang people attacked at night, if Jiang Jiong hadn’t collected the soldiers first and blocked the Qiang people’s pace firmly, so that the city gate tower was not lost and the Qiang people’s follow-up plan could not be implemented. Otherwise, if the city gate was really broken through, Everything in the city may have become a **** of flesh and blood.

Moreover, before the arrival of the Qiang people, it was Jiang Jiong who strongly advocated strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness. It is precisely because of Jiang Jiong's insistence that the Qiang people could not obtain food and grass supplies in the wild. Otherwise, if the Qiang people searched in the wild. Know how long the siege will last!

  Jiang Jiong was also very excited, but somewhat reserved his rationality, and said, "Send someone down to check and see the surrounding situation..."

  Yang Fu nodded again and again, and said, "Yes, yes, come and dig up the earth and stones of the city gate!"

   "Wait!" Jiang Jiong stretched out his hand to stop Yang Fu, and said, "Don't dig yet, hang it down with a hanging basket to have a look!"

  Yang Fu was stunned for a moment, but he quickly agreed to hang up a few soldiers first and let them look around.

  The soldiers quickly ran back excitedly, jumping up and down, grinning to the root of their teeth, "All gone! All the Qiang people are gone! They are all gone!"

"Great!" Yang Fu clapped his hands excitedly, turned his head and said to Jiang Jiong, "It seems that the Qiang people are really retreating! Do you want to send some people to chase them? At this time, the Qiang people are fleeing and have no intention of fighting. If they attack, Definitely win!"

   "Pursuit?" Jiang Jiong was thoughtful.

  Yang Fu nodded and said: "There are still a hundred or five war horses in the city, which can be used to chase and kill the Qiang dogs. Although they can't wipe out the invading Qiang dogs, they can teach the Qiang dogs a lesson!"

As he talked, Yang Fu also became a little excited, waving his arms and said: "Come here from Zhongping, how can there be such a big victory!" The military exploits obtained by chasing and killing them are real achievements!

  Jiang Jiong hesitated, frowned, and said, "Brother Yang, do you think the Qiang people have exhausted their strength?"

  The smile on Yang Fu's face froze, then he turned his head to look at Jiang Jiong, rolled his eyes a few times, and said, "Brother Jiang's intention...the Qiang people might have an ambush?"

Jiang Jiong thought about it, pointed to the corpses of the Qiang people under the city, and said: "If the Qiang people have suffered a lot of damage, they will retreat like this... But Brother Yang looked at the city... The Qiang people's losses were only eleven, so let's retreat lightly... Some people think that they must There is something strange..."

   "What does Brother Jiang mean?" Yang Fu asked.

  Jiang Jiong patted the battlements and said, "Wait a few more days and we'll know."

   "This..." Yang Fu's eyes widened, "I'm afraid it's not right..."

   "What's wrong?" Jiang Jiong said.

  Yang Fu frowned, and said: "Winter is approaching, but all the combustibles in the city have been exhausted! Now we have to dismantle the doors and eaves to keep warm. Even if we don't send troops to chase after them, we still have to open the city gates to cut wood to keep warm..."

Jiang Jiong pointed to the surrounding area with his hand, and said, "Brother Yang, please look, the surrounding trees have been cut down by the Qiang people... If you want to cut the wood, you can only go ten miles away... Once it is scattered, people will not be able to take it back. It's better! It's better to wait a few more days, anyway, I have survived the past few days, and it's not as bad as these few days!"

   "This..." Yang Fu hesitated.

Jiang Jiong looked at Yang Fu and said, "Be careful, there is no big mistake! Brother Yang! After working hard for so long, at the end, the Qiang people succeeded...Anyway, we can survive, but the Qiang people will definitely not be able to endure it." !"

  Yang Fu looked at Jiang Jiong, pondered for a long time, and finally nodded...

   Three days later.

  The wind is howling and the clouds are thick.

  The coldest time has finally arrived. The snow fell from the sky like powder, sprinkled on the city, and also on the corpses in the wild, as if it was going to cover up the blood.

  Amidst the falling snow, there were indistinct figures shaking. The defenders in Ji County frowned and watched from a distance.

  Yang Fu followed Jiang Jiong to climb up to the city gate tower again. Looking at the densely packed Qiang people, he couldn't help but take a breath: "Brother Jiang is as expected! The Qiang people are actually..."

Jiang Jiong also let out a long breath. These days, the people in the city are depressed. If Jiang Jiong hadn't ordered the suppression, they might have rebelled and wanted to leave the city long ago, especially the big noble families who originally lived in the city. After that, he couldn't stand the surrounding people who stayed in the city anymore, and complained in front of Jiang Jiong and Yang Fu almost every day, almost pointing his nose and scolding.

   Now, the Qiang people have gone and returned, which undoubtedly proves that Jiang Jiong is right, and at the same time, it also gives a resounding slap to these big noble families in the city...

  However, if you want to come here, these big nobles don’t care much about their face, and most of them will praise how smart and wise Jiang Jiong is, and then treat all his previous complaints and slanders as if they never happened.

  The people in Jixian County were naturally a little surprised, but they were not much afraid, because anyone with a little knowledge of military knowledge would know that even if the Qiang people came again, they would not stay for long.

  In the cold winter and snowy night, in such a field, the temperature is so low that even peeing can form icicles as solid as iron!

  These Qiang people, if they want to stay, they will stay. It will be a heavy snowfall, and there will be more icicles and ice sculptures outside the city...

  Compared to the shock and calmness in Ji County, the Qiang people led by Quinoa Xiangli are another scene.

   Quinoa stared at Lidingding, where the gates were still closed and the county seat of Ji County was waiting for death, and could not help but feel sad from the heart. The tears that oozed from the corners of the eyes flowed for only a short section, and were frozen on the face.

  It's like quinoa to benefit the current state of mind, it has been completely frozen and has no temperature.

   Quinoa Xiangli wanted to roar up to the sky, and also wanted to rush to the city of Ji County, and launched another siege regardless, even leading the charge until the moment he fell down!

  But in the end, Quinoa Xiang Lilian didn't have the strength to yell. Scolding will only make these Han people more happy, and it will also make themselves more miserable.

   "Go back..." Quinoa Xiangli hoarse, suppressing a mouthful of sweet blood, "We...go home..."

  The Qiang people looked desperately at the county seat of Jixian County, hopelessly at the quinoa, turned their heads in despair, and went back the same way amidst the falling snow...

The Qiang people wanted to go back and return to their own people before the heavy snow finally came down. But this time, it was different from any previous time. What accompanied them back was not full of goods and people, but thick Despair as if it were real.

  (end of this chapter)