After nightfall, Xiao Ruxun sent people to guard the pass to prevent the Mongolians from attacking during the night. On the other hand, he ordered the cooks in the army to cook enough hot food for the soldiers.
These days, defending the city was difficult and chaotic. There were many deserters. The defense of Zijing Pass was not orderly. Li Chengliang's energy was limited. Chai Guozhu was busy with defense and did not pay much attention to the soldiers' meals. This caused the army's food problem to be very serious.
Some troops could eat hot food in time, some could only eat cold food. There were even some troops who could not eat. It was not because there was no food, but because there were too few cooks. Some cooks even ran away with the soldiers from the capital. With no one to cook for them, the soldiers were starving and their fighting spirit was extremely low.
The moment Xiao Ruxun came, he focused on the problem of food. In the Zhennan Army, there was a cooks' army. Secondly, the soldiers of the Zhennan Army were taught some basic knowledge of cooking in the field by Xiao Ruxun in case no one knew how to cook when there was no cooks' army.
Washing rice and cooking was something all the soldiers of the Zhennan Army could do. As long as there was a big pot, they could cook. The Ming Army's marching meals were usually baked pancakes with some salted vegetables. When they stopped to set up camp, there would naturally be cooks' army to prepare hot food, so the soldiers could eat slightly better.
The life of a soldier was really tough. Staying in the camp, they could only eat vegetable porridge. On the way, they would have to eat dried wolf. Throughout the year, there was not much meat or oil. Sometimes, when the conditions were good, the cooks of the army would get a piece of lard and rub it into the cooking pot. At the same time, they would also get some oily salted vegetables.
When the conditions were bad and there was no oil, they could make a piece of salted vegetables, pickled carrots, and pickled cabbage to make up for the meal. Throughout the dynasty, the soldiers' rations were very simple. There was basically no meat to eat, and they might not even be able to eat dried rice. It was normal to eat porridge and salted vegetables.
This time, Xiao Ruxun's battle was highly valued by the emperor. The officials did not dare to be negligent. They opened the warehouse and prepared enough marching rations and supplies for Xiao Ruxun. Now the food was enough for the soldiers to eat. Xiao Ruxun naturally would not treat the soldiers badly by not letting them eat dried rice.
Not only did they have dried rice, they also had to have food to go with it. Usually, they only had salted vegetables to deal with it. Having a salty taste was enough. This time, Xiao Ruxun obviously couldn't let the soldiers eat meat, but she could get some oil to fry the salted vegetables in a big pot and cook a meat soup for the soldiers to drink.
That was because of the conditions. Otherwise, Xiao Ruxun really wanted to make more of the oil pancakes he made in North Korea and the marching rations of the Zhennan Army for the soldiers to eat on the road. Now that the imperial court was by his side, there was enough oil. It was just that there were not enough cooks, so there was no time to make it.
The oil pancakes were very popular with the soldiers. They had the oil fragrance and the taste of salt, and they could be stored well. They were very filling and not hard at all. It was very suitable for when it was inconvenient for the soldiers to set up camp. But for now, they could only make do with ordinary pancakes.
A steaming hot dinner made the soldiers, who were shivering from the cold, finally feel the long-lost warmth.
They gathered around the fire, eating hot dried rice and salted vegetables with oil. They could also drink soup with the taste of meat. This kind of food was the dream of all the soldiers. Sometimes, they did not even dare to dream that they could eat such good military rations.
In recent years, the military equipment had become more and more lax, and the treatment of the soldiers had become worse and worse. It was normal for them to not have enough to eat and warm clothes. The soldiers who had been through hundreds of battles in the past were now almost like cowards. But could the soldiers themselves be blamed?
Even dry rations and salted vegetables were not given to the soldiers. How could they win a battle with low morale and hungry stomachs?
Looking at the prosperous times of the Central Plains, there had never been a shortage of military rations for the soldiers. If they were full, full of energy, and had high fighting spirit, they could naturally win more battles.
At the end of the dynasty, the military equipment was lax, and the soldiers did not have enough rations to fill their stomachs for a long time. Without food, they would not have enough fighting spirit and fighting spirit. They would collapse at the first encounter. This was one of the reasons why tens of thousands of regular soldiers were defeated by the peasant army.
Now that the soldiers could eat and sleep well, and wake up in the morning full of energy, their fighting spirit would naturally increase.
Xiao Ruxun walked back and forth among the soldiers while they were eating, inspecting the situation. From time to time, he would squat down and ask if the soldiers were full of food and warm clothes. When he had done enough, the soldiers would often be so moved that they would cry and express their gratitude to Xiao Ruxun.
Li Rusong, who was inspecting the army beside Xiao Ruxun, saw that Xiao Ruxun cared so much for the soldiers he did not know, and the soldiers were of a completely different faction from him. While he was surprised, he also became more and more confused. He could not believe that Xiao Ruxun really did not care about factions.
Daming had come so far, and the generals of the nine borders had begun to develop their own private army. They cared about their own private army and did not care about the army of the imperial court. But Xiao Ruxun did the opposite and cared about any army. Not to mention whether it was meaningful or not, was he not afraid that people would say that he was trying to buy the hearts of the army and had evil intentions?
What was he thinking?
Li Rusong was puzzled no matter how he thought about it.
When he had almost finished inspecting all the soldiers, including the Liaodong Army and Nurhachi's female soldiers, Xiao Ruxun told Li Rusong that he wanted to go to the city wall to see the soldiers guarding the night. At this time, the outspoken Li Rusong finally could not hold back his confusion.
"Admiral, there are some words that you may not be happy to hear, but I still want to say them."
Xiao Ruxun looked at Li Rusong in surprise, then nodded and said with a smile, "Commander Li, if you have anything to say, just say it."
"Admiral, the soldiers here are from Ji Town, the Capital Camp, and also from Liaodong. Back then, on the battlefield in Korea, there were soldiers from all over the world. These soldiers are not under your direct command, nor have they fought with you. They are neither relatives nor friends, so why are you so concerned about them? Aren't you afraid that people will say that you are trying to buy the hearts of the army and have evil intentions? "
Looking at Li Rusong's surprised expression, Xiao Ruxun's expression became even more strange.
"Why would Commander Li have such a thought? I am Daming's General, and they are Daming's soldiers. They bleed and fight for Daming. Of course, I should care about them. What does this have to do with where they are from and whether they are directly under my command? Which military book says that a general should mistreat his soldiers and not sympathize with them? "
Xiao Ruxun's rhetorical question stunned Li Rusong for a moment. It took him a while to react.
"Admiral, what I mean is, you are a Northwest Border General, and the soldiers here are not directly under your command, except for your 3,000 Zhennan Army. Why do you care about them so much?"
Xiao Ruxun understood.
"Commander Li, you are wondering why I don't care about the differences between factions and treat the other troops equally, right?"
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