That's it?
Li Rusong still had such doubts. He felt that it was unbelievable. Since when did the Northern Barbarians become so weak? Although the cannons were powerful, it shouldn't be the reason why the Northern Barbarians were so easily defeated. Perhaps it should be said …
The Northern Barbarians were stunned. Before they could react, they were crushed by the Steel Cavalry. In order to attack the city, most of the Northern Barbarians did not ride on horses. Dismounted, they did not have the infantry and formations that the Hans were familiar with, so they could only be slaughtered by the Steel Cavalry.
After fighting with the Northern Barbarians for so many years, this was the first time Li Rusong saw the Northern Barbarians being slaughtered by his Steel Cavalry.
Collecting his thoughts, Li Rusong turned his gaze to the Northern Barbarians' main camp not far away. Without thinking too much, Li Rusong immediately gave the order to attack the Northern Barbarians' main camp. Even if there was an ambush, he could not care less. He had to charge in and kill to his heart's content.
Thus, Li Rusong's Steel Cavalry quickly launched a second wave of attack, charging towards the Northern Barbarians' main camp. When they charged in, Li Rusong suddenly had a strange feeling. The deeper they charged, the more obvious the feeling became.
It was an empty camp.
This huge camp should have tens of thousands of soldiers stationed here, but it was empty. Because it was too spacious and strange, even the powerful Liaodong Steel Cavalry could not help but stop their charge. They gathered around Li Rusong and looked around the huge camp strangely.
Li Rusong felt that something was wrong.
If there was really an ambush, shouldn't it have appeared long ago? It should have appeared when they attacked the main camp. But now that it had come to this, there was still no ambush. Could it be that this camp was really empty? Was it really so?
Thirty years of experience on the battlefield had given Li Rusong a keen intuition. The thought that this was an empty camp filled Li Rusong's mind.
"Spread out! Go investigate the surroundings. Remember, you must be careful! "
"Yes, sir!"
The cavalrymen skillfully divided themselves into small groups and carefully searched the camp. They would always use their bows to clear the way and would not easily gallop on their horses.
The situation was too unexpected. Li Rusong did not dare to say for sure that there was no ambush. There must be something wrong if something was out of the ordinary. In such an unusual situation, no one dared to rush recklessly, for fear of losing their lives. However, not long after, a small group of cavalry found the Northern Barbarians' rations camp.
There were mountains of food and fodder, as well as some horses tied up.
They immediately went to inform Li Rusong.
Li Rusong soon arrived with his men and was shocked by the amount of food here.
Could this be a trap?
Li Rusong didn't think it was possible.
If this was a trap, then the price that the Northern Barbarians paid was too high. The Northern Barbarians were too tolerant. This was completely different from the impression that they gave people. It was too strange.
As Li Rusong was hesitating, Xiao Ruxun sent someone to deliver an order.
There were no 40,000 cavalrymen in this camp. The main force of the Northern Barbarians had already retreated during the night. There were only a few of them left. Most of them had been killed earlier. The camp was empty, but there might be a large amount of supplies. Li Rusong was ordered to quickly take over the camp and protect the captured supplies. He was not allowed to set fire to it.
Li Rusong suddenly felt like he had been tricked.
The consequences of deceiving Li Rusong were very pitiful.
When it was time for lunch, Li Rusong had already taken over the entire Northern Barbarians camp. He had also captured five to six hundred survivors of the Northern Barbarians who were hiding and trying to escape at night. Li Rusong asked Xiao Ruxun for instructions. Xiao Ruxun just waved his hand and let Li Rusong handle it himself. Li Rusong instantly understood Xiao Ruxun's intention.
All of them were beheaded.
Xiao Ruxun didn't have the mind to care about the captives. All his attention was focused on the mountain of food. According to the soldiers, the food seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
When the Northern Barbarians attacked the castle they were in, they were looting food everywhere like hungry wolves. But in just a few days, there was so much food. This was not normal.
Datong's Xuanfu, Taiyuan, Yulin, and other military towns were all suffering from disasters. Datong was not the only one suffering from a food shortage. Since the local troops had nothing to eat, where did the Northern invaders get so much food? Did it all fall from the sky?
Also, why did the 35,000 Northern Barbarians leave in the middle of the night? Where did they go? What was their purpose?
Layers upon layers of doubts surrounded Xiao Ruxun. He felt uneasy, but he didn't know what it was that made him so uneasy.
"Admiral, I've seen it. Some of the veterans in the army who have been farming for many years have also seen it. This food isn't new, it's old food. There isn't any new food like this, and there won't be much new food this year. So, this can't be the food that the Northern Barbarians looted from Datong Castle.
According to I's knowledge, since the beginning of this year, Datong's Edict Prefecture, including I's Ji Town, has been relying on Jiangnan rice to survive. The food in the hands of the Datong army should be the rice from Jiangnan from last year and this year. The Northern Barbarians' food is mostly wheat, with only a small amount of rice. This is very unusual. "
Chai Guozhu walked to Xiao Ruxun's side and reported his observations to Xiao Ruxun.
"Wheat, old food … Even if it's old food, there won't be that much. The weather hasn't been cold for a year or two, and it's not just one or two households that have suffered from disasters. If these old food are more than two years old, then how rich must they be to be able to store so much old food?
It's definitely impossible for the common people. The common people all rely on the heavens to make a living. It's impossible for them to have much food stored throughout the year. It's already good enough to have enough to eat. How could they have so much stored food? If they had stored food, it wouldn't have been sent to Myanmar on a large scale by the imperial court. If they don't have stored food, then who does it belong to? "
Chai Guozhu hesitated and said, "Admiral, there are some things that I don't know if I should say."
"Speak."
Xiao Ruxun frowned.
"Yes, Admiral. According to a veteran under I who has been farming for many years, this batch of food contains four or five year old food. There are even older food."
"Four or five year old food? How is that possible? Not to mention the common people, even the rich families don't have such old food. Why are they hoarding so much old food? Is there something … "
Suddenly, Xiao Ruxun thought of something and suddenly realized. He turned to look at Chai Guozhu.
"Could it be that you want to say …"
"Yes, Commander. At this moment, in this place, only those people can have more than four to five years of food reserves. Only they can store food and have a place to store it. Other than them, I can't think of anyone else who can do it."
Chai Guozhu said in a low voice with a difficult expression.
Many questions that he couldn't figure out were now solved by Xiao Ruxun.
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