This group of bandits was really lucky. They originally thought that it would be a tough battle, so they were prepared to suffer heavy losses. However, when they arrived at the ambush position, it took a long time for the enemy to arrive. This gave them ample time to prepare. Therefore, these bandits gathered stones and tree trunks nearby and piled them up halfway up the mountain. When the soldiers passed by, they would use these to attack the soldiers. They would first kill a group of them. As for the possible revenge of the soldiers, they did not even think about it. They were about to starve to death, so why would they think about such things? They were desperate for food.
In a very short time, the bandits threw more than ten thousand stones and hundreds of tree trunks that were more than six meters long at the soldiers and villagers. Such a heavy attack caused the attacked troops to suffer heavy losses. More than half of the three hundred soldiers were killed or injured, and even the lieutenant was seriously injured. At least two-thirds of the civilians were killed or injured. Such heavy losses caused the soldiers and villagers to instantly lose their fighting strength.
Therefore, the thousands of bandits who were halfway up the mountain seized the opportunity to rush down and further attack these people who had suffered heavy casualties. Facing such a large group of bandits, the remaining soldiers and villagers were scared silly. How could they resist such a large group? Forcibly resisting was no different from sending themselves to their deaths. Soldiers were paid by the government, so they naturally did not want to die in such a situation. Moreover, their captain was seriously injured and unconscious, so there was no one to command them. Therefore, these soldiers who could still move all fled. Some of them even helped the soldiers who were not seriously injured to escape with them. Some of the panicked civilians also fled with them.
The bandits' target was food. Therefore, even if some of the soldiers ran slower, they would not chase after them. They wanted to steal the food as soon as possible. This was the most important thing.
The one hundred soldiers in the vanguard quickly discovered the situation behind them. However, when they saw that there were thousands of bandits, they were immediately scared out of their wits. They did not dare to go back to help and could only escape to save their lives. As for the one hundred soldiers in the rear, they were so scared that they did not dare to move. They paused for a moment and took a detour back to the Sagely Mountain City.
At this moment, the bandits were already in front of the convoy. Around the convoy, there were only a few heavily injured soldiers and civilians. It wasn't that they didn't want to run away, but they couldn't. They were too heavily injured. There were also some motionless corpses on the ground. The only one who wasn't injured and didn't run away was the lieutenant's father. He couldn't bear to part with the food. Losing the food was worse than losing his life. Therefore, he didn't want to run away. In addition, his son was already unconscious. He couldn't leave his son behind.
The old man squatted down and called out to his son. However, the heavily injured son did not wake up, and the bandits were already in front of them.
"Hahaha! This food is enough for us to eat for two years. "
"What do you mean, you want it all for yourself?"
"Whoever dares to steal my food, I'll fight it out with him."
"Stop shouting. According to what we said just now, we will split the food equally. We will do it now."
A group of bandit leaders chattered. Although there were still some who were not dead, these people could no longer pose a threat to them. The old men who were not injured also did not have much fighting power. Therefore, they could already distribute the loot without any scruples.
After a short distribution, the four groups of bandits divided the food into four portions and immediately transported it back to their respective lairs. Because some of the transport carts were smashed by rolling logs, some of the food was carried away by the bandits. For the sake of food, they would not feel tired no matter how tired they were.
In the middle of the night, the defeated soldiers and some civilians arrived at the Sagely Mountain City. However, there was a curfew policy in the Sagely Mountain City. The city gates would not be opened at night. They had to verify the situation first before opening them.
If the lieutenant came personally, he could explain the situation. However, the lieutenant was heavily injured and unconscious. These defeated soldiers were mixed with civilians, and they might even be bandits. The soldiers in charge of guarding the city gates did not dare to let them in so easily. They could only let them stay outside the city for a few hours and wait until dawn to open the gates. However, the soldiers at the gates did not dare to delay the report and quickly reported it to their superiors.
When the officials and generals of the Sagely Mountain City heard the news, they were very annoyed. The bandits around the city were getting stronger and stronger. This made them unable to sleep and eat well. It was not that they did not want to send reinforcements immediately, but they did not have the ability to do so. The military strength of the Sagely Mountain City was limited. If they sent too few reinforcements, it would not be effective. If they sent too many reinforcements, the situation would be even more serious if the Sagely Mountain City was attacked. They had repeatedly requested for more reinforcements, but there were many key positions in Dongnu Province that needed to be guarded. The Sagely Mountain City only had two thousand men. These men would not have a problem defending the city walls. At least for now, there was no big problem. However, if they were to fight against the bandits in the wild, they would not be able to do so. The bandits were increasing in number, and they did not dare to underestimate them.
Due to practical considerations, the officials and generals of the Sagely Mountain City did not immediately send reinforcements out of the city. Moreover, they knew that the bandits were very fast. By the time their reinforcements arrived, the bandits would be long gone. Instead of returning empty-handed, it was better to do nothing. After all, the soldiers did not have enough to eat. If the soldiers made a wasted trip in the middle of the night, the soldiers would be even more resentful.
As for the defeated soldiers, they did not take care of them. After all, these people were suspected of desertion. Letting them stay outside the city for a night was considered a small punishment.
After that, more and more defeated soldiers and commoners arrived. After all, some of them were injured and some walked slowly. By dawn, everyone who could return had returned.
The city gates opened on time at dawn. The defeated soldiers and commoners could finally enter the city. The defeated soldiers could rest in the camp, but the commoners had nowhere to go. The lieutenant and his son did not come. The commoners did not know who to look for after entering the city. They could only stroll on the streets for the time being. When they were tired, they would find a place to lie down. They looked very helpless and pitiful. They thought that they would be safe once they reached the Sagely Mountain City. However, the reality was not so. The Sagely Mountain City was also lacking in food. Even the soldiers could not eat their fill. How could there be any food left to feed the extra commoners? It was very likely that they would starve to death.
Ang Lee woke up early in the morning and heard about what happened last night. This made Ang Lee very shocked. The bandits in the area were really smart. They actually ignored the soldiers. At the same time, it was enough to show the severity of the food shortage.
"I did not expect such a big thing to happen last night. How sad."
Ang Lee sighed.
"Yes! This is all caused by the lack of food. Now, there are more than a hundred homeless commoners on the streets. They look very pitiful. If no one takes care of them, they will starve to death. "
Chen Long said.
Right now, all parts of Dongnu Province were lacking in food. The Sagely Mountain City was no exception. Now, even the soldiers here could not eat their fill, let alone the commoners. These commoners who had just entered the city naturally did not have a source of food. The garrison soldiers could not even eat their fill. How could they be willing to give a portion of their food to these commoners?
Ang Lee smiled bitterly and said, "Let's go. Let's go take a look on the streets."
Although there was no good way, Ang Lee did not want to see these commoners starve to death. It could not be helped. Ang Lee was just that kind. He could not bear to see commoners suffer too much.
With Chen Long and the others accompanying him, Ang Lee walked on the streets of the Sagely Mountain City. There were not many people here. After all, most people were lying at home. Who would have the extra energy to go out and walk? The commoners who had just entered the city did not have a place to stay and did not have food. They were very desperate. They were now helpless and could only look at every passerby with pleading eyes, hoping that a kind person would give them some food to save them.
Ang Lee could not stand such looks. As soon as he walked on the streets, he saw these pitiful commoners. Every pair of eyes looked at Ang Lee with pleading eyes. This made Ang Lee's heart soften. He did not feel good.
"Young Master, please do a good deed and buy me! I can do anything. "
A young man of unknown gender walked to Ang Lee's side and begged.
Ang Lee looked at the child for a long time. He could not tell whether the child was a boy or a girl. Because the child was too thin and not very old, his hair was messy, and his voice seemed to be very neutral. It was really hard to tell.
"Little friend, how old are you? Are you a boy or a girl?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
"I don't know how old I am. I'm a girl."
The girl said.
Li An took a closer look. She really did have the delicate features of a girl, but because she hadn't eaten for a long time, her skin was very dull. She was so thin and weak that it was as if a gust of wind could blow her away. She was really too pitiful.
"Why are you alone? Where's your family?"
Ang Lee asked.
The girl said sadly, "They're dead. They were all smashed to death by stones. I'm the only one who escaped."
After saying this, the girl's tears fell down.
Ang Lee could not bear to see girls cry. Although this little girl was as thin as a match and did not look beautiful, Ang Lee's heart still softened.
"Come, you must be hungry!"
Ang Lee took out a pastry from his arms and handed it to the little girl to let her fill her stomach first.
This was a big move. The nearby people all gathered and stretched out their hands to ask for pastries. There were dozens of people. The people who saw the movement in the distance also gathered and surrounded Ang Lee in the center.
However, Ang Lee did not have enough pastries. He only had a dozen pastries. Naturally, these pastries could not meet the needs of all the hungry people.
"Don't push. Don't push."
For Ang Lee's safety, Chen Long shouted loudly to let the crowd not get too close. Such a big movement would attract the patrolling soldiers.
"Get out of the way. Get out of the way."
The soldiers were driving the crowd away and making the crowd stay away.
Ang Lee looked at Chen Long and said helplessly, "Prepare some food for them! Take some from our dry food. "
Although he did not plan to waste food in the Sagely Mountain City, Ang Lee still softened when he saw that these people did not have food to eat. He could not just watch them starve to death! That would be too cruel.
Ang Lee's convoy still had a lot of food. There were not many people, only about a hundred people. Many of them were children, so they did not need much food. A few steamed buns for each of them would be enough for them to eat for a few days. Of course, this could only solve the problem for a few days.
Now that there was a shortage of food everywhere in Dongnu Province, Ang Lee could only help them with a few meals. If they did not have food to eat in the future, Ang Lee would not care so much. Now, people were starving to death in Dongnu Province every day. Ang Lee could not save them all. The only thing he could do was to help the people in front of him so that he would not be so sad.
To solve the food shortage crisis in Dongnu Province, he still had to rely on the large-scale assistance of the Tang Dynasty. As long as a large amount of food was transported, all the problems would be solved. What he needed to do now was to appease the people. Ang Lee came here to appease the people here. He wanted to tell the people here that the food would be sent in soon and that it was free relief food that everyone could eat. In this way, at least 99% of the bandits would become farmers again.
At this critical moment, in addition to appeasing the people, Ang Lee also had to crack down on some people with ulterior motives. He wanted to prevent these people from causing trouble, destroying the stability of Dongnu Province, and even preventing the Tang Dynasty from taking over Dongnu Province.
Dongnu Province was changed from a country to a prefecture. There were too many people who were transferred, appointed, and dismissed. This was a complicated matter and not easy to solve. If it was not handled properly, it could lead to more serious consequences. People who did not have a certain level of ability were not qualified for this job. Ang Lee was obviously qualified for this job.
The soldiers under Li An's command brought over a lot of rations and distributed them to the commoners. This made the nearby patrolling soldiers envious. Even though they ate the imperial rations and could eat two meals a day, two meals were not enough to fill their stomachs. Patrolling every day with an empty stomach did not feel good.
"Good Samaritan, please buy me! I will be obedient. "
The little girl still refused to give up and insisted that Ang Lee buy her.
Chen Long looked at Ang Lee and said, "Assistant Minister Li, if you want to buy her, then buy her! Anyway, it won't be long before we reach Guichang City. "
Ang Lee smiled and agreed. However, the little girl was too dirty and smelly. She had to dress up as soon as possible. Otherwise, Ang Lee would not be able to stand the smell.
There were no women accompanying them. Ang Lee handed the little girl to a nearby family and asked them to dress her up and change her into the clothes that Ang Lee had prepared.
After dressing up, the little girl reappeared in front of Ang Lee. Compared to before, the little girl was much prettier. Other than being a little thin and haggard, she looked very good.
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