Just as the Family Qin people were gradually adapting to their new lives, the situation in the capital had already reached an extremely tense state.
The Tiger Army had firmly guarded the several gates of the outer city and arranged for soldiers to patrol around. The people in the capital had no way to escape and had completely cut off all contact with the outside world.
Not to mention that Southern Yan's Liu Yingshi controlled the waterways and blocked the food supply. Now, even without Liu Yingshi, even if the Retired Emperor was willing to reveal the whereabouts of the huge sum of money, it would be difficult for the Yuchi Yan to sell food supplies.
The limited food in the city had become an extremely precious thing. The Yuchi Yan took the lead to eat thin porridge and ordered that food supplies be given to the army first. However, the food had to pass through many people's hands and layers of skin were peeled off. In reality, the army didn't get much.
Nearly a month and a half had passed. The Yuchi Yan and the Empress had lost more than ten catties of meat due to hunger, but many officials could still eat white rice.
The soldiers on the frontlines, on the other hand, were getting worse day by day. Now that the autumn tiger was running rampant, the soldiers were only provided two meals a day. Each meal was only given a woman's fist-sized, black, stone-like biscuit of mixed grain bran.
"F * ck his mother, is this f * cking for humans to eat?!" A soldier guarding the city took a bite of the dry biscuit and almost broke half of his teeth. After chewing for a long time, he stretched his neck and swallowed the food in his mouth with a gulp.
"Be content, we still have biscuits to eat. The people in the city have already started digging wild vegetables and peeling off tree bark. It is said that many people have already starved to death. There are even people who eat the biscuits." The person who spoke took a small bite of the biscuit as if he was carefully tasting the taste of the food. After that, he drank a mouthful of cold water and carefully swallowed it.
"Hey, did you hear? Yesterday, Minister Liu's residence was also broken into. The people rushed in and didn't even look at the valuables. They only snatched the food. However, Minister Liu's residence also doesn't have much to eat."
On the side, several people were talking at once: "These officials are living more comfortably than the Emperor. The Emperor has been eating thin porridge for more than a month. The officials even have steamed buns at home."
"We don't eat well, but we won't starve to death. The people are suffering. The people of Da Zhou have surrounded the capital like an iron bucket. They are trying to trap us inside the city. "
"I really don't know how we're going to fight this war. The people of Da Zhou are too cruel."
Initially, there were three hundred and fifty thousand Yan soldiers defending the city. Prince Ning had killed thirty thousand of them. After handing them over to Duke An, there were only three hundred thousand left. The Tiger Army, on the other hand, suffered less than a thousand casualties.
The most shameful thing was that the Tiger Army was attacking the city, while they were defending it.
With such a great disparity in combat strength, coupled with the panic caused by hunger and the cut off of supplies, these soldiers couldn't even eat. They felt as if Yan Wang Ye and the Black and White Impermanence were already standing beside them, grinning sinisterly.
They looked down at the city walls and saw that the soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty were also cooking. They could faintly smell the aroma of stewed meat.
Although the Zhou Dynasty's supply line was long, at least they were not surrounded. If they did not have enough food, they could still hunt, fish, dig up some wild vegetables, or plant some vegetables. Compared to the trapped capital, the Tiger Army was much more comfortable.
Smelling the faint aroma of stewed meat below the city walls, the soldiers began to salivate. The tasteless and hard pancakes were even harder to swallow.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from the steps.
Immediately, someone greeted, "Duke, Grand Preceptor Qin."
They immediately straightened their backs.
They saw Duke An, who was dressed in golden armor and holding a tasseled helmet, walk over. Half a body behind him was Qin Huaiyuan, who was dressed in a light green Confucian robe. His face was much thinner than before. Behind Qin Huaiyuan, there was an extremely beautiful manservant and a middle-aged man who was his personal attendant.
Everyone hurriedly saluted.
Duke An waved his hand and stood at the city gates, looking down.
What he saw was an endless stretch of military camps. The Tiger Army's commander's flag fluttered in the wind. The golden tiger on the flag bared its fangs, as if it would pounce down at any moment and devour people.
Duke An felt his legs go soft when he saw this scene.
When he truly fought against Pang Xiao, he saw the Tiger Army's individual combat ability of one against ten. He also saw Pang Xiao's demonic talent in arranging troops.
Duke An originally thought that his military advisor was famous for being resourceful. With the ability of "Wise Pan An", he was able to scheme and kill Pang Zhongzheng. How could he not be able to defeat Pang Zhongzheng's son now?
However, in reality, the battle between the two of them was truly a match for each other, a match between a general and a talent.
The Tiger Army had few people, but they could fight one against ten. They were at a disadvantage when it came to sieging the city.
The Dayan Dynasty had many people, but their combat strength was weak and disorganized. However, they were at a disadvantage when it came to defending the city.
Based on the game between Qin Huaiyuan and Pang Xiao, the 320,000 troops that were originally handed over to Duke An should have been more than 300,000 now.
However, after Duke An avoided battle for a period of time, he fell for Pang Xiao's trap and was lured out of the city. He was trapped in a valley on the west side of the city for a day and a night. At that time, if not for Qin Huaiyuan's timely rescue, Duke An wouldn't have been able to return, let alone the twenty thousand soldiers he brought out.
Duke An trembled with fear when he recalled the scene that day.
From then on, he would rather die than open the city gates to fight. No matter how the enemy shouted and cursed, he pretended not to hear.
Thinking of this, Duke An's entire body trembled. He pointed at Da Zhou's military camp, which was not far from the city gates, and said with a heavy expression, "How do we fight this?"
Qin Huaiyuan stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze was deep.
He knew in his heart that no matter how they fought, Dayan was an arrow at the end of its flight.
If there was enough food, even if there were only 30,000 people defending the city, he was confident that he could hold off the 100,000 troops of the Tiger Army. He could directly wear down the Tiger Army until they ran out of food and had no choice but to retreat.
However, there was no food in the city.
The soldiers risked their lives and fought on the battlefield for a full meal.
Now that they couldn't even afford to fill their stomachs, could they rely on making empty promises to the soldiers all day long so that they wouldn't starve? Would they be able to fill their stomachs just by thinking about serving the court?
There were people in the city who starved to death every day. Under starvation, the common people could also turn into mobs.
Which of the large families in the capital had not been invaded by mobs?
Some of them had their families broken up, while others had fled in panic.
However, robbing these was far from enough for the common people to fill their stomachs.
If they couldn't eat wild vegetables, they could still eat tree bark. When all the tree bark was removed, there were still grass roots. However, the capital was only so big. If all the grass roots were eaten, what would happen if there was nothing left to eat?
Then only people would be left to eat each other …
The common people were like this when they were anxious. What about these soldiers?
He was afraid that when the time came, before the soldiers could eat each other, they would start a rebellion!
Qin Huaiyuan lowered his head. Thinking about the chaos in the city, thinking about the emperor who was so hungry that he walked like he was floating, thinking about his family who ate wild vegetables to fill their stomachs, a sense of powerlessness once again swept through his body.
Da Zhou didn't need to expend much effort. As long as they surrounded them for another half a month, the capital would collapse on its own. Cannibalism would be enough to destroy the country.
Qin Huaiyuan closed his eyes. Immediately, his chest felt stuffy. He felt dizzy and his vision blurred. His body swayed and he fell down.
"Marquis!" Cao Yuqing noticed that Qin Huaiyuan's body was swaying and hurriedly supported him. Together with Qi Tai, they slowly laid Qin Huaiyuan flat on the ground.
Duke An was also shocked. He hurriedly said: "Could it be that Grand Preceptor Qin is dizzy from hunger? Quickly bring some water and some food. "
The soldiers who had just complained that the pancakes were hard to swallow also felt sad.
Even Grand Preceptor Qin had fainted from hunger. It seemed that they really were going to run out of food.
Qin Huaiyuan was helped down the city gate tower by Cao Yuqing and Qi Tai.
At the foot of the city gate tower, in Da Zhou's barracks not far away, Pang Xiao put away the "Monocular". He carefully put it through the silver chain and hung it on his waist. He furrowed his brows in worry.
Huzi asked curiously: "Master, what did you see?"
"We've already trapped the capital for forty-three days."
"That's right." Huzi sat cross-legged on the ground next to Pang Xiao and said, "It seems that the capital is almost at the end of its rope. On such a hot day, the common people are trapped in a city hungry. It would be strange if they didn't go crazy. "
Pang Xiao's brows furrowed even tighter.
"So, she must also be hungry." As Pang Xiao spoke, he slowly lowered his head and grabbed his hair with both hands.
Huzi finally understood what Pang Xiao was thinking.
However, after thinking about it, that was indeed the case.
There were so many people in the capital, and there were no supplies. Even if they ate everything that could be eaten, a large number of people would starve to death.
Under these circumstances, Qin Yining was a weak girl who had not recovered from her injuries and needed to rest. Would she be able to make it through …
Huzi only dared to think this in his heart. He definitely did not dare to say it out loud in front of Wang Ye.
He could only change the topic: "Wang Ye, should we continue cooking the meat soup? Why don't we let the brothers drink some first? "
Actually, the Tiger Army deliberately cooked meat soup every day under the city gate to let the Yan dynasty people smell it. This was also a way for Pang Xiao to shake the Dayan people's hearts.
He did this to make the other side unable to understand the true situation of the Tiger Army's supplies. Secondly, he could shake the hearts of the Yan dynasty people.
To let the starving people watch the enemy eat meat every day, the mental torture, temptation, and suppression was not something that could be calculated.
However, in reality, the Tiger Army's supplies did indeed have a gap. They only had the advantage of freedom compared to the Yan dynasty people. At the very least, they could go further and think of a way. They would not be trapped in the city and starve to death like the people in the capital.
Pang Xiao lowered his head and was silent for a long time before saying: "Boil, this battle must end quickly. If we continue to surround them, This King is afraid … "
Pang Xiao didn't say anything further. However, there was a resolute look in his sharp eyes.
After standing up and pacing for a while, Pang Xiao called Huzi in a low voice and ordered: "Think of a way to send a message to the Marquis of Anping. Tell him that This King wants to meet him in secret. You can arrange the details. "
Huzi was startled when he heard this. Then, he nodded with a serious expression and quickly retreated.
Pang Xiao looked at the closed gates of the capital not far away with his hands behind his back. His heart was so anxious that it was about to grow wings and fly to Qin Yining's side.
His beloved woman must be suffering right now, but the worst thing was that he was the one who caused her suffering. However, because of his identity, this battle had to continue.
This was the helplessness of being born in a chaotic world.
At this time, the person Pang Xiao was worried about was squatting in front of the stove and cooking a large pot of dark brown wild vegetable soup with Miss Jiu.
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