Chapter 5 second quarter

At this time, the wounded barracks not far from the supply camp. Bai Yi, Xi Yan, and Gu Yueyi, all in casual clothes, walked out of the barracks. Gu Yueyi closed the door, but failed to isolate the groans and wailing coming from the barracks.Bai Yi's face was pale, his brows were tightly locked, and his lips were extremely thin, like parallel blades.Xi Yan and Gu Yueyi also looked sad, they looked at each other and shook their heads. There are more than 200 wounded soldiers in the barracks behind them, and this camp accommodates no less than 12,000 wounded soldiers from the coalition forces.There were not enough medical officers in all the armies, so all the wounded and medical officers were gathered in one battalion, hoping that the speed of treatment would be faster.However, the coalition army, which had lost a large amount of supplies, had been short of medicines for many days. Facing the wounded soldiers, the medical officers did not have the necessary medicines.The death toll of wounded soldiers has been increasing day by day, and the three of them came to the wounded barracks together to look around, feeling cold in their hearts.

"There must be medicine!" Bai Yi whispered, firmly. Both Xi Yan and Gu Yueyi shook their heads.It is not easy to obtain such a large amount of supplies in this place. Originally, all kinds of stocks in Shangyang Pass had been burned out when the Li army evacuated, and even for the nearest city of Chuwei State, it took twelve months to raise medicines and transport them. For a long time. "It's not the worst, the food is also running out." Xi Yan said, "Li Gong's army is really a bunch of beasts, and they don't forget to burn them before leaving. The rice and noodles we have left now can only last for ten days at most."

"Our army's supply battalion was spared," Gu Yueyi said, "But we don't bring much food, but a lot of oats for horses, which can also be used as military rations when necessary." "Tianqi, the capital of the emperor, is just around the corner. How easy it is to get supplies. But the emperor still hasn't replied to General Bai's letter?" Xi Yan asked. Bai Yi shook his head. The leader of the medical officers also followed out from the barracks, an old man with gray beard and hair.He leaned closer to Bai Yi: "General, if there is still no medicine..."

He shook his head. "There will be medicine, you just do your best." Bai Yi said. An extremely shrill roar suddenly came out from the barracks, making people tremble in their hearts.The roar stopped halfway, followed by chaotic human voices, as if the wounded soldiers inside had climbed up, and someone was saying something loudly, making it very noisy. Bai Yi was taken aback, turned around and pressed the doorknob, and was about to push the door in. The chief medical officer took half a step forward to stop him, and bowed deeply: "Forgive me, General, it's useless to deal with these things, General."

"What's the matter? Do you know?" Bai Yi lowered his head and looked directly at the chief medical officer. "It should be that the wounded soldier couldn't bear the pain and committed suicide." The chief medical officer whispered, "There are more than a dozen of them every day these days. The people here are used to hearing it. The general still doesn't come enough." There was a sense of blame in the medical officer's words, but Bai Yi didn't get angry.The handle of the door was in his hand, but he didn't push it open.After being silent for a while, he slowly let go of the doorknob, took a deep breath, and showed a tired expression.

"There will be medicine, you just do your best." He repeated. When he said that, he returned to his usual calmness.That trace of exhaustion disappeared in an instant, like the traces of fallen autumn leaves, which did not exist at all. The three generals went to the gate of the camp side by side, and the surroundings were busy. The supply camp provided almost all the backup support in the army. The iron workshop for repairing weapons and armor, the wood workshop for making antlers and fences, and the veterinary camp for treating war horses were all set up in the camp. Here, food rations and spoils of war are also stored here. In Shangyang Pass, which was a bit bleak and gloomy after the decisive battle, this area is the busiest, and it looks like a small market.Occasionally, sergeants came out of the barracks carrying stretchers covered with blood-stained white cloths, and the figures under the white cloths were wounded soldiers who could not be saved.The medical officer guarding the door took off the white cloth and tapped the pulse on the corpse's neck to confirm that he was dead, then waved his hand to signal the sergeant carrying the corpse to leave quickly.These corpses pass through the crowd, and few people take a second look. Dead bodies are one of the least rare things here.

"Ying Wuyi's wounded may not be less than ours. I don't know how he will deal with it. He has to bring the army back from Canglan Road." Gu Yueyi said. Silent depression. "The soldiers of the Southern Barbarians carry earthy herbs with them and don't need any medical officers. Those who can't be cured will be killed by their own people, piled up and burned. Friends from the same country will take his necklace home and tell the family of the deceased Said they were killed in battle." Bai Yi said. Gu Yueyi praised: "It's helping people who are not afraid of death!"

"Shut up, go and have a look." Xi Yan interrupted them suddenly. He walked very lightly, and followed a line of sergeants ahead who were carrying corpses.Gu Yueyi and Bai Yi followed up without knowing what happened, only to feel that the team of sergeants was walking through the crowd with sneaky eyes, glancing around secretly.Then they all turned to a corner of the camp near the horse haystack. The three of them followed to a place with a Gebu shed in the corner, and the sergeants who carried the corpse put down all the stretchers, and the leader corporal kicked a broken copper shield at the door of the shed.A pale-faced veteran of Chu Wei came out from under the shadow of the shed. His face was covered with a white cloth, and only his scorched eyes were exposed.The corporal leader among the corpse-bearers pouted at the corpses behind him.

The veteran craned his neck, wanting to go up and have a look. "The new dead are all captives from the country. They can't be wrong." The corporal frowned, "There are risks in doing this kind of dirty work. Should I lie to you if I have nothing to do?" The veteran glanced at him, took out five pennies from the sleeve of his uniform, and gave them to the corporal.The corporal leader didn't want to touch him, he took half a step back, lifted the corner of his battle suit to cover his hands, and then took the silver hair. "Dirty?" The veteran smiled like an owl, and turned back to the shed.

The corporal leader turned around and left with his men. Bai Yi saw their backs disappear by the side of the horse haystack, and then slowly approached the shed. "It smells so strong of lime, what is this place for?" Gu Yueyi lowered his voice extremely low. Bai Yi shook his head.A cart outside the shed was filled with lime, and one side of the Gebu shed was supported by a few bamboo poles erected on the cart. "What's inside?" Xi Yan asked, there was obviously something buried in the lime. Bai Yi's face was tense, and he silently pounded the lime with the hilt of his saber.Something was exposed from the lime, and Bai Yi's hand holding the sword trembled slightly, then stopped.It was a shriveled human head, with blue tattoos still visible on the top of the shaved head, obviously it looked like a Li Guo soldier.The human head closed its eyes tightly, and the pain before death remained on its face.Xi Yan also moved Jingyue's sword hilt, and more heads were exposed.Neatly packed into this pile of lime were hundreds of heads, dried and preserved to prevent them from rotting.Every face was gray and white, eyes were tightly closed, and the pure dead silence carried a chill, penetrating into everyone's heart.

The three quietly looked into the shed from the side of the cart.It was a fairly spacious space, dozens of soldiers were covered with white cloth, some of them stripped off the armor of the corpses one by one, removed the ironware and ornaments on them, and then dragged the corpses naked to the shed corner of .In the corner were some sergeants with iron axes. A corpse was dragged up, and the ax immediately fell down, cutting off the neck.Those who held the iron ax seemed to be veterans for many years. They were experienced in their hands, like chopping wood. Sometimes a single ax cut through the spine, and they had to make up another blow, and they were merciless. The heads were rolling on the ground, and the veterans were chopping and chopping, with blank expressions. "What are you doing?" Bai Yi strode in, the anger between his brows could kill. The leader of the Chu Wei veteran who paid for the corpse was startled, and was about to rush over to get angry when he saw Bai Yi's pale face.He knew Bai Yi, and there was no one in the Chu Wei Army who didn't know this famous general, and no one dared to resist his majesty.The old soldier's legs gave way, and he half knelt down, trembling, not daring to answer. Xi Yan stretched out his hand slightly, and stood between Bai Yi and the veteran: "You can probably guess that Chun, Jinbei and Chen all have a practice of rewarding the number of captured heads in the army. You Chu Weiguo didn't This rule, but the head is still valuable, he cut off the head of the corpse and took it to a military camp in another country in exchange for a reward." The veteran trembled: "Forgive me, General! I never dared to spoil my brother's corpse... It's just some dead captives... Someone bought these heads..." Xi Yan glanced at Gu Yueyi, but Gu Yueyi avoided his gaze.The Jinbei Army also bought a leader to receive a reward. This has been a practice in the army for many years. The officers also acquiesced, and Gu Yueyi couldn't do much. "The ears are still cut off," Xi Yan pointed to a bloody human head that had not yet been plastered with lime, "Can the ears be sold separately?" The veteran dared not speak. "Our rule in Tang Dynasty is to count the number of enemies killed by a pair of ears and receive rewards. That's why I said we don't count by heads, we count by ears," Xi Yan laughed self-deprecatingly, "General Gu doesn't have to I feel ashamed." "Soldier!" Bai Yi shouted. "Bai Yi!" Xi Yan frowned, "It's not a big deal in the military." As soon as the words fell, the black-clothed soldiers had already strode in, sweating all over their heads, and knelt down on one knee as soon as they pressed their sabers. "Chuan Junjun!" Bai Yi said coldly. "But..." The soldiers were slightly stunned, "The imperial envoy from the imperial capital has just arrived... and is waiting for the general outside." "The imperial envoy of the imperial capital!?" Bai Yi was startled. "Yes! It is the imperial envoy of His Majesty the Emperor. We learned from Mr. Xie, the staff officer, that the general is coming to inspect the supply camp today, so we did not dare to delay and immediately escorted the imperial envoy. The brothers were looking for the general around, and I heard the general the sound of." "Take me there!" Bai Yi ordered. He didn't care about talking to Xi Yan and Gu Yueyi, and strode away with his soldiers.Xi Yan and Gu Yueyi exchanged glances. "Should we also go to see the Imperial Envoy?" Gu Yueyi asked tentatively. "With Bai Yi's character, he rushed to meet the imperial envoy, probably forgot about us. We'd better not join in the fun. In this battle, the one who stands out is General Bai, and the one who announces the good news to His Majesty is Bai." General, the imperial envoy is here, and it is still General Bai who wants to see him. Bai Yi is already impatiently waiting for the emperor to approve his seal. He wants to lead troops into Beijing for supplies, and he is still thinking about going to the Zhenghe Hall Meet the emperor." Xi Yan snorted coldly, "He never thinks of others, marching and fighting is also a monopoly of power, he wins the victory, and he loses the defeat. Even if he has generals, he is still annoying! " Gu Yueyi was slightly taken aback, and then laughed: "General Bai is not such a greedy person, but he was indeed the one who led the army to victory, and he should be the one who met the imperial envoy first. Let’s go to Beijing? However, General Bai is indeed a bit arrogant, making people afraid to get close to him. If he put it too loudly, he would be arrogant. But I’m not surprised when others say that. General Xi is an old friend of General Bai’s for many years. The general is also dissatisfied with General Bai." "I've been dissatisfied with him for many years," Xi Yan smiled, "but I'm used to it." He turned to the veteran kneeling on the ground, shook his head and sighed: "Using the job of the supply camp to make money from the dead is a despicable thing after all. But I also know that you brothers are not easy, and your hands are full of blood. Smells like a dead body, earns two dirty coins. How much is a head?" "Seven and a half cents, when it's cheap... only five..." The old soldier's voice trembled. "It's really not expensive." Xi Yan said in a low voice, "Then I'll tell Bai Yi, and I won't punish you severely. You guys will be responsible for the burial of the heads that haven't been sold yet. If other wounded soldiers die in the future Well, it’s you who buried it well, and if you find a corpse…” Xi Yan tapped the back of his neck with the hilt of his sword: "My temper is much better than Bai Yi's." He turned and walked out of the shed.Gu Yueyi followed behind him and said in a low voice: "The corpses outside the city are still left there to rot, and the corpses of a few wounded soldiers are buried..." "It's useless," Xi Yan smiled bitterly, "It's just a punishment, otherwise Bai Yi might not be able to let them go."