Travel through troubled times and escape famine with the system

Lu You's question immediately attracted everyone's attention. Even Guan Shanyue, who had been standing nearby, couldn't help but move closer.

Blood was still oozing from Hu Laojiu's mouth and nose, but after hearing Lu You's words, his eyes became calm.

In his question just now, Lu You praised the iron-willed border guards.

He was not stupid and knew that Lu You was deliberately provoking him to trick him into talking.

But just this one sentence aroused all the resentment and grievance in his heart.

"It's true that I'm a deserter!"

"But damn it... Even if I want to kill the enemy, I'm just a common man..."

"That Ningguan... is fucking rotten from the inside out!"

Hu Laojiu choked up and said, tears welled up in his eyes again and kept dripping down his cheeks.

Seeing Hu Laojiu's aggrieved look, Lu You and the others looked at each other.

At this point they were already certain that the Ning Pass had been breached, and there might be some hidden story behind it.

Hu Laojiu choked for a long time before finally telling the story of what happened in Ningguan.

It turned out that Hu Laojiu was a garrison soldier of Yanzhou Prefecture and was sent to garrison Ningguan two years ago.

Generally, the soldiers needed for the garrison in each province are recruited directly within the province.

However, Xijiang Prefecture is a border state, and the Wu and Jin states have stationed troops inside and outside Ningguan all year round to confront each other, so the number of troops stationed needs to be far greater than that of Qing and Jin states.

However, conscripting too many young men into the army would lead to a significant decline in productivity and damage the foundation of Xijiang Prefecture.

Therefore, one-third of the soldiers in Ningguan were transferred from other states and rotated every three years.

When he first arrived in Xijiang Prefecture, Hu Laojiu was very nervous.

Although Hu Laojiu was also serving as a soldier in Yanzhou Prefecture, he was the garrison commander of the prefecture and there was nothing to worry about!

But when they arrived at Ningguan County of Xijiang Prefecture, they would face direct confrontation with the Jin soldiers, and would have to face life and death once the war broke out.

But as time passed, they gradually felt relieved.

Although Ningguan is a dangerous pass, it is not a natural barrier, and it is connected to mountains on both sides.

The mountain road was not wide enough for a large army to pass through, but it was wide enough for a small group of elite troops to sneak in. Therefore, the defenders inside and outside Ningguan would arrange their soldiers to patrol every day.

Hu Laojiu was assigned to the patrol team. He patrolled once a day, and then returned to the tent to brag and chat with his brothers!

This leisurely life continued until three months ago.

He had been patrolling for two years, and although he had little interaction with the Jin soldiers patrolling on the opposite side, he had already become familiar with them.

But just three months ago, they discovered that except for a team leader, the other side were all strangers they had never seen before, and this had been the case for half a month.

Later, they went to inquire with the teams in other patrol areas, only to hear that they had encountered the same thing. They immediately realized that the Jin Kingdom had sent reinforcements to the border!

"Add more troops?"

Hearing Hu Laojiu's words, Lu You interrupted him.

"You mean, the Jin Kingdom's reinforcements were discovered three months ago?"

Hu Laojiu nodded slightly when he heard this: "Yes, we discovered something was wrong three months ago. About two and a half months ago, scouts found the Jin camp and confirmed that the enemy had expanded its camp, increasing its troops by at least 30,000."

"Shouldn't such things be reported in a timely manner, so that the garrisons of Qing and Jin states can move closer to Xijiang Prefecture?" Zhao Wenbo asked puzzledly.

“I can’t report it!”

Hu Laojiu said through gritting his teeth.

"Outside Ningguan, the Jin border troops have about 30,000 troops stationed all year round, while our Wu country has 100,000 troops stationed all year round. Our military strength can completely crush the other side."

"Even if the enemy increases their troops to 60,000 this time, it still cannot pose a threat to Ningguan."

"Then how did Ningguan Pass get breached?" Lu You asked, "Did the enemy send more troops?"

Following Lu You's words, Hu Laojiu raised his scarlet eyes and looked at the few people.

"It's not that the Jin soldiers have more people!"

"It's because we are outnumbered!"

few people?

Hu Laojiu's words immediately stunned Lu You and others.

One hundred thousand versus sixty thousand, the number of people is almost twice as many, how can there be fewer people?

"Didn't you ask us why we wanted to be deserters? Because we can't win at all!"

"Ningguan has 100,000 defenders, but that's just an external statement!"

"In fact, among the tents in that row, each tent was only half full."

"Our military organization consists of 26 people in a group, and groups in a team, but our team only has people!"

"The Ningguan garrison is said to be 100,000 strong, but in fact it is not even 50,000!"

"The vacant heads were all pocketed by Ningguan General Xiao Changlin, who ate the empty salaries!"

"Even we all only fire half the shots!"

"The soldiers at the border have long been extremely frightened and secretly wish to eat Xiao Changlin alive. If we don't run, are we just waiting to die?"

At this point, Hu Laojiu couldn't stop sobbing.

Lu You and the others all fell into silence.

The generals were collecting empty salaries and exploiting the soldiers under them, not to mention that the number of troops stationed by the Wu State in Ningguan was less than that of the Jin State.

Even if we have the advantage in numbers, we cannot win this battle.

What is the war about?

momentum!

People's hearts are scattered. How many people are willing to continue charging into battle and sacrifice their lives?

Lu Yi, who was standing by, squatted down and untied a bamboo tube from the hemp rope, then took out two sesame cakes from the package and handed them to Hu Laojiu.

Hu Laojiu took the bamboo tube and the sesame cake, and sobbed with his head down in grievance.

Lu Yi squatted down and spoke softly.

"If the border is like this, how come no one has ever reported it?"

"Sue?" Hu Laojiu wiped his tears with his tattered sleeves: "How? Where to sue?"

"Do you think that General Xiao Changlin is the only one who is greedy for military pay?"

"no!"

"From the generals and lieutenant generals to the captains and captains, they are all greedy!"

"And in order to prevent the news from leaking out, the border troops implemented a collective responsibility system."

"Someone wanted to report this before, but they were directly charged with desertion and fear of war. The entire team of more than 20 people were beheaded, and the direct commander was beaten with 20 military sticks and almost killed!"

"Not only that, Xiao Changlin also proposed a reward system. If someone finds that someone on the same team wants to cause trouble, as long as they report it and it is confirmed, not only can they avoid being implicated, but they can also get a reward."

"On one hand, there were beheadings for collective crimes, and on the other hand, there were rewards and promotions. Everyone started to monitor each other, and everyone in the barracks was in danger."

"From then on, there were only two paths before the brothers."

"Either we swallow our anger, or we run away together as a team while on patrol. Our team chose the latter."

Hearing Hu Laojiu's tearful story, Lu You felt a lump in his heart.

When the system issued the task before, she only knew that those soldiers and bandits deserved to die, but she didn't know that the soldiers on the border were so pitiful.

With a silent sigh, Lu You looked at Hu Laojiu with complicated eyes.

"We are all poor people. We shouldn't make things difficult for each other."

"But since you have escaped, why don't you just find a place to live in hiding? Why do you want to kill people and rob them?"