Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 619: Gap
Sima Yi stood in the courtyard of the imperial palace, his heart agitated, his hands trembling, his lips pursed as he stubbornly drenched himself in the rain...
I had planned everything, but I didn't expect it to rain at this time!
It was sunny and cheerful in the morning, and it was... spring, so how could it rain so heavily?
At the same time, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu had completely different moods. They thought they were doomed, but unexpectedly a heavy rain put out the fire.
Although many Ji Zao soldiers and grassroots generals were burned or choked to death, especially when the heavy rain just started and the smoke was extremely thick, but... in the end, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, and most of the soldiers were saved by the heavy rain.
Normally, after such a devastating defeat, the army would surely be demoralized and completely routed, and at most they would escape with a few personal guards and confidants.
However, the situation was different this time, not because of how wise Zhuge Liang was, nor because of how , but because... this was in Ziwu Valley!
It is impossible to collapse this place. Either turn back and look for the enemy to fall into their trap, or continue south to join the Chu army.
Even so, Guan Yu's Qi army had lost more than half of its troops since it left Guanzhong, with only more than 15,000 remnants returning.
Naturally, they were discovered early on by Chu's routine scouts along the way. When they arrived in front of Chu's defense line, Hao Zhao, who was stationed there, specifically stopped the newcomers first.
After giving instructions to the artillerymen and personal soldiers around him, Hao Zhao put on his own armor and crossed three wire fences. Through the last fence, he shouted to the Qi army: "Is General Guan here? Please come forward and talk!"
"Guan is here!" Guan Yu said as he put on armor and stepped forward in time.
The armor styles of the main generals of each side had been exposed and printed in the Chu State early on. Hao Zhao could not recognize Zhuge Liang, but he recognized Guan Yu.
After all, it is easy to fake a feather fan, but it is difficult to fake a set of armor.
"I've long heard that the Sima family in Guanzhong and the Marquis of Zheng were causing chaos in the Han court. Fortunately, I see that the general is safe. I feel relieved!" Hao Zhao was very polite, but he directly referred to the Han Dynasty as the Han Kingdom.
Obviously, the official rhetoric no longer acknowledges that Chu was a vassal of the Han Dynasty...
If it were another time and place, Guan Yu would definitely not forgive him for what he said, but now... facts are stronger than people, so he would not go against the official attitude of the Chu State just because of this matter!
After all, this wasn't just a slip of the tongue by a general like Hao Zhao...
"Come here, bring the poles and let our fellow Qi army members in!" After Hao Zhao was sure that everything was correct, he ordered his men to lift up the barbed wire and let the defeated Qi army in in an orderly manner.
The State of Chu did not recognize the Han Dynasty, but still considered everyone to be "compatriots."
Later, many more people in armor came over. At the layers of barbed wire, they formed a group of six and used poles to lift up a section of the barbed wire to serve as an entrance for the Qi army to enter.
But just as they entered the first floor, Hao Zhao suddenly said, "Huh? Many of the Qi army's comrades are injured? Come on, ask the medical camp to send someone over! General Guan, we have a medical camp in our army, and there is also a field clinic in the back, let the injured brothers in first!"
"That's great." Guan Yu naturally looked very satisfied.
It's just a little strange, what are the medical camp and the field clinic...
"Tell all the kitchen teams to speed up their preparations. The brothers in the Qi army are also hungry." Hao Zhao gave another order to his personal soldiers.
It seemed that the arrangements were very thoughtful and the Chu army was very enthusiastic. Many of the impoverished Qi soldiers were about to shed tears when they saw this scene.
But at this moment, the Qi army entered the second layer and encountered some Chu generals...
"It's okay. It's safe ahead. Put down your weapons first."
"Don't wear armor. It's just sunny today and it's still wet... We have dry clothes here."
"Ahem, the military tokens and other things will be replaced for everyone in Chu State later."
Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang also noticed that the grassroots generals of the Qi army were given military orders by the people of Chu, and Ji Zao's soldiers to take off their armor.
However, after a moment of silence, the two secretly ordered to cooperate with the Chu army...
Hao Zhao was being cautious while not causing too much resistance from the Qi army.
Seeing that an unknown young general from the State of Chu could make such a well-planned decision, Zhuge Liang sighed in his heart - he was afraid that without Sima Yi, even if his Longyou strategy had not been successful, the Han Dynasty... might not have been able to gain any advantage from the State of Chu!
And before long, Zhuge Liang discovered that he had been sighing too early!
Hao Zhao would naturally not reveal any confidential matters in front of the Qi army soldiers who had not yet been completely incorporated into the Chu army. However... since the Qi army had nominally surrendered, these Qi soldiers who were starving and cold, and many of whom were injured, would naturally not be treated harshly in terms of food and medical care.
Not to mention medical care, the military rations of the Chu State had already opened Zhuge Liang's eyes .
Previously, the Chu State also had dried meat, dried fish, pickled vegetables, and emergency compressed biscuits, all of which were adequately supplied to the army.
Last year, the most primitive "canned food" appeared - that is, a way of preserving food by sealing it with glass and metal after high-temperature treatment.
Hao Zhao is clearly already in the Ziwu Valley, and logically should be some distance away from the rear. However, because of the existence of "canned food", there is a large amount of canned meat, not just jerky!
Not to mention canned fruits and vegetables and dehydrated vegetables...
It is spring now. In Xuzhou, even if people in the city want to eat vegetables and fruits, it is considered a generous thing. Although they are not luxury goods, ordinary people will definitely feel bad if they want to eat them.
When Hao Zhao invited Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu to the general's tent for dinner, he was quite extravagant and even held a "banquet" in the army. He looked down on Hao Zhao. But later he found out that even the ordinary Chu army's rations not only had broth and braised pork, but also cold dishes...
Zhuge Liang also made a special observation and found that the Chu army behaved very calmly and had no resentment - it didn't seem like they were pretending to be generous just for the arrival of the Qi army!
On the contrary, the performance of the Qi army made Zhuge Liang somewhat embarrassed, and he even mysteriously reflected on whether he had been too harsh on his soldiers...
But it was just a brief thought - the Duke of Qi did not treat his soldiers harshly. Liu Bei usually stayed in Xuzhou City, and his food might not be as comfortable as Hao Zhao, who was guarding the field fortress outside with the orthodox army!
Moreover, Zhuge Liang thought that he had no chance to inform the Chu army in Ziwu Valley in advance that he would break out from Ziwu Valley, so it did not make sense that the logistics of the Chu army here would be particularly sufficient.
In other words…
Is this the norm in Chu?
When Guan Yu and Hao Zhao mentioned the wounded soldiers of Qi Army, Hao Zhao took them directly to the wounded camp and saw batches of wounded soldiers and grassroots generals...
The medical soldiers who treated Ji Zao's soldiers were also Ji Zao's soldiers. However, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu both understood that this kind of special manpower could only be obtained from doctors!
The proportion of medical soldiers and real army doctors in Hao Zhao's Chu army stationed in the wild has already made the two men silent.
Some wounded soldiers who had received preliminary treatment were being brought back in carts. It was said that there was a "field clinic" at the entrance of Ziwu Valley that specialized in treating seriously wounded soldiers who could not be recuperated in the camp!
