Tiger Guards

Chapter 34: March Locust Rise
The tiger soldiers from Wenxi Beixiang and two counties south of Zhongtiao Mountain gathered here.

Fearing attacks or fighting from Li Le, these more than a hundred people rested in the ruins in a corner of the village.

There were more than 300 county soldiers in Li Le's team, and these county soldiers camped next to the two county hubei troops.

In the county barracks, Zhao Yan, a councilor, was drinking water when Fan Zheng, the county commander, hurried over and bowed to Zhao Yan, who was resting under an apricot tree. "My lord," he said, "the General of the Western Expedition has sent over ten scouts, divided into two teams, heading north."

Zhao Yan stood up and paced back and forth, saying, "So far, there's been no sign of the Tiger Guards. This means they were either surrounded and forced to surrender by the Xiongnu, or they drove them away. How could someone like Li Le dare to attract the majority of the Xiongnu?"

"Are you saying that the Tiger Guard Battalion still exists?"

"Well, you should also send people to scout north."

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, he saw Fan Zheng's face was hesitant, so he immediately changed his words: "I will go to see the two county tiger soldiers and see what they think."

"Yes."

Fan Zheng stepped aside to make way and followed Zhao Yan out, saying, "If the Tiger Guard Battalion survives, I will not allow the children of this county to be abused and harmed by these treacherous officials."

"Well, I believe Sima."

Zhao Yan also responded solemnly that Fan Zheng’s cousin was in the Huben Camp, as well as other relatives and fellow villagers.

It would be fine if Fan Zheng was unaware of the situation, but he was indifferent when he was there in person.

Even if he returned to Anyi alive, he would still be subjected to huge accusations and difficulties.

Next to Li Le Camp, he chose to camp in the township.

There is a sheep and horse fence in the township that was planned in recent years. It is an area that is convenient for sheep and horse traders to sell their goods.

The horses of Li Le's guards were temporarily kept here, and Li Le was feeding his mounts with concentrated feed.

This is a strong black horse with a white crescent on its forehead, so it is called Yuelihei.

Only when he was with Yuelihei could Li Le feel a little peace.

A personal guard came over quickly and said, "General, Zhao Yan has gone to the Huben camp."

"Don't pay attention to him."

Seeing the hesitant look on the guard's face, Li Le consoled him, saying, "Zhao Yan wouldn't dare to make trouble."

"Yes, but here in the northern Tiger Camp..."

The personal guards also looked worried and anxious.

"When the sun sets, we'll know the outcome."

Li Le patted the crumbs from his hands and patted the soldier's shoulder. "Going to Henei or Guandong won't necessarily end well. Without the emperor, how many people have deserted Li Jue? If we don't leave now, Li Jue will surely send troops to Hedong to seize the emperor. All we can do is hold them back until Li Jue's troops cross the river."

Even though he was a personal soldier, he still held the rank of General of the Central Army.

If Li Jue comes, he will definitely skin Yang Feng alive.

But what if Yang Feng gave the emperor and all the officials to Li Jue?
However, when this personal soldier heard the news of cooperation with Li Jue and the Guanzhong soldiers, he couldn't help but look depressed.

They attacked each other and once again relied on Li Jue. What if Li Jue turned against them?

Li Le had no choice. He really regretted raising an army to support the king.

Originally, there were more than 2,000 households in the tribe. They were free and unrestrained, and lived a happy and fulfilling life.

In just about a year, most of the troops were killed or wounded, and the tribesmen were scattered.

Although he is the General of the Western Expedition and the Governor of Liangzhou, if he wants to go to Liangzhou to take up his post, how many people around him are willing to follow him?

As the sky gradually darkened, Zhao Ji grabbed the stewed horse meat, sliced it, sprinkled some finely ground salt on it, and fried it on a stone slab.

The flagstones were made from local materials and were small stone slabs surrounding the campfire.

The bloody smell can only be removed when the meat slices are grilled and slightly dry on both sides.

The aftereffects of the killing had begun to show; even the greasy smell of the horse meat soup made him feel uncomfortable.

While the meat slices were being roasted, wheat cakes were also being fried on the stone slab.

Pei Xiu came over with corn porridge and sat down next to him. "Aji went to see Jia Kui just now. What did he say?"

"When I went there, he was compiling a military book on warehouse statistics, so I chatted with Ah Shang for a while."

Zhao Ji used a dagger to cut open the wheat cake, stuffed the roasted meat slices into the wheat cake, and handed it directly to Pei Xiu: "Seventh brother, try this. I'll eat the porridge."

"So you feel uncomfortable too?"

Pei Xiu took the meat pie, took a bite, and found it tasty. He then said to Zhao Ji, who was eating his porridge, "Tomorrow, bring the Xiongnu heads and captives to the gate of Jiangyi. They will open the city gate themselves."

"Anything is fine. I just regret that I can't attack Beixiang tonight."

Zhao Ji finished the porridge in his bowl in a few mouthfuls. The messenger Han Shu beside him came forward and said, "Captain, I'll go get some porridge."

"Yeah." Zhao Ji handed over the bowl, picked up the dried meat slices and put them in his mouth to chew. The bloody smell finally faded a little.

When he was eating the corn porridge just now, the corn porridge had a sweet and soft texture... In his taste buds, the sweet, salty and fresh taste contained a bloody smell.

I endured the discomfort and ate slowly.

Seeing him like this, Pei Xiu wanted to laugh but couldn't, so he changed the subject: "How confident are you that Li Le can attack the camp tonight?"

"I don't know, but I know we can't sleep. Many of our companions are experiencing such a brutal battle for the first time. If they fall asleep, they will inevitably have nightmares and panic attacks, which may cause a camp roar."

Zhao Ji reasoned according to his common sense and continued, "Let's assume that Li Le will attack the camp. The entire camp should be on alert and take turns to rest. When daybreak comes, the entire army will rest."

"That's all."

Pei Xiu finished his meat pie, wiped the grease from his hands, and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Ji: "The situation will change tomorrow. Aji, you will act according to the situation."

"it is good."

Zhao Ji agreed and reached out to take it, but Pei Xiu raised his hand to avoid it and looked at the oil on Zhao Ji's hand with a serious look.

After Zhao Ji wiped his hands clean, Pei Xiucai handed him the folded hand towel and said, "Go find Jia Kui later and let him take a look."

"Yes."

Zhao Ji thought it was just a blank imperial edict, without even a seal, and when he casually opened it, he saw very beautiful words.

Then he stuffed it into his arms without looking at it again.

When Pei Xiu saw Han Shu bringing the corn porridge, he put his hand on Zhao Ji's shoulder to help him stand up. Before leaving, he stopped and said, "The army is now united and morale is high. This is beyond my expectations."

"Seventh Brother, I actually didn't expect the situation to be like this."

Zhao Ji responded, but Pei Xiu just patted his shoulder, then took his bowl from Han Shu and left with the corn porridge.

Han Shu did not dare to resist, nor did he ask Zhao Ji. He went to get Zhao Ji's lacquered wooden bowl and went to make porridge again.

When Han Shu brought the bowl of rice porridge, Zhao Ji vaguely heard a strange noise.

He stood up slowly, his expression solemn.

Soon, everyone around heard this strange sound. Those who reacted quickly changed their expressions and screamed, "It's the Locust God!"

"Locusts are coming!"

"The locusts are coming~!"

Zhao Ji raised his chin to look to the west. Dark clouds were slowly approaching, covering the sky and the sun. Even the red light of the setting sun was swallowed up and obscured by them, and locusts were landing around him all the time.

The surrounding tiger guards shouted in panic and the horses neighed.

Pei Xiu rushed out quickly, rolled up his sleeves and waved them left and right to drive away the locusts.

As soon as he came to Zhao Ji, he saw Zhao Ji reach out and grab a locust, rubbing it with his thumb until it turned into a yellow-green juice residue.

Pei Xiu's eyes were filled with horror. "Aji, you must not offend the Locust God."

"Locust God?"

Zhao Ji reached out and grabbed another one, crushing it in front of Pei Xiu. He spoke slowly, "Seventh Brother... If there really is a locust god, I will definitely kill him! And then eat him!"

The surrounding Tiger Guards carried plates and bowls to dodge the locusts, and didn't even dare to step on them.

This is the third year of locusts. Zhao Ji can imagine that the winter wheat, spring wheat, millet, sorghum, beans and rice that his family has worked so hard to cultivate will most likely be eaten to ashes!
He didn't know much about biology, but there were so many adult insects in early March, and the temperature was high now.

After this batch of locusts lays eggs, they will hatch in April and reach their peak size in May!
Even in the mountains, the locusts will pass through like clouds, leaving behind only bare trees, mountain walls and gullies.

On the north bank of the Fen River, Xu Huang stood on the wall of the ruins, watching the black cloud of locusts coming across the Fen River.

Not to mention the Fen River, even the Yellow River cannot stop it.

When a locust plague breaks out, they tend to migrate from east to west. The locusts that can come to Hedong are mostly from Taiyuan and Shangdang. The locusts in Hedong will then fly into Guanzhong and then go to Liangzhou.

In a ravine in the middle of Zijin Mountain, locusts swarmed everywhere.

Wei Gu drove his horse forward, covering his face with his sleeves, and urged the convoy: "Hurry up! Don't stop!"

The general Li Bao, who was in charge of the baggage train, also kept scolding and urging the accompanying Hu Ben and county soldiers. He saw that most of them were in a trance, and some of them collapsed on the ground and cried loudly.

Xiang Libao grabbed a cavalryman's arm and shouted into his ear, "Hurry to the camp! Ask the warehouse officer to send someone to help! Tell them that the Hou family might break the agreement and come to steal the food and equipment!"

Without any further scruples, Xiang Libao sent two knights to ask for help, and immediately whipped the others with his whip, forcing the transport team to move.

Wei Gu turned his head from time to time to look deep into the ravine. Based on his understanding of the Hou brothers, it was normal for them to turn against each other.

But when he thought of Zhao Ji's bravery, a crazy idea began to grow in Wei Gu's heart.

The locusts were in such a bad condition in March that he couldn't imagine what the situation would be like in May.

(End of this chapter)