Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 122

After patrolling the camp, Zhao Dezhao and Fang Zhengqi were both reddened by the smoke of wormwood, just like they had just cried.

In order to prevent mosquitoes, two layers of light and breathable veils are added to the entrance of the tents of the Chinese army, which is much better than the camp outside, but this kind of condition is obviously not enjoyed by ordinary soldiers, only the military tents of high-ranking generals. .

But even so, it is still inevitable to be bitten all over the face by mosquitoes when going to bed at night. Zhao Dezhao now has to wrap his head and face before going to bed every night, leaving only his nostrils to vent his breath. Now that it is hot weather, let alone the feeling.It's not a big deal if it just bites the whole face, but small mosquitoes can still kill.

After returning to the tent of the Chinese Army and taking his seat, Zhao Dezhao finally broke the silence and said slowly, "General Fang, do you know how many soldiers in our army died of the disease in the past half month?"

Fang Zhengqi was stunned for a moment. He only had the name of a general and did not have any official position in the army. Naturally, he didn't know the details of these matters, and he didn't understand why he was talking about this. The army often went out tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of people. Of 10 people, among them, some soldiers died of the epidemic because of acclimatization, isn't it normal?

"A total of 650 and four people." Zhao Dezhao gave the answer.

Fang Zhengqi was taken aback, and opened his mouth in astonishment, feeling a little unbelievable: "In the past, when General was in charge of the army in the Southern Han Dynasty, some of his soldiers often contracted diseases, and it was not uncommon for them to die from the disease, but not yet. It has never been so exaggerated, could it be that the disease of acclimatization is so serious?"

In his mind, people from the north are prone to get sick when they come from the south, that is the disease of acclimatization to the soil and water. Otherwise, why are there no serious problems for the people from the south, and a large number of people from the north will die of illness as soon as they come here.

However, Zhao Dezhao knew that it was not as simple as "acclimatization".

In this era, tropical and subtropical regions are the hotbeds of various infectious diseases. Malaria, yellow fever, dysentery, etc., any of them can easily kill people.

In the original historical time and space, the biggest reason why Europeans did not conquer the interior of Africa until the 19th century was due to various deadly tropical infectious diseases, the most troublesome of which was malaria. This is what the Song Army needs to face now. stuff.

Chronic malaria damages people's health relatively slowly. Every time it has an attack, it has to be "disturbed."But falciparum malaria is much more violent and kills people much faster; falciparum malaria is more common in hot and humid areas in the south.

Residents in areas with high malaria incidence have a certain natural resistance to malaria parasites, so even if they are infected, they are often not particularly serious.But outsiders don't have this advantage. It is common for a large number of people to die. The ancients didn't know the cause of the disease, so they thought it was the so-called "acclimatization".

Although Zhao Dezhao knows the ins and outs, it is useless. The cinchona bark that can treat malaria is native to the Americas. Even if he has great skills, he can't conjure it out of thin air.The only thing that can be done is to make the entire military camp full of smoke like it is on fire, making everyone miserable from top to bottom, but as far as it is concerned, the effect is limited.

"This king doesn't need to ask General Pan to know that the idea he can think of is just the same as yours. Take a detour across the city to find a safe one."

"Pan Mei must be safe, and you must be safe too. This is a great achievement. Even the ministers in the court, and even my father, all want safety!"

"It's hot weather right now, and the epidemic in the army will only get worse."

"If you change to Yuecheng Ridge, you need to take a long detour, travel more than a thousand miles in the mountains, and you can't take advantage of the convenience of water transportation. A rough estimate will require at least three months of delay, that is, the entire hot summer season. Our troops have to trek through the mountains and forests."

"Everyone has a way out, but these sick soldiers have no way out, and neither does this king!"

Zhao Dezhao shut up after saying this. In fact, he still had another worry that he did not say out loud. If the deployment was slightly unfavorable and the military report was sent back to Tokyo, Zhao Guangyi's gang members would take the opportunity to seize Xiao Bianzi in the court, and he would probably be killed. It will end up in the end of being recalled to Tokyo before the start.

When it comes to this point, Fang Zhengqi has fully understood that there is no other way out except to gnaw on the current hard bone. Neither he nor Pan Mei can shake this point!
"Your Highness, I am deeply ashamed." Fang Zhengqi gave a deep bow and withdrew from the military tent.

the next day.The Song army launched a full-scale attack on Yanguan.

Yesterday it was just a tentative attack, using only ladders, but today's scene was much bigger. Dozens of trebuchets were lined up under the city. The soldiers beat the cattle and horses, driving the animals to pull the catapult levers, and fired stone bullets at Guancheng. The Guancheng defenders also fired back with stone cannons;
Because this kind of animal-powered trebuchet needs to be pulled by oxen and horses, it needs a large area, and the number of trebuchets that can be placed in the narrow pass city is very limited, so it is at a disadvantage in the stone cannon battle, but the victory is that there is a city wall to block it. , The stone bullets fired by the Song army hit the extremely thick rammed earth wall, almost without effect.

Zhao Dezhao stood under the banner of the Chinese army, watching the battle with his hands behind his back and supervising the battle.

In his original imagination, the ancient siege should be similar to the movie "The Lord of the Rings", with warriors so dense that you can't see the end, towering siege engines, a huge door hammer that ten people can't hold together, countless The fire bombs whizzed past in the air, and the scene in front of him was obviously not so interesting.

"Your Highness, Yashi is dangerous, please step back half a mile, Your Highness."

The flag officer of the Chinese Army came over and begged Zhao Dezhao to move. This place is about a mile away from the Guancheng, which happened to be the range limit of the stone cannon fired by the defenders. , who can afford it?
"Is there anything that is not dangerous on the battlefield? Standing under the banner of the Chinese army, this king can let the soldiers see that this king is there, and the army will be inspired!"

The banner officer wanted to persuade him again, so Zhao Dezhao raised his chin and pointed at the stone bullet flying from the direction of the city, smiled and said, "If this thing can hit me, it's like winning the lottery."

Although the flag officer didn't know what a "lottery" was, he also understood what Zhao Dezhao meant. Catapults are not accurate at all, and it takes a long time to launch a stone bomb. Well, that really requires great luck.

After spending a whole morning observing the damage effect of stone bullets on the city wall, Zhao Dezhao was a little frustrated. It would take at least a month, if not impossible, to knock down the city wall with this thing.

(End of this chapter)