Chapter 1300: War's Last Meal Before Battle

Chapter 1286: The Last Meal Before Battle

Yang Meng shoved the ring to his personal guard: "Deliver this to the cook immediately! Oh, and test the rice for poison before cooking!"

As the personal guard rushed down the city wall, Yang Meng looked at the letter again.

The dragon head emblem looked very familiar. Where had he seen it recently?

A dragon head, a dragon head...

Yang Meng frowned in thought, then suddenly clapped his hands: "The temple!"

That's right, a few days ago he had seen two masked figures in front of the Pu Yin Temple, and one of them was wearing a dragon head mask! He had even mistaken them for Zhao Guangzhi's assassins and almost fought them. Then the Pu Yin god suddenly manifested, stopping the battle and welcoming the dragon-headed mask into the temple.

Hmm, so that person really sent the grain? But why? Could it be that the Pu Yin god had intervened to help?

A confidant came to report again: "The grain is not poisoned. It's safe."

In any case, the donor had shown goodwill by first offering several hundred jin of desperately needed grain. The only thing Shizhoutou did not lack was firewood.

Soon after, the entire army began to eat. Yang Meng dared not let the soldiers eat their fill, as there was no guarantee of another meal. However, each soldier received at least an extra half-bowl of mixed grain rice, a few strips of dried salted vegetables, and two threads of cured meat.

No one spoke. Only the sounds of ravenous eating could be heard; everyone regretted their mouths weren't bigger. The rice smelled wonderful, truly wonderful! Some ate so fast they choked, but even when coughing, they covered their mouths tightly to avoid spraying rice grains.

Yang Meng also finished his few mouthfuls of rice and picked up the mysterious letter again. What did the last sentence in the letter mean? Could it be...?

"Keep a close eye on the enemy camp opposite," Yang Meng ordered. "Report any movement immediately."

Before it was even dark, Governor Liu had already begun his dinner. When on a campaign, everything was kept simple, and his dinner was also very plain: a golden-brown, crispy roasted rabbit, a bowl of red date millet porridge, two fragrant sesame wheatcakes, and a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts.

The rabbit had been caught by a junior officer below him, and its legs were still twitching when presented to the commander. The bean sprouts were too raw, making them gritty. Governor Liu frowned, about to send the dish back for the cook to redo, when his confidant entered the tent.

"My Lord, we've inventoried the grain in our camp; it will last at most five more days."

Governor Liu bit into a wheatcake, thinking, *Damn it, if Yang Meng hadn't burned our provisions once, the army could have lasted much longer.*

Five days. Could Shizhoutou last another five days? If they were willing to learn from Zhao Guangzhi, they could last not just five days, but fifteen. But that Yang fellow didn't seem capable of such a thing. *In this world, being soft-hearted leads to great losses. If I hadn't had the foresight to take all the city's grain, how could we be comfortably settled in our camp now? As for the ungrateful wretches in Shizhoutou, ha, they deserve to starve to death!*

A thought stirred in him: "What about Zhao Guangzhi? Any unusual movements there?"

He still didn't understand why Zhao Guangzhi's army had abandoned Shizhoutou and retreated. But not attacking now didn't mean they wouldn't attack later. What Governor Liu feared most was not Yang Meng inside Shizhoutou City, but the notorious Zhao army, dozens of li away!

"None. He seems to have retreated to Liuping, and there have been no troop movements for nearly ten days."

Liuping was the last city Zhao Guangzhi had captured. It was said the local governor, unwilling to surrender, dared to resist, leading to a massacre where blood flowed like rivers. Zhao Guangzhi had taken over twenty days to capture Liuping, and after five days of reorganization, he came to attack Shizhoutou, clearly showing contempt for Shizhoutou's defenses, believing it could be easily taken.

His retreat was as sudden as his attack. Governor Liu always felt something was off. But it was Yang Meng, not him, who was fighting Zhao Guangzhi, so he didn't have a direct understanding.

Governor Liu's greatest hidden concern was that after he reclaimed Shizhoutou, Zhao Guangzhi would attack again. After all, Liuping was not far from Shizhoutou, just a short ride for cavalry. Zhao Guangzhi's retreat to Liuping indicated that he still had his eye on Shizhoutou. But Shizhoutou was Governor Liu's base; if he didn't take it back, how would he settle his numerous troops? If he didn't reclaim it, once Yang Meng had established himself and won over the people, it would be even harder to seize it back later.

What a dilemma.

However, before he could finish these thoughts, his confidant reported again: "My Lord, the aroma of cooked food is wafting from the west side of Shizhoutou City."

"Oh, they can still afford to cook?" *Forget it, no need to re-fry the bean sprouts. For this plate of undercooked bean sprouts, those commoners in Shizhoutou would gladly kowtow fifty times for it.* Governor Liu was a content man.

"It's the strong aroma of rice and flour, carried downwind. We sent our bird demons to fly high and observe, and they saw soldiers gathering to eat inside the city. It's not leaves or chaff; it's real food!" the confidant reported. "Just now, we also observed people eating sweet potatoes on the city gate."

"Eating rice and sweet potatoes?" Governor Liu slapped his thigh, overjoyed. "Good, good! Those bastards can't hold out any longer!"

"Huh? My Lord, why do you say that?" *They're eating and drinking inside the city, yet the commander says they can't last?*

"Shizhoutou was already out of supplies." It had been over twenty days since Zhao Guangzhi attacked the city, and Shizhoutou had received no effective resupply. How could tens of thousands of people be fed? Governor Liu had long found it strange that Yang fellow could hold out for so long. "They want to wear me down, they should have prepared for a prolonged siege. But now they've cooked all their remaining grain, which means they can't last. They want to risk a desperate gamble, staking everything on one decisive battle!"

The confidant was startled: "You mean they plan a major attack?"

"Yes, the soonest will be tonight or early tomorrow morning!" Governor Liu lifted his millet porridge and drank it in one gulp. "After this battle, I'd like to see how that Yang fellow plans to resist! Perhaps I won't even need to act personally; his own subordinates will cut off his head and surrender the city! Give the order: the entire army is to be ready for battle tonight!"

He Lingchuan and the others were also eating. There was an operation planned for the evening, so this meal was crucial.

However, the abandoned waystation was too close to the battlefield, and bird demons often passed overhead, so they couldn't light a fire. Everyone ate their dry rations with clean cold water, He Lingchuan and Dong Rui included. The thousand-layer cakes brought from Jucheng were rich in green onion flavor and full of meat dice, showing no sign of skimping on ingredients. However, they became soft and lost their crispness once they cooled.

Everyone ate silently and with great gusto. Then they ate a few sour plums, chewed on one or two hard pieces of dried meat, and drank some water, their bellies were full.

Dong Rui burped and murmured, "I miss Alfalfa Island."

Life on Alfalfa Island was much more comfortable; not only was the food good, but there were also attendants providing meticulous service. Traveling through Flashgold Plain, at least eight out of ten days were spent camping in the wilderness, exposed to the elements.

He Lingchuan glanced at him. Hadn't he himself stubbornly insisted on coming along? "Shall I have Afeng take you back on horseback?"

Wanqir Feng had just gulped down some clean water: "Ready at your command!"

"Never mind, since we're already here." *Might as well make the most of it.*

With a few flutters, a bat flew in through the window and landed on Dong Rui's shoulder.