After noon, raindrops fell in scattered pieces.
The winter rain fell on my face, freezing to the bone.
Before the rain fell heavily, Zhou Boxu rushed to the military camp to check on the soldiers injured by poisonous snakes and tigers on the battlefield.
As soon as I got close to the wounded camp, I heard the screams of pain. Once inside, the screams of pain were even louder.
"Sir." The military doctor saluted Zhou Boxu.
Zhou Boxu nodded and walked in the camp to check on the injured and inquire about the situation of the military doctors.
After each battle, there are many injured patients, who are treated separately according to the type of injury. These camps were occupied by sergeants who had been bitten by poisonous snakes.
The Nanyan people are very mean. The venom of the venomous snakes they breed will not kill people immediately, but will make the western limbs of the person bitten paralyzed and stiff, causing pain from the affected area to the bone marrow. Ordinary painkillers have little effect.
Military doctors tried every means and tried all kinds of drugs, but they could only provide slight relief but could not remove the toxins.
All soldiers bitten by poisonous snakes were either too tortured by the pain to kill themselves, or they died of the poison after suffering pain for a month or two.
The reason for this is not that the Nanyan people cannot raise venomous snakes that are instantly fatal, but that they deliberately consume Dazhao's manpower and material resources.
Dazhao was based on benevolence. For the soldiers bitten by poisonous snakes, even though they knew that they could not be saved, it was impossible to kill them, so they could only try every means to treat them.
As a result, whether it is manpower, medicine, food, etc., there will be a huge loss. In addition, military morale will also be frightened and scattered.
As soldiers, they were prepared to die on the battlefield at any time, but they did not want to suffer this fate. Suffering and struggling in pain, but ultimately unable to escape death, makes people sad and desperate.
Therefore, every time they faced the venomous snakes of the Nanyan people in battle, the soldiers were terrified and would rather have their necks bitten off by a tiger than be bitten by a venomous snake.
The beast army extending southward had a great influence on the soldiers of Yicheng. If you don't find a way to break it, the morale of the army will be difficult to stabilize. When fighting, you will always be restrained and fearful, and you will be half defeated before fighting.
"Still haven't found the antidote?" Zhou Boxu asked seriously.
The military doctor said in a panic: "Excuse me, sir, but I am incompetent."
Zhou Boxu understood that the military doctors were not to blame for this matter, and they had tried their best.
Looking at the sergeant who was suffering from poisonous pain and was wailing and his face was distorted, Zhou Boxu said in a condensed voice: "Continue to look for an antidote."
"Yes." Military doctor Shen responded.
This is an arduous task that is almost impossible to accomplish. Ten years ago, General Zhuang and his son tried hard for many years but failed to find an antidote.
Zhou Boxu left the camp and went to the camp where the soldiers who had been bitten by the tiger were placed.
The howls of pain here are much quieter, and most of the injured are sleeping to recuperate after being bandaged with medicine.
Tigers are not poisonous, but deadly.
Almost all those who were attacked had their necks bitten off and died instantly. A few who were bitten on the middle and west limbs and other parts of the body managed to survive. They were also missing arms and legs, or had difficulty moving. After recovering from their injuries, they could only work as logistics troops or remove armor. Return home.
Although the tiger is not as scary as the poisonous snake, its power cannot be underestimated. Both of them are relied on by Nanyan.
When we came out of the camp again, the raindrops became heavier, falling in dense swarms, making those who hit them unable to open their eyes.
Lin Jun opened his umbrella and asked Zhou Boxu where he was going next.
The rain was so heavy that it would not stop for a while, and he could not return to the general's mansion, so Zhou Boxu went to the military meeting tent and summoned the generals in the camp to discuss matters.
A quarter of an hour later, all the generals arrived, and Zhou Boxu asked in detail about the tigers and poisonous snakes, especially how General Zhuang and his son dealt with them ten years ago.
A veteran sighed: "The situation ten years ago was different from today."
"What's the difference?" Zhou Boxu asked.
The veteran said: "Nanyan started to use tiger venomous snakes on the battlefield twenty years ago. However, at the beginning, the control skills were not enough, and the tiger venomous snakes would lose control occasionally, and they could not distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, so they were not used much."
"A few years later, the people of Nanyan became more capable at controlling tigers and venomous snakes. But at that time, tigers and venomous snakes had weaknesses, and they were still able to deal with them."
"For example, snakes are afraid of realgar and will hibernate, tigers are afraid of fire and can lure prey, etc. And the venomous snakes at that time were different from today, and those who were bitten almost always died immediately."
"For this reason, General Zhuang and his son have trained an armored army to deal with the Nanyan Beast Army."
"The armored soldiers are covered from head to toe in tough iron armor, and are not afraid of the bites of tigers and poisonous snakes. However, their movements are clumsy and slow, and they can only be used to resist, not to pursue."
But as long as Nanyan's beast army was defeated, and then cooperated with the cavalry and infantry, Nanyan was defeated and fled, and the southwest was peaceful for ten years.
But I didn't expect that ten years later, Nan Yan came again to control the beasts. After many years of training, the tigers were no longer afraid of fire and were not tempted by prey. The venomous snakes were not afraid of the realgar and the cold winter and showed up as usual. The venom of snakes is extremely poisonous. It makes people helpless.
Zhou Boxu frowned heavily after hearing this, and asked after a moment: "Where is the Iron Armored Army?"
In this battle, he did not see the Iron Armored Army.
The general said: "Since the death of General Zhuang and his son, the Iron Armored Army has been getting older year by year, and most of them have retired and returned to their fields. In the past ten years, everything has been peaceful, and no new Iron Armored Army has been formed."
The Iron Armored Army's full-body iron armor is very expensive. If it is kept ready all year round, it will be a big expense.
Although Dazhao was strong, its national power was severely depleted after several wars. In peacetime, everything that can be reduced will be cut to reduce the pressure on the national treasury.
After Zhou Boxu thought about it for a moment, he understood the reason.
After a moment of silence, he asked: "How long will it take to reorganize an armored army?"
The general estimated: "If you don't say much, it will take a month."
Casting iron armor and training armor soldiers is not an easy task.
The armor weighs nearly a hundred kilograms, and not just anyone can wear it and kill snakes with a sword.
"No matter how long it takes, we will establish it immediately." Zhou Boxu was determined.
With the military pay he brought this time, it would be no problem to build an armored army. As for the subsequent military pay, we will have to figure out a way later.
The general agreed, and finally said solemnly: "This southern extension has obviously been planned for many years and is fully prepared. The lineup of the beast army is several times that of ten years ago. Even if an armored army is formed, it cannot fully cope with it."
Unless they can form an armored legion of tens of thousands of people.
However, judging from the physical condition and military pay of the lieutenant generals, it is obviously impossible.
Zhou Boxu pondered: "It's better to be able to resist some attacks than to have no way at all. If it's not enough, think of other ways."
The iron armor only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. If you want to truly defeat the Nanyan Beast Army, you must find a way to detoxify the snakes and restrain the tigers.
While Zhou Boxu was deep in thought, he suddenly remembered someone.
Weird doctor Eucommia ulmoides.
He remembered that Eucommia ulmoides was not only good at treating diseases, but also liked to study poison.
Anyone who can make poison can also detoxify it.
Zhou Boxu immediately ordered someone to bring a map to check the distance from Yicheng to Opan City.
If you drive faster and harder, you can reach Dapan in five days. However, Eucommia ulmoides is too old to come to Yicheng on horseback. She can only ride a carriage, which takes about ten days.
After making a clear calculation, Zhou Boxu wrote a letter asking Eucommia to come to Yicheng for help.
This time he did not provoke the generals, but invited them sincerely, describing the strange and terrifying nature of Nanyan snake venom, the unbearable pain of the Jokhang soldiers, and the helplessness and urgency of the urgent need for Eucommia ulmoides' help.
Having had contact with him, Zhou Boxu knew that although Eucommia ulmoides has a weird temper, it has a righteous heart.
He believed that Eucommia ulmoides would definitely come.
