After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 848 - 835: Breaking Through

The group found a few wooden shovels in the village. They couldn’t expect to find hoes, as people had taken them for self-defense when they fled.

Only one elderly person had an iron hoe with a chipped blade at home.

Fu Tinghan wrapped his mouth and nose with a cloth and joined the soldiers in digging the soil.

After Fu Tinghan took out several dry pancakes, five elderly men were willing to help them shovel the soil as well.

After working for most of the day, they shoveled out the soil soaked in sewage, packed it in sacks, piled it onto carts, and had soldiers escort it back.

The five elders quickly devoured the pancakes they had just received, giving Fu Tinghan no chance to go back on his word.

Fu Tinghan did not go back on his word. Seeing that they really had nothing to eat, he divided half of his rations with them.

The elders took it, and after a moment of silence, said, "Sir, are you really from the Zhao Family Army?"

Fu Tinghan raised his eyebrows. So after all this, they still didn’t believe him.

Fu Tinghan thought for a while and had Fu An take out the Zhao Family Army flag he carried with him.

The elders were illiterate, but they had seen the Zhao Family Army’s flag and recognized the design on it.

They pointed at the word "Zhao" and confirmed that it was indeed the pattern they had seen, and with reddened eyes, they immediately knelt before Fu Tinghan, "General, if we find those two things you mentioned, will the people of our village be able to return?"

Fu Tinghan helped them up and, after pondering for a moment, said, "If they are still alive, they should want to come back to their hometown. If no one returns, after Meng County is recovered, new people will move into this village, and you will have new neighbors."

The elders, with tears in their eyes, nodded and said, "As long as there are people, that’s good. As long as there are people."

Five elders, really very lonely, counting the days as they passed, breathing in the smell of decay, not knowing who would be the last to leave, and at that time, if they would rot at home without anyone knowing.

So those who died first may not have suffered, and those who lived long may not necessarily be happier.

The five of them were born and grew up here, they were most familiar with this place, and as they tried hard to recall, they did find a place, "There is a place, quite far from here, called South Mountain. Oh, it’s different from here, with several mountains connected. In the mountains, there’s the hot spring you mentioned, which smells really bad, quite pungent."

"By the way, the stones there explode, and Old Guan from the neighboring village, he was blinded in one eye by an exploding stone and died long ago."

Fu Tinghan was overjoyed when he heard this and asked, "How far is South Mountain from here?"

"Walking there takes a day and a night, and then half a day more," the elder said, "I went there when I was young, it’s been almost twenty years now, my legs aren’t good, I’m afraid it would take two days and nights."

He said with some pride, "I went there to repair the County Magistrate’s courtyard and got eighty cents. I used those eighty cents to marry your sister-in-law, hehe..."

Fu Tinghan smiled and asked, "Does the elder still remember the way?"

"I recognize it, I recognize it. It’s easy to find, just get the direction right, even though the mountains around here are small."

Fu Tinghan glanced at the sky, thinking that Shi Le could counterattack from Xiaxi County at any time, and couldn’t wait until dawn. He immediately got up and said, "We’ll leave now. We have cars and horses. We’ll travel fast, aiming to find the place before sunset tomorrow."

With sulfur, he could refine some nitrate from the soil just dug out, and with some other materials, he could make gunpowder.

The five elders didn’t hesitate, all willing to go along, even though only one was needed to guide the way, the five did not want to be separated. They had a pretty good reason as they thought they might remember where there was saltpeter along the way.

When Fu Tinghan left, he brought three cars; one returned, leaving him with two. He rode a horse, leaving the carts for the elders, which was not difficult.

He was not one to easily refuse people.

The group moved forward by torchlight, stopping only in the latter half of the night for a brief rest, then set off again at the first light of dawn.

The soldiers ran alongside and behind the carts to follow.

The elders leaned out the window to look back, marveling, "This speed is even faster than when we used to go to repair the courtyard."

"Of course, these are soldiers, Zhao Family Army no less, how can it be the same?"

When Fu Tinghan finally found the place the next day, Zhao Hanzhang’s large army also attacked Meng County and seized the next city tower. However, the Shi Army had not retreated, and they still occupied more than half of the city. But as night fell, everyone temporarily ceased fighting.

There would be no fighting tonight, but Zhao Hanzhang was even busier. The strong attack today caused huge casualties; the camp was ablaze with lights, and the cries of wounded soldiers were everywhere.

And all kinds of information began to gather after entering the city. What burned Zhao Hanzhang’s heart most was the situation of the civilian homes that had just been searched and seen.

Meng County was under Yu State’s rule, and Zhao Hanzhang had once set up a school, as well as the Yushan Hall and a Textile Workshop here...

The loyalty of the populace was high, if not as high as in Chen County or Xiping, but not low. So when entering the city, she wished to find someone to understand the situation within. Yet the Zhao Family Army, from the area they occupied, retrieved only over eighty people, where more than twenty of them had emerged themselves from cellars.

Zhao Ze bowed his head, reporting, "They say when Shi’s army attacked Meng County, the young men in the city went up the city walls, suffering heavy casualties."

"After Meng County fell, Shi’s army committed large-scale slaughter, killing over six thousand, with many civilians fleeing through other gates. The rest in the city are mostly the old, weak, women, and children," Zhao Ze’s voice grew quieter, "because we captured more than ten cities consecutively, including situations where city civilians opened gates for us, Zhi Xiong feared Meng County civilians might do the same, so he... he allowed Shi’s army to slaughter at will. Now, less than one in ten people remain in the city, besides Shi’s army, there are barely anyone alive."

Zhao Hanzhang clenched her fists and asked, "And the teachers and students in the school?"

"Half died defending Meng County, and the rest all perished when Meng County fell." Zhao Ze paused before adding, "The children in Yushan Hall did survive, but they were taken as military provisions, and it’s unknown how many are still alive."

Zhao Hanzhang’s heart contracted, and she pounded the table hard. Suppressing her fury, she asked, "Didn’t I say if the city couldn’t be held, to evacuate the civilians, the workers in the workshops, Yushan Hall, and the school first? How did Xun Xiu defend the city?"

All the subordinate generals lowered their heads and did not dare to respond.

Zhao Hanzhang took a deep breath to suppress her anger and said grimly, "Settle the found civilians properly; we are familiar with Meng County, and street fighting may be likely tomorrow. They might still have reinforcements, so we also need to be cautious outside the city. We cannot let anyone encircle us."

She asked, "Any news from Sui County?"

Ji Shuyan was responsible for this part and replied, "None."

Zhao Hanzhang frowned and said to him, "Find a way to contact them, give them one day. If they can’t take Meng County City, have them all go home and farm!"

Meng County’s city tower, so sturdy, was breached by me; what are they waiting for on their side?