12dz Chapter 747 No food
Chapter 747 No food
Who is Zhu Changhe?
Given the embezzlement of army rations and the rampant looting of the city, they would rather believe that pigs could fly than that Zhu Changhe would give them meat.
This is Zhu Changhe's reputation within the Qingzhou Army. Even the lowest-ranking soldiers are filled with distrust and dissatisfaction towards him.
"I'm not kidding you, we really are having meat today."
The cook was somewhat surprised by the crowd's reaction. To prove that there was indeed meat, he took a bowl from a soldier and put a large piece of meat into the soldier's bowl.
"There really is meat?"
The first soldier to get his food glanced at the large piece of meat in his bowl with a suspicious look. He felt that something was off about the meat, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Who cares about all that, as long as we have meat to eat!"
Having been hungry all day, he was starving, so without thinking too much, he happily carried his food to a nearby place and started eating.
The other soldiers continued to line up, one by one going forward to receive their food.
Before long, it was Xu Xiaoma's turn to lead the way.
After receiving their food from the cook, Xu Xiaoma and his companion found an empty seat and sat down, their eyes suspiciously examining the pieces of meat in their bowls.
The large piece of meat in the bowl looks somewhat like pork, but there are subtle differences.
Although he craved meat immensely, for some reason, Xu Xiaoma felt no desire whatsoever when looking at the large piece of meat in front of him.
"Little Ma, where do you think this meat came from?"
Xu Xiaoma's companion suddenly asked, "It's common knowledge that there's a food shortage in the city. Under such circumstances, how can the army camp have meat to eat? Anyone would be suspicious."
"do not know."
Xu Xiaoma shook his head. "But I think this meat is definitely not normal meat."
"Could it be doxxing?"
Just then, another companion suddenly said, "I heard that recently, quite a few starving people in the city have started eating the flesh of the dead."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoma and the others felt a chill run down their spines and an urge to vomit.
As normal people, they find it extremely difficult to accept the cruelty of cannibalism.
"This meat of ours... could it really be human flesh?"
"Given Zhu Changhe's nature, this meat could very well be human flesh."
"Is Zhu Changhe even human? He actually offered us human flesh to eat?"
"Damn Zhu Changhe!"
"..."
The thought that the chunks of meat in front of them might be made of human flesh instantly extinguished everyone's craving for meat.
While it's true that people might resort to cannibalism when they're extremely hungry, these soldiers hadn't reached that point. Therefore, they still possessed a moral compass and absolutely could not accept the idea of eating human flesh.
Xu Xiaoma looked at the chunks of meat in front of him, and a nameless rage welled up in his heart for no reason. He could accept going hungry, and he could also defend the city to the death while hungry.
But he absolutely could not accept eating human flesh.
Because these human flesh samples were obviously obtained from the people of the prefectural city, Xu Xiaoma, a native of the prefectural city, couldn't help but think...
If Zhu Changhe can use other people's flesh as military rations today, can he use the flesh of his own family members, relatives, and neighbors as military rations tomorrow?
Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoma felt a chill run down his spine and stood up angrily, saying, "Brothers, Zhu Changhe is utterly depraved, using human flesh as military rations. He's worse than pigs and dogs! We absolutely cannot eat this meat, otherwise, how are we any different from animals?"
"That's right! We are not animals, we absolutely cannot eat human flesh."
“Zhu Changhe is worse than a pig or a dog, we can’t be like him.”
"Using human flesh as military rations, Zhu Changhe is a real beast."
"I'm a human being, not an animal! I absolutely will not eat this meat!"
"..."
Realizing that the flesh was very likely human flesh, the soldiers echoed Xu Xiaoma's sentiments.
Of course, some soldiers didn't care about any of that and only cared about filling their hungry stomachs.
However... their dissatisfaction with Zhu Changhe grew stronger and stronger, even reaching the point of disgust.
It's one thing for Li Ke to withhold rations from the army on ordinary days, but now he's even using human flesh as rations. Zhu Changhe is simply a beast.
It should be noted that most of the soldiers in the Qingzhou Army were from the prefectural city, or at least from nearby counties or villages. Therefore, when they learned that Zhu Changhe was using human flesh as military rations, they inevitably felt a sense of shared sorrow.
Their relatives and friends were also in the prefectural city, and no one could guarantee that Zhu Changhe would not use his own family and friends as military rations.
The mere thought of this possibility sent chills down everyone's spines, and their disgust for Zhu Changhe reached its peak.
Xu Xiaoma disgustedly threw the bowl containing human flesh on the ground, picked up another bowl, and drank the thin porridge in it, so thin you could see your reflection in it. Then he said angrily, "We're fighting to the death to defend the city, but we can't even get a decent meal. We even have to eat human flesh. What's the point of defending this city? We might as well let the Yang family army invade!"
If Xu Xiaoma had the authority to open the city gates at this moment, he would definitely open them without hesitation and let the Yang family army in. He was fed up with the current situation. His family members were starving, and he himself was starving in the army camp. Life couldn't get any worse.
If that's the case, then what's the big deal about the Yang family army entering the city?
"Xiao Ma is right. We're all going to starve anyway. Now that the Yang family army is here, things might be a little better."
"If this continues, we'll starve to death sooner or later. We might as well let the Yang family army into the city."
"I've had enough of this kind of life. Let the Yang family army come in soon, then we might not have to go hungry."
"..."
Zhu Changhe probably never imagined that his kindness in giving these soldiers "meat" would not only fail to make them grateful, but would instead make them even more disgusted with him.
Even more... his actions led some soldiers to consider letting Yang's army into the city.
There was no way around it; Zhu Changhe was simply too inhuman. He actually did something as cruel as using human flesh as military rations. Anyone with even a shred of conscience would feel disgust towards Zhu Changhe.
…………
…………
The 25th day of the siege.
The Qingzhou army was completely cut off from food. The soldiers' daily rations were no longer even thin porridge, and all that was left was meat.
Most of the soldiers who already knew where the meat came from were unwilling to eat it, but a few soldiers, because they were too hungry, would force themselves to eat the meat while holding their noses and enduring the nausea.
Most of the remaining soldiers, like Xu Xiaoma, could only drink water to stave off hunger. Without food to sustain their bodies, they were so weak that a gust of wind could blow them over. Their armor felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, making it hard for them to breathe.
"Little Ma, how about we eat some?"