Chapter 921
Tongzhou City is so quiet
Chapter 921 Tongzhou City is so quiet
In the evening of the capital, the sunlight has not yet completely faded, but the night has quietly opened a corner before we know it. On the busy streets, the restaurant opened its doors, with a light veil swaying in the wind.
After the shopkeeper personally escorted He Baihu and his party out of the restaurant, he was not in a hurry to go back. Instead, he paused and watched them leave until they disappeared.
"Boss, these people are just subordinates of the Prince of Jin's Mansion. They were the ones who posted the notice. Why are you being so polite?"
The waiters around him hated those officials who extorted money the most. Over the course of a year, it was a lot of money, and his master was still in the marquis's mansion, so he didn't ask about these things.
"What do you know? These people all give face to the Marquis. The money is worth spending. It seems that the Taiping Sect and the White Lotus Sect really took action. I never thought that there would be such a large sect in the Central Plains. It really is a crouching tiger, hidden dragon."
Although their Zoroastrianism was the only religion in the Western Regions, they did not have the courage to go to war with the imperial court. The Xianbei controlled the Western Regions and killed anyone who dared to express dissent. Although the newly appointed Chanyu was still a little immature, his methods were almost the same, not to mention that there were several princes who were even more brutal.
"Yes, old shopkeeper, to be honest, it is better for us to live a stable life in the capital. After we go back, there is no place for us in the sect. Besides, unless the Xianbei people die out, they will not be able to spit out the delicious bun in the Western Regions."
The waiter is also a master of incense. He has traveled to many places and seen a lot of things. Power and profit are inseparable. In this way, people like them will never escape.
"That's true, but it has nothing to do with us now. We are eating well and living well. The Saint has a backer, and the master doesn't want to go back and wade into that muddy water. Let's not think too much. The princes on the second floor must be served carefully. I'm afraid that all the kings in the capital will gather together."
The shopkeeper chattered for a while, and when he heard the kings gathered, the waiter had not yet come to his senses, and he went back to the restaurant to greet the guests. He wanted to ask more, but the person disappeared. He could only open his mouth and follow him back.
Downstairs, there are still guests coming and going.
On the official road south of Tongzhou,
The army heading south had already passed, and it was getting dark. Many soldiers began to take out the dry food and pickles they had prepared long ago, and ate them as they walked, to fill their stomachs first.
In the carriage of His Royal Highness Prince Jin, Zhang Jinyu and Zhou Ding had already eaten their fill. They lifted the curtain and asked:
"Ningbian, we've been walking for half a day, where are we?"
"My Lord, we have reached the official road southeast of Tongzhou City. General Yang, the vanguard, has already passed Tongzhou City."
Ningbian was outside, looking towards the west. In the afterglow of the sun, there stood a fortified city in the distance.
Zhang Jinyu also saw the vague outline. It was strange that the location of Tongzhou city was neither up nor down. The grain storage area of the capital was actually located in the southeast corner of Anhu.
"Prepare 5,000 soldiers and follow me to Tongzhou City to see how Han Zhiwei arranges the food and fodder. I am worried about it."
Zhang Jinyu was not worrying about anything because the road from Tongzhou to Daliang was flat. If the Taiping Cult members got carried away and sent death-defying soldiers with food to raid Tongzhou, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Yes, Lord, I will arrange it right away."
Ning Bian responded from outside the car and waved to his deputy general to arrange the troops. However, King Jin Zhou Ding inside the car did not understand and asked in a low voice,
"My Lord, why do you want to go to Tongzhou in person? Although this place is a city, there are no civilians in it. It is just a strong city for storing food. Many villains will not go there. The city is strong and the walls are high. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack."
Zhou Ding may not know about other places, but Tongzhou City is related to the safety of the capital. Originally, there were civilians living in it. Later, after several bumper harvests, for safety reasons, the court moved a small number of civilians out of the city. Only the barracks and the large warehouses for storing grain were left in the city. This not only ensured safety, but also allowed for a lot of extra grain storage. Therefore, there were only officers and soldiers in Tongzhou City.
Before he finished speaking, he saw the Marquis opposite him, who had already put on his armor, smiled mysteriously and said;
"Your Highness, if you think so, then the soldiers in Tongzhou City and the bandits of the Taiping Sect also think so. If the bandits don't take the official road, and you send a group of assassins to ambush along the small road and attack Tongzhou City at night, what do you think will be the consequences?"
"this,"
The faces of the people around turned pale. If they attacked Tongzhou City suddenly, then no matter whether the surprise attack was successful or not, the whole capital would immediately be in chaos and people would be in panic.
"My Lord, that's impossible. When Governor Wang left, he wrote a letter to the emperor to send 20,000 elite troops from the Beijing camp to Tongzhou City. I think they should be safe and sound."
"Your Highness is absolutely right, so at the beginning, I did not send any more reinforcements. Tongzhou has 10,000 garrison troops, plus 5,000 treasury soldiers, and 20,000 soldiers in the Anhu camp. Defending the city is not a problem. I am just verifying a hypothesis. If there is really a bandit army raiding Tongzhou, then the Taiping Sect on the opposite side is not an ordinary force. In the later stage, the tactics must be changed."
As he spoke, he put on his golden armor, took his knife, opened the curtain, and jumped directly from the carriage onto his warhorse.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will be right back. Go!"
"drive,"
In an instant, five thousand soldiers were withdrawn from the army on the official road and headed towards Tongzhou City in a menacing manner.
The King of Jin was left with a somewhat suspicious look on his face, mumbling to himself,
"No way, the Taiping Cult thieves are so bold. If we can't capture Tongzhou in a short time, we will almost certainly die. Xia Yu, Madam Lan, what do you think?"
This question was addressed to Xia Yu beside him and Madam Lan opposite him. Seeing that their expressions were different, Lan Yueer nodded.
"Your Highness, since my husband can sense it, it means it's almost done. I think some rats have sneaked in. We'll know after a while."
But Xia Yu blinked his eyes and stared at Lan Yue'er from head to toe. She was really pitiful. She was of the best appearance, comparable to himself, and not much inferior to Sister Chunhe. Thinking of Luo Yunhou's love for women, he felt indignant.
"Whether it is true or not, we will know when the Marquis comes back. I wonder when Sister Lan followed the Marquis."
The tone was a little stiff. This was not an inquiry, but an interrogation. Lan Yue'er raised her eyebrows, turned her head and looked over, and fell on Xia Yu. Although she was not as good as the ladies in the Marquis' Mansion, she was also a top-notch beauty, especially in the palace dress, she was still three points more beautiful. Could it be that it was related to her husband that she had a bad temper and had to suffer after entering the house?
"When did he follow me? It seems like the Marquis has been following me since he was a child."
He blinked his eyes and explained to her nonchalantly. With just one sentence, Xia Yu was speechless. Her face was sullen and slightly red with anger. Even His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin beside him noticed something was wrong. They were talking about the affairs of Tongzhou City, but why did they involve the concubine of the Marquis? Isn't this just causing trouble?
He was about to speak out to persuade her, but then he remembered that Xia Yu was his mother's confidant. Maybe there was something he didn't know. If he interrupted her and caused trouble for her, it would be troublesome. So he kept silent and glanced at the two eunuchs serving beside him. He didn't say a word along the way.
"She is indeed the Marquis' childhood sweetheart. Sister Lan is a heroine. She even follows him on the march to the battle."
After a while, Xia Yu smiled, his expression relaxed a little, and he gave some innuendos of praise. How could Lan Yueer not hear that these methods were too common?
"What kind of heroine is this? She just did more rough work outside the Great Wall. She is not like the servants inside the Great Wall. They are all like young ladies. During the march and battle, many women outside the Great Wall can chop with swords. There is nothing new about them. But sister Xia Yu has achieved her current status. I have to congratulate her."
The two of them were praising each other in a sarcastic way, which made His Royal Highness Prince Jin feel very uncomfortable. When did Sister Xia Yu become so eloquent?
Outside Tongzhou City,
In the dense forests of the southwest,
Zhou Xiu, the confidant of the Left Protector, hid in the forest with his personal soldiers, his eyes always wandering around the city gate and the official road. The imperial court actually had soldiers coming forward. It was too fast.
"Report, Hall Master Zhou, the scouts we sent out have returned and have found out that the court sent Marquis Luo Yun as the commander-in-chief, leading the Anhu Camp and part of the Imperial Guards, a total of 250,000 troops to the south, and they have already passed Tongzhou City today."
The leader of the scout altar panted and pointed to the official road in the east. The sun had already set, and the afterglow made it impossible to see the situation on the official road in the distance. He could only vaguely see a large black shadow heading south. It was unknown what exactly happened.
"Can I take a closer look?" Zhou Xiu's face was gloomy. His master had arranged for him to lead 10,000 elite followers to bypass Daliang City and raid the grain storage area in Tongzhou. If they succeeded, the whole world would be in turmoil. So he went all the way north, hiding during the day and moving at night, and arrested all the people he saw along the way. In this way, not a single word of news leaked out.
They hid in the dense forest southwest of Anhu Lake, which had been explored long ago, waiting for the defenders to relax and see if they could take it down in one fell swoop.
Who knows,
After waiting for a day,
Although Tongzhou didn't have many soldiers, the defense was strict. The patrol soldiers on the city walls were meticulous and took turns to be on duty. As a result, even if they wanted to launch a surprise attack during the day, it was basically impossible. At night, even if the people they brought were the elite of the sect, they couldn't guarantee the success of the surprise attack. So, they waited and waited until today.
"Reporting to the Hall Master, we can't get close. The scouts of the southern army are walking outside. They can't hide in the flat land. The enemy cavalry is too fast. There is only a dense forest at the end of the Anyang Mountains. They can't escape from the dense forest."
The leader of the scouts shook his head. The cavalry on the plains came and went without a trace. Even if you figured out their travel patterns, they might have moved to another place in the blink of an eye. So you can't take risks. How could Zhou Xiu not know the reason?
"Can you send a letter to the Left Protector to tell him about the imperial army's march south?"
Zhou Xiu still had some hope in his heart. Since he knew about this matter, if he could send a message to the Left Protector as soon as possible, so that he could make plans.
"Master, we left in a hurry and didn't bring a messenger pigeon. In order to keep it secret, we didn't leave any sentries along the way. The imperial court's troops are already to our south and can't get through. Once we get to the road, we see people from the Imperial City Department who are the imperial court's lackeys. We can't hide it!"
The leader of the scout forum was also anxious, but unfortunately, two legs could never outrun four legs.
"Then can't you just pretend to be a commoner and get away with it?"
Zhou Xiu had a worried look on his face, and his mind was not on Tongzhou City. The military situation was urgent, so it would have been fine if he didn't know about it. Since he knew about it in advance, he should have found a way to pass the secret report back.
"Master, there is no need to think about this anymore. Marquis Luo Yun is very cautious in his deployment of troops. All the civilians along the way were scolded and driven north. It is impossible to get away with pretending to be civilians. Perhaps we can only ask the grain merchants in the capital to move. There may still be hope, but time is running out."
The leader of the scout shook his head. He had thought of various ways to send back the message, but it was basically impossible. Now, let alone sending the message, even the 10,000 soldiers brought by the hall master seemed unable to return. Seeing that the hall master was still upset, the leader of the scout could not help but swallow his saliva and said;
"Master, now is not the time to send back the news. Our retreat has been cut off. I'm afraid our 10,000 soldiers can't go back."
As soon as these words came out, the faces of the incense masters and altar masters around them all changed. Yes, the imperial court has cavalry, how can they defeat them?
And the most important thing is that the food and fodder they brought is only enough for ten days. Six days have passed now, and after today, there are only three days left. How can they wait any longer?
Zhou Xiu was stunned and stopped thinking about it. His face looked extremely ugly, but Tongzhou City could not be taken down in a hurry. So how about a sneak attack tonight?
Just as he was thinking, the rumbling sound of horse hooves came closer and closer, as if a large number of cavalry were galloping towards him. Zhou Xiu hurriedly stretched out his hand to press down, and the Taiping sect members who were ambushed in the dense forest all prostrated on the ground, without making any movement.
Those who come,
It was the cavalry team led by Zhang Jinyu. The night had already fallen in the sky. Zhang Jinyu did not let the entire team light torches, but only slowed down the horses.
"stop."
"stop."
Zhang Jinyu felt something strange in his heart, so he quickly reined in his horse and shouted "Stop". The soldiers behind him followed suit and gave orders, and the entire team stopped.
"My Lord, what did you find?"
The team stopped, Ning Bian followed closely behind, looked up and looked forward, it was pitch black, couldn't see clearly, Tongzhou City was not far away, it seemed that the sound of horse hooves was heard here, the bonfire on the top of the city had been lit to illuminate the city, many crossbowmen had already started to climb up to the top of the city,
"I didn't find anything, but when I got here, I suddenly felt uneasy. Wait a minute, look around."
"Yes, my lord, come and send out scouts to keep watch."
Ning Bian's face darkened. Since the Marquis felt something was wrong, then there must be something fishy going on here.
This scene,
Zhou Xiu's face darkened as he was clearly seen by the Taiping Sect and others. The people who came didn't even light torches, and they weren't afraid of falling off their horses. But after they stopped making any sound, he could only vaguely feel that the cavalry was coming from the east. He couldn't see exactly how they were, but the walls of Tongzhou City were already filled with densely packed archers. He was shocked.
"Everyone, we are overthinking it. There are indeed a lot of soldiers in Tongzhou City, and there are cavalry around. Although we are not sure whose cavalry they are, since they are here, I am afraid this place is a trap."
The situation was obvious. There were elite soldiers in the city and cavalry outside the city. Even if they launched a sneak attack, they would not be able to hurt them at all, let alone capture the city.
even,
If they were to leave this mountain range and dense forest, perhaps these ten thousand brothers would not even be able to save their lives.
"Then, Master, what should we do? The dry food we have can only last for three days. If we don't have any more supplies, we're doomed."
The incense master beside him trembled. They had a smooth journey here. Many people said that the court could not organize a large army to go south in a short time. They were just here to test the waters and had no reinforcements at all.
"Why panic? They haven't found any trace of us. Besides, this is Anhu, there are many manors. If there is really no chance, then we can change the route. After the cavalry leaves, we still have to fight in Tongzhou City to attract the attention of the court and buy time for the left protector."
Zhou Xiu didn't care about the lives of these ten thousand people at all. If Tongzhou was attacked, the capital would definitely be shaken. It would be enough as long as he could slow down the pace of the army heading south.
But after saying this, the faces of the people around him turned pale, without any blood in their eyes. However, they all nodded in agreement, as they believed in the great principles of the Holy Religion.
"Listen to the master,"
So they all bent down and stood still. At the edge of the dense forest, a team of scouts on horseback had almost approached. The sergeant first looked around, then asked a few of his men to walk inside. After seeing nothing unusual, he led his troops back.
Zhou Xiu and others secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In the east of Tongzhou City, after waiting for an incense stick of time, the scouts sent out returned one after another.
"Report, there is nothing unusual in the north, sir."
"Report, Lord, there is nothing unusual in the south, but there is a dense forest blocking the way."
"Report, Lord, the western city has been put on alert,"
Reports came in from all three places. As for the east, it was the official road. They had just come to the place where there must be no danger. So where did the uneasiness in their hearts come from?
Zhang Jinyu touched his chin, thought carefully, and asked;
"Have you ever checked the mountains to the south?"
"My Lord, we have not entered. The southeast is covered with dense forests. Going further in, we reach the northern end of the Anyang Mountains. I led some men to check the edge of the dense forest, but found nothing. So I brought the troops back to report."
The people from the scout camp spoke succinctly and Zhang Jinyu nodded. They were all good investigators and they had checked everything out in such a short time. However, they were riding on horses and it was inconvenient to move forward in the dense forest. They could not go deep into the forest, so how could they check everything out?
When I mentioned the dense forest, my heart skipped a beat. Yes, it was the dense forest.
"In the dense forest, deeper in the forest, have you checked?"
"My Lord, we didn't go deep into the forest. The trees are dense and it's too dark at night to see anything."
The sergeant in front of him shook his head. Without a torch, even if they went in, they wouldn't be able to go far. Could it be that the Marquis suspected that there was an ambush in the dense forest?
Ningbian and others also thought of this and asked;
"My Lord, are you saying that there is an ambush in the dense forest?"
"Well, it's based on my intuition. Listen carefully around you. Apart from the noise coming from Tongzhou City, the surrounding area is too quiet. It's a little weird."
Zhang Jinyu raised his head and looked at the deep forest in the southwest. It was pitch black and he couldn't see anything clearly. He listened carefully. It was clearly a summer night, but there was not even a bird singing. It was so quiet. No one would believe it if he told it to anyone!
(End of this chapter)