Chapter 984
Huaizhou is an Empty City
Chapter 984 Huaizhou is an Empty City
In the tent,
Gu Yunshi was concentrating, holding a silver needle in his hand, and pressing it against the acupuncture points on King Jin's body that had been determined long ago. Zhang Jinyu's eyelids twitched as he watched from the side, and he was a little suspicious. Would it hurt to have so many silver needles inserted into his body?
After thinking about it for a while, Gu Yunshi finally stopped, and then slowly pulled out the silver needle, wiped it carefully with brocade cloth, and put it back into the bag. When the last silver needle was pulled out, strangely enough, King Zhou Ding of Jin suddenly yawned, opened his eyes, looked at the people standing around, and asked in surprise;
"My Lord, Xia Yu, why are you here?"
Seeing that His Highness was in much better spirits than yesterday, Zhang Jinyu was relieved. He had even more respect for the medical skills inherited from the Gu family. It was really a miracle that could bring people back to health.
"Your Highness, you have been sleeping since last night. I feel uneasy, so I naturally want to come and see you. By the way, Xia Yu, come and help Your Highness get up and take the medicine."
Thinking of the prepared medicine, he hurriedly gave the order.
Xia Yu nodded. She was the one who was most worried in the past two days. She did not sleep all night last night. She brought the bowl of medicine and helped Prince Jin drink it slowly. Seeing that the prince looked calm, she finally felt relieved.
"The medicine is a little bitter, Your Highness, please bear with it. Yunshi, Your Highness is fine now."
What Zhang Jinyu is most concerned about now is whether Prince Jin can still join the army. If not, he can send Prince Jin back to Daliang City to recuperate. However, he is worried about leaving his eyes behind.
"My Lord, the prince is fine. He just has a bad acclimatization and is overworked, which has hurt his mind. He should drink a few more bowls of these tonics. As for your highness's drowsiness, it was because I added a herbal medicine to calm the nerves yesterday that caused him to fall asleep. He is fine."
Gu Yunshi had already packed up the medicine box and put it on his back. He told the prince the reason for his coma. He said that when he was getting the medicine yesterday, he was negligent and forgot to tell the marquis.
Zhang Jinyu couldn't help but glare at him after hearing this explanation. You should have said earlier that you added tranquilizers so that the generals in the camp wouldn't be so flustered. How come the Gu family's brother and sister have such different personalities? If Gu Zixiang were here, she would have shouted it out to everyone. But it's not a bad thing. Let's stop fighting for a few days on this basis.
"Okay, go back and rest. Remember not to go too far and come whenever I call you."
"Yes, sir, I will withdraw now."
Perhaps seeing the unhappy look on the Marquis' face, Gu Yunshi responded and left the tent with his head down. Only His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin was confused. He wanted to ask more, but he heard his stomach growling with hunger and his face turned red.
"Xia Yu, help Your Highness change clothes. The food will be here soon. Your Highness, please do not go out for the next two days. Get well first. The commander will take care of the affairs in the camp. When the day of the siege comes, I will take Your Highness with me."
There is no doubt that Zhang Jinyu's arrangement has trapped the Prince of Jin in the big tent. It seems that nothing can go wrong again.
"Well, everything is up to you. I am sorry to trouble you, my Lord."
Knowing that he was in the wrong, King Jin Zhou Ding blushed and felt a little shy. After he got up and changed his clothes, his personal soldiers brought food boxes and served them. Zhang Jinyu sat beside him and watched King Jin eat.
But he casually glanced at the battle report from yesterday. Gu Ping's troops were almost at Huaizhou City. There was no latest news about the specific situation. Everything in Chenzhou City was normal. After the remaining bandit troops were annihilated, there was an endless plain wilderness in the south, without even a ghost. It seemed that the people in the south of the capital were either dead or fled. The so-called drought in the barren land and no one living for thousands of miles was just like this. It can be said that the entire south of the capital was ruined, and the court's ten years of hard work had gone to waste.
"Your Highness, there is nothing unusual in Chenzhou City. I think we should call Song Yutian back and let him lead 20,000 troops back to the main camp. We will have a battle in two days, and he will be in charge of the overall planning. How about that?"
Zhang Jinyu was extremely cautious about this idea. Song Yutian was a bold and careful man, and he was very thorough in his use of troops. If someone was needed to coordinate the overall situation and stabilize the rear that day, it would have to be him. Zhang Jinyu was thinking that after leading his troops into the county city, he really wanted to meet the main commander of the rebel army and wonder who would stay behind.
"My Lord, do you think that the troops are not enough? So you want to recall General Song?"
King Zhou Ding of Jin held the bowl of porridge and drank a few sips slowly. His body felt much warmer and his strength gradually recovered. He slept well last night and was no longer as restless and unable to sleep as before.
I heard that the Marquis wanted to mobilize more troops. Could it be that he still felt that the troops were not enough?
Zhang Jinyu stroked his chin and read the battle report carefully. If there is any variable, it can only be in Huaizhou. The White Lotus Sect has not been in contact with it, so it is not too bad. If the White Lotus Sect left troops in Huaizhou, would it be connected with the Taiping Sect? Although there are not many troops, it is necessary to guard against it. The scouts around the county city must be deployed forty miles away.
"Your Highness, we have enough soldiers. I think that General Song is still needed to coordinate with the West City. I plan to lead the troops and charge in from the city wall. I estimate that as long as the troops maintain their advantage, Linshan County City will not last for a few days."
"Then why don't you strike while the iron is hot? If you don't attack the city today, you can attack it tomorrow."
As the military books say, strike first and take advantage of the enemy. Since we have the upper hand, why not make a concerted effort? Even if we lose a few more soldiers, as long as we capture the city, it will be a great achievement. However, the Marquis did not move. This is what Zhou Ding did not understand.
Zhang Jinyu chuckled, pinched two cooked peanuts with his hands and put them into his mouth. They were cooked well and tasty.
"Your Highness, we can't rush anything. The trebuchet's huge stones and the oil bombs need to be remade. After these preparations are completed, it will take at least two days. The Thunderbolt Chariot also needs to be assembled and debugged."
The mouth was full of fragrance. After eating a few peanuts, I couldn't stop eating. I pinched a few more and put them into my mouth. While eating, I said that after all, these Thunderbolt vehicles were used for the first time. There must be a threshold for technical troops. It's better to try out the power. Don't let your pants fall down and you can't get up, which will be embarrassing.
After King Jin finished a bowl of porridge, he seemed to be thinking about something.
"My Lord, do you want to test the power of those Thunderbolt Chariots first, and then attack the city to ensure that there is no risk of failure?"
"Well, Your Highness is wise, that's it. As the saying goes, it's a mule or a horse. If you pull it out for a walk, it's said to be powerful. If it doesn't work, I'm afraid this battle will be difficult."
Zhang Jinyu was not joking. After all, this thing had been lost for so long, and the previous dynasty had replaced it with a bed crossbow. What if it was not powerful enough and was just for show? In this battle, they could only risk their lives. However, it was not difficult to break the city gate. Even if they didn't have these things, they could replace the siege vehicle, carry kerosene and put it under the city gate to ignite it. Even if they just burned it, they could burn the city gate.
Seeing that His Highness was eating absent-mindedly, Zhang Jinyu patted Prince Jin's arm.
"Your Highness, take a good rest today. I have already ordered people to debug it. We will go to the camp tomorrow to test its power. If possible, prepare more stones and kerosene. We will start the next morning."
"Okay, everything will be arranged by the Marquis!"
In Linshan County,
Many houses had already been broken into by the Taiping Cult members, and then many members of the Cult carried in a number of wounded soldiers from outside and placed them on the beds in the houses. This scene was played out in almost half of the county town, which shows how many wounded soldiers there were.
In the county governor's mansion,
The left guardian Zuo Ling sat in the main seat in the hall with a cold face, looking at the hall masters and incense masters in the hall, all of whom lowered their heads and kept silent.
"What a joke! The defenders died more than the attackers. If we continue to fight to the death today like we did yesterday, there will be no soldiers left to defend the city in two days. The reason why Master Chu is sending more troops to the county city is to delay the imperial army. Are you guys doing your best to defend the city?"
It was no wonder that Zuo Ling was furious. When defending the city yesterday, in order to intimidate the imperial army, he specially deployed 50,000 troops at the west and north gates, more than half of which were elite guards of the sect, and the remaining half were young and strong slave soldiers of the sect. However, this battle showed how powerful Luo Yunhou was.
Fight to the death, and those siege weapons, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes,
"Left Protector, it's not that we brothers don't want to reduce casualties, it's just that the officers and soldiers are different from before. Not only are they fearless, but their siege equipment and armor are also rare in the world. Especially since the enemy has a whole formation of crossbows, and their range is longer than our bows and crossbows, which is enough to offset the height of the city wall. We brothers can only fight with our lives."
He An, the captain of the North City Guard, twitched his lips. Who else would fight this long? What would happen?
"Yes, Left Protector, the most violent attack is at the West Gate, followed by the North and South Gates. There is only a ram outside the East Gate, but no arrow tower. It should be a feint attack. Therefore, I think we should allocate half of the troops from the East Gate to support the West Gate," said the helmsman Xiao Zhengyi, clasping his fists. In the battle yesterday, it seemed that the court had deployed a magnificent battle array, but it was just a bluff. It seemed that the court also wanted to contain the enemy. Perhaps, thinking of what Master Chu said, the White Lotus Sect had sent a letter, and whether Huaizhou could send troops to support, he asked;
"Left Protector, can the White Lotus Sect's reinforcements from Huaizhou come to the county city to support us? Before leaving, Sect Leader Chu said that he had sent a letter to the White Lotus Sect. There are still 50,000 White Lotus Sect soldiers in Huaizhou. If reinforcements can come, they can attack Dongcheng from both inside and outside, severely inflict heavy damage on the imperial court's troops, and lift the siege of Dongcheng."
This was also what Xiao Zheng hoped for. According to the military strategy, one should surround three sides and leave one open. However, Marquis Luo Yun did the opposite and surrounded the four city gates tightly. Was he trying to kill them all?
Captain Xiao's words also made many hall masters and incense masters in the hall raise their heads and look at the left protector on the main seat with hope. If it was really the White Lotus Sect's reinforcements that arrived, perhaps there would be a way out.
Zuo Ling narrowed his eyes and thought about the current situation. On the first day of defending the city, a small number of Centaurs were killed or injured. The legendary old soldiers in the Beijing camp were just a misleading statement. Such elite troops, I didn't expect that after the two old Dukes of the Jia family left, there would still be such combat power. Perhaps it was really the courage of the generals and soldiers. Luo Yunhou deserved it.
"Whether Master Chu left a letter or not, and whether the White Lotus Sect can come to our aid, are still unknown. We just have to do our best to defend the county city as long as possible. Since the officers and soldiers are good at bows and crossbows, we will give them the same and erect large shields to reduce casualties. In addition, after the wounded are treated, if the injuries are minor, they will recuperate for a few days first. If they are serious, there is no need to recuperate. When the imperial court troops arrive, let them continue to defend the city and show their last bit of loyalty to the sect."
The cold words coming out of the left protector's mouth made everyone gasp. This was to let the wounded die. The captain of the South City Defense Commander Zhao Ze wanted to give a warning, but was stopped by Xiao Zheng in private. He looked over and saw Xiao Zheng slightly shaking his head, hesitating for a moment, and did not insist.
"If the defenders of the city are short of logs and rocks, they should tear down the houses inside the city to fill them up. At the same time, they should pile logs and rocks behind the city gates to completely block the gates, so that the soldiers cannot break through the gates and enter."
This was also what Zuo Ling was worried about. Although the soldiers returned empty-handed in yesterday's battle, the city gate was broken by the battering ram at the seam of the city gate. If it was broken, there would be no gate to block it. So he simply piled up stones and wood behind the city gate. In this way, even if the city gate was broken, no one could rush in for a while.
How could the captains tolerate such words? Isn't this digging their own graves? Do they really want to defend the county city to the death? He An clasped his fists and asked first,
"Left Protector, if the city gates are blocked, not to mention whether the White Lotus reinforcements can enter the city, even if we defend to the end and the battle goes badly, we must leave a way out when we need to break out."
This time, He An did not back down, and the other three did the same. They looked up at the left protector who was sitting in the main seat. Everyone in the hall knew what he was thinking. Even Zuo Ling was unable to speak for a while. If he said he would defend the city to the death, it would inevitably cause many people in the city to have second thoughts.
"Captain He, I said to block the west gate, north gate, and south gate. I didn't say all the gates. The east gate is not necessary, but we have to defend the city to buy time for Patriarch Chu. If anyone dares to leave his post without permission, don't blame me for being merciless."
finished speaking,
He glanced at everyone in the hall with a cold gaze. The rest all lowered their heads, looking pale. They didn't know when it had been since June. The battles had been life-and-death struggles, and those who had survived by chance were a little scared. Now they were trapped in this city, which was like a dead end. Who wouldn't feel a little desperate? Perhaps the court's luck had not yet run out. Once this thought came out, it could not be shaken off.
At this moment,
outside the house,
A messenger came to report,
"Report, Left Protector, there has been no unusual movement in the officers' and soldiers' camp, but today, when looking from the west gate, many baggage convoys appeared outside the city, and were transported to the other three gates, including a large number of water carts."
"Oh, that's true,"
Zuo Ling frowned, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. It was not unusual to deliver supplies and drinking water. The key point was that after such a fierce battle yesterday, the officers and soldiers were silent today. In this way, this move seemed abrupt.
"Keep watching. If there are any movements of officers and soldiers, report immediately."
"Yes, Left Protector."
The messenger clasped his fists, accepted the order and left, leaving only the people in the hall standing there.
"Left Protector, I request that you transfer five crossbows to the north gate. The defense pressure at the south gate is too great. Yesterday, we relied on our brothers to sacrifice their lives to suppress the imperial officers and soldiers. If we had crossbows, we wouldn't be afraid of the officers and soldiers' arrow towers and chariots."
Zhao Ze saw that the meeting was about to end, and he was anxious, rushing to make requests. Since they needed weapons to help defend the city, they wanted to save lives.
Zuo Ling nodded, looked at Captain He, and instructed;
"Captain He, send five crossbows to the South Gate. The soldiers did not move today. I think they suffered heavy casualties yesterday. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the soldiers will not move. I hope you will work together and be loyal to the Taiping Sect."
"Yes, Left Protector, the leader has great fortune and a long life. The Taiping Sect is destined by heaven, and the world will be blessed with good fortune."
Everyone shouted in unison, and morale was high!
Outside Huaizhou City,
At this time, Gu Ping had led an army of 50,000 to the city. Standing on a gentle slope, he looked at Huaizhou City. At this time, Huaizhou City seemed a little "quiet." The flag on the top of the city had long been changed to the image of a silent old mother, and there was no soldier guarding the city. Could it be that an ambush was set in the city?
"Where is General Qin?"
"General, General Qin is already organizing his troops and is preparing to use 20,000 soldiers as the vanguard to attack the city."
Deputy General Chai was also unambiguous. Seeing that there was no one on the Huaizhou city wall, he felt something was amiss. The army had ladders, so he decided to test it out.
Gu Ping once again looked at the Huaizhou city tower, but there was no one in the city, and the city was too quiet.
"Okay, let General Qin attack the city immediately. After climbing the city wall, prepare the archers. Be careful of ambushes in the city."
"Yes, General."
Since he couldn't tell where the enemy troops were heading, Gu Ping naturally wanted to test them. He waved his hand.
The vanguard troops that had been prepared at the foot of the city had already rushed to the west gate.
"Kill, brothers, hurry up,"
Under the command of the captains of various units, the 20,000-man vanguard army had already begun to build ladders and swarmed up the city walls. Some of the faster ones had already climbed up to the towers and were ready to retract the gates. However, despite these actions, Huaizhou City remained motionless.
Finally, with a creaking sound, the city gate slowly opened, and the soldiers outside the city rushed in shouting.
Gu Ping saw all of this and murmured;
"It shouldn't be,"
Huaizhou is the barrier between Runan and Linshan County. Why is there no one stationed in the White Lotus Sect? It is hard to explain. After a moment,
Deputy General Chai rode back in a hurry and clasped his fists, saying;
"General, the vanguard army did not encounter the enemy army when they rushed into the city. It was an empty city. General Qin has led his troops into the inner city and searched everywhere, but found nothing."
Chai Ding also found it unbelievable that Huaizhou City was handed over like this. He didn't know what the White Lotus Sect was thinking.
"Let the army enter the city to rest, and send a messenger to inform the Marquis of the situation in Huaizhou City. Don't be negligent, be quick."
"Uh, yes, General,"
Chai Ding was still a little confused, he opened his mouth, and finally left with a fist. Gu Ping suddenly turned around and looked at the direction of Linshan County City. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind, maybe those people from the White Lotus Sect went to support the bandit army of the Taiping Sect in the county city?
It was just a thought that made it impossible. The White Lotus Sect would not be so unwise as to hand over Huaizhou City for nothing in order to save the people of the Taiping Sect.
He simply kicked his horse and led his troops into the city. Looking around, he found that Huaizhou City was now empty. It was like a "ghost town", dead silent and lifeless.
(End of this chapter)