Chapter 997
: A Difficult Move
Chapter 997 A Dilemma
Light mist,
The fog was getting thicker and thicker in the air, and the murderous intent hidden in it was also getting stronger and stronger. As the Taiping sect members fought desperately to break through, the front troops were almost at the west city gate.
The head of the hall was delighted and turned around and shouted;
"Everyone, the west gate is ahead. Once we get through the gate, the soldiers will be like blind insects. There is no way they can catch up with us."
"Okay, okay, Hall Master, it seems that the soldiers who are blocking us are not many, and I think they have reached their limit. Let's gather our troops and kill them together. I don't know how the Left Protector and the others are doing."
Another hall master came from behind with his men and fought all the way. Although many brothers died, they finally broke out. However, they were still worried about the situation in the county governor's mansion.
"The Dharma Protectors should be following behind us. As long as we can fight our way out, we can let the Dharma Protectors escape. Let's go, form a formation, and fight our way out."
"it is good,"
The two hall masters subconsciously looked back, feeling that something was wrong. At this time, shouldn't the left protector send someone to pass on the message? However, seeing the endless stream of troops coming, they could only organize the troops first.
The shield soldiers and spearmen lined up in the center, forming a battle formation, and charged towards the west city gate. The sound of armor colliding spread to the surroundings along with the dull footsteps.
Zhang Jinyu, who was standing on the tower, had already seen the outline of the enemy army. They were not scattered soldiers, but a large number of elite bandits. His face changed and he immediately shouted,
"Ningbyon, escort His Highness back to the tower, blow the horn, quickly."
Without waiting for the King of Jin to be willing or not, Zhang Jinyu waved his hand, and the personal soldiers behind him had already surrounded the King of Jin and dragged him into the tower. The sentry on the top of the tower blew the horn.
"Ohh Ohh ohh!"
As soon as the sad horn sounded, the An army under the city immediately deployed their troops. Li Zongbao shouted,
"Yu!"
Then, the five thousand soldiers who had advanced formed a shield formation, with their spears erected, like hedgehogs. Then, another order was given.
"Thunderbolt car ready,"
Ten chariots used for attacking the city had been roped off at the gate and were waiting at the street corner ahead.
As time passed, the two armies met, and almost at the same time, they all shouted out,
"Aim at the front of the street and shoot,"
"Crossbowmen, get ready, fire."
In a flash,
A dark cloud rose from behind each army at the same time and flew towards the other army. The moment it landed, screams rang out one after another. The imperial army was almost unharmed, but the heavy armor of the soldiers was full of arrows. Occasionally, those who were unlucky died.
However, the front line of the Taiping Sect's army had been broken. They could still defend against arrows, but no one could stop the hurling of stones. The heavy armor and shield formation in the front was smashed open by the hurling of stones. Seeing this, the court officers and soldiers immediately rushed over. Following the gap, the two armies met and immediately fought.
"Quick, archers and crossbows are on the roof, and the heavy armored troops are in formation, quick,"
The two leaders of the Taiping Sect looked gloomy. No wonder the imperial army seemed weak. It turned out that they were waiting here. Without time to think about it, they divided their troops and continued to lead the way with the heavy armored troops. They pushed forward with spears and tried their best to move forward. Every time they moved forward, the soldiers in the front row fell to the ground one after another. The soldiers behind them continued to make up for them until they died in battle.
"Go, pass the order, tell the Thunderbolt Car to keep it from stopping, extend it backwards, and tell Qi Ping and Yue Songlin to hurry up."
"Yes, Lord Marquis,"
On the top of the city wall, Zhang Jinyu frowned as he watched. Although the distance was close and the fog had dispersed a lot, the enemy troops continued to arrive. Could it be that the main force had come? How were Yin Renchang and Duan Kaiyuan watching them? He hadn't finished thinking,
Under the city,
The Thunderbolt Cart, which had been re-rigged with a noose, covered the opposite street again. Stones were thrown down, and the buildings on the corner, as well as the Taiping sect thieves, fell down like tofu blocks, clearing the area.
"The vanguard, the front army."
The opportunity could not be missed. Li Zongbao saw that the enemy's formation had been broken, and immediately urged the army to move forward. Then, Qi Ping and Yue Songlin led the army to rush to the side and rear of the enemy, and then killed them together. Suddenly, the enemy army was in chaos.
"Form a formation immediately, form a formation, don't mess around."
"The rear troops will form a battle formation to hold out. Hold out."
No matter how the two hall masters shouted, the Taiping sect members were already terrified and fled in all directions. In a panic, the two were surrounded by their personal soldiers and fled with them. The front army had originally formed a battle formation, but without the backup soldiers, they were quickly wiped out. The rest was nothing but a massacre.
Zhang Jinyu smiled, the situation was settled, so he asked Ningbian to invite His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin back. But a moment later, the Prince of Jin, Zhou Ding, came back with a reluctant and pale face.
"Your Highness, please don't be angry. Safety comes first. Your Highness is not wearing armor and cannot take risks. Now that the overall situation has been decided, just wait."
Without giving the King of Jin a chance, Zhang Jinyu spoke first and pointed to the street in front of the city. The shouts of killing were deafening, and the pace of the imperial officers and soldiers was getting faster and faster. It was obvious that the rebel army had already fled.
Jin Wang Zhou Ding's face turned from pale to red. This was the first time he had seen such a scene of fighting since he came south. He was extremely excited.
"My Lord, the enemy is fleeing so quickly?"
King Zhou Ding of Jin was still somewhat suspicious. It was said that when two armies fought, the Tianping sect thieves were particularly difficult to kill. How could it be possible that they were defeated in such a short time?
"Your Highness, I don't know either. Perhaps the leader of the bandits has other plans."
Zhang Jinyu also felt a little strange. In just a few moments, the enemy army was in a rout. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem as crazy as it was a few days ago. Could there be a trap? But with 50,000 elite soldiers, even if there was a trap, it wouldn't be necessary to fight like this.
With this in mind, he and the King of Jin watched from the top of the city wall for half an hour until there was no more shouting and killing from below.
"Report, Lord, the bandit army has been wiped out, and the remaining bandits have fled. In addition, General Duan sent someone to report that the county governor's mansion was empty and the bandit leader has disappeared."
"What? No trace of him, how is that possible?"
Zhang Jinyu was stunned. He was still playing. It was not dark under the lamp.
"Immediately send a message to several generals to search the whole city for him."
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
Xihe County,
Yangping City Head,
Wu Kuang, the deputy general of the Jiangnan camp, stood on the top of the city wall and secretly swallowed his saliva. He looked around and saw that the enemy troops under the city were almost endless. He didn't know how many soldiers had come. The day before yesterday, he was trapped and died here because of a delay. Fortunately, there was enough food and grass in the city.
"General, should we inform the old general and ask him what to do next?"
"Yes, yes, hurry up, send a fast boat to Suzhou to ask my uncle whether to retreat or break out to the county town."
Jiao Ke, standing on the top of the city wall, no longer had the arrogance of Wang Ri. He looked at the aggressive White Lotus rebels outside. They were not like the rumors, like scattered soldiers. Almost all of them were fully equipped with weapons and armor. If you didn't know, you would think they were elite troops of the imperial court. By the way, since when did the rebel rebels wear armor?
The fear of these two people infected all the officials on the city wall, especially the prefect and the associate prefect of Yangping Prefecture. They were pale and trembling. Some officials had shaking legs and could not even stand steadily. There were also many seemingly mighty bodyguards, all of them had pale faces, empty eyes, and all the strength in their bodies seemed to be drained away in an instant.
"Major General, Major General, you may ask for help, but the White Lotus army has arrived at the city. I wonder if you have any way to resist the enemy. Most of the people in the city have already fled, and the rest have packed up their belongings and fled by boat. As officials of the imperial court, we are not afraid of these bandits, but I am afraid that our families will be frightened. Please go to the dock and tell them to let us take a boat to Jiangnan to avoid disaster." The prefect, Lord Li, did not care about anything at this moment. The families of several officials in the government office did not flee with the people in the past few days. Many people went to the county town. Instead, they packed up their valuables and gathered at the dock. If the bandits showed weakness today, they would not have to leave. If the bandits were strong, they would take a boat and be escorted by the Caoyun Guards to Jiangnan to avoid disaster.
"Yes, Major General, my family and I have not left yet, so we need to ask you to use the Canal Transport Guards to escort us. Please help us."
The deputy governor Lu Yang immediately followed suit, and the other officials begged,
"Major General, please have mercy on us."
The chaotic voices echoed through the city walls, making Jiao Ke, who was already at a loss, feel dizzy.
"Okay, okay, it's just sending someone away, come here, take my warrant, go to the dock to dispatch a ship, and take the families of the masters to Jiangnan."
"Yes, General,"
As the messenger left with the token, all the officials on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief and bowed in submission.
"Thank you, Major General."
"Hmph, don't flatter me. The enemy army is coming with such force. I wonder if you gentlemen have any good plan to repel them."
Jiao Ke had been frightened back to his senses, and asked these old foxes,
"this,"
Many officials were also stunned by the young general's question. Asking these civil officials about the strategy to repel the enemy was like talking to a cow. Everyone hesitated and could not explain the reason. Only Li Zhifu paused and replied;
"Major General, Yangping has sufficient supplies, but it is just a place for trade along the river. Not only is the city wall low, but there are few weapons to defend the city. Therefore, it is not a place to defend the city. There is also the Wei governor in the city who is recovering from his injuries, and there are more than 10,000 remnant soldiers. They have fought all the way back from Runan and are very experienced. Why don't we go and ask the Wei governor how to defend against the enemy?"
This time, it seemed as if they had found the backbone, and everyone looked overjoyed, saying;
"Yes, Major General, the governor of Wei has been fighting for half a month, so he must have a way to resist the enemy."
"That's right. The Wei governor fought from Runan to Shizhou and now he has returned to Yangping. He has fought again and again despite repeated defeats. He is very experienced and must have a good plan."
Jiao Ke felt something was wrong after hearing Youyou's words. What does it mean to be experienced? What does it mean to keep fighting despite repeated failures? Isn't this just running away in panic after being beaten?
"Well, in that case, go and ask the governor of Wei how to defend against the enemy. Wu Kuang, you stay here to monitor the enemy army and do not leave the city."
"Yes, Major General,"
After making the arrangements, the group hurriedly left the tower and headed into the city, arriving at the prefectural government office and going to the main hall in the backyard.
In the flower hall,
At this moment, Wei Xiangping, the governor of Runan County, was sitting on the bed with a haggard face. There was nothing wrong with being shirtless, but his upper body was wrapped in a lot of brocade and smelled of medicine. It was obvious that he had asked a doctor to apply medicine after bathing and changing clothes.
Seeing that the governor was injured, everyone was worried. They entered the inner chamber and stood on both sides. There was no need to be polite. Li Zhifu took the lead and clasped his fists.
"Prefect Wei, I shouldn't have disturbed you, but the White Lotus rebels have already surrounded the city, and they say they have more than 100,000 soldiers. Yangping is a small city, and this time there are 30,000 soldiers from the Jiangnan camp led by the Major General, and more than 20,000 new soldiers recruited by me. Together with the troops led by Prefect Wei, there are only more than 60,000 soldiers in total. Should we defend or go north to the county city and join the King of Beijing? Please give me some rules, Prefect Wei."
Everyone's eyes turned to the Wei Taishou who was sitting on the bed. After all, he had dealt with the group of evil women of the White Lotus Sect before.
Wei Xiangping took his official robe and put it on without any hurry. He felt embarrassed. From Runan to here, he had suffered defeat after defeat. He originally had a 100,000-strong army, including young and strong men. Now only one in ten of them survived. The nearly 10,000 remnants had lost their spirits and became frightened birds. How could they still have the strength to fight?
Looking at the many officials in front of him, he sighed and said that the current situation of the court was caused by these incompetent people.
"What do you think, my Lords? I heard that Yangping has sufficient supplies and is connected by water. I wonder what Governor Li and General Jiao think."
The person being asked did not answer, but asked them instead. Everyone was stunned for a moment. The civil servants wanted to leave, but they did not dare to leave. Yangping was fine. If they abandoned the city and left, the court would blame them and settle accounts later. That would be the end of them.
Therefore, they all kept silent, but looked at Major General Jiao Ke, causing his face to turn red. He cursed in his heart, what was he looking at? The military order he received was to go to Xihe County City to join the prince, but who knew that he would be late for one day, and the enemy army would come so quickly. Damn it, how unlucky!
"Ahem, my lords, I have received a handwritten order from Prince Beijing to lead 30,000 soldiers from the Jiangnan camp to the county city to join the prince. Now the prince has brought 20,000 elite troops from Chang'an County from the capital. I heard that the 20,000 vanguard troops of Qi Jiedushi of Ping'anzhou are also heading south. This means we have 40,000 elite troops. Therefore, I will choose the right opportunity to march north. After all, it is a military order."
He bowed his hands and followed the military order. He wanted to leave. When the other officials saw this, they looked anxious and refused to let him go.
"Oh, please be patient, Major General."
"Yes, how can the young general abandon the city and leave?"
"Major General, you can't just walk away."
A bunch of sour officials were complaining, not to mention Jiao Ke was angry, even the governor Wei had a dark face and scolded;
"Enough, it's already this late, and you're still making a fuss. General Jiao is right. We have military orders, so we have nothing to do. But General Jiao, although Yangping is not big, it is a market town in Xihe County, and there are countless food and supplies. If it falls into the hands of the enemy army, the consequences will not be something you and I can bear."
Wei Xiangping seemed to be scolding, but the topic turned to Yang Ping himself. All the officials were foxes in the officialdom. Li Zhifu immediately said;
"Yes, General Jiao, Yangping lacks everything except military pay and food. In this way, the government will provide all the food for the army."
"Yes, General Jiao, all the soldiers who are guarding Yangping will be paid by the major businesses and banks in Yangping, and the prefectural government will guarantee it. If you leave, the city will be lost. It is better to leave it to the officials and soldiers of the court than to the thieves."
Cheng Xi, the magistrate, was even more determined. Yangping had many merchants and chambers of commerce, as well as many money houses and industries of various sects. Since it was too late to take them away, it would be better to leave them and make the best use of them.
"Yes, General Jiao, what Governor Wei said is absolutely right. If the enemy army had not come to Yangping before, General Jiao would have just left with his troops. But now that the enemy army is at the gates of the city, if General Jiao leaves with his troops, he will be known as someone who escaped without fighting. Once people say that the general is from the Jiangnan camp, they will say that the general has fled. How unpleasant it is, isn't it?"
The co-magistrate Lu Yang was not a coward, and dared to say anything. With just a few words, Jiao Ke was shaken. What he said was not without reason. He simply brought a lot of powerful crossbows with him, and unloaded fifteen bed crossbows from the Jiangnan camp. He could give it a try to defend the city, but he couldn't just agree to it.
"My Lords, Governor Wei, it is difficult to disobey military orders. We can obey, but we still need to write to the prince. In addition, I have 30,000 troops under my command, and there are also new soldiers recruited from Yangping, which is more than 50,000 people. The reward is not small."
He looked at the lords with his eyes rolling, and his words were clear as day. The lords looked happy and looked at each other. Li Zhifu happily took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket and put them on the table.
"General Jiao, this is a reward from all the major businesses and banks in Yangping. It's a hundred thousand taels of silver from the Sihai Bank. It's enough for the reward."
"How can this be so embarrassing?"
Jiao Ke's eyes widened. He spent 100,000 taels in one go. Wasn't it said that bandits were rampant in Xihe County and even officials were unstable?
"General Jiao, I lost Runan and Shizhou, especially in Shizhou. A group of officials from the government office went to the city to kill the enemy and died of exhaustion. I am deeply shocked. Now the enemy army is still rampant. If we, the promising men, don't fight hard, how can we comfort the people of the world at dawn? I don't have much with me, but I still have more than ten thousand taels of silver notes here to add to the military supplies."
After saying this, Wei Xiangping burst into tears and put the 10,000 taels of silver on the table. Shizhou City was broken and many people did not escape. Fortunately, the people of Runan left early, and he asked the prefect to escort their families to Jiangnan in advance. Otherwise, it would be hard to predict what would happen next.
Little did they know that these words frightened several officials in Yangping. The Shizhou prefect and others had already left. They only looked at Jiao Ke with pitiful eyes.
Jiao Ke, who had gathered everyone's attention, felt his scalp tingling, nodded, and said;
"My Lords, I am not a coward. Since you have advised me, I will send a message to the prince of the county city and explain the situation. However, if the prince orders a retreat, I will obey the order, but I can protect you and retreat north together to explain the situation."
"Very good. General Jiao is still loyal and helps the court. I thank you. In addition, I still have more than 10,000 elite soldiers in the tragic army, which can be reorganized with the new army to make up 40,000 troops."
"Don't worry, Governor Wei. It's fine to have the old leading the new. General Song, first send out more than 10,000 soldiers and horses to combine with the government troops brought by Governor Wei for training, and then go to the city immediately to prevent any accidents!"
"Yes, Major General,"
(End of this chapter)