Chapter 687 Zhu Zhi
That night, the three generals in Jinyong City met.
Beside the bonfire, Zhu Zhi's face was gloomy and unclear. Next to him were Rui Zhi and Ling Cao, all three of whom were silent.
After a while, Ling Cao threw the firewood in his hand into the bonfire and said angrily:
"Stop talking? Aren't you two scared?"
Firewood was smashed into the bonfire, stirring up some sparks.
Rui Zhi glared angrily and scolded him directly:
"Ling Cao, if you can't speak, then shut up. I, Rui Zhi, am the one you're afraid of? We already killed people when you were fishing in the river, and why are you allowed to spray feces in my place?"
Ling Cao and Rui Zhi were not very harmonious to begin with.
Even though they both come from the same place, there are always a lot of conflicts due to one reason or another. The two have very different personalities and dislike each other.
In Rui Zhi's opinion, Ling Cao was simply a cheap husband, a fish farmer exploited by fishermen. If he wasn't appreciated by the commander-in-chief, why would he deserve to sit with her?
Ling Cao, on the other hand, regarded Rui Zhi as a Shanliao bandit and a habitual criminal who had always been evil. It would be a shame for such a person to infiltrate the Han army, not to mention that he could see Rui Zhi shrinking back at this moment.
That's right, Ling Cao is very good at reading people.
In fact, before the three met, Rui Zhi had gone to see Zhu Zhi alone.
The relationship between the two is much closer than that of Ling Cao. Not to mention that they are both from Danyang and share the same hometown friendship. Their personal relationship can be traced back to before joining the army.
At that time, Rui Zhi was still a bandit, and Zhu Zhi was a county official. It seemed that black and white were in opposition, but in fact, they were both in conflict with each other.
So when Rui Zhi found Zhu Zhi, he was straightforward:
"Lao Zhu, we have to retreat to the city."
Zhu Zhi was still silent at that time, and then heard Rui Zhi continue:
"Now that all sides have fallen, we are left alone on the entire battlefield? How many of us are there? More than three thousand people. How many Taishan troops are outside? Nearly one hundred thousand. How can we defend this? So we still have to take advantage of the Taishan Army's lack of generals. Jin Yong surrounded us and our army immediately moved into the city."
Zhu Zhi squinted his eyes and asked:
"You want to run?"
Rui Zhi corrected:
"We are returning to support the city. Our army is Zhu Shuai's disciples. At this time, the general needs us by his side."
Zhu Zhi was silent, and finally said slowly:
"Call Ling Cao over and ask him what he means."
……
So Rui Zhi, who felt that he was in the majority, directly called Ling Cao over, and the three of them discussed Jin Yong's fate around the campfire.
And just as Rui Zhi expected, this Ling Cao is just an earth hammer, with a bad temper but no brains at all.
At this moment, after the two scolded each other for a while, Rui Zhi, who still felt sensible, said seriously:
"Ling Cao, stop being stubborn. Think about it, how can Jin Yong hold on? We are not people who are afraid of death. If we are afraid of death, we will not stay here and fight against the Taishan Army. It is not good to go back to our hometown. So don't use this to bully us. But not being afraid of death doesn't mean we are going to die. Have you ever thought that if we haven't dug a well in Jinyong City yet, we will die of thirst? . So, Ling Cao listens, you are no longer the one who is dying, you still have your clan and tribe behind you."
But for such a long paragraph, Ling Cao didn't hear anything else, but he did hear the "we" in Rui Zhi's mouth.
He looked at Zhu Zhi in disbelief and asked tremblingly:
"Lao Zhu, you want to run too?"
Zhu Zhi stirred the bonfire, was silent for a while, and finally spoke:
"Don't you know there is no well in the city?"
Ling Cao was silent and speechless.
When he mentioned this, he became very angry.
When building Jinyong City, Zhu Jun spent a lot of energy and supervised the entire construction process. Those people under General Craftsman were whipped with whips and did not dare to slack off at all, and completed the construction of Jinyong City continuously.
After Jin Yong City was built, Zhu Jun was busy with other things, so he left the remaining facilities in the city to the craftsmen themselves.
It may be that there is resentment in the heart, or the efficiency is low. Anyway, when the Taishan Army appeared outside Kyoto, there was not even a well in Jinyong City, and no one reported it.
So when Zhu Zhi led the Jianghuai troops to garrison Jinyong, he was stunned after looking around. He never expected that even the wells had not been repaired inside despite the impregnable wall outside.
What city can we defend without water?
After reporting the situation here to Zhu Jun, Zhu Jun became furious and killed a group of craftsmen responsible for the matter, but the matter would eventually be resolved.
At that time, the Taishan Army had already invaded Beimang Mountain, and it was too late to recruit civilians on a large scale. So Zhu Jun asked Zhu Zhi and others to dig it first.
But Jin Yong is located on a plateau. Even though there are waterways nearby, there must be underground water, but because the distance is too far, it will be difficult to dig through it in a short time.
This is really a land of success and failure.
Digging wells didn't work, so they had no choice but to store water, so when Taishan's army was busy, they fetched water from the moat outside the city. Until now, there are three sides of clear water, which can supply Jin Yong with water for nine days.
Nine days? It sounds like a long time, but in a siege that lasted for several months, it was pitifully short.
Therefore, Ling Cao fell silent.
Rui Zhi was happy to see Ling Cao defeated.
But after being happy, he secretly cursed:
"This dilapidated Yuliang is really against us. Did Lao Zhu say it or did I mean it? If I say it, just tell me the color. If Lao Zhu says it, you can listen. Isn't this what he is against me?"
But fortunately, Ling Cao finally listened to the advice, otherwise this matter would have been troublesome.
But at this moment, Zhu Zhi suddenly changed his tone, squinted his eyes and said:
"So it's definitely not possible to defend. We have to attack."
Rui Zhi kept nodding and repeating Zhu Zhi's words:
"So it's definitely not possible to defend. We have to leave. ...Huh? ...Attack?"
Rui Zhi looked at Zhu Zhi in surprise, not sure what he was talking about. Ling Cao beside him was also stunned. He opened his mouth wide and waited for Zhu Zhi to explain.
Zhu Zhi picked up the branch in his hand and drew a rough shape on the ground using the shadow of the campfire:
"Look, this is the military camp map of the Taishan Army outside the city. I have been observing during the day, and I found that they are mobilizing most of their troops to the other three sides. The Taishan Army in front of me, Jin Yong, has at most 20,000 people, and They are still very far apart, so I want to go out and attack the camp tonight.”
The anger in Rui Zhi's heart could no longer be expressed in words. He grabbed Zhu Zhi's shoulders and asked:
"Zhu Zhi, are you crazy? We can still defend Jinyong City for seven days with the help of Jinyong City. If we leave the city, we will definitely die without a burial place. You are also old at fighting. Do you think night fighting is easy? Although I, a son of Jianghuai Danyang, are good at fighting, But if you can find those who can fight at night, it means only two or three. In other words, there are less than a thousand people who can go out to fight. If you attack the Taishan Army with this number, you will not be able to accomplish anything. "
The strange thing is that Ling Cao, who had been unwilling to retreat, did not agree now. He shook his head and muttered:
"The commander-in-chief has given an order not to allow our troops to leave the city to fight in the field."
The reason is not complicated. Zhu Jun issued the order after Guo Gong died in battle and understood that the gap between the two armies in field strength was too large.
Hearing Ling Cao talk about the commander-in-chief, Rui Zhi understood that this would only be useful if he pulled out the commander-in-chief. He said:
"Indeed, Lao Zhu, don't be stupid. The commander will need us now. The 3,500 Jianghuai children here are all the commander's humerus. We must not waste the war at this time. We must be responsible for the commander and our brothers. Responsible.”
At this moment, Zhu Zhi suddenly laughed. He pointed at Ling Cao and Rui Zhi with a smile and said with a smile:
"Look, we were tense just now, and now we are standing together to vent our anger."
The two blushed, but did not refute.
In the end, Zhu Zhi said something serious:
"Do you think the commander-in-chief needs us to support him outside the city, or does he need us to stay inside the city? If the latter is more important, why do you need us to leave the city? And as I said, it is difficult to defend for a long time at this moment. When the enemy does not expect it, Our army will fight against the odds and take the initiative. As long as you follow my plan, Taishan’s army will be defeated.”
Then, Zhu Zhi told the two of them his plan in detail next to the campfire.
As he explained, Rui Zhi's expressions slowly softened. After he finished speaking, Rui Zhi sighed:
"Lao Zhu, you are really crazy." But at this moment, he did not raise any objection.
After being persuaded by Rui Zhi, who was the most opposed, Zhu Zhi suddenly broke the firewood in his hand and said:
"Gentlemen, look at the firewood. If it is a single stick, it can easily be broken. Then look at this."
After saying that, Zhu Zhi picked up three sticks, then poked them without breaking them, and then continued:
"And if our three sticks are put together and people are breaking, can they be broken? As long as we are united as one, it doesn't matter how many people the Taishan Army has. Let them see the power of our Jianghuai barbarians this time!"
But Ling Cao suspiciously grabbed the three firewood sticks in Zhu Zhi's hand, and with a little force, the three firewood sticks were all broken.
He asked Zhu Zhi doubtfully:
"Lao Zhu, you are so weak."
Zhu Zhi's entire face turned red with anger, and finally he couldn't help but cursed:
"Ling Cao, I think you are just a stick."
After saying that, the three of them laughed.
……
Late at night, a group of Han soldiers slid down Jinyong City and then sneaked along the plateau.
Their target is the barrier of Taishan Army in front.
But before they could get close, they were caught by a hidden sentry from the Taishan Army half a mile away. Then the nearby Taishan Army You Yi quickly came to support, and after a fierce battle for a while, the Han soldiers were annihilated.
Xu Huang, who received the victory in the camp, couldn't help but smile to the surrounding generals:
"Little thief, stop here!"
Then he saw flames rising to the northwest and thick smoke rising from all directions.
Xu Huang's hands and feet were cold, and he gnashed his teeth at the red sky in the northwest:
"Rat! So brave!"
It turned out that where the fire was, part of the rations of the Taishan Army was located, which mainly supported the Taishan Army in the west and north.
Although this amount of military rations is not much for the Taishan Army, it is very important to Xu Huang.
Because he lost face.
The surrounding warriors, especially some of the cavalry generals of the Flying Tiger Army, asked for a fight to find the rats, but they were stopped by Xu Huang.
He suppressed his anger abruptly, turned to the military officer who had just come to deliver the newspaper and asked:
"Do you have any prisoners in this battle?"
The military officials were not sure what Xu Huang meant. There must be a prisoner's mouth, but does the military leader mean that we will not leave a prisoner's mouth?
This is a bit against the military discipline of Taishan Army, and the king's camp is right over Beimang Mountain, so he doesn't dare to do it.
So the soldier said carefully:
"There are prisoners, but not many."
Xu Huang ignored the military officials' caution and only ordered:
"Go to You Yi and those people to torture them, and ask me who the defenders are in Jinyong City?"
The military officials did not dare to neglect and hurriedly took the order and went back.
……
After successfully evading the pursuit of the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry, Zhu Zhi and others finally retreated into Jinyong City in disgrace.
But at this moment, the joy on their faces could not be concealed.
Listening to the scoldings of the Taishan Army in the darkness below, Rui Zhi gave an order to the archers on the top of the city:
"Shoot, shoot where they bray loudest and kill those donkeys."
Soon, under a cloud of arrows, there was silence in the darkness.
Although he couldn't kill a few people, Jiang Huaibing felt very energetic after this operation.
Zhu Zhi was also smiling with his lips pursed, but he scanned around the city but didn't see his general, so he asked Rui Zhi, who was staying behind:
"Laorui, haven't you seen Zhu Huan?"
Rui Zhi was also stunned for a moment and replied strangely:
"Didn't he go out of the city with you?"
Zhu Zhi looked ugly, and when he was about to take action, he asked Zhu Huan to lead a wave of Danyang soldiers to the northeast to create chaos. But now that they are back, Zhu Huan and the others have no one to return them. What does this mean?
Rui Zhi over there also realized the problem and helped to solve it:
"Xiao Zhu is always alert, so it's okay. How about we go down and rest first. We burned the enemy's food and grass tonight, and the Taishan Army will definitely come to retaliate tomorrow. If we don't take good care of ourselves, we won't be able to withstand tomorrow."
Zhu Zhi shook his head and said only one sentence:
"No, I'll wait here for them to come back."
Rui Zhi had no choice but to take the others down to rest.
Ling Cao did not leave, but was waiting there with Zhu Zhi.
It wasn't until he yawned a few times that Zhu Zhi ordered Ling Cao with red eyes:
"Go down, you will have to guard Nancheng tomorrow. If you don't rest tonight, I'm afraid you will die on the city."
Ling Cao choked, cursed, and then ignored Zhu Zhi.
Only Zhu Zhi was left standing at the top of the city, facing north.
……
The fish belly is about to turn white in the sky, and the Taishan Army camp outside the city is noisy.
Obviously, after suffering a big loss last night, the Taishan Army was coming to take revenge.
In the northern city of Jinyong, after a night's rest, the Jianghuai soldiers were energetic. After having breakfast on the city wall, they stood ready to face the north.
For many of them, this simple breakfast is their last meal.
Many people found that their general Zhu Zhi was still standing at the top of the city, motionless in the same position as last night.
His armor was wet with dew, but his eyes were staring straight ahead.
There, on a high car, dozens of heads were hung on bamboo poles. The heavy head bent the bamboo pole.
If a modern person saw this scene, he would have nightmares again and again, but for the current generation two thousand years ago, this was a real war.
Rui Zhi sighed, patted Zhu Zhi on the shoulder, and said:
"Sorry, this is fate."
Zhu Zhi glanced at Rui Zhi, then fainted and fell to the ground.
Looking at Zhu Zhi being carried away, Rui Zhi shook his head and lamented that this man was too emotional.
Then he called out to the officials around him:
"Get moving, go and prepare all the gold juice and fire oil for me, and I will serve those Taishan bastards later."
All the Jianghuai disciples cheered in unison.
In this way, the hunting flag fluttered on Jinyong City, waiting for the thunderous attack of Taishan Army.
(End of chapter)