The current Fang La is far from reaching the strength that swept the entire Jiangnan in the original work.
Now that three armies are coming, Fang La has lost even his hometown Qingxi County, leaving only three states and eight counties.
He gathered all his followers in Muzhou and planned to fight Cao Bin to the death.
Now the three directions of east, west and north are controlled by the opponent. If Cao Bin is not defeated, he can only flow south and be driven to Lingnan or even to the sea.
He has great ambitions and will never allow himself to become a bandit.
Moreover, his roots are in Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and he has a broad belief base. If he ran to Lingnan, it would be dozens of times more difficult to make a comeback.
Cao Bin would not give him this time.
"Master Marquis, Fang La gathered all the people trapped in Quzhou, Wuzhou and other prefectures and counties into Muzhou City."
"There are always 300,000 people, among which 70,000 or 80,000 are young and strong..."
When Cao Bin led his troops to Muzhou, Guan Sheng's East Route Army and sedan chair's North Route Army also rushed to the city.
In total, there were 20,000 Jingxiang infantry, 10,000 troops stationed in Zhejiang and Zhejiang provinces, 4,000 trapped troops, and 1,000 tiger and leopard cavalry.
At this time, the spies were reporting on the situation in Muzhou City.
Cao Bin was sitting on the commander's seat, with Yelu Guanyinnu and Hangzhou Zhizhou at the top of the left and right. Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng and others were sitting in two rows on the pony.
Before Cao Bin could speak, Hangzhou Zhizhou burst out laughing and said:
"Fang La is indeed a short-sighted bandit. He will not be able to support so many people for long."
"As long as we surround the city, within a month, I expect he will start a rebellion without a fight. I congratulate the Lord in advance for wiping out the rebels..."
However, Yelv Guanyinnu couldn't bear to see his immediate success, so he sneered and struck:
"Maybe this is the food Fang La raised in captivity!"
Hearing this, Zhizhou Zhizhou of Hangzhou was stunned for a moment and said with a pale face:
"This... bandit can be so cruel?"
Yelu Guanyinnu glanced at Cao Bin and said:
"I hope Zhongjing Hou will destroy Fang La as soon as possible, otherwise Daliao will send troops to Hebei, and your Song country will be attacked on both sides."
The governor of Hangzhou said nervously:
"What does the princess mean by this? Didn't Song and Liao already have a truce? Will they still start a war?"
Seeing that he was serious, Cao Bin was a little speechless, but smiled at Yelu Guanyin Nu:
"The princess has been threatening to send troops, so I will inevitably take her seriously."
"A few days ago, I wrote to my Majesty and General Yang Zongbao, suggesting that General Yang send troops to plunder the Liao Kingdom in revenge."
"I hope that when the time comes, the princess will not regret this statement..."
Yelu Guanyinnu sneered and said disdainfully:
"I want to see if you, the Great Song Dynasty monarch, have such courage..."
Just as he was talking, the soldiers came to report:
"Master Marquis, the people have been driven out of the city by the rebels and are rushing towards the camp."
Everyone was shocked, and the governor of Hangzhou jumped up and said:
"Quick, stop them, don't let them invade the camp!"
Regardless of whether these people were coerced or forced, or they were real Manichaeans, as long as they attacked the military camp, they were treasonous and could not be merciful.
A series of crossbow arrows were fired, directly killing thousands of people. These people never dared to approach the military camp again.
Fang La and others on the city wall shook their heads and said:
"The officers and soldiers are really ruthless. There is no chance. Close the city gate!"
There were no Manichaeans among these people, they were all brought here under duress.
There are too many people, most of whom are old and weak, which is not only detrimental to defending the city, but also consumes too much food and grass.
Therefore, they released the people from Muzhou to see if they could create chaos and bring favorable fighting opportunities.
Even if it has no effect on the war, it still disgusts the officers and soldiers.
If so many people were killed, they would be hated by the people of Jiangnan.
If you don't kill them, you will have to consume food and grass for them.
Lu Junyi and others also thought about this problem. After ordering the soldiers to choose a place to take care of these people, they suggested:
"Master Marquis, why not move these people to the rear?"
Hangzhou Zhizhou quickly shook his head and said:
"No, hundreds of thousands of refugees have entered the place and it is difficult to control them. Once chaos breaks out, the consequences will be disastrous."
As he spoke, he hesitated and said:
"It stands to reason that these people are also rebels, so killing them is not an excessive amount of money. Why not send them back to their place of origin..."
Most of these people are from Quzhou and Wuzhou, and they are not under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou anyway.
When Guan Sheng and others heard this, they couldn't help but grin. Everyone could understand this guy's abacus through their stomachs.
It is said that these people were not killed, but they were robbed of food by Fang La. I am afraid that they will starve to death before returning to their place of origin.
At that time, Cao Bin will be blamed and it has nothing to do with him being the governor of Hangzhou.
Cao Bin waved his hand and smiled:
"Why go to all this trouble? I am about to call for labor."
"Let them stay in front of the army for the time being."
When the governor of Hangzhou heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what Cao Bin decided, as long as he did not move these people to Hangzhou, it had nothing to do with him.
Even if the army is defeated without food, it is Cao Bin's responsibility.
Guan Sheng said quickly:
"Master Marquis, our army only has enough food and grass for one month. If we supply it to the people, we may run out of food and grass in seven or eight days."
Cao Bin waved his hand and said:
"No problem, let Ding Zhizhou speed up the transportation of grain."
When the Hangzhou magistrate heard this, he was dumbfounded and said hurriedly:
"Master Hou, I have no food in Hangzhou."
Cao Bin immediately changed his expression and said angrily:
"Suppressing the rebels is an official matter of the imperial court. As the front line for suppressing bandits, Hangzhou should provide food and fodder for the army."
"How can you shirk your responsibility? Does Ding Zhizhou want me to exercise military law?"
Hangzhou Zhizhou was speechless. Damn it, after going around and around, the responsibility still fell on him, so he had to hold his nose and agree.
Cao Bin originally planned to conquer Fang La within a few days, so he didn't worry about food problems at all.
But if he had the opportunity to get more food from Hangzhou and use it for his own disposal, he would not let it go.
At that time, even if there is excess food, he will not return it to the magistrate of Hangzhou.
Seeing this, Yelu Guanyin Nu's eyes flashed and said:
"Marquis Zhongjing won't use these people to consume Fang La's strength, right?"
Cao Bin smiled and said:
"This does not require the princess to care."
Yelu Guanyinnu snorted lightly and didn't care.
The walls of Muzhou City are tall and the moat is directly connected to the Fuchun River. It is deep and wide, making it very difficult to attack.
What's more, there are 70,000 to 80,000 defenders in the city, and there is no shortage of food and grass. Even if they are not elite, they are still more than enough to defend the city.
She did not believe that Cao Bin could conquer this city in a short time.
On the second day, Fang La continued to close the city gate tightly, hung up the suspension bridge, and refused to fight.
Seeing this, Cao Bin was not in a hurry and did not attack the city. He only ordered his men to select young women among the people...
Not only Yelu Guanyin Nu was puzzled, but even Hangzhou Zhizhou was a little confused. This is a war, is it appropriate for you to do this?
But in the next two days, seeing him behave like this, Yelu Guanyin Nu immediately felt relieved and waited for Cao Bin to run out of food and defeat the army before negotiating with him.
On the fourth day, when Yelu Guanyinnu was in a good mood and watching the beautiful scenery of Song Dynasty, a fire suddenly broke out in the city, and the sound of killing was loud.
Someone shouted:
"Burning fire, burn my remains..."
Some people also shouted:
"White Lotus comes to the world to save all sentient beings!"
It's a mess... Yelv Guanyin slave's mind is filled with impossible things...
