Chapter 10 Weird
Guan Shengyun outside the city did not dare to sleep a wink all night.
This day passed so happily.
The armed parade greatly damaged the enemy's morale. The soldiers were excited and full of fighting spirit. Everywhere the Poxiao battalion carrying the heads of the dog officers and soldiers reinforcements came to, the men of the various battalions besieging the city cheered like crazy, while the guys on the city wall were stunned and didn't even shoot an arrow. This is enough to prove that they were all captured. I was scared out of my wits.
What a shame!
Guan Shengyun secretly thought to himself: when the city is defeated, a stone tablet should be erected next to Jingguan. Well, let's engrave "Marshal Guan of the Eastern Expedition defeated Qianqi Chu in one battle"! Let your own illustrious celebrity be remembered for eternity. However, this little calculation cannot be revealed yet - lest the gang of bastards under his command make fun of themselves in private for worrying about those two minor setbacks...
Thinking of this, Guan Shengyun raised his hand and summoned a personal guard to tell him that during the general attack, he must remind himself to send orders to all battalions and pay attention to the masons, and not to kill them...
Until the evening, I was still getting happier and happier. I suppressed my pride, smiled, and was reserved, enjoying the compliments sent by the generals of each battalion.
In the plain area, using foot as horse, half of the thousands of enemy cavalry were cut off at the snap of a finger, and the rest were all wounded and fled into disarray. The infantry on our side suffered less than a hundred casualties! If this battle is fought, everyone has to give a thumbs up and say "well done!"
But I didn’t expect that the situation would change as soon as night fell!
The camp outside the west gate was not closed, and before midnight, they hurriedly knocked on the camp and reported back: the enemy lit a long bonfire on the city wall. Judging from the voices, it seemed that all the enemy troops were on the wall, and they were even eating and drinking. The whole city was buzzing with people, wondering what had happened!
Immediately afterwards, the battalions surrounding the four gates sent people to report, and the situation there was exactly the same!
Riding the horse out of the camp and holding the fire for a small circle, it was indeed the case. But I can't tell what's going on - even if you want to counterattack, you won't give advance notice of such a big move, right?
It's definitely not Yingxiao.
Camp roars mostly occur in the latter half of the night. It started with one or two soldiers who had been wronged or extremely frightened on weekdays and cried at night. It spread to everyone and made everyone feel sad. The noise became louder and louder. Qiu Ba, who was generally night blind, didn't know what was going on, and the officers did not suppress it in time. Then there was a big chaos. Others woke up in the middle of the night thinking that the enemy was attacking. Every sound they heard in the dark sounded like the enemy was coming to kill them in the dark. So they drew their swords and hacked at each other, and finally the camp was blown up...
Not to mention that the time was wrong, and the fires on the city were shining like daylight - if it was really Ying Xiao, rebels should have opened the city gate long ago! And... the sound wasn't a shrill scream, but instead sounded like... cheers?
There are only two explanations:
Either everyone in the city has been possessed and gone crazy!
Or, they get news: reinforcements have arrived!
But... surrounded by iron barrels on all sides, how could they know about the reinforcements?
Of course, there are hidden stakes set up in the outer direction. Even if a messenger sneaks over at night and sneaks to the edge of the city while avoiding Ye Bu's eyes and ears, it will be dark. Aren't the defenders worried that it is a spy sent here? They yelled commands at the top of their lungs and informed the guards, raised fire from the top of the city, put baskets down, and hung up the badges, arrows, and letters for inspection for the first time. After the inspection was correct, people were hung up for the second time... such a big movement. , unless all the battalions blocking the door are dead, people would not know it at all!
Could it be a flying pigeon delivering a message?
That’s not right either!
Even if the storyteller is not lying, there really is such a thing as flying pigeons delivering messages - in the middle of the night, pigeons can't see anything, so how can they deliver messages to the city?
Could it be that they trained Night Owl to pass messages?
Guan Shengyun shook his head and drove this ridiculous idea out of his mind - he didn't want to think about it anymore. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about it. He ordered all battalions to be on guard and to remain unchanged in response to any changes.
At dawn, a large number of exploring horse pond riders were immediately sent out.
In less than an hour, reports came in one after another from everywhere, and there was no trace of the enemy within ten miles!
No, try again! Twenty miles, no, thirty miles!
Get out all the horses! Not only official roads and main waterways, but also trails and tributaries need to be inspected!
Be sure to find out!
"Instruct all battalions to prepare for war!"
The generals of each department also walked around uneasily in their respective military tents for most of the night.
Although they were confused and confused, these veteran soldiers did not need to wait for the military order to prepare for war. Each battalion had already carried out emergency mobilization: the entire army was on standby at Yinshi (three o'clock in the middle of the night) in armor, and all the soldiers guarding the camp were on standby. After reaching the wall, we have been stuck on the camp wall for most of the night.
Inquiries to the Marshal yielded no results. The commander's next order made everyone even more suspicious: all cavalry nets should be spread for thirty miles, and no direction should be missed!
Military orders are like mountains.
Just do it.
In each battalion, except for the general's own horses, all the cavalry and guards were temporarily converted into Tang cavalry. If there is an urgent military situation, the only option is to give in to the infantry guards and untie the pack horses to deliver orders - but... can the pack horses understand the left and right commands? Oh, well, it seems that the foot guards don't know how to give orders to the horses... Oh, what the hell!
Waiting is the most excruciating thing.
Guan Shengyun was fully clothed, his iron helmet was placed on the commander's desk, and he was pacing restlessly in the camp.
Before noon (eleven o'clock in the morning), the detective horse came back: no trace of the enemy was found!
Each battalion also reported one after another: No trace of the enemy was seen in their respective reconnaissance directions!
damn it!
damn it! ! !
These guys are collectively possessed, they are all fucking crazy!
So angry!
The furious Guan Shengyun immediately issued an order: "Besiege on all sides immediately! Take the city today, and after replenishing the auxiliary troops, massacre the city without leaving any chickens or dogs behind!"
The majestic commander who defeated a thousand cavalry in a battle was so frightened by a group of madmen possessed in the middle of the night that he couldn't sleep the whole night! !
And that's not all - he actually almost exhausted all his cavalry to find an enemy that didn't even exist!
What will your colleagues say if word gets out about this?
"Enemy reinforcements? Where did the enemy reinforcements come from? Did you dream about it? You can't even sleep well with the little girl you snatched from your arms. How scared are you, hahaha..."
You will be teased by those bastards for the rest of your life!
So fucking embarrassing! !
no! Immediately attack me with the entire army!
At three o'clock in the morning, the prefect Song Mingyi woke up first.
To be precise, I was woken up by the stench.
As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a boiling dung pot three or four steps away from me! Black, yellow, and green excrement juices are boiling in the big iron pot. Bubbles of various sizes rise from the bottom of the pot, bursting open, and constantly releasing a strong smell... It seems that not only human excrement is being cooked, but also human feces. Pig manure, dog manure... Someone was adding firewood to the fire, and two bald heads in gray were stirring vigorously with long-handled manure spoons. Although it was from behind, Song Mingyi felt that the skilled movements of these two people seemed familiar, and suddenly remembered that they were the monks from Longquan Temple in Feidong! On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month last year, I had brought people to deliver rice to the temple. The next day I saw the temple giving out Laba porridge*, and it was these two who were stirring the porridge pot with a big wooden shovel! No wonder……
Rubbing his sleepy eyes and looking around, Magistrate Song was immediately stunned by the sight in front of him. He opened his mouth, but couldn't say a single word: It seemed as if everyone in Luzhou City had climbed onto the city wall!
Not only the yamen servants, but also young men, women, the elderly and half-grown children were all sweating and busy! There are large and small stones and green bricks everywhere, and each pile is piled high. The coppersmiths, blacksmiths, tinsmiths and goldsmiths have set up charcoal furnaces on the city wall, and the red molten iron in the crucible is glowing with blue flames. Lotte Residence , the cooks in Linfenglou and other restaurants set up large stoves, boiling oil was rolling in large iron pots, the asphalt boiled by the masons and stonemasons was emitting billowing black smoke, and several carpenters were constantly whittling, riveting, nailing and hammering. There were bundles of brand-new throwing spears lying around them... Everyone was working tirelessly, but strangely, not only were there no tragic expressions on their faces, but they were filled with joy!
What the hell does this happen?
While Song Mingyi was stunned, Sun Jie also woke up. However, his surprise at the quality of a professional soldier did not last long. The moment he cast his gaze outside the city, he shouted loudly: "The enemy is attacking! The whole army is ready for war!"
The sound of bangs on the city tower and outside the city suddenly sounded almost at the same time!
Enemies are attacking from all sides!
Looking around, there are enemies in the field of vision. Unarmored auxiliary soldiers and armored soldiers are mixed together, shouting and rushing towards the city wall.
Sun Jie shouted out a series of orders, which were transmitted from the tooth flag to the city walls on both sides and the barracks in front of the city gate. The messengers mounted their horses and quickly rushed down the corridor of the city wall and galloped towards the east gate...
Soon, the enemy rushed to the moat despite the rain of arrows from the city top. Bags of gravel, straw, wood—and the corpse that just fell! They were all pushed down, and several passages gradually formed at a speed visible to the naked eye...
Sun Jie, the battle-hardened commander-in-chief, knew at a glance that the enemy general had given a fatal order: the city must be breached before dark!
However, in this kind of forceful attack, the casualty ratio between the enemy and ourselves will remain at least 3:1, or even higher - this kind of chaotic battle is obviously much more beneficial to ourselves!
What happened today?
I seem to have swallowed a talisman and been possessed by Mr. Guan and gone crazy - okay, maybe something dirty got into the well... But what is going on with the enemy! As long as the siege lasts for a few more days, the city can be taken almost without any bloodshed. Why attack with such force regardless of casualties? This style of play is completely risking one's life!
Could it be...
Could it be that—the enemy knew—reinforcements were coming?
As the commander-in-chief, Sun Jie knew that except for the Anqing Prefecture Governor, friendly forces in other military towns could not be counted on at this time: the nearest ones were hundreds of miles away, not to mention that water from far away could not quench the thirst of nearby people - this It is not unusual for an army of hundreds of miles away to march for months - even if there is news of the crisis in the capital, who would dare to privately mobilize a large army to help without an express order from the court? "Secretly dispatching a large army to conspire against the emperor without the order of the court", this is a serious crime of clan execution!
But why did the thief do this crazy thing? Could it be that some high-ranking person in the court had some foresight and made plans in advance?
No matter what, there must be reinforcements anyway, otherwise the thief couldn't have gone crazy like he was possessed!
——The city is surrounded like a barrel. We can't get out, but the enemy's Tangqi can explore the distance! Well, that's the only reasonable explanation.
Looking hopefully into the distance, I couldn't see any dust - well, maybe it was far away, or maybe - the friendly forces were coming from another direction.
Sun Jie issued an order to other towers: "Pay attention to the distance, there may be reinforcements!"
After hearing this exciting news, the messengers simply rode along the city wall, riding their horses and shouting at the top of their lungs: "Watch the distance! There are reinforcements!"
Reinforcements!
This news once again greatly boosted everyone’s morale!
Everyone went into the battle regardless of their own safety, especially the civilians: they didn't know how to control the rhythm to save their physical strength. They all shouted like crazy, cursed, and threw: the copper and blacksmiths scooped up molten iron juice and poured it into the city. Splash, beside every asphalt pot, dung water pot, oil pot, boiling water pot, pile of bricks and stone, and the pitching mound, there is an endless stream of people, ladle after ladle, block after block, one after another, aiming at They were poured, smashed, and thrown on the head outside the city wall...until they collapsed from exhaustion and collapsed at the top of the city. When they were pushed aside by the guy behind who was already so excited that his face was distorted, the smile from the bottom of his heart was still frozen on his face!
Unlike professional soldiers, even though officers and veterans kept scolding and cursing "you are not allowed to check the results of the battle," civilians with no military knowledge could not help but poke their heads to see if they hit the target after every throw - Of course, many people were shot by enemy archers under the city.
But it’s nothing – there are plenty of civilians.
The space vacated by the dead, wounded and tired people was immediately filled by newcomers. On the contrary, experienced soldiers were mostly on hand to provide command and guidance, maintaining their physical strength very well.
Sun Jie and Song Mingyi chatted quietly for a while and quietly passed on the order.
Soon, apart from the need for precise cover shooting above several city gate barracks, the main work of the defense of the four walls began to be taken up by the government officials and civilians.
The generals under Guan Shengyun's command who were ordered to attack each sect were no less surprised than Sun Jie: What the hell is going on? !
*Longquan Temple and Laba Porridge
The Longquan Temple in Luzhou (called Hefei today) is far away from the city. It was once very large, covering an area of several hundred acres from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. It was named after the sweet spring in the temple. It is said that Ouyang Xiu evaluated it as "the thirteenth sweet spring in the world" after tasting it. However, the two plaques "Out General" and "In Phase" hung at the entrance and exit also show that this place is still somewhat close to the secular world and has not completely escaped from the world of mortals ~ so it is not unreasonable for the monks to participate in the defense of the city.
According to legend, the Buddha Sakyamuni practiced hard for six years before becoming a Buddha. He only ate very little food every day and became very weak. When two shepherdess by the Nilian River saw this, they gave him chylo made from cow's milk. The Buddha ate it and it restored his energy. From this, the Buddha realized that practicing hard will not lead to Buddhahood.
According to legend, the Buddha once tried to attain enlightenment through ascetic practice. He fasted for many days and almost collapsed. A shepherd girl fed him chyle made from milk. After regaining his energy, the Buddha walked to the Nilian River to bathe, and then came to a Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. After sitting for forty-eight days, he finally became enlightened and became a Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Therefore, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month has become an important Buddhist festival. Believers bathe the Buddha and eat Laba porridge to express their commemoration of the Buddha. According to Xu Ke's research, this custom was formed in the Song Dynasty. The earliest record is in Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" of the Southern Song Dynasty.
