Chapter 61 A clever plan
According to the wishes of Guan Shengyun and most of the generals, the battle should be fought quickly to avoid long nights and dreams.
The war is coming, everyone is very excited, except Guo Qinglin who is a little depressed. He knew that no matter whether Shaanzhou could be captured or not, the biggest loss of manpower would definitely be his auxiliary barracks. In terms of the number of people under his command, his men were two or three times the total number of soldiers. The national team also understands that these people are consumables that must be sacrificed at any time, and they will be replenished at any time. However, here and now it was the first time that he had sent the cannon fodder he personally led to hell on a large scale, and he still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
In fact, not to mention Guo Qinglin, everyone including Guan Shengyun himself felt a similar sense of discomfort - in the battle, you were fighting to the death with knives and slashing each other, no one in this group was afraid of anyone, but at this moment, most of them had not been brutally attacked. Reality has tempered a heart of stone. Although they are rebels in the eyes of the court and gangsters in the eyes of the people, even they themselves believe that they are not good people in their hearts. However, they calmly look at hundreds of thousands of people. To sacrifice one's life, no one has yet developed such courage at this moment.
Gu Baisong was the youngest and didn't think so much. Seeing everyone gradually becoming silent, he said: "My brother told me not to kill too many people when driving the people away. He said that the dog officials would wait until most of the people ran into the city before closing the door. I tried my best to intercept as many as possible and use them as the lead in the siege. Unexpectedly, the dog officer left the door early and didn't let any of them in. There are tens of thousands of people here, so let's use them."
Luo Yonghao sighed: "A Song, everyone has thought of this. In fact, this is what I am most worried about - if there are only a few thousand or even ten thousand people outside the city, that would be the best. With a large army guarding it, I am not afraid that they will not Be obedient. But you see, there are always thirty or forty thousand people on the river beach right now, right? With just our few battalions, if there is really any drastic change, I am afraid it will be really difficult to suppress the chaos. What if the city defenders take advantage of the chaos and come out to fight? …”
All the generals were shocked when they heard this. Gu Baisong stuck out his tongue: "My dear mother, it's true!"
"It's better to be hungry for a while." Luo Shifan, who was filled with evil intentions, interjected.
After all, Guan Shengyun and the others are rogues, and there are not so many harsh rules in the camp where fathers do not speak to their sons. On the one hand, Luo Yonghao really dotes on his precious son, but on the other hand, he secretly wants his son to win more respect in the camp. The military discussion Shi always acquiesced to Luo Shifan's interruptions. When he heard what he said, his heart moved: "Oh? Go on."
Luo Shifan continued in an understatement: "The people ran out in a hurry, and they must not have brought much food. Let's attack the city. Anyway, we have to build some equipment. No matter how fast it is, it will always take two or three days. This period is actually the most dangerous: there is no food. On the first day, everyone was in shock. They were killed by the dog officers and soldiers again. They were frightened and dizzy. It should be okay. By the fourth or fifth day, they were half starved and had no energy to make trouble. But in the intervening days, sooner or later someone would Understand: starving to death or hacking to death is a death, and as long as someone instigates it, trouble is most likely to occur." He said, smiled, and added, "Both of us have tasted the feeling of hunger, and it is really uncomfortable. Otherwise, I won’t just vote for the commander-in-chief..."
"Bullshit! Where did all these odds and ends come from!" Luo Yonghao heard something was wrong with his precious son's tone of voice, so he shouted with a smile.
"Hahaha, it doesn't matter. It's not too late to rejoice that Guan has got the military master and his son! But thank God and the dog court for not letting you eat so much! Hahaha, my nephew, keep talking." Guan Shengyun said He responded with a smile.
The generals also burst into laughter, and Luo Yonghao also smiled bitterly.
Luo Shifan continued: "There is no need to say anything today. I think we can send someone to tell the people early tomorrow morning and give them military rations in the afternoon. From now on, we will do this every day and give them a meal. As long as there is hope that they will not starve to death, no one will He is willing to risk his life to hit the edge of the knife."
Having said this, Master Xiao Luo paused deliberately and looked around at the generals before continuing: "First, let them have something to hope for so that they won't get into trouble. Second, let them work out a plan for how to receive food. When we use them to attack the city, we will recruit people and three people according to their own rules. Hehe, not only will our military rations not be consumed, but we will also make money - the food they ran out without bringing is still in their house. Woolen cloth……"
"High!" Guan Shengyun slammed the table and praised loudly, "It's true that the tiger father has no dog son! The nephew is really good!"
Luo Yonghao twirled his beard and smiled without saying a word - everyone could see the pride in the military advisor's heart.
Early the next morning, Guan Shengyun specially assigned his own troops to Military Advisor Xiao Luo as escort. Surrounded by the armored Poxiao camp, Luo Shifan rode to the gathering place of the people on the shore.
Seeing the bright battle array of swords and guns approaching, the people shrank back in fear and crowded together. Seeing this, Luo Shifan hurriedly waved his hand to stop the soldiers. He rode alone to a place about ten paces away from the crowd and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Listen everyone, my commander-in-chief has said that we will give out food in the afternoon! Don't be afraid, everyone. Our army only kills dog officers, not common people! Make way, everyone, and let me pass..."
The frightened and doubtful people cowered and moved out of the way. Luo Shifan, who was wearing a long robe, lightly tucked his horse's belly, slowly stepped into the crowd, walked slowly, and shouted loudly: "Listen up, everyone, military rations will be distributed in the afternoon! During the food period, a group of ten people will sit down and wait! Everyone will get something to eat! Those who stand will not be given anything! Anyone who fights or crowds will be killed on the spot!"
In the blink of an eye, at the end of Shenchu (around three o'clock in the afternoon), more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers carried burdens, escorted by about a hundred soldiers, and actually brought food to the people: just a mixture of salt water and coarse gravel. Noodles. However, this is enough! The crowd burst into nondescript cheers such as "Your Majesty may live a long life", "God bless your Majesty the Bodhisattva", and even "Your Majesty will be a marquis forever" - a Marquis is a reward from the imperial court. How could a rebellious king get this? Waiting for the honor? But... no one can ask too much from these illiterate people, right?
When the auxiliary soldiers who brought food left, I don't know who took the lead. The common people sitting on the ground got up one after another, knelt down towards the backs of these cannon fodders who were the lowest in the eyes of Guan Shengyun and could be sacrificed at any time, and expressed their hearts sincerely. The cannon fodder auxiliary soldiers who were grateful and worthless in Guan Shengyun's eyes also experienced unprecedented honor under the people's fawning and respect, and they became more and more arrogant.
Obviously, the people of Ming Dynasty are forgetful: they have forgotten who drove them out of their homes just yesterday! The people of the Ming Dynasty are cowardly: they know clearly that on the surface, Guan Shengyun, Luo Yonghao and others are strong, but if everyone works together, everyone will break through the barriers in the blink of an eye. The people of the Ming Dynasty are shrewd: it is best to let others do the thing that leads to death, and it is best to enjoy the fruits of success yourself. The people of the Ming Dynasty were contented: even though they were far from having enough to eat, and they didn’t know whether they would be able to survive tomorrow, right now - they still had half a piece of mixed flour pancake in their hands!
Therefore, their fate is doomed.
While the cakes were being distributed to everyone, a small team of auxiliary soldiers had erected a wooden pole more than two feet high about a hundred paces away from the crowd. When everyone was biting into the pancakes and devouring their gratitude, Luo Shifan rode his horse over again, pointed at the wooden pole in the crowd and shouted: "Carpenters, blacksmiths, bamboo craftsmen, and those with skills, go to the pole and there will be meat to eat!" "
A few large pots of bone soup brought more than two hundred skilled technicians to Guoqinglin - the unique environment of Shaanzhou's transportation hub is a fertile ground for special talents.
The manufacturing speed of small and medium-sized siege equipment such as ladders, crash carts, and shield carts has been significantly accelerated. Thousands of new and old auxiliary soldiers with no skills but strong arms surrounded the south wall and dug a deep trench. The excavated earth was piled into an earth mountain more than two feet high. On the earth mountain, a wooden structure observation tower began to gradually take shape. Once completed, all the defenses in Shaanzhou City would be visible to Guan Shengyun. The auxiliaries even tried to build siege towers with the help of local skilled craftsmen...
Ma Wensheng didn't sleep well for two nights. I closed my eyes and muttered to myself whether the thieves would launch a night attack. I got up and turned around a few times without knowing what to do. I lay down in frustration, still tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. I finally drifted off and was disturbed by the crowing of the rooster at dawn. He woke up and ran to the top of the city with bloodshot eyes.
We had never encountered such a strong enemy in a hundred years, so everyone was very nervous. We all knew that Master Ma had almost become a psychopath, so we tried to stay away from him as far as possible. However, some unlucky guy was finally caught. Just after midnight that day, Ma Wensheng discovered a group of guys sleeping in during the day in the temporary tent at the base of the city wall! The furious Madam went crazy and ordered his followers to whip their heads and whip them. He yelled and cursed that he would beat these idiots to death - until he woke up in a daze from sleep. They started shouting, and Master Ma realized that these were soldiers on night duty taking turns to catch up on their sleep.
Ma Wensheng had read several military books and knew that the key to city attack and defense lay in the city gate, so he was always worried that the soldiers would collude secretly to secretly open the city gate and surrender to the enemy. So he sent his personal guards to various gates to keep an eye on them, even sending people to the north gate where there was no sign of the enemy at all - who knows if the thieves will try to catch him! These guys who were accustomed to being arrogant took advantage of the opportunity to boss around. They all wanted to show off their skills in front of Lord Ma. They came up with all their fantastic ideas to "defeat the enemy" and made the gatekeepers miserable.
The most unlucky ones are the unemployed and beggars in the city. According to normal practice, these people should be organized immediately and allowed to participate in the defense of the city in exchange for two full meals a day. Mr. Ma was worried that this group of people was unreliable, so he arrested them all indiscriminately and put them all in jail - in the eyes of Ma Wensheng, who had become the only way to catch "rebels", everyone was suspicious. Soon, the prison boss began to complain, and hundreds of mouths were opened overnight. If the state government did not allocate more food, people in the prison would probably starve to death.
Although Pan Ding and Jing Xiangshan repeatedly assured that the grain stored in the state warehouse was enough to last for four to five months, and a little food could last for more than half a year, Ma Wensheng still asked the government officials to go door to door to search for grain and catch young men - the government officials naturally took chicken feathers When the arrows are ordered, they will be robbed and taken by force to enrich their own pockets. If you are not satisfied, they will be labeled as a big hat needed for city defense and demolish your home, causing Shaanzhou City to be in a state of chaos.
Seeing that the watchtower in the south of the city was almost completed, Ma Wensheng became even more frightened and forced Wang Jian to think of countermeasures. Wang Jian, who had never really fought in any battle, thought a lot, and finally suggested selecting elite soldiers to go out of the city at night to counterattack with fire. As soon as he heard that the city gate was going to be opened, Ma Wensheng didn't even think about it. Instead, he asked Wang Jian to lead people to the city in the middle of the night to steal the camp!
Wang Jian was dumbfounded: If we don't leave the city gate, can we still come back? Isn’t this a clear plan to die? Who would do it? Besides, it’s crazy to burn someone else’s house and build it again. Hundreds of lives are exchanged for a wooden frame. !
Ma Wensheng suddenly felt that this method was really good, and forced Wang Jian to "act according to the plan." Wang Jian could only scare him: hundreds of elites were trapped by the enemy, and there would be no backbone for defense when the thieves attacked the city! Ma Wensheng then changed his mind and said that he would release the gang of vagrants and beggars he had just captured to attack at night, and let them prove their loyalty to the court with practical actions. Wang Jian spent a long time explaining: Those guys didn't have any training, and they were blind at night and couldn't see anything. It would be useless to catch them by their front feet and turn around and throw them out to die... Of course, it was a waste of time. So that night, Ma Wensheng stood on the wall angrily and watched a group of beggars crying and wiping their tears as they were led down the city. After he got off the wall, he lit a torch and threw away his sword and gun, shouting for the king to spare his life and ran to the thieves - the auxiliary troops of Guoqinglin. More than two hundred cannon fodder were sent!
Of course Mr. Ma was right: he had long seen that these guys were unstable factors, so he arrested them! Then continue to curse. Wang Jian was really at his wits' end, so he went to the state treasury to check the equipment. On the one hand, he was treating a dead horse as a live horse doctor, and on the other hand, he was actually a lunatic who was hiding from the horse. Unexpectedly, after wandering around, he actually found several big killer weapons covered with dust in the corner - bed crossbows!
As the name suggests, the bed crossbow is a heavy weapon assembled by fixing several large hard bows on a launching base similar to a bed frame. What Wang Jian found were several double-bow bed crossbows, consisting of two bows, which were placed opposite each other at the front and rear ends of the thick crossbow arms. When launching, a thick rope with iron hooks at both ends should be used to hook one end of the two crossbow strings and the other end of the winch. More than ten people work together to turn the axle, open the crossbow strings and buckle them on the machine teeth, and then place the huge special crossbow arrows - - It's a spear with iron fletching installed on the back - aim at the target and hit the trigger with a sledgehammer (it can't be pulled manually). The iron spear shoots out of the air and is indestructible within three hundred steps!
Wang Jian was overjoyed and immediately ordered his soldiers to install several powerful weapons on the south city wall.
