Chapter 136 Baoning
Of course, Fang Ge already knew about Cheng Xi's group in the south of Baoning. If Fang Sanhuai was still leading the army, these brothers from Lizhou Guard should have been transferred to quell the rebellion. Unfortunately, while his adoptive father was imprisoned, Cheng Xi was robbed at the Southern County Sheriff's Office. Fang Sanhuai was charged with "conspiracy to commit rebellion" - if he had been charged with any other crime, the civil servants would have allowed him to "do meritorious service". With this big hat on, everyone knows in their hearts: the Lizhou Guards are in panic, and Fang Ge, who can convince the crowd, is full of hatred and cannot be counted on. If someone is promoted to the front line to forcefully lead the army, the soldiers will not buy it, and he will be the same as the refugees. If they meet face to face, there is a high probability that they will actually kill officials and rebel! So no one dared to think about it. In order to avoid causing any trouble, they can't be fed... Duan Yuanji also knows that dragging it out like this is definitely not an option. Sooner or later, there will still be chaos, but it is temporary, and it cannot be done because he has to replace a stranger. Wu Fu redressed his injustice and immediately made himself into a mess. Therefore, the two most powerful field battalions of Baonyeong Prefecture were left to starve in the north of the Prefecture. Prefect Duan deployed most of his remaining troops in the southern counties, and the rest guarded Nanjing Pass and Hexi Pass: as long as Shunqing thieves don't come to harass Baoning Mansion. Even if they cause trouble to the neighboring mansion, do whatever you like.
In order to capture Baoning Prefecture in one fell swoop, Fang Ge sent General Lutong and several capable men to avoid the main channel of the Jialing River, follow the Xiaotong River directly to Pengzhou, and make contact with Cheng Xi. Fang Ge could guess with his toes what Cheng Xi's group lacked most right now, so he specially made way for a few people to carry dozens of kilograms of white salt from the official warehouse in Jianzhou. The checkpoint of Yuanji in the upper part of this waterway is located at Liubianyi, with a garrison of troops. But Lutong has an acquaintance there. Everyone had sympathy for each other, but after General Lu made the promise that "the army will not attack", several military envoys not only did not encounter any obstruction, but also got new waist badges from Boryeong General and exchanged several coins at the inn. An official horse and a swift ship.
Cheng Xi in Fenghuang Mountain is having a very hard time these days. The fire in Nanchong burned Fucheng into a rubble field. The fire in Pengzhou was not that complete, but it was also withered into a mess. After being robbed a few times, it was of little value: there were too few people to rob it, and too many people left to rob it. It was not worth it - the harvest from the last robbery was so pitiful that on the last day of the return trip, most of the brothers returned to the mountains hungry. Fortunately, the old and weak women and children opened up some wasteland in the mountains, dug wild vegetables, picked wild fruits, dug rat holes, hunted birds and snakes to deal with it, and finally no one died of starvation - but because they could not get salt, everyone was weak. Yanting in Tongchuan Prefecture to the west is a salt-producing area, only three hundred miles away. However, this distance is as far away as the horizon to Cheng Xi and this group of beggar refugees.
Like Duan Yuanji, Cheng Xi also knew that continuing like this was not a long-term solution: the two hastily built wooden fences were the only barriers to the lair. If there were an official attack, they would not be able to stop it for an hour or two. And among the thousands of people on my side, there are only about 300 swords and guns in total. They have never been able to conduct any battle training. The orders of the golden drum flag are even more unnecessary. The only reason why they can still survive now is that they have no weapons. People come to fight. So he was overjoyed to see Fang Ge's military envoy and dozens of kilograms of salt, and agreed to attack Baoning Mansion from a double attack. Zhang Hu was very happy with the conditions offered by Cheng Xi: join the gang.
Duan Yuanji didn't do nothing: he ordered Wang Chao, the magistrate of Cangxi County, to abandon the county seat and lead his best troops to help defend Baoning Prefecture. Cangxi is definitely undefendable - by water, the Jialing River passes through the city, by land, Yuntaiguan is very popular, and there are roads in all directions. Even if there are four or five battalions, it is impossible to block it, let alone none.
Previously, in order to strengthen the defense of the south, more than half of the defenders from Tieshanguan and Liangshanguan were successively transferred to the south. After hearing the news that Cangxi had been abandoned, the defenders left behind in the two places shouted that no one was willing to stay and die, and they simply transferred them all back to Fucheng.
Just strengthen the walls and clear the fields.
Jianbiqingye is a written language. To put it bluntly, when implemented, it means destroying everything: all the grain stored in each family is searched and taken away, farm tools and furniture that can be taken away are destroyed, and those that cannot be taken away are destroyed. Wells that can be filled are filled, and those that cannot be filled are polluted. Or simply throw the dead bodies of humans and animals into it - although it is impossible for the thieves to be short of water due to the Jialing River, it will make the thieves spend more effort, well, especially the feeling of throwing dead bodies into the well where others drink water is indeed It was great, so the government officials worked very hard... Finally, they set a big fire to prevent the thieves from sleeping in the house with a roof! Nothing was left for Zhang Thief, hoping that these guys could smash their heads on the high wall of Baonyeong Mansion and bleed, and then retreat to find trouble for others.
If it had been him and another place, Duan Zhifu's approach was undoubtedly the best policy, but unfortunately he missed one point: including himself, most of the years of deprivation of Lizhou Guard and thousands of surrounding households by the civil servants were concentrated in Jianzhou - -Due to floods, Tu Jichun spent a full year and a half in Sichuan Province. Not long after he returned to Beijing to resume his duties, no one had time to sell them secretly. In addition, the imperial court's own strategic reserves of grain and grass in the important military area in northern Sichuan, Zhang Hu's troops He, Fang Ge and others had no worries about food - the soldiers had two meals of solid food, and even the people who were being held hostage could have a thick meal of multigrain porridge every day.
Wang Chao took all the young men Cangxi could capture to Baoning Mansion to help with the defense. Ning Along is a strong blacksmith, so of course he cannot be let go. However, Ning A'long's 12-year-old brother Ning A'hu disappeared in the chaos. Aaron's eyes turned red and he went to look for it, "You want to escape? Are you going to surrender to the thieves!" The iron ruler of the yamen servant was slapped hard on his back, and then a long rope was tied to his right arm, whether he knew him or not. Neighbors and villagers were led in groups to Boryeongfu, turning back three times at a time.
Two nights later, Ning Aaron and several friends were assigned to watch the night on the north wall. Aaron, who was night blind, still vaguely saw a blur of golden light in the distance - Aaron knew that it was a raging fire fifty miles away. A burning hometown. Kill the thief? The reason for killing thieves is to protect the family! The thieves haven't come yet. Are they going to burn my house down first? Then who am I killing the thief for? Even if the thief is killed, who will pay for my family? Ning Aaron couldn't figure out these reasons. Thinking of his younger brother whose life or death was uncertain, two lines of tears silently slid down his dirty face, and Ning A'long cried. The companions beside him also began to sob. "My home, my mother..." Someone collapsed on the wall and cried.
"Snapped"!
"ah!"
The muffled sound of the scabbard being drawn on the body was accompanied by screams, and then the curses of the commander and the flag officer suddenly sounded: "That straight bitch* is ruining the morale of the army. If you scream again, I will chop you into a wild ass with one knife." !" Judging from his accent, Xiaoqi Guan is from another province, maybe he came from the army.
"Master, my mother is still outside! Please be merciful and let me go out to find my mother. I will kowtow to Master." The companion who was beaten refused to give up and begged.
"Pa", there was another slap from the scabbard on his cheek: "Fart! Looking for your mother? If you can find your wife, I will let you out! Shut up!" In the light and shadow of the torch, the face that flickered in and out showed an evil smile.
"Please have mercy, Master Jun." A few more knelt down.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu My dad is also outside."
"My mother-in-law and two children are outside, Master Jun..."
There was a commotion on the wall, and the people kneeling on the ground obviously frightened the little flag officer. He forced himself to calm down and shouted: "Shut up, you guys! Do you want to join the bandits and rebel?"
Everyone did not dare to shout anymore and cried softly. Hearing the commotion here, the men a few battlements away became commotion, and some began to plead with their own battlement leader, and then almost the entire north wall became somewhat chaotic...
"Beep..." A sharp whistle sounded. Not a moment later, Mr. Qian, who was on duty at night, led a dozen personal guards and strode over, holding torches in one hand and shining steel knives in the other, shouting: "Ying Xiao! Kill!"
"Ah!" Ning A'long, who was kneeling on the ground and sobbing silently, heard a scream in his ears, and then half of his face became hot, and hot blood splashed on his face - the little flag officer slashed at his companion beside him, twitching. The corpse fell on Ning Along's body.
Several more screams were heard not far away, and everyone kneeling on the wall fell to the ground, daring not to make a sound anymore.
"If you dare to make noise and disturb the morale of the army, this is the fate you will receive from pigs and dogs! Please keep your eyes peeled and watch carefully!"
"Cut off these heads and push the bodies down to feed the dogs!"
Ning A'long, who was lying on the ground, felt a lightness on his body. He secretly opened his closed eyes and looked sideways. Xiao Qiguan dragged away the body that was lying on him and rubbed the bloody knife forward and backward on the sole of his shoe. After rubbing it, he put it back into its sheath, pulled out the Jie Shou knife from his waist, squatted on the ground, and cut the companion's head with all his strength. Several other soldiers a few steps away were doing the same thing. For some reason, at that moment Ning A'long no longer felt fear, and opened his eyes wide as he watched him pull his hair into a bun and lift his head to get up. The head's mouth was open in the firelight, and the blood foam dyed his tongue, teeth and chin a shocking red. Tears flowed down his half-open eyes, and two bright lights burst out on his face. Perhaps it was the reflection of the torch, but there were two clusters of flames burning in Ning's tearful eyes.
"What are you looking at! Push him down! If you make trouble again, I will cut off your dog's head!" Xiaoqiguan shouted.
"I'll pickle all the heads! Let's report the merits together after we kill the thieves!" was the voice of the leader Qian.
Ning A'long and his companions got up silently and worked together to push the headless body down the city wall. The moment their eyes met, Ning A'long also saw two balls of fire in his companion's eyes.
Two days later, endless crowds of people came from the north. Zhang Hu's attack began.
*Straight bitch, there are two interpretations of this word. According to the explanation in "A Dream of Red Mansions", "straight" means "entering". Another argument seems to be more reasonable: "Zhi" is a pseudonym for "value", which means "selling".
