Chapter 137: Double attack
Zhang Hu's troops came over and did not immediately organize an attack on the city. Most of the battles in this era were exactly the same. The soldiers and auxiliary soldiers... oh, well, the threatening common people were stationed outside the city first, and they were built on the spot. Various instruments.
Zhang Hu, like Guan Shengyun, was born in the border army. In the past, his main imaginary enemy was his Mongolian compatriots on horseback. There is nothing to say about his bravery. He dared to gallop hundreds of miles with ten men to capture the rebel leader alive. But when it comes to siege warfare, apart from the common sense that ordinary people know, such as the need to build a ladder to climb the city wall and the need to push a cart to charge in front of the enemy, they don't understand anything else. And Fang Ge is a serious inland officer. He has been in the camp since he was a child. In terms of riding horses and killing people in field battles, he is definitely better than Zhang Hu. However, he knows how to defend. If he knows how to defend, he knows how to attack. Everyone knows everything about it. However, Deputy Commander Fang - well, Zhang Hu proclaimed himself commander-in-chief, and Fang Ge, who was the first to lead almost the same number of regular troops to surrender, naturally became deputy commander - only ordered the construction of a large number of ladders, and other than that it was just a symbol He did a few city gate crashes randomly, but did nothing else. Facing the towering city wall of Langzhong, Deputy Marshal Fang seemed confident.
The defenders on the north and east walls of Boryeong Mansion looked fearfully at the overwhelming "thieves" outside the city: the vast majority were civilians, men, women, old and young, mixed together, and a little further away were thieves in military uniforms. , the Chinese army was stationed about three miles outside the city. A small number of civilians built shacks to shelter. Obviously, these were the small leaders of the cannon fodder army. Everyone is busy, and many people are digging siege ditches to prevent possible counterattacks in the city. The excavated soil was mixed with twigs and dead grass and put in sacks and piled nearby. It would be used to fill the trenches during the siege. This is a standard practice. The bag will be very heavy when filled with soil, and it will be difficult to run fast when carrying it on your back. When attacking a city, the generals don't care how many captured people will die, but too many dead bodies blocking the road will delay the fighter's opportunity. There are also many people cutting down trees on the mountains farther away. In more than a day, the originally lush hills turned into the shape of a man's head, revealing large and shocking yellow spots. Although Duan Yuanji ordered the walls to be fortified and the fields cleared, the surroundings were surrounded by mountains. If it really can't be burned, it can't be burned, otherwise Boryeong City will be trapped in a sea of fire and there will be no need to wait for the thieves to attack.
Wang Chao, the magistrate of Cangxi, simply lives on the north wall these days - although there are orders from Magistrate Duan, officials are not vegetarians. Defeat is of course a dead end, but as long as they win, someone will definitely jump. If you come out with all kinds of curses, even the prefect himself will definitely be sprayed with blood... Theoretically, if you curse, as long as you beat off the thief, the court will generally not do anything to you, but the curses from the officials are for The Holy Emperor heard that what people eat is a bowl of rice that is picky and picky! If the Holy One feels that any of the curse words are on point and has a prejudice against someone in his mind, then his future career will be very bad. Therefore, no matter what, you must perform well so that you can avoid leaving a bad impression in the mind of the Holy Emperor if you file a lawsuit in the future.
Wang Chao could hide in Fucheng, but he couldn't run to Chengdu. Duan Yuanji, who had no way to escape, would come over and look around worriedly for an hour or two every day. Another two or three days passed like this, and the people on the wall watched hundreds of ladders stacked up on the opposite side... However, the brutal attack did not start for a long time, as if the thieves were waiting for something.
The defenders did not issue weapons to the young men: their task was to throw stones - which required physical strength and was relatively more dangerous. The officers repeatedly emphasized: When the thieves come to attack, they must lean forward and throw stones. Any murderer who is afraid of death and dares to throw stones across the wall will definitely be thrown down as a stone! Instead of being forced by soldiers, Ning Ahu and many young men from Cangxi stayed on the wall day and night, eyes wide open as they tried to distinguish their relatives among the busy crowd like ants in the distance. Since the one or two young men who loudly called out the names of their relatives were mercilessly chopped down by the city guarding officers, no one dared to speak out anymore, but the sharp steel knives and the rushing blood could not stop the expectant eyes of each pair.
Unexpectedly, the fighting began in the southern counties. Cheng Xi's thousands of mobs seemed to emerge from the ground and rushed towards the southern county town like chickens.
Pengzhou in Shunqing Prefecture next door has been looted many times by these hungry people. Several large gaps have been ripped out of the city wall, completely losing its protective function. However, the residents have also accumulated rich experience: if there are few thieves, everyone will gather in several high-walled compounds to desperately protect their precious blood and sweat. If the intruders are numerous, they will simply help the old people. They fled to the northern wilderness with their children, and the furthest they could even go all the way to the outskirts of the southern county of Boryeong Province. People like Cheng Xi and the common people couldn't afford it: everything that could fill their stomachs was taken away, and the "treasures" such as straw mats and earthen jars that could be found became less and less each time. Tearing down the courtyard wall is a very labor-intensive task, and you will be so hungry that your chest will be pressed against your back in a moment. No one will put in that effort, and the most they will do is set a fire out of frustration. Interestingly, over time, the two sides developed a tacit understanding, and setting fire became an expression of dissatisfaction: they usually choose an independent house, and the fire will not spread like in Nanchong City - - If this place is really burned to the ground, the people will be completely dispersed if they can't survive, thus destroying this wonderful symbiotic relationship. Even if any of the people escaped slowly and were chased out, generally speaking, they would only be robbed of food, and very few deaths would occur. After spending two or three days in the wild, Cheng Xi and the others left dejectedly, and the common people came back with their old and young in tow, waiting with trepidation for the next comeback of the kings... just like the herbivores and predators on the grassland. The person’s dealings. What goes around comes around.
This time Cheng Xi and others came out in full force, carrying poles and sacks, pushing old radish baskets in wheelbarrows and carrying small ones on their backs... This scene frightened the people of Pengzhou: it seemed that no one knew what was happening in the mountains. What kind of catastrophe has happened? This is a completely unstoppable attitude!
Run away!
Unexpectedly, thousands of hungry people passed directly through the city, barely making any stop in Pengzhou County, and followed the people fleeing north to the southern counties.
The people fleeing the disaster took most of their belongings with them. As time went by, how could they outrun those guys who were leading the pursuit with only wooden sticks and hoes? Moreover, Cheng Xi's group was simply desperate. When they were extremely hungry, they dug holes and built stoves to light up fires to cook. After eating, they stopped caring about the stoves and stood up to continue walking north. There were still embers directly behind them. He put two handfuls of firewood in his stove, roasted or cooked them, ate a few bites in a hurry, and then rushed to catch up... Two days later, some people were finally caught up.
Unexpectedly, the hungry people not only did not rob, but greeted them enthusiastically: "Come on, let's hit the road together! Let's go to the south and have fun together. There are mountains of rice there, and you can eat it with your belly open!"
The defenders in the south had seen people fleeing from bandits many times, and they didn't pay much attention at first: most of the people wandered around in the suburbs for two days and then went back. A few young people would drop by the county town to have a look around to open their eyes. I would still leave for a day or two at most - at least there is a house to live in in Pengzhou, which is much better than sleeping on the streets in the south. When he felt that something was wrong this time and wanted to close the city gate, he could no longer stop the crowds that were coming: Cheng Xi led hundreds of armed "soldiers" who were either pushing carts or carrying burdens, and mixed in with the refugee team at the front. Flooded directly into the south gate of the southern county.
If it were a real fight with real swords and guns, these hundreds of people would never be a match for the defenders - regardless of combat experience, weapons and equipment, the defenders would have several times the advantage in terms of numbers alone. However, the task of this group of people was just to grab the door. The south was a small county and there was no barbican. Hundreds of people were crowded near the narrow south gate, and no matter how many officers and soldiers they had, they couldn't move. Thousands of refugees in the wilderness outside the south gate squeezed into the city desperately. Those who were the first to sneak into the city set a few fires... The defenders who didn't know what was going on suddenly collapsed. Lost. It can even be said that there was no decent battle at all, and the southern county was just lost in a muddle.
Zhou Jun, the magistrate of the southern county, saw the opportunity early, packed up his belongings, and fled all the way to Nanjinguan, supported by the fleeing defenders. Although the "Da Ming Code" clearly stipulates that local officials have the responsibility to defend their territory and will be punished with death if they lose their territory, Zhou Zhixian is not too worried - because he has made great contributions to the court, especially to Duan Zhifu! During Tu Yushi's stay in Boryeong Province, an accident occurred in the southern county: a wealthy man from Boryeong Province escaped from the flood, and his carriage ran wildly along the street of the county town and killed a child. The carriage sped away, and the baby's parents couldn't find the culprit. Just as Master Tu came over, of course he had to face his grievances - wasn't this a clear attempt to smear the prefect's face and cause trouble for him! Therefore, although Taizu had an ancestral motto that the common people could sue the officials, Zhou Zhixian also had a solution: he would go to his house every once in a while at night and bang on the door to "feel the sentiments of the people" and "Xiao Yiyi" with a strong voice and voice, and even arranged The official Minzhuang was told to "keep strict watch" - neither beating nor scolding, but there were people blocking your way wherever you went... In the end, he just suppressed the matter silently! With such a brave and loyal performance, Zhou Jun had no doubt that the prefect would protect him.
Nanjin Pass and Hexiguan are the two great passes guarding the south gate of Baoning Prefecture. Since it is known as the Great Pass, it is naturally much more difficult to defeat than a city with high walls. However, when they saw the defeated troops in the south, the defenders were still a little panicked: everyone knew that tens of thousands of thieves had come to the north of the city, and now Nannan County in the south had also fallen into the hands of the rebels. In order to cover up their cowardice, the defeated soldiers said something with a nose and an eye. The rebels numbered twenty to thirty thousand, even fifty or sixty thousand... The defenders had been in peace for a long time, and many of them had never fought in their lives. When they heard that there were so many thieves, they felt somewhat agitated. murmur.
However, everyone's fear soon dissipated: Boryeong Mansion called in reinforcements.
The reinforcements are not many, only two troops. The accent doesn't sound like someone from this province, the Shaanxi accent is very strong. But there's nothing surprising - in this era, most of the peasants and soldiers in the guard station were locals, while the soldiers in the field army included too many good guys who had committed crimes and were sent to the army. They were from everywhere. Both team officers have badges from the Boryeong Prefecture, and their words and deeds reflect the behavior of imperial officers and soldiers. These subtle differences are everywhere: from the subconscious attitude towards the officers to their daily routine. His habits, his walking pace... Anyone in the camp can tell at a glance that these cannot be faked. Especially the invisible aura they exude, which is not very obvious to one or two people alone, but as soon as they line up, you will know immediately that these are all good soldiers in the army, and they have all been on the battlefield and seen blood!
Most of the defenders were military households, and they were much more skilled with hoes than with knives. Therefore, although only a hundred fresh troops were allocated to each level, they immediately became the backbone of everyone. Don't look at the two team officers who both hold the title of general, but let alone General Qian, even the guard with the title of guerrilla talks to them politely. Zhou Zhixian asked them a few questions, but the two generals were illiterate. They only said that they were originally defenders of the Qingchuan Branch of Long'an Prefecture. They were transferred to Shunqing Prefecture to suppress the rebellion on the orders of Dusi Prefecture. Because they were passing through Baoning, Waist cards were issued from above. The army moved southward along the Xiaotong River, originally planning to assemble in Pengzhou. The two teams learned that the south was lost at Liubianyi, so they drove directly to Nanjinguan and Hexiguan to wait for further orders from their superiors. They took a short rest here and set off after receiving new orders.
Zhou Jun is just a county magistrate, and he cannot even know everything about his own government, let alone the military deployment of Sichuan Dusi Prefecture and neighboring prefectures. However, according to common sense, Master Duan will definitely ask for help from the Chengdu Mansion. It is not surprising that the Dusi Mansion mobilizes troops from the province to attack the thieves' nest. Although it was a misunderstanding and they were not Baoning soldiers, since the divine soldiers came to help them, how could Zhou Zhixian County be willing to let them go so easily? The eloquent man patted his chest and said that he would personally be responsible for explaining to Shang Feng, and that the Lizhou Guards of Boryeong Prefecture were in urgent need of talents. As long as they achieved military exploits, Master Duan would definitely come forward, and he might as well stay here in the future. Baoning Mansion... The two of them were hesitant at first and refused to agree. Mr. Zhou became anxious and simply made it clear: at worst, he will die in battle, and after receiving the pension, he will change his name and become President Qian directly! After much talk, they finally gave each of them a hundred taels of silver, and the two of them agreed half-heartedly. Mr. Zhou knew very well that as long as you get an inch, you can make progress. He personally selected ten of the most capable soldiers to stay with him as guards while the iron was hot. In order to make the guards work hard, Zhou Zhixian opened the silver box and gave each person a gift of twelve taels on the spot - ordinary soldiers had never seen such a lot of white official silver. Looking at the salivating eyes of these guys, Zhou Jun felt that he was safe With full protection.
