The sun is shining brightly
The weather was as hot as a fire, scorching the earth.
This hot breath made the vibrant trees wilt unbearably. The insects stopped making noises, and only the birds hiding in the shade were chirping. I don’t know if they were complaining about this damn weather. Too hot.
Huaibei, Xiangcheng
Inside the county government hall
County magistrate Feng Minghe was pacing back and forth, looking uneasy.
The laws of the Qing Dynasty clearly stated: Those who lose their city and land should be beheaded.
Now that the army of thieves is attacking, with the height of Xiangcheng's city wall, it is difficult to stop a small group of bandits and robbers, let alone those vicious rebels?
Even if the court considers that the rebels are strong and will give him a lighter sentence, no matter how lenient he is, he will definitely not be able to escape if he is dismissed from his position.
I think of Feng Minghe, who studied hard in the cold window, spent more than 20 years, and endured several years before he achieved this real qualification. Unexpectedly, before I had time to warm up my seat, something like this happened. How could I not be upset?
It would be nice if these rebels could succeed, but I'm afraid...it will be the second Wu Sangui...! "Feng Minghe couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Although transportation in this era is inconvenient and information dissemination is slow, as long as you are willing to understand, you will get relevant information.
Although the rebels continued to kill and gained momentum, they were only for the enemies of the Manchu Qing court and could be said to have no harm to the literati and common people. If these rebels can withstand the Manchu troops, then maybe they can succeed.
And, most importantly, it is the master of the Han family.
As far as the reputation of being an anti-thief is concerned, the thief Zhang Rui is indeed successful. Putting aside common sense, Feng Minghe was actually more willing to rebel against the thieves and create a new Han Dynasty.
After all, only those who have served as officials can personally experience and understand what a joke it is that Manchus and Han people are all related to each other.
"Master, Master, Wang Shoubei is here..." the voice of the servant came from outside the hall.
Hearing this, Feng Minghe, who was still wandering in his mind, quickly came back to his senses and hurriedly ordered: "Quick, please come quickly..."
"Oh, no, you lead the way, and I'll go out to meet Wang Shoubei." After giving instructions to the boy, Feng Minghe tidied up his appearance and prepared to leave.
However, before Feng Minghe had time to walk out of the hall, he only saw Xiangcheng guard Wang Zhizheng in military uniform walking over quickly at this time.
When they met, the two exchanged greetings, and then Wang Zhizheng asked: "Master Feng, just now our army has sent an urgent report, saying that the army of thieves is approaching, and it is less than two days' walk from my prime minister's city. How many days ago? I sent a request for reinforcements to Xuzhou days ago, but until now I have not received news of reinforcements. I wonder what the court's plan is?
"Don't worry, Lord Wang. In fact, I have just received news from the court and was about to send someone to tell you. I didn't expect you to come over just now." Feng Minghe comforted:
"Zhennan General Fu Master has sent the order. The imperial court is stepping up the mobilization of troops and horses. At this time, it is fully coming to support Xiangcheng. However, you also know that the mobilization of the army cannot be completed in an instant."
"As for the news we just received from the forward troops of the imperial reinforcements, they said that they will not arrive in Xiangcheng until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest." Feng Minghe said with his hands behind his hands.
Feng Minghe's words made Wang Zhizheng frown. He quickly pushed away the people around him and said with a worried face: "According to Mr. Feng, the journeys of the rebels and reinforcements are almost the same. If the imperial troops and horses can If we arrive first, we will naturally feel more at ease. What we are most afraid of now is that the rebels will arrive first. Even if they are only an hour away, with our strength, it will be difficult to withstand their attack. "
"I can understand Mr. Wang's worries. In fact, even if you don't tell me, I also understand that with our one-foot-long city wall, it would be difficult to stop even a small thief. We don't even dare to think about blocking the army of rebels." Feng Minghewang Looking at Wang Zhizheng, he also replied helplessly.
Hearing Feng Minghe's words, Wang Zhizheng couldn't help but glance at Feng Minghe.
Although this Feng Minghe is also a person who passed the Eight-part Liberal Arts Examination, he is much better than those sour scholars who can only point fingers at others but have no ability to decide the issue themselves.
"That's true. Now we can only pray that the imperial troops and horses will arrive soon. As long as reinforcements appear, even if the rebels arrive first, they will not dare to attack rashly again. Then we will be safe." Wang Zhizheng said.
"That's it." Feng Minghe nodded in agreement, and then asked Wang Zhizheng: "I wonder how prepared Mr. Wang is for the city defense?"
"I have now gathered the soldiers under the battalion and the flood soldiers around Xiangcheng back to the city. At present, including the city defense soldiers, our green camp soldiers have reached more than a thousand people. In addition to the soldiers from various places, Xiangyong and Lord Feng from the All major households have recruited militiamen. If the entire city is fully defended, there will be 1,600 people nearby." Wang Zhizheng gave a rough report.
"If one thousand six hundred people are surrounded by ten times as stated in Sun Tzu's Art of War, then the rebels will need at least sixteen thousand people to dare to attack Xiangcheng. Such a huge army will certainly not be able to move quickly. Even if The rebels arrived in Xiangcheng first, so they probably won't be too early, and the court's reinforcements should have arrived by then." Feng Minghe couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief because of Wang Zhizheng's data.
"Master Feng, we have so many people, but fighting is not calculated this way." Wang Zhizheng, who just wanted to praise Feng Minghe for not being a bookworm, sighed and said.
"You have to understand that, for the most part, the militiamen and rural warriors are no different from ordinary people. That is to say, they have no fighting ability. The only ones with fighting ability are combat soldiers, and among our more than a thousand green camp soldiers, the only ones who can be called combat soldiers are I have five hundred soldiers in my camp, and among my five hundred soldiers, only three hundred are really strong. As for those flood soldiers and city defense soldiers, they are just a little more powerful than civilians, and compared to those rebels who have fought in many places. Talk about it, but it’s not enough.”
"So, we are still in danger?" Feng Minghe's face, which had just relaxed, showed tension again.
"Yes, if no reinforcements arrive, our Xiangcheng can be attacked by the rebels at any time." Although he was unwilling, Wang Zhizheng still had to nod and admit.
"Then how many rebels can our current city defense force block and how long can they attack?" Feng Minghe asked.
"A conservative estimate is that three thousand rebels will attack in one day or half a day." Wang Zhizheng replied.
"Of course, if Mr. Feng can find more people to help with the city defense, this data may be more reliable."
