The rebel soldiers who entered the city through the underground cave already knew that after dawn, the second general would order an attack on the city. As long as they did their best to hold back the dog officers and soldiers in the city, it would be a great achievement.
After the army breaks the city, they will naturally be able to receive a large amount of silver, and each person will also get a woman. This generous condition makes everyone fascinated, and they are also willing to charge into battle for the second general.
Baoming's energy has been exhausted, even the Dog Emperor has passed away. Seeing that Marshal Zhang is about to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, if these little pawns don't work hard, they will miss the title of the founding hero of the country.
After holding on to this idea, no matter how many dog officers and soldiers come, they will not be afraid, but will feel joy from the bottom of their hearts. Being able to hold back as many dog officers and soldiers as possible means that their contribution will be greater.
Especially the flesh and blood of these common people, every one of them should be killed. First, they should be skinned and cramped, then tortured, and finally, the sky lanterns can be lit to relieve their hatred.
Many people in the rebel army have been bullied by the police. Today, the road between enemies is narrow. The house is so big that there is no chance to turn around and run away.
"Go to hell with all the dog officers and soldiers!"
"Kill all the dog officers and soldiers!"
The rebel soldiers uttered harsh words and pounced on them like hungry tigers.
"Hmph! Do you still dare to rebel?"
"It's really asking for death!"
We can't defeat you outside the city, but we can't let you run wild in the city.
No matter what the situation is outside, this place is still Ming Dynasty’s territory, and it’s not up to you to do whatever you say.
The two sides had deep grudges, and after meeting, they were naturally extremely jealous. They couldn't help but talk nonsense, and they clashed with each other and fought together.
After a fight, the officers and soldiers discovered that the group in front of them was by no means a mob, and their combat power was considerable.
They are all experts, and they can make preliminary judgments just from the opponent's moves and strength.
If it were Liu Min, a farmer who had just been recruited by the bandit army, he would definitely not have such skills.
To be a traitor, just being "cruel" is not enough.
If you want to be "handy", you must never kill someone.
But from the murderous intent and movement skills of these thieves, one can feel that the other party is determined to be a group of veteran killers.
Maybe each person has several, or even dozens of lives.
Otherwise, even after seeing the officers and soldiers for a few rounds, they would not be able to withstand even the first three blows.
Now that we have encountered an old hand, we cannot let these thieves go.
What if we really let him run into the streets and face unarmed people?
"Go and report to the commander-in-chief quickly!"
Seeing that one of his subordinates had been hacked to the ground by the bandits, the leader of the team hurriedly ordered that the incident here must be reported as soon as possible, otherwise it would be difficult to contain the incident when it happened.
Then there was the need to get reinforcements as soon as possible. There were more and more thieves and soldiers in front of them. It seemed that there were more soldiers than the officers and soldiers entering the hospital. It seemed that there were sounds of fighting outside the hospital.
But we can't solve it in the courtyard, and we have no time to care about what happens outside the courtyard. If we don't kill all the thieves in the courtyard, sooner or later they will fight their way out of the courtyard and into the street.
"What a beautiful thought! Go ahead and dream! You will be the heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals! This morning will be the end of you!"
Although the middle-aged man at the head had been injured in many places, he was still in good spirits and his physical strength was not reduced at all. He was holding a waist knife and charged forward.
Once you enter this courtyard, you will never get out again!
Not only the people in the courtyard, but also the entire people in Nanyang City will be executed!
This is what happens when you fight against the rebels. Only in this way can you serve as a warning to others and make the surrounding prefectures and counties look back.
"You thief are just daydreaming! Grandpa, I've had enough to eat and drink, but I'm worried that I don't have a dog to play with!"
Although the troops were already at a disadvantage, the commander who led the team, General Wu Zhuang, refused to admit defeat.
The bandit army has a large number of troops outside the city. No matter how many people can be hidden in the courtyard this time, there will not be thousands.
Just a few dozen or hundreds of people, just broken into pieces, how can they be allowed to cause big storms and waves?
"Brothers! Listen up! The dog thieves who died in the yard are our men's gains! Kill all the thieves and go to the commander-in-chief to collect the reward!"
Although Wu Zhuang was a rough man, he had led troops for many years and knew how to boost morale at critical moments.
Now everyone in the garrison knows that there are 200,000 taels of silver in the Yamen of Nanyang Mansion, and this much silver is the reward for them.
It's hard to find corpses outside the city, but you have to keep an eye on those in the city, especially those under your nose.
These thieves who came to seek death were all given money. Who would dislike too much money these days?
"Okay! Kill all the thieves!"
Wu Zhuang's men were naturally elated after hearing such words. They went into battle just to make a living and earn some money at the same time.
In the past, I ate the last meal but not the next one. Now that there is money in the treasury, we must find ways to put it into our pockets under the premise of being reasonable.
Wang Jiazhen, the prefect of Nanyang, was an open-minded man and offered them a silver reward of half a tael of silver per day. But this is not high enough. If you can kill a few thieves in the city, you can even earn money from playing with women.
Although the two sides belong to different camps, to put it bluntly, they are both fighting for money. Both sides know that Nanyang City has a large amount of real money hoarded.
Such a large amount of money is completely worth the two armies' confrontation. It is impossible to fight to the end without deciding the winner, because neither of them is willing to give up the silver mountain to the other party.
How many 200,000 taels of silver did King Tang leave?
If there are two thousand taels in one box, then it is one hundred boxes.
Enough to pile up to form a hill!
However, the rebels believed that all the property in Nanyang City must be snatched away.
Conservatively speaking, there are at least 250,000 to 300,000 taels.
Thinking about it this way, Nanyang City is completely worth fighting.
Only after capturing Nanyang City first and rewarding the three armies with the food and wages in the city can we attack the nearby Runing Mansion to the east, or go north to capture Ruzhou.
Zhang Dingguo's main purpose was not to eliminate the official troops in the city, but to rob Nanyang City of food and grass. Without supplies for a long time, the rebel army would quickly reduce its combat effectiveness.
To be precise, only by continuously capturing cities where large amounts of money and food are stored can the tens of thousands of rebels stay in Henan for a long time to fight against the dog army.
Whether it is a rebel army or an official army, if there is no food and salary to support it, it will collapse over time.
Zhang Dingguo even considered the importance of food and salary, so he put the elimination of the dog army in a secondary position.
He also knew that it was impossible to eliminate the Gouguan army in Henan by himself.
Unable to annihilate even half of the dog officer army, they could only try to contain the opponent.
The primary task of their partial division is to attract the attention of the official army and share the pressure on their main force.
But only by being able to survive in the vast land of Henan can it play its due role.
"...What did you say?"
After hearing the report of the messenger, Zhang Guoqin, the commander-in-chief, grabbed the opponent's collar.
Suddenly, thieves appeared in many places in the city, numbering no less than a thousand.
If the report is true, what's the point?
In most places it is not clear where the bandits come from.
However, a hole was found in one place, which meant that the thieves had already started digging the hole.
These days' sieges are all done deliberately to conceal their excavation activities and distract their own energy.
At this time, although there were a large number of defenders at the top of the city, they were all defending the large band of thieves attacking the city and could not divide their forces to rush for reinforcements.
If we forcefully divide our troops, we are afraid that the city will be lost. If the city is lost, the entire city will also be lost.
Zhang Guoqin is now riding a tiger, unable to get off, hesitant and unsure of where to go.
Standing on the city tower, you can also see the troubles happening everywhere in the city.
Fires were already burning in some places, thick smoke was rising into the sky, and the crowds were chaotic.
After turning around and looking at the massive rebel offensive outside the city, Zhang Guoqin suddenly felt that Nanyang City could no longer be saved.
It was too late to protect himself wisely. He had killed so many thieves before, the total number was no less than four to five thousand.
At this moment, the bandit army no longer even had the will to surrender, they were only thinking about capturing themselves alive.
Even if he is willing to surrender, the other party is unwilling to accept him, and he will inevitably die in the end.
Now Zhang Guoqin really felt that he was determined to resist and was powerless to save himself.
Although the rebel army still failed to attack the city, the defenders were already defeated.
Because the weapons that can stop the enemy are headed by gold juice, which is obtained from the people in the city.
If the people were massacred by thieves who emerged from the caves, the supply of gold juice would also be a problem.
Without enough gold juice, it is absolutely impossible to defend Nanyang City.
"General Rong... I hope that the General Rong will quickly send troops to wipe out the bandits in the city!"
Wang Jiazhen, the prefect of Nanyang, rushed to the city in panic and begged Zhang Guoqin to make a decision immediately.
"Prefect! Look outside the city! If I divide my troops at this time, do you think the top of the city can be defended?"
Zhang Guoqin did not argue, but asked Wang Jiazhen to see the actual situation with his own eyes before making a decision.
"...Hiss...this...what should we do???"
There were already dense crowds of thieves outside the city, and the shouts of killing were shaking the sky and the earth. Wang Jiazhen was dizzy, and he was even more frightened.
"That's it! I will separate four hundred soldiers and young men, and cooperate with the existing troops everywhere to kill them. If we can see all the thieves in the city wiped out, then the city can still be defended!"
Zhang Guoqin thought for a while and decided to deal with the thieves in the city first.
If the top of the city is really fine, but something big happens inside the city, then they will feel even more regretful. ,
Since the thieves came out of a hole in the ground, they would definitely not have horses with them.
There are many war horses in the city, and the horsemen can charge and kill at will.
If a small band of thieves came to attack with only infantry, they would not have much chance of winning against the defenders who were equipped with chariots and horses.
On the contrary, if we can deal with it properly in time, we can extinguish the flames of the bandit army that has not yet begun to gain momentum.
Since chariots and horses are of no use in defending the city, they might as well be used in internal affairs within the city.
"That's great! Thank you so much, Commander-in-Chief, for your help!"
Wang Jiazhen still has illusions about sticking to Nanyang, although the possibility has been greatly reduced.
"But the prefect must cooperate with the general's troops, and he must give up some houses!"
After calming down, Zhang Guoqin cleared his mind in time and came up with a good idea.
"Okay! Cooperate naturally!"
The defenders are Wang Jiazhen's only hope at the moment. As long as they can defend Nanyang City, they can do anything they want.
Zhang Guoqin's method is very simple and will probably be effective. That is to take advantage of the dry weather...
set fire!
That's right!
Burn down all the houses where thieves appear!
It would be best if they could be burned to death directly. The thieves who ran into the streets would be killed by chariots and horsemen.
Seeing that it was almost impossible to defend the city, Zhang Guoqin no longer had so many worries. He burned down all the houses in Nanyang City and would not leave it for the bandits to enter.
It has not rained for more than ten days around Nanyang City. Both the trees and the houses have been dried to the core by the scorching sun. They can be set on fire.
The people in the city would not have expected that before the rebels had been wiped out, their hope, General Zhang, would order Nanyang City to be set on fire...
At first, the fires were lit in less than ten places in the city, but then the fires grew larger and larger until they completely lost control, and eventually turned into an unprecedented fire.
The entire street was burning, and people were running away. The thick smoke climbed thousands of feet into the sky and was clearly visible more than ten miles away.
But what followed was what was expected. The thieves could not withstand the fire and either returned to the cave or rushed to the street.
The officers, soldiers and young men on the street have been waiting for a long time. Their task is to wait and see. Where there are many people with swords, it means there are large groups of thieves.
Anyone who attacks the common people must be a traitor and there is no doubt that they should be killed.
Neither side would let the other go easily, so they fought desperately in the fire.
Wang Jiazhen was a civil servant and did not know how to lead troops to fight, so he could only lead the only troops at hand to take care of the food and silver in the treasury.
Especially the house where food was stored was watered inside and outside, as well as on the eaves. Except for the food, which was not wet, water was dripping everywhere.
If there is not enough water, then dig soil directly from the yard. In short, the fire cannot affect the stored food. Without the food, Nanyang City will not be able to defend it for too long.
Zhang Guoqin was more ruthless than the thieves outside the city. Before the thieves could capture the city, he set Nanyang City on fire. It was a desperate plan!
In the future, when the people in the city who have lost their homes know the truth, they will definitely "greet" Zhang Guoqin's family...
But if we don't use this move, I'm afraid Nanyang City really won't be able to defend it.
In addition to fire prevention, Wang Jiazhen could not think of any other good way.
Fire prevention is not a good idea, but it is better than sitting still and waiting for death.
"...There was actually a fire in the city???"
Zhang Dingguo used a telescope on a mound to observe the movements in the city. However, blocked by the city, he could only see fire and smoke at best, but the situation was probably not much different from what he had guessed.
This incident made him very strange. He had not allowed the rebel soldiers who entered the city from the cave to set fire. If the food in the city was burned, how would the rebel army replenish it?
At present, the defenders at the top of the city are still desperately resisting the rebel attack. The situation in the city is still too clear. They did not know much about the fire in the city reported by people coming from the cave.
A sudden fire is always not a good thing. Although Zhang Dingguo thought about burning down Nanyang City, he could only do it after transporting the money and food in the city.
Now, before the army can enter, a fire breaks out in the city. It seems that the situation is a bit abnormal!
In this regard, Zhang Guoqin is not afraid of taking the blame.
As long as the city can be defended, any effective method can be tried.
If the thieves in the city could not be wiped out, he would not even mind sending people to set fire to them again.
If one day doesn't work, just two days, if two days doesn't work, then three days. In short, we can get rid of the traitors.
At least it would save the defenders from dying, and it would also force the rebel infantry to engage in street fighting with the official chariots and horses.
This is more beneficial to our own side. If we still can't win, it will be a waste of time.
