"Your Highness, why do you want to release the prisoners at this time!" Not only the watchers outside the city couldn't understand, but also Ru Taisu who hurried over after hearing the news on the city wall was beating his chest.
"There is already a huge disparity in strength between us and the Yuan soldiers. To release the Yuan army at this time is tantamount to adding a new firewood to the already fierce offensive of the Yuan army!" Ru Taisu blew his beard and glared anxiously. , as if they had seen the Yuan army break into the city tomorrow and slaughter the whole city. "Could it be that His Highness is deliberately siding with the enemy? If there is no explanation, I will definitely read His Highness's book carefully after I return to Beijing!"
"Laoru, Laoru, don't get excited yet..." Zhu Su pressed Ru Taisu on the chair with sweat. Over the past few days, the old man's initial prejudice against him has gradually been alleviated through strategizing and rescuing people from danger. But this time it was obviously too much beyond Lao Rutou's expectations, which made the old man jump. "Listen to my explanation..."
"Say it, Your Highness!" Ru Taisu was pressed down on the chair angrily, blowing his beard indignantly. There are 50,000 yuan troops outside the city, but there are only 10,000 miscellaneous troops in the city plus more than 10,000 militiamen who can only fight. Under such circumstances, His Highness dared to send 20,000 elite yuan troops The prisoners were given to the Yuan army outside the city with both hands. No matter how he thought about it, he never thought that this would be a clever plan to defeat the enemy.
"They are all our own, and I am not afraid of damaging the morale of you and others. The king of Japan can see clearly these two days in the city." Zhu Su looked around. In addition to Ru Taisu, there was also Zhu Ping. , two brothers Zhu Di, and several generals such as Chang Mao, Di Meng, and Cao Yuan. "Honestly, if the Yuan army launches a fierce attack with artillery tomorrow, will we be able to hold on to this city wall?"
"..." All the generals looked at each other in disbelief, and finally lowered their heads dejectedly. Although several of their highnesses stood in dangerous places with their bodies and stabilized the morale of the Ming army, as generals they knew that it was difficult to stop Huihui again just by relying on them and the low city wall of Changli County. Cannon attack of the Yuan army.
"If you don't say anything, I'll assume that you think the city wall can't be defended." Zhu Su said to everyone. "The reason why I released the prisoners is precisely to control the Yuan army's nose and make them act according to our ideas."
"Act according to our ideas?" Chang Mao said in surprise, "What did His Highness say?"
"Brother Chang." Zhu Su nodded to Chang Mao and said, "Tell me, the Yuan army rushed from Yongping City and didn't even set up a camp on the first day. How much food and grass would they bring with them? "
"This..." Chang Mao was stunned, "Looking at Yuan Bing's appearance, he must be thinking of a quick victory on the first day. In my opinion, they can carry four or five days' worth of food and grass with them at most!"
"That's right." Zhu Su nodded, with a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes: "Then, if more than 20,000 mouths suddenly appear to eat, will the Yuan army still have enough food and grass?"
"Your Highness wants to waste the food and fodder of the Yuan army?" Ru Taisu suddenly realized at this time, "So that's it!"
But then he thought about it and fell into worry again: "However, it is a fact that the Yuan army has successfully increased its troops. With an additional 20,000 people, the Yuan army's offensive in these days will inevitably become more fierce, but this should what to do?"
"Not only will the Yuan army's offensive not be violent, but it will temporarily stop the offensive." Before Zhu Su could speak, it was Zhu Di who spoke. He looked at Zhu Su with admiration: "I understand the fifth brother's intention!"
"From the beginning, he made up his mind to use these prisoners to delay the Yuan army's offensive: Don't forget that among the prisoners, the conflict between the Han people, the Mongols and the Semu people has reached the point of confrontation!"
"Exactly!" Zhu Su smiled softly. As expected of the future Emperor Yongle, with a little guidance, he could see the secret.
"Ah! So that's it!" Chang Mao and others also reacted. "After those captives return to the Bird Camp of the Yuan people, those Mongolians who were bullied by us will definitely file a lawsuit against the Han people!"
"In this way, a group of thieves and thieves in the Yuanren camp were bickering and bickering with each other, making the watch boys one head and two big. It was too late to alert the tens of thousands of Han people in the prisoner camp, so there was no time to attack the city. ?”
A group of people suddenly realized that the prisoners were originally used to slow down the offensive of the Yuan army. They did not expect that the prisoners could be used in such an emergency. Everyone had to admire the quick wit of His Highness the Fifth Prince. Ru Taisu was also relieved: "So that's it! It was the veteran who wrongly blamed His Highness the Fifth Prince!"
"There's just one thing I'm still puzzled about. His Highness said he could hold the Yuan army by the nose and make it act according to our ideas. But how did he do it?"
"I am afraid that our military rations will be exhausted earlier. Moreover, this method will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. When the Yuan army regroups and digests the dissatisfaction of the prisoners, by then, we will have to welcome seven full Wan Yuanbing..." Having said this, Ru Taisu still looked worried.
"Old Rutou, you are right. But have you forgotten that before the Yuan army can regroup, there is one thing that must be done first?" Zhu Su blinked. "What I want is for them to be led by the nose to do this."
"Do something? What?" Everyone was puzzled. Even Zhu Di was stunned and couldn't figure out what his fifth brother was planning. But Zhu Su had no intention of explaining. He just shook his folding fan, waved to Zhu Di and Chang Mao and said, "Fourth brother, Brother Chang, there is something you have to do."
"You remember so and so, so and so..."
…
As Zhu Su expected, after successfully taking in the prisoners, Guantong met with the top general in the prison camp, Hong Boyan Timur.
The two were old acquaintances. After reminiscing about the past, Guantong inquired about the reason why the Ming army released them. I saw Hong Boyan Timur saying angrily: "What else can be done? The Ming army must have planted spies among the Han people! The kid Zhu Su in the city is the best at using conspiracy and tricks to send more than 20,000 people back to the mountains. How can he Would you be so kind?"
Speaking of Zhu Su, Hong Boyan Timur was filled with righteous indignation and described Zhu Su as a heinous and ferocious beast, which made Guantong stunned for a moment.
"I just said, how could the prince of the Ming court have such good intentions? Now it turns out that he has evil intentions!" Guantong also suddenly realized. It turned out that the intention was to show kindness to the Han Chinese among the prisoners, and to cooperate inside and outside! He also deliberately promised the captives that they would let them go as long as they repaired the city wall... What a hypocritical prince of the Ming Dynasty!
"Don't talk about anything else. If you have something to eat, bring some first. The men under my command have been hungry for several days." Hong Boyan Timur considered himself the leading think tank under Naha, and faced him. Guan Tong is also not polite. When the Ming army drove them out of the city, they did not prepare food for them. In the past few days, I only ate a handful of fried rice all day, and I was so hungry that my chest pressed against my back.
Damn the Ming army, they only gave the Han people one more meal, but a high-ranking Yuan army official like him couldn't even get an extra mouthful of fried rice...
"Uh, this..." Hearing Hong Boyan Timur's greeting, Guantong suddenly felt a little embarrassed. The army under his command only has one day of rice left. If it is given to them, how can they attack the city tomorrow?
I guess this is also one of the Ming army's tricks, right?
When I mentioned this concern to Hong Boyan Timur, Hong Boyan Timur sneered: "You are confused. Those Han people in the camp have evil intentions. Under such circumstances, can you safely let the army attack the city tomorrow?"
"If these Han people take the opportunity to use some tricks behind their backs, wouldn't our army be in danger?"
"It's better to divide the food and send people to find Prime Minister Zuo tomorrow to bring in military rations. Then we can control the Han people and have enough food and grass before attacking the city. Changli County is right here, and we can go up to the sky. Could it be that the ground flew away?"
When Guantong thought about it, he was indeed one of the few Mongolians who had read military books. This was indeed true. He was originally hesitating about what to do if he couldn't capture the city tomorrow. Now that there are 20,000 more people, It's better to just calm down and ask for food and grass first and then figure it out slowly.
Guantong didn't notice that because of the extra 20,000 people, he who originally planned to fight a quick victory had unconsciously begun to prefer a protracted war.
Without him even knowing it, Zhu Su held his nose without even realizing it.
(End of chapter)
