"Who said I'm afraid? I just don't want the soldiers to die in vain!"
"I think what Buddhist monk said makes sense. We are already like this. If we don't take a risk, there will only be more Baekje people after the spring begins. Maybe Japanese and Goguryeo reinforcements will arrive. At that time, we think There’s no chance even if we try our best!”
Seeing everyone arguing, but Wang Wenzuo remained silent, Liu An couldn't help but ask: "Sanlang, what do you think?"
"In my opinion, it's a little early to consider this!" Wang Wenzuo stared at the snow under the hills, where crows were circling over the Baekje camp, croaking: "After all, we still don't know much about the situation of the Baekje people. Young Master, it’s easy to mess up if you act rashly, so strengthen the camp first!”
Si Xiang City, shops and warehouses.
The air was filled with the smell of dust and old paper. In front of Wang Wenzuo were rows of wooden racks reaching up to the roof. The racks were filled with all kinds of goods: salt, soybean oil, dried fish, candles, medicinal materials, etc. In order to avoid causing a fire, Wang Wenzuo blew out the candle in his hand and only relied on the weak light from the skylight to compare the goods on the wooden rack. In the dim light he looked like a ghost walking through the passages.
"There are sixty-five packs of dried fish left!" Wang Wenzuo exhaled a long breath, made a mark with charcoal on the account book, and smiled at the old man behind him: "That's right, I'm sorry to trouble you these days, Mr. Cao! "
"It's a matter of one's job, no matter how troublesome it is!" Wang Wenzuo said that Mr. Cao was an old man in his fifties, with a thin build, a semi-bald forehead, and a very lush gray beard on his chin. He was one of Cao Ye's subordinates. The only accountant who was willing to stay, Wang Wenzuo asked him to take care of the accounts of the stores in his hands. He smoothed his beard under his chin and said with a smile: "But having said that, business has been amazingly good these days. The money I made in one day was equal to what I made in the past half month!"
"That's it, after this battle is won, no one in Sixian City knows whether they can go back alive. Why are they still keeping copper and silver? If you don't take them with you in life, you won't take them with you in death. Happy One day is one day!" Wang Wenzuo took out a piece of dried fish from the dried fish bag and smelled it: "My father-in-law, can those three Korean women and children be okay here?"
"It's okay, they work very hard! You can see that they all come from a poor background, and they won't be lazy if they have to eat!" Mr. Cao replied.
"That's good!" Wang Wenzuo stuffed the dried fish back into the straw bag: "Tomorrow you will cook thirty kilograms of rice, dried fish, pickled plums, and dried sea vegetables are also ready, and they will all be made into rice balls!"
"Well! Are you going out of the city?"
Wang Wenzuo didn't answer. He walked to the door of the warehouse, stopped, and looked at the heavy snow outside the door: "In such a cold day, the blood should be frozen immediately as soon as it comes out!"
Liu Renyuan did not let Wang Wenzuo wait outside the Duhu Mansion for long. When Wang Wenzuo walked into the study, he saw Liu Renyuan talking to the marching commander Shi Dushuang. There was unfinished breakfast on the table, and a soldier was cleaning the table. To make room.
"Liu Gong!" Du Shuang ignored Wang Wenzuo and continued to say to Liu Renyuan: "Ximen's defense is quite weak, and a Luocheng should be built. The specific plan is like this, please take a look!" He said while placing a map on the table Making gestures.
"Well, then I'll do what you want, hurry up!" Liu Renyuan nodded, and waved to Wang Wenzuo on the side: "Sanlang, come here, what do you want to do?"
"I have something to report to the general!" Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice, "It's about the Baekje bandits!"
"Baekje thief? What's wrong?" Liu Renyuan's attention was attracted. Du Shuang also stopped packing the map and turned his attention to Wang Wenzuo.
"The general feels that the current heavy snow is a rare opportunity for our army to reverse the situation!"
Liu Renyuan exchanged glances with Du Shuang, and his expression became serious: "Tell me your plan!"
"Yes, general!" Wang Wenzuo recounted Shen Faseng's judgment on the Baekje people: "Based on what I have seen, if you lead hundreds of elite soldiers, each with two horses, and take advantage of the heavy snow to catch the enemy unprepared, you can cover up the enemy's winter camp. , can turn the entire battle situation around!"
Liu Renyuan grabbed the beard under his chin and rubbed it hard, frowning, and was speechless for a moment. Du Shuang on the side asked: "Then have you ever thought about what would happen if it doesn't work?"
"I will pick the best riders and the strongest horses to bring back the news. At least I will let you know where and how we died!"
Liu Renyuan was dumbfounded. His mouth was big enough to stuff a magpie. After a while, he shook his head and sighed: "No, I can't send the bravest group of men to die——"
"General, I only need three hundred people, and I will recruit the rest from the three Han people. As long as you provide enough weapons and armor, and ensure that the selected people will be enrolled in the Tang Dynasty military register!" Wang Wenzuo persuaded: "What do you want? Think, even if you fail, you will only lose 300 people; if you succeed, you can turn the entire war situation around. If we do nothing and wait for this winter to pass, and wait until the snow melts, the Baekje people will come back and kill 300 more people. People, what difference does it make if there are three hundred people less?"
Liu Renyuan and Du Shuang looked at each other and sighed: "Okay, Sanlang, I promise you. It's really a pity. If you had been born thirty years earlier, meeting the late emperor, steward, and duke would have been nothing more than an ordinary thing?"
When Wang Wenzuo walked out of the Duhu Mansion, a cold wind came to his face, but it could not extinguish the churning fire in his chest. Ever since he learned from Liu Renyuan in the Duhu Mansion that the Tang army in Sixian City was an abandoned son, he had been thinking about how to survive this dead situation.
Judging from the series of actions of the Tang Army in the past year, the sea-crossing expedition to Baekje launched a few months ago was an out-and-out military adventure. Its purpose was very simple, which was to attack Baekje and win over Silla. Allies, attack Goguryeo to the north and attack Goguryeo from a flank. From a military point of view, this risky gamble paid off! The Tang Army commanded by Su Dingfang was overwhelmingly powerful against the Baekje Army, winning two battles and approaching the capital, destroying it in one fell swoop.
But then the Tang army fell into disarray. Even though the Baekje people had surrendered, military discipline was broken and they burned, killed, and looted, which aroused the Baekje heroes to rebel. Instead of suppressing it, Su Dingfang withdrew the army, leaving only Liu Renyuan and ten thousand people to guard Sixian City. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the establishment of five governor's offices including Xiongjin in the old land of Baekje and directly annexed them. As a result, the Ungjin Governor's Palace did not have enough troops to suppress the Restoration Army, and there was no member of the Baekje royal family to draw signs to win over the locals. Onishi Fuxin raised his arms with the banner of Fuyu Fengzhang, and the responders gathered. Liu Renyuan could only huddle in Sixian City and wait for reinforcements from China and Silla.
