"Don't worry! I have deployed guards at various key passes. It's not easy for the Tang envoys to defeat them!" Brother Zhong nodded: "I will wait for your return!"
"It's raining outside!" Abe Hirafu said suddenly.
"I just finished planting the rice seedlings!" Brother Zhong walked to the window and looked at the bamboo forest in the courtyard that was crackling with rain: "It's a good thing that it's raining at this time. There will be a good harvest this year!"
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The westerly wind, accompanied by drizzle, whipped Wang Wenzuo on the face. He whipped his horse across the swollen stream. Beside him, Yuan Aolie tightened the hood of his cloak and murmured curses at the weather. The rain washed away the road, turning the soil into pools of mud. People's feet and horse hooves walked on it, slipping every step, and people or horses fell down from time to time. What a hell! Wang Wenzuo secretly wondered whether it was raining or splashing water.
He secretly hoped that the soldiers could hold on. They had been walking for two days in a row, with only three hours of rest in between, and the soldiers were extremely exhausted. The current rain has turned the originally poor road into extremely dangerous. There is soft mud and gravel everywhere. If you are not careful, you will injure the feet of people or horses. The strong wind has whipped up the rain all over the sky and hit you head-on, making your eyes wet. Unable to open; falling rainwater fills streams and rivers.
At this time, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but think of Cui Hongdu who stayed in Xiaoli Village. He probably should be wearing dry clothes and sitting by the fire pit in the hall, drinking hot wine and waiting for dinner. At this time, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but secretly envy him. His own fur was completely soaked, and his neck and shoulders were painful due to the weight of the armor. He felt cold and hungry, but when he thought of the dry biscuits and bacon in his arms, he Just no appetite at all.
"Where is the right government? Where is the right government?"
Ahead, an oncoming horseback riding figure shouted loudly. Cao Wenzong next to him raised his right hand and shouted: "Who is looking for Ming Gong? What's the matter?"
"I've found it, I've found it!" The knight jumped off his horse and ran over in the mud: "Hero-kun has arrived at Sasaki-so, which is still half a day's journey from Omi Kuniji. He asked his subordinates to come and report to you! "
"Very good, go to the back and tell everyone the good news. Tell them that they will have hot meals, dry clothes and a roof soon!" Wang Wenzuo became energetic. According to the little rib Saburo Heizuo, Sasaki Village is his His friend's farm was only half a day's journey from Kuniji, so he suggested going to Sasaki-so to let the soldiers rest and eat before attacking Kuniji. Wang Wenzuo originally was noncommittal about this suggestion, but the heavy rain he encountered on the way made him change his mind.
The knight got back on his horse and galloped towards the back of the team, shouting loudly as he ran. Wang Wenzuo didn't have to worry about the shouts revealing his whereabouts at this time, as the heavy rain could hide everything.
Soon, Wang Wenzuo arrived at Sasaki Village. Like most Japanese manors at that time, Sasaki Village was composed of wooden fences, villages on highlands, livestock pens, and large rice fields and vegetable gardens. Most of the buildings here are built with rammed earth walls and high thatched roofs. Even the best houses only have an extra raised floor and no windows. The halls are long and low, and the rooms are wooden. It was rough, the roof was covered with grass, and there were leaks everywhere under the heavy rain.
However, Wang Wenzuo had no time to complain at this time. He changed out of his armor and soaked clothes into dry clothes, ate two bowls of hot porridge, and suddenly felt that he had lost ten pounds. He asked Hei Te Changzhi on the side: "What are the arrangements for the soldiers now?"
"Everyone got hot porridge, but there were too few fires and roofs to dry their clothes. The stables, barns and barns were full of people, but at least half of them were still soaking in the rain!"
"What about the people from Sasaki Village?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"I have locked them all in a big room and are under strict guard by my people!"
"Very good!" Wang Wenzuo nodded with satisfaction: "Tell the officers that they can use charcoal, dry firewood, wine, dried fish and livestock as they please, and I will compensate them afterwards. But I don't allow anyone to touch the people and people of this village. No property is allowed at all, otherwise military law will be ruthless!"
"Yes, I remember!"
"I'm going to rest first. Wake me up as soon as the rain stops!" As soon as Wang Wenzuo finished speaking, he lay down next to the fire pit. Almost the next second, he started snoring.
When Wang Wenzuo woke up again, he felt that his bladder was so full that it was going to explode, so he got up and walked to the corridor, unbuttoned his pants and let go. The urine mixed with the rain fell in the courtyard. He noticed that the rain had become much lighter, and the stars and moon could be seen in the sky. He looked at it for a while and confirmed that there was still about half an hour until the first update.
"Call the officers here!" Wang Wenzuo said to Cao Wenzong: "Right away, the sooner the better!"
Wang Wenzuo sat on a stool next to the fire pit. He was the only one with a stool to sit on. The others were sitting on the ground. Most of them had clothes still wet, some were still dripping, and their armor was black and shiny. Wang Wenzuo did not waste time. He said loudly: "Time is very tight. The news about us here cannot be hidden from Brother Zhongda for a long time. It is very likely that he already knows it now and is trying every means to mobilize the army. When daybreak, he will come from all directions." Let's attack and kill us all! Don't forget, our bow strings are soaked through and cannot rebound. The ground outside is full of mud and the horses can't run at all. Unless we strike first, we will die! "
The officers whispered to each other. The Tang and Baekje people were eager to try, but the Japanese people's expressions were much more complicated. Some were scared, some were nervous, and some were excited. After all, most of them were short-lived under Wang Wenzuo, unlike Wang Wenzuo. The Tang and Baekje people already had firm confidence in their commander-in-chief.
"Great Governor, I will be the last to come, please let me be the vanguard!" Hei Te Changzhi said solemnly.
"Okay, you will command the forward, six hundred people!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Monobu Lianxiong will be your deputy! I will be your successor. If you are defeated, I will first behead you and then supervise the leader. All armies attack the city!" At this point, he stood up and shouted: "Okay, everyone, go back! When the trumpet sounds, set off immediately!"
The horn sounded. Wang Wenzuo got on the horse, and there were bursts of pain in the inner thigh, but he seemed to feel nothing. The rain became lighter, but the wind became stronger and stronger, and the weather became colder. Wang Wenzuo's body couldn't help but tremble slightly, but he couldn't hide. Most of the soldiers' clothes were still wet, and they would only get colder under the cold wind. As the commander-in-chief, since he couldn't let the soldiers have dry clothes, he at least had to blow the cold together. wind. He straightened his back and pretended to be fearless, hoping that people would see his courage. But can they see in the dark? Wang Wenzuo had some doubts in his heart.
"Ming Gong, Hei Te Changzhi captured a city gate and killed more than sixty people!" Yuan Aolie said.
"I know, order the soldiers to speed up!" Wang Wenzuo said.
In the middle of the night, Wang Wenzuo caught up with the black-toothed Changzhi. He asked in surprise: "Changzhi, what's wrong with you? Now is not the time to rest, why don't you keep moving forward?"
"Look!" Hei Te Changzhi pointed forward: "There is a small town on the roadside. We must have alerted them when we passed by!"
With the help of the moonlight, Wang Wenzuo finally discovered the small town that Hei Te Changzhi was pointing to. It was located on a mound on the right side of the road. The mound was only twenty or thirty meters above the road. If his army passed by the road, , it will definitely alert the guards at the top of the city, which would be terrible. If you want to attack, the small town is located right on the top of the hill, and you may not be able to capture it for a while; if you want to go around, there is a large pond on the left side of the road, which is really difficult to go around in the dark. Thinking of this, Wang Wenzuo thought hard.
"What are those? Those dark, shed-like things by the lake?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"The soldiers explored it. It's a shed where Japanese ducks are raised!"
"A shed where Japanese ducks are raised?"
"Yes, the local Japanese people have the habit of raising ducks. The ducks lay eggs everywhere, so the duck farmers have to pick up the eggs every morning, otherwise they will be gone. So the duck farmers are often by the pond!"
"I have an idea!" Wang Wenzuo had an idea: "Get a few smarter soldiers to go to the shed, arrest the duck farmer first, and then startle the ducks to make them quack louder. Repeat this several times!"
"Why?"
"The duck shed is so close to the city. The guards must have been used to the duck's croaking. As long as the duck's croaking can cover up the sounds we heard, we don't have to worry about being discovered by the guards!"
Hei Te Changzhi's eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "This is a good idea. I'll have someone try it right away!"
The fact was just as Wang Wenzuo expected. The first and second duck calls attracted a little attention from the defenders of the small town. But starting from the third time, no matter how loud the ducks quacked outside, the defenders of the small town seemed not to hear anything. When the time comes, continue sleeping. Wang Wenzuo took the opportunity to lead his troops through the small town and continued towards the destination. At about four o'clock, Wang Wenzuo arrived at Omi Kuniji. He first ordered the exit to be blocked, and then ordered the soldiers to fill the trench with soil wrapped in clothes, cross the trench and take a ladder to climb up. To build an earthen barrier, remove a small section of the wooden fence and climb over the wall.
At that time, the guards guarding the gate of the outer wall of the Imperial Palace were still sleeping soundly. Hei Te Changzhi ordered that all of them be killed, leaving only one who continued to work according to the original time, so as not to be noticed by others. Then Hei Te Changzhi opened the gates and allowed Wang Wenzuo's troops to pour in and surround the mansion where the eldest brother was. At this time, the genius had just begun to shine.
"Inform the Governor, the grain depot and arsenal have been occupied!" Yuan Aolie said breathlessly.
"Very good!" Wang Wenzuo nodded with satisfaction. Brother Zhongda has not been idle in the past few months. He has mobilized all the manpower and material resources of Omi, Mino, Owari and other countries to organize and train the army and build weapons. Omi already had a situation, but he didn't expect that Wang Wenzuo would break into his nest without a single battle. The bows, weapons, and armor that he had prepared so hard in his arsenal were all used as wedding dresses for others.
"Presumably the eldest brother hasn't gotten up yet!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Sleeping in is not a good habit. Someone come and blow the trumpet to wake him up!"
Woooooooooooo!
The lengthy horn sound resounded through the sky, like a pair of invisible hands dragging Brother Zhong out of his sleep.
"What's going on?" He sat up sleepily and looked at the sky outside: "Which bastard blows the horn so early? Come on, come out and see what's going on?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The maid knelt down and bowed as a courtesy, exited the door, and soon came back with a look of horror on her face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there are enemy soldiers outside the house, everywhere. I don't know how many there are!"
"Enemy soldiers? How is this possible?" Brother Zhong laughed: "I have deployed guards at various key passes. If the enemy comes, why don't there be any news about the guards at the passes? There must be someone who thinks that the army has insufficient food and clothing. , come back to ask for it!”
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" The maid was not persuaded by Brother Zhong's reasons, but she did not dare to continue speaking. The eldest brother was unhappy when he saw this. He put on his robe and was about to go out to take a look when he saw Ampere Hirafu rushing over.
"Oh no, Tang soldiers have already entered the city!"
"Tang Bing?" Brother Zhong was surprised: "You must have seen it wrong, right?"
"It's absolutely unmistakable!" Ampere Hirafu said: "I have dealt with them in Baekje. The people outside must be the Tang army. It can't be wrong!"
"Then, how did they get here?" Brother Zhong was stunned by the sudden bad news: "I obviously deployed so many guards, but there was no news. It rained so heavily yesterday. Could it be that Did they fly here?"
"Back in Baekje, Jinhyeon City was the real natural danger, but it was finally captured by the Tang Dynasty!" Ampere Hirafu said coldly, and he put the bow and quiver into the hands of the eldest brother: "Pursue this... It’s too late, this is all we can do now!”
Brother Zhong nodded blankly. He felt like a puppet who was put on armor and pushed up the courtyard wall. He saw with his own eyes that the courtyard was surrounded by countless soldiers. Above their heads, the imperial flag of Jin fluttered high, which dispelled his last vestige of fantasy. Someone was shouting loudly, which should be to persuade them to surrender. He drew out an arrow sluggishly, opened his bow and shot an arrow, ending his attempt to persuade him to surrender.
The battle started with an exchange of arrows. The strength of the two sides was unbalanced from the beginning. The besiegers had at least a tenfold advantage in numbers. The advantage in numbers increased their morale. The guards on the wall were very They were almost dead and wounded, but Brother Naka did not retreat. He stood on the Yagura next to the house door, aiming at the enemy and shooting arrow after arrow until his shoulders were sore and his fingers were bleeding. Although the people around him kept falling, He himself was unscathed!
"Quick, let's get out of here!" Hirafu Ampere climbed up to Yagura and shouted to the eldest brother, "Otherwise the thieves will surround us!"
"We're closing in!" Brother Zhong turned around, and then realized that seven or eight ladders had been set up on the courtyard wall. A flood of soldiers climbed over the courtyard wall along the ladders, and the few resisters were about to be submerged.
(End of chapter)
