"I would also like to inform you that Wang Su of Fanyin Pavilion wants to see Mr. Lu." Wang Su anxiously said to the clerk at the gate of the Chengdu government office, and at the same time stuffed a few taels of silver over.
The clerk took the silver, his face turned into a chrysanthemum smile, and he said flatteringly: "Master, please wait a moment, I will report it right now." Then he ran into the inner office in a hurry. After a while, the clerk turned back and introduced Wang Su into the government office's reception room.
"I wonder if the Lord of Pavilion Wang is here, what advice can you give me?" In the living room, Lu Bin was sitting on his seat. After Wang Su sat down, he said.
"Master Lu, have you thought about how to deal with the rebels besieging the city?" Wang Su said straight to the point.
In fact, when Wang Su entered the living room just now, he found that the government office was sorting out things in large carts and small bags. It seemed that he was preparing to escape from the city. His heart had sunk. All the city lords and generals were so ignorant of the defenders. Confidence, the rest can be imagined.
Lu Bin looked at Wang Su awkwardly, pondered for a while, and then said with a smile: "The rebels are besieging the city. As a guard, Lu will fight to the death for the country. However, I, the third generation of the Lu family, have passed down a single inheritance. In order to continue the incense, I I should arrange for my family to leave the city first. Only in this way can I fight with peace of mind. It will take a month at the fastest for the imperial army to get here. There are few soldiers in the city now, and the Chengdu city wall is wide. The garrison at the top of the city is seriously insufficient and cannot hold on for much longer. God. The current plan is to protect the people and break out of the encirclement safely. "
Wang Su sighed. He naturally knew that Lu Bin did not have the courage to die for his country. Otherwise, he would have died for his country as early as in Jiangyuan County. The reason why he said it was to find an excuse for himself. If the rebels really started to attack the city, he would probably be the first one to run away.
Wang Su considered his words and said: "Master Lu, I think that even for the sake of the family and the people leaving the city smoothly, the officers and soldiers need to resist the rebels for two or three days. Now the rebels are only besieging the city on three sides. It seems that they have left a There is a way out, but if the rebels easily capture Chengdu and then lead the army to pursue the victory, who can guarantee the safety of the people leaving the city?"
Seeing Wang Su directly revealing his thoughts, Lu Bin was a little embarrassed, but this Wang Su was the master of the Fanyin Pavilion. The Fanyin Pavilion was powerful and had made great achievements in defending the city of Jiangyuan, and the current situation also required the Fanyin Pavilion's help.
He suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and said: "Master Wang Pavilion is joking. We are waiting to eat the emperor's salary and be loyal to the emperor. Although the rebels are numerous, the city wall of Chengdu Prefecture is not comparable to Jiangyuan. We must defend it with all our strength. In half a month, Inside, the rebels can’t even think of setting foot inside the city. But they still need the help of people like Pavilion Master Wang.”
Lu Bin was not worried about what Wang Su said about the safety of his family when leaving the city. His family would definitely take a carriage when leaving the city, and they would be out of danger in just half a day. However, if the rebels attacked the city with all their strength, Fanyin Pavilion and other forces would still be needed to defend the city. support.
"There are more than 1,200 members of the Fanyin Pavilion Gang. We should do our best to assist the officers and soldiers in defending the city to cover the safe retreat of the people." Wang Su stood up, cupped his hands and said solemnly.
On the ninth day of October in the fourth year of Chunhua, there was heavy rain.
Outside the city of Chengdu, the rebels pushed the improvised siege ladders and crash carts, and slowly pressed against the tall Chengdu city wall through the rain.
In the rebel army formation outside the city, Li Shun stood on horseback in the formation, looking at the slowly advancing siege army. He frowned and looked sideways at General Xianggui beside him, and asked: "General Xiang, are you attacking in this rainy day?" Is there anything wrong with the city? I'm worried that if the first battle goes poorly, it will affect the morale of the army."
Xianggui on the side wiped the rainwater on his face and explained: "It is indeed disadvantageous to attack the city on rainy days, but it is even more disadvantageous for the defenders on rainy days. Although the muddy roads will slow down our army's attack on the city, The speed, but the disadvantage for us is nothing more than that, but for the officers and soldiers guarding the city, there are two biggest disadvantages. First, rainy days can greatly reduce the power of bows and arrows. The officers and soldiers guarding the city are not elite soldiers and their combat effectiveness is not high. We are no match for melee combat. They can only pose a greater threat to us by using bows and arrows."
"Second, siege chariots are all wooden equipment. Sieges on rainy days can greatly reduce the threat of the defenders using fire to attack the siege vehicles. They can also protect the defenders from the attacks of boiling oil and fire arrows. Secondly, we have to buy time. , We must be the first to break into the city before others, so..." Xianggui glanced at Li Shun meaningfully and did not continue.
Li Shun heard the words and understood the elegant meaning by listening to the string music. He understood that Xianggui was moving closer to him. Although his brother-in-law Wang Xiaobo left him so many elite soldiers and generals, most of them were rebellious and had a high self-esteem. Although Li Shun was the successor designated by Wang Xiaobo before his death, Li Shun had no extraordinary achievements and it was difficult to convince others; He just deceived people with the lie of the legendary "legendary son of the Lord of Later Shu", and probably even Li Shun himself didn't believe it.
In this attack on Chengdu Prefecture, the generals decided to divide the troops into three groups, each attacking one gate. On the surface, they attacked the city from three sides, which made the defenders focus on one thing and not on the other. In fact, they were secretly competing for the victory. The first achievement of Chengdu Prefecture.
When he thought of this, Li Shun no longer hesitated and decided to take the lead in attacking Chengdu Mansion before everyone else. He opened his mouth and ordered his subordinates to increase the intensity of the siege.
Just as there were intrigues among the rebels below the city, the defenders in the city also had different hearts and minds. The army besieged the city, and some wealthy families and officials in the city were already ready to flee, but under Lu Bin's strict military orders, no one could escape. Get to the east gate of Chengdu.
This is not because Lu Bin wants to defend the city to the death, but because there is a big difference between "fleeing without fighting" and "retreating after losing a strong fight". If it is the latter, it will not be too ugly if the imperial court settles the blame in the future.
Different from these people who have left themselves a way out, there are also some people in Chengdu who cannot give up their family business or close relatives, and choose to defend the city to the death. Some Jianghu forces and local officials are actively preparing for war. Among them, especially Fanyin Pavilion contributed the most.
Fanyin Pavilion has been operating in Chengdu for nearly 20 years. It has a large number of helpers and has always been the leader in Chengdu's arena. Under the call of Fanyin Pavilion, some small gangs and green forest people also joined in the defense of the city. Such as Chengdu Prefecture's "Iron Spear Gate", "Twilight Snow Villa" and other forces.
Above the Chengdu city wall, dark clouds rolled southward, and rain still fell from time to time. Not far from the city wall, three martial arts veterans, Wang Su of the Fanyin Pavilion, Wu Potian, the head of the Iron Spear Sect, and Wei Que, the owner of the Muxue Villa, were standing. Looking out from the city tower, everyone's face looked worried.
"Master Wu and Master Wei, what do you think of the current situation? How should we defend ourselves against the enemy?" Wang Su asked them with his hands raised. The rain had already flowed down his black and white hair from his forehead to his cheeks.
Wu Potian and Wei Que looked at each other, and Wei Que said: "Pavilion Master Wang was a veteran on the battlefield back then. He followed Yang Laolinggong for many years. How can he be compared to us and other people in the world? What kind of advice does the Pavilion Master have? , my Iron Spear Sect and Brother Wu’s Muxue Villa will definitely help us.”
Wu Potian on the side also nodded and looked at Wang Su.
