It was nearly the New Year's Eve, but the siege of the city was still unresolved. The people could only live a simple New Year under the threat of war, without the celebration of firecrackers and a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner. Wan Lei ordered all animals except humans in the city to be destroyed.
If they are gathered together and slaughtered in a planned way, and each household is given some meat of cattle, sheep, horses and dogs, it will be enough.
The people trapped in the city had a hard time, and the enemy troops surrounding the outside were not much better off. Although they could go around plundering grass and valleys, the people in the nearby states and counties had already fled southward, leaving no one inhabited, and looting became more and more common.
The harder it gets, the enemy's living standards plummet.
Especially the Tatar army, they all wanted to quit. After all, they came to take advantage of the situation. Now that they have grabbed everything they should, it is time to go home and enjoy the fruits of victory. There is no need to be angry with the useless city of Peiping.
The morale of the Tatar army dropped sharply, and the Yan army was not much better. A few days ago, their plan to dig a tunnel to sneak into the city was discovered by the defenders in the city. As soon as the tunnel was dug under the city wall, it was flooded by the defenders.
Hundreds of people drowned, and the plan to dig tunnels and steal the city was aborted.
However, the Yan army still has no plans to retreat, because unlike the Tatar army, they have no retreat. If they cannot gain a firm foothold in the Peiping area, they will become losers. Even if they retreat to the north of Yanshan, their status will plummet.
They were wiped out by the Tatar tribes.
It is precisely because there is no way to retreat that the Yan army has been guarding outside the city and refused to retreat. But now, both the defenders and the Yan army are like two wild bulls. No one is willing to take a step back, because taking a step back will mean defeat.
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In the late twelfth lunar month, the north wind that had been blowing for more than ten days finally stopped, the weather warmed up, and the thick snow on the ground began to melt. This was both good news and bad news for the defenders. The good news is that,
The snow has melted and the post roads have become clear, making it easier for reinforcements to be dispatched; but the bad news is that the warmer weather will also facilitate the enemy's army to attack the city, and a more violent offensive will be coming.
As usual, Wan Lei always went to the military camp in the morning. He saw that tens of thousands of people were practicing non-stop in Nuo Da's military camp. The entire combat power of the new army was improved, and the tactics and formations were also practiced proficiently.
, fighting the enemy again will definitely not be as chaotic as the last time. Wan Lei is very satisfied, and his confidence in defending the city has greatly increased.
"General Zhou, ask the kitchen to cook more meat and give the soldiers extra meals today. By the way, some old wine has been sent over from Firework Alley. Let's share it." Early that morning, under the leadership of Grandma Liu, Peiping
Prostitute owners brought some of the wine they had in their stores, saying it was for the labor force, so Wan Lei naturally wouldn't refuse.
The person in charge of military training is Zhou Tianshou. He is also an old drunkard. As soon as he hears that there is alcohol, he starts to get greedy and goes to deliver orders happily. As for whether this guy will get drunk like Zhang Fei and cause trouble.
, Wan Lei doesn’t need to worry, because this guy still has the qualities of a general, and he can still distinguish the priorities, otherwise Wan Lei would not leave such an important matter of troop training to him.
After inspecting the army, Wan Lei was about to go to the military medical office to see the wounded soldiers. On the way, he was called back by someone sent by Tie Xuan, who said he had something important to discuss. Wan Lei went straight to the grain depot without saying anything. Who
Now that he is the "city lord", he should do the work of a firefighter. No matter where an accident occurs, he must arrive as soon as possible.
Tie Xuan is now in charge of grain and grass, and he moved directly to live outside the official grain warehouse. Under his day and night care, he caught several groups of enemy spies who tried to set fire to the grain warehouse, so he was able to ensure that the army's grain was not lost. Although I can't hope for him
Gao, but like Wan Lei, they are both the most important pillars of Beiping City.
"Master Tie, what do you want from me?" Since we are like-minded, Wan Lei did not be polite to the other party and went straight to the topic.
"Something is not going well." Tie Xuan held up a folder and said with a frown.
"What's the matter?" Wan Lei was not surprised. Anyway, there had been no good news since the day he entered Beiping City.
"Your Majesty wants to lead the expedition in person."
"Ah!" Wan Lei exclaimed, and he was dumbfounded. The imperial commander went on a personal expedition. Wasn't the emperor's child stupid in reading? Wasn't this treating military affairs as child's play?
"A few days ago, Datong's reinforcements rushing to Peiping were defeated by the Yan rebels at Zhending. Tens of thousands of fine cavalry were lost in the battle. The defeat was reported to Jinling. Qi Tai, the Minister of War, issued a message, accusing the northern armies of fighting separately and failing to coordinate to defend the enemy.
, so that the enemy's force was so powerful that it was difficult to control it, so it was recommended that more capable ministers be sent north to oversee the military affairs. Huang Zicheng, in turn, asked the Holy One to personally conduct the expedition and coordinate the military. The Holy One has approved his report and ordered that the Northern Expedition will be carried out in the first month of next year." Tie Xuan explained.
road.
"Alas, this will make Beiping City even more difficult to defend!" Wan Lei shook his head and smiled bitterly. He knew that once the nerds from Nanjing went north, all the efforts he had made in Beiping would probably be in vain.
"My dear nephew, do you have any good ideas?" Tie Xuan doesn't want the emperor to come to the north. After all, it is very difficult to defend Beiping City. If the emperor comes from the north, he really can't protect him. If something goes wrong with the emperor in his jurisdiction
, everyone in the imperial court had to tear him apart.
"I wrote a letter of persuasion, asking the emperor to stop the personal expedition."
"My official position is humble and I speak lightly. I'm afraid it will be useless to submit a letter." Tie Xuan said with a bitter face. If it was a matter that could be settled with a memorial, there was no need for him to call "Mr. Wan".
"Then there's nothing we can do, let's just leave it to fate." Wan Lei said discouragedly,
"Nephew, the morale of Beiping City is strong now, can you..." Tie Xuan glanced at Wan Lei tentatively and said nothing further. However, Wan Lei had already heard what this guy wanted to say, which was to let Shou
The army went out to attack and desperately drove the enemy troops away. In this way, the personal conquest would be in vain.
"Although the morale of the defenders is high, they are not well trained and have insufficient weapons. They should only defend and not go into battle." Wan Lei flatly refused. Most of the defenders were newly recruited militiamen and were not used to horse warfare. If they left the city, they would die. Let the people
He would never die in vain.
"I also know that this matter is difficult, but this is also for the sake of the country. If my nephew can come forward and explain this matter to the soldiers, whether they are willing to send troops or not, I will always keep it in mind." Tie Xuan said again.
"Why do you fight a battle you know you can't win? Lord Tie, please forgive me for not being able to do anything this time." Wan Lei held up his hand and walked out.
Wan Lei couldn't be persuaded, and Tie Xuan had nothing to do, because the defenders, tens of thousands of troops, only listened to Wan Lei's instructions, and the others couldn't command them at all. And the defenders refused to go out of the city to fight, and the imperial commander who personally conquered them would arrive sooner or later.
, Tie Xuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and think about how to greet the driver.
What Tie Xuan is most worried about is some of his colleagues in Beiping City. These surrendering and fleeing factions have been dismissed from their posts. They must be dissatisfied. If they are allowed to go to the emperor and talk nonsense, they may have to become
Guilty. In addition, just because he trapped the prince's consort and others in the enemy's camp without saving them, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive.
Tie Xuan was worried about his old age, but Zhu Gaoxu outside the city was overjoyed. As the successor "King Yan", he not only inherited the throne of his dead father, but also inherited his power. Many eunuchs and maids in the palace were
It was his spies, or even the private persons he placed beside the emperor. Take this time, for example, the emperor's son agreed to lead the Northern Expedition, which was the result of the eunuchs' operation.
When Huang Zicheng's memorial requesting the emperor to personally conquer Chen Youliang was delivered, the "confidential" eunuchs around the emperor kept lamenting how Emperor Taizu Gao used the weak to defeat the large and the weak to defeat the strong when he personally conquered Chen Youliang, which inspired the emperor's child to have blood in his head.
, wishing he could lead the army into battle immediately to show that he was as wise and powerful as Taizu.
Of course, the emperor's son ignored one point, a crucial point, that is, today is no different than in the past. His grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang had powerful soldiers and generals, so he could certainly fight; but in his hands, the powerful soldiers had already become bear soldiers, and the powerful generals were all here.
The Palace of the King of Hell is on errand, and most of the people left in the court are scholars who talk about military affairs on paper. Don't be ridiculous if you want to conquer in person and achieve immortal achievements.
This is what Zhu Gaoxu was waiting for. When he heard that his cousin was going to fight with him in person, he not only was not anxious, but also laughed with joy. After laughing, he immediately called the military advisor Dao Yan to discuss how to kill this stupid fish.
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To Zhu Gaoxu's surprise, Dao Yan still looked calm after hearing this "good news" and said: "Your Highness, please let Li Jinglong go."
"Why did you let him go?" As soon as Zhu Gaoxu asked, his mind turned around and he said happily: "Wonderful, wonderful, the military counselor's plan is brilliant. Come on, let Mr. Li go immediately. Oh, by the way, let him go."
All the other prisoners were released, leaving no one behind."
"Your Highness, others can be released, but Pingbao'er cannot be released," Dao Yan said again.
"Oh, Xiao Wang understands." Zhu Gaoxu nodded repeatedly and said to the messenger standing beside him: "Go and do things quickly. Except for Ping Baoer, all the prisoners, whether they are soldiers or generals, have been released."
The reason why Zhu Gaoxu did this was not because he was kind and generous, but because these prisoners could not be deceived into opening the gates of Peking City. They were useless and would be a hindrance. They were killed and dirty, so it was better to let them go. Anyway, these guys were all defeated generals.
, these guys have nothing but nothing to lose. When they go back, their success will be worse than their failure.
And Zhu Gaoxu believed that the first "revealing thing" these people did when they returned to the court was to write to the court stating what the guards of Beiping City would do to them. Not only did they refuse to save them, they also shot them with arrows, and some eunuchs were fanning them.
The emperor must have been furious when the wind started to ignite the fire, and he issued an order to remove the generals guarding Beiping City from their posts and investigate.
"When the time comes, hehe..." Zhu Gaoxu secretly laughed in his heart, and at the same time he secretly thanked God for actually arranging for him a cousin with such a low emotional intelligence.
As the successor of "King Yan", Zhu Gaoxu had heard a lot about the inside stories that his father had done before the rebellion. Among them, selling off the eunuchs around the emperor was his most proud move. Don't underestimate these useless people, they
The energy is infinite.
For example, years ago, before the imperial court sent Geng Bingwen, Marquis of Changxing, to set off for the Northern Expedition, the emperor said something to Geng Bingwen: "I must not be known as the murderer of my uncle."
The reason why the emperor made such a stupid mistake was the result of the opinions of the eunuchs around him. Whenever they had the opportunity, these eunuchs took turns to say that the emperor was benevolent and would tolerate nothing. Even though King Yan rebelled, he was still punished.
If people are deceived, why bother killing each other?
After hearing this kind of remarks so many times, the emperor really thought that the benevolent king was invincible. This made the veteran Geng Bingwen extremely depressed: You can't hurt the opponent's coach in a war. What's the truth? With the confused veteran Geng leading the Northern Expedition northward,
In the end, it failed miserably.
Then, the eunuchs in the palace started to act again, praising Li Jinglong in the emperor's ears for being brave and good at fighting. When the emperor saw Huang Zicheng writing a letter to recommend him, he felt that cousin Li was a talented person and asked him to take over as General Pingyan and command sixty soldiers.
Needless to say, the result of the tens of thousands of troops was completely defeated, and the 600,000 troops became the Yan army's transportation team.
If a stupid young man named Wan Lei hadn't appeared out of nowhere and didn't know that Zhu Gaoxu's father was wearing an invincible body armor issued by the emperor himself, and he shot his father to death with one shot, this would have been called
Man's calculation is not as good as God's. When Zhu Gaoxu thought about the revenge of killing his father, he was so cruel that he immediately got Wan Lei into his hands and cut him into pieces with a thousand swords!
"It is never too late for a gentleman to seek revenge within ten years. The day when Beiping falls is the time for revenge!" Zhu Gaoxu secretly swore.