On the wall of Yimen Fort, the gentry looked at the army of yellow-robed thieves outside besieging the city.
Their faces turned pale with fright, and some of their legs were trembling.
"Wang Jinshi, you are the most knowledgeable and know how to fight. You have to think of a way.
The thieves in yellow have invaded, and our group will not end well."
Wang Jin was confident, he stamped his foot twice and said: "Everyone, please be patient, the safety of my Yimen Fort is obvious to all.
This is a city wall built with good stones.
This four-meter-high stone city wall cost more than 30,000 taels of silver and took three generations of talent to build.
Yimen Fort is protected by this city wall and is safer than the county government office.
You are all smart people. If I were not safe, you would not bring your family and your family to hide here with me."
Wang Jinshi pointed to the servant again and said very confidently:
"My servants are more powerful than the military households in the guards. My servants can eat a bowl of meat every day. They are very strong.
Everyone has armor on them and is equipped with a crossbow.
With such a strong servant protecting you, why are you worried?"
Wang Jinshi patted the rolling wood on the city wall with his hands covered with age spots.
"This is the best wood cut in the Qinling Mountains. Only ten people can hold this piece of wood and smash it down.
No matter how many lives the thief in yellow has, it will not be enough.
I also sent people to clear away all the trees within twenty miles.
The thieves in yellow can't even build a ladder now, so how can they climb the city wall?
There is a lot of food in the city. Even if we are surrounded by people, we will have no problem eating for two or three years.
As long as we delay for a year, the imperial army will be able to react and wipe out the thieves in yellow.
Please rest assured, these defensive measures have failed, and I still have a powerful weapon to defend against the thieves in yellow."
Wang Jinshi confidently said: "The top priority is to attack the heart, and the bottom priority is to defend the city."
The eldest son of the Wang family was holding a metal tube and looking towards the camp of the thieves in yellow.
This is the telescope he bought from the southeast region at a high price.
This is a rare thing produced by red-haired people. It can see things in the distance clearly.
The eldest son of the Wang family saw Zhang Yuliang's artillery position.
He collapsed on the ground in fear and shouted in horror: "Dad, the thieves in yellow have cannons. They have cannons. This city cannot be defended."
It’s over, we will all die for what the thieves in yellow did to us.”
Wang Jinshi took out his goose feather fan and pretended to be strategizing.
"Son, don't worry, I have one last resort."
He waved his fan and said, "Pull those bastards up."
The servants quickly pressed up a group of women and children and blocked these people in front of the city. They hid behind the women and children.
At the same time, the servant soldiers shouted loudly towards the formation of thieves in yellow: "You are not allowed to insult and kill women and children."
Wang Jinshi explained with a smile: "This is called using one's own spear to attack one's own shield.
How can a rebel want to be a teacher of benevolence and righteousness?
These are all bastards, what they call women and children.
I want to see if they can fire or not, but I bet they don't dare to fire.
Anyone who can come up with this kind of military discipline shows that he is an indecisive and kind-hearted gentleman. Only a gentleman can bully someone."
All the gentry praised him: "Wang Jinshi is really smart."
…
Su He saw a large number of women and children appearing above Yimen Fort, and the servants shouted: "You are not allowed to insult and kill women and children."
He immediately ordered the artillery fire to stop and called all the officers to the camp.
He understands the method used by Yimenbao very well. This is moral kidnapping.
Su He has a lot of experience and doesn't care about this method at all.
History is written by the victors. Even if the means are as brutal as Bai Qi, he is still a famous general who will be praised throughout the ages.
No matter how kind and righteous he is after losing the war, he can only be regarded as Song Xianggong who has been ridiculed for thousands of years.
Moral kidnapping is a surefire way for generals who want a reputation.
For example, during the Southern Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo hesitated to move forward in Xinhui because the local gentry kidnapped women and children to use as shields.
It gave the Qing army the opportunity to mobilize heavy troops, leading to a great rout of the army and ruining Nanming's chance for a final comeback.
…
Su He saw all the officers coming to the camp.
He will set an example to the officers today so that they can follow the script and not take responsibility when encountering this kind of method in the future.
As a leader, he must take the blame for some things. His subordinates cannot take the blame, and they dare not take the blame.
Su He pointed in the direction of Yimen Fort and asked, "What do you think of this matter?"
Su Ying was the first to speak, saying: "I think military discipline should be maintained, but I also feel that it is not right to maintain it this way."
Su Xiong thought for a while and said: "I think we should fight. The purpose of fighting is to win. For this ultimate goal, all other trivial matters should be put aside.
One general has achieved great success and ten thousand bones have withered away. Why fight if you are afraid of dying? It’s better to wait until you die.”
Su Zhuang did not express an opinion on this matter. He suggested: "Let's not attack the city with artillery first. The engineer battalion dug a tunnel and led the army to sneak attack."
"It's not possible to dig tunnels. After my investigation, I found that the foundation of Yimen Fort was dug ten meters deep and filled with large rocks." Su Ergou reminded him aloud.
Monk Wang touched the stubble of his newly grown hair and said: "Killing is to protect lives, and the army should also be compassionate.
There is no guilt in killing the enemy, but it is too cruel to point the cannon at the common people."
Su Li said loudly: "I obey Commander Su's orders."
As soon as Su Li said these words, other generals immediately followed suit.
Su He looked at the officers' reactions and reasoned first: "We compromised today, and the enemy will know our location in the future.
Every time they fought with us, they would drive the old, weak, women and children into battle.
When things develop to this point, how many people will die.
Never underestimate the cruelty of our enemies, they are capable of anything without a bottom line.
We will use the most brutal means to attack them severely."
Su He looked at the officers thoughtfully and gave the order: "Rebellion is not about treating guests to dinner, it is not about making articles, it is not about painting and embroidering, it cannot be so elegant, so leisurely, so gentle, so gentle, courteous and thrifty.
Rebellion is a riot, a violent action by a group to overthrow the country.
Both those who take up arms and those who are used as weapons are our enemies."
"Zhang Yuliang."
"arrive!"
"I order the artillery battalion to fire."
"yes!"
Zhang Yuliang immediately rushed back to the artillery camp and issued the order to fire.
The six cannons let out their roars, and the cannonballs were aimed at the city gates and walls.
The gate of Yimenbao was completely sealed with stones. The iron ball hit the stone and broke most of the stones blocking the gate.
The iron ball hit the city wall and everyone in the place where it rolled died.
…
On the wall of Yimen Fort, Wang Jinshi saw that the thieves in yellow did not fire. He shook his feather fan and celebrated: "Look at my clever plan to drive back the thieves."
The eldest son of the Wang family immediately cheered and said: "Dad is really a man who knows how to fight. The thief in yellow can be destroyed with a flip of his palm.
Later I will suppress this group of bastards and lead a team of crossbowmen behind me to defeat the yellow-robed thieves directly."
The eldest son of the Wang family has already fancied himself leading the troops in battle, driving a group of bastards to serve as shields.
The thief in yellow was tied up and did not dare to attack, so he fired a volley of bows and crossbows to destroy the thief in yellow.
The roar of cannons frightened the eldest son of the Wang family, and he saw a broken arm falling in front of him.
The eldest son of the Wang family let out a shrill howl and shouted loudly: "It's over, the thieves in yellow really opened fire, we're done."
Wang Jinshi also closed his eyes, knowing that his fate was destined.
The gentry risked their lives and ran down the city wall, forcing their servants to defend the city.