Chapter 398: After Tonight, The Pattern Has Changed
Once the number of people exceeds 10,000, it becomes boundless. When hundreds of thousands of troops march, the distance they draw exceeds sixty or seventy miles.
This means that when the leading troops of the Jin army arrived at the outskirts of "Xinzheng", there were still troops falling on the "Tushi" side in the east.
Zheng Junsheng and the other ministers of Zheng Guo stood on the top of the city and looked out. The invading enemies from the east stretched from this end to the end of the earth. Their faces were solemn as they looked at them. Some of them could not even hide the despair on their faces.
Si Hong said: "All the trees within thirty miles of the city have been cut down and burned. This should be a hindrance to the enemy."
In the past, the kings and ministers of the Zheng Kingdom were preparing for war like crazy, hoarding wood desperately, and setting fire to the surrounding areas of "Xinzheng".
As a result, when you stand at the top of the city and look out, you can either see a piece of bare wooden piles, or you can see the earth full of ash.
If the wind is stronger, it can lift up a layer of ash and float like a giant curtain.
There are quite a few plants that have not been completely burned, but their presence makes the environment look even more eerie. People who are not brave enough to walk in this environment at night are likely to be frightened to death by the slightest movement.
Burnt animal carcasses can still be seen in many burned sites, and even charred human corpses can be seen in some places.
No one is willing to tell whether the charred corpses of these people were set on fire and had no time to escape, or whether they were savages who originally lived in the woods.
In fact, it is not difficult to identify the original identity of the charred corpses. Just look to see if they are carrying weapons. Those with weapons are Zheng Army soldiers. Those without weapons are either savages or so-and-so who happen to be passing by.
The Zheng people set fire in the wilderness? They successfully used this method to block everyone, including the Jin army, from approaching for eight days.
Later, it was Zhiyao who ordered an isolation zone to be cleared to prevent the fire from spreading outwards, otherwise God knows how large an area it would affect.
Autumn! The weather is dry and things are dry. You may ignite something if you are not careful. If you set a fire in a planned and large scale, it can easily turn into a prairie fire.
The wonder of nature is there. While it is easy to catch fire, it will rain from time to time in autumn. Wherever a wildfire does occur, the rain can prevent the fire from growing or extinguish the fire.
Zhiyao stopped looking at the mess on the ground, looked up at the sky, and said, "It's going to rain."
The sky was obscured by dark clouds, and the dazzling sun became like turbid amber. More and denser dark clouds were rolling in. After the wind became lighter, the rain would probably fall.
They knew that Zheng's monarchs and ministers had turned the area around "Xinzheng" into a white land. They would definitely need to cut down wood along the way, carry wood for camping, and stock up on materials for making fires and cooking. Naturally, the speed of the march was slowed down.
Come down.
The advantage of doing this is that you don't have to wait until you get to the outskirts of "Xinzheng" to worry about logging. The firewood later will definitely cause trouble. Every time, you have to collect it from a distance and transport it to the military camp.
Zhiyao first glanced at 'Xinzheng' in the distance, then turned to everyone and said, "Shall we camp?"
It's going to rain soon, and it looks like the rain will be a bit heavy. If we don't set up camp quickly, people will be in danger of getting sick if they get caught in the rain.
Too much ashes were blown around by the wind, and some areas that were not burned by the fire also turned into a gray.
A good rain will soak the ash and prevent it from floating around, making it easier to clean up.
Because the camp needs to be set up before it rains, there will be no distinction between combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers in an emergency. Everyone will work together faster, and the camp will be set up by 60 to 70% before the raindrops fall.
The soldiers took shelter from the rain, while the auxiliary soldiers put on their raincoats and continued their work.
Zhiyao listened to the sound of music coming from the big tent not far away, and there were calls for drinks during the period, and a smile appeared on her face.
How should I put it? It should be said that the kings of all countries are really inferior to each other. It doesn’t have to be too long ago, just twenty or thirty years ago. This kind of situation would not happen in the military camp.
Even if there is an orchestra, the self-disciplined monarch will not let the musicians play music, and drinking and other things will not cause much noise.
Wei Ju came over in the rain wearing a raincoat. Seeing Zhiyao looking at the direction where the music and noise came from, he asked the accompanying guards to take off their raincoats and said, "The rain is quite heavy. I don't know when it will stop."
For the Wei family, the past two years have been quite unlucky.
They formed an alliance with the Song Army to attack the eastern part of the Zheng State. In the middle of the battle, they encountered a slave uprising in the Lu State, which forced the Song Army to garrison in the north. Later, they encountered the "Huangchi Alliance" incident.
What now? The army moved over and saw a large area that had been set on fire. The sky was filled with ashes. Raining was originally a good thing. At least there was no need to worry about someone being blinded by the ashes or breathing in the ashes.
Anyway, the question is how long will the heavy rain last?
Zhiyao also looked quite sad.
Many times, many plans will encounter unexpected consequences and lead to bankruptcy.
Now if Wei Ju gives up the attack on "Xinzheng", it will be equivalent to saying that the opera prepared by Lao Zhijia will not be able to continue.
Wei Ju said: "If it rains continuously, we have no choice but to stop fighting."
It is obvious that the Zheng State has tried its best to prepare for a defensive war in "Xin Zheng". Zheng Junsheng and the ministers have not left yet. Obviously they want to fight to the end. How much blood will the Wei family shed to win "Xin Zheng", or
In the final analysis, can it be won?
Zhiyao smiled and said: "When the princes lead their troops, Zheng must think that they have formed an alliance, or they may have death aspirations? If the Wei family can risk their lives to capture the outer city in a short time, what will the Zheng people do?"
Nothing is perfect in the world, and crises actually represent opportunities.
You can imagine how desperate Zheng people are now. As long as the Wei family can show the power that makes Zheng people afraid, it will become easier to disintegrate Zheng people's will to resist.
After Wei Ju understood it, he fell into a thoughtful state.
Soon after, Hu Jie, Hu You, Zhong Quan, and Zhong Wu came together. They seemed a little surprised to see Wei Ju present.
Shouldn't now be Wei Ju's busiest time? Instead of going about his own business, come and ask Zhi Yao what to do.
Wei Ju knew that Mr. Hu, Mr. Zhong and Mr. Zhi were close, so he was not surprised to see two pairs of father and son approaching. He saluted and greeted each other and left.
As for what Wei Ju is doing here? Didn't he just say that he had the idea of striking out?
"The hostility of the Vietnamese army cannot be concealed, and most of the literary people go to the princes." Zhong Quan said with a gloomy face.
In the "Huangchi Alliance" that just ended, the Yue State suffered the most, and the Yue people must be hostile to the Jin people.
Gou Jian may be able to conceal his hostility better, but ordinary Yue people don't have Gou Jian's acting skills.
Hu Jie said: "The king of Yue is in a state of disrepair. Is there anything you can't do?"
What's going on?
In fact, it was Zhiyao who privately asked Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Zhong to pay attention to the monarchs and ministers of the Yue Kingdom, and then asked Mrs. Hu and Zhong to ask Zhiyao what the monarchs and ministers of the Yue Kingdom wanted to do.
Zhiyao just gave some specious guesses. Considering that Gou Jian's character was just like that, Hu Jie and Zhong Quan immediately believed that Gou Jian would do something.
And Gou Jian will definitely do something, such as trying to weave a net against the Jin State. No matter how well he conceals it, some clues will be revealed, which will suddenly make the Hu family and Zhong family believe Zhiyao's guess about Gou Jian.
"Even if Gou Jian doesn't want to do something, I will let him do it; once something happens, it is not Gou Jian's fault but also Gou Jian's fault." The expression on Zhi Yao's face became more sincere.
Zhong Quan asked: "Why didn't you tell the superior general that the subordinate army was on the left?"
At present, the order of ministers in the Jin Kingdom has not been re-determined. Things will be sorted out when they return to the country, and Zhiyao will become the new "Yuanrong" by then.
It seems that Zhiyao is not at all anxious to sit on the throne of "Yuan Rong". In fact, he is not interested. Others seem to think that Zhiyao has a stable mentality because of the certainty.
A few people were sitting and chatting, talking about a variety of things, including speculations about Wei's attack on "Xinzheng", hopes for how good the Jin Congress would be in the future, etc.
After night fell, the rain still showed no sign of stopping, which really made everyone in the Wei family feel even more agitated.
The Zheng Guo garrison was on guard duty in the rain. Without any prior notice, one of them was suddenly hit by an arrow, which shocked the others.
The man who was hit by the arrow was not dead. When he checked his injuries, he found that there was no arrowhead at all. The arrow shaft was wrapped with something. After untying the outer wrapping, he discovered that the arrow shaft was tied with a layer of silk with writing on it.
"Chu, Yue is unwilling to accept it and invites me to attack Jin. In the early hours of tonight, there will be chaos in the Jin army's camp. Our army will rush out of the city. Can we defeat the Jin army in one fell swoop?" Zheng Junsheng pinched the piece of silk cloth hard.
The font on the silk cloth is written in the Chu Kingdom, and it is stamped with the seals of Chu Jun and Yue Jun, but the content written is a bit too outrageous.
Zheng Junsheng is confused now.
The rest of the Zheng Kingdom's monarchs and ministers were not much better. They were shocked and couldn't believe it.
Han Yingqi suddenly burst out laughing, startling everyone, attracting everyone's attention, and then said: "Yue Jun is an extraordinary person, and it is not surprising that he does extraordinary things."
Yes, everyone thinks that Gou Jian is a man who does things by any means, and nothing should be surprising.
Gou Jian had been planning for so long, but after the matter was completed, Jin State intervened. How could he not hold grudges?
Gou Jian, who was full of hatred, did something and successfully attracted the Chu State. Based on the strength shown by the Jin State in this wave, it is normal for the Chu State to be completely afraid of the Jin State.
So, does it seem reasonable to join forces to try to undermine the Jin State and weaken the Jin State to the greatest extent?
This is because Zheng Guo is currently in too much danger. After thinking about some possibilities on his own, he subconsciously believes in those possibilities.
Zheng Junsheng asked hesitantly: "Leaving the city to attack the camp tonight?"
Sihong gritted his teeth and said: "Since there is a Chu lord, Yuejun's seal should be trustworthy? Furthermore, if we don't take risks, how can we survive? There are 50,000 troops in the city, and 30,000 can be sent out. Hong rushed to our army outside the city overnight. In total,
Fifty thousand men attacked the camp."
Several other people began to talk, and the general idea was that they could give it a try.
By that time, if the Jin army camp is not in chaos, they will not really start action.
Is the Jin army's camp really in chaos? They attack the camp desperately, strive to cooperate with the Chu army and the Yue army, and try their best to eliminate more Jin troops.
Zheng Junsheng fell down as if he had lost all energy, and murmured: "Then let's take the risk."
By the way, did Gou Jian really convince Chu Junzhang?
If that were not the case, how could the seals of Chu Jun and Yue Jun appear on the silk cloth?