Dust stirred up into the sky with the night wind; a small sandstorm seemed to rise in front of the Ghost King's Palace. After waiting for a long time, when the dust settled, I saw that the palace gate and the gate tower above the gate had turned into countless pieces.
Broken tiles were scattered on the ground in the gaps in the palace wall. There were also many broken beams and columns inserted diagonally among the ruins, making the ground a mess.
Fortunately, after the battle started, the Ghost King and his daughter, escorted by the guards, hurriedly left the city gate building and hid in the deep palace; otherwise, they would definitely end up dead or injured at this time.
Not far from the shore of the lake, Xiao Shizhu, who was looking left and right at the Ghost King's Palace behind a telescope, suddenly smiled when he saw the rubble and broken walls in that area. Greedy eyes burst out from his open eyes.
Looking through the telescope towards the Ghost King's Palace, he was like a senior miser opening his money bank and seeing the mountains of gold and silver piled inside.
As a modern human soul, or a modern human soul with a lot of knowledge, although Xiao Shizhu does not have any high education, he also knows that in addition to the two purposes of waging war: defense and territorial expansion, there is also the purpose of waging war.
resources and money.
If the war is not about these things, it is better not to fight at all. Therefore, after listening to Wu Zhiqi talking about how glorious the Ghost King's palace is, how luxurious the Ghost King's life is, and how even the chamber pot is either gold or jade, Xiao Shizhu started to think about the Ghost King.
The palace felt itchy.
After fighting two wars, although the ghost mother's pockets were not emptied, it still cost a lot. If I don't bring some money back, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain to the ghost mother.
This war is mainly for the annexation of the Ghost Kingdom. Unlike the last attack on Wei to rescue Zhao, the people's hearts are very important. Otherwise, even if it is incorporated into the territory of the Ghost Mother Kingdom, there will be sudden rebellions, leaving the Ghost Mother Kingdom with the possibility of rebellion at any time.
Danger of backyard fires.
Therefore, the common people could no longer take action, so Xiao Shizhu decided to target the Ghost King. Therefore, he could have destroyed the only passage in and out of the Ghost King's palace, but he never did so.
Little did he know that he had once again made a mistake and hastened the end of this war. If he had chosen the tactic of destroying the bridge and trapping the Ghost King from the beginning, with the sufficient food and grass in the Ghost King's palace, he would have been trapped for more than a year and a half before he could bring the Ghost King alive.
Starve to death. By then the Ghost King is still there and has not issued an edict to all parts of the country that he is willing to surrender. Even if other cities outside the capital are occupied by the Ghost Mother Kingdom, there will be three days of good-hearted ghosts rebelling, and five days there will be angry young ghosts clamoring to lead the army.
The King of Ghosts and King Qin.
After the Tianhun Army in Linglong City retreated to the East and West City, Xiao Shizhu divided the Xiao family's army into three; Yingzhao and Qianhu Huangtusuo led an army with ten chariots to attack the East City. Wu Zhiqi and Xuanshui then
He led his troops and took ten chariots to the west city.
He himself, Qin Yuan, and Yu Rong led the remaining soldiers to guard Nancheng with thirty battlefield vehicles, taking care of the supplies that were constantly being sent. Whenever they saw defenders trying to break out of the Ghost King's Palace, they would use
The shelling drove them back.
Just after Yingzhao and the others attacked, Xiao Shizhu was not idle. He asked Qin Yuan and Yu Rong to fly into the air quietly, flying as high as they could until they were out of the range of the bed crossbow.
In the clouds, I used a telescope to observe the topography of the Ghost King's Palace, and drew down the locations of arrow tower defense buildings and bed crossbows used for air defense. After another batch of solid bullets arrived, I began to load and bombard these places.
But the troops never attacked rashly and entered the palace.
Two days later, at Tiansha Palace.
The Ghost King sat on the throne with a distressed look on his face, looking at the frightened and panic-stricken ministers below. Listening to the roar of artillery fire coming from outside the palace from time to time, his teeth were itching and his knuckles were numb, so he had to clench his hands tightly.
fist.
"I called you here today to decide on a matter." After a long time, seeing the ministers bowing their heads in silence, the Ghost King glanced at them one by one and asked in a calm and calm tone: "Yade Sui"
, or is it complete?”.
He didn't know what method Xiao Shizhu used to prevent the artillery from being affected by the high temperature, and actually dared to array the artillery on the shore. Moreover, the artillery in Xiao Shizhu's hand was the farthest artillery he had ever seen. It only took two.
On that day, the defenses in his palace were completely demolished by the enemy with cannons.
Not only that, the garrison outside Linglong City was almost wiped out by the Xiao family army; and a day ago he received a letter from Fei Ge, which mentioned that Huju Pass had been besieged by Xia Xing's army, and there was no trace of anything after that.
The news, I'm afraid it's all bad now.
At this moment, the Ghost King's Palace has become an isolated island, with no barrier in front and no retreat. All kinds of disadvantages are placed in front of the Ghost King and his ministers. It is time to decide whether to fight or surrender.
"At the beginning, if your Majesty had listened to my advice and concentrated your troops to attack one point, instead of spreading the troops to various places to defend the important roads, you would not have been defeated by the Xiao family army one by one." Hu Hui, the leader of the civil service, sighed and stood up to confront the Ghost King.
After saluting, he said unhurriedly: "Now that we are facing all kinds of disadvantages, we can only have a chance to fight back by surrendering. I heard that there was once a man named Gou Jian in the world. After being captured, he suffered hardships for several years and finally destroyed the enemy country. Your Majesty.
You might as well imitate the King of Yue in the human world, submit to humiliation, endure humiliation, and make a comeback." The implication is that the ghost king bows his head to Xiao Shizhu and the ghost mother.
Hu Hui's plan is indeed the best strategy at present. But the purpose of this old man's plan at this time is not that simple. He just thinks that if the ghost king surrenders now, he can be inserted into the ghost mother country as a surrender.
In the same way, he secretly controlled the Ghost Kingdom, secretly controlling the Ghost Mother Kingdom.
By then, the Ghost Mother Country will already have Shuoyue, Sanxing, and Heilong Islands. If you take over the Ghost Mother Country, you will not only regain Sanxing Island for Master Juzi, but you will also bring Shuoyue and Black Dragon Islands under the control of the Mo family. What's the point of doing so much with one fell swoop?
No? As for whether the Ghost King surrendered or died, he didn't care. He was even more indifferent whether he ended up being a slave or a prisoner.
His strategy was indeed feasible, and half of the remaining ministers in the palace were Mohists. As soon as this statement came out, everyone immediately echoed it. The ministers all felt that this strategy was very good, so they all gave advice to the Ghost King.
, come down!
The Ghost King looked at them chattering and suddenly had mixed feelings in his heart. He originally wanted to negotiate a peace, at least in this way, he could save the life of his only heir, Princess Linglong Gui Qian'er, so he just asked the officials whether the jade was broken or intact; but he didn't
Thinking that these loyal ministers in the past actually asked him to surrender instead of negotiating peace, and even used Gou Jian's example to explain the matter, this made his heart feel like falling into an ice spring, and he felt chills.
.
Whether in the underworld or in the human world, it would be a great shame and humiliation for the king to surrender. If the ghost king is willing to surrender for his daughter, he will not regret it even if his future life is worse than death. But when he saw the ministers, he did so out of fear and to save his own life.
After admonishing him, he became unwilling to get up.
If it were for these cowards, the Ghost King would not obey even to the death!
So he hit the armrest of the throne hard with his right fist, stood up suddenly, raised his eyebrows and said angrily: "The decisive battle is tomorrow! If you want to surrender, you can leave the city now, I will never force you; but if you want to surrender, you can leave the city now.
Stay, I hope you will all fulfill your responsibilities and fight side by side with me again."
"Whether the city dies or not, we will defend the Ghost Palace to the death! Even if we die, we will not be cowardly!" After saying this, he took a deep breath, and before the ministers could refute, he slowly said to the ministers in a slightly gentler tone.
: "Please take good care of me. If you can survive, we will meet you richly and richly in the future."
In just a few words, although there was not much emotion, the ministers who were not Mohists were able to instantly dispel their worries and fears. Even some Mohists became excited. They were silent and slightly moved.
With a shudder, they all looked at the Ghost King with determination, just to repay the Ghost King for his kindness to them in the past.
Even Hu Hui thought twice after hearing the words, and sighed silently in his heart: "That's all, I, Hu Hui, have done all the immoral things for Mr. Juzi; today, when life and death are uncertain, why not just be loyal to the Ghost King once?"
!".
"Go and get busy." The Ghost King showed a grateful look in his eyes. After scanning their faces one by one, he waved his hand to signal them to leave.
Early the next morning, just after dawn, Xiao Shizhu, who was sleepy, was called out by Yu Rong.
Xiao Shizhu, who was angry at getting out of bed, sat up, cursed and rubbed the corners of his eyes that were still stained with eye droppings. When he saw a messenger kneeling in the tent, he yawned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Yingzhao and Xuanshui Qianhu have eliminated all the defenders in the city outside the enemy's capital and are on their way back to the Chinese army. Our army suffered less than 300 casualties." The messenger handed him over.
"These two prodigal things, there are less than three hundred casualties?" Xiao Shizhu cursed and stood up, put on his clothes and walked out of the tent; his face was indeed filled with joy.
Just after he left the tent, he saw a signal soldier riding a tame tiger rushing into the camp and galloping towards him. Judging from the clothes, this signal soldier was a soldier of the Ghost Mother Army led by Xia Xing.
The signal soldier came to him and quickly tightened the reins to force the tiger to stop. Then he got off the tiger, knelt down in front of him and said loudly: "Report, Lord Xia Xing has conquered Huju Pass, leaving 20,000 soldiers behind."
After Ma Ju defends the pass, we will march to the west of the Ghost Kingdom according to your request, general."
While the signal soldier was talking, the overcast sun had crossed the western horizon and slowly rose. After a while, the morning glow filled the land around Linglong City, reflecting the hot magma in the lake.
"Okay, okay, the defeat of the Ghost King has been decided!" The red light of the overcast sun illuminated Xiao Shizhu's excited and excited cheeks, making his cheeks turn red. After a moment, he said excitedly to Yu Rong: "The whole army is on fire.
Make rice, wait for Yingzhao and the others to come back, rest for an hour, and then we will rush into the palace and capture the Ghost King alive!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of noise from the forward position.
"What's going on?" Xiao Shizhu frowned slightly when he heard this, and walked towards the forward position. After leaving the camp gate and standing on the position in front of the camp, a soldier said to him: "The Ghost King organized the garrison in the palace, and suddenly
Rushing towards us." At the same time, he opened the telescope in his hand and handed it to Xiao Shizhu.
Xiao Shizhu took the telescope, raised it and looked to the north. He saw that the only passage leading to the Ghost King's Palace was crowded with enemy imperial troops, shouting and rushing towards them.
"The ghost king really doesn't have a long memory. He insists on using his arms as a chariot and struggling to the death. I will do as you wish!" Xiao Shizhu showed disdain on his face. He put down the telescope with a slight snort and ordered to Yu Rong: "The infantry will form an array and block the road.
In front of the bridge, don't let go of the soldiers who have just stepped off the bridge. The artillerymen load the cannons on the chariot with shotgun shells and bombard the south exit of the Ghost King's Palace to prevent the enemy from increasing their troops!"
"Remember, don't blow up the bridge for me, otherwise we will have to look at the lake and marvel at the treasures in that palace." When Yu Rong responded and was about to leave, Xiao Shizhu warned again.