195. A person with thunder in his chest and a face like a flat lake
Seeing that Wang Xiong's tribe successfully crossed the river, Wang Zheng vaguely heard several people behind him exhale softly, seeming to feel relieved.
However, his face remained solemn and he just looked into the distance.
It's just that there is a dense forest beside the river, with lush foliage in midsummer, and the night sky is low. Even with Wang Zheng's inhuman physique, he can't see clearly as he goes further away.
Soon, everyone could no longer see the troops leaving the city. Wang Zheng and Zhou Hui remained silent. Others still stood on the top of the city and watched, and no one asked to leave.
It seemed like a long time had passed, and yet it seemed like only a blink of an eye had passed.
Wang Zheng suddenly raised his eyebrows, then walked forward gently and made a gesture of leaning forward.
Just as Zhou Hui and others were about to ask, Wei Yan shouted softly: "There's some movement, look over there!"
Everyone hurriedly focused their attention, and soon saw the dense forest on the opposite bank in the night. Fire suddenly appeared on the east side, and then one after another, getting denser and brighter.
It was just that the night was too dark, and between the river and the woods, it was really impossible to see anything. However, everyone could clearly understand with a hint that Sun Cejun's ambush was indeed ambush at that location who did not know how far away from Shucheng.
, although the number of people could not be distinguished, the fire that tore through the night and the vague killing cries showed that this ambush had discovered Wang Xiong's tribe and started fighting with them.
"The enemy is also ambushing here?"
Tao Ze couldn't help but exclaimed: "Brother Wei, didn't you say that the enemy army would ambush in the valley to the west? How come they are not far from the river?"
After hearing this, everyone's eyes except Wang Zheng fell on Wei Yan. Seeing that he didn't say a word, he just opened his mouth slightly and stared unblinkingly at the direction where the shout of death came from.
, everyone became uneasy for a while, some raised their toes, and some were so nervous that they were sweating profusely.
In fact, Wei Yan was also very nervous at this time.
General Wang Xiong's tribe crossed the river and met the enemy. This was really beyond his expectation. The first thought that arose in his mind was that even if there were dangers, they might not be too many, but he was certainly considered to be the best in terms of bravery.
First-class, but after all, he is not a cheater like Wang Zheng. After all, his physique is not much different from that of ordinary people. Looking far away at the moment, he seems to see something, but in fact he sees nothing in the dark night.
Is Sun Bofu so scheming?
On the surface, it is to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but in fact, it is to lure the snake out of its cave?
No, impossible!
Wei Yan subconsciously took out the sword and put it back into the sheath. For a moment, he felt unsure.
Zhou Hui also thought about this. His throat kept moving, mouth after mouth, swallowing saliva with difficulty. Just when he was about to say something, he looked at Wang Zheng in front of him and stopped again.
Those who came out of the city were all Xuzhou troops who were in a hurry. He was not in a hurry. Why should I be in a hurry?
But Zhou Hui also guessed that Wang Zheng's heart at this time would never be as calm as on the surface.
But even if he could maintain a calm posture on the surface, it really surprised him.
When young people succeed, it is normal for them to be as high as the sky and look around in all directions, but when faced with adversity and difficulties, it is difficult to remain calm. This is the so-called self-cultivation that has not yet been accomplished.
But why didn’t Wang Zheng do this?
Zhou Hui looked solemnly at the tall, majestic, motionless figure in front of him. With the factor of "concern leads to chaos", Wang Zheng actually acted more calmly than him, which really made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Zhou Hui thought of something even more inexplicably:
Those who have thunder in their chests and faces as flat as a lake can be worshiped as generals.
At this moment, a dull sound suddenly came from behind, and then someone cried out in pain.
Zhou Hui looked back and saw that several civil servants fell directly to the ground. Looking far away was a manual labor task. They were also weak scholars. They had stood for a long time late at night and had cramps in their calves and stomachs. In addition, their energy was far away.
, and fell to the ground accidentally.
At this time, Wang Zheng also heard the sound and turned his head to look over. Without saying anything, he turned back again. However, Zhou Hui blushed, feeling that these subordinates had offended him in front of outsiders, but at this time
It was not appropriate to have an attack, so I just watched them coldly as they scrambled to get up, and then turned back.
Everyone stared outside the city for a while, but the sound of fighting still did not stop. Seeing that the fighting was still going on, Wang Zheng suddenly turned his head and looked at Tao Ze: "Tao County Lieutenant, you have been in Shucheng for a long time. The place where the two armies are fighting at this time is not far away."
How far is the city? Can you estimate it?"
Tao Ze squinted his eyes and said, "The dense forest is about ten miles away from the moat. The movement happened only after Wang Xiaowei's troops entered the forest. It was not expected to be more than ten miles away."
When Wang Zheng heard this, he raised his sword eyebrows and thought for a moment: "For more than ten miles, it should be that we haven't left Sun Ce's camp yet?"
Before the others could react, Wei Yan suddenly said: "What Zhou Mu means is that what Wang Xiaowei's troops encountered was not necessarily the ambush of Sun Ce's army, but the patrol team or night sentry posted by him?"
Wang Zheng nodded and said: "I just thought about it carefully and realized that the ambush should not be placed so close to the military camp, otherwise the slightest mistake would cause the camp to roar, which would be more than worth the loss. It is expected that Sun Ce would not make such a move.
"
Then he looked at Wei Yan and Tao Ze and asked, "In the past few days, have you paid attention to the approximate number of troops in the patrol team arranged by Sun Ce?"
Wei Yan and Tao Ze looked at each other, and then replied: "There can be as few as a hundred people, as many as hundreds of people. Logically speaking, it is easy to rush over. Why did Wang Xiaowei take so long..."
In fact, not much time has passed...
Wang Zheng, who had been keeping track of time with his pulse, knew that these people were nervous, so he felt that time passed extremely slowly, and smiled and said:
"Wang Xiong has a rough appearance but a careful heart. When he first met the enemy, he must have been worried that he had broken into an ambush, so he did not dare to rush in. But he must have noticed it at this time."
As if there was a telepathic connection, just as Wang Zheng finished speaking, there was a sudden loud killing cry in the distance. In an instant, the firelight became sparse, became less and less, and then disappeared. Then, the sound of horse hooves, the shouting of killing and even the human voice gradually faded away.
, and finally become inaudible.
The night became quiet again.
This change happened very quickly. After a while, the fire was seen again, winding like a snake. It seemed that the other enemy camps had just reacted at this time, and sent a large number of troops out of the camp to rush to support, but they hadn't arrived yet.
At the place where the battle just took place, news was probably received that the Xuzhou cavalry had rushed out and returned the same way. It actually had no effect at all.
Zhou Hui laughed and said: "Sun Ce, the little thief! There must be an ambush. But it's hard for him to act this play as if it were real."
Then he said to Wang Zhengdao: "Wangzhou Mu, since your department has successfully broken through, let's go back to the city first?"
Wang Zhengdao: "Your Majesty, please go and rest first. Once you come to the city, you must inspect the guards. Moreover, our army has not broken through for a long time, and we don't know whether Sun Ce will make a move. I will watch for a while, just to ensure stability."
"
Zhou Hui heard the words and no longer refused. After all, he was a scholar. He had been thinking very hard these days when the army was approaching the city. He burned the lamp every day and often slept for less than an hour a day. Now that he had finally sent the army out of the city, he really couldn't hold on, so he no longer refused.
, clasped his fist slightly at Wang Zheng, and summoned Wei Yan to return to the county government together with a group of civil servants.
Wang Zheng saw him walking away, and smiled at Tao Ze and others: "This breakout has been completed. You have worked hard for a day, and you must be very tired. Let's go back to the city."
Everyone obeyed the order and retreated. In the end, only Tao Ze, the highest officer of the garrison, accompanied him to continue to look into the distance and inspect the guards.
...
Outside the city, Sun Ce's military camp.
In the commander's tent, Sun Ce was reading with a lamp on. When the tent was opened, Huang Gai came in and reported: "As expected by the Major General, there are more than two thousand yellow turban thieves in the city tonight who want to take the west ferry and kill them to the north."
Sun Ce slowly put down the letter, but did not talk about it for the time being, and asked: "Just now there was a faint sound of killing, but why?"
"It was the Yellow Turban bandits who bumped into our patrol guard."
Sun Ce nodded, with an unsurprising expression, and just asked calmly and calmly: "Is this what you expected, the enemy general is Wang Zheng?"
Huang Gai replied: "The night was dark and the soldiers could not see clearly. They only said that the enemy general seemed young and quite brave."
Sun Ce said "Oh" and then stopped talking. Huang Gai waited for a moment and then quietly raised his head. When he raised his eyes, he couldn't help but be surprised to see that Sun Ce had picked up the slip and started reading again.
"Major General?"
After hesitating for a moment, Huang Gai, who was bored in the tent and couldn't walk, finally got up the courage to ask: "Since the Yellow Turban bandits are going north, our army..."
"No need to ask? We will act according to plan."
Sun Ce didn't even raise his head, and waved his hands slightly. Huang Gai didn't dare to disturb him again, so he held his breath and retreated quietly.
...
Sun Ce read in his tent at night, while Wang Zheng patrolled the city.
Zhou Hui has not slept much in the past few days, and he has also done the same. However, he has an excellent physique, but he does not feel tired at all and is still energetic. Not only is he very careful when patrolling, but he also gives gentle encouragement to some soldiers when he meets them. I don't know.
For this reason, Tao Ze only regarded it as a sign of hard work and couldn't help but secretly admire him. He just thought that Wang Zheng, now in a high position as a state pastor, had to do everything by himself, no matter how big or small it was. His ability to start from scratch and achieve a successful career was definitely not a fluke.
But he advised: "Wangzhou Mu, why don't you go back first? It's enough to have the generals here. Even if the Sun thieves have thousands of troops, they have no wings after all. If they can't cross the moat, they will never be able to enter our city even half a step."
!" Then he pointed at the soldiers guarding the city and patted his chest and said, "Besides, we, the fierce soldiers, will not just sit back and watch them cross the river."
Wang Zheng smiled slightly and said: "Lieutenant Tao County, when I captured Linzi, I realized a truth. Do you know what it is?"
Without waiting for Tao Ze's answer, he said to himself: "A city's strongest line of defense is neither a moat nor a city wall, but the people's hearts. A city with unbroken hearts and unbroken morale is the most difficult pass in the world to break!"
"It's not that I'm worried about Shucheng's defense, but the night defense soldiers are more likely to get tired, slack off, and work harder. As generals, we, as generals, can take a closer look and show up more at this time, which is also an improvement.
Morale.”
Tao Ze was thoughtful and was about to reply when suddenly a loud noise came. It came without warning and was extremely sudden in this quiet summer night.
One loud noise was followed by another, continuous, like the embankment bursting, or like a furious wave crashing on the shore. The next moment, the entire city shook, like a mountain falling and the ground cracking.
Everyone in the city looked at each other and turned pale.
The soldiers who were sitting on the edge of the crenel stood up one after another. Some were holding spears, and some were holding on to the wall. Under the firelight, the eyes of thousands of people turned to the north of the city at the same time. Although the night was deep, they could see huge waves rising and falling. .
The water of the wave mixed with the wind and blew over from a distance, and it felt like it was hitting his face. Tao Ze was startled for a moment, and then he couldn't help but said in shock: "No! Sun Cejun broke the embankment!"
Wang Zheng was shocked and raised his eyebrows: "Break the embankment? Is it the big river in the south?"
"No, it must be the Xishui River in the north."
"Why?"
Tao Ze said: "The Yang River in the south is closer to our city. If there are any abnormal guards on the city, they can detect it, but the Xishui River is far away. It can be seen from a distance during the day, but it is difficult to see it at night. Even if it is arranged in The army outside the city in the north cannot be seen. If Sun Ce's army is doing anything on the river, we have no way of knowing."
"If the general's information is correct, this loud noise must be the sound of Sun Ce's army digging embankments and releasing water."
At this point, Tao Ze couldn't hide the panic in his words: "Wang Zhoumu, what should we do? Wang Xiaowei and the others..."
The bursting of the embankments and the release of water may pose a threat to Shucheng, but it may not be a great threat. On the contrary, it is more likely to directly overwhelm Wang Xiong's two thousand men.
Wang Zheng, however, looked calm.
Regarding the possibility of Sun Cejun digging rivers to flood the city, he was prepared first. After all, rains occur frequently in summer and the water level rises. Shucheng is also a city with rivers crisscrossing the surrounding area, so it is natural that he must be aware of it.
Therefore, as soon as he discovered that Sun Ce's army was approaching Shucheng, he suggested that Zhou Hui have people dig many water diversion channels in several nearby rivers.
After informing Tao Ze about this, Wang Zheng looked at everyone and said with a smile: "When I conquered Beihai, my general Huang Zhong used a flood strategy to conquer Gaomi."
"So Sun Bofu's move is just like learning how to walk in Handan. It's really ridiculous. This move was already expected by me. Brother Tao doesn't need to worry. After Wang Xiong crossed the river, the route he took was not close to the water, so there would be floods. The sky is just for us to get rid of the heat."
Wang Zheng said categorically: "I expect that Thief Sun's move will only damage the morale of our army, but it will not have any actual effect at all."
"It's useless to think too much. Let's wait until tomorrow and send sentries to the north to investigate. Then we will all know."
Wang Zheng's confident attitude infected Tao Ze. Hearing this, he let out a loud breath and immediately felt relieved:
"As expected, Zhou Mu is the master of the temple, and I will admire him!"
As for the march route, it was a military secret within the Tianjun. As a Shucheng County Lieutenant and a general of Zhou Hui's line, it was normal for him to not know it beforehand.
In fact, did Wang Zheng really warn Wang Xiong in advance, and was he really as confident as he showed on the outside?
Tao Ze didn't know, and neither did anyone else.
All that everyone could see was that he continued to patrol the city head slowly and slowly. After nearly an hour, he slowly walked down the city and returned to his tent.
Not long after entering the commander's tent, Wang Zheng immediately went to Zhou Hui's county house, and then entered the study with Zhou and Wei.
Until late at night, with the bright moon hanging high, the study was still brightly lit. When the maid brought dinner, she happened to see the three of them standing in front of the map, giving advice and analysis.
At this time, the sound of the fourth watch drum sounded on the street outside the house.