Compared with Tang Peiyu, Pu Zitong's record and will can be called "proud".
After all, Hengyang City has been holding on for nearly two months.
But the news from the south has been cut off. Now Hengyang City is still crowded with more than 10,000 capable and brave soldiers under his command, plus more than 3,000 wounded people, consuming food and military supplies in the city every day.
Chi Fuyong found him again.
"The Governor..."
Chi Fuyong hesitated to speak, but Pu Zitong knew what he wanted to say.
Hengyang City's west and north directions and outside the city are all in enemy hands. After Gu Shilong and Zhu Qi's armies rested for a while, the next step was to directly attack the city walls and gates.
In the south of the city, the Hengyang defenders were still able to control several miles outside the city.
In the east of the city, as long as the Guangdong navy can be temporarily blocked, the Leishui camp and the defenders in the east of the city can also help guard the way back.
If you want to abandon the city and move in, now is your last chance.
Now that the Guangdong navy has helped Gu Shilong secure the south bank of the Haoshui River in the north of the city, and captured the Shitouzui area guarding the confluence of the Xiangshui River and the Xiangshui River, their next step is to completely control the Xiangshui River section in the east of the city.
But Pu Zitong didn't know what the situation was like in the south.
Staring at Chi Fuyong, his voice was a little hoarse: "You bet that Gu Shilong must hold Hengyang firmly and not pursue it? The Shenji Battalion and the Guangxi soldiers can definitely pursue them. There is also a Fifth Military Camp Selecting a Forward in the south, and there is still water on the Xiang River.
There is a Cantonese Navy!"
Chi Fu never speaks.
From the current point of view, sticking to Hengzhou is a general mistake.
If we could have divided our troops to go to Changsha at the beginning, as long as we could withstand the imperial army that had not yet been assembled and won the first battle, we would have conquered Jingxiang and boosted morale. If we could enter Sichuan, which had been in chaos before, then
There is greater depth.
It's a pity that the orthodoxy is in the hands of Pu Zitong, and he doesn't want to have another King Ji and another Tang Peiyu above him.
But now that several provinces are surrounded by armies, it is obvious that after the proclamation was sent out, various places did not go into war as previously imagined due to the pressure of new laws and new learning.
Pu Zitong looked at his appearance and stood up silently. After a while, he said: "How to make a decision, I have to ask your majesty."
Chi Fuyong looked at his back and was speechless.
Can that child have an opinion?
But after hearing that Pu Zitong was also loose, Chi Fuyong hurried back to make preparations.
If you want to abandon the city, it is naturally impossible to take everyone with you.
There are many troubles. We need to bring enough soldiers to protect our lives, and we also need to have enough food to ensure that so many people can reach Leiyang and Chenzhou.
The key question is: I wonder if Leiyang and Chenzhou have been taken over by the imperial court.
He didn't know that Pu Zitong was on the way to Prince Rui's Mansion.
This navy in Guangdong was the most unexpected to Pu Zitong.
After the fall of Changning and Shuikou Mountain, he not only lost his ally Zhan Huabi, but also was endangered by his retreat route of Lei Shui.
For more than half a month, there have been bloody battles in the west and north of the city. Pu Zitong actually still has the confidence to defend for another two months.
But it’s only two months. What if after two months, I still can’t wait for the opportunity to change?
Pu Zitong already regretted his mistake in judging the overall situation, and now he had to make a decision.
Although Luo An, who was relatively weaker in the south, was defeated, Zhao Nian's command joined forces with Chenzhou Prefecture in the south of Hengzhou Prefecture and continued to hold on to Hengyang City.
Of course he didn't ask Prince Rui for his opinion, he just needed to change his mood and think about it carefully.
In Yan Chunsheng's temporary residence under the east city wall, Cai Jia, who had been helping him keep an eye on Tokyo in the city, hurried over: "Brother Yan, Pu Zitong and Bu Liangzai have all gone to Prince Rui's Mansion. This is the best time!"
Yan Chunsheng gritted his teeth.
Yes, this is a good time. As long as you rush out, you may be able to capture the civil and military leaders in Hengyang City in one go, and you can also defend Prince Rui's Mansion until the army enters the city.
But now he doesn't know what the arrangements are with Gu Shilong.
Then, Pu Zitong's personal soldiers came to deliver an order, asking him to go to Prince Rui's Mansion to discuss matters.
Cai Jia looked at him worriedly, but Yan Chunsheng just calmly took two guards with him.
After all, he is already a general in the rebel army. It is normal for Yan Chunsheng to bring two guards. After all, who dares to bet that there is no meticulous work in Hengyang City?
When he arrived at Prince Rui's Mansion, he saw Prince Rui sitting on it and Pu Zitong standing facing everyone.
Bu Liangzai, the "prefect" of Hengzhou, remained silent, and Yan Chunsheng soon saw Chi Fuyong and Pu Zitong guarding the west of the city, and two old generals from the north of the city arrived here.
"There have been fierce battles in the west and north of the city for many days. If the rebels want to attack the city next, they will have to attack from three sides." After finishing this sentence, Pu Zitong said calmly, "The west and north sides, especially the north of the city, suffered heavy losses, and the soldiers also suffered heavy losses.
You need to take a breath. Governor Yan, the east of the city has not experienced a hard battle during this period. Now I want to entrust you with a heavy responsibility. The east and north of the city will take advantage of the rebel army to rest and change defenses as soon as possible. You may hold it for ten days first, and let the north of the city defend.
The army will rest in the east of the city first?"
"...I will live up to my mission! The general's hands have been itching for a long time!" Yan Chunsheng only showed a moment of surprise, and then immediately promised.
"Then you two will immediately make arrangements to change the defenses in batches. Don't let the enemy troops outside the city see the void on the wall."
At this point, Yan Chunsheng clasped his fists and left with another "commander" responsible for guarding the north of the city.
He knew that Pu Zitong was planning to abandon the city and flee south, and he also knew that he was never considered Pu Zitong's direct descendant, and now he was going to be left behind to cut off his descendants.
However, Pu Zitong will not leave Hengyang City just like this. If he cannot cause a big mess in Hengyang City before he leaves, wouldn't it mean that Gu Shilong can easily pursue him?
The passage to the south also needs to be opened.
After making an appointment with the "commander" guarding the north of the city on how to change the defense for the first batch, Yan Chunsheng returned to the east of the city.
He had already made a decision on the way: "Call all of us!"
Those "bandits" who originally stayed in Hengyang City, as well as some of the new brothers who "admired" him the most during this period, Yan Chunsheng calculated that he only had less than 130 real people in total.
Someone you can trust.
Of course, these people all still have some soldiers with them.
Pu Zitong can trust him, but he doesn't completely regard him as his direct descendant. Now, it is really the best and last chance to let him break up.
Even if the imperial army outside the city had other plans, Yan Chunsheng couldn't wait any longer.
Cai Jia quickly called the people Yan Chunsheng wanted, and most of them stayed in the open space inside the door in the middle of the east city wall. The leading small bosses all entered Yan Chunsheng's room.
"We want to move to the north of Fangcheng."
Yan Chunsheng said this first, and the eyes of most people in the room changed.
"You take the people first and go directly to the city wall. The next group of people will come." Yan Chunsheng ordered more than a dozen people to go out in one breath. There were still five people in the room. "You guys are here, waiting for the first group of soldiers from the north of the city.
Come here, take the remaining brothers with me. Brothers in the north of the city, don't move until you go up to the east wall."
After waiting for the five men to follow the orders, Yan Chunsheng said to Cai Jia: "Tell Niu Sanqi that when he saw a fire in Prince Rui's Mansion, use three cannons as a signal to take down the guard in the north of the city, seize Zhanyue Gate, and open the door to welcome the king.
The division enters the city."
"Brother Yan, you..." Cai Jia was shocked.
Yan Chunsheng touched the crook of his injured leg and said with his teeth: "I will take the fifty people and a few of you, that's enough!"
Now that they are ready to abandon the city, Pu Zitong, Bu Liangzai, and Chi Fuyong must have many things to discuss and make arrangements.
I, the general guarding the north of the city, still have some things that I don’t understand about defending the city. Is it normal for me to ask for instructions?
At this moment, the owner of Shitouzui in the northeast of the city has changed, and Gu Shilong's tent is located here.
Surrounded by water on three sides, it can be called a desperate situation. However, the terrain is very high, easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is the last point to be captured in the north of the city.
Under the current situation, Gu Shilong expected the city's defenders to sneak attack here from the narrow place beside the Xiang River in the east of the city.
But Hengyang City closed its doors tightly.
Another advantage of the huge height here is that if you use a telescope to peek over it, you can see a little bit of the movement in the northeast corner of the city.
"Next, we must conquer Hengyang City without wasting lives." After a few glances, Gu Shilong said to the officer in Yao Rong's pacesetter battalion, "Send a message to Yao Dutai, and the grain and grass will be transferred to the direction of Chenzhou. Within three days.
, I will capture Hengyang City."
Zhu Qi used 3,000 Guangxi soldiers and one Jiuxi guard to drive the defenders outside the west wall of Hengyang into Hengyang City. This was enough credit.
Ma Yongdao came here, and he helped capture the south of Heshui River, but he could also be given a good fortune. The father of An Bin will definitely be one of your Majesty's military merits in the future.
"Send the order, the officers and soldiers east of the Xiang River are ready to cross the river and attack the east of the city! From the west and north, just wait for the chaos in the city to attack the city, but there is no need to attack by force. Wait for the friendly troops from the east of the city to enter the city and then attack and capture the gates!"
Gu Shilong was making arrangements for the next stage, unaware of the changes that had already taken place in the city.
At this moment, Yan Chunsheng was taking the five younger brothers who admired him and the soldiers they were in charge of.
It was agreed that the north of the city was the most important. First, Yan Chunsheng's large force of over a thousand people went to the east side of the city and replaced the garrison on the city wall. After the group of garrison from the north of the city arrived in the east of the city, Yan Chunsheng then led the remaining
The people below went over and exchanged the "soldier symbols" and the keys of the gates with the general in the north of the city face to face.
Now, the east side of the city is full of garrison troops from the north side of the city, but there are still many original garrison troops remaining in the north side of the city.
After Yan Chunsheng himself arrives, they will all move to the east of the city.
Yan Chunsheng's newly recruited younger brother is now confused: "Captain Yan, are you going from the city to the north?"
He thought he would go directly along the city wall.
"Go to His Majesty and the Grand Governor and ask for instructions on the arrangements for the defense of the north of the city."
Cai Jia looked at these people while listening to Yan Chunsheng perfunctoryly deal with them.
There are only sixty-one people, which is not conspicuous.
When we arrived at the gate of Prince Rui's Mansion, there were naturally soldiers posted by Pu Zitong guarding the place both inside and outside.
However, Yan Chunsheng swaggered inside and only ordered: "You guys wait outside the door first. I will come out after I have asked the Governor for instructions."
After that, he took the two guards and went in as before.
Cai Jia stayed at the door of Prince Rui's Mansion, but saw no other reaction from the guard at the door - after all, Yan Chunsheng entered in this way not long ago.
Having stayed in Hengyang City for almost three months, Yan Chunsheng is a familiar face. He is one of the commanders of the "King Division" and his status in the army is second only to Pu Zitong and several other senior commanders.
But when he arrived at the entrance of the main hall, Yan Chunsheng was stopped: "Captain Yan, weapons."
To enter the palace, Yan Chunsheng could not be fully armed. It was difficult to get rid of the armor, but he had to take down the bow, arrows and waist knife.
Yan Chunsheng grinned at the two people at the door: "Is the Governor in the palace?"
"Please wait here for a moment, Commander-in-Chief, and wait for the announcement. The Commander-in-Chief is discussing matters with Governor Bu and Governor Chi."
Yan Chunsheng nodded: "Okay, okay, okay!"
After three strikes in a row, his two guards suddenly moved like rabbits. They pounced on each other and wiped out their roars with short blades in hand.
Yan Chunsheng bent his bow and drew an arrow, and quickly shot at the guards who were standing in two rows in the courtyard to the door.
The change came so suddenly. The guards over there just looked here in shock, and two of them had already been knocked down by arrows.
"Cai Jia!"
Yan Chunsheng shouted, but his hands didn't stop.
Outside the gate of Prince Rui's Mansion, Cai Jia had been waiting with tense nerves.
When he heard the movement inside, he threw out a flying knife.
A few people who had been lurking in Hengyang City for an unknown length of time quickly killed the guards guarding the gate of Prince Rui's Mansion. The more than fifty people brought over by Yan Chunsheng were stunned and confused for a moment.
"If you don't want to die, just come in first!"
Cai Jia took the lead and led people in to join Yan Chunsheng. The fifty or so people were frightened to death.
This is in Hengyang City, why did Boss Yan start fighting with the governor's personal soldiers?
But they were people who followed Yan Chunsheng, and Cai Jia's words were extremely lethal.
The fifty people looked around in horror.
After many months of war in Hengyang City, ordinary people no longer dare to go out easily.
The war in various sects was tense, and there were no guards everywhere on the streets. All the manpower was transferred to the walls.
Only important places like the original palace were guarded by personal soldiers.
They didn't know if anyone had seen the scene just now, but Cai Jia and the others obviously didn't care whether they would be discovered or not.
Confused and extremely frightened, they followed Cai Jia and rushed in. They really wanted to know what was going on.
What he saw was that Yan Chunsheng was killing people coldly.
"Yan Danniu rebels..."
"ah--"
Some people wanted to warn others, while others only reacted by shouting in horror.
They all saw three people rushing out of the main hall. Pu Zitong looked at him in disbelief.
"Yan Daniu!"
Chi Fuyong's stern shout was accompanied by the sound of the sword being unsheathed, while the remaining Pu Zitong guards in the palace protected Pu Zitong and Bu Liangzai.
Yan Chunsheng turned around and fired arrows one after another, first hitting Chi Fuyong's legs that were not protected by the skirt armor, and then he had already forced into the main hall door with the support of his two brothers.
In this way, Pu Zitong's personal guards can no longer close their doors and wait for help.
"Hold the gate and light the fire!" Yan Chunsheng gave an order. After Cai Jia and others cleared the guards in the front yard, they took the oil they had already carried around their waists and sprinkled it on a big tree in the courtyard in front of the main hall, lighting it on fire.
In the main hall, Pu Zitong's eyes were gloomy and cruel, thinking about the new decision he had made before: let Yan Daniu defend the north.
Outside to the north is Gu Shilong's army.
The Jin Yiwei traveling in Hunan once said that there were fine works in Hengyang City.
But Yan Daniu is from outside the city!
"Who the hell are you!"
Under Yan Chunsheng's arrows, Pu Zitong looked with great pain at Chi Fuyong, who was surrounded and hacked to death by Cai Jia and others because of his leg injury, and shouted with splitting eyes.
Yan Chunsheng’s younger brothers also want to know this question.
What answered him was three dull cannon shots from the north of the city.
Gu Shilong looked at the north of the city in astonishment from the stone mouth, and then saw a wisp of smoke in the city through the telescope.
"According to His Majesty's decree, you are the bandit leader who needs to be captured alive." Yan Chunsheng said with a smile, "There are three hundred guards in uniform on the north wall. Now I am afraid that the city gates have been opened, and the king's army will win!"
After Yan Chunsheng made such a joke, he asked with a smile: "Brother Pu knows Yan's archery skills. The situation is over, brothers, what do you choose? Capture Pu Zitong alive, and Bu Liangzai's head, this is terrible
It’s all a great achievement, and all sins can be forgiven.”
What he was looking at were the six guards in front of Pu Zitong.
The words "Jin Yiwei" made the more than fifty people outside the hall seem to have question marks on their heads.
Aren't you the big bandit leader on Hengshan Mountain?
Pu Zitong had already held his sword in his hand: "Don't listen to his monstrous words to confuse the public! What about the three hundred brocade guards? It's an exaggeration! You have been asked to guard the east of the city, and you think the governor didn't watch out for you? Take him!"
"Then how could I rush here and kill Chi Fuyong?" Yan Chunsheng paused and then said, "Old Mo, do you five want this great achievement?"
What choice do the five newly recruited leaders have? They followed Yan Chunsheng.
When the desperate moment came, a melee broke out in the palace.
Arrows are not more effective in close combat, but there are people in front of Yan Chunsheng who are fighting with the six Pu Zitong guards.
Pu Zitong was not willing to fail like this, but Yan Chunsheng was able to accept this task because of his archery skills that surpassed the Jin Yiwei.
It's also good to be close, as the arrows can penetrate armor.
No matter how strong Pu Zitong's armor is, it can't protect his palms.
After an arrow was hit in his right palm, Yan Chunsheng shot another arrow at a familiar location in Pu Zi Tong - the place where Yan Chunsheng was injured in Haoyang Camp.
It was this potentially crippling arrow that gave him basic trust in Yan Chunsheng.
In the melee between dozens of people and just eight people, the battle ended quickly.
Pu Zitong desperately wanted to commit suicide to avoid suffering, but after being injured, Yan Chunsheng was no longer afraid of trouble at close range. He drew out his sword and rushed forward, slashing his other hand and ankle.
"Stick to the palace and wait for the king's troops to enter the city! Cai Jia, go find King Rui and Queen Zhuang Su and protect them!"
After the despair in Pu Zitong's eyes was revealed, madness emerged again.
"The unfaithful, unfilial, ruthless and unjust dog emperor! You set up this trap, laid this bait, do you think that if I are defeated, I will be able to calm the hearts of the world?" He grinned and took a sip, "So that the world will know that he is the late emperor.
He is such an ungrateful and vicious person who uses his wife and children as bait. Now he is pretending to be benevolent and righteous to protect His Majesty, won’t the people of the world think too much about it?”
At first, Yan Chunsheng still remembered that he wanted to capture Pu Zitong alive, but after hearing what he heard, things became more and more wrong.
He heard Pu Zitong say, "Don't people in the world think too much?" After thinking about it carefully, the hairs all over his body stood up. Then, while his heart was beating wildly, he slit his throat with a knife and punched him in the mouth.
Yan Chunsheng didn't know much, but he realized a dilemma.
Even if it was just for Yan Chunsheng's own life, Pu Zitong's mouth must be killed first - no, there are more mouths to be killed.
When Gu Shilong was in shock, he hurriedly mobilized his troops to attack Hengyang City. When the remaining guards in Hengyang City saw the heads of Pu Zitong and Bu Liangzai hanging at the gate of Prince Rui's Mansion, they collapsed and scattered in an instant.
Everything planned in advance was too late. The Chengnan generals in the south of the city were the first to flee to the south with all their people, and desperately attacked the Shuikou Mountain Fortress guarded by Luo An and Dan Zhaonian.
The strange thing is that Luo An and Dan Zhaonian did not come out of the stronghold to stop them.
But when Gu Shilong saw Yan Chunsheng, he only saw him kneeling on the ground covered in blood: "Pu Zitong has decided to abandon the city and flee south. I didn't dare to wait any longer, so I had to disobey the order and start in advance. Prince Rui's Mansion was heavily guarded, and I was killed three times."
Brothers, we saved Prince Rui’s mother and son. It’s a pity that we couldn’t capture Pu Zitong alive, so we could only kill him!”
He explained the whole story, but then Luo An, who came to Hengyang City, saw something very unusual from the excessive corpses in Prince Rui's Mansion.
Yan Chunsheng was seriously injured, and his three remaining brothers were also in critical condition.
Not only that, all the eunuchs and maids in the palace also died.
After Gu Shilong and Luo An looked at each other for a moment, they both saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.
Then, Gu Shilong said decisively: "Send orders to all armies to give up the shepherding plan, and don't let any of the rebels go!"
No matter what long-term plans His Majesty has, we must try to prevent some rumors from appearing.
When Zhu Houcong returned to Huai'an at the end of November, the good news from Hengyang finally came.
There is another sentence in Gu Shilong's memorial.
[Whether King Rui is being kidnapped or not, I and Luo An are trying to find out. However, the remaining rebels should be eliminated as soon as possible. I have already ordered all the armies to send a message to Wang Boan that they must move into Chenzhou and encircle the remaining troops.
Your Majesty approves!】
Zhu Houcong fell silent, and everyone standing here fell silent as well.
Could it be that Gu Shilong was coerced into disobedience by his military exploits?
The court said to the outside world that Prince Rui was being held hostage, but Gu Shilong now said that he, Luo An and others were investigating the matter, so what was the order to rescue Prince Rui, mother and son?
Zhu Houcong didn't want to show his doubts in front of his already overawed ministers, so he thought silently.
If the results are accurate, then the plan to use suppression instead of training will go bankrupt.
The emperor was silent, and no one else spoke.
Until Cui Yuan gritted his teeth, knelt down with great ceremony and said: "I would like to have a solo duet!"