Chapter 60 The Battle of the Plains (4) (for further reading)
The county lieutenant, Sun Jia, was like an ant in a hot pot, anxious. Shortly after dawn, before Sun Jia could crawl out of bed, he received a notice that five households of residents had been brutally exterminated.
A few days ago, Sun Jia was praised by the county magistrate and told Pingyuan Xiang about his achievements. After that day, Sun Jia worked even harder, hoping that one day he could be promoted again.
This time, when rebels attacked Pingyuan County, Sun Jia saw an opportunity for his promotion.
When the county magistrate gave Sun Jia all the tasks of maintaining public security in the county during the war, Sun Jia was also overjoyed. If he could maintain public security in the county this time, Sun Jia knew that his promotion would definitely be around the corner.
However, Sun Jia would never have imagined that on the first night of the war, five households in Pingyuan City would be brutally wiped out.
The number of families destroyed in this night was comparable to the total number of families destroyed in Pingyuan City in the past twenty years.
After Sun Jia received the news, he immediately led all his men to the five houses. After checking, Sun Jia was also shocked. Sun Jia hurried back to the county government office, preparing to report the matter to the county magistrate.
Seeing the county magistrate Liu Bei returning to the county government office from abroad, Sun Jia hurriedly greeted him.
"County magistrate, something serious has happened."
When Liu Bei came in and saw the anxious Sun Jia, he was already a little strange. He didn't understand why the county captain didn't go on patrol at this time, but was waiting for him at the county government office.
Liu Bei was about to ask, but Sun Jia beat him to it.
"What happened?"
"All five households in the city were killed!"
"ah......"
Not only Liu Bei was frightened, but Chen Meng and Jian Yong who came with Liu Bei were also frightened.
"What exactly is going on? Tell me quickly." Liu Bei said anxiously.
"Early this morning, my subordinates came to report that residents in the city were killed. I immediately led my people to check."
"Five households were killed, four of them were near the city gate, and one was near the magistrate's residence."
"The four residents near the city gate who were killed died in the same way. They all had their necks wiped. It should be the same person."
"And the resident near the county magistrate's residence was stabbed in the stomach with a big knife and died."
"Judging from the method of committing the crime, the person who killed this family should not be the same person who killed the four families."
Sun Jia told Liu Bei all the clues he found in one breath.
After Sun Jia finished speaking, he slowly became calmer.
"I have lost my humble position. Please forgive me, magistrate." Sun Jia said respectfully to Liu Bei.
Liu Bei looked at Chen Meng and Jian Yong who were standing aside, and then said to Sun Jia:
"This matter is of great importance. The county captain can send people to maintain the scene with all his strength. Be careful to keep it confidential and not cause panic among the residents in the city. I will send others to arrest the murderer."
After Sun Jia accepted the order, he turned around and left here.
After Sun Jia left, Liu Bei said sadly:
"I regret that I didn't listen to my fourth brother's words, which caused harm to the residents. I was too prepared to do anything wrong!"
After hearing this, Chen Meng thought for a moment and then said:
"Brother, don't be sad. Just now, the county captain said that five households were killed, four of which were located at the four city gates. The murderers of these four households must be internal agents of the rebels outside the city. But why are they in eldest brother's mansion?
Will another family be killed nearby?"
After Jian Yong heard this, he was suddenly surprised.
"On business, could it be that the traitor's spy is also eyeing the lord's mansion?"
****
Wang Han was very angry and wanted to kill Zhu Kui and Li Qing in front of him on the spot.
Wang Han was extremely happy when he heard that the two men had found out the defense strength of the city gate and the county magistrate's mansion.
Wang Han still understands the principle of knowing yourself and the enemy and being able to win a hundred battles. Now, these two defensive forces have been clearly explored, and the offensive forces can be deployed accordingly. If there is another sneak attack, it can almost be said that victory is certain.
But Wang Han never expected that these two people would kill five households at once, all near these two places. Doesn't this mean to others that someone in the city is inquiring about these two places!
When assigning tasks to these two people, he specifically asked them to keep it secret, but Wang Han still overestimated their abilities.
Mr. Sun saw Wang Han's angry look and wanted to take action, so he hurriedly stopped him, and then said:
"Master, there is no need to panic. The matter has come to this, and we can only take a preemptive strike."
"How to strike first?" Wang Han was a little confused.
"At this time, only a few hours have passed since the two men killed each other. Presumably the county magistrate has not had time to take any action. Now that we have a clear understanding of the defense power of the city gate and the county magistrate's mansion, we should immediately attack the power inside the city.
All organized, and then launched an attack on these two places.
In addition, before we launch the attack, send a siege signal to General Xu Hu outside the city. Let General Xu Hu send heavy troops to attack the city and attract all the soldiers in the city to the city wall."
After Wang Han heard this, he thought for a while and then said:
"For today's plan, this is the only way."
"Zhu Kui, Li Qing, you two inform others as soon as possible and gather here within half an hour."
"No!" the two responded.
"This time, you two must try your best and make no mistakes again, otherwise you will not be spared lightly." Wang Han said sternly.
Zhu Kui and Li Qing both said they did not dare, then bowed and retreated.
Half an hour later, eight hundred young and strong men with various weapons in their hands gathered in Wang Han's compound.
Wang Han looked at the eight hundred people and couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.
According to the information obtained by Zhu Kui and Li Qing, Wang Han divided the 800 people into two teams, one team of 600 people and the other team of 200 people. This team of 600 people was composed of Zhu Kui and Mr. Sun.
Led by Wang Han and Li Qing, they attacked the east city gate. A team of two hundred people, led by Wang Han and Li Qing, attacked the county magistrate's residence.
In order to seize the city gate as quickly as possible and allow the rebel army outside the city to enter the city, Wang Han gave their only twenty bows and five hundred arrows to Zhu Kui and Mr. Sun's team.
After everything was arranged, Wang Han immediately ordered that the houses in the courtyard be set on fire.
Looking at the houses that were gradually burning and the black smoke rising straight into the sky, Wang Han knew that Xu Hu outside the city must have seen the siege signal he sent.
"Let's go." Wang Han shouted.
Outside Pingyuan City, the river filling operation continued today. After half a day, nearly two more roads for pedestrians were filled in.
Xu Hu looked at the roads that had been filled in for another two days and was very happy. He thought that if one or two roads were filled in in the afternoon, he could cooperate with Wang Han in the city and capture Pingyuan City in one fell swoop.
However, just when Xu Hu was about to order his men to continue filling the river, Xu Hu suddenly saw a thick column of black smoke rising into the sky in the east of Pingyuan City.
"What's going on? The attack is ahead of schedule."
This thick black smoke was the signal that Wang Han and Xu Hu had discussed to start the attack together.