The moment the gate of Xicheng opened, Zhang Ning promised that he had never heard such beautiful music, even if it was just the rough sound of wood rubbing against the uneven brick floor, and the "bang" opened gate hit the city wall.
It's like the golden hammer of history strikes a coffin-sealing conclusion.
This door seemed familiar to him, just like the door of life and death that he saw in a dream. The end of the door exuded an alluring light. It was just a door, it was not the end, but just the beginning.
The city gate opened, and a large group of Suzaku Army soldiers entered the city. Facing an attack of ten times more enemy troops, Yao Erlang had an extremely complicated expression on his face. Some of the people were cheering, and some were crying.
Seeing a large number of reinforcements arriving, the official infantry began to collapse before they could reach the enemy. Some of them actually shouted: "We are defeated outside the city, run!" Morale is the most elusive thing, and the same army will
, it was possible to attack the city not long ago, but suddenly like an avalanche, it suddenly lost its combat effectiveness, and people and horses scrambled to escape. The city was in chaos for a while. Many people ran out from the North City and East City, and some were killed in the rout.
Some knelt down and surrendered on the spot.
The victory came so suddenly that the officials and generals in the city were silent for a while. Zhang Ning stood up from his chair. This was the first time he had left this position since the beginning of the war. He patted the dust on his body twice, which was mostly artillery.
The soot that precipitated after the launch was as well as the soil powder. Looking back, in the morning it was still a small town with the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. Now it is full of ruins, corpses are scattered everywhere, the fire is filled with thick smoke, and the whole city is in pain like wounded soldiers.
Groan | Groan.
After a long time, Zhang Ning walked down the city and saw Wei Bin, Yao Erlang and others coming. The soldiers on the street were escorting the surrendered prisoners, and some were looking for alive wounded among the corpses.
"The battle is over." I don't know who said it. People did not cheer happily, they just said that the battle was over, because the casualties of the Suzaku Army were indeed heavy, and it was not possible to calculate how many men and horses were lost in the battle.
The fire had not yet been extinguished, the wounded soldiers were still calling for help everywhere, and the defeated enemy soldiers were still running away. But Zhang Ning felt that he should say something at this moment, so he immediately said to the nearby soldiers: "This battle will definitely leave a lasting mark on our history.
I am honored to participate with you brothers in this great battle to overthrow the unjust tyranny..."
At this time, the cry of soldiers came from a corner in the distance. Zhang Ning was not interested in talking anymore. He turned to Wei Bin and said: "Since we have defeated Zhu Yong's main force, we need to take advantage of the situation to expand the results. Mr. Wei Qian,
You immediately gather the troops and horses that are still capable of fighting, go out of the city to pursue the defeated troops, and seize and destroy Zhu Yong's camp five miles away. All the troops and horses in the military camp are at your disposal. I know that brothers can all be tired, but we can't stop here.
, we should comprehensively achieve victory."
Wei Bin raised his hands and saluted with an expression on his face: "I will obey your orders."
Zhang Ning turned to Wang Yu and others and said, "Take some people, together with the officials from Gaodu County, to call the people out of their homes, organize people to put out the fire, and treat the wounded soldiers."
As soon as he walked forward for a while, he found a wounded soldier with incomplete armor kneeling in front of a corpse and crying. Seeing that the soldier was crying sadly, he couldn't help but stop. He saw that the man on the ground was already dead.
He was dead, his whole body was covered with half-coagulated blood, and he had no idea how many swords and guns had been used on his body. His helmet was long gone, a large piece of his scalp was gone, and his hair was graying. He was obviously an elderly veteran.
The sergeant who was crying looked young, so Zhang Ning asked: "You and your son fought together, but it was your father who died in the battle?"
The young sergeant raised his head and recognized the person at a glance as His Highness the Third Highness, Commander-in-Chief of the Suzaku Army, because Zhang Ning was often in the military camp. The sergeant wiped away the blood and tears, shook his head and choked: "He is an old fool, not mine.
Dad...but I'm even sadder than a dead dad. He was still alive in the morning, patting me on the shoulder in the battle, but now..." He turned around and started crying again. The corpse on the ground was just a ball of flesh and blood.
No longer in human form.
After a while, the sergeant suddenly raised his head boldly and said: "Old Han has no children. I am not one of his family members and cannot receive pension money, but I want to ask His Highness for a favor. I want to give Old Han the money for selling his life."
I, I can buy him a good coffin."
Zhang Ning was moved after hearing this, and hurriedly comforted him: "Old Han died fighting for me, and he died with dignity. I promise to bury the warrior who died in the battle with the etiquette of a national soldier, and let him be buried in glory. You don't have to worry."
Zhang Ning did not break his promise. The first thing he did after the war was to arrange for the burial of the soldiers who died in the battle. The whole army died in 386 people, including three officials from one hundred households.
The Suzaku Army indeed suffered heavy losses in this battle, with more than half of the casualties; although the official army left more than a thousand corpses in and around Gaodu City alone, most of them were killed after being broken up.
The Council of Ministers was responsible for organizing this matter. They "requisitioned" coffins from all the coffin shops in Gaodu and nearby towns, rushed to make another batch, and designated a mountainous area on the north bank of Yuanshui River as a cemetery to bury those who died.
Soldiers.
If one day the Suzaku Army is forced to give up its rule over Gaodu County and other places, it is impossible to guess whether the government will exhume the corpses in the cemetery and desecrate them. There will be no home for the living, let alone
Dead people. But at least the scene during the burial was very gratifying.
All the soldiers in the army were required to bathe and fast, put on clean military uniforms, and line up in front of the cemetery. The corpses were also cleaned by the conscripted husband, put on the uniforms of the Suzaku Army, and placed in the coffin. The coffin was covered with a yellow satin Suzaku flag.
The person who acted as the master of ceremonies read a long list of the dead in public and praised the bravery of the deceased. The firearms team fired more than two hundred shots into the sky, and the sound of cannons echoed in the valley for a long time.
At this time, the musicians played military music, and the orderly soldiers carried the coffins to bury their brothers with their own hands. The military music composed by Yao Ji was unexpectedly very harmonious in the sad scene. The first part was originally a sad tune, and the later part was solemn.
The commotion was fierce. Many soldiers cried at the funeral. But people should be happy in their hearts. Anyone may die on the battlefield. After death, being treated with such solemnity is much better than digging a big hole and burying it hastily.
Already.
After the funeral, the Gaodu County Government organized people to build a fence and planned to erect a large stone tablet on the cemetery to engrave the name of the deceased, as well as the tragic process of the Battle of Gaodu and the heroic deeds of the deceased.
... When the Zhuque Army Senate and several important generals sat together to discuss the matter, everyone was very optimistic about the current short-term situation. Although Zhu Yong was not caught, and not all of his troops were killed or injured, he would never again.
It is possible to organize a fighting force in nearby prefectures and counties; if the imperial court wants to deal with the Suzaku Army, it will definitely have to mobilize troops from other places, which will take time.
However, from a long-term perspective, the number of Zhu Yong's troops in this battle is listed as 10,000 troops in official documents. The annihilation of an army of 10,000 people by the rebels will definitely shock the government and the public. The court will send more troops.
"Perhaps troops will be mobilized from Changsha. Wuchang and Jingzhou in the north also have heavy troops. It is not impossible to attack on two fronts... Wuchang is close to Nanjing, and we need to guard against the King of Han, but Jingzhou troops should be able to mobilize." Zhou Mengxiong said bluntly.
Obviously, everyone is not very optimistic about the longer-term prospects.
Zhang Ning said calmly: "Ever since we captured Shimen County with more than a hundred people, it was destined to be unstoppable. The only way to stop is one day... we captured the capital."
After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and laughed for a while. What Zhang Ning said was really too far, but everyone also knew that he was not joking. Starting from Qin Shihuang, China has been dominated by unification, and there is no second place in the struggle for territory. In the end
There is only one winner, and the others will be eliminated; if you don't want to capture Beijing, you can only be completely eliminated on the way. There is no third ending.
Chen Gai, the official of Baihu, touched the hair on his round head and said: "Didn't the brilliant Zhuge Liang in the play say that the world is divided into three parts and wants Uncle Liu Huang to occupy Sichuan and then enter Jingzhou to fight for the world? Why should we fight in these four places?
Why not go west to Sichuan? Sichuan is not too far from here, but the road is difficult..."
The people in the room immediately laughed at Chen Gai in good faith and did not care about him. With the strength of the Suzaku Army and the activities in the northern part of Wuling Mountain, they entered the Huxi Plain and struggled for several months.
Are you unstable and want to open up territory in a place you have never set foot in and are unfamiliar with?
At this time, Zhang Ning pointed to a black circle on the map with his scabbard and said: "Chenzhou, we must occupy a big city as soon as possible. Only with a larger territory can we expand our strength. The only big cities in the near left area are Changde and Chenzhou.
, Changde is not easy to capture, but there is still hope for Chenzhou! Although the Miao rebels failed to capture Chenzhou, they completely destroyed all the strongholds and governance systems in the government, and the government could not recover in a short time.
, it is almost an isolated city. If you capture Chenzhou, you will be able to rule many states and counties around you."
"But now we only have about 800 people left. Except for a few disabled people (medical conditions are poor and seriously injured people usually die quickly, so it is difficult for seriously injured and disabled people to survive), there are still a large number of people who have not recovered from their injuries.
, unable to participate in the war. With the current situation, it may be very difficult to conduct another battle in a short time." Wei Bin said.
Zhang Ning said: "With a heavy reward, there must be brave men. I have ordered that those who participate in the attack on the city will be rewarded with fifty taels worth of property after taking Chenzhou, and they will also be divided into land and houses. After we enter the city, we will organize looting to use as military expenses."
We can also recruit some of the captured guard sergeants. Although these people are not very useful, they have seen the blood and fire of battles. It is better than recruiting Zhuangding to take in the refugees. We must capture Chenzhou as soon as possible and occupy this place.
There are mountain roads to the north leading to various branches of the evil cult, and more mountain people and believers can be summoned to join the Suzaku Army; the hearts of these people are towards us, and as long as they are organized, they can quickly expand their troops. When the court mobilizes from the important towns
Only then will we have the strength to deal with them again..."