On the east bank of Baishui Lake, at the entrance of a large camp stood a tall archery tower made of wood and bamboo, with a sergeant sitting on the top floor. At this time, he looked down and saw the dust rolling on the road, and a horse team approaching from a distance.
The sergeant looked at it for a while, then quickly stood up and straightened his back.
The people who came were the British Duke and several generals, as well as some entourage. After a while, more people came out of the tents outside the camp and stood on the road waiting to greet them. When the British Duke Zhang Fu came to the front of the camp, he did not dismount.
He shouted: "Come in with me and take a look."
This is a huge camp. The new one has not yet been completed. Many people are still digging soil to build walls and build shacks inside. The military camp is very strange because there is a deep ditch behind the earthen wall and fence. The structure is a bit like what the rebels built outside the city.
The strange thing about the fortifications is that the defenses face inward... because this is a prisoner camp. There are several troops stationed outside, fully armed; while the people building the fortifications inside are a large group of unarmed prisoners.
"Almost all of them are surrendered by the King of Han. The total number of people in several battalions should be almost more than 15,000." The person who just greeted Zhang Fu reported, "More than a month ago, we attacked Hukou County and were surrounded and killed.
Four to five thousand people surrendered. In the battle at Hukou, the rebel navy was defeated. After landing, thousands more people surrendered or were captured, excluding those who escaped. Recently, our army has repeatedly attacked the outer fortresses of Jiujiang City and captured many people.
Some sneaked out in the middle of the night and surrendered."
Zhang Fu just observed that these people were very obedient and showed no signs of resistance. The military general in charge of the camp continued: "After the fall of the King of Han, these people are not guilty of the worst crimes... Staying here consumes a lot of food every day. Fortunately, there is the Yangtze River
Shipping, otherwise it would be a huge burden on the army. The general thought that the British princes might as well give a memorial to the court, asking the princes to find a place to allocate a piece of land, convert these people into guards, and let them farm the fields.
alright."
"With so many people, how many troops will be needed to send them away? Although we have many people and horses, the art of war is to encircle them in ten. How many people are needed to surround Jiujiang? There are casualties and losses every day, and the troops and horses are not that surplus." Zhang Fu said.
. He turned the horse's head and kicked the stirrup, "Choose two thousand people and send them to the Eastern Front at five o'clock tomorrow... put on the clothes of Xuan Dabing."
The general asked: "Where can I find so many clothes?"
Zhang Fu said: "Your people, change with them! No matter what they wear, they will be the same. Can people change after wearing the clothes of the Jiujiang Army?"
"Yes." The general replied.
Zhang Fu thought for a moment and lowered his voice and said: "Tell the captured soldiers to put on military uniforms and train them somewhere else to become our people. Don't tell them they are going to the front line. This is a military aircraft. If there are rumors, what are you asking about?"
!”
"Yes Yes……"
…
At the east gate of the city, gunfire roared early in the morning and gunpowder smoke filled the air. When the gunpowder smoke subsided, I saw a large number of people gathering outside the fence and slowly approaching the city wall. In front of them was a large group of soldiers who were not organized into camps. They had no weapons in their hands.
, most of them without armor, like a group of newly defeated soldiers, carrying sacks and sandbags. They were driven towards the city wall by several groups of armored troops behind them.
The cavalry artillery and muskets on the city wall roared in unison, and then the muskets rang out again, and arrows flew out. The rebel soldiers under the city fled with their heads in their arms, and soon the troops driving them behind fired a volley of firearms. For a moment, the rebel soldiers were like
The mice that got into the bellows were miserable. Some people finally carried sandbags to the moat, threw them by the river, turned around and ran away.
Zhang Fu was silently watching the situation outside behind the fence. At this time, he heard someone behind him sigh. He turned back and said to the generals: "We don't need to take prisoners to fill the river and dig walls. We have to use our own soldiers to fight with them."
What's the difference between committing suicide? Do we still dare to drive away the strong men of the people? The soldiers are not Tatars. If you dare to do such a thing, as long as someone participates in a memorial, I don't need to take command."
Zhang Fu added: "The King of Han surrendered his army and first rebelled against the King of Han. Then he surrendered and the rebels in Huguang continued to rebel. The crimes of the rebels are unforgivable. Today, by helping our army attack the city, we can make up for our mistakes."
...A military commander on the city tower said: "It is definitely not one of the officers and soldiers. How could one of them be forced to come up with guns and bullets?"
Yu Qian said: "They can't be conscripted civilian servants. Zhang Fu doesn't dare to do that. He can't get away with a memorial to impeach him." Zhang Ning next to him then said: "The people who were driven up were prisoners of the Jiujiang Army.
, I just changed my clothes... and it turns out that Ci does not wield troops."
A civil servant said: "If you want to complain, blame the King of Han's soldiers for not protecting your own king. Now he will be used as cannon fodder wherever he goes."
Zhang Ning immediately summoned a military commander and explained a few words.
After a while, the general led some Suzaku soldiers and shouted on the city wall: "Brothers from the Jiujiang Army, the Puppet Army does not regard our brothers as human beings and chases you up to die." "Stop helping the officers and soldiers fill the river.
Jump into the river to hide, and the King of Xiang will send you a ladder to take you up to the city later." "Let the dog | sun | fill it up himself!"
After shouting for a long time, sure enough, countless people jumped directly into the moat. Most of the soldiers from the south could swim. Those who couldn't swim could still escape by lying down by the river. It was just that the water was so cold in October.
Needless to say. If someone takes the lead, more and more people will follow suit. Because the army ordered that failure to fill up the river is a capital offense. If you go back, you will definitely die. You might as well jump into the river to see your luck.
After the officers and soldiers retreated, Zhang Ning kept his promise and put up ladders to let a group of rebel soldiers go up to the city one after another, and then sent them into the city to light a fire to keep warm. Some of the weak people on the river had frozen to death and were miserable floating in the water.
After two days, it rained lightly, and military operations inside and outside the city ceased. Because attacking in this weather is not worth the gain, the temperature is getting lower and lower, and it is easy to get sick if you get wet; and there will be no results. If we can attack at once,
We have already taken down the city, why do we need to wait until now?
Zhang Ning ordered the rescued prisoners to be re-armed and sent to various fortifications outside the city in three groups. He asked them to tell the remaining Jiujiang Army what they experienced after surrender, that is, they were treated as cannon fodder and driven to fill the river.
Armed with firearms and swords, retreating would mean death; if there was an attack on the city wall in front, advancing would mean death. Fortunately, the King of Xiang saw through the tactics of the army and did not massacre the captured soldiers.
In the afternoon of the next day, Zhang Ning braved the rain and came to the earthen castle in the east of the city and began his speech.
Because it was raining lightly, he ordered his soldiers to stay in tents and temporary shacks near the fort. He himself stood on the wall of the fort, with the sky above his head. His entourage tried to hold an umbrella for him but was shouted back.
Already.
Zhang Ning said loudly in a straightforward and sincere tone: "Rebellion has been the first-class crime since ancient times. In the past, the nine tribes were punished! You used to follow the King of Han and rebel against the Xuande puppet dynasty. Now that the King of Han has been defeated, you think you will be punished.
Is it easy to forgive? No matter if you raise an army to rebel, whether it succeeds or not, thousands of people will die each time. If you brothers in the Jiujiang Army thought that you could be forgiven by following the Han King in rebellion, and then defected to Emperor Jianwen this year, it would be very troublesome for the Xuande Puppet Dynasty.
It is an unforgivable sin!
What will happen to you if you surrender to the puppet army? The brothers who have returned can tell you that you are here to die! If you do not die on the battlefield, I can tell you that if you are punished, you will at least be exiled to a barbaric land. The same is true.
A life of nine deaths. Those who seek the living die, and those who seek the dead live. Are you willing to be slaughtered by others, or follow my king to conquer the country? My king's soldiers will have clear rewards and punishments. They will not be treated unfairly in food, clothing, and military pay. From the emperor's relatives to the civil and military officials,
Officials, even if we tighten our belts, we will not mistreat the soldiers who fought bloody battles!
I have received a report from Wuchang, where an army of 200,000 has been recruited and mobilized. Soon they will go south to relieve the siege and fight to the death with the puppet imperial army! We only need to hold Jiujiang City and wait for reinforcements. The outcome has not yet been determined.
Last month, Wang Zhiyuan's incident happened. The thief was an undercover agent of the puppet government. This incident indeed caused some misunderstandings between me and the Jiujiang Army brothers. Most of the Jiujiang Army was transferred to garrison outside the city, and I was forced to do so.
, worried that the second Wang Zhiyuan will appear. Therefore, it is unfair for me to treat his subordinates differently, but it is better than the officials and soldiers of the puppet dynasty, right?
After this battle is over, if you want to go home and farm, I will never force you to stay, and will pay you money to let you go back to your hometown; if you want to stay voluntarily, you can try to take your family members to Jiangnan, and we will bring these soldiers and
The Suzaku Army has been reorganized, and you will be the generals and soldiers of the Suzaku Army, and you will be the same from now on. But now you can't leave, the city is under siege, and if you go out, you will be captured, and you will die. We can only work together to tide over the difficulties. This is
The only way to survive..."
Zhang Ning walked to three fortresses in the rain all day long and preached the same speech three times. He did not memorize all the speeches, but just repeated them as he meant them, which had roughly the same meaning.
By the time he returned to the city to bathe and change clothes in the evening, he was already exhausted. In addition, the pain in his left leg from an old injury had caused him to fall into a weak state both physically and mentally.
He sat on a chair and said to Xin Wei: "The killing order does not work, but this time the method should work... Although most of the soldiers are illiterate, they are also living people with brains. Now they are not fighting hard and thinking about it."
If we surrender, then the Jiujiang Army will be really useless and useless."
Xin Wei didn't respond. He was busy adding charcoal to the stove and added, "I'll go to the kitchen and make you a bowl of ginger syrup. It's been raining all day. Please don't catch the cold."
Zhang Ning nodded, leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes to rest, half asleep and half awake.
Gradually, he remembered the beautiful scenery of Baishui Lake that he saw on the city wall one day, with clear weather, clear water, and beautiful pavilions. Maybe there is also a place by the water in Wuchang, where there are waterside pavilions, beautiful mountains, clear waters, and tranquility;
When you can let go of the world and worries, stay there without thinking about anything or doing anything. You can sleep until you wake up naturally, and you can also compose poems and listen to music.
At this moment, he suddenly became a little decadent. He felt that all achievements, power and wealth were meaningless. The greatest joy in life should be to have enough food and clothing to sit around and wait to die.