Chapter 68: Siege
"Miss Yu! My brother is awake!"
Erzhu's surprised cry broke Zhu Xi's sweet dream. Zhou Yu immediately stopped singing and hurried to the ward to see the patient. Zhu Xi could only sigh and follow him...
Dazhu, who was lying on the hospital bed, looked extremely pale, as if he had just woken up and was still a little confused. However, when he recognized the person next to him as his brother, he immediately started shouting in panic:
"Erzhu, run! The Tartars are coming! The mountains are full of Tartars, so many Tartars! They killed our father! And they almost killed me! Woohoo... our father was only trying to protect me..."
Zhou Yu!!
Zhu Xi!!!
………
At midnight in Fuzhou City, Zhu Xi, armed with a token granting him free entry and exit to the Fuzhou Guards' main camp, galloped furiously along the streets, pin drop noises audible... Even panting with exhaustion, he dared not slow down even a fraction...
As he ran, he felt such regret in his heart. Sigh! He'd been riding horses every day these past few days while visiting Zhou Yu. Just today, because he'd changed into a moon-white silk shirt and was afraid it would get dirty from riding, he'd specially asked Sister Qingni to send a carriage to take him there. And then this happened!
And just as luck would have it, the carriage that Cheng Ziyu had assigned to Zhou Yu was also borrowed by him! What a coincidence! The only remaining means of transportation for the entire family was the donkey that Sun Bo usually rode!
But the donkey was too slow! No matter how hard he whipped it, it wouldn't go any faster. Zhu Xi was getting anxious. Suddenly, he saw a few soldiers on horseback patrolling the intersection, and he hurriedly patted his donkey to meet them...
"Who are you?" Several soldiers raised their swords and warned Zhu Xi:
"Fuzhou City has a curfew at 11:00 PM, didn't you know?! You were riding a horse...er...a donkey at full speed in the city in the middle of the night. Are you looking for death?!"
Zhu Xi didn't have time to deal with their interrogation. He came here just for their horses.
So he hurriedly raised the token in his hand and said loudly:
"I am Chang Sanlang, the guard of General Mu, the commander of Fuzhou Guard. I have urgent military information and need to requisition your horses!"
The soldiers were surprised at first, then one of them came out, jumped off his horse, took Zhu Xi's token and checked it. After confirming that it was correct, he hurriedly led his horse over.
"Guard Chang, my horse is at your disposal!"
Zhu Xi quickly jumped off the donkey, switched to the horse, and ordered several soldiers:
"Hurry up and notify the guards at the four gates. Tell them it's the general's order! Strengthen defenses immediately. If there's any sign of trouble, send someone to report immediately!"
After saying that, he rode away in a hurry!!
The few soldiers who were left looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering: Isn't this just a general's guard? Should they obey his orders?
"Look at how anxious he is. Could something really have happened?" a soldier said hesitantly.
"That's impossible. Our Fuzhou Guard is backed by Taibai Mountain, and there are several guard posts blocking the front. Even if the Tartars come, they can't attack us first, right?!" another soldier retorted.
"If you ask me, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Anyway, this guy's identity as the general's guard is definitely real. If what he said is false, the punishment from the higher-ups will be for him privately disseminating military orders, which has nothing to do with us. But if something really goes wrong and they investigate, none of us can escape!"
The veteran who checked Zhu Xi's token said, "I think we should just notify him as he said!"
"Yes, Brother Zhao has been a soldier for decades and must have more experience than us. Let's listen to him!" One of the young soldiers echoed.
The patrolling soldiers immediately reached a consensus. They happened to have three horses and a donkey left, so the veteran soldier surnamed Zhao rode the donkey to the nearest north gate, while the other three soldiers rode their fast horses and rushed towards the other three gates!
At the same time, Zhu Xi had already arrived at Mu Qingni's headquarters. Before he could even reach Mu Qingni's residence, Mu Qingni came out from behind the door curtain and asked directly:
"What happened?!!"
Zhu Xi looked at her neatly dressed military uniform and thought: Is she still awake?! Or is she already awake?!
…
A moment later, all the messengers from the Fuzhouwei Command Post rushed out and scattered in all directions.
Soon after, all the general officers and officers above the rank of general flag in Fuzhou City rode their horses from all directions of the city and rushed towards the Fuzhou Guard Command Post.
Half a minute later, three teams of five cavalrymen each rushed out of Fuzhou City and headed towards the other three major cavalrymen in Liaodong. A dozen soldiers dressed as civilians also rode out of the four gates of the city on fast horses and rushed towards all directions of Fuzhou City...
After they left, the entire Fuzhou City's four gates were closed, and the soldiers guarding the gates were on high alert, as if facing a powerful enemy.
At this time, the lights in the Fuzhouwei Command Post were on. Captain Han, with his whip wound on his back still unhealed, was accompanied by Zhou Jin and several of his men. Together with the other captains, they were gathered in the big tent of the command post waiting for orders.
Mu Qingni, dressed in black armor, sat on the large chair reserved for the commander of the tent and said to Han Qianhu and others below:
"Although the enemy situation is still unclear, we must be fully prepared. Captain Han, Captain Lu, Captain Chen, and Captain Lu, each of you will dispatch 300 soldiers to my unified deployment. The rest of you will continue to guard the four gates. Each unit must prepare enough thunder stones and rolling logs to defend the city for at least half a month within one hour. Mud, sand, and other things must also be prepared and transported to the city walls. Any damaged part of the wall must be immediately blocked! Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Han Qianhu and his men responded in unison. With a powerful enemy at their doorstep, no matter how much they disobeyed Mu Qingni, they dared not disobey military orders. Furthermore, Mu Qingni's actions since receiving the news were completely flawless.
"Is the clerk in charge of finances and grain here?!" Mu Qingni asked again.
Zhou Po responded and stood up.
"How many days can the food and grass in the city last for the soldiers?" Mu Qingni asked.
"General, there is still enough food and fodder in the city to sustain the soldiers for more than a month." Zhou Po bowed and replied.
"General, this should be enough food and fodder for more than a month. Even if tens of thousands of Tartars come, as long as we can hold Fuzhou City for three days, one of the other three fortresses will surely be able to send troops to reinforce us!"
Lu Qianhu, standing by, couldn't help but remark that, in his opinion, Mu Qingni's half-month preparation of thunderstones and rolling logs was unnecessary. They had never fought a battle in Fuzhou City that lasted more than three days. In previous battles, they had always gone to reinforce other areas, and no one had ever reinforced them!
"What if the Tartars have already detained the other garrisons by now..." Mu Qingni asked indifferently.
"How is that possible?!" Lu Qianhu didn't believe it at all. He wanted to say something else but was interrupted by Mu Qingni:
"Don't tell me it's impossible! I've made it very clear, we must be fully prepared. The so-called full preparation means eliminating all impossibilities!
Lu Qianhu, your duty is to defend the East Gate. If anything goes wrong at the East Gate because of your lucky thinking, can you bear the responsibility?!
So, prepare immediately according to my orders. Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded!
Mu Qingni looked at Lu Qianhu and the others with a dark face, until her gaze made them bend over and answer "yes" in unison.
"Then go quickly!" Mu Qingni said finally.
………
After Han Baihu and the others left, Zhu Xi stepped forward hesitantly.
"Sister Qingni... no, General Mu, will the Tartars really attack the other three strongholds? Even if they are numerous, what good can they achieve by attacking in such a scattered manner?"
In the past two years, Zhu Xi not only learned martial arts from Mu Qingni, but also learned a lot about deploying troops. In his opinion, it was impossible for the Tartars to besiege the four guards of Liaodong at the same time with their military strength.
"If it were just the Tartars, they wouldn't dare do this..." Mu Qingni's eyes flickered before she said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid it's not just the Tartars who are coming..."
Zhu Xi... Could it be? ...
………
At the same time, Captain Han was also gathering his men to assign tasks. Zhou Jin was naturally among them. Because of his alertness, Captain Han assigned him to the random troops led by Mu Qingni.
After all his officers had taken orders and left, Captain Han deliberately left Zhou Jin behind and asked hesitantly:
"Ajin, do you think it's possible that General Mu is worried about not having reinforcements?"
Zhou Jin frowned and said bluntly:
"I think it's not just possible! It's certain! If I'm not mistaken, I'm afraid our Fuzhou City is already an isolated city by now!"
"How could this be!" Han Qianhu asked in surprise.
"I feel that if the information Chang Sanlang brought back is true, there must be quite a few Tartars coming this time. Although our Fuzhou City has the fewest soldiers, it is at the innermost of the four major fortresses. If the Tartars are not sure of victory, they will not send a large army to attack us directly. Wouldn't that mean they are just waiting to be caught in a trap?
Just as Captain Lu said, even if they can cross the mountains and attack us by surprise, as long as we can defend Fuzhou City for three days and wait for the other three major powers to send reinforcements, the Tartars will be surrounded by our troops. Who would use troops so foolishly?
The Tartars will only use this method if they are certain that we will not receive any reinforcements!
Captain, our Fuzhou Guard is the last barrier of Liaodong. If the Tartars can capture us in one fell swoop, they can advance to attack North China and Beijing, or retreat to occupy Liaodong and surround the other three guards! ”
"Oh my! If that's the case, then we will be the ones caught in the trap!" Han Qianhu was shocked again, and then he realized something was wrong.
"But how is that possible? The Tartars were driven back to their lair by General Lan Ting a few years ago! How could they have so many troops in such a short time? Could they suppress the other three Davids while sending a large army to attack us?
"And there's an 80,000-man army led by General Geng in Liaoyang County! How could they dare to play such a large-scale game without more than 300,000 troops?!"
Captain Han thought, how could it be possible? The Tartars alone, even if their women kept giving birth, couldn't possibly gather 300,000 troops in just a few years. 200,000 would be good enough!
"What if the Tatars and the Oirat unite?!" Zhou Jin said.
Han Baihu...
"Uh...but, aren't they mortal enemies?..."
"If the prey ahead is big enough, two lone wolves that are about to starve to death may join forces to hunt! Whether it is possible or not, we will know when the soldiers who go to ask for help come back!" Zhou Jin said quietly.
…
However, half an hour later, the people who went to seek help did not return, and the Tartar army arrived first.
Mu Qingni stood on the wall of Fuzhou City and looked out. She saw the dense Tartar army stretching from ten miles outside Fuzhou City to the foot of Taibai Mountain. All the Tartar soldiers were leisurely setting up camp and cooking, as if their small Fuzhou City was already in their pocket, like a lamb to be slaughtered, which they would capture as soon as they had eaten and drunk their fill!
Haha, that's right, five thousand against almost eighty thousand, a huge gap of sixteen against one. If she was the one with more people, she would probably be calmer than them, right?
well!
Mu Qingni sighed deeply, then stood on the city wall and shouted loudly:
“Let’s eat!!”
The author has something to say:
I'd also like to point out that the Tatars and Oirat mentioned in this book are not the same as the Tatars and Oirat in history, and the place names are not the same as the real places. This article is purely fictional, so please don't associate it with real history! Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2022-07-10 14:43:58 and 2022-07-11 08:52:24~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Nan Yong Xia Zhi @~ 20 bottles; I want to smile every day 5 bottles; Chen Xi 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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