Xu Zhengye's patience was running out, and he wanted to take Hezhou in one fell swoop, so in addition to Ge Zong, he also ordered another capable subordinate, Ji Xi, to fight together with him.
Ge Zong took the military command and left the tent, looking very high-spirited, as if the battle had already been won.
Seeing Luo Guanlin coming out, he deliberately slowed down his pace and said sarcastically: "You can't help the general capture the city with just a woman's soft-hearted mouth!"
Luo Guanlin's face darkened and he ignored it.
Ge Zong was relentless: "Mr. Luo has repeatedly spoken well of Chang Kuo, could it be that we are old acquaintances?"
He said with a "tsk", "It's a pity that Chang Kuo is a roadblock. The general has great ambitions and a long-term vision. I'm afraid he can't fulfill Mr. Luo's friendship as an old friend."
"That's all right!" He said, and stepped forward to pat Luo Guanlin on the shoulder, saying, "I'll take Chang Kuo's head back to the camp today, and you can be reunited with your old friend!"
As he said this, he found it very funny and started laughing.
Luo Guanlin did not get angry but laughed instead, saying indifferently: "It seems that General Ge knows that he is inferior to others, and he is afraid that if the general gets a good general like Chang Kuo, he will no longer have a place to stand in the army."
Ge Zong's smile froze suddenly and his expression became very ugly.
"It's certainly a good thing for people to know themselves, but General Ge's jealousy is not a long-term solution. No wonder even the general said that day..." Luo Guanlin paused subtly here, just shook his head, and stopped talking. Instead, he turned to his colleagues around him and smiled knowingly.
"..." Ge Zong's expression changed several times. General? What does that mean? What did the general say to him?
He wanted to find out what was going on, but Luo Guanlin had already walked away. He wanted to step forward and ask, but he was afraid that doing so would be too cheap and would make him look impatient!
As the battle was imminent, he had no time to argue with the opponent and could only leave with a frown and a sad heart.
"...Brother Luo's words are much sharper than a knife." The colleague walking beside Luo Guanlin said at this moment: "He is about to lead the troops to attack the city. At this critical moment, Brother Luo, why bother to argue with him...I am afraid that he will still be thinking about this matter in his mind when he arrives on the battlefield."
When he raised his knife to attack someone, he might still be thinking - what did the general say to Luo Guanlin? When others attacked him, he might still be thinking - I don't know how Luo Guanlin secretly tried to sow discord between us. Will the general dislike me for this?
You also need to take the time to think over and over again about the mistakes you may have made since you joined the general's army and reflect on them.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this plan was "sinister", and he couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, all of you who have served as censors... are more vicious than the other."
Facing the ridicule, Luo Guanlin just sneered: "He is unstable himself. Even if he loses the battle, it can't be blamed on me."
The colleague lowered his voice at the right time: "Brother Luo... do you really not want him to win this battle?"
Luo Guanlin did not answer him, but his expression gradually became complicated. He walked more than ten steps before asking slowly, "Zhongqin, do you feel that the general has changed a lot now?"
The joking look on his colleague's face faded, and he sighed lightly without responding.
"From time to time, I always think of the days when we used to drink and chat happily in Jiangdu..." Luo Guanlin felt a little lost.
At that time, he had just been banished from the capital by the Empress Dowager Ming. He was depressed and frustrated. It was only when he met Xu Zhengye and his group that his depression was swept away.
They talked very happily, and both were dissatisfied with the situation of the Empress Dowager's administration. After drinking, they often denounced and cursed the chaos in the dynasty, and thus they regarded each other as close friends.
All in all, he was very drunk on the wine he drank those days.
What also made him infuriated was Xu Zhengye's constant calls of "my dear brother", expressing how much they had met each other too late and how close they were.
The beautiful scene after the success described by the other party made him dazzled.
So he willingly followed the other side in the uprising, spared no effort, devoted all his heart and soul, and offered advice. Along the way, all those inflammatory "letters to the world" and proclamations passed through his hands, and he broke several pens. Many of those aloof scholars were also persuaded and won over by him, and his lips were worn out several times.
Now, the general has more and more military generals and advisers under his command, and their voices are becoming more and more diverse. The general is walking among them, and is afraid of favoring some over others, so he has not called him "good brother" for a long time.
The relationship between the former close friends and brothers is now just that of a lord and his subjects.
Moreover, people like Ge Zong often have disputes with him, or their honest advice is unpleasant to his ears. When the general is discussing matters now, he often leaves him out intentionally or unintentionally.
For example, just now in the big tent, the man who used to call me dear brother all the time, now just raised his hand to tell him to shut up when he heard someone being impatient.
It would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed.
"I understand Brother Luo's feelings..." the official sighed, "It's like Brother Luo was originally the original wife, and now she sees her husband getting rich and taking in countless concubines. These concubines have their own thoughts and are used to flattering her. But her husband is a Chen Shimei-like character who no longer cares about his wife..."
Luo Guanlin, his wife who had lived with him through thick and thin, could no longer bear to hear it and interrupted with a dark face: "... Stop talking nonsense!"
Ridiculous, is he such a jealous person?
His face was gloomy: "That's not what I care about!"
What he cares about is whether that person is still the person he once regarded as a confidant.
"I understand..." the colleague sighed, "But now that we are on this path, there is no turning back. It is useless to think too much. Brother Luo, just focus on the future."
This is naturally a statement of high emotional intelligence.
To put it bluntly, it must be this: the matter is already settled, so stop being pretentious. Running away halfway will only lead to a dead end.
Luo Guanlin stopped talking, but felt more and more depressed.
At this time, the sound of trumpets and drums rang out on the parade ground.
Luo Guanlin paused, then turned his head and looked towards the direction of the parade ground.
The general has confirmed again and again that there are only more than 10,000 troops led by Chang Kuo in Hezhou City... In this battle, Hezhou will definitely not be able to be saved.
Ge Zong was a vengeful person. He felt that he had lost face after failing to capture the city last time. After taking Hezhou, he would certainly not treat the captured soldiers and the people in the city well.
Most of those soldiers were uncivilized and had become accustomed to looting and plundering after capturing a city... All of this was tacitly approved by the general.
He strongly disagreed with this and repeatedly proposed to the general to control the army, but the general told him that most of these soldiers were forced to come, and if they were not allowed to gain some benefits in the war, the people would be divided and morale would be low, and it would be difficult to continue the war.
In other words, this tacit consent was the bait used by Xu Zhengye to motivate his soldiers to attack the city with all their efforts.
When he met those calm eyes at that time, Luo Guanlin felt as if thousands of words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them anymore.
What have the people done wrong? If they have done nothing wrong, why should they become the bait of this "great cause" and be robbed and bullied? Looking back at the places they have passed through, there are refugees everywhere, and complaints are everywhere...
The general also comforted him, saying that in order to achieve great things, sacrifices must be made, and that without destruction there is no construction. When the great cause is accomplished, the world is pacified, and everything is in order, everything will naturally be fine.
Will it get better? But now, everything is getting worse, and it's getting worse because of them.
He was opposed to women in power and hated the many perverse actions of the Ming Queen. He eagerly hoped that someone could correct all this and restore orthodoxy and peace to the world. When he met Xu Zhengye, he thought he had finally found that person.
But at this time, putting aside Xu Zhengye's many actions that disregarded the lives of the people, he even began to doubt whether Xu Zhengye would really support the prince to ascend the throne and support the Li family's regime as he had said?
Did he...believe in the wrong thing and make the wrong choice? The answer to this question was too heavy, and now that he had come to this point, he almost didn't dare to think about it any further.
Accompanied by thunderous drumbeats, the army marched out of the camp quickly. From afar, it looked like a long snake and a ferocious beast wandering between heaven and earth, with a fierce momentum, fangs bared, and prey being killed and taken away.
…
The enemy arrived quickly, but Hezhou City had been in a state of preparation for war in recent days and was able to gather troops quickly.
A scout reported that the enemy army had 100,000 soldiers, led by Ge Zong and Ji Xi.
"...One hundred thousand is one hundred thousand. We also have fifty thousand. It's no problem to kill two with one!" A big man in armor stood upright and raised his sword and shouted.
There are even more confident ones: "I can kill three!"
The unconfident ones also felt relieved: "Then I'll kill one...you help me kill one, and then I'll send you a basket of eggs from my own family."
When these words were spoken, there were even loud laughter from all around.
Most of these were soldiers who had been recruited into the city recently. A few days ago, most of them were just ordinary people.
However, the spirit of working together to repel the enemy was very high in Hezhou City, so no one retreated when facing a powerful enemy.
Chang Kuo took the lead.
Chang Suining also got on his horse and looked at Yun Hui, who had become tense when he heard about Ji Xi, and said, "Let's go and get revenge."
Governor Yun and the eldest son of the Yun family both died at the hands of Ji Xi.
Yun Hui pursed his lips, nodded to her, then mounted his horse and headed towards the city gate.
On the way, he suddenly turned around and asked Chang Suining: "Do you think we can win?"
Chang Suining looked straight ahead and said, "I guess so."
Yun Hui held the reins and said, "Do you think we will die?"
Chang Suining answered casually: "Maybe."
Yun Hui wanted to sigh: "...Why don't you answer with something auspicious?"
Chang Suining finally turned around and looked at him: "Why don't you ask something auspicious?"
When he met those eyes, Yun Hui felt guilty. That’s right, what were he asking?
The city gate was already visible from a distance. He thought for a while and finally asked a question that was not too unlucky.
"Are you...really a woman?"
Although he already had the answer, the shock this incident brought to him increased rather than diminished over time. For some reason, he still wanted to ask the question in person.
Chang Suining: “Is this important?”
Yun Hui was silent for a moment, then said, "That's right, it doesn't matter... I just have never seen a woman like you, so..."
"What should a woman look like?" The girl on the horse looked forward and said casually, "There are many different kinds of people. People are supposed to be different. The word 'woman' doesn't have a single mold. Everyone should grow up according to that mold."
She said: "It's not that I should be like the model of the woman. It's that the woman should be like me."
Everyone should only take himself as the standard.
"That's how it is for me." She looked back and said, "It's the same for them."
Yun Hui also subconsciously looked back and saw his mother and the group of women behind her.
This team has thousands of people.
They were also wearing similar armor, their hair was tied tightly, and they also had weapons in their hands.
It all started three days ago when a woman in the city who was known for her toughness was sewing armor with everyone else. The more she sewed, the more things became less and less satisfying, and she even broke several needles in her hand.
He frowned and thought for a while, then stood up and put the armor on himself. He held it up to the water tank and immediately an epiphany occurred to him - hey, this is what I want!
So he ran to the governor's office and recommended himself to join the army.
The person in charge of conscription asked her to go home, but she refused. More and more people gathered, and Yun Hui heard about it.
When the woman saw Yun Hui, she began to introduce herself, claiming that she was both literary and martial.
The thing about her martial ability is that she has been carrying manure, chopping wood and feeding pigs, beating children and beating men every day for ten years, which has enabled her to build up a lot of strength. It would be a waste if she didn't use it to kill the enemy.
Her talent lies in that she has never been defeated in a quarrel with her neighbors. She has a loud voice and many ways of cursing. She can curse at the enemy for three hundred times in front of the battle line, and it is no problem for her to kill a few enemy soldiers with poor tolerance.
Yun Hui didn't know what to do after hearing this. He had never seen such a man who was both talented in literature and martial arts before.
A man nearby reminded the woman that going to the battlefield was different and people would die there.
Unexpectedly, the woman straightened her back even more - she wasn't even afraid of giving birth, so why was she afraid of this? Giving birth has always been the biggest hurdle for women. Every year, countless women die from childbirth. If it really means "it will kill people", why has no one ever told women "giving birth will kill people, please stop giving birth"? People will die eventually, and the more she kills on the battlefield, the more chances she has of winning! When someone tried to persuade her to leave, Chang Suining appeared.
She took the initiative to accept this woman who was both talented in literature and martial arts.
This "women's army" of thousands of people came from this.
They were trained by Chang Suining himself, and during the process, they also learned that the boy who trained them was actually a girl, which gave them more confidence.
At this moment, they followed behind Madam Yun in an orderly formation, showing some signs of the morale of the soldiers.
The troops defending the city quickly and methodically completed their deployment and were ready for battle.
Ge Zong led his army and quickly approached the city. During the confrontation, he wanted to avenge his previous humiliation, so he challenged Chang Kuo to a duel: "General Chang, do you dare to fight me in single combat?"
"You are nothing but a basket of manure, and you still want our General Chang to carry it!" On the tower, a woman in armor responded without any words: "If there is no mirror, there is always urine. Take a look. Do you think you are worthy of it?"
Chang Kuo looked over in amazement. This was a master. The person on the other side who liked to be scolded was in luck today.
Along with the curse, the woman uttered "Ugh."
This was not just a sound, but a physical attack.
The woman's saliva was carried by the wind and sprayed onto Ge Zong's upturned face.
Ge Zong wiped his face, his face red with anger.
She's actually a woman! How unlucky!
What he hated most in his life were these women who were restless and wanted to make trouble. You should know that he was against women!
He immediately lost interest in fighting with Chang Kuo, and Chang Kuo had no intention of agreeing. It was obvious that this kind of person had no martial ethics. If he jumped off the city wall, the other side would rush over and stab him like a lotus pod with holes all over his body. Who would he go to for justice?
Ge Zong had already ordered an attack on the city. Seeing Chang Kuo raise his hand, Yun Hui immediately gave the order as well: "Shoot!"
Good night!
I had delicious meat dumplings today! Tomorrow I should be able to finish the war with the state. I haven’t written such a long war plot in previous books, so I wonder if everyone will find it boring? (Doing a little audience research)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
