This time, the strategy against the enemy formulated by Chang Kuo, Chang Suining, Yun Hui and others put the word "defense" first.
Historically, the advantage of the defenders is that they have the city gates as barriers. This advantage cannot be abandoned. If used properly in the early stages, they can use defense to consume the enemy's military strength.
Ge Zong soon discovered that in just five days, the city wall of Hezhou City Gate, which had originally been vulnerable to attack, had been repaired firmly by some unknown method.
Not only that, many new mechanisms were added everywhere, some of which would trigger a rain of arrows when touched, or were embedded with sharp hidden nails, greatly increasing the difficulty of their climbing the city walls.
They also added many defensive items, such as slingshots, nail boards, and dozens of barrels of pine oil that were poured down at the same time. Then long arrows with burning fire were shot down, and with a "boom" the fire rose.
Ge Zong hurriedly drove his horse back, but the face of the horse under him, as well as his own face, were still smoked black by the oncoming smoke, and most of his beard and eyebrows were singed off!
"Someone is roasting pork fat. It smells really good!"
"This is a dead pig from a diseased swine fever. Sister-in-law, don't be greedy. You must know that even if you feed this to a dog, the dog won't eat it!"
"My sister-in-law reminded me of this!"
A group of women on the city wall burst into laughter, but they did not stop working at all. They kept passing arrows and moving stones - chatting and working at the same time, isn't that the most basic thing?
Being teased and abused by a group of women whom he despised the most, Ge Zong was so angry that smoke almost came out of his head. No, the word "almost" should be removed, because smoke was really coming out of his head.
The horses were frightened by the fire and neighed out of control, disrupting the enemy's offensive for a while. The soldiers who tried to climb up the city wall were defeated repeatedly, either falling under the traps or being crushed by rolling stones.
Ge Zong cursed Chang Kuo in his heart again.
These tricks and tricks had never been seen before Chang Kuo came! Moreover, the people of Hezhou were so high-spirited when they were about to die, and they did not show any fear at all... Chang Kuo really could not be kept! Thinking of this, he could not help but think of the half-sentence of Luo Guanlin when he came here - what did the general say about him? What did he do to displease the general? In the next few days, this thought always came out of his heart from time to time, making him feel anxious and upset.
Of course, the main reason why Ge Zong was so upset was that the siege was unfavorable.
"…It's been five days already. This is really fucking weird!"
That night, Ge Zong sat by the fire to keep warm, and couldn't help rubbing his teeth and cursing.
He originally planned to take down Hezhou City and Chang Kuo's head in three days at most, but after five days of fighting, their men lost nearly 10,000 in the siege, and he didn't even touch a hair of Chang Kuo! "What's the hurry?" Ji Xi drank a sip of wine to warm himself up, and said calmly, "Are you afraid now?"
"I'm not afraid of shit!" Ge Zong frowned and said, "I just think it's weird... How come they came up with so many things!"
Previously, Hezhou City clearly had no defense equipment available, but in the blink of an eye, so many things were built. Not to mention the people, I'm afraid even the dogs in the city are working day and night! "Indeed, it is a bit unexpected." Ji Xi said, "No matter how good they are at rushing to build, facing such an offensive, the things will eventually run out."
He looked at the Hezhou city wall from afar: "Their defense today is obviously not as complete as yesterday. I think they have almost worn out their defenses."
Therefore, he was never in a hurry and just ordered his men to maintain a tight offensive without interruption.
These ten thousand soldiers did not die in vain; their value was to consume the enemy's power to defend the city.
It's just the death of 10,000 soldiers; they can afford the loss.
These soldiers are not elite, and once Hezhou is captured, they can quickly fill the vacancies by simply recruiting more.
At times like this, human life is the least valuable thing, and when it is time for them to die, they should die.
Hearing Ji Xi's words, Ge Zong calmed down his impetuous temper, took a sip of strong liquor, bared his teeth for a moment, and said, "Let's see how long they can hide!"
Then he squinted at Ji Xi and said, "But let me make it clear first, Chang Kuo's head is mine, and you are not allowed to snatch it from me!"
He drank a few more sips of wine, and the alcohol started to rise. A turbid smile appeared on his face: "And that widow of the Yun family, you have to leave her to me too!"
"I tried to kill her last time but failed. These past few days, I've seen her and I can see that she still has some charm..."
Of course, beauty is only secondary. No matter how beautiful a woman of this age is, how can she compare to those young ladies in Hezhou City who will be available for him to choose? What really aroused his interest was the other party's identity as the wife of the governor, and: "... Such a woman needs to be disciplined. I will teach her a lesson so that she will know what a woman should be like!"
After saying that, he burst into laughter.
Several of his subordinates beside him also laughed and uttered obscene words.
Ji Xi did not participate in this topic.
But he also has someone he wants to kill.
That Erlang of the Yun family needs to be eliminated.
Five days ago, on the first day of the siege, when he saw the pair of murderous eyes on the top of the city wall, he had already made up his mind to kill the young man.
He was the one who killed the governor Yun and the eldest son of the Yun family. But in his opinion, he did nothing wrong. If anyone was to blame, they could only blame the Yun family for being too stupid and insisting on guarding a city that was impossible to defend.
Governor Yun is stupid and stubborn, as are his son and wife, and now, even the people of the entire city have learned from him.
So, dragging the entire city's people to death, is this the righteousness that the Yun family claims to have?
Ji Xi sneered in his heart and gently shook the wine jug in his hand.
The fire flickered, and a spark rose up and quickly fell down.
In the city, in front of the gate of the governor's mansion, Chang Kuo stood on the stone steps, looking at the soldiers who temporarily held various positions in the army. Many of these people were people from Hezhou, but at this moment they were also his subordinates.
Everyone looked at him.
"General Chang..."
Chang Kuo said, "There are not many defensive items left to defend the city, but if we wait until they are completely exhausted before attacking, we will inevitably fall into passive chaos—"
He said: "So, I have decided to open the city gates tomorrow to welcome the battle!"
He looked extremely solemn, and the surroundings became quiet.
"But this does not mean that Hezhou City cannot be defended. On the contrary, you have been behind closed doors for the past five days, repelling tens of thousands of enemy troops, day by day, without any defeat!"
"It's just that marching and fighting require adapting to the time and the place. Since we are no longer able to defend, we will naturally have to change our tactics!"
Looking at those faces whose eyes lit up as he spoke, Chang Kuo was moved and said, "I have led troops to fight countless battles in my life, and this is not the first time I have defended a city. However, your integrity and courage are the only ones I have ever seen in my life! You are all heroes who deserve to be recorded in history!"
As he spoke, he took the wine bowl handed to him by the soldier beside him and held it with both hands to the crowd: "Cheers to all the heroes!"
Everyone raised their glasses and someone said loudly, "We don't know anything, it's all because of General Chang's good command!"
"And Madam and Erlang-jun!"
The woman standing in the front shouted, "And there's Madam Chang! Thanks to Madam Chang for planning and personally supervising the repair of the city defenses!"
At this moment, it seemed that what everyone was holding in their hands was not wine, but water. The water was so smooth.
It was fair, but it soon became less so, because the woman continued, "If you ask me, since these ten thousand heads were taken by relying on the defense of the city gate, then at least eight thousand should be given to Madam Chang!"
She was a soldier trained by Chang Suining, so it was inevitable that she would show some favoritism when it came to this.
Hearing that she had hurriedly allocated 8,000 heads for herself, Chang Suining couldn't help but laugh.
Thinking of the scene of eight thousand heads piled in front of Chang Suining, Yun Hui felt inexplicably horrified.
Chang Kuo was very happy and laughed jokingly: "This is a good account!"
Some things don't need to be explained too clearly, and some jokes will naturally be imprinted in people's minds as they are told - Chang Kuo feels that his daughter's contribution is worth remembering.
Everyone laughed and agreed with him. For a moment, countless eyes fell on the girl who led 8,000 heads.
Although Chang Suining's identity has spread, many people still can't believe that she is really a girl. Her every move shows that she is a heroic, handsome young man who is difficult to tell whether he is male or female.
How many young men did he have to eat to be able to imitate him so well? Under the light of the torch, the smile on that handsome face gradually faded, and his expression became more serious as he looked at them.
Everyone unconsciously followed suit and restrained their expressions.
The girl's voice was clear: "Next, we will truly use our own flesh and blood as a wall to defend Hezhou. Are you afraid?"
"We were born by our parents, and so were they! If a stone hits us, their heads will explode anyway! There's nothing to be afraid of!" The woman was the first to answer.
Chang Suining nodded: "Sister She Cai is right."
"On the battlefield, sometimes the difference in morale and courage is more important than the difference in numbers to determine victory or defeat." She said: "If you want to kill the enemy, you must first kill your own fear, and then kill the enemy's courage."
At this point, the girl paused and said, "I know that these words are no different from encouraging you to die. This is cruel, but on the battlefield, it has always been a life-and-death struggle. If you want to live, you can't be afraid of death."
"And what I can promise you is that Hezhou City will definitely be preserved."
The girl’s last words were not loud, but they were like a heavy hammer that knocked open the stone wall and let in the daylight.
Chang Kuo looked at the girl beside him silently.
"That's fine, I believe in Madam Chang!" Someone forced a tearful smile and said, "It doesn't matter if we die, as long as we can survive in Hezhou City!"
They all have parents, wives and children. As long as Hezhou City is not destroyed, their families will not die, and their death will be worth it.
Besides, people like the governor and the eldest son can die for Hezhou, so what are they! Being able to do the same thing as the governor, even if it means death, is glorious!
"Madam Chang!" The woman named Shepherd's Purse held up the wine bowl and grinned freely: "I offer this bowl to Madam Chang!"
Unable to refuse such a kind invitation, Chang Suining took the big bowl handed to him by Yunhui and drank with everyone.
“Bang!”
Someone slammed the bowl to the ground.
"What are you doing?" The woman looked over immediately.
Everyone also looked at the person who broke the bowl.
Suddenly surrounded by people, the man who smashed the bowl shrank back and said shyly: "Isn't that what storytellers always say? When the army is about to march out, the soldiers drink together and smash the bowls as a signal..."
How heroic and decisive!
The woman glared at him, "So many bowls were smashed? How can we live like this? In wartime, money is scarce. How can you be such a spendthrift? Besides, the broken porcelain is everywhere. No one will come to clean it up. What if someone gets hurt?"
"..."The person who broke the bowl quickly squatted down to pick up the broken porcelain.
The other men who wanted to follow silently held the bowls in their hands.
Chang Kuo also handed the bowl steadily to the soldier beside him.
Then he whispered to his daughter: "...Did you really drink it?"
General Cui is not here, so who will take the beating?
Chang Kuo was a little worried about himself.
Chang Suining replied in a low voice: "Don't worry, it's water."
In order to prevent her from being out of place and ruining the atmosphere when everyone was drinking, she asked Yunhui's people to prepare a bowl of water in advance.
Yun Hui didn't understand her intention at first, but just now he saw her drink the whole bottle in one gulp with great generosity and accepted everyone's praise of "Ms. Chang's extraordinary alcohol tolerance" without changing her expression. Yun Hui finally understood in silence.
The stars are bright tonight and the atmosphere is not too heavy.
But everyone knows that tomorrow's battle is crucial and is a real battle of life and death.
When the stars faded, the winter sky began to turn pale in the east.
The city gates were opened and fifty thousand soldiers marched out in a line.
At the same moment, Ge Zong and Ji Xi, who were ten miles away, led their troops to attack again.
This war is inevitable and there will inevitably be sacrifices.
…
Given the huge disparity in military strength between the two sides, compared to an unsystematic head-on fight, an unexpected formation can not only ensure the marching order of one's own soldiers, stabilize people's hearts, reduce casualties, but also cause psychological oppression to the enemy.
Therefore, Chang Suining ordered the soldiers in the city to practice military formations repeatedly from the first day, just for this moment.
At this moment, she stood on the city wall, holding a five-colored flag. After the army had lined up, she handed the flag to Chang Kuo who was about to go down the city wall and out of the city gate.
"Father, you take charge of the battle." Chang Suining said.
Chang Kuo rejected it without thinking: "How can this be done? This is the battle formation you organized, so it is only appropriate for you to stand here and lead the battle."
"Father, do you remember what you said to me the other day? After the matter in Hezhou is settled, it's time to make a long-term plan for our Chang family." Chang Suining looked at him: "So Father must be safe."
Chang Kuo couldn't explain how he felt, and still shook his head: "Silly child, Dad is the leader of the army, how can he not go into battle and kill the enemy!"
"I will kill the enemy for my father." The girl insisted, "My father will lead the battle for me."
Chang Kuo wanted to say more, but she said, "Because father is the leader of the army, only father can stand here to command the overall situation, can we better maintain the morale of the army. As the leader of the army, there must be no mistakes. Father must stand here safely until we win this battle."
There is a reason why she is so persistent.
Old Chang's health is not as strong and healthy as it seems. His old illness relapsed a few days ago and he had a high fever. His leg diseases occurred frequently in winter and he was unable to walk for a while.
Chang Kuo still refused to give in: "How can a father hide behind the army and let his daughter go into battle to kill the enemy?"
"How can a general rush to die? And how can we, the young ones, ask an old general like you to go into battle with injuries when we are here?"
The distance between the two armies below the city was shortening, and they were ready to attack. On the city wall, Chang Suining said, "If I can't even protect you, wouldn't my trip here be in vain?"
Thousands of horses were galloping outside the city, and Chang Kuo suddenly stopped.
Every part of his body froze in an instant, and only his heart was beating like thunder.
He stared at the girl in front of him.
The mountain was pushed down, collapsed and shattered by her own hands.
He seemed to have been unable to hear any sound until the girl spoke again, her voice clear and resounding.
"Chang Kuo, listen to my orders!"
Ahhh, I didn’t finish this plot today, because after writing this, I suddenly felt that it was time for us to recognize each other (Ningning told me!
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