Chapter 98
After listening to Gu Fuzhou's words, Wu Youyuan felt a little heavy. The general mentioned his wife, the imperial physician with stunning appearance. He had met Doctor Lin and thought he was a godlike young man who came out of a novel. At this moment, he was excited about the upcoming battle, and Doctor Lin should be worried about his husband.
The relatives of other soldiers must be the same.
Shi Pei was afraid of death because he was afraid that his brothers would die; and General Gu did not want to die because he had written a letter of guarantee to his wife.
Wu Youyuan thought of his family. When he left Beijing, his mother packed his luggage with red eyes; his elderly grandfather personally saw him out of the city. They said nothing when they parted, but his hand was trembling as he patted his shoulder.
"I can't die either." Wu Youyuan stood up suddenly and shouted, "We can't die!"
Gu Fuzhou was startled and said with a smile: "Why are you suddenly so excited?"
"General Shi is right. Whether it's a general or a cook, everyone is raised by their parents. The less people who die, the better."
Gu Fuzhou nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, you finally got it. This month's reward was not in vain."
Wu Youyuan clenched his fists, full of fighting spirit: "So General, now is not the time to admire the moon, you should help me look at the formation. With this formation, our army may be able to fight ten with one, greatly reducing casualties."
Gu Fuzhou grabbed Wu Youyuan's arm and used his strength to stand up: "I'm a little hungry. Go to the kitchen and bring two bowls of vegetarian noodles. We can eat while we watch."
"Yes, I'll go right away!"
When food and fodder were in short supply, the plain noodles in the clear soup were all made from delicacies from land and sea. Gu Fuzhou has been eating steamed buns with the soldiers recently, so the little poisonous insects at home must be eating better than him.
Gu Fuzhou was expecting the noodles to bring him happiness, but he didn't expect that Wu Youyuan would come back not only with empty hands, but also with a face full of anger, and his anger was very subtle, with a bit of shame and anger.
Gu Fuzhou opened the water bag and drank water: "What's wrong?"
"I just went to the mess hall and saw two soldiers in the dark. They were doing something, doing that..." Wu Youyuan said boldly, "doing something like homosexuality!"
Gu Fuzhou almost spit out water, feeling both admiration and envy: "Of course." The last time he did it seemed like ten years ago, and he almost forgot what it felt like to have a beautiful woman in his arms.
"The military camp is such a serious place. These two people are so audacious and must be severely punished!"
Gu Fuzhou asked: "Does military law prohibit homosexuality in the military camp?"
"Yes!"
"What should we do if it breaks?"
“Behead!”
Gu Fuzhou said "Oh" and said, "Where are those two people now? Bring them here so I can take a look."
In a short while, the two daring men were tied up and brought in front of Gu Fuzhou. Gu Fuzhou felt that the two people looked familiar. After a closer look, he found that they were Brother Jiang and Xiao Linzi who gave each other steamed buns during the day.
Both of them lowered their heads and did not beg for mercy when they were brought before General Gu. Gu Fuzhou saw that they were dressed neatly, so he motioned for Wu Youyuan to come closer and whispered beside him, "Didn't you say that they had committed homosexuality?"
"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."
"How do they do that?"
"The taller one kissed the shorter one on the forehead."
Gu Fuzhou: “…”
"General," said Brother Jiang in a gruff voice, "I forced Xiao Linzi to do this. If you want to chop off someone's head, chop off my head alone."
Xiao Linzi, who was trembling with fear, suddenly had the courage to speak: "No, no, Brother Jiang didn't force me, I did it voluntarily."
Gu Fuzhou glanced at Wu Youyuan with a very subtle look in his eyes: "What do you think we should do?"
Wu Youyuan said: "Of course, we will deal with him according to military law!"
Brother Jiang remained calm and said, "General, if you want my life, I have nothing to say. But in the siege two days later, I will be in the first row. I want to die then, please grant my wish, General!"
Gu Fuzhou and Wu Youyuan looked at each other. When attacking a city, it is almost impossible for those who rush to the front to survive. But every time a city is recaptured, there must always be a soldier who is the first to climb up the city wall.
Xiao Linzi should have known about this a long time ago. He was not surprised at all, but he couldn't help sobbing.
Brother Jiang knew that his death was approaching, and in order to leave no regrets, he would rather disobey military orders and express his feelings to his sweetheart. Unexpectedly, just after kissing the forehead, he was caught by Wu Youyuan who was passing by. This reminded Gu Fuzhou of the time when he was in school, the head teacher would go to the playground at night with a flashlight to catch kids in premature love affairs.
After a moment of silence, Gu Fuzhou asked, "What are your names?"
Brother Jiang said, "Jiang Shiyue."
Xiao Linzi said: "Lin, Lin Lan."
Gu Fuzhou seemed to be thinking about something, then suddenly smiled: "That's safe, you will definitely not die tomorrow."
Jiang Shiyue was surprised and asked: "Ah? Why?"
"Because your names are nice. In Dayu, people with nice names will definitely live a long life."
Jiang Shiyue was a little confused and asked, "General, you won't kill me tonight?"
"No more killing, go back and rest." Gu Fuzhou said, "Xiao Linzi, spend the last day before the war with your brother Jiang. Twelve hours, one less hour is not a day."
Jiang Shiyue was overjoyed: "Thank you very much, General. If I can survive in two days, I will..."
"Shh." Gu Fuzhou put his index finger in front of his mouth and warned seriously, "It's taboo to say such things before going to war. Don't say it next time."
Jiang Shiyue didn't understand what the general meant, but whatever the general said was what he did. He kowtowed again and retreated with Lin Lan.
After walking away, Lin Lan couldn't help asking: "Brother Jiang, what did you want to say just now? If you can survive..."
When his sweetheart asked, Jiang Shiyue threw the general's warning to the back of his mind: "If I can survive, I will go to your house to propose marriage after the war. I heard from my brothers from the capital that many people in the capital are marrying male wives now, and even our general married a male beauty."
Lin Lan smiled with tears in her eyes: "That's great."
Two days later, Dayu led his troops to attack the city. No matter how they challenged, the Western Xia army always stood firm and refused to fight. Yongliang City has strong defenses, thick city gates, and city walls that are more than four meters high.
Gu Fuzhou rode Xiao Hei, with Shi Pei and Wu Youyuan standing on his left and right. He had looked at the Yongliang City Gate countless times, but this was the first time he realized it was so high.
The big flags fluttered, the gongs and drums sounded, the commander gave an order, the soldiers raised their arms and shouted, and headed straight for Yongliang.
Almost at the same time, thousands of arrows were fired from the top of the city wall, and the arrows rained down. The infantrymen at the front struggled and fell down. The chariot soldiers at the back stepped on the corpses of those in front of them, and then they were knocked down by the second wave of arrows, and their corpses were submerged in the surging crowd.
When they finally set up the ladders at the foot of the city, they were greeted by huge rocks rolling down from great heights.
After that day, Gu Fuzhou never saw Jiang Shiyue again. He only saw Lin Lan sitting alone in the corner, eating a steamed bun and crying silently. Two days later, he couldn't even see Lin Lan.
For several days, Yongliang City could not be captured, the morale of the army dropped sharply, and the food and grass gradually ran out. In the military camp, wounded soldiers groaning in pain could be seen everywhere. Since the siege, Hu Ji couldn't remember how long he hadn't slept, but the number of wounded soldiers kept increasing.
"When attacking a city, especially a big city like Yongliang, anything is normal. Back then, Emperor Taizu attacked Luoyang City, and it took him a full year and eight months, but he finally conquered it!" Wu Youyuan kept encouraging everyone, "The enemy's arrows and boulders will eventually run out. As long as we hold on, the city will be captured in no time!"
Gu Fuzhou said in a tired tone: "I never doubted that we could capture Yongliang. The problem is that Gui Shuai didn't doubt it either. He knew that he couldn't hold Yongliang."
Wu Youyuan asked: "He knew he couldn't hold the city, so why didn't he open the city and surrender as soon as possible, instead of resisting stubbornly here?"
"Since Yongliang will be lost sooner or later, if I were him, I would make sure that Yongliang's loss is worthwhile."
Shi Pei asked: "What is the value that the general is talking about?"
"Dayu's soldiers, money, food, siege equipment, or... me." Gu Fuzhou said calmly, "For Xixia, nothing is more valuable than Gu Fuzhou's life. In the eyes of the enemy, Yongliang has been unconquered for a long time, and Dayu is facing a shortage of food and grass. It is reasonable to withdraw troops temporarily. If I pretend to withdraw troops and lure the enemy out of the city to ambush. Even if Gui Shuai knows that this is a trick, he will be willing to take the bait - Yongliang is going to be lost anyway, and they will definitely die after the city is captured. If we can let the general who killed their crown prince die with them, wouldn't it be great."
Several people looked at each other, and Shi Pei said, "General, do you want to... lure the enemy with yourself?" The last four words were stuck in Shi Pei's throat for a long time before he uttered them.
"No!" Wu Youyuan said excitedly, "I would rather we all die in battle than let the general take the risk!"
Gu Fuzhou said "tsk". "Not long ago I said you had finally come to your senses." Now it seems that you had only come to your senses in vain.
"General, please think twice." Shi Pei frowned. "Xixia is already at the end of its strength and can't hold on for too long. Why do you have to..."
"Do you think I want to? Without food, we can't hold out for long." Seeing the same look on the faces of several people, Gu Fuzhou smiled and said, "Strictly speaking, I am not putting myself in danger - come here."
Everyone gathered around. Gu Fuzhou pointed to a spot on the map and said, "The terrain here is like the mouth of a gourd. I will lead the enemy here, and Wu Youyuan will lead a thousand cavalrymen to attack from another mountain pass. It will be like a closed-door attack. The enemy will not be able to escape even if they have wings."
Shi Pei pondered for a long time and said, "But, just in case... General, if you want to lure the enemy, I am willing to do it for you!"
"Your courage is worthy of recognition, but if I may be frank, your life is not valuable to Xixia, not enough for them to fight to the death. Don't worry, I believe Youyuan will come to save me," Gu Fuzhou said with a smile as he stood in the mottled light and shadow, "Youyuan, are you willing to let me believe you?"
Wu Youyuan's Adam's apple rolled: "General..."
"I'll go with the general." Shen Huaishi said, "I promised Doctor Lin that I would protect the general."
Gu Fuzhou thought for a moment and said, "You can go, provided Hu Ji thinks you are physically fit enough to go to the battlefield."
Shen Huaishi immediately said: "I can."
Over the next two days, Dayu's siege momentum gradually weakened, and Western Xia was able to take a brief respite.
Since they wanted to pretend to withdraw their troops, they naturally could not do it openly in broad daylight. The Xixia ghost commander is referring to Gu Fuzhou. They will not act rashly without seeing Gu Fuzhou. Gu Fuzhou ordered his subordinates to take the packages and divide into three groups. He led one of the groups and headed to Hulukou which had been agreed upon in advance.
Gu Fuzhou rode on Xiao Hei and stared at the vast night sky. Suddenly, he found that his heart was beating a little faster: "It's over."
Shen Huaishi followed behind him and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong, General?"
"It's okay." Gu Fuzhou chuckled, "I'm just a little..."
Just a little scared.
But now he is Gu Fuzhou, the invincible general and the well-known god of war in Dayu. Gu Fuzhou would not be afraid, so he could not be afraid, at least in front of these soldiers who trusted him.
He thought of Lin Qingyu.
It would be great if Lin Qingyu were here. If his wife is around, he can hug her waist and act coquettishly and complain without restraint. He was so tired that he couldn't sleep every day because of worry. He didn't want to lead troops or fight in wars. He just wanted to be a salted fish, a salted fish that stuck to Lin Qingyu all day long.
But he is Gu Fuzhou. Gu Fuzhou should stand majestically, with his gun in hand and his horse in hand, full of vigor and vitality. He has tried very hard and I hope he has not let his soldiers down.
Gu Fuzhou took a deep breath and comforted himself: "There's nothing to be afraid of. I have planned everything." He heard himself say, "I'm not afraid at all."
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