"Let everyone pack up what they need to pack. We will all live together for the next few days and be ready to leave at any time," said An Jingzhi.
Jizhou City was attacked for ten consecutive days. The atmosphere in the city became increasingly depressing and the people basically did not dare to go out.
At night, the people would sneak out of the city gates one after another, and even the soldiers under Lou Sanma would run away with them.
No matter what, whoever is assigned to guard a city gate will be replaced the next day!
When Lou Sanma learned about this, he was furious. In the middle of the night, even the guards ran away. If the imperial soldiers outside the city knew about it, they would just sneak in and chop off his head without him knowing!
"These bastards usually eat and drink from me, but now I ask them to defend the city with me, and yet they're trying to sneak away one by one!"
"Master, it seems that An Jingzhi is the most loyal to you. Only the west gate has no one escaping."
The West Gate is the one that is still under repair. It is repaired and demolished, then repaired again over and over again every day.
In order to speed up the repair of the city wall, An Jingzhi and his men worked overtime in the middle of the night.
Many of Lou Sanma's men died, so he simply handed over the night guard duty at the west city gate to An Jingzhi.
"Alas, what a pity! If I had met An Jingzhi earlier, I would have made use of him."
Only in times of crisis can one see who is most loyal to him.
Now everyone is thinking about escaping and making money.
Only An Jingzhi worked diligently every day, braving the arrows on the battlefield and leading his men to repair the city walls.
Of the 80,000 men under his command, only 50,000 are left.
The remaining 50,000 were of mixed numbers, and some were old, weak, sick, and disabled. Lou Sanma knew that with the people now in a panic, they would not be able to hold on sooner or later.
It seems he needs to keep a way out.
In order to prevent anyone from escaping, Lou Sanma directly sent his most trusted people to take over the guard of the city walls, except for An Jingzhi's.
If anyone tries to escape again, their head will be chopped off and hung on a flag as a warning.
This method did have some effect.
But it is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.
The external crisis has always existed, and everyone is trapped in Jizhou City. The food and people are getting less and less.
Another ten days passed.
The soldiers defending the city have become numb. The people around them have been replaced one after another, and there are more and more talks about abandoning the city and fleeing.
Even Lou Sanma couldn't bear it anymore.
Only with Jizhou City can he be considered a big shot. Without Jizhou City, he is just a bandit.
But now, he is going to become a bandit again.
"Boss, we can't hesitate any longer. If we keep defending, all our brothers will die."
"Now, let alone the west wall, even the north and east walls are almost unable to hold on."
"Yes, big brother, we still have some food. As long as there is life, there will be no shortage of firewood."
"Brother, make a decision quickly! All the brothers under you want to survive."
"Stop arguing!" Lou Sanma shouted, "Let me think about it!"
"You just run away! I fought so hard to conquer Jizhou, and now you're just giving it up! Did all those brothers we lost sacrifice in vain?"
"Boss—"
Lou Sanma interrupted: "Alright! Everyone, get out of here. I'll think this over carefully."
Ma locked himself in the room upstairs, constantly calculating the possibility of successfully defending the city in his mind.
The imperial army is not strong. As long as they delay long enough, the enemy will definitely be held accountable for failing to capture the city, and will naturally leave.
But the question is, can he still drag it on?
Once the war broke out, food was quickly consumed.
The people under my command always fight if they can win, and run away if they can't. When have they ever fought such a tough battle?
"Alas...it seems that this Jizhou is not meant for me."
"Master, you finally came out." As soon as he opened the door, he saw his most beloved concubine waiting outside with an anxious look on her face.
"Whether to go or stay, you decide."
"If we leave, we have to pack up quickly. If we stay, we have to think about how to defend the city."
Lou Sanma was a little surprised and said, "Are you willing to stay and help me defend the city?"
The concubine said, "Master, what are you talking about? If it weren't for you, I would have died at the hands of the rebel army. My life is yours, so naturally I must accompany you."
"Okay." Lou Sanma said happily, "My love for you is not in vain."
"Let's go and take everything you can with you. We can't stay in Jizhou anymore."
…………
The people under him were very happy when they learned that Lou Sanma decided to leave.
The problem now is who will stay. Someone must stay to attract the imperial troops in front so that the people behind can take the opportunity to escape.
If no one wants to stay, why should we stay? Isn't staying here just suicide?
Wherever Lou Sanma's sight went, people avoided him.
An Jingzhi took the initiative to step forward and said, "General, I am willing to stay."
"You?! No way." Lou Sanma already regarded An Jingzhi as someone he trusted, so naturally he was unwilling to keep An Jingzhi.
"Boss, since Brother An is willing to stay, let him do it."
"Yes, Boss, Brother An has always been very capable. We brothers are relieved to have him stay to cover for us."
Since someone is willing to stay and be a scapegoat, they naturally welcome it.
Everyone agreed, and it was useless even if Lou Sanma disagreed.
"Brother," he said, "have you thought about it? Are you really willing to stay and cover for us?"
An Jingzhi said with great righteousness: "I dare not fail to repay the general's kindness in taking me in."
Lou Sanma felt ashamed. How could this be considered a favor?
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