Chapter 133: Counter-encirclement
The rebels had been besieging the city for a day, and by nightfall, Ruan Dacheng still hadn't returned. The army was starting to panic. Everyone thought a manor wasn't much of a threat; it would be easy to take it down. But with no sign of Ruan Dacheng, they were starting to feel a bit uneasy.
There were two generals in the rebel army who were in charge of daily affairs: one was called Zou Wanchun and the other was called Ma Shiyi. Zou Wanchun said, "The Zhao family manor is not very big. Even if we can't capture it, someone should report back!"
"I have sent people to inquire about the news! I guess there will be news soon!" Ma Shiyi said.
At this moment, a soldier rushed in and said, "Generals, Lord Ruan is back! We've been defeated!"
"What? Lost?" Ma Shiyi asked in surprise.
The two followed the soldier outside the camp and saw Ruan Dacheng covered in dust, even missing one shoe. He was helped down, and Ma Shiyi and Zou Wanchun stepped forward and asked, "Sir! What happened?"
Ruan Dacheng saw the two and sighed, "Zhao Xiaofei's concubines are well prepared. Their militia is formidable, their firearms are sharp, and they even have a strange chariot that can move on its own! Most of us are surrounded. Let's break camp quickly!"
Seeing Ruan Dacheng's terrified face, the two knew something was amiss. But marching at night was definitely not a good idea. These days, many people suffer from night blindness, which means they can't see at night. This is caused by vitamin deficiencies or a lack of animal liver intake.
Zou Wanchun said, "Sir! How about we guard the camp tonight and leave early tomorrow morning?"
"Sir! Where are we going?" Ma Shiyi asked.
Ruan Dacheng also knew that marching at night was dangerous, so he nodded and said, "It is indeed dangerous at night. Let's set off early tomorrow morning! We will reunite with General Zuo!"
"We will follow your instructions, sir!" the two answered in unison.
Just as the three of them finished their discussion, someone came to report, "My Lord! General! This is bad! Tens of thousands of troops are coming from the east! And they're led by a female general!"
"What?" Ruan Dacheng stood up immediately. He knew that the person coming was Zhao Xiaofei's concubine Li Sihong, who was frightened by the fight just now.
Zou Wanchun asked, "How many tens of thousands are there?"
"About 30,000 troops!" said the soldier.
Ma Shiyi said, "Blow the horn! Form a battle array immediately! Even a hundred thousand of us won't be easily defeated by them!"
"Okay! But be cautious when going into battle! Send out a small force to test the waters! Send out more!" Ruan Dacheng said. He wanted to send out more forces so that more people would be able to return alive to report the news.
"Okay! I'll follow your instructions!" said Zou Wanchun.
The rebels then sent ten teams to investigate the situation of Li Sihong's militia. The two generals believed they could hold out for at least one night! So the army assembled and prepared for battle, while Ruan Dacheng was ready to march at any moment.
Ten teams set out, and soon they heard the sounds of musketry and grenades. It was already completely dark, and they had no idea what was happening. After a long wait, a team finally returned with a report. Other teams also returned one after another. Everyone was wounded, and when they returned, they all said the enemy's firearms were sharp and their troops were numerous.
Li Sihong was going into battle for the first time, and she was a little nervous. However, she trusted her husband even more. These troops were definitely the elite of the Ming Dynasty. Beating these rebels was a piece of cake! However, Li Sihong remained cautious. She didn't take advantage of their defeat and immediately attacked. Instead, she set up camp and planned to attack at daybreak.
It was this caution that made Li Sihong regret it deeply. Just as they were setting up camp, someone came to report, "Madam! Ten scouts have arrived, and we've already wiped out most of them!"
Li Sihong sat in the tent and said, "Okay! Pay attention to the defense! Go down!"
"Yes!" The soldier went down.
Liu Rushi beside him said, "Should we send someone to contact the people in the city? Tomorrow morning, we can attack them from both inside and outside and wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop!"
"It's better to be cautious when going into battle for the first time! Contact the city first and wait for news! If Big Brother Suo needs our cooperation, it won't be too late for us to go into battle later!" Li Sihong said.
Xiao Si received the order to contact the city, and he immediately took out his signal gun and fired it into the air. Zhao Xiaokun on the city wall saw that reinforcements had arrived. Zhao Xiaokun finally breathed a sigh of relief. He called Zhang Huangyan and said, "Master Zhang! Reinforcements are here! Tomorrow morning, our army will leave the city and attack the rebels from both inside and outside, and wipe them out in one fell swoop!"
"What? Reinforcements are coming so soon?" Zhang Huangyan asked in surprise.
"They are all local militia! Some are from Jiangyin County, some are from Yangzhou, and some are from Jiading! There are tens of thousands of people!" Zhao Xiaokun said proudly.
"Are you talking about the three Jiangyin people who were promoted recently? They each brought troops to support us? How much combat power do their militias have? What about their county towns?" Zhang Huangyan said.
"They are still defending their respective cities, but they have handed over their troops to my brother and sister-in-law!" Zhao Xiaokun didn't dare to tell the truth, for fear that Zhang Huangyan would scare him after knowing how many troops he had. He was also afraid that he would doubt his brothers!
"What? Tens of thousands of troops led by a woman? This is a joke!" Zhang Huangyan said. The ancients were indeed prejudiced against women, and the fact that Li Sihong was a concubine and a former prostitute made them even more uneasy. Although there was a Liang Hongyu in the Song Dynasty, that was just a joke.
"Master Zhang, what's wrong with a woman? General Qin of Shizhu is also a woman, but with her around, Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by her! And now she's even been made a marquis!" Zhao Xiaokun said in a very unfriendly tone!
"How many female generals are there like General Qin, Liang Hongyu, and Hua Mulan?" Zhang Huangyan said.
"Minister Zhang, don't underestimate women! Women are as good as Wu Zetian in literature and Mu Xin in martial arts!" said Zhao Xiaokun.
These words made Zhang Huangyan's face change, and he secretly despised her. These Zhao brothers actually advocated women ruling the country so much! In the Tang Dynasty, Confucianism was not popular yet, and society and culture were open. At that time, the evaluation of Wu Zetian was mostly positive. By the Ming Dynasty, Confucius's thoughts had been deeply rooted, and society and culture were relatively repressive. At that time, the evaluation of Wu Zetian was the worst, and the hypocritical scholars criticized her unanimously. Especially for her promiscuity, murder, rampant informing, and abuse of cruel officials. These were all hats that Ming Dynasty scholars put on Wu Zetian, especially that she cheated on Li Zhi and had the nerve to be buried with Li Zhi. For the Ming Dynasty, which valued chastity, this was something that the scholars could not tolerate.
"Okay! I want to see how your sister-in-law and your concubine lead the troops!" Zhang Huangyan said and left.
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