Chapter 239: Sitting on the Mountain and Watching the Fight of Tigers
Zhang Xianzhong and Wu Sangui had to fight a tough battle. After leaving Chengdu, all that was left were elite troops. Zhang Xianzhong had no way to retreat, and if he really wanted to retreat to the northwest, he would have to be brave.
Jiang Xiang and Tang Tong's troops, having been fully assembled, resumed their assault on Yulin. Yuan Zongdi watched from atop the city walls, convinced that Wu Sangui couldn't attack two cities simultaneously. Thus, Yuan Zongdi remained unfazed, watching the clash of titans from afar. His orders were to act accordingly, weakening Zhang Xianzhong's strength and refraining from deploying troops until the crucial moment.
"General! It's been three days. Should we send troops to help him?" asked Liu Fu, a general under Yuan Zongde.
"How many people did Zhang Xianzhong kill? Don't worry! But don't let Wu Sangui sleep well at night. Beat the drum for me once every hour and go out of the city to attack him from time to time!" Yuan Zongde said.
"I understand!" said Liu Fu.
On the city wall of Yulin, Sun Kewang led his supervisory team to provide support everywhere, and the city wall of Yulin was surrounded by dangers.
After Sun Kewang killed several enemy soldiers who had climbed onto the city walls, he turned back and looked coldly at the Acropolis across the way. With a cold glint in his eyes, he swore that if he could repel Wu Sangui, he would definitely settle the score with Yuan.
"General! It's bad! There is danger at the north gate!" said a lieutenant general.
"Let's go! Kill the enemy!" Sun Kewang said through gritted teeth. Then he led the supervision team to the north gate.
The fighting lasted a whole day, from morning to dusk, and the city walls were covered with blood and broken limbs.
Looking down at the city walls, I saw a few of Wu Sangui's soldiers, holding white flags, collecting the bodies. The Dashi Army on the city walls waited for Wu Sangui's men to finish cleaning up the bodies before they collected their own bodies. This was a tacit agreement between the two sides on the battlefield. With plague still surging in the north, they all knew the bodies needed to be disposed of promptly, otherwise everyone would die. Therefore, both sides knew that after the battle, each side would send personnel to deal with their own bodies.
After Wu Sangui's men left, hundreds of men were deployed on the city walls to deal with the bodies of their own troops. Liu Chun, a sergeant of a squad, led his men to clean up the bodies, accompanied by his cousin Liu Xiang.
My cousin Liu Xiang said while working, "Brother! When will this day end? I want to go home. I miss my mother!"
Liu Chun didn't even look up, and continued working as he spoke, "My parents are dead, and your mother probably won't make it either! It's all for the two of us to survive! Don't let the Liu family's lineage be cut off. If there's a war, just follow me. Be smart, this is just between the two of us. If anyone hears, we'll be dragged out and chopped off immediately!"
"Brother! Let's talk! It would be great if we could just escape to Nanjing! I heard that everyone there has enough food to eat, and the prince has given us landless people land to farm. He has also exempted us from grain taxes for three years!" Liu Xiang said.
"It's not dark yet! What are you dreaming about! How far is this place from Nanjing? Besides, what are we? Thieves! Will Prince Li of Nanjing let us go? We'll take it one step at a time. When we can leave the city to fight, we'll run away depending on the situation! We've been fighting for so many years, I'm tired of it. Who the hell doesn't want to live in peace!" said Liu Chun.
At night, the citadel on the edge of Yulin City suddenly sounded the sound of war drums. The nearest enemy troops immediately gathered and prepared for battle.
What a pity! Yuan Zongdi was just trying to scare them. They waited for a long time but nothing happened. They could only go back to rest. One by one, they dragged their exhausted bodies back to the camp to sleep.
But just as they were falling asleep, the drums started beating again. Wu Sangui's soldiers got up cursing and started to gather again. Unfortunately, Yuan Zongdi's soldiers still hadn't arrived. These soldiers cursed loudly: "Damn it! You just know how to make trouble! If you have the guts, come out of the city and fight me!"
They had no choice but to go back to rest. After several attempts, Wu Sangui's soldiers stopped getting up. When they heard the drumming, they thought they were playing rock music for themselves!
Yuan Zongdi watched it several times and laughed heartily. At four o'clock in the morning, Yuan Zongdi finally took action. He led the Dashun Army out of the city to kill the enemy. Wu Sangui's troops did not expect Yuan Zongdi to come out and were caught off guard.
Fortunately, Wu Sangui had more troops and had prepared a plan to guard against Yuan Zongde's surprise attack, so the losses were not great.
Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang, who were standing on the city wall of Yulin, were very happy, thinking, Yuan Zongde, you finally did something human!
In this way, Wu Sangui was unable to capture Yulinwei for a while, and the two sides were deadlocked here.
Jiang Xiang, however, was truly anxious. He hoped the army would quickly reach Xi'an. Then he would wait for orders to deliver a fatal blow to Wu Sangui. Perhaps by then, the court would grant him a higher official rank, ennoble his wife and children.
Meanwhile, Lu Yingbiao, Niu Wancai, and Li Hao were confronting the Kenan Army in Shangluo, while Ma Wanchun's White Rod Army was battling Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu, Liu Zhong, and Liu Rukui in Hanzhong, with no clear winner.
Zhao Xiaofei stood on the mountain, looking at Shangluo City in the distance, and said to his messenger: "Tell General Zhou and Wanshan that they can only lose, not win."
Yes! The messenger will take your orders.
Li Sihong then asked, "Why did my husband do this?"
"A victory too early will only benefit the Jianlu. Let the Jianlu help us attack Xi'an and intercept Li Zicheng and his men. We will try to wipe them out in one fell swoop!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"But will the Jianlu be fooled? Can't they just sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers?" Li Sihong asked.
"No! They are short of food and grass. They either retreat to Shanxi for defense or continue to advance and quickly take over Shaanxi! Do you think they will do a losing business?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
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