eurekapd Chapter 586 An unusual town
Chapter 586 An unusual town
Shen Changgong made the decision and said,
"I think General Yu's plan is a good one. What's the saying in the book 'Southern King's Military Strategy'?
When two armies fight, the superior force destroys the opponent's politics, the middle force takes away his will, and the inferior force destroys his body...
Our strategy is to attack the enemy's mind, destroy their fighting spirit, and directly disintegrate them from within.
I have to say, the value of the book "Southern King's Military Strategy" is still rising."
King Nan looked at him strangely and said,
"I didn't expect that you have such a profound understanding of this book."
"Of course, I'm much better than you. You know nothing about the Southern King's military tactics. I know them best."
Everyone burst into laughter.
A reader actually said that the writer did not understand the book. The contrast is extreme.
Prince Nan sneered and cursed Shen Changgong.
Shen Changgong stood up and said,
"That's it, adjourn the meeting. Everyone go back and make preparations. Tomorrow we will advance into Zhengxiang County and begin arresting the people. Remember, we must first persuade them with kind words. If they refuse to obey, we will use force.
Tell them that if they follow us, they will have food to eat and we will never kill them. We will help them rescue their relatives who have been conscripted.
Do not take the people's things, and do not take even a needle or thread from the masses.
The meeting is over! "
After finishing his words, Shen Changgong said to Yu Ziling,
"General Yu, your advice today is valuable. I will reward you with some gold and silver. Come with me to claim it."
"As ordered!"
Everyone dispersed, and Yu Ziling said to Shen Changgong,
"I'll go back to the tent and change my clothes and come back."
"No need to change, I just like this set of armor on you, it's so exciting."
"Huh? Didn't you reward me with gold and silver? Why is it related to excitement again?"
Yu Ziling looked surprised and looked at Shen Changgong with a playful look.
Shen Changgong chuckled. He believed that there would be gold and silver as rewards, and it was also reasonable to give some essences as rewards.
After all, Yu Shuai’s suggestion was helpful.
In this way, Yu Shuai reluctantly followed Shen Changgong into his tent and was trapped for a whole night before he was able to escape.
The next morning, the Yan army continued to break camp and set off.
On the way, Shen Changgong and King Nan looked at the map and continuously sent out cavalry and infantry to rob people from towns and villages along the way.
Soon, the villages in the northern part of Zhengxiang County were in chaos.
By night, when they set up camp, the army had gathered tens of thousands of people. These people were crowded in the tents, and some were even too crowded and had to sleep in the open air.
Naturally, they were very dissatisfied, shouting that the Yan army was brutal and clamoring to go home.
But when the Yan army brought food and asked them to make their own fire and cook, they all smiled and shouted that the Yan army soldiers were such good people for giving them food.
Three days later, the army marched to the open space outside the city of Zhengxiang County and set up camp, stretching for dozens of miles.
There are already hundreds of thousands of people in the camp, and their number is still increasing.
After setting up camp, Shen Changgong saw that it was still early, so he took Marshal Yu, two female personal officials, and the guards to the surrounding villages to see if the Yan army was bullying the villagers.
Just think of it as a way to relax.
They rode their horses leisurely to the nearest town and saw many Yan troops who were arranging their troops in battle formation, preparing to attack the town.
Wait? Attack the towns?
Shen Changgong felt something was not right, so he rushed over and shouted,
"Stop, call your general over!"
When the soldiers saw Shen Changgong, they were shocked and quickly bowed and saluted, then called their commander.
The captain immediately ran to Shen Changgong, knelt on one knee and said,
"Meet the prince!"
"Stand up. Which regiment are you from?"
"Your Highness, I am Qu Pei, commander of the Eighth Battalion of the Fifth Corps of the Tianyu Army. I have been ordered to come to Chaoyu Town to collect the people."
"If you want to search, just search. Why are you pretending to attack? How many people will die?"
Hearing this, Qu Pei said with a bitter face,
"Your Highness, I don't want to do this either, but the resistance inside is too fierce. We haven't even entered the city wall since this morning. There are no elderly, weak, women or children inside. There are at least thousands of men."
"Thousands of men?"
Shen Changgong raised his head and looked at the city wall.
This is not a brick or stone wall, but an earthen wall, usually found in towns or villages, to protect against bandits and wild beasts. It was built with funds from the wealthy families in the town, subsidies from the county, and labor from the people. It is not very high, only about three meters high, far less than a normal county wall, but it is enough to protect against bandits and wild beasts.
"Haven't all the able-bodied men here been summoned to the county? Why are there still so many people here? Is this town related to the county governor?"
"I don't know, Your Highness. We underestimated the enemy at the beginning, and they killed more than a dozen of our brothers!"
Qu Pei quickly ordered people to bring the bodies over. The bodies were all wearing Yan army armor and had arrows stuck in their bodies. However, those arrows were obviously homemade and not military style.
Shen Changgong sensed something was wrong and said to the guards,
"Go, find a local and ask him what's going on in this town.
Also, have Yuhuatian dispatch 10,000 people, along with hot air balloons, and move quickly."
"As ordered!"
The guards rode back to the military camp at full speed to inform Yu Huatian.
Yu Ziling asked,
"What's wrong? Do you think there's a big problem in Chaoyu Town?"
Shen Changgong nodded and said,
"My intuition tells me that something is wrong here, and if I rush in, I might suffer a great loss.
Most of the male adults in the entire county were taken to the county town. How could there be thousands of male adults in this place, and it was so close to the county town, only a few dozen miles away, how could it be spared?
We don't know how many people are inside yet. A rash attack would be disadvantageous to us. We should mobilize a large force and use hot air balloons to see what's going on inside."
Then, Shen Changgong said to the commander Qu Pei,
"Have your men guard the four gates of the town and don't let them escape."
"As ordered!"
With Shen Changgong as the backbone, the commander immediately gained confidence and shouted and ordered his men to surround the place.
Soon, Yu Huatian personally arrived here with his troops. This time he brought the most elite First Corps, with Liang Kai as the commander.
"Have you brought everything?"
"I have it, my lord."
"Alright, immediately surround the town, leave the main force here, and send the hot air balloon up to see what's going on inside."
"As ordered!"
Under the command of the generals, a hot air balloon slowly ignited and rose into the sky.
The scout above was holding a telescope and carefully observing the situation inside.
Then, the scout put down the telescope, waved the flag with both hands, and spread the information below.