scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 258 Intimidation
"Listen to the dogs in Jingzhou City! I don't want your surrender! Wash your dog's necks and wait to die!"

"Listen up to the dogs in Jingzhou! The prince of the Great Zhou has ordered that the dogs in Jingzhou are not allowed to surrender! No one will be spared! Dogs and chickens will not be spared!"

"Full of bastards! Waiting to die! Waiting to die! Shou-death!"

The stagnant water has not yet been drained, Jingzhou City is surrounded by mud, and the main camp of the Wu army is moving to the west of the Duijintai Highlands - we have to take precautions, so on the third day of the twelfth lunar month and the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month. For two days, Wu Jun did not launch an attack on Jingzhou City, but several cavalry troops of Wu Jun were like a few hungry wolves, circling outside the Simen City of Jingzhou all the time, yelling and insulting day and night, throwing out red eyes. A series of provocations and threats, with all their strength to snipe and kill every Qing army scout who dared to go out of the city to investigate, made the Jingzhou Qing army rely on pigeons to communicate with the outside world, and it was difficult for a horse or a man to get out of the tight encirclement.

In view of the unprecedented declaration of war by the old traitor Wu, no one in the Qing army dared to turn a deaf ear to the terrorist threat from the Wu army. At the same time, the whole Qing army was extremely afraid of one thing-that is, to completely enrage the old traitor Wu and use all means Digging up the embankment of thousands of people, flooding the whole city of Jingzhou!Cowardly, Tu Hai, La Bu, Shang Shan and others not only scolded the eighteen generations of Xu Zhidu's ancestors bloody every day, gave up the motion to withdraw Jingzhou to Yiling, but also put it back in the ranks of the Qing army's decision-makers. desk.

In the evening of the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, when the sky was getting dark, Labu, Tuhai, Shangshan and others came to the west gate of Jingzhou again, looked at the Duijintai highland in the northwest of Jingzhou, and saw the bonfires in the Wu army camp on the high ground like a sea, covering half of the sky. The sky was bright red, and the sound of people shouting and neighing could be heard clearly even at the top of Jingzhou City. La Bu, Tu Hai and others were inevitably worried and flustered.When I turned to look at the levee of ten thousand people in the southwest, I saw that the top of the levee was also brightly lit, and the army of Wu troops with torches was coming and going, as dense as stars, and Tuhai, Labu and others were inevitably more worried-now the army of Wu The camp had already moved to the high ground. If Wu Jun's troops suddenly opened the embankment, none of the dogs in Jingzhou would escape.

"Tutang, you are always good at predicting things, please tell me, will Wu Gou know how to dig embankments?" Shang Shan asked Tu Hai again.

"Chambelle, today you have asked the slave this question for No. 15 times." Tuhai replied helplessly: "The slave still has the same answer. It is possible that Wu Gou suddenly dug the embankment, but it is not so big—otherwise In the past two days, Wu Gou will not spare manpower and material resources to repair the dam."

"Then why is Wu Gou still concentrating so many troops on the embankment?" Shang Shan asked: "Even Xu Zhi has been killed by Wu Gou now. There is no Qing army around Jingzhou that can threaten Wanwan Dike. Why is Wu Gou still stationing so many troops on it?"

"This slave doesn't know, maybe Wu Gou is just in case." Tu Hai shook his head helplessly, and found an excuse to answer, but Tu Hai knew very well in his heart that since the Qing army blew up the embankment first, Wu Jun There must have been the sound of digging dikes and flooding the city. I am afraid that even the old traitor Wu has such thoughts in his heart.

"I'm afraid Wugou is also arguing over whether to blow up the embankment?" La Bu said worriedly on behalf of Tuhai. The dike almost suffered a big loss, I am afraid that the old thief Wu Sangui and his lackeys are already discussing whether to retaliate."

"If Wu Dog retaliates with a tooth for a tooth, then we are in a terrible situation." Shang Shan said with a pale face, "You have seen what happened the night before yesterday. Xu Zhidu only made two small holes, and the river flooded the entire area around Jingzhou. The calf is deep, Wugou has a lot of new gunpowder, if they blow up the embankment, it may take less than an hour for the river to flood Jingzhou city!"

Labu, Tuhai, and Chani didn't speak, but they all looked worried, wondering if the traitor Wu would be so inhumane that he used such a frenzied trick.After Shangshan trembled for a long time, he suddenly said: "Prince Jian, Tutang, why don't we withdraw, abandon Jingzhou and break through to Yiling or Xiangyang, and go to Yiling or Xiangyang to continue to resist Wu Gou. Master, as long as We told the master the truth, explaining that Jingzhou City is really unable to hold on, I believe the master will understand our difficulties."

Labu and Chani still didn't speak, but their stomachs began to move. Tuhai shook his head resolutely, and said firmly: "We can't withdraw! One is that our army is not as good as Wu Gou in field battles, and Wu Gou is vowing to take revenge. If you abandon the city, you will be hit head-on by Wu Gou in the field battle! Second, Jingzhou is already the only nail in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River for our Qing Dynasty. Once you abandon it, Sichuan Wu Gou and Huguang Wu Gou will immediately become one, and Wu Gou will be gone. Worry about the future, our Central Plains, Jiangnan and Northwest of the Qing Dynasty will be in emergency at the same time!"

"Then what if Wu Gou digs the embankment?" Shang Shan asked: "If the army is saved, our Qing Dynasty still has a chance of survival and a chance to counterattack, but if we lose the last army in Huguang, our Daqing What else can Qing use to stop Wu Gou from killing the Central Plains?"

Facing the question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg, Tu Hai also had nothing to say. After a long silence, Tu Hai said weakly: "Jingzhou's army is led by Prince Jian, and the servants only have the right to make suggestions. Specifically, whether to give up Jingzhou or not?" , I still have to ask Prince Jian to act arbitrarily, and the slave will follow the order. But still the same sentence, the slave is opposed to giving up Jingzhou immediately, unless it is a last resort, it is better to stick to it."

The ball was kicked back in front of La Bu, and while La Bu secretly scolded Tuhai for being treacherous, he could only reluctantly say to Shang Shan and Chani: "Let's see again, if it is confirmed that Wu Gou will dig a dike, in order to save our big With the vitality of the Qing army, this king can consider giving up Jingzhou to break through. If Wu Gou still refuses to dig the embankment, Jingzhou, this king will never give up!"

"Uncle, how can we be sure that Wu Gou is going to dig the embankment?" Chani suddenly asked La Bu.

La Bu was stunned for a while, then looked at the expectant eyes of Tu Hai, Chani and Shang Shan, finally lowered his head powerlessly, and said with a mournful face, "My king... I don't know."

........................

It was confirmed by Tuhai and Labu. At the same time, in the Wu army camp, most of the Wu army generals who had all moved to the high ground were furious. The river embankment flooded the entire city of Jingzhou, retaliating against the shameless actions of the Qing army the night before.The old traitor Wu himself also began to waver, and even began to doubt whether he was getting softer as he got older, and he was willing to miss the effective tactics to quickly and effectively annihilate the enemy for the sake of the people of Jingzhou.After hesitating, the old traitor Wu had no choice but to reply to the generals, asking the generals of the Wu army to give him another night to think about it, and then give the generals an answer the next morning, and the generals of the Wu army dispersed.

It was finally dark, and the first snowflakes since the beginning of winter in Jingzhou floated in the windy night sky, but the old traitor Wu sat beside the map sand table in Wu Jun's tent, meditating, and remained motionless throughout. The well-intentioned suggestion of the guard persuading him to return to the tent and rest fell on deaf ears, as if he had settled down.It wasn't until the second watch was approaching, when the guard reported that Fatty Lu was asking for an interview, that Old Traitor Wu slowly said, "Let him in."

After a while, Fatty Lu entered the big tent of the Chinese army, knelt down on one knee to old traitor Wu, saluted, but old traitor Wu seemed to have settled down, and didn't ask Fatty Lu to get up, but continued to knead his brows, struggling After thinking about it, Fatty Lu, the sycophant, didn't dare to get up, but knelt on one knee in front of old traitor Wu and waited patiently. The Chinese army tent was so quiet that even the sound of snowflakes falling outside the tent could be heard clearly.

"Yifeng." After a long time, the old traitor Wu finally spoke, and said in an extremely low voice: "I remember, among our army, you were the first to propose the tactic of digging dikes to attack the city. After being rejected by the old man, what did you think?" ? To be honest, I don’t blame you, do you think I’m old, confused, and cowardly?”

"Grandfather, the grandson-in-law is telling the truth." Fatty Lu replied softly: "Grandfather misunderstood, after the grandson-in-law's tactics were rejected by the grandfather, not only did the grandson-in-law not feel dissatisfied with the grandfather at all, on the contrary, the grandson-in-law also complained to the grandfather and you!" Full of respect. Since ancient times, there are really not many people who can think about thousands of lives when fighting like you, grandfather."

"So, do you think grandfather did nothing wrong?" Old traitor Wu asked again.

"Back to grandfather, grandfather's decision is not only right, but also too right." Fatty Lu said with rare sincerity: "Just like what grandfather described his son-in-law, grandson-in-law is indeed a person who only cares about the purpose of doing things and does not use any means. But grandson The son-in-law is willing to give up the glory and wealth of the Manchu, voluntarily follow the grandfather to fight against the Qing, what is the purpose? Isn't it to rejuvenate the Han and destroy the Manchu, and save the Han people from suffering?"

"Although the purpose of digging dikes and flooding the city is to save more and more Han people all over the world, it makes sense to make a certain sacrifice and feel good about your conscience, but is it fair to the Han people in Jingzhou City? To the Jingzhou government Are the Han people fair? They are innocent, your son-in-law's tactics are selfish, and your decision, grandfather... is great!"

"Life is priceless. Every life is extremely precious. It cannot be exchanged by gold mountains and silver seas, let alone 10,000+ or ​​hundreds of thousands of lives? Although we can make necessary sacrifices to save the Han people all over the world, but The sacrifice that can be avoided, the grandson-in-law still raises his hands in favor of avoiding it-because, like the grandfather, the grandson-in-law is a Han Chinese who has done wrong things, but knows self-salvation and is an upright Han Chinese!"

Old traitor Wu stared at Fatty Lu's fat face, and after a long time, old traitor Wu finally showed a smile on his face, nodded with a smile and said: "You are right, I did nothing wrong, I have already decided, Wan Di, old man Never destroy! The people of Jingzhou, I will try my best to save them!"

"Grandfather is holy." Fatty Lu also knelt on the other leg, and said from the bottom of his heart: "Grandfather, please allow grandson-in-law to pay respects to grandfather on behalf of millions of souls in Jingzhou!"

After finishing speaking, Fatty Lu bowed heavily to Old Man Wu, and put his forehead directly on the ground.Old man Wu laughed out loud, all doubts were gone, he got up and helped Fatty Lu himself, and said with a smile: "My good boy, you are the only one who understands grandfather's mind best in our army. Get up, let's make up your mind and make up your mind. , how can we break through the Jingzhou City without destroying the embankment!"

"Thank you, grandfather." Fatty Lu hurriedly thanked him, and after getting up and sitting next to Old Traitor Wu, Fatty Lu said in a low voice, "Grandfather, in fact, my grandson-in-law came here just to break Jingzhou."

"Oh, then what good idea do you have?" Old Man Wu asked cheerfully.

"I don't dare to say a good idea. It's just a tactical plan that I'm not absolutely sure of. I'm asking my grandfather to decide." Fatty Lu said in a low voice, "My son-in-law thinks that our army is small but the main attack is the main attack. If we stick to the previous forced siege tactics, even if the siege is successful, our soldiers will suffer heavy casualties and their vitality will be greatly damaged. Therefore, my son-in-law thinks that if our army wants to take Jingzhou, the first thing we need to do is to Force out the full dogs in the city, and fight them in the wild!"

"How to force Mangou out of the city?" Old Traitor Wu quickly asked.

..............................

The night passed quickly, and in the morning of the next day, which was also the morning of the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month in the 12th year of Kang Mazi, the old traitor Wu fulfilled the contract and raised his account to discuss matters. As soon as all the generals of the Wu army arrived, the old traitor Wu said loudly: "Generals, Gentlemen, after a night of deliberation, this king has decided to accept your suggestion, blow up the embankment of tens of thousands of people, and flood Jingzhou full of dogs!"

"Okay!" Most of the Wu army generals waved their arms and shouted, but some of the Wu army generals sank in their hearts, knowing that the old traitor Wu had abandoned the people of Jingzhou after all.Among them, Liu Zhifu, the eldest son of Liu Xuanchu, stood up and said to the old traitor Wu, "my lord, blowing up the dikes and flooding the city is certainly a clever plan to wipe out the dogs in Jingzhou without a single soldier, but there are so many people in the city, and once the flood comes... .”

"Needless to say, I've decided my loneliness!" Old Man Wu waved Liu Zhifu to retreat, and then shouted loudly, "Where is Lu Yifeng?"

"The last general will be here." Fatty Lu stood out of the queue and agreed with clasped fists.

"You are proficient in firearms and gunpowder, and I will leave it to you to blow up the embankment and flood the city." The old traitor Wu picked up the token and said: "Gu and you, three thousand infantry, and hundreds of explosives, must blow up the Jingzhou embankment in one fell swoop." , leaving Mangou nowhere to retreat!"

"The general will obey!" Fatty Lu agreed, took the token with both hands, and asked cautiously: "Dare to ask the prince, when will you blow the embankment?"

"The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month!" The old traitor Wu ordered without even thinking about it: "You go to the embankment first and make preparations. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, as soon as the lonely order arrives, immediately start blowing up the embankment!"

"Obey!" Fatty Lu agreed to back down.The old traitor Wu shouted again: "Gao Dejie and Tao Jizhi will obey the order."

"Yes." Gao Dejie and Tao Jizhi came out.The old traitor Wu picked up the token and ordered: "From today onwards, you two will lead the cavalry of your headquarters to cover Lu Yifeng's infantry blowing up the embankment, and stand guard day and night under the embankment of thousands of people. If the dogs go out of the city to attack the embankment, they will resolutely fight back!"

"Obey!" Second General Gao Tao agreed neatly.Old traitor Wu picked up the third token and shouted: "Fang Feiyang listens to the order."

"The next official is here." Wu Junli and Fang Feiyang, the chief officer of Cao, came out, but he was very puzzled in his heart - he is a civil servant, so whether he blows up the embankment or meets the battle, it shouldn't be his business?
"Quickly send a literati who can speak to Jingzhou City to communicate with Mangou." The old traitor Wu ordered: "Let the envoy tell Mangou that, thanks to them, Wandi was attacked by Xu Zhidu's son. The damage was serious. Although our army tried its best to repair it, but due to the shortage of manpower and equipment, the Wandi was beyond repair, and it was estimated that it would collapse on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Out of compassion, the king sent an envoy to inform them, Let them do it for themselves!"

"I obey you." Fang Feiyang respectfully agreed, and then asked cautiously: "My lord, our army killed the envoy of Man Gou the day before yesterday, if Man Gou does the same..."

"Forgive Mangou doesn't have the guts to kill an orphaned emissary." The old man Wu snorted coldly, and then said: "But just in case, you should go to the Mangou prisoners captured by our army to choose an envoy and let him Bring the letter into the city and inform the dog." Fang Feiyang quickly agreed, and the old traitor Wu waved again: "Do it right away, the sooner the better."

Fang Feiyang rushed out of the tent to make arrangements, and the old traitor Wu pointed to the generals and said: "The rest of the people, all of them should be informed to the officers and men of the headquarters. After that, no one is allowed to leave the high ground without authorization! Otherwise, even if the old man does not practice military law, they probably have no chance of survival."

"Follow your lord's order!" Wu Jun and all the generals clasped their fists together and agreed.Only Wang Shirong turned his eyes and went out to play alone: ​​"My lord, the student thinks, should we also inform the surrounding Jingzhou people and let them know that Mangou blew up the embankment of thousands of people, and the embankment is difficult to hold, so let them leave temporarily?" Escape here?"

Old traitor Wu and Fatty Lu glanced at each other quickly, knowing that Wang Shirong had seen the clue, then old traitor Wu nodded and said, "That's right, we should inform the people and let them flee home too. Ke Duo, Fan Qihan, Leave this matter to you. You send your cavalry to the villages around and downstream of Jingzhou to inform the people and let them move to high ground to avoid the flood. Remember, you must insist that the dam was blown up by the dog, and we will try our best to repair it. , but it can’t be fixed.”

(End of this chapter)