Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 687
Guo Yong came to a nearby crenel, supported the city wall, and watched from a distance.

Judging by visual inspection, this time the Yangzhou Army still used thousands of troops to face the West City. As they were advancing, a large flag in the middle kept shaking from side to side, and many small flags around echoed each other, so as to adjust the formation. One side is constantly approaching the city.

Just between the enemy's vanguard battalion and the city, there was an open area, which was the main battlefield of the previous few battles. There were corpses strewn all over, most of which were submerged in muddy water.There are also many pits smashed by catapults, full of rainwater.There were also dead bodies in some of the pits.

After watching for a while, Guo Yong ordered to the left and right: "Pass the order down, and after the bandits are within range, the ministries can act cheaply."

The herald turned away after receiving the order, rushed to the command platform, and waved the military flag.Officers at all levels moved when they saw the flag, one after another military orders, passwords, and commands sounded immediately, and the soldiers unsheathed their knives and stringed their arrows one after another.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind with a whistling sound, but it was the catapult of the Yangzhou Army that started first.

A boulder fell from the sky and hit the city wall.The gravel flew, and the killing sounded loudly.

Guo Yong watched the battle with his eyes. Although the sky was lightly raining, he felt as if he was in a fiery hell, and he was so anxious that he finally repelled another attack from the Yangzhou Army. Zhishaoqi finally entered the city just now, and brought a reply from Guan Yu and Cai Mao.

Guo Yong started to watch. There is no need to repeat the content of Cai Mao's letter. It is nothing more than to let the city not have to worry. The reinforcements have been dispatched. As for Guan Yu's letter, there are more contents.

Guan Yu first told Guo Yong that in order to prevent the "Wu Niu tribe" from finding out that he was still outside the city, he had originally camped in a valley forty miles outside the city. Fifteen miles ahead.

Secondly, in the next few days, he will not launch an attack immediately, but will deliberately separate a group of soldiers and horses to appear around the east of the city, try to contain the "Wu Niu tribe" as much as possible, relieve some pressure on the city, and also So that Guo Yong, Huang Ye and others can fully cope with the war in the west of the city.

In the end, Guan Yu explained the reason why he did not launch an attack immediately, because he hoped that after all the reinforcements from Xiangyang arrived, he would join forces with him and launch a general counterattack.

In short, Guan Yu still insists on the previous plan of "destroying his spirit with a strong city, and then rushing suddenly with elites", but because the strength of the Yangzhou Army has increased, it has become a delay in time The Xiangyang army joined forces.

After reading the letter, Guo Yong was silent for a moment, and asked the sentry who came back from Xiangyang: "When will the reinforcements from Xiangyang arrive?"

"Report to the prefect," sent the sentry back, "in about four or five days."

"In other words, that is to say, we still need to stick to Jiangling for at least five days?"

"Exactly."

Guo Yong looked at the audience: "Everyone, do you have any questions?"

"Stay strong for five days?" A general smiled wryly after hearing the words: "Prefect, the bandit army only took two or three days to attack the city, and there were nearly a thousand casualties. If you persist for another five days, don't say whether the city can be held, I'm afraid it will be too late." There are very few people guarding the city."

"What Zhao Duwei said is true." Another person also echoed: "The current situation is not optimistic. In my humble opinion, judging from past experience, if the battalion soldiers have about [-]% casualties, it will have a great impact on morale. adverse effects; if it reaches [-]%, there will be a rout in all likelihood!"

"Although defending the city is different from defending the field, and most of the soldiers are locals from Jiangling, which will make their fighting spirit relatively more tenacious, but if such a drastic attrition situation is not controlled and continues to deteriorate, the morale of the three armies is really worrying."

"It's not just casualties that affect morale?"

A general with disheveled hair and a hair scarf in his hand, his face covered with dust, said angrily: "The news that Guan Yu is outside the city is known to many people in the city. Guan Yun is well-known and has him as a reinforcement." , This is a good thing to improve morale and strengthen people's hearts, but until now, Guan Yu's army has always refused to help in the battle. How many people will be dissatisfied with this? The prefect has never thought about it."

"Yes, and after these few days of bloody battles, the bandits have almost filled up the moat. When the barrier of the moat is lost, our army has no field position to defend. Crashing a car, using several measures, the city walls of Jiangling are not too high, and it is very likely that they will not be able to bear it!"

"Speaking of the moat, before the thieves drove the people to fill the river, rumors have spread in the city. Many people say that the thieves are so tyrannical. If we persist until the day the city is broken, we may have to slaughter the city to vent our anger. The prefect, even if the soldiers can hold on , the city wall can hold it, but the general worries about the hearts of the people will soon be unable to hold it!"

These discussions, to be honest, are all about the facts, and there are indeed these problems.

Guo Yong was silent, listening to them quietly. When the hall was quiet again and no one spoke again, he slowly got up and said in a deep voice: "Although I am not from Jingzhou, I am the prefect of Nanjun and stick to Jiangling. It is the responsibility, and life and death have long been disregarded. But I think that the princes and soldiers in the army have sacrificed their lives to anoint the grass and fields, and rewards are not rewarded, so it hurts my ears!"

"Seeing that the reinforcements are coming, I only need to hold on for another five days before I can respond internally, launch a counterattack, and resolve the crisis. When the time comes, I don't have to worry about the possibility that you may 'reward but not reward'. You say There are indeed difficulties, and I understand, but when the thief is in sight, how can you be timid?"

"If you want to retreat, I will retreat, and I will die now!"

These words are sonorous and forceful, decisive, and even more exquisite. First, they move people with emotion, and when they express their determination at the end, they point out their own identities again, directly blocking everyone's escape route.

After all, he, a native of Jizhou, was honoring his duty and did not want to abandon the city and flee, not to mention these locals, they all stood up, bowed and clasped their fists, and said: "The prefect wants to fight to the death, and the last general is willing to follow him."

"Great kindness!" Guo Yong shouted: "Military order, transfer the reserve team to prepare to go out of the city. If they can't support it, the rear team will go into battle. Even if the people are completely wiped out, Jiangling must defend for five days!"

Hearing this, some of the generals couldn't hold back their emotions, and even some of them burst into tears.

Although the fierce battle lasted only three days, many of them have already been seen. The current casualties are actually the result of the bandit army's remaining strength. The only way to defend Jiangling for five days is to continue to send soldiers out of the city to entangle them, even if it can delay their time to conquer the moat for a moment.

So this is not a military order, but a death warrant. Generals and soldiers hang out together all year round, and it is inevitable that feelings will arise. How can we not feel sorry for sending them away knowing that they are going to die?

Seeing it, Guo Yong also sighed secretly, but his face remained expressionless, instead he directly pointed out a few people: "Death is death, why bother crying, I, a man from Jizhou, how can I behave like a woman?"

Those people were the generals of his direct line Guangzong Army. Guangzong Army came to this foreign country with Guo Yong, and the feelings between the generals and soldiers were naturally deeper and more sentimental, but Guo Yong's change of color made them immediately Don't dare to cry anymore.

Guo Yong still didn't give up, and sternly reprimanded: "Ma San, tomorrow you will be the vanguard!"

"promise!"

Shields can defend; shields can also be used to kill enemies.When it is erected, it can protect the owner from harm; and when it is thrown out in a whirl, it can also kill the enemy.Every thing has pros and cons, it just depends on how to treat it.

The same is true for the defending city. When the defending party suffers heavy casualties, the attacking party will also suffer great losses.

When the generals in the city were complaining, Gan Ning's face outside the city was sinking like water, and his heart was bleeding, because after the siege of the city for a few days, even if the common people were brought in, the damage on his side was actually the same Thousands counted, and the guards said that every inch of the field position they guarded was defended with blood; and for Gan Ning, every step they advanced was also pushed out with corpses.

And the most embarrassing thing is, in Gan Ning's view, if the Wangzheng side is launched at this time, Jiangling City can already be captured!

But Wang Zheng just stood still, not only did he not move, but the newly arrived Wang Xiong's department did not move either!
Gan Ning didn't know what Wang Zheng was thinking, if he delayed like this and let the reinforcements from Xiangyang rush to him, it would really be a missed opportunity.

But there is no way, since there is no new military order, Gan Ning can only grit his teeth and let his family continue to rush forward. The battle has been fought until now, and the competition is not only soldiers, but also no longer weapons. It is the willpower of the generals on both sides.

Whoever can stop using soldiers as human beings will be closer to victory.

On the fourth day of defending the city, with the cooperation of Guan Yu's troops, Guo Yong began to gradually mobilize defenders from the east, north, and south of the city to supplement the west of the city.

On the fifth day, Guo Yong began to use the reserve team.

On the sixth day, the summer rain that lasted for many days finally stopped.

At this time, there were less than 2000 defenders in the city, and most of them were wounded and wounded, and they continued to fight. The officers above Dubo were better. Although everyone was wounded, they were basically healthy and rarely died. Yes, almost half of the officers below Dub have been replaced.Almost all the low-level non-commissioned officers at Ruoshichang level have been replaced once, and some battalion leaders who have suffered serious losses have been replaced several times.Even Guo Yong himself was accidentally hit by an arrow from the Yangzhou Army.

So a large number of family servants, guards, and ordinary people began to be transferred to the city.

That night, at the temporary military meeting, Huang Ye drew out a saber that he hadn't touched for more than ten years, and with a hoarse voice, he encouraged everyone like crazy: "It's already the sixth day, and there are two nights left. After two nights, we will be able to launch a counterattack!"

The county ministers on the side also echoed: "Everyone, it is reported that the vanguard of the Xiangyang reinforcements has arrived a hundred miles outside the city, and will arrive at Jiangling by tomorrow afternoon, and General Guan will join them by the evening of the day after tomorrow at the latest. Persevere, until then, you will be the biggest contributors to breaking the thief!"

The prefect Guo Yong didn't say a word this time, he just looked eastward with his hands behind his back under the window.

There is not only the direction from which the reinforcements came, but also the location where Guan Yu's troops were stationed.

It is also the place where the "Wu Niu Department" was the first to approach the city.

The rain in Jingzhou has stopped, and the rain in Jingzhou has also stopped. The blue night sky is cloudless and full of stars.

At about the same time, Lu Su, who was in Yizhou, was also watching from the window.

It's just that what he looked at was not the distance, but the door of the small courtyard nearby.

This small courtyard was specially allocated to him by Liu Zhang.

Since seeing Liu Zhang last time, Lu Su has not been summoned again for many days.

Even the last time they met, they didn't talk for a long time, and before they even had a chance to say a lot of prepared remarks, Liu Zhang used the excuse that he had to deal with government affairs and changed clothes before leaving, leaving Lu Su speechless.

After all, this is not the first time that Lu Su has served as an envoy for Wang Zheng. Before, even celebrities like Liu Biao, and even heroes like Yuan Shao were all done at one time. In this way, the youngest and least famous prince hit a nail.
However, Lu Su was not discouraged because of this. Some people are naturally more courageous when they are frustrated, and the more difficult they encounter, the more fighting spirit they have. Therefore, before coming to Chengdu, even though Wang Zheng and Guo Jia were not optimistic, Lu Su was full of confidence.

Today, he is still full of confidence.

He firmly believed that his family could speak with eloquence and convince Liu Zhang, what was missing now was just a chance to have a long talk with the other party and hold a candle to heart-to-heart!

Even if Lu Su knew in his heart that Wang Zheng's reputation in the noble family had actually worsened since the Yuan Shu incident, and Liu Zhang and Wang Zhengsu had no friendship or intersection, so there was no reason to send troops to help.

But Lu Su still has confidence, because helping Wang Zheng and mobilizing troops in Jingzhou are closely related at the moment, but they are still two things in essence.

Just because you don't want to do the former doesn't mean you don't want to do the latter.

But in Lu Su's view, Liu Zhang is already tempted by Jingzhou now!
What is the evidence?
Even though Liu Zhang stopped calling him for a few days after seeing him once, he did not choose to send him back to Yangzhou, nor did he expressly refuse.

Lu Su judged that, first of all, from a moral point of view, because of the old grievances with Liu Biao, Liu Zhang had a very good reason to use troops. From a practical point of view, the successful occupation of Changsha by the Yangzhou Army also gave him the hope of "taking advantage of the fire".

The reason why no action has been taken so far may be that although the Yangzhou army has the upper hand, the advantage is not obvious enough to make him put aside all his scruples.

After all, this is a monarch with a weak personality, completely different from Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and others.

For the latter, as long as there are enough interests, they can be persuaded, while for the former, sometimes it is not only necessary to make the other party feel "profitable", but even "risk-free". action.

But is there a good thing in this world that has high returns and low risks?

Lu Su knew, but he also knew that if he wanted to persuade Liu Zhang, he had to believe him.
Um.
There is such a good thing!
(End of this chapter)