sbdcsierra Chapter 122: Defend One City to Protect the World
Chapter 122: Defend One City to Protect the World
Shao Weiyi accused him of disloyalty and injustice in front of all the soldiers, and beheaded him so cruelly to show his mentality and stabilize the morale of the army.
Zong Yanli sighed inwardly upon seeing this scene. It was true that a teacher will determine the kind of student he is. Even at this point, Shao Weiyi still refused to surrender. So she had no choice but to attack by force. She didn't expect that Shao Weiyi could defend the city so beautifully.
They held out like this for more than eighty days.
The city was completely out of food, and Shao Weiyi opened the third secret bag for the last time.
The letter said: I have never used troops according to the ancient methods. I have set up ambushes in trenches, taken food from the enemy, attacked while defending, and used offense instead of defense. Guyang will definitely come to help!
Shao Weiyi's eyes suddenly fell on the words "lai yuan" and he felt his mind suddenly clear up, as if he was helped by God in an instant. Something called hope flowed out of the brocade bag. Shao Weiyi was shocked and laughed suddenly, even laughing to tears.
Guyang, Guyang!
Guyang is the border town with the Kingdom of Qing, with a military force of about 10,000. Feng Yingrui, the garrison commander of Guyang, can be considered as Shao Weiyi's half-senior brother, and was enlightened by Wu Jian'an when he was young.
Shao Weiyi cried and laughed as he held the last plan left by Wu Jian'an, and finally seemed to see hope of survival.
He held the brocade bag in his hand as if it were a treasure, and once again reorganized his troops and acted according to the strategy in the bag.
The Jin army had been trapped for so long, and now was a great opportunity to reap the rewards. The Wu army was ready to celebrate, but they never imagined that the dying rabbit could still bite them. When the news of the grain cart being robbed came, even Gongsun Pu and others could not have expected it.
"What a brilliant strategy..." Gongsun Pu and Pei Liang reviewed Shao Weiyi's repeated surprise tactics since he was trapped in Donglong. The more they looked at it, the more familiar this style of action seemed to them.
“If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes the general beheading Wu Jian’an, I would have thought that the leader of the army in Donglong City was still Wu Jian’an.” Gongsun Pu said with admiration.
"Shao Weiyi is Wu Jian'an's student after all." Pei Liang also nodded and said, "Now that the Jin army has taken away the food, we must not give them time to breathe."
At that moment Zong Yanli led his troops to attack the city again, but he did not expect that the Jin army could set up an ambush in the trenches at this critical juncture, and almost caused the Wu army to suffer a great loss.
Zong Yanli refused to retreat and continued to fight, attacking the city for three consecutive days. The Jin army held their ground and refused to come out, and they took on the attack from the Wu army without causing the city to fall.
Zong Yanli had been fighting with the Jin army outside Donglong City for such a long time that it was already August and the city had not been captured. Not only had the Wu army suffered many losses, big and small. Every time Zong Yanli thought that the Jin army had no fighting power, Shao Weiyi always managed to catch them by surprise.
The emperor even held Zong Yanli accountable, determining that he had neglected his duties and became arrogant due to his great achievements, which led to his failure in leading the army. Little did he know that an arrogant army will eventually be defeated.
Zong Yanli was not angry when he was held accountable. Instead, he ordered all the soldiers to recite the emperor's instructions on the parade ground to awaken his soldiers.
It was just as the emperor said. Zong Yanli had almost never been defeated since he took command of the army. His soldiers had fought their way up through the enemy lines, but now, in this mere Donglong City, they had been defeated by a dying army for several months.
Isn’t this a warning?
Perhaps Shao Weiyi does have the ability to use troops and win by surprise, but Zong Yanli still needs to use this as a tool to sharpen his sword and remind his soldiers that they must not be negligent or arrogant at any time.
At the beginning of September, the number of Jin troops capable of fighting in Donglong City was less than 400, and the soldiers defending the city were unable to fight due to hunger and injuries.
When Donglong City was broken, Shao Weiyi was already emaciated when he was captured. Zong Yanli could not even recognize his face. He saw that the arrows scattered on the side were made of wormwood, and he was covered with felt as armor.
Even Zong Yanli was moved by this scene. This huge Donglong City, together with the people in the city, had a population of more than 40,000 people, but now there were only four or five hundred people left after the city was broken into, making it like an isolated city.
"Donglong has been destroyed, and Jin State is about to perish. General Shao still doesn't want to surrender?" In the prisoner camp, Zong Yanli once again persuaded them to surrender. Even she felt sorry for such a loyal and brave general.
"A man should die rather than surrender for injustice." Shao Weiyi refused to surrender.
Zong Yanli did not want to humiliate such a loyal and righteous army, so he beheaded him and 18 of his subordinates in front of the army.
Just three days after Donglong City was captured, reinforcements from Guyang arrived. The leader was none other than Feng Yingrui. Zong Yanli led his army to fight him again. Just when the battle between Zong Yanli and the State of Jin was at its most intense, it seemed that Zong Yanli was about to break through the city and attack directly into the imperial city of the State of Jin.
But then came the bad news that the State of Qing had passed through the State of Jin and suddenly attacked Yuanshi Pass from the east.
"The alliance was just signed, but the Kingdom of Qing broke it and launched an attack!?" Zong Yanli was shocked and angry when he heard the news.
"The general has ordered, please return to provide assistance as soon as possible!" Zong Yanli's heart sank. Her second uncle was guarding the pass in front, and even Dong Haoqiang came to follow her to attack Jin. How could Yuanshi Pass withstand the sudden attack from Qing State? It was probably very dangerous!
The newly conquered Donglong had to be abandoned. If Shao Weiyi and other Jin troops had not held on for too long, this situation would not have come to this.
Defend one city to protect the world.
Perhaps for Shao Weiyi, what he was guarding was not just a city, but he was also protecting the immortality of the State of Jin!
Zong Yanli was extremely anxious and had to abandon Donglong and go back to Yuanshi Pass to support the army of Qing. Later he learned that Qing had mobilized the entire country and Emperor Qing personally led the troops to attack!
It turned out that when Shao Weiyi was leading his troops to fight with the Wu army, the Emperor of Jin had already asked for help from the Qing Kingdom, and was willing to pass through the Qing Kingdom in order to obtain Qing’s military assistance!
The move by Qing State was tantamount to besieging Wei to save Zhao.
But what is really regrettable is that Shao Weiyi held the city for so long, but reinforcements arrived three days after the city was captured. The Wu army occupied Donglong for only ten days before turning around and abandoning the city. It was a city defended by tens of thousands of loyal soldiers with their flesh and blood.
How can one not feel infinite regret?
Grand Tutor Wu's three strategies of entrusting the orphan to the care of the young emperor enabled the State of Jin to avoid the danger of national destruction. General Shao's desperate defense of the isolated city created unlimited possibilities for the State of Jin. Feng Yingrui ran four horses to death to save his mentor and finally recaptured the city of Donglong, but saw only bones everywhere.
Whose credit is it that the State of Jin survived?
"Emperor Qing beheaded Zhang Yan before the battle, saying that he was deceived by his words and signed an unequal treaty with the State of Wu, which is invalid!" On the way back to the rescue, when the army stopped to rest, Zong Yanli also thoroughly understood the recent movements of the State of Qing.
"Emperor Qing's move is tantamount to his own destruction!" Gongsun Pu shook his head and sighed. It was unclear whether the sigh was for Qing Kingdom or for Zhang Yan.
If the Emperor of Qing listened to Zhang Yan's advice, it would be best to cede land and stop the war before raising the army and building the country, and to conserve his strength and wait for the other country to become weakened before attacking and plundering the local areas. The military supplies and food are incomplete, the national strength is insufficient, but he is eager to fight. Once he is defeated, his country will no longer exist!
For a country like the State of Jin, even if it lost its lion-like general, as long as it preserves its national strength, everything is possible. Who says it won't make a comeback one day?
However, it was not a good idea for Qing to mobilize the entire country's military and for the emperor to lead the army in person.
Gongsun Pu even sighed for counselors like Zhang Yan, who tried every means to save the country and the people, but ended up with such a fate. It was truly lamentable.
"I hope Yuanshi Pass is safe." Zong Yanli actually didn't have much hope in his heart.
really.
Zong Yanli came all the way to provide support. Yuanshi Pass had been breached and Shouxi County had become the enemy's main camp. Zong Yanhongtu had not expected that he would suffer a sudden attack by the enemy in Shouxi County and he didn't even think about defending Yuanshi Pass. The enemy of Qing State seemed to have learned about our army's deployment and withdrawal route first.
They had been ambushed inside for a long time. Fortunately, Lei Jiliang, the defender of Dongji City, came with his troops to rescue Zong Yanhongtu.
Even so, Zong Yanhongtu was seriously injured and was hit by several arrows and was in danger. The defenders of Yuanshi Pass were almost wiped out.
Zong Yanli led his troops and chased them all the way from Yuanshi Pass to Shouxi County. They happened to meet the enemy army of Qing State and fought with them. He chased the enemy army back to the camp and then rushed to Dongji City.
"I, your humble servant Lei Jiliang, am here to pay my respects to the great general Pingxi!" The defender of Dongji City was a burly man with a battle axe on his back. He was greatly relieved to see Zong Yanli leading his troops to help. If Zong Yanli had not come to help in time, the Qing Kingdom would have invaded Dongji!
The three cities of Dongji, Linxi and Nantai, no matter which one was captured, it would be a devastating blow to the Wu State.
Zong Yanli's eyes were bloodshot. He had rushed here day and night, and had just arrived to fight another battle. Now the soldiers under Zong Yanli's tent were still standing thanks to their willpower. After entering the city and disbanding, all the soldiers almost collapsed and fell asleep.
Because they had not received any orders from the general, even the drowsy soldiers did not take off their armor. They just slept with their eyes closed while holding their weapons. Once there was any movement, they would immediately open their eyes, stand up, and hold their swords tightly.
Anyone who sees such a strict teacher would be amazed.
At this time, Zong Yanli had no intention of resting, and went straight to Zong Yanhongtu's room. He learned from Lei Jiliang that when he arrived with his troops, Zong Yanhongtu was already on the verge of death, and was dragged back by his last breath. All the personal soldiers around him were killed in the battle without exception.
"This is the route for withdrawal. It is really inappropriate for General Mingwei to be ambushed here!" Even a fool can find the weirdness of this matter.
"There are spies in the army." Zong Yanli was much more straightforward than Lei Jiliang. Her eyes were dyed red, and she swallowed the bitterness in her throat and said, "Why would General Lei go to support us?"
"After Yuanshi Pass was breached, I knew that Changfeng County was in danger, so I mobilized troops to go to Changfeng County without waiting for the order to help." There was another reason why Lei Jiliang made such a move. When Qing State attacked the city for the first time, the Qin army was still stationed in the front. Among the three cities that asked for help, only Lei Jiliang from Dongji City did not come.
At that time, everyone said that Lei Jiliang didn't come because he had a disagreement with Qin Wujiu and he deliberately didn't come.
Even the soldiers under Zong Yanli's command had some opinions, and it was Zong Yanli who spoke up for them.
Later, the Qin family was involved in party disputes, and Zong Yanli went against the tide and pleaded for the Qin family.
Lei Jiliang's resolute act of assistance today can be completely attributed to his being impressed by Zong Yanli's trustworthiness and charm. He believes in Zong Yanli, believes in the Zong Yan family, and is willing to lend a helping hand to Zong Yan's grand plan.