It was dusk, and the setting sun was setting in the west, but it dyed the end of the sky a heart-stopping blood red.
In the end, the Liangshan Army chose to retreat. Even if Sun Tu kept his promise and released Chao Gai and Wu Yong, they did not attack Dongping again, let alone stay outside the city for a long time, and went directly on the road.
It was Wu Yong who made this decision, because he had already seen that his brothers were no longer interested in fighting. Letting them attack Dongping City, which was already prepared and had more troops, would only increase casualties without any benefit at all. Moreover, King Chao Tianwang's injury worsened, which affected the morale of the entire army, so it was better to take advantage of the situation before the officers and soldiers dared to leave the city to pursue.
But are they really victorious in this battle against Dongping
On the surface, it seems that the Liangshan Army did indeed invade Dongping Mansion and looted a lot of property and supplies in the city, but can this really make up for their consumption and casualties in this siege? The previous fierce attack on the city alone had caused the casualties of hundreds of brothers, and the incident that happened to Sun Tu later killed and injured hundreds of people. Together, more than a thousand brothers fell in Dongping Mansion. This pair of Liangshan Bo came to It can be considered a big blow.
And more importantly, this battle with the Qingzhou Army made the brothers fear the official army. Wu Yong and Chao Gai both fell into the hands of the official army. Once the news spreads back to the village, the consequences will be really disastrous. That’s easy to say.
Of course, if this is the case, Wu Yong feels that as long as he can retreat safely, it is not unacceptable. After all, the attack on Dongping Mansion this time is more of a cover, and the real target is set in Qingzhou City. However, after listening to Sun Tu's last words, he couldn't help but have doubts. Could it be that his plan had been discovered by him early on, and would Qingzhou also end in failure
This idea troubled Wu Yong for a long time, and he still couldn't let it go until he set up camp in the middle of the march. But Chao Gai was still seriously injured at this time, and he could not find anyone with whom he could discuss for a while. Now it seems that we can only pray that Sun Tu only realized the change after the fact. In fact, Qingzhou City was not prepared, and he was just making false threats.
Wu Yong, who could only comfort himself in this way, actually knew very well that with Sun Tu's talent, he might have already seen the flaw, and now he was just taking advantage of it. It is actually very simple to find out whether what he said is true or not. Just wait on the only way to Qingzhou, and as long as you see Sun Tu sending people back to deliver the news, you will know that he is just trying to hold on.
But the result disappointed Wu Yong, because all night long, they did not see anyone coming from Dongping - Sun Tu actually led his army to stay in Dongping, seemingly completely unfazed by the possible changes that might happen in Qingzhou. I feel worried...
In fact, Sun Tu, who was in Dongping City at this time, really had no intention of paying attention to what was going on in Qingzhou. Anyway, everything had been arranged, and there was no doubt about the employment. Since he believed that Lin Chong Shiqian and the others could deal with any danger, let him They will find a way on their own, and what Sun Tu wants to do is to stabilize the Dongping Prefecture, and use this as an opportunity to gain military power from the various prefectures in Shandong!
When the Liangshan army retreated and Sun Tu led the Qingzhou army to securely defend the city, the people finally felt relieved. The people whom Sun Tu had exchanged for prisoners of Liangshan Army were naturally very grateful to him. As soon as they entered the city, they all knelt on the ground, which cost him a lot of words.
Called everyone.
But other people in the city were crying constantly, their homes were destroyed, and their relatives were killed. This is unbearable pain for any ordinary person. Sun Tu could only ask some officials in the city to come forward to appease people, but the effect didn't look very good. It would take some time before the people could calm down.
Amid the cries of the people, Sun Tu glanced at the two to three hundred Dongping defenders who had survived the disaster with a gloomy expression. These people were frightened by Sun Tu's momentum and did not dare to raise their heads, looking guilty. After a long while, he said in a cold voice: "Why was Dongping City easily breached by the Liangshan Army? I asked someone to see it. Several gates were intact. How come the gates were breached by the enemy? Also, yours are all Where is Supervisor Dong Ping? The city fell, and he is the first to bear the blame!"
"Sun... Supervisor Sun, please listen to the explanation of the last general..." Pang Xu, who was injured and was close to death, finally couldn't help but said after seeing that all the soldiers did not dare to speak: "We have indeed been attacked by the Liangshan bandits. This plan led to the city being lost and the people suffering, but this matter had nothing to do with Dong Dujian. He, he was captured by the eunuch's order the day before yesterday and was thrown into prison."
"Huh?" Sun Tu raised his eyebrows. He really didn't expect such an answer. I thought that the fall of Dongping might be related to Dongping's rebellion, but who would have thought that this man would actually be thrown into prison early in the morning. After a moment, he asked urgently: "What is going on? Why was Dong Ping captured by Governor Cheng? What did he commit?"
"This... you don't know your humble position." Pang Xu shook his head blankly and looked at the subordinates around him. These people also shook their heads, but some still hesitated and said: "Moreover, the reason why the city gate was deceived to open today was because of Governor Cheng's urging. Originally, General Pang wanted to take a look again, but the result was The prefect personally urged him, and then he ran to the west gate and gave the order himself, so that the city gate was quickly opened and the Liangshan bandits outside were let in... "
Sun Tu's expression changed again, he actually had such an inside story? Then, he looked at the person who spoke: "Who are you? Do you know what it is to falsely accuse officials at will?"
"The villain Dong Jian is a soldier beside Governor Dong. Everything the villain said is true and I don't dare to deceive the Governor." He was obviously ready to go all out. After answering loudly, he turned to look at the people behind him. : "Actually, there are many people who see these things. Sun Dujian can know the truth by just asking them."
"Pang Xu, is what he said true?" Sun Tu's eyes fell on Pang Xu. When he stared at him, his body trembled for no reason, and he felt obvious pressure. But after a slight hesitation, he still said truthfully: "Back to Sundu Supervisor, Dong Jian's words are true. It was the prefect's repeated urging that forced the general to hastily order the opening of the city gate. But when the general noticed When this was a conspiracy by thieves, it was already too late to save everything."
Seeing the general speaking, the other defenders finally gained a little more confidence and followed up one after another: "Captain Mingjian, we were also present at the time, and we all saw the prefect constantly asking General Pang to open the city gate and welcome reinforcements into the city... I hope the governor will make the decision for us!" With that said, these people knelt down to Sun Tu one after another.
Sun Tu watched the movements of these people, listened to their mixed testimonies, and knew what they were doing.
The words should be true. If only a few people put the blame on Cheng Wanli, it would explain that they were shirking the blame because they were afraid of taking responsibility themselves. But now, when almost everyone has said the same thing, it's the truth.
What's more, Sun Tu had also wondered why Cheng Wanli, a civilian governor, would fall into the hands of Liangshan's army not long after the city was conquered. With his status, he could at least hide for a while, especially after he led his army to kill him in time, the thieves in the city had no time to capture the important people. The only explanation is that he was near the city gate at the time, and this agrees with what everyone said.
And if what they say is true, then Cheng Wanli is very problematic. He imprisoned Dong Ping, who could lead the army to defend the city, which greatly weakened the city's defense power. Later, they forced the city to be opened while the city could still hold on. This made people suspect that Cheng Wanli was colluding with the Liangshan bandits.
Finally, after returning to the city just now, Cheng Wanli only thanked Sun Tu for a few words and left in a hurry. At the time, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but now that I think about it, his behavior seemed to have a guilty conscience. Did he want to take advantage of the chaos in the city to escape with his family
Once he became suspicious, Sun Tu no longer delayed and immediately ordered Yang Zhi and others to lead the army to defend the city. He took Pang Xu, Dong Jian and others and went directly to the prefect's Yamen. If Cheng Wanli really had a problem, he would not let the traitor go.
By the time they arrived in front of the government office, it was already dark. The gate of the government office that should have been illuminated by a lantern was now completely dark, with no one guarding it. Sun Tu didn't have too many worries and immediately led everyone in through the door. When he entered the inner hall, he saw Cheng Wanli getting angry at several servants: "...Are you all trash? You can't even look down on the young lady. ?”
"Master, there were thieves who suddenly entered the government office. The children were so frightened that they had no choice but to flee for their lives, so they didn't care about the young lady..." Someone braved the courage to whisper back, which only added fuel to the fire. The meaning made Cheng Wanli even more angry, and he said angrily: "Trash, I might as well raise you as a dog. At least I am more reliable than you at critical moments..."
"Prefect Cheng's words are wrong. It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid disaster when encountering danger. It is inappropriate for you to speak like this." As these words were spoken, Sun Tu walked in with a swagger.
Cheng Wanli's expression changed slightly. Although he was a little unhappy, he couldn't get angry in front of Sun Tu. He could only forcefully smile and said: "Sun Dujian, you don't know something. They..."
"I said, what they did is not wrong. Who stipulates that slaves have to give up their lives to protect their master? Ling Qianjin's life is life, isn't their life not the same?" Sun Tu didn't even think about it. Without letting him finish his words, he interrupted directly: "Compared with what some local officials did who took advantage of the imperial salary, their little mistake is not a sin at all."
"What did Sun Dujian mean by these words?" Cheng Wanli's face immediately turned cold, and at the same time his heart tightened. He was vaguely aware that something was wrong. Not only because of Sun Tu's attitude, but also because of Pang Xu, Dong Jian and others who came in. Qiu Ba, who had been respectful to him before, actually looked at him strangely now!