That night, a bloody battle raged outside Lingzhou City, with numerous casualties. Inside the city, too, there was chaos and panic.
Although the government troops had already surrounded the granary, their several strong attacks had no effect at all. Instead, they lost dozens of lives inside, and also gave a lot of weapons to the Jurchens inside.
Later, the officers and soldiers also fired a lot of random arrows into the warehouses, but the Jurchens hiding in the corners of the warehouses were not threatened at all, unless they used rockets, but this was completely ruled out. external means.
So until it was almost dawn, the drama of hundreds of officers and soldiers encircling and suppressing less than ten Jurchens still could not come to an end. This made the people in the city even more uneasy, fearing that these Jurchen bandits would come back and cause massacres in the city again. .
At this time, Magistrate Weng, who had never shown up before, came in a hurry with his people. His face looked particularly gloomy. When he saw the soldiers of the rural army, he reprimanded: "Are you all just eating dry food? Not only You let Jurchen spies sneak into our Lingzhou City, but you haven't been able to catch them until now. I will punish you severely. And Chu Mingsheng, why don't you sit here?" He glanced around and found that Du was in charge of Chu. Since Mingsheng was not present, it was even more of an excuse.
Magistrate Weng has always had a prejudice against Chu Mingsheng, because this magistrate had a backer in the court and had made military exploits in the west, so he was not as submissive and obedient to him as the magistrate like the military attachés in other prefectures. Sometimes, he would Some military actions were also decided by him. In the past, Magistrate Weng had not been able to do much against him, but now that he had caught something, he would not let it go.
"Huifutai, you don't know something. Now there is a big enemy coming outside our city of Lingzhou. It is said that a large number of Jurchen bandits are going to launch an attack on our city of Lingzhou, and they are also colluding with Zengtou City outside the city. Together, so for the sake of safety, Chu Dujian did not dare to leave the city lightly." The chief general here, Wang Shouzheng, the Marquis of Yu in the city and countryside, hurriedly stepped forward to explain.
These words immediately made Magistrate Weng's face darken, and he shouted: "That's ridiculous! The Zeng family outside the city is a representative of the local gentry, how could they collude with foreigners? You are not allowed to talk nonsense here and disturb people's hearts! Also, You send troops to attack the warehouse for me now. If you can't take down these bandits, I will ask you!" Obviously he didn't want to say too much about Zengtou City. As for whether it was due to a guilty conscience, that's all. Hard to say.
Although Wang Shouzheng felt embarrassed, he did not dare to disobey the prefect's order, so he could only bite the bullet and issue the order to attack the granary again.
But after this night of testing and competition, the officers and soldiers were already afraid of the Jurchens inside. Even though their generals had issued military orders at this time, the officers and soldiers moved forward slowly and timidly. They finally got under the high wall, but before they could actually get up and climb over the wall, an arrow was shot out from inside. They were immediately frightened and screamed, then they stepped back with a huff. This movement was much better than when they stepped forward. Much faster.
The Jurchens inside actually frightened off the attacks of hundreds of officers and soldiers with just one arrow. No one would believe this scene unless they saw it with their own eyes. Shi Qian and others who were staying on the side to rest were even more shocked. These can be regarded as official troops. They actually have to rely on them to defend Lingzhou City
"Commander, why don't we give it a try?"
Well, at least we are still sure to fight in..." Some brothers from the Qingzhou Army Scout Battalion couldn't stand it anymore and whispered to Shi Qian.
But Shi Qian shook his head gently: "No, even if we can get in, we may not be the opponents of those Jurchens, and we will not sacrifice our lives in vain. Our purpose here is just to find out the identities and goals of these Jurchens , as for how to deal with it, it depends on the city's defenders." After several years of military training, especially those big defeats when Sun Tu was away, Shi Qian has gradually matured and stabilized, becoming more and more like a man who can take charge of his own affairs. The general.
This embarrassing performance of the Lingzhou officers and soldiers not only made the Qingzhou army feel ugly, but also the local officers and others showed disdain. Magistrate Weng even looked gloomy. He glanced at them and asked: "This is Chu Mingsheng Are the soldiers and horses he brought out so incompetent? Wang Shouzheng, do you know your guilt?"
Wang Shouzheng, who was already nervous, was even covered in cold sweat. After struggling for a long time, he could not give a reasonable explanation, so he could only apologize again and again.
"Hmph, I can't argue with you, Marquis Yu. This matter is Chu Mingsheng's fault. Call him quickly. If he doesn't arrive within half an hour, and if you still can't capture the thief within an hour, To keep the grain in the warehouse, he will no longer have to be the governor of Lingzhou!" Taking this opportunity, Magistrate Weng planned to remove Chu Mingsheng from his official position directly.
He was suppressed by the civil servants and had no chance to make a comeback. In addition, Wang Shouzheng did not dare to say anything anymore and hurriedly sent someone to report the news to the Chu Du Supervisor at the top of the city. At this point, being wary of the Jurchens outside the city is secondary. Solving the problems within the city first is the key.
In fact, he didn't know that Magistrate Weng in front of him was also quite nervous. At this time, he was just trying to support himself with a domineering look.
As the local chief official, how could it be that Magistrate Weng had so little information that he didn't come to find out what happened until a few hours later. He made the preemptive decision because he knew early on that the matter might be related to Zengtou City, and after learning that Chu Mingsheng had blocked Zengtou City's soldiers and horses in Xicheng, after weighing it and discussing it with his master. .
The relationship between Zeng Toushi and him was too close, and their actions at night were really weird, which made Magistrate Weng extremely uneasy. He had to get hold of Chu Mingsheng before he could turn his passivity into initiative. As of now, it seems that his plan is still successful. At least the poor performance of the army is enough for him to severely impeach Chu Mingsheng, the local prisoner.
Of course, our Magistrate Weng still selectively forgot that Lingzhou had just dispatched thousands of elites to Qingzhou not long ago. Most of the ones who stayed behind were new soldiers who had not actually practiced a few times. It is reasonable to show such performance. among.
When Chu Mingsheng received this order at the top of the city, annoyance suddenly appeared on his face: "There is a spy in the city. Shouldn't it be the responsibility of his government to make such a big noise? Our township army also sent troops to ensure that the city Taiping, I helped him out. He turned around and bit me, which is really unreasonable!"
"Captain, now he wants to seize your official position as the prefect. If you don't obey the order, I'm afraid there will be endless troubles..." the subordinates around him said worriedly.
"Damn, it's okay that this greedy old man always has trouble with me, but today he actually wants to attack me, so he
Aren't you afraid that once I leave, this city will not be protected? Could it be..." Chu Mingsheng suddenly had a terrible thought in his heart. Could it be that the local prefect had colluded with Zengtou City and even the Jurchens for a long time, and wanted to take this opportunity to make Lingzhou fall
Although this idea was really crazy and unreasonable, for a while, Chu Mingsheng couldn't think of a second, more reasonable explanation. At this moment, he was really filled with anger and murderous intent. He wished he could kill the magistrate Weng who always wanted to oppress him and plot against him.
But it was just a momentary thought. After all, he didn't have the courage. After exhaling a long breath, Chu Mingsheng sighed softly: "I am not Sun Tu after all..." If it were him, the old man Weng must have been dead by now, but how many people in this world can Who dared to kill court officials like Sun Tu and were not held accountable after the killing
Just when he weighed it up and decided to go over and deal with the enemies in the city first, there was a group of men and horses approaching indistinctly outside the city, causing the soldiers of the rural army who had been staring outside to be on guard to panic and shout. He stood up and said, "There is an enemy coming, everyone, be careful!" In an instant, everyone had picked up their bows and arrows, moved out stones and wood, and immediately took action to stop the enemy as soon as they approached the city wall.
When Chu Mingsheng, who was about to get up, saw this, he immediately put aside all other things and turned around to order: "Don't panic, our city in Lingzhou is strong, and it cannot be done by hundreds or even thousands of Jurchens." It can be captured!"
With him around, these soldiers really didn't feel panic. This alone showed that Chu Mingsheng's prestige in the Lingzhou Army was not low.
But as the army continued to approach, the sky gradually became brighter, and everyone was horrified to find that the approaching team was more than a thousand people. At a rough look, there were more than three thousand people. This was at the top of the city today. More than three times the number of defenders...
Just when Chu Mingsheng was full of surprise and wondered where so many Jurchens came from, the army under the city stopped a stone's throw away from the city. Then one man stepped forward alone, came to the city, and charged at the crowd. He roared: "Can Chu Dujian be in the city? General Zhang Yunfeng, because he learned that Lingzhou happened to be invaded by Jin soldiers, Sun Dujian personally led the army to come to the rescue. He had defeated the bandits outside the city before..."
As soon as this word reached the city, everyone changed their expressions. They were surprised at first, and then ecstatic. Even Chu Mingsheng, who was still worried, showed a surprised smile at this time. Because he had already recognized that the person under the city was Zhang Yunfeng, the regiment coach he sent to Qingzhou, and it was impossible for him to collude with the Jin people and deceive him.
"Is it true that Sun Dujian is here? The killing outside the city just now is the Qingzhou Army fighting a bloody battle with the Jurchens?" Someone at the top of the city asked loudly and excitedly.
"Exactly, please also ask the governor to open the city gate quickly so that the Qingzhou Army can enter the city after the bloody battle!" Zhang Yunfeng said loudly. At this time, in order to prove that what he said was true, several soldiers behind him raised the flags of Qingzhou Army and Sun Zi, which boosted the spirits of all the troops in the city.
At this time, Chu Mingsheng no longer had any doubts. He immediately waved his hand and ordered: "Lower the suspension bridge and open the city to welcome Sun Tujian!" He really had an unreal feeling. He just thought of Sun Tu, and the other party turned out to be like this. Divine soldiers appeared at the gate of my city like they were descending from heaven!