Under the city of Yiting, the losses of the Cao army's fanatical attacks were naturally heavy, but the coalition forces also suffered heavy losses. The coalition forces had no reinforcements, while the Cao army had a steady stream of reinforcements coming, and the situation was very serious.
Faced with such a serious situation, Wang Chongying, Zhu Li, Li Xiaochang and Tuoba Sigong stood on the city wall with gloom in their eyes.
"If the Cao army continues to increase its troops like this, they will be able to exhaust us even if they just fight hard. After all, we only have so many troops." Wang Chongying looked at the endless Cao army camp in the distance outside the city and spoke with some concern.
"Brother Chongying is right, but I have a plan. If it goes well, we may be able to add tens of thousands of troops out of thin air." Li Xiaochang glanced at the other three and said, "Fuping is a large county in Guanzhong. There are many wealthy families in Yiting City. Nowadays, there are many wealthy families who don't raise some private armies. If we can get these wealthy families to send out their private armies to help defend the city, we will definitely be able to hold out for at least another month."
Upon hearing this, Wang Chongying and Tuoba Sigong's eyes lit up and they nodded slowly, greatly moved by Li Xiaochang's proposal.
Zhu Li was hesitant when he heard this. After hesitating for a while, he advised, "I'm afraid this is not appropriate. To the locals of Fuping, we are also foreign troops. There is no basis for trust between us and them. If we rashly instigate them to use their private army, which is the foundation of their survival, it will only backfire and cause their dissatisfaction and suspicion. If they join forces with the Cao army because of this, the impact on us will be fatal."
"Hahaha, Brother Zhu, you're worrying too much. If the Cao army breaks in, they won't be able to escape based on their usual behavior. Asking them to send out private troops to defend the city now is actually giving them a chance to preserve themselves." Li Xiaochang looked at Zhu Li with a slight disdain and smiled.
"Okay, let's do it." Wang Chongying made the decision. He was the warlord with the strongest military power here, so his words naturally carried the most weight. Compared with Zhu Li, who only had the title of a commander, his decision was naturally very meaningful.
Now that the plan has been decided, I'm afraid this move will be carried out by the three of them tonight, Zhu Li thought helplessly. He was still a little worried. For the people of Fuping, they had been living here peacefully. It was Zhu Li and his gang who brought the war here. They must be dissatisfied with the coalition forces, and now these three people are forcing them to take out their only private army that has some capital for self-protection. It would be strange if the contradiction did not intensify.
Thinking of this, Zhu Li had to prepare for the worst. It was not that he would not argue with reason, but the other three would definitely not listen to him. This group of warriors were used to being arrogant and frivolous. They simply acted recklessly based on their temper without considering the consequences of their actions at all.
It is said that there was a wealthy family in Fuping City, whose surname was Wang. They were one of the richest families in the city. The Wang family started out as merchants and was considered a famous family in this place. They were also the family with the largest number of private armies in Fuping.
After a day of fighting, Li Xiaochang could not wait to ride his horse to the Wang Mansion and personally visit the head of the Wang family, trying to persuade the other party to send out his private army to help the coalition forces defend the city.
The head of the Wang family looked very impatient with Li Xiaochang's arrival, but in order not to lose courtesy, he still invited Li Xiaochang into the living room. After the maid served tea and they exchanged pleasantries, Li Xiaochang went straight to the point and said, "Master Wang, the Cao army is now at the gates of the city, and our coalition forces are not strong enough. I hope that you can send out your private army at this critical moment to help us defend Yiting. As long as we hold out until the end of the month, when the weather gets colder, the Cao army will naturally withdraw on their own initiative. At that time, Master Wang's
We will definitely report this to His Majesty and ask for credit for the Wang family."
The head of the Wang family was an old man in his forties or fifties. When he heard what Li Xiaochang said, his face was expressionless. He said calmly, "General Li, you don't know that when Huang Chao attacked Chang'an, he sent people to Fuping. We, the gentry and elders, made three agreements with Huang Chao. As long as we stick to the agreement, Huang Chao promised not to harm us. Helping the general will naturally violate our agreement with Huang Chao. If the coalition wins, it's fine. If not, please forgive me for not daring to take the risk of Huang Chao's revenge. If I am not careful, the people of Fuping will be plunged into dire straits."
Having hit a snag head on, Li Xiaochang was slightly angry and his tone became sharp. He said, "Master Wang is afraid that Huang Chao will settle accounts with him later, but he is not afraid that we will make trouble now. Besides, our coalition army will not necessarily lose."
The head of the Wang family was not frightened by his tone at all, and continued calmly: "Governor, please be patient. Not only will I not participate in the battle between the coalition forces and the Cao army, I believe that other gentry and elders in Fuping will not participate in it either. If you win, we congratulate you. If you are unfortunately defeated, we will not add insult to injury. What we, the gentry of Fuping, can do for the people of Mancheng is to strive to provide them with a safe environment. I hope the governor can understand this."
The words of the head of the Wang family completely put an end to Li Xiaochang's thoughts. A rage was about to burst out, and the look he gave the head of the Wang family became completely unfriendly.
Just as he was about to explode, the door curtain on one side of the living room was lifted, and a female voice came over: "Ah Lang, I heard that there are distinguished guests coming, and my mother asked me to bring you some cakes."
The sound was clear, like the splashing of a mountain spring or the singing of a lark in the morning. Looking at the person coming in, it was like pearls shining in the sky and hundreds of flowers blooming. As the door curtain was lifted, a girl about 28 years old, with bright eyes like water and infinite beauty walked in. In her slender, white hands, she was holding a plate of cakes. She came in gracefully, her figure like a goddess running to the moon and her figure like a floating cloud.
The woman was so stunning that Li Xiaochang was stunned for a moment. The anger that he wanted to vent towards the head of the Wang family was suppressed in an instant. It was like choking on an egg, with the egg stuck in his throat. His face turned red, but he could no longer utter a word. His eyes, which were already small to begin with, became rounder than pearls when he looked at the girl on the tray.
Li Xiaochang was humming in his heart, this girl should only exist in heaven, how could one possibly meet her on earth? She was beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful that any man who saw her would be so infatuated with her that he would be unable to move.
The woman gently put down the fruit plate and glanced at Li Xiaochang naturally, with an unnoticeable cold light flashing in her eyes.
Li Xiaochang's expression naturally caught the attention of Patriarch Wang. He looked at his daughter unhappily, blaming her. However, he did not accuse her out loud. Instead, he turned to look at Li Xiaochang and said, "Captain Li, I'm sorry that I cannot do what you asked me to do. Please do as you please."
After hearing this, Li Xiaochang came back to his senses, looked deeply at the head of the Wang family and the beautiful girl, turned around and left without saying a word. However, when he looked at the girl from the Wang family, there was a faint light flashing in his eyes, which contained a sinister meaning.
Patriarch Wang glanced at his daughter and said unhappily, "Yueyao, didn't I tell you not to show up easily? Why are you so disobedient? These warlords are not kind people. Your beauty is not something that ordinary people can resist. I hope they don't covet you."
"Ah Lang, if Yao'er doesn't come out, will you mobilize your assassins to fight the other side in the court?" Wang Yueyao looked straight at
My father asked earnestly, "Ah Lang has ambushed a large number of assassins around the living room. Is it just to deal with this person?"
Upon hearing this, the head of the Wang family looked somewhat relieved, but also somewhat bitter, and said, "Since Huang Chao captured Chang'an, Fuping has never been at peace. Now the Qinwang Army has failed to come to the rescue and has retreated to Fuping. They are being suppressed by the Cao Army and are in a very bad state. They want the gentry and elders of our Yiting to send out their private armies to help them resist the Cao Army. Under normal circumstances, we would naturally have no choice but to do so. But now the situation is different. If the Qinwang Army wins, that's fine. But if they fail, and the Cao Army knows that we have helped the Qinwang Army, how should the elders of Fuping deal with it? If they fail, they can just pat their butts and leave. What should we, the native people of Fuping, do? In addition to waiting to be killed, what else can we do?"
"I have set up ambushes around the living room to prevent Li Xiaochang from coming. These warlords only know how to take advantage of others. How can they understand the hardships of us ordinary people in this chaotic world?"
Hearing this, Wang Yueyao said with a worried look on her face, "But if A-Lang directly rejects them, will they just let it go?"
"Hmph, so what if they are unwilling to give up? If they dare to force us again, don't blame us for colluding with the Cao army from inside and outside." The head of the Wang family said cruelly with a gloomy face.
As Zhu Li expected, not to mention Li Xiaochang, Wang Chongying and Tuoba Sigong also failed. The actions of these three people have aroused the vigilance of local gentry and clans, and the relationship between the coalition forces and the local clans became tense in an instant.
Military camp and Shuozhou military tent.
Zhu Li, Zhou Dewei, Shi Yan and Meng Juehai were discussing things. Meng Juehai had completely surrendered to Zhu Li and was appointed by Zhu Li as a general to follow Zhu Li closely, while Shi Yan was appointed as a deputy general to command all the infantry.
"Governor, since the battle, we have only 3,327 guards left, less than 1,000 of whom are seriously injured, and the rest are all dead. We are responsible for defending the entire northern city defense, and our troops have long been stretched to the limit. I'm afraid we can't hold on for a few more days." Shi Yan said with a worried look on his face.
He is now the general of the guards and is responsible for all combat operations, so he knows it in detail. After reporting the casualties of the guards, Shi Yan seemed to have something to say and hesitated.
"If you have any other situation, tell me all of it." Zhu Li glanced at him and said directly.
Upon hearing this, Shi Yan looked even more distressed, then his face became solemn and he made up his mind: "When I was inspecting the seriously injured tonight, I found several people with high fevers, vomiting, and fainting. The military doctor said that they might be infected with the plague."
"Plague?" Zhu Li was shocked when he heard this. "How could it be a plague?"
Seeing Zhu Li's horrified expression, Zhou Dewei said bitterly, "The Cao army has been attacking the city for 37 consecutive days. Neither side has paid attention to sending people to clean up and properly dispose of the bodies of the soldiers who died in the siege. Fortunately, this is early winter. If it were midsummer, I'm afraid something would have gone wrong long ago. If the bodies are not properly handled, the plague is inevitable."
"However, our army discovered the disease in a timely manner and isolated them immediately. The Cao army is different. There are almost no doctors in their army, and no one knows how to prevent it. I believe that the number of people infected by them will be even more than ours." Zhou Dewei thought for a moment and added.
"This is not the point. The point is that once the plague breaks out on a large scale, Yiting City will become a dead city within a few days. Let's go and see what the situation is." Zhu Li said solemnly without hesitation.