The cavalry lined up solemnly, military discipline was strict, and there was no noise in the entire formation. Pei Ziyun watched from horseback, guarded by several school captains.
"I haven't fought for a long time, and my hands are itchy. I heard that all of King Lu's troops are heroes, but I didn't want all the people we met to be cowards. As soon as I shouted, pigs and grains were served honestly." The middle-aged captain looked at the county on the wall. Soldiers, laughed and mocked, in this kind of county, the soldiers can only be seven or eight hundred at best, and most of them can't fight. My own army of three thousand can rush and kill in one fell swoop.
General Pian was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties, who had been a general for a long time and looked cold and stern. At this time, his eyes were looking into the distance, his hand pressed on the cold hilt of the sword, thoughtfully, and he stepped forward to Pei Ziyun's side. In a low voice: "Zhenjun, there has been no movement in the city for a long time. I think you will have to fight with us."
Pei Ziyun looked at the city and was about to speak. A man from the county town raised his bow and took an arrow. There was a cloth strip tied to the arrow. He glanced in the direction and saw the general. He raised his hand and shot.
"Pfft" the arrow shot very fast, falling a hundred meters away from Pei Ziyun, and fell to the ground. Immediately, a cavalryman rode forward, picked up the arrow and presented it.
Pei Ziyun took it and stared at it without making a sound, then handed it to the deputy general. When the deputy general took it and took a look, the muscles on his face twitched.
The content of the letter was that grain and pigs were not to be given, and there were many insults in the content, which suggested that he would live or die with the city.
"How dare these thieves?" The deputy general was furious. He knew what the true king meant. Although a hundred stones of grain was inconspicuous, it could be obtained by a slightly larger wealthy family. However, it could also solve the problem of cavalry's grain and fodder, and there was no need to mobilize troops to attack the enemy. district transportation and, more importantly, demoralized the county.
Everyone has heard the news and offered food and pigs. How can they still have the ambition to fight or die in the service of King Lu
The middle-aged captain who spoke also took it and looked at it with an angry look on his face: "Zhenjun, I would like to ask for help. Please let me go up and break the city to let them know how powerful it is."
"True Lord, I would like to ask for help to break the city of thieves."
"True Lord, give the order and let us destroy the county."
The lieutenants all shouted that this county town only had a few hundred soldiers, and the headquarters could capture it with a single charge. Of course they wanted to get the first victory.
Listening to the voices of these captains, Pei Ziyun glanced over. These cavalrymen were all mobilized. They had not passed through King Lu's demon soldiers. They had donated grain and pigs to them from several cities before, and they had already built up their energy.
Seeing the general and the captain begging for battle, the eunuch accompanying the army looked at the Taoist official, pulled the reins, took small steps to Pei Ziyun's side, and whispered: "Zhenjun, what should we do now? If the county doesn't give it, we still can't fight. war?"
Pei Ziyun looked at the soldiers who were full of energy and smiled: "Fight, why not fight? King Lu is powerful and the court cannot protect him for a while. I pity the counties and have to surrender, so I only ask for food and do not destroy the city. This is also a scene." I love you so much that I don’t want this county to be crazy and dare to resist the imperial court and the heavenly soldiers. This is a capital crime."
Pei Ziyun looked at the county town intently and sneered. Seeing the eunuch's confused look, knowing that he still didn't understand, he explained in a low voice: "Although King Lu has proclaimed himself emperor and is officially independent, to consolidate the puppet dynasty, a peaceful environment and time are needed. My cavalry gallops between counties, coming and going like the wind, and the connection between counties is severed."
"The amount of food requested is one hundred stones and ten pigs, which is not much. Even ordinary large households have it. It not only satisfies the cavalry for three days, but also damages the morale and cohesion of the county."
"We have succeeded in the three counties, which has frightened the counties and is very detrimental to the puppet government. Now King Lu has reacted and wants to stop our plundering and even deal with us."
"However, the use of troops is unkind, and a merciful general will not be kind. If the county town dares not to provide food, it will be broken. Then, in the name of being a thief, all the rebel officials will be killed, and all the big households will be ransacked. No one will be left alive, and his head will be hung on the wall to let them know Only when you know the pain and fear can you truly wake up.”
The eunuch who accompanied the army was passing through the battle. Hearing what Pei Ziyun said, his body trembled for a moment, and he couldn't bear it. He said: "It's enough to kill these rebel officials. We have to kill all the big families in the city. These are all It’s the common people, isn’t that a little too cruel?”
Pei Ziyun listened to his father-in-law and smiled: "What does this killing mean?"
"This is a necessary killing. Only in this way will they be afraid of us. In this way, even if King Lu has a strict order, we can ask for the counties from behind. Who will refuse just for this little food? This will greatly harm King Lu and the puppets. The majesty of the dynasty.”
"And even if the county magistrate dares to refuse, what about the big officials?"
"If you ask for too much, you may have to fight to the death, but it's just a hundred stones. Who will risk confiscation of their family and annihilation to fight against it? If you fight on this point, let the whole family die."
The words were murderous and decisive. The eunuch wanted to speak, but when the words came to his mouth, he said nothing. Now that the two armies were fighting, he could only choose the most effective and direct method. Moreover, his identity was only a record and he had no right to interfere with Pei Ziyun's command, so he fell silent.
The eunuch just looked at the county town, where officials could vaguely be seen supervising the battle. When he saw it, he sighed in a low voice: "Yes, it's all for the sake of the court and peace."
Pei Ziyun also looked up at the increasingly dark sky, took a long breath and said, "Sha Binglie."
"The general is here!" The deputy general stepped forward.
"You command, capture the city, kill all the officials and wealthy households, and take all the gold and silver."
"Yes." Sha Binglie and the captains all responded to the order. After a while, with the sound of war drums, they formed an array, neatly and orderly, formed a square formation, and went up to kill them in an orderly manner.
"Break the county town and kill all the traitors!"
Although he was a cavalryman, he could still fight on the wall. Sha Binglie rode forward and loudly ordered: "Mount your crossbows and suppress the defenders on the city."
The cavalryman immediately understood his intention, drew his crossbow, took out the arrow from his quiver, and bent the bow to full capacity. Sha Binglie shouted: "Shoot!"
Following the order, there was only a continuous pop-pop sound, and dense arrows were shot out, turning into a rain of arrows and falling down.
The faces of the defenders on the city changed drastically.
"Shield soldiers, shield soldiers." One person ordered, and the arrows fell. The county magistrate was already on guard, and someone immediately held up a shield to protect the magistrate and the special envoy.
A loud voice shouted: "Quick, quick, hide."
Several county soldiers were unable to evade and had no shields. The arrows fell, and there was a sudden scream of cruelty. More than a dozen people fell to the ground, their bodies were covered in blood and flesh, and rolled on the ground screaming loudly. Some people were even stabbed. My heart was so cold that I didn't even scream anymore.
"Marksmen patrol and shoot." Sha Binglie ordered. These people's bows and arrows were vicious and their shots were extremely accurate. Although there were not many in number, once they hit, either the face or the neck, in the blink of an eye, there were already people on the city. There were more than twenty casualties, and the rest were so frightened that they ran away.
"Attack the city." Seeing the suppression, Sha Binglie ordered, and a group of people immediately jumped down, and some even took the ladder and rushed over.
"Quick, what are you still doing? Shoot back. Quick, shoot back. Shoot them to death."
The special envoy looked at the siege with red eyes. How could these cavalry be so powerful that they could shoot into the wall to suppress them
A county soldier listened, and when he drew his bow, he was about to react. An arrow instantly flew up from below. With a "pop" sound, it pierced his left eye and passed through the back of his head. Blood and brain matter splattered.
"How is it possible?" The county magistrate originally placed his hope on the city wall, but he did not expect to be suppressed so quickly. His face was pale and frightened.
However, there were still people who knew what they were doing, and they gave orders repeatedly. The county soldiers bent down and lifted the hanging doors on the city wall to the crenellations, and called for people to put the soaked quilts on top. Finally, some sharpshooters were restrained. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and listened. The war drums beat louder, and someone was already climbing up the ladder.
"Golden juice, pour it!"
Immediately, two county soldiers lifted up a large pot and poured it over, pouring the boiling dung juice. Screams rang out. In just a moment, six or seven cavalrymen were seriously injured and fell down, and rocks were thrown down heavily. They fell one after another for a while.
Seeing such a miserable situation, the eunuch below couldn't help clenching his fists and looking at Pei Ziyun. Pei Ziyun just looked at it with no expression. At this time, a school captain said: "Father, don't worry, this is a common thing in sieges, and the county seat Here, there aren’t many reserves like this.”
With that said, a total of four pots of golden juice were poured, and there was no more. Even the number of stones was greatly reduced. The morale of the siege soldiers was immediately boosted, and then more than thirty more people climbed up the ladder.
At this moment, the spear was stabbed, and the cavalry, even if they were wearing armor, screamed and fell from the ladder. It was a brutal killing.
"The casualties among the soldiers are not small." Sha Binglie looked at the city with a gloomy expression, and kept urging the array to attack one after another. As time passed, light rain fell from the sky, and with the fighting, blood continued to flow down the walls. Dyeing the moat red.
"Kill, kill, kill!" But the county wall was low and the county soldiers were less than a thousand. This was an objective matter. There were more than two hundred casualties, and the county was obviously out of support.
"Zhenjun, it's noon now. According to the battle situation, we should be able to have lunch in the county town." Even the eunuch could see the battle situation and couldn't help but say with joy.
Pei Ziyun glanced at it and smiled: "It seems it's okay."
"It's the true king who made the arrangements." The eunuch complimented him. If the battle was won, the eunuchs accompanying the army would also be able to share some of the credit.
Hearing the sound of killing, a corps commander suddenly rushed to the city, cut down the surrounding county soldiers, and opened a gap.
"Kill, kill them, kill them all." A school lieutenant looked at the situation, jumped off his horse, landed on the ground, and rushed forward.
"Poof!" The captain cut down a county soldier who rushed up with his sword. The county soldier's neck was cut open and blood flowed. More cavalry climbed up the ladder and tore the battle line apart.
"The city is broken." Pei Ziyun said as he watched. In a short time, the city gate opened wide, and the cavalry galloped directly in, with a loud killing sound.
However, Pei Ziyun and other generals remained motionless until two moments later, when the killing sounds inside gradually stopped, a captain reported: "True Lord, the city has been cleared, and the county magistrate has surrendered."
"Let's go take a look." Pei Ziyun pointed the city a little with his whip. The eunuch listened and smiled: "Let the true king arrange everything."
"Drive" Pei Ziyun rode forward. The county town is actually not big. At the gate of the county government office, he saw the county magistrate and a group of officials lying on the ground, saying: "I surrender, please spare my life."
The county magistrate was lying on the ground, trembling.
"Where is your special envoy? He just replied to me with good handwriting. I would like to meet him." Pei Ziyun looked down and smiled.
Hearing this, the county magistrate trembled and explained with a tearful voice: "Just now, just now, he suddenly disappeared."
"Oh, you escaped." Pei Ziyun sneered: "That's true, but you are not only a thief, but you also resisted the heavenly soldiers. Now you want to surrender, but it is too late. If someone comes, you will be beheaded immediately in public."
As soon as he said this, the face of the county magistrate who was kneeling on the ground changed drastically. There was a trace of water under his body, but he was so frightened that he peed: "True Lord, have mercy on me, True Lord, have mercy on me."
The magistrate still wanted to shout, so he crawled forward. A cavalryman stepped forward and swung his sword. He heard a scream, and the magistrate's head flew away, fell to the ground and rolled over, and there was no more sound.
"Kill!" Dozens of cavalrymen rushed forward and chopped off all the remaining officials with swords. After more than ten heads fell to the ground, Pei Ziyun snorted coldly: "Is this how you have the confidence to fight me? Come on, don't give up. , kill, kill all these officials and big businessmen."
(End of chapter)