"Cut down trees and build ladders. Ten siege ladders must be completed within half an hour. I want Jingnan to be flooded with blood!"
The raid failed, and the Japanese pirate leader Heihachiro became angry and humiliated. He held a Japanese sword in his hand and urged the Japanese pirates to quickly build siege ladders.
"Hi!"
The Japanese pirates responded enthusiastically, using axes, machetes, and Japanese swords to speed up the felling of trees and hurriedly build siege ladders.
Seeing the Japanese pirates outside the city busy building siege ladders, the people in the city became more and more desperate. Some held their heads and cried in despair, while others knelt on the ground in despair, kowtowed and chanted, praying to the gods to save them...
There are only a few defenders left in the city, and there is no garrison within a radius of thirty miles near Jingnan County, so it is impossible for reinforcements to arrive in a short time.
How can we hope to win against 3,000 Japanese pirates with only 30 men
How to defend this city
What the hell are we defending? We are doomed! The common people cried and wailed in despair, and the whole of Jingnan was shrouded in crying.
"County Master, can this city still be defended?"
Amid the desperate cries of the common people, the bailiffs and soldiers on the city wall also fell into despair.
"able!"
Zhu Pingan replied loudly.
Must be able to defend!
Either defend the city or die. This multiple-choice question seems to have two choices, but in fact, there is only one option: defend the city!
Even if you can't defend, you must create conditions! You must be able to defend! You must defend! And you can only succeed, not fail!
"Your Excellency... I'm not trying to dampen morale, it's just... it's just that we only have about thirty brothers now, and there are still two to three thousand Japanese pirates outside. The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. How can more than thirty of us defend the city from the siege of two to three thousand Japanese pirates?"
A soldier with an injured arm sighed and said dejectedly after hearing what Zhu Ping'an said.
"Who said that there are only thirty or so of us brothers defending the city?" Zhu Ping'an shook his head and said meaningfully.
"Isn't it? One, two, three, four... thirty-nine people, that's right." The soldier asked doubtfully.
The soldier stretched out his hand and counted them. There were 39 people on the city wall. Even if the people from the other three gates were transferred here, it would only increase the number by more than 30 people. Moreover, the people from the other gates could not be transferred at all. If there was no one guarding the gates, wouldn't it be easy for the Japanese pirates to attack the county town from other gates
"It's not more than 30 brothers, but more than 30,000 brothers. We have more than 30,000 brothers defending the city. It's not that the enemy is numerous and we are few, but that we are numerous and the enemy is few!" Zhu Ping'an said softly.
"More than 30,000 brothers? We are numerous and the enemy is few?" Upon hearing this, the soldiers opened their mouths in surprise, their eyes full of disbelief.
County Master... Are you stupid?! How can you lie with your eyes open? There are only so many people on the city wall. I have counted them several times. It is impossible for me to count wrong. How can there be more than 30,000 brothers? The enemy is obviously more numerous than us. How can we be more numerous than the enemy?!
"County Master..."
The soldier opened his mouth and was about to explain, but when he looked up, he found that Zhu Ping'an turned around and walked slowly towards the battlements inside the city wall.
"Dear fellow villagers!"
Zhu Ping'an walked slowly to the battlements on the inner side of the city wall, put his hands on the wall, and shouted loudly to the people who were crying in despair under the wall.
When the desperate people outside the city heard the voice of the county magistrate, they temporarily stopped their desperate tears and prayers and looked up.
"Fellow villagers, everyone has seen it. Three thousand Japanese pirates attacked the city. Our yamen runners and soldiers were great. They were very brave and fought bravely. No one retreated. They did it and withstood the first wave of attacks from the Japanese pirates, leaving more than a hundred corpses. However, we also suffered heavy casualties. Thirty-two people were killed and twenty-nine were injured. Currently, there are only thirty-nine people left who can fight again, while there are still more than three thousand Japanese pirates outside the city. Now, the Japanese pirates outside the city are cutting down trees and building siege ladders. When the siege ladders are built, it will be the time for the Japanese pirates to attack the city again. Now is a critical moment for Jingnan's survival."
Zhu Ping'an put his hand on the city wall and spoke loudly to everyone, without hiding the current life-and-death crisis.
"Wow... With more than 30 defenders and more than 3,000 Japanese pirates, how can we defend this city? Oh, God, Buddha, and the merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva, please save us. I beg you."
"Oh, I'm dead!"
"Woo woo woo, with so few people, we can't even defend this city. We might as well just find a way to solve this problem ourselves..."
"With such a small number of people, how can we defend Jingnan? If we want to defend Jingnan, we need the help of all the gods and Buddhas in the sky."
After hearing Zhu Ping'an's frank confession about the life-and-death crisis, the common people in the city became even more desperate. They prayed to the gods, cried and complained...
"With over thirty defenders and over three thousand Japanese pirates, how can we defend this city?" Zhu Ping'an looked at everyone and curled his lips. "I heard someone pray to the gods and Buddhas, saying that if they want to defend Jingnan, they need the help of all the gods and Buddhas in the sky."
"Yes, with so few defenders and so many pirates, how can we defend the city unless the gods help us?"
"Unless there is a miracle, you are doomed."
"Master Magistrate, let's burn incense and pray to the gods. Maybe some gods will be willing to help us."
"Alas, miracles are illusory. How can you ask for them just by praying?"
The city was in chaos and some people suggested praying to God, just like grabbing at the last straw when drowning.
"Pray to gods and Buddhas?" Zhu Ping'an curled his lips. "A long time ago, there was a devout Buddhist. Once he encountered difficulties, he went to the temple to pray to the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, asking the Bodhisattva to help him resolve the difficulties. When he walked into the temple and knelt to pray to Guanyin Bodhisattva, he found that there was also a person praying to Guanyin Bodhisattva on the cushion next to him. He found that this person looked very similar to Guanyin Bodhisattva, as if the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva was alive, so he asked curiously, 'Are you Guanyin Bodhisattva?' Guanyin Bodhisattva replied, 'Yes.' The Buddhist asked in confusion, 'Since you are Guanyin Bodhisattva, why do you worship yourself?' Guanyin Bodhisattva replied, 'Because I have also encountered difficulties, but I know that praying to God is not as good as praying to myself!'"
“It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on God!”
Zhu Ping'an's words were like a bolt of thunder, exploding above everyone's heads and giving everyone a startle.
"Fellow villagers, it is better to rely on yourself than to God, and it is better to rely on yourself than to others! This is a matter of life and death for Jingnan County! Now, the only ones who can save Jingnan are you, the elders and villagers yourself. Although there are more than 3,000 Japanese pirates, we have 30,000 people in Jingnan County. Get up! Fellow villagers! Stand up! Let's defend the city together! We have 30,000, and the Japanese pirates have only 3,000. With 30,000 against 3,000, we have the advantage of time, place and people. How can we not defend it? As long as we defend, we will definitely defend it!" Zhu Ping'an shouted passionately, hoarsely, "But if, if we don't defend the city, the Japanese pirates will use Japanese swords to kill us! Kill our parents, wives and children! And point their fingers at our bones and say: 'Look, this is a coward without balls!'"
"Defend the city!"
"Defend the city!"
"Master Magistrate, we are not cowards. We want to defend the city!"
"If we don't defend the city, we will surely die! Defending the city will give us a chance to survive. Let's fight the Japanese pirates!"
Zhu Ping'an's words were like a match thrown into a barrel of dynamite. The city seemed to explode instantly! There was a great rush of requests for battle!