Although they heard that Jingnan County had been defended once again, everyone at the banquet still did not hold any hope for Jingnan County.
How many people can the Jingnan garrison still have? There were only a hundred people in total. During the last wave of Japanese pirates' attack, although Jingnan managed to hold on, it also suffered heavy losses. Can they still have 30 to 50 people now? !
The huge disparity in strength between the attacking and defending sides made them firmly believe that Jingnan would definitely fall!
"After the Japanese pirates were defeated in their siege, they cut down trees on a large scale to build siege ladders..." the scout soldier continued to report.
really!
The Japanese pirates learned the lesson of the ropes being burned when they attacked the city with flying claws last time, and stepped up the felling of trees and the construction of siege ladders. By the time the Japanese pirates' siege ladders were completed, Jingnan County would fall!
Everyone at the banquet has "seen" the end of Jingnan County!
"At this critical moment, Magistrate Zhu told a story that mobilized the entire city's people to defend the city."
The scout soldier reported.
"What story? What story did Magistrate Zhu tell? How could he mobilize all the people in the city to defend the city?!"
"That's right, what kind of story could have such great power?"
After hearing the scout's report, everyone at the banquet could not help but be full of questions. They were very curious about what story Zhu Ping'an told. Even Taizhou prefect Tan Lun and Ningtai lieutenant general Yu Dayou looked at the scout curiously.
"At that time, someone suggested that County Magistrate Zhu pray to gods and Buddhas to resist the Japanese pirates, so County Magistrate Zhu told this story. County Magistrate Zhu said that there was a very devout Buddhist in the past. One day, he encountered a big problem, so he went to the temple to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva as usual, asking the Bodhisattva to help him resolve the problem. When he entered the temple 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 had come to life, 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 was hard to refuse everyone's opinion, so the scout had to stop and tell everyone the story told by Zhu Ping'an. Fortunately, the story told by County Magistrate Zhu was very interesting and he had a good memory, otherwise it would have been embarrassing.
"It's better to ask God than to ask yourself?!"
"It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on God!"
"It is better to rely on oneself than on God! This statement by County Magistrate Zhu is truly a wake-up call! No wonder the people of the entire city were mobilized."
After the scout soldier finished telling the story of ancient times, everyone at the banquet burst into tears and felt deeply moved by the story.
"After telling the story, County Magistrate Zhu said to the people of the city passionately that it is better to rely on oneself than to pray to God. Now the only ones who can save Jingnan are you, the elders and villagers. Although there are more than 3,000 Japanese pirates, we have 30,000 people in Jingnan County. As long as you, the elders and villagers stand up to defend the city, Jingnan County will definitely be able to defend it! But if, if we don't defend the city, the Japanese pirates will kill us with knives! Kill our parents, wives and children! They will also point their fingers at our bones and say: 'Look, this is a coward without balls!' After County Magistrate Zhu finished speaking, all the people in the city shouted 'Defend the city', and the calls for battle were as loud as a contest."
The scout soldier had a good memory and basically repeated Zhu Ping'an's mobilization words at the time.
"Good! Appealing to the emotions and explaining things with reason! County Magistrate Zhu's speech was very good."
"I can't help but feel my blood boiling when I hear this now! No wonder the whole city has been mobilized."
Everyone at the banquet was filled with emotion.
Taizhou prefect Tan Lun turned his gaze towards Jingnan County, and a gleam of light flashed in his dark eyes.
"Zhu Zhixian selected 2,000 young and strong civilians to guard the city walls, and asked the rest of the civilians to help collect and transport stones and other supplies for the defense. Zhu Zhixian ordered the 2,000 young and strong civilians to be registered and promised: after the war, each person will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver; those who were injured will be rewarded with an additional 10 taels of silver; those who died in battle will be compensated with an additional 50 taels of silver. In addition, after this battle, all those who want to work in the county government will be given priority."
The scout soldier continued.
"Huh? Why does it feel like Jingnan can be defended?!" Upon hearing this, someone at the banquet murmured softly.
"It's terrible... There are too many Japanese pirates. Although Jingnan has mobilized civilians to defend the city and make up for the disadvantage of insufficient troops, they are still civilians after all. How can they be a match for the murderous Japanese pirates?!"
Soon the people next to him shook their heads.
"Yes, County Magistrate Zhu has tried his best, but it is far from enough. Although there are more people, there are only 30 to 50 soldiers left to defend the city, and the remaining 2,000 are civilians who have never experienced fighting on the battlefield. How can a mere 30 to 50 soldiers mobilize more than 2,000 civilians? Once the Japanese pirates start to attack the city, most of the civilians who have never experienced war will be frightened by the scenes of swords and swords, life and death fighting. As long as the Japanese pirates set up siege ladders and climb up the city walls, it will be a one-sided massacre."
"Well, civilians are fine as auxiliary forces, but if they are used as the main force to defend the city, how can they hold it?! New recruits who have been trained for several years will be so scared when they go to the battlefield for the first time that they will wet their pants and dare not cut the Japanese pirates with their swords, let alone the civilians."
Except for a very small number of people who still have a glimmer of hope for Jingnan, the vast majority of people still do not have a good impression of Jingnan.
"Soon after Magistrate Zhu mobilized the people, the Japanese pirates began to attack the city. This time, before attacking the city, the Japanese pirates first killed more than 500 people in public outside the city. When the people in the city were frightened, they attacked the city in large numbers."
When the scout reported this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth, because he had a distant relative among the people who were killed.
Hearing this, everyone at the banquet could not help but grit their teeth and sigh. The Japanese pirates took advantage of the fact that the defenders on the city were all ordinary people who had never experienced war, and deliberately killed people to intimidate the ordinary people on the city.
Why!
The Japanese pirates hit the weak spot of the city!
For those who had just had a glimmer of hope for Jingnan County at the banquet, that hope was now shattered.
"After seeing the young and strong civilians defending the city frightened by the Japanese pirates' killing on the battlefield, County Magistrate Zhu stood up, raised his shield and hit it with the handle of his knife, while running back and forth on the city wall, shouting to the frightened civilians, "Brothers, our parents, wives and children are behind us, we have no way to retreat! If we are not strong, who will protect them! Be a man, stand up with me!" Many years later, when you are sitting under the tree to bask in the sun, your sons and grandsons will curiously ask you what you did when you were young, you don't have to blush and stammer that your grandfather used to shovel shit in the fields. You can look them in the eyes and tell your children and grandchildren loudly and proudly, saying: My child, your grandfather used to be on the city wall of Jingnan County, and fought with the damn County Magistrate Zhu Ping. "We fought side by side with Zhu Zhixian to fight the Japanese pirates! We killed tens of thousands of vicious Japanese pirates, drove them off the city wall, and saved Jingnan!" The scout soldier narrated excitedly, "After County Magistrate Zhu shouted, the people were like chicken blood, they all cheered up and straightened their backs. Facing the attacking Japanese pirates, no one retreated. They drove the attacking Japanese pirates off the city wall again and again, and defended Jingnan County again and again. The Japanese pirates attacked the west gate for a long time, and they used the strategy of tiring the enemy and secretly divided their troops to attack the north gate, but they were all discovered and thwarted by County Magistrate Zhu. The Japanese pirates suffered a bloody head in Jingnan, with more than half of their soldiers and generals killed. The corpses piled up into a mountain, and they finally had no choice but to evacuate Jingnan overnight. Jingnan County was defended! A total of 795 Japanese pirate heads were captured!"
What?!
Jingnan was not only defended?! They also captured 795 heads of Japanese pirates?!
The scout's report was like igniting explosives, and the surprised voices of everyone at the banquet almost blew the roof off!