When General Wang and the surviving officers and soldiers under his command were vying to express their loyalty to the Japanese pirates and their willingness to cooperate with them in deceiving the city in order to save their lives, the Suzhou prefect Shang Weiwei, holding a letter delivered by a carrier pigeon, and under the protection of a group of officers and soldiers, he rode his horse and galloped along the wide road along the city wall all the way to the East Gate.
"Where is General Wang? Where is General Wang?" After arriving at the east gate of the city, Prefect Shang quickly dismounted and shouted loudly.
"Your Excellency, General Wang..." The deputy general's eyes were evasive and he seemed hesitant to speak.
"General Wang was injured? Or was it just a misfortune..."
When Prefect Shang saw the deputy general's expression, he thought something had happened to General Wang. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous and asked nervously.
Although General Wang has various shortcomings, he is still a rare general in the city. The Japanese pirates are besieging the city, and this is the time when we need more people. Don't lose a great general at this time.
"No, Your Excellency, General Wang is not injured." The deputy general shook his head, still hesitating to speak.
"Oh, I'm glad that General Wang is okay. You just fought off the Japanese pirates and you must be tired. It's normal for you to rest and eat. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Take me to find General Wang." When Prefect Shang heard that General Wang was not injured, he thought that General Wang was having a meal or catching up on sleep, so he asked his deputy general to take him to find General Wang.
"Ahem, Your Excellency, we can't find General Wang right now..." the deputy general carefully chose his words and replied softly.
"Can't find it? What do you mean? Did General Wang go to the city to find a woman to have fun and relax?"
Prefect Shang frowned slightly. Although he had made great contributions in defending the city and repelling the Japanese pirates, he didn't need to be so anxious to find a woman. At least it wouldn't be too late to find a woman after the Japanese pirates had completely retreated and left the territory of Suzhou Prefecture.
"Ahem, Your Excellency, General Wang didn't go to the city to find women. He, he..." The deputy general shook his head and stammered.
"That's enough. I don't have time to guess. Tell me where General Wang is. Just tell me straight away. Don't beat around the bush."
Prefect Shang became impatient and felt something was wrong. He stared at the deputy general with a burning gaze and asked bluntly.
"Your Excellency, General Wang, after we defeated the Japanese pirates, he led a thousand soldiers out of the city to pursue the Japanese pirates."
The deputy general did not dare to hide anything anymore. He bowed his head and saluted to Prefect Shang, and told him everything about General Wang's going out of the city to pursue the Japanese pirates.
"What?! General Wang went out of the city to chase after the Japanese pirates?!"
Upon hearing this, Prefect Shang staggered as if he had been shot by an arrow, and his face turned pale in an instant.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?" The deputy general was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to support Prefect Shang.
"Why did General Wang go out of the city to chase after the Japanese pirates?! Didn't I repeatedly warn you not to go out of the city to chase after the Japanese pirates?!"
Prefect Shang paced around like a headless fly, then questioned the deputy general repeatedly in annoyance.
"Your Excellency, General Wang wants to leave the city. I have tried to persuade him again and again, but General Wang said that he is not subject to orders from the emperor when he is away from home. The opportunity to fight is fleeting, and I am of low rank and have little influence. General Wang insists on leaving the city. What can I do?"
The deputy general explained with a look of grievance, feeling that he was like a rat in a bellows, unable to bear the constant pinching.
"Oh, this is bad! Lord Zhu Ping'an sent a pigeon rumor that has been found out. The Japanese pirates outside the city have been searching for civilians hiding outside the city these past two days, shaving their heads into Japanese pirate hairstyles, changing them into Japanese pirate clothes, and forcing them to attack the city and die, so that we will misjudge the strength of the Japanese pirates and mistakenly believe that they are vulnerable, so as to lure us out of the city to pursue them. General Wang led his troops out of the city to pursue them, and fell into the Japanese pirates' evil plan."
Prefect Shang was like an ant on hot pot, pacing around on the city wall, angry, panicked and worried.
"ah?!"
After hearing what Prefect Shang said, the deputy general also started to panic.
No wonder people always thought the Japanese pirates were so weak. It turned out that those who attacked the city were all ordinary people who were captured and forced by the Japanese pirates.
This makes sense. Why were the Japanese pirates so weak? Why were they so ignorant of military affairs? That's why!
Doesn't that mean the general is in danger? ! Aren't the thousand soldiers who followed the general out of the city to chase the Japanese pirates also in danger? !
The deputy general's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately understood why Lord Fu Zun was so panicked just now.
"My Lord, what should we do now?" the deputy general asked at a loss.
"What else can we do? Close the city gates. No one is allowed to open them unless I tell them to do so! No matter who comes, the gates are not allowed to be opened. Do you understand?!" Magistrate Shang ordered the deputy general in a serious manner.
"Your Excellency, what if General Wang comes?" the deputy general asked hesitantly.
"I just said that no matter who it is, they must wait for me to speak before opening the city gate. General Wang is no exception! Now, do you remember?!"
Prefect Shang patted the deputy general's shoulder vigorously and emphasized it again in a stern voice.
"Yes, yes, I understand. No matter who it is, they must report to the Lord of the Palace. Only when the Lord of the Palace orders the city gate to be opened, will I open the city gate. Otherwise, no matter who it is or what the situation is, I will not open the city gate."
This time, the deputy general completely understood what Prefect Shang meant. He nodded vigorously and expressed his opinion to Prefect Shang.
"Very good. I will order a group of reinforcements to come here. The East Gate will be handed over to you for the time being. Don't let me down! I will go inspect the other two city gates. If there are no problems with the other gates, I will come back to take charge of the East Gate."
Prefect Shang nodded with satisfaction, gave his deputy general some instructions, then mounted his horse and led his men to inspect other city gates without stopping.
General Wang of the East Gate led his troops out of the city to chase the Japanese pirates. What about the North Gate and Northwest Gate? ! Please don’t let anyone go out of the city to chase the Japanese pirates like General Wang did!
Prefect Shang galloped all the way on the city wall and quickly arrived at the North Gate. Fortunately, no one from the North Gate went out to pursue the Japanese pirates. Prefect Shang conveyed Zhu Ping'an's pigeon message to the North Gate defenders, warning them of the Japanese pirates' conspiracy to lure the defenders out of the city to pursue them. He sternly warned them that without his orders, it was strictly forbidden to go out of the city to pursue the Japanese pirates. No matter who violated the order, they would be severely punished for disobeying military orders.
Then, Prefect Shang rushed to the northwest gate. Fortunately, no one from the northwest gate went out of the city to chase the Japanese pirates.
Prefect Shang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but when he thought of the East Gate, he couldn't help but become worried again.
A thousand soldiers and five hundred young and strong men were urgently coordinated from the city, the north gate and the northwest gate to rush to the east gate for support.
Prefect Shang also went to the East Gate in person to provide support, and brought with him a group of officials who were familiar with military affairs to help him.
When Prefect Shang arrived at the east gate, he heard a sudden commotion among the officers and soldiers on the city wall, with their fingers pointing into the distance.