"Hurry up, bring up the good wine and food to entertain Lord Zhu and the soldiers. We have been fighting for such a long time in this freezing cold weather, how can we not have some hot soup, hot food, and hot wine to warm our bodies?" After Prefect Shang welcomed Zhu Ping'an and his party, he repeatedly urged the officials around him to prepare wine and food to entertain Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang Army soldiers.
"Yes, sir. I'll go and urge them to serve the dishes right away. They will make sure Lord Zhu and the other soldiers have good food and drink. They are the benefactors of hundreds of thousands of people in Suzhou City." The head of the etiquette room of Suzhou Prefecture responded quickly and turned around to urge the delivery of the dishes.
What to eat? Zhu Pingan was speechless.
"Wait a minute, Lord Shang, we will have the wine and food later. Suzhou City is not completely out of danger yet. When the Japanese pirates' reinforcements arrive, they will definitely not be resigned to defeat and will definitely attack the city. Only by repelling the Japanese pirates' attack can we make them accept the fact of defeat. It will not be too late to enjoy the wine and food after they withdraw their troops."
Zhu Ping'an waved his hands repeatedly, called the person in charge of the etiquette room, bowed and spoke to the Suzhou prefect and others.
"Ah?! The city gates are closed, and the Japanese pirates are still attacking the city?!"
After hearing this, Prefect Shang and other officials felt their hearts skip a beat. The city gates were closed, so did they still want to attack the city
"Of course they will. With the enemy at the gates, they won't give up unless they attack." Zhu Ping'an nodded affirmatively.
"Then..." Upon hearing this, Prefect Shang looked at Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang Army soldiers behind him, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Just now, when hundreds of Japanese pirates attacked the city, the defenders on the city behaved like weaklings. Now, tens of thousands of Japanese pirates have come outside the city. Although there is an advantage of the city wall, the governor Shang has no confidence in relying on the defenders on the city.
But Zhu Ping'an had just led the Zhejiang Army in a fierce battle outside the city, and he felt a little embarrassed to ask them to defend the city. But no matter how embarrassed he was, he had to speak up, because the soldiers guarding the city were too weak.
While Prefect Shang was considering how to start, Zhu Ping'an pulled the corner of his mouth and volunteered, "Sir Shang, there are many Japanese pirate reinforcements outside the city. Although our Zhejiang Army has fought outside the city, at this critical moment for Suzhou City, we are all part of Suzhou and there is no reason for us to stay out of it. We have a lot of firearms in the Zhejiang Army, which is just suitable for defending the city. Please give us a chance."
"Zihou, you just fought outside the city and haven't rested yet. I'm really sorry... But as Zihou said, this is a matter of life and death for Suzhou City and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. I have no choice but to be thick-skinned. Please follow me to the city wall and repel the Japanese pirates. On behalf of hundreds of thousands of people in Suzhou, I will thank Zihou and the Zhejiang soldiers."
Prefect Shang was very grateful to Zhu Ping'an for volunteering, and took advantage of Zhu Ping'an's words to invite Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang army soldiers to the top of the city wall.
"Please come in, Lord Shang." Zhu Ping'an bowed.
"Please go in, Zihou." Prefect Shang also bowed and gave way.
Just as the two were being courteous to each other, a soldier hurriedly ran down from the top of the city wall, out of breath and sweating profusely, and reported to the prefect Shang in a panic, "Sir, the Japanese pirate reinforcements have arrived at the city, there are tens of thousands of them, and they have also brought out siege ladders, and they are about to attack the city..."
After hearing this, Shang Zhifu couldn't help but panic. He ignored the courtesy and pulled Zhu Ping'an's arm to the stone steps, saying, "The Japanese pirate army is about to attack the city. Zihou, let's go up quickly."
"Da Qiang, you take three hundred soldiers to stay and reinforce the city gates and look after the injured and dead brothers. The rest of the Zhejiang soldiers will line up on the top of the city wall." Zhu Ping'an was dragged to the top of the city wall by Governor Shang, but he did not forget to turn back and command the Zhejiang army.
Prefect Shang dragged Zhu Ping'an up to the city wall. Seeing the Zhejiang army soldiers lined up in neat rows, climbing up the city wall in an orderly and fast manner, he could not help but praise Zhu Ping'an, "Zihou is worthy of being Zihou. He commands the soldiers like his fingers and arms. The Zhejiang army obeys orders and is orderly. I have never seen such a strong army in reality except in books. And this is just what Zihou has trained for a few months. Zihou is really a talent like Wang Zuo."
Zhu Ping'an did not take the praise from Shang Zhifu seriously. At this critical moment, he believed that if any reinforcements came, Shang Zhifu would be full of praise.
When he reached the top of the city, Zhu Ping'an carefully observed the Japanese pirates below the city. The Japanese pirate reinforcements had all arrived, numbering about 20,000 people.
In terms of numbers, the number of Japanese pirates outside the city far exceeded that of the defenders on the city.
However, Zhu Ping'an was not worried at all. The walls of Suzhou City were high, and the Japanese pirates outside the city were attacking the city hastily with less than thirty siege ladders. How could they capture Suzhou City
Back then, in front of the Fengqiao camp, the low wall was enough to crush the morale of the Japanese pirates, causing them to suffer heavy losses. Now, relying on the tall walls of Suzhou City, Zhu Ping'an is fully confident that he can defeat the Japanese pirates.
What's more, the Japanese pirates were just unwilling to accept their success. A head-on blow would make them sober up and give up their unrealistic ideas. They would understand that when the gates of Suzhou were closed, their attack on Suzhou would have failed.
However, the defenders on the city did not have the confidence that Zhu Ping'an had. Just now, they were frightened by the attack of hundreds of Japanese pirates from inside the city. Now, there were not just hundreds of Japanese pirates outside the city, but tens of thousands of them.
"I, I think my calf seems to be cramping..." one of the defenders said tremblingly as he squatted down.
The defenders nearby didn't help much. "My second brother seems to have cramps..."
"Fuck, you didn't just have cramps, you just had fluids, you peed your pants!
!”
The people around him looked at him, and someone noticed that his crotch was wet, and couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Ahem, I didn't wet my pants. I just spilled some water while drinking. Yes, that's right, I spilled the water."
The man tried to save his dignity with a trembling voice.
"You spilt water, you piss! I can smell the stench of urine even from three meters away. You spilt water, did you drink urine..."
The people around burst into laughter, but as they laughed, the sound became distorted and even trembled.
How could they laugh when there were tens of thousands of Japanese pirates outside the city, watching them covetously? Just now, hundreds of Japanese pirates had killed them so many heads were rolling and blood was flowing like a river, not to mention that there were tens of thousands of Japanese pirates outside the city. Even if they had two heads, they would not be enough for the Japanese pirates to chop off.
Compared to the frightened Japanese pirates, the Zhejiang Army soldiers were much more calm. They loaded ammunition into their muskets leisurely and even had the leisure to joke around, ignoring the Japanese pirates outside the city. They had a psychological advantage over the Japanese pirates.
Not to mention that in front of the Fengqiao camp, nearly ten thousand Japanese pirates ended their sinful lives under their firearms, just talk about the battle with the Japanese pirates outside the city just now, they were not at a disadvantage, and hundreds of Japanese pirates fell under their feet.