When the reinforcements from the other city gates arrived belatedly, they could not escape the scolding from Prefect Shang.
The safer it was, the more dangerous Prefect Shang felt the situation was. Really, if Zhu Ping'an hadn't led the Zhejiang Army to descend from the sky, Suzhou City would have definitely fallen into the hands of the Japanese pirates. Prefect Shang had to either surrender the city or surrender.
One is the end of physical life, the other is the end of political life. In the future, you will become a rat in the gutter, living in fear all day long, not knowing when the imperial army will cut off your head and escort it to Beijing, and you will be infamous for thousands of years after your death.
If it really comes to that time, I will definitely choose to surrender. Life is precious, but reputation is more valuable.
As a disciple of the emperor and a descendant of Confucius, how can I bear the life of a traitor? I can only die to thank the world.
You bunch of bastards, you are always submissive to me, saying you will obey my orders and follow my lead, but you dare to delay the rescue of my life. If it weren't for Zihou, your rescue would have turned into a funeral. It seems that the Suzhou government needs to be cleaned up!
After scolding all the reinforcements, Prefect Shang was too lazy to even look at them anymore. He simply waved his hand and sent them all to serve under Zhu Ping'an, on the grounds that he was the commander-in-chief of the city defense.
Zhu Ping'an was also furious about these late reinforcements. If they had arrived earlier, the Zhejiang Army would not have suffered such a heavy loss. Hundreds of casualties were the worst since the Zhejiang Army was established!
Similarly, the garrison at the East Gate of Suzhou City would not have suffered such heavy casualties, with more than a thousand casualties:
If I hadn't been vigilant, Suzhou City would have fallen and hundreds of thousands of people would have been ravaged by the invaders.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ping'an was unhappily assigned all the reinforcements to do the dirty and tiring work, such as carrying stones, gold juice, etc.
After dinner, Zhu Ping'an gathered all the civil and military officials in the city and arranged for the night's defense.
"All soldiers will be divided into three shifts, taking turns to stand guard at night, and be alert to the night attacks of the Japanese pirates outside the city. They must be fully alert. Anyone who dares to neglect his duties will be severely punished without mercy, and will be mistakenly regarded as not warning you!"
"Deputy General Zhang, you are in charge of hanging silver bells on the outer side of the city wall. Once the soldiers on night duty hear the bells ringing on the outer side of the city wall, they must immediately light torches to illuminate and sound the alarm. Once Japanese pirates are found climbing the city wall, they must be shot with bows and arrows, muskets, or stabbed with spears and long swords!"
"Lieutenant General Liu, you will be responsible for leading the construction of observation booths on the city wall, one every 60 meters. The observation booths do not need to be complicated, as long as they are simple, sturdy and usable. Each observation booth will be equipped with six observation posts, two people in a shift, and they will be on duty in the booth all night. Be sure to carefully observe the actions of the Japanese pirates outside the city."
"Deputy General Han, you will be responsible for leading people to dig pits and bury large vats along the base of the city wall. Bury a large vat every 300 meters to prevent the Japanese pirates from digging tunnels and sneaking into the city. Arrange six people to take turns to guard each large vat, two people in a shift, and judge by the sound whether the Japanese pirates have dug tunnels and in which direction they are digging tunnels. If you hear any unusual noises, report it to me immediately, and be prepared to dig tunnels and wells at any time."
"Order the other city gates to do the same."
... ...
Zhu Ping'an issued one order after another in an orderly manner. Prefect Shang on the side could not help but nod his head repeatedly as he listened and watched. He admired Zhu Ping'an in his heart. He was meticulous and orderly. Zihou was worthy of being Zihou.
As night fell, Zhu Ping'an changed into the cotton armor of an ordinary Zhejiang army soldier and inspected the city wall under the protection of Liu Dadao, Liu Mu and others.
The reason why they wore the cotton armor of ordinary Zhejiang army soldiers was that they were worried that the Japanese pirates outside the city would shoot arrows and snipe the generals on the city.
Zhu Ping'an trusted the Zhejiang Army, but he was not at all confident about the other garrison troops. He knew very well what kind of people the garrison soldiers were. The garrison system was full of problems and had been rotten and decadent from the root.
The officers above were corrupt, they occupied the military land, withheld food and wages, and at the same time, they forced the soldiers to do farming, logging, kiln construction, and other private work. The military households were reduced to slavery, causing the soldiers of the garrisons to flee one after another. The garrisons were seriously short of soldiers and horses, and the old, weak, sick and disabled were forced to be recruited to fill the numbers. How could they have any fighting power in this situation
Most of the soldiers in the garrisons below were just idling around, had no morale, had poor military discipline, and were addicted to eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and their fighting power was extremely weak.
Zhu Ping'an made a round of inspection and found several cases of dereliction of duty. Two people were sleeping soundly at the foot of the wall while on duty, three people were squatting at the foot of the wall gambling dice, and one person was drinking while on duty...
"First, give him 60 blows with a military stick as a warning to others! If he does it again, he will be executed without mercy!"
Zhu Ping'an was very angry. He waved his hand and ordered people to arrest them on the spot. He first gave them 60 blows with a military stick as a warning to others and warned them that if they did it again, they would be beheaded without mercy.
Sixty military sticks directly beat these people until their skin was torn and they cried for their parents. One of them fainted on the spot and was awakened by a basin of cold water.
After Zhu Ping'an's rectification, the military discipline on the city wall improved greatly. At least the people on night duty did not dare to neglect their duties.
"Zihou, it's late, go downstairs and get some sleep. We will take care of the night duty."
Prefect Shang saw that it was late at night and Zhu Ping'an was still patrolling the city wall again and again, and he couldn't help but speak with concern.
He was afraid that if Zhu Ping'anlei fell, there would be no one to take charge of the city's defense.
"Lord Shang, don't worry, I'm in good health. It's only one night, it won't be too late to rest tomorrow. As I expected, the Japanese pirates will probably retreat after tonight." Zhu Ping'an rubbed his temple slightly and said with a smile.
"The Japanese pirates will retreat after tonight? Are you sure, Zihou?" Prefect Shang was very happy with Zhu Ping'an's words.
"The Japanese pirate army suffered heavy casualties in the siege just now, which has declared their failure. Their withdrawal is inevitable. They are still lingering outside the city, which naturally shows that they are unwilling to leave. According to their current situation, a night attack is their last resort and fantasy. As long as our people stay vigilant and detect and extinguish their attempt of a night attack at the first time, they will have no choice but to abandon their fantasy and withdraw their troops back to their old nest in Tuolin. They dare not delay, otherwise their old nest in Tuolin will be lost." Zhu Ping'an said with certainty.
"In that case, I will trouble you, Zihou. I will also be on duty at the city wall tonight. If you need anything, please call me at any time. I will fully cooperate with you."
After hearing this, Prefect Shang bowed deeply to Zhu Ping'an.
"Thank you, Lord Shang. This is Ping'an's job." Zhu Ping'an replied.
While Zhu Ping'an and the monk prefect were arguing with each other, the Japanese pirates' camp below the city was making intensive preparations for a night attack.
"Matsumoto-kun, I heard that there are ninjas in your country who are good at assassination, night raids, infiltration, etc. Is this true?"
Xu Hai asked a real Japanese.
"Yes, I have five ninjas under my command, all of whom are highly skilled in assassination, climbing, and night attacks."
Matsumoto Ken'ao replied with pride.
"Go and call them over. They can be of great use to me." Xu Hai nodded with satisfaction and gave the order.
"Hi!"
Matsumoto Keno bowed his head.