The sun was high in the sky, the cold wind had stopped raging, and the unorganized and undisciplined Japanese pirates had finally packed up their belongings and loaded their baggage. Under the command of the pirate leaders at all levels, they broke camp and set off, slowly retreating southward.
Seeing that the Japanese pirates finally retreated, the defenders on the city wall couldn't help but cheer for joy.
"Hahaha, the Japanese pirates ran away with their tails between their legs like a stray dog. We won, we won..."
"The Japanese pirates have run away. We have driven them away! Dad, Mom, I, Tiedan, have not brought shame to you two..."
"We won, we won!"
The defenders shouted with joy, jumped three feet high, and loudly vented their excitement.
In the excitement, many defenders took off their pants on the city wall and urinated at the retreating Japanese pirates, shouting provocatively, "You damned little Japanese pirates, don't run away. If you have the guts, turn around and fight me for another 300 rounds. If I take one step back, I'll lose."
When the defenders were excited, Shang Zhifu came to Zhu Ping'an and tried to persuade him to give up his plan to leave the city. "Zihou, the Japanese pirates have suffered heavy casualties and have retreated to their lair in Tolin. We have already won a great victory. You are the well-deserved first and greatest meritorious person. In fact, there is no need to risk leaving the city again."
"Sir Shang, we are safe in Suzhou, but what about other places? On the land of our Daming, every day that one more Japanese pirate survives means one more day of suffering for the people of Daming. This is a rare opportunity. If I don't give the Japanese pirates a great gift, I will have trouble sleeping and eating for the rest of my life and I will not be able to face the elders and folks of Daming."
Zhu Ping'an bowed to Prefect Shang and spoke seriously.
After hearing this, Shang Zhifu could not help but look at Zhu Ping'an with new eyes again. At the same time, he felt a little ashamed and bowed to Zhu Ping'an, "I am superficial and misunderstood Zihou. Zihou went out of the city not to make merit, but for the people. It's a pity that I have no military strategy, otherwise I would have gone out of the city with Zihou to give a great gift to the Japanese pirates."
"Lord Shang, you are too polite." Zhu Ping'an hurried forward to help Prefect Shang up.
"I won't say more, but you must understand, Zihou, that if you keep the green mountains, you will never worry about lack of firewood. Whether you agree or not, people are different in this world. Some people's lives are as heavy as Mount Tai, while others' lives are as light as a feather. You are the one who is as heavy as Mount Tai. As the saying goes, it is easy to get thousands of soldiers, but it is difficult to get a good general. You are both civil and military, you can win the first prize in civil affairs and rule the country in military affairs. You are a rare talent of Confucian general. Not to mention that you can't see such a talent once in a century, even in the fifty years I have lived, I have never seen such a talent in our dynasty."
"As for Qiu Luan and his ilk, they are so hateful that they make one grit their teeth. How could they have been promoted to the positions of Grand Tutor, Grand Protector, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Protector of the Crown Prince?! The Gengxu Rebellion the year before last was caused by this bastard. At that time, he was the General of Datong. Instead of thinking about serving the country, he resorted to some crooked ways and even spent a lot of money to bribe the Northern Tartar Altan, asking him not to attack Datong but to attack somewhere else. The Northern Tartar Altan then attacked the capital from Gubeikou and plundered the capital area, causing the Gengxu Rebellion and bringing shame to our Ming Dynasty! It was a relief for him to be opened up and mutilated after his death!"
"Besides, Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, did not die unjustly. As the Minister of War, he was in charge of the defense of the capital. Yan Song said that if you fight in the frontier, you can conceal the defeat, but if you fight in the suburbs of the capital, you cannot conceal the defeat. Altan is just a plundering thief, and he will leave naturally when he is full. So he listened to his advice and warned the generals not to act rashly. He sat back and watched the northern barbarian Altan burn and plunder freely outside the city for eight days and eight nights..."
... ...
Prefect Shang criticized several famous military officers of the court in succession, and every time he mentioned one of them, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.
"I am old and talk too much. Zihou, just understand. I mean, you are a rare scholar-general in the current dynasty. The Japanese invasion in Jiangnan is serious now, and we need a scholar-general like you to help His Majesty rebuild Jiangnan."
"Others are either not good at literature or martial arts like me. It's a rare opportunity that Zihou came to our Jiangnan. This gives me hope. So, Zihou, you have to know that you have a heavy burden on your shoulders. Your life is extremely precious. You can't afford to make any mistakes. It's better to return safely than to fail."
"The Japanese invasion in the south of the Yangtze River is serious, and the people are living in dire straits. The people in the south of the Yangtze River are looking forward to someone saving them from the dire straits. I am a useless person, with good intentions but no power. Zihou, you are different. You have good intentions and are also capable. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope you can work harder."
Prefect Shang was like a chatterbox. He held Zhu Ping'an's hand and kept saying something, asking him to cherish his life.
Zhu Ping'an didn't know what to say for a moment.
The Japanese pirates were still retreating slowly, scattered like cattle and sheep in the wild, and their retreating figures were everywhere in the mountains and plains.
The Japanese pirates were so disorganized that they had no formation, let alone a battle formation. They carried their belongings and moved in a scattered manner toward the south of the city, in a group here and a group there.
Zhu Ping'an was on the city wall, looking at the scattered Japanese pirates leisurely, while Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others were waiting behind him.
Inside the city, more than 800 Zhejiang soldiers were fully dressed in cotton armor and lined up in an orderly manner. Each person had a mule or horse, and all had saddles installed.
Everything is ready, just waiting for Zhu Ping'an's order.
"No wonder Zihou wants to go out of the city to give the Japanese pirates a big gift. These Japanese pirates are just violent and aggressive people. Their individual combat power is very high, but they are unorganized and undisciplined. They are just a group of vagrants and a mob. Although I don't understand military strategy, I can see many loopholes and flaws in their retreat. If Zihou goes out of the city to pursue them now, he will definitely be able to..."
Prefect Shang stood beside Zhu Ping'an, looking at the scattered Japanese pirates retreating far away, and couldn't help but say with emotion.
"Haha, Lord Shang, if I lead the troops to chase out of the city now, I will follow in the footsteps of Wang the traitor."
Zhu Ping'an laughed and shook his head.
"ah?!"
Prefect Shang couldn't help but exclaim, took a breath of cold air, and looked at Zhu Ping'an in disbelief.
"The Japanese pirates are using an old trick again. They are pretending to be weak and trying to lure Wang Jian out of the city to pursue them. Lord Shang, do you still remember the formation of the Japanese pirates when they first invaded Suzhou? Although the formation was not very neat, it was not as scattered and full of flaws as it is today. In addition, if Lord Shang looks carefully, he will find that the Japanese pirates are chaotic on the outside but orderly on the inside. Among the chaotic formations, there are dozens of scattered but not chaotic white teams of Japanese pirates, which are faintly forming a situation of encirclement." Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly, pointed at the scattered figures of the Japanese pirates, and explained to Governor Shang.
"Ah?! So that's how it is..." After looking at it carefully for a moment, Magistrate Shang suddenly realized what was going on and broke out in a cold sweat.