Chinese New Year

Chapter 524: Come, follow me to make a comeback
It was like a sudden thunderclap that exploded throughout the night.

Noisy shouts were heard near Jinming Gate in the west of the city. The crowd was excited and the situation was getting more and more intense.

Someone entered the city from outside and shouted, "Mr. Chen only convicted Da Hu and did not ask if he was coerced into following the enemy. If you resist to the end, you will die without a burial place."

"My parents just came from Anyang. Lord Chen sent someone to bring them here in a horse-drawn carriage. He said that everything is fine at home. But if the fighting continues, our land will be taken away." Another person who came in from outside the city shouted.

When the soldiers heard this, they were all shocked.

These words are so powerful.

If you surrender, “no one will be asked about your coercion.”

Resist to the end and "return to the original crime."

One positive and one negative, leaving people with no way out.

Really, even if I care about the kindness of Da Hu in giving me the land, I don't want to fight now. People are selfish. Now there is a chance to lay down your weapons and go home to reunite with your parents, wife and children. The land and house are still yours. Do you accept it?
If you stay in the city you will die. Who can't see that?
Once the trenches and earth walls outside the city were built, who could get out? And they dug not just one, but three layers, leaving no place for burial.

It doesn't matter if I die, I can just give my life back to Da Hu, but what about my family? Without the land and house, my family will become refugees again, or slaves in the manor. Who would be willing to do that?
Now that things have come to this, there is really no hope.

In fact, some people had vaguely thought of these things before, so morale was low and they had no desire to fight, but everyone was looking at each other in a subtle mood and no one stood up to take the lead.

Now that those who had "further studied" in the Jin army camp have returned, they are raising their arms and shouting loudly, breaking through this layer of window paper. There is nothing more to say.

No one would attack Da Hu, and they couldn't bring themselves to do so, so they would just open the city gate.

The "study" person picked out a few strong and muscular men and asked them to come forward together, turn the winch, and lower the suspension bridge outside the city first.

With a loud bang, the heavy suspension bridge fell to the ground, spanning the two sides of the moat.

More than ten people came forward, shouting in unison, and struggled to open the city gate.

The others just stood by and watched, neither helping nor stopping.

This may be the mentality of most soldiers in the city.

He was reluctant to attack Da Hu because of his kindness, but he also cared about his family and didn't want to die in Yecheng. So, in the end, he became a "neutral" person, watching the few greedy people in the crowd jump out.

We don't take the initiative to rebel, we don't refuse to rebel, and we won't stop rebellion. We are just that kind of people, complicated people.

"My Lord, someone opened the Jinming Gate." Tao Bao was patrolling on the top of the city. After hearing the report from his personal soldiers, he raised his head to take a look and then remained silent.

"My Lord..." the personal soldier reminded again.

"This is Wang Yang's plan. He wants to lure Shao's soldiers into the city, ambush them with archers and crossbowmen, and kill them all." Tao Bao explained.

"My Lord, the guerrilla king did not send any archers. There is no one in sight on the high ground of the house. There are no barricades or barricades in front of us, and there are no soldiers waiting in battle formation. This—"

"Shut up, you know more about military affairs than I do?" Tao Bao scolded, and said, "Order everyone to go to the city and do not act rashly."

"Yes." The soldier seemed to understand and said no more.

"Send another 500 people to my palace."

"As ordered."

Tao Bao waved his hand and asked his personal soldiers to leave. Then he found a trusted confidant and asked him to take the official seal as a token, and then lower himself from the city wall to the Jin army camp.

After doing all this, he sat calmly on the city wall, enjoying the night breeze, wondering what he was thinking about.

******
The huge noise of the suspension bridge being lowered could not be hidden from anyone.

The Nanyang soldiers who were "working" overnight on the periphery saw this and although they were surprised, they responded immediately.

The auxiliary soldiers retreated with the tools.

The soldiers on guard immediately stepped forward.

Some soldiers who were sleeping in their clothes in the camp were also called up and marched out of the camp in neat rows.

After Yang Dan put on his armor, he called a small commander named Le Jian and ordered him to lead a thousand men and station them in various places in the camp.

"Anyone who makes noise without permission will be whipped twenty times. Anyone who runs around will be shot immediately, regardless of friend or foe." Yang Dan gave the order before leaving.

"Yes, sir." Le Jian responded loudly and immediately assigned people.

Most people are still sleeping.

The people who were woken up were confused and perhaps a little angry. If they were allowed to make loud noises or even run around, it might cause a howl in the camp. This was especially true for someone like Yang Dan, who was usually harsh towards his soldiers. Many people were angry and had long been dissatisfied with him, so it was inevitable that some people would take the opportunity to cause trouble and cause chaos.

Therefore, in the dark, anyone running around without orders was considered an enemy and shot with bows and crossbows without the slightest hesitation. In short, unrest must be nipped in the bud.

After settling in the camp, Yang Dan led 1,600 to 1,700 men, all of whom were elite soldiers of the Nanyang nobles, wearing iron armor and equipped with three weapons, and rushed towards the Jinming Gate in a mighty force.

The Jinming Gate was already wide open, and some people at the gate even opened their hands and shouted, indicating their willingness to surrender.

Yang Dan did not dare to take it lightly. Who knew if it was a false surrender?

Pretending to surrender and tricking you into entering the city, and then ambushing and killing you, can not only win a victory and boost morale, but also leave the defenders with no way to retreat, forcing them to go all the way - pretending to surrender and killing people is too despicable and difficult to tolerate, and the other side will not believe it the next time you really surrender.

But Yang Dan still wanted to give it a try, what if it was true?

The people under his command were basically elite soldiers gathered from the wealthy families of Nanyang. They were fully equipped with armor, sophisticated equipment, and had continuous training. More than half of them were contributed by the Le family.

In the past they lacked combat experience, but this time they followed him north, fought many battles, and many people died, but the remaining people matured quickly. From the beginning when they could only perform at 30% of their abilities, now they can perform at 60% to 70% of their abilities. The progress is very obvious.

Yang Dan thought that with these more than 1,600 soldiers, even if it was a false surrender, I would make it a real surrender.

I'll just die, so what's there to fear? So many warriors died with me, it's worth it.

More than a thousand people quickly crossed the suspension bridge and rushed to the Jinming Gate.

"General." A surrendered soldier came over with a flattering look on his face.

"Get out." Yang Dan kicked him, then rushed in first with a heavy sword in hand, actually leading the charge.

Several shieldmen quickened their pace and rushed to his side, providing close protection.

Yang Dan had a violent temper, but he was also very generous in giving rewards.

Sometimes he would give the women he got tired of playing with to them, which was very generous.

During the great battles to the north, he often led the troops and was extremely brave.

So, no matter how tyrannical he was, he still won over quite a number of people.

These people are just like him, ruthless, tyrannical, and cruel. They do not take other people's lives seriously, nor do they take their own lives seriously.

For the commander, this is a sharp knife that can hurt others as well as himself, and not everyone can wield it.

The army quickly broke through the city wall and entered the street. Yang Dan felt relieved.

Some pretended to surrender and then ambushed and killed, starting from the city gate. He didn't encounter a surprise attack, which was half of his success. What was left?

When they arrived on the street, they saw people kneeling on both sides of the road, weapons thrown at their feet, and all shouting "willing to surrender".

Yang Dan looked up again and saw no crossbowmen on the roofs on both sides of the street, so he burst into laughter.

"Where is Da Hu?" Yang Dan picked up a man and asked.

"In... in Zhongyang Tower."

Yang Dan threw him to the ground and immediately made arrangements.

The first step was to order the surrendering soldiers not to carry weapons, to line up outside the city and surrender to their side.

The second step was to send someone to notify the follow-up troops to come quickly for reinforcements, and the most important thing was to inform Mr. Chen.

It stands to reason that this step is enough.

Next, he should set up a defense line and defend Jinming Gate to prevent anyone from taking it back.

But who is Yang Dan? You have made such great achievements, and you want me to wait? Damn it!
He divided his men into two groups, with 800 men guarding Jinming Gate to meet the follow-up troops, and the remaining 800 men, led by him personally, headed straight for Zhongyang Tower - the tower of Zhongyang Gate, the central city gate on the south side of Yecheng.

The sound of orderly footsteps rang out on the street.

More than 800 people, wearing armor and holding sharp blades, rushed into the city like killing gods.

Everyone was panting, their faces flushed red - if they could capture and kill Shi Le, what a great achievement that would be! I dare not imagine!

The city soon became lively.

******
As soon as Shi Le came down from Zhongyang Tower, he heard the noise in the city.

"What happened?" he asked.

When he said this, his face was calm. To be more precise, it might be numb.

He thought that it was another troop that had left without saying goodbye and escaped in the night.

Although he was very angry, he was powerless to control himself.

Everyone around me has their own thoughts, not to mention the soldiers and generals who are out of my control.

He sighed secretly in his heart.

Maybe it's time to go.

If people's hearts are not with you, no matter how hard you struggle, it will be in vain. It is better to take away everyone you can while you still have some prestige, find a place to breathe, and then slowly win back people's hearts.

As for how many people he could take away, to be honest, he had no idea.

Tens of thousands of people? Not likely. And with such a big commotion, they would be attacked as soon as they left the city, and they would not be able to escape.

Thousands of people? If they were cavalry, it would be possible, but the sad thing is that the cavalry of the various tribes is the most unreliable.

They each have a chief and a leader, and they were originally bound together by gratitude, marriage, and benefits. But now, he can't give them any benefits, and instead wants them to die and be buried with him. To be honest, those who haven't left yet have done him justice.

Just thinking silently, he actually felt a little depressed, with deep sadness in his eyes.

"My king, it's bad. Shao's soldiers have entered from the Jinming Gate. They are so powerful that there seem to be thousands of them." A messenger came running from the front, stumbled off his horse, and said tremblingly.

There was still no expression on Shi Le's face; instead, he looked relieved.

He found himself calm, too calm.

Maybe he had already anticipated this outcome?

The troops that were capable of fighting were either captured and killed by the Jin army, or scattered in the wild. Only a few escaped back into the city, and they were all in panic and lacked weapons.

How capable can the temporarily recruited young men be? And how loyal can they be?
Emotional incident.

But he had been unable to see the light and make up his mind. Now he didn't have to hesitate anymore, as the Jin army helped him make the decision.

"Your Majesty!" The people around him hurried forward, looking anxious.

The sounds of killing were getting closer and the noise was getting louder.

Someone had already brought the horses, and someone else had opened the Zhongyang Gate.

If they wanted to abandon the city and flee, it would be too late to head north, and they might run into the Jin army entering the city.

It just so happened that they were inside Zhongyang Gate, and it was very convenient to leave the city from here.

The only question now is whether or not to save the situation? Of course, even if it is saved, it will only extend your life by a few more days.

The food problem is urgent, but the problem of people's hearts is more troublesome.

The enemy army entered through the Jinming Gate, so someone must have opened the gate, otherwise how could they have come so quickly without any news?
Taobao? Or was it the servants of the wealthy family who were causing trouble? Or was it someone else?

In short, even if we successfully deal with it this time, there will be a next time, and it won’t be too far away.

"Let's go!" Shi Le thought about it and felt that there seemed to be nothing in the city worth his concern.

Wife and concubine? This is exactly the least important thing. Why should a man worry about not having a wife?

Besides, his eldest son is already in Pingyang. This son is much more important than his mother. Women will only affect my ambitions.

The army? They are already demoralized, and I don’t think we can take them with us.

subordinate?

"Send someone to inform the lower level..." Shi Le reported many names in one breath and assigned people to each of them to notify.

Zhang Bin, Wang Yang, Tao Bao, Cheng Xia and others were all included. Two people were also sent from Santai. If they could be notified, they would be notified. If not, forget it. He had planned to secretly order the Santai garrison to kill his wives and concubines to prevent them from being humiliated. But after thinking about it, he decided not to do so because the personal soldiers might not be able to arrive. He was in the south of the city and Santai was in the northwest, too far away.

Then, without even looking behind him, he jumped on his horse, grabbed the reins of the two empty horses, and said, "Let's go to Xiangguo."

There were still a large number of soldiers who had been allocated land in the counties of Zhao, Julu, Changshan, Zhongshan and others to the north of Yecheng.

Go there and see if there is a chance to recruit them and wait for reinforcements from the court.

While he was thinking, Shi Le had already rushed out of Zhongyang Gate and disappeared into the night, without any delay and very decisively.

The followers guarded closely by his side and ran out one after another.

(Please wait for a moment, I will update you tomorrow)

(End of this chapter)