Chapter 957: Magnificent Power of Han (Eighty-One)

On the top of Gaotang City, Zhu Wei stared at the Red Turban Army camp in the distance with worry. If the loss of Wuling and Yiyang was due to insufficient preparation, and he did not expect that the bandits would turn around and head straight for Gaotang after taking Raoan, and thus suffered a loss, outside Mayang City, the two sides fought a hard battle. Zhu Wei led 3,000 elite Qi troops and 2,000 Mayang defenders to meet the Red Turban Army of more than 10,000 people. Zhu Wei did not take the other side seriously. The bandits were always numerous, but they were a mob. They rushed forward when the wind was favorable, and they would scatter when they encountered a slight setback. Although this characteristic was difficult to It would be hard to achieve a big result if he wiped them out in one go. He thought this battle was just a remake of the previous bandit suppression.

The encounter in the periphery was indeed as he imagined. He easily killed all the Red Turban bandits who came in a chaotic manner. But then, he encountered the main force of the Red Turban Army of 3,000 people. The two sides fought a fierce battle under the city of Mayang. Zhu Wei could not resist the opponent's attack and was forcibly split into two by the opponent. The Qi army suffered a miserable fate afterwards. The two armies lost their coordination and were besieged by the opponent's superior forces. If Zhu Wei had not seen the opportunity early, he would have been defeated. Not good, he immediately led his elite troops to desperately break out of the siege, not even returning to Mayang City, and fled directly to Gaotang. I'm afraid that now his 3,000 elite troops will be wiped out.

Even so, now only half of the 3,000 elite troops he brought with him are left. As for the 2,000 defenders in Mayang, they are now either prisoners or have died on the battlefield.

The ambition of the Red Turban bandits was not curbed by taking over the three counties. On the contrary, after taking in a large number of refugees, they pressed towards Gaotang City again. Looking at their camp, I'm afraid that they have gathered tens of thousands of people.

Zhu Wei's eyes did not He did not stay on those messy and densely built huts, but projected his gaze on the neat tents farther away, on a slightly higher ground. He knew that was his main opponent, the main force of the Red Scarf Bandits.

The equipment of the main force of the Red Scarf Bandits shocked him. The uniform standard weapons and full body armor were no less than those of his subordinates. The only difference was that the helmets of these bandits were wrapped in red scarves.

What made him even more uneasy was the opponent's fighting power and fighting will. Such a situation should not appear in a group of bandits, but the reality is that The real discovery was in front of him.

Now in Gaotang City, there were only less than two thousand soldiers and horses that he had escaped with, plus about ten thousand newly recruited soldiers in Gaotang City. Zhu Wei did not dare to expect how much combat effectiveness these newly recruited soldiers could have. Without the cover of the city wall, I am afraid they would not even have the courage to fight the enemy hand-to-hand.

Now the only strategy is to defend Gaotang City and wait for the reinforcements of the second son. If Gaotang has problems, it will be a fatal blow to the second son, because it will force Wang Pei, who is attacking Pinglu, to withdraw for fear of being attacked, thus giving the eldest son a chance to breathe. .

And time is what the second son did not want to give to the eldest son. Zhu Wei could even imagine what kind of furious second son he would face if he lost Gaotang.

The second son Tian Fucheng has never been a magnanimous person. Zhu Wei sighed and walked down the tower. Outside the city, those refugees who only had a piece of red cloth on their heads were digging soil and filling bags under the command of the real red scarf thieves. Needless to say, this was preparing for the attack on Gaotang City. Did the other party intend to use earth bags to build a ramp to attack the city wall? Gaotang City is not a county town like Mayang. If the other party really uses this method, then it is possible. There is really no need to worry. Even if all these tens of thousands of refugees died, they could not attack the top of Gaotang City.

It seems that the bandits are indeed bandits. There are not many ways to deal with this kind of siege. The large siege equipment needed to attack the fortified city is not something that anyone can make.

Instructing his men to strengthen vigilance and report at any time, Zhu Wei walked down the city wall. What he is worried about now is not that the enemy will attack the city, but that the enemy will surround it without attacking, and the second young master will not send reinforcements for a long time. That would be really bad, because Gaotang has done its best to supply Wang Pei's army, plundering everywhere, making the people in Gaotang miserable. Otherwise, these It is impossible for the Red Turban Bandits to gather so many refugees to join them in such a short time. Although these refugees have low combat effectiveness, they are outnumbered.

Ants can kill elephants even if they are numerous. When the number reaches a certain level, it is enough to produce a qualitative change.

The grain stored in Gaotang City is not enough to support his army and the people in the city for ten days, which is why he is a little scared now. Counting the days with his fingers, the reinforcements from the second son will arrive in the next two days. As long as the reinforcements arrive, they can turn defeat into victory, disperse these refugees, and then hold the main force of the Red Turban Bandits tightly.

Just after returning to the garrison office in Gaotang City, Wang Yan, who had just been promoted to Gaotang garrison, found him with a sad face. Wang Yan was originally a chief clerk of Gaotang Trade Guard Mansion. After Tian Fucheng's army captured Gaotang, Gaotang garrison fled with most of the officials. He was unlucky and did not keep up with the team. He fell into Tian Fucheng's hands. In order to save his life, he had to surrender. He was not Chen Dai, who ate, drank and cursed every day and still lived a leisurely life. If he hesitated for a moment, the steel knife hanging over his head would fall directly. Fortunately, most of the important people in Gaotang City had fled, and he, the chief clerk, became the most important person in Gaotang City. The highest-ranking official in the original system actually picked up a ready-made bargain and became the governor of Gaotang.

This newly-minted governor was really excited for a long time because of Tian Fucheng's successive victories. He felt that a pie had fallen from the sky and hit him squarely on the head, making him the governor of one of the five cities of Daqi. As long as the second son really won the world of Daqi in the future, his position would be secure enough. For this reason, after the initial panic, he burned countless incense sticks at night, praying to God to bless the second son with smooth sailing and take Linzi as quickly as possible.

"General Zhu, the city Rumors have spread everywhere. All the major grain stores have no grain for sale. Many families have already run out of food. If this continues, I am afraid that there will be trouble inside before the outsiders come in." He said worriedly.

Zhu Wei certainly knew that there was no grain in the grain stores, because after entering the city, he immediately sent troops to control these grain stores and collected all the grain.

"There is no grain in the grain stores, but there are still many wealthy families in the city!" Zhu Wei said.

"How can those people take out the grain stored in their homes!" Wang Yan said with a frown. He had a shallow foundation, but these wealthy families in the city were He has a deep foundation, so who would take him seriously.

Zhu Wei sneered, "Wang Liushou, the soldiers in your hands are not for eating dry food, and the knife needs to drink some blood from time to time. You should reason first. If they don't listen, then let the soldiers in your garrison be unreasonable, find a leader to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. I don't need to teach you such tricks! In troubled times, heavy punishments are used. If the Red Turban bandits break into the city, everything will be in vain, and you can't even save your own head. So now is not the time to be merciful, and those who should be killed must be killed."

"I understand!" Wang Yan nodded heavily, and a sense of pleasure suddenly rose in his heart. This There were many wealthy and powerful families in Gaotang City who were very rude to Wang Yan. This time, he wanted to pick one of them and show them how powerful he was.

At noon, when it was time for lunch, the refugees outside the city crowded into several large tents with smoke and fragrance. The soldiers sent from the central army beat them with whips and guns without mercy, making them learn to line up in pain and hunger. This was the first rule that the Red Turban Army taught these refugees.

The reason why so many refugees joined the Red Turban Army was very simple. They could eat here, even if it was only two meals of porridge a day, and it was not too late. As the season was ripe, the Qi army had plundered the limited food reserves, and many people died of starvation. In just two years, the once prosperous Qi State had become a land of starving people.

Hengdao rode on a horse and patrolled the refugee camps with his personal guards to prevent any problems. There were tens of thousands of refugees here. If they really rebelled or there was a riot, it would be no joke.

Under the whip and the gun barrels, the crooked formations were barely lined up. Some of the young and strong who wanted to make a noise saw Hengdao and his murderous personal guards. All of them stopped their fighting for a moment. This was a killing god. The refugees from Mayang had seen Hengdao and his troops killing people everywhere, covered in blood, like the devil from hell. Later, they also learned from these people that the leaders of the Red Turban Army were all killing gods who killed people without blinking an eye. How could they dare to bite Hengdao?

In the end, these people were all kind people, but hunger brought out the most fundamental evil hidden deep in a person's heart.

One bowl of porridge per person, two meals a day, was just to keep these people from starving to death. They couldn't let them eat. Only when the refugees are full or hungry will they be motivated, angry, and have evil wishes, and only then will they be driven by us. This is the original words of a staff officer who was just transferred here from the staff department of Jishicheng University.

In fact, the Red Turban Army is not short of food. Every day, food and grass are continuously transported from Liaodong from the sea.

Seeing that there are many old, weak, women and children among these refugees, Hengdao couldn't help but sigh, shook his head, and drove the warhorse towards the direction of the central army.

(78 reposted, please don't subscribe repeatedly, sorry, because it cannot be modified, the gunman can only remind everyone here, sorry.) (To be continued)