Volume 1 Chapter 56: Hardship
"What do you think, Oda?"
It was already past three o'clock in the morning. On the top of Xiacai City, General Zhang Jun, who was awakened in the middle of the night, and Zhao Ding, the prefect, looked at the city for a long time, but suddenly turned their heads to look at their son-in-law beside them and asked in a loud voice.
"Master Taishan." Tian Shizhong, who was fully armored, immediately bowed his head. "I have been on the top of the city and have seen it clearly. Although the Jin army is very powerful and came in a hurry, they obviously lack equipment. They roared for half a day, but they were just throwing arrows from the outside. They climbed the city wall in four or five narrow places in the moat, and they were all Han soldiers who came to die in vain... Therefore, I thought it must be a feint attack, so I just ordered all the watchtowers to see the enemy clearly and not waste arrows."
"You did the right thing." Zhang Jun nodded repeatedly. "And I thought so too. But fighting at night, we must be on guard against the sudden infiltration of the elite Jurchens, or the sudden attack on the west of the city that has never been touched, catching us off guard. We must also be on guard against the old troops of Liu Guangshi who are used to fleeing and will be startled and ruin the situation... We must be careful."
"Don't worry, Master Taishan!" Tian Shizhong quickly replied. "I've been in the city all the time, so I won't make any mistakes!"
"That's good!" Zhang Jun continued. "You keep an eye on the top of the city wall, and I will go back to the inner city with Zhao Zhizhou, open the door and drink and eat to calm people's hearts. Then let Liu Bao lead a thousand of the most capable old brothers to wait and be ready to support at any time!"
"Lord Taishan's arrangements are very appropriate." Tian Shizhong remained calm.
"You two, don't try to persuade me with any reassurance pills or elixirs!" Zhao Ding was a smart man. He knew that the two of them were talking to him directly, but he ignored them and pointed at the fire in the direction of Henan from the city wall . "I have seen everything in the city with my own eyes, so I trust you. But what about Henan? Do you two have any suggestions?"
"Let Zhao Zhizhou know that it is difficult to repair the crossing. No matter what happens in Henan, we can't do anything about it for the time being!" Zhang Jun shook his head helplessly, but simply turned around and walked away. "But anyway, there is a large fleet of Han Wu on the river. With his ability, even if one or two Meng'an really sneak across, how can he not provide support?"
Tian Shizhong bowed his head again. Zhao Ding was also discouraged when he heard it, but he could only stomp his feet and then turn around to catch up.
However, just a moment later, when General Zhang Jun and Magistrate Zhao Ding had just returned to the government office in Xiacai City and had not yet had time to set up a night banquet to calm people's hearts, it was almost visible to the naked eye that the direction of Bagua Mountain in Huainan had changed again... The two dared not delay after hearing the news, and hurriedly climbed up the city wall tower outside the southeast water gate, and then looked at each other from afar and observed carefully, but they saw that at the water fort on the west side of Bagua Mountain on the opposite bank of the river, patches of fire began to spread strangely to the valley of Xishi Mountain further west, and they didn't know what was going on!
"Withdraw the troops!" At the same time, on the Huai River embankment, which was only two or three miles away from Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding, the Jin army general and captain of ten thousand men, Ali, watched for a while on his horse, and suddenly spoke up. "What do the Fourth Prince and General Erlubu think?"
"I also think we should withdraw our troops." Another captain, Elubu, seemed to have also come to his senses, but he couldn't help feeling a headache.
"What do you mean?" Jin Wushu was confused and angry. "You two were the ones who said we should launch a feint attack, and you two were the ones who said we should withdraw our troops, but why didn't you explain it clearly to me, the commander-in-chief?"
"Nothing!" Ali sighed. "I'm afraid the Song army also realized that there should be an army like Shulie on the south bank, so the fire was not set by Shulie to attack, but the Song army had the same intention as us, deliberately setting fire to lure him to attack, and now Shulie must have been exposed again, and was blocked by the Song army in the northern mountain cave!"
"Think about it." Erlubu beside him actually shook his head. "Han Shizhong was a recognized brave general in the Three Kingdoms when he conquered Liao. He was always brave and daring. Given his character, if he ran into a whole Meng'an on the way here, he would naturally think that there is another Meng'an in the west, and then take the initiative to fight. The Song official is a person who listens to others' advice."
Jin Wushu opened his mouth and felt a tightness in his chest.
"Fourth Prince, this is not your fault. It was my plan that was a little short, otherwise I would not have helped the Song army to lure Shu Lie into a trap!" Seeing this, Ali was surprisingly frank.
"I don't need you to admit your mistakes!" Jin Wushu's face flushed red, but he didn't know if it was because of shame or the light of the fire. "After all, Shu Liexu was sent by me, and the fire started before you proposed it!"
Olubu and Ali looked at each other, neither of them had any intention of adding fuel to the fire.
However, as the three of them stopped and watched for a long time, seeing that the fire never came back, Jin Wushu was helpless and could only order the troops who had made the feint attack to return to the camp for rest.
The nighttime retreat of tens of thousands of troops was extremely cumbersome. By the time the sporadic battles around Xiacai City were over, it was actually close to four o'clock in the morning, and even the sky in the east was already slightly whitening... For some reason, it was not until this time that Commander Han Shizhong, who had firmly controlled the surface of the Huai River, remembered to send a small boat to the water gate of Xiacai City and deliver a letter to the city.
The letter was very short. First of all, it was about asking about each other's well-being. The writing was so beautiful that one could tell at a glance that it was not written by Han Liangchen. Then it mentioned that Han Shizhong had trapped a Meng'an (a team of 1,000 men, a captain of a thousand men) of the Jin army on an island in the middle of the Huai River near Juejian Town. Finally, it mentioned that he was "preparing" to lure out another Meng'an of the Jin army that might exist in the west of Huainan by luring the enemy... This was to let General Zhang make preparations in advance, so as to avoid being frightened 'when the time comes'!
"Damn Han Wu!"
Zhang Jun hadn't slept all night and was already exhausted. After reading the letter with Zhao Ding beside the brazier, he finally became furious. "I suffered all the hardship and fatigue! But this guy ate all the meat!"
Since General Zhang was furious, all the officers who had rushed here, including Tian Shizhong and Liu Bao, naturally started to use foul language and denounce Han Shizhong.
Besides, the style has always been like this, and everyone came from the Western Army. They have seen countless dirty things over the years. In addition, the government is right across the street at this time, so Han Wu can only show off his power in this way. After all, he is not really harming his neighbors, so after a burst of dirty words, no one took it seriously and prepared to leave with General Zhang cursing.
However, at this moment, Zhao Ding, who had already read the letter several times but had not said anything, suddenly became furious and shouted in a stern voice:
"Write a letter to impeach him! All the officers above the rank of captain in the city, please join me in impeaching Han Shizhong! It's already this hour, and the Western Army is still holding on to their own prejudices. I don't believe that the government deliberately let him wait until now to deliver the letter! If the government doesn't make Han Shizhong give an explanation to us in Xiacai, I, Zhao Ding, the prefect, will be the first to jump off this water gate watchtower!"
All the officers from Xiacai City, including General Zhang, who were about to disperse, turned back and cried out in amazement.
"My fellow comrades!" Zhao Ding, who was already over 40 years old, was still wearing his green robe that he hadn't changed for who knows how long. He was standing proudly in front of the brazier on the city wall, but he had no manner of a civil official. Instead, he patted his chest and pointed to the sky, speaking with sincere words. "As long as I, Zhao Ding, am in Caicheng, I will never let you suffer any injustice... I may not be able to fight, but as the governor of Shouzhou, I have no choice but to do such a small matter!"
"I should have thought of that earlier!"
Amidst the clamor of praise, Tian Shizhong shook his head repeatedly, but whispered to his father-in-law, "Nowadays, there are already many hidden talents on both sides of the Huai River in Shouzhou... Why not let Zhao Zhizhou be in charge of military rations in the future?"
"I've suffered all the hardships..." Zhang Jun muttered in a low voice, but seeing Zhao Ding's dirty robe, he didn't say the rest of the sentence, but instinctively changed the subject. "Now that things have come to this, let's share the joys and sorrows!"
