Chapter 170 Feng Baoning refuses to surrender

Feng Bao believed that Liu Bei had a reputation for benevolence, and even if the city was finally captured, the people in the city would not suffer, and at worst he would die.

Taishi Ci only had 3,000 soldiers outside the city, but he had nearly 1,000 men defending the city. Although these nearly 1,000 men were not soldiers, they were still strong officials and civilians. There should be no problem in blocking their attack.

Moreover, Taishi Ci is a smart man and would not dare to attack the city with only 3,000 men. Even if the city is destroyed, there will be many casualties and it is not worth it.

It was precisely because of this that Feng Bao strengthened his belief in defending the city.

"Hahaha," Taishi Ci laughed suddenly and looked at Feng Bao on the city. "It is indeed not easy for three thousand people to break the city, but what if it were six thousand! To tell you the truth, General Liu can send three thousand reinforcements tonight."

Come. Feng Bao, I will give you one day to think about it. If you are willing to sacrifice the city tomorrow and surrender, I will spare your life. Otherwise, when the city is destroyed, not only you will die, but also all the people who defended the city and refused.

!"

Feng Bao was shocked and turned pale with fright. He was not afraid of death, but he did not want to see people die because of him.

But he also thought that Liu Bei would not allow Taishi Ci to kill people indiscriminately.

"Tai Shi Ci, don't try to bluff me, General Liu will never let you kill people indiscriminately!"

"Am I killing people indiscriminately? I killed all the city defenders! The person who killed them was not me, it was you! Besides, General Liu is not here, the murderer is me. At worst, I will be dismissed. But,

In this way, the city behind will be easy to break. I'm afraid that as soon as the soldiers and horses arrive, they will sacrifice the city and surrender. I don't dare to be as stubborn as you. As long as General Liu's advance goes smoothly, it won't matter if I am dismissed.

Magistrate Feng, do you think so?"

Feng Bao thought about it carefully and felt that Tai Shici was right.

If Taishi Ci killed the people guarding the city indiscriminately, even if Liu Bei blamed him, the most he would do was remove him from office, or even not remove him from office, he would just scold him and pay for his crime with merit.

After the city was broken, he and the people who defended the city were killed, which was indeed of great benefit to Taishi Ci's subsequent siege.

Those county magistrates will know that the city cannot be defended, and they are afraid of following in their own footsteps. As soon as Taishi Ci's troops arrive, they may take the initiative to leave the city and ask for surrender.

However, according to the reports from the scouts he sent out, Liu Bei's troops have not yet left Xiami. Even if they did, Liu Bei should have led his troops here himself.

With Liu Bei here, the people should not be killed.

But if Liu Bei is not here, Taishi Ci may indeed kill the officials and people who are guarding the city with him.

Feng Bao thought to himself that although he was worried about the safety of the people, he did not want to leave the city so easily to ask for surrender.

Didn't Taishi Ci say that he would give himself a day to think about it, then wait until tomorrow to see if the other party has reinforcements?

"Magistrate Feng, how are you thinking? If you surrender at this time, maybe you can still serve as county magistrate. If you surrender again tomorrow, you will be nothing!" Taishi Ci shouted at the city gate again.

"Feng Baoning will not surrender until his death!"

Feng Bao felt relieved in his heart, but he remained unwavering in his words.

"It doesn't matter if you die, don't drag the people in the city to die with you!"

"Tai Shi Ci, if you can conquer this city, Yuan Shijun and General Yuan will soon send troops to help. It's not certain who will die by then!"

Feng Bao held on to the city because he wanted to wait for reinforcements from Yuan Tan and Yuan Shao.

Although he didn't know if there would be reinforcements, he had already sent people to Pingyuan to ask for help from Yuan Tan.

Taishi Ci became a little angry, pointed at Feng Bao on the city and cursed: "You are so stubborn, just wait to die! And those who defend the city with you!"

Without waiting for Feng Bao to reply, Taishi Ci patted his horse and left, leading his troops back to the camp.

"Magistrate Feng, if not, we will surrender!"

The county official standing next to Feng Bao had just heard the conversation between the two, and now he was afraid that when the city was destroyed, he would die along with Magistrate Feng.

For these county magistrates, it doesn't matter who becomes the county magistrate or who controls the county, as long as their interests are guaranteed.

The county magistrate is a foreigner and can just walk away, but these county officials are all from the county. Their homes are here and they can't leave even if they want to.

Even if people can move, the fields and properties cannot.

"General Liu has a reputation for benevolence, and he has implemented a policy of tax reduction and exemption of taxes to benefit the people in the two counties of Donglai and Beihai. Magistrate Feng should know that many people in our county have long been looking forward to General Liu to govern this county.

, so that we can get the same tax reduction and exemption as Donglai Beihai!" The chief secretary persuaded again.

"Yes, the people in our county all hope that like the people in Donglai and Beihai, they will have their land tax reduced and their oral tax exempted!" Another county official next to him agreed.

Of course Feng Bao knew that Liu Bei's policy of reducing taxes and eliminating taxes was deeply popular among the people, but he now recognized Yuan Tan as the pastor of Qingzhou, and he should defend Shouguang City and not surrender to Liu Bei.

"Stop talking about it. Without reinforcements, Tai Shici cannot attack the city. We can just defend the city with peace of mind. If General Liu personally leads the troops, it will not be too late for us to leave the city and ask for surrender."

It's not that Feng Bao doesn't want to surrender, he just doesn't want to surrender so easily.

He cares about the lives of the people in the city, and he also cares about his own reputation. He doesn't want others to say that he is greedy for life and afraid of death and betrays the Lord for glory.

What Taishi Ci said to Feng Bao spread quickly in the city, and many officials and people were talking about it, trying to persuade Magistrate Feng to go out of the city and surrender Liu Bei.

However, Feng Bao treated the people well on weekdays and won the hearts of the people in the county. Therefore, although the people talked about it, no one thought about opening the city gate to meet the enemy.

After Taishi Ci led his troops back to the camp, he immediately ordered: "Go quickly and prepare three thousand torches for use tonight."

"Promise." After the military commander accepted the promise, he was a little confused and asked: "Is Sima preparing to attack the city tonight?"

"Don't ask too much. You will know it tonight. Go and prepare. Also, send out sixteen patrol teams immediately. The gates on all sides must be guarded tightly. No one is allowed to come in or out. I want to cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the city."

"No."

The military commander didn't know what Taishi Sima's plan was, so he accepted the promise and left.

In fact, Taishi Ci saw that Feng Bao had already wanted to surrender, but if there was no pressure, Feng Bao would still have illusions about Yuan Tan and Yuan Shao sending troops to help.

If he defends the city and waits for reinforcements, and Liu Bei is ultimately defeated, then he will be reused by the Yuan family, and maybe he will soon become the prefect of Two Thousand Stones.

Therefore, if you want Feng Bao to surrender, you must make him believe that he cannot defend the city.

And the only way to convince him that the city cannot be defended is to have enough siege troops.

It is not easy to attack a city with three thousand soldiers, but it is much easier to attack it with six thousand soldiers.

When it got dark, the military commander prepared three thousand torches and came to report to Taishi Ci.

The troops guarding the city gates on all sides also captured several people sent by the city to investigate the news, cutting off the transmission of news between the city and outside the city.

"Okay, gather the troops."
Chapter completed!