Zhang Wenxiu, the co-president of Luanzhou, and Li Jiquan, the defender, stayed at the head of the west city and waited eagerly after Namtai led the army. As Namtai said, the Ming army was vulnerable to a single blow and returned victorious.
In their hearts, even if Namtai and the Ming army died together, they would be happy.
The two of them watched Namtai leave with confidence, and looked forward to the good news with hope. But when it got dark and there was still no movement at all, Zhang Wenxiu became irritable.
Not having any news is the most painful thing. If you think about it, you will think the worst. If you scare yourself, you can scare others to death. He first scolded the family members who came to invite him to dinner, and then kept walking back and forth, shaking Li Jiquan.
My eyes are dazzled.
In the end, Li Jiquan couldn't stand it any longer, so he advised Zhang Wenxiu to calm down: "In a decisive battle between the two armies, the winner will definitely not be determined so quickly. After winning, it will also take time to chase down the Ming army who are running around.
"
Zhang Wenxiu stood up after hearing this, looked at Li Jiquan and said, "What if we are going to lose?"
Li Jiquan was silent for a while and then replied: "Even if we are defeated, it is impossible for the whole army to be wiped out. There will always be people who escape. There is no one seen now, which means the war is still going on."
After hearing this, Zhang Wenxiu felt a little relieved and ordered his family to bring the food to the top of the city while he ate and waited.
It was completely dark, and the torches on the archery tower at the top of the city were flickering and extinguished by the cold wind. Fortunately, there were many torches, which illuminated the archery tower brightly.
After Zhang Wenxiu's family laid out the food, they went to close the window, but he stopped him. He would rather drink the cold wind than open the window to watch what was going on outside the city.
As soon as they sat down and before they had time to eat, they heard the sporadic and rapid sound of horse hooves coming from outside the city, and then there was a burst of chirping and shouting.
When Zhang Wenxiu and Li Jiquan heard this, they stood up at the same time with a loud "huo" sound. They even bumped into the table and didn't pay attention when the dishes on the table made a "ping ping" sound.
"Jurchens!" the two of them said in unison. The outcome of the war was about to be revealed soon. They were both a little frightened and quickly got down from the arrow tower and lay on the city wall to watch.
Both sides talked for a while in different places, and then with the help of an interpreter who knew a little bit of Jurchen language, they first met the Jurchens' request and opened the door to let him enter the city.
Then, after face-to-face communication, they learned that Namtai had been defeated. This news was like a thunderbolt from the blue. Zhang Wenxiu and Li Jiquan were so devastated that they didn't even know that some of the captives had fled back one after another.
The Jianlu people gathered at the top of the city and did not disperse, hoping to wait until Namtai before making any plans. During this period, they smelled the aroma of rice wafting from the arrow tower, so they rushed to grab it first and wolfed it down.
Zhang Wenxiu's family members tried to stop him, but before he even had a meal, he was kicked to the ground and ordered to bring more food.
After about an hour, about two hundred captives came back. This made Zhang Wenxiu and Li Jiquan feel refreshed. It seemed that their defeat was not as serious as they thought. They looked forward to Namtai bringing other troops back.
The number of Jianlu who escaped later became less and less, and in the second half of the day there were no more Jianlu. The group of Jianlu and Zhang Li began to feel restless again.
There were two Niulu among Jianlu. After discussing with each other, they guessed that the large army should be led by Namtai and go directly to Yongping.
So, they no longer hesitated, and in the middle of the night, regardless of Zhang and Li's pleading, they got off the archery tower. Under the gaze of many surrendered Ming soldiers, they opened the city gate and headed north.
Everyone finally looked at their leader, Tongzhi Zhang Wenxiu and guard Li Jiquan, expecting them to come up with an idea.
Li Jiquan looked at the situation, then looked at Zhang Wenxiu who was in despair, and quickly shouted to the people around him: "They are going to Yongping to move reinforcements, and they are leaving together because the road is not peaceful. Before leaving, the Great Khan promised to defend the city. Dajin
We will not give up on Luanzhou. All we have to do is to hold on until Daikin’s reinforcements arrive.”
After he finished speaking, he asked his cronies to go to other places to preach according to what he just said, and then took Zhang Wenxiu back to the county government office.
After entering the county government office, the two of them sat speechless.
After a while, Zhang Wenxiu said: "What you said at the city gate was to appease those ignorant soldiers?"
The two of them had been with the Jianlu people all the time. They knew that the Jianlu people were actually running away, and they never said anything about asking for reinforcements.
Zhang Wenxiu knew it in his heart, but he still held on to the last straw and asked Li Jiquan, hoping that he would deny his thoughts.
But he was disappointed. Li Jiquan did not say what he expected to hear. He just sighed "Alas" and then slumped feebly on the chair.
Zhang Wenxiu was desperate. With Luanzhou's little defensive strength, he was no match for the Ming army. Once upon a time, the Ming army, whose combat effectiveness had been reduced to dregs, actually forced away the invincible Jin army today. How could he be so unlucky?
I hugged an elephant's leg, but ended up hugging an ant's leg.
As he was thinking about it, he suddenly jumped up from his chair, pointed at Li Jiquan like crazy and cursed: "It's you Qiu Ba, a warrior, who encouraged me to kill my colleagues, but then surrendered to the barbarians. You deserve to die..."
There was a "pop" sound, and the sound of Li Jiquan slapping the armrest with force interrupted Zhang Wenxiu's scolding. He sat up straight and said coldly: "If you don't be greedy for that treasury silver and don't drag me into the water, I will follow you."
Are you doing this? Now we are grasshoppers on the same rope, no one can escape. Don't even think about turning back, we killed our colleagues and took the initiative to join Jianlu, think about how to get through this!"
Although Li Jiquan's words were not loud, they calmed Zhang Wenxiu, leaving him speechless and falling back on his chair in a daze.
After a while, Li Jiquan saw that Zhang Wenxiu was still in a daze. He cursed in his mind that the civil servants were messing up, so he had to say to himself: "We are different from those Tatars. They will be fine if they escape back to Yongping. If we abandon the city and escape, the Tatars will definitely
You can’t spare us.”
When Zhang Wenxiu saw Li Jiquan discussing business with him, she raised her head and looked at him, hoping that he would have a good idea.
"There is no way to escape, and there is no way to surrender. We have no choice but to hold on. As long as we can block the attack of the Ming army, as time goes by, the Tatars in Yongping will see hope and come to rescue Luanzhou. After all, losing the city will not be easy for them.
"It's hard to explain in front of the Great Khan." Li Jiquan analyzed a result that they had no choice about.
"How can we defend? The Ming army has Hongyi artillery!" Zhang Wenxiu had no confidence at all that he could defend Luanzhou.
Li Jiquan also sighed, how wonderful it would be if there were no artillery. At this time, there were ten million Taoist priests who hated the inventor of gunpowder. It would be great if everyone used cold weapons to beat him!
It's useless to hate him. The Ming army has already brought the Hongyi cannon. Now he has no choice but to treat the dead horse as a living horse. He said to Zhang Wenxiu with a gloomy face: "Now the only way to hold on is to reward him with a heavy reward."
A few days are just a few days."
When Zhang Wenxiu heard this, he subconsciously said: "Who will pay for it?"
"Are you mentally ill? The city is about to be ruined. Why are you still holding on to your money!" Li Jiquan got angry when he heard Zhang Wenxiu's desperate attitude and swore directly at a civil servant. In the past, he wanted to
I dare not even think about it.
After the curse was uttered, Li Jiquan calmed down a bit, then suppressed his anger and said again: "You and I both have to take out the money. We can't defend Luanzhou without heavy rewards."
After he finished speaking, he saw that Zhang Wenxiu was still in a daze, so he stopped thinking about the miser and sighed that he had become obsessed and boarded his pirate ship.
Li Jiquan stood up and finally said to Zhang Wenxiu: "Think carefully. You will have to use the money to reward the defenders tomorrow morning. Take your leave!"
He patted his butt and walked away, leaving only Zhang Wenxiu sitting in the lobby of the county government office.
After a while, Zhang Wenxiu stood up in despair and murmured to himself: "Money, my money, I have to spit out everything I eat, and it costs the life of my whole family, why should I suffer! I am so obsessed with it.
Damn it..."
At ten o'clock in the afternoon the next day, the main force of the Ming army finally appeared on the border of Luanzhou and quickly surrounded Luanzhou County.
The defenders at the top of Luanzhou City saw their former comrades lined up outside the city, with banners fluttering and the momentum growing, and they couldn't help but feel pale in their faces. Although the ingot of silver in their arms warmed their hearts, it could not warm them.
Many people's hands and feet are trembling.
Zhang Wenxiu, Li Jiquan and their confidants were shouting loudly and saying words to boost morale. However, under the invisible pressure of the Ming army outside the city, the effect was very little.
Sun Chengzong, who was standing under the banner of "Sun" in the army outside the city, looked at the defenders on the top of the city, all still wearing red robe uniforms, but they had become the lackeys of the Jianlu captives. He felt quite emotional and ordered to persuade them to surrender.