In the dark night, there was deathly silence in Baoding Mansion.
The battle during the day made everyone mute. Tens of thousands of rebel soldiers crowded under the base of the northern city wall, but there was silence. Some people wanted to say something, but nothing could be said.
The battle in the afternoon shocked them too much, if it could be considered a battle and not a one-sided beating.
Thousands of corpses were laid out on Beicheng Street, and thousands of injured were lying in several resettlement places not far away, wailing in pain.
On Beicheng Street, from time to time, people from the city came with lanterns to identify the corpse. The white-haired old man and woman, holding a cane, led their daughter-in-law and grandson, and the whole family searched blankly among the corpses covered with straw mats.
Those who couldn't find the bodies naturally breathed a sigh of relief. Those who found the bodies of their relatives immediately burst into heart-wrenching tears. Then the family sadly took the bodies away in a small car.
Zhao Sui hung his injured left arm on his chest with a cloth strap. He and a dozen of his followers stood on Beicheng Street, looking at the people identifying the corpse and listening to their grief-stricken cries.
He wanted to step forward to comfort him, but he found that what he said was meaningless and feeble. He also understood that since there was a rebellion and war, death would follow him. Although he was sad, there was nothing he could do.
Zhao Sui was originally a scholar. Although he did not pass the imperial examination, he was still a scholar. He taught children in a private school in the countryside of Bazhou. He was a respected person and lived a comfortable life.
Like almost all scholars, Zhao Sui cherished the desire to serve the court, honor his ancestors, and realize his personal value. The so-called self-cultivation, family governance, country governance, and world peace were his dreams.
Even after he failed and became a private school teacher, he taught his son to do the same.
However, the harsh government in Hebei became more and more fierce. He witnessed the suffering of the people at the bottom and saw them being oppressed, humiliated and abused in all kinds of ways. He felt really painful in his heart.
But he is just a private school teacher, he can't change all this, he can only watch all this, there is nothing he can do.
Until one day, disaster befell him. That day, his wife took her son to the river to fetch water. On the river bank, they met a group of four government servants from the government office who came to run rampant in the countryside. Seeing the woman's beauty, the government officials went to the river to fetch water.
Laughing before.
Zhao Sui's wife immediately angrily scolded the gang of madmen, which angered them. They grabbed the woman without stopping, held her down by the river and tortured her. The woman was so strong that she struggled hard and bit one of them.
The hand of the yamen supervisor. The supervisor became angry and chopped off the woman with a knife.
In order to silence them, the four men also killed Zhao Sui's six-year-old son Xiaohu, and threw their bodies into the river and floated away.
However, what they did not expect was that this scene was clearly seen by a commoner who was herding sheep on the mountain. He rushed back to Zhuangzi's private school and told the news to Zhao Sui, who was taking the children to study.
When Zhao Sui heard the news, he was like a thunderbolt. He immediately rushed to the river to search. When he saw the blood on the river beach, the overturned bucket and his wife's embroidered shoes, Zhao Sui had the last hope that the incident was false.
The idea was completely shattered.
Zhao Sui held the embroidered shoes and cried loudly. Then he put the embroidered shoes in his arms, wiped his tears and returned home to get a long sword and a bow and arrow. While studying, he followed the Six Arts of Scholars and also practiced archery.
He also imitated Zu Di and heard the chicken dance, so he bought a long sword. After that, he went out and chased him along the river beach.
The countryside where Zhao Sui lived was dozens of miles away from Bazhou City. Those government officials who went to the countryside always walked together without horses or vehicles, so they did not walk fast. On the river beach more than 20 miles away from Bazhou, Zhao Sui caught up with him.
Four government officials rushed to Bazhou City.
Zhao Sui didn't say much, chased him fifty steps away, bent his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot one of the yamen servants. The yamen servants knew that they were seeking revenge, so the other three rushed over with knives.
It's going to end with Zhao Sui.
Although Zhao Sui's martial arts skills were average, he was superior to his tall stature and great strength. After a fight, Zhao Sui was stabbed seven or eight times by three government officials, but he successfully killed all three government officials.
Zhao Sui cut off their heads, beat them with wooden sticks, kneaded the soil to make incense, made two tablets, one large and one small, with wood chips, and wrote their names in blood. He placed the four bloody heads in front of the tablets.
After worshiping his wife and children, he cried a lot. Then he returned to the village, packed up his fine clothes and carried them on his back.
Afterwards, he burned down his house, left the village, and fled to the mountains, where he became a bandit.
Since then, the world has lost the teacher Mr. Zhao, and has gained the murderous and scheming Madman Zhao.
Since Zhao Sui fell into the grass, he has led the green forest tycoons to do a lot of big things. He acted boldly and often unexpectedly. For example, in the most famous time, he led several copycat brothers into Bazhou City to commit crimes. He robbed the clouds in the city.
In the house of Shanbo Li Liang, Yun Shanbo was stripped naked and hung in the market.
The whole city was shaken, and soldiers and horses were out searching for them. They were still sleeping soundly in Yun Shanbo's back house. They left the city only after dark. Such a crazy and bold move made Zhao crazy.
's name.
Now that Zhao Sui has embarked on this road, there is no possibility of turning back. But he can't stand Lulin's habits. The actions in the village often make him feel uneasy. Even the people in the village are killed, which he doesn't want to do.
In addition, the leader of the cottage had no ambitions, so he did not agree with some of Zhao Sui's proposals and did not dare to go too far. This made Zhao Sui very dissatisfied.
A few months ago, when he learned about the rebellion of Liu Liu and Liu Qi in Wen'an County, he suggested that the village leaders come to join him and work together to achieve great things. However, he was severely reprimanded and refused.
In anger, Zhao Sui left the village with a group of his men and came directly to join Liu Liu and Liu Qi. They were all from Bazhou, and the brothers Liu Liu and Liu Qi were not incompetent. They all knew each other.
As soon as he joined, Zhao Sui was like a fish in water, and he repeatedly used tactics to wipe out the officers and soldiers of Hebei. This also established his position in the rebel army.
If everything continues to develop at this rate, Zhao Sui believes that the rebel army will soon occupy Hebei, Shandong, and Henan as kings. The court will have nothing to do with them. When their strength develops to a certain stage, they can even send their troops north to capture the capital.
Zhao Sui had no respect for the imperial officers and soldiers. He believed that even if there were 200,000 troops in the capital, they would still be vulnerable. It was just that the time had not come. When the rebel army had 200,000 troops, those who had never fought
The Beijing camp that fought the battle was actually no match at all.
He was not against Qi Yanming, Zheng Hu and others' proposal to go south to seize Nanjing, and it was a good idea to move across the river to rule it. But in his heart, he believed that there was no need to sacrifice the near and seek the far. He believed that the Ming Dynasty had exhausted its power, and they could completely conquer Hebei.
Shandong and other places were run like iron barrels. They had to stand next to the Ming court's bed with a knife, so that the little emperor could not sleep.
Everything he saw and experienced gave him an unforgettable hatred for the imperial court. His goal was not to rule across the river, but to overthrow it and liquidate this cannibalistic imperial court.
This is Crazy Zhao, he dares to think more than anyone else.
He believed that he had the ability to do all this. The idea of allocating land to the people was his idea, and the effect was very significant. The rebel army was victorious and gaining momentum.
However, he never expected that when he was about to add fuel to the fire, he would be poured a basin of ice water over his head. It was cold to his bones. There were such soldiers and horses in the imperial court, and their weapons were so ferocious that it was outrageous. .Moreover, the man who led the army was so scheming that he threw dirty water on me, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he couldn't clean himself up.
Zhao Sui stood on the inner street of Beicheng, his mind was burning, his body was unbearably hot, and he felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart. He didn't know how to deal with the current situation. The enemy troops outside the city seemed to really keep their promise and showed no signs of attacking the city overnight. .It is peaceful now, but what about tomorrow?
What should we do after dawn tomorrow?
The sound of footsteps disturbed Zhao Sui's thoughts. He turned his head and saw a dozen rebel generals walking from the darkness under the city wall.
Zhao Sui breathed a sigh of relief and raised his eyes to look at them quietly. He seemed to have a premonition of something.
"General, I have met Deputy Commander Zhao." A group of generals bowed their hands and saluted.
Zhao Suidao: "Everyone is polite, are you okay?"
"I would like to ask Deputy Commander Zhao if he has any strategies to defend against the enemy's attack tomorrow? We have been discussing for a long time, but I am really unsure." A general with a big beard asked in a deep voice.
Zhao Sui looked at him, and the bearded general and everyone also looked at Zhao Sui blankly. There was something indescribable flowing in his eyes.
"Everyone, let's talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow. Have a good sleep tonight, the officers and soldiers will not attack." Zhao Sui said.
"Why sleep? After tomorrow, I can sleep forever. It's better to keep your eyes open during the last moment." A general said.
"What words? What words are these? Will they shake the morale of the army?" Zhao Sui said angrily.
The generals were silent. The bearded general said slowly: "This military morale...does it need to be shaken? Everyone knows that tomorrow will mean death."
Zhao Sui shouted: "Are you afraid?"
The bearded general sneered: "Afraid? We dare to rebel, but are we afraid of death? I just want to ask the deputy commander if he has any tricks to defend against the enemy. We are not afraid of death, what we are afraid of is that the death is unknown. Like this afternoon Same thing, we can't even touch the enemy, so we've killed and wounded thousands of people. How can we fight this battle?"
"Yes. It took a lot of effort for us to have so many soldiers and horses. Are they all going to be sacrificed here? Marshal Fengtian, Deputy Marshal Zheng, and... and Deputy Marshal Liu... they have finally accumulated so many manpower. It's not worth it for them all to die here. As long as Vice-Commander Zhao has a way to defend against the enemy, we can just wait and die in battle. But I'm afraid that Vice-Commander Zhao has nothing to do? Then we have no chance of winning. To die in vain?" A general echoed in a deep voice.
Zhao Sui frowned and said: "I really haven't thought of a good countermeasure, but if you give me time, I will definitely come up with a clever plan to save Baoding Mansion."
"Deputy Marshal Zhao, no disrespect to me. We have discussed it and believe that there is only one feasible way at the moment." The bearded general said.
"What can we do?" Zhao Sui said.
"Abandon the city and leave, conserve your strength, and go south to join General Fengtian. Although the officers and soldiers outside the city are powerful, they only have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. After the army is reunited, gather 70,000 to 80,000 troops to fight with them hand to hand. Those firearms cannot be used in melee. 7 If eight of them fight against one of them, we will definitely win. If we defeat this soldier and horse, the imperial court will have no soldiers and horses that can compete with us." The bearded general said solemnly.
Zhao Sui frowned and thought for a while, then said in a deep voice: "What about Baoding Mansion? No more?"
"Generalissimo Fengtian said he didn't want this place, but it was Deputy Marshal Zhao who insisted on guarding it. Generalissimo Fengtian didn't even want Hebei. How angry was Deputy Marshal Zhao? He even gave up Deputy Marshal Liu's life for this.
A broken city?" someone said.
Zhao Sui's eyes were about to get angry, and the bearded general turned around and said: "Li Zhen'an, don't say that. We are subordinates, how can we interfere with Vice Marshal Zhao's decision? How to explain, it belongs to Vice Marshal Zhao and Marshal Fengtian."
Things. We just focus on the war at hand."
Zhao Sui gritted his teeth and said: "You have all decided? If I don't agree, what will you do?"
The bearded general said: "We won't do anything. We just ask Vice Admiral Zhao to consider it. We will leave the green hills without worrying about having no firewood. It is not a good idea to die in vain."
Zhao Sui raised his head and looked at the sky. The last quarter moon had just risen, the sky was dim and hazy, and the stars and moon were without light. The wind was blowing, and although it was almost April, Zhao Sui felt the coolness.
People's hearts are broken and it's hard to lead the team.