The city is alone in the middle of the night, with dense clouds and no stars in the dark night. The people in the ancient city seem to be surrounded by endless darkness. The cold wind in winter is even colder in the dark night. The whistling wind can be heard in every corner of the streets in the ancient city.
The few people were feeling deeply uneasy, looking at the dark clouds above their heads, as if a big snowstorm was about to come.
The wind and snow are just a little bit of God's mood. What makes people feel even more uneasy are the pirates who are watching eagerly outside the city.
Three days ago, pirates appeared near Xuzhou City for the first time and launched a surprise attack.
Fortunately, Xuzhou City is as solid as a rock, unlike some small counties. Although the number of defenders is not large, they can barely withstand an attack by the pirates relying on the protection of the city wall.
But this is just the beginning. A more difficult battle is still to come. Standing on the city tower, you can see the camp where the pirates are stationed from a distance, and they have made a three-sided embrace of Xuzhou, leaving only the west gate to go out.
.
From the perspective of the defenders, the purpose of the pirates' behavior was very obvious. It was mainly used to disturb the people's hearts and minds, and to provide sufficient deterrence to the people without driving everyone to a dead end. It was to disperse the people in the city.
Just one day later, the situation in Xuzhou changed. People chose to flee from the west gate one after another, wanting to leave Xuzhou, a place of right and wrong.
There was no one left in Xuzhou City. The common people now became the force that the defenders had to rely on. They needed the voluntary participation of the common people to at least maintain the basic operations of the city and supplement the military strength when necessary.
In order to prevent the people of Xuzhou from leaving in droves, the defenders chose to close the city gates and no one could leave.
Although this move temporarily controlled the people in the city, it also made the people more uneasy.
Tonight, some people began to organize a protest. Thousands of people have gathered in the camp in the city and asked the garrison generals to open the city gate and let all the people leave.
In this era, the relationship between the military and the civilians is not so harmonious. The common people have little say in front of the officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers have always had the final say. There are also incidents of officers and soldiers bullying the common people everywhere.
Now the situation has changed. The Xuzhou defenders need to rely on the power of the people to defend Xuzhou. At this time, it is obviously impossible to rely on the same attitude as before to suppress them.
In the meeting hall of the camp, several young generals gathered together with frowns on their faces, and all of them were more or less injured.
Among these people was Qin Yuan, who had gone to the capital to ask Xia Shang for help in raising reinforcements.
Qin Yuan was just a young general with a low official rank, standing in the most remote corner of the meeting hall and unable to speak.
To be precise, no one spoke during the discussion here. You can hear the noise outside in the hall, and if you speak too quietly inside, you will be silenced.
After a while, the general sitting in the main seat suddenly stood up and walked out without saying a word.
This person is Jiang Hailong, the eldest son of the naval governor of Qing, Liang and Xu in Huanghai.
His father, Jiang Zhen, served as the governor of the Sanzhou Navy for thirty years. His official official position in the imperial court was General Zuo, a first-rank official.
Because he has been stationed at the customs all year round and has never entered Beijing, the Central Plains region knows very little about him.
As Jiang Zhen's eldest son, Jiang Hailong did not hold any position in the court, and he was not qualified to sit in the military.
Now that Jiang Hailong appears here, it means that Jiang Zhen has encountered something unexpected.
Jiang Hailong volunteered to take over his father's military talisman and command the army of the three states.
All this also happened just a few days ago. Jiang Zhen is a direct descendant of the prince. Even Li Xin does not know the current situation in Xuzhou City.
Jiang Hailong arrived at the entrance of the military camp and saw the crowds of people in darkness outside. The torches in the darkness illuminated the angry faces.
Seeing someone coming out of the meeting hall, the people became more violent.
"Open the city gate and let us leave!"
"Open the city gate!"
"Who are you? You are not the prefect of Xuzhou, why do you lock us in the city?"
"Yes! Open the city gate quickly!"
A soldier came to Jiang Hailong: "Major General, it's not an option to continue making trouble like this. If you don't show these people some color, they will only get worse."
Jiang Hailong waved his hand, motioning for him to step back, and walked up to the people.
The people knew that this man in his thirties was the leader here, and they became much quieter when he came over.
Jiang Hailong rubbed his temples, looking very tired, and asked in a low voice: "You are all Xuzhou people, and do you all want to leave Xuzhou City?"
"certainly!"
"Who wants to die here?"
"If you are really determined, then let's disperse. I will open the west door immediately and all of us can evacuate."
?”
As soon as these words came out, the people outside were stunned for a moment. They were clamoring to open the city gate because they felt that their request would not be granted so easily.
Who would have thought that as soon as this commander came out, he would agree to open the city gate without saying anything?
This situation is different from what everyone thinks.
After a while, someone asked tentatively: "Are you telling the truth? Isn't it a lie?"
Jiang Hailong did not answer. If he gave an order to the people around him: "Send the order, open the west gate now, organize the army immediately, and we will evacuate overnight."
"Major General...this..."
"Go quickly, didn't you hear me?"
Jiang Hailong's words were beyond everyone's expectations. Not only the subordinates around him, but also the people were dumbfounded.
Soon, someone heard the true meaning of Jiang Hailong's words.
"Wait...you mean the defenders are leaving too?"
"It's natural."
The evacuation of the defenders seemed to have little to do with the people, but after understanding what the general meant, some people in the crowd became quiet.
Not long after, someone from behind shouted: "This...this...this is not okay! If you leave, who will defend the city?"
Jiang Hailong sneered: "If everyone is gone, what's the use of defending the city?"
"Our house and belongings are still in the city."
"It's none of my business!" Jiang Hailong scolded angrily, "I'm not from Xuzhou! I don't have any military position, no mission to defend the city, and no need to care about your life and death. Since you don't care about Xuzhou, I
What the hell are you doing?"
"..."
The scene was silent, but there was a lot of discussion in the silence.
The people didn't think about letting the defenders leave. They all wanted to go out and avoid the limelight first, in case any pirates really attacked.
In the hearts of the people, they still believed that the defenders could defend Xuzhou City, and they left just in case.
If Xuzhou City is handed over like this, the people will not agree.
This is their home. Some people have lived here all their lives. All their family assets are here, and they don’t know what the outside world is like. Can they live without Xuzhou City?
Jiang Hailong glanced at the gradually quiet crowd: "There are two roads before you. If you want to go together, walk together, and if you want to stay together, stay together."