Chapter 405 Be prepared
With the death of the main general, the enemy troops in the valley were completely defeated. Each general led his troops to continue the pursuit. Only then did Li Tai have time to gather with Li Yunxin and others to exchange intelligence.
"The last general and others came from the south of Yunyang Valley and were blocked outside the Great Wall of Beishan. They took advantage of the time when the bandits from the east were recruiting merchant groups and entered. There were about two thousand followers. The rest, including Liu Kuzhen and others, were still stranded at the Great Wall. outside……"
Li Yunxin first briefly narrated Bie Lai's deeds, and then hurriedly led Luo Chao up, who had been captured before, and continued to report: "The thief Jiang Yanzi Xian killed before you and the Luo Chao in front of you are all related. The rebel generals from the west, especially Luo Chao, once caused great harm to our Qinzhou countryside!"
"What did you say? This man's name is Luo Chao?"
Li Tai was surprised when he heard this. Of course he knew about Lu Lingxuan, one of the people in charge of traffic in the late Northern Qi Dynasty. By the way, he also knew a little about her husband, so he looked at the tired guy with interest.
"General, please allow me to tell you that I am definitely not the same person as Yan Zixian! I am willing to fall and rebel against my master to seek glory, but I surrendered to the Eastern thieves because I was defeated in battle and had no choice but to save the lives of the people in the city. After entering here, I always think about returning. It was indeed a crime to commit evil in the countryside as a thief in the past. Just because I was kidnapped by bandits, I later killed the thief's head and lured his disciples to surrender to the court..."
Luo Chao had just recovered from his shock. Seeing that Li Tai was the leader of this group, he hurriedly bowed his head and defended himself sincerely.
Li Tai was very happy after listening to this. If he didn't know this guy's deeds and resume and just listened to his self-defense, he might really think that he was an innocent man who emerged from the mud and remained unstained in troubled times. But this guy is a capricious and moral person. A speculator with a despicable nature and cruel methods, it is hard to say whether his wife and children caused such misfortune to the Northern Qi Dynasty because of his words and deeds.
"General Luo has been famous for a long time. Although he is in the enemy camp now, he did not do so voluntarily. Quickly untie him and apologize!"
Seeing that this guy was by no means a loyal pillar, Li Tai wanted to learn more about the enemy from him, so he put on a gentle and polite attitude. After seeing Luo Chao's flattered look, he said: "I am honored by the Great Master. The Xingtai mission came here to implement the strategy of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao. As long as they could resolve this military crisis, it would be a great achievement.
If you, general, can help me out of righteousness, I will return home with great honors on the day of my triumph, and I will no longer have to sink into the realm of thieves. In the past years, there were many defectors and few who returned to justice. With the reputation of the general, if you can set an example for this, Daxingtai will treat you favorably! "
Luo Chao, who spoke in just a few words, was very passionate. He had been depressed all year round in the Eastern Dynasty. He felt that his current position could not match his achievements in the past. Now he was reduced to a prisoner and saw Yan Zixian die tragically in battle. When I heard Li Tai's enthusiastic solicitation and the exciting prospects he described, I was already extremely excited.
"To be able to accept the important task entrusted by Prime Minister Yu Wen and to perform such a heroic deed, it can be seen that you must be a young brave man with a high reputation in the country! Although I have long teeth, I still have some fierceness, but if I don't give up, I am willing to serve as an envoy Your dogs and horses are pioneers, and I will help you win this great achievement!"
He knelt in front of Li Tai's feet and said loudly with sincerity on his face.
After hearing the words, Li Tai waved his hands and said: "You are serious, you are serious. What the general said really offended me! How can I be so virtuous and capable as a junior? How can I dare to use the general lightly? But it is enough to kill the enemy side by side and achieve great feats together." That’s it!”
He wasn't pretending to be polite, he really didn't dare to accept this old boy as his younger brother. This guy was too much of a nuisance to the boss. He was just talking about it and thinking about it in his heart, but Luo Chao really meant this. Doing it as a career is simply Lu Chengjing!
Seeing that he was in an absolutely powerful situation but still respected him so much, Luo Chao was deeply moved. He quickly said: "May I ask what your plans are? I will risk my life to follow and help!"
The next step is of course to take advantage of the victory and continue to advance towards Jinyang. Luo Chao couldn't help but gasped after hearing Li Tai's idea. He sighed in his heart that the future life is terrible. Just these troops dared to invade Jinyang. !
But after marveling, he had to admit that the timing was indeed right. The Jinyang army was currently out on an expedition, and most of the troops left behind in the army were concentrated on the Beishan Great Wall. The only considerable garrison nearby was the 5,000-odd troops in Xiurong City, but Most of them have been defeated here.
This means that in addition to Jinyang's own defenders, it will take at least several days to assemble a considerable reinforcement force in the surrounding areas. Within this period of time, Jinyang City became a truly isolated city, but this isolated city was a bit big.
Although Luo Chao was not in a strong position in the Eastern Dynasty, he still had experience and ability. After thinking for a while, he spoke again: "To lead your troops to this point, talent and timing are both indispensable. The city of thieves is right in front of you. If It would be a pity if Master Xuan does not follow the rules..."
"Did the general teach me?"
When Li Tai heard this, he felt happy. This was also something that troubled him. It was not easy for him to lead his troops to this point. It would be an almost impossible task in normal times.
And after this time, the Eastern Wei Dynasty will definitely strengthen its defense in this area. It will be twice as difficult to replicate in the future. It would be a pity if it cannot take the opportunity to expand its achievements.
Although he has never been to Jinyang City in person, he also understands that it is unrealistic to dream of conquering the city with these troops. Unless there is a systemic collapse of a military and political center that is the focus of the regime, it will be difficult to break through. Even Huazhou City, which was much weaker than Jinyang, Gao Huan's army could not break it.
Hearing that Luo Chao's tone seemed to be full of ideas, Li Tai's heart was full of expectations, and his attitude towards him became doubly enthusiastic.
While the fighting here in Chishi Ridge was fierce, another group of hundreds of armored soldiers entered Jinyang North City and were then placed somewhere in the city defense.
Shedigan, who was guarding this place, personally inspected the city to ensure that all defenses were in place. Of course, it is impossible to truly make no mistakes. He can only try his best to ensure that there are no obvious loopholes within his own capabilities.
The expedition of the army caused a sharp decrease in the treasury supplies, and also reduced the population carrying capacity of Jinyang City. To maintain a larger garrison within this limited range, other non-combatants could only be dismissed.
At the same time, in order to avoid causing a large-scale personnel panic, Shedigan could only mobilize soldiers from some Wubian cities near Jinyang City to enter the city. Although the garrison of these small strongholds is limited, the number of troops gathered together is considerable. As of now, the number of troops garrisoned in the cities of Jinyang has exceeded 10,000.
The increased troops are mainly used to improve the defense of Beicheng and the Prime Minister's Mansion. This is also the most important area in Jinyang City and must not be lost. Of course, it is best for other urban areas to be well defended, but their importance is relatively reduced. .
Because more than 4,000 garrison troops were added, tens of thousands of non-combatants in the city needed to be dismissed, mainly enslaved soldiers who belonged to the Bafu and needed to be fed and fed by the Bafu.
Quite a few of these soldiers were prisoners of the Battle of Mangshan last year. They did not follow King Gao's army to go south to fight for fear that they would miss their homeland.
Although at the end of last year, the Bafu ordered the release of these Mangshan prisoners of war and matched them with civilian widows so that they could settle down and become civilians under the rule, for a while, the civilian population could not sort out tens of thousands of widows and distribute them uniformly, so it could only be done in batches. The resettlement continued until this year, and thousands of Mangshan prisoners of war were still stranded in Jinyang as soldiers.
It was this group of soldiers that Shedigan ordered to be sent away to eat in the suburbs, but he himself did not know it. He didn't even know how to read, and he really lacked the ability to handle government affairs accurately. He only formulated a framework and handed it over to his subordinates for implementation.
Tens of thousands of elite Jinyang soldiers guarded the cities. Coupled with the large number of residents in the city, a large number of powerful people could be recruited at critical moments to coordinate the defense of the city. At least in the eyes of Shedigan, who had experienced battles for a long time, Today's city defense should be as solid as a rock and cannot be easily shaken.
Not to mention that thousands of merchant groups were recruited outside the Beishan Great Wall before, and together with the Xiurong City defenders, there were tens of thousands of people. It is very likely that the danger in that area could be solved south of Lishi Mountain. It would not be possible. Then it spread to Jinyang.
Although the possibility of an accident was very small in any aspect, Shediqian still felt a little uneasy. Although he didn't know the reason for this uneasiness, he still didn't dare to be too optimistic and let down his vigilance due to his intuitive sense of danger that he had developed over the years.
On this day, Shediqian only felt that the sense of crisis in his heart was getting stronger. He even left chopsticks on the table several times when eating in the evening, which made him feel inexplicably nervous.
It's not that he hasn't experienced big battles before. He is so suspicious that he can't control himself. Being nervous like this for no reason often means that something bad may really happen.
So before it got dark, he inspected the city defense again, and extended the range of the scout patrol in the suburbs to ensure that any unexpected situation could be noticed immediately, and informed other city guards to be sure to do so. Be alert and don't want to leave after dark, covered with thick fur.
Just an hour after nightfall, when he went out for a night inspection, he galloped back and informed that there were indeed unusual signs outside the city. Birds and beasts fled in fright, and there was a faint sound of galloping horses. All signs indicated that It seems that a large group of people is quickly heading towards Jinyang City, and they are expected to arrive the night before.
After hearing the scout's report, Shedigan also took a deep breath. He did not feel any fear because of this. Instead, he felt less anxious because he was sure that the bad thing would come true. There is no need to be suspicious now, just focus on fighting and repelling the invading enemies.
Because the enemy's situation was unclear, he did not order an immediate alert for the entire city. He only conveyed the news of the impending invasion by foreign enemies to the various garrison officers, ordering them to prepare for war with a tight outer and inner tightness, and to gather some soldiers who were in the camp. Get up and repair the city defense here.