I'm in the Red Mansion

But Jia Huan hesitated for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying, "Third Brother Cong, I won't leave. I want to stay!"

Huh?
This answer is not like Jia Huan's style.

He has always been timid and afraid of death, so why is he so brave now?
Jia Cong couldn't help but ask: "Have you thought it through? Once the city is captured, you will die."

Hearing the word death, Jia Huan couldn't help but shiver.

But in the end he still gritted his teeth and said: "Third Brother Cong, don't underestimate me. Today I will also shout Champion Marquis with others."

"I am still afraid of death, but I don't want to be cursed by the people like those officials of Magistrate Fan."

"I am not good at literature or martial arts, but I don't want to lose even the last bit of my courage."

"Third Brother Cong, if I die, I hope you can take care of my mother for me."

Alcohol gives cowards courage!

Although Jia Huan had never drunk any alcohol, his passion was aroused when everyone in the city shouted "Marquis of the Champion".

It has to be said that environment plays a vital role in a person's growth.

Jia Cong couldn't help but smile and said, "Well, since you have the courage, go down and prepare for the battle!"

Jia Huan nodded, and couldn't help but say, "Third Brother Cong, if the city is really breached, don't forget to take me with you to escape!"

Hearing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This is just right, this is Jia Huan’s character!

……

However, after Fan Cheng and others escaped from the city, they couldn't help but slow down.

At this time, they did not dare to really escape back to the capital.

If you want to go back, you have to at least wait until the city is broken and then it will not be too late to run back.

At this time, the Qing army had not arrived yet. If they fled back to the capital, even if they took out silver to bribe Prime Minister Qin, they would probably not be able to escape death.

At this time, these people were sincerely hoping that the Qing army would arrive at Jizhou City as soon as possible and take the city as soon as possible.

Jiang Chuan said with a gloomy face: "Master Fan, what should we do now?"

"If the Qing army fails to capture the city, or even returns without success, what should we do?"

As the Qing army approached, they abandoned the city and fled in advance.

The most embarrassing thing was that the Qing army finally defended Jizhou City and returned empty-handed.

This will make them look even more like a joke.

Fan Cheng snorted coldly, "Let's find a familiar city first, settle down, and wait for news. Jizhou City will definitely be captured."

"The food and grass in Jizhou City will not last more than half a month. We will definitely not be able to hold on."

Before running away, Fan Cheng actually went to ask Jia Cong.

If Jia Cong had answered more firmly and said that they could definitely defend the city, Fan Cheng would not have run away so resolutely.

But Jia Cong's answer was that as long as the city survived, the people survived; if the city was destroyed, the people would die too. Upon hearing this, it was clear that he had no confidence in defending the city and was ready to defend it to the death.

Fan Cheng naturally would not follow them to die.

And as the prefect, Fan Cheng knew that there was not much food and grass left in Jizhou City.

They had already asked the imperial court for help, and the imperial court asked them to send a batch of grain from Liangcheng first.

Then, the court's food and fodder could be delivered within one or two months.

However, the Qing army came too quickly, so Liangcheng no longer dared to transport grain to Jizhou rashly.

Otherwise, these grains would definitely fall into the hands of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, what Fan Cheng didn't know was.

In fact, Liangcheng and Jizhou City have always been connected.

Jia Cong has ordered the Zhao family members to set up a pigeon receiving point in Liangcheng.

Jia Cong had been in contact with Niu Jizong for a long time.

Jia Cong had already told Niu Jizong that there was no need to transport any grain or fodder over there.

Because there is not much food and grass left in Liangcheng.

In fact, much of the food and grass in Jizhou City had already been hidden by Jia Cong.

At least if you stick to it for three or four months there won't be any problem.

The Qing army definitely could not besiege Jizhou for three or four months.

At most, when it is freezing cold and snowy, they will withdraw their troops.

However, Jia Cong had already made up his mind to let Fan Cheng abandon the city and flee, so he naturally would not tell him these things.

After Fan Cheng pondered for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Spread the news secretly, saying that there are only ten days of food and grass in Jizhou City."

"As soon as the Qing Dynasty learns of this, they will attack the city desperately. The city will be captured within 20 days!"

Jiang Chuan nodded and said, "The prefect's plan of killing someone with a borrowed knife is brilliant. That's how we do it!"

Soon, Jiang Chuan and his team secretly spread the news.

Jiang Chuan and his people already have connections in Aurora.

And this news spread very quickly.

Therefore, within just three or two days, the news spread like wildfire, and all the states where it was spread knew about it.

At this time, Geste led an army of 150,000 and approached the city of Jizhou.

He learned the news while he was on the road.

Geste was even more delighted.

The news of food shortage in Jizhou City spread to everyone.

I have to say, the internal strife within Daxia is really fierce!
How could such a court not fail?

This time, the Qing Dynasty was determined to take over the city of Jizhou.

However, the young general Jia Cong who was guarding Jizhou City was very strange. Even Geste was a little wary of him.

But now that he knew that Jizhou City was short of food and only had enough for ten days, he was completely relieved.

The soldiers under Gestai's command congratulated Gestai one after another.

"Congratulations, General. Congratulations, General. There is a shortage of food and fodder in Jizhou City. As long as we surround the city, we can prevent Daxia's reinforcements and food and fodder from being transported in."

"By then, we won't need to attack the city, they will start to cause chaos on their own."

"Haha, they only have ten days' worth of food and fodder. It will only take us half a month at most to break through the city without any effort!"

And Geste said: "If you still have some patience, this general is prepared to take a month to break the city."

"Although there is only ten days' worth of food and fodder in the city, we still have to be on guard against the possibility that there will be more food and fodder among the people."

"And the food stored by the people can only sustain them for another ten days at most."

"In twenty days at most, their food supply will be exhausted."

"Once they are cut off from food, they will either surrender or break out. There is no third way."

"So we surrounded them and just had to prevent them from breaking out."

"This way, we don't have to attack the city anymore, and we can reduce the loss of troops."

After hearing this, the generals under Gestai felt that the general was too soft-hearted and too slow.

The city can be captured with a fierce attack, so there is no need to waste so much effort.

However, he repeatedly praised Gesste for his careful planning and loving his soldiers like his own sons.

Gerstad couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

Next, Gestai ordered his soldiers to surround Jizhou City, but not to rush to attack.

Instead, he ordered his soldiers to make siege equipment on the open ground every day.

This is also a kind of psychological warfare, which brings tremendous psychological pressure to the Daxia soldiers in the city every day.

At this time, Jia Cong had already learned through carrier pigeons that the food and fodder information in the city had been leaked.

After hearing the news, Jia Cong couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Jia Cong believed that this news must have been leaked by Fan Cheng and others.

Because there were not many people who knew the food and grass situation in Jizhou City, there were no other suspects except them.

It’s hateful that these corrupt officials and parasites don’t care about the interests of the country and the nation at all.

However, their cleverness backfired and they ended up conveying false information to the Qing army.

In the past few days, the number of bombs produced in the city is not large.

If the Qing army starts a fierce attack now, the bombs produced now may not be enough.

And if they drag it on, the longer they drag it on, the slimmer their chances of winning will be.

Therefore, this fake news actually helped them.

However, it is necessary to inform Second Brother of this news in time so that they can wait with peace of mind.

However, there are some problems with food and fodder.

But it is not unsolvable. He can go to other cities to borrow some food.

Jia Cong calculated the time and thought that perhaps the news of food shortage in Jizhou City had also reached the capital?
In that case, let's just add fuel to the fire.

Next, Jia Cong wrote another letter and sent the message back by carrier pigeon.

A few days later, Daxia Monthly was reissued again.

This additional issue still published news from Jizhou City.

The city of Jizhou was surrounded by an army of 150,000. In the city of Jizhou were the prefect, the associate prefect, the assistant prefect and other civil officials.

Before the Qing army arrived, they all returned to Beijing to seek support.

At this time, the news that there was only ten days' worth of food and fodder in Jizhou City was leaked.

An army of 150,000 surrounded the city of Jizhou, intending to starve the defenders in the city to death.

The defender of Jizhou City, Jia Cong, vowed to live and die with Jizhou City.

After seeing the news in newspapers, countless people cursed Fan Cheng and others as traitors!

At the same time, he was very worried about the safety of General Jia and the people in Jizhou City.

In Ningguo Mansion, Madam Mei and Lin Daiyu were both extremely worried and shed tears secretly.

In fact, when Jia Cong sent the letter by carrier pigeon, he quietly wrote a secret letter to Lin Daiyu.

This secret letter was written in code and was considered a little secret between the two of them.

In the secret letter, Jia Cong told Lin Daiyu that there was enough food in the city and Jizhou City would definitely be able to be defended, so she didn't need to worry.

Lin Daiyu also told Mrs. Mei the news, but even so, how could they really feel at ease?
As for Xue Baoqin, Qingwen, Xiangling and other girls, Lin Daiyu was afraid of leaking the news and did not tell them the truth.

Therefore, they are also very worried.

In the Rongguo Mansion, Grandmother Jia and Jia Zheng were also worried about Jia Cong and Jia Huan every day.

Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion prosper together and suffer together.

Now that Jia Cong has just been conferred the title of Marquis Guanjun and is enjoying the emperor's favor, they naturally don't want anything to happen to Jia Cong at this time.

However, Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng were both very satisfied and only wished that Jia Cong would die immediately.

Aunt Zhao couldn't help crying every day and was worried about Jia Huan.

Tanchun came to comfort her every day, and she felt better after that.

Naturally, the court had already known the news.

Emperor Yonglong was naturally furious!
Emperor Yonglong only learned about the escape of Fan Cheng and others after receiving the report from Jia Cong.

Before this, Fan Cheng and others had never asked for instructions, and the Ministry of War had never reported the matter.

These civil servants who were sent by Emperor Yonglong to check and balance Jia Cong all fled when the Qing army approached.

As for Jia Cong, who captured Jizhou City, he chose to defend the city when the Qing army was approaching, vowing to live and die with Jizhou City.

Emperor Yonglong felt betrayed by these civil servants.

At the same time, he felt guilty towards Jia Cong.

In a rage, Emperor Yonglong ordered people to arrest Fan Cheng and his family members and put them in prison.

He also ordered the arrest of Fan Cheng and others and brought them to Beijing for trial.

On the other hand, Emperor Yonglong hurriedly continued to send reinforcements to Jizhou City. In fact, the court had always had a plan to rescue Jizhou City.

However, it is not an overnight task to mobilize troops and transport food and fodder from the south.

However, they did not expect that the Qing army would come so suddenly, completely disrupting the rhythm of the court.

At this time, Emperor Yonglong had to withdraw food and grass from the capital to support Jizhou City first.

Emperor Yonglong issued an edict, ordering the reinforcements to deliver food and fodder to Jizhou City to ensure that Jizhou City was not lost and that Jia Cong was safe.

……

The people in Jizhou city were in panic at first.

However, as Jia Cong walked around the city every day, the people's emotions gradually calmed down.

With General Jia here and General Jia accompanying them, what is there to be afraid of?
Could it be that their lives are more noble than General Jia's?
Next, the people in the city, under the coordination of the military generals, began to transport supplies to the city wall in a steady stream.

At this time, Jia Huan was not idle either, but followed the people in transporting supplies.

Transporting supplies is actually very tiring. Although Jia Huan is unwelcome in Rongguo Mansion and is a nobody, he is a nobody.

But he also lived a life of luxury and had always done heavy work.

But at this time, he gritted his teeth and persevered, never complaining or feeling tired.

After a few days, he became several shades darker and thinner.

But his body became stronger, and the frivolous air about him gradually faded away.

Seeing this, Jia Cong was quite relieved.

This guy actually grew up under such circumstances.

In the Firearms Battalion, people were working overtime every day to make bombs.

Three to four thousand bombs have been produced so far.

It is said that the Qing army outside the city had produced many siege weapons within a few days.

At this time, they were building a pontoon bridge under the command of Geste.

Because they had made sufficient preparations in advance, they were able to build ten floating bridges at one time.

The same method won’t work if used a second time.

Therefore, Jia Cong not only did not use fire attack, he did not even send troops to snipe outside the city.

The other side was well prepared and had a large number of people.

Even if we snipe from the other side of the moat, it won't have much effect.

At most, we would injure one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of our own.

It would be better to just guard the city wall.

The Qing Dynasty built ten floating bridges in just one day.

But then, they were not in a hurry to attack the city.

Instead, he continued to make siege weapons.

Jia Cong climbed up the city wall many times to see the Qing soldiers below the city diligently making siege equipment every day.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were under tremendous pressure.

Only Jia Cong discovered that the Qing Dynasty did not actually put all its efforts into making siege equipment.

They are just acting. In fact, the number of people they send out every day is not as many as it seems.

In other words, the Qing Dynasty probably had no intention of attacking the city at all.

Come to think of it, they have learned that there is not much food and grass left in the city, only about ten days' worth of food and grass left.

In this situation, they only need to surround the city from the outside and starve everyone in the city to death.

In this case, why were they in a hurry to attack the city?
You know, attacking a city comes at a huge cost.

And they don't need to pay such a high price.

Nowadays, they pretend to make siege weapons every day, but I'm afraid it's just to win over the hearts and minds of the people.

Seeing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but smile.

Next, Jia Cong only sent out a quarter of the soldiers every day to take turns guarding the city walls to prevent the Qing army from stealing the city.

Jia Cong ordered the remaining people to take turns to rest.

More than ten days passed in a flash.

The imperial court's reinforcements and food supplies were never delivered.

They were ambushed by the Qing Dynasty on the way.

The reinforcements were defeated and more than 10,000 soldiers were killed or wounded.

As for food and fodder, they were all intercepted by the Qing army.

When Emperor Yonglong heard the news, he was furious.

He hurriedly prepared the second batch of food and fodder as quickly as possible, making sure to send them to Jizhou City.

Speaking of which, this is also the disadvantage of Jizhou City.

Because Jizhou City is too close to the Qing Dynasty.

Outside Jizhou City, Youzhou, Zhuozhou, Mozhou and Yingzhou were all controlled by the Qing Dynasty.

They can send troops to ambush at any time on the road.

The price the imperial court had to pay to support Jizhou City was too high.

The best way is to transfer through Liangcheng.

However, Liangcheng is now also besieged by the Qing army.

Now, the second batch of food and supplies may not be delivered.

If the food and fodder cannot be transported, the soldiers and civilians in Jizhou City will only face death.

……

Outside Jizhou City, Geste counted the days and found that the siege had lasted for more than half a month.

By this time, the Xia army in the city should have run out of food.

At this time, they are probably already plundering food from the people to survive.

However, the people’s food supply will certainly be very limited.

At most it can sustain them for four or five days, and then it will be gone.

The Xia army in the city can no longer hold on.

And Geste was ready to put more pressure on them.

Next, Geste ordered his men to make announcements outside the city.

Let the soldiers in the city quickly open the city gates and surrender.

As long as you surrender, you will be given a high position and generous salary.

Even if he leads his troops to turn around and attack Daxia, as long as he can make great contributions, he may even be crowned king in the future.

If they are stubborn and refuse to surrender, they will be massacred after the city is captured.

Upon hearing the shouting, Jia Cong personally climbed up to the city gate and shot and killed the soldier who was shouting.

Jia Cong's action completely angered Geste.

After Geste decided to break into the city, he would massacre the entire population.

Next, Gestai ordered the soldiers to throw bags of earth under the city wall.

He used this trick to prevent Jia Cong from setting fire.

Next, Geste began a tentative siege.

Jia Cong couldn't save face when this happened.

Secondly, attacking the city is still inferior to attacking the heart.

They were prepared to continue to put pressure on Xia's army in the city.

And Jia Cong also countered each move.

Soldiers were sent to fight in shifts every day.

Now the city walls are fully stocked with various defense supplies.

If the besiegers do not send out enough siege personnel, siege almost means giving away lives.

As for the Xia army, there were very few casualties.

Jia Cong was naturally very satisfied with this situation.

And for Geste, it is now just a delaying tactic.

He was also waiting for the day when Jia Cong would lead the army to open the city gate and break out.

At this time, the people in the city had no food left.

They survived every day by relying on food distributed by officers and soldiers.

The people in Jizhou City were deeply moved.

They even refused to take the food distributed by the officers and soldiers.

Because they also knew that there was not much food left in the city.

If all the food was left for the soldiers, they might be able to hold out for a little longer.

If we share it among them, I'm afraid there will be no food left in a few days.

If both sides were going to die, they would rather starve to death now and leave all the food for the soldiers.

However, Jia Cong still ordered the soldiers to distribute food strictly according to the number of civilians.

The food and fodder that Jia Cong calculated to be enough to support three or four months also took the civilians into account.

At this time, the second batch of food and grass support from the court was also intercepted by the Qing army.

After two consecutive batches of food and fodder, the third batch of food and fodder could not be gathered in a short period of time.

But I’m afraid that the soldiers in Jizhou City simply can’t hold on for that long!
Next, Jia Cong wrote a few more letters and sent them back by carrier pigeon.

A few days later, Daxia Monthly was reissued again.

This additional issue still reported on the battle on the front line of Jizhou City.

The supplement stated that although there was little food and fodder in the city, the soldiers and civilians in the city were taking it easy.

All the soldiers said that they would rather die standing than live on their knees.

The people in the city said that they would rather be eaten by the Xia army than be killed by the Qing army.

The people in the city would rather use their bodies as food for the soldiers of Daxia.

Nor did he want to die tragically under the scimitars of the Qing Dynasty after the city was captured.

If it were just these dry slogans, perhaps people would not be able to empathize with them.

The newspapers also published many real-life stories of soldiers and civilians.

For example, Niu Da, a soldier in the army, hoped that after his death, the court would give all his pension to his mother, and hoped that the pension would not be snatched away by others.

Zhao Liu, who was in the army, hoped that his wife would raise their son well after his death.

Sun Shiyi, who was in the army, hoped that after his death, he would cancel his engagement with his fiancée and let her find another good man to marry.

Among the common people, Sun Lao Da’s hometown is Yuhang. He hopes to return to his hometown after his death, but he is afraid that he will not be able to realize this wish.

Liu Laosou's wish is that the imperial court can send a large army to kill all the Qing troops and avenge them...

This issue of Daxia Monthly moved countless people to tears.

Countless scholars were filled with righteous indignation, and many scholars hated themselves for being useless and were willing to give up their pens to join the army.

Even Emperor Yonglong and all the civil and military officials in the court were deeply moved.

In fact, such deeds are not unprecedented and are not uncommon if you look through history books.

However, those recorded in history books are all well-known and prominent figures.

The wishes of ordinary soldiers and ordinary people will definitely not be recorded in history books.

However, the wishes of the smaller people are more likely to resonate with ordinary people. (End of this chapter)