Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 282 To survive

But…

   No reinforcements.

  There is nothing, except for the snow that is getting more and more urgent.

  So, in order to kill some horses, the Tatars continued to dig out voles. The voles always had some food in store for the winter, and they could always get some food out of the hole.

  The vicious Tatars did not spare even the voles, so that in the end, many voles would starve to death in hundreds of miles.

   The Tatars are going crazy.

  Facing the city wall that looks like a moat.

  They managed to find a Han Chinese who hid in his cellar and refused to move to Jinzhou.

  They tied him down to the city, and made him shout that those who wished to surrender would have nothing to do with Qiu, and that as long as they surrendered, Jinzhou could be preserved.

  The Han people were below, yelling hysterically for several days.

  The city was indifferent.

  In that city, there will always be a resolute figure. He patrols the city walls everywhere, not avoiding arrows and stones. Wherever he goes, the Han army rushes up.

In this cold winter, when you are attacked by stone throwing at any time, you are always in a state of anxiety, because even if there is a city wall, the fear brought by the Tatars still makes people sleepless. In a short time, the Tatars will use some method to attack the city, and then it will be the most terrible moment.

The Tatars even began to look for weak points and gaps in the city wall, and Qianhu took the order and began to pour water on the city wall. The splashed water would freeze quickly, instantly making a fragile city wall smooth and strong. .

  It is difficult to add water. To set up a pot on the city tower, the water must be half-boiled before anyone can lift it. Otherwise, the cold water will freeze before it is poured out.

  Under this constant fear, the Tatars flew under the city, shooting arrows like locusts, one by one fell in a pool of blood, and more people began to take their place.

  People have hope, but at the same time more difficulties and fears.

   Only when they saw the figure, did people feel relieved. As the figure passed by, some people burst into tears, some looked at him eagerly, and some sobbed and told how their brother was careless and was stoned to death, leaving no bones left.

  Ouyang Zhi would stop, pat their shoulders, and comfort them.

  Ouyang Zhi's words are always reassuring.

  Because, no matter how many people tell what happened to them, how many people state their fears.

  He was also expressionless, and after calm and deliberation, he slowly spoke words of comfort.

  The voice is very slow, but the slower it is, the more at ease.

   "We're going to keep going."

   "Maybe... there will be no reinforcements, but it doesn't matter if there are reinforcements or not. As long as we are still in the city, we will never let the Tartars step into the city."

   "You have to mourn, your brother is dead, but you still have parents, wife and children, and your brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews have not been raised by anyone yet."

   "We suffer hunger and cold in the city, but the Tartars are worse than us outside the city."

  The same words, if different people say it, the effect is completely different.

  For example, Zhongguan Wang Bao, if he said these words, it would only make people think that the damned **** was deliberately trying to appease everyone, and then he sneaked away.

  If Li Shan, the inspector censor, said these words, he would mistakenly think that this GOU official must have driven his brothers to work hard at the front.

  Even if it is the conductor He Yan, people think that Commander He must be more afraid and afraid than himself.

  Only Ouyang Zhi, his voice is calm and rhythmic, with a long rhyme, and his almost emotionless gaze is filled with unparalleled determination.

  His official robe was already muddy and worn out, but it had not been replaced.

  Sometimes, a round of flying arrows was shot under the city, and everyone ran away with their heads in their arms, but he was still standing.

   At this time, rumors began to breed that the flying arrows and boulders of the Tartars were also afraid of Mr. Ouyang.

  People began to call this Hanlin not by his official position, but by Mr.

  If flying arrows and boulders are not afraid of Mr. Ouyang, why is Mr. Ouyang so calm in the midst of random arrows.

  Of course, in fact, this is mainly due to the fact that there is almost no possibility of the Tatar catapults being accurate. In fact, it is really difficult for them to really hit a person.

   It's all about luck and nothing else.

  Many people who ran away with their heads in their arms would not have been smashed to death or shot to death.

Ouyang Zhi patrolled the defenses of Jinzhou once a day, and then began to visit the wounded and sick. When many wounded soldiers and civilians saw him, even if they were just dying, Ouyang Zhi squatted down and looked at their wounds first. , and then say a few words to them.

  Even if it is just a few words, the dying person seems to have received some kind of blessing. It seems that even after death, in the next life, there is more possibility of finding a good family.

  The officials above and below have completely obeyed Ouyang Xiu's writing.

  He Yan was by his side at all times, and began to whisper about the need to be careful of middle officials and inspectors when compiling.

  Wang Bao, the middle official, probably said the same thing. Speaking of He Yan, he suddenly became eccentric.

   But they were always disappointed, because no matter what they said, Ouyang Zhi was silent for a long time, and then oh.

  This is a manifestation of wisdom, but he showed uncertainty, as if to warn them that Jinzhou is dying at this time, they should work together, and they must not lose harmony between civil and military.

   Suddenly, people like Wang Bao, He Yan, and Li Shan felt ashamed.

  Ouyang Zhi didn't even blame them, but this understatement of oh seemed like a silent accusation. The amount of information contained in this oh made them more ashamed than cursing them.

   At one time, some people doubted whether Ouyang Xiuzhuan had a problem with IQ. After all, his general performance was somewhat similar to a bookworm or mentally retarded in his own village.

   But soon, this doubt was dispelled.

  If the brain is not good, can you win the first prize? One can insult others, but not oneself.

   Could it be that all the scholars in the world are not as good as even a fool?

Ouyang Zhi has become the spiritual pillar of everyone, even in the most difficult time, even if the Tatars braved the iron cannons, firecrackers and arrow rain on the city, they took their temporary ladders and began to use the most primitive but direct methods. The most effective method was to climb the city wall, and countless soldiers and civilians panicked and began to throw huge stones at the climbing Tatars.

Crazy Tatars, utterly fearless, sticking to the ladder like brown sugar, these Tatars are simply lunatics, even if the rolling stones fall on them, they are already bloody, but as long as there is still one In one breath, they still made the sound of wailing and continued to climb upwards.

   Countless soldiers and civilians began to be timid.

   After all, they are not Tatars. These poor people from the desert live in the harshest environment by urinating. They have long looked down on life and death.

   As a result, the soldiers and civilians began to panic, and even the thousands of households patrolling the city couldn't hold back the urge to flee.

  But someone had an idea: "Mr. Ouyang is here!"

   "Mr. Ouyang is here!"

  On the top of the city, those who turned around and wanted to flee suddenly gained courage.

  Yes, Mr. Ouyang is here, with him, we can definitely stick to it.

  People swarmed and tried their best to use forks to work together to find a way to push the ladder out.

   Either pour hot oil down the city wall, or drop rolling stones.

  The Tatars under the city fell from the ladder and howled. They fell heavily on the snow below the city. The snow here...is red.

  …………

   There has been no news from Jinzhou.

  Even... the imperial court had to prepare for the worst. They almost believed that Jinzhou might be doomed.

  For more than ten years, that is, a whole generation, there has been no war, and no one knows the situation of Zhongtunwei in Jinzhou better than the Ministry of War.

A large number of vacancies, the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled accounted for the majority, the military equipment was slack, the ordnance was rusty, the civil and military disharmony, the hereditary thousands and hundreds of households had no fighting spirit at all, and the military households worked day and night. The only advantage is the city wall, but the city wall...can block the Tatars for ten and a half months. These crazy Tatar troops will always try their best to rush to the city. Even the officers of the Ministry of War think that, As long as there is a Tatar on the city wall, no one will dare to take it, and it is only a matter of time before Jinzhou is broken.

  The Ministry of War here has drawn up a charter, and made a specific analysis of the situation in Jinzhou as a whole.

   After peace for too long, it is full of diseases. The Ministry of War is very clear about this.

   In the direction of Datong, there is a reason why no matter how ravaged the Tatars are, they are always solid. This is because the imperial court will deploy a large number of guest troops to assist in the defense. The so-called guest army is more like professional soldiers. They are transferred from all over the country, and the imperial court will not give them land to farm. Their ordnance will be replaced by the manufacturing bureau. Since they do not farm, the imperial court will allocate military salaries. In short... The Ministry of War generally believes that the Jinzhou defenders are unbearable.

  The garrison military system formulated by Emperor Taizu Gao is like a piece of wood that has rotted for a hundred years, and it has long been useless.

Emperor Hongzhi looked worried when he saw the memorial from the Ministry of War. In fact, he knew better than anyone that the Ministry of War was correct. Their judgment had been confirmed in many places. It is not the first time that officers and soldiers do not know what a sword is.

  Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help feeling a little restless.

   Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

  All will fall into the jaws of the Tatars. Once Jinzhou falls, the entire door of Liaodong will be opened. God knows...what may happen next.

   What's even more frightening is that once the Tatars get a large number of slaves, people, and food to survive the winter, what about the coming year?

  All of this prompted Emperor Hongzhi to give up other things and pay attention to the situation in Jinzhou.

  Fang Jifan was also called to the warm court every now and then. After Fang Jifan roughly studied and judged the situation in Liaodong, he also seemed a little worried.

  (end of this chapter)