Chapter 31 Feint Attack
Chapter 31 Feint Attack
In the east of Luoyang City, military flags were fluttering and the soldiers were fighting fiercely.
More than a dozen warriors were tied up and staggered towards the execution ground.
"Governor, spare my life. I won't dare to do it again."
"Lu Ji, you've been defeated in battle after battle, but you're taking it out on your own people. Is that all you can do?"
"You will not die well either, I'm waiting, haha."
"Your Majesty, if you allow such a person to be the governor, your great cause will be ruined in an instant."
"What's wrong with stealing some things? We only want money. Zhang Fang not only robbed gold and silk, but also women."
"A real man should die, why so much nonsense?"
There was a loud noise coming from the execution ground. Governor Lu Ji was kneeling behind the desk with a blank expression on his face.
Am I wrong to plunder before fighting, harm civilians and punish these black sheep?
Champion General Qian Xiu, Central Guard General Shi Chao, Northern Army General Wang Cui, Baisha Governor Sun Hui, as well as the next-level generals Wang Chan, Hao Chang, Gong Shifan and others all looked at each other with different expressions.
Military officer Wang Zhang seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he sighed and said nothing.
"It's time to execute the sentence." Lu Ji snorted coldly. Just as he was about to give the order, he heard the sound of hurried horse hooves in the distance.
Lu Ji looked up suddenly, a little surprised.
He lacked experience and could not judge the approximate number of people from the sound of horse hooves, but with an army of more than 200,000 stretching for dozens of miles and distributed everywhere, how could it be possible for anyone to easily advance to the vicinity of his tent?
But if they were not enemies, why were they not notified? Who gave them the courage to ride their horses near the central army tent? Are there any laws?
The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and soon it was dozens of steps away.
Lu Ji stood tall with a grim look on his face.
He is one of our own, but this matter makes him even more upset.
More than a hundred riders rushed to a distance of ten steps before stopping. The leader sneered and gave the order directly: "Untie the men."
"Yes." The knights dismounted, pushed away the executioner who was about to execute the prisoners, untied the ropes on the prisoners one by one, and released them - these prisoners were all comrades in their camp, so they came to rescue them.
The general's tent was filled with generals and soldiers, but they just stared blankly, not moving a muscle.
"Meng Chao!" Lu Ji was furious and said, "Who gave you the courage to rob the execution ground without military orders? Come here!"
"Hey, Governor, calm down."
"Do not be angry, Commander-in-Chief. General Meng was also impulsive."
"When facing a powerful enemy, we must unite as one."
Military generals and staff members stepped forward to dissuade him, and some secretly signaled to Meng Chao, who was sitting high on his horse, to tell him not to make things too awkward.
Unexpectedly, Meng Chao did not give him any face. He sneered twice. After seeing that all the prisoners who committed crimes were rescued, he pointed his spear at Lu Ji and asked, "These are all brave and courageous men, but you want to kill them. He Nu, can you be a governor?"
"You!" Lu Ji was furious. Seeing that his men were indifferent and had no intention of helping him, he was so angry that he almost fainted.
Meng Chao laughed loudly, then his face straightened and he said coldly: "Lu Ji, your crime has been exposed! You secretly colluded with Sima Yi. Are you trying to overthrow the 200,000-man army?"
Everyone was shocked.
"It's over, it's over."
"Although Governor Lu has suffered minor defeats, is it too much to say that he is going to rebel?"
"I don't think so. After fighting for more than a month, we didn't gain any advantage, but suffered heavy casualties. There is indeed a problem."
"You can't say that casually."
Everyone was talking and talking.
Meng Chao ignored them and led his men away. Before leaving, he threatened Lu Ji with a halberd.
Military Adjutant Wang Zhang and Sima Sun Zheng looked at each other and found that the other's face looked ugly.
Lu Ji said nothing and went straight back to the tent.
Sun Zheng followed him in, feeling worried.
"Commander-in-chief, there are still some loyal and righteous men in the army. It would be better to summon them to the tent to listen to your orders, and then gather the troops and capture and kill Meng Chao." Sun Zheng suggested.
He was from Fuchun, Wujun, and served as Huangmen Lang during the reign of Sun Hao of Eastern Wu. After the fall of Eastern Wu, he served in the Jin Dynasty as the magistrate of Zhuo County, and is currently the Sima of Lu Ji's shogunate.
Today, Meng Chao openly challenged the authority of the commander-in-chief, which had a very bad impact. If he was not severely punished, how could he command the entire army in the future? Moreover, Meng Chao called Lu Ji a "貉奴", which was a derogatory term used by northerners to refer to southerners, and Sun Zheng felt very uncomfortable. Hearing this, Lu Ji's eyelids twitched, but he said nothing.
"Governor..." Sun Zheng said anxiously.
Lu Ji held out his hand to stop him from speaking. After a moment of silence, he said, "Meng Chao attacked me because of the past incident with Meng Jiu. Most of the soldiers in the army are from the north and have always been unyielding to me. If I kill Meng Chao, something bad might happen."
Sun Zheng was speechless.
Meng Chao's elder brother Meng Jiu was a eunuch who served the King of Chengdu for many years and was very favored. Before, Meng Jiu had asked for the post of magistrate of Handan for his father. No one else dared to express their opinions, but Lu Yun, the brother of Lu Ji and the right Sima, spoke out against it. He believed that Handan was an important place, and that qualified people must be carefully selected to serve as the county magistrate. How could he let his father, a eunuch, be the magistrate?
The beam was thus forged.
This time Meng Chao's troops were in poor discipline, burning, killing and looting everywhere. Lu Ji sent people to investigate and arrested a dozen of the most outrageous soldiers, intending to punish them according to the law to enforce military discipline. However, Meng Chao led more than a hundred cavalrymen to the execution ground, rescued the soldiers and openly humiliated the commander, which deepened the feud.
"I have my own ideas." Lu Ji continued, "Pass the order down. Tomorrow all the camps will attack Jianchun Gate. There must be no mistakes."
Jianchun Gate, also known as the Upper East Gate, is located on the eastern section of the city wall of Luoyang. Sun Zheng understood immediately that Lu Ji wanted to establish his prestige by conquering Luoyang City, and then make the other generals bow down to him.
He couldn't judge whether this was right or wrong, he just reminded: "Commander-in-chief, it's best to contact Zhang Fang, attack from both the east and the west, only then will there be a chance of victory."
"Well, I don't need to." Lu Ji nodded and said, "I'll write a letter and send it to the west of the city."
******
In ancient times, when attacking a city, one would either surround three sides and leave one side open to weaken the defenders' will to resist; or surround the city from all sides and then choose a key point for the main attack, while making feint attacks in other directions to distract the defenders' attention.
Lu Ji wanted to attack Jianchun Gate, so he thought of asking Zhang Fang to cooperate and launch a new round of offensive in the west of the city, attacking from both sides. He could even send a small number of troops from the south and north to make a feint attack to contain the enemy.
Zhang Fang agreed.
On the eighth day of October, Lu Ji personally led a large army to station outside Jianchun Gate, and Zhang Fang also launched an offensive in the west of the city on the same day.
The two "big guys" of the enemy were in the west and the east, which seemed to be a relief for the Wang Shi stationed in the south of the city. However, the troops sent by Lu Ji to this side for a feint attack had to be dealt with seriously - it was called a feint attack, but there were more than 20,000 soldiers and horses.
"Superintendent, we just interrogated the captives and learned that the enemy general is named Meng Chao, and he has more than 3,000 men." Shao Xun stood on the wall, pointed at the densely packed enemy soldiers on Kaiyang Gate Street, and said, "From what they intend, they must want to clear the south of the city, and then use it as a base to attack Kaiyang Gate and Pingchang Gate."
"Only Meng Chao's tribe?" Mi Huang asked.
"More than that. Governor, please look over there—" Shao Xun pointed his bow towards the Imperial College and other places in the distance and said, "There are beacon smoke everywhere. The Meng thieves are here to attack us."
Mi Huang's face didn't look very good.
The enemy's attack this time was a serious one, not the looting that Zhang Fang's troops had done before. There were warnings everywhere, which meant that the enemy had a large number of troops and their future suddenly became uncertain.
But he also knew that he must not show any negative emotions at this time, as this would be bad for morale.
"Shao Dubo, Biyong depends entirely on you." Mi Huang said sincerely: "I will also hand over my followers to you to lead, and everyone will obey your orders. If you win this battle, I will take credit for you in the future even if it means risking my reputation."
"You don't have to do this, Supervisor." Shao Xun said, "There are more than a thousand people in Biyong, and they are all united and share weal and woe. If Biyong is destroyed, who can survive?"
"Well said!" Mi Huang looked a little excited, and said, "If you need me, don't hesitate. When I was young, I learned some martial arts. I can't say how powerful I am, but I can still fight with the thieves."
"Supervisor, please come down from the wall and help me to clear the enemy lines." Shao Xun said, "The enemy is coming to attack us."
"Okay." Mi Huang didn't say much and went down the ladder in a few steps.
Shao Xun continued to observe.
Opposite Biyong is Mingtang. If an army is stationed there to support the Biyong garrison, it can cause great trouble to the enemy.
Unfortunately, the defenders of Biyong were too few, and Mingtang was too large. Shao Xun thought about it and finally gave up - if they were divided, they would be weak, and it would be ridiculous to be defeated one by one.
The orderly footsteps are getting closer and closer, plucking people's heartstrings with each step.
Shao Xun stared at the enemy army and counted silently in his mind. There were about 3,120 people, both infantry and cavalry - this was very strange. There were actually cavalry in the street fighting, although there were only more than 100 of them.
But it’s not incomprehensible.
Soldiers are for the generals, so maybe these 100-odd cavalrymen are Meng Chao's personal troops? How could he be willing to give them to others?
The overall military appearance is quite neat, but that's all.
You can't expect too much from soldiers who have been at peace for a long time. Maybe after a few years of fighting on the battlefield, their combat effectiveness will improve, but it's obviously not the case now.
"We can only rely on defense. First, we need to wear down the enemy's morale, and then we can think of other things." Shao Xun thought secretly.
The enemy slowly picked up their pace, and we could even see their faces and the various weapons they brought with them.
Shao Xun decisively raised a white flag.
Li Zhong, who was resting in the courtyard, jumped up and walked quickly forward with his archers, who had expanded to fifty people.
(End of this chapter)