Chapter 1231 Final Choice

Chapter 1231 Final Choice
On April 27, Yang Qin led his troops across the Lujiang River and entered Xuancheng on the same day.

In the next few days, they kept chasing down the remaining enemies in the surrounding areas, while also recruiting surrenders and traitors and collecting supplies - the last point was the most important.

Upon hearing the news, Sima Chong fled all the way to Ningguo and Huaian.

His performance was the worst in this battle.

He was at a loss as to how to advance or retreat as a whole, unable to command the army and was being held hostage by his subordinates. He was also hesitant and indecisive, so that he had only four or five thousand men, whose fighting power was at least better than that of the strong men from the wealthy families, but they were useless and his food and fodder were wasted in vain.

After the defeat was reported back to the east, the Wuxing Shen Clan, who had been beaten back repeatedly recently, felt less pressure. But with less pressure, they started to cause trouble.

On the third day of May, Qian Feng died suddenly and was hastily buried by Shen.

They claimed that Qian Feng had drunk too much and fell into the water and died. However, the remaining members of the Qian family did not believe it and thought that Qian Feng was killed by Shen. The two sides even fought a battle and the Qian family fled.

Seeing the Shen family's ugly face, other families were also afraid and kept their distance from them, and some even left without saying goodbye.

In this battle in Jiangnan, it is so difficult to distinguish between the enemy and us...

In Hefei, north of the Yangtze River, the battle was coming to an end.

On the fourth day of May, He Chong, the governor of Huainan, saw the He clan members from Lujiang being driven out from the city wall and couldn't help but burst into tears.

The relatives who were once so familiar to me stood outside the trench, looking extremely desolate.

Among them were the elders who had taught him how to behave in society, peers with whom he grew up, nephews and nieces whom he admired, and even women holding babies.

Liang Jun stood behind them and drove them forward.

Military law is strict, the rear team will kill the front team, there is no room for compromise.

However, they deliberately slowed down their pace at this moment and did not urge the He family members who were walking hesitantly in front of them, as if they wanted to give He Chong more time to think.

Choose Sima or He, now you need to make a decision.

Everyone on the city wall looked at He Chong.

The scholars from Huainan, Lujiang and even Jiangnan have the most complicated eyes. They all say that they are selfish, but it does not rule out that some people want to practice their own ideals. Even those who are busy scheming and trying to gain benefits for their families all day long, what do they think deep in their hearts?
People are complicated, and sometimes even they themselves can't figure things out.

He Chong remained silent.

The military schools watched him quietly. As long as he gave the order, the archers would step forward and shoot these He clan members as Liang soldiers.

Of course, if He Chong ordered them to surrender, they would be happy to do so.

Can an isolated city that is destined to have no reinforcements be defended? It will only increase casualties, both for the enemy and for ourselves. From a military perspective, it is meaningless. The governor of Shan has given up Hefei, and the only purpose of their persistence is to cause casualties.

It was a hot day with almost no wind. The air in and outside the city seemed to be frozen, and everyone was sweating.

The He clan members below the city were within the range of an arrow, and the Liang soldiers behind them were also approaching. The military schools all turned their heads to look at He Chong.

There is no time to think further.

"Surrender..." He Chong seemed to have used up all his strength and uttered a word with difficulty. Then his eyes went dark and he fainted on the ground.

"Master!" The staff rushed forward in a panic to help him up.

The officers breathed a sigh of relief and ordered their bows and crossbows to be put away. The ordeal was finally over.

That afternoon, all the gates of Hefei were opened, and the remaining 4,000 defenders lined up outside the city and handed in their weapons and armor.

The Liang army besieging the city almost cried for joy.

They were neither palace soldiers nor imperial guards, and there was no benefit for them in fighting, let alone attacking a well-fortified city like Hefei, which would cost countless lives.

Now, the people of Wu have surrendered, and they are lucky enough to survive.

Unlike Hefei, Liyang has not surrendered yet.

This city was also very strong, with even more defenders, no less than five thousand.

The current defending commander is General Fujun and Supervisor of Liyang, Lu Wan.

Zhang Shuo has arrived at the city of Liyang.

Looking at the towering fortress and then at the letter in his hand, he sneered and said, "Lu Wan has a lot of ideas."

Yang Tao followed closely behind Zhang Shuo, looking anxiously at his own garrison troops who were attacking the city.

One after another, vivid faces emerged from the ladder trucks, rushed up the city wall in despair, and then fell down below the city like rags.

There were also those whose ladder trucks were accidentally burned. They were all covered in flames and rolled on the ground screaming.

He looked at Zhang Shuo who didn't care at all and felt even more helpless.

"It's a bit unrealistic for Wujun Lu to want to be exempted from punishment." Zhang Shuo shook his head and said, "However, this matter still needs the emperor's decision."

After turning around and instructing his subordinates to draft a victory report, Zhang Shuo began to inspect the camp again. "You must not drink raw water." Zhang Shuo said, "Stay in the camp as much as possible when you have nothing to do, and don't go near stagnant ponds. Shouchun has learned a lesson. Soldiers stationed in the city rarely get malaria, but soldiers stationed outside the city near the swamps have a lot of diseases."

Yang Tao calmed down and asked in surprise: "Commander-in-chief, why is this happening?"

Zhang Shuo didn't know what to say, so he could only say, "Your Majesty said that malaria is spread by mosquitoes."

Yang Tao was stunned, this was very strange.

Who hasn’t been bitten by a mosquito? Why haven’t most people gotten malaria?
Zhang Shuo glanced at him and said, "Don't believe it? Actually, I don't know whether it's true or not. But your majesty said that the blood of the infected person is poisonous, and when the mosquito bites, it also carries the poison, and then bites other people and spreads it. This statement has some truth."

Yang Tao looked at him closely.

Zhang Shuo thought for a moment and said, "Do you know about the attack on Shu two years ago?"

Yang Tao nodded repeatedly.

"The soldiers of the Right Flying Dragon Guard went to Ba County. They left relatively late, and many people were infected. After they returned, many people in Changshan, Zhongshan, Boling and other counties were infected with malaria, but fortunately it gradually disappeared." Zhang Shuo said, "Malaria is rare in Hebei. I have never heard of it, but it was summer when these people returned, and mosquitoes were rampant, so it must be somewhat reasonable."

It was only very late that people realized that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes, and before that humans had little idea about it.

Shao Xun had no evidence to support his statement. He simply used his personal influence to enforce the fact and reduce the incidence of malaria as much as possible.

There are many types of diseases in the south, but malaria is definitely a major killer, and in many areas it is even the number one killer. Historically, the Dutch East India Company brought batches of Germans who grew up in cold regions to Batavia. As a result, 20% of them died from this disease every year, and those who did not die also suffered a lot of pain.

Malaria was rare in the north of the Daliang Dynasty, but it gradually became prevalent once you crossed the Huai River, and became more and more severe as you went south.

"Don't think too much. Just do what His Majesty says." Zhang Shuo said, "The siege has already caused huge casualties. If you don't want to kill a large number of people by the epidemic, just follow the military order."

"Yes, sir." Yang Tao replied with a serious expression.

"Summer is coming..." Zhang Shuo looked at his own camp that surrounded Li Yang and was really worried that a major epidemic would break out one day. After all, it had rained a lot recently and the weather was hot and humid, making people feel uncomfortable all over.

******
After a few thunderclaps, the sky seemed to be pierced with a hole, and heavy rain fell impatiently. Between the sky and the earth, there was a vast expanse of white, almost blocking the view.

This was the fourth time that Yu Yi had come to Zhuge Hui's house, but this time something seemed a little different.

"Such a heavy rain has ruined the fun. Mr. Ge is still able to watch the rain by the pond, which is quite elegant." After taking off his shoes, Yu Yi bowed as a greeting, then came to the window, knelt beside Zhuge Hui, and said with a smile.

"This rain is not only in Wuchang, but also in the south of the Yangtze River." Zhuge Hui said leisurely: "It has been raining for several days, and the humidity and heat are unbearable. Shuyu has never fought in the summer, right?"

Yu Yi shook his head. He didn’t know how to fight a war, so how could he understand these things?
Zhuge Hui pointed to the woods outside the window and said, "It's raining non-stop. There's not even a bundle of dry firewood to be found in the wild. Cooking is extremely difficult. The soldiers can't have hot soup or hot rice for days, and can only chew dry food. What do you think will happen?"

After saying this, without waiting for Yu Yi's answer, he continued, "Eating is fine, but even the camp is wet. It's raining heavily outside, and it's drizzling inside the barracks. The ground is full of dirty water, and the bedding is soaked and even moldy. What will happen?"

"The post roads have been in disrepair for a long time and are extremely dilapidated. Even on sunny days, they are bumpy to walk on. After being soaked by rain for many days, they become extremely muddy, and carriages and horses get stuck in the mud, causing the transportation of food and supplies to be delayed. I have seen that due to continuous heavy rains for months, transportation was cut off, and soldiers had to soak elm leaves and wild vegetables in salt water, causing the corners of their mouths to rot."

"After too much rain, many places that were once walkable will be flooded. The grass under your feet today will become the bottom of a lake tomorrow. There are too many such places in Jingzhou. In the winter when the water level is low, the land is covered with wilderness, and in the summer when the water level is high, it becomes a land of water and marshes."

"Even when the rain stops for a while, it's still cloudy, and it's not uncommon to sit there and sweat all over without doing anything."

"Shu Yu, do you think we can continue this battle?"

"It's only the beginning of May..." Yu Yi found that Zhuge Hui had disturbed his mind again, and could only make weak excuses.

Zhuge Hui smiled slightly and said, "Yes, it's only May. It will be very strong in June and July."

"Why does Lord Ge have to act so hypocritically?" Yu Yi could no longer suppress his anger and said angrily, "If the Daliang army has a hard time in the summer, will the Wu people be better off? At worst, we can rest in the summer and then move our troops in the cool autumn to attack Jianye directly. Why doesn't Sima surrender?"

"You are right." Zhuge Hui nodded.

Yu Yi was stunned.

Zhuge Hui suddenly stood up and said, "Junwen has written back, saying that my daughter lives in Bianliang and will be provided with all her expenses."

Yu Yi also stood up and looked at him with a little excitement.

God have mercy on us. After spending so much time in Wuchang, have we finally succeeded in persuading them to surrender?
"He Chong surrendered Hefei, Lu Wan was trapped in the isolated city of Liyang, most of Jiangbei was lost, and the thousand-mile river defense was completely destroyed. The situation is hopeless." Zhuge Hui sighed.

"It's great that Mr. Ge thinks this way." Yu Yi said with a smile.

"How about I give Shao Taibai a generous gift?" Zhuge Hui suddenly leaned closer and asked.

"Could it be Jingzhou..." said Yu Yi.

Zhuge Hui smiled and said, "More than that."

Yu Yi was about to ask again, but saw Zhuge Hui had already left with a laugh.

"The ships are connected with each other, destroying the mountains and setting sail for Wuchang; the waves are crashing and rolling up the universe and penetrating Penyang..." His singing voice could be heard faintly from the corridor.

Yu Yi seemed to understand something.

(End of this chapter)