Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 26: Defensive Deployment

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  The sky grew darker again, and another day was about to come to an end.

  Wanyan Liang watched the battle on the city wall from a distance, his face getting increasingly unsightly. He had originally wanted to take advantage of today's probing attack to capture Chuzhou in one fell swoop and give Wanyan Zongmin and Xieli Zhining a big surprise. But now it seemed that this dream had become an illusion.

  By his side, Kong Yanjiu said with some heartache: "Your Highness, let's retreat! Han Shizhong's troops are too strong, and their combat effectiveness is not bad. Although they are not many in number, they have organized all the civilians in the city to defend it, which has greatly made up for their numerical disadvantage. My troops attacked the west gate of the city today and found that among the things thrown down by the Song army, there were windows, doors, bricks... obviously, they didn't have enough rolling stones and wooden logs, so they dismantled the houses in the city... This is a complete display of a desperate situation!"

  These 7,000 troops probing the attack were all under Kong Yanjiu's command. After a whole day of attacking, more than 1,700 people were killed or wounded, nearly a quarter of the entire army.

  "Yes! Your Highness, Han Shizhong's troops are second only to the Yue Family Army in terms of combat effectiveness among the Song army. Our troops have suffered heavy casualties and cannot continue attacking without rest. Now if we force them to attack the city again, I'm afraid it will lead to a mutiny."

  "Alright! That's it for today, let the soldiers take a rest! Tonight, report to the general about today's reconnaissance attack situation and estimate that tomorrow will be a real strong attack!"

  Wanyan Liang also felt a bit helpless at this time. He had previously fought against the Song army, but it was with Zhang Jun's troops, although he failed to win in the siege war, but repeatedly defeated Zhang Jun's army in the field battle. But from today's battle situation with Han Shizhong's troops, it feels that this Korean army is more stubborn than Zhang's army.

  "Han Shizhong's troops are so powerful, wouldn't the Yue Family Army, which is known as the strongest in the Song army, be even harder to defeat? The Ninth Prince said that the Fourth Prince had lost his courage and ambition after being defeated several times by Yue Fei, and only wanted to negotiate with the Song Dynasty. If he were to lead the troops to attack, they would surely win. Now it seems that what was said may not be entirely true, these Song army are not necessarily much weaker than our Jurchen army!" thought Wanyan Liang to himself.

  Geng Zhong looked at the Jin army retreating like a tide under the city wall, wiped off the mixture of blood and sweat on his forehead and said: "It seems that the enemy has retreated!"

  He clutched two wooden swords stained red in his hands, panting heavily. In this one day, he had killed at least fifty Jin soldiers, but he himself was also injured in several places, and several times he almost got killed by the Jin army soldiers who climbed up the city wall, fortunately, his personal soldiers desperately protected him, using their bodies to block arrows and swords for him several times, barely saving his life.

  "It's okay, I managed to hold on." Geng Zhe sat at the foot of the wall, panting heavily.

  "I didn't expect the Jin army general who came down from the city to be your fellow townsman Kong Yanzhou. The Jin people are quite trusting of these fake Qi generals, aren't they!" Hu Nian also sat beside Geng Zhuo, picked up a water bottle and took a sip of water.

  "Hmph! This guy, he's got talent, but he doesn't have the backbone of a true warrior. He was a general of our Great Song, but eight years ago, he defected to the fake Qi, and three years ago, after the fake Qi was abolished by the Jin state, he became a general of the Jin state. He's truly a 'three-surname family slave'! I, Geng, cut ties with him long ago!" Geng said angrily. He and Kong Yan-zhou were from the same hometown, and their relationship used to be extremely close, but in the end, they became sworn enemies.

  "Haha! Hu Mou was just joking, General Geng, don't take it to heart!" Hu Xian hastily laughed.

  He spent more time by Han Shizhong's side than Geng Zhong, and considered himself to be Han Shizhong's trusted confidant. However, he recently felt that Han Shizhong was increasingly appreciating Geng Zhong.

  In recent years, Geng has been brave in battle and righteous in his dealings with others, earning the admiration of Han Shizhong. Although he had only recently joined the Han family army, he quickly rose from a low-ranking officer to the position of Defender of Chu State, surpassing Hu Zhong's rank, which made Hu Zhong jealous. As a result, although the two men appeared to get along on the surface, Hu Zhong secretly plotted against Geng, but Geng always seemed to have someone watching over him and managed to turn danger into safety time and again.

  Just as Hu Zhong and Geng Zhuo fell silent again, Han Shizhong and Yu Yunwen arrived in front of the two.

  The two men hastily got up and bowed.

  Han Shizhong sighed and waved his hand, saying: "Everyone doesn't need to be too polite, the current situation is tense, Mr. Yu's estimate is indeed correct. Today, the Jin army attacked fiercely, but their Jurchen troops basically did not join the battle, relying only on the Han army to attack. But tomorrow they will surely launch a fierce attack. At that time, it's likely that they won't just attack one city wall, and it's very possible that they'll attack all three sides of our city walls..."

  After that, he glanced at Yu Yunwen, but Yu Yunwen nodded slightly to him, indicating that he should continue speaking.

  Han Shizhong turned around and said seriously: "Geng Zhong, tomorrow the defense of the south-facing city wall will be handed over to you! There is a high possibility that it will be the second key direction of attack by the Jin army. You lead 1,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians to defend, if you feel overwhelmed, notify me immediately!"

  Geng Zhe hastily straightened his back and responded in a loud, clear voice: "I guarantee that I will defend the southern city wall to the death and absolutely not let the Jin army break through from my side!"

  Han Shizhong nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Hu Zhen and said: "Hu Zhen, you just guard the east city wall! I'll give you... eight hundred soldiers and one thousand five hundred civilians. The terrain on the east side is low-lying, the city wall is high and grand, and the possibility of it being the main attack direction is relatively small. But don't be careless!"

  Hú Fǎng didn't feel too great about it: The eastern city wall isn't that important, so they let me guard it? The soldiers and civilians assigned to me are also fewer than those given to Gěng Zhāo. I've been one of your most trusted generals for over a decade, Hàn Shìzhōng!

  However, he was extremely cunning and naturally wouldn't reveal his true intentions at this time. Instead, he put on a righteous expression and replied: "I will definitely do my best, if the Jin army wants to enter Chu State from here, they can only step over my dead body!"

  Han Shizhong was apparently satisfied with both of their performances and said, "I will personally lead the remaining soldiers to guard the western city wall."

  After a pause, he asked Yu Yunwen again: "Mr. Yu, can you feel if there is anything else missing?"

  Yu Yunwen thought for a moment and said: "I don't know if the soldiers who contracted the plague in the city have improved today?"

  Han Shizhong said with some excitement: "The commander has just sent someone to ask Mr. Xu about the situation. According to him, the plague in the city has been completely brought under control. Currently, they are following General Yue's method, isolating all patients and prohibiting them from moving around freely. They have also strictly ordered everyone not to drink water from the canal, but only boiled well water. Before using water, everyone must boil it before using it for cooking or drinking..."

  He paused for a moment, then continued: "At present, there are no new cases in the city, and this epidemic is not fatal. After taking some nourishing medicine prescribed by Mr. Xu, many strong-bodied people have recovered significantly. However, due to the large number of patients, there is not enough medicine. I can only arrange for the most elite soldiers among the patients to take it. According to Mr. Xu's estimation, these hundreds of people will recover tomorrow... but others will have to wait a few more days to gradually recover."

  "Hmm, I didn't expect Young Master Yue's method to be so effective. In that case, it seems we might actually make it through tomorrow!" Yu Yunwen said with some surprise and delight after hearing the news.

  Although Yu Yunwen appeared confident in front of Han Shizhong and Yue Yun, as if he had everything under control. However, he was well aware that there were only 5,000 soldiers who could fight within the city, and it would be difficult to defend against the Jin army, which was ten times larger. The strategies he designed, even if they all succeeded, would only have a 40% chance of winning. But if hundreds of elite soldiers could join the battle tomorrow, their chances would increase slightly.

  "Mr. Yu, you've also had a hard day, why not go back to your room and rest? I'll go take a look at the situation with the other city walls!" Han Shizhong said with concern as he saw Yu Yunwen's tired face.

  Yu Yunwen thought for a moment and nodded, he didn't go to the battlefield today, but he was busy arranging supplies transportation in the rear and organizing rescue of wounded soldiers. After being busy all day, he indeed felt tired. Moreover, his father's illness still lingered in his mind.

  "Alright! Then I'll take my leave first! If General Han has any further orders, just send someone to summon me!" Yu Yunwen bowed and took his leave, then turned around and walked down the city wall.

  Han Shizhong then inspected the other three sides of the city wall, carefully checking for any weaknesses or loopholes in the defense. The inspection results were reassuring, as this time the Jin army's attack was exploratory and did not use large-scale siege engines, so the city wall was intact and undamaged.

  But Han Shizhong knew that tomorrow would not be so easy. He ordered the personnel who stayed behind to guard, and let the soldiers who had fought for a day rest on the city tower to prevent the possible night raid of the Jin army. And he himself sat in the west city tower to keep watch.

  The night was deep, and the city of Chu State, which had been baptized in blood, still stood tall.

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