The garrison here in Suzhou is said to be 60,000, but in fact, 20,000 were transferred to recover Hangzhou last year, and now there are only 40,000. Coupled with the lack of vacant salaries, the actual soldiers are more than 30,000.

Since the news was obtained and the Chuzhou Army's "Eastern Crusade" was known, the people of Suzhou City were panicked.

"All the letters asking for help have been sent?"

The prefect of Suzhou asked three times a day.

"It's sent, but even if the Hangzhou government sends troops over, it's too late in time, and the adults should still make plans." The henchman whispered.

The prefect of Suzhou was stunned.

Intended?

What is the plan?

It is difficult to protect yourself, and all you want is to protect your family.

He can't bear the responsibility of losing his land; Directly surrender to the enemy, and even more not.

All I hope for is to protect my family.

The staff sighed and said: "My lord, it is the fall of Changzhou, and it is Suzhou, it is time to send Taigong people and them away, and it will be too late if they don't leave!" ”

The prefect of Suzhou wiped his face, got up and bowed to the staff and said, "I can't trust others, I can only entrust them to loyal friends!" ”

The word "loyal friend" of this staff member.

The staff avoided it, and said, "Don't worry, my lord, I will live up to my lord's trust." ”

At noon that day, at the back gate of the yamen of the Suzhou prefect, two blue cloth carriages were parked, and two female dependents dressed as mothers-in-law took two children into the carriage and went out of the city.

How many people stared at the prefect's yamen, as soon as there was movement here, then the officials and gentry in the city got the news.

Tens of thousands of defenders are on the side, but what's the use?

The Huainan Provincial defenders captive by Yangzhou giants are still inferior to the Chuzhou Army, and the Jiangnan Dongdao defenders who lack armaments are not yet able to resist the Chuzhou Army?

Even the prefect sent away his family, which shows that there is no chance of victory in the upcoming war.

By the afternoon, many gentry families had followed their families out of the city for refuge.

It's just that there aren't many places to go now, and most people also go to Hangzhou.

In the evening, even the wealthy merchants began to go out of the city together.

In Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang, in order to protect themselves, the government did not slander the white-shirted army.

These three places are rich, there are still some Maitreya believers in Changzhou, and there are very few believers in Suzhou and Songjiang.

In the eyes of many people, the so-called whiteshirts are bandits, water bandits and the like, looting people's property under the guise of Buddha.

Taizhou Baishan has slaughtered the city, Qichun Baishan has divided large land, and Taizhou Baishan has relied on raiding homes and destroying doors to collect money.

They are all white-shirted soldiers, where will the people tell that there are still these multiple forces, they should only be a group.

Mixing up all kinds of rumors, this white shirt is a demon-like existence.

Few people thought about resisting, and the officers and soldiers couldn't resist, let alone the small people?

It's just that when the people also want to flee together, they can't get out of the city, and the Chuzhou army is coming to the city.

The city of Suzhou is already in chaos.

The prefect of Suzhou, Tongzhi and other officials still wanted to die in the city, and the guards outside the city also organized people to defend against the enemy.

It's just that one side is in the early 30,000s and the armament is insufficient, and the other side has an army of 100,000 and artillery, and they fought twice, and tens of thousands of defenders have become shrunken turtles.

Deng Jian is not in a hurry this time.

There are many people in Suzhou City, and the grain and grass in the city are limited, so it will not be able to support it for a long time.

Besides, the Chuzhou army had already had people in these cities, and when it was decided to "go eastward", they had a task to assist the "eastward expeditionary army" in attacking the city, and even if they could not take the gates, they had to burn the grain and grass.

When the gate of Suzhou was closed and the defenders were defending against the enemy, the people in the middle of the city also began to move.

There are tens of thousands of horses at each city gate, and it is not easy to take the gate, even if you burn the grain and grass.

Where the military rations are, they are all heavily guarded.

However, the fact that the military rations cannot be moved does not mean that the civilian rations cannot be moved.

On the night when the Chuzhou army surrounded Suzhou, the three major grain stores and two official warehouses in Suzhou City were on fire.

When the people got the news, they began to take rice bags and loot the grain from other grain shops.

The official gentry and businessmen were frightened.

The five granaries start at the same time, how much manpower does it take?

How many people are there in the Chuzhou Army in Suzhou City?

If their mission was not to set fires, but to kill people, everyone would have been spared

The next day, the people of the city began to loot the remaining grain in the market.

But in this world, even if there is food in the small grain, they don't dare to put it out, and they have to protect their own family and relatives and friends first.

Even if the two families occasionally release grain, the price changes three times a day, and the sale is extremely high, and it also supplies the needs of many people.

"Out of food? Oh my God, let people live! ”

"It's okay to fight rice and a thousand dollars, is this going to starve to death?"

"Damn white-shirted thief, burn down the granary!"

"There's still food, and the military food is still there!"

“……”

In the end, there is still fear, everyone muttered in their hearts.

But on the second and third days of the siege, there will be no more rice in the world, and the people in the city will be left without food.

More and more people went to the gates of the city.

Not to help the defenders defend against the enemy, but to provide military rations.

On the second day, there were dozens, on the third day there were hundreds, and on the fourth day, thousands of people had gathered.

"Grain, grain, if you don't put food, you're going to starve to death!" The old lady on crutches cried.

"Put the grain, put the grain!" Qingqiang, who was thinking of "the law does not blame the public" in his heart, shouted boldly.

The defenders looked at the boundless Chuzhou army outside the city, and they didn't have a good face for the defenseless people.

"Diao Min! Eat bear bile! ”

The gatekeeper directly ordered the expulsion: "Drive away!" If you don't leave, you will fight, it is all dog stuff that is not cleaned up! ”

Against the menacing Chuzhou army, the defenders of Suzhou are sheep; In the face of the people, the defenders of Suzhou turned into wolves.

The panic of being besieged seems to have an outlet for it.

"Old things, rely on the old and sell the old, get out!"

With the sound of scolding, the old woman was pushed down.

"Look for death, go home and ask for food from your mother!"

This time, it was the young man who shouted "put grain" and was slashed by the scabbard.

The people began to retreat in fear, but with the tyranny of the officers and soldiers, some people finally couldn't help but fight back.

"I'm starving to death without food, what else do you want?"

I don't know who shouted, which made many people come to the clear.

Yes, if you don't have food, you're hungry, what are you afraid of?

"Rob guys, don't give food, let's rob!" Someone shouted again.

Such a big movement at the city gate alarmed many people, and more and more people gathered at the city gate.

Wounds began to appear on the ground, and the people who began to resist took their weapons from their hands, and the confrontation began to be evenly matched.

By the time the Suzhou prefect, Suzhou Tongzhi, Suzhou Governor and other officials got the news and hurried over, the casualties of the fighting at the city gate had exceeded 100.

Both the defenders and the common people burst into flames.

The number of people who ended up in the scuffle exceeded thousands, blocking the city gates.

"What's this called?"

The prefect of Suzhou stomped his feet, and his mouth was bitter.

The defenders also came, looking at the corpses of the soldiers, and their faces were cold: "It's all chaotic people, kill, kill, kill!" ”

The prefect of Suzhou's expression changed greatly, and he hurriedly said: "Don't be tall!" ”

The defenders were all unaware of it, and directly called someone to send an order to transfer the soldiers of the other two city gates to come over and exterminate the chaotic people.

"Tall man, this ......"

The prefect of Suzhou still wants to persuade again.

The defenders all pointed to an armored corpse on the ground, gritted their teeth and said, "This is a third-grade general appointed by the imperial court!" ”

Killing an official is equivalent to a rebellion, not to mention killing a third-grade official.

It is the prefect of Suzhou, but it is just the fourth product.

The prefect of Suzhou was in a cold sweat and speechless.

……

Outside the city, the Chuzhou military camp.

Deng Jian had already gotten the news and knew that there was chaos inside the East Gate.

It's just that there is no news yet.

"The granary is destroyed, and the people in the city can't survive for a few days, so wait!" Deng Jian came to a conclusion.

Although he is belligerent, he is not reckless.

If you can wait for work at ease, you will win, and there is no need to make extraneous branches.

The Eastern Expedition was in a hurry before, but now it is not in a hurry.

Because Jinling sent the news over, the counterinsurgency army of the imperial court and the Taizhou white shirts faced each other in Huainan Mansion, and now the battle is deadlocked.

Taizhou White Shirt has sent people to Bozhou White Shirt and Huangzhou White Shirt for help.