And in another shed farther away in this winter wheat field, Yang Shigu, the internal affairs adviser exclusive to the governor of the capital, took the initiative to surround Yang Shigu, who were all new and old subordinates who once belonged to the rebel army. Each listened to his teachings with faint envy and admiration:

"The Metropolitan Governor once said: The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility! ,This is really well said.,The reason of the road that is awakening.。。 ”

"Since the chaos of the world, there may be no shortage of people of insight and discerning people in this world, who are deeply aware of its evils; However, what is most lacking is this kind of self-sacrificing who is willing to sacrifice his life and wealth, and take on the future and way out of the people. ”

"As everyone knows, it is those families who have stolen high positions and authority, from generation to generation, who are bent on how to gather and exploit the people's anointment, and lie on the bodies of thousands of Li Shu to suck blood and extract marrow, in order to continue for generations to come; But he never thought about how to repay and feed back to this world. That's why the whole world has become such a heinous appearance. ”

"Therefore, there is a great governor in the name of the Taiping Army to respond to the situation, the mission of the time, isn't it to follow the time, hang the people and fight crimes, and get rid of these families, gate valves, eunuchs, feudal towns, wealthy families and other five beetles in the world, and then also a big Qingping in the world. This is the meaning of true peace."

As for the adjacent shed, Wang Chongyin, the Xuanzhou garrison envoy who was already gray, was also waking up to his nephews:

"Seeing that you are all going to let things go, I don't shy away from saying a few more words; But it's just some of my personal experiences and feelings, but I don't think what I said is good. ”

"Nowadays, the soldiers made by the unified discipline and economic system of the Metropolitan Governor's Office are the texture and body of an army, which determines the bottom line of the army's combat strength and morale. Therefore, the officers and men of this army can be perseverant and able to fight in the face of the enemy, and they have always been among the rebels from all walks of life. ”

"The generals and colonels who come out of the barracks school/night school, as well as the short-term training/crash course, are the backbone and framework of the army, which is comparable to the bones of the same people; It determines the degree to which the combat effectiveness and morale of the corresponding army can be maintained and exerted for a long time. It is based on the strict orders of the Taiping soldiers, advancing and retreating, and not losing ground for the temporary victory or defeat. ”

"As for the subordinates of the generals in the battalion, it is the mind and the head of an army where to go, and it also represents the utility that the corresponding army can wield and use, and where the greatest room for meritorious service lies... Since then, the Governor's Mansion has been able to calm the wilderness of the Quartet with the force of refinement, move and run to fight in the mountains and rivers, and never settle in adversity and hardship. ”

"If you want to get the corresponding future and deeds, you must take this as a way to introspect and start from time to time, face difficulties step by step, and experience and sharpen them in a down-to-earth manner. Don't think too much about the opportunistic and fortunate ways to deviate. ”

"Today's Metropolitan Governor's Mansion has its own general trend of forging ahead, and has the ambition to sweep the world, so naturally there is no lack of opportunities for people to perform and act. Therefore, the ability and merit that have been accumulated are the foundation of our generation's perseverance. ”

At the same time, in Xiangyang City, the small pendant calamus accompanied by a female companion also came to a garden that was temporarily used as a museum.

According to the meaning of the Empress Cao of the New Dynasty of the Great Qi Dynasty, several batches of thousands of dowries and servants of various colors from Chang'an were seated, after preliminary screening and diversion; The remaining half were gathered here, waiting for further selection, assessment, and assignment from the Governor's Queen's Mansion.

- I'm the dividing line -

In the eastern part of Shannan, in Ankang County, northwest of Jinzhou, Zhang Dong, the commander of the Taiping Garrison Brigade, who had repelled attacks many times, also touched the bloody sweat flowing down his head, and only felt that half of his face was hot and painful.

Sitting on the icy battlements frozen by water, he watched with a blur of the fine snowflakes falling from the sky, and the rebels retreating in the distance in silence and depression. They didn't even bother to clean up the bodies and wounded; Just kept walking and hastily exited the misty vision.

Let the plain white snowflakes slowly cover everything on the battlefield outside the city little by little, including those that can no longer move and those that can move, under the echo of the cold wind, frost and snow outside the city, it is slowly losing the last bit of noise, and returning to the dead silence.

Unknowingly, he had been holding on here for more than a month, and in this short period of time, he had fought at least a dozen offensive and defensive battles, and even burned at least three camps outside the city; But it also lost all the mules and horses available for maneuvering.

Rebels who came to attack were repulsed or routed by the formations; More and more rebels gathered and continued to besiege them. Therefore, less than half of Zhang Dong's side can continue to stand.

And in this small and dilapidated county, there have been two civil strife and riots; Because of this, he also lost a number of old robes who had known each other on the border of Annan and supported each other all the way.

They did not die in the rain of rebels, but they were wounded and killed in a sneak attack in a makeshift shelter, or they fought until the last moment; It was easy to repel the rebels' support on the wall, and only then did he let go of the last breath of strength, and died of irreparable injuries and detachment.

However, the after-the-fact disposition and chain reaction of these two failures also made the remaining thousands of people in Ankang City, and the more than 2,000 young people gathered together, change their passive emotions and reactions, and completely stand on the side of the Taiping Army.

Especially when hundreds of well-off and well-off families who fled overnight because of distrust and pessimism were intercepted by the rebels who might be in the same township; Without hesitation or mercy, women and children, old and young, were all abused and killed under the city.

And the fate of those women who are mixed in with it is much more miserable, and the pain, torture, and insult they suffered before their death are also more protracted. They were almost out of the city after wailing and crying for most of the night before they could stop breathing.

Then, in the daytime, the rebels chopped it into pieces and shot arrows at the city, claiming to be the end of any of the thieves. The vast majority of people in the city also lost their superfluous thoughts, and worked hard to help the peace soldiers in order to protect themselves and their families.

Therefore, they did not hesitate to demolish their houses, thinking that they would fill and strengthen the walls or use them as firewood stoves; gave up the chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and cloth and cloth quilts, and handed them over to the public to slaughter and use; donated all the copper and iron utensils at home, and made them into arrowheads, spear tips and other simple weapons and tools;

And wait until the cold winter of smoke, after the first snow falls; Filled with wooden fences and sand and poured with sewage from the ditches, and turned into hard, slippery frozen walls, became an obstacle and a nightmare for the rebels who refused to give up.

They even invented several expedient devices for defending the city; For example, the fork rake of Yanggu was transformed into a push rod for the city head to deal with the long ladder; Tie the drooping wooden ropes with ropes to sweep the rebels who climb the wall. It is dried and bent on a split bamboo fire, and then set on the ground to make a catapult with a service life of only a few dozen times.

Even in order to supplement the lack of sassal wood and rolling stones at the head of the city, the soil and water sculptures dug out of the ground were formed by opening their minds, and then dried in the open air overnight to freeze the skin, and it became a simple catapult and a good cannon stone thrown on the wall.

This clay model is so simple to make that even women, children, and children can make it. So there were hundreds of thousands of supplies on top of the walls overnight. The rebels who wanted to rely on the number of people to climb like ants fell like rain.

So a few days ago, those rebels changed their ways, made many baffles and large platoons to cover them, rushed to the city, and then used shovels, shovels, pickaxes and other tools to separate and dig up the roots of the wall.

As a result, the raw ash accumulated by calcination of shells and other materials in the city was mixed with water, and it was poured on the head and flowed everywhere along the cracks, and it was so scalded that it screamed and abandoned its weapons and fled in defeat. After all, as a Long March athlete who has been on the front line against the southwestern barbarians all year round, Zhang Dong does not lack experience and means to deal with sieges and situations.

Then, the rebels finally learned the hard way and began to build up a mountain of earth outside the city, but unfortunately they had been delayed for too long after exhausting all means outside the city, and in the climate that cooled day by day after the first snowfall, it became more difficult and inefficient.

"Chief,"

At this time, a voice pulled Zhang Dong's thoughts back, but it was the big man who rushed into the city with him and was captured by the former official army; Now Wang Wanhong, who has to be used as a five-headed man, leaned to his side.

"I want to take someone out and touch it. Maybe you can take advantage of the early delay to drag a few back alive.,Ask what happened.。。 ”

Wang Wanhong touched his shaved head because of his injury and said pleadingly.

"Go over there and get back quickly, and be careful not to get out of the cover range of the arrows in the city."

Zhang Dong only thought about it and agreed. After all, it is not easy to carry out a pause and ambush in the wild.

Immediately, I saw the interlude of falling like salt with the wind and snow, and with the rope ladder and basket hanging down the uneven and slippery wall, Wang Wanhong, who was tall and tall, took a few vigorous soldiers, and arrived at the base of the wall in a few breaths.

They took out their greased swords and crossbows from the baskets, and then they lowered their bodies and walked along the undulating ground full of corpses, covering each other on the shallow layer of snow, and one by one they searched outward.

It's just that when they poked with knives while stepping on their feet, and after searching a long circle from the inside out, it seemed that nothing was found, and an unexpected sudden change suddenly happened. A stiff corpse suddenly jumped to its feet, knocking a soldier to the ground who had the instinct to slash with a knife.

Then another figure jumped from the place where the "corpse" had jumped, and crawled and ran away into the distance.

(End of chapter)