Outside the city of Huihe, several horses came back. The guards opened the city gate, and they rushed all the way into the Shuaifu, telling the Buddhist slaves: "The red thieves arrived in Daning the night before and began to attack the city yesterday. Deng thief personally supervised the battle, the offensive was very fierce, and the family treasure came to the city tower in person, which could withstand it. ”

"Really start the siege?"

The villain waited outside Daning City, witnessing the battle between the two sides, and the battle was fierce. The Red Thief Canal raised Tong Sheng and raised hundreds of elite Jurchens, all wearing heavy armor and sharp blades, approaching the city three times. The defenders of Daning City resisted desperately, dousing the city with ice water, making the boiling oil and fire attack, the sassal wood and nail boards were on the same page, the strong crossbows and artillery were fired concurrently, the arrows and stones were like rain, and the fierce battle was fought all day, and there were hundreds of casualties on both sides. It wasn't until nightfall that Deng Thief returned to the camp. ”

The Buddhist slave was shocked, and he thought to himself, "How can this be true! No, this must be a deception by the Deng thief, showing me the illusion of attacking Daning, and then while I was paralyzed and careless, his stealth foot soldiers suddenly came out to attack and seize my city. He asked, "Where are the red thief footmen from the east?" Among them, how many people are there, are you clear? ”

"The red thief foot soldiers walk day and night, and the precautions along the road are extremely tight, and many of the sentinels of our army have been killed by him, and those who are lucky enough not to be discovered cannot approach at all, so far, their fiction and reality have not been found clearly. However, please don't worry, our army scouts report three times a day, and they can always find out. One of the staff members looked at the sky outside the hall and said, "Look at the hour, the next group of scouts should also come back." ”

Tanma, who came from the direction of Daning, said: "So that your Excellency will know that you have met a messenger sent by Shijiabao on the way, and there is a letter to your lordship." ”

The Buddha slave took it and opened it to take a closer look. Both men are Mongolians, and they write Mongolian characters with twists and turns, like earthworms crawling. The letter was earnestly spoken, first of all, it specifically analyzed the reasons for Deng She's fight against Daning, and further pointed out his strategy of "easy first and then difficult"; Then he briefly introduced the impression of Deng She's observations, and at the end he didn't use a brush, but changed the blood book, and I don't know what kind of animal blood was stained, and the smell of fish was tangy.

It reads:

"The thief of the red thief deceives the door, and he still knows that his lips are dead and his teeth are cold. If there is something in Daning, then Huihe is far less than a hundred miles, how can he be worry-free? Deng thief broke Daning, Bing Feng pointed out, the next one was set to be Huihe, and then Wuping. This is a plan to concentrate forces and break through each other. Yes, if an adult saves Daning, he is to save Huihe. When adults save the family treasure, they save themselves.

"The adults don't need to come to the army, raise 5,000 people, go to attack the Deng thief's northern camp, attract their attention, and force them to be powerless, then the lowly rank will fall out of the city, and break through the camps outside the other two city gates in turn, and then join the army in one place, and the adults will be flanked back and forth, and the defeat of the Deng thief will be within a snap of his fingers.

"The lowly government has sent messengers to Xingzhong Prefecture, which has not many people, and there are thousands, all of whom are fierce soldiers. Lord Zhang died in the hands of the Deng thief, and all the generals under his command hated the gnashing teeth, which had an enmity with the Deng thief. If they ask for help, they will definitely rush to the aid in the starry night, and our reinforcements will have one more way, and the chances of winning will be a few points more.

"The lowly rank with more than 10,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of people is looking forward to it, hoping that the reinforcements will come as soon as possible."

This letter asking for help was sent to the Buddha slave, but Shi Jiabao wrote in it the matter of asking for help from Xingzhong Prefecture, the intention was nothing more than to strengthen the confidence of the Buddha slave and tell him that the reinforcements were not only for him all the way, but also for other roads. The reinforcements from all walks of life were outnumbered, and Dunshe's lone army went deeper, and defeat was imminent.

The Buddhist slave lost his letter and wandered around the case, and his head was confused. What exactly does Dunshe mean? Is his attack on Daning a real attack, or a fake attack? He said, "Wait, wait." Rong Benguan thought about it carefully, and when he went to Yizhou to scout and came back, it was not too late to make plans. ”

Daning's letters for help came one after another.

Another one came that evening, and the next morning, two in succession. From a part of the blood book to the whole blood book, from the blood of livestock to the blood of men, from the blood of others to the blood of the family treasure. The writing is getting shorter and shorter, and the handwriting is getting more and more sloppy, and it can be seen that the family treasure is in a hurry.

And the scouts of Yizhou have not been able to understand the details of the foot soldiers of the two cities.

At noon the next day, the fifth blood letter of the family treasure arrived.

The messenger who sent the letter was covered with blood, and when he saw the Buddhist slave, he fell to the ground, howling and crying, and shouted: "The city of Daning is in danger! My lord, the siege of the Deng thief is getting tighter, and Huihe will not be able to defend the city if he does not send troops to rescue him. "The so-called request for help has to be alarmist and emotional.

He didn't put his head on the head, he slammed it on the ground fiercely, and there were blood stains coming out, he couldn't cry silently, and said: "Our army is newly defeated, the morale of the army is unstable, and the Deng thieves are desperately attacking the city, day and night. The north wall outside the city was damaged in many places, and he almost burned the city gate by a sneak attack last night! The reinforcements from Xingzhong Prefecture and the surrounding green troops were all routed by his ambush.

"He has come up with all kinds of schemes, since last night, from time to time smuggling soil out of the camp, my family judged that he was digging tunnels in the camp! If our army can't find the exit of the tunnel, if he digs the tunnel under the city wall, as soon as the city wall collapses, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians will die at the hands of adults! ”

The Buddhist slave reprimanded: "How did you die at the hands of this official!" Babbling, stand back. ”

The guards dragged the messenger out, and the messenger struggled so hard that he kept pounding his head on the ground and screaming. Listening to the sound of the cry fading away, the Buddhist slave was distraught, drew his sword, and withdrew the scabbard with his hand. He couldn't figure it out, and asked the left and right staff: "What do you think?" ”

No one in the staff spoke.

It's so weird. If it is said that Deng She is pretending to attack Daning, the messenger sent by Shijiabao will not tell lies. If it is said that Deng She really attacked Daning, the scouts who found his right-wing foot soldiers would not tell lies. One of the staff members hesitated, and he said uncertainly: "Could it be that it is true that the Deng thief attacked Daning, and it is also true that he attacked Huihe, and he wants to attack in two ways?" ”

Someone shook his head and rejected his opinion, saying, "The Deng thief army and horses are only tens of thousands, and they do not have the ability to attack two cities at the same time. Daning's side, listening to the messenger's critical situation, the truth is not certain. Isn't there a reward for the horses in our army? It is true that the city wall is broken, but it was hit by a trebuchet and dropped a few pieces of masonry, which did not damage the defense. ”

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment and said: "It's just burning the city gate and digging the tunnel at night, and it's just a matter of burning the city gate, and digging the tunnel is not a day or two." From this point of view, it seems that the Deng thief does have the intention of opening up the frame and besieging and attacking for a long time.

Someone agreed, "Didn't the messenger say that the reinforcements from Xingzhong Prefecture were repulsed by him?" If he hadn't planned to lengthen the village, he wouldn't have been so well prepared. He also had some doubts, and said, "However, Deng Thief is all cavalry, which should be conducive to field warfare, but he sacrificed his strengths and weaknesses to attack the city instead." He is not afraid that if he can't attack it for a long time, the whole thing will be inked? ”

Another aide said, "That's an easy explanation. I expected that he was stimulated by the great victory of Yizhou, and thought that the Shijia Treasure Department had lost its sharpness, so he carelessly despised it and wanted to re-stage the scene of the surprise attack on Yizhou, so he led the cavalry there. However, he didn't expect that Shijiabao would resist resolutely, and he had been prepared for it, and he ended up in a situation where it was difficult to ride a tiger. ”

He turned to the Buddha slave and said, "I am sure that according to the current situation, it will not take three days for the Deng thief to take the initiative to withdraw his troops." ”

"You mean?"

"It's the same whether adults save Daning or not. More than 20,000 cavalry of Deng thief, more than 10,000 foot soldiers of Daning, Deng thief cavalry attacked the city, Daning foot soldiers defended the city, Deng thief fainted, and made this faint move. It's ridiculous. This staff member has always opposed the rescue of Daning, and when the Buddha slave heard it, he felt that it was very reasonable, and said: "Yes, yes." ”

There was a sound of footsteps outside the hall, and two or three people were about to come in. Everyone looked up and saw that it was a scout from the direction of Yizhou.

The scout was overjoyed, knelt down and saluted, and said: "Report to the lord, the truth of the red thief's foot soldiers, the villain and others have finally found out." ”

"Tell me about it."

"The red thief foot soldier didn't walk fast all the way, and he crossed the Daling River, which was nearly two hundred miles away from my Huihe. The villain and others caught two lone red thieves yesterday afternoon, tortured them to extract confessions, and learned the truth. This red thief foot soldier, fighting the banner of 20,000 people, the real strength is only 3,000, from the Li Ye Department in Yizhou. ”

"Three thousand?" The Buddhist slave was stunned and asked, "How did 20,000 become 3,000?" ”

"The reason why the scouts were wrong a few times ago was because of their extremely strict precautions, and the villains couldn't get closer, so they had to wait and see from afar. Second, there are many outcasts from Yizhou and Luyang in the middle of their subordinates, acting as a number of people. Thirdly, they stretched the distance, put up more flags, dragged branches and raised dust with horses, and confused the sight of other our scouts. Fourth, every time they camped, they built more stoves and used the strategy of increasing them. ”

The Buddhist slave was stunned for a long time, worried for two days, and even notified Wu Ping's first not to spend, asking that if there was a war, he would be invited to help. I never thought that it was Dunshe's trick! Do you want to spread it out and not make people laugh and lose their big teeth? He is dignified in his books and political affairs, so he is ashamed.

The staff member who originally advocated not saving Daning changed his face, turned his eyebrows with joy, bowed to the ground, and said, "Congratulations, my lord." ”

"What a joy!"

"Now it has been judged that the right-wing foot soldiers of the Deng thief are false, and the purpose should be to attract our Huihe and force our army not to dare to save Daning. In this way, he is really beating Daning! Just as the analysis of the lowly Fang Cai, he attacked the other with his own shortcomings, and fought for two or three days in a row, the army could not rest, and his subordinates were tired. My lord, this is a great opportunity for our army to stand out, to use my strength to break his fatigue! ”

The Buddhist slave took a breath: "Break his exhaustion? ”

He picked up a few letters asking for help from Shijiabao on the case, read them again, and the more he thought about this staff, the more reasonable it became. He refused to be reassured, and asked the scout: "Is the intelligence really certain?" ”

Without waiting for the scout to answer, the staff said: "From this point of view, the right-wing foot soldiers of the Deng thief are indeed full of suspicions. He walked day and night, and it seemed that he had done a good job of secrecy, but if he wanted to sneak attack, he should have done as soon as possible, it had been two days, and he had marched less than a hundred miles so far. There are contradictions. ”

The other staff members looked at each other and thought at the same time, "Hindsight." They all spoke, echoing his opinions, and the words of all changed from not saving Daning to immediately going out to the army, grasping this rare opportunity, and striving to defeat Deng She in one fell swoop and capture him alive.

When Deng She was in Goryeo, his reputation was not obvious in Liaodong, and some people had heard of him, but not much knew about him. Since he conquered Liaozuo and Liaoyang, he began to attract the attention of all parties in Liaodong. Fighting Liaozuo, he almost captured Gao Jianu, and killed Zhang Jujing not long ago, these two people are important officials on the ground in Liaodong, to be able to defeat him and capture him, it is an absolute achievement.

The Buddha slave made up his mind and said, "Bring back the messenger of Na Daning, and tell him that this official will leave the army tonight, and he will raise 5,000 troops according to the request of the family treasure." ”

The messenger was brought back to the hall again, and was overjoyed.

The Buddha slave said: "You go back quickly, and tell Shijiabao that our army will arrive early in the morning at the latest, and tell him to prepare for a good life and respond to it." ”

The messenger was unlucky, and with great good news, he did not enter Daning, but was thirty miles away when he was discovered by Dunshe's scouts. Deng She has an explanation, no matter if he goes out of the city, he will not let go of the one who returns to the city. Arrows were fired at each other, and after two or three rounds, the messenger's companions fell off their horses and were shot to death.

Seven or eight scouts rushed up, captured the messenger, and took him to the tent of Deng Sheshuai.

Deng She didn't ask, waved his hand and handed it to Liu Yang. This Liu Yang Mo is fat, versatile, and good at using torture to extract confessions, and the last few times he held the messenger, he pried open his mouth. Deng She was curious at the time and asked him: "Isn't General Liu from a trading background and a miner?" When did you learn this trade? ”

Liu Yang smiled honestly and said, "Don't hide it from the general, before the last general became a miner, he was a cell boss." Because he offended Shangguan, he was assigned to work as a coolie. ”

"Oh,......" Deng She suddenly realized and praised, "The sea is immeasurable, and General Liu's experience is really rich." ”

This is a combination of torture, very learned, without professional training, can not become an expert.

Liu Yang took the messenger and tied it aside, ignoring it. Two captives were brought in, the first of which burst out of the marrow with a shackle, and the second with a hook and sickle that dragged out the intestines. The corpses, blood, brains, intestines, and feces on the ground were mixed together, filthy and terrible, and miserable.

When Liu Yang turned his head and only glanced at the messenger, he immediately made all the moves.

"The general is clever, and mobilizing the Buddhist slaves is like using his arms to drive his fingers." The generals felt incredible, and Tong Shengyang asked, "How did the general know that he would definitely go out to the army?" Every time he strengthened his defenses and reinforced the defenders of the city, why did the general always laugh? ”

"The Buddhist slave is simple and suspicious, and it is absolutely impossible to simply use a strategy, and he cannot be fooled, so he needs to use a chain of schemes, and the scheme in the calculation. First told him to deny himself, then doubt himself, and finally affirm himself. All judgments are made by himself, and there seems to be no trace of my external push, which is exactly what Sun Tzu said: "Those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know what they are defending; Those who defend well, the enemy does not know what they are attacking. ’”

Those who are good at attacking will show the enemy more than enough, and show the enemy more than enough, then the enemy will defend. This is the enemy, and he does not know what he is defending. This is the enemy should not be defended, defended; If you shouldn't be attacking, you should be attacked.

Some of the generals bowed their heads in contemplation, some nodded frequently, and everyone had their own gains.

Deng She continued: "The reason why I laughed when I heard about its reinforcements is simpler. How many military horses are there in Hehui and the city? The more soldiers he guards the city every day, the less his new force is. The soldier had no sharpness, and he was still hurrying for hundreds of miles, in a vain attempt to defeat our army, which was his own death. ”

He couldn't tell the truth.

The reason why he laughed when he heard the support was certainly for this reason, but also for other reasons. First, to strengthen the confidence of the generals and soldiers, he cannot tell them the strategy, but he can tell them with his actions that everything is under control. Second, by erecting his unfathomable and profound image, isn't this how people's prestige is slowly formed?

All the generals are subservient.

Deng She accepted the laughter, his eyes were blazing, he looked at everyone, and gave a military order. He said: "The Buddhist slaves are coming, and our army needs to be prepared. Liu Yang, don't stop digging tunnels under your belt. Tong Shengyang, you take 3,000 men tomorrow and continue to attack the city, and the offensive will be fierce. Bi Qianniu, you choose some powerful horses, send them to the direction of Huihe, and always report the progress of the Buddhist slave army.

"Inform the Niriku General in the mountains to remain dormant and ready to engage at any time. The others set up camp and seized the time to rest, recuperate enough physical strength, and fight well. ”

The generals received the order awe-inspiringly, outside the handsome tent, the north wind rolled the flag, and the murderous spirit of Qiankun was heavy.

——

1. Brain hoops.

The skull is an iron hoop, which is a torture instrument used on the head during the torture of prisoners. This kind of punishment began to see Wu Zetian. The cool official came to Junchen "with an iron ring halter, as a prisoner, and a wedge in the circle". It is to put a wedge in the iron hoop on the head of the prisoner. At the same time, Suo Yuanli also used this torture instrument, "......, so much that the brain is cracked".

In the Song Dynasty, ropes were used to wrap around the head, and wedges were added to the same. In the Ming Dynasty, it was called "the Yama Bolt", and after the hoop, "the black beads in the eyes rose out of an inch,...... It is the capital punishment of the thief." In the Qing Dynasty, it was called "Panjia Period", and the name was given because: "Whoever has passed through the iron hoop, there is no one whose eyes do not protrude, so some people give this iron hoop a beautiful name, called 'Panjia Period'".

The tight spell in Journey to the West may be the prototype of this torture instrument.

2. Hook sickle.

This is the punishment of bowel drainage.

The specific method is to tie a rope in the middle of a horizontal wooden bar and hang it high on a wooden frame. At the time of execution, a section of the iron hook is lowered, hooked into the prisoner's anus, the large intestine head is hooked out, hung on the iron hook, and then the stone at the other end is pulled down. In this way, as soon as the end of the iron hook is raised, the prisoner's intestines are pulled out and hung high.

3. Those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know what they are defending; Those who defend well, the enemy does not know what they are attacking.

"The law of defense should be shown to the enemy to be insufficient, and the method of attack should be shown to the enemy to be more than enough. If the enemy is insufficient, the enemy will attack, and the enemy does not know what he is attacking. If the enemy is more than enough, the enemy will defend himself, and the enemy will not know what he is defending.

"Attacking and defending is one law, and the enemy and I are divided into two things. If I succeed, the enemy is defeated; If the enemy wins, I lose; Gain or lose, success or failure, and the difference between the other and the other. The attacker and the defender are only one, and the one who wins a hundred battles wins. Therefore, it is said: know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles. ”