Chapter 358: To Kill or Not to Kill Manichaean infighting
The current Fang La is far from reaching the strength that swept the entire Jiangnan in the original book.
Now that the three-way army is pressing, Fang La has even lost his hometown Qingxi County, leaving only the land of three states and eight counties.
He gathered all the congregants in Muzhou, intending to fight Cao Bin to the death.
Now the east, west, and north directions are all pinned down by the other party, if Cao Bin is not defeated, he can only flow south, and be driven to Lingnan and even the sea.
He has always had great ambitions, and he will never allow himself to become a rogue.
Moreover, his foundation is in Liangzhejiang, and he has a broad faith base, and if he runs to Lingnan, it will be dozens of times more difficult to make a comeback.
Cao Bin will not give him this time either.
"Master Hou, Fang La gathered all the people in Quzhou, Wuzhou and other prefectures and counties to Muzhou City."
"There are always 300,000 people, and there are 70,000 or 80,000 young and strong people alone......."
When Cao Bin arrived in Muzhou with his troops, Guan Sheng's East Route Army and the Northern Route Army of the sedan chair also rushed to the city.
There are 20,000 Jingxiang foot soldiers, 10,000 garrisons from all over Zhejiang, 4,000 trapped troops, and 1,000 tigers and leopards.
At this time, the spies were reporting on the situation in Muzhou City.
Cao Bin sat in the handsome position, the first on the left and right were Yelu Guanyin Nu and Hangzhou Zhizhou, and Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng and others sat in two columns on the small horse.
Before Cao Bin could speak, Hangzhou Zhizhou had already laughed and said:
"Fang La is really a short-sighted thief, and he will not be able to raise such many people for long."
"As long as I wait to surround the city, within a month, I expect him to be in chaos without a fight, and the lower officials congratulate the Hou Ye in advance on the extermination of the thieves......"
Yelu Guanyin Nu couldn't get used to his appearance of immediate success, sneered, and said:
"Maybe this is Fang La's captive food!"
When Hangzhou Zhizhou heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and said with a pale face:
"This ...... Can thieves be so murderous? ”
Yelu Guanyin Nu glanced at Cao Bin and said:
"I hope that Zhongjing Hou will exterminate Fang La as soon as possible, otherwise my Da Liao will send troops to Hebei, and your Song State will be attacked on both sides."
Hangzhou Zhizhou nervously said:
"What does the princess mean by this, hasn't Song Liao already ceased to fight, does he still want to go to war?"
Seeing that he was serious, Cao Bin was a little speechless, but smiled at Yelu Guanyinu:
"The princess has always threatened to send troops, and it is inevitable that she will take it seriously."
"A few days ago, I wrote a letter to His Majesty and General Yang Zongbao, suggesting that General Yang send troops to plunder the Liao State and retaliate."
"I hope that when the time comes, the princess will not regret this statement......"
Yelu Guanyin sneered and said disdainfully:
"This palace will see if you have the courage of the Great Song Dynasty......"
As he spoke, the soldier came to report:
"Master Hou, the people were driven out of the city by the thieves and are rushing towards the camp."
Everyone was shocked, and Hangzhou Zhizhou jumped up and said:
"Quick, stop them, don't let them storm the camp!"
Whether these people are coerced or truly Manichaeans, as long as they storm the barracks, it is treasonous and merciful.
A series of crossbow arrows went down, killing thousands of people directly, and these civilians no longer dared to approach the barracks.
Fang La and the others on the city wall shook their heads and said:
"The officers and soldiers are really ruthless, there is no chance, close the city gate!"
There were no Manichaeans among these people, they were all coerced.
There are too many people, most of them are old and weak, which is not only bad for defending the city, but also consumes too much grain and grass.
That's why they let the people out of Muzhou to see if they could create chaos and bring in favorable fighters.
Even if it doesn't work for the war, it will disgust the officers and soldiers.
So many people, if they are all killed, they will be hated by the people of Jiangnan.
If they don't kill them, they have to consume food and grass for them.
Lu Junyi and the others also thought of this problem, and after ordering the soldiers to choose a place to take care of these people, they suggested:
"Master Hou, it's better to move these people to the rear."
Hangzhou Zhizhou hurriedly shook his head and said:
"No, hundreds of thousands of displaced people enter the place, it is difficult to restrain them, and once there is chaos, the consequences are unimaginable."
As he spoke, he hesitated for a moment and said:
"It stands to reason that these people are also anti-thieves, and it is not too much to kill them, so it is better to send them back to their original ......"
Most of these people are from Quzhou and Wuzhou, and they are not under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou anyway.
When Guan Sheng and the others heard this, they couldn't help grinning, this guy's abacus could be understood by everyone through their stomachs.
Speaking of which, he didn't kill these people, but they were robbed of food by Fang La, and I am afraid that they will starve to death before they return to their hometown.
At that time, the black pot will be Cao Bin's, and it has nothing to do with him as a Hangzhou governor.
Cao Bin waved his hand and smiled:
"Why bother? This is about to be conscripted into forced labor. ”
"Let them stay in front of the army for the time being."
When Hangzhou Zhizhou heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, no matter what Cao Bin decided, as long as he didn't move these people to Hangzhou, it had nothing to do with him.
Even if there is no food in front of the army, it is Cao Bin's responsibility.
Guan Sheng hurriedly said:
"Master Hou, our army's grain and grass are only enough for one month, and if we supply the people, I am afraid that the grain and grass will be exhausted in seven or eight days."
Cao Bin waved his hand and said:
"It's okay, let Ding Zhizhou speed up the transportation of grain."
When Hangzhou Zhizhou heard this, he was dumbfounded, and hurriedly said:
"Master Hou, I have no food in Hangzhou."
Cao Bin's face immediately changed, and he said angrily:
"Exterminating traitors is an official matter of the imperial court, and Hangzhou, as the front line of the suppression of bandits, should supply the army with food and grass."
"How can you shirk your responsibility, does Ding Zhizhou want Ben Hou to exercise military law?"
Hangzhou Zhizhou was speechless for a moment, Nima, going around and around, the responsibility still fell on his head, so he had to pinch his nose and agree.
Cao Bin had already attacked Fangla within a few days, so he didn't worry about food at all.
But if he has the opportunity to get more grain from Hangzhou and use it for himself, he will not let it go.
When the time comes, even if there is surplus food, he will not return it to Hangzhou Zhizhou.
Seeing this, Yelu Guanyinu's eyes flashed and said:
"Zhongjing Hou won't use these people to consume Fang La's strength, right?"
Cao Bin smiled:
"There's no need for the princess to care."
Yelu Guanyin snorted lightly, but didn't care.
The city wall of Muzhou City is tall, and the moat is directly connected to the Fuchun River, which is deep and wide, and it is very difficult to attack.
What's more, there are seventy or eighty thousand defenders in the city, and there is no shortage of food and grass, even if they are not elite, it is more than enough to defend the city.
She didn't believe that Cao Bin could conquer the city in a short time.
On the second day, Fang La continued to close the city gates, hung the suspension bridge, and refused to fight.
Seeing this, Cao Bin was not in a hurry, let alone attacking the city, but only ordered his subordinates to select young women among the people......
Not only Yelu Guanyin was puzzled, but even Hangzhou Zhizhou was a little confused, what about this war, is it appropriate for you to do this?
But in the next two days, seeing that he was like this, Yelu Guanyinu immediately put his mind at ease, and just waited for Cao Bin to run out of grain and grass and defeat the army, and negotiated with him.
On the fourth day, just when Yelu Guanyin Nu was in the right mood and watched the beautiful scenery of the Song Realm, the city suddenly caught fire, and the sound of killing shook the sky.
Someone shouted:
"Burning my body ...... raging fire"
Others shouted:
"The White Lotus came to the world and saved all sentient beings!"
It's a mess...... Yelu Guanyinnu's mind was full of impossibilities......