The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

Inside the city gate, under the city, there are now 400 defenders in Yangzhou City, and now there are more than [-] people here. Those who were not present were either resting because they were tired all night; or they were in Beicheng The guards at the west gate and the west gate were on guard. After all, no one could guarantee that the Fusang army below the gate tower, which was about to attack the city, would not detour to attack the northwest.

Now, the Fusang army outside the city stopped five miles away from Yangzhou City, just enough for the people in the city to vaguely see them. Now they are forming a team, and everyone knows that in less than an hour, A confrontation between offense and defense will unfold.

Now these more than 400 people will face 20 times more enemy attacks than them. Although the tall buildings in Yangzhou city are deep, thick and strong, and there are complete artillery on the towers and sufficient supplies in the city, but after all, it is necessary to face For enemies dozens of times larger than their own, even those veterans who have been able to recruit and fight for many years will feel unnaturally inappropriate. Fights between street hooligans and hooligans are most likely to have seen a few scattered Japanese defenders.

The current situation has reached such a point, if they keep the city, not only they themselves can be saved, but even the more than [-] people gathered in the city can be saved, and they will be very grateful to them; of course, if the city cannot be defended Live, when the time comes, there will inevitably be rivers of blood, not only his own life will be lost, but also a large number of people will be implicated.

Therefore, almost every one of these defenders now has a generous face, but after all, the test of life and death is about to come, and tension is a very natural emotion.

Zhang Fan stood on the temporary high platform in front of more than 400 people, looked at the people below, and remained silent for a long time. Zhang Fan did not mean that he wanted to imitate the style of the later generations. Putting on a show here, saying some high-sounding words, using some false words to cheer up the soldiers, all he does is one thing, that is, to survive, to keep this Yangzhou city, and to keep the people in the city.

"Outside the city, more than [-] soldiers crossing the sea from Fusang are preparing to attack the city," Zhang Fan said, but his voice was very steady, and he couldn't tell whether he was angry or what, "They are all Just like you, they are all soldiers, but they are different from you. I think you all know that Fusang is just a small place. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, it has always been a vassal state of our dynasty. You can look down on them. But now the two sides are about to start a war, and at that time, if you look down on them any more, then what awaits you will be death," Zhang Fan didn't babble here, and used almost what later generations learned and heard The vernacular, but also the easiest to understand.

"Why do you say that, because you can't beat them," Zhang Fan continued, "Maybe my words will make many of you unconvinced, how can a small country be unable to beat them, but I want Let me tell you, this is the truth.

"In the area of ​​Fusang, since 200 years ago, that is, the day when the emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty just founded the country, there has been a war, and it has been fighting until now. The war also made them more capable of fighting. Since they first joined the army and put on their armor, it was when they rushed to the battlefield with swords. Regardless of their young age, they are not much older than you, and many of them are even older than you. The youngest of you is much smaller, but I can tell you that you can't beat him.

"Some people may say, wouldn't I increase the ambition of others and destroy my own prestige by saying this, but what I said is true, but... there is one thing that these foreign enemies cannot compare to you, look behind you Well, there are not only the original people in Yangzhou City, but also the people who came to seek refuge from Songjiang and Suzhou, 10,000+ people, and the safety of 10,000+ people is all on your shoulders. I came to have a word with you, or looked at you gratefully, but you have to know that they all have great trust in you.

"Think about those people who came from Songjiang Mansion, why did they come to this Yangzhou Mansion instead of entering the nearest Suzhou Mansion on the road? Some people may say that it is because the prefect of Suzhou City ordered the city gate to be closed, not Let the fleeing people enter the city, yes, this is indeed the reason, but I sent someone to ask the people who came from Songjiang, and they said that even if the gate of Suzhou Prefecture is open, they still want to come to Yangzhou, why, this It is because they believe in you people, they believe that you will guard the city gate and protect their safety, this is not my nonsense, nor is it because I am here as an imperial envoy, after all, I am the imperial envoy of the Ming Emperor , not the imperial envoy of Emperor Fuso, they will not show mercy to me.

"Think about it, who are you fighting for this time, not only for yourself, but also for the people in this city, among them may be your relatives, friends, or people you don't know at all, But now, these people have all put their lives in your hands,"

Zhang Fan only said these few words. He didn't say anything like asking them to fight to the death, to fight to the end, and he didn't ask them to shout any slogans or make any promises. some concepts.

Zhang Fan went down, and the generals of the defenders in the city immediately went up and started to let them go back to their respective defense zones.

"Master Zhang, this..." Seeing Zhang Fan walking back, Wan Zhong was confused. Although he had never seen those generals who were about to go out to speak on stage to cheer up the soldiers, he had heard many of them. He had never heard of Zhang Fan's approach before. Compared with boosting the morale of the soldiers before the expedition, what Zhang Fan said just now seemed to Wan Zhong more like telling them about the crisis situation and discouraging them.

Liang Chao and Wang Meng at the side also didn't understand why Zhang Fan said that, they looked at him curiously, and wanted to wait for his explanation.

Seeing the expressions of several people, Zhang Fan knew what they wanted to ask himself, smiled and said: "After Qin unified the six countries, the tyranny and harsh donations made the people of all faiths miserable, and many people revolted among the people. Liu Bang was the most, and the Qin army suppressed it in many ways. Among them, the general of the Qin army Zhang Han led his troops to attack the state of Zhao. The Zhao army was defeated and retreated to Julu. The general, Xiang Yu as the deputy general, led the army to rescue Zhao Guo.

"Song Yi only led troops to Anyang. On the 46th, he did not move. Xiang Yu tried to persuade Song Yi many times to no effect, so he killed him. Afterwards, King Huai of Chu named Xiang Yu a general. After breaking the siege of Julu and crossing the river, Xiang Yu ordered all the ships to be scuttled, the cooking pots were broken, and his barracks were burned. He only took three days of dry food, and told the soldiers that the only way out of victory in this battle was death. , in the end, Xiang Yu really broke the siege of Julu, killed Su Jiao, captured Wang Li, and defeated the Qin army and Julu Zhiye.

"My lord means..." Wan Zhong, who had a quick brain, already understood Zhang Fan's intention.

"That's right, I just want to make them despair," Zhang Fan nodded and said, "Although I am not Xiang Yu, I don't have his unworthy courage, but I know how to tell them that there are two things before them. One way is to sit in place and wait for the enemies outside the city to rush in and cut off their heads. This way is sure to die; the other way is to rush forward to fight bravely and be killed by the enemy on the battlefield. If you choose the first way, you will have no way to live, and you will die; if you choose the second way, you will have to struggle before you die, but it is not without a way to live, and you still have hope, since they are all dead, you will die naturally Look better, die more heroes, and die more valuable, and they may not necessarily die, the so-called ruining the boat is for this reason, "

"Master Zhang really has a good idea, but..." Wan Zhong was still a little puzzled, and asked, "This servant is not belittling the kind of people in the city, but we only understand what your intention is after you have explained it, and they Can you figure it out?"

"Please rest assured, Mr. Supervising Army," Zhang Fan said with a smile, "Although many of them are just illiterate rough men, many of them came to serve as soldiers just because they wanted to fool around. food, but the more people are like this, the simpler they think in their hearts. There are only two roads before them. If they are timid, they will surely die. Which one do you think they will choose, and just now, I told them that the people in the three cities of Yangzhou, Songjiang, and Suzhou put all their hopes on them. In their eyes, they will fight more bravely, as the so-called mourning soldiers must win, "

"Ah..." Zhang Fan sighed, and continued, "The main reason why I told them this way is because I am not a military commander, and I don't have any brilliant achievements. If it is just to boost morale, it will be almost useless. Think about it. Go, that's the only way."

After hearing Zhang Fan's words, several people also sighed.

"How's the preparation going? I've searched most of the city," Zhang Fan asked Liang Chao.

"Now the city is short of manpower, only a few important places have been searched," Liang Chao said, "But there seems to be no suspicious person in the city, and the people below are still searching,"

Zhang Fan was afraid that the tragedy of the Suzhou Mansion would happen again, so if he had someone search all the hidden places near the city gate, he would prevent any more Fusang secrets from getting in.

"My lord, it's started," Wang Meng said suddenly.

After everyone heard his words, they immediately looked out of the city, and the area where the Fusang army was in the middle of the smoke rose again, and gradually drifted towards this side.