The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 411 Sun Chuanting

Pizhou.

The fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

November 7th.

rainstorm.

Cold raindrops were flying all over the sky, like thousands of silver needles shooting down.

The raindrops falling from the sky almost formed lines. The sky was dark and gloomy, making it difficult to see the road ahead.

As time went by, the heavy rain showed no sign of abating. The sky became darker and the world became more chaotic.

Endless rain poured down from the sky, washing the city walls of Pizhou again and again.

On top of the city walls, rainwater gathered into streams and flowed down.

The colorless rain, carrying dark red blood, flowed through the cracks in the city wall into the city and into the low-lying areas.

The city of Pizhou was filled with pools of light red blood, and everywhere you looked you could see corpses lying on top of each other.

Broken weapons and limbs were scattered randomly throughout the city.

The cold raindrops fell on the collapsed body, but did not cause the slightest reaction.

Because the soldier lying on the ground had been dead for an unknown period of time.

The stench of blood mixed with the smell of rotting corpses filled the city and outside of Pizhou.

"Hua Hua Hua————"

The sound of rain is like a bell, clear and pleasant.

However, the sound of rain soon disappeared from everyone's ears.

Because a loud suona sound suddenly rang out from the rain, overwhelming the sound of the rain.

"kill!!!"

Shouts and cries like a tsunami arose at the same time, shattering the thick rain curtain in an instant and overwhelming all other sounds.

Outside Pizhou City, it was pitch black at first glance.

The crowd was filled with soldiers wrapped in black scarves.
They are all soldiers of the Army of Nations.

Looking down from the clouds in the sky, dense swarms of black ants almost covered the entire four walls of Pizhou City.

Pizhou is like a small boat on the ocean in the midst of a storm.

The heavy rain made all the guns and cannons unusable.

It also weakens the power of bows and crossbows to the minimum.

That is why even though the roads were muddy and the rain was heavy, the Wanmin Army still chose to attack in the rain.

All long-range means are almost useless in heavy rain.

The soldiers of both sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Soldiers on both sides, both inside and outside the city, have tried their best.

On top of the city wall tower in the south city of Pizhou.

Sun Chuanting stood on it and looked around at the battle situation.

His armor was covered with scars and his robe was stained with blood.

Everything indicated that he had just been through a fierce battle.

"Governor!"

General Zhou Yuji half-knelt on the ground and pleaded with Sun Chuanting.

"I beg you, please lead your troops back."

“You can’t retreat now.”

Sun Chuanting looked calm, pressing the hilt of the goose-feather knife at his waist. His voice was as firm as his eyes.

"The three armies are fighting with high morale. If they retreat now, their morale will be lost and they will be powerless to turn the tide."

"Governor!"

Zhou Yuji knelt on the ground, his voice choked with sobs.

He has been on the battlefield for a long time, so how could he not know what retreating at this moment means.

but……

What else can we do if we don’t retreat?

"North City... is broken..."

Sun Chuanting asked with a calm expression.

"What happened."

The North City is guarded by Fang Guoan.

Fang Guoan had two thousand elite soldiers under his command, and Gao Jie and Jin Shenghuan had three thousand armored soldiers under their command.

The North City is defended by a total of 7,000 soldiers and horses. Fang Guoan is mature and prudent, Jin Shenghuan is also a veteran of the battlefield, and Gao Jie is the commander of the original 36th Battalion, and the soldiers under his command are quite elite.

Previously, the Wanmin Army had gathered heavy troops to attack the North City several times, but each time they suffered heavy casualties and returned in defeat.

The three armies under the command of Fang Guoan, Jin Shenghuan and Gao Jie have few troops and firearms and are least affected by the weather.

Logically speaking, the North City should not be broken.

"Jin Shenghuan has surrendered to the enemy!"

Zhou Yuji gnashed his teeth and said angrily

"He opened the north gate and let the thieves enter the city!"

"Gao Jie's troops were defeated, Fang Guoan was killed in the battle, the Wanze army has occupied the north city and is heading towards the west city."

Zhou Yuji stood up, grabbed Sun Chuanting's right arm, and persuaded him again.

He followed Sun Chuanting for only a few months.

It only took a few months for him to be convinced by Sun Chuanting.

The ministers in the court were all mediocre people who only cared about their party's reputation and had no regard for the survival of the country.

Many of the commanders in the past were unqualified, ignorant of military affairs and arrogant and stubborn, leading them to their deaths.

Sun Chuanting is different. He is neither a mediocre and useless person nor an official with a beastly heart.

His heart is filled with the people and his country.

"Governor, I will stop the bandits from entering the city. You lead the rest of the people to break out from the East City!"

Zhou Yuji really hoped that Sun Chuanting could survive.

Rain mixed with blood slowly flowed down Zhou Yuji's cheeks.

"The world can do without me, Zhou Yuji, but it cannot do without the governor."

The country is in a difficult situation now. External threats are becoming more and more worrying, while internal troubles are becoming more and more urgent. The situation is almost out of control.

How can the country be saved by those mediocre officials alone?

The sound of the rushing rain once again reached Sun Chuanting's ears.

Sun Chuanting sighed softly and slowly closed his eyes.

From the very beginning of this battle, he knew that his chances of winning were slim.

In other words, it is impossible to win.

How can a weak army of 30,000 with insufficient food and supplies defeat an army of 200,000 strong and victorious troops?

But there was nothing he could do.

He had an imperial decree and he had to obey it.

The canal is here, and he must defend it.

From beginning to end, he had no choice.

When he came out of prison, he was handed over to a dilapidated situation and a group of defeated soldiers.

With less than half of the military pay, he is trying to control the troops of several towns.

He has no face.

The soldiers who followed him along the way.

Not enough food to eat, not enough sleep to sleep, not enough clothes to wear, and no... burial after death...

Those who died in battle were not even included in the list, and the pensions that the court promised to pay were delayed in being issued.

The money he brought with him was gone, all the property in his family was sold out, and almost all the men in his clan who followed him to the war were killed in the battle.

Until now...

There is nothing left...

Sun Chuanting tightly grasped the goose-feather knife at his waist, his heart filled with pain.

He didn't understand why the words of sages in books clearly taught people to be gentlemen.

But those who have passed the imperial examinations, those who hold high positions and are well-versed in the books of sages, never do what a gentleman does!

Are there any books written by sages that teach people to sell out their country for personal gain?

Does the book of sages teach people to eliminate dissidents?

Does the sage's book teach people to oppress the people?
Does the holy book teach people to do evil?

...Sun Chuanting opened his eyes. His eyes were dim and his expression had returned to calm.

Sun Chuanting felt that he was not worthy of Zhou Yuji's evaluation.

Forty thousand isolated troops defended Pizhou. It was obvious that they were doomed to fail, but they still made a desperate struggle.

He is not loyal, he is not serving the country.

He used the lives of more than 40,000 people to exchange for a record of martyrdom for his country in history books and for a good reputation that will be passed down to future generations.

Dense dark clouds covered the sky completely, and the sun's rays could hardly penetrate the thick clouds.

The light was completely blocked outside the clouds before it fell from the sky.

Sun Chuanting finally did not agree to Zhou Yuji's request and remained on the city wall of the West City Wengcheng.

When Zhou Yuji withdrew from the west city, before the army of the Wanmin Army surrounded him.

Sun Chuanting issued the last military order - allowing all towns to retreat.

The city has been breached, the morale has collapsed, and everything is meaningless.

The war had lasted for more than a month, and nearly 10,000 soldiers in the city had been killed or wounded.

There were more than 30,000 people left, many of whom were wounded, their morale was low, they were short of clothing and armor, and they were short of food and pay, and their lives were in danger from day to day.

No matter what the reason for the defeat, as the commander-in-chief, he needs to bear the main responsibility.

Being powerless is also a form of incompetence.

The officers and soldiers of various towns put their lives in his hands, and more than 40,000 soldiers entrusted their lives to his shoulders.

Sun Chuanting was able to remain calm in the face of death.

But he couldn't do it, and asked the others to follow him and die together.

Shouts and cries of killing arose again, and more and more soldiers wearing black scarves were swarming along the city wall.

Sun Chuanting's eyes were calm. There was not even the slightest desire to fight in his heart, not even the slightest ripple.

The Wanmin Army was fundamentally different from the Jiannu.

Facing the Jiannu, Sun Chuanting would rather die than surrender, nor would he allow his troops to surrender and withdraw.

Even if the battle is down to one soldier, we must never bow our heads.

But the Wanmin Army was different. Sun Chuanting had no way to issue a death order to these soldiers who had always followed him.

Sun Chuanting knew that as long as he issued this military order, many generals under the command would fight to the last moment.

But he couldn't do it...

"The world is in severe drought and locusts are flooding the fields!"

"The kitchen has fat meat, the stable has fat horses, but the people are hungry, and the fields are full of starving corpses."

"Disasters occurred frequently, the harvest was lost, taxes were increasingly heavy, and the court was indifferent, causing thousands of families to become ruined and thousands of households to wither."

"All the good fields and lanes belong to the officials and gentry, and all the money, grain, silk and cloth belong to the princes."

This is what Li Yan once said.

This is what Li Yan said when he accused the court.

In addition, there are many other things about the corruption and decadence of the current court.

Sun Chuanting could not refute any of the words.

Sun Chuanting saw it with his own eyes and experienced it in Shaanxi and Baoding.

Those noble princes and nobles owned thousands of acres of fertile land but did not have to pay taxes.

However, those poor people, who were extremely poor and landless, had to pay heavy taxes and perform corvee labor.

There were millions of refugees in Henan and many people fleeing famine in Shaanxi.

All of them correspond to a sentence in the book:

"A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger."

Along the way, the people feared the soldiers like tigers.

Wherever the Wanmin Army went, the people welcomed them wholeheartedly, and there were even scenes of people offering food and drink to welcome the royal army.

It was this scene that greatly shocked Sun Chuanting's heart and shook his mind.

"Since ancient times, the rise and fall of emperors have been reflected in the hearts of the people..."

From that moment on, Sun Chuanting could no longer muster the same determination as when he attacked the 36th Battalion.

The sky became increasingly darker, and a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the dark earth in an instant and illuminating Sun Chuanting's entire vision.

The next moment, the sky and the earth returned to darkness again, and a huge thunder rumbled from the distant horizon.

The sun and the moon can no longer shine on China.

The strong wind whistled past, carrying up thousands of black flags and blowing over countless armored soldiers.

The cold wind also blew across Sun Chuanting's cheeks.

In fact, Sun Chuanting already had the answer in his heart.

I got the answer when I was still in Fengyang.

The originally chaotic thoughts in Sun Chuanting's mind slowly calmed down.

He remembered that when he was in Fengyang, he asked Chen Wang whether the Ming Dynasty had come to an end.

Sun Chuanting actually saw all of Chen Wang's instantaneous change in eyes at that time.

Sun Chuanting actually knew everything Chen Wang did in Hanzhong Wei, what he did in Huguang, and what he did later in Henan.

Sun Chuanting was also aware of Chen Wang's ambition.

The reason why I didn't say it before was because Chen Wang was no longer under control at that time.

Sun Chuanting did have many opportunities to kill Chen Wang directly, because Chen Wang entered the camp alone many times.

Although Chen Wang is the bravest of the three armies and extremely courageous, no matter how strong a person is, can he defeat thousands of soldiers?
But killing Chen Wang would only make things worse.

Once Chen Wang dies, a mutiny will inevitably break out in Hanzhong Town.

If a mutiny breaks out, the damage it causes will be greater than that of a militia of the people, and China will be heading towards an unpredictable abyss overnight.

Considering the situation at the time, he could not touch Chen Wang.

In addition, there is another reason why Sun Chuanting did not touch Chen Wang.

This was the choice Chen Wang finally made when he was serving the king.

During the Battle of Qingshan Pass, Chen Wang spared no expense.

All of this proves that Chen Wang's heart is filled with the people and his country.

Sun Chuanting closed his eyes again.

The sound of killing became more urgent in my ears, almost close at hand, right under my feet.

In a trance, Sun Chuanting once again saw the army at Qingshan Pass, where nearly half of the troops had been killed or wounded, and who were choking with sobs while singing the triumphant song at the moment of final victory.

"With one heart and one mind, the mountains... can be shaken!"

"Only loyalty and righteousness, the spirit is strong... fighting bulls..."

A building is about to collapse and one tree cannot support it.

If Chen Wang is the one who finally conquers the world.

Perhaps it will be a good ending for the people of the world...

"Capture Sun Chuanting alive!"

A louder shout came from under his feet.

The sound of footsteps going up the stairs drowned out the sound of the rain.

Sun Chuanting opened his eyes and slowly turned around.

The armored soldiers of the Wanmin Army were swarming in from the bottom of the city wall. Although the armored soldiers guarding him tried bravely to stop them, they were ultimately helpless and fell one after another in the city wall.

Sun Chuanting's expression did not change at all, and even his eyes did not show any fluctuation.

The goose-feather knife was unsheathed with a clang, and the flash of the knife was as bright as a pool of autumn water, shining in front of everyone's eyes and also in the rain.

Sun Chuanting had an indifferent expression and calm eyes as he raised the Yanling knife.

Pizhou
The fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

November 8th.

Negative.

The Battle of Pizhou ended.

Ming Governor Sun Chuanting died in battle.

Generals Hu Dawei, Fang Guoan and Zheng Jiadong all died in the battle.

When the Wanmin Army broke into the city, Deputy General Zhou Yuji commanded his troops to continue fighting with the Wanmin Army through the city alleys.

After Zhou Yuji fell off his horse, he continued to fight on foot. He was hit by seven arrows and five wounds, and died in battle.

Xiao Shending, Gao Jie, Hui Dengxiang, Ma Jinzhong and other generals led more than 10,000 remaining soldiers and fled Pizhou in panic.

Battle of Pizhou.

It ended with a great victory for the Wanmin Army.

Dear book friends, Happy New Year! I wish you all happiness and family reunion in the new year.

(End of this chapter)