Big Ear Thief Selling Straw Sandals

Chapter 220: Master Fan burns the city, and the imperial guards plot

In the end, as an envoy, Liu Mian only received an ultimatum from the Han army.

"Fan Shiman removed himself from the throne and led his officials and generals to surrender. If his attitude is good, he may not die."

Liu Mian returned to the west coast by boat, and a horrifying news also reached Gutlow.

Aojiao Port was occupied by the Han army. The opponent had huge warships and the attack range could reach a thousand steps away.

Liu Mian was stunned. No wonder Ji Ling said that Funan was overestimating his abilities.

This was so unexpected. She knew that there was no danger along the way from Aojiao Port to Gutlo.

If the opponent's super warship goes upstream, hundreds of ships on the west coast will certainly not be able to stop it.

Back at the palace, Fan Shiman and Long You looked as ugly as constipation.

You don't need to guess to know that you will definitely have information about the fall of Aojiao Port.

Longyou asked, hoping for the best, "What did the Han army say on the other side?"

Liu Mian gave an overview of the situation, specifically mentioning the "ultimatum."

Fan Shiman's face turned dark and red, red and black, her chest heaved violently, and she was very angry.

He could accept land cession and compensation, but it was impossible for him to give up his power, not even to death.

He is the supreme king and has a powerful army under his command. Those unarmed slaves who are as docile as sheep should die for him!
If I'm not the king, what's the point of supporting Nanguo?
Anyway, the millions of people in Funan are all soldiers, ten for one, one hundred for one, even if all the untouchables die, he will not give up his power.

Longyou is very pragmatic, while Fan Shiman's mood is understandable, but he is too conceited and thinks too simply.

The reason why the people are docile is that they can still survive.

If we really want them to go to the battlefield and die, after the people get the weapons, who will they kill?
In reality, there is no doubt about the strength of the Han army, and there is a high probability that Gutlo will not be able to defend it, but it is not impossible to deal with it.

"I have something to say, do you know whether to say it or not?"

Fan Shiman said nonchalantly: "Just tell me, what else do you have to worry about now?"

"There are two ways to survive in death. Lead the subjects to abandon the city and burn Guteluo so that the Han army will get nothing to show their determination to fight to the end."

Fan Shiman hesitated for a moment and felt that the price was too high, so he asked, "Is there another way?"

Longyou said: "Take shelter for the time being and ask Guishang for help."

The Kushan Empire was powerful and had a strong influence in the Indian Ocean. Although it did not border Funan, maritime merchants compared it with the Parthian Empire further west.

Fan Shiman frowned. Is there any difference between professing submission to Guishuang and professing submission to Han?

Longyou smiled slightly and said: "This professing is not a real professing. As long as the Kushan army is borrowed to contain the Han army, tigers and wolves will fight against each other, both sides will suffer, and my king can eliminate them together."

To put it simply, Longyou's plan is to borrow a knife to kill people, sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and finally the fisherman will benefit.

Liu Mian asked, "What if Guishang defeats the Han army?"

Longyou laughed and said: "There are millions of people in our country, no matter Han or Guishang, how can it be so easy to win?"

Fan Shiman's eyes lit up, and she understood what Longyou meant.

When the two powers are fighting, I hide behind and use dirty tricks to see who wants to win, letting them continue to consume them, and eventually they will die in my own hands.

Sure enough, a clever plan!

Time was running out, the Han army was pressing on the border, and his royal power was at stake, so he couldn't wait a moment longer.

Therefore, Fan Shiman made three preparations.

A messenger was sent to Kushan to ask for help.

Gather all the ships and naval forces to prepare for a decisive battle with the Han army.

Immediately moved the property of Gutelo people to the holy mountain on a large scale, and arranged a large number of fire starters in the city. Whenever the Han army entered the city, they would set fire to it. Anyway, they were all bamboo and wood buildings, which burned very quickly.

As soon as Fan Shiman's move to relocate people began, he was detected by Han army scouts.

Ji Ling used a telescope to observe and saw that a large number of people were driven by soldiers to leave the city and move westward.

There was only one reason for doing this. He roughly knew what Fan Shiman was thinking.

Gao Zhen was worried. It seemed that Fan Shiman was very ruthless and actually came up with a vicious plan to burn the city to fight.Fan Li felt even more distressed. Such a good city was burned down, but nothing could be gained.

"General Ji, let the last general lead the men to rush over. If it's too late, it will be too late!"

Up to now, about a hundred or ten bamboo rafts of various kinds have been built, and they can carry up to a thousand people at a time.

Hundreds of ships on the other side were waiting in full formation, and tens of thousands of people were defending on the shore. The result was not optimistic.

At this moment, Ji Ling's mind was spinning rapidly and he immediately asked: "How long will it take for the Royal Navy?"

A staff officer replied: "According to plan, we can arrive before noon tomorrow."

"too slow!"

Ji Ling felt a little regretful. Looking at the situation, all residents in the city would be evacuated at the earliest tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.

At that time, even if he forcibly crossed the Mekong River and defeated the Funan land and water army, Gutlo would be burned to the ground.

In addition to occupying land, the more important thing in fighting is to preserve property and population as much as possible. It has to be said that Fan Shiman's move of "putting death on the line to survive" really captured the weakness of the Western Expeditionary Army.

When everyone was at a loss what to do, a Yongzhou Jinyi guard suddenly put down his telescope.

"General Ji, there is a way to prevent the enemy from setting fire to the city, but the success or failure is [-]-[-]."

Ji Ling had always disliked the leader of Jinyiwei. After all, everyone hated snitches.

However, I have to say that people from Yongzhou can always play new tricks at critical moments.

Ji Ling didn't care about the quarrel at this moment and immediately asked for advice. The leader of the Jinyi Guard came forward and whispered in his ear.

Hearing this, Ji Ling slapped his thigh, and immediately ordered: "Just do it like this, success or failure depends entirely on God's will!"

"Yes, this subordinate will arrange it now!"

Fan Li, Gao Zhen, Gao An and other generals are confused. Is there a way to solve this unsolvable situation?

Ji Ling ordered again: "Fan Li, Gao Zhen, mobilize the entire army to tie up bamboo rafts. No fewer than 3000 rafts will be left before midnight. There will be no less than [-] people crossing the river for the first time tonight at midnight."

"Obey, obey!"

Fan Ligao'an rushed back to the army, ordered the entire army to build rafts, and arranged for the first batch of soldiers to cross the river.

Gao Zhen didn't dare to pry into the secret, but he was very puzzled by Ji Ling's decision to launch an attack tonight.

"General Ji, without naval assistance, is the attack sure?"

Ji Ling laughed and said: "Use the right combination to win by surprise. The withdrawal shows that Fan Shiman is determined to be defeated. How could his soldiers not know it? The enemy has no fighting spirit, and our army will win! By then, I will take the intact Gutelo Give it to the Governor!”

Seeing that the other party was full of confidence, Gao Zhen said hurriedly: "Then thank you so much, General Ji! The Gao family must have a favor to offer."

"Hahaha! Then Ji will be disrespectful!"

The Western Expeditionary Army rushed to work, and the number of bamboo rafts and rafts increased rapidly. By Haishi, there were more than [-] bamboo rafts.

At this time, there were still a large number of Gutelo people, holding torches and heading west out of the city.

Fan Li sent out a thousand elites, and Gaozhen sent out two thousand elites. They all boarded bamboo rafts with their armor and waited in the dark for the order to attack.

On the shore, Gao Zhen looked at the soldiers who were getting ready to go, with complicated emotions.

Night attacks and water battles were a great test for the young Western Expeditionary Army, not to mention the large number of enemy troops. If there was a slight mistake, everyone would be destroyed.

But he soon discovered that Ji Ling seemed restless and secretly looked northward from time to time.

Huh?The army is here, what will there be in the north?
Suddenly he had a guess and blurted out a question.

"General Ji, did the Jin Yiwei go to the north?"

Just as Ji Ling was about to reply, he heard three muffled thunders in the distance.

Ji Ling was excited, immediately grabbed the telescope and looked to the north.

Gao Zhen probably guessed the result and looked north as well.

Within his field of vision, three red meteors were rising slowly in the deep blue night.

(End of this chapter)