Han officials

Chapter 192: Family Heritage [12]

Noon, Nanpi City, Bohai County.

Looking at the Youzhou army outside the city, Nanpi Ling Wei Jia's face turned pale.

As the saying goes: There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and they are boundless.

This is the situation in Nanpi City at the moment, almost completely surrounded by the Youzhou army.

This Nanpi City actually has a very long history.

During the Shang Dynasty, it is said that Jiang Shang once lived in seclusion here and fished. Today, the ruins of Diaoyutai can still be found in the suburbs.

The Records of the Grand Historian states: "Tai Gong Wang, also known as Lü Shang, was a native of the East China Sea who lived in seclusion on the coast."

The Book of Han says: Taigong was still trapped in Jijin.

This "Ji Jin" is located on the bank of a river ten miles west of Nanpi City.

According to legend, King Wen of Zhou personally came to Ji Jin to recruit talents, which led to the 700-year rule of the Zhou Dynasty.

However, it was not until the Spring and Autumn Period that Duke Huan of Qi built a city here when he went north to fight against the Shanrong in order to save Yan.

At that time, the Qi army built a city here to make leather, so it was called Picheng. However, because there was a place called "Beipiting" in Zhangwu to its north, the city was called "Nanpi" over time. After the First Emperor unified the world, he simply continued with this name and established Nanpi County.

For this reason, Nanpi City has nothing else, but it has a lot of leather armor.

For example, at this moment, in addition to the defenders on the city wall, the young and strong men who were recruited to guard the city also received leather armor.

But even so, everyone was still uneasy and could only watch Zhong Hu lead the army to the city.

"County Lord, please make a decision quickly. It will be too late if you don't make a decision now."

Looking at the pale-faced Nanpi Magistrate Wei Jia, the county lieutenant beside him couldn't help but urge him.

At the same time, the county magistrate, Gongcao and other officials were all looking at Wei Jia eagerly.

However, although Wei Jia was frightened at this moment, he still had no intention of surrendering.

Because he was not only a disciple of the Yuan family, but also a servant of the Runan Yuan family, and three generations of his family were slaves of the Yuan family.

It was only because his parents were highly regarded by the master's family that he was rewarded with a clean background and was able to take charge of a large county.

It can be said that Wei Jia’s loyalty to Yuan Shao was not just a simple matter of loyalty, but also a spiritual imprint that he had received since childhood.

After decades of brainwashing from his parents, he was really willing to die for Yuan Shao.

Although he was afraid, it did not prevent him from being loyal to the Lord.

It was precisely because of this that Yuan Shao was able to confidently hand over Nanpi County, the seat of Bohai County, to him.

Facts have proved that Yuan Shao was right in choosing the right person.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Jia gritted his teeth and said with a determined look, "I would rather die than surrender!"

After that, he gave the order without hesitation: "Block the city gates and recruit all the young and strong men to go up to the city to meet the enemy."

When he said this, all the officials in the county government couldn't help but change their expressions.

After all, Wei Jia's posture clearly showed that he was prepared to die together with everyone else.

For a moment, everyone's eyes flickered and their faces showed fear.

Seeing this, Wei Jia quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, everyone. Lord Yuan is now the governor of Jizhou, with a million soldiers under his command. These mere bandits are no match for him! As long as we hold out for a few days, Lord Yuan's army will surely come to our aid."

It would have been better if Wei Jia hadn't said this. After he said this, the faces of the officials in charge became even uglier.

Ordinary people don’t know, but don’t they understand?

Now Gongsun Zan is taking Yecheng with an unstoppable force. Even if Yuan Shao has troops, he will probably only use them to resist Gongsun Zan.

In this case, Nanpi probably really can't count on any reinforcements.

Wei Jia was not a fool. When he saw that everyone looked unhappy, he immediately guessed what was going on.

Seeing that his attempts to comfort you were unsuccessful, he simply sneered and said, "I know what you're thinking, but I want to warn you: there are some things you can't get involved in. Lord Yuan may not be the governor of Ji Province, but the Yuan family of Runan is a prominent family with three dukes in four generations. You can't afford to offend them!"

Having said this, he waved his sleeves with a gruff expression and said, "That's all I have to say. Follow my orders!"

Upon hearing this, the officials dared not express any thoughts in their minds. They immediately bowed obediently, accepted the order, and left. ...

At the same time, outside the north city gate.

After seeing that Han Xi's attempt to persuade the city to surrender failed, Zhong Hu, who had thick eyebrows, a square face and a dignified appearance, stopped talking.

He was so reserved and calm that he didn't even say a word. He just waved his hand lightly and said, "Attack the city!"

Suddenly, the many Youzhou black armors behind him seemed to glow with blood under the winter sun.

The experienced Youzhou generals knew what to do at the moment without Zhong Hu's excessive instructions.

Outside East City, over a hundred shield carts, like giant turtles, slowly crawled toward the city walls. Each cart's roof was covered with three layers of water-soaked straw mats. Thirty laborers, hunched over like shrimps, struggled to push the carts, loaded with earth and materials. One after another, they quickly built a simple corridor in front of Nanpi City.

Although the corridor was simply covered with a shield, it was enough.

Although the arrows from the top of the city fell like raindrops, their killing efficiency was greatly reduced.

Even if rocks were thrown down by the guards on the city wall, it would be difficult to hurt these people.

Even under Wei Jia's order, more than twenty ceramic jars filled with kerosene were thrown down from the top of the city wall, igniting part of the corridor, but the fire was put out after some people died.

With nearly a thousand prisoners moving back and forth frantically, the trenches outside Nanpi City were soon filled with sandbags.

Then many shield carts extended along this road paved with blood towards Nanpi City.

While the Wei army vanguards below the city were carrying ladders and rushing forward recklessly, the guards on the city walls were also busy.

The chef who used to be busy in the tavern was now boiling sewage mixed with hot oil in the iron pot in his hand.

The chef who was forcibly recruited by the county government felt disgusted, but he still had to busy himself with preparing this feast.

When the first group of ant-like siege soldiers carried ladders to the city wall, boiling golden liquid poured down, and suddenly a foul smell floated under the city. Under the cover of misty steam, one could faintly hear sizzling sounds and terrified screams and wails.

Someone slipped and fell, and was strung into a skewer by the spears and halberds below, with his intestines hanging on the spear shafts and swaying in the wind.

But even so, Mao Kun, as Sima, still showed no fear.

After observing the top of the city for a moment, he immediately chose a direction and rushed forward with his men.

"The ladder is hooked!" The roar of the front-row vanguard seemed to carry a strong smell of blood.

However, before he could open his mouth, Mao Kun had already quickly jumped up, rising rapidly like a monkey.

By the time the ladder hooked onto the city wall, he was only a few inches away from the top of the city.

After him, Mao Kuan and Mao Xiong also climbed up quickly on the still shaking ladder.

By the time the two brothers quickly leaned out of the gap in the city wall, Mao Kun's horse-slaying sword had already been bent. He simply threw away the sword, grabbed half of the corpse with both hands and started dancing, and blood and flesh flew everywhere around him.

To be honest, even on the battlefield, it is very rare to find someone as brutal as Mao Kun.

Especially for the Nanpi defenders who were trapped in one area, his action was no different from eating people on the spot.

However, the more terrified the surrounding defenders were, the more excited Mao Kun became, and he even counterattacked without waiting for support from the rear.

It was Mao Xiong and others who were shocked when they saw this, and they crawled after him, which prevented him from dying on the city wall.

But even so, a moment later Mao Kun was driven off the city wall with a frustrated look on his face.

If it weren't for the piles of corpses under the city that helped cushion the blow, Mao Kun would be dead now.

"Who is this city's governor? I will skin him alive!"

No wonder Mao Kun was so angry. The defenders were really too rude just now.

Seeing that Mao Kun and others had gained a foothold on the city wall, Wei Jia ordered his men to shoot arrows without distinguishing between friend and foe.

Not only that, he even brought up the knife-stuffing cart at the city gate and rushed directly towards Mao Kun and others.

After all these operations, the number of defenders and young and strong men who died at his hands was even greater than that killed by Mao Kun.

But Mao Kun and others were indeed driven away in a panic, and their plan failed.

(End of this chapter)