Dingzhou was one of the 19 provinces of Dazhou. It was divided into seven counties: Rinan, Zhuwu, Jiude, Pingshan, Dingyuan, Chufeng, and Nanfeng.
Ever since Huang Jie's rebellion and the beginning of the chaos, each county had gradually lost control. Refugees rioted and military towns rose up.
Previously, Marquis Ding ruled Dingyuan County and Qi Lin ruled Pingshan County. They were famous military towns in Dingzhou.
But now, their fame was overshadowed by the military governor of the Nanfeng army, Wu Zhi.
No matter how others slandered her, it was incredible that she, as a woman, had brazenly stepped onto the path of hegemony and even unified two counties.
In the sixth year of peace, after praying for rain and receiving the mandate of heaven, she brazenly listed the 10 crimes of Marquis Ding in Dingyuan County and sent out 20,000 troops to suppress him.
For a moment, the situation in Dingzhou was turbulent. Many people in the world were paying attention to this place.
Pingshi County.
Chufeng and Nanfeng Counties were in the south of Dingzhou. They were separated from Dingyuan County by Rinan County. If they wanted to attack, they had to pull out this nail.
Inside the county, the county magistrate, deputy, and officer were wearing armor. Looking at the tens of thousands of troops below, they all felt weak in the knees.
"Listen up. Our army is only borrowing the road to attack Dingyuan. It is not too late to open the city gates now. Our master is merciful and promises not to offend you. Otherwise, it will be too late to regret. Don't say I didn't warn you!"
Below, a few cavalry generals were still shouting.
"Nonsense!"
County Magistrate Huang Ziping, who was standing on the city wall, was so angry that his face turned red. "How dare she! Wu Zhi has stolen two counties, and it is already a blessing that the imperial court did not send troops to attack her. Now, she even dares to start a border war and attack the counties of the imperial court. Is she trying to rebel?"
When these words were said, the officials below looked at each other. Wasn't she rebelling?
Fifty years ago, or even twenty years ago, this matter would have shocked the world. But now, it really didn't count for much.
In troubled times, the concept of a strong army was king had long been ingrained in people's hearts. The reason they were still standing here was not because they had the duty to defend the city. It was because their families were still in the city. That was all.
"I'll give you a day to think about it. We only want to borrow the road!"
The cavalry below whistled as the three armies roared like a mountain, causing the faces of the hundreds of officials on the city walls to pale.
"County Magistrate … I'm just borrowing the way …"
An official said hesitantly, "The Southern Phoenix Army's military governor has never gone back on his word … perhaps …"
"Fool!"
The County Magistrate immediately blew his beard and glared at the County Magistrate behind the official. He knew that this was the County Magistrate's idea, and it was also the idea of some of the families in the city.
The Wu Clan was a county's prestige, and they might have connections with these influential clans. They could really not offend them.
They only wanted to save their own lives, so naturally, they would not care about the consequences of the county magistrate losing the city.
"You must not borrow the path!"
Huang Ziping set the tone. Whoever believed the Southern Phoenix Army's promise was a fool! Once the army entered the city, would they be able to overturn the heavens? It would be up to them to do whatever they wanted.
He was a capable county magistrate, so he said loudly, "Marquis Ding is a title conferred by the imperial court. He has been in power for two generations and has a clean reputation. The imperial court and the prefecture magistrate will not sit idly by. I have received an urgent letter from the county. The imperial court has delegated power and ordered the provincial governor to organize the provincial army. As long as we can hold on for three days, the county's reinforcements will arrive. If we can hold on for a month, the county's army will gather and we will be able to repel the siege.
"Three days?!"
To be honest, even though the Wu Clan was a county's prestige, there were many people who were not optimistic about Wu Zhi. Even the influential clans in the county were not united.
Especially now, when he heard that the county's army would arrive in three days and the imperial court's army would arrive in a month, the official who spoke immediately turned pale.
The County Magistrate, on the other hand, looked down as if it had nothing to do with him. This made Huang Ziping secretly curse the old fox.
She did not want to argue with him and asked the County Magistrate, Xiang Fu, "How many soldiers are there in my county?"
The County Magistrate was in charge of military power. Even though Xiang Fu was a civil servant, his face was filled with killing intent. "There are 800 soldiers in the county, fully equipped with weapons. In addition, there are 500 village warriors! We swear to fight to the death with these traitors! "
These village warriors were in fact Xiang Fu's own strength. When he took them out now, everyone was shocked.
"Good! That's a total of 1300 soldiers! "
Huang Ziping was overjoyed. "Official Xiang is indeed a loyal official of the imperial court!"
He did not care if Xiang Fu was a subordinate of Marquis Ding, a citizen of the prefecture, or a diehard loyalist. As long as Xiang Fu was determined to resist, that was enough!
With this military power, he felt more confident. He looked at the officials below him and said, "More than a thousand elite soldiers have sworn to defend Flat Rock City for us. Are the families not going to do anything?"
The family heads were shocked. They knew that if they did not bleed now, Huang Ziping would really kill them. Their faces turned pale as if their flesh was being cut. "We are willing to work for the army!"
Defending the city consumed a lot of resources. They had to eat meat and wine every day. All kinds of resources and herbs could not be left behind.
"Work for the army?"
Huang Ziping said coldly, "Not enough! The village warriors are willing to help defend the city. Are you saying that your loyalty is not comparable to that of a mountain man? "
"We are willing to help!"
Hearing this, the others had no choice but to agree on the number of strong men to help. Only then did the matter end.
…
"Uncle! I'm afraid this is not possible! "
Once they got off the city wall, someone behind the County Magistrate said, "No matter how elite the county and state soldiers are, if they are not here today, they will not be able to put out a nearby fire!"
"That is true, but Official Huang is a loyal official. What can you do to him?"
The County Magistrate squinted his eyes. "Fight! Fight! After the first battle, we will decide what to do! "
However, he knew that the County Magistrate and the County Magistrate had reached an agreement. Unless all the families in the city joined forces, they would not be able to overwhelm them.
Unless the defending army suffered heavy losses and the families were divided, that would be another opportunity.
…
The second day, the siege began.
"Kill!"
The Nanfeng soldiers roared. They raised their shields, pushed the mud carts, and carried ladders towards the city wall.
"There are capable people in Flat Rock County!"
This time, the commander was Chen Jingzong. With Wu Ming's help, his hidden injuries had been healed. Now, he was back to his old self as a military Perfected Master. He was in high spirits.
Moreover, he had made many contributions and was now a fifth-rank You Ji General with five thousand men under him.
Beside him was his nephew, Chen Shuncheng. He was now a seventh-rank Zhi Guo Commandant with five hundred men.
Nanfeng's military system was the same as before. However, above the Zhi Guo Commandant was a sixth-rank Zhao Wu Commandant with a thousand men.
Basically, it was a five-man team, two-man team, five-man team, two-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team, five-man team! The two-man team would form an army and be clearly differentiated.
Only by becoming the leader of an army, leading five thousand people, and becoming a fifth-rank guerilla general, could one truly become a general. In other words, one could be called a 'general', and the other lieutenants were all 'lowly'.
Only a name and a weapon could not be faked. As a Flood Dragon with ambitions to rule the world, Wu Zhi was quite cautious when it came to using a weapon.
Chen Jingzong pointed to the top of the city wall. "Look, a general is the courage of an army. If the County Magistrate dares to stand on the top of the city wall, the soldiers will dare to shoot arrows … This is not easy. After you go down, you must remember this. You must treat the soldiers well. Take off their clothes and give them food … Only then will you be able to win the soldiers' loyalty!"
He guessed that with Wu Zhi's personality and the military system, he would not be able to accommodate both uncle and nephew in the same army. He would definitely be transferred later.
If he did not do this, his nephew would never be promoted. Naturally, he had to pass on his experience.
"Uncle, don't worry!"
Chen Shuncheng smiled. "I memorized this military strategy when I was three years old!"
"Nonsense! You should be called a general in the army now! "
Chen Jingzong's face darkened. "Go to the military judge later and receive five lashes!"
"I … I understand! General! "Chen Shuncheng's face froze and almost turned red.
Seeing this, Chen Jingzong sighed in his heart.
He had been peaceful because he did not have long to live.
But now that he still had many days to live, he had to slowly train this kid. An uncut jade would not be useful!
"Order … soldiers to retreat for now. Archers, suppress the enemy. Stone cannon team, advance!"
Chen Jingzong waved his hand and the army stopped attacking. Amidst the rain of arrows, a cannon team advanced.
There were naturally catapults in this world, but they were different from ordinary catapults. The cannon team used an extra tool — a counterweight. The important parts were even polished with metal, giving it a ferocious look.
This was a catapult designed by Chen Jingzong himself. Its performance could be said to be at the peak of cold weapons. It could throw hundreds of kilograms of boulders onto the city wall.
Unless they developed more gunpowder and spells, otherwise, in terms of battle formations, there was no one who could beat them.
Since ancient times, weapons were inseparable. As a descendant of the military school, he had accumulated many important military weapons. This catapult was just the most basic one.
If he had some selfish thoughts before, after Wu Ming gave him medicine and cured his old illness, he became a gentleman who would die for his bosom friend.
This was also normal. Otherwise, if he just left like this, everyone in the world would feel ashamed of him, and no one would be willing to accept him as a lord.
After all, they would think, 'Wu Zhi saved my life previously. If this person still betrays me or doesn't do his best, what else is there to rope him in?'
Under this value system, the blow to a half-hearted person was almost fatal.
At this time, even if Chen Jingzong had other thoughts, he had to bury them and work for Wu Zhi!
Wu Zhi did not doubt his people and directly promoted him to be a military warfare general. He led 5,000 troops and besieged Flat Rock County.
"Get on the boulders!"
Hundreds of kilograms of boulders were transported with rolling logs and pushed to the side of the catapult.
"Fire!"
Accompanied by Chen Jingzong's roar, the main shaft of the catapult let out an unbearable cry. The counterweight fell heavily and threw the boulder on the other side.
Boom!
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