After taking control of West Gate, Li Long immediately sent his trusted aide to report what had happened at West Gate. He himself stood on top of the city gate and looked at the rebel army outside the city with a serious expression.
At this moment, Li Long was not worried that his troops would not be able to resist the rebel army outside the city. After all, the rebel army outside the city did not seem to have any siege weapons. As such, there was no way for them to attack the city. What really worried Li Long was the sinister nature of people's hearts. The rebel army outside the city was also the army of Dongnu Province. Their mission was to defend the stronghold outside the city and protect Gui Chang City. Unexpectedly, they wanted to rebel. This made Li Long feel a chill in his heart. If the soldiers inside the city were in such a situation, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Even if only a few hundred soldiers in the city rebelled, the consequences would be unimaginable. This was especially true for the soldiers guarding the city gate. They could open the city gate and let the rebel army in. This time, if it were not for the fact that a large number of new people had been replaced, the centurion at West Gate would not have been easily discovered. As such, something big would happen tonight.
The main reason why the rebel army was discovered was because they did not trust Darwin. Thus, they sent their trusted aides to replace Darwin's soldiers. This way, they felt that things were in the bag and Darwin could not play any tricks. However, this caused their actions to be exposed, which was something they did not expect.
Perhaps in the eyes of the rebel army leaders, the people in the city were already unstable. Every patrolling soldier was dealing with it. No one had such a great sense of responsibility to catch an abnormal thing and follow it to the end. For example, if Zhao Ba did not take it to heart when he saw the abnormality and acted as if nothing had happened, the rebel army would have already entered the city.
The rebel army was obviously more concerned about whether Darwin was reliable and how to completely control him. They did not consider whether their large-scale replacement would be discovered by the people in the city and lead to their complete failure.
Behind the rebel army outside the city, there were even more bandits, and further back were the rebel army holding the line. There were about seven to eight thousand soldiers outside the city. This formation really shocked Li Long who was on top of the city gate. The other side actually had so many soldiers. If they were to launch a surprise attack into Gui Chang City, the consequences would be disastrous. The soldiers in the city would very likely be wiped out due to lack of preparation. This was really too terrifying.
Li Long only felt a lingering fear, but the rebel army outside the city was in extreme pain. Bai Yong was the one in the most pain. He had a hundred elite cavalry under his command, but he had lost half of them in this surprise attack. Moreover, he did not kill a single enemy, which made it difficult for him to accept.
Duan Jianwei, the bandit leader, Zhao Changkong, and the others all had pained looks on their faces. It was such a good opportunity, but they had failed. This was too hard for them to accept.
"Mr. Duan, we've come here for nothing."
"How could this be? Didn't it go smoothly before? "
"Looks like we've underestimated that woman. She was prepared."
"Now that we can't enter the city gate, and the soldiers in the city should be mobilizing. If we attack again, we'll die. It's better to retreat quickly!"
The group of people said.
The bandits were easy to deal with, as they could just return to their base. However, Zhao Changkong's two thousand men were in pain. Their base was the camp outside the west gate, but the fact that they had rebelled had been exposed. As such, they naturally could not continue to stay in the camp outside the west gate. Otherwise, the soldiers in the city would rush out and destroy them.
Zhao Changkong said with a bitter expression, "Mr. Wei, we've failed this time. We're in a very bad situation!"
It was obvious that Zhao Changkong was too worried. Before the rebellion, he could at least stay in the camp outside the city peacefully. Their food and drink were provided by the imperial court, so they did not have to worry about running out of food. Now, not only were they going to lose their camp, they were also destined to not receive food from the imperial court. However, other than the imperial court's food, where could they get food from? The bandits themselves were lacking in food, so they could only go around stealing food. Sometimes, they might not even be able to get it.
Zhao Changkong had two thousand men, and these two thousand men needed a lot of food. As they had always been provided by the imperial court, they did not have to worry about this matter. However, from now on, he would not receive any food from the imperial court. As such, the problem of food and drink for these two thousand men was placed in front of him. If this problem could not be solved, these two thousand men would soon completely lose their ability to fight. They might even rebel against him. That was the most terrifying thing.
Bai Yong said with a pained expression, "I don't know why, but just as our army reached the city gate, the soldiers in the city suddenly rushed out and closed the gate again. Our army lost more than fifty of our most elite soldiers. It's a heavy loss!"
Zhao Changtian looked at Duan Jianwei and said, "Mister Duan, now that we have rebelled, we definitely can't get food from the imperial court. However, our two thousand men need a lot of food every day. The food we have now can only last for ten days. After ten days, our army will run out of food. If Mister Duan can't provide food as soon as possible, then our two thousand men will be completely finished."
At this moment, their only savior was Duan Jianwei. Other than Duan Jianwei, there was no one else who could help them.
Seeing that the situation was so bad, Duan Jianwei was also very uncomfortable. At this moment, if he did not help these forces that he had roped in, then he would completely lose his chance.
"Everyone, don't worry. I will naturally not go back on my promise to help you. However, the army in Dongnu Province has controlled all the exits and exits. Their control of food is very strict. Even if we want to help, the food will not reach your hands! This is the big problem! "
Duan Jianwei said.
In order to prevent unscrupulous merchants from hoarding food, the imperial court in Dongnu Province controlled all the border roads into Dongnu Province. In the name of the imperial court, they bought all the food in the hands of the merchants and then transported it back to be distributed according to the needs. Therefore, even if Nanzhao wanted to help these rebels, it would be difficult to directly hand over the food to the rebels.
Zhao Changkong's eyes flashed with a trace of murderous intent. He said, "That's not a problem. As long as the food is transported in, we can rob them halfway! Why don't we just steal all the food? "
Duan Jianwei said, "If we can rob them, then why not rob the food from Central Sichuan? After all, there are only five hundred guards. "
Zhao Changkong said, "Mister Duan, the road leading to the Tang dynasty is an important road. There is only one road that can be taken. There are several cities along the way. With our small forces, it is impossible to pass through. There are more roads leading to Nanzhao and the road conditions are better. There is more room to maneuver."
Duan Jianwei nodded. "Alright then! I will have people disguise themselves as merchants and continue to transport food to the border. I will definitely satisfy your needs. "
The bandit leader Li Dahu said, "It's so troublesome to rob every day! Why don't we just completely occupy the south and build a new country there? We have nearly ten thousand people anyway. If we recruit some brothers, it won't be difficult to get a few tens of thousands of people. "
"That's right. We might as well completely occupy the south. Half of the south has less than five thousand soldiers. Moreover, they are relatively scattered. They are no match for us. We can take them down with a few sneak attacks. As long as we guard a few passes, we can rest easy."
Blind Man said.
Pang Gui nodded. "After we take down the south, we can also enjoy being officials. We can take turns to be kings. What do you think?"
"Yes, we can take turns to be kings. Hahaha!"
Li Dahu cheered.
Looking at these boorish bandits, Zhao Changkong felt a wave of disgust. If it weren't for the big picture, he would never have cooperated with these bandits. In his eyes, these bandits would always be boorish thieves, bastards who never changed their nature. Being associated with these people made him feel that his status had been lowered. However, he was helpless because he was too weak and couldn't realize his dreams. He could only temporarily borrow the strength of these bandits to obtain everything he wanted.
Zhao Changtian and Bai Yong were also extremely disgusted with the bandits. If it wasn't for Duan Jianwei mediating between them, they would never have come together. Duan Jianwei worked so hard to bring the bandits and the rebel army together because he wanted to rope in as much power as possible to complete his plan.
Soldiers and bandits were natural enemies. In the past, Zhao Changkong had also encircled the bandits and the bandits had also fought with the soldiers. Therefore, even though they were working together now, they did not fully trust each other. They were secretly wary of each other, worried that the other would betray them and cause them to suffer heavy losses.
Now, the bandits had more soldiers and had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers. However, the two thousand rebels were better equipped and had stronger combat power. If they really fought, it was hard to say who would win.
"You want to be kings? Don't you usually look in the mirror?"
Bai Yong was already in a bad mood. He had nowhere to vent his anger. Hearing that these bandits wanted to take turns to be kings, he became even angrier and glared at the three bandit leaders.
"What's wrong? Are we not fit to be kings? As long as I have the strength, I should be king. Who dares to disagree?"
Li Dahu was the first to roar. These bandits were now well-trained and very arrogant. They were completely unafraid of the heavens and earth.
"That's right, so what if you're an army? We're not afraid of you. Who's afraid of you? "
The blind man's one eye was wide open. It was scary.
Although Pang Gui did not say anything, his angry round eyes were very scary. It made people shudder.
Seeing that the rebel army and the bandits were about to fight, Duan Jianwei quickly stopped them, "Everyone, don't panic. You can't do things that make your enemies happy and hurt your loved ones! The soldiers in the city should be ready for battle. With our current strength, we might not be a match for these soldiers. Why don't we retreat now? "
The bandit leader and the rebel general glared at each other. Then, they looked at the West Gate not far away. Then, they ordered their troops to retreat to at least a safe place.
In the direction of the West Gate, the Grand Minister of Dongnu Province, Zhao Daiwen, had already arrived. Some high-ranking officials had also arrived. They all frowned as they looked at the rebels and bandits outside the city. Everyone's hearts were very heavy.
There were two reasons for their heavy hearts. On one hand, they were shocked by the number of bandits outside the city. They did not expect the bandits to be able to gather so many troops. This was far beyond their expectations. On the other hand, the two thousand soldiers outside the city had actually defected. This made them very worried. These soldiers had actually defected just like that. One had to know that in a situation where food was very scarce, they had not reduced the army's food. Who would have thought that they would still have defected? How could this not make them worried? If the soldiers in the city also defected like them, wouldn't that be even worse? Just thinking about it was very scary.
"Grand Minister, the rebels are retreating. Should we go out of the city to pursue them?"
A subordinate asked.
Grand Minister Zhao Daiwen shook his head and said, "The soldiers in the city are preparing. By the time they are fully prepared, the rebels will have already left. There are so many rebels and bandits. Even if we go out of the city to fight, we might not be able to gain any advantage. Forget it!"
Obviously, Zhao Daiwen was a cautious person. He was not willing to take risks. There were too many rebels and bandits outside the city. If they wanted to defeat the rebels and bandits, they would have to mobilize almost all of the soldiers in the city to have a higher chance of winning. In this way, the risk was too great. If there was a comeback, then the palace would be in danger.
"Grand Minister, these bandits and rebels are always a hidden danger. Are we just going to leave them be?"
His confidant asked.
Zhao Daiwen said, "It's not that I don't want to take care of them. It's just that we are facing too many dangers right now. We have to be steady. We can't be too hasty."
"Does the Grand Minister want to leave these thorny problems to the Imperial Court of the Tang dynasty to handle?"
Zhao Daiwen's confidant whispered.
Zhao Daiwen nodded helplessly and said, "Yes, that's what I think. We can't solve the situation we are facing by ourselves. We can only rely on the power of the Imperial Court of the Tang dynasty. As long as the Imperial Court accepts us and ships a large amount of food to us, the strength of the bandits will immediately collapse, and the rebels won't be able to cause any trouble. In addition, the soldiers of the Tang dynasty are extremely elite, much stronger than our elite soldiers. A thousand of the Tang dynasty's elite soldiers are at least equal to 3,000 of our elite imperial guards, not to mention those bandits."
It had to be said that Zhao Daiwen was quite a tactful person. He intended to leave all the thorny problems to the Imperial Court of the Tang dynasty. They only needed to stabilize the situation in Guichang City for the time being. They would not consider other things. Even if the rebels and bandits outside the city were close at hand, he would not take the risk to attack them. At the same time, he was also a person who pursued stability. Without enough confidence, he really did not dare to attack the rebels and bandits outside the city. He was afraid that he would suffer a terrible failure. Once he failed, they would be doomed eternally. These bandits were crazy with hunger. It was not a good idea to fight a group of people who were crazy with hunger.
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