Rise From the Humble

The sun rises, hangs high, and sets again. Dusk falls slowly, the moon rises above the willow branches, and the surrounding fields are silent.

The whole day, until late at night, the Japanese pirates huddled on the river beach ten miles away, and did not launch any more attacks on the Zhejiang Army's positions. They did not even make any appearance of attacking. Their honesty was a bit incredible.

On the Suzhou city wall, a group of officials arranged the city wall under the light of torches to strengthen inspections and guard against Japanese pirates.

The soldiers on the city wall looked at the Japanese camp in the distance outside the city, pointing and talking, with relaxed expressions.

"It seems that the Japanese pirates suffered a heavy blow in front of the Zhejiang Army's formation. The losses were not small. They did not recover for a day. They did not dare to attack the Zhejiang Army's position for a whole day. Haha, look, do the Japanese pirates seem to have been interrupted? The wild dogs with dog-legged legs only dared to stare from a distance and bared their teeth, but they didn’t have the guts to turn around and fight back.”

"Hahahaha, Japanese pirates are nothing more than that."

The atmosphere on the city wall was much more relaxed than that in the early morning, and I couldn't help but feel a little contempt for the Japanese pirates outside the city.

"The Japanese pirates are treacherous. They did not attack the city during the day, which may have paralyzed us. Late at night, they may bypass the south gate guarded by the Zhejiang Army and attack other city gates. We must take precautions to prevent the Japanese pirates from taking advantage. "

Every time Shang Wei, the prefect of Suzhou, inspected a section of the city wall, he would take the trouble to call the generals and officials in charge and emphasize to them.

"Yes, sir, don't worry. It's about the lives of all the elders in the city. The humble family members are also in the city, so we don't dare to relax at all."

A group of officials and generals assured Magistrate Shang one after another.

"Of course, everyone does not need to be on high alert. They can be divided into two or three shifts. One class will be on high alert and the rest will rest on the spot. The elders in the city sent more than 3,000 quilts, plus our inherent There are enough beddings for one person and two quilts, so you won’t suffer from cold or exhaustion when sleeping on the floor.”

"Light more fires on the city wall, firstly, to create the image of numerous soldiers and horses, to confuse the Japanese pirates, and make them frightened; secondly, when the weather is cold and the ground is freezing, lighting more fires can also warm everyone up and drive away the cold; thirdly, Well, boil a large pot of broth on the fire, bake pancakes by the fire, and give the soldiers a late-night snack to supplement their nutrition."

Magistrate Su made arrangements for a group of soldiers.

All the soldiers responded one after another. They were naturally happy to be able to work in three shifts, light more fires, and add a late-night snack.

Magistrate Su inspected a circle of the city wall, but went directly to the city gate tower without going down. In the simple Chen Gate Tower, like all the soldiers, he spread a bedding on the ground and directly leaned against the wall to put on his clothes and take a nap.

"My lord, the night is already deep, and the Japanese pirates have no sign of moving their troops. We are watching on the city wall. You can go back to your house and have a good sleep. You have been working too hard this day, even for a hard-working man. I can’t bear it.”

A group of officials persuaded him again and again.

"Haha, I'm not an old man. It's not a problem to stay up for a month, let alone one night. A few months ago, when Zihou was in power in Jingnan County, he was also besieged by Japanese pirates. At that time, Zihou was carrying blankets Climb the city and make an oath not to retreat to the city wall if the Japanese pirates retreat, and I will not descend to the city wall if the Japanese pirates retreat."

Magistrate Su waved his hand and said insistently.

"Master Fu, at this moment and that moment, Lord Zhu is leading the Zhejiang Army to sit at the Fengqiao camp outside the city. We are also on the city, you."

All the officials continued to persuade.

Before they finished speaking, they were interrupted by Magistrate Su, "You don't need to persuade me any more. I have made my decision. Of course, so have you. If the Japanese pirates don't retreat, no one is allowed to go down the city wall. Otherwise, we will be punished for escaping from the battle." !”

A group of officials.

In the dead of night, the soldiers on the city wall did not dare to relax at all. Except for the soldiers lying on the ground, all the soldiers on duty stared at the distance with their eyes wide open, not letting go of the slightest movement.

The Japanese pirate army is still more than ten miles away and has not retreated. It is possible to attack the city at any time. Although the Zhejiang army dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese pirates during the day, the Zhejiang army only had 2,000 men and could only guard the Fengqiao camp. However, there were multiple gates in all directions of Suzhou City. The Japanese pirates could completely bypass the southern area where the Zhejiang army was stationed. , and turned to attack the city gates in other directions.

Therefore, the soldiers on the city did not dare to relax at all.

Shang Wei, the prefect of Suzhou, came out to inspect the city wall again in the middle of the night. When he saw the soldiers guarding the city seriously, he nodded with satisfaction.

In the distance, at the gate in front of the Zhejiang Army's Fengqiao Camp, the sound of horse hooves sounded, and more than a hundred horses stopped in front of the camp.

"Secret code, secret code, you can enter the door only if you match the code." The soldiers in front of the village gate shouted vigilantly.

"Water can carry a boat." Immediately afterwards, the soldiers in front of the village gate shouted a secret signal.

"You can also row rowing boats."

The cavalry replied one after another.

"The code is correct, open the village gate." The sentry commander on duty at the village gate waved his hand, indicating to his soldiers to open the village gate.

Water can carry boats and row boats. This is the code designed by Zhu Ping'an, which has a bad taste that reminds you of modern times.

Of course, the main thing is the confidentiality of the password. If people of this era heard the previous sentence, "Water can carry a boat," they would probably think that the next outcome is "it can also capsize the boat." Unless someone else comes from modern times, the only one who is given the secret code by Zhu Ping'an Only then did the officers and men of the Zhejiang Army realize that the next sentence was "You can also row boats."

"Sir, we spread out and monitored the Japanese pirate camp from a distance until Battalion Commander Zhang led someone to replace us in monitoring the Japanese pirates. We watched for three hours and did not find a single Japanese pirate leaving the camp. All the Japanese pirate troops were in the camp. Inside the camp.”

After General Wang Xiong led more than a hundred horses back to the camp, he handed the horses to his subordinates to take them away to add fodder and warm water. He entered his account and reported the reconnaissance situation to Zhu Pingan.

"oh?"

In the camp, Zhu Ping'an was checking the wartime merit list of the battalion commander's officers and drafting an official request for merit. When he heard Wang Xiong's report, he was stunned for a moment.

Zhu Ping'an thought that the Japanese pirates would secretly send several groups of troops to bypass the Fengqiao camp guarded by the Zhejiang army at night and attack the Suzhou city gate in other directions. Unexpectedly, the Japanese pirates actually huddled in the temporary camp.

This made Zhu Ping'an a little confused. Although the Japanese pirates lost six or seven thousand soldiers in front of the Zhejiang army during the day, the main force of the Japanese pirates was still there. The Japanese pirates still had several times the strength of the Suzhou official army and would not be so huddled.

The Japanese pirates must be brewing some conspiracy?

Zhu Pingan thought for a moment, but he didn't know. However, it was right to do his own thing well and not give the Japanese pirates an opportunity to take advantage of him.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your hard work. Mr. Wang, please go back to your account and have a good rest."

Zhu Pingan asked Wang Xiong to go down to rest, and he took Liu Mu and others out to inspect the camp and check for any deficiencies.

In order to prevent accidents, Zhu Ping'an sent three more rangers to cruise in the other three directions of Suzhou to monitor the movements of Japanese pirates.

Zhu Ping'an specifically told them that once Japanese pirates are discovered, they should mainly give warnings and there is no need to fight with Japanese pirates.