Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Outside Zhen Jiang's house, a large group of people crowded at the door, blocking the road. There were not only remnants of the Imperial Army living in Wuqi Town recuperating, but also many local old and weak women and children. People flocked here with different moods.

This was obviously a good thing Yang Biao and the other two did. He didn't tell everyone to come to Li Desheng's house while spreading the news, nor did he gather so many people in a short period of time. Except for dozens of remnants of the forbidden army, these old and weak people who were almost abandoned usually lived quietly. When they suddenly gathered together, they realized that there were so many people, at least several hundred. At first glance, there are gray hair and cloth covering the head everywhere. Women seem to like to wrap their hair in cloth handkerchiefs when they go out.

Seeing that Li Desheng was about to speak, Guo Shao stood up first, clasped his fists left and right, and shouted loudly: "My fellow countrymen..."

Immediately, a group of eyes looked over at him. It seemed that everyone was looking at him. Guo Shao hadn't practiced in this kind of situation for a long time, so he felt a little nervous. He cleared his throat and said: "The Khitan people went south this time to take advantage of the main force of the Zhaoyi Army and the official army to attack the emptiness of Jinyang.

He continued to speak loudly: "A month ago we came here to recuperate from our wounds. The people of Wujun Town provided us with housing, clothing, and food regardless of the family's difficulties... For the kindness of a drop of water, a man should spring up to repay you. The sincerity you treat others is deeply moved. Brothers are in need today. How can we stand by and watch? How dare we die!"

The people were quiet, there was no noise or applause, just like this dilapidated old town. But they all listened.

Guo Shao glanced over the remnants of the forbidden army, and shouted: "In the battle of Gaoping, Zhang Yuanhui, the number one general of the Northern Han army, rushed to my ranks and was killed by me on the spot! I have two brothers, and they were heavily surrounded by the enemy soldiers. They all counted as one as ten to kill the enemy! The official and the commander of the front office Zhang all praised him personally, saying, 'It is appropriate to award the commander'." Mentioning the emperor and high-ranking people in public, Guo Shao salutes the north with his fists clasped, acknowledging the authority of the court is to emphasize his own. The authority continued, "The officers and soldiers stationed in Wujun Town now have different affiliations. In times of crisis, should they disperse or reorganize into an army? If there is someone with a higher military rank than me, who is willing to stand up and order the soldiers, speak now..."

"Since there is no one, Guo will do his part and take over the military power of the scattered soldiers stationed in Wujun Town from now on! I have a list of wounded soldiers who are placed in Wujun Town, and those who stay are still in the ranks of the Imperial Army; those who want to escape are deserters. What happened today must be reported to the front office in the future."

The army was silent like a cicada, and no one was willing to stand up against it.

Guo Shao was very satisfied when he saw this, and immediately incited the people: "I know that there are many veterans present. You have served your country all your life, and you have been fighting for others; now the barbarians want to trample on your homeland and kill | humiliate your relatives. It's time to fight for yourself! The Khitan people of the Liao Kingdom are well known for burning, killing, and looting. They took up arms and used their last blood to defend their families! I feel infinitely honored to die on the battlefield!"

Gradually, many gray-haired people stood out from the crowd, and someone said: "I have been in the army and killed people." "Count me in, anyway, I don't have many days to live, and I will die when I die..."

Guo Shao took the opportunity and said: "Since all the villagers think that I will be able to take on this role, it is reasonable and legal for me to issue a call-up order in Wujun Town for the sake of preparing for the war!"

He immediately issued the first call-up order, to select those who can still be used as an army to help the defense, and each household must also send out people and rations to follow the arrangements for repairs. Everyone in the town made it clear, and the town general Li Desheng didn't object on the spot, and the incident changed from uncooked rice to cooked rice.

Li Desheng had no choice but to agree with Guo Shao's previous proposal. He took people to Luzhou to buy supplies, and left his servants to help manage the people.

Those old men who claim to have been in the army are all at least fifty years old; there are no young people in this place, and young people will not be dispatched to Wuqi Town. Guo Shao and others could only lower the selection criteria and select those who did not look aged in their 70s and 80s, but those who walked more quickly and had better spirits. After choosing for a long time, we got sixty-eight people.

These old soldiers also dug out the worn-out iron and copper armor from their homes, which was better than nothing, and some even had weapons. Before the town general left, he was generous enough to donate his armor, sword, and bow, but only one pair.

At noon, someone came to greet Guo Shao. He looked back and saw that it was Zuo You, a civilian and military doctor in the army. This person has a good face, with a small mustache and a round neck robe, but his figure is very thin. Zuo You said: "I have a suggestion, Guo Lang, would you like to hear it?"

Guo Shao put down the bow and arrow in his hand and hurriedly told him to speak directly. Zuo You said: "The most urgent task is not only to compile the soldiers into the army register, but also to formulate military laws and regulations as soon as possible so that rewards and punishments can be based on evidence. I have written the 'Four Killing Orders', please read it to Guo Lang."

Those who disobey orders will be executed; those who run away first before the battle will be executed; those who leave their posts without authorization will be executed;

It was simple and crude and covered foreseeable problems, and the last one had long-term concerns. Guo Shao immediately took another look at Zuo You, and then changed his name to "Mr. Zuo": "Mr. Zuo, why don't you recite these four orders several times in public, so as to know the whole army?"

Seeing that he was so happy, Zuo You immediately bowed and said, "I take orders."

That afternoon, Guo Shao entrusted Zuo You to register the soldiers in the roster. Then start to organize, twenty-eight recovered wounded soldiers of the forbidden army will form a team independently; more than 70 old and weak town soldiers will be organized into a capital, named Xiangbing. He himself served as the military envoy, Yang Biao served as the deputy envoy and ten generals of the imperial army, Luo Mengzi served as Chang Xing (deputy of the squad); he also promoted three of the ten generals from the township soldiers. Although the sparrow is small and has all the internal organs, it directly created an organization... and even asked Zuo You to be called a military counselor. The staff group was established, although there was only one person.

In the evening, Guo Shao and the four people around him discussed matters, and Zuo You also began to participate in the discussion. The second requisition order was agreed, asking each family to contribute ironware to the blacksmith shop in the town. Yang Biao was in charge of training soldiers, Guo Shao prepared materials and weapons, Zuo You and Luo Mengzi supervised the construction of fortifications.

...

Wuqi Town originally had a city wall rammed with earth, but it fell into disrepair for a long time and many places collapsed and dilapidated. Now the recruitment of civilians is only to dig the dilapidated places to repair; the soil is directly used to dig trenches outside the wall, and then rammed with clay. Yang Biao's suggestion is to add a deep ditch to a wall, use sharpened bamboo in the ditch to increase defense; Manpower and materials are very scarce, and this is the only way to go.

The north of this place is backed by mountains, and there are woods and bamboo forests on the mountain. Choose a hard bamboo of one to two feet, and sharpen one end to make a spear. It is not as sharp and durable as an iron gun, but it is also useful. It is lighter and longer than solid wood, and it can be used by infantry against cavalry temporarily.

The old and weak rural soldiers formed temporarily had insufficient armor, and most of the armor that the old soldiers dug out was rusted and damaged. So they used wood and bamboo to drill hollows to make simple armor with incomplete scales. The protection was not very good, but it was better than nothing.

Two days later, it was learned that Li Desheng came back with two carts of belongings in person. Maybe he was restless in Luzhou, and he was still afraid of Li Yun's accountability? Guo Shao heard the news and went out to have a look, and immediately understood that this guy is definitely a miser. He got some scraps of copper and metal back when the knife rest was on his neck. It was inconvenient for Guo Shao to argue with him, so he generously accepted the food.

Because Li Desheng's wife and children were sent to Luzhou, there were no female relatives in the family, so Guo Shao and others have moved to the relatively spacious Li family as a residence. When Li Desheng returned to his home, he saw sundries everywhere, which were beyond recognition.

In the past two days, Guo Shao has re-turned the terrain of Wuqi Town several times. After welcoming Li Desheng back, he continued to discuss tactics with the people in the room:

"There is a high mountain on the one side of Wuxian Town, and it is easy to be affected by the enemy on three sides. The estimated wall is nearly two miles on foot. Our soldiers are only a hundred people, and they are mostly weak. If they are dead, the soldiers are not enough; With the wall and alley, I wiped out the enemy; therefore I called the people to build a wall to separate the road on the two central roads, which is the intention. "

... Six or seven days passed in a blink of an eye, and Wuyun Town was basically ready, but the surroundings were still deadly quiet, no different from countless days. The soldiers were a little worried that the Khitan soldiers would not come. It is strange to think that it is a good thing that the enemy does not come, but now people are looking forward to a battle instead. Because everyone has been busy for many days, smashing pots and irons to build fortifications, and trained a lot to prepare for the battle. If it is not useful, wouldn't it be a waste of work? As for what is the best result, people don't seem to think about it.

The soldiers will be gearing up, and even the village soldiers will not accept their old age, looking forward to it, and there are hundreds of civilian husbands who do odd jobs and report to the city gate every day. Guo Shao set up sentry posts in all directions, and sent people around day and night to serve as scouts. There are also people on duty on the city wall every day, so it can be said that everything is ready.

"Why don't the Khitan soldiers come?" The old soldier standing guard outside the door also muttered.

Guo Shao let them discuss, of course he would not say "it would be better not to come", so as not to dampen everyone's active fighting spirit.

In terms of offense and defense, the defender naturally has an advantage, but it is at the cost of giving up the initiative; whether to fight or not is entirely up to others, and to what extent it is not up to oneself.