I

The Datong Army did not bring many accompanying soldiers and civilians, and they did not have the time to fill in the moat.

Fortunately, the moat is not wide, so the small boats transporting grain can be used as bridge foundations, and then trees can be cut down to build pontoons.

Ngee Ann Dao Xian Si Fan Shouli opened the treasury to recruit soldiers, and promoted the brutal killings of the Datong army, and actually recruited more than 2,000 soldiers to defend the city. When the Datong army built the pontoon bridge, the defenders also climbed onto the tower, holding simple weapons and trembling with fear.

Wu Anguo and Chen Fan ran to the city tower and ordered Fan Shouli to disband the army.

Fan Shouli was very adamant and said to the newly recruited militiamen: "These two people are afraid of death, but they don't know that the Han soldiers will kill and loot after the city is broken. If you want to keep your family and property, hold on to the city with me." Someone is coming, tie them up!”

"You are confused...ah, don't do it... let go quickly, I am the chief officer of Yi'an Road, and I said it here... uh uh uh..."

The two Chengzhengs were all tied up and their mouths were gagged.

Han soldiers really like to loot cities, even domestic cities, let alone come to Annan to fight?

But that was the Ming army!

The original Chief Secretary of Cochin regarded being an official in Annan as an exile because of the mistreatment of the people by Han officials. As soon as he took office, he made money crazily and wanted to go back. The local people were forced to do nothing by the Han officials, so the gentry led the peasants to revolt.

It happened that Zhu Di had been fighting continuously during his period, which left the treasury empty. After Zhu Di's death, the Ming Dynasty gradually shrank its defense lines, even to the north of Yanshan Mountain, let alone Jiaozhi, which had constant uprisings?

This is how Annan became independent from the Ming Dynasty.

This is not only the case in Annan, Han officials also exploited and exploited ethnic minorities in various southern provinces to make money. The Li, Yao, Miao, and Yi ethnic groups... were caused by Han officials to cause constant uprisings. Most of the time, the officials forced the people to rebel.

Fan Shouli stood on the tower and watched the Datong army cross the moat along the pontoon bridge. He turned around and shouted: "Have you finished burning the hot oil? Fall down when the enemy comes!"

"Sir... there are so many cannons!" an official pointed outside the moat.

There were actually not many artillery pieces, 25 guns per division. Eight of them were taken by Li Dingguo to attack Qinghua, where there were naval artillery to help. On Yuan Shizhong's side, he only brought the remaining 17 cannons.

Seventeen cannons were enough to frighten Fan Shouli.

"Everyone hide behind the parapet!" Fan Shouli shouted.

"Boom boom boom!"

The two chief officers, Wu Anguo and Chen Fan, were also thrown behind the female wall. Listening to the rumbling of cannons outside the city, and occasionally cannonballs hitting the city wall, violent vibrations came from the wall, and the bodies of these two guys also trembled.

Unconsciously, Wu Anguo looked down at his crotch, and he was so frightened that he peed his pants.

"Run!"

The militiamen who defended the city were all citizens of the city. There is no armor or regular weapons, and their morale will be reduced to zero after being bombarded by artillery.

More than ten artillery shells fell one after another, and the militiamen who defended the city had a nervous breakdown. They left the female wall and fled, thinking that it would be safe to escape back to the city.

If one person escapes, he will instantly lead a large group.

Before the Datong soldiers attacking the city could rush to the city, nearly half of the more than 2,000 defenders had already fled.

Fan Shouli was also a civil servant and had never fought in a war. At this moment, he persisted with all his courage, shouting to the deserters: "Don't run away, stick to the city, protect your home and country... Don't run away, come back quickly!"

Nghe An is the hinterland of Annan, a place where nobles gather. There has been no war for decades.

How can the city residents of a prosperous place with long-lasting peace be able to defend the city?

Fan Shouli's shouts had no effect at all. Not only the militiamen who defended the city fled, but also the officials who fought with him began to leave the city wall one by one.

Seeing the officials running away, the militiamen defending the city had even more excuses to escape. In an instant, only a few hundred militiamen were still holding on.

Fan Shouli plucked up the courage to poke his head through the city wall and found that the Datong army had rushed to the city. He quickly ordered: "Hot oil, roll the wood!"

There were not many officials and militiamen around him anymore. Some of them didn't want to run, but were so frightened that their legs were weak and they couldn't stand up.

At least there were a few of them, crawling on the ground towards the oil pan, but their speed was about the same as that of a turtle.

Fan Shouli stood up suddenly and shouted: "The enemy is about to attack the city. It is impossible to fire any more artillery. Everyone, stand up and defend against the enemy!"

After hearing this, some militiamen suddenly became bold and quickly went to carry the oil pan.

Some militiamen were even more frightened when they heard this. The enemy is about to attack the city? Only these of our own people can escape, and they can still hold on. We must not stay and die!

As a result, the militiamen who were too scared to move before now rolled and crawled away from the city wall.

The militiamen who were carrying the oil pan next to Fan Shouli saw that their own people were still running, and there were only a few people on the entire city wall. They also put down the oil pan and ran away.

Fan Shouli was so angry that he walked quickly to the oil pan and called to those who had not left: "I am personally guarding the city, please help me quickly!"

Those people were a little hesitant, but most of them were obedient and came over to help Fan Shouli carry the frying pan.

One of them went back to climb on the parapet and saw the Datong soldiers outside climbing up the simple wooden ladder. He shouted in panic: "Han soldiers are climbing up!"

"Clang!"

The militiamen who were carrying the oil pan dropped the oil pan and ran away.

"ah!"

Fan Shouli didn't react, and the hot oil spilled onto his feet, causing him to scream in pain.

"Uh huh!" Wu Anguo and Chen Fan, two officials, were still tied behind the female wall, struggling crazily to escape.

The city wall was empty except for the three officials.

Well, there are still a few corpses, all of them unlucky ones who were killed by artillery.

The first batch of Datong troops have already landed on the city.

Fan Shouli thought to himself that if he was burned by hot oil, he would be disabled even if he survived. It would be better to obey his will and die heroically. He actually knelt on his knees, drew his sword out of its sheath, crawled towards the Datong army, and shouted while crawling back: "Be loyal to the emperor and serve the country now!"

The soldiers of Datong were stunned. One person raised his shield and knocked away the scribe's sword, while the other two rushed forward and subdued him.

"There are two more officials here!"

Wu Anguo's gag was pulled out, and he quickly shouted in Chinese: "It's not me who recruited the troops to defend the city, it has nothing to do with me, it's all the mantis surnamed Fan who serves as a chariot!"

Yuan Shizhong and Xu Xuechang quickly led their troops into the city. When they learned that Fan Shouli was scalded by hot oil and still defending the city alone, Xu Xuechang praised: "I didn't expect that there are loyal people in the small country of Annan. Let the military doctor treat his injury quickly. Even if he can't save his feet, he can have his legs amputated." We must save him too!”

However, Yuan Shizhong glanced at Wu Anguo and Chen Fan who were kneeling in front of them, and said disdainfully: "I heard that you two are the chief envoys of Nghe An Province? Everyone knows how to defend the city, but you two chief officials are corrupt. If you are afraid of death, you must be a corrupt official!"

Wu Anguo and Chen Fan were a little dumbfounded. Why were they scolded for not defending the city, while those who defended the city were praised?

Chen Fan was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly and explained on his knees: "General Rong, we did not defend the city because we knew that Master Wang was benevolent and would not harm the people at all. This man surnamed Fan deceived the people and threatened them by saying that the heavenly soldiers would massacre the city!" "

Yuan Shizhong grinned and said, "He's right."

"Ah? Really...really want to massacre the city?" Wu Anguo was trembling all over.

Chen Fan kowtowed more effectively: "If the general wants to massacre the city, just massacre the common people. Please spare my life. I am from the Chen family in Thanh Hoa. If the heavenly soldiers attack Thanh Hoa, I am willing to lead the way and persuade them to surrender."

Yuan Shizhong gritted his teeth and said, "He is indeed a dog official. He betrayed the entire city with just one lie!"

"Liar?"

Wu Anguo was stunned, and he was doing the roller coaster repeatedly. Just now his heart sank into the valley, and now he was so happy that he flew into the sky.

He broke out in a cold sweat and kowtowed with a cry: "The general is benevolent and righteous, and the people in the city depend on it for their lives. I thank the general for not killing!"

"Stop teasing them," Xu Xuechang said, "Get up, you are the chief officers, help our army take over the city. Recruit all the officials in the city, maintain public order, and ask them to tell them door to door that our Datong army cannot rob It’s a matter of plundering. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation and rob will be killed on the spot!"

"Yes, yes, the villain will go right away!"

The two chief officials were overjoyed that they could now be doglegs. The Han soldiers were outsiders after all, and they had to rely on officials like them to govern the place.

Yuan Shizhong laughed and said: "We conquered the city without losing a single soldier. It would be really boring if we didn't entertain them."

Xu Xuechang said: "Thanks to careful investigation, we can go straight to Ngee An City. If we send troops from Guangxi, the enemy troops will definitely defend. If they cannot attack for a long time, many people will die from fever. In Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, Like Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to defend the city together in a world of peace and beauty."

"What you said makes sense. I wonder if Guangxi has sent troops." Yuan Shizhong looked to the north.

Li Dingguo led his troops to station in Hainan. He was the first to receive news of Lord Zheng's defeat and immediately sent his troops to attack. The two Datong divisions in Guangxi will definitely send troops later.

…

But it was said that father and son Zheng Zhi and Zheng Zha returned to Shenglong Mansion with thousands of remaining soldiers and immediately summoned the ministers for urgent discussion.

Zheng Rongfu, Zhifan Zhifan (Shang Shu of the Ministry of Rites), was from the same clan as Zheng Jie, and he spoke more directly: "Your Highness, this time our army was defeated, and the Han army took the opportunity to invade. Both news have been sent back. The capital. Nowadays, people in the capital are in panic, and they all say that His Highness deceived the king and was punished by heaven."

"Nonsense!" Zheng Zha asked, "Who is spreading the rumor? Find out immediately and cut him into pieces!"

Zheng Jie was not angry. He raised his hand to signal his son to shut up. He said to himself: "There are enemy troops in both Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Is Lang Son still safe?"

Li Gang, the commander of the army, said: "There has been no movement. The subordinates have already sent people to order the general soldiers of Lang Son to defend well."

Zheng Zhen recruited 60,000 troops for the southern expedition. He did not draw troops from Lang Son. There were 1,500 soldiers stationed there, half-farming and half-fighting in the mountainous areas, similar to the border military garrison of the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Zheng asked Hufan Zhifan Wu Zongru: "How much more food can be allocated to recruit troops?"

Wu Anguo, the fearful ghost in Ngee Ann City, is a relative of Wu Zongru.

Wu Zongru said with a dry mouth: "Reporting to your highness, we sent out troops to conquer the Ruan family, and there is not much money and food left in the treasury. If all of it is used to recruit troops, officials' salaries will not be paid."

"I'm asking you, how much food is left to recruit soldiers!" Zheng Zhi emphasized.

Wu Zongru replied: "There are also more than 40,000 taels of silver and more than 70,000 shi of rice."

Zheng Jing said: "Give them all to the soldiers. Recruit as many soldiers as you can! Also, order all officials to ask the gentry to recruit local braves and quickly gather troops at Shenglong Mansion to serve the king!"

Zheng Rongfu said: "Your Highness, you should also send an envoy to Qinghua to question the Han army general why he invaded our territory without declaring war. Maybe there is room for change. Let's see if we can persuade the other side to withdraw."

Li Gang, who had been clamoring to go to war with China a few years ago, now said: "What's the use of negotiating with the generals? They are eager to fight and make meritorious deeds. They have to send envoys to Nanjing and bring money to bribe officials so that they can persuade the Chinese emperor to withdraw his troops!"

These guys are panicking. They are not afraid of China sending troops from North Vietnam. They only need to defend the passes with high mountains and dense forests.

However, the Datong Army did not follow common sense and actually crossed the sea to land and fight, and went straight to the hometowns of Vietnamese nobles. Now everyone is afraid, not because they are afraid of losing their city and territory, but because they are afraid that their families will be exterminated and their homes will be confiscated by the Datong Army.

Annan Kingdom can be destroyed, but your own family cannot be destroyed.