Volume 6, Chapter 12: Slick Blood in the Isolated City (1/2)

Volume 6, Chapter 12: Slick Blood in the Isolated City

<blockquote class="Quote">1</sup>by surprise Then they crossed the river and flanked Guangling, the defenders routed Reinforce tith could not be tied up Now, Pei Yun sent atheir surrender Cai Lin complied and led his forces out of the city He co host surrendered On the twenty-ninth day of the tenth arrison collapsed without a battle

— Records Volume Three

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Some attractions in Chuzhou were the Zhenhuai Tower and Temple of Marquis Han in the middle of the city, while the Te Dock on the outskirts were the , had always loved the Zhenhuai Tower the most Not only did he frequently convene feasts with lu, he had also coordinated the resistance of Chuzhou’s garrison to the Yong arht However, he returned to Zhenhuai Toithin a night, having been taken prisoner The Yong guard at his side didn’t breach any etiquette, but the governor couldn’t shake his feelings of anguish and dread

Yesterday at dusk, the routing troops of the Chuzhou Barracks arrived outside the city unar army had already captured the Chuzhou Barracks and Luo Louzhen had died in battle Gu Yuanyong threw open the gates and allowed the defeated troops to enter the city The leader of those , who frequently helped him dissuade Luo Louzhen fro didn’t suspect hi had been forced by the Yong army to this city so they could deceive the defenders Chuzhou could have just barely withstood a battle but fell in this absurd way

Gu Yuanyong still retained a bit of wariness, so even though the Yong army invaded the city, he withdrew to the Zhenhuai Tower under the protection of his bodyguards Urban warfare broke out between the defenders and the Yong ar, but the Chuzhou garrison was faed in co tiht, the Yong army’s twenty thousand reinforce’s last speck of hope was shattered as he gazed at the Yong banners all throughout the city of Chuzhou The re thousand-odd defenders were surrounded at the base of the Zhenhuai Tower Helpless, he could only surrender the city Afterwards, the Yong army forced him to lead them around the city and quell the populace By the ti had established their occupation of the city of Chuzhou

After a sleepless night, Gu Yuanyong was again su commander Pei Yun When he reached the top floor he wasat the ith his hands cupped behind his back He was looking down at the vieo men stood on either side of Pei Yun and in front of and behind hiray-blue ar didn’t know the particulars of these bodyguards, but he could see that each had a stern bearing, different from the typical soldier A pained look on his face, he went forward and prostrated, saying, “Surrendered subject of Southern Chu, Gu Yuanyong, pays his respects to Military Commissioner out to help hi him up, Pei Yun smiled and said, “I followed the order of My I and capturing Huaidong because of the great suffering of the Chuzhou populace Last night’s bloody battle unavoidably harmed many innocents Since ht, please placate the people instead”

Gu Yuanyong gave repeated pro ar to executearht, the sieging Yong army suffered quite a few casualties, at least a thousandtheir ti with him If not for his worry that they would e, he wouldn’t have surrendered To his surprise, this Military Co ar had never experienced battle with the Yong ar ar was norht back and surrendered instead, that would be far stranger

Pei Yun soothed Gu Yuanyong with a feords, his tone gentle to put Gu Yuanyong at ease At this tie, saluted to Pei Yun, and said, “General, that Chuzhou Chief Clerk is too rude This subordinate followed orders to seize papers and seals, but he refused to hand the you used deception to take the city and are a treacherous coward”

Gu Yuanyong’s heart lurched Chief Clerk Jing Changqing of Chuzhou was a jinshi+ who came twenty-ninth in the aututai Four years ago, he came to Chuzhou and took up office He was the son of one of Jiaxing’s aristocratic faher position, at least entering the Hanlin Acade Over the years, he had served in various regions as an adjunct,proained wealth and rank Only he nearly reached the age of forty before being appointed as the Chief Clerk of Chuzhou

After his appoint conducted hiood sense of propriety and did his duty as an honest and upright individual, a truly outstanding talent When Gu Yuanyong asked hihed without explaining He was clearly hiding soate the secrets in another’s life As a result, he dropped the subject but kept it inwas unexpectedly stubborn today If he offended the Yong army, would he not lose his life? His harem and children were all within the walls of Chuzhou, and if he did so, his entire fa couldn’t help but become unsettled

Pei Yun didn’t look any different He said lightly, “Lingfeng, how did you handle hiered and had people tie hi hi “Please per, General Make the”

Thinking of how Jing Changqing was easy to get along with on nor hurriedly went up and boith his hands in front of hi is principled by nature and was perhaps offended to sonanihed and said, “Bring hi chief clerk forrejoiced and conveyed the order down the tower Soon after, bodyguards escorted a man up the stairs This entle air to him However, he was currently covered in dirt, and his official’s hat was nowhere to be found Bloodstains even dotted his forehead, clearly having suffered badly on the way here

After reaching the top floor, the ry eyes Du Lingfeng saw hi forgiveness froht of hi, aeneral of Great Yong?”

Pei Yun laughed at his words “Governor Gu has already led the Chuzhou officials in surrendering to our Great Yong You are now a surrendered official, so why do you not kneel?”

The overnor may have surrendered, but as the Chief Clerk, I never have You all invaded our lands and harmed our people, so the Southern Chu coh the current situation forces a te’s army marches north, he will annihilate you² He definitely won’t let all of you escape Huaidong”

Du Lingfeng was furious He walked over and slapped Jing Changqing, knocking hiated, “Don’t you knoho the Southern Chu commoners hate to the core? Who doesn’t know that Luo Louzhen has devastated Huaidong, raped peasant girls, and irain levies Today, our ar of Luo Louzhen’s execution Chuzhou’s people all danced with joy Since you’re this unyielding, why didn’t you have the courage to fight back against Luo Louzhen? All my life, I’ve most despised rotten scholars like you Since you refuse to surrender, you’ll be a prisoner of our arue for three days in front of the governor’s residence We’ll see if you’ll have the strength to criticize us”

His strike was so severe and heavy half thefro’sHe let loose a torrent of invective, and though it was unintelligible, Du Lingfeng grew even more incensed He drew his sword, pointed at theto kill yourself, I’ll oblige you”

Pei Yun had been cals, but when he saw that Du Lingfeng was really going to put Jing Changqing to the sword, he spoke up to restrain hi his difficult for his fa happily said He then dragged Jing Changqing down the tower

Gu Yuanyong was so scared he had broken out into a cold sweat Du Lingfeng may have walloped and reprimanded the disrespectful chief clerk, but the others clearly had their eyes on hi to hi his capable official hu soldier, Gu Yuanyong felt a sense of mortification He too wanted to curse at these people, then have Pei Yun order for hied out and executed

Pei Yun noticed his flushi+ng, angry face, but deterring the Chuzhou officials fro was the most important issue at the ’s co officials in Southern Chu’s Huaidong Province were all sons of Southern Chu nobility, so even though they had surrendered, it absolutely could not be trusted Only once Pei Yun had captured Guangling would he purge Huaidong Then it could act as the front line of Great Yong’s offensive against Southern Chu For now, they would have to tolerate the insubordination

A day later, Pei Yun left Wei Ping behind with five thousand ling to rendezvous with He Ying’s force Meanwhile, Zhang Wenxiu’s force had successfully seized Sizhou and were also heading to Guangling to ateway The region had originally been under Yangzhou’s jurisdiction, and in ancient ti the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the region was created as the County of Tianchang, later being renazhou Decades had passed since then, and people had beco acted as the northern barrier of Yangzhou, seizing Guangling zhou could be captured at once As such, Southern Chu had established the Guangling Barracks in this region

The deputy general of the Guangling Barracks, Cai Lin, ht by nature He was Shang Weijun’s nephew, the son of a sister, and if he had not fallen out with Shang Weijun, Luo Louzhen would never have had the position of Co fall into his lap As a result, Luo Louzhen kept a respectful distance fro Barracks were handed to Cai Lin, he showed no interest

Cai Lin had original ideas on how to train troops, disciplined the soldiers, never disturbed the people, and often helped the poor and distressed As such, his reputation in Guangling was superb

After the Chuzhou and Sizhou Barracks were defeated, quite a few routed soldiers fled to Guangling He took theained over thirty thousandabout theand garrisoned the city He knew that if hearmy in pitched battle, he would suffer a terrible defeat So he prepared to rely on Guangling’s walls to stop the Yong arh to know that he couldn’t defeat Pei Yun on the field of battle He only hoped to defend the city until the Southern Chu relief force could arrive

On the ninth day of the tenth , a hundred thousand Yong troops deploying below Guangling’s walls They were a dense forest covering the land The corners of the Yong army’s encampment were connected and exuded an oppressive aura One felt the i at it Cai Lin pointed at the Yong enca arkou and Jianye If you all do not unite and fight hard, the Huaidong areneral has already petitioned Jianye, requesting a relief force from Weijun and Grand General Lu We only need to hold the city for ten days to a fortnight before receiving the relief force Sires, you ive your life”

The officers andBarracks had all received Cai Lin’s favor and blessings, so they resounded, “We are willing to give our lives for the general!”

Their shouting rang out far and wide Even the Yong army beneath the walls could hear the and Zhang Wenxiu, ere behind hi won’t be easy to take!”

Zhang Wenxiu was a handsohed “There’s no need for General to worry Even if Guangling is difficult to attack, can it stop our Great Yong cavalry?”

“Please order the siege, General If we cannot take Guangling, we are not men!” yelled the asse his whip at the walls of Guangling at the words “In that case, He Ying, you haven’t served with distinction yet, so why don’t you attack first?”

He Ying rejoiced Pei Yun had taken the position of advance guard the entire can, so he had to lead thefor a fight for a long time and sternly complied He spurred his horse to the front of the ar siege began

No one could have expected that this siege would last exactly half a month

Cai Lin could be considered quite popular in Guangling, as he wasn’t negligent and incompetent like Luo Louzhen These past several years, hewas stocked with plenty of provisions and supplies Under his co out for a fortnight On and below the walls reckage and re army’s catapults and the city’s turrets had wounded and killed countless men The Southern Chu army didn’t knooil they had poured; the number of stones and wooden beae, the houses near the ere dismantled, the bricks and timber used as am army dispatched forlorn hopes to attack the walls, but none of the occurred on the nineteenth day of the tenth uards, the sixteen of the three hundred forlorn hope warriors up the walls Cai Lin personally led his bodyguards to ht hard for half a day If a relief force had not suddenly arrived fro would have been lost In this fierce battle, the White Uniforle one of the three hundred warriors returned Cai Lin’s personal bodyguards had all been killed However, in the evening glow, the bloodsoaked walls of Guangling still stood firh they hadn’t taken , the current situation was too unfavorable They needed to be able to end this battle at any tiht have been young, but histhe best of the White Uniform Camp These two men were also related as martial uncle andhim covered in blood, Pei Yun furrowed his brows and asked, “How’d it go? Are your wounds deep?”

“I just got nicked twice, nothing reaching bone,” said Du Lingfeng “Unfortunately for our brothers, Cai Lin’s personal bodyguards had brilliant uards were that brilliant, I’m afraid Martial Uncle and I would have perished in the Chuzhou Barracks”

Pei Yun sighed “Jianye’s Cai family is a famous noble family in Southern Chu Of course they would have soitimate son of the Cai family, so it’s understandable”

“General, it’s surprising that Gaoyou’s garrison has the courage to co said “Is the Southern Chu relief force ready to cross the river?”