No matter how impetuous the days are, everything will return to tranquility at night. No matter how panicked people are, they will fall asleep at night.
Nianchan County, the gateway county between Lelang County and Cao County, has returned to the tranquility of night after experiencing the impetuousness and fear of the day.
"It's a pity that at three o'clock in the afternoon, a burst of noise occurred at the south gate of the county town, which completely shattered the fragile tranquility on the surface.
The Jurchens finally entered the city!
At this time, the residents who still stayed in the city and did not escape were almost all old people with deep-rooted ideas who did not want to stay away from their homeland. Anyone who could leave in the city basically followed Magistrate Nianchan to retreat southward during the day. The remaining people were all waiting numbly for the verdict of the invaders.
woo woo woo woo¡¡
The sound of mournful crying gradually spread throughout the city from far to near, from small to loud. At this time, the entire city was immersed in fear, and no one could calmly think about why the Jurchens came from the north but attacked from the south gate.
"Don't mess around! It's us, the Song Dynasty border army!"
??The soldiers and horses who had just retreated into the city in a hurry had not yet caught their breath, but they were very embarrassed by the scene in the city. Then a general ordered his subordinates to go along the streets and alleys to clarify the misunderstanding.
However, although the team entering the city called the Frontier Army of the Song Dynasty, the full name should actually be called the "Border Army of Lelang County, Andong Protectorate of the Song Dynasty". But because these people naturally like to put gold on their faces, they simply omitted the middle words and became the Song Dynasty border army. In fact, these people with Goryeo accents are all genuine Goryeo servants.
"Xiangong Wu is dead, what should we do!?" The frustrated Goryeo officers gathered together and discussed countermeasures in panic. Mr. Wu, who was lying on a simple stretcher on the ground, was a civil servant magistrate sent to this county by the Song Dynasty. It was his order to abandon the city today, and the entire army retreated to Caoxian County in the south with the refugees. Unexpectedly, he met a Jurchen's cavalry on the way. He was shot by a cold arrow on the spot and passed away. The remaining people had no choice but to take his body and flee back, so the scene tonight happened.
"Wuzhi County, he is a good man!"
"Yes! Before withdrawing, Inspector Wu ordered him to lead us to delay the enemy as much as possible, but Inspector Wu stepped forward and led us to retreat. How could a good official who cherishes us so much just leave like this?"
At the scene, many Goryeo officers spontaneously paid tribute to the county magistrate. Fortunately Wu Bingyi is not here, otherwise he would have been pissed to death by this civil servant with the same surname! If you don't have the guts to defend the city, then say so. I just need to replace him! There is no reason to coax me away first and then escape with others. This way, we can still avoid missing a big deal! ?
"Xiangong Wu is gone, what should we do?" Some people mentioned the old words again, but everyone was at a loss to care about each other.
"Let's discuss a solution quickly! People are panicking now. If the camp roars, we will all die without a burial place!"
Everyone looked back and saw that under the dense torches, the defeated soldiers were standing or sitting. The restless mood was always shrouded in everyone, but at this time, no junior officers came out to comfort the soldiers. What's worse is that the refugees who followed the army are wailing even louder. These cries are like a catalyst, destroying the remaining morale of the defeated army.
"How about we try to break out again?" someone suggested.
"How do you break out? How do you explain when you break out? Magistrate Wu was the guarantee before, after all, he gave the order! But now even if we narrowly escape death and go back, who will bear the crime of abandoning the city on our behalf?" Someone immediately retorted. road.
The officers were silent when they heard this. If they were not afraid of being charged with this crime, they would not have retreated. After all, what they encountered on the way was just Jurchens' cavalry, not a large army. So technically speaking, there is still hope for a breakthrough. The key is that no one dares to break through casually. There are two different things between voluntarily abandoning a city before engaging in battle and being defeated by the enemy head-on. The former will be dealt with severely by military law.
But speaking of it, these frontier soldiers have made progress compared to their previous military careers. If it were the past and he would just run away, who would have any scruples? But it's different now. Now I'm in command. Even down to ordinary soldiers, they all know that every move they make is directly related to the future lives of their family members in the rear. If they flee without a fight, the generous military treatment will definitely no longer belong to their family members who are deserters.
Not only did they not dare to flee privately, they also did not dare to surrender to the Jurchens. Not only were there family members at the rear, but there was also a direct reason. Today, the evil slavery system has been exterminated on the Korean Peninsula, but if they fall into the hands of the barbaric and ignorant Jurchens, they will definitely feel that they lived too comfortably before.
"What should we do? Without the Song people to take the lead, even if we retreat to Cao County, we will still be punished by military law!"
Generally speaking, escape is still the popular choice.I can¡¯t help but think about it, but the key right now is who will take the lead? Previously, there was Wuzhi County as a shield to explain to the county, but who can we rely on now?
Suddenly, a military doctor covered in cold sweat stood up, looked at the crowd timidly and said, "I know a gentleman who can make the decision for us!"
"Who? Who!" Everyone asked one after another, and suddenly someone asked: "Is it the husband who was entrusted to your care by the imperial doctor who returned to the Heavenly Army some time ago?"
"Yes, yes, there is such a person! But why didn't we see him during the retreat? He was not injured!" Everyone was obviously very concerned about the sudden appearance of a life-saving straw.
The military doctor wanted to lower his head to his crotch, and then said after a while: "There are tens of thousands of refugees fleeing, but I am the only military doctor. How can I take care of everything? So this husband told me to forget, I'm afraid now Still in the county town!¡±
When he saw it, everyone was in an uproar. He actually dared to throw the husband from the Song Dynasty into the city. This man was very courageous! But everyone didn't have time to accuse him of being reckless. They just said: "Now there is no leader, and the brothers can't recommend a leader. Although this husband is not our immediate boss, he came from the Song Dynasty to take office. At this time, it is impossible to Who else can you listen to?"
When the military doctor saw it, he begged everyone: "I can take you there, but you must not turn around and sell me!"
"No, no, no! You are the only doctor out of tens of thousands of us. If we sell you, won't we suffer the same?" Everyone pledged, patting their chests.
The military doctor had no better way, so he had no choice but to trust these people and immediately led them to the place where the husband was recovering from his injuries. Not long after, everyone came to a courtyard. The military doctor knocked on the door, but unexpectedly the door opened on its own. Everyone looked at each other with a bad premonition in their hearts. Isn't this husband going to leave on his own?
Everyone hurried in and saw that the door of the main room was tightly closed, but the door of the side room next to it was open. Everyone swallowed their saliva. He begged God to bless him and said, "I hope it's just the young man serving my husband who has escaped!"
The military doctor timidly stepped forward and pushed open the door of the main room. In the light of the fire, he saw a man lying on the kang. The military doctor was so happy that he almost knelt down and said with tears in his eyes: "Mr. sir! Mr. Nianchan County is in danger. I'll wait. I am willing to serve you as my Lord and get through this difficult time!¡±
This person was a Korean doctor, but he was speaking Song language. The patient lying on the bed was woken up by everyone. He raised his head sickly and asked: "What? What did you say?"
Under the urging of everyone, the military doctor said what he just said again, and the husband just understood it and said: "What Nianchan County? I have four hundred military prefectures and thousands of counties in the Song Dynasty, but I have never heard of Nianchan County. County! Which road does it belong to?"
Although everyone did not speak the Song language well, they had been participating in the Song Army for such a long time, so they could understand some of the meaning. They were all surprised and asked the military doctor what illness this husband had, but they seemed not to remember anything. The military doctor broke out in a cold sweat. , whispered in Korean dialect: "When I sent him here, I heard the introduction from the imperial doctors of the Heavenly Army. This husband had a head injury. He didn't remember what he did, and he didn't know how he got here! "
"Isn't that a useless person!?" Everyone was surprised.
¡°That¡¯s not to say, apart from the fact that he always forgets things, everything else is normal!¡± the military doctor introduced.
The patient was startled when he saw people muttering in front of him. He didn't talk in a hurry, but just observed the situation secretly. This observation made him discover many abnormalities. For example, many of the soldiers in front of me are obviously not in Song Dynasty military uniforms (Song Dynasty is a fire virtue, and the military uniforms are still red). The accent of each person's speech was obviously not like Song dialect, and the patient gradually began to become wary.
¡°Then you tell him the situation first!¡± everyone urged.
The military doctor had no choice but to say hello as he did every time they met: "Ms. Cheng, do you still remember the villain?"
The patient asked, "You called me? Who am I?"
"It's Mr. Cheng!" The military doctor sighed inwardly. It seems that the situation has not improved. He has introduced the situation to the patient many times before, but he can't remember it clearly every time he wakes up. Therefore, the military doctor feels that there is no hope. , they are all avoiding this person. But now the situation is urgent, and tens of thousands of people are pointing at him, so I have to patiently introduce again:
"Xie's surname is Cheng Mingju. He was the husband sent by the Song Dynasty to our Anton Protectorate. However, he encountered something on the way and was injured on his head. Fortunately, the imperial doctors cured him. He was cured a few days ago. Leave it to the villain and stay here in Nianchan County to recuperate!"
Hearing the person talking about taking office, the patient suddenly felt like he remembered something. Yes, he was going to take office, but it seemed that he was going to the state capital in Jiangnan. How did he end up in this absurd and unruly Anton Protectorate? I saw him a little confused and said:
"What kind of protector is Anton??? That was an old thing in the former Tang Dynasty. Isn¡¯t it the Goryeo Kingdom now? "
The military doctor was very unhappy when he heard this. After all, he was not sober this time when he saw him. He immediately said: "Yes, yes, yes! My husband is absolutely right! This country was originally the country of Goryeo, but in recent years, there have been many treacherous officials and wars in the country. , the people were in dire straits, and their lives were in ruins. The Mongolian Song Dynasty sent troops to save our people from the fire, calmed down the war, and then restored the Andong Protectorate, so we are all subjects of the Song Dynasty now!"
With such a bunch of people in front of you, why don¡¯t you come here to entertain yourself in the middle of the night? The patient touched his head wrapped in thick white cloth, and felt joyful in his heart. It turns out my name is Cheng Ju!
"Ms. sir, these people behind me are the border army officers of the Duhu Mansion, and I am the military doctor of the Duhu Mansion!" Seeing the joyful smile on Cheng Ju's face, the military doctor's heart dropped and he quickly identified himself. road.
"Since you said that, let me believe you for once! But why did you come here to look for me overnight?" Cheng Ju asked.
Seeing that the conversation finally got down to the main topic, everyone was almost crying. The military doctor took advantage of the situation and said: "Not long after the Anton Protectorate was established, the barbarian Jurchens from the north asked us, the traitors among the Korean people, to lure us in. Now the Jurchens have almost arrived at the city. We are so anxious that no one can make the decision. Although my husband is not like this, County officials, but those who come from the Song Dynasty, we are willing to listen to Xie's orders!"
"No way? Since this is my territory in the Song Dynasty, why are there no other officials from the Song Dynasty?" Cheng Ju looked suspicious.
"Yes, yes, there is a serving magistrate of Wuxian County! But when he was leading us to retreat, he was hit by a cold arrow from the Jurchens. So we have no master, and we have to retreat to the city again!"
The six gods have no master? Is the Song Dynasty so prestigious in Goryeo? Don't you dare to break through without the Song leader? I'm afraid it's not that simple? Cheng Ju seemed to have just taken a dose of the best tonic. He stood up and sat on the kang to ask:
"What is the current situation? I am not asking about one city or one place, but the situation of the entire Anton Protectorate and the Jurchens!"
Military doctors only know how to treat diseases, how can they know the general trend? But when Cheng Ju asked, he had no choice but to say nothing, so he had to pick up what he knew and gave a rough summary. Finally, he did not forget to return to the topic: "Originally, everyone followed the magistrate of Wu County in this county to retreat to Cao County. If Xianggong ordered us to retreat south, , all our officers and men are willing to defend the Prime Minister to Cao County to the death!"
Cheng Ju finally understood that this group of people wanted to flee without waiting for reinforcements to arrive, and they also planned to trick themselves into taking the blame.
The military doctor was right. He just lost his memory, and his memory was also good and bad at this time, but this did not affect his IQ.
"Although I am a official official selected by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Song Dynasty, I did not go to Nianchan County to take office! If I take charge of the military and political affairs of a city at this time, I will be suspected of exceeding my authority, and my name is not justified!"
Seeing Cheng Ju becoming more reserved, the military doctor was overjoyed. This was a sign of being persuaded! The military doctor hurriedly relayed Cheng Ju's meaning to the commanders. After hearing this, the dozen or so people knelt down in front of Cheng Ju and said in unison: "General, I am willing to listen to Mr. Cheng's orders!"
Hearing this, Cheng Ju actually stood up with force, helped everyone up one by one, and said: "Since I have gained everyone's trust, I will reluctantly take over Nianchan County regardless of the suspicion of overstepping my authority!"
After Cheng Ju finished speaking, he looked straight at the military doctor. The military doctor quickly understood and translated Cheng Ju's words. The generals bowed down and said they obeyed the order.
Cheng Ju chuckled and said suddenly: "In that case, follow me to defend the city! From now on, anyone who abandons the city will be executed!"
No matter how much the Goryeo officers didn't understand Song dialect, they could still understand "abandon the city" and "kill", and everyone was immediately dumbfounded. Everyone carried him out just to make him take the blame, but they didn't expect that he would actually fight to the death with the Jurchens. Everyone stared at the innocent-looking military doctor as if they were seeing a ghost, and all of them felt like they had shot themselves in the foot! (To be continued.)