BSI Chapter 92 Cao Bin in Silence
Chapter 92 Cao Bin in Silence
Chapter 92 Cao Bin in Silence
The garrison commander of Runzhou was Liu Cheng.
He was able to sit in this position not because of any outstanding military achievements or military talent, but entirely because he was a confidant of Crown Prince Li Congjia.
As early as when the Southern Tang Dynasty decided to go to war with the Song Dynasty, Lin Renzhao led his troops to the expedition, and the position of the garrison commander of Runzhou became vacant. This place is the eastern gateway of the Southern Tang Dynasty and its strategic position is extremely important. All the civil and military officials in the court agreed: "Jingkou is a key point and should be guarded by a good general."
Ultimately, Li Congjia overruled the objections of others and recommended Liu Cheng, whom he trusted most.
When Liu Cheng first took up his post, Li Congjia held his hand tightly and earnestly entrusted him with the task: "You are not meant to leave me, and I am also reluctant to part with you, but this is not someone I can entrust with anything but you. Please do your best to fulfill my wishes."
At that time, Liu Cheng wept bitterly, appearing to be loyal to the death. After returning home, he specially loaded all the gold and silver treasures in his house onto a cart, declaring to the world: "This was all bestowed by the court. Now that the country is in crisis, what use is this wealth? I should give away all my wealth to serve the country and make contributions!"
Li Congjia was naturally deeply moved.
In reality, since becoming the garrison commander of Runzhou, Liu Cheng had long forgotten his original words. Not to mention giving away a single penny, his mind was entirely focused on how to exploit the people.
They couldn't even spare the time to repair the city's defenses.
The problem is that he was greedy, but he didn't share the profits with others, which is a bit unreasonable.
No wonder the garrison of Runzhou had no fighting spirit. When Zhao Dezhao's army rushed into the city, these garrison soldiers did not even put up a decent resistance.
Hearing the constant shouts of battle from within the city, the entire city was filled with fear and unease.
Liu Cheng, who was deep in sleep, was also awakened by the commotion outside.
"General Liu! Something terrible has happened! The Song army has breached the city!!"
"What?"
Startled, Liu Cheng abruptly pushed away his concubine, sat up in disarray, and exclaimed, "Could it be that the Crown Prince and his men have been defeated? And the Song army has crossed the Yangtze River and marched south?"
In a moment of panic, Liu Cheng hesitated for only a brief moment before making a crucial decision. He quickly rose, dressed himself neatly, straightened his clothes, pushed open the door, and said to his adjutant, "Let's go, follow me to welcome the royal army!"
After Jing Si led his troops to open the city gates, Zhao Dezhao immediately led his personal guards to the front and headed straight for the Runzhou government office.
"Anyone who dares to raise an army within the city will be executed without mercy!"
Wherever the army went, they showed no mercy to anyone who dared to resist with weapons in hand, whether they were soldiers or civilians. They rushed straight at them, giving the enemy no chance to fight back.
With each kill, the ten thousand Song soldiers would shout in unison, "His Highness has ordered! Anyone daring to wield weapons within the city shall be executed without mercy!"
Runzhou City was instantly filled with wails of agony, and corpses and blood flowed everywhere.
This bloody massacre ignited panic in Runzhou City. The shouts of killing that had been rising and falling were gradually replaced by cries of pleas for mercy.
The common people hid in their houses, trembling and afraid to go out. One after another, the guards trembled as they put down their weapons and knelt on both sides of the road.
They were terrified of being killed!
Zhao Dezhao, covered in blood and with a cold, hard expression, rode his Dangxiang horse through the blood-soaked path, his gaze fixed on the prefectural government office ahead.
At the same time, following Zhao Dezhao's orders, Li Chuyun directed officers at all levels to quickly take control of all the key roads in the city.
Those soldiers who surrendered had their weapons confiscated, their hands and feet bound with ropes, and were placed under guard in designated areas to prevent them from gathering again and causing trouble.
After passing through the blood-stained street, the horse's hooves, treading on the bloodstains, came to a steady stop in front of the state government office.
"This guilty subject, Liu Cheng, leading the officials of Runzhou, respectfully welcomes the royal army into the city!"
Liu Cheng had already been waiting there with a group of officials. Upon seeing Zhao Dezhao arrive, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed, performing a grand ceremony of worship with the utmost obsequiousness.
"Drag him away and keep him under guard." Zhao Dezhao didn't even lift an eyelid, waving Liu Cheng away before turning to the army following closely behind and loudly announcing, "Open the treasury! Distribute all the treasures and valuables inside, leaving nothing for yourself!"
"Long live Your Highness!!"
A thunderous cheer suddenly erupted, the soldiers' eyes filled with fervor and excitement, and their gazes toward Zhao Dezhao held even greater trust.
The reason they have been able to persevere until now is because they cherish the prosperity of Jiangnan.
Knowing this, Zhao Dezhao naturally dared not play any word games on this matter.
Learning from past mistakes is crucial for future ones. During the chaotic Five Dynasties period, countless generals and commanders were betrayed and beheaded by their own soldiers for withholding rewards and breaking promises.
Taking advantage of the soldiers' scramble for the treasury's valuables, Cao Bin quickly stepped forward and whispered a report on the military situation: "Your Highness, Runzhou City is now completely under our control, but many of the defending soldiers have taken advantage of the chaos to escape and may report back to the Tang army."
Zhao Dezhao was not surprised by this.
Even if the Song army breaks through the city quickly, some will inevitably escape in the chaos. Once these people escape, the Tang army will surely take notice and launch a full-scale attack on Runzhou.
"Your Highness—" Cao Bin hesitated for a moment, then added, "There are still three thousand surrendered soldiers in the city. What does Your Highness intend to do with them?"
Three thousand surrendered soldiers—no more, no less—keeping them would cause trouble, but killing them might incite public anger. It was indeed a thorny issue.
Zhao Dezhao frowned, pondering how to deal with the surrendered soldiers, when Li Chuyun, who had just finished dealing with city defense matters, happened to arrive. Seeing this, he seized the opportunity to speak: "Your Highness, in my opinion, perhaps—"
He paused, then grinned: "Cooked!"
"————"
Zhao Dezhao was speechless.
Li Chuyun continued as if no one else was around: "Firstly, it can intimidate the Tang army and demoralize the enemy. Secondly, it can solve the problem of surrendered soldiers. If the main army attacks, it is hard to guarantee that these surrendered soldiers will not turn against us."
"Uncle Li!"
He was halfway through his sentence when Zhao Dezhao abruptly raised his hand to interrupt him, his tone more serious than ever before, "This matter must never be mentioned again!"
Fearing Li Chuyun might not take it seriously, he emphasized again: "Not only can you not mention it, you're not even allowed to think about it!"
Both he and his father, Zhao Kuangyin, utterly despised this behavior.
Killing surrendered soldiers is acceptable, but not —
Historically, it was precisely because Li Chuyun acted in this way during his campaign against Southern Chu that he incurred the displeasure of Zhao Kuangyin, was gradually alienated from him, and eventually died in depression.
Upon hearing this, Li Chuyun's lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something more, but seeing Zhao Dezhao's serious and earnest expression, he hesitated for a moment, and then nodded: "I will follow Your Highness's orders."
"Keep those surrendered soldiers for now; I have a great use for them."
Zhao Dezhao waved his hand, indicating that the matter was over, and then instructed, "Uncle Li, there is still a half-day gap before the Tang army attacks. Arrange for the soldiers to take turns in three shifts to rest for a while and make sure they are in good spirits for battle."
"Yes, sir!" Li Chuyun acknowledged the order and withdrew to begin arranging the rest and recuperation.
"Uncle Guohua." Zhao Dezhao turned to look at Cao Bin, his expression becoming solemn: "Now that Runzhou City has fallen, the Tang army will surely come to besiege us in less than half a day."
"Shi Shouxin's spies may be able to detect the unusual activity in Jiangbei and lead troops to its aid, but we cannot place all our hopes on him. Sitting idly by and waiting for our doom is not a good strategy."
He changed the subject and said in a deep voice, "Therefore, Uncle Guohua, I have a plan that I need your help with."
"Your Highness, please speak freely," Cao Bin asked, cupping his hands in greeting.
"We still have some rockets and rocket launchers left, and I plan to leave them all to you," Zhao Dezhao suddenly said.
Cao Bin, however, sensed a different meaning in those words and quickly asked, "What does Your Highness mean?"
"When attacking the enemy, they must defend their own territory."
Zhao Dezhao took a deep breath, raised his eyes to look towards the direction of the main Tang army in the west, his gaze sharp as a knife. "To escape, it's unrealistic to hold Runzhou to the death. We must terrify them, defeat them so badly they dare not fight again!"
"so----"
He paused, then suddenly laughed and said, "I heard from Liu Cheng that Li Congjia seems to be in Lin Renzhao's army. I plan to meet him!"
"—" Cao Bin paused for a moment, then asked, "How many troops have you led? How many have remained to guard the front?"
"How about we lead 800 troops and leave 9,000 to hold out for seven days?"
"...
Cao Bin fell completely silent this time.
Runzhou was a strategically important and dangerous place in Jingkou. He led 9,000 imperial guards to garrison it, supplemented by rockets, cannons and other firearms. Although there was pressure, it was not entirely impossible for him to hold out for seven days.
But what was Zhao Dezhao thinking, leading 800 men to confront 30,000?
It should be noted that Lin Renzhao alone had 30,000 troops under his command. Given Li Congjia's status as the crown prince of the pseudo-Tang dynasty, his defenses would certainly be very tight, and the pseudo-Tang navy on the river could provide support at any time.
For a moment, Cao Bin even wondered if Zhao Dezhao had gone mad.
>