Chapter 1305: Intelligence from Both Sides

Other supplies in the city, such as medicine, food, fire oil, and shells, were basically exhausted. The worst thing was that City Guardian Liu knew their predicament like the back of his hand! That dog-raising fellow was originally the official in charge of this city and knew everything about Shizhoutou. The hardest part of fighting a war is knowing yourself and knowing your enemy; if Zhao Guangzhi knew that the city had run out of arrows long ago, he wouldn't have only besieged it for three days and left.

But this was not a problem for City Guardian Liu at all!

A few days ago, he even personally looted Shizhoutou and swept away all the money, food, and supplies.

City Guardian Liu knew very well that Shizhoutou couldn't last for seven days with its reserves!

A soldier ran up to the city gate and reported in a low voice:

"Wealthy Wang just donated three hundred jin of grain."

Others looked sideways:

At this time, there was actually someone still hiding food? Defense Commander Yang looked down into the city, and sure enough, a wooden cart was rumbling past, loaded with three sacks. Seven or eight people were following closely behind; if those who didn't know saw their demeanor, they would have thought they were guarding a treasure.

Defense Commander Yang immediately said, "Put it into the warehouse, don't let the rain get it wet."

"Yes."

Actually, everyone felt that Defense Commander Yang's words were superfluous. With only three hundred jin of grain, it would enter everyone's stomach before it could get moldy.

The messenger didn't leave after receiving the order, but continued, "The common people in the city noticed a new face wandering outside the military camp, chatting with residents on East Street and inquiring about the situation in Shizhoutou."

At this moment, the military and civilians were of one heart, and the vigilance of the common people was very high.

"Did you catch him?" Defense Commander Yang was not worried but happy. Being able to catch a spy, he could also learn more about the enemy army outside the city.

"Captain Wu went to catch the person, but this person disappeared after turning past the stable. Captain Wu is searching nearby."

Defense Commander Yang nodded, not taking it to heart.

Liu's original was the City Guardian here and had a few confidants and insiders here, which was nothing strange.

He looked at the pitch-black forest outside the city, and the swaying tree shadows seemed to hide ferocious evil ghosts.

How should this hurdle be passed?

He thought for a moment and ordered his subordinates, "Pass the order, when the thunderstorm comes again tonight, we will go out of the city to harass them."

Although they were the defending side, they couldn't just curl up in the city and not go out, letting the opponent besiege Shizhoutou comfortably.

The initiative could not be entirely handed over to the enemy, otherwise, Shizhoutou would really be finished.

Besides, Shizhoutou was short of supplies; if they went out of the city to fight a few autumn winds, maybe they could grab something from City Guardian Liu's camp?

"Yes!" The subordinate said hatefully, "That dog Liu City Guardian doesn't dare to face you directly and wants to starve us to death."

Three days later, ten li southwest of Shizhoutou.

There was an abandoned post station here; the main building had collapsed halfway, but there were six or seven rooms intact in the back, and a small tree had even grown on the roof of one of them.

He He Lingchuan and Dong Rui agreed to meet here.

Wanqifeng quickly greeted Dong Rui and went to settle his subordinates.

The rain had just stopped, but the water in the horse trough and the well could not be used, so they had to send people to fetch water by the creek.

"Why did it take so long?"

"Peng Kingdom also encountered a rainstorm, and the mountain collapsed; Wanqifeng took a detour and was two days late." He He Lingchuan walked into the broken house and shook the rain off his cloak, "You entered Shizhoutou; what new progress did you find?"

"I sneaked in three days ago; Shizhoutou has about forty thousand residents, and the soldiers under Defense Commander Yang don't exceed five hundred."

"So many people, so few soldiers?" He He Lingchuan was actually a bit surprised, "Relying on such a small number of people, can Yang Meng hold Shizhoutou?"

Five hundred soldiers were enough for him to use, but just because he was enough didn't mean others were.

Yang Meng had successively held off the Zhao Guangzhi and City Guardian Liu armies; it seemed he had some skills.

"When Zhao Guangzhi attacked, City Guardian Liu abandoned Shizhoutou and ran away himself; all the people in the city knew that if they couldn't hold it, it was a dead end, so they were very supportive of Yang Meng's defense army. Either they dug out the last bit of grain hidden at the bottom of the cellar, or they went to the city gate to assist in the defense; even the old, weak, women, and children helped mend armor and make arrow feathers, working together."

Dong Rui continued, "Yang Meng even invited Zhao Guangzhi to a duel under the city, but Zhao Guangzhi wouldn't do it."

"Did Zhao Guangzhi know he could fight?"

"Maybe he knew." Before attacking a city, one always has to do some homework, right? "Yang Meng is quite famous in Shizhoutou; he once beat seven or eight military leaders by himself."

He He Lingchuan asked again, "Then what about this time?"

"City Guardian Liu came back to pick peaches, and Shizhoutou was of course very angry, but I asked seven or eight people, and apart from disdain and contempt, it seems they don't have the determination to defend to the end like last time. Probably because Zhao Guangzhi wanted both people and money, while City Guardian Liu, although looting his own people was outrageous, at least only scraped money and didn't eat people, and was a local official, so the common people didn't intend to fight to the death with him."

He He Lingchuan shook his head, "City Guardian Liu can sell them once, and he can sell them a second or third time in the future."

What does "City Guardian" mean? An official who cannot perform his duties, is he still qualified to stay in office?

"I think Yang Meng is also mobilizing and propagandizing to the common people like this, but you know, with a great disaster ahead, few people can think that far." Dong Rui took out a water bag and took a sip, "The situation in Shizhoutou is not good; after fighting off Zhao Guangzhi, the supplies were basically exhausted. Although Yang Meng organized people to purchase outside, it's just a drop in the bucket. I saw in Shizhoutou that the trees were bare, without leaves, and many had even had their bark stripped to be ground into powder to satisfy hunger."

It's spring now, the season for trees to sprout new buds, but the people of Shizhoutou picked all the leaves to eat, and even tree bark could be ground into powder to satisfy hunger.

"This was three days ago." Dong Rui said slowly, "During the time you left, City Guardian Liu attacked two more times, and once almost smashed the city gate open. He even shouted to the city, saying that the first thing he would do after entering the city was to light a fire and cook a big pot of rice, inviting all the common people in the city to have a beautiful meal. I saw the soldiers on the city gate swallowing hard while listening. Tsk, this fellow's conduct is not good, but he knows how to attack the heart."

He He Lingchuan asked after hearing this, "Did Yang Meng go out of the city to attack?"

Such an opportunity, a good general shouldn't miss it.

"Yes, he also sneaked into City Guardian Liu's camp twice, choosing the second half of the night and dawn, and also successfully looted some supplies back." Dong Rui smiled, "City Guardian Liu originally stationed fifty zhang outside the city gate, and because of this, he had to order the camp to move two hundred zhang, strictly guarding against it."

"Good, not bad." He He Lingchuan nodded, "City Guardian Liu doesn't know how to fight very well, but he has the advantage in numbers."

City Guardian Liu was only stationed outdoors, but Yang Meng occupied a strong city, which was more suitable for this kind of small-scale harassment and fatigue tactic. The enemy was always harassed at night and had no energy during the day; after a few times, they easily became frightened birds.

The problem is, between City Guardian Liu and Yang Meng, who can hold on to the end? He He Lingchuan asked again, "What about City Guardian Liu's side?"

Dong Rui's bats were a great help in spying on intelligence.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1306 =====