I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

"Minister Hu doesn't need to know about this matter. As long as you all have a plan, Pingdingshan will act accordingly."

Upon hearing this, Hu Ruzhen slowly rose, walked to the corner of the map with his hands behind his back, and glanced at the winding Luo River.

Mei Changsu also stood up and walked to the side, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

Then he lightly tapped his finger towards the pass of Pingdingshan.

"Is Minister Hu observing the river channel, preparing to make his move here?"

Hu Ruzhen nodded: "If I were a general of the Southern Chu court, I would certainly defend Pingdingshan to the death, protect the grain supply route, and fight a bloody battle against the Gu family."

"But this is a poor strategy; even if it buys time, it will ultimately lead to mutual destruction."

"But if one does not care about the reputation of the court, one can sacrifice one's own interests to gain the upper hand."

Mei Changsu continued, "Abandoning Luozhou to lure Gu Siling's entire army into a trap..."

The two of them, working together, came up with a wicked plan.

The first step is to abandon Luozhou and let the garrison there fend for itself.

The second step was to take advantage of the autumn flood season, when the Luo River was swollen, and to store floodwaters upstream of Pingdingshan.

The third step was to wait until Luozhou fell and Gu's army entered the city before releasing floodwaters to inundate it.

Hu Ruzhen said calmly, "If this plan succeeds, the Gu family will immediately suffer huge losses, but hundreds of thousands of people in Luozhou will also suffer as a result."

"Yes!" Mei Changsu sighed, "I wonder how many innocent ordinary people will be displaced at that time."

"A venomous snake bites the hand, a brave man cuts off his wrist—it's worth it."

Zhu Houcong looked calmly at the illusory image of a raging flood in the corner of the map through Xuanwu's eyes.

At this point, Mei Changsu continued to add more methods to deal with the Gu family.

First, spread rumors that "Gu Siling wants to establish herself as emperor" to sow discord between her and Crown Prince Yuwen Quan.

Second, based on the first method, divide the alliance and defeat them one by one.

They secretly persuaded Gu Jun's non-direct subordinate generals to surrender, promising them high-ranking positions and generous salaries, thus creating internal divisions.

Hu Ruzhen and Mei Changsu devised an extremely detailed plan within a small space.

Qinglong, who brought his army to Pingdingshan, immediately received the complete plan and began to act accordingly.

The plan to flood the city was undeniably insidious.

Once implemented, countless people will be displaced.

Only in this way can the arrival of the Heavenly Army of Liang in the future, to relieve the people and punish the guilty, be transformed into a righteous act of eliminating harm for the people.

"Since that's the case, let's make the people of Southern Chu suffer first. I'll take the blame."

Qinglong's lips curled up, and he headed straight for the pass.

At this time, the banks of the Luo River, not far from Pingdingshan, were already desolate.

Hundreds of thousands of Gu family soldiers pressed in like dark clouds, their warhorses neighing loudly.

Yuwen Quan, clad in silver armor, stood at the front of the battle formation, gazing at Luozhou City on the opposite bank, his hand gripping his sword trembling slightly.

Before this, they had never actually attacked a city; they could subdue it with just a proclamation.

But Luozhou City was different; Yuwen Jian had already sent men there to be on high alert.

Before long, the war drums of the Gu family army suddenly sounded.

What followed was a barrage of arrows.

The dark swarm of arrows swept across the land like locusts, blotting out the sky.

"Fire the arrows!" the Luozhou city garrison commander roared upon seeing this.

On the city wall, the defending troops immediately counterattacked, and arrows from both sides clashed in the air.

Gu Siling stood on the chariot, squinting his eagle eyes, gazing at the towering Luozhou city walls on the opposite bank of the Luo River.

A cold, triumphant smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Pass on the order!"

He suddenly raised his hand, and the command flag behind him moved in response.

"The heavily armored troops will lead the vanguard; cross the river immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

Three thousand heavily armored elite soldiers responded in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.

These battle-hardened veterans wore double-layered fish-scale armor and carried twelve-foot-long iron shields, each shield surface cast with a ferocious beast head.

They boarded a specially made wooden raft in groups of three, with iron chains hidden at the bottom of the raft, making it feel as if they were walking on flat ground on the turbulent Luo River.

"Release the arrows."

The enemy troops on the opposite bank unleashed a barrage of arrows, but most of them were blocked by the heavy iron shields, with only a few sparks flying off the shields.

Occasionally, stray arrows would pierce through the armor, but the soldiers who were hit would grit their teeth and not utter a sound, letting their blood soak through their battle robes.

In less than half an hour, the first batch of eight hundred heavily armored soldiers had successfully landed.

They quickly formed a tortoise-shell formation, opening up beachhead positions for subsequent troops.

Upon seeing this, the garrison commander of Luozhou hurriedly ordered catapults to bombard the area, but the effect was poor.

Report,

Before long, the scouts rushed to Gu Siling's car again.

"The heavily armored troops have all crossed the river."

Gu Siling stroked his beard and laughed: "Good, order the heavy armored troops not to launch a direct attack on Luozhou, but to bypass the city and harass the supply lines."

The next second, the command flag on the chariot waved rapidly.

Upon receiving the order, the heavily armored troops crossing the river immediately changed formation and sped towards the official road to the southeast.

"The General's brilliant plan!"

The lieutenant then rode up at that moment.

"The garrison in Luozhou is holed up and won't come out; our army can cut off their supply lines and starve them to death!"

Gu Siling squinted at the distant city of Luozhou and sneered, "Even if Yuwen Jian sends men to guard Pingdingshan, he won't be able to protect the supply lines. We'll continue our frontal assault, putting pressure on Luozhou and making it difficult for them to defend both ends."

"Yes!"

Immediately afterwards, the 160,000-strong army surged toward Luozhou City like a black torrent.

Even with the Luo River blocking their way, their forces outnumbered Luozhou City by more than tenfold, so Gu Siling naturally planned to launch a forceful attack to test the waters.

"Release the arrows!"

At the command of the city's defenders, a rain of arrows poured down from the sky.

The soldiers of the Gu family army who charged at the forefront fell like wheat being harvested, and their blood instantly stained the Luo River red.

But the troops continued their charge until ladders were erected one by one on the city walls.

"Golden juice ready!"

The defenders poured scalding hot molten gold down, and immediately a series of shrill screams rang out.

"Archers suppress the enemy, battering rams advance!"

Gu Siling immediately gave the order.

Dozens of strongmen pushed battering rams made of iron, charging toward the city gate under the cover of a hail of arrows.

boom!

The city gate trembled violently, and pieces of wood flew everywhere.

Soon, the first batch of Gu family soldiers finally reached the top of the city wall, and the defending soldiers immediately raised their spears to meet them.

Amidst the flashing blades and the clash of swords, severed limbs flew everywhere.

Chapter 145 Calling one’s job title while working

The Battle of Luozhou continued until dusk on the third day.

Inside the central command tent of the rebel army, various departments were taking stock of the losses suffered during the three-day siege.

Gu Siling stood with her hands behind her back in front of the sand table, frowning, her eyes fixed on the location of Pingdingshan.

Report!

Hurried footsteps came from outside the tent, and the scout knelt on one knee.

"Your Highness, General, the heavy armored troops have cut off Luozhou's supply lines for three days now, but have yet to encounter a single soldier from the direction of Pingdingshan."

Upon hearing this, the generals in the tent all looked at each other in bewilderment.

A hint of surprise flashed in Gu Xichao's eyes, then he sneered, "Cousin, Father, is the general guarding Pingdingshan a fool?"

"If they truly remain holed up for three days, they'll allow us to attack Luoyang."

Upon hearing this, Gu Siling rebuked sharply, "You insolent brat! With His Highness the Crown Prince in front of you, don't you have any sense of respect?"

"I've told you so many times, when you're at work, you should refer to your job title."

There has been some undercurrent in the military lately, with rumors spreading from who-knows-where.

It was said that Gu Siling had kidnapped the Crown Prince, ostensibly to purge the court of corrupt officials, but in reality, it was a plot to rebel.

These rumors were quite detailed and convincing, with some even claiming to have seen the Crown Prince being placed under house arrest by the Gu family's personal guards.

Gu Siling knew that someone in the court must have deliberately spread this rumor to undermine the morale of the army.

If left unchecked, morale within the army will likely deteriorate sooner or later.

After all, the act of "purging the emperor's inner circle" requires a legitimate and just cause, and the strength of a righteous army.

If someone is branded a traitor, then it's not a matter of purging corrupt officials from the court, but rather a rebellion.

That's why he pays more attention to matters of hierarchy.

Moreover, he would always invite Yuwen Quan to preside over any military meeting.

"Yes, Your Highness, General."

Gu Xichao shrank his neck, fearless of everything, but he had the deepest reverence for his strict father.

Gu Siling was still angry and was about to reprimand him again when Yuwen Quan quickly advised her against it.

"Uncle, please calm down. My cousin didn't mean any harm."

Gu Siling then gave up.

Seeing this, Yuwen Quan asked again, "Uncle, what did my cousin mean just now? Is there anything wrong with the garrison at Pingdingshan?"

Gu Siling nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "There's a serious problem."

His fingertips traced the main road between Luoshui and Pingdingshan on the sand table.

"If I were the general in charge of defending Pingdingshan, the first thing I would do upon arriving at Pingdingshan would be to send 5,000 elite troops straight to the south bank of the Luo River."

He then placed the five black pieces at the ferry crossing.

"These five thousand soldiers attacked our army while it was crossing the river, while the garrison of Luozhou City simultaneously launched an arrow harassment."

"In this way, even if all five thousand men are wiped out, it will still be enough to inflict heavy losses on our vanguard."

All the generals in the tent nodded secretly upon hearing this.

Taking advantage of the fact that the vanguard and rearguard are unable to attend to both ends, launching an attack while the enemy is crossing the river can indeed deplete their strength to the greatest extent.

"But the Pingdingshan garrison did not do so."

Gu Siling said solemnly, "But what I can't understand is, even if they didn't divide their troops, they should have defended the supply lines to the death. Why did they sit idly by and watch our army cut off the lifeline of Luozhou?"

"This doesn't make sense."

After he finished speaking, his expression became even more unpredictable.