Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 91: Surrender Alone

suddenly,

"There is a situation!"

said a soldier.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately became alert and looked down, only to see a group of bandits walking towards the city, surrounded by a familiar figure.

"Like the sea?"

Wei Yinghong was stunned.

Ever since Lin Ruhai entered the bandit camp and never returned that day, he thought Lin Ruhai was dead and burned a lot of paper money for him, but he didn't expect that he was not dead.

"Hongda, let me into the city!"

Lin Ruhai walked to the foot of the city and shouted.

Wei Yinghong on the city wall was very confused when he saw Lin Ruhai surrounded by bandits.

"How is this going?"

After thinking about it, Wei Yinghong ordered the soldiers to find a hanging basket and lower it down.

The basket landed in front of Lin Ruhai, and the Huaiyin soldiers around him helped Lin Ruhai into the basket.

Then Lin Ruhai was pulled up.

The Huaiyin Army soldiers below shouted loudly:
"Listen, Wei Yinghong on the city wall. Our general has said that if you dare to touch a hair of Mr. Lin, I will skin your son alive!"

As soon as these words came out, several black lines suddenly appeared on Wei Yinghong's forehead.

But at this time, Lin Ruhai had already been hung up.

Wei Yinghong then hurried forward.

"Ru Hai, what is going on?"

Lin Ruhai waved his hand and said:

"Let's talk after we get down."

Lin Ruhai and Wei Yinghong then went down the city wall and entered the city.

Arriving at Wei Yinghong's temporary residence, Lin Ruhai slowly tidied his clothes, then picked up the teacup on the table, poured a cup of tea, and took a sip.

"Good tea, try it."

Lin Ruhai said.

Wei Yinghong had no intention of tasting the tea, so he waved his hand and said:

"I'm not in the mood, just tell me."

Lin Ruhai shook his head and handed over the tea.

"Try it, this tea is really good."

Wei Yinghong couldn't persuade Lin Ruhai, so he took the teacup and took a sip.

"It's just ordinary Biluochun. What kind of delicacy is it? I don't even know what tea I made this morning?"

Wei Yinghong complained and was about to put down the tea.

Lin Ruhai said:

"People in important positions should remain calm when faced with major events. Think about this carefully."

Wei Yinghong drank up the tea out of disbelief, but it turned out to be just ordinary Biluochun.

"Ruhai, stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me what happened after you went to the bandit camp. The bandits haven't attacked the city for three days. Maybe they just want to paralyze us. They may attack the city at any time. I'm in a hurry and I don't have time to wait for you."

Lin Ruhai heard this and said with some dissatisfaction:
"What a bandit army! That's too ugly!"

Wei Yinghong was stunned, and just as he was about to say something, Lin Ruhai said:

"Don't worry about the city. No one will attack it today."

Wei Yinghong asked: "How do you know?"

Lin Ruhai did not answer, but asked:

"Hongda, tell me the truth, how many days can you hold out against the full-scale attack of the Huaiyin Army?"

Wei Yinghong thought for a moment and said, "Ten days."

Lin Ruhai smiled and shook his head when he heard this, saying:
"When General Ji Quan was in charge of defending the city, he had 5,000 soldiers under his command, but they could only hold out for ten days. How does Hongda compare to General Ji? How many more soldiers does Hongda have than General Ji?

Wei Yinghong's face changed, his heart sank, and he thought for a while and said:

"Five days then."

Lin Ruhai smiled and shook his head again, and asked:
"Can today's cities be stronger than the great cities of Song? Can today's soldiers' morale be stronger than that of the soldiers of the past?

Wei Yinghong's expression changed again, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"Those three days."

Lin Ruhai still shook his head and said:
"In the past, the Huaiyin Army's navy and land forces fought separately, and the defenders were still unable to defeat them. Now that the navy and land forces have joined forces and the strength has doubled, can Hongda hold out for three days?"

Wei Yinghong couldn't sit still any longer. "Ruhai, what do you want to say?"

Lin Ruhai no longer concealed it and said:

"I have asked the Marquis of Huaiyin for mercy, allowing you to defend the city for three days without sending troops to attack the city. This is why the Huaiyin army has not attacked for three days."

"For the past three days, you have been loyal to the court. If we really attack, how can you hold on? Today, three days have passed, you surrender now!"

Wei Yinghong's eyes widened when he heard this, and he pointed at Lin Ruhai, unable to speak: "You, I..."

Suddenly, Wei Yinghong reacted and said in surprise:
"Ru Hai, you have surrendered to the rebel army. You are here to serve as a lobbyist!"

Lin Ruhai was silent.

In Wei Yinghong's eyes, this is nothing more than acquiescence.

But Lin Ruhai didn't think so. He thought:

My situation cannot be considered as surrender, because I was in the Huaiyin Army camp from the beginning...

At this time, Wei Yinghong said:
"Ru Hai, you can surrender, I don't blame you, but I will never surrender!"

"I have personally received the emperor's grace in the Golden Palace and have been granted my current position. How can I not want to repay my country? Even if I die for my country, I will have no regrets!"

Wei Yinghong said stubbornly.

Lin Ruhai closed his eyes and sighed in his heart.

Suddenly, Wei Yinghong felt dizzy, his legs went weak, and he fell to the ground.

"You, Cha! You..."

Wei Yinghong fainted.

Lin Ruhai walked outside.

Seeing that Wei Yinghong did not come out, the two soldiers wanted to go in to check.

Lin Ruhai raised his hand to stop.

"Lord Wei has been working hard these days and feels unwell. He has gone to bed. Please do not disturb him."

The two soldiers looked at each other and said, "Master Lin, this..."

Lin Ruhai's eyes flashed with authority:

"Why, my words don't count?"

The two soldiers were shocked and dared not say anything more. They bowed and responded.

As one of the most senior officials in Yangzhou, Lin Ruhai's aura as a superior for many years was not fake. Moreover, Wei Yinghong was previously responsible for defending the city, while Lin Ruhai was in charge of the city's internal affairs and logistics. These soldiers had more or less been under Lin Ruhai's command, so Lin Ruhai's prestige in their hearts was naturally extremely high.

"Follow me to the city gate. I have orders to announce!"

Lin Ruhai said.

The two soldiers agreed and followed Lin Ruhai to the city gate.

Lin Ruhai called the officers and soldiers defending the city together and said:

"You all must know me, so I won't introduce myself to you."

The officers and soldiers nodded. Indeed, there were few who were still alive today who did not know Lord Lin.

Lin Ruhai said:

"I came back from outside the city. When I came here, there were more than 100,000 soldiers outside the city. The general of the Huaiyin army was slaughtering cattle and sheep to reward the three armies. Once they were full, they would immediately attack the city. How many people do you have? Are you ready to defend the city?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the officers and soldiers became frightened.

An officer said tremblingly:

"Master Lin, there are only 941 of us in total, and more than a hundred of us are injured. I'm afraid we can't defeat an army of more than !"

Someone said, "Master Lin, we have fought hard, but the more we fight, the more we lose. But we have really tried our best."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone responded.

Lin Ruhai said: "You are all brave men, but the enemy and us are so far apart that it is difficult to do anything even if you are brave. Are all your family members outside the city?"

All the officers and soldiers burst into tears when they heard this.

"When the city fell, we were unable to rescue our family members, and now we don't know whether they are safe or not."

Lin Ruhai comforted him:

"I came back from outside and heard that the Huaiyin army entered the city and made three rules: no rape, no looting, no killing. Your family members are all safe."

When the officers and soldiers heard this, they were delighted.

However, Lin Ruhai added:
"But if you resist to the end, I'm afraid your family will be implicated."

Upon hearing this, the officers and soldiers asked in surprise, "Master Lin, what should we do?"

Lin Ruhai said: "It's okay, I have a plan to solve this situation."

(End of this chapter)