Chapter 12 Chapter 12 The Sundial

In this way, the reputation of the little overlord Sun Lang is as powerful as the rising sun, and almost everyone in the Jiangdong area is awed by his might.However, right here, there is still a remnant of power, like strong teeth deeply rooted in the gums—on the old territory, stubbornly sticking to it, and cannot be easily pulled out. This person is Tai Shici, styled Ziyi. The lord Liu Yao fled and disappeared. After he disappeared, he remained unchanged, collected scattered soldiers, guarded Jing County, and continued to resist. Sun Ce went back up the Jiujiang River yesterday, but today he went down to Moling, and tomorrow he will march into Jing County.

"Although it is a small city, the area to the north of the city is swampy land, and the back of the city is surrounded by mountains, so it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. I heard that there are only two thousand soldiers in the city, but since the battle is at the end, they must be deadly soldiers." Although Sun Ce came outside Jing County, he did not rely on his own advantages.On the contrary, he deployed the attacking force far away, slowly inquired about the situation in the city, and warned everyone: "Don't approach rashly!" "Zhou Yu." "exist."

"Let me ask you, if you ordered it, how would you capture this city?" "It's hard. Be prepared to make huge sacrifices." "You think it's difficult too." "There is only one plan to consider, and that is to choose a general who does not hesitate to die, recruit ten brave men, carry flammable resin and oilcloth, sneak into the city on a windy night, and set fires everywhere." "Can you sneak into the city?" "If there are too many people, they will be discovered." "But the walls are tall..." "Climbing the city wall, if you get the law, there is nothing you can't climb."

"But...who are you going to send?" "Chen Wu can do it." "Chen Wu just came to surrender, and he is a general who can be used in the future. It is a pity to send him to die. What is even more pity is the character Tai Shici, even though he is an enemy. I hope he can be captured alive and used by me." "Then how about this? Seeing the flames in the city, attack from three directions at the same time, not allowing the enemy to take a breather, leaving only the north gate, and the troops are deliberately weak. Tai Shici will definitely come out from the north gate. Once he leaves the city, We just stared at him and chased after him, and set up an ambush ahead. In this way..."

"Brilliant plan!" Sun Ce clapped his hands. Chen Wu recruited ten men to form a death squad.I heard that if you complete the mission and come back alive, you will be promoted to the captain, commanding a hundred people, and there will be generous rewards, so many people signed up to participate. Chen Wu selected ten strong men from them, just waiting for the windy night. Soon, the moonless night came. The strong man was carrying oilcloth, resin and other things on his back, while Chen Wu set out with light clothes, crawling all the way, drilling through the grass, and quietly touched the enemy's city.

The city wall is not a stone wall, but a kind of earth brick fired with high-temperature fire. The wall is more than one foot thick and tens of feet high.However, after hundreds of years of wind and sun, grass has grown between the bricks, the soil has peeled off, birds have built their nests, and the walls are quite ruined. "Hey, everyone! I'll climb up first and put the rope down. You squat down and watch the enemy sentries. Got it? Don't make a sound! The enemy will find out if you move." After Chen Wuxun finished speaking, he went to the city alone.He inserted the dagger into the cracks of the bricks and used it as a pedal, step by step, while using the dagger as a ladder, he stepped on the ladder to climb up.

"It's on fire!" "It's on fire!" "Strange fire!" The money and food warehouse, under the city tower, under the book building, and the stables... the guards at all the gates shouted at the same time. "Don't make noise! ​​It's the enemy's plan! Don't panic, just put out the fire!" City General Tai Shici yelled loudly on the podium, directing the fire to be put out.But the city is in chaos. Whoosh— Chi - The arrow flew past Tai Shici's body. It was windy and dark at night, and Tai Shici could barely stand on the podium.

Fires are everywhere.One is still on fire, and another is on fire.The fire spread out in a blink of an eye. Not only that, the shouts, the sound of war drums, and the sound of rushing gongs approached from three sides of the city in a strong wind. How could the guards in the city put out the fire, they were as miserable as beans in a cauldron. "Open the north gate and break out!" Tai Shici ran down the podium, ordered his generals, and then said, "Protrude out of the city, and fight Sun Ce! The enemy army is divided into three sides in order to encircle the city, and the troops in the north are weak. Luckily Ah!" As he said, he rushed out of the city against the strong wind.

Surrounded by the fire and inspired by Tai Shici, the beans in the cauldron of course overflowed. However, for some reason, the seemingly weak enemies in the north of the city were unexpectedly large in number. "Look, Tai Shici is out!" After greeting each other, random arrows poured from the darkness in all directions.Tai Shici's soldiers and horses were hit hard before they saw the enemy's shadow. "Go! Go! Break through the enemy's main position!" Tai Shici was not afraid, and shouted to fight alone, but few soldiers followed him. Just these few soldiers either fell or fled.Tai Shici looked around, only he was left alone.

"That's all! That's all." Looking back at the city in flames, he bit his lip tightly.That being the case, go back to my hometown Donglaihuang County and live in seclusion, and wait for the right time. He is determined. Braving the strong wind and flying arrows, he galloped towards the river bank in the dark night. At this time, behind him. "Hugh is leaving, Tai Shici!" "Wait a minute, Taishi Ci!" The long night roared in the dark, and the strong wind came with howls.For ten or twenty miles, no matter how far Tai Shici ran, he would be in hot pursuit.

There are many swamps, lakes and ponds here.The water from the Yangtze River flows into Wuhu, and the water from Wuhu flows into countless puddles in the wilderness.So he got lost several times. "Oops!" Finally, Tai Shici's horse stepped into the swamp and was thrown into the reeds. Countless hooks protruded from the surrounding reeds immediately. Ropes with weights, locks with hooks... entwine his body. "It's over!" Tai Shici was captured alive. He was tied up by Wuhuada and taken to Sun Ce Dazhai.On the way, he looked up at the sky where the clouds were flying away several times, with tears of grief and indignation in his eyes, he said, "What a pity!" Soon, Tai Shici was taken to Sun Ce Dazhai. "Everything is over!" Tai Shici broke his mind, took the first seat calmly, and closed his eyes. At this time, someone lifted the curtain and said familiarly as if welcoming a friend: "Ah, it's been a long time." Tai Shici's eyes were half-opened, and he saw that the person who came was none other than Sun Ce, the general of the enemy army! Tai Shici resolutely said: "Sun Lang, cut off my head quickly." Sun Ce stepped forward quickly and said, "Death is easy, but life is hard. Why are you so anxious to die?" "I'm not in a hurry to die. I don't want to be humiliated for a moment when I get to this stage!" "Why are you humiliated?" "The defeated general, don't need to say too much. Don't ask useless questions. Please draw your sword, cut off your head with one sword, and enjoy my blood mist." "No, no. I've always known your loyalty, and I don't think that looking at your blood mist will make you feel happy. You feel inferior to yourself as a defeated general, but the cause of your defeat is not your fault, but Liu Yao's ignorance." "..." "It's a pity! You are talented, but you haven't met a wise master. Silkworms are naturally unable to spin silk to make cocoons among maggots." "..." Tai Shici bowed his head speechlessly.Sun Ce bent his knees, untied him, and said, "How is it? Are you unwilling to dedicate your life to a more meaningful battle and your own life? Or, are you willing to work under my account?" Tai Shici said bluntly: "I'm convinced. I surrendered. Please put my stupid talent under your banner and play some role." "What a frankness you are! Proper and decent. I like your frankness." Sun Ce took Tai Shici's hand, welcomed him into his tent, joked, and said, "Last time, we had a fierce battle on the Shenting battlefield. At that time, were you thinking about continuing to fight alone?" If you go down, you will defeat me, Sun Ce?" Tai Shici laughed loudly and said, "Ah, what will happen in the end? The outcome is hard to tell." "However, one thing is for sure. If I lose, I will be tied up by you." "of course." "In that case, will you untie me, like I did to you, and spare my life?" "No way. If you really want to do that, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep your head. Even if I have intentions, Liu Yao will not spare you." "Hahahaha...that's right." Sun Ce laughed loudly. Sun Ce threw a big banquet, and the two still chatted happily.Sun Ce said to Tai Shici: "From now on, I will listen to your opinions on the strategy of war. You have a good strategy, please advise." Tai Shici said humbly: "A defeated general will not speak up." Sun Ce retorted: "This statement is wrong. Please look at Han Xin in the past. Han Xin also asked the surrendered general Guangwu Lord for advice." "In this way, although I don't have any great plans, I would like to offer a foolish plan to show that I have become a member of your account... However, my words may not suit the general's wishes." Tai Shici looked at Sun Ce's face. face, smiling. Sun Ce also smiled and said, "Hahahaha... You mean that even if you suggested something, I, Sun Ce, would not measure up to it?" "Yes." Tai Shici nodded, "I'm worried. But I still want to talk about it." "Well, I'm listening." "It's nothing else. The soldiers who followed Liu Yao couldn't find a master to rely on, and they were scattered in all directions." "You mean the remnant soldiers are defeated." "Simply saying that they are remnants and defeated generals will lead to a tendency to ignore them and regard them as a weak and incompetent group, but among them are mixed general talents and soldiers who are out of season and are a pity to abandon them." "Well, then what do you ask me to do?" "Now, please release me, Tai Shi Ci, and let me regain my freedom. I will go and persuade these remnant soldiers and defeated generals to give up their old masters and make good choices. In this way, I can bring back three thousand elite soldiers for you, and I will surely serve you in the future." Back up...and let them swear allegiance in front of you." "Okay, you go!" Sun Ce immediately agreed, showing his measure, "However, from today on, you must come back at noon (noon) three days later." Sun Ce urged.Then he was given a fine horse and released from Dazhai. The next morning, the subordinate generals did not see Tai Shici, and asked Sun Ce strangely.Sun Ce told them that last night he listened to Tai Shici's advice and let him go for three days. "What? Let Tai Shici go?" All the generals were dumbfounded, thinking that they had let the tiger go back to the mountain, and released the tiger that had been captured alive and put into the cage with great difficulty. "Tai Shici's suggestion is probably false. He will never come back again." Sun Ce shook his head, laughed at them and said, "What are you talking about?! He will definitely come back. He is a man of faith. It is precisely because I think of him that way that I regret his life. If it is someone who has no faith and never comes back, It would be a shame not to see you again.” "Ah, let's see the result." The generals still didn't believe it. On the third day, Sun Ce had someone erect a sundial outside the village, and sent two soldiers to observe the shadow of the sun. "The hour has come!" The soldiers on duty came to report to Sun Ce every moment.Not long after, the report came again: "The moment has arrived!" It is said that sundials were first used in military camps during the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang.In the later "Book of Songs", there is a record of He Chengtian's palm "waiting for the shadow of the sun".In the Ming Dynasty, there was a shadow measuring station.These are the products of the continuous development of sundials. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, sundials were of course primitive.A pole is erected vertically on the sand, and the time is calculated by the length of the shadow of the pole. Recording methods include laying boards around the sand to record shadows, and others recording sun shadows on walls. "It's noon." After the soldiers on duty reporting the time loudly reported to the big tent, Sun Ce called the generals and pointed with his hand: "Please look to the south!" as expected!Tai Shici led 3,000 troops to appear on time, and a cloud of grass dust and dust was rolled up from the distant field, and they flew back. Feeling Sun Ce's insight and Tai Shici's faith, the generals who had been doubting just now couldn't help clapping and cheering to welcome Tai Shici.