amaotonovel Chapter 745 The Poisoning Incident in Xiling City
Chapter 745 The Poisoning Incident in Xiling City
After crossing the Ru River and shaking off Tian Yu, Sun Lang galloped all the way and, after two days of rapid marching, successfully arrived at Xinxi County and entered Jiangxia territory.
Tian Yu was naturally unwilling to let Sun Lang leave easily, and kept following closely behind him in pursuit. Unfortunately, crossing the river took too much time, and having just received Xiahou Chong's 5,000 troops, he needed time to familiarize himself with the army and allocate supplies, so he was a bit slow.
Nevertheless, by the time Sun Lang arrived in Xinxi County, Tian Yu was less than twenty li away from Sun Lang. At this rate, he would catch up with Sun Lang in less than a day.
However, Tian Yu dared not pursue further, because Xinxi County was the border between Runan Commandery and Jiangxia Commandery. The area ahead belonged to Jiangxia Commandery and was not under his jurisdiction. If he wanted to continue pursuing, he would have to make arrangements with Wen Ping, the governor of Jiangxia, and obtain Wen Ping's consent in advance, otherwise it would easily cause misunderstandings.
Therefore, Tian Yu could only rest temporarily at the border of the two prefectures, while sending a fast horse to Xiling to inform Wen Ping.
Sun Lang was also resting. Everyone was exhausted from running these past two days, and they would collapse if they didn't rest. Don't forget that they were infantrymen, which is much more tiring than cavalrymen.
Therefore, after Sun Lang captured Xinxi County, he did not dare to advance any further and planned to rest for a day before making any further moves. However, he encountered trouble after only half a day of rest.
That evening, just as the sun was setting, special forces members who had been lying in wait in Xinxi County rushed into the county government office, handed him a letter, and said, "General, this is a letter from Tu Mu (Guan Yan's code name) to you."
Sun Lang was stunned when he took the letter. The contents were simple: Guan Yan asked him to go to Xiling as soon as possible and take advantage of Wen Ping's absence to cooperate with the city's spies to take Xiling City.
Thinking of the benefits of capturing Xiling City, Sun Lang was greatly encouraged and immediately convened a meeting of his generals. After discussion, they decided that the Hu brothers would lead 5,000 elite troops, carrying two days' rations, to Xiling as quickly as possible, while he would lead the main force to press forward the next morning.
A surprise attack requires seizing every second, so it is necessary to divide the troops. The larger the army, the slower the march, and there are also supplies in the army. By the time the main army slowly arrives at the city of Xiling, it will be too late. Therefore, it is necessary to send out elite troops to travel light and quickly rush to the city of Xiling.
The Hu brothers dared not delay and led five thousand of their most elite soldiers out of the city, heading towards Xiling at top speed under the cover of night.
Inside Xiling City.
After parting ways with Guan Yan, Luo Feng returned to the military camp reeking of alcohol. When the generals saw him return, they immediately came out to greet him, dragging and pulling him into a room to continue gambling, just like a loyal subordinate meeting his leader.
It seems the God of Gamblers possessing Luo Feng has left. Luo Feng quickly lost all the money he won from the soldiers, and even lost nearly half of the sack he brought back from the pleasure house.
Losing money naturally puts him in a bad mood. Luo Feng angrily threw down the wooden sign, stood up, and said, "I'm going to the outhouse to change my luck."
The soldiers were in high spirits after winning money, so they naturally didn't stop him at this time. They all smiled and saw him off, telling him to come back soon.
Because he had a relative working in the military camp, Luo Feng often came to visit. As a result, he was very familiar with the terrain of the military camp. On his way to the latrine, he picked up a few fist-sized stones. When he arrived at the latrine and saw that no one was inside, he decisively took off his clothes, took off the vest containing laxatives, spread it on the ground, stuffed the stones he had picked up into it, kneaded it into a ball, wrapped it tightly, and tied it up. Only then did he put it in his pocket and slowly leave.
After leaving the outhouse and returning to his room, he looked around as he passed the well, and to make sure no one was watching, he promptly threw his vest into the well and left.
Actually, administering the drug at night would be the safest option, as it would be difficult to investigate even if discovered in the dark. Unfortunately, that wouldn't work, because the goal of this drug administration was to inflict widespread casualties and cover as many soldiers in the camp as possible. There was only one time to achieve this: dinnertime.
The Wei army only had two meals a day, one at 9 am and one at 5 pm. If they missed mealtimes, they would go hungry and there would be no midnight snack. Moreover, most of them rarely drank water after eating. If they were to administer the poison at night, it would not be enough to kill many people. Therefore, they could only administer it before meals.
After administering the drug, Luo Feng returned to his room to continue gambling. Not long after, Luo Feng's cousin, who was the head cook of the garrison, brought people to the well to fetch water for the soldiers' dinner.
Smoke curled from the kitchen, laughter echoed freely in the gambling room, and time passed by little by little. When Luo Feng had lost all but two gold coins left, people outside called for dinner to be served.
The Wei army's food was so-so, just coarse rice with pickled vegetables. It wasn't great, but at least it was dry. Luo Feng ate heartily with everyone else, and after finishing, they continued gambling, not stopping until they had lost both gold coins.
Cousin Luo Feng was not idle either. He led a group of people to deliver several carts full of bath tubs filled with rice to the city wall to serve food to the soldiers guarding the city.
The city's 5,000 garrison was commanded by four captains, who worked in two shifts. Two captains guarded the city while the other two rested and waited for orders in the barracks. However, there were no cooking stoves on the city walls, so the soldiers' meals had to be delivered by the cooks.
Luo Feng's cousin was delivering food, while Luo Feng was gambling. His luck improved after the meal, and he started a tug-of-war with his gambling friends using two gold coins. He won a little and lost a little. At this rate, the two gold coins could last until dark.
Unfortunately, their bodies couldn't hold on. Less than 45 minutes after the meal, Luo Feng suddenly felt unwell, clutching his stomach as he stood up and said, "Why is my stomach starting to hurt? Is there something wrong with the food in your military camp?"
After saying that, he rushed out and ran to the outhouse. The two captains were about to laugh at him, but before they could even open their mouths, they also felt the urge and had no choice but to clutch their stomachs and follow Luo Feng.
Their departure seemed to trigger some kind of switch, and the soldiers all felt it and rushed to the latrines like madmen. With so many people going to the toilet at the same time, the latrines in the barracks were simply not enough, and many had to relieve themselves on the drill ground.
The captain stepped out of the latrine and immediately realized something was wrong when he saw that everyone had diarrhea. He shouted, "Oh no! We've definitely been drugged! Go after the cooks right away! Make sure the food isn't delivered to the city wall. Also, report to General Wen and ask him to be careful!"
The poisoner couldn't have simply been trying to toy with so many people; there must have been other motives after the poisoning.
At this point, the city wall defenders who hadn't eaten became their only hope. If the city wall defenders were normal, they still had a chance to turn the tide; if they also fell victim to the virus, then it was truly over.
Therefore, they had to catch up with the food delivery team as quickly as possible and stop them from feeding the city wall guards.
The captain's response was not only correct but also swift, but unfortunately, it was impossible to execute. All the soldiers in the camp had been infected while eating and were all clutching their buttocks, looking for a latrine. Who had the ability to deliver a message? The two messengers had just left the camp when they turned back and rushed to the latrine. Seeing this, the captain collapsed and muttered to himself, "It's over."
Because no one was there to deliver the message, dinner was successfully delivered to the city wall, and the soldiers immediately gathered around to feast.
At the same time, the residences of most officials, including the prefectural governor, the county magistrate, and the county governor, as well as the residences of several major aristocratic families, were all affected. The sight of these usually high-ranking officials and aristocratic families suffering from diarrhea was truly spectacular.
This was naturally Guan Yan's doing. In order to completely paralyze the defense system of Xiling City, Guan Yan chose to collectively poison everyone who might threaten him. At this moment, there was basically a vest lying in the well of each of these people's residences.
Fortunately, most of those who could threaten Guan Yan were infected, but tragically, the prefectural commander Ma Wendai, who led 5,000 troops, was not.
Wen Dai was having fun at his home in the eastern part of the city today, not at the prefect's residence, so he did not drink the well water.