Two days later, Wu Yue's army once again gathered under Runzhou City.

This time, the troops were mainly concentrated outside the three gates of the southern city, which were Dehua Gate, Renhe Gate and Helin Gate from west to east.

Renhe Gate is located in the middle and is also the central axis of Runzhou City.

At this time, Wu and Yue's 30,000 soldiers and horses came out in unison, which was extremely powerful. There was no further division of troops. They were all arrayed directly in front of the southern city. From west to east, they were lined up horizontally and stretched for two miles.

Lu Jiang and Su Chen stood on the city tower and looked at the phalanx of Wu Yue's army in front, both showing doubts.

Today, the Wu and Yue troops were not divided into groups. They were all concentrated outside the southern city gate. They planned such a large formation. I don’t know what they are going to do.

"Look, there are many civilians captured in front of Wu Yue's army." Someone shouted.

Lu Jiang and others looked around and found that there were at least a thousand old people, women and children, and civilians, being driven like cattle and sheep in front of the military formation.

They were trembling and crying constantly. The Wuyue soldiers next to them were disgusted and beat the crying Tang people with whips.

Su Chen was a little surprised: "What are they doing? Before attacking the city, they brought so many people. Do they plan to use these people as shields?"

"If this is really the case, his heart is so cruel that Wu Yue soldiers are completely heartless!" Lu Jiang's face was gloomy and she shouted coldly. She looked very angry.

When the two armies are facing each other, the envoys will not be killed, let alone the unarmed women, children and people. If they are used to cover the siege and force the defenders at the top of the city to surrender, I have to say that this method is too despicable.

The guards at the top of the city were still discussing, but the trumpet outside the city had already sounded.

Shen Chengli, the commander-in-chief of Wu and Yue, waved his hand and ordered the city to be attacked.

"Run quickly, otherwise we will kill them all!" Some soldiers threatened the captured people, telling them to run forward.

"You are all common people of the Tang State. There are Tang troops guarding Runzhou ahead. If you want to survive, run forward quickly. I will give you time to escape and enter the city. If you are slow, you will only die."

The more than 1,500 common people were a little frightened when they heard the shouts of Wu Yue soldiers.

The Wuyue soldiers were all stunned, but they were still ruthless and continued: "If you don't run faster, our men and horses will rush up from behind. Those who fall behind will be shot to death by random arrows, trampled to death by horse hooves, and hacked to death by sword blades.

Whether you can survive or not depends on your desire to live.

"Ahhh, woo woo woo"

These common people were crying and making noise, and began to run towards the city gate, driven by the Wuyue soldiers.

While running, he cried: "Help, open the city gate, we are all Tang people!"

"We are the people of Danyang County."

People were crying and rushing towards Renhe Gate and Dehua Gate, followed by Wu Yue soldiers chasing after them.

On top of the city, the garrison generals were also involved in an argument.

Someone objected to opening the door: "General Lu, this is obviously a trick of the Wuyue people. We must not be fooled. If we open the city gate hastily, there will be chaos at the city gate. Wuyue soldiers will take the opportunity to enter the city, and we will be in great danger."

"Yes, it will definitely be very dangerous to open the city gate rashly!"

Of course, some generals disagreed with this view: "Absolutely not. If we don't open the city gate, the people outside the city will be killed by Wu Yue soldiers. How can we not save the people in the city?"

It chills the hearts of the soldiers. Perhaps among the people outside the city, there are their parents, wives and children."

To save or not to save is a dilemma and a test of human nature.

General Youbi analyzed objectively: "There are only a thousand people outside the city. Compared with the tens of thousands of people inside the city, who is more important? This should be understood!"

"That's right, we can't put hundreds of thousands of people in the city in danger just because of these more than a thousand people!"

At this time, Lu Jiang, as the commander-in-chief, was in a dilemma.

Even Su Chen felt that this choice was cruel.

Should we save the few people in front of us and risk the lives of more people? Or should we ignore the lives of more than a thousand people and maintain the overall situation safely.

This has been a difficult choice since ancient times.

If Su Chen was asked to choose, he would also find it very difficult. There is no right answer in itself.

Just look at a person’s character, whether he respects everyone’s human rights or puts the overall situation first.

At this time, Lu Jiang turned to look at Su Chen. Because Su Lang of Jiang Zuo was so resourceful and intelligent, he asked, "Su Jianjun, what do you think we should choose?"

Su Chen hesitated for a moment and analyzed: "Of course we have to stabilize the overall situation! But we can't ignore the more than a thousand people outside the city! I always believe that everything depends on man-made efforts. We should be proactive and everything will turn around.

Casualties are minimized.

"There is no perfect answer or the most accurate choice in this matter! We can only rely on ourselves to find ways to control the situation within our control.

"The people outside the city are innocent. They should not suffer such bullying and harm. If possible, I would rather bring out a troop of troops to restore their safety."

The generals already understood Su Chen's thoughts, fell into deep thought, and fell silent.

Lu Jiang clapped her hands and said: "The supervisor said it well. Our duty is to protect our country and protect our people. If these people outside the city are brutally killed under our eyes, but we are indifferent, then we will defend this country."

What’s the point?

"The former Emperor Taizong said well that water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. We cannot let the people feel cold, let alone let the people of the world accuse us of being ruthless. I have decided to actively rescue innocent people. Please listen well, generals.

Already?"

After listening to Lu Jiang's words, these generals and the princes of Yu all nodded slightly and stopped arguing.

Because the generals and supervisors have made this decision, if they continue to oppose and are unkind, they will be labeled as ruthless and despised.

Maybe Su Jianjun is right, using the lives of soldiers to exchange for the safety of innocent people is the meaning of the soldiers who protect their homes and country and fight on the battlefield.

If a soldier doesn't protect the people, are he still a soldier?

At this time, Ma Chengcheng stood up, clasped his fists and said: "The general is willing to lead troops out of the city to stop the pursuit of Wu Yue soldiers, give the people a chance to enter the city, and buy time!"

"The general is willing to leave the city in exchange for the people entering the city!"

"The general is also willing."

The generals stood up one after another and wanted to go out of the city to rescue the people, and their morale was high.

When Lu Jiang saw this scene, she felt emotional and even felt a sore nose. She felt that it was an honor to have such a subordinate with such a benevolent heart and to work together with him.

Therefore, Lu Jiang nodded and said: "Generals, the people will know your righteousness! Next, listen to my orders, Ma Xiong and Ma Chengcheng, you two will each lead two thousand troops and charge from Dehua Gate and Renhe Gate.

Go out, block the enemy's attack, and protect the people entering the city.

"The number of archers at the city head was doubled, and they fired arrows faster to prevent the Wu Yue soldiers from approaching the city gate. The more time left for the people to enter the city, the more people can be saved! As for whether the Wu Yue soldiers will take advantage of the chaos to enter.

In the city, it all depends on everyone's performance.

"General, take your orders!" All the soldiers responded loudly.

They know very well that this is taking grain from the fire and dancing on the tip of a knife, which is very dangerous.

Even among the soldiers who left the city, it was very likely that some of them would die in battle outside the city and would not be able to enter the city and would be sacrificed. This is all possible.

In other words, this is to exchange the lives of the soldiers in the city for the innocent people outside the city.

If we only look at the profit and loss, it will definitely be detrimental to the defenders, and it will not even have much benefit or value. But from the perspective of human nature, and the justice and benevolence represented by this incident, it can move the people and make the people in the city think of it.

It is of great significance to inspire people's hearts and morale, so it is completely worthwhile to do so.

At this time, the running people had entered a stone's throw and were still running. Most of the strong men ran fast and rushed ahead, while some old people, women and children fell behind due to physical reasons. At this moment, Wu Yue's cavalry and infantry

He chased me from behind and narrowed the distance.

"puff!"

The old man who fell at the end was too old and panting at the end. His head was chopped off by the Wuyue cavalry with a sword, and it flew up in the air with blood splattering. He died miserably under the blade.

"Ahhh"
Chapter completed!