NovelsAlex Chapter 1134 Lead by example
Chapter 1134 Lead by example
Chapter 1134 Lead by example
Although Zhu Di deliberately spoke humorously, Xu Zengshou and Zhang Yu both knew that Zhu Di was trying to allay their worries.
Ever since Zhu Di opened his mouth to talk about climbing the city wall, the two of them immediately realized that Zhu Di wanted to lead his men to climb the city wall himself, so he rushed to volunteer to fight.
But Zhu Di had obviously made up his mind. Seeing that the two were still waiting to speak, Zhu Di spoke again: "You two don't need to persuade me. I have made up my mind."
"Your Highness is worth a thousand gold..." Zhang Yu was about to persuade him again.
"Even if you are worth a lot of money, you have to be willing to sacrifice yourself. Otherwise, how can you achieve great things?" Zhu Di waved his hand. "If we can't capture this castle this time, the Western Expedition will have to stop here. If we want to make a breakthrough, we must fight here."
"If that's the case, I can do it! I can issue a military order and I will capture this fort for Your Highness..."
"How can you compare to me going? In this battle, we have to use the few to defeat the many, and to defeat the many with the few, morale is the most important."
"The soldiers are willing to fight to the death only when I lead the troops. If I hide behind, the soldiers will think I am seeking profit and avoiding harm, which will inevitably hurt the morale of the army."
"There is only victory in this battle, no failure, so I must be at the forefront! Only in this way can my Ming Dynasty have the greatest chance of winning this battle!"
Zhang Yu was somewhat puzzled. He knew that Zhu Di had great ambitions, so he did not understand why Zhu Di was so obsessed with the outcome of this battle. In his opinion, even if the Western Expedition failed, the army could just retreat to Kangju City and switch from offense to defense. When the snow melted in the spring of next year, the Ming army would naturally be able to make a comeback. However, Xu Zengshou, who was of a higher status, knew about the silver ingot that was suspected to have flowed out of Zhu Su's fleet.
Therefore, he had vaguely guessed that the reason why His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan was so impatient was that he was worried that if His Royal Highness the Prince of Zhou was really trapped in the heartland of the Western Yi, he, as his brother, would not be able to respond in time.
In order to continue to maintain an offensive posture against the Western Yi and to be able to support His Royal Highness the King of Zhou at any time, His Royal Highness the King of Yan must defeat the Crusaders who are blocking the Western Expedition Army, or at least solve the problem of food and fodder in order to continue to hold back the main force of the Crusaders.
But even so, it was still too risky to let a prince brave the arrows and stones. Xu Zengshou thought about it and advised: "Your Highness wants to lead the troops to boost morale, but have you ever thought about what would happen if something unexpected happened to Your Highness and our army lost its commander... This is putting the cart before the horse."
"If I die, the army of mourning will win. You can command the army and avenge me." Zhu Di said calmly. "If the soldiers can die, I can die too."
"Then the Ming Dynasty cannot be defeated."
Xu Zengshou was also speechless. Since Zhu Di had said so, he could no longer stop Zhu Di.
The two generals had no reason to stop him, so Zhu Di ordered his generals to divide the 800 men into three teams. Zhu Di personally led 50 warriors as the first team, secretly climbed up the wall and lowered the rope. Zhang Yu led more than 200 people as the second team, and after climbing up the wall with the ropes of the first team, they were responsible for occupying the wall and opening the city gate.
The rest of the people were led by Xu Zengshou. After entering the city, they disrupted the deployment of the Crusaders as quickly as possible, defended the city gates, and waited for the arrival of the rear troops of the Western Expedition Army.
The wind howled even more fiercely. Although it was not snowing, the biting cold wind still blew up the floating snow on the ground. The Ming army quietly approached the city. Thanks to the snow, even if there were people on the city, they should not be able to see the Ming army in the snow below the city. But on the other hand, the Ming army could not see the situation on the castle wall. Zhu Di looked up and could only see the wall in front of him standing tall in the wind and snow, with the top piercing into the darkness of the night.
"Your Highness..." Zhang Yu felt even more anxious when he saw this. Over the years, he had positioned himself as the captain of Zhu Di's personal guard. To sit and watch Zhu Di climb such a steep wall... He wished he could die in his place.
"Shimei, don't worry." Zhu Di patted his shoulder.
Seeing that Zhu Di had made up his mind, Zhang Yu had no choice but to stop trying to persuade him. His son Zhang Fu was now Zhu Di's personal soldier, and was also selected as one of the fifty warriors to accompany Zhu Di to the wall. Zhang Yu then quietly called his son Zhang Fu and said to him, "Fu'er, remember to follow closely behind His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan."
"If anything happens to His Highness, you must do your best to protect His Highness!"
"Don't worry, father. I will risk my life..." Zhang Fu said solemnly.
Although there were fifty warriors, the less noise one makes when climbing the city wall, the better. Therefore, fifty people could not climb the city wall at the same time. Therefore, Zhu Di, Zhang Fu and three other warriors who were good at rock climbing were responsible for climbing the city wall, while the others were responsible for following the traces of these five people.
These five people, including Zhu Di, each held a dagger in their hands as a chisel to climb the city wall, and they carried swords, spears, and armor to fight the enemy on their backs, along with a roll of thick hemp rope.
The wind blew up the snow on the ground, hitting his face and causing pain. Zhang Fu saw the things Zhu Di was carrying on his back and was worried that Zhu Di would have too much burden when climbing the city wall, so he couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, the things you are carrying are too heavy. Spread them out a little."
"I am strong and can carry more."
Zhu Di glanced at him and said with a smile: "You are carrying the same heavy load. Why do you think I am not as good as you?"
He weighed the weight on his back and said, "It's a bit heavy, but not a single one will fall behind."
"If you don't believe me, let's compare. Maybe I can get to the city earlier than you."
Zhang Fu opened his mouth and wanted to persuade him again, but in the end he kept silent.
Although the heavy snow had stopped, the previous blizzard had frozen the castle wall into a huge ice plate. This ice plate was smoother than a mirror, and even the cracks between the bricks had been filled with ice and snow. Even if there were a few bumps, they were as sharp as cones. Whether you put your hands or feet on it, it was like hitting a caltrop.
After trying for a while and finding that he had no power to gain leverage on the city wall at all, Zhu Di simply used a dagger to carve out climbing points and footholds, and climbed up along these shallow pits.
This is the crudest and most troublesome method, but it is also the only way at this time.
Zhu Di did have some skills. He was not just a pampered prince, and climbing the cliff to fetch the Saker Falcon was not just boasting. Zhang Fu was terrified, and he followed closely behind Zhu Di, even ready to support Zhu Di with his shoulder and use his life to help him if he slipped.
But Zhu Di's steps were steady, and after a few moments, he had already climbed up a few feet. At this moment, a noise suddenly came from the city wall, and Zhu Di and the other four Ming soldiers who were climbing the city wall quickly stuck close to the wall, not daring to move at all.
(End of this chapter)