Farmers of Shu Han

Chapter 1420: Seizing the City, Forming the Battle Line

"Captain Cui, please take some people down to watch over it and don't let those soldiers cause any more trouble."

Wang Xiong gave instructions to Captain Cui again.

These defeated soldiers rushed into the city in a disorderly manner. If we were not careful, some of them might take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Captain Cui pressed the knife handle harder:

"Here!"

The capstan finally began to squeak, and the thick city gate was gradually pulled up. The moment the light came on at the entrance of the city, the fleeing soldiers who had been unable to wait any longer rushed in.

In particular, several officers on horseback, relying on their height and strength, pushed aside the soldiers in front and rushed to the front, causing a lot of admiration:
"Why are you squeezing your grandpa? Are you in such a hurry to get yourself killed?"

Captain Cui, who was guarding behind the city gate, frowned as he watched the defeated soldiers scramble for things, feeling a little uneasy.

He found that the first few officers who came in were all unfamiliar.

Of course, it was impossible for him to know all the officers in the army.

However, the war horses ridden by these officers were too tall.

Especially the one in the lead, although both the horse and the rider were covered in blood, it was still obvious at a glance that it was an extremely rare good horse.

Even generals in the Wei army might not own such a high-quality horse.

How could it possibly fall into the hands of such a junior colonel?
Captain Cui suddenly became alert, and then he saw that the horses' tails were neatly trimmed - the real defeated soldiers should have cut the horses' tails and bandaged their wounds!
"Tattoo..."

The sound of war horses' hooves was extremely crisp.

But to Captain Cui, it sounded like thunder.

It’s a Xiliang horse!

These beasts all have horseshoes nailed on their hooves!
"Oh no, it's Shu..."

Captain Cui opened his mouth and screamed, and subconsciously rushed to the capstan next to him, trying to cut the rope and lower the city gate again.

But before he could finish shouting, a sharp sound of arrow whistled, and a sharp arrow flashed past and pierced Captain Cui's throat.

"on!"

Zhao Guang threw away the bow and arrow in his hand, drew out his saber, kicked the horse's belly, and rushed straight to the capstan.

The sound of the whistling arrow was the signal. Zhao Guang didn't need to remind him. Liu Hun, who was following closely behind, swung out the lasso hidden in his inner robe, and the iron hook accurately bit the capstan gear.

The horse-slaying sword in Zhao Guang's hand shone like a golden fan in the firelight. He chopped left and swept right. There was meat stuck to the spine of the sword. As he swung, a fan-shaped blood mist was thrown out, and the defenders fell down like wheat being cut.

The sword tip hooked onto the red tassel of someone's iron helmet, and with the help of the horse's power, it was thrown towards the wooden pillar of the arrow tower - the sound of the skull shattering and the wood cracking rang out at the same time!

At the same time, Tufa Tianli's mace had smashed a shield, and his left hand grabbed the guard's hair. When the mace hit him for the second time, half of the guard's body collapsed.

……

The sudden change caught the Wei army at the city gate off guard.

"Liu Hun!"

Zhao Guang, riding a horse, killed all six or seven Wei soldiers around the capstan and shouted loudly.

"understand!"

Liu Hun pulled the lasso in his hand hard, and with this force, the warhorse under him seemed to know what its master meant. It raised its four hooves and rushed to the capstan at the fastest speed.

Pull the rope tight, swing it hard, wrap it around the hinge, and tie a knot on the winch.

Zhao Guang didn't even look back, he turned his horse's head and rushed towards the horse racing track not far from the city gate like a whirlwind:
"Tufa Tianli, follow me!"

"coming!"

Tufa Tianli smashed the head of the Wei soldier in front of him, kicked the horse's belly, followed Zhao Guang and rushed towards the racetrack.

The Han army that continued to pour in from behind, some formed a formation to control the city gate, while the other part followed Zhao Guang and Tufa Tianli in the front, shouting and charging forward.

"Zhao Yiwen from Changshan is here!"

Rushing up the city wall unhindered, Zhao Guang raised his long sword that was still dripping with blood and shouted:
"Where is the thief?"

I looked towards the position where I remembered Wang Xiong to be, but I saw that Wang Xiong was staring at this side blankly, as if he had not reacted yet.

In order to dress up as a defeated soldier, Zhao Guang's face, body, and even his mount were all covered in blood.

He had just killed several people at the city gate. Both the man and the horse looked as if they had just been fished out of a pool of blood, with a very strong bloody aura.

At this moment, he inadvertently met Wang Xiong's eyes. Wang Xiong was shocked by the sight of such a ferocious man and was so frightened that he staggered back several steps.

"Thief, your grandpa is here!"

When Zhao Guang saw Wang Xiong in the bright firelight, he was overjoyed. He pulled the reins, and his horse suddenly stood up. His iron hooves as big as bowls stomped hard on the city wall, ready to charge forward.

Wang Xiong's heart trembled, and he felt as if the horse's hoof had stepped on his heart.

"Stop him, stop him quickly..."

Wang Xiong was so frightened that his voice changed and he screamed and backed away.

The guards around him subconsciously drew their swords and rushed forward, trying to stop him.

"Go away!"

The saber passed by, and sparks flew as the blade touched.

"Qiang!"

The Hanyang-made 3.0 version of weapons showed great advantages over the Wei army's weapons at this time.

The saber directly cut off the opponent's weapon, and with the remaining force, it cut off half of the opponent's cheek.

The blood mist exploded with the roar, spraying on the face of the Wei soldier who was about to raise his gun. The man dropped the gun, covered his eyes, fell to the ground, and his thigh was crushed by the warhorse. He let out a shrill scream.

"Shh!"

The tip of the bloody sword stopped at the tip of Wang Xiong's nose, and a few drops of blood splashed onto his face.

An extremely strong smell of blood came straight towards me.

Wang Xiong could no longer stand and fell to the ground with a thump.

Zhao Guang grinned. This time, he finally captured the evil general instead of letting him die inexplicably in his hands.

……

Fireworks rose from the top of the city, appearing dazzling in the night sky.

The commotion at the north gate had not yet spread to other places. After receiving the signal, General Zhendong led the main force into the city and took over all the city gates.

Only then did everyone realize that Ji County had changed hands.

At midnight, General Zhendong had already sat in the lobby of the Governor's Mansion. Looking at the Pseudo-Wei Governor of Youzhou being escorted up below, he asked:
"Are you Wang Xiong?"

Wang Xiong, looking extremely embarrassed, sat on the ground, silent.

He just stared at the ground, seemingly not hearing General Zhendong's question.

Zhao Guang took a look, drew his sword and shouted:

"General, why don't you answer?"

Wang Xiong then raised his eyelids to look at Zhao Guang, then glanced at the high-ranking General Zhendong, then slowly lowered his head and said:

"I don't know military strategy, and I was defeated by you guys. I lost Ji County, and I am ashamed of myself. Now that I have become a prisoner, I will die, so why do you want to humiliate me?"

General Zhendong was slightly surprised when he heard this. He looked at the other party seriously, nodded, and said:

"I didn't expect you to be so self-aware. To me, you really don't have any military strategies."

The corner of Wang Xiong's mouth twitched, and he forced himself to resist the urge to look up.

"But when I was in Yuyang, I also heard Zhao Kai mention you. He said that during the years you were in Youzhou, you implemented many good policies, and the people lived in peace. Youzhou officials praised you a lot."

"Now that the Han Dynasty is about to rise again, heroes all over the world long for the Han Dynasty, just like rivers flowing into the sea. Why don't you follow the trend of the times, abandon violence and join the Ming Dynasty, and serve the Han Dynasty?"

This time, it was Wang Xiong's turn to be surprised.

He looked up with a little surprise and glanced at General Zhendong.

He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before he spoke:

"I thank the general for his kindness. Although I am not well-informed, I know that there are many loyal and righteous people in the Han Kingdom. Guan Yu, the Marquis of Han Shou Ting, is even more loyal and righteous, and is praised by the world."

The book "Unparalleled Loyalty" has been circulating in the world for more than 20 years.

Few people have not heard of the story of the Three Heroes of Peach Garden.

"Since I have been appreciated by the Emperor of Wei and entrusted with border affairs, I should do my best to serve the country with loyalty and diligence. Now that I have been captured by the general, I have already failed the country. Even though I am appreciated, how dare I be a disloyal and ungrateful person?"

"Besides, I am a general of a defeated army, with little talent and virtue, how can I be commanded? I may die, but my will is hard to be taken away. Please do not say any more, General!"

When General Zhendong heard the other party mention his late father, his face showed a complicated expression. He sat there quietly for a while before he said:
"Well, everyone has their own aspirations. If you don't want to serve the Han Dynasty, then I won't force you."

"But this time, I have no intention of staying in Ji County. Since you are loved by the officials of Youzhou, why don't you continue to take over the position of governor temporarily and appease the people in the city."

"Just wait until the battle in Hebei is over. If the Han Dynasty retakes Hebei and you still want to leave, I will not stop you."

"If Sima Yi can hold on to Hebei, you can continue to serve the pseudo-Wei, which will be exactly what you want."

Wang Xiong was really surprised this time:
"The general won't kill me?"

General Zhendong looked at him and suddenly smiled:
"Want to hear the truth or lies?"

"Of course it's the truth."

I only heard General Zhendong's voice:
"The truth is, you have done a commendable job in governing Youzhou over the years. Killing you will only lose the support of Youzhou people and damage the reputation of the Han Dynasty for its benevolence and righteousness."

"Besides, you are just a scholar. You may have the talent to herd the people, but you have no ability to command the army. You are no threat to me."

"I can capture you today. Even if I meet you again in battle next time, it won't be that difficult to capture you again."

Okay, stop talking.

Wang Xiong's face suddenly turned red.

You might as well just kill me!
Wang Xiong suddenly stood up and said angrily:
"Guan Yihu, you said this, don't you know that a gentleman can be killed but not humiliated?"

As if he had not expected Wang Xiong to have such a strong reaction, General Zhendong asked in surprise:
"Every word I said was true, but I don't know how I insulted the king."

"You, you said I have no ability to lead an army..."

"I think you just don't have the ability to lead an army, and you yourself said that you don't know military strategy. What's the problem?"

I won't kill you, but you are unwilling to surrender to me, the Han Dynasty. Do you want me to pretend to be nice to you?
It is a bad habit of your pseudo-Wei people for celebrities to flatter each other. We, the Han people, will not tolerate this.

Wang Xiong was choked by General Zhendong and was speechless on the spot.

He could only stand there, gritting his teeth and staring at General Zhendong.

Mr. Feng's reputation for eloquence and flattery is known throughout the world, but no one expected that his subordinates are also so eloquent.

When I think about the fact that people will say the following when they mention Mr. Wang:
"Oh, that's Wang Yuanbo who doesn't know military strategy..."

Wang Xiong suddenly felt uncomfortable all over and wished he was stabbed to death by the Han general on the city wall!

General Zhendong did not give him a chance to speak, nor did he bother to care about his thoughts. He waved his hand and had him taken away.

As soon as Wang Xiong disappeared, Zhao Guang stepped forward and asked:

"General, what should we do next? Should we fabricate military intelligence to lure the bandits at Juyong Pass to come to our rescue, and then..."

As he said this, he raised his hand and chopped downwards.

From the moment he captured the ancient pass of Yuyang, General Zhendong took advantage of the information gap and time difference to advance with great momentum.

Zhao Guang thought that this time, it was the same.

Unexpectedly, General Zhendong shook his head and said confidently:

"The distance from Jixian to Juyongguan is only a hundred miles, and elite cavalry can set out in the morning and arrive in the evening. Why do we need to do this?"

Liu Hun was a student of Han Long and was familiar with Youzhou. He was a little hesitant when he heard this, and then reminded:

"General, Juyong Pass is hidden in the mountains and blocks the main road to Jundu Pass. At the narrowest part of Jundu Pass, the tracks of vehicles are not straight, so the cavalry must pass in single file."

"It's more than thirty miles from the southern entrance to Juyong Pass. Even if we only count the dangerous places, it's still fifteen miles away. If we don't plan carefully, we'll probably alert the thieves before we even reach the pass."

General Zhendong had a calm look on his face:
"I have to alert the thieves. If I don't, how will Xian Yufu know that I'm here?"

Arrange for the soldiers to rest now.

The next day, before dawn, General Zhendong's red-tasseled helmet was already turning toward the northwest with the morning star reflected in it.

The hooves of seven thousand cavalrymen trampled across the official road, like the patrol of Thunder God.

As the sun was setting, the troops guarding the beacon tower at the southern entrance of Jundu Xing suddenly saw a sandstorm rising from the south.

The dust cloud raised by the seven thousand iron cavalry was like a rolling giant python, covering the sky and blocking out the sun, and the light of the red tasseled helmets could be vaguely seen.

By the time they realized that it was the dust cloud raised by the cavalry, the Han army's vanguard was less than three miles away from the pass.

When the dust cloud raised by the horses' hooves slowly settled, the eerie array was revealed.

Seven thousand cavalrymen blasted into dazzling red waves under the setting sun, as if a river of blood was pouring down on the earth.

Zhao Guang rode his horse to the front of the formation and thrust his spear into the ground with his backhand. The three hundred vanguard riders behind him dismounted at the same time and inserted the Wei army flags they had captured along the way upside down into a forest.

"Big man!"

"Wan Sheng!"

"Big man!"

"Wan Sheng!"

"wind!"

"wind!"

"Gale!"

……

The roar hit the cliffs of Yanshan Mountain, and the echo created waves of killing in the Guichuan River Valley.

The Han Dynasty's flags seemed to be blown by the sound, fluttering in the hot wind.

"Shu...Shu Lu!"

The lookout's scream broke the silence of the beacon tower.

The Wei army captain leaned over the arrow raft and saw more than a hundred broken "Wei" flags. He was so frightened that he almost fell off the city wall.

What’s going on with these flags below?

How did the Shu Lu cavalry appear in the rear?
Could it be, could it be...

He didn't dare to think about it anymore.

After the seven thousand cavalrymen raised their swords and roared like thunder, one cavalryman stood out from the crowd and came to the foot of the city shouting:
"Listen up, the rebels at the pass. Where the Yanhan flag is pointing, Guguan, Yuyang, and Jixian have all returned to the Han Dynasty. Your food supply has been cut off..."

"If you don't believe it, look at these flags!"

As he spoke, he raised his sword and chopped off the upside-down Wei flag.

"The Han people are kind and righteous. Your parents, wives and children are all relying on you, waiting for your son to return home."

"If you understand the will of heaven, quickly lay down your weapons and surrender, so that the people of Youzhou can be spared the suffering of war."

A hundred or so Youzhou prisoners were brought out to the front of the battle line, crying and chanting:
"At fifteen I joined the army, and at eighty I returned home. I met a fellow villager on the road, and asked who was at home? From afar I saw that it was your home, with numerous pine and cypress tombs..."

(From "At Fifteen, I Joined the Army", a Yuefu poem from the Later Han Dynasty)
Hearing the familiar Youzhou accent, the soldiers in the beacon tower became agitated.

This accent cannot be faked, it is indeed the Youzhou accent!
Could it be that Ji County really fell?
The red flag in the Han army's formation suddenly pointed forward, and ten whistling arrows were shot out from behind the formation, making a shrill echo at the Jundu Xingkou.

A head was thrown out:

"Here is the head of Cui Zi, the bandit general of Guguan! If you really want to resist, you will be buried with this bandit!"

"Go and tell Xian Yu Fu immediately that he must surrender before noon tomorrow. Otherwise, we will all be regarded as traitors."

"Anyone who surrenders will be allowed to return home! They will be granted 50 mu of land, and the land tax will be one-tenth of the tax. They will be exempted from the head tax. This is the decree of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty! Anyone who refuses to surrender will be killed without mercy!"