Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 421: The Death Campaign
In fact, at this time, Erzhu Shilon was not without a chance of winning.

The Xingyang Road was very narrow and the army could not deploy, and the troops led by Erzhu Shilon were all elite.

Erzhu Shilon himself also led the troops and his martial arts skills were comparable to Yang Zhong's.

Sure enough, after the two sides collided, Erzhu Shillong's army actually had a slight advantage and even defeated a part of the white-robed army.

Chen Qianzhi in the rear had a solemn expression on his face. This was how strategies worked on the battlefield. No matter how ingenious your strategy was, it would ultimately be tested on the battlefield. If you couldn't win, no matter how good your strategy was, it would be useless.

Chen Qingzhi secretly colluded with the defenders of Xingyang and staged this drama for Erzhu Shilon.

Erzhu Shilon felt that Chen Qingzhi and the defenders of Xingyang were in a fierce battle, and as long as his thousand cavalry joined the battlefield, they could turn the situation around and win.

Erzhu Shilon was ambitious and vain, so he naturally fell into Chen Qianzhi's trap.

Since the siege began, the 3,000 white-robed soldiers led by Yang Zhong have been gathering their strength.

In fact, the situation on the battlefield was not as perfect as planned. Later, the fake battle turned into a real battle, and both sides were really angry. Even when the siege troops suffered heavy losses, Chen Qianzhi did not use these 3,000 people.

But if he cannot annihilate Erzhu Shilon's thousand men, then no matter how good the strategy is, it will be useless and he will lose everything instead.

This is the cruelty of war. The transformation between the strong and the weak happens in a moment. The winner wins everything and the loser loses nothing.

Due to his health, Chen Qianzhi was unable to personally command the cavalry in battle, so he gathered the defeated soldiers in the rear.

Seeing that more and more soldiers were fleeing, Chen Qingzhi gathered a group of them and said to everyone:

"Our army has captured countless cities and territories, killed countless fathers and brothers, and looted countless wives and daughters. The Wei army and us are sworn enemies."

"We are alone in deep territory, with only 7,000 brothers in arms. If we are defeated, we will surely die!"

"If you hesitate any longer, we will just be waiting to be slaughtered."

"If we want to survive, we have to annihilate Erzhu Shilong, break through Hulao, and enter Luoyang!"

Chen Qianzhi did not give any profound lectures, but simply explained the situation to the soldiers. After hearing this, the soldiers stopped their defeat.

Although Chen Qianzhi was in poor health, he also rode on his warhorse and led the troops at the rear and the defeated soldiers to attack again.

In fact, at this time, Erzhu Shilon was already at the end of his strength.

After all, he only had a thousand men, and they were ambushed by Yang Zhong. The White Robe Army was the elite troops trained by Chen Qianzhi himself, and they had won battle after battle along the way, so their morale was high.

They were outnumbered and after their initial bravery was used up, fear gradually crept into their hearts.

Erzhu Shilon also understood this truth, so he wanted to end the battle quickly.

But the opponent's bearded general was very experienced in fighting. He did not give Erzhu Shilon any opportunities or loopholes, and simply used the number of troops to consume him.

When Chen Qianzhi pulled up the troops from behind and the soldiers saw Chen Qianzhi charging personally, the morale of the White Robe Army reached its peak.

. . .

Erzhu Shilon was defeated.

The final defeat can be described as a crushing defeat.

After the defeat, Erzhu Shillong could no longer maintain his troops. He realized that the situation was hopeless, so he fled under the protection of his confidants.

The organization of the 1,000 Hulao defenders was broken up. They could no longer maintain their morale and began to flee.

Next, Yang Zhong pursued and killed him all the way to Hulao Pass.

Erzhu Shilon fled back to Luoyang with only a few riders left.

After Chen Qingzhi brought the Xingyang garrison hostages from Hulao Pass to the city, the Xingyang city gate was opened, and the Xingyang garrison, led by Zheng of Xingyang, surrendered to Chen Qingzhi.

Xingyang and Hulao Pass were captured within one day!

When Yuan Hao in the rear heard the news, he thought he was dreaming!
Xingyang! Hulao Pass!

This is the last barrier in front of Luoyang. After conquering these two passes here, Luoyang is almost indefensible!
Am I really going to charge into Luoyang?
Yuan Hao was so excited that his whole body was shaking. As long as he could enter Luoyang, he would be the emperor with full legitimacy!

"Hurry! I want to go to the front line. I want to personally comfort General Chen!"
-
On March 10, Liu Gui arrived at Yecheng, the capital of Ge Rong.

Ge Rong had also established his own system and was no longer a rebel. At least he welcomed the envoy Liu Gui and arranged for him to stay in the palace in Yecheng. The Emperor of Great Qi, Ge Rong, would meet him on a certain day.

Liu Gui was not in a hurry. He leisurely attended banquets and made friends in Yecheng.

Liu Gui was a descendant of the Zhao Han royal family and had a profound family background. The fact that he was favored by such a picky person as Erzhu Rong was enough to show his talent.

These peasants from the six towns in Yecheng had never seen such a charismatic figure before. It was rare that Liu Gui did not have the lofty temperament of those literati and officials. He treated these new nobles of the Great Qi in Yecheng with great respect. Liu Gui actually became a popular figure at Yecheng banquets.

When Yuwen Luosheng led his troops to Yecheng, he made an appeal to Ge Rong to restrict Liu Gui's activities.

Ge Rong then reacted and forbad Liu Gui from socializing or attending banquets, and kept him under guard in the palace.

Liu Gui didn't care, because Ge Rong didn't prohibit people from visiting him, and there was a constant stream of people coming to Liu Gui's place. Seeing this, Yuwen Tai was very worried.

He said to his brother Yuwen Luosheng:

"With the war imminent, Your Majesty allowed Liu Gui to disrupt the morale of the army in Yecheng. This is a sign of the country's demise."

Yuwen Luosheng was shocked. He was used to his brother's shocking remarks. The key point was that his brother's predictions were often very correct.

Among the four Yuwen brothers, the eldest and second brothers were both outstanding generals. Yuwen Luosheng was an outstanding martial artist and was also very good at leading troops in battles, so he was noticed by Ge Rong and was named King of Yuyang.

Now, apart from a few pioneers like Du Luozhou, the only ones who have been crowned kings in Da Qi are Yuwen Luosheng and Xing Gao.

Yuwen Tai's martial arts were not outstanding, at least compared to his three brothers, he was very ordinary.

But he is good at strategy and politics, especially having a clear view of the political situation.

For example, when the news of the Luoyang Incident came, Yuwen Tai predicted that Su Ze had gained the upper hand.

As expected, Erzhu Rong's massacre of Luoyang dignitaries in Heyin caused the prestige of the Northern Wei Luoyang court to plummet to the bottom. On the contrary, the edict of the young emperor Yuan Xu in Guanzhong won the recognition of more local powerful groups.

There's no way around it. Politics is a matter of decency.

You, Erzhu Rong, do not give everyone dignity and kill princes and nobles without any concealment. How dare the local officials submit to you?
The young Emperor Yuan Xu ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Xuanwu, and his legitimacy is beyond doubt.

Now the Northern Wei resistance forces in Qing, Xu, Yan, Xiang and You states are more obedient to orders from Guanzhong. This is also evidence that Su Zebil and Zhu Rong are more popular.

Yuwen Luosheng asked:

"When two countries are at war, envoys are not killed. Your Majesty has already established his own system and proclaimed himself emperor. You can't just act the same as before, right? Liu Gui is just one person. Can he be such a big threat?"

Yuwen Tai said seriously:

"It's not just Liu Gui that's dangerous, it's the signs Liu Gui brings."

"sign?"

"Why do the new nobles of Da Qi want to curry favor with Liu Gui? Is it really because of his noble birth? His conversation is extraordinary? When we started the rebellion, I don't know how many scholars and officials like him were killed. Is it different after the establishment of the system?"

Yuwen Luosheng was speechless. Indeed, although the Liu family had the gimmick of being a former royal family, their family background was not high, otherwise Liu Gui would not have been able to serve as an official in Luoyang and defect to Erzhu Rong in Xiurongchuan.

If bloodline is overestimated, then Yang Yu, who was killed in the battle with Ge Rong, was from the Hongnong Yang clan, and Yuan Ziyong was from a noble family with the surname Jia. Isn't his family status higher than Liu Gui's?

Yuwen Tai said: "The reason for this is that everyone is trying to find a way out for themselves."

Yuwen Luo was horrified.

As the King of Yuyang of Da Qi, Yuwen Luosheng knew the hidden worries within Da Qi amid the current prosperous situation.

The biggest concern is that the many rewards promised by Ge Rong have not been fulfilled.

After the Hanzhong Campaign and the Hanzhong War, Da Qi conquered Xianyu Xiuli and then attacked Xiangzhou. The Great Qi expanded a lot of territory this year, but Ge Rong was very stingy with the rewards of official positions, and was especially wary of the generals who had made meritorious services. Yuwen Luosheng himself was also a target of suppression.

There was no way around it. Ge Rong came to power by committing treason and killing Xianyu Xiuli. Of course, he was afraid of being overthrown by his subordinates and had a deep distrust of his subordinates who had made contributions.

In addition, Ge Rong was stingy with official positions for military generals who had made contributions, but was very generous to his close ministers and favorites.

Some of Ge Rong's cronies did not even have much military merit, but they were granted the titles of duke or county duke. Important positions in the court of Da Qi were occupied by Ge Rong's cronies.

Yuwen Tai said:
"Your Majesty is stingy with titles and positions, and giving rewards lavishly is the same as not giving any reward. But how can it not be disheartening that you are stingy with money, silk and women?"

Yuwen Luosheng also sighed deeply.

Since Ge Rong ascended the throne, apart from a round of silk rewards when he ascended the throne, he has not issued any decent rewards since then.

Ge Rong was also grateful to Yuwen Luosheng for his help, so he subconsciously helped Ge Rong to excuse himself and said:
"Your Majesty is not unwilling to reward everyone, but Hebei has been at war for several years, the treasury is empty, and I really can't give rewards."

Yuwen Tai immediately said:
"The treasury is empty and there is no silk, gold or silver reward. Is it the same for women? Your Majesty just ascended the throne and he took all the women from the official palaces in Yecheng into the harem. Even the old palace in Yecheng can't accommodate all these concubines. Why are you so stingy with the generals and soldiers?"

Now Yuwen Luosheng was speechless.

He knew that his brother was telling the truth.

In those days, women with outstanding looks and noble family backgrounds were very attractive to the leaders of the Six Garrisons uprising army.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, this group of "mud legs" in the six towns all ended up marrying daughters of wealthy families.

However, Ge Rong was stingy with rewards. He enjoyed so many concubines for himself, but strictly forbade his subordinates to snatch those girls from aristocratic families. Naturally, this caused dissatisfaction among many people.

What is war?
"Rob money, rob food, rob women", Yuwen Tai was right. Ge Rong's political credit was close to bankruptcy, so there were so many new nobles of the Great Qi trying to curry favor with Liu Gui.

Isn’t this the sign of destruction that Yuwen Tai talked about?

(End of this chapter)