Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 426 After Erzhu Rong's Victory

Su Chao and Su Liang were both speechless. After a long while, the shogunate official who reported the news finally said:
"The Lord of the County has issued an order that all states on the western front should enter a state of war readiness to prevent the Erzhu family from causing trouble on the border with their victory."

Su Chao and Su Liang received the order, and they finally came out of their shock. After looking at each other, they fell into silence again.

Su Liang knew more about military affairs than his brother Su Cho. He thought he had overestimated Erzhu Rong, but he didn't expect that he underestimated him in the end.

What's wrong with this era?
Chen Qingzhi's 7,000 white-robed soldiers captured 32 cities in a row, Su Ze's 5,000 defeated 100,000, and now Erzhu Rong's 7,000 defeated 1 million?
Of course, these data are also inflated. For example, Chen Qianzhi's thirty-two cities also included many small cities that surrendered voluntarily. The number of soldiers that Xianyu Ahu, whom Su Ze defeated, could fight with should be 50,000, and the number of soldiers that Ge Rong's troops could fight with should be only 200,000.

But even if you squeeze out the water, this is still a very horrifying record. In any dynasty, it would be a victory that could be written into history books!

But all this happened in the same year!

Su Chao said slowly:
"Since the heavens sent down the Duke of a county, why did they send down Erzhu Rong as well?"

Su Liang also sighed. He finally understood that the person who knew Erzhu Rong best was actually Su Ze.

With Erzhu Rong as an opponent, Su Ze faced another obstacle on his road to supremacy.

Defeating Ge Rong was not only a military victory, but also meant that Erzhu Rong's forces entered Hebei and incorporated this powerful Six Garrisons Army.

Before the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons, Hebei, or the Hedong region, was the most fertile region in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty. It was the main production area of ​​grain and silk, and also the most culturally developed region. The Hedong gentry had always held the right to speak in the literati circle, and the literati in Guanzhong were the targets of exclusion.

It was also because of years of war that the Hebei region suffered destruction, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Once Hebei recovered, Erzhu Rong would be difficult to control.

The most important thing is that Erzhu Rong is still so good at fighting!

In troubled times, military capability is the most important ability.

Su Cho said admiringly:
"It was thanks to the Duke's foresight that he attacked Hengzhou against all odds, otherwise Erzhu Rong would have been really hard to control."

Su Liang also nodded. With Hengzhou in hand, he could conquer You, Yan, An and Ding states, and also gather some of the Six Towns forces that were unwilling to surrender to Erzhu Rong.

Otherwise, relying solely on the Guanzhong area, it would be impossible to fight against the entire Central Plains.

Then the Su brothers sighed again. They thought the world was in their pockets, but they didn't expect there would be unexpected twists and turns.

The two brothers no longer had any interest in drinking. Su Liang bid farewell to his wife and moved directly into the shogunate with his luggage. Military orders were issued one after another, requiring the areas bordering Erzhu Rong to be well prepared and not to let Erzhu Rong's forces take advantage of the victory.

Su Cho also moved directly into the Government Affairs Hall. After Erzhu Rong's great victory, the situation in the north turned into a three-kingdoms battle.

Erzhu Rong had his eyes on the Central Plains and held Empress Dowager Hu and Emperor Yuan Ziyou, who was established in Luoyang, in his hands.

Chen Qingzhi occupied the area south of the Yellow River and Luoyang, controlled Luoyang, and had Yuan Hao, who was established by Xiao Yan, in his hands.

Su Ze occupied Guanzhong and had the legitimate young emperor Yuan Xu in his hands.

Among the three, Luoyang is the least stable. With a great victory, Erzhu Rong will definitely return to attack Luoyang.

Su Cho also received Su Ze's order and sent an envoy to Luoyang, proposing to unite with Luoyang to fight against Erzhu Rong.

In addition to Chen Qianzhi's forces in Luoyang, the deciding factor in the game is also in the corners of the chessboard.

It was inevitable to increase troops in Hengzhou. Su Chao was busy building transportation routes and allocating and transferring grain to Hengzhou to support Su Ze in gaining a foothold in Hengzhou.

Su Cho was also glad that Su Ze had captured Hengzhou before the great victory at Fukou. Now Du Luozhou of Dingzhou and Han Lou of Youzhou must be very frightened, and Su Ze also had the possibility of persuading them to surrender.

The bureaucratic machine of Yongle City began to operate rapidly, and Su Ze, who was far away in Hengzhou, issued several important personnel adjustments in succession.

First of all, on the front line, Hedong County (with its county seat in Hongnong) east of Tongguan is now under Su Ze's sphere of influence. Su Ze assigned Hongnong to Huazhou, and the governor of Huazhou, Yu Jin, moved his garrison to Hongnong.

Although Hedong County is located east of Tongguan, it is also part of the Guanzhong area.

In addition, Su Ze personally selected the site, and after Su Tong completed the construction of the brick city in Yanmen, he immediately went south to build a new city in Hedong County, named Yubi City. This city was built to block the southward advance of Bingzhou forces.

Su Ze transferred the steady Yang Kan to be the governor of Yongzhou, and transferred Hou Jing, who had been doing well in governing civil affairs in Qinzhou, back to Liangzhou to serve as the governor, and gave Hou Jing the seal to make arbitrary decisions in Liangzhou.

Murong Shaozong had already arrived and rushed to Hengzhou without stopping. Su Ze transferred Gao Hui from the Government Affairs Hall to Hengzhou and ordered Gao Hui and Su Jie to go as envoys to Du Luozhou in Dingzhou and Han Lou in Youzhou respectively.

The Government Affairs Hall ordered localities to encourage farmers to plant mulberry trees, and when spring ploughing was over, the Zhechoufu immediately began to gather troops. The tense atmosphere of preparation for war began to frantically start as the war machine of the County Duke's Mansion began to operate.
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On April 10, after Erzhu Rong defeated Ge Rong head-on at Fukou, Ge Rong was defeated and captured. Erzhu Rong did not even meet Ge Rong. He directly said to his subordinates, "Traitors and traitors must be killed by everyone," and ordered the execution of Ge Rong.

After defeating Ge Rong's troops, Erzhu Rong did not immediately accept the rebels' surrender, but ordered them to lay down their weapons and flee.

It’s not that Erzhu Rong was soft-hearted, but with his small number of troops, he was simply unable to control so many surrendered soldiers. It would be better for him to let them escape directly.

After two days of rest, Erzhu Rong ordered his entire army to take up arms and began to pursue the fleeing remnants of Ge Rong. Yuwen Luosheng's unit was one of them.

Yuwen Luosheng had experienced the great defeat two days ago, and Erzhu Rong's armored cavalry left an indelible impression on him.

The once proud men of the Six Garrisons were nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered in front of Erzhu Rong's cavalry.

Yuwen Luosheng, who had always been known for his bravery and confidence, sensed an even more terrifying presence, and his energy and spirit were completely defeated.

If his younger brother Yuwen Tai had not pulled him back from the battlefield, Yuwen Luosheng would have been captured along with Ge Rong.

After Ge Rong's death, Yuwen Luosheng, the King of Yuyang who was born in the Six Garrisons, became the most prestigious person among Ge Rong's remnants. Many troops gathered around Yuwen Luosheng and fled with him.

Yuwen Tai suggested to Yuwen Luosheng that he should only take his own troops back to Yecheng, and not take the troops from the Six Garrisons who had defected with him. After arriving in Yecheng, they could rely on the city to resist Erzhu Rong.

However, Yuwen Luosheng did not follow his brother's advice and continued to take in the remnants of the Six Garrisons along the way, which greatly slowed down their escape.

On the fourth day after the defeat, Yuwen Tai woke up and saw the terrifying cavalry again.

The remnants of the Six Garrisons had lost the will to fight, and when the generals wearing ghost masks led the cavalry to attack, the entire army was defeated.

Yuwen Luosheng was already at a loss. He was captured by a traitor among his subordinates and sent to the ghost-faced general. Yuwen Tai, who had fallen off his horse and was injured, was also sent to the general.

"Yuwen Lang? A-Tai?"

Yuwen Tai heard a familiar voice. He looked up and saw the general taking off his ghost mask, revealing a handsome face. The man was Gao Huan, an old acquaintance of Yuwen Tai from the Six Garrisons.

"Gao Lang!"

Yuwen Tai became a little excited. Gao Huan and his brothers still had an old relationship. If he could be captured by Gao Huan, it would give him an extra chance to survive.

Yuwen Luosheng still looked distraught. He did not react to Gao Huan at all and just looked at the ground blankly.

Gao Huan captured many rebel generals along the way, and many of them looked like Yuwen Luosheng. The reason was simple: the psychological shock caused by being defeated head-on by Erzhu Rong was too great, just like the grassland people in Baidao City who knelt down and called him Heavenly Khan after seeing Su Ze defeat Xianyu Ahu.

Such an outrageous victory can completely shatter a person's view of war and even life.

The only thing Gao Huan was thankful for was that he had realized early on that Ge Rong was not capable of great tasks and defected to Erzhu Rong, otherwise he would be the one in dire straits now.

Facing the Yuwen brothers, Gao Huan said to them after a brief moment of enthusiasm:

"We have military orders. You two should go to the prisoner camp first. When you come before the general, He Liuhun will definitely plead for you!"

After briefly letting the rebels go, Erzhu Rong continued to chase them like a wounded beast.

Among the surrendered soldiers, Erzhu Rong only selected the elite ones to recruit into the army. He confiscated the weapons of the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers and left them to fend for themselves.

In this way, Erzhu Rong fought all the way. When he arrived at Yecheng, Ge Rong's million-strong army had been wiped out. The important generals under Ge Rong were either killed or surrendered, and were all captured by Erzhu Rong in one fell swoop.

The surrender of Yecheng was a foregone conclusion. Erzhu Rong walked into Ge Rong's palace with great dignity and announced that a military meeting would be held in Ge Rong's palace.

Gao happily moved into the mansion in Yecheng. This was his old house in Yecheng, which was generously given to him by Erzhu Rong.

In this Battle of Fukou, Gao Huan performed brilliantly and his military achievements were second only to those of the Heba brothers. When chasing from behind, Gao Huan relied on his advantage of having served in Ge Rong's army and being familiar with the generals under Ge Rong, and achieved greater results than the Heba brothers.

This time, Gao Huan will definitely be able to make further progress based on his merits and rewards, and his companions gathered at his house to congratulate him.

Recalling the years in Yecheng, everyone was filled with emotion. It was also thanks to Gao Huan's ability to judge the situation, otherwise they would have been defeated today.

Sima Ziru suddenly said:

"He Liuhun, how do you want to deal with Brother Yuwen?"

Gao Huan stopped drinking. Dou Tai still remembered the hatred of Wuchuan people for opening the city and surrendering. He said indignantly:
"When we were in trouble, the Yuwen brothers didn't help us. Why should we beg for them?"

Even the honest man Wei Jing nodded repeatedly. Although the Six Garrisons appeared to be a whole to the outside world, in fact, the struggle between the Wuchuan people and the Huaishuo people was still very fierce.

Gao Huan pondered for a moment but did not answer the question.

Sima Ziru, the only counselor of the small team, said:

"General Gao, the Heba brothers and the Yuwen brothers have always been close. They will definitely plead for Yuwen Luosheng. It is better to wait and see what happens."

(End of this chapter)