Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 432: The True Story on the Battlefield

Duke Su!
Yang Zhong's whole body trembled. There is only one Duke of Su in the world today, and that is Su Ze in Guanzhong.

The people of Luoyang never forgot this Duke Su, and Yang Zhong had also heard of his military achievements.

This Duke Su is the only person in the world who has the ability to compete for the chess game, yet he actually sent someone to recruit me personally?

But Yang Zhong thought for a moment, then crossed his arms and said, "It is my honor that the county lord favors me, but your majesty has chosen me from a humble background and generously rewarded me with an official position. If I become a traitor, how will the county lord view me?"

Yang Zhong was originally from the north and joined the army because he could not survive. Yuan Hao was nominally the emperor, so his service to Yuan Hao was not considered a betrayal of his old master, and there was no moral problem with it.

And to be fair, Yuan Hao treated Yang Zhong well.

Yang Zhong's family background was not even that of a poor man; he could only be considered a wandering knight in the countryside. The things he did in Jiankang were also not of high rank, so it was indeed quite difficult for him to be appointed as a General of the Direct Chamber.

There is a word "忠" in Yang Zhong's name, and he really lived up to this word.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, he was loyal to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, never thought of rebellion, and refused to rely on the powerful minister Yuwen Hu.

As for Yang Jian who usurped the Zhou Dynasty, Yang Zhong had been dead for a long time when Yang Jian usurped the Zhou Dynasty.

Su Bai was not in a hurry. He smiled and said:
"General, your loyalty is admirable. The Duke of the County does not ask you to surrender to Guanzhong now, but when Luoyang is lost, please make the right judgment."

After he finished speaking, Su Bai's men brought some silk, gold and silver. Su Bai said:
"It's not easy to live in Luoyang. As the general leading the imperial guards, you can't let your men down. Please accept these gifts."

Yang Zhong looked at these high-end silks, which were rare things that even Emperor Yuan Hao had never rewarded him with.

Everyone knew that Guanzhong was rich. Only then did Yang Zhong understand how powerful this Duke Su was and why he had invested so much money to win over a general like him.

It was also Yang Zhong’s first time to receive a gift, and he was stunned for a moment.

Su Bai smiled slightly, put down the gift and immediately left Yang Zhong's mansion.

Su Bai's return to Luoyang and winning over Yang Zhong was just a side task arranged by Su Ze on a whim.

Su Bai passed through several neighborhoods. The once tight outer walls of the neighborhoods were already full of gaps, but the residents of each neighborhood spontaneously organized many militias to protect the neighborhoods to resist the plundering of foreign soldiers.

However, Su Bai passed through these neighborhoods smoothly, because the weapons of these militias were basically provided by Su Bai, and the instructors responsible for training the soldiers were all introduced by Su Bai.

In any case, human beings need order to survive. The nature of the neighborhood is to protect each other. Some of the militias in the neighborhood are powerful and have the support of fellow villagers. Ordinary soldiers dare not come to these neighborhoods to plunder.

But there are only a few lucky ones like this. As Su Bai walked towards the neighborhoods closer to the imperial palace, he saw more and more ruins.

During several wars, the most severe damage was suffered in the wealthy and powerful neighborhoods close to the imperial city. This was once the area where the wealthy and powerful in Luoyang lived, and many of the magnificent mansions have been abandoned and ruined.

In the old days, Wang Xietang flew into the homes of ordinary people.

The neighborhood that Su Bai finally arrived at had suffered several serious wars and had been completely reduced to ruins.

Su Bai came to an abandoned government office. Looking at the dilapidated gate of the office, Su Bai felt a little sad. The Bai Lu Cao, who was once feared by everyone during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, had fallen into such a state.

The Bailu Cao, which had been weakening since the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, was finally completely abandoned after several rebellions in Luoyang.

Su Bai strolled leisurely in the abandoned Bailu Cao office. As a summoned follower of the [Balulu Messenger] series, he had a natural familiarity with this place.

Su Bai knew the layout of the government office and the locations where various confidential items were stored.

Su Bai walked among the ruins and was still able to find some bamboo slips and archives among the broken walls.

As a secret agency, Bai Lu Cao would naturally not be located in the Nan Ya Tai Province. In fact, many government offices in Luoyang were scattered in several neighborhoods close to the imperial city.

Su Bai and his men came to a pile of rubble. He ordered them to start digging and sure enough, they found a secret door in the ruins.

Sure enough, it is still there, Su Bai sighed. This is where the secret files of Bailu Cao are stored. Since Emperor Xiaowen founded Bailu Cao, all kinds of secret information collected have been stored here.

Su Bai couldn't help but complain in his heart. Since the death of Emperor Xuanwu, so many coups have taken place in Luoyang. One can imagine how poor Bai Lu Cao's intelligence capabilities are.

However, there is still some usable information in these archives, and what Su Ze wants is the evaluation report of the aristocratic families made by Emperor Xiaowen during the period of investigating the aristocratic families.

This secret room contained old files that had been sealed long ago and therefore had not been damaged by the war. Su Bai successfully retrieved the files, and then he began to look for secret warehouses of other departments with a map.

Su Bai was thinking silently in his heart.

"The great treasury of the Ministry of Works has been destroyed, and the register of craftsmen is no longer useful."

"We have obtained the canal transport map for the yard." "General Fu Bo Yang Yu's family has been sent back to his army to reunite with him. Yang Yu has agreed to lead the navy to join the Duke of the County."

Before Yuan Ziyou fled, he ordered General Yang Gui to collect boats on the Yellow River.

After Chen Qingzhi entered Luoyang, Yang Gui was unwilling to submit to the false emperor Yuan Hao, so he led the navy to escape, took all the ships away from Luoyang, and burned the pontoon bridge.

Now that Luoyang had finally repaired the pontoon bridge, Chen Qianzhi led his troops into Beizhong City.

Su Bai sent Yang Gui's family back to his army. Yang Gui was very moved and was willing to lead the navy to Hedong to join Su Ze.

"Yuan Yu's family has also been sent out of Luoyang."

The subordinate reported to Su Bai, and Su Bai nodded slightly.

Yuan Yu, who is now in charge of the Menxia Province, used to be the governor of Liangzhou. He had a tacit understanding with Su Ze. When Su Bai came to him and revealed his identity, Yuan Yu immediately felt like he had met a relative.

Yuan Yu knew better than generals like Yang Zhong how dangerous the current situation in Luoyang City was.

Yuan Yu directly asked Su Bai to take him out of Luoyang!

But after Su Bai's consolation, Yuan Yu agreed to stay in Luoyang City, and Su Bai immediately helped Yuan Yu's family leave Luoyang.

Su Bai tried to appease Yuan Yu by asking him to do a good job of protecting the country and the people and try not to let Yuan Hao destroy Luoyang.

Su Bai knew very well that the current situation in the world still depended on the real strength on the battlefield.

Let's see whether Yuan Tianmu and Gao Huan can defeat Chen Qianzhi. If Yuan Tianmu defeats Chen Qianzhi, the current Luoyang court will no longer exist.

If Chen Qingzhi could stop Yuan Tianmu and Gao Huan, the Luoyang regime could continue to survive.

As expected, on the eighth day of May, Yuan Tianmu and Gao Huan swore an oath in Ji County and headed towards Luoyang City again!
This time, Yuan Tianmu had the imperial guards that he had brought out of Luoyang, plus the rebels that he had incorporated after defeating Xing Gao, totaling 15,000 men and horses.

Gao Huan took the two thousand elite troops assigned to him by Erzhu Rong. The two sides had a total of 17,000 troops, claiming to be an army of 50,000, and killed their way to Beizhong City.

The defending troops under Chen Qianzhi were still the white-robed troops he brought from Southern Liang.

Of course, a lot of the 7,000 White Robe Army have been lost, and Chen Qianzhi recruited some of them along the way. However, due to Chen Qianzhi's strict conscription standards, the current number of White Robe Army is still 7,000.

Of course Luoyang also had soldiers, but Chen Qianzhi was a man who knew military affairs. He knew that quality was more important than quantity. If he allowed these low-quality soldiers from Luoyang to enter his military camp, it would instead corrupt the morale of his army and reduce the army's combat effectiveness.

So even at such a dangerous moment, Chen Qianzhi still had 7,000 men under his command.

Faced with the aggressive army of Yuan Tianmu, Chen Qianzhi did not choose to defend Beizhong City.

Chen Qianzhi knew very well that wars are fought with the support of people's hearts. Although Beizhong City is strategically located, it is also an isolated city. If his foreign troops were to fight there, they would not even have the support of the people in Luoyang. Defending Beizhong City would be a dead end.

After confirming this, Chen Qianzhi summoned two thousand elite cavalrymen under his command and personally led them to ambush on Mang Mountain.

Chen Qingzhi's deputy general carried out large-scale construction to reinforce the North Central City.

Beimang Mountain, located to the north of Luoyang, is not very high, but the mountain is filled with chilly winds. Because mountain burials were a popular custom at that time, people in Luoyang throughout the dynasties, from emperors and ministers to ordinary people, would bury the remains of their ancestors in this mountain.

Chen Qianzhi ambushed his troops near an abandoned mausoleum and sent scouts at the foot of the mountain to monitor the situation on the important roads below the mountain.

When Yuan Tianmu attacked Luoyang, he had to pass through Mang Mountain. Chen Qingzhi was also gambling. He was gambling that Yuan Tianmu would march hastily in order to retake Luoyang, and that his army would reveal a flaw when it reached the north of Mang Mountain.

Chen Qianzhi indeed won the bet.

After Yuan Tianmu swore an oath, he immediately marched at full speed, vowing to retake Luoyang.

During the march, they heard that Chen Qianzhi was reinforcing Beizhong City. They became even more anxious and kept urging the soldiers to speed up.

Yuan Tianmu planned to rest his troops in front of Beizhong City in preparation for a decisive battle with Chen Qianzhi. However, his army had a complex composition. Except for the two thousand elite soldiers of the Erzhu family brought by Gao Huan, the remaining troops quickly lost their formation during the march and became a sparse snake.

After Chen Qingzhi on Beimang Mountain received the news that Yuan Tianmu's army had passed, Chen Qingzhi, who was not good at commanding battles in person, also put on armor and a white robe, rode a white horse, and led his troops down from Beimang Mountain!
With the help of the potential energy rushing down from the mountain, two thousand white-robed soldiers launched a desperate charge!

Yuan Tianmu had no time to react while on the march, and his formation was completely broken, and the entire army was defeated in an instant!

Gao Huan organized two thousand elite cavalry to counterattack, but was blocked by his own defeated soldiers. Finally, Gao Huan realized that the game was over, so he could only rescue Yuan Tianmu from the central army and escort him as he fled to Ji County!

(End of this chapter)