Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 455: The Hero is Not Free

Yang Zhong was covered in blood. He had just chopped down a bunch of soldiers who were attacking the palace. Judging from their clothes, they should be the Luoyang defenders that Yuan Hao had just recruited. After being defeated by Erzhu Rong, they were driven to the front of the palace and began to attack the palace frantically.

"General! Sima Gate has been breached!"

The subordinate who was shot by an arrow rushed to Yang Zhong and reported the news to him.

Yang Zhong had a blank expression on his face. The Luoyang Imperial Palace was simply too large. It was normal that his limited number of troops could not defend the Sima Gate near the Southern Court. Being able to delay the battle until this time was already Yang Zhong fulfilling his duty.

The emperor must have fled.

Yang Zhong did not tell the soldiers the news. Instead, he continued to bestow rewards in the name of Yuan Hao to encourage the soldiers to continue to hold their ground.

Once the soldiers knew that the emperor had left the palace, morale collapsed immediately.

It was finally dark. Although Erzhu Rong entered Luoyang City today, he had not yet cleared the city completely and would not send his main force to attack the palace. Yang Zhong's mission was finally accomplished.

In this way, he could live up to Yuan Hao's kindness in selecting him.

Yang Zhong thought so.

He stood on the city wall of the imperial palace, looking north towards the Yellow River. He wondered what General Chen Qianzhi was thinking about.
Chen Qianzhi led his troops to Beizhong City and also looked at the flickering flames of Luoyang City.

He had already received the news that Luoyang had fallen, but the floating bridge connecting Beizhong City and Luoyang had been washed away. The vast Yellow River was a natural barrier, and Chen Qianzhi could only watch Luoyang fall.

Looking back on his journey, he had conquered countless cities and enemies, won battles time and again, and marched all the way from Jiankang to Luoyang.

Such martial arts, in the past few hundred years, can only be compared with Liu Yu's Northern Expedition.

But looking back, just like when Liu Yu launched the Northern Expedition, now is no longer the time when Zu Ti was clamoring for a Northern Expedition.

The people in the north were not loyal to the Southern Liang Dynasty, and the Southern Liang Dynasty never had the legal system of the Central Plains.

Looking back on his Northern Expedition, Chen Qianzhi felt a strong sense of powerlessness.

Time comes and the world has the same force, and it is not free to transport heroes.

Chen Qingzhi thought of the comments that the monk Bian Ji, who was close to Xiao Yan, had given him before he set out on the Northern Expedition. These two sentences were so accurate!
When he thought of Bian Ji, Chen Qingzhi suddenly remembered that before he left, Bian Ji not only gave him these two comments, but also gave him a secret bag.

He was told to open it only when he was in desperate situation, and to burn the brocade bag after returning successfully from the Northern Expedition.

Chen Qianzhi was a gentleman, and he never opened the brocade bag secretly.

But by now, his white robe army was in a desperate situation.

The expeditionary army was exhausted, and the nobles and people in the Hanoi area did not support him. Now he did not know whether the emperor Yuan Hao, whom he had escorted to Luoyang, was still in Luoyang. The only legitimacy he had left was also lost.

The Yellow River was flooding and he was surrounded on all sides. If this was not a desperate situation, then what was?
Chen Qingzhi opened the brocade bag without hesitation, but saw that there was only a piece of cloth in the entire bag, with the two big words "cross the river" written on it.

Cross the river? What does that mean?
Could it be that Bian Ji had already calculated this day? To let himself cross the river as soon as possible?
But if you want to cross the river, you have to find a way to cross it!

Just when Chen Qingzhi was about to burn the cloth, a message came from his department:

"General! There's a ship upstream! A big ship! A night ship!"

Chen Qingzhi was stunned for a moment, and asked quickly:

"Where did the ship come from? Was it from Xingyang?"

The general shook his head and said, "The boat went downstream from upstream."

Chen Qingzhi was stunned for a moment. As a general of the Southern Dynasty, how could he not understand hydrology?

The only place upstream of Luoyang is Hedong County. Further west from Hedong County is the natural barrier of Sanmenxia, ​​through which ships cannot pass.

And isn’t today’s Hedong County the territory controlled by Duke Su Ze?
Chen Qingzhi thought of Bian Ji’s approval document and secret bag. Could it be that this great monk really had predicted that he would face this disaster?
Chen Qianzhi no longer hesitated and sent his confidants to signal the night boats on the Yellow River. Soon the fleet docked, and a young man got off the ship and came to Chen Qianzhi's camp.

"General Fubo Yang Yu, under the order of His Majesty, has come to help General Chen cross the river."

Chen Qingzhi called out, "Which Majesty?"

Yang Yu replied:

"Of course it's His Majesty from Luoyang!"

Chen Qingzhi was extremely unconvinced. When he invaded Luoyang that year, it was this Yang Gui who collected the ships of Luoyang. Later, he heard that he fled to Hedong. How could he obey Yuan Hao's orders?

But Chen Qianzhi quickly made a decision - get on board!
Bian Ji's tip was right, crossing the river was his only chance of survival.

Hanoi was surrounded on all sides, and the only way to survive was to enter the area south of the Yellow River.

Chen Qingzhi could only gamble that Yang Gui was really helping him.

It can only be said that Chen Qianzhi's white-robed army was indeed elite. Under such circumstances, when the order was given, the soldiers were able to line up and come out of the barracks and board the ship in an orderly manner under the command of the officers.

Yang Yu also secretly compared in his mind that Chen Qingzhi's white-robed army was almost the same as the elite troops under Yu Jin's command.

Yu Jin's troops also represented the first-class level of Guanzhong.

It is no wonder that Chen Qingzhi was able to make Erzhu Rong hit a wall repeatedly. In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Chen Qingzhi was the one who encountered a flood when Erzhu Rong hurriedly crossed the Yellow River after attacking Luoyang. In the end, all 7,000 white-robed soldiers were lost, and Chen Qingzhi had no choice but to flee back to Jiankang alone.

After losing the White Robe Army that he had built, Chen Qianzhi never had many decent military achievements and eventually died of illness in the Southern Dynasty.

It is obvious that Su Ze was not willing to let Erzhu Rong control the Luoyang area so easily.

So when the Battle of Luoyang started, Yu Jin continued to observe the situation on the battlefield according to Su Ze's orders.

Unfortunately, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly, and Erzhu Rong crossed the river and broke the city too quickly. Before Luoyang City was captured, the fleet arrived in front of Chen Qianzhi's military camp.

But it's enough.

As long as Chen Qianzhi's army was transported intact to the south bank of the Yellow River, Erzhu Rong could be tied down in Henan for a while, buying time for Yu Jin in Hedong County.

By daybreak, the fleet was filled with white-cloaked soldiers.

Yang Yu came to Chen Qingzhi's cabin and asked:
"General, where are we going next? Should we cross the river directly to Luoyang?"

Chen Qingzhi shook his head and said:
"Luoyang cannot be defended. Please, General Fubo, escort us to Hulao Pass."

Yang Yu's eyes lit up. He didn't expect Chen Qingzhi's mind to be so clear.

When Chen Qianzhi went north, he conquered Xingyang and Hulao Pass and finally entered Luoyang.

Erzhu Rong started from Ji County and bypassed Hulao Pass to directly attack Luoyang. He calculated that Chen Qianzhi had no boat and could not cross the Yellow River.

Now that Chen Qianzhi had returned to Hulao Pass, the offensive and defensive situation changed again, with him blocking the pass and trapping Erzhu Rong in Luoyang.

Yang Yu could only sigh that none of the evildoers of this era were easy to deal with.

Just looking at Chen Qianzhi's soldiers, it is unknown whether this army can survive in Henan.

Yang Yu led the fleet downstream, and when they arrived at Hulao Pass, they found that there was only a group of leaderless ragtag troops there.

Originally, Yuan Hao also sent people to guard Hulao, but unfortunately Erzhu Rong marched too fast and they were killed by Erzhu Rong at the gates of Luoyang.

But after crossing the Yellow River, Erzhu Rong marched quickly to attack Luoyang and did not leave any troops to guard Hulao.

Then Chen Qianzhi sent half of his troops to Xingyang to take over this important town in Henan Province.

At this time, Chen Qingzhi at Hulao Pass received news that the Luoyang Imperial City was breached by Erzhu Rong. But unexpectedly, Chen Qingzhi saw Emperor Yuan Hao fleeing in panic in front of Hulao Pass.

Chen Qingzhi quickly invited Yuan Hao into Hulao Pass.

Although the good situation was ruined by Yuan Hao, Chen Qianzhi's southern army was able to gain a foothold in Luoyang thanks to Yuan Hao's reputation.

If Yuan Hao died, he would have no choice but to lead his troops back to the Southern Dynasty.

When Yuan Hao saw Chen Qingzhi, he burst into tears and said to Chen Qingzhi:

"General Chen, it's all my fault that I was deceived by the treacherous ministers and did not listen to your advice and seek help from the Bodhisattva Emperor in time."

Looking at Yuan Hao like this, Chen Qingzhi just felt disgusted, but like a couple in name only, they could only make do with each other. What if they could get divorced?

But he couldn't let Yuan Hao off like this. Chen Qingzhi learned a lesson from his failure. He said to Yuan Hao:

"Now the soldiers have many complaints against Your Majesty. Please give all the money and property you brought with you to the soldiers to win their hearts."

"what?"

Yuan Hao instinctively wanted to refuse, but when he saw Chen Qianzhi covered in armor and heard the sound of armor plates colliding outside the tent, he immediately realized his current situation.

He could only laugh dryly and said:

"As for money and personal belongings, then follow General Chen's wishes and give them to the soldiers."

Yuan Hao rewarded the soldiers with money, which finally calmed the morale of the troops.

Then Chen Qingzhi gave a speech to the whole army:

"From Jiankang to the north to Luoyang, this is a feat that will be remembered for thousands of years!"

"General, you should know that all the soldiers miss their homeland, but we are in a foreign land with enemies on all sides. If we abandon everything and run away now, we will surely be caught up and hunted down by Erzhu Rong's cavalry."

"So this general would like to ask the soldiers to be patient for another winter. I will definitely lead everyone back home next year!"

After Chen Qingzhi finished his speech, the soldiers responded with thunderous cheers, and even Yang Gui, who was sailing on the Yellow River, could hear it.

"This should be enough. I hope it can buy the Duke a little more time."

In fact, most of the generals now understood Su Ze’s strategic intention, which was the same method that Liu Bang used to trap Xiang Yu to death. That is, to use various methods to consume the elite troops under Erzhu Rong, and use "one victory after another" to eventually make Erzhu Rong go from victory to failure.

I have to say that although this method seems to be a bit tricky, it is the safest way.
-
In Luoyang City, Erzhu Rong looked at the captured Yang Zhong and asked with a smile:

"The fake emperor has already abandoned the city and fled. Are you still unwilling to surrender?"

(End of this chapter)