Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 426: Encirclement and assassination of Li Changzuo!
At Li Changzuo's command, three thousand elite cavalrymen charged towards the granary. In a blink of an eye, they arrived not far from the granary. They saw that part of the granary was already burning. The wind was blowing from the north, and the fire was just in the north. They immediately became a little impatient:

Although the granaries have fire-prevention distances and are managed on weekdays, if a fire breaks out on a normal day, it will be put out in a short time.

But looking at the current situation, I’m afraid the managers inside have long been killed or detained, and there is no one to take care of this granary anymore!
The north wind is very strong tonight. Looking at the current situation, I am afraid the spread of the fire is difficult to contain!

Li Changzuo knew that if he failed to rescue the food tonight, everyone in Chang'an would be cannibalizing each other in a few days. Although Wen Yanbo might not necessarily kill him, his fate would certainly not be good!

Thinking of this, Li Changzuo gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "One thousand cavalrymen prepare for battle, the rest of you dismount and immediately rescue the food. We must grab some of the food, otherwise Marshal Wen will not spare us! Hurry!"

Hearing this, the commanders looked at each other in bewilderment. No one was willing to order his subordinates to dismount. Instead, they made predictions left and right. Li Changzuo was immediately furious. He knew what these subordinates were thinking. They all wanted their men to stay on horseback so that they could escape immediately in case of an emergency.

After all, once the people who dismounted to rescue food left their horses, if the enemy set an ambush, they would be unable to escape even if they had wings!
Li Changzuo was furious, but he was not furious. Instead, he said coldly: "Commander Li, Commander Xie, Commander Huang, Commander Wu..." Li Changzuo called out several names in succession, and then said: "... You take your men to dismount and participate in the firefighting and food rescue!
If you dare to disobey orders, you will be held responsible for the failure of this trip when you return. As for whether Marshal Wen will kill you, I believe he won't, after all, Marshal Wen is a kind-hearted person!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals whose names were mentioned were shocked.

Haha, Wen Yanbo is too soft-hearted?

In just a moment, several people turned their horses around and headed towards their own team, followed by roars:
"Li Linying, listen to my orders. Get off your horse immediately and join in the firefighting!"

"Xie Yu troops, listen to my orders, get off your horses! Get off your horses! Put out the fire, put out the fire!"

"Huang Xianbu listens to orders, dismount and put out the fire!"

"..."

Immediately, there were countless thumps of horses dismounting one after another. Li Changzuo breathed a sigh of relief and then shouted: "Commanders, clear a firebreak and save as much food as possible!

The rest of the commanders, immediately command your men to guard the roads to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to ambush you!"

After his order was issued, two thousand soldiers, under the command of their respective commanders, immediately began to overturn the granaries along a line to clear a firebreak, while the remaining one thousand cavalrymen on horseback blocked various intersections. Seeing his orders being executed quickly and orderly, Li Changzuo breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he did not dare to be careless, but looked for a high place to watch the whole situation.

At this moment, the sound of war drums, shouts, and horse hooves suddenly came from outside... Li Changzuo was shocked and suddenly realized: What I feared will come true, this is a trap!
In fact, Li Changzuo knew in his heart that this was a trap, but both he and Wen Yanbo had their reasons for coming.

Li Changzuo sighed and thought: I have to fight to the death tonight, but as long as I don't die, Wen Yanbo can't blame me!

At this moment.

The sound of drums and horns rolled across the sky like thunder. Li Changzuo looked in the direction of the sound and saw torches moving like red snakes in the northwest direction. A dense phalanx of cavalry was pressing towards them in a wedge formation.

Under the moonlight, the black iron armor of the Jingsai Army glowed coldly, and the red tassels on the horse's mane surged like bloody waves as the horses rose and fell. The three hundred light cavalry in the front had already drawn their arrows and pulled the strings. The sound of sharp arrows breaking through the air was accompanied by a sharp whistle, and they shot towards the soldiers who were fighting the fire like a rainstorm.

"Shieldmen, form a formation! Archers, fight back!"

Li Changzuo's roar was torn apart by the sound of arrows breaking through the air.

However, the shield formation that was hastily formed was full of loopholes. The shields of the front row soldiers were nailed to the ground by the sharp arrows that pierced through the shields before they could even hold them steady. Screams were intertwined with the neighing of frightened horses.

The cavalry archers of the Jingsai Army did not want to fight. After shooting three rounds of arrows, they quickly dispersed to both wings to make way for the subsequent heavy cavalry to charge.

The earth began to tremble violently, and a phalanx of eight hundred Jingsai heavy cavalry approached in a neat rhythm.

Each warhorse was covered in heavy chain mail, and the knights held a 10-foot-long lance with a linen cloth soaked in tung oil on the tip. As the charge accelerated, the flames swayed wildly in the night wind, making the battlefield look like purgatory.

The cavalry of Li Changzuo's army was in chaos. The generals who were usually pampered turned pale and some even turned their horses around and tried to escape.

"Hold your ground! Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

Li Changzuo slashed a deserter with his sword, and the splashing blood stained his clothes red. But his roar seemed insignificant amid the roar of killing, and the heavy cavalry of the Jingsai Army had already rushed into the battle.

Wherever the horse spear swept across, people and horses fell to the ground, and the soldiers of Li Changzuo's army fell in groups like harvested straw.

The most deadly move came from the Jingsai Army's flanking attack.

The five hundred rangers, like a nimble wolf pack, circumvented the edge of the granary ruins and suddenly launched a surprise attack from the side and rear. The soldiers of Li Changzuo's army who were fighting the fire had their throats cut by the sabers of the cavalry before they could even pick up their weapons.

In the firelight, the commander of the Jingsai Army held up the command flag, and as the flag signals changed, the cavalry teams moved as if they were their own arms, cutting Li Changzuo's troops into several sections.

"General! There's a gap in the southwest!"

The deputy general rushed to Li Changzuo covered in blood, but before he could finish his words, a stray arrow pierced his throat.

Li Changzuo looked at his subordinates fleeing in all directions, and despair overwhelmed him like a tide.

The cavalry of the Jingsai Army began to drive the remaining soldiers and forced them towards the granary area where the fire was the most intense. Screams and the sounds of exploding grain storages rang out one after another.

When only twenty or so of Li Changzuo's personal guards were left, he finally saw the face of the enemy's main general - it was Zheng Chaozong, the commander-in-chief of the Jingsai Army, who was regarded as a serious threat by Wen Yanbo.

Zheng Chaozong took off his helmet and smiled grimly: "General Li, that old man Wen Yanbo should have expected that we would not allow tens of thousands of tons of grain to enter the warehouse safely?"

After saying this, he pointed the lance in his hand directly at Li Changzuo's throat.

Li Changzuo clenched the bloody long sword in his hand, but found that the blade had been bent in the melee. He looked around and saw that the once 3,000 elite cavalrymen were now dead and wounded. The lucky survivors either knelt down and begged for mercy, or fled into the night, abandoning their armor and weapons.

Li Changzuo suddenly became frightened and wanted to retreat.

Just as he was about to order the retreat, Zheng Chaozong shouted, "General Li, you won't be killed if you surrender! You should know our military policy. As long as you join our army, you will have the opportunity to make achievements and establish your career. Who knows, you may even be promoted to a noble or a prime minister in the future!"
In addition, everyone present here, surrender and you will not be killed. Throw down your weapons and surrender and you will not be killed! "

As soon as these words came out, all the Jingsai soldiers shouted in unison: "Surrender and you won't be killed! Surrender and you won't be killed!"

"No killing for surrender! No killing for surrender!"

The sound waves were like a surging tide, carrying with them a suffocating sense of oppression, tightly surrounding Li Changzuo and his remaining personal soldiers.

Li Changzuo tightly grasped the long sword with a bent blade. His knuckles turned white due to excessive force. The blood at the base of his palm slowly dripped down the handle, leaving a dark red mark on the scorched earth.

He looked around and saw that his once majestic subordinates were now like stray dogs, throwing their weapons to the ground, their knees banging heavily on the hot gravel, trembling and raising their hands, their eyes full of desire and fear for life. His hundreds of personal soldiers formed a circle, but they could no longer hold their weapons tightly.

These men who had followed him for many years and gone through life and death together now had expressions of fear and confusion on their faces. They all looked at Li Changzuo with hesitation and expectation flashing in their eyes.

"General..." A soldier's Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, his voice was hoarse and trembling, "As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood..."

Li Changzuo turned his head suddenly, his eyes wide open, "Shut up! I, Li Changzuo, have fought all my life, how could I bow down to the enemy!
We will try our best and we will definitely fight our way out!"

His voice was high-pitched, but it couldn't hide the bravado in it.

Another soldier's face was pale, his lips trembling: "General, look at this situation, we are no match for them at all.

Zheng Chaozong said that if you surrender, you won’t be killed. If you insist on resisting, I’m afraid… I’m afraid that no one will survive!”

These words were like a heavy hammer, hitting everyone's heart hard. The surroundings fell into dead silence, with only the sound of wood cracking from the burning granary in the distance and the rhythmic shouts of the Jingsai Army.

Li Changzuo's chest heaved violently, his heart filled with resentment and anger.

He thought of Wen Yanbo's instructions before he left, and the famine that the people of Chang'an would soon face. If he surrendered, how could he face Wen Shuai, and how could he be worthy of those who trusted him? But in this dire situation, how much chance of victory did he have?

Seeing this, Zheng Chaozong kicked his horse's belly and slowly approached, with a smile of victory on his face: "General Li, why do you have to put up this meaningless resistance? If you surrender, not only can you save your life, but our army will definitely not treat you unfairly.

Follow us, there is a bright future ahead of you, it is better than dying here in vain."

Li Changzuo's eyes met Zheng Chaozong's, and his eyes were full of provocation and disdain, but also revealed deep despair.

He looked at his personal soldiers again, and saw that their eyes were full of pleading. Some of them had even put down their weapons and raised their trembling hands above their heads.

"General, surrender..."

More and more soldiers began to beg. Li Changzuo felt his legs weakening, and the long sword in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and he could no longer lift it. He looked up at the flames in the sky, feeling mixed emotions, and finally, he sighed, and the long sword fell to the ground with a clang.

"I surrender!" This cry seemed to have exhausted all his strength, carrying with it endless humiliation and helplessness.

Wen Yanbo's instructions, the safety of the people of Chang'an, and the survival of the Li family, compared to his own life and death, everything is insignificant!
Zheng Chaozong was overjoyed when he heard this. He dismounted and came to Li Changzuo. He personally helped Li Changzuo up and said in a gentle voice: "General Li, congratulations on your decision to turn from darkness to light. From now on, we are brothers who will share life and death. If the master knew you were like this, he would be overjoyed!"

Li Changzuo smiled bitterly in his heart, but his expression changed. He held Zheng Chaozong's hand and said, "General Zheng, I was your enemy before, so I went against you many times, but we each served our own master. Today, I have abandoned the dark and joined the light. I hope General Zheng will not bear a grudge. My brothers also think the same way. If you don't believe me, ask them!"

As soon as these words came out, the nearby personal soldiers all knelt on one knee, their weapons clanged to the ground, and they shouted in unison: "We are willing to follow the general and follow Marshal Zheng!"

The shouts were uneven, but they were filled with the trembling of surviving a disaster.

Some people had their foreheads pressed against the ground and veins on their necks bulged.

Some people secretly glanced at the cold weapons of the Jingsai Army, and their Adam's apples kept rolling.

Zheng Chaozong raised his hand to signal everyone to stand up. His eyes swept over Li Changzuo's personal soldiers like a hawk, and suddenly he laughed out loud: "Good! Good! General Li's subordinates are all loyal and righteous people. In the future, we will be in the same army and there will be no difference between us!"

He turned around and took a pot of wine from his personal guard. He pulled out the cork and tilted his head back to take a big gulp. The wine dripped down his chin onto the black iron armor, splashing tiny drops of water.

Then he handed the wine pot to Li Changzuo, "Come, drink this bowl of wine, and from now on we will be friends for life!"

Li Changzuo stared at the wine jug covered with blood foam, his fingertips trembling slightly.

In the past, he despised the act of surrendering generals who knelt down and drank the enemy's wine. But at this moment, the wine vapor rising from the pot seemed to have a tremendous force, pressing him to the point of suffocation.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of several personal soldiers looking at him eagerly. One of them had blood gushing out of his left leg and his face was as pale as paper - that was an old subordinate who had fought with him for eight years.

"Thank you, Marshal Zheng!" Li Changzuo grabbed the wine jug fiercely, his Adam's apple rolling violently, the spicy wine mixed with the smell of blood rushed into his throat, choking him and making his eyes red.

He threw the wine jug hard on the ground, and as the fragments flew, he suddenly pulled out the short blade from his waist.

The surrounding Jingsai soldiers drew their swords in an instant, but Zheng Chaozong raised his hand to stop them with a meaningful smile on his face.

Li Changzuo held the short blade with his backhand, put the tip of the blade against his throat, and said loudly: "Changzuo surrenders today and swears with blood! If you have any second thoughts, you will be like this!"

After saying that, his wrist trembled slightly, and a trace of blood immediately oozed out of his neck. The warm blood beads slid down the collarbone into the collar.

Seeing this, the guards followed suit. Some cut their palms and smeared the blood on their foreheads.

Someone wiped the wound directly on his collar, and the rough cloth instantly became stained with a large area of ​​dark red.

The scene was in chaos for a moment, with the smell of blood and wine filling the ashes of the fire.

Zheng Chaozong laughed and clapped his hands. He stretched out his hand to hold Li Changzuo's wrist holding the blade: "General Li, why do you have to do this? I naturally trust you!"

He turned around and signaled his personal guard to fetch the cloak, and personally put it on Li Changzuo's shoulders, "Take the brothers down to heal their wounds first. Tomorrow I will report to the master and ask for credit for you all!"

Li Changzuo nodded and said, "Yes, General Zheng!"

He turned to look at his guards and said, "Listen to Marshal Zheng, and go quickly!"

Then he turned to look at Zheng Chaozong and said, "General Zheng, what do you need me to do next? Do you need me to lead the troops to attack Chang'an City?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chaozong looked at Li Changzuo.

Li Changzuo said: "Since I have already abandoned the dark and joined the light, I naturally hope to earn merits with my sword and spear to enrich my wife and children. I hope General Zheng will help me!"

Zhang Chaozong immediately looked at Li Changzuo with admiration.

This person can bend and stretch... Bah, such shamelessness is rare in the world!
However, Zheng Chaozong had met many people, and he also remembered Su Yun. Mr. Su Yun once said that we should unite all forces that can be united. In this case, we should naturally recruit talents regardless of their background. He put away his contempt and nodded, saying, "Please ask General Li to send a message to Wen Yanbo, saying that your Li Changzuo's troops are surrounded by the Jingsai Army and urgently need rescue from Chang'an City!"

(End of this chapter)