Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

When the vanguard was about 20 miles from Huaizhou, they suddenly encountered a large force of Tangut cavalry.

Unfortunately, Xiao Heda was chosen as the vanguard, and his men resembled Tangut cavalry.

The two cavalry forces exchanged fire for a while before each sending messengers back to report.

Xiao Heda personally led his troops over and, after running several dozen steps, asked, "You are carrying the E'luo banner. Is the chieftain of the E'luo tribe here?"

A Tangut general rushed forward: "I am Eruo Ayole."

"I have already pledged allegiance to the Liangshan Emperor; I urge you to surrender to the Ming Dynasty as well!"

Xiao Heda was completely bewildered. The Dangxiang cavalry from Huaizhou actually claimed to have surrendered to the Liangshan emperor?

Chapter 3812 How did they do that?

What the hell?

Could it be that Wang Cunli surrendered the entire city of Huaizhou to the Ming Dynasty?

Xiao Heda pointed to his flag: "You don't recognize this flag?"

"How could I recognize a Han..."

Elojole suddenly realized,

"Hey, why are you using a banner with Chinese characters?"

Xiao Heda said, "I am Xiao Heda from Xia Prefecture."

"You're Li Heda! No wonder you looked familiar," Ero Ayole exclaimed in sudden realization.

Xiao Heda flew into a rage: "Grandpa's name is Xiao Heda, not Li Heda!"

Ero Ayole was too lazy to argue: "Yes, yes, I don't care what your surname is. Since you have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, I have also surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, so we are on the same side."

Xiao Heda asked, "Why have you also sided with the Ming?"

Eloyole explained, "General Yue sent divine troops and conquered Huaizhou in one fell swoop. He has already led his troops to attack Jingzhou."

"General Li (Li Cunhui) was left to garrison Huaizhou. Several of our tribes have joined General Li's forces to defend Huaizhou."

Many Tangut tribes were trapped in the city, kneeling and begging for mercy, and became Yue Fei's prisoners.

Some chieftains were clever enough to seize granaries or kill civil officials before surrendering, which was tantamount to offering a pledge of loyalty and thus being highly valued by Yue Fei.

After a day of rest, Yue Fei led his army south to attack Jingzhou.

Li Cunhui, however, transformed from a spy into a commander of 20,000 to 30,000 troops, all of whom were Dangxiang soldiers, and remained in Huaizhou to guard against Li Chage's attack.

Furthermore, Li Cunhui dispatched cavalry to spread the message that the Ming Dynasty would not kill indiscriminately, urging the soldiers and civilians who had fled into the wilderness to return quickly.

He distributed the ownerless livestock and grain, as well as the grain in the military granaries, to the soldiers and civilians every day.

He then put officials and military officers in charge of distributing the supplies, and executed several who had taken the opportunity to embezzle, quickly winning over the hearts of the army and the people.

Now, soldiers and civilians who had fled are gradually returning.

On the contrary, in Xingqing Prefecture, the Western Xia emperor and his officials, fearing the infiltration of spies, kept the city gates tightly closed, preventing the fleeing soldiers and civilians from entering the city.

When the news reached Huaizhou, the stark contrast chilled the hearts of the Western Xia army and people.

Even the Weiduo clan, a branch of the Weiming clan, one of the eight major clans of the Tangut people,

After their chieftain was captured, he refused to surrender and, upon hearing of this, also clamored to pledge allegiance to the Liangshan Emperor.

"Which General Yue? Which General Li?" Xiao Heda asked.

Eloyo said, "General Yue Fei, the Protector-General, and General Li Cunhui."

Xiao Heda, fearing a trap, sent his trusted confidant with Eluo Ayole to Huaizhou City.

After some investigation within the city, it was confirmed to be true.

He then sent troops to inform Li Yanxian.

Upon receiving the letter, Li Yanxian, both amused and exasperated, told his generals, "Yue Fei has led a small force deep into enemy territory and captured Huaizhou City, which was heavily defended by 50,000 troops."

Zhong Yanchong said in disbelief, "He didn't even have siege equipment, laborers, or provisions. How did he manage to take Huaizhou?"

“Someone from the Military Intelligence Bureau helped us,” Li Yanxian said with emotion. “That person was one of my old subordinates. He was wounded during the Battle of Hebei and was publicly declared dead, but I never expected him to be a spy in Western Xia.”

"I even took out some money and asked someone to send it to his wife, children and elderly parents."

Zhang Xian exclaimed in amazement, "These two have done a tremendous job!"

Li Yanxian said, "Speed ​​up the march. Huaizhou has been captured by them, so we should head straight for Xingqing Prefecture."

"Generals, even greater military achievements await us!"

Chapter 3813 Huaizhou City

"Advance to Xingqing Prefecture!"

"Advance to Xingqing Prefecture!"

The generals shouted in unison, their blood boiling with excitement.

……

Meanwhile, Yue Fei led six thousand elite Ming cavalry and eight thousand surrendered Dangxiang soldiers as laborers.

They also took all the artisans from Huaizhou City with them, using warhorses and livestock to haul the grain south.

In just two days, they arrived outside Jingzhou City.

There are 10,000 garrison troops here, transferred by Ren Dejing from Lingzhou, specifically to block Yue Fei's forces.

The Tangut laborers were sent out in small boats across the moat, shouting from various locations outside the city: "Huaizhou is gone! Richard and Wang Cunli's entire army has been wiped out!"

"Three hundred thousand Ming soldiers are besieging Xingqing Prefecture. Are you still going to defend Jingzhou to the death and be buried with this tyrannical emperor?"

They used small boats to shield themselves from arrows, and hundreds of men rushed to the city walls and took turns shouting slogans.

At first, the city's garrison would shoot arrows, but then they all stopped, wanting to listen carefully to see if they had misheard.

The commander of the defending army was named Mozangluo, who came from the Mozang clan, a prominent Dangxiang family. Li Yuanhao's second empress was surnamed Mozang.

Seeing that the people in the city were already in a state of panic, Mezangluo summoned his generals and said, "Those shouting outside the city are probably trying to trick us into surrendering."

"We should not blindly believe one side of the story. We should send light cavalry to Xingqing Prefecture and Huaizhou to investigate."

Immediately, a general said, "I just saw someone outside the city carrying Wang Cunli's banner. Wang Cunli must have been defeated and lost the city."

Another general said, "There is someone outside the city who claims to be the chieftain of the Tiantian clan."

“I know Tian Tian Shi Guang very well. Even though he covered his head with a small boat, I could still recognize his voice.”

"He not only surrendered to the Ming army, but also became the captain of the Ming army's labor service team."

"And the Wild Horse Clan, Wild Horse Zongxun is also outside the city!"

"..."

The generals, one after another, spoke until Mezangluo was driven to utter despair.

There's no need to send cavalry to scout; Huaizhou City is definitely doomed.

That means Wang Cunli's entire army was wiped out, and Richard is probably in grave danger as well.

This also means that the Ming army could come from Yanzhou and march 300 li to take Xingqing Prefecture!

They were having a meeting inside the city gate tower when they suddenly heard the outside of the city fall silent.

So they all crouched down along the edge of the city wall to check the situation.

Then another small boat came, and after landing, it ran around giving instructions to the person who had been calling out.

Soon, the message became concise and clear.

"Kill the commander, surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Kill the commander, surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

At first, their shouts were not in unison, but gradually they became more and more synchronized, which frightened the defending general, Mezangluo, so much that his face turned pale.

"Don't do anything rash." Mei Zangluo quickly retreated, his hand on the hilt of his sword, hiding among his personal guards.

The other generals looked at each other in bewilderment. They had only brought one or two attendants to the meeting, and they were no match for Mezangluo, who had many personal guards present.

Moreover, they didn't know how to leave.

Whoever first suggests leaving the city tower will be suspected of going to mobilize troops to cause trouble, and Muangluo's personal guards will rush up on the spot.

Mezangluo was also in an awkward position. He had been considering surrendering, but then someone outside the city shouted, "Kill the commander, surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

This immediately blocked his path to surrender.

This puts him at odds with the other generals!

Even if Zangluo were to shout "Long live Emperor Zhu!" now, his generals would still want to take his life.

Because "killing the commander-in-chief" is a prerequisite for "surrendering to the Ming Dynasty"!

Chapter 3814 It's over so quickly

As for the generals, they were equally apprehensive.

They couldn't figure out who was loyal to the Western Xia, nor who was willing to pledge allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, and they were afraid that they might be killed if things went wrong.

At this moment, Yue Fei stopped his horse outside the moat, smiling as he looked at the distant city wall. He had already ordered the craftsmen to cross the river, dismantle the houses, and collect the timber.

Yue Fei's heart was also very wicked; he directly used the strategy of sowing discord as a legitimate scheme.

Sooner or later, infighting will break out within the city!

After a long stalemate on the city wall, Meicangluo said, "Everyone, please stay here. We can eat and live together so that we can discuss military matters at any time."

"As for commanding operations in various locations, that can be left to your respective deputy generals."

"The Commander-in-Chief is right."

The generals all agreed that they had actually been detained by Mozangluo.

.......

Further south is Lingzhou City.

Deng Chun's army was already several miles away, but only 80,000 men had arrived; another 50,000 had been sent to attack the neighboring Shunzhou.

Ren Dejing will have to hold out for at least another month before the Yellow River water level rises.

If the dike is breached now, even if the seven armies are flooded, it will have little effect on the Ming army.

Can he defend against it in a month?

The Ming army arrived too quickly!

A fast boat sped from Jingzhou; it was a messenger sent by Mezangluo.

After Ren Dejing opened and read the letter, his expression changed drastically; the contents were truly terrifying.

Huaizhou has fallen, Wang Cunli's entire army has been wiped out, and Richard is unaware of the situation. Jingzhou is under siege, and Xingqing Prefecture may be besieged as well…

What the hell are you talking about?

Ren Dejing really wanted to hack Wang Cunli to death with a flurry of blows.

"Report! The enemy has set up camp several miles away, and their camp stretches for ten miles, seemingly endless."

Ren Dejing trembled upon hearing this; his rear city was besieged, and his own territory would soon be besieged by tens of thousands of enemy troops.

surrender?

Ren Dejing dared not.

He betrayed the Song Dynasty and joined the Xia Dynasty, luring and killing half of the civil and military officials in Xi'an Prefecture, and even swallowing their property.

Some of the victims' relatives are still serving as officials in the Ming Dynasty, including both civil and military officials.

This blood debt cannot be evaded. Even if Ren Dejing had the merit of surrendering the city, he could barely save his life and might even be able to become an official.

But his enemies will surely unite and seek every opportunity to avenge his relatives and friends. Ren Dejing will die a terrible death sooner or later!