My Sims of the Eastern Jin Dynasty

The next day, they arrived at Pengcheng.

Before the morning mist had dissipated, Peng Chao, the General Who Pacifies the South of Qin and Governor of Yanzhou, stood on his horse at the front of the battle.

His face darkened as he gazed at the fortified city before him, which he had besieged for nearly half a year yet which still stood firm.

The tenacity of the defenders within the city far exceeded his expectations.

Most of the arrows and stones had already been used up, and the siege equipment had been severely damaged in repeated attacks.

"Bring it up."

Peng Chao turned to look at his personal guards.

Several Qin soldiers pushed and shoved Tian Hong, who was bound hand and foot, to the front of the battle line.

Tian Hong managed to stand up straight, and there was not a single part of his body that looked good.

Peng Chao pointed with his riding whip at Peng Cheng behind him.

"General Tian is a man of honor. Xie Xuan sent you here to die."

Tian Hong didn't say anything.

"I'll give you, and I'll give those stubborn people in the city, a chance. Go to the city walls and tell Dai Lu that the Southern army has been defeated. Tell him to open the city gates and surrender. I can save your life and even promise you wealth and honor."

Tian Hong remained silent for a moment before turning to look at Peng Chao.

"General, please don't go back on your word. Can just one sentence save my life?"

Peng Chao did not answer, but simply nodded.

Tian Hong understood that he was going to die today, so it didn't matter whether he spoke or not.

"...Okay, I'll talk!"

Peng Chao waved his hand, not expecting a single sentence to make the city's defenders surrender.

But now that Xiangyang has fallen, he has accomplished nothing and will have a hard time explaining himself to the Heavenly King.

The soldiers escorted Tian Hong forward a dozen steps until they stopped just outside the range of the crossbow bolts fired by the defenders on the city wall.

Tian Hong took a deep breath and turned to look at the soldiers who were escorting him.

"Aren't you going to loosen the ropes?"

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, but dared not move until their commander gave the order.

Upon seeing this, Tian Hong snorted coldly, suddenly raised his head, and shouted at Pengcheng with all his might.

"Southern reinforcements have arrived! General He Qian is leading his troops in a fierce attack on Liucheng! The Di rebels' supply lines are about to be cut off; hold your ground!"

Peng Chao, who was behind him, sighed and waved his hand.

The guards beside him had already drawn their bows and nocked arrows, and a sharp arrow pierced through Tian Hong's chest in an instant!

Tian Hong's body trembled, and looking in the direction of Pengcheng, he fell heavily to the ground, his blood quickly staining the soil beneath him.

The garrison commander, Dai Lu, stood behind the battlements and could hear everything below clearly.

"Give the order to the entire army!"

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

The news quickly spread among the defending troops. The exhausted soldiers were stunned at first, then burst into thunderous cheers!

Below the city, Peng Chao looked at Tian Hong's corpse, then glanced at Peng Cheng, who had suddenly burst into cheers, and lashed his horse's rump with a whip.

"Return to camp!"

Back in his tent, Peng Chao had to face reality: he had received military reports yesterday that Liucheng was under siege.

The city held more than half of his army's food and supplies. If it were lost, not only would it be impossible to attack Pengcheng again, but even a safe retreat would be a problem.

At this moment, General Ju Nan also spoke in a deep voice.

"Upon learning of the reinforcements, the morale of the Pengcheng garrison was restored. They were eager to attack but found it difficult to advance. The best course of action now is to first rescue Liucheng and preserve our foundation."

Despite his immense resentment, Peng Chao had no other choice.

On that day, the main Qin army that besieged Pengcheng broke camp and marched back to reinforce Liucheng, leaving less than 20,000 troops outside Pengcheng to continue the siege.

That night, after confirming that the main force of the Qin army outside the city had broken camp and left.

Without the slightest hesitation, Dai Lu dispatched a large number of assassins out of the city.

Most of them never returned until late at night, when a suicide squad member who traveled by water stormed into Liu Laozhi's vanguard camp.

"Pengcheng still stands! General Dai, please send troops to reinforce it immediately!"

Liu Laozhi was overjoyed upon learning this and immediately gave the order.

"Send the order! Break camp! Target: Pengcheng!"

At dawn the next day, a sudden battle cry shook the heavens east of Pengcheng!

Liu Laozhi personally led over ten thousand elite troops from the Northern Army to strike directly at the eastern camp of the Qin army left behind.

These Northern Tiger Warriors, who had been holding back their anger for months, launched an unparalleled and fierce attack. In half a day, they broke through five outer camps, and smoke billowed into the sky!

From the top of the city wall, Dai Lu could see smoke and dust billowing in the east, and the sounds of battle could be clearly heard. He knew his chance had come!

"Open the city gates! Break out! Converge with the Northern Army!"

Dai Lu took the lead, leading the garrison that had been besieged for half a year and tens of thousands of civilians out of Pengcheng.

The Qin army left behind was stunned by the attack from both inside and outside. They tried to intercept, but were blocked by the bloodthirsty Northern Army.

Liu Laozhi commanded his troops to fight and retreat, fighting fiercely until sunset before finally escaping their pursuers.

Almost simultaneously with the breakout from Pengcheng, the battlefield east of Liucheng had already turned into a sea of ​​blood.

Peng Chao and Ju Nan led the main force of the Qin army back to reinforce, but they encountered He Qian's army head-on.

Upon learning of the raid on Liucheng, Sun Wuzhong, who was in charge, immediately withdrew.

To avoid encountering the main Qin army returning to reinforce, Sun Wuzhong abandoned his original retreat route.

"General! You're going the wrong way!"

The personal guards screamed amidst the chaos of battle.

Sun Wuzhong swung his saber, looked around, and saw enemy flags surging in from all sides.

"Never mind that! Let's fight our way out!"

The battle lasted from the afternoon until nightfall.

Sun Wuzhong rallied his remaining troops and, under the cover of night, launched a desperate charge towards a relatively weak point in the enemy's defenses.

The shouts of battle gradually subsided in the latter half of the night.

At this moment, there were fewer than eight hundred people left following Sun Wuzhong, and all of them were injured.

Sun Wuzhong, panting heavily, leaned on the spear he had seized and looked around at the pitch-black surroundings. He no longer knew where he was.

The entire area within a hundred miles east of Liucheng was in complete chaos.

......

Lanling County, Donghai Commandery.

Xiao Heng traveled through the night, leading the remnants of the rear army and civilians to the city of Lanling at dawn.

Only then did I understand why the previous simulations all yielded the same result; at this moment, the banners of the Qin army were flying over Lanling City.

Historical deviations have once again been reflected in reality.

But soon, things took a turn for the better.

Xiao Heng's men's movements, which were made completely undisguised, were discovered, and several powerful families in the city who had not migrated south sent people to the military camp.

Xiao Heng learned that there were only a hundred or so Qin soldiers in the city, protecting a general who was recuperating there.

The surprise came too suddenly, and soon the city gates were opened by the private soldiers of these powerful clans.

Xiao Heng led his troops in a rush, and although the Qin army left behind put up a desperate resistance, they were quickly defeated by the combined attack of the Northern Army and private soldiers.

After the battle, Xiao Heng, accompanied by Han Yong, inspected and cleaned up the battlefield.

The prefectural governor's office had been taken over, and more than a dozen captured wounded Qin soldiers were kneeling in the courtyard, all looking dejected.

Han Yong pointed to one of the young prisoners, whose hands were tied behind their backs and whose face was pale.

"Commander, this guy is a tough one. His injuries haven't fully healed yet, and he just took down several of our brothers."

Xiao Heng looked at the young man, who was also looking up at him, his eyes showing none of the fear that the other prisoners had.

Although they had changed into ordinary soldiers' clothes, the brocade material showing through the collar was something that ordinary soldiers could not possess.

Xiao Heng knew he had really caught a big fish, and without making a sound, he pulled Han Yong outside and gave him instructions.

"Separate them into different rooms and interrogate them carefully!"

He then pointed to the bound youth.

"I'll ask that myself!"

"promise!"

Han Yong didn't ask any further questions and led his men to take the other prisoners away.

Xiao Heng dismissed his attendants, found a chair, and sat down in front of the other man, looking at the still unconvinced young man.

"Name!"

......