knife

Chapter 344 Heading Straight to Chang'an
Chang Lei wielded his saber like a whirlwind. Of the more than one hundred Chang family retainers who had originally followed him to the front lines, only about thirty remained by his side. However, they firmly occupied a position on the city wall. As the siege engine approached the wall with a clang, and countless soldiers rapidly climbed up the siege engine, Chang Lei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"General Chang, you've worked hard. Please rest. Leave the rest to me!" Linghu Shili, carrying his sword, passed by Chang Lei and smiled as he cupped his hands in a salute: "General Chang is truly mighty!"

Watching the other person's departing figure, Chang Lei was so angry he felt like he was about to ascend to heaven and sink to the ground, but there was nothing he could do.

Now he is in an awkward position in Linghu's army, and has to fight first and use his merits time and time again to dispel the gossip and unfounded suspicions.

Even so, he is now being gradually marginalized within the Linghu family's entire system.

Linghu Ye trusted him as always, but others did not have Linghu Ye's magnanimity.

His former friends are also distancing themselves from him.

Chang Lei was furious when he talked about these upsetting things.

When the army entered the pass, I led a portion of the Chang family's elite troops ahead, while my father and elder brother covered the rear.

But the result was that his father and elder brother abandoned Linghu Shi and himself without hesitation, and turned to Li Dachui.

Although the final result seemed to prove that his father's approach of betting on both sides was not wrong, Chang Lei was still uncomfortable!

Can't you talk to yourself about this beforehand?
He's still your own son, after all!

He plopped down in the pool of blood, panting heavily. A servant carrying a blood-stained knife walked over, sat down next to him, and handed him a water pouch.

"More than forty brothers have died, and more than twenty others are seriously injured. It will take them several months to recover!" the family guard reported.

Chang Lei nodded. There was nothing they could do about it. They had been blocked in Huoyi by the imperial guards for nearly a month, and everyone was putting in their best effort to take it over.

With Huoyi captured, Linghu's army will have many more avenues to explore.

Chang'an is now within reach.

Perhaps in the end, we'll find that we're on the right side.

Seeing that the city gates were finally opened by Linghu Shili's men and the army outside the city poured in, Chang Lei stood up, leaning on his sword. "Let's go back. Now that we've taken this place, we can rest for a while!"

Several days later, in the council hall.

As everyone filed into the council hall, Linghu Ye was drawing a map of Chang'an and the surrounding area of ​​Luoyang on the wall, holding an inkstone in one hand and a wolf-hair brush in the other.

As the last person stepped into the hall, Linghu Ye finished his final stroke of the brush. After examining the magnificent landscape he had depicted, he turned around and smiled at everyone, saying, "Our army has been fighting for months and has now captured Huoyi. We can finally rest for a while. But while the soldiers can rest, we can't. I called everyone here today to discuss what to do next!"

"We will naturally follow the Commander's lead. Whatever the Commander says, we will do!" Wang De said with a smile and a loud voice.

Since Linghu Dajun entered the pass, Wang De has become even more obedient.

In fact, he has always been very well-behaved.

Compared to Wan Feng, who was killed by Linghu Ye, Wang Deyuan's greatest ambition was simply to be transferred away from Linghu Ye's command and become an official in another place. For this purpose, he donated all the money he had collected to Wei Zhengdao.

Unfortunately, Wei Zhengdao took the money but didn't get anything done.

Now, Linghu Ye's public declaration is to purge the court of corrupt officials and punish treacherous ministers.

Who is this treacherous official?

It goes without saying that it is Wei Zhengdao.

Now that the emperor is gone, and even the crown prince is gone, the slogan is reduced to nothing more than punishing treacherous officials.

Linghu Ye naturally wouldn't acknowledge the puppet emperor installed by Wei Zhengdao.

Because of his close relationship with Wei Zhengdao in the past, Wang De had always been on tenterhooks, fearing that Linghu Ye would use him as a sacrifice at any time. So now, his words were practically sweet, and he could praise anything Linghu Ye said to the skies.

Hearing Wang De's words, Linghu Ye smiled and said, "It's the right way to pool our wisdom. Let's all share our thoughts!"

Linghu Ye no longer has any intention of killing this guy.

If it weren't for that incident outside the Great Wall, and the betrayal of Chang Jian and Chen Liang, Wang De would have lost his head long ago. But now, the fact that he's still alive is a signal he's sending to the outside world.

I am tolerant of others.

However, this guy is just a human being now, so it's impossible to expect him to come up with any ideas.

Even if he had an idea, he wouldn't be the one to stick it out. His gaze swept over the people under his command, but finally landed on Chang Lei.

Li Guohua, one of his strategists, is currently in Luoyang, while Linghu Zhishu has gone to Sichuan. Most of his generals are physically strong but mentally weak, with only Chang Lei being somewhat quick-witted and insightful.

"General, after taking Huoyi, we actually have two options. The first option is to attack Chang'an directly. The second option is to march east, take Hedong County, and then join forces with General Li Guohua to take Luoyang first!" Chang Lei said.

Linghuye nodded.

"In your opinion, which route should we take?"

"In my opinion, we should cross the Yellow River directly and attack Chang'an!" Chang Lei replied crisply.

"I object!" Linghu Shili shouted.

Linghu Ye glanced at him impassively and asked, "Reason?"

"Tongguan!" Linghu Shili exclaimed. "If we attack Chang'an directly, there's a large army stationed at Tongguan. If they launch a pincer attack, wouldn't we be attacked from both sides?"

Chang Lei glanced at Linghu Shili and said coldly, "As long as we occupy Yongfeng Granary, we can firmly control Tongguan! Commander, speed is of the essence in war. As long as we take Chang'an, Guanzhong can be pacified with a proclamation. At that time, Hedong County and Tongguan will have nowhere to go but surrender to the Commander. What else can they do?"

“Once we take Chang’an, we’ll become the target of everyone’s attacks!” Wang De glanced cautiously at Linghu Ye. “Moreover, Chang’an is the Wei family’s stronghold, which they have cultivated for many years. Taking it in a short time will probably be a difficult task!”

"Is Luoyang easy to conquer?" Chang Lei sneered. "Zhang Quanyi occupies Luoyang and has the Liyang and Luokou granaries, so he is not short of food. To the east, the Chen family of Qi County and the Qin family of Donghai are eyeing us covetously. Even if we take Hedong County and join forces with General Li Guohua, we will still have to fight these forces in Henan. What's the point of this?"

Linghu Ye smiled and turned to look at the map behind him, saying, "You mean, we should concentrate all our efforts to take Chang'an, and then use Chang'an's terrain to watch the heroes of the Central Plains fight amongst themselves?"

"Exactly!" Chang Lei bowed and said, "If we take Chang'an, the heroes of the Central Plains will largely have to take Luoyang to contend with us. At that time, Zhang Quanyi in Luoyang will be surrounded by enemies. He Zudao, that troublemaker, has plundered Luoyang completely, leaving only Luokou Granary and Liyang Granary. Isn't he perhaps planning to make Zhang Quanyi fight us to the death? Let the people of Hebei fight Zhang Quanyi to the death first! In the end, perhaps the commander-in-chief can even take Luoyang without a fight!"

Linghu Ye laughed loudly: "As expected of the Chang family's prodigy, this plan is exactly what I wanted."

Linghu Ye decided on the plate with a single word, but everyone looked at Chang Lei with some strange eyes.

Because Linghu Ye's words seemed to be a compliment, but the problem is that the Chang family has long since switched sides to Li Dachui and Xiao Changche, and Chang Lei is essentially a discarded guy.

Chang Lei bowed and retreated, then tightly shut his mouth.

Linghu Ye pointed to the map and said, "What Chang Lei said is exactly what I was thinking. The army should march straight into Chang'an, take the enemy's heart and soul, and after taking Chang'an, with Hedong and Hexi as our base, we can then send troops to wipe out the small forces in Longyou and northern Shaanxi. We can recuperate and consolidate our strength while waiting for the right opportunity to act!"

"The commander is wise!" The people inside the room sang praises.

“Chang Lei!” Linghu Ye said.

"The general is here!"

"Since you came up with the idea, you will be the vanguard. Once the rest period is over and the Yellow River is frozen, we will cross the Yellow River at Longkou and head straight for Chang'an!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" Chang Lei felt bitter inside. He was being made the vanguard again. Was this some kind of scheme to use up all the elite troops he had? Although Linghu Ye had replenished his forces in time, the problem was that the elite troops he had brought from the Chang family were becoming increasingly scarce.

"Linghu Shili!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Linghu Shili was not flustered at all, because over the years, he had long been scolded by Linghu Ye to the point of being speechless and didn't care anymore. Compared with his brother Linghu Zhishu, he was just a scapegoat.

"Take your troops and immediately set out to seize Yongfeng Warehouse with lightning speed!" Linghuye said. "Then set up camp on the spot."

"Great!" Linghu Zhishu was overjoyed. As expected, they were still family. Yongfeng Granary was very prosperous, with an endless supply of grain. This good thing would eventually fall into their laps.

The decision had been made, but Li Guohua still needed to be informed.

If his main force fails to seize Hedong County, the pressure on him in Luoyang will increase significantly. He will not only have to deal with Zhang Quanyi, but also with the various warlords in the Central Plains.

This is also why Linghuye let Li Guohua lead the entire route alone.

Among Linghu Ye's subordinates, Li Guohua is the only one who can truly stand alone.

Thinking of Li An Da Chui and Xiao Chang Che, Linghu Ye couldn't help but feel a little lost. If he had been able to recruit these two back then, he would probably be sitting in Chang'an City ruling as a king now!
Shaking his head vigorously, Linghu Ye banished the delusion from his mind.

These two people are not only no longer helpful to me, but they will also be the biggest obstacles to my struggle for the world.

With the forces outside the pass steadily growing, Li Dachui, this real troublemaker, has come to the interior to cause trouble. I wonder what's really going on in Sichuan.

If Sichuan falls into Li Dachui's hands, that would be a real problem!

Could Li Shen and Tang Yin be that useless?
(End of this chapter)