Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 471 Protect My Clothes
Hengxiang County.

Yan Qing, the Supreme Pillar of the State, sat on the upper seat. He was old, had a solemn expression, and was wearing armor.

Many of his generals sat on both sides of him.

And among these generals, there were many who were dressed like barbarians.

Although the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty was a Xianbei, he was heavily assimilated into the Han culture and it was difficult to distinguish him from his clothes. However, the identities of the Hu people sitting next to Yan Qing could be seen at a glance. They were obviously Hu people who were not included in the rule of the Zhou people.

Yan Qing looked around and asked, "Who is this Huluxian?"

The staff member standing beside him hurriedly stood up, saluted to Yan Qing, and said seriously: "Sir, this man is the son of the famous Qi general Hulu Jin, and the younger brother of Hulu Guang."

"He had some military achievements in the past, and then served as a general in Xiazhou. During his tenure, he pacified the people, cultivated land and managed agriculture, and made contributions. He then went to Lianggan and persuaded local officials to surrender, and was awarded the title of General Zhenxi."

Hearing what his staff said, Yan Qing snorted coldly, "He's a farmer!"

He looked at everyone and asked, "Now this bandit is leading a large army to attack us, what strategies do you have to repel the enemy?"

Another pillar of the Zhou Kingdom.

But Yan Qing, the pillar of the country, is at least much more reliable than Wang Qian, Sima Xiaonan and others.

Yan Qing was a genuine old Xianbei. His ancestors had been chiefs. He was the cousin of Yuwen Hu, but he was a decent, brave and kind person. When Yuwen Hu came to power, he refused to follow him and always kept his distance, so he was valued by Yuwen Yong.

This man was a veteran who had fought for many years and had ample military experience. At the same time, he loved the people and showed kindness to the Hu people both inside and outside the country. Even the Hu people were willing to obey him and follow him into battle, and the people admired him even more.

He was an upright person who never cultivated cronies or got involved in the complicated struggles in the court. He worked seriously and diligently.

When Chang'an was captured, he served as the governor of Hezhou, and then when the strategic line was reduced, he was stationed in Hengxiang County.

All the people under his command respected him very much. When they heard his question, they all expressed their thoughts.

Some people made a more risky proposal. Some suggested sending troops to occupy the high ground in the west, setting up camp there, forming a pincer attack with the defenders in the city, supporting each other and preventing the bandits from concentrating their forces.

Yan Qing expressed contempt for the enemy in words, but he was still very cautious in actual strategy.

He disagreed with the decision to send troops.

Because the main force of the Han army launched an offensive on Hanzhong, troops were dispatched from all over the country to rescue. At first, everyone thought that the enemy's attacking army only had Liu Taozi, but they did not expect that there was another army here.

Therefore, there are not many troops in these cities.

If we divide our troops at this moment, we will be easily divided and defeated by the enemy if we don't do it well.

Some people proposed a more conservative approach, which was to destroy the surrounding villages, damage the roads and water sources, and then block the gates, strengthen the city walls, and defend the city with all their strength.

Yan Qing also felt that such a proposal was inappropriate.

The morale of the entire army is currently low, and all kinds of rumors are flying around. If they fight like a trapped beast, it might cause a mutiny. They have to boost morale, let the soldiers see hope, and then hold on.

After several discussions, Yan Qing deployed the strategy.

"General He Ruo."

He Ruobi quickly stood up and saluted Yan Qing.

He Ruobi was originally ordered to garrison Tianshui until the surrounding areas fell, and then he retreated. Now he is under the command of Yan Qing, guarding the western defense line together.

Yan Qing ordered: "You lead your elite knights out of the south gate and go around to the gentle slope in the west. Be careful to hide your tracks. When the enemy arrives, they will camp there and cut down the surrounding trees to make weapons. Once they stop and start to move, you will lead the knights to charge straight to the enemy's central position, set fire to it, and then evacuate along the east road. I will bring people to meet you!"

"only!!"

The vanguard of the Han army has arrived outside the city.

Subsequent troops are arriving continuously.

Sure enough, just as Yan Qing expected, after the Han army arrived, they did not rush to attack, but began to station in formations. However, before stationing, they sent a considerable number of scouts to explore the surroundings.

This made Yan Qing a little worried, but fortunately, He Ruobi got away in time and was not found by the scouts.

The number of Han troops began to increase.

Huluxian rode on a war horse and led the army to slowly kill over.

Compared with the central army led by the King of Heaven, the marching speed of their army was much slower.

They were slow in attacking the checkpoints along the way and could not match the overwhelming force of the main army.

Despite this, their battle record was still good, with not many casualties. It was difficult for the Zhou army to resist them as they killed their way forward.

Huluxian looked at the majestic city in the distance with a hint of worry in his eyes.

Before arriving, Zu Ting had instructed that the most difficult place to conquer on their route would be Hengxiang County.

The configuration here was not very strong in the past, but now Yan Qing is leading the elite troops from several border states stationed here, making it extremely difficult to conquer.

After Huluxian arrived, he looked at the surrounding terrain and whispered, "The enemy general Yan Qing is a good fighter. Don't underestimate him. Send more scouts and investigate carefully!!"

The generals said yes.

The army was stationed here.

Just as the armies were separating, a scout in the distance suddenly shouted, causing a commotion.

After a moment, the ground suddenly began to tremble slightly.

He Ruobi led an elite cavalry and attacked from the side, holding several scouts' heads in his hands. He targeted the location of the enemy's main general's flag and ran away madly.

The Han army had just arrived and their formation was relatively scattered, so He Ruobi rushed in through the gap with a clear goal!
The soldiers around reacted and rushed forward to stop them.

When the two sides fought, He Ruobi, wearing heavy armor, ran all the way, and no one could stop him!

The knights' morale was boosted and they followed He Ruobi and charged forward together.

Kou Liu reacted at this moment, ordered his men to beat the war drums, and began to organize troops to strangle the cavalry.

The front army quickly got rid of the chaotic state, divided the troops and started to strangle He Ruobi. He Ruobi was immediately exhausted!

These soldiers are wearing too much armor!!

When wearing armor, even if the weapon hits the opponent, it is difficult to kill him directly. If the weapon does not kill him, problems are likely to arise.

He Ruobi was able to rely on his personal bravery to fight his way out, but the same could not be said for the knights behind him. The elite archers kept shooting and killing them, and these people fell down one after another, wailing.

He Ruobi could feel that his numbers were dwindling.

But, as long as I can get closer!!

He Ruobi stared at the commander riding a war horse in the distance.

He could even see surprise in the other person's eyes.

Huluxian was indeed surprised.

The guy in front of him was really brave! He was also good at leading troops. He found loopholes in such a strict formation and killed them right in front of him.

Is this an attempt to capture the enemy's head amidst the thousands of troops? ?

Whose general is this? Why is he so brave?

However, the Han army had high morale, a high armor rate, and excellent weapons. He Ruobi's charge obviously could not be sustained for too long. The casualties became more and more serious, and even He Ruobi's charge speed slowed down.

Fortunately, He Ruobi could already see the enemy's main general.

Being discovered by scouts in advance, it is impossible to destroy the enemy's central army!
However, if you can kill the enemy's main general!!

He Ruobi raised his weapon! !
Huluxian held a lance in his hand and kicked the horse under his crotch hard, advancing instead of retreating!

"Bang~~~"

The horse lance that He Ruobi stabbed at him was opened by Huluxian. He Ruobi felt the force and was shocked! !

Huluxian's rough face was full of irritability.

Do you really treat me as a civil servant?
Huluxian has been practicing martial arts with his brother since he was young, and he often competes with his brother in martial arts. Although he loses most of the time, he is a real frontier warrior and is by no means a weak person.

Hulugu was known for his personal bravery and had shot a duke to death on the battlefield. Huluxian had even beaten his brother in archery, although his father did not admit it.
He Ruobi only fought once, and he knew in his heart that it was unlikely to kill the general. Even if the opponent was not as good as him, he could not be defeated in one round. But his knights
He Ruobi was quite decisive and evacuated directly from the gap in the east.

Huluxian was furious. You can come and go from my camp as you please?

Huluxian took his bow and started shooting.

"Pfft~~"

He Ruobi felt a burning pain in his back and realized that his armor might have been pierced.

Fortunately, the armor he wore was heavy enough, otherwise, the arrow would have pierced him! He Ruobi led the rest of the knights and fled.

Kou Liu led the knights in pursuit, fighting all the way, and the number of people behind He Ruobi became fewer and fewer.

Yan Qing, who was watching on the city wall, was extremely nervous.

When the enemy officially appeared, the old general realized that he had made a mistake.

He calculated the enemy based on past experience, but he did not expect that the army of Han was completely different from the army of Qi.

Who can dig in this terrifying armor coverage rate?

This kind of charge relies on the speed of the cavalry to quickly kill the enemy, causing chaos and taking advantage of the opportunity to gain victory. However, when the enemy is fully armed, it is impossible to kill them at all, and they will be surrounded and killed.

With the enemy's armor-wearing rate, even if Xiang Yu survived, he would probably die in there!
Fortunately, He Ruobi found the gap and charged into the enemy's formation. Unfortunately, the enemy's reaction speed was fast enough and did not give He Ruobi any chance to make a contribution. Now, he only hoped that He Ruobi could escape! !

He is a brave general, we cannot let him fall into the hands of the enemy like this!
The old general immediately descended from the city wall and led the army to the south gate.

The crossbowmen stood on the city walls, full of them.

He Ruobi was being chased by the crowd and rushed towards this place in a panic.

Just as he was looking at the closed city gate in the distance in despair, the gate suddenly opened.

Yan Qing led the crowd to charge out, and the archers on the city wall shot arrows together. The pursuers behind He Ruobi suffered heavy casualties. The old general welcomed him into the city and then hurriedly closed the city gate.

He Ruobi's face was pale. After entering the city, he almost fell to the ground and had to be helped up by someone.

He looked at Yan Qing with a guilty look on his face.

"Old General, I failed to complete my mission and almost lost the city."

"No, it was me who underestimated the enemy and nearly lost a general!"

He Ruobi looked at Yan Qing in front of him. He knew how much risk Yan Qing took when he opened the city gate just now, so he bowed and said, "We will fight the bandits to the death and protect the city!!"

However, Yan Qing sent someone to clean He Ruobi's wound first, and then began to deploy city defenses.

Hulu Xian quickly launched a fierce attack on the city.

Yan Qing personally took charge and ordered everyone to fight back.

The two sides fought extremely fiercely for several days in a row, but Huluxian was unable to take the city, and the offensive on the northwest front was stuck in a stalemate.

Chen, Jiangling.

Jiangling City has long lost its former glory, and the city is no longer bustling, but dead silent.

The only people entering and leaving the city gate were scouts delivering messages.

Inside the government office, Chen State general Zhang Zhaoda sat at the upper seat with a solemn expression, while the other generals stood in two rows, all looking somewhat unnatural.

Chunyu Liang's defection had a huge impact on the soldiers in the city.

Zhang Zhaoda was a little hesitant to trust these people, so he had to use his own confidants to divide their troops. However, doing so only exacerbated the generals' anxiety.

First it was Huang Fachi, then Chunyu Liang, who will be the next?

Zhang Zhaoda spent a lot of effort to appease these soldiers, offering them various rewards and incentives in an attempt to restore their morale.

However, perhaps because he was too tired, Zhang Zhaoda's physical condition began to deteriorate.

Zhang Zhaoda was known as a romantic general who could not live without wine and women.

He had fallen off his horse in the past due to drunkenness, and his eyes were injured in the subsequent war. His left eye had very poor vision and he could hardly see anything.

He had been fine in the past, but at this most critical moment, his condition began to deteriorate, and all the injuries he had suffered over the years seemed to break out at the same time.

This made him extremely painful. He realized that he might not be able to stay here for long, so he hurriedly sent someone to Jiankang to write a letter requesting a replacement.

The reply letter from Jiankang actually comforted Zhang Zhaoda, telling him not to worry, saying that the emperor had great trust in him and asked him to just focus on commanding the army.

Zhang Zhaoda guessed that the emperor was probably afraid of ending up like Huang, Chunyu and others, so he pretended to be sick and wanted to leave.

But Zhang Zhaoda was indeed not pretending to be sick. He clearly felt that his condition was getting worse. From head to toe, there was no part that did not hurt.

But now, Zhang Zhaoda could only endure the pain and summon all the generals to discuss important matters.

"The Han people have sent out troops."

"Scouts reported that the commander seems to be Gao Changgong."

"He is Gao Yanzong's elder brother."

To these people, Gao Yanzong is more familiar than Gao Changgong.

"He is leading a hundred thousand troops and is heading towards Xinling. Your Majesty has ordered us to stop them from capturing the Zhou city."

There was silence in the room, and no one spoke.

Zhang Zhaoda then said, "Don't panic, everyone. The number of 100,000 includes civilians and auxiliary soldiers. In my opinion, there are only 20,000 to 30,000 people."

After Zhang Zhaoda finished speaking, everyone remained quiet and no one spoke.

Zhang Zhaoda sighed deeply, his eyes swept over everyone one by one, and finally stopped on Xiao Mohe.

Xiao Mohe was the general he valued most.

He also felt that he was a general who could shoulder important responsibilities in the future.

Zhang Zhaoda looked at him and said slowly, "General Xiao, are you willing to lead the troops to the battle?"

Xiao Mohe looked at him, "General, do you want me to send troops to fight Gao Changgong?"

"That's not the case. We are not going to engage in direct battle with the Han people. We are going to make them afraid to attack the Zhou Kingdom with all their might. You just need to lead the army close to the Han army to alert them."

"What if they come to beat me?"

"You can fight back."

Xiao Mohe saluted him and said, "Okay, I am willing to go to the battle."

As Xiao Mohe spoke, there was no excitement or other emotions on his face. He looked as if he was just going through the motions, with a dull expression.

The incident between Huang Fachi and Chunyu Liang was quite a blow to Xiao Mohe.

Xiao Mohe couldn't understand why this was happening and he fell into a state of confusion.

Zhang Zhaoda did not dare to delay, so he asked everyone else to leave, leaving only Xiao Mohe.

Looking at Xiao Mohe who remained silent, Zhang Zhaoda pondered for a long time, and then said, "There are hidden reasons behind Chunyu Liang's affairs. You are still young and cannot understand the truth behind them."

"But the court has always had high hopes for you."

"I have written to His Majesty to tell him about your talents."

As Zhang Zhaoda spoke, a look of pain appeared on his face.

"I have been feeling unwell lately and I am afraid I may not live long."

"I know you have a lot of dissatisfaction in your heart, but despite this, you must not forget that the Southland is the right one!!!"

Zhang Zhaoda's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth and said, "That Qihai's real name is the King of Han, but he is actually a Hu thief!"

"When the barbarians entered the country, we left our clothing and customs in the south, preserved the legitimate rule, and did not let the barbarians take over the world!"

"No matter what, we can't just watch these barbarians grow stronger, let alone watch them destroy the orthodoxy! We can't just watch them destroy our foundation!!"

"If we lose and the Southern Kingdom is destroyed, won't the world really fall into the hands of the Hu people?"

"The people of our Southern Country each have their own heritage!"

"Your ancestor, Xiao, once assisted our great ancestor in making great contributions, and my ancestor, Zhang, also fought to the death for the country."

As Zhang Zhaoda was speaking, a lot of blood suddenly spurted out of his nose and spilled onto the ground. His face looked increasingly ferocious, but his eyes were so calm. It was a rather complicated expression.

"We must not let the Northern Barbarians exterminate our race!! I have entrusted you with a great task. If I die of illness in my bed, I will ask you to lead the army. You must, must protect the country!!"

Xiao Mohe was finally moved at this time.

He bowed again.

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)