Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 165: Fighting
"It looks like we can't defend Linzhou anymore."

"But it's okay. Linzhou doesn't have many people. At worst, we can just move the people to Weizhou. Weizhou alone can be sold for a good price!"

Inside the yamen, Lu Ruyue tried her best to appease Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui, but they didn't think so in their hearts.

"Half a month is not enough time to relocate the people!"

Zhe Buhui looked unhappy, and Shang Yanxin echoed him, "That's right!"

Seeing the two of them say this, Lu Ruyue also became a little annoyed: "Then what do you think we should do?"

"If you can hold on to Daxia, then everything will be fine, but you can't hold on to it now."

"At worst, we can leave the slaves behind and retreat to Weizhou with our troops and families."

"It's impossible that Linzhou doesn't even have a few thousand draft horses, right?!"

Lu Ruyue proposed another solution, staring at Zhe Bu Luo.

Seeing this, Zhe Bu Luo could only look at Shang Yanxin, then nodded and said, "It's just that the families and herds of the soldiers can be evacuated."

"But I'm worried that Liu Jilong will attack the city prematurely. Then..."

He didn't continue talking, but Shang Yanxin understood what he meant. He was just putting pressure on himself.

"In that case, move your family and herd immediately!"

Shang Yanxin still had more than 20,000 dan of grain in his hands, so there would be no problem for him and his men to hold out until Xue Kui came to Weizhou for assistance.

"Okay!" Lu Ruyue said in a deep voice: "In that case, we will first move our families to Weizhou, then prepare enough horses and soldiers to withdraw, leaving these slaves to feed Liu Jilong a few thousand mouths!"

Lu Ruyue had his own thoughts. He was worried that he was not strong enough and would not be taken seriously by the Tang court.

However, if he could get Zhe Buhui and Shang Yanxin to go to Weizhou together, the situation would be different.

If the Tang court wants to govern Weizhou by then, the three of them will inevitably be needed to contribute, and they can also set their own prices.

Thinking of this, he began to urge the monk Zhe Buhui to come to Yanxin.

The two men did not delay and quickly sent more than a hundred elite cavalry to Didao, and notified the foreign troops in Changle to start migrating.

"Boom bang bang-"

Time passes, but the Longxi army's offensive will not stop.

The dull sound of falling rocks continued one after another, and people inside and outside the city were in panic.

No matter who it is, once they see the 200-pound falling rock, they will not think that they can hold out for long.

In just one day, the walls of the West City were dotted with numerous dents, and the collapsed sand and soil was enough to fill the moat.

"These guys are really just building a turtle shell."

Shang Duoluo's voice came from outside the tent. Soon he opened the curtain of the tent and bowed to Liu Jilong, who was in the main seat, and said:

"Provincial Governor, I'm here to take over the shift!"

"Okay!" Li Ji stood up and said impatiently, "There are still more than 30 barrels of stone fat. Watch how I burn the camp tonight!"

He used the idioms he had learned while studying in Wuquan. Shang Duoluo smiled and said, "Don't worry, the soldiers are eating. Give them a rest."

After saying that, he walked to his seat and sat down, joking with Zhang Chang, Huke Siguang and others beside him.

Liu Jilong did not join in their banter, but sat in the main seat, writing documents.

Soon, the food was served and Liu Jilong just stopped writing.

He looked up at the people waiting for him to start eating, then picked up his bowl and chopsticks and ate while saying:
"I calculated that we now have two passes and three cities, and nearly 200,000 shi of grain."

"This may seem like a lot of food, but the more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians under my rule all need to eat, and just eating will consume 140,000 or 150,000 shi of food."

"Today we threw 200 kilograms of rocks, I'm afraid Shang Yanxin and the others would have been frightened to death by now."

"I'm worried that they will retreat to Weizhou. If they really do, they would have already started arranging troops and escorting their families to retreat."

"By then, they should abandon the slaves in Linzhou, increasing our logistical burden."

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Shang Duoluo asked, "Then what should we do?"

"They no longer have the will to fight to the death. The final battlefield will probably be in Weizhou."

While Liu Jilong was explaining, he looked at Hu Siguang and said, "Hu Siguang, after you finish your meal, lead two hundred elite cavalrymen, each with two horses, and take a detour to Changle."

"If nothing unexpected happens, the foreign soldiers in Changle will withdraw in the next few days."

"I should have listened to you at the beginning and divided my troops to attack Changle, but it's not too late now. I should be able to pick up Changle City for free."

Liu Jilong admitted his mistake to everyone. After all, he was not a god, and it was normal for him to misjudge the situation. Fortunately, there was still a chance to make up for it.

"You didn't expect them to withdraw, Governor. Besides, we are just blind cats catching dead mice."

Shang Duoluo took the lead in comforting Liu Jilong, but Liu Jilong smiled and said, "No need for comfort."

"Zhang Chang, you will lead a hundred elite cavalrymen and a thousand civilians to retreat to Baohan tomorrow. Have Ma Cheng prepare five thousand dan of grain and you will take it back to Linzhou."

"This batch of grain must be used to appease the people in the three cities of Linzhou. We cannot be careless."

"After you take Changle, Hu Siguang, leave a hundred cavalry to garrison there, and take the remaining hundred cavalry to Didao to meet us."

"I obey your command!" Zhang Chang and Hukui Guang bowed in response and then buried their heads in eating.

Not long after, after Hu Si Guang finished his meal, he gathered two hundred elite cavalrymen and took a detour to Changle County.

At dawn the next day, Zhang Chang returned to Hezhou with a hundred elite cavalrymen, a thousand civilians and horse-drawn carriages as he had promised the night before.

However, Liu Jilong did not allow them to take the flags away, so the flags in the camp remained the same as yesterday. General Lin Ruzhen did not know that Liu Jilong had divided his troops.

Over the next few days, the walls of Daxia City became increasingly dilapidated, and the notches gradually turned into gaps. Lin Ruzhen would have to mobilize the civilians to repair the walls despite being pelted with stones.

This situation continued until August 20th, when sections of the western city wall collapsed because the gap in the wall could not be repaired.

As gaps appeared in the city wall, the catapults of the Longxi army began to attack these gaps and widen them.

"Chiliben!"

An urgent call came from outside the yamen, and a dusty and dusty official trotted into the courtyard and quickly saluted Shang Yanxin and the other two.

"Protector Lin Ru sent me to deliver the news that three gaps appeared in the west city wall, the widest of which is nearly three meters wide."

"Protector Linru, please ask Qiliben to be prepared. The Han slaves may attack the city wall today!"

"What?" Lu Ruyue was surprised. "It's only the sixth day. How come there is such a wide gap in the city wall?"

"The Han slaves' catapults are powerful and the city walls can't withstand them..." Jie'er explained with a bitter face.

Seeing this, Lu Ruyue also looked at Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui: "According to the time, the letter should have been delivered to Qinzhou."

"I'm afraid we can't hold Linzhou anymore. Why don't we retreat to Weizhou at night?"

"Wait a little longer!" Zhe Buhui said unwillingly, "The armies haven't come into direct contact yet. If we can stop them, we can also consume more of Liu Jilong's troops and it will be safer on the road to Weizhou."

"If we can't stop them, it won't be too late to withdraw at night!"

"Okay!" Lu Ruyue agreed, and Shang Yanxin could only nod.

Once upon a time, he was the one in charge among the three, but now he can only follow blindly.

While thinking, the three of them prepared to fight and then retreat if the fight turned out to be unfavorable.

What disappointed them was that Liu Jilian did not order a violent attack, but continued to use catapults to widen the gap in the city wall from a distance.

At the same time, when Shang Yanxin and his men were making full preparations, the light cavalry they sent out also arrived at the Qinzhou territory.

"Get off the official road!"

"drive……"

Under the scorching sun, scolding and cursing echoed on the streets of Chengji County, Qinzhou.

Those foreign people who were walking recklessly on the official road were driven away by cavalrymen wearing Ming armor, and behind the cavalrymen in Ming armor were more than a dozen light cavalrymen dressed in Tibetan costumes.

Due to the inconvenience of information dissemination, various forces in Longxi and Hexi regarded the Qinzhou regulations as the regulations during the Tianbao period, and believed that the Qinzhou government was still in Shanggui County.

However, the reality is that after the Tang Dynasty recaptured Qinzhou, considering the ruin of Shanggui, it returned the provincial capital to Chengji County.

Because of this operation of the Tang Dynasty, the light cavalry of Linwei made a trip to Shanggui in vain, wasted an extra day, and arrived in Chengji County.

"Get off your horse, and follow me in to see Xue Zhuguo!"

When they arrived in front of the yamen, a captain of the Tianxiong Army dismounted and used his whip to signal the captain of the Linwei cavalry to dismount and follow him.

The captain also knew that he had a request for help, so he did not put on airs. Instead, he lowered his head and followed the captain into the Qinzhou government office.

Soon, they passed through the main hall and arrived outside the inner hall.

Standing at the door, they could see that the inner hall was filled with officials of the seventh rank and above, and the official sitting in the main seat was wearing a second rank purple robe.

"Zhuguo, the people are here!"

"Um……"

The captain bowed and the senior official in purple robe nodded and signaled him to bring his men in.

The captain led the captain into the inner hall and introduced the purple-robed official in Tibetan in front of many officials: "This is Xue Zhuguo!"

Different from Shang Yanxin and others who called Xue Kui "Governor" in a vulgar way, the captain of Tianxiong Army called Xue Kui "Pillar of the State", showing his honor.

As a high-ranking official guarding Qinzhou and holding the military power of Longzhou, Xue Kui came from a prominent family. He was a close friend of Du Mu, who was known as "Little Li Du", and was fully trusted by Emperor Li Chen.

Xue Kui was about fifty years old, and had the demeanor of a scholar-official. Seeing the captain saluting him, Xue Kui stroked his beard and asked, "Why did Shang Yanxin send you to see me?"

"My family Qi Li originally planned to submit to the governor of Lin and Wei states, hoping that the governor would accept us!" The captain of the hundred households was very respectful, but Xue Kui frowned and said:
"As far as I know, Shang Yanxin should be stationed in Hezhou. Why didn't he offer three states, but only two?"

Xue Kui's words were translated by the captain to the captain, who was a little embarrassed when he heard it: "Hezhou has been occupied by Liu Jilong of Lanzhou, so it is not included in the list of offerings."

"What did you say?!" Upon hearing the centurion's words, the Qinzhou officials in the left and right rows were stunned.

They didn't expect that the imperial court had just checked the Hexi Guiyi Army not long ago, and Liu Jilian was not disturbed and took Hezhou from Shang Yanxin.

Of course, they didn't know that it was so easy for Liu Jilong to capture Hezhou. After all, in their opinion, Shang Yanxin was still the same fierce general he was a few years ago. Because of this, they all felt it was difficult and turned their attention to Xue Kui.

Xue Kui was calm and composed. Even when he learned that Hezhou was occupied by Liu Jilong, he did not panic. He just asked in a deep voice after everyone quieted down:
"Did Shang Yanxin surrender to the court because of Liu Jilong, or did he simply want to surrender to the court?"

"This... of course means that they hope to surrender to the imperial court."

Xue Kui's question was a trap. When he saw the captain hesitated, he made a decision in his heart.

"This is a serious matter. I need to discuss this matter with you. Please step aside for now."

He temporarily dismissed the captains and centurions, then turned his gaze to the crowd: "This thief's words are very veiled. If my prediction is correct, Shang Yanxin may not be able to withstand Liu Jilong's strong attack, so he chose to surrender to the court."

"What are you waiting for? Send troops to take over Linwei and Weizhou now!"

"Don't worry, Li Biejia..."

A 30-year-old strong man spoke first, but before Xue Kui could reply, a 30-year-old eunuch with a pale face and no beard interrupted him:
"The surrender of Linwei Prefecture to the imperial court is something we are naturally happy about, but no matter what, we need to present a memorial to the Supreme."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces turned grim. Even Xue Kui said with a dark face, "Liu Jilong will soon recapture Linwei and Weizhou. If we wait to submit a memorial to the Supreme, I'm afraid we won't have enough time..."

"Then I don't care!" The eunuch said coldly: "Anyway, no matter how big or small the matter is, you need to inform the Supreme!"

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for anyone to interrupt him, he continued, "It's only 700 miles from Chengji to Chang'an. If we rush, it can be delivered in two days at most."

"This is a matter that only takes four days, do you really not want to report it to the Supreme?"

After he put this accusation on him, no official in the inner hall dared to refute him.

Even Xue Kui could not help but say with a cold face: "In this case, send an urgent message now to report to the Supreme Lord that Linwei and Weizhou have requested to submit and Liu Jilong has recovered Hezhou!"

He didn't want to waste time, so he had to patiently send out an expedited one.

However, while agreeing to send an expedited dispatch, he also turned his attention to the chief official surnamed Li who had stepped forward earlier.

"While submitting this memorial to the Supreme, please ask Li Changshi to prepare food and fodder, and the army to prepare to march to Weizhou!"

"Your subordinate receives the order..."

Xue Kui and the other man sang the same tune, not caring at all about the eunuch's chance to intervene.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone stood up and walked out one after another, not even giving him a chance to speak.

Soon, the light cavalry, carrying Xue Kui's letter, galloped towards Chang'an, and the entire Qinzhou's Tianxiong Army was also mobilized.

But while they were waiting for news, Liu Jilian had also made all preparations to take over Linzhou.

At noon the next day, as the thirty-nine catapults outside the city stopped moving, five hundred fully armed elite cavalrymen and one thousand armored soldiers began to line up.

"Woo-"

Amid the anxious shouts, the horn representing the attack sounded, and the Longxi army advanced under the command of Liu Jilong.

The Great Xia City in front of them no longer had the grandeur and majesty it once had.

Three gaps were smashed into the 300-step city wall, one large and two small. The large gap was 70 to 80 feet wide, and the small gaps were each 40 to 50 feet wide.

Facing the horn sounding outside the city, the already exhausted Lin Ruzhen drew the long sword from his waist and encouraged the demoralized soldiers:

"The Han people are about to attack. Their catapults are powerful, but they are weak and short-handed. They are no match for us!"

"All soldiers put on their armor and line up to fight off the Han people!!"

With his encouragement, the civilians began to help the foreign soldiers put on their armor, and the foreign soldiers lined up behind the gap with guns in hand.

The sand and soil of the collapsed city wall became natural steps. The Longxi army, led by Liu Jilian, marched towards the gap with heavy steps and great momentum.

The soldiers pushed the carts filled with sand and gravel, and soon they approached the moat.

"One, two... push!!"

Dozens of carts were pushed into the moat one after another, creating a road in the moat in an instant.

All the armored soldiers crossed the moat by stepping on the sand and gravel on the carts, while the sheep-horn wall on the east bank had long been destroyed into ruins by catapults.

In the army, Liu Jilian looked back and saw that the 1,500 infantry and cavalry troops quickly crossed the moat, which was less than three meters wide, and lined up on the east bank and headed towards the widest gap.

"Screw rustle..."

The rustling of armor became the only sound before the battle, and the gap was just around the corner.

As the leader of the team, Shang Duoluo drew out the golden hammer from his waist and shouted: "Recover Daxia and liberate Linzhou, today is the day!"

"kill--"

Shouts of killing rang out at this moment, and Shang Duoluo, leading two infantry regiments, rushed to the gap first. In front of them was the long spear formation of the foreign soldiers.

"kill!!"

The shouting gave them strength, and they rushed towards the spear formation one after another.

The light shield soldiers were in the front, followed by the short weapons. Liu Jilian led the elite cavalry to shoot arrows outside the gap to suppress the foreign soldiers.

"Stay calm and hold on!"

General Lin Ruzhen commanded the foreign soldiers to fill the line, and the two armies fought at the gap.

"Recover Daxia and liberate Linzhou!!"

"Dog Hannu!"

"Fangou! Your grandfather is here!"

Shouting, cursing and screaming filled everyone's ears, but more often there was the clanging of weapons clashing.

Under the scorching sun, two teams, one brown and one silver, collided with each other, and flesh and blood collided on the defense line.

One person falls, another takes his place...

The two armies were very similar, the only difference was that when a soldier of the Longxi Army fell, there would often be a soldier responsible for dragging him away from the battlefield, but there was no such person in the Linwei Fan Army.

Once their men fell, they were trampled to death by the armored soldiers of both sides.

"kill!!"

The blunt weapon hit Shang Duo Luo's chest. His eyes went dark, but he quickly came to his senses and quickly retreated.

The ball of cloth hidden inside his breastplate saved his life. After catching his breath in the rear, he continued to prepare for the attack.

At this time, they have already established a firm foothold in Daxia City, and the team pouring into the city is constantly expanding!

General Lin Ruzhen noticed this and immediately led his team to the front with a knife in hand.

Zhang Chang held the golden hammer and smashed it on the face of the foreign soldier in front of him.

The flesh on his cheeks swelled and turned purple with every breath, and his yellow teeth, roots and blood, flew out.

Some new recruits who couldn't adapt were nauseated while fighting hard.

"Beep--"

Suddenly, a shrill whistle sounded and the sound of horse hooves was heard from the gap.

"kill!!"

After the infantry gained a foothold, the elite cavalry of the Longxi Army continued to pour into the city along the gap, and the most conspicuous among them was Liu Jilong.

He led his elite cavalry into the city and charged towards General Lin Ruzhen's flag.

Street fighting is not advantageous for cavalry, but facing the flag with the word "Liu" on it, many foreign soldiers could not help but show their fear.

"Liu Jilong is under the banner. Anyone who kills Liu Jilong will be rewarded with 10,000 heads of cattle!!"

General Lin Ruzhen roared about the reward, but facing the big banner rushing towards them, the foreign soldiers surrounding him were furious and kept retreating.

"Bam—"

The elite cavalry broke into the scattered formation, exposing a gap in the already unstable Linwei Fan army. The Longxi infantry covered the two wings of the elite cavalry to expand the results of the battle.

"Retreat to the government office! Retreat to the government office!!"

Seeing that the formation was disrupted, General Lin Ruzhen did not care about holding on and immediately began to command the army to retreat.

He still made the same mistake he made at the Donggu Pass, which was to overestimate the experience and discipline of his soldiers.

The military discipline and experience of the foreign troops did not support their calm and organized retreat.

On the way of retreat, they often lost their footing due to their haste to retreat, and were gradually caught up and killed by the Longxi army.

Gradually, they no longer paid attention to their formation, and the appearance of the elite cavalry from Longxi brought them to the brink of collapse.

"Buzz rumbling..."

"Beep--"

"kill!!"

Liu Jilian led his elite cavalry to catch up with the foreign soldiers who were already on the verge of collapse, and galloped forward on horseback.

Relying on the strength of his arms and holding a long hammer, he rushed left and right in the formation, causing the foreign soldiers who were already on the verge of collapse to collapse completely.

"Get out of the way! Stay out of the way!"

"Get out of here, motherfucker!"

"Hold on! Hold on!"

"Run!"

The appearance of Liu Jilian became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the foreign soldiers.

A planned retreat turned into a rout halfway through. Even if Lin Ruzhen shouted at the top of his lungs, he could not stop the rout.

The foreign soldiers were chased by the Longxi army and were defeated...

(End of this chapter)