Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 171 Who will win?
"Screw rustle..."

On the sixth day of September, while Liu Jilian was attacking Longxi fiercely, Fuqiang County, more than a hundred miles away from Longxi, became a military city.

The sound of rustling footsteps could be heard inside and outside the city. Food and armor were all loaded onto carts, and thousands of civilians were eagerly waiting.

Against this backdrop, the Shence Army, which had been traveling from east to west on ox carts and horse carriages, finally arrived at the floating bridge.

From then on, the number of Fuqiang's elite cavalry and armored soldiers reached 7,000.

"Gao Pian, the Yuhou of the Divine Strategy Army, has met with Xue Zhuguo and Wang Dujian..."

Outside the west city of Fuqiang, Gao Pian, wearing armor, stood in front of the gate of the military camp and bowed to the cold-faced Xue Kui and the smiling Wang Zonghui.

He arrived at Fuqiang seven days as agreed, bringing with him three thousand Shen Ce soldiers and four thousand chariot-driving civilians.

"Since we are here, let's cook some food and set off for Weizhou after noon!"

Xue Kui spoke in a deep voice with a cold expression.

Of course, he was not being rude to Gao Pian, but was simply dissatisfied with the court's arrangements.

Gao Pian came from a prominent family. His grandfather was Gao Chongwen, a famous minister who defeated Tubo and stabilized Western Shu. He was enshrined in the court of Emperor Xianzong together with Pei Du, Du Huangshang and Li Su. Naturally, Xue Kui had to give him some face. What's more, Gao Pian's wife was the great-granddaughter of Guo Ziyi of Taiyuan Guo family.

Therefore, although he couldn't put on a good expression at first, his tone softened a little.

Wang Zonghui sneered at his expression and tone, but Gao Pian was very respectful: "I will obey your orders..."

"Okay, since we are going to set off, I will go and pack my things."

Wang Zonghui was too lazy to look at Xue Kui's old face, so after telling where he was going, he turned around and left.

Xue Kui snorted coldly upon seeing this, and then looked at Gao Pian: "Qianli, you are from a famous family, you must not let down the reputation of your Gao family for generations."

"Don't worry, Zhuguo, Qianli knows what to do." When Gao Pian saw that Wang Zonghui had walked away, he called himself Xue Kui by his courtesy name to show his closeness when talking to him.

Seeing his modesty, Xue Kui calmed down and asked, "How do you think of the troops of the Shen Ce Army you selected?"

He didn't specify what the "how" was, but Gao Pian knew it very well.

Today's Shence Army is no longer the powerful force it once was.

After Emperor Muzong, the Shence Army seldom went out to fight, and military discipline deteriorated. The soldiers in the army changed from the frontier soldiers who were good at fighting in the past to the children of wealthy businessmen who were no longer capable of fighting.

Although the Shence Army currently has 150,000 soldiers, not many of them are capable of fighting, which resulted in the Tang court spending several years to appease even the small Dangxiang tribe.

"Don't worry, Zhuguo. These three thousand Shen Ce soldiers are all soldiers I carefully selected from the left army. Most of them are children of good families and veteran generals in the army."

"Before the army set out from the capital, the court gave each soldier 30 strings of cash as a pre-trip comfort fee, and the army's morale was high!"

Gao Pian briefly introduced the composition of the 3,000 Shen Ce troops under his command, and reiterated that the court had given money to boost morale.

These things may seem unimportant, but they are particularly important in the current context.

The sons of wealthy families cherish their lives rather than give up their wealth, while the sons of good families sacrifice their lives because of their poverty.

If the money given for departure is sufficient, there will be no request for resettlement expenses before the war.

Only by doing these two things well can we ensure that this so-called Shen Ce Army dares to fight and fight.

"Okay, okay... With your three thousand Shen Ce troops, plus my three thousand Tian Xiong troops, I am not afraid of any tricks that Shang Yanxin and his men might play."

Xue Kui was seldom happy, so he stroked his beard and said, "You go and rest first. After the soldiers have finished their meal, we will set out for Weizhou."

"I am honored to receive your order from afar!" Gao Pian remained humble, which made Xue Kui look at him with even more appreciation.

Not long after, Gao Pian took two generals to look for Wang Zonghui, but Wang Zonghui was in a yard somewhere in Fuqiang County, watching the servants pack up their things leisurely.

"Wang Dujian..."

Gao Pian came to the main hall with two generals, and the three of them bowed respectfully.

Seeing this, Wang Zonghui looked at the three men. Among them, Gao Pian had a handsome appearance and a short beard. He was not tall, but was of average build.

The two guards standing behind him were one over six feet tall, the other nearly six feet tall, both of them were strong and muscular.

"Marquis Gao Yu actually still remembers me. This really makes me flattered."

As soon as Wang Zonghui opened his mouth, Gao Pian knew that he was unhappy because he had stayed with Xue Kui for too long.

Seeing this, Gao Pian said calmly, "Qianli wanted to follow the governor just now, but Xue Zhuguo talked to Qianli about the march, so he was delayed."

Gao Pian explained himself, and Wang Zonghui stopped being pretentious and said slowly:
"I delayed Xue Kui's departure until now, just to wait for you to lead the Shen Ce Army to come."

"You don't need to work too hard in this battle, just go through the process calmly."

"My elder brother told me that after this trip, I can submit a petition to promote you to the rank of Du Yu Hou."

"Thank you for your kindness, Chief Supervisor." Gao Pian continued to bow upon hearing this, and Wang Zonghui also waved his hand upon seeing this:

"Okay, you must have come a long way and you're tired. We'll have to move camp and go out to fight soon. Go and rest first."

"I'm leaving after a thousand miles..."

Upon hearing this, Gao Pian bowed again and then slowly left the yard.

Not long after, he and two guards mounted their horses and rode out of Fuqiang. The taller guard spoke first:

"These officials have so many things to do. We came here to fight, but ended up like visiting a temple."

"Zhang Lin!" The general next to him frowned and signaled him not to be so presumptuous.

Seeing this, Zhang Lin could only shut up, and then curled his lips in dissatisfaction.

Seeing Zhang Lin's dissatisfaction, Gao Pian then said, "It's an important task, so there's no need to blame Wu Lang."

"Yes..." Upon hearing this, the general who was given an important task lowered his head quickly, and Zhang Lin no longer pouted.

Gao Pian took the two of them back to the temporary base of the Shence Army, and after having a full meal, they set out westward with the Tianxiong Army.

The army of 6,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians stretched for several miles, with the best soldiers riding on horses and leading the horses behind them.

Their infantrymen rode in horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts, with their armor and gear placed beside them, making them feel particularly relaxed.

Unfortunately, it was already noon when they set out, so they had to stop and set up camp after marching only thirty miles.

While they were setting up camp, the Longxi Fan army, which had been attacked by the Longxi army's catapults, was able to breathe a sigh of relief, but the city wall became even more dilapidated.

"While it's still dark, light a torch and go up to repair the gap in the city wall!"

Lin Ruzhen, who had hurried back from the south of the city, gave stern orders, forcing many civilians to hold torches and go to the top of the city.

They used hanging baskets to lift baskets of clay and used the clay to repair the gaps in the city wall.

According to past experience, the Longxi army would not continue to attack with catapults after nightfall, so they dared to light torches for illumination.

But as they lit the torches, the whistling sound of stones was heard again in the night.

"The rocks are coming! Take cover!"

"Get down!!"

"Boom bang bang-"

Huge rocks weighing hundreds of pounds hit the city walls and the horse path, and for a moment there were continuous wailing sounds, and it was obvious that someone was injured.

But in this situation, no one dared to save anyone, and everyone ran towards the city.

"Boom bang bang-"

The sound of stone throwing continued for an hour until the fire in the gap was extinguished, and then the stone throwing stopped.

In the following days, any civilian who dared to go up to the horse road and light a torch to repair the gap would be hit hard by stones.

Lin Ruzhen tried to let the laborers repair it by feel, but they couldn't find the gap at all in the dark road, not to mention that most of the laborers suffered from night blindness.

In desperation, Lin Ruzhen could only ask them to continue increasing the thickness of the inner city wall.

After just one day of fierce attacks, the cracks on the inner city wall that were sunken and exploded were too wide to be repaired.

Lin Ruzhen saw it all and was anxious, but there was nothing she could do.

The night passed quickly, and as the sky gradually brightened, the Longxi army outside the city began to operate the catapults again.

This time, they pushed the trebuchet forward fifty steps, just fifty steps away from the city wall.

A two hundred kilogram boulder was thrown out, drew an arc in the air, and then hit the city wall heavily.

A dull "bang" sound was heard, and a gap was seen collapsed, with sand and soil pouring into the city.

"Aim at that gap. Today we can only create one gap that can be attacked by force. Don't delay any longer!"

On horseback, Shang Duoluo gave orders calmly.

Under his command, fifty catapults were aimed at the gap that had just been completely smashed open, and they continued to throw stones in that direction.

The dull sound continued to be heard, and the gap was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

During this period, Lin Ruzhen will continue to send people to repair it, but their repair speed is far slower than the destruction speed of fifty catapults.

"Boom bang bang-"

"Uh-huh!!"

Screams were heard from the horse path, and some pieces of meat fell from the path, making the foreign soldiers guarding the city feel a chill.

Blood flowed into the city along the gap, and most of the laborers who were forcibly conscripted died while repairing the horse road.

Seeing that the gap was getting bigger and bigger, even to the point where it was difficult to repair, Lin Ruzhen could only tightly grasp the hilt of the knife at his waist and prepare to hold on.

While he was getting ready, the camp south of the city was bustling with activity.

The herds, baggage, women and children were moved to the south of the Wei River, and everyone's eyes were filled with confusion.

At this time, two light cavalry suddenly appeared on the Qin Wei official road.

One light cavalry carried the Tibetan flag, and the other carried the Tang Dynasty's Sanchen flag.

The foreign cavalry, accompanied by the Tang cavalry, protected them as they crossed the bridge and arrived at the south of Longxi city.

"What's going on? Didn't you say you could hold out for ten days? Why did you all retreat to Longxi?!"

The commander of the Tianxiong Army questioned the foreign cavalry Xiaojieer, who replied, "My Qiliben will give you an answer!"

Hearing this, the commander of the light cavalry brigade sent by the Tianxiong Army could only suppress his temper and follow Xiaojieer to the tent.

Soon, they arrived at the place where the tent was located, lifted the curtain and walked in.

"Qiliben, this is the commander sent by Governor Xue of Qinzhou." Xiaojieer saluted and introduced the commander of the Tianxiong Army in front of the tent. Lu Ruyue, who was waiting anxiously, heard Xiaojieer's words and quickly stood up and said, "Please come in!"

After all, Lu Ruyue and Shang Yanxin were of aristocratic birth, so they naturally knew some Mandarin.

They invited the brigade commander to come into the tent, and then asked, "Where is Governor Xue now?"

"Our army is less than 40 miles away from Longxi, but before that, I want to ask why the three military governors were defeated so quickly?"

The brigade commander's face did not look very good. After all, the news they received was that the entire Weizhou was still in the hands of Shang Yanxin and Lu Ruyue.

But now it seems that they have all been defeated by Liu Jilian and pushed to Longxi, and he has already arranged for people to cross the river. It is obvious that they cannot defend Longxi and are ready to flee.

"I will tell Governor Xue about this matter. Besides, as you have seen, the entire population of Weizhou is basically in Longxi. I will drive them across the river now."

"As long as the person is in our hands, Weizhou can be recaptured at any time!"

Lu Ruyue's words actually have some meaning of "If you keep the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost; if you keep the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will be kept."

Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui could not reach his level, so they were still worried about the loss of territory and fantasized about relying on the Tang Dynasty to defeat Liu Jilong.

"You want to withdraw your troops?"

The commander of the brigade understood what Lu Ruyue meant and said in astonishment, "It's only forty miles away. We can arrive tomorrow morning at the latest. Can't you even hold on for that little time?"

As if to verify his words, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded outside the tent, and then a elite cavalryman dismounted and walked quickly into the tent to salute.

"Qiliben, a breach has been made in the north wall. I'm afraid Liu Jilong is about to launch a violent attack!"

"Tell General Lin Ruzhen to take everyone and retreat south. Don't worry about Longxi City!"

Lu Ruyue needs to preserve his strength. Only when he has enough soldiers can he demonstrate his value and let Xue Kui ask for help.

Defending Longxi City would only damage his strength, which is far less practical than taking people to join Xue Kui!
Thinking of this, Lu Ruyue urged: "Why don't you go quickly?!"

"Yes!" After a moment of surprise, the elite cavalry hurriedly walked out of the tent, and Lu Ruyue also glanced at everyone and said:

"Everyone retreat to the south bank of the Wei River now and wait for the order to cut off the bridge!"

As he spoke, Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui chose to carry out the order even though they were reluctant.

As for the commander of the Tianxiong Army, he walked out of the tent, mounted his horse and headed back to Fuqiang.

He had to tell his own pillar of state about the military situation here so that he could make preparations early.

"Boom bang bang-"

In the north of Longxi City, the sound of stones being thrown continued, and Lin Ruzhen's palms were sweating.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves was heard. He hurriedly turned around to look, and saw that the elite cavalry he had sent out had returned.

"What does Chiliben say!"

"Protector General, Qiliben ordered you to lead the soldiers and civilians in the city to retreat to the south bank of the Wei River!"

"it is good!"

After a while, Lin Ruzhen agreed without any hesitation.

Holding on to Longxi is a dead end. No matter whether there is news from Qinzhou or not, we must break out first. At worst, we can go to Longnan and head to Duomai.

With the population, food and troops they had, it was not a problem for them to seize a piece of land in Duomai.

As for surrendering to Liu Jilian, they still have some dignity left and would never do such a thing.

"All troops, listen up! Retreat to the ferry and cross the pontoon bridge!"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Ruzhen lowered his voice, and his military orders were like the sound of nature to the foreign troops and civilians under the city wall.

There was no need for Lin Ruzhen to make too many arrangements. This group of people spontaneously drove the few remaining civilians in the city to the south gate, no longer caring about the concentrated attack by the Longxi army on the gap.

An hour later, Liu Jilong, who came out of the yamen to inspect, discovered a clue.

"Why so fast? Didn't they repair the breach?"

Liu Jilong frowned and asked Zhang Chang and Shang Duoluo.

The two of them realized after hearing this: "It seems like it hasn't been repaired for more than half an hour."

"They must have been scared by the rocks thrown at them and didn't dare to go up to repair it. After all, many of their people died in the previous batch."

The two of them spoke separately, but Liu Jilong frowned and said, "I think this gap is big enough. Send a regiment of armored soldiers to take a look."

"Yes!" The two men responded, and Zhang Chang turned his horse around and ordered:
"Gather the three groups of Wuquan and follow me to attack the city!"

"Beep--"

At his call, the captain of the Wuquan Third Regiment blew the wooden whistle, and two hundred men stood up from the ground and assembled, putting on iron helmets.

Zhang Chang dismounted and led them forward.

The Longxi moat, which was not wide to begin with, had already been mostly filled up by stones and collapsed city walls, and the water barely reached the soldiers' thighs.

Soon, Zhang Chang and his two hundred men crossed the moat and began to attack by stepping on the collapsed city wall.

In front of the formation, Liu Jilong and Shang Duoluo stared at them intently, and all the soldiers in the Longxi army gathered together unconsciously. There was no need for the two to give orders, and the captains had already begun to command.

"Beep——"

"Beep……"

Suddenly, one short and two long whistles sounded, and everyone's face changed suddenly.

"The pig-dog guy actually ran away again!"

Shang Duoluo cursed angrily, then looked at Liu Jilong: "Governor, they must have gone to Zhuang County!"

Liu Jilong didn't think so, but this was not the time to argue about it: "Load the pontoon bridge and prepare to cross the river!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the gates of Longxi City opened wide and the suspension bridge was lowered by Zhang Chang and his men.

"Elite cavalry, follow my banner and pursue!"

"Beep--"

At the command, Liu Jilong shook the reins and led 600 elite cavalry to rush towards the Longxi city gate.

Seeing this, Shang Duo Luo also hurriedly said: "The infantry will ride on draft horses and escort the floating bridge to march south!"

At once, more than 600 infantrymen took action.

They turned back to the camp, rode on the draft horses used to pull the carriages, and escorted more than 30 carriages carrying the pontoon bridge southward.

Soon, the army passed through the north gate, while Liu Jilian had already rushed through the south gate.

Looking at the empty camp, Liu Jilong led 600 elite cavalrymen to chase towards the ferry in the south.

At the same time, Shang Yanxin and his men had already crossed the pontoon bridge and were anxiously waiting for Lin Ruzhen to lead his troops across the bridge.

Under their gaze, General Lin Ruzhen led the elite cavalry across the bridge first, followed by the armored soldiers, and then the foreign soldiers.

After the Fan Ding came the Han slaves and their families.

"It's been an hour. I'm afraid Liu Jilong has discovered it!"

"You bastard, you're lazy on weekdays, and now you want to dawdle, do you want to stay and deal with us with Liu Jilong?!"

Lu Ruyue made a calm judgment, while Shang Yanxin cursed the slaves.

As the Fan Ding walked across the pontoon bridge, only a small number of Fan soldiers and more than 5,000 slaves were left on the other side of the river, responsible for cutting off the pontoon bridge.

"Drive them across the river!"

Shang Yanxin was shouting and cursing. Although the foreign soldiers could not hear what he was cursing, they could guess what he meant.

They began to wave weapons to intimidate the slaves to cross the bridge. Some timid slaves crossed the bridge first, while a small number of slaves broke away from the team and fled north.

The foreign soldiers chased after them, cursing angrily, but they didn't disappear for long before they came running back from the north in a hurry.

Before Shang Yanxin and the others could figure out the situation, they saw dust rising on the north bank of the Wei River, obviously a large group of cavalry was in action.

"Liu Jilong is here, cut off the bridge and cross the river!!"

Lu Ruyue spoke in a stern voice, and the flag soldiers beside him quickly waved their flags.

Without his instruction, the foreign soldiers on the north bank of the river ran to the ferry bridge on horseback, and then swung their axes to destroy the piles that fixed the ferry bridge on the north bank.

The ferry bridge began to twist due to the washing of the Wei River, and the foreign soldiers ran towards the south bank with all their might.

As they rushed across the ferry, Lin Ruzhen immediately led his men to destroy the fixed piles, and the ferry bridge, which was more than 30 feet long, was washed downstream by the Wei River. At this time, the elite cavalry of Longxi had already appeared on the north bank.

"Haha! Liu Jilong, let me see how you cross the river!!"

"Xu..."

Shang Yanxin and Zhe Buhui laughed crazily.

On the north bank, Liu Jilong reined in his horse and looked at the ferry bridge that was washed away by the river and the huge army and civilians on the south bank.

Looking at Shang Yanxin, Zhe Buhui and others who kept provoking him, Liu Jilong tightened the reins of his horse and took the strong bow from the elite rider next to him with a cold face.

In an instant, he drew his bow and shot an arrow. Before Shang Yanxin and the others could react, the wildly laughing Zhe Buhui was shot and fell.

"Zhe Bu Hui!!"

"Ahhh...help me! Help me!!"

Shang Yanxin was so frightened that he quickly stepped back, and Zhe Buhui also grabbed the arrow that had pierced his chest and lay on the ground, crawling back.

Two armored soldiers quickly dragged him into the team, and Lu Ruyue was so scared that his face turned pale and he kept backing away.

The armor on Zhe Buhui's chest was pierced, and the arrow was mostly embedded in his chest. Blood continued to ooze out, and he was still screaming.

His fat body came in handy, preventing the arrows from causing fatal injuries to him.

Even so, the foreign soldiers around couldn't help but break out in cold sweat.

An arrow shot through most of the armor from 70 steps away. What kind of bow did Liu Jilong use? !
They all looked towards the north bank of the Wei River, and Liu Jilian handed the bow to the elite cavalry next to him.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves could be heard behind them, indicating that the carriage carrying the pontoon was about to arrive.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong pulled out the iron spear stuck beside him and looked at Shang Yanxin's big banner on the south bank of the Wei River:
"Old dog, I will kill you today to avenge Qi Liancheng!"

(End of this chapter)