Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 304: Quick Passage to Rongzhou

"Dang...dang...dang..."

At the beginning of February in the third year of Xiantong, after more than half a month of discussion, as the morning bells in Chang'an rang, many officials who had attempted to liquidate Bai Minzhong finally faced reality.

They no longer sought to liquidate Bai Minzhong, but instead tampered with Bai Minzhong's posthumous title.

Cao Ye, a doctor of Taichang, believed that Bai Minzhong "did not retreat due to illness, expelled ministers of remonstrance, and acted recklessly due to his power", and gave him the posthumous title of "Chou".

Cao Ye's remarks won the approval of countless officials, and in order to settle the matter, Li Yi finally agreed to this request.

In this way, Bai Minzhong, the cousin of Bai Juyi, the former prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, Duke of Taiyuan County, and the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Situ, was recorded in history books with the unpleasant posthumous name "Chou".

At the same time, Bai Minzhong's three sons and two sons-in-law also got some idle official positions.

The eldest son Bai Zhengfu was promoted to the position of the Secretary of the Ministry of Works, the second son Bai Chongru was promoted to the position of the Secretary of the Ministry of Proofreading, the third son Bai Kejiu was promoted to the position of the Military Assistant of Jingzhao Prefecture, and the son-in-law Huangfu Wei...

Li Yi's approach of being lenient on one hand and strict on the other not only satisfied Bai Minzhong's former political enemies, but also compensated Bai Minzhong's offspring, making everyone happy.

At least from his point of view, this situation made him very satisfied.

Therefore, after rewarding the children of the Bai family, Li Yi did not change his decision, and the former governor of Xuanwu Army, Bi Zhen, also officially entered the court as prime minister.

However, while he was dealing with Bai Minzhong's funeral, the war on the southwest front, which had been immersed in a whole winter, was reignited.

"kill!!"

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

In the territory of Rongzhou in Jiannan Road, when the shouts of killing echoed between heaven and earth, Emperor Dali You Shilong personally led a large army to the front line and gathered a force of 100,000 to attack Pinzhou.

Faced with an army of 100,000 barbarians, General Lin Ruzhen, who was stationed in Pinzhou, followed Gao Pian's military order and withdrew from Xunzhou after three days of bloody resistance.

Although the people of Pinzhou had been transferred to Xunzhou at this time, for Dali, taking over Pinzhou in three days undoubtedly made You Shilong become proud and complacent.

"Humph……"

"I have said it before, Gao Pian is just a mediocre person in the Tang court who is slightly good at fighting."

"Now that I have personally led the army here, Gao Pian has not yet shown the talent you claim he has."

"In just three days, they abandoned Pinzhou and fled to Xunzhou. The Dongchuan Army is nothing but this!"

Inside the Pinzhou government office, You Shilong looked at the messy main hall. He seemed to see the panic of the Dongchuan army when they withdrew, and he smiled.

Duan Zongbang, Du Yuanzhong and Yang Jisi, who were standing behind him, frowned.

The three of them had been confronting the Dongchuan Army led by Gao Pian for such a long time that they had long understood the tenacity of the Dongchuan Army under Gao Pian's command.

Now the Dongchuan Army retreated in panic after only defending Pinzhou for three days, which was indeed inconsistent with their understanding of the Dongchuan Army.

"Your Majesty, the Dongchuan Army has always been tenacious, but now they have fled to Xunzhou with less than 500 casualties. This is really inconsistent with their previous image."

"I think this is Gao Pian's plan to lure the enemy deeper into our territory!"

Duan Zongbang came out to answer the question by paying respect, but You Shilong snorted coldly after hearing it: "I think the generals were frightened out of their wits by Gao Pian!"

"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no intention of..."

"All right!"

Duan Zongbang wanted to explain, but was interrupted by You Shilong, who did not want to give him a chance to explain, and just began to arrange:

"Yang Qiuqing led an army of 40,000 to attack Xunzhou, with Duan Zongbang as his deputy general."

"Du Yuanzhong will be in charge of the three armies' food supplies. Yang Jisi, you will count the casualties. I will lead the remaining troops to attack Zongzhou first."

"The ministers and others lead the decree..."

Faced with the young and energetic You Shilong, everyone had no choice but to accept the arrangement.

Yu Shilong is indeed ambitious and capable, but his youth is his shortcoming.

Faced with Gao Pian, who was twice his age, his character was not enough to provoke Gao Pian.

Therefore, after he divided his troops according to Gao Pian's expectations, Gao Pian immediately mobilized his troops and prepared to take the initiative to attack.

"Xilulu!"

Outside Zongzhou City, tens of thousands of people gathered in the narrow mountain road, and leading the charge were three thousand elite armored cavalry.

The elite Dongchuan troops trained hard by Gao Pian finally came to the moment to show their prowess.

Gao Pian, wearing chain mail, rode his horse from the Zongzhou city gate towards the central army and met countless officers and soldiers along the way.

Each group of officers and soldiers had two horse-drawn carriages and two laborers.

Three thousand elite cavalry, nine thousand horsemen and nearly three thousand civilians formed the army for this battle.

Gao Pian rode his horse to a low hill and looked down at this elite force of nearly 15,000 soldiers.

"General, isn't it a bit too arrogant to attack the barbarian army of 60,000 with only 15,000 soldiers?"

At this moment, Wang Zhongren and Zhang Lin, who were following behind Gao Pian, couldn't help but become nervous.

But in the face of their nervousness, Gao Pian remained unusually calm.

"I want to use these 10,000 people to defeat the 60,000 barbarian troops head-on."

"Only in this way can the barbarians fear me as much as a tiger!"

His tone left no room for doubt, and his eyes gleamed with confidence.

"Let's go and recapture Hujin!"

Without waiting for Wang Zhongren and others to continue asking questions, Gao Pian shook the reins of his horse and galloped towards the center of the army on the official road.

Wang Zhongren and Zhang Lin quickly followed, and the army also moved at the sound of the horn.

From Zongzhou to Hujin, the distance along the official road is nearly a hundred miles.

However, for the Dongchuan army composed of elite cavalry and horsemen, this distance was only a day and a half's journey.

At noon the next day, Dali's soldiers discovered their traces thirty miles away from Hujin City.

At this time, there were only less than 5,000 barbarian soldiers in Hujin City, and the 60,000 troops led by You Shilong were still more than 80 miles away from Hujin City.

"Asshole! This Gao Pian is really cunning!"

On the official road to Hujin City, You Shilong, who was in the military carriage commanding an army of 60,000, scolded Gao Pian when he saw the urgent content.

But despite the scolding, he still calmly gave the order: "The cavalry will rush back to Hujin first. The army must arrive in Hujin before noon tomorrow!"

"I accept your order!"

More than a dozen Dali generals agreed and began to arrange for the army to march quickly to rescue Hujin City.

While they were speeding up their march, Gao Pian had already commanded the Dongchuan army to attack Hujin City.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

Outside Hujin City, fifty catapults were built. Although they were old-style counterweight catapults that had long been eliminated by the Longyou Army, Gao Pian still kept them as treasures.

Even in front of the Longyou Army, this type of catapult was already very backward.

However, in the southwest where war reignited, the fifty counterweight catapults in Gao Pian's hands could still be called "divine weapons."

Hujin City was built in a place surrounded by rivers on three sides and backed by mountains.

A mountain stream flows into the Wumeng River, which separates the Dongchuan Army from the Daliman Army.

The Wumeng River is only about twenty feet wide, which is not a natural barrier at all for Gao Pian, who had prepared a floating bridge early on.

The army easily crossed the Wumeng River, built catapults, and attacked the city walls at a distance of less than a hundred steps.

"Bam—"

"Uh-huh!!"

Heavy stones weighing dozens of pounds hit the rammed earth wall, causing it to collapse and splash. Not many people were injured, but the feeling of being hit by the stones made the barbarian soldiers defending the city scream in surprise.

"Cloud Chariot, Well Barrier, Battering Ram... Don't hold back, take down Hujin City as quickly as possible!"

"We will reward each soldier with 3,000 yuan for taking Hujin City today!"

"Zhang Lin, take your three thousand elite cavalry to patrol the south of Xi'an City. If you find Chief Long leading his troops to help, send a message back immediately!"

Gao Pian calmly deployed his troops, with Zhang Lin and Lin Ruzhen responsible for reconnaissance and siege respectively.

In such a situation, Gao Pian did not care about casualties. He only wanted to capture the bridgehead of Hujin City as quickly as possible.

As long as they captured Hujin City, the supply line of their counterattacking army would be shortened from more than a hundred miles away to within fifty miles.

After taking Hujin City, the three cities of Xi'an, Dong'an and Fenxie in the rear were all within 50 miles of Hujin and could be easily captured.

Although the complex local terrain was not suitable for cavalry raids, it also restricted You Shilong from setting up a large formation and suppressing his own side with numbers.

On the road from Hujin to Xi'an City, fifteen of the twenty miles are in a narrow valley, no more than fifty steps wide.

If You Shilong dared to fight him in such a place, Gao Pian was confident that he could defeat the 60,000 barbarian troops head-on with a grand formation.

"Soldiers, we will recapture Hujin today."

"Commander Fengjie orders that if we take over Hujin City today, each soldier in the army will be rewarded 3,000 yuan!"

General Lin Ruzhen rode his horse to the front of the battle. Seeing the civilians busy building siege equipment, he announced the reward to the 9,000 Dongchuan cavalry and infantry without hesitation.

Even though it was only three thousand coins, for these able-bodied men who had once been starving, three thousand coins was enough to make them risk their lives!
"kill!!!"

Under the city of Hujin, flames of war raged and smoke filled the air... Nine thousand Dongchuan cavalry and infantry were divided into forty-five teams and rushed towards the city wall like a tide.

Although they had marched forty miles today, they seemed tireless at this moment, with only the determination to break through the city gate in their eyes.

Pushed by the soldiers, siege equipment such as cloud chariots, well poles, and battering rams slowly approached the city wall, making dull sounds of movement.

The barbarian army on the city wall had already been on full alert, with the strings of the crossbows taut. With an order given, the huge crossbow arrows whizzed out like spears.

"boom--"

"Watch out for the ballista!!"

A crossbow arrow pierced through a carriage directly, and with its remaining force, it pinned two armored Dongchuan soldiers to the ground.

Blood gushed out from their mouths and wounds. Their bodies twitched a few times before they were silent.

Such a tragic situation did not make the Dongchuan army retreat, but instead aroused their stronger fighting spirit.

Twenty crossbow carts fired at the same time, and the crossbow arrows rained down, destroying many siege equipment, but the Dongchuan army did not stop.

They pushed the damaged equipment into the moat and quickly built a pontoon bridge.

Cloud chariots and battering rams rushed toward the city along the pontoon bridge, and the archers of the Dongchuan army on the well poles engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the barbarians on the city walls.

Arrows flew like locusts, soldiers from both sides kept falling, and their blood dyed the city walls red.

"Collide!"

"One or two..."

"boom--"

"Put on the asphalt!!"

The Dongchuan Army's battering rams slammed violently into the city gate of Hujin City, making a deafening sound in the blink of an eye.

Several iron tiger's mouths appeared at the top of the city gate corridor, and the barbarians in the city tower poured asphalt into the stone trough.

The asphalt flowed down the stone trough and out of the tiger's mouth, all pouring onto the battering ram and the Dongchuan army operating it.

Before they could react, the barbarians in the tower threw torches at the ashes on the stone trough...

"Eh!!!"

In a breath, flames rose up, engulfing the battering ram and the nearby Dongchuan troops.

Dongchuan's elite soldiers were enveloped in flames, screaming and running around, and finally fell in the sea of fire and turned into charred corpses.

The air was filled with a sickening smell of burning flesh.

Many Dongchuan soldiers couldn't help vomiting, but more people gritted their teeth and continued to climb the cloud car and charge towards the top of the city.

The barbarians on the city wall fought hard, throwing logs, boulders and boiling water down in an attempt to repel the attack of the Dongchuan army.

Faced with the stubborn resistance of the barbarians, the Dongchuan Army fought bravely, with people on the cloud chariots constantly rushing to the top of the city walls and engaging in close combat with the barbarians.

Amid the flashing of swords and the splashing of blood, the shouts of killing shook the earth.

On the west bank of the Wumeng River, Wang Zhongren looked at the tragic battlefield with a frown on his face, and could not help but say to Gao Pian:
"General Jie, won't the casualties be too high? These soldiers are the elite we have worked so hard to train!"

Gao Pian stared at the battlefield in the distance with a cold gaze, and said in a voice as hard as iron: "This is war."

There was no wavering in his tone, as if the tragic scene before him was just the inevitable price of war.

Wang Zhongren opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing. He just lowered his head silently and clenched his fists.

Gao Pian's gaze remained firm. He didn't care how many soldiers were killed or injured. He only knew that Hujin City must be captured, no matter what the cost.

While thinking, he gave a cold order: "Continue the attack, at all costs, we must capture this city today!"

The war drums sounded again, and the Dongchuan army's offensive became even more fierce...

Outside the city of Hujin, corpses were everywhere and blood flowed like a river. The flags of Dali swayed in the smoke, as if foreshadowing something.

From dusk to nightfall, the cavalry and infantry worked in three shifts and finally captured Hujin City at three quarters past midnight!

"Sorry..."

Gao Pian rode his horse into Hujin City. In the pitch-black environment, the only light from the soldiers' hands could reveal the surrounding environment.

Wherever the firelight came into view, there were corpses everywhere.

Among them were some from the Barbarian Army and some from the Dongchuan Army, but the majority were from the Barbarian Army and there were very few from the Dongchuan Army.

Military horses carried Gao Pian and trampled on the corpses of soldiers as they entered Hujin City.

The people of the entire Hujin City had long been transferred to Tuodong City by Youshilong. Not only the people of Hujin City, but the people of the entire front line had been moved away from the front line by Youshilong.

Countless Dongchuan soldiers were holding torches and cleaning the battlefield in groups of two.

When he encountered a group of barbarian soldiers who were not yet dead, he would kill them to the ground with one strike of his sword without any hesitation.

"Jie Shuai..."

At the same time Gao Pian arrived at the Hujin government office, Wang Zhongren came galloping from behind with a bad look on his face.

"Five hundred and fifty-two brothers died in this battle, and one thousand one hundred and forty-six were seriously injured and could not participate in the battle."

Hearing this, Gao Pian nodded and said, "Less than 2,000 people, the casualties are less than I estimated."

With 9,000 cavalry and infantry attacking Hujin City which was garrisoned by 3,000 armored barbarians, it took only four hours to capture the city with less than 2,000 casualties. This can indeed be called a small victory.

"Rest for one night, and attack Xi'an City, which is more than 20 miles away, tomorrow!"

Gao Pian walked into the yamen without looking back. Wang Zhongren looked at his back, not knowing what to say.

"Asshole!!"

In the brightly lit tent, You Shilong, who was awakened from his sleep by his personal guards, was still unconscious when he learned the news that Hujin City had released a smoke signal that it had fallen, and all sleepiness disappeared immediately.

At this time, he was still fifty miles away from Hujin, and it would take at least a day and a half to reach Hujin City.

At the current speed, he could only garrison the two cities of Jingchuan and Fenxie first.

Xi'an was destined to fall, and the city of Dong'an to the south of Xi'an was probably also in danger.

Thinking of this, You Shilong became more sober and couldn't help asking, "What time is it now?"

"It's already Yinshi (3 o'clock)." The general responded.

"Have someone cook a meal, and after dinner, immediately rush to the branch association and head south to Zhuti!"

Yu Shilong gave the order decisively, and the generals responded quickly.

As time passed, half an hour passed in a flash. The entire army was woken up to eat and moved camp half an hour in advance.

One day passed in a flash, and the 60,000 barbarian troops led by You Shilong arrived in Jingchuan in a mighty manner.

The sounds of horse hooves and footsteps mixed together, causing the earth to tremble slightly.

The barbarian soldiers on the march had tired faces, but their eyes were shining with fighting spirit.

They have been fighting the Dongchuan Army for three years, and they have always won more than they lost. I believe this time will be the same...

Compared with the confidence of the barbarian soldiers, You Shilong, the Emperor of Dali, frowned.

Time is running out, Gao Pian's Dongchuan army is closing in step by step. If we don't act quickly, the situation will become even more unfavorable.

"Boost!"

While thinking, You Shilong shouted loudly, his voice was like thunder, and the surrounding soldiers speeded up their actions.

After the 60,000 barbarian troops hurriedly replenished their food and grass in Jingchuan, You Shilong led the army without hesitation and continued to march towards Fenxie City.

The 60,000 barbarian troops were like a giant dragon, winding along the rugged mountain road, raising dust and looking very aggressive.

At the same time, Gao Pian's Dongchuan army had launched a fierce attack on the city of Xi'an.

The city of Xi'an is small, and its walls are only about ten feet high and eight feet thick. They are built with rammed earth, so the defense is weak.

At Gao Pian's signal, the Dongchuan army began to attack. The ladders and battering rams in the formation quickly approached the city wall, and arrows rained down, suppressing the barbarian army on the city wall.

Although the barbarian army fought hard, the city wall was quickly breached under the fierce attack of the Dongchuan army.

Three hours later, Xi'an fell, and most of the 1,500 barbarian soldiers in the city were killed. The rest were captured and taken to Zongzhou...

Gao Pian stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the devastated battlefield, but he did not relax at all.

He originally thought that You Shilong's marching speed would be faster, but he didn't expect the other party to be so slow.

Even so, he did not let the Dongchuan soldiers rest, but continued to give orders slowly: "All troops, listen up, march towards Dong'an City!"

It is only twenty miles from Hujin City to Xi'an City, and only fifteen miles from Xi'an City to Dong'an City.

With such a short distance, Gao Pian was confident that he could capture three cities in two days.

As the rewards kept coming, after receiving the military order, the Dongchuan army swept in like a hurricane, and reached the distance of fifteen miles in a flash.

The defenders of Dong'an City had not yet recovered from the news of the fall of Xi'an City when they saw Gao Pian's army approaching the city.

The siege started again, the Dongchuan army's offensive was as fierce as a tide, and the defense of Dong'an City was completely destroyed in just a few hours.

At this point, Gao Pian completely completed the achievement of capturing three cities in two days.

At the same time, You Shilong, who was only twenty miles away from Dong'an City, also learned the news that Dong'an City had been breached.

You Shilong set up camp on the spot, preparing for a decisive battle with Gao Pian at Niutou Gorge west of Dong'an City.

Gao Pian naturally wanted this very much.

He needed to use the disastrous defeat of the Dali Emperor to tell Dali and the Tang Dynasty that he, Gao Pian, deserved a higher official position!
(End of this chapter)