Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 464 The Emperor's Seven Escapes

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

On the tenth day of the eleventh month, with the surrender of Caizhou by Zhao Deyin, the garrison commander of Caizhou, Wang Zhongren occupied Caizhou without bloodshed and took advantage of the situation to lead his army north.

Faced with the imminent danger at his rear, Qin Zongquan had no choice but to lead his army in a desperate attack on Luoyang.

After Linru and Yique counties fell one after another, Qin Zongquan finally pushed the battlefield to Yique Pass.

At this time, outside Yique Pass, 30,000 Zhongwu soldiers, barely four-tenths of whom were armored, under the leadership of Qin Zongquan, were enslaving tens of thousands of laborers and launching a fierce attack on Yique Pass with two hundred catapults.

There were only three thousand Shenwu soldiers and two thousand Heyang soldiers inside Yique Pass. The two brothers Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan were in charge of guarding the pass, and Yang Fuguang was in charge of supervising the troops.

Two hundred catapults continuously hurled stones, keeping the defenders of Yique Pass pinned down.

Zhang Huaiding, Zhang Huaiquan, and Yang Fuguang gathered inside the pass, but the shouts of battle outside made all three of them somewhat uneasy.

"That traitorous Qin scoundrel, it seems he's got his eyes on Father!"

Zhang Huaiding cursed Qin Zongquan while glaring at Yang Fuguang through gritted teeth: "When will the imperial reinforcements arrive?!"

If this were a decade or two ago, Zhang Huaiding, who was still roaming the Hexi region, would naturally not have been so flustered.

However, more than a decade of peaceful life had long since turned him from a strong man who once roamed the Hexi region into a pot-bellied, lecherous, and cowardly fellow.

He had no confidence in holding Yique Pass with 5,000 soldiers to resist nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians outside the city.

In response, Yang Fuguang feigned composure: "The imperial court still has 5,000 Shence Army soldiers in Luoyang and 15,000 troops in Shaanxi and Guo. Why panic?"

"I will go and urge them again. Yique Pass is tall and there are 5,000 soldiers in the city. They should be able to hold out for more than a month."

As soon as he finished speaking, he got up and walked out without giving Zhang Huaiding a chance to refute him. By the time Zhang Huaiding reacted, he had already walked out of the tent.

"A castrated dog, a pig!"

Zhang Huaiding gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly. Seeing this, Zhang Huaiquan also spoke up: "The Heyang army only has 1,200 armored men. Our men are armored, but only a little over 4,000. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for a month."

"The more crucial point is that this eunuch had already replaced the generals of the Divine Martial Army with his own people. I have seen those people; they are all good-for-nothings who have no talent for commanding troops at all."

"I think those eunuch dogs from the Northern Division are planning to make us exhaust our troops here, thereby strengthening their control over Luoyang."

After the imperial court returned to Luoyang, the city's defenses were mainly handled by 3,000 Eastern Capital Army soldiers and 5,000 Shence Army soldiers.

The original situation seemed to favor the Shence Army over the Dongji Army, but after the Left and Right Shenwu Armies marched south, the situation changed to a three-way standoff.

As a result, Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan were courted by many people, who also wanted to use these connections to strengthen themselves.

Unfortunately, before he could even settle in, he was sent out of Luoyang by the Northern and Southern Offices and rushed to Yique Pass.

The atmosphere in Luoyang is now very tense. Everyone knows that the emperor's health is failing, so staying in Luoyang is the best way to maximize his benefits, especially for those who hold military power.

Zhang Huaiding never expected that when he woke up, Yang Fuguang had replaced all the generals of the Shenwu Army.

Now, it's not as easy for him to command the Divine Martial Army as before.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huaiding gritted his teeth and said, "Let's wait and see. If anything changes in Luoyang, we'll gather the Zhang family members and their soldiers in the army and go to Luoyang to get a share of the spoils!"

"And what about Yique Pass?" Zhang Huaiquan asked in surprise, but Zhang Huaiding retorted fiercely:
"At a time like this, what does it matter? With these eunuchs around, even if we take a few hundred men with us, they can still hold Yique."

Seeing that he said that, Zhang Huaiquan could not refute it. At this time, Yang Fuguang, who had left the yamen, also arrived at a residence inside Yique Pass.

Inside the mansion, Yang Fugong and five generals sat upright. Upon seeing Yang Fuguang arrive, they all stood up and bowed to him.

"Let's not stand on ceremony. Tell me how the Divine Martial Army is being controlled?"

Yang Fuguang strode to the main seat and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the five generals.

The five people felt his gaze and began to explain one after another.

“Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan handed over important military positions to their fellow members of the Zhang family. Although all the officers and above have been replaced by our people, there are still more than twenty members of the Zhang family holding important positions in the army.”

"They have at least a thousand men under their command, most of whom are close associates."

"Although we have recruited many team leaders, they still have considerable strength."

"Supervisor, should we think of a way to eliminate these people as well, so as to prevent Zhang Huaiding and his companion from ruining our grand plan?"

After everyone explained the internal situation of the Divine Martial Army, Yang Fuguang shook his head and said, "No need."

“Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan are nothing but cowards who are all talk and no action. If they were truly capable, they wouldn’t have been stripped of their military power so easily.”

"Right now, all we need to do is guard Yique Pass and wait for Gao Qianli and Kang Jingci to attack the Qin traitors from both sides, and we can break the siege of Luoyang."

"Once we can resolve the crisis in Luoyang, we'll have to see how long that guy can hold out."

As soon as he finished speaking, he slowly picked up his teacup, lowered his head, blew on it, and took a small sip, seemingly absent-minded.

"If this matter succeeds, you will all be promoted by the imperial court. And when you are promoted in the future, do not forget me..."

Faced with his words, the five generals had different expressions, but without exception, they all concealed a sense of excitement.

The five men spoke in unison, raising their hands in a synchronized bow: "We will never forget the kindness of the supervising officer in promoting us!"

The voices of the crowd echoed through the main hall, which pleased Yang Fuguang greatly, and a smile appeared on his lips.

While he was manipulating the generals, Liu Jilong, far away in Chang'an, had just received news delivered by Husi Guang on a fast horse.

The entire territory of Tangzhou has been captured, but Tangzhou has also suffered greatly at the hands of Qin Zongquan.

"Tangzhou has suffered two locust plagues, which have wiped out all vegetation, cattle and horses. The people were killed and eaten by the Qin bandits. Although the chaos has now subsided, the fields within its borders are mostly overgrown and the population is almost gone."

"With a population of no more than ten thousand in these eight counties, I request that the people of Deng and Jun prefectures be relocated to Tang prefecture to reclaim wasteland and build granaries..."

Inside the Prince of Han's residence, when Zhang Yanhui finished reading the memorial, he couldn't help but swallow hard, then looked up at Liu Jilong, who was in the main seat.

Liu Jilong frowned slightly, while more than twenty officials sat on the left and right sides of the hall, with Gao Jinda at the head of the right side.

Shortly after Zhang Yanhui finished speaking, Gao Jinda took the initiative to say, "Tangzhou is a populous prefecture in Shannan East Circuit, and it will also be a key location for our army to move east and south in the future."

"I believe that Governor Hu should be ordered to relocate the people of Deng and Jun prefectures back to Tang Prefecture to cultivate the land, so that they can catch up with the spring planting next year."

"In addition, the army should be ordered to repair and expand the granaries in the eight counties on the spot, and to transfer the grain from Shangzhou to Junzhou, and the grain from Junzhou to Tangzhou."

"In addition, officials from the Ministry of Works and the Water Conservancy Department should be sent to inspect many waterways in Tang and Deng prefectures, such as the Liumen Weir, Ma Ren Weir, Zhao Canal, Chu Weir, and Anzhong Port. All of these water conservancy canals should be repaired, dredged, and cleared."

Gao Jinda's words won the approval of many officials familiar with water conservancy projects in the Nanyang Basin, including Wang Shi and Zheng Tian.

"Your Highness, what the Prime Minister said is very true."

Wang Shi took the initiative to offer advice, which drew a lot of attention to him, and he explained:

"Although Tang and Deng prefectures are located in the Nanyang Basin, the area has suffered from war four times since the An Lushan Rebellion, resulting in the destruction of water conservancy and the abandonment of farmland."

"However, the land is uniquely endowed with the benefits of salt and iron production, as well as millions of acres of land that can be cultivated. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were more than two million people living there."

"I have reviewed the maps and records of Deng and Jun prefectures. The two prefectures currently have 200,000 people. 50,000 people can be relocated to Tang prefecture. Before the spring of next year, at least 300,000 mu of land can be cultivated again, providing 300,000 shi of grain for the court."

Wang Shi was quite familiar with the situation in Shannan East Circuit, so he naturally knew the potential of Tang and Deng Prefectures.

Although Tangzhou was severely damaged by Huang Chao and Qin Zongquan, the local farmland had only been abandoned for a year, so it was still very easy to resume cultivation.

All you need to do is burn the weeds, turn the soil in January, and sow the seedlings in February or March.

Wang Shi offered his advice mainly because he was provoked by Qin Zongquan's actions.

He knew that the court was powerless to protect the people, but Qin Zongquan had such a terrible reputation that he should have been wiped out when Liu Jilong drove him east. However, the court only offered him pacification.

Now that Qin Zongquan has rebelled again, he sees it as the court reaping what it sowed.

Although he lamented the fate of the Tang Dynasty, he truly saw no hope in the current court.

"What does Minister Zheng think?"

Suddenly, Liu Jilong asked Zheng Tian a question, and Zheng Tian subconsciously raised his hand in a bow before realizing what was happening.

He didn't want to offer advice, because once Liu Jilong had established himself in Tangzhou, he would inevitably seek to continue eastward.

However, after hearing about the people's miserable plight in the memorial, Zheng Tian couldn't help but speak up:

"If we simply relocate the people of Deng and Jun prefectures, we probably won't be able to completely resolve the situation facing Tang Prefecture."

"I believe that with the current turmoil in the Yellow River and Huai River regions, there must be many people who have fled to the Funiu Mountains, Tongbai Mountains, and Dabie Mountains."

"Your Highness may order Governor Husi to send local people familiar with the area up the mountain to spread the word about the tax exemption, the abolition of the rent and labor service taxes, and the policy of equal land distribution to each household, so that people from all directions will come to join us."

"In addition, troops can be deployed to various places. If any merchants who arrest civilians are found to be enslaving them, they can be punished and executed, and the civilians can be properly resettled."

In times of chaos, it was a common practice for people to flee to the mountains.

When Liu Jilong fought against the imperial court in Qin and Long, the Tang army captured many civilians in the Long Mountains and sold them as slaves.

Today, the world situation is even more turbulent, and many merchants who trade in slaves are even more unscrupulous.

If they can be severely punished and the mountain dwellers can be registered as commoners, then the population of Tangzhou will surely increase.

“What you three say makes a lot of sense. Let the three of you handle this matter.”

Liu Jilong nodded in satisfaction, but not because he was satisfied with the three men's advice, but because he was pleased that Wang Shi and Zheng Tian had finally put aside their differences and were honestly offering him advice.

"Your Highness, what should be done with the surrendered troops in Tangzhou?"

Seeing the three being praised, Cui Shu, not wanting to be left out, asked a question. Liu Jilong replied without hesitation, "Send them all away as commoners, distribute the land equally according to the government decree, and give each person two thousand coins and five dou of grain as severance pay."

Knowing that Qin Zongquan's soldiers had eaten people, Liu Jilong was naturally unwilling to recruit these soldiers, who might have eaten people, into the Han army.

Liu Jilong also planned to assign Lu Yanhong, Han Jian, and many of their subordinate officers to some low-ranking, idle government offices to deal with them.

With both nominal and substantive ranks, ensuring their wealth and status is not a problem; what follows will depend on their performance.

Liu Jilong was still somewhat wary of the surrendered generals and soldiers from Guandong.

These people are used to being arrogant and domineering. If we rashly let them into the Han army, it is very likely that they will corrupt the morale of the Han army.

Although the arrogant and domineering attitude of military men had not yet developed to the point of being as shameless as it was during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, it would be best to nip this trend in the bud.

Thinking this through, Liu Jilong calmly said, "Now that most of Shannan East Road has fallen into our hands, I intend to recruit another 20,000 soldiers and transfer them to Shannan East Road for garrison and training."

They already had 100,000 troops transferred to the east, and now they want to recruit another 20,000 troops to transfer to the east.

If we include the 30,000 troops already in Shannan East Circuit, then the Han army stationed in the various prefectures of Shannan East Circuit would be no less than 150,000.

At that time, with 280,000 troops, 150,000 of whom would be stationed in the eastern border, they would soon be able to move eastward and occupy most of the Hehuai region.

Faced with Liu Jilong's decree, Zheng Tian couldn't help but feel a little regretful, but then he thought of the people in Guanzhong who were enjoying peace and tranquility, and his heart was filled with conflict.

He naturally knew that Liu Jilong's eastern border could bring peace to the people, but the consequence would be the complete decline of the Tang Dynasty and the end of its reign.

He wanted both peace for the people and the eternal existence of the Tang Dynasty, and these two conflicting desires caused him immense inner turmoil.

Before he could dwell on his inner turmoil, Liu Jilong dismissed the meeting, leaving him with a complex mix of emotions as he left the Prince of Han's residence.

He was not the only official who shared this sentiment, but none of them wanted the Tang Dynasty to collapse. They also all knew that Liu Jilong's eastward advance could bring stability to the country.

Faced with this situation, they could only reluctantly approve the decrees and carry out Liu Jilong's orders at each level.

Fortunately, the Han army is not moving its troops very quickly. Many troops are still on their way, and the transport of supplies is even slower.

Therefore, the chaos in Guandong at this time had nothing to do with the Han army.

Qin Zongquan's retreat was far faster than Gao Pian and Kang Chengxun had anticipated. Gao Pian had just arrived in Huangzhou and gathered 20,000 reinforcements to head north through the Dabie Mountains when he learned that Wang Zhongren had already recovered Xuzhou, and that Kang Chengxun had also sent troops to recover Chenzhou.

At this moment, they began to march north to attack Ruzhou, and Gao Pian also quickened his pace, rushing towards Ruzhou.

Meanwhile, Qin Zongquan could only lead Sun Ru and his army south to set up defenses in Liang County, while he himself led a large army to launch a fierce attack on Yique Pass.

While he was fiercely attacking Yique Pass, Zhu Wen received a fast-riding military intelligence dispatched by Xie Tong. Without the slightest hesitation, he led 20,000 troops and forcibly conscripted 60,000 laborers to head north.

Huang Chao swarmed through Songzhou like locusts and then headed north into the territory of Caozhou.

His former hometown was now in ruins, and the army could not seize any food. They could only continue to advance eastward into Yunzhou.

Zhang Sitai, the military governor of the Tianping Army, had already assembled troops in Yunzhou and immediately led 8,000 Tianping soldiers to begin fighting Huang Chao in Yunzhou.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate in Yunzhou for half a month, during which Zhu Wen took the opportunity to enter Yanhai Town and, with an imperial edict, brought control of the four prefectures of Yan, Hai, Yi, and Mi.

The Yanzhou navy had only 17,000 men, with an armor coverage rate of only 60%, but there were still more than 2,000 sets of armor in the armory.

Zhu Wen left Xie Tong and Zhu Cun to govern Yanhai Town, while he led 20,000 Huainan troops to Yanzhou to prepare for the rescue of Yunzhou.

In just half a month, trouble broke out on both sides of Henan Road. Qin Zongquan was in the west and Huang Chao was in the east, and both of them were having a great time.

However, as November drew to a close, the first place to give way was Yique Pass, the southern gateway to Luoyang.

"Kill him!!"

"Woohoo..."

It's almost the twelfth lunar month, but there's still no sign of snow.

Without the heavy snow to hinder them, Qin Zongquan frantically led the Zhongwu Army to attack the city walls of Yique Pass.

By this time, countless corpses had already accumulated beneath Yique Pass.

The cloud chariot was firmly stuck in place amidst the pile of corpses, while the cloud ladder was firmly hooked onto the battlements of Yique Pass.

Countless loyal soldiers charged towards the city walls aboard dozens of cloud chariots, while smoke rose from the city walls.

The acrid smell of burning grease mixed with the stench of blood wafted from the earthenware pot, and the captains of the Tang army began to lead their soldiers in a desperate defense.

"kill!"

"The first to reach the summit will be rewarded with 100,000 coins!"

More than half a month has passed, and Qin Zongquan has exhausted tens of thousands of laborers, leaving only 30,000 Zhongwu soldiers.

Without laborers and without food, they resorted to cannibalism among the weak and vulnerable in the army, and the entire army was shrouded in an atmosphere of madness and fear.

No one dared to flee, because Qin Zongquan personally led five thousand armored soldiers to supervise the battle, and any soldier who dared to flee would be killed and eaten.

The laborers were gone, but even more soldiers became laborers.

They were not fully armored, but faced with the choice between being eaten and eating others, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and charge forward.

Qin Zongquan naturally wouldn't let them die in vain, so he sent Ma Yin and Liu Jianfeng to lead 5,000 armored soldiers and the remaining 20,000 ordinary soldiers to launch a strong attack on the city wall.

The armored soldiers led the charge, and the rest of the soldiers simply followed closely behind.

Under these circumstances, the Zhongwu Army below Yique Pass was like a surging wave, rising up the cloud ladder.

They let out beast-like howls, and the Tang soldiers, unable to contain their fear, instinctively released their arrows.

In an instant, countless arrows shot out, but with armored soldiers in front, most of the arrows struck the armor and helmets, sparking a few sparks.

Seeing the Zhongwu Army about to charge forward, the captains of the Tang army's various units immediately issued the order in hoarse shouts: "Down!!"

Countless soldiers carried logs and stones on their shoulders and threw them down, knocking down the Zhongwu Army soldiers who were trying to rush forward, causing them to fall into the pile of corpses at the bottom of the cloud chariot.

Although the pass was very high, it couldn't withstand the pile of corpses below. Most of the soldiers who were hit were able to continue fighting after resting, while a few suffered internal injuries and died from vomiting blood.

Even so, the Zhongwu Army's charge continued. On the Yique Pass, which was already stained red with blood, the Tang army's captains could only grit their teeth and keep going: "Down!!"

In an instant, the three-finger-thick hemp rope creaked and groaned on the winch, and the boiling pottery jar was slowly pulled up, hoisted and pushed outside the stack, and then smashed to pieces with an iron hammer.

"Sizzle sizzle..." "Ouch!!"

In an instant, flesh and blood were burned and melted by the boiling petrolatum, merging with the armor plates. The soldiers of the Loyal Army screamed in agony, a truly terrifying sight.

“Shoot!!”

Without giving the Zhongwu Army any chance to rest, the Tang army quickly launched fire arrows, which instantly ignited the corpses of the Zhongwu Army and the piles of corpses below the city.

The fire soared into the sky, and countless loyal soldiers could only retreat in fear down the ladders and quickly retreat.

Under the large banner bearing the character "Qin" outside the city, Qin Zongquan stared at the battlefield ahead with a grim face. He couldn't help but curse, "A mere few thousand men have managed to hold off our army for more than half a month!"

He was extremely anxious at this moment, because Wang Zhongren and Kang Chengxun were only a hundred miles away from him.

If Liang County and Gaocheng County are captured, then he will be truly finished.

Thinking of this, Qin Zongquan couldn't help but look at the general beside him and ordered, "Pass on the order to continue shooting out memorials. As long as the court appoints me as the military governor of Zhongwu Army, I will immediately withdraw my troops!"

"Yes……"

Upon hearing this, they all quickly withdrew to make arrangements.

Over the past two weeks, Qin Zongquan has submitted several memorials, hoping that the court will agree to his conditions.

However, his memorial did not receive a response from the court, which clearly believed that he was just a cornered beast fighting desperately and was not worth pacifying.

Thinking of this, Qin Zongquan gritted his teeth. At this moment, inside Yique Pass, Zhang Huaiquan, wearing armor, walked into the yamen and then met Yang Fuguang and Zhang Huaiding.

"At the critical moment, there were fewer than three thousand brothers, while the enemy army outside the city numbered no less than twenty thousand."

"If no reinforcements arrive, we can only hold out for three more days at most..."

Zhang Huaiquan spoke the truth, and Zhang Huaiding subconsciously looked at Yang Fuguang.

In response, Yang Fuguang reassured the two, "There's no need to worry. The three thousand Shaanxi and Guo troops will arrive here by tomorrow at the latest."

"Moreover, the troops of Prefect Kang and Gao Bohai are both less than a hundred miles away from here. As long as Liang County is captured and victory is achieved, tens of thousands of reinforcements will arrive one after another."

Only after receiving his promise did the two breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as they breathed a sigh of relief, as the fire continued to burn, the guards on the city gate soon noticed something was wrong.

"Damn it, who repaired this city wall?!"

"It's Privy Councilor Yang..."

On the city gate, when the commander discovered that the city wall was cracking from being scorched by the fire, he instinctively cursed loudly, but the words of the officers on the left and right immediately made him swallow the rest of his words.

"Put out the fire immediately!"

Seeing that the city wall was cracked from the fire, the generals could only hurriedly order the fire to be extinguished, and at the same time, they got off the horse path and walked quickly towards the government office.

Before long, he appeared in the yamen (government office). All three men immediately turned to look at him, and he exclaimed in alarm:

"Supervisor, the city walls, ignited by fire from the grease, are already bursting and cracks are appearing!"

"What did you say?!"

Yang Fuguang and Zhang Huaiding couldn't help but ask in surprise, and then, ignoring his reply, they rushed towards the city gate.

When they arrived at the city gate, they saw countless soldiers carrying water to put out the fire, but the flames ignited by the burning petroleum were not so easily extinguished.

The fire is still burning, and a section of the city wall has developed large cracks.

"Damn it!" Yang Fuguang's eyes were bloodshot as he couldn't help but look at the person behind him: "Who repaired this city wall?!"

"Yes, it is Grand Councilor Yang..."

The words of the officers behind him were like cold water, extinguishing Yang Fuguang's anger.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He knew Yang Xuanji was unreliable, but he didn't expect him to be this unreliable.

This is Yique Pass, not some small town or pass, but a place where life and death depend on Luoyang.

Cutting corners in a place like this—do they think the imperial court has too much time on its hands?!

"Put out the fire!"

Yang Fuguang couldn't possibly scold his own father's brother, so he could only reluctantly order the fire to be put out.

The problem is that the water they carried on their shoulders and in their hands was simply not enough to extinguish the fire outside the city.

Seeing the situation gradually spiraling out of control, Yang Fuguang hurriedly instructed Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan, whose faces were dark with anger, as follows:
"Send out fast horses to urge the reinforcements from Shaanxi and Guo, and then send fast horses to the imperial court to tell them to prepare to retreat to Mengjin."

"collapse--"

Before Yang Fuguang could finish speaking, the city wall beneath their feet made a cracking sound, and everyone felt a chill in their hearts, and they all ran to the left and right.

Sure enough, not long after they ran away, a crack two fingers wide appeared in the parapet and the rampart, and the crack continued to expand outward over time.

"You son of a bitch, get ready to use the knife cart to block the door!"

Yang Fuguang gave a stern order, and his men rushed to make arrangements. Zhang Huaiding and his companion also dispatched fast horses in accordance with Yang Fuguang's military orders.

Meanwhile, Ma Yin, who was waiting for the fire to be extinguished, also noticed something amiss with the Tang army on the city wall.

"What are they doing?"

"Put out the fire with water?"

Liu Jianfeng answered Ma Yin's question, but he subconsciously looked at Ma Yin, and Ma Yin also looked at him.

As their eyes met, the same thought flashed through their minds: "No way?"

Rammed earth city walls are generally difficult to collapse by fire, but it cannot be ruled out that the walls were built with substandard materials or were too thin.

As the southern gateway to Luoyang, Yique Pass should not have suffered from shoddy construction or thin walls. However, there were simply too many corrupt officials in the court at that time.

Just like now, although Ma Yin and Liu Jianfeng couldn't believe it at all, they still sent out soldiers to observe the city wall.

The Tang soldiers on the city wall paid no attention to them, instead focusing on pouring water to extinguish the fire.

Soon, Tang Bing rushed back, his voice trembling with excitement: "General, the city wall has been burned and cracks have appeared; it looks like it's about to collapse!!"

Tang Bing excitedly reported back, while Ma Yin and Liu Jianfeng stared at each other in disbelief.

"Damn it, these people really will eat any kind of money or food!"

"Prepare the battering ram! Prepare to attack!!"

Liu Jianfeng cursed loudly, while Ma Yin decisively gave the order.

Soon, more than ten battering rams were pushed to the foot of Yique Pass. Yang Fuguang spotted them and hurriedly ordered, "Fire arrows! Do not let the battering rams crash into the city wall!!"

His military orders were issued, but the Tang army was currently stretched thin, having to both extinguish fires and fire arrows, and was unable to pose much of a threat to the Zhongwu Army.

The soldiers of the Chungmuk Army braved a hail of arrows to clear several paths of corpses before using battering rams to ram the city walls.

In an instant, the heavy battering ram, weighing hundreds of kilograms, slammed into the cracked city wall, and as expected, the wall could not withstand the blow and collapsed completely with just one strike.

The city wall, which was four zhang wide, collapsed by a third of its width after being hit by a battering ram, creating a steep slope that could be climbed and used for charging.

"kill!!"

The Zhongwu Army soldiers around them went wild. Their previously low morale suddenly soared, and they rushed towards the steep slope.

At the same time, other battering rams also launched their attack in succession, and in an instant, many steep slopes collapsed on the city wall of Yique Pass. The soldiers of the Zhongwu Army rushed up like madmen.

Upon hearing the news, Qin Zongquan initially couldn't believe it, but seeing soldiers steadily scaling the city walls ahead, he immediately drew his sword excitedly and shouted, "Charge! The first to scale the walls will be rewarded with 200,000 coins!!"

In an instant, more than 5,000 armored soldiers serving as the supervisory force began to rush towards Yique Pass, while at the same time, the fast horses of Yique Pass were also galloping towards Luoyang City.

When the fast horse rushed into Luoyang in a disheveled state, even the most oblivious person would sense that something was amiss.

Especially when the fast horse arrived at the Southern Court and presented the military dispatches sent back from Yique Pass, Prime Minister Xiao Gou immediately gave stern orders:

"Prepare the carriage doors at Ziwei City, and dispatch boats to clear the Luo River channel. Do not fail to do so!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the faces of the officials serving Nan Yanei changed drastically, because this scene was all too familiar.

The group, who had been worried, quickly sprang into action, sending messages to their families and clansmen to prepare for their escape by boat.

Upon receiving the news, Xiao Gou, Lu Yan, and Liu Zhan rushed towards Ziwei City and the Zhenguan Hall.

Ignoring the strong smell of medicine inside Zhenguan Hall and without bothering to announce their arrival, the three rushed in and immediately knelt down in front of the screen.

"Your Majesty, we are ashamed before Your Majesty. The Yique Pass is in danger. We beg Your Majesty to flee north to Mengjin!"

"What...cough cough!!"

Li Cui, behind the screen, began to cough violently, eventually even vomiting.

He vomited up the medicine he had just drunk, and Li Yi, who was governing in the side hall, rushed over.

Hearing what Liu Zhan and the other two said, his face turned pale. Then he reacted and rushed forward with Tian Yun to clean the filth from Li Cui's mouth.

"I...I..."

Li Cui couldn't even utter a complete sentence; his expression was one of extreme pain.

Seeing this, Liu Zhan quickly looked at Li Yi: "Your Highness, we must go to Mengjin immediately. Please make the decision!"

"I...I..."

Li Yi hesitated, glancing at them and then at his own father, unable to make a decision for a moment.

In the end, Li Cui, enduring his headache, gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go..."

"Yes!" Li Yi quickly agreed, and then began to instruct Tian Yun to prepare a palanquin, attempting to travel to Mengjin by boat on the Luo River.

Since the news had not yet spread completely, Li Cui was helped onto a palanquin and then led a group of nearly a thousand people toward Luoshui.

Before long, hundreds of Luo River pleasure boats appeared in front of them, and Li Cui and his group began to board.

It was their act of boarding the ship that caused the news of Luoyang's imminent fall to spread far and wide, plunging the entire city into chaos.

Liu Zhan and Xiao Gou arranged for troops from the eastern capital to guard Ziwei City and prevent villains from taking advantage of the situation to set fire.

Lu Yan disappeared, presumably to arrange for his family to evacuate.

Pi Rixiu, Wei Zhuang, and others were also in the procession, but these officials did not have pleasure boats and could only ride donkeys or horses to Shangdongmen, preparing to follow the dragon boat along the Luo River to Mengjin.

Two hours passed quickly, and as afternoon approached, the dragon boat carrying Li Cui and his entourage set sail, while officials and commoners in Luoyang began a frantic exodus.

In this critical situation, the emperor had already fled Luoyang, while the Yique Pass, located more than ten miles south of Luoyang, was still being defended to the death.

The rammed earth wall did not completely collapse, making the siege still very difficult for the Chungmuk Army.

The two sides fought for two hours, but the Zhongwu Army was unable to breach the city walls.

Although Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan had become quite overweight, the Shenwu Army, trained using Guiyi Army methods, was not so easily defeated.

The Heyang army had already fled, leaving only more than two thousand Shenwu soldiers still holding their ground.

Ma Yin and Liu Jianfeng led their troops to attack the city walls several times, but were repelled each time.

Even so, the sheer number of the Chungmuk Army was overwhelming, and the Shinmuk Army eventually lost the horse path and was driven out of the city.

The city gates were opened, and the Zhongwu Army poured into Yique Pass, where the two sides began to fight in the streets and alleys.

From dawn till dusk, Yang Fuguang was resolute, always standing on the front line, forcing Zhang Huaiding and Zhang Huaiquan to stay as well.

Seeing that their commander had not left, the soldiers of the Divine Martial Army, though not in high spirits, were not so demoralized as to be defeated.

Although they were considered brave, they could only retreat continuously in the face of the Chungmuk Army's relentless advance.

Half an hour, an hour, two hours...

As darkness fell and the streets and alleys within Yique Pass were about to fall, a look of resentment flashed in Yang Fuguang's eyes.

At this moment, a bugle call suddenly sounded from the north of Yique Pass, which rekindled hope in Yang Fuguang's eyes. Zhang Huaiding, Zhang Huaiquan, and even the remaining troops of the Shenwu Army all looked north.

"kill!!"

Suddenly, a large number of soldiers poured into the city gate that had just been opened. The three thousand reinforcements from Shaanxi and Guo had arrived at Yique Pass a night ahead of schedule.

When Li Changyan led his troops to attack, he saw Yang Fuguang and immediately bowed to him, saying, "Supervisor Yang!"

"No need for formalities. The most urgent task at hand is to retake Yique Pass. Gao Bohai and Governor Kang's tens of thousands of troops are only a hundred miles away from here, and the enemy army is already exhausted!"

Yang Fuguang hurriedly spoke, while Li Changyan naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity to reap the benefits.

He suddenly drew his dagger, raised his arm, and shouted, "Kill the enemy!!"

"kill--"

The troops of Shan Guo began to shout battle cries, while the Zhongwu Army, under the cover of night, could not tell how many reinforcements the Tang army had sent. They only saw them charging towards them, and their formation inevitably became chaotic.

The Zhongwu Army began to retreat continuously. When the news reached Qin Zongquan, he dared not gamble that the Tang army's reinforcements would be few, but he was reluctant to give up the Yique that he had finally managed to capture.

As he hesitated, he suddenly heard news that made his vision go black.

"General, Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin have surrendered to the government troops..."

"Asshole!!"

Qin Zongquan felt a wave of dizziness. He hadn't expected that, following Lu Yanhong, Han Jian, and Zhao Deyin, two more of his generals would surrender to the imperial court.

"withdraw!"

Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Qin Zongquan hurriedly began to withdraw his troops, and Li Changyan continued to lead his army in pursuit.

At the same time, Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin were brought before Yang Fuguang because they had surrendered with their troops.

"Why have you two betrayed us in the face of battle?!"

Yang Fuguang did not show magnanimity because the other side surrendered and Qin Zongquan retreated; instead, he became aggressive.

Liu Jianfeng was at a loss for words, but Ma Yin calmly replied:
"We did not want to rebel, but we were forced to rebel because we were coerced by Qin Zongquan."

"Now that the Heavenly Army has arrived, and Zong Quan is weak, how can he not surrender?"

Ma Yin's words did not persuade Yang Fuguang, but he did not only want to say those few words.

"If the military supervisor trusts these two men, they can persuade the military forces of Liang County and Chengquan County to surrender, thus driving Zongquan into a desperate situation!"

"Good!" Having gotten what he wanted, Yang Fuguang immediately stepped forward to help the two up, promising:
"If you two can persuade them to surrender and achieve merit, I can petition the court to let the matter of your previous offenses go unpunished and continue to appoint you two as generals of the Loyal Martial Army."

"Thank you for your great kindness, Supervisor..." Ma and Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Fuguang had his own plans regarding this.

The Zhongwu Army has collapsed and will definitely need to be rebuilt. We need external assistance, and supporting Ma Yin and others is a way to prepare for future reinforcements.

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered what was happening in Luoyang and quickly looked at Zhang Huaiding:

“Send out a fast horse to report to the court that the rebel army has been defeated by our army and Yique Pass has been recovered by our army.”

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)