Chapter 335: Competing to Surrender

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"Gaizhou has high mountains and deep ravines, and the roads are difficult and difficult. Now that two subordinate counties have been conquered, the enemy is isolated. We should first take Gaizhou to divide the enemy's forces, and then divide our troops to attack from two directions, and the victory can be broken."

Wen Huanzhang's proposal was recognized by everyone.

Xu Guanzhong then issued an order: "Zhang Yong guards Lingchuan, Shan Shiqi guards Gaoping, and the rest of the people go straight to Gaizhou."

The next day, the left vanguard Yue Fei and the right vanguard Liu Qi each led 20,000 elite soldiers to open roads and build bridges across mountains and rivers; Qin Ming, Yang Zhi, and Yan Shude led the left army; Guan Sheng, Sun Li, and Wu Song led the right army; Lin Chong, Shi Jin, and Yan Xiaoguang led the rear army, Hua Rong took charge of the various armies, and Xu Guanzhong, Madam Jia and other generals led the rest of the army as the central army.

These five armies rushed to Gaizhou, but they were like dragons leaving the sea and tigers emerging from the deep forest.

After the Gaizhou scouts heard the movements of the Yuan army, they reported to Gaizhou City.

Niu Wenzhong, the garrison commander of Gaizhou City, was originally a bandit. He used all the money he robbed in the rivers and lakes to support Tian Hu, and conspired with him to rebel and occupy the prefectures and counties of Hedong. Therefore, he was appointed as the Privy Councilor. He had four generals under his command, known as the "Four Mighty Generals", to assist him in guarding Gaizhou.

These four generals were: "Niwei General" Fang Qiong, "Piwei General" An Shirong, "Biaowei General" Chu Heng, and "Xiongwei General" Yu Yulin.

Under these four Mighty Generals, each had four lieutenants, a total of 16.

Niu Wenzhong and his lieutenants led 30,000 Jin troops to guard Gaizhou.

Upon hearing that Lingchuan and Gaoping had fallen, Niu Wenzhong and other garrison commanders of Gaizhou prepared to meet the enemy while sending petitions to Weisheng and Jinning for emergency help.

Upon hearing that the Yuan army was about to arrive at the city, Niu Wenzhong immediately dispatched General Fang Qiong, Lieutenants Yang Duan, Guo Xin, Su Ji, and Zhang Xiang, with 5,000 soldiers, to go out of the city to meet the enemy.

Before leaving, Niu Wenzhong said to Fang Qiong: "General, go ahead, I will lead the troops to support you later."

Fang Qiong said: "Privy Councilor, don't worry. Lingchuan and Gaoping were lost. It was not the defending generals who could defeat them, but because they fell into his trap. I will not return to the city until I kill a few of them and defeat the bandits today!"

At that moment, Fang Qiong and other generals all put on their armor and mounted their horses, led the troops out of the east gate, and rushed towards the Yuan army.

The front team of the Yuan army met the Jin army, and the vanguards on the left and right formed their battle formations, and the drums of war were blaring.

When the flag of the Jin army was raised at the inner gate, Fang Qiong went out, and the four lieutenants surrounded him on the left and right.

Fang Qiong hung a bow on his left side, arrows on his right side, rode a yellow horse, and twisted a solid iron stick. He came to the front of the battle and shouted loudly: "Water Margin bandits, how dare you use tricks to steal my city?"

Nayan, the Qiong demon in Liu Qi's army, asked Liu Qi for a fight: "Vanguard, Nayan, the Qiong demon, is willing to lead the battle!"

Liu Qi said: "If the general succeeds, Liu Qi will report to the general and ask for a reward!"

Nayan, the Qiong demon, rode his horse to the front of the battle and said: "You helped the rebels. Today, the soldiers arrived, but you still don't know how to die!"

After saying that, Nayan, the Qiong demon, rode his horse and thrust his spear to rush Fang Qiong.

Fang Qiong was not afraid either, and rode his horse to fight.

The two generals fought in the dust and murderous atmosphere for more than ten rounds, and Fang Qiong was afraid.

In the Jin army, Zhang Xiang saw that Fang Qiong could not defeat this foreign general with extremely high martial arts skills, so he picked up his bow and arrow and shot a cold arrow at Nayan, the Qiong demon.

Qiong Yao Na Yan had seen Zhang Xiang was about to shoot him with a cold arrow.

When the arrow was about to hit Qiong Yao Na Yan, he shook the steel spear in his hand and deflected the arrow.

Zhang Xiang saw that he could not hit Qiong Yao Na Yan, so he rode his horse and raised his sword to help fight again, wanting to fight two against one.

Unexpectedly, Qiong Yao Na Yan rushed forward and knocked Fang Qiong off his horse with one shot, and then he rushed to meet Zhang Xiang without stopping.

Qiong Yao Na Yan was a master who could rank among the top three in Liao’s combat power. In Water Margin, he defeated Liangshan’s eight warriors head-on. How could Zhang Xiang be his opponent?

After the two fought, Qiong Yao Na Yan’s steel spear kept hitting Zhang Xiang’s heart, and Zhang Xiang could only defend himself without any ability to fight back.

Seeing this, Jin General Guo Xin rode his horse and twisted his spear to help Zhang Xiang.

Qiong Yao Na Yan fought against the two generals without fear. The three horses were arranged in a shape of a Martin and fought in front of the formation.

Seeing the enemy shooting arrows in front and two against one behind, Tang Bin drew his bow and put an arrow on it, shouting at the same time: "Thief general, take my arrow too!"

As he spoke, Tang Bin released the bowstring, and with a "whoosh" the arrow hit Zhang Xiang in the back.

Zhang Xiang's helmet was immediately hung upside down, his feet kicked into the air, and he fell off his horse with a "thump".

Seeing Zhang Xiang being shot, Guo Xin was horrified, pretending to be vulnerable, and turned his horse to flee to the main camp.

Seeing this, the Qiong demon Na Yan peeked at Guo Xin's back, and suddenly threw the steel spear in his hand, hitting Guo Xin in the back, killing him.

Yue Fei and Liu Qi saw the opportunity, and simultaneously recruited soldiers to kill him!

The Jin army, which had lost four generals in a row, was immediately in chaos, and Yang Duan and Su Ji could not resist and retreated quickly.

Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from behind the Jin army. It turned out that Niu Wenzhong was afraid that Fang Qiong would be in danger, so he ordered An Shirong and Yu Yulin to lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to attack from two directions.

The two sides then started a big melee.

In the melee, the Yuan army killed several Jin generals, and the Jin army was defeated, with two to three thousand casualties.

An Shirong, Yu Yulin and others rushed into Gaizhou City and closed the city gate.

The Yuan army chased to the foot of the city, and beat the city with wood and stones. The Yuan army retreated to a place five miles away from the city and joined forces with Xu Guanzhong, Madam Jia and others.

Xu Guanzhong ordered the officials of the Ministry of War to count the military exploits and announce the rewards according to the merits.

At this time, a strange wind suddenly blew, flying dust from west to east, shaking the flags crookedly.

Gongsun Sheng counted with his fingers and said to Xu Guanzhong and Madam Jia: "The bandits will come to raid the camp tonight, so you should prepare quickly."

Xu Guanzhong and Madam Jia listened to him, discussed with a group of advisers and generals, and then deployed the troops.

Niu Wenzhong saw that three generals and more than a dozen lieutenants and lieutenants had been killed, and counted the soldiers, and found that another three to five thousand had been killed. He said, "This group of pirates is really powerful!"

An Shirong heard this and offered a suggestion, "The pirates have won several battles in a row, so they must be arrogant and unprepared. Tonight, I will lead a group of soldiers to rob their camp, and we will definitely win a complete victory to avenge today's revenge."

Niu Wenzhong thought this was a good idea and said, "If the general goes, I will personally lead the troops to support him."

An Shirong was overjoyed, "If I can personally lead the army, I will definitely capture Xu Guanzhong and Jia!"

At the second watch, An Shirong, together with lieutenants Shen An, Lu Yuan, Wang Ji, and Shi Jing, led 5,000 elite cavalrymen, wearing soft war clothes and horses without phoenix bells, and went out of the city, holding their mouths and running fast, until they came to the front of the Yuan army camp, and rushed into the camp.

Seeing the camp gate wide open and the lights in the camp brilliant, An Shirong knew that he had been tricked and retreated in a hurry.

At this time, a cannon suddenly sounded in the Yuan army camp. Qin Ming, Yang Zhi, Yan Shude on the left, Guan Sheng, Sun Li, and Wu Song on the right all rushed to kill.

Soon, the Jin army was defeated and fled in all directions.

An Shirong, Shen An, Lu Yuan, Wang Ji, and Shi Jing were all killed by the Yuan army.

Niu Wenzhong led Cao Hong and Shi Xun to rescue, but was ambushed by Lin Chong, Shi Jin, and Yan Xiaoguang. After a fierce battle, Shi Xun was knocked off his horse by Lin Chong, and Niu Wenzhong and Cao Hong were both injured and fled back to the city.

Xu Guanzhong, Madam Jia and others discussed and felt that the Jin army had been defeated in successive battles and had become a frightened bird, so they could launch a general attack.

The next evening, Madam Jia ordered Hua Rong to personally command the front line and ordered all units to prepare to attack the city.

When it was dark, Madam Jia issued an order to start the attack on the city. Hua Rong discussed with the commanders of each army and took turns to attack the city.

The first wave of attacks were from Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Suo Chao, and He Zhongbao.

The sound of war drums rang out.

More than 20 flying bridges appeared out of thin air. Lin Chong and the other four generals each took a route and led the Yuan cavalry to rush up to the tower, cheering below.

Seeing this, the defenders in the city shot rockets like locusts!

Some Yuan soldiers were unable to dodge and were shot off the flying bridge and fell into the moat!

Seeing this, the Yuan soldiers under the city immediately fought back with catapults and crossbows.

At the same time, Hua Rong led hundreds of archers to shoot and kill the generals of the Jin army, hoping to make the Jin army lose command.

Just as the Yuan army was fiercely attacking the city, Shi Qian led the experts of the special forces battalion who reported the secrets to the north of the city in Gaizhou City.

The intelligence department of the Yuan Empire had already found out that there were several temples in the north of the city, and the empty places were all grasslands.

Long before the attack on Gaizhou City, Shi Qian led the Special Forces Battalion to sneak into Gaizhou City.

When the drums sounded, Shi Qian gave an order, and the soldiers of the Special Forces Battalion set the grassland on fire.

The grassland was immediately on fire, and it was burning.

After a while, the grassland was blazing, and the temple was also burning.

Seeing the fire in the city, the defenders of Gaizhou were all shocked!

Seeing this, Mrs. Jia said to Gongsun Sheng: "Please trouble the national teacher."

Hearing this, Gongsun Sheng smiled and said: "It's a small matter."

Then, Gongsun Sheng and Fan Rui climbed onto the high platform and cast a spell together.

In an instant, a violent storm blew up, blowing the defenders on the city wall to the ground one after another, not to mention opening their eyes.

The fire took advantage of the wind, and the wind helped the fire. The fire in the city immediately turned into a fire that burned the sky and boiled the sea.

At the same time, Ling Zhen commanded the red cannon to start firing at the city with a "boom boom boom...", further creating chaos.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the soldiers of the Yuan army rushed to the city wall to fight.

However, this time the cavalry was not as fast as the infantry.

I saw Jie Zhen take his broadsword to the flying tower, climb the parapet, and jump up, and then Jie Bao also jumped up. The two brothers roared together, grabbed the parapet, and then one turned into a two-headed snake and the other turned into a two-tailed scorpion, slaughtering the defenders on the city wall.

The defenders on the city were already exhausted and terrified, and when they saw the fire in the city, and saw Jie Zhen and Jie Bao so fierce, they all ran down the city.

Jie Zhen and Jie Bao rushed to the city gate, killed all the Jin army soldiers guarding the city gate, changed back to their original form, opened the city gate, and lowered the drawbridge.

Seeing the city gate wide open, Hua Rong gave an order, and the army rolled into the city...

Seeing that the city gates were taken, Niu Wenzhong had to get on his horse, abandon the city, and lead more than 200 people out of the north gate.

Unexpectedly, Yue Fei's troops had been ambushing here for a long time. In the chaos, Niu Gao hit Niu Wenzhong's head with his mace, smashing his helmet and head to pieces, knocking him off his horse. Other Jin army soldiers were either killed or knelt down to surrender.

At dawn, the army entered the city. Xu Guanzhong first sent people to lead the army and civilians to put out the fire, and at the same time issued a strict order not to harm the residents.

After the fire was put out, all the generals came to offer their merits. Xu Guanzhong ordered the officials of the Ministry of War to assess the military merits according to regulations.

In the end, the merit book was marked: In the battle of Gaizhou City, Shi Qian had the first merit, and Jie Zhen and Jie Bao had the second merit.

Then the civil officials of the Xuanfu Division issued a list to appease the people.

Madam Jia took all the troops of the three armies to station in Gaizhou, rewarded the generals of the three armies, and sent people to report the victory to the northern army that was fighting against Tian Hu...

When Jiang Hongfei received the victory report of the southern army that was fighting against Tian Hu, the northern army that he led had already arrived at Shiling Pass.

After occupying Daizhou, Jiang Hongfei immediately sent Shi Wengong and Wu Jie to seize Shiling Pass.

Unexpectedly, Shi Wengong and Wu Jie rushed to Shiling Pass, but they were still a step late, allowing Yu Deyuan to get to Shiling Pass first and arrange defenses.

Seeing this, Jiang Hongfei wanted Shi Wengong and Wu Jie to attack Shiling Pass.

Who would have thought that Bian Xiang would find Jiang Hongfei and say, "Yu Deyuan and I are old friends. I am willing to go alone to persuade him to surrender."

Bian Xiang was a great general, and a great general who was both civil and military. Jiang Hongfei was really reluctant to let him take this risk.

But Bian Xiang insisted and promised that he would definitely persuade Yu Deyuan to surrender.

Where is there no risk in war?

Jiang Hongfei thought that if Bian Xiang was short-lived, even if he could escape this time, he would definitely not be able to escape the next time.

So, Jiang Hongfei agreed to Bian Xiang's request.

Bian Xiang soon arrived in front of Shiling Pass and was taken to Guanzhong by Yu Deyuan.

As soon as the two met, Bian Xiang said to Yu Deyuan: "I am not here to surrender to you because we were brothers, but to ask you not to try to stop a chariot with your arms for the millions of people in Hedong."

After a pause, Bian Xiang continued to say: "What virtue and ability does Tian Hu have to enjoy the world? How are the people of Hedong living during the years he has been entrenched in Hedong? How is my Yuan emperor? How are the people of my Yuan living? I don't believe you don't know these. If you insist on being an accomplice to the tiger, please kill me quickly for the sake of our friendship in the past."

Yu Deyuan listened to him and remained silent!

As Bian Xiang said, Tian Hu was ambitious but incompetent, and he was arrogant and extravagant. Yu Deyuan certainly knew it. The key point is that Tian Hu only had Hedong, and let Hedong wailing everywhere and the people live in misery. If Tian Hu got the world, wouldn't it be a great misfortune for the world? The key point is that such a Tian Hu does not seem to be a wise leader who can win the world.

On the other hand, Jiang Hongfei is wise and wise, open-minded and generous, knows how to appoint people, and is happy to use them. In a few years, he has made every plan and left no soldiers unattended, and has established a great cause. The people under his rule are well-fed and well-clothed, living and working in peace and contentment, which is very much like the style of Guangwu and Tangzong.

When Tian Hu and Jiang Hongfei are compared, the difference is obvious.

Seeing Yu Deyuan hesitate, Bian Xiang said again: "Since my great Yuan emperor went south, he has opened the gates everywhere to welcome surrender, and the people's hearts can be seen. If you are stubborn and ignore the people, and only foolishly loyal to Tian Hu, I will just think that Bian Xiang is blind and made a mistake in making friends with you."

"That's all I have to say, please make a quick decision."

After listening to this, Yu Deyuan sighed: "Alas! It's not that Yu Deyuan is disloyal, but it's for the millions of people in Hedong..."

Yu Deyuan surrendered, and the Shiling Pass that Jiang Hongfei was extremely worried about fell without a fight.

However, there were still generals loyal to Tian Hu.

For example, Li Yi of Gang County resolutely refused to accept Jiang Hongfei's surrender.

After conquering Daizhou, Jiang Hongfei sent Li Siben and other surrendered generals to the counties of Daizhou to surrender.

What made Jiang Hongfei happy was that many counties along the way rushed to surrender.

Unexpectedly, Gang County was an exception.

Facing Li Siben's call for surrender under the city, Li Yi stood on the tower and scolded Li Siben, and suddenly shot Li Siben with an arrow.

However, Li Yi did not surrender, but his subordinates wanted to surrender.

Cui Zhong, a subordinate of Li Yi, was a Yan person who later surrendered to Tian Hu, that is, "Han'er". He and many people in Gang County wanted to surrender to Jiang Hongfei.

So, while Li Yi led his troops to resist the attack of the Yuan army, Cui Zhong suddenly drew his sword and stabbed Zhang Hongfu, a general under Li Yi, and led the Yuan army into the city.

Li Yi led the people loyal to Tian Hu and resisted from morning to night. He was captured alive only when he was exhausted.

Li Yi was brought to Jiang Hongfei by Wang Jin. He said nothing but: "Because of the traitor's internal response, the city was broken and I was captured. I can kill you, but there is one thing. My master is in the south, and I can't die facing north."

Seeing that Li Yi was ready to die, Jiang Hongfei said to his left and right: "This is a loyal and righteous man. I will help him."

Jiang Hongfei ordered people to prepare good wine and meat, brand new clothes for Li Yi, let him have a full meal, wash up, and then give him a cup of poisoned wine to fulfill his loyalty.

After Li Yi's death, Jiang Hongfei led the army to continue southward and quickly arrived at the center of Hedong, Taiyuan City...

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