Chapter 342: Taking Wuguan by Fraud
Chapter 342: Taking Wuguan by Fraud
The 80,000 troops led by Yang Guang crossed the border from Xiyang County to Wuguan. The army arrived at the city of Nanxiang County. The Xiyang County governor Niu Fangda opened the city to welcome the arrival of the Prince of Jin's army. Niu Fangda was the eldest son of Niu Hong. He was a loyal man. He had always been a centrist, supporting both the crown prince and the Prince of Jin, but opposing the Prince of Han and the Prince of Qin.
Yang Guang met Zhang Hua, the kidnapped Chief Clerk of the General Administration Office, at the Governor's Mansion. Yang Guang said amiably, "I have never been one to embarrass scholars. If Chief Clerk Zhang is willing to help me take Wuguan, I will continue to use him."
Zhang Hua said after a while: "I'm afraid Wuguan won't buy my account!"
Yang Guang smiled and said, "If you don't want to, I won't force you. I'll just return you to the Liangzhou governor. After all, it was his people who handed you over to me."
Although Yang Guang's words were gentle, there was a strong murderous intent behind them. Zhang Hua also knew that if he was sent back, he would be dead.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Let me give it a try!"
The next day, the army left Nanxiang County and headed towards Wuguan.
At the same time, Sun Lei led 10,000 cavalrymen to station in Nanxiang County. Their presence tied down the Wu brothers in Nanyang County.
Wu Tianxi led 20,000 troops to cut off the retreat of the main force of the King of Jin and blocked the 80,000 troops in the valley of Funiu Mountain. However, it was the 10,000 cavalry of Nanxiang County that prevented the 20,000 enemy troops from acting rashly. They were also afraid that their retreat would be cut off by the cavalry, and that the enemy would attack them from both sides and annihilate them completely.
Three days later, the army of Prince of Jin arrived at Wuguan, but stopped advancing when they were still twenty miles away from the pass. Three hundred soldiers led by Yuwen Chengdu disguised as guards accompanied Zhang Hua to deceive the pass.
This plan was actually something Xiao Xia had planned a long time ago. Xiao Xia was originally planning to lead his army back to Guanzhong from Shangluo County. For this purpose, he specially sent people to Nanyang County to investigate, and as a result, he discovered Zhang Hua's card.
Zhang Hua was one of the emperor Yang Yong's trusted aides. Although his position was not high, he was actually a military supervisor sent by Yang Yong. He had the power to supervise Dengzhou and Xiangzhou, so Wuguan was also under his supervision.
Although Xiao Xia did not go through Wuguan in the end, he gave this card to his father.
Zhang Hua arrived at the gate and shouted to the top, "I am Zhang Hua, the chief official of Dengzhou General Administration Office. I have returned to the capital to report on my duties in accordance with the emperor's order. Open the gate immediately!"
Wuguan is only open for one hour a day and is closed at other times. Now is the closing time.
The soldiers did not dare to neglect it and hurried to report to the garrison commander Wei Lin. Not long after, Wei Lin appeared on the top of the city wall. He recognized Zhang Hua and asked with a smile, "Are there any more troops following Zhang Changshi?"
Zhang Hua glared at him fiercely, "Why are you asking such nonsense? Hurry up and open the door, or I will impeach you in front of the emperor!"
"I dare not. Open the city gate now!"
Zhang Hua was the military supervisor and Wei Lin did not dare to offend him, so he quickly ordered the city gate to be opened.
The city gate slowly opened, and the first person to enter was Yuwen Chengdu. He removed the black cloth covering the phoenix-wing gilded hammer, urged his horse forward, and slapped the hammer at Wei Lin who was waiting at the city gate.
There was no way Wei Lin could escape. He was beaten to the point of his brain bursting and fell off his horse to his death. Yuwen Chengdu shouted, "I am Yuwen Chengdu. Anyone who dares not obey me, come here and die!"
Yuwen Chengdu was famous throughout the world, and more than a thousand soldiers guarding the pass were stunned and no one dared to move. At this time, the soldiers blew the horn, and soon the horn was echoed in the distance.
Yuwen Chengdu pointed his finger and asked, "Who is the deputy general?"
A general stepped forward tremblingly and said, "I am Liu Cheng'an, the deputy general of Wuguan!"
"His Royal Highness Prince Jin is about to arrive. You must lead the army to line up to welcome him immediately!"
Liu Cheng'an quickly ordered people to carry Wei Lin's body away. He led a thousand soldiers to line up outside the city gate. Soon, the 80,000 troops of Prince of Jin Yang Guang arrived at Wuguan.
Yang Guang really didn't expect that he could take Wuguan so easily. All the plans he had thought of before were useless. It seems that the third brother's strategy was brilliant and he found the person very accurately, and he actually found Zhang Hua.
Yang Guang also guessed that Xiao Xia had given him his plan to pass Wuguan Pass. He felt that Xiao Xia had become a faction of his own and was no longer dependent on him. Yang Guang immediately appointed Liu Cheng'an as the Shang Kaifu Yitong Sansi and appointed him as the governor of Wuguan Pass to continue to lead a thousand troops to guard Wuguan Pass. Liu Cheng'an turned a disaster into a blessing and was promoted three levels in a row. He immediately turned his loyalty to the King of Jin.
The 80,000-strong army and the logistics and food teams passed Wuguan and continued to march towards Lantianguan.
The news of the complete annihilation of the Queshu Valley army reached Chang'an, and the entire court was shocked. In particular, the death of King Qi Yang Jun made Yang Yong extremely sad.
Among his sons, the eldest son Yang Yan and the second son Yang Yu were not actually his sons, but the sons of his predecessor Yang Yong. Yang Jun was his biological son. Yang Yong had always wanted to make Yang Jun the crown prince. In order to make him win fame, Yang Yong specially appointed him as the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Army. Unexpectedly, Yang Jun was killed in Queshu Valley.
This blow was too great. Yang Yong was heartbroken and locked himself in the room for a whole day without eating or drinking.
In the end, it was his father-in-law Yun Dingxing who came to persuade him.
"Your Majesty, the person is already dead. No matter how sad you are, you can't save him. But Your Majesty still has other children. If Your Majesty continues to be depressed and Yang Liang seizes the opportunity, not only will the country be in danger, but the lives of other children will also be in danger. It is better for Your Majesty to cheer up and avenge the King of Qi!"
There was no sound in the room. Yun Dingxing continued, "Your Majesty, we have received accurate information that the Prince of Qi was killed by He Ruodong. He Ruodong surrendered to Yang Liang. Now his brother He Ruobi is at Pujin Pass. If He Ruobi also surrenders to Yang Liang, the consequences will be very serious. Please, Your Majesty."
Before Yun Dingxing finished speaking, the door suddenly opened. Emperor Yang Yong stared at Yun Dingxing with red eyes and asked, "Is the news accurate? Was the King of Qi killed by He Ruodong?"
Yun Dingxing nodded, "It should be true. Several guards of the King of Qi fled from Taiyuan to Yan'an County, and then fled from Yan'an County back to Chang'an. They brought accurate news."
Yang Yong gnashed his teeth and said, "What a good He Ruobi! I must kill him!"
Yang Yong resumed eating. That night, an imperial decree was issued from the palace, summoning He Ruobi to return to the capital immediately to report on his work. The army was temporarily taken over by Deputy General Han Sengshou.
At Puzhou Pass, the brutal offensive and defensive battle had been going on for more than half a month. Nearly 10,000 Sui soldiers were killed, and the other side also paid a price of nearly 6,000 people, but the Sui army was never able to break through the defense line of Hedong City.
Commander He Ruobi was extremely depressed. He was even more worried about the fate of his brother He Ruodong. They had been besieged for so long, would they still have food?
He Ruobi didn't know that the imperial court had already received the express letter from Taiyuan via carrier pigeon, informing him of the battle situation in Queshu Valley. He still knew nothing about it.
In the afternoon, He Ruobi received news that the enemy commander had sent an envoy to discuss a temporary ceasefire. He Ruobi also wanted to know the situation in Queshu Valley, so he nodded and said, "Bring the envoy to the big tent!"
Not long after, a scholar was brought into the big tent. He Ruobi was immediately shocked. This scholar turned out to be Zhou Jiannan, the aide of his brother He Ruodong. What was going on?
He Ruobi Jianzhou Jiannan winked at him and ordered his men to retreat.
He then asked Zhou Jiannan nervously, "What's going on?"
"The general should have figured it out! The second master has surrendered to His Royal Highness the King of Han. With food running out, he surrendered with more than 100,000 troops."
He Ruobi sat down dejectedly. The situation he was most worried about had indeed happened.
Zhou Jiannan said calmly: "I'm afraid the situation is ten times more serious than the general is worried about!"
"what's the situation?"
Zhou Jiannan looked outside, took out a handwritten letter from He Ruodong and handed it to He Ruobi, then lowered his voice and said, "Second Master, kill the King of Qi and give the King of Qi's head to the King of Han as a token of your loyalty."
"What?" He Ruobi's eyes suddenly widened.
(End of this chapter)