Chapter 343: Each one joins a wise master
Chapter 343: Each one joins a wise master
Zhou Jiannan left, and He Ruobi was still in extreme panic. His brother actually killed the third prince. Although Zhou Jiannan excused He Ruodong, saying that he was forced to kill the prince, he was still the prince! Did He Ruodong ever think about Chang'an's family?
He Ruobi read his brother's letter again. In the letter, He Ruodong urged him to surrender to Yang Liang, the King of Han.
He Ruobi paced in the tent in frustration. He certainly did not want to surrender to the King of Han, but in the current situation, once the emperor knew that Yang Jun was killed by He Ruodong, would the emperor let him go?
The current emperor is a very vengeful person, narrow-minded and vindictive. He will definitely kill himself and his family.
But then again, both of He Ruobi's sons are not in Chang'an, and neither is his grandson. His wife died early, and there are only his dozen concubines in Chang'an. He Ruobi doesn't care about their lives or deaths. The only pitiful ones are his clansmen, including his dozen uncles and brothers and their descendants. The emperor may not necessarily kill them, but He Ruodong's children and grandchildren will definitely die.
He Ruodong doesn't care about the life and death of his children and grandchildren, so why should I care?
At this moment, a soldier outside the camp reported: "General, the emperor's order has arrived!"
He Ruobi was startled and hurried out of the tent to set up an incense table to receive the imperial edict. The official who issued the imperial edict unfolded the imperial edict and read it out: "The emperor decrees that He Ruobi, the Supreme Pillar State, has made great contributions to the country and is to be conferred the title of Prince of Fufeng. He is specially summoned back to the capital to report on his duties and accept the title. The army will be temporarily led by Deputy General Han Sengshou. This is the emperor's decree!"
He Ruobi understood as soon as he heard it. The emperor wanted to kill him. The title of a prince was just to stabilize him. What virtue, ability and merit did he have to deserve the title of a prince, and the prince of Fufeng at that. It was simply a joke. He Ruobi was originally hesitant, but at this moment, he made up his mind. After all, they were all sons of the late emperor, and no matter which one he was loyal to, he would be loyal to the Sui Dynasty.
"Wei Chen accepts the order!"
The official who issued the decree asked with a smile, "When does the general plan to return to the capital?"
"Take over the military affairs in the afternoon and return to Chang'an tonight."
The official who issued the decree nodded, "Then I will go back and report back first!"
After the official who issued the edict left, He Ruobi immediately gave orders and summoned his trusted generals to discuss the matter.
General Hu Ben said: "General, Han Sengshou will definitely not surrender to the King of Han, and neither will Zhang Xutuo and Qu Tutong. It is better to gather them together and capture them all in one fell swoop. If they refuse to surrender, kill them all."
Another Tiger General, Li Maocai, also said: "General Ma is right. If we want to accomplish great things, we can't be womanizing. If we don't kill them, we can't control the entire army!"
He Ruobi nodded slowly, "A man who is petty is not a gentleman, and a man who is not vicious is not a man. Let's do it!"
At the same time, in another large tent, Deputy General Han Sengshou also convened several important generals for an emergency meeting, including Zhang Xutuo and Qu Tutong.
"Everyone, I have received a secret order from the emperor. He Ruobi's brother He Ruodong killed the third prince and surrendered to Yang Liang. He Ruobi is likely to surrender as well. The emperor summoned He Ruobi back to the capital. If he refuses to return, he ordered me to arrest He Ruobi and control the situation. The situation is not good now. Everyone go back and control your own army. If He Ruobi summons the generals to discuss matters, he must want to kill us. Don't be fooled!"
At this time, a soldier outside reported, "General He Ruo asked General Han to go to the central army tent to discuss matters, saying that there is something important."
Han Sengshou sneered and said, "As expected, they are here. Everyone, go back immediately and control your troops!"
Everyone left and returned to their respective tents.
As time went by, the situation became increasingly tense. Tensions also rose within the Sui army, and two opposing factions formed.
The Sui army originally had 70,000 troops, 10,000 of whom were guarding Tongguan, and suffered nearly 10,000 casualties. There are currently 50,000 troops left. Among the 50,000 troops, 30,000 are loyal to Han Sengshou, which is the majority, while only 20,000 are willing to follow He Ruobi in surrender.
He Ruobi had already decided to surrender, and he also sent someone to secretly inform Yuwen Shu on the other side of the river. Yuwen Shu was overjoyed and immediately ordered the generals Heshan Gui and Wang Dan to lead 10,000 troops each to attack Puzhou Pass after dark.
Night finally fell. He Ruobi summoned all the generals to discuss matters twice, but no one came. He Ruobi immediately ordered the army to move to Puzhou Pass. At the same time, the armies of Heshan Gui and Wang Dan began to attack towards Puzhou Pass.
In front of Puzhou Pass is the Yellow River, and on the opposite bank is Hedong City. The two banks are connected by an iron chain bridge. The bridge was originally covered with wooden boards, but now all the boards have been destroyed, so the attacking party must lay new wooden boards.
At this time, the two thousand Han army were laying wooden boards and marching slowly with shields held up. They had laid the wooden boards to the end, but there was still no response from Puzhou Pass.
Heshan Gui was overjoyed and ordered his army to advance. Two thousand soldiers rushed into the Puzhou Pass without encountering any resistance. Instead, the defenders opened the gate and welcomed them in.
Pujin Pass fell, and He Ruobi surrendered to Yang Liang, the King of Han. Deputy General Han Sengshou had no choice but to lead 30,000 troops to retreat to Huayin County. Their mission was not only to defend Pujin Pass, but also to defend Guangtong Warehouse and establish a second line of defense in Huayin County.
While Han Sengshou was leading his troops to retreat to Huayin County, he also notified the Tongguan army to retreat to Huayin County.
The 10,000 defenders of Tongguan also retreated to Huayin County overnight. From the second watch, there was not a single soldier guarding Tongguan.
But what no one could have imagined was that outside Tongguan, Luo Shixin was leading 3,000 troops and waiting for an opportunity to capture Tongguan.
Plans are not as good as changes. Xiao Xia went to Hangu Pass under the banner of serving the king. He never expected that according to the intelligence he had obtained before, there were 3,000 defenders in Hangu Pass. When Xiao Xia led his army to Hangu Pass, the defender Wang Han opened the city gate to welcome Xiao Xia through the pass. This was something Xiao Xia had never expected. The defender Wang Han was the chief of the Eastern Palace and should have been Yang Yong's confidant, but he actually opened the city gate and surrendered.
After asking, Xiao Xia found out that Wang Han's father was the owner of a restaurant in Pingkangfang. He followed the Yun family's lead and arranged for his son to be a guard in the Eastern Palace. The King of Han basically bought his position as a Qianniu Zhichang with money.
But just a month ago, Yun Shide forcibly purchased the Wang family's restaurant for one thousand strings of cash. When Wang Han's father was trying to stop the other party from forcing their entry at the door of the restaurant, he was pushed down by the Yun family's warriors and broke his leg. He is still lying in bed.
Xiao Xia was really speechless. Yang Yong played a good hand of cards so badly because of the help of this group of stupid teammates.
After taking Hangu Pass, Xiao Xia led an army of 100,000 and continued westward.
Hangu Pass and Tongguan are the east and west ends of a valley road about 50 miles long, and are also the two lines of defense in Guanzhong. Now that the first line of defense has been taken, the second line of defense, Tongguan, is the next step.
Given the strategic location of Tongguan, if the army wanted to take it by force, it would have to pay the price of at least tens of thousands of casualties.
The only way is to launch a surprise attack or wait for the King of Jin's army to capture Tongguan from behind.
Luo Shixin volunteered to lead 3,000 people to launch a surprise attack on Tongguan.
At three o'clock in the morning, Luo Shixin led a hundred soldiers and approached the city gate little by little. In the darkness of the night, no patrolling soldiers could be seen, not even the sentry right above the city gate.
Luo Shixin felt a little strange, but he did not dare to be careless. He approached the city wall little by little. In the last thirty steps, he bent over and ran quickly, hiding under the city wall.
But there was still no movement on the city wall. Perhaps the enemy soldiers had fallen asleep.
Luo Shixin waved his hand, and more than a dozen soldiers ran up.
According to the prior arrangement, more than a dozen people immediately built a human ladder. Luo Shixin climbed the ladder and quickly reached the top of the city wall. He slowly leaned his head up to the city and observed for a moment.
Luo Shixin was stunned. There was not a single soldier on the city wall. He climbed up, turned around to take his big iron spear, and walked directly to the top of the city gate. He also did not see anyone.
A bold idea popped up in Luo Shixin's mind. Could it be an empty city? He ran to the other end and looked inside the pass. There was not a single soldier inside the city.
"Ah! It's actually an empty city."
He immediately ran back to the top of the city wall and shouted, "Notify the army to go up to the city immediately!"
One hundred soldiers were the first to climb up the city wall via ladders. They opened the city gate and lit three torches, which was a signal to capture the city gate. Three thousand troops at the foot of the mountain immediately rushed up. The army did not encounter any resistance and rushed directly into the Tongguan city gate.
As fate would have it, the famous Tongguan was captured by Xiao Xia's army without a fight.
(End of this chapter)