Chapter 403 The golden cicada escapes from its shell
Chapter 403 The golden cicada escapes from its shell
It only took five catapults half a day to destroy Stump City, which was completely submerged by large and small stones.
The tree stump city, which looked as tall and mighty as a mountain and was impregnable, was destroyed so easily. This shows that the city-building technology of the Hu people was far behind that of the Han people, a huge gap. However, the city-building technology was only superficial, and the gap in civilization was the essence.
In the afternoon, Chang Sun Sheng led an army of 10,000 to Shudun City and joined Xiao Xia's army. On his horse, Xiao Xia's eyes turned to Chishui City and Jishi City, wondering whether Wang Long could help him capture Chishui City.
Chang Sun Sheng urged his horse forward and asked, "I wonder if Your Highness has ever thought that Wang Long would surrender to the Tanguts?"
Xiao Xia frowned, "Surrender to the Dangxiang people? He is the governor of Jiaohe County, a pillar of the state, and a third-rank general of Yunhui. Would he lower his status and surrender to the Dangxiang people?"
Chang Sun Sheng said slowly, "I don't have clear evidence, so I dare not say anything, but there have been rumors that he has been bribed by the Tanguts, and he has been cooperating with the Tanguts to deal with the Tuyuhun. He has played an indispensable role in the Tanguts' progress northward in recent years."
Xiao Xia asked, "General Changsun said that Wang Long colluded with the Tanguts. Is it just a rumor or is there solid evidence?"
Chang Sun Sheng nodded, "It is indeed a rumor, but it is a rumor with basis."
"On what basis?"
"The Dangxiang people often appeared in Jiaohe County. They built many warehouses in Jiaohe County. A large amount of goods went south from Jiaohe County. The Dangxiang merchants did not pay a penny of tax. This is something everyone in Jiaohe County knows."
Zhang Sun Sheng's words made Xiao Xia a little worried. He didn't care if Wang Long surrendered to the Dangxiang. The key point was that the 5,000 troops must not be destroyed by Wang Long.
Thinking of this, Xiao Xia immediately ordered Luo Shixin and Pei Xingyan to lead 5,000 men each to the south, to completely annihilate the Dangxiang army heading north and rescue the 5,000 troops.
Chishui City was originally called Chishui County. In fact, it is a county town. Its area is also the size of a county town. It is one of the three burrows of Tuyuhun and the center of Tuyuhun's rule over Heyuan.
The county town is surrounded by vast tracts of fertile land, which is adequately irrigated by the Yellow River and is very suitable for growing wheat; it is known as Little Hehuang.
Chishui County was also the seat of Heyuan County as recognized by Xiao Xia.
Chishui County was not built on a high place like Shuduan City, but was built on flat ground like an ordinary county town. The city wall was twelve miles long and two feet high, with a garrison of three thousand troops.
Chishui City and Jishi City, ten miles away, were originally garrisons of the Tuyuhun army, where many Tuyuhun nobles lived and 5,000 troops were stationed. After the first Tuyuhun War, in order to concentrate its forces to defend Fuqi City, Tuyuhun decided to temporarily abandon Chishui City and Jishi City.
Originally, the army of Jiaohe County should have marched south and occupied two key cities, but Wang Long pretended to be confused. Tuyuhun marched for ten days without taking over the two cities, and the Dangxiang people occupied them cautiously, so Wang Long acquiesced.
Now the problem comes. Xiao Xia orders Wang Long to capture Chishui County within ten days. If he can capture it, it will be fine. If he fails, he will be subject to military law.
Wang Long knew very well that the Prince of Jin wanted to use him as a target to avenge his attempt to kill him.
There is also the revenge of Changsun Sheng's defeat. He can fool the imperial court, but he cannot fool the King of Jin who actually led the troops to fight. He asked him to attack Chishui City, but he was actually looking for an excuse to kill him.
Wang Long was indeed in collusion with the Dangxiang, or in other words, he accepted a huge bribe of tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Dangxiang and had been secretly helping the Dangxiang.
But what Changsun Sheng said about surrendering to the Dangxiang people and becoming a member of them was actually not true.
Wang Long didn't want to surrender to the Dangxiang at all. He was not a fool. Seeing that the Sui army had arrived with a clear goal to wipe out the Dangxiang, at this critical juncture, he would not surrender to the weak Dangxiang people.
The Tuyuhun, which was much stronger than the Dangxiang, was destroyed, let alone the weaker Dangxiang. Under the pressure of the Sui army, the Dangxiang would definitely hand themselves over to the Sui army for disposal.
Anyone with a little common sense would think of this, let alone a cunning man like Wang Long.
What's more, he had the backing of the King of Qi, who doted on his daughter. With such a strong support, he would not be stupid enough to surrender to the Dangxiang.
He now had only one thought in mind, which was to escape from Xiao Xia's pursuit of him.
Wang Long paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. He finally thought of a plan, which was to openly repair the plank road and secretly pass through Chencang, or to escape from the shell. Thinking of this, Wang Long immediately summoned several trusted generals to discuss. The three generals were Zhou Hu, Wang Suizhou, and Ma Yi, all of whom were promoted by Wang Long to be trusted generals.
Wang Long said to the three people, "We don't have any siege weapons. How can we, with 5,000 people, take over Chishui City within five days? Xiao Xia is clearly looking for an excuse to kill me to avenge my plot against him. General Zhou, you still remember!"
Zhou Hu nodded, "I still remember!"
He led his army to pursue Xiao Xia, but was shot in the shoulder by an arrow from Xiao Xia and fell off his horse. He still has hidden injuries from the arrow wound.
"General, what should we do?" Wang Suizhou asked.
Wang Long said slowly: "I plan to surrender to the Dangxiang!"
The three men looked at each other. They were Han people and their families were in Jiaohe County. They did not want to surrender to the Dangxiang.
Wang Suizhou hesitated and said, "General Manager, I'm afraid that the five thousand brothers will not surrender to the Tanguts. Once they know, they will definitely mutiny."
The attitudes of the three were within Wang Long's expectations. Wang Long nodded and said, "Xiao Xia wanted to kill me. I surrendered to the Tanguts because I had no other options. But I won't force you. How about this! For the sake of our friendship over the years, you can help me once."
"General, please speak!"
Wang Long said slowly: "I will lead my soldiers to surrender to the Tanguts, and you will lead the army to the west. If Xiao Xia questions you, you can say that you did not want to follow me to surrender to the Tanguts, so you led the troops to retreat westward. In this way, Xiao Xia will not blame you, and it will also buy me some time."
This was a piece of cake and there was no risk. It was a favor that could be done. The three of them looked at each other and agreed together.
Wang Long randomly left the military camp with three hundred personal soldiers, while Zhou Hu and three other generals led five thousand soldiers and fled westward.
This is where Wang Long's cunning lies. He knows that the families of these three people are in Jiaohe County and they will definitely not follow him to surrender to the Dangxiang. If he forces them, the three of them will most likely kill him and take credit for it to Xiao Xia.
Wang Long didn't even dare to try faking his death, for fear that the three bastards would go all the way and make it real.
The best way is to not let the three people take risks, but to just leave and leave the army to the three people. In this way, you can escape with your life, and the three people will also gain a favor.
Wang Long led his three hundred personal soldiers south for three miles, found a narrow place to cross the Yellow River directly, turned north along the east bank of the Yellow River, and returned to Jiaohe County. He would not surrender to the Dangxiang people, but only made a false move to deceive Xiao Xia and make Xiao Xia think that he had surrendered to the Dangxiang.
In fact, Wang Long went to Luoyang to seek refuge with King of Qi Yang Ling. By the time Xiao Xia discovered the truth, he had already fled far away.
Zhou Hu and his two companions marched westward for more than ten miles. After discussing it, they turned around and joined Xiao Xia.
The next day at noon, the 5,000 Sui army encountered Luo Shixin and Pei Xingyan's 10,000 troops, who surrounded the army. Pei Xingyan asked in a stern voice, "Where is Wang Long?"
Zhou Hu clasped his fists and said, "General Pei, Wang Long has surrendered to the Tanguts. We are unwilling to surrender with him, so we will ignore his orders and lead our troops to retreat northward."
"How many people followed him to surrender to the Dangxiang?" Pei Xingyan asked again.
"No brothers were willing to go with him, so he took his own 300 soldiers. We were afraid that he would collude with the Tanguts to attack us, so we hurried north."
Pei Xingyan nodded, "You did the right thing, you saved the army, please follow me to see His Highness!"
Ten thousand Sui cavalrymen led five thousand Jiaohe troops north and returned to the Sui army camp.
(End of this chapter)