Chapter 701: Auspicious Omens in Luoyang
Chapter 701: Auspicious Omens in Luoyang
The Wu brothers were woken up by their personal soldiers in their sleep. When they heard that the main force of the Sui army had entered the city, they were horrified and did not even bother to put on their armor. They jumped on their horses and fled to the north city with more than a hundred personal soldiers.
The north gate opened, and the Wu brothers were the first to rush out of the gate. But before they had run a hundred steps, they heard a gong sound, and five thousand crossbow arrows shot towards the Wu brothers and a hundred personal soldiers like a storm.
This time they could no longer escape. Both of them were shot by hundreds of arrows and fell off their horses like hedgehogs. More than a hundred of their personal soldiers were also shot to death by the arrows.
These two fake characters in the novel never had the chance to show their prowess like Wu Tianxi and Wu Yunzhao in the novel. They lived a cowardly life and died a cowardly death in the end.
All 5,000 troops surrendered, and all the newly recruited soldiers were disbanded.
But there was no good result for the surrender of these 5,000 soldiers. They massacred two counties in Runan County and Huai'an County, killing tens of thousands of civilians, not even sparing the elderly and children, raped thousands of women, and robbed the people of the two counties of their property. King Xiao Xia of Jin had already ordered that if the 5,000 soldiers did not surrender, they would all be killed.
The five thousand soldiers could never have dreamed that this would be their fate. They were taken to the bank of the Yu River crying and screaming, where they all knelt down and were beheaded. Their blood dyed the river red.
The 2,000 soldiers in Rang County were local militiamen. After hearing the news, all the soldiers fled. The main general and several deputy generals were the fleeing remnants of Li Zitong's army. They changed into civilian clothes and prepared to escape, but were caught and beheaded by dozens of constables led by the county magistrate Zhang Yi. The heads were sent to the Sui army.
The Wu brothers of Nanyang County were destroyed and their army was completely annihilated. The news spread and shocked the other three surrounding counties. Lu Zushang, the governor of Huai'an County, declared his allegiance to the King of Jin. A thousand local garrisons in Yuyang County also mutinied. The governor Wang Chao led the soldiers to kill the main commander and several generals and offered Yuyang County.
Zhu Can, who occupied Xiyang County, also led 3,000 troops to participate in the massacre. He looted and killed people in Xiyang County, committing all kinds of atrocities and even enjoying cannibalism.
He knew that he had committed a serious crime, and when he heard the news that 5,000 soldiers had been killed, he immediately led 3,000 soldiers to flee north in panic and ran to join Wang Shichong.
This is the chain effect. As long as the most critical Nanyang County is captured, the three surrounding counties can be resolved by themselves, and the Sui army does not need to take action at all.
After taking over the four counties of Dengzhou, the power of Jiangnan Road became unified. Sun Lei led 30,000 troops to station in Nanyang, threatening Wang Shichong of Luoyang to the north and approaching Wucheng to the west.
In Jiangdu, Xiao Xia received a pigeon letter from Zhou Faming sent from Ba County.
In the official room, several high-ranking officials had already arrived and bowed together, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia waved his hand, "There is an important matter that needs to be discussed with everyone. Please come over to the sand table!"
Everyone came to the sand table, Xiao Xia picked up the wooden pole and said, "I just received a pigeon letter from Zhou Faming. It took many twists and turns before it reached me. He gave me a strategic suggestion, which I think is very valuable. I want to discuss it with everyone."
Liu Wenjing asked with a smile: "I wonder what suggestions General Zhou made?"
"He suggested that I send a large number of navy troops to Bashu and use the navy's advantage to control the major rivers in Bashu. Basically, I can compress the Tang King's army to the Xichuan line. The entire Dongchuan will be our territory, including the Laojun Mountain mining area that I have always dreamed of."
Everyone hurriedly looked at the sand table. Xiao Xia continued, "Once we control the waterway, the Tang army will not be able to transport military food and supplies by water, and it will be easy for us to cut them off. Whether it is the Yangtze River, Qushui River, Fushui River, Xihan River or Mianshui River, as long as our warships cruise on these rivers, the enemy's garrison will be useless. Zhou Faming has a deep understanding of this. He sent 6,000 people to station in Fuling County and faced an army of 50,000 to attack. As a result, our warships intercepted the enemy's food and grass ships from the waterway. Li Xiaogong's 50,000 troops retreated without a fight and retreated to the west of Fushui River. Similarly, if our warships cruise on Mianshui River, then the Tang army will not dare to go east of Mianshui River."
Pei Wen'an pondered and said, "What if we take the land route and use carts to transport food and grass?"
"Even if they are transported by carts, they still need to cross the river. As long as they cross the river, they will be under our control. Even if their army obtains tax grain locally, once we cut off their retreat, the army will soon collapse and we will pull them out one by one. Ladies and gentlemen, as long as we control the Mianshui River, the Laojun mining area will be completely ours." Liu Wenjing smiled and said, "We are just a group of scholars. We have no idea whether it can be done even if we rack our brains. Your Highness, why don't you give it a try?"
Xiao Xia made a decision immediately. He ordered the deputy commander of the navy, Lai Yuan, to lead a thousand medium-sized warships and 20,000 naval forces to Ba County. At the same time, he sent cargo ships to transport large quantities of food and supplies to Ba County.
This increase in troops brought the total strength of the Sui army in Jiangnan, Bashu, to 90,000.
In October, a major event took place in Luoyang. Wang Shichong established an internal guard with a force of 10,000 soldiers, led by his nephew Wang Renze. The first thing Wang Renze did was to check the assets and seize all the shops and land of the Guanlong nobles and confiscate them as the property of the Wang family.
This move did not intend to completely break with the Guanlong nobles, but the assets of other people were not touched, including the assets of King Jin Xiao Xia in Luoyang.
The second thing Wang Renze did was to create public opinion. On October 13, fishermen from Luoshui claimed that they had seen with their own eyes a giant turtle carrying a jade stele weighing 100 kilograms. The giant turtle disappeared, but the jade stele was fished out by the fishermen and presented to the government. There were four big characters inscribed on it: "The Wang Family Will Rise."
This incident caused a sensation in Luoyang, and it was said that many people saw the giant turtle appear on the water with their own eyes.
Ordinary people watched the fun and gossiped, but many senior ministers began to become anxious. Did they understand what Wang Shichong was trying to do?
At this time, the Wagang Army had just captured Hulao Pass, and an army of 200,000 men were advancing towards Luokou Warehouse. The defenders of Luokou Warehouse called for emergency help, and Wang Shichong personally led an army of 100,000 men to Luokou to fight against the Wagang Army.
Wang Shichong was not in Luoyang, which gave some court officials hope.
That night, Yuan Wendu, Lu Chu, Zhao Changwen, Wei Jin, Duan Da, and Guo Wenyi met secretly in Yuan Mansion to discuss launching a mutiny and taking over Luoyang.
This gathering was initiated by Yuan Wendu, who was planning to get rid of Wang Shichong on the orders of the head of the family.
Wang Shichong's confiscation of the shops and land of the Guanlong nobles completely offended the Guanlong nobles. They decided to assassinate Wang Shichong at all costs and prepare for Li Yuan's army to attack Luoyang.
Yuan Wendu said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, everyone. Wuhouwei General Pang Yu and Huo Ju are our men. We also have 8,000 troops. As long as we kill Wang Renze and take down the 10,000 troops of the inner guard, the Chang'an army will come to support us soon, trap Wang Shichong in Luokou, and unite with the Wagang Army to annihilate him."
Before, everyone was a little resistant to the Tang Wang army in Chang'an, but now there was an auspicious sign of "the rise of the Wang family", and everyone knew that Wang Shichong was going to usurp the throne. In anxiety, they no longer resisted Li Yuan's army.
Lu Chu pondered for a moment and said, "I heard that Wang Renze will take the inner guards to prepare for the Songshan altar tomorrow. He must not have many troops with him. This is a good opportunity. We can get rid of Wang Renze in one fell swoop, confiscate his army, and then recruit the support of the people. Our chances of success are very high."
Wei Jin asked: "Excuse me, Minister Yuan, has Li Yuan's army come out yet?"
Yuan Wendu nodded, "Crown Prince Li Jiancheng has personally led an army of 50,000 to Shan County, and is now waiting for our news."
Everyone said excitedly: "As long as Wang Renze leaves the city tomorrow, we will take action immediately!"
(End of this chapter)