Chapter 710: Heart-breaking Chess
Chapter 710: Heart-breaking Chess
Fang Yanzao smiled bitterly and said, "In fact, I received a letter from my nephew, and the letter is still in my arms. The Wagang Army can come and go freely. If I want to leave, Li Mi will not stop me. It's just that Li Mi had just killed Zhai Hong at that time and became one of the Wagang councilors. His position was very unstable and many people were dissatisfied with him. Generals with heavy troops, such as Hao Xiaode, Zhang Tongru, and Zhang Tong'er, all wanted to kill him and split his army. There were not many people Li Mi could rely on, and there were only three of us. If I left, Li Mi would be in danger. He came with him to join Wagang, and he treated me well. I couldn't bear to leave him at that time. As for why I didn't reply, it was because I didn't want to reject my nephew's kindness openly, and I also wanted to leave a way out for myself."
Xiao Xia said calmly, "You said that Li Mi could only rely on three people at that time, and the other two were Zhang Jue and Shan Xiongxin?"
"That's right. It was actually Xu Shiji who supported Li Mi and handed Zhang Jue and Shan Xiongxin over to Li Mi."
Thinking of Zhang Jue, Xiao Xia sighed secretly in his heart, and his tone softened, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fang, please take a seat!"
The soldiers brought a chair, and Xiao Xia asked Fang Yanzao to sit down. Fang Yanzao took out Xu Shiji's letter and presented it to Xiao Xia. Xiao Xia looked at the letter and smiled, "I stationed troops thirty miles away to give him a chance to surrender with dignity. How about this! I will write him a letter. If he surrenders voluntarily, I will make him a second-level Huben General, the same level as Luo Shixin and Pei Xingyan, and one level higher than Qin Qiong. This treatment is not low! In the future, when I found the country, Huben General will be made a Duke and become a founding hero!"
Fang Yanzao was overjoyed, "I will definitely tell General Xu!"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Fang, don't you want to think about yourself?"
Fang Yanzao suddenly became embarrassed, stood up and saluted, saying: "I am willing to serve Your Highness at my service!"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Fang, please do something for me. If you succeed, I will make you the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the future."
Fang Yanzao said quickly: "I am willing to die for your Highness!"
Xiao Xia laughed and said, "I don't need you to die for me. How can you be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue if you die? I want you to go back to Li Mi."
Fang Yanzao was shocked, "Your Highness, don't you believe me?"
Xiao Xia shook her head. "I let you go back to Li Mi because I trust you. Come with me!"
Xiao Xia brought him to the sand table, and he pointed at the sand table and said, "At present, Li Mi's army is stationed in Yaocheng County, east of Wei County, and Dou Jiande's 200,000 troops are stationed in Wei County, Wudu County, a hundred miles away. There is also a 100,000-strong army deployed in Feixiang County, Qinghe County. Dou Jiande did not launch an attack. He is waiting for Wang Shichong's 100,000 troops to rush into Ji County from behind and attack Li Mi from behind. If the plan succeeds, Li Mi will be in great danger. At present, Wang Shichong has personally led 100,000 troops to be stationed in Henei County. He has not launched an attack on Ji County because he is watching the situation here. If my army withdraws south, he will immediately attack Ji County. On the contrary, if I attack Hulao Pass, his army will quickly withdraw to Luoyang."
Fang Yanzao nodded, "Your Highness has seen it very clearly. What do you need me to do?"
Xiao Xia pointed a wooden pole at Fukou Pass in the north of Wei County and said, "I want you to persuade Li Mi to lead the army through Fukou Pass and occupy Hedong. I will attack Hulao Pass and force Wang Shichong back to Luoyang to create conditions for him!"
Fang Yanzao was awakened from his dream after hearing this. He thought for a moment and said, "If Your Highness writes him a personal letter, he will be more obedient."
Xiao Xia nodded, wrote a letter to Li Mi immediately, and then sent someone to escort Fang Yanzao to Hebei. This move was too important, and it could be called a heart-breaking move. Xiao Xia had been unable to find a suitable person. Fang Yanzao was Li Mi's confidant, and he was undoubtedly the most suitable person. As for how Fang Yanzao would explain to Li Mi, Xiao Xia was not worried.
After seeing Fang Yanzao off, Xiao Xia immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to Xu Shiji. Xu Shiji was overjoyed when he received Xiao Xia's written promise. He immediately ordered the city to be opened and surrendered. Fifty thousand troops left the city and formally surrendered to the Prince of Jin's army.
Xiao Xia immediately appointed Xu Shiji as the second-level Huben General. In fact, after the second northern expedition, Xiao Xia will reward many generals. Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan, Zhou Faming and Sun Lei will be appointed as the first-level Huben Generals. Currently, only Lai Huer and Zhou Fashang are the first-level Huben Generals.
Qin Qiong, Qiu He, Lai Yuan, Jia Wuben and Li Jing will also be appointed as third-level Tiger Generals;
Wang Junkuo, Wang Bodang, Xie Yingdeng, the Xue brothers, Zhou Shaofan, Fei Qingnu, etc. will all be promoted to the second-level Tiger General. It was already very good that Xu Shiji was promoted to the second-level Tiger General as soon as he surrendered. It was mainly because he led 80,000 troops to surrender, allowing Xiao Xia to take over the Central Plains at the lowest cost.
Like Su Dingfang, Cheng Yaojin and Shen Guang, he will be awarded the title of First-Class Tiger-Tooth General for his meritorious service.
After taking Xingyang County, the 150,000-strong army arrived at Hulao Pass, which was the eastern gate of Luoyang. Once Hulao Pass was breached, Luoyang would be seriously threatened, and Wang Shichong, who led an army of 100,000 and remained stationary in Henei County, would immediately withdraw to Luoyang.
Xiao Xia wanted to create conditions for Li Mi to invade Hedong and dig up the roots of Li Yuan's rise.
An army of one hundred thousand men formed a battle array in front of Hulao Pass, which was also filled with soldiers. It was currently guarded by General and Prince of Xingyang Liu Changgong.
Xiao Xia glanced coldly at Hulao Pass. He would not let his soldiers fight to the death with siege ladders. He immediately ordered, "Mount the catapults!"
The teams separated, and ten heavy catapults rumbled out. The catapults were two meters high and had extremely strong throwing power. They could throw a hundred-jin iron fire bomb three hundred steps away.
But in front were giant baffles, each of which was 18 feet high and 50 feet wide, and was made of logs nailed together. Six pairs of giant wheels were installed underneath, and they were pushed slowly by hundreds of soldiers. Each heavy catapult had two baffles to protect the soldiers operating the catapult from the threat of the large crossbows on the city walls.
Five hundred large crossbows were installed on Hulao Pass, which could shoot two-foot heavy arrows five hundred steps away. There were also thirty catapults that could project large fireballs. If there was no obstruction, the fireballs could fly a mile away.
Crossbows and catapults have always been powerful weapons for defending Hulao Pass. The Jin army certainly knew this, so they developed a giant baffle specifically for this purpose.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Amid the sound of war drums, the giant baffle moved slowly, and behind it were ten two-meter-high heavy catapults, which were daunting. Behind them were 20,000 cavalrymen, who were there to prevent the other side from suddenly sending troops to kill.
At this time, a horn sounded from the top of the city, "Woo--"
Immediately afterwards, a volley of arrows was fired from the top of the city wall. Five hundred large crossbows fired sharp and powerful heavy arrows, which hit the giant baffle with a crackling sound. The baffle stopped moving forward, and a gear was arranged in the front and back. The soldiers used long wood to prop up the baffle, and ten heavy catapults were in place. The soldiers began to prepare quickly.
At this time, the catapult on the top of the city was fired, and huge fireballs flew down the city, rolling and rushing towards the Sui army at a rapid speed. "Bang!" A fireball hit the baffle and instantly shattered it, and countless burning strips of cloth flew into the air.
Another fireball also hit the first baffle heavily, but the fireball did not shatter. Instead, it flew into the air, passed over the baffle, and hit the second baffle heavily again, and then the fireball completely shattered.
If there was no second barrier, the enemy's fireballs would inevitably hit the Sui army's catapults.
At this time, the Sui army's ten catapults were fully equipped. At the general's command, the soldiers lit the fuse, which burned with a hissing sound and burned to the red line. "Fire!" the soldiers shouted, and the heavy catapults swung out, shooting ten iron fire thunders weighing hundreds of pounds at the opponent's city gate.
(End of this chapter)