Chapter 712: Shocking the King of Wei
Chapter 712: Shocking the King of Wei
Soon, a strong young man walked into the lobby. He was Hao Xiaode's second son, Hao Chengyuan.
Hao Xiaode and Dou Jiande had known each other since childhood and had a deep friendship. Hao Chengyuan knelt down and saluted, then presented a letter from his father.
Dou Jiande took the letter and asked with a smile: "How is your father's health?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. My father is in good health!"
Dou Jiande read the letter and nodded, saying, "I understand. Go back and tell my father that I support his independence!"
Hao Chengyuan was overjoyed. He knelt down to pay his respects, then said goodbye and left.
After Hao Chengyuan disappeared, Dou Jiande's face darkened and he said, "Hao Xiaode doesn't want to go to Hedong. He actually asked me to give Wei County and Ji County to him."
Song Zhengben narrowed his eyes and smiled, "The Wagang Army is really about to split up. This is a chance to annihilate them. Your Majesty must seize it!"
Dou Jiande nodded, he thought so too.
At this moment, Fang Yanzao's voice came from outside, "Let me in, I want to see your prince, you are going to cause trouble!"
Dou Jiande ordered: "Let him in!"
Not long after, Fang Yanzhao rushed in. He had been waiting outside the military government office. Just now, he accidentally saw Hao Chengyuan and suddenly realized that something was wrong. Hao Xiaode was going to surrender, and Dou Jiande would definitely change his mind and wipe out the Wagang Army.
"Your Majesty, this is a great plan arranged by the King of Jin, you can't ruin it!"
Dou Jiande was startled, "What are you talking about?"
Fang Yanzao also risked his life, "Your Highness, sending the Wagang Army to Hedong is a strategy arranged by the King of Jin to force Li Yuan to withdraw his troops from Bashu. Please don't attack the Wagang Army and let them enter Hedong smoothly. If you destroy the King of Jin's plan, I'm afraid the King of Jin will punish you first."
Dou Jiande was stunned. He looked at the three military advisors, and the three military advisors were also stunned.
After a while, Dou Jiande asked, "Does Li Mi know the intention of the King of Jin to let him go to Hedong?"
"He knows that the King of Jin gave him a letter. The letter clearly states that the King of Jin will break through Hulao Pass and tie Wang Shichong back to create conditions for the Wagang Army to enter Hedong. My master is willing to cooperate with the King of Jin to enter Hedong."
"So that's it!" Dou Jiande then knew the reason why Wang Shichong withdrew to Luoyang.
"Let him wait in the yard!"
The soldiers took Fang Yanzao to the yard below. Dou Jiande paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He was thinking about something. He received news yesterday that the King of Jin had stationed 80,000 troops in Bai Ma and a large number of ships were mobilized to Bai Ma. Could this be related to this incident?
At this time, Song Zhengben whispered: "Your Highness, I'm afraid that the King of Jin is gathering his troops in Bai Ma to warn you."
Dou Jiande sighed, "In order to fight for Bashu, they actually arranged for the Wagang Army to enter Hedong. This is a really big move."
It would be a lie to say that he was not afraid of Prince Jin. Dou Jiande was also afraid that Xiao Xia would attack him first.
At this moment, Dou Jiande made up his mind. Whatever, let the Wagang Army enter Hedong and take back what they should take. He ordered: "Please ask Mr. Fang to come in!"
Soon, Fang Yanzao came back, and Dou Jiande said slowly: "Let your master go to Hedong! I won't stop him, but he should not care about Hao Xiaode's affairs!"
Sure enough, Li Mi did not keep his word. He did not hand over Wei and Ji counties to Dou Jiande. Of course, there was a reason for this. The reason was that the fourth in command, Hao Xiaode, firmly opposed the development in Hedong. His reason was very simple. The soldiers were all from the Central Plains. If he asked them to leave their homes and go to Hedong, what would happen to their families?
This statement makes it sound as if they can still fight their way back to the Central Plains, so Hao Xiaode is just using this as an excuse. The fundamental reason is that Hao Xiaode also wants independence.
Dou Jiande has already expressed his support for his independence, so it is certainly impossible for Hao Xiaode to go to Hedong and live under someone else's control.
Li Mi finally agreed to Hao Xiaode's request, allowing his 30,000 troops to stay in Weijun and Jijun, and left him 50,000 shi of grain.
Li Mi led an army of 170,000 and marched northward. Zhang Xutuo led an army of 30,000 and marched westward after taking Xiangcheng County. On this day, the army arrived at Zhuyang Pass, the northernmost part of Xiyang County. The Funiu Mountains run through here, and the Xishui River flows through the Funiu Mountains, leaving a canyon several dozen miles long. The end of the canyon is Zhuyang Pass.
Soon, several scouts came out of the canyon and bowed, saying, "General, the canyon is deserted and the official road is overgrown with grass. No one has walked on it for a long time."
"What's the situation in the canyon?" asked Zhang Xutuo.
"Reporting to the general, the canyon is about one mile wide and more than thirty miles long. On one side is a very shallow river, and on the other side are official roads and woods, as well as some farmland."
“Are there farmlands?”
Zhang Xutuo immediately asked sensitively: "Then there should be farmers!"
"We also found several dilapidated farmhouses that had been abandoned for a long time, and the farmland was overgrown with weeds."
Zhang Xutuo sighed. If he couldn’t find anyone, he wouldn’t know the situation inside the pass.
"How about Guancheng?"
"Reporting to the general, the city wall is about one mile long and two zhang high. There are cliffs on both sides. There are two gates, one is the main gate, and the other is a very low water gate. There is no moat."
"Where are the soldiers guarding the city?"
The scout hesitated and said, "General, we don't see any defenders."
Zhang Xutuo was startled. "Is it an empty city?"
The scout shook his head quickly. "It doesn't look like an empty city. There are flags and noisy voices, but no soldiers are seen."
Zhang Xutuo had encountered this situation before. No one had passed the pass for a long time, and there had been no war, so the soldiers had become slack.
Zhang Xutuo nodded. He had an army of 30,000, so why should he care how many troops the other side had guarding the city.
He immediately ordered: "Send the message to rest here, and set off at three o'clock!"
At three o'clock in the morning, 20,000 troops began to march into the canyon. Zhang Xutuo left 10,000 troops at the entrance of the canyon to prevent them from being blocked by the enemy.
When they were still three miles away from Zhuyang Pass, the army stopped advancing. Zhang Xutuo sent his general Yu Han to lead 500 elite soldiers to assault the city, and 3,000 support soldiers were ambushed 300 steps behind them.
Once the five hundred soldiers reach the city, the three thousand troops will immediately rush up to support them.
But in front of the five hundred soldiers, there are fifty scouts, who are the real core of the core.
Zhang Xutuo raised his telescope and looked towards the top of the city. The city three miles away was within reach, but Zhang Xutuo still could not see any defenders. According to the report from the soldiers monitoring the city gate, no soldiers had appeared on the top of the city from dusk until now.
This was very strange, but Zhang Xutuo was very cautious. He still ordered to capture the Guancheng city in a normal way, even if it was an empty city.
The wall of Zhuyang Pass was two zhang high, and the defenders were still not visible on the top of the city. Several soldiers threw a rope ladder up to the city wall, and the front end accurately caught the battlement.
The soldiers began to climb up the rope ladder quickly and gradually reached the top of the city wall. One soldier stuck his head out to look and waved his hand downwards to indicate that there was no one on the top of the city wall.
Fifty soldiers jumped onto the top of the city wall one after another, followed by five hundred soldiers who rushed up, set up ladders and quickly climbed the city wall.
Five hundred soldiers went up to the city, but still no fierce fighting took place. Zhang Xutuo began to doubt himself. Could it be that he had made a wrong judgment and this was originally an empty city?
(End of this chapter)