Chapter 923 Leap to the West Coast

Chapter 923 Leap to the West Coast

Chapter 923 Leap to the West Coast
In the Puzhou Guandong City, Liu Xi immediately issued a martial law order.

Compared with West City and Central City, East City is the most dangerous because it faces the enemy's front directly.

Since the emperor withdrew his troops, Liu Yi has not slept well. He has been patrolling day and night and conducting strict inspections.

There were no less than 15,000 defenders in the city, divided into three groups.

The most reliable were the Huns, followed by the miscellaneous Hu soldiers recruited from various places, and then the soldiers from the Guanzhong nobles.

The soldiers from the powerful families are the ones who watch them most closely.

Most of them were scattered soldiers who had fled after attacking Hou Feihu's camp, a total of five to six thousand people. Although they had just been reorganized, the organization was scattered, the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers, but they were fine as a rotation unit.

However, Liu Yi still often visited the camp, distributed rewards, and explained the righteousness of the cause.

The emperor made it very clear that Shao's troops must not be allowed to cross the three cities of Puzhen and Tongguan, because once they entered the Guanzhong Plain, they might provoke a response from local nobles.

As long as these two "gaps" separating Kanto and Kansai remain, the situation can be stabilized.

Liu Xi agreed with this, so he personally supervised the battle and repelled Hou Feihu's first offensive, forcing him to leave more than 3,000 corpses, which was a great victory.

But he never expected that the first to cause chaos were not the people of Jin, but the mixed Hu people.

The Han people were still somewhat loyal to the emperor in Chang'an, and they never stopped providing food and men. But the mixed Hu people had no loyalty at all, which was simply unbelievable.

After nightfall, there was a commotion in Cangcheng. The Lushui Hu from Qinzhou directly killed the Xiongnu soldiers who were monitoring them and threw their heads out of the city. However, they did not open the city gates directly. Instead, they sent several people to descend from the top of the city wall and go straight to the Jin camp to negotiate terms.

Seeing that the Lushui Hu had rebelled, more than 2,000 people from the command of Wudu King Yang Nandi also rebelled.

The Qiuchi Di people who had been rotated back to the camp rushed out of the camp gate, occupied part of the city wall and the west gate, and made loud noises. After learning that the Lushui Hu had sent people to the Jin camp, they also sent messengers to go there in the dark.

At the same time, the Di people of Qiuchi put on armor, drew their swords, strung their bows, and lined up to confront the Lushui Hu in the streets.

This situation is outrageous, but it also indirectly shows that under highly stressful circumstances, no one trusts anyone else.

It was fine that the Xiongnu rode on their heads, they were used to it, but it was still unclear who was superior between the Qiuchi Di and the Lushui Hu...

When Hou Feihu was first awakened by his personal soldiers, he was still a little dazed. After hearing what was said, he suddenly woke up, met with the envoys on the spot, and learned about their conditions.

The conditions of the Lushui Hu and Qiuchi Di were similar: each person would be rewarded with two pieces of silk and allowed to take food, property and weapons home, otherwise they would resist to the end.

As soon as these words were spoken, the officers and soldiers in the central army tent began to curse, but the staff members were quite tempted.

Hou Feihu ignored those who cursed the military academy purely for the sake of face and pride.

He knew that the opportunity was too good to be missed. The Di Qiang rebellion in Fengyi might be suppressed soon, so he had no time to waste with the bandits outside the East City.

Moreover, if the fighting really goes on, soldiers will be killed in large numbers, and the officers in the tent will also be killed, or even die directly in the siege. I wonder if they will cry out by then.

"I'm the boss. I agree." Hou Feihu slammed the table to stop the noise in the tent. He looked at the envoys from the Lushui Hu and Qiuchi Di tribes in front of him and said, "You were originally farming and grazing in Anding and Wudu, living and working in peace and contentment. Liu Can summoned you without reason, drove you to die, and you didn't return for years. It was really cruel.

"Now that Liu Can is about to die, the Guanxi area must be unified. When you return, you should persuade your lord to change the flag as soon as possible, otherwise disaster will befall him."

"If you don't want to leave now and still want to gain wealth and honor, you can follow the king's army to attack the Xiongnu. There will be other rewards after the war."

After saying that, he looked at them, his eyes full of anticipation.

The reason is simple. There are only two walls between Cangcheng and Dongcheng, and there is a flying stack in the middle, which makes direct attack very convenient.

The Lushui Hu envoys looked at each other, and finally said with difficulty: "My master doesn't want to fight anymore. Many people have died since the expedition. It's time to go back."

Qiuchi Di generally responded.

After hearing what they said, Hou Feihu did not force them. He immediately stood up and said, "Then leave the city and stay temporarily at the riverbank south of the city. We will send you away after the war is over."

The envoys looked delighted and were about to agree when they suddenly heard fierce shouts of killing coming from the cang city.

Everyone in the tent was a little stunned.

Hou Feihu immediately left the tent and climbed up to the observation tower in the camp. After looking carefully for a long time, he burst into laughter.

The Lushui Hu and Qiuchi Di did not want to fight, but the Xiongnu took the initiative to attack.

In the darkness, it was impossible to tell which side was fighting the Huns, but it didn't matter.

Hou Feihu immediately mobilized thousands of soldiers and horses, with five yellow-headed troops in the front, and rushed to the city first. After some negotiations, the east gate of Cangcheng was opened with a bang.

The five yellow-headed soldiers did not hesitate and entered the city first.

Thousands of people from the Heiliang Left Camp waited for a while, and only when they saw the figures of the Yellow-headed Army soldiers appear inside and outside the city gate and on the city wall did they march in as a team.

On the city wall, the battle has reached a fever pitch.

The Huns' offensive was getting more and more powerful. The battle at the two flying piers was particularly fierce. Corpses fell one after another, almost filling the narrow passage between the outer walls of the East City and the Cang City.

Perhaps because there was not enough manpower on the flying stack, the Xiongnu brought long wooden planks and put them on the opposite wall. Their action inadvertently involved the Qiuchi Di, and a three-way melee ensued.

Arrows flew back and forth between the walls, the sound of arrows breaking through the air was endless, and countless people fell to the ground after being shot.

The officers and leaders of both sides were cheering loudly, and the bloody battle was eye-catching.

A moment later, a team of black soldiers climbed onto the top of the city wall, knelt down and drew their bows. Suddenly, there was a continuous "whoosh" sound, and they quickly overwhelmed the Hun archers on the opposite side, and screams rang out one after another.

The Huns also knew that it was a critical moment, and they drew their bows and fought back.

At such a close distance, iron armor was not very effective, and the number of Black Jade soldiers who were shot by arrows and fell to the ground increased sharply. Both sides gritted their teeth and persisted, enduring casualties, betting that the other side would not be able to hold on at the cost of their lives.

The fighting on the flying stack became more intense.

With the arrival of the Jin army, the Huns' offensive was pushed back little by little.

At the end of the battle, the Huns, who had originally intended to recapture Cangcheng and had been reluctant to burn the flying stacks, finally ordered to pour kerosene on them and burn the two flying stacks.

Upon seeing this, the soldiers of the Heilongjiang Left Camp mustered up their remaining courage, roared like thunder, and rushed to the opposite wall in the raging fire, where they fought with the Huns.

Liu Xi, Duke of Changguo of the Xiongnu, charged forward with a spear in hand. Upon seeing this, his personal soldiers rushed forward and fought desperately.

Casualties on both sides increased sharply, with corpses falling from the city walls like rain.

Suddenly, shouts of killing and panic-stricken people broke out in East City again.

The morale of the Heilongjiang Army was getting higher and higher, while the morale of the Huns was getting lower and lower. It was easy to figure out that as the Jin Army climbed to the top of the city, the Jin nobles in the city finally made up their minds to rebel and launched an attack on the Huns from behind.

The situation on the battlefield suddenly took a turn for the worse. The Huns who were preparing to reinforce the city were routed and shouted in panic.

Without follow-up reinforcements, it was obviously not enough to rely solely on Liu Xi's personal bravery and the desperate fighting of his personal soldiers.

In a short period of time, all these personal soldiers were killed.

Liu Xi was extremely desperate. He jumped off the city wall, rolled over to relieve the force, and then limped away into the darkness.

A volley of arrows shot down from the top of the city wall. Liu Xi's body paused and then fell to the ground with a bang.

The Huns in Cangcheng were attacked from both sides and could not withstand it at all, so they fled in panic.

They opened the west gate and ran westward on the wobbly floating bridge, shouting.

The Black-Headed Army and the Yellow-Headed Army came in pursuit, and the sound of killing was so deafening on the river that it almost drowned out the sound of the whistling wind.

Zhongyu City is not big, and there are only more than 2,000 people stationed there at this time.

Seeing the flames on Dongcheng and Cangcheng and hearing the shouts of killing on the bridge, he was suddenly filled with fear.

The garrison commander was still responsible and immediately sent people out of the city to try to untie the bamboo knots on the floating bridge and destroy it. However, they were quickly dispersed by the rushing defeated soldiers and could not carry out their mission at all.

So they lost their courage and simply mixed in with the fleeing soldiers, bypassed Zhongyu City, rushed to the western section of the pontoon bridge again, and ran towards the west city of Puzhou Pass.

There were many figures on the top of the West City wall, and they seemed to have noticed something was wrong here.

They sent a group of people to line up at the bridgehead, and when they saw someone rushing towards them, they immediately shot arrows.

The floating bridge was narrow, only wide enough for two ox carts to pass each other. Hundreds of people were crowded on it, and it was dark at night, so countless people fell into the water.

After the feather arrows were shot, the screams almost broke the night sky.

Some people turned around and ran back, while others simply jumped into the river and tried to swim back to the west bank along the pontoon bridge.

For a moment, the bridge and the surrounding areas were filled with screaming, cursing, shouting, and crying. It was so sad to hear and made anyone who heard it cry. In one word: miserable!

In the direction of Zhongyu City, the soldiers of the Left Camp of Heiliang who were chasing quickly fired their bows and arrows continuously, shooting the second group of enemy troops blocking the bridgehead so hard that they could not raise their heads. The sword and shield soldiers and spearmen charged again and defeated the enemy in an instant.

When the defending general saw that the losses were so great and that the East City had already fallen, he immediately lost all his fighting spirit and hurriedly took his personal soldiers and ran to the west bank.

The Heilongjiang Army rushed into Zhongxun City first.

The Yellow-Headed Army passed them, with surprisingly high morale, and continued to rush along the pontoon bridge to the west bank.

The enemy troops in Xicheng acted decisively, untied a few bamboo knots, and let several floating boats float away, thus creating a gap and preventing the Yellow Head Army from crossing the river.

At the same time, there were burly men on the shore holding huge axes, chopping the iron chains with all their might - if the floating bridge was not fixed with iron chains, it would be carried by the river water and drift, making it inconvenient to walk on and easily damaged.

The soldiers of the Yellow Head Army stood at the broken end of the pontoon bridge and cursed loudly. At the same time, they called in archers to shoot at the Hun soldiers near the ferry.

Arrows flew back and forth, the scene was extremely bloody, and the corpses on the river surface increased at an alarming rate, it was a shocking sight.

"Get out of the way!" a shout came from behind.

The Yellow Head Army soldiers crowded in the front didn't know what to do. In desperation, some of them rushed forward and jumped along the broken edge.

This place is less than ten steps away from the west bank. The river is not very deep, but the silt is really annoying, making it almost impossible to move forward.

The Huns took the opportunity to shoot arrows and killed all the warriors who jumped into the water.

The craftsman has reached the fracture.

The sword and shield soldiers raised their large shields and covered tightly without leaving any gaps.

The craftsmen were sweating as they lowered the small wooden boat into the river, temporarily fixed it with hemp ropes, and then laid wooden boards on it.

A moment later, the shieldmen shouted and rushed ashore on the shaky wooden boards.

On the floating bridge, there was a long line of torches that stretched as far as the eye could see. Taking advantage of the enemy's unstable morale and continuous rebellions, countless soldiers bravely rushed to the west bank of the Yellow River, killed the enemy troops outside the city, and firmly defended the bridgehead.

The morale of the Xiongnu was indeed very low. The Yellow-Headed Army that had just rushed ashore had only about 300 men, and the Black-Headed Army had only about 100 men. However, there were no infantry to stop them, and no armored cavalry to rush them into the river. They just watched them reach the shore...

(End of this chapter)