Fenghou

Chapter 778
At night, dozens of large fire kites flew towards the city of Linfen from all directions at the same time. The fire kites were not ignited, and they were boosted by catapults and gunpowder. There are many, and when the wind blows, it will cover the whole city.

Many soldiers on duty got one, and when they looked carefully under the firelight, it turned out to be a "Letter from Lingwu County King Chen Qing to Linfen Generals and Soldiers".

"The fertile soil of the Three Jin Dynasties gave birth to my ancestors and parents, moistened the Fen River, raised my sons and daughters, passed on from generation to generation, and the blood continued. However, the barbarians were cruel and devastated the Central Plains. They killed my parents, raped my wife and daughter, cut off my descendants, and turned the fertile soil into coke. , the ancestral house was burned to ashes, pale and gray, starved to death in the fields, weak children, trampled in the ravines, a hot-blooded man from the three Jin Dynasties, to defend the family and the country, expel the Tartars, and restore the Han family."

Groups of soldiers gathered together and read the above words, all of them burst into tears, and many soldiers couldn't help crying on the battlements.

There were also Jurchen generals on duty at night, and they ran to find Han Chang with the note.

Han Chang woke up from his sleep and read Chen Qing's report to the generals. He was shocked and stood up hastily: "Confiscate all of them, and don't let a single one go out!"

He knew in his heart that if this stuff spread, the morale of the army would be ruined.

He hurriedly organized the army to collect the notices to the soldiers, but by dawn, only more than [-] leaflets were collected. You must know that the wind was very strong yesterday, and tens of thousands of leaflets were blown all over the city.

Commander Miao Xiu said in a low voice: "Master Wan, perhaps many orders have not entered the city, and have gone directly outside the city."

Han Chang stared at him viciously with one eye, "Do you think I'm an idiot? I'll believe your words."

Miao Xiu didn't dare to say anything when she saw his fierce look. Han Chang said to several confidant generals: "Quickly search the whole city, and it's fine to hand it over. Those who hide the leaflets will be executed by the whole family."

Thousands of soldiers began to search the whole city, causing chaos.

In fact, there was a flyer hidden in Miao Xiu's arms. He went back to the big tent, took out the flyer and looked at it carefully, and there was a sentence behind it that made his heart skip a beat. The general who surrendered without any serious evil will be demoted to a lower level of employment, and those who surrender and do meritorious deeds will be hired as in their original positions.

He is the ruler now, and if he returns to the Song army, he can also become the ruler. Who would want to be a traitor whose spine is poked?

Miao Xiunian is about forty years old, a native of Suizhou, Shaanxi Province. He was originally the commander of the Western Army and a general in the Zhongshi Division. He surrendered Wanyan Yinshuke in the Battle of Taiyuan. At present, it is Han Chang's Four King Kong, one of the four commanders, commanding [-] troops.

In the Battle of Northern Shaanxi last year, Wanyan Yinshu suffered heavy losses, and lost most of the [-] gold soldiers in his hand. Miao Xiu also gained a new understanding of Chen Qing's Western Army from this. He gradually realized that Chen Qing The Western Army under his command is no longer the former Western Army.

In the past, the Western Army suffered from the embarrassment of the imperial court and was randomly commanded by those civilian officials who did not understand military affairs. He would not go back to such a Western Army, and the imperial court would not tolerate them rebels.

But Chen Qing's Western Army is not the same thing, it is actually a separatist army, an army that can compete for the world, Chen Qing will never discriminate against surrenderers, many of his senior officials are returnees of the puppet Qi State, Even after Guan Shigu's return, he can still serve as a military counselor.

Miao Xiu has always been tempted, but he has some concerns, will Chen Qing say one thing and do another?
But today's "Letter to Linfen Generals and Soldiers" gave him another ray of hope.

At this time, more than a dozen generals came in from outside the big tent, and they all clasped their fists and said: "General, the soldiers are making a lot of noise, and they don't want to do it anymore, what should we do?"

Miao Xiu frowned, "Is it all because of Chen Qing's list?"

"Exactly, that list is too powerful, it directly disintegrates the morale of the army, and no one wants to be a slave to Jin Bing anymore."

"General, tell us what we should do!"

Looking at the expectant eyes, Miao Xiu suddenly understood that these generals also have the same appeal, and they don't want to work for the Jinbing anymore, the situation is stronger than others, and now everyone knows that Hedong Road can't be defended, so if they don't surrender, they will find a way out , it's too late.

"Do you all want to return to the Song Army?"

A general said: "It's not returning to the Song army, but returning to conscience. I know how my grandfather died. I have been tormenting my conscience for so many years. If the ruler is unwilling, please don't stop us."

"Control, Kaesong, surrender! We are Han people. If we want to defend our homeland, how can we be slaves to the enemy?"

"Control, order!"

"Everyone, please be quiet!"

Miao Xiu raised her hand and said loudly: "I fully understand everyone's feelings. In fact, the situation in Linfen is over now. A single thought can determine the fate of many people. I don't want my subordinates to die in the end or be sent to prison. Mine, I hope everyone can live a good life, give yourself a little dignity, and give your family a decent life. I have been thinking about what should we do? Now Chen Qing has given us a chance, if we don’t seize this opportunity , I will definitely be ashamed of everyone in the future, so I decided to lead everyone to abandon the dark and turn to the bright."

More than a dozen generals immediately cheered, and at this moment, a war drum was faintly heard in the distance, which should have come from outside the city.

Miao Xiu nodded and said: "It seems that our opportunity has come, the whole army will go to the East City!"

The east city was defended by Miao Xiu's army. At this time, [-] Song troops outside the city gathered at the four city gates, and outside the east city was Niu Gao's army. He led [-] troops to line up hundreds of steps outside the city. The second step is to harvest the surrendered soldiers.

Miao Xiu led a large group of generals to the city, and all [-] troops also went to the city. Miao Xiu looked at the Song army in the distance, feeling a little hesitant in her heart.

At this time, a soldier rushed to report, "The king of Nancheng led his army out of the city and surrendered!"

Miao Xiu turned pale with shock, unexpectedly Wang Lifeng took the first step, he regretted it, and quickly ordered: "Open the city gate, leave the city and surrender!"

A white flag was hung on the tower of the east city, the city gate was opened wide, and a large group of soldiers came out with white flags and surrendered.

"General, could it be an enemy trick?" A general whispered to Niu Gao.

"It doesn't look like it!"

Niu Gao knew it well, no matter how many tricks he tried, he would not dare to take the risk of opening the city gate.

Holding a long spear and a large shield, he led his men to meet them. At this moment, Miao Xiu and the generals urged their horses out, took off their helmets and said, "Controlling Miao Xiu led ten thousand people under his command to return to the Song Dynasty, begging the general to include them."

Niu Gao was overjoyed, nodded and said: "Welcome General Miao to return, but order the soldiers to leave the city quickly, put down their weapons, and gather far away, we will give preferential treatment to the brothers!"

Miao Xiu turned her head and shouted: "Run out of the city, put down your weapons, and gather far away!"

The surrendering soldiers ran, dropped their weapons after leaving the city, and ran to a distance. Niu Gao ordered General Gu Kai to lead an army of three thousand to receive the surrendering soldiers.

Niu Gao personally led [-] soldiers to kill inside the city, his most urgent task now is to capture the east gate.

The city was already in chaos. Han Chang was still leading the soldiers to collect the leaflets, but he heard two consecutive news that shocked him. Wang Lifeng, who was in charge of the south city, led his army out of the city to surrender to the Song army, and Miao Xiu of the east city also led his army to surrender. .

Han Chang was stunned by these two news, and stood there for a long time unable to say a word.

A soldier next to him pointed to a big house and said, "Master Wan, there must be a list in this house, I'll go and search for it!"

"Still searching for a fart! Run for your life!"

He turned the carriage and ran towards the north city gate, "Follow me!"

Hundreds of soldiers also turned their horses and fled after him. The reason why he rushed to the north gate was because he had just received the news that there were a large number of Song soldiers at the three gates of the east, west and south, but there were no Song soldiers outside the north city.

At this time, sporadic battles broke out in the city, mainly in the barracks. Yang Zaixing's army entered the city from the south gate, surrounded more than a thousand Jurchen soldiers, and the two sides fought fiercely.

Niu Gao's army also encountered two thousand soldiers who refused to surrender on the east street, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

Han Chang didn't care about these things, he rushed to the north city gate, ordered to open the city gate, the city guard was not at the gate, the city guard commander did not dare to stop him, opened the city gate, and put down the drawbridge.

Han Chang led hundreds of soldiers to rush out of the city gate. He didn't dare to stay, so he ran to the northeast quickly.
At this time, he could no longer go to Taiyuan, so he could only flee eastward, crossing the Taihang Mountains to Hebei.

(End of this chapter)