Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 954 Restoring the Old Capital
The Jin army's final battle to regain Heluo ended in such an extremely weird way, which surprised the generals of the Jin army, and was a bit caught off guard and unacceptable.

At this point in the war in Heluo, there is actually no suspense.All the surrounding Xiongguan fortresses were destroyed, and the kings from all sides gathered around Luoyang, leaving Jinyong City isolated and helpless.For the generals, the only question they faced was how much to pay and who should pick up the final fruits of victory.

Before that, Shen Zhezi severely punished Guo Song to reorganize the army, and the effect was remarkable.When the various armies joined forces outside Luoyang City, even the Xuzhou generals, who were so passionate about seeking merit and taking Mengjin at any cost, could order their subordinates to be restrained at this last critical moment, and there was no dispute. The chaos of the attack.

The city of Jinyong City itself exists as Luoyang Acropolis, with thick walls, it can be said to be the only strong city in Luobei today.Moreover, many soldiers from the Sifang Pass flooded into the city, at least thousands of people gathered.Just looking at the tight fortifications around Jinyong City, it can be seen that the defenders have made full preparations to stick here.

The art of war has to be surrounded by divisions, which is to avoid driving dogs into poor alleys and arouse the enemy's heart to fight for life.Once love knows that death is inevitable, it will naturally disregard life and death and explode with amazing fighting power.If you attack rashly and withstand the enemy's dying counterattack, resulting in heavy casualties, the battle will be useless.Therefore, all the armies stopped in a tacit understanding, waiting for the governor to supervise the battle and dispatch.

The defeated enemy troops returned to Jinyong City. The city was richly stockpiled, and the outside of the city was cleared. In anyone's eyes, this was a decisive scene of intending to resist stubbornly and not surrender until death.

However, the armies of the kings outside the city had just joined forces, and before they even had time to launch their first attack, the fortress burned itself first!Such a strange situation is really puzzling.

So after seeing the fire in the city, all the divisions of the king's division also quickly sent envoys to ask the friendly army which side wrote it, but none of them knew, or even received similar messages at all.It was as if the enemy army was too tired to fight and simply set fire to die.

In a similar situation, all the generals leading the army from all walks of life were inexperienced, so Sima Wuji, the king of Qiao with the highest status present, made a decision. Tell Xingyang Camp.

The fire burned for two whole nights and one day. When Shen Zhezi arrived from Xingyang camp after hearing the news, the whole city was still full of smoke and heat waves.

"The fire started from outside the city. It first ignited the accumulated salaries under the city, and then spread into the city when it grew stronger. The last general did not know the reason, so he did not dare to venture in, and guarded all sides. Few of the bandits escaped, and most of them should have been burned. Killed in the city, although some remnants were captured in the countryside, but they are unknown..."

Although we haven't seen each other for a long time, King Qiao didn't have time to reminisce with Shen Zhezi when he was in the army. At 2000 people, all the armored soldiers were placed outside the camp, and all of them were from the villages around Luoyang. They were forced to follow the bandits, but they had no intention of resisting the king's teacher. ..."

Hearing such a strange process, Shen Zhezi also found it difficult to understand. After resting in the camp, he went straight to Jinyong City after the fire.

This area is still scorched and scorched. From a distance, the originally thick and tall city walls were burned by the fierce fire, and the smoke was baked black and crisp. Even the sound of horseshoes approaching could cause the wall to peel off.

And at the corner of the collapsed city wall, you can see that the city is full of devastation, and the accumulation of wages is several feet thick. In some corners of the city wall, thick human and animal remains are piled up, and some burnt bones are faintly visible. There is no living thing in the whole city , turned into a dead city.

Rao, the generals had already checked many times nearby, and seeing such a tragic scene at this moment, they still felt chills in their hearts, and even more felt the ruthlessness of water and fire.Thousands of people were besieged in the city just like this, and burned to nothing after a fire.

Shen Zhezi has never been a benevolent gentleman. Since he took charge of the army, he has repeatedly resorted to schemes of fire and water. Even if the remnants of the army were not burned to death, he had already planned to kill them all and leave no prisoners of war.But even if it is death, the impact of being slaughtered in battle is different from being besieged and burned in the city.

From the ash accumulation outside the city and the layout around the city gate, it can be seen that the city is already trapped in four directions. After the fire spread, not many people were able to escape.

Although King Qiao's report has already been acknowledged by Luoyang villagers, Shen Zhezi still has doubts. Jinyong City has been besieged from all sides, and the army of that route is still stationed outside the city. It can be seen that the defenders are not trusted at all.

Since they were skeptical and there were great hidden dangers in the city defense, the defenders along the way were able to approach the fire quietly. Even if they did it, there must be other secrets, or there must be something inside the city of Jinyong. Very important people provide them with convenience.

Yong Jin City was burned. The result was both good and bad. The advantage was that it could avoid the final fierce battle and unnecessary casualties, and complete the goal of recovering the old capital ahead of schedule.The disadvantage is that this strong city is too difficult to reuse, and Luoyang City itself is in dilapidated condition. As many as tens of thousands of troops have gathered in Heluo, and there is not a complete city for stationing.

Of course, for the generals, there is another disadvantage, that is, they saw the last great achievement at their fingertips, but they didn't expect it to be in vain.You must know that the current Jinyong City is equivalent to Luoyang City, and the recovery of the old capital is such a glorious result. Once the merits are counted carefully, at least a dozen great achievements can be divided, and there is hope for the feudal marquis!

"Bring those village braves into the empty camp in the wild, and their clan elders and village elders will see them."

Shen Zhezi stood silently outside Jinyong City for a while, then turned around and returned to the camp, and at the same time gave orders.

After Shen Zhezi entered the camp, all the camp leaders and generals also gathered in the military tent.Soon, some soldiers led a few people who surrendered in plain clothes into the camp. After entering the tent, those people did not dare to look left and right. !"

"If you are able to respect the king's order and return to the king's master Yi, you can be regarded as a little loyal. Get up and answer, and first tell the details of the changes in Jinyong City."

Shen Zhezi had doubts in his heart, so he didn't answer these people with empty words, but asked directly.

Those people got up tremblingly after hearing the words, and stood sideways in the tent, not daring to face north, but when two middle-aged people got up, they accidentally caught Shen Zhezi sitting above him out of the corner of their eyes, and their movements were terrific. After a pause, many uncontrollable surprises appeared on his face.

Shen Weizhou, the governor of the Jin army, has a great reputation in recent years, and he is known as the Chinese scholar in the sky, so they have heard of it.It's just that after seeing it with my own eyes, it is really difficult to connect this handsome young man with a general Fang Bo who is in charge of tens of thousands of troops.

Even if there are many descriptions in the rumors, such as being young and handsome, they only praised them too much in the past, which is unavoidable exaggeration, but after seeing it with their own eyes, they became famous. Judging from it, it seems to be a bit better than the rumors.As for the ability, there is no need to doubt too much, just meeting in such a scene, you can know that the person has lived up to his reputation.

Right now life and death are still in the hands of the people, these people naturally dare not relax, after getting up, an old man took a step forward according to the earlier discussion, bent his body and said tremblingly: "We, the villagers of Henan, will never fall into the trap of thieves Nian, I have always had a heart of righteousness, but the people in the village are despicable, it is difficult to abandon the old hometown, and there are slaves, thieves, peaches and leopards bullying this place..."

The old man opened his mouth with a long speech, expressing his inner struggles and grievances. With the trembling tone of the old man, an atmosphere of sadness was created.

However, being able to be sent by the villagers to approach him is not lacking in propriety. Before all the generals of the Jin army were about to get bored, they changed the topic in time and talked about the changes in Jinyong City: "We are foolish people, forced by the atrocities and insults of slaves, I have to pretend to be a slave, but I don’t dare to forget the kingly way of returning to righteousness in my heart. Fortunately, there is a Gao Shilude in the slave army who is very sympathetic to the villagers..."

"Lud?"

When Shen Zhezi heard this, he frowned slightly, and when he saw the old man panicked, he motioned for him to continue talking.As for him, he recalled the information related to Lu De while listening to the village elder telling how they instructed in Lu De's secret to push Yong Jin City into danger step by step and finally set fire to the city.

The Huainan Governor's Mansion has always had many sources of information on Heluo, so it is not ignorant of this Lu De, and has an independent volume about him for Shen Zhezi to understand.

Born in Hansu, his old reputation was compared to that of the Marquis You, who originally followed Chen Guang, and later switched to Tao Bao's command...

As more and more things need to be dealt with, Shen Zhezi's memory gradually improved, and when he expressed curiosity, the master bookkeeper had long ago helped to recall, sorting out and dictating the information about that Lu De, and then this Lu The image of De was enriched in Shen Zhezi's mind.

Soon, the old man finished his narration, and answered some detailed questions raised by the generals of the Jin army.Therefore, the story of a counselor with extremely high intelligence and courage, who was able to arrange such an ultimate move under the eyes of the bandit army and was able to kill him in one blow became known to everyone.

"Where is that Lude in the old saying?"

King Qiao asked, if these villagers did not lie, then this Lude is an extremely important person in the process of recovering Heluo, and his talent is not weak. Such a person must be in his hands, regardless of merit or appointment.

"Although Mr. Lu rescued us and other villagers, it was difficult to get out of the bandit army. When the fire broke out, he was also in the city. We and other villagers were incompetent and could not rescue him. Hiding it without concealing it, telling the world about Mr. Gao Feng..."

Hearing what the old man said, everyone in the tent, including Shen Zhezi, couldn't help but be astonished.Before everyone could open their mouths, Shen Zhezi snorted coldly, stood up from the table, and said in a deep voice: "Whether Lu De has merits or demerits, I will not be able to judge. Since the villagers return to righteousness, they have their own way." Resettlement, and everyone returns to the camp, not subject to military orders, and not allowed to leave without permission!"

When those people heard this, their demeanors changed. Even if someone wanted to argue for Lu De again, but seeing the solemn atmosphere in the tent, they were afraid and did not dare to speak. They left the military tent under the escort of the soldiers.

Only when the few villagers withdrew did Shen Zhezi look around at the generals in the tent, and said in a solemn voice: "This spring when we marched northward, hundreds of thousands of tigers and wolves came out in packs. They fought many battles, repeatedly defeated powerful enemies, and finally reached Yuhe River. Luo, enter the old capital, these officers and men have used their lives, worked hard up and down, and created this special achievement. How can a mere madman's poisonous strategy compete with each other! Even if there is no such chaos, within a few days, Master Wang can also step into the city. Kim Yong!"

Hearing what Shen Zhezi said, the slightly weird expressions of the generals gradually calmed down.To be honest, while what Lude did shocked them a lot, it also made them feel a lot of resentment.

The battle of Heluo has reached this part, in fact, there is no suspense about the outcome, the only difference is the ending of the last game.Under such circumstances, such an accident occurred in Yong Jin City, and it collapsed on its own.This is also different from the collapse and surrender of the slave army in the Liyang Great Victory. Jinyong City was burned to the ground. There was no achievement of capturing the city or beheading, and there were even very few captures.

Especially for Li Hong and other Xuzhou generals, they fought hard on the Yellow River and captured Mengjin regardless of the cost, all they did was to gain an advantage when they finally captured Luoyang.

This has nothing to do with the conflict of interests and positions, even if it is just to give an explanation to the soldiers who died in Mengjin, this matter must be clearly argued.In the end, the half-year-long struggle of their various teams seemed to be all about setting up a stage for this Lude to show himself.

Such a result is really unacceptable.Especially that Lu De, who did not vote under the command of Wang Shi until his death, if he is praised again for his actions, it will undoubtedly reflect the eclipse of the hard work of all walks of life in the Jin army.At that time, people would not discuss so much about the military, they would only spread word of mouth, tens of thousands of kings spent hundreds of millions, and the result was not as good as a mere poor soldier's plan to die!
Compared with the generals, Shen Zhezi thought more. He set the tone directly. What he did was not to care about military achievements and comfort everyone, but that he did not approve of Lu De and his behavior at all.

Although Shen Zhezi is not very old, he is considered a man of the second generation, and he has been immersed in the chaotic world of Jiangdong for a long time, so he has the ability to observe people.In his view, this Luther is a pure egoism.

Of course, self-interest is not bad, people do not kill themselves, and Shen Zhezi never denies his self-interest, but this self-interest has a bottom line.And Lude, in his opinion, is almost extreme. He has a great desire for fame and fortune. This person can use everything as a bargaining chip for the sake of fame, even his own life.

Closing his eyes, Shen Zhezi could even imagine a character who was so obsessed with reputation that he was almost abnormal.For this reason, he does not hesitate to throw thieves and second masters, and has no concept of right and wrong.Even if the people in Luoyang are rescued in the end, it seems that good intentions still exist, and it is not a loss of righteousness. Substituting into this kind of character logic is actually just a backhand prepared by him.

He set up such a poisonous plan with his life, turning the last place of resistance in Yongjin City into fly ashes, leaving behind a heroic spirit.Shen Zhezi believes that with his ability to understand people's hearts, it is impossible not to guess Wang Shi's ambivalence about his merits and demerits, and he may not necessarily publicize his deeds, so he preserved some Luoyang villagers to spread word of mouth and praise him. Germany.

Of course, Shen Zhezi also admitted that these associations of his do not lack the meaning of malicious speculation. Perhaps Lu De himself is indeed a noble and pure person.However, as the chief general to recover Heluo, he not only has to maintain the seriousness of this military operation, but also considers the role of demonstration brought by praise and criticism, especially since he is a big fan now, and there are many people in Jiangdong who dislike him exist.

If this matter is widely publicized, it will give some people a hint that it turns out that it is not necessary to have strong soldiers and generals in order to achieve meritorious deeds. It is also possible to cultivate spies and instigate high-level enemy officials.This will make the entire Northern Expedition situation more complicated and confusing, and there will be a large number of traitors who serve the two families, which will bring infinite variables to future military operations.

For example, if you continue to go north to attack Hebei in the future, you will encounter an enemy fortress, and the defender will be an enemy general who was instigated by Taifu. Will you fight?If you fight, there will be internal conflicts, and I will save this chess piece until the end to make a fatal blow!If you don't fight, you will have worries.

He didn't even expect that through a heroic figure like Lu De, he could awaken the enthusiasm of the Jin people in other occupied areas. When besieging the city for Master Wang, he can set things right!
So for this Lu De, no matter whether he is good or bad, at least on the political level, Shen Zhezi must downplay his sense of existence, even if he does not deliberately smear him, he must not praise or criticize or comment.

In any case, Luoyang City was finally recovered.Although there were still some people running around in the countryside, under the encirclement and suppression of the cavalry, those rioting people soon disappeared.

But Shen Zhezi didn't have time to indulge in joy. Now that it's October, the pressure on the transportation of resources has increased greatly.In addition to supporting tens of thousands of troops, the Jin army also has millions of people who are waiting to be fed. However, Heluo is too miserable. Apart from political significance, this battle has little gain. Even Jinyong, a fortified city, has become The wasteland is difficult to use, and there is also pressure from the Guanzhong side.

All these problems need to be solved urgently.For a while, Shen Zhezi was overwhelmed by a large number of affairs, and he was so busy that he didn't even have time to go to Beimang to visit the graves of Sima Yi and other Sima family ancestors.

Of course, among many affairs, what needs stability most is the morale of the army.This year's battle started in March and lasted until October. There were many twists and turns in the process, and the results were brilliant.The entire territory south of the Yellow River was recovered, and at the same time a stable stronghold was established in Hebei. Hanoi, Jijun and other places are now under the control of the Jin army.

Such a special achievement, while inspiring people's hearts, also made the officers and men eagerly look forward to the final result of the reward.But right now, Shen Zhezi doesn't intend to officially submit the Heluo battle report to Taichung. He needs to sort out a general context, open up thousands of miles, and millions of people. It will take a certain amount of time to sort out and come up with a comprehensive plan.

Under such circumstances, there are too many people who are especially taboo to express their opinions and interfere.So Shen Zhezi simply eliminated the root cause first, and planned to delay the victory to Jiangdong until around the New Year's Eve, fighting for two months.

There is a reason for him to do this. With such a large territory to recover, there is no guarantee that a rebel army will emerge from somewhere.What's more, although Heluo has recovered, there will still be wars near Hangu Pass in the west at any time, so the war is far from over.

During this busy day and night, a letter from Huainan arrived in Luoyang: On the first day of October, Princess Xingnan gave birth to a son, and the mother and child were safe.

(End of this chapter)