Wei Ni

"Boom!"

There was a loud thunder, and it seemed as if the sky was about to fall.

The sky, which was originally blazing with sunlight, darkened in the blink of an eye. The dark clouds rolling over the sea and mountains were startled by the thunder and opened up like a huge curtain covering the sky and the sun, covering the entire sky.

Soon, bean-sized raindrops swooped down rapidly, knocking potholes into the black soil, and causing ripples to form on the slowly and steadily rising surface of the Liao River, swaying wantonly.

It is just mid-June and the rainy season has arrived half a month earlier than usual.

Fortunately, with the leading example of the main and deputy generals, the efficiency of building barracks by soldiers from various units was greatly promoted, and all the barracks were completed just in time for the arrival of the rainy season.

It also made Xiahou Hui feel temporarily relieved.

To be honest, he really didn't want to kill anyone to establish his authority.

It's not that he didn't know the principle of "killing one man and shocking the whole army", but he felt that it was already very difficult for so many soldiers to travel thousands of miles to fight the enemy, and it was too much to use them to establish his authority.

Therefore, when heavy rains continued, he ordered that except for the soldiers on guard outside, the rest of the soldiers should rest and recuperate in their respective tents, while he himself would patrol in the rain every day.

In order to calm the soldiers down.

If we encourage them to be patient and wait until the rainy season is over, the army will be able to besiege Xiangping and soon the villain Gongsun Yuan will be killed and they can return safely to receive the reward.

For example, we can find out whether there is enough firewood in each tent, whether the felt cloth is leaking, etc., and take timely countermeasures.

His behavior made all the border troops in Youzhou no longer have any complaints.

As early as when he was in the barracks outside Guzhu City in Liaoxi, all the soldiers knew that Xiahou Hui adhered to the principle of "The general will not taste the food until the soldiers are full; the general will not leave the camp until the camp curtains are set up", and he was a general who cared deeply for his soldiers.

Nowadays, it is also known as "Don't wear a fur coat in snow, and don't wear a straw raincoat in rain".

Because Wang Qi's soldiers, who had endured the winter with Xiahou Hui, had privately told them that they had never seen Xiahou Hui wearing fur coats during the entire winter when they were on duty in the barracks. Now all the rain gear had been distributed to the soldiers on guard outside, and he himself was soaked like a drowned chicken when he patrolled the camp every day.

Let me ask, how many generals in the Wei State can do this?

What else do they have to complain about?
Especially Xiahou Zhuang, who followed Xiahou Hui, was also soaked every day during the patrol.

A young boy can endure the suffering of rain and floods, so how could these border soldiers, who are known for their hard work and perseverance, complain about the difficulties of building camps and the unbearable rainy season?

I can't afford to lose this person!
Well, Xiahou Zhuang now has a temporary assistant position.

Xiahou Hui was very satisfied with his performance under Wang Qi's command, so he brought him back to his side and trained him carefully, asking him to watch more, think more, and talk less.

The requirement is that he should carefully consider his own arrangements and other people's suggestions.

For example, why did he do this, why did others suggest this, why did the Liaodong Army react in this way, etc.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it for the moment, just write it down first, and when the war is over, work backwards based on the results. If you still don’t understand, find a time to ask him, and he will answer your questions one by one.

In order to encourage Xiahou Zhuang's enthusiasm, he claimed that if his performance satisfied him, he would give him the horse lance bestowed by Emperor Cao Rui.

Just like he had performed well in Wang Qi's army before and was given a good horse.

To put it bluntly, he was being trained as the third generation general of the Xiahou family.

When his second brother Xiahou Ba saw this, he couldn't help but feel emotional - if his only son had not entered the palace as a palace attendant a year ago, he would have sent him to serve Xiahou Hui as a servant.

cough~
It was the ninth day of heavy rain in July, the beginning of autumn.

The fleet transporting grain and fodder from Bohai County went up the Xiaoliao River (Hunhe River), turned via the Daliang River (Taizi River), and arrived directly outside the city of Xiangping.

Among them, more than a dozen ships were loaded with dried fish, dried meat, etc.

This surprised all the soldiers and generals.

You know, after decades of continuous conquests, the Wei State's treasury was empty and there was very little meat in the military rations. It was really unbelievable that there was such a luxury now.

After the soldiers had carried the food and fodder into the military camp, Xiahou Hui led the fleet supervisor Zheng Gui (Zheng Zhou) into the camp to inquire, and only then did he realize that it was a special instruction from Emperor Cao Rui.

It turned out that after Xiahou Hui had presented his battle plan, he mentioned that the rainy season had both advantages and disadvantages for the Wei army and asked Cao Rui not to listen to the advice of the ministers and order him to withdraw the troops. Cao Rui then asked Li Zhen, the grain supervisor who was responsible for raising food and fodder, to prepare a lot of extra meat supplies, aiming to prevent the morale of the soldiers who were attacking Liaodong from being low due to the rainy season.

It has to be said that in many ways, Cao Rui was a very wise emperor.

In other words, Cao Rui spared no effort in cultivating Xiahou Hui and Guanqiu Jian to high positions in the government.

That night, the aroma of meat filled the entire Wei army camp. Amid laughter and joy, the morale of the soldiers and generals was greatly boosted, sweeping away the gloom of the continuous rainstorm.

And the good news is not over yet.

The eleventh day of heavy rain.

Xiahou Ba and Sima Chen Qian sent people to report the news. Bei Yan and Yang Zuo, the guards who stayed in Liaosui, finally couldn't stand the torture of their conscience and surrendered.

Yes, it is conscience.

The fact that he was left behind to garrison Liaosui shows that his loyalty is beyond doubt.

Moreover, Bei Yan and Yang Zuo led the army north and only left two thousand soldiers for him, which meant that he had to be prepared to die in the line of duty.

He himself has also realized this.

He planned to burn the food and fodder when the Wei army attacked him and he was powerless to turn the tide, and then charge into the battle line and die.

But what was unexpected was that after Xiahou Ba led his troops over, he did not attack.

There wasn't even a siege. They just sent people outside to shout a few words of persuasion to surrender, but to no avail, and then nothing happened.

At first, General Wei thought that the main force of the Wei army was in Xiangping and had no spare energy to attack Liao Sui, but he did not expect that this was the beginning of his conscience being tormented.

Just a few days later, many Liaodong soldiers came to the Liaosui, and many of them were injured.

The guards could call out the names of many of them.

These comrades first recounted the fact that Bei Yan and Yang Zuo had been defeated in three battles and had fled into the city of Xiangping. They then began to complain about how they had fought to the death but were abandoned. They then talked about the kindness of the Wei army in not killing the prisoners and wounded and letting them return to their homes. Finally, they begged the Wei garrison commander to give up resistance.

The reason was that the Wei army did not have extra food and fodder to feed the captives and wounded soldiers. Without the food and fodder and medicine stored in Liaosui, they would have starved to death or died of illness.

The defenders would certainly not surrender without a fight.

Although he felt sympathy for these prisoners and wounded soldiers in his heart, it was his duty and he was ready to die.

However, after he righteously refused and vowed that "as long as the fire is in place, the people will be there; if the fire is destroyed, the people will die", all the captives and wounded soldiers began to cry in despair.
And it never stops day and night.

The crying made the Liao Sui defenders feel sad and unable to bear to watch, and the crying made the Wei defenders upset and guilty.

No matter what, they were all comrades who once ate from the same pot.
Moreover, Liaodong only had four counties with a small population, and many of the garrison soldiers were related to the captives and wounded soldiers "carefully selected" by the Wei army outside, and some were even brothers from the same clan.

How could he watch them starve to death one by one under the fire and remain indifferent?

The wailing continued until the third day. The Liaosui soldiers were in turmoil and were whispering to each other. They would occasionally look at General Wei, which made him feel uneasy. But when he turned his eyes, the soldiers turned away with an unnatural look and did not look at him. The wailing continued until the fifth day. Even General Wei's personal guards could not help but persuade him to use baskets to hang some food and medicine down the city wall.

This also made General Wei completely give up.

He knew that in the entire Liaosui, no one would be willing to live and die with him.

Even if he was unwilling to surrender, Liaosui would change hands due to a mutiny by his soldiers.

After all, everyone knew what it meant that Bei Yan and Yang Zuo were defeated in three battles and fled to Xiangping City.

So on the sixth day, he did not make any demands, but directly ordered the soldiers to open the camp gates and surrender. He then committed suicide before the Wei army entered Liaosui.

The reason was simple: Gongsun Yuan had done him a great favor.

Moreover, the men of Liaodong are also brave enough to face death fearlessly.

Of course, his death was as fleeting as the occasional ripples on the Liao River, leaving no trace.

Xiahou Ba and Chen Qian praised his loyalty and buried him by the Liao River. Then they took over Liao Sui's defense and continued to move towards Xinchang, Anshi and other counties with the prisoners and wounded.

It was easy to persuade these counties to surrender. One of the reasons was that this place was the hometown of captives and wounded soldiers. More importantly, there were not many county soldiers stationed in the county government, and they did not even have the strength to resist.
The nineteenth day into the rainy season.

The rain has become less, not only the rainstorms have stopped, but also the water that was originally several feet deep on the ground has begun to dissipate, and the depth is only above the ankles. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be sunny and clear in two or three days at most.

The Wei army, which had been insisting on blocking the road and not moving its camp to higher ground, also began to dig trenches and repair fortifications to besiege Xiangping City.

In Xiangping City, the army was in turmoil and chaos.

In fact, after Bei Yan and Yang Zuo led their troops to escape back to Xiangping City, the common people in the city became extremely panicked and their morale was low.

Therefore, in order to calm people's hearts and boost the morale of the soldiers, Gongsun Yuan claimed that the rainy season was coming, claiming that the Wei army would definitely not survive the rain and floods, and that the situation would soon turn around and they would be able to wait for the Wu army to come to rescue. Now that the rainy season is over, the Wu army is nowhere to be seen, and the Wei army has not retreated, but has begun to besiege the city. It would be strange if the soldiers and civilians did not despair.

Moreover, Gongsun Yuan also committed the mistake of not being able to distinguish between loyalty and treachery.

Just when Bei Yan and Yang Zuo returned to Xiangping in disgrace, Gongsun Yuan, who was under sudden pressure, became anxious and extremely unfriendly to people around him, and would beat and kill them at will.

Even Bei Yan Yang Zuo, who had originally followed orders to fight the Wei army in the field, was insulted by him for being unfit for the job.

When the heavy rain continued, in order to make up for the defeat, Bei Yan and Yang Zuo suggested that Gongsun Yuan take advantage of the poor visibility during the heavy rain and the inability of the Wei army to be on guard, and recruit a group of death-defying soldiers to attack the city. After these death-defying soldiers attracted the attention of the Wei army, the two of them could take part of the troops to Xuantu County to get food and relieve the food and fodder pressure of Xiangping City.

But when Gongsun Yuan heard this, he became furious.

He thought that the two of them were afraid of death and wanted to take the opportunity to escape, so he directly called for warriors to drag them down and behead them. Finally, under the pleas and guarantees of many ministers, he only stopped after he beat them with fifty sticks in the palace.

This beating not only left Bei Yan and Yang Zuo with blood torn, but also broke the morale of the people in the city.

It's okay to be humble.

He was Gongsun Yuan's relative by marriage, and had been promoted above his level many times before. Even if he was beaten up, it could be considered a matter of close relatives.

But Yang Zuo is different.

Yang Zuo, who had garrisoned Lelang for nearly twenty years and repeatedly attacked Goguryeo and Han Ye, had a high prestige in the army, and many low-level generals had served under him.

Now that he was beaten with a stick due to suspicion, many people became more disappointed with Gongsun Yuan.

After all, Yang Zuo's loyalty was obvious to everyone, and he had previously insisted on not surrendering to the Wei Kingdom.

Even Yang Zuo himself doubted himself for the first time in his life.

Not only did he doubt whether his years of hard work were worth it, but he also began to wonder whether it was a blessing or a curse for the four counties of Liaodong to have a monarch like Gongsun Yuan.

Because he realized very clearly that Xiangping City could not be defended.

As the second-in-command in the Liaodong army, he had access to a lot of information, such as how many days the existing food and fodder in the city could last.

He also knew that Gongsun Yuan, who had usurped the throne from his uncle Gongsun Gong, could not make the common people in the city stay loyal to their posts even though they had to "hang their pots to cook and exchange their children for food."

The most important thing is that during the days when he was beaten and bedridden, many of his former subordinates came to visit him, and they all asked what to do if the Wei army did not withdraw.

Now that the matter has come to this, what can be done?

Isn't this just a way of covering up their intention of not wanting to be buried with Gongsun Yuan by asking questions that they already know the answer to?

But Yang Zuo did not blame them.

If a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. Even ants are greedy for life!
It is normal for people to change their minds after reaching a desperate situation and being unable to turn the situation around.

By mid-July, the Wei army had dug a trench around Xiangping City, completely cutting off the connection between the inside and outside of the city. They also built earthen hills to set up arrow towers and set up thunder chariots, and threw arrows and stones at the top of the city every day.

But no soldiers were sent to launch a violent attack.

Because it is not necessary.

From the messengers sent by Xiahou Ba and Chen Qian, Xiahou Hui learned how much food and fodder Liao Sui had stored, and he could also estimate that the food and fodder in Xiangping City would not last long, especially since he had successfully driven nearly 50,000 soldiers including Bei Yan and Yang Zuo into the city. With tens of thousands of mouths suddenly added, the food and fodder in the city might not be able to last for a month.

In fact, Xiahou Hui still overestimated it.

Originally, Gongsun Yuan planned to rely on the Liao River to keep the enemy outside the city, and he stored almost all the food and fodder in Liaosui. Therefore, the food and fodder in the city began to be distributed according to quotas during the rainy season that lasted for more than 20 days.

After being besieged for half a month, they were completely out of food.

As a last resort, he began to order the killing of war horses and pack animals to supply the soldiers stationed on the city walls.

Well, it’s only for supplying the soldiers defending the city.

Although Liaodong has plenty of horses, it can't feed so many mouths.
Inevitably, the starving soldiers began to complain.

It is only natural for soldiers to eat food.

If you don’t climb the city wall, you will starve. What kind of logic is this?

On the morning of the twentieth day of the siege, more than 3,000 soldiers, led by Yang Zuo, lowered down the city wall with ropes and rushed to the trench to surrender to the Wei army.

Yang Zuo's surrender was half-hearted.

He was overwhelmed by the many old generals who came to visit him every day to complain and ask for help. Because at this time in Xiangping City, people were already cannibalizing each other.
He surrendered over the city wall, which had a huge impact on Xiangping City.

For the soldiers who did not want to be buried with Gongsun Yuan, his action was a guiding light and hope for survival.

But for Gongsun Yuan, this was proof that the situation was hopeless and could not be reversed.

Yes, it's too late to save the situation.

Even a figure of Yang Zuo's level has abandoned him. Is there anyone in the city who still has faith in him and is willing to stay with him?
Therefore, he also sent envoys to beg for peace from Xiahou Hui.

He claimed that as long as the Wei army was willing to withdraw the siege and let bygones be bygones, he would be willing to lead the soldiers in the city to lay down their arms and surrender.

Such innocent words also amused Xiahou Hui and Guanqiu Jian.

The Wei army has traveled thousands of miles to fight the enemy, expending countless manpower and resources, and now they are only one step away from breaking the city, but he is still dreaming of staying alive?
Did they really think military affairs were a joke? If they hadn't sent his head to be hung on the top of Luoyang City to win the emperor and the imperial court's reward, wouldn't it be in vain that tens of thousands of Wei soldiers had fought for more than half a year without fear of life and death and without fear of hardship?

Furthermore, there is no reason for those who claim to be kings or emperors to be forgiven!

Xiahou Hui didn't even bother to meet the messenger and simply ordered his soldiers to drive him away.

When Guanqiu Jian learned about it, he ordered his soldiers to behead the chief and deputy envoys Wang Jian and Liu Fu, and asked the envoys' attendants to bring their heads back to the city to inform Gongsun Yuan, so that he would give up the idea of ​​begging for peace.

But unexpectedly, the next day, Gongsun Yuan again begged for surrender in the name of Wei Yan.

This time the sincerity is great.

He said that he would give up his title of king and retreat to the second line, and ask his uncle Gongsun Gong to be in charge of Liaodong. He would also send his son Gongsun Xiu to Luoyang as a hostage, and the whole family would set up an altar and swear to the sky that they would be loyal to the Wei Kingdom for generations and never betray it.

But no matter how sincere you are, it will be of no use.

It's just a pity for Wei Yan, who used his life to declare to the Wei army their determination not to return until Xiangping was conquered.

The city could no longer be defended as the food ran out, and surrender was not allowed. The only choice left for Gongsun Yuan was to fight to the death and break out.

At the end of early August, it was the twenty-sixth day of the siege of Xiangping.

Gongsun Yuan sent his loyal general Bi Sheng and 3,000 soldiers out of the west gate as cover, while he and his son Gongsun Xiu led his direct troops to break out from the east gate and escape to the mountains along the Daliang River.

Perhaps he guessed that the roads leading to the southern counties of Liaodong and Xuantu County were blocked by the Wei army's advance garrison.

But he still didn't succeed.

General Bi Sheng's cover only bought him half an hour, allowing him to rush out of the trench before his entire army was wiped out.

But soon the Wei army's cavalry forces of Zhang Hu and Qian Hong caught up with him and killed him and his son Gongsun Xiu on the bank of the Daliang River. Xiangping City was soon captured.

From then on, the war against Liaodong came to an end.

It also means that Xiahou Hui's other battle in Liaodong has officially begun. (End of this chapter)