Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 149 Zhang Zuo runs at night

Huan Xi certainly believed in Xie Ai's loyalty to him.

After all, if Xie Ai was a capricious villain, Huan Xi wouldn't have spent so much time and effort trying to win over him.

You can call us early.

But if Xie Ai is left in Liangzhou, even if he himself is unwilling to betray his master, over time, he will not be able to stop the people below him from wanting to make progress too much.

As Quan Yi said, Xie Ai's prestige in Liangzhou was so high that Zhang Chonghua was afraid of him.

Faced with the threat from Huan Xi, Zhang Zuo did not hesitate to destroy the Great Wall and had to remove Xie Ai.

Of course, what makes Huan Xi better than the two of them is that he is also afraid, but he doesn't show it.

Quan Yi just reminded Huan Xi that he could no longer let Xie Ai lead the Liang army, and Huan Xi agreed.

But when Xie Ai came to pay homage, Huan Xi smiled and said:

"The Liang army prisoners captured today are all led by Zixiu (Xie Ai)."

Xie Ai quickly declined. He was once suspected by Zhang Chonghua because of his great achievements.

As the saying goes: If you take a hard time, you will gain wisdom.

Today's victory is certainly gratifying, but Xie Ai also knows that with his prestige in the Liang army, many people around Huan Xi will have trouble sleeping and eating.

How dare Xie Ai accept this appointment? He sincerely declined:

"My lord trusts me, Ai is so grateful that I shed tears, but my humble position is just a demoted general, how can I have such delusions.

"Please, my lord, take back your order and entrust the surrender to others."

Huan Xi said displeasedly:

"Does Zixiu think I'm testing you on purpose?"

As he spoke, he sighed:

"Only Zixiu can boost the morale of the soldiers as soon as possible and make them useful to me!

"Huan has always been trustworthy when employing people and not using suspicious people. Zixiu shouldn't doubt my intentions either."

Hearing this, Xie Ai quickly knelt down to apologize.

Huan Xi helped him up and comforted him repeatedly, so that Xie Ai agreed to temporarily command the soldiers for Huan Xi, but also requested that after Liangzhou was captured, he could return the soldiers of Liangzhou to Huanxi.

Huan Xi was naturally happy that Xie Ai had such general knowledge.

This battle resulted in more than 8,000 surrendered soldiers.

Although only a few hundred cavalrymen fled back to Guzang, some Liang troops still escaped from the battlefield.

If these surrendered soldiers want to be put to use as soon as possible, they must be handed over to Xie Ai.

As Huan Xi said, only Xie Ai can restore the combat effectiveness of the soldiers as quickly as possible.

Sure enough, Xie Ai brought the armor captured on the battlefield to the soldiers and said to everyone:

"If you are willing to obey Duke Huan's command with me, please come forward and regain your armor!"

More than 8,000 surrendered soldiers, without exception, all moved upon hearing the sound.

What they picked up again was not only armor and weapons, but also the courage to face the enemy in battle.

After all, Xie Ai, whom the soldiers were deeply in awe of, had now become their commander-in-chief again.

Xie Ai promised everyone:

"When Duke Huan conquers Wuwei, I will surely reunite you with your families!"

When the soldiers heard this, they all raised their arms and cheered.

Huan Xi saw this scene from a distance and couldn't help but sigh:

“The Art of War says: The power of the three armies must not be more important than the general.

"He will be the soul and courage of the three armies."

When everyone heard this, they all thought it was true.

When Huan Xi returned to the camp, he avoided Gu Zang from a distance.

Although he didn't quite believe that the defenders in the city would dare to leave the city after experiencing this defeat, but with so many captures along the way, there was nothing wrong with being careful.

When Huan Xi returned to the camp, he sent out sentries to keep an eye on the four gates of Guzang. He celebrated in the camp and rewarded the soldiers with meat.

Drinking alcohol is not allowed, otherwise, let alone whether the enemy troops can soberly fight when they attack the camp, it would also be troublesome if someone actually acts drunkenly in the camp.

Huan Xi set up two camps, one for the Jin army and the other for Xie Ai's 3,000 infantrymen and more than 8,000 surrendered soldiers who had recently surrendered.

The families of these surrendered soldiers were still in the city, and Huan Xi actually did not dare to trust them completely.

However, with Xie Aidu leading three thousand cavalry to control the situation, there was no trouble.

Of course, the meat was also sent to Xie Ai's camp for everyone to enjoy.

Even though he didn't completely trust him in his heart, on the surface, Huan Xi still treated Jiang Zu as one of his own.

That night, Huan Xi even went to Xie Ai's camp alone and stayed in the camp, letting Xie Ai's three thousand cavalry and eight thousand soldiers feel his trust in them.

Compared with the Jin army's wanton celebration after the great victory, it was a different scene in Guzang City.

Zhang Zuo managed to escape back to Guzang, but he couldn't sleep at night because he was frightened.

With ten thousand against seven thousand, although they were ambushed, when the soldiers heard Xie Ai's name, they collapsed without fighting. This was something Zhang Zuo never expected.

Although there are still ten thousand infantry in the city, Zhang Zuo is already suspicious.

He didn't know whether these infantry could still be driven, or whether they would turn against Xie Ai's call and capture themselves and sacrifice them to Huan Xi.

No matter who Zhang Zuo looked at now, he felt that the other party was going to take his head and leave the city to ask for a reward.

Due to the disastrous defeat of 10,000 fine cavalry, the morale of the defenders in the city had dropped to rock bottom.

Even Zhang Zuo's generals felt confused. They didn't know whether they had a chance of winning against Huan Xi and Xie Ai.

Once Huanxi captures Guzang, what will happen to him?

For many, this is a sleepless night.

Zhang Zuo even had his wife Xin stroke his back before coaxing him to sleep.

The next day, fires were lit in the two camps at midnight and rice was cooked at five o'clock. After having breakfast with the surrendered soldiers, Huan Xi led his troops to the gate of Guzang City.

The soldiers shouted in unison toward Guzang City:

"Zhang Zuo has raped his relatives, and both humans and gods are angry. Why do you still work for him?

"Gong Huan punished the people and treated the prisoners favorably. Why do you hesitate?"

Quan Yi originally suggested bringing the surrendered soldiers to Guzang City and letting them come forward and shout alone to shake the defenders in the city.

However, Huan Xi was worried that Zhang Zuo would go crazy and take revenge on Jiang Zou's family.

If Zhang Zuo did this, the soldiers would naturally hate him to the core.

But the most scarce thing in Liangzhou is its population.

After Zhang Zuo destroyed all the Jingqi in yesterday's battle, he was already a dead man in Huan Xi's heart. Whether the surrendered soldiers resented Zhang Zuo was not important to Huan Xi.

How could he let the families of the surrendered soldiers be buried with Zhang Zuo.

Early this morning, Huan Xi handed over the surrendered soldiers to Xie Ai, who took him to Xiao Zhangye not far away to persuade the general to surrender.

Outside Guzang City, the Jin army had begun to fill the moat with sandbags. Although Zhang Zuo had ordered arrows to be fired, the arrows shot from the city wall were very sparse, in twos and threes, which shows how low the morale of the defenders was.

Although more arrows were fired from the city wall under Zhang Zuo's repeated scolding, more people were still firing arrows casually and perfunctorily, and the casualties they could cause to the Jin army were really limited.

At the same time, Xie Ai also led his troops on foot and cavalry to approach Xiao Zhangye. Zhang Zuo sent his general Niu Ba to guard Zhangye. Niu Ba had learned the news as early as yesterday and knew that Zhang Zuo was defeated and his elite cavalry suffered a devastating blow. Naturally, he was frightened and frightened.

Now seeing Xie Ai leading troops to the city, he was even more frightened.

Just when he didn't know where to go, Xie Ai sent an envoy to persuade him to surrender.

The messenger came to the city wall in a hanging basket and claimed that as long as Niu Ba gave Xiao Zhangye, Xie Ai would guarantee with his life that he would not be liquidated. As for whether he could be appointed by Huan Xi, it still depended on Niu Ba's own ability.

Niu Ba thought for a long time and finally ordered the city to be opened.

When the defenders in the city heard the order, they all raised their arms and cheered, which shows what the people want.

In fact, in yesterday's battle, Zhang Zuo was defeated so miserably that not only the Guzang garrison, but also the small Zhangye garrison just a stone's throw away was also affected. No one valued him anymore, and no one was willing to continue to work for him.

When Niu Ba saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel scared.

If he refuses to offer the city, will his soldiers tie him up?

After Xie Ai took over Xiao Zhangye, he immediately took Niu Ba to the outside of Guzang City to meet Huan Xi.

Huan Xi was very happy to learn that Xiao Zhangye had changed hands. He met Niu Ba in front of the battle and asked:

"Do you dare to shout for me in the city?"

Niu Ba said seriously:

"I am willing to be driven by Duke Huan!"

Huan Xi nodded when he heard this. After he gave a few instructions, Niu Ba promised loudly.

After bidding farewell to Huan Xi, Niu Ba got on his horse again, came to the foot of Guzang City, and shouted:

"I am Niu Ba, and I have now offered the city of Zhangye to Duke Huan. Duke Huan has ordered that anyone who can offer the head of Zhang Zuo will be given a thousand pieces of cloth!"

Zhang Zuo was furious when he heard this. He felt that he had been humiliated.

Could it be that the head on his neck is only worth a thousand pieces of cloth?

Of course, what made him most angry was that Niu Ba betrayed him.

Zhang Zuo cursed loudly on the tower and ordered the archers to release arrows. Faced with the arrows fired from the tower, Niu Ba had no choice but to fight his horse and retreat.

But the change of ownership of Xiao Zhangye also became the last straw that overwhelmed Zhang Zuo's psychological defense.

Gu Zang can no longer bring Zhang Zuo a sense of security. Although the reward offered by Huan Xi is not high, there are still people who will covet the thousand pieces of cloth and borrow his head from Zhang Zuo.

Zhang Zuo wanted to quit.

Niu Ba returned to the formation, Huan Xi comforted him a little, and then said to the generals:

"I predict that Zhang Zuo will escape tonight."

The Jin army only filled in the moat in the south today and did not launch an attack. After all, the siege equipment was still being built.

Late at night, Zhang Zuo quietly gathered the few hundred remaining horsemen in Wengcheng to the west. He said to his sworn brothers Wei Ji and Zhao Chang:

"My purpose of this trip is to rob the camp. If the siege fails, I will go to various counties to bring reinforcements. You must assist my son and guard Guzang."

Although Zhang Zuo was Zhang Chonghua's brother-in-law, they were the same age, twenty-seven years old at the time.

Therefore, Zhang Zuo's two sons, Zhang Taihe and Zhang Tingjian, are not very old, and the eldest son Zhang Taihe is only a child in his early ten years.

Since they could not ride horses, even if Zhang Zuo left his two sons in Guzang, Wei Ji and Chang Zhao also knew that Zhang Zuo went out of the city late at night not to rob the camp or ask for help, but to escape. He no longer dared to continue. Stay in Guzang.

But the two of them were already in too deep. Zhang Chonghua's old ministers all hated them. Even if they sacrificed their aunt, Huan Xi might not let him go in order to appease everyone, so he had to hold on to a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that Zhang Zuo can keep his promise.

However, at this time, Zhang Zuo was already thinking about where to escape.

Zhangye County was naturally not his destination. Maybe he only had to run to Dunhuang County, thousands of miles away, to escape Huan Xi's pursuit.

Before leaving, Zhang Zuo warned Wei Ji and Zhao Chang, saying:

"If the city is really difficult to hold, when you two evacuate, if you remember our sworn friendship, please kill my female relatives first to prevent them from being humiliated by Huan Xi."

Zhang Zuo himself had raped his mother and wife, so he was naturally afraid that his family would be raped by Huan Xi.

Wei Ji and Zhao Chang nodded in agreement.

But Zhang Zuo couldn't do it himself, and the two of them naturally didn't want to leak the news before evacuating.

In the night, the west gate of Guzang slowly opened. Zhang Zuo led hundreds of horsemen, one man and four horses. He didn't care about disturbing the Jin army's sentry cavalry. As soon as the city gate was reached, he galloped towards the west.

After all, even if the Jin army sentries found out, they still had to report back to the camp. In this time, he would have run far away.

However, Zhang Zuo and his cavalry had only traveled five miles when an ambush came out.

Huan Xi had long expected that he would escape. After all, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Xihai and other counties were all on the west side.

Although Xiping County is to the west of Jincheng County and south of Wuwei County, fleeing to Xiping is tantamount to going from one prison to another.

Therefore, no matter which city gate Zhang Zuo takes, his ultimate goal can only be to the west.

Huan Xi had already arranged an ambush five miles west of the city, waiting for him to fall into his trap.

At this time, all the ambush troops were out, and Zhang Zuo was trapped in a tight siege. He sat astride his horse and ordered the people on his left and right to fight to the death, and followed him to break out of the siege, but no one listened to the order.

If Zhang Zuo hadn't been alert and tilted his neck, his head would have been almost chopped off by his henchmen.

It has reached this point, and there will always be someone who wants the thousand bolts of cloth.

I don't know who made that blow. It didn't kill Zhang Zuo, but it hit his shoulder, causing Zhang Zuo to scream in pain.

Zhang Zuo no longer dared to stand between the left and right, and galloped towards the Jin army, shouting:

"I surrender! I am willing to surrender to Duke Huan!"

In the end, he was captured alive by Yang An, and the other horsemen also surrendered.

When Zhang Zuo was turned to Huan Xi, he had been simply bandaged to stop the bleeding.

In the commander's tent, Zhang Zuo cried and begged for his life, expressing his willingness to persuade the counties in Liangzhou to surrender for Huan Xi.

But Huan Xi deeply hated him as a person and refused:

"I can get all the counties in Liangzhou myself, so why do I need you to work for me?"

He never thought about keeping Zhang Zuo alive. The things Zhang Zuo did made everyone in Liangzhou angry, so how could Huan Xi protect him?

Zhang Zuo didn't know it, so he begged:

"But please be a slave."

Huan Xi heard this and said:

"There's one thing I can help you with."

Zhang Zuo seemed to see life, and he said happily:

"No matter what Duke Huan orders, the sinner must obey."

Seeing the hope in Zhang Zuo's eyes, Huan Xi smiled and said:

"Just promise, and please lend me your head."

Zhang Zuo's eyes widened, and he knew that he was being played by Huan Xi.

"Huan"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zhang Zuo was slapped to the ground by Yang An. Immediately, a personal guard held a cloth and blocked Zhang Zuo's mouth.

Zhang Zuo whined and didn't know what he was talking about. At this time, Huan Xi no longer had the interest to continue humiliating him and said to Yang An:

"Let him suffer more before he dies."

　10,000 words are here today, and there will be another chapter in the early morning. Before 2 o'clock in the morning, it should be a small chapter of 2,000 words.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)