Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 157 The troops are approaching the city

Gaowang City is adjacent to the Fen River in the north and is surrounded by deep ditches and cliffs. There is only a narrow passage between the two ditches on the south side for people to enter and exit.

Therefore, Shen Jin focused on the southern defense line.

If Fu Jian wanted to attack Gaowang City, he could only attack from the south.

Not to mention that he only brought 50,000 soldiers with him on this trip. Even if he brought 500,000 soldiers, he could only invest a few thousand siege troops at one time.

Otherwise, even if Wei Xiaokuan had the power to reach heaven, he would not have been able to keep the city intact under Gao Huan's siege for more than fifty days.

Fu Jian's troops approached the city. Looking at the fortified city in front of him, he really couldn't arouse the interest in attacking by force. He discussed with the plotter Xue Zan:

"I want to persuade the general to surrender with a high official and a generous salary. What kind of reward do you think can make him tempted?"

Xue Zan had obviously put in a lot of effort in advance and had a certain understanding of the city's guard Shen Jin. He replied:

"Your Majesty wants to persuade Shen Jin to surrender. I'm afraid it won't be easy. As far as I know, Shen Jin's father Shen Chong was once a member of Wang Dun's party and rebelled against the Jin Dynasty. Shen Jin has been aiming to wash away the shame of his family since he was a child. Therefore, during Huanxi's Northern Expedition Work hard without caring about yourself.

"How could he be tempted by a high-ranking official and a generous salary now?"

Fu Jian was silent after hearing this. After a long time, he finally spoke:

"It all depends on the human condition. You have to try it to know."

With that said, Fu Jian called a military official and said to him:

"Go to Gaowang City and tell Shen Jin that if he can surrender the city, I will grant him the position of Duke of the County, the governor of Hedong, and give him a thousand taels of gold, ten thousand acres of fertile land, and five hundred slaves."

The Hedong County mentioned by Fu Jian was not the Hedong County established by Huan Xi.

But the entire Hedong County including Puban, Anyi, Hebei, Jiexian, Fenyin, Yishi, Dayang, Wenxi, Dongyuan and other nine counties.

Fu Jian felt that the conditions he had given were impressive enough, and even the appointed civil servant felt that the trip would fulfill his mission.

The civil servant asked to resign. Wearing a Confucian shirt and bare hands, he came to the gate of King Gao's city and shouted loudly:

"I was ordered by Emperor Dayu to meet with General Shen."

As soon as he finished speaking, an arrow flew out and pierced the clerk's left chest. He heard a scream, and the clerk fell to the ground in full view of everyone.

Before he died, there was only one thought in his mind: Didn't he say that the two armies were fighting and Bu Zhan came to envoy him?

On the tower, Shen Jin put away his long bow, and it was he who shot the arrow himself.

Fu Jian sent an envoy to do anything but persuade them to surrender.

Shen Jin didn't want to know what conditions the other party offered.

Because of his childhood experience, Shen Jin valued loyalty more than life.

When he was young, he devoted himself to being loyal to the emperor and serving the country, but he repeatedly ran into obstacles. His enthusiasm was empty, but he wasted his time in his thirties.

Until he met Huan Xi. From then on, for Shen Jin, loyalty to the king was no longer loyalty to the king, but a benefactor who appreciated, valued and promoted him.

Fu Jian, who was outside the city, saw this scene from a distance and saw that Shen Jin was unwilling to listen to the conditions and decisively killed people. He couldn't help but became furious. He sent several cavalrymen and shouted below the city:

"Whoever presents Shen Jin's head will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold, ten thousand acres of fertile land, and five hundred slaves!"

Fu Jian sneered in his heart:

‘You don’t know what is good or bad, this was originally a reward for you, but now it is used as a reward to buy your head! ’

However, among the six thousand soldiers in King Gao's city, one thousand of them defected to his private army because they admired Shen Jin and were loyal to him.

The remaining five thousand people are soldiers who have been favored by Huan Xi. Although it is inevitable that some people will be tempted, Shen Jin is under the protection of his tribe. Although the reward is tempting, he still has to consider whether he has the life to accept it.

Shen Jin was not afraid. He also asked the soldiers on the city wall to shout in unison:

"For those who can present Fu Jian's head, Duke Huan will definitely come to the court and pay homage to the governor of Bingzhou. If he lives up to the reward of the prince, he will also be given a thousand taels of gold, ten thousand acres of fertile land, and five hundred slaves!"

Isn't it just painting cakes? It seems like no one can do it.

If someone could really deliver Fu Jian's head alive, Huan Xi would not begrudge these rewards.

Fu Jian heard the shouts on the city wall and became angry. Of course, he did not believe that anyone really dared to assassinate him.

"Chen Jin! I will kill you!"

Fu Jian gritted his teeth and said.

But it was just incompetent rage. For now, the siege equipment was still being built, so Fu Jian had no choice but to lead his army back to the camp.

The defenders in King Gao's city also breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the Yu army retreat temporarily.

For now, the morale of the defenders in the city is quite high.

There is enough food in Gaowang City for the army and civilians to eat for a year, and there are also large reserves of firewood, oil and salt. It is definitely not the case that when Hou Jing besieged Jiankang Taicheng, Nanliang Gongqing stored 400,000 shi of food in Taicheng, but there was no preparation. The embarrassment of firewood and oil and salt.

In the end, the Nanliang officials had 400,000 shi of food, but they almost starved to death in Taicheng.

If there is grain but no firewood, how can we eat raw rice?

No one in the Manchu Dynasty discovered this problem. It is no wonder that Hou Jing only defected to Nanliang with 800 cavalry, but he was able to sweep across Jiangdong and push Nanliang to destruction. When Shen Jin went to Chang'an to report on his duties, he discussed all aspects of defending the city with Huan Xi and Wang Meng. The previous war preparations were also carried out based on the results of the three people's discussions.

Previously, the water in Gaowang City was obtained by soldiers lowering ropes to the Fen River.

However, in order to prevent Fu Jian from diverting the Fen River and trying to kill the defenders from thirst, Shen Jin had already dug many wells in the city in advance, which were enough for him to draw from.

In fact, it is not difficult to defend Gaowang City as long as the morale of the defenders in the city is maintained.

The key to maintaining the morale of the defenders lies not in how Shen Jin inspires people, but in letting the soldiers know that there are reinforcements outside and see the hope of victory.

Once they are trapped in an isolated and helpless situation, no matter how much food there is in the city and how strong the city is, the soldiers will see no hope and will inevitably become war-weary over time.

Fortunately, Wang Meng had sent a messenger in time to deliver the news of Huan Xi's victory in the Western Expedition to Gaowang City. Since the Western Expedition was victorious, Huan Xi would definitely lead his elite infantry and cavalry back to the division. The defenders in the city knew that as long as they held on for a period of time, Yu Jun could only escape in despair.

When the offensive and defensive battle of Gaowang City was about to begin, Deng Qiang led 20,000 state and county soldiers to advance quickly and finally stationed in Puban.

The reason for garrisoning troops in Puban was not because they were worried about Fu Jian bypassing Gaowang City and attacking Guanzhong.

Unless Fu Jian was suffering from heart failure, this move would be equivalent to completely exposing his food route to the threat of the Gaowang City defenders.

It is still spring plowing now, and there is no need to fortify the walls and clear the fields. The Yu army cannot uproot Gaowang City and ensure the safety of the food routes, so they dare not go deep into Guanzhong. Otherwise, they will not get food supplies, which is equivalent to sending as much as they go.

Of course, Deng Qiang arrived a step too late after all. According to his idea, it would be best to detach some state and county soldiers to support the defense of Gaowang City, so that the soldiers in the city can maintain their physical strength. From time to time, when the Yu army attacks the city, Going out to harass the city prevents the other party from attacking the city with all its strength.

However, Fu Jian had already arrived outside King Gao's city, cutting off the possibility of Deng Qiang sending troops into the city.

However, Deng Qiang still sent a messenger to go around the broken wall on the west side of Gaowang City, and the soldiers on the broken wall used ropes to pull the people up.

After learning that Deng Qiang had led 20,000 troops to Puban, the soldiers no longer worried about the safety of their families. They finally put aside their last worries and focused on defending the city.

At the same time, Xie Ai, who was ordered to march westward, had crossed Hanyang Dacaotan, passed Zhangye County, and arrived at Jiuquan County.

Ma Qian, the prefect of Jiuquan, came to greet him personally.

Ma Qian was a noble scholar in Liangzhou, and his virtues were always valued by Liangzhou scholars.

When Qian Zhao Liu Yao led an army of 280,000 to attack Liangzhou, there was a great earthquake in Hexi. Everyone sued for peace, but Ma Qian was the only one who was not afraid and insisted on fighting, but in the end it was not accepted. In the end, Qian Liang surrendered to Qian Zhao.

The former Zhao army of 280,000 did not frighten Ma Ji, but Xie Ai used 3,000 cavalry to allow this famous Liangzhou scholar to come out to meet him.

In the final analysis, it was because Huan Xi still appointed Zhang Yaoling as the governor of Liangzhou, and the entire Zhang family, including the family of Zhang Guan, the prefect of Xiping, were under Huan Xi's control and were moved to Guanzhong by him.

Zhang's old ministers had no reason to resist.

Loyal people are naturally worried that their actions will bring disaster to the Zhang family, and flatterers will not resist Huan Xi's rule. After all, Huan Xi has promised that as long as he surrenders, he can stay.

Xie Ai would not be rude to a noble person like Ma Qi, and Ma Qi also respected Xie Ai very much. Loyal and righteous people often cherish each other.

When the two entered Jiuquan County, Xie Ai asked about the situation in Dunhuang, and Ma Qianjin told him frankly.

Although news of Xie Ai's Western expedition has spread, Dunhuang has not yet carried out military mobilization.

After learning about this, Xie Ai felt relieved.

Although Xie Ai was from Dunhuang, his family did not have much influence in Dunhuang County.

His ancestral home was not Liangzhou, but in the late Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains was in chaos. Under Zhang Gui's governance, Liangzhou became a pure land, attracting many Central Plains scholars to settle there.

And Xie Ai's father and grandfather were also among them.

Xie Ai was originally from Yangxia County, Chen County, which is where the Xie family in Chen County was located. Xie Ai and Huan Xi's wife, Xie Daoyun, were both children of the Xie family in Chen County.

It's just that in troubled times, one group chose to move westward, and the other chose to cross south. From then on, the world was different.

Xie Ai knew that since Dunhuang County did not carry out military mobilization, its governor naturally had no intention of resisting.

Sure enough, on the day Xie Ai entered Jiuquan County, the envoy from Dunhuang brought the surrender. Since then, except for Juyan County in Xihai County, which is far away, and the specific situation is not known yet, seven of the eight counties in Liangzhou have been Attachment.

Xie Ai did not send his troops northward to Xihai County.

Xihai County is only located in Yan County, with a household registration of only 2,000. If you want to recover it, you can just send an envoy to surrender.

Xie Ai left Jiuquan County and continued westward to take over Dunhuang.

Of course, the more important thing is that Xie Ai needs to personally take charge of Dunhuang and take care of the officials arranged by Qianliang in the Western Regions.

This matter is also not difficult. The Western Region Chief Shi Libo and others are able to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries in the Western Region, but they only rely on the strength of Qianliang.

Now that Qianliang has perished, they have become rootless duckweeds. If they cannot switch to Huan Xi and use Huan Xi's power to intimidate other countries, how can the countries in the Western Regions continue to obey them.

　Next chapter by 4 p.m.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)