A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 941: The Evil Camp of the Three Cities of Heyang, the Ba Team Killed the Cavalry Officers

December 15th, Year 1 of the Dragon Era
Heyang
As the most important ferry crossing on the Yellow River, the afterglow of the setting sun shines on the river bank, and blood mixed with mud is spilled on this island in the middle of the river.

"Wonderful victory, ten thousand victory!"

Heyang has three cities, including the North City, located in the Henei area on the north bank of the Yellow River, the Central City on the island in the middle of the river, and the South City in the Luoyang area on the south bank.

The three cities are connected by a ferry bridge, on which horses can run, allowing the army to cross the river, together forming the Heyang Three Cities defense system to protect this majestic ferry.

It has always been a place of contention for military strategists. If the heroes of Hebei want to take Luoyang, they must first take Heyang.

The current defender of the three cities of Heyang is none other than the loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty, the governor of the Zhongwu Army - Zhu Quanzhong.

Six months ago, Wang Chongrong, the governor of Hezhong, sent an army of 100,000 to attack Heyang on the pretext that Zhu Quanzhong had colluded with the eunuch Tian Lingzi in his early years, intending to capture the floating bridge on the Yellow River.

The defenders of Heyang reported the emergency to Luoyang and Liangxian immediately.

Upon hearing the report, Wei Zhaodu, the governor of the Eastern Capital and the acting minister of works, urgently dispatched 10,000 troops from Luoyang to provide assistance, and they managed to hold on to the Central City and the South City.

Zhu Quanzhong sent generals Zhu Zhen and Qin Xian to lead 50,000 troops to aid Heyang. In order to protect Heyang, he ordered the vanguard Zhu Youyu to lead 5,000 troops to march day and night to rescue Heyang.

By the time Zhu Youyu arrived in Heyang, the Hezhong Army had already crossed the river with tens of thousands of troops from elsewhere and captured the southern city of Heyang, causing the Luoyang Army in the southern city to be defeated.

Only the central city was left to be defended by Zhu Yougong.

Zhu Youyu was sure that the enemy in Nancheng would not have expected that their reinforcements would arrive so quickly, especially since he had the elite troops of the Zhongwu Army in his hands.

So after a night's rest, they took advantage of daybreak and attacked the south city along the broken walls that had not yet been repaired.

The Hezhong Army, which was attacking the central city, was attacked from behind and suffered heavy losses due to the narrow bridge.

The battle lasted until the afternoon. The Zhongwu Army beheaded 3,000 enemies and countless enemy soldiers fell into the water and died.

With the reinforcements, the morale of the Zhongwu soldiers stationed in the central city boosted, and they once again repelled the attack from the north bank.

The Hezhong Army knew that those who arrived were a small number of elite troops of the Zhongwu Army. In order to capture the two cities before the majority of the enemy arrived, they selected a camp of 5,000 evil men and stormed the central city.

However, with the reinforcements from the south city and Zhu Quanzhong's unique "Ba Tui Zhan" strategy, all the soldiers in his army would be beheaded if any of them were killed in battle.

In order to prevent the soldiers from escaping due to the pressure, Zhu Quanzhong would tattoo each soldier's face to record their military number.

Therefore, most of those who escaped were recognized by the people at the checkpoints and ferry crossings and were caught and sent back to their respective places.

Although this method is cruel, it must be said that under the pressure of life and death, as long as the general leading the team does not hesitate to live, the soldiers under his command will fight very hard in order to save their lives.

In the end, the evil camp, which lost two-thirds of its troops, still failed to capture the central city.

Wang Yanwu, the main general of Hezhong, was standing in the north city and looking at the battlefield. He looked at the Zhongwu army on the opposite bank with its flags covering the sky. He knew that the best opportunity had been lost, and he gave the order to sound the horn with hatred.

"Are all of Zhu Quanzhong's men bad people? How can they be so desperate for their lives?" No one could answer Wang Yanwu's words.

They also didn't know that in the battles of the past few days, they had witnessed the Zhongwu Army's recklessness.

Every time they killed an enemy officer, his men would fight for their lives like evil spirits, and none of them would surrender, which made them feel a chill.

That was exactly the case. Whenever the soldiers in Hezhong attacked the city, they would avoid the soldiers in Zhongwu as if they were seeing evil spirits, and would flee in panic as soon as they came into contact with them.

Wang Yanwu had no choice but to form a camp of evildoers, selecting death row prisoners and soldiers who had committed crimes in the army to fill the camp.

He promised that as long as the evil camp could break through the central city, everyone would be pardoned. Otherwise, if they failed, everyone would be beheaded on the spot.

Looking at the thousands of soldiers from the Evil Camp who were slowly retreating like zombies, Wang Yanwu ordered without any sympathy:
"As agreed, behead them all." An officer received the order and led his troops to surround the thousand evil soldiers who had just retreated from the battlefield.

The Hezhong army, which had been timid as a mouse in the face of the Zhongwu Army, now displayed great attacking power.

Looking at the sound of the killing field not far away, which was gradually fading, Wang Yanwu asked anxiously, "Have the reinforcements that the Xuanwu Army mentioned arrived?"

"Reporting to the general, we arrived at the south bank five days ago."

"For not having seen them in these days of fighting."

"They said they were cavalry and couldn't participate in the siege as infantry."

"If that's the case, why did you let Zhu Youyu's troops go?"

When Wang Yanwu heard no reply, he still didn't understand the Zhongwu Army's plan, so he cursed, "You bastard."

He then ordered all troops to guard the gate of the village tightly to prevent the enemy from attacking the camp at night.

Since the arrival of Zhu Zhen and Qin Xian's armies, the Zhongwu and Hezhong armies have been confronting each other with Heyang Zhongcheng on the Yellow River as the dividing line.

Although the main army did not move, the small movements below did not stop.

Both sides were testing each other's weaknesses, trying to find an opportunity, but neither succeeded.

The 3,000 Xuanwu cavalry, more than 20 miles away from Heyang, seemed to be on an outing. They had not moved from the beginning of the battle to now.

Leading the way was Meng Peiwu, the commander-in-chief of the cavalry.

He led several officers on horseback and inspected the surrounding area, complaining as he walked:
"It's really boring. I don't know what the higher-ups are thinking. They let us participate in the Heyang battle, but they don't allow us to intervene unless both sides decide the winner."

"It would be better to exchange with Lao Li. I heard that he made great contributions in Xuzhou and captured more than a hundred relatives of Liu. It's a pity that Liu Yuanwen left. Otherwise, the position after the military envoy left might have been his."

The Old Li that Meng Peiwu mentioned was Li Neng, the right commander of the cavalry, who was currently leading the other half of the cavalry to chase after Liu Yuanwen who had escaped.

"Forget about it. How can a rough man like you know the envoy's thoughts? Our purpose here is to maintain the balance of power between Hezhong and Zhongwu."

"To prevent the Hezhong Army from taking Heyang and intervening in Luoyang, and to prevent the Zhongwu Army from defeating Hezhong and taking Henei. No matter which of them wins, it will not benefit our Xuanwu Army."

"The current situation is so good. No one can do anything to anyone. There are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed on both sides of the Yellow River. The food they eat is enough for them to drink."

The speaker was Bai Yingquan, former commander of the cavalry, whose mind was much clearer than that of the other commanders.

Yu Yusheng, the cavalry commander beside the two men, also laughed and said, "It's just like letting Zhu Youyu go before, right?"

All the generals burst into laughter when they heard this.

"I have to say that the Secretary of State's strategy is really superb. With just two envoys, he mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops from Hedong and Hezhong. I don't know what's wrong with the brains of these literati."

Wang Huizhong, the commander of the rear capital, couldn't help but sigh when he thought of the recent rise of provincial and county schools.

"Why, you want to change your career and study? Then hurry up, just let me sit in the seat, it's good to study, and you are supported by the military government, maybe your family can even produce a Jinshi? It's like a chicken turning into a phoenix."

Yu Yusheng, a close confidant of Li Kerang and the military judge, teased.

The other cavalry generals also made jokes, which made Wang Huizhong very angry.

(End of this chapter)