Great Han Empire

Chapter 285
April 187 AD.

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In late March, the Xianbei army crossed the Yellow River and began to attack Lingzhou City under the command of the commander-in-chief Lu Ri.At the same time, Xu Gui, the leader of the various ethnic groups in the Eastern Qiang, and Mu Gaiting, the leader of the Xiongnu Tu ethnic groups, led their troops across the upper river to attack Dingxi City and Fuping City respectively.

The battle to attack Lingzhou City was extremely fierce. The handsome Mang Zhengji continued to attack Lingzhou City for three consecutive days, but still failed to take it down.The commander-in-chief was very annoyed at the law-day deduction, and sent someone to tell Mang Zhengji that if he could not capture Lingzhou City on the fourth day, he would come to see him.Mang Zhengji smiled and said to the messenger: "Go back and tell the commander-in-chief that there are not many defenders left in Lingzhou City, and they will definitely be captured tomorrow."

There are more than 2000 soldiers and civilians who stick to Lingzhou City, of which more than 1000 are residents living in and near the city, including men, women, and children.When the Xianbei army assembled at the border, some residents had been forcibly moved inward by the government.The rest are righteous men who have not had time to migrate or who want to defend their homeland to the death.The Xianling Qiang people who lived along the river quickly fled into the deep mountains and old forests after the flames of war ignited.Their leader, Kuangfengsha, and the army of the clan are all serving the Han court. Those who stay in the residence are old and weak women and children. If they don't escape, they will be caught by the invading Hu army and they will be slaughtered immediately.

Lingzhou Commander Ren Xing, who guarded the city, was in his 40s. He was a Confucian scholar who had read a lot of poetry and books.After the Hu people invaded, he did not follow the order of the county government to retreat with some county governors, but stayed resolutely. He vowed to live and die with Lingzhou City.

In order to reduce the casualties of the siege, the Xianbei people did not do their best, but adopted intermittent attack methods to consume the defense force.They attacked for three days in a row, and the defenders in the city suffered heavy casualties.On the fourth day, the Xianbei people launched an overwhelming attack from the four city walls at the same time. It took only an hour for Lingzhou City to fall.

Ren Xing commanded the soldiers and civilians defending the city to fight hard on the north wall.Although he didn't know martial arts, he ran back and forth on the city wall holding the battle flag of the Han Dynasty high. His shrill and crazy roar inspired the blood of the soldiers.

There are more and more enemies, the shouts of killing in the city are earth-shattering, the rapid sound of war drums and the sound of passionate horns fill the entire bloody battlefield, and the sky is full of howling arrows passing through the sky.

"Kill the enemy...Fight the enemy bravely..." Ren Xing waved the battle flag that had been shattered by long arrows with one hand, and pointed at the screaming enemies on the city wall with the other, with an angry expression and hoarse voice.

The battle intensified.

Xiao Shuai Xiao Ao, who was the first to climb the city wall, was chopped down by three roaring Han soldiers as soon as he rushed to the front.Fortunately, there were many Xianbei soldiers, so everyone hurriedly killed the Han soldiers and rescued him in a panic.

"Archer, archer." Xiao Ao shouted angrily, "Sho... shoot that flag dancer... shoot him..."

Dozens of long arrows roared away, arriving in the blink of an eye.

"Yeah ... oh ..." The long arrow nailed to Ren Xing's body without badly.

Ren Xing's voice stopped abruptly, and his thin body was taken back a few steps by the huge inertial force of the long arrow, leaning against the city wall.There was blood everywhere.Ren Xing glanced contemptuously at the enemy in front of him, cursed bitterly, and raised his flag to die.

"Shua..." The second batch of long arrows arrived, immediately nailing Ren Xing to the blood-stained city wall.

"Slaughter the city..." Xiao Ao raised his knife and roared, "Slaughter the city..."

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Dingxi City is located in the southwest of Lingzhou. It is a small city, easy to defend but difficult to attack.Seeing that he could not attack for a long time, Xu Gui, the leader of the Eastern Qiang, ordered his subordinates to cut off the water source of Dingxi City.

The next day, Xu Gui led an army and quickly rushed to Fuping City, the county seat of Beidi County.Xiaoshuai Fuxue was ordered to stay, and he surrounded the small town with 2000 people, intending to starve and thirst the defenders in the city.Three days later, the [-] Han troops defending the city were led by the county captain Mouji and bravely fought out when there was no hope of survival.The Han army was outnumbered and all martyred.

After the Huns crossed the Shanghe River, they immediately surrounded Fuping City, but Mu Gaiting did not order the troops to attack immediately.He didn't want to lose too much, and he planned to launch a siege battle after joining the two armies deduced by Xu Gui and Lv Ri.

The Tuge tribe is a branch of the Southern Huns, living in Wuyuan County and Shuofang County of Bingzhou. Have a rebellious heart.This time King Xianbei Helian took the initiative to invite him to send troops, and the conditions promised to him were very generous.Mu Gaiting originally wanted to rebel, but this time it was exactly what he wanted, and the two hit it off immediately.

At the end of the month, the three armies gathered at Fuping City.The [-] Hu coalition forces immediately launched a fierce attack on Fuping City under the command of the Law Day Deduction.

The prefect of Beidi County had no fear in a single quarter. He met the enemy with 2000 people, and the two sides fought fiercely.At night, the Huns took the lead in breaking through the defense of the Han army and entered the city.The two sides immediately began a more tragic street fighting.

On the way to retreat to the government office, Shan Jie was stopped by the handsome Feng Cheng of the Xianbei people.All the attendants of Shanjie were killed in battle, and Shanjie was captured.Lv Ri deduces him to surrender, but refuses in a single section, and yells at him.Then he was dragged to the gate of the government office by the Xianbei people, where he slashed his head with a knife.

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After the emperor received the urgent document from Chang'an, he was so anxious that he summoned General He Jin, Taiwei Zhang Wen, Shangshu Lu Zhi and other ministers to discuss matters in the Shangshu room overnight.

"Now the three cities of Lianxian, Lingzhou, and Fuping have been occupied by the Hu people, and three of the six cities in Beidi County have been lost." Lu Zhi pointed to the map and said solemnly, "Lüri Deduction, Xugui and Mu After Gaiting commanded the army to take the northern part of Beidi County, he has quickly rushed to Qingshui River in Anding County."

He looked up at He Jin and Zhang Wen, and said with a wry smile, "They joined Yan Li You's army."

Zhang Wen asked in surprise: "Is this news accurate? Isn't Yanliyou from the Wild Wolf Tribe attacking Zhangye and Wuwei County?"

"Accurate." Lu Zhi said, "This is the news from Qu Yi's reinforcements. The Xianbei people's voices are going from east to west, and the purpose is to lure us to divide our troops so that they can attack Sanfu and Chang'an smoothly."

"So, the Hu people have gathered [-] cavalry in Qingshui River." He Jin said worriedly, "We don't have enough troops, so it's hard to stop them from going south."

"Manhu must be stopped." The Son of Heaven said angrily with his eyes wide open, "If they continue to go south, the next step is to attack Xiaoguan. Once Xiaoguan is lost, the gates in Guanzhong will open wide, and Chang'an will be very dangerous. Hurry up!" Think of ways to."

He looked at Jian Shuo who was sitting beside him, and asked, "Has Li Zhonglang arrived in Chang'an?"

"Li Zhonglang can arrive at Daying tonight." Jian Shuo replied respectfully.

"Where's Xu Rong?"

Jian Shuo thought for a while and replied, "If they travel day and night, they can reach Linjing in Anding County in six days."

"Where's Dong Zhuo?"

"General Dong's army should still be crossing the river at Pubanjin in Hedong County." Jian Shuo said, "If there is no accident, they can arrive in Hanyang County in ten days."

"Tell Dong Zhuo not to go to Xiliang." The emperor waved his hand vigorously and said, "Tell him to go to Anding and stick to Xiaoguan."

"Your Majesty, absolutely not." Lu Zhi hurriedly advised, "Dong Zhuo is a general, and when he arrives in Anding, he will be the supreme commander of the army. Li Zhonglang's [-] troops must obey his command, but Li Zhonglang's subordinates are as good as Hu There are so many people, how could they listen to Dong Zhuo's command?"

He Jin also persuaded: "Your Majesty, let Dong Zhuo go to Hanyang to quell the rebellion. Now the rebellious kingdom and Han Sui's army is small in number and their morale is low. It is the best time to wipe them out completely. Li Zhonglang fought many battles with the Xianbei people , is very familiar with the Xianbei people, and he is good at using soldiers, and he has an army of [-], so it should not be a big problem to resist the invasion of the Hu people alone."

The emperor pondered for a long time, and asked Zhang Wen, "Aiqing, what's your opinion?"

Zhang Wen shook his head and said: "I agree with Your Majesty's opinion and transfer Dong Zhuo's troops to Chaona City in Anding County as Li Zhonglang's backup reinforcements."

Lu Zhi sighed, and asked, "Is Lord Taiwei worried about the two armies of Helian and Tuobafeng?"

"The Xianbei people's intentions are too obvious. They just want to take down Sanfu and Chang'an with all their strength so that they can plunder unscrupulously." Zhang Wen nodded and said worriedly: "The Xianbei people know that Li Hong's [-] troops are still stationed in Chang'an. Therefore, in order to achieve their goal, they must mobilize all their forces to go south. Therefore, we have to consider that Helian and Tuobafeng's [-] troops will also rush to the Qingshui River line in the near future."

"If our estimate is correct, the Hu people have 12 troops, but what about us? Li Hong's [-] troops only have [-] cavalry, and with the Changshui camp, there are only [-] cavalry. They are all infantry, including the Jizhou army that is rushing to Xiliang, and the county soldiers of Sanfu. They are all infantry. In terms of strength, there is a big gap between us."

"If Dong Zhuo's 13 troops also enter the Chaona and Gaoping lines in Anding County, we will have [-] troops. In this way, in terms of numbers, we are basically equal to the Hu people."

"What about the Xiliang rebels?" He Jin asked.

"Peace, send someone to comfort immediately." Zhang Wen said, "This is the only way."

The emperor nodded appreciatively, and said, "Aiqing's idea is very good. Look, Dong Zhuo and Li Zhonglang, who is the commander in chief of the army? If you approve of Li Zhonglang, I will immediately promote Li Hong to be the general protecting the Qiang."

Everyone was silent.This is indeed a big problem, and no one dares to make up his mind.If the generals on the front line are in conflict with each other because of the issue of command authority, then there is no need to fight, and they will definitely lose.

"I see it this way." Lu Zhi pointed to Lingzhou on the map and said: "Let Dong Zhuo lead the army directly from Fengyi County in Sanfu to Shangjun, and go around from the west side of Baiyu Mountain to Lingzhou and Shanghe, flanking the Hu people. In order to support Li Zhonglang's frontal battlefield, we will attack the Hu people's transportation routes. In this way, we will not only avoid the trouble of who will command the army, but also attack the enemy from two directions at the same time, which will greatly increase the chance of winning. "

The emperor was overjoyed and praised repeatedly.

"Immediately issue an order to Dong Zhuo."

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At dusk, Li Hong led the Black Panther from the battalion to the Anling Camp located in the northwest of Chang'an City.

(End of this chapter)