Chapter 606: Cooperation between inside and outside

Style: Historical Author: Yu ShiliuWords: 3349Update Time: 24/01/11 14:02:53
The defeated troops fled to Huatai, a city built on the river, five miles southeast of Baimajin. During the Three Kingdoms period, Huatai was also known as Baima City, where Guan Yu killed Yan Liang.

Knowing that the Wei army was crossing the river and was in large numbers, Qi Ke sent out scouts to find out the news, leaving only the south gate open to allow the defeated troops to escape into the city. He also ordered messengers to pass through Yan County (now northeast of Yanjin County, Xinxiang, Henan Province), Changyuan (a slightly different address from today's Changyuan), Puyang and other cities to prepare for defense, and sent people to Linqiu to report to Mao Xiuzhi and request reinforcements.

General Gu Wu said: "Qi Sima, the returning soldiers said that the Wei army had no horses and should have crossed the river on foot, and they did not carry siege equipment. Why not drive the Wei army back to the other side while its foothold is not stable?"

Qi Ke thought for a while and said: "The Wei army has tens of thousands in Liyangjin. The number of soldiers and horses crossing at this time will not be less than 10,000. There are only 3,000 soldiers and horses in Huaxian. If he attacks rashly, he will capture them." In Huatai City, the Wei army had a stronghold, but lost a lot due to small losses. The Wei army had no siege equipment and lacked supplies. They could not take Huatai City in a short time. They only had to wait a few days for reinforcements from various places to arrive before forcing the Wei army. It’s not too late to leave.”

At Baimajin, eight thousand Wei troops had landed. The rafts were too frozen to hold up, and people were trembling when walking on them. Vehicles and siege equipment could not pass at all. Yu Lixi occupied Yong's army's camp, found some food and baggage, and dismantled the archery tower on the shore to build equipment.

At noon, Yu Lixi led his personal guards and rode more than thirty captured war horses to the sliding platform to check the terrain.

Huatai was originally a small city. After the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed Later Yan, Murongde, King Fanyang of Later Yan, led 40,000 households across the Yellow River and built Huatai as the capital, calling him the King of Yan. Murongde carried out extensive construction work in Huatai and built a city with three levels and two ten miles. There is also a capital city in the city, which is very dangerous and solid.

Yu Lihuan walked around the city and frowned. Without siege equipment, it would be impossible to break through Huatai City. Only after the Yellow River ice solidifies can the siege equipment be transported.

After returning to the camp, Yu Lixi took the map and set his sights on Puyang, Yanxian and other cities. Puyang is the seat of the county, and the city is high and the pond is deep, making it difficult to attack. Yanxian and Changyuan are both in the hinterland of Yanzhou, and can easily be surrounded by Yong's army. It is not suitable to attack without the baggage.

It seems that the only option is to advance along the river first, capture Wenshijin and Jijin, and wait for Shouguang Hou Shusunjian to lead his troops across the river from Ji County before joining forces to capture the sliding platform.

Baimajin was lost, and the Wei army had been able to move south from the Yellow River. It was of little significance to defend Wenshijin and Jijin. Qi Ke simply ordered the soldiers guarding the two Jinkou to retreat to Yan County and occupy the city to await reinforcements.

Two days later, Mao Xiuzhi received an urgent document from Qi Ke and was so anxious that he, the governor, actually had no regard for soldiers and had neither troops nor generals to dispatch.

Yanzhou's troops are mainly divided into three places. There are more than 12,000 troops in Xingyang and Chenggaoguan; more than 10,000 troops in Baimajin and Puyang; Zhu Lingshi and Yan Gang have more than 10,000 troops in Peixian. There was a stalemate with Pengcheng; and Wang Huilong led six thousand Qingqi in Ruyin County.

There were more than 40,000 Wei troops gathered in Jixian and Liyangjin, mostly Qingqi. If so many Qingqi broke through the Yellow River defense line and took advantage of Qingqi's speed, the entire Yanzhou would probably be destroyed.

Peng Ping from the reporter's office said: "History of Mao Ci, the matter is critical. If you ask for help from the Lord of Jiangling, I'm afraid it will be too late. Since the matter is urgent, it is better to summon Wang Taishou to come back for help. The Yellow River has not yet frozen, and the Wei army's weapons cannot cross the river. Wang Taishou's men are Qingqi. I should be able to get back in a few days.”

Wang Huilong was the prefect of Xingyang. Although he was nominally under the jurisdiction of Mao Xiuzhi, the governor of Yanzhou, he actually sat on one side. Mao Xiuzhi was hesitant because he was afraid that Yang Anxuan would be jealous of him in the future, and Wang Huilong might not obey his orders.

Peng Ping saw Mao Xiuzhi's worries and said loudly: "My lord is magnanimous and knows that the governor recruited Wang Taishou to resist the Wei army. Instead of blaming him, he will reward him. Wang Taishou understands the righteousness and knows Mao Jishi's intentions, so he will definitely come to his aid at all times." .”

Five days later, the river where the cattail rafts were laid finally froze solidly. The war horses passed through smoothly first, and then vehicles loaded with wood and arrows rolled over the river and drove into the expanded camp.

Shusun Jian led 20,000 troops across the river from Jijin and joined forces with Yu Lixi. The number of Wei troops reached 36,000, half of which were Qingqi.

The army gathered, and Shusun Jian gathered the generals to discuss how to attack Yanzhou. Yu Lihui thought that the sliding platform was difficult to get off, so he should send troops first to take Puyang, and then to Changyuan, Yanxian and other places to trap the sliding platform.

General Ningshuo Zhou Ji believed that Xingyang should be captured first, and his troops marched towards Hulao, marched into Luoyang, and joined forces with Sun Song, the Duke of Nanping, to march westward and capture Chang'an.

The champion general An Jie believed that avoiding the city and plundering troops would seriously injure Yang Anxuan's vitality even if he could not occupy Si Yan's land.

Gongsun Biao offered a cattail raft to cross the Yellow River. Uncle Sun Jian saw him stroking his beard and looking inscrutable, so he smiled and asked, "Xuan Yuan, what's your plan?"

"Marquis Shouguang, Yu has a different view from the other generals." Gongsun Biao tugged at his beard and said, "Huatai is an important town on the south bank of the Yellow River. There is plenty of food and grass in the city. Sima Qi Ke of Yanzhou in Jin Dynasty is trapped in the city, with no more than three thousand garrison troops."

Seeing everyone's attention, Gongsun Biao said generously: "My army is thirty-six thousand, which is twelve times that of the defenders of Huatai. The art of war says 'surround them from ten sides', as the saying goes. If the sliding platform falls, Yanxian County and Changyuan can be defeated at the snap of a finger." But when the time comes, it will be up to me to take Puyang to the east and Xingyang to the west, and Yong's army will be exhausted."

Gongsun Biao glanced at An Jie with contempt, and said sarcastically: "As for sending troops to cause disaster, it is extremely short-sighted. We, the Wei Dynasty, want to unify the country in the future. If we lose people's hearts first, we will do twice the result with half the result."

Shusun Jian stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said: "Tomorrow I will send someone to announce to the city. It would be best if we can recruit Qi Ke to surrender and offer the slide."

The next day, the Wei army came out in full force, with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses arrayed on the east and south sides of Huatai City. Uncle Sun Jian first asked the Qingqi to circle around the slide, and then asked the men to shoot a bunch of arrows at the city wall.

On the city wall, Yong's army looked frightened, Wei's banners covered the sky and the sun, the hoofbeats of the war horses were like thunder, and the shouts shook the heaven and the earth. Qi Ke's face was heavy. The Wei army was strong and numerous in number. I don't know how long Huatai City can hold on. I hope reinforcements can arrive soon.

The Wei army's light cavalry retreated, and another horse galloped towards the city. When they came to the city wall, they shouted loudly: "My servant is Lu Qiulei, who joined the army under the command of Shouguang Hou of the great Wei Kingdom. I came here to surrender on the order of Shouguang Hou. If General Qi can offer me The city surrendered to Wei, and the official was promoted to the third rank, and was granted the title of County Marquis."

Anger flashed in Qi Ke's eyes, he secretly took the bow in his hand, and motioned to his guards to pretend that he was leaning over the battlement to talk to the people below.

The sound was blown erratically by the wind, and Lu Qiulei couldn't hear it clearly, so he urged his horse forward. Qi Ke aimed at Lu Qiulei and shot an arrow. The arrow passed through his eyes. Lu Qiulei immediately fell to his horse and died.

Qi Ke raised the bow in his hand and said: "Yonggong has treated me so kindly. Our family has land, no worries about food and clothing, the old are supported and the young are educated. How can I become a Hu slave?"

These words resonated with the soldiers on the city wall, and some shouted: "Fight to the death, fight to the death."

Even the common people guarding the city were inspired by the cry, and they raised their arms and shouted together with the soldiers, "Fight to the death, fight to the death."

A few miles away, in the formation of the Wei army, I heard the roar of the city. Uncle Sunjian turned pale and shouted angrily: "The Yong dogs are so bold. They dare to kill my envoys and pass the orders of the foolish general to attack the sliding platform and massacre the city."

Ladders and hook carts rushed towards Huatai City in dense numbers, flying rocks and rolling logs hit the Wei army's heads, and the sound of fighting resounded throughout the world.

The blood was frozen brown, and the broken ladder fell under the city wall. Countless Wei troops were still climbing up the ladder like ants toward the city wall.

It has been five days since the Wei army attacked the city. Qi Ke estimated that reinforcements would arrive in the next few days. There was a noise in the distance and the Wei army had already entered the city. Before the Wei army could be driven out of the city, another warning horn sounded from another place. It seemed that the outermost city wall could no longer be defended.

"Sound the horn and retreat to the second city wall." Qi Ke ordered.

At the sound of the trumpet, the Yong army retreated like a tide, retreating to the second city wall half a mile away. The Wei army broke through the first city wall.

Shusun Jian led his army into the city. Looking at the second city wall with the Yong flag flying, his heart sank. The Wei army had been delayed under Huatai City for too long, and reinforcements from the Yong army might be coming.

The Huatai City in front of us still has two city walls, and there is a capital city inside the city wall. Attacking the outermost city wall has already resulted in more than a thousand casualties. It is unknown how many casualties and how much time it will take to capture the Huatai City.

Thinking of this, Uncle Sun Jian said coldly: "Send the order, the son who ascends first will be rewarded with 500 cows and promoted to the third level."

There must be brave men under the heavy reward. The second city wall was captured two days later, and Yong's army retreated to the third city wall. On the city wall, the mood of the Yong army officers was a little low. The Wei army had occupied two city walls and surrounded the inner city. If reinforcements did not arrive, it would only be a matter of time before the city was defeated.

In fact, the light cavalry led by Wang Huilong arrived at Changyuan City two days ago. They were exhausted from galloping all the way. Wang Huilong planned to rest in Changyuan City for a day and inquire about the news about Huatai City.

Knowing that the Huatai City defenders were retreating at the third city wall, Wang Huilong summoned ten soldiers from the Heroic Battalion and asked them to find a way to sneak into the city.

Huatai City was built near the river. It was tall and steep. The outer city was only twenty steps away from the Yellow River. Wang Huilong asked them to enter the city from the river to deliver a message to Qi Ke.

The Yellow River had frozen and was safe for pedestrians. Ten people walked on the ice to the north of the sliding platform at night and climbed up the cliff with ropes. At this time, Wei Jun's attention was on the city, and no one noticed that anyone would climb into the city from the north.

Ten people, dressed in Wei army uniforms and disguised as patrolling soldiers, crossed the second city wall without any danger. When they went inside, they were heavily interrogated. According to the prior discussion, the ten people were divided into two teams, and one group of five people headed straight towards the Western Wall.

Not far away, someone shouted and asked, but the five people didn't answer and rushed to the west city. The Wei army realized something was wrong and sounded the trumpet to intercept it. The five men drew their swords and fought with the Wei army.

Another group of five people took advantage of the commotion and approached the south wall. Wei Jun found out and chased them. The defenders at the top of the city saw something unusual at the bottom of the city. They saw several people rushing to the bottom of the city and hurriedly lowered the rope from the top of the city.

Several people pulled the ropes to climb up. Yong Jun at the top of the city pulled up hard. Wei Jun fired arrows at several people. Three people were hit by arrows and fell down. Two people climbed up the city top with several arrows stuck in their bodies.

Qi Ke rushed to the scene after hearing the news, and two surviving Yong soldiers sent a message. Two days later, Wang Huilong led the Yong cavalry to arrive at noon, and they cooperated inside and outside to defeat the enemy.

The message sent with eight lives gave Qi Ke the confidence. Shusun Jian learned that someone risked his life to deliver a message to the city. He felt that reinforcements from the Yong Army were coming, so he divided his troops into two groups. He led one group to step up the attack on the city, and Yu Lixi led the other group to defend outside.

It was late on November 26th, the agreed noon was approaching, and the Wei army was launching a fierce attack on the city wall.

Qi Ling set up his catapult on the city wall and ordered his soldiers to take out the gunpowder jars hidden in the inner city. The gunpowder cans were smashed down the city, the rockets were ignited, and the fire ignited the ladders, hook trucks, city assault vehicles and other siege equipment. The Wei army retreated crying.

The gunpowder cans were thrown hundreds of steps away by catapults. The fire quickly spread southward, igniting the roofs of the houses in the city and covering the entire city outside the slip platform in a sea of ​​flames.

The Wei army huddled together and rushed out of the city. Uncle Sun Jian looked at the raging fire behind him and had no choice but to spin his horse and rush out of the city gate.

"(1): The sliding platform should be Baima City during the Guandu War."