The group of people ran to the city tower and did not find a way to get down to the city. Instead, they avoided the flames and shot arrows directly from the city despite the thick smoke. Although the distance was slightly far, it was better because of its higher location. Hu Yang ordered his troops to avoid it and prepare to cross the bridge. He only led Zheng Anping to guard the independent bridge with a hundred people.
Arrows rained down from the city, but they just couldn't hit here. They fell one after another in front of their eyes and pierced into the soil. Everyone saw it and felt calmer. However, there happened to be a stone in front of Hu Yang. An arrow fell on the stone, bounced, and stabbed into Hu Yang's calf. Hu Yang bent over in pain and pulled out the arrow, but there was not much blood flowing. Everyone came up to take a look and saw that the wound was not deep and there was not much blood flow, but they didn't take it seriously. He said a few words of comfort, pulled a piece of cloth to wrap it up, and then retreated to the bridge.
As the guards retreated, they sprinkled ointment on the bridge. After crossing the bridge, a torch burned the bridge.
The Qin army that had crossed the river had already organized its troops. After Hu Yang crossed the river, he ordered Wang Lu to set out as planned and head south towards the Yellow River. In the middle were the baggage and the wounded, led by Hu Yang himself and protected by the Ye County People's Army. Sima Jin led the remaining troops to cut off the rear.
It was already afternoon when Wang Lu set out. The wounded came by boat, while the livestock and baggage were brought across the river from the bridge. Now the seriously injured had to take a car, which took quite a while.
In order to meet the needs of mountain warfare, the livestock brought out by the Qin army were mainly horses, donkeys, and mules, and they lost a lot along the way. When they arrived in Wu'an, they captured several cities, not only replenishing the losses, but also finding some cattle. , the baggage cart can be pulled up; leather carts and flag and drum carts were also found. When breaking out from Wu'an, Sima Jin took a boat all the way without a car. Fortunately, Wang Lu was joined by Wu'an's chariots, which accelerated the march, so that Zhao Jun could only follow behind and was unable to intercept head-on. After entering the Great Wall, we also added various vehicles and rides. The battle last night was also quite fruitful. The captured flag and drum chariots and leather chariots have been distributed to various armies, and the princes and soldiers have also been assigned several leather chariots, so that they can move forward in the chariots instead of walking on their own. The Chinese army mainly relied on draft animals and carts pulled by oxen. The more seriously wounded were allowed to ride on carts, either sitting or lying down, which could carry three to five people; the lighter ones were allowed to ride on animals and be led forward by people. The lighter wounded are allowed to walk on their own, while the heavier ones are allowed to put their weapons on the cart carrying the seriously wounded, and they can walk beside the cart; the rest are responsible for pulling the animals, and the weapons are handled by the wounded riding the animals; if It is used to carry supplies, and it can also be bundled on a carrying rack.
Now the Qin army has about seventy or eighty chariots, a thousand livestock, and about three thousand people including wounded soldiers and relatives. When the Chinese army organized its troops, it was already the end of the day. Hu Yang did not delay and immediately ordered to set off. At this time, the fire in Wucheng had been completely extinguished by Zhao Jun, who reoccupied Wucheng. There were frequent exchanges of soldiers on the city walls, and many officers climbed up to the city to watch from afar. Every move of the Qin army on the other side of Zhangshui River probably cannot escape Zhao Jun's eyes.
As early as when Sima Jin captured the Great Wall and sent troops to cross the Zhang River, Yecheng was the direction of focus. The defenders of Yecheng had been guarding the city tightly and had not taken any active actions. However, as the Wucheng fire broke out, Zhao Jun activities appeared on the Great Wall, and there were also changes in Yecheng, and there seemed to be signs of an attack. Sima Jin ordered the entire army to be ready for battle at any time. If the Yecheng defenders dared to leave the city, they might as well capture Yecheng and then leave.
However, the defenders of Yecheng did not leave the city. The Zhao army that occupied the Great Wall seemed content to recapture the Great Wall and did not take a step outside the Great Wall. After sunset, Sima Jin divided his troops into two parts and evacuated one after another. Before evacuating, burn all the boats on the shore of Zhangshui! The flames soaring into the sky alarmed the Zhao army inside the Great Wall. Many officers went up to the wall to watch, but took no further action and watched Sima Jin leave.
According to Gongzi Zhen's introduction, Ningxinzhong, a ferry on the Yellow River, was a city of the Wei state, while Fangling and several cities next to it were captured by the Zhao army. Wei was considered an ally of Qin in this battle against Zhao; Hu Yang planned to go to Ningxinzhong first, get in touch with Xianyang through the Yellow River, and then go to Nanyang, or from Luoyang to Wan, Ying, or from Anyi. To the east of Hedong, across the river is Hangu Pass. Counting the days, if everything goes well, the troops will return to Qin just in time for spring plowing, so they won't miss the farming season.
Gongzi Zhen and his entourage were in Wang Lu's army. Shortly after setting off, Gong Zizhen sent a pedestrian. Two of Wang Lu's officials also dressed as pedestrians and rode together in a leather chariot, guarded by a group of Qin soldiers. They went ahead. Go to Ning Xinzhong to predict the arrival of the Qin army, first to explore the attitude of the Wei people, and secondly to understand the surrounding situation.
As the car drove toward Ning Xinzhong, pedestrians felt something was wrong. When they went to Zhao for negotiations half a year ago, Ning Xinzhong was the place where they usually lived. It was very prosperous and the people and goods were abundant. But along the way, it seemed unexpectedly depressed. The pedestrian said to the two doctors: "Things may change, I hope the doctors will adapt accordingly!" The two nodded silently.
Ning Xinzhong is located to the south of Huan River. There is a bridge at the north gate of the city to connect the two sides, and the bridge deck is completely within the shooting range of the crossbows on the city. When the car arrived at Ningxinzhong City, the city gate was completely closed, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Pedestrians parked their cars by the Huanshui Bridge a stone's throw away, got out of their cars, crossed the bridge and shouted loudly: "Qin Xingren asks to see the commander of Ning Xinzhong."
After a while, someone on the city said: "Rong Bao!"
After a while, a person on the city said: "But please send someone to the city!" The man guided the pedestrians to the south gate and opened the city to welcome them. All the followers were waiting where they were and were not allowed to cross the bridge.
The person who came to greet me was a man who looked like a doctor. When the man saw the passerby entering the city, he came over to greet him and said, "I'd like to hear what I saw!"
The pedestrian said: "I, Qin Xingrenhu! Dare to teach me!" He handed over the talisman he was holding.
The man said: "Doctor Wei won't change it!" He took the talisman, verified it was correct, and handed it back to Xingrenhu. With a bow, he put the pedestrian tiger in the car and drove into the palace.
Ning Xin, Lieutenant Commander, Wei, and Cheng all greeted him in front of the mansion. After chatting with each other, they all went to the hall and sat down separately. On the guest's side, there was naturally only Xingren Hu, while on the host's side there were four people, led by Wei Bugeng, and the other three sat under him in turn. Xingrenhu guessed that Wei Bugeng should have come from Daliang, so he couldn't help but be more vigilant.
Wei Bugeng was the first to say: "I didn't expect the troops from the big country to arrive, and were afraid that the city would be stolen, so I took precautions! Please forgive me!"
The traveler Hu said: "How dare you! The princes have the responsibility to defend the land, and it is the right thing to prepare when the troops arrive! But Qin and Wei are in alliance. We will attack Zhao and Wei together. Now I, Qin, have attacked Zhao and returned. I would like to pass through Dayi and return to our country. The country. May the officials open the city to welcome them and provide them with food and fodder. It will be a great blessing!"
Wei Bugeng said: "I heard that Qin, Wei and Han, attacked Zhao Yanyu on the way to Shangdang. Yanyu is far away in Shangdang, so why is your army like this?"
The traveler Hu said: "Our country's young people have gone to the party and lost their way, and this is the end."
Wei Bugeng said: "I have heard that although Qin has rarely been to the Shangdang, but the Korean army has been here for a long time, how can Qin be deceived and come to this point?"
The pedestrian tiger said: "But sometimes I hear something wrong!"
Wei Bugeng did not intend to delve into such an obvious lie, and simply said in one sentence: "Where does the general want to go now?"
The pedestrian Hu said: "I would like to use this way to go to Nanyang."
Wei Bugeng said: "We have not heard that the army is coming, we have not prepared food and fodder, and the city is too small to rest our horses. If the army passes by the city, we dare not stop it. Without the king's order, we dare not open the city."
Although Xingrenhu was mentally prepared, his heart sank when he finally implemented it, and said: "Wei and Qin are allies and vow to advance and retreat together. Why do you refuse to do this?"
Wei Bugeng said: "Whenever a large army passes by, they must first prepare food and grass and reserve camps, and then the army can pass. Now that the army has arrived, the city has no food and grass, and the people are frightened and have nowhere to camp. Even the Wei army can hardly stay. Yes. I hope you will not sin!"
Seeing this, Xingrenhu knew that it was difficult to reconcile, so he said: "But when we get to Daliang, we will definitely complain to the king!"
Wei Bugeng said: "If you don't dare to bully me, it's really hard to do it. Respect him!"
Xingrenhu refused to stay at the banquet and left the city immediately. Meeting up with the officials illustrates the attitude of the Wei State, especially the big official Wei Bu, who probably came on the orders of the King of Wei and deliberately wanted to embarrass Qin here!
A doctor said: "If this is the case, I will report it to the doctor and the next update."
Before they could return, they saw Wang Lu's sentry patrolling in the distance: Wang Lu's army was about to approach the city.
Everyone hurried back and saw Wang Lu, who reported Ning Xinzhong's refusal to open the city. Moreover, this attitude was probably not decided by local officials themselves, but was an instruction from Daliang. Wang Lu said: "Let's camp outside the city."
The place to camp is ready: the north bank of Huan River is the ruins of Yin. Although the old capital of the Yin people is buried in weeds, ruins and ruins can be seen from time to time. It is no problem to use it as a temporary camp for the army. The defense problem was not difficult to solve, as the Huan River provided ready trenches and water sources. The Qin army set up their barracks on this side of Huanshui Bridge. In fact, there is more than one Huanshui Bridge. There is actually another one for each of the five miles upstream and downstream. The river is not very wide, and it is entirely possible to temporarily build a pontoon bridge. The only difficulty is that Ning Xinzhong is indeed blocking the road going south. Even if we cross the river, if we don't take Ning Xinzhong, we can't go south to Nanyang comfortably.
Wang Lu's army had just finished setting up camp, and Hu Yang had already arrived with the Chinese army. Wang Hao sent people to assist Hu Yang in setting up camp along the Huan River downstream, while he and Hu Yang and others inspected the terrain.
This is a plain, with the Taihang Mountains rolling up to the west, forming a natural barrier. If it was just to capture the city, it would not matter; the difficulty was that this was still Zhao territory, and the Zhao army could come at any time, and it was impossible to stay for even ten days to prepare to attack the city. Such a tall and solid city is difficult to conquer without adequate preparation.
Hu Yang finally decided: "When the Huan River enters the river, please prepare many boats, so we can enter the river through the Huan River."
Wang Lu smiled bitterly and said: "The water in the Huan River is shallow, and the boats are all small. They can't carry ten people. If we have a crowd of 20,000, we will have to get 2,000 boats. Not only is it inconvenient, but it is also impossible to find!"
Bing Cao suddenly said: "Crossing the river to the east is Tao. If the west road is cut off, it will be like the east!"
