Yang Peng led his troops from the pontoon bridge over Chengling Pass to the north bank of Dongting Lake, and fought all the way to Fangtai Mountain. Before arriving at Fangtai Mountain, military reports came from the front line, saying that Cao Yong's Song army had been defeated and the remaining soldiers retreated to the southwest. It turned out that Wanchun led the troops to launch a surprise attack on the rear of Cao Yong's army last night. Cao Yong did not know that Yan Yun's army had crossed the river from Chengling Pass. The focus of defense was on Fangtai Mountain, but not in other directions. They were unprepared, and as a result, the entire camp was turned into a mess by the soldiers and horses led by Wanchun. At this moment, Shi Liancheng led the army to rush down from Fangtai Mountain, like a mountain torrent rushing forward. The Song army had already been panicked by Wanchun's surprise attack and was in disarray. How could it withstand tens of thousands of swallows? The Yun army charged so fiercely that the Yan Yun army immediately broke into the main camp. Then the civilian army collapsed first, and then all the battalions and departments were also defeated. Cao Yong is worthy of being a famous general of his generation. Seeing the collapse of his army, he immediately ordered his own troops and the most powerful Huben Army to fight to the death, while he led his army to retreat to the southwest.
Yang Peng led his troops to change direction and rush to Huarong County in the west. Arriving in Huarong one day later, they immediately received reports from the front line that Shi Liancheng and Wanchun defeated Cao Yong again in Anxiang. Cao Yong led the remaining troops to retreat towards Dingzhou. Dingzhou, also known as Wuling in ancient times, is located on the west bank of Dongting Lake, which is now Changde City. Yang Peng saw groups of prisoners of the Song army being escorted down, knowing that the battle on the front line was going well, he couldn't help but smile, and immediately led his troops to Anxiang without taking a rest.
When they arrived in Anxiang, Shi Liancheng and the others had already pursued Cao Yong's remnant army to Dingzhou, and Yang Peng also rushed all the way to Dingzhou. One day later, Yang Peng led his army to Dingzhou. I saw the remains of some siege equipment scattered outside Dingzhou City. It seemed that there had been a siege battle not long ago.
When Shi Liancheng and others heard that Yang Peng was coming, they hurried out of the tent to greet them. When everyone entered the tent, Yang Peng went straight up and sat down. He glanced at the generals and asked, "Cao Yong is in Dingzhou City?" Shi Liancheng clasped his fists and said, "Cao Yong led the remaining soldiers to retreat into Dingzhou a day ago. As soon as we arrived, we launched a fierce attack, hoping to take advantage of them to gain a foothold in Dingzhou City. When we were safe, we attacked Dingzhou in one fell swoop, but we didn’t expect that Cao Yong was able to remain undisturbed despite his defeat and defended it very tightly. Not only did our army fail to break through the city, but we lost more than 2,000 people!”
Yang Peng frowned and said: "Cao Yong is a famous general in the world, so naturally he is not that easy to deal with!" Then he asked: "How many troops are left under Cao Yong now?"
Shi Liancheng said: "The hundreds of thousands of civilian troops have been completely destroyed. They were either captured or scattered in the countryside on their own. The official army also suffered heavy losses. The number of soldiers and horses around Cao Yong now is estimated to be no more than 40,000!"
Yang Peng thought: "Although Cao Yong is a famous general in the world, he is still a human being after all, not a god! The defense line along the Yangtze River has been lost, the court has lost its momentum, the morale of the army and the people has dropped to the bottom, and Cao Yong is not in control of the right time, place, and people. How long can he hold on!" The generals nodded in agreement, and Shi Liancheng took out a letter and presented it to Yang Peng, saying: "Brother, my younger brother once ordered people to shoot letters into the city to persuade you to surrender. This is Cao Yong's reply!"
Yang Peng received the letter, opened the envelope, took out the letter paper, unfolded it and read it over, with a slight smile on his face, and said with some helplessness and admiration: "It's Cao Yong after all!"
Shi Liancheng said with some admiration and some annoyance: "This Cao Yong is really a stone in the pit, smelly and hard! It's really admirable that he has such integrity! But to be so loyal to the incompetent and mediocre Zhao Song Yu is also infuriating! "
Yang Peng looked at the letter and said: "He is not necessarily foolish and loyal. Maybe he is just for a promise. He is a hero. He promises a thousand pieces of gold and will never regret it! Since he made a promise to Zhao Song, he will naturally be shattered to pieces. Fulfill your promise!" Everyone nodded in sympathy.
Yang Peng put down the letter and said, "Since he wants to be loyal to Zhao Song, then I will fulfill his wish!" He looked up at Shi Liancheng and asked, "How do you plan to attack the city next?" Shi Liancheng clasped his fists and said: "We are rushing to make siege equipment. We can launch a strong attack on Dingzhou early tomorrow morning!" Yang Peng nodded, thought for a moment, raised his head and said, "Shi Liancheng, I will leave this Dingzhou matter to you. You. I want to leave immediately." Shi Liancheng was very surprised and asked: "Where are you going, brother?" Yang Peng smiled and said: "Lizhou." Lizhou, now Li County, Hunan Province, is located in Lishui The North Bank is a hundred miles north of Dingzhou (Changde) and is the only way to go south from Jingmen Mountain. Yang Peng wanted to go north to Lizhou, obviously to block the retreat route of Wu Lin's army to the south.
However, before Yang Peng set out, an urgent military situation came. Han Bing led an elite force to the back of Changyang County from a small road, broke through the Changyang city defense at night, and occupied Changyang. The flanks of Cao Hu's army were completely exposed, and then The Yanyun army attacked from both sides. Although Cao Hu led his army to fight to the death, he could not defeat the wolf-like Yanyun army. In less than two days, Jingmen Mountain fell. Cao Hu led the remaining troops and retreated to Yidu in defeat. , Han Bing immediately led the army to attack fiercely. The offensive started from morning to night and from night to morning, like a landslide and tsunami. Although the Song army led by Cao Hu tried his best, it still fell after two days. More than 10,000 remaining soldiers left Yidu and retreated south.
Everyone was very happy when they heard the news, and Yang Peng decided to lead only three thousand light cavalry to intercept Cao Hu. Cao Hu led nearly 10,000 defeated soldiers and left Yidu all the way south. On the way, he learned that the Yangtze River defense line had been completely breached and all the important towns along the river had fallen. He was shocked and discussed the next move with several of his subordinates. One of the generals said with a frustrated look: "The commander-in-chief's hundreds of thousands of troops have collapsed, all the important towns along the river have fallen, and the main force of Yanyun has crossed the river! We, we have no hope!" The generals nodded one after another, all with expressions on their faces. Frustrated look.
Cao Hu glanced at the generals and said seriously: "As ministers of the Song Dynasty, we must persevere no matter how difficult the situation is until we are loyal to the country! As ministers of the Song Dynasty, we will die as ghosts of the Song Dynasty! This will remain true until death!" "
The generals were shocked, and they couldn't help but wish to die in retribution. They clasped their fists together and said, "We will follow the deputy commander to the death!"
Cao Hu couldn't help but feel gratified when he saw that the generals were united, and immediately ordered his soldiers to get the map and spread it out. Cao Hu pointed at the states along the Yangtze River, frowned and said: "These places have all fallen," and then pointed at Lizhou, "I wonder if Lizhou has also fallen! If Lizhou has not fallen, we can go south smoothly. Withdraw, otherwise..." Everyone couldn't help but become worried when they heard this. Cao Hu suddenly raised his brows and said loudly: "If our retreat is cut off, we will turn around and fight Yanyun's army in a bloody battle to repay the emperor's favor with our lives!" Everyone was inspired by his generous words and couldn't help but get excited. I just feel the blood boiling in my chest.
Now that the decision was made, everyone stopped delaying and set off towards Lizhou in the south. Everyone hoped to evacuate south through Lizhou before it fell.
The soldiers continued on their way until the next morning, when they were already exhausted. Cao Hu decided to take a short rest and then entered Lizhou in one go. However, at this moment, the scouts who were scouting the road suddenly came back and reported that the prefect of Lizhou had surrendered the entire city to Yan Yun, and Yan Yun's double-winged flying tiger battle flag had been hung on the city top.
When Cao Hu and others heard this, they were all shocked. Then Cao Hu cursed angrily: "Wang Ke, thanks to your reading of poetry and books, you would sell yourself to the enemy!" A general asked hurriedly: "Deputy Commander, What should we do now?" Cao Hu thought for a while and asked the scout, "Wang Ke took the initiative to surrender to the enemy. The Yanyun Army hasn't appeared yet, right?" The scout thought for a while, shook his head and said, "It seems that the Yanyun Army has not arrived. ." Wu Lin said: "Okay! Let's capture Lizhou and then go south!" All the generals agreed in unison.
The soldiers and horses also stopped resting and rushed towards Lizhou, which was more than ten miles away. At noon, a small city appeared in the mountains, it was Lizhou.
However, at this moment, a group of thousands of cavalry suddenly appeared in front, blocking the Song army's path. The soldiers of the Song Army were taken aback, and Cao Hu immediately ordered the troops to line up and prepare for battle. Wu Lin then rode out and came to the front of the soldiers and horses. He looked up and saw the oncoming cavalry, majestic and powerful. In front of them was a big flag fluttering in the wind, embroidered with a very ferocious figure with wings on its back, teeth and claws. Tiger, no need to ask, that cavalry must be the Yanyun War Cavalry! Cao Hu felt that there was no hope, and he couldn't help but feel desperate. He just wanted to have a bloody battle with Yanyun's army and die for his loyalty! Then I noticed that this place is a mountainous area with rugged mountain roads and steep terrain. Even though Yanyun's battle cavalry is strong, it may not be able to perform well in such a place! As soon as I thought about this, I immediately decided to launch an attack first and engage in a melee with the Yanyun Army. I would kill as many Yanyun Army as I could!
Cao Hu pulled out his sword, raised it high, and shouted: "Brothers, if you want to survive, you have to defeat the Yanyun army in front of you!" The soldiers of the Song Army suddenly saw the Yanyun warriors appearing, and they were originally very frightened and helpless. However, after hearing Cao Hu's cry, everyone couldn't help but feel desperate! Seeing that the fighting spirit of the soldiers was aroused, Cao Hu immediately shouted: "Kill!" Then he rushed towards the Yanyun army first, and nearly ten thousand Song army soldiers followed him with shouts. In a moment, thousands of people ran, The originally silent mountains rumbled. Thousands of people are working hard, the scene is really extraordinary!
Yang Peng did not expect that the defeated Song army would suddenly burst out with such momentum, and was surprised. Then he placed the iron horse's spear horizontally in front of the saddle, took out the cloud-piercing bow, took out the wolf tooth arrow, bent the bow and nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow at the Song Army general who was rushing in front. With a buzzing sound, the arrow turned into a There was a black shadow, and almost at the same time, the Song Army general screamed, fell on his back, and was instantly submerged in the torrent of his own army.
Then Yang Peng fired a barrage of arrows, and the generals and officers of the Song Army who were at the front were shot down by powerful arrows one after another. Even Cao Hu was shot and injured and fell off his horse. The Song Army, which was originally fierce, felt scared, and the momentum of the charge gradually stopped.
Yang Peng put down the Cloud-piercing Bow, picked up the iron horse spear, raised it high and waved it forward. The Yanyun warrior behind him let out a loud shout and rushed towards the Song army past Yang Peng. The mountain road was narrow and the Yanyun warrior could not move, but the momentum of the surge was still thrilling! When the Song army saw Yan Yun's cavalry rushing towards them with great momentum, they couldn't help but panic. In the blink of an eye, Yan Yun's war cavalry crashed into the middle of the Song army fiercely, trampling with iron hoofs and slashing with weapons. The corpses of the Song army were flying backwards with blood on them! In the blink of an eye, nearly ten thousand Song troops were defeated and fell like a mountain!
The Song army was attacked by Yan Yun's cavalry and suffered heavy casualties. The remaining defeated soldiers protected Cao Yong and retreated to a hill. The Yan Yun army stopped attacking and set up camp at the foot of the mountain.
Seeing that Yan Yun's army had stopped attacking, the officers and soldiers of the Song Army were slightly relieved. Then they thought of their current situation, and they were all worried and frightened. A general rushed to Cao Hu, who was sitting on a table with his upper body naked. Under a camphor tree, a soldier was bandaging his wounds. Although Cao Hu's face was covered with sweat in pain, he pursed his lips tightly and did not groan. Seeing the general coming over, he asked, "How is the situation in our army?"
The general frowned and said: "The situation is very bad! There are less than 2,000 soldiers left in our army, and everyone is demoralized and has no will to fight!"
At this time, the soldiers had bandaged Cao Hu's wounds and stepped aside. Cao Hu couldn't help but let out a long sigh and said: "I have followed my brother in the army since I was a child. I have fought in the north and south, and have gone through countless fierce battles! I didn't expect that today I would be at the end of my rope!" There was something about the end of a hero in his tone and demeanor. It was very touching to hear it.
The general couldn't help but sigh and said: "It's impossible for us to break out now!" He glanced at Cao Hu and said, "Deputy Commander, what should we do now?" Cao Hu glanced around and saw the soldiers Everyone was injured, and there was a look of despair on everyone's face. There was dead silence, and no one spoke. Cao Hu couldn't help but feel unbearable and said: "Now that the matter has come to this, why do I still need everyone to accompany me to death! Send the order, everyone surrender to Yan Yun's army!"
Yang Peng was planning to send people to the mountain to persuade him to surrender, but suddenly received a report from a scout that all the Song soldiers on the mountain had come down. Yang Peng immediately left the tent and looked towards the mountain. Sure enough, he saw thousands of Song army soldiers coming from all over the mountain. He frowned slightly and immediately ordered to fight. Three thousand Yanyun war cavalry immediately left the camp and formed a battle formation.
A moment later, the Song soldiers rushed to the front of the military formation, but instead of charging as expected, they threw away their weapons and knelt on the ground to beg for surrender.
When Yang Peng saw this situation, he immediately ordered a group of war cavalry to accept the surrender. After a while, the war cavalry came back with the Song army officers and soldiers. When the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty saw Yang Peng, they couldn't help but feel a little scared. They didn't know what General Yanyun would do with them. At this time, these Song Army soldiers still did not know that the man in front of them was actually King Yan.
Yang Peng glanced at the prisoners and did not see Cao Hu. He felt a little confused and said loudly: "Don't be afraid. Since you have surrendered, you are the people of Yanyun. Not only will we not harm you, we will also protect you." You!" When the officers and soldiers of the Song Army heard this, they finally let go of their heavy hearts, and they all knelt down and thanked them. Everyone burst into tears of gratitude.
Yang Peng ordered two of the captured generals to stay, while the others were escorted away.
The two generals bowed and stood in front of Yang Peng, feeling a little uneasy in their hearts. Yang Peng asked: "Where is your Marshal Cao Hu?" The general on the left hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "Return to King Yan, Marshal Cao Hu does not want to surrender, and must be loyal to the officialdom!" The general next to him continued: "There are also hundreds of sergeants. Then I accompanied the marshal and was unwilling to come down."
Yang Peng understood, sighed, and ordered the two generals to be led down. Then Cao Hu came to the hill with a dozen soldiers. When the soldiers of the Song Army saw the arrival of more than a dozen Yanyun war cavalry, they immediately became vigilant. They drew their swords out of their sheaths and ran in front of Cao Hu to protect him.
Cao Hu was originally sitting on the big bluestone, but now he stood up, stood out from the crowd, glanced at Yang Peng, and said: "Yang Peng, King of Yan!"
Yang Peng was a little surprised and said, "Do you recognize me?" Cao Hu said, "We have all seen your portrait. It was to facilitate the capture of you!" When he said this, Cao Hu's tone was quite self-deprecating. Then he said: "You are more heroic than in the portrait! You are worthy of being the world-famous King Yan!"
Cao Hu smiled and said: "Marshal, thank you!" He glanced at the soldiers around Cao Hu who were determined to live and die with him, and asked Cao Hu: "Now that things have happened, what are your plans?"
Cao Hu held the hilt of the sword with his right hand, slowly pulled it out, and said: "As a minister of the Song Dynasty, when the country is overturned, I can only die to express my will!" After saying this, the long sword came out of its sheath with a clang, and was immediately raised. On the neck. The soldiers around him were shocked and stepped forward and shouted: "Marshal!" Cao Hu shouted: "Stop!" The soldiers couldn't help but stop, looked at Cao Hu, and wanted to go up to rescue, but they did not dare to disobey his order. . Yang Peng said coldly: "You are committing suicide now, but you are just a loyal slave, which is disgusting!" Cao Hu was furious, glared and shouted: "You insult me!" Yang Peng said: "I am not insulting you, it is you. Insult yourself!" Cao Hu said: "I died for the Song Dynasty, how can I be a slave!"
Yang Peng said: "Zhao Song used the entire world and billions of people to satisfy their own selfish desires. Before the Khitan invasion, they had already imposed excessive taxes and extravagance without caring about the lives of the people! After they retreated to the south of the Yangtze River, they still did not change their ways. In order to build those many How many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been set up for the lavish enjoyment of the magnificent palace? The Zhao family lived in fine clothes and fine food every day, but the people lived a life of hunger and cold. Marshal Cao, how did the people fare under the rule of Zhao and Song Dynasty? You can't help but see the hardship, right! In order to be loyal to the Zhao family, regardless of the life and death of the people, can a person like you become a hero? I can only treat you as the loyal dog of the Zhao family, loyal to the whole family Just a domestic slave!"
Cao Hu was so angry that he glared and yelled: "You, you..." He wanted to defend himself, but found that all your excuses were so feeble. Finally, he said angrily: "Loyalty to the emperor is a great righteousness! If a person is not loyal to the emperor, why should he?" If you stand upright, why should you be a human being?”
Yang Peng sneered and said: "Zhongjun, that Confucian nonsense makes no sense! Let me ask you, how did Zhao Kuangyin, the ancestor of the Zhao family, seize the country?" Cao Hu huffed and was speechless, because he suddenly discovered that he insisted on loyalty. The object was originally unfaithful to his master! Yang Peng said with a smile: "Zhao Kuangyin is not loyal to his king, but you are loyal to him, and you still say that this is the righteousness of human beings! According to your logic, the object of your loyalty is no longer a human being, but you still want to be loyal to him For them, and they also say that this is the righteousness of human beings, isn't this inconsistent and childish and ridiculous?" Cao Hu frowned and said: "This, this..." Cao Hu's mind became a mess.
Yang Peng said seriously: "What Zhao Kuangyin did that day was not wrong!" Cao Hu showed surprise. Yang Peng continued: "Whether what a person does is correct has nothing to do with loyalty to the emperor! Loyalty to the emperor is just an excuse for the king to use Confucianism to fool and enslave the people! Whether what a person does is correct has nothing to do with what he does. Is what we are doing beneficial to the Huaxia clan and the people! In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Shizong died young, leaving only his young son and his wife. However, in the Later Zhou Dynasty, there were internal troubles from the royal family, and external troubles from the invasion of the Later Han Dynasty and Khitan troops! If Zhao Kuangyin could not immediately break off and create a new dynasty, I am afraid that the entire Central Plains would fall into the hands of foreigners! Zhao Kuangyin wore a yellow robe. According to Confucian views, he was disloyal to the Later Zhou Dynasty. However, I say that what he did was very correct, because his actions had a great impact on the people and the Chinese people. Advantageous! I ask myself better than Zhao Kuangyin, and the Zhao family's current harm to China and the people is much more serious than the orphans and widowed mothers in the later Zhou Dynasty! Who is right and who is wrong, who is righteous and who is evil, the marshal is smart People, can’t you still understand?”
Cao Hu's heart was shocked, his hand trembled, and the sword fell to the ground with a clang. Yang Peng said: "Marshal, you are a rare talent. Why are you wasting this precious life for Zhao Song, who has become a scourge to China? Why don't you stay useful and do more useful things for the people of the world?"
Cao Hu clasped his fists towards Yang Peng with a look of shame on his face and said, "Thank you, King Yan, for giving me the heads-up, otherwise I would have made a mistake?" Yang Peng was very happy and asked, "Marshal, you don't want to die anymore?"
Cao Hu smiled and said: "I won't die! As King Yan said, it is really not worth it to die for a king who harms the people! Although the life of Cao is not important, dying for it is not worth it. !" Yang Peng praised: "I am very happy that you can suddenly realize it!" Cao Hu knelt down and worshiped: "Cao Hu is willing to be loyal to King Yan!" Yang Peng got off his horse, ran to Cao Hu, and helped him up, happy Authentic: "From now on, you and I will support each other and build an extremely glorious empire for the Huaxia clan!" Cao Hu nodded heavily.
Immediately, Yang Peng and Cao Hu went down the hill. Yang Peng ordered all the captured soldiers and horses to be returned to Cao Hu, and then they went to Lizhou together. The group stopped to rest in Lizhou. That night, Han Bing led the army to Lizhou. Yang Peng introduced Cao Hu to Han Bing and other generals. The two sides exchanged greetings. Han Bing joked: "Marshal Cao is old and strong. It really cost me a lot of effort!" Everyone laughed, Cao Hu With a face full of admiration, he said: "Your Majesty is both wise and brave, and my subordinates are convinced of their defeat! I have never understood why King Yan always entrusts my Majesty with important responsibilities, but now I understand! With my Majesty's abilities, there are not many men in the world who can compare with her." Gotta get on!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
