Before he could get up, boom, boom, boom, followed by several loud noises one after another, Wu Ting felt his eyes go dark and his whole body lost consciousness.
The battle to capture Wusheng Pass took no more than two hours. Before the battle, Chen Xiaomu had painstakingly devised a plan to capture Wusheng Pass. However, the battle was over before the results were ready. At first, he thought the city wall of Wusheng Pass was Like the city walls of Xinyangguan, they are made of solid bluestone bricks. It was only after they were exploded with explosives that we realized that the city walls of Wushengguan were made of rammed loess. After years of wind and rain, they were naturally weathered. , has long since become a shoddy project, so a ten-pound explosive pack can blow down a large section of the city wall.
As soon as the city wall collapsed, the cavalry of the Zheng Army and the Hubei Army rushed forward. The more than 5,000 infantrymen recruited from the Hubei Army in the pass were purely for food. Those who really wanted to work for the Emperor of Chu, plus they had never seen him before. The power of the explosives scared them out of their wits. They dispersed in a rush, leaving Wu Ting and more than a hundred personal guards on the city wall, which had been blown up by the explosives. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, their souls would have been lost. Now, we can still fight there!
About eighty miles behind Wusheng Pass is a large county in the Chu State, named Chenbu County. Because a large river across the Chu State, the Wushui River, flows through here and passes through the center of the county town. Chenbu County The government built two docks on the banks of the Wushui River in the county. There were more ships transporting goods from north to south, and there were more businessmen. The county gradually became prosperous, with various inns and restaurants. Cargo transfer warehouses were built in rows along both sides of the Wushui River.
Because the Chu State troops often passed by when they were transferred from Yecheng to Xinyang Pass, the people in Chenbu County were not very afraid when they saw the troops coming. They were almost refugees fleeing famine, but the ragged army made them panic. They were afraid that this refugee-like army would rush into the county and rob them of their belongings, so they closed the city gate early.
The city wall in Chenbu County is made of bluestone bricks from top to bottom. Although it is not very high, it looks very strong. It is much stronger than the city wall in Wushengguan, but there are no Chu troops stationed inside. , in addition to the county government officials and the like, there are a few wealthy gentry and the government jointly organizing a militia with more than a thousand people.
Seeing the black beggar-like army outside the city, Chenbu County Magistrate Jiang Zhi, who was standing on the city gate and watching, began to feel weak in his legs. It happened so suddenly. An hour ago, he was in the back garden of his home with The concubine was drinking for fun. After hearing the report from the government officials, he hurriedly ran over and watched the city for a long time. He was not sure whether the beggar army outside the city was from the Chu State or the Zheng State. Although Several Zheng Guoji flags were erected in the shape of cloth strips, but most of the soldiers under the banner were wearing Chu army armor.
Jiang Zhi sighed and turned to ask the county captain Hu San and the militia regiment leader You Qian who were standing next to him, "Take a closer look at the soldiers below the city. Which country are they from? Their flags seem to be those of the Zheng Kingdom." Why are most of them wearing the armor of our Chu Kingdom?"
Regiment coach You Qian smacked his lips and said: "Sir, I suspect these are the rebels from the Hubei auxiliary army in the Chu army who colluded with the Zheng army to rebel. Otherwise, they would not be holding the banner of the Zheng state, but there are so many of them. Soldiers wearing our Chu army’s armor!”
Jiang Zhi nodded, "That makes sense. They have so many soldiers and horses, and I'm afraid that our city wall can't stop them from attacking. In this case, Captain Hu, please ride a fast horse to Yecheng to bring reinforcements. I and I You Tuanlian is here to resist them for a while. In addition, you send someone to inform the people in the city that those who are willing to stay and resist the rebels with us will be rewarded heavily by the government after the incident. Those who are not willing to stay quickly pack up their belongings and try to escape. !”
In Jiang Zhi's understanding, he thought that the rebels outside the city were attacking the city, so he arranged his troops as usual, mobilized archers to use flying arrows to suppress the counterattacking soldiers on the top of the city, and then sent soldiers to rush to the bottom of the city to set up a Climbing the city with a ladder, in that case he would still have time to move up the city wall some rolling logs, stones, and even excrement that would prevent the siege soldiers from climbing up to the top of the city.
Unexpectedly, while he was talking on the city wall, Chen Xiaomu's trebuchet shot out the first explosive package. This explosive package flew into the city gate hole. With a loud bang, a thick stream of explosives flew out of the city gate hole. The smoke caused the entire city wall to tremble violently as if there was an earthquake. Jiang Zhi would have almost fallen off the city wall if it weren't for You Qian who was standing next to him and stretched out his hand to grab him.
Before he could stand up, there was another loud bang. The explosive pack hit the city wall, leaving a big hole in the city wall. The flying bricks and stones made a crackling sound, and everyone on the city wall was hit. He was so shaken that he staggered around and lay on the ground.
This frightened Jiang Zhi. He felt as if the entire city wall was about to collapse. He hurriedly climbed down the city wall and fled. It didn't matter if he escaped. The government officials and militiamen on the city wall were already scared. Damn it, now that I saw him taking the lead and escaping, he was all gone in an instant.
But what Hu Jiangzhi expected was that after Chenbu County was breached, the rebels he mentioned did not stop at Chenbu County, let alone burn, kill, and loot. Instead, they passed through Chenbu. The county seat is directly below Wangcheng County, and military discipline is surprisingly good.
Wangcheng County is about a hundred miles away from Chenbu County. Beyond Wangcheng County is Yecheng, the capital of the Chu State. Yecheng is only about sixty miles away from Wangcheng County. When Chu Emperor Xiong Ze received the report of the expedition, Chen Xiaomu had already crossed Wangcheng. The county is less than twenty miles away from Yecheng, the capital of Chu.
Hearing that Zheng's army was attacking outside the city, chaos broke out inside and outside Yecheng. The people in the city closed their doors one after another. The huge streets of Yecheng were instantly deserted. Residents who wanted to take refuge outside the city were killed by the soldiers guarding the city. After rushing back, the four gates of Yecheng were tightly closed.
In the Hall of Success in the imperial palace, Chu Emperor Xiong Ze stood with a pale face behind the Dragon Case. None of the civil and military ministers in the palace even dared to show their dignity. They stood in two rows with their heads lowered in fear, listening to Xiong Ze trembling behind the Dragon Case. The voice roared at them.
"Trash, not to mention that I wiped out all my hundreds of thousands of troops, but now I've been counterattacked to the capital of Chu State. When word spread, people thought I was raising a bunch of pigs!" Xiong Ze pointed at the people standing below. Two rows of civil and military officials were trembling with their fingers.
When Xiong Ze was tired of scolding and sitting on the dragon chair, breathing heavily, Prime Minister Shi Lei walked out of the train and knelt in front of Xiong Ze's dragon chair. Xiong Ze glared at him and looked away from him.
Shi Lei said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it is urgent now. Can you go to Qin to borrow some soldiers and horses to solve the current difficulty first?"
"Confused!" As soon as Shi Lei finished speaking, Xiong Ze scolded: "Qin's ambition to become a unified nation is clearly revealed. I'm afraid in the end, the foxes will be driven away here and the wolves will come in!"
Shi Lei knelt on the ground and gritted his teeth, and continued to play: "Your Majesty, please leave the green mountains without fear of running out of firewood. I am willing to lead troops to protect your Majesty from Yecheng, and temporarily avoid the danger of the siege outside, so that you can dispatch your troops." We’ll fight back when the time comes!”
Xiong Ze sneered: "Do you want me to be like a lost dog like Su Chengxuan? But who of you is Chen Xiaomu?"
Xiong Ze neither asked Qin for reinforcements nor wanted to break out of Yecheng. Shi Lei couldn't make up his mind for a moment. He didn't know what kind of medicine Xiong Ze was selling in the gourd, so he had to kneel there and say nothing. .
After being silent for a long time, Xiong Ze suppressed the anger in his heart and said slowly: "Isn't there still hundreds of thousands of troops in Yecheng now? The Zheng army has already been defeated if they come from such a distance. We can take advantage of their unsteady footing and leave the city." Kill them!"
"Your Majesty, General Wei is willing to lead his troops out of the city to fight with this man named Chen Xiaomu." As soon as Xiong Ze finished speaking, a general standing in the generals' column came out in response.
A closer look revealed that the man who volunteered for the battle was Pan Yi, the minister of the Ministry of War. This man was in his forties and was a subordinate of Jiang Chao, the former Xinyang Joint Commander of the Chu State. He followed Jiang Chao in the Chu State and became neutral in the war against Zheng State. After a lot of work and achievements, Xiong Ze nodded and said: "Pan Aiqing must be careful when going out to fight in the city. This Chen Xiaomu has many tricks, so you must be on guard."
Pan Yi knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists with both hands, and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will only bring 10,000 horses out of the city this time. I will try to attack first. If there is anything wrong, I will withdraw immediately."
Chen Xiaomu's more than 20,000 people surrounding a large capital city are really stretched, but fortunately, the Chu people are suspicious and always feel that there must be an ambush behind this small number of people. Otherwise, how could they possibly break through New Sunshine, a major barrier of Chu State, with this small number of people? , fought all the way to Yecheng, the capital of Chu, and even dared to take the initiative to surround this capital city.
Chen Xiaomu did not camp close to the city wall of Ye City this time. Instead, he camped about four or five miles away from the city wall. A large open space was reserved in the middle as a buffer for the Chu army to attack out of the city. Every gate of Ye City was blocked. More than 3,000 men and horses, 20 trebuchets and 200 explosive bags were deployed. They were about two or three miles away from the front of the camp and buried densely packed sharp bamboo sticks under the withered grass overnight to prevent the Chu army from jumping over the wall and attacking. , using more than 2,000 cavalry as a rapid mobile reserve. If there is an emergency over there, support will be sent there quickly.
After everything was ready, Chen Xiaomu waited eagerly outside the city for two days. There was no movement from the Chu army in Ye City. Apart from the big flags that were blown by the wind, it was not easy to see even the silhouette of an individual on the city.
Chen Xiaomu, who was really bored, drew a backgammon board on the ground and taught the two guards, He Jian and He Quan, how to play chess. Zhang Yun and Zhang Jian were all nervous and worried, and they felt dumbfounded looking at Chen Xiaomu's seemingly alright appearance.
In the palace of Qin, Gao Jianli brought his housekeeper Ye Xin into the palace for the first time to meet Qin Emperor Martial Arts. Ye Xin was nominally Gao Jianli's housekeeper, but in fact, her true identity was that of the Eagle Eye Agency established by Gao Jianli. The leader, whose official name is Du Sicha, is not of high rank. He is only from the sixth rank, and is not even qualified to stand in the imperial palace. The name of this eagle-eye organization is only the internal name of Gao Jianli and others. To the outside world, they are all called Yu. Stadu Chasi.
Seeing that Gao Jianli brought a veiled woman to see him, Wu Dao felt very uncomfortable and reminded him coldly: "Gao Aiqing, I seem to only allow you to come see me at any time, right?"
Gao Jianli quickly pulled Ye Xin to kneel in front of Martial Arts and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I had no choice but to let Ye Sicha come with me to meet the Emperor."
"Oh," Wu Dao softened his tone and asked, "Since you are coming here, why are you still wearing a face towel?"
"Wei Chen was afraid of scaring the emperor, so he asked Ye Sicha to wear a scarf!"
Wu Dao waved his hand, "Gao Aiqing underestimates me! I haven't seen anyone before? Am I still afraid of a woman?"
Gao Jianli turned to Ye Xin and said, "Ye Sicha, please take off the cloth-faced gentleman."
Upon hearing this, Ye Xin immediately stretched out her hands and took off her face scarf, facing the martial arts without makeup.
Wu Dao couldn't help but take a breath. He didn't expect that this woman with eyes as bright as autumn water would be so miserable below. Her nose was so flat that only two breathing nostrils were left. Her mouth was so thin that no lips could be seen, as if she was just using The knife made a gash on the face, and the lower jaw was wide and long.
Wu Dao quickly looked away from Ye Xin's face, secretly regretting that he was a little reckless! He suppressed the discomfort in his heart and raised his hands to the two of them, "You all get up." "
"Your Majesty, I just received the military report that Chen Xiaomu led his troops to kill Xinyang Pass in Chu State two days ago. After Wusheng Pass, he marched straight in and surrounded Yecheng, the capital of Chu!" Gao Jianli stood up and hurriedly said to Martial Arts said.
"What?" Wu Dao trembled when he heard this and asked in shock, "Gao Aiqing, is this news accurate?"
Gao Jianli nodded and said: "It's absolutely true, and there is absolutely no lie!"
"That's strange. Why doesn't Xiong Ze send someone to ask for help? Didn't I ask the envoy to bring a message to him last time?" Wu Dao frowned and said to himself.
Gao Jianli and Ye Xin lowered their heads and said nothing. Wu Dao looked at Gao Jianli and asked, "Gao Aiqing, you brought Ye Sicha here because of Chen Xiaomu's matter, right?"
Gao Jianli cupped his hands and replied: "Exactly, Your Majesty, this Chen Xiaomu is like a wildfire starting a prairie fire. If it is not extinguished, I am afraid it will eventually catch fire and burn him!"
"Oh, tell me then, how are you going to put out Chen Xiaomu's wildfire?" Wu Dao closed his eyes and leaned on the back of the dragon chair with a contented look.
Gao Jianli glanced at Wu Dao's face from the corner of his eyes and said softly, "I am going to let Ye Sicha sneak into Yecheng, the capital of Chu, with the Eighteen Eagles with Claws, and work with the internal agents I had previously arranged in Zheng's army to get rid of this Chen Xiaomu. !”
Wu Dao was sitting on the dragon chair, closing his eyes as if he didn't hear anything and didn't react at all. Gao Jianli didn't dare to say anything anymore and could only lower his head and wait for Wu Dao's reaction.
