On the third day of October, when the army had just arrived in Shiweizhou, the superiors suddenly ordered all the troops to stop. The troops didn't know what happened until news came from the front that Feng Dao and several other prime ministers and a dozen old officials of the Jin Dynasty, who had been kidnapped by the Khitan people, took advantage of the internal strife between the Han people and the Khitan people in Zhenzhou to escape from the north and return to the south. , praying to meet the officials and submit to the new dynasty.
Weizhou was besieged by the troops led by Gao Xingzhou and Murong Yanchao, so the Han army was in no hurry to leave. When Liu Zhiyuan learned that Feng Dao and others had come to surrender, he immediately ordered the entire army to stay in Weizhou and received a group of surrendered ministers that day. Later, he personally named Feng Dao, who had returned south, as the Grand Master, Li Song as the Crown Prince and Tutor, and He Ning as the Crown Prince. Taibao.
Although Guo Xin was not familiar with the famous ministers and generals at this time, he had heard of Feng Dao's name. This old man was respected even by the former Khitan Lord Yelv Deguang. Regardless of his praise or criticism, he was indeed an amazing person in terms of his experience of surviving several dynasties.
Seeing that Liu Zhiyuan is also going to make Feng Dao the Grand Master, it is obvious that Feng Dao will not do too poorly in the new dynasty in the future. This made Guo Xin curious, what exactly is Feng Dao capable of? However, given his status at this time, he still had no chance to meet Master Feng who had just escaped from the tiger's mouth.
The army stayed in Weizhou for three days. All the ministers of the former court who returned south to surrender were rewarded by Liu Zhiyuan, and they continued to Kaifeng Mansion. The Han army also followed Liu Zhiyuan's guard of honor and embarked on the journey to Weizhou again.
On the 17th, Liu Zhiyuan led the imperial army to Weizhou City.
Liu Zhiyuan decided to personally conquer Weizhou because of the disagreement between Gao Xingzhou and Murong Yanchao, the two commanders of the Weizhou camp. Murong Yanchao had previously criticized Gao Xingzhou several times because he was related to Du Chongwei by marriage, so when he came to the city, he spared no effort to attack the thieves. As if to show Liu Zhiyuan that he had no intention of doing so, Gao Xingzhou ordered his men to attack Weizhou City on the second day after the imperial army stationed its troops in the camp below the city.
The Imperial Army did not need to participate in the siege. Most of them watched Gao Xingzhou's men and horses siege the city from a distance by the fence of the camp. At this time, Guo Xin was also separated from the flames of war in the distance with everyone.
Thick smoke billowed over the towering Weizhou City, and rockets flew above and below the city. In the open sky, they looked like large clusters of sparks exploding when hammering iron. There was also smoke everywhere under the city, and countless flames shot into the sky, all of which were siege tools set ablaze by the defenders and the siege army. Gao Xingzhou and others had previously made a large number of rams, building carts and other equipment to attack the city, but it seemed that they were produced too early at this time - only a few sections of the several-foot-wide moat beside Weizhou City in the distance were filled, and many of them were filled. The equipment was temporarily blocked outside the water channel and could not be used.
The water for Weizhou's moat comes from the Yongji Canal adjacent to the east of the city, so it is difficult to cut off the water, and the Han army did not dare to block the river - it was a day of continuous autumn rain.
The scene of the siege in the distance was extremely brutal, reminding Guo Xin of his siege in Daizhou a few months ago. The difference is that in front of the majestic Weizhou City, Daizhou Junior School is like a neighborhood, and the number of people participating in the siege is even different.
The sound of killing outside Weizhou City was loud, and Guo Xin frowned as he watched. Using this method to attack the city, even if it is finally captured, how many men will be lost? After all, Guo Xin is not a real warrior in troubled times who can regard killing as mowing grass. He still has some respect for life in his heart, but he also knows that the more chaotic the world, the less dignity people have in living. What's more, although the ant attack on the city was miserable, it was only temporary, far better than countless people dying of hunger, cold, and exhaustion. And if you can survive such a harsh battle, or if you are lucky enough to gain some military exploits, you may have the opportunity and possibility to completely change your destiny.
There is still a lot of faint hope in the despair, which may be the reason why many people are willing to risk their lives to fight for it.
The fierce fighting lasted throughout the day and finally came to an end near dusk. The Han army's tent was filled with gold and troops were withdrawn. After leaving countless lying corpses under the city, the siege army quickly retreated back to the camp like a tide.
The scene of yesterday no longer happened outside Weizhou City the next day. It was not because the generals above felt that the attack was too brutal, but because the autumn rain came.
Along with the autumn rains, the weather gradually began to turn colder. Guo Xin stayed in the felt tent, leaning on the couch and reading a book. The rain pattered outside the tent, and the roof of the tent made a thin banging sound as raindrops hit it, indicating that it was raining outside for a long time, but it was a good time to read a book. However, what he was reading was not a serious classic book like the Analects of Confucius, but a miscellaneous book called "Xu Qixie Ji".
Guo Xin had never heard of this book before, but he accidentally read it and found it interesting. The book recorded many strange stories, which Guo Xin thought was more suitable for passing time than a full of articles. He was seeing one of the strange things. It was about the story of Huan Xuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After Huan Xuan usurped the throne, a pair of drumsticks transformed into two children and sang ominous songs in front of Huan Xuan. Later, Huan Xuan was defeated and the nursery rhyme coincided. .
This reminded him of Du Chongwei who was huddled in Weizhou City. Du Chongwei, like Huan Xuan, had taken the step of causing rebellion. I am afraid that he would not be able to escape the fate of defeat in the end, but he didn't know if there was any child to remind him.
At this time, Guo Pu opened the curtain from the outside and got in.
"What are Brother Yi looking at?" Guo Pu asked, taking off his shawl and shaking off the rainwater.
Guo Xin didn't reply to him, but just asked: "How is the situation outside?"
Guo Pu: "The camp on the east side of the city has flooded... I heard that the Yongji Canal has swollen too much, and the officials have also moved to Taifu Gao's camp."
"Oh?" Guo Xin sat up after hearing this, feeling a little surprised.
However, he thought for a moment and then continued: "The officials are planning to use the method of surrounding the city in Gaoxing."
Guo Pu put the shawl on a shelf aside and looked at Guo Xin doubtfully: "How do you know, Brother Yi?"
Surrounding Weizhou City, there are the camps of Murong Yanchao and Gao Xingzhou to the west and south respectively, while Liu Zhiyuan and the imperial army are stationed outside the two cities in the northeast. However, I didn't expect Qiu Yu to come at a moment's notice, and the Yongji Canal to the east is obviously no longer there. Suitable for large armies to camp. This is what surprised Guo Xin. Liu Zhiyuan wanted to change camps, but instead of looking for his closest brother Murong Yanchao, he chose Gao Xingzhou, who had only surrendered for a few months?
When Liu Zhiyuan did this, the message he revealed was very clear.
Guo Xin smiled and explained to Guo Pu, and Guo Pu immediately obeyed: "I still know a lot about you. But it's a good thing that the officials are trapped in the city and don't overthrow them. We can just stay in the camp and eat the officials' food." , it’s more lively when there are more people in the army.”
But Guo Xin shook his head slightly: "It's hard to talk about this matter. After all, Murong Yanchao has deep affection and kindness to the officials, and Du Chongwei in the city has had a feud with the officials for decades. This time, he took advantage of our establishment. If the situation is unstable, rebellion will pop up. The officials must be eager to get rid of Du Chongwei as soon as possible. It is estimated that Du Chongwei will continue to defend until the last moment... But even if the officials have the patience to wait, tens of thousands of troops are out, and daily food consumption is endless. , the court can’t wait any longer.”
