While the court was arguing endlessly, the battle situation was changing every day.
The 20,000 cavalry sent by Qin Feng were divided into two groups, with extremely clear goals, which was to recruit troops and expand their troops along the way.
Whether it was Qin Feng's prestige in Daliang or the suffering caused to the people by the Northern Expedition, the march of the 20,000 cavalry was very smooth.
These two armies are like snowballing, growing in number and size.
At the same time, the military situation in Dingtao County had reached an extreme crisis.
With the logistics completely cut off, the troops remaining in Dingtao County have begun to disintegrate from within.
Qin Feng seized the opportunity and directly sent out the defenders of Anyuan County and began to launch a strong attack on Dingtao County.
Due to a lack of supplies and severely damaged morale, the combat effectiveness of the Dingtao County defenders has been greatly reduced.
Facing Qin Feng's sudden and fierce attack, the speed of defeat was far beyond everyone's expectations.
Qin Feng even went to the battlefield in person under the cover of Liu Ming and others, commanded the troops, and launched a siege on Dingtao County.
After a day and night of fierce fighting, Dingtao County's weakest defense line in the east was the first to be torn apart.
Under the cover of the infantry archers, ladders were erected on the city wall one by one. The northern soldiers filed up and after several hours of fierce fighting, they completely captured the eastern city wall of Dingtao County.
As soon as the city wall was lost, the war was basically a foregone conclusion.
Due to the lack of supplies, the defenders in the city were unable to engage in street fighting with Qin Feng.
After two days of fighting in the city, only the county government office where Zhao Yulong was located had not been conquered.
At this time, the county government office was surrounded. Qin Feng came to the county government office in person. Looking at the defenders who were still resisting inside, Qin Feng did not hesitate and directly ordered the heavy-armored soldiers to storm in.
A vanguard team composed of thirty soldiers in heavy armor held up their shields and forced open the gate of the county government office.
The vanguard team rushed into the county government office and started a fierce battle with the defenders who were also wearing heavy armor.
Unfortunately, due to the huge disparity in numbers between the two sides, if Qin Feng's heavily armored soldiers are exhausted, they can immediately withdraw and replace them with other soldiers who are full of energy.
But the defenders in the county government office were already fighting alone. They could only bite the bullet and grit their teeth and fight.
As their stamina was depleted, the heavy armor became a liability, and it soon turned into a one-sided massacre.
At this moment, a loud noise was heard, and a heavily armored soldier was knocked over.
Following the sound, I saw a man walking out who was wearing a general's armor, holding a rifle, and holding a small golden melon at his waist. It was Zhao Yulong.
Even though he was in a desperate situation, Zhao Yulong still had no intention of surrendering. He relied on the rifle in his hand to continuously poke away the heavily armored soldiers in front of him.
After a fierce and short battle, Bu Shan was cut off. Zhao Yulong immediately pulled out the small pumpkin from his waist and prepared for close combat.
It's a pity that the heavily armored soldiers on the scene didn't give Zhao Yulong any chance.
The long-handled axes, broadswords and rifles in their hands were slashing at Zhao Yulong from all directions.
Since they are all long and heavy weapons, and all members are wearing heavy armor, even if Zhao Yulong is brave and good at fighting, and his personal strength is amazing, he still cannot change the decline.
Since he couldn't rely on the small golden melon in his hand to quickly kill the heavily armored soldiers in front of him, facing the siege of more than a dozen heavy armored soldiers around him, he had no choice but to surrender.
In the blink of an eye, the breast shield on Zhao Yulong's chest was blown away, and then his thigh was hit hard by the mace.
Plop.
There was only a muffled sound, and Zhao Yulong's right leg had been smashed, and he knelt down on one knee uncontrollably.
The heavily armored soldiers seized the opportunity, swarmed forward, pushed Zhao Yulong to the ground, and suppressed him firmly.
Qin Feng, who had witnessed the entire incident, stepped in front of Zhao Yulong and stared at him condescendingly, with a look of reluctance in his eyes, but more of an anger.
"Yulong, you have been with me for so long, haven't you learned any lessons?"
"From the moment you attacked my people in the north, you and I have become mortal enemies. Is it worth it for our former brothers to end up in this situation today?"
Facing Qin Feng's inquiry, Zhao Yulong did not show the anger or sadness of a defeated general. On the contrary, his eyes remained extremely firm.
"Brother Qin, looking at the world, you are the only one who loses, and I am convinced."
"As for attacking the people, this is something I have no choice but to do. After all, I need to win this war."
"This is a losing war."
From the moment Zhao Yulong took over the frontline command of the Northern Expedition, he did not have much hope for this war, but as a general, he must do his best to win.
As the saying goes, do your best and obey fate.
But the reality is that he is unable to turn the tide. Now that the army is defeated, Zhao Yulong has no regrets. After all, he has tried.
"Brother Qin, kill me. I will never hate you."
Feeling Zhao Yulong's firm gaze, Qin Feng couldn't help but feel heartache.
After all, Zhao Yulong was not selfish at all from beginning to end. Everything he did was for the sake of Daliang's future.
He and Qin Feng have the same goal, both to enable the people of Daliang to escape the suffering of the war and live a good life.
It's a pity that the former brothers took completely different paths.
Now they meet again, but they have already met each other in battle, and parted ways in life and death.
Qin Feng did not order the soldiers to let go of Zhao Yulong. After all, based on Qin Feng's understanding of Zhao Yulong, in order to win this war, Zhao Yulong would definitely do something like "capture the thief first, capture the king" without hesitation.
Even if the person standing in front of him is a brother who once shared life and death.
Qin Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Yulong, this war is coming to an end. Although you can't see it anymore, you can rest assured that the prosperous age you hope for will still come."
Hearing these words, Zhao Yulong also smiled and nodded.
"Brother Qin, I believe you..."
Qin Feng closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even if he was reluctant to give up, he must be responsible for the dead people in the north.
Qin Feng slowly turned around and left. At the same time, the soldiers closed the gate of the county government office.
A moment later, Qin Feng stood on the city gate tower of Dingtao County, looking down at the defenders who had been completely defeated, but he did not feel the joy of victory at all.
On the contrary, his heart was extremely heavy.
At this moment, Liu Ming came to Qin Feng: "King Qin, Zhao Yulong has returned to his hometown."
Upon hearing this, Qin Feng's sad eyes suddenly became firm: "Let it end, let everything end."
"I don't want anyone to be forced to stand against me because of Emperor Liang."
"Pass my order. After the entire army rests and regroups, they will begin to advance towards Kyoto and end this endless war once and for all."
