sjar Chapter 359: Cursing at a shrew.
Chapter 359: Cursing at a shrew.
Zhou Xuanwu stepped forward, raised his hand, and was about to slap Xue Changfeng in the face.
"stop!"
Ye Kun stopped Zhou Xuanwu and waved his hand, saying, "Untie Xue Changfeng and take him for a walk on the street to see if anyone in Xiangyang was poisoned by me."
The officials who surrendered from Xiangyang came forward one after another and said to Xue Changfeng:
"General Xue, you misunderstood the King of Hanzhong. When the King of Hanzhong entered the city, he distributed antidotes to all the soldiers and civilians in the city, and no one died in the city. In addition, the King of Hanzhong opened his warehouses to provide aid to the people and rescued the injured soldiers and civilians. He never killed anyone and did not harm the common people.
We have never seen such a righteous teacher in our lives."
Xue Changfeng cursed: "This is the treacherous plot of Ye, a small favor to win people's hearts!"
Lu Kaijiang couldn't help but yelled at Ye Kun, "My lord, chop this bastard up. He doesn't know what's good for him. What's the point of keeping him?"
Ye Kun waved his hand, looked at Xue Changfeng and said:
"Everyone says that Xue Changfeng is a Confucian general. If he is a Confucian general, he must be well-read, have a deep understanding of righteousness, speak elegantly, and not be impatient or anxious. Why do I see a street-swearing shrew here, talking nonsense? Think about it, since you entered the big tent, have I ever scolded you?"
Xue Changfeng's face turned red, and he glared and said, "Since I've been defeated, I just want to die, why bother to say more?"
"You have parents and a wife at home, right?"
Ye Kun shook his head: "I can't bear to kill you and end your parents' hope and your wife and children's survival. Come, escort Xue Changfeng to the Chengdu Military Academy and ask him to find out if I, Ye Kun, am a traitor!"
A thousand troops are easy to get, but a general is hard to find.
Xue Changfeng is only in his thirties, still young, and from the Central Plains. If we can subdue him, it will be of great benefit to us in the future.
The personal guards stepped forward and took Xue Changfeng away.
Zhuge Feng said: "My lord, Xiahou Chang's main force is in Chang'an, Luoyang must be empty. Our army should take advantage of the situation and attack Luoyang. Even if we can't take Luoyang, we can scare Xiahou Chang half to death, and he will definitely return overnight, so the pressure on Chencang can be relieved!"
Ye Kun looked around at everyone and said, "We are attacking Luoyang now, and we are advancing deep into the enemy's territory alone. Generals, are you afraid of fighting?"
The soldiers in the tent drew their swords and shouted, "We will die on our horses, and we will never regret it!"
"Okay, who dares to be the vanguard?"
Ma Zhengyang, the governor of Xiangyang, stepped out from the crowd and said, "My lord, I surrender today, but I have not done anything yet. I am willing to lead the vanguard and clear the way for you!"
Ma Zhengyang was a member of a noble family in Xiangyang and also the prefect of Xiangyang. His whole family lived in Xiangyang and had a large population.
After Ye Kun occupied Xiangyang, he did not move any of the officials in Xiangyang, and allowed them to retain their original positions.
Ma Zhengyang was worried that Ye Kun would be suspicious of him, so he volunteered to fight.
If they win the battle and make great contributions, the Ma family's influence in Xiangyang can be further enhanced.
Even though he died in battle, he had done a lot of hard work, so Ye Kun would naturally take care of his entire family.
"General Ma has asked me to fight, and I cannot refuse."
Ye Kun nodded and smiled, then said, "But Governor Ma is not familiar with our army's fighting style, so I will send Zhou Xuanwu as the deputy general to go out with Governor Ma! The day after tomorrow morning, the army will set out, cross the Han River, and capture Fancheng!"
"Order!"
Everyone clasped their fists and accepted the order.
There are some small county towns around Xiangyang.
After Xue Changfeng was defeated, those small counties were trembling with fear and were conquered by Ye Kun's order.
However, there is another important town near Xiangyang, Fancheng, which is separated from Xiangyang by the Han River.
When Ye Kun's army crosses the river, they have to prepare ships and arrange for the transportation of food and fodder.
The next day, Ye Kun's vanguard army, totaling 15,000 people, crossed the Han River and arrived at Fancheng.
Chunyu Xian, the commander of Fancheng, was a coward. When he heard from the defeated soldiers in Xiangyang that Ye Kun's poison was very powerful and could kill anyone who was poisoned by it instantly, he was so frightened that he burned down Fancheng and fled north in a hurry with his army, his family, and all the gold, silver, and jewelry.
The common people were also frightened and ran around in all directions.
The important town of Fancheng became a deserted city. Only some old men who were not afraid of death and some women and children who could not run were crying in the city, waiting for their fate.
Ma Zhengyang was furious. On the one hand, he arranged for a notice to be posted to reassure the people. On the other hand, he and Zhou Xuanwu mobilized 5,000 light cavalry and chased for hundreds of miles, eventually capturing Chunyu Xian in Xinye.
The common people who were fleeing outside the city were also intercepted by Zhou Xuanwu's troops, appeased with kind words, and given military rations and copper coins.
When the common people saw that Ye Kun's soldiers loved the people, they gradually felt at ease and returned to the city.
The next day, Ye Kun arrived in Fancheng, and his first task was to reassure the people.
Notices were posted at the four gates of Fancheng, strictly prohibiting soldiers from disturbing the people. Anyone who dared to touch a blade of grass or a needle or thread of the people would be executed immediately!
At the same time, Ye Kun summoned the former officials of Fancheng, comforted them with kind words, and asked everyone to help pacify the people and restore normal life and production.
Ma Zhengyang asked Ye Kun: "My Lord, how should we deal with Chun Yuxian?"
"This kind of dog official runs away when he encounters danger and ignores the people. Why keep him here?"
Ye Kun waved his hand: "Behead him and show him to the public!"
At this time, Xiahou Chang was attacking Ye Kun's northwest defense line, and both sides were blood-thirsty.
The armies of Sang Buzhi, Zhao Biao and Wang Dakui had used up more than half of their ammunition and 150,000 powerful crossbows and arrows, and the killing was so severe that rivers of blood flowed.
The gullies on the loess plateau were flowing with the blood of soldiers from both sides.
Wang Dagui had more than 10,000 men under his command, and suffered the heaviest casualties. He could not help but curse:
"Where did Xiahou Chang get so many soldiers? I've killed batch after batch. Why can't I kill them all? If I keep fighting, all my soldiers will be killed!"
Sang Buyi had overall command authority and immediately gave the order: "General Wang, you lead our troops to retreat to Chencang and defend it to the end. The defense line here will be handed over to me and General Zhao Biao."
More than half of Wang Dagui's troops were killed or wounded, so they had to retreat and return to Chencang for repairs.
Zhao Biao led the front army and continued to resist, retreating step by step.
Sang Buyi led the rear army and supported Zhao Biao with the tactic of adding fuel to the fire.
Under normal circumstances, the tactic of adding fuel to the fire is a way to failure.
However, Zhao Biao's troops have a solid defense line and are able to defeat a larger force with a smaller one, which makes them very suitable for the "add fuel" tactic.
Xiahou Chang paid the price of more than 30,000 casualties and finally captured the Chencang defense line, rushed through the Wuzhangyuan area, and arrived at the city of Chencang.
At this time, Zhao Biao and Sang Buyi had already evacuated the Chengcang area and retreated to the Jieting defense line.
Wang Da Kui, with more than 3,000 remaining troops, was besieged in Chencang City by Xiahou Chang's tens of thousands of troops, like a lone boat in the ocean.
Xiahou Chang arrived at the foot of the city and ordered his soldiers to shout at Wang Dagui to surrender.
Wang Dagui stood on the top of the city wall and shouted:
"The King of Hanzhong regards me as his brother, how can I betray him? Although I am a country boy and have not read much, I know what justice is. Xiahou Chang, you don't have to waste your breath, quickly mobilize the troops to fight!"
Xiahou Chang was furious and ordered an attack on the city.
Wang Da Kui was not in a hurry. He used the powerful crossbows and muskets on the wall to attack the enemy.
Xiahou Chang took advantage of Wang Dagui's small number of troops and issued an order: "Move out the entire army and attack from all sides! I have 70,000 troops here, and I don't believe we can't take Chencang!"
The situation suddenly became tense.
Wang Dagui jumped on top of the city wall, brandished his sword and shouted, "Hit them hard, hit them hard, aim at the generals and those carrying the banners, and hit them one by one!"
All the people in the city came to help in the battle under the leadership of the militia.
Chencang City has the most war preparedness resources.
There were countless kerosene, rolling stones and logs, which piled up into a mountain.
The two sides fought for two hours and were both exhausted.
Suddenly, cannon fire was heard in the distance, and Zhao Biao, with 5,000 troops, attacked from Jieting.