Jiuxi

Chapter 749 [Who is the Yellow Bird]

Southwest of Jingzhou, Shahe City.

More than a month ago, when the 5,000 elite soldiers of the fixed army originally stationed here left the city and headed north, the gentry and common people in the city lined the streets to see them off, hoping that these brave and warlike men of Jingzhou could resolve the border crisis and drive back the brutal enemy.

At that time, no one could have imagined that Shahe would become the target of Jing's army. After all, it was 800 miles away from the northern border. No matter how fierce Jing's army was, it could not grow wings and fly to the top of the city.

Until the afternoon ten days ago, a piece of bad news came like a bolt from the blue.

A Jing army broke through Feoniao Pass in Shazhou. Not long after, they appeared in the upper reaches of Hengjiang River. Then they split into two groups, one rushed towards Pingyang in the southeast, and the other went straight to Shahe.

After the 5,000 elite soldiers of the fixed army left, only a few hundred old soldiers were left in Shahe City. Even if the three shifts of runners from the government office were added, there were still less than a thousand people.

Naturally, Du Hu also knew this news.

As Chemu Gunnanyong's trusted general, even if Du Hu is not ambitious, he does have the ambition to stand out.

However, in the past ten years or so, Lian Nanyong could only be an idle noble, and people like Du Hu had no chance to realize their ambitions.

Now that his luck has turned, no words can describe Du Hu's desire for victory. He has only one thought in his mind, to capture Shahe with great force, then reward his warriors, and continue to advance eastward to completely disrupt the heart of Jingzhou, Southern Qi.

This time he brought 10,000 elite soldiers with him, and Nan Yong allocated another 5,000 soldiers to him. It was a piece of cake to attack the almost undefended Shahe City.

Just as Nan Yong expected, the Jing army did not encounter any obstacles in its advance.

Du Hu became more and more confident. When Jing's army arrived more than 20 miles outside Shahe City, this tiger general was already imagining climbing to the top of the city wall and looking down at the Qi people's unrestrained and unrestrained life.

Fortunately, he had not completely lost his mind. He asked his soldiers to stop and rest for a while, and sent out cavalry to inquire about the situation in Shahe City.

There's nothing weird about it.

There were some soldiers guarding the top of the city wall and many flags, but Du Hu knew at a glance that it was just bluffing.

Standing a hundred feet away and gazing at the tightly closed city gate, Du Hu first sent someone to persuade the enemy to surrender, but as expected, he received a firm answer - the messenger was shot to death by the defenders on the top of the city.

"You ungrateful animal!"

Du Hu was full of murderous intent, and he shouted loudly to the generals around him: "After we capture the city, you can enjoy yourself!"

He was responded with a burst of jubilant cheers.

Among the 15,000 soldiers led by Du Hu, a large part were members of the Chemugun clan. They could not compare with the six major surnames, and in the past they could only watch those people galloping in foreign countries, and rising to prominence one by one relying on military exploits, and they were so envious.

Now, such a godsend opportunity is before us. As long as we capture Shahe City, which has no defenders, we can take the gold, silver and women inside as we please. Who can remain calm?
There was no need for Du Hu to mobilize the troops again, as the soldiers under his command were already eager to fight.

Drums sounded, and thousands of Jing troops roared and rushed towards Shahe City.

It seemed that in their red eyes, what they saw was no longer a solid city, but white silver and fragrant women.

As for the somewhat chaotic formation and the lack of sufficient and complete siege equipment, these were not problems at all. Didn't you see that the defenders on the top of the city who were originally pretending to be serious were now scared silly?

"Kill!"

Ladders were erected upwards and placed on the towering city walls. The soldiers of the Jing army scrambled to climb up, and there were even many disputes because everyone wanted to take the credit of being the first to reach the top.

The lone tiger stood proudly under the general's flag, looking ahead with a smile on his face.

The next moment, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

When Jing's army had climbed about halfway up the wall, countless defenders suddenly appeared behind the parapet, followed by a variety of extremely fierce attacks.

Logs and rocks rolled down one after another, and the wolf's fangs suddenly revealed their ferociousness.

These are indeed just the most common means of defending a city, but the Jing army is not mentally prepared for this at all. Many people are even only thinking about how to have fun after breaking into the city.

The Qi army's counterattack was sharp and fierce, and in an instant it caused considerable casualties to the Jing army.

Du Hu's face changed drastically. With his experience, he could tell that the defenders in the city must be more than a few hundred people, and they were not ordinary people filling the defense line. That kind of people would definitely not be able to enforce such orders.

The question is where do the troops in the city come from?
In order to save Taikang from danger, Liu Shouguang had transferred most of the reserve troops in the southern part of Jingzhou to the north, leaving only a few thousand garrisons in Pingyang City. This was a fact that Nan Yong had repeatedly confirmed.

Du Hu felt extremely uneasy and immediately gave the order: "Sound the horn to withdraw the troops!"

But it was too late.

The Jing army attacking the city was confused by the sudden attack. Before they could come to their senses, the Shahe city gate, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened from the inside.

A big flag flew out into the wind.

Behind the flag was an old general with gray hair riding a war horse.

He held the reins in one hand and the spear in the other, pointing it forward, and shouted angrily: "Kill!"

Under his leadership, countless Qi army infantrymen rushed out from the spacious gate, and then divided into two groups to attack the Jing army that was besieging the city and fleeing in panic.

It was not until then that the lone tiger in the distance finally saw the flag clearly.

The words "Taixing" are written on it.

The veteran was Kang Yanxiao, the commander-in-chief of Taixing Army.

During the short journey as he led his troops towards the enemy, the past unfolded in his mind like a picture scroll.

He joined the army as a teenager and spent half his life on the battlefield, but eventually he lost his bloodiness and sharpness due to the wear and tear of time.

Kang Yanxiao could not forget the situation in Dingzhou Governor's Mansion that day. Although Lu Chen did not deliberately target him, he could not withstand the pressure after all. In the end, he left Dingzhou Governor's Mansion half helplessly and half relieved, and became the chief general of Huaizhou Wing Army. He regretted it very much, because in the more than one year he stayed in Huaizhou, he found that he still could not forget the blood of those golden swords and iron horses, and still wanted to pick up a gun and ride a horse to kill the enemy.

Fortunately, Lu Chen allowed the Taixing Army to retain its flag, which prevented Kang Yanxiao from being completely disappointed in himself.

When Kang Yanxiao received Lu Chen's military order a few months ago, he felt like he was a dozen years younger.

He didn't want to prove anything, he just didn't want to go to the grave with regrets.

As a soldier, you should die on the battlefield!
"kill!"

Kang Yanxiao waved his spear, and a strange look appeared on his old face. At the moment when the enemy's blood spurted out, the old general felt that he had returned to the glorious days of the past. He seemed to have endless strength in his body, and his heart was beating extremely strongly.

The soldiers were naturally encouraged by the bravery of their commander. In addition, Jing's army was beaten and fled in a panic by the defenders on the city wall, and was defeated in an instant.

With arrows raining down like locusts from above and fierce pursuers behind them, the thousands of Jing troops responsible for attacking the city were directly defeated, and even their comrades who were sent by Du Hu to support them were affected.

The battle was bloody and bloody.

The Taixing army did not pursue further. When Du Hu finally reorganized his formation, Kang Yanxiao had already returned to the city with his warriors.

The old general in his bloodstained robe walked up to the city wall with steady steps. He looked at the extremely embarrassed Jing army in the distance and shouted sternly: "Raise the flag!"

As soon as he finished speaking, flags of the Taixing Army were seen standing on the top of the city walls. The soldiers held their heads high and their chests puffed out, with murderous aura rising to the sky.

Outside the city, Du Hu looked at the scene on the city wall and listened to the cheers of the defending soldiers that resounded through the world. At this moment, he felt cold all over.

He naturally recognized the flag of the Taixing Army and knew that this army originally belonged to the Dingzhou Military Governor's Office, but was later said to have been downgraded by the Southern Qi court and turned into a wing army.

Du Hu was not only heartbroken by the loss of his subordinates, but was also worried about the overall battle situation.

Lu Chen of Southern Qi was actually well prepared and transferred the Huaizhou wing troops to the southern part of Jingzhou in advance. This also explains why Liu Shouguang dared to transfer the reserve forces to the north without hesitation.

In this case, not only will he fail to capture Shahe, but Pingyang will also suffer a setback. What's more terrible is that the war situation in the north may have variables that even Wu Yanshu can't imagine!
The reality is more serious than Du Hu worried.

The Jing Army he led was just caught off guard by the Taixing Army and looked very embarrassed. The actual losses were still within an acceptable range. However, the other Jing Army vanguard army that was approaching Pingyang City fell into a cruel trap.

More than fifty miles away from Pingyang, the vanguard of Jing's army was ambushed by 20,000 Huaizhou troops, and nearly four thousand people were killed in the battle!
The news of defeat was quickly transmitted back to Feiniao Pass, and Nan Yong, who had been confident all along, was poured a basin of cold water on his head.

"It turned out to be the Huaizhou wing troops... How could they react so quickly?!"

Nan Yong paced anxiously in the hall, feeling extremely confused for a moment.

He had just received an urgent report yesterday from Wu Yanshu, sent by a fast horse of 800 miles, in which he learned that Liu Shouguang would continue to transfer the only reserve forces to the northern battlefield. He did not think too much about it, only knowing that he had a great opportunity to make a contribution.

No matter what Liu Shouguang was planning, it was an indisputable fact that the southern part of Jingzhou was short of troops, which meant that his troops could march forward at will.

First take Shahe and then Pingyang, one battle will decide the outcome!

Just one night later, the beautiful dream turned into bad news.

Nan Yong's face was filled with anxiety. Although the Huaizhou wing army of the Southern Qi was not that strong, they were still the foundation of the border army. If they only had the responsibility of defending the city, they were not weaker than the Jingzhou army.

How to break the game?

While Nan Yong was thinking hard, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded, and then a confidant walked in quickly and said in panic: "My Lord, urgent news from the north!"

Nan Yong suppressed his anxiety and said in a deep voice, "Speak."

The confidant said, "My Lord, our scouts have discovered a large number of enemy troops more than a hundred miles northwest of Feiniao Pass!"

"Enemy traces? To the north?"

Nan Yong felt dizzy and even thought there was something wrong with his ears.

The confidant turned pale and immediately responded, "Yes, Lord. According to the scouts' observations, this enemy army is from the Dai Kingdom. There are about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, and they appear to be elite soldiers."

Nan Yong finally realized at this time that Dai and Southern Qi had colluded with each other for a long time, and the formation they had previously created on the northwest border of Dajing was just an illusion. The other party's real purpose was to cut off his retreat.

Before he could calm down, another confidant rushed in and said, "My Lord, there is a change in the south!"

Nan Yong's eyes turned red, and he asked angrily, "What happened?"

The confidant sensed the oppressive atmosphere in the hall, looked at the furious Nan Yong, and said cautiously: "My Lord, the people of Shazhou are not honest. They are gathering their forces and trying to approach our frontier defense line."

After hearing the news, Nan Yong was silent for a long time, and his body suddenly staggered.

"Master Hou! Master Hou!"

His confidants rushed over and held his body in panic.

Nan Yong's body was trembling slightly. How could he not understand his own situation at this moment?

The subordinates in the east were blocked by the Qi army. Perhaps the enemy did not have the ability to fight outside the city, but they could stop the momentum of the Jing army's advance. The elite Dai army in the north cut off the retreat route of the Jing army, and the people of Shazhou in the south were sharpening their knives.

"Quickly, quickly notify Wu Yanshu and ask him to send troops to rescue our army immediately. At the same time, he must withdraw his troops and return to Nanjing City!"

Nan Yong roared out this sentence with difficulty, and four words involuntarily emerged in his mind, four words that made him feel desperate.

A turtle in a jar!

(End of this chapter)