Jiuxi

Chapter 963 961 [Long Ying in Hand]

Over the past month or so, Jing Jun's overall performance can be described as a complete collapse.

In the two major battles on the Lei Ze Plain and outside the Pingyang City, the Jing army directly lost nearly 150,000 troops. In the wars that lasted nearly a year before and more than a month after, the Jing army lost a total of more than 100,000 soldiers.

In other words, the Jing army had nearly 500,000 soldiers and horses when it first marched south, and has lost more than half of them so far.

In this situation, they could only retreat.

There is no need to elaborate on the Western Front; the situation of the two armies on the Eastern Front was equally worrying.

The troops under Wen Gusun's command were never able to capture Yaoshan Pass and Qingliu Pass. After learning the news of Emperor Jing's death, he hurriedly led his troops to retreat, heading west along An County and Shenze City, but did not enter Heluo City directly. Instead, he sent more than 10,000 ordinary infantry into the city, and he led 50,000 people to continue northward.

At this time, he was not considering defending Heluo to the death, but trying his best to preserve the elite troops under his command.

At the same time, the Jing army that attacked the northern part of Dingzhou, under the command of the commander Shan Yang, withdrew directly into the territory of Henan Road at an astonishing speed.

Soon after the two Jing armies joined forces, the third army came from the south. The commander was Miegudi, and he had two deputies, Xi Lie and Shu Bulie. Under his command were the Xiashan Army and Fangcheng Army, which had barely survived. These were the sparks of the Qingyu family in the army.

Wen Gusun and Shan Yang finally learned about the situation of the Western Route Army.

When they heard from Miegudi the tragic news that the Western Army was annihilated and that generals such as Qing Yugong and Gulijia had died in battle, the will to resist that had been raised because the three armies still had nearly 200,000 troops when they joined forces instantly melted away like ice and snow under the scorching sun.

The troops in their hands are the last hope of Jing State. Once they are lost on the battlefield, Jing State will be in danger of national destruction.

When the news came from the north that the six clans of Jinglian had launched a coup and that Crown Prince Wuyan and all the princes and emperors had died suddenly, Wen Gusun had no choice but to give up his last fantasy after seeing the almost explicit statements from Miegudi and Shanyang.

At a time when the country was in turmoil and the Qi army was in high spirits, it was a great achievement for them to defend the two territories of Weinan Road and Henan Road on the south bank of the Jing River.

But... can it be held?
Miegudi and the other three were not confident, and at this time he had to let Xi Lie bring 40,000 troops back to Dadu to help Qing Yu Huaijin stabilize the domestic situation.

At this point, they had actually given up Heluo City and the 20,000 Jing troops in the city.

With only two days left until the New Year, Heluo City was filled with an atmosphere of despair and oppression.

Outside the city were a series of Qi army camps.

To the west, Chen Lanyu, commander of the Jinwu Camp of the Beijing Army, led more than 20,000 troops to attack.

In the north, two generals under Lu Chen, Pei Sui and Duan Zuozhang, led the battle-hardened Zhenbei Army and Laian Army, and approached the northern city of Heluo while sending out a large number of cavalry scouts to prevent the Jing army that fled to the north from making a surprise attack.

To the east, Zhang Xu, commander of the Beijing Army's Wuwei camp, led more than 20,000 troops, eager to give battle.

In the south, Lu Chen, the Prince of Huai'an of the Great Qi Dynasty, personally led 60,000 elite troops and advanced steadily.

This is a decisive battle without any suspense.

Under normal circumstances, relying on the majestic and solid defense system of Heluo City, plus the mountains of food and grass in the city, 20,000 Jing troops are enough to hold out for several months. If everyone in the city is united, this isolated city can even stand for more than a year.

Such examples are not uncommon in the history of war from ancient times to the present.

However, Jing Jun did not have such conditions.

Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong died one after another, generals were killed in large numbers, more than 200,000 troops were buried on the battlefield, and the three remaining commanders, Miegudi, Wengusun and Shanyang, fled in a panic like stray dogs. These factors were enough to destroy the will of the Heluo defenders.

The situation in the city was also extremely unfavorable to Jing's army.

Of course, those aristocratic families and high-ranking officials did not want to see the Qi army enter the city. They all knew what was happening in the south. The Qi army would start a reckoning wherever they arrived. They had colluded with the Jing people and helped them to commit atrocities, relying on the Jinglian people's military power to oppress and enslave ordinary Qi people. If they fell into Lu Chen's hands, they would surely suffer a fate worse than death. So at this moment they behaved extremely united and loyal, and spared no effort to support the Jing army in holding on.

But the absolute majority of the people in the city don't think so.

They still remembered that many years ago, Lu Chen led his army to launch a surprise attack on Heluo. After conquering the city, he did not harm the civilians at all. He only dealt with those wealthy families who were accomplices of the evil, and killed many powerful and evil gentry.

For these ordinary people who have suffered from the oppression of the Jinglian people and the powerful people who have surrendered to the enemy, the choice is obviously very simple.

This is what the people want.

The fifth day of the first lunar month, the second year of Yongning in the Great Qi Dynasty.

The Qi army besieged the city for only seven days. Under the instigation of the spies from the Weaving Bureau lurking in the city, the people in the city refused to cooperate with the Jing army whose morale had fallen to the bottom. The army outside the city, with its unstoppable momentum, climbed the city walls on the south and north sides of Heluo at the same time.

The city was broken.

After a day and night of strangulation and purge, at noon on the sixth day, the Qi army had taken control of the entire city, and the flag of the Great Qi was once again flying on the top of Heluo City.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the king's flag entered the city.

The streets of Heluo City were deserted, and the people lined the streets to cheer and welcome the royal army that had fought desperately for them all these years.

The first thing that appeared in their sight was the 3,000 Dingbei cavalry carefully selected by Li Chengen.

Looking at the majestic tall horses and the strong and brave knights on them, the crowd suddenly burst into cheers.

Especially since these knights were not as arrogant as the Jinglian people, they all had friendly and warm smiles on their faces. Some of the young guys were shy. The people of Heluo were suddenly moved.

"These are our cavalry!" Someone shouted, and it was quickly responded by others, spreading around like a hurricane.

"Our cavalry!"

Thousands of shouts burst out from my chest.

In a corner, Yin Shangfu, the former inspector of Chengzhou in the Weaving Bureau, laughed heartily, which was quite rare, and secretly said that he would give a reward to the clever subordinate hiding in the crowd later.

Following closely behind the Dingbei cavalry was the Firearms Battalion. Dozens of cannons mounted on horse-drawn carriages fired powerful guns. The mighty and majestic musketeers in the rear held their heads high and accepted the inspection of their compatriots on the roadside.

"Look, that's the cannon that blew up the old Emperor of Jing!"

"Well fried, well fried!"

The sound waves are like waves, endless.

The Modao Army, Zhenbei Army, Fengfu Army, Guangling Army, Seven Star Army, Feiyu Army and so on appeared one after another.

The commanders of each army led their troops personally, and although they were represented by only 800 soldiers, such a scene was enough to make the people of Heluo excited.

"The royal flag is coming! The royal flag is coming!"

Countless people flocked forward, wanting to witness the grace and elegance of the Prince of Huai'an of the Great Qi with their own eyes.

The soldiers tried their best to maintain order, but they did not dare to be too rude and hurt these simple people.

This scene made the commander of the palace guards Qin Zilong, Yin Shangfu, Qi Lianfu, Nan Yi and others subconsciously nervous. Although the Jing army in the city had been cleared out, Heluo had been controlled by the other party for nearly twenty years, and there were countless insects hiding under the shadow. If the other party planned an assassination, they would definitely be held responsible.

At this moment, Lu Chen raised his right arm.

"Your Majesty!"

A middle-aged man in his forties looked at the young prince who turned the tide and shouted loudly with tears in his eyes.

He stopped pushing forward, and neither did the others.

It spreads rapidly like ripples.

A scene appeared that made the soldiers present extremely proud. Their coach turned the chaotic situation into order with just a simple move!
Only the aggrieved voices of "Prince" echoed throughout the city.

An old man in his fifties beside the road trembled and said, "Twenty years, a full twenty years! In these twenty years, Jing Gou has never treated us Qi people as human beings. In his eyes, we are pigs and dogs! He kills us whenever he wants! He kills us whenever he wants! My parents, sisters, my old wife and three sons, all died at Jing Gou's hands!"

"Oh my God, you finally opened your eyes!"

"No, jerk of heaven, I don't want to thank you. I want to thank Prince Lu and the soldiers of Da Qi!"

He knelt down towards Lu Chen who was several feet away.

He wasn't the only one doing this.

Among the people who are willing to come and welcome the Daqi army today, who has not had a relative killed by the Jinglian people? Who has not suffered from the bullying and enslavement of foreign races?
Countless people knelt on the ground on the long street, and their cries spread like a tide.

The armies have stopped advancing, the soldiers are silent and solemn, as if some idea is rising in their hearts like a raging fire.

Lin Xi, Luo Jiujiu, Li Bingxue and even the generals under Lu Chen's command all had tears in their eyes at this moment.

"Old man, get up quickly."

The old man was crying bitterly. Through his blurred vision, he saw the young prince coming to him and stretching out his arms to help him up.

The old man's lips trembled, but he didn't know how to express himself.

Lu Chen looked at his weathered face, then at the countless people kneeling on the roadside to express their gratitude, and said sincerely: "I, Lu Chen, assure you that the people of Jinglian will never have the chance to set foot on this land again. Not only that, we will fight all the way north to recover the lost territory in the past twenty years and rescue our compatriots who are still enslaved by the enemy."

"One day, the mighty army of Great Qi will attack the capital of Jing State, burn its ancestral temples, slaughter all enemies, and build a towering Jingguan with their heads to avenge all our compatriots who have died at the hands of the Jing army over the past sixty years!"

With the help of his inner strength, his voice spread to both ends of the long street.

What responded to him was the roar that burst out from the chests of the soldiers of the three armies.

"revenge!"

They all walked to the side of the road and helped the elders and villagers who were kneeling on the ground like Lu Chen did.

At this moment, the morale of the people and the military, which had been separated for twenty years, were closely connected.

Lu Chen always keeps his word and will naturally not let the people down.

After ten days of rest, the Great Qi army was divided into five groups. Fan Wendi, Pei Sui, Huo Zhen, Liu Yin and Song Shifei each led a group. Under the unified command of Lu Chen, they were unstoppable.

On March 27th of the second year of Yongning, after more than three months of fierce fighting, the Qi army finally recovered the entire Henan Road and Weinan Road, and drove the Jing army back to the north of the Jing River!
At this point, Lu Chen finally fulfilled countless wise wishes and restored the dividing line between Qi and Jing to the level it was twenty years ago.

Rebuild the Great Qi Empire!
(End of this chapter)