At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 191, Song Liu who wants to make progress and the burning of Xingyang
August 37, the 8th year of the First Emperor's reign, Han army camp in Sanchuan County.

After Yingbo defeated Dong Yi's 6 Qin army and took advantage of the situation to occupy Hulao Pass, there were not many troops in the city behind Hulao Pass. Yingbo conquered Luoyang, Juan County, Xin'an County, Fengshi County, Ping County, and Ping County with overwhelming force. Yin County and Shaanxi County once had troops approaching Hangu Pass, causing the entire Qin Dynasty to panic.

However, there were 5000 Qin troops stationed at Hangu Pass. Yingbu knew that he could not break through this pass with his own strength, so he withdrew his troops and returned to Xingyang City.

"The mountains are high, the roads are far away, and the pits are deep. The armies are galloping in all directions. Who dares to cross swords and leap horses? I am the only general Ying. The King of Han has done this poem well and is majestic. Only the King of Han can write such a poem." Yingbu laughed and said.

Xu Fan's poems had been sent to Yingbu. He immediately summoned all the generals of the Han army and recited them in front of them. It felt like a rich man who never returns to his hometown, like a man in brocade clothes walking at night.

Next to him were General Song Liu, General Zhonglang, Supervisor Deng Shuo, Lieutenant Mei Yuan and other senior generals of the Han army. They looked at Yingbu with envy. The monarch wrote poems to praise the generals, like this I have never heard of this. What I pursue in life is not fame, wealth and fame. Why did Ji Bu attract the attention of the King of Han in the first place? Isn’t it because of his reputation for his promise to make money? Yingbu, who was not known to many people, will probably be remembered in history in the future. Leave your name.

Mei Wei envied and said: "The King of Han is very knowledgeable. Even a rough guy like me can understand this poem. Who dares to cross the sword and jump on the horse? I am the only one who dares to do it. General Ying. This is what you said when you attacked the Qin army camp." The majesty of the time, this is so expressive. It is tailor-made for eldest brother, general, this sounds higher than ordinary generals, I am afraid that eldest brother will be promoted again after this battle is over."

Mei Rong was a fellow villager of Ying Bu. He was tall and handsome since he was a child, with extraordinary arm strength. After Xu Fan rebelled against the Qin Dynasty, Mei Rong recruited people in the Tailing area, expanded his team, and trained his soldiers with his camera.

When Ji Bu led an army to conquer Jiujiang County, Mei Rong felt that Xu Fan was a capable leader, so he led thousands of his troops to join Xu Fan's rebel army. Because he was bringing capital to invest, Xu Fan appointed him as the captain. , Xu Fan proclaimed himself the King of Han, and Mei Rong was promoted to the rank of captain. Later, Yingbu learned that Mei Rong was a fellow villager in Jiujiang, and the two began to treat each other as brothers.

"Hahahaha!" Yingbu laughed extremely happily.

After reading it, Zhao Rong immediately said: "This is the enemy's trick. Don't be fooled. Our Daqin has millions of troops. How can a mere rebel army be our opponent? General Meng Tian will come to support us soon."

Yu Fan, the captain of the Qin army, was shocked when he saw the content of the letter urging him to surrender, and handed it to the guard Zhao Rong.

Song Liu looked at Yingbu who was laughing loudly with envy. It would have been nice if he had been the one who directed the raid. After all, Yingbu was slightly injured at the time, but who made him oppose taking risks? After all, he still missed this opportunity. An opportunity to make great achievements.

The soldiers of the Qin army were slightly relieved after hearing his words. Although they had not seen General Meng Tian's army yet, the general was right. Da Qin had millions of troops, how could it be defeated by the rebels.

"The general will not dare!" Yu Fan really had this thought in his heart. Meng Tian's 30 Northern Xinjiang troops had been fighting for several months, but they had not yet come to Sanchuan County. There was a high probability that they would not come. He only had a salary of a hundred shi of food a month, and Da Qin did not have his own fiefdom, so why should he be buried with Da Qin.

So now Song Liu also wants to make contributions, raise his official position to a higher level, and become a real general. But now that the Qin reinforcements have been defeated by Yingbo, the only place where Song Liu can make achievements is in Xingyang.

However, Xu Fan was influenced by later generations. He added a school captain above the captain, and he also created some generals with four towns and four expeditions. He even added a lieutenant general between the school captain and the general. Everyone didn't need to compare their titles. See You can tell the rank by looking at the position. The generals of the Han army can also accept Xu Fan's innovations because they are very practical. The school captain is older than the captain, and the lieutenant general is older than the school captain. Everyone's rank is clear at a glance.

This time he defeated 6 elite Qin troops in one battle, which was the biggest victory of the Han army since the Northern Expedition. Even the king of Han wrote poems to praise his achievements. Now Ji Bu can't compare with him.

Although Mei Rong is a rough guy, he is very good at flattering him. This is where he is happy. There are only four generals in the entire Han Dynasty (in Yingbu's view, the Zhonglang general cannot be considered a general). .) These four generals were deeply trusted by the King of Han and could command a large army alone.

But Yingbu thought that no matter whether it was his martial arts or military commanding ability, among the Han army, except for the King of Han, he could beat him. Everyone else could be called a coward, including Ji Bu, whom he was not convinced by.

The next day, Yingbu ordered Han archers to shoot into Shucheng and told Zhao Rong about his record of defeating Dong Yi's 6-strong army. There were no reinforcements in Xingyang and asked him to surrender.

General Ying! The title of "Great General" is good. At first glance, it sounds like he is much more powerful than General Zhendong or General Zhengnan.

So he said: "General, you annihilated 6 Qin troops in one battle and captured Luoyang City. The world was shocked. I am afraid that Zhao Rong, who is now hiding in Xingyang, will be frightened when he hears your name. General, why don't you pursue the victory, capture Xingyang, and seize Ao warehouse and build greater achievements."

However, Yu Fan whispered to Zhao Rong in a remote corner: "General, what is said above may be true. The traitor general Yingbu did not show up at Hulao Pass for a month, but he appeared during this time, and he also brought... With an army of tens of thousands, it is very likely that the army at Hulao Pass was defeated by them."

Zhao Rong looked at Yu Fan coldly and said, "So what if it's true? Do you really want to join the rebels?"

But the reality is that Ji Bu repeatedly overpowered him. When the King of Han conquered the four counties in the south, Ji Bu could lead an army alone, but he could only fight under the command of the King of Han. Later, the King of Han became king in Jiangling City, and the King of Han appointed Ji Bu, He, Ge Ying and Lu Chen were the generals of the four towns in the southeast, northwest and northwest. It was Ji Bu who was in front of him again.

When Yingbu heard this, he said: "Song Liu said it well. Zhao Rong, a timid person like a mouse, will be too frightened to go out if he knows Nai Gong's achievements. He will go to recruit Zhao Rong tomorrow. If he gives face, Shameless, we will conquer Xingyang."

It's just that General Zhonglang was a little embarrassed. You said he was not a general. He led another general, and the captain of the Han army regarded them as generals. But you said he was a general, and he did not have the right to command an army alone. Generals such as Yingbu and Jibu did not admit that they were on the same level, which made Song Liu and others feel a little bit inferior.

But just like Yingbu wanted to surpass Ji Bu and become the first general of the Han army, Song Liu also wanted to turn the Zhonglang general into a real general. In fact, there was no Zhonglang general in this era. The title and rank of the general were all different. It's not fixed, everyone talks about titles, and general is just a temporary command title.

This made Yingbu very unconvinced. Didn't Ji Bu defect to the King of Han a month earlier than himself? In addition, he is from Chenjun and has the support of Chenjun's fellow villagers. Otherwise, based on his merits, he Yingbucai should be the number one general in Han Dynasty.

As long as Xingyang is conquered and Aocang is captured, this achievement is much greater than the defeat of 6 Qin troops. With the tens of thousands of shi of food in Aocang alone, being able to capture Aocang is a world-shaking achievement. In Song Liu's view, This is only a little short of capturing Xianyang.

Of course, he didn't dare to say this to Zhao Rong, because Zhao Rong was a clan member of the Qin State and had learned from the previous incident. He was really worried that Zhao Rong would give him a sword as well. But he had already thought about it. When the real thing couldn't be done, he would definitely surrender to save his life.

Zhao Rong looked at Yu Fan who was leaving cautiously and felt tired. After the rebels had persisted in stone cannon attacks for several months, Xingyang's military morale had fallen to the bottom. Even the city walls of Xingyang were smashed by the rebels' stone cannons. It's over, Xingyang will be in danger if there are no reinforcements.

Zhao Rong couldn't imagine why Meng Tian, ​​who was already one step away from Aocang, didn't come to rescue them, and he couldn't understand what happened to the reinforcements sent by Guanzhong? Why did they disappear? He couldn't believe that Dong Yi's 60,000 elite troops were really defeated.

In the Han army camp, Zhao Rong did not respond to Yingbu's surrender letter, which made Yingbu furious. Immediately ordered to attack Xingyang again.

At this time, Qin Bo suggested: "General, we have already made several gaps in the city wall of Xingyang. If we continue to attack, there will not be much results. Can our army use a different type of projectile to attack?"

Yingbu asked curiously: "What weapon?"

Qin Bo said: "You can use stone cannons to throw burning coal and stones into Xingyang, and use fire attacks to burn down Xingyang's equipment and defensive equipment in the city."

Yingbu asked: "Can coal be more powerful than a 300-pound stone bullet?"

Qin Bo said: "The damage they can cause is different. Stone bullets can damage the city wall of Xingyang, while burning coal can destroy the Qin army's supplies and undermine the enemy's confidence in defending the city."

Yingbu said: "Then give it a try."

500 stone cannons opened fire at Xingyang. This time they were attacked no longer with 300 kilograms of stone bullets, but with pieces of red-burning coal.

"put!"

"Boom, boom, boom!" Countless burning flints streaked across the sky like meteors and fell into Xingyang City. Like fire falling from the sky to the ground, a large number of buildings in Xingyang City began to burn.

"It's on fire, quickly find water to extinguish it!" These flints hit Xingyang City. No one of them thought of such an attack method, and naturally they were not prepared. A large number of buildings were set on fire, including the arsenal of Xingyang soldiers and the giant trees on the city wall. All the wooden buildings such as the city tower were ignited. In less than a stick of incense, the fire began to spread to the interior of Xingyang.

Most of the buildings in this era were wooden buildings, and people were unable to build small masonry buildings, so the fires spread from the city gate to the buildings close to the city gate.

The arsenals and granaries where the Qin army placed weapons in preparation for the war were set ablaze. Even if the Qin army soldiers tried their best to put out the fires, it was of no use. There were too many fire sources and they could not extinguish them. And as the fire got bigger and bigger, it began to spread to the residential areas of Xingyang. An hour later, smoke and dust billowed throughout the entire city of Xingyang. Half of Xingyang seemed to be on fire, and the sky was reflected red.

Outside the city, Yingbu, Song Liu and others were frightened when they looked at Qin Bo. Even if they were powerful generals facing ten thousand enemies, they would be extremely frightened in the face of this situation. They had only killed a few people in the army for so long. Qin Bo was like this Grandmaster, he burned half the city with one attack.

Have you ever offended Qin Bo before?
Please speak softer in front of him from now on.

Qin Bo was also shocked by the sight of the burning camp and could not even speak. Although he wanted to retaliate against the Qin army, he did not want to harm the people of a city.

The city of Xingyang was already a sea of ​​fire.

"Quick, rush forward and put out the fire." Yu Fan shouted hoarsely, instructing the soldiers to put out the fire.

"It's too late. Quickly knock down the surrounding houses that are not on fire and build an isolation zone so that the fire cannot continue to spread." Zhao Rong has lived in a big city like Xianyang and has seen fires in Xianyang. He knows how to deal with such fires. The situation of the company camp.

Under Zhao Rong's order, tens of thousands of Xingyang soldiers retreated to the house and established an isolation zone to prevent the fire from spreading further into the city.

Yingbu watched the fire in the city slowly decrease. He did not sympathize with the Qin people, but ordered: "Attack!"

"Dong dong dong!" The Han army's war drums beat.

Dozens of giant wells, driven by thousands of soldiers, slowly approached Xingyang City. The pressure from these giant wells was extremely powerful. Like a huge tiger ready to attack, Xingyang is the prey of these tigers.

When the giant well was 100 steps closer to the Xingyang city wall, the crossbowmen behind these giants began to climb onto the high platform of the well, and their long arrows began to be aimed at the soldiers on the Xingyang city wall.

Five thousand Han army vanguards put on their best armor, had a shield and a sword in their hands, and then rushed towards Xingyang carrying ladders, preparing to climb the city to fight. At this time, the Xingyang defenders were blocked by the fire, and there were only a few soldiers on the city wall. Naturally, no one came to stop them. The Han soldiers attacked the city. Thousands of soldiers scrambled to seize this hard-won time and quickly climbed onto the city wall.

In Xingyang City, Zhao Rong heard the sound of war drums outside the city, and said with horror on his face, "The enemy is attacking the city, hurry up and climb the city wall!"

After saying this, Zhao Rong regarded his own soldiers as supervising the battle team and drove all the soldiers up the city wall. However, when they climbed onto the city wall, they were greeted by the Han army's crossbows and arrows.

Only then did they realize that there were dozens of behemoths erected outside the city wall of Xingyang. They were long arrows that were constantly shooting at them from extremely huge archery towers.
"Counterattack, counterattack!" Zhao Rong yelled.

But at this time, the Xingyang soldiers did not bring many weapons and equipment because of the fire fighting, and their arsenal was burned by the fire. The Qin army's archers counterattacked in less than a stick of incense, and their bows and arrows were all shot. He could only avoid being suppressed by the Han army's archers.

"General, our long arrows have been burned out, and our weapons have been burned. Without weapons, we are no match for the enemy. Let's surrender. We have no chance of winning." A Qin Army officer ran to Zhao Rong and said.

Zhao Rong stabbed the officer to death and said angrily: "Anyone who dares to surrender will be killed without mercy."

Zhao Rong shouted at the top of his lungs: "Beat the war drum and fight to the death with the rebels!"

"Dong dong dong..." The war drum thundered.

But the morale of the Qin army has not improved much. They have been exhausted by the fire just now. Now they lack weapons, bows and arrows, and are completely suppressed by the enemy. They have been suppressed for several months, and this root in their hearts has been suppressed for several months. The string seemed to be broken. They didn't want to move now. The only thought in their hearts was to end this damn war.

"Kill!" A Han soldier climbed onto the wall of Xingyang City and hacked to death the enemy opposite him with the sword in his hand. Then he firmly guarded the ladder behind him.

The archers above the well also discovered the pioneer of the Han army. Their crossbows all protected the Han soldier, and all the Qin troops around him were shot dead by them.

On the tower of Xingyang City, more and more Han soldiers climbed onto the city wall, and they quickly occupied a small area of ​​territory.

"Destroy the enemy and don't let them climb the city wall!" Zhao Rong shouted in a hissing voice. He led his own soldiers to fight on the front line. The two sides were entangled and fought hard, and the blood of both sides flowed all over the city wall.

Zhao Rong's hard work drove down a group of soldiers, but it was of little use. There were too few Qin troops still fighting, and they were suppressed by the Han army's crossbowmen. The side with the advantage at this time was instead They are Han soldiers.

"We surrender!" Yu Fan led his bodyguards and said to the Han soldiers who had just climbed onto the city wall.

The soldier said contemptuously: "Drop your weapons and hide in the corner. Don't block us from killing the enemy."

Yu Fan and his soldiers immediately dropped their weapons and said with a flattering smile: "You continue!"

Yu Fan was like a signal. After he was the first, others also abandoned their moral bottom line. They either surrendered to the Han army or simply escaped from the city wall.

Yingbu, who was at the bottom of the city, saw that his soldiers had already occupied a position on the city wall. He excitedly pulled out his sword and shouted: "Soldiers, follow Nai Gong and kill!"

"Kill!" 5000 soldiers followed Yingbu and rushed to Xingyang. Song Liu looked helpless for a while. Yingbu was a general, but he still liked to rush to the front line.

More and more soldiers of the Han army rushed to the city wall. For a time, the sea of ​​​​people was like a tide. The Han army and the Qin army each occupied half. The Qin army and the Han army, which still had the will to fight, fiercely fought each other. Broken limbs and broken arms were flying in the sky, and blood flowed. It turned into a stream, and the city tower in Xingyang became the hell of Shura.

However, the reinforcements of the Han army were getting more and more, especially with the support of Yingbu. The morale of the Han army soldiers was greatly shaken. More and more territory was occupied by the Han army on the city tower. The Xingyang defenders were obviously at a disadvantage. This As a result, more and more Qin troops collapsed. They either fled this bloody battlefield or simply surrendered to the Han army.

As time went by, there were fewer and fewer soldiers around Zhao Rong, but he still fought desperately. Not long after, the last soldier around him died in the battle, and he himself was surrounded by several Han soldiers. 5 Two spears stabbed Zhao Rong at the same time. He cut off one spear with his long sword, but four spears still pierced his body.

When the spear was pulled out, the four blood holes were bleeding. Zhao Rong suddenly fell down and barely stood up against the city wall.

Yingbu led the soldiers to Zhao Rong, looked at Zhao Rong who was already bloody and said: "You are better than I thought. You are a man who dares to fight to the death."

Then Yingbu ordered to his guards: "Cut off his head and order other soldiers to surrender."

Yingbu's guards cut off Zhao Rong's head, then held up Zhao Rong's head and shouted: "Zhao Rong is dead, surrender will avoid death, Zhao Rong is dead, surrender will avoid death."

The Qin army, which had little morale to begin with, dropped their weapons and surrendered when they saw their commander's head.

Xingyang, which had been besieged for half a year, was captured.

At the same time, Yingbu sent an order to the Aocang garrison to surrender. The Aocang garrison never resisted and led 5000 soldiers to surrender to the Han army. Qin's most important granary was captured by the Han army.

(End of this chapter)