Thief Emperor

Chapter 729 Persuasion
This sudden situation was not anticipated by Li Yun.

But it's not surprising when you think about it.
At this time, the Shuofang Army in Luoyang City was estimated to be around 30,000, while Li Yun's army outside the city besieging Luoyang also had only 30,000 troops.

The military book says that if there are ten of them, surround them.

This disparity in military strength is obviously not suitable for siege, and it is impossible to surround the troops in the city. The reason why Li Yun still wants to do so is because he only needs to surround the messenger who is sending letters out of the city.

If the enemy breaks out on a large scale, although Li Yun cannot resist them, he will probably be happier in his heart, because it means he has given up Luoyang City for no reason.

Small-scale troops could not get out, and a large-scale breakout was exactly what the Jiangdong Army wanted. Under such circumstances, the Shuofang Army chose to break out with a medium-sized force.

This is undoubtedly a very smart move, because a force of this size can definitely break out of the encirclement, send the message out, and test the quality of the Jiangdong Army at the same time.

In fact, this was a tentative move made by Wei Yao because he did not know the number of Jiangdong troops outside the city. If he knew that the Jiangdong troops outside Luoyang City were similar in strength to his own, given his temper, he would probably send troops out directly to fight Li Yun.

Li Yun rode a fast horse and brought a group of brothers from the guard camp, galloping all the way to the battlefield in the southwest of Luoyang. At this time, the battle between the two sides was fierce. A part of the Shuofang army had actually broken out of the encirclement, but after breaking out, they did not leave the encirclement all the way. Instead, they only sent out a dozen riders, and the rest fought back into the formation!
In the southwest corner of Luoyang, the difference in military strength between the two sides was not too great. After Li Yun arrived at the battlefield, he immediately sent his guard camp into the battlefield without thinking. At this time, he was only wearing leather armor and no heavy armor, so he did not charge into the battle without hesitation. He just killed several Shuofang soldiers with a spear on the outskirts of the core battlefield, and then drew his bow and arrow and shot and killed two more.

When Li Yun was about to draw his bow, Meng Qing, covered in blood, had already run behind him, bowed deeply to him, clasped his fists and saluted: "Take the throne!"

Li Yun put down his bow and arrow and threw it to Yang Xi who was standing beside him. Yang Xi shouted without hesitation, "Form a formation and advance!"

Hundreds of guards immediately began to clear all enemy troops near Li Yun, and soon cleared out an absolutely safe area within a radius of one arrow. Li Yun looked back at Meng Qing and asked, "What's the situation?"

Meng Qing took a breath and said, "Sir, the enemy has a lot of troops that broke through, and they have a clear goal. After sending some people out of the circle, they will start to return to Luoyang."

"There are also some people in Luoyang City who are waiting to meet them. Some of the Shuofang Army has already returned to Luoyang City."

"Tonight, the number of troops they break out of the siege should be more than 3,000, but no more than 5,000."

Meng Qing knelt on the ground and bowed his head, saying: "I am incompetent and asked someone to send the message out."

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "It's none of your business. We underestimated Wei Yao. We originally thought that this major general of the Shuofang Army was a playboy with a mind full of women, but now it seems that he is quite smart."

Meng Qing still knelt on the ground, bowed his head and said: "Master, through this battle tonight, the Shuofang Army will be able to roughly understand how many troops we have to defend Luoyang. In the future, there should be more and more such "breakouts" or battles."

Li Yun looked calm.

"We have as many troops as they do. It's just a clash of swords and guns. There's no need to be afraid of them."

Although he said that, Li Yun was actually frowning in his heart.

The main purpose of this siege of Luoyang was to exploit the information gap, but Wei Yao didn't buy it and had already begun to test the strength of the Jiangdong Army by breaking out.

Although it was good news for the Jiangdong Army that he led his troops out of the city, but with 30,000 against 30,000, the Jiangdong Army might not be able to gain an advantage. Once they failed in Luoyang, they would be attacked from both inside and outside by the Jiangdong Army.

So in this battle in the Central Plains, Li Yun can only hope that the Hedong Army will not join the battlefield.

Otherwise, he would have no choice but to withdraw from Dugi Province.

These thoughts just went through his mind for a moment. Soon, Li Yun came back to his senses and said slowly, "Clean up the southeast battlefield as soon as possible. Once the enemy escapes into Luoyang City, there is no need to chase them anymore."

Meng Qing nodded his head.

Li Yun looked at him and whispered, "Call all the captains to discuss the matter, and pass it on to them. From now on, if the Shuofang Army breaks out from a certain direction, the defenders in that direction will immediately fire whistling arrows."

"Once the whistle arrow explodes in the air, the Jiangdong army in the opposite direction does not need to provide support, but instead immediately begins to attack Luoyang."

Li Yun paused and continued, "But this method can only be used twice. If you use it more than once, they will see the pattern and there will be problems again."

Meng Qing thought for a moment and whispered, "Sir, with the same number of troops, it is difficult for Luoyang to control these Shuofang troops. However, the main force of the Shuofang army is still in Guanzhong and cannot come back in a short time. The troops in Luoyang can only make trouble and are of little use."

"The most important thing right now is the progress of Generals Su and Zhao."

Now, controlling the prefectures and counties near Luoyang is indeed the most important thing.

Because the current gunpowder is not very effective when attacking a city, especially a large city, but it is very effective when defending. Once the Jiangdong army captures these states and counties, it will actually form a huge encirclement of Luoyang.

With firearms, unless the Shuofang Army and the Hedong Army were willing to sacrifice a large number of lives, they would never be able to break through Li Yun's iron barrel formation. Li Yun nodded silently and took a deep breath: "Don't worry, they are already rapidly attacking various states and counties. In a month..."

"In a month, there shouldn't be any big problems."

…………

Capital city, Chongde Hall.

This time, General Wei did not sit on the imperial throne, but stood on the imperial steps and looked at the Wu Zhou officials he had summoned.

Even with General Wei's courage, he did not dare to sit directly on the dragon throne and usurp the throne at this time. After all, it was not legitimate.

In private, he has sat in this position countless times.

General Wei looked at the officials, coughed, and said calmly, "Everyone."

"I heard it all."

Wei Quanzhong said in a deep voice: "Since the current emperor ascended the throne, there have been constant rebellions and bandits throughout the country. Previously, the thieves Wang Junping rebelled and forced the emperor to hunt in the west. Now, the thieves Liang and Li are rebelling, forcing the emperor to hunt in the west again."

"I, Wei, have received great favor from the late emperor. I dare not say that I have helped the country, but I have served the king twice. Now I have even quelled the Liang rebellion in Guanzhong and resisted the Li thief in the Central Plains."

"It can be considered as repaying the late emperor's kindness to me."

He looked at everyone and said slowly, "However, today the emperor is hunting in the west, and the 800-li Qinchuan in Guanzhong is out of control. I, Wei, hope that you can return to your old jobs and take up your old duties in the court for the court and for me."

"Let the 800-li Qinchuan also return to its old state."

Upon hearing this, the officials in Chongde Hall looked at each other and no one expressed their opinion immediately.

General Wei's intention was quite clear. He wanted all the officials of the old Zhou Dynasty to be reinstated and continue to work for the "Great Zhou" so that order could be restored in the 800-li Qinchuan area of ​​Guanzhong.

However, it is difficult to say whether this Great Zhou is still the Great Zhou of the Wu family.

It can even be said explicitly that Wei Quanzhong wanted Guanzhong to change his surname and wanted to make use of the 800-li Qinchuan to become a solid rear base for their Shuofang Army.

By then, with Guanzhong behind him, he would be qualified to wrestle with Li Yun and compete with Jiangdong in endurance. Otherwise, he would definitely be dragged to death and exhausted by Li Yun.

The officials were silent.

Wei Quanzhong frowned and said in a cold voice: "Everyone, if you don't speak now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to speak later."

Faced with a steel knife, no matter who you are, you will become easy to talk to.

Moreover, Wei Quanzhong did not want them to die, but to continue to serve as officials. Soon, the first person put down his attitude as a minister, knelt on the ground, bowed his head and saluted, saying: "I am willing to serve the general with all my heart and soul!"

"I am willing to do my best for the general!"

They were all officials and were good at speaking. At this time, they only mentioned the general and did not mention the Great Zhou.

Soon, a huge crowd knelt down in the Chongde Hall.

General Wei was very satisfied and was about to speak when suddenly someone stepped forward and looked up at Wei Quanzhong.

General Wei frowned and was about to scold him when the man knelt on the ground with a plop and bowed his head and said, "General, the virtue of Zhou has declined and the national fortune has ceased to exist. You have saved the country and the people from dire straits many times!"

"Virtue moves heaven and earth!"

"General, you should ascend the throne of emperor immediately in the capital!"

"Thus enlightening the people and pacifying the world!"

(End of this chapter)