Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 290: Thousands of Cavalrymen Dig into Qinchuan

Zhou, Anding County.

The governor of Jingzhou stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the billowing smoke in the distance, trembling all over.

"My lord, Xiaoguan! Xiaoguan signal smoke!"

"Save or not?"

The governor looked at the deputy driver beside him, his eyes trembling, "Save? How? What can we use to save?"

"Even Duke Sui is gone! Do you still want to take the initiative?"

At this moment, the deputy driver's eyes were also wide open, "Sir, if the bandits pass Xiaoguan, there will be no obstacles along the way. They will go all the way south along the Jingshui River, and Chang'an will be in danger! !"

The governor Duan Ji's lips turned blue.

Originally, the Jingzhou area was not part of the front line, and the original intention of establishing Xiaoguan was to deal with bandits from the west. Who would have thought that the enemy would come from the north.

When they learned the news of Yang Zhong's defeat, everyone couldn't believe it.

Later, when they heard that Hou Longen had been killed and saw the fleeing soldiers with their own eyes, they began to believe it.

Then, there were endless reports from the scouts.

They watched the smoke signal gradually ignite, like a straight line, rushing towards Anding.

Now, smoke of war is rising from Xiaoguan.

Liu Taozi is coming to kill him.

The original army of Jingzhou is now in Luoyang.

Those who stayed here were some temporarily recruited county soldiers.

"We can't let the enemy reach Chang'an."

Duan Ji looked at his deputy and said, "Open the armory, open the granary, recruit soldiers, distribute weapons, and give rewards. Tell the big families in the city not to hesitate to summon the famous warriors in the city and make preparations immediately!!"

The deputy driver was still in a daze, and the governor Duan said tremblingly: "This is a disaster of national destruction. Even if there is no life or death, we must hold the enemy back and not let them go south!!"

"Prepare warriors to go to various states and counties, and do your best to delay them. As long as the army comes back to support them, they will fall without a fight!"

"only!!"

Xiaoguan.

The entire level was burning in flames.

The bodies were piled up all the way from outside the checkpoint to in front of the government office.

The houses inside the pass were all burning, and there were corpses lying in the flames, motionless.

There were peach soldiers emptying the arsenal and granary.

The blood flowed from the drainage ditch all the way south, forming a small river.

Inside the government office.

Gao Changgong sat aside, slowly took off the bloody and broken mask on his face, and looked at the main general Liu Taozi beside him.

Liu Taozi had already taken off his armor, revealing his thick and terrifying arms, while his deputy general Yan Heita was busy treating his wounds.

"General, why don't you let Doctor Wang come. I..."

Yan Heita was not very skilled and his hands were shaking.

"I'm just scratched. There's no need to delay the seriously injured. Please continue."

"only."

Gao Changgong showed a gentle smile, "Thank you Zhizhi, if it weren't for you, I would really die here."

"I thought the guards at Xiaoguan had not seen a war for a long time and were weak, but I never thought they were so brave."

Liu Taozi looked at Gao Changgong with a complicated expression at this moment.

Yao Xiong had said confidently that Gao Changgong would go crazy in battle and charge forward recklessly, and Liu Taozi had never believed him.
And today, if Liu Taozi had not rushed to rescue him in time, Gao Changgong would have been drowned by the sea of ​​people on the city wall.

"Chang Gong is brave, but don't always charge forward like this. Don't be separated from your left and right. On the battlefield, arrows have no eyes."

Gao Changgong looked calm, "State affairs are my family affairs. I won't think about this on the battlefield."

The Yan Heita had also been dealt with at this moment, and Liu Taozi put on her clothes again.

"Rest for a day and continue on tomorrow."

"Do you want to move forward?"

Yan Heita couldn't help but ask, "General, we have caused the enemy to light signal fires along the way. Yuwen Hu should not dare to continue the attack, right? Our goal has been achieved. Do we really have to take Chang'an?"

Liu Taozi looked at Gao Changgong, "What does Changgong think?"

Gao Changgong laughed, "We must continue to fight. Yuwen Hu has summoned the twenty-four military headquarters and gathered the strength of the whole country to fight. The rear is empty. Isn't this the best opportunity?"

"Even if we can't take Chang'an, we have to make them pay the highest price. Many cities along the way are empty, so we can defeat them one by one. It would be best if we can disrupt their spring planting this year."

"This time we are mostly leading cavalry, and Yuwen Hu's army must be extremely exhausted when they return to support us. If we leave, they can't stop us."

Yan Heita stopped talking.

Liu Taozi pondered for a long time before saying, "If it is other generals who return first, then we will retreat. If it is Yuwen Hu who returns first, we can fight them."

Gao Changgong was shocked. Do you want to fight with the reinforcements again?
Why? ?
Gao Changgong wanted to cause as much damage as possible in the enemy's heartland, preferably to affect spring planting and weaken the enemy's national strength.

But what's the point of fighting with the reinforcements?

Gao Changgong said: "Although the 5,000 infantry and cavalry we led this time are good at fighting, it will still cost a lot to attack the city. Fighting all the way from Xiaoguan to Chang'an, there will definitely be a lot of casualties. If Yuwen Hu leads the army back and fights with them again, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to leave. Our army not only has cavalry, but also the accompanying food carts. What should we do?"

"Then we won't attack the city."

"Let the infantry take the food and civilians back to Huining, and we will only lead 3,000 elite cavalry to continue to Chang'an."

Gao Changgong pondered for a moment, "If we don't attack the city, but only charge with cavalry, although it will be fast, it will be easy for the enemy to outflank us from behind."

Liu Taozi said: "This place is not far from Chang'an. If we go straight to Chang'an, the enemy will certainly come to stop us. We don't need to attack the city. We can fight these reinforcements coming to rescue the emperor and seize their food and supplies."

"We are better at field battles, so we must play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. Lingwu is too far away from Yongfeng Wuchuan. We must destroy the enemy's troops in the northern states as much as possible, forcing the enemy to shrink their defenses, and create time for Lingxia and other places to repair their cities."

Gao Changgong nodded, his face solemn, "I am willing to be the vanguard."

The next day, the army was divided into two, and Liu Taozi and Gao Changgong led the cavalry out of Xiaoguan.

They followed the Jing River towards Chang'an.

Even though the flags are fluttering and the momentum is huge, it cannot hide its tracks.

At Qiantun Pass, they encountered enemies from Anyang County. The Anyang Wei led an army of nearly 4,000 people and appeared in the north, and the two sides suddenly met.

Liu Taozi led his troops out of the mountain pass first, creating the illusion that they were going to continue rushing towards Chang'an. After they began to pursue, Gao Changgong led 500 cavalrymen to bypass the Long Valley, attack from the enemy's side, and then launched a fierce attack.

The pursuing Anyang army was suddenly attacked. They were not elite to begin with, and Gao Changgong was extremely brave. He defeated the enemy with one charge. Liu Taozi took advantage of the situation and changed direction, launching a pincer attack with Gao Changgong. The Anyang army was defeated and fled everywhere. The Anyang captain was killed in the battle.

Liu Taozi took a short rest and then continued to move forward.

At Tongcheng Pass, they were ambushed by the defenders from Longshan. The officers of the Longshan camp led their troops to join the defenders of Tongcheng Pass. They hid their troops in the dense forest east of Tongcheng, intending to launch an attack while Liu Taozi was attacking the pass.

However, Liu Taozi and others did not even take a second look at the checkpoint and decided to bypass it from the east. The officers were forced to change their plan and launched a charge while Liu Taozi and others were marching.

So, the cavalry formed a battle array and calmly waited for the enemy to charge out of the dense forest. Then Yang Zhong made his usual second charge and defeated the reinforcements.

Liu Taozi encountered the enemy for the third time at Anding'an.

Governor Duan of Jingzhou was stationed here with more than 6,000 men. He knew that he could not defeat Liu Taozi head-on, so he occupied the advantageous terrain in advance, built arrow towers on both sides, set up chevaux de frise on the road and destroyed the road along the way, in order to stop Liu Taozi here.

Liu Taozi did not launch a forceful attack, but retreated directly to Tongcheng, defeating the Longdong soldiers who were pursuing him along the way, and then chose the western route from Tongcheng to Chang'an.

Governor Duan was confused and had to change his defense line, but this time, time was obviously not enough.

His army was defeated head-on, and Gao Changgong killed another general.

Liu Taozi seemed to want to take Chang'an directly, but he was not obsessed with the shortest route. Sometimes he even retreated from time to time to fight against the subsequent reinforcements.

They were like using Chang'an as bait, constantly fishing.

Cavalry was extremely suitable for such a strategy. They came and went like the wind. In just over ten days, more than twenty Zhou officials and generals died at the hands of the two men.

Changan.

Yuwen Yong stood on the city wall and looked into the distance in silence.

All gates in Chang'an were closed, and the entire city was plunged into a different kind of panic and silence.

The young Yuwen Yong stood on the city wall, looking at the billowing smoke in the distance, his face ashen.

Yin Gongzheng stood aside, head lowered, with a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, please do not listen to the words of those villains. Liu Taozi is so arrogant. When Duke Jin comes back, I will definitely chop off his dog head and present it to Your Majesty!"

Yuwen Yong asked, "Where is he?"

Yin Gongzheng did not answer this question. "The generals in the city are all ready. If Liu Taozi dares to show up, they will go out and kill him. Liu Taozi is nothing to be afraid of."

"Your Majesty, please don't embarrass me like this anymore. Let's go back to the palace as soon as possible. It's windy here. If I hurt Your Majesty, how can I explain to the king?"

Yin Gongzheng's face was still filled with smiles, but the words he said were so harsh and even contained a hint of threat.

Yuwen Yong turned around and walked back. Being able to climb the city wall was the biggest concession the other party had made.

Yuwen Yong could do nothing.

When he learned that Yang Zhong had died in battle, Yuwen Yong almost couldn't pretend anymore. He was really just about to say something fatal.

Even though he had reminded him so many times, Yuwen Hu still insisted on his own way.

The two pillars of the Great Zhou were both killed by Yuwen Hu.

Yuwen Yong didn't want to endure it any longer.

If Chang'an is not lost this time and he can see Yuwen Hu coming back, he will definitely take action against Yuwen Hu. Even if it means a fight to the death, he cannot let this fool continue to harm the country.

Almost all the famous generals were defeated.

Among the few generals who can still be considered famous in the country today, their performance against the famous generals of Qi State is not particularly outstanding.

Yuwen Yong returned to the palace in silence, asked everyone to leave, and wanted to rest alone.

Yin Gongzheng had no choice but to wait outside the hall door.

There was no snow in Chang'an this year, but the weather was still so cold, with strong gusts of wind that Yin Gongzheng felt he could not bear it.

What made people feel the coldest was not the bad weather, but the unscrupulous Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi is simply crazy.

He was heading towards Chang'an so openly. You could say he was in a hurry, but this guy often took detours or even went back. You could say he was not in a hurry, because his goal was clear. If he felt that the city ahead was strong, he would bypass it and not attack it but would get closer to Chang'an.

The generals who stayed behind in Chang'an actually saw what Liu Taozi was thinking.

The attack on Chang'an was fake, but the real purpose was to lure those reinforcements over and destroy them.

But they couldn't just let the defenders stay put. Even though the possibility of attacking Chang'an was less than 10%, they didn't dare to take the risk.

It’s okay if you win the bet, but if you lose, you will lose everything. No one can bear such consequences.

They didn't dare to gamble, and neither did officials and generals from all over the country.

Even if it costs my life, I have to hold Liu Taozi back.

Before this, no one had ever thought that the area around the capital could be threatened by the enemy. Because of this, everyone's response seemed particularly rough.

On top of the Chang'an city wall, two people were staring outside.

Even though the cold wind blew, they did not dare to leave.

The generals were Hou Wanshou and the general Yuwen Hui.

Yuwen Hui shuddered and pointed at the black spot in the distance, "General Hou, is that..."

Hou Wanshou is Hou Longen's younger brother. He has never been on the battlefield. Only because of his brother's relationship, he was trusted by Yuwen Hu and stayed in Chang'an.

Yuwen Hu did not leave any names to garrison in the future, because he felt that when he was in Chang'an, he only needed to be able to kill his own people, and there was no need to kill the enemy.

Hou Wanshou looked much more frightened than Yuwen Hui, and he felt slightly relieved only when he groped for the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"It should be Liu Taozi."

Yuwen Hui turned his head and looked at the defenders around him. He took a breath and said, "Our strategy is correct. We should ask the troops from all over the country not to die but to come to Chang'an to assist in the defense."

"Liu Taozi cannot capture Chang'an."

Hou Wanshou nodded, his lips trembling.

"Yeah"

Yu Wen would repeat the same words over and over again, as if he was comforting himself.

Liu Taozi killed Yang Zhong and Hou Longen successively, and then launched a surprise attack along the way, killing more than 20 officials and generals. The entire Pseudo-Zhou was in panic. In the city of Chang'an, although the number of defenders was much larger than that of Liu Taozi, the generals no longer had much courage.

When the generals heard Liu Taozi's name, they were terrified, especially those who had climbed to the top because of Yuwen Hu.

They were good at killing their own family members, but when faced with such a notorious and powerful enemy, they dared not even go to the city walls and hid inside the city without showing their heads.

Yuwen Hui was actually quite frightened.

Liu Taozi fought more and more fiercely, and his morale was rising along the way. The reinforcements and defenders along the way were beaten and fled in all directions. Some officials even abandoned the city and fled after learning that Liu Taozi appeared in the territory.

The black spot in the distance is getting bigger and bigger.

Yu Wenhui breathed deeply, "Prepare for battle!!"

"Prepare for war!!!"

At this moment, war drums were sounded everywhere.

The whole Chang'an was plunged into the rumbling sound of war drums. Chang'an was an extremely large city, and information had to be transmitted between the two city gates on horseback.

The sound of war drums spread from the north gate all the way to the rest of the city.

Drums were sounded at the city gates and towers. Soldiers, fully armed, began to climb the city walls and took out their bows and crossbows.

Chang'an was shrouded in the sound of war drums, and this sound meant only one thing.

Liu Taozi is here.

Countless cries were heard in the city in an instant. The generals were trembling with fear. Officials rode their horses and patrolled the city. The imperial guards were dispatched and quickly prepared for battle inside and outside the palace.

Even Yuwen Yong, who was in the palace, was frightened by the sound of war drums.

He ran out of the hall without even putting on his shoes.

Yin Gongzheng hurriedly stopped him.

"Your Majesty, do not be afraid!!"

"Liu Taozi can't possibly break into the city!"

"His Majesty!!"

Yin Gongzheng kept saying this, but he obviously didn't have as much courage as he said, his voice was fucking trembling.

The palace maids were so scared that they cried. Yin Gongzheng immediately ordered the execution of those who cried uncontrollably to stabilize the morale of the army.

Yu Wenhui on the city wall drew his sword and stared at the knights in the distance.

This was the first time he saw Liu Taozi's cavalry, and the cavalry were getting closer and closer.

“Shoot! Shoot!!”

Yuwen Hui shouted loudly, and the archers quickly began to fire in unison, but at this moment, the enemy was not yet within range.

Liu Taozi rode on a green lion and looked at the majestic and tall city in the distance.

Gao Changgong became excited again.

"Chang'an!! That's Chang'an!!"

The knights shouted and galloped on their horses.

Liu Taozi led the knights closer but did not enter the shooting range. They just circled the distant city wall and made several threats.

Looking at the army in the city shooting in panic and without any organization, Gao Changgong felt a little nervous.

“Know it.”

Liu Taozi remained calm and said, "I can't fight."

"Let's continue south."

"Still heading south?"

Liu Taozi led the cavalry and gradually left Chang'an City.

Yuwen Hui, who was almost going crazy, watched Liu Taozi evacuate and continued to give orders. Hou Wanshou was so excited that he almost cried as he watched the enemy retreat.

"They're gone! Gone!"

“We drove them away!!”

Yuwen Hui was also overjoyed and ordered everyone to stop shooting again. He panted and watched the other party leave excitedly, but then he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Where are they going?"

"Why are you still heading south?"

Hou Wanshou didn't care about this. "Duke, he can go wherever he wants. As long as we can defend Chang'an, the deeper he goes, the better. When Duke Jin returns with his army, I wonder where he can retreat to!!"

"I will definitely avenge my brother!!"

After Liu Taozi's retreat, Hou Wanshou suddenly became brave.

Yuwen Hui frowned. Although he had no combat experience, he could see the situation clearly. Liu Taozi's move to attack Chang'an could actually force Yuwen Hu to return to defend, but he insisted on fighting to the outskirts of Chang'an. Now that he had arrived, he did not attack Chang'an and continued to move south.

So what route is he on?
What is the intention?

Before Yu Wenhui could figure it out, the knights turned into black dots again and slowly disappeared into the distance.

ps: I'm out for something, I'll make it up tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)