A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 237: Brothers Fight and Valley Water Cold

North bank of Gushui,

In front of Nangang Fort, which controls the main transportation route,

The morning mist smells of blood.

The war horses neighed like thunder in the wind, and the blue and white thunderbolts trod on the blood-stained ice.
The general on horseback had a face as cold as iron and as hard as gold. The three vertical lines between his eyebrows gathered into knife marks with murderous intent, making it seem as if he had opened a third eye.

"Is this Qin Qiong and Qin Shubao?" On the top of Nangang Fort, Li Yi looked at this majestic general and couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement.

"This is my second brother, Qin." Luo Shixin stood beside him, a complex expression on his face. "Since I joined Lord Zhang's army in the ninth year of Daye, I've fought alongside my second brother. Six years have already flown by. We've been through countless life and death together, but I never imagined we'd one day face each other with swords and spears."

Under the fort,

Qin Qiong also looked at Luo Shixin.

A string of blood beads dripped from the tip of the tiger-head gold-engraved spear in his hand. Although he was not seriously injured, he was still the hero who rode his horse on both sides of the Yellow River and used his mace to attack the six prefectures of Shandong.

The bright armor on his body was full of traces of damage, and there was a feather arrow stuck in the armor leaf swallowed by the Qilin shoulder.

A pair of gold-plated maces with tiled surfaces hung on the saddle of the war horse Hu Lei Bo.

"His face is like pale gold stained with autumn frost, his eyes are like cold stars breaking through the morning mist. General Qin is truly majestic."

"That horse must be Hu Lei Bo, he's quite majestic."

Luo Shixin was silent. Back then, the two brothers served as the left and right vanguards under Zhang Xutuo, traversing Shandong and fighting in all seventy-two routes.

Qin Erge rode a Hu Lei Bo, a tiger-head gold-engraved spear, and a tile-surface gold-decorated mace, while he rode a Zhao Ye Shi Zi Cong, a black lacquer-wrapped iron spear, and a golden-gourd two-handed hammer.

In the distance, a general was riding a horse and was followed by many elite cavalrymen.

"General Qin, what are you still hesitating about? Have you forgotten the Grand Marshal's order? We must capture the three forts and seven strongholds within three days. If we fail, we will all be executed."

The one who spoke was Bing Yuanzhen.

"You son of a bitch, back then we were worshipping the same incense stick and calling each other brothers in Wagang, I'm going to fuck your mother."

A nine-foot-tall giant lunged forward with a roar like thunder. His gnarled red beard was still stained with solidified sheep fat, and the tips of his beard were dotted with unwiped meat scraps.

With his bloody mouth wide open, several golden teeth shone brightly. Those were the teeth that Zeng Ya had broken when he caught an arrowhead on the battlefield, and they were later replaced with gold.

A 10-foot-long spear came sweeping over with a whistling sound.

This is a top-grade horse lance that took a master craftsman three years to make. The lance shaft is made of mulberry wood as the core, wrapped with ramie cloth and coated with nine layers of raw lacquer. It sounds like metal and stone when knocked, and it is strong and tough. The lance tip is an eight-sided armor-piercing blade that can penetrate bright light, fish scale, and mountain pattern armor.

"Yaojin, don't be impulsive."

Qin Qiong shouted loudly.

Bing Yuanzhen snorted coldly and waved his hand. Suddenly, dozens of crossbows were aimed at Cheng Qin and the others.

The spear tip was only three feet away from Bing Yuanzhen.
Cheng Yaojin glared at Bing Yuanzhen, "I was so blind back then that I actually called myself a brother to someone like you."

Qin Qiong looked directly at Bing Yuanzhen: "The three days haven't even come yet, why are you in such a hurry, Bing Pushe?"

"I'm not in a hurry, but I'm here to remind you, as brothers in the past, to hurry up and don't think of defecting to the enemy like Luo Shixin did. He's a bachelor, but you have wives, children, and daughters in Luoyang. Cheng Yaojin, your mother is also in Luoyang.
If you dare to defect, think about their fate: your mother will be sent to the palace to wash clothes and sweep the grounds, your wife and daughter will be sent to the imperial court to be prostitutes, your nephews and nephews who are taller than the sword will be executed, and the rest will be enslaved. Just think about it."

After saying this, Bing Yuanzhen walked away proudly.

"You bastard! I really want to stab him to death with a spear." Cheng Yaojin cursed continuously, his eyes red with anger.

Niu Jinda, Li Junxian, Wu Heita, Tian Liuan, Chang He and other generals came over.

Everyone has a gloomy face.
Anyone who is threatened with his mother, wife and children in this way would be angry.

"Although this Nanbaogang is not very large, with a circumference of less than a mile, it is high up and overlooks the surrounding area. There are cliffs on two sides and a river on one side. Only one side is attackable, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Qin Qiong frowned, "What's more, the one guarding the fort is Shi Xin."

Everyone knows how brave Luo Shixin is. Even though he and Cheng Yaojin stand together, one looks like a mountain of meat and the other looks like a child,

But Luo Shixin was so good at knocking down eight horses and pulling back nine oxen that Cheng Yaojin couldn't gain any advantage in fighting with him.

"This villain Bing Yuanzhen is forcing us brothers to fight each other."

Tian Liuan lowered his voice, "I think this is Wang Shichong's intention. He has become suspicious of us and is forcing us to lead our troops to attack in order to wear us down."

Cheng Yaojin looked at the figure on the castle on the mountain. "That guy is so carefree. He just walked away without hesitation, and took more than a thousand of his old subordinates with him. This really puts us in a dilemma."

On one side are the former comrades-in-arms, and on the other side are the families and children in Luoyang City.
The eight warriors on the battlefield all had worried brows at this moment.

Chang He said: "Second brother, let's attack. At worst, we can capture the three forts and five strongholds and secretly let Shi Xin leave."

"Attack," Liu Demin, Tian Liuan and others also said.

a long time,

Qin Qiong finally uttered the word, "Attack!" The war drums beat and the horns sounded.

Eight thousand Zheng troops lined up at the foot of the mountain, surrounding Nangang Fort. Qin Qiong did not choose to divide his troops to attack three forts and five strongholds at the same time, but concentrated his forces to attack the most important Nangang Fort first.

It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt ten of them.

Concentrate your forces and eliminate them one by one, without resorting to tactics that only add fuel to the fire.

Nangang Fort is easy to defend but difficult to attack, with cliffs on two sides and a river on one side. Only the southeast side is a gentle slope.

The castle has a circumference of less than one mile and is not much larger than Li Yi's Wuji Castle, but the small castle is also easy to defend.

Luo Shixin personally took command.
For him, he had fought too many such offensive and defensive battles. He had to fight against the enemy with his own strength and to flood the city with earth. However, he kept frowning because the attackers under the city were his former brothers.

I don't know when,

The shouting and killing gradually stopped.
Li Yi took off his phoenix-wing helmet, with white smoke coming out of his head, and let the cold wind blow past him.

He stood on the top of the city wall, his eyes piercing the twilight, over the wind and snow,

At the foot of the mountain,

Qin Qiong not only launched several rounds of attacks today, but also sent troops to build a camp at the foot of the mountain, dug trenches, pits for horses, erected chevaux de frise stakes, and planted caltrops.

Arrow towers were erected one after another,

More people means easier work.
In one day, a village was built.
This completely blocked Nangang Fort.

On the southeast slope of the castle, corpses were lying everywhere.
During the siege today, Qin Qiong's troops also suffered heavy casualties. After all, the area available for the attack was limited, and they were attacking from above. The castle was firing from a high position.

The bodies had frozen solid in the snow and wind.

There were soldiers holding white flags; they were there to collect the bodies.

The defenders in the castle also allowed these soldiers, who had removed their armor and weapons, to collect the bodies of their comrades.

The wind whistles,
The valley water is cold.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, thirty-seven of our soldiers were killed in action today, and over a hundred were injured."

Luo Shixin said silently: "Second brother and his archers are very sharp. Today's attack is just a test. Tomorrow I'm afraid there will be a real bloody battle. At that time, there will definitely be heavy crossbows, catapults, etc. on the battlefield."

"We also have to be on guard against night attacks. They might attack tonight. We have to guard not only the southeast, but also the other sides.

Although there are cliffs on two sides and a river on one side, the valley river is frozen and the ice is very thick. It is possible for them to come up through the ice. Even with the two cliffs, it is not completely impossible. "

Li Yi was full of admiration. This was a sign of rich experience and the ability to take everything into consideration.

"Then we should strengthen our defenses everywhere and be on high alert," said Li Yi.

"In fact, it is best to take the initiative to attack. Offense is the best defense. Although my second brother and his men have set up camp today, I can see clearly from the castle that the camp is not yet firmly established. There are still many loopholes and flaws, and many weak points in the defense.
There are now 2,000 people in Nangang Fort. We originally left a mobile reserve of 1,000 people ready to support and reinforce the other forts at any time. I didn't expect that the second brother would have all 8,000 people to attack Nangang.

Luo Shixin felt that defending like this was too passive.

I think it would be better to take the initiative to go down the mountain and attack at night.

"Isn't that too risky? Perhaps General Qin is deliberately exposing a flaw? After all, he's a seasoned veteran. Even if the daylight hours are short, he should be well aware of the weak points. Perhaps he's waiting for us to plunge in."

"What you said makes sense, but in war, it is impossible to take care of everything. You are the general manager, so you make the decisions." Luo Shixin said.

Li Yi felt that passive defense might not guarantee his success, but proactive attack was extremely risky. He felt that being the commander-in-chief was difficult; it was easy to give orders, but he had to bear all the consequences himself.

These are thousands of lives.

"Brother Luo, why do we have to fight and kill each other? You also said that you are familiar with the generals' flags that appeared at the foot of the mountain. They were all good brothers.

I've also heard of Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin, as well as Niu Jinda, Wu Heita, Li Junxian, and Chang He. Although I'm not familiar with Tian Liuan and Liu Demin, since they were all your former brothers,

Do you think we can persuade them to abandon their evil ways and join the Tang Dynasty?"

"Brother Luo, you have a deep understanding of Wang Shichong's character. Now that they are leading their army to attack, they are probably forced to do so. There will be no good results if they follow Wang Shichong.
You see, the Central Plains has been in chaos these years, and the people are living in dire straits. Although Wang Shichong is now the Grand Marshal of the Luoyang court, everyone knows his ambitions. It won't be long before he will usurp the throne and become emperor. Then the Luoyang court will be even more chaotic.

On the contrary, the Tang Dynasty in Guanzhong and the emperor in Chang'an were kind and tolerant, not only to the loyal righteous men, but also to his old friends and colleagues. He was even better to the people under his rule.

Although the people in Guanzhong are still suffering, they are much better off than those in Guandong."

Luo Shixin licked his dry lips and said, "How could I not know that Wang Shichong is narrow-minded, speaks many lies, likes to swear, is suspicious by nature, and likes to spread slander? It is precisely because I see through him that I accept your proposal and return to Tang.

But my second brother and his friends are different. I am a bachelor with only a few concubines in Luoyang City. I have no parents, no wife, and no children. But my second brother and his friends have wives, children, and elderly parents. They are all in Luoyang City and are controlled by Wang Shichong. How can they rebel at will?

"Pang Yu, Huangfu Wuyi and others fled Luoyang alone for Chang'an, while their parents, wives and children are still imprisoned. Years ago, Dugu Wudu and his gang plotted to lure the Tang army into Luoyang. When their plot failed and they were killed, their wives and children were all implicated. Dugu Wudu's three-year-old son was even imprisoned."

Li Yi sighed, this is indeed difficult to solve.

(End of this chapter)