Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 415 Burning

As soon as the army entered the city, they immediately took control of the city gates.

The elite Wei troops were all on the southern battlefield, while those left in the city were mostly a rabble without even armor. At Gongsun Biao's command, they laid down their weapons.

The other Wei city gates were also taken into control one by one.

However, Ye City was too large, and the commotion at the city gate was noticed by Wei general Lü Dafei, who immediately led 6,000 Wei soldiers to retreat to Jinhutai.

When Shi Le conquered Hebei, the refugee leaders Liu Yan, Xie Xu, Tian Qing, Lang Mu and others led their people to defend the three platforms of Jinhu, Tongque and Bingjing, and held out against the Jie Zhao army for several months.

Lü Dafei retreated to Jinhu, intending to emulate Liu Yan and Xie Xu, and stall until the armies of Changsun Song, Shusun Jian, and Changsun Fei arrived.

The Hu people in the city also began to riot, burning and killing everywhere, in coordination with Lü Dafei.

Changsun Song was skilled in governing the country, and was kind and resolute. Hebei relied on him for peace. Not only were the Hu people in Yecheng loyal to him, but many Jin people were also willing to serve him.

Liu Daogui's face was full of murderous intent. "I wanted to spare their lives, but they are too shameless. Liu Huaijing and Liu Yiwu, listen to my order: lead three thousand elite cavalry to clear the entire city. Anyone carrying weapons should be executed. Wang Zhongde and Duan Hong, listen to my order: immediately attack Jinhutai and be sure to capture Lü Dafei before dawn. Gongsun Biao, lead your troops to guard the treasury."

"We obey!" The generals each led their troops away.

The sounds of fighting never stopped all night.

Although Liu Daogui was exhausted, he forced himself to stay awake and waited for news from various departments.

As dawn broke, the sounds of battle gradually subsided, and the rebellion in the city was quelled. Liu Huaijing and Liu Yiwu had worked all night, their bodies covered in blood, and had killed more than 3,000 Wei military nobles and rebels.

However, Wang Zhongde and Duan Hong's attack was not successful.

Lu Dafei had 6,000 men under his command and had also stored grain and weapons at Jinhutai.

Wang Zhongde and Duan Hong only had four thousand men and no siege equipment.

Liu Daogui, his eyes bloodshot, descended the city wall, mounted his warhorse, and headed north. Corpses littered the roadside, including some naked female corpses.

Liu Huaijing said he only killed more than 3,000 people, but judging from the scene of blood flowing like a river, there must have been at least 8,000, if not 10,000.

The Tiger Guards, having marched long distances and fought continuous battles, were filled with resentment and hatred. When they encountered the resisting Hu people, they naturally found it difficult to control themselves.

If it were any other general leading the troops, they would have already started massacring the city.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the corpses on the ground were Hu people with braids or shaved heads. Soldiers are not saints, and one of the driving forces behind their northern expedition was their hatred for the Hu people.

Forty years ago, the Jie and Zhao states were not in chaos, but twenty years ago, the Di and Qin states were destroyed, and a new round of massacres began in the north.

Wang Zhongde and Mao Dezhu's clansmen and relatives all died tragically under the swords of the Hu people.

Under such circumstances, it is impossible to expect the soldiers to be completely virtuous and not commit any offenses.

Liu Daogui could only turn a blind eye. If Wei won this battle and sent hundreds of thousands of troops south, the Jin people in the Central Plains would likely suffer an even worse fate.

Weapons are instruments of violence.

Ferocity is one of the inherent attributes of an army. In cold weapon warfare, an army without ferocity will inevitably lack combat power.

As long as they don't massacre the Jin people in the city, it's fine.

The horses galloped on the blood-stained ground, the stench of blood pungent in the morning breeze, but Liu Daogui felt little remorse.

Upon arriving at Jinhutai, Wang Zhongde, covered in blood, looked ashamed, while Duan Hong, who had been shot three times, also came to apologize, saying, "This humble general is incompetent!"

The soldiers around him hung their heads.

Liu Daogui glanced at the Golden Tiger Platform, which stood majestically like a mountain range.

There were even rolling stones and logs stored on the stage.

Wei soldiers stood between the pavilions, holding bows and crossbows.

This is even harder to fight than street fighting.

When Jinhutai was first built, it was eight zhang high, with 135 rooms on it. The foundation was made of rammed earth mixed with rice water, making it extremely sturdy. During the Jie Zhao period, Shi Hu carried out a large-scale construction project and increased the height to twelve zhang.

It's practically a military fortress.

"Generals, you have worked hard. It was my oversight that caused this trouble for you all." Liu Daogui was truthful and did not blame the soldiers.

Blaming them at this point is pointless; they have already done their best.

"Report! Shusun Jian is leading 30,000 infantry and cavalry straight towards Ye City!" At this moment, a scout rushed over.

"This man is a formidable opponent; he arrived so quickly." Liu Daogui looked at Shusun Jian with newfound respect.

The rise of the Wei Kingdom in just a few years, sweeping across the north and south of Yinshan and defeating the once-powerful Later Yan, was partly due to luck, but it was also inseparable from the assistance of a number of famous generals of the Wei Kingdom.

Shusun Jian has arrived. If we cannot quickly capture Jinhutai, we will face the predicament of being attacked from both sides.

No one could guarantee how many Wei soldiers were still lurking in Ye City.

"I am willing to lead a thousand armored soldiers to attack Taiwan!" Liu Yiwu's eyes were bloodshot, whether from staying up all night or from killing the previous night, and his murderous aura was getting stronger and stronger.

Liu Daogui said, "No need for such trouble. Send the order: fire attack!"

"Fire, fire attack?" The generals were astonished. It was late autumn, and the north was dry. The Golden Tiger Terrace was connected to the Vermilion Bird Terrace and the Ice Well Terrace. If they set it on fire, it would all be gone.

"No matter how precious the three platforms are, they are not as valuable as the lives of our soldiers. Burn them all!" Liu Daogui said calmly.

The splendor of the Cao Wei dynasty has long since faded from this city; what remains are countless hardships and tears of the Jin people.

During Shi Hu's reign, he conscripted hundreds of thousands of people to expand the city and also seized 100,000 women from Jin, keeping them in the palace. Under this Golden Tiger Terrace, countless Jin people's bones are buried.

The soldiers brought rockets, and Gongsun Biao delivered more than thirty carts of oil tankers, as well as more than a dozen catapults.

"Fire!" Liu Yiwu shouted, and thousands of crossbows fired simultaneously, sending rockets flying across the sky and landing between the pavilions and houses.

The Wei army did not give up resistance and even took water to extinguish the fire.

Canisters of oil were thrown on top, billowing black smoke and raging flames that quickly spiraled out of control. The Wei soldiers screamed and howled in agony amidst the flames, their bodies contorting in the firelight before collapsing.

The Tiger Guards watched silently, their eyes filled with deep-seated hatred.

The other Wei soldiers fled towards the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, but once the fire started, it quickly became a raging inferno, and it was no use escaping to the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, as the Tiger Guards followed behind and fired.

In less than an hour, the Wei army inside fell silent.

The fire was still burning, spreading over the wild grass and throughout the entire Tongque Garden, even reaching the Wenchang Hall at one point.

After waiting for an hour, Jinhutai had been reduced to ashes, filled with twisted corpses. Wang Zhongde's soldiers were still not satisfied and continued to hack and slash at the corpses one by one with their swords.

"Report—Shusun Jian's 30,000 troops have arrived at Zhuming Gate!" the scout reported again.

"How could they have arrived so quickly?" Gongsun Biao was greatly surprised.

Duan Hongdao: "It must be that the fireworks were too big and attracted them."

Gongsun Biao swallowed hard. "The soldiers have made a long march and worked all night. Shusun Jian has a full 30,000 troops..."

"You've come at the perfect time. Wang Zhongde and Duan Hong's troops, rest here. You have two hours. After two hours, lead your troops to the south city for a decisive battle. Gongsun Biao, drive away the Xianbei women and children in the city to form the vanguard and resist the Wei army's advance. Liu Huaijing, quickly open the Vermilion Bird Gate and let them in. I'm going to close the gate and beat them!" Liu Daogui mounted his horse.

We are not afraid of them in mounted combat, nor are we afraid of them in street fighting in the city.

The soldiers are now bloodthirsty and in high spirits; they are ready for battle.

Liu Daogui absolutely did not believe that Shusun Jian's 30,000 troops were all elite.

"Leader!"

The generals all accepted the order in unison.

Liu Daogui led a thousand personal guards southward at breakneck speed. He glanced at the soldiers around him, his face showing little sign of fatigue, still immersed in the joy of capturing Ye City.

When they arrived at the Vermilion Bird Gate, the city gate had already been opened.

Three or four thousand Wei cavalrymen lined up along the moat, but dared not enter the city.

The Tiger Guard soldiers lay on the city wall to rest, some even snoring softly.

They seemed to disregard the Wei army outside the city.

Liu Daogui secretly praised him, thinking that he was indeed the strongest army in the world, able to sleep peacefully even with a powerful enemy right in front of him.

Before long, the Wei infantry arrived, billowing dust, with banners like clouds, and their military bearing was very orderly. Even if they were not elite troops, they were still stronger than ordinary Wei troops.

A tall banner bearing the character "Wei" was slowly pushed forward, but upon seeing the open Zhu Ming Gate, it hesitated.

Liu Daogui gave a wry smile, realizing that he had unknowingly used the Empty City Stratagem.

Shusun Jian was cautious by nature, and without knowing the true state of the city, he certainly wouldn't want to attack it.

"Go and collect some heads of the Suo people, pile them up in front of Zhu Ming's gate, and provoke them to attack the city!" Liu Daogui came up with a plan.

Liu Huaimo turned and left, cutting off more than a thousand heads and piling them into a mound of heads in front of the gate.

The Tuoba tribe liked to wear small braids, making them easy to identify.

Sure enough, some soldiers in the Wei army opposite them started crying and cursing in the Xianbei language, but no one dared to come forward.

Liu Daogui was extremely frustrated. If it were the Northern Army, they would have already charged in.

Liu Yiwu angrily said, "Do these barbarians still have any backbone?"

Duan Hong raised an eyebrow. "The Hu people have been killing for decades, and this kind of scene is commonplace. Previously, we defeated their five thousand cavalry with three thousand cavalry, and the Wei people were already terrified."

When Shusun Jian failed to enter, Liu Daogui felt as if his sword had missed its mark. The Wei army had already formed ranks, and it was too late to charge with cavalry.

"Enough, enough. I can't even lift my eyelids. Since he doesn't have the guts to come in, then let him not come in. Close the city gates and let the various departments take turns resting."

Liu Daogui stretched.

I was already on a long journey, and for the past two weeks I've been sleeping less than two hours a day. Last night I stayed up all night and I just couldn't take it anymore.

The gate slowly closed, but the Wei army remained motionless.

Liu Daogui lay down in the city tower and fell fast asleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but it was already morning, and I was covered with a brocade quilt.

Looking down at the city walls, the Wei army had long since vanished.

"Where is he?" Liu Daogui rubbed his forehead.

Meng Gan said, "They retreated yesterday. General Duan is leading a cavalry force to harass us."

Upon hearing that it was Duan Hong who was pursuing them, Liu Daogui felt relieved. Duan Hong was a veteran and wouldn't cause any problems.

At this moment, Gongsun Biao arrived excitedly to report the spoils captured in Ye City.

The city has 600,000 shi of grain and 70,000 head of livestock. Military supplies such as sheepskin coats, felt blankets, liquor, weapons, and armor are piled up like mountains. Other money and silk items have not yet been counted.

Of all the battles Liu Daogui has fought over the years, this one has been the most lucrative.

With this amount of grain and fodder, holding out for a year wouldn't be a problem.

The situation for the Wei army in the south was not so optimistic.

The howling wind all around signaled that winter was just around the corner.

"Slaughter cattle and sheep, feast the soldiers, and tonight each unit will take turns drinking!" Liu Daogui took a deep breath. The capture of Ye City was already a stage victory, and it might even become the key to this great battle.

(End of this chapter)