My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 134 Leaving the City, Killing the Enemy!
"Open the city gates immediately! I am Li Daoyuan, a special envoy of the imperial court and a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate!"

A group of uninvited guests arrived outside Pingcheng, attracting the attention of the guards at the city gate.

Although the rebels have not yet attacked, their impact on the entire Pingcheng is already enormous.

As the former capital of the Great Wei, Pingcheng was well-defended. The last time the Rouran people raided southward, they were helpless against Pingcheng and could only plunder the surrounding area before running away.

at the moment.

The rebels from the six northern towns could attack at any time. The people who had been robbed once either fled to the city with their families or chose to leave their homes and flee to other places.

The city's soldiers were extremely sensitive to the sound of horses' hooves, fearing that their allies at the front had failed to hold out and that the rebels were advancing with unstoppable momentum.

When the soldiers guarding the city gate took a closer look, they found that there were only a few dozen people, and since the people identified themselves, they let them in.

He then led Li Daoyuan and his group into the city to meet Li Chong, the Grand Commander of the Northern Expedition, and Yuan Shen, the Prince of Guangyang.

Li Daoyuan traveled day and night, weary from his journey.

"Greetings, Grand Commander; greetings, Prince of Guangyang."

He forced himself to bow and greet the guests, appearing to be a very cultured scholar.

"I never expected the imperial court to send someone with such talent."

Li Chong was slightly surprised. Li Daoyuan had served as an official in Luoyang in his early years. Later, he offended the powerful minister Gao Zhao and was framed. Gao Zhao then dismissed him from his post.

After being dismissed from office and returning home, Li Daoyuan was not angry. Instead, he devoted himself to research at home and devoted his heart and soul to writing the Commentary on the Waterways Classic.

This suggests that the imperial court has reinstated Li Daoyuan.

"I originally wanted to study at home, but His Majesty decreed otherwise."

Yuan Shen had no prior acquaintance with him, so he hurriedly asked, "Did you come here with an imperial edict from His Majesty or the Empress Dowager?"

Li Daoyuan nodded and replied calmly, "His Majesty has issued an edict ordering me to ride north at full speed."

When they retreated from Yunzhong to Pingcheng.

In addition to having Fei Mu lead troops to guard Yunzhong, Li Chong also personally wrote official documents to have news from the front lines sent back to Luoyang by fast horse.

In addition to explaining the defeat at the front and apologizing to the court in the official document, he once again proposed that the court change the six towns into prefectures, attempting to divide the rebel army in this way.

The reason why the six towns fell into chaos.

Li Chong saw it clearly: firstly, there were natural disasters every year, and the imperial court refused to provide relief, so people really couldn't survive.

Secondly, and most importantly, the imperial court was too harsh on the Six Garrisons. Despite being stationed in the most difficult places to defend the country, they did not receive fair treatment. After decades of pent-up anger, someone took the lead in raising the flag of rebellion, which opened the floodgates and caused the pent-up emotions of the soldiers and civilians in the Six Garrisons to erupt all at once.

If the towns could be converted into prefectures, and the soldiers and civilians of the six towns could be treated fairly, their hearts could be appeased, and the rebels would no longer be of one mind.

After all, the vast majority of soldiers and civilians in the rebel army were simply following the crowd, and their determination to rebel was not that firm.

"His Majesty has agreed to change the six towns into prefectures. All military households registered in the towns who were not exiled to the six towns because of crimes will have their household registration changed and will be exempted from the status of commoners."

"Excellent! Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Chong secretly cheered and immediately summoned his personal guards, ordering them to deliver the message to Fei Mu in Yunzhong to help stabilize the morale of the army. He also instructed Fei Mu to send scouts north to spread the news widely, making sure that the rebels knew that the court had "pardoned" them and that they should stop causing trouble and continue to be law-abiding citizens of the Great Wei.

He then asked, "Are there any other imperial edicts?"

Li Daoyuan shook his head.

Li Chong's expression froze; he had been happy for nothing.

That's it?

Before the Six Garrisons broke out in chaos, "changing the garrisons into prefectures" could indeed appease the people. But now that they have started to rebel, especially since they have just defeated the imperial army that was suppressing the rebellion, their morale is high, and the value of united front work has been brought into play.

At this point, simply 'changing the town to a prefecture' won't work; we need to supplement it with additional benefits, otherwise all that fuss will have been for nothing.

Such a simple truth, Your Majesty doesn't understand it, so do Yuan Yi and Yuan Yong not understand it either?
Or are they just unwilling to offer any benefits?
The imperial court is filled with vermin; this Great Wei is probably...

He couldn't complain, so he could only speak listlessly.

"Shan Chang can rest in the city for a few days first, and after the news spreads, he can lead his troops north as a special envoy of the imperial court to persuade and appease the rebels."

"good!"

Li Chong immediately prepared a banquet to entertain Li Daoyuan, but Yuan Shen did not go with him. Instead, he returned to his own residence.

As soon as he returned to the manor, a trusted confidant came to report.

"Your Majesty, General Changliu has returned from his military service."

Upon hearing this news, Yuan Shen was overjoyed and immediately quickened his pace.

Pushing open the door, he saw Yu Jin already waiting inside. Upon seeing Yuan Shen, Yu Jin quickly stood up and bowed, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Sijing, there's no need for further formalities. How about the matter of persuading him to surrender?"

Yuan Shen quickly asked.

Unlike the cowardly Prince Yuan Yu of Linhuai who fled immediately, Yuan Shen was quite capable. He had already thought of winning over the various tribes of the Eastern and Western Gaoche to jointly resist the rebels.

He had previously received news that Po Liu Han Baling had successfully persuaded Nie Liehe, and Nie Liehe was preparing to lead his 30,000 troops to join Po Liu Han Baling.

When Yuan Shen learned of this news, he was shocked. It was Yu Jin who stepped forward and volunteered to use his silver tongue to persuade Nie Liehe to surrender to the court again.

Yu Jin and Yu Lie are from the same clan. The reason why he ended up as a military advisor under Lai Yuanshen was mainly because he was implicated in the break between Yu Zhong and Empress Dowager Hu. Otherwise, given the power of the Yu family in the past, he would not have fallen to this situation.

Yu Jin replied.

"Nieliehe has agreed to surrender!"

"it is good!"

Yuan Shen was overjoyed, "If we can quell the rebellion, Si Jing will be credited with the greatest merit!"

Yu Jin remained calm and instead reminded him, "I received news from Nie Liehe... it seems that Wuchuan and Huaishuo have run out of food and supplies and will be breached in a few days. Your Majesty should make plans as soon as possible."

"Come, follow me to see the Grand Commander!"

Yuan Shen immediately wanted to take Yu Jin to meet Li Chong, since Li Chong was the top military commander who oversaw all the military garrisons and was in charge of the northern expedition.

Although he was a prince, he was still subject to Li Chong's control.

........................

After Zhang Boyao died.

Within Wuchuan City, the Heba family took the lead. Heba Duba immediately ordered his trusted men to take over and be responsible for guarding the city gates. The three Heba brothers also took over the armored cavalry previously under the command of the garrison commander.

Inside the Heba family mansion.

Summer nights are sweltering, and the current dire situation only adds to the frustration.

Gao Yu, Dugu Xin, Li Hu, Hou Mochen Chong... all those with names in the city were present.

Heba Duba glanced at everyone and asked.

"Are you all prepared for the various matters related to breaking through?"

The grain in the granary was almost gone, and Wu Chuan had no choice but to break out of the city.

Yesterday, Hebaduba ordered that all the remaining fine wine and meat be brought out to reward the army and boost morale.

The three Heba brothers nodded in response, "Everything is ready, and we can break out of the city at any time!"

Hou Mochen Chong was clearly still resentful about the death of the garrison commander, so he complained in a low voice, "We haven't received any news from Yuwen Sanlang yet. It seems... the Yuwen family has completely surrendered to the rebels."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and they all looked at Gao Yu.

These words seem to be referring to the Yuwen family, but they easily remind people of Gao Yu, since it was Gao Yu who proposed the 'feigned surrender' plan.

Gao Yu had no intention of defending himself.

If those who feign surrender outside the city actually take it seriously, that is one of the risks that this strategy must bear.

This was unavoidable. During the previous discussions, everything was discussed in detail, and everyone was fully prepared for this situation. We can't afford to complain now that things have come to this.

Moreover, if the Yuwen family doesn't take their family members out of the city, they won't be able to completely gain the trust of the rebels and allow them to take their families out, thus completely losing the means to control them. "Things have come to this, why say such discouraging things? It only adds to the trouble."

"Why don't we discuss in advance how we should break out of the city after we leave tomorrow? Since the Yuwen family has not sent back any news, we need to change our plans."

After initially deciding to feign surrender.

They agreed that they would break out today, so that Yuwen Luosheng could tell the rebels the specific date of their breakout and gain their trust.

But now that the appointed day has arrived, Yuwen Luosheng has not sent anyone back.

The established plan had to be slightly modified. The time of leaving the city and the direction of the breakout had to be changed. Otherwise, if they really plunged into the encirclement set up by the enemy in advance, it would turn from a nine-out-of-ten chance of death to a ten-out-of-ten chance of death.

Gao Yu is not a god, nor does he have a full-view perspective that allows him to know the location of Yuwen Luosheng and others, or even the location of the rebel generals and the rebel army's formation, all within Wuchuan City.

These were all crucial messages that Yuwen Luosheng needed to send back after gaining the trust of the rebels.

The group arrived at the map.

The core objective was to break out of the encirclement. On the surface, the rebels were surrounded on three sides but with one side missing. The south side was the enemy's apparent weak point in defense, but everyone knew that there must be a large force lying in ambush behind it.

Just as everyone was discussing the matter...

A series of rapid, hurried footsteps interrupted the group.

Not a moment.

The expressions on everyone's faces changed from astonishment to joy!
Because they saw members of the Yuwen family, whom they had longed for day and night.

The black otter has arrived!
Gao Yu then noticed that Yuwen Tai was covered in blood, suggesting that his journey back to the city to deliver the message must have been extremely dangerous.

They didn't even have time to drink a sip of water.

Yuwen Tai then told everyone everything Yuwen Luosheng had instructed him to do.

"Gentlemen, my brother has already gone to meet with the bandit leader Wei Kegu and informed him that Wu Chuan will break out in the next few days. The main force of the breakout will be heading southeast. Once the enemy learns of this, they will definitely adjust the position of their troops' defenses."

Wei Kegu may not completely believe it, but if Yuwen Luosheng tells the other party this news, the other party will definitely take some measures. As long as the enemy's troops can be mobilized, the chances of Wuchuan people breaking through the encirclement will be higher.

“My brother has contacted heroes such as Yifukugen and Nianxian in recent days… Our camp has been set up in the southwest, near the main camp of the bandit leader Wei Kegu.”

"Before we came, the prince specifically instructed me that when you break out, he would lead a raid to kill the bandit leader, Wei Kegu. The enemy has many cavalry. If we don't do this, even if we successfully break out, we will be chased all the way and suffer heavy losses. Only by killing the bandit leader can we demoralize the bandit army and make them lose the will to pursue us."

Upon hearing Yuwen Tai's words, everyone was astonished. The initial plan was simply for the Yuwen family to create some chaos during their breakout to help them escape, while the Yuwen family members would find their own opportunities to flee.

But now Yuwen Luosheng is going to lead a group to assassinate Wei Kegu. They are all seasoned soldiers and know that if they do this, regardless of success or failure, the Yuwen family will probably die.

After explaining Yuwen Luosheng's plan, Yuwen Tai's eyes flashed with a trace of sorrow, which disappeared in an instant, but he immediately spoke up and said the key information, "When I came, I killed a guard. I will definitely be discovered after dawn, and when that happens... my family will surely die."

Originally, everyone was still hesitant, but upon hearing these words, they realized that if they continued to hesitate, the Yuwen family would be sacrificed in vain.

Now that things have come to this point, there's no turning back; the die is cast.

Gao Yu was also filled with emotion. In this way, he would end up owing the Yuwen family a favor. He never liked owing favors, so he made a suggestion.

"Lord Heba, you should lead your men to break out to the southeast as usual. I will lead my troops to assist Lord Yuwen and assassinate the bandit leader."

Yuwen Tai suddenly looked up at Gao Yu, his eyes filled with gratitude. Gao Yu was the reinforcement they had invited, and they could completely ignore this matter and just focus on breaking through the encirclement.

Unexpectedly, Gao Yu was also willing to risk his life to save his family.

Heba Yue and the others froze, all feeling ashamed. They had been friends with the Yuwen family for a long time, yet they hadn't even considered going to their aid. They were not as good as Gao Yu, a mere guest.

Without hesitation, Yuwen Tai immediately replied, "I am willing to go with you, my lord, to assist my brother."

Seeing his resolute gaze, determined expression, and lack of fear, Gao Yu couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

As expected of Yuwen Black Otter.

Heba Yue quickly said, "Then we will also lead our elite troops to accompany Gao Lang and assist Yuwen Sanlang."

Heba Yue's words drew nods of agreement from his brothers Heba Yun and Heba Sheng.

Dugu Xin shook his head at this moment and said, "This is probably not appropriate."

“We are already outnumbered, and we will have to detach some of our troops to launch a feint attack. It is not advisable to divide our main force for the breakout. How about this: I have a small number of troops under my command, so I will go with Gao Lang to assist Yuwen Sanlang.”

Everyone agreed and nodded in agreement.

Gao Yu glanced at Dugu Xin subconsciously and found that he was also looking at him. The two smiled at each other.

Everything has been agreed upon.

Heba Duba immediately stood up, glanced at everyone, and then spoke.

"At dawn, we will break out according to plan. My Heba family will lead the main force to the southeast, while Gao Lang can lead his troops to wait in the city. Once the enemy is distracted and confused, we will go out of the city to assist Yuwen Sanlang."

Gao Yu nodded in agreement, "Then as you say, I will return to camp now."

The group departed to gather troops and prepare for the breakout the next day.

Gao Yu returned to the training ground and called Mulan and Peng Le over.

"Go and tell the soldiers to get ready."

"Here!"

Most of Gao Yu's key personnel had personally experienced the Battle of Luhunhai, in which the Gao Che were decisively defeated.

This wasn't the first time they had faced overwhelming odds, so their morale was fairly high. They firmly believed that their commander was omnipotent and would surely lead them out of the encirclement.

They walked out of the tent.

Gao Yu didn't use many words to encourage them; he simply patted each soldier on the shoulder.

Lin Yun sharpened his ring-pommel sword again and again. When he raised it, the blade reflected the moonlight and even reflected his face.

"You're so good at sharpening knives! Sharpen mine for me too."

Li Si, one of Peng Le's confidants, sat down next to him with a smile.

"Get lost."

Lin Yun ignored him completely.

The Xuanjia Army and the Zhusheng Army have always been rivals, but that doesn't affect their friendship in private.

Li Si looked up at the starry sky, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes, "Will we really be able to break through successfully tomorrow?"

"The general will lead us to break through the encirclement; what is there to fear?"

"Yes, my lord is exceptionally brave and will surely lead us to break through the encirclement..."

"If I can't go back, remember to take care of my family."

Lin Yun, who had been so confident, suddenly said this. Li Si looked at him in surprise. The two exchanged a glance, and Li Si immediately mocked, "The Xuanjia Army is afraid?"

"Then you should stay alive and see for yourself how the enemy-capturing army fights bravely alongside the general!"

"Hmph, then you better live well too. I lost slightly in the last wrestling match, but I'll definitely win next time!"

"It's a deal. Don't break your promise. If you die on the battlefield, I'll make fun of you for the rest of my life."

Similar scenes could be seen everywhere in the training ground.

Both the Xuanjia Army and the Zhusheng Army were confident that they could break through the encirclement with Gao Yu.

But on the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes.

Perhaps the two who are joking with each other right now will be separated forever after this battle.

After surveying the area, Gao Yu stood at the entrance of his tent and looked up at the starry sky.

As the eastern sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

It's time to leave the city and fight the enemy.

P.S.: Happy Labor Day everyone! The author will definitely not go out during the holiday; I'll just stay home and write!

(End of this chapter)