Chapter 37 Pingchang Tower
"Whose general is so brave?" Pei Kuo, the general of the middle base, asked from upstairs in Pingchang.
This man is about thirty years old, looks resolute and handsome, and has extraordinary appearance. If Shao Xun is here and observes carefully, he can find some similarities between his eyebrows and Concubine Pei.
It was he who had the war drum that played a huge role just now being beaten.
These are all old tricks on the battlefield.
As soon as the war drums sounded, the bandits thought that the defenders in the city were about to attack, so they immediately collapsed on the spot.
"Coming from Pingchangmen Royal Street, are they the Sizhou soldiers stationed in Mingtang and Lingtai areas?" Pei Xia looked at it for a while, but didn't see anything famous, and replied.
Pei Xia is Pei Kuo's cousin. He is twenty-six years old and has not yet become an official.
The Pei family in Hedong was a large family, and it was Pei Mao who really entered the political stage in the late Han Dynasty. He was awarded the title of Marquis for leading the generals in Guanzhong to kill Li Jue.
Pei Mao had three sons: Pei Qian, Pei Hui, and Pei Ji. These three were honored as the "Three Ancestors" in the Tang Dynasty, when the Pei family was most glorious (seventeen prime ministers were produced).
Pei Qian was the Shangshu Ling during the reign of Emperor Wei Ming and died in the fifth year of Zhengshi (244).
Qianzi Pei Xiu was a subordinate of General Cao Shuang. After Cao Shuang's fall, he was a subordinate of Sima Zhao. During the Jin Dynasty, he was granted the title of Julu Gong and was promoted to Sikong.
Xiu Ziyi was a famous scholar. Because his father died when he was still young, he went to his uncle Jia Chong and received constant support. In the late Yuan Kang Dynasty, he became the minister Zuopushe. He was the concubine among the princes and the minister among the ministers.
Because his cousin Jia Nanfeng was the queen, Pei Yu held a high position and was in charge of state affairs together with Zhang Hua and others. He was later killed by King Sima Lun of Zhao.
After such an experience, Pei Qian's lineage was seriously damaged and no longer became the political representative of the Pei family in Hedong.
Pei Hui, the second son of Pei Mao, was named Wenxiu and served as the governor of Jizhou in Cao Wei. He had four sons: Pei Li, Pei Kang, Pei Kai, and Pei Chuo.
Pei Li once served as a guerrilla general. He passed away and had two sons, Pei Bao and Pei Cui. Later generations of this branch mostly developed in the Xiliang area.
Pei Kang once served as the crown prince's left guard and has now become an official. Kang had four sons, namely Pei Chun, Pei Dun, Pei Shao and Pei Kuo, and two daughters. One was married to Sima Yue and the other to Bian Yi.
Pei Kai had five sons: Pei Yu, Pei Zan, Pei Xian, Pei Li, and Pei Xun.
This lineage was originally developing well and had the potential to succeed Pei Xiu, Pei Yu and his son as the political spokesmen of the Pei family. However, because Pei Kai was too close to Jia Chong and others, his son Pei Zan was Yang Jun's son-in-law.
, so he was implicated, suffered a heavy blow, and is currently in the stage of low-key licking his wounds.
Pei Chuo, whose courtesy name was Ji Shu, served as a minister of Huangmen. After his death, he was given the posthumous title of Captain of Changshui. Pei Xia was Pei Chuo's son.
Generally speaking, among Pei Mao's three sons, Pei Hui's lineage developed the best, and the "Xijuan Pei" in the Tang Dynasty was also developed from Pei Hui's descendants - so named because most of them served as officials in the Xiliang area.
Among the four sons of Pei Hui, it seems that Pei Chuo's branch is not developing smoothly at present. But after all, they are biological brothers. Pei Kang has taken care of the descendants of his deceased fourth brother. This is why Pei Xia is following Pei Kuo.
main reason.
"The guards at Mingtang and Lingtai have dispersed long ago." Pei Kuo shook his head and said, "They probably came from Kaiyang Gate."
Pei Xia thought the same thing. Most of the Sizhou soldiers were new recruits and their morale was low. When they heard that the enemy's 300,000 troops were coming to kill, many troops dispersed one after another and returned to their hometowns under the leadership of officers. How could they fight until this point?
A few days ago, my cousin's servant Pei Shiliu came back from the south of the city and said that Piyong's garrison, Mi Huang Division, was well organized and had high morale. Shao Xun, the governor, had unparalleled courage and killed the thief general Li Yi, all the way to Kaifeng.
Outside Yangmen.
Could it be that Mi Huang still made a great contribution this time? If true, he has some abilities. Being a governor in the shogunate is too unqualified. Joining the military is no problem.
Thinking of this, Pei Xia's heart moved and he said: "This person is determined to be a general of the Yue family. He is so brave and rare in the world. Why don't my brother send someone to visit the princess and find out the details of this person."
Pei Kuo glanced at his cousin and nodded slightly.
He knew what Pei Xia meant, and he also knew that Pei Xia was depressed and always wanted to get ahead.
Is his brother-in-law Sima Yue a good candidate for service? Pei Kuo did not dare to say so.
Moreover, after experiencing the two disasters of Pei Xiu, Pei Yu and his son, and the third uncle Pei Kai, the Pei family was a little afraid and no longer wanted to actively participate in the power struggle within the royal family.
As for how individual descendants choose, the clan elders are not very willing to care. As long as it does not bring trouble to the family, long-term betting is acceptable - or, this is the usual method of aristocratic families.
As far as Pei Kuo himself is concerned, his younger sister is the Princess of Donghai, and his second brother Pei Dun also wants to follow the path of the King of Donghai and become the governor. Having these two people in Yue Mansion is enough. It doesn't make much sense for Pei Xia to move closer.
But he wouldn't stop it face to face.
"After you go straight, you go directly to visit my eldest sister and see what she says." Pei Kuo said suddenly.
Pei Xia felt happy, but he controlled his emotions well and whispered: "No."
Pei Kuo silently looked at the messy battlefield, his mind already flying to who knows where.
Master Wang has won consecutive victories, but the situation is still confusing, because he is too aware of the virtues of those big families.
****
The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Jianchun Gate greatly affected the entire battle.
At least, Lu Ji has lost confidence in field combat.
On the one hand, I doubt myself.
The problem on the other hand is even more serious: the generals already despised him, but after this defeat, who would listen to his orders?
Sixteen generals, including Jia Chong and Jia Ling, were killed by Wang Hu, which made this Sima of the Taiwei Mansion, who came from a poor family, very famous.
At that time, Wang Hu first made a cavalry assault and killed the general Ma Xian, then swept and routed the army. He decisively invested more than 6,000 light and heavy cavalry, repeatedly ravaged them, and then pressed the infantry. Finally, the battle was successful.
The bravery and stamina of the Luoyang Chinese Army is so impressive that it makes people change their colors.
Shi Chao, Wang Cui, Qian Xiu and others no longer obeyed orders, and each leader set up camp to help each other. The entire Jizhou Army was in a state of panic and anxiety. It lost the ability to attack in a short period of time and needed to be reorganized.
And if the main force is defeated like this, the flank battlefield will naturally not be better either.
As the defeated troops from the north and south of the city came back one after another, Lu Ji knew that he had defeated Meng Chao again!
He no longer thinks about what this means to him, he only thinks about how to stabilize the situation now.
"We can no longer waste time fighting." Sima Sun Zheng lamented repeatedly: "For the current plan, we can only dig deep ditches and high forts to weaken the enemy's spirit with strong strongholds, slowly regain the morale of the army, and then move on to other plans."
He was too deeply bound to Lu Ji and could not switch to anyone else. He could only think carefully about his next actions to avoid causing even greater trouble.
There is actually still a chance of winning.
Just one word: consumption.
"Commander, as long as our army does not retreat, Luoyang City will still be surrounded." Sun Zheng said: "With an army of more than 200,000, we have lost tens of thousands, and the sky will not fall. We still have a chance."
"You also know that we have 200,000 horses, and our daily consumption is huge. We rely on the people of Hebei to transfer grain and grass day and night to maintain a continuous supply of military supplies." Lu Ji also sighed: "If the stalemate lasts for a long time, the king may lose patience.
.”
"But now we can't fight, and no one listens to orders." Sun Zheng said anxiously: "Shi Chao, Wang Cui, Qian Xiu, Gong Shifan and others are no longer restrained, and they are still discussing something in private.
At this time, nothing can go wrong."
"Secret discussion..." Lu Ji smiled bitterly.
The whole army was defeated. Not only was his coach Lu Ji responsible, but also these generals?
Seeing that the front army was defeated like a mountain and many generals died in the battle, Qian Xiu was the first to run away, followed by Shi Chao, Wang Cui, and Gong Shifan, leaving all the friendly forces behind.
To put it ironically, it was the Luoyang Chinese Army who had defected before the battle and launched a counter-charge, which slightly hindered the Wang Division's pursuit, otherwise the losses would have been much more than this.
Most of these people were secretly discussing how to shirk responsibility and let him, Lu Ji, take care of everything by himself.
He seemed to be able to foresee his own ending.
More than a dozen generals died in battle, most of them were scholars from Hebei. What would their families think of me?
When the army went out for battle, the people of Yecheng were overjoyed, and some even boasted that since the Wei Dynasty, there had never been such a successful expedition. Now that they have been defeated and many people died, the accounts must be settled. Who will speak for themselves then?
"Don't think so much." Lu Ji raised his head, looked at the blood-red sunset on the horizon, and said after a while: "As long as I am the governor, and as long as the king does not dismiss me, I have the responsibility to lead all the battalions.
.”
"Captain..." Sun Zheng looked sad.
"That's it." Lu Ji took a deep breath and made up his mind: "Send people to each camp, talk nicely, and invite all the generals over. You are right. Now it is time to dig deep and build strongholds to slowly restore the morale of the army.
After the reorganization is completed, we will make preparations step by step and launch the attack again."
"Confidence!" Lu Ji emphasized his tone and said, "Confidence is the most important thing. There are still more than 200,000 troops combined in the east and west directions. Once we turn to defense, Sima Yi will not be able to defeat us. If the king is impatient or something happens,
Misunderstanding, let me explain."
"Promise." Sun Zheng agreed and prepared to deliver the order.
Before leaving, he couldn't help but look at Lu Ji one more time.
The once high-spirited Taikang Zhiying now looks haggard and even has a stooped figure.
Sun Zheng turned his head suddenly and shed a few tears.
I shouldn't have left Wu Jun in the first place.
Wrong reputation, wrong reputation!
Chapter completed!