In Yingzhou City, Hou Xiyi supervised the battle on the city wall until noon, and a steady stream of Fan Yang soldiers climbed up the city wall like ants.
Although the defenders of the city were in a condescending position and had the advantage of geographical location, they could not withstand such consumption. Now Hou Xiyi even escorted the personal guards around him, but they could barely maintain the city wall.
However, Hou Xiyi, who is experienced in battle formations, understood that it would be impossible to hold on if this situation continued.
"Why haven't the soldiers from Jieshuai arrived yet?"
Hou Xiyi didn't understand why he hadn't arrived yet at noon even though he had gone to remind Wang Xuanzhi early in the morning and asked him to quickly assemble his troops.
This means that after Wang Xuanzhi's son sent away Hou Xiyi's personal guards, he heard the shouting of killing at the city gate not long after. He was doubtful at first, and then heard the shouting of killing from the direction of the city gate, and hurriedly sent his servants to
Exploration.
When the servants came to report that the city defense army was fighting with the army outside the city, Wang Xuanzhi's son was really panicked.
Wang Xuanzhi's son originally planned to wake up his father, but he was afraid of being punished by his father, so he went to the Ya soldiers' camp to gather the Ya soldiers first and then wake up his father.
Unexpectedly, he, the son of Jiedu Envoy, had no prestige in the army, and these vulgar soldiers did not listen to his orders at all.
Wang Xuanzhi's son then returned to the Jiedushi Palace and woke up his drunken father. After telling Wang Xunzhi everything, the hot-tempered Jiedushi drew his sword and was about to kill his own son.
"Father, spare my life!"
Wang Xuanzhi looked at his useless son and finally put down his sword. He immediately said to the guards beside him:
"Come here, search out all the gold, silver and jewelry in this evil house! Also search out the financial reports of the private treasury built by his affair with Butler Zhou!"
Wang Xuanzhi's son turned pale when he heard this. Butler Zhou is one of the chief stewards of the Jiedushi Mansion and is usually responsible for the purchases in his house.
By colluding with Butler Zhou, Wang Xuanzhi's son also secretly made a small treasury and put all the money he earned from dominating the market in it.
The money, which was originally intended to be used for high interest at the end of the month, is now hidden in a secret warehouse in the Jiedushi's mansion.
His father actually knew about such a private matter, and he trembled when he thought about it.
Wang Xuanzhi's son loved money as much as his life. He mustered up the courage to hug his father's leg and said:
"Father, handsome! This is the money my son has saved for you."
"For me? Are those things you did to ruin my reputation?"
Wang Xuanzhi said angrily: "Do you think I confiscated your money just to punish you? I tell you not! Now all the money in the house must be taken out, otherwise the Wang family will be wiped out right before our eyes.
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Soon, the steward followed Wang Xuanzhi's instructions and piled all the belongings at the door of Jiedushi.
Wang Xuanzhi put on his armor and came to the Yabing military camp not far away and shouted:
"Raise an army for a thousand days and use it for a moment! Today the Fan Yang bandits are attacking. All officers and men will follow me to the city to kill the enemy!"
However, there was not much movement in the Yabing camp. Wang Xuanzhi's personal guard shouted: "Jiedushi Lord has prepared a reward of silver!"
Only in the military camp bursts of shouts came out: "Kill the enemy! Kill the enemy!"
When his father left with the tooth soldiers, Wang Xunzhi's son slumped on the ground, looking at the soldiers fighting for the reward, as if they were evil ghosts crawling out of the underworld. He no longer had the idea of commanding the army.
Even his father had to spend money to drive these evil spirits away. If he really became a military governor, wouldn't he have to have his bones sucked dry by these evil spirits?
Relying on the reinforcements brought by Wang Xuanzhi, we were finally able to defend until the evening.
Cai Wenjing was anxious, but he also knew that there was no way to attack the city at night, so he had to withdraw his troops.
Wang Xuanzhi and Hou Xiyi on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief, but Fan Yang's army only retreated temporarily. Now the entire Yingzhou City is surrounded. Cai Wenjing will definitely continue to attack the city tomorrow. Both of them know that Yingzhou City cannot be defended.
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Wang Xuanzhi helped Hou Xiyi, who was all injured, to the military hall, and after driving all his subordinates out, Wang Xuanzhi asked:
"I regret that I didn't listen to Pang Ju's advice that day!"
Pang Ju once warned Fan Yang's army in Yuguan that they might move north at any time, so Wang Xunzhi could be prepared. However, Wang Xunzhi thought Pang Ju was being alarmist, and later thought he was being verbose, so he went to Dahang City to patrol the border.
Now it seems that Pang Ju really got it right.
Hou Xiyi was also silent. He also felt that Pang Ju was exaggerating, but he didn't expect that the enemy would come earlier than Pang Ju expected!
Hou Xiyi held up his body and said: "Jie Shuai, you can break out of the city!"
Wang Xuanzhi looked at Hou Xiyi, tears streaming down his eyes.
Hou Xiyi said: "The Yingzhou city defense has been in disrepair and the soldiers are not trained. They are no match for Fan Yang's elite soldiers. Now that we still have some capital, it is better to break out and look for opportunities to make a comeback!"
Wang Xuanzhi said somewhat dejectedly: "But where can we break through? Even if we succeed in breaking out, it's freezing cold today, and we will starve to death without Cai Wenjing chasing us."
Hou Xiyi said: "Go to Dahang City! Find Pang Ju!"
Wang Xuanzhi's eyes lit up, and Hou Xiyi said: "Pang Ju is building a port in Dahang City. Jieshuai Jin can use the identity of the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty to use other armies of Pinglu and recruit troops from Silla and other countries to attack the rebels.
, you can take a sea ship back to the Tang Dynasty and accuse Shi Jia and his son of their crimes to the court!"
Wang Xuanzhi took Hou Xiyi's arm and said, "Come with me to break out of the encirclement!"
Hou Xiyi said: "I already have it in hand. We can't run very far in this weather. Yingzhou City also needs someone to buy time. It's up to you to break through!"
Wang Xuanzhi shed tears again. He tried to pull Hou Xiyi but was rejected by him again. Wang Xuanzhi could only leave the city wall in tears.
That night, Cai Wenjing used soldiers to dig tunnels, but Hou Xiyi saw through it again and poured dung water to block it. Wang Xuanzhi led 200 loyal subordinates to break out from the east gate. In the end, only 80 cavalry were left to follow Wang Xuanzhi and successfully break through.
Wang Xunzhi's son was shot dead by Fan Yangjun on the way out because he was not good at riding.
Early the next morning, Cai Wenjing attacked the city again. Hou Xiyi raised the flag of Jiedushi and insisted on commanding the defense at the city gate, repelling several attacks by Fan Yang's army.
It was a pity that Hou Xiyi's nephew Hou Liangping knew that his father-in-law had escaped and did not take him to stay with Yingzhou City to die together. He was greedy for life and feared death. He pretended to open the city gate and let Fan Yangjun in.
Hou Xiyi refused to surrender and died of exhaustion on the city wall.
When Cai Wenjing saw Hou Xiyi's armor covered in blood, he admired his military integrity and ordered him to be buried outside Yingzhou City.
Hou Liangping, who betrayed his father-in-law and uncle, was directly ordered to be killed by Cai Wenjing. His head was hung on the city gate to tell the world what happened to the traitor and villain.
After this battle, Cai Wenjing took over Yingzhou, took out Shi Siming's flag, and prepared to digest the entire Pinglu.
While Zhang Guangde was guarding Yuguan, he also used artillery fire to repulse several attacks by Shi Chaoyi. The flames of war suddenly solidified, and the battle situation became stagnant.