Seventy miles south of Shuangzhou, we reach the border of Hanzhou.
The conquest army, which was well prepared and expected to experience a great battle, encountered no obstacles along the way.
"General, where have all Beiliang's soldiers and horses gone?"
"It's impossible for Luo Yang to take them all back, right?"
Luoyang raised troops and took away most of the troops from the three border states under his control. However, Shuangzhou had 5,000 men left behind, so Hanzhou could not be at all alert.
"We came all the way without even finding any trace of enemy scouts."
"Will Luo Yang repeat his old tricks and hide people among the people?"
After marching for two days, except for the Beiliang herdsmen along the way, most of the people in Beiliang were relocated. Luoyang did a good job in clearing the countryside.
The main city of Hanzhou is already in sight.
"General, I feel something is wrong. The few checkpoints along the way are not guarded by anyone?"
After the main city of Shuangzhou was broken, it took one day to assemble the army, and the army set out on the third day.
But all the way north, I didn't see any resistance from Beiliang.
It's really unscientific.
Within a state, there is not only one main city, which can rely on city walls to build a line of defense.
There should be trenches in the wilderness, the defense of dangerous places, and the harassment of rangers... This is what war looks like in this era.
But whether it was Luo Yang's order or the Northern Liang border troops' cowardice, the army marching to the north did not encounter any obstacles in the past two days.
It was as if Beiliang had admitted defeat and really wanted to hand over Hanzhou.
"With such a perfect job of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, Luo Yang is really willing to leave Hanzhou to us?"
Fang Jue felt it was too suspicious. Luo Yang could be said to be a representative who would do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. His collusion with He An and the disaster in Suzhou were all his work.
Even he did not hesitate to raise an army to rebel against Beiliang. All these behaviors can show that this person is a man with deep knowledge and calculation.
Although Hanzhou is not as easy to defend as Linzhou, it is still a big city after all, but when Fang Jue's troops approached the city, he felt that there was no one in the city.
"Hey, General, we got a bargain for nothing." A general laughed.
"Empty city plan?" The army approached, looking at the ajar city gate, Fang Jue frowned.
The entire Hanzhou City was as silent as cicadas. There was not a single snow eagle hovering in the sky, and there was not a sound of people or a trace of smoke.
Except for the howling in the north, there is no extra sound between heaven and earth.
"At this hour, the people in the city should be cooking, but there is not a trace of smoke?" Wei Ran was also a veteran general. He came from the Wei family, and he could tell at a glance that something was wrong.
Lin Beidao: "General, do you want to send someone to check?"
"Catapult, assemble it within four hundred steps." Fang Jue ordered.
Come here, Hanzhou cannot be bypassed. No matter how many murderous intentions are hidden in this main city, Fang Jue will still test it.
"yes."
The firearms battalion and engineers immediately went out into battle, and within two moments they loaded twenty catapults, just outside the range of Beiliang's standing bows and arrows.
They are already very good at handling the distance of four hundred steps.
"Eject one round, frightening the birds." Fang Jue said.
"Load!" Zheng Jun ordered.
"catapult!"
Fireworks with burning fuses drew lines of fire in the air and fell into Hanzhou City.
There were loud explosions one after another, but no screams from humans or animals were heard in the city.
"General, it seems there is really no one?" Sun Yida said.
Fang Jue looked at Dianyi: "Is there any news about the support from the Xuanjian Division or the Emperor Zun Pavilion from the surrounding states in Beiliang?"
"Master, if there is no news, the surrounding state capitals will not dare to move without permission. They must also guard against the Beidu military camp and Xichu." Dianyi replied.
Just fine without reinforcements.
"By the way, if Yiming and Luo Yang met up in Mocheng four days ago, what would be the fastest way to get here if he brings troops to Hanzhou?" Fang Jue asked everyone again.
"General, are you afraid that this empty city is a trap?"
Fang Jue nodded. He didn't dare to be careless. The danger of the empty city strategy is that you really don't know how many ambushes are inside.
If there are several times the number of enemies, entering the city is like courting death.
But if you don't advance, who wouldn't be greedy for the military exploits you'll get in vain?
"Don't worry, General. Beiliang's winter is different from ours in Daxia. We can march nearly three hundred miles a day with light cavalry in Daxia, but in Beiliang we can march a hundred miles a day in winter." Wei Ran said confidently.
One hundred miles a day?
Fang Jue murmured: "It's almost four hundred miles from Mozhou City in Beiliang to Hanzhou..."
"Um?"
Everyone also murmured, understanding what Fang Jue meant.
"The general is worried that if Ming comes, he will set up an ambush in the city?"
"It's impossible, coming so fast?"
"Luo Yang and Wan Yiming joined forces and naturally joined forces to attack Liangjing. How could they come for us?"
Several people expressed that they did not deserve to be targeted like this by Wan Yiming.
Even if the three states are discarded, it is better than the failure of the army. For Luoyang today, the three states in the south can be discarded.
"General, why do you need to guess? Why don't you lead your troops and take a look?" Some generals wanted to compete for the top spot.
"No, the army is entering the city." Fang Jue waved his hand.
"just in case……"
Fang Jue shook his head: "For Luo Yang and Wan Yiming, we are not the most important opponents in their eyes. It should be that we are overthinking."
"Don't dismantle the catapults yet. Leave one battalion to control them here. The firearms battalion will follow the army into the city."
"yes!"
The army marched to the outside of the city gate, but there was still no sound in the city.
It wasn't until Sun Yi led his men to push open the city gate, revealing the desolate scene on the main street, that everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
"There's really no one?"
"Scared me."
"The stupid Northern Liang Army is using this kind of tactics."
Fang Jue frowned and said:
"Pass through quickly without leaving any troops stationed in the city."
"General, why don't we fix it?" the crowd asked.
"If it were you, even if you didn't have the troops to defend the city, would you be willing to hand over Hanzhou City to others?" Fang Jue asked rhetorically.
Thinking of some classic battle examples of fortifying walls and clearing fields, Fang Jue reminded:
"I ordered you to go down and do not take anything from the city, do not drink any water, and do not eat any food you find."
"The general is worried about the poisoning of the Beiliang army?" Lin Bei responded.
Sun Yi nodded: "If it were me, I would have poisoned him before leaving. Fortunately, it's not summer, otherwise it would be possible to concoct corpses and create a plague."
"So be on guard." Fang Jue nodded.
The age of cold weapons was not about martial ethics. War often resorted to all possible means and was never an art.
Poisoning and spreading plague are all basic operations, and only new and inexperienced generals can easily suffer these losses.
Fang Jue said: "Place kerosene randomly along the way. After we leave the city and go north, we will burn this empty city so that we can live in peace when we return."
"The general is wise."
High temperature can kill many potential dangers, including but not limited to plague. Of course, the water in the city cannot be freely used.
In this way, the army marching north entered through the south city gate, penetrated the central axis of the city, and exited through the north city gate.
"Bear……"
The soldiers at the back lit the fire oil everywhere, and the entire Shuangzhou City seemed to be on fire, with fireworks and black smoke filling the air.
"Is the General too cautious?"
"Only when this fire is burned can we feel at ease, and the subsequent food teams can be stationed here with peace of mind. What do you know?"
"But there are a lot of things in the city, and it's a pity that we didn't have time to move them."
After leaving the north city gate and seeing the city burning, Fang Juecai ordered them to station themselves on the spot.
He informed several generals:
"You are not allowed to use water from surrounding wells. You must use running water. If you can't find it, just boil snow and turn it into water."
"Also, after the order is sent to each camp, they must check whether anyone has brought anything out of the city. Once discovered, they must be destroyed immediately, and people must be separated and observed."
After all the generals responded, they felt relieved.
He felt that he had been very careful and nothing would happen to him.
After two days of marching, the soldiers were all exhausted, so they camped outside the north city gate.
The first half of the night was uneventful, until around noon, I heard some movement outside the camp.
"Master, it seems someone has died." Dianyi went out to check and came back and said.
Fang Jue put on his outer armor, got up and left the camp, and went to the central army accompanied by his personal guards.
"What happened?"
The torches in the camp were lit as if it were daytime, and screams could be heard one after another at night.
"See General."
When they saw Fang Jue coming out, all the soldiers saluted. After several major generals arrived, Fang Jue asked them:
"I heard that someone died. Why are there still people shouting? What's wrong?"
Lin Bei said awkwardly: "A brother suddenly lost his sight and thought he was blind."
Wei Ran and Sun Yi knew what was going on as soon as they heard this.
Fang Jue said seriously: "What's going on?" This chapter has been completed!