Zhenlin County, the seat of Fenzhou Prefecture, since Situ Tai moved the governor's office of Bingzhou to this place, this county that was not prosperous in the past has become a lot more lively, and of course, there has been a lot of turmoil.
In Zhenlin County, there are Bingzhou soldiers wearing armor everywhere, moving back and forth. However, whether they are patrolling soldiers or soldiers conducting private affairs, they all have panic expressions on their faces. In addition to some of these soldiers being local soldiers, some of them are also local soldiers.
Most of them were Bingzhou soldiers who evacuated with Situ Tai from other prefectures and counties or fled here after being killed by the Zhao army.
The Zhao army won many battles, and the Bingzhou army fled in panic. These Bingzhou soldiers could not help but be nervous. Even the people in Zhenlin County reduced their outing activities, waiting for the final end of the war.
I don’t know if it was because the Zhao army was getting closer and closer, but there were many incidents of riots among Bingzhou soldiers in Zhenlin County. In order to expand his personal guard team, Situ Tai removed the elite soldiers among Bingzhou soldiers from various ministries.
, for the rest of the Bingzhou soldiers,
The jurisdiction has become much laxer. It is also because of this that the people here hope that Zhao Jun will come here as soon as possible. After all, Zhao Jun's reputation for military discipline is notoriously good. Of course, the more important thing is that Zhao Jun
The New Deal is extremely superior to the people.
"Brother Wei, this Fenzhou Prefecture is the same as other places. The coins of Zhao Di have become the mainstream coins here." On the main street of Zhenlin County, a group of people looked around and whispered softly.
conversation. They were Wei Chen and others sent by Zhao Xun to negotiate with Situ Tai.
Wei Chen smiled and said: "Not only the coins, but also the numbers, statistical methods, and pinyin literacy methods created by the lord are also spread here. You have also seen that I, the merchants of Zhao, are already all over Bingzhou. As you can imagine,
You know how widely circulated some things from our Zhao land are.
In addition, this is not only the case here, but also in the Central Plains and the states in the south. Through merchants, many situations in our Zhao land have become known to outsiders, and the lord's reputation has also spread. Otherwise, where is the land of Youzhou today?
There are so many scholars from the south and Central Plains coming to seek official positions and study?"
"Brother Wei, through two days of observation and our understanding from other counties in Fenzhou Prefecture that came here, we learned that Situ Tai has begun to gather his troops and has no intention of fighting our army. It seems that this mission is not
It's not difficult to complete." A young man in warrior uniform said softly. The people who came with Wei Chen this time were all the best of the Guards and the Young Guards. Zhao Xun patted them to negotiate with Situ Tai, which was also
In order to cultivate their ability to handle matters independently.
Wei Chen nodded and said: "Well, it seems that Situ Tai values the position of King Yong more. He also knows very well that without the strength in his hands, he will have nothing. After all, if he fights with our army, defeat is certain. Yes.
Yes, you have traveled along the way and have seen the situation in Fenzhou Prefecture. How many subordinates do you think Situ Tai will bring before he is willing to leave?"
"I believe that Situ Tai's purpose is to bring his personal guards. After all, Situ Tai has already begun to organize his troops in Fenzhou Prefecture. Although on the surface it is just to assemble the army and prepare for a deadly battle with our army.
However, judging from the panic of the soldiers here and the lack of strict supervision, I am afraid that Situ Tai has already made plans to give up these ordinary Bingzhou soldiers." The young man with an elegant face said with a smile.
"I also agree with Brother Li. The evacuation of the army is not a simple matter. Without knowing our army's actions, Situ Tai must leave a team to cover up or delay our army's attack. And most of Bingzhou's soldiers
They are all from Bingzhou. They are not necessarily willing to follow Situ Taiyuan to fight in Yongzhou. Especially the current Bingzhou army is not the frontier army of the past. They are all locals.
Composed of county soldiers and government soldiers, they are only responsible for local security, and their family members are all local. Although they were organized into Bingzhou Army and became regular soldiers, after all, it did not last long. Otherwise, it would not have appeared after Situ Tai evacuated Taiyuan Prefecture.
, as soon as our army arrived at other prefectures and counties, the defenders of the Bingzhou Army presented the city and surrendered. It can be seen that the defenders here are not qualified soldiers." Xiao Yan, the captain of the Guards Corps, said solemnly.
Then the rest of the people also expressed their own thoughts, and they all talked about the pros and cons of both sides. In general, it was quite reasonable, and they also saw Situ Tai's current situation.
Wei Chen nodded secretly, quite satisfied with the performance of several people. He knew very well the purpose of his lord asking them to come with him. Zhao Xun somewhat expanded the personal guard army, formed the Eighth Guards Army, and formed two internal and external armies with the town army to interact with each other.
Temperance. Expanding the army naturally requires a large number of officers. Zhao Xun has now begun to gradually train the best leaders of the Guards and the Young Guards, allowing them to experience in various aspects to become qualified generals.
"Part of the real elite of the Bingzhou Army was surrounded by our army in the Dingping area. Some of them were annihilated by our army in the eastern and northern counties from the beginning. What remains now are those stationed in the western and southern counties.
Most of the Bingzhou army was composed of Situ Tai who arrived in Bingzhou and served as the governor of Bingzhou.
Later, in order to expand their own strength, to defeat Cao Gang, and to control Bingzhou, they temporarily expanded their strength. Naturally, their strength is much worse. Okay, brothers, let's go and meet the governor of Bingzhou. Come soon.
Let him go back, he will feel at ease, and we will be happy too." Wei Chen said quietly.
…………
Dingping is the only important city in the middle of Bingzhou that is no longer under the control of the Zhao army. Here, there are still more than 18,000 Bingzhou troops and more than 25,000 Bingzhou Northern troops stationed. The military strength can be described as
Quite a few, but recently there has been a lot of noise and murderous intent...
Yang Li had a headache, was very worried and couldn't make a choice. Ever since the soldiers who were released from Dingyun City and Dingyang City entered Dingping yesterday, the situation in the city had become very delicate. Cao Gang immediately came to ask Yang Li aggressively
Whether he had any intention of colluding with the Zhao army, he then began to mobilize the troops in the city and at the same time increased the guarding of the four gates. At the same time, the Bingzhou Northern Army also began to increase surveillance around his military camp.
Originally, Yang Li was being watched around his military camp, which was intolerable to Yang Li. However, because his own soldiers were released by Zhao Xun, he also wanted to kill Cao Gang and surrender. And Cao Gang's subordinates
None of the soldiers came back, which made Cao Gang suspect that he and Zhao Xun were colluding again. This suddenly put Yang Li in a passive situation, making it difficult for him to explain clearly to Cao Gang.
There were two armies in Dingping, but his own side was weak. Once he was in civil strife, he would only benefit Zhao Xun in the end. Therefore, Yang Licai gave in and allowed Cao Gang to do this. But no matter what, the situation now has reached a very critical moment.
Whether to fight or surrender, he has to make a decision.
"General, the land of Bingzhou has been occupied by King Zhao, the governor has been defeated, and even His Highness King Yong has no intention of sending reinforcements. It seems that the land of Bingzhou has been abandoned by His Highness King Yong. We are alone.
Outside, with enemies on all sides, what's the point of fighting Zhao Jun to the death?" Yang Xiong, Yang Li's younger brother, said in a deep voice.
"Yes, General, it's not that the General is afraid of death at the end of the day. It's that after we were besieged here by the Zhao army, the Governor never issued an order or sent anyone to support us. We have been forgotten by the Governor, and we died here in battle.
, and no one will remember it. Besides, since being
After the brothers released by Zhao Jun came back, in addition to letting Cao Gang strictly defend us, most of our soldiers also lost their fighting spirit. The strength of Zhao Jun has been spread by these brothers, and the morale of the army has been lost. "Just now.
Qin Ling, who was promoted to general, also said in a deep voice.
Unlike Yang Li, Qin Ling was not a die-hard confidant of Situ Tai. He was from Bingzhou, and he had no intention of risking his life for Situ Tai who had fled regardless of them.
"What do the sergeants and the people below think?" Yang Li did not make any direct choice.
"Most of the soldiers and low-level officers have the intention to surrender. The treatment of Zhao's soldiers is much better than that of Bingzhou Army. After they have made meritorious service, it goes without saying. Even if you don't want to continue to serve in the army, it is better to be an ordinary citizen than in the past in Situ Tai
Under the jurisdiction. Therefore..." Qin Ling said directly. Now, he even called Situ Tai by his name.
Yang Xiong on the side also nodded in agreement, fully agreeing with Qin Ling's meaning.
"Have you two met Zhao Jun's envoy? To be honest, don't try to play tricks on us again." Yang Li said in a solemn voice.
Yang Xiong and Qin Ling's expressions changed slightly. After looking at each other, they nodded and said, "Yes, we saw Zhao Xun's personal guard captain among the soldiers released by Zhao Jun. They want us to surrender.
Don't let any more casualties among Bingzhou's soldiers. At the same time, King Zhao also promised not to care about what happened and let our soldiers choose whether to continue serving in the army. And we will also assign positions according to ability."
Yang Li said quietly: "Although no superior conditions were given, this is the only way to reassure us. By the way, have they informed us of the situation in Bingzhou? Has Bingzhou really been completely occupied by the Zhao army?
"
Yang Xiong said: "Although not all have been occupied, it is still close. In addition, according to their wishes, King Yong may have started negotiations with King Zhao, and this Bingzhou land may belong to King Zhao. As for
No one will care about us. At the very least, neither King Yong nor the Governor of Bingzhou, Situ Tai, will care."
"What do they want us to do? Fight with Cao Gang?" Yang Li asked in a deep voice.
"They want us to open the city gate and let Zhao Jun enter the city. If that fails, they hope that we will not participate in the Nancheng and Dongcheng, which are mainly defended by the Bingzhou Northern Army." Qin Ling responded.
"Brilliant, let us open the city gate now. That chance is impossible. There are Cao Gang's men around the city gate who are in charge of the handles, and our soldiers are intersecting with Cao Gang's Bingzhou Northern Army on the city wall.
, even if we want to start an uprising, it won’t be done in an instant. If we really take action, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it in an instant.
The state army will bear the brunt of the attack by the Bingzhou Northern Army. At that time, it is still unclear whether the Zhao army will storm the city and assist us. It seems to be to weaken Cao Gang by asking us to ignore Nancheng and Dongcheng, but it is not to let us two
What if there is a conflict between the two parties that is difficult to resolve?" Yang Li murmured to himself.
"Brother, what should we do? You should have given us the regulations. At the very least, we must be prepared now. Even if we have to fight, we must be prepared for battle. If we have to conflict with the Bingzhou Northern Army, we must hold on to the city and defend it. The big deal
Just die fighting for the Situ family. But you don't have accurate information, which makes us suppressed by Cao Gang and has a very bad impact on the situation. If nothing else, if it continues like this, it will only
I'm afraid that our soldiers will fall apart before Zhao Jun can attack. Brother, among our army, many officers and generals have begun to contact Zhao Jun's people. They are also from Bingzhou, and they are Zhao Xun's personal guard officers.
With the persuasion of the soldiers who were released from our army, I don’t know what will happen.” Yang Xiong said anxiously. He is Yang Li’s clan brother, so he naturally supports his eldest brother and does not want his eldest brother to hesitate.
Decide.
Yang Li's face turned cold and he said sternly: "What? Zhao Jun's troops have already begun to meet with our army's officers and generals? Damn it, I shouldn't let them leave the barracks at will. Send the order, all the soldiers in the army are in the barracks.
We are rectifying our soldiers and preparing for battle. Remember, be careful of Cao Gang's people."
"Are we going to fight to the death with Zhao Jun?" Yang Xiong and Qin Ling's expressions changed and they said in unison.
Yang Li shook his head and said: "No, wait until Zhao Jun comes. But no matter what, we can't let Zhao Jun's people meet our people anymore. Don't forget, Cao Gang's people are also watching us. Don't
At that time, we will not be prepared or make a decision, so we will
We were attacked by Cao Gang first. Since Cao Gang deliberately targeted us, we don’t need to be polite to him. Let the soldiers stay in the military camp. Except for the necessary city defense tasks, we should ignore Cao Gang. Since he
If they don’t believe us, let them fight to the death with Zhao Jun.”
On the morning of the next day, Zhao Xun's army gathered outside the south city of Dingping County, and then surrounded Dingping on all sides. More than 100,000 troops gathered in the clouds, and the momentum was overwhelming, making the defenders terrified.
After setting up camp, Zhao Xun was in the main camp and said quietly: "This Dingping County has been tortured very hard by these two armies. This city defense does not need to be divided by one state. If we want to attack by force, if the two armies in the city cooperate,
If it's good, without tens of thousands of casualties or twenty days of fierce attack, it would be difficult to break the city!"
Yang Hu said loudly: "When my subordinates attacked Dingyang City, the defenders were not very able to defend it. Although the city here is strong, it shouldn't be that difficult, right?"
Zhang Yuanjing smiled and said: "General Yang doesn't know something. This Dingping County is different from Dingyang and Dingyun City. Dingyang City and Dingyun City are both small cities. This Dingping County used to be a transfer station for border troops to transport grain and grass.
Not to mention that the city is strong and the pond is thick, there should be a lot of food, grass and defense equipment stored in the city.
.In addition, there are commanders of the two armies here. However, Dingyun City and Dingyang City were just two isolated small cities after our siege. Therefore, the defenders of the two cities were defeated by us without support.
Of course, the lack of sufficient defensive equipment in the two places is also one of the important reasons for the attack."
"But here, as far as we know, Cao Gang has spent a lot of money and food in order to gain the support of the people here. This all belongs to the Cao family. In addition, the Bingzhou Northern Army here belongs to the Cao family.
The private soldiers of the clan are all elite soldiers. Moreover, the troops here are all regular soldiers, and they are several times more powerful than those in Dingyun City and Dingyang City, so naturally they are not the same."
Zhao Xun smiled and said: "What? General Yang didn't have a good fight three days ago? Don't worry, the world is in chaos. It's still early to calm down. There are still many wars."
Yang Hu chuckled and said: "I still feel that it is refreshing to fight head-on. Of course, it would be best if you can defeat the enemy without fighting. However, I am afraid that if this place is solved, there will be no land in Bingzhou."
Gotta fight."
Zhang Yuanjing shook his head and smiled: "Well, General Yang, you clearly want to go to the Qiang and Hu lands or the northern Turkic grasslands to participate in the war, so what excuse are you looking for!"
Zhao Xun smiled and said: "Well, after the Bingzhou land is restored, you will not be allowed to stay here. Whether it is the Qianghu land or the Turkic grassland, you will be able to fight. By the way, everyone, let's see how we should act.
Only then can we capture this place with minimal losses? According to our spies
In return, the food in the city is enough for them for half a year, but our army of more than 100,000 people cannot do that. Furthermore, of the more than 100,000 troops, less than half are auxiliary troops. If the stalemate here lasts for a long time,
Yes, for us, it is a waste of food and supplies."
"Surrounding a siege but not attacking it, spreading rumors, can confuse its mind! Attacking a strong one, if its army is in chaos and united, causing it to fight among itself, will cause internal chaos within ten days. By then, our army will be able to
It’s easy to capture this place!” Zhang Yuanjing said concisely and straight to the point.
Wei Zilin also nodded and said: "We can take turns to attack Nancheng from tomorrow, and besiege the other three sides without attacking. Heavy weapons and light casualties will be used to wear down the troops of the northern army of Bingzhou. At the same time, spread the news that our army has conquered the entire territory of Bingzhou.
.After three days, we can spread the news that our army and the Bingzhou Army are cooperating to weaken the Bingzhou Northern Army, and spread the rumors to Yang Li. Within ten days, we will definitely gain something."
"Okay, let's do it like this. General Yang, although you can't attack the city as much as you want, let's treat it as a training exercise. Let each unit take turns to attack the city, using catapults and crossbows as the main ones, supplemented by archers and crossbowmen, to launch the siege." Zhao
Xun said in a deep voice.
On the third day of the siege, Zhao Xun received the news brought back by Deng Zhongyao and couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Success meant that he had captured Bingzhou from Situ Lei and pitted Situ Lei and Murong Cheng against each other.
In this way, the changes in the current situation are moving according to the plans of Zhao Xun and the military affairs envoys of the Military Affairs Department. This also makes Zhao Xun still stay out of the matter.
On the fifth day of the siege, which was September 13, Situ Tai reached an agreement with Wei Chen and agreed to withdraw from Bingzhou with 18,000 soldiers and army provisions, and completely hand over the land of Bingzhou to the Zhao army. Those who got the news
Li Huaiyuan, Qin Daolin and Xue Qinglan
The three armies immediately took over the Fenzhou Prefecture and Changping Prefecture. At this point, Zhao Xun basically captured the entire Bingzhou Prefecture from Situ Lei. Next, except for the tens of thousands of enemy remnants in the Dingping area