Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 199: Battle of Mangshan, Lanling King Enters the Battlefield (1)

When Xie Yuxuan saw that Xiao Jinyu was safe and sound, she immediately burst into tears and smiled with joy on her face.

"Okay, we'll go back right away!"

Gao Xiaowan asked curiously, "What happened?"

"I have made Yuchi Jiong suspicious because reinforcements have arrived, but I cannot guarantee that he will react immediately. Therefore, we need to enter the city immediately!"

After Xiao Jinyu said this, Gao Xiaowan did not hesitate and immediately led the soldiers into the city gate.

Jinyong City also has three cities, similar to the three towers of Yecheng, connected in the shape of a "目" (eye). The three cities are connected to each other through the north and south gates, forming a whole.

The hundred-foot-high tower in the city serves as a lookout and command post.

Dugu Yongye was in this hundred-foot-high building at the moment, but he saw Yuchi Jiong's flag was raised high and fluttering in the wind ten miles away.

Only two riders came galloping and confronted them. After some unknown words were exchanged, Yuchi Jiong ordered his troops to stop. The two riders in blue armor turned back and joined the hundreds of cavalry led by Gao Xiaowan and returned to the city.

But just as the city gates were closed, a scout from the Zhou army came to report: "General, there seemed to be someone shouting to open the city gates in front of Guangmo Gate just now, with hundreds of nearly a thousand cavalry and several carts of baggage!"

Yuchi Jiong's face changed drastically, thinking to himself: Oh no, Xie Zhen came here just now, could it be that he just wanted to send a message on behalf of the Emperor of Qi? It seems that he was using a delaying tactic to send food and grass into the city!

He was about to send people to chase after them, but thinking that the city gates should have been closed by now, it was too late to regret, so he simply gave up and stationed his troops to wait and see.

……

After entering the city, Gao Xiaowan took Xiao Jinyu directly to the signing room, which was an important meeting place. At that time, Luozhou Governor Dugu Yongye and former Luozhou Governor Duan Siwen were already waiting in the signing room.

"So you are Xie Zhen!" Seeing Xiao Jinyu and Xie Yuxuan, both dressed in black military uniforms, walk in together, Dugu Yongye stepped forward to greet them enthusiastically, "I have heard of Minister Xie for a long time. It is an honor to meet you today!"

Xiao Jinyu also politely returned the greeting: "My Lord Governor, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Dugu Yongye asked about what happened outside Guangmo Gate just now. After Xiao Jinyu finished speaking, he could not help but feel happy and praised her repeatedly: "I didn't expect that Minister Xie is not only a world-class writer, but also has such military talent?"

Having said that, Dugu Yongye was originally a civil official. Since his background was not very prominent, he was promoted by Emperor Wenxuan as a lone official all the way from the initial position of Zhongshu Sheren to the position of Governor of a state.

He himself was a man who was transferred from a civil official to a military official, and he was both a civil and a military man. He was also a Han official, so he felt a sense of mutual respect for "Xie Zhen".

Xiao Jinyu smiled and said, "You are too kind, Governor. I don't know how to march and fight. I was lucky to have deceived Yuchi Jiong just now."

"Humble, humble!"

Xie Yuxuan watched them chatting for a while, and as soon as she finished speaking, she snorted coldly and said, "Sir Governor, are you too lax in your administration? Today, my brother brought the sword bestowed by the emperor to deliver food to the soldiers guarding Luoyang, but none of the soldiers on the city wall recognized the sword. Not only did they not let us in, they even wanted to kill my brother!"

Dugu Yongye's face suddenly changed, and he immediately asked someone to bring a few soldiers to guard the city.

And these soldiers guarding the city also brought a corpse with them.

Dugu Yongye recognized this corpse; it was a lieutenant general under Duan Siwen.

As if he had expected something, Dugu Yongye asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Several soldiers looked ashamed, and two of them lowered their heads in fear.

Dugu Yongye noticed the two soldiers with their heads down, occasionally glanced at Duan Siwen standing aside, and asked again in a stern voice:

"Tell me! What's going on?"

One soldier could not bear the pressure and immediately replied: "It was the city guard Duan who told us that if we see Xie Zhen coming, we should just kill him!"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Yongye suddenly turned his gaze fiercely towards Duan Siwen.

Duan Siwen was a weak scholar who once served as the governor of Luozhou, but he had no achievements and was also timid. When Dugu Yongye glared at him with such a stern look, he quickly became panicked.

"It's my fault! My fault! I was also forced by Lu Junjun. If I don't kill Xie Zhen, she will report me to His Majesty, and then my whole family will be in danger!"

Sure enough!

Xie Yuxuan was very angry and drew her sword and pointed it at Duan Siwen, wishing she could chop off his head.

"Ah Xuan, stop it!"

Xiao Jinyu pressed down the sword in her hand.

"No need to kill him. Now we need to unite to fight against the Zhou army. I will let him speak to His Majesty about his mistakes!"

After Xiao Jinyu finished speaking, she turned to Duan Siwen and said, "If you can prove Lu Lingxuan's wrongdoing, I may not bother with you for preventing me from entering the city today!"

"But if you dare to do such a thing to harm your comrades again, I will kill you with the emperor's sword!"

Duan Siwen looked at the Yuanrong Sword raised in Xiao Jinyu's hand, and was immediately terrified and looked ashen. He knelt down and said in a trembling voice:

"I will never do this again. I will fight against Zhou's army together with you!"

Having said that, everyone in the signing room began to feel a little worried. Yuchi Jiong's army of 100,000 was stationed in Taihe Valley outside Luoyang City. No one knew when they would attack the city. Could they wait for the reinforcements to arrive?

……

The imperial edict was sent to Jinyang by messengers on horseback at full speed. Due to the urgency of the edict, several horses died along the way.

The content of the imperial edict was to order Hulugu and King Lanling to rescue Luoyang as soon as possible. Duan Shao returned from Yecheng and then led his army to provide support.

After receiving the imperial edict, Duan Shao immediately deployed his troops and summoned all the generals to discuss countermeasures.

"Yuwen Hu is trying to stop our Great Qi reinforcements with two detachments. One is led by Yang Fu, who is backed by the Chenguan Pass, and the other is led by Quan Jingxuan, who is stationed in Xuanhu. If we want to reach Luoyang, we must cross the river, and if we want to cross the river, we will have to fight with Yang Fu. What suggestions do you soldiers have?" asked Hulugu.

He turned his gaze to Gao Changgong.

Gao Changgong pondered for a moment and said, "Yang Zhuo has only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. If he retreats into Xingzhong and blocks the pass, our army will have no way to deal with him. However, Yang Zhuo is known as a victorious general. He has fought against our Great Qi for 20 years and has never failed.

Chang Gong thought that this man would certainly underestimate the enemy, so as long as we could lure him out of Chen Pass and then set up an ambush, we would be able to capture him!"

Huluguang's eyes lit up: "Okay! Who wants to go first in this battle?"

Gao Changgong said: "General, let me go first!"

Hulugu pondered for a moment and waved his hand: "No, you have to follow me and lead the army to cross the river!" Then he called out, "Lou Rui, you go first in this battle. Follow Chang Gong's instructions and lead Yang Yu out of Chenguan!"

Lou Rui is the nephew of Empress Dowager Lou. He has mediocre talents and is not well-received by the public. The generals and soldiers were puzzled as to why Lou Rui was sent, but Gao Changgong understood Hulugu's intention in an instant.

The subsequent results were indeed as expected.

After Dong'an King Lou Rui and Wuxing King Gao Pu led 20,000 elite troops to Heyang, they waved flags and shouted that Yang Fu was a coward. Lou Rui also cursed him with some very obscene words. Yang Fu had never been so humiliated in his military life, especially when he saw that the leader was a boy much younger than him, he became even more ashamed and angry. In the end, he led his troops out of Chenguan and fought against Lou Rui's elite troops.

Since Lou Rui had already set up an ambush, he was able to defeat the detachment led by Yang Yu.

In the end, Yang Fu was captured alive and surrendered.

Hulugu and Gao Changgong led 50,000 elite troops to cross the river during the fog and reached the south bank.

On that day, Hulugu ordered Gao Changgong and Gao Yanzong to investigate the location of the Zhou army.

"Yuchi Jiong's main force of 100,000 troops is stationed in Taihe Valley, and Yuwen Xian, Daxi Wu, Wang Xiong and others each lead a part to station in various places in Mangshan."

"It seems that their target of attack is Jinyong City!"

After seeing the situation clearly, Gao Changgong became more and more uneasy, and thought to himself: Is A Yu in Jinyong City at this moment?

"Fourth brother, the ones stationed in Jinyong City are Dugu Yongye and Duan Siwen. Although Duan Siwen is not very famous, Dugu Yongye is a brave general and a governor of a state. Over the years, he has managed the border of Luozhou very well. I heard that the people of Luozhou love him very much. I think, since there is no bad news, Fourth Sister-in-law should be safe and sound in Jinyong City at this moment, right?"

"There is one more thing. Two months ago, He Shikai falsely accused my third brother of treason in Your Majesty's ear. In order to save my third brother, my fourth sister-in-law asked Your Majesty to send him to Heyang as well.

I have received a letter from my third brother. He has been with Dugu Yongye, learning how to handle government and military affairs. Perhaps my third brother is also in Jinyong City at this moment!"

At this point, Gao Yanzong paused and added, "What I want to say is that Fourth Sister-in-law seems to be able to foresee what will happen next. She has already planned everything for today's battle. So, Fourth Brother, you don't need to worry!"

Gao Changgong said, "I know." Then he asked, "What happened in Yecheng? Why did Ah Yu suddenly come to Luoyang?"

Gao Yanzong then told Gao Changgong the whole story, which made Gao Changgong's expression change again.

"These rumors may have been spread by that woman Lu Lingxuan. I heard that she has leverage over many ministers in the court. However, His Majesty still believes in the Fourth Sister-in-law and gave her a Yuanrong Sword!"

As the two were talking, a spear suddenly attacked Gao Yanzong. Gao Yanzong used his horse lance to block it, and then he saw a masked boy standing in front of him. He pointed the spear at him and asked, "What you just said is true. My brother Qing... Xie Zhen, is she in Jinyong City now?"

"Who are you?" Gao Yanzong was displeased.

The young man took off his mask, revealing an exceptionally handsome face, but this face was quite cold, just like the snow and wind that suddenly howled at this moment.

When Gao Changgong saw this face, he called out in surprise: "Murong Jue?"

Since arriving in Jinyang, he had often inquired about the whereabouts of the young man, but Duan Shao only told him that the young man had been sent to receive special training, but he did not say where he had gone.

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief Duan asked me to help you, but you just said that my brother Qing is in Jinyong City? Is that true or not?"

"Boy, can you please be more polite when asking questions? If this spear deviates a little, it will kill someone!"

Gao Yanzong said repeatedly, and at the same time he recognized that this boy was the guard beside his fourth sister-in-law!

Gao Changgong did not answer, but his expression gave a positive answer.

"Then I will attack Jinyong City now!"

After Fenghuang finished speaking, he was about to rush towards the direction of Jinyong City. Gao Changgong shouted in a stern voice: "Murong Jue, don't be reckless. Come with me to Mangshan tomorrow and destroy the enemy camp!"

The next day, Duan Shao also led a thousand cavalrymen across the river, and immediately summoned all the generals and soldiers. He appointed Gao Changgong as the central army, Hulugu as the right army, and he personally led the left army to form a battle array on the high ground of Mangban.

……

Before the arrival of the Qi army's reinforcements, Yuchi Jiong ordered his men to dig tunnels while leading the Northern Zhou soldiers to attack the three cities of Jinyong City in turn. Dugu Yongye led the county soldiers in the city to defend the city to the death and refused to surrender.

After fighting like this for only ten days, there were five or six large-scale attacks.

"Governor, this Yuchi Jiong is getting more and more ruthless. He seems to want to end the war quickly. He has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to attack the major gates of our Jinyong City. If this continues, I wonder if we can wait for the arrival of reinforcements?"

"Don't be afraid. Jinyong City is known as the Nine Heavens Pavilion. It has a three-zhang wall and a nine-zhang terrain. If the Zhou army wants to attack by force, it will only gradually consume their strength. What's more, we have the food and grass sent by Minister Xie, which is enough for us to hold out for at least a month.

One month is enough, long enough to wait for the arrival of reinforcements!"

With confidence flashing in Dugu Yongye's eyes, he called Gao Xiaowan and Xiao Jinyu to go to the observation tower on the city wall to observe the enemy's situation.

"Thank you, Minister. It is really thanks to the food, cotton clothes and medicine you sent that the soldiers in Luoyang City have been able to hold on until now!"

During this period, the Zhou army suffered some casualties while attacking the city, but what Dugu Yongye did not expect was that Xie Zhen actually knew medicine. He and his sister treated the wounded and saved the lives of dozens of soldiers.

"Thank you for everything you have done for our soldiers!"

Dugu Yongye's eyes were full of gratitude, so he trusted her very much and would ask her to discuss any important military information.

It was just daybreak, the heavy snow was still falling, and the mist had already dissipated.

Yuchi Jiong had been attacking the tower for a long time and was exhausted. He looked at the tower and shouted to Dugu Yongye: "Why don't you surrender if there are no reinforcements?"

Dugu Yongye was not willing to be outdone, and shouted loudly: "My city is well-fortified, and my soldiers and food are sufficient. You have been unable to capture it after repeated attacks, and your army is exhausted. I only need to wait for reinforcements to arrive, and you will be in danger of not being able to return. Why should I surrender?"

Yuchi Jiong was furious and said to the soldiers behind him: "Whoever can kill Dugu Yongye will be appointed as the Grand Commandant, given 10,000 households, and rewarded with 1,000 gold coins!"

Then, another large-scale Zhou army came to attack the city.

Amidst this mighty noise, Xiao Jinyu, who was looking into the distance, suddenly had her eyes brightened and showed a hint of joy.

In the wind and snow, three huge flags were raised on Mangban!

high!

段！

Hulu!

Yuchi Jiong was still busy attacking Jinyong City when he heard the scouts report:

"General, it's bad, the reinforcements from Qi have arrived!"

"How many have come? Who is in charge? Where are they now?"

"The Mangban Pass is densely packed with Qi soldiers, with about 50,000 cavalry! Judging from the flags, they should be Hulugu, Duan Shao, and a prince from the Gao family!"

"Could it be Lanling Prince Gao Changgong?"

Yuchi Jiong was a little dazed and scared. Although Gao Changgong was not as famous as the previous two, he was already a rising star who could catch up in the footsteps of Duan Shao and Hulugu.

The three great generals of Qi State are here!

While he was thinking, another scout came to report: "General, it's not good. About four to five hundred people suddenly rushed out from the Qi army, all wearing heavy armor, and rushed into our army with the force of thunder. These people are very fierce and brave. They killed many of our soldiers along the way, causing the central army to disintegrate, with countless casualties!"

Yuchi Jiong felt his hands and feet were cold and his face turned pale.

"Who is this?"