Chapter 272 The Fight Gets Bigger
A group of brave generals from the Huaixi Right Camp, wearing heavy armor and holding shields, joined the team climbing the city wall.

The camp leader Xu Qiande personally approached the city several hundred steps away to supervise the battle. Dozens of ladders were set up on the city wall, and a group of soldiers rushed to the city one after another.

Captain Tang He shouted loudly: "Huaiyou men, General Zhu signed a military order in front of the general. Today we have captured the city, we must earn back his face. Kill!"

After saying that, he and Captain Hu Kuohai climbed up the ladder one after the other and climbed up quickly. When they reached the battlement, they used their shields to knock down a guard who was about to throw a stone from the battlement.

Then he picked up the iron bone flower and smashed the guard's head with it. Hu Kuohai rushed up and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Then the two of them held shields and carried several guards forward desperately, creating a large space for the real estate on the crenel. Then several soldiers kept climbing up.

"Kill." "Kill"

The defenders of Xiang County finally witnessed the bravery of the Huaiyou elite soldiers. After opening a gap, these soldiers fought hard under the leadership of Hu Kuohai and Tang He, while the soldiers behind them continued to climb up.

Soon, Hua Gao, Tang Yun, Wu Zhen and others also rushed up under the arrows. Finally, the military flag belonging to the Huainan Right Camp was raised on the top of the city and fluttered in the wind.

Zhu Deyu, who was watching the battle, clenched his fist and waved it vigorously, "Send a message to Guo Xing and Dou Xianjun, let them climb the city wall to support, and let Dou Fengjie's troops prepare to enter the city. Tell Xu Qiande to push forward with all your strength!"

"Send a message to Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e to enter the city from the north and west gates respectively. Maintain order and do not rape or plunder. Anyone who violates military discipline will be executed immediately!"

"promise!"

"promise!"

Several messengers acted quickly.

After receiving the military order, each unit demonstrated efficient execution. Everyone could see that the capture of the city was no longer a question of fact.

Finally, the defenders on the city wall collapsed after Xu Qiande personally led his troops to attack the city wall.

The defending general Xue Qi and dozens of his personal guards were surrounded in the main tower of the South Gate.

After Xu Qiande led his men to surround him, he tried to persuade him to surrender, saying, "General Xue, you are a veteran who has fought many battles. The general said that as long as you lay down your weapons, he will guarantee your wealth and honor."

Xue Qi laughed loudly upon hearing this and said, "I never thought that I would be defeated by this kid Li Yuanhui today. It's fate and timing. However, I, Xue Qi, have received great favor from Emperor Zhaowu. I will die in this battle today. No need to say more."

Xu Qiande said: "General Xue, since you have received great favor from Emperor Zhaowu, you should lay down your weapons and go to Chang'an to pay a visit to the current saint, Emperor Yining. The current emperor was originally the crown prince, but was framed by villains. Now he is in power and the four seas obey him. Why should you serve the false emperor who poisoned the previous emperor?"

Xue Qi snorted coldly, "Who doesn't know that the King of Shu has become Li Yuan's puppet? The emperor is now in Luoyang, and the throne is passed down to the younger brother. How can there be talk of poisoning? It's just the words of you traitors! There's no point in talking more, just fight if you want to."

Seeing that his attempt to persuade the enemy to surrender had failed, Xu Qiande shook his head and waved his hand. A group of soldiers from the Huainan Right Camp armed with bows and crossbows rushed forward and shot and killed dozens of guards including Xue Qi.

The battle lasted until noon, and Xiang County was captured.

The defending general Xue Qi died in the battle.

Li Yuanhui ordered Han Quan to lead hundreds of Wuwei troops into the city to maintain order and supervise the military laws of various departments.

Two days later, Murong Deyu, who had set up camp east of the Ying River, surrendered.

Li Yuanhui did not expect that Murong Deyu would choose to leave the camp and surrender after Xiang County was captured.

More than 10,000 elite Yan troops lined up neatly and marched out of the camp, then laid down their weapons on the ground.

Murong Deyu was wearing a plain robe and standing at the camp gate.

Li Yuanhui stopped his horse about ten steps away and dismounted.

"General Lee."

"King of Changsha."

After the two bowed to each other, they smiled at each other.

"The King of Changsha has abandoned evil and joined the light. This is truly a great blessing for the country. I will submit a memorial to the sage to explain the King of Changsha's case."

"Thank you, General Li."

The battle of Xiang County came to an end.

After the war, Li Yuanhui said that Zhu Deyu's merit was first-class, and reported to Chang'an to confer him the title of General Zhenbei and the title of Baron of Xuchang County. All the generals were given titles according to their military merits.

Among them, Tang He and Hu Kuohai were both awarded the title of Yingyang Langjiang and camp leader because of their merits in being the first to reach the summit.

Murong Deyu still commanded his own troops and the surrendered soldiers from Xiang County, totaling 12,000 people.

After surrendering, Murong Deyu immediately asked for orders, expressing his willingness to lead 3,000 cavalrymen from his own army to attack Dingying.

Dingying is located to the north of Pingyu, and is the confluence of several waterways including the Ru River extending northward. Once Dingying is lost, Mr. Lou of Pingyu will become an isolated force.

".This trend will not last long."

Li Yuanhui made the decision without much hesitation, "In this case, the important matter will be entrusted to you, the King of Changsha. If I can get Yuzhou, it will all be your credit!"

Murong Deyu did not expect Li Yuanhui to trust him so much. He was immediately grateful and shed tears. Then he led his cavalry to attack Dingying.

Taking advantage of this time, Li Yuanhui ordered Xiao Shizhi and Liu Yuanqing to join forces with more than 20,000 troops to capture Chenjun.

At the same time, he wrote a letter in person and ordered someone to deliver it to Li Yaoshi, the governor of Runan who was stationed in Liang County and the military commander of Jing, Yu, Xu and Yang.

persuade to surrender.

Unlike the letter to Murong Deyu, which was full of deception, the letter to Li Yaoshi was sincere and heartfelt, with every word being a gem.

The words are full of admiration and respect for Li Yaoshi, and he is trying to persuade him to surrender by using their fellow clan members, the Longxi Li family.

Then nothing happened.

However, Murong Deyu brought good news that Dingying was captured by him.

However, the expected plan to encircle Mr. Lou in Pingyu failed.

Because when the Yan army was attacking Xiang County fiercely, Mr. Lou had a premonition that Pingyu where he was might be in danger, so he made a prompt decision to abandon Pingyu and led his army north, and passed by Murong Deyu.

As a result, the entire Runan County, the largest county in Yuzhou, was taken into Li Yuanhui's possession.

In this way, the Jianghuai Army and Jingzhou Army of Western Yan finally formed a strategic connection.

After the good news, came the bad news. Luoyang's counterattack finally began.

Lingzhi King Duan Yihong led 100,000 elite troops from the central army out of the Qiaohan Road and headed straight for Luonan and Yingyin.

When passing through Luoyang, Duan Yihong did not enter the city, but Taixing Emperor Murong Yang personally came out of the city to see him off and awarded him the "Fake Yellow Axe".

"The Duan family and I, the Murong family, both came from Liaodong. We are one family and share weal and woe. In this time of national crisis, please, General, remember the old friendship between our two families and do your best."

Murong Yang, along with all the civil and military officials, begged in a very earnest tone outside the city of Luoyang.

Duan Yihong burst into tears and expressed his determination: "I will do my best to destroy the rebels and bring peace to my country."

After making his statement, Duan Yihong led his army south to the battlefield in Yuzhou.

Li Yuanhui, on the other hand, was seizing the time to seize various strategic locations in southern Yuzhou. At the same time, he ordered Zhang Gonglie to lead his troops north to take over Pingyu and the entire Runan County, and then led his troops westward to successively capture the cities of Ruyang, Zhaoling, Xihua, Zhengqiang, Xiping and Dingling.

He completed the plan of attacking Ye County and Wuyang from two directions together with his elder brother Sanlang Li Xuanqing's troops.

Li Sanlang didn't expect that Lao Si's attack was so fast, and he actually advanced all the way to Yingchuan area with great momentum.

This has far exceeded the pre-war plan, turning the original containment and harassment into the main direction of attack.

In Li Sanlang's opinion, this change has both advantages and disadvantages.

The Guanzhong side was not prepared for a decisive battle.

(End of this chapter)