Chapter 301: How are you? Luoyang City

Outside Xinzheng, the army surrounded the city tightly. It had been several days since Li Yuanhui arrived.

There was a sharp contrast in morale between the Western Army in the camp outside the city and the Eastern Army inside the city.

As the Western Army shot a letter from Luoyang into the city, the defenders in the city were finally shocked.

Half an hour later, Lou Jun, son of Lou Jushi, Duan Wuda, son of Duan Yihong, and Yuchi Gong, a fierce general of the Eastern Army, surrendered the city.

From then on, the entire Yuzhou fell into the hands of the Western Army.

"The defeated generals come to see the Prime Minister and ask him to send us two into the pass. We are willing to be the vanguard and climb the city first to avenge our fathers and brothers."

Duan Wuda and Lou Jun knelt on the ground and cried. Li Yuanhui stepped forward and helped them up personally, and then comforted them with kind words.

He also agreed to let them participate in the attack on Luoyang.

Then Li Yuanhui looked at Yuchi Gong standing aside, his mind was filled with mixed feelings. According to the original trajectory, this man was his victim.

But at this moment, this peerless warrior fell into his hands. Life and death depended on a word from Li Si.

And since he met this powerful general before Li Er, shouldn't he have recruited him for his own use?

After all, the loyalty of this fierce general has been verified by history, and he can be called a top bodyguard and a sharp swordsman.

"General Yuchi, you are brave and good at fighting, and you are resolute and resolute. I have heard of your great name for a long time."

At this moment, Li Si gave people the feeling of being bathed in spring breeze, which surprised Yuchi Gong a little. However, he has always had the temperament of a strong man, and he would not be servile and fawning just because of surrender. Even if he bowed his head to salute, he still looked proud.

"Greetings to the Minister of Works. Yuchi Gong is a defeated general and dares not speak of bravery. Please let the Minister of Works decide his fate."

Li Si heard this and felt that the man was indeed tough and somewhat rebellious. But none of this mattered. What was wrong with a bad temper?
"General Yuchi and Generals Lou and Duan, how about temporarily leading your old troops and following me into the pass?"

Yuchi Gong was also a little surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that Li Si still trusted him so much.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that surrendering to the Western Yan regime in Chang'an is equivalent to surrendering to the Li family.

From Li Yuan to the next few legitimate sons, the Li family has become a powerful hero. It can be said that the future is bright.

It was precisely because of these prospects that Yuchi Gong felt that joining the Li family seemed to be a very good choice.

Among all the sons of the Li family, the one he most wanted to join was naturally Li Erlang.

But after meeting Li Silang today, he realized that compared to Li Erlang, his brother is equally worthy of serving. Not everyone has the courage to trust a surrendered general like him and continue to lead his old troops to fight.

Generally speaking, old subordinates would be disbanded and surrendered ones would be left idle until the right opportunity came along. But now that the three of them were still in command of the headquarters, the risk was actually quite high.

Lou Jun, Duan Wuda and Yuchi Gong all thanked him repeatedly.

After the surrender of Xinzheng City, the entire Yuzhou fell into the hands of the Li family. Except for the Yang family in Qingzhou, basically all the areas south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River were under the rule of the Western Yan regime in Chang'an.

Only Luoyang, the world's most powerful city with a population of one million, is still in the hands of the Eastern Yan court.

In addition, the two states of Hebei were completely out of control. After Zhao Da quickly returned to Yecheng, he found that Liu Xuanji's attack speed was extremely fast. He only had Zhaojun and Weijun left in the entire Jizhou.

Liu Xuanji led an army of 100,000 to besiege Handan for several months. Zhao Da led his army to rescue it, but after several unsuccessful battles, he had to retreat to Yecheng.

In October, the army and people of Handan surrendered, and Zhao Da was left with only Wei County.

Yecheng had been run by the Zhao brothers for several years, and the people and the army in the city still recognized the Zhao brothers. Therefore, Liu Xuanji did not rush to attack Yecheng, but instead gradually took over Qinghe, Pingyuan and other places.

The powerful people and noble families in Hebei also changed from being ambiguous at first to giving all possible help to Liu Xuanji's arrival.

The Zhao brothers in Yecheng were strengthening the city and preparing for war.

But for many people, the situation in Hebei is already very clear. It is very obvious that Liu Xuanji controls the two states of You and Ji. Yecheng has in fact become an isolated city. Even if Zhao Da still has tens of thousands of combat-capable troops, how can he support a large army with just one place?

So after the Zhao brothers learned about the situation on the Central Plains battlefield, they immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to Li Er on the south bank of the Yellow River.

First of all, he expressed his willingness to serve the Western Yan court and obey the Tang King's edict, but the situation in Jizhou is now critical, so he asked the Tang King and the other gentlemen to rescue Yecheng as soon as possible.

After reading the letter, Li Er did not respond immediately.

Firstly, this matter is of great importance, and he has to ask for instructions from Chang'an, and also discuss it with his brothers.

So he sent the messenger back.

Li Si also arrived with his troops soon. After the meeting, Lou Jun and Duan Wuda shouted at the foot of Hulao City, and the people of Hulao Pass, which were already in panic, opened the gates and surrendered the city.

After taking Hulao Pass, the army officially entered the heart of Luoyang.

Afterwards, Li Er handed the army over to Li Si for command, and led the cavalry to quickly attack Luokou Granary and captured the "National Bank of Dayan" which had a huge amount of grain reserves. The defenders surrendered and handed over all the grain reserves.

This also greatly reduced the burden on the army. That is to say, after the capture of Luokou Warehouse, there was no need to continue transporting food and fodder from Jianghuai.

In mid-October, the news of Li Yuan's military deployment also reached the army.

At this time, nearly 200,000 Western Yan troops had gathered around Luoyang.

They also took over the surrounding citadels and passes, such as Yique, Kuaixiang, Yanshou, Yanshi, Heqiao, etc. Only Jinyong City was left outside Luoyang City.

By the end of October, the Li brothers had basically completed their preparations for the siege of Luoyang City. The only stronghold, Jinyong City, was also breached. The defending general who refused to surrender was killed by his subordinates, and the rest of the people opened the gates and surrendered the city.

"Luoyang is a really strong city. It has 22 towers and a city wall 45 feet high and 30 feet thick. It is 9 feet higher and 7 feet thicker than Chang'an, the capital of the Western Capital. The moat is 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep, connecting to the Luo River. There is a Hanjia granary in the city with sufficient food and grass. It is difficult to attack such a strong city head-on."

Li Yuanhui stood side by side with his two brothers, looking at the city, muttering to himself.

His thoughts went back to six or seven years ago, when he had just arrived. It happened that Yang Xun was rebelling, and he was conscripted into the army. At that time, he was guarding the city, and he was a captain, in charge of fifty people. He would hide under the battlements every day and occasionally shoot an arrow.

Now I have become the party that needs to attack the city, and I am one of the commanders, leading a large army. It is really a matter of time and fate.

"What is Silang thinking about?" Li Er asked curiously.

Li Si said: "I was thinking about Yang Xun. He was the last one to besiege Luoyang."

Li Er was a little surprised when he heard this, then nodded and said, "Silang is right, but Yang Xun's foundation is not stable, so he rashly besieged Luoyang. He did not go to Guanzhong where he has a strong foundation, nor did he go north to Zhuojun to trap the Eastern Expedition Army. Instead, he wanted to capture Luoyang and kidnap the families of the officials. It's really a fantasy."

Li San said: "Speaking of the Yang family, the three brothers Yang Xun, all fell into Silang's hands, and Silang was given the title of Marquis of Ye and a duwei of the imperial son-in-law. Now the Yang family still remembers this hatred, and they are defending Qingzhou and refusing to surrender. When we take Luoyang this time, Qingzhou must be taken first, and these stubborn resisters must be eliminated, otherwise they will be a disaster."

(End of this chapter)