Chapter 535: Zhu Deyu

Sima Xiuye ​​was naturally the guardian of the traditional order, so he naturally hoped that the throne of the Tang Dynasty could be inherited in an orderly manner. As a person who ranked among the top military meritorious officials, he naturally did not want the Tang Dynasty to fall into civil strife.

After the brothers succeeded each other, the imperial lineage would naturally transfer, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that civil strife would occur.

Unless the previous imperial system was cleaned up.

In fact, Sima Xiuye ​​believed that the Golden Casket Alliance was a recipe for disaster, but it was the Emperor and the King of Qi who had facilitated all of this.

This moment, that moment.

If the emperor had known that Taizong would die young, how could he have agreed to the so-called Golden Casket Alliance proposed by the King of Qi?

But now the matter is done. If the emperor does not want to pass the throne to the King of Qi, he will have to face a force that is no weaker than the entire Guanzhong.

This force forced him to be cautious and to show verbally that he would abide by the covenant on the surface, while at the same time supporting his son with one hand.

Sima Xiuye ​​saw all of this.

As for the battle to pacify Jiangdong, the troops in Guanzhong and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were destined to fail to achieve the most important achievement of conquering Jianye.

Wang Jun sailed to Yizhou on his tower ship, but he was still a step too late.

And the fact was just as he thought. On the Eastern Wei side, General Lu Gongren, the General of the Northern Expedition, led an army of 60,000 troops cobbled together from all over the place to fight a fierce battle with the Tang army at Baitugang.

Grand Commander Zhu Deyu personally led the army to fight. The brothers Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e each led their own troops in the front, forming a pincer attack on the Wei army. Chang Yanheng led hundreds of elite cavalry to attack the Wei formation. The Wei army could not resist and was defeated by the Tang army.

This also became the last large-scale field battle between the two sides. After this battle, Jianye had no spare energy to send troops for field battles.

Wei army commander Lu Gongren was captured alive.

On the tenth day, Zhu Deyu, in the name of Grand Commander, gathered all the generals at Zhongshan to discuss strategies to break the city.

Pharmacist Li suggested using a strategy to attack the hearts of the people, releasing the Wei prisoners and luring them with a large sum of money, so as to cause chaos in the city.

Chang Yanheng, Zhang Jian, Liu Fuwei and others thought that there was no need to do so many tricks and they should just take advantage of the great victory to attack the city and wait for the Jingzhou army to arrive.

Zhu Deyu thought about Li Yuanhui's instructions before he left and the current situation, and agreed with the generals' suggestion to attack the city directly.

Order Zhang Jian to attack Zhuque Gate, Chang Yanheng to attack Xuanyang Gate, Liu Fuwei to attack Qingming Gate, Chen Zhen to attack Guangzhen Gate, Xiao Shizhi to attack Jianyang Gate, Xu Qiande to attack Daxia Gate, and Zhang Zhen'e to attack Xuanwu Gate
All the troops deployed were elite soldiers and generals, with the goal of conquering Jianye in the shortest possible time.

And all the generals wanted to take the credit for entering Jianye first.

However, before the generals used their troops, Zhu Deyu emphasized, "You and I are all the king's confidants, and we have received the king's great favor. Before we went south this time, the king emphasized that military discipline must not be relaxed. He wanted a complete and intact Jianye City."

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed and said "Yes".

As soon as the military order was issued, the Tang army launched a fierce attack on Jianye, climbing the city walls with long ladders and ramming the city gates with huge logs.

The morale of the Tang army was as different as heaven and earth compared to that of the Wei army. A large number of temporarily recruited Wei soldiers were afraid of the fearless Tang soldiers. Usually, if a Tang soldier climbed to the top of the city wall, it would take the loss of several Wei soldiers to kill him.

Just when the defenders on the city wall were about to collapse, rumors broke out in the city, saying that the emperor was dead, or had been killed by the King of Wu. Some also said that the emperor died of illness, causing panic among the people.

On one side was the Tang army attacking fiercely outside, and on the other side was the rear where even the emperor was missing. Finally, some people began to give up.

Wei army general Ren Zhong opened the Suzaku Gate and surrendered, and Zhang Jian's troops became the first Tang army to enter the city.

What followed was a one-sided broken window effect. Once someone took the lead in surrendering, more people would lay down their arms and choose to surrender to the Tang army.

However, Cao's father and son had been in power for more than ten years, and there were still some loyal ministers who were willing to stay loyal to him and die on the battlefield. But in such a one-sided situation, this kind of obstruction actually had little significance.

On the 15th, the eighth day of the siege, Jianye City was broken and all the troops poured into the city. Central Guard General Li Qinglian and Central Protector General Zhao Jiong were ordered by King Qi to supervise the troops and conduct inspections. However, those who violated the law, committed rape and looting were all dealt with according to military law.

Anyone who took even a penny from the people would be beheaded in public. More than ten people from various units were killed in one day, and the people in the city were thus calmed.

In Jianye, only Taicheng was left unconquered.

There were only 3,000 soldiers stationed in Taicheng, but they were all veterans of Danyang who had been raised by the Cao family for two generations. Their organization and loyalty were incomparable to other Wei troops. Their chief general was the general Cao Jun, the cousin of Wu Wang Cao Rong, and one of the few people who knew the inside story of the emperor's death.

Cao Jun said to Cao Rong, "Your Majesty, the Tang army has already broken through Jianye. Although Taicheng can still hold out, we can no longer count on reinforcements from the Three Wus or Lingnan. It would be better to inform the troops of your majesty's death and then select those who dare to fight to fight the Tang army and preserve the bravery of your majesty and the late emperor."

Cao Rong stood on the city wall of Taicheng, looked at the fluttering flags of the Tang army outside, and nodded.

"That's fine. My father and brother are both wise rulers. Now that the Wei Dynasty is about to fall, I will inherit my brother's ambition, take over the throne, and fight against the Tang army."

So Cao Rong ordered the old soldiers of Danyang to gather in the city and announced in front of everyone the fact that the emperor had passed away many days ago, as well as the will that passed the throne to him.

These veteran soldiers from Danyang were all members of the Cao family's two generations of emperors, so they were naturally willing to be loyal to the Cao family.

Cao Rong succeeded to the throne in Taicheng, announced it to heaven and earth, and then put on armor and went out of Taicheng to fight the Tang army. He led the last 1,200 elite veterans and launched an attack on the Tang army. The offensive was extremely fierce. For a time, the Tang army was beaten back again and again.

After all, the Tang army was an elite force that had experienced many battles. After learning about the bravery of the Wei army, their fighting spirit was also stimulated. They had not encountered any decent opponents before, which led to the armies becoming somewhat slack.

This heavy blow served to energize the drowsy Tang army, and they began to launch a counterattack.

The most intense battle of the entire war against Wei began. Zhang Jian, Liu Fuwei and Chang Yanheng each led thousands of people to surround the Wei army that had broken out of Taicheng, and then the massacre began.

The Wei army also started to go crazy after being trapped in a desperate situation. Emperor Cao Rong launched a charge under the emperor's flag, allowing the last troops of the Cao family to fight with such final ferocity that even the Tang army was a little frightened.

But the number of these Danyang veterans who bloomed with their lives was still too small. Zhu Deyu and Li Yaoshi personally came to the front of the battlefield to supervise the battle, while Li Chengan, Li Chengqian and Li Chengtai watched from behind.

Li Changgong and Li Yanzong each led hundreds of troops to join the battle with Zhu Deyu's permission.

At this time, there were only a few hundred old soldiers left in Danyang after the fierce battle, and Emperor Cao Rong was covered in blood, standing with his sword in his hand.

The Tang army surrounded the last few hundred people. Zhu Deyu personally came to the front and shouted, "Is the Wei lord still alive?"

Zhu Deyu didn't know the specific situation yet and only thought it was Cao Rong or Cao Yan.

But Cao Rong didn't care and said, "I am Cao Rong, the Emperor of Wei. What do you have to say?"

When Zhu Deyu heard that it was not Cao Yan but King of Wu Cao Rong, he understood what had happened. At this time, the gate of Taicheng had been opened. As long as he wiped out the last of the Wei army, he could go in and take over.

But he still wanted to achieve complete success. If he could get the King of Wei to surrender, it would naturally be of great benefit to the Tang Dynasty taking over Jiangdong. Although the hope was slim, he still wanted to try.

Zhu Deyu said loudly: "Whether it is the Lord of Wei or the King of Wu, you should understand that the Tang Dynasty has already conquered Wei. Does the Lord of Wei still have the delusion of saving the country? The King of Qi once said that if the Lord of Wei surrenders, he can be made a Duke of Anle. He can emulate the last ruler of Shu Han and enjoy a peaceful and happy life in the new dynasty."

Cao Rong laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha, throughout history, there has been no dynasty that lasts forever. Qin unified the world, Han replaced it, Han lost its power, and Wei gained it. Today, Han and Wei are respectively in the north and south, but we cannot shake your Tang Dynasty. I think the world should belong to your Tang Dynasty. But although I, Cao Rong, have just become the emperor of Wei, I cannot follow the example of the last ruler of Shu Han. Although Wei is dead, as a descendant of Wei Wu, I dare not let my ancestors lose face. Today, I will just die."

Zhu Deyu nodded. Now that things had come to this, the best thing left was to make it happen.

With a wave of his hand, the Tang army launched the final attack. Cao Rong killed dozens of people and then committed suicide.

All 1,200 Danyang veterans were killed, Taicheng was captured, and dozens of Eastern Wei clan members in the city surrendered.

Zhu Deyu ordered people to bury Cao Rong in a coffin and send it together with Cao Yan's coffin to the sides of Cao Yuanjing's tomb, and buried them with the rites of princes.

Starting from crossing the river from Guangling Guazhou, Taicheng was captured within 20 days, and the Eastern Wei country was destroyed.

Zhu Deyu's name became famous throughout the world.

(End of this chapter)