Chapter 538: Fighting in Jinyang Again
In a blink of an eye, after the New Year, it was already the fourth year of Zhenguan.

Now the entire southern kingdom and the two Wei territories have been absorbed by the Tang Dynasty and completely transformed into the war potential of the Tang Dynasty.

It was in this situation that Li Xuanqing, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in his fourth year on the throne, issued an edict to send troops to once again launch a war against the Northern Han. He sent 150,000 troops to attack Jinyang. At the same time, he issued an edict to Li Yuanhui, the King of Qi, to send 100,000 troops out of Henei and head north to Yecheng.

Starting from February, Chang'an and Luoyang, the entire Tang Dynasty's war machine started again after a three-year hiatus.

This time their target was the Northern Han, the biggest obstacle to the Tang Dynasty's unification of the world.

Li Xuanqing dispatched 150,000 troops from Guanzhong and led the army in person, with Li Huaizhen, Prince of Zhao and General of the Cavalry, as the chief marching commander, Zhao Yi, General of the Auxiliary State and Duke of Dai, as the commander-in-chief of the front army, Chai Rong, Duke of Qiao and General of the Western Expedition, as the commander-in-chief of the right army, Li Su, Prince of Hejian and General of the Cavalry, as the commander-in-chief of the left army, Li Cang, Prince of Hedong and Grand Marshal, as the commander-in-chief of the rear army, and Du Keming, Shangshu Zuo Pushe, as the chief military officer.

A number of generals including General Duan Xiong of the Left Guard, General Yin Qiao of the Right Guard, General Dou Cong of the Left Xiao Guard, General Liu Zongxun of the Right Xiao Guard, General Xue Renmei of the Left Leading Army Guard, General Yuwen Xiao of the Right Leading Army Guard, General Cheng Zhijie of the Left Guard Gate, General Shan Xiongxin of the Right Qianniu Guard, General Hou Jun of the Left Jinwu Guard, and General Liu Zhenghui of the Right Jinwu Guard followed the army into the battle.

As for the eastern army, King Li Yuanhui of Qi led his troops out of Luoyang, with General Zhenjun Li Yaoshi as the commander-in-chief, General Zhu Deyu of the Left Wuwei Guard, General Chang Yanheng of the Right Wuwei Guard, General Zhendong Zhang Jian, General Chen Zhen of the Left Weiwei Guard, General Li Sixing of the Right Weiwei Guard, General Zhenxi Liu Fuwei, and Shang Duhu Zhang Zhen'e and other generals accompanying him.

In addition, he sent General Fujun, Governor of Qingzhou, Envoy with Special Powers, Duke of Lai Lü Qin, General Zhengbei, Governor of Yanzhou, Prince of Huaiyang Li Heng, and General Zuowei Murong Sanzang to lead an army of Zuowei and soldiers from Qingzhou and Yanzhou counties, about 40,000 people, to Bai Ma, cross the river downstream, harass Hejian in the Northern Han Plain, and threaten Yecheng in Wei County from the flank.

So although there were nominally two main armies, there was also a small army that posed a great threat.

On the Northern Han side, Liu Xuanji ordered Wang Sizheng and Liu Changmin to guard Bingzhou and Wei Xiaoju to guard Shangdang, and he led an army of 100,000 south to meet Li Yuanhui at the Qi River.

Emperor Li Xuanqing led his army northward. After several years of preparation, the Tang army was unstoppable and captured Jiexiu, Qixian, Jingling and other cities, and the army went straight to Jinyang.

Li Xuanqing stood at the foot of Jinyang City, looking at the top of the city wall. "In the second year of Wude, I led the army northward. Taizong and the King of Qi led their army to help. My three brothers confronted Liu Xuanji for several months before we captured Jinyang City, but we were defeated by the servants. Over the next ten years, we launched several northern expeditions to Jinyang, but all failed. This time, I led the army northward to capture Jinyang and control Taihang!"

Bingzhou's topography determines that it has a commanding position over Guanzhong, Henan, and Hebei. Four of the eight passes in Taihang can directly radiate to Jinyang.

The Northern Han had been operating this city for more than ten years since the previous dynasty. There were not only tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the city, but also enough food and fodder for the army for a year, as well as mountains of military equipment.

The defenders in the city were led by Wang Sizheng, the governor of Bingzhou, the general of the army, and the minister of the left, Liu Changmin, the governor of Bingzhou and the general of the northern expedition, Yang Kan, the general of the eastern expedition and the grand marshal, and other generals of the Northern Han Dynasty.

Among them, Wang Sizheng was the general and prime minister, responsible for the defense and government affairs in the city, Liu Changmin commanded the Bingzhou troops, and Yang Kan commanded all the cavalry in the city. The three seemed to be in charge of their own affairs, but in fact Liu Changmin, the governor of Bingzhou, was the first commander. However, he admired Wang Sizheng's talents, and with Liu Xuanji's instructions, Wang Sizheng became the one who actually made the decisions. As for Yang Kan, as the Taiwei, he had the highest official title and status. He commanded a small number of troops, but they were extremely important, with as many as 7,000 cavalry.

It is an important mobile force for the entire Northern Han.

It was April, and the weather was neither hot nor cold. Logically, it was not the right time to send troops. However, the Tang Dynasty had been preparing for this battle for a long time, and had accumulated enough food and fodder. They also used water transportation to march. There was no need to recruit farmers to transport the food and fodder, as it had already been prepared along the Fen River in Hedong.

The number of troops sent out was 150,000, not 250,000 or 350,000.

The number of 150,000 only included the government troops in Guanzhong, the border troops in Qinzhou, Yongzhou and Xiazhou, and the recruited Qiang and Hu cavalry.

The impact of sending troops on the farming season was almost minimized, but due to the war near Jinyang, the farming season of Northern Han was delayed due to the war.

The Fen River is a river valley, and Jinyang is built on the mountain, but just looking at the number of cities centered on Jinyang, you can tell that there is a rare plain nearby.

That is to say, Bingzhou is the main grain producing area. The Tang Dynasty’s intention of launching a northern expedition at this time is obvious. Even if Jinyang cannot be conquered this year, Bingzhou will be short of food next year.

Wang Sizheng, who was over fifty years old, stood on the top of the city wall. He was originally from the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Jinyang branch, which was one of the ten famous surnames established by the previous dynasty of Dayan. Although he was born in such a famous family, his official career was not smooth at the beginning.

He was implicated by the fact that he was a subordinate of Murong Xu, who once served as General Zhenbei, Governor of Bingzhou, and King of Guangling of the Former Yan Dynasty. However, because Murong Xu intended to rebel, he was also implicated. If it were not for the reputation of the Taiyuan Wang family and the rescue of his in-laws and old friends, he would probably have been punished.

Later, he was recommended by his family elders to join Wei Xiaoju's army and followed him to the north.

It was not until Murong Yang died that he was appreciated by Liu Xuanji, entered the Han Wang's court, and became a strategist. After that, he rose rapidly in the Han Dynasty.

Now he has become a general and a prime minister. Naturally, he is grateful to Liu Xuanji for such a favor.

Looking at the Tang army under the city, Wang Sizheng was not in a hurry. He knew that the situation would be very critical, but he believed that he could defend the city.

After the Tang Emperor issued the military order, the Tang army began to attack the city.

Hundreds of catapults fired stone bombs at the same time, hitting the top of the city walls, forcing the Han soldiers on the top of the city walls to hide in the corner towers specially built to avoid stone cannons.

Thousands of archers also went out to shoot rockets at the top of the city and inside the city. Under the double cover, the Tang army began to drive prisoners and civilians to carry soil to fill the trenches.

Wang Sizheng looked at this situation and could only look at the cavalrymen in the city who were ready to go.

The next moment, the city gate opened, Yang Kan, wearing armor and holding a spear, personally led a thousand elite cavalry out of the city and rushed towards the Tang army's archers.

The Tang army archers also have cavalry as guards on both sides to prevent the cavalry in your city from launching a surprise attack.

Before the brutal siege began, the cavalry of both sides took the lead in fighting under the city.

The cavalry of the two armies were directly entangled with each other. No one could stop Yang Kan with a large spear in his hand, but the cavalry generals of the Tang army who were responsible for guarding the two wings were also Yang Nandang, who was also known for his bravery, and his grandson Yang Damu.

Yang Nandang was a great general of the Di tribe. In his early years, he led his 4,000 tents to join Li Yuan in Shuzhong. He was impressed by Li Sanlang's bravery and wisdom, followed him through many battles, and was entrusted with his confidant. He was named the Prince of Tianshui
His grandson Yang Damu, who was only seventeen years old, was tall and strong. He could run as fast as a horse and was very brave. He was valued by Li Sanlang and was appointed as the Right Guard General. At this moment, he and his grandfather led more than a thousand elite cavalrymen to attack Yang Kan's one thousand cavalrymen from both sides.

Just as Yang Kan was about to be surrounded, a group of cavalry rushed out of the city. They were Yang Kan's deputy, General Liu Qian, who pulled Yang Kan's troops out of the encirclement.

The two sides fought a melee and suffered casualties on both sides, but it still slowed down the pace of the Tang army's siege.

But Wang Sizheng knew clearly that this method could not be used as a conventional method. This was the first day of the siege, and they could not allow the Tang army to completely suppress the defenders from outside. Therefore, they had to show some momentum to let both the Tang army and the Han army defending the city know that they still had the strength to fight.

But if the Han army in Bingzhou could win a decisive battle with the Tang army in the field, would they have been allowed to push all the way to the city of Jinyang?
After today, the battle to attack and defend Jinyang will truly begin.

(End of this chapter)