Chapter 35: Great Victory

Ge Hongtao didn't expect the door to open suddenly to fight, and was caught off guard by the people rushing out! Fortunately, they were numerous, and after losing hundreds of soldiers, they adjusted their formation in time and fought against the Chengtian Army.

As they were fighting, he realized something was wrong. How could the Chengtian Army be so good at fighting? They were like a group of mad dogs, rushing in and killing without blinking an eye!

On the other hand, the soldiers he led were so timid in the battle that they didn't even dare to chop their heads with knives in their hands? What the hell is this?

Song Yuzhu and his group standing on the city wall also discovered this situation and watched as eight thousand people tore open a gap in the opposing 30,000-strong army.

Xu Bing stroked his beard and said, "Qing... When the Chengtian Army was in Xizhou before, fighting was as common as eating and sleeping. But the Sheng Army is different. They have been comfortable for too long. On weekdays, they can only defeat bandits, but they can't train soldiers at all."

Song Yuzhu nodded, and suddenly remembered that the cook Uncle Gao had said something similar on the way to Xuzhou.

"These weapons were sharpened with blood. In the past, they were in the hands of Yang Yuanqing, and he used them to swing at the civilians. Master Zhu, I hope you will think twice before using this knife in the future."

Song Yuzhu said solemnly: "The younger generation knows!"

Eight thousand men against thirty thousand soldiers and horses, although they had the upper hand at the beginning, they gradually showed signs of decline over time. Ge Hongtao was worthy of being the descendant of a great general. He led his troops bravely and tenaciously, and slowly turned the situation around and drove the Chengtian army back into the city.

Ma Zhenwei was injured. One of his arms was pierced by a spear, damaging an artery. The blood was flowing like a faucet and couldn't be stopped!

Song Yuzhu quickly asked someone to use a belt to tie his arm to stop the bleeding, and took the medical box from Song Quan to help him treat the wound.

"Hiss, sir, you also know medical skills?" Ma Zhenwei had lost too much blood and his face was a little pale, but he was in good spirits. It seemed that after stopping the bleeding, he could go out and fight a big battle.

"Hmm." Song Yuzhu thought, how interesting, I not only know Chinese medicine but also Western medicine.

"I don't know what's going on with the general. It will be troublesome if the city gate is broken." There are many unarmed civilians in the city, and it will be easy to hurt them by mistake if we really break in.

Song Yuzhu's men sewed up his wound quickly and said, "Don't worry, he will definitely get here in time."

Ma Zhenwei stopped talking and leaned against the wall to rest. He felt dizzy from not sleeping all night and losing too much blood. Just when he was confused, he was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. "Fuck, what's that noise?!"

Song Yuzhu hurried back to the city wall and saw that Sheng's army was using battering rams to attack the city! More than 30 people pushed the battering rams to hit the city gate at the same time, and the violent impact made the city tower tremble.

The soldiers on the city wall were shooting arrows desperately, but they were wearing shields and the arrows couldn't penetrate them at all!

The old city gate made a teeth-grinding creaking sound. If it continued to be knocked down like this, the city would soon be breached!

There were also people in the city who heard the sound. Some of them hugged their loved ones and prayed, some cried bitterly, and some men picked up axes and hammers at home and stood guard at their doorsteps.

These people had experienced the catastrophe after the last siege, and they dared not pin their hopes on the soldiers defending the city. If they were to die, they would protect their wives and children and die upright!

At this critical moment, Zhao Xiao and his soldiers finally arrived!

They suddenly appeared from behind Sheng Jun on horseback, trapping Sheng Jun like a big net and slowly closing in.

Yang Yuan was shocked and asked angrily: "What's going on? Didn't they say they went to Jinzhou?!"

"It's over, it's over. I must have fallen into a trap!" Yang Yuanqi cursed while packing up his things and asking someone to escort him away.

Seeing that Yang Yuanzhen was still in a daze, he hurriedly said, "Old Five, you should run as well! It will be too late if you are late!"

"What will happen to them if I leave?" That was his hard work over the years! And General Ge, he couldn't just abandon them!

"As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!" Yang Yuanqi was not as conscientious as him. He had abandoned the city of Xuzhou and fled at the beginning. Now he didn't care about too much. He got on the carriage and fled to the north.

He was a professional at escaping. He had already prepared to run in that direction in case of failure before he came here. His men helped him find a hidden path that could lead directly to Shangjing.

Military Advisor Zhang Li's face turned pale. He had not expected that the enemy would actually ambush behind him. Now that he was attacked from both sides, the situation was hopeless. There was only one way to save the army, which was to attack Xuzhou City!

As long as they enter the city, clear out the enemies inside, and then defend the people outside the city, they may still survive.

"Attack the city, attack the city quickly!" Ge Hongtao shouted to the soldiers to hit the city gate. He turned around to look at the soldiers running towards him from a distance. The leader was riding a dark horse and holding a long sword in his hand. He was like a killing god and took the life of a soldier with a wave of his hand.

With cold sweat dripping down his forehead into his eyes, Ge Hongtao hurriedly rode towards Yang Yuanzhen: "My Lord, I'll have someone escort you away!"

"And you?"

"I can't leave. If I leave, the army will lose its morale. I have to stay and continue the siege!"

"Then I won't leave either!" Yang Yuanzhen was one of the few loyal and righteous people among the dozen or so princes.

Ge Hongtao had no time to be moved, as he saw that the other side had already surrounded the army, leaving only the northwest corner... It seemed that the other side was no ordinary force.

If they were trapped to death, the soldiers might be able to turn defeat into victory. Now that there was only a glimmer of hope, the soldiers would surely rush to the northwest with the idea of escaping, and there was chaos for a while.

"Your Highness, you better go! I'll have the deputy general escort you away!" Ge Hongtao shouted. After waiting for a long time, the deputy general did not come. He climbed on his horse and looked around. He saw that the deputy general was already dead or ran away...

"Bang, bang, bang!" War drums were beating in the city. Snowflakes fell along with the drumbeats. The war finally reached its final moment.

Du Chong led the remaining soldiers to open the city gate and launched a second crazy attack.

Zhao Xiao's morale was boosted when he heard the drumbeats! The soldiers roared and rushed towards the enemy. The Chengtian Army finally joined together at this moment and divided the enemy's battlefield into two parts.

Zhao Xiao even single-handedly defeated the opponent's main general.

At this time, the sky was slightly brighter, and the gray sky was covered with a layer of haze. There was still snow in Xuzhou today.

The cold wind cut on his face like a knife, and Song Yuzhu bent over with his fists clenched and coughed.

Liu Yanzi quickly asked: "Sir, are you okay?"

Song Yuzhu waved her hand: "Nothing, just an old problem."

The weather was unusually cold. This morning he looked at the weather forecast on the map and found that the temperature in Xuzhou would continue to drop over the next three days, and it would not be long before the temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius. This was definitely a severe test for a city in the central and southern regions.

Xu Bing said: "Young Master, you should go back and rest first. This battle will be won soon."

Song Yuzhu didn't try to hold back, he was indeed feeling very uncomfortable. After a night of cold wind, even though he was wearing thick clothes, he was still cold from head to toe.

Song Quan and Lin Dayong helped him down from the city wall and hurried back to Louwailou in a carriage.

In the restaurant, Xiangyu also did not sleep all night. Seeing Song Yuzhu coming back, she hurriedly went to ask, "How is the young master?"

"It should be fine."

Xiangyu patted her chest and said, "I was so scared. I heard the banging noises last night. My legs went weak. I thought the city was breached again."

Song Quan ran to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of ginger soup. Sun Mao had boiled a pot in advance and was waiting for them to come back and drink it to ward off the cold.

Song Yuzhu pinched her nose and drank it all in one breath. Her stomach felt warm and a trace of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Song Quan rubbed his back and said, "Sir, go and have a rest first. I'll call you when Lord Zhao comes back."

Song Yuzhu shook his head. This made him unable to sleep well. He couldn't let go of his worry until he saw the person come back safely.

Lin Dayong brought in a basket of charcoal and put it into the stove. The flames became stronger and the stove glowed red.

I waited until noon, when I suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door. The door was pushed open, and Zhao Xiao walked in covered in snow.

"My goodness, it's still really warm here!"

Everyone in the room stood up and excitedly surrounded him. Song Yuzhu pulled his arm and looked him up and down: "Are you hurt?"

Zhao Xiao took off his helmet, wiped the blood off his face and said, "No." He was wearing heavy armor and could not get hurt easily. If he was injured, it would probably be a serious injury that could not be recovered.

"How's it going outside the city?"

"Fortunately, we have fulfilled our mission. We have killed 5,700 enemies and captured 13,000 alive, including the enemy's main general and the seventh prince Yang Yuanzhen. The rest have escaped..."

Song Yuzhu's heart finally settled down, "Great! Great! Why haven't the others come back yet?"

"They are still cleaning up the battlefield. Many of our people have died as well."

"Let's take care of the wounded first, and make sure to provide follow-up compensation to the soldiers who died in the battle. We'll deal with the ambush tomorrow!" There was no place to put so many captured soldiers at the moment, so they could only have their hands and feet tied and locked up in the barracks.

"Yeah." Zhao Xiao nodded, turned around and walked into the snow again.

Song Yuzhu looked at his back and recalled a sentence: "When you win, don't be overly happy, and when you lose, don't be discouraged. If you have a thunder in your heart but a calm face, you can be worshiped as a general!"①

This battle completely transformed Zhao Xiao into a true general!

*

The battle was brutal, with more than 7,000 to 8,000 soldiers killed or wounded on both sides! The blood dyed the land outside the city reddish brown. The strong smell of blood could be smelled from a long distance away.

With so many people dead, just dealing with the corpses is a big problem!

They can't be buried on the spot. It's cold right now and there's nothing wrong with burying them in the ground. When the weather warms up next spring and flowers bloom, wild animals will dig up the ground following the smell, and the bodies will rot along with them. The stench will be enough to kill people, not to mention the various bacteria that will cause plague.

Song Yuzhu decided to drag the body to the suburbs and burn it. Although cremation was not popular in that era, it was the safest way to deal with it.

For the soldiers who died, their names should be recorded and each should receive 100 taels of silver as compensation, which must be sent to their relatives.

The rest of the soldiers should be rewarded and promoted. They have put their heads on the line and followed me to fight for my country, so they must not be treated unfairly.

Song Yuzhu even sent Liu Yanzi to buy hundreds of pigs and sheep from the villages around Xuzhou City. They slaughtered the pigs and sheep in the military camp at night and lit a huge bonfire to celebrate the victory! This was the first battle of the Chengtian Army, and the good start boosted everyone's morale.

It was three days later when all these matters were dealt with. Yang Yuanzhen asked the guarding soldiers to pass on the message that he wanted to see Song Yuzhu.

(End of this chapter)