Chapter 53: Great Victory

Shen Congwu and his men in the military camp had already heard the signal, and they were all ready to rush out of the camp and join the army outside.

Unfortunately, they couldn't get out. There were still more than 20,000 soldiers left in the barracks. They were wearing armor and holding weapons, ready to go to the battlefield at any time.

Shen Congwu is brave, but not stupid. If he rushed out now, even his bones would be chewed into pieces.

I could only wait patiently for the right opportunity, but I didn't expect that I would have to wait for seven days...

The battle lasted for seven days. This was the first time that Xu Dingkun encountered such a tough battle in all his years of fighting.

The young general named Zhao became more and more courageous as the battle went on. It seemed as if he had become a whetstone during these few days of fighting, which made his edge sharper and sharper.

Xu Dingkun admired him very much. If he became a general of Sheng Army, his future would be limitless!

It's a pity that he is a traitor. He beat Sheng's army so hard that it fled in panic. Nearly half of the 50,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. If he continues to fight, he might even die here.

After all, I'm getting old and not as motivated as I used to be, so I'm even thinking about quitting.

In the afternoon, Sheng's army retreated to ten miles outside the city. Xu Dingkun sat in the tent and couldn't help crying when he thought of his grandson.

He had four children in his life, but only one daughter grew up, while the rest died young.

The daughter had only this one son, and she raised him from childhood, taught him horse riding and archery, and prepared him to inherit her legacy. Unexpectedly, he was defeated on the battlefield for the first time, and she didn't know how to explain to her daughter when she returned.

There was a sudden commotion outside. Xu Dingkun quickly wiped away his tears and asked, "What happened?"

After a while, the guard came in and said, "General, Deputy General Shen is back."

"What did you say?!"

"Chen...Chen Congwu is back."

"He dares to come back?!" If he had not taken the initiative to sneak into the city, his grandson would not have to lead the troops to fight, and would not have died tragically under the arrows of the Chengtian Army.

Xu Dingkun grabbed his sword and ran out.

Shen Congwu was also confused. After they sneaked into the city, they were placed in the military camp. Because there were too many people in the camp, they could not find a chance to take action.

He was so anxious that he had no other choice but to ask Tian Dasheng to tell him that he didn't want to stay in the stable anymore and wanted to leave and go back to his hometown!

Unexpectedly, King Chengtian really let them go. Not only did he let them go, he also gave them horses and dry food...

Shen Congwu led his soldiers out of the city, but could not see any of Sheng's troops outside the city. Thinking that Xu Dingkun's defeated troops had left, he was so angry that he immediately led his men to chase after them. They chased them to a hillside ten miles away before they saw Sheng's troops stationed there.

Xu Dingkun rushed out of the tent with a sword in hand, and saw Shen Congwu not far away and said angrily: "How dare you, a traitor, come back!"

"General Xu, where did this come from?"

"Where have you been these days?"

Shen Congwu retreated and said, “I will sneak into the city and prepare to create chaos!”

"Is there chaos in the city?"

Shen Congwu had no words to say: "There are too many people in the barracks, we can't find a chance to attack."

Xu Dingkun sneered: "Why didn't you come out a few days ago? Why did you wait until the battle was defeated and the army retreated before leaving the city! And you rode on the horse of the Chengtian Army. It seems that you have already joined the Chengtian Army!"

Shen Congwu realized that they had fallen into a plot to alienate each other! King Chengtian deliberately released him when the Sheng army was defeated in order to anger Xu Dingkun and kill him through him!

"General Xu...General Xu, please think twice! If I had betrayed you, why would I come back?"

"Then you are deserting the battlefield. Come, capture him for me!" Xu Dingkun would not allow him to explain. If he did not kill Shen Congwu today, he would not be able to get rid of the hatred in his heart.

Seeing the situation heading in a direction he could not predict, Shen Congwu felt a chill in his heart. If he surrendered, he would surely die, but if he resisted, he might still have a chance to survive.

In a hurry, he swung his sword and slashed at Xu Dingkun: "General Xu has lost his mind, someone come and capture him!"

Xu Dingkun was unable to dodge and was chopped off one of his ears. He screamed in pain: "You idiot, just like your father who died a long time ago, you are useless!"

His words stirred up a hornet's nest. Shen Congwu shouted angrily: "Old man, you dare to insult my late father!"

The two lieutenants rushed over at the same time and fought each other.

Although Xu Dingkun was the main general, a large part of the soldiers he brought with him were Shen Congwu's personal soldiers. After the internal strife, these people directly swung their blades at their comrades.

Xu Dingkun was protected by his men and retreated to the chariot while fighting. He saw that the enemy was actually trying to force them towards Xuzhou City. Once Xuzhou City sent out troops, they would be attacked from both sides.

In the midst of this chaos, the gates of Xuzhou opened and Zhao Xiao rushed out with his troops. There was a man on his horse, and that man was Yang Ping who was shot off his horse that day.

"Grandpa...Grandpa!" Yang Ping was tied to the horse, shouting weakly.

Zhao Xiao punched him: "Louder!"

This punch hit Yang Ping's wound right on the spot, causing him to lose his voice due to the pain: "Fuck you...ah! Grandpa, save me!"

"Ping'er?!" Xu Dingkun didn't expect that his grandson was still alive. He was surprised and delighted.

Zhao Xiao bared his teeth and said, "General Xu, surrender now! If you don't, I will hang your grandson on the city wall and let him freeze to death."

The situation was hopeless now, and he would surely die if he did not surrender. Xu Dingkun sighed, he had spent his whole life setting up battle plans, but he never expected that he would be trapped into a dead end in the end.

"Forget it, forget it!" He waved his hand, and thousands of soldiers took off their weapons and retreated towards Xuzhou city.

Shen Congwu did not dare to pursue further. He watched Xu Dingkun and his men enter the city of Xuzhou, and quickly withdrew his troops back to the camp.

No one expected that a scheme of sowing discord would actually lead to the capture of such a big fish!

*

Xu Dingkun surrendered with six or seven thousand soldiers, and Song Yuzhu was ecstatic.

What they lack most now is experienced veterans, and this person is familiar with the defense of Shangjing. He will definitely play a big role in the future Northern Expedition!

Song Yuzhu warmly received Xu Dingkun and his grandson in the palace.

Yang Ping's chest wound had been treated, and although he was still a little weak, he was no longer in danger of death. Xu Dingkun looked haggard, with his severed ear bandaged, and his messy gray hair stained with blood, looking even older.

When the two learned that the incredibly young man in front of them was Queen Chengtian, they knelt down in embarrassment.

"Please stand up, old general!" Song Yuzhu hurriedly helped him up.

"The victor is the king and the loser is the bandit. Now that we have surrendered, you can kill us or chop us up as you please."

"Old General, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to kill you."

Xu Dingkun looked up at him and said, "If you want me to lead troops to attack our own people, I am willing to die."

Song Yuzhu said, "Wasn't General Xu forced into this situation by his own people?"

Xu Dingkun knew that he must have fallen into a divisive plot, but he and Shen Congwu had already become enemies and there was no possibility of recovery.

He is a man who knows the current affairs. The emperor has been bedridden for more than half a year, and it is hard to say when he will die. How can the in-laws not interfere in politics when a six-year-old child succeeds to the throne?

He still has a feud with the Queen's mother's family, and his life in the capital might be even more difficult in the future. It would be better to surrender completely and create a way out for his grandson.

"Can I have a word with your commander?"

"Of course." Song Yuzhu asked someone to call Zhao Xiao in.

As soon as Zhao Xiao entered the room, Yang Ping shrank back in fear. Xu Dingkun sighed in anger. If his grandson had the courage of General Zhao, he wouldn't have to worry about having no successor...

"General Xu." Zhao Xiao bowed to him.

Xu Dingkun responded by saying, "General Zhao is a very brave leader. I have to admit that he is your best. I wonder who his teacher is?"

"I don't have a master."

Xu Dingkun was stunned, looked at him in disbelief and said, "You...are you willing to learn the raiding method of my Xu family?"

Zhao Xiao immediately knelt down and said, "I would like to take the old general as my teacher!"

Xu Dingkun quickly stopped him and said, "I am a defeated general and I dare not call myself a teacher. I only ask that General Zhao take my useless grandson with him when he goes into battle."

It's amazing that Zhou Xiang, at such an old age, is still thinking about his descendants.

Zhao Xiao nodded: "Okay, if the old general trusts me, let him gain some experience by my side."

Xu Dingkun excitedly grabbed his grandson and said, "Hurry up and kowtow!"

Yang Ping looked unconvinced, but he had to kowtow to Zhao Xiao tremblingly.

After Xu Dingkun surrendered, only Shen Congwu was left to worry about. Song Yuzhu had never thought of recruiting this man to surrender. Three days later, Zhao Xiao led his troops to raid the Shengjun camp.

Shen Congwu was forced to flee and was finally chopped off his horse by Zhao Xiao in Huaining County.

In this battle, more than 7,000 enemies were killed and 16,000 were captured. The rest fled into the mountains and could not be pursued.

From then on, the siege of Sheng’s army was lifted.

*

Winter has gone and spring has come. Although spring came particularly late this year, the branches are still green and small flowers are blooming on the roadside.

On the second day of the second lunar month, when the Dragon raises its head, Jiang Rong gave birth to a daughter safely in Xuzhou. Because her five elements lacked water, Song Bai named her Song Yutong.

The little girl was very cute, and looked like Jiang, and was about 70% similar to Song Yuzhu.

In her previous life, Song Yuzhu also had half-brothers and sisters, but they had almost no contact and no feelings for each other.

Now that he had such a biological little sister, he felt so much love for her that he didn't know what to do, so he would go to see her whenever he had time.

The little girl's fair and tender face and big watery eyes almost warmed the heart of this old brother.

*

In mid-February, Xiao led his troops to capture Jinzhou and Xizhou successively.

Since Yang Yuanqing's death, Xizhou has become a no-man's land, and has been occupied by four or five local bandits. These bandits are even worse than Yang Yuanqing, not only forcibly taking women but also killing innocent people, causing great harm to the people of Xizhou.

When Zhao Xiao attacked the city, he chopped up this group of people like cutting melons and vegetables, leaving no one alive. Then, according to Song Yuzhu's instructions, he left behind 3,000 soldiers to guard Xizhou.

The governor of Xizhou is named Fang Xun, who is actually a good official. He was previously excluded from official circles, and after being demoted to Xizhou, he had no real power. He has been living a miserable life these years.

Zhao Xiao handed Xizhou back to him and ordered him to manage it properly. If he dared to bully the people, he would suffer the consequences!

How could Fang Xun dare to do that? He was so happy that he didn't even have time to express it!

It took a little effort to capture Jinzhou. Yang Yuanjing recruited a lot of soldiers when he was alive, and after his death, these soldiers all came under the control of Grand Marshal Yang Ye.

Tens of thousands of soldiers fought desperately to defend Jinzhou City, and Zhao Xiao couldn't break in for a while.

However, he grew up in Jinzhou and was very familiar with it. He even knew where the city wall had collapsed so that people could enter.

At night, taking advantage of the lax defense in the city, he sneaked into the city with hundreds of people, opened the city gate, and captured Yang Ye alive.

Yang Ye surrendered naturally because he was afraid of death, and all the soldiers and horses in the city were taken into Zhao Xiao's hands.

Zhao Xiao thought of his old friend and sent someone to find Wang Kun from the former guard station.

The boy suddenly saw a group of soldiers rushing into his house, and was so scared that he picked up his weapons to fight back.

The soldier quickly explained his purpose and took Wang Kun to meet Zhao Xiao.

When the two brothers met, Wang Kun was stunned. The armored general in front of him turned out to be Zhao Xiao? !

The two hugged each other for a moment, and Zhao Xiao asked him if he was willing to go to Xuzhou with him to pursue his career.

Wang Kun was naturally happy to do so! He had long been tired of staying in this half-dead guardhouse. If it weren't for the little money he could earn to support his family, he wouldn't be working here!

On the fourth day of March, Zhao Xiao returned to Xuzhou with a large army, and Song Yuzhu's map finally connected the central and western regions.

The book in my mind once again released a new task: Unify the world, reward: unknown (Once this reward is selected, it cannot be changed, please choose carefully.)

It looks like there will still be multiple rewards this time.

(End of this chapter)