Chapter 161 Death of Han Sui
Han Sui's hand holding the letter of challenge could not help but tremble slightly.
He would not forget one thing in this rising rage.
Qiao Yan's ability to write heart-wrenching manifestos is directly proportional to the offensive capability of her troops.
She would never simply claim the moral high ground in her war rhetoric.
When he looked carefully towards the city again, he saw that part of the Bingzhou troops were crossing the river quickly.
Cross the river?
There is no need to cross a river when attacking a city!
It is only necessary to cross the river when bypassing Jincheng County and attacking towards Yuzhong.
With the number of her followers at that time, she could indeed intercept the enemy troops at Jincheng and trap the defenders in Jincheng County to death here, and then take Kuiyuan Gorge directly to wipe out Han Sui's troops stationed there.
His relaxation on Huangzhong and Longxi made him deploy his most elite troops at the "entrance". He even sent out another 4,000 troops today, which made him unable to bear the blow of losses in that camp!
In Han Sui's sight, the boats that flowed along the Tao River into the Yellow River had also come downstream, transporting the soldiers here to the other side.
It doesn't take much time for these ships to travel back and forth, because the Yellow River here is not only smooth, but also less than half a mile wide.
In the section from the confluence of Taoshui River and the Yellow River to Jincheng, the north bank is mostly directly connected to the mountain wall and is not suitable for marching. However, the situation is quite different when you reach this section of the river valley basin.
Not only was it a gradually wider and easier road to travel, but the soldiers guarding the west and north walls of Jincheng were also unable to fire crossbows from the city walls to the foot of the opposite mountain.
Therefore, when they walked close to the foot of the mountain, they could treat Jincheng as a non-existent obstacle.
They also don't need to worry that the defenders in Jincheng will suddenly cut off their retreat -
Han Sui no longer has the extra capacity to send out another team!
If he did that, his own safety could not be guaranteed.
He had no way of knowing how Ma Teng was defeated by Qiao Yan and how he became the source of reinforcements for Qiao Yan after the defeat, and how he provided her with the evidence in the manifesto and the boats for crossing the river.
He only knew that Qiao Bingzhou on the opposite side used a long crossbow arrow to destroy his confidence in commanding the battle while standing on the wall!
Han Sui tried his best to calm his expression and commanded his soldiers to hold up their shields in front of him before he dared to continue looking to the west.
The boats crossing the river were at a distance from each other and looked like just larger black dots.
However, the boat was moving at a fast speed. It seemed that in just a moment, Ma Chao and others, whom he had recognized from a distance, had already reached the other side with their horses.
These people also headed straight eastward without any intention of stopping.
Among them, Ma Chao was the fastest on horseback!
This made Han Sui have to be certain that the messenger he sent to Kuiyuan Gorge after reading the letter just now would definitely be intercepted by them halfway.
The subsequent movement of ships caused the number of people on the other side to begin to accumulate and march eastward.
When everything is ready, they will march towards Kuiyuan Gorge.
Where is his way out?
Perhaps we can only hope that Cheng Gongying and Yan Xing in Kuiyuan Gorge can repel the enemy and then return to Jincheng for support.
But this possibility is extremely small in the face of Qiao Yan's arrogance in this letter of challenge.
They are good and brave generals, but they don't seem to be able to turn the tide.
Under this dual stimulation of both written and real factors, Han Sui, who was only in his forties, felt so suffocated in his chest that he almost wanted to vomit blood, and there was already a bloody smell in his throat.
Qiao Yan held the telescope in his hand and looked up at the city wall. He took in his expression and said with regret, "You didn't cry?"
She had already thrown in a declaration of war to wipe away her tears, so why was this person so disrespectful to her?
But think about it, when Gai Xun scolded Han Sui and Bian Zhang and drove them away, they had just completed the transformation from hostages to rebels, so it is understandable that they were a little thin-skinned.
The crying of him and Bian Zhang may have given themselves the label of "having no choice".
After this incident, Han Sui's reputation was not too bad in Liangzhou, where there were still some moral requirements for the leader.
But now he has already ruled Jincheng County for nearly five years, and there is no time left for him to put on a show.
Perhaps the only thing left is that he doesn't have much ability in quarreling.
Faced with Qiao Yan's infuriating letter, he couldn't think of any rebuttal.
Xun You almost laughed out loud at Qiao Yan's question about why he didn't cry, and then he heard Qiao Yan continue to say, "This is when the benefits of writing letters are apparent, Gongda, don't you think so?"
He bowed and replied, "If you want to leave your opponent no room for quibbling, you can either make your arguments so brilliant that they are too embarrassed to respond, or you can be realistic and well-reasoned. Your Excellency is good at the latter, and today you have opened my eyes."
This rather lively ending to the manifesto not only does not make people feel that she lacks the tolerance of a governor, but instead makes people smile and feel her personal charm even more.
Xun You often felt that Qiao Yan's various arrangements in Bingzhou made her have a kind of innate aggressiveness. When they reached Taoshui and the Yellow River, he heard her and Fu Gan inquire about the supply of Xigong Xianchi to Liangzhou, and then made a bet with the other party that there was another brine pool to the west of that place, and the reserves were even greater than those of Xigong Xianchi. If they had the chance, they would definitely go and try it.
But at this moment, one only felt that she was calm in the attack.
After expressing this emotion, she had a couch and an umbrella set up in front of the formation and sat there leisurely.
Her choice was also correct.
Attacking Jincheng is not a serious matter.
Han Sui knew that she had the intention to kill him when she led her army here - if she didn't kill him, she would not be able to explain to Huangfu Song and Fu Gan, so if she rashly attacked the city, she would only face Han Sui's desperate counterattack. But what if we get rid of the Kuiyuanxia team first and completely cut off his support?
The characteristics of the people of Liangzhou made it impossible for them to store too much food in Jincheng. When Jincheng was the only isolated city left here, it was impossible for Han Sui to cause any trouble.
Qiao Yan poured himself a glass of wine and said, "I don't know what's going on with General Huangfu."
At the same time that she gave Jia Xu the order to seize Kuiyuan Gorge from the siege of Aoi, another team also left from the east along the mountain path of Niaoshu Tongxue Mountain in Longxi County, then headed north and attacked Kuiyuan Gorge from the south.
The head coach of this team is Huangfu Song.
Ma Teng requested to provide support along the way, and Qiao Yan approved his request.
For Han Sui's troops in Kuiyuan Gorge, Ma Teng was their ally and would never harm them.
However, Ma Teng had just surrendered. In Liangzhou, where rebellious incidents frequently occurred, Qiao Yan did not dare to guarantee that Ma Teng would not fight back by joining forces with Han Sui and betray her again at this time.
In addition, when she toasted with Huangfu Song outside the city of Hanyang, she had already seen that the old general was eager to fight. However, due to the special way of attacking Ayang and Longxi counties, he was unable to use his talents.
So Qiao Yan chose Huangfu Song as the main one.
With Huangfu Song by his side, Qiao Yan didn't have to worry about Ma Teng having any ulterior motives.
However, even without Huangfu Song, Ma Teng would not dare to rebel for the time being.
He weighed his own abilities and luck, and felt that being able to protect himself and join Qiao Yan's team was the best outcome he could have.
If Qiao Bingzhou could knock on his door quietly the first time, he could probably do it a second time.
So instead of trying a countermeasure that might not be possible, it would be better to let him gain some merit during this trip to Kuiyuan Gorge, so that he would not be so embarrassed when he is in the Bingzhou army.
He and Huangfu Song left Longxi and entered Dingxi, heading straight for Kuiyuan Gorge.
Perhaps it was because the timing was right, when they arrived, what they saw was not a stalemate between the two armies, but a battle.
Earlier, Cheng Gongying came out of Jincheng and led 4,000 reinforcements towards Kuiyuan Gorge. Because these 4,000 people were not all cavalry, he let 500 elite cavalry among them meet up with Yan Xing who was in Kuiyuan Gorge first.
Help from the rear was in sight, but Yan Xing didn't know when Qiao Yan would send more men. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to take action first.
If he had a different opponent, especially one who was not so decisive in making the decision to attack, there would be no problem with his choice, but unfortunately he met Qiao Yan.
However, when he faced Qu Yi and Chu Yan, who were commanded by Jia Xu, this reinforcement and attack did not have a very good effect.
The two sides first fell into a stalemate.
Yan Xing's riding and archery skills are indeed good, and his spear skills are even more superb. At least among Han Sui's generals, one can clearly see that he stands out. But using the spear well does not mean that he can break the shield. 1
Qu Yi, who knew that his goal at this moment was to defend rather than attack, was determined to prove his strength through the Battle of Liangzhou. In the confrontation at Kuiyuan Gorge, the defensive strength he demonstrated made Yan Xing feel frightened.
It was at this time of stalemate that he received news that troops were coming from the south.
"The South?" A hint of suspicion flashed across Yan Xing's face.
The personal attendant replied: "The other side is using the horse-shaped flag."
This answer did not surprise Yan Xing and make him let down his guard.
Ma Teng is indeed their ally in name, but this does not mean that there is no competition between them and Ma Teng.
When General Han did not explicitly ask for help from the other side, the other side suddenly sent troops here, which was probably not a serious reinforcement.
But it didn’t matter whether Ma Teng’s flag could deceive the defenders. His only purpose was to shorten the distance between him and the defenders of Kuiyuan Gorge.
Before Yan Xing could even send his messenger to convey his words to the other party to stop, Huangfu Song and Ma Teng had already rushed over.
The team coming from the south did not need to fight with them on the floating bridge of the Yellow River waterway which was less than 100 meters wide. They only needed to launch a sudden collision.
Han Sui's troops, who did not have many men left on this side, were immediately scattered.
At the same time, Qu Yi on the opposite side also turned from defense to offense.
The heavy armored soldiers holding shields and long swords displayed a flexible posture when launching the attack, which did not show that they were burdened with heavy armor. However, considering the daily diet conditions of the Bingzhou army, such behavior was quite normal.
This is a double-sided encirclement!
Even though the terrain of Kuiyuan Gorge was more favorable to the local forces on Yan Xing's side, he was unable to stop the two unstoppable offensives.
He looked at the crowd of people in front of him, gritted his teeth and thought, and was forced to give the order to retreat westward.
Walk! Returning to Jincheng might give him a chance to make a comeback.
Cheng Gongying was also leading another reinforcement force on the way to Kuiyuan Gorge. The two sides could just gather in one place to ensure that they would not be wiped out in the pursuit.
But when he was protecting the remnants and barely shaking off Qu Yi's pursuit, he just saw Cheng Gongying and others who were on the road, and then he saw another team coming along the river in the direction of Jincheng. The one leading the way was not Han Sui's subordinates, but Ma Chao, the son of Ma Teng!
Yan Xing's face changed.
The troops under Ma Teng's banner slaughtered all his men, so how could Ma Chao be an exception? This galloping manner, this approach with weapons raised, is not a posture for receiving!
Before Ma Chao could rush to them, Huangfu Song from behind had already chased after him.
Many of Han Sui's followers had met Huangfu Song.
More than a month ago, they were still laughing at Huangfu Song for his lack of tact. Now, not only has the position of Left General fallen into the hands of their General Han, but they can only be trapped in Chaona City, their hometown, not to mention how their reputation has been lost.
However, Qiao Yan's battle of Gaoping completed the alliance with Huangfu Song.
Now this famous general from Liangzhou has launched a deadly attack towards them like a tiger out of a cage!
There is no need to say more about who the real General Zuo is!
On the second day that Qiao Yan was stationed in Jincheng, Han Sui was still on guard against when she would launch a siege, but he had already seen the bad news coming from the east.
It is indeed seen rather than heard.
Cheng Gongying, whom he regarded as his confidant, and Yan Xing, whom he had the highest hopes for, were both detained by the troops led by Huangfu Song, and they and his followers were also taken as prisoners and slowly approached from the east.
There was another team that returned from the other side of the river where they had taken the route to Yuzhong, and was picked up by a boat to Qiao Yan's side.
The number of people in this team was far greater than those who had left before, which forced Han Sui to guess that the team that had appeared in the siege city before had also arrived.
After he looked around in the east and west directions, he was unable to tell for a moment which side had fewer people so that he could attempt a breakout.
With mountains to the south and the Yellow River to the north, his other escape routes were cut off.
Is there any way out for him?
Can he survive?
Even though the troops under the city did not choose to attack the city directly in order to save losses, and still stationed at the city on both sides, Han Sui still had to keep his emotions tense and did not dare to relax at all.
The worries that came at night and the sounds of knife sharpening outside formed an emotional burden that almost broke him.
It was not until the fatigue of the past few days overwhelmed all his sorrow that he fell into a coma.
But in the early morning of the next day, the gate of Jincheng County suddenly opened, and a cavalryman galloped out, heading straight towards where Qiao Yan was.
When he came closer, the patrolling people could see clearly that he was holding a bloody bag in his hand.
He reined in his horse when he was about forty or fifty steps away from Qiao Yan who had come out after hearing the noise, placed the bundle on the ground and spread it out, revealing the head inside.
Then he said loudly: "Han Sui is dead. I am here to offer Han Sui's head. Please ask Marquis Qiao to take over Jincheng!"
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