Chapter 426: Xizhou Urgent News
All the members of King Rui's party urged Huo Yang not to get involved in danger.
With the precedent of the Ninth Prince, it is clear that not all of the nine sons of the dragon can fight.
Prince Rui was originally going to go to Xizhou, but he didn't go. At that time, he was obviously quite aware of his abilities.
But this time, Huo Yang was obviously dizzy with anger.
He actually thought that as long as he personally led the army, he could defeat the King of Chang'an.
The Rui Wang party did not dare to tell Huo Yang directly that Your Highness would never be able to defeat the King of Chang'an, so they could only persuade Huo Yang by saying "A son of a wealthy family should not sit idle in the hall" and "Wars should be fought by military generals."
Only Jiang Hao unwaveringly supported Prince Rui. "Your Highness has never been on the battlefield, but he's read military books! Besides, didn't Prince Chang'an also never go on the battlefield before going to Xizhou? It shows that winning or losing depends more on luck than experience!"
When those in the Rui Wang Party who had followed Huo Yang for many years heard Jiang Hao's words, they began to angrily scold him: "You have sinister intentions!"
Among those who had just defected to King Rui, quite a few followed Jiang Hao's words and flattered King Rui.
Huo Yang was determined that he could not just sit there and wait for death this time. He ignored all advice and immediately dispatched his troops to the front line himself.
This time, he brought Jiang Hao with him.
Before leaving, Jiang Hao originally wanted to go to Prince Rui's Mansion to see Song Wan'er, but this time Prince Rui did not agree. He scolded Jiang Hao for only caring about love and not caring about the country.
When Huo Yang rushed to the front line with half of the troops in the capital, Huo Zheng had already taken half of Daxing into his possession.
The two brothers met outside Jiangyang City.
Huo Yang angrily accused Huo Zheng of colluding with Huo Yan to murder his father, rebelling and causing chaos in the country. He spoke of this false accusation with righteous indignation, as if it were true.
Huo Zheng was well prepared and had hundreds of energetic soldiers fighting with Huo Yang.
Use an extremely loud voice to suppress the other party's shamelessness.
In the end, Huo Yang shouted until his voice was hoarse, and asked the accompanying officials to shout out all the crimes committed by Huo Zheng.
But after all, they were not as well prepared as Xizhou.
He lost the battle of words.
Next up is the real battle.
When Huo Yang went to the battlefield for the first time, he said in the capital that he would definitely defeat Huo Zheng. But when he actually got there, he still did not go there himself. He even did not dare to let Jiang Hao go, for fear that Jiang Hao would turn against him. He only let this Pingxi General stand on the city wall and watch the battle with him.
This was the first official battle with Huo Yang after Huo Yang arrived in Jiangyang City. The three most trusted generals from the Rui Wang Party all took part.
Huo Zheng also sent out three generals.
There were three rounds of fighting in front of the battlefield, a total of three games, and Xizhou won all three games.
One of King Rui's three generals was beheaded on the spot, one was knocked off his horse and captured alive, and the last one escaped in a panic.
Huo Yang was defeated in the first confrontation between him and Huo Zheng.
The Xizhou Army marched all the way to the capital without showing any signs of fatigue, because they did not disturb the civilians in each city they arrived at and rested in time according to military regulations.
The troops on King Rui's side came hurriedly from the capital. Huo Yang thought that speed was of the essence in war, but Huo Zheng took advantage of their ease.
Talking about war on paper is ultimately useless.
Huo Yang's defeat was already apparent, and more and more people felt that compared to Prince Rui, Prince Chang'an was clearly a more capable ruler.
This time, it was their own people fighting against each other. Although the King of Chang'an did not kill soldiers indiscriminately, casualties were inevitable in a war, so many soldiers began to not want to fight. Huo Yang ordered severe punishment for deserters and killed them as a warning to the rest.
Huo Zheng sent people to beat gongs and shout every day, saying that as long as they laid down their weapons and surrendered, they would not be killed or punished. He said that as they were all from Daxing, the soldiers were forced by King Rui to raise their swords against their own people and it was not their own will, so as long as they laid down their weapons, they would be treated with tolerance.
Huo Zheng and Huo Yang's styles are completely opposite. King Rui does not take the lives of his soldiers seriously, but Huo Zheng defeated King Rui's troops so badly that they dared not show their heads, and then he stayed outside Jiangyang City without attacking.
Even after the Western Province captured King Rui's troops, they treated them well, without enslaving them or killing them.
On the contrary, in Jiangyang City, many people died every day, and blood flowed on the ground like a river.
After seven days of siege, Huo Zheng discussed in the main tent how to take Jiangyang City in one fell swoop.
Suddenly, a secret guard, shot several times by arrows, came to report, "70,000 troops from Northern Province are approaching the gates of Western Province. Western Province is in danger!"
When Huo Zheng heard this, he stood up immediately.
Just as Gu Yuanjia and others were about to speak, the secret guard who came to report the news fainted.
Huo Zheng immediately ordered his men, "Carry him to the military doctor for treatment."
The guards responded and carried the man away.
When the news of Xizhou being besieged came out, the faces of everyone present darkened.
When they left Xizhou, they took away 100,000 soldiers and horses, leaving 30,000 to guard Xizhou.
It was anticipated that Huo Yang would try to mobilize the troops from Dongzhou, Nanzhou, and Beizhou, so Huo Zheng had already sent people to these three places to explain the situation to the local chiefs. The three parties had written back to express their position that they would never obey Huo Yang's orders.
But the Northern State suddenly attacked the Western State...
The parents, brothers, wives, and children of everyone present are all the people they care about in Xizhou. Now that Xizhou is under siege, how can they not be anxious?
General Wang volunteered, "I will lead the troops back immediately!"
Huo Zheng said in a deep voice, "The Northern Province army is already at the gates of the city. It's too late to rush back to the Western Province to rescue them."
It would take several days for the secret guards to deliver the urgent report and for them to rush back with their troops. Even if they rushed back to Xizhou now, it would be too late.
Xizhou still has 30,000 troops. Although we are outnumbered when facing Beizhou, there is sufficient food and grass in the city. As long as we defend the city gates, we should not fall so quickly.
Everyone knows that the princess and the young prince are in Xizhou. The prince must be extremely anxious. He will never give up Xizhou for the throne.
So everyone calmed down and began to discuss countermeasures.
Some people suspected that the Ninth Prince had done something in Xizhou, because Beizhou did not obey the orders of King Rui, but suddenly sent troops to Xizhou. This might be related to Huo Yan.
Originally, these people in Xizhou suspected that the Ninth Prince had other intentions in coming to Xizhou to report the news, but it turned out that he was waiting for them here!
Huo Zheng said, "It may not be Huo Yan's doing."
Everyone present did not expect that at this time, the prince still felt that the Ninth Prince did not do this, and they all seemed to be hesitant to speak.
But Huo Yan himself was also in Xizhou. If he allowed the Northern State Army to capture Xizhou, even if they took it, they would be spurned and hated by the people of Xizhou. This was not a good strategy for him. It would be better for him to wait until Huo Zheng and Huo Yang were both defeated, and then he would come out to reap the benefits.
Huo Zheng said, "I underestimated Huo Yang. He has been busy these days, playing the game of Wei-Jie-Zhao with us."
They besieged Xizhou and even captured it, forcing them to give up attacking Jiangyang City and turn back to rescue Xizhou.
This way, Huo Yang would have a chance to catch his breath, and it would be difficult for the Xizhou Army to enter the capital again.
Everyone in Xizhou angrily scolded Huo Yang, saying that he was worse than pigs and dogs, with little ability but many shady tricks.
Now that I have guessed what Huo Yang is planning, I must not let him get what he wants.
Huo Zheng said in a deep voice: "Pass on my military order, attack the city immediately!"
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