Chapter 434: Welcoming Prince Chang'an into the City
A few days later, Jiangyang City.
Huo Yang had originally intended to use the Northern Province army to besiege Xizhou City to force Huo Zheng to withdraw. At the very least, he couldn't allow Northern Province's commander, Suo Hongkai, to lead his troops to capture Chunzhi and her son alive and use them to hold Huo Zheng hostage. However, Huo Zheng not only did not lead his troops back to aid Xizhou, but instead launched a massive attack on the city. Seeing this, the officials in Jiangyang City panicked and asked repeatedly:
"Prince Rui! Didn't you say that Prince Chang'an would withdraw his troops within three days? Why did Prince Chang'an suddenly launch a massive attack?"
"If this trend continues, Jiangyang City will be destroyed within three days!"
"Your Highness! Your Highness, please tell Prince Chang'an to stop attacking the city!"
Huo Yang had no idea how to get Huo Zheng to stop attacking the city. King Rui had never been to the battlefield before and always thought that those generals who had suffered defeat were useless. Huo Zheng had won battle after battle in Xizhou, and Huo Yang still thought he could win as well, until he came to Jiangyang City this time.
Huo Yang didn't even put on armor and went into battle. He just stood on the city wall and watched the battle. He was almost hit by arrows and lost his composure. At this moment, he was even more terrified when he saw Huo Zheng commanding the Xizhou army to attack the city outside the city.
The officials in Jiangyang City were urging him to stop Huo Zheng from attacking the city.
After all, everyone inside and outside the city is from Daxing, and the dead and injured are all soldiers from Daxing.
"Jiang Hao!" Huo Yang's mind was in turmoil at this moment. He no longer cared about what kind of person Jiang Hao was. He took out the military order and said, "You come and command the soldiers in the city with Xu Long. You must make Huo Zheng stop the siege as soon as possible!"
"I have received your order!"
Xu Long was Huo Yang's confidant, and the only one among all the generals under King Rui who survived the battle without getting hurt.
This was because this person's ability was average, and Huo Yang really had no one else to use. He didn't dare to hand the tiger talisman to Jiang Hao, so he let Xu Long take it.
Xu Long said this and stepped forward to take the military token from Huo Yang's hand.
After Huo Yang handed over the troops to Xu Long and Jiang Hao for command, he immediately went down the city wall. The officials of Jiangyang City didn't know what Prince Rui was going to do, so they chased after him and asked him where he was going.
Huo Yang did not answer and asked a group of guards to escort him out of this dangerous place.
After Xu Long got the military token, he was at a loss as to what to do with the current situation.
Prince Chang'an is a natural-born general. Back then, he was able to lead his troops to quell the rebellion in Xizhou and the external enemies. Now, he has made up his mind to launch a strong attack on the small city of Jiangyang. How could he not be able to capture it?
Seeing Xu Long still not speaking, Jiang Hao asked in confusion, "General Xu, why haven't you started mobilizing troops yet?"
"I……"
Xu Long was too embarrassed to say that he didn't dare to give orders recklessly.
Jiang Hao said at the right moment: "How about... I give it a try?"
"You come!" Xu Long readily agreed when he heard Jiang Hao take the initiative to help out.
Jiang Hao made great contributions at a young age and was personally appointed as the General of Pingxi by the emperor. His abilities must have been outstanding.
Xu Long was afraid of failing to live up to King Rui's trust, so he was tied up. Now that Jiang Hao was willing to help, he was naturally happy to see it happen.
"It's just..." Jiang Hao said with some difficulty: "These soldiers can only be mobilized with military tokens, and these military tokens-"
"You take it."
When Xu Long saw that Prince Rui asked Jiang Hao to share this important task with him, he thought that Jiang Hao was also a person trusted by the prince, so he handed the military order to him directly.
"Thank you very much, General Xu."
After Jiang Hao got the military token, he immediately began to deploy troops. The generals who had served under King Rui for several years were a little dissatisfied when they saw Jiang Hao deploying troops, but the military token was in his hands, so they had no choice but to obey orders.
But after everyone changed their positions according to Jiang Hao's command, they suddenly heard Jiang Hao shout loudly: "Open the city gate!"
The soldiers of Jiangyang City obeyed the order and opened the city gate.
The Xizhou troops rushed in and quickly broke through.
Xu Long immediately realized something was wrong. "Jiang Hao, are you crazy? The prince ordered you to tell the Prince of Chang'an to withdraw his troops. Why are you opening the city gates?"
At this time, several powerful generals from Xizhou had all been surrounded by Jiang Hao's men.
Xu Long drew his sword and looked at Jiang Hao. Jiang Hao, as if anticipating this, exchanged a swift move with Xu Long. He snatched the sword from his hand, pinned his hands behind his back, and pinned him down on the city wall, forcing him to look down. "General Xu, open your eyes and take a good look. If I open the city gates and let the Xizhou army in, isn't that another way to get the Prince of Chang'an to stop the siege?"
"You! You're making up stories!" Xu Long hadn't expected Jiang Hao to say something so shameless. He shouted angrily, "You betrayed your master in the middle of a battle! You're worse than pigs and dogs!"
"Traitor? Who the hell is Huo Yang? How dare he be my master?"
Jiang Hao sneered and slammed Xu Long's head against the city wall, causing Xu Long's head to bleed and pass out on the spot. Then he threw him to the soldier next to him.
Jiang Hao shouted, "Prince Rui Wude has abandoned the city and fled. Jiangyang City, listen up! Open the gates immediately to welcome Prince Chang'an into the city!"
When everyone heard that Prince Rui had escaped, they no longer wanted to fight the Xizhou Army. The soldiers in Jiangyang City originally thought that Prince Chang'an was a wiser ruler than Prince Rui, and they had been forced to remain in a stalemate with the Xizhou Army outside the city these days.
Now that Prince Rui has fled, they naturally have to quickly open the city gates to welcome Prince Chang'an.
"Open the city gates quickly to welcome Prince Chang'an into the city!"
The soldiers of Jiangyang City passed on the message one after another, and the city gates were wide open. The Xizhou Army rushed into the city in an orderly manner, but when they saw the soldiers in the city opened the city gates to welcome them, they stopped fighting.
The generals of Xizhou led the way, and Huo Zheng also rode in.
Jiang Hao got off the tower, jumped on his horse, and rode to Huo Zheng. He threw the military token in his hand to Prince Chang'an, "The soldiers are also acting according to the military token. We have no intention of opposing Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will treat us with leniency."
Huo Zheng reached out and took the military token, "Of course."
"I'm going to chase Prince Rui, and I'll leave this place to His Majesty."
Jiang Hao said this, and immediately turned his horse around and galloped away towards Huo Yang with a group of his trusted followers.
Seeing this, General Wang and the others all felt that Jiang Hao seemed a little different now than before. "Did Jiang Hao just give the military token to His Majesty?"
"He actually never thought of actually joining King Rui—"
"I don't recognize Jiang Hao anymore."
Jiang Hao never takes the words "loyalty and righteousness" to heart.
At the time, when Huo Zheng was pleading for merit on behalf of the people of Xizhou in the court, some people privately advised King Chang'an that Jiang Hao was not worthy of being appointed to important positions and that it would be better to give him an honorary position with some superficial glory.
But Huo Zheng believed that although Jiang Hao had a bad character, his abilities were indeed remarkable.
Now he was holding the military token that Jiang Hao had just thrown to him, and he felt that it was time to take back the words "bad character".
Someone asked, "Did Prince Rui kill Jiang Hao's entire family? Is he going to personally lead people to chase them?"
The last time Jiang Hao personally killed someone on the battlefield was the rebel leader Cao Jing, the murderer of his father.
Or he recognized the enemy as his father and lurked for several years before taking action.
And today, Jiang Hao immediately went to hunt down Huo Yang.
Huo Zheng played with the military token in his hand and said meaningfully, "Huo Yang has captured Jiang Hao's wife."
When everyone heard this, they were even more surprised. "I can't believe that someone like Jiang Hao is such a lovesick person."
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