Feng Ye sent Cao Yu again, and led a large army to the city of Taiyuan to challenge. This time, they did not use vulgar insults from the market. Yan Sikong gave them a word, and the whole army shouted in unison.
Therefore, Luo Ruoxin, the general of Taiyuan, could hear the deafening roar outside the city every day, which made him angry and angry - General Xie Luo sent prisoners hundreds of miles away.
After shouting like this for a few days, one night, Feng Ye suddenly sent out 30,000 soldiers and horses to raid Taiyuan's granary on Rongyuan Mountain.
The granary was heavily guarded by 20,000 soldiers, and the terrain was steep and the mountain roads were narrow, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. The difficulty of capturing this granary was no less than that of capturing Taiyuan City.
To attack the granary, Luo Ruoxin naturally had to send troops to support, and the general he sent was, as expected, Wang Mei.
After Wang Mei encountered the 30,000-strong army led by Qian Cunxi, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. Qian Cunxi was soon defeated and did not want to fight any more. He immediately signaled the withdrawal of his troops and fled back to Yanzhou.
Not long after, they heard the news that Wang Mei was hit by a stray arrow in the melee and was seriously injured.
Feng Ye immediately spent a large sum of money to bribe one of Wang Mei's confidants, asking this man to incite Wang Mei to rebel, and promised Wang Mei a title of nobility.
Wang Mei could naturally guess that Luo Ruoxin wanted to kill him in the chaos on the battlefield. Now that he didn't die, it didn't mean he was safe. The civil officials in the court were arguing over how to punish Luo Ruoxin. Unless the emperor really replaced Luo Ruoxin on the spot, how many hidden arrows could he escape? But replacing generals on the battlefield was a taboo in military strategy, not to mention that the Luo family had made great military achievements, so it was not easy to punish them casually.
Yan Sikong wrote a heartfelt letter to Wang Mei in Feng Ye's style, expressing his sincere desire to protect his wise master and save the world.
But Wang Mei did not reply. From his confidants, it was learned that Wang Mei was unwilling to be a traitor and was hesitant.
Yan Sikong knew that the reason why Wang Mei was hesitant was that he was waiting for the court's judgment. If the court really replaced Luo Ruoxin, the military power of Taiyuan would fall into Wang Mei's hands, but if the opposite was true, he didn't believe that Wang Mei would not be afraid.
But how the court was going to deal with Luo Ruoxin was not something Yan Sikong could predict. In his and Feng Ye's view, whether Luo Ruoxin went or stayed would be beneficial to them.
Not long after, the imperial edict from the court arrived in Taiyuan. Luo Ruoxin was demoted three levels and fined for three years, but he temporarily retained his hereditary title and the power of the general, so that he could atone for his crime with his merits.
This punishment was equivalent to no punishment, but it was said that God helped Fengye. Sure enough, within a few days, they received a reply letter from Wang Mei, in which he tearfully denounced Luo Ruoxin's persecution of him and the injustice of the court, and expressed his willingness to follow the King of Chu and the Wolf King.
So, they made an appointment with Wang Mei for a full moon. On that full-moon night, General Feng Ye led his army to advance to Taiyuan in the middle of the night. After receiving the signal from Wang Mei to open the city gate, they attacked Taiyuan in one fell swoop, and attacked Wang Mei from both inside and outside, and captured the city.
Under the scorching summer sun, Feng Ye was secretly preparing for this war. He was full of confidence, with the ambition to conquer the Central Plains surging in his chest.
Finally, they waited until the last fifteenth day of the lunar month before autumn, and Feng Ye personally led an army of 70,000 and set out in a mighty manner.
When we arrived at the outskirts of Taiyuan, dark clouds covered the moon and the sky and earth were pitch black. Only the lights hanging on the towers of Taiyuan city could slightly outline its outline.
Taiyuan had high walls and deep moats, with arrow towers everywhere. The city was five zhang high and stretched for several miles. The walls were more than zhang thick, hiding tens of thousands of soldiers. The moat alone was several zhang wide. Such a long and majestic fortress was difficult for even a bird to pass through, let alone a human being. This was the strongest wall they had ever seen. Without an army of 200,000, there was no way to storm such an impregnable city.
Gazing at the demonic shadow of the tall city in the darkness, Feng Ye's eyes flickered with a strong fire.
Yan Sikong also stared at the front. The battle was imminent and his heart was beating wildly uncontrollably. Success or failure depended on tonight. If they could capture Taiyuan, they would really have the power to enter the capital. At that time, Feng Ye would stomp his feet and the whole world would tremble.
On the Taiyuan city wall, the light at the southernmost end suddenly went out and then lit up again, repeating this twice. That was Wang Mei's signal for them to attack.
Feng Ye glanced at Yan Sikong, who said, "Let Zhang Rong be the vanguard to investigate the situation and prevent fraud."
"Zhang Rong." Feng Ye shouted.
"I will be here in the end."
"Lead 5,000 soldiers to explore the way for the army."
"Yes!"
Zhang Rong led 5,000 soldiers and horses and rushed down the mountain, followed by Feng Ye and others. Taiyuan City was immediately in chaos, with soldiers constantly rushing up to the city walls, drawing their bows and shooting arrows, but the sparse arrows could not stop the overwhelming force of the army.
When Zhang Rong was about to rush to the foot of the city, the suspension bridge was slowly lowered and the city gate was opened from the inside. Zhang Rong took the lead, rushed across the suspension bridge, and rushed into the city!
Feng Ye was overjoyed and ordered the army to advance at full speed. In the dark night, war drums thundered and shouts of killing resounded to the sky. In their eyes, Taiyuan with its gates wide open became a flock of sheep with their fences opened. They would rush in and seize the most important pass in the Central Plains!
They rushed all the way to the city gate, and found the city was already a battlefield. Feng Ye ordered Yan Sikong to lead the troops outside the city, and he wanted to go into the battlefield himself to kill the enemy.
Yan Sikong looked up at the towering Taiyuan City in front of him and suddenly felt that something was strange.
The army continued to pour into the city, and Feng Ye also rode his horse across the suspension bridge. But when he was about to enter the city, he suddenly pulled the reins and looked left and right.
Feng Ye turned around and looked for Yan Sikong among the army. Yan Sikong's eyes never left him. At this time, the fire was bright, and the two looked at each other across the moat. Although they could not see each other's faces clearly, they seemed to have captured each other's expressions at that moment.
When they were about to enter the city, they all found something strange. First, the city gate opened too easily, which made people suspicious. Second, it was the height of summer, but there were no mosquitoes gathering around the lamps hanging on the city walls. Mosquitoes love to gather around firelight, and a group of black things could be seen from a distance. But with so many lamps hung, there were only a few sporadic ones. There was only one possibility: the mosquitoes were attracted by the large number of living people.
Feng Ye shouted, "There is an ambush, withdraw!"
Yan Sikong also gave the order at the same time: "There is fraud in the city, sound the horn and withdraw the troops!"
The gongs for retreat sounded, and the drums for attack filled the night sky the next moment. On the city walls, which originally had only a sparse number of soldiers, countless heads suddenly appeared, each holding a bow and crossbow, and arrows poured down. The sound of muskets also rang out in the city, and screams were heard incessantly.
The cables of the suspension bridge made a rotating sound, and the bridge was slowly pulled up.
Feng Hun let out an anxious wolf howl and rushed towards the moat without hesitation.
Yan Sikong shouted at the top of his lungs: "Feng Ye, come back——"
Feng Ye grabbed the horse's belly, and Zuihong rushed madly towards the suspension bridge under the rain of arrows. At this time, the suspension bridge had risen more than one person high. Zuihong used all four hooves to chop off the wood chips on the edge of the suspension bridge. The horse flew into the air, like a giant bird with wings, carrying Feng Ye across the moat and landed on the ground swiftly.
Feng Ye swung his spear and shot down the sharp arrows shot at him, but one arrow pierced through his breastplate in plain sight.
"Protect the Wolf King, protect the Wolf King!" Yan Sikong ignored the arrows flying around him, his eyes were red and he roared hoarsely.
The heavily armored soldiers raised their shields and surrounded Feng Ye and Feng Hun, the sounds of gongs became more urgent and louder, the army came like a tide and left like a tide, retreating miserably, and those soldiers who were ambushed and trapped in Taiyuan city would probably never see the next daylight.
The rain of arrows did not stop, and the sound of artillery fire rang out behind them. The shells landed and fired, destroying the Feng family army.
Feng Ye ignored his injuries and roared as he reorganized his troops and retreated in an orderly manner. He knew that there must be ambushes ahead and pursuers behind, so he ordered Wang Shen to lead the elite troops to clear the way, and he himself led the heavy troops to cover the rear.
As expected, they encountered an ambush on the way. Wang Shen fought bravely. The Fenglang Cavalry he led were the elite of the Feng family army. Each of them was able to fight ten enemies at once, and they fought their way out of an ambush for the army.
Feng Ye and Yan Sikong were in the rear and indeed saw the pursuers released from Taiyuan city. They were well prepared and ordered the fire gun troops to fight the pursuers. The two sides fought to the death, with corpses everywhere. The Feng family army suffered casualties along the way, and the pursuers from Taiyuan did not get any good results either. They retreated after chasing for a few miles.
After clearing out the ambushes and pursuers, Feng Ye's face was pale and blood was pouring from his shoulder, but he held on and did not fall. He was the flag of Feng's army. If he fell, the three armies would fall.
Yan Sikong was heartbroken and ordered the army to make way for Zuihong to take Feng Ye back to Yanzhou for treatment as soon as possible.
What Yan Sikong never expected was that after running for a few miles, the Taiyuan pursuers came back and hunted down their rear guard again. This time they were not well prepared and suffered heavy casualties. The road of escape was littered with bloody corpses.
When they returned to Yanzhou, Feng's army was in dire straits, with wounded and battered everywhere. Each of them was like a defeated rooster, with even the lifelessness in their eyes. It was a far cry from the ambitious morale they had when they set out.
"Quick, call a doctor!" Yan Sikong personally carried Feng Ye off the horse. Feng Hun stood by Feng Ye, baring his teeth and not allowing anyone Yan Sikong thought was approaching.
After helping Feng Ye into the military tent, Yan Sikong took off Feng Ye's armor with trembling hands.
Feng Ye's face was covered with cold sweat. He half-closed his eyes and whispered, "I'm fine. Go, go and reorganize the three armies..."
"With General Wang Shen here, you just need to heal your wounds." Yan Sikong carefully took off Feng Ye's breastplate, but was stuck by an arrow. Looking at the blood gushing out from the connection between Feng Ye's shoulder and chest, his eyes suddenly became wet.
Yan Sikong's heart was filled with regret. It was because of their eagerness for quick success and their underestimation of the enemy that they fell into the enemy's trap. Not only did they suffer a disastrous defeat, but Feng Ye was also injured.
He couldn't imagine what would happen if they were slower in noticing the problem, if Zuihong failed to take Feng Ye across the moat, and if Feng Ye was trapped in Taiyuan City like Zhang Rong and thousands of soldiers.
Feng Ye reached out his hand, gently wiped his wet eyes, and whispered: "Don't be afraid, I'm fine. I'm Feng Ye. If you lose here today, I will definitely get it back with interest."
The doctor rushed in with his medicine box.
Fenghun's hair exploded, revealing his sharp fangs.
"Hun'er, step back!" Yan Sikong said sternly.
Feng Hun let out a "whoosh" sound, hesitated for a moment, and crawled back to Feng Ye's feet. He pressed his head against Feng Ye's calf, making a "whoosh" sound.
The doctor cut off the arrow with a dagger and cut through the inner garment. He said in a deep voice, "Wolf King, I am going to pull out the arrow."
Feng Ye said expressionlessly: "Pull it out."
The doctor grabbed the arrow and pulled it out hard.
Feng Ye only frowned without making a sound, but Yan Sikong felt as if the arrow had pierced his chest.
Blood gushed out, soaking the bed beneath him. The doctor took out silver needles and sealed the surrounding major acupoints one by one. He then gave Feng Ye Wu Ma San to drink and then treated the wound.
Yan Sikong stood by, holding Feng Ye's hand, looking at the shocking bloody hole on his chest, feeling as if his heart was broken by a knife.
Feng Ye drank the anesthetic and became confused. He whispered, "There is an expert in Taiyuan City." Then he fainted.