The urgent military information sent over 800 miles finally reached Xuanyuan Hao in the imperial city of Kyoto. After the messenger handed over the leather bag containing the letter, the tension in his body relaxed and he almost fell down.
Xuanyuan Hao opened the letter and read it. His heart sank, and he stared at the map for a long time. It would be a tough battle.
He wrote three edicts and summoned his imperial guards, dividing them into three groups and giving each of them an edict. His orders were to deliver the edicts to the Duke of Fuguo of the Northern Army, the Marquis of Ningyuan of the Western Army, and Ye Zhou of the Western Army day and night at all costs.
The Yulin Guards knew this matter was serious when they received the order. When would they be deployed? They packed up and set off immediately, traveling day and night.
Xuanyuan Hao set out two days later than them. He had already given instructions to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War, and entrusted the court to a few veteran ministers.
Then he went to Zhang Ru's palace and entrusted the harem and children to her.
Xuanyuan Hao quietly led the 5,000 well-equipped imperial guards who had just assembled in the suburbs of Beijing and headed towards the border.
Ye Zhou didn't understand why his elder brother had ordered him to transfer all his troops to Fancheng. Wouldn't the Yangguan Pass he was guarding now be an empty city? Yangguan Pass was a crucial pass, so why would all the troops be transferred there?
He read the imperial edict over and over again, made up his mind, and transferred them, asking them to follow the order and travel light, abandon all the baggage at Yangguan, and travel day and night to Fancheng under the command of Ningyuan Hou.
He, Tie Ren and two hundred archers stayed in Yangguan.
The old Ningyuan Marquis also received the order, which first ordered him to hand over the vast majority of his troops and the vast majority of the giant crossbows that had been manufactured to the Duke of Fuguo, and to have his troops march quickly to the Northern Army to receive orders. Was this to reinforce the Duke of Fuguo? Was he facing a tough battle there?
Then the decree was a bit strange. Ye Zhou's troops would come to him. This can be understood. Ye Zhou's troops were far away from the Northern Army of the Duke of Fuguo. He was between the two. Compared with Ye Zhou, his troops were half as close to the Duke of Fuguo and could arrive faster.
But when Ye Zhou's troops arrived, he ordered them to train at the city gates for the first three days. After that, he was to remain in the city and send one-fifth of his troops to support the Duke of Fuguo. He was then to send one-fifth of his troops to support the Duke of Fuguo every day for five days until the city was deserted.
Ye Zhou felt that he and Tie Ren might be dead. Their bodies were covered in blood, and it was impossible to tell whether it was his own or the enemy's. He would die, a true man should die in battle. But Yangguan was going to be lost in his own hands. He hated it. The two hundred archers fired their last arrows and pelted the enemy soldiers climbing the ladder with stones.
They had used up everything they could: torches, stones... The young and strong people in Yangguan rushed up, holding hoes... axes for chopping wood... Ye Zhou smiled and wanted to say sorry, but he didn't say it because he saw the second echelon under the city wall of Yangguan. They were all old people, women and children. They were holding wooden sticks, shoulder poles, and kitchen knives, standing at the foot of the city wall. If their fathers, sons, and husbands fell, they would rush up and fight to the death until the last man...
When Xuanyuan Hao arrived with five thousand imperial guards, Ye Zhou and Tie Ren looked at him, smiled, and shouted, "Brother," then fell straight down.
Xuanyuan Hao's five-clawed golden dragon king flag was raised, and three thousand cavalrymen of the Royal Guards rushed out of Yangguan Pass. Two thousand archers stood in front and back teams on the city wall and shot arrows alternately.
After all, the forces attacking Yangguan were not the main force. Seeing the royal flag raised on the city wall and seeing Xuanyuan Hao's familiar face, he thought, "Oh my God, their king is here, so how could there be no main force in this city? Run!"
The cavalry pursued the enemy for thirty miles and brought back the cattle, sheep, tents, food and other supplies that the enemy had abandoned when they fled, and distributed them all to the people.
Yangguan was filled with mixed emotions of sadness and joy. Some people had gone and could never come back, and almost all of the 200 archers were killed, but most of the people were still there, the children were still there, and the future was still there.
After the Ningyuan Marquis had initially trained his troops for three days with great fanfare, he encountered densely packed enemy troops camped outside the city.
It was difficult. Reducing one-fifth of the troops every day while still holding back the enemy army was a challenge. Ningyuan Hou quickly understood Xuanyuan Hao's intentions, and he also realized that the enemy troops outside were also intent on holding back Ningyuan Hou's army. He also had a secret weapon: a set of giant repeating crossbows. The rest was given to Fuguo Gong.
As night fell on the fifth day, the last fifth of the troops quietly left, leaving the city empty. The crossbow craftsmen left two of them with him, and they surprised the Marquis of Ningyuan with a massive catapult capable of hurling fire bombs, boulders, and torches from afar.
On the sixth day, there were only a few real soldiers and scarecrows in military uniforms on the city wall of Ningyuan Hou.
A slingshot, a crossbow, ready. There aren't many of us left, so let's use the slingshot first. We don't have many crossbow bolts, so save them for last.
Old Ningyuan Hou was ready to die. With too few people, the truth would soon be revealed, and once the flaw was revealed, it would probably be a fight to the death.
The giant catapult launched two huge stones, bang bang. Such a range frightened the enemy soldiers under the city wall, and they scattered to avoid the places where the stones were hit.
Whoosh, two more fire bombs were thrown out, this time with greater power, and they exploded when they hit the ground.
Ning Yuanhou was a little puzzled. His city was deserted, so how come soldiers climbed up the city walls and towers and quietly replaced the scarecrow? Who were they? Did they disobey military orders and stay behind?
Until he saw Xuanyuan Hao, Xuanyuan Hao left two thousand people for Ye Zhou, and took three thousand cavalry to gallop towards Fancheng where Ningyuan Hou was.
Three thousand men defended the city for a whole day, but Xuanyuan Hao never allowed them to use the repeating crossbow. When the battle was about to end, the old Ningyuan Marquis saw a cavalryman coming quickly from outside the city. He dismounted in front of the enemy commander and reported something.
After another day of fighting, the enemy commander suddenly went crazy and led his men to rush towards the city wall again.
Xuanyuan Hao prepared the crossbows and raised the imperial flag. The opposing commander urged his horse forward, as if wanting to confirm whether Xuanyuan Hao was really there.
At this moment, a row of crossbows came flying through the wind. The commander was unable to dodge and fell to the ground.
Someone in the enemy army stepped forward, dismounted, and checked. Soon, the enemy army began to retreat like a tide.
The imperial edict received by the Duke of Fuguo contained only two sentences: The first was to set up an encirclement in Yongchuan, Dahan and Erqin, lure the army into the trap and annihilate them completely.
After the enemy army was led into the encirclement, they fought desperately, rushing left and right, with astonishing killing power. Fortunately, they had large bows and crossbows, which allowed them to accurately hit the enemy generals several times, and the enemy's morale was demoralized.
The Fugong State opened a small gap in one place, letting out a group of enemy troops to break through. The encirclement quickly closed, and the troops that broke through were quickly intercepted and annihilated by the soldiers who were prepared. This cycle continued.
On the first night, the enemy attempted to break out under cover of darkness, only to be met by the first wave of reinforcements that arrived overnight. The breakout attempt, deliberately released, was completely annihilated. Every day after that, the Duke of Fuguo would receive reinforcements, and in the brutal fight for survival, the enemy began to despair.
The battle finally ended. Amidst deafening cheers, the Duke of Fuguo led his army a hundred miles outside Fancheng, only to encounter the retreating enemy...
The second sentence of Xuanyuan Hao's order: After completely annihilating the enemy, rush to the outside of Fancheng and annihilate them again.
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