Chapter 149: One Shot to the Soul (6k)

If Yang Chang had not had too few troops, he would have suffered heavy losses even if he won a head-on clash, so he exposed the "gunner's" trick in advance.

The original plan was that if the shells were not thrown far away, he would hold the city and consume the enemy's energy, wait until Song Jiang won in Zezhou, or wait for the Ruan brothers to succeed in their feint attack, and then send troops to counterattack Tian Biao's exhausted army. However, he did not expect that "the power of one tiger" was strong enough.

The fighting lasted from dusk to midnight that day. Of the 15,000 infantry and cavalry brought by Tian Biao, only 5,000 of them escaped back to Linfen with him. The remaining 10,000 were either killed, injured, surrendered or fled. In short, they never returned.

After the battle, Yang Chang rested for two days, left one thousand infantry and cavalry with Zhu Tong to guard Fushan, and led eight thousand infantry and cavalry to Linfen.

Yes, his troops have increased again.

With the blessing of the command attribute of [One to Control Ten Thousand], the newly surrendered soldiers were all conquered by Yang Chang's charm.

Tian Biao fled back to Linfen in panic. Knowing that Yang Chang would attack sooner or later, he sent people to ask Tian Hu for help, while transferring troops from his own state to reinforce Linfen.

On June 20th, Huizong discussed with his court officials repeatedly and finally issued an edict to order Tong Guan to return to the capital.

Tong Guan led the Northern Expedition Army. Although he had an absolute advantage in manpower, he was defeated in several battles and lost face abroad. This gave confidence to the Liao people, who were on the verge of losing their country.

Ironically, the only general who performed satisfactorily this time, Zhong Shidao, was made a scapegoat and returned to Beijing and was forced to retire.

On the same day that Zhao Ji issued the edict, Yang Chang led his troops to the east gate of Linfen, but saw a sign of exemption from war hanging high on the city wall.

Zhu Wu suggested: "Linfen City is strong, and a strong attack will cause us too much loss. We can send people to challenge the enemy first. If we can lure the enemy out of the city, we can learn from Master Lin's attack on Fushan and seize the city gate in the chaos."

"Makes sense."

Yang Chang nodded in affirmation, then looked around.

Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song and others had solemn expressions. They were all tough men who were not good at speaking, and challenging others to a fight was not something they were good at.

So he turned his attention to deputy generals such as Chen Da and Yang Chun, but after a quick look, he felt that they were not quite up to the standard, as none of them had the sarcasm in their words like Li Kui.

ridicule?

Yang Chang's heart suddenly moved. The [Tongue Arrow Curse] he picked up at Chenqiaoyi seemed to have a taunting effect?

If he couldn't find a suitable person, he would step forward and start criticizing them himself, but this would go against his previous personality, so he was hesitant for a moment.

At this moment, the little bully Zhou Tong suddenly stepped forward and volunteered.

He did not make any contribution during the expedition. At first, he stayed in Yicheng with Cao Zheng. Later, he was transferred to the battle of Fushan and was also arranged to stay in the county.

Chen Da and Yang Chun, who were also deputy generals, not only followed Lin Chong to break the city, but also followed him to pursue Tian Biao and made some gains.

When Zhou Tong and Cao Zheng were in Liangshan, they served as deputy generals under Yang Chang. In order not to embarrass their "old leader", they encouraged each other on the march and prepared to perform well in Linfen.

Seeing that no one responded to Yang Chang, Zhou Tong stood up immediately.

"Brother, I am willing to go."

"Um"

Yang Chang thought to himself, "You are not a person who throws tantrums. How can you do such a provocative thing?" But he didn't want to discourage his enthusiasm, so he nodded and agreed.

Zhou Tong straightened his clothes, squeezed his legs against the horse's belly to urge it on, and slowly moved forward with the green spear in hand.

Later, he stopped his horse by the moat and looked at the soldiers on the city wall. They seemed to be looking at him in unison, but from their attire, he could not tell who was the general defending the city.

He pointed his gun forward and shouted, "The imperial army has come here, why don't you open the city and surrender?"

Zhou Tong paused deliberately after shouting. He wanted to wait for the other side to respond before counterattacking. However, the defenders on the city seemed to be collectively deaf, and the silence was as silent as the night.

If Zhou Tong hadn't seen the flags fluttering in the breeze, he would have thought he was dreaming.

"Are you scared, or is there no one in charge? Hurry up and get someone to answer the question."

"I am the Little Overlord Zhou Tong. Who dares to come out of the city and fight me?"

In the opposite city gate tower was Tian Shi, the son of Tian Biao, who was in charge of guarding the city.

He turned his head through the window gap and glanced at Zhou Tong below the city. Then he said to his followers, "Another guy I haven't heard of. He may be as difficult to deal with as the Bright Heavenly Lord. But I really heard that he was shouting too loudly. Tell the archers to shoot arrows at random."

"Yes."

Soon after the entourage walked out of the city wall, the soldiers on the city drew their bows and arrows and started shooting at Zhou Tong.

"Shameless!"

Zhou Tong finally cursed and waved his green spear to block the arrows, but unfortunately he was hit by an arrow in his left arm. He then retreated back to the formation in embarrassment.

Yang Changying came forward and tried to comfort Zhou Tong with kind words, then ordered him to go back and heal his wounds. His face immediately turned gloomy.

Zhu Wu reminded: "Vanguard, it seems that Tian Biao is determined to hold on. The best strategy is to set up camp first and take it slowly."

"I know too."

Yang Chang frowned and responded, "I just didn't expect Tian Biao to be so cowardly. Doesn't Linfen still have 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers and horses? He doesn't even dare to show up and answer questions?"

"Brother Yang is so powerful that he is unstoppable."

Zhu Wu smiled bitterly after he finished speaking, thinking that even though you can throw shells with your bare hands, it's not safe for others to be on high ground, so you can't just hide and dare not come out.

Just as they were hesitating whether to withdraw, a scout from the front of the army suddenly came to report that Ruan Xiaowu had arrived with a fleet.

Yang Chang was startled when he heard this, wondering if they were not feinting in Xiangling? Could it be that they heard that he was marching into Linfen and deliberately bypassed Xiangling to join him?

Aren't they fooling around?

Once the Xiangling defenders cut off the retreat route and set up various obstacles in the Fen River, how could the fleet withdraw to Jiangzhou?

Yang Chang can lead his troops back to Fushan, and the navy will then have to abandon their ships and follow him. They can't carry the boats ashore, right?

Thinking of this, Yang Chang felt mixed emotions.

He asked Lin Chong to stay where he was, while he and Hu Sanniang rode over there, intending to find Ruan Xiaowu and ask him about it.

But when I got to the river, I realized it was joy, not sorrow.

It turned out that Xiangling, which had been feinted for attack before, had already been captured by Xuan Zan and the Ruan brothers.

In front, Wang Yuan rushed to support Zezhou, and in the back, Tian Biao led his troops to retake Fushan, and a lot of troops were drawn from all over the place.

There were not many defenders left in Xiangling. After receiving the order for reinforcement from Tian Biao, the defending general decisively abandoned the city and led his troops back to Linfen, which allowed Xuan Zan and others to win the battle without bloodshed.

This news is like an unexpected gift that has grown into a forest.

Xiangling County is right on the bank of the Fen River, only thirty-four miles away from Linfen. Yang Chang doesn't even need to camp in the wild, he can just garrison in Xiangling, and combat supplies can also be transported by water.

In addition, Ruan Xiaowu also brought that boat of artillery shells.

Yang Chang remembered that Zhou Tong had just been shot by an arrow, and then he and Hu Sanniang each captured two, and returned to the east gate of Linfen in high spirits.

After seeing the shells, Zhu Wu swallowed and asked, "Brother Yang, what are you planning to do today?"

"Ah."

Yang Chang frowned and nodded, looking at the shells in his hand, and said calmly: "Tian Biao wants to be a coward, we can't just go back in disgrace, throw two in and see what happens."

"Can you catch it if you throw it up from below?"

"Would you like to know if you try it?"

After Yang Changyan finished speaking, he and Hu Sanniang walked forward and stopped outside the range of the defenders.

"As usual, my lady lights the fire and I'll throw it."

"I would like to throw it, but I don't have your power. Should we get closer? I will help you block the arrows."

"No need, take it out quickly."

"Oh"

Hu Sanniang immediately reached inside her chest, took out a lighter, opened it, blew up the tinder, and then pointed it at the fuse of the cannonball and it lit.

Yang Chang measured the distance silently and waited until the fuse was half burned before he swung it upward with force.

The cannonball flew like a meteor straight into the city gate tower.

Following a loud bang, smoke and dust exploded from the city gate tower, and there seemed to be a faint fire.

Can you throw big ones so accurately?

[Meteor Shatter] is a good skill.

"More."

"well."

Whoosh.

The black shadow crossed the sky again and landed on the city gate tower again.

There were two consecutive thunders, and the rubble on the roof shattered and rolled down like rain. The city gate tower was also ignited by the flames of the artillery shells, and the guards on the city suddenly panicked.

Yang Chang looked at the scene in front of him and thought to himself that the power of the artillery shells at this time was too small. After all, the filling was just black gunpowder and the energy released was relatively limited.

At this time, the city wall was hit by two shrapnel shells, which only caused a fire but did not cause a collapse. Compared with the Italian cannon used by Li Yunlong to attack Ping'an County, it was much inferior.

However, with Yang Chang's advanced bombing skills, he would be a key player in the independent regiment.

When the south wind blows, sparks fly everywhere.

In an instant, the fire at the east gate of Linfen grew bigger and bigger, and chaos broke out before a battle even began.

"One more."

"How about saving some money?"

"That's fine."

The couple only brought four shells. Yang Chang was having a great time throwing them and wanted to continue, but Hu Sanniang thought their goal had been achieved and reminded her husband to use them sparingly.

After all, we only brought a hundred artillery shells, and we don’t know how many cities there are behind us. Wouldn’t it be easier to attack the city with artillery than to climb the city?
After hearing this, Yang Chang agreed with it deeply, and everyone followed.

They saw the artillery fire hitting the city wall, and there was almost no chance of extinguishing it at noon in summer, while the defenders on the city wall were running like headless flies. Everyone suggested to continue waiting and seeing, and perhaps there would be a chance to take advantage of the chaos to break into the city.

Yang Chang naturally followed the advice and immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for battle. He also asked Wu Song and Lu Zhishen to select strong soldiers and wait for an opportunity to take the lead in breaking into the city.

On the other hand, Tian Hu in the city heard that the east gate was on fire, so he hurriedly took a group of generals to check it out, but almost collided head-on with a horse rider on the way.

"Why are you panicking? Commander Yang is calling in?"

"Isn't it the three great kings? Something has happened to the young master!"

This person was none other than his son Tian Shi's follower. When he saw Tian Biao with a sad face, he bowed down and kowtowed.

"What happened to my son?"

"Just now, two shells flew in from outside the city, and both landed in the city gate tower. At that time, the young master was in the tower giving orders."

"Tell me the result!"

"The young master was blown to pieces"

After hearing this, Tian Biao's eyes went dark and he staggered off his horse.

Tian Shi was blown to pieces, the East Gate of Linfen was in chaos, and now Tian Biao had fainted again. The rest of the people didn't know what to do.

It is known that Leopard Head Lin Chong defeated three thousand with five hundred men, Bright Heavenly Lord Yang Chang fought against hundreds of men alone, and there was also the mysterious long-range artillery, none of which could be blocked by ordinary people.

Just as everyone was looking at each other in bewilderment, news came from the East Gate that the enemy had already reached the top of the city wall and Linfen was about to be lost. The group of "chickens" around Tian Biao suddenly panicked. They looked at each other and made a tacit decision.

Apply oil to the soles of your feet.

The crowd had no time to pack up their belongings, so they quickly gathered their trusted guards and fled with Tian Biao through the two northwest gates.

They did not inform the non-direct lineage officers and soldiers, not only because running away together would make the target too large and prone to congestion, but they also hoped that these non-direct lineage officers and soldiers could delay the enemy.

Of course, non-direct descendants are mainly infantry, and they cannot run fast without horses.

Yang Chang had no idea of ​​all this. It was only when he saw the fire on the city wall burn the ropes of the suspension bridge that he asked Wu Song and his men to take the risk to climb the city wall, while he followed behind to provide remote cover.

By the time the Liangshan troops broke through the east gate, Tian Biao and his followers had already fled in advance. The remaining 10,000-plus infantrymen were ordered to rush to resist the enemy. Halfway through the journey, they learned that all the senior generals had fled, so they chose to surrender.

After the Liangshan army entered the city, they integrated and incorporated the surrendered troops and issued a notice to reassure the people, and they were not in a hurry to chase Tian Biao.

Yang Chang led 8,000 men to feint at Pingyang. Song Jiang asked them to minimize the losses and not make too much noise.

However, the mission was completed in excess. Not only did Yang Chang capture three cities, he also expanded the 8,000 troops to 20,000, turning them from auxiliary troops into the main force.

At night, Pingyang Prefecture Government Office.

Yang Chang summoned his generals and held a rare celebration banquet.

From Bianliang to Zhengping, and then from Yicheng County to Fushan County, they were either on the road or fighting, and the supplies they had were always limited.

Now they had arrived at Linfen, the seat of Pingyang. The full treasury was worth a splurge. In the evening, there were more than a dozen dishes on each table, and the wine was the good wine that Tian Biao drank every day.

Before the banquet began, Yang Chang picked up the wine bowl with one hand and gave an opening speech, imitating what Song Jiang had done in the past.

"During the time we have been divided and marching west, my brothers have suffered with me. We haven't eaten meat or drunk wine for a long time. Everyone must enjoy themselves tonight. I am not good at talking and can't say anything else. Anyway, eat and drink well."

"Suffering? Where is the suffering?"

"Yes, we fought several rounds with Tian Biao and won easily in the end. We can be considered to have won consecutive battles."

"Let's not talk about anything else. I will follow my brother from now on."

Everyone was talking to each other, and started eating, drinking and chatting.

"Ah, I haven't felt this good in a long time."

Lu Zhishen drank a bowl of wine, wiped his beard with his hand, looked at Lin Chong and murmured, "I joined the army to serve my country, and later became a bandit in Erlongshan and Liangshan. I have experienced no less than a hundred battles, big and small. I felt that the previous battles were all the same, but the battles with Brother Yang these times felt a little different, but I can't tell what the difference is. Brother, do you know the reason?"

“Haha, hard to say.”

Lin Chong glanced at the people at the next table and replied with a smile: "I think it's easy to fight him. It's like attacking a strong city like Linfen. We broke through the city with almost no damage."

"I'll tell you why."

Zhu Wu, who was sitting at the same table with Yang Chang, suddenly turned around and continued the conversation with a mysterious expression: "Yang Xianfeng's shells were thrown far and accurately, which had a miraculous effect in these two battles. He changed the situation single-handedly."

"Makes sense."

Lu Zhishen nodded his head and said to himself, "I think I have quite a bit of strength. I will practice hard later."

At this time, after Yang Chang finished toasting Cao Zheng, Zhou Tong and other deputy generals, he came to the middle of Lu and Lin with a bowl of wine and said with a smile: "You should enjoy yourself tonight. I won't toast to each of you one by one. I still have to patrol the camps later."

"You are the commander"

"Yes, each camp has its own arrangements."

"Tian Biao is so scared, does he dare to fight back?"

"hehe."

Yang Chang smiled and waved his hands, explaining: "The commander has his responsibilities. Usually, I rely on my brothers to kill the enemy. It's okay for me to drink less at this time. Linfen has been managed by Tian Biao for a long time. We can't be careless when we just arrived. You guys get drunk tonight, and we'll change someone to patrol the night next time."

"It's me next time."

Lin Chong stood up first.

"No problem." Yang Chang drank a bowl with everyone else, and returned to the original table. Seeing Wu Song stop drinking, he asked, "What's this, second brother?"

"I'll accompany you on night patrol."

Seeing that Wu Song was speaking seriously, Yang Chang pointed at Hu Sanniang beside him, meaning that I have someone to accompany me tonight, and Hu Sanniang has not drunk a drop of alcohol tonight.

If it weren't for the [Drug Inhibitor], he could have drunk a few more bowls. Now he has to be careful when drinking, for fear that he might lead his troops drunk and cause trouble.

"Brother, drink well, and the military advisor should also enjoy himself."

"Since you have your brother and sister-in-law with you, I will not be polite. Zhu Junshi, let's eat a bowl first."

"Please come in, Captain."

Zhu Wu drank Wu Song's toast and asked Yang Chang as he sifted the wine: "We have conquered three cities in a row. What are your plans for the future, Brother Yang?"

"Ok?"

Yang Chang was stunned at first, then asked: "Where should we attack next? I want to rest for a while. Suddenly there are so many more soldiers and horses, and there are three cities to take care of. We don't have enough manpower."

"Brother Yang is right. Pingyang has ten cities, and we only occupy three. Moreover, the 20,000 soldiers who came to aid Zezhou may return to threaten Fushan at any time. We really should not continue to expand."

As soon as Zhu Wu finished speaking, Yang Chang nodded and followed.

"Yes, I have always remembered this. Tomorrow, 4,000 infantry and cavalry will be deployed to Fushan County to station there."

"We should also send someone to inform Brother Gongming and ask him to send more brothers or ask the court to send someone to take over. Otherwise, we will be forced to stay and defend, waiting for Zezhou to win and divide its troops to attack together."

"The land route is not easy to travel, so we can only take the water route."

Yang Chang rolled his eyes and came up with a plan. He thought, since they have to send out the navy to deliver the message, why not just bring a few hundred shells? Then my buddy will be the bomber, and Tian Hu will be destroyed in minutes, right?

In the middle of the celebration banquet, Yang Chang and Hu Sanniang left early.

Linfen is close to a big river and is cooler at night.

The couple were just a pair of lovers, and they took the opportunity to enjoy their rare time alone while inspecting the city gates, streets, and military camps.

"Sir, I find that you have changed."

"Ok?"

Yang Chang felt a little guilty when asked this question. Fortunately, Hu Sanniang's next words were normal, "My lord, you have become more cheerful. I remember that you were always serious in Liangshan before."

"Really? Maybe it's because I'm leading the troops alone and no one can control me."

The two walked side by side on the street. After listening to Yang Chang's answer, Hu Sanniang thought for a long time before replying, "Since no one is watching over you, you should be happy. Just don't let anyone watch over you. I heard that Tian Hu was born a hunter and became the King of Jin. Aren't you also a hunter?"

"Uh"

Yang Chang was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly interrupted Hu Sanniang, "Don't talk nonsense like that, and besides, your husband's ambition is not here."

"All right."

Hu Sanniang only said it casually, she just hoped that Yang Chang could live a comfortable life.

Seeing her lower her head, Yang Chang was worried that Hu Sanniang would continue to think wildly, so he changed the subject and said, "By the way, I met my brother in the capital at the beginning of the year. He said that he would settle his family in Yan'an Prefecture. It's not too far from here. It's only separated from Pingyang by Xizhou, but you have to cross mountains and ridges."

"Dad has my sister-in-law to take care of him, so he shouldn't worry too much."

Hu Sanniang lost her mother at a young age. Hu Taigong raised her like a son, which shaped her cheerful personality. Now that she knows her father is still alive, she is not so sad anymore.

Moreover, after she got married, she was concerned about Yang Chang and was more concerned about Yang Chang's relatives, so she thought of Yang De halfway through her words.

"I don't know how Uncle Wu and the others are doing."

"With the Ruan family taking care of me, I think it should be fine."

Yang Chang has also been thinking about where to settle the two families in the future. What if the Jingkang Incident really happened in the future and the entire northern China would fall.

When you go south to fight Fang La, should you find a good place in Jiangnan in advance?
The couple chatted while patrolling and it was after midnight when they returned to their residence. At night, they fell asleep soundly in each other's arms in the comfortable bedroom of the government office.

The next morning, Yang Chang ordered Chen Da and Yang Chun to lead 4,000 infantry and cavalry back to Fushan to camp. He also asked Zhu Wu to write a letter and asked Ruan Xiaowu to send the navy to Weizhou. The rest of the people stayed in Linfen to rest.

It takes one day to travel a thousand miles from Jiangling to Linfen, but it took four days to reach Weizhou, a distance of more than a thousand miles due to the turbulent Yellow River and the slow speed of the boat.

At that time, Song Jiang had just pacified Zezhou and was drawing lots with Lu Junyi to divide the troops in Jincheng. Song Jiang originally wanted to go to Pingyang to control Yang Chang, but when he drew lots, he was drawn to attack Luzhou. He had already made the promise and it was difficult to go back on his word.

It was not until June 26, on the eve of the two armies' march out of the city, that Zhu Wu's letter was handed to Song Jiang.

In less than a month, they captured a state. Song Jiang, Lu Junyi, Wen Huanzhang and others were all delighted with their achievement and sent Dai Zong to the capital with a military letter to report the good news.

But after reading Zhu Wu's letter, Song Jiang's smile suddenly disappeared.

Wu Yong saw that he looked unhappy, so he hurried forward and asked in a low voice: "Brother, what did the letter say?"

"See for yourself."

Song Jiang handed the letter to Wu Yong, frowned and sat in his seat in deep thought.

It took us a lot of planning and tactics, as well as the hard fighting of tens of thousands of troops, to finally capture Niu Wenzhong's city.

You only have 8,000 people, but you were able to capture Pingyang city in succession, and even took Linfen in a short time? Who would believe this if I told them?

Is Tian Biao made of clay? Or is Yang Chang a genius in military tactics?
"The letter said that they had won victory after victory, defeating Tian Biao's army of tens of thousands, and currently occupying the three cities of Fushan, Xiangling, and Linfen. This is simply incredible."

"Who says it's not true? According to Zhu Wu's letter, if it weren't for the lack of manpower under Yang Chang's command, Pingyang could have been completely recovered."

"So what does brother mean? Should we continue to send him more people? Or should we continue to report to the court and ask the Ministry of Personnel to send officials to take over the city?"

"I have not decided yet."

Song Jiang frowned and looked solemn, muttering to himself, "Captain Yang only has 8,000 men, but he fought like 80,000 men. This makes us look very bad. If we report the truth to General Su, the glory we have worked so hard for will be covered up, so I am very conflicted."

"Yang Chang is so good at fighting. If he is given enough manpower, I'm afraid that when Tian Hu is finally annihilated, the emperor will only remember him." Wu Yong stroked his beard with one hand and waved a feather fan with the other, and had already calculated the result.

"What the military advisor meant is..."

"It's best not to report it and say that we don't have enough manpower. Let them guard the three cities first and don't give them another chance to make meritorious contributions."

After listening to Wu Yong's analysis, Song Jiang nodded and added: "Let Mr. Lu go to Pingyang immediately and capture the remaining seven cities in Pingyang. But what about then? If Yang Chang and Mr. Lu join forces, won't it be like crushing dry weeds and rotten wood?"

"Brother, you can hand over the entire Pingyang to Yang Chang to guard temporarily after the war, and say that Tian Hu may counterattack at any time, and then agree to attack Qinzhou together in the end, and notify us later when the time comes." Wu Yong had a confident expression.

"Wonderful!"

Song Jiang clapped his hands and smiled, but soon his face turned worried, and he asked, "I originally wanted to let Wen follow Mr. Lu, but now I think it may not be appropriate, but each side needs a military advisor, so you go to Mr. Lu to help?"

"Haha, brother, why worry? Doesn't Pingyang have a military advisor?"

"You mean let Zhu Wu."

"Of course!"

After Wu Yong's reminder and guidance, Song Jiang was completely relieved. He stroked his beard and smiled, "This way, we can be absolutely safe. Zhu Wu also mentioned in the letter that he wanted a few hundred artillery shells. I don't know if it is related to the battle in Pingyang. It's just right to reject it."

Song Jiang and Wu Yong were both afraid that Yang Chang would show off his talent too much and overshadow the other brothers, so they wrote back to praise him with all kinds of words, but used the city of Pingyang as a rope to tie him down.

Of course, the targeted tactics cannot be too obvious.

Song Jiang asked Ruan Xiaoqi to lead 500 people from his own army and rush to Pingyang by water for thousands of miles to obey Yang Chang's orders. He took the injured He Cheng to Linfen for recuperation. At the same time, he urged Lu Junyi to set off quickly, and he also led his army to Huguan in Luzhou.

Song and Wu thought they were infallible, but everything was constantly changing.

(End of this chapter)