Chapter 118 Who is lying to whom?

In the streets that looked like ruins, several groups of cavalrymen galloped past, raising a cloud of dust.

In the almost demolished houses, the emaciated people of Yuyang had blank expressions on their faces. They just poked their heads out from between the earthen walls and silently watched the Yichang Army under the banner of Hebei rushing towards the south city gate.

The cavalrymen waded through the thick dust and shouted loudly before they even climbed onto the city wall.

"General, General! We found where Liu Shouguang is!"

On the top of the city wall, Liu Shouwen, whose face was thin and lifeless, turned around suddenly. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up and he walked over quickly: "Where is he!?"

"Yuan Xingqin found a cellar and hid Liu Shouguang there. We searched hard but to no avail. If they hadn't lost their patience and Yuan Xingqin hadn't led a personal soldier out to look for water, we wouldn't have been able to find them!"

Liu Shouwen couldn't help but stroke his beard and raised his head to laugh: "My brother hid all the way, but he finally fell into my hands!"

The next moment, his voice turned cold and he threw his cloak heavily, "After you capture a few people, bring them here quickly. I want to negotiate with the commander outside the city!"

A few riders responded to the order and turned back, raising a cloud of dust in the street again.

Several generals who were also hungry came forward and reluctantly congratulated him with a smile: "If we find Liu Shouguang, the general will find a way to take us back to Cangzhou..."

Over the past six months, these Yichang Army generals in Cangzhou have been deeply frightened and disgusted with the civil war in Hebei. They all think that they can no longer compete with Liu Shouguang for power in the short term. After escaping the difficulties, it is better to return to Cangzhou and secede from Hebei. After recuperating for a few years, they may continue to go north to seize power.

Liu Shouwen just didn't answer. He just held the battlement of the city wall with a sullen face and looked outside the city.

To the south, a crude camp had been rebuilt, without even a trench dug, as if waiting for them to attack. Under normal circumstances, he might have the confidence to lead his troops out of the city, destroy this undefended camp, and then break out.

But when he glanced around, he could see cavalrymen riding their horses everywhere outside the city, as if they were waiting for him to lead the troops out of the city, so he gave up the idea again.

How could Li Xiaoxi, who was stationed in Youzhou and whom I had never met before, have such ability?
He could never have imagined that this unknown young general could defeat the Yichang Army in one battle. Even if the Yichang Army was defeated because of too many forced conscripts, how could Yelu Abaoji, who was already good at fighting, be defeated?

Liu Shouwen had received news that Yelu Abaoji was very likely to have been crippled and fled to Liaodong. Although there were several thousand Mobei troops left in the city, they were only remnants, and their morale was low, they had no baggage, and like their Yichang troops, they were trapped in the city and could not move.

Damn it, why doesn’t he have such a strong general under his command?

Thinking of this, Liu Shouwen punched the battlement fiercely, extremely angry. But then he thought, after all, he had captured Liu Shouguang, so Li Xiaoxi would not dare to take any action against him. Now, as long as he went out of the city to negotiate, he could take advantage of the situation to raise conditions and escape from the city.

Perhaps it was because of Liu Shouguang's presence in the city that the defenders outside the city had not attacked the South City in the past few days. During this free time, Liu Shouwen even ordered his men to block the gap that allowed him to attack Yuyang. In the past few days, he ate and slept on the top of the city and did not dare to leave.

Now that Liu Shouguang has been captured, he can finally feel a little relieved.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves galloping from the street again.

Liu Shouwen squinted and looked.

Soon, a general and a Mobei general climbed to the top of the city wall.

The Mobei commander was covered in dust and dirt. As soon as he stepped onto the city wall, he prostrated himself with snot running down his face. He did not have the proud look he had before when facing the Yichang Army.

Since Yelu Abaoji had already escaped, Liu Shouwen no longer had a good mood towards these people from Mobei, so he frowned and shouted, "What the hell is he talking about?"

The general of the Yichang Army who could understand the Mobei language stood aside. He looked calm at first, but after hearing the latter part, his face suddenly turned pale, and his voice trembled when he opened his mouth.

"Jie, Jie Shuai...

"He said that the North City is about to be breached..."

Liu Shouwen's expression suddenly changed.

He immediately looked up to the north and heard the faint sound of drums in the wind.

It was a hot summer day, and sweat suddenly soaked through his shirt.

At this time, he finally understood why the south had never been attacked. Because the Mobei Army in the north was weaker in defending the city...

------

North of Yuyang City.

The sound of drums began to shake the earth, and it seemed that the thick city wall would collapse in the next moment.

In fact, whether the city wall collapsed or not made no difference to the Mobei Army defending the city.

The ladders set up between the city walls were densely packed with heavily armored infantrymen. Amid the earth-shaking shouts and cries of killing, they were not afraid of the oncoming spears. They just faced the cold light and rushed towards the top of the city wall.

Yelu Abaoji was defeated, and all the baggage, siege equipment, armor and military robes given by Liu Shouwen in the Mobei camp fell into Xiao Yan's hands. All the soldiers who attacked the city wore two layers of iron armor, and they climbed onto the top of the city like iron cans, and instantly seized a large foothold.

Meanwhile, there were many young and strong men from Yan who volunteered to attack the city. They were also given a set of iron armor. At this moment, they were all fearless and rushed to the city gate.

The people of Mobei had almost no experience in defending a city, and today's attack seemed to come suddenly, so fast and fierce that they didn't even have time to ask for help from the South City before Dingba reached the top of the city.

But even so, batches of Mobei defenders were desperately driven to the top of the city walls by the various generals and Khans in the city, just to delay the attacking army for a while.

"die!"

The long and heavy Mo Dao slashed down, and under the huge inertia, a Mobei soldier was instantly split in half.

Wang Yanzhang laughed loudly, the Mo Dao in his hand was as light as nothing, the blade was unstoppable, and the spears that stabbed at him were all cut off. Before anyone on the opposite side could rush over again, he had already displayed his divine power and strode forward, taking away a large number of lives with every step forward.

No matter how the Mobei people roared and rushed at him, he just chopped them down more cruelly. In the end, even half of the city was empty, and everywhere was splattered with dirty blood, broken limbs, and bloody corpses.

Even the Mobei soldiers who thought they were protected by the Eternal Heaven could only retreat in fear before him, losing all the courage to resist.

Wang Yanzhang burst into laughter and shouted, "Everyone! The military envoy is watching from the bottom of the city. Anyone who climbs the city first will be rewarded handsomely!"

"Try harder! Seize the city gate and welcome the envoy into the city!"

Behind him, the Dingba infantry and Yan men became even more excited. They thrust their heavy blades forward and instantly crushed all the enemies who came to block their way.

The Mobei Army, whose morale was already low, finally gave up resistance and abandoned the city walls, intending to retreat into the city and rely on the inner city to protect themselves.

Amidst huge cheers, the north gate of Yuyang City was finally opened from the inside.

The sound of trumpets and drums rang out.

A wisp of red tassel fluttered as the knight slowly rode into the city.

Under the iron helmet, Xiao Yan's face was grim. He walked through the doorway and looked around the ruined city. Even though he had been killing people for a long time, he couldn't help but frown at this moment, and his mood subconsciously became heavy.

After a moment, he let out a breath and waved his hand.

Behind him, rows of Mobei captives wearing only thin clothes were taken into the city.

"Military envoy, why do you want to recruit these barbarians?"

In the street, Wang Yanzhang, covered in blood, holding his iron helmet, strode back from the pursuit. He first glanced disdainfully at the Mobei captives, some of whom had ferocious faces, some of whom showed fighting spirit, and some of whom were timid. Then he politely said loudly: "I can take the inner city. As long as the military envoy gives me half a day, I will open the door to welcome the military envoy into the governor's office!"

Xiao Yan just frowned and rode forward, saying, "I can wait, but the people can't. Yuyang has been destroyed to this extent, and I don't want the people of the city to be buried with it."

Wang Yanzhang moved his mouth, wanting to persuade him, but Xiao Yan suddenly waved his hand.

The next moment, the first row of Mobei prisoners were pushed out by the soldiers.

These captives were somewhat excited, and most of them turned back to look at Xiao Yan, but the latter just had a blank expression on his face and continued to walk into the city with them.

Some figures appeared on the top of the inner city and in the corners of the streets.

Some captives began to shout in Mobei dialect, saying that the king outside the city had been defeated and that they would die if they stayed in the city, but Xiao Yan could accept their surrender and give them a chance to return to the grassland...

But several arrows were immediately shot out from the top of the city wall, nailing the captives to death in the street.

The remaining captives paused, no longer daring to move forward, and looked back in horror.

Xiao Yan still had no expression on his face and just looked at them indifferently.

Seeing that the commander ignored them, some of the captives hesitated, started running, stopped shouting, and ran smoothly into the Mobei Army.

The rest of the people were stunned and looked back.

Xiao Yan ignored them, but Wang Yanzhang was furious and was about to rise with a bow in his hand.

"Not urgent."

Xiao Yan raised his hand, and after these people were either shot to death or ran into the Mobei camp, he released another row of prisoners.

This time, the captives learned their lesson, and most of them fled directly back to the Mobei Army. But there were also a few who seemed to know that resistance was hopeless, and after shouting to persuade them to surrender, they were shot dead.

After this happened several times, Xiao Yan remained calm. However, the soldiers in the Mobei Army on the other side were already agitated.

inner city.

"You bastard."

A bearded man with the surname Yelu gnashed his teeth and stared fiercely at Xiao Yan's figure in the distance from the top of the city wall, cursing in a low voice: "What on earth are you playing!?"

Below, another row of prisoners were released. This time, some of them knelt on the ground, not daring to run over or persuade them to surrender, but just crying loudly.

The bearded man's eyes were red. He raised his hand and shot the two captives who were trying to persuade him to surrender. Then he immediately drew his bow and shot the crying man to death as well.

He walked back and forth, just reminding loudly: "This is the trick of that bastard, don't believe it! He must be pretending to persuade us to surrender. Don't look at his hypocritical appearance. Once the city gate is opened, we will definitely lose our lives!"

But this time, everyone just lowered their heads and didn't dare to look at him.

Soon, another group of prisoners were released to the city.

This time, no one dared to persuade them to surrender, but more than half of them did not dare to come back and even wanted to run back.

The big man with curly beard surnamed Yelu cursed loudly: "These cowards! Even if the city is broken, we will fight to the end..."

But before he finished his voice, a figure suddenly flashed in his peripheral vision. It turned out to be several people who rushed up and pinned him down in an instant, then took out ropes and tried to tie up the big man.

The generals and soldiers on both sides were all horrified, but they looked at each other, and no one stepped forward to stop them. Only the big man's personal soldiers wanted to stand up, but they were immediately hacked to death by the crowd and thrown off the city wall.

The soldiers who tied up the people also looked terrified, but their hands were moving fast, and they kept saying, "General Yelu, we want to live too. We have been following the king in the south for half a year, and we dare not die on the land of the southerners..."

"Traitor! Traitor!"

The bearded man was incredulous, and then he cursed loudly: "You cowards who betrayed Mobei, Changshengtian will not let you go! The goddess Duokuohuo will kill you in her dreams! The great shaman will..."

Immediately, he had no chance to speak because his mouth was suddenly blocked by someone.

The generals all had different expressions. Whether they really wanted to surrender or pretended to surrender, they were all silent for a moment. But soon, everyone rushed to the city gate, wanting to be the first to surrender.

……

From a distance, Wang Yanzhang was stunned as he watched the Mobei people suddenly quarrel among themselves and then go out of the city to surrender. He turned his head to look at Xiao Yan, stammering his lips in a daze, as if he couldn't understand.

The latter showed no sign of joy, but only said: "Enter the city and find the two Liu brothers."

The generals of Dingbadu Army and temporary officers of Yandi Haner nearby all admired and worshipped him. At this time, they responded loudly and rushed to the inner city in several groups.

"Military Envoy, this..."

Wang Yanzhang was very confused and wanted to find out.

Xiao Yan waved at him and took the initiative to say: "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's mind. It's a small trick, but it works."

"I will learn from your teaching."

"You accept the surrender for me and keep an eye on these people."

Wang Yanzhang was still thinking, and whispered: "But we are a little short of manpower..."

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and there was a hint of indifference in his voice.

"Select all the generals in the Mobei Army who cannot speak Chinese, as well as the captives who just escaped, and kill them all.

"Select some of the Mobei soldiers who can speak Chinese and appoint them as management team leaders. Except for these people, the food for the rest of the Mobei people will be reduced by half. Starting tomorrow, we will prepare to rebuild Yuyang."

Wang Yanzhang was surprised at first, and then he laughed grimly.

"Don't worry, General. Leave it to me."

……

In the south of the city, Liu Shouwen mobilized half of the remaining troops and prepared to enter the north city to provide support.

But before they got halfway there, scouts ahead had sent back news—

The Mobei Army surrendered...

The generals were terrified and began to curse, scolding these Mobei people for being ruthless when it came to taking advantage of the situation, and for not daring to hold out for even a moment after surrendering.

As the one who invited Mobei to go south, Liu Shouwen was naturally ashamed. But this was not the time to complain, so he had to hurriedly send people to bring Liu Shouguang and Yuan Xingqin.

The two had already starved to the point of skin and bones, and Yuan Xingqin was covered in wounds. The two were covered in dust and looked extremely miserable.

But Liu Shouguang was full of energy at this moment. He used up his last bit of strength and laughed loudly: "Brother, my good brother, how is it? Look, you have put in so much effort, but the master of Hebei is still me, Liu Shouguang!

"My beloved general Li Xiaoxi, you have been defeated miserably, right? Hahahaha..."

Yuan Xingqin remained silent. During the days of hiding, Liu Shouguang only thanked Li Xiaoxi profusely, without mentioning his contribution. Before being captured, Liu Shouguang complained bitterly to Li Xiaoxi because he was caught looking for water.

Although they were master and servant, his loyalty was not shaken by this, but he still felt a little uncomfortable.

Liu Shouwen's face was livid at this time, and he no longer felt the joy of capturing Liu Shouguang. He had no time to use the humiliating tactics he had prepared earlier. He could only snort coldly, put the sword on his brother's neck, and stare at the main street in the north.

Liu Shouguang, however, showed no fear and was even more complacent. He said with a smile, "Later, brother, don't let my beloved general scare you so much that your hands tremble, or the entire Yichang army will be buried with me."

Almost the next moment after he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves could be heard from the streets to the north.

A flash of cold light appeared in everyone's sight in the summer sunshine.

Then, rows of flashing weapons gleamed with cold light, and people could not open their eyes. The next moment, cavalrymen wearing iron helmets and heavy armor slowly emerged, like a steel wall, lining up for a long distance, and stopped at the place where it was suitable to increase the speed of the horses.

It seemed as if the space between heaven and earth was filled with rows of heavy cavalry, the cold light flashing on the armor, the lances like a forest, the war horses panting, the armored soldiers were silent, and a murderous atmosphere seemed to cover the entire Yuyang.

Standing in front of this, everyone, including Liu Shouwen, felt as if they could not breathe.

Only Liu Shouguang ignored the pain in his neck and just laughed.

"It's Dingbadu, Dingbadu! Did you see it?

"Li Xiaoxi, I was right. He actually brought Ding Ba with him to save me!"

Liu Shouwen had an ugly look on his face, and the Yichang army officers and soldiers around him also had pale faces and were filled with fear.

After a long time, a low cheer finally came from the heavily armored cavalry camp that seemed to be about to charge, causing everyone to look up. They saw that the cavalry formation on the main street suddenly parted, and a dozen heavily armored cavalrymen with strong backs and waists emerged. These cavalrymen all carried flags and protected a large banner with the word "You" on it.

Beside the great banner, there were several fluttering flags, all of which fluttered in the wind. Among them, a tall young man was crowded out. He was only wearing a very ordinary iron armor and a red tasseled iron helmet, but even so, every time he looked around, he caused the heavily armored cavalry to cheer.

"Military Envoy! Military Envoy!"

Everyone's faces trembled. Who was this young man, and how could he be so popular among the army?
Liu Shouwen's face changed again and again. He never expected that Li Xiaoxi was so young and could fight so well. What virtue and ability did Liu Shouguang have...

But when he turned around, he saw that Liu Shouguang, who had been complacent, suddenly turned pale.

Yuan Xingqin, who was standing aside, saw that the young man looked unfamiliar, so he asked loudly, "Where is Li Xiaoxi? The commander is here, why doesn't he dare to show up?"

Liu Shouguang's legs were already a little weak, but he immediately called out loudly: "Li Xiaoxi, my beloved general, please show up quickly. I have made up my mind that when I return to Youzhou, you will be the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi..."

On horseback, Xiao Yan just had a calm expression. After he finished speaking, he said indifferently: "Li Xiaoxi was beheaded by me in Youzhou a month ago."

Everyone's expression changed again.

Xiao Yan ignored them, clasped his hands together, and raised them towards the west.

"I am here on the orders of Liu Jieshuai, the governor of Youzhou and Lulong, to kill the traitor Liu Shouguang. The merits and demerits of the traitor Liu Shouwen will be determined by the governor. The rest of them will be spared and will remain in their original positions while awaiting punishment."

Liu Shouguang and even Yuan Xingqin's faces changed drastically.

The former was even more incredulous, and started to curse: "You little brat, how dare you speak so rudely, I am..."

Xiao Yan didn't want to hear what he said, so he raised his hand and someone handed him a large bow.

Draw the bow, load the arrow, drop your shoulders and raise your elbows, pull the string, and let go.

"puff……"

A diamond-shaped cluster of arrows suddenly appeared from behind Liu Shouguang's head.

Blood spurted out and splashed all over Liu Shouwen's face, causing his hands to tremble subconsciously and he failed to hold up the body, causing it to fall heavily to the ground.

Xiao Yan handed the bow to the side, then clapped his hands, slowly rode out, and spoke indifferently.

"Those who do not surrender are like this."

Yuan Xingqin turned his head in a daze and saw that his old boss was pierced by an arrow and was dead beyond death.

Behind him, the sound of metal falling to the ground was heard. It turned out that the Yichang Army had thrown down their weapons one after another and knelt on the ground in silence.

Xiao Yan came up to Liu Shouwen and looked down from his horse's back.

"Liu Dalang, will you not surrender?"

"Someone... is willing to surrender."

The latter stammered his lower lip, and finally knelt down.

------

A few days later.

Several Hu cavalrymen galloped into the camp.

Shili Qixiang met with a few people, then frowned and entered the big tent.

"Queen, someone has spotted the fleeing soldiers from Yuyang.

"Yuyang City was captured only four days ago..."

In front of the desk, Shuliduo, who was looking at the map, did not react at all, but the finger sliding on the map was suddenly startled.

After a long time, she turned around.

Shili Qixiang lowered her head, not daring to look at her slightly cold face.

"Where is Auntie Ao?"

"We have already crossed the Beishui River. She has already found out the location of the king based on the blood jade ring."

"Catch up."

Shuliduo walked to the commander's desk, took out the wooden box containing the severed finger, looked at it for a moment, and spoke calmly.

"Tell her to kill the Central Plains commander at all costs."

(End of this chapter)