Chapter 165 Luring the wolf into the house
The fifth day of the first lunar month in the third year of Liang Kaiping.

At that time, Xiao Yan was receiving an imperial edict from Bianliang on the bank of the Yellow River and was heading north.

And in Youzhou City, which is at the center of the vortex, there is only a murderous atmosphere.

This solemn and murderous atmosphere was created by the imperial guards in the city, as well as Lord Li of Bianliang, who was in charge of all affairs in Hebei and toured the country on behalf of the emperor, and the Inspector General Li Zhen.

Even though there was enough food and grass in Youzhou City to sustain it for more than a month, the city defenses were repaired by Xiao Yan two months ago through a work-for-relief program. The city walls were high and thick, and the moat was wide and deep. It seemed that it was enough to protect the city. However, Mr. Li was still worried all the time, and his mouth was covered with blisters from anxiety on this cold winter day.

After all, no matter how high the city walls are or how deep the moat is, without soldiers inside, everything is just empty talk...

Li Zhen climbed to the top of the city wall early in the morning, but even though he was mentally prepared, he was still so frightened that his eyes were dizzy and his scalp was numb.

It was still icy and snowy in the first month of the year. Even if the roads were not buried by snow, the exposed ground would be frozen hard. But looking around at this time, one could see that the fields outside Youzhou City had been trampled into mud and was in a mess.

Large groups of Yan troops, holding various flags, were moving out of camp. From north to south, countless scattered soldiers and horses were sweeping along the two wings of Youzhou City.

In Li Zhen's eyes, although the Yan army scattered all over the mountains and plains was scattered and moved slowly, there were too many of them to be seen. At this time, a camp had been set up several miles outside the city, but the chaotic army coming from the north had no intention of stopping. It just kept sweeping southward, crossing the hills and low woods, and directly submerged the forts along the way.

There were several small camps specially arranged by Li Zhen. Although he was a scholar, he also understood the principle of "a good defender makes the enemy unaware of where to attack". By setting up blockhouses and military camps outside the city, they could communicate with the people inside the city and provide mutual assistance.

According to his idea, he should use "regular" troops to repel the enemy and "special" troops to win. The "regular" troops were naturally Youzhou City, and the "special" troops were the military camps outside the city. Each military camp had more than a hundred soldiers, which was enough to deter the Yan army that came to attack the city. After all, the Yan army was just a group of rebels resembling bandits.

Moreover, as long as the Yan army dared to attack these military camps, the defenders in the city could also send troops to fight in the field, and perhaps win the battle in one go, greatly undermining the morale of the Yan army.

But reality gave Li Zhen another hard slap in the face.

The Yan army coming from the south was so numerous that it was hard to see the end. As soon as they entered Youzhou City, the first thing they did was to capture the military camps outside the city. They just relied on their numbers to wipe them out right in front of Li Zhen. They didn't capture them one by one, but rushed forward all at once. Several military camps were surrounded at the same time, and they were almost drowned by the sea of ​​people.

Some of these military camps were breached in an instant, while others were still struggling to hold on, but there were countless layers of rebel troops surrounding them outside, who were climbing up the walls desperately, and it was unknown how long they could hold out.

These military camps outside the city would naturally ask for help from inside the city, but those who asked for help could not even leave the military camps, let alone get through the layers of Yan army camps blocking outside Youzhou City.

Li Zhen had also thought about using surprise troops to win the battle. He planned to win the battle in one go and cooperate with the army camp outside the city to catch the rebels off guard. However, the rebels outside the city seemed to hope that the city would send troops more than he did. All the rebels besieging the army camp had no defenses behind them, which exposed a big flaw.

And right next to this flaw, there were nearly two thousand brave cavalrymen in helmets and armor waiting quietly in the snow, like a crouching tiger, staring at Youzhou City with eager eyes, waiting leisurely for prey to appear in the city.

Li Zhen was not an ignorant soldier. He could see that the Yan army was no different from bandits. Naturally, he could also see that the two thousand plus cavalry were truly elite. Even though there were fifteen hundred imperial guards in the city, most of them were infantry, and the outcome of a fight would be unpredictable.

In this situation, he could only watch silently from the top of the city wall as the military camp outside the city was uprooted, leaving no one behind.

It happened right in front of him, so openly.

Youzhou City surrendered, and the food left in several military camps outside the city was naturally captured by the Yan army. The cheers of the rebel soldiers could be heard from the top of the city from time to time. Although the food in the military camps was little, it was at least better than nothing. After all, for the bandits, the most important thing was food.

As for Li Zhen's livid face, the defenders in the city had no intention of paying attention to him, let alone the Yan army outside the city. No matter how ugly his face was, the Yan army outside the city, which was like a swarm of locusts, would never stop.

On the afternoon of the third day of the first lunar month, Liu Shouwen's banner was already erected outside the city. At first, there seemed to be only a few camps and flags, but later, almost every quarter of an hour, several more flags of marshals from various regions appeared.

Judging from the past two days, it seems that Yan troops are rushing to Youzhou from all directions to join the attack. Every moment, teams with the appearance of generals are riding their horses towards the central camp where the Yan army's flag is located. In just two days, this huge city with a circumference of 32 miles has been tightly surrounded on all sides, with layer upon layer of camps spreading out all the way, as if the entire sight cannot contain it.

The momentum of the Yan army outside the city grew to over a hundred thousand people almost overnight!

At this time, all the military camps outside the city were destroyed. The Yan army, which swept in from both wings, bypassed the camps of Dingbadu and Yichang Army outside Youzhou City and continued to move south.

The Yan army naturally did not dare to move the heavily guarded Dingbadu and Yichang army camps, which had tens of thousands of soldiers. After dealing with the military camps, they continued to plunder and loot around Youzhou. The two camps on the left and right also acted in tacit agreement, keeping their troops in the camps and watching the Yan army sweep across the entire Youzhou territory.

By the evening of the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Yan army that was heading south had finally stopped trying to join forces, and Youzhou City was finally surrounded, with no news being able to be sent out. Moreover, the Yan army that was heading south had even crossed the Gaoliang River, and the entire territory of Youzhou had become the territory of the Yan army. Li Zhen, the governor of Hebei who was on duty on behalf of the emperor, only controlled the isolated city of Youzhou.

At dusk, there were campfires everywhere in the mountains and plains within a radius of dozens of miles in Youzhou. The momentum of the Yan army was so great that it was shocking.

Li Zhen was also on the top of the city wall, sitting there with a pale face for a whole day. The blisters at the corners of his mouth were getting bigger and bigger, and had become eroded. He didn't dare to touch them at all.

"Mr. Li..."

The aide climbed up to the top of the city wall cautiously, walked to one side and stood there, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

"How is the Yichang Army doing?" Li Zhen's forehead was covered with wrinkles and his voice was a little hoarse, but when he saw the appearance of his staff, he had actually guessed that the situation was not good.

On the edge of the city wall, several generals of the imperial guards were leaning against the parapet with their swords on their hands, looking at everything outside the city with mixed feelings. When they heard this, they all pricked up their ears and looked over here.

The staff hesitated, but Li Zhen just waved his hand and sighed, "All the generals are from Bianliang, and are loyal to your majesty. How can you not trust them? If you don't trust them, who else can you trust in Youzhou City? Tell me quickly..."

"Although Zhu Junshi has pacified the Yichang army, he said that now is not a good time for a field battle. The only option is to defend the city to the death."

"There are more than 100,000 people outside the city. I know that we can't fight in the field!" Li Zhen said angrily, "I should have asked him to go north to Hengshan City to rescue Kang Huaiying earlier. If he didn't move at that time, what's the point of talking about a field battle now!?"

The several imperial guards standing next to the marquis were watching coldly, sneering in their hearts.

Since you know that you can't fight in the field, why do you still set up those military camps outside the city? There are not many people in the city who can be mobilized, and you have to send hundreds of people out for nothing to replace them with some bandits!
Li Zhen immediately thought of this truth and naturally did not want to mention it again. He just said with a serious face: "What I want to ask is, can the Yichang Army follow us and defend the city to the death?" Obviously, all the generals were also concerned about this issue and they all moved closer.

The staff member was under tremendous pressure. He was obviously just an errand boy, but Li Zhen seemed to have put the blame of the Yichang Army on his back, as if these imperial guards would draw their swords and chop him if he didn't give the answer they wanted.

"General Zhu said that if the Yichang army enters the city and defends it, it may be very effective." The staff member said cautiously: "After all, the main camp is always outside the city, which may make the Yichang army suspect that you, Lord Li, do not trust them..."

Li Zhen stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Several generals on the side nodded secretly and said, "General Zhu's move is feasible. Not only can it calm the hearts of the Yichang army, but after his troops enter the city, they can also form a horn with Dingbadu outside the west city and fight against each other."

Li Zhen just waved his hand and asked his staff.

"Is this idea just from Zhu Hanbin, or is it shared by all the generals of the Yichang Army?"

The staff member was stunned for a moment, then said carefully: "The Yichang army has this idea. After all, the camp outside the city is no match for the camp inside the city..."

"You are right, but I still have some concerns." Li Zhen narrowed his eyes and looked at several generals, saying, "Sun He, the commander of the Yichang Army, was once a general under Liu Shouwen in Cangzhou. I heard that after Liu Shouwen was captured, he even promoted Liu Shouwen's son to be the governor of the Yichang Army to resist, which shows his loyalty to Liu Shouwen."

He glanced at everyone, stroked his beard and frowned, saying: "Now Liu Shouwen has led more than 100,000 people to besiege Youzhou. Sun He was so loyal to him. I can't guarantee that he won't have evil intentions..."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then a general whispered: "When the Yichang army enters the city, why doesn't Lord Li order us to capture this man? No matter what he is thinking, we can take action first and eliminate future troubles!"

"No!" The staff member hurriedly reminded: "The Yichang army is not loyal. If we capture Sun He, something uncontrollable may happen."

Li Zhen nodded slowly, seeming to agree with it.

"What else can we do? With such a powerful enemy in front of us, we are still hesitating! What if we let him in?"

One general was dissatisfied and said, "We only control 1,500 imperial guards and a few Youzhou guards, which number no more than 4,000 or 5,000 at most. What can we do? We can't even defend the four walls. If it weren't for these two armies stationed outside the city, I'm afraid the Yan army would have launched an offensive yesterday. How could we have waited for more than 100,000 people to gather and besiege the city?"

He kept complaining, "We only have so many people. If the Yichang army really wants to do harm, what's the point of locking them outside the city? It will only take them a little time to break into the city. Lord Li, do you really think that we only have more than 4,000 people and can stop tens of thousands of Yichang troops?"

As a general of the imperial guards, he was naturally a bit arrogant. However, in Bianliang, he really didn't dare to yell at Li Zhen. After all, Li Zhen was actually different from ordinary literati. He was favored by the emperor and was also given the title of deputy envoy of the Xuanyi Army. He was both a civil and a military man. Not to mention ordinary generals of the imperial guards, even senior military officers could have their future influenced by him.

But this is Youzhou, and it’s possible that everyone’s heads will fall off in a few days. What’s there to be afraid of? Just confront them, so what?

To be honest, many of the imperial guards brought by Li Zhen were also complaining in private. If Li Zhen had not forced Xiao Yan away, how could these things happen? At least he could mobilize some of the surrendered troops in Hebei. He had real military merits and conquered Hebei with the surrendered troops. Even if everyone was jealous secretly, they also admired him. After all, this was a real fact and could not be faked.

But what happened to Mr. Li after he forced Xiao Yan away? He was completely destroying his own Great Wall and asking to jump into the fire pit!

This ability is far inferior to that of Xiao Yan. If the unknown Marshal Xiao was here, he would probably let the Yichang Army into the city without hesitation even in the face of such a situation. At this critical moment of life and death, why would he be afraid of looking ahead and behind?
Following the literati's lead is just fucking ink!

This general of the Imperial Guards showed no respect to Li Zhen at all and was almost desperate. He probably had no intention of returning to Bianliang safely, and naturally he was not afraid that Li Zhen might make things difficult for him after he returned and that his future in the Imperial Guards would be ruined.

But Li Zhen would not be so stupid. He knew that at this critical moment he could only rely on these imperial guards, and he would not anger them because of a complaint, so he said kindly: "General, how could I not know what you mean? But in the current situation, we should seek stability. I am not saying that Sun He really has evil intentions, but if there is a disaster in the city at that time, I am afraid no one can stop it."

The imperial guard general snorted coldly, "If we follow Lord Li's advice, what should we do?"

The other generals did not join in the discussion, and the staff had no right to interrupt, so Li Zhen had to lower his status. He endured the pain of the blisters at the corners of his mouth, pondered for a long time, and then pretended to know everything. He said: "If you want to enter the city, you should send Dingbadu and Yichang Army to enter the city together. One part of these two armies was Youzhou Army, and the other part was Cangzhou Army. They are close to each other. Even if Sun He has some evil intentions, I don't believe that Dingbadu will do anything wrong!"

Everyone was stunned, and for a moment they even admired Li Zhen's boldness.

But if you think about it carefully, this might really be the truth. Although Dingba is more unruly and more difficult to control than Yichang's army, it is impossible for both armies to rebel together, right?
Li Zhen would be lying if he said he wasn't worried, but in front of everyone, he was confident and said, "I have collected a lot of money in the city these past two days, and I will give it all to Dingbadu later. If the Yichang army rebels, how can Dingbadu sit idly by?"

"Mr. Li has a point."

"Mr. Li is indeed a great talent by your majesty's side."

Everyone nodded.

Seeing that everyone agreed with his arrangement, Li Zhen felt relieved. Perhaps such an arrangement could balance things out, right?
In fact, he had already sent people south to look for Xiao Yan, but according to information obtained by his staff, the people he sent out were either killed by the Mobei Army in the south or did not have time to return.

But even if it was Xiao Yan, he would probably be powerless facing the chaotic army of more than 100,000 people, right?
He whispered to his staff, "Please arrange for me to personally meet Yu Zhong, the Infantry Colonel of Dingba City. I have met this man before, and I am afraid that he is the only one in Dingba City who will not rebel.

I want to win him over myself."

……

A quarter of an hour later.

To the west of the city, there is Dingbadu’s camp.

The staff waited outside the tent, just smiling apologetically in front of the group of fierce soldiers.

Inside the tent, Yu Zhong, who was lifted up by Xiao Yan, gently drew a Tang sword from its sheath, and then faced the cold blade with a grin.

(End of this chapter)