Chapter 479 Caught off guard!

At three quarters past the hour of the Chou, in the forest outside Zhaojiaji in Youyan.

Guo Zhiping was sitting quietly in the tent with his eyes closed. He was waiting for news, a piece of news that could decide the fate of him and his 20,000 soldiers...

Guo Zhiping did not have to wait too long. Outside his tent, there was the sound of anxious footsteps. Then his deputy Cui Desheng walked into the tent and happily instructed Guo Zhiping:

"The scouts sent a message that there was a burst of flames in the direction of Jizhou. It should be that the First Division and the Second Division were fighting in Jizhou!"

As soon as these words came out, a fierce look appeared in Guo Zhiping's eyes, and he immediately instructed Cui Desheng:
"Pass the order down, target Zhaojiaji and attack with all your forces, and resolve the battle within an hour!"

"Yes!" Cui Desheng happily accepted the order and said:
As a lone and special force in the Fengwu Army's plan to enter the pass, if Jizhou City is not taken and their Third Division acts rashly, then if things do not go smoothly, the more than 20,000 soldiers of the Third Division will most likely be surrounded.

Although he didn't know the situation in Jizhou, Guo Zhiping was willing to trust his colleagues and believed that Yuan Song and Lin Huaiwu would be able to capture Jizhou and ensure the retreat of their Third Division!
Zhaojiaji was very quiet late at night. People were all immersed in sleep, and there was no trace of the hustle and bustle of the day.

As a market town, Zhaojiaji is not very big, but it is an important transportation hub for commerce in the northeast of Youyan. Every day, caravans pass through Zhaojiaji...

As for why the General Staff designed the battle plan for Ye Mingsheng that Guo Zhiping's Third Division needed to capture Zhaojiaji, it was entirely because although Guo Zhiping's Third Division had brought enough food and fodder supplies from Liaoyang before setting off, although they took a sparsely populated path and were not discovered by the Yan army, this also caused the distance to be doubled. Therefore, after entering Youyan, the Third Division's supplies were only enough to last for a few days.

As a transportation hub for caravans, Zhaojiaji also has warehouses. According to the spies of the General Coordination Office in their preliminary investigation in Youyan, the warehouses in Zhaojiaji store tens of thousands of shi of grain all year round, as well as a large amount of fodder for feeding horses and cattle.

Therefore, Zhaojiaji is like a big gift package for the Third Division. After taking this gift package and obtaining supplies, the sustainable combat capability of the Third Division will be greatly enhanced, and it can continue to complete the combat plan of raiding Yijing.

In order to prevent the bandits and the Luobei people on the grassland from looting, Zhaojiaji not only had defense measures such as watchtowers and walls, but also stationed more than 500 Yan army soldiers. Of course, Guo Zhiping didn't care about these garrisons at all.
His only worry was that after the attack, the garrison troops in Zhaojiaji might burn all the food and fodder in the warehouse. In that case, without being able to obtain supplies, the combat effectiveness of his Third Division would undoubtedly be greatly reduced. Therefore, the speed of this battle must be fast...

At the time of Yinshi, the sentry on the wall of Zhaojiaji was yawning out of boredom on the watchtower, hesitating whether to take a nap quietly. However, at this moment, the sentry suddenly felt the floor tiles under his feet vibrating slightly. Feeling this situation, the sentry was stunned at first, and at this moment, the vibration amplitude of the floor tiles under his feet was getting bigger and bigger!
The sentry was startled and looked outside. Under his gaze, countless cavalrymen were like a black wave, rapidly attacking the direction of Zhaojiaji. Although he didn't know where so many cavalrymen came from, the sentry didn't hesitate at all. He rang the bell in the watchtower and shouted at the top of his lungs to the people in the group:
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Although the sentry reacted quickly, unfortunately the cavalry of the Third Division were too fast. As soon as the sentry finished speaking, they rushed to the city. Through skillful formation coordination, they destroyed the gate of the town in just two or three moves and rushed into the town.

At the beginning, the generals of the Yan army stationed in Jizi wanted to organize their forces to put up a desperate resistance, but unfortunately, their efforts were undoubtedly like an egg hitting a stone in the face of absolute strength. Under the shining sabers of the cavalry of the Third Division, their resistance collapsed in an instant, and they became a group of lambs to be slaughtered...
It only took half an hour for the Third Division to completely control Zhaojiaji. The subordinates reported to Guo Zhiping:

"Report to the general, our army has seized 50,000 dan of grain and a large amount of fodder from the Zhao family. In addition, we have also seized 500 sheep and some cotton cloth!"

Hearing this, Guo Zhiping's stern face finally showed a faint smile, and he instructed his subordinates:
"Distribute the cotton cloth to the soldiers to keep them warm. Wang Xin, you and your battalion will stay in Zhaojiaji. The rest of the brothers, bring enough rations and fodder with me to rush to Yijing!"

"Kill them all at Yijing! Kill them all at Yijing!"

The high-spirited soldiers of the Third Division shouted in unison:
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"How's the situation outside?"

In a house in Jizhou City, Shen Zhuo nervously asked the guards who had just returned from outside:

At this time, Shen Zhuo was wearing tattered clothes, his hair was messy, and even his face was covered with a layer of soot. He looked like a beggar. It was impossible to tell that he was the arrogant general of Jizhou who had shouted that if Ye Mingsheng dared to attack, he would never return!

Hearing Shen Zhuo's question, the guard who had changed into ragged clothes like him answered with horror:
"Sir, the four gates of the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest have all been blocked by the Fengwu Army. General Liu Dazhi has died in the battle, and his head is hung on the south city tower. The Fengwu Army has already attacked your general's residence, and they are now searching house to house..."

The words of the personal soldiers immediately made Shen Zhuo despair. The Fengwu Army attacked too quickly. He originally thought that Liu Dazhi could give him some time so that he could pack up his gold and silver and withdraw calmly. However, he never expected that before he finished packing, he heard the news that the north gate had been breached. He was so scared that he didn't have time to take the money he had extorted from the people in Jizhou over the years. He just changed his clothes and fled in a hurry accompanied by several personal followers.

Now, after hearing that the Fengwu Army had invaded his headquarters, Shen Zhuo realized that all the things he had accumulated with great difficulty had become spoils of war for the Fengwu Army. He felt dizzy and continued to curse, unwilling to accept the consequences:
"You damn Fengwu Army, just wait for me to make you pay for what you have done. No matter how much I have done to you, I will make you vomit it all out!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a hurried knock on the door.

"Fellow countryman, we are the Fengwu Army, looking for wanted criminals! Don't be afraid, we won't hurt anyone or plunder their property!"

Hearing the words "Fengwu Army", Shen Zhuo and several of his personal soldiers suddenly became nervous. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do, and dared not make any sound...
Seeing no response from the yard, Ye Dong outside the door felt a little confused. Someone had just reported that several people had entered the yard. As if realizing something, Ye Dong nodded to the soldiers beside him. The soldiers who received the order did not hesitate at all, and several of them kicked the wooden door in front of them together.

How could the thin wooden door withstand the full force of several well-dressed men? The wooden door was shattered with just one kick. The next second, Ye Dong led his men into the yard and saw Shen Zhuo and several of his followers in the yard. Although Ye Dong did not know Shen Zhuo, he could tell that these people were deserters by looking at the men in front of him, who were holding knives and guns. He immediately shouted:

"Surrender without killing!"

Although Ye Dong shouted the slogan of surrender and no killing, Shen Zhuo didn't dare to surrender. He said so many bad things about Ye Mingsheng. If he surrendered and fell into Ye Mingsheng's hands, he would suffer the consequences. He gritted his teeth and shouted:

"rush!"

Although Shen Zhuo was a bad guy, his few close followers were still loyal. When they heard Shen Zhuo’s command, they wanted to fight their way out and protect Shen Zhuo from leaving...
However, although their loyalty was commendable, just three or five of them were no match for Ye Dong and his men. After a few encounters, they were chopped to the ground and only Shen Zhuo was left. Seeing that all his personal soldiers were dead, Shen Zhuo originally wanted to sacrifice his life, but he hesitated at the critical moment of life and death. At this time, Ye Dong saw that he was a high-ranking official, and immediately snatched the knife from his hand and knocked him to the ground with one punch.

At this moment, someone in the crowd recognized Shen Zhuo and shouted:
"Old man Shen Zhuo is here!" "He is Shen Zhuo!"

"We've caught Shen Zhuo!"

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Hearing the shouts, Ye Dong realized that the dirty old man in front of him might be Shen Zhuo. He asked with some surprise:

"Are you Shen Zhuo?"

Shen Zhuo knew he could not escape death after hearing this, so he pretended to be tough and said:
"I'm Shen Zhuo, and I'm not going to change my name. You better give me a quick death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Dong kicked him hard in the stomach. Shen Zhuo screamed in pain, and his old face twisted into a ball because of pain. Seeing Shen Zhuo in such a miserable state, Ye Dong was still not satisfied and grabbed Shen Zhuo's hair and said angrily:

"How dare an old man like you insult my master with your mouth full of shit?"

Although Shen Zhuo was extremely sad and angry, the pain in his stomach also taught him a lesson, and he dared not look Ye Dong in the eye again.

"If the Lord hadn't ordered me to capture you alive, I would have skinned you alive right now!" Ye Dong said coldly.

After saying that, Ye Dong stood up and ordered the soldiers around him:

"Take this old man back and hand him over to General Yuan!"

"Yes!"

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Yijing
Although Zhao Jianan, who usually sits in Yijing on behalf of his father, is very diligent in order to establish a personal image for himself, Zhao Jianan also gave himself a holiday during the Chinese New Year. He hugged a few concubines in his house to drink tea and read books to take a break from his busy schedule.

In the early morning, at dawn, Zhao Jianan, who had been busy all night, was still immersed in sleep when he felt someone shaking his arm and seemed to hear someone calling his name. So he woke up in a daze, rubbed his eyes subconsciously, and asked:

"what happened?"

The concubine beside him whispered:

"Sir, I don't know what happened. I heard that it was Lord Sun who was looking for you. There was something urgent..."

When Zhao Jianan heard that it was Sun Junde looking for him and it was an extremely urgent matter, he immediately became alert. A thought immediately emerged in his mind: Could it be that his damn brother Zhao Jianwen had done something weird again?
Just then, there were hurried footsteps outside, and the guards' admonitions.

"Master Sun, that's the eldest son's bedroom, you can't go in there!"

"Get out of here! If you delay things, you will all lose your heads!" Sun Zhunde shouted angrily:
Although he didn't know what Sun Zhunde wanted to talk to him about, seeing that Sun Zhunde was actually trying to force his way into his bedroom, Zhao Jianan felt a little unhappy at this moment, no matter how much he relied on Sun Zhunde on weekdays. He immediately put on his clothes, walked out of the door, and asked Sun Zhunde coldly:

"Mr. Sun, is the sky falling? Is it making you so panicked?"

Although he could sense Zhao Jianan's displeasure, Sun Zhunde didn't care about it at this time, and immediately said loudly:

"My Lord, the sky has fallen! The Fengwu Army has sneaked into the pass!"

"A large number of Fengwu Army cavalry attacked Zhaojiaji and are now heading towards Yijing. They are about to kill us!"

Zhao Jianan was really shocked when he heard this, and he stammered in disbelief and asked:
"Mr. Sun...how is this possible? Shen Zhuo reported a few days ago that Jizhou was impregnable...how could the Fengwu Army attack us so quickly!"

Before Zhao Jianan had finished speaking, a guard came running over and reported:

"My Lord, a large number of Fengwu cavalry appeared outside Yijing City, with a number of at least 5,000!"

After hearing this, Zhao Jianan was immediately at a loss and could only look to Sun Zhunde for help, hoping that his strategist could give him advice at the critical moment.

Seeing Zhao Jianan looking at him, Sun Zhunde said without hesitation:

"My Lord, impose martial law in the entire city immediately and mobilize all those who can fight to defend the city! Our Yijing City has sufficient food and over ten thousand elite soldiers. It cannot be shaken by just a few thousand Fengwu troops!"

(End of this chapter)