Chapter 542 What I want to do!

Huainan, Kangyin

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Amid the deafening shouts and cries of killing, tens of thousands of Anqing soldiers raised their shields and charged towards the several-meter-high city wall in front of them...

Behind these charging soldiers, Xu Zhaojie, the Marquis of Zhenyuan of the Great Zhou, was surrounded by a crowd, riding on a tall horse and looking at the not-so-distant Kangyin City. Seeing his soldiers gradually climbing up the city wall of Kangyin, the gloomy look on Xu Zhaojie's face was relieved.

The current situation in Huainan is very clear. Except that Feng Keqin did not die in Langya and escaped back to Shouchun, the situation in Huainan was within Xu Zhaojie's expectations. Now, in addition to Bozhou and Zhucheng that he occupied at the beginning, he also occupied Yingzhou and the five prefectures in the eastern part of Huainan. Except for Kangyin, all of them are under Xu Zhaojie's control. Judging from the current situation, the Anqing army under Xu Zhaojie has firmly gained the upper hand in Kangyin.

The messenger came to Xu Zhaojie breathlessly and reported:
"My Lord, we have good news from Luoshipo! General Sun Zhibang has repelled the Huai Army's support troops. The 20,000 Huai Army troops that came from Shouchun are unable to advance an inch at Luoshipo!"

Upon hearing the news, Xu Zhaojie burst into laughter and said:
"Sun Zhibang did a great job. If we take down Kangyin this time, he will be the first to be credited! Go back and tell him to keep the Huai Army firmly in Luoshipo and not to retreat a single step. Once I take down Kangyin, I will lead my troops to Luoshipo and completely annihilate this Huai Army!"

"Yes!"

From the information Xu Zhaojie has obtained so far, although Feng Keqin, the governor of Huainan, did not die in the Battle of Langya and successfully escaped back to his old nest Shouchun, this does not mean that Feng Keqin is unscathed. When he was ambushed by Xu Zhaojie's army, he was hit by a stray arrow and his injuries were very serious.

This is also why after the Battle of Langya, the whole of Huainan was in panic, and when the folks and the temples were saying that Feng Keqin was dead, Feng Keqin did not stand up immediately to tell everyone that he was not dead and thus stabilize people's hearts··················

At the same time, it was also because Feng Keqin was seriously injured and unable to govern, and the upper echelons of Huainan were in chaos, with no one able to make a decision. Therefore, when Xu Zhaojie led his troops to attack the four cities of Bozhou, Zhucheng, Yingzhou and Shunde, the Huai Army did not provide effective support.

However, as time went by, Feng Keqin's injuries were gradually improving. Now he had begun to deal with some very important government affairs. So when he learned that Xu Zhaojie was leading his troops to attack Kangyin, Feng Keqin, who hated Xu Zhaojie to the core, immediately ordered and urgently dispatched 20,000 Huai troops from Shouchun to support Kangyin.

As a famous general, Xu Zhaojie had long anticipated the arrival of Feng Keqin's reinforcements, so he specially prepared 5,000 elite soldiers on Luoshipo, a major transportation route from Shouchun to Kangyin, and built complete defensive fortifications, trenches and watchtowers, just waiting to block Feng Keqin's reinforcements.

Judging from the current results, although Feng Keqin hated Xu Zhaojie to the core, the Huai Army under his command did not live up to his expectations. The Huai Army, which was unable to move at Luoshipo, could only watch Kangyin, an important town in the eastern part of Huainan, fall into the hands of Xu Zhaojie!
Before the Battle of Kangyin began, Xu Zhaojie believed that the only variable in the Battle of Kangyin was the reinforcements coming from Shouchun. If the reinforcements could open up the road as soon as possible, he would have to return empty-handed. That was why he put so much thought into Luoshipo, and now it seems that his preparations really worked...

Now, after three days of continuous attacks by the Anqing Army regardless of casualties, the Huai Army in Kangyin City is already at the end of its strength and on the brink of collapse. Xu Zhaojie firmly believes that as long as the offensive continues to intensify, Kangyin City will most likely fall today!

Seeing that the piece of fat meat of Kangyin was about to fall into his mouth, Xu Zhaojie's greedy nature was revealed again. He was no longer satisfied with occupying the city of Kangyin. He also wanted to take in the 20,000 reinforcements from Shouchun. Under his instigation, Feng Keqin brought almost all the main elite troops of the Huai Army in the previous battle of Langya, hoping to achieve success in one battle with the help of Xu Zhaojie and completely defeat Cao Changping!

However, under the conspiracy of Xu Zhaojie and Cao Changping, the high-spirited Feng Keqin almost lost everything. Only a mere 10,000 men out of the nearly 100,000-man army escaped back to Shouchun, and only three out of ten of the elite troops of the Huai Army survived. The 20,000 Huai Army troops supporting Kangyin now are basically half of the remaining veterans in the Huai Army!

Now all Xu Zhibang needs to do is hold out at Luoshipo for a few more days to hold back the 20,000 reinforcements, leaving Xu Zhaojie with a short rest. Then Xu Zhaojie will have the confidence to lead his troops to rush to Luoshipo and completely annihilate the 20,000 Huai troops that have come to support him.

Without these 20,000 veterans, Feng Keqin's regime will fall deeper into the situation of internal and external troubles. Even if new soldiers are recruited as quickly as possible, the training of new soldiers still takes time, and Xu Zhaojie will never give him this time. He will beat the downtrodden dog and not give Feng Keqin any chance to turn things around...

Feng Keqin was in a good mood thinking of this, and a smile appeared on his face unconsciously. At the same time, the soldiers of the Anqing Army were also very respectful. They fought bravely under the cover of their comrades' bows and arrows and muskets, and more and more soldiers climbed onto the city wall of Kangyin.

Although the Huai Army soldiers guarding Kangyin tried very hard to repel the Anqing army, they had suffered heavy losses after the bloody battles in the past few days. Many of the soldiers defending the city were young and strong men recruited from the city a few days ago. They had no experience in fighting at all and relied entirely on their courage to defend their homeland. However, under such fierce fighting, their courage was slowly cooling down, and was replaced by the fear of war and death.

Gazing at the Kangyin city tower, Xu Zhaojie's eyes revealed a hint of excitement as he saw that his vision would soon become a reality and that he might be able to spend the night in Kangyin city. Some of his trusted generals beside him also seemed to have begun to prepare to congratulate Xu Zhaojie.

Just when Xu Zhaojie was full of hope, another messenger came to him in a hurry. Unlike the previous messenger who brought Xu Zhaojie exciting good news, the news brought by this messenger made the excited Xu Zhaojie feel like he was falling into an ice cave...
Arriving in front of Xu Zhaojie, the messenger dismounted and said in fear:

"My Lord, it's bad. Cao Changping led 50,000 troops to attack Bozhou. Bozhou is in a difficult situation and can no longer be defended!"

Xu Zhaojie was stunned when he heard this, thinking that he had heard it wrong, and immediately opened his mouth and scolded:
What are you talking about, you bastard? How can Cao Changping, a bitch who can barely afford to eat, attack Bozhou?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's murderous eyes, the messenger was trembling with fear and could only say with a sad face:
"My Lord, what I said is true. The Qi army got a lot of powerful firearms from somewhere. We were beaten back step by step. Even General Gan Hang who was guarding Bozhou lost an arm!"

Seeing that what the messenger said was not false, although Xu Zhaojie was furious, he forced himself to calm down.

Under the careful planning of Xu, although Cao Changping managed to keep Langya, the forward base for the southward march, under Feng Keqin's massive attack, he also suffered heavy losses. In addition to tens of thousands of casualties, he also consumed countless money and food. There was simply no ability to support Cao Changping's idea of ​​moving south.

It is no exaggeration to say that after the Battle of Langya, Cao Changping’s plan to go south was basically ruined due to the heavy losses. The only thing Cao Changping can do now is to hide in Qi and Lu, silently licking his miserable wounds. This is why Xu Zhaojie dared to boldly gather the main force to attack Kangyin without worrying that Cao Changping would stab him in the back...

Xu Zhaojie has always been very confident in his judgment. However, if the news sent by the messenger is true, it means that his idea of ​​​​fishermen benefiting from the conflict between the snipe and the clam may not be completely successful. There may even be a risk of a complete collapse. You know, although he has captured the four cities of Bozhou, Zhucheng, Yingzhou, and Shunde, and almost occupied half of Huainan, in order to form an absolute military advantage over the Huai Army of Kangyin and take down Kangyin as quickly as possible, he did not leave too many troops in these cities in the rear. And if Cao Changping is progressing smoothly as the messenger said, then the city that Xu Zhaojie has finally captured may be lost again!

Thinking of this possibility, Xu Zhaojie's expression immediately became uncertain. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and asked the messenger anxiously:

"You said that the Qi army has a new batch of powerful firearms? What do they look like? Describe them to me!"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's inquiry, the messenger thought about it and said with some fear:

"The Qi army mainly has two more firearms. The first one is called Po Lu Gun, which has a very strong ability to penetrate armor. Even our armor can't resist it. It often kills two of our soldiers with bullets. There is also another firearm called Wei Yuan Gun. Although this firearm is not as good as Po Lu Gun in penetrating armor, its firing rate has been greatly improved!"

Listening to the messenger's narration, Xu Zhaojie clearly understood what was going on. An abnormal blush suddenly appeared on his fair face. He ignored the surprise and resentment of the generals around him and shouted:

“Ye Mingsheng, you lowly fellow, how dare you bully me like this! You are dead, I am going to kill you…”

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Youyan, Yijing

In the study of the Governor's Mansion, a young man with an extraordinary appearance came to Ye Mingsheng, saluted respectfully and said:
"I, Murong Hui, greet the commander-in-chief!"

Looking at the representative of the Murong family who had come from afar, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:

"See your seat!"

"Thank you for the seat, sir!"

When Murong Hui sat down, Ye Mingsheng smiled and said to him:

"How was your visit to Liaoyang during this period?"

Murong Hui was not very surprised at Ye Mingsheng's words. He had been under the jurisdiction of Fengwu Army for some time and naturally understood the omnipresence of the Coordination Office. Although the news of his coming to Liaoyang was very secret and he had been very low-key during his time in Liaoyang, it was impossible to hide it from the Coordination Office.

At the same time, Murong Hui knew very well that the reason he was able to visit the factories of Fengwu Army was not only because of his uncle Murong Yuliang, but also because of Ye Mingsheng's tacit consent. Otherwise, he would not be able to see the production models of Fengwu Army.

After thinking for a while, Murong Hui told the truth:
“This trip to Liaoyang was very shocking to me. I saw scenes and culture in Liaoyang that I had never seen in other places in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It also overturned some of my previous cognitions. Generally speaking, the trip was worthwhile and I benefited a lot…”

At this point, Murong Hui seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated. After thinking quickly, he gritted his teeth and mustered up the courage to ask Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

Feeling the sincerity in Murong Hui's words, Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"Of course!"

After getting Ye Mingsheng's permission, Murong Hui took a deep breath and then asked a question that had been in his mind for a long time.

"Sir, why do you hate the aristocratic families so much?"

To be honest, Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear Murong Hui's question. He didn't expect Murong Hui to be so brave to ask him a question that would make both parties very embarrassed. However, because of this question, Ye Mingsheng actually looked up to Murong Hui.

Facing Murong Hui's sincere eyes, Ye Mingsheng sorted out his thoughts and said slowly:

"Your question is a very interesting one, but I need to emphasize that I don't hate the aristocratic families. What I hate are those unscrupulous people who are rich and unkind, who use their power to collude with officials and businessmen, and deceive their superiors and subordinates!"

"I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying, but the essence of this world is actually the relationship between productivity and ownership of the means of production. A very small number of people control the vast majority of the world's means of production, which will lead to exploitation and a series of problems such as land annexation. Public grievances will accumulate little by little and gradually evolve into uprisings. Countless dynasties have been destroyed under such circumstances!"

“The ruling class and the privileged class will always exist as long as productivity has not yet reached the point where people’s lives are extremely prosperous. What I want to do is to break down class barriers, create an effective channel for class advancement, ease class contradictions, and form a balance that will benefit the majority of people…”

(End of this chapter)