Chapter 621 Luo An’s plan!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just when the soldiers of the Henan Army had just recovered from the fire of the Fengwu Army’s muskets and were preparing to reorganize and fight back with the old-fashioned muskets in their hands, the red cannons of the Fengwu Army had already adjusted the firing parameters, and a total of fifty light artillery pieces fired at the same time, immediately breaking up the Henan Army’s formation that had just been organized...
Faced with such fierce artillery attacks from the Fengwu Army, the old soldiers of the Henan Army could barely maintain their formation. However, those young and strong men who had been forcibly conscripted into the army only a month ago had never seen such a scene before. Just a month ago, they were scholars, farmers, waiters in restaurants, cooks, tailors in cloth shops, etc.

They rushed out now, relying on the courage inspired by the Henan Army before the war. Now, looking at the blood in front of them and feeling the cruelty of the battlefield, they were so scared that they trembled all over and their legs went weak!
As the first soldier dropped his weapon and fled, many soldiers of the Henan Army woke up from their dreams and threw down their weapons and began to flee. Seeing this, Gao Dingshan's eyes flashed with a ruthless look, and he immediately shouted:
"The military court will execute the criminal! Deserters will be killed without mercy!"

After receiving Gao Dingshan's order, the military law team did not show any courtesy to their former comrades and immediately killed dozens of deserters. Just when the Henan Army soldiers were torn between the Fengwu Army and the military law team and didn't know what to do, the Fengwu Army in the camp launched a charge. They encircled the camp from both wings and tried to wrap up the tens of thousands of Henan Army like dumplings and swallow them in one gulp.

Amid the deafening shouts of the Fengwu Army, the soldiers of the Henan Army finally realized the situation. Large numbers of soldiers dropped their weapons and fled. At first, the military law team of the Henan Army could kill a few people to establish their authority, but there were too many deserters, and soon even the military law team was broken up...

Seeing this scene, Gao Dingshan was filled with grief and indignation beyond words. Looking at the Fengwu Army soldiers who were charging and chasing not far away, his eyes were filled with rage. Without the slightest hesitation, Gao Dingshan, who had made up his mind, ignored the dissuasion of his men and walked towards the charge of the Fengwu Army.

Since he decided to leave the city and fight the Fengwu Army, Gao Dingshan had already made up his mind to turn failure into benevolence. But now the situation is hopeless, he has no face to return to the city to see his father. He himself is unwilling to live in this world, and only wishes to drag the Fengwu Army with him as his scapegoat before he dies.

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, Yuan Song woke up slowly from his bed and stretched comfortably. After putting his worries aside, he slept particularly soundly. After a simple wash, Yuan Song put on his military uniform and waited for the excited Ma Zhongjun, Gu Shouting and others in his central military tent.

"Reporting to General Yuan, our army won a great victory in this battle. Although we only killed more than 3,000 enemies, we captured more than 10,000 enemy soldiers. In addition, a large number of enemy soldiers fled in all directions under the cover of night. This group of people must be at least 10,000 people!" Ma Zhongjun reported to Yuan Song with a smile on his face:
Yuan Song had expected this outcome. He nodded slightly and praised:

"You guys did a great job!"

Facing Yuan Song's praise, the generals did not dare to take credit for it and all said in unison:

"It's all thanks to the General's good command..."

Yuan Song nodded with a smile and asked again:

"When the enemy was defeated last night, did the enemy troops in Yujing open the city gates to support them?"

Facing Yuan Song's question, Ma Zhongjun said without hesitation:
"Just as the general thought, the enemy did open the west gate to support us. However, at that time, General Gu had already destroyed the enemy's bait and immediately advanced to the vicinity of the west gate. When the enemy saw our army appear, they immediately closed the city gate in fear!"

"By the way, General, we also caught a big fish for you!"

"Big fish?" Yuan Song asked with interest:

"Yes! It's definitely a big fish!" Ma Zhongjun said confidently:
"This big fish was caught by General Gu himself!"

Yuan Song immediately turned his attention to Gu Shouting and asked:
"Who is this big fish? Bring him here!"

Gu Shouting smiled modestly and said:
"Your Excellency, this big fish is Gao Dingshan, the eldest son of Gao Zongchang. This man is quite courageous. When we were defeated last night, he did not run away but fought bravely with our army in the front line. I happened to have seen this man before, so after recognizing him last night, I ordered my men to capture him alive!"

“When Gao Dingshan saw that we wanted to capture him alive, he wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide. Although I had people rescue him, he was still seriously injured and is still unconscious. However, the military doctor said that there is a high possibility that he will survive…”

After a moment of hesitation, Yuan Songwen ordered:
"Tell the military doctor to do his best to save Gao Dingshan! Once Gao Dingshan has recovered from his injuries, send him back to Yujing!"

After hearing this, the generals looked at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what Yuan Song was up to. Ma Zhongjun hesitated for a moment and said tentatively:

"General, Gao Dingshan is Gao Zongchang's favorite son. Gao Zongchang also decided on him as his successor a long time ago. After we save Gao Dingshan, we can use him as a bargaining chip to ask Gao Zongchang to surrender!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Song smiled confidently and said:

"If Gao Zongchang is determined to fight to the end, he will definitely not surrender to our army just for a son. Letting Gao Dingshan go will make Gao Zongchang feel our army's determination to win. If he is determined to surrender, this move will surely make him feel our army's benevolence and reduce his concerns about surrendering!" After listening to Yuan Song's explanation, the generals suddenly realized and said in unison:

"General, that's brilliant! I'll do it right away!"

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Great Zhou, Luoan

Shangguan Mansion, Study
"Report to the Lord, our army's fierce offensive on the Jianmen front made Jiang Guang feel that the front line was tight, so he was forced to compromise with Lin Shize, allowing Sun Liangyu to enter Shu, and promised Sun Liangyu to join the cabinet, and gave the position of Minister of War to Sun Liangyu!" Chen Jingyu bowed to Shangguan Hongyuan and reported:

Shangguan Hongyuan, who was resting with his eyes closed, asked calmly:
"What's Sun Liangyu doing?"

Chen Jingyu said in a deep voice
"Under Sun Liangyu's orders, the Chu army had stationed 30,000 troops in Yiling two months ago, waiting for the court to make a formal decision on the southern tour. After Jiang Guang compromised, Lin Shize immediately sent a pigeon message to Sun Liangyu. Judging from the date, the Chu army should have entered Shu and is currently heading towards Rongcheng!"

Upon hearing the news, Shangguan Hongyuan opened his eyes and looked towards Chen Jingyu, and said in a calm voice:
"How are you preparing?"

Seeing that Shangguan Hongyuan really asked about this matter, Chen Jingyu said confidently:
"Wang Sizhong, Hou Chengrui, Shi Xiang and others are ready. Now we can say that everything is ready except for the east wind! We are just waiting to start the uprising together tomorrow night. Then we can capture Jianmen and go straight to Chengdu to completely destroy the imperial court on the southern tour!"

Seeing Chen Jingyu's confident look, Shangguan Hongyuan nodded slightly. Lin Shize and Jiang Guang also understood that if Jianmen was lost, the morale of the imperial army on the southern tour would be lost, and Rongcheng could not be defended at all. Therefore, all the troops in their hands were concentrated in Jianmen. In Rongcheng, there were only a few thousand troops responsible for daily public security. Therefore, as long as Jianmen was captured, the protracted war could be declared over...
Shangguan Hongyuan's heart became hot when he thought of this. He had been waiting for this moment for too long. Two years had passed since the Luoan Incident. During these two years, he had been thinking all the time about how to destroy the damn Southern Tour Court and kill all those bastards who dared to betray him. And now this result finally showed a glimmer of hope. Shangguan Hongyuan couldn't wait to see the heads of Lin Shize and Lin Yi, father and son, being sent to him.

In addition, there is his eldest nephew. I haven't seen him for two years. I heard from Chengdu that he has grown taller and stronger. I don't know if he still remembers his uncle. Thinking of this, a meaningful smile appeared on Shangguan Hongyuan's face.

Two years ago, I was careless and let you run away, which almost ruined my decades-long plan. But you can run away, but you cannot. I have caught you this time, and as your uncle, I must punish you severely so that you will never be able to escape from my grasp in this life!

After calming down his excitement, Shangguan Hongyuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and continued to ask Chen Jingyu;

"How is the arrangement going on Yongliang?"

Chen Jingyu nodded and said:
"Everything is going according to plan and is progressing very smoothly. They are all very grateful to you, Prime Minister!"

Shangguan Hongyuan nodded with satisfaction when he heard this, his old eyes full of ambitions...

Yongliang is the territory of Jiang Zhe, the King of Qin, a member of the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He is also a major participant in the Luoan Incident. According to the plan of Lin Shize and Jiang Guang, he and Zhao Fuqu will attack Shangguan Hongyuan from the east and the west, making Shangguan Hongyuan, who is stationed in Guanzhong, attacked from both sides and unable to resist!

To be honest, this plan is very good. If it had developed according to Lin Shize and Jiang Guang's expectations, Shangguan Hongyuan would probably have been beheaded. The young emperor Jiang Rui would have returned to Luoan with the assistance of Jiang Guang and Lin Shize to try to rebuild the Great Zhou. However, man proposes, God disposes. Ye Mingsheng suddenly appeared and destroyed Zhao Fuqu. This undoubtedly relieved a lot of pressure on Shangguan Hongyuan, and this also directly led to the failure of King Qin Jiang Zhe's attack in the west.

Yongliang was originally the western border of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was a desolate land. It was also adjacent to the Golden Horde and Tubo and other ethnic minorities. It had been a place of war since ancient times. Therefore, after Jiang Zhe failed to capture the city for a long time, he was forced to retreat due to tight logistics. Thus, Lin Shize and Jiang Guang's plan of attacking from the east and the west was officially declared bankrupt!
Recently, with Shangguan Hongyuan’s Luoan Imperial Army advancing through Sichuan and Shu like a hot knife through butter and reaching Jianmen, the southern tour court in Chengdu was in a life-and-death situation. Jiang Guang once again thought of his uncle, King Qin Jiang Zhe. He wrote several earnest letters to Jiang Zhe asking for help, hoping that Jiang Zhe would send troops to Chencang again to tie down Shangguan Hongyuan’s forces for the sake of the Zhou royal family, so as to relieve the pressure on Jianmen...

After receiving Jiang Guang's letter, King Jiang Zhe of Qin also felt the same way. Although Yongliang's recent condition was not very good, for the sake of the bloodline of the Great Zhou royal family, the nearly 70-year-old Jiang Zhe was still ready to lead the army to fight against the traitor Shangguan Hongyuan for the Great Zhou. However, who would have thought that this uncle of the Great Zhou royal family suddenly suffered a stroke a week before the expedition.

With Jiang Zhe's stroke, the Liang Army's expedition against Shangguan Hongyuan naturally came to an end. There have been rumors that the Supervisory Office poisoned Jiang Zhe, but the Supervisory Office flatly denied it and insisted that they had never poisoned Jiang Zhe!
However, one thing that is certain is that after Jiang Zhe suffered a stroke and was unable to manage affairs, the power of Yongliang fell into the hands of Jiang Zhe's three sons. The Supervisory Office also fanned the flames and sowed discord among these three people, causing the already impoverished Yongliang to fall into internal strife and no longer be able to interfere with Shangguan Hongyuan's war against Sichuan and Shu!
Although it has been decided that after taking down the Southern Tour Court and holding the emperor hostage again to command the princes, it is necessary to have a decisive battle with the Fengwu Army as soon as possible and not give the Fengwu Army time to develop, but before that, Shangguan Hongyuan still decided to take over the Yongliang territory. Although the Yongliang territory is desolate, the Liang Army can be said to be a powerful force. More than a hundred years ago, when the Great Zhou was at its peak, there were two elite cavalry, one was the Youyan Iron Cavalry, and the other was the Yongliang Iron Cavalry...

Today, with the decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Yongliang Iron Cavalry is no longer as powerful as it used to be, but the cavalry unit still maintains a scale of 10,000 people. With the stroke of King Qin Jiang Zhe, Yongliang fell into internal strife. The Yongliang Iron Cavalry is a big piece of fat meat in front of Shangguan Hongyuan, tempting Shangguan Hongyuan all the time!

There were originally two elite cavalry units in the Luoan Imperial Army, the Longxiang Army and the Iron Cavalry Army. However, following the Luoan Incident and a series of wars in recent years, these two elite cavalry units suffered heavy losses and were in urgent need of a large number of reinforcements. In Shangguan Hongyuan's view, the Yongliang Iron Cavalry was the best reinforcement.

In addition to the Yongliang Iron Cavalry, the other soldiers of the Liang Army were also veteran soldiers with strong combat effectiveness. In the previous Battle of Chencang, although the imperial guards under Shangguan Hongyuan defended Chencang, the combat effectiveness of the Liang Army still left a very deep impression on Shangguan Hongyuan.

Therefore, Shangguan Hongyuan hopes to obtain the Liang Army and bring them into the war with the Fengwu Army. Shangguan Hongyuan believes that this will definitely give Ye Mingsheng a fatal surprise······························
(End of this chapter)