Chapter 648 Battle of Otani!

Dagu County, Jinzhong
"Kill! Kill all these rebels in the Fengwu Army!"

"Long live the Great Zhou! Long live the Prime Minister! Brothers, follow me!"

"A soldier's head is worth one ounce of silver. Here's your chance to earn the reward money, brothers!"

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Amid the resounding shouts of killing, thousands of Luoan army soldiers, facing the artillery fire pouring down from the city in front of them, continued to charge with shields in hand and ladders in hand. In a hidden watchtower behind the Luoan army formation, several imperial guards generals were standing there, quietly observing the battle situation in front of them.

"Damn it! They say the Fengwu Army is invincible and unstoppable. I was scared into thinking they were immortal, but they turned out to be just like this. Brothers, beat them hard and take down this damn Dagu County today!" Looking at the battle situation in front of him, a strong man with a beard sneered proudly:

Hearing the sneer from the sturdy man, several generals of the imperial guards beside him also started laughing. Hearing the laughter of his colleagues, a general with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes frowned slightly as if he wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he swallowed back what he wanted to say.

If Ye Mingsheng was standing here at this moment, he would be able to tell that this person was Wang Muzhi, his former superior in the Zhenwu Army. At this moment, Wang Muzhi no longer had the high-spirited and sharp character he had in Liaoyang, but he looked more stable. There was no doubt that after leaving Liaoyang, the war in Sichuan and Shu had made him grow a lot...
This bearded man is Zeng Yuanyi, the nephew of the Prime Minister, and he married the daughter of the Shangguan family. The two families are closely related, which makes Zeng Yuanyi highly valued by the Prime Minister. Moreover, he has a vindictive personality and a very narrow mind. If he were to advise him when he is feeling proud, he might offend him, which would be a loss.

Thinking of this, the general refocused his attention on the Dagu County in front of him. At this time, eleven days had passed since the Luoan Imperial Army surrounded Dagu County!

During these eleven days, more than 20,000 soldiers of the Luoan Imperial Guard launched more than twenty rounds of charges on Dagu County. Although they inflicted huge casualties on the defenders in the city with their strong military advantage, they were still unable to cross the line and capture this most advanced county in Jinzhong.

Today, eleven days later, although the defenders in the city can still guarantee food and grass, their gunpowder has been exhausted, and their firearms have gradually begun to malfunction due to the high-intensity fighting. However, under the blockade of the Luoan Imperial Guards, they have not been able to get any replenishment. They have in fact become an isolated army and are in a desperate situation.

However, under this circumstance, the Fengwu Army soldiers in Dagu City still did not give up resistance. When their shells were gone and their muskets were broken, they used swords to tenaciously resist the offensive of the Luoan Imperial Army...

At this moment, under the cover of muskets, bows and catapults, hundreds of soldiers of the Luoan Imperial Guards climbed up the city wall on ladders. Seeing this scene, the generals on the watchtower all showed anticipation. For this winter offensive, the Luoan Imperial Guards mobilized a total of 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers. Their goal was to take down several counties outside Jinzhong at this time and gain some advantages in the battle between the two sides next year.

However, up to now, the Luoan Imperial Guards have not defeated any of the five counties outside Jinzhong, which has put a lot of pressure on the Imperial Guards generals who are commanding the offensive!
You have to know that they have been preparing for this offensive for more than two months, not only mobilizing so many troops, but also consuming a large amount of money. Now the battle has been going on for so many days, and they have also suffered thousands of casualties and paid such a huge price. If they fail to capture a county, they really have no way to explain to the Prime Minister.

Although expectations are beautiful, the reality is often cruel. Under the gaze of this group of senior generals, fierce fighting broke out on the top of the city. Although the imperial guards who climbed up the city wall were very brave, they were quickly killed by the tacit joint stranglehold of the Fengwu Army soldiers. With the demise of this group of people, the charge of the imperial guards was once again declared a failure.

Amid the sighs, grumbles and curses from the watchtower, Wang Muzhi stood up and said:
“In an hour, let my troops attack the city…”

As soon as these words came out, all the generals on the watchtower focused their eyes on him. Seeing this, Zeng Yuanyi stood up and said in a somewhat gloomy tone:
"Lord Wang, you see that the Fengwu Army in Dagu County is already at the end of its strength, so you plan to pick peaches?"

Hearing Zeng Yuanyi's words, Wang Muzhi turned his head to look at him, then looked at the sky and said:
"The credit goes to you, Master Zeng. It's going to snow heavily soon. We don't have much time!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zeng Yuanyi also noticed the darkness of the clouds in the sky, and his expression immediately became uncertain. During this period, the troops attacking the city were all his troops. In his eyes, the Fengwu Army, which seemed to have made great achievements in battle, was nothing more than a group of silver spears and candle ends. It was because the Yan Army and the Yu Army were too weak that the Fengwu Army stood out. Once their imperial guards took action, they would be able to crush the Fengwu Army like a stink bug and beat them to a pulp!

However, Zeng Yuanyi, who thought he could defeat the enemy with ease and pleasure, encountered a tough challenge in Dagu County. His troops suffered thousands of casualties, but were still unable to enter the city. Zeng Yuanyi thought that after the consumption of the past few days, he would be able to capture Dagu County today, so he openly mocked the Fengwu Army, wanting to save some face in front of his colleagues, but he never expected that his subordinates were not strong enough.

Zeng Yuanyi was clear about the troops under his command. The siege just now had failed. It would take at least several hours before they could regroup and continue the siege...

But it is almost noon now, and it will be night in a few hours. It is already winter, and the soldiers are fighting in cotton clothes. At night, without the sun, the temperature is even colder, and there is no way to fight at night. If they want to launch a large-scale offensive, they have to wait until at least tomorrow. But it looks like it will snow soon.

If the snow was light, he could wait a while. But if it was heavy, he would not be able to launch an offensive. If so, he would be the only one to bear the blame for not taking Dagu County. Even if he was the nephew of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister would not forgive him.

Thinking of this, Zeng Yuanyi's eyes turned, as if he had thought of something, and then he bowed to Wang Muzhi and said hypocritically:
"Since my brother is determined to lead his troops to attack the city, then let him do it. Please rest assured, I am not a stingy person. If we capture Dagu County, I will report to the Prime Minister and give half of the credit to you!"

Zeng Yuanyi's hypocritical look really made Wang Muzhi sick. He already understood what this bastard was planning from Zeng Yuanyi's words. After knowing that heavy snow was coming, he knew it would be difficult for him to take Dagu County on his own. He probably had already decided that if he failed to take Dagu County, Zeng Yuanyi would put all the blame on himself.

If I take over Dagu County, he will probably take away most of the credit and hint to his superiors that I am the one who stole the credit...

Although he was very disgusted with Zeng Yuanyi's behavior, Wang Muzhi had no choice but to choose to go ahead forcefully, because he knew that if he did not go ahead and only relied on Zeng Yuanyi, then this war in which the Luoan Imperial Army had consumed countless resources and suffered nearly 10,000 casualties would probably be in vain. This would greatly undermine the morale of the Luoan Imperial Army and cast a shadow on the decisive battle with the Fengwu Army next year!
Therefore, for the sake of the overall situation and for the Prime Minister, Wang Muzhi must also stand up! Just as Wang Muzhi was preparing to lead his troops to attack the city, Ye Tao and Fang Dawei in Dagu County also gathered together to discuss the current situation.

"Master Fang, there are only more than 2,000 brothers left to defend the city, half of whom are brought with them, and the gunpowder is almost gone. When will our reinforcements arrive?" Ye Tao, with a face full of gunpowder, asked Fang Dawei anxiously:
Fang Dawei, who was observing the map, looked up at Ye Tao and said in a deep voice:
"The news just arrived is that the reinforcements have arrived! They are in the small woods thirty miles west of the city!"

As soon as these words came out, Ye Tao showed a look of surprise and said:
“Since the reinforcements have arrived, let’s have them support us as soon as possible! What are they doing there… Do the higher-ups want our army to lure them away, and then suddenly attack them while the enemy is attacking the city and catch them off guard?”

Looking at Ye Tao who was in joy, Fang Dawei sighed in his heart, but under Ye Tao's gaze, he still shook his head and said:
"neither!"

"what?"

"The commander is short of troops and has deployed all his reserves, but there are still too many enemy troops. According to the intelligence we have received, the enemy general Wang Muzhi has led 10,000 Liang troops to Jinzhong five days in advance and should be outside Dagu County now."

"The total number of enemy troops in front of us may be close to 40,000. Dagu County can no longer be defended. Therefore, in order to prevent our army from being annihilated, the superiors have specially squeezed out 2,000 support troops from various places to help our army withdraw from Dagu County!"

"Retreat?" Ye Tao said in surprise and anger:

Fang Dawei patted Ye Tao on the shoulder and said:

"I know it's hard for you to accept this result. It's also hard for me to accept giving up Dagu County, but you have to understand that we are withdrawing now so that we can fight back one day. The Marshal has already urgently transported a batch of money, food and arms to Yunbing. Our Second Army can be expanded immediately, and then it will be time for us to fight back!"

Listening to Fang Dawei's comfort, Ye Tao instinctively said:
“But so many of our brothers died…”

Before Ye Tao could finish, Fang Dawei interrupted him and said:

"No buts! We have already killed thousands of Luoan's imperial guards and that's enough. If we don't withdraw now, all our brothers will die here!"

After hearing this, Ye Tao closed his eyes painfully, bowed and said:

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Following Fang Dawei's order, the Fengwu Army in Dagu County also prepared to retreat. Although the soldiers were emotionally unwilling to accept this decision, they still faithfully carried out the decision. Because the retreat was to reduce the burden and to prevent the artillery from falling into the hands of the enemy, they blew up the artillery that had no shells left and distributed all the extra food to the people, telling them that it would not be long before the Fengwu Army would regroup and fight back.

After doing all this, Fang Dawei and Ye Tao began to retreat with their men. At the same time, Wang Muzhi, who was preparing to attack the city, also received the news.

"Sir, the Fengwu Army has retreated from the east gate of the city, and Lord Zeng has led his troops in pursuit!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Muzhi's eyes instantly flashed with a gleam of light, and he immediately ordered:
"Let the soldiers gather quickly and chase the enemy with me!"

A stick of incense later, on the willow stone slope fifteen miles east of Dagu County, Zeng Yuanyi was riding a tall horse and chasing forward happily...

He knew that the Fengwu Army in Dagu County was already at the end of its strength. As he expected, the Fengwu Army finally abandoned the city and fled. Thinking of this, Zeng Yuanyi became even more excited.

You bunch of Fengwu Army bastards, you guys were holding me back in the city before, now you finally came out of your turtle shells, now I'll show you how I'm going to deal with you! Don't even think about escaping!
Just as Zeng Yuanyi was constantly imagining in his mind how to ravage the Fengwu Army, he heard the sound of cannon fire from two provinces in the sky. The next second, countless bullets were fired from all directions on both sides of the Liushipo road. The Luoan Imperial Army, which was pursuing, had never expected to encounter such a sudden attack. For a moment, they were in chaos and hundreds of people were killed by artillery fire and bullets.

After a round of fire attack, just when Zeng Yuanyi, who was in a panic, reacted and was preparing to organize his troops into a formation to fight the enemy, thousands of Fengwu troops rushed out like a tiger descending from the mountain. The two sides engaged in close combat, and the Fengwu army became more and more courageous, directly breaking down the formation of the Luoan army, causing countless imperial guards to fall in a pool of blood.

However, the Imperial Guards were still the Imperial Guards after all and were not comparable to the Henan and Yan armies. Although the situation was not favorable to them, they still insisted on fighting and did not let the Fengwu Army completely defeat them...
(End of this chapter)