Chapter 775 Wang Muzhi’s reluctance!

After hearing his father's explanation, Cui Zibo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he spoke carefully:
“Dad, are you going to be the Prime Minister of the Fengwu Army?”

In response to Cui Zibo's question, Cui Shao neither confirmed nor denied it, but simply said:

"The outcome is still uncertain, and it remains to be seen!"

After saying this, Cui Shao also changed the subject and said:
"Before, I didn't let you come to Youyan to take up the post mainly because I am the governor of Youyan. If you come to Youyan to take up the post, it will be easy for you to be criticized. Now if I leave Youyan Governor's Office, there will be no such problem. Your mother is old, and Qiaoqing is pregnant now, so she hopes that you and your wife can stay by her side!"

Hearing his father say this, Cui Zibo was somewhat tempted, but he was still a little hesitant about his father's proposal. He was currently doing very well in Yecheng. If he left now, wouldn't all his previous efforts be wasted? Would his reputation also be affected?
As if he had seen his son's concerns, Cui Shao patted his son on the shoulder and said:

"There is no rush to transfer you away for now. You have to wait until the middle of next year at least. The reason why I transferred you back is not only because your mother misses you and your family, but also because if you want to climb up the ladder now, you have to establish a good relationship with the Marshal and let him see your talents!"

“Also, Murong Yuliang is the governor of Hebei and Henan. If you serve in Yecheng and he gets desperate in the future, he will probably set a trap for you…”

After hearing his father say this, Cui Zibo finally understood what his father was thinking. Although he was somewhat tempted, he still felt a little resistant when he thought about establishing a relationship with Ye Mingsheng and Liang Hao!

Although he had long since surrendered to Ye Mingsheng's great talent and knew that his own talents were far inferior to Ye Mingsheng's, he had admired An Miaoyi many years ago after all. Although many years had passed, Cui Zibo still felt a little uncomfortable!
But what my father said makes sense. The conflict between my father and Murong Yuliang is becoming more and more irreconcilable, and Murong Yuliang is his immediate superior!
He might not be able to do anything to his father, but it wouldn't be difficult for him to deal with himself if he wanted to!

Moreover, he is now the prefect of Yecheng. If he wants to move up further, he will either be transferred back to the central government or serve as the deputy governor. However, given the current power structure of the Fengwu Army, either of these two paths requires Ye Mingsheng to recognize his talents. It is almost impossible not to have contact with Ye Mingsheng!

Thinking of this, Cui Zibo overcame his emotions and said to Cui Shao:

"Everything is up to you, father!"

Cui Shao nodded and said:

"Just keep it in mind. It will take some time to get it working!"

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Dagu County, Jinzhong
It was a sunny and cool autumn day in the morning, which should have been the best time for siege operations. However, the tens of thousands of Fengwu troops stationed outside the city had no intention of leaving the camp to attack the city. However, three miles away from the city, several heavy artillery weighing thousands of pounds were pouring fire towards the county town not far away!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The firing rate of these heavy siege artillery is very slow, and it takes an average of a cup of tea to fire one shell, but these solid bullets specially used for siege are extremely powerful. Although the walls of Otani have been strengthened by both the Fengwu Army and the Yunbing Army, after all, it is only the foundation of a county town and cannot be considered an unattainable strong city.

Under the artillery bombardment of the Fengwu Army, the city wall has become bumpy, and some parts have even sunken nearly a foot.

At the same time, in the government office of Dagu County, several generals were gathering together to discuss countermeasures.

"Sir, we can't wait like this any longer! The Fengwu Army's artillery is too powerful. If they continue to bombard like this, the city wall will be destroyed sooner or later!" Lieutenant General Pang Rong bowed to Yu Chao and advised:
Facing his subordinates' advice, Yu Chao stroked his beard and said nothing. Seeing this, another commander, Zhao Kang, also stood up and gave advice:
“The Fengwu Army’s heavy siege artillery not only destroys the city walls, but also has a huge impact on the morale of the soldiers. Now the soldiers in the city are generally in a very pessimistic mood…”

Pang Rong heard this and said anxiously:

"Sir, leave this to me! I will lead 500 death-defying warriors to destroy their heavy artillery tonight!"

Yu Chao shook his head and said:

"Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke of the Fengwu Army have most likely set up a dragnet near their artillery positions, waiting for us to get in!"

Pang Rong was not surprised to hear Yu Chao say this. After all, the Fengwu Army was not foolish and would definitely be prepared. However, they had no good solution in this situation and could only say impatiently:
"Sir, we should try our best now. We are all on the same side. At night, all the firearms of the Fengwu Army will become firewood sticks. I will bring my brothers with me. Even if they set up a trap, I will crush them all!"

Feeling the determination in Pang Rong's words, Yu Chao knew that Pang Rong had no intention of coming back alive, so he admired his courage very much. However, as a veteran, he did not want his subordinates to take such suicidal actions with little chance of success, so he shook his head.

At this time, Zhao Kang seemed to have thought of something and offered a suggestion:

"Sir, since we have set a trap near their artillery positions, then do you think we can do the opposite? Send a small force to pretend to attack the artillery positions, while our main force actually sneaks into their camp under cover of darkness. This will definitely catch the Fengwu Army off guard!"

As soon as Zhao Kang said this, before Yu Chao could say anything, Pang Rong on the side started to speak excitedly:

“Commander Zhao, this is a good idea. Let’s just go and steal the Fengwu Army’s hometown! No matter how hard Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke rack their brains, they can’t imagine that our army would do this…”

After hearing what Pang Rong said, although Zhao Kang was still a little reserved, the smug look on his face was hard to conceal. Obviously, he was very pleased with himself for being able to come up with such a clever trick of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west!
Just when Pang Rong and Zhao Kang were immersed in an atmosphere of pride and joy, Yu Chao poured a bucket of cold water on them.

"Do you two know how the Fengwu Army captured Yujing in the first place?" Seeing Yu Chao asking this, the two looked at each other in confusion, not knowing why Yu Chao suddenly brought this up.

At this time, Yu Chao was asking and answering his own questions:
"At that time, Gao Zongchang had the same idea as you two. He planned to make a feint to the east and attack the west with the Fengwu Army. But in fact, the Fengwu Army was setting an ambush for Gao Zongchang. In that battle, the Fengwu Army beheaded more than 10,000 people and captured tens of thousands. Gao Zongchang saw that the situation was hopeless and had to surrender the city!"

As soon as Yu Chao finished speaking, the two people who were still proud and excited a second ago suddenly looked very embarrassed and sullen.

Seeing this, Yu Chao did not say anything more about this issue, but just opened his mouth to remind:

"The situation is difficult now. I won't say much else. You must do a good job in boosting the morale of the troops. Also, beware of any possible surprise attacks by the Fengwu Army!"

After getting Yu Chao's knowledge, the two nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Yu Chao waved his hand and asked them to leave.

When he was the only one left in the room, Yu Chao couldn’t help but recall the secrets that Wang Muzhi had taught him in person before he left that day...

Wang Muzhi put forward two requirements for his operation in Dagu County this time!

The first requirement is naturally to defend Dagu County! This is also the most basic requirement!
As for the second requirement, Wang Muzhi hoped that Yu Chao could, on the basis of defending Dagu County, firmly attract the main force of the Fengwu Army in Dagu County!
Wang Muzhi did not say what the purpose of his two requests was, and Yu Chao did not ask!
But not asking doesn’t mean Yu Chao doesn’t care, nor does it mean Yu Chao really doesn’t know!
In fact, Yu Chao knew very well why Wang Muzhi did this. No one would be willing to see Pingyun County being captured by the Fengwu Army in that way. Although Wang Muzhi killed Cai Yunhui the first time and made Cai Yunhui bear the blame for the loss of the city, because of Wang Zhide, Wang Muzhi was very passive and bore a lot of pressure!

The best way to deal with such a situation is to achieve a big victory and shut everyone up!
And this is the reason why Yu Chao is not taking any action now. The Fengwu Army only has one Second Army and one Third Division on the Yunbing battlefield. The manpower itself is not large. The last battle in Pingyun County also resulted in heavy casualties, which has led to the Fengwu Army's manpower being even more tense!

Now that the Fengwu Army has recaptured four of the five counties in Jinzhong, its forces have been dispersed a lot, which means that although the Fengwu Army besieging Dagu is the main force, the total number of troops will not exceed 40,000...
And this is the reason why Yu Chao did not take any action. He wanted to make the Fengwu Army feel that breaking the city was just around the corner. In this way, the 40,000 Fengwu Army would be firmly attracted to Dagu County, and Wang Muzhi behind him would have the opportunity to take advantage of it. Once Wang Muzhi's action is successful, the situation on the Yunbing battlefield may undergo earth-shaking changes!

Just when Yu Chao was full of expectations for the future, Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke also gathered together in the Fengwu Army camp outside the city.

After observing the defense situation of Dagu County through a telescope, Lin Huaiwu's eyes flashed with doubt, and he immediately asked Xun Ke beside him:
"Something's wrong! Is that old man Yu Chao up to something?"

"When we attacked Pingyun County before, the artillery attack was not as fierce as it is now. He tried every means to destroy my artillery position!"

"And now we have more than a dozen cannons set up here, and we have been bombarding the city for more than two days, but there is no movement at all. This is a bit abnormal!"

Xun Ke thought for a moment and said:
"If you feel that this is inappropriate, sir, we can launch an offensive to find out the current strength of the city!"

Regarding Xun Ke's proposal, Lin Huaiwu thought about it and nodded:
"Then send a message to Ye Tao and have his Eighth Division launch an attack on the city to see what the situation is like!"

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Following Lin Huaiwu's order, the Eighth Division under Ye Tao immediately took action. An incense stick later, two battalions of 10,000 Fengwu troops under the Eighth Division, holding ladders, battering rams and other siege equipment, launched a well-trained attack on Dagu County under the cover of artillery fire.

Facing the Fengwu Army's siege, the defenders of Dagu County reacted quite quickly. Although the range of their firearms was not as far as that of the Fengwu Army, as soon as the Fengwu Army entered their range, they immediately began to fight back, and the Fengwu Army soldiers who were at the front were almost all knocked to the ground.

Although casualties began to occur, this did not affect the morale of the Fengwu Army. Thousands of Fengwu soldiers continued to attack Dagu County.

After suffering more than a hundred casualties, the Fengwu Army's ladders were placed on the city wall of Dagu County, and the soldiers of the Fengwu Army immediately climbed up the city wall using the ladders.

The Yunbing Army, which was responsible for defending the city, tried every means to stop it. Some pushed the ladders, some pushed the ladders, and some threw down stones, logs, and metal bars, regardless of whether they could hurt the Fengwu Army soldiers or not. However, this still could not stop the Fengwu Army soldiers from climbing up the city wall...

Although the soldiers of the Fengwu Army performed very bravely and fearlessly, the enemy's manpower was still sufficient and complete as it was the first siege on the city. Therefore, after fighting for about a quarter of an hour, many people were driven away. Lin Huaiwu, who observed this situation in the watchtower at the rear, immediately sounded the call to retreat.

Although it was not bad to achieve such an effect in the first siege, Lin Huaiwu still said to Xun Ke with some worry:
"It was so easy for our army to attack us. Yu Chao, that old man, is really playing tricks in secret!"

Xun Ke nodded upon hearing this. He also realized that something was wrong. The Fengwu Army was able to climb the city wall so smoothly and hold out for such a long time with just a tentative attack. If Yu Chao only had this ability, he would not have been able to thwart Lin Huaiwu's siege in Pingyun before.

Lin Huaiwu said to himself with some doubt:

"What else can Yu Chao do now that he has reached this point? What is his purpose in doing this?"

Hearing Lin Huaiwu's words, Xun Ke seemed to realize something, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes and he said directly:
"Yu Chao is trapped in the Great Valley by our army, so he can't do anything wrong!"

“But there is Wang Muzhi behind him…”

(End of this chapter)