The Chu army stopped attacking, and the loud noise of heaven and earth took nearly 10,000 lives. The remaining 40,000 troops were blocked in the mouth of the gourd.

Zhao Langjiang used his own strength to cut off one of the two roads between the Ming Dynasty and the Western Chu.

Zhao Lianjiang landed above the city, and the eagle hovered in a low altitude for several times, as if reminding Zhao Lianjiang not to break his promise. Only after Zhao Lianjiang made a promise were given, he flew into the distance.

He said to Dong Dayou, "My mission has been completed, let's see you next."

After the Chu army took a short rest, they launched a crazy offensive towards the East Pass, and the rear was blocked. The Chu army fought with the enemy's back to the water. If they wanted to survive, they had to break out. Dong Dayou was worthy of being a general on the northern line. He was calm in command and all kinds of means were used to defeat the Chu army's attacks one after another.

On the second day, the offensive became weaker, and Dong Dayou did not dare to be careless at all. He went on the field to supervise the battle day and night. On the third day, the Chu army's offensive stopped.

The reason is very simple, the water source is exhausted.

Zhao Langjiang and Dong Dayou were supervising the battle at the top of the city, and suddenly someone shouted, "The Chu army has surrendered!" Everyone looked in the voice and saw a group of people coming out of the Chu army, raising a white flag, and without bringing weapons, they came to the pass.

"Will there be a fraud?" said Dong Dayou.

Zhao Langjiang had had many dealings with the Chu people. The Chu soldiers would rather die in battle than surrender. They believed that after death, their souls would return to the heaven of immortality, and the surrendered people would enter the realm of hungry ghosts after death.

The visitor said, "Please speak to you who are in charge."

Dong Dayou said, "General Zhao, go."

This is the Hulukou Front. Although Zhao Langjiang has a tiger festival, due to Yuwen Tianlu's relationship, his identity is inconvenient. He was about to refuse, but the other party said, "I am the special envoy of General Husai and I am ordered to surrender to the city lord."

The other party said that it was Lord Zhao, not General Zhao, nor General Dong, and this was very knowledgeable. How could Zhao Langjiang not hear the truth? He said: "In Zhao Langjiang, he was once the guerrilla general of Fengziying of the Western Army. Please say if you have anything to say."

The envoy said, "General Husai admires the general very much and specially asked Lord Zhao to go to the camp to discuss the surrender!"

The rest of the people stopped. Zhao Langjiang didn't think about it and jumped down from above the city three or four feet high, and came to the special envoy of Western Chu, "Please lead the way."

The envoy did not expect that Zhao Langjiang would agree so happily, but he was deeply impressed when he thought of the scene when he fell from the sky.

Zhao Langjiang was wearing armor and followed the special envoy to the Chu camp. Along the way, he saw that the Chu army was exhausted and obviously cut off the water source, which had a great impact on their combat effectiveness.

Zhao Langjiang came to the camp, saw the Chu army general, and said in surprise, "It's you?"

The Chu general hit the ground on one knee and saluted Zhao Langjiang, "Lai Ridan, the scout of the Fengzi camp of the Western Army, and see Zhao Guerrilla!"

Zhao Langjiang never expected that Lai Ridan, who fought side by side with him that day, was actually a spy from Western Chu. No wonder the other party would have repeatedly captured Hulukou's waist. If it weren't for him, the Duan Wolong Stone would probably not take long before he would have captured Hulukou.

Zhao Langjiang frowned and said, "Lai Ridan, are you from Xi Chu?"

Lai Ridan said respectfully, "I was originally a nobleman of the Great Chu. Many years ago, I was ordered to sneak into the Western Army to spy on military information. Last year, after my father helped the new emperor ascend the throne, I returned to Great Chu. Now I am recruiting the general."

Zhao Langjiang suddenly realized that when Lei Zhenyu said, Lai Ridan had a bad life in the Western Army, offended his superiors and was sent to the West Eleven Guards to guard Hulukou. It seemed that he was responsible for it. Last year, Lai Ridan suddenly disappeared and took the opportunity to return to Western Chu.

At his level, he was very familiar with the military deployment, guards, and food and supplies of Hulukou. It was indeed a wise move for Xichu to make him a general to recruit. No wonder Dong Dayou said that the other party was very familiar with his military routine and military deployment. If it were not for the Hulukou cut, the outcome would be uncertain.

After performing the ceremony, Lai Ridan stood up and said, "I will surrender to Lord Zhao as General Zhao with tenth ranks, but there are three conditions."

Zhao Langjiang asked, "Tell me."

"First, no abuse of prisoners or killing them indiscriminately; second, a zone is designated to accommodate us to ensure the supply of materials; third, if you intend to return to Chu, please let them go unconditionally."

Zhao Langjiang understood that brotherly feelings are feelings. He is now the leader of the Western Army. His words and deeds represent the Western Army. Now that Western Chu is defeated, even if they do not surrender, they will only have the right to be killed. Where can they be qualified to negotiate conditions?

Zhao Langjiang said, "I also have three conditions. First, remove the knife and axe driver hidden in the dark. I don't want to start a big killing."

Lai Ridan looked ashamed when he heard this, waved his hand behind the screen, and dozens of shadows fled.

Zhao Langjiang said again, "Second, 30,000 prisoners, I can let you go, but I will ask your Western Chu imperial court to take nine million taels of silver to redeem it."

“What about the third one?”

Zhao Langjiang said coldly, "Third, in this battle, Lao Jiu, Lao He, who is from Fengying, died for the country. I want you to commit suicide and apologize in front of their tombs."

Lai Ridan said, "We are just for their own masters."

Zhao Langjiang understood, but he couldn't stand such a thing as a bachelor's eyes, he didn't rub the sand in his eyes, betrayed by his brothers, and harmed his robes.

"This is the bottom line of surrender!" Zhao Langjiang said, "If you don't want the 30,000 Xi Chu soldiers to bury their bones in a foreign land, then make a choice."

He said word by word, "Believe me, I am best at killing."

Lai Ridan certainly believed that his title of Wolf of Hengduan Mountain was not self-proclaimed, but was made up of the corpses and heads of countless generals in Western Chu. He was a nobleman of the Chu State. He had endured and lurked for ten years for national interests. If it weren't for Zhao Langjiang, he would have captured Hulukou and established outstanding achievements, but everything had become a silence.

Lai Ridan said, "I will buy my life for ten million taels of silver."

Zhao Langjiang said, "No talk."

"Then aren't you afraid that I will lead the army to fight to the death?"

Zhao Langjiang smiled, "If you are a warrior in Western Chu, you will naturally regard honor as more important than life. Death in battle is always better than being captured. If you are a scout in the Western Army, you will naturally know the weight of the four words "Nine Deaths and Nine Deaths."

Lai Ridan sat in the chair dejectedly and said, "I'll think about it, I'll give you a reply before tomorrow!"

Zhao Langjiang turned around and left.

The generals of Western Chu were watching him all the way, talking a lot, and no one dared to stop him.

Back at the city wall, Dong Dayou stepped forward and asked, "How was the talk?"

Zhao Langjiang said, "Prepare for combat."

Without further ado, Dong Dayou knew that this battle would undoubtedly be fought. He quickly ordered the soldiers to take turns to rest, maintain their strength, and prepare for a fierce battle. Now that the Chu army is cut off from water, if they persist for two days, Western Chu will be defeated.

At sunset.

The special envoy of Western Chu came to negotiate again, holding a box in his arms, and said at the top of the city, "I am the special envoy of Western Chu, and I am ordered to surrender!"

The box was delivered, and Dong Dayou opened it, and was stunned.

Lai Ridan's head was lying in the box, with blood still dry. There was also a letter on it, which read, "Lai Ridan lives up to the general's desire to cultivate. I hope General Zhao keeps his promise and will never regret it if he dies!"

Zhao Langjiang looked at Lai Ridan's blood letter and felt heavy.

He remembered that when Lai Ridan first entered the Western Army, he was very weak, and many people even made fun of him because he was of the Hu bloodline. Zhao Langjiang was still ten people at that time. Every time he was bullied, Zhao Langjiang would come forward to ask for an explanation, and he had many fights with others for this.

Fortunately, Lai Ridan was willing to make progress. After Zhao Langjiang learned a lot of killing skills, he gradually became an excellent scout. However, he did not expect that Lai Ridan was actually a nobleman of Western Chu. The young man who followed him that day became an enemy general who killed countless Western troops.

Zhao Langjiang was a nostalgic person. When he saw that he was killed, he said, "Treat what happened behind him and send his body back to Xichu."

The Western Chu army trapped at Hulukou officially surrendered to the Western Army of the Ming Dynasty.

In this battle, 30,000 Western Chu troops were eliminated and 20,000 were captured. It is known in history as the Great Victory of Hulukou. However, the Western Army in the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy casualties and suffered nearly 20,000 losses. In addition, the Ming army was damaged on the front line, and nearly half of the entire Western Army was lost.

However, this battle caused great damage to the state of Chu, and the Northern Zhou army suffered even more miserable losses. The Northern Zhou war god Tuoba Niu died, and the entire Ming Dynasty was no longer invincible in Western Xinjiang.

The result of the war came into the capital, and the government and the people were shocked.

When Yuwen Tianlu was traitorous, Zhao Langjiang turned the tide alone and successfully reversed the situation in the Western Xinjiang. The streets and alleys were talking about this war.

In this battle, Zhao Langjiang became famous and became a rising star in the Ming Dynasty!

...

Xiaoxue.

It started to snow at the mouth of the gourd.

The remaining troops of Western Chu had already been disarmed. With the guards of crossbow archers, they lined up to walk out of the gourd mouth. They looked expressionless, like walking corpses.

An escorted army in the Western Expedition saw an intermediate general of Chu in the crowd, and was furious. He drew his sword and was about to rush over, "Give me back my brother!"

The intermediate general looked at him indifferently.

The young soldier raised his knife and slashed it, but was stopped by one person, "Stop!" Seeing this, the soldier quickly stopped and threw the long sword to the ground, crying, "General Zhao."

Zhao Langjiang picked up the long knife, stuffed it into his hand, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "As a soldier, you must learn to use the knife in your hand to protect your family and country, rather than killing unarmed people."

"But they are Chu people!"

Zhao Langjiang said, "The defeated general."

A general company pulled the man back, "The subordinates were not strict, so please punish the general." Zhao Langjiang waved his hand and said, "Take them to the prisoner-of-war camp."

Zhao Langjiang walked in the gourd mouth and suddenly saw a familiar face. The man was lying on a stretcher, with a serious knee injury, and two Western Chu soldiers carried him. The man said, "Let me go, rather than surrender to the Ming thief, it is better to kill me."

It was a few days ago that he met a scout called Prophet Tang halfway up the mountain. He was subdued by Zhao Langjiang that day, but the scout risked his life to attract the shadow of Xi Chu, causing him some minor trouble. Later, he jumped off the cliff with a flag, but unexpectedly fell down at such a high place and saved his life.

Zhao Langjiang came to him, "Do you still remember me?"

Seeing this, the scout Tang Xianzhi spat, and when he was seriously injured, he turned his head slightly. He raised his head and said, "Are you Zhao Langjiang?"

“That’s right!”

"You'd better kill me, otherwise I will definitely kill you in the future."

The accompanying general drew his sword to kill this person, but was stopped by Zhao Lianjiang. Zhao Lianjiang saw a stubborn look in his eyes, and his expression was quite toward himself back then, and said with a smile, "I promise you general not to kill prisoners of war. After you have recovered your wounds, come to Yinyang to seek revenge me at any time." He ordered, "Heal his wounds."

...

The prisoner-of-war camp was built ten miles north of the West Eleventh Guard. This place was a basin with stones everywhere. Dong Dayou ordered people to use materials locally and built a prisoner-of-war camp, imprisoning 30,000 prisoners, and setting up heavy troops around to guard him. He learned the lessons of the siege and set up a tung oil warehouse at the entrance. If there is a mutiny, just release the tung oil and a fire to trap everyone in it.

The special envoy of the Ming Dynasty had gone to Western Chu to discuss the redemption of prisoners of war. However, this battle had already emptied the Western Chu treasury, and the Chu court was unable to pay the ransom.

The pro-war faction who had previously supported Chu Bieli took advantage of the situation and was besieged by the new nobles. They took the opportunity to attack and forced Chu Bieli to remove several generals who had previously supported him ascended the throne. The entire Western Chu court set off an inner court storm.

It is said that every day, there was a mess in the Xijing Palace. At first, they were criticized by mulberry trees, but later they broke up. Some even threw shoes at the political enemy in front of Chu Bieli in the court.

Chu Bieli came to power with the support of the main war forces. After this battle, the old aristocratic forces gained the upper hand again and were in chaos. Chu Bieli was disheartened and lost his previous aura. He hid in the palace, drank and had fun every day, and ignored political affairs.

The ransom did not wait for it to come back.
To be continued...