AD 622.

Two months have passed since the death of Zhang Xutuo. Qin Hu's garrison in Luoyang remained stationary, requisitioned grain and grass from all occupied areas, summoned Qin Shubao, Luo Yi, Lei Yongji, Shen Guang, a total of five armies, and secretly planned to surround Liu Hei. Ta, solve this problem once and for all.

During this period of time, Liu Heitai was still arrogant, not only occupying most of Hebei, but also carving up part of Shandong's land with Xu Yuanlang.

If it weren't for Changsun Wuji's hard support in Shandong, I'm afraid the whole of Shandong would have fallen.

Just after the New Year, a group of Dou Jiande's old men encouraged Liu Heitai to become king.

Liu Heitai himself also felt that it was time to become king. During this period, he was invincible. Both in terms of territory, wealth and influence, he surpassed Dou Jiande at that time, and he was fully qualified to become king.

And Qin Hu's hesitation in Luoyang also gave him a great illusion, thinking that Qin Hu had lost his spirit and was no longer as brave as before.

Throughout history, in any era of change, latecomers prevail. Judging from the current situation, it may not necessarily be that Dou Jiande and Qin Hu's generation all made wedding clothes for Liu Heitai.

To put it another way, with his current fierce offensive and the dedication of his soldiers, even if he cannot conquer the world, he can still take over half of the country. It is certain that he will become the emperor.

In this psychological state, Liu Heitai believed that he must become king immediately.

So on the first day of the first lunar month, he proclaimed himself King of the East of the Han Dynasty, changed his reign to Tianzao, made his capital Mingzhou, appointed Gao Yaxian as the Marshal of the Army, and sent troops to attack cities and territories everywhere, with great momentum.

Qin Hu's retreat caused many non-direct generals to have second thoughts, and several cities in Hebei rebelled. On the surface, Liu Heitai seemed to have overwhelming power.

Under such circumstances, Qin Hu suddenly announced the Northern Expedition.

In fact, Qin Hu has not been idle in the past two months. He has made complete preparations, actively adjusted defenses, rectified armaments, hoarded food and grass, and used Zhang Xutuo's death to appease the people and the generals who surrendered. Relatively speaking, certain results have been achieved.

At this time, he heard the news that Liu Heitai had become king, and felt that the time had come.

Qin Hu immediately conveyed orders to Qin Shubao, Shen Guang, Luo Yi, Lei Yongji and others, asking them to launch a five-pronged stranglehold on the Han Dong regime at the same time as him.

Only a few days after Liu Heita became king, the Yan army's major counterattack began.

Although Liu Heitao had won many battles, his troops were still limited. Qin Hu launched an attack in five directions, each with more than 50,000 troops. His shareholders could not care about the west and could only rely on the city to defend, but they could not defend themselves, so it was very difficult. Nearly a dozen cities fell.

Under this situation, the main army led by Qin Hu personally arrived in Huojia County from Luoyang to the north and advanced towards Xiangzhou. Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli, the generals of the Eastern Army of the Han Dynasty, went north to meet Luo Yi and Qin Shubao's 100,000-strong army.

Wang Xiaohu also encountered Lei Yongji at Jingxingkou, and General Cao Zhan launched a decisive battle with Shen Guang near Pingyuan County. However, all the troops and equipment on the east side of the Han Dynasty were weaker than the Yan army.

But the combat power of the Han Dong Army once again surprised Qin Hu.

Although the three previous Han Dong armies were all defeated by the Yan army, there was no news of a complete victory. It can be seen that they were defeated without chaos. It was not really defeated. It was most likely that Liu Heitai was shrinking. troops.

Sure enough, Liu Heitai did not fight Qin Hu in Xiangzhou at all, but directly abandoned the city, defeated all the way to Feixiang, and then entered Mingzhou City.

Qin Hu chased after him, crossed the Ming River, and set up camp on the south bank of the Ming River. He had a hundred thousand people along the way, and they were huge and powerful, with banners everywhere, exerting pressure on Mingzhou.

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Shishan and Zhang Junli were defeated by Qin Shubao, and eight thousand people were killed.

Liu Heitai abandoned Mingzhou City, and the commander of the army attacked, hoping to defeat Qin Hu's main force and capture the thieves and the king.

Unexpectedly, a fire broke out in the backyard, and the magistrate of Mingshui County outside Mingzhou surrendered to the Yan army. The Yan army then advanced forward in large strides, approaching the gates of Mingzhou city.

At this time, the situation reversed, and General Feng Bo of the Han Eastern Army surrendered to Lei Yongji at Jingxingkou.

Xu Yuanlang's general Yang Xiaocheng rebelled, offered Jinxiang and surrendered to the Yan army.

Luo Yi, the general of Zhenbei, and Qin Shubao, the governor of Youzhou, defeated the Eastern Han army, captured Dingzhou, Luanzhou, Lianzhou, and Zhaozhou, and captured Liu Xidao, the general of the Eastern Han army alive. The handsome army and Qin Hu successfully met at the gate of Mingzhou City.

Lei Yongji returned from Jingxingkou and met the main army on the south bank of Ming River on the same day.

The three armies, totaling 200,000, surrounded Mingzhou City tightly.
Chapter completed!