To the north of Jiangling, crossing Xiangyang, Dengxian, and Nanyang, the vast land now presents a chaotic, cruel and desolate scene. Then, what unfolds in the picture is an iron horse and golden sword. Countless flags swaying in the wind under the sky with thin snow. The wind is like a tiger roaring. The sound of a sharp edge sweeping over the sky above the wilderness, sweeping across the broken city walls of Luyang like a knife.

In 571 AD, the Southern Dynasty attacked Jiangling. Immediately afterwards, tens of thousands of Qi troops marched south suddenly, causing a huge tide in the entire Jingxiang and even the entire Great Zhou. Lu Teng was defeated and followed closely behind. Gao Changgong swept across the eighteen cities including Nanyang with a thunderous momentum. Except for the Luyang City in front of him, the journey of Qi's army to Xiangyang south has been cleared, and the southeastern gate of the Northern Zhou Dynasty has been opened and is in danger.

The sky was getting darker, and only the burned siege equipment under Luyang City was still emitting a faint light of fire. Under the hazy fire, there were wreckages, the city tower was dilapidated, and broken bricks and tiles were covered with the ground... No one expected that under the continuous attacks of several Qi troops under Gao Changgong and Wei Xiangyuan, even Nanyang, which was taller than Luyang, was declared to be lost, and Luyang still exists.

However, it is not far from being completely broken.

When Fan Zigai gathered most of his troops to attack the city, the east gate of Luyang was already shaking. Fan Daoze, the ancestor of Fan Zigai, was originally the governor of Liang Yuezhou in the Southern Dynasty. His father Fan Ru defected to Northern Qi during the Hou Jing Rebellion and became the governor of Renzhou. Fan Zigai was the first to join the army as the King of Wuxing Gao Pu. At the beginning of this year, the emperor issued an edict to reduce the vassals, and the vassal kings were deprived of the power to command the army in the fiefdom. Fan Zigai originally planned to resign, but the imperial court transferred him to Jinyang. Now he is appointed as the Minister of Tongzhi Sanqi, General Zhe Chong. One is from the fifth rank and the other is from the fifth rank. Although the official title is not high enough, it is also a type that is gradually emerging. Fan Zigai was in operation during the time. He did not stay in Jinyang for long, and was transferred to Hedong by the Ministry of War and followed the Wei Xiangyuan troops to attack Zhou.

The ray of sky light was already very faint. On the city tower, some people stood there with numb expressions. These people were forcibly conquered by Luyang guards. The city was covered with Zhou army flags, and the corners of the flag were drooping, and there was no sign of aura. In the past half month, under Fanzigai's high-frequency siege, the morale of all the soldiers and civilians in the city was gradually crushed into powder like millstones and mills... The Qi army tried to persuade the guards to surrender, but the guards' families were detained in Chang'an, and ignored the Qi army's surrender and dragged the Qi army's rear army for more than half a month with the terrain of Luyang.

General Gao Changgong and Deputy Commander-in-Chief were willing to fight quickly and decide quickly, gathered a large army to attack Zhejiang Yang, Zhejiang Zhou, and Nanyang, temporarily forgot Luyang to the rear. How could he expect that Luyang had not been taken down now, and all the north of Nanyang had been swallowed up by the Qi army, leaving only this city of Luyang.

At first, I didn't feel anything, but later, the nail was stabbed there and it seemed a bit annoying. Several side divisions of Qi's army were besieged, but failed, so Wei Xiang wanted him to come in the end.

Before this, Wei Xiangyuan finally summoned another surrender. If he didn't surrender, he would slaughter the city without receiving any reply. Therefore, the endings of these people on the city tower and those behind the city wall were already destined.

"... Our army swept across Zhejiang and Nanyang, facing the small Luyang, but was careless and unsuccessful. Although they could not play any role when they defended it at this point. But this city was slapped us brightly... This kind of thing must not be allowed to happen. After we take it, we will govern it. If they are not afraid of us, there will be a lot of unrest and changes. This is not right."

"...The massacre of the city is just a means. We clearly tell the people here that they should not act rashly and obey governance. Our dynasty will treat them like their own people and let them live and work in peace and contentment.

But what if these people don’t eat the toast and drink the punishment, they have to go against you? What should you do?

To conquer them, you must first shock them and make them afraid of you and govern. That is what happens after they have stabilized.

Huazong, you are also well-read in poetry and books, and you won’t not understand this principle. Is such a thing rare throughout the ages?”

Fan Zigai was resistant to Wei Xiangyuan's order and had asked General Gao Changgong to discuss this matter several times, but Gao Changgong did not respond or reply to it. Before coming, Wei Xiangyuan blamed him ten times according to the military rules, and then had a long talk with him.

"The Zhou court has responded. Yuwen Zhi has led the army to Xiangyang. The various reinforcements from Zhou have also gathered in Xiangyang. The general has decided to assemble several armies within seven days to attack Xiangyang... You don't have much time, so you should seize it quickly."

Seven days, four days have passed, and before dawn tomorrow, this city must be captured. "Siege!" Fan Zigai said, the soldiers in the front row of Qi army raised their bows and arrows and shot several people upwards. Those scarecrows fell from the wall like scarecrows, and the war instantly detonated!

The Zhou army and the people of Luyang defended the city for many days. Although they had experienced several wars and had a certain combat power, they were besieged for so long that the food and grass stored were no longer enough to be used. The brave soldiers and soldiers were all covered in food and were extremely weak. The Qi army had no preparations for the siege equipment at the beginning. From the beginning, they had all the siege cones. In just a few days, Fan Zigai took materials locally and launched an attack.

The arrows covered the city wall, and the Zhou army guarding the city immediately returned with color. The Qi army, holding the bow and arrow, set up a ladder, pulled the rope, and climbed up bravely. The Zhou army above threw the beams and woods that were removed from the house and the big stones that were touched from there. A Zhou soldier had just hit a Qi army, and a feather arrow flew out from the noisy iron stream below, straight into the throat, and a piece of the back and neck came out, bloody, and it made people frightened. The surroundings were

Flying arrows and surging crowds, Qi army jumped onto the city wall, and several Zhou soldiers hid on the side. As soon as he gained a foothold, he rushed forward and rushed over to kill the other party. Not far away from this neighborhood, another Qi army climbed up from outside the city wall. Seeing the situation here, he waved his steel knife and immediately killed two Zhou soldiers. Zhou army officers stepped forward to fight him, slashed his calf, and then hit him a few times, then killed him. More Qi soldiers rushed up from the city wall...

"This Luyang Guardian has never heard of his reputation before. He thought that my Daqi came to conquer the city and land as if it were unstoppable, but he expected that he would be entangled here... If my master hadn't rushed south, this man would have been nameless for the rest of his life. Haha, today's battle would have made him famous... You can be... dead..."

There was a biting coldness in these plain words. In the surging iron stream of Qi army, Fan Zigai let go of the bowstring and took out an arrow from the arrow bag. At night, the city was attacked and defended the city, and both sides ignited fire, so it was clear that he could see clearly. He clearly saw a figure shaking on the fire on the city tower, wearing glossy armor, and fighting back and forth on the city wall with a pair of personal soldiers.

Fan Zigai controlled the string and aimed, and when the figure was clearest, he let out his hand. The feather arrow broke through the air and penetrated into the shadow on the city wall. The figure suddenly paused, then covered his chest and slowly faded. A cry of fear came from the Zhou army...

It seemed that the city and the city suddenly became quiet. Fan Zigai lowered his long bow and said lightly:

"Continue to attack the city."

The snow keeps falling...

……………………

When the coldness of winter swept over, the war situation on the front spreads to all directions, causing different reactions in different places.

For the Great Qi, the general, Gao Changgong, the king of Lanling, led more than 50,000 troops to the south from Hezhou. He achieved such brilliant results in less than a month, which naturally caused a lot of joy in the Jinyang court and the countryside. When everyone was happy and encouraging, some people still had deep concerns about this.

In the Taiji Hall of Jinyang Imperial Palace, the sky blue curtains hang down, and the burning candlestick emits a warm light. The eunuchs and palace maids are guarding the dark corners around. If they cannot be observed, their presence here is not even as good as the air. In the rich night, the sound of the song book occasionally sounds. The emperor obviously just got up again after sleeping, wearing a close-fitting regular dress, his hair spreads over his shoulders, and he flips over his melody, with expressionless face.

The censor Zu Yi had not taken off his court ward and stood respectfully.

"So, do you think I need to send more troops to help Brother Wang?"

"Your Majesty, the commander of Lanling, is outstanding, but after all, he is too young. Although Yuwen Zhi is not afraid of it, the land of Jingxiang is a top priority. There are many elite soldiers and generals in Zhou State. Yuwen Hu will definitely dispatch good generals and strong soldiers to rescue him. I am afraid that the general will not be able to defeat four hands with one punch..." Zu Qi carefully used the words, "If our army is on the defensive and the people are not available, our army will be in danger..."

Gao Wei suddenly thought of something and nodded, "Yes, Zhou Guo has long surrendered to the people's hearts. It is not easy for them to re-recognize Da Qi."

"Your Majesty is wise, Wei Xiang hopes that these people will do the massacre... and the people's hearts will be even more difficult to conquer."

"You are not him, don't understand his situation, don't draw conclusions," the emperor said with a blank expression. Zu Qi immediately stopped his voice. After a while, Gao Wei said, "I will send another 20,000 troops from Jinyang to help the general..."

Zu Qi immediately said, "Your Majesty, it's inappropriate."

“What’s wrong?”

"First, it takes a long time to send troops from Jinyang and recruitment, so it is easier to draw them directly from the Huainan army. Second, although the troops in the six towns of Jinyang are said to be more than 200,000, but in fact, less than 110,000, and they are mostly sick and disabled, so they are no longer able to fight. You know this..."

A cold feeling suddenly rose in the air, and Zu Yi didn't dare to say more. The words just now happened to touch a thorn in the emperor's heart. According to statistics from the Ministry of Revenue, the six Xianbei towns that followed Emperor Shenwu Gao to seize the world have declined to such a point, which is really unimaginable. Although Gao Wei was mentally prepared, the situation he learned was far beyond his estimate. How can he sit in the country safely with the six towns?!

"Then I will draw troops from the Huainan military camp. Who do you think is suitable to serve as the commander of this journey?"

“Peak and…”

"No, Pi Jinghe is in charge of the overall situation of Jianghuai, and she can't move easily."

Zu Yi thought hard for a while, "I have another candidate, that is, I just don't know if Your Majesty is allowed..."

"explain."

"Wang Lin, the Grand Governor of the Capital, has been in the military life, is very experienced in the battle formation, and is in his prime. He is the best candidate for the commander of the army on this road!"
Chapter completed!