Chapter 175

Chapter 175

In early November, the reorganized 70,000-strong Right Route Army, along with their supplies, fully emerged from Jinzhou and reached Qinxian within the capital's jurisdiction, less than 200 li from Luoyang City.

Meanwhile, to the west, Han Zongping's army had already captured the entire Yunzhou north of the Yellow River. After a brief rest, they were prepared to cross the river. To the east, Lu Gong's army, benefiting from the flat terrain, had the fastest advance. They had already reached outside the walls of Kaifeng and were preparing to attack the city.

If the Right Route Army had been stuck in Jinzhou, Han Zongping and Lu Gong would have had to proceed step by step according to the original plan. The Right Route Army's responsibility was merely to contain the imperial court's 30,000 troops and stabilize the rear of the already captured Jinzhou, preventing the imperial army from moving north along the Jinzhou and Zhizhou line to cut off the retreat route and supply lines of the Left and Central Route Armies.

Now, the unexpected emergence of the Right Route Army beyond Jinzhou greatly increased the pressure on the imperial court, while Han Zongping gained an additional 70,000 elite troops at his disposal.

Han Zongping immediately issued new military orders to Xiao Mu and Lu Gong.

For Lu Gong's forces, Zhao Jin and Luo Xiao were to lead 20,000 troops each to besiege Kaifeng and Yingzhou, while Lu Gong personally led 30,000 troops to march west and head towards Hulao Pass.

For Xiao Mu's forces, the 70,000 troops were to cross the river immediately and then split into two groups. Xiao Mu would lead 50,000 troops to directly threaten Luoyang City, while Xiao Zhen would lead 20,000 troops to advance on Hulao Pass from the west, creating a coordinated attack with Lu Gong.

With three armies besieging the city, Imperial Uncle Dou and his 50,000 troops absolutely did not dare to leave Luoyang City.

The southern imperial troops had to guard against the possibility of Dongling sending troops and had not been mobilized. Even before the Right Route Army broke out of Jinzhou, Imperial Uncle Dou did not think it necessary to mobilize the southern army, confident that the remaining 150,000 troops in the capital and the 100,000 reinforcements from Chang'an would be enough to repel Han Zongping. But now, even if he wanted to mobilize the southern army, it would be too far to help in time, and he could only hold the city and wait for reinforcements.

Han Zongping's goal was to achieve a quick victory and capture the city before the southern reinforcements arrived.

With the bravery of Lu Gong and Xiao Zhen, Hulao Pass would soon fall into his hands. With Xiao Mu besieging Luoyang, if the 50,000 defenders of Xiaohan and Hangu Pass went to rescue Luoyang, leaving the pass undefended, Han Zongping's 70,000 troops could directly drive in. If the defenders of Xiaohan did not move, Han Zongping could concentrate his forces to fight the 100,000 reinforcements from Chang'an, while waiting for Xiao Zhen and Lu Gong to divert troops to attack Xiaohan, creating another coordinated attack.

——

It took two days to capture four small counties along the northern bank of the Yellow River, including Qinxian. After a simple rest, the Right Route Army successfully reached the banks of the Yellow River.

The northern regions were already very cold in November, and since autumn, the Yellow River had entered its dry season. Some sections were so shallow that people could cross directly, with large parts of the riverbed exposed.

Xiao Mu sent men to find such a section.

The generals arrived at the riverbank first. Xiao She looked around in disbelief and said, "Is this the Yellow River? Why does it look like our Lingshui River?"

Xiao Mu replied, "Even the ten fingers have different lengths, not to mention thousands of li of the Yellow River. Besides, it's the dry season. If you come back in summer, it will look different."

Xiao She laughed, "Who cares? I'm crossing the river!"

The young man flicked his horsewhip and charged towards the opposite bank.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Ye were not willing to fall behind.

Tong Sui steadily followed by the elder's side.

It was a cloudy day, and looking at this rather unimpressive section of the Yellow River, understanding the desolate scene, Tong Sui thought of Luoyang City, occupied by corrupt officials.

In April, they were still 1,500 li away in Shuozhou, separated by countless mountains and rivers from Luoyang.

In just seven months, after crossing this river, they would be only 100 li from Luoyang.

If she hadn't personally walked this journey of over 1,000 li with the elder, if she had stayed in the small Taohuagou, Tong Sui probably wouldn't have dreamed of how the cities and passes were taken.

After crossing the river, Xiao Zhen was to set out with 20,000 troops.

He selected only 5,000 infantry from the former Right Route Army and then said to Liao Hongan, "General, do you want to simply earn a merit of surrender, or do you want to show your loyalty to the General by helping him attack and capture passes and cities?"

Having completely betrayed the imperial court, Liao Hongan thought it better to earn a big merit rather than settle for a small reward for surrender.

He cupped his hands at the younger Xiao Er and said, "I am familiar with this area. I am willing to guide the young general!"

The two organized their troops and departed.

Tong Sui watched Xiao Zhen's departing figure with a furrowed brow and said to the elder, "All 15,000 of them are surrendered soldiers. Isn't Second Master being too reckless this way?"

Xiao Mu replied, "He would rather take the risk himself than let us take Liao Hongan to besiege Luoyang City. If Liao Hongan were to betray us and coordinate with the 50,000 troops stationed in Luoyang City, we would be in danger."

Seeing that his granddaughter-in-law looked even more worried, Xiao Mu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Second Master is the best at subduing surrendered soldiers. Besides, the commanders of those 15,000 troops are all our own people. Liao Hongan only holds an honorary title of general and can no longer command the surrendered soldiers. He knows this and won't do anything foolish."

Xiao Ye came over and teased, "When you care, you're confused. This shows that Second Sister-in-law worries about Second Brother more than we do."

Tong Sui: "..."

Xiao Mu glared at his fourth grandson and said solemnly, "Less idle talk, let's move out!"

In the afternoon of the eighth day, the 50,000-strong Right Route Army arrived outside the walls of Luoyang City.

Not long ago, Xiao She had mocked the shallow waters of the Yellow River, but upon seeing Luoyang City in the distance, he wisely closed his mouth.

Even though these commanders from Wei County had already witnessed the grandeur of Taiyuan City, today they were awed by the majesty of the capital city, Luoyang.

The walls of Luoyang City were eight zhang high, with a winding moat in front of them. The widest part of the river reached fifteen zhang, and the narrowest section was still over four zhang wide.

Between the moat and the city walls, there was also a ditch about two zhang wide. In front of the ditch, two rows of caltrops were set up, and it was obvious that tung oil had been pre-buried in the ditch, ready to set up a fiery attack against the enemy at any time.

"Qi Yun, can you climb this wall?" Sun Dian turned to ask Qi Yun.

Qi Yun replied, "As long as the ladder is long enough and the attacks from the defenders aren't too intense, it's worth a try."

Xiao Mu let the young ones discuss for a while before saying, "No matter how difficult a city is to attack, proper preparation can conquer it. Let's set up camp first."

After the central military tent was set up, Xiao Mu called in his commanders and assigned tasks.

They needed ladders to scale the walls, and the existing ladders were not long enough, so he immediately ordered the accompanying craftsmen to extend them.

To cross the river, they would need sandbags. Starting the next day, the Qiao brothers would lead a team to purchase burlap bags from nearby households, while another team of soldiers would be sent to dig soil to fill the bags.

As the Right Route Army busied themselves with preparations, the next day the gates of Luoyang City unexpectedly opened, and a eunuch came out.

The eunuch held an imperial edict and had come on behalf of Imperial Uncle Dou to persuade Xiao Mu to surrender. He offered that if Xiao Mu led the Right Route Army to surrender, Imperial Uncle Dou would confer upon him the title of Marquis and appoint him as the new governor of Jizhou.

The rules of war dictate that envoys are not to be harmed, but Xiao Mu ordered his men to throw the eunuch into the moat, just to test its depth.

The moat was deep, but fortunately, the eunuch knew how to swim. He managed to swim across in a disheveled manner.

On the evening of the tenth, a victory report came from Tiger Prison Pass: Xiao Zhen and Lu Gong had captured the pass, leaving five thousand troops to guard it, while they led thirty thousand soldiers to reinforce Han Zongping's army outside the pass.

On the eleventh, in the afternoon, Luo Xiao, who was besieging Xingzhou, sent good news. The Xingzhou commander, upon hearing of the loss of Tiger Prison Pass, surrendered with ten thousand troops. Thus, Luo Xiao led thirty thousand troops to Xiaohan Pass as well.

On the fifteenth, a victory report came from Xiaohan Pass, stating that the pass was now in our army's hands. Lu Gong would lead thirty thousand infantry to join Xiao Mu in Luoyang City, while Xiao Zhen and Luo Xiao would lead ten thousand cavalry and twenty thousand surrendered infantry to support Han Zongping's central army, which was fiercely battling the Chang'an reinforcements to the west.

On the same day, the imperial court finally mobilized fifty thousand reinforcements from the Xuchang area.

Lu Gong ordered Xiao Mu to continue surrounding Luoyang City while he led thirty thousand troops to intercept the reinforcements. After two engagements, seven out of ten of the first wave of reinforcements from the south were decimated, and the remaining thirty percent surrendered obediently.

On the twentieth of November, Lu Gong returned to the outskirts of Luoyang City. At the same time, the central army at Tong Pass also sent good news: the Chang'an commander had been killed by Han Zongping, and the remaining sixty thousand Chang'an reinforcements surrendered. Thus, the central army formed a force of one hundred and fifty thousand troops.

Han Zongping sent fifty thousand troops back to Chang'an to guard against Xiliang's surprise attacks, while he personally led the remaining one hundred thousand troops to Luoyang.

The scout delivered the battle report to Xiao Mu and Lu Gong. Xiao Mu praised Lu Gong, "General, you are truly a master of strategy. Not to mention the thirty thousand defenders of Yuncheng, who were difficult to defeat, half of the one hundred thousand reinforcements from Chang'an were elite cavalry. General, with only seventy thousand troops, you managed to hold them off, and with only ten thousand casualties, you inflicted four times that number on the enemy. Additionally, General Lu's unstoppable advance on the plains of Jizhou and his swift capture of cities like a force that crushes dry grass and rotten wood, these are all solid achievements. Unlike us, who relied on clever tactics to take Longxing Path."

Lu Gong laughed, "You don't need to be modest. Our three armies support each other. Without any one of us, it wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

Xiao Mu sighed, "I have lived a long and tumultuous life, but I am fortunate to have joined General's forces in my later years and to have been entrusted with important responsibilities. I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Lu Gong looked at the silver strands visible at Xiao Mu's temples, both admiring and regretful, "It's a pity we didn't meet earlier. Otherwise, we could have fought against the foreign enemies of the grasslands together, which would have been exhilarating. Now, even though we have won, it's still brother against brother... sigh!"

Xiao Mu also sighed, "It's all the fault of the treacherous ministers like Imperial Uncle Dou, who have corrupted the court and caused the people to suffer. If not for them, tens of thousands of fine young men wouldn't have to kill each other. I can only hope that when General arrives, he can persuade Imperial Uncle Dou to surrender the city and spare the soldiers and people of Luoyang from the suffering of war because of his selfishness."

Lu Gong nodded, but his expression was grave, "I'm afraid he is stubborn and will drag the entire city's people down with him as a sacrifice."

Tong Sui stood behind the elder, listening quietly.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the tent, with people saying, "It's snowing."

Tong Sui followed the two generals out of the tent and had just stopped when she felt a cold sensation on her nose.

Tong Sui looked up and saw scattered snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Xiao Mu raised his hand, and a small snowflake landed in his palm, melting only after a while from the warmth of his palm.

But the snowflakes on the ground weren't so easy to melt and would only accumulate more and more.

Xiao Mu's heart stirred, and he looked at Lu Gong, who happened to look back. The two generals smiled at each other and said in unison, "Heaven helps the General!"

A light snow gradually turned into a heavy snowstorm and continued for three days.

By the end of November, when Han Zongping's one hundred thousand troops finally arrived at the city gates, the moat around Luoyang City had frozen solid, and the trenches were filled with snow.