Chapter 700: Surrendering

Xingyang is close to the east of the eastern capital Luoyang, and is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north. The Tongji Canal crosses the southern section of the canal. In Xingze County, the Yellow River, the Tongji Canal section of the southern section of the canal, and the Yongji Canal section of the northern section of the canal, all gather here and directly connects to the eastern capital Luoyang.

In addition to the two major rivers of the Yellow River and the Canal, the territory is also the Jishui River, which passes from Hedong through Henan and Shandong, and finally goes straight into the sea. In addition to the three major rivers, there are four rivers: Sishui, Suoshui, Cold Water, and Zhengshui.

With such a developed and smooth water canal channel, close to Luoyang, the center of the world, Xingyang was very prosperous from the beginning of Kaihuang to Daye, with a large population and a prosperous business. A county in Xingyang has eleven cities, including Sishui, Xingyang, Xingze, Guancheng, Xinzheng, Kaifeng, Putian, Yuanwu, Yangwu, Sourjuana and Daliang. Among them, Guancheng, as the county seat of Xingyang County, is extremely prosperous, with a population of hundreds of thousands.

However, these are the passing clouds and mists of the past, and the prosperity of the past. In the early years of Daye, several counties in Shanghexi that could be reached by one county in the early years of Daye were even more prosperous and wealthy. At this time, only ruins and weeds were left.

As the center of the world, the most prosperous place in Henan has begun to revolt since Wang Bo began, Xingyang, a prosperous area close to the eastern capital Luoyang, began to suffer round after round of impact and looting.

Bandits, bandits, horse thieves, water thieves, mountain bandits, poor people who had no way to survive simply killed the peasant army who rebelled, and came and went on this land like a horse changing lights.

Yang Xuangan raised an army in Liyang and besieged the Eastern Capital, but the one that hurt the most was Xingyang. Later, Yang Guangyanmen was besieged, and the king-supporting troops from the southeastern counties and the southeastern counties in Hebei Province drove from here to Taiyuan in Hedong. Each of the troops passing by was a larger bandit. The generals leading the troops were explicitly asking for food and pay, and the soldiers below were eating and looting along the way, which was not much better than the bandits.

Yang Guang died in Taiyuan, but Li Mi captured Jindi Pass from Dongjun and entered Xingyang County. The Wagang army and the remaining troops of the Dongdu fought in Xingyang, turning many of the originally prosperous cities, rural towns and towns in Xingyang into ruins. The large population of Xingyang did not escape this disaster in the end. They were either forced to be conscripted as soldiers by various forces or captured as civilians.

The strong men were arrested to serve as soldiers and civilians, while the remaining elderly, weak, women and children became the targets of plundering by bandits and rebels who came and went from all sides. When the last little food in the family was also plundered, the young women were also taken away.

Spring goes and autumn comes, wars are coming for years, and wars are plaguing and chaotic. Until the countryside cannot capture a lively village and town, and no more see a farmed field in the fields.

White bones are exposed in the wild, and artemisia is everywhere in the sky!

Waiting in Hulao until afternoon, the 20,000 soldiers and horses immediately embarked on the road to the eastern expedition. After collecting the horses in Hulao City, Chen Kefu owned 5,000 light cavalry and 15,000 infantry. In order to better control the 10,000 surrendered soldiers, Chen Kefu integrated 10,000 surrendered soldiers and 10,000 Hebei Army.

Although he was a little hurried, Chen Kefu did not want to fight back when fighting with the Wei army.

All 10,000 Wei troops were organized into the 10,000 Hebei troops. The original organization of the Hebei Army did not change, but the troops in each unit doubled. Originally, there were ten people in one group, but now there were twenty people in one group, fifty people in one group, and now there were one hundred people in one group. In order to strengthen control, the newly integrated 20,000 people in the middle and lower levels of the officers were still all appointed by Hebei officers, and the officers in the surrendered troops were all changed to the deputy officers of Hebei officers.

Even Niu Jinda, the five newly appointed Eagle Fighter Generals, have now become the deputy generals of each battalion. Although the official position is still there, they cannot directly mobilize command troops. Niu Jinda and others have no complaints about Chen Kefu's arrangement. In their opinion, Chen Kefu's doing this is in line with the usual practice. Moreover, when Chen Kefu did this, they put aside their last concern. If Chen Kefu continued to let them take their original subordinates, they would be a little suspicious.

The marching of 20,000 people didn't sound like a lot. But when walking on the road, it was vast and dusty. This was because the Hebei army and these newly surrendered Wei soldiers were all elite soldiers. Otherwise, they would be able to make a mess and neigh at the same time as the march.

Even though these 20,000 are veterans who have fought for many years, they cannot hide when walking on the road and are very powerful.

However, Chen Kefu had no other way to do this. His only way was to speed up the marching, especially to draw Cheng Yaojin and Huang Junhan to lead 3,000 light cavalry to take the lead, allowing them to quickly rush to Xingyang County, more than 30 miles away.

Along the way, Chen Kefu looked at the farmland covered with weeds, and the broken villages and houses that had long been gone for smoke and figures, and couldn't help but sigh. Who can face these calmly? The most prosperous place in the Central Plains is now the most dilapidated and deserted place. There are bones exposed beside the wild roads everywhere, and there are even many corpses that have not been dried, with terrifying appearances and stench.

"Send the order and speed up the marching!"

Looking at the scene along the way, Chen Kefu felt indescribable discomfort. Central Plains Henan is the most serious place in the world. All parties fight and fight against each other, and they all regard this as a battlefield. Moreover, the Central Plains is not as good as every corner of the world. As long as the world has not been unified and peaceful, the Central Plains will have to endure many battles from south to north.

This is a land full of death, with burnt villages everywhere, with dead bones exposed in the wild, and the wild dogs that dared to stare at the blood in broad daylight.

Chen Kefu stepped on Sa Zilu, stopped on the high slope beside the road, and looked at the army that was rolling forward. A wild dog that turned out from behind the slope was extremely disgusting with bald hair and spots. The wild dog was drooling in his mouth, his eyes were red, and his throat made a low whimpering sound. He stared at Chen Kefu, as if he was going to pounce him off his horse and neigh and eat.

"Aowoo!"

The wild dog just rushed forward, but was immediately kicked by Sa Zilu and a back kick dog on the head, flipped it directly in the air, and ran away with its tail whimpering.

But as soon as he ran a few steps, an arrow penetrated his skull like lightning, nailing it firmly to a rotten corpse on the ground.

Chen Kefu looked back and saw Feng Huan withdrawing the bow in his hand and looked at the wild dog with some disgust.

"That dog is disgusting!" Feng Huan replied when he saw Chen Kefu looking at her.

"In the chaotic times, people are worse than dogs!" Chen Kefu's face was very serious, and there was an indescribable depression and low voice in his voice.

After a moment of silence, Feng Hua suddenly said, "Why is Your Highness so confident in Marshal Li Jing? What if Marshal Li Jing can't take down the Jindi Fortress?"

Feng Hua knew Chen Kefu's plan, but she was a little confused about Chen Kefu. You should know that although Li Mi's main force is now in Luokou, the east side of Luoyang is where Li Mi really started. Xingyang County, Xiangcheng County, Yingchuan County, Huaiyang County, Ruyin County, Xingyang County, Liang County, Dongjun, Jiyin County, Dongping County, Jibei County, Yuyang County, Henan County, and Hongnong County.

Among the fourteen counties controlled by Li Mi now, except for the four counties of Yuyang, Henan, Hongnong and Xiangcheng, which are located west of Xingyang, the remaining ten counties are located east and south of Xingyang. These ten counties are now stationed by the rebel leaders who defected to Li Mi from all over the country. Although Li Mi looked down on those rebel leaders in his heart, Li Mi still attaches great importance to the territory on which he relied on.

Except for Hulao Pass and Jindi Pass, the elite troops were stationed by close friends, the rest of the troops and horses from all over the country were integrated by Li Mi, and sent close friends to supervise the army. Among the counties, there were more than 300,000 of these miscellaneous soldiers and horses.

In Feng Huan's opinion, Chen Kefu's capture of the Huzhu does not mean that everything is going well. If Li Jing cannot capture the Jindi on time and go south to the Central Plains, then Chen Kefu takes the initiative to leave the Huzhu and attack, it is equivalent to running directly to Li Mi's massive troops and rushing around.

"War is taking risks!" Chen Kefu said calmly.

Despite this answer, Chen Kefu was still very confident about this plan. Although Xingyang is a major area, most of the troops are concentrated in Hulao and Jindi. Now that Hulao has been taken down by him, Li Jing personally took over the Jindi. He took the opportunity to take the initiative to attack. Before those miscellaneous troops gathered, it was a good time to defeat them. As long as they defeated Xingyang and Dongjun in the east of Xingyang, Chen Kefu could connect Hebei and Henan. The Hebei army would continue to move south to ensure their successor.

"Why don't we attack Jindi directly?"

"There are 50,000 troops in Jindi, and Jindi is a fortress pass. We have 20,000 people who are rashly going, and there is no chance of winning. What's more, if the Jindi cannot be defeated, it will cause other Wei troops in Xingyang County to gather. At that time, we will be trapped at the gates and attack the Wei troops inside and outside, and we will be in danger. Therefore, we will leave Jindi to Marshal Li Jing to fight, and we will come to clear the other Wei troops in Xingyang County, and then join the gates of Jindi Pass. This is the best strategy."

"Why are you so confident in Marshal Zhang of Luokou and Guo and General Lu of Luokou Cang City? If one of them did not hold on with one of the two troops, then all our efforts would be wasted and even in danger." Feng Hua said with some concern.

"Don't worry, Zheng Xuanying had just won a big victory in Luokou. He was excited at this time. Even if we let him return, he might not be willing, so how could he not be able to withstand Li Mi? What's more, with Marshal Zhang here, we don't have to worry about them. As for Lu Shishen and Guo Xiaoke, they have always been brave, otherwise they wouldn't dare to change our military orders without any fear. However, although these two guys are brave, they are not stupid. They have 30,000 people to defend Luokou. Even if there are 100,000 troops to attack the city, they will be fine if they defend for one or two months. Therefore, the key is still our side. As long as we can break through Xingyang and Dongjun as soon as possible, we can ensure that the retreat is worry-free. At that time, we can join forces with Marshal Li Jing to lead the troops back to attack Li Mi. At that time, we will completely annihilate Li Mi's besieged troops, not just severely."

"Report!"

A cavalry rushed to the scene, and the cavalry turned over and dismounted and reported loudly, "The subordinates were under General Cheng, and they were ordered to report the victory. General Cheng and General Huang's light cavalry rushed to Xingyang County. In the county, the Wei army general Zhang Shiyuan surrendered the city. Our army had no bloodshed and captured Xingyang County. All three thousand defenders turned against each other. At present, General Cheng left five hundred light cavalry waiting for His Highness's army in Xingyang. General Cheng and General Huang have led the remaining troops and horses to Guancheng!"

"Congratulations to Your Highness, you have another city!" Feng Hua turned around and smiled at Chen Kefu and bowed to congratulate him.

Chen Kefu was also very happy to hear this news. Although Xingyang County was already destroyed in the war, there were still three thousand defenders. If you want to attack for a strong force, it will not only cause damage, but also delay precious time. Now these three thousand defenders surrender the city, which saves a lot of trouble.

"Okay, Chen Lei, give this messenger ten gold coins and take it down for a good rest. If you send another order, you say that Xingyang has been taken down and the soldiers will speed up the marching. When you arrive in Xingyang County, you ask Luo Shixin to take over the surrendered troops. The rest of the army did not stop, and directly bypass Xingyang County, and we head straight to Guancheng!"

"As for your order!" Chen Lei rode away.

"Your Highness, Li Mi is strong and powerful outside. Now his confidant elites are all near Luokou and Luoyang. Although there are many soldiers and horses in the eastern counties, they seem to be mobs and are not worthy of attack. Now where King Chen's banner is coming, I'm afraid that all the places will surrender. Congratulations to King Chen, you are one step closer to the success of the plan." Feng Hua said with a smile.

Chen Kefu was also in a good mood. "These people were originally bandits and farmers who took advantage of the chaos. They only caused trouble in various places while the court was empty. But these people were not angry after all. Even Li Mi looked down on these people, thinking that they could not hold up the walls, and arranged them everywhere to scare ordinary people. Now that our army is coming, of course, it is like the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves. There is nothing to be happy to defeat these people and win. However, Guancheng is the city of Xingyang's county seat. In the early years of Daye, it was a big city with a population of hundreds of thousands. The city is high and the walls are hard. Zhijie and Huang Junhan are only 2,500 people around us. We have to speed up and arrive before dark."

In the afternoon sun, Chen Kefu stationed in Gaopo and looked east. There were six counties in Xingyang County, Liang County, Dongjun, Jiyin County, Dongping County, and Jibei County on the south side of Tongji Canal in the southern section of the canal. This is also the six counties close to the Shandong counties he controlled. It is also the goal of him to swallow it in one fell swoop after changing his plan this time, so as to push his territory on the south bank of the Yellow River to the west bank of the canal.

He took over six counties, south of the Tongji Canal and north of the Huai River, all under his control. From the Weizhou Grassland in the north, to Liaodong in the east, to Jiangdu on the north bank of the Yangtze River in the south, to the west bank of the Tongji Canal in the west, to nearly one-third of the territory in the world will all belong to him.

If you occupy the north and laugh at the Central Plains, who will be able to compete with you!
Chapter completed!