April 187 A.D.

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In late March, the Xianbei army, under the command of the great marshal Lu Ri Deduction, crossed the Yellow River and began to attack the city of Lingzhou. At the same time, the great leaders of the various ethnic groups in Dongqiang, Xu Gui, and the leader of the Xiongnu Tu ethnic groups, Du Gaiting, led their troops to cross the Shanghe River and attacked Ding Xi City and Fuping City respectively.

The battle against Lingzhou City was extremely fierce, and the handsome Mang Zhengji oversaw the fierce attack for three days in a row, but still did not take it. The big marshal was very annoyed, and sent someone to send a message to Mang Zhengji, if he couldn't capture Lingzhou City on the fourth day, he would come to see him. Mang Zhengji smiled and said to the herald: "Go back and tell the marshal, just say that there are not many defenders left in Lingzhou City, and they will be able to take it tomorrow." ”

There were about 2,000 soldiers and civilians who defended Lingzhou City, and more than 1,000 of them were residents living in and near the city, including men, women, and children. When the Xianbei army was assembled on the border, some of the residents had been forcibly relocated by the government. The rest are righteous men who have not had time to move or who have sworn to defend their homeland. After the war ignited, the Xianlingqiang people who lived along the river quickly fled into the deep mountains and old forests. Their big leader, Storm Sand, and the army within the clan were all serving the Han court, and those who remained in the place of residence were some old and weak women and children, and if they did not escape, they would be captured by the invading Hu army, and they would be slaughtered immediately.

Lingzhou Ling Ren Xing was in his forties, he was a Confucian scholar who read poetry and books, and after he arrived, he was diligent and diligent, repairing canals and tuntian, and was very loved by the people. After the invasion of the Hu people, he did not retreat with part of the county government Pengshi according to the order of the county government, but resolutely stayed, and he swore to live and die with Lingzhou City.

In order to reduce the casualties of the siege, the Xianbei people did not exert all their strength, but adopted intermittent attack methods to consume the defending forces. They attacked for three days, and the defenders of the city suffered heavy casualties. On the fourth day, the Xianbei people began to attack from the four walls at the same time, and it only took an hour for Lingzhou City to fall.

Ren Xing commanded the soldiers and civilians defending the city on the north city wall to fight hard. Although he didn't know martial arts, he held high the Han battle flag, running back and forth on the city wall, his terrible and crazy roar, inspired the soldiers to boil their blood, everyone bravely stepped forward, sacrificed their lives to kill the enemy, and no longer had the idea of survival.

There were more and more enemies, the shouts of killing in the city were earth-shattering, the rapid sound of war drums and the rousing sound of bull horns filled the entire bloody battlefield, and the sky was full of whistling arrows that crossed the air.

"Kill...... Fight bravely to kill the enemy......" Ren Xing waved the battle flag that had been damaged by long arrows with one hand, and pointed at the enemy shouting on the city wall with the other, his expression was angry and hoarse.

The fighting intensified.

Xiao Shuai Xiao, who was the first to climb the city wall, just rushed to the front, and was slashed by three roaring Han soldiers. Fortunately, there were many Xianbei soldiers, and everyone hurriedly killed the Han soldier and rescued him in embarrassment.

"Archers, archers." Xiao Ao shouted angrily, "Shoot...... Shoot me the flag dancer...... Shoot him......"

Dozens of long arrows whizzed away, and they came in the blink of an eye.

"Whew...... The long arrow ...... into Ren Xing's body and penetrated out.

Ren Xing's voice stopped abruptly, and his emaciated body was taken a few steps back by the huge inertia force of the long arrow, leaning against the city wall. Blood spilled. Ren Xing glanced at the enemy in front of him contemptuously, scolded hatefully, raised the flag and died.

The second batch of long arrows ...... "Woo" arrived, and immediately nailed Ren Xing to the bloodstained city wall.

"Slaughter the city......" Xiao Ao raised his knife and roared, "Give me the ...... to slaughter the city"

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Ding Xi City is located in the southwest of Lingzhou, it is a small city, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Seeing that he could not attack for a long time, the great leader of Dongqiang, Xu Gui, immediately ordered his subordinates to cut off the water source of Ding Xicheng.

The next day, Xu Hui led a large army to quickly pounce on Fuping Castle, the county governor of Beidi County. Xiao Shuai Fuxue was ordered to stay, and he surrounded the small city with 2,000 men, intending to starve the defenders of the city to death of thirst. Three days later, the 200 Han troops defending the city were led by the county lieutenant Mu Ji and bravely killed them when there was no hope of survival. The Han army was outnumbered and all of them were martyred.

As soon as the Huns crossed the river, they besieged the city of Fuping, but Duskettin did not order the troops to attack immediately. He didn't want to lose too much, and he planned to join the two armies deduced by Xu Qi and Ritsuri, and then launch a siege battle.

Tu tribe is a branch of the Southern Xiongnu, living in the area of Wuyuan County and Shuofang County in Bingzhou, its leader Jiuyuan Banner Wang Dugaiting and the Southern Xiongnu's Shan Yuqiangqu have always been at odds, and they are also extremely hostile to the Han State, and have repeatedly rebelled. This time, King Xianbei and Lian took the initiative to invite him to send troops, and the conditions promised to him were very generous. Twilight Getting originally wanted to rebel, but this time it was exactly what he wanted, and the two immediately hit it off.

At the end of the month, the three armies gathered at the foot of the city of Fuping. The 40,000 Hu allied forces, under the command of the Ri Deduction, immediately launched a ferocious attack on Fuping City.

The Northland County was not afraid of the single section, and he met the enemy with 2,000 men, and the two sides fought fiercely. In the evening, the Huns took the lead in breaking through the defenses of the Han army and attacking the city. The two sides then began to fight even more violently in the streets.

On the way back to the palace, Shan Jie was intercepted by the handsome Fengcheng of the Xianbei people. All of the attendants of the single section were killed in battle, and the single section was captured. Ritsuri persuaded him to surrender, refused in a single stanza, and scolded him. Then he was dragged to the door of the government by the Xianbei people and beheaded with a knife.

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After receiving the urgent document from Chang'an, the Son of Heaven was so anxious that he summoned the generals He Jin, the Taiwei Zhang Wen, and the Shangshu Lu Zhi and other ministers to the Shangshufang to discuss matters.

"Now the three cities of Lianxian, Lingzhou, and Fuping have all been occupied by the Hu people, and the six cities of Beidi County have gone to three of them." Lu Zhi pointed to the map and said with a solemn expression, "After the army commanded by Riri, Xu Hui and Dusk Gaiting to take the northern part of Beidi County, they have quickly rushed to the Qingshui River in Anding County. ”

He looked up at He Jin and Zhang Wen, and said with a wry smile: "They have joined the army of Yan Liyou." ”

Zhang Wen asked in surprise, "Is this news accurate?" Isn't the Yan Liyou of the Wild Wolf Tribe attacking Zhangye and Wuwei County? ”

"Exactly." Lu Zhi said, "This is the news that Koji's reinforcements have returned. The Xianbei people attacked the east and west, and the purpose was to induce us to divide our troops so that they could attack Sanfu and Chang'an smoothly. ”

"In this way, the Hu people have gathered 60,000 iron horsemen in the Qingshui River." He Jin said worriedly, "We don't have enough troops, and it will be difficult to stop them from continuing to go south." ”

"The brutes must be stopped." The Son of Heaven glared at the little eyes and said angrily, "If they continue to go south, the next step will be to attack Xiao Pass." As soon as Xiao Pass is lost, the gate of Guanzhong will be wide open, and Chang'an will be very dangerous. Hurry up and figure it out. ”

He looked at Jian Shuo, who was sitting on the side, and asked, "Has Li Zhonglang arrived in Chang'an?" ”

"Li Zhonglang can rush to the camp tonight." Jian Shuo replied respectfully.

"What about Xu Rong?"

Jian Shuo thought for a moment and replied: "If they travel day and night, they can rush to Linjing in Anding County in six days." ”

"Where's Dong Zhuo?"

"General Dong's army should still be crossing the river at Pubanjin in Hedong County." "If nothing else, in ten days, they can rush to Hanyang County." ”

"Tell Dong Zhuo not to go to Xiliang." The Son of Heaven waved his hand vigorously and said, "Tell him to settle down and guard Xiao Pass." ”

"Your Majesty, by all means." Lu Zhi hurriedly advised, "Dong Zhuo is a general, when he is stable, he is the supreme commander of the army, and Li Zhonglang's 100,000 army will obey his command, but Li Zhonglang's subordinates are mostly Hu people, how can they listen to Dong Zhuo's command?" ”

He Jin also persuaded: "Your Majesty, let Dong Zhuo go to Hanyang to quell the rebellion." Now that the rebellious kingdom and Han Sui's army is small in number and demoralized, it is the best time to completely annihilate them. Li Zhonglang has fought many battles with the Xianbei people, and he is very familiar with the Xianbei people, plus he is good at using troops, and he has an army of 100,000 under his command, so there should not be much problem in resisting the invasion of the Hu people alone. ”

The Son of Heaven pondered for a long time and asked Zhang Wen, "Aiqing, what is your opinion?" ”

Zhang Wen shook his head and said, "The minister agrees with His Majesty's opinion and transfers Dong Zhuo's troops to Chaona City in Anding County as Li Zhonglang's reserve reinforcements. ”

Lu Zhi sighed and asked, "Is Lord Taiwei worried about the two armies of Helian and Tuoba Feng?" ”

"The intention of the Xianbei people is too obvious, they just want to go all out to defeat Sanfu and Chang'an, so that they can carry out the captives unscrupulously." Zhang Wen nodded and said worriedly: "The Xianbei people know that Li Hong's 70,000 army is still stationed in Chang'an, so in order to achieve their goal, they must mobilize all their forces to go south. Therefore, we cannot but consider that the 60,000 troops of Helian and Tuoba Feng will also rush to the front line of the Qingshui River in the near future. ”

"If our estimate is correct, the Hu people have an army of 120,000, and what about us? Li Hong's 70,000 army only had 40,000 iron cavalry, plus the Changshui battalion, there were only 45,000 iron cavalry, and the rest were all infantry, including the Jizhou army that was rushing to Xiliang, and the county soldiers of Sanfu, all of whom were infantry. In terms of strength, we have a big gap. ”

"If Dong Zhuo's 30,000 troops also enter the Chaona and Gaoping lines of Anding County, we will have 130,000 troops. In this way, in terms of numbers, we are basically on par with the Hu people. ”

"What about the rebels in Xiliang?" He Jin asked.

"Fu, send someone to appease immediately." "That's the only way. ”

The Son of Heaven nodded appreciatively and said, "Aiqing's idea is very good. You see, Dong Zhuo and Li Zhonglang, who is the commander of the army? If you approve of Li Zhonglang, I will immediately promote Li Hong to the rank of Protector General. ”

Everyone was silent. This is indeed a big problem, and no one dares to make up their minds. If the generals on the front line have contradictions with each other over the issue of command, then the battle will not have to be fought and will definitely be lost.

"I see it that way." Lu Zhi pointed to Lingzhou on the map and said: "Let Dong Zhuo lead the army directly from Fengyi County of Sanfu to Shangjun, go around from the west side of Baiyu Mountain to Lingzhou and Shanghe, flank the back road of the Hu people, and strike at the transportation routes of the Hu people, so as to deal with Li Zhonglang's frontal battlefield." In this way, we will not only save ourselves the trouble of who will command the army, but also strike at the enemy from two directions at the same time, and the chances of victory will be greatly increased. ”

The Son of Heaven was overjoyed and praised repeatedly.

"Give Dong Zhuo an order immediately."

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At dusk, Li Hong rushed from the camp to the Anling camp located northwest of Chang'an City with the Black Panther Yi.