Chapter 155: Life and Death

In late April of the second year of Chongzhen, the weather was getting hotter, and a storm was brewing in northern Shaanxi.

Wu Yangui could obviously retreat, but he couldn't give up his family business, and he was bent on fighting a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers in Ansai City. Wu Yangui did not retreat, and the officers and soldiers had no reason to retreat, and the three places of Mizhi, Qingjian, and Ganquan were preparing for the next big battle.

In contrast, the peasant army around Xi'an suddenly fell silent. Wang Jiayin and others are also waiting for the outcome of the Northern Shaanxi War, the ownership of Northern Shaanxi not only determines the fate of Wu Yangui, but also has a far-reaching impact on Wang Jiayin's next plan. If the officers and soldiers defeat Wu Yangui and take northern Shaanxi, it will be somewhat unrealistic to continue to attack Xi'an.

On April 23, a large number of officers and soldiers gathered outside the city of Ansai, and this group of officers and soldiers was mainly the guards under Liu Yingyu. Liu Yingyu led his troops to block the south of Ansai City, directly cutting off the connection between Ansai City and Yan'an City.

Ansai City and Yan'an City are too close to each other, and it seems that the connection between the two is severed, but in fact, as long as each side sends a soldier and a horse to attack from the north and south, Liu Yingyu will only be passively beaten. In danger, Liu Yingyu was not panicked at all, he was here to be a bait, as long as the other party dared to go out of the city, it meant an opportunity.

Forcibly attacking the city is the next policy after all, and if the peasant army can be transferred out to fight, it will increase the chances of victory. It's a pity that it has been stationed in the south of the city for two days, and there is no movement in Ansai City and Yan'an City at all. Obviously, Wu Yangui, Li Yangchun and others saw through the intentions of the officers and soldiers and were not moved in the slightest.

Cao Wenzhao was not discouraged, and saw that a plan could not be made again, and two days later, Cao Bianjiao and Liu Guineng, who were stationed in Ganquan City, led the troops to withdraw from Ganquan, leaving not a single soldier in the city, so to speak, at this time Ganquan City became an undefended city. At the same time, Li Wanqing, who was stationed in the Wild Boar Gorge, was also ordered to retreat in the direction of Qingjian City.

The action of the officers and soldiers directly overwhelmed Wu Yangui. Isn't this tantamount to giving up Ganquan City? What makes sense?

Indeed, Cao Wenzhao just wanted to throw the fat of Ganquan to Wu Yangui. As long as Wu Yangui wants to eat this piece of fat, he must send troops to occupy and garrison Ganquan. As long as you send troops out of the city, there will be flaws. Cao Wenzhao is also a dangerous move, if he can't seize the opportunity and let Wu Yangui easily recapture Ganquan, then the previous battle of Wild Boar Gorge will be in vain.

Is Wu Yangui excited? Of course, I was moved, Ganquan and Ansai City are too important to Yan'an Mansion, if Yan'an Mansion is regarded as a person, then Ganquan and Ansai are right-hand men. Someone cut off an arm before, and now that he has the opportunity to reconnect his arm, how can Wu Yangui not be moved?

The fat meat of Ganquan is full of fatal temptation. Wu Yangui also thought that there might be a hidden trick here, but in the end, desire prevailed over everything. I have already sent people to check, and there are no officers and soldiers ambushing around, in this case, I don't believe that the officers and soldiers can still fall from the sky and intercept and kill halfway, and if they can recapture Ganquan City, it is worth paying some casualties.

Soon, Wu Yangui made a decision. With the blue knife of the Cupola Pillar as the general, he led the king of the mixed world, Wu Zicai, and the nine insects, Shi Hai, to lead 15,000 soldiers and horses out of Yan'an and kill towards the undefended Ganquan.

The march was fast along the way, but Blue Dao and the others were cautious, for fear of killing an ambush somewhere. But what surprised them was that they didn't see the shadow of the officers and soldiers until they were less than ten miles away from Ganquan City.

At this time, the Wild Boar Gorge had passed, and there was a wilderness all around, and there was no way to hide the ambush soldiers. Looking at Ganquan City in the distance, Blue Dao only felt that his head was a little unable to turn, "What the hell are the officers and soldiers doing?" Are they really willing to give us the city of Sweet Springs, which they have worked so hard to build? ”

Wu Zicai smiled bitterly: "How is this possible? This is Ganquan City, the gateway to the south of Yan'an Mansion, and the officers and soldiers have collectively entered the water? ”

yes, how is that possible? If the officers and men do not have their heads in the water, it means that the officers and men must have a conspiracy elsewhere. Looking at Ganquan City, which was close at hand, he only needed to work harder to enter the city, but Lan Dao hesitated.

Just when the blue knife was hesitating, Cao Bianjiao, Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing, who had gathered in Qingjian City, suddenly led their troops out of the city and rushed straight to Yan'an City in the west. At the same time, Liu Yingyu's subordinates and the main force of the border army of Mizhi City also began to approach Yan'an City. For a time, the situation in northern Shaanxi suddenly changed, and the officers and soldiers pressed the border, swallowing Yan'an City in one go.

This time, the officers and soldiers did not have any false tricks, and after arriving in Yan'an City, Liu Yingyu's subordinates took the lead in launching a fierce attack on Yan'an City. With a large number of siege equipment and musketeer fire support, Yan'an City suddenly became full of gunsmoke.

I don't know if I can capture Yan'an City, but the officers and soldiers are really desperate this time.

Wu Yangui was shocked and angry, the officers and soldiers really felt that they could capture Yan'an City with their current strength? The officers and soldiers are so arrogant, they actually all the soldiers and horses pressed up, and the rear was defenseless, so they were not afraid that they had not yet taken Yan'an City, and the rear was stabbed in the ass by the soldiers and horses of Ansai City first?

Where did the officers and soldiers get the confidence that they could successfully capture Yan'an City under the threat of Ansai City? No, the officers and men must be making a feint, and after they have endured enough hardships, the officers and men will withdraw.

It's a pity that things have developed far beyond Wu Yangui's expectations. After attacking the city for half a day, Cao Wenzhao personally arrived at the scene and commanded the soldiers and horses of Liaodong Town to start attacking the other side, and the pressure on Yan'an City increased sharply for a while.

The officers and soldiers were like mad dogs, desperately trying to bite a hole in the head of Yan'an City. The pressure on the defenders of Yan'an City increased sharply, but Wu Yangui was still confident that he could hold it. As long as he persists for another day, Li Yangchun, who is stationed in Ansai City, will definitely send troops to help, and then the officers and soldiers will suffer.

Wu Yangui was not wrong, Yan'an City was well defended and had sufficient troops, and the officers and soldiers really couldn't attack it for a while. Li Yangchun of Ansai City was also watching, always ready to send troops to the rear of the officers and soldiers.

But Wu Yangui ignored one point, that is, the soldiers and horses of the Blue Sword Institute that had just been sent to receive Ganquan City. He ignores the idea of the Blue Knife, which also creates a loophole.

The officers and soldiers launched a fierce offensive against Yan'an City, and the people in the city felt that they could hold it, but the people outside the city did not think so. At least, the officers and soldiers are attacking sharply, and on the surface, Yan'an City is stormy, and it may be taken down by the officers and soldiers at any time.

After getting the news, Blue Dao and the others, who had just entered Ganquan City, panicked directly. Blue knife, no, to be precise, most of the peasant army generals under Wu Yangui's command were born in the wilderness, and they did not have the military literacy of the entire Eight Classics, they didn't even understand the basic deployment of troops, where could they know whether Yan'an City was safe or not. At this time, Lan Dao and the others reacted, that is, they fell for the evil of the officers and soldiers.

The officers and soldiers used Ganquan City as bait to induce Wu to divide the troops. After the division of troops, Yan'an City has lost more than 10,000 troops, and its defensive strength must be much weaker, so won't the opportunity for officers and soldiers come?

Once Yan'an City is lost, what is the point of garrisoning Ganquan City and Ansai City? After urgent deliberation, Lan Dao, Wu Zicai, Shi Hai and the others made a difficult decision. Before they could sit on the hot feet in Ganquan City, they hurriedly returned with 15,000 soldiers and horses, wanting to kill the horse pistol, give the officers and soldiers a head-on blow, and relieve the siege of Yan'an City.

In this way, Ganquan City soon became an undefended city again, but this time it became a peasant army that took the initiative to abandon Ganquan.

Blue Dao also wanted to communicate with Wu Yangui in advance, but the military situation was urgent and could not be delayed, not to mention that the officers and soldiers were out of the siege, and they couldn't get in touch if they wanted to.

The Blue Knife Headquarters came to the Boar Gorge again, and it was already early in the morning of the second day of the siege. Early in the morning, the officers and soldiers launched another fierce attack on Yan'an City, but although the offensive was fierce, in less than a moment, the officers and soldiers retreated like a tide. What is even more puzzling is that the officers and soldiers not only gave up the siege, but even the soldiers and horses stationed outside the city began to retreat, and soon disappeared.

Wu Yangui stood at the head of the city, looking at the scene in front of him, his head buzzing.

His head was about to explode, and he couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd of the officers and soldiers. It is not right to say that the army retreated after defeat, although the officers and soldiers attacked fiercely, but the losses were not too great, so why was the army defeated? There is a threat in the rear? If Ansai City had sent troops, the officers and soldiers would not have withdrawn so simply, right?

"Leader Wu, should we chase it out?"

"What are you chasing?" Wu Yangui frowned, and said angrily, "In case the retreat of the officers and soldiers is fake, and the ambush halfway is real, what should we do?" ”

.......

Twenty miles northwest of the Wild Boar Gorge, not long ago, a squad escorting grain and grass was ambushed by officers and soldiers. And this time, Blue Dao and the others were also subjected to a fierce ambush in the same place.

Blue Dao originally led people to speed up to Yan'an City, but as soon as he arrived, before he could catch his breath, he was blinded by bursts of gunfire. In one shot, more than 100 peasant troops fell, and the entire formation was thrown into disarray.

The intermittent gunfire and the tall shield wall have almost become the symbol formation of Zhang's northern border army.

Blue Dao gasped and stepped back before shouting at the top of his voice, "How could you encounter the soldiers of the Living Hades here?" Shouldn't they be besieging a city? ”

Wu Zicai's face was pale, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, he held his forehead, and his voice trembled, "It's over, we were fooled, the real target of the officers and soldiers is not Yan'an City, they attacked Yan'an City just to force us back." ”

Wu Zicai figured out the joint, but it was too late at this time. Since the officers and soldiers have gone to great lengths to carry out this risky move, it is impossible not to think about it, there is already the king of Zhangbei Huo Yama waiting here, so there must be officers and soldiers in the rear who are outflanking.

Sure enough, the two sides fought for only a quarter of an hour, and then it was convenient to spread the bad news. A detachment of officers and soldiers fought out from the Wild Boar Gorge and went straight to Ganquan City, which had fallen back into the hands of officers and soldiers at this time. At the same time, the officers and men marched north along Ganquan City and rushed straight to this battlefield.

Blue Dao's face turned pale and pale, and he knew that his army of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses had been caught by officers and soldiers.

Now the elite soldiers of the three towns plus Liu Yingyu's guards have reached more than 35,000 troops, twice as many as their own, and the attack from the north and south is completely sufficient.

When the officers and soldiers completed the encirclement of the peasant army under the Blue Knife Division, it was already sunset. Night gradually fell, and both sides died down. However, the temporary calm meant that the killing would be even more brutal the next day.

Blue Knife sat on a straw mat and looked up at the stars in the sky, with a look of despair in his eyes.

Somehow, Blue Knife remembered a scene that had happened before. At that time, Wang Zuohang persuaded the Wu leaders not to defend Yan'an Mansion and not to let Yan'an Mansion become a fetter for the peasant army. Defending Yan'an Mansion is a dead end, because the current ability of the peasant army is not an opponent of officers and soldiers at all. Don't look at the peasant army's attack on the city and conquer the territory, and its prestige is growing day by day, but when it really fights, it is not the slightest opponent of the elite officers and soldiers.

It's a pity that at that time, not only the Wu leaders couldn't listen to it, but most of the peasant army generals also couldn't listen to it, and they all felt that Wang Zuohang was too alarmist.

Guarding several fortified cities in Yan'an, with the advantage of troops, and the brothers are united, can the officers and soldiers still become tigers and swallow the brothers?

At that time, he once ridiculed Wang Zuohang for being timid.

Now, he laughs at his own ignorance.

During this time, especially what happened in the past two months, Blue Dao deeply realized how big the gap was with the elite of officers and soldiers. Don't look at the large number of troops on your side, but in front of the elite soldiers of the three towns, they were beaten embarrassed and restrained. The confrontation before the battle, it was even more a rout at every turn.

Take this time as an example, the officers and soldiers first used Ganquan City as a bait to induce the division of troops. Everyone is wary of whether the officers and soldiers will be ambushed halfway, in fact, the officers and soldiers are indeed ambushed, but they are not ambushed on the way you go, but on the way back.

Who would have expected that the officers and soldiers would dare to storm Yan'an City? I didn't expect this, and I didn't expect that I would be forced to abandon Ganquan and rush to the aid of Yan'an City.

This series of actions of officers and men is a series of links, one ring after another, and if one link is missing, then the officers and men are equivalent to digging a pit and burying themselves. But the key is that the officers and soldiers won.

"Brothers, after dawn, we will have very few chances, so I decided to break through tonight and rush out as much as I can."

Blue Dao stared at Wu Zicai and the others, and his attitude was very resolute. Wu Zicai and Shi Chai glanced at each other, and then Wu Zicai hesitated: "Brother Lan, it's not impossible for us to break through at night, but do you think the officers and soldiers will give us a chance?" ”

"Then you have to try it!"

Blue Knife also knows that the chance is very slim, but if you don't try it, do you still have to sit still?

At night, just after the hour, Lan Dao, Wu Zicai and others launched a breakthrough in two directions, east and west. However, Cao Wenzhao had already responded, with Cao Bianjiao and Zhou Dingshan in the east and west directions, arrayed interceptions, under the suppression of muskets and crossbows, this hastily organized breakthrough soon ended in failure.

The next day, Lan Dao, Wu Zicai and others waited for the end to come, but the officers and soldiers showed no signs of attacking.

Blue Dao couldn't figure it out, his side lost his troops and lost his generals, he didn't eat or drink, his morale collapsed, and the officers and soldiers only needed one charge, and he would be wiped out. At this time, however, the officers and men became extremely merciful.

The blue knife can be favored by Wu Yangui, naturally he is not a fool, and he quickly figured out the joint. The officers and soldiers besieged but did not attack, this is to use them as bait to induce Yan'an City and Ansai City to send troops to rescue.

But it's useless to see through, the initiative is in the hands of other officers and soldiers, and if people don't kill you, do you take the initiative to stretch your neck and let people cut it?

The first time Blue Knife encountered this situation, he wanted to die but didn't die, he wanted to be killed, but people were not in a hurry to kill you, this day was really too difficult.