The bad Xiang Kang of burning the city gate has been holding back for more than a day or two, and even before he made up his mind to rush to be Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, Xiang Kang had already simulated and deduced the tactics of attacking Xiaxiang County, and soon found that the city gate of Xiaxiang County was the weakest link in Xiaxiang's city defense, and it was also the most ideal breakthrough to attack Xiaxiang County - limited by the backward smelting technology at the end of the Bronze Age, the city gate of this era was not wrapped in iron like the city gate of later generations, and the iron sheet was tightly nailed to the door with a city gate nail, which was fireproof and anti-collision. The city gates of this era were made of solid wood, which was not resistant to collisions and was more afraid of fire attacks.

Of course, if there are enough defenders in the city, perfect equipment to defend the city, and sufficient materials to defend the city, Xiang Kang wants to rely on a few bundles of grease-drenched firewood to burn the city gate, which is undoubtedly a fool's dream. However, the county military system during the Qin Dynasty helped Xiang Kang a lot, the county military system in this era was the county army by the county army group of each county in the county, and the county temple was a military administrative body that integrated the military and the government.

In addition, Xiang Kang's move was too sudden and swift, and he only attacked in Shiling Pavilion at noon, and in the evening, he led the army to the city of Xia Xiang, and the officials of the lower prime minister who had no leader were naturally even more unable to quickly assemble and form a county army to meet the battle, and there was no way to arrange a strict defense, and prepare enough equipment and materials to defend the city. Xiang Kang also expected this, so he dared to use more than 600 people to attack the county seat, and also dared to use the tactics of burning the city gate to attack the city, which was not well grasped in peacetime.

In addition, Xiang Kang's plan to attack the east and the west also played a major role during the period, attracted attention by the sound of drums and gongs, and the officials in the city of Xia Xiang not only focused all their attention on the north gate of Xia Xiang, but also transferred the only little reserve to the north gate early, and at the same time, the other three doors of Xia Xiang were also seriously taken lightly, and determined that Xiang Kangjun's main attack point was at the north gate, and he could rest assured that he could nap and sleep boldly. So when Xiang Kang quietly took the main force of the rebel army back to the city of the East Gate of the Lower Minister, the defenders of the East Gate not only did not notice it in the slightest, but also most of them were leaning on the wall and falling asleep, not knowing that the danger was approaching.

Xiang Kang knew very well that he only had one chance, in order to ensure that he could succeed at one time, after sending Xiang Guan to lead fifty soldiers to burn the door, Xiang Kang also went to the front line to personally announce the reward, promising that as long as he could burn the city gate, Xiang Guan, the death squad, would each receive a heavy reward of hardware, and those who died in battle would be doubled to his family, encouraging the morale of the death squad, and then waved his hand and gave the order to let the death squad move firewood forward.

The dark night helped Xiang Kangjun's death squad a lot, coupled with the serious lack of experience of the defenders, they did not pour lamp oil on the jue cave on the city wall in time to light the lamp, and the defenders on the city wall had no way to see the situation in the darkness under the city. In the end, when most of the Xiang Kangjun death squad had already crossed the city wall and began to pile up firewood at the city gate, only a few defenders on the city wall found that something was wrong, but unfortunately this soldier was seriously inexperienced, and did not immediately beat the drum and shout to raise the alarm, but on the contrary, he woke up the soldier next to him and asked: "Brother, you have good eyes, look at what is going on below, how do I hear what sounds seem to be below?" ”

The companion yawned and poked his head out of the wall, and after a long look, he howled like a pig: "Someone! Someone is under the city! Beat the drums! Beat the drums! The thieves are coming, the thieves are coming to attack the east gate! ”

The drum of the alarm finally sounded, but unfortunately it was too late, most of the firewood bundles had been piled up at the city gate, hearing the drum of the city, the leader of the team did not hesitate, immediately used fire to ignite the flammable materials brought with him, and then lit two bundles of firewood sprinkled with rosin, and threw them on the pyre to set fire. At the same time, the members of the death squad brought by Xiang Guan were also very competitive, and when a stone might fall on their heads at any time, they actually took off their clothes and fanned the fire, and the bundles of firewood sprinkled with rosin were burning, and they soon ignited the grease-drenched pyre, and the fire increased rapidly.

It was still at this time that the defenders on the city wall hurriedly smashed down the stones, and also hit several members of Xiang Kangjun's death squad like a blind cat hitting a dead mouse, Xiang Guan hurriedly led the death squad to retreat across the moat, and shot a few crossbow arrows on the city wall, but it was a drop in the bucket, and it couldn't hit the Xiang Kangjun death squad that had basically completed the task. At the same time, with the help of the night wind, the firewood pile piled up by Xiang Kangjun's death squad was already on fire, and it could be seen for several miles.

There were constant shouts and screams on the walls, and some water was poured from the walls, but the water was obviously insufficient and not sustainable, and it was clear that the defenders of the city were not prepared for fire in advance. Xiang Kang, who was far away on the opposite side of the flames, had a resolute face, and commanded Xiang Zhuang next to him without hesitation: "Brother Xiang Zhuang, take your hundred-man team, bring a sassal wood, and prepare to charge, as soon as the war drums sound here, I will immediately charge into the city, and it is up to you whether you can take the next Xiangcheng in one fell swoop." ”

Xiang Zhuang agreed, and just when he was about to go down to prepare, Feng Zhong next to him jumped out and said to Xiang Kang: "Brother, please let me go to the front with Brother Xiang Zhuang." ”

Knowing that Feng Zhong wanted to take the opportunity to show his loyalty and accept the name, Xiang Kang, who was in a hurry to cultivate his cronies, did not hesitate, and immediately nodded and asked Feng Zhong to temporarily join Xiang Zhuang's commando. Immediately afterwards, Xiang Kang arranged for Xiang Sheng to lead his hundred-man team as the second siege team, and asked Xiang Han and Xiang You to each lead a hundred-man team incorporated in Santai Pavilion as the third siege team, listening to the sound of drums and charging. Finally, Xiang Kang issued another order: "Order the whole army, after entering the city, it is not allowed to take advantage of the chaos to rob, not to rape ** women, not to kill innocents indiscriminately, and those who violate the order will be beheaded!" In addition, after the city was broken, half of the money and grain in the county treasury belonged to the soldiers of the whole army, and the merit was distributed! ”

When the order was issued, the officers and soldiers of Xiang Kangjun, who coveted the heavy reward, were gearing up one after another, hoping that they would soon be able to enter the city and receive a reward for their meritorious service. Xiang Kang still looked resolute, staring at the burning pyre almost motionless, quite a calm demeanor with Mount Tai collapsing in front of him and his face did not change. However, in Xiang Kang's heart, he was so nervous that his heart had already raised his throat, because Xiang Kang knew too well how to crack his siege tactics - he didn't need to work hard to move water to the city to extinguish the fire, he only needed to light a fire inside the city gate, which was enough to make his hard work go to waste, and let him no longer have any chance and hope to take Xia Xiangcheng.

Fortunately, the hand of lighting a fire in the city gate to cut the road was not uncommon in later wars and some critical moments, but there was no precedent in the late Qin era, and there were no wise men like Yang Zhiji who were good at improvising in the army. Therefore, the defenders of the city only knew how to carry water and water to extinguish the fire in the city, and they didn't expect to quickly light a bunch of fires inside the city gate to block the road, and at the same time, Xia Xiang County Cheng and Gong Youwei and others only knew that they hurried to reinforcements with reinforcements, and they also didn't think of how to crack Xiang Kang's fire attack tactics to break the city. The firewood piles piled up under the city took the opportunity to burn more and more, and soon the upper and lower parts of the city at the east gate of the lower prime minister were reflected red, and the city gate made of solid wood nailed also quickly smoked and caught fire, gradually turning red and burned.

It was only at this time that Xiang Kang found that he was so dense that he forgot to calculate the amount of firewood needed to burn the city gate and the burning time, the city gate was already on fire, but the excessive firewood was still burning, and at the same time, there were more and more torches and defenders on the city, and he could think of a way to block the city gate at any time. But fortunately, just when Xiang Kang was secretly complaining, the continuous autumn rain in the recent period suddenly came to help, and the rain suddenly turned heavier, quickly suppressing a lot of the fire in the east gate of the lower prime minister, but the enemy in the city thought that this was actually helping Xiang Kang, on the contrary, he also cheered more and more desperately carrying water to carry water to the city, desperately watering and extinguishing the fire, and helping Xiang Kang's army dredge the road to the army.

In addition, there is another important point, the sudden heavy rain also helped Xiang Kangjun a bigger favor, that is, it wet the crossbow arrow bowstring in the hands of the Xia Xiang defenders, and the bowstring made of animal tendons became soft when exposed to water, which not only greatly reduced its power, but also was in danger of being stretched at any time, causing the Qin crossbow, the main battle weapon of the Qin army, to be unable to play a role. Therefore, the warmer the cheers of the defenders in the city, the happier and more excited Xiang Kang, who knew this, couldn't help but say, "God help me." ”

Finally, with the help of the rain and the splashing of water by the defenders of the city, the fire outside the east gate of the lower prime minister quickly turned smaller, and it was no longer as impossible to approach as before, Xiang Kang saw the opportunity without hesitation, and decisively ordered to beat the war drums, and the forward of Xiang Kang's army led by Xiang Zhuang and Feng Zhong also immediately carried a piece of wood and launched a charge, "Kill!" ”

The crossbow arrows were shot, affected by the rain, the arrows were weak and outrageous, and almost did not play any role in blocking the enemy, Xiang Kangjun's forward shouted and rushed directly across the moat, against the stones that fell from the city in a mess, five or six Xiang Kangjun soldiers carried the sassa, stepped on the pyre that had not been completely extinguished, and crashed directly into the dark city gate without hesitation. Almost effortlessly, a large hole was knocked out in the city gate that could be used by several people, Feng Zhong took the lead in shouting, and rushed directly into it with a handful of battles, Xiang Zhuang followed, and the forward soldiers of Xiang Kangjun in the back followed closely, and directly expanded the hole several times with his body.

Fierce battles unfolded in the narrow corridors of the city gates, and more than a dozen subordinate ministers and officials with more than 200 temporarily recruited militiamen put up stubborn resistance in the corners of the city gates, in a vain attempt to drive Xiang Kang's army out of the city again. But it's a pity that the militia who was temporarily recruited had no morale and fighting spirit, and they didn't dare to step forward desperately, but only dared to hide behind and shout loudly, shouting and cheering, and those who really dared to fight hard with the officers and men of Xiang Kangjun, that is, the officials of more than a dozen Xiaxiang counties, also relied on the advantage of the terrain to temporarily block the offensive of Xiang Kangjun's forward.

"Kill! Kill it! ”

The reason why Xiang Kang appointed Xiang Zhuang as the main general of the siege vanguard is nothing more than that Xiang Zhuang is a first-class good hand among the children of the Xiang family, and at the critical moment, Xiang Kang's decision to know people and be good also plays a decisive role. Knowing that the time was urgent, and he also knew that once the war was unfavorable, the old Xiang family had just pulled up this rabble and could collapse at any time, so in the fierce battle at the city gate, Xiang Zhuang forced himself to become a tiger going down the mountain, holding a good Shiling Pavilion steel knife and slashing with thorns, with red eyes, he just greeted the enemy vigorously, and he was desperately injured to cut down the enemy, and he also quickly killed three officials from Xiaxiang County in the successful fierce battle.

At the same time, Feng Zhong, who was beside Xiang Zhuang, also showed the strength to eat milk, and danced the battle to a tiger's strength, and also quickly killed and injured a subordinate minister, which drove the morale of the Xiang Kangjun generals behind him to boost their morale, and rushed forward desperately with red eyes. However, those stubborn subordinate ministers and officials were frightened, constantly retreating to avoid the edge of Xiang Kangjun's army, and a few officials turned around and shouted at the militia who were temporarily recruited from behind, "Come up and help, come up and help!" ”

No one dared to really come forward to help, only symbolic loud shouts and cheers, and a few people took two steps forward and immediately retreated, and as more officials were cut down and chopped down by Xiang Kangjun's soldiers, and the officials who couldn't resist were forced to flee for their lives, these temporarily recruited militiamen scattered in a hurry, and fled all over the streets in the blink of an eye, and the desperate shouts shook the hearts of the soldiers and the people in the city, not to mention, and blocked the way of other rescuers, creating more chaos in the city.

The rookies pecked each other, and after the city gate and road were broken through, Xiang Zhuang and Feng Zhong, who had little battlefield experience, didn't think of anything to hold the road and cover the follow-up army to enter the city to fight, and rushed into the city in a mess as soon as they entered the city. But fortunately, the enemy who hurriedly came from all over the city to reinforce was also a rookie, and he didn't expect to quickly block the road and close the door to beat the dog, and he was stunned and just chased Xiang Zhuang and the others. At the same time, Xiang Kang, who was born to eat this bowl of rice outside the city, grasped the fighter opportunity, and had already sounded the second round of marching drums, so that Xiang Sheng led the second siege team to rush to the city gate, and also successfully rushed into the city before the enemy in the city made a correct response.

The war in the city is in full swing, although Xia Xiang County Cheng and Gong Youwei and others have temporarily recruited six or seven hundred militia in the city before, and the strength of the troops, especially the local strength, is obvious, but it is still the same sentence, there is actually no difference between the army without military heart, morale and imperfect army and a group of sheep, and although Xiang Kang's army is also a group of rabble, but under the leadership of Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Sheng and Xiang Han, the evil wolves among the children of the Xiang family, the rabble still has a crushing advantage over the sheep.

In the shout, the four hundred-member teams of Xiang Kang's army, which had entered the city one after another, were like four hungry wolves, rushing left and right in the sheepfold of Xiaxiang County, rampage, like entering no man's land. The chaotic subordinate militia is like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, driven by Xiang Kang's army to flee everywhere, jumping up and down, crying and fleeing for their lives, constantly breaking down, throwing down their weapons and fleeing home, countless people are hiding, and when they are cornered, they keep kneeling down and surrendering. Although the core backbone of the lower prime minister's defenders, although the subordinate minister's official cha is quite competent, most of them can still muster up the courage to resist Xiang Kangjun's rush to kill, but the subordinate minister's official cha is too small, only more than 100 people in total, and there are also various city gates and various key points in the city, no matter how dying, no matter how dying, they can never resist the collective rush of Xiang Kangjun's 100-man team, and they were soon broken by Xiang Kangjun's officers and soldiers, and the casualties quickly exceeded half.

At this time, seeing that the overall situation in the city had been decided, Xiang Kang had already entered the city from the east gate with the rest of the army and joined the battlefield in the city, and he also chose to attack the east gate tower first, wanting to take the highest point of the east gate and plant the banner of the Chu army, so that the armies in the city knew their position and was convenient for commanding the overall situation. After doing this, Xiang Kang sent Xiang Guan to lead his hundred-man team to attack the county temple, explicitly ordered that the official temple should not be set on fire, and clearly explained that the prime minister's officials were allowed to lay down their arms and surrender.

The reason why Xiang Kang allowed the officials of Xia Xiang to lay down their arms and surrender was because Xiang Kang knew very well that several civil and military officials in Xia Xiang County were relatively incorruptible, and all kinds of perverse acts were forced by Qin II and did not deserve death, so Xiang Kang decided to give them a chance and also wanted to reserve some official talents for his future. However, it is a pity that when Xiang Guan led his 100-man team to attack the Xiangguan Temple, not only did the surrender not play any role, but on the contrary, he was met with unprecedentedly tenacious fierce resistance, and he couldn't rush in for a long time. Xiang Kang was helpless when he heard the report, so he had to quickly send someone to contact Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sheng and other generals, and let them lead their team of 100 people to help Xiang Guan.

After all, the fortifications of the official temple are far less solid than the city wall, with the successive entry of Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sheng's two armies into the battlefield, the official temple was finally broken by the soldiers of Xiang Kang's army, most of the stubborn officials were killed, only about 20 people put down their arms and surrendered under the leadership of Gong Youwei, and the remaining ministers either escaped from the city first, or chose to surrender to Xiang Kang's army, only the lower prime minister county Cheng took the first step to hang himself, becoming the biggest victim of Xiang Kang's army's first war.

When the news of the suicide of the county temple H County Cheng was sent to Xiang Kang, the sky was already light, and after receiving this news, Xiang Kang, who actually had a good impression of Xia Xiang County, inevitably sighed a little, but he was helpless. At the same time, being reminded of this incident, Xiang Kang also remembered to send someone to escort Zhou County's order to him, first loosened the tie to Zhou's county order with his own hands, and then said to Zhou County's order, D county respect, the younger generation was offended, and was forced to act like this, please don't blame the county honor. ”

"Gongzi has said it, the seal of the county order of the lower prime minister is in your hands, and the county seat of the lower prime minister has also fallen into your hands, and now you are the county lord of the lower prime minister." Zhou Xianling replied with a wry smile with his numb hands and feet, and asked again: "Dare to ask Xiang Gongzi, what are you going to do with me next?" Decollation? Or is it a crack in the car? ”

"The juniors don't dare." Xiang Kang replied respectfully, and it was rare to say from the bottom of his heart that he respected the county of D, not to mention all kinds of kindness you have to me, just because you are an honest and honest official, the younger generation will never dare to have the slightest intention of harm. ”

"What is the son going to do with me?" Zhou Xianling asked again.

"The younger generation wants to invite you to join the army of Chu State, join forces with me to recover Great Chu, overthrow the tyrannical Qin, and return the people of the world to a peaceful and prosperous world where they live and work in peace and contentment." Xiang Kang said sincerely: "Senior, you are not only honest and self-disciplined, love the people like a son, but also erudite and talented, familiar with the civil affairs code, is the younger generation is currently in urgent need of internal affairs, so the younger generation is brave and wants to invite the seniors to hold high the banner of righteousness together and achieve great causes." If he succeeds in major events in the future, the younger generation will definitely repay him as a high-ranking official, and he will never let his predecessors take up a post in a small county again. ”

"What if I don't say yes?" Zhou Xianling asked quietly.

"Then the junior will give you a carriage and let the senior leave on his own with your family, so as to repay the seniors for all the kindness you have shown to the juniors." Xiang Kang didn't want to answer like this.

"Childe is so generous?" Zhou Xianling asked with some surprise.

"It's not generosity, it's just to repay the gratitude, if you encounter it on the battlefield in the future, the younger generation will never show mercy to your subordinates." Xiang Kang replied very frankly, and said: "But seniors, with all due respect to the juniors, such a big thing happened in Xiaxiang County, and you are the commander of Xiaxiang County, even if the juniors can spare you this time, I am afraid that the Tyrannical Qin Court will not be able to spare you, and the tyrannical Qin Court's treatment of criminal officials is so severe, there must be no need to be reminded by the juniors." ”

There is really no need for Xiang Kang to remind him, Zhou Xianling actually knew that even if he could escape this time and return to the control of the Qin army, he would definitely not have any good end, at least it would be a beheading to show the public, and his wife and children would also be punished as prisoners, and they would have to work as coolies at the Lishan construction site for the rest of their lives. So after hesitating for a long time, Zhou Xianling still made a correct decision and said calmly: "What Gongzi said is good, I will indeed die worse when I go back." The left and right are dead, since the son is wrong to love, then he will have the cheekiness to accept the son's surrender, and in the future, he will try his best to assist the son to achieve great things and help the son complete the great cause of recovering Chu. ”

"Thank you, senior." Xiang Kang thanked him with great joy, and couldn't wait to say: "Senior, I think the titles of our predecessors and sons before are too raw, why don't you do this, I will call you Uncle Ya in the future, how about you call me by my name directly?" ”

"I don't dare to be ashamed." Zhou Xianling was in a hurry and modest, but Xiang Kang insisted on not allowing it, and called him affectionately with an uncle, Zhou Xianling was helpless, so he had to acquiesce in the relationship with Xiang Kang's uncle and nephew, and he was also tied to Xiang Kang's chariot. However, Zhou County Ling still refused to change his name to Xiang Kang, and still referred to him as a son, and asked, "Xiang Gongzi, what are your plans next?" ”

"Withstand the first wave of counterattack from the tyrannical Qin court." Xiang Kang replied very frankly and said: "Not surprisingly, several surrounding counties will soon send troops to counterattack Xia Xiang, and I have to defeat them all before I can consider the next step." Also, before that, I have to basically solve the internal problems in Xia Xiangcheng and relieve my worries, so that I can free up my hands to deal with the counterattack of the tyrannical Qin court. So, in these aspects, Uncle Ya, you have to help me. ”