According to the plan, Kou Jiuhui immediately arranged for people to set off six fireworks in the suburbs, and then fireworks appeared every fifty miles, all the way to Xijun, when fireworks also rose in the sky above Wuwei, both Wuwei and Jincheng understood that something was going to happen. An hour later, the fireworks were performed again, all the way to the southeast of Wuwei, Yuan Hongsi hurriedly found Yang Buzhi and Yang Qu to ask, Yang Qu was Yang Xuangan as soon as the news of the army came out, he fled to Yiwu, Yang Chong, Yuan Hongsi did it, only returned to Wuwei, replaced Yang Buzhi, responsible for the trade between Wuwei County and Yang Chong.

Yang Buzhi said: "The place where the fireworks are set off are the two stations of the Hexi Commercial Bank, Yang Chong's daytime fireworks represent an emergency retreat, and the six flowers should refer to a certain place, and their people in Jincheng or Caohan will immediately set off to report the news." There is nothing abnormal about the people in Hexi Commercial Bank, and this matter should have nothing to do with us. ”

Yu Qintao was detained by Shan Xiongxin in Jiuquan, and Zhangye City, who was escorted by fifty horsemen, saw the second round of fireworks blooming in the sky, and the beautiful light was as brilliant as jade, but Yu Qintao seemed to be extremely dazzling; As a business partner and friend of Yang Chong for many years, Yu Qintao understands that fireworks in broad daylight are not for appreciation, but a call to action, which is likely to be related to the reason for his arrival.

When he arrived at the county guard's mansion, Yu Qintao could clearly feel that it was the atmosphere before the war, with officials, generals, and messengers coming in and out, with serious expressions, most of them nodding to each other, and they didn't say much. Yang Jilai asked Yu Qintao about the situation, and asked Yu Qintao to wait in a reception room, and disappeared after making a cup of tea; It wasn't until after the lamp was in charge that Yang Ji came again and led Yu Qintao to a small restaurant in the backyard of the county guard's mansion.

Yang Chong and Kou Jiuhui were already seated, there were six dishes and a jar of wine on the table, Yang Chong smiled and invited Yu Qintao to sit down and said: "It's rare that you can still go to Zhangye at this time, this is the dish sent by Zhangye Fengle Wine Shop, taste the taste, and Gaochang's wine shop has not improved." ”

Yu Qintao said with a bitter face: "Yang Chong, don't be like this, you know, as soon as I heard the news, I rushed over from Jimo County, the matter of the Turpan Commercial Bank is definitely an accident, I can go to Gaochang immediately and help you get these things back." ”

Yang Chong's smile condensed on his face, and he drank a glass of wine and said, "Liu Zhuo died, he was burned to death." ”

Yu Qintao was shocked, Yang Ji handed over the official letter he received, and Yu Qintao read it and leaned back on the chair weakly; Yang Chong said in a deep voice: "Qin Tao, don't worry, I won't raid the Northwest Commercial Bank, your business will continue as usual, but I want to change it, so that people, including your father, realize that no matter who you are, the bottom line cannot be touched." You stay with me for a few days, and when I lay down Dunhuang, you can go and see what business you want to do. ”

Yu Qintao immediately jumped up from the chair and asked sharply, "What about the back, do you want to fight Gao Chang?" ”

Yang Chong glanced at Yu Qintao and said: "You think too much, no matter whether Wang Wei's head is sent or not, I will not fight Gaochang, but only cut off the connection between Gaochang and Guanzhong." ”

Yu Qintao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, that's good." ”

Four days later, Tuoba Anhu's troops attacked four Tuntian sites in Dunhuang County, capturing more than 2,000 Tuntian troops and releasing more than 1,500 prisoners and more than 8,000 exiled prisoners from the camp. Yang Ji quickly recruited 3,000 people, and almost all of the felons joined Zhangye's army, but their bodies were too weak, so Yang Ji arranged for female prisoners to be in charge of eating; For the captives, Yang Ji told them that as long as the fighting was over, they could choose to continue in Tuntian or go home.

Zhao Hongsi's nephew Zhao Wenzhong led 5,000 cavalry to kill, and the two sides lined up, Luo Shixin led the 1,000 youth army of the hunter battalion to charge the formation, four in and four out, and defeated Zhao Wenzhong's front army of 3,000 people; Tuoba Anhu and Suo Yanshou immediately led 1,000 cavalry each, divided into two wings to charge and kill, defeated the Dunhuang army, killed more than 900 Dunhuang cavalry in a battle, and captured nearly 2,000 people. When Yang Chong's army arrived, Zhao Hongsi no longer dared to fight, and only thought about holding on to wait for help, ignoring Yin Hongshen's dissuasion, and sent people to ask the Turks for help.

Yang Chong set up camp outside the city of Dunhuang, and did not besiege the city, but shot a letter into the city, asking Zhao Hongsi to surrender, giving Zhao Hongsi two days to consider, Zhao Hongsi was a young man with his father to fight on the battlefield, knowing that Yang Chong must be deceitful, ordered the city to strengthen the guard, and arranged for the sergeant to listen to the urn at night. Sure enough, the sound of digging tunnels came from outside the city, and Dunhuang County immediately dug a horizontal ditch, waiting for the other party to dig through and flood the tunnel with water, or shoot the enemy soldiers who were rising with arrows.

However, after two days and two nights, Yang Chong's army did not know what the reason was, so they did not dig through the tunnel, but on the morning of the third day, they pushed trebuchets, ladders and other equipment, and under the cover of cavalry, marched towards Dunhuang City from the east, west, and south. The defenders of Dunhuang are densely packed with swords and guns, and strong bows are prepared; Round after round of up and down fire, Yang Chong's infantry still slowly stayed out of the range of bows and arrows.

Yang Ji and Song Qian were both out with Yang Chong for the first time, standing in the distance of the southern city wall on horseback, and asked Ling Jing curiously, "What are you waiting for?" ”

Ling Jing smiled weirdly: "I'm waiting for Heaven to punish Dunhuang." ”

Ling Jing now knew that Yang Chong was using explosives, digging tunnels under the city walls, not to enter the city, but to bury explosives; Yang Ji and the two remembered Yang Chong's two battles in Handchuan Shu and Qinghai, and immediately realized that it was a weapon, and Ling Jing explained: "This is the first time we have done this, and we don't know if this method will work, but Yang Junshou said that as long as there are fewer dead people, we will give it a try." ”

As the three of them were talking, they heard a thunderclap, and the rubble flew under a city wall in the south of Dunhuang, and the smoke was swirling, and a gap appeared in a blink of an eye; Yang Chongjun's drums were loud, and the whole army immediately rushed to the city, and there was only a pile of rocks left in the gap, not even a cloud ladder, and they could rush into it by climbing. Then the same explosion sound was heard on the east and west sides, and the scouts came to report, and the east side had the best effect, directly blowing up a section of the city wall, and the other party didn't even have a chance to block it, so they directly started street fighting.

The Dunhuang army was completely bombed, and hundreds of soldiers directly shook down the city tower in the explosion, and the rest fled in fright and trampled on each other; In the three gaps, only the west side guarded by Yin Hongshen organized a counterattack and blockade, but with the fall of the southeast side, the city gate was opened and the cavalry entered the city, and the battle in the west became meaningless. The cavalry of Yiwu and Zhangye, who had entered the city, shouted "lay down their arms and surrender" and "the civilians return home", and marched towards the county guard mansion by their own routes.

More than an hour later, the Dunhuang County Guard put up a white flag, Zhao Hongsi led the officials and guards to surrender, and then Yin Hongshen and Zhao Hongsi's nephew Zhao Wenzhong also ordered his soldiers to surrender, and the Dunhuang army totaled more than 7,000 people. What comforted Yin Hongshen was that the discipline of Yang Chong's army was not fake, that is, those Hu people did not burn, kill and loot, regardless of cavalry and infantry, they all honestly stayed on the street to stand guard or patrol.

(End of chapter)