There is Minshan Mountain in the south of Lintao County, under the jurisdiction of Lintan, Meixiang, Guizheng, Taoyang, Taoyuan, Diechuan, Hechuan, Hezheng, Dangyi, Lintao County, only Lintao County is a little bigger, and Anding, Pingliang, Jincheng, Longxi, Tianshui five counties are adjacent, it is the last barrier of Xue Ju to resist Hexi. Lintao County, Yang Chong can look at Pingliang in the east, take Longxi and Tianshui in the south, and threaten stability in the north, which will not only make Xue Ju uneasy, but also suppress the counties loyal to Chang'an in a narrow strip.

Lintao County was originally a mixed place of Qiang, Di and Han, and ten county towns were scattered on the road from Longxi to Hexi, providing shelter for merchants coming and going, and preparing necessary daily necessities for the Qiang people in Minshan. After Minshan Qiang Zhong Lishu was killed in Jincheng, Lintao County suddenly lost its backbone, Minshan Qiang itself fell into a struggle, and Xie Yingdeng secretly obtained the support of the Han and Di clans through various means, and the county guard Xue Renyue had no way at all.

When the Yujuluo army arrived, Lintao County was already a plate of scattered sand, and even the minimum resistance could not be organized, Xue Renyue adopted the tactics of retreat from the beginning, and did not have the courage to fight to the death.

Li Zhang came in a hurry, Longxi, Didao, Lintao, and Anding were all Li's spheres of influence, and they all suffered losses; Hearing Li Zhang's words, hoping that the Hexi Army would stop, Yu Juluo said with wide eyes: "Li Zhang, I don't understand, Li Hong was killed, Fufeng and Longxi all fell into the hands of Xue Ju, you don't dare to say anything, every time you ask us to make concessions, on what basis?" Whether you support Li Yuan or Xue Ju, you are all standing opposite us. ”

Li Zhang heard his cousin Li Xiyu say that Ling Jing went to Bingzhou to be the county guard of Lishi and no longer held the power in the army, and the big reason was that he spoke for the Li family in Longxi, and the reaction from all sides was too great, and Yang Chong had to react. Li Zhang laughed self-deprecatingly, spread his hands and said, "General Yu, as a child of the clan, you naturally have to work hard, you can't stop me from talking, right?" ”

Everyone laughed, and Li Chunfeng, who was beside Yujuluo, said with a smile: "Li Zhang, is the Li family aware of a secret, or has Xue Ju already taken refuge in Li Yuan?" ”

Li Zhang's face did not change, he shook his head and said, "This little brother is laughing." ”

Li Chunfeng is only fifteen years old, has no official position in his clothes, and looks like a child; Yao Yi reminded with a smile: "Li Zhang, this is Li Chunfeng, the disciple of General Manager Yang, who is the best at calculating. ”

Li Zhang was stunned, although he hadn't seen it, but Li Chunfeng's name had already been heard, how could the person who could make Yang Chong open his mouth to accept apprentices be an ordinary person. Li Chunfeng bowed his head and said: "Li Zhang, in your opinion, which one of Xue Ju and my teacher Yang Chong has a greater chance of success, and which one can make the people live a good life?" ”

Li Zhang was speechless, can Xue Ju compare with Yang Chong, Yang Chong occupied twenty counties, and Xue Ju only wandered around in four or five counties; As for letting the people live a good life, the current situation in Hexi is there, Xue Ju has not done anything good except for opening a warehouse to release grain at the beginning, and now he is simply exhausted.

Li Chunfeng asked softly: "Maybe in the eyes of your Li family, the people are all ants, and it doesn't matter if they live well or badly." ”

Li Zhang nodded subconsciously, then realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly shook his head and said: "The Li family has been taking care of the people in various counties, hoping that the Hexi army will stop, but also to save the people from war. ”

Yu Juluo sneered: "Then let Longxi County surrender, it can't be said that anyone who arrives in Longxi County will get the city without fighting, but we want the Hexi Army to stop." Li Zhang, go back and tell the old people in your clan that as long as Longxi County resists, the old man doesn't care about being accused by Yang Chong and the world, and he must be killed. ”

Whether it was to kill the enemy army or kill someone, Yu Juluo did not say; After Li Zhang returned, not a single county in Longxi County surrendered, and the five counties of Xiangwu, Longxi, Qixian, Changchuan, and Weiyuan all rejected the demands of the Hexi Army. This is the arrogance of the five surnames and seven hopes, life and death are not in the hands of others, at any time, decide their own fate.

Yu Ju Luo personally led the army to attack Xiangwu County, there are two roads from Lintao County to Tianshui County, one goes to Xiangwu County, and the other goes to Changchuan County, the purpose of Yu Juluo is to attract the army of Tianshui to come to the aid and attack Changchuan County, it is likely to encounter an easy abandonment, leaving behind trouble.

When the moat began to burn, the guards in Xiangwu County knew that it was not good, but no one retreated, and few people panicked; The old man sent by the family personally taught him the method of defending the city, and waited for the other party to blow up the gap and quickly plug it, and then thousands of bows and crossbows in the city fired a salvo, and the key to everything was in the half-burnt incense time that exploded the city wall.

Yu Juluo has been on the battlefield for a long time, and knows that any kind of weapon will find a way to deal with it, and no matter how powerful explosives and thunder are, they are just a weapon. When the soldiers were digging tunnels, Yu Juluo expressed his worries, and Tianjian said confidently: "We will go against the norm this time, concentrate on the north gate to attack the city, the foundation of the north gate is relatively loose, we put all the explosives that originally blew up the three sections in the north city, blow up a particularly large gap, and the Thunderbolt battalion will attack with us." ”

Yu Juluo immediately understood Tianjian's idea, and said: "I let a thousand hundred swordsmen charge, although the casualties will be a little larger, but they will definitely be able to defeat the city." ”

When the sound of the earth cracking sounded, the city and the city were stunned, a gap of thirty steps wide, nothing could be filled, commandos, crossbowmen, and the thunderbolt battalion swarmed up, Tianjian rushed to the front of the thunderbolt battalion, the sword was as cold as snow, and when he cut off the opponent's head, he commanded the thunderbolt battalion to throw out the heavenly thunder, blast the oncoming enemy, and clear the ruins and boulders on the ground.

A thousand hundred swordsmen were dressed in heavy armor and rushed to the gap with a steady pace. The bows and crossbows of the guards had little effect, except for the stones on the city tower, there was nothing that could knock down the Baidaomen, and the reinforcements of the two thousand Longxi Army who went forward and followed each other fought hard in the gap for more than an hour, and all fell in a pool of blood and were trampled by the enemy. The Perak battalion took the risk and quickly blew up a passageway, and more than a thousand cavalry of the Hexi Army rushed into the city; Under the cover of cavalry and thunderbolt battalions, the swordsmen slaughtered the towers on both sides.

When the city gate was opened, in the shouts of the Hexi army, the cavalry carried torches into the city in broad daylight, and Li Chunfeng felt a pang in his heart, knowing that Yujuluo wanted to give Li a little color. The resistance of Xiangwu County lasted for three hours, almost every lane must be fought, it can be said that the Hexi Army suffered the greatest loss in the Eastern Expedition, but the price of Xiangwu County was heavy, the Hexi Army used fire attack, as long as it resisted, it burned the houses, and did not care about the people fleeing everywhere, regardless of any evasion.

At the end of the war, 5,000 defenders and more than 9,000 people were killed, and the four gates were destroyed. Yujuluo ordered the 500 Lintao County Qiang and Dibo soldiers who had just been recruited to escort the remaining 6,000 people to Lintao. This was an act of revenge, no one reminded the soldiers to pay attention to anything, along the way, as long as all the escapees were killed; 2,500 cavalry from Weiyuan County came to help, but were ambushed on the mountain plain by 4,000 cavalry led by Xie Yingdeng, and the whole army was annihilated.

(End of chapter)