(a)

Three days after you arrived at Jingshui Pass, Sun Zhan Ming and Wu Shun Min, who had been ordered to change their guard from the northern line to the southern line during the Jeju Conference, also arrived near Jingshui Pass one after another.

They did not engage in the battle in front of Jingshui Pass, but united with the infantry units of the Chen Shouye Theater on the southern front, unexpectedly surrounded Bacheng, which had little military value, and launched a fierce offensive against the pass guarded by the Marquis of Zhaoyang.

The siege battle was fought at the same time at the four gates of Bacheng, and the battle was very fierce. The troops of the Marquis of Zhaoyang suffered heavy casualties on the day of the siege and suffered huge losses.

A few days later, the unprepared Bacheng, the food in the city was exhausted, and there was a shortage of soldiers, and Zhaoyanghou felt a huge pressure!

He became nervous, thinking that he was not sure that he would hold on to the city, and that there was no good way to break the siege under the city. So, he had to send many teams out of the city to break through the camp and ask Liu Yan for help.

At this time, the lobbyists sent by Xu Zaitian also infiltrated the city and bribed the Southern Han Dynasty's important minister Wuyang Hou and Liu Yan's eunuch chief Li Miaochang with heavy money, asking them to come forward and persuade Liu Yan to mobilize Lei Shicheng to save Bacheng.

After the Marquis of Wuyang accepted the unprecedented heavy gift that made him have to be moved, he entangled his forces in the DPRK and China, and repeatedly lobbied Liu Yan to order Lei Shicheng, the general of Jingshui Pass, who was close to Bacheng, to lead troops out of the city to rescue.

At first, Liu Yan insisted on not mobilizing Lei Shicheng, so as not to undermine the tenacious adherence of Jingshui Pass, but he was a person without assertiveness, and he couldn't stand Wu Yanghou organized many large and small officials in the DPRK and China, and on various occasions, surrounded him with wheel warfare and persuaded him in turn. He gradually wavered in his position, and finally hesitantly accepted the advice of the ministers, and in a not very firm tone, issued an order to Lei Shicheng, asking him to go out of the city to rescue the defenders of Bacheng and lift the siege of Bacheng.

(b)

After Lei Shicheng received Liu Yan's request for him to go out of the city to help Bacheng, he immediately wrote a letter and refused to obey.

He pointed out that Bacheng had no important military value, and that the Northern Han army attacked Bacheng just to use those royal relatives and nobles as bait and hostages to mobilize the defenders of Jingshui Pass out of the city, and a large number of the main forces of the Northern Han army were waiting to strike at the defenders out of the city.

Lei Shicheng said that once the main force of our army sends troops to the rescue, it will inevitably fall into a quagmire.

He suggested that Liu Yan should not rush to rescue Bacheng, and should order the defenders of Zhaoyang in Bacheng to insist as much as possible, and he planned to lead the cavalry of Jingshuiguan out of the city, taking advantage of the Northern Han Dynasty to besiege Jingshuiguan and Bacheng, and the defense line in the east was empty, and attacked Jishanguan for the second time.

He thought that the Northern Han would not have expected his second sneak attack on Jishan Pass. Once Jishan Pass is in an emergency, the Northern Han army will inevitably come to the rescue, and the siege of Bacheng will definitely be solved without a fight. Even if Bacheng does not hold out at that time and loses ground halfway, it is very worthwhile to exchange Bacheng for an important strategic stronghold such as Jishan Pass.

Lei Shicheng's idea should be said to be a very wise idea. If it can be realized, it is difficult to predict this victory.

After Liu Yan read Lei Shicheng's letter, his position was shaken again.

However, the Marquis of Wuyang and other ministers desperately opposed Lei Shicheng's proposition.

The Marquis of Wuyang and his faction said to Liu Yan that Lei Shicheng Suri and the prince of Bacheng were at odds with each other, and this was his excuse to shirk it, and he would not save him when he saw death, and he refused to share his worries and serve the royal family.

They alleged that Lei Shicheng had accepted bribes from the Northern Han Dynasty and was suspected of killing people with a knife to eliminate dissidents.

When Liu Yanzheng was hesitating, he suddenly received a report that the Northern Han Army had suddenly increased its garrison at Jishan Pass, and it seemed that Lei Shicheng would have the intention of leading his troops to attack Jishan Pass again.

When Liu Yan heard the mobilization of the Northern Han army near Jishan Pass, he no longer hesitated, and in an unquestionable stern tone, he issued another order, ordering Lei Shicheng to go out of the city, gallop to the aid of Bacheng, and prove his innocence, otherwise he would be punished for treason.

Lei Shicheng was in a heavy mood when he saw Liu Yan's second will, but he could only be forced to follow the order, lead the cavalry, leave Jingshui Pass, and go to Bacheng.

Along the way, he kept writing letters to Liu Yan, saying that now the weather is hot and dry, and the Northern Han army has preemptively occupied the only water source river outside Bacheng, and when our reinforcements arrived in the suburbs outside the city, there was no drinking water, and the battle could not last.

He also said that if our troops were destroyed, the elite of the Southern Han army would be dealt a heavy blow, and the future war situation would be precarious.

He advised Liu Yan again that it was too late to change his mind now and return to Jingshui Pass to hold on, or to change the route to attack Jishan Pass.

He analyzed the current distribution of the Northern Han army, and believed that it is impossible for you to transfer a large number of troops to enrich the Jishui Pass, and the increase in troops at this pass may only be a deterrent action for the Northern Han army's suspicious formation, and it may not really increase enough troops and horses.

Liu Yan read the letters that Lei Shicheng kept sending along the way, and hesitated again.

(c)

On this night, Li Miaochang, the chief eunuch, said to Liu Yan, saying that Lei Shicheng had repeatedly disobeyed orders this time, and his appearance was suspicious, even if he had no intention of surrendering to the enemy, he also had the selfish intention of cherishing his feathers and supporting the army to protect himself.

He persuaded Liu Yan not to look forward and ignore the life and death of his relatives, so that the world risked death to follow the wealthy families who supported him.

The last sentence touched Liu Yan.

Li Miaochang, the chief eunuch, grew up taking care of Liu Yan since he was a child, and in Liu Yan's mind, his status was second only to his father.

In the power struggle of the Liu brothers, Li Miaochang always stood on Liu Yan's side, and made countless contributions to his birth and death.

Li Miaochang's persuasion finally made Liu Yan no longer waver.

He once again issued an edict, strictly ordering Lei Shicheng not to disobey the king's orders under various excuses, not to slow down the speed of the army, and to quickly arrive at the Bacheng war zone, relieve the siege of Bacheng, and annihilate the Northern Han army besieging Bacheng.

Lei Shicheng had no choice but to die the heart of persuading Liu Yan to change his mind, and stubbornly led his troops to move forward.

When they reached the hilly area about 40 miles from Bacheng, they saw that there were craggy rocks and scorched hills everywhere, and the vegetation that could grow could only be seen occasionally in the extremely low-lying areas.

Lei Shicheng's heart was full of melancholy and uneasiness, and his heart was full of sad laments for the future fate of himself and this army. But he showed nothing on the surface, constantly encouraging the soldiers along the way, doing his best to keep the morale of the team high.

(iv)

As Lei Shicheng expected, they were heading towards the trap dug by the Northern Han army.

But you always remember Lei Shicheng's integrity of not hesitating to offend Liu Yan for you three times, and you also remember that although he had already killed you when he met you in Dongcheng, he restrained himself and did not really put into practice the gentleman's benevolence, you didn't want his life, you really wanted him to surrender to Liu Shen.

Therefore, you did not send Chen Shouye to deal with Lei Shicheng, but used Sun Zhanming, an old friend of Lei Shicheng who was transferred back from the northern front, to take on the task of besieging, annihilating or persuading Lei Shicheng's troops to surrender.

You hope that Sun Zhanming can say that Lei Shicheng will give up resistance and surrender to Liu Shen in a desperate situation.

If NVC is willing to surrender to Liu Shen, it will be an extremely heavy psychological blow to the Southern Han government and the opposition. It will definitely inspire more Southern Han Wenchen generals to abandon Liu Yan and take refuge in Liu Shen. This can greatly speed up the progress of the war on the southern front and reduce the unnecessary casualties of military and civilian personnel on both sides.

You desperately hope that Lei Shicheng can plan for the people of the world, know the times as a handsome, conform to the general trend, and be good at choosing the master.