Updated: 2013-09-09

"General, Lord Lin, the envoy of the Zhao army outside the city asks to see you!" Just when Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng were still arguing about the supervision of the big clans in the city, the guards outside the house sent new news.

Hearing this, Lin Shucheng smiled bitterly: "What a Zhao Xun, step by step!" General Luo, the envoy of the Zhao army must have come to persuade him to surrender, do you see it or not? ”

Luo Dingyuan looked at Lin Shucheng and said coldly: "General Ben is deeply favored by the king's promotion, no matter what, General Ben will not surrender to the Zhao army." As for Lord Lin, you...... To see or not to see, what advice do you have? ”

Lin Shucheng couldn't hear the ridicule in Luo Dingyuan's words, smiled coldly, and said lightly: "If General Luo doesn't surrender, how can this official easily surrender to the Zhao army?" Whether you see it or not, it is naturally up to you, General Luo, to decide. ”

Luo Dingyuan said coldly to the guards: "Go out and tell the envoy of the Zhao army that our Chang'an defenders will never surrender, and they want to enter the city, but there is no battle." ”

"Refused?"

"Refused! It seems that this Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng know very well that if our envoys enter the city, they have no way to refute it, but will make the guards in the city inclined to surrender. Therefore, they simply refused to allow our messengers to enter the city. Situ Liang said lightly, "In addition, Luo Dingyuan also asked the defenders to pass down the word that they would fight us to the death." ”

"However, Song Yang and other envoys have already seen from the faces of the defenders on the 'gate' of Xicheng that yesterday's rout has successfully introduced the current situation of Xiyongzhou into Chang'an City. Moreover, these messages have begun to slowly spread in the military. ”

Zhao Xun said coldly: "That's it, then attack the city by force." Let the baggage team build siege equipment and prepare for the siege. After the soldiers who brought the 'mixed' into the city spread the situation in Xiyongzhou to everyone, we began to attack the city. This king wants to go to see if the Han army, which is unstable, can block the siege of our army. ”

Although Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng unanimously decided to defend the city, there was no trace of relief on their faces. The entire territory of Xiyongzhou was lost, and only one isolated city of Chang'an remained, and it was not easy to hold on to the city. No matter how strong the city is, there are no reinforcements from outside, and it is difficult to survive alone.

In addition to arranging for his soldiers to patrol the city and monitor the big clans in the city, Luo Dingyuan also began to recruit young people, train them, and assist in defending the city. Subsequently, as the Zhao army outside the city gathered more and more, Luo Dingyuan ignored Lin Shucheng's opposition, gathered the big clans in the city, forcibly recruited their family's 'private' Ding and guards, and 'mixed' into a new army.

It seems that in this way, not only can the strength of the defenders be increased, but also the big clans with hidden dangers can lose the force in their hands, so that they will have the lowest hidden dangers in the city.

In this regard, Lin Shucheng was 'fiercely' opposed. In his opinion, if it was in the past, when the Han army still occupied Xiyongzhou, it would be understandable to do so. After all, these big clans did not want their power, wealth, and land to fall into the hands of Zhao Jun after they entered the city.

But now, the Han army has lost its dominance in Xiyongzhou, and if there is no accident, it is difficult to change how to defend Chang'an, and even Chang'an falls into the hands of the Zhao army. If the Zhao army occupies this place, these big clans will naturally have to think about the future, compared with the 'life' of the family, the wealth and land in the family are not impossible to give up. Besides, Zhao Jun didn't leave them with nothing. But if you want to assist the Han army to defend to the death, you will be hostile to the Zhao army. After Zhao Jun entered the city, they really had nothing.

Therefore, the big clans in the city can not oppose the Han army to defend the city, even if the Zhao army enters the city, they will not receive much impact, but if they are allowed to dispatch their family's 'private' soldiers, it will be a hostile behavior with the Zhao army. If the Zhao army entered the city, they would definitely not be able to escape. The Zhao army attacked the city, persuaded the surrender letter and the slogan before the battle, but the Zhao army never 'advanced'. These big clans will definitely pass some information back to the family, and at that time, these people will not only not desperately defend the city for their own family, but will even affect the overall situation, and even let the Zhao army enter the city. And the land of Xianyang is a model for these big clans.

However, Luo Dingyuan didn't care about and paid attention to these. In his opinion, even if these big clans knew, the 'private' soldiers of these big clans were scattered and arranged in various queues, did they dare to disobey military orders? If anyone does not obey the military order, then his sword is not an ornament.

However, he ignored the influence and potential power of these big clans in the city, and Lin Shucheng was left behind in Chang'an, so he naturally knew it. It's a pity that Luo Dingyuan didn't listen to his persuasion. In this regard, Lin Shucheng could only shake his head secretly.

But whether it was Lin Shucheng or Luo Dingyuan, they didn't expect that the speed of the news in the city would spread far faster than they estimated.

The Zhao army did not attack the city immediately, but the dense Zhao army outside the city made the defenders' hearts extremely heavy, and even Lin Shucheng and Luo Dingyuan also felt gray and "blind" in their hearts at this moment.

Just when Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng were preparing to defend the city, recruiting young people, training soldiers, and strengthening the city defense, the Zhao army occupied the entire territory of Xiyongzhou, the Han army was destroyed, and the news of the lonely city of Chang'an spread throughout the city. In addition, the situation of Xianyang City was also spread throughout the city.

When Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng heard the news, their faces immediately turned blue. Especially Luo Dingyuan, his face is full of murder. Because the two of them did not report the situation to the lieutenant generals and officers of the army, the following generals and colonels came to inquire. The generals who learned the actual situation also began to feel hopeless about guarding Chang'an, which made Luo Dingyuan very annoyed. If it weren't for the fact that these generals had no intention of surrendering, I was afraid that he would have already exploded into anger with the generals under his command.

"Damn, didn't General Ben say it, don't leak the news, why does the whole city know about these situations." Luo Dingyuan roared angrily at the generals under his command.

Lin Shucheng said in a deep voice: "It's not that they didn't stop it, but the soldiers spread it 'privately', so that the young and strong soldiers of the big clan 'private' soldiers recruited by the general all knew about these situations. As a result, these young and strong people and the 'private' clans spread the news to the people in the city and these big clans. ”

"General, now that the news has spread, we can't continue to block it any longer, otherwise, the situation will get worse and worse. The more we suppress, the more exaggerated the message becomes. In addition, he also told the soldiers in the city that Hanzhong had sent reinforcements and was gathering here in addition to the land of Hanzhong. It is precisely because of this that the Zhao army outside the city is eager to take this place and avoid us from joining forces with reinforcements. ”

"Good! General Ben will arrange for people to do it. ”

"In addition, there must be Zhao Jun's meticulous work in the city, which needs to be investigated, and the news can spread so quickly, these meticulous works must be making trouble in it, so as to shake the hearts of our army."

Although Luo Dingyuan began to post notices in the name of the government according to Lin Shucheng's method, publicizing the news that reinforcements were waiting for reinforcements, most people still didn't believe it. Randomly, new news came out of the city again, Hanzhong had no reinforcements at all, and Hanzhong had been captured by the Shu army and many other situations in Hanzhong. As soon as these news came out, the notices posted by Luo Dingyuan in the name of the government immediately became ineffective. Even the news gradually spread in the city, and the government posted notices, because Chang'an was a lonely city, and there were no reinforcements outside, and the government needed them to fight to the death with the Zhao army.

Before the government could react, news came out of the city again, mainly to the west where Xianyang was broken. And there is a saying, those who descend to Zhao and contribute to Zhao Jun will be rewarded by Zhao Jun. Those who do not surrender, after the Zhao army breaks the city, will be punished heavily, and if it is serious, the clan will be exterminated. When this news came out, the big clans in the city immediately began to panic. As Lin Shucheng began to persuade Luo Dingyuan to say, as soon as these big clans saw that Chang'an was difficult to hold on, and the Zhao army's domination of Xiyongzhou was about to become a reality, they couldn't sit still.

They don't like Zhao Jun, and they don't want their family to be ruined. Therefore, they can give support to the defenders, give food, and not cause trouble for the Han army. However, they were reluctant to send men to assist the Han army in a battle to the death against the Zhao army. Now, their 'private' soldiers have all been recruited by the Han army to defend the city and fight to the death with the Zhao army, if the Zhao army breaks the city and will be held responsible, how can they escape? How could General Zhao Jun, who had died of his soldiers, let them go? Even if King Zhao doesn't care, but the people below want to trouble them, will King Zhao still stand up for them?

As a result, the big clans in the city began to gather and discuss how to deal with it, and even some of the 'private' clans began to break away from the defenders because of various problems, and some of the 'private' leaders of the big clans, the descendants of the big clans, even violated some military orders and let them be punished, so as to break away from the sequence of soldiers guarding the city.

Luo Dingyuan was annoyed by the situation of these big clans in the city, but he also understood that he couldn't do anything to these big clans casually. Now the city is already tense, if you make a careless move and make the city 'chaotic', the situation will be even worse.

"Hateful! Kill! No wonder Zhao Xun doesn't have a good impression of these big clans, General Ben now understands that none of these big clans are good things, they are moths above the place. Luo Dingyuan looked at the information gathered by the big clans in the city under his command, and scolded angrily with a blue face.

"General, the last general thinks that if you want to make a move, kill the 'chicken' and show it to the monkey, let them know that now Chang'an is still in the hands of our Han army, and if you want to surrender Zhao, then you have to see if they can accept them now. Let these 'bastards' see clearly, who is in charge of Chang'an now? General Xue Ran said coldly.

Deputy General Luo Qing frowned and said: "This is not good, although these big clans are gathering in all directions, they still let their descendants break away from the Chang'an official mansion and the Han army defenders, but they are not hostile to us." Most of their family's 'private' soldiers are still serving under our command, but they have stripped these family's 'private' soldiers from their family's name, and they have not caused us much damage as far as we are concerned. ”

"If we do something to them, we will definitely 'provoke' the big clans in the city, and maybe even 'provoke' all the big clans to revolt. In this Chang'an City, the ability of these big clans is also not small......"

Xue Ran said coldly: "That's why we need to make an example!" These 'bastards', as the people under the jurisdiction of our Han army, do not think about defending the city for our army, and they only care about their own 'selfish' interests everywhere. That's not all it takes, and they spread rumors all over the city. If it weren't for the deliberations of these great clans, and then spread by their subordinates, guards, and servants, would the rumors in the city be in the current situation? ”

"General, if we ignore them, it will only make these big clans think that we care about them and dare not do anything to them. Such 'bastards' who only care about 'selfish' interests will not be able to give a little warning. In addition, we also need to tell them that they are helping to defend the city, and that the Zhao army may kill them after breaking the city, but if they don't help us and don't serve us, we can let them destroy the clan now. ”

"These big clans, each of them aggravated their wealth and countless wealth, destroyed their families, and seized their wealth to reward the defenders and young men in the city, and I think that there are no longer a few ordinary young men who are willing to serve us."

Luo Dingyuan pondered for a moment, then saw the information on the table, his face turned cold, and said, "Just do it!" Remember, there must be real evidence, and even if you deal with them, there must be a reasonable reason. In addition, all the property seized this time was given to the soldiers below. ”

Luo Dingyuan's military order, and immediately several major clans in the city were wiped out. Luo Dingyuan's actions immediately made the rest of the big clans in the city tremble, and similarly, they were extremely worried about Luo Dingyuan's actions. What this destroyed great clan has done, how can the other great clans not be? They understood that this was the Han army warning them, but they were unwilling to befall themselves in such a situation of being exterminated for no reason.

After Lin Shucheng learned of Luo Dingyuan's behavior, his face suddenly turned pale, and he sighed that the situation was not good. He Lin Shucheng is an official in Chang'an, and he has been in Chang'an for a long time. He is not like Luo Dingyuan, who doesn't know anything about the Chang'an clan. Chang'an is the old capital of Dayan, although the big clans in the city are not as powerful as Luoyang City. However, their ability in Chang'an is definitely not small.

Of course, for Lin Shucheng, what he was most worried about was that there were still Zhao Jun's fine works in the city. To say that Chang'an is now in this situation without Zhao Jun's meticulous activities, Lin Shucheng will not believe it. However, the situation in the city has changed so quickly that it has exceeded its expectations. Now that Luo Dingyuan is attacking the big clans in the city again, Lin Shucheng suddenly feels that the situation is out of his expectations, and the situation in Chang'an is no longer under his control.

Luo Dingyuan didn't expect that the situation in the city was not only not as good as he expected, but became worse. There are more than 30,000 Han soldiers in the city, of which more than 8,000 are native men and horses of the Chang'an line, and the remaining more than 20,000 are Hanzhong reinforcements, including the 3,000 routs who fled into the city. In addition, there are 20,000 recruits and tens of thousands of young men who can be mobilized at any time.

Luo Dingyuan's original purpose of attacking the big clans in the city was to kill the 'chicken' and make an example of the monkeys, deter the rest of the big clans in the city, and let them help him hold the city. However, his methods, coupled with the rumors spread by the Zhao army in the city and the Zhao soldiers who were 'mixed' among the soldiers of the Han army as a soldier, suddenly made these big clans feel safe. Especially after Luo Dingyuan rewarded the soldiers with the wealth of the exterminated clan, and 'excited' the soldiers to defend the city to the death, these clans thought about these situations, coupled with rumors, making them think that Luo Dingyuan and others were ready to use their family wealth to appease the defenders.

As a result, these big clans began to exert their strength, and most of the 8,000 soldiers in the city began to refuse and delay Luo Dingyuan's military orders, and their excuses were all on the grounds that the two armies were not under the same affiliation, and Luo Dingyuan's military orders began to slacken. In addition, the new soldiers and young men in the city also began to not cooperate. Although it has not yet been directly opposed to the Han army, there is already a posture to divide the city into two halves.

Especially with the support of the big clans, there are rumors in the city that the Hanzhong reinforcements want to let the soldiers of Chang'an and the young people in the city fight to the death with the Zhao army, and want them to become cannon fodder to consume the materials of the Zhao army, and prepare to let the people in the city live and die together with Chang'an City. For a while, these rumors alone made it much more difficult for the soldiers under Luo Dingyuan to carry out the military order.

The whole city faintly objected, even Luo Dingyuan did not dare to kill again. Although Lin Shucheng came forward to let these soldiers, young soldiers, and recruits settle down, Lin Shucheng still felt that these people were unwilling to continue to defend themselves. As a last resort, Lin Shucheng could only rotate the soldiers below to avoid accidents.

The situation in the city naturally spread outside the city, and Zhao Xun and others naturally learned about the situation in the city. When the generals of the Zhao army heard the news, they were overjoyed, and they all went to Zhao Xun to ask for battle, requesting that they immediately send troops to attack Chang'an, and snatch the last enemy city in Xiyongzhou, which is also the core city of Xiyongzhou.

For Chang'an, Zhao Xun naturally hopes to take it down as soon as possible, after all, this is not only the core of Xiyongzhou, but also the old capital of Dayan. In addition, the entire territory of Xiyongzhou was conquered, leaving this here, allowing tens of thousands of troops to gather under the city, and the daily consumption of the beam was also a lot.

"How's the baggage team ready?"

"All of them are ready, more than one hundred and twenty catapults have been prepared, and enough boulders have been brought from the surrounding area. Siege equipment such as ladders and siege towers have also been prepared. Yang Wangqing reported in a deep voice.

"In that case, let's take action against the last city of Xiyongzhou, where tens of thousands of troops are gathered, and it is not a good thing for us. This place has already been taken in the day, the army can be repaired long ago, and Xiyongzhou can be pacified long ago. Zhao Xun said lightly, "Starting tomorrow, we will first fill in the trenches, horses and moats that catapults will become, and we need a way forward." ”

Seeing the eager expressions on the faces of the generals, Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "This king knows that you have already attacked Chang'an. However, if we can sweep away the opponent's city defenses, we will reduce our casualties. What can be done with equipment, we don't have to make soldiers pay for their lives. Now we are not in a hurry to attack the city, there is no need for the soldiers to rush to fight to the death! As a general, you can't just think about victory, but also think about the soldiers under your command. Without them, no matter how brave a general is, he will not be able to achieve victory! ”

"In this operation, the east 'gate' and the south 'gate' were the main attack, and the north 'gate' and the west 'gate' were covered. All the ministries go down and prepare, and tomorrow we will start to attack the city! ”