The battle in Chengle County lasted for most of the night, and of course, the main thing was to clear the defenders in the city. Nearly 80,000 defenders of the Northern Army of the United States were killed in battle and more than 50,000 surrendered. Cao Lie was ready to kill from the west gate with a rout army of less than a thousand people, who would have thought that the outside of the city had already been intercepted by the cavalry of the Xiaoguo army, and was finally captured by the Xiaoguo army.

So far, none of the entire Chengle County defenders escaped, and all fell into the hands of the Xiaoguo army. When the day dawned, Chengle County had fallen into the control of the Xiaoguo Army.

"Report to Li Shuai, our army killed more than 3,200 people last night, wounded more than 4,000 people, captured more than 53,000 enemy soldiers, and the rest were all killed. Cao Lie, the commander of the enemy army, was also captured by our army. In addition, he obtained 20,000 loads of grain, grass, armor and equipment in the city, in addition to 3,000 war horses and more than 50 catapults. ”

Li Chenfeng heard the statistics of the soldiers, but he was a little distressed, these seven thousand soldiers are all elite veterans in the town army, and they don't know how much time it will take to cultivate, but these losses are not big.

"Send a messenger and send it back to the Lord's office, our army has broken through Chengle County, and things are going according to plan."

"Whoever comes, immediately send an order to the officials to take over the affairs of the city, and in addition, put up a notice saying that I will be exempt from all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes. In addition, let the various departments replenish the losses, and reorganize these reduced soldiers, and those who are suitable will be the army and incorporated into the baggage team, and those who are not suitable will be turned into ordinary people and let them go home. However, from now on, no one is allowed to enter or leave the city gates without a military order. ”

"Go, bring Cao Lie to Ben Shuai, and destroy Dingxiang Mansion is on this person." Li Chenfeng ordered in a deep voice.

Chengle County was taken overnight, not only beyond Cao Lie's expectations, but also beyond Cao Gang's expectations in Yunzhou Mansion. Although Cao Gang didn't know the situation here, he still had confidence in the city defense of Chengle County. According to Cao Gang's idea, after Chengle County has been reinforced, even if it faces the army of the Eastern Xiaoguo Army. can also hold on, coupled with the distant echo of the counties in the north and south of Dingxiang Prefecture, as the front line of the eastern defense line of the Northern Army of Bingzhou, there should be no problem.

Therefore, Cao Gang didn't pay much attention to Chengle County, and handed it over to his clansman Cao Lie to be fully responsible. Especially after Zhao Xun took Shuozhou Mansion and Wuyuan Mansion, he had no time to pay attention to Dingxiang Mansion in the east. Therefore, Li Chenfeng's army launched an operation against Chengle County a few days ago to besiege the city, and he did not give it much to do.

Cao Lie also wrote back to Cao Gang, saying that he could stick to Chengle County without losing. But he ignored one point, the soldiers in his hands were no longer the border army Longxiang army that dared to fight against the foreign tribes of the steppe in the past, and they were no longer elite divisions. Because of Cao Gang's peace with the Turks, the fighting spirit of the northern army of Bingzhou was greatly reduced, and they were also dissatisfied with Cao.

In addition, after Cao Gang reorganized various armies and merged them into the Northern Army of Bingzhou, there were too many Cao generals and too many new pawns in the Northern Army, which greatly reduced the combat effectiveness. Of course, the most important thing is that he underestimated the attack power of the Xiaoguo army and the strength of the siege equipment. In particular, in addition to most of the soldiers in his hands, there are also local county soldiers, government soldiers and temporarily conscripted strong men. The gap between them and the regular soldiers is too far, and although they have undergone some training, they are far from being battle-hardened veterans. Therefore, under the continuous attacks of the Xiaoguo army and the sudden attack of the earth-shattering thunder, they lost their courage and scattered, handing over the city to the Xiaoguo army, and were defeated in a battle.

And Li Chenfeng's corporal is a very brave infantry, that is, to supplement the new pawns, but also from the random baggage team and young and strong supplements, they are all trained by the veterans of the Xiaoguo Army, and have randomly participated in bloody battles, each time they replenish a little, they will fight with the army, and soon become old pawns, which does not affect the combat effectiveness of the army. Therefore, it is reasonable to count Chengle County, an important city in one day. Strong soldiers and sharp weapons, won the battle......

"Cao Lie! The commander of the defenders of Chengle County, are you willing to surrender? Looking at the middle-aged man with unkempt hair and blood stains on his body, Li Chenfeng asked lightly.

"Phew, if the husband dies, he will die, so why be afraid. If you want Lao Tzu to surrender, no way. Cao Lie glared at Li Chenfeng fiercely and roared angrily.

Li Chenfeng didn't care, and said lightly: "Cao Lie, there are still old fathers and mothers, wives and children, and more than 300 people in the family. How? Are you willing to let your whole family die with you? Cao Lie, it is true that you are Cao Gang's clansman, but you are not a close relative. Now my lord, His Royal Highness King Zhao, has conquered the Shuozhou Mansion and Wuyuan Mansion of your Northern Army, plus the Daizhou Mansion and Mayi Mansion that have already been conquered by us, and you have only Dingxiang Mansion and Yunzhou Mansion left in the Northern Army. Dingxiang Mansion is also the central city of Chengle County, and now it is in the hands of my Xiaoguo army, and it is not a problem to take Dingxiang Mansion, do you say? ”

Without waiting for Cao Lie to answer, Li Chenfeng said again: "Dingxiang Mansion, Yunzhou Mansion is surrounded by east, west, north and south, do you think Cao Gang still has a chance?" Cao Gang made peace with the Turks, and millions of people in the northern part of the state were dissatisfied, not only by the people of the prefectures and counties, but also by the northern army of the state. In this case, do you think it will be very difficult for us to conquer Yunzhou Mansion? ”

"He will soon be defeated, and he will definitely leave an infamy that is difficult to wash, do you want to be with Cao Lie? Think about it, not for yourself, but for your family. Even if we spare your family, I'm afraid that the people of the northern part of this state will not let them have a good time. Let your whole family, young and old, grow up in the midst of other people's accusations and scolding? Is that what you want? Li Chenfeng said in a loud voice.

Cao Lie's face changed drastically, and he didn't say anything for a long time. Seeing the expression on Cao Lie's face, Li Chenfeng sneered in his heart and said, "Cao Lie, surrendering to us now is not to betray the master, but to abandon the darkness and turn to the light." Not only can you make your family worry-free, but it can also make them understand that you, Cao Lie, are not the same as Cao Gang, a traitor to the people of the northern part of the state. ”

After a while, Cao Lie gritted his teeth, knelt down to Li Chenfeng, and said, "Cao Lie is willing to surrender!" ”

After Cao Lie surrendered, Li Chenfeng immediately asked Cao Lie to issue an urgent order, asking the counties and cities in the north and south of Dingxiang Mansion to send defenders to Chengle County to assist in the defense and resist the attack of the Xiaoguo army. Chengle County is in an important forward position in Dingxiang Mansion and is the key to the entire Dingxiang Mansion. As long as Chengle County is not lost, Dingxiang Mansion is worry-free. If Chengle County is lost, Dingxiang Mansion will be divided into two, and the north and south sections will be divided into two, which will naturally be in danger. Therefore, this convening order is also very reasonable.

Of course, Li Chenfeng did not want the armies of the counties to gather around Chengle County, but transferred the defenders of the cities with the front foot, and then took Cao Lie's warrant to take over the cities and counties, preparing to recruit local young people to participate in the war. Under the slogan of conscription and Cao Lie's warrant, the army sent by Li Chenfeng quickly took control of the empty city. Later, he sent an envoy to the army that left the city and rushed to Chengle County, and told the loss of Chengle County and Cao Lie's surrender, and persuaded these supporting troops to surrender. Although there are many cities in Dingxiang Province, there are not many troops sent by each city. Under these circumstances, the thousand taels of troops sent by the cities had no other way but to surrender. After all, the back road is gone, and the front road is gone. The whole family, young and old, fell into the hands of the Xiaoguo army.

Li Chenfeng's troops conquered Chengle County on July 15, and captured the entire territory of Dingxiang Province on July 23. At the end of July, except for Yunzhou Mansion, the rest of the prefectures and counties of the Northern Army changed owners.

After taking the entire territory of Dingxiang Prefecture, in addition to arranging for the young and strong to replenish the losses of each army, he also asked each army to transfer wounded soldiers and some old soldiers to merge into each prefecture and county as local county soldiers and government soldiers. In addition, Li Chenfeng's department also accepted nearly 100,000 soldiers, and after selection, 60,000 soldiers who were suitable for the army and were willing to join the army were finally left, and they were incorporated into the baggage team and the young and strong soldiers with the army for recruit training. Then the army was divided into two, one part of which entered the border of Yunzhou Mansion to the west and coerced Yunzhou Mansion. Part of it went south, approaching Taiyuan Mansion of the Bingzhou Army, and joined Xue Qinglan and Yang Hu's troops in the south.

The reason why Li Chenfeng sent the army south was not because of anything else, but because Situ Tai had already carried out the operation, taking the lead in transferring the army north and entering the territory of the Northern Army of Bingzhou, that is, they had already begun to compete with the Xiaoguo Army for territory. To put it more bluntly, Situ Tai is ready to grab food with the Xiaoguo Army.

For the Xiaoguo Army, this is not the Northern Army, whether it is soldiers and horses or territory, it is its own meal. Now that it is being decided by the southern state army, it would be unreasonable if it was not dealt with. Besides, the Xiaoguo Army has long been ready to take action against the Bingzhou Army. Now Situ Tai's action is just to advance the world, and it is not enough to make the Xiaoguo army afraid and panic. Especially now that the east and west roads are winning consecutive battles, there is no need to worry.

Just when Zhao Xun took the two western provinces and Li Chenfeng just began to attack Chengle County, Cao Gang was also anxious to contact Situ Tai's people. By now, he understood that in the hands of the Xiaoguo Army, he couldn't survive at all. Especially after learning that his subordinates surrendered directly to the city in the face of the attack of the Xiaoguo army, he suddenly realized that he had made peace with the Turks, which had brought such a big hidden danger.

But regret at the moment cannot affect the change of the overall situation. In particular, the fall of the two northwestern provinces made his lair suddenly surrounded on all sides. Although there is still Dingxiang Mansion in the east, Cao Gang, who already knows that he has lost the hearts of the people and the army, knows very well that Dingxiang Mansion will not last long.

Therefore, Cao Gang readily agreed to Situ Tai's conditions and expressed his surrender to Situ Tai. However, Situ Tai also needs to support as soon as possible to open up the north-south passage so that he can retreat south in time. Of course, if Situ Tai is interested in Yunzhou Mansion, then he will also send troops to support and resist the Xiaoguo army.

After learning that Zhao Xun had attacked and captured the two prefectures in the western part of the northern region, Situ Tai and the others, who were located in Jinyang City, Taiyuan Prefecture, couldn't sit still at all. Zhao Xun's speed was too fast, faster than they expected. The Northern Army of Bingzhou was also defeated too quickly and too miserably, so fast that they were caught off guard. Originally, their plan was to use the pressure of the Xiaoguo Army to force Cao Gang to surrender, annex the more than 100,000 Bingzhou Northern Army under Cao Gang's command, recover the territory under the jurisdiction of the Bingzhou Northern Army, and then compete with the Xiaoguo Army. At that time, the men and horses who joined the Northern Army and the imperial court supported by the Bingzhou Army, and the Bingzhou Army could fight with the Xiaoguo Army. In this regard, even Situ Tai, who has always been resentful, is also full of fighting spirit.

However, the offensive of the Northern Army and the Xiaoguo Army made Situ Tai, who was in high spirits, feel like someone had poured a basin of cold water from his head, which made his fiery heart feel cool and cold. The Northern Army of Bingzhou was defeated, the land of the two provinces was lost, and forty or fifty thousand soldiers of the Northern Army of Bingzhou were annexed by the Xiaoguo Army. Coupled with the situation in the east, most of the things of the Northern Army of Bingzhou were taken over by the Xiaoguo Army, which caught Situ Tai, who was originally full of joy at receiving the Northern Army of Bingzhou and its jurisdiction, a little caught off guard.

Situ Wen immediately gave Jianyì, he couldn't sit back and watch Cao Gang continue to be defeated, otherwise, in the end, all the northern army of the state would fall into the hands of the Xiaoguo army, and the territory under the jurisdiction of the northern army of the state would also fall into the hands of the Xiaoguo army. Once the northern army of this state is pacified by the Xiaoguo army, then, the Xiaoguo army will turn around and make a move against the southern part of the state, that is, them. Now, the Bingzhou army has no choice, and must take the initiative to take action, otherwise, it can only sit back and watch the Xiaoguo army grow. In particular, the Xiaoguo Army, which has taken the jurisdiction of the Northern Army of Bingzhou and has a solid position in Bingzhou, will bring an impact that is difficult to resist.

At this time, none of the civil and military officials under Situ Tai raised objections, and at this moment they all knew that the Xiaoguo Army was about to pacify the Northern Army of the Prefecture. In other words, they originally expected that after a big battle between the Northern Army and the Xiaoguo Army, the Xiaoguo Army would take action against the Bingzhou Army. Now, if they don't do it, they are waiting for the Xiaoguo Army to do it to them. The first strike is stronger, taking advantage of the fact that the Xiaoguo Army is still fighting fiercely with the Northern Army of Bingzhou, it is really time to make a move.

Although the reinforcements sent to the imperial court for help have not yet been replied, they have nothing else to care about at the moment. Situ Tai immediately made up his mind. On the 17th of July, the army that had already been assembled was sent out to Xihe Mansion and advanced to Yunzhou Mansion.

On the 18th, the 80,000 Bingzhou Army fought with Xue Qinglan and Yang Hu, and the Xiaoguo Army, which was weak in strength, retreated and made way for the passage to allow the Bingzhou Army and the Northern Army to meet. According to Zhao Xun's intentions, Xue Qinglan and Yang Hu did not let the army engage the Bingzhou army, but forced the Bingzhou army from the flank, so that it did not dare to march lightly. In addition, the Xiaoguo army invaded the flanks and rear grain routes of the state army from time to time. It was also because of the dispatch of the Bingzhou Army that Xue Qinglan and Yang Hu began to invade the southern prefectures and counties of Bingzhou. Suddenly, Situ Tai began to defend passively.

Before Cao Gang could send a messenger from Situ Tai to report back the situation of Cao Gang here, Situ Tai's side had already begun to act, so Cao Gang also hurriedly began to prepare for the retreat. Cao Gang, who has lost his fighting spirit and ambition, has completely lost the momentum of the former general of Zhenbei and the commander of the Northern Army of Bingzhou, and it can be said that the current Cao Gang has unconsciously lost his former momentum.

Cao Gang immediately ordered the Cao clan to pack up their belongings and start moving south. At this moment, Cao Lie, the commander of the defenders of Dingxiang Mansion, surrendered, and the news of the fall of the entire territory of Dingxiang Mansion came. What made Cao Gang most annoyed was that the Xiaoguo Army also issued a joint letter headed by Cao Lie and the surrendered officers of the Northern Army of each prefecture to crusade against him Cao Gang. Its content is nothing more than that the rest of the foreign Turks made peace, betrayed the interests of the people of Dayan, ignored the life and death of the people in the north of Bingzhou, and catered to the Turks, and called on all the soldiers of the northern army of Bingzhou to immediately abandon their weapons and surrender, and change their ways.

When Cao Gang learned the news, he immediately fainted angrily. It's okay for others to surrender, but if their own clan defects to the enemy, the consequences are not ordinary. For the morale of the entire Yunzhou Mansion, it was a ruining blow at that time. After all, even your own people have betrayed you, what else can you expect?

In Yunzhong City, the Yunzhou Mansion Governance Office, Cao Gang looked at the information in his hand with a pale face, and trembled with anger. He never expected that Dingxiang Mansion would be captured by the Xiaoguo Army so quickly, so fast that he couldn't react. However, at the moment, he could no longer care about this.

I don't know if it's an illusion, he always feels that his subordinate officers and generals have an inexplicable look in their eyes, which seems to make him a little incomprehensible. However, whether it was delusion or not, he knew that if he didn't leave here now, he wouldn't be able to retreat.

According to the news from Situ Jian, the commander of the supporting army of the southern state army, the army of the state army could no longer continue to go north. The two flanks on his side were often attacked by the Xiaoguo army, and even the team transporting grain and grass in the rear was also attacked by the Xiaoguo army several times, which caused a lot of losses in the grain and grass of the Bingzhou army.

More importantly, the northern counties of Jinzhou Mansion, Taiyuan Prefecture, Xihe Prefecture and Fenzhou Prefecture have now discovered the Xiaoguo Army, and Situ Tai asked Situ Jian to retreat, and he could not delay too long at the southern end of Yunzhou Mansion, otherwise, the rear would be in danger. Seeing this, Cao Gang couldn't help but plan early.

Cao Gang summoned the generals and said that the troops should retreat south to Sangqian City, the southernmost part of Yunzhou Prefecture. However, the problem that worried Cao Gang finally appeared. The generals and colonels of all ministries were reluctant to retreat south, and insisted on staying in the central and northern parts of Yunzhou Mansion to fight against the Xiaoguo army. The reason is very good, they all know the purpose of Cao Gang's retreat to the south. However, they were reluctant to go south.

There are two reasons, one is that the families of these soldiers of the northern army of Bingzhou are all in the north of Bingzhou, and they are unwilling to abandon their families and children to the south. Because everyone knows that except for Cao Gang, few soldiers can carry their families with them.

Second, they have a deep direct grudge against the Northern Army and the Bingzhou Army, and they do not want to enter the territory of the Bingzhou Army and be bullied by the Bingzhou Army. In the past, Cao Gang refused Situ Lei's orders and stood on his own. Later, he made peace with the Turkic cavalry, suppressed the state army, expelled the state army to the south, and seized the land of several provinces from it. The two armies fought, and I don't know how many soldiers were killed at the hands of the other side. Between the two, the grudge is not small, and it is difficult to resolve.