"Damn, general, our army has lost more than 600 people today, this Zhao army's catapult and bed crossbow are too sharp, we are not opponents at all. Especially their occasional surprise attacks and the sudden earth-shattering thunder, the soldiers were already a little miserable. From time to time, there was an angry scolding from the General's Mansion of the Northern Army.

"General, the message in this city can't be unguarded, up to now, our army has lost a lot of soldiers, and now there are more than 20,000 soldiers in our army, and four or five thousand soldiers have been lost. However, the Bingzhou army only lost less than 2,000 people, and there were more than 16,000 people, and the difference in strength was not large. If we continue like this, sooner or later we will lose less than the state army. ”

"Yes, the Zhao army stormed the south gate where we were stationed, and most of the losses were our soldiers. However, the state army was recuperating in the city. According to the spies, the current Bingzhou army is strictly guarding and training in the barracks. This is not the state army stationed in the city, who else will we have but to guard against it? General, you can't ignore it. ”

"Okay, Cao Feng and Cao Zhi stay, and the rest retreat!" Cao Gang, who was sitting on the main seat without saying a word, said coldly. Today's Cao Gang is far worse than when he was in the north of Bingzhou. In the past, he was arrogant and dry, and he was the overlord of one place. Now, Cao Gang is already bearded and tired.

After the rest of the generals retreated, Cao Gang said in a slightly dull voice: "Tell me about the news you have discovered, hey...... My Cao clan was defeated like this! I want to ...... I thought that General Ben also had more than 100,000 troops at the beginning, crisscrossing the northern part of the state, but now ......" Immediately, Cao Gang sighed deeply......

Cao Feng said in a deep voice: "According to his subordinates, this Yang Li is only afraid that he already has the intention of surrendering to the Zhao army. In addition, since the last time those Bingzhou soldiers who were captured by Zhao Xun were released, many Zhao army spies also mixed into the city and began to secretly contact the officers and colonels of the Bingzhou army. Although Yang Li later strictly ordered the soldiers under his command not to leave the camp at will, he ...... But he did not send people to arrest these Zhao army spies, nor did he deal with the officers and colonels under his command who came into contact with the Zhao army spies. ”

Cao Zhi said coldly: "Not only that, but the officers and colonels of this state army also hindered our sergeants from arresting these Zhao army spies, and in addition, they also secretly hid each other. This Yang Li and his state army are definitely our henchmen. ”

"What about the situation in the land of the annexed states? How's your investigation going? Is it true that as Zhao Jun said, the entire state has been seized by Zhao Xun? Cao Gang ignored the news about the state army, and asked instead.

Cao Feng's face stiffened, and he said astringently: "Back to the general, if there is no accident, I'm afraid that's the case." Although we have not yet received the latest information, we can be sure that the Zhao army has defeated Situ Tai, the governor of the state. And Situ Tai, the governor of Bingzhou, had fled to the land of Fenzhou. A few days ago, the army of the state was under the jurisdiction of the state of the state of merger and there were only two places under the jurisdiction of the state. On the Yongzhou side, there was no change. ”

Cao Gang smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said gloomily: "It seems that this Situ Lei has given up on merging states, and he is not facing two powerful enemies at the same time. It seems that Bingzhou finally fell into the hands of Zhao Xun. ”

Cao Zhi saw that Cao Gang's feelings were low, and said urgently: "Uncle, although Zhao Xun has the advantage of merging states now, it does not mean that Situ Lei is willing to throw them away to Zhao Xun. In addition, the Turks were not willing to be raided by Zhao Xun and lost their troops. As long as we insist, it won't be long before Zhao Xun faces a situation of being attacked from the north and the south. At that time, we are in the middle of the state and will be able to take advantage of the situation. Uncle, you can't lose faith. ”

Cao Gang laughed miserably and said, "Attack from the north to the south? Take advantage of the momentum? You, don't comfort me. The two of you should be well aware of the situation in front of you. It's almost October now, and not to mention whether the Turks have recovered from the last Zhao Xun's raid, even the weather is not suitable for the Turks to invade south again. Besides, this Xue Jian Khan is only afraid that he cares more about his dominance in the northern steppe. ”

As for Situ Lei, he now wished that Zhao Xun would not take the initiative to attack him, instead of provoking Zhao Xun. Don't forget, Murong Cheng is impatient to enter Luoyang and sit on the position of the Ninety-Five. Therefore, Situ Lei's center of gravity is still in the east. At the very least, he won't have the slightest idea of merging the state until next spring. You two say, how much longer can we hold out? Ten days? Half a month? Even if Situ Lei and the Turks act now, Zhao Xun will definitely solve us first. Isolated, isolated! When we cooperated with the Turks, we were already a big loss of popular support, which made us lose a mess, even if we had the opportunity, it was difficult to succeed. Don't forget, in order to get the support of the people in this city, my Cao clan has paid a lot of money. ”

"It is also because of this that Zhao Xun is unwilling to accept our surrender. He wants us to be a means to preach his benevolence and love for the people, otherwise, he will definitely be willing to accept the 20,000 elite soldiers in our hands, and will never attack by force, but has already sent people to persuade him to surrender. ”

In Cao Gang's words, there was a hint of regret. As for whether he really regretted colluding with the Turks or was afraid of death, then only he himself knew. However, one thing is very clear, Cao Gang has already understood that Zhao Xun is afraid that he has no intention of surrendering him. Otherwise, the spies of the Zhao army in the city would not only contact the Bingzhou army, but not the northern army. Without him, in the Northern Army of Bingzhou, the officers and colonels are all members of the Cao clan, and the soldiers are also slaves of the Cao family, and they are extremely loyal to the Cao family. Of course, if the defense of the city fails, the defenders will be killed, and it is not impossible for ordinary soldiers to surrender, but it is not very effective to persuade individual soldiers alone.

"Well, it's useless to say that's all that. Cao Feng immediately went to send a message to Yang Li, asking the Bingzhou army to assist in defending the city, at the very least, to send half of the army to assist in defending the city. Since he is not benevolent, don't blame me for being ruthless, and next, let's start to consume the soldiers of the state army. ”

"Cao Zhi, increase the surveillance in the city, but those whose origins are unknown, all of them will be killed. In addition, a bounty order was posted to reward those spies of the Zhao army. In addition, let the soldiers of the left and right battalions monitor the large battalion of the state army, but there are mutations, and they will be killed. Zhao Xun, take my Cao Gang's life, and I will also let you break a few teeth. We will also integrate the young men we have trained into the army to strengthen our strength. Also, it was announced to the people in the city that Zhao Xun did not accept the surrender of the soldiers and civilians in the city, and intended to destroy the city and slaughter the city in order to swear the military prestige of the Zhao army. ”

"Let the guard battalion inspect the whole city, but those who have the intention of subduing the enemy will be taken down, put into the death slave camp, and defend the city in the southern city. By the way, the prisoners in the prison in the city and those who want to collude with the Zhao army after we take charge of this city will all be put into the slave camp, let them defend the city, and let them consume the Zhao soldiers and arrows together with the Bingzhou army. ”

After all, Cao Gang was a former general of the border army, although his previous feelings were not high, but once he made a decision, he immediately became a decisive person.

Although Yang Li intended to surrender to the Zhao army, he still did not make a final decision after all. Perhaps, in his opinion, Zhao Xun still has the intention of using them to merge the state army and the northern army of the state to consume infighting. Therefore, from the very beginning he has made concessions at every turn. This time, although Cao Gang asked him to send troops to help defend the city, he didn't think much about it. In his opinion, Cao Gang also paid a lot of price for guarding Nancheng.

However, Yang Li didn't expect that Cao Gang at this moment already had the intention of using the Bingzhou Army as cannon fodder. The vast majority of the soldiers of the northern army of Bingzhou who defended the city with the Bingzhou army were prisoners and civilians who intended to surrender to the Zhao army after Cao Gang took over the city. Among them, there are many people of large clans. These big clans just thought that Zhao Xun's occupation of Bingzhou was an unchangeable fact, and they wanted to get in touch with Zhao Jun earlier in order to gain benefits, but they were taken by the Northern Army of Bingzhou.

…………

"Good news, good news, good news!" Zhao Jun's camp, outside the handsome tent, Zhang Yuanjing's voice came from afar, making Zhao Xun feel a trace of curiosity. Although Zhao Xun has always been outside the army, the situation and some government affairs under the rule of Zhao Jun have been transmitted from far away, either openly or covertly, so that he can see them one by one.

"Good news, great news, great news, my lord." As soon as Zhang Yuanjing entered the tent, he said loudly, his face full of joy.

Zhao Xun put down the official document in his hand and said with a smile: "What makes our Master Zhang so excited?" Let's hear it. ”

Zhang Yuanjing handed over the official document in his hand and said with a smile: "My lord, Situ Tai has evacuated, and Li Huaiyuan and other generals have led the army to take over Fenzhou and Changping. It can be said that we have completed the occupation of the annexed state. Our northern strategy has now completed the first big step, which is the most basic and critical step. ”

"Oh? That's great. Immediately send an order to the Chief Secretary of Administration to send additional civil servants to take over these places. It's nothing if it's down, only if this place is well managed and turned into our stable rear is the most important thing. Zhao Xun said with a smile. He had known about these situations for a long time. However, after all, it was information from the Shadow Division, and this was a good news from Li Huaiyuan and others, and the situation was more detailed and clear.

"Yes, very good, this Situ Tai still cares more about his position as King Yongwang after all, and left with 15,000 personal guards. Wei Chen and the others did a good job, otherwise, I was afraid that this Situ Tai would take more people. After reading the detailed report, Zhao Xun said happily.

It turned out that when Wei Chen arrived in Zhenlin County, Situ Tai was collecting troops and expanding his own personal guards. After Wei Chen used both soft and hard methods and secretly implied that his eldest brother did not want him to go back, he just let go of the elite of the 10,000 Bingzhou army that he had just recruited, and just took away the team of pro-guards he brought from Yongzhou.

However, Zhao Xun didn't know that Situ Fei really didn't want Situ Tai to go back, and he also intercepted Situ Lei's herald.

"Lord, information from Yongzhou!" At this moment, Han Meng brought another urgent report.

Zhao Xun opened it and looked at it, and the joy on his face was even greater, and said: "It's really good, now, Bingzhou is really worry-free." ”

"Seeing that the lord is so happy, his subordinates guess that the result of the negotiation between Lord Deng and Situ Lei has come out, and Situ Lei has officially given up this annexed state." Zhang Yuanjing said with a smile.

"That's right, Situ Lei gave up the annexation of the state, and in addition, he also promised us the conditions we needed in advance, opening the border restrictions, and allowing the people of the south to enter the land of the annexation." Zhao Xun said excitedly.

Zhang Yuanjing stroked his palms and smiled: "That's great, my land is vast and sparsely populated, and there is a shortage of people." The land of Yongzhou was plagued by wars and the wanton taxation of the Yongjun army, which made the displaced people everywhere. If Situ Lei relaxes the restrictions, it will be of great benefit to us. It is also a great foundation for our future expansion to the north. ”

"Yes, but so! Although I always thought that Situ Lei would agree to our conditions and give up the annexation of the state, I just didn't expect him to agree so simply to let the people under his rule enter the country. Although he only allowed the displaced people to enter the country, the people in Yongzhou, Liangzhou and other places had already been exploited by him because of the war. Coupled with the current Yongzhou War, the people here are eager to enter our rule. At that time, it is not known how many people will enter the country. ”

"In that case, we need to be ready to respond. Yuan Jing, let Youzhou mobilize grain and grass materials and prepare for it. Especially in the southern part of Bingzhou, which has recently been occupied by us, there must be no more forks, and Situ Lei must take advantage of anything. ”

"What is the war about? Isn't it just soldiers, horses, money, and food, but in the final analysis, the most important and basic thing is the population, the people. Since Situ Lei let go, we should seize it and absorb it vigorously. The land of the annexed state is vast and sparsely populated, even if it enters a population of one or two million, it can also be settled. Besides, between the northwestern part of Bingzhou and the northeastern part of Liangzhou, the territory with several prefectures was about to be taken back from Qianghu. At that time, it is not known how many Han people can be placed to dilute the proportion of Qianghu. Zhao Xun explained in a deep voice.

Zhang Yuanjing responded: "Don't worry, the lord, the adults of the administrative secretary must be prepared. After all, this is also something we planned, and there will be no problems in terms of food and grass. After all, our Zhao army has accumulated for several years, not only did not participate in the war with the southern states, but also carried out good trade with the states and hoarded a lot of grain. Coupled with the livestock seized from the Turks, it was enough to house nearly a million people. It just so happens that now that we have newly occupied the annexed state, we will completely redistribute the land, which can be regarded as solving the worries of these people who have entered the country. ”

"Well, it's time for the Battle of Bingzhou to come to an end. We're here for the final battle. ”

…………

"General, in today's battle, more than 2,000 of our soldiers were killed, while more than 1,500 of the Northern Army of Bingzhou were killed. It can be said that the guards of the southern city suffered heavy losses. "And the state army camp, General Qin Ling frowned and reported.

Yang Xiong didn't wait for Yang Li to speak, he shouted loudly: "Damn, why is the loss so big today? Today is only the sixth day of the Zhao army's siege of the city, and if it continues like this, it will not last for a few days. When the defenders are insufficient, the Zhao army can completely raid any of our city gates and break through them in one fell swoop. This Cao Gang can't be crazy, right, it's completely unnecessary? This Zhao army's siege of the city has been a tentative attack recently, why did it still lose so many soldiers? How many casualties did the Zhao army have? ”

Qin Ling smiled bitterly: "According to the captain in charge of guarding the city today, the Zhao army only lost four or five hundred people. The losses are so big, first, today's Bingzhou Northern Army is in chaos for some reason, and it has not been well defended at all, and it is a chaotic battle. The second is that the general of the Northern Army of Bingzhou insisted on fighting with the Zhao army for archery. The reason is that in the past five days, we have captured too many clusters of arrows from the Zhao army. ”

"It's a pity that Zhao Jun's discipline is moderate, and he has more than fifty catapults and hundreds of bed crossbows, plus Zhao Jun's sharp arrow array, we have been defeated very badly."

Yang Li's brows tightened at the moment, and he didn't speak for a long time. For Cao Gang's crazy move, he didn't know what to say. Yesterday, Cao Gang asked him to send troops to defend the city, and as the lord of the army in the city, he naturally had an unshirkable responsibility. But now it seems that this Cao Gang seems to be the last madness before death, which is really a little unreasonable.

"General, this Cao Gang is clearly crazy, what he did in the north of Bingzhou made King Zhao extremely resentful, and he was determined to kill him. He knew that he couldn't survive and wanted to die with Zhao Jun, but we suffered an unwarranted disaster. General, the lives of nearly 15,000 brothers are in the hands of the general, and Cao Gang must not be allowed to go on like this. General Yang Xing said in a trembling voice.

"Yes, general, if you really fight a decisive battle with Zhao Jun, it's fine, but being sent to death by Cao Gang like this is absolutely impossible. The most hateful thing is that Cao Gang is now in charge of the commander of the city and makes our soldiers obey his orders. Qin Ling also said coldly.

Yang Li's face turned cold, and he said sharply: "Qin Ling, Yang Xing, the two of you should still be in contact with Zhao Jun's people." Go and meet with them to discuss surrender. Since Cao Gang wants us to die, we absolutely don't want to. General Ben decided, surrendered to King Zhao, and no longer accompanied Cao Gang, the bastard, to die together. ”

"Yang Xiong, immediately send an order to the whole army to prepare for battle. Since Cao Gang has just started to go crazy, he must be very wary of us. No matter what, we must take precautions. ”

After Zhao Xun got the news from the city, he immediately discussed the city with the generals. In the end, he reached an agreement with Yang Li and decided to raid the city on the night of the eighth day.

The siege of the city for two days in a row was the same as usual. Although Yang Li was careful and careful, and took precautions and precautions, he was still broken by Cao Gang more than 2,000 people. However, Yang Li also learned that Cao Gang used prisoners as sergeants, which made Yang Li extremely angry, and because of this, he was determined to surrender and work with Zhao Jun to deal with Cao Gang. Subsequently, Yang Li personally met with the Zhao army spies, made a detailed plan, and sent superstitions out of the city during the siege of the city and handed them over to Zhao Xun.