-- August 31, the twenty-third year of Hongwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, east of Gucheng, under the city--

When Li Shou and Xie An led an army of 50,000 to arrive at the city of Gucheng, the defenders of Gucheng had already led more than 10,000 soldiers, lined up neatly under the city, and waited solemnly.

Looking at Ou Peng standing in front of the army with a gun, looking coldly in his direction, Li Shou suddenly said, "Xie An, this king suddenly found a loophole in your plan......

"Huh? What vulnerability? Xie An was stunned and looked at Li Shou in surprise.

At this time, Xie An was trying to put the 50,000 troops into a crescent array, and ordered Fei Guo and Li Jing to act as the two ends of the crescent array, so that when Zhang Dongju surrendered, he took advantage of the chaos of Ou Peng's army to surround the more than 10,000 rebels.

"Haven't you thought about it?" Frowning, Li Shou suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Although the addition of Zhang Dong's 20,000 rebels will inevitably bring enough courage to Ou Peng, so that he has the courage to go out of the city to fight our army, but have you ever thought that Ou Peng may also ask Zhang Dong to go out of the city to fight, and he himself will be ...... the city tower?"

Xie An sighed and shook his head when he heard this, and said with a bit of mockery, "Your Highness Shou, you, just be your puppet commander, right?" Good no good? ”

"You...... Did you think of it? ”

"This kind of thing ......" Xie An couldn't cry and laughed, and said angrily, "Isn't this simple?" As long as Zhang Dong suggested to Ou Peng to defend the ancient city and refuse to fight! -- Luoyang's experience is in front of him, Ou Peng said that he didn't dare not go out of the city, he saw that Zhang Dong didn't dare to go out of the city to face the battle, and he was bound to go out in person. Does this need to be asked? ”

"Huh?" Li Shou was stunned, and then asked in surprise, "But in this case, won't Ou Peng suspect Zhang Dong?" ”

"What is there to doubt? Zhang Dong was originally cautious, seeing that the reinforcements from Hangu Pass were coming, he wanted to defend the ancient city to the death and refused to fight, would this arouse Ou Peng's suspicions? With that, Xie An paused, and Zhengse said. Don't worry, what I taught Zhang Dong is something I have thought about dozens of times, and I will never make a mistake! ”

"Dozens of times?" Li Shou's eyes faintly showed a little disbelief.

"Ah, dozens of times...... After all, once a mistake occurs, it is a dereliction of duty for a general to pay the price for the lives of his soldiers and sacrifice the lives of his subordinates when it is not necessary! ”

"......" Li Shou opened his mouth. looked at Xie An with a little astonishment and a little surprise, and suddenly nodded in admiration. Gaze at Ou Peng in the distance, suddenly, he turned his head, looked at Xie An and said with a chuckle, "By the way, there is something I forgot to say, this king suddenly discovered that you are actually very good at figuring out people's hearts......"

"Huh?" Xie An looked at Li Shou with a strange expression, which made Li Shou a little speechless.

"Hey, hey. It's praise, praise! - That's it! Shaking his head with a smile, Li Shou once again focused his attention on Ou Pengjun in the distance, and said, "Let this king and the soldiers of the whole army see it, your decisive and different tactics from the eldest grandson's military division,!" ”

"It depends...... Zhang Dong is gone! He said. Xie An looked up at the top of the castle tower in Gu City.

According to his agreement with Zhang Dong, once Zhang Dong took control of Gucheng, he would hang the blue striped and corrugated banner of the Zhou army on the tower.

But until now, this flag has not appeared above the castle tower.

Said Xie An was not worried. That was obviously self-deception, but he also knew that Zhang Dong needed time to control Gu Cheng, so he was not in a hurry to fight Ou Peng.

After all, in Xie An's expectations, even Ou Peng had to be convinced, otherwise, only the 50,000 Zhou troops of the Western Expedition, even if Zhang Dong's 20,000 soldiers were added, it would only be 70,000, and such a force would be difficult to attack Hangu Pass, a dangerous pass with 100,000 troops.

Not to mention anything else, at least in terms of troops, it has to be on par with Hangu Pass, after all, Xie An does not have the certainty of capturing Hangu Pass with tens of thousands of people, and he is not the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly, Xie An's eyes widened, because he saw that on the tower of the east gate of Gucheng, the banner of the blue striped water ripples of the Zhou army of the Western Army had been hung.

"Good!" Looking at the familiar banner of the Zhou army, Xie An couldn't help but scream secretly.

At the same time, Ou Peng still stood in front of the army on horseback, looking at the Zhou army of the Western Expedition only one mile away from him with a puzzled expression.

I have to say that Ou Peng is really a little incomprehensible to the neat formation of the Zhou army, but there is no change in the slightest.

However, he did not take the initiative to step forward to fight the Zhou army, after all, in his opinion, it would not be long before the reinforcements of Hangu Pass could rush to Gucheng, as long as Gucheng did not fall before he arrived, it would be his Ou Peng's victory.

In the final analysis, the reason why he led his army out of the city to meet the battle was just that he was afraid that Gu Cheng would follow in the footsteps of Luoyang.

Suddenly, Ou Peng's eyes showed a little surprise, because he saw that one of the Zhou troops of the Western Expedition on the opposite side slowly walked out on a war horse, and slowly came to the front of the battle with an escort.

After a closer look, Ou Peng found that the man was only seventeen or eighteen years old.

What's going on?

Send a stinky brat to shout?

Thinking of this, Ou Peng's eyes slowly showed a little contempt, waved his hand to signal the soldiers under his command, and slowly stepped forward on his horse.

The two of them stopped at a distance of about seven or eight feet.

There is no doubt that it was Xie An, who deliberately wanted to surrender Ou Peng, and the one who acted as a guard beside him was the general Su Xin.

"At your feet is the defender of Gucheng, General Ou Pengou, right? In Xia Xie An, polite ......"

"......" glanced at Su Xin, who was beside Xie An with a vigilant look on his sword, Ou Peng hugged his fists, looked at Xie An and said with a sneer, "Is there no one in the Zhou army of the Western Expedition?" I sent you, a stinky boy, to come forward...... Anyway, what's the matter? ”

"Heh," Xie An smiled slightly, clenched his fists and said, "This official came today to show the way for the general......"

"Minglu?" As if thinking of something, Ou Peng showed a somewhat contemptuous smile on his face and said mockingly. "What a clear road, let's hear it!"

Ignoring the mocking tone in Ou Peng's words, the smile on Xie An's face slowly retracted, and he said, "General Ou, treason is a major crime. Or it can counteract the sin of rebellion! ”

"Ridiculous!" Ou Peng sneered when he heard this, pouted and said, "Boy, do you think that with a few words from you, General Ben will surrender the city?" Less daydreaming! Let me tell you clearly, the reinforcements from Hangu Pass are coming, if you can't conquer Gucheng before my reinforcements arrive, hum. You and these soldiers and horses will all die here! ”

"Conquer Valley City?" The corners of Xie An's mouth. Gradually, he smiled a little, looked at Ou Peng intently, and said slowly, "Gu Cheng's words, this official has already taken it!" ”

"What?" Ou Peng was stunned when he heard this, and then laughed, and his laughter was full of mockery.

Seeing this, Xie An was not annoyed, and said lightly. "If the general doesn't believe it, just look back...... Rest assured, the General Su next to the officer, just to protect the officer, will never take the opportunity to hurt the general's hair, the general can rest assured to look back! ”

"......" Looking at Xie An's indifferent smile, Ou Peng frowned. While guarding Su Xin, he glanced in the direction of Gu Cheng behind him.

In an instant, his face was covered with shock.

At the same time, Xie An's indifferent words came from in front of him.

"The general thinks the officer doesn't know you're stalling for time? No, no, no. The reason why the officer did not immediately order the general to engage troops is the same as the general...... Ah, this official is also stalling for time! ”

"......" Ou Peng looked at Gu Cheng in disbelief for a while, and suddenly, he was shocked, as if he understood everything, and gritted his teeth and scolded, "Zhang Dong! - You greedy for life and afraid of death! actually defected to Zhou Jun! Saying this, he turned his head suddenly, like an enraged beast, staring at Xie An deadly, his eyes full of murderous intent.

Seeing this, Su Xin subconsciously pulled out the saber on his waist, however, Xie An waved his hand, then looked at Ou Peng and said with a chuckle, "Greedy for life and afraid of death, there is nothing wrong!" Defect to my Zhou army, there will be nothing wrong, general, don't forget, the general is also my big Zhou man, only because of a misunderstanding in Nanyang and Luoyang a few years ago, which caused the general and others to go astray and oppose the Great Zhou......" However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Ou Peng.

"Don't talk nonsense, so far, it's just a battle to the death!" With that, Ou Peng immediately pulled out the blade at his waist, and then raised his left hand, as if to order the whole army to march.

Seeing this, Xie An raised his eyebrows and shouted in a deep voice, "General, slow down!" -- Doesn't the general want to know, why did General Zhang Dong and Zhang take refuge in our Zhou army, and why did he dare to take refuge in our Zhou army? ”

"......" Ou Peng's movement of raising his left hand froze slightly, and after taking a deep look at Xie An, he slowly put it down, as if waiting for Xie An's explanation.

"This official thinks that General Ou should also know General Zhang Dong, and that's why the general handed over the ancient city to General Zhang Dong to guard...... For Zhang Dong to live up to General Ou's trust, the official will make amends on his behalf, after all, that is what the official meant......"

“……”

"Therefore, General Ou should also know that General Zhang Dong is not a person who gives up his dignity as a general for the sake of money and other mundane things......" As he spoke, Xie An told Ou Peng all about his agreement with Zhang Dong, only to hear Ou Peng's face change again and again.

Raising his hand and pointing around, Xie An said in a deep voice, "The current situation, the general should also see it, our army surrounds the general on three sides, and the only way out behind the general, Gucheng, has also been taken by this official, in other words, the general and the generals under the general's command are difficult to fly with wings, in this case, why not follow General Zhang Dong and abandon the darkness and turn to the light?" ”

After Xie An's finger, Ou Peng noticed that the Zhou army of the Western Expedition, which had not made any moves, had now surrounded him and the army under his command on three sides, as Xie An said, but the defenders above Gucheng turned a blind eye to the Zhou army under the city that was close at hand.

"Abandon the darkness and turn to the light?" Ou Peng laughed miserably.

"Obviously there is a chance to stand up and be a man, but the general is so hard to insist on being a thief? The world, after all, is the world of my Great Zhou, although the rebels are in a corner of peace, but after all, it is difficult to last long...... How can it compete with the entire Great Zhou? ――I hope that the general will take care of the soldiers under his command, take care of the relatives at home, rein in the precipice, and turn back to the shore! ”

Ou Peng was silent when he heard this, and after looking at Xie An a few times, he frowned and said, "If Ou surrenders, you may pardon our sins?" Forgive the sins of our family members? ”

"Of course not!" Xie An shook his head and said. "The law of the country and the rule of the family are not easily pardoned? -- Just as the official said to General Zhang Dong, everything depends on the general himself! - Just like General Zhang Dong, the official promised him that as long as he was willing to surrender, the official would intercede with the Holy Lord on his behalf and forgive his family for the crime of sitting together, but he still could not escape the death penalty himself...... But now Zhang Dong has fulfilled his promise. If General Zhang Dong follows his official to establish meritorious service in the battle at Hangu Pass, the punishment of beheading will be reduced to confiscation, and so on......"

Ou Peng was angry and annoyed when he heard this, gritted his teeth and scolded, "What a Zhang Dong." I actually regard my Ou Peng as a stepping stone to forgiveness of sins......" As he spoke, he looked up at Xie An.

It seems to have seen through what Ou Peng was thinking. Xie An chuckled and said, "General Ou rest assured, as long as all the generals are sincere and abandon the darkness and turn to the light, once they take Hangu Pass, all those who are guilty of crimes will be sentenced to confiscation and will be exempted from capital crimes!" If meritorious service is established in battle, the penal code shall be reduced step by step until the cane ......"

"Can I trust you?" Ou Peng looked at Xie An intently.

Xie An nodded. He chuckled and said, "General Zhang Dong said the same thing, and then ...... He believed! ”

"......" Ou Peng frowned slightly, glanced back at Gu Cheng behind him, and then looked at Xie An deeply, and suddenly, he took a deep breath. Turned over and dismounted, knocked on one knee, and knelt in front of Xie Anma.

"The sin general Ou Peng, more than 10,000 soldiers in Linggu City...... Surrender! ”

See here. Xie An also turned over and dismounted, took a few steps forward, stretched out his hands, helped Ou Peng up, and said with a smile, "General, please get up...... If the general doesn't mind, this officer has an idea that can make the general pardon Ling Chi's sin right away......"

Ou Peng was stunned, and then seemed to think of something, and said hesitantly, "What does Master Xie mean...... Reinforcements from Hangu Pass? ”

"Exactly! ――I wonder if the general would like to take over this errand? ”

Looking at Xie An deeply for a long time, Ou Peng nodded heavily.

At the same time, more than 100 zhang away from Xie An, Ou Peng, Su Xin and others, Yan Kai, one of the four generals of the Eastern Army's Shenwu Battalion, looked at Xie An in front with a faint smile......

"It seems that before Hangu Pass, there is no need for you and me......"

Beside Yan Kai, Chen Gang pouted and said, "It's hard to say! -- This risky way of using troops......"

"But it works, doesn't it? Calculate, I have 80,000 soldiers now, maybe I can get enough 100,000 before Hangu Pass! Yan Kai smiled and touched the stubble on his chin, and his mind couldn't help but recall his conversation with the eldest grandson Xiangyu at the city gate.

"Interesting ......"

Looking at Xie An, who was standing side by side with Ou Peng in the distance, as if he was telling him something, Yan Kai grabbed the beard on his chin, and a somewhat inscrutable smile rose at the corner of his mouth.

"I know that kid better than Miss...... Is it? The eldest grandson ......"

Beside him, Chen Gang frowned and glanced at him.

On August 31, the 23rd year of Hongwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when the rebels of Hanguguan had not yet arrived at Gucheng, Xie An said that he had surrendered the Gucheng defender Ou Peng, and the soldiers took Gucheng without bloodshed, and continued his strategy that shocked the courtiers of Jijing in the future......

-- At the same time, 700 miles south of Luoyang, Dagu Pass--

"Zhou Jun is killed! Zhou Jun is killed! ”

"What's going on? Where did the Zhou army come from? ”

"I don't know ......"

"Ah......h

"Break the barrier, break the barrier......"

In a noisy noise, Liu Yi, as the main general, took the lead, broke through the gate of the pass, and led his soldiers and horses to rush up.

Although the rebels on the pass resisted to the death, it was a pity that although the Dagu Pass was a pass, the city wall was much lower than that of Luoyang, and it was powerless to return to the sky when the gate was breached.

What's more, the archers led by Xiang Qing and Luo Chao have always suppressed the defenders on the Guanlou and the wall with bows and arrows.

When the first rebel desperately dropped his weapon, the war was over, and all that remained was to clean up the battlefield and dispose of the captured rebels.

Just when the Zhou army of the Western Expedition was cleaning up the corpses near Dagu Pass, the eldest grandson Xiangyu came slowly with more than 100 guards.

Seeing this, Liu Yi, the commander of this army, walked in front of the eldest grandson Xiangyu in a few steps, hugged his fists and said, "Military division, the last general has taken Dagu Pass!" ”

"Hmm!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu nodded slightly, then played with the folding fan in his hand, and said with a chuckle, "It's a little slower than what this military division envisioned......

Liu Yi's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he hurriedly explained, "If the last general is negligent, it is actually the rebel army who attacked fiercely at the beginning, and it was inevitable that there would be multiple injuries, so I didn't dare to attack, and I hope that the army will forgive me!" ”

"Okay, this military division just said it casually, and I didn't mean to blame you for waiting...... Pass the order down, bury the pot to make rice, wait for the meal, and rush to the new city! - Soldiers, nobles, and speed! Arrive at the city before the rout returns to the new city! ”

"No!" Liu Yi nodded, and suddenly, he raised his head and said, "Military division, what to do with the more than 300 rebels captured?" ”

I saw the eldest grandson Xiangyu standing on the city tower, looking at the direction of Gucheng from afar, and said lightly without looking back, "Kill!" - By the way, remember to peel off their armor, this army will be useful! ”

“…… Be! ”

At this time, Xiang Qing also walked away from the building, and saw the eldest grandson Xiangyu silently looking at the direction of Gu Cheng, grinning, and said, "Eldest grandson military division, are you thinking about a certain bastard boy?" ”

"No!" Eldest Sun Xiangyu shook his head and said lightly, "I have a hunch that at this time, he has probably taken Gucheng...... I really want to do it, but I can still do it! ”

Xiang Qing's face showed a bit of strangeness when he heard this, and he said hesitantly, "Is the military advisor so sure?" ”

"Giggle...... "Eldest Sun Xiangyu chuckled, but did not speak.

Seeing this, Xiang Qing didn't ask any more questions, stood in Guan Lou and looked around boredly, suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and said, "Speaking of which, is the military division's itinerary a little faster in the past few days?" If we want to attack Hangu Pass with Li Shou and Xie An's kid's army, we will wait for this partial division, but we will have to slow down the journey......"

"Front-and-back attack?" Hearing this, the eldest grandson Xiangyu smiled slightly, and snapped the folding fan in his hand. "Ah, that, that's just what I said casually, from the beginning, I didn't expect Xie An's 70,000 army...... When that guy is playing with the rebels under Hangu Pass, I will capture Chang'an in advance and end this battle! - Xie An, you have to hurry up, otherwise, you won't be able to finish it in time......"

“……”