In Changning City, Han Kuangsi and other Khitan generals were aggrieved by the arrogance of the envoys persuaded by the Zhou army to surrender, and they were even more stunned by the news that Xiao Daxiang had already surrendered to the Zhou army and designed a scheme to deal with the Liao army with the Zhou army, and he didn't know what to say. On the contrary, the military tent in the camp of the Zhou army outside the city was full of laughter and excitement. The generals of the Zhou army drank tea and chatted while waiting for their envoy to come back with the letter written by Han Kuangsi himself, so as to start the next step.

However, unlike the heartfelt smiles of other generals, Xiao Daxiang, who was the most critical and important part of this plan to lure Han Kuangsi into the palace and force him to surrender, was a little depressed. Although he also seemed very happy on the surface, and together with Xiao Jixian, he gave tea to Yang Xin, Zeng Zhilin, Cheng Fei, Wang Feng, Wu Peng, Muttel and others, and said a basket of compliments as if he didn't want money, but in his heart he was very entangled and contradictory.

Speaking of which, this time the Zhou army was able to successfully lure the Liao army into the preset ambush circle, on the one hand, it naturally caught the eagerness of Han Kuangsi and other Khitan generals and saviors, and was eager to use a victory to boost morale and hinder the Zhou army's psychology, on the other hand, it also benefited from the careful planning and the wonderful expression of the protagonist Xiao Daxiang. From pretending to be defeated and retreating in order to achieve realistic results, Han Kuangsi was able to believe that he cut several knives and stabbed several shots on himself and several henchmen and soldiers accompanying him, to the time when he raised troops to help the east, he tried his best to get the position of the vanguard officer, and did not hesitate to grab the ground with his head and knock his head into blood, and in order to ensure that the Zhou army's ambush soldiers were not discovered, he carefully but without a trace left out the direction of Guangpingdian where the ambush soldiers were hiding outside the scope of the vanguard troops under his command. Finally, in order to avoid being accidentally injured by the Zhou army's artillery fire, he left the Liao army camp in the name of pursuing the fleeing enemy, and risked being put cold arrows and black hands by his subordinates, and after arriving in Guangpingdian, he asked the Zhou army, which was surrounded by 5,000 soldiers and horses, to give him some time, tell the truth to his subordinates, and persuade everyone to lay down their arms. In order to complete the task assigned to him by Zhou Jun, Xiao Daxiang can be said to have done his best and tried his best, which can be called a fulfilling mission. So much so that when Yang Xin, Zeng Zhilin and others saw him in Guangpingdian, they all gave him a thumbs up and praised him repeatedly.

But the problem is that there are two sides to everything. On the one hand, this lure and annihilation of Han Kuang's heirs was a great success, as a key figure with the first contribution, Xiao Daxiang not only won himself and his family high-ranking officials, glory and wealth, but also enabled his father to get out of the sea of suffering and regain his freedom. On the other hand, as a Khitan general who was favored by the emperor and once made up his mind to be loyal to the monarch and serve the imperial court, what Xiao Daxiang is doing now not only does not conform to any of these points, but betrays the country, the imperial court, the saints, and the clansmen, which is completely contrary to these former ideals, and has become a traitor and sinner in the eyes of the country, the court, the emperor, and the clan. After all, betraying the future and future of a country, a dynasty, or a clan for the sake of one's own and family's reunion, glory, and wealth will be spurned by others no matter what—even if he is forced to be helpless, even if he adapts to the times.

It's just that no matter whether you are conflicted or depressed, these thoughts and feelings can only be stored in your heart, and you must not show them in front of the generals of the Zhou army. Although Yang Dashuai, Zeng Deputy Marshal and others will not punish themselves for their own sins because of their contradictions and depression, once they know that they feel guilty, they will inevitably leave an impression in the other party's hearts that they are "nostalgic for their homeland" and "concerned about the old master", which is very detrimental to the future of themselves and their parents and families. Therefore, although he was unhappy, Xiao Daxiang had to force a smile, and while congratulating the victory of Yongzhou with others in the Chinese military tent, he participated in the discussion and discussed the next move.

With Han Kuangsi's troops being completely annihilated, the next target of the Zhou army naturally fell on Linhuang City, where there were only 10,000 defenders left. Although according to the current strength comparison between the two sides, it is not difficult for the Zhou army to take Linhuang City. However, the Northern Expedition had just begun, and there were still many battles to be fought in the future, and in the case of a way to capture Linhuang City quickly and with minimal losses, Yang Xin, Zeng Zhilin and others obviously would not choose the conventional siege method that might cause more losses to their own side and take longer. Second, as the largest and most prosperous city in Shangjing Province and even the entire Khitan territory, after the end of the Northern Expedition, Linhuang City will inevitably be used by the Later Zhou Dynasty as a strategic place to govern the original Linhuang Mansion and even the entire original Shangjing Road. What's more, the vast majority of the people living in the southern city of Linhuang City were Han Chinese, which was also an important foundation for the Zhou court to rule this area and maintain the stability of this area in the future, so the Zhou army naturally wanted to avoid causing too much additional damage to it.

Therefore, according to the battle plan, this time to capture Linhuang City, Xiao Daxiang, a "traitor" who is both dedicated and has first-class acting skills, will still play the protagonist. However, compared with the operation of luring and destroying Han Kuangsi, which required profound acting skills and multi-party cooperation, the operation of capturing Linhuang City was much simpler. After all, now Yang Xin, Zeng Zhilin and others not only have Xiao Jixian and Xiao Daxiang in their hands, but also Han Kuangsi's seal letter and arrows, and it is much more convenient to do things than the previous Yongzhou siege and annihilation battle. In fact, the plan to capture Linhuang City was very simple, first of all, Xiao Daxiang led a Khitan army disguised by the "Flying Dragon Army" and "Wolf Tooth Battalion", and took the handwritten edict written by Han Kuangsi himself and the arrows that were exchanged as fake, and opened the gate of Linhuang City; Immediately, the soldiers of the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" quickly subdued the defenders of the city gate, signaled, and firmly controlled the city gate before the arrival of their main force; In the end, the main force of the left route army of the Northern Expedition of the Zhou army, which was hidden in ambush in the distance, killed as fast as possible after seeing the signal and captured Linhuang City in one fell swoop.

The battle plan for the capture of Linhuang City was simple, but very practical. Coupled with the excellent performance of Xiao Daxiang, a "traitor", and Han Kuangsi's "initiative" cooperation, there were no accidents or twists and turns in the actual implementation of the plan, and the progress was very smooth.

On the sixth day of the fourth lunar month of the seventh lunar calendar of Jianlong, Xiao Daxiang led 1,500 Khitan soldiers disguised by the officers and soldiers of the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" to arrive at the foot of Linhuang City. Although there has been no news of the 50,000 Qinwang army left behind by Han since the beginning of April, which made the Linhuang City guards a little unsure, Xiao Daxiang relied on his familiar face to the civil and military officials in Linhuang City and Han Kuangsi's handwritten instructions and arrows, and still opened the Dong'an Gate to the east of the Imperial City (North City) of Linhuang City very smoothly.

Although he was not familiar with Xiao Daxiang before, considering that General Xiao, who once fought in Changning and now served as the vanguard officer of the front of King Qin's army, is now a celebrity who stays by the side of the adults, and there are only benefits and no disadvantages in being close to him. Therefore, after opening the city gate, the commander who was responsible for guarding Dong'an Gate hurriedly came down to the city, waited for Xiao Daxiang to enter the city in the city gate, and prepared to use this rare opportunity to say a few words to the other party. Who would have thought that he stepped forward with a flattering face, and was about to bow down, but Xiao Daxiang had already drawn a knife in his hand, and without hesitation, he raised the knife and cut off his head. And the "Liao Army" generals behind Xiao Daxiang attacked at the same time, quickly rushed to both sides of the city gate and the city head, pouring a rain-down barrage on the Liao army who was stunned by the scene in front of them and had not yet come to their senses. For a time, there were gunshots around Dong'anmen, explosions and shouts of killing.

At the end of the sixth day of the fourth lunar month of the seventh year of Jianlong, the left route army of the Northern Expedition of the Later Zhou Dynasty occupied Linhuang City.