Chapter 1241: All Horses Are Silent

Chapter 1241: All Horses Are Silent

In 531 AD, Gao Huan led the soldiers and civilians of the six towns obtained from Er Zhurong's nephew Er Zhu Zhao to leave Jinyang and enter Hebei. Soon after, he established a righteous cause in Xindu and led the people of the six towns to rebel against the powerful people of Hebei. The Erzhu family thus kicked off the rule of the Gao family in Hebei.

To a certain extent, Xindu can also be called the place of Longxing of the Gao family. Because it is located in the heart of Hebei, it has rarely been disturbed by wars since the Gao family established its rule in Hebei. But now, the war has spread to Xindu again.

With the cooperation of Lu Zhengshan brothers' initiative as internal agents, Gao Le easily captured Guangzong City. After Guangzong took a short rest, he led his men straight to Xindu.

At this time, in Xindu City, the King of Rencheng City, Gao Yi, had already learned from the soldiers who had retreated to the city that Gao Xiaoyu had encountered an unfavorable battle with the Wei army. He hurriedly ordered the repairs to the city defenses and sent envoys to nearby parties for help.

Although Gao Le only had 5,000 fine cavalry when he marched north from Yecheng, in addition to these fighting soldiers, he was also assigned a large number of army staff, and most of them were from the Guandong family. In addition to Lu Sidao, there were also Cui Zhan, son of Cui family in Qinghe, and Li Qianzhi, cousin of Li family and Li Tai in Longxi, etc.

Although these people are not outstanding in their ability to kill enemies in battle, they can play a great role in other aspects.

For example, Lu Sidao's letter of persuasion persuaded Lu Zhengshan brothers to surrender, and the relationship between these family members is often complicated. They may not have any common interests or strong alliances on weekdays, but in this critical moment when the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed, , even if they are just involved, lobbying for a united front can get twice the result with half the effort.

After Gao Xiaoyu was captured in Guangzong City, he was still stubborn and refused to cooperate, but Lu Zhengshan brothers had a very positive attitude. After they surrendered, they discovered that not only their cousin Lu Sidao but also their cousin Li Qianzhi were accompanying the army outside the city. Moreover, Li Qianzhi had been appointed as the governor of Jizhou by the king of Tang Dynasty. He could take up the post of administrator and governor of the region as soon as Xindu was captured. They were overjoyed.

Li Qianzhi also held an official position in the Northern Qi Dynasty in his early years, and later went to Guanxi, so he was no stranger to Lu Zhengshan's brothers. When he saw them, he smiled and said: "The king of Tang has sent righteous troops to drive out the bandits, restore control of Hebei, and advance to Yecheng." I feel deeply disappointed when I don't see any relatives and friends coming to greet you. Fortunately, my dear brothers are no longer insisting on going their own way and have the courage to correct themselves. I will tell the king of Tang that you and others have been unable to help themselves in the past few days, but my dear brothers also have to help. I will restore favor in Jizhou and stabilize the situation in the region!”

"I was hijacked by the crowd before and couldn't stay in the city to wait for Master Wang. I already regretted it in my heart. Now that my cousin has come here with determination, we will naturally be the pioneers and hope to pacify Jizhou as soon as possible!"

After hearing this, Lu Zhengshan's brothers all nodded in agreement, feeling a little regretful in their hearts. Previously, members of their lineage felt that they had a close relationship with the Gao family and would be more prosperous if they stayed in Hebei, so they did not follow Lu Shuhu's family when they headed west.

At this time, they heard that Li Qianzhi said that the King of Tang was dissatisfied because he did not stay in Yedu. Naturally, they felt more regret in their hearts. They just wanted to show their performance in subsequent actions and gain the understanding and appreciation of the King of Tang.

However, although Lu Zhengshan and others wanted to perform again, there was really not much room for them to perform next. These Guandong clans were able to gain a foothold in the Northern Qi Dynasty mainly because they were Qingliu nobles. They had been away from their hometown for a long time, and there were others who really controlled the influence of Jizhou's hometown.

When Gao Le led his army to the foot of Xindu City, the size of his army also increased. In addition to Gao Xiaoyu's men who surrendered in Guangzong City, there were also other powerful men who led their troops to defect along the way.

It should be noted that the Gao family of Bohai, where Gao Le was born, could once be regarded as the most powerful in Hebei. Especially in the early days of the founding of Gao Huanxin's capital, the Gao family of Bohai under the leadership of brothers Gao Gan and Gao Aocao enjoyed even more privileges. He has the status of a powerful sect leader in Hebei Province.

However, as the Gao brothers died one after another, the only remaining member of his generation, Gao Zhongmi, although still held a high position in the Western Wei Dynasty, had been away from his hometown for a long time, and his influence on the local area was also sharply reduced.

Although Gao Dezheng, who was also born in the Bohai Gao family, won Gao Yang's trust and held a high position in the court in his early years, he always hoped to return to Jizhou to re-establish his local power, but in the end he died in an attempt, leaving the Bohai Gao family The influence of both the government and the opposition has plummeted.

However, this time Gao Le, as the leader of the Wei army, led his army back to Jizhou with a strong attitude, which still made many people recall the glory of the Bohai Gao family in the countryside in the old years. In addition, due to various trends The judgment of good luck and avoidance of bad luck led to many powerful clansmen from the countryside joining their ranks.

There were not many defenders in Xindu City, so Gao Min could only stay in the city and did not dare to take the initiative to attack. He watched the Wei army outside the city continue to absorb the powerful troops around him, and the team grew bigger and bigger, and he couldn't help but feel anxious for a while.

Gao Min was not a useless mediocre person. Although he was not sure of repelling the Wei army outside the city, he had his own analysis of the situation. He summoned Sima Fengxun of Jizhou under his command and said: "Many people in the country are ignorant and illiterate. , seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and rarely have far-sightedness.

Now the Wei State has sent the sons of the Gao Situ tribe to attack, and what they are trying to do is nothing more than the locals joining the thieves and aiding in the rebellion because they follow local righteousness and are afraid of hard times. The Sima clan is also a male clan and the leader of the village. If it is destroyed by it now, it will probably be difficult for the village to tolerate it in the future! Now I stick to Xindu and ask Sima to rush to the countryside and ask for help from the Bohai Sea. If we can defeat the enemy's city, then the Jun family will be the first to save Hebei! "

After the decline of the Bohai Gao family, they were replaced by the Bohai Feng family. It cannot be said to be a replacement. When it comes to the control of nostalgia forces, the Feng family is not inferior to the Gao family. However, Gao Qian was famous in Luoxia and Gao Aocao in his early years. It was his unparalleled martial arts skills that enabled the Bohai Gao family to overpower the Feng family in their early years.

Although the Feng family is low-key, they are more solid. They have good friendships with the Guandong family and Jinyang nobles. They still have a rural capital influence that cannot be ignored in Hebei. Although Feng Zihui died in the battle in Huainan before, his younger brother Feng Zixiu still serves as the governor of Bohai and Zaimu Township.

Gao Min knew that it was impossible to count on the surrounding states to send troops for rescue, but if the Bohai Feng clan was willing to come forward to rescue, at least he could disperse many of the Hebei powerful men who gathered around the Wei army.

These powerful men are either dissatisfied with being oppressed by the Xianbei people, or they are greedy for misfortune and want to speculate, and they do not have a strong fighting spirit. Once they are intimidated and dispersed, they will definitely be able to greatly defeat the power of the Wei army. Maybe he could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Local powerful people are a special kind of existence. If you simply talk to them about the justice of the family and the country, they may not be able to listen. But if we talk about rural strife, then their vigilance will be heightened.

The Bohai Feng clan may not be truly loyal to the Northern Qi court, and the arrival of the Wei army may not be such a terrifying thing for them. If they can't defeat them, just join, just like when the Bohai Gao clan and the Feng clan jointly general Gao Welcome to Xindu City.

But now that Gao Le, as the general of the Western Wei Dynasty, is leading his army back, Feng has to wonder whether he will rely on the support of the Western Wei Dynasty to destroy the order of nostalgia that has been led by Feng over the years?

Due to limited strength, the Wei army outside the city could not completely surround Xindu City. Therefore, under Gao Mi's arrangement, Feng Xun quickly fled out of the city, returned to his hometown, and conveyed Gao Mi's wishes to Feng Zixiu.

After listening to Feng Xun's story, Feng Zixiu also frowned and said: "How can the Hebei tribes be more grateful than the Gao family? Gao Aocao still has the title of king even though his bones are rotten. My father and brother both died. It's just a courtesy. Once the Gao family wanted to gain power, they joined the Western bandits, and now they are bringing trouble to the countryside. It is really disgusting! If the king of Tang really wants to follow the destiny, I will not be able to stop him, but if the Gao family thinks that he can attach the tail, Bullying me, that’s just a dream!”

Although he said something fierce, Feng Zixiu did not dare to directly send troops to rescue Xindu City. Because he knew that once he took action, the nature would no longer be a rural struggle, and his enemy would not be Gao Le, a wanderer who returned to his hometown, but the huge army of the King of Tang and the Western Wei Dynasty behind him!

Before Jinyang carried out substantial rescue operations against Hebei, Feng Zixiu did not dare to make any pretense without authorization. But he also knew how to protect the territory in troubled times. While gathering the elite soldiers of his clan in Bohai City, he also sent orders to the powerful people in Bohai Township, ordering them not to leave the country without permission and join the Wei army.

The Feng clan of Bohai is worthy of the heroic clan of Hebei. Feng Zixiu gathered thousands of armored soldiers in the county and city with a single order. This is because his brother Feng Zihui died in the battle in Huainan, and many rural soldiers were exiled to the Southern Dynasties. Otherwise, it would be easy to raise thousands of troops.

It is precisely because of such strong local power that the Bohai Feng family was able to have good luck among the Guandong aristocratic families and the Jinyang nobles. It can be said to be a relatively special and transcendent family in the current situation of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Even the dandy sons of Jinyang Xungui who have high standards do not dare to be rude when facing the Feng family.

Feng Zixiu did not listen to Gao Mi's move and raised troops to rescue him, and his response in other aspects was also not ideal. Gao Rui, Prince of Zhao County, was the governor of Cangzhou, but he turned a deaf ear to the letter asking for help from Jizhou and made no response at all.

In addition to Cangzhou's own lack of strength, the relationship between Gao Rui and Gao Mi was already somewhat bad. Gao Rui lost his father when he was young, and his father, Gao Chen, was punished to death for hooking up with his sister-in-law, Xiaoerzhu. Gao Min was Xiaoerzhu's son.

It's hard to say whether the grudges between the elders are good or bad, but with such a connection, this pair of cousins ​​also dislike each other. At present, the situation in Hebei has greatly collapsed. It is naturally impossible for Gao Rui to risk his life and abandon his town to lead the few people to rescue Gao Min.

The governor of Yingzhou was Lou Dingyuan, the king of Linhuai. He responded, but not to rescue Jizhou. Instead, he hoped that Gao Min could take advantage of the Western Wei army to transport the goods and materials stored in Xindu City before the entire army arrived. Come to Yingzhou and then take the opportunity to break out. Instead of rescuing him, he wanted to take advantage of him. This is also normal. As long as the surname is Lou among the nobles in Jinyang of the Northern Qi Dynasty, there is a 90% chance that they are cheating.

The surrounding friendly forces are all unreliable, and each only cares about themselves, which makes Gao Min feel helpless. Seeing that the Wei army began to build a long siege outside the city and build various siege equipment, and the people in the city were turbulent and uneasy, Gao Min did not dare to sit still and wait for death, and began to prepare to wait for an opportunity to counterattack and break through, but he was still unable to do so. Able to make decisions.

Just after being trapped in Xindu City for several days, the Wei army outside the city suddenly moved to the west. The movement was often hasty, and it seemed that something had happened to the west.

Although he suspected that the Wei army might be cheating, Gao Zhan decided to give it a try and sent the chief historian Yuwen Zhongluan to lead 2,000 elite soldiers to chase and kill the Wei army while it was retreating westward.

At first, the sudden attack by the Qi army out of the city did catch the peripheral forces of the Wei army off guard. Those powerful troops who were slower in action were frightened and fled in all directions. But soon this Qi army was counterattacked by the Wei army. The Wei army's main general Gao Le personally led the elite soldiers to kill Yuwen Zhongluan directly in the battle, and chased and killed him all the way to the city of Xindu.

Gao Xi in the city was already suspicious, and he was even more frightened after seeing this scene. He immediately ordered all the gates in the city to be blocked, and never dared to send armored soldiers out of the city to test easily.

But Gao Xi didn't know that Gao Le's troops were indeed ordered to retreat westward and prepare to go to Zhaozhou west of Jizhou to participate in the war. Because Duan Shao, who had been stationed in Jingxing, finally led his army south and prepared to go south to participate in the war. The King of Tang in Yecheng was preparing to fight with the new force of Northern Qi near Zhaozhou, so he ordered Gao Le to lead his troops near Zhaozhou to pose a certain flank threat to the Qi army.

If Gao Xi was more decisive here, not just testing, but sending the main force to attack, he might be able to force Gao Le's troops to retreat. Even if he couldn't, he could get in touch with Duan Shao again.

But he was too cherishing his life after all, and couldn't make up his mind to fight. He retreated after a slight setback and missed this opportunity to get out of trouble.

However, at this time, the reaction of the Northern Qi side on the entire Hebei battlefield was a little slow. In the final analysis, both the enemy and us were somewhat unable to adapt to Gao Zhan's trick. Although the Western Wei side was a little aggressive, as the attacking side, after all, it held the initiative and soon regained its rhythm.

On the other hand, in the Northern Qi, not to mention Gao Xi, who lacked much strategic talent, even Duan Shao, a general who could stabilize the country, was somewhat at a loss and did not make an excellent response to the change.

In the final analysis, it was a question of stance. Duan Shao obeyed the emperor's order before and resolutely gave up Yecheng when the situation had not become so dangerous, and chose to summon the Hebei soldiers to Jinyang.

But before he arrived in Jinyang, the Western Wei took further action, revealing its intention to attack Shangdang. As a result, Duan Shao was unable to rescue Shangdang, and was worried that the Wei army would take advantage of the situation in Shangdang, so he retreated to Jingxing, and ended up letting Yecheng fall.

In the final analysis, the increasingly fierce internal contradictions in the Northern Qi also affected the judgment of generals like Duan Shao. When making choices, they were more based on stance rather than reality and reason.

As a representative of Jinyang nobles, Duan Shao is certainly qualified to make such a choice. Now, with the huge variable of the Western Wei Tang Wang entering Hebei, the phenomenon of Hebei's silence and passiveness also shows that the people of Hebei will also make judgments and choices in accordance with their hearts when objective conditions permit.

Although the Jinyang armed forces group still exists, making the people of Hebei dare not turn to the Western Wei and submit to the Tang Wang, it is also a dream to expect them to work hard for the Northern Qi and act as cannon fodder in the front!

If the Gao family and the Jinyang nobles still want to ride on the heads of the people of Hebei, then you have to take a walk first to see whether you are a mule or a horse.

If you can repel the Wei army with your own strength, then there is nothing to say. The master is still the master, and the cattle and horses are still cattle and horses. But if you are no longer strong and are whipped like pigs and dogs, then I'm sorry, everyone has to welcome the king's division with food and drink!

When he heard that Ye City had fallen, Duan Shao did not rush south to rescue immediately. Although he was worried about the safety of Jinyang and affected the speed of action, he also overestimated the ruling inertia of Northern Qi in Hebei. He probably thought that the local forces in Hebei prefectures and counties would resist the Wei army and cause some trouble to the Wei army.

Seeing that the situation in Hebei was becoming more and more depressing, all parties kept a cold eye on the fall of Ye City. Duan Shao hurriedly led his troops south again. The timing was not too good.

But even if it was a missed opportunity to make up for the loss, there were variables. Duan Shao's vanguard stopped after arriving in Zhaozhou and stopped moving forward.

Li Tai in Ye City was already ready for battle. After learning that the Qi army had stopped, he became suspicious, so he sent many scouts to the north to investigate. Soon after, the scouts reported to Duan Shao that the main force had retreated north again.

"There must be a breakthrough in the north!"

After learning about the strange behavior of the Qi army, Li Tai immediately understood that Jinyang, the fundamental place, must be under greater threat, which made the Qi army so confused that the army had already set out to the south but suddenly retreated in a hurry.

However, since the two armies were too far apart, it was very difficult to communicate and cooperate with each other. Li Tai could not know the specific schedule of Yang Zhong's army. He could only make judgments and coordinated actions based on the more obvious behavior of the Qi army.

At this time, this Qi army returned halfway, and Li Tai did not order the army to pursue it directly. Instead, he sent Gao Lin to lead 3,000 elite soldiers to the north to assist Gao Le in capturing Jizhou, and at the same time sent several divisions to divide the remaining counties in Hebei.

If Duan Shao's army still turned a blind eye to this and did not resist, it would mean that Yang Zhong and other divisions had indeed successfully come south and forced the Qi army not to move easily. At that time, it would be the time for all the armies to enter Jinyang together!