The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

After saying that, Duan Wenyang took the lead and rushed to the front, followed closely by eight hundred warriors. Soldiers had already reported the situation to Kong Chang in the North Gate tent. After hearing this, Kong Chang said:"Generals, lead your brothers immediately to prepare to meet the enemy!"

Kong Chang led two thousand cavalry and waited for Duan Wenyang's attack. arrival. Seeing that the distance between the two sides was less than a stone's throw away, both sides started shooting arrows. The Xianbei cavalry are inherently brave and good at fighting, and they select the best from the best, so they are like tigers descending the mountain. The Jie cavalry were originally afraid of the Xianbei cavalry. Faced with such a fierce and tenacious offensive, more and more Kong Chang's soldiers were shot, either dead or injured. Some soldiers finished shooting the arrows in the quiver and had to flee for their lives. Some fought desperately to kill with the attacking Xianbei cavalry. Kong Chang saw Duan Wenyang rushing over, but it was too late to shoot an arrow, so he took off his sword and fought with Duan Wenyang. The two fought for several rounds, but Kong Chang was unable to defeat him and did not dare to move forward. Duan Wenyang had already seen the north gate of Fuping, so he shouted loudly:"Brothers, charge!"

Shao Ji, Shao Cun, and Shao Lan were watching the battle on the north gate tower. When they saw Duan Wenyang bravely breaking into the enemy's formation and coming to the north gate, they quickly ordered the soldiers:" Open the city gate quickly and welcome General Duan into the city!"

Duan Wenyang led the soldiers who attacked the north gate and rushed into Fuping City, followed by a large group of people led by Duan Pixi. Kong Chang knew how powerful the Xianbei cavalry was, so he had to watch from a distance and did not dare to fight with the Xianbei cavalry again. When the soldiers led by Duan Pixi entered Fuping City and the north gate was closed, Kong Chang led his soldiers again and surrounded the north gate of Fuping City.

Duan Pixi and Duan Wenyang led the troops into Fuping City. Shao Ji, Shao Cun, Shao Lan and other generals came to greet them:"See Mr. Duan and General Duan! Please come to the government office to discuss matters!" When they arrived at Fuping government office, Shao Ji Todoroki asked Duan Pixi to sit on him, but Duan Pixi refused. Shao Ji said:"Mr. Duan, if my father had not fallen into the thieves' trick, he would not have left the city and been captured. When my father was kidnapped by Shihu Wuhuada, he also told us to put your master first!"

Duan Pixi declined several times. , but Shao Ji, Shao Cun, Shao Lan and other generals continued to persuade, and Duan Pizhen sat in Shao Xu's position. Duan Wenyang, Shao Ji and other generals also sat down below. Duan Pixi said:"Shaogong and I have had a long-standing friendship, a friendship that can be learned from heaven and earth, and we are loyal to the court. It's just because of going north for revenge that Shi Hu and Kong Chang have We had an opportunity. Although Wen Yang and eight hundred warriors fought their way into Fuping City, Shi Hu and Kong Chang still besieged Fuping City. What will happen next? What will we do in the future?"

Although Shi Le was not very literate, he said After King Zhao, there was still a magnificent imperial study room built in the palace. When there was no war, Zhang Bin would often come to the Imperial Study Room to explain"Historical Records" to Shi Le.》、《The Analects of Confucius》、《Sun Tzu's Art of War" and other classics. At this time, Shi Le was like a primary school student, listening to Zhang Bin's explanations with great interest and intoxication. Sometimes Shi Le would also ask questions and his own opinions, and Zhang Bin would patiently answer some questions. On this day, Zhang Bin was explaining"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Shi Le said:"Know the enemy and yourself, and you will not be in danger in a hundred battles; don't know the enemy but know yourself, and you will win and lose every time; don't know the enemy and don't know yourself, and you will be in danger in every battle." These few sentences are in the attack chapter. , Sun Wu summarized it very insightfully"

"Sun Wu is an outstanding military strategist who has never been born in China. All generals in later generations, including the founding monarchs, all regard"Sun Tzu's Art of War" as a god."Zhang Bin said. Shi Le nodded and continued:"Sima Rui in the south of the Yangtze River has sent Yangjian to conquer Xu Gong. Xu Gong was defeated and surrendered to Sima Rui. This is very unfavorable for our Zhao State to expand its territory in the east."

"General Ji Long has been besieging Fuping City for some time. How to solve the Xu Gong issue?"Shi Le then asked. Zhang Bin said:"As long as King Zhao asks General Ji Long to send troops from Fuping to surround Boping County, the seat of Taishan County, Xu Gong will obediently switch sides."

"How many troops are needed? Shi Le asked. Zhang Bin said:"King Zhao only needs to send someone to convey the edict and ask General Ji Long in Fuping to lead 20,000 troops to attack Taishan County.""

Shi Hu received Shi Le's order and immediately gathered 20,000 soldiers and horses and set off for Taishan County. Duan Pixi, Duan Wenyang, Shao Ji and others who were standing on the west gate tower of Fuping saw the soldiers and horses surrounding the west gate of Fuping withdraw. After leaving, they all let out a long breath.

Xu Kan's Tan Ma had received the news and hurriedly came to the Boping County Government Office of Taishan County. Before Tan Ma could report, Xu Kan saw that Tan Ma was sweating profusely and asked He said:"Why are you so alarmed?"

"Report to your lord, Shi Le sent Shi Hu from Fuping to lead an infantry of 20,000 horses to Taishan County! Xu Gong stood up and asked,"What?" Shi Hu came with 20,000 troops? Our mere Taishan County has less than 10,000 troops at full capacity. How should we deal with this?"

Yu Yao, the subordinate, said:"Sir, although we nominally surrendered to Sima Rui, the armies led by Yang Jian did not withdraw. This shows that the Jiangnan court is not at ease with us. Now Shihu is here again. With his ferocity and cruelty, we can't stop him at all."

Counsel Liu Xiao said:"If we can't hold on, we may be able to hold on for a while. But consuming it like this is not an option. If Shi Hu breaks the city, all the soldiers and civilians in the city will be killed. Both jade and stone will be destroyed, so it is better to surrender to Shi Hu first. Xu

Gong thought for a while and had to say:"If we surrender to Shi Le and Shi Hu, we will betray Sima Rui." The army led by Yang Jian has become a major threat to us again"

"The current Shihu siege is our top priority."Liu Xiao said:"My lord, if you keep cutting off, you will suffer chaos. If we wait until a fight breaks out before surrendering, we will suffer many casualties. If you surrender if you fail, Shi Hu may not accept it when the time comes."

"That’s all for now! Be treacherous and treacherous, we have no other choice. If Shihu is destroyed, we will have nothing. Then please ask Mr. Liu to go to Shihu Camp outside the city to discuss surrender!"Xu Gong said. Liu Xiao said:"Then I will go to Shihu Camp and ask you to prepare letters and gifts."

Less than two hours later, Liu Xiao came back from outside the city with a smile. Xu Gong felt strange and asked:"Sir, is it possible that Shi Hu didn't agree to your return so soon?"

Liu Xiao continued to smile and said:"Returning to your lord, my meeting with Shi Hu went very smoothly this time. I gave the adult's letter to Shi Hu. Shi Hu read it and agreed without hesitation. Shi Hu happily accepted the gift I brought."

"Does Shi Hu have any requirements?"Xu Gong asked. Liu Xiao said:"Request? There is a request, that is, the adults should replace all the"Jin" flags on the city gates and city walls with"Zhao" flags, and they must obey Shi Hu's orders at all times."