Chapter 670: Zhao Kuo breaks through

"Report to the general, good news came from Huguan. Duke of Wu and His Highness of Wei led his army to capture Huguan and headed towards the eldest son of Shangdang County!" In Liyang City, while Xue Rengui summoned all the generals under his command to discuss good strategies for dealing with the Zhao army, the chief clerk of the army came in and bowed and said.

When everyone heard this, they were stunned for a moment, and then they were all ecstatic. Qin Lie, the general of Longxiang Guard, laughed and said, "The old man is not old, and he will break Huguan in one battle, which will greatly boost our army's power."

"Not bad!" Deng Qiang, the general of Jinwu Guard, also smiled and said, "Duke Wu is worthy of being the first general of our dynasty. Huguan is a famous natural barrier in the world. Duke Wu sent troops within a few days and broke into the city, showing his style of famous generals. He is really a role model for us!"

Xue Rengui took the news from the chief clerk, looked carefully, and showed a long-lost smile on his face, and said, "Huguan City is broken and he is forcing his eldest son. The old Duke really gave me a big surprise. I don't believe it. The old Duke's soldiers surrounded the eldest son. After Li Rubing and Zhao Kuo learned the news, can he sit still? Although the veteran Chen Ping has nearly 100,000 troops in his hands, he may not be able to stop the old Duke's military power."

"What the general said is that once the old Duke takes over his eldest son, he can go straight to Taiyuan County. That is where the capital of Zhao State Jinyang is located. The main army of Zhao State is concentrated in Shangdang County and Wei County. Taiyuan County will only have 30,000 to 40,000 people. As long as we can defeat Li Rubing and Zhao Kuo in Wei County, the overall situation will be settled!" Murong Ke said.

Xue Rengui nodded and said, "Murong Cheqi is right. Now the old Duke has made contributions. As the main general of this battle, we cannot be behind others. Pass the order to rectify the troops and follow the general to attack Neihuang. Murong Cheqi will lead the Shence Guard and the elite Shenxing Guards to form a village outside Fanyang City. Before I capture Neihuang, Li Rubing must not leave Fanyang!"

Murong Ke nodded and smiled, "Please rest assured that the general is here. Li Rubing can only stay in Fanyang obediently and never think about going anywhere. Having said that, Li Rubing's famous general has been listening to it for many years and has never fought with him. This time, I must compete with him well and consider the methods of this number one general in Zhao State."

On the eighth day of the fifth month of the Tiantong year, Yue Fei and Deng Yu led 50,000 Anguowei to capture Huguan and forcing Changzicheng, the Shangdang County Chief of the Zhao State. Zheng Xuan, the general of Zhao, who went to Huguan to reinforce, failed to rescue Huguan, so he led his troops to retreat to Changzicheng. At the same time, he sent Gao Du to Chen Ping and asked him to retreat to the eldest son.

On May 12, Xue Rengui sent Murong Ke to lead the Shence Guard, and the Shenxing Guard went north to Fanyang, while Qi himself led the main army to march inward.

On May 15, Murong Ke led Shencewei and Shenxingwei arrived thirty miles west of Fanyang to form a village, cutting off the route of Fanyang Li Rubing's reinforcement to Neihuang.

On May 16, in the tenth year of Tiantong, Gaodu Chen Ping led an army of 70,000 to retreat to Changzicheng. On the other hand, after Zhao Kuo evacuated Taihang Mountain, Li Siye led the Yulin Guard and Tianwu Guard to cross Taihang Mountain and entered Gaodu City. After a little rest, he went north to the eldest son and joined the army of Yue Fei and Deng Yu.

On May 17, Yue Fei and Deng Yu led their troops to a camp ten miles east of their eldest son to form a village. On the same day, Xue Rengui led the main army to encircle Neihuang.

In Fanyang City, Li Rubing and a group of generals surrounded the map and pointed.

Li Rubing said: "Murong Ke led his army to build a camp thirty miles west of Fanyang City, and the troops were about 100,000. I believe that Murong Ke came to Fanyang to restrain his general, and the main force of the Deng army must have already attacked Neihuang under Xue Rengui's leadership."

"General, the entire Deng army has more than 300,000 troops, while Murong Ke, who was thirty miles away, only brought 100,000 troops. In other words, the Deng army led by Xue Rengui to attack Neihuang had more than 200,000 troops, and Neihuang had only 70,000 troops. Can it be defended?" General Le Ting asked worriedly.

Li Rubing said: "If you can't stand it, it is not a problem to defend Neihuang with a 70,000 army. However, what I am worried about is that most of the money and grain supply of Zhao Kuo's army comes from Yecheng. How much money did Zhao Kuo bring from Yecheng to Neihuang? Is there enough food and grass? In addition, I am worried that Zhao Kuo can calm down."

When Zhao Kuo was guarding Wei County, the supply of grain and grass in Hebei was provided by Yecheng. Neihuang was not a heavy grain storage area. It was captured by the Deng army not long ago, so there would not be much grain and grass at all. If Zhao Kuo brought not much grain and grass from Yecheng, it would be a waste. On the contrary, Li Rubing had no worries about this. Li Rubing went south all the way south, first using the grain and grass he brought from the northern border. Although it was not much, it could support some time. After coming to Fanyang, Li Rubing concentrated all the grain and grain in nearby counties to Fanyang. Now the grain in Fanyang is enough for Li Rubing's army to eat for half a year, and there will be no crisis of shortage of food for the time being.

"What should we do now, General?" Le Ting asked.

Li Rubing thought for a while and said, "With Murong Ke's army on his side, it is difficult for our army to support Neihuang, but we cannot sit and wait for death. You can immediately send a quick horse to Neihuang to investigate the current situation of Neihuang and report it to our general truthfully. In addition, send someone to Yecheng and order Yecheng to stay in the civil and military affairs, prepare all the money and food, and supply Neihuang and Fanyang at any time."

"Here!" Le Ting replied.

"You go down first, Le Ting stay!" Li Rubing said.

After everyone left, only Li Rubing and Le Ting were left. In the Central Plains War, too many powerful generals in Zhao State died in the Central Plains. Now, except for Li Rubing, the only generals who could be put on the stage in Zhao State were Le Ting, Zheng Xuan, Chen Ping and others.

"General, I wonder what order will the last general give?" Le Ting asked.

Li Rubing said: "Le Ting, you are the person I trust the most. Some things will not be easy to say in order not to affect the morale of the army, but I feel it is necessary to tell you." After that, he took out a battle report from his arms and handed it to Le Ting.

Le Ting took it with doubts, opened it and saw it, and was shocked and said, "What? Yue Fei came out of the mountain and led his army to break through Huguan and forcing his eldest son? General, when did you receive this battle report?"

Li Rubing said: "Two days ago, Jinyang sent someone to send him. In addition to this general, I believe Zhao Kuo also received it. However, in order not to affect the morale of the army, I have been hiding it."

"General, the situation in Shangdang County is not optimistic. Although Chen Ping has nearly 100,000 troops in his hands, he has to face Yue Fei and Li Siye. Both of them are famous generals of Deng State, especially Yue Fei. Once Shangdang County fails, Jinyang will be in danger." Le Ting frowned and said.

Li Rubing nodded and said, "This is natural, but what I am most worried about is not Shangdang County, but Jinyang."

"What do you say to the general?" Le Ting asked in confusion.

Li Rubing said: "Since the court sent someone to inform me of the situation in Shangdang County and Zhao Kuo, we hope that we can return to Jinyang at the right time. However, the situation in Wei County is not yet determined. Once we evacuate, the whole Hebei will no longer be owned by me, Da Zhao. In the court, the Empress Dowager and Zhang Ying were both people who did not know about military affairs. I was worried that they would be scared by Yue Fei and Li Siye and forced me and Zhao Kuo to return to help. I was fine, but I was worried that Zhao Kuo would suddenly withdraw his troops without the knowledge of the general. In this way, we would be isolated and helpless."

"General, what should we do at this time?" Le Ting asked.

Li Rubing said: "We must leave a way out. Once Zhao Kuo has a strange phenomenon of withdrawing troops, we must withdraw to Yecheng at all costs as soon as possible, otherwise we will be trapped by Deng's army and died in Fanyang."

Le Ting nodded and said, "General, General, I understand. I will send all the scouts to Neihuang. As long as Zhao Kuo shows signs of withdrawing troops, he will repay the general as soon as possible."

"That's good. You will be relieved to do things." Li Rubing nodded and said.

On May 18, outside Neihuang City, more than 200,000 Deng troops were lined up outside the city and besieged the city from all sides. Although the general Neihuang was a bit pale in comparison, Xue Rengui had already made up his mind and must not let Zhao Kuo leave Neihuang alive. Once Zhao Kuo led the remaining troops back to Yecheng, it would cause variables to the situation in Hebei.

At the entrance of the city of Huang, Zhao Kuo looked at Deng's army outside the city, and his confidant general Tian Zhen stood aside. Zhao Kuo said to Tian Zhen: "Tian Zhen, it seems that Deng's army is about to start siege today. How long can the food and grass in the city last?"

Tian Zhen said bitterly: "Return to the Taiwei, before Deng's army besieged the city, our army transported a batch of grain and grass into the city, but it could only last for one month. The training was originally planned to transport the grain and grass stockpiled in Yecheng in batches in these few days, but I didn't expect Deng's army to move so quickly."

"A month?" Zhao Kuo shook his head helplessly and said, "It's too little. It seems that he can only hope that Li Rubing can lead his army to aid. However, since Xue Rengui dared to directly surround Neihuang, he must have sent troops to Fanyang. He just didn't know whether Li Rubing could defeat Deng's army in Fanyang. It's really ironic. I have always wanted to beat Li Rubing, but in the end he actually put his hope on Li Rubing."

"Taiwei, don't think so much. Now that the Deng army is about to attack the city, we will still think about how to face the enemy!" Tian Zhen said.

Zhao Kuo nodded and said, "Tian Zhen, we cannot put all our hopes on Li Rubing. You can order them to sort out ten days of food. If Li Rubing has not arrived in twenty days, we must lead our army to break through, otherwise we will really die in Neihuang."

Although the food and grass in the city can last for a month, Zhao Kuo will not really work for a month and will break through after the food and grass is exhausted. Otherwise, even if he can break through the siege, there will be no enough food and grass back to Yecheng. Therefore, Zhao Kuo asked Tian Zhen to prepare the food and grass for ten days in advance. These food and grass were used on the way back to Yecheng.

"Don't worry, General Mo knew how to do it." Tian Zhen nodded and said.

"Kill!" Deng's army sieges the city, but on the first day of siege, Deng's army's offensive was not too sharp. After all, it was not clear about the strength of the Zhao army, and there were still necessary tests.

On the sixth day of the sixth month of the Tiantong period, the Deng army had been besieging Neihuang for 18 days, but after losing 50,000 or 60,000 troops, they still failed to shake Neihuang City.

At the same time, Zhao Kuo held Neihuang City for 18 days and had not yet seen Li Rubing arrive. Zhao Kuo no longer had hope for this. Now Zhao Kuo must consider breaking through.

At night, Zhao Kuo summoned his confidant general Tian Zhen and asked, "Tian Zhen, how many soldiers and horses are there in the city now? How long can the food and grass last?"

Tian Zhen said: "When the Taiwei, there are still 50,000 troops in the city now, and the food and grass can still support the tenth day of the day. Why? The Taiwei is planning to break through?"

Zhao Kuo nodded and said, "Yes, it has been almost a month since Deng's army siege. Li Rubing has not appeared yet. I think he can't come anymore. While our army still has enough troops to break through, it's better to leave Neihuang first."

"When will the Grand Marshal plan to break through?" Tian Zhen asked.

Zhao Kuo thought for a while and said, "Two days later, we will break through at night. In the past two days, you ordered people to make food and grass into dry food. In addition, if there is no crisis of breaking the city in the Deng army in the past two days, you cannot send troops to support the city. You should protect your strength as much as possible and prepare for the breakthrough."

"Here!" Tian Zhen replied.

In the next two days, Deng's army continued to attack Neihuang. Although the Zhao army was still struggling to resist, the strength of resistance was significantly weakened compared with the previous half month.

Seeing this, Xue Rengui realized that Zhao Kuo might be about to break through.

Thinking of this, Xue Rengui quickly summoned the generals.

"Everyone, Zhao Kuo's breakthrough may have been in these two days." Xue Rengui said.

After hearing this, everyone did not raise any objections. After all, Zhao Jun's every move in the past two days was indeed a bit abnormal, and it was reasonable to break through.

"General, please give orders!"

Xue Rengui said: "From tonight, the entire army will focus on Neihuang North Gate. 20,000 troops will be left at each of the other gates to monitor the movements of the Zhao army. Luo Cheng obeyed the order!"

"The last one will be here!" Luo Cheng responded.

"As soon as Zhao Kuo breaks through, Li Rubing from Fanyang will not sit still and wait for death. Murong Cheqi will probably find it difficult to stop Li Rubing. I will order you to lead your troops to seize Wei County."

"Here!" Luo Cheng replied.

"The rest of the troops will do their best to block the enemy when Zhao Kuo breaks through. If Zhao Kuo breaks through our army's encirclement, the entire army will pursue him. If he meets Li Rubing's army halfway, he will give up pursuing Zhao Kuo and fully encircle and suppress Li Rubing's army. In short, at least one person, Li Rubing and Zhao Kuo, cannot return to Yecheng." Xue Rengui said.

Xue Rengui sent Luo Cheng to occupy Wei County first, with the purpose of cutting off Li Rubing's route to the north. If Li Rubing wanted to return to Yecheng, if Wei County was occupied by Deng's army, he could only march northwest. Once Zhao Kuo gave up the encirclement and Deng's army pursued him all the way, he would likely encounter Li Rubing's army halfway. If so, he would encircle and suppress Li Rubing, because in Xue Rengui's view, the biggest threat to Deng's army was Li Rubing. As long as Li Rubing was defeated, Xue Rengui would not take it seriously.

"Here!"

"Send someone to send Murong Cheqi to the cavalry and order him to do his best to restrain Li Rubing. If Li Rubing leads his army to evacuate Fanyang, he will order him to entangle him at all costs." Xue Rengui said again.

In the tenth year of Tiantong, on the night of the ninth day of the sixth month, Xue Rengui did not sleep all night. The tent of the central army was brightly lit, and a group of generals gathered here.

At this time, Neihuang City finally made a move. The spy hurried into the central army's tent and said, "Report to the General, Zhao's army broke through at the North Gate, and General Li Dingguo, the General of the Lingser Guard, is blocking with all his strength. Please support the general!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui's eyes shone brightly and said, "Finally come! Qin Lie, Wang Yanzhang obeys the order!"

"The last general is here!" Qin Lie and Wang Yanzhang responded.

"You two men quickly led your army to the North Gate to support Li Dingguo and blocked the Zhao army with all their might!" Xue Rengui said.

"Here!" Qin Lie and Wang Yanzhang received the order, left the central army's tent and went to gather troops.

After Qin Lie and Wang Yanzhang left, Xue Rengui said again, "Murong Chui, Wu Yunzhao obeyed the order!"

"The last one is here!" Murong Chui and Wu Yun summoned Lie to answer.

"I will order you and the other two to lead your troops into Neihuang, then go straight to the north gate, and snipe the Zhao army from behind!"

"Here!" Murong Chui and Wu Yun summoned the order and left the central army's tent.

"Deng Qiang obeys the order!"

"The last one is here!" Deng Qiang responded.

"I ordered you to rectify the remaining troops and wait for the general's order and be ready to attack at any time!"

"Here!"

At this time, outside the north gate of Neihuang, 50,000 Zhao troops broke through with all their might. Li Dingguo led a large army to block the attack. However, the Zhao army had the advantage of force. From the desire to break through, the offensive was very sharp. Li Dingguo gradually became a little overwhelmed.

"General, brothers can't stand it anymore. The Zhao army is too fierce, and our army suffers too much casualties!" During the fierce battle, Ren Zhong, the general of the Central Army under Li Dingguo, said to Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo was under great pressure at this moment. In order to stop Zhao's army, he also fought in person and was injured on many sides. However, he still gritted his teeth and held on, saying: "Let your brothers withstand it, the general must have received the news. The reinforcements will arrive soon, so let your brothers hold on!"

"Here!"

"Kill! Let me rush for this Grand Marshal!" On the other side, Zhao Kuo saw that there were fewer and fewer Deng troops in front of him, and knew that Deng's army had reached the end of his strength. As long as he worked harder, he could rush out, so he forced the army to rush forward.

Seeing that the Zhao army was about to break through, Deng's reinforcements finally arrived.

"Don't panic in the Ding Kingdom, Qin Lie is here!" Qin Lie led the Longxiang Guard to come. Longxiang Guard was a cavalry and was faster than the Lingser Guard, so he was the first to arrive at the North Gate.

Qin Lie directly led his army to attack the Zhao army formation. Zhao army was caught off guard and was soon dispersed by Longxiang Guard.

Seeing this, Tian Zhen from the rear hurriedly walked to Zhao Kuo and asked, "Taiwei, Deng's reinforcements have arrived, what should we do?"

Zhao Kuo gritted his teeth and said, "Now there are only two choices. You either retreat to the city or rush forward at all costs. If you retreat to the city, you can only wait for death. There is still a glimmer of vitality to rush forward. Raise the banner of the general and pass the orders down. The entire army will break through with all their might. Whoever retreats will be killed on the spot!"

"Here!" Tian Zhen replied!

As soon as Zhao Kuo's general flag appeared, he gathered countless Zhao army soldiers and rushed forward and fought with the Deng army. On the other hand, Longxiang Guard was a cavalry on the Deng army and was not good at close combat. Li Dingguo had few soldiers left, and the Zhao army showed signs of vague breakthroughs.
Chapter completed!