In front of them, the soldiers and horses of the Qing, Tang and Tibetan tribes were fleeing in the wind, with no intention of resisting. Therefore, for the Song army, it could be said that they captured Xiangzi City without any effort.
This Xiangzi City was built in the fourth year of Xiantong in the Tang Dynasty. It was named after the fragrant camphor trees nearby. This was the fundamental place where the Qing and Tang tribes had been operating for many years.
Xiangzi City is in the shape of a long tongue, long from east to west and short from north to south. The outer city is two feet high and the inner city is one foot high. Both the inner and outer city walls are made of rammed earth. In the eyes of the locals in the Qing and Tang Dynasties, it is a 'big' city with a height of almost a thousand steps.
When the Song army entered the city, they unexpectedly discovered 30,000 shi of grain and grass.
Wang Shao said happily: "There is a saying in Sun Tzu's Art of War: if you eat the enemy's one bell, you will be rewarded with twenty bells; if you eat one stone of stalk, you will be treated with twenty stones."
"How much does it cost to transport one stone of grain from outside the customs to Qinzhou? How much does it cost to transport one stone of grain from Qinzhou to Xizhou? How much does it cost to send troops from Xizhou to Hezhou now?"
"According to Sun Tzu's Art of War, these 30,000 dan of grain can be worth 600,000 dan."
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "It can be considered a victory. I think Xiangzi City is the most critical place. Once it is lost, the army will have no way to return."
Wang Shao said: "Yes, according to the original discussion, I will capture Hezhou and capture Mu Zheng alive. As for the strategy, please stay in Xiangzi City and arrange the food and grass in the rear."
Zhang Yue said: "With these 30,000 shi of food in stock, there is no need to adjust the food supply for the time being. I will first order people to go to Xizhou to report the victory and stabilize the morale of the army."
Wang Shao laughed and said: "I wonder how angry Gao Zunyu would be if he knew that we took Xiangzi City?"
Then Wang Shao paused and said: "What do you plan to do with the more than two thousand tents in the north of the city?"
Zhang Yue said: "Most of these Tibetan accounts belong to Mu Zheng's subordinates. As long as Mu Zheng is captured alive, these Tibetan accounts will automatically belong to him."
"But what if these people rebel?" Wang Shao asked, "While the army is here... it's better to end it once and for all."
Wang Shao made a killing gesture.
Zhang Yue said: "No, our army is here to appease Mu Zheng, so we can't cause more killings. Guard the city tightly, so we won't be afraid of them causing chaos."
Wang Shao smiled slightly and said: "My husband, Mr. Jinglue, is too kind to a woman. If you do this, you will suffer the consequences."
The next day Wang Shao went out to fight, leaving Zhang Yue and his son Wang Hou behind to defend the city.
Wang Shao was also very considerate. Knowing that Zhang Yue could not fight, he sent his son to assist Zhang Yue, which also made Zhang Yue feel at ease.
Qiang general Wen Si sent Xi Qi to leave 500 troops to guard the outer city of Xiangzi City, while Zhang Sai led 300 soldiers from the original Guangrui army to guard the inner city.
At dawn the next day, the Song army broke out of camp. Zhang Yue, who was on the top of Xiangzi City, watched Wang Shao hug his fists at the horse head, and then rode his horse to the west.
The main force of the Song army followed Wang Shao and left Xiangzi City to attack Hezhou. They saw the Song army marching in in a mighty manner, with countless flags flying...
In this scene, everyone is wearing military robes, their flags are flying, their horses are working hard.
After Wang Shao's army left, Zhang Yue asked Xi Qi to send people with wine and meat to appease the leaders of the feudal tents in the north of the city.
However, the people who sent him to appease him returned in vain, and the other party even refused to accept wine and meat.
Zhang Yue ordered Xi Qi and Zhang Sai to guard the city, waiting for news of Wang Shao's attack on Hezhou.
On this day, Zhang Yue was about to take a lunch break in the inner city. Unexpectedly, he was half asleep when an urgent military intelligence report suddenly arrived.
Zhang Yue immediately put on his clothes and stood up. The opponent was a soldier under Wang Shao's tent. He reported to Zhang Yue: "My lord, it's a great victory!"
Zhang Yue smiled and sat on the bed and said, "Speak slowly from beginning to end."
The other party said: "Our army set out early in the morning and arrived at Hezhou when we arrived. We happened to meet Mu Zheng coming out of the west of the city and trying to escape. Our army pursued him. After only one battle, Mu Zheng was defeated and fled. Our army beheaded thousands of people.
Yu level, captured Mu Zheng's wife and her three sons... Now after our army captured Hezhou, Deputy Manager Wang continued to send troops to sweep away the tribes in Hezhou, and personally led the army to pursue Mu Zheng."
Zhang Yue was overjoyed that the victory came so easily. Wang Shao really lived up to his expectations and won a great victory. Lian Mu Zheng left in embarrassment and even his wife and children were captured by the Song army.
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "Some people said before that Mu Zheng's talent and strategy are similar to Liu Bang among the Tibetan people. I think the fact that he abandoned his wife and son is very similar."
Everyone laughed when they heard it.
Zhang Yue said: "Tell Wang Jinglue that he needs to treat Mu Zheng's wife and children well, and send the captured Tibetan people to recruit Mu Zheng to surrender. Tell him that I, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, will always treat him as before. As long as he comes to surrender, all the favors will remain unchanged."
Become the governor of Hezhou!"
This is what the officials repeatedly told Zhang Yue to capture Mu Zheng alive.
Zhang Yue rewarded the other party with ten coins and a meal and wine.
Zhang Yue sent people to Xizhou to claim victory.
Wang Houyan had been nervous for several days in the city not knowing the news of victory ahead. Now that he heard the news, he should prepare some wine to celebrate.
Zhang Yue thought to himself that the soldiers had indeed worked hard for several days, and there was no harm in celebrating, as it could also inspire people. However, Zhang Yue warned that if there was a small celebration, the city defense should not be relaxed.
That night the Song army was celebrating in the city. Zhang Yue also drank two glasses of wine and was about to go back to his house to rest. Suddenly he heard shouts outside the city. Zhang Yue knew something was wrong and immediately ran to the top of the city.
It was the second watch at this time, and I saw the city was brightly lit on all sides, and I saw nearby Tibetan people riding horses and dancing with torches in their hands.
There were also shouts of killing from further away, and it was difficult to see how many people there were in the darkness.
Zhang Yue immediately said: "Hurry up and send the soldiers to the city!"
Wen Si's envoy Xi Qi drank a lot of wine tonight. When he heard about the enemy's intentions, he immediately sobered up and led dozens of people to the top of the city.
The Fan army below the city did not attack the city, but held a stalemate with the Song army below the city. Unexpectedly, after the defeat of Mu Zheng, the Qing and Tang Fan tribes actually made a comeback.
If Mu Zheng planned to fake defeat, lure Wang Shao's army to go deep, and then send people back to capture Xiangzi City and cut off the Song army's food route, then all his troops would be in Hezhou.
But now it seems that Mu Zheng did have this plan. Otherwise, after Mu Zheng was defeated, there would be no troops to counterattack Xiangzi City.
Zhang Yue stood at the top of the city saying he was supervising the battle, but in fact he was feeling uneasy. He thought highly of Qingmu Zheng before, but now he thinks highly of Mu Zheng?
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At dawn the next day, Zhang Yue also saw clearly the size of the Tibetan army under the city. There were only more than 3,000 troops, but some of them were from the Tibetan tribe's tent in the north of the city and joined them.
Wang Shao originally asked Zhang Yue to flatten all the more than 2,000 tribes' tents outside the city. It was indeed reasonable.
But Zhang Yue breathed a sigh of relief. If Mu Zheng really had such talent and strategy, these people would not be the only ones.
Although there are only 800 Song troops in the city, after using military tactics to eliminate the weak and retain the strong, they are all elite soldiers.
Li Kui, Wang Hou, and Xi Qi all took the initiative to invite them to fight.
Zhang Yue then asked Wang Hou, Li Kui and Xi Qi to lead 500 men to fight.
The Song army immediately opened Nancheng, and the Song army went out of the city to meet the enemy.
Zhang Yue could clearly see from the top of the city that although the Song army was small in number, they had the upper hand in a battle.
Zhang Yue was overjoyed. It seemed that the soldiers trained in the art of war were really capable of fighting. On the other hand, the Fan army was in disarray. However, they all fought bravely. It seemed that they fought extra hard to protect their homeland and territory. Many of them fought very hard.
Even if a person is injured, he will not retreat.
The two sides fought for a whole morning, and the Fan army suffered between five and six hundred casualties, while the Song army only had dozens of people. When they were about to defeat the Fan army, a reinforcements from the Fan army rushed to the foot of Xiangzi City in the distance.
Zhang Yue immediately offered money to withdraw his troops and asked Wang Hou and others to retreat back to the city.
