Lan Zhen led the army non-stop to Dezhou City. They were only thirty miles away from Dezhou City. After a while, they arrived at the gate of Dezhou City. Then, they noticed the open gate of Dezhou City!
Lan Zhen couldn't hold back her joy: it was probably because the generals guarding the city thought they were part of the rebels heading north, so they opened the city gate.
Of course Lan Zhen would not allow him to throw such an opportunity away from his eyes. He ordered the speed to be increased again, and the smoke and dust rolled up became more intense, and it was almost impossible to see the city of Dezhou clearly.
At this time, the defender of Dezhou City seemed to realize something was wrong: if his own people were already approaching the city gate, they would definitely slow down, but these people were faster. The people guarding the city gate immediately ordered the city gate to be closed.
But it was too late at this time. Before Lan Zhen could give the order, the people at the front drew their bows and arrows and shot at the city gate. Although it was not accurate, there was not much room at the city gate, and dozens of people were shot to death immediately.
After these dozen people were killed, the gate that was already difficult to close could not be closed at all. The guard at the city gate knelt on the ground and wanted to surrender.
But in this race against time, who would stop and accept his surrender? Lan Zhen's troops once again drew their bows and arrows and shot all the people at the city gate to death, then crossed the city gate and rushed directly into the city.
One of the completely different things between ancient wars and modern wars is the emphasis on city gates. In modern wars, even if most of the entire city has been lost, as long as there is still a small area, even all the ground areas have been lost, only the sewers remain.
, the soldiers guarding the city will also persist and will not completely lose hope.
It was different in ancient times. Once the city gates were lost in ancient wars, the soldiers guarding the city would collapse instantly and then completely collapse. If there was an inner city, it would be okay, all the soldiers would retreat to the inner city and continue to defend; but if there was no inner city, the defenders would
The whole city was completely ruined.
Although Dezhou City is not small, it is not a provincial seat, a princely fiefdom, and a border town, so it does not have an inner city. So after seeing the city gates fall, the army collapsed and kept retreating.
Just in case, Lan Zhen left hundreds of people to guard the area around the south city gate, and then divided the remaining people into several groups in units of a thousand households to rush into the city, completely disrupting the order in the city and preventing the troops defending the city from gathering.
together.
Zhao Zhijing, the guard of Dezhou City, saw that the matter had reached this point and was completely irreversible. He led his trusted followers down from the city wall and gathered some people along the way. A total of more than 100 people were gathered to escape from the north gate. He knew that Yan
Wang Zhudi had already responded to the rebellion and wanted to run out from the North City Gate to join Zhu Di. Lan Zhen and the others had not sealed the North City Gate for a while.
But he didn't expect that as soon as he left the north city gate, he met a soldier returning from the post station north of Dezhou City. This soldier didn't know what happened in Dezhou City. When he saw Zhao Zhijing, he said to him: "General Zhao, King Yan's army
We have arrived ten miles north of Dezhou City, and we will reach Dezhou City in a while."
"His Royal Highness King Yan asked me to tell General Zhao to prepare a place for the army to station and dinner. They will rest in the city at night."
"Ah!" After hearing the soldier's words, Zhao Zhijing suddenly felt hope in his heart: 'We can still take back the city!'
Zhao Zhijing immediately said to the soldier who came to deliver the message: "Go and tell His Highness immediately that the imperial army has arrived at Dezhou City, and Dezhou City will be lost soon!"
"What!" The soldier who sent the message was stunned for a moment after hearing what Zhao Zhijing told him and did not move.
But of course Zhao Zhijing couldn't wait until he reacted. He came up and slapped the messenger soldier on the face with two big mouths, and shouted: "Go quickly! Why are you still here!"
3 After coming back to his senses, he quickly turned his horse's head and headed towards the direction he came from. Zhao Zhijing was still not at ease, so he asked one of his cronies to follow him on horseback.
Then Zhao Zhijing turned around and said to the remaining soldiers: "You have also heard that King Yan's army will arrive soon. We only need to guard the city gate and wait until King Yan's army arrives later to recapture it."
Dezhou City. So guard the city gate for me now. Anyone who dares to escape without permission will be killed without mercy!"
After all, Zhao Zhijing is the defender of Dezhou City, and his power is still there at this time. Moreover, if they continue to flee north, they will run into the hands of King Yan's army. It is hard to say how King Yan will deal with them after escaping like this, so although everyone is trembling
, but they all stopped at the city gate, guarding the city gate without any obstruction.
Zhu Gaoxu led his troops to rush back and forth in the city, and it was very enjoyable. This battle was also his first time on the battlefield, but he felt as if he was born to belong to the battlefield, and he was at ease on the battlefield without any constraint.
However, Zhang Wuji (Chapter 233), the bodyguard he took in last year, was very nervous, fearing that someone would suddenly kill Zhu Gaoxu with a cold arrow. Now in the city, there are houses everywhere. If someone hides and shoots a cold arrow suddenly, it is almost impossible to prevent him.
Zhang Wuji said to Zhu Gaoxu: "My lord, you should be more careful. What if someone suddenly shoots a cold arrow?"
Zhu Gaoxu thought about it and felt that it was easy to dodge open guns and hidden arrows. Wouldn't it be very unlucky to be shot to death by a cold arrow? So he decided to leave the city.
But at this time, the more than a thousand people he led had already rushed to the north gate. Zhu Gaoxu then said: "We have reached the north gate. Then go back and go further out of the city through other gates, and rush out from here!" Then he rushed ahead!
passed.
At this time, hundreds of defeated troops had gathered at the north city gate, and the city gate was empty and small. If they had morale, they should be able to stop Zhu Gaoxu and the others.
But now that the rebels have lost all morale, they will collapse when they see the cavalry charging towards them. If the terrain here was not so narrow, they would have already collapsed.
However, they could not stop Zhu Gaoxu for long. Although Zhao Zhijing tried hard to stop them and tried his best, he was still completely defeated by Zhu Gaoxu's troops and died.
The remaining rebel soldiers who were still alive knelt down and wanted to surrender. But how could Zhu Gaoxu be in the mood to surrender? He said loudly: "You will follow the rebels in rebellion, and your sin will be unforgivable." Then he rode back and forth to trample them to death.
At this time, a rebel soldier suddenly shouted: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I have something important to tell you! In order to save my life by making meritorious service!"
Zhu Gaoxu said nonchalantly: "What important thing can you do?" He ignored this person and continued to trample on him.
But the man continued to hide and said loudly: "Your Majesty, His Highness King Yan's army has arrived in the north of Dezhou City and is about to enter the city!"