By late September, there were only two cities in the entire Jiangbei that had not been breached, one of which was Anqing and the other was Xiangyang. Tian Chengsi, who arrived at Xiangyang City, learned from the previous lesson and took the initiative to write a letter to Li Siye asking for help when he encountered difficulties.
What's more important is that the reputation of Xiangyang City is too great, so there is no way he can eat it quietly.
Zhang Guangtao is exactly the opposite of Tian Chengsi. He has been blocked in the isolated city of Anqing for more than a month. The eight thousand soldiers and militia in the city resisted desperately under the leadership of Liu Changqing. The Yong army's siege army suffered heavy losses. Zhang Guangtao held a breath in his chest.
We must capture Anqing.
At this time, he could send a request for help to his lord Li Siye and ask him to mobilize the Xuanwu heavy artillery battalion and giant Kongming lanterns to help. Even if he did not want to reveal his incompetence in front of Li Siye, he could also directly ask for help from Duan Xiushi, who had already captured Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
, he could send an army up along the river, or he could drag dozens of Xuanwu gunboats upstream with trackers, and bombard Anqing's back from the river. He could attack Anqing from both sides and capture the city in a short time.
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However, Zhang Guangtao's undercurrent of self-esteem made him unwilling to ask for help from the outside world. He only ordered his soldiers to attack the city every day, which made the soldiers of the Hedong Army complain.
Li Siye was currently based in Hefei and had long received the news of Duan Xiushi's capture of Yangzhou, as well as Tian Chengsi's letter asking for help, but had yet to receive a signal from Anqing.
According to his judgment of Zhang Guangtao, if he wins, he will report to him immediately to take credit. If he loses, he will not dare to hide it. But if he encounters a difficult-to-conquer city and is restrained by the enemy, he will be delayed.
Can't win.
Zhang Guangtao must have fallen into the quagmire of the war, and this man was very proud, causing the Hedong Army to lose troops and generals.
Li Siye immediately called Bai Xiaode and ordered him to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses, carrying 30,000 civilians and livestock, and transfer one of the Xuanwu artillery battalions south to Anqing to assist in the battle. At the same time, the giant Kongming Lantern was also transferred to Anqing, ready to attack the city at any time.
When Zhang Guangtao saw Li Siye who had been sent by Li Siye, he was relieved and at the same time ashamed, thinking that someone in the army must have leaked the news. But now he had to put on a smile to see Bai Xiaode.
Bai Xiaode knew that he was face-saving and not very broad-minded, so he said: "My lord, seeing that you have not come back for a long time, guessed that there must be a strong city holding him back, so he sent me to send the Xuanwu artillery battalion and the giant Kongming lantern. So.
I only care about the escort, and I don't care about the rest. You will still be in charge of the siege."
Zhang Guangtao breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "My lord really has a clever plan. I am indeed blocked by this small city of Anqing. I didn't want to trouble my lord to send troops. I will definitely be able to capture the city in a few days. I guess Brother Bai Xian is very good at attacking."
The city has some clever strategies, but I can give my brother some advice."
"With the help of the Xuanwu artillery battalion and the giant sky lantern, it is easier for General Zhang to attack the city. I finally took some time off from my busy schedule and stopped participating."
With the help of Xuanwu heavy artillery, Zhang Guangtao was able to attack the city more easily, and he was no longer anxious about his actions. Anyway, the lord already knew that Anqing was difficult to conquer, so he allowed him to calm down and arrange the siege deployment step by step.
The Tang army in Anqing City seemed to be in dire straits, and the prefect Liu Changqing was also in dire straits. Not only did his soldiers have to withstand the enemy's artillery fire, but the food and grass in the city had become unsustainable. There was no point in holding on. He could not make demands.
The soldiers did inhumane things like cannibalism.
In fact, this is just a consideration between morality and justice in his heart, because he understands in his heart that the gains and losses of Anqing have no impact on the overall situation of the world. Even if he holds Anqing, the Tang Dynasty will never be able to regain the land north of the Yangtze River. His current
Persistence is nothing more than adhering to the righteousness in his heart. But he cannot drag the people in the city to be buried together because of his righteousness. He has no right to decide the fate of others, he can only decide his own.
He called Pei Lu, the driver of the Anqing Prefecture, to him. His voice was as calm as usual: "The food and grass in Anqing City have been cut off. The people and soldiers are hungry. There is no point in holding on. I want to commit suicide and die for the country. You will lead the army tomorrow morning."
Everyone, please surrender to Yong’s army.”
Pei Lu's eyes suddenly turned red, he stepped forward and crossed his hands and said: "I want to join the public in a righteous cause. If you and I go to die, the soldiers and people will open their doors and offer sacrifices to the city."
Liu Changqing shook his head sadly and said: "It is easy to die impulsively, but it is difficult to live with a sense of mission and humiliation. If you stay and dedicate the city, you can make demands to the rebels and ask them to treat the people well and surrender their soldiers."
Pei Bie bowed towards Liu Changqing, crossed his hands and said, "Pei Lu will definitely comply with your entrustment."
After Pei Lu retreated, Liu Changqing's wife Du Jiuniang walked up to him with her two children and said with tears rolling down her face: "My husband died loyally for his country, and I am willing to follow my heart, but my two children will still have many ways to go in the future."
Liu Changqing took his wife's hand and said, "I thought so too. Pei Lu will present the city tomorrow. You take the children out from the south gate tonight, and I will send someone to escort you across the river in a boat."
"Husband!" She knew that this departure meant goodbye forever, and two lines of clear tears flowed down her cheeks.
The two children also ran to their father's knees, holding the hem of their father's official robe and crying loudly.
Liu Changqing held back the tears in his eyes, waved his hands stiffly and said: "Stop crying, tears are of no use to you, leave quickly!"
After the wife and children left, Liu Changqing took out the horizontal knife from his waist, wiped it on his sleeve, then put it on his neck and closed his eyes and pulled the knife...
Pei Lu ordered his people to fly a white flag on the city wall and shouted that Yong's army was willing to negotiate surrender.
Zhang Guangtao was not very happy when he learned about it. This was the inevitable result of this war. It would be a matter of time before the city was captured, but it would be beneficial to both parties to get rid of it early. He waved his hand and said: "Let's go and take a look under the city wall.
.”
Pei Biejia asked the belated enemy general under the city wall: "Which one of you can keep his word?"
Zhang Guangtao chuckled, rode up on his horse, and said loudly: "I am the Hedong Jiedu envoy personally appointed by King Yong, and the marching general of the Southern Expedition Middle Route Army. I have the final say in Anqing's affairs."
"We want to surrender the city, but we have two demands. I hope the general can agree."
"Just say it, it's my business whether you agree or not."
"Article 1: The lives of soldiers who lay down their weapons and surrender should be spared after the army enters the city."
"I can agree to this."
"Second, the people in the city have been cut off from food. I hope that after the general enters the city, he can solve the famine for the people. The people will definitely be grateful."
Zhang Guangtao replied: "You don't need to tell me this. We will treat the people well after we enter the city."
"In this case, I will open the city and surrender."
Bai Xiaode, who was riding behind Zhang Guangtao, stroked his beard and praised: "This man is really a righteous man. When he presented the city and surrendered, he only mentioned the soldiers and the people, but not himself."
"Wait a minute." Zhang Guangtao raised his hand and said, "You make two conditions, and I only make one. I want to be the governor of Liu Changqing. I vowed to cut him into pieces. Naturally, I cannot break my oath."
Pei Lu closed his eyes and sighed, "Prefect Liu committed suicide last night and died for his country."
"Hmph, it's an advantage for him, so let's whip the corpse and hang it on the city wall for public display."
After Zhang Guangtao entered the city, he did help the people with military rations, but he was a small-minded man and hated Liu Changqing very much. When he learned that the people had built a tomb for Liu Changqing, he sent people to dig out his body, whipped the corpse and hung it on the city wall. The people therefore
Dare to be angry but dare not speak.
After Bai Xiaode helped Zhang Guangtao conquer Anqing, he led the Xuanwu artillery battalion and the giant Kongming lantern back to Hefei. At the same time, he also informed Li Siye of the story of the Anqing siege.
Zhang Guangtao first failed to attack the city and forced the soldiers to climb the city for personal reasons, causing great casualties. Although he calmed the people after entering the city, he dug up Liu Changqing's body from the grave to vent his personal anger, which is really not what a general should do.
He then ordered Zhang Guangtao to be transferred to Chang'an to serve as the general of Yulinwei, transfer Ashina Chulu to be the governor of Hedong, and order him to go to Anqing to take over the city army.