diskusbooks Chapter 347: The Han Army Defending Guazhou
Chapter 347: The Han Army Defending Guazhou
Regent Zhao Defang admired Li Yuanhao, who was young, wise, talented, ambitious, and able to judge the situation.
He personally stepped forward to untie Li Yuanhao, who was wearing a white middle-length coat and kneeling on the ground with his arms tied to beg for surrender. He smiled and patted his shoulders twice, "Yuanhao, I know that you are smart and wise, have great ambitions, and want to create a bright future for the Dangxiang people. I also know that you admire the culture of the Central Plains and actively carry out new policy reforms in this barren land, hoping that the Dangxiang people can live a good life without worries about food and clothing.
As long as all of you Dangxiang people lay down your weapons and return to the Song Dynasty, I promise that I will treat the Han people and Dangxiang people here equally and lead the people of the Song Dynasty to live a good life with a prosperous country and a strong people, and the people living and working in peace and contentment. "
Li Yuanhao bit his lower lip and looked at the Regent Zhao Defang with a sharp gaze, "Your Highness, you have always been my idol. To be honest, many of the reform measures I implemented in the Western Xia Kingdom were modeled after your new policies.
"Your Majesty, if you can guarantee to treat my Tangut people and Han people equally and protect my Tangut people from being bullied and trampled by powerful enemies, I, Li Yuanhao, am willing to sincerely submit to the Song Dynasty and be loyal to you, Your Majesty!"
What Li Yuanhao admired was the personal charm of Regent Zhao Defang. Submission to the Song Dynasty was a helpless choice, but his loyalty to His Royal Highness the Regent was sincere.
Regent Zhao Defang smiled heartily and looked at Li Yuanhao meaningfully: "Since Yuanhao is truly loyal to the Song Dynasty and loyal to me, I will never change my promise to the Tangut people.
After you lead the king and his army to recapture other prefectures, you will still be the governor of Dingnan Army. Since Xixia has surrendered without fighting, I will change my route to attack Liao. Your Dingnan Army will serve as the vanguard of the king's attack on Huanglong!"
Li Yuanhao was surprised at first, then he smiled bitterly and looked at His Royal Highness the Regent with a frank look, "Your Highness, I did not expect that you would be so decisive. After Xixia surrendered, you decided to change your route and attack Liao in just a moment.
Since you, my Lord, have made up your mind, Li Yuanhao is willing to lead the Dangxiang warriors to be your pioneers in clearing the way for you to seize cities and plunder lands."...
The king, who had great prestige, surrendered to the Song Dynasty. The other Dangxiang troops, who were originally the Dingnan Army of the Song Dynasty, threw down their weapons, hung up white flags, opened the city gates, and lined up outside the city without any psychological burden when Li Yuanhao led the Song Dynasty army to persuade them to surrender. They surrendered happily.
The Song army accepted the surrenders at a very fast speed, just like a large army traveling, taking over one city after another, and finally arrived at the city of Guazhou.
Li Yuanhao pointed at the dilapidated but still standing earthen wall of Guazhou and smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, I can't open the gate of Guazhou.
When I led my men to unify Xixia and conquered various states, only Guazhou and Shazhou City were left unconquered. Here, the ones who fought to the death to defend the city were still the original Han army. "
Regent Zhao Defang, who had already learned of this from intelligence, looked with admiration and respect at the Han army flags flying on the city wall, and at the ragged Han soldiers holding their weapons and defending the city wall.
After Li Jiqian's rebellion, this place became an isolated enclave of the Song Dynasty. The two Han army units and their descendants, with their faith and courage, have been fighting to the death here.
The guard on the Guazhou city wall was a young man in his twenties. He had a handsome appearance like a scholar, but he was wearing tattered armor and standing proudly!
The young garrison commander looked at the 20,000-strong army under the city wall with a puzzled look in his eyes. He asked an old general with a scruffy beard beside him, "Uncle Li, did you see that the troops attacking the city are not Tangut cavalry?"
The bearded old general was so excited that tears were streaming down his face. His body was shaking slightly and his voice was choked with sobs. "Young Master, look at those flags. These are the troops of the Song Dynasty. Did the Emperor of Song send a large army to rescue us?"
Although the young garrison commander was also excited, he analyzed calmly: "Don't be careless! The Tanguts attacked us last month. Fortunately, my fourth uncle who was stationed on Shazhou led his troops to rescue us. We joined forces and fought hard to repel the enemy.
The arrival of this army under the banner of the Song army is so strange. How they got behind the Tangut armies and penetrated deep into the hinterland to reach the city of Guazhou is really puzzling. I am afraid that this is a trick of the Tanguts to defraud the city, and we must be on guard. "
The bearded old general immediately wiped his tears and looked at the wise and intelligent young master with satisfaction and admiration, "Young master, you are right. I was so excited when I saw the flag of the Song Kingdom that I lost my vigilance."
Regent Zhao Defang was also very excited and full of emotion. After observing the defenders on the city wall with respect and admiration for a while, he said to the generals beside him: "Cao Wei, you will be in charge of commanding. Gao Yingxiong, you with a loud voice, follow me and call the city."
Regent Zhao Defang led Gao Yingxiong, Yun Yi and sixteen shadow guards out of the army camp and rode straight to the city wall. When he could see clearly those fellow soldiers who were in ragged clothes, pale and thin, but standing upright, with resolute expressions, holding weapons and ready for battle, Regent Zhao Defang felt sad and his eyes were wet.
[You have suffered a lot over the years! Brave and fearless warriors, wanderers far away from their homeland, on behalf of the Song Dynasty and hundreds of millions of people, I am here to take you home! ]
Regent Zhao Defang was so moved that he looked at his compatriots on the city wall with tears in his eyes. He was about to shout out what was in his heart and take them home.
"Shoot them back!"
"Swish, swish, swish!..." After receiving the order, the archers on the city wall who were ready to shoot arrows like rain at the more than 20 people who dared to boldly enter the range of the arrows.
The rain of arrows destroyed the regent Zhao Defang's excited and sad mood. He did not even bother to wipe away the tears in his eyes. He quickly drew his sword and fought back the rain of arrows with his shadow guards.
Fortunately, Yun Yi and the shadow guards had been highly alert the entire time. The soldiers on the city wall who were waiting with bows and arrows drew their swords as soon as they moved their fingers.
Yun Yi stood on horseback, brandishing his sword to deflect arrows and protect the prince. "Prince, please step back!"
There were only a hundred archers on the city wall shooting arrows, and the skilled shadow guards protected the prince, so no one was injured.
Gao Yingxiong was so angry that he cursed, "Damn it! I haven't even said I'll take you home, but you've been hit by a barrage of arrows. It's like a dog biting Lu Dongbin and not recognizing a good heart. A flood washed away the Dragon King Temple, and family members don't recognize each other. What kind of a mess is this?"
Regent Zhao Defang gave an awkward smile, retreated out of the range of the arrows, and used his inner strength to shout to the vigilant defenders on the city wall, "Brothers of the Han army in the city! We are the army of the Great Song Dynasty, and we are here to rescue you and take you home. I am Regent Zhao Defang of the Great Song Dynasty, and on behalf of the Great Song Dynasty court and the people of the Great Song Dynasty, I welcome you back to your hometown!"
The defenders on the city wall had their hearts pounding with excitement, their blood boiling, their hearts aching, and their eyes wet with tears, but no one dropped their weapons or left their posts, and the soldiers remained on guard.
The young guard on the wall suppressed his excitement, looked at the man who was shouting calmly, and replied loudly: "Regent Zhao Defang? I don't know him, I haven't heard of him. Are you a Tangut who is pretending to be him? You can't capture Guazhou City, so you want to use conspiracy and trickery to deceive the city?
This general will not be fooled, you guys just go wherever you want!
If you want Guazhou City, you have to take it with your own ability. This general will lead all the soldiers and civilians in Guazhou City to defend Guazhou City to the death and kill you bandits!"
[I don't know him, haven't heard of him? Has the great reputation of my Regent Zhao Defang not spread here? ]
Regent Zhao Defang touched his nose awkwardly, [If the princess knew about this, I wonder how she would laugh? ]
Yes, these Han army soldiers had been trapped in this isolated city behind enemy lines for more than 20 years, with no information available. How could they know the name of Zhao Defang, the Regent of the Song Dynasty?
Gao Yingxiong winked at the prince with a gloating look, "Prince, I don't know you, and I have never heard of the famous Regent Zhao Defang. I suspect you are a Tangut impersonator who came to defraud the city. What should I do?"