Chapter 425 The power of hypocrisy
After going through a lot of hardships, Liu Heita was of course the warmest reception in Luokoucang. In order to win people's hearts, the actor Chen Sangliang of the Great Sui Dynasty took off his clothes and pushed food to Liu Heita's brothers, and he left Liu Heita's brothers with their subordinates to serve in his central army to show his trust in Liu Heita's brothers, which moved Liu Heita's brothers to tears. He couldn't wait to volunteer to act as a vanguard and lead an army to attack Hao Xiaode's camp. He also said that his brothers were very clear about the weaknesses of Hao Xiaode's camp and guaranteed victory in one battle.
Chen Sangliang, who has a despicable character, has never liked to consume a huge frontal battle. However, considering that Wang Shichong was under great pressure on the Banzhu battlefield and did not pull out the nail Hao Xiaode, the Sui army in the Dongdu could not directly threaten Hulao Pass to get a chance to break the pass. After several fierce battles, Chen Sangliang had basically understood the situation of Hao Xiaode's army and knew that Hao Xiaode's command did have some elite soldiers and generals like Liu Heita, but the number was not large, and the equipment was not as good as the elite soldiers of the Sui army. The overall combat effectiveness was even more obvious from the Sui army. So just a little calculation, Chen Sangliang agreed to the request of Liu Heita's brothers and agreed to launch a frontal attack on Hao Xiaode's army the next day.
The first suggestion after surrender was adopted. Liu Heita's brothers were of course very happy and offered to lead 500 troops as vanguards and attack Hao Xiaode's camp first. Chen Sangliang waved his hand and shouted, "What is five hundred soldiers? Tomorrow you brothers lead 1,000 elite soldiers as vanguards, and I personally lead 15,000 troops to fight with you." Liu Heita's brothers were even more happy and immediately bowed to Chen Sangliang to thank him, swearing that he would never stop the troops unless he broke the Hao Xiaode's camp.
The next morning, Chen Sangliang indeed allocated a thousand elite soldiers to the Liu Heita brothers, and personally led 15,000 troops out of the camp, followed Liu Heita brothers to Hulao Pass, and reported the news to Hao Xiaode. Hao Xiaode was completely disappointed because of Liu Heita brothers' rebellion, and suffered a lot of losses because Liu Heita brothers broke out of the camp. He was naturally furious when he heard the news and hated Liu Heita brothers to the bones. Hao Xiaode ignored Li Mi's order and only allowed to guard the camp and did not fight. He personally led 16,000 troops out of the camp to fight, and fought with the Sui army in the Dongdu at Shili Fort.
On the two armies, Hao Xiaode scolded Liu Heita's brother for being ungrateful, and Liu Heita's brother also scolded Hao Xiaode for not understanding right and wrong, and designed to harm each other less than killing. He also described Chen Sangliang's trust and love for him in public, and urged Hao Xiaode to follow his example and stop his horse and lead his army to surrender and exchange for wealth and honor. Hao Xiaode was even more furious. He ordered three thousand front-line troops to attack, threatening to give him a reward of 100 taels of gold to kill Liu Heita. Liu Heita ordered Liu Shishan to escort the formation and personally led his army to fight against Hao Xiaode's front-line troops.
In order to repay Chen Sangliang's kindness for his understanding, Liu Heita, who was already known for his bravery and strength, performed very well in this battle. He led only 500 people to fight against 3,000 enemies. Liu Heita was still ahead of the front. As soon as he met the enemy, he killed three enemies in a row, which shook the enemy's spirit. The dozens of old subordinates he brought from Hao Xiaode's army were like tigers going down the mountain, fighting hard to fight for the first place, and successfully promoted the morale of the Sui army soldiers handed over to Liu Heita by Chen Sangliang. More than 500 people actually defeated Hao Xiaode's three thousand front troops back step by step.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Hao Xiaode immediately sent a supervisory team to force the two wings of the front army to surround Liu Heita, trying to turn the formation battle into a melee to exert its military advantage. However, Liu Heita ordered his soldiers to follow his flag and continue to charge in the middle of Hao Xiaode's front army. Hao Xiaode's front army opened its doors to advance towards Liu Heita's wings. Liu Heita ignored it and even killed several enemies in the formation to smash the enemy's courage and swung his sword to attack the enemy's front general. The thief general under Hao Xiaode's command saw that Liu Heita was brave enough to fight, and he knew that Liu Heita was good at fighting and did not dare to face the enemy, so he ran away. The central part of the thief army was in chaos. Liu Heita led his army to chase him tightly, biting the thief general, saying that he would take his head and serve as a meeting gift for Chen Sangliang.
Three thousand people fought 500 people and were bullied by Liu Heita as a bird. Hao Xiaode was completely unable to bear it and bullied Chen Sangliang's troops without any action. He simply ordered two thousand troops to step forward and jointly attack Liu Heita. What Hao Xiaode didn't expect was that his two thousand troops had just been dispatched. The main force of the Sui army, which had been still in control before, suddenly dispatched a thousand cavalry. Qin Qiong led to welcome the two thousand bandits, shared the pressure for Liu Heita, and bought time for Liu Heita to break the enemy. As a result, Liu Heita did not let down Chen Sangliang's painstaking efforts. In the end, he caught up with the enemy general of the bandit army on the battlefield. After only two rounds of the fight, Liu Heita killed the bandit general with one knife.
The main general was killed, and the morale of Hao Xiaode's former army was greatly relieved. Liu Shishan also took the opportunity to launch an attack. The two brothers fought together to attack, killing Hao Xiaode's former army and left. Then Liu Heita's brothers also took advantage of the victory to attack Hao Xiaode's central army. Hao Xiaode's central army hurriedly shot arrows and intercepted. Seeing this, Chen Sangliang immediately took a new move and ordered Luo Shixin to lead three thousand troops to attack from the right wing and attack the left wing of the opponent's thief army. He ordered Cheng Yaojin to lead two thousand cavalry to detour eastward to cut off Hao Xiaode's road back to the camp. Finally, he ordered one thousand infantry to carry long shields to advance and assist Liu Heita in attacking Hao Xiaode's central army.
With the cover of the long shield, Liu Heita, who was once defeated by Hao Xiaode's central army, was killed again. He approached the enemy's formation under the rain of arrows. The Sui army's long shield suddenly used a large number of gunpowder bottles to disturb the enemy with the explosion and thick smoke. Although Hao Xiaode's army had seen the gunpowder bottles and was somewhat mentally prepared, the explosion still shook the loud noise. Liu Heita's brothers took the opportunity to cross the long shield and rushed into the enemy formation and continued to attack the front of Hao Xiaode's army. At the same time, the little monster Luo Shixin had already beaten the left wing of the bandit army to an unbearable attack. The elite troops of Qi County on Qin Qiong also defeated the crowd with few defeats, which made Hao Xiaode's army at the right wing attacking army at a disadvantage. Hao Xiaode's army was at a disadvantage.
Seeing that the Sui army's offensive was strong, Hao Xiaode, who had gradually calmed down, gradually became timid. He found that the Sui army's cavalry went to detour and cut off his way back to the camp. Hao Xiaode was even more panicked and quickly sent someone to ask for help from Hulao Pass and asked Shan Xiongxin to send troops to help immediately. As a result, the left wing of Hao's army could not withstand the attack of the little monster Luo Shixin, and suddenly collapsed and fled. The morale of the bandit army was suddenly discharged. The Sui army's morale was greatly boosted, and the charge became even more fierce. Seeing that the defeat was settled, Luo Shixin continued to fight on the flank of his central army. Hao Xiaode, who was extremely regretful of the impulsive battle, could only order the Mingjin to withdraw his troops and lead the army to flee east.
Chen Sangliang was very happy to defeat the frontal enemy without ordering the general attack, but in order to prevent it, Chen Sangliang still did not launch the general attack. He only ordered Luo Shixin, Liu Heita and Qin Qiong to pursue the headquarters, leading the main force of the central army to line up, ready to fight the reinforcements that Hao Xiaode might have obtained.
Facts have proved that Chen Sangliang's concern was completely unnecessary. Li Shicai and Li Wenxiang's troops who were left behind in the camp were only concerned about protecting themselves. How dare they send troops to respond to Hao Xiaode? Shan Xiongxin was even more cruel. Not only did he refuse to send troops to rescue him, but he also asked Hao Xiaode's messenger for help, "Duke Wei ordered you to only guard the camp and not fight. Why don't you listen? Why do you go to war against orders? You take the lead in resisting orders and don't obey them. I can't send reinforcements to you."
In this way, Hao Xiaode, who was chased and beaten by several powerful generals of the Sui army, paid a considerable price to escape near the army camp, and was immediately intercepted by Cheng Yaojin. Considering that even if Cheng Yaojin broke through the blockade, he would definitely suffer heavy casualties and injuries in front of the Sui army, in order to preserve his strength, Hao Xiaode Yu Qian gave up his plan to return to the camp and led his army to flee directly to Hulao Pass, and went to the safest Hulao Pass to seek the protection of the Wagang Army.
As he ran wildly, a distance of only five miles was approaching. Hao Xiaode personally led his personal soldiers to the front, and went to Hulao Pass and shouted that Shan Xiongxin would open the door immediately and let his army enter the pass to avoid the pursuers. Then it was Shan Xiongxin's turn to be in a dilemma. Opening the door may cause the Sui army to follow him in. If he didn't open the door, it would definitely lead to heavy casualties and suffering. He was in a dilemma. Fortunately, it was only noon and the light and vision were very good, so Shan Xiongxin only hesitated for a moment and immediately ordered: "Open the door, let him come in and prepare for the door-to-door trolley and bows and arrows, beware of Chen Yingliang's dog thieves taking the opportunity to kill in."
"Brother, let's wait." Mulan, who rarely speaks, suddenly spoke and reminded: "When Duke Dongjun left, he once told us not to let Duke Wei's army enter Hulao Pass."
"Yes, yes, Brother Hua is right." Zhai Mohou nodded and said, "My uncle had an explanation. Now the official army bit Hao Xiaode so tightly. After opening the city gate, what should we do if the official army takes the opportunity to follow him in?"
"Brother, I take the liberty to remind you again." Mulan pointed to the Sui army flag in the distance and said, "Did you see Luo Shixin's flag? That man once killed more than twenty enemies in a battle, and was the most fierce. He was recognized as the number one general of Qi County. He followed so closely. If he followed him and killed him, we might never have the chance to close the city gate again."
For the sake of her precious sister Shan Yingying, Shan Xiongxin had fought with Luo Shixin. Knowing the power of this little monster with great force, he could not help but hesitate when he heard this. Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou, who had not succeeded in defeating things, were also fanning the flames and persuading Shan Xiongxin not to risk opening the door. Shan Xiongxin, who had already decided to open the door to welcome Hao Xiaode, changed his mind and poked his head out from behind the arrows and shouted at Hao Xiaode: "King Hao, the government army is too tight to pursue, and it is too dangerous to open the door. I will release the suspension bridge for you to fight to the death at the back bridge under the city. I will cover it with a bow and arrow. When you kill the government army, I will open the door and let you in."
Hao Xiaode almost vomited blood. He wanted to greet Shan Xiongxin's 18th generation ancestor, but he did not dare to offend Shan Xiongxin at this critical moment. He could only beg and shouted: "Brother Shan, the military strength of the government army is too strong, I can't stop it. Don't worry, open the door for me. I will arrange the military behind the palace and will not let the government army enter the city."
Mulan and Zhai Hong and his son were making trouble. Shan Xiongxin was willing to believe Hao Xiaode's promise. He ignored Hao Xiaode's plea and insisted on just putting down the suspension bridge and let Hao Xiaode's army hide under the city. He ordered the soldiers of the Wagang Army to tightly support the city gate, and carefully put the yaksha above the city gate on guard, ready to be wary of Hao Xiaode's army attacking the city gate directly at the end of the road - although Hao Xiaode's army now does not even have a decent bumper wood.
Seeing this scene, Hao Xiaode had no choice but to express his crazily condolences to Shan Xiongxin’s ancestors in his stomach. He could only lead the army over the suspension bridge and go to the opposite side of the moat to avoid the pursuit of the Sui army. However, how many thieves’ soldiers could be tolerated by this narrow distance between the moat and the city wall? No matter how crowded everyone, everyone could barely accommodate three or four thousand people, the moat could not be squeezed out.
Poor to those thieves who had no time to cross the river, the moat in front of the wall blocked the road, and the soldiers of the Sui army chased and fought hard, and could not advance or retreat. There was no way forward and behind. The soldiers of the Sui army were killed and blood flowed into rivers, with countless casualties, and fell into the moat and drowned and soaked in death. They pushed each other and trampled on each other and were also seriously injured. The soldiers of the thieves were crowded beside the moat and cried and cried, but still had no way out. Hao Xiaode was as heartbroken as a knife and shouted, "Hold on, it's all death, fight with the official army."
The Central Army, the Central Army reorganized its team and prepared to fight.”
The powerful mobile Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong's cavalry took over the task of the main combat force. When Hao Xiaode's army retreated, Luo Shixin's army, who was in the front, also rushed in front. After Liu Heita's army fell to these three Sui army, Liu Heita's army could still participate in the battle to obtain results, but after carefully observing the situation under the city, Liu Heita suddenly ordered to stop pursuing. Liu Shishan and others were surprised to ask the reason. Liu Heita shook his head and did not answer. He just asked his army to stop advancing and gather the orders of the Hou, and then ordered Liu Shishan to temporarily command the troops. He turned his horse's head and rushed to Chen Sangliang's command.
Seeing Liu Heita's army stop pursuing, and then seeing Liu Heita turn his horse's head and rush towards him, Chen Sangliang was puzzled. As soon as Liu Heita arrived in front of him, Chen Sangliang asked, "What's wrong? Why not pursue him?"
Liu Heita's expression was a little hesitant, but he bowed and said, "Reporting to Chen Liuguan, the last general saw that Hao Xiaode and the thousands of people under his command retreated across the moat and hid under the protection of the thieves' bows and arrows. The enemies on the moat were almost all hungry refugees who were hungry for food. As long as Hao Xiaode had food and weapons, he could pull up more such troops at any time."
Liu Heita said it a little vaguely, but Chen Sangliang immediately understood what Liu Heita meant and asked, "Do you want to persuade me to withdraw my troops?"
"The last general is brave, that's exactly what it is." Liu Heita got off the horse and bowed his head, and said in a deep voice: "The last general begged Chen Liuguan to withdraw his troops for three reasons. The first is the composition of the Li Mi thief army. The last general is very clear that the reason why Hao Xiaode, Li Shicai, Li Wenxiang and Fang Xianbo surrendered to Li Mi was because they did not have stable food and grass supplies. They surrendered to him in order to obtain the grain from Li Yangcang. Their respective commanders were all old soldiers. They were only close ally with Li Mi, and were restricted by food and grass to obey Li Mi's orders. If there was any change, these people would definitely not really sacrifice their power for Li Mi."
"Second, Li Mi and Zhai Rang are all ally, and there are still conflicts and conflicts between them." Liu Heita continued: "The Wagang thieves refused to open the door and let Hao Xiaode enter the city. Hao Xiaode must hate the Wagang thieves deeply. After this battle, the stronger the power in Hao Xiaode's hands, the greater the threat to the Wagang thieves. Even if Hao Xiaode did not face the Wagang thieves, the two would never continue to work together. But if we pursued and fought to the end, Hao Xiaode was anxious to jump over the wall, and before his death, it might cause us a lot of casualties."
"Third." Speaking of this, Liu Heita hesitated for a moment, but said truthfully: "The general wants to repay Hao Xiaode. Hao Xiaode was not bad at treating the general before. Although he wanted to kill me yesterday, he was misled by the trick of staying behind you, so the general thinks that the general has rebelled, so the general does not hate him. In addition, Hao Xiaode, who is in the same shape as the anvil, is also the former companion of the general. The general really can't bear to let them die so miserably..."
The Sui generals around Chen Sangliang had already held the handle of the knife in his hand, but Chen Sangliang looked silent and said a moment later: "I have feelings and righteousness, I promise you, send orders, call gold, and withdraw the troops."
"Left-behind" Yuchi Jingde and others exclaimed, but Chen Sangliang ignored it, waved his hand and shouted, "Didn't you hear it? Mingjin"
The Sui army signal hand could not help but ring the gong of retreat. Liu Heita also changed his kneeling to kneeling on both knees and thanked Chen Sangliang. However, Chen Sangliang said again: "Let you return the favor to the end. After our army retreated, you go up and tell Hao Xiaode loudly that I ordered the gold to be heard after listening to your begging. Tell him again, if he leads the army to surrender like you, I will definitely take it in."
At the same time, when the Sui army was yelling gold gongs sounded by the main central army, the soldiers of the Sui army who were excitedly killed were inevitably dizzy. Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong and other generals also broke their heads and didn't understand why Chen Sangliang sounded gold at this time, but he did not dare to disobey the military orders. He could only lead the army back and let go of the thief soldiers who were already like fish on the anvil.
Hulao Pass and Hao Xiaode's thief army were also speechless, and they also broke their heads and couldn't understand why Chen Sangliang ordered the gold medal at this time. After finally coming back to his senses, Hao Xiaode immediately shouted happily, "Chen Gou Guan is confused and quickly reorganizes the team, and prevents the official army from coming again."
Of course, the Sui army did not come again. Only Liu Heita came to the vicinity of Hao Xiaode's army alone. Seeing this strange scene, the chaos of Hao Xiaode's army suddenly became quiet. Hao Xiaode himself was even more confused and blurted out: "Where is Liu Heita coming from? Looking for death?"
"Hao Xiaode, King Hao" Liu Heita spoke and shouted: "I, Liu Heita, called you King Hao for the last time, and I can also tell you clearly that Chen Liushou ordered the gold to be moaned because I begged him for mercy. He begged him to give you a way out for the sake of your good deeds in the past and spared you this time Chen Liushou gave me a great face, so he had the emergency withdrawal just now. He also asked me to tell you that if you surrendered to him with the army like me, he would definitely take it in."
Hao Xiaode was speechless, and Mulan, Shan Xiongxin and others on the city wall were also speechless, but Liu Heita shouted loudly: "Hao Xiaode, I have paid back your favor. Dear brothers, I will give you my brotherly feelings today and meet on the battlefield again. We are enemies. At that time, don't blame me for being too cruel."
After saying that, Liu Heita bowed to Hao Xiaode's army, then turned his head and ran back, leaving Hao Xiaode's army crowded together and looking at each other. Look at me, I look at you, I can't believe that this is true. Hao Xiaode himself was even more stunned. He couldn't believe that Liu Heita could be so affectionate and righteous to him, and he couldn't believe that Chen Sangliang would accept Liu Heita's plea.
After finally coming back to his senses, Hao Xiaode looked up at the Hulao Pass city. His face was terrible black and his eyes were full of resentment. Shan Xiongxin on the city was pale and his body was trembling slightly. After a while, he said: "Hao Xiaode is unreliable. He will send someone to report to Duke Dongjun and Duke Wei immediately and ask them to decide what to do about this matter."
On the afternoon of that day, the main force of the Sui army turned its finger and attacked the camp left by Hao Xiaode's army with all their might. With only five miles apart, Hao Xiaode's army never sent one army and one soldier back to the camp. The Wagang army did not dare to leave Hulao Pass. The morale of the bandit army under Li Shicai and Li Wenxiang was depressed and could not resist the Sui army's offensive. Liu Heita was the first to enter the camp. The soldiers of the Sui army flocked into the camp. The two Li thieves collapsed and the number of bandit soldiers who surrendered on the spot was far greater than before. Li Wenxiang led a small number of close friends to the camp to flee south. Li Shicai frivolously led his army to surrender Chen Sangliang, becoming the first big thief head of the Li Mi army to surrender Chen Sangliang, and also sounded the first horn for the collapse of Li Mi's bandit army.
Chapter completed!