Vol 2 Chapter 2672: Li Dingguo VS Xia Houyuan, Han Xin surprise attack on Kunming

Chapter 2672 Li Dingguo VS Xia Houyuan, Han Xin surprise attack on Kunyang City

Chapter 2668: Li Dingguo VS Xia Houyuan, Han Xin surprise attack on Kunyang City

Li Cunxiao took only two days to break through Longcheng, which had 3,000 defenders, and captured Cao Wei's Longcheng defender Liu Yan alive.

In this battle, the Qin army killed 500 Wei troops, half of whom died at the hands of Li Cunxiao alone, and captured 2,500 Wei troops, while the Qin army's own casualties were less than 50.

 Longcheng fell, and there was a gap in Cao Wei's first line of defense.

Li Cunxiao could completely ignore Guancheng and the other three cities and lead the army directly into the second line of defense, but there are hidden dangers in doing so.

If it were Li Cunxiao in the past, he might still do this, but after fighting for so many years and suffering so many losses, he is much calmer now than before, and he will not be so immature.

Li Cunxiao left his deputy general Li Dingguo to guard Longcheng with two thousand soldiers and guard the prisoners of war, while he himself led the remaining troops to the north and captured the city more than 40 miles away.

As soon as Li Cunxiao left, nearly 15,000 defenders from Guancheng south of Longcheng, as well as Juanxian, Yuanyong, and Putian on the second line of defense came out at the same time and headed straight for Longcheng. Obviously It is to retake Longcheng.

After Li Dingguo learned about it, he made preparations to defend the city and stood ready. At the same time, he sent a message to Li Cunxiao, asking him to continue attacking Hu City and not worry about the safety of Longcheng.

After learning the news that Cao Wei and his army were marching into Longcheng, Li Cunxiao originally wanted to return to Longcheng first. It was not that he didn't believe in Li Dingguo's ability, but that Longcheng was initially settled and there might be some hidden dangers inside.

In addition, the Wei army that invaded Longcheng had 15,000 troops. It was just a defense of the city, which was obviously not as important as the 15,000 Wei troops.

Li Cunxiao thought the problem was simple. The reason why Cao Wei sent troops to Longcheng at this time was just to lure Li Cunxiao back and make the Qin army exhausted.

If Li Cunxiao had really waited for Li Cunxiao to return to Longcheng, these four Wei troops would have fled long ago, and they would never dare to stay and fight with Li Cunxiao in the field.

Since the returning army is destined to be defeated, it is better not to return and continue to attack the city. After all, ten birds in the forest are not as good as one in the hand.

 So, after reading Li Dingguo's letter, Li Cunxiao decided not to return to the army and continued to attack Hu City.

The Wei army originally just wanted to lure Li Cunxiao back, and had no intention of attacking Longcheng by force. However, Li Dingguo was not fooled, so they had to attack if they didn't.

Cao Wei did have a backup force in Longcheng. If the Qin army was unprepared, they could still recapture Longcheng by cooperating inside and outside.

 But now the person guarding Longcheng is Li Dingguo, how could he not be on guard against these means?

Li Dingguo just used a little trick to lure out more than a hundred Cao Wei Xizuo who were ambushing in Longcheng, surrounded and killed them all, and then set up an ambush in the city. He pretended that Cao Wei Xizuo opened the city gate and deliberately lured the Wei army into the city. .

At this time, the four generals who led the army to attack Longcheng were: Xia Houyuan, Liu Tichun, Lu Qian, and Cao Yin.

Liu Tichun was a general under Li Zicheng. After Li Zicheng's death, he insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty. He accepted the title granted by the Southern Ming Dynasty and was named the Duke of Anhui. He led his troops into Kuidong and became one of the thirteen families in Kuidong.

Liu Tichun in this life was still implanted under Li Zicheng, but he was captured alive by evil in the duel with Cao Wei. After Li Zicheng's defeat, he surrendered to Cao Cao.

Xia Houyuan and Liu Tichun were extremely cautious to begin with, but after Lu Qian broke a hand in Yingzhou, his character became silent and cautious. He did not enter the city rashly, but prepared to send someone to check first.

Cao Yin was not as cautious as the three of them. When he saw that Longcheng was in civil strife and the city gate was wide open, he was led into the city without thinking. However, he was ambushed by Li Dingguo. The Qin army was ambushed in advance. It was shot into a sieve.

Seeing that Xia Houyuan, Liu Tichun and Lu Qian were not fooled, Li Dingguo was not disappointed. At worst, he would continue to wait for help.

Xia Houyuan, Liu Tichun, and Lu Qian were not stupid people. When they saw that Cao Yin and the two thousand Wei troops under his command, no one came out after entering the city, they naturally realized that something was wrong, but at this time the city gate was already closed. , only a strong attack can break through.

The three generals Xia Houyuan each led their troops to attack the city, but Li Dingguo had already made sufficient preparations, and they would definitely not be able to break the city in the short term.

Just when the three generals Xia Houyuan didn't know what to do, Li Dingguo appeared at the top of Longcheng and hung up Cao Yin's body.

"Cao Jun outside the city, listen, Cao Wei is a small country. Facing millions of lions in the Qin Dynasty, it is nothing more than a mantis' arm acting as a chariot. Those who know how to do it should surrender quickly, otherwise this person will be your role model."

 “General Cao Yin?”

 After seeing Cao Yin's body, Liu Tichun and Lu Qian couldn't help but exclaimed. After all, Cao Yin was the uncle of Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Cao Chun and others.

 Qin and Wei are related by marriage. Many generals in the Wei army thought that the Qin army intended to conquer Cao Wei, so they would not be too cruel to them. However, they did not expect that even the uncle of the King of Wei was killed.

 Looking at Cao Yin's body, Liu Tichun and Lu Qian were silent. Xia Houyuan was even more angry and gritted his teeth. Not only did he not stop attacking the city, but he attacked even more fiercely.

Even after two days of continuous attack, Longcheng failed to be conquered. Instead, nearly a thousand troops were lost.

Although Xia Houyuan was angry about Cao Yin's death, he was not overwhelmed by the anger. Seeing that he could not break Longcheng, he had no choice but to retreat. After all, Li Cunxiao would come if he didn't leave.

Li Cunxiao marched one day and arrived at Hu City. There were only a thousand defenders in Hu City, so it was naturally impossible to stop Li Cunxiao's attack.

Even Li Cunxiao did not take action personally this time. He only relied on his troops to conquer Hu City in one day. However, the casualties were greater than those in Long City, with nearly a hundred soldiers killed in the battle.

After Li Cunxiao left 1,500 soldiers in Hucheng, he led the remaining army back to Longcheng. When he arrived with his army, Liu Tichun and Lu Qian had already led the army and ran away.

 When he learned that Li Dingguo not only defended Longcheng, but also used a trick to kill Cao Yin and annihilate nearly 3,000 Wei troops, even Li Cunxiao couldn't help but give Li Dingguo a thumbs up.

 “Dingguo, well done.”

Li Cunxiao ran back and forth between Longcheng and Hucheng. The total number of Cao soldiers killed in the two battles was less than half of what Li Dingguo did in the first battle.

Li Cunxiao knew Li Dingguo's ability, and at the same time felt sorry for his younger brother. If he hadn't guarded Yanmen Pass all year round and wasted too many years, Li Dingguo's achievements might not be lower than those of Zhang Liao, Meng Tian and others.

Li Dingguo was originally a general of the Yellow Turban Army. He surrendered to Ying Wen after being captured, so he was considered a member of the Jin Dynasty, unlike Li Cunxiao, who was from the Yuan Dynasty and Qin Dynasty. However, after Ying Hao became emperor, he treated all departments equally. After Li Dingguo experienced the battle outside the fortress, he was also transferred from Yanmen Pass and became Li Cunxiao's deputy general.

 Under the command of Li Cunxiao, the most powerful general in the world, are you still afraid that you will not have the chance to make meritorious deeds? Therefore, Li Dingguo's rise is inevitable.

“Brother, the general Cao I killed this time is different, and it may cause some trouble.” Li Dingguo said seriously.

Li Cunxiao smiled nonchalantly and said, "What trouble can there be?"

“Cao Yin is the younger brother of Cao Song and the uncle of Cao Cao, the king of Wei.”

After hearing this, Li Cunxiao finally understood his brother's worries, but he still didn't take it seriously and said: "Don't say he is just Cao Cao's uncle, so what if he is Cao Cao's biological father? If you don't surrender and die on the battlefield, your death will be in vain. Your Majesty is I don’t blame you for that.”

Li Cunxiao’s words did not dispel Li Dingguo’s worries.

"There are four concubines from the Cao family in the harem. I'm afraid..."

“Are you afraid that the fourth concubine of Cao Wei will give His Majesty the wind? Or are you afraid that the prince born of the fourth concubine will bear a grudge in the future?”

Li Cunxiao looked at Li Dingguo speechlessly, and said patiently: "Second brother, you are really smart and confused for a while. Our Majesty is so wise, how can you be deceived by the wind on your pillow?

As for whether the prince born by the fourth concubine will hold a grudge, we have to wait for another time. Even if he does, he must be able to succeed to the throne.

But my country, the Qin Dynasty, has already decided on the title of crown prince, and the prince born from the fourth concubine of Cao Wei has no chance of succeeding to the throne. "

Li Dingguo suddenly looked surprised when he heard this, and then looked at Li Cunxiao with a surprised look on his face, as if his elder brother was a different person.

“Brother, you have never considered this before.”

Hearing what Li Dingguo said, Li Cunxiao asked: "Second brother, how do you know what I was thinking before?"

“Because all your previous thoughts were written on your face. What you thought about all day long was either practicing martial arts to become stronger or challenging other strong people.”

　　“Well… I was still too young at that time.”

As he spoke, Li Cunxiao showed a look of reminiscence and said: "If you are not in your position, you will not plan for your politics. Only when you are in your position will you know that it is not easy.

Your Majesty does not want Brother Wei to be just a reckless man, nor does Brother Wei want to be just a reckless man, so he has been studying all these years. If there is no progress at all, it would be a shame for His Majesty to train Brother Wei. "

Li Dingguo nodded. Unlike him who was put on the bench at Yanmen Pass, His Majesty did not hide his preference for his brother at all.

Although Li Cunxiao was strong, among the generals of the Qin Dynasty, he was also the one who caused the most trouble.

Disobeying orders, disobeying orders in battle, and other disobedience to military regulations, if someone else commits the same crime, they will definitely be demoted even if they are not dismissed.

But Li Cunxiao made all the mistakes, but he still did well. He fought the battles and led the troops.

 What is eccentricity?

 This is called partiality.

After some discussion, brothers Li Cunxiao and Li Dingguo decided to take the prisoners of war in Hucheng to Longcheng and keep them under unified care, while continuing to march towards Cao Wei's second line of defense.

The first direction of Cao Wei's western line, there are actually Guancheng and Mi County in the south, which have not yet been captured by the Qin army.

But at this time, the 140,000 main force that left Hulao Pass in the east had successfully arrived at Xingyang City.

After Zhang Liao received the news that Li Cunxiao had captured Longcheng and Hucheng, he immediately sent Xu Huang and Gao Shun, each with an army of 10,000, to attack Guancheng and Mi County. Naturally, there was no need for Li Cunxiao to go there in person.

There are more than 20 cities in Cao Wei's three western defense lines. If Li Cunxiao needs to capture each one personally, the march alone will take a lot of time, and Li Cunxiao will die from exhaustion.

 The city guard Cao Yin and the two thousand defenders have been completely annihilated by Li Dingguo, so it is naturally impossible to stop the Qin army's offensive.

When Gao Shun's army arrived, before they had time to attack the city, the county magistrate of Guancheng took the initiative to open the city and surrender.

As for the general of Mi County, Dang Shousu, he was one of the "Thirteen Kuidong Families" like Liu Tichun, and he was also a general under Li Zicheng, but he surrendered to Cao Cao after Li Zicheng's defeat.

The Kuidong Thirteen Families, also known as the Sichuan Thirteen Families, the Xishan Thirteen Families, and the Kuidong Four Families, were an anti-Qing army active in Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces during the Southern Ming Dynasty until the third year of Kangxi (1664). The fact that it was completely destroyed in August is enough to illustrate its tenacity and resilience.

Dang Shousu knew very well that after the fall of Longcheng and other three cities, he could not hold on for long with only one isolated city in Mi County. However, if he surrendered without a fight, he was worried that he would be looked down upon by the Qin army.

After some thought, Dang Shousu decided to challenge Xu Huang. If he was defeated, he would surrender the whole city and would never break his promise.

Xu Huang initially thought that this was Dang Shousu's excuse to lure him into the battle, but as soon as he thought about it, he had nothing to lose, so he fought.

It's just the superb Dang Shousu. Facing Xu Huang, who is at the level of a **** general, he has no resistance at all. After persisting for twenty rounds, Xu Huang shot down his horse, and he was defeated on the spot.

Dang Shousu did not break the contract. He ordered the opening of the city as if relieved, and led the two thousand defenders in the city to surrender to Xu Huang.

At this point, Cao Wei's first line of defense on the western front had all fallen. Among the four defenders, one was captured, one surrendered, and two died in battle.

At the same time, Han Xin's 70,000-strong army also invaded Yingchuan from Nanyang and launched a surprise attack on Kunyang City.