GBP Chapter 265: Occupation of Lingqiu County
Chapter 265: Occupation of Lingqiu County
Zhao Sheng was sure that the Wang family of Bingzhou would not have a good ending and would definitely make things difficult for him after receiving the money. However, Liu Qizhi did not seize the opportunity. He had been trying to confuse Li Jixian's team, but unexpectedly, reinforcements from Weizhou arrived.
After a round of bombing, Liu Qizhi was defeated and they immediately retreated into Lingqiu County.
The Jin army that was surrounding them from behind saw that the situation was not good and retreated after learning the situation.
The troops coming to fight were from the 1st Regiment of Zhao Long's new 1st Division. Wang Gang bowed to Li Ji and said,
"General Li, I'm Wang Gang from the First Regiment of the New First Division under the command of Princess Luancheng. You can understand me as a lieutenant, or a general."
Li Jixian smiled upon hearing this and said, "Thank you, General Wang, for coming to rescue us. Does Your Majesty have any message for you?"
"We belong to the princess and her husband, and we do have something to say."
"Oh?" Li Jixian was curious about why the prince consort was intervening in the military. However, since he was the son-in-law of the Li family, it was not bad for him to take on such an important responsibility. With this thought in mind, Li Jixian asked again, "What do you want to tell me?"
"The Prince Consort said that if Lingqiu County rebels, we can take its place."
"That's great!" Li Jixian's mouth corners inadvertently rose when he heard this.
After the army gathered, Li Jixian arranged for the people to leave first, and Yu Lei led half of the team to stay and prepare to attack Lingqiu County.
The city tower of Lingqiu County is not high, about two meters high, and is built with a mixture of sand and bricks.
County Magistrate Qi Wentao and Donnie Yen stood on the city wall. After a few lamentations, the magistrate spoke first, "This group of people won't let it go so easily. They will definitely demand some benefits before leaving."
Donnie Yen smiled bitterly and said, "The Wang family gave Liu Qizhi a secret order. It has nothing to do with us, but... hey..."
Another round of sighs, but to no avail.
The next day, Li Jixian found Wang Gang and asked him how to attack the city.
Wang Gang looked at Yu Lei, then walked to a makeshift sand table and said, "Lingqiu County isn't very tall, nor is it very strong. I can break the gate with a single volley, but first I need to shout at them to surrender."
Li Jixian is not an easy person to talk to. He has an army of 100,000 at his disposal and is attacking a county with such powerful weapons. He is unwilling to give up easily.
"I thought we could attack first and then talk."
"This will cause many innocent casualties. Hey, Weizhou is short of people!"
There was something more to Wang Gang's words, and Li Jixian understood it instantly.
"Then shout first. If that doesn't work, attack the city gate first to let them know how powerful we are."
Seeing Li Jixian so persistent, Wang Gang had no choice but to do the same.
Yu Lei sent men to the city walls and shouted, "Listen up, everyone in the city! We don't want to kill any more people. Lay down your weapons. We can talk things over if we punish the ringleaders."
The purpose of punishing the main culprit is to capture Liu Qizhizi.
Upon hearing this, Liu Qizhizi was unable to surrender, so he ordered his men to seize the city wall and drive the county soldiers to a remote corner of the city.
Seeing that shouting didn't work, Yu Lei, who was at the foot of the city, ran to Wang Gang's formation and asked, "Can we use a sharp weapon to blow up the city wall?"
Wang Gang also knew that his words did not achieve the goal. Since he had done his best, he should not blame himself for being cruel.
"Second Battalion Commander, bring over your concentrated artillery and fire at the city gate."
"Yes, prepare to bombard, ... take your positions..."
With an order, the first batch of ten calibrated artillery shells were fired.
"Boom~Boom boom..." The shells fell on the city walls or the edge of the city, raising huge amounts of dust and mud, and a wailing sounded from the city walls in an instant.
"Deputy General Liang, if we continue like this we will only die." His men shouted.
"So what do you think?"
"Just surrender. We are all from the Great Zhou. There is no shame in surrendering, but it is not worth losing your life."
"Surrender is not a bad idea. Life here is not good anyway. I heard that Weizhou treats its soldiers well, but..."
Liang Qiming hesitated, and one of his men asked, "Are you worried about General Liu?"
“Exactly!!!”
"Kidnap him and hand him over to the Li family army. This matter has nothing to do with us."
"This is the only way now!" Liang Qiming made up his mind secretly.
An arrow with a paper roll flew out from the Lingqiu County City Wall. It was seen by a sharp-eyed soldier, who picked it up and handed it to Yu Lei.
Yu Lei came to Li Jixian's tent with the letter on the arrow.
"General, someone has sent a letter from the city wall." After saying that, he handed the letter to Li Jixian.
After reading the letter, Li Jixian knew that the people in the city planned to kidnap Liu Qizhi in exchange for a chance to survive, so he ordered to stop the attack.
An hour later, the gate of Lingqiu County was opened, and Liu Qizhizi was tied up like a dumpling and thrown outside the city.
"Hahaha, Commander Liu has finally met his end. If he had known this would happen, why would he have made things difficult for us?"
Li Jixian rode a big black horse and came in front of Liu Qizhizi and laughed out loud.
"I'm just following orders. Right now, you haven't suffered any loss at all, but we've suffered heavy casualties."
"Well, since you've surrendered, I don't care about the consequences. But you've also seen our strength. This isn't some kind of vendetta, and the cycle of revenge will never end. How about we call it quits here?"
"Okay, I surrender." Liu Qizhizi said with his head hung down and his face flushed.
"Not only do I want you to surrender, but Lingqiu County is also a condition for surrender. This requires General Liu's cooperation."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qizhizi thought that these people were really taking advantage of the situation. Today's mistake was caused by him. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to admit defeat.
"Okay, I'll persuade the magistrate of Lingqiu County."
"No need, just send someone to invite him." Li Jixian wanted Liu Qizhizi to bear the blame, but also did not want the surrendered soldiers to suffer any harm, so Liang Qiming asked someone to invite the county magistrate Qi Wentao.
Donnie Yen was also invited.
Liu Qizhi had been untied by then, and facing Qi Wentao, he had no choice but to speak: "County Magistrate Qi, this time we targeted the Li family army, but we didn't gain any advantage. Instead, I have to pay the county back. Some of the blame lies with me."
Qi Wentao and Donnie Yen are both from Luzhou, and they cannot tolerate what Bingzhou has done. This kind of surrender is not a national humiliation, and it doesn't matter who takes over Lingqiu County.
"Is it a good idea for Lingqiu County to control Dai County?" Qi Wentao said with pretended hesitation.
"I'll take responsibility for everything, that's all..." The blush on Liu Qizhizi's face had not yet faded, and he kept his head down while speaking.
"Okay, I'll write the document and ask General Liu to sign it."
"Of course..."
At noon, the sun poured down like molten gold on the vast land outside the city. Although the early spring breeze was a bit chilly, it seemed powerless under the scorching sun, making people feel lazy and sleepy involuntarily.
After careful consideration, Li Jixian sent Yu Lei to lead 50,000 elite troops to quietly enter the city.
The surrendered soldiers were gathered in an orderly manner. Their steps were temporarily restrained, and the weapons in their hands were safely placed on the ground, waiting for the next arrangement of fate.
At the same time, Liu Qizhi solemnly signed his name on a series of cumbersome documents. Then, he and his guards were allowed to leave the war-torn city like free birds and head towards the unknown distance.
"Enter the city!" Li Jixian waved his hand heroically. His voice was like a horn, inspiring the personal guards around him to follow closely and step into the city that was about to usher in a new order.
At this critical moment, Wang Gang led his troops and quickly occupied an important city gate, using it as a stronghold and setting up camp.
A group of people walked into the county government office. Li Jixian and Yu Lei walked side by side, their steps firm and powerful. Qi Wentao and Donnie Yen followed closely behind them. Their eyes flashed with expectations and determination for the future, as if they were leading the city towards a new dawn.