On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 595 Retreat to Jiangling

After a long night, at dawn, the Xiangyang City Gate slowly opened and the suspension bridge on the moat was lowered.

Xiangyang officials headed by the county magistrate went out of the city one after another to ask for surrender from Emperor Dayan, including the Xiyang prefect who had fled to Xiangyang before.

Cui Che had already reunited with Dou Jiande and others. Although he knew that Dou Jiande valued righteousness in his life and was a kind-hearted man, he still couldn't wait to regain control of the [-] infantry in his hands.

"The guilty minister respectfully welcomes the Holy Lord."

Xiangyang officials bowed to Cui Che with loud shouts.

Cui Che on horseback raised his hand slightly and said:
"No gift, flat body."

Cui Che took the Xiangyang Governor's Seal from the hands of the commander, looked at it casually, and handed it to Wei Wang Cui Youzhi, who was riding a docile mare beside him, to put it away.

The various units of the Yan army entered Xiangyang first and collected the armor of the defenders. After confirming that there was no danger, Cui Che walked into this famous city in Jingzhou surrounded by everyone.

The Yan army's offensive last night was just a taste of it. Because it was a peaceful handover, the city was not damaged.

Even the moat that had been filled in before was organized by the people of Xiangyang to be dredged again after Cui Che entered the city.

Just when Cui Che entered Xiangyang, Zhang Xutuo led the navy to fight all night. Finally, after breaking through the iron cables, he defeated the Yan army guarding the pontoon and destroyed the Wudang pontoon.

Cheng Yaojin returned to the shore with the soldiers guarding the pontoon. He looked back and saw on the water. The Sui Dynasty navy was loudly cheering for victory and showing off its power. He spat on the ground and said viciously:
"Continue to celebrate. I want to see if you can still laugh when the news of the fall of Yuliangzhou and Xiangyang comes."

Now that the main force of the enemy's navy has been deceived into coming to Wudang, one can imagine what the situation in Xiangyang is like now.

However, Zhang Xutuo was not aware of all this. He was arranging ships to block the river, claiming that no grain could be transported to the south bank.

But things soon took a turn. In the afternoon, Zhang Xutuo finally learned the news of Xiangyang's fall.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Zhang Xutuo's eyes widened, veins popped out on his forehead, and he shouted:

"The main force of the Yan army is now in Wudang, how could there be an army approaching the city of Xiangyang and setting up an ambush in the west of the city!
"Tell me! Who sent you here to disrupt the morale of our army!

"If you don't tell the truth, I will kill you right now."

The person who came to report the news was trembling, and he said tremblingly:
"The villain is absolutely telling the truth. If the county magistrate doesn't believe it, he can send someone to the south gate of Xiangyang to check. Mr. Xiao's head is still hanging on the tower."

In an instant, the audience was in an uproar.

If losing Xiangyang is a felony, then Xiao Ju's death is undoubtedly an added crime to them.

After all, Xiao Jue is not the kind of estranged relative of the emperor, but the younger brother of the queen who has lived in the Jin Palace since childhood.

Now Xiao Jue died in the battle, but they are still alive. Even if they can leave this place, they will probably be questioned by the court afterwards.

Regardless of whether Zhang Xutuo believed what the reporter said, it did not prevent him from preparing to kill this person to reassure the army.

However, just as he was about to draw his sword, there was a loud commotion outside the cabin.

Everyone hurried out of the cabin to take a look and saw that the soldiers on the battleship were panicking and losing control. Zhang Xutuo was so upset that he grabbed a soldier at random and shouted:
"What the hell happened!"

The soldier was frightened and pointed at the south bank, speechless.

Zhang Xutuo stepped onto the deck and looked towards the south bank, but he saw a familiar figure, it was the Xiyang prefect who was sent by Cui Che's fast horse.

The governor of Xiyang was previously placed in Xiangyang City, but now he appears in Wudang County. There are two situations.

One is that the Sui army has recovered Wudang.

The second is that Xiangyang has been occupied by Cui Che.

But seeing the Yan army behind the governor of Xiyang, no matter how reluctant he was to believe it, Zhang Xutuo had to accept the fact that Xiao Jue was dead and Xiangyang fell. "Arrows! Arrows! Shoot them to death!"

Zhang Xutuo roared, his usual calm demeanor completely gone.

A shower of arrows rose into the sky, and the Yan army raised its large shield in time, and slowly retreated under Cheng Yaojin's order.

Cui Che sent the governor of Xiyang here so that he could cooperate with Cheng Yaojin to take over the entire county of Xiyang.

It was Cheng Yaojin's own idea to bring the governor of Xiyang to the embankment. Obviously, he was still worried about the cheers of the Sui army earlier.

On the ship, Zhang Xutuo led the generals back to the cabin, his face terrifyingly gloomy.

Everyone was careful, lest they offend him.

For a long time, Zhang Xutuo gritted his teeth and spit out two words:
"retreat!"

A general who thought he was close to Zhang Xutuo asked:
"Jun Cheng, where are we going to retreat to now?"

After Zhang Xutuo took a deep breath, he regained his composure and replied:
"Retreat to Nanjun."

The so-called Nanjun is Jiangling.

If there is a city in Jingxiang that is as famous and important as Xiangyang, it is only Jiangling.

Jiangling and Xiangyang are located to the north of the Yangtze River. If Jiangling is occupied, they can go down the Yangtze River and directly take Jiankang.

There is no doubt that after Cui Che captures Xiangyang, he will not stop there and will definitely attack Jiangling.

Obviously, Zhang Xutuo still wants to continue fighting Cui Che in Jiangling.

But not everyone has the same idea as him. Some people are afraid of being blamed by the court and want to surrender to Cui Che. After all, many of their family members have now fallen into Cui Che's hands.

The general who asked the question earlier was one of them. He persuaded Zhang Xutuo to surrender to Yan. In addition to the previous reasons, he also found another reason:
"Although the Yan people have formed a navy now, their strength is not worth mentioning. If the Commander-in-Chief leads us to submit to the Yan Kingdom, we will definitely be reused by the Emperor of Yan. In time, we will surely rise to great heights. I would like to ask the Commander-in-Chief to think twice about the pros and cons. .”

What he said was sincere, and he was indeed putting himself in Zhang Xutuo's shoes.

But he never thought that what greeted him was the steel knife that Zhang Xutuo had not had time to pull out before.

Zhang Xutuo did not unjustly kill the person who came to report the news, but he personally hacked to death the navy general who thought about himself.

The incident happened so suddenly that no one in the cabin had time to react.

Zhang Xutuo raised his sword and faced everyone, saying in a deep voice:

"It's about eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor. I, Zhang Xutuo, am definitely not someone who betrays the Lord and seeks glory!

"You don't have to worry about being held accountable by the court for Mr. Xiao's death. I am responsible for this matter alone.

"I am determined to retreat to Nanjun. If you are willing to follow me, please keep your left arm open!"

With that said, Zhang Xutuo took the lead in exposing his left arm.

The remaining people also showed their arms.

Zhang Xutuo pointed the tip of his knife at the corpse on the ground and said to his generals:

"Okay! Since we are united, anyone who threatens to surrender in the future will be punished by everyone!"

After finishing speaking, he immediately commanded everyone to lead the navy to evacuate from the Wudang River section.

　No more
　　
　
(End of this chapter)