Chapter 2671 Li Dingguo vs. Xiahou Yuan, Han Xin attacked Kunyang City


    Chapter 2668: Li Dingguo VS Xiahou Yuan, Han Xin attacks Kunyang City


    In just two days, Li Cunxiao captured Longcheng, which had three thousand defenders and captured Liu Yan, the garrison of Longcheng of Cao Wei alive.


    In this battle, the Qin army killed 500 Wei troops, half of which were killed by Li Cunxiao and captured 2,500 Wei troops, while the Qin army suffered less than 50 casualties.


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


    Li Cunxiao could have completely ignored Guancheng and other three cities and led his troops directly into the second line of defense, but there were hidden dangers in doing so.


    If it were Li Cunxiao in the past, he might have done this, but after fighting for many years, he suffered so many losses. Now he is much more calm than before, and he will not be so immature.


    Li Cunxiao, deputy general Li Dingguo, led two thousand soldiers to guard Longcheng and guard prisoners of war at the same time, while he himself led the remaining troops northward and captured Hucheng more than 40 miles away.


    Li Cunxiao had just left, Guancheng south of Longcheng, and Juanxian, Yuanyong and Putian, the second line of defense. Nearly 15,000 defenders from these four cities came out at the same time and headed straight for Longcheng, obviously to retake Longcheng.


    After Li Dingguo learned about it, he was ready to defend the city and was ready to fight, while sending a message to Li Cunxiao, asking him to continue to attack Hucheng without worrying about the safety of Longcheng.


    After learning that Cao Wei had marched into Longcheng from four directions, Li Cunxiao originally wanted to return to his army to protect Longcheng first. It was not that he did not believe in Li Dingguo''s ability, but that Longcheng was first decided, and there might be some hidden dangers inside.


    In addition, the Wei army invaded Longcheng had a 15,000 army, and the mere Hucheng was obviously not as important as the five thousand Wei army.


    Li Cunxiao still thought the question simple. The reason why Cao Wei sent troops to Longcheng at this time was that his purpose was to attract Li Cunxiao to come back and make the Qin army exhausted.


    If Li Cunxiao really returns to Longcheng, the Wei army from the four routes must have run away long ago, and it would never be possible to stay and fight Li Cunxiao in the field.


    Since the return army is destined to be empty, it is better not to return to the army and continue to attack Hucheng. After all, ten birds are worse than one bird in the forest.


    Therefore, after reading Li Dingguo''s letter, Li Cunxiao decided not to return to his army and continued to attack Hucheng.


    The Wei army originally wanted to attract Li Cunxiao back, but he did not intend to attack Longcheng, but Li Dingguo was not deceived, so they had to attack if they didn''t attack.


    Cao Wei did leave a backup plan in Longcheng. If the Qin army was not prepared, they could still retake Longcheng with the help of the inside and the outside.


    But now Li Dingguo is the one who guards Longcheng, so how could he not beware of these methods?


    Li Dingguo just used a brief plan and led more than a hundred Cao Wei Xizuo who were ambushed in Longcheng, surrounded and killed all of them in the city, and then set up an ambush in the city, pretending that Cao Wei Xizuo opened the city gate and deliberately led the Wei army into the city.


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


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


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


    Xiahou Yuan and Liu Tichun were extremely cautious, and after Lu Qian broke his hand in Yingzhou, his personality became silent and cautious. He did not enter the city lightly, but planned to send someone to check first.


    Cao Yin was not as cautious as the three of them. Seeing that Longcheng was in civil strife and the city gate was wide open, he was taken into the city without expecting that he was led into the city. However, he was ambushed by Li Dingguo and shot into a sieve by the Qin army who were ambushing in advance.


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


    Xiahou Yuan, Liu Tichun and Lu Qian were not stupid people. Seeing that Cao Yin and his two thousand Wei troops under his command had not come out after entering the city, they naturally realized that something had happened, but at this time the city gate was closed, and only by attacking forcing could they break in.


    The three generals Xiahou Yuan led their troops to attack the city, but Li Dingguo had already made sufficient preparations and would definitely not be able to break the city by them in the short term.


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


    "Listen to Cao Jun outside the city, Cao Wei is a small country. Facing our millions of lions, they are just a mantis arm to chariots. Those who know the truth will 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 exclaim. After all, Cao Yin was the uncle of Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Cao Chun and others.


    The Qin and Wei countries are in-laws. Many generals in the Wei army thought that the Qin army was intending to conquer Cao Wei, so they would not attack them too ruthlessly, but they did not expect that even the uncle of the King of Wei would be killed.


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


    But after two consecutive days of attack, he failed to break through Longcheng, and instead lost nearly a thousand troops.


    Although Xiahou Yuan was angry about Cao Yin''s death, he was not dizzy by anger. Seeing that he could not break through Longcheng, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops. After all, if he didn''t leave, Li Cunxiao was coming.


    Li Cunxiao marched to Hucheng in one day, and Hucheng had only one thousand defenders, so it was naturally impossible to stop Li Cunxiao''s attack.


    This time, even Li Cunxiao did not take action personally. He only relied on his army and took a day to break through Hucheng. However, the casualties were larger than those in Longcheng, and nearly a hundred soldiers were killed in battle.


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


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


    "Dingguo, do a good job."


    Li Cunxiao ran back and forth in Longcheng and Hucheng. The Cao army killed in the two battles was not half as big as that in Li Dingguo''s battle.


    Li Cunxiao knew Li Dingguo''s ability, and at the same time felt sorry for his younger brother. If he had not been guarding Yanmen Pass for many years and wasting too many years, Li Dingguo''s contributions might not have been lower than those of Zhang Liao, Meng Tian and others.


    Li Dingguo was originally a general of the Yellow Turban Army, but later he was captured and surrendered to Ying Wen, so he was considered a member of the Jin clan, unlike Li Cunxiao who was in the Qin clan in Yuan Dynasty.


    However, after Ying Hao became emperor, he treated all departments equally. After experiencing the battle of going out of the frontier, Li Dingguo was transferred from Yanmen Pass and became Li Cunxiao''s deputy general. Under the world''s most powerful general Li Cunxiao, are you still afraid of not having the opportunity to make contributions? 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 distractedly and said, "What trouble can you get?"


    "Cao Yin is Cao Song''s younger brother, that is, the uncle of King Cao Cao of Wei."


    Hearing this, Li Cunxiao understood his brother''s concerns, but he still dismissed: "Don''t say it''s just Cao Cao''s uncle, so what if it''s Cao Cao''s biological father? If you don''t surrender and die on the battlefield, it''s useless to die. Your Majesty will not blame you for this."


    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 four concubines of Cao Wei will blow the wind by His Majesty''s side? Or are you afraid that the prince who was born by the four concubines will hold grudges in the future?"


    Li Cunxiao looked at Li Dingguo speechlessly and said patiently: "Second brother, you are so smart and confused for a lifetime. How wise our Majesty is, how could he be bewitched by the wind beside you?


    As for whether the princes born by the Four Concubines will hold grudges, let’s calculate it separately. Even if they really know, they must succeed to the throne.


    But I, the Qin Dynasty, have already decided on the title of crown prince, and the princes produced by the four concubines of Cao Wei have no chance to succeed the throne. ”


    When Li Dingguo heard this, he immediately showed a sudden look, and then looked at Li Cunxiao with surprise, as if his elder brother had changed.


    "Brother, you never thought about these things before."


    Hearing Li Dingguo say this, Li Cunxiao asked back, "Second brother, how do you know what I was thinking before?"


    "Because your previous thoughts are written on your face, and you think about either practicing martial arts and becoming stronger, or challenging other strong people."


    "Uh... I was still too young at that time."


    As he said, Li Cunxiao showed a reminiscence and said, "If you are not in his position, do not plan your politics, and be in his position, you will know that it is not easy.


    Your Majesty does not want to be a reckless man, and you don’t want to be a reckless man just, so you have been studying for the past few years. If you have no progress at all, I am so sorry for Your Majesty’s training for you. ”


    Li Dingguo nodded. Unlike when he was placed on the bench by Yanmen Pass, His Majesty''s preference for his brother was simply unconcealed.


    Although Li Cunxiao is strong, he is also the one who causes the most troubles among the generals of the Qin Dynasty.


    If someone else violates military rules, such as disobeying commands and disobeying orders in the war, the other person will commit the first crime. Even if he is not removed from office, he will definitely be demoted.


    But Li Cunxiao committed all the crimes, but he was still good, fighting and taking charge of the soldiers.


    What is biasedness?


    This is called partiality.


    After discussing with Li Cunxiao and Li Dingguo brothers, they decided to take prisoners of war from Hucheng to Longcheng and take care of them in a unified manner, and at the same time continue to march towards Cao Wei''s second line of defense.


    The first direction of Cao Wei’s western front was actually Guancheng and Mi County in the south, which had not been captured by the Qin army.


    However, at this time, the 140,000 main forces who went out of Hulao Pass in the east had successfully arrived in Xingyang City.


    After Zhang Liao received the news that Li Cunxiao had captured Longcheng and Hucheng, he immediately sent Xu Huang and Gao Shun to lead 10,000 troops to attack Guancheng and Mi County. Naturally, Li Cunxiao did not need to go there personally.


    There are more than 20 cities in the western part of Cao Wei. If each of them needs to be captured by Li Cunxiao himself, it will take a lot of time to march alone, and Li Cunxiao would not be exhausted.


    Guancheng garrison Cao Yin and two thousand defenders have all been annihilated by Li Dingguo, so it is naturally impossible to stop the Qin army''s offensive.


    When Gao Shun''s army arrived, before he had time to attack the city, the Guancheng County Magistrate took the initiative to open the city and surrender.


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


    The Thirteen Kuidong families, or the Thirteen Kuidong families in the East, Thirteen Kuishan, and Four Kuidong families, were the anti-Qing army active in Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi and Henan provinces during the Southern Ming Dynasty. It was not completely destroyed until August of the third year of Kangxi (1664), which shows its tenacity and resilience.


    Dang Shousu knew very well that after the fall of the three cities including Longcheng, he could not last long with the lonely city of Mi County, but 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 and never break his promise.


    Xu Huang initially thought that this was an excuse for Dang Shousu to induce him to fight, but he didn''t lose anything when he wanted to try it, so he fought.


    The first-class party Shousu, facing Xu Huang at the level of a god-general, had no power of resistance at all. After 20 rounds, Xu Huang shot down the war horse and was defeated on the spot.


    Dang Shousu did not break the contract, and ordered the city to open with relief, leading two thousand defenders in the city to surrender to Xu Huang.


    At this point, all the first line of defense on the western front of Cao Wei fell. Among the four defenders, one was captured and one surrendered, and two were killed in battle.


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


    (This chapter ends)