It was the middle of the night, and Jianchun Gate had been locked and closed, and there was still some time before it could be opened. The soldiers guarding the gate seemed to have not heard the news of Youyan King Yueyu's escape, and they were all still asleep. Only two soldiers were left, leaning on their spears, standing weakly at the gate, and it was unclear whether they were awake or asleep.
Everyone looked at the thick and tall walls of Luoyang from afar, and at the tightly closed gate, and couldn't help but rein in their horses from a distance. They thought: We don't have heavy hammers or ladders with us, and even if we did, how can we quickly break through the city gate? So they all stared silently at the mastermind of this matter - Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi had already made up his mind. He called Yuchi Lianghong over and whispered something in his ear.
Yuchi Lianghong received the order, and in a flash, he was behind the two guards. He used some unknown means, and the two unfortunate guards fell to the ground at the same time. There was no sound between his rise and fall, just like a ghost. Everyone watching from behind cheered in their hearts.
At the same time, Qiu Yizi had dismounted and taken out two packets of gunpowder that he had mixed himself from the carriage. He hurried over a few steps, placed the two packets of gunpowder under Jianchun's gate, lit the fuse with the torch in his hand, and immediately ran back.
There was a loud "bang" and the gunpowder exploded, raising a cloud of dust.
The explosion was so loud that even Zheng Rong, who was fast asleep in the car, was startled and opened his eyes. He struggled to get out of the carport and asked Qiu Yizi, "What happened?"
Qiu Yizi did not have time to explain in detail, and only said: "This is a siege method from the Western Regions. I wonder if it will work in the Central Plains." After that, he pushed away the smoke filled with the smell of sulfur and stepped forward to check the situation.
However, only a part of Jianchun Gate was blown up where the explosives were piled, and the rest of the gate was intact. Qiu Yizhi pushed the gate hard again, but there was no sign of it being able to be pushed open.
Qiu Yizi panicked, beads of sweat dripped down his forehead and seeped under his eyebrows, stinging his eyes. He saw a little fire on the top of the city wall, it seemed that the soldiers guarding the city were awakened by the huge explosion and came out to check the situation.
So Qiu Yizhi hurriedly ordered: "Quickly move all the gunpowder here! The rest of you, retreat!"
After receiving the order, everyone drove the carriage back. A few others hurriedly piled all the gunpowder bags at the door, but stared blankly at the pile of explosives that was more than half a person's height. They didn't know what to do next, and just stood there stupidly.
When Qiu Yizi saw this, he shouted sternly, "What are you doing here? Get as far away from me as possible!" After that, he lit the fuse and turned around and ran back like the wind.
Qiu Yizi had just run to a low wall, and before he could duck his head to hide, he saw a flash of light from the pile of explosives, and the ground seemed to tremble, followed by a deafening "boom" explosion, and the dust that was raised also rushed towards him. Qiu Yizi was blinded by the dust and couldn't open his eyes. He quickly lay down under the low wall and dared not move. His ears were already filled with a "buzzing" sound, and his nostrils were filled with the choking smell of sulfur.
Although Qiu Yizhi knew that the power of this explosion would be far greater than the previous one, he did not expect such a shocking scene. It took him a long time to look up. However, the dust flying around him had not yet dissipated. His sight was no more than ten steps away. He could only see the flames of several torches and pine torches behind him swaying up and down.
Qiu Yizhi thought that he could not afford to waste any time, so he gritted his teeth, lowered his head and walked towards Jianchun Gate. He finally touched the city gate and raised the torch high, but saw that the wide and heavy Jianchun Gate was destroyed in half by the huge explosion just now - half of the gate had broken into two parts and lay on the ground, enough for a carriage to pass through.
Qiu Yizhi was overjoyed when he saw this. He took a deep breath and wanted to shout to the people to leave the city, but the dust he inhaled instantly irritated his throat and made him cough non-stop. Helplessly, Qiu Yizhi had to break through the layers of smoke and walk to the front of the large group of people. He shouted to the leaders Ye Lu, Zhao Chengxiao and others: "Quick! Jianchun Gate has been opened, hurry out of the city!" He shouted heartbreakingly, but he couldn't even hear his own voice clearly.
Zhao Chengxiao and Ye Lu's ears were also deafened by the loud noise just now. Seeing Qiu Yizi's open mouth but unable to hear his voice, they also shouted at him with bared teeth.
Qiu Yizi's mind was much clearer than the other two. Seeing that they could not communicate, he simply stopped talking, mounted his own Arabian horse, made a gesture to move forward, and rode slowly forward.
Zhao Chengxiao and others finally understood Qiu Yizi's intention, and they all mounted their horses and drove their carriages out of the city.
Passing through layers of smoke and dispersing clumps of fog, the carriage carrying King Zheng Rong of Youyan finally left the capital city of Luoyang, surrounded by a crowd of people.
Qiu Yizi looked back at the tall, dark walls of Luoyang, feeling a thousand emotions in his heart. But he also remembered that there were still 300 elite soldiers led by Zhang Long who were still in the city. He immediately called a few leaders to come over and discuss, "Please ask Princess Yiran and Brother Yuchi to lead half of the troops to escort the prince eastward. Yelu, Zhao Chengxiao and I will lead the other half of the troops to fight back to the city to support them."
At this moment, the noise in everyone's ears had gradually subsided. If they listened carefully, they could hear Qiu Yizi's deployment clearly. After agreeing, they went their separate ways.
Qiu Yizi led Yelu, Zhao Chengxiao and more than 20 Hu and Han cavalrymen to re-enter Luoyang City.
The dust raised by the gunpowder explosion had gradually settled to the ground. Qiu Yizi looked into the distance and saw a group of soldiers dressed in Youyan army uniforms, fighting and retreating with the government troops.
It turned out that Zhang Long, following Qiu Yizhi's orders, robbed two nearby military camps, snatching swords and weapons from everyone, but only collected less than a hundred war horses. Therefore, he wanted to attack two more camps so that his soldiers could at least have two people and one horse, so that they could leave Luoyang quickly. Unexpectedly, his action alarmed the defenders in Luoyang City, and a large group of soldiers attacked from three sides, biting them tightly and making them unable to escape.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi called Zhao Chengxiao and Ye Lu and said, "We will attack from the right side and separate the government troops from our army. We must retreat immediately without any hesitation, otherwise we will be trapped in Luoyang. Got it!"
Yelu nodded after hearing this, and said: "This is a trivial matter. Why bother Your Highness to do it? We will do it for you." Before he finished speaking, he shouted two sentences in Bohai dialect and led more than ten Bohai knights to charge forward.
Although Zhao Chengxiao was honest, he had already understood Yelu's desire to protect him. He led his brothers and followed Yelu and his men and also charged out.
This group of troops made a graceful arc to the north, and then went straight into the junction of the government army and the Youyan army, separating the two teams accurately like a pair of scissors in the hands of a tailor.
Qiu Yizhi watched from afar, thinking to himself: Yelu is not just a brave man, his ability to control cavalry is not inferior to any famous general in the north or south. While praising him, he urged his horse to trot forward, found Zhang Long in the crowd, and shouted to him: "Zhang Long, what are you doing? Why don't you take this opportunity to lead the army to withdraw from Luoyang?!"
Zhang Long was concentrating on leading his troops to fight, when he suddenly felt the pressure in front of him relieved. A familiar voice rang in his ears again. He quickly looked up and saw Qiu Yizhi giving him orders. He also answered loudly: "No, half of my brothers here don't have war horses. I'm afraid we will be trapped in the city!"
Qiu Yizi's hearing had not yet fully recovered, so she only heard Zhang Long's reply vaguely. She thought he was just following orders, so she ignored Zhang Long and waved back on her horse. Then she turned around and slowly left the city.
Ye Lu and Zhao Chengxiao saw Qiu Yizi's gestures from afar, and saw that he was already retreating outside the city, so they hurriedly gathered their cavalry, waited for the opportunity to attack, and when they found an opportunity, they withdrew their troops and retreated outside the city.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Long sighed and had to abandon the wounded and remaining soldiers and retreat to the rear.
The government troops had just suffered a loss from the surprise attack by Yelu and Zhao Chengxiao's cavalry, and they were unable to react immediately, and were escaped by the almost exhausted Youyan troops. However, the government troops were more numerous and had fresh forces, so they immediately attacked again.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi hurriedly led the cavalry and circled half a circle to the south, and attacked the pursuing government troops again. The government troops thought that the cavalry, who came from nowhere, had retreated outside the city, but they did not expect to be attacked again, and finally slowed down and stopped chasing.
Zhang Long finally took advantage of this opportunity and, under the guidance of Qiu Yizi and others, broke through the smoke that was about to settle and left Luoyang.
It was already dawn, and the night was thick. The group of people did not dare to delay for a moment, and had long forgotten the strict military discipline of the Youyan Road army. Along the way, no matter what horses, oxen, mules, or donkeys they encountered, as long as they could carry people, they would be seized and used for their own purposes.
After a night of fighting, Qiu Yizi was exhausted and unable to support his upper body. He had to lie on the horse's back and look back at Luoyang. The capital of the Han Empire was like a black dragon lying on the horizon, moving farther and farther away, gradually turning into a huge shadow and slowly disappearing into the night. However, the various events that happened in the capital seemed to be engraved in his mind, and he could not forget them for a long time.
Just as Qiu Yi was feeling sentimental, Zhao Chengxiao rode his horse slowly towards him, and said with a bit of joy in his tone: "Your Highness is really a genius. He was able to rescue the prince from the prison and lead us to escape from the capital. I think even the sages Ziya Shangfu and Kong Ming mentioned by storytellers may not have such a plan."
Qiu Yizhi was delighted to hear this flattery, but frowned and said, "Don't be too happy too soon. We haven't escaped from Jinji yet. We still have two major passes to cross, Tongguan and the Yellow River! Brother Zhao, go and count the troops and see how many have escaped!"
Zhao Chengxiao received the order, tightened the reins, counted the soldiers and horses behind him, and hurriedly replied: "In the previous surprise attack, four of my brothers were killed, and Brother Yelu also lost three Bohai knights. The elite guards brought by the prince have escaped, and it is estimated that there are more than a hundred people!"
Qiu Yi nodded and calculated: In this case, Zhao Chengxiao still has 20 people left from Yunmeng Mountain, and Yelu still has 15 Bohai cavalrymen. As for the more than 100 people who escaped, the available force is probably less than half. If we rely on these people to break through Tongguan, which dominates the Central Plains, it is nothing short of a fantasy.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi became alert and said hurriedly to Zhao Chengxiao: "I will go catch up with my adoptive father first. There is something important to discuss. You and Yelu must also rush to catch up. There can't be any delay. Do you understand?" After that, he gently spanked the buttocks of the Ferghana horse under his crotch.
This Ferghana horse was full of human nature and knew what its master wanted. It then spread its four hooves and galloped forward. (To be continued)