Sanma Mountain extends northward, becoming steeper as it goes north. However, there are almost no Shu soldiers stationed here, and only wandering scouts are seen running away. Shi Yanchao led a group of people and horses along several roads to climb up the ridge, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Shi Yanchao is very tall and strong, and few people are taller than him; but it is very strenuous to walk up the mountain in heavy armor. His sweat soaked the lining, and he felt that his head was so hot that it was about to smoke. The armor that Shao Ge'er made was strong, but there were many unpleasant things, such as the helmet was completely non-breathable.
The soldiers were still climbing up the hill with their horses, and not all of them had come up yet. Shi Yanchao could only stand and wait for a while. He was immediately attracted by the scenery of Kuizhou.
Kuizhou seemed to be right under his feet. Shi Yanchao was already looking forward to leading his troops to capture this important town alone.
Standing on a high place to look at a city is completely different from standing outside the city gate and looking up at the towering city walls. At this time, Kuizhou seemed to be just a field, and the neighborhoods inside were divided into pieces of land, flat and low.
Shi Yanchao glanced to the side and saw that a large number of Shu troops on the southern hillside had been defeated. The soldiers were defeated like a mountain collapsing and surging westward like a tide of people. Shi Yanchao looked disdainful and snorted coldly: "They are so weak that they can't withstand a single blow."
A group of generals and their personal soldiers came to his side and looked down at the scene around him.
Shi Yanchao looked up at the sky. The sky was clear, so Kuizhou in the distance was clearly visible. He bent down, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, rubbed the sweat off his palms, took a cast iron spear from his horse, pointed at Kuizhou from afar: "Follow me to flatten this city."
Then he led his army down the mountain, and a large number of heavy and light cavalry gathered in the bushes at the foot of the mountain. At this time, the defeated Shu army was already rushing towards the city gate. Shi Yanchao thought it was time to attack, so he jumped on his horse, shouted and ordered the whole army to move out, and then he rode his horse and rushed out first.
A large group of cavalrymen rushed out of the bushes, their horses trotting happily. The wind whistled in his ears, and the target was just ahead. Whenever this happened, Shi Yanchao would get inexplicably excited.
But at this time, Wang Zhaoyuan led the defeated soldiers to the city gates, which were tightly closed. Countless soldiers and horses crowded outside the moat and shouted, clamoring to open the gates. Wang Zhaoyuan rode outside the gates and shouted: Gao Yanchou Gao Yanchou
At this time, a big man on the tower stood by the parapet and shouted: "General Wang, go ahead and wait at Naihe Bridge. We will talk when I arrive." There is nothing to say now. Look back.
Wang Zhaoyuan had known that the Zhou army was chasing him. When he looked back, he saw a group of Zhou cavalrymen rushing towards him like wolves and tigers. Wang Zhaoyuan became more anxious: "Open the gate quickly. I will defend the city with General Gao Jie."
The Zhou army's cavalry immediately charged into Wang Zhaoyuan's defeated army. Countless soldiers and horses were driven over, and the city gate became increasingly crowded. Wang Zhaoyuan's eyes widened, and his tone was almost sad: General Gao Jie, since you and I are both ministers of the Great Shu, I will never forget that you saved my life today.
Jiangling Prefecture, Jingnan, opened the gate and was seized by the enemy. If I open the gate now, the result will be obvious. Gao Yanchou shouted, "No one can save you, and Kuizhou can't be defended either." Wang Jianjun, if you still remember the emperor's kindness and have some courage, let's fight for the last time under the city.
"Gao, you are so cruel!" Wang Zhaoyuan was cursing when an arrow flew over his head. He looked up and saw Gao Yanchou drawing his bow and arrow again. He had nothing to say and hurriedly rode his horse away from the city wall.
Shi Yanchao shouted and chased after the fleeing Shu soldiers. He threw the iron spear he had prepared forward with the speed of his horse, and it immediately pierced through a soldier's back and penetrated his vest. He took another iron spear from his back and chased after them, but he did not feel the joy of breaking through the formation, because there were fleeing soldiers who had thrown away their armor and helmets all around, which made him feel that it was a bit of a waste of weapons to chase after this group of people.
A group of people were waving flags in the distance, and one of them shouted: Brave warriors of the Great Zhou, our commander Wang Zhaoyuan admits defeat and wants to surrender to your army. Please show mercy, warriors of the Great Zhou!
At this time, a messenger on horseback came from behind, carrying three small red flags on his back. The messenger shouted: General Guo of the Central Army has ordered that those who surrender in the Shu army will be spared, but killing prisoners is strictly prohibited!
The Shu soldiers around heard the shouting of the messenger and knelt down to surrender, and their weapons were thrown all over the ground. Shi Yanchao led a group of cavalry to the city, and arrows rained down on the walls. He circled the city gate and saw that the drawbridge was raised and the city gate was closed. The cavalry fought back with bows and arrows by the moat, but they could not move forward. War horses were shot dead one after another. Shi Yanchao turned his horse around and shouted: "Go!"
Shi Yanchao turned his head to look at the city wall, and felt very unhappy, as if he had punched the wall. The flat and fragile city he saw on the mountain, which seemed like it could be trampled into rubble at any time, now turned into an insurmountable iron wall.
Without siege equipment, we can only wait for the army to arrive at the city and then make a long-term plan, Shi Yanchao's subordinates advised.
Soon, Yang Biao, covered in blood, rode a horse with a group of cavalrymen to the city. Yang Biao had a fierce horse face, and at this time, he was covered in blood, looking even more ferocious and like a killer. Not only were the surrendered soldiers on both sides afraid of him, but even the Zhou army was afraid of him.
Yang Biao looked up at the city wall, then turned to look at Shi Yanchao and snorted coldly.
Shi Yanchao said angrily: "Guo Du Dianjian's brilliant plan, I am just following orders. If the guards don't open the city gates, what can I do?"
As they were talking, Guo Shao, perhaps seeing that the battle was over, rode over with his personal soldiers. As soon as Guo Shao came over, he asked: "Where is Wang Zhaoyuan?"
Shi Yanchao's generals then remembered that someone had just said they wanted to surrender, so they went to the surrendered soldiers to find the Shu army's chief general. Guo Shao saw the two generals standing there with angry eyes, so he said: "Take people to drive the surrendered soldiers away and take them away. Why are you standing there?" It didn't matter if Kuizhou was not taken for the time being. The main force of Kuizhou had been defeated, and there were only a few thousand people left to defend the city, and they could not hold it.
There were only 3,000 soldiers left in Kuizhou, and the city wall was ten miles in circumference. It was not enough to have only one person standing on each step of the wall to defend the city. As long as the Zhou army built siege equipment and surrounded the city from all sides, it would not be able to defend it; no matter how strong the city was, it still needed soldiers to defend it.
Originally, after the division of troops and the defeat in the Wu Gorge battle and the heavy losses in the water battle, the Kuizhou stronghold still had more than 20,000 troops. It was not that Shu Kingdom did not value this fortress, but today Wang Zhaoyuan placed the main force outside the city, and in less than half a day, they were defeated and lost completely. There was no way out now.
Gao Yanchou left the city wall and sighed: I cannot defend Qinchuan, and now I have lost the eastern gate of Shu. Even if the monarch does not kill me, how can I face the people of Shu
During the Qin-Feng War, Zhao Jizha, who was in charge of commanding the Shu troops in Qin and Feng, fled back to Chengdu in a panic, causing the Shu troops to fight on their own and the situation to become chaotic. Gao Yanchou was ordered to lead reinforcements from Chengdu, but seeing the chaos ahead, he knew that there was no way out, so he led his troops to retreat to Qingni Ridge. That's why he said that he failed to defend the land in Qinchuan.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he drew his sword and attempted suicide, but his generals were horrified and rushed to rescue him.
The generals advised: "This battle is all Wang Zhaoyuan's fault. He is your Majesty's confidant and holds the king's military power. The fault is on him. Why should the general take the blame and seek death for him?" Everyone said that General Gao had long advised him not to leave the city, but he didn't listen. Now he has killed all his soldiers and dragged us down.
Gao Yanchou shook his head and said: "What's the point of saying this now? Without troops, Kuizhou will be lost. Once Kuizhou is lost, the eastern gate of Shu will be wide open. Who will take this heavy responsibility? Who can take it? I am not Wang Zhaoyuan. I have the face to live after losing such an important place."
The generals were silent. Someone lamented: "General Gao was a hero, but he died in such a miserable way. We feel sorry for you. Why don't we open the city and fight a decisive battle? Let's follow General Gao and share the same fate."
It's useless. Wang Zhaoyuan has so many people who can't stop him for a long time. We are just going to die. Gao Yanchou said, it's a big deal. Why don't you take my head and send it to Zhou's camp to ask for a way to live.
Gao Yanchou smiled bitterly and said, "I'm going to die anyway. Li Jingwei from Jingnan is the general of Nanping State who wrote to us for help last time. He was killed as soon as Jiangling Prefecture was broken because he advocated resisting the Zhou army. You all should live well and don't die in vain. I'll go first. Rather than being humiliated and killed by the enemy, I'd rather die in the hands of my brothers."
Everyone around felt sad after hearing this.
Suddenly, an aide said: "It's not useless. The Zhou army entered Shu and recruited surrenders and rebellions along the way. The Shu people are laughed at by the world. Today, we are willing to follow General Gao and fight to the death in the city to show the courage of the Shu people." He pondered again: "The situation of Shu is over. We will die, but the people still have to live. If we don't resist at all, it may make the Zhou court think that the Shu people are easy to bully, and they can oppress you at will in the future. We have been eating the fat of the people for many years, raising soldiers for a thousand days and using them for a moment. It's time to die for the country."
After hearing this, everyone agreed. Someone said loudly: "We, the Shu army, have not seen war for many years. Some of us have rusted armor. We may not be strong enough, but we still have integrity. We must not be looked down upon by the world. Brothers, rise up!"
Xiong Qi, Xiong Qi! Countless soldiers around him shouted in unison.
Gao Yanchou was moved. He gripped the hilt of the sword tightly and laughed: I have been waiting for this day to come since I joined the army. I hope I can die on the battlefield. Today, I can finally fulfill my wish.
The staff member who had just made the suggestion said: "I am weak and have only a pen. I am willing to issue a declaration of war to the Zhou army on behalf of General Gao. I will take the declaration of war to the Zhou army camp and declare war, and then I will be boiled in the cauldron first."
Gao Yanchou made a prompt decision: he ordered the garrisons of each city to come to the central army headquarters for a meeting, gathered troops in the afternoon, and left the city through the east gate to fight a decisive battle with the Zhou army.
He ordered all the generals to clasp their fists.
The aide immediately wrote on the desk in the city wall, and an impassioned article emerged from his pen.