Chapter 628: The March to Yibin
Without waiting for Xue Ke to stop them, the people behind him rushed forward and smashed the door open.
Xue Pan walked in with a big laugh, pushed the stunned matchmaker and maid aside, picked up Xia Jingui, who was wearing a phoenix coronet and a red veil, and walked out.
After a long while, a little maid came back to her senses, "Well...does our Shenjing also practice kidnapping brides?"
Xue Pan didn't care about anything else. Anyway, he had the bride and the most important task of the day was completed. As for what the Xia family thought, what did it have to do with Uncle Xue?
When the ceremonial procession returned, another complicated and grand ceremony was performed, and the entire wedding was declared over.
Inside the bridal chamber, red candles were dazzling. Xue Pan was so drunk that he fell asleep on the bed. Xia Jingui sat alone with a somewhat ferocious look on her face, and the little maid Baochan was silent beside her (I have to apologize here. I made a mistake in naming a maid of the Xue family Baochan when I first started writing the book. Please bear with me.).
From today on, our Uncle Xue's happy married life has finally arrived...
…
Longyou is more than 300 miles away from Yibin. Jia Cong led his army to the southeast for three days and arrived at Jianwei where Jiang Zining and Xie Jing were stationed. The two left some troops to garrison Jianwei, and then joined forces with Jia Cong to move forward.
After another day's journey, they arrived at Ziyun City, which is the border between Jiading Prefecture and Xuzhou.
After resting in Ziyun City for two days, the army continued to move forward. After another five days, on the second day of June, the army arrived at a small city thirty miles west of Yibin.
All the troops set up camp, and at sunset, Hou Xiaokang came to pay his respects.
"Marshal!"
Hou Xiaokang was somewhat happy to see Jia Cong. He had not seen Jia Cong for several months since his troops were divided and he went to Hutou Mountain.
The two chatted for a while, and then Hou Xiaokang said, "Currently, the troops of this general, Guo Wei, Lei Zhao, and others are stationed about twenty miles north of Xuzhou, about fifty miles away from the Marshal's camp."
"Now, the tribal troops that originally occupied the various prefectures have all gathered in Yibin City. As a result, the Wumeng tribes have more than 30,000 troops in Yibin."
"We did harass them frequently, but Yibin is a large city, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Wumeng tribe also refused to fight, so for the time being, we were unable to do anything to them."
"Have the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes surrendered to the Marshal? I couldn't believe the news. It seems they've truly been frightened by your attack."
"Now only the remnants of the Wumeng army are left. At worst, we can surround and destroy Yibin City. The Wumeng tribes alone can't hold on and won't be able to cause any trouble."
Jia Cong smiled and said, "The surrender of those two tribes was indeed due to the defeat of Shima Town, but there were also some other reasons . Regardless, now all their troops are fighting for us."
"The reason I led my army here was precisely because I anticipated that the Wumeng tribes would put up a stubborn resistance."
"The arrival of troops from the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes is enough to make the Wumeng tribe restless. Even if they don't surrender, they probably won't be able to hold out for much longer. After all, no matter how big Yibin City is, how long can they hold out?"
After the army rested for two days, Jia Cong deployed his troops, and the first battle was naturally handed over to the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes.
However, although the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes were strong in both men and horses, Jia Cong did not expect to capture the city in one go, so he ordered the two tribes to launch a feint attack.
As long as the Wumeng tribe knew that the Xuhen tribe and the Wudeng tribe had surrendered and were being used by them, the Wumeng tribe would naturally become restless.
On the second day, after receiving Jia Cong's order, the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes each sent a troop to the city.
The two tribes each chose a city gate in a different direction, and then a fierce battle began. Although this battle was a feint, the two tribes, eager to gain merit, clearly put all their strength into it.
After a day of fighting, both sides lost more than 2,000 soldiers.
Inside Yibin City, in a magnificent mansion, all the leaders of the various tribes, led by the Wumeng tribe, were present, all with grim expressions. Jia Cong was right. When they saw that the troops attacking the city were actually from the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes, the Wumeng tribes were shocked and panicked.
Originally, the three families had agreed to work together to attack Daqian, but now you two have surrendered and joined forces with Daqian to fight me. This is very embarrassing, okay?
Although the situation was unfavorable before, the Wumeng tribe did not lose confidence. After all, what was a temporary defeat? However, with the direct surrender of the two major tribes in Qiongbu Prefecture, the situation of the Wumeng tribe suddenly fell to the bottom.
They still don't know how many troops the other side has, but now that the two tribes have surrendered and there is no more fighting in Jiading Prefecture, it is likely that the Xishan tribes will not rashly advance eastward. In this case, it is not surprising that Daqian can send 100,000 troops.
Looking at the silent leaders of the various tribes, Wumeng tribe leader Chele slowly said, "When the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes attack the city again, speak to them and ask them why they betrayed the other tribes in southern Xinjiang. Also, tell them that we want to negotiate peace with Daqian."
The other departments had no other options but to agree.
The next day, Xuhen and Wudeng attacked the city again. However, before they could even begin, they heard the Wumeng leader shout from the top of the city wall, demanding a ceasefire and negotiations with Daqian. He also demanded to know why Qiongbuzhou had betrayed the southern Xinjiang tribes...
Although they had never communicated with each other, the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes had a tacit understanding, which was to kill the Wumeng tribes as directly as possible...
Peace talks? What about peace talks? What if, at the end of the talks, your Wumeng tribe also surrenders directly?
If you want to claim some credit now, it will fall solely on your Wumeng tribe. Furthermore, if you surrender, it's hard to say what credit you get, and there's likely to be one more person vying for it.
You Wumeng tribes should just accept your fate.
So, no matter how the Wumeng tribe shouted from the top of the city wall, the leaders of the Xuhen and Wudeng tribes ignored them and simply led their troops to attack the city...
After that, the two tribes attacked the city every day. Although they didn't really threaten the city walls, the pressure on the Wumeng tribes in the city was increasing! Now only he was left holding on. To be honest, Yibin City was easy to defend but difficult to attack. With over 30,000 soldiers stationed there, even if the enemy was powerful, they would lose tens of thousands of soldiers to capture it.
The other party may not be able to bear such a loss, but what if they continue to fight with me?
Could they be trapped in this city forever? If they waited until morale collapsed and even their food supplies were exhausted, they would be doomed. Therefore, they had to make a decision in advance.
The various factions in the city held daily meetings, but what could they possibly do? Surrender was impossible now. Those two bastards wouldn't even give them a chance, and Daqian's troops and commanders wouldn't show up. Even if they tried to find them, they couldn't find them. So, there were only two options left: one was to hold out for as long as they could, or to hope the other side would withdraw .
Another way is to break through.
