Chapter 153 The War Ends
After summoning his own brother Sima Yi, King of Changshan, to the military camp in Yecheng, Sima Ying, the defender of Yecheng, marched south to Yecheng with only a few thousand cavalrymen.

He was not afraid of having his military power taken away from him. Similar to the central army in Luoyang, the families of these military households, soldiers and officers were all near Yecheng. The military commanders, lieutenants and generals above him were almost all his confidants. Sima Yi only had the power to command the troops.

Most of the Yecheng soldiers he brought to Jingxing to quell the rebellion were lightly armored soldiers, not elite soldiers with heavy armor, so he did not feel bad about losing them.

Of course, in order to seize the opportunity to snatch the emperor, he left an elite cavalry garrison among the soldiers in Yecheng in front of Jingxing Pass, led by Sima Ying's trusted general He Yan.

Sima Yi, King of Changshan, was a rare man among the kings conferred by the Jin court who had a broad mind. With his mediation, the Jin army of the two major camps reached a consensus to attack the Li rebels together.

At the beginning of the morning of October 15th, at Jingxing Pass.

According to the consultation between Sima Yi and the commander of the Sizhou troops, Liu Kun, the Yecheng army took the lead in launching an attack to consume the enemy's weapons and equipment for defending the city.

Jingxing Pass is backed by Mianshan Mountain and bordered by Mianhe River to the south. It lies alone on the valley road connecting Changshan County and Taiyuan County. The ancients once used the phrase "cars cannot run on straight tracks, and horses cannot ride in a line" to describe this rugged and winding valley road.

On both sides of Jingxing Pass are the last stubborn remains of the Mianshan Mountains on the North China Plain. There are towering cliffs on both sides and no paths to climb.

It is much more difficult to attack Jingxing Pass by climbing up the cliff than to attack Jingxing Pass city directly.

As a result, the Jin army was unable to deploy its huge force and could only send out thousands of people again and again, clinging to the city wall which was about half a mile wide like ants.

Before the city was closed, there were dozens of catapults, nest carts, trench bridges and other equipment, and of course, heavy crossbows were indispensable.

Although the enemy only had a few thousand people attacking the city each time, it was still quite difficult for the rebels on the city to defend it. Arrows rained down and stones fell like hail. From time to time, battering rams, carts and other military weapons were forced to the foot of the city and began to destroy the city walls.

At such times, the rebel soldiers could only throw fireballs and torches at random, use iron chains to set fire to the siege weapons, and force back the enemy soldiers who were digging at the foot of the city.

What made people even more desperate was that the commander of the Jin army was well versed in the principle of rotation warfare. He sent troops forward to rotate every half hour to quickly drain the energy of the defenders on the city wall.

With a dangerous pass behind them, the rebel army's battle to defend the city was even more difficult than the enemy's siege. The soldiers on the city were all silently hoping that the general would return to help quickly.

As long as the general arrives, Jingxing Pass can be defended till the end of time, and the 100,000 Jin troops outside the pass can be delayed to death.

Under the flag of the Sizhou Army.

Liu Kun pointed to the Jingxing Pass, which was a mile away, and asked the young Sun Hui, "Sun Lang, when do you think we can take this pass?"

Liu Kun, who was already thirty years old, looked down on Sun Hui, who was only eighteen years old.

Before this expedition, Sun Hui was only a captain of the Shesheng Army among the six schools, leading a thousand soldiers. He was far from being comparable to the Shangshu Lang of the royal palace where he once served.

"Today afternoon, or tomorrow noon."

Sun Hui was not good-looking, and his talent was far inferior to that of Liu Kun, a famous scholar in Luoyang. His understanding of the battlefield was only that he had a lot of people and it would be easy to capture them by breaking through Jingxing Pass.

After all, the number of soldiers and civilians together exceeded 100,000. Under such circumstances, the bandits with only 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers would not have much hope of defeating the imperial army.

Even if the evil general Li Hao came, he would be overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of troops.

"Hahaha." Liu Kun couldn't help laughing. "If it was so smooth, how could the rebels have been entrenched between Bing and Ji for seven or eight months? Jingxing County has held out for more than ten days. It would take at least ten days or half a month to take such a dangerous pass."

The Jin court dispatched more than 100,000 troops and naturally was unwilling to surrender these stubborn rebels. The current situation meant a fight to the death for the rebel soldiers and the people.

If the rebel army fails, tens of thousands of civilians will be sold to the nobles as private slaves, or exiled to the south, where they will live with wild beasts and mosquitoes all day long.

Unless one side can no longer bear the casualties and withdraws from the battlefield.

"Then one day before we capture Jingxing Pass, please ask General Liu to send soldiers to escort the emperor to the battle in person."

Sun Hui did not hear the contempt in Liu Kun's words. Instead, he sincerely considered sending the foolish emperor to his death.

After hearing this, Liu Kun felt even more contempt for Sun Xiu and his son Sun Hui.

Sun Hui's wife was named Sima Xuanhua, and her title was Princess Hedong. She was born to Jia Nanfeng and was nominally the daughter of Sima Zhong. However, only Jia Nanfeng knew whether she was a real princess.

Because Jia Nanfeng often sent people to the streets of Luoyang to snatch handsome men, and kill them when they got tired of them after having sex with them for a few days. This private matter became known to the people of Luoyang because Jia Nanfeng once snatched an extremely handsome man and was reluctant to kill him. The man insisted on going home, so Jia Nanfeng let him go.

Even so, Sima Zhong was still Sun Hui's nominal father-in-law. By doing this, Sun Hui had learned three points of his father's shamelessness.

As for the remaining seven points, only animals can learn them.

"There is no need to wait until that day. The Sizhou Army will attack the pass this afternoon. Then you can lead the Shesheng Battalion to the pass to supervise the Yamen Army. The emperor will surely be eager to fight."

Although Liu Kun himself was also trying to curry favor with the powerful, he looked down on Sun Xiu and his son and was determined to eliminate the harm to the people of Luoyang.

Whether the emperor dies or not depends on whether the rebels on the opposite side cooperate or not, but Sun Hui will definitely die.

On the battlefield, you never know for sure if an arrow will shoot you from behind.

Sun Hui nodded and agreed. He didn't realize there was anything wrong with this. The most important thing his father had told him to do was to kill the emperor so that Prince Zhao could succeed to the throne.

Among the Sizhou soldiers, two of the six schools and two camps were established in the tenth year of Taikang, divided into Ji Nu Camp and Ji She Camp. The captain of the Ji Nu School was named Meng Xiang, the son of the right general Meng Guan.

Meng Xiang had an elder brother who served as a vanguard general under Sima Yun. He died at the hands of King Zhao's subordinates two months ago. Although Meng Guan was loyal to King Zhao on the surface, he actually remembered the hatred of losing his son. Meng Xiang had the same idea as his father.

Therefore, the conversation between the commander Liu Kun and Sun Hui was secretly transmitted to the ears of Emperor Sima Zhong and the ministers and attendants who accompanied the emperor on the expedition through the soldiers of the Ji Nu Camp.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

The round-faced and long-bearded attendant Ji Shao surrounded Emperor Sima Zhong and lamented repeatedly.

Previously, Li's bandits had no intention of defending the counties of Zhao State, so the emperor who was leading the charge did not actually participate in much fierce fighting.

Now that they have reached the core territory of the rebels, Jingxing Pass is the last resort of the rebels. A fierce battle is inevitable. If the emperor is allowed to charge with the army, I am afraid he will really die on the battlefield.

"Why is Minister Ji sighing?"

Sima Zhong, who is nearly forty years old, is stout and has a serious look. Perhaps because he does not have to worry about too many mundane matters, there is a kind of clear stupidity in his eyes.

The emperor only regarded the war in front of him as a grand spectacle for good-looking audiences, and had no intention of being on guard against others harming him.

Ji Shao glanced around and saw that many of the Jin soldiers near the chariot were from the Sixth Battalion. There were so many of them and it was hard to tell what was going on. However, he did not care and leaned close to the emperor's ear and whispered:
"Your Majesty, General Liu will definitely drive the chariot to charge in the afternoon. I will be the driver at that time, and Your Majesty can just sit in the chariot."

Ji Shizhong's idea was to drive away from the Sizhou Army in front of the battle, and the destination would naturally be the Yecheng Army.

Although King Sima Ying of Chengdu is not much better than King Sima Lun of Zhao, at least he can escape from the current deadlock.

Sima Zhong sat cross-legged, clapped his hands and said, "Very good, very good! I just like to drive a car and charge."

The emperor was stout, wearing armor inside and a crown and robe outside. He had been sitting in the carriage for several hours and was sweating profusely. Although he was born stupid, Sima Zhong knew the difference between cold and heat, so he often fanned his face with his sleeves. His exaggerated gesture made others feel a little hot in this October.

Seeing beads of sweat appearing on the emperor's forehead again, Ji Shao felt pity for him. He bent down and used his sleeves to wrap his fingers to wipe the sweat off the emperor.

"This is the sweaty sleeve of Ji Shizhong, don't wash it, don't wash it!"

Sima Zhong joked with his eyes narrowed and smiling.

The foolish emperor knew very well who were the good people who served him sincerely.

At Jingxing Pass, the Jin army and its rebel forces, totaling tens of thousands of soldiers, were fighting fiercely, but the chariot here showed a scene with a different style.

This made Shizhong Ji Shao even more uncomfortable. He made up his mind that even if it cost him his life today, he would escort the emperor safely to the army in Yecheng.

……

Near noon, General Li, who was riding his horse at full speed, finally saw the three-meter-high stone brick wall of Jingxing Pass.

"It's still the Li banner. Looks like we've caught up."

Even he was sweating profusely. Among the dozens of rebel soldiers who were able to keep up, only Li Dai looked a little more relaxed.

In some places in the valley, the movement of war horses was very slow, which greatly reduced the speed of the rebel cavalry's return support.

Behind General Li and his men were the rebel soldiers stretching for several miles.

After taking Pingyang County, the pioneering army under Li Hao's command once exceeded 10,000 people, including more than 5,500 surrendered soldiers from Pingyang County, nearly 4,000 soldiers from the Southern Xiongnu, and more than a thousand veteran soldiers from Leping County.

When General Li returned to provide assistance, he left most of the old soldiers and the surrendered soldiers from Pingyang County to defend the city, and only took most of the Southern Xiongnu soldiers and the surrendered soldiers from Jinyang City into the Jingxing Valley.

After running for several days and nights, no one knew how many rebel soldiers had fallen behind in the valley. At least there were only dozens of them who could follow the general, and the rest were hundreds of steps behind.

"With the general here, Jingxing Pass will surely be defended."

Li Dai took the opportunity to flatter the emperor, but this was also the consensus of the rebel soldiers.

According to past experience, as long as the general broke into the enemy camp and killed the enemy's leading officers, the Jin army would most likely collapse on its own.

Even if the Jin army had not collapsed, with the general there, their attacks would have been greatly reduced.

After taking a short breath and drinking a sip of water, Li Hao ordered again to hurry up. They were less than half a mile away from Jingxing Pass, so there was no need to waste time here.

These forty or fifty soldiers followed one after another, and when they approached the city wall, the soldiers and civilians who stayed behind cheered loudly one after another. The appearance of the general greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers defending the city.

With a determined look in his eyes, Li Hao immediately climbed to the top of the city wall. He wanted to see how powerful the Sima family's formation was.

"Brother, brother, you are finally here!"

Li Lian, covered in wounds, stumbled to the general. He was shot in the shoulder and stabbed in the face, and looked seriously injured.

"What's going on? I didn't ask you to lead the defense of the city. Let the brothers below do the fighting with the enemy."

Li Lian's ugly features forced a smile, "I am not very talented, and I am only good at killing enemies. I can only kill a few more enemy soldiers behind the battlements to save my brothers from bleeding."

He was telling the truth. There were many talented commanders among the rebel army. The reason he was able to take charge of the defense of the city was simply because he followed the general in starting the rebellion early and was given the status of the third brother.

In order to prevent others from gossiping, Li Lian fought fiercely on the top of the city wall with a knife, in order to prove that the general made the right decision in choosing him to defend the city.

"What's the enemy situation?" Li Hao asked.

It was the time of rotation, and the Jin army only had soldiers operating catapults and heavy crossbows to suppress the rebel soldiers at Jingxing Pass. However, the endless Jin soldiers at the pass still put people under great psychological pressure.

"In the morning, it was the lightly armored soldiers of the Yecheng Army that attacked the city. The Luoyang Central Army did not participate in the battle. I guess there may be Luoyang's Yamen Army climbing the ladder in the afternoon."

Li Lian pointed to the two large Jin troops outside the city gate to the general.

Of course, the two major divisions are just a general term. Behind the Yecheng Army, there are two small groups, the Xuchang Army and the Youzhou Army. To their south is the Sizhou Army formation with flags covering the sky.

"Change my armor, change to Mingguang armor. I will kill as many Jin soldiers as they come today."

Ming Guang Armor is not a standard armor. Among the previous seizures by the rebel army, there were only dozens of sets of Ming Guang Armor, which were mainly stripped from middle and high-level military officers such as infantry commanders, cavalry commanders, and lieutenants.

Li Lian sent people to carry armor for the general.

Taking advantage of the gap when the enemy did not launch a large-scale attack, Li Hao recruited some of the rebel army officers who were on the front line and those captives from noble families, and ordered them to identify one by one which high-ranking officials and princes of the Jin court were living in the pass.

Of course, it was impossible to see people's faces from such a distance, so General Li just needed them to tell him who the high-ranking officials from the Jin court might be.

"General, the emperor's dragon chariot is at the front of the Sizhou army."

"The commander of the Yecheng army seems to be Sima Yi, the King of Changshan. I didn't see the banner of the King of Chengdu."

"Liu Bao, the governor of You and Bing, may have come to the pass in person."

Everyone was talking at once, discussing possible scenarios.

Listening to these speculations, Li Hao gradually came up with a plan.

There is no doubt that the Sizhou Army wanted the rebels to kill Sima Zhong, but General Li refused to do so. He planned to charge into the central army of Yecheng first, kill the generals and captains of this army, and then turn back to attack the Sizhou Army.

Time flies. After the rebel army at Jingxing Pass made a slight adjustment, the attack from the Sizhou soldiers came in an instant.

The Jin soldiers still used ladders and battering rams to clear the way, and thousands of armored soldiers rushed to the pass one after another.

After waiting for the nearest ladder to be set up, Li Hao held the sword in his right hand, grabbed the ladder with his left hand, and killed in the opposite direction.

He carried a cross halberd on his back. In the current situation, the rebel army did not have time to use a hanging basket to lower the war horse to the foot of Jingxing Pass, so they could only ask the general to grab the horse himself and chase after the enemy general.

After reaching the foot of the stairs, General Li swung his sword left and right, killing dozens of Jin soldiers. However, the Sizhou soldiers under Jingxing Pass suddenly became very agitated.

According to Li Hao's own observation, a car suddenly drove towards the north.

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(End of this chapter)