Chapter 137 Self-Restriction
There was a chaotic battle on the top of the city wall. Lu Bu, who was the first to climb up the city wall, held the center point of the Fang Tian Ji with both hands and quickly stabbed the enemy soldiers in front of him with his long spear in short strokes.

In the blink of an eye, he found a place to hide and immediately turned around to attack the other side; the halberd on his back swung left and right, making it difficult for the defenders to get close.

Just when the defenders' defense was in disarray, Gao Shun was the second to climb the city wall, followed by the third.

Gao Shun's ten-man team cooperated very closely, but Lu Bu was different. He used the windmill tactics to his heart's content.

He doesn't care whether he will hurt the friendly forces behind him. Unless he combines other Taoist soldiers with him to form a team card, he will not consider any coordination during battle.

So Lu Bu strode northward alone, while Gao Shun's team of ten men advanced towards the city wall; Yuan Shu's team of six men climbed up the city wall and blocked the steps to prevent other defenders from providing support.

The situation was resolved in seven or eight breaths, and Gan Ning led more than thirty heavy infantrymen wearing gilded Ming Guang armor and stepped on the burning ladder pedals to attack the top of the city.

For a moment, the city wall was covered with golden light; then the remaining heavy infantry led by Gan Ning wearing tube sleeves attacked the city.

They advanced towards the city tower together almost in tacit understanding, leaving Lu Bu to advance towards the northern corner tower alone.

Most of those standing in front of Lu Bu were archers, and they were very helpless at the moment.

The arrows from the crossbow were shot at him, but were easily deflected by Lu Bu.

Seeing this, the guards, mainly archers and crossbowmen, retreated one after another, and they could not stop once they started running!

Under the city, Black Bear frowned and thought, he thought of Dian Wei.

The cavalry general has Lu Bu, who can charge into the formation and carry out decapitation tactics in field battles; but when fighting in close combat, a very strong person with the ability of infantry combat and armor-piercing damage is needed.

I remember when I was watching Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao's battle in Wancheng was so brutal that it seemed that even the bodies of Dian Wei and Cao Ang were not found.

If you pull up Dian Wei and equip him with a pair of hammers or whip maces, then when attacking a city, he just needs to squeeze into the crowd and every move will be real damage that can penetrate armor, so he won't need a second hammer to hit people.

As he pondered, he picked up a piece of bamboo slips, a quill pen appeared in his right hand, he dipped it in ink and wrote down this idea so that he would not forget it after the war.

Looking at the simplified Chinese characters on the bamboo slips, it would be great if they could be expanded this winter.

After slightly anticipating the difficulty of promoting simplified Chinese characters, we look at the fierce siege in front of us.

Black Bear had a hunch that the difficulty of the Simplified Chinese Campaign would be far greater than conquering Guanzhong; even if it was not handled properly, the Guanzhong scholars would repeat the story of the Yanzhou people expelling Cao Cao.

The officials and scholars who mastered writing were eager to pass on writing through their bloodline.

Just like the giant dragons in Western fantasy, the common knowledge of dragon culture is hidden in their blood and learned by the ignorant young dragons in their sleep.

He suppressed this thought for the moment and continued to observe the battle on the city wall.

There were two or three hundred very stubborn defenders who relied on the city wall to hold their ground.

What awaits them is only death.

The remaining soldiers retreated to the second floor of the tower and set fire to various equipment stored inside, making the fire difficult to control.

It was burning fiercely and black smoke was drifting northward.

From a distance, it looks like a bridge connecting the two sides of the Yellow River.

At the confluence of the Weishui and Luoshui rivers, Zhong Yao led more than a hundred cavalrymen to watch nearby, raising their eyebrows and watching the black smoke spreading to the north and gradually disappearing.

The accompanying knights had already dismounted, and Zhong Yao stared blankly, pondering the meaning of his life.

The tenacious spirit and passion of the Huayin defenders are just like the black smoke rising from the burning fire.

Everyone around you can see it, but it will soon fade away, and after a while, it will be completely forgotten.

As for myself, would I leave a few dozen words in the history books decades later: The White Goose Bandits rose up again in Guanzhong and captured and killed Zhong Yao, the Inspector of the Imperial Guards of the Han Dynasty.

Even hundreds of years later, it might be shortened to: When bandits rise up, kill the Inspector of the Capital.

As a man in his fifties without any children, Zhong Yao was under a lot of mental pressure.

The higher his status, the stronger the pressure becomes, squeezing him from all sides.

The world had been in turmoil for twenty years since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Not only had Zhong Yao's peers, but even a large number of his younger generations died.

The fate of a high-ranking scholar was just like that in Zhong Yao's life. He died when he was told to.

It is difficult for him to escape this fate, and he might be taken away by disease, war or other accidents.

The mainstream theme of literary creation nowadays is sadness.

For Zhong Yao, his fate was actually nearing its end.

Having experienced the deaths of too many of his peers and younger generations, he began to cherish his own life even more.

It seems that the longer you live, the greater a victory it is.

Now seeing the fire in Huayin, Zhong Yao felt more and more that he should get to know this General Baiequ better.

Even if I die, I will die gloriously and leave a great name for future generations.

Some rumors about what happened in Xudu also reached his ears one after another. These rumors were so concealed, exaggerated and seriously distorted that Zhong Yao simply chose to ignore them.

He experienced too many deaths and was an eyewitness to the rebellion of Li Jue and Guo Si. If ghosts and gods and strange things really existed, then the emperor, ministers and officials would not have suffered that kind of hardship.

Among the rumors in Xudu, he cared more about Kong Rong's opinion.

Kong Rong, a descendant of Confucius, was famous for his eccentric words and deeds. After Cai Yong's death, Kong Rong began to openly question moral theories such as loyalty, righteousness, integrity and shame; after Ni Heng's death, Kong Rong directly questioned the foundation of the Han Dynasty, that is, the meaning of filial piety.

Zhong Yao was a serious person, but deep down, he always felt that Kong Rong was not radical enough. Perhaps it was his identity as a descendant of Confucius that constrained Kong Rong.

But now, the fierceness of the White Goose Bandits' offensive has broken the fragile balance in Guanzhong.

Before, he used the power of the Tiger Teeth Army to stabilize the 8,000-strong army. Under the guise of the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, and with some trickery, he was able to barely suppress Ma Teng and Han Sui.

Now the Tiger Tooth Army is attacking Huayin. It would be fine if the siege failed today, but we are afraid that it will be captured in one fell swoop.

Adding the Xinfeng City that was captured in the previous battle, this will cause collective panic among all forces in Guanzhong! If the Tiger Tooth Army is not defeated, who among the surrounding heroes dares to sleep with their eyes closed?

Out of concern, Zhong Yao did not dare to gamble his luck and immediately looked at his guards and said, "Return to camp!"

More than a hundred riders mounted their horses and surrounded and protected Zhong Yao as they headed towards the camp.

In the southern suburbs of Huayin County, thousands of people watched from afar.

Yang Guang, the former chief clerk of the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, rode a donkey and watched the battle from seven or eight miles away. He looked pale.

The various scholars around him also looked unnatural.

The White Goose Bandits are too good at fighting. Yuan Tan, the new Inspector of the Imperial Guards who came from afar, may not dare to fight them in a field battle. If they don’t even dare to fight in a field battle, how can they dare to attack the opponent’s Tongguan?

Yuan Tan didn't dare to fight to the death. Could he expect the people of Hongnong and Hedong to fight to the death?
Do you really think that everyone is willing to die for the Yuan family?

Before, it seemed that Zhong Yao was no longer capable. Zhang Ji, the Xinfeng prefect who was personally chosen by Zhong Yao and ranked first in the assessment among the three auxiliary officials, was captured by the White Goose Bandits in one battle even though he was in a strong city.

Who could have thought that in the blink of an eye, the White Goose Thief would betray the Yuan family and join forces with Zhong Yao?
The fierce offensive of the White Goose Bandits is a reality. What Yang Guang is wondering now is whether it is the Tiger Tooth Army bribed and recruited by Zhong Yao who are ordered to expel Yuan's forces; or whether the White Goose Bandits are holding Zhong Yao hostage and pretending to be righteous in the court, and are waging a civil war with the Yuan family.

If they are recognized by official forces, then the other party is the Tiger Tooth Army; if not, then they are the White Goose Thieves.

Yang Guang thought about it and decided to go and meet General Baiequ and General Huya.

Yang Biao and his son Yang Xiu were left in Xudu by Cao Cao's side; Yang Guang's elder brother Yang Liang, who had a title, was also recruited by Cao Cao into the court and given a position as an idle doctor to live in seclusion.

Now, the one who has the final say in the Hongnong Yang family is actually his branch of the branch.

Anyway, the Yang family will not support the Yuan family. If there is any obvious tendency, Yang Biao and Yang Xiu, father and son, will lose their heads immediately. If they are implicated as well... then Yang Guang will become the contemporary leader of the Yang family?

This was also the reason why he resigned from Zhong Yao so quickly. Only by becoming an opposition scholar and not helping anyone could he avoid being harassed by the Yuan family.

As for the choice of the scholars in Hongnong County, what does it have to do with him, the Yang family?
While Yang Guang was thinking, the South Gate of Huayin was opened and the attacking soldiers swarmed in; then the West Gate was opened, and the 300 men of Gan Ning and the 200 men of Liu Xiong who were stationed outside entered the city in teams of 100 men to clear out the disorderly soldiers and maintain order.

There were signs that the east and north gates of Huayin City were opening, but when they saw elite cavalry patrolling outside the gates, the city officials who had taken the lead in organizing the breakout gave up their plan.

At least the Tiger Fangs had a good tradition of taking in all the wounded after the battle and only killing those who had their heads shaved.

After the city is captured, officials and defenders will not be killed, nor will those who attempt to escape be killed.

Only officials and garrison soldiers would have their heads shaved and be placed under house arrest to do manual labor; those who attempted to escape would have their property confiscated and their heads shaved.

So far, there has been no news of the Tiger Tooth Army having a bad reputation for abusing and bullying women.

So when the black bear climbed up the city wall, order in the city was quickly restored.

After hastily shaving their heads, local officials and garrison troops actively cooperated and helped treat the wounded.

Black Bear was standing on the city wall overlooking the city. Gan Ning walked towards him with his bloody head wrapped in a roll of Han army battle flag. He was holding it in his hand and walking with high spirits and an arrogant look.

Arriving closer, Gan Ning knelt on one knee and said, "Commander Qu, this is the head of the defending general Liu Kai."

Not feeling disgusted, Gan Ning unwrapped the battle flag and held in his hands a bearded head with angry eyes wide open.

Black Bear glanced sideways, then looked back at the city: "In the next ten years, our army will not set foot in Shandong."

Gan Ning wiped the blood off his hands and threw the head to his personal soldiers behind him, signaling them to take it away. He approached the black bear, reached out to grab the yellow mud on the surface of the city wall, crushed it and wiped the blood off his hands.

Thinking about Black Bear's words, Gan Ning asked tentatively: "Is it east of Yao Mountain or Hua Mountain?"

As for Yaoshan, we must capture Hongnong as well.

This is very obvious at Huashan. The army used Tongguan and Huayin as the boundary and focused its efforts on managing Guanzhong, regardless of the disputes outside the pass.

"Huashan."

Black Bear saw a group of seven or eight soldiers breaking down the door, while the men and women in the yard hid in the houses and refused to come out.

Gan Ning followed the direction Black Bear was looking and saw seven or eight soldiers climbing over the wall, opening the door, and forcing the men and women into the courtyard with swords.

They beat the men and children, and forcibly dragged three women, both young and old, into the house.

These people didn't know that Lu Bu was galloping towards them on the street in the city. He stopped in front of the gate in an orderly manner, holding his Fang Tian Ji in front of the gate, and walked towards the low gate with his head down.

He drew out the eight-sided Han sword, and without listening to the explanations of the rebellious soldiers, he quickly killed five of them, then went back inside to kill people before leaving.

Gan Ning narrowed his eyes and observed carefully, and said with certainty: "General Qu, the soldiers under my command are willing to spend money and have nothing to do with me."

"They are Liu Xiong's Lantian soldiers. Their uniforms are brand new and different from those under your command."

Black Bear spoke in a calm tone, and there was nothing to be angry about.

Continue to look around the city and suppress military discipline.

He killed without mercy. It was not like he was relying on these soldiers to risk their lives to break the city, so what was there to be cautious about?
Mutiny?

Anyone who dared to rebel would have their head shaved.

Basically, no soldiers who participated in the assault took the initiative to go down the city wall. Those who were lightly injured went to the wounded barracks on their own initiative, and those who were seriously injured were also carried down.

If some veterans felt that it was meaningless, they would take a pair of scissors and go to the east gate to wait for hair cutting to earn extra money.

The order in the city was maintained by military officers at all levels. Once order was restored, local officials who had shaved their heads were used to mobilize civilians in order to empty the city as quickly as possible.

Even the pillars and rafters of the house need to be dismantled and transported to Tongguan.

The more Huayin is demolished, the faster Tongguan will be built. When Yuan’s army enters Huayin in the future, the proportion of extra construction manpower consumed will be greater.

　Today I went house hunting, signed contracts and prepared to move. I'll fix any typos tonight and catch up on some sleep.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)