We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 838: Unstoppable Force, Luoyang City

In mid-July, Li Che led his army out of Tongguan to the east and then entered Yuzhou.

The scorching sun of midsummer began to show its power, scorching the Central Plains day after day.

In order to join up with Wang Sanchun and Chen Pingzhi, Li Che also needs to conquer Yuzhou and complete the occupation of the Central Plains and the North.

Qin and Jin areas continuously transported food and supplies, and used the newly reorganized Guanzhong children as backup.

Li Che personally led the army to capture the city. He was unstoppable and marched straight to Hangu Pass.

Facing this world-famous pass, there should have been a fierce battle between the two armies.

But not all court generals wanted to work for the aristocratic families and the false emperor. The deputy general of Hangu Pass had already been secretly instigated by Du Fuji to open the gate at night.

The Fengtian army marched straight into the Guanmen without bloodshed.

The commander guarding the pass was still in his dream when his subordinates chopped off his head and sent it to Li Che's horse.

Li Che was never stingy with those who surrendered. He promoted the deputy general to the main general and rewarded the soldier who cut off the main general's head with a hundred gold coins.

Although Li Che disliked this kind of traitor from the bottom of his heart, this move was also to set an example for the other generals defending the court - those who obey me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish!

The Fengtian Army passed through Hangu Pass, crushing the enemy with great force along the way and heading straight for the core area of ​​Yuzhou.

Outside the city of Mianchi, the defenders tried to resist stubbornly by taking advantage of the terrain.

Li Che personally went to the front line and after observing the terrain, he ordered the artillery to occupy the high ground and concentrate firepower to bombard the weak points of the city wall.

In less than half a day, the city wall collapsed and the elite Fengtian Army rushed in. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the defending general committed suicide.

The Xin'an garrison commander wanted to surrender, but the aristocratic families in the city were afraid of being liquidated by Li Che, so they held the garrison commander hostage and resisted stubbornly.

Li Che was too lazy to talk nonsense with the aristocratic families and directly ordered the soldiers to dig tunnels and bury explosives.

After a loud bang, half of the city wall was reduced to rubble. After a charge by the Fengtian Army, the will to resist in the city collapsed instantly.

The noble families involved in the hostage-taking were caught by the Fengtian Army soldiers after the city was captured, beheaded in public, and their property was confiscated.

Finally, after half a month of siege and conquest, the Fengtian Army arrived at Luoyang, the largest city in the Central Plains.

On this day, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the view was excellent.

Surrounded by generals including Yue Yun, Yang Xuan, Yelu He, and Ma Zhong, Li Che climbed a high slope and looked out at the city of Luoyang ahead.

Even though everyone was used to seeing powerful cities like Fengtian, Chang'an, and Jinyang, they couldn't help but feel shocked when they saw Luoyang.

On the distant horizon, a huge city stood tall, its walls winding like a dragon, grand in scale and majestic in appearance.

Although the wall tiles are mottled after thousands of years of wear and tear, the royal aura of the ancient capital that has been accumulated for several dynasties is still overwhelming.

Mang Mountain is like a screen to the north, and Luo River is like a belt around the south. It is a place with unique geographical advantages.

"What a beautiful Luoyang city!" Yelu He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. "It's worthy of being the thousand-year-old imperial capital. Just looking at its atmosphere, it's on par with Chang'an!"

This minority general had never seen many ancient cities and was directly shocked by Luoyang's aura.

Li Che's gaze slowly swept across the outline of Luoyang City, his eyes also fluctuating.

As a time traveler, he is well aware of the city's position in the history of Chinese civilization.

The Zhou Dynasty moved eastward, the Han and Wei dynasties became the ancient capitals, the Sui and Tang dynasties prospered... countless historical events have taken place here.

If possible, Li Che did not want to use artillery fire to attack the city. This ancient capital that has accumulated Chinese culture should be well preserved for future generations.

Of course, the premise of protecting cultural relics is that we cannot let our soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices.

Li Lin, who had been to Luoyang before, sighed at this moment: "Oh, I'm afraid this city is a bit difficult to attack."

As far as the eye can see, there should be many villages and towns outside Luoyang City, and there should be vast areas with fields.

But at this moment, what lies before him is a heart-pounding desolate land.

A large area of ​​houses near the city wall were burned to the ground, leaving only charred ruins.

In the fields farther away, the crops that should have been lush and green were burned to ashes, the canals were blocked and filled, the trees were cut down, and even the slightly decent roads were dug into potholes.

The air was filled with a burning smell, and there was no sound of chickens crowing or dogs barking, and no one was in sight.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had completely wiped out all life on this land.

"Fortify the walls and clear the fields." Li Che slowly uttered these four words.

Yelu He, standing by, angrily chimed in, "The Luoyang garrison commander is a ruthless character. Upon hearing our army was advancing eastward, he forced all civilians within a few dozen miles of the city to move inside. Those who refused to leave were charged with treason."

"Take away what grain you can, burn what you can't, fill up what wells you can, and poison those that can't."

"This is their plan to cut off our supply of food and consume us to death at the gates of Luoyang."

Ma Zhong cursed, "Damn it! They're so cruel to the people they rule over! This isn't defending the city, this is a plan to wipe out the entire family!"

Listening to the generals' complaints, Li Che remained silent.

It's just fortifying the city and clearing the fields, which is the basic operation of defending the city.

It’s just that the Fengtian Army has always fought blitzkrieg warfare and has rarely fought city defense battles, so they didn’t have much contact.

Zhu Chun frowned and said, "In this case, our army's supplies will be completely dependent on transportation from the rear, and there's no shelter outside the city, so it's hard to even find a place to camp and collect supplies."

Li Che was silent, his gaze moving from the barren fields back to the distant Luoyang City.

On the city wall, flags were fluttering and the dense figures of the defending soldiers could be vaguely seen. It was obvious that the enemy had made preparations for a long-term defense.

"Have you found out who the guard is?" Li Che asked.

Yue Yun immediately replied, "Your Majesty, we have verified that the commander guarding Luoyang is the 'General Guarding the East', personally appointed by the false emperor. His name is Dugu Hong."

"Dugu Hong?" Li Che felt that the name sounded familiar.

Yue Yun added, "This man was born into a branch of the Guanlong Dugu clan. In his early years, he served as a general under the late emperor and was known for his defensive prowess."

"Later, because of his close relationship with the former crown prince, he was transferred away from the central government by the late emperor and sent to serve as an official in a remote area."

"After the false emperor ascended the throne, he promoted him and entrusted him with the important task of guarding Luoyang."

Li Che remembered that Emperor Qing had indeed mentioned such a general, saying that he was "as solid as a rock, clumsy in attack but good at defense", and was a very good gatekeeper.

However, he did not expect that this brick would now block his way eastward.

"Dugu Hong..." Li Che muttered to himself, "Looking at this formation, his reputation is well-deserved. I wonder how good he is."

He looked around at the generals around him, seeing the more or less solemn expressions on their faces, and suddenly laughed out loud:

"You think you can stop my army with just a lonely city and a scorched earth? You really underestimate my soldiers!"

"Yelühe!"

"The general is here!"

"Notify the artillery to prepare and give them a round first."

Yeluhe grinned and said, "I will go and prepare the shells right away."

"No!" Li Che smiled, "We don't need artillery shells."

Yelu He was slightly startled.

What to use if you don’t have artillery shells to attack a city?