Chapter 290 Shi Wenbin: King Wei! You are here!
The north wind is howling, the flags are fluttering, and thousands of chariots and horses are marching out of Taihang.

The cavalry rumbled away, and the elite troops of the Han and Tang dynasties did the same.

The infantrymen in the rear followed closely, and the infantry armor piled on the baggage carts reflected a dazzling light in the sun, but those powerful crossbows were gloomy and filled with murderous intent.

The cannon was pulled by a slow horse. Although it was not moving fast, it gave people a sense of security because it was used for siege.

Soon, from the Taihang Mountains, loud singing reached the sky:

"First, take the twelve states of Shanxi, and then divide the army to fight against the government. Looking back, the Qin frontier is as low as a horse, and gradually the Yellow River flows straight north. The power of heaven rolls over the Yellow River, and the Qiang people in thousands of miles sing the songs of Han..."

The Taiyuan Prefecture at that time was the Jinyang City of the previous dynasty, also known as Bingzhou. It was located in the middle section of the Yellow River, in the north-central part of today's SX Province, and at the northern end of the Taiyuan Basin, right on the dividing line between the living areas of ancient Chinese nomadic peoples and the people of the Central Plains.

Taiyuan is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the Luliang Mountain Range to the west and the remnant of the Taihang Mountains to the east. The two major mountain ranges embrace each other in the northern part of Taiyuan, which gave Taiyuan unique conditions for city defense in the era of cold weapons.

In addition to having mountains as a barrier, the Taiyuan area also has a developed water system that is rare in the north. The Fen River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, flows through Taiyuan from north to south. This not only provides abundant water sources for Taiyuan City, but also provides excellent water transportation conditions for Jinyang City.

Moreover, Taiyuan's location is also very sensitive to the Central Plains dynasty. It is not far from the heartland of the Central Plains, the Guanzhong Plain and even the BJ area in the subsequent Ming and Qing dynasties, and Taiyuan is located in an area with a higher altitude.

This allowed Taiyuan's military to strike at the surrounding core areas from a high position. Even if the war was unfavorable, the natural terrain difference could help the defenders in the city hold on.

In ancient times, there were six major transportation routes around Taiyuan. The northwest line led directly to northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia; the northeast line could reach northern Hebei; the southwest line went directly to the Guanzhong Plain; the southeast line crossed and reached Luoyang; the westbound route could reach northern Shaanxi; the eastbound road was the famous Jingxing Road in history, which was an important road leading to central Hebei. When King Wuling of Zhao attacked Zhongshan State, he had already taken this road.

Controlling Taiyuan is equivalent to controlling the entire northwest Shanxi.

Moreover, with Tian Hu blocking the south, if the Song army came to reinforce, they would have to attack Tian Hu first.

If we don't take it now, will we have to give it to Tian Hu?
If you don't take what heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences!

This time, it will be a tough battle, and the general defending the city is named Zhe!

Cao Jie had no talent for military affairs, so he transferred Hu Yanzhuo as the main general, Wu Song and Sun Li as deputy generals, Zhu Wu, Xu Guanzhong, Fan Rui, and Qiao Daoqing as military advisors, and Lin Chong, Guan Sheng, Lu Zhishen, Dong Ping, Lu Fang, Guo Sheng and others as generals.

The city of Taiyuan was first surrounded and then bombarded with artillery.

It took a while to take it down.

Cao Jie was not good at commanding troops, but he was good at judging people.

While the main army was attacking Taiyuan City, he led a detachment of troops to Fenzhou.

Fenzhou is located southwest of Taiyuan Prefecture and is famous for its wine.

A few years ago, Shi Wenbin was promoted from the position of Yuncheng County Magistrate to the position of Prefect. He used a lot of money and came to Fenyang, Fenzhou.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky and before he could firmly establish his position, he encountered the rebellion of Tian Hu.

If Shi Wenbin had not become the prefect, Fenyang would have been occupied by Tian Hu long ago.

In the original novel, Tian Hu controlled five states, namely Weisheng, Fenyang, Zhaode, Jinning and Gaizhou, with a total of 56 counties. Now he has lost two states because he failed to conquer Fenyang under Shi Wenbin. In this chaotic world, the most important thing a prefect should do when he takes office is to prevent banditry and protect the territory and the people.

Shi Wenbin had always been very timid, so when he took office he was in charge of the military.

Although he did not train a strong army, he was able to fight against the weak ones. He also recruited a few brave men to be captains and supervisors, and fought back and forth with Tian Hu, and finally defended the city of Fenyang.

Of course, the area outside the city was in ruins and had long been looted by the bandits.

When Cao Jie, his old friend, came to meet him, Shi Wenbin sighed and bowed, "It's only been two or three years since we last met, and yet you're already the King of Wei. I've been waiting for months since I heard you were coming to attack Taiyuan City. King of Wei, you're finally here."

Cao Jie helped Shi Wenbin up and said with a smile: "You and I met each other in Yuncheng, and we support each other like brothers. Why be so polite!"

"Etiquette cannot be abolished!" Shi Wenbin was very sensible. He led Cao Jie to the seat of honor and then said, "Now that the King of Wei is here, I can finally sleep peacefully."

"I heard that you have recruited many heroes. Are you afraid of Tian Hu?"

"Alas! If it is a one-on-one fight, I am not afraid of him. But now the food and money of Fenyang City are all gone, and we can't hold on any longer! Now that the King of Wei is here, it is better to hand over Fenyang City to the King of Wei than to let Tian Hu's chaotic army plunder it on the day the city is captured. Tian Hu and his ilk are just a group of bandits. In my opinion, the King of Wei has the appearance of a supreme ruler."

"Brother, you are so kind!"

After some greetings, Shi Wenbin said, "King Wei, among the heroes I have recruited, there is one named Bian Xiang. He was born in a peasant family, nine feet tall, with a beard covering his mouth with three teeth, a square face and broad shoulders, erect eyebrows and round eyes, and arms with the strength of a buffalo. He uses a mountain-splitting axe and a long spear, and is proficient in martial arts..."

"Shanxi is the ancient Zhao territory, and there are many passionate people. Old brother, you know I like to make friends with heroes, so introduce me to some."

"Don't worry, King Wei. Ever since the Liangshan army captured Daming Prefecture, we have discussed it and are willing to surrender."

It is said that Bian Xiang, a general under Harada Tiger and the right prime minister, had the most outstanding battle when he killed the fierce Huaixi general Feng Tai. The original novel describes it very brilliantly:

In the west camp, Feng Tai was furious, brandished two iron sticks, and rode his horse to rush Shan Shiqi. The two generals fought for more than ten rounds. Bian Xiang saw that Shan Shiqi could not defeat Feng Tai, so he picked up his spear and rode his horse to help. Feng Tai shouted loudly, and knocked Shan Shiqi off his horse with just one mace, and then killed him with another mace. He rode his horse and waved his sword to meet him. But Bian Xiang was even more brave. Feng Tai's horse head just arrived, and he shouted loudly, and stabbed Feng Tai in the heart with a spear, and died under the horse.

This battle is just like Guan Yu beheading Yan Liang!
Besides, Shan Shiqi was originally the son of a wealthy family in Qinzhou. He was extremely strong and could use a 40-jin iron stick. He was also proficient in martial arts.

Fearing punishment for murder, he surrendered to Tian Hu's army.

However, he was beheaded by Bian Xiang at the foot of Fenyang City.

Now that I have arrived in Shanxi, I must poach Tian Hu's people.

Shi Wenbin sent Bian Xiang.

Another person named Sun An came forward to surrender.

Sun An, nicknamed "Dragon Slayer", was from the same hometown as Qiao Daoqing. He was also from Jingyuan. He was nine feet tall, with a waist of eight circumferences. He was quite knowledgeable in strategy and had extraordinary physical strength. He learned excellent martial arts and was used to using two iron swords. Later, in order to avenge his father, he killed two people, but because the government was chasing him urgently, he abandoned his home and fled.

He had always been close friends with Qiao Daoqing, and when he heard that Qiao Daoqing was under Cao Jie's command, he went to join the Liangshan army.

(End of this chapter)