It is said that Zhao Chen led five thousand troops for the first time and set out for Donghai County with Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, Lu Xun and Cheng Yu.
Before setting off, Liu Bei said goodbye to the army at the gate of Xiapi City, told Zhao Chen to be careful, and ordered his third brother Zhang Fei to protect Zhao Chen.
Zhang Fei patted his chest and promised.
Liu Bei asked in passing: "What should we do if Cao Cao and others come after the military advisor leaves?"
Zhao Chen was stunned for a moment and suddenly realized.
Since Liu Bei's rise, he has been relying on Zhao Chen and has not yet faced a powerful enemy alone.
Now that Zhao Chen has led his troops to suppress the bandits, leaving Liu Bei alone to guard Xuzhou, Liu Bei is inevitably a little uneasy.
Zhao Chen smiled and said: "My lord, please don't worry. If Yuan Shu comes, he will definitely pass through Huaiyin. I have asked Chief Yun to guard Huaiyin, and with Zishan's help, there is nothing to worry about. Cao Cao is currently worried about Zhang Xiu and has no time to take care of it. As for Yuan Shao , the internal affairs of the four states have not been settled, and there is no intention to deal with the outside world at this time."
After listening to Zhao Chen's analysis, Liu Bei felt at ease and nodded reluctantly.
Zhao Chen said goodbye to everyone, and the five thousand army set off towards Tancheng.
The news that Liu Bei sent Zhao Chen to lead an army of five thousand to suppress the bandits had already reached Zang Ba's ears.
As his name suggests, Zang Ba had a domineering look on his face. He smiled and said to Sun Guan and others, "Don't be afraid. I'm just a kid who has never been on the battlefield. How can I kill the enemy?"
Sun Guan's brother Sun Kang advised: "Commander, you must not take it lightly. Zhao Chen is full of tricks and unfathomable. Cao Mengde's army of 100,000 fell into the hands of this man. Our army should be cautious and deal with it carefully."
Zang Ba's eyes were sharp, and he thought for a moment before replying: "It doesn't matter, when he arrives, I will lead the troops to deal with it, or defend the city, or if not, retreat to Mount Tai, and see how he can pull off a trick."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Three days later, Zhao Chen's army arrived outside Tan City.
Tancheng is located between Yishui River and Shushui River, with low hills to the west. The terrain is higher in the west and lower in the east, and the whole area is in a plain.
It is also the only way to the Langya Kingdom, Beihai Kingdom, and Donglai County.
According to Zhao Chen's idea, he could go north from this road, bypass the Beihai Kingdom, march westward, bypass the Taishan Mountains, and capture the entire Qingzhou.
Now that Zang Ba invaded Xuzhou, it gave Zhao Chen a good reason to send troops.
I have to thank Cao Cao for this.
Zang Ba led Sun Guan and Yin Li to lead the troops to fight.
The two armies stood in front of the city.
Zhao Chenyuan shouted: "General Xuan Gao, please come out."
Zang Bace immediately took a step forward and replied: "Who called me?"
"I am Zhao Chen!"
"It turns out you are a Huangkou kid. If you dare to lead your troops to invade my territory, don't blame me for being rude!"
Zhao Chen laughed loudly and said: "General, why are you so rude? Let's see if the five thousand troops behind me agree."
Then Zhao Chen opened his hands and the five thousand troops shouted in unison, the sound was deafening and majestic.
When Zang Ba and the others heard this, they secretly shouted in their hearts, "No!" This is the first time I have seen such an imposing army. It is very different from Yuan Tan's army in the past. I am afraid it will not be easy to deal with.
Zang Ba and others were still undecided, so Zhang Fei rode out of the formation and shouted: "I am Zhang Yide from Yan, who is coming to fight to the death with me?"
The words resounded throughout Tancheng.
Everyone was awakened and looked at each other hesitantly.
Zang Baxin stepped forward with his gun drawn and responded: "I'll meet you!"
Then he rode his horse and rushed out of the formation.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Fei suddenly became interested. The black horse under his crotch roared loudly and he rushed towards Zang Ba.
The two guns intersected, sparking lightning.
Zhang Fei shouted loudly and raised his snake spear high, with overwhelming momentum.
Zang Ba waved his gun away and dodged sideways.
In just one round, the two knew each other's true identity.
Zhang Fei became more courageous as he fought, and Zang Ba had to defend passively.
After more than ten rounds of fighting, Zhang Fei aimed at Zang Ba's vulnerability and stabbed him with a spear.
In order to avoid it, Zang Ba lost his balance and fell to the ground with his horse and his men.
Seeing that he was about to be shot by Zhang Fei, Sun Guan came on horseback and took the eight-foot-long snake spear with his broadsword.
The two instantly struggled with each other.
Seeing this, Zang Ba hurriedly got up, remounted his horse, and brandished his gun to help Sun Guan.
Zhang Fei fought one against two, not losing at all. The snake spear whirred in Zhang Fei's hand, and Zhang Fei became more courageous as he fought.
After fighting for more than ten rounds, Zang Ba and Sun Guan saw that they could not defeat them and prepared to retreat.
I saw Yin Li coming to the rescue with a gun, and the three of them killed one with a carbine.
This was great, Zhang Fei was fighting one against three, Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Yin Li surrounded Zhang Fei and slashed with spears and bayonets, but unfortunately Zhang Fei blocked him every time.
It's true that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has three heroes fighting against Lu Bu. Here in front of Tancheng, there are three generals from the Taishan Group fighting against Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei's powerful force made the three of them numb, and they gradually lost their strength.
After fighting for more than ten rounds, the four of them couldn't decide the outcome.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Chen immediately ordered Chen Dao to send his troops to cover up and kill him.
Zang Ba's army no longer had a leading general, and was at a loss when faced with Zhao Chen's 5,000-strong army.
It wasn't until Chen Dao came to the front that Zang Ba and others reacted and hurriedly retreated to lead the confrontation.
The two armies met, and swords flashed for a moment.
Zang Ba's army was originally a loose bandit. Although Zang Ba led the training and had experience in fighting the Yellow Turban Army, it could not compare with the army led by Zhang Fei and Chen Dao.
In just a moment, Zang Ba's army was defeated and suffered heavy casualties.
Before Zang Ba's rear army could fight Zhao Chen's front army, they all retreated and fled back to Tancheng.
Zang Ba and others had no choice but to retreat with their troops.
Zhang Fei and Chen Dao each held their positions and advanced quickly.
When they were less than three miles away from the city gate, Zang Ba and others escaped death and entered the city one after another.
When Zhao Chen saw this, he was not in a hurry to attack the city. He just retreated five miles outside the city and set up camp on the road.
After being defeated for a while, Zang Ba no longer dared to look down upon Zhao Chen's army. He led the army to defend Tancheng and allowed Zhang Fei and others to challenge him day and night.
Two days later, Zhao Chen saw that Zang Ba was unable to come out. After thinking for a moment, he had a countermeasure in his mind.
Then he tested Lu Xun: "Although Tancheng is a county town, the city has high walls and thick walls. Our army has few soldiers. It is easy to cause many casualties if we attack the city by force. How do Boyan think we should break the city?"
Lu Xun thought about the map for a while and replied: "Sir, although Tan City is high, it cannot keep its gates open forever. Our army can take advantage of the fact that the army's supplies are exhausted and attack it secretly, and the city will be destroyed."
Zhao Chen nodded and did not rush to answer. He turned his attention to Cheng Yu and asked, "What do you think Zhongde should do?"
Cheng Yu walked quickly to the map, pointed to the Yishui River and Shu River and said: "Tancheng's water source comes from these two rivers. The two rivers flow from north to south all year round. Our army can lead the army to cut off the water source. Within seven days, Zang Ba will be defeated." The army will be in chaos and will definitely leave the city in search of water. At that time, our army will take the opportunity to enter the city."
After hearing this, Lu Xun carefully compared the map and nodded thoughtfully.
At this time, Zhao Chen slowly said: "As Boyan said, besiege rather than attack and wait for the opportunity. Although it is a strategy to defeat the enemy, we don't know how much rations there are in the city. Our army's rations all come from Xiapi and Fu Yang, traveling a long distance is easy to be attacked by the enemy, so it is not as stable and reliable as hiding food in the city. This strategy is risky and cannot predict the time, so it is not suitable for this place."
After some comments from Zhao Chen, Lu Xun suddenly understood and silently kept Zhao Chen's words in mind.
"As for Zhongde's plan." Zhao Chen had to admire Cheng Yu. He was not called a poisonous man for nothing. "There are tens of thousands of people in Tan City, and their drinking water depends on Yishui and Shushui. If the river is cut off, the people in the city will be destroyed." We will also suffer disaster, which is not our army’s intention. This strategy is not suitable for this place."
Cheng Yu heard this and said nothing, but in his heart he admired Zhao Chen for caring about the common people.
Lu Xun then asked: "Sir, how should we deal with it?"
Zhao Chen smiled and said: "I have a plan, please listen to me."
