As the first of the five good generals of the Wei Kingdom in history, Zhang Liao was the best among his contemporaries in terms of martial arts, commanding, and formation of troops. But at the same time, he is also a person who understands current affairs. Otherwise, when his old master Lu Bu and his comrade Gao Shun, who were close friends in life and death, were executed in Xiapi, he would not have chosen to surrender to Cao Cao but go on the road with them.
Yang Gao understood that this was not because Zhang Liao was greedy for life and afraid of death, but because he did not want to die incognito. Facts have proved that it was precisely because of his ability to understand current affairs that Xiaoyaojin became so powerful. And his former comrades in Xiapi are still under Lu Bu's light today.
Yang Gao, who was familiar with the matter, immediately went to persuade Zhang Liao to surrender in person after learning that Cheng Yaojin, the lucky general, had captured Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao is not as arrogant as Guan Yu, and he still has a clear understanding of the general trend of the world. Now that Yang Gao personally persuaded him to surrender, giving him enough face, Zhang Liao took advantage of the situation to go downhill and surrender.
In one fell swoop, they defeated the main cavalry force of the Tang Army that came to Hebei to cause trouble, and surrendered Zhang Liao, a wise and brave general. Yang Gao was quite satisfied with the outcome of this battle. After a brief rest, Yang Gao and Yue Fei's army headed north to Ye County.
At the same time, the 250,000-strong coalition of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Shao, who had temporarily put aside their previous differences and formed an alliance, had also marched south in a mighty manner, crossed the Huan River, and arrived in Fuyang County.
At that time, Yang Ye, the deputy general manager of the march who replaced Yue Fei in handling military affairs, made a decisive decision and ordered generals Fu Youde and Yang Yan to lead 15,000 elite troops northward at night to seize Fuyang County to block the southward path of Zhu Yuan's coalition forces and buy time to wait for Yang Gao Yuefei to deal with the Tang army's cavalry. Come back and take charge of the overall situation.
. . . . . . . . . .
In the commander's tent, after listening to Yang Ye's narration of the current situation, Yang Gao looked around the generals in the tent and said in a deep voice: "The situation has been analyzed very clearly by King Zhenyue and his uncle, dear princes. What’s your opinion?”
There are currently two choices before the Sui army. The first is to send a partial division to intercept the coalition forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Shao in Fuyang, and assemble the main force to capture Ye County first.
If this tactic succeeds, the harvest will undoubtedly be huge. First of all, Ye County is the capital chosen by Zhu Yuanzhang. The loss of the capital will be fatal to any army. Secondly, Ye County is the political, economic, and cultural center of Hebei. Taking Ye County can be said to have controlled half of Hebei.
However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Once the Sui army fails to attack Ye County for a long time, and the Sui army's partial division cannot contain the Zhu and Yuan coalition forces, resulting in the main force of the Sui army being flanked below the city, then the Sui army's Northern Expedition will inevitably end in a disastrous defeat.
Another option is to send a partial division to confront the defenders of Ye County, while the main force goes north to defeat Zhu and Yuan's coalition forces.
This tactic also has both pros and cons. If the main force of the Zhu Yuan coalition can be defeated, then the whole of Hebei will be able to spread the word. However, Zhu Yuan's coalition army has 250,000 troops, and it is by no means an enemy that can be defeated easily. Moreover, after the main force moves north, its own food routes will be exposed to the front of the defenders of Ye County. Even if there are partial divisions to contain them, it is difficult to protect them. just in case.
"Your Majesty, the general thinks that the combined forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu are outnumbered, so it is better to take Ye County first. With Ye County in hand, our army has a fortified city at its back, and we have a third chance of victory."
It was Zhang Xian, Yue Fei's confidant, who made this suggestion. His opinion was supported by Yang Ye, Wang Zhongsi, Lu Xiangsheng, Guo Zhiyun, Zhang Yi (Zhang He who became Zhang Xian's younger brother, Xiaolang almost forgot about him before, It was not until the time when Zhang Liao was recaptured that he was remembered) and the support of many generals.
Zhang Liao, the newly surrendered general, came out and called for battle impassionedly: "Your Majesty, the newly surrendered general has received favor from your majesty even though he has not made any achievements. When the army attacks the city, general mo will be willing to be the vanguard of the whole army and capture Ye County for your majesty!" "
"Your Majesty, I, Old Cheng, am also willing to be the vanguard to capture Ye County!"
Cheng Yaojin had captured Zhang Liao before and was promoted to a higher rank and received a reward of 500 taels of silver. Now he is full of ambition and plans to make new achievements.
Under the leadership of Zhang Liao and Cheng Yaojin, Gao Chong, Yang Zaixing, Zhang He, Wang Zhongsi and others petitioned for battle, vowing to take Ye County!
"Wei Chen objects!"
Amidst the passionate calls for battle, Liu Bowen strode out and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I am opposed to taking Ye County first!"
"Why?"
Yang Gao frowned slightly when he heard this and asked in a deep voice.
Ignoring the angry looks of many generals in the tent, Liu Bowen said loudly: "There is a saying in the art of war. The first step is to attack the enemy with the strategy, the second step is to attack the enemies, the second step is to attack the troops, and the second step is to attack the city. The next step is to garrison the troops and fortify the city. Once this happens, the next step is to attack the city. Our army has been unable to attack for a long time and was flanked by Zhu and Yuan's coalition forces at the base of the city, so our army's recapture of Hebei will inevitably end in a dismal outcome!"
"good!"
The head coach of the Sui army, Yue Fei, nodded solemnly and said in a deep voice: "Through the previous battles, it is not difficult to see that the defender of Ye County, Zhu Wenzheng, is indeed somewhat capable of defending the city. It is definitely not possible to quickly capture Ye County. Easy!"
Liu Bowen continued: "Taking a step back, even if our army can quickly capture Ye County in one go, Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu will inevitably withdraw their troops quickly and return to northern Hebei after hearing the news, relying on the strong city to confront our army. In this way, the war in Hebei will inevitably The delay is getting longer. Generals, please don’t forget that there is Li Yuan who is watching closely next to us. Once our army is delayed by Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu, over time he will definitely send new troops into Hebei to harass our army. Therefore. The war in Hebei must be fought quickly and we must not leave the enemy too much time to react!"
"What Brother Bowen said is absolutely true. The war in Hebei must not be delayed for too long!"
Fang Xuanling came out to support Liu Bowen and said: "If the 250,000 coalition forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu can be defeated in one fell swoop, the situation in Hebei will be stabilized. Moreover, this can also deter Li Yuan to prevent him from fishing in troubled waters again."
Chen Ping smiled slightly and stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu are united under the pressure of Your Majesty, but they had fought fiercely for the land of Hebei before. Wei Chen thought that the two of them could never truly center the earth. Together without any grudges, they must be wary of each other this time when they go south.
On the other hand, in Ye County, all the defenders were Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates, so everyone must be united to protect Zhu Yuanzhang's lair. From this point of view, the coalition forces facing Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu have a greater chance of winning. "
"It's hard to defeat one person, but it's easy to defeat two people!"
Yue Fei murmured something, then immediately stepped out of the queue and raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I also agree with Lord Liu's opinion and go north to face the coalition forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu first!"
"Okay, in that case. Uncle Emperor, I'd like you to lead the army to contain the defenders of Ye County!"
"Old minister, I obey!"
Yang Ye cupped his hands and said energetically.
"The rest of the generals!"
Yang Gao stood up as he spoke, straightened his back and said loudly: "Come north with me to face the two traitors Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuan Chu!"
"I will obey your orders!"
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