On the other side, with Zhang Ji and Wang Fang's constant requests for help, Jianwei General Xu Rong led an army of 40,000 people and finally arrived at the south of Fushi City. Nearly four hundred miles behind him, Niu Fu's 30,000-strong army had just withdrawn from the war and were receiving supplies of food and grass in Suyi. However, they would not go north and would continue to confront Zhang Fei's troops in Hedong.
The king personally led the infantry out of the city to greet him, accompanied by the leaders of the Tiefu tribe. They were dressed in the most precious long fox fur furs, gold belts, and cowhide boots. They stood respectfully on both sides of the road, waiting for the court. Review of the army.
Xu Rong walked on the mountain road for more than ten days. There were only hills along the way. When he reached the south of Fushi City, he saw three high mountains surrounding Fushi City. The shadows of the mountains covered the road under the sun, and there were gurgling water. The road, which was only a few hundred feet long, was divided into two parts. He looked to the left and right of the road and saw the welcoming team neatly lined up in front of the city. However, he frowned so much that Wang Fang, who was approaching, was quite surprised. He He asked: "You are so powerful, but your etiquette is not good enough?"
When Xu Rong heard this, he laughed and said to Wang Fang: "Although I am different from you, I am from the Yan people, but the Yan people are also from the outsiders. Where can I pay attention to etiquette?" He looked at the group of Tiefu leaders and asked Wang Fang again : "What I'm surprised about is, why are there only so many people? I heard that the Tiefu tribe was the largest tribe of the Xiongnu, with nearly 100,000 people. Why are there only nobles coming out now, but no people?"
Only then did Wang Fang suddenly realize. He explained: "Jianwei didn't know something. Now all the Meiji tribes have rebelled. Only the Tiefu tribe is still under the control of my king's division. However, King Youxian was also killed, and Zhang Ji attacked again." The stone was not falling, and seeing that Liu Xuande was already approaching Meiji, we discussed how to gather the army in the Baitu area, and all the strong men in the army also went to Baitu City."
Knowing that Wang Fanghui was wrong, Xu Rong had no choice but to point it out: "I have learned about this from the military report. What I just said was to ask you how the people's sentiments are? Now that the war is imminent, Wang Shi went deep into the guestland, with his belly and tail exposed, as if If the people's support cannot be used, we will risk our own death and must not engage in battle with the enemy."
Wang Fang was greatly embarrassed when he heard this. He put down his hands in worship and stroked the mane of his mount. After a long time, he said: "Chen Chong has governed Bingzhou for more than two years and Xihe for nearly four years. His popularity among the people is really unmatched by us. These In those days, herdsmen often fled north, but I couldn’t stop them.”
When Xu Rong came, the herdsmen along the way were hostile to the sergeants. Xu Rong was aware of this. When he heard Wang Fang's confirmation, he was even more sad. He felt that this campaign was very difficult. He asked again: "What about recruiting people to fight?" How is the morale of the Tiefu people?"
Dong Zhuo attached great importance to the recruitment of the Tiefu tribe this time. No matter what the Tiefu Xiongnu asked for, whether it was money, silk, valley, or fame and power, he ordered to do his best to satisfy it. Wang Fang and Zhang Chang also made progress smoothly. Wang Fang said excitedly: " The governor and I promised King Youxian the title of Shanyu, and spread gold and silver to bribe the nobles in the tribe. Although King Youxian Fanmo died unexpectedly, Qubei, the Gudu of the Dugu tribe, was promoted to the head of the Tiefu tribe. , I will also give more rewards to the warriors who are still willing to support the imperial court and come to apply for the army. Although there are many discussions about the Meiji rebellion, most of them still care about the imperial court."
Only then did Xu Rong's expression soften. As a native of Xuantu County, he was neither a fellow villager with Dong Zhuo like Wang Fang, Zhang Ji, etc., nor was he related to Dong Zhuo by marriage like Li Ru and Niu Fu. However, Dong Zhuo was able to reuse him so much that when Huangfu Song was deactivated, Li Ru first recommended him to supervise the battle. This was all because of his careful and thoughtful planning and brave and selfless fighting.
Then he and Wang Fang slowly moved forward and greeted the leaders of the Tiefu tribe one by one. They also had a banquet that day and laughed with everyone about the past battles between the Yellow Turbans and Han Sui. Xu Rong was very eloquent. Listening to his description, the Tiefu people felt that the war was so vivid. One moment they were under the huge city of Hebei, and the other moment they were on the Longshang Plateau, with gold and iron horses galloping freely. Speaking of having fun, Xu Rong took off his shirt, exposed his upper body in public, and talked about their origins with scars. He had about thirty scars on his body, five of which were almost fatal, but some were almost fatal. One scar was still new in color, obviously less than a year old. This scar ran from the arm and shoulder to the chest, and looked extremely terrifying. Xu Rong avoided talking about it, but he couldn't resist the curiosity of some people. He heard one of the captains ask Xu Rong about the origin of the scar. Xu Rong was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled calmly: "This is during the Guangcheng War. I charged. In front, I was trapped in a heavy siege. Guan Yunchang personally fought with me on horseback. He swung his sword to break the armor and almost killed me. I still feel the pain! Fortunately, Guan Yu is now confronting Hongnong, so you can't hit me."
Hearing what Xu Rong said, the people of Tiefu breathed a sigh of relief and no longer had any doubts about his leadership. They all came forward to toast and befriend him. When Xu Rong saw Dugu Qubei coming, he also said specifically: "Don't do anything for me." The country is loyal to the country, but the court is devastated by it and encourages it! Since you have been officially elected as the king, you will be on the throne sooner or later. After a great victory, there will be other rewards."
Dugu was humble and calm, not moved by Xu Rong's promise. He returned the gift respectfully and only said that he was "loyal to the court and asked for nothing". He only had a mission in the court, and all the Tiefu tribe were the pioneers. After saying that, he asked the court what its plans were. Xu Rong did not understand the military situation on the front line, so he could only Postpone it for a while and discuss it in detail at the military meeting.
After the banquet was over, Xu Rong left Wang Fang behind to discuss the military plan privately, and then asked: "Jicheng, what do you think we have a chance of winning in this war?"
Wang Fang did not expect Xu Rong to ask this question. He said: "Master Wang used the power of thunder to first attack the white wave and then touch the iron Buddha. Although it cannot lift the stone, it is only a small setback. But our army now has 110,000 The army is huge, and the enemy only has one hundred thousand soldiers, and many of them have new soldiers. Their ability to build authority and use troops is far better than Liu Bei's, so why can't they win a big victory?"
When Xu Rong heard his compliments, he looked surprised. He poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip, then shook the wine slightly and smiled at Wang Fang: "Jicheng, you are wrong." , you and I have been fighting for many years, how can we still not know that the victory or defeat on the battlefield can be determined by the large number of people and the small number of people? Otherwise, if the 500,000 people in Guandong rebelled, we would have turned into fans long ago."
When Wang Fang heard this, he was surprised and said: "Is it possible that Jianwei is not optimistic about this campaign?"
Xu Rong shook his head slowly, put down his wine glass, and said seriously: "This expedition was planned by the cavalry. The grand master entrusted me with this, which is a sign of his trust in me. I was also optimistic about this attack, so I took the initiative." Participate in the hope of breaking through the alliance in one fell swoop. But now that the situation has changed, we really shouldn’t bring troops here.”
He analyzed in detail: "The plan of the chariots and cavalry was to use the power of lightning and divine shadows to occupy the dangerous mountains and force Liu Bei to surrender in Taiyuan when the white waves rebelled. Then the army attacked from the north and south to regain the east of Hedong, and then used the power of Mount Tai to press the top. , approaching Jinyang. Has the plan of Chariot and Cavalry now been successful?"
Wang Fang was silent after hearing this, and said: "Zhang Ji failed to capture Lishi, which was indeed something we did not expect."
"Yes, since the plan failed, I wrote to the Grand Master, saying that it would be better to plunder the people east of Hedong and return to the court, and then send a separate division to garrison between Yuanyang and Shangjun to confront Liu Bei and Chen Chong. It would not be a bad idea to make him sit back and waste money and food. A great victory. At least after the heavy losses in Bingzhou, it will be difficult to raise another large army within two years."
"How does the Grand Master reply?"
"The Grand Master actually quite agreed, but he was not willing to withdraw without a fight, so he ordered me to lead the army into Shangjun, join you and others, and plan a battle with Liu Bei."
Wang Fang knew this very well. He was somewhat convinced by Xu Rong, but he was still unwilling to accept it, so he asked: "But our army is more capable of fighting. As long as the whole army is pressed, our army will be destroyed." Is it difficult to be corrupted? Why is Jianwei so afraid of war?"
"You still haven't figured it out." Xu Rong shook his head again and asked: "Is Liu Bei an idiot? If my army is victorious, how can he accept the battle? By then, he will dig deep into the barrier and confront me in Shangjun. , I have more than 100,000 people, and all the baggage, food and grass are transported far away from the mountain path. How can it last long? If Liu Bei sends out strange troops to disturb my retreat, the people will not follow me, and the army will be scattered. It is right in front of me!"
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Wang Fang was horrified, and then he sincerely bowed to him, saluted and apologized: "I am far from being able to match the mighty talents. But since the Grand Master has given the order, we can only fight, but what kind of method can we use?"
Xu Rong stood up and said decisively: "We can't wait any longer. The longer the time goes, the more disadvantageous it will be to our army. So we simply set up our position and let Liu Bei challenge. If there is an opportunity, our army will decide the outcome. If there is no opportunity, our army will decide the outcome." , I will deal with it hastily and then retreat quickly. In short, we must not stay for a long time!"
He then asked Wang Fang: "This place is cramped and can be defended but not fought. Does Ji Cheng know where to open up?"
Wang Fang immediately replied: "I have already seen it. To the north of the white soil is a large grassland, which is suitable for horse racing and fighting. Nowadays, most of the army's departments have gathered here, and only Jianwei went there."
Xu Rong smiled and said: "Then early tomorrow morning, we will break camp and set off."
The two of them ended their discussion and went out together outside Defu Shi City. Xu Rong looked at the winding mountains and rivers and made his final sigh: "It's a pity that I can't treat the enemy accordingly in such a dangerous place."
Early the next morning, they summoned everyone from the Tiefu tribe and announced their decision in public. Everyone in the Tiefu tribe had some complaints in their hearts, but they did not dare to disobey the order. They all obeyed the order, and then the whole army set off towards Baitu City.
Three hundred miles further north, the mountains gradually become lower and flatter, and the view gradually broadens. A silver water belt cuts through the grassland in the northwest and flows southeast into the Luliang mountains. That is the Wan River. To the north of Yuan River, a small city stands conspicuously in the wilderness, surrounded by gray camps and with various colored flags waving in the wind.
Xu Rong arrived at the army, summoned the generals for a military meeting, and elaborated on his opinions on setting up a formation to provoke Liu Bei. Zhang Ji and others were greatly surprised, but they had no effective plan, and they were all persuaded by Xu Rong to agree to this strategy.
Finally, Xu Rong assigned tasks to each army and made arrangements: Xu Rong's headquarters was the central army, Zhang Ji and Bai Bo's troops were the right wing, Wang Fang and Tie Fu's troops were the left wing, and Li Jue and Guo Si's troops were placed behind the entire army as a surprise force. . He also ordered to give up Baitu City, and the entire army retreated fifteen miles, allowing Liu Bei's army to cross the water to fight.
