Under Xu Zongwen's special arrangement, Murong Chong was able to escape from Shangyong Realm with half his life. By the time the five battalions of the Anqin Army's left, right, forward, backbone, and rearguards had cleared the battlefield, it was already time for the red sun to rise...
"Tell me, my lord, this time our Anqin army killed 12,000 enemies, captured more than 20,000 people, and captured countless weapons and horse skins..." Zhang Si led the captain of the fifth battalion of the Anqin army to come forward and report the military situation in detail.
Xu Zongwen was overjoyed and hurriedly asked Huan Suzhi to record the achievements of each general and school in the merit book, and promised: "After the war is over, I will discuss the merits and reward them."
"Thank you, General!" The captains, led by Feng Yi and Xu Song, saluted Xu Zongwen one after another.
Xu Zongwen was sitting at the head of the meeting hall of the Yongcheng Prefecture. Captains from various departments of the Anqin Army were standing on the left and right. Their armors were all stained with blood. The smell of blood immediately filled the entire meeting hall!
But everyone was a man who had fought on the battlefield. They had long been accustomed to the military life of licking blood with the blade of a knife and relying on life and death. They didn't notice it at all. They even felt that their blood was tense and their courage was still there!
Maybe there is another war at this moment. As long as Xu Zongwen gives the order, everyone will follow the order and go to war.
The eight thousand Anqin Army killed more than ten thousand enemies and captured two enemies, but only suffered two thousand injuries. Xu Zongwen was very pleased, and he increasingly felt that the Anqin Army was a powerful army with great potential!
"General, this battle is really painful! It avenges our shame of repeatedly defeating the Xianbei White Slaves. My subordinates have heard that the general is an undefeated general. It seems that the rumors are indeed true!" The person who spoke was Lu Cunxu, the captain of the forward camp of the Anqin Army. This man was unshaven, had a unibrow, and spoke Chinese with a Guanzhong accent.
Feng Xingmi, the captain of the Zhongjian Battalion, secretly looked at Xu Zongwen's face and reminded him: "Lu Huzi, we are the Jin army now, so don't mention the past things again!"
Xu Zongwen waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, there are no taboos here, don't worry about it. We are all brothers now, and there is no need to be on guard between brothers."
"No!" Feng Xingmi didn't dare to make excuses, but still saluted Xu Zongwen.
"Meng Xiaowei, if you have anything to say, just say it. Don't hold it back. The people standing here are all members of my family. Although we have only been together for a short time, you must have already understood my temperament and have hidden it from me. You just don’t treat me as one of your family members.”
Xu Zongwen raised his mouth when he saw that Meng Zhiyuan, the captain of the rear guard battalion, frowned slightly and moved his lips, but remained silent.
Meng Zhiyuan's thoughts were exposed. After being reminded by Xu Zongwen and surrounded by everyone, he could only say truthfully: "General, my subordinates have something to say. I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
"But it doesn't matter."
"No!" Meng Zhiyuan straightened up and asked word by word: "I heard Commander Zhang say that the general intends to let Murong Chong go. Isn't this letting the tiger go back to the mountain? I really don't know what the general's intention is?"
Meng Zhiyuan didn't mention it when Xu Zongwen was asked to explain, and he couldn't mention it either. This was the duty of his subordinates.
"It turns out that Murong Chong is a tiger in your eyes!" Xu Zongwen looked around and laughed out loud: "The reason why I let Murong Chong go is because he can't die yet."
"Murong Chong can't die now?" Not only was Meng Zhiyuan curious about Xu Zongwen's plan, Feng Xingmi, who was cautious in his words and deeds, really couldn't understand the deep meaning of Xu Zongwen's move.
Xu Zongwen did not show off, and said bluntly: "Brothers Murong Chong and Murong Hong are direct descendants of the royal family of the King of Yan, but the current King of Yan is Murong Chui. If Murong Chong dies, it will not be us, but only Murong Chui, keeping him will make Murong Chui fearful! If Murong Chong dies in Murong Chui's hands one day, Murong Chui's people will probably have wild thoughts, the monarch and his ministers will be alienated, and the Yan Kingdom will not be solid at all, and the only people who will benefit are It's us……"
I see!
The generals were stunned, it turned out that the general’s intention was so far-reaching!
"The general is far-sighted and his subordinates admire him!"
"The general is far-sighted..."
After the battle with Shangyong, all the generals finally fell in love with Xu Zongwen!
Xu Zongwen ordered all the generals to return to their base camps, reorganize their deployment, repair their armors, seize them lightly, and then take a good rest.
At the same time, Xu Zongwen summoned the staff of the general's office and began to discuss the next step. Before the meeting began, Zhuge Kan led his army and led the Suzaku Camp to arrive at Shangyong all night long.
Since he was appointed as the general of the Zuo Army and the governor of Xincheng, Zhuge Kan did not immediately rush to Xincheng to take office. He rushed to Luoyang on Xu Zongwen's order, met with Pei Qing, and informed Pei Qing and the garrison of Xu Zongwen's plans for the Northern and Western Expeditions in detail. The generals of the Xiaoqi Army around Luoyang.
After the incident, Zhuge Kan just rushed south to Xincheng. On the way, he met Guo Bao, the governor of Xiangcheng, in the Qin Kingdom of Nanyang. He heard that the prince of Qin, Fu Hong, had surrendered in Shangyong, and the person who recruited Fu Hong to surrender turned out to be his eldest brother Xu Zongwen. He could only rush forward without stopping. Gotta hurry.
Unexpectedly, the Suzaku Camp alerted the Nanyang Qin Army. Since Guo Bao was on Shangyong's side, he could only defeat the Nanyang Qin Army and take advantage of the situation to regain Nanyang. Then he rushed to Shangyong to escort Xu Zongwen with confidence.
No, as soon as he reached Shangyong, he saw a scene of blood and corpses outside the city. He rushed over in a hurry, fearing that something might happen to Xu Zongwen.
"Lord! I'm late!" Zhuge Kan had to bow down when he entered the door. Xu Zongwen asked him to salute. Zhang San, who was beside the door, had quick eyes and quick hands, and immediately organized Zhuge Kan.
"General, my lord never likes this. What's more, you and my lord are sworn brothers. You will make my lord uncomfortable."
Zhuge Kan felt relieved when he saw that Xu Zongwen was fine. He saluted just to make up for his belated guilt. Since Xu Zongwen didn't care, he was relieved. He probably knew about the battle of Shangyong from Zhang Si. It’s okay if you get in the way, but it’s even better if you overcome!
"Brother Zhuge, come and sit down quickly." Xu Zongwen pointed to the couch next to him and motioned to Zhuge Kan to sit with him.
Zhuge Kan did not go up, but just knelt down at the lower position. He looked elegant and looked like an old monk sitting still. He looked at Xu Zongwen and congratulated with a smile: "My lord, we won the first battle. Our army's morale is like a rainbow. I think the war will go more smoothly in the future." , the great cause of the Northern Expedition can be accomplished!"
Xu Zongwen nodded: "A small test of one's skills, a small test of one's skills. Defeating Murong Chong is nothing, but gaining An Qin's army is worthy of celebration for our army."
Zhuge Kan knew about the An Qin army, but he didn't know the key, let alone how Xu Zongwen surrendered this powerful army. However, Xu Zongwen was always as witty as a fox and often came up with clever strategies. It was naturally not difficult for him to accept the surrender of the Qin army. Zhuge Kan He didn't ask in detail, just asked him to ask for advice on how to advance next.
Xu Zongwen was not planning to go to Luoyang to join Pei Qing. He stood up and pointed at the map connecting Jingzhou, Liangzhou, and Yizhou and said slowly: "Since you have captured Nanyang, now Shangyong, Wei Xing, and Nanyang are close to me. The territory of Jin borders on the border. I have ordered people to collect ships and prepare to go upstream, follow the Mian River from Shangyong to the west, and seize the entire Hanzhong! Huan Shimin, the governor of Jingzhou, will also take advantage of the situation to march westward and attack Wang Guang in Chengdu."
"If I succeed, Yizhou and Liangzhou will be mine again, and the first step of the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition will be the first step to truly gain a firm foothold!"
The Mianshui flowing through Shangyong flows into the Han River, and can enter the Yangtze River through Xiangfan. Therefore, if you start from Shangyong and go down the river, you will soon reach the Xiangfan area.
Therefore, Shangyong's gains and losses directly affected the stability of the Xiangfan defense line in the Jin Dynasty.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Sima Yi, who was stationed in Shangyong, led his army to attack Hanzhong. However, due to going upstream, the Wei army moved very slowly. At the same time, they encountered bad weather, continuous heavy rains, and flash floods. Finally, the Wei army was forced to order the withdrawal. Sima Yi The sneak attack on Hanzhong ended in failure.
It is precisely because of the geographical characteristics of Shangyong that after Cao Wei occupied this area, he rarely used this area as a starting point to attack Hanzhong.
Cao Wei turned this area into a barrier to protect the Xiangfan area, preventing the Shu army from using the Han River as a logistics line to send troops to the Xiangfan area. With the cover of the Shangyong area, Cao Wei's Xiangfan stronghold was free from worries.
Now, Xu Zongwen ordered Guo Shang to plot to capture Yizhou. After defeating the Yan army, he wanted to go upstream and attack Hanzhong. Every step of this was a risky move!
"Who does the lord intend to let lead the army?"
"It is not easy to attack Hanzhong against the current. You must first keep it secret. Now the only people in the whole army who know about it are you and me and the two gentlemen. As for leading the troops, since God sent me to Shangyong, I must fight this battle myself. It’s a trip!”
"My lord, no! My lord is no longer what he used to be. He no longer needs to take the lead in going into battle to kill the enemy. When we attack cities and seize territory, we have our own generals and generals to attack and serve. My lord shoulders the weight of the three armies and cannot go into danger in person!"
Xu Zongwen wanted to go into battle in person, but Zhuge Kan disagreed because Xu Zongwen was the commander of the Qiaoqi Army. If the plan failed and the traces of the army were exposed, he would have a narrow escape!
Zhuge Kan even took the initiative to ask for help, but Xu Zongwen refused to agree. Zhuge Kan was about to join Zheng Lue and Tian Luo to break through Hulao from the front and attack Guanzhong. Among the three, Zhuge Kan's resume was the most suitable for being the leader of the Western Expedition. , it is too risky to let him serve as the vanguard of the sneak attack on Hanzhong!
"I have asked Guo Jijiu to go to Xiangyang to assist Huan Jingzhou. All the generals of the Xiaoqi Army have heavy responsibilities. It seems that we have to rely on the An Qin Army for this battle."
Xu Zongwen is planning to select a good general among the five battalion captains of the Anqin Army, who will be fully responsible for the capture of Hanzhong!
