After falling into a coma for two days, Zhang Liao finally woke up at the critical moment when Zhang Hu had to retreat to Deng County.
Then he almost fainted again from anger.
In two days, only two days, Zhang Hu had already lost the camp outside Deng County. Zhang Liao was puzzled as to how he had given birth to such a thing. With the defense of the camp, he could not hold it for even two days.
Is the Shu thief opposite a god descending to earth? !
His eldest son already has this kind of virtue, and his second and third sons, who are younger and inexperienced, are definitely more hopeless.
Now that the Shu thieves have captured the camp, they must be in great momentum, while the Wei army retreats to Deng County, and their morale must be declining. If they don't find a way to immediately boost the morale of the army, it is impossible to defend Deng County.
Fortunately, the Shu thieves did not seem to be in a hurry to launch an attack on Deng County, which gave Zhang Liao the opportunity to make adjustments.
There is not much that Zhang Liao can do now.
His injury was actually very serious. The fact that he could barely wake up was considered God's blessing because of the foot-long stab wound on his back. In addition, Zhang Liao was unable to get out of bed due to the injury to his spine.
But in the current situation, Zhang Liao no longer cares so much.
Deng County can’t lose it, really can’t lose it.
Among the three defense lines of Wancheng designed by Zhang Liao, Deng County is the core of the first two defense lines. If Deng County is lost, Wancheng will be directly exposed to Shu thieves.
Even though Wancheng City has high walls and thick walls, which is conducive to defense, there has never been peace inside Wancheng.
Wancheng is the seat of Nanyang County and is affiliated to the Jingzhou Administrative Region. If Liu Biao had not been short-sighted and had an enmity with Zhang Xiu in the early years, and Zhang Xiu defected to Emperor Taizu Wu, it would have been difficult to win Nanyang County.
But there is always a problem here - Zhang Xiu is not from Nanyang, he is from Xiliang, but he was placed in Nanyang by Liu Biao and was just a pawn to resist Emperor Taizu Wu.
Zhang Xiu surrendered neatly, but the Nanyang family did not welcome Emperor Taizu Wu very much.
Therefore, when Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan, the wealthy families of Nanyang secretly supported Hou Yin's rebellion.
Although the rebellion was quickly put down by Cao Ren, what Cao Ren did next made the Nanyang nobles even more resentful of this common man, and actually massacred the city.
So, most of the Nanyang County that Zhang Liao took over from Cao Ren was actually a mess.
Zhang Liao not only had to deal with the local nobles and powerful men in Nanyang, but also had to try his best to build three lines of defense to resist Guan Yu in Xiangyang, which was not easy.
This is also the reason why Zhang Liao would rather be stationed in Deng County and use Deng County as the core of the first two defense lines.
Once Deng County was lost, Zhang Liao was forced to retreat to Wancheng. At that time, what the wealthy Nanyang families in Wancheng thought was beyond Zhang Liao's control.
On the other hand, Zhang Liao himself could not retreat.
Really, if Zhang Liao was not injured, or in other words, did not suffer such a serious injury, then it would be okay for Zhang Liao to retreat to Wancheng.
Based on Zhang Liao's past achievements, even if he was defeated by Guan Yu this time, Cao Pi would only scold him a few words, but he might not say harsh words.
After all, in today's Wei Dynasty, most of the famous generals who are capable of fighting have withered away.
But Zhang Liao himself knew the extent of his injuries best.
Such a serious injury, the wound has not been able to completely stop bleeding and has been sutured, and he breaks into cold sweat even if he moves even a little bit on the couch. Zhang Liao is already fifty-six years old. It is basically impossible for this kind of injury to heal itself by relying on his own physical fitness.
And even if God favors him and gives him a chance to survive. Based on Zhang Liao's current understanding of the injury, the possibility of him returning to the battlefield after he recovers will be infinitely close to zero.
The current emperor is not Emperor Taizu Wu.
Although Emperor Taizu Wu had various shortcomings, he really cared for his own people. This is why Zhang Liao was obviously a subordinate, but he was willing to die for Emperor Taizu Wu.
But today, in other aspects, I can be called the Mingjun in the previous sentence, but this kind of ambition is really not big.
Once he can no longer go to the battlefield to win meritorious deeds, and his son is such an unsustainable figure, the Zhang family may be completely in decline.
This is what Zhang Liao least wants to see.
The only solution for now is to fight desperately, hold off the Shu thieves in Deng County, and buy the emperor of Luoyang time to react. In this way, even if he dies in battle, the emperor will have compassion and take care of the Zhang family. .
After making a decision in his heart, Zhang Liao really fought hard.
"Hu'er, help me stand up!" Zhang Liao said as he tried to hold himself up and struggled to sit up.
But this movement immediately affected the wound on his back, causing a heartbreaking pain.
If it was just a stab wound, Zhang Liao would have been able to endure it after a long battle. But an unknown numbness came from his spine, instantly making Zhang Liao lose strength in his hands, and he almost lost consciousness again.
Seeing this, Zhang Hu quickly stepped forward to support his father and said anxiously, "Father, please stay in bed to recuperate."
"Raise your ass!!!"
Zhang Liao roared angrily at Zhang Hu.
But after roaring, Zhang Liao felt as if he had lost all strength and fell back onto the couch again.
Zhang Hu was so frightened that he could only kneel in front of the bed and persuade his father to rest on the bed and not move arbitrarily.
But Zhang Liao really didn't have this intention.
"Tiger."
"The child is here."
"The situation is critical now. Our army has suffered a new defeat, and the morale of the army will inevitably be unstable. You can help me stand up, summon the generals, and calm people's hearts. Otherwise, it will not be enough to defend Deng County."
Zhang Liao really couldn't hold it any longer. He divided his sentence into three paragraphs before he managed to finish it.
There was really no time to explain too much to his son. After explaining what he had to do, Zhang Liao tried to get up again and finally managed to hold up his upper body.
But Zhang Liao was surprised to find that he seemed to have little feeling in his lower body.
This discovery immediately made Zhang Liao feel cold again.
With such a serious injury, even if the injury is cured, it will only be lying on the bed for a long time. What good will it do to the country? !
For a military general, this is the most painful suffering. This perception immediately made Zhang Liao more determined.
"Tiger, support me as a father. Change your clothes and armor!!!"
Zhang Liao spoke in a deep voice, with a hint of unwillingness but determination in his tone, which made Zhang Hu unable to refuse.
Just by putting on his underwear, the wounds on Zhang Liao's back began to ooze blood, directly seeping into the underwear. Zhang Hu couldn't bear it and wanted to persuade him.
But when he looked down at his father, his face was calm. Apart from the cold sweat on his face, there was no sign that he was suffering from the pain of the wound.
Zhang Hu hesitated again and again, so he could only help Zhang Liao put on his underwear more carefully, and carefully put on the armor. This pain caused Zhang Liao to almost fall down.
A pair of armor weighs forty or fifty pounds. People with slightly inferior physical fitness cannot even think of moving while wearing this armor.
With Zhang Liao's current physical condition, it would be too difficult for him to insist on wearing armor.
But Zhang Liao still relied on his own willpower to survive.
After putting on his armor, resting for a while, and regaining some strength, Zhang Liao immediately asked Zhang Hu to discuss matters and arrange the defense of Deng County.
At this time in Deng County, the morale of the Wei army was indeed low.
Not to mention the soldiers of the Wei army, even the generals of the Wei army were in a moment of panic due to a defeat. Suddenly they heard that the general was promoted to a general, and although they rushed over, they really didn't know what they were thinking. Easy to say.
Many people were actually trying to persuade Zhang Hu that Deng County was small and it was not suitable to defend for a long time, so it was better to retreat to Wancheng. Then these people saw Zhang Liao sitting in the coach's position in the tent.
Zhang Liao's sudden appearance surprised many people, but at the same time, they suddenly felt reassured that they had a backer and a backbone.
One by one, they hurried forward and greeted Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao also suppressed a smile and said to the generals, "I was injured two days ago. I'm sorry for your thoughts. Although the injury has not healed yet, it is not serious."
After saying this, Zhang Liao waved his hand to stop the generals from questioning, turned to look at everyone with a straight face, and said, "In the battle the day before yesterday, the camp outside the city was lost. This was not the fault of the generals, but Quanzi's inability to deal with it. This is my fault. I will make it clear to the emperor that I have made it through now. All the generals need to work together to defend the city."
As soon as Zhang Liao said this, no one mentioned the retreat to Wancheng anymore.
It's not that the generals in the army don't know the importance of Deng County, but the problem is that no matter how important Deng County is, it doesn't seem so important compared with their own lives.
They advised Zhang Hu to retreat to Wancheng because the generals in the army did not believe that Zhang Hu could defend Deng County. But now that Zhang Liao has been re-elected and has regained control of the defense of Deng County, who among the generals in the army still thinks that General Zhang can defend Deng County? Don’t live in a small Deng County? !
Therefore, the generals in the army stood solemnly and obeyed Zhang Liao's defensive arrangements.
And Zhang Liao was not vague, let alone delayed, and he couldn't afford to delay.
After just sitting for a while, my body felt weaker and weaker, and my mind began to become more and more confused. I must finish arranging the defense of Deng County while my mind is still clear, so that the defense battle in the next few days can last longer. Some.
Zhang Liao really held on to his body and kept issuing military orders, assigning four guard generals, arranging materials to defend the city, and sending people out to take charge of the defense of the camps on the flanks of Deng County as a response. After a series of arrangements were completed , Zhang Liao finally couldn't hold it any longer.
After issuing the last military order and seeing off the last lieutenant general, Zhang Liao couldn't hold on any longer and leaned back, falling straight down.
Thanks to Zhang Hu's constant attention to his father's condition and his timely response, he helped Zhang Liao before he fell to the ground.
"Father, Father"
Zhang Hu was so anxious that he shouted out.
Zhang Liao was also very anxious. If he hadn't really run out of energy, he would have given Zhang Hu a slap in the face.
"Why are you shouting? Do you want the generals to see me in such an ugly state?!" Zhang Liao weakly said to Zhang Hu.
Damn it, I finally put on a show to boost the morale of the army. If you shout and call those generals back, your show will be in vain.
They are really both sons, so why is there such a big gap? !
(End of chapter)
