Zhang Liao's life can be said to be a life of ups and downs and magnificent events.
Zhang Liao, courtesy name Wenyuan, was born in Mayi, Yanmen, and his surname was Nie. He was a descendant of Nie Yi, the planner of the siege of Mayi during the period of Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty.
Everyone knows the outcome of the siege of Mayi. The Han fell short in the end and failed to successfully ambush the Huns. As the planner, Nie Yi not only offended the Huns but also failed to make any meritorious deeds on the side of the Han. In There is a high probability that Yanmen will not be able to survive.
Probably for this reason, after Nie Yi, or even from Nie Yi himself, he changed his surname to Zhang to avoid disaster.
If Zhang Liao had not emerged three hundred years later at the end of the Han Dynasty and established such a great reputation, I am afraid that the lineage of Yanmen Nie Yi would not be mentioned again and would be submerged in the dust of history.
Zhang Liao was a county official. He was valued by Ding Yuan for his bravery and was called to work. Later, he was assigned by General He Jin to recruit troops in Hebei. When Zhang Liao returned from recruiting troops, He Jin had been killed by Shi Changshi, and even Dong Zhuo had entered He went to Luoyang and took control of the government.
Under this situation, Zhang Liao had to obey Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo failed, Zhang Liao followed Lu Bu.
It wasn't until Cao Cao defeated Lu Bu that Zhang Liao surrendered to Cao Cao again. This was the beginning of Zhang Liao's successful life.
Falling down Changyin, destroying two yuan, white wolf kills Tadun.
Dingchangshe, fighting in Jiangdong, Hefei broke through 100,000.
Decades of battles and countless military exploits have made Zhang Liao famous, and also brought Zhang Liao the status of former general and duxiang lord.
By the way, at this time, even the generals of the Four Expeditions in the Wei Dynasty were still classified as miscellaneous generals, and their status was below the generals of the four directions. Zhang Liao was promoted from the general of the East Expedition to the former general.
By the way, Zhang Liao was originally not a former general, but the former general Yu Jin is now drinking tea and retiring in Chengdu. Based on his military exploits, even Zhang He is a general of the left, so Zhang Liao is not a former general. It's really hard to explain.
By the way, the last former general Yu Jin was captured by Guan Yu during the Battle of Xiangfan. Now Zhang Liao, the former general, is facing Guan Yu again and is forced into a desperate situation by Guan Yu's troops.
This time and space, really, is quite magical to be disturbed by a certain time traveling dog.
Of course, today's Zhang Liao doesn't have so many boring thoughts.
More than 80,000 Shu thieves besieged Deng County, and Zhang Liao only had more than 20,000 men at hand. Even if he continued to hold on, it would only delay for a few days, and he would not be able to wait for Cao Pi's reinforcements.
What's more, Zhang Liao actually knew very well that Cao Pi had no ready reinforcements at his disposal.
As long as Cao Pi had reinforcements on hand, he wouldn't have to defeat Guan Yu as soon as possible and divert to support Chang'an, so he wouldn't have to risk a one-on-one battle with Guan Yu to win.
Zhang Liao knew very well that even if Cao Pi could send reinforcements, they would only be a few thousand people, which would not be of much help to the current situation in Deng County, and there would be no time at all.
Therefore, Zhang Liao needed to buy time and give Cao Pi enough reaction time to raise troops, select generals, and come to support Wancheng. Deng County is a place that delays time and cannot be defended at all.
The real decisive battle location is still in Wancheng.
This has always been Zhang Liao's ultimate strategic goal. He has never thought about defending Deng County. He only needs to delay Deng County for enough time.
To delay time, it is impossible to rely on the more than 23,000 soldiers currently on hand. But it can be done with a small number of soldiers and horses to trap the isolated city.
This is a rather strange phenomenon. If you have more troops, you can't defend it, but if you have fewer troops, you can delay it for a while. It's a very strange conclusion.
But in reality, this is very realistic.
After all, the troops led by Zhang Liao were not as elite as the Wei Dynasty's imperial army. They had just experienced a major defeat. They had many people talking and their morale was fluctuating. They wanted to completely gather the morale of the troops and defend the entire defensive battlefield including Deng County. It is bound to be beyond your capabilities.
As long as one part of this line of defense is breached by Shu thieves, it will inevitably cause a chain reaction, making the soldiers fearful of fighting and scramble for their lives after their morale collapses.
On the contrary, if Zhang Liao abandons the defensive battlefield around Deng County, only leads thousands of troops to defend the isolated city of Deng County, and withdraws the other demoralized soldiers to Wancheng, he can hold on to Deng County to delay time while also retaining enough for the decisive battle in Wancheng. of soldiers.
But there is a disadvantage in doing so - Deng County is destined to be lost, and the generals who stay in Deng County at this time are destined to be trapped in despair.
Those who are not generals are not qualified to defend Deng County.
But now, apart from Zhang Liao, there is no other person who can hold on to Deng County for a while under the siege of Shu thieves.
And Zhang Liao. In this situation, does Zhang Liao have any choice? !
Anyway, I only have half my life left, so there is nothing to regret about leaving it in Deng County. On the contrary, if I can rely on my half life to buy Wei ten days and a half of breathing time, so that the emperor can After mobilizing troops to support Wancheng, guarding the Central Plains portal, and adding his last memorial, the future of the Zhang family was completely stable.
Therefore, after Zhang Liao wrote the final memorial to Cao Pi, he immediately summoned the generals for a meeting.
This time, Zhang Liao frankly confessed his injury to the generals and also made it clear the current situation.
"The victory or defeat of this battle is not in Deng County, but in Wancheng! After the generals return to camp tonight, they will organize their troops and horses. Early tomorrow morning, Hu'er will lead the generals to withdraw to Wancheng. I will keep three thousand personal guards for myself. All the generals will be cut off."
As soon as Zhang Liao finished speaking, the generals were still in shock, but Zhang Hu had already taken the lead and knelt down.
"How can father make such a decision?!" Zhang Hu said anxiously to his father, "Father is the hope of the entire army. Even if we want to withdraw to Wancheng, it is my father's turn to lead the troops and withdraw first, leaving the children behind."
"You can't hold it!"
Zhang Liao interrupted Zhang Hu's speech in a deep voice before Zhang Hu finished speaking.
Zhang Hu was speechless after hearing this. Even if Zhang Hu wanted to argue, he couldn't argue with his father's denial.
Zhang Liao didn't care about Zhang Hu's reaction, skipped him directly, looked at the generals in the army, and said, "Most of the generals have been following me for several years. I am incompetent and have not been able to bring much benefit to you generals. We will withdraw our troops this time." , I hope that all the generals will take care of my three sons because of my poor appearance in the past. I have already reported to the emperor that after the army returns to Wancheng, there will be wise men from the court who will come to Wancheng to lead the army in battle. There is no need for the generals to panic. , just do as you are told.”
As soon as the generals in the army heard Zhang Liao's words, they all knelt down on one knee one by one, as if they were explaining the aftermath, and wanted to say something.
But Zhang Liao waved his hand slightly and said calmly, "I have made up my mind. Generals, there is no need to say more, just follow the military orders."
When the generals heard this, they were immediately speechless. The military orders were brought out. What else could they say.
They can only go back to camp and prepare for withdrawal.
As soon as the generals left, Zhang Hu knelt down in front of Zhang Liao again and said pleadingly, "Father must not cut off the army personally. Father is the general who leads the army. He has the hope of the whole army. How can there be thousands of generals holding on to the isolated city?" It’s true that I’m not talented at taking care of children, but I’m willing to stay here for my father. I hope my father will think twice.”
Zhang Hu was really anxious and kept begging and kowtowing to Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao wanted to stop Zhang Hu, but he really didn't have the energy. Being able to hold on to this military discussion had already consumed Zhang Liao's few energy.
Therefore, Zhang Liao could only wave to Zhang Hu slowly, let Zhang Hu come to him, and slap him in the face.
Well, it feels much more comfortable now.
"Son, what can you do to dare to marry me off for me?!"
After the battle, Zhang Liao scolded Zhang Hu and said, "With your ability, you can lead thousands of soldiers to stay behind. It will be a miracle that Deng County can defend for three days. At that time, the Shu thieves were chasing our defeated army for days. Is there any chance for us to withdraw to Wancheng?!"
Zhang Hu was stunned, covering the left side of his face and looking at Zhang Liao stupidly.
Zhang Liao looked at Zhang Hu's virtue and sighed inwardly, finally relenting.
After organizing his words for a while, Zhang Liao said to Zhang Hu, "Hu son, it is not because of my father that I want to belittle you. In the several days of battle, you have also witnessed Guan Yu's several sons, all of whom are tigers and wolves. There are countless capable men in the Shu bandit army." , if you want to stick to Deng County, delay time, and abandon me, who can take this position?!"
Hearing this, Zhang Hu raised his head slightly and wanted to say something else.
Zhang Liao did not let Zhang Hu say what he said, but continued to talk to himself, "I am over fifty years old and half dead. Even if I lead the army to retreat to Wancheng, I cannot command the army to fight. So, it is better to Even if you insist on holding on here for a few days and die in battle, the emperor will not treat you lightly in the future because of my military exploits."
After Zhang Liao said this, Zhang Hu had already bowed his head and remained silent.
His father even said the words "die here". Zhang Hu knew that no matter what he said at this time, he could not change his father's decision.
But Zhang Liao's words were not finished yet.
"Hu'er, I know that you have been strong since you were a child. You have been diligent in martial arts and military strategy. You don't want to lose your reputation as a father. It's a pity that your talents are limited. You are a good general, but you have no leadership plan. With this ability of my body, They all learned from actual combat. They are not as good as those scribes and scholars, and they really can't teach you much. You three brothers, and your talents are the best among them. If you are like this, everyone can ask for nothing."
"From now on, you are the head of the Zhang family. In the future, you must be cautious and low-key in your actions. You must not rely on the name of your father. Do not do anything illegal and do not imitate Zhao Kuo. You must know that a general is incompetent. , the whole army is exhausted, I don’t want you to become a laughing stock in the future.”
"After you lead the army back to Wancheng, you can write to the emperor and request to return to Luoyang or Yecheng. There is no need to worry about returning to your hometown as soon as possible. I also made it clear to the emperor in my memorial, and the emperor will not blame him."
"After returning home, you three brothers should serve your mother and treat your relatives well. I will protect you with my military exploits. The emperor will show mercy and will not let you lose your wealth and honor."
This is already what Zhang Liao explained in the Eight Classics of Zhenger.
(End of chapter)
