"Gongming, what should I do?" Zhu Ling looked worried.
"Zhang Fei is actually in Chang'an. It seems that the news in Bingzhou may not be true." Xu Huang's head was buzzing and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while.
Zhu Ling said to himself: "There are actually problems with Liang Prefect's memorials. I heard there were many rumors in Luoyang a while ago."
"Wenbo (Zhu Ling), don't think wildly. Your Majesty can recognize the handwriting of Governor Liang, as can Chen Lingjun (Chen Qun) and other officials. It is unlikely that the memorial was tampered with. I just don't know why General Zhang falsely spread the news." Xu Huang frowned. Lock tight.
"Zhang Fei is said to be an enemy of ten thousand people, but his martial arts skills are not inferior to General Guan's. Now the enemy and our troops are equal, what should we do?" Zhu Ling looked grim.
"Wenbo can go to the rear army to command. When I come forward to explore Zhang Fei's strength, if it doesn't work, we will retreat to Tongguan. We can't pose a threat to Chang'an now. The most important thing is to bring the troops back." Xu Huang said seriously.
Zhu Ling nodded in agreement, "It's appropriate. Gongming, remember not to show off."
"I can spare it." Xu Huang is always on the front line and is well aware of Zhang Fei's pressure. He would risk his life not to offend him.
Liu Feng restrained Xu Huang during the battle for Nanxiang. He had the ability to kill Wang Zhong but did not dare to challenge Xu Huang. After joining forces with Zhang Fei, he followed him obediently.
The two armies arrived and formed their positions.
Xu Huang took the lead and shouted with a big ax: "Zhang Fei is a traitor, why are you blocking my way?"
"Nonsense, this is the territory of the Han Dynasty. My eldest brother is the emperor of the Han Dynasty. I can go wherever I want. You old guy still dare to come?" Zhang Fei was not polite at all.
Xu Huang wondered how much hatred he had with Zhang Fei, why did he seem to hate himself more? He ignored so much, but sneered and retorted: "Haha, where did the Emperor of Han come from? Your lord Liu Bei overrode the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Liu Xie has ceded the throne to me, the Emperor of Wei. Now there is only Wei and no Han in the world. You are such a black man. You are the same age as me and have more patchy hair and beard than me, so you have the nerve to laugh at me for being old?"
"Xu Huang, why do you deceive yourself? You were originally a Han minister, but you surrendered to Cao Cao's thieves. Now you naturally call yourself a Wei minister. Doesn't your conscience hurt? Then Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty and called him Wei. What's different about Yuan Shu? My eldest brother is originally a clan member of the Han Dynasty. He was enthroned as king according to the imperial edict and inherited the decree of heaven. This is the orthodox path of the Han Dynasty. It's not too late for you to surrender now, otherwise I will settle old scores with you." Zhang Fei said. The eight-foot-long snake spear was placed across his chest, and his ferocious look made Wei Bing tremble.
"This is unreasonable. How could Mr. Shanyang pass the imperial edict to Liu Bei in Hanoi? The imperial edict must be a forgery." Xu Huang refuted loudly at first, and then asked Zhang Fei: "Xu and you are national enemies and have no personal grudges. You What old score do you want to settle with this general?"
Zhang Fei's eyes widened and he shouted sternly: "A few years ago in the Battle of Fancheng, you and Cao Ren used tricks to kill my second brother. If my nephew hadn't stepped up to save him, you guys might have succeeded and plotted against my second brother. It’s just a personal vendetta.”
"Ah, does this count?" Xu Huangxin said that it was Cao Ren's plan, but at this time he couldn't argue with Zhang Fei.
"Why not? If you are willing to surrender, let bygones be bygones." Zhang Fei said playfully, stroking his beard.
When Xu Huang and Zhang Fei were quarreling, Zhu Ling was already preparing to retreat and sent someone to convey the message by shouting. Xu Huang had no intention of getting involved with Zhang Fei after receiving the message.
"Zhang Fei, it's useless to talk any more. I'm going to sell you face today and lead the army back to Tongguan. If you have the guts, come and pursue it." After Xu Huang said this, he waved his hand and the Wei soldiers moved from the front to the back. With great caution withdraw to the east.
"Uncle, why don't you chase him?" Liu Feng asked anxiously when he saw Zhang Fei didn't move.
Zhang Fei frowned, "Xu Huang has always been calm with his troops. He retreated in front of us. If we can't protect him, there are some dirty tricks waiting for us. I am no longer what I used to be. How can I be easily fooled?"
"Well, there is no cover on the plain. Even if there is an ambush, you can still find it, right?" Liu Feng asked back.
"Hmph, Wang Zhong thought so too." Zhang Fei glanced back with disdain. Liu Feng felt as if he had swallowed a dead fly, so he lowered his head and said nothing more.
"General, what should we do?" Wu Er asked, cupping his fists.
Zhang Feixu replied with eyes: "Keep your distance and follow slowly. I want to see what Xu Huang is doing."
"only."
Xu Huang's neat and orderly convoy made Zhang Fei dare not pursue easily. In fact, Xu Huang was also playing tricks. The outcome of the battle with the same force was unpredictable, but the plan to raid Chang'an failed, and he felt there was no need to fight Zhang Fei.
When the Wei army passed Huayin and entered Tongguan, Zhang Fei realized that he had been tricked by Xu Huang.
Enraged, Zhang Fei commanded the front army to attack Xu Huang's soldiers in an attempt to seize Tongguan by fishing in troubled waters. However, Xu Huang was not an idle person after all, and he commanded the soldiers to successfully withstand the Han army.
The Han and Wei sides had a small-scale fight at Tongguan, and the battle ended at the cost of thousands of casualties each.
The Wei soldiers retreated into Tongguan and could not get out. No matter how hard Zhang Fei tried to fight, they did not respond. Zhang Fei saw that fishing in troubled waters was not successful, so he led his troops back to Huayin to continue garrisoning.
When Xu Huang returned to Tongguan, he did not immediately evacuate to Luoyang. Instead, he wrote a letter to Cao Xiu about the situation on the front line to make a decision.
A few days later, Cao Xiu submitted the battle report to Wei Emperor Cao Pi. Cao Pi originally thought that Xu Huang had asked him to send troops to attack Chang'an, but the real situation turned out to be so cruel.
After reading the battle report, Cao Pi was furious in court. He spent money and food on dispatching troops, but in vain. Cao Pi banged the table and threw wine glasses, but he just didn't kill anyone. He attributed the failure to Zhang He's misinformation and ordered Zhang He to go to Luoyang in person. Explain that if he is seriously ill and cannot get out of bed, he will be asked to send a carriage back to Luoyang. If there is no carriage, he will be taken back to Luoyang.
Wei could not win on the battlefield, and repeated mistakes in intelligence work quietly changed the confidence of Wei officials and gentry. Many people thought that Liu Bei was really destined, and sooner or later Wei would be destroyed like Soochow, with such vicious eyes. Jia Xu had planned his escape route in advance before he died, and those who were slightly worse were already preparing secretly.
Originally, Xu Shu just sent people to spread rumors, but now someone in the Wei Kingdom actually had some thoughts, and the first group of people to take action were the nobles whose families were serving as officials in the court.
The so-called prophets of spring river water warm ducks, the Central Plains nobles are all over the Wei court. Those officials in non-core positions are thinking about changes for the future of their families, and a political turmoil is secretly brewing.
In mid-April, before Zhang He returned to Luoyang, an urgent report from Huainan arrived first from Jiang Ji.
Gan Ning, the general of Han Zhendong, sent his troops out of Ruxu and attacked and captured Xiang'an and Linhu counties in half a month, threatening Shu County, the seat of Lujiang.
The Huainan Wei army's understanding of the soldiers and generals in Ruxu was still in the era of Sun Quan's Xiaoyaojin defeat. They believed that the soldiers coming out of Ruxuwu were only powerful in water battles, but vulnerable to fighting ashore. Jiang Ji sent Zhonglang General Chang Diao to rescue Lin. Hu, was killed by Gan Ning's formation during the battle.
Huainan, which had been peaceful for a year, was suddenly broken by Gan Ning.
(End of chapter)
