Huangfu Song honestly explained the current military situation to Zhang Wen and told Zhang Wen the current situation of the two armies. Liu Bei also listened.
The current situation is that Huangfu Song wants to expel the rebels in the direction of Liangzhou, but the rebels are very tenacious. Huangfu Song has attacked many times, with each other winning and losing, but he has never been able to achieve his goal. The two sides once fell into a tug-of-war, starting from Qian County. As far as Meiyang County, it is a war zone for both sides.
Huangfusong once pushed the battle line to Yumi County. However, the rebels came with reinforcements. Huangfusong was caught off guard and failed. He could only shrink the defense line. In addition, the court changed commanders later. Huangfusong lost the will to fight and reluctantly moved the battle line. Controlled on the front line of Meiyang.
Most of the cities in other areas were still in the hands of Eastern Han officials. The rebels failed to capture the cities, but the battle line was indeed pushed to the vicinity of Meiyang. The cities in most areas could only protect themselves and were unable to support the army.
The rebels currently near Meiyang are Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou. There are also Bian Zhang and Han Sui in the rear. They may come to Meiyang for support at any time. The number of their troops and horses may not be lower than the number of Han troops. Both sides are evenly matched and very difficult to deal with.
"Where did the rebels get so many troops? Did all the Qiang people join the rebels?"
After Zhang Wen learned about the current situation, his expression was very bad and he felt that the situation was very difficult.
Huangfu Song didn't care anyway, he didn't feel nervous at all, and even thought about it carefully, he felt a bit gloating.
"There are definitely a lot of Qiang people who have joined the rebellion. The Qiang people were originally dissatisfied with the imperial court, but there are also many locals from Liangzhou who have joined the rebellion. Presumably they are also quite dissatisfied with the imperial court. This battle is really not easy to fight. General Zhang is cautious. ah."
Zhang Wen could only nodded heavily and said nothing more.
Huangfu Song quickly left with his own troops.
After this wave of return, Huangfusong is expected to be idle for a while. There will be no big problems, but small ones.
Revenge against him was not a matter of time. Liu Bei did not continue to pay attention to Huangfu Song. He focused on the current war situation.
At the end of August in the second year of Zhongping, Zhang Wen sent troops for the first time to attack. The goal was to push the battle line back to the Yongxian area, drive the rebels out of the Guanzhong Plain, and enter the upper reaches of the Qianshui River valley in an effort to seize this area.
Zhang Wen's strategic plan this time was not unambitious, but Liu Bei felt that it would be difficult for him to achieve his goals, and from the beginning, the Han army was not monolithic.
Zhang Wen was a member of the eunuch group. Dong Zhuo didn't know if he was proud of his status as a former official of the Yuan family, so he expressed disdain for Zhang Wen of the eunuch group. When Zhang Wen convened a military meeting, Dong Zhuo came late and asked Verbally offensive to Zhang Wenduo.
Zhang Wen was very angry and rebuked Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo was not afraid and relied on Yuan Wei as his backing to ridicule Zhang Wen. The scene was ugly for a time.
In the end, Liu Bei couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to smooth things over.
"All the kings are the pillars of the country, and they are all people who serve the country. Now a powerful enemy is right in front of us, but all the kings want to fight among themselves. Since ancient times, I have not seen an army that can defeat the enemy while fighting among themselves. The so-called superiors and subordinates share the same desire. The winner is the winner. Now, we all have only one goal, which is to defeat the rebels and become generals, isn’t it?”
With Liu Bei's social status, political status and huge reputation, it is most appropriate for him to stand up and smooth things over.
It was not until this moment that Zhang Wen discovered that Liu Bei's significance in this army was not as redundant as he first thought.
At least Dong Zhuo was willing to give Liu Bei face.
When Liu Bei stood up and spoke, Dong Zhuo restrained his temper and did not continue to cynicize Zhang Wen.
Obviously, Liu Bei played a role in bridging the conflicts between the two parties.
Zhang Wen's character is not very strong, and Dong Zhuo's character is rough and strong. Without Liu Bei to step up and smooth things over, it would be difficult for the two of them to get along.
Fortunately, the situation was under control and Zhang Wen was able to issue orders as the commander-in-chief and make a series of arrangements for Dong Zhuo, Zhou Shen and his own army.
When it was Liu Bei's turn, Zhang Wen hoped that Liu Bei would lead his own army as the central army and stay with him, essentially acting as a guard to protect Zhang Wen and not go to the battlefield to charge unless necessary.
Liu Bei knew what Zhang Wen was thinking, and he was just worried about his own safety, but Liu Bei didn't like this. He needed military exploits, and obtaining military exploits could not be achieved by just staying by the coach's side.
So Liu Bei asked Zhang Wen to include his headquarters in the battle order. The reason was also very good, because he had taken the lead in the battle in Hebei and achieved several practical military exploits. He was not a simple Confucian scholar, he was also a warrior general. .
Zhang Wen was still worried.
"Xuande, isn't it equally important to protect the commander among the army? If you really have the intention to make achievements, it's the same."
Liu Bei was silent for a while, then took off his shirt in front of Zhang Wen, revealing his muscular upper body.
This was beyond Zhang Wen's expectation.
Zhang Wen originally thought that Liu Bei, as one of the leaders of the Ancient Literature School, should be at the level of a rich man. It is normal to be pampered and pampered. He should be very wealthy, but this is not the case.
Liu Bei's upper body was very strong, stronger than many strong officers and soldiers he had seen. His strong body seemed to contain endless power.
What's more important is that Liu Bei's upper body has many scars, including sword scars and scars left by arrows. This shows that Liu Bei has personally committed dangerous battles and been injured many times.
"Xuande, this...these are..."
"General, every scar is the result of risking one's life."
Liu Bei stroked the many scars on his body and said softly: "Every time I got a scar, I remember how it was obtained. Every time I was injured, I remembered why. Every time I was injured, it was very painful and dangerous. Maybe Bei was also afraid that he would die, but when the time came, he still rushed to the front."
"Why so?"
Zhang Wen was quite puzzled and said in surprise: "With your talent, you don't need to be like this. Xuande, how talented are you? Why do you need to do this to yourself?"
"General, without these scars, there would be no Liu Xuande standing in front of you today."
Liu Bei put on his shirt again and said slowly: "The Liu Xuande you see is Liu Xuande with scars all over his body. You will never see Liu Xuande without scars, because he is not qualified to stand in front of you. Talk and laugh with you.
Because of the scars on his body, Bei was able to escape his humble life. Because of the scars on his body, Bei was able to win the favor of his teacher. Because of the scars on his body, he became the god of debate in Luoyang City. Without these scars, Bei would be nothing more. Just ants. "
Zhang Wen opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.
But when the words came, he still didn't say them.
He remembered that Liu Bei's background was very humble.
Zhang Wen's own background is also not high, but it is relatively low, but his family is very rich and he is a local tycoon. Behind closed doors in the local area, he is a local bully, and he has not suffered much since he was a child.
But Liu Bei doesn't seem to be like this.
He couldn't fully imagine the days when Liu Bei was weaving mats and selling shoes. He didn't know what it meant to be a miserable life, but Liu Bei, who was covered in scars, didn't have any emotional ups and downs, but it still shocked him.
He seemed to be able to understand why Liu Bei became the Liu Bei he is today.
He lowered his head and pondered for a long time, then raised his head and looked at Liu Bei.
"Xuande, I don't know how far your achievements will go. I can't speculate on your achievements. But when you achieve great things, I hope you will not forget today and me."
Liu Bei put on his clothes again and looked at Zhang Wen.
"If the general can help me, he will be an important person for me to achieve my great cause. Starting from humble beginnings, the most despised thing is ingratitude!"
"That way, I feel relieved."
Zhang Wen seemed to have settled a matter on his mind. He showed a knowing smile and patted Liu Bei on the shoulder: "In that case, I will focus on using you and your subordinates. Xuande, the battlefield is dangerous, so be careful. If something doesn’t work out, don’t force it.”
"Thank you, General."
Liu Bei saluted Zhang Wen.
(End of chapter)
