The pale electric light is fading from people's sight.
Zhang Bao, whose mouth was filled with black smoke, closed his mouth and swallowed the black smoke back into his stomach with a "burp" sound. He looked at the Wei army's line in front of him, who was crying and howling, and turned his head to look at his brother.
"Brother... they don't seem to be cultivators."
"It's a pity... Brother, I thought I could meet a practitioner of this world and realize the Tao with me, but I didn't expect that I would still be a mortal." Zhang Jiao closed his eyes, feeling lonely, and slowly turned around and walked back. "Take those three people away and let them lead us to the mountains to find the dragon's veins."
He looked towards the lush and majestic mountains.
"I want to cut off the Zhaowei dragon vein!"
In the words, there was a tone that once ruined the big man. From far and near, the Yellow Turban believers rushed towards the groaning Wei soldiers and horses. It would not be long before such a prisoner would become a member of the Taiping Road, or become a rebel soldier and disrupt Ganzhou. Got to be pulpy.
But right now, this place is just a corner of the chaos in the entire Wei Kingdom.
As the three troops of Yan State passed through the state and counties, marching straight forward, their swords pointed at Luyang, the capital of Wei State, which meant that the entire war had broken out in an all-round way.
The entire country, from the emperor down to the common people, focused all their attention on the incoming Yan army.
On June 11, the annexation of Qingye ordered by the imperial court has been implemented in Yangzhou, Ganzhou, Guangjizhou, and Fengzhou in Gyeonggi Province. This strategy is extremely inhumane to the people, forcing villages that are not affected by the war to be evicted by the government. The food in the fields will be burned, and the weeds in the woods will be uprooted.
The culture of the Central Plains was flourishing and there were many Confucian scholars. In response to the imperial court's behavior, many scholars took to the streets to criticize the inhumane actions. Most of the arguments were, "Winning the enemy country is a matter for the imperial court and the army. Don't affect the people!" "The war is not yet full-scale." If the fighting starts, most of the Wei people will die first, so why fight?!" "Since we are hiding in Luyang, we are afraid of the other party, so we might as well leave a way for the people to survive!"
The ferocious and tiger-like emperor of the Wei Kingdom was not a good-tempered king. On the third day after his remarks appeared, he began to arrest people and put them in the government prison. Those who made even more serious remarks were dragged directly to Caishikou to announce their charges and beheaded. Lower your head.
However, the emperor's fierce punishment aroused the opposition of more Confucian scholars and bachelors. They gathered on their knees outside the government offices and imperial city gates, hoping that the emperor would give up the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, and release the students in prison.
Even in the court, some officials submitted memorials to intercede for those Confucian scholars.
This provoked Zhao Chuanting to once again fail in cultivating his energy in the Jinluan Palace, and he cursed loudly: "Why don't a group of people who only know how to bark dogs get their weapons and go out of the city to kill the enemy!"
People who have not yet realized that the war is enveloped have no intuitive concept of what a hundred thousand people are like. They only think that the Yan army that went south this time is only about one hundred thousand. How can it cross the state and county to fight here? Why are you looking at me all the way?
The total number of soldiers and horses in the various states of the imperial court is more than 200,000, and there are also 100,000 soldiers and horses stationed in the capital. Why should the people be evacuated while playing conservatively?
However, the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country did cause a lot of trouble for the Yan army, which advanced in three directions. The supply line was stretched, and it was difficult to find food. Most of the villages encountered on the way were destroyed by fire. The food and vegetables in the fields were either picked or rotten. Geography.
But for the veteran generals on the battlefield, it was just a little trouble. After receiving the order from the King of Xia, the three soldiers and horses drove Wei's troops to the vanguard and marched quickly, much faster than the Wei court expected.
In Luyang City, the capital of the Wei State, the emperor was under pressure and released more than a hundred Confucian scholars who were imprisoned. , still celebrating this victory against the imperial court in restaurants, brothels, and teahouses.
On June 17, Xia Houyuan and Zhang He's troops marched in a hurry, exceeding the Wei court's expectations and reaching the border of Yangzhou three days earlier. Due to the previous obstruction by Yangzhou gentry and scholars, many villages and towns did not make it. After evacuating, the Qingzhou soldiers who entered Yangzhou territory, under the instruction of Xia Houyuan, showed their cruel side, destroying villages and seizing towns, and there were scenes of burning and killing everywhere.
The common people and powerful people who dared to resist were directly hacked to death by the swarming soldiers, and even their families were wiped out.
In three days, the beacon fire spread out for dozens of miles like a plague. Villages and towns of all sizes were looted. The Confucian scholars who were still celebrating and congratulating their friends suddenly stopped talking. The war was like a summer cloud. It made everyone feel trembling. After that, a large number of people poured into the nearby city with their families.
On June 19, the defense line deployed to the east of Yangzhou was defeated by Guan Yu and Zhang Liao. Zhang Fei and Lu Bu took the lead in tearing open the gap and marching straight in.
The hinterland of the Central Plains, which has not seen war for more than a hundred years, has enjoyed peace for too long. When the war came, the people were not only frightened and panicked, but also ran away frantically. Moreover, the army of Yan State came too fast. Yangzhou There were still many villages and fields that had not been evacuated and fell directly into the hands of the Yan army.
The news reached the Luyang Palace, and Zhao Chuanting smashed his beloved porcelain vase, "A bunch of bitter scholars are harming the country!"
That night, Zhao Chuanting was so angry that he almost fell ill.
At this time, the Youyan Army led by Zhao Yun and the Xiliang Army led by Dong Zhuo in the middle also came from Guangjizhou in the north. This rapid interlude of directly giving up the gains and losses of the city took only one month to go from crossing the Hun River to The border of Yangzhou was more than 1,400 miles away. At this time, it was only 500 miles away from Luyang, the capital of Wei State.
On June 23, the three armies met on the outskirts of a small county called Guangfu. Five armies and horses totaled more than 100,000 people. The county magistrate and county lieutenant of the city watched for a moment on the city wall and directly chose to surrender.
At the same time, Wei State's Luyang also made preparations to defend the city. Ganzhou, Fengzhou, and Guangji, which had been moving slowly, had 90,000 main troops encircling them. Sui and Qingzhou's 50,000 troops from the south also entered Ganzhou. At the boundary of the territory, while clearing out the Yellow Turban cultists, they advanced toward the southeast of Yangzhou.
After receiving the emperor's order, Zhao Guangshi of Huizhou led 10,000 Tiefeng Yijie troops, entered Yangzhou from the south, and coordinated to defend the city outside the city.
With the lobbying of the empress dowagers of Qi and Liang, the two countries combined 90,000 troops to enter Meizhou, which borders Wei State, from the northwest. After a twenty-day march, they arrived at the border of Yangzhou on June 25th. Wu and Yue had many grievances with Wei for hundreds of years, but at this time they were also persuaded by envoys. Each side sent 20,000 troops across the Huaijiang River and entered Sui and Qing prefectures. On the 27th, they entered Yangzhou.
There are 280,000 soldiers and horses on each side, plus Luyang's 100,000 troops, and the emperor's Xiong Ben army, the total is 400,000, known as one million. People inside and outside Luyang were delighted when they heard the huge number of troops gathered.
…
The atmosphere between the sky and the earth became ominous, and movements from all directions were gathering. In the wilderness outside Guangfu City, scouts carrying news were running around. The army commanders who received the information quickly forwarded it to them.
The war horses galloped and the atmosphere became solemn.
On the ancestral coffin, which was filled with green smoke, Su Chen was dressed in military uniform and sitting on the tiger chair with a golden sword, listening to the news reported by the waves of scouts who arrived.
There was no expression on his face, his eyes were dull, and he looked extremely quiet.
(End of chapter)
