In less than half an hour, the winners and losers were almost determined in the small divided battlefield. The soldiers and horses gathered towards Liu Xun. After killing the guards beside him, Dian Wei Yifu stepped in front of him and kicked him. After kicking him, he put his right halberd on Liu Xun's neck.
At this point, the fighting could only stop. There were still about 10,000 Liu Xun soldiers who were blocked outside, but the terrain was so narrow that they couldn't get in. They couldn't fight, and they couldn't retreat. They could only hold on to a stalemate.
Zhang Hanyue came out of the crowd and stood in front of Liu Xun. There was no trace of injury on his body. He changed into a pair of silver armor and looked even more heroic.
"Prefect Liu, I'm offended."
"Zhang Bochang is well-deserved," Liu Xun sighed in astonishment, "From the beginning of the patrol, he was setting a trap for me, just to lure my soldiers and horses from Shucheng."
"However, you have too few soldiers and horses. You can set up an ambush in the wild. It is absolutely impossible to capture Shu City."
"Hmph," Zhang Han curled his lips, "I know it's impossible. I've been walking on thin ice in my life and won't take risks. I don't want to fight Shu Cheng."
"With your achievements, it is completely enough. Shucheng blocked our march into Hefei, but my lord did not demand that Hefei must be captured."
Zhang Han said with a smile, his expression looked quite relaxed.
Liu Xun didn't know how to respond for a moment. The main reason was that Zhang Han's words meant that he was no longer of any use to him, so why should he survive?
Isn't it also meritorious to kill directly on the battlefield?
Therefore, Zhang Han actually still wanted to capture Shucheng.
"Zhang Bochang, I have heard for a long time that you are both civil and military, and now it seems that your eloquence is not bad." Liu Xun smiled and said: "Qian Ding still wants Shucheng, so he spared my life and wanted me to persuade the brothers stationed in Shucheng to surrender. .”
"In this case, a corresponding price should be offered."
Zhang Han and Cao Ang looked at each other, and the latter cupped his hands and said: "Uncle Shi, I have heard my father talk about you. I had a friendship with my uncle in Luo, Yan, and Yujun. You and I, the Cao family, can be considered Old friend, my brother spared your life not entirely for the sake of Shu Cheng."
"Shucheng is indeed very important, but we don't have to do it," Cao Ang smiled and handed over his hands, and someone immediately introduced him: "This is the eldest son of the Cao family, Cao Ang."
"Eldest Young Master?!"
Liu Xunli stood up, his eyes a little surprised. He had never seen Cao Ang, but what Cao Ang said just now was indeed good.
In the early years, Liu Xun and Cao Cao had some friendship. Although it was not called "mutual admiration", it was a one-sided admiration. Anyway, Liu Xun was able to get along with the Cao family.
"Yes, Uncle Shi already knew my father. If he can still make achievements in Shucheng and take the passage from Hefei for me, he can complete the military strategy of encircling Shouchun and leaving Yuan Shu with nowhere to go."
Long before the war began, Cao Cao's "wine, sex, wealth" spent a year collecting various intelligence about Shouchun, Yangzhou, in advance, including more than 30 versions of maps, which were detailed to various trails.
Therefore, they clearly knew that once Yuan Shu became emperor, if he could not withstand the attacks of the princes in the early stage, he would still have a way out in order to avoid the military fronts of Yanzhou and Xuzhou.
With Shouchun Fort as a defense, he led his troops to retreat south to Huainan, relying on the natural moat of Hefei to defend the waterway. Only a small number of troops can defend the south, and the Lujiang River and Huainan are horns with each other, so they can hold on to a large territory. .
It's not that Zhang Han and the others thought of Yuan Shu's strategy before the enemy came up with it, but that he only had this one way, and no other way was considered a retreat.
Then, before capturing Shouchun, if he can occupy Hefei in advance and then capture the entire Huainan, it will cut off his retreat and even plunder his food routes.
It was precisely because of the mention of the words "collect" and "rob" that Cao Cao directly asked Zhang Hanlai to take this path in the account, because he was too familiar with robbery, a master-level robbery method.
Ever since Cao Ang appeared, Liu Xun had been deep in thought, thinking about the way forward.
If only Zhang Han came to lobby, he would have to be on guard. After all, he didn't know Zhang Han's status. He only knew that this man had made many achievements and had a great reputation, but he also had a lot of bad reputation.
If Zhang Han really has a bright future and becomes a pillar of the country, Cao Cao will not allow him to have such a bad reputation in the world.
Zhang Han is still so young, how could he do these lustful and greedy things? This was secretly arranged by the nobles or the enemy party, but Cao sat back and ignored it and did not clear up the hidden trouble for Zhang Han, so his attitude was also Food for thought.
However, Cao Ang is naturally different here.
He is the eldest son, and Cao Cao's great achievements in the future will probably be in his hands. At this moment, Liu Xun nodded: "What the eldest son said is absolutely true."
Cao Ang continued: "Yuan Shu usurped the Han Dynasty and established himself as the most evil person in the world. In the past, the alliance of Baima, the great ancestor, is still passed down to the world. Anyone who is not the Liu family is the king, and the world will fight against it. Today, I hold the emperor's message and go to the southeast to fight against it. Ni, I can't bear to see the great man Zhongliang being dragged down by Yuan Shu, I hope you will consider it yourself."
"At this time, Shu City has been secured for us and returned to the Han Dynasty. In the future, we can return to our hometown with honor and live up to the glory of our ancestors. If we die on the battlefield, we should seal the coffin at that time. I am afraid that the reputation left in history will be very different from the original intention. If they are different, how should the children of your clan deal with themselves? Your brothers in the army will all be punished as rebels."
"The prefect has been defeated, but I still entrust the decision to the prefect's heart and let him make his own decision. Whether it is death or surrender, it is entirely up to the prefect himself."
"I surrender!"
Liu Xun had already made his decision when he was halfway through listening. He just didn't dare to interrupt Cao Ang's words and patiently let him finish. Then he immediately nodded and said, "Everyone left in Shu City is our loyal soldier." , as long as I bring my military talisman and sword, entrust it to the deputy general or join the army and send it to the city, they will naturally open the city gate and surrender."
"I hope the eldest master will treat me well."
Cao Ang breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and helped Liu Xun up, and personally untied him, then held his hands and said: "Uncle Shi, don't worry, brother Bochang is my brother-in-law, and he is also a member of the Cao family. This army Although he is leading it, he is the same as most of my Cao family’s soldiers, who are mainly benevolent and virtuous.”
"Yes," Zhang Han also stood next to Liu Xun, with a smile on his face. "My nephew is also from the Cao family. He has offended many people before."
"Alas, the young heroes, the waves behind the Yangtze River, Bochang and the eldest son, although young, are already outstanding figures. Their reputation for benevolence and virtue is broadcast throughout the country, which is admirable," Liu Xun said with sincere emotion.
Although he has no outstanding achievements or a huge reputation, he knows some military skills. Although he is arrogant when leading troops, when facing Zhang Han, he has repeatedly reminded himself not to be impulsive and to be calm, calm and cautious.
But he still fell into his trap just because of a thought.
The defeat was not unfair, but as Cao Ang said, the Cao family's troops have always been based on benevolence and righteousness. In the battle of Xuzhou, they raised their troops to harm their father, but they were able to do no harm to the people of Xuzhou, and even opened their warehouses. It is simply unbelievable to provide food and take care of the refugees.
Some people in Xuzhou even said that when King Wen was alive, Zhang Han led Cao Cao's troops, which was certainly a way of benevolence and righteousness.
"Thank you very much. You two are kind and righteous, so I can save my life. Shouchun said that the Zhong family cannot last long, and the right path is to return to the Han Dynasty."
"It's easy to say," Zhang Han and Liu Xun walked together and said: "Prefect, let your soldiers and horses put down their weapons first, bring the horses over, take off their armors, suffer some grievances first, wait until they arrive in Shucheng, and then register them. , to redistribute armaments.”
Zhang Han smiled kindly: "This is all for the sake of strict military discipline, uniform distribution of armaments, and easy management."
"Well, very good, very good."
Liu Xun had no doubts at all and allowed Zhang Han to order him. He immediately sent his trusted aides to the rear to inform the troops that they would all surrender to Han Zhengtong and no longer work for Yuan Shu's usurpation.
Soon, the long dragon-like army took off their armor and weapons, waiting for Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to lead their troops to collect them and reduce them to surrender.
At this time, Zhang Han took advantage of Cao Ang to accompany Liu Xun and the other soldiers were cleaning the battlefield. He pulled Dian Wei behind a tree and said softly: "Liu Xun's soldiers and horses are not elite, but they are also veterans." , there are also many treacherous people with a background of thieves and bandits among them.”
Dian Wei raised his hand to interrupt him, and said with a serious look: "Stop talking about these words and talk about the purpose directly. What do you want to do?"
Zhang Han blinked and looked at him for a long time, and then said: "Take all the horses in his army as his own, and then in the name of selecting elite soldiers, first screen out a group of old, weak and remnant soldiers and send them home."
Dian Wei leaned back a little, as if he wanted to be farther away so that he could see Zhang Han clearly, and said softly: "I knew you would say this. I had already sent Bo Xiao to do it before. Xiaofu and Wen Yuan brought the war horses After the weapons and weapons are inventoried, they will be occupied first."
"Why are you occupying them?!" Zhang Han stared, "Pull them all back, first get them into our hands!"
"Hey, okay!" Dian Wei quickly went forward.
When Liu Xun arrived at Shu City, he ordered his subordinates to join the army, take their sword seals and military symbols, go to the city to explain the situation, and asked Liu Xun to show up below the city. Soon, the generals on the city looked at each other, opened the city, surrendered, and welcomed Cao Jun. Enter the city.
As soon as they entered the city, Zhang Han immediately sent troops to remove the weapons of the originally defending soldiers, treating them as surrendered soldiers and gathering them in a specially designated camp. They only provided flour bread, wheat cakes and rice every day.
At the same time, he allowed his cronies to control the city's ordnance storehouses and occupy key roads to guard against mutiny. After Zhang Han selected them, he dismissed thousands of soldiers and selected 5,000 elites to join the camp and enrich them under Cao Ang's account.
Finally, he sent a letter to Cao Cao's flying cavalry to inform him of the battle report.
A few days later, I got a response.
"Your Majesty, Sikong's reply has arrived. He has sent 30,000 soldiers and horses to march at night to Shucheng. He also asks Your Majesty to stabilize Shucheng within these few days and prevent civil strife."
"Thirty thousand soldiers and horses?"
After Zhang Han heard this, he looked at Jia Xu in surprise and expressed doubts. At this time, where can we get 30,000 troops to divide the troops? Is there no pressure on the frontal battlefield?
However, it was not appropriate to discuss it face to face at this moment. He quickly turned around and smiled at Liu Xun with a beaming smile: "Prefect, can you hear me? The lord's army will arrive in Shucheng soon, and then your brothers will be able to lift the troops." Identity, then obtain armaments, go into battle and perform meritorious service."
Liu Xun drank water from the side and nodded with a sigh of relief. At this point, he had no choice but to accept it.
The main thing is that during this period, the situation of my brothers is slightly different from what Zhang Han and Cao Ang said before. However, in times of chaos, it is understandable to focus on stability.
So today he originally planned to talk to Zhang Han and ask him to fulfill his original promise of redistributing armaments.
A gentleman honors his promise. Although Zhang Han is good at using tactics, he should be quite generous. After all, a young and talented man should not be so thick-skinned.
"It's coming soon, Governor Liu, don't be in a hurry."
Zhang Han smiled lightly, but didn't mean what he said.
After Liu Xun left, Zhang Han called Jia Xu to come closer and asked carefully about the whereabouts of the 30,000 soldiers and horses. "My lord has arrived at Caifengtai. It is estimated that he will be in Shouchun soon. At this time, he should be fighting with Ji Ling's army." Fight."
"How can he find 30,000 troops?"
Jia Xu's eyes lit up and his lips moved a few times, as if there was something unspeakable, but finally he sighed and said: "Zhang Xiu, there are 30,000 elites in Runan, but they have never been dispatched. Now the king has opened up the Lujiang River. In this way, he can lead his army down the river, go straight to Shucheng, and then enter Hefei, where he can level the river."
"The soldiers of Xiu have been practicing day and night and their morale is high. They are even more energetic now and can achieve great achievements. I have estimated that if Huainan is in chaos, Yuan Shu will definitely be in trouble. Hefei can also be used to block Sun Ce. In this case, Sun Ce will definitely give up. Fight for Yangzhou and return to Jiangdong to defend it."
"This is an opportunity for great victory."
"Oh," Zhang Han suddenly realized, with an expression that seemed to be a smile but not a smile, but there was some seriousness in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "I went through all the trouble to win Shucheng, and then let Zhang Xiu step on it. Take Huainan on my shoulders, right?"
"Yes," Jia Xu handed down his hand and immediately changed his words: "Oh, no, no..."
"Well, I feel that Sikong is worried that the king is tired. This is more than four hundred miles of expedition. The soldiers are already exhausted. It's time to recuperate..."
"That's right," Zhang Han didn't think much about it. He just felt that Jia Xu seemed to be too happy, so he stared at him deeply for a few times.
Jia Xu could also feel Zhang Han's gaze, so he avoided it with a guilty conscience and read the letter on the desk.
…
Cao Ying at the foot of Fengtai Mountain.
Cao Cao stationed his troops thirty miles north of Shouchun and had almost completely demolished Yuan Ying's camp outside the city. It was time to take a short rest and celebrate his achievements.
Within the main tent of the army.
Cao Cao and Guo Jia had finished discussing the general situation and talked about Zhang Han's plan in Shucheng.
"Luring the enemy out of the city, thereby achieving meritorious service."
"Bo Chang is more cunning than before. This is how soldiers should be used. The true and false are unpredictable, so they can be unpredictable."
Hearing this, Guo Jia cupped his hands and smiled and said: "My lord has Zhang Xiu as a back-up, and he and Bo Chang attack alternately. It is easier to capture Huainan, but are you really not afraid of them fighting? If I remember correctly, when Zhang Xiu was in Wancheng But Bo Chang ransacked it and left nothing behind."
"Afraid," Cao Cao's expression changed and he became quite serious, "But this is a decision that has been carefully considered for a long time, and I have heard Zixiu say several times that Jia Xu seems to be afraid of Bo Chang, but in fact he is no longer shaken in his heart. "
"At this moment, I don't have enough troops, so I can only let Zhang Xiu go to help. Bochang still has nearly 10,000 elite soldiers under his command. He selected elites from Shu City and eliminated Liu Xun's threat. The situation is under control. I believe he will never Things will go wrong.”
When Cao Cao said this, he still lamented, "My son is also in Shucheng. If I did it intentionally, how could I put him in deep crisis?"
"As the saying goes, don't use people you doubt, and don't doubt people you employ. I believe in Zhang Xiu, and I also believe in Bo Chang."
"My letter to Bochang was also sincere. Moreover, I did not set any limits for him. He would naturally know how to treat Zhang Xiu. With Zhang Bochang's intelligence and temperament, and the many capable people under his command, I don't believe him. You will suffer a loss.”
Guo Jia was silent for a long time and nodded silently.
This last sentence makes so much sense.
As expected of you, my lord.
(End of chapter)
