"Report!" A soldier hurriedly broke into the hall, "Generals Li Jue and Guo Si requested to be summoned."
Dong Zhuo nodded and motioned for them to come in. Li Jue and Guo Si knelt down on the ground with worried expressions on their faces: "Prime Minister, now the coalition forces are so powerful that our army has been retreating continuously. If we don't find a way, Chang'an City is in danger."
Dong Zhuo was irritated and shouted angrily: "You are usually so majestic, why are you so useless now?"
Li Jue raised his head: "Prime Minister, now we can only defend with all our strength and wait for the opportunity to counterattack. I have heard that the powerful people in Xiliang area intend to join us. Why don't we send people to lobby and let them contain the coalition forces in the rear."
Dong Zhuo thought for a moment and felt that this plan was feasible, so he ordered Li Jue to set off as soon as possible. At the same time, he also decided to go out in person to boost morale.
At this time, outside Chang'an City, Zhang Fan was discussing war strategies with various powerful men. A hint of cunning flashed in Cao Cao's eyes: "General Zhang, I have a plan to defeat Dong Zhuo."
Zhang Fan cupped his hands and said, "I'd like to hear the details."
Cao Cao smiled slightly and said: "Although Dong Zhuo is tyrannical, his generals are also heroes for a while. We can use the strategy of alienation to make them disorderly."
Zhang Fan nodded in agreement, and the two began to discuss in detail. At the same time, the fighting in Jizhou became increasingly fierce. The remnants of the Yellow Turbans fought fiercely with the imperial army in various places, but the people deeply admired Zhang Fan's benevolent government and provided him with help.
After a period of preparation, Zhang Fan united with various powerful forces to launch a general attack. They divided their troops into two groups, one led by Cao Cao to attack the north gate of Chang'an City, and the other led by Zhang Fan himself to attack the south gate.
In the Battle of Beimen, Cao Cao cleverly took advantage of the contradiction between Dong Zhuo and Li Jue and Guo Si. He sent people to spread rumors that Li Jue and Guo Si intended to surrender to the coalition forces. Sure enough, Li Jue and Guo Si were suspected by Dong Zhuo, and the morale of their troops was unstable. Cao Cao took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, and Li Jue and Guo Si's army was defeated.
Zhang Fan from Nanmen was not to be outdone. He led the Jizhou rebel army and cooperated closely with Yuan Shao's army to break through the first line of defense outside Chang'an City. The ensuing battle became increasingly difficult, as Dong Zhuo had mobilized all the defenders to mount a desperate resistance.
However, Zhang Fan did not back down. He took the lead and charged forward. Upon seeing this, the soldiers of the Jizhou Rebel Army and the powerful coalition forces also stepped forward to fight with the enemy. After several days of fierce fighting, the coalition forces finally broke through the south gate of Chang'an City.
Seeing that the situation was over, Dong Zhuo fled Chang'an City in a hurry. He fled to the Xiliang area with a small number of his own soldiers, trying to regroup his forces. However, the world has become divided and his rule is in danger.
After Zhang Fan entered Chang'an City, he announced the abolition of Dong Zhuo's tyranny and restored the dignity of the Han Dynasty. The people celebrated this hard-won victory with thunderous cheers. Powerful people from all over the country also expressed their submission to the imperial court, and the country gradually restored stability.
After Zhang Fan returned to Bingzhou, he felt deeply that although he had expelled Dong Zhuo, the warlords in various parts of the world were divided and war was raging. He understood that in order to truly stabilize the world, Bingzhou must be stabilized first, and the foundation of Bingzhou stability is the people's hearts. Therefore, he decided to devote himself to improving people's livelihood, repairing cities, reducing taxes, encouraging farming, and allowing the people to gradually recover from the war.
At the same time, Yuan Shao also began his own dominance in Jizhou. Relying on his family's reputation and his own talents, he quickly stabilized the situation in Jizhou and began to expand outward. His eyes naturally fell on Bingzhou. He knew that if he wanted to achieve his great cause, he must occupy Bingzhou and open the road to the Central Plains.
Zhang Fan also understood Yuan Shao's intentions. He knew that Bingzhou's geographical location was important. Once controlled by Yuan Shao, he would be in a passive situation. Therefore, he began to actively prepare for war, rectify the army, strengthen the city defense, and prepare to meet Yuan Shao's attack.
While preparing for war, Zhang Fan did not forget to improve people's livelihood. He knew that only by allowing people to live and work in peace and contentment could they truly win the hearts and minds of the people. As a result, he set up multiple farming areas outside the city, encouraged people to reclaim wasteland, and provided farming tools and seeds, giving the people hope for life.
Yuan Shao saw that Zhang Fan was very prepared for war and the people were at peace, so he knew that he could not attack forcefully. So he decided to use a strategy. He sent someone to secretly contact Zhang Fan's general Lu Bu to induce him to betray Zhang Fan. Lu Bu was already brave and good at fighting, but when he saw that Zhang Fan had no time to take care of him, he turned against him.
Late one night, Lu Bu led his soldiers to raid Zhang Fan's camp. Zhang Fan was planning a war in his tent and was shocked when he heard the news. He hurriedly organized his own troops to fight, but Lu Bu's army was well-trained and extremely effective. Zhang Fan's army gradually became exhausted and was forced to retreat into the city.
Lu Bu took advantage of the situation to attack the city, and Zhang Fan led the remaining soldiers to resist desperately. In the fierce battle, Zhang Fan took the lead and was extremely brave. But the long battle consumed his strength, and a stray arrow hit his left arm. Zhang Fan was in unbearable pain and almost fainted.
At this moment, there was a sudden killing sound outside the city. It turned out that Zhang Fan had laid an ambush in the city to wait for work. Lu Bu's army was caught off guard and ambushed on all sides. After a fierce battle, Lu Bu's army was defeated and returned.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Bu had no choice but to lead his remaining soldiers to escape. Zhang Fan took advantage of the victory to pursue and regain the lost ground. After returning to the city, he immediately organized the work of treating the wounded and comforting the people. Although the battle was won, Zhang Fan knew that Yuan Shao would not give up. He understands that he must continue to work hard to maintain the peace of Bingzhou.
In order to further consolidate the status of Bingzhou, Zhang Fan decided to form an alliance with the surrounding powerful powers. He sent envoys to various places to lobby powerful people to join the alliance to jointly fight against Yuan Shao's expansion. After some hard work, many powerful people expressed their willingness to form an alliance with Zhang Fan.
As time went by, Yuan Shao's attack on Bingzhou became more and more fierce. He sent General Yan Liang to attack the northeastern border of Bingzhou, and he personally led an army to attack the southern border. Faced with double pressure, Zhang Fan showed no fear at all. With his excellent command ability, he repelled the attacks of Yan Liang and Yuan Shao respectively.
In the battle, Zhang Fan demonstrated outstanding military talents and firm willpower. Under his leadership, his army became more and more courageous and defeated the enemy many times. Yuan Shao was shocked when he saw this, knowing that it would not be easy to capture Bingzhou.
Therefore, he temporarily gave up the attack on Bingzhou and turned to deal with internal affairs, preparing to reorganize the army and prepare for another attack.
After Zhang Fan repelled Yuan Shao's attack, he strengthened his belief. He realized that he not only had to rely on military power, but also focused on improving people's livelihood. Therefore, he continued to repair the city, strengthen the city defense, and formulated a more reasonable tax policy to reduce the burden on the people.
At the same time, he also vigorously developed the economy, encouraged business development, and increased tax revenue. He knew that only by making the people rich could he improve his dominance and consolidate the state more firmly.
Through these efforts, Zhang Fan gradually won the support and popular support of the people. They saw that Zhang Fan not only performed well in the war, but also cared about the well-being of the people and actively improved people's livelihood. They slowly began to have hope in Zhang Fan, believing that he could lead Bingzhou to prosperity.
Zhang Fan continued to work hard to consolidate the status of Bingzhou, strengthen ties with surrounding powers, and jointly resist foreign enemies. He knew that only by expanding his sphere of influence through diplomatic means could he better resist Yuan Shao's attack.
However, everyone knows that Zhang Fan and Yuan Shao will have a battle!
Finally, Yuan Shao reorganized his army and prepared to attack Bingzhou again. After Zhang Fan got the news, he also strengthened the city defense and made preparations to meet the enemy.
The two armies fought fiercely in offensive and defensive battles. Relying on the wisdom of his counselor Su Fei and military advisor Jia Xu, Zhang Fan adopted encirclement tactics and trapped Yuan Shao's army in the entrenched city of Bingzhou.
Yuan Shao always believed that his strength was far superior to Zhang Fan and was determined to break the deadlock. He summoned military advisor Guo Tu to discuss countermeasures, and unexpectedly received Guo Jia's suggestion. Guo Jia proposed a tactic of luring the enemy deeper and inducing Zhang Fan to make mistakes.
Yuan Shao immediately adopted Guo Jia's suggestion. He drilled tens of thousands of troops to carry out a bluff attack, luring Zhang Fan to send troops for support. Zhang Fan was deceived by this plan and personally led part of his troops to leave Bingzhou for rescue, thinking that Yuan Shao was dispatching his entire army.
Yuan Shao saw Zhang Fan's division of troops and immediately sent elite troops of his own army to ambush Zhang Fan's retreat route. When Zhang Fan's troops returned to Bingzhou, they were outflanked by ambushed troops and fell into a trap set by Yuan Shao.
Although Zhang Fan fell into Yuan Shao's predicament, he did not despair. He still trusted his generals and soldiers, and he knew that as long as he remained calm and responded, opportunities would arise.
At the critical moment, Zhang Fan personally led a commando team to break through Yuan Shaojun's encirclement network and launched a fierce battle with the besieging Yuan Shaojun. With one enemy against a hundred, Zhang Fan fought for every inch of territory. His bravery and resourcefulness were once again displayed on the battlefield.
At the same time, Zhang Fan's lieutenants Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also led troops to reinforce. They fought bravely to kill the enemy and dispersed Yuan Shaojun's formation, creating an opportunity for Zhang Fan to escape.
Zhang Fan escaped from the encirclement of Yuan Shao's army in time, regrouped, and organized the remaining soldiers and reinforcements to return to Bingzhou City. He gave up his pursuit of Yuan Shao and decided to defend Bingzhou and wait for Yuan Shao's opportunity to attack again.
Yuan Shao saw Zhang Fan's fierce counterattack and was impressed by him. He decided to reorganize his army again and prepare for an all-out attack on Bingzhou. At the same time, he also took some measures to stabilize the public sentiment in Bingzhou and weaken Zhang Fan's influence.
Yuan Shao sent Yan Liang, one of his most capable generals, to fight Zhang Fan. Yan Liang's reputation for being brave and good at fighting made Zhang Fan dare not underestimate him.
However, Yan Liang encountered an ambush from Zhang Fan's Solomon Cavalry Regiment. Under long-distance shooting with archers, Yan Liang's army suffered heavy losses. Zhang Fan took advantage of the situation and personally led the army to kill Yan Liang.
In repeated confrontations, Zhang Fan and Yan Liang fought inextricably. However, due to Zhang Fan's previous efforts, the morale of his army was obviously high, and all the soldiers had outstanding combat effectiveness.
