Xiapi (today's north of Suining and south of Pizhou) has been a choke point between the north and south and an important junction between the east and west since ancient times.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the State of Pi.
Zhang Liang once met Huang Shigong here.
When Han Xin was the king of Chu, he all went to Pi.
The city is located in Dangyi, where the Si Er River meets, and is surrounded by water on all sides, like an island.
Due to the gradual rise of water transportation, Xiapi's status gradually increased, and in the imperial dynasty, it became the governor of Xuzhou.
However, Xiapi has been an important town since the Han Dynasty, because it had a triple city wall, which was extremely rare at that time.
The small city is located at the innermost side. The city is about two miles long, small and strong, and the city wall is taller and thicker than the middle city and the outer city.
The middle city was guarded by Lu Bu on Thursday.
Twelve and a half miles around the outer city, Wei Wu captured Lu Bu at the White Gate, which was the gate of the outer city.
There is a small city not far south and west of Xia Pi, about 370 steps away, built by Shi Chong.
Six miles to the west of the city is Yiyang Mountain (also known as Geyi Mountain, today's Qishan Mountain), with a camp built on the mountain.
From a military perspective, even without naval assistance, Xiapi's defense facilities are very complete and difficult to attack.
Of course, wars are fought by people after all. No matter how strong a city is, it must be defended by people. The fighting will of the defenders is also very crucial.
The fighting qualities of the more than 10,000 soldiers and horses under Zu Ti's command were average and could only be described as so-so.
Therefore, he wisely chose to defend and rely on the terrain advantage to consume the offensive side's energy. This is a more pragmatic approach.
His home base was in Huaiyin, which was the first stop when he went north. He won the support of powerful scholars there, and gathered the refugees and bandits, built furnaces to smelt weapons, and reclaimed wasteland for military needs.
Now that all the main forces are heading north, Huaiyin has been taken over by others.
After losing the first battle in Xiapibei, Zu Ti flew to Jianye to ask for help. Sima Rui and Wang Dao came forward, and Yangzhou Dai Yuan and others moved in. They also raised a thousand soldiers from the five counties of Wu, Wuxing, Kuaiji, Dongyang, and Linhai.
Ruan Fu took command as a backup.
But these five thousand soldiers and horses did not come to support Zu Ti.
They were soldiers from a wealthy family and could not completely obey the Jianye shogunate. In the end, they made a compromise and stationed themselves in Huaiyin to guard the Huai River defense line. If you defend the river, you must defend the Huai River. This was what the wealthy families in Jiangdong were happy with.
The Jiangdong Navy also went to Huaiyin and Xiapi from time to time to transport supplies.
This is the situation that Sima Rui, Director Wang and others achieved through their best efforts.
Shao Xun always felt that he was constrained internally. In fact, others were the same, or even more serious.
This is the style of the times and there is nothing we can do about it.
In the afternoon, the sound of war drums in the north and west of the city became more intense, and the sound of killing was loud.
Zu Ti came to the city in person and had a panoramic view of the whole situation.
About three thousand Shao soldiers set out from the north of the city, built a pontoon bridge on the other side of the river north of the city, and tried to wade through the water to attack.
During the process of building the bridge, the defenders on the south bank of the river fired crossbows from behind the earthen wall, shooting the Shao soldiers who were only protected by shields to pieces. Countless people screamed and fell to the river.
Groups of sergeants went out from Shao Jun's camp in Hebei to constantly replenish battle losses.
They even fought back with bows and arrows on the pontoon, but were quickly suppressed. How big was the pontoon, and how many people could stand on it? In just one round of fighting, most of the archers who were transferred died.
The battle lasted for more than an hour. For the defenders, this was almost a one-sided massacre. They suffered few casualties, while Shao Bing suffered hundreds of casualties.
Zu Ti didn't put much energy into the north of the city. He was looking at the west of the city.
At the foot of Yiyang Mountain, there are many banners and drums and trumpets.
Battalion after battalion of Shao soldiers climbed the mountain path and bravely charged at their own camp standing on the mountainside.
They feigned an attack from the bottom of the mountain and attacked the well-defended fortress. Of course, the casualties were heavy. However, Commander Shao Jun did not care about human life at all and launched wave after wave of offensives.
The mountain road was full of corpses, and the tree trunks were full of twisted arrows.
Today is the fifth day of the attack on Yiyang Mountain.
Earthen walls on the mountain road were broken through, the towers that dominated the mountains were demolished, and the trenches were filled in.
By this time, the two sides were fighting below the camp. Everyone could see that Yiyang Mountain could not hold on for long.
Zu Ti looked at the area between Yiyang Mountain and Xiapi.
The more than 3,000 defenders' infantry had just moved forward a mile when they encountered the overwhelming Shao Army's cavalry.
The infantry retreated hastily and in some confusion.
The cavalry was divided into several groups and took advantage of the panic of the infantry to get close and shoot, further aggravating the chaos.
Three thousand infantrymen rushed to the bank of Yishui River crying.
The boats moored on the river fired their crossbows and thunder, killing a group of cavalry who ventured close to them, making them frightened and afraid to approach, and then they sent people to gather up the defeated troops.
More than 3,000 people went west and tried to reinforce the Yiyang Mountain camp, which was more than four miles west of Yishui River. However, they were blocked by Shao Jun's cavalry. In just a short moment, nearly a thousand people were killed or wounded, and only a little over 2,000 people escaped.
Zu Ti sighed.
The war has been going on so far, and we can basically see where it is heading.
The more than 10,000 soldiers and horses under his command vary in combat power. The stronger ones may be able to fight Shao Bing head-on, but most of them do not have this ability.
They could only hold on and take advantage of the rivers, lakes and numerous cities to slowly chip away at Shao Bing's morale.
When morale goes down, so does combat effectiveness.
At present, Shao's army does not dare to cross the river and go south, and attack in a roundabout way on the south side of Xiapi - they are worried about being cut off from their retreat.
If you can only attack from one direction, you will have much more troops, and it will be very convenient to defend across the river, which can maximize the damage to Shao's soldiers and weaken their morale.
The only pity is that Yiyang Mountain in the west of the city cannot be defended.
He was inexperienced, overestimated the strength of his own soldiers, and underestimated the combat effectiveness of Shao's soldiers. After suffering this loss, he would learn a lesson later.
The sun gradually sets in the west.
After nightfall, Zu Yue led hundreds of defeated troops with the help of the navy and withdrew back, and Yiyang Mountain was declared lost.
Shao Jun also stopped attacking, and the battlefield became quiet for a while.
****
There are more than ten thatched huts dotted in the valley.
The bright moon reflects on the river, sparkling.
The scholars led by Eguan Bo staggered along the river bank with wooden clogs in their hands and fine wine in their hands.
There were a few people lying on the grass in random directions, looking cheerful and chanting constantly.
On top of the big bluestone, someone was leaning against a pine tree, playing the harp under the bright moon.
"Here comes Jingheng." Someone saw him and greeted him with a smile.
Hua Ji sighed, what a bunch of people!
At this moment, he suddenly realized that the world seemed to be in a state of decline.
The few people in front of me are mostly descendants of Xuzhou officials. They have official duties, but they often disappear for several days, ignoring government affairs and wandering outside.
How can we survive in troubled times by doing things like this?
"There is a raging war outside. Xi Daohui and Zu Shizhi were killed until rivers of blood flowed. I really admire you, Tai Zhang, for still having the time to play the moon and the harp." Hua Ji said angrily.
Xun Zu stopped what he was doing, stood up from the bluestone, and looked up at the bright moon.
Hua Ji stood not far from him, waiting for him to speak.
"Is Jingheng here to be a lobbyist?" Xun Zu asked.
"Of course." Hua Ji didn't hide anything from him, and said straightforwardly: "Shao's chariots were killing everyone in Hebei, and they were unstoppable. For the sake of family planning, they defected to him. The war in Xuzhou was fierce, but you, Taizhang, stayed behind closed doors.
Not helping anyone. Fan Yang and Lu Zidao couldn't sit still, so they went to Pingyuan to visit. The family was forced to have no choice but to send me south at night to persuade them."
Xun Zu was silent after hearing this. After a moment, he chuckled and said, "What do Pingyuan Hua's troubles have to do with me?"
"I don't care." Hua Ji said, "You are my brother-in-law, so you have to help me."
Xun Zu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pointed at Hua Ji and said, "You, you..."
"Is Tai Zhang determined to serve King Langya?" Hua Ji looked at him doubtfully and asked.
Xun Zu stood solemnly among the pines under the moon with his hands behind his back, sighing in silence.
"It seems that Jianye came to see you, but you refused." Hua Ji nodded and said, "Since you have refused King Langya's recruitment, it is better to surrender to Shao."
Xun Zu still didn't answer, but his brows furrowed, revealing the entanglement in his heart.
At this moment, Hua Ji finally understood that his brother-in-law was really hesitant.
Perhaps at the beginning, he stood on the side of the imperial court and stayed behind closed doors to protect Xuzhou for the emperor and prevent it from falling into the hands of any party.
But when Mi Huang, Zu Ti, and Xi Jian used the Xuzhou prefectures as the battlefield and engaged in large-scale wars, he found that it was difficult to maintain neutrality.
The North and the South continued to exert pressure, trying to influence his decision-making and make Pengcheng fall to their side.
At present, both sides are fighting fiercely and have no time to take care of him. But once the winner is determined, it will be difficult to keep Pengcheng and it will definitely be captured.
"Jingheng, do you know why I haven't made up my mind to surrender to Shao?" Xun Zu lowered his head, looked at Hua Ji and said.
"Why?"
Xun Zu did not answer directly, but said to himself: "Pengcheng and Xiapi are both important towns in Xuzhou, but in comparison, Pengcheng is not as easy to defend as Xiapi. If Xi Jianruo raises troops to besiege Pengcheng, I may not be able to defend it for long, it will only last for a month or two.
.”
"Shao Xun is from Xuzhou. When I got married in the past, there were even powerful scholars in Xuzhou who sent gifts from afar. Since the war, generals have constantly hinted to me that I can surrender the city to Shao."
"Xi Jian's troops are numerous and sharp, while Zu Ti's troops are few and weak, and they can only retreat in Xiapi. Jianye's support for Zu Ti is intermittent, and if the stalemate continues for a long time, Zu Ti will probably not be able to gain favor, and Xi Jian is more likely to win.
"
"In addition, Xi Jian has conquered Yiyang Mountain to the west of Xiapi City. The next step is to advance troops from the west of the city to attack Xiapi."
Hua Ji's eyes widened and he said: "With these points, why doesn't Tai Zhang surrender to Shao?"
Xun Zuo glanced at him and said: "I was an official in the court in the past and I knew something about Shao Xun. This man was extremely domineering. He threatened the civil and military officials of the court with grain and was disrespectful to the emperor. He was also ambitious and good at attacking Gou Xi.
Same as rebellious.
People also ask for officials for warriors, segregate one side, and dominate the power. Based on all this, Shao Xun is extremely ambitious and is not a good minister. I am forced by the situation and want to surrender to him, but I always feel uncomfortable in my heart.
I can’t make up my mind.”
The mentality of people like Xun Zu is quite typical.
In terms of his personal values, life experience, personality, etc., he is more inclined to maintain the authority of the emperor and be loyal to the court.
But he is not as loyal to the end as those pure ministers - there is some loyalty, but not a lot.
In addition, the rapid rise of an upstart like Shao Xun made him very uncomfortable.
In particular, Xun Zu couldn't stand the fact that he vigorously promoted people, appointed Han Su scholars and even local powerful children, and at the same time cultivated a martial arts group, because it impacted his cognition for most of his life and shattered the beauty he took for granted.
something.
This subtle psychology prevented Xun Zu from making a prompt decision and immediately surrendering Pengcheng to Shao. Although he knew very well that Shao Xun had a greater chance of winning, he just couldn't get past the hurdle in his heart.
To put it bluntly, the established gentry are resentful and even jealous of the rise of the mud-legged upstarts.
"Taizhang." After hearing what Xun Zu said, Hua Ji couldn't help but ask: "Do you think it is necessary for the Sima family to protect the world with death? Furthermore, if you lose your integrity, your wife, children, and children will suffer. Could it be you?
Have you made up your mind to cross south?"
Xun Zu was silent for a long time.
"That's it for now, think about it carefully. I'll visit my sister in a few days. Let's talk about it then." Hua Ji cupped his hands and turned to leave.
Not long after returning to the bullock cart, he immediately started writing letters.
One letter was sent to Yecheng and handed over to Lu Zidao.
One letter was sent to Xuchang and handed over to Chen Gong for review.
At this time, a new group of lobbyists had traveled east from Peiguo and were about to arrive in Xuzhou.
Chapter completed!