Due to communication problems, when Cao Cao and Guo Jia discussed Liu Zhang's march route, Liu Zhang had already led the army on the journey.
Wu Yi, who was ordered to garrison Wudu County, did not choose to control all the counties in Wudu County. Due to troop strength issues, he only divided his troops to garrison in Xiabian and Ju counties.
Xiabian is the seat of Wudu County, and it is a must-pass for the Qishan Road. In order to be sure, Wu Yi chose to stay at Xiabian himself, providing a strong guarantee for the transportation of grain and grass for Liu Zhang's army.
With Wu Yi and his army stationed in Xiabian, Liu Zhang no longer had any worries and had already led his army into Liangzhou.
Completely different from what Liu Zhang and others expected, they did not encounter any resistance after entering Hanyang County.
Naturally, Liu Zhang would not miss this great opportunity, and immediately urged the entire army to march forward, aiming directly at Xixian County, the first fortified city bordering Hanyang County and Wudu.
The city of Xi County is not too tall, and the terrain is quite satisfactory, but he is guarding the edge of Hanyang County and must control it in his own hands no matter what.
After breaking through Xi County, the entire Qishan Road was completely opened, allowing Liu Zhang to lead his army directly to Ji County, the seat of Hanyang County.
As long as Ji County is successfully captured, it means that the Northern Expedition to Liangzhou has completely gained a foothold.
After that, Hanyang County can be used as the foundation and gradually encroach on Liangzhou.
Facts have proved that Han Sui did not choose to sit still and wait for death. He kept a garrison in Xi County and completely refused to surrender to Liu Zhang.
"Generals, Xi County is our first battle on the way north. We must win this battle!"
"Who dares to lead an army on an expedition to show off the power of our Yizhou army?"
As soon as Liu Zhang's words came out, they immediately aroused a huge response.
Except for Tai Shici from Wu Feng Camp and Huang Zhong from Wu She Camp, all the other generals rushed to request orders.
"My lord, I will finally go there!"
"My lord, the Wubu camp has been sharpening its sword for several years, and I can't wait for it!"
"My lord, Han Xing camp has been on the battlefield for a long time, and the final battle will be determined by a battle!"
"Lord, I'm going!"
"Lord..."
For a while, the generals were in a quarrel, almost all begging Liu Zhang to send him there.
Faced with this situation, Liu Zhang was surprised and couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
After five years of silence, it seems that some people have suffered too much!
"Okay, okay! Xi County is just a small town, there is no need to fight like this."
Liu Zhang swept through the crowd and finally set his sights on the three barbarian generals.
"Zhu Meng, do you dare to lead the barbarian army to take over Xi County?"
Zhu Meng was immediately overjoyed. He had shouted the loudest just now.
"Dare! How dare you not! My lord will wait a little later, and I will come back soon after I leave!"
Thirty thousand barbarians quickly dispatched and soon surrounded Xixian County.
With the sound of drums and trumpets, a general attack on Xi County was immediately launched.
Zhu Meng and the others were really not afraid of tigers, so they actually took the lead and were the first to climb the ladder.
Fortunately, the defense force of Xixian County is not very strong. Apart from some scattered bow and arrow counterattacks, there are no special means.
Under the fierce attack of 30,000 barbarian soldiers, only half an hour later, the offensive and defensive battle in Xi County came to an end.
The final battle damage statistics showed that a thousand enemy defenders were wiped out, and our own side lost more than 200 barbarians.
Liu Zhang successfully won the first battle into Liangzhou at an extremely small cost.
The first battle with Han Sui was won so easily that the gate of Liangzhou was opened with the loss of 200 people!
When Liu Zhang heard the number of enemy defenders, he even doubted his ears.
"Is this Han Sui crazy? Even if Xi County is not suitable for defense, he will not leave a thousand people to die here, right?"
The four think tanks also frowned slightly, as if this result was somewhat unexpected.
"My lord, maybe Han Sui feels that West County is not conducive to defense, so he might be planning to resist in Ji County."
Now that they had just entered Liangzhou, it was difficult to see if Han Sui had any conspiracy. After much thought, Xun You could only give Liu Zhang's explanation.
"Gongda, if there are five thousand troops guarding Xi County, I'm afraid they won't be able to capture it in a few days, right?"
Liu Zhang took a closer look at the West County City Wall. Although it was not particularly tall, it must be able to meet the standards of a normal city wall.
At present, we have no siege equipment and rely entirely on rows of ladders.
As long as Xi County is properly defended, Liu Zhang will never be able to capture Xi County without paying the price of thousands of men.
This is also the reason why Liu Zhang sent Zhu Meng to fight in the first place.
"My lord, we'd better go to Ji County as soon as possible. By taking Ji County, we can completely control Hanyang County. Even if Han Sui has any conspiracy, we can deal with it calmly."
Xun You and others were wise men, not gods, and Liu Zhang could not ask them to see through everything just after they stepped into the land of Liangzhou.
"Evil comes, leaving a thousand military guards to guard Xi County, and the rest of the troops will march towards Xi County."
"As you command!"
Liu Zhang's only option was to choose to play slowly and take it one step at a time.
After establishing a firm foothold in Hanyang County, use force to defeat cleverness. No matter what conspiracy Han Sui has, he can be destroyed.
Five days later, Liu Zhang led his troops to the foot of Ji County. After some attempts to persuade them to surrender, the defenders refused to surrender.
Ji County is different from Xi County. As the seat of Hanyang County, Ji County has a tall city and is definitely easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Liu Zhang made a prompt decision and sent Zhu Meng and three men to lead 30,000 barbarians and Zhang Liao's Han Xing camp to surround the city on all sides. He also arranged for Huang Zhong to divide the Wushe camp into four to help suppress the firepower at the top of the city and prepare for a tough battle.
The Yizhou army was so powerful that the shouts of killing shook the sky and the earth, and the city walls of Ji County seemed to be trembling slightly.
Everything was completely beyond Liu Zhang's expectation. There was no fierce bloody battle. In just a quarter of an hour, the 40,000 troops besieging the city wall poured into the city. It didn't take long before all the four gates of Ji County were opened.
As tens of thousands of troops poured into Hebei County, the battle to attack and defend the government came to an end, even faster than the capture of Xi County!
"Xixian County doesn't want it, and Ji County doesn't want it either. Is it possible that Han Sui is planning to give up the entire Hanyang County?"
Liu Zhang really couldn't understand Han Sui's intentions. Hanyang County was the link connecting Anding County and Longxi County. If he gave up Hanyang County so easily, didn't that mean Anding County had also completely given up?
Han Sui originally only had four counties, so this would be equivalent to cutting off an arm!
Once the Yizhou army cannot be stopped in Longxi County, they will have no choice but to retreat to Jincheng County. But even Longxi County cannot stop it, how can it be stopped in Jincheng County?
It's really weird. In Liu Zhang's impression, Han Sui was definitely not someone who would sit back and wait for death, let alone be timid before fighting and extremely compress his own living space.
"My lord, could it be that Han Sui and Ma Teng fought too hard, resulting in a small army and insufficient generals to defend Hanyang County?"
This situation has exceeded everyone's expectations, and Xun You can only guess that Han Sui gave up the states and counties due to military strength issues.
Liu Zhang shook his head slightly, he didn't believe it was that simple.
"As far as I know, Han Sui still has at least 50,000 troops. If he borrows troops from the Qiang tribe, it will probably be no less than 100,000!"
"Even if there are only 50,000 troops, as long as they are stationed in Hebei County and defend it, it will cause us a lot of trouble."