Liu Xiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and threw the visor aside. He didn't know whether it was because of the sudden rise in temperature, or because the temperature difference between the mountainous area and the basin was so huge, it was like a different season.
The bronze visor was so hot that it burned my face.
This was the second day after he entered Huguan. In the morning, he went out to inspect the city defenses. After walking around for a while, he felt that his skin was quite cooked.
"I didn't feel very hot last night. Why is it so hot at noon today?" he complained.
Shi A suggested: "Master, please cover your face with black gauze. The heat will not escape if it is covered by the mask, so don't overdo it."
"Forget it, wearing a ghostly face mask can be said to intimidate the enemy. Covering your face with a gauze, the intention of hiding your identity is too obvious. You are afraid that others will see Xingzang. If your identity is guessed, it will be troublesome."
Shangdang County is too sensitive and can only be occupied by the Black Mountain Army and cannot have anything to do with Youzhou. He thinks it is better to be cautious.
"Have the scouts been sent out pretending to be common people?" Liu Xiang asked.
In the morning, a notice was read out allowing the people to leave the city. The people in the city rushed out. As long as they were not carrying a large amount of food, the Anping Army did not stop them, regardless of whether they were big households or the head of Guizhou. In one morning, most of the people left the city.
Cao Xing provided information about the garrison. The garrison was less than 500 and the population was nearly 80,000. Scouts were needed to confirm.
Tunliu is located on the small alluvial plain of Zhuoshui and Jiangshui, with many fields and a population two or three times larger than that of Huguan. These two rivers are also the source and tributaries of Zhuozhang River.
Zhao Yun replied: "Two waves of scouts, light and dark, set out early in the morning. Tunliu and the eldest son have already sent out their men."
"Within three days, urge the remaining people to leave the city. Those who don't want to leave will form a team with the prisoners and serve as laborers, responsible for transporting supplies. Cao Xing will take charge of them. Those with limited mobility will be concentrated in a large house and sent people
take into custody."
Liu Xiang actually wanted all the people to leave the city and go to the south, but he knew that this was unrealistic. There would always be some people who were nostalgic for their homeland or had difficulty moving, and it was not easy to drive these people away. Thinking of this, he asked again: "Cao
Are Xing’s family members gone? Where are the wife and son?”
He did not send anyone to restrict the movements of Cao Xing's family, but wanted to see Cao Xing's choice.
"My family and my wife have not left the city."
"Keep watching in the dark."
Cao Xing joined his sect because he was forced by the situation, but as long as he had the upper hand, this person was not unusable. Reduced generals were also a major source of talent. If he wanted to compete in the world in the future, he must learn to control this kind of talent.
Moreover, Zhang He and Xu Rong were both surrendered generals, and they are doing well now. They have role models in front of them, and they hope to have some good influence on those who surrender in the future. Boss Cao can control the surrendered generals to conquer the world, and he himself is not a bad choice.
.
After three days of this, the temperature got higher and higher. Most of the people in the city went south, leaving only about a thousand people under centralized management. Cao Xing's family members did not leave the city in the end. No matter what the reason was, this was a good choice.
He also changed from the Han Dynasty's 600-stone Chengguan Commander-in-Chief to the Anping Army Sima, responsible for commanding 2,400 prisoners, transporting supplies, and assisting in the defense of the city.
Huguan closed the city gates tightly and instituted martial law.
Scouts kept coming and going, and intelligence from all over the place continued to gather. There were really only a few hundred garrison troops in the city, and a large number of people in the city fled south, almost turning it into an empty city.
The eldest son has an influx of eighty or ninety thousand people. The exact number of defenders is unknown, but it is no less than three thousand. The prefect Zhang Qi is still gathering the young men. Unfortunately, the situation is not ideal and there is no one available, leaving him helpless. Now he is huddled in the city and has not gone south.
He did not dare to go north, probably because he lacked strength, but at least he was able to defend the city. Liu Xiang gave up the idea of storming Changzi County.
"Zhao Yun, I order you to lead five thousand troops, capture Tunliu County, and garrison on the spot. Always pay attention to the northern mountainous area, be careful of enemy sneak attacks, and beware of Zhang Qi from the south heading north."
Liu Xiang regretted a little. Qianniuwei was selecting personnel, and Zhang Liao was left in Youzhou to supervise the matter. Now the only one who can stand by him is Zhao Yun, and the generals are not enough.
Zhao Yun cupped his hands and said: "My lord, there are only more than 7,000 people left in Huguan. How can we resist the army attacking the city? Only 2,000 people are enough."
Seven thousand men are indeed a bit stretched to deal with 70,000 to 80,000 enemy troops.
Liu Xiang pondered for a moment, feeling a little guilty, and said smoothly: "If you want to attack the city, bring five thousand people there. After taking the city, bring back two thousand people."
"The general will obey the order."
Zhao Yun ordered his troops to leave the city and headed straight for Tunliu. They traveled twenty miles and arrived in more than an hour.
Not mentioning how Zhao Yun attacked the city with ten times the force, Liu Xiang continued to read the intelligence from the scouts.
Liu Yu's army has stopped a hundred miles north of Xiangyuan. Two hundred miles ahead is Qixian where Xu Rong is stationed, and one hundred and eighty miles behind is Huguan, which Liu Xiang captured.
How to proceed? There was a quarrel among the soldiers in Bingzhou.
They have been arguing for a day, and Liu Yu is still hesitating.
Isn't he hesitating about where to attack? There are more than 80,000 young men, including more than 10,000 Huns cavalry, and they spend three thousand dan of food and fodder a day. Where to attack? It can't be done without supplies.
What he hesitated about was how to balance the forces in the military.
Dozens of large and small family forces gather together very quickly, but there are also many differences. Each family has different demands and conflicts of interest. It is difficult to cooperate sincerely. Many people oppose just for the sake of opposition. If they argue together, who can still fight?
Pay attention to specific things. Anyway, if you agree with it, I will oppose it, and if you oppose it, I will agree with it.
How to combine them has become Liu Yu's biggest problem. Going north or south is not that important. When he thinks about it, he has a large number of people. Whether it is Qixian or Huguan, they are the partial divisions of the Black Mountain bandits. Once the army arrives,
It will inevitably destroy everything, and the bandits and bandits can only be annihilated overnight.
"It's ridiculous that the thieves are short-witted. They dare to divide their troops to fight when they are outnumbered. They really don't understand military strategy and are extremely stupid." Liu Yu mocked the Black Mountain bandits more than once.
Most of the people in the Bingzhou army were divided into three factions. Those who supported continuing to go north would have to leave the supply problem to the scholars in Taiyuan County. As for whether the Taiyuan people were willing? Well, they didn't care. Anyway, as long as they didn't eat their own food, that would be fine.
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The hometowns of this group of people were generally the southern counties far away from Huguan. They believed that the prefect who stayed in Changzi County to govern the county could stop the thieves from going south.
Some people emphasize that they must return to the army. The Shangdang is empty. The thieves are now stationary at Huguan. It is because they want to prevent the army from turning back. If they continue to march north, will you be a Montenegrin bandit and not dare to rob? They have been robbing for more than three years.
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Don’t you feel distressed when your family’s assets are damaged?
Many people feel distressed, so this group has the loudest voice.
There are also some people who believe that we should divide our troops. Our army is large in number, so we can divide our troops to fight. This can not only recapture the supply line, but also not delay the conquest of the enemy's main force. Many of them consider themselves famous generals and are sure that Huguan must be a small group of thieves.
The troops made a sneak attack to seize the city in order to confuse our army and delay time, hoping to take the opportunity to kill the Baibo bandits and then engage in a decisive battle with our army.
This faction was rejected by Liu Yu in his heart. As soon as he ridiculed the enemy's short-sighted move to divide the troops, he immediately divided his troops to fight. Isn't it shameless? It was only because of the pride of the Han clan that he could gather so many people.
You can't lose face. What if you really lose face and the army is scattered? Should you take a few of your followers and die on the battlefield?
He is not the kind of person who talks about loyalty but does nothing. He must unite these families in Shangdang County, and then he can destroy the Yellow Turban bandits and restore peace to Bingzhou.
As for Zhang Yang, Lu Bu and others, they have long been ignored by them. They are just common men in the border counties. Their family background is not high, their personnel are not many, and their scolding voices are not as good as their own. So they can go and cool off.
Now is the time for virtuous men to discuss the art of war, so just shut up.
If Zhang Yang hadn't held them back, Lu Bu would have cut them into eight pieces!
On the battlefield of more than 400 miles from north to south, nearly 300,000 people from both armies were divided into five groups and stationed in various places. Under the scorching sun of midsummer, their respective ideas were exposed.