The fire in July is raging and unbearably hot, slowly covering the mountains and rivers, covering every inch of land underfoot, and every green tree in sight.
Even the wind that blows in my face carries the breathless heat, which is disturbing.
On top of the city, Pan Zhang looked towards the south. Although the two cities were hundreds of miles apart, he could not even see the outline of Xuzhou's political center.
Even so, Pan Zhang still stared for a while, looking around: "Is there still no movement today?"
"No!" Uncle Dub said hurriedly: "Lieutenant Colonel, I got your order, brothers, twelve hours a day, don't dare to neglect for a moment, keep an eye on it all the time."
"If anything happens, I will report it to you and the general immediately!"
"I'm just a little impatient." Pan Zhang nodded, but asked in the next sentence: "Where are the sentries who have dispersed, and are they coming back?"
"...Lieutenant Colonel, the one who went to report to the house this morning was the brother who went to visit the horse yesterday."
"Send more people." Pan Zhang touched the hilt of the knife at his waist. He also felt that he was too nervous. He gave the order casually and looked at the soldiers lined up at the top of the city. Many of them looked up to him.
Looking at it with hope, he turned around and walked down the stone stairs towards the city.
In fact, it's no wonder that he was worried about gains and losses. Wang Zheng suddenly came to Jiqiu a few days ago, and Pan Zhang had a vague feeling that something big had happened. Later, when Chang Xi brought Zang Ba disguised to meet here, Wang Zheng fell because Pan Zhang had also entered the system.
They didn't deliberately hide it from him. The two sides were laughing and chatting, as if the host and the guest were enjoying themselves. Although Pan Zhang looked calm on the outside, there was already a turmoil in his heart.
What a great gesture, General!
Not long after I returned from Yangzhou, I was thinking about Tancheng again!
And this time, he wants to win without a fight!
In a complicated mood, Pan Zhang galloped on the road with all his strength, and soon arrived at the county government office.
As soon as he stepped across the threshold, he saw Wu Sheng looking a little bored on the veranda in the distance.
Pan Zhang came closer quickly, wiping the sweat from his brow, and asked in a low voice: "Where is the general?"
"How about drinking in the lobby?" Wu Sheng waved his hand, glanced at Pan Zhang, and said jokingly: "Old Pan, you really know how to enjoy yourself. The general is fascinated by all the fun you are looking for."
"Colonel, don't make fun of me." Pan Zhang laughed a few times, but also cursed secretly in his heart. If Wu Sheng hadn't talked nonsense when he came, how could he dare to show his luxurious side in front of Wang Zheng?
Pan Zhang is a smart man and has been following Wang Zheng for a while. It can be seen that the Tiangong general is now mostly focused on how to realize his ambitions and does not pay attention to personal enjoyment. He originally planned to stay here in Jiqiu.
For a period of time, I will accompany you to be a courtier who works hard and upholds simplicity.
As a result, Wu Sheng revealed his cover as soon as he arrived. Now Pan Zhang couldn't pretend even if he wanted to, so he simply took out all his family assets.
But after all, he was a little uneasy. It happened that he and Wu Sheng were there at this time, so he asked directly: "Colonel, you are the general's boss, you understand his thoughts, the general knows what I have done..."
"Are you dissatisfied?"
"Dissatisfied? What's the dissatisfaction?" Wu Sheng glanced at Pan Zhang, patted his shoulder twice, and said with a smile: "As long as you always remain loyal to the general, go to battle first, kill the enemy and perform meritorious service, what can he be dissatisfied with?"
?”
"That's good, that's good." Seeing Wu Sheng say this, Pan Zhang let out a long breath.
"But speaking of it..." Wu Sheng turned his head and looked around, looking at the scenery far and near. He saw the high terraces, pavilions, pavilions, lakes and gardens, all missing, and murmured: "The house of a county prince is so beautiful. "
"Hey, Pan Zhang, to be honest, was this before you came to Qiu, or was it after you came?"
After smelling the lotus fragrance lingering on his nose, Wu Sheng asked casually.
"Uh." Pan Zhang laughed a few times, pretended not to hear, chatted for a few more words, and then walked towards the lobby.
...
When entering the lobby, the atmosphere was warm and the sound of silk and bamboo was playing.
At this time, Wang Zheng was lazily reclining on a soft couch. Several beautiful maids were wearing clothes, and behind him were dozens of elite guards. Half of them were standing guard on the screen behind Wang Zheng, and the other half were behind a few tables on the left and right. Space.
Seeing Pan Zhang come in, Wang Zheng just nodded slightly, then motioned for him to find a seat and then glanced at the center again.
A group of pretty girls, with their hair hanging in the shape of swallowtails, wearing various long gowns made of translucent light material, sang and danced gracefully, making various graceful gestures, which made people fascinated and attracted the attention of the audience from time to time. The guests gave high-fives to add to the fun, and Wang Zheng was also smiling, raising his glass from time to time to show everyone to drink.
These people were either children of local aristocratic families in Jiqiu, or some literati recruited by Pan Zhang during this period.
Seeing that his lord seemed to be in high spirits, Pan Zhang did not dare to disturb him with words, so he could only hint to others with his eyes.
Seeing that the "current manager" looked irritable and restless, he knew that he must have something to report to Wang Zheng. Soon after, everyone realized his interest and took the initiative to leave.
Before I knew it, the seats were all empty.
Seeing this, Wang Zheng, who took the throne alone, glanced at Pan Zhang, smiled and said, "Everyone else, please step aside."
"yes."
After a few sparse sounds, until the singers, musicians and even the maids had all exited Tangwai, Wang Zheng looked proudly, his eyes fell on Pan Zhang, and he laughed loudly: "Wen Gui, even a small hill can allow you to collect It is quite rare to have so many women who are both beautiful and talented."
"As long as the general is satisfied." Pan Zhang hurriedly walked to the banquet, first raised his head and glanced at Wang Zheng, and seeing that he didn't seem to be sarcastic, he was sure in his heart, and immediately bowed and said: "When the general gets to Tancheng, it will be just a short distance away." Not far away, I will send them all there to entertain you."
"As the saying goes, a wise man should not show off his own merits, and a gentleman should not take what others like." Wang Zheng smiled slightly and waved his hand: "You were in a hurry to chase away the guests, but has there been any response from Tancheng?"
"That's not true." Pan Zhang raised his head and said seriously: "It's just that the general was thinking about it. Zang Ba only had a thousand men and horses, and he had instigated the Xuzhou family in the city. It would be fine if he only captured the city gate, but he had to do it thoroughly. Occupying Tancheng may not be easy."
"Hmm." Wang Zheng said calmly: "What do you think?"
"Since Zang Ba has the confidence to instigate a rebellion against Captain Xu Dan and several aristocratic families in the city, with such internal support, the gates of Tan City will be useless!"
"The scouting horses sent by the last general also reported that Liu Bei had led his entire army to Xiapi a few days ago!" Pan Zhang talked eloquently: "Yuan Shu is a powerful enemy. Since Liu Bei went out in person, he must have learned about it. With the large army, there must not be many men left in the city, and since we have internal support, the general suggested that we send 3,000 tiger soldiers to support Zang Ba and others, and we will be able to defeat Tan City in one battle!"
As he spoke, Pan Zhang knelt down on one knee, raised his hands and shook his head amidst the sound of metal clashing:
"The last general, I would like to be the vanguard!"
"Great kindness." In the silence where the needle could be heard, Wang Zheng's sharp eyes were cast on Pan Zhang for a long time, then he suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, and stood up.
Amid clear laughter, Wang Zheng filled a glass of wine himself, left the table, and walked toward Pan Zhang.
When he came near, he personally helped Pan Zhang up, looked at it carefully for a moment, and then stretched out his arms to push the lamp.
"Thank you, general." Pan Zhang was overjoyed. Did the general agree with him as a pioneer?
It seems that the general still trusts me!
Thinking of this, Pan Zhang thanked him for the wine, drank it all in one gulp, and then said excitedly: "I will definitely live up to your expectations by doing this."
After saying that, he was about to turn around and leave, but Wang Zheng stopped him again: "Wen Gui, the good thing I said is that you have been stationed in Jiqiu for half a year and there has been no fighting for a long time, but you have not lost your comfort and lost it.
The fighting spirit is fighting, so the heart is filled with joy.”
Forehead...
Pan Zhang was startled and immediately looked disappointed: "Who does the general want to send as the vanguard? Major Wu?"
"Otherwise." Wang Zheng shook his head and said seriously: "This general has the intention to take Tancheng, but he has never intended to use troops."
"We don't need troops, just rely on Zang Ba's few troops..." Pan Zhang said worriedly: "We may not be able to capture Tancheng."
"If there are enough men and horses, who can't break the city and win?" Wang Zheng said with a smile: "If it is easy, how can he show his Zang Ba's ability and endurance?"
"If Zang Ba doesn't even have this ability..."
At this point, Wang Zheng's smile disappeared little by little, and his face was as calm as water, without any emotion or anger: "Then what use does this person have to me, general?"
As soon as Pan Zhang heard these words, he felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
He wanted to say more, but Wang Zheng didn't want to explain anymore. He just asked him to continue to pay attention to changes in the situation.
Until Pan Zhang's back completely disappeared, Wang Zheng also fell into deep thought. His thoughts were racing in his mind, speculating on the current trends in Dancheng, the possibility of Zang Ba and his party's success, the consequences of failure, and even analyzing the pros and cons and considering countermeasures.
But what he just said is indeed his real consideration.
From the very beginning, Wang Zheng never considered using any troops in Tancheng, the capital of Xuzhou and the heart of the East China Sea.
This is of course not a simple status test to prove Zang Ba's ability, nor is it because his own military strength is stretched thin.
Instead, Wang Zheng considered Yuan Shu's reaction.
In any case, just like the alliance between Sun and Liu against Cao Cao, Yuan and Cao have not parted ways yet, and his identity as a yellow turban bandit has not been cleared, so the alliance with Yuan Shu will still need to last for some time.
In this case, there is still some superficial work to be done between allies. Just like in the future after the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei has taken over the five counties of Jingzhou, and the remaining lonely Nanjun is also in his pocket, and Sun Quan cannot keep it at all.
But Liu Bei still wanted to "borrow Jingzhou".
Without him, it was just a matter of common sense. In the Battle of Chibi, Soochow did put more effort and suffered greater losses. In order to maintain this alliance, face was not given, but face was still given.
Regarding the Tancheng incident, Wang Zheng had already considered the issue of "getting a name" from the moment he started thinking about it.
How to get it, in terms of face, I can explain the past to Yuan Shu.
Because even though Sun Ce had talked about ceding the East China Sea before, the reason why Tancheng's rear defense is empty now is because Liu Bei was forced by Yuan Shu to lead his army to the front line?
And in the final analysis, Yuan Shu's manpower, material resources and even energy devoted to the battle in Xuzhou were indeed far superior to his.
So when Wang Zheng met with Zang Ba that day, he actually hinted at this meaning.
Tancheng can only be offered to others on their own initiative, and the king's government will naturally accept it, but one cannot take the initiative to snatch it away.
Zang Ba also understood the meaning of "it can be accepted but not taken away" and responded confidently.
Zang Ba is not a nobody, so Wang Zheng can just wait and see.
Soon after, Wang Zheng's trust was rewarded.
The next day, Pan Zhang came to report that Tancheng had been ablaze with fire and shouts of murder rising to the sky last night. It seemed that something unexpected had happened.
Three days later, a group of hundreds of riders starting from Tancheng arrived at the foot of Jiqiu City.
It was the envoy sent by Zang Ba, and the leader was Chang Xi.
...
Let other envoys go down to rest first, Wang Zheng immediately summoned Wu Sheng, Pan Zhang and others.
After everyone finished it, Wang Zheng stood up with his sword in hand and shouted: "Map!"
After the guards took out the map and hung it on the wall, everyone followed Wang Zheng to the nearby area. Wang Zheng took off the scabbard and pointed: "Tancheng has been acquired, and the cities to the west are the only barriers between our Kaiyang and Pengcheng armies.
Got it!"
He said one by one: "These places must be firmly controlled!"
Then he turned to the east, thought for a while, and directly ordered: "Send sentries and cavalry to report immediately, and rush to Kaiyang and Pengcheng!"
"Order Yu Jin to send troops to the southwest to capture the remaining Xiangbi, Nanling, and Cheng County cities in Donghai County!"
"Order Xu Fang to send troops to the east to help Yuan Shu's army capture Pi!"
"Here!"
"Wu Sheng, Pan Zhang!"
"The end is here!"
"I order you two to each lead two thousand elite troops to capture Ganyu and Qu counties along the coast of Donghai County within seven days!"
"Here!"
Wang Zheng nodded and looked at Chang Xi behind him: 'It's hot in the summer, and it's very hard to run back and forth. But brother Chang, it's an urgent matter now, so I have to help you again.'
"After you have a rest, you will take the people back to Tancheng and tell Zang Ba that I will be here at noon the day after tomorrow. I will also ask him to prepare his troops and make preparations. In five days, our army will turn west and rush to Xiapi!"
"Here."
Chang Xi came out in response.
At this moment, at that moment, Wang Zheng did not expect that Tancheng would be gained so easily and so quickly. At this moment, he completely put aside the thought of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, and also put aside all other concerns about expansion too fast and the war-weariness of the soldiers.
open.
At this time, the most important thing in Wang Zheng's mind was to quickly stop all Liu Bei's thoughts and drive him out of Xuzhou!
Similarly, since he has sent troops, under such circumstances, Yuan Shu can no longer accuse him of not doing enough work and getting benefits in vain.
...
That night, Wang Zheng issued an emergency assembly order.
Divide the troops into three groups.
The first line was the left wing, and the leader Wu Sheng led 2,000 men directly across Licheng to take Ganyu. The second line was the right wing, and the leader Pan Zhang led 2,000 people directly from Jiqiu to take Quxian.
Naturally, the third group was led by Wang Zheng himself, with two thousand men and horses from Kaiyang, plus Jiqiu's remaining soldiers. Except for five hundred people, all of them were led by him, and they rushed towards Tancheng.
The red sun was in the sky, the flags were cracked, and after a quick trip, on the morning of the third day, we arrived not far from the heart of the East China Sea.
Before anyone arrived, the majestic city had already enthusiastically opened its doors and opened its arms.
Soon after, Zang Ba took the lead, and a group of people rode horses and roared towards Wang Zheng.