"People's hearts are not in harmony, and this is Liu Bei's fault. Therefore, in the past, Jiangdong raised righteous soldiers to attack, and in the later years, the kings of Tancheng obeyed the will of heaven and followed the righteousness, so as to enjoy peace..."
"Because of my poor political integrity, I was able to obtain this treasured land without resorting to war. I relied on famous weapons and the power of the monarch's recommendation in front of the emperor that day..."
"I only heard that the loss of Guan Yu's Huai Ling in the previous campaign seemed to be a plan to lure the enemy deeper. All the princes in front of the battle must be aware of it..."
In the county government's study room in Xiaxiang City, there is such a letter on the table.
After the adjutant on the side finished reading, he couldn't help but look at Yuan Yin: "Captain, this Wang Zhengxin said in the previous battle at Huai Ling that Liu Bei's army faked defeat. This..."
"Listen to this nonsense!" Yuan Yin curled his lips with disdain and snorted: "Scaremongering, our army will be brave and capable, with great momentum, and won the battle with dignity. It was Liu Jun who was defeated and fled, but it hit his mouth
What did it do to lure the enemy in?"
"It's so ridiculous!"
"Then why did he specifically mention this matter in the letter?" The adjutant looked puzzled: "Our two armies are now in an alliance. This concern and reminder is what it should be."
"Why else?" Yuan Yin took the letter and stared at a certain part of it for a moment, frowning tightly: "Tancheng..."
He stood up in a hurry and kept pacing in the hall with a look of resentment on his face. He murmured to himself: "What does this Zhuzi mean, is it the civil and military personnel in Tan City who surrendered to the city on their own initiative?"
"That's what you mean." The adjutant glanced at Yuan Yin and saw that he seemed extremely irritable and unhappy, so he whispered: "We said that war has not been launched, but doesn't that mean that every soldier has not been eliminated?"
"Damn it!" Yuan Yin couldn't help but cursed: "That's unreasonable!"
"My Yuan family has put in a lot of effort, a large army has gone on an expedition, and the three armies have been fighting bravely for several months, but now they haven't even conquered Xiapi!"
"Wang Zheng got a big deal easily from behind!"
The more Yuan Yin thought about it, the angrier he became, and he smacked the case: "It's tolerable, but what can't be tolerated!"
"Tancheng, the East China Sea, and even every inch of land in Xuzhou..." Yuan Yin shouted angrily: "They should all belong to my Yuan family!"
He suddenly turned his head and looked at the adjutant with a fierce look in his eyes: "How long is the journey to Tancheng?"
"More than two hundred miles." The adjutant's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but turn pale with shock: "Colonel Lieutenant, you don't know how to..."
Yuan Yin did not answer directly, but looked thoughtful and said slowly: "Two hundred miles, if the army marches with all its strength, day and night, it will take at most three days to reach the city, right?"
The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was something wrong. His eyes couldn't help but light up, and he asked again: "Didn't Wang Zhengxin say that he had sent a large army to Xiapi in several directions? Then he shouldn't have many people left in Tan County, right?"
"Do you think we can be sure that in the name of celebrating, we can trick the city gates into opening and seize Tan City?"
"This..." the adjutant cursed in his heart. Although he had expected it, he really didn't expect that Yuan Yin would be so greedy and even more stupid. However, he did not dare to refute directly, so as not to offend this relative of the emperor, he could only say tactfully:
"At present, the enemy is approaching. General Qiao asked us to stay behind. This is to guard the east and prevent the enemy's ambush. The reinforcements will detour to Xiapi and cut off our army's logistical supplies."
"How can I leave without permission?"
"When facing battle, if you make the decision without authorization and do not obey the general's orders, the captain will..."
What the adjutant said was reasonable, especially the last sentence, which was like pouring cold water on someone's head, which made Yuan Yin suddenly sober up. Disappointed, he couldn't help but glared at the adjutant, and cursed fiercely:
"Does Qiao Rui still dare to use military law against me?"
Of course, this is nothing more than hard words. After all, Yuan Yin, Potian, is just Yuan Shu's nephew. It is impossible to completely ignore the consequences of disobeying the general's orders. After thinking for a while, Yuan Yin asked again: "What if we divide our troops?"
"The dedication of the city is just the idea of those officials. Not everyone among the soldiers may be convinced, right?"
"Tancheng is a state government, so it is so important. Although I will be happy after winning this Zhuzi, I don't dare to be careless. The soldiers he brings are not many. It is a big city. Not only do we need to divide our troops for defense, but we also need to divide some for guarding.
Those newly surrendered civil and military officials, aristocratic families and even soldiers..."
Yuan Yinyue's analysis became more and more exciting: "We now have six thousand troops in the city, and we will divide half of them. If we take the opportunity to make a sneak attack, then Wang Zheng, in an unexpected situation, can just deceive the city gate..."
"If the captain really has this intention..." the adjutant lamented secretly and was too lazy to persuade him: "At least we should inform General Qiao in advance. After all, he is the commander-in-chief of our army this time."
"That Wang Zheng is not an ordinary person. You, Lieutenant, have seen his abilities when you were in Guangling. If you really want to take Tancheng, with three thousand people... I will think that the chance of victory is not good!"
"Well..." Yuan Yin shook his head and thought for a moment. Anyway, Xiaxiang is not far from Yuan Jun's camp outside Xiapi. It is just a waste of one or two days, so he nodded:
"Forget it, I will prepare a letter right now, and you can arrange for a fast horse to be taken to the main camp immediately."
Yuan Yin didn't think of asking Qiao Rui for his opinion. The adjutant's words were quite right. Wang Zheng was indeed somewhat capable. In this case, he could just use the excuse to ask for some troops.
"Well..." the adjutant said, "Should I also bring Wang Zheng's letters with me, especially the one he mentioned about luring the enemy..."
"There is no need to present such nonsense to Qiao Rui." Yuan Yin waved his hand.
Are you kidding me? Qiao Rui has always been timid. What if she believes her?
...
Wang Zheng sent a letter to Yuan Yin, who was serving as Prime Minister. He was originally worried about the danger of being intercepted by Liu Bei's army from Tan County to Xiapi, so it lost the purpose of reminding Yuan Jun. Unexpectedly, Yuan Yin was more concerned about the change of ownership of Tan County.
, even more so that I feel greedy.
Similarly, when Yuan Yin was salivating over Tan County, he did not know that his own camp was about to encounter a fierce counterattack by Liu Bei's army.
After the troops arrived at Xiapi, Yuan's army closed in on all sides and surrounded the main city. He also began to exterminate the cities around Xiapi one by one, realizing his strategic intention of leaving Xiapi isolated and helpless.
Coach Qiao Rui's idea cannot be said to be wrong. Once it becomes an isolated city and the morale of the army is low, the difficulty of attacking it will naturally be greatly reduced.
Donghai County, outside Liangcheng County.
Perhaps it was because this critical battle was unexpectedly smooth, and it was over in half a day. In addition, since the expedition, Yan Xiang, a civil servant, except for the unfavorable first battle with Ji Ling, has won consecutive battles, and now he has gained confidence.
, after capturing Liangcheng, he personally led most of the troops to take over the work of chasing down the remaining enemies and cleaning up the battlefield.
At first, Yan Xiang thought that he would just chase for more than ten miles. After all, Liangcheng had just been defeated and had to be digested and appeased. However, unexpectedly, when the defeated army chasing Liangcheng arrived at a river, they found many carriage ruts, and then contacted them.
The river bridge was burned down before the defeated army retreated, and Yan Xiang was moved in his heart.
Is this Liu Bei's story passing by before?
And...it's a logistics team?
Now that he had caught a big fish, Yan Xiang was overjoyed and immediately urged his soldiers to build a pontoon bridge. At the same time, he changed his strategy and continued to chase to the end.
The focus now is no longer Liangcheng's remaining defeated generals, but Liu Bei's transport team!
Yan Xiang even wants to trace the source and completely cut off this enemy's transportation artery!
Shortly afterwards, when Yan Xiang led his army across the river, the sentry cavalry in front reported again that they found traces of Liu Bei's army stationed in a village ahead. Judging from various signs, their chasing team got another team here.
Liu Beijun joined.
This verified Yan Xiang's guess.
After ordering the sentry cavalry to investigate carefully, he learned that the number of the two armies after joining was only about a thousand, and Yan Xiang felt relieved.
Before crossing the river, he had already sent a company of fast cavalry back to Liangcheng and notified the garrison in the city. Except for a few hundred people left behind, all of them came to join together. At this time, Yuan's army had three thousand troops.
When he worked with Wang Zheng in Guangling, Yan Xiang was greatly affected, and he highly recognized the style of concentrating the elite, going all out, and completing the battle in one battle. After coming to Xiapi, he led the army alone several times, always striving to hit the target with one blow.
, all at once.
....
In the night, there were little fires.
Between the roars, the military flags are hunting.
After chasing for a while, no trace of the enemy was found. The night wind was biting in his ears and the sound of whimpering made Yan Xiang feel some inexplicable uneasiness in his heart.
Something's wrong?
"Stop the whole army!"
Yan Xiang waved his hand and shouted, then immediately reined up his horse and looked around. There was no sound of insects or birds. The silence was depressing. He looked around and saw that there seemed to be a man-eating beast hidden in the pitch-black night.
Through the moonlight and firelight, he looked up at the sky. There were faint birds hovering in the sky, unwilling to settle down on nearby branches for a long time.
Something is really wrong!
Even the air seemed to smell of danger, and Yan Xiang directly gave orders: "You, lead some people forward, you, lead some people behind, spread out in a semicircle, and observe the surroundings!"
next moment.
Several dots of fire suddenly appeared in front of them. First, two or three dots appeared, but they were so dazzling that Yan Xiang's heartstrings tightened instantly. Then, the fire light changed from two or three dots to dozens of dots, then hundreds, then thousands!
One after another, they turned into groups, intersecting and connecting, and finally turned into a winding fire dragon, directly tearing through the night!
"There's an ambush!"
Yan Xiang roared loudly, and instinctively thought of retreating in his mind, but he immediately shouted: "Get into formation immediately! Meet the enemy!"
Don't panic when you're ambushed, don't retreat in a hurry when you're in danger, don't retreat in peacetime, not even half a step!
Once you retreat, you will plummet!
This is what Wang Zheng told him, and Yan Xiang kept it in mind.
"Don't panic, the enemy only has a thousand people!" Yan Xiang comforted the uneasy soldiers behind him, while turning around and looking around, he confirmed again.
This is a land of plains, with no hills and obstacles to be seen far or near, no soldiers to defeat, no people to hide.
My choice was right!
Secretly cheering himself up, Yan Xiang continued loudly: "The Xuzhou Army cannot defeat us head-on, so they can only play these tricks to stop making us laugh!"
"When we meet on a narrow road, the brave will win! Our army has a long and victorious front, and the enemy's remaining troops will be defeated!"
"Our army is several times larger than the enemy's, and our bravery is even greater than ours. We will win this battle!"
As he spoke, Yan Xiang spat viciously on the ground and shouted: "Brothers, charge with me...I will charge later!"
Before that, he had learned everything about Wang Zheng, but when it came to charging into battle, Yan Xiang was self-aware. He did not have the bravery of that monster, and he never took the lead.
But today, in the critical situation, in order to boost morale, he, the general, can no longer shout "give it to me".
We can only learn from Wang Zheng to the end and say "Follow me!"
...
On the other side, looking at the trace of Yuan Jun in the distance, Zhang Fei smashed his mouth and said with a little regret: "It's a pity, the thief general is a little alert, and he realized something was wrong before he stepped into the encirclement."
"But..." Looking at Yuan Jun who seemed to be setting up a formation ten miles away, Zhang Fei shook his head with a smile and muttered: "It's too late!"
As he said that, he waved his hand fiercely and was just about to order the entire army to move forward and prepare to charge. At this time, the deputy general on the side said: "Sima, we only have two thousand men and horses now. We must guard against thieves and trapped animals."
"I can ride across thousands of armies on my own, but there are only three thousand Jiangdong rats, what's the point?" Zhang Fei snorted coldly when he heard this.
"Sima Hu is so powerful, I have no doubt about it." The deputy general saw Zhang Fei glance at him, his eyes were like lightning, and his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly explained: "It's just that this is the first battle of our army's counterattack. If the soldiers lose too much,
If there are too many, we will get a miserable victory, this..."
He was one of the eighteen Yan cavalry under Zhang Fei. After following him for a long time, he knew his character and was not a general who cared about his soldiers, so he chose the entry point of a tragic victory in the first battle.
These words really hit Zhang Fei's heart. He had lost Guangling due to drunkenness and misunderstanding. He felt very ashamed, and he was even more eager to take responsibility for his crime. Naturally, he would not be satisfied if he defeated miserably. He hesitated for a moment and asked: "Then
did you mean?"
"The enemy's main force has been alerted. Presumably Zhou Mu has recaptured Liangcheng by now and has come with an army. If we line up and move forward, don't rush to engage in battle. Once Zhou Mu's army arrives, we can attack from both front and rear, and we will win a big victory easily!"
"
Wait for big brother to come?
If we win together, will this still be regarded as my meritorious deeds?
These words had the opposite effect, making Zhang Fei's thoughts firmer, "Why bother?"
"I have a solution for your concerns!"
Zhang Fei pointed straight ahead, thrust his spear forward, and said disdainfully: "The rats from the east of the Yangtze River are all a bunch of people!"
"I will charge first later, rush over, and kill the general first. If the rebel army is in chaos, you will take the opportunity to go forward and kill them. Naturally, the soldiers will not suffer too many losses!"
"By the way, didn't the former Liangcheng soldiers say that this general is called Yan Xiang?" Zhang Fei laughed loudly, showing his generosity and heroism: "I felt a little familiar before, but now I remembered that this person is
The second brother will definitely kill this person."
"Wonderful, wonderful. It just so happens that I haven't seen my second brother for many days, and I'm worried that I don't have a gift to give you."
"in this way..."
When the words were paused, the deputy general watched helplessly as the murderous intent suddenly appeared, frozen in Zhang Fei's leopard eyes. His heart felt cold, and his breathing seemed to have stopped for a moment.
"Let's take this person's head as a meeting gift!"
.....
Yan Xiangju sat on the horse and kept adjusting his breathing.
The light of the torches in the distance is getting brighter and brighter, getting closer and closer.
The battle was about to begin, and he kept a close eye on the shape of Liu Bei's army, guessing how many men and horses were ambushing him, what kind of formation the enemy might have, and how to deal with it.
The war was about to begin, and this time he had to go forward in person. Yan Xiang was a little nervous, even scared. He couldn't control his thoughts, so he could only remind others all the time, and never let others see that, whether it was the enemy or his own soldiers,
!
The war was about to begin, and before going into battle in person, he suddenly thought of Wang Zheng.
I thought of the opponent's astonishing martial arts, as if he was truly "God-given".
At this moment, Yan Xiang realized deeply and clearly that from the first time he saw such martial arts, he had disdained him, but in fact he had already felt envious in his heart.
Decades of reading poetry and books cannot erase a Han Dynasty man's deep-rooted yearning for bravery.
How wonderful it would be if I had such courage!
Sighing deeply, Yan Xiang clenched the sword in his hand and looked into the distance.