Shu Chen

Chapter 190 Confused
With countless voices of "willing to surrender" resounding across the battlefield, Xia Houru, who led the cavalry back in a detour, led the troops back despite a lot of unwillingness in his heart.

Although he has been in the army for decades, he does not lack the awareness and courage to die in battle.

Although facing the failure here, he is more willing to lead the cavalry to kill the Han army that is surrendering.

Although all the cavalry were buried here, the situation of the battle could not be reversed.

But if you use your emotions, you can relieve the grief and indignation in your chest, and you can fulfill the oath of living and dying with your confidants before going out; and with the determination to not fear death, even if the Han army wins, it will be a tragic victory with heavy casualties.

He can seek benevolence and get benevolence!

However, he is a general in charge of the army, and he is also the commander-in-chief of Wei State's control of Liangzhou.

No matter when, where, and in what situation, you must abandon your personal emotions, always keep a calm head, and make the most appropriate decisions.

The main force of the Han army attacking Liangzhou was in Xiping County, and his death here was of no benefit to the current situation.

On the contrary, as the commander-in-chief of Liangzhou, his death will make all the scholars and Qianghu tribes even more desperate for the result of Wei's defense against the Han army.

Let's go back.

It's the last time before drawing the end of his official career, let's start from the overall situation.

Yes, he already had a realization in his heart.

With few enemies and a defensive position, he lost nearly [-] soldiers in battle. Luoyang Temple will not spare him lightly in this kind of result.

Even if Da Sima Cao really begged for him, he still couldn't keep it.

Relying on his diligence and meritorious service in the past, his ending should be deposed without accident and he will die at home.

After all, the Xiahou family is different today.

In the past, when Weiwu Cao Cao started his business, he treated both the Xiahou family and the Cao family as clans.

Even more important than Cao's.

For example, Xiahou Dun, the leader of the Xiahou clan, has always been in official positions above Cao Ren, and is the only person who is allowed to enter and leave Cao Cao's bedroom in Wei Wu at will.

It's just that, once the emperor and the courtiers.

After Wei Wendi Cao Pi came to the throne, he was nepotism because of the palpitations of "Wei Duoyi", and he also paid much less attention to the Xiahou family than the Cao family.In the eyes of today's emperor Cao Rui, the Xiahou family is the hero of the Wei State, and it is only a hero.

Of course, there are many factors that caused this result.

For example, the talents of the Xiahou clan withered.

Xiahou, who was highly praised by Wei Wu Cao Cao, died young, Xiahou Rong, who was different from Wei Wen Cao Pi, died in Hanzhong, and Xiahou Shang, who was the country's dry city, died in his prime
Those who have extraordinary talents will never have a holiday.

Leaving only a group of talented people alive, how can they prosper!
Now that he is deposed again, maybe it will make Xiahou family worse?
In other words, he was promoted to General Zhengxi and supervised the Liangzhou military affairs. This ending was already foreseeable.

After Longyou and Xiaoguan were lost, Liangzhou could not be defended.

This is a definite number!

The difference is just a matter of sooner or later.

But the responsibility for the loss of territory always needs to be borne by people.

He's just the right guy.

After all, for the sake of internal stability and the majesty of Wei State, Luoyang Temple cannot bear such responsibility.

Naturally, he also has a way to resolve it.

That is heroic death.

In addition to leaving an unusable posthumous name for himself, he will also continue the heroic name of the Xiahou family.In addition, in order to demonstrate benevolence and righteousness and encourage the latter, Luoyang Temple will also posthumously confer his loyalty, so that the responsibility for his defeat will dissipate with his death.

Just, forget it.

In any case, he was a man who started his military career during the period of Wei Wu and Cao Cao.

It should also continue the Wei Wu period, the style of the princes of Xia, regardless of self-interest, dedicated to the foundation of the Wei State without complaint or regret.

But please do so with a clear conscience.

The defeat was due to one's own mediocrity, not self-interest.

With this in mind, Xia Houru led the cavalry back to the camp to tidy up, and then retreated overnight to Yuzhong County to guard the gate of Jincheng County: Sangyuan Gorge.

Everything that can be transported away, such as luggage, food and fodder, was brought.

If you can't bring it, you will burn it, and you can't keep it as an enemy.

As for the surrounding Li Shu, he did not migrate, or he let the soldiers force the young and strong to transport the luggage.

Time is running out.

After the Han army surrendered the prisoners, they would inevitably pursue them.

Now it was night again, and the time it took for the soldiers to go from house to house to force Li Shu to move was enough for the Han army to catch up.

In fact, his decision was not wrong.

The pursuit of the Han army came faster than he imagined.

Zheng Pu at the back of the barracks, after learning that Wang Mi died in battle and his lieutenant general surrendered, he asked Mi Wei, who had been guarding the supplies, to lead his troops out from the back door of the barracks, and went around to the front barracks to help in the battle.

When they arrived, all the infantry of the Wei army fell to the ground and begged to surrender.

When Zhang Ni saw him coming, he handed over the matter of taking the prisoners to him, and led the Xuanwu army with high morale to chase after him overnight.

The distance between the barracks of the Han and Wei Dynasties was no more than thirty miles.

Marching all the way in a hurry, they arrived at Wei Junying when the first ray of morning light broke.

At this time, Xia Houru was able to let the cavalry soldiers load the grain, fodder and supplies into the carts, and use the horses to transport the grain, fodder and supplies to leave.If it is half an hour late, the two sides will fight again.

Both sides were exhausted troops, and with the morale of the Han army, Zhang Yi's troops were more or less able to follow and chase and return with some supplies.

Zheng Pu led the army to arrive in the afternoon.

The chiefs and elders of various villages here have been summoned by the soldiers of the Xuanwu Army to wait for a long time.

They are all docile, with a very numb "calmness".

Liangzhou has been disturbed for decades, and the brave and ruthless people have joined the army to fill the ditch; the bloody people with strong temperament and unbearable humiliation have long been killed or found a crooked neck tree to hang on the southeast branch.

Li Shu, who can still live in peace by farming and grazing, has long been accustomed to the changing banners.

Anyway, no matter which side's flag is flying here, they will never forget to confiscate their grain, fodder, cattle and sheep as military supplies.

Anyone who pays is paid, the difference is just more or less.

Furthermore, compared with Wei State, which ruled Liangzhou Haoyou and had strict laws and regulations in the past, the taxes of the Han court may be less.

A skinny body, lifeless face, dull eyes, thin and ragged clothes.
When Zheng Pu summoned them, the emotion of "I would rather be a peaceful dog than a chaotic person" flashed in my heart for an instant, and I lost interest in talking with them.

There is nothing to talk to with a group of people who are heartbroken.

After getting a general idea of ​​the number of Li Shu and the distribution of various villages here, Zheng Pu asked Junzheng to do the job for them, explaining to them the standards and laws of the Han court for tax collection.

This made their eyes suddenly brighten.

Moved, doubted, frightened, apprehensive...etc.

They couldn't believe it.

Compared with the materials collected by the Wei State, the taxes of the Han court were much lower.

Moreover, this young general with a scar on his face even claimed that the land here of the aristocratic family in Jincheng County was confiscated and counted and given to them to cultivate.

The requirements are very simple, don't gather crowds to make trouble, and just perform corvee according to the law.

Is the current Han court so benevolent?
These village chiefs and three elders all invariably remembered what their fathers and grandparents had said about the tyranny of the Ling Emperor period.They also all set their sights on a village chief who had just entered his forties but was as old as his sixties.

He is already the oldest "highly respected" person among the crowd.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally plucked up the courage to prostrate himself on the ground, and asked doubts in a trembling voice for everyone, "General, do we really only need to pay these taxes and do corvee?"

"Correct."

Gently nodding his head, Zheng Pu replied in a very gentle and gentle voice, "My old man, the taxes in all states and counties of my Han Dynasty are the same, there will be no more. If there are younger generations in the family who recruit soldiers, the court will also You don't have to worry about reducing the tax at home accordingly."

"Thank you General for your kindness!"

"Thank you General"

As soon as Zheng Pu's words fell, all the village chiefs and elders fell to the ground, choked up and thanked each other, weeping uncontrollably.

oh~~~
What some people take for granted is like a gift to others.

After being escorted back by the lieutenant chief and the three elders, Zheng Pu also put away his heavy heart and went to inspect the busy soldiers in each battalion.

Since last night, all the Han soldiers have not eaten or slept.

At this moment, it was the time to bury the pot and make food, and the various departments were assigned to take turns to rest. As the general, he needed to show his face everywhere to appease the soldiers, in order to avoid complaints from those soldiers who had drawn lots to be on duty.

This is also impossible.

When the leader is outside, no one dares to let all the soldiers rest.

Otherwise, who can guarantee that Xia Houru, who has already led the army back, will come again to hide and kill.

After all, in the Battle of Wancheng in previous years, Jia Xu suggested to pursue again after Zhang Xiu failed in the first pursuit and defeated Wei Wu and Cao Cao. Any general is familiar with it.

Under the guard of his subordinates, Zheng Pu walked slowly.

Sometimes he smiled and nodded to the soldiers who built the camp, sometimes he chatted and laughed with the patrolling soldiers, and sometimes he stamped his feet to pat the snow off the bodies of the soldiers on duty.

Yes, it's snowing again.

In Liangzhou, which has just entered winter and December, the wind is like a knife and the snow is constantly falling.

This caused great trouble to the Han army stationed outside.

The remnants of the camp that Xia Houru burned before leaving were still emitting small flames and choking black smoke, so Zheng Pu had no choice but to move the camp to an open area by the Yuanchuan River.

Without the cover of the leeward mountains, both the manpower required for security and the danger of being attacked are greatly increased.

Even felling firewood is difficult.

Or, let the Miwei Department escort the captives and the captured ordnance back tomorrow?

There are more than three thousand prisoners of the Wei army. Although they can undertake coolies such as building camps and fortifications, it is too much food and fodder.

Now that the victory has been achieved, there are not many soldiers and horses defending Jincheng County against the Wei Dynasty. Thousands of soldiers and horses are left to threaten Sangyuan Gorge in Yuzhong County.

I just don't know, how many soldiers and horses will Xia Houru dispatch from Xiping County?
Also, I don't know how many troops against the Wei Dynasty were restrained by General Zhenxi's troops approaching the Siwang Gorge?
If you can't restrain too much, how about I write a letter and ask him to divide some troops to come here and attack Sangyuan Gorge together?

Zheng Pu, who finished his tour of the camp, stood on the banks of the Yuanchuan River that spread from the big river, and gently pushed aside the thin layer of ice to wash his face with water.The icy river water covered his face, and his drowsy mind instantly woke up, and he couldn't help thinking about his next plan.

When he led the army here at the beginning, he did not expect such a big victory.

Therefore, the scheduling that was just a restraint before was naturally out of date.

Go to the book and ask for orders to attack Sangyuan Gorge?
Or is it just stationed here, waiting for the military reports from other generals?
Zheng Pu had a hard time choosing.

If it is an attack, it is necessary to dispatch troops from other places to help guard Xiangping City, so that the Guan Xing Department can come to attack together with food, fodder and siege equipment.

It is definitely not enough to use his own troops.

The terrain of the Jincheng County (Lanzhou) basin is determined. If Sangyuan Gorge is captured, the entire Jincheng County can drive straight in.Ru Wei Xia Houru would rather give up Xiping County than neglect the defense of Sangyuan Gorge.

It is also very difficult if it is only stationed.

The distance here is quite far from Pingxiang City, and the wind and snow will not stop until next spring and February, so it is a big problem to just transfer grain and fodder.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Just as Zheng Pu was thinking, the soldiers on duty on the north side of the barracks blew their horns.

Enemy? !

Standing up straight suddenly, Zheng Pu strode towards the north side of the barracks.

Climb up to the observation platform and look out as far as the eye can see.

I saw a group of soldiers and horses coming slowly from four or five miles away. There were about three 400 people on cavalry and about the same on infantry.

Just a little weird.

The infantry seemed to be in charge, and the cavalry were also driving a large herd of cattle and sheep.

Driving cattle and sheep with the army, which Qianghu tribe is this?

Zheng Pu put his hand on his chin.

"General, I have ordered the soldiers to line up and assigned manpower to guard the prisoners."

Zhang Ni, who came up after a while of footsteps, reported with a tired face, "It's just that our army is exhausted, and my subordinates suggest that we should stick to the camp for the time being."

"okay."

Nodding his head, Zheng Pu smiled at him, "The visitor does not look like an enemy, but it's okay to be cautious."

Indeed, cavalry with less than a thousand people is not a threat to the Han army.And after the soldiers and horses had traveled nearly a li or two, one of them separated out and came, shouting while galloping.

Zheng Pu took a closer look, and it turned out to be Liang Yuanbi from the Xiongnu branch.

This small tribe with only more than [-] settled (households) had taken the initiative to point out the water source to the Han army before, and now it has sent a big gift.

Those pawns were the Wei army who fled north last night and strayed into their tribe's pasture.

As for why they are still driving cattle and sheep~~~
Liang Yuanbi wants to attach himself to the big man.

Knowing the battle last night from the prisoners of the Wei Army, he felt that Liangzhou must belong to the big man in the future, so he played the trick of "take what you want, you must give it first".

Thinking of sheltering under the wings of the big man, so that the tribe can survive more nourishingly.

No matter how bad it is, it can still pull the might of the big man, so that other Qianghu tribes dare not bully him who is weak.

Zheng Pu was overjoyed at his arrival.

It's not that they are complacent about "eat pots of pulp to welcome the king's teacher", but they feel that this Xiongnu tribe can be used to attack their hearts!

Three days later, Sangyuan Gorge.

Zheng Pu brought Zhang Bao's armored cavalry and Liang Yuanbi's hundreds of tribesmen to watch the terrain of the pass.

And Xia Houru, who was on the pass, also watched silently outside the pass.

When I was young, I closed my eyes suddenly and sighed in my heart.

In Liangzhou, there are more Qianghu tribes than the Li Shu of the Han family, and now some Qianghu tribes have defected to Nishu.
(End of this chapter)