Shuhan

Chapter 260 Everything south of Ru River will fall into his hands!
Anseong was silent late at night, with only the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves, as if the entire city had fallen into a deep sleep.

Most of the Wei army in Runan was attracted to the area from Baoxin to Xinxi, and even the Wei army that surrounded Ancheng had disappeared.

Zhao Yun quietly gathered under the city wall with an elite cavalry force.

The moonlight shone on them through the gaps in the clouds, making the knife marks and abrasions on the armor extraordinarily bright.

Zhao Yun was wearing heavy armor, and the red feathers on his helmet were swaying gently in the breeze.

His eyes were determined, and the hand holding the spear was very steady.

As expected by His Highness, the Wei army outside An City left.

His Highness used himself as bait to attract the main force of the Wei army to Xinxi City. Now is the best time to leave Ancheng!
of course
This departure is not a retreat, but an advance!

The Wei army was all attracted away. At this moment, Pingyu City was empty of defenses. Tonight was the best chance to capture Pingyu!

His Highness and the military advisor risked their lives to fight. He, Zhao Zilong, must not let down their high hopes!

With a gesture, Zhao Yun led the cavalry to slowly wave the reins, and with the brisk sound of horse hooves, they headed towards Nanru River in the north.

But for a moment.

Zhao Yun, thousands of cavalry, and thousands of infantry stepped onto the shallows of Nanru River.

The water rippled under the horses' hooves without making any sound, as if it was a secret passage paved by the earth for them.

Meng Jian had already been waiting on the shore. His eyes were firm and his strong physique was hidden under his black uniform.

Although he is a Confucian scholar, his martial arts skills are not bad for a scholar of this era.

Meng Jian stepped forward, bowed to Zhao Yun, and said, "General, the boats are ready. In Pingyu City, we are waiting for the general to come."

"Thank you."

Zhao Yun turned to his soldiers and whispered: "My sons, the target of this battle is Pingyu City. We will arrive before dawn. Remember, move quickly and silently, and do not cause any commotion."

After saying that, he didn't waste any more time and immediately headed towards the boat.

Dozens of boats could not bring thousands of people to the other side at one time, but they still had enough time at this moment.

The Han army divided into small groups with a tacit understanding, boarded the boats one after another, quietly crossed the Nanru River, and blended into the night.

Zhao Yun did not wait for everyone to cross the Nanru River before starting his march. Instead, he waited for more than a thousand soldiers to cross the river, then led the more than a thousand elite soldiers and marched towards Pingyu.

Ahead was a dense forest, and Zhao Yun and his cavalry were moving through it like ghosts.

The moonlight shines on them through the gaps in the leaves, wrapping them like a silver cloak.

The slow evening breeze blew the treetops, and the leaves made a faint rustling sound.

The cavalry's horses walked lightly, without any sound being revealed, as if they were moving through the air.

Pingyu City in the distance was brightly lit, and the soldiers guarding the city were probably asleep and defenseless.

"General, I go to the city first and open the city gate."

Meng Jian immediately stood up and asked for orders.

"Sir, please be careful."

Meng Jian nodded, then took the five Meng clan disciples and sneaked towards Pingyu City.

The hook rope entered the city, and not long after, I heard a soft sound of the city gate opening.

Seeing this, Zhao Yun no longer wasted time and immediately took the order and headed towards the city.

"There are grain depots, barracks, government offices, and arsenals in the city. I, the descendants of the Meng family, will all lead the general there. There are more than a thousand guards in the city. The general must fight quickly."

Meng Jian's forehead was covered with sweat.

This matter of stealing the city, if you are not careful, you may end up dead.

Even perish.

The excitement in it is hard to explain to outsiders.

"So, thank you very much."

Zhao Yun successfully infiltrated Pingyu City with the assistance of Meng's children.

After careful planning and intelligence collection, the Meng family members knew various important places in the city and locations where resistance might be encountered.

Zhao Yun commanded his hands to be divided into several small teams, each going to the predetermined target.

Granaries, arsenals, government offices, and barracks.

All are top priority.

Zhao Yun led hundreds of people to the barracks in person.

By the time Zhao Yun arrived at the barracks in the city, the sound of commotion in the city had gradually arisen.

In the barracks, the Wei army began to realize that something was wrong in Pingyu City, but it was too late to make a full response.

Suddenly, a sharp horn pierced the night sky, waking up some Wei soldiers like thunder.

However, they had no time to put on armor and had to grab weapons in a hurry, but they could not organize effective resistance.

Zhao Yun's cavalry rushed into the barracks like a gust of wind, and their silver spears were like the sickle of death, beheading Wei Jun one by one to the ground.

In the chaos, some soldiers tried to resist, but their efforts were quickly defeated.

Zhao Yun's cavalry had a tacit understanding. They cooperated tacitly and quickly cut into the enemy's formation, dismantling them into pieces.

For a moment, screams and the clash of swords and guns rang out in the military camp, and blood dyed the ground in the camp red.

Zhao Yun personally entered the camp and fought hard. As long as the Wei army showed signs of forming a formation to resist, he would lead an attack with his elite cavalry. Without any trouble, the Wei army's formation was immediately dispersed.

In a short period of time, Wei Jun's barracks turned into a sea of ​​blood, and the corpses were scattered on the ground.

Thousands of people in the military camp died or fled or surrendered.

In short, it is unlikely to be a big deal.

"Mr. Meng, major events in the city have been decided. However, if we want to maintain peace, we must have sufficient food and grass, as well as enough troops and people."

Zhao Yun's eyes were very calm.

So calm that it makes you feel cold-blooded.

Meng Jian naturally knew what Zhao Yun was thinking.

"All food and grass from my Meng clan will be sent to the city."

Zhao Yun shook his head slightly and said: "This food and grass is not enough."

Not enough?
"The General Means"

Zhao Yun said coldly: "Search for food and grass regardless of the cost."

The words "regardless of the cost" were too heavy. Even Meng Jian hesitated for a while.

The Meng family does not have enough food and grass, so they can only collect food and grass from other places.

Gentlemen and common people!
"Pingyu City is the key to His Highness and the military advisor's plan. There is no room for error. No matter how serious the crime is, I will bear it alone. I will naturally report the merits of your Meng family to His Highness."

The assistance of Meng's children is crucial.

They were familiar with the city's terrain and intelligence, providing Zhao Yun with valuable information and helping him quickly control various important places in the city.

Now, Zhao Yun also needs their intelligence to collect food and stabilize the situation in the city.

"Never mind."

The Meng clan has completely fallen to the side of the Crown Prince of Hanzhong. Now that they have completely fallen, why do they still worry so much?
"Since we want to keep Pingyu for a long time, some of the people in the city will be released, and at the same time, some of the people will be requisitioned as civilian husbands for the purpose of guarding the city. In terms of food and grass, I will raise money for the general."

Defending a city does not mean that the more people there are, the better.

The city is only that big, and if there are too many people without fighting ability, it will be difficult to defend the city.

It will only be a waste of food and grass, but it will involve military strength to stabilize the situation in the city.

"In addition to providing food and grass and requisitioning civilians, we also need to erect walls and clear the fields outside the city." Liu Chan gave him the task of guarding Pingyu City for a month.

But who is Zhao Zilong?
How about a month?
It must be maintained for at least three months!
Zhao Yun knew that to establish a strong defense in Pingyu City, a large amount of resources and labor would be needed.

The purpose of erecting walls and clearing fields was to ensure that there were no resources around the city walls that could be exploited by the Wei army.

At the same time, the gains from clearing the vertical walls can also be made into city defense equipment.

Such as rolling logs, traps and the like.

"The general is thoughtful."

Now that you have the idea, the next step is to do it.

The requisitioning of civilians and the requisition of grain and grass naturally encountered resistance from the gentry, wealthy households, and common people in the city.

Fortunately, Meng Jian's reputation in Pingyu City is not low.

He entered several gentry mansions one after another and earned a lot of food and grass for the Han army.

of course
The reason why these nobles were willing to send food was that the Han army allowed them to leave the city.

This is exactly what the Han army wants, so they will naturally not disagree.

But those wealthy households and ordinary people are not so easy to talk to.

Especially those wealthy households, who have a team of servants under them. At dawn, several wealthy households joined forces to prepare to stir up rebellion among the people in the city.

Special times require special treatment.

Zhao Yun immediately led the Han army and ransacked the homes of these wealthy households. As for the ordinary people, Zhao Yun finally did not requisition their food and grass, but only requisitioned more than a thousand young and strong laborers, and the rest were released from the city.

Defending the city is indeed important, but if you forget your original intention as a general, how can you talk about being loyal to the emperor and serving the country?
Of course, no one knows whether there is a reason why the collection of food and grass caused anger and resentment in Pingyu City and ruined major events.

Shen Yang.

Chen Tai opened the city gate and welcomed Lu Chang's army into the city.

Looking up, the morale of Lu Chang's soldiers was very low.

The army of thousands of people was silent, without the lofty ambitions of the past.

Their faces were pale and their eyes were full of exhaustion and frustration.

The wounded lay aside, groaning, and some were unconscious.

The dead were carried to a place for burial. Of course, there were many corpses of Wei soldiers still lying outside Xinxi City!
Most of those who could be moved back for burial were minor officers.

The atmosphere in the arena was very dull.

"The Crown Prince of Hanzhong, Liu Gongsi, must have expected this before he went to attack the city." Lu Chang said expressionlessly.

After the defeat, Lu Chang's forehead was covered with sweat. His hair was messy and soaked with sweat. It seemed that it had not been washed for several days.The face was covered with hair, making the originally dark skin look dull.

His expression also lost its previous sharpness, replaced by melancholy and frustration.The bags under his eyes were swollen and he looked like he hadn't slept a wink for several nights.

Although there are not many guards in Xinxi City, there are only three to four thousand people at most, but these three to four thousand people are well prepared.

It's like Zhang Bao, who is obviously a great general, but he is guarding the city in the middle of the night.

When the Wei army attacked the city, the reaction of the defenders on the city was even more rapid.

Moreover, because there were not many defenders in the city, it gave him the illusion that I could capture Xinxi.

As a result, he attacked Xinxi City fiercely, unwilling to retreat, and lost his troops and generals.

However.
After a lot of pulling and pulling, until the reinforcements of the Han army arrived, they still failed to gain new information.

Even Li Ji in the city couldn't cause any commotion. He only briefly caused the Xinxi defenders to be confused for a moment, but they soon returned to normal.

Needless to say.

Li Ji was defeated.

This is also the reason why Lu Chang retreated so quickly.

There is no chance.

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. Although praise is lost, the mere praise of one city will not affect the overall situation of Runan."

After Ancheng was captured by the Han army, the commendation was of little value.

Both cities are on the edge of Nanru River, and Ancheng is still upstream.

"It's just that the food and grass in Baoxin City were taken away. It's really life-threatening."

Lu Chang sighed.

Baoxin City is indeed not that important anymore.

But there is still Wei Jun's food and grass!
The Wei army was already short of food, and now that most of it has been lost, it will be even more difficult to defend Runan.

The Han army has been sending elite cavalry in the rear to harass the grain roads. I am afraid that within a few days, there will be a food shortage in this army.

If he doesn't even have enough to eat, how can his generals still fight with their lives for him?

The morale of the military is going to be unstable!
Chen Tai nodded. The impact of yesterday's battle will be felt in a few days. Now, it is just a short-term pain.

"Last night, the soldiers in the Han army camp outside Shenyang City did not go to Baoxin for rescue. Instead, they abandoned the camp and headed towards Ancheng. It was strange."

The thousands of troops in the Han army camp outside Shenyang City were naturally considered by Lu Chang, so he specially allocated a part of the troops to set up an ambush on the only way the Han army must go to Xinxi to rush to rescue, and prepared to come. Surround Wei and rescue Zhao with one hand.

Even if it is unsuccessful to encircle Wei and save Zhao, these thousands of people will not be able to go to Xinxi and ruin his event.

but.
These thousands of people did not go south, but to the north!
"This is strange. The Wei troops near Ancheng have all withdrawn. It stands to reason that Ancheng is safe."

Lu Chang's brows also frowned.

"Could it be that"

Lu Chang looked at Chen Tai and said, "Could it be that Zhao Yun wanted to escape while our army was being attracted?"

Chen Tai immediately shook his head.

"When I was besieged by the army before, I didn't see him fleeing, and he erected a wall outside the city to clear the field, and he was ready to defend the city. How could he escape easily? If he escaped, wouldn't he give me the Nanru Water and Food Road? waited?"

"Too."

Lu Chang nodded.

"It's just that Ancheng is a small city. Thousands of people are enough to defend the city. A few thousand more people will go and waste food and grass in vain?"

Why do they do this?

Chen Tai thought carefully and said to the guard beside him: "Bring the map!"

Hastily taking the map from the guard servant, Chen Tai couldn't wait to open it. He looked at it carefully and analyzed: "Zhuge Liang led the main force of the Han army to attack Baoxin. There are not enough troops in Xinxi City. The Han people outside Shenyang City Thousands of soldiers are heading to Anseong, so where should the original thousands of soldiers in Anseong go?"

Lu Chang's words woke him up.

Anseong is a small city, and a few thousand people can defend the city.

There is no use in numbers.

Then, there is a possibility that the thousands of Han troops outside Shenyang City went to Ancheng to "change defenses."

Now the question arises, where will the thousands of Han troops who came out of defense go?
"Perhaps Zhuge Liang wanted to be on the safe side and asked Zhao Yun to go and commend him for support?" Lu Chang analyzed a possibility.

Chen Tai nodded and said, "It's possible, but I always feel like something is wrong."

Something is wrong?
"What's the meaning of this statement?"

Could it be that the Crown Prince of Hanzhong has a bigger conspiracy?
Lu Chang thought about it again, and felt that it was very possible!
"Maybe I know Liu Chan's plan."

Chen Tai sighed, the frustration on his face undisguised.

"What plan?"

Chen Tai's eyes were gloomy, but he just slowly uttered two words:
"Pingyu!"

If Pingyu is captured by Zhao Yun, then Runan will really fall into the hands of Liu Gongsi, the crown prince of Hanzhong!
(End of this chapter)