Shuhan

In fact, since leaving Ziwu Road, Wei Yan has not sent troops easily.

Because he collected intelligence inside and outside Chang'an City.

There are still more than 20,000 Wei troops in Chang'an City. It is impossible for these thousands of people to attack Chang'an when Chang'an City is well prepared.

Especially when he found out that besides Xia Houmao, there was also Zhang He who was staying in Chang'an.

Zhang He was the pillar of Hebei's court back then, and Wei Yan still knew his abilities.

If there was only Xia Houmao, he would go to Chang'an to try his luck, but for now, forget it.

It is better to stay on the line from Duling to Lantian, and you can also involve the main force of the Wei army for the main army.

His role as a partial teacher has been achieved.

There is a city in Duling.

But this city is very small, and its main purpose is actually to guard the imperial tomb.

Duling is the tomb of Emperor Xuan Liu Xun in the late Western Han Dynasty.

This Liu Xun is the famous Liu Bingji, who is the great-grandson of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, grandson of the violent prince Liu Ju, and son of Liu Jin, grandson of Emperor Shi of the Han Dynasty.

Under his governance, the comprehensive national strength of the Western Han Dynasty reached its peak, which is known as the "Reign of Xiaoxuan" in history. After his death, Liu Xun, Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty Liu Bang, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che became the four emperors with temple titles.

Cao Zhang looked at Du Ling from a distance and had a lot of thoughts in his heart.

The Western Region Protectorate was established by this dynasty.

Could he, Cao Zhang, leave the Western Regions again?

While Cao Zhang was fascinated, the scouts arrived in a hurry.

"General, a large army of ten thousand people has come out of Chang'an City and is heading towards Du Ling."

coming!

Wei Yan didn't feel any emotion when he was in Du Ling.

He is now focused on making meritorious deeds.

"The small town of Duling is not a place to hold on to."

Wei Yan looked at the small town of Duling and knew that this place was not a place to hold on.

After all, this is just a place for the mausoleum guards to be stationed. Even after expansion, the extent of expansion is limited.

"The entire army retreats to Lantian!"

From now on, offense and defense will change.

He, Wei Yan, came out from Ziwu Road not to attack the city, but to make sandbags to attract the Wei army to attack.

of course
There are dangers in this move.

If the main force fails to make progress in Chencang Road and he is trapped in the isolated city, there is a full risk. If he is not careful, the whole army may be wiped out.

Therefore, Wei Yan placed half of the Han army in Ziwu Valley to support Lantian at any time.

Even if the situation is not good, it can still help the Han army in Lantian break out.

The next day.

The Wei army led by Zhang He came to the city.

Looking at the Wei Ziya flag and Cao Ziya flag on Lantian, Zhang He immediately understood who was coming.

Wei Yan, the governor of Hanzhong.

And Cao Zhang, the Marquis of Yanling!
These two can be said to be heavyweights.

"General, do you want to start attacking the city now?"

Lantian is not a fortified city. Although Wei Yan prepared the city defense overnight, after all, he only had one day and one night, so the preparation was relatively insufficient.

There is a probability that a city can be captured.

But Wei Jun's damage will definitely not be small.

"Lantian is only besieging but not attacking. Let's go to Ziwu Valley to see the situation first."

If there are Han troops guarding Ziwu Valley, it means that the Han troops coming out are just the vanguard.

The army is still behind them.

At noon, Zhang He arrived at Ziwu Valley and saw Han army flags flying in the Ziwu Valley camp.

This place is also heavily guarded by Han troops!
"General, do you want to attack the stronghold?"

Lantian is a small town, but a small town is also a city. Ziwu Valley is a cottage. No matter how strong a cottage is, it is easier to attack than a city.

Zhang He thought for a moment and nodded.

"Conquer Ziwu Valley!"

In fact, according to his idea, these ten thousand troops should not be brought out now, but should stick to Chang'an.

If Chang'an is defended, Guanzhong will not be lost.

Because reinforcements from the Wei army will continue to come.

So what if more Han troops come out of Ziwu Valley?

Chang'an cannot be captured, and given the difficulty of the Ziwu Road, it is simply impossible for the Han army to go back.

First of all, there is not enough food and grass.

In other words, the Han army became a turtle in the urn.

Wei should encourage the main force of the Han army to come out from Ziwu Road.

If the Han Dynasty really launched the Northern Expedition, those who came out of Ziwu Road could only be a partial division of the Han army, but not the main force of the Han army.

It's a pity that even if he says these words, Xia Houmao may not listen.

As a general, he could only obey orders.

"Let's attack the stronghold!"

What Zhang He can do now is to try to preserve the strength of the 10,000 troops brought out from Chang'an so that he can quickly support Chang'an.

However, before attacking the stronghold, you still need to make some preparations.

For example, building a camp to deal with the main force of the Han army that may appear, and building siege equipment for attacking the stronghold.

I, Zhang He, do want to attack, but I will delay for a few days to see if the number of Han troops in Ziwu Valley increases.

If there is, it means that the main force of the Han army came from here. If not, it proves that this road is a partial division of the Han army's Northern Expedition.

He can no longer attack.

If this road is really a partial route for the Han army, then in which direction will the main force of the Han army come?

Baoxie Road, Luogu Road, or Chencang Road?

Zhang He began to think deeply.

On the other side, Wei Yan was surprised to find that there was no Wei army attacking the city.

"This man came with troops, but he didn't attack the city. He just surrounded us. How can we explain it?"

Wei Yan's face was full of doubts.

"Looking at the flag, Zhang He is leading the troops this time. Xia Houmao ordered him to send troops. It seems that he is reluctant."

Zhang He is now General Zuo, and has been awarded the title of Marquis of Min County. His official titles are very high.

But Wei Guo just trusted its own people and valued its own people. Xia Houmao, a young boy, could stand on his head and shit.

But when Zhang He reached this stage, he could already do things as he pleased.

He did not disobey Xia Houmao's order, and he did come. As for whether he came to attack or not, that is another matter.

"Zhang He is a brave general. The important task of guarding Chang'an is not given to him, but to Xia Houmao. It seems that Chang'an deserves to be taken by us!"

Cao Zhang shook his head and said: "Our route can only be regarded as a partial force. What really determines the outcome of the battle is His Majesty's route."

Wei Yan grinned, but he didn't think so.

"Sometimes partial troops can be surprise troops. Maybe Chang'an will be captured in our hands in the end!"

Capture Chang'an?

Cao Zhang said with a smile: "Maybe, but even if we capture Chang'an, as long as we don't capture Tongguan and Puban, we can't say we captured Guanzhong."

Guanzhong is a basin. If the entrance is not occupied, the Wei army will continue to enter Guanzhong, and the war will not stop for a moment.

"There are countless foreigners in Guanzhong. Even if we occupy Guanzhong, how to appease them is still a problem."

Hahaha~
Wei Yan laughed loudly, his tone was quite heroic.

"I think you are thinking too far. You are thinking about Tongguan before Chang'an is captured. You should think more about how to capture Chang'an!"

Three days after Zhang He sent troops, Xia Houmao in Chang'an received another news.

Tens of thousands of Han troops came out of Chencang Road. In a short period of time, they captured the five cities of Chencang, Yongxian, Yumi, Yixian, and Wugong, and directed their troops towards Huaili.

Once you hit Huaili, you have entered the core area of ​​Guanzhong.

In the northeast corner of Huaili is Maoling, where Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty lived, and further up are Pingling, Anling, and Changling, all reaching the resting place of the Han Emperor.

If the fight continues, we will reach Chang'an.

However, in order to destroy the Han army coming out of Ziwu Road, he transferred some of the garrison troops from the cities west of Chang'an.

Now the cities to the west don't have many soldiers to defend them.

If we wait until the Han army reaches Chang'an, it will be over. "Quickly order General Zuo to return to the division. Send the soldiers from each city that were previously recruited. Be sure to hold on to each city and wait for the commander-in-chief to return to Chang'an. Then everything will be fine."

As a result, the Wei troops that were hastily mobilized from various cities in Guanzhong were sent back again.

After going back and forth, the soldiers continued to complain. The most important thing was that Xia Houmao sent them back without providing them with food and grass.

If these soldiers were from the Han Wei army, then it would be easy to say that the more honest ones would just go back, but the soldiers recruited from foreigners are not a good thing. If they don't give me food and grass, then I will just rob them.

So on the outskirts of Chang'an, the conscripted soldiers, especially the foreign soldiers, directly plundered the villages and manors around Chang'an, and they were simply robbed.

Seeing this, some originally obedient Wei troops also joined the looting team.

D!

They all robbed it, wouldn’t it be a loss if I didn’t rob it?

It was under such circumstances that Zhang He returned to Chang'an.

"Rogue soldiers, they are all rioters!"

Zhang He is back, and Xia Houmao has finally found his backbone.

"Those conscripted soldiers actually dared to plunder the people of Chang'an. What's worse, they actually dared to attack Chang'an. If it weren't for the brave soldiers who defended the city, the city of Chang'an would have been destroyed by these rebel soldiers."

Xia Houmao was still a little shocked at this moment.

When the rebellion first broke out, he personally led a cavalry army of a thousand people, preparing to teach these rebels a lesson.

As a result, those rebel soldiers were very powerful, but Xia Houmao almost died.

Now he was angry and scared.

"The disaster caused by the rebellion is a trivial matter, the big thing is to defend Chang'an!"

In fact, when he came back, Zhang He dealt with several groups of soldiers who were looting in the countryside.

From their mouths, we also learned the cause and effect of the matter.

"These soldiers and thieves disobeyed military orders, committed chaos and looting, and were complicit in conspiracy. How can it be considered a trivial matter?"

Seeing that Xia Houmao actually wanted to severely punish the rebellious soldiers, Zhang He had a wry smile on his face.

"The guards, they were ordered to come and obey orders, and they brought the food and grass with them themselves. When the guards sent them back, they should have given them some money and food. After all, many people had traveled hundreds of miles to come here, and they plundered , It’s just to meet military needs. Although it is guilty, it does not go to the point of treason.”

People come over to help you out of trouble, but you end up sending them home with just a word of dismissal?
Especially among these requisitioned sergeants, there are many Huns and Qiang Di. Those foreigners will not be polite to you.

Today, many foreign tribes in Guanzhong still live the same way as in the grasslands and mountains.

To put it bluntly, Wei is their great khan and king.

You can order us to go out and fight, but you have to give us some of what we gain from fighting.

Reject prostitution for free.

But what is the situation now?
You asked us to come over, but you didn't give us any benefits and just asked us to go back?
Is this a beacon fire show on princes?

How can such a thing exist in this world?

This may be what the chiefs were thinking.

"I was so impatient that I don't remember this matter. However, putting aside this matter, they are so domineering. If they dare to rob around Chang'an now, they will really dare to plot rebellion in the future. Besides, there are many manors outside Chang'an. The property of the Cao family and the Xiahou family cannot be let go like this!"

"The last general's manor in the southern suburbs of Chang'an was also plundered, and the few beauties he raised were plundered by the rebels."

Hearing this, Xia Houmao's eyes lit up and he immediately said: "These rebels must be severely punished. Please lead the troops to quell the rebellion to serve as a warning and stabilize the morale of the Chang'an army! I will give you ten beautiful concubines at that time, as well. Not a problem.”

Zhang He shook his head and said: "Guard, now is not the time to vent your anger. We must guard Chang'an until reinforcements arrive. That is the most important thing for you and me now."

Xia Houmao was dissatisfied, but he could only patiently say: "What do you have in mind?"

"Please also ask the guard to re-gather these sergeants, open the Chang'an treasury, give them rewards, and forgive them for the crimes they committed in the past two days."

There are only 20,000 people in Chang'an now.

There are too few people.

Although these conscripted soldiers are unruly, they can be regarded as a useful force when united.

"This is impossible!"

Xia Houmao frowned and looked very ugly.

"These people dare to plunder outside Chang'an. If we recruit them, wouldn't they be allowed into Chang'an to plunder? These people may be a scourge. After the Han army arrives, they will follow the Han army to deal with us."

Seeing Xia Houmao's reaction so fiercely, Zhang He looked serious and said: "If we let them plunder, they will really be used by the Han army. The general is willing to issue a military order. If they are recruited and these people dare to cause trouble, please Guard and behead me!"

Zhang He felt really tired now.

When are you still worrying about this?

Defending Chang'an is the most important thing.

This is the world of your Cao family and Xiahou family, not my world of Zhang He.

Zhang He suddenly felt as if the emperor was not in a hurry and the eunuch was.

"If that's the case, then according to the general, the Han army is already attacking Huaili. If Huaili is defeated, there will only be Xiliuju in front of Chang'an that can be defended. But Xiliuju is not a strong city. It's difficult. ~"

Xiliuju is just a military stronghold, not even a city.

In fact, the only ones that can really stop the Han army from entering the pass through Chencang Road are Sanguan and Chencang.

After these two cities were taken, if we gathered a large army to defend Yongxian and Wugong, we could still block the Han army from the pass, but now, it is impossible.

Next, there is the brutal Chang'an guard battle.

Thinking of the situation inside and outside Chang'an, Xia Houmao began to sigh unconsciously.

Seeing that Xia Houmao's morale was low, Zhang He immediately said:
"We don't need to worry about the outside of Chang'an City. Now we just need to guard Chang'an and wait for reinforcements. Chang'an City is full of food and grass, and there are sufficient defensive equipment. As long as we are not afraid of the Han army and hold on for a month, reinforcements will definitely come!"

just
Can you really hold on for a month?

Xia Houmao was unsure.

"Can we hold on for a month? In other words, will reinforcements really arrive in a month?"

Luoyang's army was gathered in Xuzhou and could not be supported in a short time.

And if Cao Zhen's army to fight the rebellion wants to support Chang'an, the way back to the army will definitely be blocked by the Han army.

Even if he doesn't know much about military affairs, he understands that he needs to send people to block Cao Zhen's returning army. Wouldn't Liu Xuande understand?

maybe a month
Large reinforcements may not arrive even for two months.

Changan
Dangerous!

Xia Houmao looked desperate at first, but he looked at Zhang He, as if he had thought of something, rolled his eyes and said: "Chang'an is a strong city and needs famous generals to guard it. When it comes to running the army, I am not as good as Zuo General, if we don't manage the defense of Chang'an, we will leave all the power to General Zuo."

You should have done this a long time ago!

Seeing Xia Houmao's awakening, Zhang He breathed a sigh of relief. He cupped his fists and saluted Xia Houmao and said, "The general will definitely live up to his mission!"

Xia Houmao nodded and said: "For reinforcements, the sooner they arrive, the better. I will go to Luoyang to ask for reinforcements."

what?
Zhang He thought he heard wrongly.

"The guard is going to Luoyang?"

Isn't this just running away?

Zhang He thought this guy had changed his gender, but he turned out to be scared to death.

"What? I can't go?"

Xia Houmao's face showed displeasure.

"To convey the message, we only need to send an envoy. The guard is now the supreme commander in Guanzhong, how can he leave at this time? If this is the case, then the morale of the army will be in chaos."

However, Xia Houmao had already decided to leave.

He was already ready to throw the blame for losing Chang'an to Zhang He.

"General Zuo needs no further words. All matters in Chang'an will be left to General Zuo."

Seeing Xia Houmao leaving in a hurry, Zhang He could only shake his head.

Yeah.

If a burden is removed, maybe the situation will be better.

If he comes to point fingers at a critical moment, he may burn the good situation to the ground.

"That being the case, please be on guard!"

After Xia Houmao left and Zhang He took over all matters in Guanzhong, he immediately ordered the garrison to post notices, open the Chang'an treasury, re-issue the recruitment order, and prepare to mobilize the people in Chang'an City to prepare for all matters in Chang'an.

Almost immediately, Zhang He stabilized the turmoil inside and outside Chang'an.

Time passed bit by bit.

In a blink of an eye, it will be ten days later.

Even outside Chang'an City, you can see the cavalry of the Han Army.

Zhang He was a little nervous, but also a little excited.

Now Chang'an is in danger and Guanzhong is in danger!

It seems like a very dangerous thing.

But thinking about it from another perspective, is this also an opportunity for him to make a contribution?

If the Han army is defeated and Guanzhong is defended, then Zhang He will be the first to succeed!
By then, no one from the Cao family or the Xiahou family would be qualified to stand on his head and shit! (End of chapter)