At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 194 Huang Zhong shows off his evil ways, and the coachman offers advice

"kill!"

Qu Chang steadfastly guarded the top of the city, killed several people in a row, and finally blocked the gap again, driving all the Jingzhou soldiers out.

At this time, Qu Chang was already wearing several wounds, but he still stood firm, with murderous aura all over his body.

"Chang Qu, even if we include the injured brothers, we have less than 400 people. If reinforcements don't arrive tomorrow, the city will really be undefendable!"

Qu Chang covered his wound and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "If you can't hold on, you have to hold on!"

They are not fighting on their own soil, but they are going deep alone and they are invaders.

If you fight locally, you can also recruit civilians in the city to help defend the city.

In this way, the dilemma of insufficient defenders can be greatly alleviated.

It's just that Qu Chang didn't trust the people in the city, so instead of being able to use them, he had to take precautions against them.

Otherwise, once the people in the city colluded with the army outside the city, with the troops in Qu Chang's hands, they might not be able to defend for a day.

Early the next morning, Huang Zhong sent troops to attack Yiyang again. Seeing that even though the city's defenders were seriously injured, they still refused to retreat and charged at the front line.

Huang Zhong couldn't help but feel admiration in his heart, and asked his subordinates: "Have you ever found out who the guard general in the city is?"

The people around hurriedly replied: "Yesterday, I was lucky enough to catch a man who fell from the city wall but survived. After interrogation, I learned that the city guard was the commander of Xu Huang's command."

When Huang Zhong heard this, his face was full of surprise at first, and then he said angrily: "A mere commander with only a thousand soldiers and horses actually blocked my army for several days."

"The order goes down. Today we will fight to the death. We must conquer Yiyang. If we are afraid of fighting, we will kill them all!"

No wonder Huang Zhong is like this.

He prided himself on being brave and well-versed in military literature. If Yiyang was a general guarding the city of Yangzhou, Huang Zhong would not think anything of it.

Nowadays, he is a dignified Zhonglang general, and besides Liu Biao, he is almost the highest-ranking general in Jingzhou.

I never thought that I would be blocked by a music director today, unable to advance even an inch.

Huang Zhong's issuance of this order made the situation of the defenders in the city even worse.

Seeing a series of fresh lives, one after another fell to the top of the city, but under the leadership of Qu Chang, the remaining Yangzhou soldiers still repelled the Jingzhou soldiers time and time again.

Huang Zhong was angry and shouted: "Bring the shield, I will personally lead the troops to the top of the city!"

The people on the left and right hurriedly advised: "The general is the commander-in-chief of the three armies, how can he personally take risks?"

"The last general is willing to attack the city on behalf of the general."

Huang Zhong was furious and shouted: "I am the commander-in-chief. If I don't take the lead in attacking the city, who will die for me!"

"Don't talk nonsense. When I ascend the city, you all must beat the drums to cheer me on!"

Huang Zhong then wore heavy armor and held an iron shield. He personally risked the arrows and stones, and climbed up the city with his soldiers.

When the Jingzhou soldiers saw their commander personally attacking the city, their morale was greatly shaken and they moved forward bravely.

Huang Zhong had great strength and held an iron shield to block all the arrows.

In order to protect Huang Zhong, the Jingzhou soldiers under the city all moved their crossbowmen close to the city wall, and shot arrows at the city wall as if they were free of charge.

But Huang Zhong climbed all the way to the top of the city wall, and immediately several Yangzhou soldiers came at him with spears, trying to stab him down.

Huang Zhong protected himself with an iron shield, then suddenly swung his sword and cut off all the spears.

Huang Zhong took the opportunity to jump onto the city wall, flying up, down, left and right with the sword in his hand, and soon created an open space at the top of the city.

Qu Chang saw Huang Zhong's armor and knew that the opponent was a general in the Jingzhou army. He hurriedly charged towards Huang Zhong with weapons in hand, hoping to capture the thief and the king.

Huang Zhong was already furious at this time. He saw Qu Chang, who had been blocking him for several days, rushing toward him. However, he did not retreat but advanced, charging away with a knife.

"clang!"

In the first move, Huang Zhong directly chopped Qu Changlian with a knife.

"Crack!"

Huang Zhong was unyielding when he gained the upper hand. He stepped forward and slashed down with his sword without mercy.

In the second move, Qu Chang raised the weapon in his hand with all his strength, trying to block Huang Zhong's slashing sword.

But Huang Zhong was so strong, and the weapon in his hand was a rare sword in the world. He cut the long weapon into two pieces with one blow.

Fortunately, Huang Zhong withdrew his strength, and the sword finally stopped at Qu Chang's chest, and asked in a deep voice: "Are you willing to surrender?"

Qu Chang's hands were trembling now, both arms were broken, and blood was constantly spilling out.

Even when the knife and ax were on his way, he still didn't have the slightest timidity, and said in a deep voice: "The winner is the king and the loser, so I just want to die!"

Huang Zhong cherished his talent and advised again: "I see that your martial arts skills are good, and you can use your troops to advance and retreat with a certain degree of control. If you can surrender, you will definitely be more than just a commander. Why don't you think about it again?"

Qu Chang said no more, but tremblingly picked up the broken weapon on the ground and slowly swung it towards Huang Zhong.

This move had no lethality at all and could not cause any harm to Huang Zhong, but it showed his true feelings.

Huang Zhong sighed softly, and then cut the opponent's throat with a slash of the knife, but did not cut off the opponent's head, but left him with a whole body.

Blood spurted out, and Qu Chang died completely soon.

Huang Zhong stood with his sword in hand, and his voice was like a huge thunder: "Your generals are dead. If we don't surrender now, when will we wait?"

"Kill, avenge Qu Chang!"

After a brief silence, a hoarse roar sounded from above the city wall.

"Revenge for Qu Chang!"

The remaining elites from the north also shouted and rushed towards Huang Zhong waving their weapons.

Huang Zhong was not afraid at all and killed all the Yangzhou soldiers who rushed towards him crazily.

With Huang Zhong holding the city head position, more and more Jingzhou soldiers climbed up.

No matter how brave the Yangzhou soldiers were, they were still outnumbered. All Qu Changyuan's men were killed in the battle and none of them surrendered.

Only nearly a hundred people from Yuzhang County finally threw away their weapons and chose to surrender to save their lives.

"The general is indeed brave enough to defeat the three armies, I admire him!"

Facing the compliments from his subordinates, Huang Zhong looked solemn and showed no joy at all.

He pointed to the corpses of the Yangzhou soldiers who died in the battle around him and said: "These are all loyal men. The corpses should not be thrown into random graves. They should be buried with dignity!"

"Report, a large number of Yangzhou soldiers and horses were found twenty miles west of the city!"

At this moment, a scout rushed to report.

When Huang Zhong heard this, he couldn't help but secretly said: "If I hadn't risked my life today and captured Yiyang in advance, if I had waited until Yangzhou reinforcements arrived, I'm afraid the situation in Jingzhou would have been difficult to recover!"

Feeling lucky, Huang Zhong asked: "Do you know who the enemy general is, where are the troops and how many are there?"

The scout hurriedly replied: "The other party came from the direction of Luo County under the banner of "Zhou". Judging from the banner, there should be more than [-] people."

Huang Zhong continued to ask: "Are you sure you came from Luo County and not by water?"

The scout nodded heavily.

Huang Zhong thought for a long time, then smiled and said: "This must be the troops led by Zhou Yi, the governor of Yuzhang County."

"Leave 3000 people to guard the city, and I will lead [-] troops to meet the enemy!"

Hearing this, everyone on the left and right were shocked and hurriedly advised: "We have been attacking Yiyang for several days, and the soldiers are already exhausted."

"The enemy has recently arrived, is at full strength, and the situation is unknown. It may be too risky for the general to use [-] exhausted troops to attack more than [-] people."

Huang Zhong shook his head and said: "Our army has a new victory and its morale is at a high level. On the other hand, the enemy's army, which has traveled a long distance to come to Yiyang's aid, must be exhausted."

"Besides, the enemy's commander is just a scribe. I am not as good as him in governing the place, and he is not as good as me in leading the troops in battle."

"If we don't take advantage of the enemy's new arrival today and defeat them in one battle while their foothold is not yet stable, then wait for them to build a camp and gather together to defend it, I'm afraid it won't be easy to defeat them again."

"I have made up my mind, don't say any more words!"

Huang Zhong was quite prestigious in the army. When everyone saw that his determination was made, no one immediately tried to persuade him.

However, Zhou Yi and more than [-] people were slowly rushing towards Yiyang, but he received a letter for help from Qu Chang on the way.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but be shocked.

As Yangzhou and Jingzhou compete, the importance of Yiyang is self-evident.

In history, Liu Bei and Sun Quan fought for Jingnan, and the war almost broke out around Yiyang. Even the allusion of Guan Erye attending the meeting alone happened here.

This shows the importance of Yiyang.

Of course, Yiyang only had a great strategic position when the two southern princes were fighting.

If you fight with the northern princes, it will be of little value.

However, at this time, Yiyang was guarding the key points of the three places and absolutely could not afford to lose anything.

Zhou Yi immediately urged his subordinates to march quickly. He never thought that whether it was the newly recruited soldiers from Linxiang or the rebels recruited from Yuzhang County, they would all be full of complaints due to the long journey.

Zhou Yi was furious and decided not to tolerate the crowd anymore, and ordered his subordinates to kill more than ten people. Only then could he barely stabilize the situation and let them speed up their march day and night.As a result, many people were secretly resentful.

It can only be said that Zhou Yi is not good at commanding troops.

When he marched day and night and led his army to the territory of Yiyang, before he had a firm foothold, he heard a report from a scout: "Yiyang has been lost, Jingzhou General Huang Zhong is leading his army to kill!"

When Zhou Yi heard this, he was very anxious, and hurriedly asked people to find a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and planned to resist the Jingzhou army here.

He had just finished preparing when Huang Zhong had already arrived.

Huang Zhong led an army to besiege Zhou Yi's army, but the opponent occupied a favorable terrain, and it was difficult to conquer it in a hurry.

However, Huang Zhong was keenly aware that the troops and horses led by Zhou Yi, perhaps in order to speed up their march, did not carry much food and grass.

Huang Zhong had an idea and immediately sent out the news that he was going to rob Zhou Yi's food route.

After Zhou Yi heard the news, his heart sank.

He knew, however, that the soldiers and horses under his command were all a mob, coming from all over the country and full of contradictions.

Once the food route is robbed, they will inevitably disperse in droves.

He pondered for a long time and thought to himself: "We have fought against the Jingzhou Army before, and the opponent's combat effectiveness does not seem to be very good."

"In this case, I should not just defend but not attack. I should fight and leave, and retreat to Luo County."

There was nothing wrong with Zhou Yi's decision, but his fault was that he underestimated Huang Zhong's combat power and overestimated the mob under him.

as predicted.

When Zhou Yi gave up the favorable terrain and planned to withdraw to Luo County, Huang Zhong took the opportunity to lead troops to kill him.

Huang Zhong took the lead in the charge, and the morale of his men was greatly shaken. The army charged forward and was invincible.

On the other hand, Zhou Yi was not a military commander, so he could not take the lead in charging into battle. The comparison between the two made his subordinates naturally feel dissatisfied.

Under this situation, the Yangzhou soldiers and horses almost collapsed at the first touch after losing the favorable terrain.

Zhou Yi changed into the clothes of ordinary soldiers and managed to escape with his life. Finally, he gathered more than [-] remaining soldiers and retreated to Luo County.

With the city wall to rely on, Zhou Yi could finally show off his talents.

Even if Huang Zhong led his troops to attack next, he was so anxious that he could not attack the city at all.

As the logistical supplies could not keep up in time, Huang Zhong had no choice but to lead his troops back.

However, after this battle, Huang Zhong's reputation was greatly shaken. Jingzhou, which had been demoralized, swept away its decline and saw hope again.

Just when Huang Zhong led his troops back to Yiyang, Zhou Tai also led [-] sailors to the city.

However, the city had changed hands at this time, and Zhou Tai had no choice but to rely on the strength of the navy to defend the ferry.

With the three thousand naval forces led by Zhou Tai controlling the river, Huang Zhong did not dare to be as unscrupulous as before, but instead restrained himself a lot.

The reason why Zhou Tai came so many days late was because after they received Xu Huang's letter, they did not go directly to Yiyang, but went upstream along the Yuan River, intending to join Xu Huang first.

As for Huang Zhong, he was so quick because he diverted into Zishui at the intersection of Yuanshui and Zishui, and then went straight to Yiyang.

However, during the march, Zhou Tai actually saw many fishermen fishing, and he immediately became suspicious.

He captured many fishermen and asked, only to learn that the troops led by Huang Zhong had not passed here.

Zhou Tai thought hard for a long time and then suddenly woke up. Huang Zhong must have gone to fight Yiyang.

After thinking about this, Zhou Tai did not dare to neglect. While sending people to contact Xu Huang, he led his navy to attack Yiyang.

It's a pity that it was still a step late after all.

He didn't expect Huang Zhong to be so bold. He watched Hanshou besieged, but he still didn't directly return to help. Instead, he wanted to occupy Yiyang, the traffic throat.

Half a month later, Zhou Cheng, the captain of Jiangxia County, had led the Jiangxia troops and arrived in advance as a vanguard.

The reason why they moved so quickly was because a long time ago, Zhou Qi had already asked them to return to the border between Jiangxia County and Nan County on the pretext of transporting grain and grass.

According to Zhou Qi's plan, if Xu Huang can open up the situation, the army will change positions and let Zhou Cheng and others serve as vanguards and move south.

Once Xu Huang fails, the first battle against Jingzhou can be declared a failure, allowing Zhou Cheng and others to retreat early and consume less food.

It was precisely because of Zhou Qi's foresight that Zhou Cheng arrived in Yiyang so quickly.

In fact, Zhou Qi's order to Zhou Cheng was to let him occupy Yiyang to avoid being cut off by the Jingzhou Army from the transportation between Hanshou and Changsha County.

Zhou Cheng has 5000 men under his command. After so many years of training and training, they can all be regarded as combatable soldiers.

When Zhou Cheng and Zhou Tai reunited, the strength of both sides reached 8000, which was almost [-] times that of Jingzhou's troops in Yiyang City.

Zhou Cheng's expression changed slightly when he learned that Yiyang had been occupied by Huang Zhong.

He asked Zhou Tai: "How many soldiers and horses are there in the city?"

Zhou Tai replied: "There are more than [-] people under Huang Zhong's command, and [-] rebels have been recruited to reinforce the city wall and help defend the city."

Zhou Cheng went around the city to explore, and after seeing Yiyang's city defenses, he frowned.

Before that, Yiyang's strategic location was not outstanding, and the city wall was in disrepair.

However, after Huang Zhong's reinforcement day and night for half a month, those dilapidated places have long been repaired, and a lot of defensive equipment has also been built.

The most important thing is that there are many defenders in the city, so it is not easy to attack by force.

Seeing Zhou Cheng frowning, the coachman Li Wen said softly: "I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Hearing this, Zhou Cheng couldn't help but focus on Li Yatao, his eyes full of expectation.

Today, although Li Wen is still nominally the driver of Zhou Cheng's mansion, no one really treats him as a servant, but rather respects him.

Even Zhou Cheng himself regarded Li Wen as his staff.

This is why Zhou Cheng still took Li Wen with him even though he didn't need to drive during this expedition.

"Sir, you have something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

Zhou Cheng himself lacks strategy, but he has one advantage like Zhou Qi, that is, he can listen to others' advice.

Li Wen pondered for a moment and then said immediately: "I have also heard about Huang Zhong."

"He came from a famous family and was famous for his bravery at a young age. He had a bright future. However, his son Huang Xu was born weak and sick, and he was delayed for many years in order to treat his son's illness."

"It wasn't until Liu Biaodan rode into Jingzhou and heard about Huang Zhong's reputation and origin that he promoted him to the rank of Zhonglang General and ordered him to go to Changsha with Liu Pan to pacify the southern counties."

"He is loyal to the south and has great military exploits, so he is highly regarded by Liu Biao."

"Previously, the two generals Zhou Tai and Zhou Jin had their first confrontation with Huang Zhong and suffered some hardships."

"Huang Zhong led his troops to attack Yiyang and captured the city before Yuzhang County Governor Zhou Yi's reinforcements arrived. Then he defeated Zhou Yi with a small number and a large number, forcing him to retreat to Luoxian County, which made him famous in Jingzhou."

When Zhou Cheng and Zhou Tai heard this, their expressions were a little unsightly.

Huang Zhong's reputation today was almost entirely based on the failure of Yangzhou's troops, so the two of them were naturally a little unhappy when they saw Li Wen recounting the opponent's results.

Li Wen thought to himself and said: "Looking at his actions, we can see that Huang Zhong is brave and good at fighting and is familiar with military books. He can be regarded as a general."

"But this person has an obvious weakness."

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Tai heard this and asked in unison: "What is the weakness?"

Li Wen smiled slightly and then spoke softly.

At the foot of Yiyang City.

Zhou Cheng held a spear in his hand, pointed at the city and cursed: "Old man Huang Zhong only dares to bully the mob, but does he dare to go out of the city to fight with this general?"

Seeing that no one responded in the city, Zhou Cheng immediately selected fifty soldiers with loud voices and asked them to go shirtless and yell under the city.

When Huang Zhong heard this, he couldn't help but became furious, and immediately prepared to go out of the city to fight Zhou Cheng.

But the left and right hurriedly persuaded: "The bandit army is powerful, we will still focus on defending the city."

Huang Zhong shouted sternly: "Zhou Cheng is just a mediocre person, but he is in the position he is today because he is from the same clan as Zhou Qi."

"As the saying goes, if you defend for a long time, you will lose!"

"It is precisely because the bandit army is so powerful that it is even more necessary to go out of the city to defeat the enemy's spirit, so as to encourage the defenders in the city!"

Seeing that the people on the left and right wanted to persuade them again, Huang Zhong immediately said: "I will only go out of the city to fight with them tentatively, and I will never hesitate to fight. You will be in the city to respond at any time, okay?"

Seeing that Huang Zhong had made up his mind, the generals knew Huang Zhong's temper and immediately stopped persuading him.

not to mention.

Zhou Cheng was indeed just borrowing from an unknown person. Looking at Huang Zhong's ability, the generals in Jingzhou had long known about it and did not think that Huang Zhong would lose.

"Boom boom boom!"

The city gates were wide open and war drums were roaring.

Huang Zhong clapped his horse and led the army out. He held a big sword and shouted sternly: "Nanyang Huang Hansheng is here, Zhou Cheng's son, come quickly and die!"

(End of this chapter)