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

Chapter 231 Zhou Qi plans to conquer Ba County, Zhang Liao defeats Yuan Shu

Zhou Qi was overjoyed to see Yan Yan surrender and hurriedly helped him up.

Zhou Qi said sternly: "Since Liu Zhang has dismissed you from the post of governor of Bajun, you are no longer Liu Zhang's minister, so there is no talk of surrender."

"Even if your Excellency is willing to serve me, you are actively surrendering, not surrendering."

When Yan Yan heard this, he couldn't help but be moved in his heart, knowing that this was the dignity left to him by the cavalry general.

In any case, it doesn't sound good to surrender after all.

The meaning of surrendering to the cavalry general as a free body is completely different.

The messenger sent by Liu Zhang completely ended the monarch's friendship with Yan Yan. At this time, Yan Yan surrendered to Zhou Qi again, and there was no psychological burden at all.

After Zhou Qi helped Yan Yan up, he did not mince words and said straightforwardly: "Although Dianjiang was conquered, the loss of Yizhou Army's troops was not too much, and the three counties of Brazil were not conquered."

"General, who has lived in Ba County for a long time, what do you think of the current war situation?"

Yan Yan asked a little strangely: "Didn't my lord divide his troops to attack the three counties of Brazil before? Has it not been conquered yet?"

Zhou Qi smiled bitterly and said: "I did have the idea of ​​seizing three counties in Brazil before and turning Dianjiang into an isolated city. In fact, I secretly plotted Dianjiang and only sent [-] troops to attack the three counties."

"I never thought that although there were not many defenders in the three counties, the county magistrates had already been prepared. Due to the dangerous terrain and strong city, it would be difficult to conquer in a hurry."

When Yan Yan heard this, he apologized and said: "After learning that Gan Ning sacrificed Jiangzhou and led the Jingzhou army into Bajun, he immediately rushed to Dianjiang overnight. After he was appointed as the prefect of Bajun, he replaced the three officers. A capable magistrate guards Brazil."

"I have secretly told the three of them before that the generals of chariots and cavalry are good at using cunning tactics, so they must be on guard against the Jingzhou army's thousands-mile attack."

"It is precisely for this reason that they imposed military control on the county and took precautions. They never thought that they would cause such a big trouble to the lord."

Yan Yan's replacement of county magistrates in Brazil has been explained in the previous article, but Zhou Qi did not know about it.

When Zhou Qi heard this, his eyes widened and he said, "Since the three of them are all former troops promoted by the general, I wonder if they can be allowed to present the city and surrender?"

Yan Yan smiled slightly and said: "This is easy, the general only needs to send his confidants to carry the letter, and the three of them will definitely surrender to the lord!"

"Not only the entire territory of Brazil, but the southern part of Ba County is still under Liu Zhang's jurisdiction. When the general comes to visit in person, the Fuling guard will definitely take the initiative to surrender!"

Zhou Qi was overjoyed, held Yan Yan's hands, and said, "If this is true, the general should be the first to take over the entire territory of Ba County!"

Ba County has a vast territory, a large population, and is crisscrossed by mountains and rivers. Almost every county town is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Without Yan Yan's help, it would have taken a lot of time for Zhou Qi to conquer each county.

Not to mention other things, among the three counties in Brazil, the terrain of Langzhong City is the most dangerous. It is no less easy to defend and difficult to attack than Dianjiang. It also guards the eastern gateway to Guanghan County.

If the general in charge of Langzhong is unwilling to surrender and Liu Zhang sends more elite soldiers to defend the city and does not take the initiative to go out to fight, Zhou Qi may not be able to capture Langzhong even if he mobilizes all his troops and besieges Langzhong for several years.

It has to be said that Jia Xu does have a sharp eye and can see into people's hearts.

When everyone was helpless about the situation in Bajun, he keenly found a way to break the situation from the fact that Huang Zhong spared Yan Yan's life without authorization.

The most important thing is that he can also grasp the hearts of the people and use the chain plan to first arrogantly arrogate the hearts of the generals in Yizhou, and then gradually lead Zhao Wei and others to separate from Yan Yan. In the end, they are linked together and design attacks. Enter the city.

The most terrifying thing is that Jia Xu has already played a huge role in Yan Yan.

Although Gan Ning sacrificed Jiangzhou and led the Jingzhou army into Bajun, the Jingzhou army raised an unjust army and did not get the support of the Bajun family. It is obviously unrealistic to easily capture the entire territory of Bajun.

Now that Yan Yan has taken refuge, things are completely different.

The county magistrates of various counties in Brazil were promoted by Yan Yan. With Yan Yan's reputation in Brazil, he had a very close relationship with the generals everywhere.

Yan Yan surrendered, which meant that Zhou Qi had the support of the powerful families of Bajun, and with Gan Ning taking refuge in front, the powerful and underground forces of Bajun could easily surrender.

It is no exaggeration to say that if you get Gan Ning and Yan Yan, you can get the whole territory of Bajun.

Yan Yan looked at Zhou Qi who was full of joy. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said: "I have an unkind request, and I hope my lord can agree to it."

Before speaking, Yan Yan also made a lot of determination, and even prepared for the consequences of being jealous of the cavalry general.

However, Yan Yanyi and Bo Yuntian had to say something.

Zhou Qi remained calm on the surface, but he was inevitably a little strange in his heart, and said to himself: "Logically speaking, if Yan Yan's new recruits do good things at this time, they will be rewarded heavily."

"Why should he rush to put forward conditions before things are settled?"

Zhou Qi was suspicious, but still smiled and said: "The general has something to say, but there is no harm in saying it. As long as I can do my best, I will definitely accept it!"

Yan Yan took a deep breath and actually prostrated himself on the ground, saying: "I heard that the major families who rebelled in Jiangzhou City were still imprisoned today after being defeated and captured."

"It was only after the last general wrote a letter that they were willing to cooperate internally and externally to raise troops to rebel."

"At the end of the day, General has surrendered to the lord, but my old friends from the past are almost in prison because of me."

"The general has nothing else to ask for, I just hope that the Lord can forgive their crimes."

"The general is also willing to guarantee with his life that they will never betray the lord again!"

After speaking, Yan Yan kowtowed to the ground.

When Zhou Qi heard this, he helped Yan Yan up and sighed: "General, you will never forget your old friend. If you are truly righteous, how could you not allow it?"

"I then wrote a letter and went to Jiangzhou, asking Xiang Bode to release the members of the major families."

In fact, after Jia Xu planned to quell the Jiangzhou rebellion and forced the major families to surrender, Gan Ning prepared to destroy them and their families in order to deter those with evil intentions.

Gan Ning's behavior was stopped by Jia Xu.

Jia Xu had learned about the current situation in Yizhou through Zhou Qi's intelligence system, so he said: "Since Liu Yan entered Shu, although he has been operating for several years, he mostly relies on Dongzhou people and treats the major families in Yizhou quite Harsh and unpopular.”

"Today, the Yizhou people are greedy for Liu Zhang's cowardice, weakness, and benevolence, and they regard him as the leader with the intention of changing the current situation of the Yizhou clan. However, many Yizhou clans always have doubts."

"If the Lord comes to Ba County for the first time, if he follows Liu Yan's example and massacres the Yizhou clan, it will definitely arouse the hatred of all clans, and then all of them will lean towards Liu Zhang."

"If this is true, it will be difficult for my lord to take Yizhou in the future."

"If we can temporarily imprison him until we report to the lord, and then exonerate him from the culpability, the major families will definitely be grateful. Those Yizhou clans who still have doubts will also consider whether it would be more beneficial for them to surrender to the lord."

When Gan Ning heard Jia Xu's remarks, he couldn't help but admire him, so he did not kill the rebellious families, but just imprisoned them without any torture.

Even without Yan Yan's plea, Zhou Qi would not have planned to kill them.

Now that Yan Yan is here, Zhou Qi just wants to give him some face.

Seeing that Zhou Qi agreed to let go of the major families in Jiangzhou without hesitation, Yan Yan could not help but cry with tears in his eyes as he bowed again: "Thanks to my lord's kindness, I will definitely live up to my expectations."

as predicted.

With Yan Yan's letter, all the magistrates of the three counties in Brazil took the initiative to surrender, and the defender of Fuling also surrendered.

At this point, the entire territory of Bajun was controlled by the cavalry general Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi appointed Yan Yan as Zhonglang General, who also held the post of governor of Ba County, and moved Jia Xu to become military advisor Zhonglang General.

But it is said that after Zhou Qi captured the entire territory of Bajun, he summoned his subordinates and generals and asked: "Now that Bajun has been conquered, do we want to continue to use troops against Yizhou?"

Gan Ning was so impatient that he jumped out and said: "My lord has led the heavenly troops into Bajun, and the officials and people are attached to them. This is the time to continue the attack on Yizhou with the power of victory."

"If my lord raises an army to attack Guanghan County, I will be the vanguard!"

Seeing that Gan Ning had stolen the limelight, the other generals naturally did not want to fall behind, so they also asked for battle one after another.

Seeing that the generals were eager to fight, Zhou Qi immediately smiled and said: "With all the tiger and wolf generals following me, why should I worry about not succeeding in a big event?"

"However, it has not yet been decided whether we should continue to use troops against Yizhou, so please do not be anxious."

After speaking, Zhou Qi immediately looked at Tian Feng and asked, "What do you think Yuan Hao should do?"

When Tian Feng heard this, he remained silent.

Previously, he felt that the situation in Yizhou was too complicated and the terrain was easy to defend but difficult to attack. He was also worried about Yuan Shu and Liu Bei's attack, so he strongly opposed Zhou Qi's sending troops to Bajun.

Unexpectedly, the chariot general led only [-] soldiers and horses this time, and he could actually capture the entire Ba County.

Although he believed that he should give up when things were good, withdraw his troops first and return reinforcements, then manage Bajun well, and then look for good opportunities to attack Yizhou in the future.

However, the previous wrong inference made Tian Feng much more cautious this time.

Moreover, the generals under General Chariot and Cavalry were eager to perform meritorious service and asked for battle one after another. At this time, persuading Zhou Qi to withdraw his troops would also cause dissatisfaction among the generals.

He did not speak directly, but said: "This is a serious matter, and the Lord still needs to consider it carefully before making a decision."

Seeing Tian Feng become so tactful, Zhou Qi couldn't help but smile secretly in his heart. Then he turned to look at Xu Shu and asked, "What is Yuan Zhi's advice?"

Since Xu Shu followed Zhou Qi into the war, he has always maintained a very humble attitude and has a low sense of presence. As a result, many people are unaware of Xu Shu's talents.

He heard the general's inquiry and couldn't help but understand.

If Zhou Qi really planned to continue to use troops against Yizhou, he would not talk so much nonsense and directly ask how to fight next.

Since you ask this, it means that the general of chariots and cavalry is determined to withdraw his troops.

However, this battle led to a series of victorious battles in Shu, and now the entire territory of Ba County has been captured. The morale of the generals is strong. Even if the troops are withdrawn, there must be a reason, otherwise the enthusiasm of the soldiers may be dampened.

Xu Shu pondered for a moment, then said seriously: "Logically speaking, my lord should indeed use the power of victory to attack Guanghan County first, then attack Chengdu, capture Liu Zhang alive, and capture the entire territory of Yizhou."

"However, in order to ensure the safety of the rear during this expedition, the Lord only led [-] troops into Ba County. Compared with the Yizhou Army, he had no strength advantage at all."

"Fortunately, all the generals worked up their might in this battle, defeated the Yizhou army with a small number and defeated a large number, and captured the strong city of Dianjiang."

"Such an impressive record was certainly due to the fact that the generals fought to the death, but it also inevitably made Liu Zhang panic in his heart, and the Yizhou generals fought in two groups."

"I predict that the generals in Yizhou will not dare to compete with the generals head-on from now on, but will only dare to defend according to the danger."

"The city and roads of Yizhou are steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Attacking it hastily with inferior troops will probably cost a lot of time, money and food."

"Now Yuan Shu and Liu Bei are watching with eager eyes, and the situation of the battle in Lujiang and Danyang is unclear."

"In my humble opinion, my lord should withdraw his troops first. After Yuan Shu and Liu Bei are dealt with, it won't be too late to attack Yizhou."

Jia Xu heard Xu Shu's remarks and couldn't help but treat him with admiration.The other generals were still a little unhappy.

But after Xu Shu praised him a lot, and what he said was quite reasonable, no one said anything else.

Zhou Qi turned to look at Jia Xu and asked, "What does Wen He think of Yuan Zhi's words?"

Jia Xu smiled and said: "Yuan Zhi's analysis is three points deep, and I can't do it as well."

Zhou Qi put his hands on his hands and laughed, then said: "In that case, let's return to Xiangyang and deal with Yuan Shu and Liu Bei first, and then plan for Yizhou!"

Zhou Qi withdrew his troops.

However, before leaving, he secretly met with Xu Shu. The two had a long secret conversation, and finally appointed him as the magistrate of Bajun and left him in Bajun.

Not only that, Zhou Qi also asked Huo Jun from Xu Chu, appointed him as the magistrate of Langzhong County, and commanded two thousand troops to guard Langzhong.

There are two nails left. It's not that Zhou Qi doesn't trust Yan Yan.

However, the geographical location of Bajun was too important and it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhou Qi was unwilling to place all his hopes on Yan Yan's loyalty.

With Xu Shu's talents, keeping him by Yan Yan's side can not only play a supervisory role, but also help him manage Bajun.

In the future, whether Liu Zhang sends troops to attack Bajun or Zhou Qi sends troops from Bajun to Yizhou, Xu Shu can be of great use.

As for Huo Jun, although he was only the magistrate of Langzhong County in name, he had independent military and political power. He could not only guard the western gate of Bajun by leading troops outside, but also deter Yan Yan from having second thoughts.

This is the mentality of an emperor. He will never place his hopes on the loyalty of others.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

At the same time that Zhou Qi planned to attack Dianjiang, Liu Bei had already followed the emperor's order and led troops to attack Danyang County.

Lu Su, the governor of Danyang County, and He Qi, the captain of Danyang County, led troops to resist.

As expected, Liu Bei kept his promise and did not pretend to be real because Danyang had few troops. Instead, he deliberately held a stalemate with He Qi for a long time. In the end, he led his troops to retreat on the grounds that there was no food in the army and the food and grass promised by the court had not arrived.

At this point, the pressure from the direction of Xuzhou disappeared, and only Yuan Shu led his troops to besiege Anfeng County.

But Zhang Liao said that after defeating Ji Ling, capturing hundreds of people, and seizing more than a thousand horses, he immediately led his troops back to Anfeng County.

He knew that Yuan Shu was leading an army of [-] people to the south, and that the city of Anfeng County was small and could not be supported by himself, so he asked Xu Huang, the governor of Jiujiang County, and Zhou Cheng, the captain of Jiangxia County, for help.

After the two received the news, although they did not receive military orders from Zhou Qi to cross the county for rescue, they both decided to send troops after careful consideration.

The military situation is as strong as fire and there can be no delay at all.

They could only send troops to rescue Lujiang County and at the same time send people [-] miles away to Ba County to report the matter.

But after Xu Huang decided to rescue Zhang Liao, he immediately summoned Hengjiang captain Zhou Jin to discuss with him: "Now Yuan Shu has mobilized all his troops to attack Lujiang. Even if we all rush to rescue Zhang Wenyuan, we will not have the advantage in strength."

"I want to carry out the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, crossing the Huai River and directly entering Yuzhou and taking its people captive. I wonder what Captain Zhou thinks?"

Zhou Jin pondered for a long time, then nodded and said: "The general's words are very kind."

Xu Huang then left two thousand soldiers and horses to guard Jiujiang. He personally led three thousand soldiers and horses across the Huaihe River and entered Runan. He did not attack the city and plunder the land, but plundered the people everywhere.

When the county magistrates from various places learned that the famous general Xu Huang was coming with his troops, they did not dare to leave the city to fight with him.

Zhou Jin commanded [-] troops and horses, and also helped Xu Huang transport people, grain, grass, and property, and led more than [-] households to Lujiang.

But Yuan Shu was besieging Anfeng County. Seeing that the city was on the verge of collapse, Hao Meng arrived with reinforcements.

With the help of Hao Meng's troops, Zhang Liao finally managed to hold Anfeng County.

Yuan Shu urged his troops to attack Anfeng for more than ten days, but failed.

Just when Yuan Shu was anxious and furious, he learned that the captain of Jiangxia County had led more than [-] troops to help Lujiang.

Xu Huang, the governor of Jiujiang County, also led his troops into Runan and robbed people everywhere.

When Yuan Shu learned of these two news, he knew that nothing could be done, so he had to order the withdrawal of troops.

Anfeng County.

After guarding the city for more than ten days, and because the walls of Anfeng County were not very tall, the defenders in the city suffered heavy losses, and now there are only more than [-] left.

If Yuan Shu had not taken the initiative to withdraw his troops, Zhang Liao would not have been able to hold on for long.

Seeing Yuan Shu leading his troops to retreat, Hao Meng said with some rebirth: "Although Yuan Shu led his troops to retreat for some reason, Anfeng County was finally saved."

After many days of fierce fighting, Hao Meng was exhausted despite trying his best.

Zhang Liao stood on the city wall, looking at Yuan Shu who was retreating hastily, and he roughly guessed the reason.

However, Zhang Liao was quite cautious and still sent many scouts out of the city to spy on the military situation. Finally, he learned that Yuan Shu had left Ji Lingduan behind.

Zhang Liao was not in a hurry. He summoned the remaining two thousand soldiers under his command and shouted in a deep voice: "Yuan Shu invaded my territory without any reason, attacked my city, killed my parents and brothers, and captured my people."

"Now that Yuan Shu is retreating, I want to lead troops to attack him. Who is willing to go with me?"

When all the soldiers heard this, they looked at each other in shock, but no one dared to stand up.

During this period of time, it was too hard for the soldiers to defend the city, and they suffered heavy casualties. They were also afraid of Yuan Shu's men being outnumbered, so no one dared to step forward.

Seeing this, Zhang Liao couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart.

After all, these soldiers are not his confidants. Otherwise, as long as they raise their arms, even if they know they will die, there will be many people willing to follow him.

"Someone wants to go!"

Just when Zhang Liao was considering whether to give up the idea of ​​pursuing Yuan Shu, a loud voice sounded.

Zhang Liao hurriedly looked up and found that the person speaking was Chen Mu, the magistrate of Anfeng County.

I saw Chen Mu standing up and shouting to the few hundred rebels left in the city: "In order to protect Anfeng County, Captain Zhang rushed to the front every day in the battle, and it took more than ten days of hard work."

"If Captain Zhang hadn't fought to the death, I'm afraid Anfeng County would have been captured by Yuan Shu's men long ago."

"Since Captain Zhang wants to pursue Yuan Shu to avenge the siege of the city for more than ten days, how can we, as sons of Anfeng County, not fight to the death?"

The remaining hundreds of Anfeng County rebels immediately stopped hesitating after hearing this and stood up one after another, shouting: "I am willing to follow Captain Zhang to pursue Yuan Shu and avenge him!"

Their move was not only based on their trust in Chen Mu, the magistrate of Anfeng County, but also out of gratitude to Zhang Liao.

Hao Meng originally disapproved of leading troops to pursue Yuan Shu, but seeing that Chen Mu, the county magistrate, was not afraid, as an army commander, what reason did he have to delay Zhang Liao's retreat?

Thinking of this, Hao Meng also stood up and shouted to the nearly two thousand county soldiers: "If other people's rebels are not afraid, what should we be afraid of?"

"The one with the egg will follow Captain Zhang to hunt down Yuan Shu and avenge the death of Pao Ze!"

With the statements of Chen Mu, Hao Meng and the Anfeng Rebel Army, the remaining Lujiang County soldiers naturally could not continue to be afraid of death and asked for a fight one after another.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Liao looked at Hao Meng with gratitude, and then said loudly: "Those who can ride a horse, come forward!"

"Crash!"

As soon as Zhang Liao finished speaking, 500 people stood up.

Zhang Liao looked up and found that there were two or three hundred people who were familiar faces. They were either cavalrymen or personal guards of himself and Hao Meng.

There are very few truly wild soldiers who can ride horses.

Zhang Liao couldn't help but sigh slightly when he saw this.

After all, Lujiang County is located in the south and is extremely short of war horses. It is reasonable for ordinary soldiers to not know how to ride horses.

After careful selection, he finally selected only 300 people. Although the remaining soldiers could ride horses, their riding skills were not very good and they were not suitable for long-distance attacks.

After selecting 300 men, Zhang Liao did not rush to pursue Yuan Shu. Instead, he ordered people to kill pigs and sheep and entertained his [-] warriors at a banquet.

During the banquet, Hao Meng asked: "Yuan Shu's army has been withdrawn for half a day. Why didn't the captain seize the time to pursue it instead of delaying it here?"

"Even if we want to reward the soldiers, it's not too late to wait until they return from victory."

Zhang Liao now had a much better sense of Hao Meng and explained: "I have few soldiers under my command, so I can only surprise Yuan Shu's army and surprise him."

"When Yuan Shu withdrew his troops, he sent Ji Ling to lead his troops to break up the rear. If he rashly pursues his troops, he will definitely be defeated."

"I'm here to reward my soldiers first and boost their morale. I don't expect Ji Ling to ambush you for too long."

"When they think I won't lead any more troops to pursue them, I will lead them to attack again and we will definitely defeat them in one fell swoop!"

When Hao Meng heard this, he suddenly realized.

As Zhang Liao expected, Ji Ling waited for a long time but did not see the pursuers. He thought that Anfeng County had few soldiers and Zhang Liao did not dare to pursue them, so he immediately led his troops to retreat.

It was night, and since he would continue his journey tomorrow, Yuan Shu asked his soldiers to camp wherever they wanted.

In addition, Yuan Shu thought that there would be no pursuers, and he didn't even have protective measures.

At midnight, when Yuan Shu and his troops were all fast asleep, Zhang Liao suddenly led his troops to attack and set fire everywhere.

Zhang Liao even asked his soldiers and horses to shout in unison: "The generals of chariots and cavalry are coming with their troops. Anyone who captures Yuan Shu alive will be rewarded with thousands of gold coins and will be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"

"Whoever captures Yuan Shu alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and will be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"

"Whoever captures Yuan Shu alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and will be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"

"Whoever captures Yuan Shu alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and will be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"

Yuan Shu woke up from his sleep and was horrified. He really thought that Zhou Qi was leading troops to kill him, but he ignored the troops in the camp and fled in a hurry with a group of personal guards.

Yuan Shu fled, and Yuan's army was leaderless.

Zhang Liao led 300 men to charge back and forth in the camp, fighting from night to dawn, during which he killed several of Yuan Shu's generals.

Yuan's troops fled and trampled on each other, causing numerous casualties.

(End of this chapter)