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

Chapter 383 Ever-changing
Zhang He's verbal objection made Chunyu Qiong's face turn gloomy.

The two belong to different factions and are not easy to deal with. This has been the case in history. The tit-for-tat confrontation has become almost obvious. This is also the epitome of the factional struggle under Yuan Shao's command.

For example, when the Battle of Guandu broke out, Yuan Shao asked Chunyu Qiong to supervise the transportation of grain and grass. It happened that Cao Cao led a raid on Wuchao. Zhang He urged Yuan Shao: "Cao Gong has excellent soldiers. If he goes there, he will defeat Qiong and others; if Qiong and others are defeated, the general will be defeated." That’s right, it’s time to mobilize troops to rescue him.”

Judging from the results, there is no problem with Zhang He's inference.

The biggest problem is that the two sides belong to different factions, but Zhang He bluntly said at this time that Chunyu Qiong was too embarrassed to hold the task and could not hold Wuchao.

Guo Tu, who was also from the Yingchuan faction, heard this and naturally wanted to support Chunyu Qiong, so he said to Yuan Shao: "Zhang He's plan is not advisable. It is better to lead the army to attack his base camp. Cao Cao will definitely lead the army after hearing the news. But if you don’t save yourself from this crisis, you will be able to resolve it yourself.”

Zhang He retorted: "Gong Cao's camp is strong and we will not be able to attack it. If Qiong and others are captured, all my people will be prisoners."

According to Zhang He's idea, Yuan Shao should personally lead an army to rescue Chunyu Qiong in order to ensure the food and grass garrisoned in Wuchao.

As a result, Yuan Shao followed Guo Tu's suggestion and sent only a few light cavalry to rescue Wuchao, but asked Zhang He and Gao Lan to lead troops to attack Cao Cao's camp.

The results speak for themselves.

The biggest reason why Yuan Shao suffered such a miserable defeat in this battle was internal discord and factional strife. In addition, after Yuan Shao pacified Hebei, he consciously suppressed the civil servants and generals of the Hebei faction, which led to a catastrophe.

"The general said that the Chu army can monitor the movement of the Huaihe River due to its high position, but this is not necessarily the case. If we cross the river quietly at night, we can completely avoid the Chu army's eyes and ears. In this weather, the Chu army will not send people to patrol the riverside. On the contrary, it is beneficial to us, that’s the second reason.”

Seeing that his plan failed, Guo Tu was worried that Yuan Shao would blame him, so he slandered Yuan Shaojin: "Zhang He was delighted with the defeat and spoke rudely."

Although Zhang He's words were reasonable, in front of Zhao Guo's civil and military officials, he almost bluntly said that Zhao Guo would be defeated. No matter how generous Yuan Shao was, he couldn't help but feel angry.

"A warrior does not take advantage of the weather, does not take advantage of the terrain, and has no one to fight with him. How can he win?"

Chunyu Qiong stood up and shouted sternly at Zhang He: "What's wrong with this plan?"

It is no exaggeration to say that the Hebei faction, which was originally the most powerful faction under Yuan Shao, has been completely abandoned at this time.

"Your Majesty first established a truce covenant with the Chu State. If you rashly break it, it will be contrary to morality. If the soldiers have doubts, they will lose harmony."

At that time, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, two of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei Province, were killed in battle, and counselor Tian Feng was imprisoned. Even Ju Shou had previously had his military power reduced, and his subordinates were handed over to Guo Tu's command.

Zhang He's words were sonorous and powerful, but they made Chunyu Qiong's face turn pale, and even Yuan Shao's eyes darkened.

Zhang He was not afraid at all, and said to Chunyu Qiong tit for tat: "It's freezing cold and snow is falling, making it difficult to march. Crossing the river to attack the Chu army's camp is even more difficult. This is not according to the weather."

Although the factional struggle under Yuan Shao is not as fierce as it was in history, and there is no troublemaker like Guo Tu, the situation is not optimistic either.

Coupled with Guo Tujin's slanderous words and false accusations against Zhang He, Zhang He and Gao Lan were desperate. They knew that Yuan Shao could no longer tolerate their Hebei faction, so they surrendered to Cao Cao.

"Soldiers are deceitful. In troubled times, heroes should be judged by victory or defeat. Only the weak will place their hope in the covenant."

When Simpi saw this, he felt happy and stood up to retort: ​​"What the general said is wrong!"

"Although it is cold and freezing, marching is not easy. Even we think so, so the Chu army south of the Huaihe River must also have the same idea. If we cross the river now, although we do not occupy the right time, we can defeat the Chu army. A surprise, this is the only one."

The surrender of Zhang He and Gao Lan was like the straw that broke the camel's back, completely establishing Yuan Shao's defeat.

Cao Cao's camp was guarded by Cao Hong and Xun You, but Zhang He and Gao Lan could not attack it for a long time. Chunyu Qiong was defeated by Cao Cao, causing the grain and grass to be burned, and Yuan's army was defeated.

"So in my opinion, what the general said is not true!"

In particular, Yan Liang and Wen Chou died in battle, which made Yuan Shao doubt the ability of the generals of the Hebei faction. He began to suppress the generals of the Hebei faction and turned to the Yingchuan faction headed by Chunyu Qiong. This contradiction was bound to be continuously intensified.

"The Chu army on the south bank occupies a high position and defends by the river. It can overlook the Huaihe River. It is very difficult for the army to sneak across. This is not based on the favorable geographical location."

Seeing that Zhang He was about to refute, Yuan Shao shouted in a deep voice: "I have made up my mind, no more fighting!"

"This time we cross the river to raid the Chu army's camp, who is willing to be the vanguard?"

"The general will go where he wishes!"

As soon as Yuan Shao finished speaking, Chunyu Qiong jumped out impatiently.

At this time, Jushou said without leaving any trace: "General Chunyu is really powerful. Even the king of Chu can place agents around him. Fortunately, the general is loyal to your majesty. Otherwise, it would be easy to bribe your majesty's servants."

"With this ability, you will be worthy of a big job. The last general also recommended General Chunyu as the vanguard to cross the river and attack the Chu army's camp!"

Jushou's words seemed to be praising Chunyu Qiong, but in fact they were murderous and heart-wrenching, making Chunyu Qiong, who was originally cheerful, so frightened that he broke into cold sweat.

as predicted.

Yuan Shao, who was about to entrust Chunyu Qiong with an important task, suddenly turned gloomy after hearing Ju Shou's words.

Although it is indeed a great achievement to be able to plant a spy in Chu State and find out that Zhou Qi has secretly returned to Xiangyang.

But thinking about it from another perspective, if Chun Yuqiong can place an eyeliner around Zhou Qi, he can also place an eyeliner around Yuan Shao.

The most important thing is that Chunyu Qiong did not report to Yuan Shao in advance, but placed Xin Zuo next to Zhou Qi on his own initiative. Yuan Shaocai didn't think of this at first, but after Jushou's prompting, he suddenly looked at Chunyu Qiong with a somewhat unkind look.

In fact, Jushou was thinking about how to help Yuan Shao defeat Chu at this time, and was unwilling to fight the Yingchuan faction at this juncture.

But in the current situation, the power of the Yingchuan faction is constantly expanding. On the other hand, after the deaths of Yan Liang and Wen Chou of the Hebei faction, their momentum has plummeted. Now even Zhang He and Gao Lan are being squeezed out.

If Jushu didn't stand up and do something at this time, even if the battle ended with Zhao's victory, the Hebei faction would no longer have a say in the court.

Especially now, with more and more scholars from Yingchuan and Runan defecting to Yuan Shao, life for the Hebei faction has become increasingly difficult.

Yuan Shao glanced at Chunyu Qiong coldly, then focused on Zhang He and Gao Lan, saying: "General Zhang will lead two thousand elites to sneak across the Huaihe River at night and attack the Chu army's camp; Gao Lan will be responsible for building a bridge and leading the army to cross the Huaihe River! "

"The two of you must do your best in this battle and there will be no room for failure!"

"only!"

The two of them hurriedly accepted the order and their expressions relaxed a little.

They did not expect that Yuan Shao would actually entrust such an important matter to the two of them, which meant that His Majesty still had a place for the Hebei faction in his heart.

It was night, and there were no stars in the sky. If it weren't for the white snow that could shine some light into the eyes, it might have been as dark as ink.

When it was late at night, Zhang He led three thousand elites and quietly sailed towards the south bank of the Huaihe River in a boat that had been prepared long ago.

Although Zhang He was fully prepared, due to crossing the river in the dark night and not daring to light torches, many ships still collided with each other, causing many soldiers to fall into the water.

Fortunately, Zhang He commanded calmly and rescued the fallen soldiers in time.

Zhang He showed no mercy to those soldiers who screamed in fear after falling into the water and refused to listen to advice, and directly ordered them to be shot.

With Zhang He's iron-blooded skills, even if Yuan Jun's soldiers unfortunately fell into the water, no one dared to shout.

Because they know that they may still survive if they fall into the water, but they will definitely die without a burial if they shout.

Despite Zhang He's calm command, after all three thousand people crossed the Huaihe River, more than a hundred people were lost and dozens more were missing.

Due to the need to hide their traces, there were not many boats involved in crossing the river, and it took a long time for the three thousand people to cross the river.

Zhang He looked at the sky with an anxious look in his eyes. Without taking any rest, he led his troops towards the Chu army's camp.

Fortunately, the nights in winter are relatively long, and because of the cold weather, the Chu soldiers had little defense, and the entire camp seemed quite quiet.

Zhang He personally pulled back the antlers and dismantled the fence, and then quietly led his troops into the Chu army's camp.

He first led his soldiers into the camp to kill people. It wasn't until he killed more than a hundred people that the news of Yuan's army's attack on the camp was leaked.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack..."

"puff!"

A Chu soldier woke up from his sleep. Just as he roared, his throat was cut, blood spurted out, and his body fell straight to the ground.

However, the shouts of this Chu soldier finally woke up the sleeping soldiers nearby. The originally quiet camp was suddenly filled with horrified shouts one after another.

"kill!"

When his whereabouts were exposed, Zhang He simply shouted loudly and led his soldiers to launch an even more violent attack.

After the fierce battle, more than half of the two thousand Chu troops in the camp were killed, most of the rest were captured, and only a hundred people escaped.

After capturing the Chu army's camp, interrogating the prisoners, and learning that there was no fraud, Zhang He immediately handed over the camp to Gao Lan. However, he ordered his five hundred cavalrymen to all change into Chu army clothes, and headed towards Ping'an County. Rush away.

There was no suspense, the defense was empty, and Zhang He was thought to be a general of Chu State. The town of Ping'an County was easily captured by Yuan's army.

Ping'an County is located in the very center of Guangling County. Occupying this place can cut off the connection between the Chu army in the north and Yangzhou.

When Zhuge Liang learned that Ping'an County had been lost, Yuan's army had already crossed the Huaihe River in large numbers, defeated Sheyang and Gaoyou, and then stationed heavy troops in Ping'an and Sheyang.

Yuan Shao personally led an army to surround Huaiyin.

The food route to Huaiyin was cut off and he was outnumbered, so Wenpin had no choice but to abandon the city and leave.

If it weren't for the support of Jiang Qin's navy, even Wenpin might not be able to safely evacuate from Huaiyin.

Zhuge Liang saw Yuan's army entering Guangling County in large numbers and knew that Xutai could no longer be defended. He immediately joined forces with Wenpin and sent a letter to Guan Yu, ordering him to withdraw his troops from Suiling immediately. Finally, all the troops gathered in the east city.

As the Chu army and Guan Yu retreated to the westernmost Dongcheng of Guangling County, it meant the fall of the entire Guangling County, and then the entire Jiujiang County would be exposed to Yuan's army.

(End of this chapter)