Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 357: Disadvantage in the First Battle
Huaili.

After stationing troops at Wuzhangyuan for a period of time, Liu Zhang led his army to continue marching towards Chang'an, passing through Meiguo, Wugong, Xiaohuaili and other counties. The vanguard of the Shu army arrived at Huaili, very close to Chang'an City.

Along the way, wherever Liu Zhang went, everyone in Guanzhong, from the nobles and powerful people to the common people, enthusiastically welcomed the arrival of the Shu soldiers. After years of being trampled by the Liangzhou cavalry, when the elders of Guanzhong saw the Shu soldiers, it was like a long-dry land encountering a refreshing downpour.

It goes without saying that under the control of Liu Zhang, the Shu soldiers never committed any act of aggression or bullying against the common people, either when they were marching or stationed in the camp. This won them the favor of the elders in Guanzhong. They believed that the Han army they had seen in their life had never had as strict discipline as the Shu army today, and they did not harm the common people in the slightest.

Well, although the soldiers under Liu Zhang were called "Shu soldiers", many of them were Dongzhou people who migrated to Shu from Guanzhong, Nanyang and other places in the early years. As wanderers returning home, they would never do anything to bully their own elders.

Of course, it is almost impossible to say that the tens of thousands of troops have never invaded or bullied the elders of Guanzhong. There will always be a few people who do things that offend the common people, such as stealing their belongings or even robbing them.

However, these people were punished according to the law afterwards to serve as a warning to future generations, and they never caused too much trouble.

Therefore, in the eyes of the elders in Guanzhong today, the Shu soldiers are a strong army that can save the people from dire straits, a brave force that can save the common people in Guanzhong, and the royal army that they have been waiting for for a long time and finally arrived.

Therefore, with the surrender of the noble families and powerful people in Guanzhong and the support of the common people in Guanzhong, Liu Zhang's march to Chang'an could be said to be unimpeded. If he had not been thinking of taking a steady step, he would not be in Huaili now, but at the foot of the city of Chang'an.

Under the pressure of Liu Zhang's approaching army, Li Jue and Guo Si stationed in Chang'an City did not just sit there and wait. They took several countermeasures to counter Liu Zhang.

"According to the scouts' report, Li Jue recalled Li Xun and Li Li stationed in Chiyang City and gave up the defense of Chiyang City, while Guo Si recalled Guo Pu and Wu Xi who were stationed in Huangbai City and also gave up the defense of Huangbai City. Now Chiyang and Huangbai are controlled by local tyrants. Letters of submission have been delivered. These two cities can be regarded as cities under your command."

Bing Cao Peng Ying reported the news from Li Jue and Guo Si.

Zheng Du, an official at the court, sneered, "I heard that Huangbai and Chiyang have been managed by Li Jue and Guo Si for a long time. They can be called their nests. Moreover, Li Jue's current title is Marquis of Chiyang. As Marquis of Chiyang, he even abandoned all the cities that belonged to his title. It can be seen that Li Jue and Guo Si are very panicked and cowardly."

"With this much, you still dare to call yourselves the brave generals of Liangzhou, unrivaled in the world." Zheng Du strongly denounced Li Jue and Guo Si.

As a native of Shu, Zheng Du originally had a bad impression of Li Jue, Guo Si and other Liangzhou bandits. After all, he had heard too many of Li Jue and Guo Si's evil deeds. However, hearing about them alone was not as good as going to Guanzhong to see them with his own eyes.

Ever since he set foot in Guanzhong and witnessed the miserable plight of the elders in Guanzhong with his own eyes, Zheng Du realized that the evil deeds he had heard about Li Jue and Guo Si in the past were just a drop in the ocean, and just the tip of a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, when talking about the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si, Zheng Du's attitude was as sad and angry as ever.

Liu Zhang listened to Peng Ying's report and Zheng Du's outburst of anger, and announced to all the civil and military officials: "It seems that Li Jue and Guo Si are planning to gather their forces to fight a decisive battle with us."

Fa Zheng chuckled, "Li Jue and Guo Si, the two thieves, have been forced into a corner by you, and now they only have Chang'an left. They are just fighting like trapped beasts. How can they be qualified to fight to the death with you to see who is superior?"

"Your Excellency's words are well said." Bing Cao Peng Ying praised: "Li Jue and Guo Si are just two common men. Even if they have some military strategies and some bravery, they are still common men. How can they compare with your wisdom and bravery, and the loyalty of the people?"

"That is to say, how can the two thieves, Li Jue and Guo Si, be your opponents? How can they be worthy of being your opponents?"

Liu Zhang sneered to himself: "Gentlemen, you must not underestimate Li Jue and Guo Si. The two thieves have been rampant in Guanzhong for a long time. They have some ability. We may underestimate them strategically, but we still need to be cautious in specific tactics."

"It is not difficult to defeat Li Jue and Guo Si, but if you want to win easily and at a low price, you still need to make a plan."

After two lives, Liu Zhang's character has changed somewhat. He is often able to consider things from a distance, rather than falling into the trap, and the chaotic situation makes it difficult for him to notice when danger comes.

Therefore, Liu Zhang ignored the flattery from Peng Ying, Fa Zheng and others and would not indulge in their sweet words. What he wanted to do was to discuss the matter properly and not talk about anything else.

With the twist in Liu Zhang's words, the meeting continued to move in the right direction.

"The forces of Li Jue and Guo Si now consist of, in addition to the troops of Li Jue and Guo Si, the generals of Guanzhong, Li Kan, Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others. They seem to be determined to fight you to the end, and now they are very close to Li Jue and Guo Si... In addition, there are the Qiang and Hu tribes of Liangzhou who were recruited by Li Jue and Guo Si. Among them, the two tribes of Shaohe and Dangjian are the largest, and the rest are only small Qiang tribes of 300 to 500 people."

Peng Ying, the military officer, analyzed the intelligence gathered by the scouts and said, "These people are either stationed inside or outside Chang'an City, supporting each other and fighting stubbornly to the end."

"However, Li Jue and Guo Si did not intend to defend Chang'an City. According to the report from the grain transport officer, in recent days, a group of 300 to 500 Qiang Hu from Liangzhou have been looting our army's grain. Moreover, this group of Qiang Hu is particularly cautious. They will move forward when there is an advantage, and flee when there is no advantage. I believe they were sent by Li Jue and Guo Si."

Peng Ying, the military officer, said with a worried look on his face, "In order to prevent the grain from being robbed, the grain transport team has added guards, but this will inevitably increase the consumption on the road, which is not a good thing for us."

"More horses is good!" Fa Zheng sighed. Although Li Jue and Guo Si had fewer soldiers than theirs, they had more horses. After all, Guanlong was a good place to produce horses, so they would never be short of horses.

When two armies fight, the purpose is to expand one's own advantage and increase the enemy's disadvantage. When the gap between the two sides reaches a certain range, the final blow will be struck to eliminate the opponent cleanly and neatly.

Therefore, as men who knew military affairs well, the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si would certainly make use of the advantage of having more horses and send out cavalrymen who moved around like the wind and whom the Shu soldiers could not catch up with to carry out some harassing actions.

Although these small-scale harassment actions are not very harmful, they will cause some damage to Liu Zhang's side if they accumulate. Fa Zheng sighed and smiled calmly, "Fortunately, now that our army has arrived at Guanzhong, the elders of the three auxiliary areas have enthusiastically welcomed us and offered many good horses to help us fight. In this way, the number of cavalry is almost the same as that of Li Jue and Guo Si."

"But..." Fa Zheng changed the subject: "Newly trained cavalrymen cannot go to the battlefield. They can only be used for patrols. They still need to hone their riding skills and martial arts on horseback for a period of time."

This is the disadvantage of Shu. Shu has food and soldiers, as well as high mountains and dangerous obstacles, but it lacks horses, and even more so, cavalry that can gallop on the battlefield. Cavalry is an essential type of military force to dominate the world.

Facing Fa Zheng's remarks on his side's disadvantages, Liu Zhang felt very relaxed. Now that he had set foot in Guanzhong, close to Longyou and the horse-producing area, he did not have to worry about a shortage of horses, nor did he have to worry about not having good knights under his command.

However, Liu Zhang was not going to passively accept the attack by Li Jue and Guo Si who had sent Qiang and Hu to harass the grain route. He made a decision in an instant: "Peng Qing, write a military order and order Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu to drive out the Qiang and Hu who are harassing the grain route. Now that a war is imminent, the grain route needs to be stabilized."

"Yes." While accepting the order, Peng Ying asked a question: "Mingsir, if the Qiang and Hu are driven to a desperate situation and kneel down to surrender, will you accept their surrender?"

Peng Ying remembered the manifesto Liu Zhang had issued earlier and was determined to kill only the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si, while leaving the rest of the surrendered people alone. So the question was, if the Qiang and Hu people surrendered, should he accept their surrender?

As for whether the Qiang and Hu tribes who harassed the grain route might be forced into a desperate situation, Peng Ying had no doubt. He had witnessed Zhang Ren's riding and martial arts, which could be said to be unparalleled in the world. The Qiang and Hu tribes were naturally no match for Zhang Ren.

As for the other person sent by Liu Zhang to guard the grain and grass - Zhang Xiu, Peng Ying heard a few points of Zhang Ren's evaluation of Zhang Xiu from Zhang Ren's mouth. Zhang Ren said that Zhang Xiu's martial arts were not inferior to his, and perhaps slightly better.

Although Peng Ying felt that Zhang Ren's tone was modest, he also thought highly of Zhang Xiu. Therefore, as Liu Zhang now had two top-notch cavalry generals on the battlefield, Peng Ying was pessimistic about the future fate of the Qiang and Hu who were harassing the grain route.

"Of course I will accept them." For the sake of his own good reputation, Liu Zhang planned to treat the surrendered Qiang and Hu people equally. However, he did not have the slightest mercy towards the foreign races, nor towards the Qiang and Hu people who had ravaged Liangzhou and Guanzhong.

He said: "After all, the Qiang and Hu are different from the Han people. If they surrender, they should be made official slaves and used to repair roads and cities."

Liu Zhang held his usual idea of ​​making good use of waste. He planned to make the surrendered Qiang and Hu people official slaves, let them atone for their past evil deeds, and do something beneficial to the people of Guanzhong in the second half of their lives.

However, in the eyes of Bing Cao Peng Ying, a royal Han, Liu Zhang was still too kind-hearted and soft-handed. Although Liu Zhang had issued a manifesto to let go of all those who surrendered except Li Que and Guo Si, according to Peng Ying's opinion, what were the Qiang and Hu? They were barbarians and beasts, so how could they enjoy human treatment?

Only the Han people are given the treatment of being spared from death for those who surrender. The Qiang and Hu people, who are regarded as beasts, certainly do not deserve such treatment. When facing the Qiang and Hu people who surrender, we must be ruthless. Only Jingguan is the final destination of the Qiang and Hu people.

But since Liu Zhang had made the decision, Peng Ying naturally couldn't say anything more. He just bowed and accepted the order.

Next, Liu Zhang waited in Huaili for the arrival of the army, and then marched to Chang'an after the army was assembled. On the other hand, Liu Zhang fought a small-scale exploratory war with Li Jue and Guo Si, intending to test the enemy's quality.

On the other side, Li Jue and Guo Si sent Qiang and Hu to plunder Liu Zhang's food supply route, so Liu Zhang sent two cavalry generals, Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu, to drive away and kill the Qiang and Hu.

At the same time, the scouts of both sides were confronting each other on the road from Chang'an to Huaili, and they were fighting back and forth, trying to knock out the other side's eyes and ears so that the other side would be completely in the dark about their own situation.

Under such circumstances, Li Jue and Guo Si felt obvious pressure. First of all, the Qiang and Hu people they sent to harass the grain route caused quite a bit of trouble.

As the Qiang and Hu were used to looting, they would have achieved some good results against the Shu soldiers who had more infantry. After all, the Qiang and Hu rode back and forth on horseback, advancing when there was an opportunity and retreating when there was danger. The opportunity was in the hands of the Qiang and Hu, and the Shu soldiers could only passively take the beating.

However, Li Jue and Guo Si overlooked one thing, that is, Liu Zhang also had excellent cavalry generals under his command. As a native of Shu County, Zhang Ren showed off his skills in front of the Qiang and Hu. It was common for him to charge into the battle alone, and he often single-handedly killed large groups of Qiang and Hu troops and defeated them again and again.

Zhang Xiu, who had just surrendered to Liu Zhang, also showed his prowess. Holding out for the murder of his uncle, his eyes were filled with uncontrollable murderous intent, as if he was a killing god patrolling near the grain road, chasing down and killing all the Qiang and Hu tribes who dared to offend the grain road.

Two cards are enough to cut through metal.

With the two cavalry generals Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu around, the Qiang and Hu people were either afraid to plunder the grain roads again, or were so frightened that they fled back to Liang Province. What's worse, some were forced into desperate situations by Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu and simply surrendered to the Shu army.

In this situation, Guo Si in Chang'an often looked unhappy whenever he heard military intelligence from outside. After all, there was too much bad news. He said to Li Jue, "Zhi Ran, we can't go on like this. We sent Qiang and Hu to harass Liu Zhang's food supply, but Liu Zhang's food supply is intact, and the Qiang and Hu we lured here are about to disperse, which means we will lose a great help."

Li Jue nodded, agreeing to Guo Si's request. At the same time, he half-closed his eyes and said, "Guo Aduo, the first battle is not going well. This is not a good sign."

Seeing Li Jue's discouraging words, Guo Si immediately said: "Zhi Ran, we have survived so many ups and downs over the years, and we will survive this time too."

"As for the critical situation, think about the time when Prime Minister Dong was murdered by Wang Yun and Niu Fu was killed by Zhi Hu Chi'er. The court was determined to investigate us to the end and would not let us go. We were leaderless and the public was depressed. The critical situation was no less than today, but we survived."

"Hmm." Li Jue responded silently. Although Guo Si's words were stirring, the ominous signs in his heart were getting stronger and stronger. This time, it was different from the past.

(End of this chapter)