Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chang'an, official residence.

In order to make appropriate responses according to the situation in Hedong in a timely manner, Liu Zhang summoned the military advisor Fa Zheng after careful consideration, gave him some instructions, and then sent Fa Zheng out of Chang'an.

On the official road of Zuo Fengyi, Fa Zheng rode his horse at a gallop, hoping to reach the bank of the river as soon as possible.

A few days later, Fa Zheng arrived at the river. He looked up and saw the river roaring and surging. Seeing this magnificent scene, Fa Zheng couldn't help but sigh, "This is truly an unparalleled river."

Fa Zheng did not have much time to appreciate the beautiful scenery. He left the place early and came to Pubanjin where the river flow was relatively slow. He boarded a small boat and crossed the river.

After crossing the river, Fa Zheng met General Lou Fa who came to greet him. The two men held each other's arms and talked, then walked hand in hand into Puban City with equal steps.

After entering the Puban County Temple, Fa Zheng and Lou Fa sat opposite each other. Without any other conversation, they directly talked about the situation in Hedong.

"Wang Yi sent General Fan Xian to station troops in Donghuan to block Gao Gan's way to Hedong. Gao Gan could not move forward and had to stay in Huguan and ask Yuan Shao for troops to attack Hedong." Lou Fa spoke first and introduced the situation in Hedong.

Fa Zheng asked, "Are there any troops coming from Jizhou?"

"So far, there has been no news of Jizhou sending troops." Lou Fa shook his head, and then he added: "However, there is news that some food and supplies have been transported from Jizhou to Shangdang County. The amount is enough for 5,000 to 6,000 people to fight for four to five months."

"That's it." Fa Zheng nodded, and he analyzed, "Yuan Shao was trying to eliminate internal troubles such as Gongsun Zan in Yi County and the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan. His troops should be concentrated on conquering Yi County and blocking Zhang Yan. That's why Gao Gan couldn't ask for troops, but only for food and supplies."

Lou Fa blinked his eyes and said tentatively: "Lord Fa means that Gao Gan will mobilize the soldiers of Shangdang County to attack Hedong..."

"That's right." Fa Zheng nodded in agreement.

Lou Fa also nodded: "The soldiers from other counties may not be very useful, they can only be used to defend the city and build palaces. The soldiers from Shangdang County can indeed be used to fight between the two armies and fight on the battlefield. After all, Bingzhou is a place where elite soldiers come from, and the soldiers from the counties should not be taken lightly."

Although he was born in the humble Shu land, Lou Fa, as a general, had his eyes looking in all directions. He had a certain understanding of the Bingzhou army. With the guidance of Fa Zheng, he roughly guessed Gao Gan's intentions.

Following the previous conversation, Lou Fa asked, "My Lord, did you send Fa Jun here for this matter? Should we help Wang Yi and prevent Hedong from falling into the hands of Gao Gan?"

Fa Zheng simply shook his head and waved his hand, saying, "My Lord, what you mean is to wait and see for a while. If Wang Yi's army is defeated and Hedong is in danger, we will take action again, either to help Wang Yi or to directly seize Hedong..."

Having said this, Fa Zheng asked Lou Fa in a resounding voice, "It's just that the summer harvest has not yet arrived, and food and grass are scarce. The food and grass that you have gathered from the treasuries of the counties in Guanzhong is only enough for Lord Lou's own troops... If something happens in Hedong, we will have to rely on Lord Lou. I wonder if Lord Lou's troops are useful? After all, if Gao Gan gathers all the soldiers from Shangdang County, he may be able to get 7,000 to 8,000 people."

Fa Zheng knew very well the number of troops under Lou Fa's command. After all, he was in charge of correspondence with Xun You, Jia Xu and others, and he would go through all the documents in the army. Therefore, he knew that Lou Fa had about 3,000 troops under his command, which was inferior to Gao Gan in terms of military strength.

Hearing this, Lou Fa said sternly, "Your Excellency, please know that the three thousand elite soldiers under my command are enough to defeat ten thousand people. Not to mention that Gao Gan led seven or eight thousand people here, even if the general led ten thousand people here, I will still defeat them for you. When the time comes, you can be a witness."

"I have witnessed Lord Lou's bravery, and I believe what you said. If anything goes wrong, I have to rely on Lord Lou." Fa Zheng nodded, and he showed great trust in Lou Fa.

In this way, after a few days, Lou Fa and Fa Zheng received the news from Shangdang County that Gao Gan gathered six or seven thousand soldiers from Shangdang County, and lured the Southern Xiongnu Right Wise King Qubei to lead three or four thousand people to help. A total of more than ten thousand soldiers, with flags fluttering and swords and spears like a forest, were coming towards Hedong.

"Let's see how Wang Yi responds." Fa Zheng, with the mentality of sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between two tigers, planned to let Wang Yi first wear down the senior officials, and then wait for an opportunity to act. This was also a strategy that had been decided long ago.

Fa Zheng was enjoying himself, watching the changing situation, while Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, was secretly complaining. At this moment, Wang Yi was cursing in the county temple of Anyi County: "What does the internal affairs of the Han Dynasty have to do with Qu Bei? What is the meaning of Qu Bei coming to help Gao Gan?"

Wei Gu, the governor of Hedong, said, "I heard that Gao Gan lured him with gold and silk, but Qu Bei was greedy for money. In addition, Yuan Shao was the leader of the feudal lords, and his prestige was great among the Rong and Di people. In addition, Yuan Shao had a conciliatory heart, and many Qiang and Hu people admired him. Qu Bei was no exception. Therefore, Qu Bei accepted Gao Gan's invitation and immediately led his troops to come."

"The soldiers of Shangdang County led by Gao Gan are not easy to deal with. Now with the addition of the jackal-like Huns, we are not able to defeat them. My lord, why don't you send an envoy to Guanzhong to invite the Shu army for help." An aide said, and he gave a plan, which was to call for reinforcements.

Wang Yi was shocked when he heard this, but before he could reply, Wei Gu said sternly, "Absolutely not."

Everyone's eyes were attracted by Wei Gu. Wang Yi also stopped talking and expressed his agreement to invite the Shu soldiers to help. He cast an inquiring look at Wei Gu.

"Ahem..." Wei Gu was being scanned by many eyes, but his expression remained unchanged. He spoke to Wang Yitan, "My Lord, Gao Gan and the Xiongnu are like jackals, very scary, but the Shu soldiers are like tigers... It's easy to invite gods but hard to send them away. If you ask for help from the Shu soldiers, and then repel Gao Gan, but the Shu soldiers stay, then the land of Hedong will not belong to you."

"This..." Wang Yi looked thoughtful. He had lived in Hedong for several years without anyone to restrain him. He was very obsessed with the current situation. He only wished that he could be like today, where he could do whatever he wanted and kill people without having to consider other people's opinions.

Just when Wang Yi was about to make a statement that he would not ask for reinforcements from Guanzhong, but only use Liu Zhang's banner to intimidate the high officials, he suddenly thought that if he was defeated, he would inevitably die, and his wife and clan might have to follow him to Youquan.

Wang Yi was troubled when he thought of this. His eyebrows knitted together. After a moment, he said, "What you said is reasonable. But Gao Gan and Qu Bei are all connected. They have tens of thousands of people. If they attack here, I, Gu Mu, will not be able to resist."

"My Lord." Facing the worried Wang Yi, Wei Gu seemed calm and composed. He cupped his hands and said, "Yuan Shao has matters to attend to with Gongsun of Yi County and Zhang Yan of Heishan. In addition, he is sending troops during the spring ploughing season, so the amount of food, supplies, and soldiers that he can provide to Gao Gan is limited."

"In my opinion, we only need to hold on in Donghuan. In a few months, Gao Gan will run out of food and retreat. At that time, our army will seize the opportunity to attack Gao Gan's returning troops and will surely win a complete victory."

Wang Yi gave his plan. If they held on firmly, Gao Gan would retreat without a fight, and they could win without a fight. After Wang Yi thought about it carefully, he nodded and praised, "Your words can be said to have cleared the dark clouds for me, allowing me to see the blue sky."

Having decided on the plan, Wang Yi and his confidant Wei Gu began to make arrangements to transport food and supplies to Donghuan to prevent Donghuan from running out of food and supplies during its defense. At the same time, Wang Yi ordered people to recruit county soldiers. Although the county soldiers just recruited were not enough, they were good for boosting courage.

While Wang Yi was making arrangements, Gao Gan and Qu Bei, the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu who was recruited by Gao Gan, joined forces with a total of more than 10,000 troops and arrived outside the city of Donghuan.

With the idea of ​​using courtesy before force, Gao Gan sent a eloquent envoy to Donghuan to announce to General Fan Xian, who was stationed in Donghuan: "If the general abandons the dark and joins the light, he will have great wealth and honor in the future. But if he rebels against Wang Yi, disaster will not be far away for his family."

Lobbyists, lobbyists, are nothing more than coercion and inducement. Therefore, the words of the high-ranking envoys contained threats to the three clans of Fan Xian, as well as words of inducement like rock honey.

After saying this, the messenger waited for Fan Xian's reply, but Fan Xian frowned. He waved his hand and said, "Don't waste your breath. It's better to go back early and let Gao Yuancai come to attack the city."

Fan Xian, who was born into a prominent family named Fan in Hedong, actually didn't care much about who served as the prefect of Hedong. In his opinion, no matter who served as the prefect, his Fan family was always a prominent family in the county, one of the best.

Therefore, Fan Xian actually had some thoughts in his mind about abandoning Wang Yi and joining Gao Gan, but after hearing that Gao Gan had lured the Huns to help, Fan Xian gave up the idea of ​​surrendering to Gao Gan.

There was no other reason. It was because the Xiongnu moved into the inner counties and would invade and harass the counties in Hedong from time to time. The Fan family was deeply troubled by the Xiongnu. Therefore, Fan Xian hated the Xiongnu very much.

Because of his hatred for Gao Gan, Fan Xian was unwilling to surrender to Gao Gan at this moment. He only remembered the task assigned to him by Wang Yi, which was to hold on to Donghuan and wait until Gao Gan's side ran out of food and grass, then take the opportunity to attack and defeat Gao Gan in one fell swoop.

Fan Xian's attitude was quickly conveyed to senior officials by the messenger.

Gao Gan, who was in the central army tent, heard the messenger's report and laughed: "Fan Xian, Fan Xian, you didn't use the chance I gave you! Then don't blame me for being cruel. When the time comes, I will annihilate your three clans under the city of Donghuan." At this point, Gao Gan showed a cruel expression on his face, like a hungry tiger ready to eat someone.

"Let the soldiers have a full meal tomorrow morning and add some meat to the food. We must take down Donghuan in one fell swoop." Gao Gan ordered. He had no idea of ​​sending messengers to persuade Fan Xian again. He only planned to take down Donghuan by force, and then march westward in a large scale to occupy all the strategic locations in Hedong and reach the river directly.

The next day, outside Donghuan City.

Except for the 1,500 men left to guard the camp, the remaining 6,000 men were led out of the camp by Gao Gan and set up a battle formation outside Donghuan City. As the saying goes, there are tens of thousands of men and horses, and there is no end to them. Now that the 6,000 men under Gao Gan were set up here, they also had a mighty momentum that seemed to have no end.

"Beat the drum, cheer." Gao Gan urged the drummer to swing the sledgehammer and hit the cowhide drum hard to encourage the soldiers to go forward and break into the city first.

Amid the thunder-like sound of drums, teams of soldiers stepped forward, pushing simple ladders and battering rams, and charged towards Donghuan City with an unstoppable momentum.

Fan Xian, who was commanding the defense on the top of Donghuan City, would not let Yuan's army rush to the city wall so easily. He shouted loudly and ordered the soldiers to throw their bows and crossbows to severely attack Yuan's army that came to attack the city.

In an instant, the two sides started fighting. Some fell down, some wailed, but what was even louder was the rumbling sound of the drums, which resonated with the heartbeats of the soldiers, making the soldiers forget about death and only feel their blood boiling. They were determined to kill the general and seize the flag today and achieve great merit.

Facing the rain of arrows fired from the top of Donghuan's wall, Yuan's army fearlessly pushed the ladders to the foot of Donghuan city. Then they climbed up the ladders and started shooting at the Hedong army from them.

In addition to the ladders, the battering rams were also pushed by Yuan's army to the front of Donghuan's city gate. Then they swayed in unison, and the huge wood on the battering ram carried unparalleled potential energy and rushed towards Donghuan's city gate.

"Bang." There was a loud noise, and the gate of Donghuan shook a few times, but it remained standing. Seeing this, an officer of Yuan's army shouted: "Come again, come again."

Fan Xian and Gao Gan, one defending and the other attacking, were both fully focused on the battlefield, not missing any opportunity or slight flaw of the opponent.

While the Hedong Army and the Yuan Army were fighting fiercely, the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu, Qu Bei, looked a little bored and was in a depressed mood.

In today's attack and defense, since most of Qu Bei's men were cavalrymen, and the Huns were not capable of such delicate work as siege, Gao Gan used him and his men to plunder the enemy camp in case the Hedong army in Donghuan City suddenly rushed out.

But now the morale of Yuan's army is high, and the Hedong army is in a weak position, so it is impossible for them to break out of the city. Therefore, Qubei has nothing to do for a while. He can only yawn and wait for the outcome of the attack and defense between the Hedong army and the Yuan army.

However, according to Qu Bei's military perspective, although Yuan's army fought well, it would not be so easy to capture Donghuan City, and they would not be able to take it today.

Things turned out just as Qubei had expected. When the sun set and the weary birds returned to the forest, Donghuan City was still firmly controlled by the Hedong Army. The Yuan army, which had been attacking fiercely, had never been able to climb onto the top of Donghuan City.

The sun was about to set and it was getting dark. Although Gao Gan was reluctant, he had no choice but to issue the order to retreat. With the regular sound of the horns, Yuan's army withdrew from the battlefield one after another, leaving no chance for the Hedong army to leave the city and follow.

For several days, Gao Gan attacked Donghuan City many times, but gained nothing. He failed to capture Donghuan as he wished and could only wander outside the city.

"hateful."

Another day of siege ended. Gao Gan returned to the central army tent, took off his helmet and armor, and angrily said with displeasure. Dong Huan had not yet surrendered, which made him very worried. (End of this chapter)