The great man will live forever

Chapter 261
  After Lai She's death, the morale of the Han army plummeted. Liu Xiu decided to personally lead the army to conquer Gongsun Shu. However, it rained all night, and the Qiang people rebelled again at this time.

Liu Xiu came to Chang'an, asked Liu Han to supervise the country, and appointed Ma Yuan as the governor of Longxi. Ma Yuan sent three thousand infantry and cavalry to defeat the Xianling Qiang in Lintao, beheading hundreds of people and capturing more than [-] horses, cattle and sheep.

There were more than [-] Qiang people guarding the fortress, and they surrendered in the hope of wind.

At that time, there were tens of thousands of people from various Qiang tribes occupying key passes in Haoqian to resist. Ma Yuan and General Yangwu Ma Cheng led their troops to attack. The Qiang people gathered their families, grain, grass and baggage to stop the Han army in Yunwu Valley.

Ma Yuan led his troops to secretly attack the Qiang camp by taking a small road. Seeing the sudden approach of the Han army, the Qiang people were frightened and fled far away into Tangyi Valley.

Ma Yuan sent his troops to pursue him, while the Qiang people gathered their elite troops in Beishan to hold on. Ma Yuan set up a feint attack on the mountain to attract the enemy. He sent hundreds of cavalry around behind the Qiang people, set fire to them at night, and beat drums and shouted.

The Qiang people did not know how many Han troops attacked and fled one after another. Ma Yuan won a great victory and beheaded more than a thousand people. However, due to the small number of troops, they did not pursue the enemy and only took the Qiang people's grain, livestock and other property for the Han army.

In this battle, Ma Yuan took the lead and shot an arrow through his calf. After Liu Xiu learned about it, he sent people to express condolences and gave him thousands of cattle and sheep. Ma Yuan distributed all these to his subordinates as usual.

At that time, Jincheng was to the west of Poqiang, far away from the Han Dynasty, and troubles often occurred, making it difficult to govern.

The court ministers discussed that the area should be abandoned.

Liu Han cursed loudly, "What a waste. Although there is a lot of land, not an inch is redundant."

Ma Yuan also disagreed, and he gave three reasons:
  First, the castles west of Poqiang are still intact and strong, suitable for defense;

Second, the land in that place is fertile and irrigation is convenient;
  Third, if we ignore it and allow the Qiang people to occupy Huangzhong, there will be endless disasters in the future.

"That's right, that's right. What General Ma said is right. He has won Gu's heart. Just reply to your father like this."

Liu Han was very satisfied and agreed immediately, but he could not completely make the decision, so he sent someone to rush to Chang'an with his and Ma Yuan's suggestions.

After reading it, Liu Xiu nodded, "Yes, not an inch of land is redundant. General Wenyuan's suggestion is also very good. Let's leave it at that."

Liu Xiu listened to their opinions and immediately ordered the prefect of Wuwei to return all the more than [-] residents who had moved from Jincheng to their places of origin.

Ma Yuan also reported to the Ming Dynasty, arranging officials for them, repairing the city, building fortifications, providing water conservancy, and encouraging people to develop agriculture and animal husbandry. The people in the county lived and worked in peace and contentment from then on.

Ma Yuan also sent Yang Feng, a Qiang tycoon, to persuade the Qiang people outside the Great Wall and let them form a good relationship with the Qiang people inside the Great Wall and jointly develop the frontier.

In addition, Ma Yuan treated the Di people who rebelled against Gongsun Shu in Wudu and came to join them with courtesy, reported to the Ming Dynasty, restored their status as princes and rulers, granted them a reprieve, and withdrew Ma Cheng's army.

After the Qiang people surrendered, Ma Yuan moved the Qiang people to Tianshui, Longxi and Fufeng counties.

The Qiang people are done for the time being, and Gongsun Shu is left.

Everything was ready. As Liu Xiu mobilized his troops and generals, Cen Peng mobilized the infantry from Nanyang, Wuling, and Nanjun and the sailors from Guiyang, Lingling, and Changsha, a total of [-] people to join forces at Jingmen.

Wu Han was quite puzzled by this. He believed that the pawns were more expensive than the infantry, costing money and food, and were of little use, so it was better to disband them on the spot.

Cen Peng had a different view from his old leader. He believed that the Shu army was good at water warfare and that the Han army would be difficult to fight without soldiers.

The two presented their opinions to Liu Xiu and Liu Han. Liu Han naturally agreed with Cen Peng's opinions. After talking about it, Liu Xiu also agreed, and then asked the two to lead the infantry and cavalry and the navy to capture Jingmen Mountain and Liu Xiu gave clear instructions to put Zheng Nan Gong (Cen Peng) in charge.

Here, with the emperor's support, Cen Peng recruited men from the army who dared to attack the enemy's pontoon bridge to form a commando team.

General Lu Qi was recruited as the commando captain and led the warriors to sail upstream. The target was the pontoon bridge, which was the key to the three-dimensional defense.

On that day, with the blessing of God and a strong east wind, the warriors of the Han Dynasty drove a maotu boat carrying a large amount of flammable materials and rushed upstream with the wind and the current.

They marched smoothly at first. Although arrows on the mountains on both sides were like locusts, the Han army had already disregarded life and death. While raising their shields to protect them, they quickly approached the pontoon bridge that was the focus of the Shu army's defense.

However, just as they were getting closer and closer to the pontoon, suddenly, the Han army's maotu boat hit the Shuan column preset by the Shu army in the water and was unable to break free.

"General, what should we do now?"

"Shhhhhh!"

Arrows continued to fly from both sides. The Han army was blocked and their morale dropped somewhat.

"what!"

Some soldiers were also shot.

"burn!"

Lu Qi looked ferocious when he saw this, and rushed forward with a torch and shield. While personally leading the soldiers to block the arrows fired from the pontoon, he burned the pillars with torches.

After trying hard to open a hole, "Quick, go, go! Keep up, keep up!"

Lu Qi shouted, waving torches and shields, and the remaining Han warships approached the pontoon one after another.

The Han army continued to carry out the fire attack to the end. In the end, under the desperate fire attack by the Han warriors, the pontoon bridge and the tower above were burned to the ground.

Cen Peng, who followed closely behind, led the main force and bravely moved forward in a building boat to help. Although the Shu army occupies a favorable geographical location, under such precise and severe attacks by the Han army, they were either killed in a sea of ​​fire or drowned in a river. Thousands of people were killed in one fell swoop. How could they still have fighting spirit?
  Even the chief general Ren Man was beheaded by the Han army, and his deputy general Cheng Fan was taken prisoner. As for Cen Peng's defeated general Tian Rong, he has long since disappeared without a trace...

The Han army naturally won a great victory. After conquering Jingmen Mountain, Cen Peng guaranteed Liu Long to be the governor of Nanjun, responsible for consolidating the occupied area, and led the army to occupy Jiangguan.

During this period, Cen Peng strictly enforced military discipline and did not allow his subordinates to disturb the people. Therefore, he won the support of the local people. They rewarded the troops with cattle and wine that they were reluctant to eat and drink on weekdays.

Cen Peng personally met with the local elders, refused the cattle, wine and other gifts given by the people, and reassured everyone: "The Emperor of Han could not bear the people of Bashu to be harmed, so he launched a crusade to eliminate harm for the people!"

Cen Peng's performance made the people feel like Master Wang, and they rushed to surrender to Cen Peng.

The Han army was unstoppable. Cen Peng, who was advancing with great success, attacked Jiangzhou (today's Chongqing) and met the often defeated general Tian Rong again.

Tian Rong said with a smile: "This time, I am in the city of Jiangzhou. I will not leave the city without saying anything and will defend to the end. I want food and people. The city is high and the pond is thick. What can Cen Peng do? "

"The general is brilliant."

Sure enough, this guy was so determined that he would not go out of the city to find a fight with Cen Peng. He only wanted to rely on the abundant food in the city and Cen Peng from afar.

Cen Peng tried to attack several times and found that Jiangzhou was difficult to conquer in a short period of time.

In the Han army camp, everyone was worried.

"General, this Tian Rong is like a turtle with his head shrinking. What should we do now?"

"Yes, our food and grass can't last long."

Cen Peng thought for a moment and said, "The lack of food is indeed a big problem. Now that Shu has plenty of food, where is the nearest city to us?"

"Pingqu!"

"Could the general want to bypass Jiangzhou? Attack Pingqu directly?"

Cen Peng nodded, "Exactly." "This must not be done. The army bypasses Jiangzhou. If Tian Rong cuts off our retreat, the entire army may be annihilated at any time."

Throughout the history of China, there have been constant wars, among which siege warfare is particularly thrilling.

In historical records and screen presentations, hundreds of thousands of troops can often be seen storming a city. The two sides are fighting fiercely, and various offensive and defensive equipment are emerging one after another.

However, after a siege battle, both armies are often exhausted and suffer heavy losses.

Some people can't help but wonder: "Since siege warfare consumes so much time and energy, why not choose to take a detour?"

There are many reasons for this. First of all, the ancient city was not only a city wall, but also a symbol of a city. It was the center of politics, economy, and culture. Elite talents and economic resources within a radius of dozens of miles gathered here.

Transportation in ancient times was not developed, which limited the transportation of medicinal materials and food. However, after occupying the city, the attackers can quickly obtain medicinal materials, medical personnel, and food, effectively treat the wounded, and obtain large amounts of supplies.

Prisoners of soldiers and technical personnel such as blacksmiths in the city can also bring great labor value to the attackers.

More importantly, the close connection between cities allows the attackers to obtain key strategic intelligence.

After the attacker captures a city, he or she can use prominent local figures to manage the city and attract people to join the army or donate supplies.

At the same time, this city has also become an important harbor for attracting talents from surrounding areas, and countless talented people have come to help in the war effort.

Based on all the attractive benefits, it is not difficult to explain why soldiers are so obsessed with capturing a city. They are willing to make great efforts and costs for this, invest a lot of troops and materials, and carry out a long siege.

As for detouring, if it is not necessary, it will not be considered.

Many cities cannot be bypassed due to terrain reasons. After all, key cities are mostly located at places where the attackers must attack. For example, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, if you want to enter the Wei River Valley, you must encounter Hangu Pass, Dashan Pass, Wuguan Pass, and Xiao Pass.
  Among them, Hangu Pass is the most famous, guarding the valley called "Chou Sang Plateau". Those who want to pass must conquer this place and avoid it.

Taiyuan City is another example. This city that has given birth to many famous people is located among Hengshan Mountain, Luliang Mountain, Taihang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain.

To garrison here, you can cross Guanzhong to the south, enter Hebei to the east, and cross Yanmen Pass to Mobei to the north.

Taiyuan City is surrounded by mountains to the east, west and north, and is bordered by the Taiyuan Basin to the south. Therefore, the attackers can easily be detected, which is conducive to preparations by the defenders.

In ancient times, such cities that used mountains as defenses and were located on the only way to march often made the attackers suffer.

To take a step back, even if it can be circumvented, it is very easy to be surrounded and suppressed, and the escape route and supplies will be cut off.

In ancient wars, whether it was the attacking or defending side, the army was unlikely to send out all its troops at once in a battle, because both sides were worried about encountering a sneak attack.

If the attacker decides to take a desperate risk and march the entire army around the city, one of them will be discovered by the soldiers on guard in the city.

Choosing to march around the city is equivalent to entering the enemy's interior alone. Once discovered or the information is leaked, it will face a devastating blow.

In this case, even if the attacker deploys troops near the city gate to distract the enemy, he may still face counterattacks and siege from the rear by other forces in the city, and may also encounter reinforcements from the defender arriving from other areas.

Once the attacker falls into the dilemma of being attacked from both sides, the battle situation will undoubtedly favor the defender.

Even if the attacker has sufficient military strength and chooses to march around the city, there is still a risk that its logistics supply line will be cut off, and if not, the entire army will be annihilated.

Therefore, when Cen Peng wanted to bypass Jiangzhou, most generals disagreed.

"Tian Rong has long been weakened by our Han army. As long as we don't attack, he will never dare to leave the city and die. He is like a turtle shell now. He wants to be consumed by us when he dies, but we can't afford it.

There are currently 6 troops, and there are probably tens of thousands of troops in the city. Even if we can break through, we will suffer heavy losses, so we must find other ways..."

In the end, Cen Peng left Feng Jun behind and surrounded Jiangzhou with 8 soldiers and horses, while bluffing to create the illusion that the main force had not left yet.

Immediately, Cen Peng personally led the main force northward through Dianjiang and directly attacked Pingqu. This was a large granary for the Shu army. Although there were some sergeants guarding it, they never expected that Cen Peng arrived so quickly and had no time to resist, so he gave up hundreds of thousands of stones, grain and grass in vain.

Good guys, now the army is full and there is no need to worry about food and grass.

"The general is brilliant."

Everyone praised Cen Peng, and he waved his hands and said: "Zang Gong Yu Pingqu, refused to Yan Cen's main force of Shu soldiers."

"The last general takes orders."

The Han army was celebrating the New Year, and the Shu army was as if their parents had died. When I heard that Cen Peng had lived a good life in Shu, Gongsun Shu, the White Emperor, was a little panicked.

"Why did Cen Peng bypass Jiangzhou? Is Tian Rong a fool?"

Gongsun Shu was very panicked, but he did not dare to be careless. He quickly ordered Yancen, Lu Qian, Wang Yuan, Gongsun Hui and other Shu generals to be stationed in Guanghan (the county was Zhangtong, now part of Sichuan) and Zizhong (now Ziyang, Sichuan), and sent another marquis. Dan led an army of [-] to refuse to defend Huangshi (today's Hengshitan, northeast of Fuling, Sichuan), and no matter what he said, he could not let Cen Peng move to break the formation.

Cen Peng repeated his old tricks and set up more suspicious troops. He ordered Yang Xi and Zang Gong to resist the bluff of Yan Cen and others, and he divided his troops and returned to Jiangzhou by water. Good guy, he is back again. How many times did he cross Chishui like a teacher?

Immediately, they went up the Sudu River (now the Minjiang River in central Sichuan Province) and attacked Hou Dan in Huangshi.

Then, Cen Peng used the magic of moving Taibao, marched more than a thousand miles, conquered Wuyang (today's Pengshan County, Sichuan Province), and sent elite cavalry to attack Guangdu (today's Shuangliu District of Chengdu, Tianfu New District of Chengdu). administrative area and the northern part of Renshou County in Meishan City and other areas), and attacked places dozens of miles away from Chengdu.

Its power is like a strong wind and a sudden rain. Wherever it goes, it is as powerful as broken bamboo, and the enemies are scattered.

At this time, Gongsun Shu in Chengdu was still wondering whether Cen Peng was still in Pingqu. Unexpectedly, Cen Peng had arrived in Wuyang early, and the defense lines he had deployed had become a decoration.

Thinking that Cen Peng was coming to Chengdu to fight with him soon, Gongsun Shu waved his usual scepter, banged it hard on the ground and cursed: "Is Cen Peng still a human being? Why is he so awesome?"

He thought of something and screamed, "Quick, come to Fu Lu to see me. I want to kill Cen Peng, I want to kill him."

On the other side, in Chang'an City, Liu Xiu laughed loudly when he heard the news.

"Haha, it's Cen Peng as expected. His abilities are amazing. When I was defending Wancheng, my eldest brother was besieged by hundreds of thousands of troops. Cen Peng strictly enforced military discipline, boosted morale, calmed the people, repaired defensive equipment, and resisted tenaciously.
  Although the military strength was at a disadvantage, the rebels outside the city were unable to attack for a long time and could only look at the city and sigh.

Later, the food in the city ran out, and there were even tragedies of cannibalism. Even so, Wancheng remained unmoved.

After the eldest brother broke the city, he was reluctant to kill him. How could he kill such a talented person? "

Liu Xiu recalled with great sadness that he almost killed Cen Peng. When Xiao Changan was reunited, it was because of Cen Peng that he almost died before he left the army and experienced the trough and defeat of his life.

Just then, a eunuch came in.

"His Majesty."

"Letter from the Prince."

"I'll take a look."

When Liu Xiu opened the bamboo slips and took a look, his expression changed drastically.

"Quickly, tell someone to notify Cen Peng and ask him to take more precautions. How could I have forgotten this matter?"

(End of this chapter)