Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 333 Snake Hidden in the Mountain
Hannan, Cao Jun’s camp.

In the big tent, Xia Houyuan held Cao Cao's silk letter and couldn't help but laugh.

"Ha ha!"

Xia Houyuan put down the letter and said with a smile: "It's a good idea to let the envoys rest."

"promise!"

"Why is the general laughing?" Zhao Ang asked.

Xia Houyuan grabbed his thin beard and said with a smile: "Wei Gong said that I am called Miaocai, and he told me not to lose the word Miaocai. He told me to stick to Hannan and not go out to fight Gan Ning, so as not to fall into Gan Ning's strategy of luring the enemy. And I But he laughed at Gan Ning's defense and built a fortress on the spot without fighting, as if to prevent our army from going south."

After saying that, Xia Houyuan put his hands behind his waist and said: "How can I live up to Duke Wei's words and strictly order Zhang He not to go to war? If he goes to fight, he will be punished for disobeying military orders, plus the crime of previous defeat, and both crimes will be punished."

"Let Zhang He secure his position with peace of mind. I will lead the sergeants behind him."

"promise!"

When a brave man knows the situation well, it will be difficult to deal with it. After all, Xia Houyuan had been fighting under Cao Cao for 20 years, and now he was leading the army alone, so he had made a lot of progress.

Today, Hanzhong has been arranged in an orderly manner. Cao Hong and Ma Chao led [-] sergeants, divided their troops to guard the second battalion, surrounded Mianyang, cut down trees, built a large amount of equipment, and besieged Mianyang City. Lu Xun commanded his troops to stay in the city, either sending troops to attack or disturbing the camp at night to delay the siege as much as possible.

Xia Houyuan assigned Zhang He 7000 troops and asked him to guard Micangshan Avenue and build fortifications in preparation for Gan Ning's march north. He himself led 7000 people, who were stationed in Hannan, and set up camps in Dingjun Mountain and Liangshan respectively.

The Dingjun Mountain Camp was used to store grain and grass in Hannan, while overlooking Mianyang City and spying on every move Lu Xun made.

Liangshan is located south of the Han River, east of Dingjun Mountain, opposite Nanzheng in northern Han Dynasty, and in the center of the Hanzhong Basin.

By occupying Liangshan, Xiahou Yuan could not only monitor the five thousand soldiers and horses in Chenggu, but also prevent them from leaving the city. At the same time, head south to support Zhang He's troops. If Zhang He's troops encounter a fierce attack and the fortress cannot withstand it, troops can be sent to support it.

Xiahou Yuan's camp layout was submitted to Cao Cao for review, which also made it impossible for Cao Cao to criticize.

Of course, Xia Houyuan's camp could not cover the entire Hanzhong, after all, Hanzhong was not small. Xiahou Yuan focused his army on the west and south of Han, but neglected the east of Han.

Xia Houyuan paced with his hands behind his back and asked, "Is there any unusual movement in the direction of Chenggu?"

Zhao Ang pondered for a while and said: "General, Zong Yu is guarding Chenggu City and there is no movement."

"good!"

Xia Houyuan nodded slightly and warned: "Let Cao Hong and Ma Chao attack Mianyang and surrender Hanzhong as soon as possible. If Guan and Zhang are allowed to go to Chengdu first, I'm afraid Liu Bei will try his best to help Hanzhong from the north."

Zhao Ang stroked his beard and said: "Lu Xun defends the city with more than ten thousand men. If we attack by force, the soldiers will suffer heavy losses. Now we can ask the two generals to persuade Lu Xun to surrender."

"Weizhang's words make sense!"

Xia Houyuan said: "I hope that there will be few Lu Xun who resist rashly and Mianyang will not surrender. They are too afraid of Wei Gong's order of 'surrounding and surrendering without mercy'. Now let the soldiers in the city know that if they surrender the city, they will not massacre it, so as to Destroy the hearts of the soldiers guarding the city."

"promise!"

Since Cao Cao promulgated the military order of "no mercy for those who surrender after encirclement", there have been many massacres, and Xia Houyuan was one of his staunch executors.

As for why Cao Cao promulgated this law? Naturally, it is to reduce the determination of the resisters, that is, to "demonstrate the world and open up a favorable path for them." With such threats, there are few cities in the world that will not surrender.

If Liu Bei had followed Cao Cao's example and ordered the three armies of Shu to execute the military order of "those who surrender after being surrounded will not be pardoned" and massacred Jiangzhou City as a typical case, he would have probably reached Chengdu City long ago.

It has to be said that in the troubled times of the world, only those who are ruthless and good at squeezing the people can rise quickly. However, the difference in behavior between Liu Bei and Cao Cao is the shining point of Liu Bei.

Not to mention Xia Houyuan's strategy in Hanzhong. Huang Zhong was ordered by Huo Jun to recruit more than [-] Yiling barbarians, with Wen Bu and Deng Kai as the vanguard, and crossed Xiong Mountain to fight to Fangling.

Facing Huang Zhong's sudden attack, Kuai Qi was caught off guard. When he was hesitating, he received a letter from his brother-in-law Zhuge Liang. After careful consideration, Kuai Qi surrendered the county to Huang Zhong.

Of course, the counties mentioned by Kuai Qi include only one county, Fangling, and several villages and towns. If it weren't for the fact that Fangling was located deep in the mountains and had no counties or villages on either side, it would have been merged into other cities long ago.

After Kuai Qi returned and surrendered, Huang Zhong led his army northwest along the river valley and arrived at Shangyong City.

Shangyong and Xiping were occupied by the brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi during the chaos of the late Han Dynasty. When Zhang Lu separatized Hanzhong, they surrendered to Zhang Lu. When Cao Cao's troops entered Jianghan, they also sent people to express their surrender to Cao Cao.

Both ends were sold well, and the Shen brothers occupied it in the mountains. The two cities of Shangyong and Xiping were famous for their remoteness and poverty. They were like chicken ribs, tasteless to eat, and it was a pity to abandon them. Naturally, they can survive in troubled times, and few rulers care.

After Zhang Fei captured Hanzhong, the Shen family sent people to express their goodwill to Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei was busy fooling Liu Zhang and simply let the envoy go back. Seeing that Zhang Fei had no intention of pursuing excellence, brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi were overjoyed.

Now Huang Zhong led his army to attack, Kuai Qi opened the way, and Hanzhong was in the hands of Lu Xun. Ershen was in panic.

Huang Zhong took out Liu Bei's letter to appease Er Shen, stating that Shen Dan was the general of Zhengbei, the prefect of Shangyong, and the marquis of Yuanxiang; Shen Yi was the general of Jianxin and the prefect of Xicheng. Seeing that Liu Bei had given such a generous reward, Er Shen gave up the idea of ​​resisting and chose to surrender to Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong set out from Zigui and spent nearly two months to conquer the three counties in the east!
Furthermore, Huang Zhong followed Huo Jun's instructions and stationed troops in Anyang, four hundred miles away from Nanzheng, on the border of Xicheng. Separated from Hanzhong by mountains and rivers, he hid his whereabouts and only sent scouts into Hanzhong to contact the defenders of Chenggu City. .

Zong Yu was overjoyed to hear the news about Huang Zhong. Inform Huang Zhong of the arrangements of the enemy and ourselves in Hanzhong, so that Huang Zhong can choose the opportunity to act without being too anxious.

Anyang, Huang Zhongjun.

In the big tent, Huang Zhong was reading the Zong Preliminary Letters, stroking his beard, and his mind was heavy.

Seeing this, Kuai Qi asked: "I wonder why the old general is worried?"

Liu Bei appointed Kuai Qi as the governor of Badong and transferred him from Fengling County. Let Wenbu temporarily serve as the governor of Fangling to ensure the safety of Huang Zhong's retreat.

Huang Zhong hesitated a little and said: "This summer Hou Yuan led a large army into Hanzhong. Cao's army was divided into the north and south of the Han River, with five battalions. Lu Taishou was stationed at Mianyang, and the clan leader was stationed at Chenggu. The military situation is critical!"

Kuai Qi frowned and said, "The old general said that Governor Huo would send troops to the north to help. How come there is no news about him today?"

Huang Zhong put down the letter and said helplessly: "Huo Dudu said that when he enters Bashu, he will go to Bazhong, recruit troops among the Xi people, and then observe the situation in Hanzhong before marching. Our army is now located in Xiping, isolated from Bashu. This is Worry now.”

Huang Zhong is quite troubled. He led the army to conquer the three eastern counties alone. In the high mountains and ridges, he has not yet been able to contact the general. Huo Jun didn't tell him in advance how to rescue Hanzhong, so why didn't he worry?
Kuai Qi pondered for a while and said, "Does the sect leader have any information on the movement of reinforcements?"

Huang Zhong read the letter again and said: "The clan leader ordered Zhang He to station troops on Micang Road to the south, and Xiahou Yuan camped on Liangshan Mountain."

Stroking his beard, Huang Zhong analyzed and said: "Zhang He and Xia Houyuan stationed troops in Hannan. Since they are soldiers from Ba Di, who are in charge of the south, these troops may be under Huo Du's command."

"In this case, should our army go straight into Hannan and see if we can attack with Dudu Huo's troops from inside and outside to defeat Xiahou Yuan's troops?" Kuai Qi suggested.

Huang Zhong shook his head and said: "Sent more scouts to contact Chenggu, and ordered people to go to Nanxiang to see if they can get news of reinforcements. They also sent people to the mountain tribes to ask the Heavenly Master Zhang Lu, and the governor took Zhang Lu into Ba , will definitely contact people from all over the world.”

"promise!"

Although Huang Zhong rarely led troops in battle alone, he was better because he was older and had experienced many battles. In the battle to rescue Hanzhong, although his troops were small, they were better because they were not known by Xia Houyuan.

He had a hunch that troops like him would play a different role in rescuing Hanzhong and could even reverse the situation, so he couldn't expose them in advance.
-
Huang Zhong's subordinates contacted Huo Jun urgently in Anyang, and Gan Ning, who was on Micang Mountain Road, was exchanging news with Huo Jun.

Gan Ning sank his sword into his waist, entered the tent from the outside, and asked, "Is there any news from the general?"

Gofu cupped his hands and said: "The general arrived in Xuanhan and recruited more than [-] elite soldiers. Now he has stationed troops in Bazhong and refused to advance. He sent people to send a message and refused to join the prince."

Jufu, named Xiaoxing. When Zhang Fei was pinging Baxi County, he recruited troops along the way. When he was in Jufu, he joined the army for the county officials and fought with extraordinary bravery.

When the three armies entered Sichuan, Jufu, as a native of Basi County, was left to live in Jiangzhou. Because of his outstanding martial arts skills and being a member of the Hanchang family, he was favored by Zhuge Liang and promoted to captain.

Gan Ning and Meng Da led their troops to the north to aid Hanzhong, and Jufu joined the army to assist. As a Ba native, he was responsible for scouting the army.

"Ok?"

Gan Ning frowned and said, "The general only has 5000 soldiers under his command. Even if there are more than 7000 warriors and warriors, how can we defeat the enemy with more than [-] people?"

Ju Fu shook his head and said, "This is something Fu Fu cannot know."

"do not care!"

Gan Ning sat on the couch and said, "Since the general asked our army to show weakness to the enemy and relax the enemy's army, I wonder what the situation will be like now?"

Meng Da, who was sitting on the side table, smiled and said: "General, please rest assured. Our army has been building mountain road fortifications for many days. Zhang He sent many scouts to spy on them, but they all left without results. Now that the fort is built, it may be possible to follow the plan, and there will be many trees." Flag, advance troops and invite Zhang He to fight."

"good!"

Gan Ning nodded slightly and said, "Tomorrow we must plant more flags, sound more golden drums, and insult Zhang He to dispel the enemy's will."

Using the virtual and the real to act as a target for arrows was the task Huo Jun gave to Gan Ning's subordinates.

In order to convince Zhang He and Xia Houyuan that Gan Ning's troops were supporting troops, Gan Ning first used thousands of troops to build fortifications and guard the mountain roads to prevent Zhang He from going south.

Then he sent more troops to Gan Ning and continued to build fortifications. After the fortifications were built, in order to paralyze Zhang He and Xia Houyuan, he invited them to fight.

While doing this, Huo Jun led his troops to hide in the Xuanhan garrison several hundred miles away from Hanzhong, and disappeared into the vast mountains without being detected by Xia Houyuan's troops.

The two troops, Huo Jun and Huang Zhong, were like poisonous snakes hiding in the dark, observing Cao's army, waiting for the right time to launch a fatal blow.

(End of this chapter)