Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 707: Hebei Riot
April, Sinan Han Village.

More than 200 carts and boats loaded with provisions went upstream and after many hardships arrived at the riverside ferry to dock. The Han soldiers at the ferry were busy moving the provisions and carrying the bags of grain into the granary.

Because they were sailing upstream in the Si River, the grain-carrying ships were not large ships like those sailing in the Yangtze River. Most of them were small and medium-sized boats with a load capacity of about 300 to 400 dan, which is between 10 and 15 tons in later generations.

The 200-vessel food transport team delivered about 70,000 dan of food for the army, which could be used by the army for about half a month. Although the number was not large, it was the first time that Huo Jun had received food from downstream since he moved to Sinan half a month ago, which made the soldiers very happy.

When Huo Jun heard the news about the grain transport team, he immediately summoned Gao Chen who was escorting the grain.

In the big tent, Gao Chen presented the grain and supplies document and said, "General, 70,000 shi of grain and vegetables have arrived by order. I hope you can check and receive them."

Huo Jun spread out the bamboo slips, looked at the data recorded on them, and said with a smile: "Yaohui has been transporting food and supplies for the army for hundreds of miles on a floating boat, which must have been very hard."

"dare not"

While asking Gao Chen to sit down and talk, Huo Jun asked for details and asked, "Did the trip go smoothly?"

Gao Chen replied respectfully, "The first hundred miles out of Pengcheng went smoothly. The cities along the way saw the army and did not dare to move. Only after crossing the lake and land, there were many signs of Wei troops. During the period, we stopped at the ferry near Rencheng to rest and were almost attacked. Fortunately, we were well prepared and the boat left the shore in time, so we escaped."

"Except for the attacks in Rencheng and Nanpingyang, the boats were unimpeded all the way north. The three or four hundred miles of waterway took two more days because we were not familiar with the waterway. The next shipment of grain should be able to arrive on schedule. If we send more times, we can travel at the same time and it will be a little faster."

Gao Xiang received Huo Jun's order to transport grain, but he dared not delay, fearing that the Wei army would rob him. To be on the safe side, Gao Xiang sent his cautious cousin Gao Chen to transport grain.

After hearing Gao Chen's story, Jiang Ji laughed and said, "The one who attacked the general at night was most likely Wen Qin from Qiao County. In order to prevent Shanyang and Rencheng counties from surrendering to us and to clear the grain route, Wang Ling ordered Wen Qin to lead his troops south to intimidate them."

"Yesterday Pang De reported that he met Wen Qin in Taoxiang. The two armies fought, and at first there was no clear winner. But Ling Minghou got the help of a strong wind and defeated Wen Qin. Wen Qin gathered up the remnants and fled. He should be back to the main camp now."

"Wen Qin's defeat and escape may intimidate the cities on the Si River, forcing them to surrender to us one after another, and let me overpower their army." Huo Jun said with a smile.

"Gaoping has surrendered!"

Jiang Ji opened the victory report that had been delivered to him recently and said with a smile: "General, the magistrate of Gaoping County has been persuaded by the two great families named Wang and Liu in the city and has now agreed to surrender to the Han. If there are any grain ships heading north during this period, they can stop at Gaoping Ferry. Now that Taocheng has surrendered, the grain route will be unblocked!"

Among the many counties in the Central Plains, Gaoping County is relatively close to the Han Dynasty. The reason why it is close to the Han Dynasty is related to the brothers Wang Kai and Wang Can, and the father and son Liu Biao and Liu Qi.

As Wang Can and Liu Qi gained power in Wu and Chu, many Gaoping County people served in the Southern Han Dynasty. Now that the Han army had arrived here, many Gaoping officials in the Southern Han Dynasty wrote letters to their hometown friends to see if they could persuade them to surrender to the Han Dynasty. With the efforts of Wang and Liu, Gaoping County was the first to surrender to the Han Dynasty.

Gaoping County surrendered to the Han, which meant that the Han army's food route had a relatively safe ferry across the hundreds of miles of Sishui River. Now that Pang De defeated Wen Qin in Taoxiang, there are now two ferry ports for anchoring, and the Han army fleet will not be anxious due to lack of security.

Huo Jun nodded and smiled, then continued to ask, "How is the battle in Pengcheng going now?"

Gao Chen sorted out his thoughts and said, "Since receiving the order from the military governor, my brother has not dared to slack off. He has assembled his troops and marched from Xia Pi. Because the enemy general Lu Qian is well prepared, Pengcheng cannot be conquered quickly. In order to prevent a defeat, my brother led his troops to set up camp in the steep area downstream to monitor Pengcheng."

"Since the confrontation between the two armies, Lü Qian has been afraid to act rashly due to his small number of troops. Although he has fought with our army, most of them were small scout battles. Now I heard that the governor crossed the river and approached Wang Ling. In order to prevent Lü Qian from leading his troops north and attacking the governor together with Wang Ling, my brother has entered the outer part of Pengcheng."

Since Gao Xiang took office in Xia Pi, he was afraid that he would make mistakes in the use of troops and destroy Huo Jun's plan to conquer the north, so he has been defending Xia Pi City.

During Huo Jun's stay in the north, Gao Xiang was ordered to lead the troops to farm and harvest a lot of food for the army. Now that he received the news of the attack on Pengcheng in the north, Gao Xiang did not dare to neglect it and played the role of the detachment to the extreme.

"good!"

Seeing Gao Xiang's cautious use of troops, Huo Jun smiled and said, "Now we just need to defeat Wang Ling, and I will be able to sweep across Henan and head straight for the capital."

As he spoke, Huo Jun looked at Jiang Ji and asked, "Zitong, is there any news coming from Jianghan and Hebei?"

Jiang Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "Ke Bineng plundered more than ten counties and kingdoms in Hebei. When he reached Wei County in the south, he was ambushed and defeated by Cao Hong. He then led tens of thousands of cavalry under his command to flee outside the Great Wall. Huo Qizhou and his troops entered Hebei, and all the counties in Pingyuan surrendered upon seeing the news."

"Huo Qizhou defeated the Bohai defenders and took Nanpi. He wanted to pacify the Bohai counties and then march west. Unexpectedly, Cao Hong led his troops and suffered a small setback. He then fled to Nanpi and confronted Cao Hong across the Jiangshui River."

Hearing this, Gao Chen was extremely surprised and couldn't believe it, saying, "Has the young general led his troops into Jizhou?"

"Ok!"

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "Because Cao Wei's army is all tied down in Henan, and Ke Bineng has previously plundered more than ten counties and kingdoms in Hebei, the young general is now taking advantage of the situation to occupy some county towns in Pingyuan, Leling, and Bohai counties." Huo Fan's entry into Hebei was too smooth. Except for the resistance of the Bohai County soldiers along the way, most of the counties and counties along the way surrendered due to the lack of military force.

Of course, there were many die-hard loyalists who refused to surrender, but Huo Fan ignored them and chose to attack other important cities.

Under Huo Fan's harassment, Cao Wei's Hebei was shaken. They never expected that the war would spread to Jizhou so quickly, and many people began to wait and see the situation, or wrote to relatives and friends in Luoyang to inquire about the current situation.

Cao Hong finally defeated Kebi Neng, but under Cao Rui's urgent military order, he had to act as a firefighter and rush to Bohai to deal with Huo Fan who was causing chaos in Hebei.

"As for Jiang Han?"

Jiang Ji sorted out his thoughts and said, "Ge Xiang and Sima Yi were fighting over the grain route. Sima Yi defended our army head-on and sent out surprise troops to harass the grain route. Ge Xiang sent troops to escort the grain team and kept going out of the camp to challenge us."

Huo Jun sighed slightly and said, "It was not easy for Kong Ming to recover the three counties of Nanyang and shoot Zhang He. Now he is fighting with Sima Yi in Yingchuan. How easy is it to defeat the enemy army?"

Zhuge Liang's victory over Sima Yi in two consecutive battles, killing Wang Shuang and Zhang He, subduing Zhang Xiong and Han Kan, swallowing up hundreds of miles of land, and recovering the entire Jingzhou were beyond Huo Jun's plan.

You should know that the Xu and Luo regions that Zhuge Liang attacked were not like other places. They were the heartland of Cao Wei, and their importance was no less than that of Hebei. Moreover, most of the officials he appointed were supporters of Cao Wei, so it was not easy for him to swallow up the territory like Huo Jun did.

Jiang Ji said: "The war in Yingchuan is now tense. If we want to break the deadlock, we need the governor to defeat Wang Ling as soon as possible and lead the troops westward!"

Before he finished speaking, the attendant quickly stepped into the tent and said, "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, the Wei army has left the camp to challenge us. Should we go out to fight now?"

Under the gaze of the crowd, Huo Jun shook his head and said, "Although the Wei army is short of food, they are not short of fodder. This is a fight between trapped beasts, so it is not appropriate to send troops to fight. Let's wait for a few days to consume the Wei army's energy. When the opportunity comes, we can send troops to defeat them."

"What is a fighter plane?" Ding Feng asked anxiously.

Huo Jun said meaningfully: "Wait until the enemy surrenders."

"surrender?"

Ding Feng couldn't understand and asked, "How can the commander-in-chief be so sure that the enemy will surrender?"

Huo Jun made a riddle and said with a smile: "You can wait and see if there will be any surrenders in the future."

Everyone was skeptical, except Zhou Qiang and Jiang Ji, who seemed to be thinking about something. They seemed to understand what Huo Jun meant.

Huo Jun continued to hold his ground and refused to fight, so the Wei army that had challenged him returned empty-handed. Wen Qin, who was defeated by Pang De, led the remaining troops back to the camp and reported to Wang Ling.

In the big tent, Wen Qin lowered his head and said, "King Cheqi, I led my troops south on orders and met Pang De in Taoxiang. I fought with him and it was a draw, but unexpectedly there was a strong wind, which helped the enemy and me. Qin fought hard but was defeated, and more than a thousand heads were lost."

Wang Ling frowned and asked, "What's the evidence?"

Wen Qin replied: "All the soldiers under my command can testify that today's defeat was not our fault, but was caused by the strong wind. Even so, I and my soldiers killed a thousand people. Unfortunately, we were defeated and had no choice but to leave our heads behind and run away."

Linghu Jun found an opportunity and said sarcastically: "If General Wen's military achievements were as good as he claims, the Han army would have been defeated long ago. Why did he cause chaos in the Central Plains?"

"In the battle of Beishan Fort, they claimed to have killed 2,000 enemies, but there were only a few hundred. Now they say they killed a thousand enemies, but there are no heads to prove it. What you said is ridiculous!"

"You~"

"quiet!"

Wang Ling scolded: "As for military achievements, all reports should be based on the heads handed in. Ling will not report less, nor more."

"As for the general's defeat, Ling will send someone to find out the truth."

"promise!"

Wen Qin looked at Wang Ling with resentment and could only retreat silently.

(End of this chapter)