I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 249 Han Sui’s desperate situation

However, Han Sui said that in the face of Ma Teng's attack, Han Sui put on his armor and went up to the city wall and inspected it. The morale of the soldiers, mainly Qiang people, was greatly boosted and they guarded the city tightly.

After repelling Ma Teng's attack and it was getting late, Han Sui returned to the city's original Yamen of the Qiang Protector School Lieutenant, and couldn't help but sigh.

There were only two people in front of him at this time, his son-in-law Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying who had followed him since he started his army.

As the saying goes, Han Sui cannot be considered a monarch when he is loyal to his subordinates. Today, the two people around him are already the two Han generals he can most count on.

At this point, Han Sui confessed frankly: "Linqiang City is already a place of death."

The soldiers had no fighting spirit, and on the first day of defending the city, he needed to go to the city wall in person to boost morale.

He also explained his original intention of staying in Linqiang County: "I originally thought that Ma Teng would recite some stupid truths, but I never thought that this thief would be determined to work for Huangfu Song. Fortunately, he had confronted me. I swear by Huangshui!"

Han Sui had seen that Ma Teng was surrounded by Han troops who did not participate in the siege, so he did not think of trying to alienate Ma Teng. However, his alienation plan was not effective. On the contrary, all the generals around him received Ma Teng's surrender letter. That was why he retreated to Anyi City in front of Linqiang City.

Han Sui couldn't understand why Ma Teng, a rebel, suddenly became a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.
Little did he know that in history, Ma Teng took his family to Cao Cao's place to enjoy his great fortune because of his position as a guard.

Moreover, Yan Xing, who is now with him, has received letters from Sun Jian several times. The familiar words in the letters are completely inconsistent with the "no contact" that Yan Xing said.

Cheng Gongying was always skeptical about the Han army's strategy to appease the Qiang people: "If we want to introduce the Qiang and Hu to farm in the entire Liangzhou, I don't know how much manpower and financial resources will be spent. Once we leave, no one will cause trouble, and good governance can continue." How long will it take? When Liangzhou is restored, how can Huangfu Song and Fu Xie, who are both from Liangzhou, not be recalled to the court? When there is another Kwantung governor, the Kwantung generals will inevitably have to take political leave as they did in earlier years. Ming Gong, the days ahead are long!"

Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying were both people who had fought in the war, and Han Sui understood this even if he didn't tell them.

As for the Han Dynasty, if they can really persist in good governance in Liangzhou, they can live in seclusion as virgins.

Not to mention that the Qiang was not enough to support many Qiang soldiers, did he really want to spend the rest of his life among the Qiang?
Han Sui said: "In recent days, I have often thought that the root cause of my current difficulties in Jincheng is poverty. Facing Ma Teng, I lack room to move. I want to take the road to Qiangzhong to go to Hexi."

"But this is something for the future. The most urgent task now is how to lead as many troops as possible into the Qiang."

He also had some calculations about his retreat in his mind, and suggested: "The Han army cannot last long in Liangzhou. Ma Teng is a man who repeats himself. Now he has become the prefect of Jincheng. When I leave Jincheng County, he can still go out to pursue me." ? It is better to wait until the Han army retreats and then contact old friends and Qiang people. Jincheng and Longxi can still do something."

After Han Sui cursed Ma Teng almost every day, he had to face reality.

Yan Xing knew that the letter Sun Jian wrote to him meant that he couldn't explain it clearly in two words, so he simply expressed his position: "Xing is willing to follow you into the Qiang!"

I don’t know whether Cheng Gongying’s idea was based on past experience or wishful thinking. It was always based on some simple emotion.

Han Sui glanced at Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying. Both of them knew that Qiangzhong was not a place where they could stay for a long time. How could he not know this?

Cheng Gongying followed Han Sui all the way, but he proved his loyalty to Han Sui.

After all, he still wants to come back.

However, Yan Xing still has hidden worries in his heart. He does not care about the hardship of life outside the Great Wall, but his parents and family may not be able to withstand the bitter cold in the Qiang.

Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying were both shocked when they heard this. They didn't expect Han Sui to want to go to Hexi to fight Huangfu Song again.

Obviously, Han Sui was still dissatisfied with the fact that he was forced to fight that day and thus suffered a loss of family wealth.

Han Sui refused to admit defeat, but Yan Xing was filled with fear when he thought about his fight with the white horse and silver spear general that day.

Even the loyal Cheng Gongying only dared to say that he would come back after the Han army left. The only time they could be called "defeating" Huangfu Song was when Huangfu Song, who had insufficient troops, had to defend the city. Later, he was replaced by Zhang Wen due to slander. It was barely possible to win.

But the next two times, they were really frightened by Huangfu Song.

This is not only their thoughts, but also represents the Qiang soldiers under their command. Now Huangfu Song's reputation among the Qiang people in several nearby counties is as good as that of Duan Jiong back then. That is to say, Huangfu Song wanted Ma Teng to put more effort, otherwise he would move his army from Wuwei, and they would not be able to stay here safely at this moment.

But in the face of Han Sui's fighting spirit, the two of them didn't dare to refute for a while, and they didn't think of the right words to say.

There are two opinions on Han Sui's question of leading more troops.

Most of the cities in Jincheng County are built near the water. Next to Linqiang City is the Huangshui River. Further upstream, you will almost reach the source. Not too far away is Qinghai Lake, which was once called the West Sea.

There are many mountains and hills in this area, and the only flat areas are the river valleys around Huangshui River.

Judging from the terrain, there is no need to worry about evacuation. The Qiang soldiers are mostly accustomed to the local hilly terrain. As long as they find an opportunity to leave the narrow flat land of the river valley, it will be difficult for the Han cavalry and the Qiang cavalry under Ma Teng to play their role. It should be noted that Ma Teng's troops cannot block Linqiang City.

But people's hearts are uncertain. It is true that Han Sui has prestige among the Qiang people, and it is also true that the Han Dynasty has an edict that will not forgive anyone who surrenders after being surrounded.

But first of all, the Qiang people are mostly influenced by the Han people, and their living environment also determines that they must pay attention to the tribe. How many Qiang soldiers are really willing to follow Han Sui and stay away from their Qiang villages, and they may even never come back?
Secondly, the Qiang soldiers lost their weapons and leather armor, and either took advantage of the chaos to disperse, or pretended to be locals who were being held hostage. Regardless of the number of heads counted for military merit, how many unscrupulous people would take it seriously? At least Ma Teng was determined not to.

The two of them unanimously mentioned the first angle, and then seeing that Han Sui wanted to see off the guests, they said goodbye and left together.

After leaving, Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying were silent all the way. It wasn't until they left the house that they looked at each other. After all, they didn't say anything. They got on their horses and left.

Not long after Cheng Gongying left, he suddenly heard someone shouting "General Chenggong" from behind. He saw Han Sui's personal entourage coming and asked him to go back to discuss matters.

Cheng Gongying returned the same way and reported that after entering the house, he saw that Han Sui was still where he left, but Yan Xing was not there.

"I saw that you had some unfinished words when you left. It's just you and me here, so you might as well speak freely." Han Sui said.

Cheng Gongying was loyal after all. After a moment of hesitation, he confessed all his worries - it was inevitable that the scholars would be separated, and Huangfu Song was invincible.

Otherwise, why did Han Sui, who once commanded more than 30,000 troops at his peak, only have two generals and one city left?
Facing Cheng Gongying's remarks, Han Sui didn't seem surprised.

On the contrary, Cheng Gongying was a little panicked and explained: "Ming Gong, this is what I say from the bottom of my heart. It's not because I am greedy for life and afraid of death. If Ming Gong makes up his mind, I am willing to be the first to clear the way for Ming Gong."

Han Sui stretched out his hand and pulled Cheng Gongying to sit closer to him. He put his arms around and said, "You are telling the truth. You don't look like relatives. How can I blame you? As the saying goes, one person can calculate shortcomings, and two people can calculate advantages, so I I just discussed with you whether to go to Hexi. But now it seems that it is not possible. I can only rest among the Qiang for the future."

"Ming Gong Ming Jian!" Cheng Gongying worshiped. He still didn't believe that those high-ranking Guandong scholar-officials could regard the Qiang and Liangzhou scholars as their own.

As for the relatives Han Sui mentioned, he simply pretended not to hear.

Han Sui continued to hold his arms: "After all, there is still some distance to go to Qiangzhong. I intend to entrust you to lead a small group of elite soldiers first to take care of your family members. I will stay behind in the city."

Cheng Gongying would not shirk, so he made an oath in front of Han Sui, and then took his leave and prepared to go.

After leaving the room, Cheng Gongying realized that his back was covered with sweat, and he didn't know whether it was from heat or nervousness.

(End of this chapter)