I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 35 July Fire

The Book of Songs says: Fire flows in the seventh month, and clothes are given in the ninth month.

By the end of July, the weather was getting colder. For Huangfusong, who was based in Meiyang County, he had no worries and had already spotted a fighter opportunity.

To this day, the rebels have been besieging Chencang for eighty-four days, but the city of Chencang is firmly defended and the rebels have never been able to pull it off.

Now that July is over, it’s time to prepare winter clothes in September. The rebels did not have enough reserve forces. They started their troops in March and were unstoppable but energetic. However, after more than eighty days under Chencang City, they had lost their vitality.

In the small-scale battles in the past few days, Huangfu Song was keenly aware that the thieves were exhausted.

This meant the success of the strategy he and Zhu Jun had set long ago against the enemy.

How can the rebels compete with the Han army in consumption?

It is better to use the fortified city of Chencang to weaken the enemy's morale. Faced with the obstruction of the imperial army, Wang Guo and others were indeed attracted by the grain and grass in Chencang City.

Huangfu Song immediately ordered someone to send a message, asking Zhu Jun, who was guarding Huaili to stabilize the rear, to lead troops to join him.

The day the kingdom retreats is the time for his entire army to attack!

In the Liangzhou rebel camp, Wang Guo, former Longxi Governor Li Shen, former Jiuquan Governor Huang Yan and others were miserable.

At first, they ignored Han Sui's prudent advice and after a few days of siege failed, they insisted on abandoning Ji County and went straight to Sanfu.

As a direct result, in addition to being blocked in Chencang, there is also an elite cavalry force of more than a thousand people in Hanyang County harassing the rear and looting grain roads. However, there are still two peerless generals among the Han cavalry. Their army does not have three to five times or more strength, and no one dares to say that they can withstand their charge.

Now the way forward is blocked, the food route is unstable, and the way back is in danger of being cut off. How high-spirited they were when they raised the army, how embarrassed they are now.

It was still dark that day, so the kingdom summoned people from its camp to discuss the withdrawal of troops. Before everyone gathered, they couldn't help complaining to Li Shen: "What did you say in the beginning under the banner of killing eunuchs? It must be Jing Cong, it’s been so long now, where are the people!”

Li Jianguo's eyes widened with anger, and his hand was still holding the handle of the knife. He was immediately frightened and said weakly: "There is no one in Youzhou...general, spare your life!"

But it was Guoguo who drew his sword.

At this moment, someone rushed into the military tent. Seeing this scene, he was speechless for a moment, and the guards followed the person in.

Wang Guo raised his sword and said angrily: "Why didn't you report it! Ma Teng, don't you know military discipline?"

There is a strong tendency to kill people if they disagree.

Ma Teng came back to his senses and said hurriedly: "General, something bad is going on. I was going to persuade Han Sui to join forces and attack Chencang today, but I saw that the sergeants of his camp had quietly packed their bags in the early morning. I’m leaving soon!”

Wang Guo said angrily: "Han Sui is so incompetent. Why did he just say yesterday that he would withdraw his troops and run away this morning? Could he have returned to Jincheng a few days earlier than us if he left half a day earlier? How could he be so cowardly? event!"

Huang Yan also said: "Isn't Huangfu Song happy to see a hasty retreat? Why doesn't Han Wenyue come to discuss with us how to retreat as a whole?"

Seeing that no one in the military tent understood Han Sui's intentions, Ma Teng said anxiously: "Don't you understand, general? The reason why Han Sui didn't tell us to leave first is because he wanted us to stay and resist the army for him! He didn't He needs to arrive at Jincheng earlier than us, as long as he waits in front of me, that’s enough!”

"Han Sui, old thief, I will kill him!" Wang Guo, who understood the meaning of Ma Teng's words, angrily cut off a corner of the table.

But he also understood that Han Sui's departure would not be hidden from the Han army's scouts, and it would also shake his military morale.

Wang Guo asked Ma Teng again: "Is there any movement at the Song Dynasty?" "I haven't seen anything. If I hadn't gone to Han Sui's camp first, I would have to wait until he left to find out."

"Han Sui has done it, so why can't our kingdom do it? Come here, hurry up and deliver the order. All ministries will pack up their bags immediately. Anyone who makes noises will be killed without mercy!"

……

The first person who discovered the rebels' retreat was not Huangfu Song's scouts, but Sun Jian's subordinate Han Dang, who was good at archery and had excellent eyesight. Shortly after dawn, he stood on the city wall and noticed that the rebel camp a few miles away was different from the past.

Sun Jian also noticed that the rebels had become increasingly weak in attacking the city in recent days. When he heard Han Dang's report, he immediately led his cavalry out of the city despite Zhou Shen's objections and tentatively approached the camp, only to find that part of the camp was empty, but there were still The remnants of the rebels.

There was a fence in the military camp to prevent cavalry from entering. Sun Jian was also worried about an ambush, so he simply lit a fire outside. He also sent scouts to investigate everywhere, and did not forget to notify Huangfu Song in time.

Afterwards, Sun Jian detected the movements of the rebels, so he did not mention the cavalry attack.

After detecting that the rebels were leaving, Huangfu Song and the Chinese army summoned the generals and decided to take advantage of the situation to pursue the rebels.

However, Dong Zhuo had different opinions when he heard that the rebels were retreating: "Generals should not pursue them. The Art of War says, do not pursue the poor invaders, and do not force them to return to the masses. Now our army is pursuing the kingdom, it is to force them to return to their masses, and to pursue the poor invaders. The trapped beasts still fight, and the bees and flies are poisonous." , not to mention there are so many rebels!”

At the beginning, when the kingdom led its army to Chencang, Dong Zhuo suggested that Huangfu Song take advantage of the kingdom's unstable footing to attack directly, but Huangfu Song refused.

Now that his opinion was rejected again, he felt dissatisfied.

Dong Zhuo was convinced that his judgment was correct and that the rebels still had the power to counterattack, so he asked Huangfu Song to lead his troops to the rear of the army.

When something goes wrong, he can escape unscathed.

Zhu Jun said angrily: "In the army, military orders come first, how can you be picky?"

Huangfu Song didn't take it seriously: "The latter of the palace can't kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds. I'm worried about who to send. In this case, Zuo Zhonglang will lead the rear of the palace in this battle."

He also did not forget to explain to the generals to strengthen their confidence: "I did not attack the kingdom before to avoid its sharpness. Now I attack it to wait for its decline. The troops who are exhausted and defeated are not returning to the army. . The people of the kingdom have retreated and have no fighting spirit. Our army is attacking the chaos with rectification, and it is not a poor bandit."

After that, tasks were assigned, and all the troops were sent out, trying to defeat them in one battle!

At the beginning, Song Jianguo and others were able to organize troops to form a formation to resist, but the Liangzhou rebels had either been marching or taking turns attacking the city in the past few months. The Han army had already been recharging its strength, and Sun Jian took the lead in defeating the enemy. formation, the rebels could not resist.

Seeing that the battle situation was not going well, the kingdom actually retreated first with its cavalry, leaving only an unmanned banner.

In this way, the rebel rear army collapsed earlier than the front army.

In the next five or six days, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun fought in succession and defeated the kingdom's tribesmen.

One of the thieves' leader, Song Jian, was beheaded by Sun Jian himself. The king of Han Dynasty, who had been the leader of the river for more than 30 years in the history of separatism, became Sun Jian's further military exploits.

Bao Hong, the captain of the capital of Jingzhao, advised Huangfu Song: "General, our army has been exhausted after fighting for several days. Although the rebels have been defeated, they have not yet encountered Han Sui's troops. Their strength has not been damaged, so we should not pursue them too deeply." .”

(End of this chapter)