The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 263 Chapter 262
The incident of Huang Zu became a small episode in Zhang Yan and Liu Biao's friendly and peaceful coexistence. For Zhang Yan, this battle won more with less, which made his army famous. In the next few years, Jingzhou's The navy is still very afraid of Zhang Yan's army.

However, these are later stories.

Zhang Yan stayed in Wan County for three days, and they all lived in his father-in-law's house. , and become more revered.

Three days later, Zhang Yan met Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Lu Su, Gan Ning, Su Fei, Lu Meng, Zhang Wu, Chen Sun and others one by one. During the conversation, he placed high hopes on Gan Ning and Lu Meng.

Then, Zhang Yan led his army back to Pengcheng, and this trip was regarded as a tour.

Before leaving, Zhang Yan gathered Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Lu Su together, with Zhang Liao as the governor, Gao Shun as the deputy governor, and Lu Su as the staff officer, and completely entrusted this area to Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Lu Su The three of them, if they encounter any enemy situation again, the three of them can act according to their own circumstances, and have the right to kill first and act later.

After that, Zhang Yan left Lujiang with peace of mind.

A few days later, when Zhang Yan just returned to Pengcheng, he received a secret report from General You and Puyang Prefect Yu Jin. The letter said that Yuan Shao in Hebei was secretly gathering troops. Within a month, he had transferred troops to Liyang twice. I noticed that Yuan Shao seemed to be preparing for the Southern Expedition.

Coincidentally, a day later, Zang Ba, General Zuo and governor of Qingzhou, also sent a secret letter. The letter said that for nearly a month, Yuan Shao continued to increase troops in Pingyuan, and Yuan Tan was even more active in training troops. What a big move.

Another day later, Hu Lie's general Tai Shici sent a secret letter from Hanoi, Yuan Shao wantonly increased troops to the Shangdang, and Cao Cao even went to the Shangdang from Jinyang, seeming to have the intention of conquest.

The three secret letters are all linked together. It is not difficult to see that Yuan Shao in Hebei is already ready to make a move. Could it be that he wants to march south because of his intention to increase his troops?

From the first year of Jian'an to the third year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao and Zhang Yan lived in peace, facing each other across the river. However, Zhang Yan's soldiers entered Hanoi and Hedong, and the Black Mountain Army took refuge. In a sense, Yuan Shao's development was restricted. , Also realized the strategy of encircling Yuan Shao from the flanks.

In the past three years, the Central Plains has been developing with great concentration, agriculture has been greatly restored, public security is stable, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The days without war are so peaceful.

And Yuan Shao, who is dominant in Hebei, has also actively carried out farming in the past three years, so that there is sufficient food and grass.In the past year, Yuan Shao has continued to recruit 40 soldiers and horses, making his total force as high as [-]. This is undoubtedly a huge number, and it also makes him even stronger.

If Yuan Shao really wants to march south, it will undoubtedly be a huge challenge for Zhang Yan, who has only 13 troops.

Therefore, Zhang Yan immediately replied to Yu Jin, Zang Ba, and Tai Shici, and asked them to send special agents to find out the exact facts, as well as the total strength of the troops stationed in Shangdang, Liyang, and Pingyuan, and asked them to strengthen their defenses.

To this end, Zhang Yan mobilized the Second Army and the Seventh Army to garrison Puyang, and the Ninth Army to garrison Gaotang County, Qingzhou.

The second army is the soldiers and horses of Tiger Wing General Xu Huang. Xu Huang is now the prefect of Runan. As soon as he received the order, he immediately led the army to Puyang and handed over the government affairs of Runan to the Runan Order.

The Seventh Army is the soldiers and horses of the rebel general Chen Ying. He is now the prefect of Yingchuan. Since he took office, he has managed the Yingchuan area in an orderly manner.As soon as he received Zhang Yan's transfer order, he immediately asked Yang Xiu to exercise the power of prefect instead of him, and led his troops northward to garrison Puyang.

The Ninth Army was led by Lu Dai, General Polu. Like Xu Huang and Chen Ying, he was also the prefect of Guangling.

In addition, Zhang Yan also ordered Xu Chu's Fourth Army, as well as Zhao Yun's and Xu Sheng's guards, to be ready at any time, and to go to the front line immediately if war broke out.

Counting Zhang Yan's two bodyguards, Zhang Yan has a total of thirteen armies. Tai Shici's first army has been staying in Hanoi since its establishment, and Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army is next to each other. Most of the passes are garrisoned by the Black Mountain Army, so Zhang Yan is not worried about Hanoi at all. On the contrary, he is worried about Puyang and Gaotang.

General Yokono Li Dian's Tenth Army was stationed in Puyang, and it was under the jurisdiction of General You Jin.

As for Zang Ba, General Zuo, since the reform of the military system, Zhang Yan has been pursuing the policy of elite soldiers. Under the circumstances, Zhang Yan could not mobilize them. In a sense, these soldiers and horses had become Zang Ba's private soldiers, and the possibility of breaking them up and reorganizing them was extremely slim.

In addition, due to comprehensive considerations such as food and salary, Zhang Yan did not incorporate Zang Ba's force into the regular army, but used it as a militia.

But in fact, they actually existed as Zang Ba's army, and they had been stationed in the Gaotang area. As for the payment of their military salaries, food and grass, they were all wealth obtained by Zang Ba through caravans and Liaodong trade.

It can be said that in the entire army system of Zhang Yan, Zang Ba, the left general, is the poorest one, because he has to find ways to support his own private army, and he can't use the money and food from the government.

However, Zhang Yan is also well aware of this situation. In order to appease Zang Ba's emotions, Zhang Yan will reward Zang Ba with a large sum of money every year, and this money is almost half of Zang Ba's annual military expenditure.

Because of this, Zang Bacai did not have any complaints, worked hard, and got along very well with his subordinates Kong Rong, Wang Xiu, Bu Zhi, Yan Yan, etc., and with the assistance of these people, Qingzhou was governed methodical.

The remaining armies were distributed in Lujiang, Jinling, and Yongzhou. Among them, Zhang Liao's Third Army and Gao Shun's Eighth Army stationed troops in Lujiang. The two armies had just won the Lujiang self-defense counterattack and became famous.

The Fifth Army under the command of General Henghai Zhou Tai and the Sixth Army under the command of General Hengjiang Jiang Qin stationed troops in Jinling County, which were under the jurisdiction of General Hou, Governor of Yangzhou, and Prefect of Jinling Chen Deng.

The last army is the No.11 army under the command of Niu Jin. It is currently stationed in Chang'an City in Yongzhou, assisting Zhong Yao, the governor of Yongzhou, to jointly govern Guanzhong.

As a general, Zhang Yan is also actively preparing for the upcoming war. After three years of peaceful life, he has gradually neglected his own training, and his body has become slightly fatter. In the past, he basically It was I who personally led the army. Now that I have more famous generals and counselors, sometimes, I don’t need to go to the battlefield at all, but I have risen to a higher level of commander.

It can be said that the current him is the key to victory or defeat on the battlefield, and his command plays a very important role in the entire war.

Therefore, Zhang Yan also used the time of these few years to study the art of war well. He studied and studied Sun Tzu's art of war, Sun Bin's art of war, and even the Six Secret Teachings and Three Strategies. Jia Xu, Chen Qun, Zhang Zhao, Yang Biao and others asked for advice.

In addition, Zhang Yan also learned some ways of governing the country. In the past three years, he has gradually transformed from the reckless man who fought and killed to a hero of the era. People who can reassure the people also hope to be the pioneers of an era.

The news that Yuan Shao was about to move in Hebei was confirmed by Tai Shici, Yu Jin, and Zang Ba respectively in the following half a month. Yuan Shao was indeed increasing his troops and actively training the army, with the intention of going south.

However, judging from the current information, it seems that Yuan Shao will not launch a sudden attack for a while. He must be fully prepared before launching a full-scale war, so as to defeat Zhang Yan in one fell swoop and seize the Central Plains.

For this reason, Zhang Yan decided to show weakness to Yuan Shao first, resigned from the position of Taiwei, and handed him over to Yuan Shao. Dong Cheng went to Hebei to proclaim the decree.

The news of Yuan Shao's massive increase in troops soon reached the ears of Emperor Liu Xie. Although he had been out of political affairs for three years, he never relaxed his intelligence collection.Moreover, he also let Dong Cheng and Fu Wan secretly bribe many small officials. Once there is any news from Zhang Yan, he will know it soon.

For this reason, Liu Xie specially sent people to invite Dong Cheng and Fu Wan to the Chonghua Palace to narrate. After dismissing everyone, Liu Xie asked: "You all already know the news about Yuan Shao's massive increase in troops, right?"

Dong Cheng and Fu Wan nodded, and said in unison: "I know."

Liu Xie suddenly asked: "The fourth generation of the Yuan family, Yuan Shao is very different from Yuan Shu. It is beyond my imagination that he can achieve such a great achievement today. It's a pity that Yuan Shao didn't Coming here made me miss the opportunity to meet him. Yuan Shao is now in Hebei, with a strong army and a strong intention to go south, but judging from the latest information, it seems that Yuan Shao has no reason to send troops to attack Zhang Yan. Here is a letter The imperial decree was written to Yuan Shao. Let Yuan Shao use this imperial decree to attack Zhang Yan in the name of the Qing emperor. If it succeeds, I will be able to completely get rid of Zhang Yan's control. If it fails, it will also cause serious damage to Zhang Yan Moreover, according to Zhang Yan's personality, once Yuan Shao launches an attack, Zhang Yan will definitely lead the army to resist. In this way, Pengcheng will be empty, and he will loosen his control over me. As long as Ai Qing gathers his disciples to come to rescue me , I can definitely escape from this prison!"

After Dong Cheng and Fu listened, they frowned, knelt down on the ground, and kowtowed repeatedly: "I am willing to go through fire and water for your majesty, and I will die!"

"Okay! I am really pleased to have loyal ministers like you." Liu Xie said.

Dong Chengdao: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, this time Zhang Yan asked me to confer Yuan Shao as Taiwei with the edict, just in time to make a false one, and take this edict of Your Majesty on the road, I believe Zhang Yan will not notice it."

Liu Xie said happily: "It's the best!"

(End of this chapter)