Great Han Empire

Chapter 116
The Fengyun iron cavalry galloped across the open plain, and the roar of the galloping horses was deafening.

Li Hong stopped by the roadside with his attendants, talking and laughing happily.In the distance, military officers from various tribes came flying like flying horses.

"Old man, you must be very tired." Li Hong asked with concern when he saw Tian Zhong.

"As long as you win the battle, you can stay up every day." Tian Zhong said happily and loudly: "However, our supplies are running out, so we must find a way."

Seeing the excited faces of his subordinates, Li Hong said with a smile: "We have won a complete victory in this night attack. It is a miracle that we did not lose a single soldier."

"My lord, who shall we fight next?" Fist shouted, "This battle was so enjoyable."

"Zhang Niujiao was seriously damaged this time, and the siege will probably be delayed." Yushi said with a smile, "Sir, shall we go and beat grandson again?"

Li Hong shook his head.

"Why? Now that the Yellow Turban Army has suffered heavy losses, it is time for us to launch a counterattack." Yan Wuwei looked surprised.

"The Yellow Turban Army has been severely injured, and the defense will be even tighter. We will never be given another chance. We will return to Dukangting for a while to rest."

"My lord, are you going back after only a few days?" Xian Yuyin asked in surprise.

"Yes. Our goal has basically been achieved, and there is no better opportunity now. The troops are marching continuously, and the soldiers are exhausted and need to rest. Supplies are also difficult now and need to be replenished."

"The Yellow Turban Army was hit repeatedly in just a few days and suffered serious losses. Although Zhang Niujiao's troops now have a great advantage, they no longer have the ability to be determined in World War I. In order to take Zhuojun as soon as possible, they There must be more troops. So I reckon their reinforcements will be arriving soon."

Li Hong lightly patted the horsewhip in his hand a few times, and said worriedly: "Sun Qin stayed at Dingxing Ferry, it is probably related to this batch of reinforcements. If the reinforcements arrive, they will rush to Zhuocheng together with Sun Qin's convoy , We have no chance to make a move on the way."

"We have always been at a disadvantage, even though we have won two battles. There is still a huge gap in the strength of the two sides on the Zhuojun battlefield. You have all seen that the Yellow Turban Army is not easy to fight. It was the same last year and this year. Once their reinforcements arrive Zhuocheng, the situation is quite unfavorable for us."

"Let's go back to the Dukang Pavilion and wait and see what happens. Order Lei Zi to watch carefully near the ferry and cross the river as much as possible to check for news of the enemy's reinforcements."

"My lord, you said that the development of the battle situation is not good for us. Does that mean that no matter how hard we try, Zhuo County will be lost?" After listening to Li Hong's explanation, Yushi's joy after winning the battle disappeared.He immediately followed Li Hong's words and asked.

"Yes." Li Hong nodded helplessly.

"No way?" Yan Wuwei asked.

Li Hong didn't answer, he looked at the gray sky and felt that he was really too small and powerless.

Zhang Niujiao's troops were only left with more than 6 troops.

They concentrated in Xidaying and stopped the siege.Because of repeated setbacks, the morale of the troops was fatally hit, and they were devastated.

Zhang Niujiao wrote three letters a day, urging Chu Feiyan's army to go north quickly.

Sun Qin was dumbfounded when he received the news from Zhuocheng.

9 people, in order to attack a small Zhuocheng, the Yellow Turban Army lost 9 people within a few days, and they were all the main force, which is incredible.

The news of Zhang Niujiao's defeat in Zhuocheng spread as quickly as possible.

Yang Huang, governor of Youzhou, was very excited.In his opinion, if the official army could wipe out [-] Yellow Turbans within a few days, the Yellow Turbans must be very weak. It would probably be too soon to wipe out Zhang Niujiao or drive Zhang Niujiao out of Zhuojun.As soon as he took office in Youzhou, he encountered the Yellow Turban Army's resurgence and made trouble. He thought he was unlucky, but he didn't expect things to change suddenly.The Yellow Turban Army has lost consecutive battles, and it seems difficult to sustain it depending on the situation.If the Yellow Turban Army was driven out of Youzhou, his contribution would be great, and his promotion would definitely not be a problem.

But he also saw very clearly that the Yellow Turban Army could not be defeated by Youzhou's family alone.Youzhou has done its best to achieve what it is now.So he ordered Kuaiqi to rush to Jizhou again, and informed Jizhou Mu Guodian of the good news, hoping that he would send troops as soon as possible to attack the rear of the Yellow Turban Army.

Chu Feiyan and Zuo Yan were shocked when they received the news from Zhang Niujiao.

More than half of the troops attacking Youzhou had been lost, and it was already difficult to continue the battle.The two immediately had a fierce dispute over whether to increase troops to Youzhou.

Of course Zuo Yan asked Chu Feiyan to lead the army to move on.But Chu Feiyan was unwilling.

In Changshan this summer, he had objected to Zhang Niujiao's attack on Youzhou this autumn.He thought that Zhang Niujiao was too impatient, and there was absolutely no need to take the risk of attacking Youzhou when the foundation was not stable.Chu Feiyan, Yang Feng and other generals believed that Zhang Niujiao had underestimated the government and army of Youzhou counties, and mistakenly believed that Youzhou counties were vulnerable and easy to attack.He overestimated his own strength, and did not correctly understand the real strength of the current Yellow Turban Army and the problems that need to be solved.

They believe that this year's Yellow Turban Army is still laying the foundation, its strength is weak, and it is not suitable for a labor-intensive expedition.Although the number of troops is large, there are few elite soldiers who can actually fight; many counties and counties captured have no government offices, no one to govern, and are in chaos; because of the war, millions of refugees need to be arranged and food is needed.This year's food is looted, what will happen next year?Next year's food must be solved by ourselves. If we continue to rob, the people in the territory will rebel against the Yellow Turban Army.Especially the millions of refugees, they believe that the Yellow Turban Army is their own army, an army that can bring them food and clothing. If this problem cannot be solved for a long time, the refugees will cause trouble, and they will frantically loot everywhere. People, if the Yellow Turban Army doesn't want the officers and soldiers to fight, they will fail.

Therefore, Chu Feiyan and other leaders insisted that in the next few years, the Yellow Turban Army will still rely on the Taihang Mountain strategically, and firmly grasp the Zhongshan, Changshan, Zhao Guo, Taiyuan, Shangdang and other major counties near the Taihang Mountain to appease the people in the territory and resume farming. Produce by hand, improve the combat effectiveness of the army, accumulate enough strength, lay a solid foundation, and then do other things.

With the current strength of the Yellow Turban Army, even if they cannot defeat the Jizhou Army, they can still retreat to the Taihang Mountains to preserve their strength.As for the expedition to Youzhou, once the troops are stuck on the Youzhou battlefield and cannot win for a long time, they must continuously invest a large number of troops.In this way, Zhao Guo, Changshan, and Zhongshan, as the rear, did not have enough defensive strength.If the Jizhou army takes the opportunity to attack, the troops will be caught in the dilemma of fighting on both sides, and failure is an inevitable thing.But the consequence is that not only will Youzhou not be able to fight, but the counties in the rear will also be lost. With the sharp decrease in the number of troops, the Yellow Turban Army may fail again.

If everything is as Zhang Niujiao imagined, the troops will be invincible all the way, from Zhongshan in Jizhou to Yuyang in Youzhou, the ensuing problem is that it is difficult to keep up with the supply of food and grass because of the long distance; To send troops to garrison, the number of attacking troops will become less and less, and the resistance will become greater and greater.Winter in northern Xinjiang comes early. Once the heavy snow falls, the supply of 10,000+ troops immediately becomes a top priority. Just solving the problem of clothes to keep out the cold will become a problem. It may be even more difficult for 10,000+ troops to survive the winter in Youzhou, which is barren and mostly desolate.

The Yellow Turban Army has arrived in Youzhou, which is completely unfamiliar, can they stand firm?How can I stand still?Is it appropriate to attack Youzhou blindly without considering these issues clearly?

Zhang Niujiao and a group of generals who strongly advocated attacking Youzhou disagreed with them, and believed that the Yellow Turban Army should learn the lesson of last year.

Last year, the Yellow Turban Army in various places failed after winter. One of the reasons is that everyone is in the hinterland of the Central Plains and is vulnerable to encirclement and attack.If the same problem is encountered this year, the troops may have to flee to the Taihang Mountains if they cannot defend themselves. .With tens of thousands of people loyally following the Yellow Turban Army, the refugees hid in the mountains, either dying of starvation or poverty, what future is there?
If the main force opens up the Youzhou battlefield this year, captures Youzhou, and the Yellow Turban Army can gain a foothold in northern Xinjiang, then the Yellow Turban Army can develop and expand for at least half a year.In winter, the imperial army and powerful private armies from all over the country could not reach the Yellow Turban army as far away as Youzhou, so they might have to give up killing them.In the spring of next year, the Yellow Turban Army has established a solid foundation in Youzhou, so there is no need to fear the encirclement and suppression of the army.To conquer Youzhou, first separate one side.He believes that this goal can be achieved with the strength of the Yellow Turban Army.Moreover, once this goal is achieved, it will be of decisive significance to the development and future of the Yellow Turban Army.

Zhang Niujiao's prestige in the Yellow Turban Army is too great, and there are too many people who obey his orders. His words are like Zhang Jiao, the Tiangong General last year, not much different from the emperor's imperial decree, and basically no one opposes it.His opinion was supported by the majority.

If you can really conquer Youzhou and solve the territory problem first, it will indeed be an opportunity for the Yellow Turban Army to develop steadily.Youzhou is very far away from the Central Plains, and it is also very difficult for the imperial court to send troops to attack. The Yellow Turban Army can temporarily avoid the sharp edge and gain time to breathe.With a territory, it will be much easier to solve the problem of eating.Youzhou has a small population, and there is a lot of unowned land available for reclamation, so the food problem of millions of refugees can be solved at once.However, several counties in Jizhou do not have the conditions of Youzhou.These counties have a large population and little land, and with the refugees coming from other places, it is very difficult to solve the problem of food.There is no land to cultivate, and it is useless to say anything.

Seeing that they couldn't persuade Zhang Niujiao, Chu Feiyan and Yang Feng had no choice but to actively assist him in the preparations for the expedition to Youzhou with the idea that the commander would surely succeed.

When Zhang Niujiao led his troops to attack Youzhou, Chu Feiyan secretly led his troops away from Zhao State and rushed to Zhongshan State, preparing to provide Zhang Niujiao's backup.But he has always been very concerned about the movements of the Jizhou army, and has contacted Yang Feng who stayed in Zhao State almost every day.

Now Zhao Guo only has Yang Feng, Bai Rao's [-] troops, Changshan only has Wang Dang, and Wulu's [-] troops, and none of them are the main force. Most of the soldiers are refugees recruited in the spring and summer of this year.If this kind of army fights against the main force of the official army against the plains, it would be a miracle not to lose.It is not enough just to have the spirit of seeing death as home.

What he and Yang Feng are most worried about is that Jizhou Mu Guodian will recruit reinforcements and launch an attack on Zhao Guo and Changshan.When the main force of the Yellow Turban Army went to Youzhou with Zhang Niujiao, Guo Dian led the army to attack, which was a fatal blow to the Yellow Turban Army.With the strength of the Yellow Turban Army, it is impossible to deal with two battlefields at the same time, that would be pure suicide.

Since the Yellow Turban Army took the initiative to fight successively with the main forces of the Gaoyi, Yingtao and Jizhou official troops, the main force of the official army has suffered relatively large losses.Zhang Niujiao wanted to do this, so he dared to go north with confidence.But Chu Feiyan and Yang Feng were worried.The officers and troops in Jizhou suffered heavy losses, so Guo Dian would ask for help from the imperial court. If the officials and troops in neighboring Qingzhou and Yanzhou came to support them in time, the Yellow Turban Army would also be attacked violently.

But Zhang Niujiao was very confident. He believed that the imperial court would not issue an order to dispatch troops to the Jizhou battlefield in time.Because the current situation on the Xiliang battlefield is extremely bad, Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang, Han Sui and other rebel troops have won consecutive battles, and the army directly threatens Sanfu and Chang'an. The court attaches much more importance to them than Yellow Turban Army near Taihang Mountain in Jizhou.

Just when Zhang Niujiao ordered Chu Feiyan to lead his troops north to support, Yang Feng sent a frightening news.

With the help of Liu Ding, the prefect of Pingyuan County in Qingzhou, Liu Yu, Prime Minister of Ganling, wiped out 5000 troops of Liu Panzi, the local Yellow Turban Army.Now about [-] officers and troops from Ganling and Yuanyuan are heading north to Julu County.In addition, news came from the Mufu Yamen in Jizhou that the imperial court had decreed that the troops of Dongjun, Jibei, and Dongping in Yanzhou should be recruited to the north, and the three counties together would have about [-] troops.This month, Mu Guodian of Jizhou and the prefects of Hejian County, Bohai County, Anping Country, Wei County and other places urgently recruited [-] soldiers. They are temporarily training in Xindu City, ready to go to the battlefield at any time.If there is no accident, next month, Guo Dian will definitely gather about [-] troops to attack the Yellow Turban Army.

After thinking for a long time, Chu Feiyan suppressed the news and did not pass it on to Zhang Niujiao.With Zhang Niujiao's personality, even if he saw this news, he would ignore it. Now that the arrow has left the string, there is no turning back.Chu Feiyan decided to lead [-] troops to Zhuojun to support Zhang Niujiao, and the remaining [-] troops stayed in Nulu to prevent accidents.He had to support Zhang Niujiao no matter what.Not only because Zhang Niujiao is the leader of the Yellow Turban Army, but more importantly, Zhang Niujiao is like his father, who has been taking care of and raising him up.

Chu Feiyan's father used to smuggle salt with Zhang Niujiao, and they were like brothers.His father was killed by the army during his escape, and soon his mother also died of illness, making Chu Feiyan an orphan.Zhang Niujiao took the young Chu Feiyan to wander around the rivers and lakes until he grew up.They are as close as father and son, and have deep feelings, which is well known to the Yellow Turban soldiers.All the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army regarded Chu Feiyan as Zhang Niujiao's son, and Zhang Niujiao himself thought so.Although Chu Feiyan didn't call him father, he always regarded Zhang Niujiao as his second father in his heart, a father who raised him up.

When he rushed to Puyin City in Zhongshan State with his troops, Sima Zuoyan hurried over from the front line.When Chu Feiyan heard that Zuo Xiao's entire army was wiped out, Chu Feiyan's heart was filled with ominous thoughts.

Leopard Li Hong's Fengyun cavalry army rushed to Zhuojun, which became a turning point on the Youzhou battlefield.His arrival gave the Yellow Turban Army a head-on blow.Chu Feiyan felt the resistance from the Youzhou battlefield. Attacking Youzhou was not as simple as Zhang Niujiao imagined.Now the Yellow Turban Army's attack on the Zhuojun battlefield has been blocked, and the officers and troops in Julu County, Jizhou are gathering.The battle may start simultaneously at two places more than 1000 miles away at any time.If this is the case, it will be a disaster for the Yellow Turban Army.

When they arrived at Fanxingting, they received the news that the Yellow Turban Army was attacked by the Leopard Army at night outside Zhuocheng City and suffered heavy casualties.

Chu Feiyan immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing.

Zuo Yan's meaning is very clear. There is no definite news that Guo Dian has the intention to attack the Yellow Turban Army, but Zhuojun has already left the last blow, and defeating Zhuocheng is equivalent to taking down the entire Zhuojun.

Chu Feiyan's meaning is simpler, what is the purpose of taking down Zhuojun?If you can't win the whole Youzhou or at least the three big counties in Youzhou, you can't solve any problems at all.Once Zhao Guo and Changshan were attacked, and the Yellow Turban Army was attacked by the enemy, how to deal with it?Are we going to repeat the same mistakes and follow the old path of last year?
What if the troops are scarred in Zhuojun and attack Guangyang?How to attack Yuyang?The Yellow Turban Army currently does not have the strength to capture Youzhou, so it is better to face up to the reality and withdraw from Zhuojun to preserve its strength.If the Yellow Turban Army has no troops, it is not a Yellow Turban Army, or it is a dead end.

Seeing that Chu Feiyan was so determined, Zuo Yan decided to settle for the next best thing.

He decided to disobey the military order and not return to Zhongshan Guonulu City to raise food and grass for the army.He decided to rush back to Zhuocheng camp in person, report Chu Feiyan's intentions to Zhang Niujiao, and let the commander-in-chief decide whether to withdraw from Zhuojun, and only the commander-in-chief can decide.

He hoped that Chu Feiyan would follow the command of the commander in chief and lead the army to the north quickly.Openly disobeying military orders is a capital offense, there is no need to turn against the commander because of this incident.This matter is related to the future of the Yellow Turban Army. The commander-in-chief is also a courageous and resourceful person, and he will not ignore the future of the Yellow Turban Army and go his own way.

In addition, Sun's last letter mentioned that he hoped that the reinforcements would secretly rush to Dingxing Ferry to see if there was a chance to lure the leopard army to come to rob food, and take the opportunity to beat them severely.Li Hong's troops have won consecutive battles recently. The soldiers are arrogant and underestimate the enemy, and they will definitely fall into the trap.

Chu Feiyan said with a wry smile: "If this plan is implemented before the camp is attacked, there is still a possibility of success. Now..." He shook his head repeatedly, "If it is not done well, it will be self-defeating, and even food and grass will be in danger."

Zuo Yan looked at Chu Feiyan strangely, not believing it.

Chu Feiyan is 24 and five years old, with a medium build, gentle and handsome appearance, and a little frail.Don't be fooled by his appearance, his martial arts are outstanding in the Yellow Turban Army, and his swordsmanship and shooting skills are very superb.His real name is Chu Yan.Feiyan is his nickname, which means that he is good at martial arts and as light as a swallow.People who don't know think Feiyan is his real name.

"After the main force of the Yellow Turban Army is damaged, reinforcements must be called for. Sun Qin has been evasive for a long time at Dingxing Ferry, and suddenly marched boldly. There is only one possibility, and that is that the follow-up reinforcements have arrived. Otherwise, he will not give Sun Qin a hundred courage. Dare to take a step away from the ferry. A person like Li Hong, who is good at using troops, will certainly not be fooled. Only people who came up with such an idiotic idea will be fooled."

Zuo Yan was stunned, and then his face turned red, secretly admired in his heart, and sighed that he was inferior.

Zhang Yan's subordinate Fan Lifei rushed in, holding a roll of bamboo slips bound with five red silks in his hand.In the Yellow Turban Army, five red ribbons were added to the documents, representing the most urgent military situation.

"Chu Shuai, Yang Shuai is urgent to write."

The expressions of Chu Feiyan and Zuo Yan changed drastically.

(End of this chapter)