Great Han Empire

Chapter 636
In March of the third year of Chuping of the Han Dynasty (AD 192).

=

On the first day of March, in the early morning, Qingting.

Gongsun Zan was like a furious tiger, roaring loudly, his hoarse cry carried far away along with the howling cold wind.

The guards guarding around the big tent looked very nervous, and they were all uneasy.

"Yuan Benchu, that bastard, how dare you lie to me. I will kill him immediately. I will skin him and destroy his clan." Gongsun Zan was so angry that he kept waving his hands, cursing loudly while Excitedly walking up and down in the big tent.

Yan Gang, Shan Jing and others were also cursing at the side.A military Sima with disheveled armor was kneeling on the ground, and Guan Jing was leaning over to ask a question in a low voice.

Gongsun Zan led his army to attack and kill all the way today, advancing forty miles in a row.After arriving at Qingting, he saw that dusk was approaching, and immediately ordered the army to set up camp, preparing to fight again tomorrow.Due to the limited amount of food and grass carried by the army, after nightfall, he hurriedly ordered people to rush back to Ganling City overnight to urge the delivery of food and grass.

Guan Jing reminded him that the army is now fighting at Jieqiao, a hundred miles away from Ganling City, and cannot protect Ganling City, so the garrison of Ganling City is very important.In order not to reduce the garrison troops in the city, it is better to send some troops back to escort the food and grass.So Gongsun Zan sent an army Sima back to Ganling City with 2000 people.When they arrived at Xifeng Pavilion, the army was suddenly ambushed and almost wiped out.

"You see clearly, it is indeed Jizhou's army? Is it Yuan Shao's men?"

The military commander looked at Gongsun Zan timidly, and nodded repeatedly.Guan Jing waved him back, "My lord, send someone to the Xifeng Pavilion to inquire again."

"Brother Shiqi, are we going to fight back overnight?" Yan Gang asked, "We don't have much food, I'm afraid it will be difficult to persist."

"No." Gongsun Zan said loudly, "If we call back again, we have fallen into the trick of Li Hong and Yuan Shao." Gongsun Zan patted the map on the desk vigorously, "This place is thirty miles away from Yunting, and forty miles away from Xifeng Pavilion .If the army is trapped between Yunting and Xifeng Pavilion, we will die."

"My lord means..." Yan Gang looked at the map suspiciously, and asked cautiously, "Continue to attack Li Hong?"

"Yes, we'll fight all the way to cross the boundary bridge." Gongsun Zan gritted his teeth, "We will break through first at all costs. As long as we cross the Qinghe River, we can go north through Anping Kingdom and quickly escape from danger."

"Your Excellency's thinking is correct." Guan Jing agreed very much, "This place is ten miles away from the boundary bridge, and the distance to break through is very short. In addition, although the Northern Xinjiang Army is bluffing to lure the enemy today, they paid a high price for it. The strength of the army has been reduced to a certain extent, compared to that, we are more confident in fighting Li Hong than Yuan Shao."

"At Jieqiao, we will fight to the death with Li Hong. This is the result Yuan Shao wants to see, so he will not actively participate in the siege in the short term." Guan Jing pointed to the map and continued, "We will immediately send a team to Yunting blocked the Jizhou army. Tomorrow, we will concentrate all our forces to attack Qinghe and strive to cross Hebei and break through as soon as possible."

Different views were put forward by Shan Jing.The strength of the Northern Border Army is obvious to all, and they also have the natural barrier of Qinghe River. Once the army's attack is blocked and blocked on the south bank of Qinghe River, our situation will be even more difficult.

Yuan Shao's army strength is only [-], and the maximum is no more than [-].He wants to encircle Ganling City and stop us at Xifeng Pavilion, so his strength is obviously insufficient.In addition, breaking out from the direction of Xifeng Pavilion, the terrain is more conducive to our attack.From here to Ganling, there is no river, and the army can advance smoothly.After we defeat Yuan Shao, we can quickly get supplements of food and supplies from Ganling City, and we can regroup our troops to fight Li Hong and Yuan Shao again.Even if we want to retreat to the Bohai Sea in the later stage, we can retreat safely.

Guan Jing objected.The Northern Xinjiang Army on the opposite side has only more than 2 people, and its strength is even smaller than that of Yuan Shao.When we fight Li Hong, Yuan Shao will not immediately join in the siege with all his strength, but if we want to fight Yuan Shao, Li Hong will definitely take the opportunity to rush over and eat us.As for food and grass, what the army itself brought along and what the northern army discarded could last for about five or six days.In the next five or six days, due to our repeated fierce battles, the number of troops will be drastically reduced, so that we will last longer.After such a long time, can't we defeat the northern army and cross the boundary bridge?
"But after three or four days, if we haven't crossed the Qinghe River, Yuan Shao will definitely launch an attack. At that time, we will be at the end of our strength. How should we deal with it..." Shan Jing asked anxiously.

"According to the time calculation, the Yellow River will soon open, and Tian Kai and Liu Bei will be able to rush to Ganling Kingdom in no time." Gongsun Zan sneered, "Gaotang City is only a hundred miles away from Ganling Kingdom, and Tian Kai and Liu Bei arrived in no time. I don't believe Yuan Shao has the guts to launch a siege against me under such circumstances."

"Yuan Shao is a fox, and he won't do anything to lose money." Guan Jing said with a smile, "As long as we stick to Yunting and consume a lot of his troops, Yuan Shao will retreat immediately. We will retreat to Bohai, Hejian, North The Xinjiang army occupied the four counties in the west of Jizhou, and Yuan Shao occupied Weijun, Anping and Ganling. Jizhou was divided into three, and the future will be lively."

"Immediately send people to Gaotang, and ask Tian Kai and Liu Bei to come to help quickly." Gongsun Zan waved his hand and said resolutely, "At dawn, we will storm Jieqiao."

===

In the early morning, shelter from the wind.

Yesterday, Liu Bei took the lead in crossing the Yellow River with 2000 troops, crossed Gudu, a big river close to the Yellow River, and arrived safely at the wind shelter to set up camp.

Inside the big tent, candles were brightly lit.Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Jian Yong and others sat around a pot of charcoal fire, laughing and talking in low voices.

=

In December last year, after Tian Kai and Liu Bei led their troops to cross the Yellow River, they fought dozens of battles, big and small, which was very difficult.Many times the soldiers fought bloody battles with the Yellow Turban Army in the ice and snow. Because the Youzhou soldiers were more adaptable to this severe cold climate than the Yellow Turban Army, they won consecutive battles and played triumphant songs all the way.

After Tian Kai and Liu Bei led their troops to Linzi City in Qi State, they were greeted by the school lieutenant Zou Jing when they came out of the city.When old friends reunited, everyone was very excited.After Zou Jing's introduction, they learned that Jiao He, governor of Qingzhou, had died of illness last fall.The Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was too powerful, and Jiao He could not defeat them, so he had to lead the Qingzhou Army to defend the city, burning incense every day to pray to God, and day and night hoping for reinforcements to come to rescue them.The reinforcements were not expected, but Jiao He fell ill due to depression, fell ill and died.

After Jiao He died of illness, veteran Zou Jing barely supported the overall situation.Zou Jing has very old qualifications. He participated in the suppression of the Qiang rebellion in Xiliang with Duan Jiong, the former captain of the Qiang guard, and later served as the middle marshal of the Northern Army and the captain of Tunqi in Beijing.After Duan Jiong took office as Taiwei, he was imprisoned for a crime and committed suicide. Zou Jing was implicated and was dismissed by the court and returned home.After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he was requisitioned by the imperial court again to serve as a school lieutenant in Qingzhou, responsible for quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

With the help of Zou Jing, the Yellow Turban tribes stationed in the four prefectures in the north of Qingzhou were hit hard.Unable to resist, and with low morale, the Yellow Turban Army fled to Mount Tai in Yanzhou for refuge, or joined the commander Sima Ju in Dongjun, Jibei and other places.At the beginning of February, under the support of Tian Kai, Liu Bei and others, Zou Jing temporarily served as the governor of Qingzhou, tried his best to appease the people of Qingzhou, and rebuilt the county government.

At this time, Gongsun Zan's letter arrived. Without any imperial decree, he appointed Tian Kai as the governor of Qingzhou, Liu Bei as the prefect of Pingyuan County, and Zou Jing as the prime minister of Jinan.It is still unheard of for a general to appoint one of his subordinates as a state official.Yuan Shao appointed high officials in the prefectures and counties, and at any rate, he also had a "Decree of Chengzhi" as a prestige.Gongsun Zan simply didn't even want the facade.My fist is hard, I have the final say.

Of course, Zou Jing couldn't bear it, and he couldn't accept it, but faced with the devastated situation in Qingzhou, starvation (piao) everywhere, and the thousands of miles of rescue in Youzhou County, under the comfort of Tian Kai, Liu Bei and others, he had no choice but to smile. With tears in his eyes, he staggered to Jinan with thousands of people.The country will not be the country, the people's livelihood is dying, and the people are dying. At this moment, what is the point of arguing about these meaningless ancestral systems and laws?Let the common people rest in peace, eat and clothe themselves first.

At the same time, Gongsun Zan described the recent situation in Jizhou in detail in his letter.General Hussars has arrived at Jieqiao, and the battle between the Northern Border Army and the Youzhou Army is inevitable. Please go north to help the two brothers.

Tian Kai and Liu Bei immediately discussed sending troops north to help Gongsun Zan attack Li Hong and Yuan Shao.

During the three-month battle and conquest, both Tian Kai and Liu Bei's armies suffered considerable losses.In order to replenish their troops, the two recruited more than 2 people from the Yellow Turban captives along the way, and the strength of the Qingzhou Army quickly reached 3.Tian Kai was short of money. He told the generals of the Qingzhou Army bluntly that the country is in danger and the big man is about to fall. As the subjects of the big man, we should take it as our duty to save the country. What are you doing?So you go back and tell the soldiers that there is no military salary, and now everyone can have enough food, which is very good.In the future, when Qingzhou is stable and the country is stable, everyone will have money.

There are [-] troops, but they can't all go north to support. Considering the safety of Qingzhou, and the Yellow Turban Army watching from the sidelines, some troops must be stationed in Qingzhou, otherwise the past few months will be wasted.Tian Kai decided to keep half of the army stationed in the four counties of Qingzhou. Liu Bei led [-] troops to Pingyuan County to prepare for crossing the river, and then led [-] troops himself.Ask Zou Jing to return to Linzi City to preside over the affairs of Qingzhou.

Within a few days of Liu Bei's arrival in Gaotang City, the Yellow River opened up.

=

Liu Bei chatted with everyone for a while, and then the topic turned to the battle in Jizhou.

In the past two years, there have been many wars in Qingzhou. The people either fled to death or were taken away by the Yellow Turban Army. The fields were barren, there was no harvest, and there was no money or food at all.If Qingzhou wants to regain its vitality, it must get help from Jizhou.

At present, the food and grass needed by the [-]-strong army can only be replenished in Ganling Kingdom, so everyone is very eager to go to Ganling City to join Gongsun Zan, but thinking that Li Hong, the general of the hussars, is at Jieqiao, Liu Bei and everyone I feel a little uncomfortable.

As early as when Li Hong led Fengyun Iron Cavalry to go south to Jizhou to attack Zhang Niujiao, he, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others got to know Li Hong. Although it was just a quick glimpse, it left a deep impression on him.Later, when Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju were killed in the battle of Jicheng, the two sides met again, but Li Hong was already a famous general at that time.What happened later made me and my subordinates both regretful and moved.

After he killed the governor of the Zhongshan State Mansion in Anxi County, Zhongshan State, he led his people to abscond. As the general who conquered the North, Li Hong not only sent people to search for him around the Taihang Mountains, but also personally wrote a letter to the late emperor to plead for himself.Later, he was pardoned by the first emperor and served under the account of the general.When General He Jin told himself all this, he was really moved.

However, what makes me regret is that I knew that General Zheng Beida valued me so much, so why didn't I go to northern Xinjiang to avoid disaster?If you go to northern Xinjiang, follow Li Hong to fight outside the Great Wall, fight in the desert, laugh and drink the blood of the Hulu, raise the whip and live at the foot of Xu Mountain, and make great achievements, you will not be in vain.A lifelong regret.

Regardless of whether it is public or private, he is unwilling to be an enemy of Li Hong.At the beginning, I tried my best to persuade Gongsun Zan to send troops to Qingzhou because I had a lot of selfish intentions, but after a few months, I set foot in Jizhou again and directly faced Li Hong, the general of Hussars.what should I do?
=

Is Li Hong a good guy or a bad guy?Is it a treacherous and treacherous man like Dong Zhuo, or a pillar of the great man who is determined to save the country?Is he still the hero of the Great Han Kingdom like in the past?
No one knows the answer.The world is in chaos today, and people like myself don't know the details at all.Because of the raging wars and the lack of news, I don't even know whether the emperor is alive or dead.In the past two years, there have been rumors everywhere that the Son of Heaven is dead and Han Zuo has been cut off.I have a humble position and low authority, and I usually deal with ordinary officials, so how do I know if this news is true or false?
I once asked Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan said with certainty that the Son of Heaven was dead a long time ago, killed long before Dong Zhuo dethroned the Young Emperor.He also told himself that the reason why Liu Yu, Zhang Wen, Lu Zhi, Li Hong and others wanted to rebuild the imperial court in Jinyang and use the eldest princess to lead the state affairs was because the emperor died. Build another court?That was treason.Don't you believe in teacher Lu Zhi?

Gongsun Zan believed that Li Hong, like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao, was a treacherous sycophant who harmed the country.To be honest, Li Hong has more than ten crimes.Before the expedition to the desert, he forced troops to conquer Gyeonggi, and snatched the power of the sixteen counties in northern Xinjiang from the hands of the emperor and the court.After returning from the desert, he was reluctant to send troops to Luoyang to attack and kill Dong Zhuo.Later Li Hong sent troops, but he didn't fight Dong Zhuo, but Yuan Shao instead, which is unbelievable.Next, what kind of checks and balances will he engage in, trying to carve up the country and separate one side.Then he will do more harm to the country.If this kind of person is not a big traitor, who is?
You can do what I do, you can't go wrong.Since Gongsun Zan said so, what else could he say?
I had doubts in my heart, and I once asked someone to bring a letter to Liu Yu, asking about the same thing, my lord, what should I do?How can we save the country?But as soon as this letter was gone, there was no news, and it disappeared.

Since he didn't know where he should go, he could only follow Gongsun Zan, taking one step at a time.

=

The curtain was lifted, the cold wind howled, and the charcoal fire rushed towards Liu Bei with a "huh".Liu Bei, who was bowing his head in contemplation, was shocked and raised his head suddenly.

A sweaty scout half-kneeled on the ground and said out of breath, "Report to your lord, something is wrong."

=

(End of this chapter)