Great Han Empire

Chapter 923 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
Fu Qian reported the latest situation of the Yingchuan battlefield to the general and the generals in charge of the northern Xinjiang.

At the end of June, after General Wen Chou led his army to attack Yangdi City successfully, his main force moved south quickly along the Yingshui River and Sun River, attacking Yingyang and Yingyin cities at the same time. At the same time, Song Xian and Zhao Hu He led the army to attack Xuchang and restrained Liu Bei's army.

At the beginning of July, Yuan Jun, who supported Xuchang, learned that Yangdi City was lost, so he turned around and headed north. The two sides fought a battle at Jiulian Mountain, [-] miles east of Yingyang City.Yuan Jun was defeated and retreated into Yingyin City, where he and Xuchang City, fifty miles east of the city, formed horns against our army's attack.

In July, General Wen Chou commanded the main force of the army to besiege Xuchang and Yingyin, and ordered General Wu Xiong to lead the army to defend Yangdi City, and ordered Guo Xun and Yang Yi to lead the army to attack Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, and advance towards Luyang. .

During this period, except for the reinforcements from the counties and states of Yuzhou who rushed to Linying and Xinji in the south of Yingchuan to support Liu Bei, neither Luoyang nor Nanyang sent reinforcements in time.Therefore, Wu Xiong took the opportunity to capture Yangcheng, the northernmost city of Yingchuan.Yangcheng is only more than 100 miles away from Yuyuan Pass. Taking Yangcheng can help us defend Yangdi City more firmly, and our army can also directly attack the pass.

Nanyang's reinforcements did not arrive at Yingchuan for a long time, and Guo Xun and Yang Yi had enough time to conquer Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, and cross the Rushui River to attack Fucheng.If the reinforcements from Nanyang still haven't arrived, our army is estimated to enter the territory of Nanyang within the next two or three days and approach the city of Luyang.

So far, seven cities including Yangzhai, Yingyang, Xiangcheng, Jiaxian, Yangcheng, Yan (yan) Mausoleum, and Changshe in the central and northeastern part of Yingchuan have been captured by our army. Nine cities are in the hands of the rebels.

Because the reinforcements from Luoyang and Nanyang were slow to move, and the reinforcements from Yuzhou failed to gather quickly to form a counterattack, General Wen Chou quickly adjusted the deployment of troops.Now General Wen Chou has deployed 5000 troops on the Yangcheng and Yangdi lines in the north of Yingchuan, [-] troops on the Rushui River in the west of Yingchuan, and the remaining [-] troops are in Yingyin in the south of Yingchuan. , Xuchang launched a fierce attack.

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"Tell Master Wen Chou to speed up his attack and take Yingyin and Xuchang quickly." Li Hong said immediately after Fu Gan reported the battle situation, "The reason why the army has been able to advance smoothly in the north and south of Yingchuan recently is entirely because of Yuan Shao. The reinforcements did not arrive in time. Once Yuan Shao blocked Qu Yi's attack in Kansai and stabilized the battle line, and Liu Biao and Jiangdong negotiated peace and retreated to Jiangxia, the enemy troops in Luoyang and Nanyang would swarm in, and the battle would be very fierce."

"After the army has captured Yingyin and Xuchang, please Lord Wen Chou put the main force on the northern and western battlefields of Yingchuan. Luyang and Yangzhai are related to the safety of Luoyang, and these two places will be two sides for a long time. The main battlefield for fighting."

"But..." Fu Gan hesitated and said, "Although there are [-] troops on the Yingchuan battlefield, if we put the main force on the two battlefields of Luyang and Yangzhai, the troops on the frontlines of Xuchang and Yingyin will not be enough. Even if we beat Liu Bei out of Yingchuan this time, there are still many troops in Yuzhou, Liu Bei's own army is also in Runan, and the battle in the south of Yingchuan may be more intense than the other two battlefields."

Li Hong frowned, and asked in a low voice, "Is there any news about Yuan Yao? I haven't been in touch yet?"

"No, we have been unable to contact him." Fu Gan shook his head and said, "However, we have attacked Yingchuan for more than half a month, and we have not found Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's troops in Yingyin and Xuchang. Maybe... ..."

"Perhaps Yuan Yao has been ordered to enter Runan after receiving my letter and successfully launched a diversion attack." Li Hong pondered for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Send someone to Runan to see if we can find Yuan Yao's army. And get in touch with him."

"Okay." Fu Gan said, "Should the Hanoi and Henan battlefields be immediately turned on the defensive? If the Yingchuan battlefield continues to fight, the continuous supply of food, grass and ordnance will become a prerequisite for sticking to Yingchuan, so we should do everything we can. Send all the food and ordnance that can be saved to Yingchuan."

"Order the other battlefields to stop attacking immediately." Li Hong said decisively, "Urgently report to the imperial court, and find ways to raise some more food for us. The weather has been good for the past two years, and the rich and powerful in all parts of Jizhou have surplus food at home. After defeating Luoyang, return it to them. The Yingchuan battlefield is very critical, and if it is successfully fought, it can contain the forces of Luoyang, Yuzhou, Jingzhou, and Nanyang, and help Qu Yi and Yang Feng's troops take all of Kansai."

"General, Mr. Chen's wedding ceremony is over, should we go back too?" Wang Dang asked, "I'm anxious to go back to Yingchuan to fight, I can't stay here anymore."

"You all don't want to go back." Li Hong said with a smile, "This year's battle is basically over. We are very lucky to win Guanzhong and occupy half of Yingchuan in the case of insufficient wealth. There are two urgent tasks, one is to increase troops, and the other is to prepare for the attack on Luoyang. The increase in troops is imperative, especially after Guanzhong and Yingchuan are taken, and the army has formed a siege of Luoyang. It's imminent."

"At present, the battlefield is too large and our troops are seriously scattered. As long as we lose a battle in any battlefield, we will lose when we attack Luoyang. In order to allow the imperial court to increase its troops as soon as possible, we have made great concessions, and even took the initiative to shoulder the heavy burden of Xijiang. Burden. All of you adults know that it is directly related to our expedition to the desert that the great man has come to today. If the matter in the western border is not handled well now, and we send troops to the west, the great cause of ZTE will definitely be hindered. I believe that the eldest princess and the ministers of the court We will focus on the overall situation and the great cause of ZTE, and agree to our proposal to increase troops."

"After the imperial decree to increase the number of troops is issued, some of the adults here will go to various places to recruit military households together with local governments, and strive to complete all matters related to the military households in the shortest possible time, and bring the new soldiers to Dingtao to start military training, so , all of you don’t leave, just stay here for me honestly.”

All the generals were stunned.Wang Dang stood up and was about to speak, but was stopped by Li Hong shaking his hand.

"Luoyang is difficult to fight. This battle will take at least half a year or even a year. Therefore, the preparations for fighting Luoyang are very complicated. In addition to the preparation and stockpiling of food and grass, the manufacture of ordnance, and the recruitment of civilians, it also includes the stability of the western and northern borders. , the stability of Jiang Zhun. In addition, there is another most important thing, which is the issue of establishing the capital. If Luoyang is not the capital of the Han Dynasty, we will not have any scruples when attacking Luoyang, and we can fight freely. At the same time, the soldiers of the imperial court The military strategy will also undergo fundamental changes due to the change of the capital, especially the attack strategies against Jiang Zhun and Jingyu will undergo major adjustments.”

"For this reason, many of you will return to Jinyang immediately, and try your best to facilitate the court to pass the proposal of increasing troops and establishing the capital of Chang'an, so as to lay a solid foundation for the great cause of the Great Han Zhongxing."

There was a lot of discussion in the big tent.

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"My lords are all generals in command of each battlefield. Starting from the specific situation of your respective battlefields, you have written to the imperial court, stating the reasons, and requesting the imperial court to increase its troops quickly so that the army can besiege Luoyang in the shortest possible time."

Li Hong stood up, walked to Zhang Liao, and said, "Wen Yuan, you told me many reasons for increasing the number of troops a few days ago. I think these reasons are very good, so you should explain them truthfully."

Zhang Liao's face was slightly red, and he bowed and said: "General, I didn't know that the matter of increasing troops involved a lot, and I said some radical words, please forgive me, General."

"I can't blame you. If you stay in the court for a while, you can understand the difficulty of increasing troops. After the end of the Central Plains War, I tested the court about increasing troops, but the result disappointed me, so I carefully After thinking about it for a while, I plan to use the opportunity of the Guanzhong War to put pressure on the imperial court. Now that this opportunity has come, we must seize it and strive to achieve our goal as soon as possible.”

"The matter in the court is too complicated, it is extremely difficult to deal with, and it takes a long time. If we can't complete the increase of troops before October, the time for the army to attack Luoyang next year will be delayed, so..." Zhang Liao hesitated, and the rest of the words were not spoken for a long time speak out.

"What are you afraid of? What are you afraid to say?" Yan Liang glared at him dissatisfiedly, and shouted at Li Hong, "General, let's increase the number of troops first, and force the court to agree while increasing the number of troops. The increase in troops is already done." Given the facts, how dare those bastards in the court say 'no'?"

Li Hong smiled slightly, pointed at Yan Liang and said, "Arbitrarily recruiting soldiers is a crime of treason. What? Do you think my life is too long?"

Yan Liang curled his lips in disdain.

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"Many of you have not seen the situation clearly, and the thoughts in your mind are still the same as ten years ago. You think that you are the best in the world, and you can do whatever you want. You don't look like a famous ZTE general at all." Li Hong stood In the middle of the big tent, he glanced at the generals and said slowly, "I have said it countless times on various occasions. Now it is to revive the country, to rejuvenate the great man, not to guard the northern border, nor to separatize Hebei to dominate one side. There are many things. Things, many ways of doing things, including the concepts of your minds, must be changed, there must be an earth-shaking change, and don’t ruin the great cause of ZTE in a muddle-headed way.”

"Let me give you a simple example. In the past, we only had a dozen counties in northern Xinjiang, and the bureaucrats in northern Xinjiang were enough. Later, we recovered Youzhou and Jizhou, occupied the three states of Hebei, and there were not enough people in northern Xinjiang. Yes, but we did our best to survive. Now? Now we have regained Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Guanzhong, adding 20 counties. If Xiliang is added, there are more than 300 counties and more than 20 counties. How many officials do we need now? There are more than 500 prefects and ministers alone, more than 5000 officials with a thousand stone or more, and bureaucrats from hundreds of counties and counties, at least [-] people."

"Excuse me, my lords, how many scholars in northern Xinjiang can become officials? Even if there are more than 5000 scholars in northern Xinjiang who can become officials, how many of these 5000 scholars can serve as high officials with more than a thousand stones? Is one of them in the school?" Can the scholars who read the scriptures become county magistrates and county magistrates immediately after the pilgrimage?" Li Hong shook his head, "In fact, all the scholars in northern Xinjiang who can be officials have already become officials. You can go to the Jinyang University Hall to see Look, the scholars studying in Jinyang University are all under the age of 16, and there are less than a thousand of them, and some of them are the children of the Hu tribe."

"Therefore, with the increase of recovered counties and counties and the continuous advancement of ZTE, scholars from all over the country will enter the court. This is a fact and it is inevitable. A few years ago, a large number of scholars from Jizhou and Hedong entered the court. Scholars from Yanzhou, Guan, and Luo will enter the court hall, and scholars from Xu, Yang, Yu, Jing and other places will also enter the court hall in the future. The great cause of Zhongxing needs to use all the power of the entire Han Dynasty. The power of one place in northern Xinjiang is far from enough. Therefore, you have to accept them, respect them, and use all means to exert their strength when we in northern Xinjiang firmly grasp the government affairs, and let them promote ZTE with us Great development."

"The struggle for power is everywhere, and the struggle for interests is everywhere. You can't treat them as enemies just because they are not scholars in northern Xinjiang. Isn't there a struggle for power and interests among people in northern Xinjiang? Yes, but It’s just covered up now. Killing the opponent is indeed very simple, but it may not solve the problem. The best way to solve the problem is to subdue the opponent, let the opponent use him, and become his loyal friend. Since ancient times, all good fighters have been like this. Just Just like we were in northern Xinjiang, in order to solve the problem of the invasion of the Hu people and to stabilize northern Xinjiang, we finally adopted the method of surrendering to our opponents and turning them into our friends. The benefits are obvious. The reason why the Central Plains War was able to win the final victory, It is thanks to the help of the Hu tribe's iron cavalry."

"Turning opponents into friends, turning a double loss into a win-win situation is what a wise man does."

=

"Let's talk about the increase in troops." Li Hong walked a few steps back and forth in the big tent, and continued, "Everyone's ideas have not changed, and the consideration of the increase in troops is inevitably too simple."

"In the past, 10,000+ troops were enough for us to defend northern Xinjiang and Hebei, but now we want to pacify the world, and the battlefield has suddenly increased several times. The difficulty is very high. The reason why I asked for an increase of [-] troops was because I was worried that the lack of military officials at all levels would lead to a sudden decline in the combat effectiveness of the army. The increase in troops is a good thing, but if the increase in troops damages the combat effectiveness of the army, it is better not to Increase troops."

"You may think that we have enough veterans who can be promoted and appointed in large numbers, but have you ever thought about how many battlefields we have now? Which battlefields need the most powerful army? The army guarding the northern border must maintain combat effectiveness, and the army guarding the western border To maintain combat effectiveness, the southern and northern armies must maintain strong combat effectiveness, and these armies can only be supplemented by recruiting soldiers with combat experience from other armies, so the number of veterans we can promote and appoint is quite limited."

"The limited number of veterans is only one of the difficulties in increasing troops. The most difficult thing in increasing troops is the issue of land distribution. The current dynasty implements the 'soldier household' system, and land is allocated to military households. However, due to intensive wars and heavy losses, many For the time being, there are no suitable males in the military households, so the more soldiers are added, the larger the number of military households, the more land allocated by the imperial court, and the greater the loss of court taxes. In addition, the situation is different in different places. The amount of land is also different, places with fewer people and more land can increase military households, but the source of soldiers may not be suitable, and places with suitable sources of soldiers may not have more land, this contradiction makes it more difficult to increase troops."

"Increasing troops can make the northern Xinjiang people more powerful and more stable in the court, and the ZTE strategy that the northern Xinjiang people insisted on has been gradually advancing with the gradual advancement of the great cause of ZTE The persistent ZTE strategy has produced conflicts, and the most intense conflict is now in Chang’an, the capital. This is the main reason why almost all ministers in the DPRK and China, except the northern Xinjiang faction, openly opposed the increase in troops. Therefore, the increase in troops has become a dispute over ZTE’s strategy a weapon."

"Everyone in the court knows that increasing troops is crucial to ZTE's great cause, so the increase in troops will definitely succeed, but the first condition is that the current ZTE strategy is in line with everyone's interests. Let's use an analogy, increasing troops can take down Luoyang, But the establishment of Chang'an as the capital has plunged the country into a deep crisis, so what's the point of this increase in troops? What's the point of conquering Luoyang?"

"The prime minister and many ministers firmly oppose the increase of troops. In the final analysis, they think that the establishment of the capital Chang'an will not help ZTE Dahan. What about us? How can we persuade them? No one knows the future, and we do not know the capital of Chang'an. Right or wrong. The reason why we support Chang’an as the capital of the eldest princess is because it conforms to the interests of people in northern Xinjiang. Chang’an is very close to the western and northern borders, which is conducive to the stability of the frontier, but if the frontier is stable, will the Central Plains be stable? Is it? Is Dahan Sheji stable? We don’t know, and we are also panicked.”

"Therefore, we should not resent the prime minister, nor the ministers in the court who oppose the increase of troops. State affairs are related to the fate of the country and the life and death of tens of thousands of people. There is no room for any personal affection. Please respect this, my lords." You must have a clear understanding."

"Increasing troops can allow the people of northern Xinjiang to control the government more firmly, and can make the ZTE strategy always in line with the interests of the Han and the people of northern Xinjiang, and can then resolve the matter of establishing the capital Chang'an. Therefore, in order to solve this series of problems The problem, I have to find another way."

"If you can't persuade the other party in the strategy of governing the country, then you can only settle for the next best thing and satisfy the other party in terms of interests in order to achieve the same goal. The conflict of interests between us is actually a struggle for power, but under the current circumstances, no one can We gain greater benefits from power, so we simply give up part of our power to make the imperial power stronger, so as to push the opponent to a desperate situation, either completely lose power, or join us to fight against the imperial power. Of course they will make the most sensible choice In this way, the problem of increasing troops and the problem of establishing the capital Chang'an are also solved, but they still can't resent us, because we want to increase troops to fight Luoyang, but they disagree, and they forced us to give up power At that time, they will be in the same dangerous situation as us, but we have the army in our hands, the emperor and the eldest princess still need us to conquer the world, and they will face the imperial power tit for tat, and the end can be imagined. I believe they knew very well how Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty treated the foreign courts. In order to regain the power, regain the lost power, and check and balance the imperial power to achieve the success of the great cause of ZTE, they had only one way, and that was to unite with us and use us The military power in his hands is once again competing with the imperial power."

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"Do you understand now?" Li Hong went to the back of the desk, turned to face more than 30 civil and military officials in the northern Xinjiang in the tent, and said with a smile, "In the court hall, His Highness will have the final say immediately, and His Highness is all in the court hall. The common opponent of the ministers, all the ministers in the court will soon be friends. Now, has the anger in your hearts dissipated?"

Most of the generals in the tent looked at Li Hong with stern expressions, obviously still thinking about what Li Hong said just now.

"I have invited you to Xingyuan. First, I want to clarify ZTE's strategy. Please support Your Highness to make Chang'an the capital. Second, once the Guanzhong War is over, many major events will happen in Jinyang. You must rush back immediately. At the most critical moment, defend the big man, guard the emperor and the eldest princess, and seek the greatest benefit for the people of northern Xinjiang."

"Where is the general? Aren't you going back?" Tian Chou asked suddenly.

"I'm not going back." Li Hong glanced at the generals, and said solemnly, "Han Sui's death shocked me a lot. In the past few days, I have thought a lot. Yuan Shu's death caused Jiujiang to collapse, and Sun Ce's The death of Jiangdong is in danger, and Han Sui's death may cause chaos in western Xinjiang and directly affect ZTE's cause. If I die suddenly, what will happen to Hebei? Will ZTE's cause continue to advance steadily?"

All the generals were dumbfounded and shocked.

"Zimin, what nonsense are you talking about?" Xian Yufu reprimanded with a cold face, "How can you say such things on such an occasion?"

Li Hong smiled and continued: "I am dead. You must resolutely respect the emperor, be loyal to the eldest princess, and bravely take up the important task of revitalizing the country. From now on, you must gradually get used to the life without me. You must be on your own, you must firmly grasp your own destiny, and you must live well. I firmly believe that without me, you can also rejuvenate the big man."

"General..." All the generals fell to their knees.

=

The news of the great victory in Guanzhong shocked the negotiating parties who were negotiating in Dingtao City.

Cao Ren, Mao Jie, Sun Ben, Zhang Hong, and Zhu Zhi all responded as quickly as possible, asking Cao Cao and Sun Quan to reply immediately so that they could make timely strategic adjustments.

At the same time, Li Hong wrote a letter to Yuan Shao in Luoyang and Liu Bei in Xuchang, inviting them to send people to Dingtao to discuss peace.Li Hong gave a minimum negotiation condition, as long as they respect the emperor of Jinyang and the court, other matters are easy to discuss.

=

Under July, Luoyang.

Yuan Shao was furious when he received Li Hong's letter.

From the time when Qu Yi and Yang Feng led the army to attack Huayin and Tongguan, Yuan Shao had a premonition that the Guanzhong War might not only be a failure, but a big defeat, but he still had a glimmer of hope. He hoped that Han Sui and Gao Gan could retreat to Chang'an , There are still troops to contend with the Northern Xinjiang Army.The Guanzhong War is related to the survival of Luoyang. If the Guanzhong War is defeated, Luoyang will not report it every day. Yuan Shao feels that the danger of death is approaching step by step.

However, he did not have any news about the war in Zhongzhong.

In July, Sun Qin and Yang Hua led an army to attack Fenglingdu. Gao Rou and Zhu Ling were attacked by the enemy. They abandoned Tongguan and retreated to the Taolin Fortress. However, three days later, the Taolin Fortress was lost, and Gao Rou and Zhu Ling fled to Hongnong. The city meets and simmers.

Qu Yi and Yang Feng took advantage of the victory and pursued them.Sun Qin and Yang Hua's army went down the river and directly killed Shancheng, intending to cut off Duan Yao's retreat.Duan Yan was shocked, abandoned Hongnong, and led his army to defend Shancheng.

At this time, Nanyang sent an urgent report that Wuguan was occupied by the Northern Xinjiang Army. Xu Qi (qiu) put the main force on the Danshui line to prevent the Northern Xinjiang Army from taking advantage of the situation to go south. After returning to Danshui, only 2000 people remained in Luyang.For this reason, Xu Qiu urgently asked Jingzhou for help.Liu Biao has promised Wenpin and Liu Hu to rush to Luyang to help with [-] soldiers.

In mid-July, Qu Yi led his army to attack Shancheng, and the two sides fought fiercely in Shancheng.

The tense situation in Kansai made Yuan Shao restless.Luoyang's reinforcements all rushed to the front line of Xin'an and Hangu Pass, and there was no time to send troops south to support Yingchuan.

Just when Yuan Shao was exhausted physically and mentally, Li Hong's letter arrived.At this point, he knew the general process of the Guanzhong War. Han Sui died, more than half of the Xiliang army surrendered, and the [-] troops of Gaogan and Xinpi were completely wiped out.

Yuan Shao's last glimmer of hope was completely shattered, he couldn't bear such a heavy blow, and fell ill again.

=

Yuan Wei, Yuan Zhong, Feng Ji, Shen Pei, Xun Chen and others sat beside Yuan Shao's sickbed and read Li Hong's letters in turn.

"Obviously, the Northern Xinjiang Army can't move anymore. General Duan Yan should have no problem defending Xin'an and Hangu Pass this year." Feng Ji grieved, and there was a hint of luck in his eyes, "I think it's better to immediately deploy troops to support Yingchuan, defend Luyang first, and ensure the connection between Luoyang and Jingyu."

"The most urgent task is not to support Yingchuan, but to formulate a defensive strategy immediately." Yuan Shao said in a hoarse voice, weakly, "next year, the northern army will definitely attack Luoyang, we just need to defend Luoyang and let the northern army fight for a year or so If we drag Hebei down, we can turn defeat into victory, otherwise, Luoyang will be over, and Sheji will also be overthrown."

"What countermeasures do adults have?"

"If you want to defend Luoyang, you must open up a containment battlefield." Yuan Shao closed his eyes and said slowly, "If both Guanzhong and Yanzhou are caught in the flames of war, the Northern Frontier Army will fight on three battlefields at the same time, so Luoyang will be safe and sound."

"The Xiliang people are in chaos. Their current opponent is the Qiang people. It is estimated that they will not be able to counterattack for the time being. Liu Zhang in Yizhou is being attacked from north to south by Zhang Lu and Zhao Wei. Life is difficult. Only Zhang Lu can help us. , but Zhang Lu's strength is limited, and he cannot pose a fatal threat to Guanzhong." The judge sighed softly, "Cao Cao and Sun Quan are currently shaking hands with Li Hong's mediation, and in Cao Cao's current situation, self-protection is not enough. How dare they attack Yanzhou? With the support of Hebei, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu counterattacked Liu Biao. Liu Biao retreated to Jiangxia, but Lu Su, Lu Meng, Sun Fu and others led the army to attack. Liu Biao couldn't help but fight. Now Jingzhou army The main force was dragged in Jiangxia, unable to stop, suffering unspeakably, unable to go north to support."

Yuan Shao was so worried that his eyes suddenly went dark, and he opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of blood.

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(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
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