Chapter 926: Derogation
When the news of the fall of the Sishui Pavilion defense line spread back to Pengcheng, the people's sentiments, which had been relatively peaceful, were once again panicked, and it was even more important than the previous day.
The reason is that on this day, the high sun suddenly disappeared, and then boundless darkness directly enveloped the world.
This solar eclipse directly detonated the last nerve of the people in Pengcheng. When the sun appeared again, they all went crazy and tried to escape from Pengcheng.
This is a kind of mass madness, and this madness will spread like a virus, causing more people to sink into it.
……
When the solar eclipse appeared, Chen Deng was discussing with Sun Jian in the official temple how to dispatch troops.
It turned out that when the news came that the Sishui Pavilion defense line was broken, the second Liuxian defense line was also broken, and then they learned that the enemy general Ma Chao led some troops to march straight in.
Now Chen Deng and Sun Jian were overjoyed. Ma Chao's rash advance of light troops created an opportunity for them to annihilate the established Taishan Army.
In fact, after joining forces with Sun Jian's Yangzhou Army, Chen Deng led the Xu and Yang armies to fight overseas.
The most important of them is to attack Pei Guoxiang County, Dan County and other places to the west, in order to open up the escape route of the Yuan family's remnant army in Runan.
In today's Central Plains, the Yuan family still has a profound influence, but now this influence is limited because Yuan Shang is trapped in Xuanhu.
Therefore, Chen Deng was determined to take over the power of the Yuan family, and then use the influence of the Yuan family to cause the wealthy families in the Central Plains region to rise up in rebellion.
And these wealthy rebels didn't need to ambush the Taishan Army, they just looted the Taishan Army's supply channels locally.
Chen Deng himself knew very well that if they could not defeat the Taishan Army on the frontal battlefield, the only chance of victory would be in the enemy's rear.
He was very aware of how huge the Taishan Army's logistical pressure was. After all, he and Sun Jian both fought on the inside, and it was particularly difficult to supply the 100,000 troops on the front line in Pengcheng, let alone the Taishan Army who had come all the way.
So when the main force of the Taishan Army stayed in the middle of Yanzhou, Chen Deng and Sun Jian discussed that he would continue to be in charge of Pengcheng, and then Sun Jian would be the commander and lead his 20,000 elite troops to open up a defense line westward.
Regarding the distribution of the Taishan Army in this direction, Chen Deng had prepared intelligence in advance and knew that there were currently only two groups of Taishan Army around Runan.
One is the Xu Huang Army, which occupies the cities on the Yingshui and Huaishui front lines and is specifically responsible for supporting the Shouchun front line in Huainan.
Then there is the Lejin Army, which has occupied Yingchuan, Chen Guoping and the north of the river. The number of this force has grown rapidly. After recruiting a large number of local rebels, the number of this army has reached 20,000 to 30,000, and is about to conquer Xuanhu City. Surround.
In the vast areas of the Central Plains, the strength of the Taishan Army is very weak. Among them, to the west of Pengcheng, that is, in the middle of Pei State, almost all wealthy families make the decision.
So when Sun Jian led the Yangzhou Army into the Pei State area, they received a huge welcome. The powerful village leaders joined Sun Jian's team with their clan tribes, hoping to get a share of their westward march.
For a time, the clans of Xiao, Xiang, Mangshan, Zhuyi, and Fuli merged into Sun Jian's army like a trickle, bringing the number of his legions to nearly 30,000.
But when the number of people increased, the supply of Sun Jian and his team became a problem.
It turns out that the Xu and Su areas have been miserable for a long time. The countryside is full of gangs of thieves. Some of them support the Taishan Army and are called Yicong; some are just bandits who plunder the countryside and wander here. .
Sun Jian understood that if the traitors in Pei State could not be eliminated, the so-called opening up of traffic routes with Runan was unrealistic.
So he stayed in Xiao County and began to tidy up the place carefully.
Because the main force of the Taishan Army was already in the Lu State, the war going south could break out at any time, and Sun Jian had no time to slowly reorganize it.
So he directly asked for a hundred blank yellow silk sheets from the Empress Dowager He of Xiapi, and then filled in the names of dozens of dock owners in Pei State, and entrusted all local power to them.
This is how he cooperates with these local powerful factions. As long as you give me food, I will give you a title that can bring glory to your ancestors.
Don't tell me, even though the big man is dead, such an empty title is still so attractive.
Of course, these are only useful to the wealthy people in these places. Who really has an upper-class background will read this spam?
However, these people were originally on the opposite side of the Taishan Army. Is it too late to cooperate with Sun Jian? How could he dismantle him?
It was precisely with the help of dozens of titles and yellow silk that the wall in Pei State became Xuzhou. No, to be precise, it was Sun Jian's grassroots political power, which could provide a steady stream of food, grass and materials for the Yangzhou army.
In fact, this also shows what Sun Jian has been thinking all along. He just never forgets the Central Plains.
He led his team to stay in Peiguo in order to build this place into Yangzhou's advanced base. Don't forget that to the south of Peiguo is Jiujiang, which is under the rule of Yangzhou.
Sun Jian can be connected with Jiujiang by establishing a foothold in Pei State, and then he will never be alone.
……
Xu Huang, who was on the upper reaches of the Huai River, took Sun Jian's actions very seriously.
As the head coach of the regional army, Xu Huang was very clear about the strategic vision that the king wanted to achieve.
Although the king's decisive battle was called the annihilation of the Xuzhou Army, in fact he set up such a large formation to catch the big fish of the Yangzhou Army.
Why did the king stay in Snake Hill for so long? It was to give Sun Jian enough time to mobilize more troops from Jiangdong to the north.
Compared to the tens of thousands more enemy troops, Zhang Chong was more concerned about the natural gorge of the Yangtze River.
The original plan was very good, but Sun Yat-sen continued to mobilize troops from Jiangdong. The total number of troops on the Pengcheng front line reached as many as 40,000 to 50,000.
But now Sun Jian actually entered Pei State as a partial army, which was no longer possible.
Originally in Pengcheng, Sun Jian had no way out, but in Peiguo, he could reach Zhongli in Jiujiang across the Huaihe River.
There was a change in the plan. Xu Huang was about to report it to the king, but he had already received an order from the king from the Sheqiu camp.
The military newspaper ordered his Huainan Army Corps to stand still, and only ordered him to recruit local people who were familiar with water to form more naval corps.
Then let them keep an eye on Sun Jian's troops in Pei State in northern Huaibei. Once they have the intention of going south, they will immediately intercept them along the Huaihe River.
Don't let Yangzhou soldiers and horses cross the Huaihe River.
The king asked Xu Huang to expand his troops. How could he not like it?
Moreover, he had made preparations early. One of them was to use the original garrison soldiers in Shaopi as his source of troops. However, the garrison soldiers only had people, but they lacked boats.
But Xu Huang was still prepared. He had prepared a big fat pig early, and he just killed it now.
This big fat pig is Zheng Bao, a bandit from Chaohu.
This man was originally promised by Sun Jian to be the chief of Hefei. Later, because Xu Huang conquered Shouchun, he was so frightened that he plundered the people of Hefei and fled back to Chaohu.
Chaohu Lake is not a small lake. It can be said to be the largest lake in Huainan. It has been a gathering place for water pirates throughout the ages. Zheng Bao, as the largest force in Chaohu Lake, has a navy consisting of 700 large and small warships.
Once Xu Huang can annex Zheng Bao, the Huaishui navy will naturally be found.
This Xu Huang also had a Huhai temperament. After knowing that Zheng Bao was a lover of Han, he went to Zheng Bao alone. Then while the two were drinking, Xu Huang directly chopped off Zheng Bao's head with a knife.
Later, Xu Huang revealed his identity and gave these water bandits a chance to join the Taishan Army.
Then join the Taishan Army? Which water pirate wouldn't want to? So Xu Huang went to Chaohu alone. When he came out, he had brought 600 ships, 3,000 naval forces, and 10,000 people, and then drove back to Shouchun in a mighty manner.
From then on, Xu Huang took the Chaohu water bandits as the core and carefully built the navy to complete the king's mission.
But in Xu Huang's heart, he also had such an ambition, that is, once the war in Pengcheng ended, the king would definitely send his troops south to completely recover the large area south of the Huai River.
And when the time comes, as the coach of the Southern Expedition, who else can he have besides Xu Huang?
In this way, all we have to do is wait for the war in Pengcheng.
……
After all, Sun Jian still had the overall situation in mind. When Chen Deng of Pengcheng called him to come to Pengcheng, he took the cavalry back to Pengcheng first, and the follow-up troops were on the road and would arrive soon.
He came here this time to discuss with Chen Deng the annihilation of the vanguard of the Taishan Army.
The vanguard troops heading south this time were Ma Chao and Li Hu's troops, numbering around 10,000 people, of which the cavalry strength was around 1,000 people, similar to those of Xu and Yang.
Chen Deng and Sun Jian also knew about Ma Chao and Li Hu.
Among them, Li Huhao is Zhang Thief's old brother, a giant bandit, and has always been trusted by Zhang Thief.
And that Ma Chao is a young man, but he is already a strong general among the Taishan thieves and is able to fight. This can be seen from the fact that he can break through the two lines of defense of the Xuzhou Army so quickly.
Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!
But it was precisely this time that Ma Chao's swift movement made Chen and Deng see his true and false intentions.
Although this general was brave enough to fight and good at riding, he lacked strategy. And because he reached the position of commander-in-chief of an army at a young age, his character must be arrogant and willful.
This time the troops advanced rashly, maybe this person had the intention of monopolizing all the power.
How could such behavior not make Li Hu jealous?
Chen Deng and Sun Jian both got up from below and have experienced this. When friendly forces are in trouble and our army is immobile, how can the Taishan Army avoid it?
Therefore, Chen and Sun judged that once they attacked Ma Chao's troops at Shiwuliting, Li Hu would not come to rescue them.
In this way, Chen and Sun had an insight into the suspicions of the leading troops of the Taishan Army, and they planned to lay such a trap to trap Ma Chao, the golden tiger.
So since yesterday, the two of them have arranged the troops to participate in the battle. The Xu and Yang families have dispatched a total of 20,000 people to advance into the Fifteen Mile Pavilion from the left and right directions.
At this moment, Chen and Sun were receiving military reports from the front line and preparing to serve as subordinates for the next stage.
Then the hall suddenly became dark, and the entire military mansion fell into deathly darkness.
Subconsciously, Chen Deng's heart skipped a beat and he immediately ordered:
"Everyone knelt on the ground and prayed to heaven with me."
After saying that, he pulled Sun Jian and fell to the ground together.
Seeing that Sun Jian was still confused, Chen Deng whispered to him:
"The solar eclipse is coming, so we need to reassure ourselves."
Sun Jian did not study history, so he lacked this understanding, but he quickly realized what he was doing and knelt on the ground with Chen Deng, praying.
Soon, the solar eclipse passed, and the sky suddenly brightened.
All the officials present cheered, thinking that their prayers had driven away the darkness.
But little did they know that just as they were cheering, a general rushed outside, directly bringing bad news:
"The soldiers and civilians in the city were in chaos and went crazy."
Hearing this, Chen Deng remained motionless as if he had been struck by lightning.
Chen Deng only felt that his chest was blocked. He wanted to shout but couldn't. Finally, he tried to exhale and got through.
In the eyes of Sun Jian and others, Chen Deng spit out a mouthful of blood.
Sun Jian was careful and even saw something like insects in the blood.
Everyone was shocked, except Chen Deng who felt more relaxed than ever before.
He ordered loudly:
"The four gates are closed tightly, no one is allowed to leave the city!"
Then he issued a brutal military order to suppress:
"Anyone who dares to invade the city if there are rebel troops or civilians will be killed without mercy!"
……
The same solar eclipse also appeared on the Taishan Army side.
When Zhang Chong arrived at Peixian with an army of 50,000 men, the flags covering the sky turned the place into a sea of yellow.
At that time, Zhang Chong was reading the military report sent by Li Hu. When he saw that Li Hu had gone south to support Ma Chao who was advancing rashly, Zhang Chong was still thinking when suddenly it became dark.
Zhang Chong was standing on the huge chariot. The prince Zhang Cheng beside him exclaimed in surprise because he had never seen it before.
But in the darkness, Zhang Chong just said:
"It's just a celestial phenomenon, nothing to be surprised about."
Zhang Cheng's father's words immediately made Zhang Cheng swallow the second half of his exclamation.
The darkness passed quickly. When Zhang Cheng saw that his father's standing posture had not moved at all, his heart was filled with admiration.
My father is the one who wants to be the emperor, so he is no longer afraid of these celestial phenomena.
At this time, dozens of civil and military personnel on both sides of the chariot congratulated:
"Your Majesty, this is the sign of Huang Tian's return to justice. From now on, the sky will be replaced by Huang Tian!"
Zhang Chong snorted coldly and said this to Dong Zhao below:
"Dong Gong, will this world change once there is a solar eclipse? If there is another solar eclipse next time, will my eldest wife also die?"
Dong Zhao was frightened and knelt directly on the ground:
"I would never dare to have such an idea."
Zhang Chong sneered and cursed directly:
"Don't you dare? I think you are very brave. Which of those things that happened in Pengcheng were not caused by your Mr. Dong? You are probably still complacent, thinking that you have planned such a great event."
Dong Zhao was shaking even more now, and he suddenly realized that he had committed a big taboo.
It is natural to spread rumors between the two armies, but he used ghosts and gods to create momentum. Whether it was smearing cow blood on Buddha statues or spreading prophecies, these were all lies to deceive the public.
Which of these would please God?
Sure enough, Zhang Chong pointed directly at Dong Zhao and yelled:
"I have told you countless times that the foundation of my country is based on the people, not heaven! It is they who entrusted Huang Tian's world, not the world given by heaven. And what I hate most is that someone uses Huang Tian's name to confuse people's hearts. Ghosts and gods It’s always nonsense, my eldest wife won’t talk about it!”
"I raise Huang Tian just to give the people of the world a thought and to give our great tree a positive shuo, not for you to play with!"
After saying this, Zhang Chong directly asked Dong Zhao to take off his feather robe and sent him to the supply camp to work as a scribe.
Dong Zhao was not very popular. No one interceded when he was condemned. Even when Dong Zhao was taken away, some people were happy about his misfortune:
"This old Dong has been demoted for the second time. Now that the world is almost settled, I'm afraid there will be no chance for him to rise again."
Yes, there are so many ups and downs.