Chapter 200 Death
Zhang Chong looked at Xuchang City in front of him, thinking about the changes in Taiping Road in Hebei Province, and felt worried.
Although his relationship with Hebei Taiping Road is not very close, he does not want the headquarters to collapse so quickly. This is not in the interests of the Taishan Army.
According to history, Taiping Road in Hebei survived the first wave of offensives by Lu Zhi and his Northern Army. Later, Lu Zhi was dismissed and Dong Zhuo came to preside over the war in Hebei. Taiping Road also counterattacked and defeated Dong Zhuo. It wasn't until Huangfu Song arrived with 20,000 fresh troops that he struck a devastating blow at Taiping Road in Hebei.
But that was only the upper echelon of the headquarters that was annihilated. In fact, after the death of San Zhang, the Hebei Yellow Turban Army continued to actively fight under the leadership of Zhang Niujiao, Zhang Feiyan and others. Later, they entered Heishan and established themselves here to form a large separatist force. .
However, this yellow scarf gradually deteriorated after it was passed to Zhang Feiyan. The Taiping Dao Qushuai, who was later renamed Zhang Yan, surrendered to the Han court not long after, gave up the cause of Taiping Dao, and became a feudal prince.
Originally, Zhang Chong's plan was to fight Huangfu Song in the Dongjun and Chenliu areas, and then go north to help the Hebei headquarters and increase the influence of the Taishan Army in Hebei. But this premise is that Zhang Jiao can continue the confrontation with Hanting in Julu as in history, instead of being injured and unable to act now.
At this moment, a major turning point in history came to Zhang Chong, making him understand that the future of this world was not exactly the same as the history of the original world.
Zhang Chong's scruples were seen by He Kui. He didn't know what news Zhang Chong had received from Hebei. In short, Zhang Chong didn't tell him, so it was inconvenient for He Kui to ask. He could only advise Zhang Chong to focus on In front of you.
So He Kui stepped forward and pointed to Xuchang by the Jishui River in front, and said to Zhang Chong:
"Qu Kui, Xuchang looks like a small city, but it's not easy to capture."
Indeed, Xuchang City is not big, and the number of blind people in the city is estimated to be only a few thousand. However, this place is located on the Jishui Waterway, which is the transportation route for grain and fodder transportation in Shandong. Therefore, it is both a storage center and a military stronghold. Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty entrusted Zhao Yan here to ensure the waterway in the eastern section of Jishui River.
Therefore, Xuchang City is a rare small solid city with brick and stone structure, and it is indestructible. But unfortunately, what Xuchang City encountered today was Zhang Chong's Taishan Army.
To be honest, since Zhang Chong founded the army, he has experienced the Battle of Xue Shibi, the Battle of Sandaoling, the Battle of Mount Tai, the Battle of Lu Zhongnan, the Battle of Jinshibi, the Battle of Dongpingling, the Battle of Changshaobi, and the Battle of Fenggao , to the final Battle of Two Rivers and the Battle of Gaoshan Ridge, there were hundreds of battles, large and small. The entire army took the lead in every battle and defeated everything they could. It can be said that the Taishan Army at this moment is a first-rate warrior, and all the generals are also capable of fighting. Therefore, no matter how strong the Xuchang City is, no one in the whole army doubts this battle. Victory will not be theirs.
Then, a bloody battle that no one expected began under Xuchang City.
After Zhang Chong learned that the Taiping Dao Archbishop in the north was being attacked by the Youzhou Army of the Han Court, he estimated that the attack time of the Han Court's middle troops and the Lu Zhi Army was coming, so Zhang Chong wanted to move his troops to Yanzhou as soon as possible. Dongjun, on the north bank of the Yellow River, maneuvered to support the Yellow Turban Army on the middle and north roads.
So on May 15th, as soon as the Taiping Taiping Army arrived, Zhang Chong began to attack Xuchang City.
Because the city was narrow, Zhang Chong only allowed the surrendered Dongping State to surrender, totaling 2,000 troops, and attacked Xuchang from its east, south, and west sides at the same time.
Xuchang City has a sparse population, and its original military strength is only four hundred. This was deliberately added because of the importance of this place. Otherwise, for a small city like this, a hundred or ten soldiers would be enough.
Zhang Chong promised the four commanders of the Dongping Kingdom who surrendered before the battle: Gao Ya, Wu Zi, Zhao Shu, and Li Zou:
"Kill Xuchang in front of you, and you will be my old brothers, Zhang Chong."
Not to mention Zhang Chong's charisma, these four generals stayed in his collision team for less than a month, but they were all devoted to Zhang Chong.
Gao Ya is a wealthy man in Yanzhou, in other words, he is a person on the road. On weekdays, he is just a knife in the hands of a big shot, doing some shameful things. This kind of person values ​​righteousness, but cares more about the respect of big people.
And Zhang Chong gave Gao Ya enough respect. He talked every three days and performed martial arts every five days, which gave Gao Ya a deep understanding of Zhang Chong's ability and ambition. Therefore, he took office again and continued to lead his 300 crimson coat army.
Zhao Shu had the same idea. He only admired Zhang Chong for being able to respect him. For warriors like them, those who can fight without playing tricks are good leaders.
As for Wu Zi, it's hard to say. He has a deep mind and has not surrendered voluntarily before. He is also relatively desensitized to Zhang Chong's talk about doing justice for heaven and hanging his life to punish crimes. But there was one thing that impressed him about Zhang Chong: Zhang Chong had destiny.
In fact, this set of prophecies was only circulated in the civil service system such as He Kui, Cai Yong, and Du Man, and only a few people knew about it.
So how did Wu Zi know? He knew it from Xu Si. It turned out that the two of them were not familiar with each other under Li Zan's command, but after everyone entered Taiping Road, Xu Bin wanted to stand firm, so he deliberately made friends with generals like Wu Zi, so the two quickly became familiar with each other.
Xu Si was naturally accepted by He Kui and others because of his status as a famous scholar. Therefore, he learned the meaning of Zhang Chong's prophecy. Xu Si suddenly realized it and sent him to him in a dream the night before the battle of Gaoshan Ridge. "Peace and joy" told everyone about the magical things about Taofu.
He Kui also discovered that Mount Tai was the place of destiny for Zhang Chong, and its deity, the Master of Mount Tai, also appeared frequently. First there was the battle at Jin's Wall, where heavy fog fell at night. Then there was the divination in the Taishan Prefecture Temple on the night when Yu Jin rushed to Yingxian County, and now Xu Si's goddess Ru Meng, fearing that it might not come true, the Taishan Prefecture Lord chose Zhang Chong and continued to protect him in the underworld. After knowing this, these scribes were even more in awe of Zhang Chong. And this kind of awe also appeared in Wu Zi's heart after Xu Bang told Wu Zi these things.
People of later generations may not be able to understand the reverence people had for gods and heaven during the Qin and Han Dynasties. It can be said that if Emperor Gaozu didn't have a prophecy about the Red Emperor killing the White Snake, how could everyone be united? Liu Xiu even had a literary battle with Gongsun Shu over the right to interpret the prophecies, competing to see whose prophecies were the real prophecies.
Zhang Chong actually knew to some extent the prophecies made by people like He Kui and Cai Yong. He himself did not believe in this, but he knew that it was beneficial to him now. In the past few years, Zhang Chong has been trying to influence the worldview of people around him and let them try to use rationality to structure the world, but the effect is not great.
To be honest, the people around Zhang Chong are all concrete people who grew up in this real era. The concepts and knowledge of this world have long been internalized by themselves, and it is impossible for them to transcend the common understanding of this era. This is the current situation.
It is precisely because of this situation that Zhang Chong continues to act in accordance with the worldview of this era in many matters, and does not make too many subversions, just because the time is not ripe.
So sometimes, even Zhang Chong himself feels that he has only been in this era for five years, but he has already been assimilated into a typical Eastern Han person. Maybe this is because no matter how thick a drop of ink is, if it falls into the sea, it can only become water.
But there was still a voice in Zhang Chong's heart that was firming him up: You have to change, change this cannibalistic society.
That's why Zhang Chongcai kept fighting and using his ideals to inspire himself to move forward, because he was really afraid that if he slacked off, he would really become a warlord in the late Han Dynasty. If that's the case, how can this world be different from his original world?
But Zhang Chong also knows that ideals kill people and use corpses to pave the way. Sometimes Zhang Chong really thinks, is it really right to let some people die and let some people live for the sake of ideals?
Zhang Chong's suspicion once again floated in his heart as the four captains attacked the city with brutal force.
It's not that Zhang Chongdao has a weak heart, but that the battle in Xuchang before him is really miserable.
Guanghe six years, May 15th, noon. Two thousand soldiers from the four schools who had had lunch attacked Xuchang from three sides at the same time. It was also at the hottest time of the day that the battlefield reached its climax.
The side where Zhang Chong was located was the south gate of Xuchang. The captains in charge of the main attack were Wu Zi and Li Zou. They had eight hundred soldiers and carried ten ladders and ran across to the gate of Xuchang.
The number of soldiers defending Xuchang City in the south was only 200, but under the leadership of a general with a "Zhao" flag, wood, rolling stones, and gold juice were continuously sprinkled on the heads of Wu Zi and Li Zou.
As long as a wooden rolling stone is rubbed against it, the muscles and bones will collapse immediately. After a while, more than 20 wounded soldiers with broken legs were sent to the medical team.
Then these medical craftsmen, who only learned how to amputate legs, how to debridement and bandaging from Zhang Chong, only turned the medical shed into a slaughterhouse, with screams everywhere and it was unbearable to hear.
Wu Zi was supervising the battle behind the formation, and Li Zou was leading the troops in front, leading a team of elite soldiers and preparing to scale the city with marquees.
At that time, the Han generals on the city tower immediately saw the enemy generals standing under a yellow flag, and immediately recruited a group of shooters to shoot wildly at the yellow flag.
But the thieves below were protected by guards and were not injured. Therefore, the Han general secretly ordered a strong man to hide behind the city battlement with a big yellow crossbow, and he would take advantage of the opponent's slack to snipe and kill this man directly.
The rhubarb crossbow was a military weapon of the Han family. The Han family relied on this weapon in their Northern Expedition against the Huns. Its crossbows range from one stone to ten stones, and the one on the Xuchang City Tower is an eight-stone crossbow. This thing is not from the Xuchang arsenal, but was exchanged between the Zhao family and the Zhu Achen family downstream. It was specially used to hunt generals, and it is now used here.
The brave general under the yellow flag below the city tower is Li Zou. The guards around him have just blocked a wave of arrows for him and are urging him to retreat. Li Zou smiled boldly:
"Is there anyone who can kill Nai Gong yet?"
After saying that, Li Zou pushed away the cards in front and was about to climb the ladder.
At this time, a deadly arrow from the tower passed through the noise of the battlefield, and pierced Li Zou's chest, directly driving him to the ground.
In this way, this brave general who was supposed to be Lu Bu's subordinate, and who would later become an important general under Cao Wei Xu Huang, died quietly at the foot of Xuchang City.
(End of chapter)