In the sixth year of Guanghe, November 12th, Chaoge, Military Mansion.
Many generals from the sudden cavalry were gathered around the brazier, wrapped in winter clothes and chatting.
This time the Taishan Army attacked Chaoge in Hanoi and did not intend to leave.
Therefore, Zhang Chong wanted to arrange the work after entering the city.
The main work is to establish base areas around Liyi near Chaoge. The political, industrial, and military officials of the Taishan Army are all familiar with this process, and they have now begun to compare the household registration books in Chaoge City to check the nearby population.
After briefly arranging the household registration work, Zhang Chong focused on the special situation of Chaoge, which was banditry, to the military officials present.
Chaoge was originally free from banditry. However, as General Zhendong was stationed in Hanoi, civilians were everywhere in Hanoi transporting military supplies to the Qishui front line.
But how many teams can survive the cold weather? More and more people fled to the countryside with their fellow villagers and became bandits.
This is still part of it. Later, after Zhang Chong led Tuqi Xue to attack Chaoge at night, the Han troops stationed outside the city dispersed in a hurry.
Except for the county soldiers in the northern part of Hanoi, such as Linlu, Dangyin and other counties, who surrendered to the Taishan Army in the city, the others dispersed and returned to their hometowns.
But again, they had neither military supplies nor winter clothes, so they could only become bandits nearby. In addition, there are many mountains and dense forests in Hanoi, which are the hiding places for these soldiers and bandits.
In view of these banditry, Zhang Chong did not plan to exterminate them immediately. The time was not yet ripe, so he could only mark them first and then concentrate his forces to suppress them.
In addition to household registration and security work, another important issue is the land issue.
After entering the city, Zhang Chong did not directly deprive the Chaoge officials of their land because he wanted to stabilize the situation. But now, with the city being pacified, Zhang Chong decided to confiscate all the homes and land of the court officials.
For some of the people who had great resentment, Zhang Chong instructed the Guizhou leaders or mediocre slaves on the ground to stand up and fight against those people. Let them avenge wrongs and avenge them. Their Taishan Army stood behind these people to support them.
But we must not replace the struggle between the heads of Guizhou and the mediocre slaves. Let them do it on their own and let them stand firmly with the Taishan Army.
As for the remaining officials who were neither Chaoge officials nor local tycoons who had committed evil deeds, Zhang Chong only ordered them to reduce their rents instead of directly taking back their land.
This is because the Taishan Army is still on the front line in the Chaoge area and does not have enough military power to carry out in-depth transformation of all areas. We can only use this gradual approach, one step at a time.
The same logic applies. Due to the insufficient number of military officials, work is currently being carried out in several important areas.
For example, we will focus on the Makino area southeast of Chaoge.
Zhang Chong's idea is to make an all-out breakthrough in the Muye area first, gather military personnel to expropriate and distribute land here, establish and cultivate a group of active Guizhou leaders who can go with the Taishan Army, and then use these people as expansion to move to surrounding areas. Start work.
If these active Guizhou leaders perform well at work, they can be recruited into the Taishan Army's field division team and continuously cultivated.
The Taishan Army is accustomed to absorbing the active leaders of Guizhou Province wherever it goes, and there is nothing much to say.
After Zhang Chong finished talking about these tasks, he began to talk about the most important thing this time, which was the change of the main force of the Han army on the south bank of Qishui River.
He asked everyone to speak enthusiastically first. He wanted to see the combat skills of the current military officers under his command.
The first person to speak was Xu Zhong, the cavalry general. This man had a beard and was unsmiling, but he often made surprising remarks.
At this time, he took the lead in talking about his plan.
"Commander Qu, I think the changes in the Han army in Henan are either internal changes or changes in Kyoto."
Zhang Chong, who was at the head, nodded and motioned for him to continue.
So Xu Zhong began to preach:
"Shuai Qu, do you still remember who were the pursuers behind us when we left the Xingyang area? In addition to Zhang Wen's Henan Han army, there are also a large number of powerful people from all over Yuzhou."
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After hearing what Xu Zhong said, the other cavalry officers remembered this matter.
Yes, wasn't there another army originally? Why is there no trace now?
Xu Zhong is from Yuzhou. As a local hero, he has no shortage of opportunities to get along with the local heroes, so he knows the situation of the heroes in Henan better than the rest of the army.
So he boldly speculated:
"Shuai Qu, this is what I said about the enemy possibly changing."
He continued:
"I have always known that these powerful people in Yuzhou usually boast that they are the best in the world, and they can still unite to protect the environment and the people. If they come to Hebei and unite as one, I am afraid they will not be able to do it."
Zhang Chong understood what Xu Zhong meant. He just said that the powerful people in Henan did not want to get involved in the war in Hebei, so they left early.
Zhang Chong nodded and said doubtfully:
"Azhong, I understand what you are saying. But what does this have to do with the Han army returning south?"
Xu Zhong explained:
"Commander Qu, it stands to reason that we attacked Chaoge and killed Zhang Wen, the commander-in-chief of the Han army. The army on the south bank of Qishui River should not just attack us back, but at least stand still. But what now? We have to retreat directly to the south. This It shows that there is obviously a new leader on the other side, and this leader is probably related to the powerful people in Henan. Otherwise, how can those powerful people in Henan tolerate this group of foreign soldiers?"
What Xu Zhong said made sense, but in Zhang Chong's opinion it was still too far-fetched. He did not speak, but looked at the silent cavalryman beside him and asked:
"Li Fu, tell me what you think."
Li Fu was also a cavalry officer and was known as a brave man. When the general called his name, he stood up and replied:
"Commander Qu, there is still too little information on this matter. Instead of speculating on the reasons for their withdrawal, it is better to discuss how we should respond."
This was insightful, and Zhang Chong signaled Li Fu to continue.
But this time Li Fu did not dare to say more. He only saluted Zhang Chong and said:
"Fu is a martial artist. I don't know what the temple is like. I don't dare to speculate casually. Fu only knows that I will fight how Commander Qu wants me to fight."
Of course it's not that Li Fu didn't know, but he was too cautious and didn't dare to seek advice.
Zhang Chong was dumbfounded, knowing that his subordinates had such concerns.
In fact, as the Taishan Army became more and more powerful, Zhang Chong became more and more powerful, and his subordinates became more and more cautious in dealing with him.
Zhang Chong was still the same, but he also knew that some things were different after all.
Therefore, Zhang Chong did not scold Li Fu for his restraint, but was thoughtful.
But just when he was about to say something, a report came from outside the mansion that a Han envoy had entered the city and had been received outside the mansion and asked Commander Qu if he wanted to meet him.
Zhang Chong wondered why the Han envoy was here, so he was called into the hall.
……
Xun You, led by a soldier, kept walking through the corridors of the military mansion with his head lowered.
Xun You took a peek at several important places in the military mansion and saw that they were all guarded by soldiers holding halberds. He did not dare to look more and just followed the soldiers leading the way.
In just a moment, Xun You was taken to a spacious mansion.
Then the soldier turned around and said to Xun You:
"Don't move around here. If you bump into something you shouldn't bump into, it will be easy to chop it off with a knife. I'll report it to Qu Shuai. You wait here."
Xun You knew that the soldier had good intentions and hurriedly bowed to him.
This is Xun You's personality. He has none of the arrogance and arrogance of a descendant of aristocratic families, but is more pragmatic and resourceful.
Soon, Xun You was brought into the hall. Under the gaze of a group of Taishan generals who looked like wolves and tigers, he finally met Zhang Chong, the soaring general.
At this time, Zhang Chong was sitting on a small pony, simply wearing a big cloak, and his bun was also tied with thorns.
Xun You looked at Zhang Chong's young face and felt a little lost. He didn't expect that the person who could stir up such a big trend was only in his twenties.
He had some doubts about whether this person was the so-called Shadow Attendant, but looking at his clear eyes, Xun You understood that this person was indeed the Soaring General.
To be honest, Xun You had very complicated feelings towards this man named Zhang Chong. His uncle died at the hands of this person, and the world of the Han Dynasty was also disrupted by him.
But after Xun You had a deeper understanding of the Taishan Army's ideas and actions, he had some respect for them and their cause.
Why is the world in chaos?
As a member of a Yuzhou family, he has a lot of say.
The eunuchs were greedy and the powerful families gathered and merged, and the heaven did not belong to the Han Dynasty, which caused the yin and yang in the world to be out of balance.
In his heart, Xun You longed for a hero to emerge who could reopen the world and establish a normal order. But unfortunately, when he did meet such a hero, Xun You sadly discovered that he and others were sacrificed by the hero.
Xun You calmed down his mind, bowed to Zhang Chong, and introduced himself:
"Xun You, the foreign envoy, has seen the soaring general."
After hearing this, Zhang Chong blinked his eyes, looked at the Yushu Linfeng scholar below, and said to himself:
"This is Xun You. He is indeed a talent."
Although Xun You was a famous minister and counselor, when he reached Zhang Chong's position, he was already immune to these things.
Therefore, Zhang Chong said calmly:
"Foreign envoy, you and I are at odds with each other. Why did you come to me today?"
Xun You did not use any tactics to coax Zhang Chong, but directly stated his and others' demands:
"General Shenwu, I have fought several times, but to put it bluntly, I am still scared. The lieutenant general asked me to be an envoy, just to beg the general to let go of our Han army in Henan. We are willing to return to Henan and never set foot in Hebei again." One step.”
Xun You's words are no longer modest, they are completely humble.
But the more this happened, the more wary Zhang Chong became. After all, there must be something fishy about being polite to others.
So, Zhang Chong thought for a while and asked:
"What if I don't let go?"
Even after hearing Zhang Chong's obvious malice, Xun You's expression did not change and he continued:
"It's right for the general to hold on. After all, it's such a feat to be able to annihilate the two main forces of the Han Dynasty, one in the south and one in the north, in Hebei. But you have to remind the general that you shouldn't make a wedding dress for others. .”
"Although our Han army is weak, it still has more than 10,000 armored soldiers and 4,000 cavalry. The trapped beasts are still fighting. Although they are no match for you, the general, the Taishan army of the general will not be able to annihilate us unless the same number of people die. And when it comes At that time, the strength of the Taishan Army was greatly reduced, how could it gain a foothold in Hebei? ”
"Why don't you let us go south? When the time comes, the general will take care of himself north of the river."
At this moment, Zhang Chong stopped talking.
All the generals in the hall also watched their noses with their eyes and their hearts with their noses, and remained silent throughout the whole process. As a result, the atmosphere in the hall immediately became solemn.
After a long while, Zhang Chong said:
"Your Majesty, Feng Xue, came here. It's also cold. Let's go to the next door room to warm up and have a cup of hot wine."
After saying that, Zhang Chong asked people to take Xun You down.
As soon as Xun You left, Li Fu and other generals began to discuss.
Obviously, the generals also had great differences on whether to let the Han army return south. As Li Fu meant, the fact that the Han army is so groveling now just shows that it is at the end of its rope. As long as they block the Han army's southward passage here, how long can the other side hold on in this severe cold?
At that time, once the Han army in Henan is dispersed and then goes north to annihilate the Han army in Hebei, the color of the world will really change.
Xu Zhong's view is the same. He knows the strength of the powerful people in Henan and knows that if he doesn't take advantage of the victory when the opponent is in trouble, he will definitely regret it later.
Only by crippling the main force of the Han army in Henan now will the march southward be smooth.
Xu Zhong's views are very forward-looking, and he understands the so-called hard things first and easy things later.
However, other cavalry generals present held a different view. They generally believed that they should be more cautious and eat the Han troops in Hebei in the bowl first, occupy all of Hebei, and then make further plans.
The views of these two factions are very correct, and to be honest, Zhang Chong couldn't make up his mind.
Are Li Fu and Xu Zhong’s ideas correct? Zhang Chong thinks it still makes sense.
The reason why Jinzhou was attacked in the Liaoshen Campaign in later generations is somewhat similar to now. It is to try hard to annihilate the enemy's main force in one place, and from time to time they have to flee to other places, putting pressure on other battlefields.
But after Zhang Chong thought about it carefully, he still felt that there was no comparison between now and the Liaoshen Battle. Now the Taishan Army's power is still in a corner, which is completely incomparable with the powerful situation in Liaoshen when we occupied most of the north.
Now, he, Zhang Chong, has annihilated the Han army in Henan and may not be able to defeat the Han army in Hebei later. But in reality? The main forces of the Han armies in Henan and Hebei have different levels of interest in the Taishan Army at the current stage.
The former has made it clear that he will never set foot in Hebei again and will return to Henan for repairs. And from the fact that they dared to communicate with him privately, Zhang Chong, they knew the discord between the Han army and the Han Dynasty.
The Han army in Hebei is different. Most of them are descendants of the fifth school and are the core members of the Han Dynasty. It is also the party that Zhang Chong must eliminate if he wants to achieve the goal of all heroes coming together.
But Zhang Chong was not sure that his decision was really right.
To put it bluntly, he is also an ordinary person. The foresight he brought from the lower reaches of history in the past has long been useless at this time, and history has been changed beyond recognition by him.
Therefore, Zhang Chong is now standing at a historical crossroads, facing a difficult choice.
Should I let it go or keep it?
……
This was the third day that Lu Zhi's army was stationed in Jize.
On the 9th, he led his army to transfer here, and then built a fortification camp here, preparing to deal with the approaching Qingzhou Yellow Turban and Taishan Army coalition forces.
The original plan was that he would lead his army south and attack the Taishan Army in front and back with Zhang Wen's troops in Henan. But when he learned that the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was pouring out from the direction of Lieren, and a Taishan Army was accompanying them, coming from the east of Handan, Lu Zhi had to change his original plan.
At this time, a detective in Jiangyi was hurriedly beating his horse and running towards Lu Zhi's camp.
As soon as he arrived, a soldier at the checkpoint stopped him with his bow bent and asked:
"Who dares to race horses in front of the camp? Life is enough?"
The sentry rider did not explain at all and continued to ride his horse and shouted:
"Avoid, avoid, urgent military situation."
At this time, the Han army officials at the nearby sentry post immediately asked the people below to open the gate and let the sentry riders run straight to the Han army camp.
The sentry rider carried a small flag and could only rush into the camp as soon as the gate of the camp was opened.
Generally speaking, horse racing is not allowed in the camp. Once there is a horse racer, he will be killed immediately. But there is one situation where it can be done, and that is an urgent military situation.
Therefore, when the sound of horse racing was heard in the camp, the soldiers in the nearby tents opened their tents and looked over. They knew that there must be important military information.
The sound of horse hooves in the camp also alarmed coach Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi was presiding over a routine military meeting. When he heard the sound of horse hooves, he left the generals alone and opened the tent and came out.
At this time, the Sentinel Rider also happened to be running over.
Not far from Lu Zhi, the sentry rider dismounted his horse. He didn't even have time to breathe, and gave Lu Zhi the urgent military report in his hand.
Lu Zhi only glanced at the military report and his face turned pale. After that, he entered the account directly without saying a word.
Soon, a low and shocking drumbeat came from the camp.
That's the drum.
Then, all the officials in the camp saw their general holding a bag and hurried towards the Chinese army's tent.
Everyone knows that the war is coming.
……
After Gongsun Zan handed over the military affairs and hurried to the big tent, he saw that the big tent was already filled with more than 600 shi of military officials.
Gongsun Zan secretly glanced at Lu Zhi, who was above him. Seeing his mentor's frighteningly pale face, his heart skipped a beat and he quickly sat down next to Cui Jun.
Cui Jun pursed his lips and said nothing. He was so dazed that even Gongsun Zan didn't notice when he was sitting next to him.
Gongsun Zan quickly poked Cui Jun before waking him up.
Seeing his friend's devastated look, Gongsun Zan knew that things were serious this time.
He lowered his voice and asked:
"What's going on? I think Lu Shuai is completely lost. It's so rare."
It is indeed too rare. As a famous Han Confucian scholar, Lu Zhi's calming skills are undoubtedly first-class. He can be frightened and lose his mind. You can imagine how serious it is.
Thinking of this, Gongsun Zan became even more worried. Just as he was about to grab Cui Jun and ask, he heard him say calmly:
"Guess who I saw?"
"Who?"
"One of your junior brother's companions. To be precise, he was the one who sent this military report."
Upon hearing this, Gongsun Zan couldn't help but said:
"Xuande's companions? Didn't they go to the south? Why are there military reports? Could it be?"
Cui Jun nodded and said nothing.
Yes, if Liu Bei can fly to the south to send urgent military reports, then something must have happened to the Han army in the south.
As for what happened, Gongsun Zan didn't dare to think too much.
Soon, all the officers in the army had taken their seats and looked at the stunned Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi did not hide his despair at all. It was obvious that he was in such a state of chaos that he no longer cared about showing any handsome style.
Everyone looked at Lu Zhi, and no one took the initiative to speak until Lu Zhi came back to his senses.
Lu Zhi turned to look at the army officials in the tent and suddenly shouted:
"Point!"
After saying this, the military law officer stepped forward and began to call the names according to the list of officials.
Every time someone shouted, a military officer stood up to answer the call.
For a moment, the military officials sat up one after another, and a murderous aura slowly filled the tent, which diluted the original panic.
After a while, all the military officials in the big tent stood up.
The military judge on the side put together the military official list and paid homage to Lu Zhi:
"Commander, there are 280 generals, generals and military officers in the army, all in this tent."
Lu Zhi nodded, then he took out the military report in his hand and said to the generals:
"This is an urgent military report sent by Liu Xuande from the south. It only says one thing, that is, Chaoge has fallen."
When this statement came out, it was nothing short of earth-shattering.
The generals couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Chaoge fell?
Isn’t Chaoge the residence of Zhendong General Zhang Wen? How could it fall?
Now that it fell, what happened to Zhang Wen? What happened to the Han army in Henan?
These questions were asked from the crowd, and they were all pointed at Lu Zhi.
Facing the questions that were almost questioning, Lu Zhi's face turned gloomy.
At this time, Gongsun Zan immediately stood up, pointed his halberd at the crowd, and cursed:
"You are so bold. You dare to make noise in front of the commander. Where is the military judge and you are still not being punished?"
As soon as these words came out, the halberd warriors outside the tent rushed into the tent, waiting for Lu Zhi's order to drag away the noisy military officials.
Lu Zhi waved his hand and stopped the Halberdmen from arresting anyone.
He stood up, walked to the soldiers, and said in a deep voice:
"The military report sent by Xuande was too brief. It only told about the fall of Chaoge City. Obviously, this military report was sent by Xuande when the city was captured. As for General Zhendong, there is no military report. Said. But with Zhang Shuai’s fierceness, he will probably die in the city.”
After saying this, Lu Zhi glanced at the generals and continued:
"As for the situation of the Han army in Henan that you are most concerned about, Xuande made it clear. A Taishan army assaulted Chaoge. They ran for hundreds of miles in the snow and bypassed the Han army's defense line in Qishui. They penetrated directly into Chaoge and defeated Chaoge when the Han army was unprepared."
Lu Zhi's words comforted the Han army officials present.
To be honest, what they are most concerned about is whether the Han army in Henan still exists. As for Zhang Wen? They don't know each other well and don't care too much.
Don't blame them either.
Because the military officers present were all at least fifty men long and already had some battle concepts. They know that the current situation in Hebei is that their Han armies from the north and south are intersecting with the Hebei Yellow Turban, Qingzhou Yellow Turban, and Taishan armies.
Among them, the most dangerous one on the outer perimeter is their Hebei Road Han Army. First of all, they have been surrounded by the Hebei Yellow Turban, Qingzhou Yellow Turban, and Taishan troops from the north, east, and south.
And to the west of them was the Taihang Mountains, which made it impossible for the army to move. When the time comes to really run away, except for a few senior military officials in the army, everyone else will be buried in Handan.
At this time, as a friendly force in the south, the importance of the Han Army in Henan can be imagined. It can be said that as long as they and the Han army in Henan attack the Taishan army from the north and south first, the rest will be swept away by the autumn wind and there is nothing to fear.
Therefore, when they knew that the Henan Han army only had its commander killed, but its military strength was still there, everyone felt relieved.
Lu Zhi knew more than them. If it was just Zhang Wen's death, he wouldn't be so devastated. But in this situation, he didn't dare to say what he had speculated. He could only pray that he was overthinking it.
Finally, Lu Zhi’s face fell and he ordered the generals:
"Although the strength of the Han army in Henan still exists, they are also surrounded on both sides. At the same time, the death of the leader can be imagined, and the impact on their morale can be imagined. Therefore, I decided to change the original strategy of sitting back and fight, and actively found the main force of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou to fight with them. Decisive battle.”
Lu Zhi said loudly:
"As long as we annihilate the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans and lead our troops southward, this victory will still belong to us!"
"Here!"
Should we close the door and beat the dogs and eat raw food, or should we do what we can? What do you think?