Chapter 356: A way out
Outside Handan City.
On the second day after the fourth battalion of Taishan Army's cavalry cut off the Julu Army from the city, Zhang Chong rushed to the outside of Julu City with more than 10,000 elite soldiers.
Zhang Chong did not decide to launch an attack on the Julu Army immediately. Instead, in accordance with the marching regulations of the Taishan Army, they camped five miles southeast of the Julu Army.
In addition to setting up two hard strongholds, the Taishan Army also camped at Congtai outside the northeast of Handan. This place was previously established as a grain platform by Guan Yu. Although it was small but strong, it was besieged several times by the Julu Army and could not be taken down.
As soon as the Taishan Army's reinforcements arrived this time, the Julu Army had to shrink its forces and gave up the siege of Congtai.
The Taishan Army here is not in a hurry, and is proceeding step by step, step by step.
The Han troops behind the corridor were not so idle. There was an anxious and restless atmosphere throughout the army. The change in the situation gave them the feeling that they were not surrounding Handan inside, but that they were being surrounded by the Taishan Army.
It was also under such a restless military spirit that generals Zhao Fu, Cheng Huan, Wei Liang, Guo Xun, and Gao Lan jointly visited Guo Dian and wanted to ask the prefect about his strategy for war and defense.
Surprisingly, under this situation, Guo Dian remained calm. On the one hand, he asked about the reserves in the camp, and on the other hand, he continued to patrol the camp to stabilize the military morale.
Seeing the coach so calm, everyone knew that he must have a backup plan.
It is true that Guo Dian is not stupid. Who knew that it was a road to death and still walked in? He did have reinforcements. But Guo Dian's calmness was a bit forced, because he was not sure when reinforcements would arrive.
When he led his army southward, he sent a message to the Prime Minister of Zhongshan in the north and the Prime Minister of Qinghe in the south, asking for reinforcements, and together they attacked Handan City and surrounded Wei to rescue Zhao.
Guo Dian was very confident about the reinforcements from Zang Min, the Prime Minister of Zhongshan.
Guo Dian and Zang Min had worked together before, and they had some friendship and knew each other well. But this is not Guo Dian's confidence. His greatest confidence is the alliance between the two families.
After he defeated the Yellow Turbans' western expedition in Julu, Hebei, he sent 3,000 Yellow Turban prisoners to Zang Min, and the two families formed an alliance. In order to show the sincerity of the alliance, the two families exchanged children with each other. Guo Dian sent his younger brother Guo Wei to Zhongshan, and Zang Min also sent his son Zang Hong.
Zang Hong, who was in his mid-twenties at the time, was tall and handsome, and Guo Dian was delighted when he saw him. What makes Guo Dian even more happy is that at the age of fifteen, Zang Hong was protected by his father and became a boy. He went to Beijing with a letter and later became a county magistrate. Even in the circle of aristocratic families, he was considered an elite.
That Zang Min could place such an outstanding son with him shows his sincerity towards the covenant. So Guo Dian made an alliance with him, agreeing that the two sides would be in an offensive and defensive alliance and would not be at fault with each other.
This time, when Guo Dian went south, he took Zang Hong with him and stayed in the shogunate as a staff counselor. So even if it was for his son, Zang Min would lead his troops south.
As for Guo Dian's other ally, Liu Yu, the Prime Minister of Qinghe, he was also very confident in him.
He has dealt with this man and is a gentleman.
There is a story about this person that spreads throughout the officialdom of Hebei.
It is said that when Liu Yu first took office, there was a drought in Qinghe State, and people continued to die of hunger in the ravines. After Liu Yu took office at that time, he not only exempted him from taxes for this year, but even helped him with Tian Mi, the prefect, which shows his benevolence.
At that time, the country's Liu Hong did not blame Liu Yu. Who said they were his own family?
Later, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Yu was able to control a county and bring peace to the common people. This must be said to be the reason.
So why should Guo Dian be worried about his alliance with Liu Yu? But there are two points to consider. One is that Liu Yu was not good at military affairs after all, and his troops were not prosperous under his rule. The second is that the road from Qinghe to Handan has to pass through the jurisdiction of the Yellow Turban in Hebei, which is not easy.
Therefore, Guo Dian still placed his hope on Zhongshan Kingdom for reinforcements.
In this way, in the corridor, Guo Dian ordered half of the troops of each department to guard the corridor, and the rest continued to attack Handan.
Guo Dian, on the other hand, faced the northeast, looking forward to the arrival of the Zhongshan soldiers.
At the same time, he was also ashamed. He was supposed to besiege Wei and save Zhao for Xiangguo, but now he was also besieged, and Xiangguo seemed to be unable to defend it.
……
Xiangguo City was destroyed.
In fact, Xiangguo City collapsed on the night of March 25th when it rained heavily.
That night, Taishan's army captured the outer gate of Xiangxiang and had no intention of continuing to attack inside.
The reason is not complicated, it's just that it's dark and it's not conducive to attack. If you attack Wengcheng rashly at night, you will easily be taken advantage of. It is better to keep it quiet and wait until dawn to capture Xiangguo City with peace of mind.
But the change was too fast, and soon a group of Han soldiers wearing red scarves who were not afraid of death rushed out of the urn city in an attempt to retake the city gate. What else could there be to say? Dian Wei, who had just led his troops in from the city gate, punched him hard.
It was the fourth watch, and after less than a moment of fierce fighting, the thousand-man Han army collapsed. They cried and shouted, and some fled back. Because there was no way behind them, they had to abandon their weapons and surrender.
The Han army officials who were watching the fighting below on the Wengcheng actually extinguished the lights on the Wengcheng after the Red-headed Army was defeated, then climbed down the city in the dark, took off their military uniforms, and fled home. middle.
Once someone ran away, the troops of the various families in the city would also follow them down the city, and the order in the entire Wengcheng would be in chaos. Even if there are one or two loyal and brave people among them, they are still alone and unable to help.
Dian Wei was in the corridor under the Weng City at that time. When he saw the chaos above, he was very happy. Chen Guang was ordered to lead people to climb first, so he captured the Wengcheng.
It's full of drama, but full of humanity.
When everyone knew that the city could not be defended on the second day, no one would be stupid enough to wait until the next day to escape. As the proverb goes:
"When you see a wild boar charging towards you, everyone will jump to the side."
As soon as Taishan's army broke through Wengcheng, they immediately attacked the shogunate in the city.
At that time, Jushou, who had already learned that the city had been destroyed, knew that something serious had happened and was about to kill himself with his sword. But there were three people standing on the left and right of Jushou, namely Liu Gu, Li Ding, and Zhao Rong.
At this time, the shogunate was already in chaos, and everyone went their separate ways. But these three people placed their survival on Jushou.
The three of them snatched away Ju Shou's saber in one fell swoop, with Liu Gu grabbing his left shoulder, Zhao Rong grabbing his right shoulder, and Li Ding carrying Ju Shou on his back and running out of the shogunate.
As soon as Jushou saw the behavior of the three people, he knew that their intentions were unknown, and he scolded them for being disloyal and unjust. Then Jushou bit Li Ding's right ear, and then bit off his ear.
Li Ding's neck was bleeding and he lay on the ground in pain. He was about to beat Jushu, but was shocked when he saw Jushu's appearance.
Not caring about anything else, Li Ding stuffed his fist into Jushou's mouth. It turned out that Jushou was about to bite his tongue and commit suicide.
Jushou had to use a lot of force to bite his tongue, so he directly bit off a piece of meat from Li Ding's left fist. At this moment, the pain was so intense that Li Ding couldn't bear it any longer and punched Ju Shou on the chin, dislocating his joint.
On the side, Liu Gu and Zhao Rong also reacted and hurriedly took off their socks and stuffed them into Jushu's mouth.
In the end, Liu Gu was still frightened. He never expected that the Prime Minister would be so strong. He couldn't help but said:
"A true martyr!"
Chen Rong also has a sad heart. This kind of person who wants to die can often shock people and give you a different kind of personality charm.
But Liu Gu's words angered Li Ding. He was bandaging his wounds. After hearing these words, he cursed:
"Do you also want to die with him?"
At this time, Liu Gu and Chen Rong stopped talking.
Yes, who wants to die if he can live? They all have status, not to mention being free from illness and disaster for decades, but compared with the less than ten years that those mud-legged people spent in a hurry, there is still too much beauty.
At this time, it was not just Li Ding and the other three who were also nostalgic for life. After the city was destroyed, many so-called honest men hung up a white silk ribbon and wanted to hang themselves. However, they were saved by the servants or the white silk ribbon. Split by itself. In short, he could not die for various reasons, and they were all "God's will". Since it is God's will, it cannot be violated, and one can only "live" against one's will.
So who can blame Li Ding and the others? Who can do it more noblely than them?
In this way, the three of them went to look for Taishan's army who had entered the city, carrying the living Jushu on their backs, and tried to survive.
As for Jushou, he looked at the night sky above his head silently, with tears streaming down his face.
"That's all, at least I can see Hu'er again."
……
After the city was broken, Liu Hui hugged Ju Hu, who was entrusted to him by Ju Shou, in his arms, and then ran straight out of the house.
He did not take Juhu directly to find the Taishan army entering the city.
On the one hand, this is because he has always been cautious, and on the other hand, he is new to the Taishan Army and does not understand all kinds of human feelings. If he bumps into someone who wants the first-level decapitation skill, it will be an unjust death.
Therefore, even though he had heard about the military discipline of the Taishan Army, Liu Hui still planned to find a place to hide first, and then look for the military officials who entered the city at dawn.
In a panic, Liu Hui brought the frightened Juhu to a mansion. Seeing that the lights were all dark, he decided to stay here.
So Liu Hui kept knocking on the door and shouted:
"Is there anyone? The war is raging. I want to take shelter here with my little brother. Can you open the door? I will be grateful."
Liu Hui knocked on the door several times, but no one answered.
But Liu Hui knew that there must be someone here, and he could hear the gasping sound through the door.
Knowing that the owner of the house was unwilling to open the door, Liu Hui was embarrassed and threatened:
"If you don't open the door, I will shout and tell you that there are officials from the Han Dynasty here. When the time comes, the Taishan Army will be attracted, so don't blame me."
This sentence was indeed effective, and the breathing behind the door was indeed heavy.
Then someone shouted:
"Where did you come from, you are a coward, and you are threatening us. Do you believe I will kill you now?"
After hearing these words, Liu Hui chuckled, pulled out the ring-shou knife and poked the crack of the door. The knife stopped three inches away from the forehead of the person behind the door.
The servant was so frightened by the knife that he peed. He didn't care to say harsh words, and crawled to find his master.
But as luck would have it, the person hiding here is none other than our old acquaintance, the big grain merchant Zhen Ku.
At this time, he was pacing in the hall, listening to the shouts of killing outside, and said in a panic:
"The Taishan Army is mighty, the Taishan Army is mighty..."
He changed several words in succession, but he always felt that he could not describe Taishan Army perfectly. Obviously, Zhen Ku was thinking about how to flatter him in order to find a way out when he met Taishan Army the next day.
Just when he was in a state of despair, his servants came crawling over and yelled:
"No, a ranger came outside and blocked the door. He said he would not be allowed to come in and hide, so he lured the Taishan thief here."
Zhen was distressed, and he said viciously:
"Do you really think Mr. Nai was made up of clay? Who among us has never killed anyone on the top of the city before? We were so afraid of him that we lured him in and killed him."
But when the servants over there heard this, their faces collapsed and they muttered:
"But we really haven't killed anyone."
It turned out that Zhen Ku and the others were at the top of the city, hiding wherever they could, so there was no chance of killing anyone.
Zhen Ku, who was righteous and vicious, hesitated for a moment after hearing this and said:
"What are you afraid of? There are so many of us, and we can beat this man to the ground."
Then Zhen Ku took the lead and encouraged all the servants. And with Zhen Ku taking the lead, the dozen or so servants really gained momentum.
Over there, Liu Huizheng was hiding himself in a corner, not attracting the attention of passers-by.
Then I saw the door open a crack, and then heard an uncertain voice:
"Is it Liu Jun in person?"
It was Zhen Ku who spoke, and he was the one who shook Liu Hui up at the top of the city that day.
Zhen Ku was so impressed by Liu Hui's heroic demeanor. It can be said that Liu Hui's heroic feat of rushing into battle was imprinted in his mind throughout his life, so even though Liu Hui was hiding in the dark, Zhen Ku still recognized him. .
Once she knew Liu Hui's identity, Zhen Ku was no longer as vicious as before. She hurriedly welcomed Liu Hui and Ju Hu into the house, and then secretly closed the door.
……
This night was too long for too many people.
First there was the sound of swords and screams all over the street, and then it quickly fell into silence.
Then the Taishan Army rode on horseback and beat gongs, shouting for each household to guard their homes.
Now everyone in the city knew that from now on, Xiangguo fell into the hands of the Taishan Army.
After spending a long night in fear, Zhen Ku and others did not encounter the so-called insurgents who burned and killed them. Finally, at nearly noon on the second day, two Taishan sergeants came outside the door of Zhen Ku's house.
Both of them were very young, one spoke the dialect of Yanzhou and the other spoke the dialect of Zhao. They patted the door gently and said warmly:
"Is there anyone in this house? We are from the Taishan Army. We are here to check the situation. If there is anyone harboring military officials in the city, they can be handed over to us and will not be punished. Once discovered, they will be punished and tortured in the city. ”
After hearing this, Zhen Ku and others trembled, but looking at Liu Hui, Zhen Ku gritted her teeth and said:
"General, you go to the wall and hide, I will deal with them."
But Liu Hui smiled and said:
"I, Liu Hui, remember that your kindness will be rewarded generously, but you don't need to do this."
As he spoke, he shouted in Zhen Ku's shock and confusion:
"I am Liu Changle of Changshan. I am Guan Xiaowei's spy in the city. Please come to your superiors as soon as possible."
When the two Taishan sergeants outside the city heard this, they did not dare to neglect it, because they had actually received an order from above after entering the city, saying that there were members of their own family in the city.
So one of the two ran to find the patrolling Shangguan, and the other stayed here, both to monitor and protect.
Soon, a group of Taishan Army officials rushed over and then welcomed Liu Hui away from the house.
Only the dull Zhen Ku and a group of servants were left.
Suddenly, Zhen Ku slapped her thigh and said happily:
"This one, our old Zhen is stable."
(End of chapter)