Chapter 728: Getting Scholars
Weihan heads east, Xin'an-Mianchi front line.
The Jianshui that originates from Shaanxian County continues along the Weihan Channel, passing through Mianchi, going down to Xin'an, passing through Kyoto, and finally merging into the Luohe River.
Jianshui is also the largest river north of the Xiaohan Mountains and south of the Xiaoling Mountains. The two cities of Mianchi and Xin'an are both on the north bank of the Jianhe River.
In the third year of Taiwu, on May 8th, all Zhao Yun's troops from the direction of Xin'an came and surrounded them along the stream.
The first target of Zhao Yun's attack was the Iron Gate garrison of Xin'an.
Tiemen garrison belongs to Xin'an and has always been affiliated to the Kanto side. But this year, He Jin mobilized his troops and mobilized most of the garrison troops on the Western Front to Kyoto. Therefore, the Tiemen garrison was weak and was captured by the Kansai Army that month.
In fact, all Xin'an was going to be lost.
Because at that time, the Kanto garrison of Xin'an learned that the Taishan Army had invaded Kyoto, and when he was horrified, he wanted to take the city to Kansai. But the Kansai side was hesitant to join the Xin'an area due to road blockage and slow reception of news.
It was at this time that the Taishan Army's light cavalry sent to Xin'an and occupied the west gate of Kyoto again without any bloodshed.
Now, Zhao Yun is leading the 4,300-strong Crane Control Army to advance westward. The first thing to deal with is the Iron Gate garrison.
The so-called Iron Gate garrison is just like its name, it is an iron gate, but this iron gate is a gate garrison sandwiched between two mountains called Qinglong Mountain and Phoenix Mountain.
It can be said that behind Tiemen garrison is the Jianshui Valley. Unless Zhao Yun captures this area, it will be difficult for Zhao Yun to cross the Oling Mountains.
But it was not easy to take down the Iron Gate garrison. Thanks to the bloody battle between the two capitals on the Weihan Passage for several years, both sides vigorously built fortifications at key points on their respective defense lines.
The Iron Gate Garrison originally belonged to Kanto. When the Iron Gate Garrison was built, Kanto was at the peak of its national power, so the Iron Gate Garrison was built very strong.
Afterwards, Kantō retreated slightly and retreated to the Xin'an area. It was through the iron gate garrison that they were able to defeat Kansai.
When Zhao Yun's troops arrived, his general Sun Qingzheng reported the situation of Tiemen garrison to Zhao Yun:
"Military Lord, I don't know the name of the guard at Iron Gate, but this wall cannot be underestimated."
With that said, Sun Qing handed Zhao Yun the map of their scouts.
Generally speaking, Tiemenbi is worthy of being a pass that Kanto built vigorously in the past. Although it is not as good as Hangu Pass, it is not far behind in terms of barrier groups.
From the map, the Iron Gate garrison was based on the main garrison in the gap between the two mountains, and more than ten strong fortresses were built at the southern foot of Fenghuang Mountain and Qinglong Mountain.
These two lines are like the two pincers of a crab, tightly clamping the Jianshui River Valley south of the iron gate.
But although the barrier group was tight, Zhao Yun laughed at it. He said to Sun Qing:
"It looks like a crab, but it's a pity that its butt is facing us."
Sun Qing laughed loudly after hearing this, and did not take Tiemen garrison to heart at all.
Yes, the Iron Gate garrison is indeed well-organized and well-defended, but unfortunately when it was first built, it was used to defend against Kansai in the southwest, not against its own rear.
So facing Zhao Yun's direction, the iron gate garrison was bare with only one central main wall and no other fortifications at all.
But that can't be said. To be precise, the Kanto side has also deployed some garrison walls in the northeast, but these are better than nothing.
Then Sun Qing sent another good news to Zhao Yun. He told Zhao Yun that when they were catching animals in the wild, they captured a Guanxi official who went out to collect firewood in the pass, and then learned from it that there was a lack of food in the pass.
Now Zhao Yun was confused, and he said to Sun Qing:
"I know Liu Bei. He once blocked our army in Fenshui. His offensive and defensive skills are commendable. How can he make Tiemen Pass lack of food? Doesn't he have the idea of defending Tiemen Pass for a long time?"
Sun Qing shrugged and said to Zhao Yun:
"Who knows? The prisoner is just an ordinary official, so how do you know this detail? But when we take him back to the camp later, the way he eats millet doesn't look like he is lying."
Zhao Yun nodded, suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a while and then said to Sun Qing:
"Old Sun, I've asked about your brother, but I still haven't found him."
Sun Qing pretended to be relaxed and laughed at himself:
"We were all short-lived ghosts in the Taihang Mountains who were so hungry that we were about to die. Later, our Taishan Army fought back to Jizhou and saved all of our old brothers in the Taihang Mountains. That's why my incompetent brother can survive until now. , it’s already a profit.”
Sun Qing's younger brother Sun Yu was the commander of the front camp of the Bohai Navy. The Bohai Navy was defeated a few days ago. After the rear camp withdrew, the remaining troops dispersed.
Among them, Sun Yu could not find anyone, and Sun Qing had regarded him as dead in battle.
But Zhao Yun still comforted:
"Don't think so. Sun Yu was not found among the remains of the martyrs we recovered later, and he might still be alive."
But Sun Qing also said:
"It's not possible to vote? It's true. I, Sun Qing, killed him first."
Now Zhao Yun didn't know how to comfort him.
In fact, he meant the same thing, but Sun Qing was an old man in the army and a member of the powerful Taihang Mountains in the Yellow Turban system, so he couldn't say much.
But now that Sun Qing had made this preparation, Zhao Yun stopped talking and brought the topic back to the battle at hand.
He smiled and said to Han Dang, Xu Sheng, Sun Qing and others:
"Then let's get started. I want to see how strong this iron gate is."
So all the generals sang.
……
In the third year of Taiwu's reign, on May 9th, the crane-controlling army surrounded Iron Gate and garrisoned it.
In the morning, the whole army went to court for food. Three quarters later, war drums were played three hundred times in the camp, and each camp lined up its troops outside the iron gate.
At this time, Liu Shan, the commander of Konghe Zuoying, led the advanced troops and launched an attack to contain the Guanxi Army. Five teams from the Xu Sheng section of the front camp rushed to the Iron Gate garrison, first burning the outer gate of the wall, and then forcing the city below.
At three o'clock in the morning, arrows from the defenders on the city were like locusts, and Xu Sheng's troops retreated. Zhang He's troops in the right camp took turns to fight again.
At noon, the fierce fighting continued and the defenders on the city were idle.
At a quarter past noon, Han Dang's 200 soldiers came out of the battle.
At two quarters of noon, Han Dang's general Hu Luding climbed up first, followed by other troops.
At three quarters of noon, the iron gate opened and the crane-controlling army surged into the pass.
On the same day, the army that controlled the crane was slightly reorganized and ran south along the Jianshui River, killing Yima directly.
……
Yima is the easternmost city in the Jianshui River Valley and the gateway to Mianchi.
On the same day, the crane-controlling army advanced to camp in the northeast of Yima and surrounded it.
Day and night, the He Controlling Army suddenly rode around Yima, attacked the rear post stations and grain stores, burned down the strongholds, and cut off the supplies to the southwest of Yima.
The next morning, the Hekong Army attacked and destroyed Yima's outlying strongholds, breaking them all and annihilating 600 enemies.
At noon that day, the crane-controlling army occupied the ridge north of Yima and shot at Yima from a high position.
At the end of the day, reinforcements from the Kansai Army arrived from the west.
Zhao Yun ordered Xu Sheng, the former camp leader, to attack Yima and attract the troops in the city from the front. The commander of the army suddenly led six hundred cavalry, and detoured across the Fu River to cross the Jianshui River in the south.
After that, they followed the Jianshui River to the west, penetrated all the way to the side and rear of the Kansai reinforcements, and once again forcibly crossed the Jianshui River to attack the Kansai reinforcements from the rear. At this time, the three battalions of Xu Sheng, Zhang He, and Liu Shan on the front were simultaneously attacking with Zhao Yun.
As a result, the Kansai reinforcements were defeated and more than a thousand people died in the river.
In the second watch, Yima Nei's troops in Guanxi were hopeless. They broke out at night, encountered Zhao Yun's ambush, and were defeated.
So, on May 11th, the crane-controlling army defeated Yima again.
Yima is the eastern gate of Jianshui Valley. After Yima was defeated, Taishan's army came out like a tiger and penetrated deeply into Jianshui Valley.
At this time, Liu Bei, who was sitting in Mianchi, finally couldn't sit still.
……
In Mianchi, Liu Bei felt as if he was walking on thin ice, or more likely, he was being roasted on a fire.
The one who can give Liu Bei such warmth and warmth is not the approaching Taishan Army.
Indeed, Liu Bei also admitted that the Taishan general named Zhao Yun did have outstanding military talents, and his military use was in full swing, but in Liu Bei's view, that was just it.
He was very clear about the situation of the Taishan Army at this time, which was due to the communication between him and Yuan Shao in the southeast.
Not long ago, Yuan Shao wrote another letter. In addition to once again emphasizing the agreement between the two armies to jointly send troops to attack the Taishan Army, he also said one thing without revealing anything.
That is, the new former Marshal of the Army will be Zhang He.
Liu Bei was also aware of Chen Guo's so-called army protection system. The idea that soldiers should be generals is not just talk, it is indeed a fact.
As Ju Yi, who had just made military exploits, was easily transferred to the center by Yuan Shao, without any disturbance at all. It is said that as soon as the edict was issued, Ju Yi cycled south, simply.
And this calmness also allowed Liu Bei to improve Yuan Shao's ability to a higher level. It seems that Yuan Shao is indeed a first-rate person.
That's why when Zhao Yun led the He Controlling Army to march westward, even after taking Iron Gate and Yima successively, Liu Bei remained calm.
Because Liu Bei knew very well that the Taishan Army had reached its most dangerous moment.
In his opinion, the Taishan army's march to the west was just to attract him to a decisive battle, so that Zhang Thief could reduce the pressure on the west and deal with Yuan Shao in the south.
Since the enemy wants to do this, Liu Bei will not do it.
Therefore, Liu Bei's strategy for this battle was to only defend Mianchi and remain unchanged in response to changes. He has an army of more than ten thousand, but how many enemies are there? He has no problem guarding Mianchi.
But this peace of mind could not alleviate Liu Bei's inner panic and confusion.
He is worried about his own future and the future of the big man.
Although Liu Bei led his army on the front line of Mianchi, his old memories in Chang'an still conveyed messages from the DPRK to China. And all the recent events have made Liu Bei even more worried.
Such as the unexpected appearance of the "Emperor" wall inscription on the Grand Master's residence, or the recent rumors in Chang'an that there are two emperors in Chang'an, one sitting and one standing.
All these made Liu Bei understand that Chang'an was really undercurrent at this time. These undercurrents were promoted by Dong Zhuo's party members and minions, and also by some wealthy Kansai families who wanted to fish in troubled waters.
But if these were just some conspiracy with ulterior motives, Liu Bei wouldn't be so uncomfortable. But it was because he clearly knew that both the emperor and the grand master seemed to be acquiescing to this, sitting back and watching the changes in the situation.
In other words, the originally harmonious combination of the emperor and the grand master has developed a crack that is difficult to sew.
As a clan member of the Han Dynasty, although the clan relationship is very distant, Liu Bei still has feelings for the Han Dynasty and has a mission.
In peacetime, Liu Bei would probably just walk his horse and his dog around, living his life in fine clothes and beautiful cars. But the Han Dynasty was about to perish. His teachers, his friends, and his fellow villagers all died for the Han Dynasty.
This made Liu Bei's feelings become even stronger, and he increasingly regarded "helping the Han Dynasty" as his lifelong mission.
Regardless of whether he was in the East or West, he worked tirelessly for this mission. After winning the great victory in Shu, Liu Bei sighed to the Yizhou soldiers:
"The only reason why our army strives to advance with force is loyalty."
It was precisely because of his loyalty that an imperial edict made him abandon Yizhou and return to the turbulent Chang'an. It was precisely because of loyalty that he resolutely left his wife and children at home and once again led his army to the front line of Mianchi.
When I was in Chengdu before, many people said these things in a mild or serious way.
Ru Fazheng once said privately:
"How important is the weight of the tripod?"
Even his close aide and his brother-in-law Yang Xiu said:
"Since the treasure of Chengdu Tianfu has no owner now, doesn't the general have any intention to call it out?"
But Liu Bei rejected all these, and even stopped Yizhou soldiers from coming to avoid danger.
The reason why Liu Bei is like this is precisely because of his love for the Han Dynasty.
Does Liu Bei have no selfish desires? But he understood that once he separated himself in Yizhou, he might be able to become king, but the Han Dynasty would definitely be doomed.
And not many people in the army will follow him.
Because the reason why he has such prestige is that he is the uncle Liu Huang of the Han Dynasty and Liu Xuande who worked hard to help the Han Dynasty.
If he ruined the cause of reviving the Han Dynasty for his own selfish desires, how could he still carry the banner of loyalty and earn the trust of his subordinates?
Besides, the current Kansai is at a critical time, surrounded by heroes. If it is a whole, then Kansai still has a chance, but once his side is divided and separatist Yizhou, how can Kansai stop the Taishan Army?
So he couldn't and didn't want to be the leader of Yizhou.
But when he returned to Chang'an, he found that the so-called ZTE did not seem to be that way.
He thought about the justice of the country, but people like Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Li Jue seemed to only think about their own selfish interests.
After returning to Chang'an, Liu Bei analyzed the reasons for this turmoil in the above table to the emperor Liu Xie, and even reflected on why the Han Dynasty came to this step step by step.
He said that the so-called revitalization of the Han Dynasty was not about reviving an army, but about reforming the hearts of the people. Since Emperor An, the morals of the world's scholars have been in chaos, and they have gradually lost their public spirit by pursuing personal agendas. If we do not change the spirit of the people, the world will still return to the old way.
It can be said that from Liu Bei's identity and perspective, having such thoughts shows that he has really learned the lessons of the upper class of the Han Dynasty and really wants to cheer up.
At that time, the emperor was indeed very prosperous, so he declared Liu Bei to be the emperor of the capital and decided to rectify the moral conduct of the people.
But it's always easier said than done. Liu Bei discovered the problem, but sadly he couldn't solve it.
Although he has the support of the Yang family and is firmly established in Guanzhong's power, this does not mean that he has the authority to make irresponsible remarks to these noble families.
You Liu Xuande said that our moral conduct is not good? Are you Liu Xuande worthy?
The scholar-bureaucrats, who had always controlled public opinion between the government and the opposition, quickly pointed their finger at Liu Bei, saying that he was disturbing the countryside, fighting for power and profit, and being arbitrary and tyrannical.
Soon, Liu Bei left his post and returned to the army again because of the three months of Jingzhao Yin.
And Guanzhong once again regained its calm, and it was so harmonious, but it was as peaceful as dead water.
However, Liu Xuande's move was viewed by a group of alternative scholars. They found that only Liu Xuande was the one who discovered the problem. These wise men who had long been dissatisfied with the world gathered in the city like birds returning to their nests. Liu Bei's shogunate.
This is not a revolution, but it will win the hearts of powerful people in Guanxi.