Chapter 770 Father and Son
The news that Zhang Nan and Zhang Da had successively defeated Yuan Jun was quickly sent to Zhang Chong on the north bank of Luoshui.
Zhang Chong was overjoyed. He didn't expect that Zhang Nan could defeat Zhang He. The latter could be said to be the most talented general in the North.
In fact, what Zhang Chong didn't know was that the reason why Zhang He was defeated was that he had no reinforcements and went deep alone. Another important aspect was that half of his elite troops had been transferred away by Yuan Shao, so the combat effectiveness of the army was very average.
The four armies under Zhang Nan's command are all top-notch elites of the Taishan Army. They are united from top to bottom and have excellent armor. Coupled with many years of war, Zhang Nan's command has been tempered, especially when he was transferred to local positions. After a while, his control over his people increased a lot.
Therefore, Zhang He's defeat was not unjust.
Zhang Da also fought well, but Zhang Chong discovered other important information in Zhang Da's military report. That is, the enemy's internal forces may not be harmonious.
It can be seen from the military reports that the Yuan army that crossed the Yishui River had three guards, with a strength of 50,000. However, in the battle under the Li family wall, only Li Tong fought with one guard. The battle lasted for nearly two hours, and the other guard Li Tong fought for nearly two hours. The troops never appeared on the battlefield.
Later, Li Zheng's army was found to have formed a formation five or six miles away from Li Jiabi. Although Li Tong's retreating troops were connected later, it is not difficult to know the contradictions between them.
It seems that these two Lis have thoughts about Yuan Shao.
Thinking of this, Zhang Chong felt more and more that this battle was easy to fight.
At this time, Tian Feng, who was beside him, also read the military report. He was also overjoyed and said to Zhang Chong:
"Your Majesty, since the front line has stood firm, let's cross the river. This way, we will first arrange a favorable terrain on the battlefield."
But Zhang Chong smiled and had already thought about it:
"Don't worry, wait for Yuan Shao to cross the river."
Therefore, Tian Feng stopped trying to persuade him and looked at the other side with his colleagues, where they must be chasing death and chasing north, with endless victories.
……
To the south of the central battlefield, Taishan Army's sudden cavalry chased a group of Yuan Army's defeated troops.
Among this group of cavalry troops, they were led by two people.
The person at the head was a middle-aged general, tall and burly, with a strong and powerful physique, like a brown bear holding up his armor. The hakama was torn, and the wounds on his legs were exposed with blood. A knife scar extended from his ankle to the knee socket. This was his most serious injury.
But the most impressive thing is his fingers. They are a pair of thick fingers, covered with tendons and calluses. People can tell at first sight that this is an elite archer.
But how powerful it is depends on the giant bow he is holding in his left hand.
This huge bow is the largest bow that can be seen so far, it is as tall as a man. Its entire body is polished from yew wood, its handles are made of buffalo horns, and the handles are wrapped with pig skin.
But at this moment, the bowstring of this giant bow was also broken. After the limit number of bowstrings was drawn, the last bowstring was also broken.
And behind this middle-aged general, there is a young warrior who looks exactly like him, equally strong and brave.
He carried a huge shield on his back, which ordinary people couldn't even lift. The huge shield originally had various beast totems sketched on it, but at this moment, it had been slashed with knives and axes and was covered with scars.
At this moment, the young man was holding a ring-shaped sword in his hand and was unconsciously looking at the pursuers behind him.
These two men were the father and son Huang Zhong and Huang Xu of the Zuo Army under Zhang He, the former guard of the Duke of Chen.
Half an hour ago, because no reinforcements arrived, the 14,000 Zuo Guards finally couldn't hold on anymore and the entire army collapsed.
Huang Zhong and Huang Xu, father and son, were unwilling to surrender and led a small number of troops to break out of the encirclement south.
During the breakout, Huang Zhong's giant bow killed countless heroes of the Taishan Army. Naturally, they were heavily pursued by the Taishan Army's pursuers.
Along the way, not to mention Huang Zhong's bravery, even his son Huang Xu killed fourteen or five riders. His bravery was almost as good as that of his father. He was truly a young hero.
But it seems that this cat-and-mouse game is finally coming to an end here.
Because the Taishan Army's assault cavalry suffered a lot of casualties while chasing this group, they quickly used whistles and horns to call for support from friendly forces near the battlefield.
Soon, the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry, who heard the sound of the trumpet, surrounded them from all directions.
At this time, Huang Zhong, who was unable to lift his hands after fighting so hard, saw that his son seemed to want to go back to fight again, so he hurriedly called to stop him:
"Xu'er, the Wu family can't show off their bravery for a moment and forget their own lives. In today's battle, you and I, father and son, have fought bloody battles so far. We have killed no less than a hundred people with our hands. We have also reported back to Mr. Chen. It stands to reason that we will all die here today, and so on. So. But if we, father and son, die together, it would be a disgrace to our ancestors and a great disloyalty to the family inheritance.”
Seeing Huang Xu about to speak, Huang Zhong shook his head:
"In this national war, you and I are fighting wholeheartedly and serving the country, but now we are exhausted and exhausted. All you have to do is die for your father. You have no heirs to pass on to the world, so there is no shame in saving your life. I will protect you, and you will change your life." A powerful horse, break out to the south, don't go back to your hometown, go directly to your hometown. In this battle, Mr. Chen will be defeated. In the future, you will return to your hometown to remain anonymous, and you will be able to give birth to heirs that will help him revive his family business. , just be a farmer.”
Seeing that Huang Xu was still hesitating, Huang Zhong cursed:
"Go quickly, don't let the person who died for you die in vain."
It stands to reason that Huang Xu should listen to Huang Zhong, because if he died here, their Nanyang Huang family lineage would be terminated.
But Huang Xu lowered his head and said stubbornly:
"Sir, you are right. Unfilial piety is the most serious thing, and having no heirs is the most important thing. But seeing you, my lord, fighting to the death here and not caring about it, but as a son, you want to run away shamelessly. This is something that even a child cannot do. My son is nineteen years old and has accomplished nothing in civil and military affairs, but he also understands loyalty and filial piety. If Yun is in my Huang family, we, father and son, will break out together. If Yun is not there, this is where my Huang family will be cut off."
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Huang Zhong was very moved by Huang Xu's words, but he still yelled:
"Do you want your ancestors to become lonely ghosts in the underworld without eating blood and incense?"
But Huang Xu raised his head and said unyieldingly:
"I am only willing to go to hell with you, sir. Being tired like a lost dog, running for my life alone, dying but not dying, being ridiculed by others, and ruined my reputation, that is what is disgraceful to my ancestors."
Looking at his son's young and determined face, Huang Zhong fell silent.
After this delay, the Taishan Army's assault cavalry had surrounded them from all directions. However, because Huang Zhong's bravery had greatly shocked these assault cavalry, they just surrounded but did not attack.
In the encirclement, Huang Zhong was still standing on his horse because of his leg injury, while Huang Xu had jumped off his horse, holding a huge shield in his hand to block his father's side, and looked around solemnly.
But at this time, Huang Zhong did not seem to have these Taishan troops in his eyes. He said to Huang Xu sadly:
"Xu'er, when I hear you say this, I know that you have really grown up. As a father, my heart is full of relief and happiness. But Xu'er, as a son, said in front of his father that we will go to hell together, then What a great harm to parents. Not to mention, it is a small thing for you and my son to die, but it is a big thing for my Huang family to be cut off.”
At this moment, Huang Xu heard his father's words and couldn't stop crying. He could only say to his father:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my son is unfilial." Huang Zhong raised his head, took a deep breath, suppressed the tears in his eyes, and then said seriously:
"Xu'er, Mr. Chen has no kindness to my father. The reason why I am loyal to him is firstly because of the loyalty of my generation of warriors, and also because my father feels that Mr. Chen's kindness can determine the people in this troubled world. I Assisting him can not only protect the family and build a career, but also end this troubled world as soon as possible. But now it seems that it is a mistake for the father."
At this time, Huang Zhong seemed to see a distinguished Taishan general coming from the periphery. After hearing the reports of these subordinates, he seemed to be sizing up Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong just glanced at it and continued to say to his son:
"In today's battle, the defeat of our army was not due to the war. The fault lies with Duke Chen and the friendly forces. Duke Chen gave me two years' salary, and I fought for him here for two hours. No matter what, it doesn't matter. I have paid back those tens of stones and rice. Now that I am exhausted, I naturally need to consider the family.”
"Originally, I thought that I could just die, and at least I would still have you here. But who knew you were so stubborn, and you only wanted to die, so my father would have no choice but to live with you."
After saying this, Huang Zhong calmly ordered:
"Xu'er, put down the cards."
Then he said apologetically to Huang Gai, who was equally vigilant:
"Public prosecution will make you an unjust person."
Huang Gai was now holding a knife and ax in both hands. Hearing Huang Zhong's words behind him, he just shrugged and didn't care at all.
In his heart, he didn't think highly of Yuan Shao. The reason he was fighting so far was not for Yuan Shao at all, but because of his kinship and love for Huang Zhong.
Therefore, he has nothing to do with Huang Zhong's decision.
He even breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Only by fighting the Taishan Army on the opposite side once could he realize the powerlessness. As long as he had a choice, he was not willing to be the enemy of the Taishan Army.
Unlike Huang Gai, the young Huang Xu certainly understood what his father meant, and couldn't help but burst into tears. He thought it was himself that made his father choose to surrender before the battle.
A man as proud as his father did the most humiliating thing for his unfilial son.
At this moment, General Taishan on the opposite side seemed to have made up his mind, and he shouted in the crowd:
"Is this Nanyang Huang Zhong in the circle? My king admires the general's martial arts and wants to ask the general..."
After he finished speaking, Huang Zhong replied calmly:
"The guilty general Huang Zhong is willing to surrender!"
After saying that, he asked Huang Gai to help him dismount.
At this moment, Huang Zhong, even though his calf was injured, still tried to stand firm. After he dismounted, he repeated the sentence loudly:
"The guilty general Huang Zhong is willing to surrender!"
After saying that, Huang Zhong asked the dozen disciples around him to put down their weapons. At the same time, he took out the military flag he carried in his arms, spread it flat on his hands, and then knelt down with everyone else.
General Taishan on the opposite side seemed to be confused by Huang Zhong's "directness". He was silent for a while, and then he came over accompanied by several warriors.
Huang Zhong raised his head and stared at the Taishan general. Seeing that he was dressed like a Confucian general, he felt a little more at ease.
Although he had heard in the army that the Taishan Army never massacred prisoners, it was still safer to surrender to a gentle general.
Surrounding Huang Zhong was Xie Bi, the leader of Wei Bojun.
Originally, he did not participate in the pursuit, but stayed on the battlefield to take care of the rest of the work, but suddenly he heard his subordinates say that they had encountered a brave enemy general, and their tone of voice was that they wanted to kill this person.
This attracted Xie Bi to come. He is a bit like Zhang Chong. He cherishes talents. Of course, he doesn't care about life or death during the war, but if he can capture prisoners after the war, he will naturally add a general to his side.
Besides, he felt that Wei Bojun had a big shortcoming before, and that was the lack of fighting generals in the army. After all, Wei Bojun was only a second-category military leader before, so naturally he couldn't capture the main force.
Therefore, Xie Bi wanted to target Huang Zhong at that time.
At this moment, I was immediately satisfied when I saw that although Huang Zhong knelt down and surrendered, he still looked like he was lying in a tiger's crotch.
Xie Bi accepted Huang Zhong and his son and hurried back to the central area.
During this process, another thing happened, that is, when Xie Bi and others were passing by the edge of the battlefield, they suddenly encountered a group of rebel soldiers. One of them even aimed at Xie Bi and shot an arrow, but Huang Zhong used a giant bow to kill him. It flew away.
After saving his own life, Xie Bi felt even more inclined to promote Huang Zhong.
Here Xie Bi had just rushed back to the central area and went to look for Zhang Nan.
At this moment, Zhang Nanzheng was listening to the battle reports sent by the armies. He couldn't help but be happy. When he saw Xie Bi coming, he waved hurriedly:
"Lao Xie, come here. This time we have a big victory. It's a pity that Zhang He ran away. He can really escape."
Xie Bi didn't take it seriously and comforted Zhang Nan:
"Zhang Shuai, this Yiluo is so big, where can he run to? In front is the main force of Yuan Jun, and they will come up from behind. When the time comes, if this Yiluo doesn't return to the army, even if we don't kill him, Yuan Jun will still be there." The marching method is the same in the morning and evening.”
Zhang Nan thought so and stopped thinking about Zhang He.
In his heart, Zhang He was just like that. He did know the art of war, but there was nothing terrible about it.
So, he said another thing to Xie Bi:
"The cavalry just came back from the north bank. The king's troops will not come yet. I just made contact with Ada in the east. Now there are two enemy guards stationed at the southeast corner of Lijiabi. Do you think we should Press on.”
Xie Bi thought for a while and gave Zhang Nan this advice:
"Zhang Shuai, now we will withdraw this part of the defeated troops after chasing them, and then quickly clean the battlefield, transport the wounded to the north bank for treatment, and then move to the direction of Lijiabi to join forces with Ada."
Seeing that Zhang Nan was still thinking, Xie Bi further explained:
"Although our army has a great victory, the number of enemy troops is still twice that of our army. If we continue to fight southward against the thieves, Li Tong and Li Zheng will have to fight against the trapped beasts. In addition, the enemy army has been in formation for a long time, and the Luzhai is fully prepared. , if we want to defeat two more armies in a short period of time, we will definitely not be able to rely on the strength of our army alone. Yuan Shao on the other side will definitely be embarrassed and angry after this defeat. When the time comes, I will stop in front of the formation and enemy reinforcements will attack. , danger.”
"On the contrary, if we take advantage of Yuan Shao's anger, our army will use Lijiabi as a stronghold and defend for merit. When the time comes, the offensive and defensive forces will be reciprocal, and our army will have the upper hand."
When Zhang Nan thought about this, he patted his belly and gave Xie Bi a thumbs up.
Just do it.