Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 363 Liu Biao: I regret not listening to Zirou!

On March 28th of the third year of Jian'an, rain fell like a comb south of the Yangtze River, making the land in Jingzhou, Huainan, and Jiangdong even more humid.

Liu Biao, who was stationed in Nanjun, did not expect that in just half a month, the surrounding princes would come towards him like an army of thousands.

Although Zhang Xian's uprising in Changsha was within his expectations, the speed of Cao Mengde's attack in Jiangdong was beyond his expectations.

The Han troops in Nanyang and Runan, which were nearby, had not yet taken any action. Upon hearing the news, Jiangdong took the initiative and marched straight to Jiangxia County.

This made Liu Biao stunned, shocked and angry. What he could not stand the most was that Cao Mengde actually came with his troops under the pretext of attacking Han traitors.

Liu Jingsheng is a relative of the Han royal family. When did he become a traitor? Cao Cao turned black into white, distorted the facts, and confused right and wrong.

It was just to attack Huang Zu of Jiangxia in order to control the throat of the Yangtze River.

In anger, Liu Biao immediately wrote a letter to Luoyang, asking the King of Han to order his generals to lead their troops to station in Jiangxia to guard against Cao Cao.

He would rather give Jiangxia County to the King of Han than let Cao Mengde, who was taking advantage of the situation, take advantage of it.

While Liu Biao wrote a letter to the King of Han with humble words, he ordered the army to be reorganized and transferred Cai Mao, Wen Pin and Liu Pan as generals. He also let Kuai Liang take on the task and serve as a military advisor and captain to attack the rebels in Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang counties.

At this moment, what he was most worried about was not Zhang Xian or Cao Cao. He was only afraid that the King of Han, who was not far from Jingzhou, would abandon Guanzhong and lead his troops directly south to Jingzhou.

If giving up Jiangxia County could allow him to serve as the governor of Jingzhou for a few more years, it would be worth it.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei wrote back, saying that he had built a courtyard for him in Luoyang and hoped that Jingsheng could move in as soon as possible.

Seeing that the King of Han did not mention the matter of stationing troops in Jiangxia in his letter, I am afraid that he has already made up his mind to take advantage of this opportunity to recapture Jingzhou in one fell swoop.

This shattered the last bit of fantasy in Liu Biao's heart. The Han army would certainly not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After much deliberation, he hurriedly sent an envoy to Luoyang to meet the King of Han, hoping to seek a way out for his descendants.

Then he sighed in the house, regretting not listening to Kuai Zirou's advice earlier. If he had defeated Zhang Xian earlier and surrendered to Liu Xuande earlier, he would not have been in such a passive situation.

Han Song, the envoy from Jingzhou, had just arrived at Henan Yin when he learned that the King of Han had led his army from Luoyang to attack Guanzhong, and might have marched as far as Dongyuan County in Hedong. The affairs of Luoyang were temporarily entrusted to Xun You.

When Han Song learned that the envoy from Jiangling could not meet the King of Han in the army, he was stunned for a moment and muttered to himself: "It's too late, too late."

"It is difficult for Song to fulfill the trust entrusted by Lord Jingsheng."

……

As early as the beginning of spring, Liu Bei and many of his trusted officials decided to march to Guanzhong, hoping to take advantage of the enemy's mental shock and defeat Guanzhong with lightning speed.

Because the people in Yong and Liang areas lived together with the Qiang people, the princes in each place had many horses, and the cavalry could move easily and easily attack the baggage in the rear, so more than a thousand Wugang chariots were put to use again and transported from the Qingzhou Plain to Luoyang by water.

Liu Bei mobilized the Huben Cavalry, the Xiandeng Camp, the Shengshe Camp, the Ruichong Camp, the Tiejia Camp, and the Chai Camp, totaling more than 21,200 combat soldiers and 45,630 auxiliary soldiers, in addition to more than 700 horse doctors, military doctors, and clerks.

The generals who followed the army included Yu Jin, Zhang He, Gao Lan, and Ran Shu; and the military staff included Guo Jia, Sima Yi and others.

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to transfer Lu Su to join the expedition, but after thinking about it, he decided to let him assist Yun Chang and supervise the affairs of Ji and You. Attacking Guanzhong is not complicated, and it can be done with Zhang He, Gao Lan and others.

But just as he arrived in Dongyuan County, he heard scouts coming from the front to report important news. They also brought a man with them. This man claimed to be ordered by Yang Feng, the prefect of Hedong. He heard that the king was going to attack the bandits in Liangzhou, so he led tens of thousands of people from Hedong to join the King of Han and put order.

This made Liu Bei, who was already thinking about how to attack the city of Anyi County in Hedong, look up with interest after hearing this.

Liu Bei took the cloth from Xu Chu, wiped the dust and sweat off his face, and said with a smile: "Please invite Envoy Yang Feng into the tent. I was just planning to go find them, but I didn't expect them to come and surrender on their own initiative. They came at the right time."

In a moment, Liu Bei saw a tall and strong man, who strode with his head held high, bowed respectfully and said, "I am from Hedong, Xu Huang, Xu Gongming, and I pay my respects to the king. I wish the king a long life and eternal happiness."

This surprised Liu Bei a little, and he couldn't help but take a closer look at him. He saw that he was strong and healthy, but his words and actions were somewhat similar to Yu Jin.

Liu Bei then said with a smile: "Xu Gongming of Hedong, I have heard a little about you in Luoyang. I heard that you are strict in managing the army, and you are lenient and strict at the same time, which makes the soldiers loyal to you. Is this true?"

Xu Huang had never expected that he was just a cavalry commander under the command of Yang Feng, the governor of Hedong, yet he would be known by the King of Han.

Although he did not know why he, who was as insignificant as a speck of dust, could be heard by the King of Han, he was already extremely excited. He was almost ecstatic in an instant, and with a red face and red neck, he bowed and replied: "Huang is often in the army, so I have a little understanding."

"In terms of strict military discipline and the balance of leniency and severity, no one in the world can compare to the Han army under your command."

Facing Xu Huang's flattery, Liu Bei smiled, then got down to business, and said solemnly: "Yang Feng is a general of the Liangzhou thief Li Jue. He often attacks Henan and Hanoi with Zhang Ji of Hongnong. Now I am leading my army here and am about to defeat Anyi, so I come to ask for surrender."

"Yang Feng is really thinking too highly of himself. What's the use of tens of thousands of people? They are nothing but chickens and dogs!"

These Baibo bandits refused to surrender early or late, and now that the Han army is about to arrive at the city, they are thinking of surrendering, thinking that they can avoid the disaster of war?

In particular, Yang Feng often attempted to plunder Hanoi with bandit leaders such as Han Xian, Li Le, and Hu Cai in his early years. If it were not for Zhang Fei stationed in Luoyang, he would have repeatedly repelled the invading enemies.

I am afraid that the few remaining people in Henan and Hanoi will suffer from the disaster of war again.

It's impossible to beg for mercy when you can't win.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei said with a smile: "Yang Feng, I also know something about him. He is a Baibo bandit. He is arrogant and unruly, and he always wants to plunder the people."

"If you are willing to surrender, you must abandon your weapons, bow your head and obey orders, hand over your military power and seals, and let me deal with everything before I can allow you to surrender."

"Your Majesty, this...this..." Xu Huang was anxious, but didn't know how to answer the King of Han.

Because Yang Feng's request was that after surrendering, he would still be the governor of Hedong and no changes could be made.

If the King of Han agreed, then in return, he would be willing to lead his army to follow the King of Han to attack Chang'an, restore order and defeat the bandits in Liangzhou.

Unexpectedly, the King of Han directly asked Yang Feng to hand over all the real power. This would undoubtedly be a request for his life. How could Governor Yang agree to it?

In this case, fighting is inevitable. If he had a choice, Xu Gongming really didn't want to go against the Han family.

What's more, the Baibo Army had no chance of winning at all, and this was nothing more than a pebble hitting a rock.

(End of this chapter)