The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 370: Fire and Smoke
According to legend, Yecheng was the fief of Daye, the son of Nüxiu, the granddaughter of Emperor Zhuanxu, a descendant of Emperor Huangdi.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi, the first overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, built a city here, laying the foundation for Qi to maintain its hegemony in the Central Plains.

During the Warring States Period, Wei Wenhou Wei Si established Yecheng as the secondary capital, which also established Yecheng's vital position in Hebei.

Afterwards, Ximen Bao and Shi Qi successively served as the magistrates of Yecheng. They eliminated bad habits, built water conservancy projects, and vigorously developed the city, making Yecheng quickly become a prosperous, easy-to-defend, and strategic location with convenient transportation.

The Zhang River just splits here, and the two tributaries are like two thighs in the east-west direction, tightly clamping Yecheng and becoming a barrier for Yecheng.

Now Liu Xie was standing beside the Zhang River, looking north at this magnificent city.

"What a magnificent city!"

"Even Chang'an is far from being as big as Yecheng, right?"

It’s not that Liu Xie is being modest.

It is really difficult for Chang'an City, which has stood for four hundred years, to be compared with Yecheng City.

Not to mention that in recent decades, with the continuous decline of the Later Han Dynasty, Chang'an City has not been repaired for decades... It would be a strange thing if such a Chang'an could be compared with Yecheng, which Yuan Shao had built for so long.

"Your Majesty, you are wrong!"

Standing behind the emperor at this moment was Liu Bei, whose face was beaming with joy.

"Yuan Shao spent the people's money on building the city, which only had a gorgeous appearance but could not unite the people, which led to today's ruin. Your Majesty, on the other hand, worked hard and used the people's strength to stabilize the people's hearts, which led to today's victory."

"Although Yecheng is rich, the people are not attached to it."

"Although Chang'an has been destroyed, the people's hearts remain intact."

"If you understand this, will Your Majesty still admire the greatness of Yecheng?"

Liu Xie also smiled when he heard this and said, "Uncle Huang is indeed a disciple of the great scholar Lu Zhi. He always speaks in a pleasant way."

When Liu Bei heard this, he was first happy, then sad, and then happy again.

Although Liu Bei was delighted by the emperor's praise, he could not help feeling sad when he thought of the passing of his teacher Lu Zhi and his former classmate Gongsun Zan.

Only you know how hard it is to wander along the way.

Fortunately, after all the hardships along the way, I finally met an ending that was worthy of it!

The breeze blows, and the waves sparkle.

From the moment he set foot on the land of Hebei, Liu Bei knew that he was getting closer and closer to his hometown of Zhuo County, and at the same time, closer and closer to his lofty ideal of supporting the Han Dynasty.

There is only one last battle left before returning home.

Battle of Yecheng!

Liu Bei took the initiative to kneel down and ask the emperor to fight: "Your Majesty, please let me take Yecheng first!"

As long as we take this city, the whole of Hebei can be liberated!
As long as Hebei is recovered, how can Cao Cao, who is lingering in Xuzhou, or Sun Ce, who has an ambiguous attitude, be able to withstand the power of the imperial court?
The revival of the Han Dynasty seemed to be getting closer and closer. Liu Bei felt like he was being scratched by a monkey. How could he relieve the itch?

Liu Xie took a look at the terrain of Yecheng and nodded, "Okay! I will leave the first battle to capture Yecheng to my uncle."

"But uncle, you need to remember that Yecheng has high walls and thick walls. If you cannot win, you must withdraw your troops in time and do not waste the lives of your soldiers at will!"

"Here!"

The Art of War

"The rule of employing troops is to surround them if they are ten in number, attack them if they are five in number, and divide them if they are twice as many."

Now Xu Rong is leading 10,000 soldiers and horses to the west of Yecheng, and Lu Bu is leading 20,000 cavalry to the east of Yecheng. The emperor and Liu Bei have joined forces at this time, with a total of 50,000 troops.

In Yecheng, Yuan Shao still had at most 30,000 soldiers.

This gap is barely enough to reach the passing line of "Five Attacks".

The generals and soldiers under Liu Bei's command are best at charging into battle, so there is nothing wrong with letting Liu Bei give it a test at this moment.

Leaving the war to Liu Bei, Liu Xie simply sat under his dragon banner and watched Liu Bei's attack quietly.

Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong each led their own troops and began to break through the Zhang River from three directions.

Yuan's army had already made arrangements here, and when they saw the Han army coming, they immediately set up their crossbows and bows and arrows, causing casualties to the Han army.

All the bridges over the Zhang River had been burned down by Yuan's army, so the only way to cross the river at this moment was to transport troops across by water.

At this time, there was no Queyue Formation for the Han army to use, and the Han army that landed first was soon besieged by Yuan army soldiers again.

Fortunately, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong under Liu Bei's command were all extremely brave. Even though they were outnumbered, they still managed to hold their ground and carve out a foothold for the Han army coming from the rear.

Seeing the Han army coming to attack, the defending Yuan army decided not to fight and immediately retreated back to Yecheng.

After finally transporting all the soldiers away, the sound of a bugle was heard from the camp behind!
Ming Jin retreats his troops!

Liu Bei didn't know why the emperor asked him to withdraw his troops just after crossing the Zhang River, but he had no choice but to order his soldiers to cross back again.

"Why did the emperor allow me to lead the troops to attack the city, but then called off the troops just as I was crossing the river?"

Liu Bei came to ask the emperor, but found that the main generals of the east and west, Xu Rong and Lu Bu, had already arrived at the emperor's tent.

Moreover, Liu Bei also discovered that both the emperor, Xu Rong and Lu Bu all looked unhappy at the moment.

"I've met the emperor's uncle."

Xu Rong saluted Liu Bei first. "Your Majesty's intention of calling back the troops just now, can't your uncle see it?"

"The two tributaries of the Zhangshui River in the north and south just happened to protect Yecheng. This means that when attacking Yecheng, it will take a lot of effort to cross the river."

"Besides, Yecheng was built right where two tributaries diverged, and the land was narrow and could not accommodate a large army."

“Even if the army crosses the Zhang River, it cannot camp on the other side… Otherwise, it will be too close to Yecheng, and there will be a river behind us, so we will be trapped.”

"This means..."

Xu Rong sighed and said, "Even if we cross the Zhang River today with difficulty, it will be useless if we cannot capture Yecheng within one day."

"But with the Zhang River blocking the way, weapons like the Thunderbolt Chariot cannot be transported across the river! Attacking Ye City with bare hands, isn't this a way to die?"

"Your Majesty and I have seen that Yecheng is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so we decided to call off the troops!"

Liu Bei's expression changed.

Originally, he had not thought about the key point, but after Xu Rong said this, Liu Bei immediately realized the difficulty of Yecheng.

Although Liu Xie's face also looked a little ugly, he felt relieved when he thought that this was Yecheng after all.

After all, it is the capital of the Hebei forces, so it is normal that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

For example, Chang'an has the dangerous Pass of Qiao and Han, Luoyang has the Luoyang Eight Passes, and Moling also has the natural danger of the Yangtze River.

When establishing a capital, the most important thing to consider is military affairs.

The entire Hebei Province is plain, with no strategic locations to rely on.

Only Yecheng has such a unique location, with the Zhang River guarding it from the north and south, which is why everyone from Qi Huan and Wei Wen to Yuan Shao chose this place as the foundation of their lives.

"Damn it!! Why is Yuan Shao still struggling to his death? Does he still have any power he can rely on now?"

Lu Bu's hot temper also came up at this moment.

What he admired most was the courage to face his enemies on the battlefield.

Now all the field forces in Hebei have been swept away. What can Yuan Shao do even if he can defend Yecheng?
"Your Majesty, there are still 30,000 soldiers and 100,000 civilians in Yecheng! They are hungry and hungry every day. Even if we don't attack him, Yuan Shao will be dragged down by these people."

"Since Yuan Shao is willing to defend his tortoise shell, why not just let the army surround Yecheng on all sides! Let this bastard starve to death!"

When Lu Bu said this, everyone in the tent was amazed: "Even Fengxian knows how to use strategies? Rare! Rare!"

Lü Bu was so embarrassed that he turned his face away and said, "If Yuan Shao is willing to lead his troops to fight me, who would be willing to use such a strategy?"

Liu Xie smiled along with everyone else, then stopped talking and fell into deep thought.

Seeing the emperor like this, Xu Rong guessed what the emperor was worried about, so he asked carefully: "Does the emperor also think that Yuan Shao is a little too abnormal?"

As a famous general who once killed Cao Cao and Sun Jian and made them flee in panic, Xu Rong always had an extraordinary intuition about war.

Just as Lu Bu said now, Hebei's field combat forces have been exhausted. Even if Yuan Shao defends Yecheng as impregnable as possible, he can't escape the fate of being starved to death or besieged.

Yuan Shao's actions at this time were really beyond common sense...

"General Xu, I am worried about one thing."

"Your Majesty, I am also worried about one thing."

The king and his minister looked up and saw the answer in each other's eyes.

Liu Bei and Lu Bu were a little anxious: "What are your majesty and General Xu talking about? It has come to this point, what is there to worry about?"

Of course!
Xu Rong stood up and looked at Liu Bei and Lu Bu with a serious face: "And the matters that your majesty is worried about should be very familiar to the emperor's uncle and Fengxian."

Liu Bei and Lu Bu looked at each other, obviously not realizing what they were familiar with...

Xu Rong finally couldn't help but sigh: "My uncle Fengxian is in Youzhou and the other is in Bingzhou. What do you fear most every winter?"

winter?

What is there for them to be afraid of?

However, Lu Bu soon realized what Xu Rong was talking about, and his body trembled immediately!
At the same time, Liu Bei also thought of what could most arouse the deepest fear in the hearts of these Han people on the border——

It’s the beacon fires that stretch out from the Great Wall!
There were also the Huns, Xianbei, and Wuhuan people with ferocious faces riding on horseback!

Their war horses could easily fly over the village fences, break into the village, and burn, kill, and plunder at will...

Most of the Han people on the border when they were young were full of fear of it.

The only difference is,
Someone held the knife tightly and survived.

Some people held the knife tightly, but died of fear forever.

Liu Bei and Lu Bu clenched their fists, their eyes were red with anger: "How dare Yuan Shao collude with a foreign race?"

"Isn't their collusion enough?"

Liu Xie took out the letter from the table in which Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu captured Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi and placed it on the table.

"As long as you meet them, you will know what is going on!"

　It's already very late when I got home in the afternoon, I hope your majesty will forgive me~~(*) There will be more chapters in the evening~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)