The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 455 Volume Zhang Liao Hefei
After the emperor gathered Cao Cao's troops in Pengcheng, he sent Lu Bu and Mi Zhu to sweep Xuzhou, and the entire Xuzhou was conquered with just one order.

After a quick march, Wei Yan also met up with Zhang Liao at Xiacai on the other side of Shouchun.

"Cao Cao is willing to surrender?"

Zhang Liao was also relieved after hearing this.

In this way, there is no need to waste military forces to attack Runan and Xuzhou.

The enemy in the south is just Sun Ce's family!

"Notify Shouchun and ask Cao Ang to welcome our army into the city!"

When Cao Ang learned that Cao Cao had surrendered to the emperor, he was surprised, but he immediately took out the flag of the Han Dynasty and hung it on the city wall of Shouchun.

After releasing the boats, Zhang Liao and Wei Yan's troops entered Shouchun City through the water gate.

"I, the guilty minister Cao Ang, greet you, General!"

After Zhang Liao comforted Cao Ang for a while, he asked about the situation outside the city.

"The one besieging the city now is Han Dang, Sun Ce's general!"

Among the four generals under Sun Jian's command when he started his career, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were killed in the Battle of Yiling. Now only Han Dang can take on the responsibility.

Now Sun Ce sent Han Dang to besiege Shouchun, obviously he was determined to capture Shouchun!
Zhang Liao stood on the city wall and saw that Han Dang's troops were in good order, so he decided to persuade them with words first.

"Han Dang! I am Zhang Liao, the pillar of the Han Dynasty! Now that Cao Cao has surrendered, the land of Huainan is under the rule of the imperial court! You can go back now!"

Sun Ce led his army to attack Huainan this time in the name of the imperial court.

Now Zhang Liao came to stop it in the name of the General of the Han Dynasty, just to destroy Sun Ce's righteousness!
Han Dang, who was standing under the city, saw the sudden change of flag on the top of Shouchun City, and his face suddenly changed!

Cao Cao actually surrendered to the Han Dynasty?

Moreover, the imperial court acted so quickly that it directly dispatched a pillar of the country to provide support?
Han Dang didn't know how to respond, so he had to withdraw the camp three miles back and then sent a message to Sun Ce who was in Hefei.

When Sun Ce heard that Zhang Liao had entered the city, he also abandoned Hefei and rushed towards Shouchun.

When Han Dang was withdrawing his troops, Wei Yan said to Zhang Liao: "Sun Ce is attacking Huainan under the banner of the Han Dynasty, but he actually has rebellious intentions in his heart. Why not take advantage of Han Dang's unstable foothold to launch a surprise attack on his camp and hinder Sun Ce's offensive!"

After so many years of turmoil, everyone has understood one truth -

Only the one with the bigger fist has his word counted!

Instead of waiting for Han Dang and Sun Ce to join up, it is better to strike first and launch a surprise attack on Han Dang!
After listening to Wei Yan's plan, Zhang Liao also felt that what Wei Yan said made sense.

Even if Cao Cao surrendered, it was only after two battles, the Battle of Yingshui and the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, had been fought, during which all of Cao Cao's field forces were wiped out, leaving him without the means to continue resisting militarily, that he was able to surrender.

Today, the Han Dynasty court from top to bottom is extremely clear-headed and knows that if it wants to achieve the unification of the country, it must do so through military means.

Instead of thinking about negotiating with Sun Ce, it is better to hurt him, so that Sun Ce will naturally stop coveting it!

"it is good!"

Zhang Liao left Wei Yan in Shouchun City, on the one hand to let Wei Yan support him, and on the other hand to let Wei Yan monitor Cao Ang and ensure that his retreat would not be cut off.

He led 5,000 cavalrymen to charge at Han Dang, who was caught off guard and naturally suffered a great defeat. He had to abandon his food and supplies and go to meet up with Sun Ce.

After Zhang Liao moved the food and supplies back to Shouchun City, Sun Ce's letter of accusation also arrived in Shouchun City.

"The general and I are both Han officials, but the general attacked my subordinates! I have never heard of such fratricide! I hope the general can give me an explanation, otherwise I am afraid that the soldiers and civilians of Jiangdong will not accept it!"

Zhang Liao was extremely disdainful of this letter and directly called Sun Ce's envoy over: "Tell him that if he really wants to punish me, then he should follow me to see the emperor! I will accept whatever punishment the emperor makes to me! If he doesn't want to see me, then let him show his manliness and stop crying thief. Do it openly and aboveboard!"

After hearing Zhang Liao's reply, Sun Ce did not dare to send another messenger to condemn him. He just gathered his troops in Hefei, as if he was really planning a decisive battle.

Zhang Liao did not tolerate him and led his troops south to Hefei, where he met Liu Fu in the city.

Liu Fu prepared food and wine in the city to reward Zhang Liao's soldiers, and shed tears for Zhang Liao during the meal.

"The Wu bandits have ruined the lives of the people in Huainan. I hope the general can control them. If so, I will die without regrets!"

On the way here, Zhang Liao had already inquired about Liu Fu's intelligence.

Since taking office in Hefei, Liu Fu has been doing great favors and educating the local people, gathering Confucian scholars, establishing schools and carrying out large-scale military farming. He also built earth dams such as Shaobi, Rubi, Qimen and Wutang to store water for irrigation of rice fields, and was deeply loved by the people.

Now, after hearing Liu Fu's heartfelt words at the table, he knew that Liu Fu really treated his people like his own children and that he had made a promise to him.

"I will drive out the Wu thieves for Yuan Ying (Liu Fu's courtesy name)!"

……

Sun Ce also frowned when he heard the news that Zhang Liao was coming to attack.

After all, Zhang Liao's reputation was too great.

Whether it was the decisive victory in the Battle of Anyi or the Battle of Jixian that won twenty years of peace in the northern border, both made the generals of Jiangdong quite fearful.

Seeing this, Sun Ce could only comfort the generals: "Zhang Liao is from the north. Although he is good at horse fighting, he is not good at water fighting! The land of Huainan is densely covered with water networks, so there is no need to worry too much!"

With Sun Ce's comfort, the mood of the Jiangdong generals finally calmed down.

Only Sun Ce's expression under the Yazi mask was more solemn.

Because it was not only the bad news that Zhang Liao came to Hefei. Zhou Tai, who was going to attack Guangling, also sent news that Cao Ren was very powerful and could not be defeated.

Such a massive war failed to achieve any results!

The most terrible thing is that if they fail to capture the two important military towns of Hefei and Shouchun, and if they have no fulcrum for the Jiangdong army to gain a foothold, the entire Jiangbei region may very likely be taken away by the imperial court!

"Cao Cao, can't you hold on a little longer?"

If Cao Cao surrendered a month later... No! Even if it was only half a month, it would be enough for Sun Ce to capture Hefei and Shouchun, and then rely on the advantage of the Huai River to resist the imperial army!

Sun Ce originally wanted to use the time difference between the imperial court and Cao Cao to make profits for himself, but he never expected that he was caught off guard by the time difference in Cao Cao's surrender!
If Sun Ce doesn't want to give up Huainan now, he probably has only one choice -

A head-on battle with Zhang Liao!

but……

The shadow of a famous tree.

No matter how much he consoled himself, Zhang Liao was still the pillar of the Han Dynasty after all! He was even recognized as the second pillar of the Han Dynasty after Lu Bu!

Moreover, Zhang Liao now occupies Hefei and enjoys the geographical advantage of Hefei.

Through these days of attacks, Sun Ce has already realized how difficult it is to defend the city of Hefei built by Liu Fu.

With the city's defenses already impregnable and Zhang Liao in charge, Sun Ce did not feel that he could definitely defeat Zhang Liao.

And Zhang Liao is still a small problem...

The current emperor is in Pengcheng!
As the war progressed, the situation had become increasingly clear.

After the emperor subdued Cao Cao and recovered Xuzhou, he had formed a pincer attack on Yuan Tan of Qingzhou from the north and south.

Moreover, attacking Qingzhou from Xuzhou is much easier than attacking Qingzhou from Jizhou.

Although Yuan Tan had not suffered any losses since the war began, he had actually become a dead man.

In this case, the emperor only needed to let two pillars of the country attack Yuan Tan from the north and south, and he would naturally be able to take Qingzhou.

That is to say...

After defeating Cao Cao, the emperor no longer needed to deploy troops to Qingzhou and could focus on supporting Huainan.

If that is the case...

Sun Ce will face more than just Zhang Liao!
It could be Guan Yu, it could be Lu Bu, or even possible that it is the dragon banner himself!

For a moment, Sun Ce also began to back down.

Even if he could defeat Zhang Liao, what would that do?
I’m afraid Huainan can no longer be saved!
While Sun Ce was hesitating, Zhang Liao, who was supposed to be on the defensive, chose to take the initiative!
The city gate is wide open!

Zhang Liao led more than two thousand cavalrymen and rushed out to kill Sun Ce!
Upon hearing the news, Sun Ce also became full of youthful vigor and drew his spear to fight Zhang Liao!

The two sides fought, but there was no winner!
Upon seeing this, Zhang Liao also angrily denounced Sun Ce's crimes.

Sun Ce said: "The court was plagued by eunuchs before, and the people were living in misery! They have long lost the support of the people, so why can't I take action to seize power?"

Zhang Liao heard that Sun Ce was still stubborn and shouted again:

"Sun Bofu! The emperor has already forgiven your father's crime! He has also made your sister a concubine and your mother a royal concubine. How dare you persist in your wrongdoings?"

"You know, your mother once said that if you were to become an enemy of the imperial court, she would commit suicide and deny her blood relationship with you! Sun Ce! Let me ask you, do you really want to kill your mother who raised you with so much hardship?"

When Sun Ce heard Zhang Liao mention his mother, Madam Wu, he felt a little dazed.

When masters fight each other, the slightest distraction is a taboo!

Seeing that Sun Ce was stunned, Zhang Liao picked up the short spear and threw it at Sun Ce's face, trying to knock Sun Ce off his horse!
Fortunately, Sun Ce reacted quickly and dodged Zhang Liao's attack.

But even so, the corners of Sun Ce's Jiaozi mask were scraped off and fell off Sun Ce's face!

Sun Ce, who lost his mask, was immediately distraught.

He could not even use one-third of his usual strength. After exchanging two moves with Zhang Liao, he lost interest in the fight and chose to retreat.

Seeing that Sun Ce had retreated but his troops were still in good order, Zhang Liao stopped chasing him and let him go.

Sun Ce returned to the camp and heard his subordinates staring at his face and talking. He quickened his pace and returned to his own tent, not daring to see anyone.

What Zhang Liao said just now was obviously quite hurtful!
After Sun Jian died in the battle against Huang Zu, it was Wu who raised Sun Ce. The mother and son were closely connected by blood!
Sun Ce couldn't help but turn pale when he thought that his mother might commit suicide because of him and cut off her bloodline.

Just when Sun Ce was hesitating, a letter suddenly came from Jiangxia County -

"The time has come to take Jingzhou!"

Moreover, Zhou Yu seemed to know Sun Ce's intentions, and he wrote a special sentence in the letter:

"Early Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang's father and wife were also in Xiang Yu's hands, but they were not persecuted at all."

"The first thing we should be planning is the land of Jingzhou!"

(End of this chapter)