My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 158: Conquering the Pseudo-Capital, Mission Completed

Exactly half a month after he first entered the city to persuade the enemy, Yuan Huan once again sat in the hanging basket on the Shouchun city wall and was hanged on the city wall by the Yuan army’s defenders.

Compared with half a month ago, the scenery on both sides of the road that Yuan Huan passed was very different.

Along the way, the moat had been destroyed beyond recognition, the sheep and horse walls had all collapsed, the antler pits had been filled in, and the chevaux de frise had all been smashed.

Just talking about the hanging basket that hoisted Yuan Huan to the top of the city wall, half a month ago, it was installed on a fixed wooden pulley on the parapet of the parapet.

Now, that section of the parapet had been blown away by the catapults, and a large piece of rammed earth had collapsed from the main part of the city wall, about five or six feet deep. The defenders could only let the thick hemp rope rub against the gap in the rammed earth like a tug-of-war, which made Yuan Huan a little nervous.

He was not afraid of being executed by Yuan Shu, as that would preserve his integrity. But if he fell to death from a height of more than 10 feet on the top of the city wall because the hemp rope of the hanging basket was worn out, it would be too shameful and a meaningless death.

After stepping onto the top of the city wall, Yuan Huan finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly glanced around.

Immediately, I saw that in the dark corners behind the battlements, there were traces of black blood and even pieces of dried meat that had not been cleaned up. A corner column of the tower was also broken, and a large piece of eaves tiles and bricks above the corner column collapsed.

Shouchun City was attacked in such a tragic state, the success rate of this mission should be much higher.

Yuan Huan was thinking about what to say and what tone and attitude to use, and was soon led to the pseudo-imperial palace in the city, where he once again saw Yuan Shu in a yellow robe.

When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he also acknowledged the Han Dynasty as "Yan Han". Therefore, he, as "the high man of Gonglu and Dangtu", was "the earth inheriting the virtue of fire" and he always wore a khaki robe.

But no matter what Yuan Shu was wearing, Yuan Huan just called him "General" both times he met him.

"General, Lord Xuande's army broke through Bagong Mountain in one day. I believe you have also seen the fire on Bagong Mountain with your own eyes. Shouchun's trenches and walls are completely unable to withstand the strong attack of Lord Xuande's trench bridge car and Lord Ge's car. Given time, Shouchun will surely fall.

But Lord Xuande did not want to commit more murders, not only because he did not want his own comrades to be killed, but he also did not want the soldiers and civilians in Shouchun City to be massacred - Lord Xuande had many generals who insisted on breaking the city by force.

Because they firmly believed that the Han army could do it, and Shouchun was the general's fake capital. If they broke the city by force, they would let the soldiers plunder and punish the rebels, and the gains would be quite rich. It was the repeated pressure from Lord Xuande that prevented this tragedy.

Lord Xuande always believed that those who resisted the rebellion were righteous people, and those who joined the rebellion were refugees. The people had no choice but to be forced to do so. I hope the general will take care of himself. The general is happy to avenge his enemies. This is the last fight of his life. If he cannot fight to the death with his enemies in an upright manner, but dies in the hands of people who have no grudges against him, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the dignity of the Yuan family of Runan? "

Yuan Huan finished speaking the lines he had organized for the second time in a very eloquent manner, and Yuan Shu was indeed quite interested.

Of course, these lines were not actually thought of by Yuan Huan. Yuan Huan was just a mouthpiece. After thoroughly understanding the spirit of the lines, he slightly refined the rhetoric and organized the language.

After all, Yuan Huan certainly couldn't have come up with such a profound statement as "Those who resist the rebellion are righteous people, and those who join the rebellion are refugees." It's obvious that someone copied the historical answer from later generations and then slightly changed a few words.

However, Yuan Shu didn't have the brains to solve the practical problems. When he was hesitant and didn't know whether to believe it or not, Yan Xiang jumped out to help the monarch.

"If our army is willing to abandon Shouchun and flee, how can we guarantee that Liu Yangzhou will not take the opportunity to kill and pursue us! Moreover, these matters were not mentioned in detail in Liu Yangzhou's letters. We rely entirely on your empty words to relay them. How can we believe them!"

Yuan Huan was very honest about this question. He took the initiative to admit: "As a Han minister, Lord Xuande certainly cannot openly promise not to pursue the false rebels, otherwise how can we explain to the court. But our army has never besieged the northwest of Shouchun, and has not taken Xiacai in the north of the Huai River, in order to leave a safe Huaihe waterway for your army.

Our warships are at least stationed east of Xiacai and Shouchun. When your army withdraws, if you leave behind a group of abandoned troops and order them to hold on for a few days, they will naturally block the throat of the Huaihe River and Feishui waterway in Shouchun and Xiacai, making it difficult for our army to cross.

Apart from this, I really don't know how else to guarantee. As for the pursuit, after your army leaves, Lord Xuande will naturally make a move to pursue. But the pursuit will certainly not exceed Yangyuan County, which is the border between Huainan Yin and Runan County.

If you still don't believe it, your army can leave thousands of soldiers in Yangyuan County to hold the line. In this way, if our army fails to capture Yangyuan, how can we continue to pursue your main force? However, I have something to say in advance. Out of caution, the soldiers and horses left in Shouchun, Xiacai, and Yangyuan will surely be intimidated and surrendered by Lord Xuande in the future. The more you leave, the greater your losses will be. You can do whatever you want."

Yuan Huan had said so much, so Yuan Shu felt that there should be no problem. In addition, half a month ago, Yan Xiang advised him to send someone to Runan to find out about Zhang Xun's persistence in Runan.

It was learned that Cao Cao's army had not yet captured Zhi'an City in Runan County, and had not yet entered the Huai River from the Ru River through Xincai. Therefore, if Yuan Shu retreated to Runan County, he could still hold out for a while.

Yuan Shu finally made the decision: "In this case, as long as your army keeps its promise, withdraws the siege in the next few days and does not get too close, our army will send out scouts to confirm that there is no danger, and then naturally withdraw in three days.

But before that, your army must evacuate the two towns of Futing and Lijiang in the south of the city and retreat thirty miles. The troops in the east of the city must also withdraw from Bagong Mountain and must not spy on our army's movements. When I leave, I will order the Shouchun garrison to hold out for at least ten days. I hope you will not commit too many murders!"

Yuan Shu felt that if he let Liu Bei's army retreat a little further, they would feel safer and avoid being cheated.

Seeing that his main goal had been achieved, Yuan Huan was too lazy to bargain over the details to avoid unnecessary complications.

He guessed that Yuan Shu must want to pack up some property and take it away. This is also the biggest advantage of a peaceful withdrawal, as it can preserve the supplies.

But compared to letting 30,000 or 40,000 people not have to defend the city to the death, it would be better to take it peacefully and let Yuan Shu take away some money.

……

After the two sides reached initial contact, Yuan Huan went back and explained to Liu Bei the conditions offered by Yuan Shu.

Liu Bei did not bargain and agreed to let the troops in the south of the city retreat 30 miles, and the troops in the east of the city temporarily withdraw from Bagong Mountain. The agreement was reached on August 24.

It took Liu Bei a day to complete all these deployments. The next day, Yuan Shu sent out scouts to confirm the enemy situation and found that Liu Bei's army had indeed retreated a little.

So at 11:00 a.m. that day, they opened the east gate of Shouchun, and used all the ships they had collected to transport the main force out via the Fei River. There were a total of 30,000 people, and some valuable property.

Because there were not enough ships, there were still several thousand old, weak, disabled and wounded soldiers left in the city. They were asked to continue to hold the city, and the remaining defenders were ordered to surrender ten days after Yuan Shu retreated.

Yuan Shu left the city at 11:00 p.m., and by dawn he would have gained more than three hours. Moreover, there were no Han troops stationed on the other side of the river at the height of Bagong Mountain, so they would not have discovered his movements immediately. Once Liu Bei thought that he would withdraw during the day the next day as agreed, he could buy Yuan Shu a few more hours.

Yuan Shu just likes this kind of cleverness, even though he is already in such a miserable state.

On the Han side, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were not omniscient gods after all, so they could not predict the exact time of Yuan Shu's retreat. The anomaly was not discovered until dawn the next day.

It was already August 27th. Liu Bei then ordered the troops to press forward again, first surrounding Shouchun, and then letting Zhao Yun's troops do the same to Xia Cai.

Liu Bei sent people to prepare for the siege while at the same time sending people to persuade them to surrender.

The defending general was straightforward and told Liu Bei directly that they had the king's order and needed to hold out for ten days before surrendering, making sure that Yuan Shu had run far away.

Liu Bei didn't waste any time talking to them and said that he would only give them five days. If they did not surrender after five days, if the city was captured again in the future, it would not be considered as voluntary surrender, but rather as being captured.

Five days was enough for Yuan Shu to escape at least 300 miles against the current by boat. There were other counties controlled by Yuan Shu along the way, and even with light cavalry, they could not catch up with him.

Under the combination of kindness and force, the defenders of Shouchun were half-hearted and, after enduring for five days, felt that they had done their best for Yuan Shu and were not afraid of being held accountable if Yuan Shu turned the tables in the future. So, under another wave of deterrent offensive from Liu Bei that arrived as expected, they opened the city gates and surrendered to Liu Bei.

Within two or three days, Xiacai and Yangyuan were peacefully taken over one after another. During the whole process, Liu Bei pretended to pursue the enemy and went deep into Runan County for more than 100 miles, but he gained nothing and retreated after a feint.

By showing this attitude, he could live up to the anti-rebellion decree issued by Cao Cao in the name of the court, and would not give Cao Cao any handle on him.

Liu Bei counted the troops left behind in the three cities and found that at least 10,000 people were captured by the Han army. Yuan Shu only took away 30,000 of his 40,000 troops around Shouchun.

However, the quality of these remaining tens of thousands of people was very poor. They were all selected according to a plan. Liu Bei took a rough look and found that only two or three thousand were suitable to continue serving as soldiers. The rest were all sent to farm.

……

Before noon on September 2, after accepting the surrender and entering Shouchun City, Liu Bei made a round of inspection with great satisfaction, and immediately ordered people to remove all the things in the pseudo-palace that were beyond the rules. However, there was no need to destroy or burn those precious decorations and building materials, as they could be used for other purposes.

Then, he stood on the steps of the pseudo palace and encouraged the generals:

"We have successfully taken the pseudo-capital Shouchun! This time, the great cause of suppressing the rebellion has finally been accomplished! You all have made contributions, whether it is Ziyu and Kongming's plan to scare off Yuan Shu, or Yunchang Yide and others' feint attack and deterrence, all of them are indispensable! I will submit a memorial to the court and ask for rewards for all the generals!

Yuan Shu's remnants are roaming around in Runan and Yinghuo Mountain area, that is Cao Cao's business. Our army has taken back every city and every inch of the land in Yangzhou that was occupied by Yuan Shu's remnants! Congratulations! "

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other generals congratulated him in unison. Zhang Fei couldn't help but shout excitedly, "Brother, for your great achievement in conquering the pseudo-capital, Cao Cao will definitely make you a General of Chariots and Cavalry!"

Guan Yu quickly stopped him and said, "Brother, don't talk nonsense! Cao Cao holds the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, how could he be willing to give this position to someone else? Unless Cao Cao is shameless and promotes himself to General of Cavalry first."

Zhang Fei looked unhappy: "Cao Cao just relied on the fact that he welcomed the emperor earlier. How much credit did he have in suppressing the rebellion? We even conquered Shouchun!"

In the end, it was Liu Bei who stopped him personally: "Yide! The imperial court has its own opinions on the titles and rewards. How can you make irresponsible comments?
Moreover, although we won today's battle, it was a bit of luck. Yuan Shu didn't die in my hands. He might still fight back and struggle in Runan for a year or two. We should retreat modestly!"

Zhang Fei only shut up when Liu Bei personally scolded him, feeling very embarrassed.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were there at the critical moment. Their identities were very suitable for smoothing things over, so they came out to ease the atmosphere:

"My lord, you are right. My lord, you should not ask for your own official position and title. Your Majesty can make your own decision. This will show that our army respects the court, even more than Cao Cao.

However, Your Majesty is far away in Xudu and is not very clear about the merits of the generals under your command. I will make suggestions one by one in the memorial and ask Your Majesty to make a decision. This will also provide a reference for Your Majesty so as not to worry your heart."

Liu Bei immediately agreed to the proposal after hearing it. He was a person with high emotional intelligence, so how could he not know that the generals followed him to fight for their future and wanted to be promoted as soon as possible. It was not easy for him to ask for this for his own position, but he had no pressure to ask for it for his subordinates.

With his current status as the Left General, it was quite appropriate for him to appoint a few generals of miscellaneous titles, and there was no overstepping. Therefore, among all the generals under his command, there was only one Zhuge Jin, because he was already the Fubo General, and it depended on the court's opinion. As for the others, Liu Bei himself could "suggest".

Liu Bei immediately ordered a banquet to be held in the city to celebrate the victory, and then he called Sun Shao, Sun Qian and Jian Yong to discuss the matter of writing a memorial with them.

During the pacification of Lujiang and the pseudo-Huainan Yin counties, Guan Yu made the greatest contribution in terms of attacking the strongholds. After all, he led the way alone, conquered Ruxu and Juchao, and worked together with Taishi Ci to conquer Shucheng. As for the last two cities, Hefei and Shouchun, they were the result of the joint efforts of all the generals, and it is hard to say who made the greater contribution.

Gan Ning's contribution to the attack ranked second, after all, he captured Wankou and Wancheng alone, but he and Taishi Ci shared the task of attacking the southern army. As for Zhuge Jin, he had full authority to coordinate the southern army, but Zhuge Jin's position was too high, so Liu Bei only needed to mention what he did, without writing down his official position.

The third to fifth places for contribution in the attack were Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci and Zhang Fei respectively.

Zhao Yun exceeded his mission and captured Yicheng (Bengbu/Fengyang). Otherwise, according to the original plan, he and Zhang Fei were just feinting and should have been ranked after Taishi Ci. However, Zhao Yun got his chance and finally had the chance to catch up with Taishi Ci and Gan Ning in terms of official rank.

In terms of the merits of beheading generals, destroying troops and capturing prisoners, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei clearly surpassed the other three generals. Zhao Yun intercepted and defeated Ji Ling, and even killed him. Zhang Fei finally caught Liu Xun and captured him alive, which played a decisive role in the forced landing in Hefei.

After calculating all the merits of beheading generals, capturing prisoners, and attacking strongholds, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun were finally in the first tier, Zhang Fei and Gan Ning were on par, and Taishi Ci lagged behind slightly.

However, considering that Taishi Ci was already a colonel, he had a relatively high starting point when he surrendered to Liu Yao. In comparison, Gan Ning was only a "captain of the highest rank/half-step colonel" before. It is fair to strive to promote both of them to the rank of lieutenant general at the same level this time.

Sun Qian followed Liu Bei's instructions and wrote down the achievements of each person one by one, added some embellishments, and asked Liu Bei to review it personally.

(End of this chapter)