My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 267: All the wise men came and defected
Before Zhang Fei arrived at Chanling, he heard that a force suspected to be led by Jin Xuan, the governor of Wuling, was besieging Chanling. How could he not be curious about such a strange thing?

The opportunity was so rare that Zhang Fei rode as fast as he could, ignoring the fatigue of his soldiers and horses, and led his cavalry ahead. He then forced a march of another thirty miles and arrived at the foot of Chanling city at the beginning of the afternoon of the same day.

Because Zhang Fei had to make a long-distance raid, the army he led was the smallest among the three. Liu Bei only gave him 8,000 men in total, while he gave Zhao Yun and Gan Ning more than 10,000 men each.

However, the proportion of cavalry in Zhang Fei's troops was very high, with 3,000 cavalry out of 8,000 people. Liu Bei gave him more than half of the cavalry on the western front, and there were still 5,000 infantry.

In order to save time, Zhang Fei led 3,000 cavalry to arrive first, and the follow-up 5,000 infantry would take at least an hour. If it weren't for the long daylight in late April of the lunar calendar, the infantry might not be able to arrive before dark.

When they arrived near Chanling City, Zhang Fei personally looked out and confirmed that it was indeed the Jinxuan flag on the opposite side. He did not hesitate and led his troops directly to rush over.

Zhang Fei approached the battle array a hundred steps away and shouted in person:

"Zhang Yide, General Chariot and Cavalry's subordinate, is here! Jin Xuan, a wretch! As a Han official, why are you attacking each other and responding to Zhang Xian's rebellion? Retreat immediately and I will spare your life!"

Zhang Fei's shout was not random. He was also afraid of a rash attack in case of any misunderstanding, so he personally went to the front line to scold.

If the enemy is indeed Jin Xuan's subordinates and resists stubbornly, he will not give them time to slowly adjust their formation. He will just rush forward if there is no agreement.

If there is any misunderstanding, the other party should explain it immediately and act harmless and dare not resist.

It would take at least half an incense stick of time for the army to adjust its formation, it couldn't be faster. A few words would not delay the matter. If the other side didn't dare to respond to the humiliation, it would also hurt their morale, which was exactly what Zhang Fei wanted.

The enemy was surprised to see Zhang Fei appear. They quickly adjusted their formation and tried to fight back. Meanwhile, some generals hurriedly boosted their morale and shouted to their own people:
"Liu Bei and Liu Biao are the traitors who betrayed the imperial court! Lord Jin and Lord Zhang are here to suppress the rebellion! Do not panic! The righteousness lies with our army!"

These words were not even directed at Zhang Fei. They were only meant to stabilize the morale of the troops. Zhang Fei vaguely heard it and decided not to be polite to the other party. He directly swung his snake spear, signaling his cavalry to follow him to charge.

The enemy was a siege force, and they were deployed outside the city. There was no way to avoid them, so we had to bite the bullet and fight back.

Although their number was about several thousand, more than twice that of the cavalry under Zhang Fei, they were hastily arranged and their formation was not neat and orderly, and their state was disorganized.

Moreover, Chanling City was close to the mouth of Youjiang River. In order to besiege the city, not all of the enemy's siege troops were stationed on the south bank of Youjiang River. A small number of troops were deployed on the opposite bank to the north of the city.

A field battle suddenly broke out on the south bank battlefield, and the troops on the north bank could not even make it to the battlefield in time.

Zhang Fei thrust his spear straight at a county commander wearing fish-scale black armor, killing seven or eight county soldiers along the way. The cavalry behind him also attacked frantically, and soon the Wuling county soldiers were defeated and the battle line was torn apart.

The captain didn't have the courage to fight with Zhang Fei. He just watched from afar as the soldiers in front of him were torn apart by Zhang Fei like chopping melons and vegetables, so he immediately turned his horse and fled.

"What's going on? Why are Liu Bei's troops so well-armored? Why are all these cavalrymen charging in the front line wearing steel armor?"

The Wuling County soldiers on the opposite side put up a little resistance, but were soon beaten to the point of doubting their lives.

It turned out that Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu had been mining at Daye Iron Mine in E County, Jiangxia County for more than half a year. Zhuge Liang also transplanted the steelmaking workshop using the pouring steel method that his elder brother had piloted in Wuhu last year to Daye Iron Mine.

Now E County has become the first-tier steel production center of the Han Dynasty. If it continues to develop for a few years, it will definitely surpass other old steel production bases. The output of steel armor in E County is also increasing every month. This time when Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun went to war, the armor rate of the elite vanguard cavalry has risen to a higher level.

As soon as the Wuling County soldiers started fighting, they found that their sword and stabbing attacks were almost completely ineffective, and shooting arrows was like scratching an itch. Unless they hit the warhorse and threw the cavalry off, they could not cause any harm to the enemy.

If you want to hurt Zhang Fei's elite vanguard cavalry, you can only rely on the full-force piercing of spears with high-quality steel spearheads, direct shooting with powerful crossbows with steel arrowheads, or chopping the horses' legs with swords and axes. There is no other way.

Other attacks are the same as scraping.

The Wuling County soldier captain was chased and killed by Zhang Fei through more than a dozen layers of enemy lines in such a one-sided crushing defeat. In the end, he was caught up and killed by a stab in the back with a spear.

The other Wuling County soldiers collapsed directly, scattered like birds and beasts, and knelt down and surrendered when they were caught.

Many soldiers were driven to the Youjiang River, and because there were soldiers from Wuling County stationed on the north bank, they simply threw away their armor and jumped into the river to escape. Zhang Fei had just arrived from afar and had not had time to cross the river to control the north bank, so he could only watch these deserters flee, but it was no big deal.

These troops had never fought any tough battles since they were recruited. Wuling County had not seen any battles since Sun Jian conquered Qu Xing twelve years ago. Although the people of Wuling were tough, the troops had poor discipline and were not used to hard and fierce battles. They could only rob and fight when the wind was favorable.

Zhang Fei captured more than 2,000 surrendered soldiers. After a brief screening, he picked out one of the military commanders and three Qujunhou and tortured them to interrogate the reasons for the battle:
"Why did you, the Wuling County soldiers, come to attack Chanling County? Isn't Chanling a county under the jurisdiction of Wuling County?"

The captured officers dared not resist at all, and kowtowed and confessed: "General, please spare our lives! We are also under orders! Jin Xuan believed Zhang Xian's call and said that Liu Biao betrayed the court. The court appointed Zhang Xian as the governor of Jingzhou, and asked us Wuling soldiers to cooperate with Zhang Xian, cross the Yangtze River via Chanling, and attack Jiangling in Nanjun.

Although Chanling belonged to Wuling, Liu Biao had always been wary of Zhang Xian and Jin Xuan, and cultivated his cronies in the arrangement of county magistrates in counties along the river. At that time, Jin Xuan and Liu Biao had not yet torn their faces apart, so they could only take a step back.

The magistrate of Chanling County was named Li Yan, and he and the magistrate of Yidao County next door, Dong He, were both the result of compromise between Liu Biao and Jin Xuan. Jin Xuan thought that he had won over Li Yan and Dong He by showing them favors in the past two years, but he did not expect that when the battle came, they would bypass the governor and directly pledge their loyalty to the governor, resisting and blocking the army from marching north...

When Lord Jin heard about the change, he was shocked and angry, so he quickly asked Commandant Chen to change his goal, first to conquer Chanling, remove the worries, and then cross the river to cooperate with Zhang Xian to attack Jiangling. We have only been attacking the city for two days, and we have encountered the general's army. "

Zhang Fei heard this and kicked the man over. "Huh? You still dare to call yourselves 'the loyal army'?"

The military commander knew that he had said the wrong thing. He did not dare to resist even after being kicked. He quickly turned over and knelt down, kowtowed like crazy: "It was my fault that I did not change my ways! General, spare me! We are the rebels! We are the rebels!"

Zhang Fei was too lazy to bother the other party anymore. He had already found out the information he wanted to know, so he had a few prisoners tied up. Then he sent people to knock on the gate of the city and ask the defenders of Chanling to let him in.

The defenders of Chanling did see a melee outside the city, but the battle started at the 3 p.m. and ended at the end of the 4 p.m., when it was completely dark.

The defenders of Chanling did not dare to confirm whether the invaders were friend or foe, so they closed the city gates. The county magistrate got the news and went to the city wall to persuade the invaders to camp outside the city for one night. They could use a hanging basket to transport some wine and meat to reward the soldiers, and then make further plans the next morning.

"This guy is so ignorant! He was attacked by Jin Xuan, and we rescued him, but he still refused to open the city gate to let us in. Could it be that he is determined to wait for Liu Biao's army to come and take over the defense?" Zhang Fei became furious when he heard this, and he almost wanted to order the rear army infantry who had just arrived to prepare to attack the city.

Zhang Fei was very clear about the task assigned by his elder brother this time. Not only did he have to defeat Jin Xuan's Wuling, but he also had to prevent Liu Biao from crossing the river. How could this work if there were county magistrates who were loyal to Liu Biao in Chanling and other places?

It would be better to take advantage of the "misunderstanding" to force the other party to surrender. By then, even if Liu Biao wants to argue, it will be a fait accompli. It is better than falling out after the two sides have already reached an agreement.

Fortunately, when Zhang Fei's rear infantry arrived, his military adviser Xu Shu also arrived.

After he had a general understanding of the situation, he quickly advised Zhang Fei: "General Zhang, don't be reckless! I have also heard of Li Yan's name when I was studying in Jingzhou. I heard that he was just a county official in Nanjun, but he was diligent and meticulous in his work, and he was well organized. Therefore, he was highly valued by Liu Biao and was stationed in various counties along the Yangtze River in the south of the Yangtze River.

Li Yan and Dong He from the neighboring Yidao County were not people with deep roots. Li Yan was born in a relatively poor family, and Dong He was an outsider from Ba County. These people were dissatisfied with the control of the academic cliques by the Kuai and Cai clans in Jingzhou.

Last year, the lord ordered Kong Ming to print books and sell them in various counties in Jingzhou. Liu Biao was bewitched by Cai Mao and blocked the river to stop merchants, which inevitably led to the alienation of poor scholars and outsiders. I would like to go into the city and persuade them with the lord's benevolent policies, so that Li Yan can abandon the dark and join the light and submit to the lord! "

Xu Shu himself followed Sima Hui to surrender in the autumn and winter of last year. He personally felt the most deeply the influence of Zhuge Liang's "virtuous policy" of selling books cheaply in large quantities in Jingzhou after he developed woodblock printing.

Liu Bei's charisma and appeal to the scholars in Jingzhou were already extremely strong. Now with the support of Zhuge Liang who sold books cheaply to benefit the people, although it was only a short period of more than half a year, the mentality of many literati in Jingzhou had been drawn over.

Xu Shu firmly believed that he could convince Li Yan through his debate.

After hearing this, Zhang Fei temporarily gave up the idea of a strong attack, but he was also a little worried: "Sir, it won't be dangerous for you to go into the city to persuade them to surrender, right? And if we don't persuade them to surrender, we can pretend that we don't know or that it's a misunderstanding, break into the city and directly arrest Li Yan as Jin Xuan's accomplice.

If we have negotiated with them and they do not agree, then we cannot attack them. If we know they are not loyal to Jin Xuan but to Liu Biao, and we still attack them, we will be labeled as unjust! "

Xu Shu insisted and begged: "Please give me this chance, General Zhang! I promise to persuade Li Yan! If I fail, please depose me as compensation! If you want to act recklessly and attack Dong He again, I will never stop you!"

Zhang Fei stroked his beard and said, "Well, since Kong Ming thinks you have some ability, I'll give you this chance! Just this once!"

(End of this chapter)