My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 394: First besiege Pengcheng, then take Taishan

"Chase! Keep chasing! Capture as many Cao soldiers as you can!"

"How come Zhang He is getting worse and worse? Last year he managed to hold out until I launched a general attack before retreating, but this year he collapsed as soon as he saw the flag. I had to take a detour of more than 70 miles just for him. The round trip must have been 150 miles!"

As Zhang He's army collapsed and scattered like a tide, Guan Yu put away the bloodstained Qinglong sword with a dull look on his face, and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared. He also stroked the mane of the Red Hare with some heartache, letting the horse rest.

Zhang He was really getting more and more outrageous. When he fought with Xiahou Yuan last year, he at least held on to the end. This time, before Guan Yu even arrived at the battlefield, Zhang He's troops had already been killed by Zhang Liao and began to flee.

If it weren't for Guan Yu's fast horse, urging his Red Hare to take the lead and kill more than a dozen enemy soldiers, Guan Yu's trip today would have been in vain.

This little bit of blood was not enough to completely soak the blade of the Qinglong Sword, so that at the end of the battle, there were still streaks of white space on the Qinglong Sword that glowed with cold light, alternating between light and dark, quite like the freehand style of an ink painting.

As for the troops brought by Guan Yu, the infantry could only capture the escaped prisoners, and only the hundreds of personal guards and cavalry could pick up two or three heads.

After Guan Yu calmed his horse, Zhang Liao and Chen Gong slowly rode over. Zhang Liao was the first to speak sincerely:

"Although I won today's battle, it was also largely due to Brother Yunchang's reputation. Before Brother Yunchang's army arrived, Zhang He was also determined to fight to the death. But when he saw the dust of the expedition in the south covering the sun and the might of the army, he completely collapsed and his army's morale was broken."

Guan Yu stroked his beard, still feeling a little upset. Chen Gong was good at speaking, and he quickly tried to make fun of him and said, "A good warrior does not have to have great achievements. This is what it means. The enemy did not dare to fight with General Guan and they just dispersed. What a great reputation he has.

I heard that a similar situation happened in Jurong County, Danyang Commandery, before Sun Ce was defeated. This shows how powerful General Guan is. Everyone knows him from south to north."

Guan Yu felt embarrassed by what Chen Gong said, and he no longer cared about killing the enemy and gaining merit today.

Anyway, as the commander-in-chief, he is in charge of coordinating the overall situation. If he wins, he wins. Why bother about whether he should lead the troops to fight personally?

Guan Yu stroked his beard proudly and said modestly: "Gongtai heard that in Danyang, Sun Ce didn't even see my flag. It was Zilong who arrived at the battlefield not long ago and rushed to kill Sun Ce and he was defeated. I didn't even have the chance to get to the battlefield."

Chen Gong: "General Zhao's reputation is naturally extraordinary. But General Guan's reputation must be quite helpful in destroying the enemy's morale. Even if they don't 'flee at the sight of the enemy', at least they 'flee at the hearing of the enemy', which is a higher level."

Guan Yu was really unable to respond and dropped the topic.

It seems that people can change. Chen Gong was hidden for many years because he was a rebel designated by Cao Cao and his hatred value was much higher than Zhang Liao. He was not "released" until the end of the year before last, pretending to be "caught after faking his death and fleeing for several years."

Therefore, his record of doing good deeds after joining Liu Bei was two years shorter than Zhang Liao's. When Lu Bu was alive, Chen Gong's status was slightly higher than Zhang Liao's, but now he could only serve as Zhang Liao's advisor. Because in those two years, Zhang Liao had made many military achievements, especially in the final stage of the war to destroy Sun Ce, which gave him two promotion opportunities.

It is impossible to say that there is no psychological gap after such a change.

The first time Chen Gong did real work was during the East China Sea Campaign between Guan Yu and Xiahou Yuan last year. Before that, he was just doing odd jobs and his abilities were not very impressive. This year is his second round of military counseling, and it can be seen that he really wants to improve and catch up with Zhang Liao.

Guan Yu didn't want to listen to Chen Gong's flattery anymore, but he also knew that Chen Gong wanted to make merit so much and his heart could be used. As long as he was guided, he would be a good helper.

So he took the opportunity to give it a chance and asked casually: "Now that Zhang He has been defeated and his troops have been dispersed, according to Gongtai's opinion, our army should take Pengcheng and Taishan counties. Which one should be given priority? How should we deploy it specifically?"

After hearing this, Chen Gong realized that this was a rare opportunity, so he hurried to help find and fill in the gaps.

He knew very well that if he was in Xia Pi City or Sui Ling City, it would not be his turn to answer these questions because Zhuge Jin had already made an overall plan.

It was only in situations like today's when Guan Yu needed to ask for advice during a field battle that he could be of use, because Guan Yu was on a forced march and Zhuge Jin was living a life of luxury and was unable to join the army at the first opportunity.

As a newcomer strategist, shouldn't he take advantage of opportunities like this to do dirty and hard work to show his abilities?

He thought for a moment, then analyzed with all his strength: "For now, we should still base our plan on the strategy of the princes. No matter what, we should immediately divide our troops to surround Pengcheng.

Zhang He's scattered remnants are unlikely to be able to retreat back to Pengcheng, and will definitely be cut off by our army. After our army surrounds Pengcheng, even if Guo Jia defends it to the death and it is difficult to break through for the time being, we can surround it without attacking, and then slowly erode the surrounding areas, take over Taishan County and other places one by one, and finally fight a decisive battle.

Because once the news that Chang Xi is about to surrender to our army spreads, the Taishan bandits who remain behind will inevitably be leaderless, and the Cao army will not sit idly by and watch the entire Taishan County be taken over by us. Cao Cao will definitely use Wu Dun and other old Taishan bandit generals who are loyal to Cao Cao to make promises and get back as much as possible, so we have to race against time. "

Guan Yu listened to Chen Gong's very organized plan. The main part of this plan was similar to Zhuge Jin's pre-war arrangement, but with some minor adjustments, which were also caused by the variable Chang Xi. Guan Yu accepted it all and nodded, saying, "Don't worry about blocking Zhang He's way back to Pengcheng. I have already divided the troops to guard the important roads before I came. If Zhang He is defeated, he can only flee to the west, not the south. It is estimated that he will have to flee to Pei County at least to gain a foothold.

I will send another 5,000 troops to strengthen the encirclement of Pengcheng. For now, let Chang Xi open the city first."

Guan Yu was also decisive. After cleaning up the battlefield and roughly pursuing and expanding the victory that day, he personally rode to the west tower of Fuyang County and formally forced Chang Xi to surrender. He also asked Zhang Liao to line up all the cavalry in a strict formation to enhance the military's prestige.

"General Chang, I heard that you reached a gentleman's agreement with Gongtai this morning. You agreed that as long as Zhang He retreated, you would open the city and surrender. Now Zhang He has been defeated by me. You saw it with your own eyes. You will not go back on your word, right?"

There was total silence on the tower. After a while, a slightly timid voice asked, "Is the person coming here General Guan Yu?"

Guan Yu raised his eyebrows: "You haven't seen me?"

He hasn't introduced himself for many years because Guan Yu always subconsciously feels that people in the world can recognize him directly when they see his beard.

There was complete silence on the city wall again. After a while, the city gate opened and Chang Xi rode out with several of his followers. When he was thirty or fifty steps away from Guan Yu, he dismounted and walked the last section on foot. When he was still seven or eight steps away from Guan Yu, he threw the reins to his followers, clasped his hands together and bowed as he walked:

"General Guan's power is known to everyone. When the General of Chariots and Cavalry took over Xuzhou, we were still in Mount Tai and never saw him. But later, when Marquis Wen... took over Xuzhou, he made friends with the generals in Mount Tai, so I knew Wenyuan and Gongtai.

"I am a lowly general, and I have received the personal advice of General Guan to surrender. How dare I break my promise? Please ask General Guan to enter the city."

Zhang Liao and Chen Gong were listening nearby and also felt a little depressed.

There is still a gap between this person's signboard and others'. He has been intimidating for a long time, but it is just a prelude. When Guan Yu's flag finally arrived, Zhang He collapsed instantly. It is estimated that this scene had too much impact on Chang Xi, so he simply stopped struggling.

If you had surrendered earlier and given up struggling before Zhang He was defeated, wouldn't the credit have been shared by the two of them? And if you had surrendered earlier, Chang Xi wouldn't have been so disgraceful and discredited. It can be said that he hesitated for a moment and harmed others and himself.

Guan Yu was unaware of the twists and turns, and just calmed him down with a few dignified words before riding his horse into the city. Chang Xi took the initiative to help him hold the reins and walked in front of Guan Yu, not afraid of his tricks.

After entering the city, Chang Xi led them all the way to the county government office, where he prepared a feast with wine and meat to entertain Guan Yu and Zhang Liao, and also distributed military rations to Guan Yu's soldiers.

Many of Chang Xi's generals came over to Guan Yu to make themselves known and toast him. Some of them were so bold as to help Chang Xi argue:

"Don't blame me, General Guan. I have long wanted to submit to the General of Chariots and Cavalry, but I was afraid that Cao Cao would be too powerful and I would not be able to defeat him alone, so I did not dare to act too early."

"That's right. We've heard Big Brother mention it several times in private."

Guan Yu watched all this coldly. He did not refuse any toasts, but he knew clearly in his heart that some of these Taishan bandits had already looked down on Chang Xi's bargaining and wanted to bypass their superiors to curry favor with him and follow him directly.

In this case, Guan Yu couldn't take the initiative to win over Chang Xi, because that would be too embarrassing. After all, the other party had already surrendered, so the benefits should be given, otherwise who would dare to surrender next time?
However, those who took the initiative to show goodwill to him should be protected. Otherwise, if they continue to be directly under Chang Xi's jurisdiction, it would be disheartening if Chang Xi secretly made things difficult for them in the future.

Fortunately, this was not the first time Guan Yu had dealt with such a situation. Over the years, he had a lot of experience in accepting "bandits coming to surrender", so he immediately went with the flow:

"I think these warriors are all loyal and righteous. I am afraid that I will misunderstand you as someone who is 'coming here out of poverty' and is still speaking out for justice. Why not give them a job and let them each take one or two counties in Taishan County and go back to help take over. This will be quicker and we will avoid any more troubles from the thieves."

Guan Yu said this, and Chang Xi naturally could not refuse. After all, there was a Taishan bandit named Wu Dun on Cao Cao's side who would come to seize the power vacuum.

The sooner we take over the counties of Mount Tai, the better. Chang Xi is unable to handle everything on his own, so it would be great to have a few more people to share the burden.

Chang Xi's face was slightly bitter, but he still gritted his teeth and agreed: "General Guan's troops are advancing rapidly, what problems can there be in taking over the various places? Just follow your orders."

Guan Yu called out the names one by one, one to go to Fenggao County, the county seat, another to Mou County and Pingyang, and the assignments were completed quickly. Chang Xi himself was also sent back to his old nest, Fei County, to receive the troops.

After a drink that night, everything was arranged properly. Over the next ten days, all counties in Mount Tai followed the plan completely.

(End of this chapter)