My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 470: Complete Settlement of Liaodong, Looking Back to the West

For Zhao Yun, with advanced siege weapons, it was not difficult to climb the city walls of Liaoyang or Xiangping.

The main reason that prevented him from launching an all-out attack was that the number of defenders in the two cities was too large. In other words, as long as the defenders were determined and willing to fight to the death in hand-to-hand combat, even if Zhao Yun's men stood on the top of the wall, they would have to pay a lot of casualties if they wanted to kill the enemies who kept rushing up to crush them.

The Gongsun family had been in Liaodong for more than fifteen years and was able to mobilize an army of over 100,000.

Gongsun Du had lost more than 60,000 soldiers before, and the Three Hans had been eliminated, killing nearly 20,000 more. After removing the other minor gains, there were at least 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers left in the twin cities of Xiangping and Liaoyang. Xiangping was more important, with about 40,000 soldiers, and Liaoyang had 20,000 soldiers.

Zhao Yun just didn't want to kill these 20,000 people by force of battle, it was not worth it.

However, after suffering many bad news and declining morale, the defenders' fighting spirit in Liaoyang City in early June was weakened to the extreme. They were only holding on by the psychological advantage that "the enemy has not launched a strong attack for so long, maybe they dare not to launch a strong attack."

When Zhao Yun suddenly changed his face and became swift and swift, the catapults were piled up at an incredible speed and the offensive was extremely resolute, the Liaoyang defenders' mentality of luck was completely shattered.

Zhao Yun's armored soldiers stood firm and survived the most difficult moment. They ruthlessly killed off batches of steadfast defenders, and the remaining soldiers were finally induced into a total collapse.

The pitiful fighting spirit that was originally inspired by the herd mentality melted away without a trace.

Soldiers holding spears and lances either jumped off the city wall out of fear of death or knelt down to surrender. Many of them fled in panic, their comrades behind them blocking their escape route, so they swung their swords at each other, regardless of friend or foe, and fought hard to carve out a bloody path for their lives.

At this time, anyone who runs slowly will become a ghost under the sword of his former comrade, and anyone who stands in the way will die!

Large-scale trampling of each other began to occur in succession. Later on, it was impossible to tell whether the soldiers who fell from the city wall were stabbed, jumped down on their own, or were pushed down by their comrades.

After an incense stick of time, the south gate of Liaoyang City was opened. Half an hour later, Zhao Yun's army reached the treasury in the city.

By the evening of that day, the battle in the city was completely over. Thousands of the 20,000 defenders were killed or wounded, and most of them collapsed and were surrounded, and then forced to land.

……

After Zhao Yun's army captured Liaoyang, they rested for three days, treating the wounded and rewarding the soldiers to restore their strength.

On the sixth day of June, the army besieging Liaoyang moved to the Xiangping battlefield, and brought a group of captured civil servants and generals to the top of the city wall to let the Xiangping defenders know that Liaoyang had been breached.

This last straw really worked. After learning that Liaoyang was directly breached by Zhao Yun's repeated fierce attacks, Gongsun Kang was completely frightened and no longer dared to negotiate any conditions or ask for any ceasefire guarantees.

He went straight to his most trusted and important minister, Wang Lie, and briefly discussed the breakout plan with him.

After spending a whole day preparing, Gongsun Kang opened the east and north gates of Xiangping City that night and attempted to retreat to the northeast along the Liao River.

The reason for opening the gate at night was to buy more time for the troops to leave the city and evacuate as many people as possible to prevent Zhao Yun from discovering their movements at the first time.

Unfortunately, there is Zhou Yu on the opposite side.

What kind of trouble can Gongsun Kang's little trick cause?
His vanguard cavalry unit had just left the city and galloped upstream along the Liao River for thirty miles.

On a hill on the south bank of the Liao River, war drums suddenly sounded, and Zhao Yun's cavalry rushed out from the back of the hill, intercepting Gongsun Kang's troops in two.

In the darkness of the night, Gongsun Kang had no idea of the enemy's strength and numbers. Even if he knew, he would not dare to fight. He had to ride away at full speed, abandoning his troops and walking away alone.

If Zhao Yun had not received instructions from Zhuge Jin and had not intended to kill Gongsun Kang, he would never have been able to escape.

In the end, out of Gongsun Kang's 40,000 troops, only a few thousand cavalrymen succeeded in breaking through. Most of the infantry, especially those non-professional soldiers who were temporarily mobilized and conscripted, were divided and surrounded by Zhao Yun in groups, and surrendered directly after a short battle.

Some of them took advantage of the darkness to run away, but they were not a threat. These were farmers who were conscripted temporarily. If they could escape, they would return to their hometowns to be farmers. Very few of them would become bandits. At that time, business was not well developed in Liaodong, and there was nothing to rob if they became bandits. They would just find a valley to be independent and grow their own food.

In the Northeast during this era, bandits also had to farm, otherwise they would not be able to survive. The only difference between them and farmers was that they did not have to pay taxes to the government, but small bandits also had to pay taxes to the village chiefs who protected them.

After dealing with these defeated troops, Zhao Yun did not dare to delay any longer. He rushed to the city of Xiangping at dawn the next day and forced the officials who remained in the city to surrender immediately, otherwise he would launch a violent attack.

The commander-in-chief had already broken through and escaped. This time, the defenders of Xiangping did not delay and quickly opened the city gate under the leadership of Wang Lie.

Wang Lie also surrendered to Zhao Yun on behalf of the escaped Gongsun Kang, and asked Zhao Yun not to disturb the people and stop chasing and killing.

Zhao Yun expressed his tacit consent without comment, untied Wang Lie, and comforted him with gentle words.

After taking over Xiangping City, Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu immediately jointly wrote a letter, sent a letter to Zhuge Jin, and also submitted a report to Liu Bei to commend their achievements.

In the following half month, letters and memorials were sent to Jixian and Hefei one after another. Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu left Zhang Zhuo, Xu Sheng and other generals to continue the cleanup work in the local area, and they themselves, with a small number of troops, set out to return to Jixian and Nanpi - after all, after taking Xiangping, they only took the seat of Liaodong County, and there were still several counties in Liaodong County waiting to be taken over in the northeast of Xiangping.

Even if the entire Liaodong County was recovered, there was still a Xuantu County to the northeast, which was the new land expanded by Gongsun Du after his victory over Goguryeo a few years ago.

After all, the area of a Liaodong county is basically equivalent to the entire Liaoning province in later generations. To occupy such a large area, even if the enemy does not resist and just allows you to step on the grid, it will take two months, not to mention that in this process, you need to capture and eliminate the fleeing soldiers from time to time.

Fortunately, it was June and July, the hottest time of the year, which was just right for the army to advance. Liu Bei's army finally took over and consolidated all the Han territory in Northeast China before the end of the autumn harvest.

Gongsun Kang, who fled with several thousand cavalry, could no longer stay in Xuantu County, so he had to continue fleeing eastward. Finally, he entered the Changbai Mountain area and took refuge with his brother-in-law, Wei Choutai, the King of Buyeo.

The Gongsun family had been operating in Liaodong for fifteen years, so they had some foundation there and had bestowed a lot of favors. Naturally, the people were also loyal to Gongsun Kang.

As a result, thousands of households and thousands of families of the escaped cavalry migrated eastward to seek refuge under the rule of Gongsun Kang.

This is not surprising. When any prince exercises power, there are always beneficiaries and victims. Those who have benefited from it want to become old-timers, which cannot be stopped, but it is harmless.

Liaodong is such a vast place with 200,000 to 300,000 Han households. Among them, more than 10,000 households are willing to follow the Gongsun family, accounting for only 5%, which is normal.

However, it is hard to say how these more than 10,000 Han households will flourish and take root after arriving on the territory of Buyeo, and how they will become the force that the descendants of Gongsun Kang and Yu Choutai will use to compete for Buyeo.

Zhao Yun also knew what Zhuge Jin was thinking, so he was willing to turn a blind eye and let a little bit of information slip through his fingers.

Everything is still under control.

……

Gongsun Kang fled and Xiangping was captured, and the war situation in Liaodong was completely set in stone.

This news was successfully delivered to Hefei and to Liu Bei's headquarters as General of Chariots and Cavalry at the end of June.

Liu Bei was naturally pleased to see the good news.

He couldn't help but discuss with Zhuge Liang:
"Zilong and Gongjin have finally accomplished their mission. Although it took eight months, they have expanded the territory by two thousand miles and gained more than two million people, which is a cause for celebration. It is time to give Ziyu, Zilong and Gongjin promotions to honor their achievements.

Unfortunately, in order to show that our army respects the court, we have rarely submitted petitions to the court for official positions since the imperial edict. It has been five years. Even if we submit petitions, they are all for positions below the rank of general and prefect. Ziyu's official position is already high, and if he wants to be promoted again, it cannot be granted privately. Now we have to submit the petition, even if we know that Your Majesty is being held hostage by Cao Cao. "

Regarding this issue, Zhuge Liang of course had to be humble on behalf of his elder brother, saying that these were not important. The lord's real trust and delegation of power were much more important than those empty positions.

Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, indicating that Zhuge Liang did not need to be so modest.

The emperor and his minister were chatting and celebrating when suddenly a figure flashed in from outside the door. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang couldn't help but look and realized it was Pang Tong.

Now in Hefei City, there are only a few people like Pang Tong who can break into Liu Bei's government hall without notifying.

Liu Bei didn't take it seriously, but asked gently, "Shi Yuan came here in a hurry, but do you have anything important to report?"

Pang Tong held a small fan, shook his head and sighed: "My Lord, do you still remember that last month, we got some news, which was sent to us by Master Liu of Jingzhou, saying that Cao Cao seemed to be sending troops to cross the Qinling Mountains to attack Zhang Lu. Then Han Sui also fought with Ma Teng, who was supported by Cao Cao.

Later, the lord asked them to investigate again and report back, to confirm whether Cao Cao's main attack direction was Han Sui or Zhang Lu. But now, there is no need to inquire, because the eldest son of Jingzhou has sent the latest battle situation on the western front, confirming that Cao Cao has broken through Yangping Pass and Zhang Lu has fled Nanzheng. "

When Liu Bei heard this, he was shocked.

But in fact, if we look at it from a God's perspective, there is absolutely no question of giving Cao's army cheats - because in the original history, it only took Cao Cao four months from crossing the Qinling Mountains, going south along the Chencang Road, to finally defeating Zhang Lu and forcing him to surrender.

(Note: In the official history, Cao Cao defeated Zhang Lu from July to November of the 20th year of Jian'an, and the whole process took only more than four months. Zhang Lu himself was not difficult to defeat. In history, the main difficulty for Cao Cao to fight for Hanzhong was the constraints of Ma Chao and the subsequent counterattack of Liu Bei)
This was something Cao Cao could have done. In this life, Cao Cao fought relatively slowly. The war started in March, and he has only broken through Yangping Pass so far. At least Zhang Lu still had a place to escape and delay.

But Liu Bei was not a time traveler and did not know this historical knowledge, so he was naturally very surprised:

"I didn't expect that after we annexed Liaodong, Cao Cao also took the opportunity to enter Hanzhong. But this can't be blamed on Zilong and Gongjin for their slow attack. Liaodong plus Lelang Daifang need to advance 2,000 miles all the way.

The entire journey from Chencang to Hanzhong is less than 400 miles, but the road to Shu through the Qinling Mountains is difficult to travel. I don’t know how Cao Cao broke through Yangping Pass. Could it be that Zhang Lu can’t even defend the pass to the death? "

Pang Tong heard the question and hurried to explain it, but Liu Bei suddenly turned to Zhuge Liang and asked another question:
"Sir, if Cao Cao really breaks through Hanzhong, what should our army do next? Should we take advantage of the fact that Cao Cao's army is divided and the eastern front is empty and directly attack Cao Cao from Hebei, Lu County, Fuli and other places, or should we find another way to prevent Cao Cao from further expanding? For example, will Liu Zhang of Yizhou be frightened by Cao Cao?"

(End of this chapter)