My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 763 Until Zhang He was hit by an arrow

Taking advantage of the last few days before the New Year, Zhuge Jin briefed Zhao Yun, Zhou Yu, Ma Chao and Taishi Ci on the subsequent rhythm arrangements and deployments of the Battle of Jizhou, so that everyone could spend a happy new year in peace.

It’s the New Year, and since we’re here, let’s not worry about who will make more contributions and who will make fewer contributions in the future.

Situ is very observant and keeps everything in mind. When assigning tasks, he tries to be fair. Each of the four generals Zhao, Zhou and Ma Tai has a bright future.

In the following days, the generals were able to relax for a rare time, allowing the troops that had been working non-stop for the previous month to have a good rest. This could be considered a way of alternating between relaxation and tension for both the civil and military sectors.

On New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year, Situ also ordered to improve the treatment of the soldiers and increase their supplies. All soldiers could eat some meat, and they were provided with enough wine and food.

In the winter, the river was frozen and it was difficult to transport supplies. Although there were many freshly caught fish on the Bohai Sea, they could not be transported to Dongguang County and other places by boat through the Zhang River. But it didn't matter, because they had just defeated Zhang He and captured the Nanpi siege camp abandoned by Cao's army. A considerable part of the supplies left by Zhang He that had not been burned in time were seized by Zhuge Jin.

It is absolutely no problem to have a prosperous year just by relying on these stocks. It can also be said that "if we have nothing to eat or drink, Cao Ze is our transportation captain."

After taking Dongguang County, as long as Zhang He did not burn the city, the spoils would be enough for Liu Bei's army to use for a long time. After all, Dongguang County was the forward base and frontier supply hub for Zhang He's troops to besiege Nanpi.

However, not everything went smoothly during the Chinese New Year.

It seems that the weather is not good. The day before New Year's Eve, the heavy snow on the Hebei Plain has further intensified, and it is unknown how long it will take to stop.

A large number of Liu Bei's soldiers gathered outside Dongguan County and surrounded the remnants of Zhang He. The local siege camp was just established, there were too many people, many things were incomplete, and living conditions were very difficult.

Even if the soldiers have enough food and water, they cannot rely on drinking to keep warm. They also need more warm clothes and quilts and thicker tents.

However, most of the generals below, especially those like Ma Chao who arrived late, were too embarrassed to ask Zhuge Jin for instructions. They could only strictly discipline their subordinates and let everyone grit their teeth and compete with each other in military discipline.

All the generals inevitably had one thing in mind: now there were four armies, attacking separately and joining forces to meet here, all under Situ's nose, and under his personal command. This was an opportunity to perform well in front of Situ.

How can we complain about the coldness of our soldiers at a time like this? Wouldn't that make us look worse than our allies in terms of military management?

We must put in a good performance to show that our soldiers have an iron will and are unmoved by freezing cold winds, heavy snow and freezing weather, and surpass our friendly forces!

Zhuge Jin did not call on the generals to be the King of Rolls, but when the generals saw Situ, they could not help but spontaneously want to be the King of Rolls, and subconsciously did not force themselves to do so, and Zhuge Jin did not notice it for a while.

In the end, Zhao Yun was relatively powerful, and he had been in the bitter cold of Youzhou for a long time, so he didn't need to prove anything. After personally patrolling the camp, he found that some soldiers were frostbitten. After understanding the situation in depth, he found Zhuge Jin to report.

When Zhao Yun entered the tent, it was already late at night, and the next day was New Year's Eve.

When Zhuge Jin saw Zhao Yun entering the tent in the middle of the night, he quickly put down the war report and the summary of money and grain accounts in his hands, and subconsciously asked with a smile: "It's almost midnight, is there any urgent military situation?"

Zhao Yun cupped his hands and sat down beside Zhuge Jin. "Zi Yu, I've noticed that the snow has been getting stronger these past two days, and the Zhang River has completely frozen over. Although our army has enough clothes, we have a total of 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers who have moved camp in a hurry, so we are bound to have insufficient tents and blankets. If this continues, I'm afraid people will freeze to death."

Zhao Yun stopped talking at the right time, and did not directly ask "what should we do" or give any suggestions. He just stopped talking and let Zhuge Jin make his own decision.

After all, Zhuge Jin was already the prime minister, and in a private setting when only the two of them were around, calling him by his courtesy name was already the limit of Zhao Yun's courtesy, and he didn't want to go beyond that.

Zhuge Jin thought about it, quickly rubbed the acupuncture points at the corners of his nose and eyes, and nodded humbly: "It is because I have neglected to patrol the camp and ask about the hardships of the soldiers these two days. I only thought about assigning next year's combat missions to the generals.

So many people gathered together, the camp was newly expanded, and the facilities were indeed not complete. How about this, since it was snowing heavily and Zhang He couldn't escape, let part of the army go to the nearby county town that had already been occupied to station. Especially tens of thousands of people could return to Nanpi City.

There are fewer soldiers stationed in the field camp, so there are enough tents and blankets to share, and there is enough firewood left in the camp for heating. When you go out, help me call the grain officer and the chief secretary to come, and ask them to bring the relevant accounts and calculate them overnight. Tomorrow morning, send those who are short of heating supplies back to the city to camp."

Zhao Yun bowed, and it was like putting his mind at ease. However, he was also worried that his suggestion would have other adverse effects, so he couldn't help but remind him:
"However, after withdrawing part of the troops, we must also be on guard against Zhang He's sudden breakout... Zhang He is now a dead body in a grave, and it would be unprofitable if he escapes unexpectedly again."

Zhuge Jin raised his hand and said, "Of course I know this, and this heavy snow that is getting thicker and thicker is not fake. I am just taking advantage of the fact that the weather is getting colder. If Zhang He is really lured out after the New Year, we will use this and that trick against him..."

When Zhao Yun heard Zhuge Jin say that he had a plan, he immediately shut up and stopped talking, letting Zhuge Jin make his own arrangements.

……

The leader said one word, and the subordinates ran around. Zhuge Jin had said so, and the grain officers and soldiers in charge of counting military supplies naturally started to investigate overnight.

The next morning, when Zhuge Jin woke up, his subordinates had already organized the information he wanted into accounts and wrote a brief summary document with the main points for Situ to read.

Zhuge Jin took a rough look, then looked at the original data in detail, and checked a few randomly. Feeling that there was no problem, he immediately made a decision and decided the number of troops to be temporarily withdrawn back to the city.

During the day, taking advantage of the relatively warm weather at noon, tens of thousands of people dispersed in various directions. Some returned to Nanpi County to spend the New Year, and some went to Lecheng County and Xinle County.

Within a day, at least half of the people in the siege camp outside Dongguang County left. The remaining half had more supplies and no longer had to worry about running out of quilts and felt tents.

For the next few days, nothing happened. The 100,000 soldiers of Liu Bei's army, led by Zhuge Jin, spent a prosperous year in peace and contentment. They had wine and meat every day. It was a rare occasion to have such good days.

Zhuge Jin also sent people to buy the pigs and sheep raised by the people in several surrounding counties, and then slaughtered them to serve as a meal for the soldiers.

Zhuge Jin was still quite caring about the people, and would not forcefully requisition these extra luxury materials during wartime. Anyway, Liu Bei's camp had developed industry and commerce in recent years, and was not short of money. The Zhuge family had many technological inventions and workshops, so they were not short of money at all.

However, even if you have to pay for it, in order to prevent unscrupulous merchants from hoarding and raising prices during wartime, compulsory purchase according to the official guidance price is still necessary.

For example, if the price of pork per pound is not to exceed five cents, it must not exceed that. The military should have a wholesale price for large-scale purchases, but it was generally kept at three cents per pound. Live pigs were also discounted by 30% because of the meat yield, so live pigs were weighed at two cents per pound.

Such prices were the prices of goods in the peaceful times of the Han Dynasty, and they would have been impossible in times of war. But no matter what, as a powerful official and commander of the army to suppress rebellion, Zhuge Jin was willing to pay two coins per pound to buy live pigs and sheep with hair and feces, which was a very benevolent policy.

(Note: According to the original data obtained from modern archaeological excavations of Han bamboo slips, during the non-war years of the Han Dynasty, the price of pork fluctuated between three and ten coins per catty, and lard cost fifteen coins. It was relatively cheaper in areas with developed animal husbandry. Zhuge Jin's offer was already the lowest price in the history of the Han Dynasty.)
When Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were fighting in Hebei, they would have been desperate to collect grain, so who would pay for it? At most, they would rob the land and wait for the war to end, and then say that the land tax was exempted that year, and the looted part would be counted as pre-collected taxes.

The generals under Zhuge Jin's command were initially a little confused about Zhuge Jin's grand preparations for the New Year for the soldiers, and they thought it was too much fuss.

Moreover, a large number of soldiers were withdrawn to Nanpi, Lecheng and other counties. The guarding of Dongguang was already weak. If they continued to eat and drink in a lavish manner, it would be easy for the enemy to find loopholes.

Some generals who did not know the truth offered advice to Zhuge Jin and reminded him of this privately. However, Zhuge Jin did not comment, saying that everything was under control and that everyone could make a big noise.

In this way, the soldiers of Liu Bei's army in Hebei spent the fifth day of the Lunar New Year in peace and stability. They should have been quieter, but Zhuge Jin remained as he was, allowing the soldiers to eat and drink until the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, and even relaxed the scouts and patrols.

……

This kind of continuous rest and recuperation finally caught the attention of Zhang He in Dongguan City, who felt something was wrong.

Zhang He had actually suffered some minor injuries since he fled back in defeat a year ago.

However, considering the low morale of the army and the fact that a large number of friendly troops had been betrayed, and even Gao Lan had been killed in the chaos by Ma Chao, Zhang He did not dare to take the time to recuperate. Instead, he had to patrol the army in person every day with injuries, and act miserably to win the sympathy of the soldiers.

Because Zhang He knew very well that a rumor had been spreading more and more widely in the army in the past few days, which was "In the Battle of Nanpi, our army should have surrendered earlier. Cao Cao's luck was about to end. What's more, many of us used to serve under General Yuan. It would not be a big deal to surrender back. The law does not punish the masses, and Cao Cao would not really punish the families of 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers severely."

"The reason why we were not able to surrender and had to escape so far away was all because of Zhang He. Zhang He was the main culprit who surrendered to Cao at Guandu. So if Master Yuan was on the opposite side, he would definitely not let Zhang He go. Zhang He dragged everyone along to die with him in order to save his life."

After returning to Dongguan County, Zhang He was very worried when he heard that the rumor was spreading in the army. He also secretly investigated and executed several of the most active sources of the rumor in an attempt to curb this suspicion.

However, rumors were too tenacious, and coupled with the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Nanpi, where so many troops were lost, the morale of the army became increasingly panic-stricken, and more and more soldiers from Hebei felt that Cao Cao had no hope.

Under such circumstances, Zhang He had to put on an attitude of sharing the same hardships as the lowest-ranking soldiers, patrolling the camp with injuries every day, playing the victim to gain sympathy, and learning every trick Wu Qi used to command the army.

Even if you can't learn to be similar in spirit, at least you can look similar on the surface.

With Zhang He patrolling the city so diligently, any unusual movements of the enemy outside the city were of course quickly noticed by him.

At first Zhang He didn't believe it, but after careful observation for a few days, he knew that Zhuge Jin had really withdrawn more than half of the troops and told them not to camp in the wilderness, but to return to the nearby county to celebrate the New Year.

"Is this a trick? Could it be that Zhuge Jin wants us to underestimate the enemy and let our guard down so he can launch a surprise attack later?"

After Zhang He realized this situation, he couldn't help but subconsciously ask his deputy general Su You.

Su You was the one who surrendered to the enemy during the Battle of Yecheng, on the eve of Cao's army's capture of the city. Later, he and Feng Li came under the command of Zhang He.

Three years ago, before Lü Kuang died, the Jizhou defense zone was divided into the north and south, and was governed by Zhang He and Lü Kuang respectively. Zhang He's subordinates were mainly Su You and Feng Li, while Lü Kuang's subordinates were Ma Yan and Zhang Yi.

Later, Lü Kuang's faction was destroyed by Zhao Yun, and Ma Yan, Zhang Xi and others were killed or demoted. However, they were reused by Zhang He. Unfortunately, these people were just so-so in talent, and their abilities did not improve after their official positions were promoted. At this moment, facing the commander's suspicion, Su You could not explain it, but just speculated with common sense: "It is freezing cold, and the siege camp outside the city was just built, so it is not that large-scale.

Perhaps Zhuge Jin had an impulse and gathered too many troops at once, and the weather suddenly turned cold, so there were not enough warm tents to live in, so he had to disperse the troops again. "

Zhang He thought about it and felt that this statement made sense. Could it be that Zhuge Jin was just getting things done so he became arrogant and didn't plan things carefully enough, and just did things one way or the other?
This is not like Zhuge Jin's style, but the weather change is real. This cold wave and heavy snow that further caused a severe drop in temperature were definitely not something Zhuge Jin could have created.

After understanding this, Zhang He nodded involuntarily: "That can be regarded as God's help to our army. I was worried that Zhuge Jin would besiege us day and night and intensify the attack. Now it seems that we can at least delay the enemy here for a month or so.

Dongguan County was not strong enough, and its military force and weaponry were not strong enough. We only stayed here for a while to buy time for General Xiahou to rebuild the defense line and redeploy troops to reorganize the defense.

When the weather gets warmer in the future, if Zhuge Jin really wants to attack, once we can't hold on, we still have to find a way to seize the opportunity to retreat again. I'm just afraid that Zhuge Jin has already ambushed us. Even if it seems that he is only surrounding three sides, or even one side, he may have another ambush..."

Su You, who was standing next to him, was not as smart as Zhang He. After listening to the commander's analysis, he could not help but ask worriedly, "General, is it more likely that the enemy will ambush on three sides, or will they only ambush on one side?"

Zhang He thought about it and analyzed it carefully, "According to common sense, it is easier to set up an ambush when there is only one route left. After all, we are surrounded on three sides, and our army only has one route to retreat. As long as we set up an ambush on the only land route, and lure us to break out when we can't hold the siege, we can try to kill us halfway.

But what kind of person is Zhuge Jin? In terms of the art of war, apart from his second brother, there are probably few people in the world who understand the art of war better than him. Maybe he will only surround one side, which seems to give us many ways to escape, but he can guess which way we will take, or he will try to set an ambush for each one..."

Su You was a little scared after listening to Zhang He's analysis: "Then in the future, won't we have to defend Dongguang to the end? Anyway, even if we want to retreat, we may not be able to withdraw.

If I had known that I would abandon Dongguang, I would have retreated to the rear area. At most, I would have been severely punished and demoted by General Xiahou, but at least I could have saved my life. "

Zhang He couldn't help but feel angry and amused when he heard this: "What are you talking about! You are admitting defeat before the battle! If General Xiahou and the Prime Minister hear your thoughts, you will definitely be punished by military law!"

After Zhang He finished scolding, he soon realized that the morale of the entire army had been so low that scolding alone was useless. Su You was at least close to him and he was very supportive, so he could still control him.

If it were other generals with whom he was not so close, they might have been thinking about how to betray their master and seek fame in a critical moment.

Therefore, Zhang He did not dare to get really angry, and soon thought of another trick, so he tried to make amends:

"But don't worry. We all have difficulties. I am not unreasonable. If we really want to retreat safely when we can't hold on, there is a way. There are only thieves who can steal for a thousand days, but no one can guard against thieves for a thousand days.

It was so cold and snowy that Zhuge Jin would not have people squatting in the wild every day. Therefore, he would most likely choose days with good weather or days when it was obvious that our army had the conditions to break out, and then he would strictly guard the area.

If the snow is too deep, or if the Zhang River just thaws and becomes muddy, there will definitely be loopholes in Zhuge Jin's encirclement... As long as we don't wait until the enemy's attack is too overwhelming, but leave in advance, the enemy may not be able to remain vigilant. I heard that in Fancheng, General Cao Ren also took advantage of the sudden freezing of the Baihe River to escape the encirclement of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. "

As Zhang He spoke, he observed the enemy camp outside the city.

He could also see that the situation this time was different from the Battle of Fancheng as described in the original paper war report.

During the Battle of Fancheng, Cao Ren took advantage of the freezing of the Baihe River to escape. But he couldn't escape now because Zhuge Jin's precautions were obviously more stringent than those of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. When the Zhang River froze, his camp was set up directly next to the bank of the Zhang River, and every day there were cavalry patrols with straw ropes tied to their horses' hooves, patrolling on the frozen river. They were really too vigilant.

However, it was precisely because he observed that Zhuge Jin's troops were temporarily insufficient, and the heavy snow and the New Year's Day were relatively stretched. At the same time, the patrols were so diligent, so Zhang He concluded that once the time passed, or the weather conditions deteriorated, Zhuge Jin's surveillance would be relaxed.

The enemy will certainly think that they will not retreat by simply delaying the time, and will definitely wait until they can no longer withstand the attack before retreating.

In this case, we should do the opposite and delay the enemy for a month or two, but not until Dongguan County can no longer withstand the onslaught. We should seize the opportunity to escape as early as possible. There should be a chance.

With this mentality, Zhang He dragged on for more than half a month, from the beginning of the first lunar month to after the Lantern Festival, and soon it was almost the end of the first lunar month.

The enemy on the opposite side seemed to be still resting and not on high alert. Moreover, the number of soldiers surrounding the city was decreasing. It was not known whether some of the troops had been transferred to other places to attack cities and pick on the weak.

By the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, ten days had passed since the coldest time of winter, and the snow had stopped falling, but the frozen ground had not yet begun to thaw. About ten days later, on the second day of the second lunar month, the Dragon Raises its Head, which is the time for thawing according to the lunar calendar.

Early that morning, Zhang He was trapped in Dongguang City. The enemies outside the city suddenly showed signs of attacking the city and piled up many rattan shields to provide cover, allowing Liu Bei's army's archers and other long-range firepower to approach and shoot at the top of the city. There were also some simple ladders, flying ladders, and battering rams, all of which were arranged to increase momentum.

Zhang He thought that the enemy was going to attack forcefully, so he climbed up the city wall to observe as if he were facing a powerful enemy. However, he ended up hearing the enemy shouting at him to surrender.

"Listen up, you bastard Zhang He! I am the Minister of the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Jin! If you surrender now, I promise that Yuan Qingzhou will not bring up the past with you! The Grand Marshal and I will also protect your life! I will go and make three rules with Yuan Tan!

If you still insist on doing this, your men will have to kill you first! Today I am here to tell you a piece of news. Leling County, which was cut off by our army and was left alone in the rear, opened the city without a fight the day before yesterday! Lords Wang Xiu and Cui Yan went to persuade them to surrender, and the local garrison commander and the governor of Leling surrendered directly!
I don't have time to waste with you here! Even if we can't take Dongguang County, Jizhou is completely finished! Zilong has already gone to Julu County, and he has taken half of Julu with ease! Wherever our army goes, the people welcome the royal army with food and drink, and there is no need to consider transporting food from the Zhang River! It's useless for you to stay here!"

The one who shouted was actually the great Han Situ Zhuge Jin himself. Of course, Zhuge Jin was standing at least two miles away from the city wall, riding on a tall horse, with shield guards around him. Zhuge Jin himself was also wearing chain mail, and there were hundreds of cursers beside him to help him pass on the message.

When the Cao army defenders including Zhang He heard that Leling County had been taken over without bloodshed, their morale dropped even more.

Zhang He himself finally realized why Zhuge Jin was not in a hurry to attack the city and even kept withdrawing troops to other places.

It turned out that Zhuge Jin was confident that Liu Bei's army could eat whatever they could, so they did not care whether the Zhangshui waterway was unobstructed, because they did not expect continuous food transportation from the rear. It could only be said that Liu Bei's army was making very smooth progress, and they had really done a great job of enclosing the counties and prefectures in the Jizhou Plain area.

That's why Zhuge Jin could just ignore him and let Zhao Yun go to another place to serve as a guard, and let Yuan Tan's people use both civil and military means to persuade the counties to surrender one by one.

At this moment, Zhang He finally realized how meaningless his so-called "choke point" behavior was and how he was simply putting himself in danger in vain.

He finally made up his mind to break out and no longer worried about Zhuge Jin ambushing him along the way.

All signs indicate that Zhuge Jin doesn't care whether he finishes early or late, but as long as Zhuge Jin finally loses his patience and frees up his hands, he will definitely attack forcefully.

Zhang He thought in his heart. Today was the first time that Zhuge Jin showed his intention to attack fiercely in order to scare him. He must have been mentally prepared to be scared and flee immediately. Liu Bei's siege troops were still on high alert, and he could not run into their guns directly.

Therefore, it is necessary to delay for a few more days. It is best to wait until the Zhang River has just thawed and the river bank is muddy. By then, the ice on the river surface has not completely melted, and there are floating ice that hinders the navigation of small boats. And after the ice surface breaks, horses cannot run on it.

At this time, Zhuge Jin would definitely move the camping position of the siege troops a little bit because of the muddy banks of the Zhang River, to avoid the suffering of the army camping in the muddy and wet areas.

After thinking about this, Zhang He secretly made up his mind that as long as he found such an opportunity, he would leave immediately no matter how quickly the enemy attacked the city!

Just go unexpectedly!
It's true, with this mentality, Zhang He waited for another five or six days, and after repelling the enemy's two exploratory attacks on the city, he finally waited for a suitable day.

On the 27th day of the first lunar month, the freezing of the Zhang River finally eased a little, the ice on the river surface began to break, and the river bank began to become a little muddy.

After all, the Dragon will raise its head in a few days, which means the Waking of Insects, which is when insects that hibernate or lay eggs start to move again, must be when the frozen ground gradually thaws.

Zhang He also specially prepared some supplies in the city, wrapped the horses' hooves with straw ropes, and took other measures to prevent the horses' hooves from sinking too deep into the riverbed that had just thawed.

Then, he took his main cavalry unit, which he could withdraw and control, and quietly left the city at night. He then rode his horse upstream along the shallow water area of the river bank.

At this time of year, it is an awkward time when it is not easy to travel on horseback or by boat. Unless the enemy reacts immediately, it should be difficult to catch up.

However, when Zhang He walked quietly out of the city for only a dozen miles, he passed by a high hill beside the bank of the Zhang River.

Zhang He thought he had escaped without anyone noticing, but suddenly a group of people appeared on the back slope of the hill.

Because it was still dark, Zhang He couldn't see clearly who the enemy was.

However, the enemy was very generous. As soon as they showed up, they ordered their men to light torches to boost their morale and to intimidate Zhang He's subordinates.

"All the rebel soldiers, except Zhang He, lay down your weapons, dismount and surrender. All past crimes will be forgiven! If anyone resists again, we will use the crossbow array to deal with them!"

Zhang He felt vaguely that the voice was familiar. He looked in the direction of the firelight, squinted his eyes to identify it for a few seconds, and suddenly he was half scared out of his wits.

"Zhao Yun?! Didn't Zhuge Jin send you to take over Julu County? Despicable! You're cheating for such a small matter!"

When Zhang He saw Zhao Yun, he lost hope before he even started fighting. He just whipped his horse wildly and ran away, not even thinking of engaging in battle with Zhao Yun.

However, the enemy was well prepared. They had ambushed a large number of archers along the high slope. At one time, the firepower was equivalent to that of thousands of powerful crossbows, mainly covering Zhang He's central army.

Zhang He tried to block the attacks randomly in the dark, swinging his weapon around like the wind. He indeed blocked most of the crossbow attacks, but his palms were also numb from the shock.

But under the barrage of crossbow fire, he was still hit in the knee by a crossbow arrow, and almost fell off his horse with a scream.

In pain, his blocking moves became more and more disorderly, and soon he was hit by powerful crossbows one after another, completely losing his combat effectiveness.

(End of this chapter)