My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 764: Advancing with great force and attacking Yecheng

Perhaps Zhang He was destined to have a physique that attracts arrows.

After struggling for so long, he also held the line in Dongguan County to delay the progress of Liu Bei's army, and bought Xiahou Dun more than a month.

But when the time came and they could no longer hold on and had to break out, they were eventually hit by a hail of arrows from the ambushers.

It can be said that his busy work is really quite a big deal but of little significance.

It seemed that so much time was wasted, but in fact, it was only during the coldest period of time near the end of the year when it was difficult to advance. In the end, it did not cause much obstruction to Zhuge Jin's plan to capture Jizhou.

At this moment, Zhang He was shot by three or four powerful crossbow arrows, and one arm and one leg were directly disabled. Half of his body was covered in blood and he completely lost his fighting ability. His horse was hit by many arrows and soon fell to the ground, which completely cut off Zhang He's possibility of escape.

In the original history, he died from Zhuge Liannu. However, in this life, it was changed to that he died from the Shenbi Bow invented by Zhuge Jin, an improved powerful single-soldier pedal-drawn crossbow. I wonder if this can be regarded as historical inertia.

He retreated from northeast to southwest along the bank of Zhangshui River, and Zhao Yun's ambush troops were lying on the back slope of a hill on the south bank of Zhangshui River. So when Zhang He passed by, his left wing was hit hard by the ambush troops, and all the crossbow arrows were shot from the left side, and his left leg, left arm, left waist and ribs were all hit by arrows.

Zhao Yun was on the hillside, and although he could not see clearly what was happening to Zhang He in the distance because it was still dark, Zhao Yun, with his rich battlefield experience, could tell from the shouts and screams that the enemy was in absolute chaos, and that something serious had happened.

Thinking that the enemy had been defeated and more prisoners could be captured alive, Zhao Yun decisively ordered the troops to stop shooting arrows, and then personally led a group of elite cavalry to charge down the high slope.

If he saw someone refusing to kneel down and surrender, Zhao Yun would not waste any words and would just strike him in the head with a sword or stab him in the back with a spear to death.

The battlefield was too chaotic, and it was impossible to force the enemy to surrender just by shouting at them. However, combined with the direct threat of charging, the forced landing effect would be much better and faster.

After Zhao Yun's charge, except for a few enemy soldiers who were assassinated along the way, the rest of the enemy soldiers on the left and right sides were frightened and knelt down to surrender, dropped their weapons, or fled away.

Zhao Yun fought his way to Zhang He's flag formation, where several hundred of Zhang He's last trusted guards were still fighting stubbornly.

After all, these people were Zhang He's personal guards who had been fed with money and food for many years. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the private soldiers around the generals were always the most diehard. Even if the situation was unfavorable, some of them would die for their generals, just like a rotten boat with three pounds of nails.

As long as Zhang He is still alive, these people still have hope and will struggle.

Zhao Yun killed several people at will and went straight to within twenty steps of Zhang He before he reined in his horse and stopped.

Zhang He had been protected by his personal guards and had changed his horse, but he was covered in blood and had no strength to fight.

Zhao Yun shouted coldly, asking him to surrender immediately, and he would spare his life and the soldiers around him: "Zhang He! Although you are the culprit of the Guandu incident, my lord is a magnanimous man. You are wronging Lord Yuan, and my lord does not need to argue with you. Put down your weapons immediately and go back to heal your wounds. Maybe you can still hold out. Come on, tie him up!"

Zhao Yun waved his hand, and his generals and several personal guards came forward with ropes to tie up the seriously injured Zhang He.

However, Zhang He was unwilling to die in cowardice.

He knew very well that he had been fatally wounded, with two crossbow arrows having penetrated his armor and damaged his internal organs, leaving him hanging on to his last breath. If he surrendered now, and was carried back to stop the bleeding and bandage him, he would still die in the end, and would also lose his glorious reputation.

However, Zhang He was too lazy to waste his energy explaining, so he pretended to be seriously injured and fell on the saddle, waiting quietly for Zhao Yun to send people to tie him up.

Seeing the generals and personal guards sent by Zhao Yun riding their horses to within ten steps of him and then dismounting to get the rope, Zhang He suddenly seized the opportunity, drew out his sword with all his remaining strength and swung it, intending to drag the two down with him before he died.

"I heard that Lu Bu held the emperor hostage in the palace of Xudu. He was seriously injured and on the verge of death, but he pretended to be exhausted and tricked Cao Chun to come close. He killed one of them before he died! He is still famous today! It's a pity that I, Zhang He, can't drag Zhao Yun to take the blame today, and can only drag a few unknown people..."

This was the last thought that flashed through Zhang He's mind before he took his last breath. He recalled what happened to Lü Bu twelve years ago, and he wanted to earn a reputation for bravery before his death.

However, just as Zhang He struggled to raise his body and draw his sword, a feather arrow flew accurately and pierced his throat.

Zhang He's eyes widened immediately, and all his strength was quickly drained away, causing his sword to fall naturally and powerlessly. Although the blade scraped against the shoulder armor of the enemy general who was holding a rope to tie him up, it was not powerful enough to break the armor, and only frightened the enemy and made him stagger.

Zhao Yun was holding a bow and staring at Zhang He coldly from about twenty steps away, never letting his guard down.

Zhao Yun is not a reckless man like Cao Chun. He is much more cautious and will not let the enemy take advantage of him so easily.

The general who was almost killed by Zhang He was also frightened for a while, then he drew his sword vigorously and chopped a few times, chopping off Zhang He's head. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and fell to the ground gasping for breath.

It's not that he wanted to vent his anger on the corpse, but this scene was too scary. He originally thought that the other party was dying and had no strength left, but suddenly he came at him like this. If General Zhao hadn't been cautious, he might have been dragged down by the dying man.

Anyone who had come back from such a close call with death would of course be overly nervous. He had to chop Zhang He a few more times to make sure he was completely dead, lest a medical miracle occur and he be killed in return.

After Zhao Yun and his men chopped off Zhang He's head, they stepped forward, poked the corpse with their steel spears, looked around, and nodded silently:

"It seems that the two crossbow arrows that broke his ribs have already caused fatal injuries. He knew he couldn't survive, so he wanted to die in a spectacular way. Well, let's not bother with the dead. He wants to learn from Lu Bu and drag him back to be buried."

Zhao Yun and Zhang He confronted each other for many years, and he respected his opponent in his heart.

He knew very well that Zhang He could not change his side because Yuan Tan was already with Liu Bei. Apart from this, Zhang He had done his best in terms of military efforts.

Since the other party really died in the battle, give him some respect and announce to the public that he fought to his last breath. There is nothing else to say.

The soldiers under Zhao Yun quickly did so, and the personal guards left behind by Zhang He were completely deflated when they saw this scene and surrendered immediately.

……

A few days later, Zhao Yun led his army to successively take over Dongguan County and Xiu County, recovering the last two counties in Bohai County that were occupied by Cao's army.

It was at this moment that the entire Bohai County was officially recovered. Zhou Yu's job as the "Bohai Governor" was finally able to fully perform his duties.

Time quickly entered the middle of February in the lunar calendar. As the snow on a large scale in Hebei Province had almost melted, at this time of year in previous years, millions of people in Jizhou would have entered the spring farming season.

However, in February of the 17th year of Jian'an, the Hebei Plain was doomed to be in turmoil. Spring plowing in some counties was affected, and there might be a serious harvest failure in autumn. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Since the battle has begun, it must be fought and resolved quickly and advanced as quickly as possible. It is impossible to give way to the people's spring plowing.

The top leaders of Liu Bei's camp had at most prepared themselves mentally before the war. They exempted the Hebei region from tax this year, allowing the people to survive on the surplus grain from previous years. If that didn't work, they would provide some disaster relief. In mid-February, when the war became fierce again, the entire Changshan, Zhongshan, Hejian, Bohai, Leling, and Pingyuan counties had already fallen into the hands of Liu Bei's camp.

There are a total of twelve counties in Jizhou, and these six will basically not be affected by the spring ploughing. Order has been restored before the spring ploughing, and the situation is very stable.

Weijun, Zhaojun and Guangpingjun will basically not be affected too much, because those three counties are the core areas around Yecheng, and they will definitely be firmly in Cao Cao's hands in the first half of this year.

That was the base area directly under the jurisdiction of Xiahou Dun himself. Xiahou Dun would certainly not sit idly by and watch his core territory abandon production and affect the potential for fighting a sustained war just because the war situation was unfavorable.

It’s true that Xiahou Dun in history was actually quite poor in terms of fighting ability, not as awesome as he was portrayed to be in the novel.

But without exaggeration or slander, we have to admit that he was quite capable in local construction, cultivating land to support soldiers, and restoring production order.

With Xiahou Dun's ability, he can at least stabilize the production order in those three counties in the spring and summer of this year.

However, the most troublesome ones are Qinghe County, Julu County and Yangping County. These remaining three counties are just sandwiched in the buffer zone fought over by the two major camps of Liu Bei and Cao Cao. The battles that broke out between the two sides during the spring plowing season basically took place in this area.

It can be predicted that the production in at least these three counties will be greatly damaged this year. The people will flee when encountering war, which will inevitably delay the farming season.

In mid-February, Zhuge Jin commanded Zhao Yun to attack Julu County, Ma Chao and Zhou Yu to attack Yangping County, and Taishi Ci to attack Qinghe County.

The army of Liu Bei's camp was divided into three groups and advanced forward.

Due to insufficient military strength, Xiahou Dun could only retreat to defend the three southwestern counties of Jizhou. The plains in the middle, which were easy to be penetrated and surrounded, could only be left to Zhuge Jin to come and go.

On the one hand, the annihilation of Zhang He and Gao Lan's army was a huge shock to Cao's army. Many soldiers in Hebei were frightened and felt that they could not hold on if they continued to fight.

When Zhang He died, Zhao Yun's subordinates chopped off his head out of pressure. The head was naturally put to full use. After being pickled in lime, it was sent to various places to shake the determination of Cao's defenders and officials.

In addition, Gao Lan’s head had been shown to many places before, so the heads of these two brothers were used for these things after their death.

The prefects of Qinghe and Julu appointed by Cao Cao were unable to withstand Zhuge Jin's psychological pressure. After being surrounded, they surrendered within one or two months without waiting for reinforcements.

Zhuge Jin also gave them plenty of time and was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, he relied on encirclement and besieging of specific points to capture the cities that were desperate because of lack of support.

On the other hand, Xiahou Dun obviously guessed that Zhuge Jin would do this - to be precise, it was Xun You, who was beside Xiahou Dun, who guessed that Zhuge Jin would definitely do this.

That's why Xun You advised Xiahou Dun to preserve his manpower, retreat in an orderly manner, and resist step by step. He should never defend the front line to the end, and should never care about the gains and losses of a city or a place.

Xiahou Dun was not calm at first and felt that this was too depressing.

Xun You explained to him earnestly: "General! As long as there is green, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. Now the Prime Minister wants to keep Hebei, and the court wants to keep Hebei. The last glimmer of hope is the troops in your hands.

The three counties in the middle of Jizhou had no strategic locations to defend, and no vital roads to cut off. Whether those cities were defended or not, it would not affect Zhuge Jin's advance at all, nor would it cut off Zhuge Jin's food supply. Zhuge Jin could bypass each city in the three counties and then surround it without attacking.

If our army defends there with heavy troops, it will only lead to being surrounded and defeated one by one. If I use troops, as long as the attacking side has an absolute advantage in force, I can surround the enemy without fighting, continue to penetrate the enemy territory, separate the counties, and eventually more and more county governors and county magistrates will be shaken and surrender because they don't know the true situation.

Our army should ensure that the main force is withdrawn to the counties around Yecheng. When Zhuge Jin's troops are stationed under the strong city and the soldiers are tired, our army can slowly gather reinforcements, and there may be a glimmer of hope. "

Xun You's words were very depressing, even more depressing than when he fought at Guandu. But he was also very honest, so Xiahou Dun believed that if he did what Xun You said, there would definitely be a chance of turning things around.

Even though it's just a glimmer of hope, it's better than a certain loss.

In the end, Xiahou Dun listened to Xun You's advice. When defending Qinghe, Julu and other three counties, he tried to shrink the army as much as possible, and focused on buying time for each city to prevent his manpower from being surrounded by a large-scale organization.

The people tried to evacuate as much as possible, so that the three central counties of Jizhou soon experienced another wave of sharp population decline.

Cao's army was short of time and could not relocate most of the people, but it was still possible to relocate two or three adults, or even fewer.

During this process, many innocent people were killed or injured. For example, if it was planned to relocate 30% of people, perhaps only 20% could reach their destination, and the remaining 10% either died on the way or fled.

But the top leaders of Cao Cao's camp also knew that in the future, the east might be undefensible, and Cao's hope was in Guanxi. If they could replenish the population in Heluo, Bingzhou, and Guanzhong, it would be helpful for Cao's continued war potential.

This step is actually somewhat similar to what Dong Zhuo did back then.

In fact, to be honest, although Heluo was completely destroyed and abolished during Dong Zhuo's reign, the Guanzhong region actually ushered in a period of growth. Until Dong Zhuo was killed by Wang Yun, the population and agricultural production in Guanzhong exceeded those of the Huan and Ling periods.

After all, nearly two million people in the Heluo area were relocated, and at least more than one million survived to Guanzhong. Even if there was a slight loss of 200,000 or 300,000 people during the two years when Dong Zhuo ruled Chang'an, there was still a surplus of at least 700,000 or 800,000.

However, Li Jue and Guo Si later ruled with brutality and civil war lasted for six years, which completely exhausted the fresh blood that Dong Zhuo had brought to Guanzhong, and Dong Zhuo even owed a lot.

This time, as the Cao family gradually lost Guandong, if they still relocated their people westwards, as long as there were no more people like Li Jue and Guo Si in the family, at least they could ensure that the manpower relocated there would be sustained for many years, and they could even expand. However, the journey would be very difficult and the losses would be great.

Zhuge Jin quickly realized Xiahou Dun's attempt to retreat.

Therefore, when capturing the three counties of Qinghe and Julu, he also tried his best to let Zhao Yun and Ma Chao spread the encirclement circle wider and cut deeper, so as to cut off Xiahou Dun's clutches to relocate the people.

The two sides fought with wits and courage, one wanted to snatch the person and the other wanted to intercept, and the battle lasted for several months.

In the end, the battle lasted from February to May, and it was not until the midsummer wheat harvest that the battle line was slightly stabilized. Zhuge Jin finally took over Qinghe and Julu counties at the lowest possible cost.

During the whole process, neither side suffered much casualties, and no large-scale organized forces were annihilated. They mainly fought mobile warfare and enclosure warfare, while Cao's army tried to delay time as much as possible.

With the arrival of the summer wheat harvest season, Zhuge Jin knew that the road ahead would be difficult as it was all the core territory of Cao's army around Yecheng, leaving no room for infiltration or cutting.

Zhuge Jin then ordered his troops to slow down again, rest and reorganize in preparation for the subsequent tough battles.

Xiahou Dun also took advantage of these three months to frantically strengthen the defenses of Yecheng, Guantao and other places. He also recruited more local warriors and forced the young and strong people from Qinghe and Julu counties to join the army. He conducted emergency drills in an attempt to resist the offensive of Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Taishi Ci, and took advantage of the fact that Yecheng had a lot of food reserves and was not afraid of consumption in a long-term war, to fight Zhuge Jin to the death.

(End of this chapter)