Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 204: Occupying Hanoi, Zhu Jun Demands Troops

October, Yewang County.

"Sir, more than 100,000 Black Mountain bandits plundered Dongjun, and the prefect Wang Gong was defeated and fled. Cao Cao, under the order of Yuan Shao, went south to Dongjun and defeated Bai Rao in Puyang. Now Cao Cao has been appointed as the prefect of Dongjun by Yuan Shao, and he has stationed troops in Dongwuyang." Xin Pi reported.

"How did Liu Dai react?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Lead the troops south to aid Yuzhou Governor Kong Ji!"

Xin Pi said: "Kong Jun was defeated by Sun Jian and fled to Chen State with his troops, seeking refuge with Chen State Prime Minister Xu Yan. Xu Yan thought he was no match for Sun Jian, so he occupied Sun Jian's camp at Changping. When Liu Dai heard that Kong Jun was in danger, he led the Yanzhou troops to rescue him. Now Sun Jian's troops have just retreated a little."

Zhang Yu asked, "What about Zhou Ang, the governor of Yuzhou sent by Yuan Shao?"

"Zhou Ang gathered his old troops from Yingchuan and led them to attack Sun Jian's capital Yangcheng. Now Sun Jian's troops have retreated, due to Zhou Ang's surprise attack on Yangcheng and Liu Dai's support from the south." Xin Pi frowned slightly and said, "The situation in Yuzhou is in chaos. There are three governors in one state, and they are constantly fighting each other."

Even though Jizhou was divided among the three families, Yuzhou was not much better now, and was even more chaotic than Jizhou. Sun Jian, Zhou Ang, and Kong Zhu were each governors. Zhou Ang was recommended by Yuan Shao, Sun Jian was recommended by Yuan Shu, and Kong Zhu was considered to be on good terms with Liu Dai.

The three families fought fiercely for the hegemony of the Central Plains. Even a fierce man like Jiangdong Tiger could deal with one person, but could not deal with two people, and was frustrated in Yuzhou.

"The Wentai seat has been seized, and the withdrawal of troops is a foregone conclusion!"

Zhang Yu placed his hands on the stove to keep warm and said with a smile, "If my guess is correct, Yuan Gonglu will send troops north to reinforce us."

After a pause, Zhang Yu said with emotion: "Compared with the situation in Yuzhou, I am more worried about Cao Cao being appointed as the governor of Dongjun."

"Worried about Cao Cao?"

Xin Pi couldn't understand and asked, "Although Cao Cao controls Dongjun, it still belongs to Yuan Shao. Dongjun is bordered by Yuan Shao of Jizhou to the north and Liu Dai of Yanzhou to the south. How can it make you worry?"

Zhang Yu turned his hand over and said meaningfully: "I know Cao Mengde well from Luoyang. He is a man of both civil and military talents, and has the ability to bring peace to the world. If Cao Mengde has a foundation, he will rise to prominence and achieve success in a short time."

"How does it compare to Yuan Benchu?" Xin Pi asked.

Zhang Yu smiled but said nothing. When he was in Luoyang, he had a lot of contact with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. In addition, with his historical experience, he could look at Cao and Yuan more rationally.

Yuan Shao had the ambition to change his position and was very good at strategic planning. He was good at using political tactics and became the overlord of Hebei. However, Yuan Shao's weakness was that he had low military ability and needed to rely on his subordinates. Because of his low military ability, he was often afraid of those who were outstanding in military ability.

Cao Cao was different from Yuan Shao. When Cao Cao started his army, he had no intention of separatism, but he developed the idea of separatism as the situation changed. Compared with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao's strategic planning was weaker, but Cao Cao's tactical level was far superior to Yuan Shao.

If Yuan and Cao had been compatible, they would have been able to unify the chaotic Han Dynasty, rather than being defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs like Cao Cao, which eventually led to the division of the country into three parts.

Seeing that Zhang Yu had no intention of talking further, Xin Pi changed the subject and asked, "Sir, if Henei is pacified, where will our army attack?"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "When I was in Shangdang, I promised to help Yufuluo restore his country. Now if Henei is stable, I intend to lead my troops westward to conquer the Xiongnu tribes. The Xiongnu tribes have a population of 200,000 to 300,000. If we can subdue them and train them, we can have 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry."

"Then won't Hebei be taken into consideration?" Xin Pi asked.

"Hebei~"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's see how Yuan and Sun use their troops!"

He was too busy with many things to do. The matter in Hanoi was resolved smoothly. The first thing he did after returning to Jinyang was to expand the existing troops. He also reconfigured the number of troops and assigned military numbers based on the performance of the officers.

After the troops were adjusted, the expedition against the Southern Xiongnu could be put on the agenda. If the situation in Hebei remained the same as in history, he would have to lead his troops eastward to consolidate the situation in Hebei.

If Cao Cao rises in Yanzhou, he must find a way to contain him. I wonder if Sun Jian can be used?

At the same time, Wang Yun joined forces with Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo. Will he lead his troops into Guanzhong, or just sit back and watch...

While Zhang Yu was leisurely sitting by the fire and thinking about future strategies, Guo Huai entered the hall holding a military report. His brisk steps and joyful expression seemed to indicate that there was good news to report.

"My lord, good news!"

"Who brought the good news?" Zhang Yu asked.

General Guo Huai reported to Zhang Yu and said with a smile, "Generals Man, Xu, and Xu all have victory reports!"

"Oh?"

Zhang Yu reached out and took the battle report submitted by the three generals and read it with great interest.

Seeing Zhang Yu reading carefully, Guo Huai said, "Zhancheng was built on the mountain. Captain Man led his troops to Zhancheng, pretending to make peace with Tao Ming. He took advantage of Tao Ming's unpreparedness and led his troops to break into the city. He killed Tao Ming and subdued 1,600 households in the city."

"The thief Chen Sheng of Yongcheng, a prefecture county, called himself the prefecture county magistrate. When he saw Captain Xu leading his troops to attack him, he went out of the city to fight him. Captain Xu led the troops and killed Chen Sheng, thus defeating his army. Yongcheng and its surrounding forts all surrendered to Captain Xu, and he captured 9,581 civilians."

"As for Wang Ze, Lieutenant Xu led more than a thousand infantry and cavalry to attack him. Fearing that the enemy had too many troops, he set up an ambush and hid in the forest. When the two armies were fighting fiercely, the ambushers took advantage of the situation and rushed out, thus defeating Wang Ze." "The battle was won, and Lieutenant Xu recovered Huai County. Wang Ze led more than ten of his men to flee to Xiuwu, but was captured by Xiuwu tyrant Yang Chou, and is now being taken to the road to Yewang."

General Zhang Yu reported to Xin Pi, saying, "Bo Ji, if I remember correctly, are there any bandits in the Shanyang County area who are holding out with their troops?"

"Exactly!"

Guo Huai nodded and said, "There are two fortresses in Shanyang, which are occupied by two Shanyang nobles, Zhang Hu and Gongye Zhi. They originally wanted to gather people and lead troops to protect themselves because they suffered from the looting of the Black Mountain. When Wang Kuang governed the county, they sent troops to serve Wang Kuang."

"In that case, let Man Chong take the trouble to lead the troops to fight against the bandits in Shanyang!" Zhang Yu said.

"Yes!" Guo Huai took the order and retreated.

After Guo Huai left, Xin Pi said with a smile: "It seems that the Lord intends to let Captain Man make contributions!"

"Bo Ning is brave and resourceful, and has a cautious temperament. He can be a good general. Now if we want to use him, we should test his abilities before entrusting him with important tasks." Zhang Yu said.

The three lieutenants led their troops to attack together. Xu Huang's achievements were slightly higher than Xu Chu's, while Man Chong was the last among the three. In order to allow Man Chong to have enough achievements for promotion, or to assess Man Chong's military level, Zhang Yu still had to arrange some training for him.

"Sir, there are so many enemy bandits that have surrendered. It would be better to move them to Taiyuan County. This would not only strengthen Taiyuan, but also isolate the enemy bandits from the villages and towns to prevent them from causing chaos." Xin Pi suggested: "If they are left in Henei County, I am afraid that the bandits will take the opportunity to cause chaos."

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me discuss with Bo Hou and see how many surrendered people can be moved north."

"promise!"

There were no strong enemies in Henei County. During the more than one month that Zhang Yu was in charge, the three generals Xu Chu, Man Chong and Xu Huang almost wiped out all the local tyrants and clan bandits who had refused to defend the county with their troops.

By November, the three colonels had destroyed seven forts and defeated Wang Ze, taking control of the counties west of Xiuwu, and gaining 12,000 households and more than 1,000 soldiers.

Zhang Yu adopted Du Ji's suggestion to relocate one out of every two households, and decided to relocate 5,000 households to Taiyuan, and the remaining 7,000 households would be divided among the unowned land to cultivate.

As Henei was stabilized and the work of relocating people began, Zhang Yu intended to return to Jinyang. However, because the household registration in Henei was still being counted, Zhang Yu put his return date on hold.

At the same time, Zhu Jun heard that Zhang Yu had stationed troops in Henei, so he crossed the river from Zhongmu to visit Zhang Yu. However, Zhang Yu, out of respect for Zhu Jun, went to Pinggao to meet him.

Pinggao, bank of the Yellow River.

Zhu Jun stood on the shore, looking at the rolling waves of the Yellow River flowing eastward, and a look of sorrow appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Mr. Zhu, what do you feel when you look at the river here?" Zhang Yu, wearing a cloak, walked slowly to Zhu Jun's side and asked.

Zhu Jun shook his head and said, "I am not looking at the water, but at Luoyang."

Zhu Jun pointed to Hulao Pass on the other side of the river and said sadly: "When Luoyang was prosperous, even Hulao Pass had thousands of households living there. But now Luoyang is in ruins, the emperor has moved west, and traitors are in power. I stationed troops in Zhongmu, and every time I see this scene, I feel sad!"

Zhang Yu seemed not to understand what Zhu Jun meant. He said shamelessly, "The country is in trouble, it is our fault. However, Dong Zhuo holds the emperor in his hands, so if you want to attack the traitor, you should think twice before you act!"

Seeing that Zhang Yu did not respond directly, Zhu Jun said, "The prefectures and counties in Guandong pretended to fight against the bandits, but in fact they annexed counties and towns. There are three governors in Yuzhou alone. I led my people to Nanyang and asked Yuan Shu for troops to fight against the bandits. However, Yuan Shu refused. I begged for it in every possible way, and he only gave me 4,000 soldiers and horses."

"I have now issued a proclamation to the whole country, asking all prefectures and counties to send troops or provide me with baggage. For example, Tao Gongzu of Xuzhou sent 3,000 infantry and cavalry, and Zhang Mengzhuo of Chenliu sent 800 soldiers. Now Ji'an is in control of Bingzhou and has jurisdiction over Henei. I wonder how many troops he will send?"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "May I ask if Lord Zhu has 10,000 elite soldiers under his command?"

"We have more than 10,000 soldiers, but not 10,000 elite soldiers!" Zhu Jun said.

Zhang Yu asked, "Dong Zhuo has at least 50,000 soldiers under his command. Can you defeat him with just a few soldiers?"

Hearing this, Zhu Jun said angrily: "When the country is in trouble, how can I care about the number of troops? Besides, I have also done things that can defeat the majority with the minority!"

Seeing Zhu Jun was angry, Zhang Yu hurriedly said, "I am not advising you to stop the war, but I want you to take a long-term view and think twice before you act."

Zhang Yu patted his chest and said, "Since Dong Zhuo took control of the government, I have always wanted to help him. Now, after my hard work, I have a little bit of the ability to help the country. However, I have not sent troops to fight Dong because my troops are not well trained and I am afraid I am no match for Dong Zhuo."

Zhu Jun looked at Zhang Yu's expression and asked, "What is Ji'an's strategy for sending troops?"

Zhang Yu bowed and said, "To be honest with you, Lord Zhu, I intend to start my army from Taiyuan, lead the troops to conquer Henei, enter Guanzhong, and welcome the emperor to Luoyang. However, Dong Zhuo is now stationed with a large number of troops in Anyi, so I dare not take any action for the time being."

"If Lord Zhu does not abandon my ignorance and incompetence, you can station troops in Zhongmu and I can station troops in Taiyuan. We should keep it a secret. When the time is right, I will write to you and we will send troops in two directions to attack Guanxi, fight against the traitors together, and welcome the emperor to Luoyang!"

Zhu Jun looked at Zhang Yu suspiciously and asked, "Is what Ji An said true?"

"Never cheat!"

(End of this chapter)