Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 240: Burning the Boats and Abandoning the Food, Cutting Off the Way Back

In March, Zhang Yu left 10,000 soldiers in Hedong, with Lü Fan and Liu He in charge of Puban and Longmen ferry crossings, and Wang Hong and Xin Pi staying behind as military commanders. Before leaving, Zhang Yu reminded everyone about the use of troops to harass in order to prevent Jia Xu from noticing the changes.

After several days of preparation, Zhang Yu headed north on March 2 and met Xu Huang in Gengxiang.

In order to ensure victory in the raid on Guanzhong, Zhang Yu mobilized almost all of the elite soldiers in the army to form a luxurious lineup. In addition to the main generals such as Zhang Liao, Zhang Yang, Hao Zhao, Li Song, Lu Bu, and Liu Bei, there were as many as 20 to 30 famous generals such as Zhao Yun, Xu Chu, Gao Shun, Yang Feng, Guan Yu, and Wei Xu.

Gengxiang was a township under the jurisdiction of Pi clan (now Hejin City), two or three hundred miles away from Caisangjin by mountain roads. Zhang Yu ordered Xu Huang's troops to be the vanguard and go to Caisangjin first to prepare for the army to cross the river.

At the same time as Zhang Yu sent out his troops, Lu Fan, in accordance with Zhang Yu's instructions, asked the attendant Ma Yu, who was acting as an insider, to leak the news of Ma Teng and Zhang Yu's alliance to Li Jue in order to attract Li Jue's attention.

After Ma Yu received the news, he deliberately spread the news that Ma Teng wanted to cooperate with Zhang Yu in Chang'an. Li Ru learned of the rumor and informed Li Jue who was far away in Linjin.

Linjin Pass, Guanxi military camp.

Inside the big tent, Li Jue slammed the table and said angrily: "I am worried about the enemy at hand, and I have no intention of being an enemy of Ma Teng. But now Ma Teng, seeking fame and fortune, has secretly communicated with Zhang Yu and wants to attack Chang'an. We must not let him stay!"

After a pause, Li Jue looked at Jia Xu and asked, "Wenhe, I will use your two strategies to defeat Ma Teng. I wonder if it will work?"

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "General, since you know the rumors in Chang'an, how could Ma Teng not know them? If you mobilize the troops now, you may alert the enemy. Although Ma Teng has only 3,000 or 4,000 soldiers, they are very brave. General, you must not attack them lightly."

As he spoke, Jia Xu stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said, "In my opinion, the rumors in Chang'an were probably spread by Zhang Yu, and Ma Teng has no intention of rebelling for the time being."

"Sir, you advised me to defeat Ma Teng before, why do you say now that Ma Teng has no intention of rebelling?" Li Jue asked doubtfully.

Jia Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "Before, Zhang Yu stationed a large number of troops in Hedong, and Yuan Shu sent his generals to attack Wuguan. If Ma Teng rebelled, it would be a threat to our army, so we must eliminate him first. However, in the current situation, everyone in Chang'an knows that Ma Teng is planning a rebellion. I would like to ask the general, if he is planning a major event, will he let the world know what he is doing?"

Jia Xu's reasons were not sufficient, and now he judged that Ma Teng had no intention of raising an army, based on his logic, or his self-perception.

Li Jue couldn't help but shake his head. He had many doubts about Jia Xu's judgment on the Ma Teng incident.

"Sir, just tell me whether you have a plan to deal with Ma Teng!" Li Jue said.

Seeing that Li Jue had his own ideas, Jia Xu remained calm and said, "General, you can send an envoy to appease the enemy first, and then order the officers to attack Ma Teng at night when he is slack and unprepared. When Ma Teng is unprepared, his army will surely be defeated!"

"Wen Heguo is extremely intelligent!"

Li Jue was overjoyed and ordered, "Come here, have Li Ru send an envoy to appease Ma Teng, and then have Fan Chou lead his elite troops westward. When the envoy comes to appease Ma Teng, lead his troops to attack Ma Teng's troops."

"promise!"

After the attendants left, Li Jue smiled triumphantly and said, "Zhang Yu's troops were defeated at Longmen, and our army has blocked Puban. Now we can eliminate Ma Teng. Unless Zhang Yu can fly across the river, he will withdraw sooner or later."

Compared to Li Jue's pride, Jia Xu was not so optimistic. He always felt that Zhang Yu was not so easy to deal with. What was Zhang Yu's plan? Could it be that Zhang Yu really hoped that Ma Teng would cooperate with him from inside and outside to help him break through the Yellow River defense line?

Not to mention that Li Jue was proud of himself for having seen through Zhang Yu's plan. Now Zhang Yu spent five days of forced march and finally crossed mountains and ridges to reach Caisangjin, cut down trees, gathered boats and boats, and spent more than a day transporting the army's soldiers and livestock to the other side of the Yellow River.

Caisangjin is located downstream of Hukou. Although the river is turbulent, the river is narrow, only one or two miles wide. Although it is inconvenient to ferry the army across the river by boat, the army can be transported from the east bank to the west bank by frequent transfers.

In the early morning, the river was foggy and the boats and bamboo rafts passed through the rapids. When they returned to the shore, some soldiers led their horses ashore or carried baggage to the shore. However, those who were good at swimming did not even want to take the boat, but swam from the east bank to the west bank with bare chests.

For example, Guan Yu was born in Hedong and knew how to swim since he was young. When he crossed the Yellow River today, he just swam across the river holding a wooden scoop. This made Zhang Yu admire him. No wonder Guan Yu could become one of the few naval commanders of Shu Han in history. It seemed that he had been proficient in water since he was a child.

The big banner of "Zhang" fluttered on the hill. Zhang Yu stood tall with his sword in hand, his red brocade cape fluttering in the wind.

Looking down at his soldiers lined up in formation among the hills and valleys, Zhang Yu suddenly felt a sense of heroism.

Although he is less than 183 years old this year, he has been working hard for ten years since he entered the government in the sixth year of Guanghe (193 AD) to the fourth year of Chuping ( AD). He has worked hard to block the sons of powerful people and finally become a prince with a foundation.

This time, the troops entered Guanzhong, which could be said to be related to the success or failure of his foundation. If he could conquer Guanzhong, even if he was not so successful in the future, he would at least have the foundation of Yuwen Tai. If he could defeat the princes of Hebei and Henan, he would go one step further and leave his mark of the times on the vast land.

"My lord, all the soldiers and officers of the army have crossed the river. According to the report from Shiyi, there are no scouts from the west within forty miles around." Li Song said.

Zhang Yu quietly looked at the rolling waves of the Yellow River and did not reply to Li Song.

After a while, Zhang Yu asked, "Before the expedition, Bosong was always worried about the small number of troops. Now that he has led his troops to the west bank of the river, I wonder if he is still worried?"

Li Song hesitated for a moment and said, "The reason why I am worried about the disparity in numbers is not because I am afraid of death, but because I am worried about the defeat of the army. Your Excellency has had a hard time establishing his career, and the population of Bingzhou is declining. If the army is defeated in Guanzhong, it will be difficult for Your Excellency to train a strong army again!"

Zhang Yu looked calm and said, "Now that things have come to this, it is useless for you to worry about the defeat. It is better to think about how to defeat the enemy. Thinking about the defeat all the time is just asking for trouble. Why not give it a try and establish an unparalleled career?"

"I will remember your instructions!" Li Song said. "Your Excellency has far-sighted vision, I am not as good as you!"

Guo Tu praised him and said, "If you can defeat the enemy army, not only can we get the land of Guanzhong, but we can also make the emperor come down to welcome you."

Zhang Yu looked out at the mountains and rivers and said with a smile, "It is not what I want for the emperor to come down to greet me. I only want to defeat the enemy and have a grand feast with you all in Chang'an!"

While chatting and laughing, Zhang Yu looked at the bamboo rafts and boats on the river bank being towed to the shore by soldiers, as if they were to be kept for the return journey. His expression became serious.

The officers and generals were worried about the disparity in numbers, so how could the soldiers and officers in the army not be panicked?

He could convince Li Song to go on a bold expedition, but he could not convince everyone to risk their lives. Moreover, everyone had a preconceived notion that the two sides were too different in strength. The collection of boats and rafts was probably due to the fear of defeat.

Zhang Yu understood and ordered, "Send the order to all the generals to come here to discuss the matter."

"promise!"

After a while, all the generals put down what they were doing and hurried to the hill.

"Your Majesty!"

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhang Yu pointed at the bamboo rafts and boats and said, "After you return to the camp, burn the boats. Have a full meal and only leave enough food for half a month."

We thought Zhang Yu had military arrangements, but we didn't expect that he would issue an order to burn boats. Everyone around was shocked. If they were defeated, how would they retreat without boats?

"Why, you don't want to?" Zhang Yu asked.

Guo Tu's expression changed slightly, and he advised: "Sir, if the enemy army blocks our way on the dangerous terrain, and our army retreats, I'm afraid there will be no boats to use."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu looked serious and said, "All your families are in Bingzhou. If I don't burn the boats to block your way home, do you dare to fight to the death?"

Zhang Yu said sternly: "A real man is marching west with his spear in hand. How can he think about how to survive? He should defeat the enemy and gain merit!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked around at everyone and asked, "If you are afraid of death, you can lead your troops back now. I will not stop you!"

Everyone remained silent. They wanted to keep their lives, but they didn't want to be deserters, so they seemed quite conflicted.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhang Yu said in a deep voice: "In the past, Xiang Yu burned his boats and burned his cooking pots, and defeated the Qin army in the Battle of Julu, and finally destroyed the Qin army in one day; Han Xin fought a desperate battle, and defeated the Zhao army in the victory of Jingxing, and became famous for the world."

"Since you are not afraid of death, then follow me and burn the boats and abandon the food to show that you have no intention of returning and achieve an unprecedented achievement. Otherwise, I am willing to be buried here with you all."

Zhang Liao's blood boiled, and he said excitedly: "To survive in a desperate situation is the key to military strategy. Liaoyuan follows you, my lord, and is willing to fight you at the risk of his life."

"Now that I have received the emperor's order to fight against the enemy, how can I shrink back and live!" Liu Bei said loudly: "Although I am not talented, I am willing to follow you to defeat the enemy!"

"Me too!" Zhang Fei responded quickly.

For a moment, the blood of the generals boiled, and they all expressed their willingness to cut off their way back to show that they had no desire to live.

"I am willing to follow you to defeat the bandits!"

Lu Bu was in a complicated mood. He was never afraid of death in battle, but that didn't mean he could give up hope of survival. Now that the ships were burned, he had no other way out except to fight to the death. Although Lu Bu hesitated at the moment, he saw that everyone agreed. For the sake of his image, he also expressed his willingness to cut off his way back.

Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction and ordered, "After a full meal, each unit will burn their boats and abandon their food supplies, and set out to Guanzhong in order."

"promise!"

Soon, all the officers returned to the camp to convey Zhang Yu's military order. Although the soldiers were reluctant, they saw that the generals did not seem to be lying, so they destroyed the boats and sank the ships.

Because he had burned his boats and cut off his own way home, Zhang Yu suddenly found that the morale of his soldiers had greatly increased, and he felt that the army could be used. Regardless of whether he could win the battle or not, he might leave a name in the world for his extraordinary trip to pick mulberry leaves.

As for whether it will be a stupid reputation or a good reputation, it all depends on the outcome of the battle!

Seeing that the morale of the soldiers was good, Zhang Yu led his troops on the expedition again, continuing to use Xu Huang's troops as the vanguard, and the army marched towards Ya County.

The mountain road between Caisangjin and Yaxian was about 600 li long. Zhang Yu led his troops to travel day and night, covering more than 100 li a day, and it took five or six days to reach Yaxian. However, due to Zhang Yu's detour, the troops in Guanxi were not prepared, so they marched quickly along the way.

On March 18th, Zhang Yu set out from Puban, traveled over a thousand miles, and finally arrived in Guanzhong.

(End of this chapter)