Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 316: Teaching the Long People and Promising to Become a King

In May, Zhang Yu first went up the Wei River to Chencang. After dividing his forces with Xu Huang, Zhang Yu went north up the Wei River and met up with Generals Zhang and Yang in the Wei County and Longguan area.

There was a pass on the Longshan Road that blocked the entry of troops from Guanzhong into Longshan, but Zhang Liao killed Li Jue the year before and subsequently sent Zhang Ji to guard Anding, so he controlled Longshan early. Now, when he marched west to Longyou, Zhang Yu passed through Longshan unimpeded.

On May 30th, Zhang Yu led his army to Guanshan grassland. Seeing the water and streams, fertile grass and beautiful grass, which was suitable for grazing, he ordered to set up camp there.

Inside the big tent, Zhang Yu and other civil and military officials gathered in front of the map to discuss the intelligence they had obtained.

Guo Tu pointed to the Longshan Road on the map and said, "To transport food from Guanzhong to our army, we need to go against the Wei River. Then we need to use carts and horses to transport it, going against the road for more than 200 miles. Now Han Sui has stationed troops in Lueyang, and he intends to prevent our army from entering Longshan. He may want to use the mountains to stop us, and wait for our army to run out of food and withdraw."

"How many troops does Han Sui have now?" Zhang Yu asked.

Guo Tu shook his head and said, "According to previous reports, Han Sui has 10,000 troops, but now he has received assistance from the Xingguo and Changli Qiang tribes, so his troops should be numerous. According to the report from the vanguard Shi Yi, Song Jian's troops led the Han and Qiang people of Longxi to respond to the alliance, and now they are stationed in Lueyang with Han Sui. The combined forces of the two may be equal to ours."

Guo Tu added, "Since the chaos in Longyou, bandits have risen up and disturbed the people, and the people have been harassed and have no surplus food every year. And since the four generals Han, Song, Ma, and Cheng rebelled, they stationed troops in Hanyang County and plundered the county and the townships. The people were worried about the harassment and gathered in the fortresses."

"Since our army entered Long, the Qiang and Di tribes have been afraid of our army's looting and have fled to the deep mountains and dense forests; the people are worried about our soldiers' invasion and harassment, so they gather in the fortresses to protect themselves. It is difficult for our army to collect food and grass, and it is difficult to get food from the enemy. We need to rely on Guanzhong to transport supplies."

It is difficult for an army to rely entirely on rations from the rear when going on an expedition, so when going on an expedition, the army will try to get as much food as possible from the enemy to save the loss of long-distance transportation of supplies. In the words of Sun Tzu's Art of War, a wise general will try to get food from the enemy. One catty of enemy food is equivalent to twenty catties of ours; one stone of enemy grain is equivalent to twenty stones of ours.

"The people's hearts are not with us!"

Zhang Yuwei sighed, looked at his guide Xue Xia, and asked, "You are from Hanyang County, and the villagers don't trust me. I wonder if Xuansheng has any strategy to teach me?"

Xue Xia cupped his hands and said, "My Lord, since the Liangzhou generals rebelled, the imperial court has repeatedly fought against them but to no avail. Instead, the Liangzhou generals have been allowed to secede and the people have no peace. In my opinion, if you can appease the people, win their hearts, and bring peace to Longyou, then the people of Longyou will come together to help you quell the rebellion. But if you want to win the hearts of the people, I'm afraid you need to show your sincerity."

"Sincerity?"

Zhang Yu's expression was slightly restrained. After thinking for a while, he understood what Xue Xia meant and ordered, "Please issue my decree. If you encounter poor people on the way, you should provide them with military rations. If you requisition the people's supplies, you must not take them without permission and must redeem them with money. When our army reaches Longyou, we will distribute land to the people."

"As ordered!"

Guo Tu bowed and accepted the order and replied.

"Our army is facing difficulty in supplying food and fodder. How can you provide food and fodder to the people of Long?" Zhang Liao asked in confusion.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Our army's food and grass are all in Shanxi, but the difficulty lies in transporting them. When Emperor Taizu attacked Long in the past, he retreated several times due to insufficient food and grass supply. If our army can sacrifice food and grass to win the hearts of the Long people, we can then ask the Long people to transport food for the army. If Shanxi's food supply is not cut off, then our army will not be short of food."

"In the past, the people of Qin could not trust Shang Yang, but Shang Yang set up a tree as a sign of trust and was able to win the hearts of the people of Qin. Your Excellency is a foreigner in Longyou, but the people do not trust you. Your Excellency should teach the people, and you will surely be able to win the hearts of the people of Long." Jia Xu praised.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "People are like water. How can people survive without water?"

In terms of military discipline, the military discipline of Zhang Yu's troops should be the best among all the princes. Not looting the people and not trampling on the fields are basic military discipline rules. Because of the strict military discipline, wherever Zhang Yu went, the people mostly welcomed him.

Especially when fighting in Guanzhong, due to the difference in military discipline between Zhang Yu and Li Jue's troops, after Zhang Yu defeated Li Jue, the generals in Guanzhong had no place to stay, and a large number of soldiers and civilians welcomed Zhang Yu.

Then, Zhang Yu looked at the civil and military officials and asked, "Han Sui has stationed a large number of troops in Lueyang. Do you have any ideas on how to defeat the enemy?"

"Our army is isolated and deep in the territory, and the food and supplies are transported from Guanzhong. We cannot hold out for long. However, Han Sui and Song Jian have allied with the Qiang people and have a large number of troops. Therefore, Pu thinks that you should send troops to fight a decisive battle with Han Sui. If we can defeat the enemy in one battle, then Longyou will surrender!" Cheng Pu said.

"General Cheng is right. Our army is stronger than the enemy. Now we are confronting them. With the National Protection Army as the vanguard and all the troops fighting hard, we will surely defeat the enemy in one fell swoop." Xu Chu said with high morale.

"What is Wenyuan's opinion?" Zhang Yu asked inquiringly.

Zhang Liao frowned and thought, then said, "Although our troops in Guanlong are elite, the rebels should not be underestimated. In the past, Huangfu Song, Dong Zhuo, and Sun Jian went on expeditions to Longyou, and each had victories and defeats with Han Sui and Ma Teng, which shows how brave the rebels are. Moreover, the people of Qiang, Di, and Hu are fierce, and the women are good at using spears, while the men love to fight and are not afraid of death."

“So although our soldiers are brave, it is hard to predict the outcome of a battle with the enemy when we arrive in Longyou. Even if our army can defeat the rebels, the casualties are hard to predict. So from Liao’s point of view, we need to confront them and observe their weaknesses before deploying our troops,” Zhang Liao suggested.

Zhang Yu was quite satisfied with Zhang Liao's reply. Zhang Liao had long been a brave general. Now when he met the army of generals in Longshang, he was able to calmly consider the pros and cons and deploy his troops. This was considered a great improvement.

"Wenyuan's words really hit home with me!"

Zhang Yu said the strategy he was thinking of: "The rebels in Longshan do not engage in production, and the generals are full of contradictions. Han Sui, Song Jian, and Ma Teng joined forces due to the dangerous situation, gathered the elite soldiers and brave generals in Longshan in Lueyang, and plundered the people for food, so it is better to fight quickly. If our army goes to war, it will be in the enemy's mind." "Now that our army has reached Hanyang, why not stay at home to nourish the elite, teach the Han and Qiang people in our jurisdiction, divide the troops into Ji County, secretly plunder Xingguo and Changli, and when they run out of food and are out of tricks, the Qiang people will be worried and uneasy, and this is the opportunity to fight."

Zhang Yu and Han Sui had different difficulties in food supply. Zhang Yu had Lianghe, Guanzhong, and Bingzhou to rely on, so he didn't have to worry about food. The key was the transportation of food. If he could get the help of the people in Longyou to transport military supplies, he would have no shortage of food and could continue to confront Han Sui.

Unlike Han Sui and Song Jian's coalition, Longyou lacked a unified government, and Hanyang County was not under their control. Therefore, the food for the two was provided by the Qiang and Di tribes, or transported from Longxi and Jincheng counties. Therefore, in the case of a long-term confrontation, Zhang Yu sent cavalry to plunder, and the food supply of the rebels in Longshang was difficult to sustain, and they were prone to food shortages.

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Seeing that Zhang Yu had grasped the difference between the two, Xun You said, "Your Excellency is confronting the Longshan rebels in Lueyang. It is a good strategy to conserve your strength and wear down the rebels. However, Ji County may be the key to future battles. Ji County is the capital of Hanyang County, and there is a lot of food in the city. If the enemy loses it, our army can attack from both sides; if the enemy takes it, the Wei River will be cut off."

"So according to Youzhi's opinion, if we confront the enemy in Lueyang, our army needs to go south to Qingshui, contact General Xu Huang, and use Ji County as a lure to lure Han Sui's troops to attack. The enemy is in the open and we are in the dark. Our army is good at moving, and we can defeat the enemy repeatedly."

Zhang Yu clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "Gongda's plan is brilliant. I'll follow your advice!"

Xun You served under Zhang Yu for a short time, and only experienced the campaign against Gongsun in the north. However, it was the campaign against Gongsun that made Xun You witness the uniqueness of Zhang Yu's troops. By utilizing the strong charging ability of horses and the strong carrying capacity of camels, the army's mobility was extremely terrifying, making it the best among the princes in the world.

In a confrontation between two armies, high mobility means too many things, a typical example being mobilizing the enemy forces, taking advantage of one's own mobility, mobilizing heavy troops in a short period of time and thus inflicting heavy damage on the enemy.

Zhang Yu looked around at everyone and said with a smile: "Since you all have no doubts, let's march to Long County tomorrow and set up camp underground."

"No!" Everyone responded in unison.

When Zhang Yu was marching towards Long County, there was a secret disturbance in the Eastern Han court far away in Wancheng.

"Your Majesty, you acted rashly!"

Liu Bei sighed and said, "The three ministers came to see Your Majesty, and the tiger soldiers followed with swords. This was originally a plan of mine to kill Yuan. Now Your Majesty is threatening Yuan Shu, which can relieve your anger temporarily, but from the overall situation, Yuan Shu will no longer come to see Your Majesty alone."

Liu Bei was helpless against the impatient Liu Xie. It was impossible to repeat the incident of following Wang Yun's example to kill Dong twice. Liu Bei thought deeply about the various rules and actually planned to make good use of the rule that the Tiger Guards would accompany him with knives.

For example, when he had contacted all the nobles, he would use Liu Xie to summon Yuan Shu while the troops in Wancheng were empty, and kill Yuan Shu on the way. Now Liu Xie took the lead in using the rules to intimidate Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu would learn a lesson.

Knowing that he was in the wrong, in order not to disappoint Liu Bei, Liu Xie explained: "Liu Yao is a relative of the Han Dynasty, how can I allow Yuan Shu to persecute him. If Liu Yao dies, the emperor's uncle will be alone. Moreover, Yuan Shu is too aggressive, I have to rebuke him to correct the relationship between the monarch and his subjects."

As he spoke, Liu Xie held Liu Bei's hand and said pitifully: "I lost my father and mother when I was young, and no one took care of me. You are my uncle, just like my father. I hope you can find a way to eliminate the traitor for me!"

Seeing Liu Xie's pitiful expression and sincere and moving words, Liu Bei's angry heart softened and he said to him, "Your Majesty is intelligent, but young and impatient. If you are forced by Yuan Shu in the future, please act cautiously. I will live up to my promise and find a way to eliminate the traitor Yuan Shu for the Han Dynasty."

"Thank you, uncle!"

Seeing Liu Xie bowing as a nephew, Liu Bei hurried forward to support him and said, "From today on, to avoid Yuan Shu's suspicion, I will reduce the number of visits to the palace."

"Why?" Liu Xie grabbed Liu Bei's hand and asked.

Liu Bei explained, "I sent the Tiger Guards to Your Majesty. Yuan Shu is suspicious and he is suspicious of me. I still have a thousand soldiers under my command, but I secretly ordered my confidants to recruit soldiers. I am afraid that Yuan Shu will know my actions and order me to be stripped of my soldiers. If I have no soldiers, it will be difficult to accomplish my plan!"

"Then I wonder how you plan to hide your actions?" Liu Xie asked curiously.

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment and said, "I want to return to the capital to cultivate the land and make Yuan Shu slack off."

"Then how do I contact my uncle?" Liu Xie asked worriedly.

Liu Bei said, "The father-in-law has been dissatisfied with Yuan Shu for a long time, and now he has agreed to kill Yuan Shu with me. Your Majesty can contact the father-in-law, and let the father-in-law contact me."

Liu Xie tightly grasped Liu Bei's hand and said: "When the Han Dynasty is revived, I will definitely make my uncle the King of Zhongshan!"

ps: I have something to do today, so I will only update once for now, and will make up for it slowly.

(End of this chapter)