Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 318 Waiting for me here!
In June, Han Sui occupied Lueyang and gathered more than 30,000 Han and Qiang soldiers and horses, and confronted Zhang Yu at Qinting.

With the help of the people of Long County, Zhang Yu was able to quickly repair his camp, and the people were also willing to transport food and fodder for the army in the Longshan section.

In July, in order to break the deadlock, Zhang Yu sent Shi Yi with two thousand Hu cavalry to cross the Dunu River at night to burn and loot Han Sui's military supplies, and ordered Yang Qiu to go south with his own 4,000 troops to besiege Qingshui.

Compared to Shi Yi's willingness to go, Yang Qiu was reluctant. After all, although Yang Qiu had surrendered to Zhang Yu, he knew that he was not Zhang Yu's direct subordinate. Now he was ordered to go south to attack the city. Regardless of whether he succeeded or not, his troops would be consumed. Once his troops were exhausted, he was afraid that he would be ignored or liquidated by Zhang Yu.

Therefore, when Yang Qiu led his troops south, he marched slowly and asked Zhang Yu for food and equipment many times. Zhang Yu was very generous and met Yang Qiu's requests. He even wrote to Yang Qiu many times, asking Yang Qiu to do his best to use the troops and not to have any reservations.

The distance from Qinting to Qingshui City is not far, about one hundred and twenty to thirty miles, but it took Yang Qiu four days to reach Qingshui City.

When the troops arrived at Qingshui City, Yang Qiu did not want to lose too many soldiers, so he first sent people to persuade Ren Kuai to surrender. However, Ren Kuai, with Han Sui's guarantee and the support of a thousand soldiers, was full of confidence. He not only killed Yang Qiu's messenger, but also insulted Yang Qiu in return.

Yang Qiu was furious and ordered a siege on Qingshui City. Ren Wei held Qingshui firmly and sent envoys to ask Han Sui for help.

Lueyang camp, inside the big tent.

"As expected, General, Zhang Yu has sent General Yang Qiu to attack Qingshui in the south." Cheng Gongying stroked his beard and smiled, and asked, "How will the general deploy his troops?"

Han Sui looked at Qingshui City on the map and said, "Qingshui is far from our army, but close to Zhang Yu. If we want to defeat Yang Qiu quickly, we must send strong generals and elite soldiers. If we can't defeat it quickly, Zhang Yu will hear the news and may rush to help Yang Qiu."

"Zimi, Yanming, listen to my orders!"

"exist!"

Fan Chou and Yan Xing stood up from their stools and bowed to Han Sui.

Han Sui pointed to the path on the map and said, "You two should lead 5,000 infantry and cavalry, and rush to Qingshui day and night, and attack Yang Qiu together with Ren Wei. You must defeat him quickly."

Han Sui then looked at Song Jian and said, "Zi Mi has few soldiers under his command. Please send a thousand elite soldiers to support Zi Mi."

"Easy to say!"

In order to fight the enemy, Song Jian agreed very readily and said, "Come here, mobilize a thousand elite cavalrymen to General Fan to obey your orders."

"promise!"

Han Sui held Fan Chou's hand and said, "Yan Ming is a brave warrior who has followed me for many years. However, he has no experience in commanding troops, while you have followed Lord Dong and have experienced hundreds of battles, and have fought many battles with Zhang Yu. Now I would like to ask Zi Mi to lead 5,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Yang Qiu and win a great victory for our army."

"Chou will definitely live up to the expectations of the two generals!" Fan Chou responded in a deep voice.

Fan Chou's command ability is needless to say. He was able to become Li Jue's reliance before, so Fan Chou's command ability is naturally outstanding and he is brave in battle. As for Yan Xing, he followed Han Sui to start an army when he was young, and he has experienced hundreds of battles. Needless to say, his martial arts skills are so good that he almost killed Ma Chao alone.

The fact that the two of them were the generals who attacked Yang Qiu not only shows that Han Sui valued Qingshui County, but also that he wanted to win a great victory to boost the morale of the Longshang coalition forces.

Not to mention that Fan Chou and Yan Xing led 5,000 infantry and cavalry to Qingshui via a small path. The distance from Lueyang to Qingshui was nearly 200 miles. Compared with Yang Qiu's procrastination, the two generals traveled day and night, covering a hundred miles a day, and it took only two days to reach Qingshui.

On July 6, due to fatigue from the march and because it was dark, Fan Chou and Yan Xing rested thirty miles away and sent people to sneak into the city secretly. They made an agreement with Ren Wei to attack Yang Qiu from both inside and outside at dawn on the 7th.

At dawn the next day, the sky was dim and the sun was beginning to rise from the east. Smoke from cooking in Yang Qiu's camp began to rise.

At this moment, Yang Qiu had just gotten up from the tent, yawning, and was washing up with the help of his servants.

"General, shall we attack the city today?" asked Deputy General Yang Han.

"Qingshui City is difficult to attack, so we need to repair our equipment first!" Yang Qiu wiped his face with a towel and said, "I have asked the Lord for help, and asked him to transfer some troops to our army."

Yang Han hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty ordered our army to attack the city, but now we have not made any achievements. If we ask for help from Your Majesty, I am afraid that I will be punished by Your Majesty after returning to the camp."

"I have killed all my troops now, will you treat me well in the future?" Yang Qiu raised his eyebrows and said, "I am not your direct descendant, but a surrendered general. The world is constantly at war, and only those with troops can be respected."

"Besides, Ren Wei is defending the city. If we don't repair the equipment, how can we break the city with just the ladder?"

Yang Han was speechless, and in his heart he agreed with what Yang Qiu said.

"In that case, I will tell the soldiers to repair their equipment today and wait for your reinforcements to arrive before attacking the city!"

"good!"

When Yang Qiu was calculating his own capital, he suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums in the camp, which made everyone present panic.

"what happened?"

Yang Qiu threw the towel into the wooden basin, strode out of the tent, and wanted to find out what had happened.

"General, this is bad!" The attendant fled in panic. When he saw Yang Qiu leaving the camp, he quickly grabbed Yang Qiu's hand and said, "There are a large number of enemy soldiers outside the camp, and they are launching a surprise attack on the camp. The enemy cavalry has already reached the camp gate, and the infantry is approaching from outside. I'm afraid our army will be unable to resist."

Hearing this, Yang Qiu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He said in shock, "How come the enemy reinforcements came so quickly!"

"General, our soldiers have just woken up and are unprepared. Now the enemy will attack our camp at dawn, and the enemy in the city will surely take action." Yang Han advised: "If they are attacked from both inside and outside, our army will surely be defeated. General, you can lead your troops to flee!"

While Yang Qiu was hesitating, the warning drums suddenly stopped, and it was obvious that the camp gate had been captured by the enemy. Soon, the whole camp was filled with the sounds of running and shouting, and the soldiers who had been washing and eating before were hastily preparing for battle.

"Whoosh!"

Feather arrows flew here and there, and the sound of killing was deafening in the camp.

At that moment, Yan Xing led the cavalry as the vanguard and charged into the camp from the weak point of Yang Qiu's camp. He rode his horse across the trench, drew his bows left and right, and shot two arrows in succession, knocking down two spear-wielding soldiers. Then he led hundreds of cavalry to rush into the camp like a tide.

After Yan Xing attacked Yang Qiu's camp, Fan Chou led the infantry and cavalry into two groups and rushed into the camp along the destroyed fortifications. When the city's general Wei saw that Yang Qiu's troops were attacked, he led the soldiers who had already formed a battle array out of the city and besieged the crumbling Yang Qiu camp.

There were only a few thousand soldiers in Yang Qiu's camp, and now it was besieged by the three generals Fan Chou, Ren Wei and Yan Xing. The camp had already fallen, and a large number of soldiers fled. Even if Yang Qiu wanted to stay, he was unable to do so.

"go!"

Yang Qiu turned his horse's head and looked at his own troops, feeling distressed. His troops had not been lost in the siege, but now they were defeated by the enemy. If he had known earlier, he would have rushed to Qingshui City and attacked with all his might. Who knows, he might have conquered Qingshui City by now.

There was no time to regret, and for fear of being surrounded, Yang Qiu led his cavalry and fled north with his troops. However, when Yang Qiu just left the camp, he unfortunately encountered Fan Chou's 700 cavalrymen blocking him in the north.

Seeing that there was no escape, Yang Qiu simply gave up resistance and was captured by Fan Chou's troops. On the contrary, Yang Han relied on his own bravery and, under the cover of his personal cavalry, fought his way out of the encirclement and galloped towards Qinting.

With the capture of Yang Qiu, his troops either surrendered or fled, and the three generals Fan Chou, Yan Xing and Ren Wei quickly resolved the battle.

In this battle, Fan Chou and Yan Xing killed or captured more than 3,000 people, forced more than a thousand people to flee, and captured the general Yang Qiu, which was a great victory.

Fan Chou and Yan Xing sent someone to report the good news to Han Sui first, and then rested in Qingshui City for two days. Considering that Qingshui City was small and difficult to station heavy troops, they left the baggage with Ren Wei, and the two generals set out for return on the tenth day with the captives.

On the way back, Fan Chou and Yan Xing were overjoyed and kept talking about the war.

"Looking at Zhang Yu's military tactics, he is just so-so!"

Yan Xing was young and full of vigor. He held the reins and said with a smile, "We sent Yang Qiu to attack Qingshui, but General Han guessed it. Our army and Ren Wei attacked together and defeated and captured Yang Qiu. This is a great victory, which will boost the morale of the army!"

Fan Chou smiled and said, "In the battle of Guanzhong, Zhang Yu rushed thousands of miles, circled to Guanzhong, and set up an ambush on the Luo River to defeat our army. However, the terrain in Longyou is complicated now, and Zhang Yu has no room for detours. He is blocked in Lueyang in the front and controlled in Qingshui in the south. Our army has the planning of Lord Han, and we will definitely win if we rush and use military force!"

"It seems that Li Jue is not as good as Zhang Yu in commanding troops, and Zhang Yu is not as good as General Han in commanding troops!" Yan Xing commented.

The young Yan Xing is not the middle-aged Yan Xing. The middle-aged Yan Xing experienced the turbulent times, saw Cao Cao's strength, and wanted to serve Cao Cao. The current Yan Xing is still young and his horizons are not broad. Therefore, in his eyes, Han Sui is undoubtedly the strongest prince in Liangzhou. Now that Zhang Yu's conspiracy has been thwarted, it further proves Han Sui's strength.

Fan Chou pondered for a moment, then reminded, "We have captured thousands of prisoners, but Yang Qiu is not Zhang Yu's direct subordinate. Yunzhong, Huguo, Gaoping, Hezhong and other troops are Zhang Yu's direct subordinates, and all of them are well-armored and sharp soldiers. Zhang Yu was able to defeat 100,000 with a small force, all thanks to the bravery of these troops."

"Since I followed General Han, I have seen many strong soldiers. Why would I be afraid of Zhang Yu now?" Yan Xing was not afraid at all. He said with a smile, "General Fan was defeated by Zhang Yu in the past because there were generals who turned against him and Li Jue was incompetent and did not know how to fight."

Seeing Yan Xing getting cocky after winning a battle, Fan Chou couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. He had underestimated Zhang Yu because he was so confident of his bravery. Now that he hadn't defeated Zhang Yu's direct troops, Fan Chou didn't dare to be happy too early.

On the way back, the two chatted casually. Compared with the rush when they came, they were much more relaxed now. The two kept pointing out the terrain.

Seeing the stream flowing through the hills and washing out a flat stream, Fan Chou pointed with his whip and asked, "What is the name of this water? What is the name of this river?"

"The river is Lishui, and the river is Lilinchuan!"

The attendant who was knowledgeable about geography said, "In the past, Emperor Gaozu sent General Li Shang to the west to attack Longyou. He ambushed the bandits here and named it Lishui."

Before the attendant finished speaking, a loud horn suddenly sounded from the nearby rivers and mountains, and the birds flew away in fright.

"ambush?"

Seeing this, Fan Chou's mind went blank and he spoke in a lost voice.

The smug look on Yan Xing's face was gone, and he was now filled with fear and shock. He did not expect that Zhang Yu would actually ambush them halfway.

In everyone's sight, the flag of Zhang was fluttering in the wind, the sound of cavalrymen riding their horses was loud, and the whole Lilin River was filled with the roar of horse hooves.

Fan Chou raised his head and sighed, saying: "Zhang Yu is well versed in the art of war, and now he has set an ambush for me!"

(End of this chapter)