Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 403 A sudden turn of events
"Commander, something terrible has happened!"

In the chaotic city of Xindu, soldiers and officials stumbled into Shen Pei's residence, but not knowing where Shen Pei was, they could only shout loudly.

Shen Pei had just been woken up by Shen Rong and had only fallen asleep a short while ago. Hearing someone shouting, he put on his outer robe and went out of the house. When he saw the soldiers and officers looking terrified, Shen Pei was full of displeasure and scolded them, "What's the matter that you're so panicked?"

Just then, the bell rang throughout Xindu. The officer pointed to the west gate and said urgently, "Commander, the troops from Qingzhou have rebelled and launched a surprise attack on the west gate, killing many soldiers. We request that you take charge of the situation."

Shen Pei's expression changed drastically, and he asked, "Where are Zhao Rui and Shen Rong? Have they suppressed the mutinous troops?"

The incident happened so suddenly that everyone assumed it was an army rebellion, rather than the Bing army marching on Xindu. As a result, Shen Pei immediately questioned Zhao Rui and Shen Rong to see if they had led troops to suppress the rebellion.

The officer shook his head repeatedly and said, "Zhao Rui led an army in rebellion and is currently besieging the West Gate. As for Colonel Shen, I have no idea of ​​his whereabouts!"

Shen Pei immediately realized what was happening and said, "Zhao Rui's rebellion against you, my lord, must be an inside man for Zhang Yu."

"quick!"

Shen Pei hurriedly put on his clothes and said loudly, "Notify the two captains Ma and Dong in the city to lead their troops to retreat to the inner city. They can defend the palace against the rebels."

As he spoke, Shen Pei reached out and grabbed his servant, saying urgently, "Ride out of the south gate and report to the lord that Zhao Rui has led his troops in rebellion, and that I have led my army to retreat to the inner city. Ask the lord to quickly send troops back to reinforce and suppress the rebellion."

"promise!"

He arranged for his family to go to the inner city on their own, and then Shen Pei hurriedly went to the military camp to deploy troops to defend the city walls.

The inner part of a city is called the city wall, and the outer part is called the outer wall.

The outer city was inhabited by commoners and officials, and contained markets, workshops, and houses; while the inner city was inhabited by the city lord and his family, and housed government offices, ancestral temples, and treasuries. In the defensive system, if the outer city could not be defended, the city could retreat to the inner city to await reinforcements.

Shen Pei acted decisively. Knowing that the outer city could no longer be defended, he resolutely abandoned it and retreated to the inner city where supplies were stockpiled, in order to wait for Yuan Shao's troops to return and reinforce.

While Shen Pei ordered his troops to retreat to the inner city, Zhang Yu had already led his troops into Xindu, and Xu Chu, Xu Huang, and Zhao Yun successively took control of the remaining gates of the outer city of Xindu.

On the street, a soldier from Longxi gazed at the towering houses and orderly buildings, his eyes already captivated by the prosperity of Xindu. Listening to the surrounding noise, he fantasized about the wealth inside the houses, and a wicked thought suddenly arose in his mind.

After glancing around, Long Bing deliberately shouted to his companions, "The thieves have broken into the house and are hiding. Let me go in and capture them!"

"Oh!"

With that, he kicked down the gate and strode into the villager's home. Another soldier, driven by greed, followed behind him.

But then they saw an old man holding a wooden gun, with his daughter-in-law, an old woman, and his grandson behind him, pointing at two soldiers from Longxi with trepidation.

Seeing this, the leading soldier observed for a while. He noticed that the daughter-in-law was plain-looking and the old man looked resolute. Fearing that things would escalate, he simply asked, "Do you have any money at home? Hand over your money and I will spare your family's lives."

The old woman tossed out a bolt of silk and a cloth bag containing copper and silver, saying, "My family is poor and has only a little money. I hope the general will be lenient."

"How can the two of us possibly divide a single bolt of silk?"

The leader of the soldiers from Longxi said something unpleasantly, and opened the cloth bag to see how much money was inside.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves rang out outside the house.

Immediately afterward, an arrow pierced the arm of the leading Long soldier. The soldier cried out in pain, and the cloth bag fell from his hand.

The other man, holding a spear, looked over and saw Zhao Yun with his bow drawn, pointing it at them. He was horrified.

"get out!"

Zhao Yun shouted, "Our lord has ordered that the people must not be disturbed after the city is captured. How dare you disobey military orders and plunder the people!"

With that, Zhao Yun waved his hand, signaling his men to bring the two men out.

The soldier from Longxi, whose arm had been pierced by an arrow, twisted and struggled, angrily saying, "I am a trusted confidant of General Pang, how dare you capture me now?"
"Capture you?"

Zhao Yun sneered and said, "I dare not only to capture you, I also dare to kill you, to uphold military discipline."

"General Zhao!"

Upon hearing the news, Pound rushed over, cupped his hands, and asked, "What has happened?"

Zhao Yun said coldly, "These two men have broken into the house and robbed us, disobeying the orders of the Lord. I wonder if General Pang will handle this himself, or if I will handle it myself."

The two soldiers from Longxi looked terrified. The leader of them begged for mercy, saying, "I have followed you since you joined the army, General. I have made a mistake in my foolishness. I hope you can save me!"

A hint of hesitation flashed across Pound's face. Suppressing his reluctance, he said, "Now that you're in the army, military law must come first. I will have someone take good care of your families."

With that, Pang De cupped his hands to Zhao Yun and said, "General Zhao is in charge of maintaining strict military discipline, so I'm counting on you today!"

"it is good!"

"General~"

Before the soldiers from Longxi could finish pleading for mercy, Zhao Yun ordered their execution, giving them no time to consider their options.

“The frightened people have been calmed down by Ling Ming. I will continue to patrol the streets.”

After Zhao Yun rode away, Pang De looked at the two men lying on the ground and couldn't help but sigh. He then emphasized to those around him, "Tell everyone not to do anything foolish. If anyone violates military orders, they will be dealt with according to military law. Don't blame me for being ruthless."

"promise!"

With two lives lost as a warning, all the soldiers were filled with solemnity.

Strict military discipline and prohibiting the plundering of civilians were things Zhang Yu emphasized before the fall of the city. In the past, when riots occurred during the fall of cities, Zhang Yu sometimes didn't care too much as long as no looting took place. But now that Xindu had fallen, Zhang Yu had to ensure that no one was plundered.

Xindu, as Yuan Shao's stronghold, housed countless families of his civil and military officials and soldiers. If looting were to occur, it would surely incite public anger. Therefore, enforcing strict military discipline and appeasing the people were of paramount importance. Historically, while Lü Meng's attack on Jiangling was fatal, it wasn't the key factor in Guan Yu's complete defeat. It's important to remember that when Guan Yu led his army south, he still had tens of thousands of troops. If Lü Meng had confronted him head-on, he likely wouldn't have been a match for Guan Yu. Instead, Lü Meng, in order to defeat Guan Yu without bloodshed, not only treated Guan Yu and his men well but also strictly forbade any looting. Through this psychological warfare, he ultimately triggered the collapse of Guan Yu's forces.

With history as a lesson, how could Zhang Yu not take it to heart and appease the people of Xindu, using psychological warfare to disintegrate Yuan Shao's army?

Under the suppression of the riots led by Zhao Yun's cavalry, the unrest was quickly brought to an end, and the various troops of the army were stationed in the outer city to implement military control and blockade.

Once Zhang Yu entered Xindu City, after ensuring that he had gradually gained control of the outer city, he, guided by Xu You, visited the families of Yuan Shao's civil and military officials who were away on campaign.

"My lord!"

At dawn, Zhang Yu had just stepped out of Zhang He's small residence when he saw his generals waiting outside.

"What's the situation in the city?" Zhang Yu asked.

Xu Huang cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, since General Zhao led his troops to impose martial law on the streets and implemented military control, there have been no more looting incidents, and the people are temporarily at peace. However, Shen Pei has led his troops to retreat to the inner city and refuses to surrender to our army. In my humble opinion, we must break through the inner city before Yuan Shao's troops return to reinforce us, otherwise the situation may become dire."

Zhang Yu nodded, turned to look at Xu Chu, and said, "Zhongkang, select the elite troops and make sure to break through the inner city before nightfall."

"As ordered!"

“Ziyuan, you are familiar with the situation in Xindu. Now you will conscript the city’s residents to repair our weapons. Once the inner city is breached, all conscripted people will be rewarded with one shi of rice and one bolt of cloth per person,” Zhang Yu said.

"promise!"

Although Xu You was greedy for money, he was indeed quite capable. In particular, having served as a high-ranking official under Yuan Shao for a long time, he was already very familiar with the officials in Xindu City.

Soon, persuaded by Xu You, Cui Ai, the magistrate of Xindu, surrendered. Under Cui Ai's leadership, around noon, five thousand people were conscripted to help Xu Chu besiege the inner city.

Shen Pei led over a thousand soldiers to hold the city, while over a hundred servants from Yuan Shao's residence also scaled the walls. Xu Chu began his assault on the city walls in the morning, but Shen Pei's troops, equipped with powerful crossbows, repeatedly repelled him. In the afternoon, Xu Huang led his army to join the attack, joining Xu Chu in scaling the walls three times, but each time they were repelled by Shen Pei's forces.

Seeing that the inner city could not be captured for a long time, Zhang Yu decided to go to the city walls himself to command his troops to break through the city.

"The inner city is high and dangerous!"

Zhang Yu rode his horse around the inner city and couldn't help but sigh.

With his left arm wrapped in white cloth, Xu Chu said with shame, "Shen Pei's troops have many powerful crossbows. I led my army in a fierce attack, but we were repeatedly repelled by their crossbows. Now, I have failed to break through the city, and I am truly ashamed of my lord's expectations."

Zhang Yu glanced at Xu Chu, who had been wounded in the left arm by an arrow, and reassured him, "Our army came in a surprise attack and was unarmed. The ladders we used to scale the city walls were civilian ladders, which were sufficient for a surprise attack on the low walls, but not enough to breach the inner city. Moreover, Shen Pei was determined to die and had powerful bows and crossbows. Therefore, our inability to breach the city is not Zhongkang's fault!"

With that, Zhang Yu pointed his whip forward at the city gate and said, "Follow me to take a closer look at the South Gate!"

As Zhang Yu rode his horse closer to the inner city to observe its weaknesses, Shen Pei on the city wall had already spotted Zhang Yu's movements and hurriedly deployed skilled archers to ambush him.

"Whoosh!"

The powerful crossbow bolts, positioned high above, pierced the air and headed straight for Zhang Yu.

"Shut up!"

Zhang Yu seemed to realize something and quickly reined in his horse to turn around.

The next instant, the arrow struck Zhang Yu's left side, embedding itself firmly in the ground, only half a step away from Zhang Yu, its fletching still trembling.

Upon seeing this, the generals on both sides were terrified. They immediately rushed forward to surround Zhang Yu, using shields to block him and their bodies to protect him.

Zhang Yu was not panicked at all. Instead, he laughed loudly and said, "Now that the Yuan family can't harm me, it's time for me to break through the inner city."

When Shen Pei saw that he had missed Zhang Yu, he was so frustrated that he pounded on the city wall.

Winter nights come early, and by the time Zhang Yu left the inner city and summoned his subordinates for a meeting, it was already getting late.

Seeing the crowd gathered, Zhang Yu said, "I already have a plan to break through the inner city!"

All the generals were overjoyed upon hearing this. Xu Huang cupped his hands and asked for instructions, saying, "We can fight through the night now. I am willing to follow your orders, my lord!"

Just as Zhang Yu was about to give his orders, a scout suddenly rushed into the tent.

"Report! Urgent military intelligence has arrived from Tangyang!"

Zhang Yu remained calm and asked, "What military intelligence is this?"

"Enemy general Gao Lan is leading three thousand elite cavalry towards Xindu!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room except Zhang Yu was shocked.

Xindu is not yet under their control, and Gao Lan is about to arrive with his elite cavalry. The troops have been traveling for several days and are exhausted. If Yuan's army follows Gao Lan, they will be trapped like turtles in a jar.

“We still can’t break through the inner city, and Gao Lan has already arrived with his cavalry. What should we do now?” Ma Dai said with a worried expression.

Yan Xing frowned and said, "My lord, we are surrounded by enemies on both sides. It would be better to lead the army to attack Gao Lan first, and then besiege Shen Pei."

“No, we must first secure the outer city and then launch a strong attack on Shenpei,” Xu Huang said.

The group was initially delighted by the plan to defeat the enemy, but now their minds were thrown into disarray by Gao Lan's sudden message, leaving them unsure of how to respond.

Seeing everyone's worry, Zhang Yu remained calm and smiled, "Don't worry, gentlemen, I already have a plan to defeat Gao Lan."

ps: There will be another chapter tonight

(End of this chapter)