Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 432 The Plains, have pacified Yuan!
July, 198 AD.

The Yellow River flows slowly eastward, with pontoon bridges spanning the wide river between the two banks. On either side of the pontoon bridges are camps, and compared to the camps on the north bank, the camps on the south bank can be considered small towns.

"Bo Dao has been working on the south bank for many days, and the fortifications have finally been successfully repaired. From now on, the river will not be able to stop our army from crossing!" Zhang Yu said with emotion as he looked at the small town on the south bank.

After successfully defending against the siege of the previous few days, Hao Zhao built his camp into a small city, fulfilling his promise to establish a foothold on the south bank. With the city in place, the Shanxi army had a bridgehead for crossing the river.

"Although the camp on the south bank has been established, Gao Gan has been digging ditches and building earthen barriers outside, which has trapped our army in the city instead," Gao Shun said with a headache.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Unless high-ranking officials can guard the area day and night, the ditches and earthen barriers are useless. Besides, even a small town can be expanded into a large one. Yuan's army's construction of ditches outside the city is a last resort!"

Then, Zhang Yu asked, "Does the new city have a name?"

"I have not yet named it; please bestow a name upon me, Your Excellency!" Gao Shun said, bowing.

“Since we are here to conquer Yuan Shao, let’s call it the conquest of Yuan City!” Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"Pingyuan City?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "The prefecture is called Pingyuan, and the city is named 'Pingyuan.' Defeating Yuan Shao here is how we earned its name!"

Zhang Yu was taken aback for a moment, then instantly understood what Jia Xu was talking about, and laughed, "If Yuan Shao really dies at Pingyuan, it is truly Heaven's will to destroy the Yuan family."

Zhang Yu named the new city "Ping Yuan" purely to boost morale and annoy Yuan Shao, but he never expected that Jia Xu would connect Pingyuan with Ping Yuan.

While Zhang Yu was talking with his men, a scout stepped forward and reported, "My lord, there has been a change in the military situation in Yanzhou!"

"What's the matter?"

"According to General Li's report, Zhang Miao led his troops to attack Jiyin, and Dingtao surrendered to Zhang Miao. Now, Lü Bu has heard the news and is leading his troops south to take Dingtao back from Zhang Miao," the scout said.

"Zhang Miao attacked Jiyin?"

Zhang Yu frowned slightly and said, "Zhang Miao is affiliated with Yuan Shu, and now he has launched a surprise attack on Lü Bu without cause. He must be acting on Yuan Shu's orders to aid Yuan Shao."

"If Yuan Shu sends troops to the Central Plains, the military situation may change!" Gao Shun said worriedly.

"Cao Cao is based in the Jianghuai region, and Sun Ce is located upstream in Jingzhou. If these two enemies are not eliminated, Jingzhou is in danger of falling. Therefore, how could Yuan Shu dare to send out a large army? In my opinion, Yuan Shu will most likely send a general with only tens of thousands of troops. With Lü Bu's abilities, he may be able to hold them off temporarily. Moreover, Lü Bu is aware of the danger. If the enemy's forces are strong, he will surely ask you for help," Jia Xu said.

Lü Bu was cunning; his willingness to assist Zhang Yu in his campaign did not necessarily mean he was willing to fight to the death for Zhang Yu. If Yuan Shu's army was large, Lü Bu would certainly seek help from Zhang Yu. If Zhang Yu did not seek help, Lü Bu might very well submit to Yuan Shu. Therefore, Jia Xu's judgment was correct.

"We are currently short of troops, so should we conscript soldiers who are on leave?" Tian Feng asked.

Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "I ordered all the troops to take turns resting. How can I go back on my word? Besides, we are not in an emergency yet, so why should we use troops on rest?"

"The key to the current situation lies in the Bohai Sea!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu added, "If Zhang Liao can defeat Yuan Tan and break through the fortified city of Nanpi, there will be no place for Yuan's army to stand in Hebei. Zhang Liao can then lead 20,000 troops to seize the opportunity to go south, perhaps from Bohai to Qi, or perhaps to aid Yanzhou, or perhaps to join forces with our army."

…………

While Zhang Yu was preoccupied with the situation in Bohai, Zhang Liao, facing attacks from both sides, launched a counterattack against the armies of Yuan Tan and Ju Hu.

Previously, Zhang Yu captured Handan, Tian Feng surrendered, and Ju Shou was captured. Due to the lack of communication, Yuan Shao mistakenly believed that Ju Shou was dead. Therefore, he took advantage of Ju Hu's hatred for killing his father and appointed Ju Hu as the governor of Bohai Commandery.

Zhang Liao led 20,000 troops south and besieged Ju Hu in Nanpi City. Anticipating that Yuan Shao's army would come to the rescue, Zhang Liao repaired moats outside the city to prevent the troops inside from leaving, and sent people to scout out the movements of Yuan Shao's army.

Meanwhile, Yuan Tan was ordered to lead 10,000 men north to relieve the siege of Nanpi City. He stationed his troops at Gaocheng and sent men to investigate the strength of Zhang Liao's army.

After more than ten days of reconnaissance, and several more days to formulate tactics, Yuan Tan, based on his analysis of the military situation, planned to use fire as a signal to his troops in the city, and launch a surprise attack on Zhang Liao's camp at dawn.
Yuan Tan led his army to camp seventy li outside Nanpi City. After making contact with Ju Hu, he then commanded his army to attack. Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao was prepared and ordered the Youzhou troops to guard the interior, while he and Gao Lan led their troops outside.

When Yuan Tan and Ju Hu each led their troops to attack, Zhang Liao personally led his troops to counterattack. Ju Hu was defeated by the Youzhou army and retreated into the city. Yuan Tan's army was subsequently defeated by the cavalry, and Yuan's army was thus routed.

East of Nanpi County, large groups of cavalry roamed the vast plains, pursuing and killing the fleeing defeated army.

The sound of horses' hooves clattered and shouts echoed from all sides. Yuan Tan's thousands of soldiers scattered like wolves and boars, abandoning their armor and weapons as they fled in all directions across the plains.

Zhang Liao led his cavalry in a swift movement, quickly catching up to the front. Then, the cavalrymen, spears and swords in hand, cut diagonally into the largest group of soldiers.

Slashing and stabbing, Yuan's soldiers screamed in agony. Those who were desperate to escape, not caring that they couldn't swim, jumped directly into the river and drowned after a few splashes.

As the soldiers were scattered, another troop of cavalry galloped in, drew their bows and began to shoot, killing the fleeing Yuan soldiers one by one, like wheat being harvested from a field. After this volley of arrows, if any Yuan soldiers knelt and begged for mercy, the cavalry would spare their lives and pursue the remaining soldiers who refused to surrender.

Looking down from above, twenty or thirty cavalrymen were scattered across the plains like a pack of wolves on the grasslands. Under their pursuit, Yuan's soldiers had only two fates: death or surrender.

The reason why the north often unified the south throughout history, besides geographical conditions, was that the north was rich in cavalry, and cavalry was undoubtedly a terrifying nightmare for the scattered infantry.

Today, apart from Nanzhong, the four provinces of Bing, You, Liang, and Yong are all under Zhang Yu's control, not to mention that Zhang Yu grew up on the frontier and attaches great importance to cavalry.

Zhang Liao's ability to turn the tide and win despite being attacked from both sides relied on his armored cavalry. Yuan Shao, who previously occupied Ji Province, also possessed armored cavalry, but after losing Ji Province, his cavalry strength weakened significantly, and he concentrated his armored cavalry in his forces. Yuan Tan's troops consisted only of cavalrymen, lacking armored cavalry; therefore, when fighting Zhang Liao's forces, his flank was overrun by a hundred armored cavalrymen.

"Whoever surrenders will avoid death!"

Upon seeing that Yuan Tan had disappeared, Zhang Liao abandoned the pursuit and issued an order to his subordinates to surrender.

Under Zhang Liao's orders, the cavalrymen went around trying to persuade the fleeing soldiers to surrender. The fleeing soldiers, panting heavily, surrendered without resistance. Some of the more timid ones even knelt down and begged for mercy, pleading for their lives.

To prevent a counterattack by Yuan's army, the Shanxi cavalry were divided into two parts in an orderly manner. One part circled around to a distant place in preparation for an enemy attack, while the other part received prisoners and drove them back to camp.

"General, what should we do with these prisoners?" asked the rider as he stepped forward.

Zhang Liao said without hesitation, "Bring them all back to the camp and then incorporate them into the army."

"As ordered."

Gao Lan spurred his horse to catch up with Zhang Liao and said, "General, Ju Hu's troops have been utterly defeated by the Youzhou army. We must now retreat to Nanpi."

“Yuan Tan has been decisively defeated by our army, and there are no reinforcements outside Nanpi now. He will fall to our army sooner or later. So I wonder if we can persuade him to surrender?” Zhang Liao asked.

"It will likely be difficult!"

Gao Lan said, "Our army killed Ju Shou, and we have a blood feud with Ju Hu for killing his father. How could Ju Hu willingly surrender now?"

"The key to conquering a city lies in demoralizing the enemy. Now, Yuan Tan's reinforcements have suffered a major defeat, and the garrison of Nanpi has also been severely damaged. Therefore, we should first send someone to persuade them to surrender and see if any officers in the city will surrender." Zhang Liao said in a deep voice, "Many of Yuan's troops have surrendered. If we cannot persuade them to surrender, I will raise an army to besiege them and try my best to capture Nanpi before August."

With that, Zhang Liao sneered and said, "Ju Hu wants to avenge his father, but many soldiers in the city want to live."

"The general is wise!"

Most famous generals are forged through experience and training. Zhang Liao is known for his courageous remonstrance at Bailang Mountain and his awe-inspiring victory at Xiaoyao Ford. Therefore, Zhang Liao's military talent is undoubtedly outstanding.

Zhang Liao possesses exceptional talent, and Zhang Yu nurtured him early on, investing heavily in his development. Therefore, the current Zhang Liao exhibits even greater generalship than in history, capable of adapting well to various complex battlefield situations, as evidenced by his victory in the Nanpi rescue battle.

Not to mention Zhang Liao's momentum after his victory, intending to take Nanpi in one fell swoop. Yuan Tan, who was now fleeing with several hundred cavalry, was filled with worry and fear, wondering how to respond to Yuan Shao.

"Shut up!"

Only when the Shanxi army could no longer be seen pursuing them did Yuan Tan dare to slow his horse down slightly.

Yuan Tan sighed and said, "I was ordered by my father to lead the army to rescue Nanpi, but now I have been defeated by Zhang Liao. I have no face to return to my father and I fear that he will blame me for this."

Su You said, "Qingzhou belongs to you, sir. Now that the King of Qi has moved his capital south, it is all thanks to your kindness. Your failure to relieve the siege is not due to your military mistakes, but because our army's armor is not good enough, which is why we were defeated by Zhang Liao. If you can gather your troops again and launch an attack while Zhang Liao is besieging the city, you can cause Zhang Liao to suffer a great defeat."

Yuan Tan said with distress, "The coastal troops are few in number and have suffered heavy losses. How can we expect any reinforcements to come to our aid? Moreover, if my father's main army is mobilized, the King of Qi will find it difficult to defend against Zhang Yu!"

It's easy to find excuses for one's defeat, but the key issue is that there are hardly any troops left. It was already difficult to muster 50,000 troops from the two prefectures of Qingzhou and Xuzhou. Now that he has led 10,000 men to relieve the siege and has been defeated, there will be no more troops at his disposal in the short term.

In reality, the defeat was secondary; Yuan Tan was more worried that his ailing father would change the heir apparent and appoint Yuan Shang, who was more in line with Yuan Shao's tastes.

Previously, when Yuan Shao moved his capital to Linzi, he promised to make Yuan Tan his heir in order to gain Yuan Tan's full support. However, verbal promises are just that—verbal promises. Now that Yuan Tan has suffered a military defeat, Yuan Tan fears that Yuan Shao might renege on his promise.

The reason why Yuan Tan did not believe Yuan Shao's verbal promise was that Yuan Shao refused Yuan Tan's request to issue an edict, citing the stable situation.

Su You, not understanding Yuan Tan's inner turmoil, said, "Given the current situation, my lord, you have no choice but to first set up camp at Hejin, and then recruit the fleeing soldiers to see what orders the King of Qi has."

"good!"

Yuan Tan turned to look at the riders on either side and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

(End of this chapter)