Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 468 A small test of one’s skills
In the vast wilderness of Henan, there is no sign of human habitation for miles around. Only broken walls and ruined village pavilions remain, with the occasional fortified village standing out abruptly, telling the story of the turmoil under the chaos of the times.

An army marched down the Ji River, startling birds from the grass and trees. As they passed through the fields, the scattered graves and bones left the people speechless with sorrow.

Li Song rode slowly. Although he had fought on the battlefield for many years and his heart was hardened like steel, he still felt pity upon seeing such a scene.

Compared to Hebei, which experiences relatively few battles, the frequency of battles in Henan is unimaginable.

From the end of the Han Dynasty, there were nearly ten large-scale upheavals, including the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the coalition of warlords against Dong Zhuo, the Yellow Turban invasion of Qingzhou, Sun Jian's northern expedition against Yanzhou, Chen Gong's rebellion against Cao Cao, the struggle between Cao Cao and Lü Bu, and the mutual attacks between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. The number of smaller battles was countless.

Yanzhou, with its four million inhabitants, was reduced to ruins. If we were to count the population of the various counties in Yanzhou today, it would probably be less than that of Bingzhou, which had eighty thousand households.

A messenger rode across the river, delivering news that Lü Bu had stationed troops at Juyang.

"General, news has arrived from Lü Bu. He is currently in Juyang City, about twenty li from here," the scout reported.

"it is good!"

"Marching fifteen li, when we are five li from Juyang City, we will set up camp and invite Lü Bu to the main camp for a meeting," Li Song instructed.

"General, wait!"

Xu Shu rode forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Lu Bu is the Grand General, while the General is only a General of the Four Directions. According to official rank, it should be the General who pays respects to Lu Bu, not Lu Bu who pays respects to the General."

Li Song reined in his horse, frowned, and said, "I am heading south today to recruit Lü Bu on behalf of the King. If I were to pay homage to Lü Bu today, it would be beneath my dignity."

"No!"

Xu Shu said, "Although you went south to recruit Lü Bu on behalf of the King, you were the vanguard and were ordered to fight Yuan Xi with Lü Bu. Now that you are a guest, it would be displeasing for Lü Bu to pay his respects. Moreover, Lü Bu is leading 10,000 infantry and cavalry to assist in the battle, so it is only right and proper to appease him."

"it is good!"

After a moment's thought, Li Song said, "I will follow Yuanzhi's suggestion and personally pay my respects to Lü Bu."

Although they were from the same hometown, Lü Bu's fickle nature meant that Li Song didn't have much affection for him. But now, in order to achieve great things, he had to abandon his previous dislike and befriend Lü Bu.

Hey!
The thought of making contributions suddenly made Li Song feel an immense pressure on his shoulders.

When he went to fight against Yuan Shao, he originally wanted to make meritorious contributions and establish his position in the army. Who could have predicted that he would fall into Zhang He's trap because of his greed for merit? Even with Zhao Yun holding him back, his reputation was completely ruined, and he fell far behind the generals Zhang Liao and Xu Huang.

The former, Zhang Liao, sneaked out of Taihang, beheaded Tadun, relieved the siege of Youzhou, then broke through Yijing, captured and killed Gongsun Zan, and had become the number one soldier in the army; the latter, Xu Huang, rushed to the rescue of Hanzhong, defeated the enemy with a small force, relieved the crisis in Hanzhong, forced Sun Ce to retreat, and made Zhang Lu surrender.

Last year, he was ordered to attack Yuan Xi, but only achieved minor merits and failed to capture the city. The reason he was able to be appointed as the Left General, above the Rear General Xu Huang, was simply because of his merits in following the emperor and his social status.

Therefore, if he cannot achieve further merits, let alone whether the king will trust him again, he himself will not have the face to be ranked alongside Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, let alone the rising star Man Chong, after all, he is not Zhang Yang.

Although Zhang Yang had few merits, he was indispensable in logistical support. More importantly, Zhang Yang was the king's uncle, and neither he nor Zhang Liao, who had the most outstanding achievements, dared to compare their status with Zhang Yang.

Calming himself down, Li Song said, "Yuanzhi, you are cautious by nature and knowledgeable in military strategy. I hope you will offer your guidance."

"promise!"

Zhang Yu still didn't trust Li Song, so he appointed the steady and reliable Xu Shu as his deputy to assist Li Song, who was leading the vanguard alone. If something went wrong with Li Song this time, he would probably only be able to serve in the northern frontier from now on.

Twenty miles is not a long distance, and if you travel at full speed, you will arrive in Juyang in just half a day.

When they arrived at Juyang, Lü Bu led his men out of the city to greet them.

"After many years, Li Jun has become even more valiant. He followed the Tang Emperor in his conquests across the land, and his fame spread throughout the Central Plains."

Knowing Li Song's identity, Lü Bu presented him with a high hat and warm greetings upon their first meeting.

"Marquis Wen's prestige shook the Central Plains; even Song could not match him!"

Li Song smiled and said, "This campaign against Yanzhou has troubled Marquis Wen."

"All will serve the Tang Emperor!"

With that, Lü Bu bowed to the west and asked, "May I ask how your health is, Grandfather?"

"Very good!"

Li Song laughed and said, "When the women of Marquis Wen came to the capital, my father heard about it, received them, and bestowed gold ornaments upon your daughter, saying that she resembled Marquis Wen and was handsome."

Upon hearing this, Lü Bu couldn't hide his smile and said, "If I can help Your Majesty defeat Yuan Shu, I will certainly go to court to pay my respects to Taigong." After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Song, at Lü Bu's warm invitation, joined him in Lü Bu's army tent.

Inside the main tent, Lü Bu generously displayed the map and said, "Yuan Xi originally stationed his troops in Dong'e, but since you defeated and surrendered Jiao Chu, you have been besieged in Dong'e for a long time. So last year, you moved your capital to Shouzhang in Dongping, which borders Lu to the west."

"Since the relocation of the capital to Shouzhang, Yuan Xi has conscripted men to repair the city walls, dredge the city moat, stockpile military provisions, and train troops to prepare for our military operations."

As he spoke, Lü Bu moved his finger downwards, pointing to Yongqiu, and said, "Chenliu was governed by Zhang Miao. Now Zhang Miao has been recruited to Nanyang, and his younger brother Zhang Chao has been appointed as the prefect. Yongqiu is the base of the Zhang family's power. The city is high and the grain is plentiful, making it difficult to conquer!"

Having occupied Chenliu for over a decade, the Zhang brothers, relying on Yuan Shu, had become a bridgehead for the Central Plains in their fight against the Hebei forces. Compared to Yuan Xi, whose power base was not as deep, the Zhang brothers were a tough nut to crack.

Considering the difficulty level, Zhang Yu decided to have Lü Bu and Li Song tackle Yuan Xi first.

Li Song nodded and asked, "Yongqiu is where the Zhang family has cultivated for more than ten years. We can wait for the Tang King's army to arrive before attacking it. Now we should start with the easy things and then move on to the difficult ones. I wonder if Marquis Wen has a plan to defeat Yuan Xi?"

"cough!"

Lu Bu coughed and said, "Yuan Xi is no fool. Knowing he is no match for our army, he fled to Shouzhang for refuge. Apart from besieging the city, I have no other plan. If General Li has a good plan, I am willing to follow it."

After pondering for a long time, Li Song said, "Yuan Xi is defending the city. If we want to break through it quickly, we can strike its vital points and force it to come out of the city to fight."

As he spoke, Li Song pointed to the Wen River on the map and said, “Shouzhang is the gateway to Lu. The Wen River originates from Mount Tai and flows into Daye Marsh here. Therefore, the military supplies of Lu are transported to Shouzhang via the Wen River. If we want to defeat Shouzhang, we should first cut off the Wen River so that Shouzhang cannot supply the military supplies of Lu.”

Li Song's words made Lü Bu and his men nod repeatedly, their expressions showing agreement.

"General Li, what is the proper course of action for our troops?"

"Zhang County!"

Without hesitation, Li Song tapped Zhang County a few times with his finger and said, "Zhang County is bordered by hills and ravines to the north and the Wen River to the south. There is also Zhangcheng on the south bank of the river, facing it across the river. Now that Yuan Xi has heavily garrisoned Shouzhang, the defenses of Zhang County must be weak. We can launch a surprise attack with elite cavalry, seize Zhang County, cut off the Wen River, and isolate Yuan Xi. Then Shouzhang can be taken!"

Li Song had long desired to achieve merit, and the strategy he was presenting today was a plan he had pondered for a long time before launching his campaign. Now, everyone fell into deep thought, considering the rationality of Li Song's strategy.

"Ah!"

Chen Gong showed slight disdain and said, "The plan is good, but it is also risky. If the surprise attack fails to capture Zhang County, wouldn't we be in danger of defeat?"

"Who is this person?" Li Song asked Lü Bu.

"Chen Gongtai, the Prefect of Yanzhou and Military Governor!" Lü Bu introduced.

"Oh!"

Li Song smiled and said, "If we want to quickly conquer Shouzhang, how can we not take risks in our military operations? If we can capture Zhangxian and cut off the waterway to Shouzhang, the people's hearts will be in danger. If we cannot capture Zhangxian, we can retreat quickly with light cavalry, and the enemy will have difficulty pursuing us. What danger could there be?"

"Ok!"

Lü Bu nodded slightly and said, "Lord Li's view is reasonable. How can we wage war without taking risks?"

"I believe sending troops to Zhang County is a feasible plan!"

Seeing that Lü Bu agreed, Li Song was overjoyed and said, "In that case, Marquis Wen will send 500 cavalry as guides, and I will send 1,000 cavalrymen to raid Zhang County."

"to make!"

Seeing that Li Song acted decisively, Lü Bu immediately ordered, "Where is Cao Xing?"

"The general is here!"

"I hereby order you to lead five hundred elite cavalry and await General Li Song's command."

Lü Bu said to Li Song, "Lord Li, Cao Xing is a fierce general under my command. You can treat him as one of your own soldiers and command him."

"This subordinate obeys!" Cao Xing replied gladly.

"Thank you, Marquis Wen!"

Afterwards, Xu Shu, citing Li Song's command of the army, advised Li Song to appoint a more capable general to take over the command. However, Li Song refused, citing the urgency of the situation, and asked Xu Shu to temporarily assume the position of commander-in-chief.

(End of this chapter)