Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 469 The Central Plains are in an uproar
The weather was fine and sunny, but the autumn wind was bleak.

Shouzhang was built along the Wen River. The city walls were high and steep, and the water was diverted to flow around the city, forming a unique defensive structure with the water to the north and moats on the three sides. It was a city that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Upon learning of the Tang army's southward advance, a strong atmosphere of battle pervaded Shouzhang. The groves outside the city were cleared bare to prevent them from being used by Tang soldiers.

Chen's soldiers could be seen everywhere on the city walls, and fast horses would gallop up from time to time below.

"Urgent report!"

The scouts rushed to the city walls, urgently called out to the gatekeepers, and showed them the tally.

In the rush, the gatekeeper could not see the token, but he recognized the scout. He quickly identified the passage and shouted, "The magistrate is on the city wall."

"Report!"

The scout galloped forward, dismounted, and ran swiftly down the city steps, finding Yuan Xi in the crowd.

"My lord, an urgent report from Zhang County."

"What happened in Zhang County?" Yuan Xi sensed something was wrong and asked anxiously.

"Zhang County has fallen; Li Song captured it last night," the scout reported.

“Zhang County has over a thousand soldiers. Even if they couldn’t hold out for long, how could they not last a single night?” Yuan Xi asked in disbelief.

The scout said, "According to the deserter, Li Song launched a surprise attack on the county town yesterday. The defending general, Shan Yi, saw that the enemy was too strong and fled without a fight. Now Zhang County has been easily taken by Li Song."

Li Song risked a surprise attack on Zhang County, and as he had predicted, the Yuan army was unprepared. After a small-scale skirmish, Shan Yi, fearing the loss of most of the Tang army, abandoned the city and fled with his family. After Shan Yi's escape, Li Song easily took over Zhang County and recruited some of his former subordinates.

Yuan Xi's face was grim. He kicked the wooden bucket angrily and cursed, "Shan Yi is incompetent and cowardly. He has now fallen into my danger."

"Order the execution of Shan Yi and his family!"

After Yuan Xi finished venting his anger, his deputy Ma Yan asked worriedly, "My lord, Zhang County is a crucial point on the Wen River. Should we send troops to retake Zhang County now?"

Yuan Xi looked grim and said, "Li Song and Lü Bu have joined forces. Now that Li Song has attacked Zhang County, how can Lü Bu remain indifferent? If our troops capture Zhang County, Lü Bu will surely attack Shou Zhang."

“If we don’t recapture Zhang County now, the Wen River will be cut off, and our army will have no troops or supplies from Lu to support us. How can we resist the Tang army?” Ma Yan said worriedly.

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice, “Our Chen dynasty controls one-third of the empire. The Prince of Qi is on the coast, Gao Gan is in Xuzhou and Huai'an, and Your Majesty is in Nanyang. Our army is besieged here. If Your Majesty receives this military report, you will surely mobilize the armies of all your forces to defend against the enemy. There is a half-year's worth of grain stored in the city, which is enough for you to eat!”

As he spoke, Yuan Xi looked around and said, "If any soldiers or generals are worried that Shouzhang cannot be defended, I will allow them to leave the city and surrender to the enemy. However, if they have no intention of leaving the city and later express their intention to surrender, they will be severely punished according to military law, without any leniency!"

The crowd remained silent for a while, with no one taking the lead in surrendering. After a short time, a series of muffled voices of acceptance of the order rose from the crowd.

Although Yuan Xi lacked experience in leading troops, he was not without strategy. He clearly understood that it was better to let those who intended to surrender leave than to keep them in the city. While holding onto Shouzhang might seem rigid, Yuan Xi knew that if he abandoned Shouzhang, he would have no foothold in Yanzhou except to surrender to Yuan Shu.

While Yuan Xi was determined to defend Shouzhang to the death and was prepared to seek help from Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu, far away in Wancheng, had already received the military report and was discussing important matters with his civil and military officials.

General Yuan Shu handed the report to his attendants and exclaimed, "I originally thought that Yuan Shao was my greatest enemy in the north, but I never expected that Zhang Yu would become my mortal foe. Now Zhang Yu is leading 100,000 troops south, attacking Qingzhou in the east and conquering Yanzhou in the west. It seems that he has the potential to swallow up the Central Plains in one fell swoop!"

With that, Yuan Shu looked at his civil and military officials and asked, "Zhang Chao has sent a letter requesting aid. What are your thoughts on this?"

"Your Majesty, the Tang army is elite and fierce, and Zhang Yu's military tactics are like those of a demon god; they are an invincible force. Currently, along the Yangtze River, Cao Cao is treacherous to the east, Liu Bei is harassing us to the south, and Sun Ce is domineering to the west." Kuai Yue hesitated for a moment, then bowed and said, "Therefore, in my opinion, Your Majesty should send a general out of Wuguan Pass to order the Tang army to lead troops back to reinforce the south. Your Majesty should first attack Cao Cao to eliminate this threat from your side. Once the south is unified, then you can send troops to attack Zhang Yu."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu flew into a rage and said, "Zhang Yu's troops may be strong, but how could our army be weak? How dare you boost the morale of others while diminishing your own prestige?"

Zhang Yu's troops were elite, how could Yuan Shu not know that? It's just that he didn't like anyone using that to refute him, and he even hated anyone saying that he was no match for Zhang Yu. If it weren't for his favoritism towards Kuai Yue and his high regard for Kuai Yue's wisdom, he would have already held Kuai Yue accountable.

Kuai Yue, neither humble nor arrogant, said, “Your Majesty, I have followed you for ten years and cannot bear to see your foundation destroyed by fire. Therefore, I dare to offer this advice. The soldiers of Chen are skilled in boat combat and their infantry are adept at fighting in waterways. However, the soldiers of Tang are skilled in cavalry and their infantry are adept at fighting in battle formations. Now, in the Central Plains, the soldiers of Chen are inferior to those of Tang. I hope Your Majesty will understand this.”

Although Zhang Yu's troops were of mixed composition, they were far superior to Yuan Shu's. Zhang Yu's army was mainly divided into three groups: loyal followers, surrendered soldiers from Guanzhong and Hebei, and others. Yuan Shu's main force, on the other hand, came from troops who had joined powerful local warlords and soldiers conscripted from local counties. His elite troops were mostly led by Yuan Shu's trusted generals, each with their own retinues, making it difficult to categorize them into major groups; their composition was complex.

Besides the complex composition of the army, Kuai Yue believed that the Chen army was weak, especially since they had recently fought against Liu Bei and Cao Cao and were used to naval battles. Now that a large army was suddenly being sent north, how could the army be used to fighting in formation with infantry and cavalry?

Another crucial point is that the military capabilities of the two leaders differed greatly. Zhang Yu, despite his weak position, carved out a place for himself in the extremely brutal Hebei War, while Yuan Shu was able to control Jingzhou solely through political means and the resources of the Yuan family, which had held high office for four generations.

The resources accumulated over four generations of high-ranking officials are now useless; in fact, it could be said that Yuan Shu's usurpation has inflicted an indelible blow on the Yuan family. After all, the Yuan family was able to achieve this through four generations of high-ranking officials, so isn't it a slap in the face for them to seize power and establish themselves?

Yuan Shu's expression darkened slightly, and he sneered, "According to your words, the Tang army is invincible in the world, while our army is too weak to fight against them. So why not send troops now to test their elite forces? Are you waiting until Zhang Yu has pacified the coast and taken Yanzhou before considering using troops?"

Kuai Yue said, “If our army is weak, then we should train our soldiers. Now that Zhang Yu is on a southern expedition, Chang’an is undefended. If we launch a surprise attack, we may be able to force Zhang Yu to retreat to Guanzhong. Once our soldiers are elite and the two traitors Cao Cao and Liu Bei are defeated, then we will have the opportunity to launch a northern expedition.”

Cai Mao refuted, "Zhang Yu's forces in Guanzhong numbered seventy to eighty thousand. When he defeated Yuan Shao, he gathered seventy to eighty thousand more troops. When Youzhou surrendered, he added tens of thousands more soldiers. Therefore, in total, Zhang Yu's forces in Hebei numbered at least two hundred thousand. Now Zhang Yu has raised an army of one hundred thousand, and surely there are countless more troops left to guard Guanzhong?"

"According to you, Zhang Yu's military tactics are like those of a ghost or a god. How could he not have anticipated our army's attack on Guanzhong?"

After a pause, Cai Mao cupped his hands to Yuan Shu and said, "Zhang Yu left troops in Guanzhong, relying on the natural defenses of Lantian, and defended the camp. If our army cannot take it, and there are no troops to support us in the Central Plains, Zhang Chao, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang will all be defeated by Zhang Yu. At that time, Lü Bu will be his lackey, and Tao Qian will surrender out of fear. The Central Plains will be occupied by Zhang Yu."

"De Gui is right!"

Yuan Shu rose from his imperial couch, paced back and forth, and said, "Zhang Yu is determined to conquer the Central Plains. How could he withdraw his troops just because Guanzhong is in danger? If I do not send troops to relieve the crisis in the Central Plains, all the counties in the Central Plains will turn their backs on me!"

"Your Majesty~"

Kuai Yue was about to speak when Yuan Shu interrupted him.

"Do not try to persuade me to go on the expedition to the Central Plains; my mind is made up!"

Yuan Shu said in a deep voice, "Huang Zhong will be the vanguard, Cai Mao the protector of the army, and Yan Xiang, Kuai Yue, and Deng Xi the military advisors. Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, Yue Jiu, Li Feng, Liang Gang, Wen Pin, Ji Ling, and others will be transferred to lead the expedition. A total of 100,000 troops will be dispatched. Chen Ji, the governor of Yuzhou, will supervise the transport of the army's money and provisions."

"Order Huang Yi to lead 10,000 men out of Wuguan Pass, pretending to be an army of 30,000."

"The governor of Xuzhou, Gao Gan, was ordered to send troops north to support Yuan Shang on the coast. Now Zhang Chao, Yuan Xi, and Gao Gan each have 10,000 troops, and Yuan Shang has 20,000 troops."

"The combined forces of the above-mentioned units number 160,000, but they have claimed a total of 300,000 troops to alarm the Tang rebels!"

"As for the two traitors Cao Cao and Liu Bei, I will have Huang Zu stationed in Jiangxia and Cai Yang stationed in Changsha, to defend the city and not engage in battle with them. Once my troops have defeated Zhang Yu, we will take advantage of our victory to first destroy Liu Bei in Jingnan, and then attack Cao Cao in Jianghuai."

"Yes, sir!" the crowd responded in unison.

Although Yuan Shu was unhappy with Kuai Yue's advice, he also knew that Zhang Yu was difficult to deal with. At this time, he mobilized all his troops, including Kuai Yue, who had just contradicted him.

(End of this chapter)