Late Han Zhao Tang

While Man Chong was conquering Linzi, beheading Yuan Tan, and pacifying the coastal counties, Li Song's campaign against Xuzhou had reached its climax.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the warm sun rose, a cool breeze blew, and the sky was high and the clouds were light.

In the Fen River Valley, tens of thousands of people crowded into the valley, divided into three large armies fighting each other.

"You son of Zang Ba, how dare you carry me on your back!"

The high-ranking official, sitting in the carriage, furiously pounded the carriage railing with his hand, his voice filled with resentment.

"My lord, our army is being attacked from both sides, and the situation is dire. We must make a decision as soon as possible!" the strategist Gao Pei said urgently.

Huo Nu retreated from the front, saying in a disheveled manner, "My lord, the Tang army is attacking very aggressively, and Zang Ba has also turned against us. The vanguard is already showing signs of defeat. General, a quick retreat may be the best course of action!"

Gao Gan's face was full of resentment as he said, "If we retreat now, the army will surely be defeated. And if the troops are defeated, the Tang people will sweep through Xuzhou, and our foundation will be reduced to ashes."

Gao Pei advised, "As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. If you, my lord, perish, how can you rise again to achieve great deeds? The situation is unfavorable now; a swift retreat is the best course of action."

"If our army is defeated, there will be no place for us to stay in Xuzhou. How can we retreat now!" Gao Gan still refused to yield.

"There is no place for you, my lord, in Xuzhou. Why not follow the example of Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang and cross the Huai River to surrender to Cao Cao?" Gao Pei said. "If we do not withdraw our troops, I fear our army will be completely wiped out here."

"Living under someone else's roof!"

Looking at the chaotic battlefield, Gao Gan's face was filled with pain. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Withdraw the troops! Order all units to withdraw!"

"promise!"

After venting his anger, Gao Gan saw that the situation was getting worse and had no choice but to flee with several hundred of his confidants, disregarding the large army that was fighting.

When Gao Gan fled in defeat, the Qi army's flank had been breached due to Zang Ba's defection, and the soldiers scattered in panic. The elite vanguard, affected by the overall situation, had no will to fight and fled in disarray under the Tang army's fierce attack.

Li Song halted his horse on the hill and saw Gao Gan's troops routed under the combined attack of him and Zang Ba. A smile, which had not been on his face for a long time, appeared on his face. He said, "Gao Gan's decision not to accept Yuan Xi but to bring Zang Ba as an ally was a mistake. With a little effort, I managed to get Zang Ba to defect to my side. Now, Xuzhou is in sight!"

In October, Li Song defeated Shou Zhang. In November, his army advanced to Mount Tai, rested for half a month, and then marched on Xuzhou at the end of November. After Gao Gan refused to take in Yuan Xi, he learned that Li Song's army was about to advance, so he sent men with large sums of money to persuade Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Yin Li and other generals of Mount Tai to join him in resisting Li Song.

After some deliberation, Zang Ba and the generals of Mount Tai readily agreed, leading 10,000 elite troops to join Gao Gan, bringing their total force to over 20,000.

Relying on the continuous supply of military provisions from Hebei and the grain seized after defeating Yuan Xi, Li Song did not rush to fight the Xuzhou coalition, but instead relied on his fortified camps to confront them.

Li Song learned that Zang Ba was from Fei County, Taishan Commandery. As a young man, he had defected to Donghai to save his father, and later raised an army under the pretext of suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In order to sow discord between Zang Ba and Gao Gan, Li Song personally ordered people to clean Zang Ba's ancestral graves and clan residences, and instructed the villagers to deliver letters to persuade Zang Ba to surrender.

In the letter, Li Song did not rush to persuade Zang Ba to surrender, but instead explained the current situation of the world to him in detail.

Since Yuan Shao's defeat and loss of Hebei, the Tang Dynasty, possessing the Hebei region, was bound to unify the Central Plains. Previously, the Qi and Yuan dynasties were able to survive with the support of Yuan Shu, but after the Battle of Yu County, Yuan Shu was defeated and captured, and the Chen state was defeated and surrendered. Without their greatest support, how could the Qi and Yuan dynasties survive for long?

Moreover, the already weak Qi-Yuan alliance was internally divided, with Gao Gan even unable to tolerate Yuan Xi. How could they possibly contend with the Tang army that controlled China?
Upon receiving the letter, Zang Ba wavered. After all, the Tang army's strength far exceeded his expectations; Zhang Yu had pacified Hebei in one battle and captured Yuan Shu in another. Therefore, although he had risen from the ranks of bandits, he was by no means a short-sighted man. He had been worried when Gao Gan requested an alliance, and if it weren't for the generals' interest in the large sums of money, Zang Ba would have found it difficult to agree to Gao Gan's request.

Given the prevailing circumstances, considering various factors, and Li Song's friendly gesture, Zang Ba replied with a letter, intending to test the waters.

Upon receiving Zang Ba's reply, Li Song wrote another letter, attempting to persuade him from the perspective of the stalemate between the two armies and the future of the Zang family. He argued that Zang Ba's reason for raising an army was nothing more than wealth and status, hoping his descendants would inherit it. However, the current global situation was overwhelming and unstoppable, and the foundation that Zang Ba had painstakingly built might be reduced to ashes if he could not adapt to the changing tides.

Li Song's words were so profound that they struck a chord with Zang Ba.

After all, Zang Ba had no ambition to unify the world. The reason he gathered people in one place was simply to take the opportunity to rise to power and make good progress in the future.

Historically, when Tao Qian was alive, Zang Ba was subordinate to him; when Liu Bei was alive, Zang Ba maintained a friendly relationship with him; and when Lü Bu took control of Xuzhou, he also maintained a friendly relationship with him.

During the struggle for supremacy between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, although Zang Ba provided financial assistance to Cao Cao, he was also acting in his own self-interest. Several separatist forces within Qingzhou launched attacks on the province, ostensibly to relieve pressure on Cao Cao, but in reality to extract more people from Qingzhou.

It wasn't until Cao Cao captured Ye City, marking the complete demise of Yuan Shao's group, that Zang Ba and his generals escorted their families to Ye City to demonstrate their submission. After receiving an official position, Zang Ba, while not exactly devoted to his duties, could be said to have obeyed orders without question.

In this current timeline, Zang Ba, just like in history, first served Tao Qian, but seeing that Tao Qian was no longer a threat, he switched allegiance to Yuan Shao. Now that the Yuan family is on the verge of collapse, he has to consider his future, otherwise he will go down with the Yuan family's ship.

After careful consideration, Zang Ba sent someone to Li Song's camp to discuss the matter of surrender and the official titles and ranks he could receive after surrendering.

Following Zhang Yu's prior instructions, Li Song set a bottom line: no one was allowed to remain in the local area. If they surrendered and took command of troops, they would be reorganized and granted the rank of general and the title of county marquis with a thousand households; if they surrendered but did not take command of troops, they would be granted the official rank of one of the Nine Ministers and the title of county marquis with a three thousand households.

After much deliberation, Zang Ba felt that Cao Cao was not yet subdued and that he still had a chance to make a contribution, so he chose the former. The remaining generals of Mount Tai were granted titles of Marquis of a Pavilion or Marquis of a Township, depending on the size of their troops; all received official positions. After the two sides reached an agreement, they agreed to hand over the troops to Zang Ba's defection.

As the first month of the lunar calendar approached, Zang Ba repeatedly urged Gao Gan to send troops, citing the urgent need for provisions. However, Gao Gan's territory was sparsely populated and he had difficulty obtaining military supplies, so he had no choice but to heed Zang Ba's advice.

Therefore, the current situation of Zang Ba's defection and Gao Gan's defeat has occurred.

After Gao Gan's army suffered a crushing defeat, Zang Ba led the generals of Mount Tai to arrive late.

"Greetings, Commander!"

"You are all too polite!"

Li Song dismounted from his horse and laughed, "Gentlemen, your reputations are outstanding, and I have heard of you before. You have made a great contribution in defeating Gao Gan. When I take Xuzhou, I will report your achievements to the King."

"Thank you, Commander!"

Zang Ba said, "Now that Gao Gan's army has been defeated, the other armies have launched a counterattack, and his army has suffered a great defeat. Since Gao Gan is now in dire straits, the commander-in-chief should advance quickly and capture the counties of Donghai and Langya under Gao Gan's jurisdiction, so as to avoid any unforeseen changes if we delay."

Li Song laughed and said, "With the assistance of you gentlemen, Gao Gan was unaware of the dangers. Now that Gao Gan has been defeated and killed, Tao Shang still holds Xiapi and Pengcheng. I wonder what Xuan Gao's opinion is?"

During the campaign against Hebei, Xu, Man, and Zhang all made great contributions, but Li Song alone failed to achieve any significant feats. This left him feeling resentful, as he always felt he could not compare to generals like Zhang Liao and Man Chong. Therefore, Li Song was not satisfied with his achievement of defeating Gao Gan; he longed to quickly subdue Xuzhou so that he could finally hold his head high.

Of course, Li Song wanted to test Zang Ba's intentions.

Zang Ba pondered for a moment and said, "Tao Shang is mediocre and only succeeded to the throne by using his father Tao Qian's name. If the governor wants to conquer Tao Shang, it would be better to take a two-pronged approach: first, send troops as the vanguard, and second, send an envoy to visit Xiapi. Under the combined influence of kindness and force, Tao Shang may surrender the prefecture in exchange for the Tao family's wealth and status."

After a pause, Zang Ba added, "Among Tao Shang's men, Mi Zhu and Chen Deng are highly valued by the Tao family, and the governance of Xuzhou relies on these two. If the governor wishes to persuade Tao Shang to surrender, he might also be able to persuade Mi Zhu and Chen Deng. If the two surrender to the Tang King, then Xuzhou will be safe!"

"good!"

Li Song nodded and said, "In that case, I wonder if we could ask Xuan Gao to lead the troops as the vanguard and garrison the border of Xiapi County to deter Tao Shang."

“I am willing to accept the order!” Zang Ba replied without hesitation.

After offering a few words of reassurance, Li Song instructed Zang Ba to lead the generals of Mount Tai to withdraw and regroup their troops.

When Zang Ba and the generals of Mount Tai bid farewell to Li Song, Sun Guan, one of the generals, complained, "Li Song sent you and me to conquer Tao Shang, intending to make us waste our troops and take over the soldiers, civilians, and supplies under Gao Gan's rule."

Sun Kang looked at Zang Ba, frowned, and said, "Xuan Gao, Li Song promised official titles and ranks before, that must be true!"

"How could this be false? My sons, do not be suspicious!"

Zang Ba remained calm and said, “Li Song is not a man who covets petty gains. The reason he ordered you and me to attack Tao Shang was precisely to provide an opportunity to establish merit. Moreover, since you and I have surrendered to the Tang King, we should serve him. The Tang King’s ambition is to rule the world. If you and I can achieve merit and be ennobled, and pass on wealth and honor to our descendants, how can we covet petty gains and displease the Tang King?”

"Xuan Gao's words make sense!"

Wu Dun said, "Li Song has a close relationship with the Tang Emperor. If we can establish meritorious service and gain Li Song's trust, why should we worry about not having wealth and honor?"

“Xuan Gao, now that we brothers have surrendered, Chang Xi is in the East Sea and has not yet surrendered. We still need to explain this matter to Li Song.”

Zang Ba said, "Later, when you all gather your troops, I will go and pay my respects to Li Song again, to ask for Chang Xi's surrender."

"Thank you for your help, Xuan Gao!"

Among the generals of Mount Tai, Zang Ba had the highest prestige, valued loyalty the most, and handled matters fairly. Therefore, Zang Ba was the most trusted by the people, and in case of major events, Zang Ba would take the lead.

In the Battle of Fangshui, Zang Ba defected to the enemy, Gao Gan suffered a crushing defeat and fled, and Li Song killed or captured more than 5,000 people.

The following day, before setting off on the expedition, Zang Ba and the generals of Mount Tai each sent their trusted confidants to present household registers as a sign of their respect. Li Song was overjoyed and accepted them, promising to reward them for their service.

Subsequently, Li Song led his troops to attack Donghai and Langya, and all the counties occupied by Gao Gan surrendered. Gao Gan fled with several hundred followers, but when he reached Qu County in Donghai, he was killed by Mi Fang and his troops, and his head was presented to Li Song.

That month, news of Li Song's defeat of Gao Gan and the surrender of Zang Ba reached Xiapi, causing great alarm among the pottery merchants.

Seeing Zang Ba and the generals of Mount Tai marching towards Xiapi, Tao Shang knew his abilities were mediocre and he could not stop the Tang army. Therefore, before the Tang envoys arrived, he took the initiative to send Mi Zhu and Chen Deng with the books of Xuzhou to Kaiyang in Langya, to express his intention to surrender to Li Song. (End of this chapter)