Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 366 The Mistress's Decree
Zhang Fei led his troops from Jiyang to capture Dingtao in just five days.

Moreover, three days of that time were spent marching, and another day was spent setting up camp and communicating with allies...

Zhang Fei led the garrison troops eastward along Jiyang, Zhang Liao led his troops southward from Lihu, and Li Qian launched an attack from Chengshi, launching a three-pronged attack.

With Yuan Yi's main force absent, Xue Lan, a local scholar, was left to defend Dingtao, but he was defeated after only half a day.

The supposedly "dead" Yue Jin reappeared, and once again, Yue Jin was the first to climb the Dingtao city wall.

Immediately after Le Jin stormed the city, Xue Lan abandoned the city and fled, disappearing without a trace.

Liu Bei personally led the rear army... which was actually a large number of auxiliary troops, slowly clearing the surrounding countryside and assigning people to garrison there.

After Liu Bei entered Dingtao, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Yue Jin, Li Qian and others had already captured the counties of Jiyin separately. Most of the county towns surrendered without resistance.

There was no other way; the allied forces were too large, and the troops left behind in Jiyin were not exactly determined elite soldiers.

Li Qian and his brother Li Jin, two local strongmen, played a significant role, and the process of controlling Jiyin went relatively smoothly.

Within just seven days, the entire Jiyin Commandery fell into Liu Bei's hands.

Cao Cao's main force headed towards Suiyang in Liang State, while Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin, who were originally stationed in Xiao County, also quickly advanced into Liang State.

Xiahou Yuan's troops moved extremely quickly, conquering one county per day. In just three days, he reached the outskirts of Suiyang County and successfully joined forces with Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun.

Subsequently, the various departments were dispatched to their respective counties, and most of the counties in Liang Kingdom surrendered, except for Suiyang City, which held firm and resisted.

Wang Gong, who was holding out in Suiyang, ordered the gentry in the city to climb the city walls to resist Cao Cao. However, the various gentry families in Suiyang were willing to surrender, especially the famous Qiao family.

The Qiao family refers to the family of Qiao Xuan and Qiao Mao. They were the leading gentry in Suiyang and had a close relationship with Cao Cao. After all, Qiao Xuan had indeed treated Cao Cao well during his lifetime, and Qiao Mao was also a friend of Cao Cao.

When Wang Gong saw that the gentry in the city intended to surrender, he took the elderly, weak, wives and children of each family hostage and forced them to defend the city.

Qiao Xuan's own son, Qiao Yu, who had served as the Chancellor of Rencheng, was also threatened by Wang Gong with a knife to his neck.

Seeing that Cao Cao did not retreat, Wang Gong killed Qiao Yu and pushed him off the city wall, forcing the able-bodied men of each family to resist, resulting in heavy casualties among the gentry of Suiyang.

Cao Cao ordered a full-scale attack. Xiahou Dun's subordinate Sima Dianwei was the first to enter the city, killing dozens of people and clearing out the west gate of Suiyang single-handedly.

Suiyang City fell.

After the city fell, Cao Cao ordered a massive search of the entire city, killed Wang Gong's entire family, slaughtered all those who resisted, and massacred half the city, leaving rivers of blood flowing through Suiyang.

This is to avenge Qiao Yu and to wipe away the hatred of the Suiyang gentry.

However, in the eyes of the powerful clans of Suiyang, both Cao Cao and Wang Gong were the culprits who caused this tragedy... They hated not only Wang Gong, but also Cao Cao.

In any case, the entire Liang Kingdom fell into Cao Cao's hands in just seven days.

Zang Ba, who had previously stationed himself in Xiaopei, then marched towards Shanyang and quickly captured counties such as Hulu and Fangyu, only encountering obstacles in Changyi.

After Liu Bei's main force marched from Dingtao to Shanyang, Chen Shuo, the garrison commander of Changyi, fled to Juye before Liu Bei's army could besiege the city.

Chen Shuo was Chen Gong's cousin. Juye was easy to defend but difficult to attack, while Liangshanbo was Chen Gong's true stronghold.

Apart from Juye, Yanzhou has been basically pacified.

……

Located at the northern foot of Mount Tai, south of Tugu County.

This is a clearing formed by long-term logging, with gently rolling hills that are ideal for cavalry warfare. However, the woodlands further south are not suitable for cavalry.

The Xuanjia cavalry were cutting through the chaotic enemy forces laterally, while the Shooting Battalion was positioned on two mounds, unleashing crossbow bolts with crossfire.

The Wufeng Battalion launched a vertical assault and has already penetrated into the woodland and open area.

The enemy forces are in complete disarray; victory is assured, and the outcome will be quite good.

Zhao Yun reined in his horse and stopped it on a high hill, his gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield.

He was observing the parts of the enemy formation that were not yet in a state of panic or chaos.

One unit of the enemy forces had formed a loose formation, maintaining its structure, and had crossed the open ground, no longer in the path of the Xuanjia cavalry's charge.

The formation was moving forward rapidly, seemingly intent on breaking through the crossbow formation.

The fact that this unit can maintain such willpower even in the face of defeat shows that its leader is quite capable.

Another enemy force was in the woods at the mountain pass, blocking or killing fleeing soldiers and reorganizing their defeated troops.

Two flags were also displayed at the edge of the woods, one bearing the name 'Yuan' and the other 'Chen'.

Those in the woods must be Chen Gong and Yuan Yi; the Wufeng Battalion has already broken into the ranks of the 'Yuan' flag.

“Brother Zilong, Sister Zuo sent a message saying that a riot has broken out in Beihai Yingling, and there should be quite a few people colluding with Chen Gong. Mr. Jia told us to hold back and not to annihilate Chen Gong yet, but to lure out all the traitors in Qingzhou.”

Tian Yu walked out from behind the hills and whispered to Zhao Yun, "Sun Guan should have already blocked the southern pass of Mount Tai. The enemy has no way to retreat. We must leave Chen Gong a chance to counterattack, lest those traitors in Qingzhou remain hidden."

"Even if we wanted to kill him, we might not be able to. Chen Gong is probably hiding in the woods... However, the main force of the enemy has been defeated. If they want to escape, they can only try to break into Tugu County."

Zhao Yun pointed to the edge of the woods in the farthest distance, then turned and asked, "Fan Qiang is just outside Tugu County. Can this man be trusted?"

"The people of Tugu County evacuated a month ago, and now it's practically a ghost town. Regardless of whether Fan Qiang is reliable or not, Chen Gong can be allowed into Tugu County... Mr. Jia originally intended to keep them confined in the county town."

Tian Yu nodded and said, "However, Sister Zuo wants to lure out more traitors so that we don't push too hard. Once General Guan and Commandant Guan arrive, we can wipe out all the traitors who are taking advantage of the chaos in Qingzhou."

"Our lord may not want to kill too many people... If too many powerful figures in Qingzhou are killed, it might not be in accordance with our lord's wishes..."

Zhao Yun was somewhat uneasy.

"That's what I asked Mr. Jia too..."

Tian Yu shrugged: "But Mr. Jia said that the lord is kind-hearted and cannot be a bad person. Sister Zuo is going to help the lord be a bad person... The lord has handed over the military and political affairs of Qingzhou to Sister Zuo and Mr. Jia, so they want to take advantage of the time when the lord is not in Qingzhou to completely eliminate the hidden dangers in Qingzhou."

"With the Lord's authorization and the Mistress's command, we obey."

Zhao Yun nodded: "However, Linzi doesn't have many troops. Since we're going to let Chen Gong enter Tugu County, why don't we withdraw some troops back to Linzi first? That way, Chen Gong will think that Linzi is already under attack... Who should retreat?"

“Brother Zilong, lead the cavalry back to Linzi. It would be more appropriate to have the cavalry rush back to provide reinforcements.”

Tian Yu said, "We feel more at ease with you here in Linzi."

"Alright... However, that unit seems quite capable. I must eliminate it first to prevent the enemy from rising again after their defeat."

Zhao Yun pointed to the troops below the mountain who were forming a battle formation and trying to break through the crossbowmen's blockade.

(End of this chapter)