I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 252 Whoever backs down is a coward!

After Zhang He and Gao Lan conquered Langya, the natural barrier of the Taiyi Mountains between Qingzhou and Xuzhou disappeared, and the once majestic Qi Great Wall was also turned into a barrier for reinforcements. The territory they actually controlled was even larger than when Yuan Tan was in Qingzhou.

Yuan Shao's army was already poised to march directly towards Donghai Commandery and then towards the vast plains of Xuzhou!

Zhang He is young, but has a rich resume.

In his early years, he fought against the Yellow Turban Rebellion and served as a military officer under Han Fu.

After Yuan Shao acquired Ji Province, he promoted Zhang He to the rank of Colonel.

In the subsequent campaigns against Gongsun Zan, Zhang He was promoted repeatedly, eventually rising to the position of General of Ningguo with his numerous military achievements, making him a true leader in the army!
Gao Lan came from the powerful Gao clan in Hebei.

Although his military achievements were not as remarkable as Zhang He's, he was skilled in strategy and had martial prowess, and his prestige in the Hebei army was no less than Zhang He's.

The two are currently resting and discussing their next steps at the Langya Royal Palace in Kaiyang, the capital of Langya Kingdom.

"Yuan Gong only told us to attack Qingzhou. After all, Ju Shou, Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others are leading the main force of Hebei to besiege Gongsun Zan in Youzhou. I'm afraid they won't be able to come to our aid in time."

Gao Lan was virtuous and kind, and her advice to Zhang He was naturally based on a holistic perspective.

"Lu Bu is known for his prestige, so it's best not to go to Xuzhou in the south so easily."

Zhang He had no beard and kept his eyes closed, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Gao Lan naturally knew that Zhang He disagreed with him, so he asked Zhang He, "General, do you intend to take advantage of the situation and head south?"

"Of course!"

Zhang He finally opened his eyes!

"If we cannot obtain Langya, we will naturally stop at Qingzhou."

"But now that Lü Bu's generals Song Xian and Hou Cheng have surrendered to us and offered up Langya, how can we remain indifferent and miss this opportunity?"

Zhang He flexed his wrist, revealing a prominent ring of calluses from frequent horseback riding.

"The reason why Song Xian and Hou Cheng surrendered to us is because they heard that Lü Bu has suddenly returned to Xuzhou in order to block Cao Cao."

"Now that Cao Cao is in the west and we are in the east, we can attack from both sides. How can we not take Xuzhou?"

Gao Lan was wary of Lü Bu's reputation for unparalleled bravery, but Zhang He immediately saw Lü Bu's current weakness.

"Yuan Gong and Cao Cao will inevitably clash in the future. Whoever seizes Xuzhou will gain the upper hand!"

"and……"

Zhang He hesitated, but considering Gao Lan's background as a member of a Hebei gentry family, he finally spoke his mind in detail.

"Don't you feel that Lord Yuan is not as close to us Hebei scholars as he used to be?"

"I am not aware of matters of state. But in military matters, Lord Yuan first promoted Yan Liang and Wen Chou, giving them command of more than half of Hebei's elite troops. However, Yan Liang and Wen Chou are narrow-minded and, although brave, are not capable of leading alone; they are merely brave men... Lord Yuan has seen countless people; he should be able to see their flaws, yet he still promoted them as commanders. Isn't this a sign of distrust towards us?"

"Moreover, when Lord Yuan first took charge of Ji Province, he appointed Ju Shou as the military supervisor, both inside and outside the province, to command the troops. Now we hear that Lord Yuan has the idea of ​​dividing the military supervisors into three commanders, and having Ju Shou, Guo Tu, and Chunyu Qiong each command an army. Such actions are truly disheartening to us."

Gao Lan was startled by Zhang He's words: "How could Junyi say such a thing? What would happen if others heard it?"

"I was just venting to you, don't take it seriously."

Although Zhang He said not to take it seriously, there was still a hint of frustration in his eyes.

"Now that Lü Bu is weak, and we have finally managed to command troops on our own, we might as well take advantage of the situation and seize Xuzhou, establish merit, and make it impossible for Lord Yuan to easily restrain us!"

"Otherwise, our military power will likely be seized by Yan Liang and Wen Chou sooner or later, and then we will truly have no future to speak of!"

Although Zhang He is dissatisfied with Yuan Shao, he has no intention of rebelling.

What he wanted to do was to win a truly brilliant battle so that Yuan Shao would no longer be able to suppress or divide the power of these old men in Hebei.

After a moment's thought, Gao Lan also felt that Zhang He's actions were not problematic.

Even if Yuan Shao discovered Zhang He's intentions, there's probably nothing more to say about it.
After all, is it wrong for a general to take the initiative to attack cities and seize territory, and to break into enemy lines and capture camps?

"Therefore, once we have thoroughly investigated the situation in Xuzhou, we will seize the opportunity to head south when the time is right!"

In their view, Cao Cao should still be attacking Lü Bu, so no matter what, the advantage should be in their hands!
But after they finally got the information about Xuzhou, the two were completely baffled: "When did Cao Cao withdraw his troops?"

"It was Lü Bu who married his daughter to Liu Miao and invited Liu Miao to mediate, which is why Cao Cao withdrew his troops."

Liu Miao...

How did the situation in Xuzhou become so chaotic that everyone has to get involved?

Liu Miao's arrival completely reversed the situation in Xuzhou!

Zhang He and Gao Lan originally planned to take advantage of the battle between Cao Cao and Lü Bu, suddenly enter the fray, and seize Xuzhou without lifting a finger.

But now Liu Miao's mediation not only saves Lü Bu from having to deal with Cao Cao, but also involves the soldiers of Jiangdong.
"Damn Liu Miao! He ruined our plans!"

Zhang He frowned, his displeasure already evident on his face.

What was originally a great situation has been ruined by Liu Miao!
"Could Liu Miao really be a lustful monster? Could he have been won over by just one woman?"

Zhang He cursed, but at the same time he was worried—"Did Liu Miao send troops to rescue Lü Bu solely because of Lü Bu's daughter, or did he foresee that we were about to march south and thus came to resolve the feud between Lü Bu and Cao Cao?"

If it is the former, it at most shows that Liu Miao was nothing more than a lecherous man with no ambition.

But if it's the latter...

Zhang He felt that it would be extremely difficult for Yuan Shao to take over Xuzhou in the future!

Seeing Zhang He's worry, Gao Lan comforted him, saying, "How could Liu Miao possibly have such a vision?"

"Junyi only wanted to head south after acquiring Langya. How could Liu Miao have guessed beforehand that we would lead troops south? Junyi, don't scare yourself."

"I've heard that Liu Miao has always been fond of beautiful women. The reason he bribed Xu You with lavish gifts was simply to get him to help redeem Cai Yong's daughter, Cai Yan. This even led to Xu You's previous actions being exposed, causing him to defect to Cao Cao... How could someone who loves beautiful women so much possibly help Lü Bu persuade Cao Cao to leave in order to resist us? In my opinion, it's just a coincidence!"

Gao Lan also offered Zhang He some advice—

"Liu Miao came to Xuzhou despite the hardships because he was acquainted with Cao Cao and was tempted by Lü Bu's daughter."

"But now that he has obtained Lü Bu's daughter, he will certainly not want to stay in Xuzhou to fight against us in place of Lü Bu."

"As long as our army adopts a posture of launching a strong attack on Xuzhou, Liu Miao will certainly not dare to confront us head-on, but will instead slink back to Jiangdong! In that case, even without Cao Cao, Lü Bu will be unable to hold out alone!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang He asked with great interest, "You mean, scare Liu Miao away?"

"Of course!"

Gao Lan said confidently, "Pang Ji had met Liu Miao before, and when I chatted with him, I specifically asked him what kind of person Liu Miao was."

Pang Ji said that Liu Miao was vulgar in speech and behavior, mercenary and greedy, and lacked the demeanor of a monarch. Instead, he was somewhat similar to a rogue on the street.

"Such people are the most fond of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. If he saw the strength and determination of our army, he certainly wouldn't be here helping Lü Bu!"

Zhang He had previously fought in the Youzhou and Taihang Mountains area and did not know much about Liu Miao.

Now, hearing Gao Lan's description of Liu Miao, I immediately believed it to some extent—

"In that case, it seems Liu Miao isn't so difficult to deal with!"

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Liu Miao also knew that if it came to the ability to kill enemies on the battlefield, he would probably be ruthlessly crushed by famous generals like Zhang He and Gao Lan!

Therefore, in addition to mobilizing troops from Jiangdong, some of the advisors who were originally supposed to be sent to the rear by Liu Miao were also transferred to the front lines.

Jia Xu, Lu Su, Liu Ye, Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Lu Yi, and Lü Meng.

In addition, apart from generals such as Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci, and Cheng Pu who were defending Jingzhou, other generals were also basically recalled to the front lines.

Jiang Qin, Huang Zhong, Zhu Huan, Zang Ba, and Xu Sheng, who had distinguished himself after the last battle and was recommended to Liu Miao by Lu Su.

Liu Miao knew he couldn't defeat Zhang He and Gao Lan.

But it doesn't matter!

If your own men can defeat the opponent, isn't that enough?

Not to mention, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao were also standing in front of him...

With this lineup, Liu Miao was confident that, in a close contest, he could twist off Zhang He and Gao Lan's heads and use them as footballs!

Upon hearing that Zhang He and Gao Lan had not advanced beyond Langya territory and were continuously conscripting farmers from Qingzhou, having reportedly amassed a force of 100,000, Liu Miao, too lazy to think for himself, directly asked his advisors, "What do you think Zhang He and Gao Lan are trying to achieve with these actions?"

Jia Xu remained silent, clearly knowing that he didn't need to intervene in such a minor matter.

Lu Su then turned to look at Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.

These past few days of interaction in the rear have made Lu Su realize that these two are monsters! Truly monsters!

Before the two men could express their opinions, Lu Su said he didn't want to say a word, lest he make a fool of himself.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi exchanged a glance, both seeing the answer in each other's eyes.

Just as the two were trying to figure out how to politely ask the other to step forward, a figure suddenly darted out from beside them—

"Don't even think about it?"

Pang Tong stroked his tortoise-shaped beard: "Zhang He and Gao Lan are both famous generals from Hebei. They must understand the principle that speed is of the essence in warfare."

"The reason why the two of them suddenly stopped in Langya and made such a big fuss can only be one thing—"

Pang Tong looked at Liu Miao: "The purpose is to make our lord admit defeat and force him to leave Xuzhou! This will make it easier for them to focus on dealing with Lü Bu!"

Liu Miao was amused upon hearing this.

"So you were trying to force me to back down? No wonder! No wonder! Hahahaha!"

Liu Miao laughed and said, "In that case, let's continue mobilizing the troops!"

"I'd like to see who's the one who backs down first in the end!"

(End of this chapter)