I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 495 The Battle of Pengcheng (Part Two)

The ice wall on the west side of Jiuli Mountain was originally only solid white and gray with snow, but now the whole land has turned into an unfamiliar reddish-brown.

Zhu Huan was panting heavily, as were his soldiers.

Everyone expected that this battle would not be easy, and that Yuan Shao would be willing to fight to the death, crashing his head against the hard mountain terrain. No one expected that Yuan Shao would be able to so brazenly pile up troops towards Pengcheng.

Zhu Huan even found it somewhat absurd.

It was as if the person fighting him now was not the overlord of Hebei who had emerged from the chaos of the world, but a young man who had suddenly become curious and decided to seize a mountain and establish himself as king!
Brave and reckless.

Short-sighted and disregarding the future.

According to Yuan Shao's strategy, even if Yuan's army has a large number of troops, their morale will be completely exhausted in ten days at most!
At that time, the Han army will not need to do anything else; these Yuan troops, who have not even had a moment's rest, will collapse on their own!
"Yuan Shao is betting on these ten days!"

But after figuring it out, Zhu Huan's face hardened, sending chills down everyone's spine!

When it comes to courage, having also experienced the chaos of war, they were naturally no less courageous than Yuan's army!

"Hold on!"

The outermost fortifications of Jiuli Mountain have been breached.

The conditions at Yunlong Mountain and Quanshan Mountain are not much different.

Sun Ce, who was in charge of the defense of Yunlong Mountain, was skilled in offense, but he was somewhat flustered at this moment. However, after Lu Meng and his soldiers joined the battle, they were able to hold on for a while.

The southwest side of Quanshan is all water and marshland, so the defensive pressure is much less than that of Jiulishan and Yunlongshan. In addition, Xu Sheng is good at defense, so it is now the most secure place.

As the war progressed, Zhu Huan finally could not hold out any longer and sent someone to Pengcheng in the rear to ask for help.

The reinforcements arrived quickly.

However, Zhu Huan was still taken aback when he saw who it was.

Why did His Majesty send you here?

The one who came to help was actually Lu Yi?
"His Majesty said that if anyone else were to come, they might not obey the general's orders."

Without any hesitation, Lu Yi relayed Liu Miao's exact words to Zhu Huan.

"Since Xiu Mu is ashamed to be subordinate to others, then I won't hold him back. After you leave, Boyan, Xiu Mu will take advantage of your young age and think you're easy to bully, so he won't hold back..."

"..."

Zhu Huan's eyes showed a mixture of frustration and amusement.

However, Zhu Huan immediately shook his head and said, "That's truly His Majesty's character."

"But His Majesty is not wrong. If someone else were sent at this time, I would really be annoyed!"

As two of the four prominent families of Wu Commandery in the past, Zhu Huan and Lu Yi were naturally very familiar with each other. Lu Yi was always humble and would certainly not provoke Zhu Huan or cause any trouble at the front.

Lu Yi, on the other hand, was observing the Yuan army outside.

At this moment, Yuan Jun had already rushed to the mountainside, but neither Zhu Huan nor Lu Yi showed any panic.

Barry is only half of 90.

This is a profound truth, especially when it comes to fighting from the bottom up.

Perhaps Yuan's army could reach the halfway point of the mountain in a day, but even if they were given a month, they might not be able to make it across.

"This battle..."

Zhu Huan cursed a few times, then asked with some confusion, "Why doesn't Your Majesty send cavalry to harass the flanks of Yuan's army?"

"And why is Zhang Wenyuan not with His Majesty this time? Even Taishi Ziyi is nowhere to be seen?"

"..."

Lu Yi remained silent.

Seeing Lu Yi's expression, Zhu Huan was both amused and exasperated: "You can't even tell me?"

"The matter was accomplished in secrecy."

"Row!"

To Lu Yi's surprise, Zhu Huan did not ask any further questions.

"Just having something to look forward to is enough! We can't just keep wasting our time with Yuan's army like this."

Zhu Huan rubbed his nose, which was red from the cold.

"Judging from Yuan Shao's tactics this time, I don't think he intends to go back alive."

"If this continues for a few more days, even the thickest defenses will be breached by his lives."

“I remember after the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, His Majesty said that he wanted to annihilate Yuan’s army and prevent them from returning to Hebei… At the time, I didn’t understand, but now it seems that His Majesty did the right thing.”

"Why?"

Zhu Huan pointed at the Yuan army opposite him.

"They want to win now."

Then he pointed to the Han army.

"And many of us just don't want to lose."

"If this drags on, something terrible will happen sooner or later."

"Let them know that their purpose in staying behind those walls and in those trenches is to win, only then can they continue this war!"

Lu Yi looked down and saw that many Han soldiers had gradually become numb after experiencing intense battles, and he nodded in agreement.

"really."

“Yuan Shao’s fighting style is essentially a life-or-death struggle. Everyone knows he will suddenly collapse, but no one knows exactly when. He will need something else to sustain him.” Lu Yi summoned his personal guards and informed them of the situation.

"This is merely my and General Zhu Huan's humble opinion. Whether or not to inform the soldiers is entirely up to His Majesty to decide!"

"Here!"

Zhu Huan found Lu Yi's words somewhat amusing: "Your relationship with His Majesty is basically that of a father and son, so why do you speak so cautiously? Why are you called Lu Yi? Just call yourself Lu Xun!"

Lu Yi seemed not to realize that this was a rare joke from Zhu Huan, and instead explained to Zhu Huan in a serious tone: "Yi means to plan, and Xun means to retreat. To plan is to retreat, to avoid the enemy's sharp edge and seek an opportunity to fight. To retreat is to plan, to show weakness and take the initiative to give way. These two words are completely different, how can they be changed at will?"

"..."

Zhu Huan suddenly realized that Lu Yi wasn't so perfect after all.

Your superior was joking with you, and you didn't even laugh? That's really...

However, after Lu Yi led his soldiers into battle, the Jiuli Mountain defense line gradually became more stable. Moreover, even if Lu Yi had his own ideas, he would consult Zhu Huan before making a decision. Even if Zhu Huan disagreed with him, Lu Yi would not keep them to himself, but would calmly communicate his views with Zhu Huan, never letting his emotions get the better of him.

After collaborating with Lu Yi, Zhu Huan exclaimed, "The 'Xu Yue' says that 'discussion' refers to the appropriateness of deciding matters. Boyan is able to communicate with others and try his best to resolve misunderstandings. I underestimated him."

The defensive line gradually stabilized, and at the same time, the sun had moved westward, turning a dark crimson color.

Pengcheng.

"It seems that's all for today."

The officials of the Han Dynasty felt both fortunate and regretful.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao did not become so ruthless as to wage a war day and night.

Unfortunately, if Yuan Shao had truly fought day and night, the casualties of his army would likely have skyrocketed.

Zhou Yu stared quietly at the sand table in front of him.

Then, he glanced at the corner again.

The red and yellow bamboo chess pieces were placed there, in a ratio of approximately one to two.

All of this was pretty much as expected before the war.

"What do you all think of what Boyan and Xiumu said just now?"

Zhou Yu asked about something that only a very, very few people knew.

After seeing that Liu Miao did not object, Zhou Yu understood the situation.

"As you may have noticed, His Majesty did not bring any cavalry back with him when he returned from Qingzhou. Even the Grand General and Wen Yuan did not return together, and Ziyi was even transferred to Qingzhou earlier."

These actions are not things that can be easily concealed.

The assembled Han officials naturally noticed this.

But since Liu Miao didn't say anything, they naturally didn't ask.

Now that Zhou Yu has spoken of this matter in public, it is clear that the time has come.

"Yuan Jun's forces are numerous, so after the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, Your Majesty wanted to annihilate them in the Central Plains and make sure they did not return to Hebei."

When Zhou Yu mentioned this matter, the courtiers nodded in agreement.

The Han and Zhao dynasties, having already established their power as states and possessed institutional frameworks, were virtually impossible to collapse suddenly.

This battle.

Even if Liu Miao were to die in battle, the Han Dynasty could still abandon the Central Plains, retreat to the Yangtze River, and retain half of the Han Dynasty's territory.

Similarly, even if Yuan Shao were to die in battle, the government offices in Ye City would still be functioning; they couldn't just suddenly disappear there.

If Liu Miao wanted to quickly seize the world, he not only had to defeat Yuan Shao in Pengcheng, but also had to keep Yuan's army in the Central Plains as much as possible, preventing them from escaping back to Hebei and continuing to serve as the fighting force of Northern Zhao.

"Therefore, Your Majesty must swiftly attack Qingzhou, defeat Yuan Tan, and open the passage!"

Liu Miao's sudden shift of the campaign to Qingzhou caught Yuan Tan off guard, but it also carried a great risk.

Taking such a risk was clearly not just about defeating Yuan Tan, protecting the flanks, and rescuing Lü Bu.

What truly matters is Zhou Yu's final words—

"Open the passage!"

Seeing that the matter had been laid bare, Zhou Yu no longer concealed anything.

"The enemy can go, so can I!"

"After learning that Yuan Tan had crossed Mount Tai from Lu to attack Qingzhou, His Majesty and I believed that since Yuan Tan was able to lead his cavalry from here to Qi, our army would surely be able to reach the Central Plains from here as well!"

"At this very moment, the General and Wen Yuan are leading their cavalry swiftly through the mountain pass to Shou Zhang, cutting off the Yuan army's retreat and trapping them completely in the Central Plains!"

Zhou Yu glanced at everyone and said, "Ziyi is from Donglai and has served as a county official. He is most familiar with the local terrain, so he will also come along."

"At the same time, in order to prevent Yuan's army from becoming suspicious, His Majesty specially ordered General Zang Ba to lead his troops to garrison Lanling and sent troops to harass Rencheng to divert Yuan's army's attention."

"This battle did not rely solely on the Pengcheng garrison! It was also on the Han cavalry that outflanked us!"

This was the battle planned by the entire central government of the Han Dynasty.

Having fought to this point, the Han Dynasty couldn't possibly be foolish enough to engage in a test of willpower against Yuan Shao, a living dead man.

What the Han Dynasty truly relied on was precisely the weakness that everyone had previously thought it had—the Han cavalry that could only be built by smuggling warhorses!
"This matter was originally intended to be made public after it was completed."

"But Boyan and Xiumu are right. If we can't let the soldiers know about this and boost their morale, Yuan Shao might really take advantage of the situation."

Zhou Yu slightly turned his gaze toward Liu Miao beside him.

"Your Majesty, what is your opinion?"

(End of this chapter)