The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Zhao Yun and others all arrived, Xuncheng Chief Minister Qin Xiang and other high-ranking officials, as well as important generals such as Taishi Ci, who was in the war, were also summoned.

——Taishi Ci is a native of Donglai, and it can be said that he is the only important commander of Qingzhou origin under Xun Zhen’s account, so of course he will participate in the battle of Qingzhou this time. Before the preparation stage, he was killed by Xun Zhen It was transferred to the Xun Cheng Department.

Zhao Yun was the head coach of the West Route Army in the Three Route Attack Forces, and Xun Cheng first asked him for his opinion.

Zhao Yun replied: "General, according to the military report, the Yellow Turbans currently entrenched in Beihai and Donglai counties are mainly the Guanhai Department; the Guanhai Department is now mainly scattered in the central and eastern parts of Beihai County. The composition, part of which is his direct line, and the rest are attached to his other Yellow Turbans, a total of 300,000 people.

"The 300,000 people are definitely not there. Guan Hai is bragging. But even if we count the 200,000 people, it is estimated that there are 30,000 or 40,000 people who can fight. Among these 30,000, the old soldiers are At least ten thousand people up and down. This battle must not be careless.

"The last commander thought that the current strategy should be to send more scouts and meticulous workers to investigate the situation of their various ministries in detail, and then, according to the specific situation, you can lure them with food, first try to recruit surrender, and if the surrender fails, then make progress. War. Once the battle begins, the priority should be to annihilate Guanhai's direct line first, as long as the Guanhai line is annihilated, then the remaining Yellow Turban thieves will not be able to attack themselves."

In a nutshell, Zhao Yun's strategy was to first figure out the enemy's realities, then try to recruit the poorer and more shaky ones, and finally go into battle. When going into battle, focus on Guanhai's direct descendants. object of annihilation.

Xun Cheng took it for granted.

Chen Mai, Tian Kai, Xun Pu, and Taishi Ci also had no objection.

However, Xun Cheng followed Zhao Yun's suggestion and sent an order, ordering Buqu to take a short rest in Linzi, while contacting Chen Deng and Huang Qian's department who were holding the Yellow Turbans of the Guanhai Department in Beihai, and intensified the investigation of Beihai and Donglai. Especially after the specific situation of the Yellow Turbans in Beihai County, Qin Xiang, the chief of the account, said, "Ming Gong, there is a problem now."

Xun Cheng asked, "What's the trouble?"

Qin Xiang said: "Duke Ming, as of now, the number of Yellow Turban thieves who have surrendered to our army has far exceeded previous expectations, and while Linzi is famous as a famous city, the city's treasury is empty, and our army has not been able to get a lot of it. Grain was seized. In this way, according to the current consumption rate, if we want to continue to successfully implement the strategy of 'baiting thieves with grain', the grain is a trouble that needs to be solved urgently."

There was no need for Xun Cheng to ask him how to solve this trouble, Qin Xiang took the initiative to tell him the solution he had come up with, he said, "How to solve this trouble? After thinking about it, it seems that there are only two ways. ."

Xun Cheng asked, "Which two methods?"

"One is to urge the follow-up grains to speed up the transportation, and the other is to temporarily reduce the distribution of grains to the Yellow Turbans before the arrival of the supplementary grains."

Xun Cheng thought for a while, asked Chen Mai, and said, "Chen Shijun, what do you think?"

Chen Mai glanced at Xun Cheng and replied, "The food shortage of the Yellow Turban thieves is indeed unexpected. I went to the camp of the Yellow Turban thieves who surrendered the day before yesterday, oh, they are not like the human world. They have no strength. I heard that even before they surrendered to our army, some Yellow Turban thieves even ate dead flesh! Under such circumstances, our army's current daily food consumption is indeed relatively large. Before it arrives, I think that Qin Changshi's suggestion is good, and it is possible to appropriately reduce the distribution of food for the Huang army to subdue the masses, ... we must first ensure that the next war in the North Sea will proceed smoothly. "

Xun Cheng turned to Zhao Yun, Xun Pu, Taishi Ci and others, and said, "What is your opinion?"

Xun Pu disagreed with Qin Xiang and Chen Mai's suggestion.

He got up from the table and said loudly, "General, I don't think so!"

——According to the seniority in the clan, Xun Pu called Xun Cheng "Father", but he was in the army, so he called him military post instead of private name.

Xun Cheng looked pleasant and asked, "Why?"

Xun Pu said: "Before the Yellow Turban thieves surrendered to our army, our army has released words. As long as they surrender to me, they will be full! If we reduce the supply of food to them now, wouldn't they say that we are not believing in our words? Zhendong intends to use them as soldiers in the field, and they have just landed. If they think that we are not believing what we say, it is not worth talking, then how will Zhendong manage them in the future? This is one of them. Let's' If the reputation of "believing what you say" spreads out and is known to the Beihai and Donglai Yellow Turbans, how can our army 'bait them with food'? This is the second one."

Xun Cheng pondered for a while, then said, "What you said also makes sense." He asked Qin Xiang, and said, "When will the subsequent grains arrive?"

Qin Xiang replied: "The first batch of grain has just arrived in Taishan County. It is estimated that it will be transported to Linzi. At least it will take seven or eight days."

Seven or eight days, it seems that this time is not long, but Xun Cheng, Zhao Yun and other troops have a total of more than 10,000 soldiers, and only these more than 10,000 people, the daily food consumption is a large number, plus The total number of Yellow Turbans in Qi and other places that surrendered to them now has as many as 40,000 to 50,000 people. According to the current consumption rate, the army really can't get too much food to lure the Beihai Yellow Turbans.

Xun Cheng thought about it for a long time and made a decision, saying: "Meng Tu is right, the food distribution for the Yellow Turbans cannot be reduced, but the food reserves in our army are indeed not sufficient, so we can use two methods to solve this problem. trouble."

Qin Xiang asked, "Dare to ask Duke Ming, which two methods are there?"

Xun Cheng said: "The first is to reduce the rations for the officers and men in the army as appropriate; the second is to trouble Chen's envoys to immediately organize the county officials of Qi to raise grain from the counties and powerful households in the county."

Chen Mai looked embarrassed and said, "The Yellow Turban thieves have been rampant for many years, and all the counties and counties are empty. Even if they raise food, I am afraid they will not be able to raise much."

Xun Cheng said: "In addition, there is no need to wait for the Taishan county soldiers to come and **** the prisoners together. Now our army has dispatched a number of soldiers and horses, and starting today, we will start to bring down the Yellow Turbans and send them to Taishan in batches. "

Since Xun Zhen had decided to use grain to lure the Yellow Turbans into surrender, he had done enough to raise the grain in advance, but the grain stored in the prefecture of Tanxian was only for Xun Cheng, Zhao Yun, Chen Deng, The loss of troops and horses of Huang Qian and other ministries is enough, but if they are used to supply hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans, then the quantity will obviously be insufficient. Therefore, a large part of the food needs to be sourced from Donghai, Xiapi, Pengcheng and other counties in the south of Xuzhou. Raising fortune, so, some time will be wasted on the road, this is one reason.

Another reason, which is what Qin Xiang and the others said, did not expect that the shortage of food for the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou had reached such a tight level. Many of the Yellow Turbans who surrendered had no food at all, and they ate grass roots and bark. , eat soil, and even eat people as Chen Mai said, and some have been eating for a long time.

As a result, the consumption rate of the rations brought by the army exceeded the estimates of Xun Cheng and others.

Therefore, not long after the war began, there was a shortage of food.

But having said that, the food shortage is the tension. According to Qin Xiang and Chen Mai's suggestion, it is obviously impossible to distribute less food to the Yellow Turban Army or not to distribute it at all.

Therefore, according to the three methods proposed by Xun Cheng, it can be regarded as a solution to the temporary shortage of food.

...

Since the start of the war, Xun Cheng and Zhao Yun have been fighting continuously for more than ten days, so they took a two-day rest in Linzi.

Afterwards, the whole army set out, crossed the Zi River in the east of Linzi, entered the border of Beihai County, crossed Dong'anping County, and then crossed the Zhuo and Mi River, marching for a total of 100 miles. On this day, it was the county drama of Beihai Kingdom. County.

Most of the counties and wild areas in Beihai County have already fallen into the hands of the Yellow Turbans such as Guan Hai.

Kong Rong was able to directly administer only a narrow area such as Juxian County and Zhuxu County, which bordered Langya County in the south of Juxian County, and Jiaodong County in the eastern part of Beihai.

Kong Rong is now in the county of Juxian.

Soon after Zhao Yun, Xun Cheng and other troops attacked Qingzhou, Kong Rong heard the news.

After hearing the news, he was furious, and even planned to send the county soldiers to help Qi and resist the invasion of Xun Cheng.

However, because there were already few soldiers in Juxian City, if more troops were sent out, Juxian might be in danger; at the same time, it was also because the troops led by Chen Deng, Huang Qian, and Liu Qian had entered from Langya, so Kong Rong That's why they didn't send troops west to Qi.

On this day, it was heard that Xun Cheng, Zhao Yun, Chen Mai, Tian Kai, Xun Pu and others led the army into Beihai and approached the west of Juxian County. Kong Rong immediately summoned the civil and military officials in the mansion to discuss countermeasures.

Kong Rong's meritorious Cao Sun Shao, Wang Gui and Liu Ren, who have always been most loved by Kong Rong, came to the hall one after another.

Everyone just bowed to Kong Rong and took their seats.

Kong Rong stroked his thick black beard and said indignantly: "Now the country is in crisis, Xun Zhenzhi doesn't think about helping the society, but he has coveted my Qingzhou for a long time. He turned against Chen Mai again, fought in Licheng, and then attacked Jinan Prime Minister. Up to now, he has violated our state boundary several times! In the past, after he invaded Dongjun and Chenliu, he also invaded the plain of our state. The county seized. This time, he even sent three troops to invade Qingzhou! Now, the troops of Chen Deng and Huang Qian are rampant in the south of Beihai County; Xun Cheng and Zhao Yun, holding the banner of Chen Mai, have already left Qi. It also invaded my Beihai County, and is about to reach Ju County."

Having said this, he paused for a while, probably really angry, and slapped the case hard.

All the officials in the hall were listening to him quietly, and the sound of a sudden slap on the desk rang, which really startled everyone.

Wang Gui and Liu Ren were initially uneasy, but they were frightened by the sound.

Kong Rong continued: "My Han family has its own system, 2,000 stones have no edict and are not allowed to leave the country without authorization. The county governor is still like this, what about the chief officials of a prefecture? He only entered our Qingzhou at the request of you, this is all a bluff to a three-year-old child! He Xunzhen clearly wanted to take advantage of the civil strife in Youzhou, and Yuan Benchu ​​had no time to take this opportunity of Qingzhou to swallow my Qingzhou and make Qingzhou his own. The land of stolen possessions... I have made up my mind, I will give Xun Cheng and others a head-on attack in Juxian!"

Kong Rong looked around the people in the hall, asked them, and said, "Why do you think it's like this?"

After a short silence, all the officials in the hall started to speak, and they talked a lot. You say something, I say something.

Kong Rong listened to it for a long time, and the officials had no more than two opinions.

Either he agrees with what he said, or thinks that it is difficult to resist Xun Cheng's army by relying on the Juxian city alone, and hesitantly, I suggest that it is best not to fight Xun Cheng in this battle. Among the two opinions, the latter is the majority; there are only one or two people who hold the former.

Kong Rong said angrily: "Saving the emperor's salary, loyalty to the emperor! As a Han minister, I should be the emperor's defender. How can I not dare to fight because I am afraid of Xun Cheng and Zhao Yun's large number of soldiers? I would rather die in battle. , and don't want to insult my name!"

Gong Cao Sun Shao, who had not spoken for a long time, coughed and said, "Duke Ming, defending the land is the right thing to do, but there are only a few enemies and few of us. Even if we defend it now, this city may not be able to be defended. The officials below are ignorant.  … "

Kong Rong interrupted Sun Shao's words, stared straight at him, and asked, "Why, is Gong Cao trying to persuade me to surrender?"

Sun Shao really meant it, but seeing Kong Rong's wide-eyed and angry look, he couldn't express his thoughts, so he had to temporarily change his words and said, "It's not that the lower official is persuading Duke Ming to dedicate the city."

Kong Rong asked, "What do you mean?"

Sun Shao said: "Only relying on the soldiers and horses in my city to defend the city, this city can't be defended. Why not Duke Ming?

Recruiting Jiaodong to make Wang Jun lead his troops to come to aid? In this way, there is Duke Ming in the city, and there are kings outside to help soldiers, and Juxian may be able to defend. "

Sun Shao mentioned this "King Jun of Jiaodong", which is Wang Xiu.

Wang Xiu, a native of Yingling County, Beihai County, has always been known for his loyalty and righteousness. After Kong Rong served as Beihai Prefect, hearing of his reputation, he appointed him as the chief clerk of the government, and let him also lead the high secret order.

There is a powerful Sun Clan in Gaomi who has always ruled overbearingly. His family members have violated the law many times, and outlaws who have violated the law will often defect to his house for protection. Once, there were thieves looting on the road. After the robbery, they ran into the Sun's house. Because the Sun's disciples were many, the officials did not dare to arrest them. Wang Xiu personally led the officials and the people to surround the Sun's family. The Sun family resisted the defense, and Wang Xiu ordered: "Whoever does not attack, I will punish whoever is with the thieves." As a result, officials and people who did not dare to attack swarmed. The Sun family was so frightened that they handed over the robbers. Since then, the high-density tyrants have all been subdued.

Kong Rong then moved Wang Xiu to the position of Gong Cao. There were many thieves and bandits in Jiaodong County, and the Yellow Turbans were rampant, and Kong Rong was appointed Wang Xiu to lead Jiaodong.

There is a large family in Jiaodong, the Gongsha clan, the Gongsha clan who had a story with Xun Shuang earlier. This family has a long history, and it has a private connection with the Yellow Turban Army. It gathers the children of the clan, the people from the nearby villages, and the desperadoes, builds fortresses, and digs trenches, as if to turn Jiaodong County into his Gongsha family. The posture of the site. When Wang Xiu arrived at the county court, he led a few cavalry into his family's camp alone, and killed several leaders of his family on the spot. The rest of the Gongsha clan were shocked and no one dared to move. As a result, the thieves in Jiaodong County gradually ceased, and the Yellow Turbans feared Wang Xiu's prestige and rarely committed crimes.

But it is this county in Jiaodong that has borrowed the power of Wang Xiu and is still alone in the eastern part of Beihai, where the Yellow Turbans are powerful.

Kong Rong has a kindness to Wang Xiu, and Wang Xiu is loyal to Kong Rong. As long as Juxian encounters an enemy situation and Kong Rong is in danger, Wang Xiu will lead his troops to Jixian in time every time to rescue Kong Rong. The reason why Juxian has been able to persevere until now and not fall, apart from Huang Qian's help from Langya County, a large part of the credit is due to Wang Xiu.

Hearing Wang Xiu's name, Kong Rong's expression softened slightly.

Perhaps it was Liu Qian who thought of abandoning him, and now Chen Deng and Huang Qian are the guides and counselors in the army.

Kong Rong said with emotion: "The only one who can help me without risking is Wang Xiu."

So he accepted Sun Shao's suggestion, immediately sent people out of the city, rushed to Jiaodong, summoned Wang Xiu to lead his troops to aid, and at the same time ordered the guards to close the city gates and guard them strictly.

Kong Rong had always trusted Wang Gui and Liu Ren, but at this meeting, they were speechless from beginning to end.

...

The next afternoon, Xun Cheng and Zhao Yunbu arrived outside the city of Juxian.

Looking at the city from a distance, seeing that the city was heavily defended, Xun Cheng Deng knew that Kong Rong had no intention of surrendering, so he sent an order to the troops to bypass Juxian and continue eastward.

Just after the order was given, Chang Shi, Qin Xiang, rode forward to the side of Xun Cheng's horse. Qin Xiang restrained his horse, and the warhorse under his crotch raised his hoof and raised his neck, neighing loudly. Qin Xiang, in armor, held a knife and asked, "Duke Ming, why don't you attack Juxian?"

"Kong Beihai, my brother-in-law is very important; and he used to be an official in the Yuzhou prefecture with my clan father, Duke Ciming. He is my elder, so how could I attack his city rashly?"

Qin Xiang disapproved and said, "Duke Ming, all the cities in Qingzhou, only Linzi can be considered strong, and Linzi was captured by our army in one fell swoop, what about this small drama county in front of you? Kong Beihai is a wise man, but he doesn't know the army. Now, if Duke Ming orders an attack on this city, there is no need to wait until nightfall, and the subordinate dares to assert that Juxian can be captured!"

Of course, Xun Cheng would not listen to Qin Xiang's advice, saying: "Before I sent troops this time, my brother had explained to me that I must not offend Beihai."

Qin Xiang said, "What about the county seat of this play? Why don't you just stay here and not fight?"

Xun Cheng said: "Let's wait until Guan Hai and other Yellow Turban thieves have been eliminated, and then talk about it."

Bypassing Juxian City, going east for dozens of miles to Pingshou County, from Pingshou south to Yingling County.

——This Yingling County is Wang Xiu's hometown.

Yingling County is only fifty or sixty miles away from the border of Langya County, where Chen Deng and Huang Qian's troops are now.

Not only because of Xun Zhen's illustrious name, but also because of Liu Qian's contribution to surrender, Yingling County took the initiative to offer the city to surrender. As for the Yellow Turbans that were originally around the city, some surrendered, and some went to the east to go to Guanhai.

In Yingling County, Xun Cheng, Chen Deng and others met.

Xun Chengxiao said to Chen Deng, Huang Qian, and Liu Qian: "After Wenjun and others left Langya, they fought on the north bank of Wenshui River to regain Yingling. After several battles, they captured tens of thousands of Yellow Turban thieves.

Chen Deng said with a smile: "How dare you compare with General Zhao and General Zhao? General Zhao conquered Le'an, Fuxian, and Jinan first, then joined forces with General Qi, and General Zhao and General Zhao conquered the famous city of Qingzhou, Linzi; I heard the surrender of the general's yellow turban. The crowd of thieves fills the fields and stretches as far as the eye can see. Compared with the military exploits of General and General Zhao, what kind of credit do we have?”

Xun Cheng smiled, got to the point, and asked, "What's the situation with the Beihai Yellow Turbans now?"

Chen Deng replied: "At present, the Beihai Yellow Turbans are mainly under Guanhai. Guanhai now attracts more than 100,000 people and is stationed in Yi'an County; Gaomi, Chunyu and other counties between Yi'an and Yingling have different numbers of officials. In the Yellow Turbans of the Haibee Department, the number of thieves in Chunyu was about 20,000 to 30,000, and those in Gaomi were less. To the east of Yi'an, there were also many thieves in Zhuangwu, Jimo, Tingxian and other places, with a large number of 120,000 people and a small number of thieves. Thousands."

This is basically the same as what the military scouts have inquired about.

Xun Cheng ordered a map and spread it out.

Before the crowd gathers, watch carefully.

Yi'an County is in the southeast of Yingling County, and the two counties are about 200 miles apart.

The Chunyu and Gaomi counties mentioned by Chen Deng just now are located between the two counties of Yingling and Yi'an.

Zhuangwu, Jimo and Tingxian are all in the east of Yi'an.

Jimo County is not too far from Jiaodong County. In the southeast of Jiaodong, the two counties are less than a hundred miles apart.

If Juxian, Donganping and Yingling are the western counties of Beihai County, then Zhuangwu, Jimo, Jiaodong, Tingxian and other places are the eastern counties of Beihai County; Chunyu, Gaomi and Yi'an are located in Beihai County. the heart region of the earth.

Judging from the experience of several battles with the Yellow Turbans in Le'an, Jinan, Qiguo and other places since entering Qingzhou, Xun Cheng and Zhao Yun paid great attention to the "Decisive Battle of the North Sea" that was about to start soon, but At the same time, they were full of confidence in the final victory of this battle, and there was no doubt that they would be able to successfully bring down the county towns now occupied by the Yellow Turbans of Guan Hai and other ministries.

It sounds like there are a lot of Yellow Turbans in Guan Hai and other ministries, often tens of thousands, and there are more than 100,000 people in Guan Hai, but this is the number after all men, women and children are counted. - As mentioned above, the Yellow Turban Army is a drag force. If you have a family, then it is like Zhao Yun's analysis. In fact, the total number of soldiers who are able to fight should be the same number that Zhao Yun estimated. There are 30,000 or 40,000 people who can fight.

First of all, after Xun Cheng, Zhao Yun, and Chen Deng joined forces, the number of troops and horses has reached more than ten thousand.

Secondly, the armament, weaponry, and fighting spirit of the Yellow Turbans cannot be compared with those of the Xuzhou soldiers.

Again, the same sentence, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans were hungry for one winter and another for the spring, and they couldn't even eat, so what would they use to fight?

Therefore, he has confidence in winning this battle and in defeating Guan Hai, Xun Cheng and others.

Xun Cheng looked at the map for a while and said, "It's not difficult to take down Chunyu, Gaomi, Yi'an and other counties and defeat Guanhai, but what is difficult is how to block Guanhai's department in Yi'an, so that they can't escape eastward. ?"

In Donglai County, east of Beihai County, there are quite a few Yellow Turbans. If the main force of Guan Hai and other troops escaped into Donglai and made them meet with the Donglai Yellow Turbans, then Xun Cheng and other troops would be increased to attack Donglai. combat difficulty.

Zhao Yun said: "General, if you want to block Guan Hai in Yi'an, Yun has a plan!"

Xun Cheng set his sights on the Zhuangwu and Jimo counties to the east of Yi'an County on the map, and said, "Zilong, do you want to suggest that I divide troops and horses to bypass Yi'an and enter Zhuangwu and Jimo counties. Do you want to cut off the pipe and retreat?"

Zhao Yun said, "Exactly!"

Xun Cheng frowned and said, "There are tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans in Zhuangwu and Jimo counties in total, and there must be more than 10,000 people who can fight between them? Moreover, these two counties are not far from Yi'an. If our army divides our troops. If one group bypasses Yi’an and goes to attack Zhuangwu and Jimo, if the Yellow Turbans in Zhuangwu and Jimo counties cannot be wiped out quickly, this force will most likely fall into the situation of being attacked by the enemy.”

Zhao Yun replied, "Exactly!"

"Zilong, who do you think is worthy of this job?"

Zhao Yun smiled slightly and said, "Yun is willing to take this post."

Xun Cheng was overjoyed and said, "I can only rest assured if you go, Zilong!"

Xun Cheng, Zhao Yun and other generals are all veterans, and according to the current situation, in a few words, they have decided on the strategy.

Chen Deng added: "General, in Deng's humble opinion, if we want to block Guanhai in Yi'an, and at the same time ensure that the troops of Zhuangwu and Jimo will not fall into the situation of being attacked by the enemy in a roundabout way, then the main force of our army is best. Don't waste time in Chunyu and Gaomi counties, it's better to bypass these counties and attack Yi'an directly!"

Xun Cheng nodded and said: "Your plan is very good. Yi'an is where Guan Hai's troops are located, and it is the heart of the Yellow Turban bandits in the North Sea. Yi'an is as follows, if Guan Hai was captured and killed by our army, then Gaomi The Yellow Turban thieves in Chunyu and other counties collapsed without fighting."

Therefore, based on the opinions of Zhao Yun and Chen Deng, a specific strategy for the battle was formulated.

They ordered Tian Kai and Xun Pu to lead some of their troops and distribute them to Chunyu and Gaomi counties to contain and keep watch over the Yellow Turbans in the two counties at the same time.

He ordered Zhao Yun to lead his headquarters to bypass Yi'an and attack the two counties of Jimo and Zhuangwu to the east of Yi'an.

Xun Cheng, Chen Deng, etc. personally led the main force and went straight to Yi'an County.

A few days later, Xun Cheng and other soldiers arrived at Yi'an.

...

Yi'an County.

Xuzhou soldiers have been besieging the city for two days, and Guan Hai in the city is worried.

But this Guan Hai is considered to be a latecomer in the Yellow Turban Army.

During the Zhongping period, when the Yellow Turbans of the Eight States were raised, Guan Hai was still unknown. After the first batch of Yellow Turban army commanders who rebelled and revolted died or surrendered one after another, Guan Hai stood out from the many middle-level generals of the original Yellow Turban Army.

Guan Haiqi's family was originally a big and small tycoon in Beihai. He has always helped the poor and the poor, devoted his money and righteousness. With the reputation he accumulated in his early years and his fierce fighting skills, he has developed into the Qingzhou Yellow Turban. The most famous one of the handsome.

At its peak, there were no less than 200,000 to 300,000 Yellow Turbans attached to him, and now, there are still 100,000 to 200,000.

But the large number of people under his hands not only brought him an increasingly famous reputation, but also brought him a heavy pressure—he needed to provide enough food for these 200,000 mouths.

However, Qingzhou has been withering for a long time, and it is no longer enough to **** food from the county government treasury and the powerful clan. Therefore, as early as the year before last, Guan Hai began to change his previous combat strategy. Zai always plundered and fought, but chose Yi'an and other counties as his base camp, and organized his Yellow Turbans to cultivate crops nearby.

At the same time, in order to stabilize his rule, he also adopted the means of preferential care for the big clans and scholars in Yi'an and other counties; However, his two changes were not very effective.

The scholars and Kong Rong refused to cooperate with him, so it was fine. At least the fields were reclaimed and the wheat was replanted. Seeing that the situation might gradually improve, it would be better in the winter.

The severe snow disaster caused by the two heavy snowfalls made him drenched in ice water in one fell swoop.

The calamity of wheat fields aroused deep worries that had been hidden in his heart.

This worry is Xun Zhen of Xuzhou.

He paid great attention to the two battles between Xun Zhen and Cao Cao in Yanzhou, and the battle between Xun Zhen and Lv Bu in Yuzhou.

The more invincible the Xuzhou soldiers under Xun Zhen's tent were, the more serious the worry hidden in his heart became. He knew that sooner or later, Xun Zhen would definitely come to fight Qingzhou. In fact, after the snowstorm last winter, he thought, would Xun Zhen take the opportunity to fight in the spring next year?

As expected, Xun Zhen's troops really came.

Guess you guessed right.

But how to deal with it?

Guan Hai was helpless.

Without countermeasures, it cannot be said that he is incompetent.

Just like the Montenegrin Army, in name, Zhang Feiyan is the commander-in-chief of the Montenegrin Army, but in fact, the various units of the Montenegrin Army are not all unconditionally and completely obey his orders, but separate divisions; the same is true for the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, nominally Shangguan Hai is the most famous, but he cannot directly command the Yellow Turbans in the state.

It has been a year or two since Guan Hai established a firm foothold in Beihai County and started to farm and cultivate fields in Yi'an and other counties. However, until now, he has not even been able to complete the Yellow Turbans in Beihai County and Donglai County. control, let alone the counties in the west of Qingzhou.

Therefore, when the Xuzhou troops entered Qingzhou in three ways, although Guan Hai wanted to organize the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou to make a unified resistance, the result was not successful at all. lay down.

Now, Xuzhou soldiers are outside his city.

These need not be said.

Just talking about Guan Hai, accompanied by several generals worriedly, he patrolled the city head.

Looking at the city, the guards were all in ragged clothes, holding all kinds of weapons. The serious weapons such as spears, knives, bows and arrows only accounted for part of them, and more guards were made of cut wood. spears, home-made simple bows and arrows, and even those with farm implements.

The weapons are poor, because the soldiers have been hungry for winter and spring, and the soldiers are weak and morale is low.

Xun Cheng, Chen Deng, Huang Qian and other ministries mainly besieged the Nancheng and Dongcheng of Yi'an County, because Guan Hai mainly patrolled the southern city wall and the east city wall.

He first patrolled the southern city wall, and then turned to the eastern city wall after the tour.

Just after turning to the east city wall, Guan Hai saw a dozen soldiers gathered next to a crenel not far ahead, whispering something. Among the dozen or so people, Guan Hai, the leader, recognized it as a small leader under his account.

This small rate was originally not Guan Hai's department, but was originally a part of his own. However, when he entered Langya once, his men were beaten by Huang Qian, and they lost their troops and lost their generals. It was only cast into the Guanhai Department.

When Guan Hai saw them, some of the dozen or so people also saw him. After being reminded by the person who saw Guan Hai, the rest stopped talking.

The general came over and gave Guan Hai a salute, and said, "Da Su, where's the tour of the city?"

Guan Hai said: "Yes, I will patrol the city to see. The offensive of the Xuzhou soldiers is very fierce today. You have been able to defend Dongcheng, and you have made a lot of credit. When the Xuzhou soldiers are repelled, I will reward you."

It was evening, and it was almost night.

Yesterday and today during the day and two days, Xun Cheng and others attacked the city during the day and withdrew their troops in the evening.

The general listened to it and replied: "Our duty to defend the city, how dare we ask for any reward? As long as we can beat the Xuzhou soldiers back, it's fine, credit or something, don't mention it."

These words sounded high-sounding, but the general's eyes were quite flickering, as if he didn't dare to look at Guan Hai.

Guan Hai took a full view of his performance without breaking it, and comforted him with a few words, then left with the personal soldiers and military officials around him, and inspected the guards in front.

Not far ahead. A military officer behind Guan Hai took two steps forward, got close to Guan Hai, and said in a low voice, "Dashui, this guy must have a ghost in his heart! Could he want to join the Xuzhou army?"

Guan Hai did not make a sound.

The military official added: "Dasuo, long before the soldiers from Xuzhou arrived at the city, there were rumors in our army that Xun Zhenzhi was also reading the Taiping Classic, and some soldiers said that he would simply vote for Xun Zhen. No. Commander, this guy might have this idea in his arms!"

Guan Hai remained silent.

The military official added: "Commander, you must be on guard, if this guy really has this idea, when the Xuzhou soldiers attack the city again, he suddenly rebels, and our city of Yi'an is in danger. Is it?"

There were rumors among the soldiers that Xun Zhen also read the Tai Ping Jing, and some people said that it would be better to surrender Xun Zhen and so on. How could Guan Hai not know it? But he knew that there was no way to stop it. Because these words are not spread by one or two, but in groups.

There is a saying that the law does not blame the public, so he can't kill all the people who rumored these things, right?

If he dares to do this, before he can finish killing these people, I am afraid that these people will get up and kill him first.

Therefore, Guan Hai remained silent, just looking forward with his head sullen.

...

But at the crenel that Guan Hai had just passed by, the general who had just saluted him and answered returned to the crowd.

They continued on the topic just now.

The dozen or so people were indeed discussing whether to surrender Xun Zhen, or whether to surrender the Xuzhou soldiers outside the city.

Just now, someone had already mentioned the reason for the surrender, and it was the rumor in the army that the military officer beside Guan Hai said. Xun Zhen is also reading the Taiping Sutra. In addition, more importantly, the soldiers in Xuzhou have food, so it is better to surrender. Of.

——Xun Cheng left some of the Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers in Qi and other places. In the past two days before the attack on Yi'an County and after the siege of the city, he would ask these Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers to shout to the city, and to appease the Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers. Tell the city all about it.

Among the crowd, there were also hesitations.

One person said, "I heard that Xun Zhenzhi first built his home by fighting the Yingchuan Yellow Turban, and two years ago, he fought the Yanzhou Yellow Turban. How could he read the Taiping Classic? To be honest, I am very concerned about this. I don't believe it."

The one who was willing to surrender said: "Do you care if he is really reading the Taiping Classic? I will ask you, does Xuzhou have food?"

"There is food."

The man who was willing to surrender said, "Isn't it worth it? ... Also, you said that Xun Zhen fought the Yanzhou Yellow Turbans two years ago. Let me ask you again, after the Yanzhou Yellow Turbans were defeated by him, how did he treat the prisoners?"

"I heard that it seems that he made up most of the Yanzhou Yellow Turbans captured as soldiers in the fields, and distributed them to the fields, so that they could cultivate the fields in Xuzhou and Yanzhou counties and counties to grow crops."

The man who was willing to surrender clapped his hands and said, "Yes, as long as there is grain, as long as he divides the fields for us, isn't it possible? Does it matter whether he reads the Taiping Jing or not?"

Most of the people on the side agreed and said, "Yes, yes."

Another person laughed at the hesitant and said, "It doesn't matter if Xun Zhenzhi has read the Taiping Jing, you don't know a single character, have you read the Taiping Jing?"

Hearing this, everyone laughed, and the hesitant blushed and scratched his head silently.

However, those who participated in the Yellow Turbans were not all Taiping Dao believers. Their backbone must be Taiping Dao believers. However, there were also many poor people who had no food and could not survive, and joined the Yellow Turban team desperately. The person who was willing to surrender Xun Zhen was not a follower of Taiping Dao, and the person who raised the objection was not actually a firm believer of Taiping Dao.

Everyone laughed, and Qi Qi turned their attention to the small rate.

Xiao Su said: "The black donkey is right, it doesn't matter whether he reads the Taiping Jing or not, compared to butchers like Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, Xun Zhenzhi is indeed benevolent to our Yellow Turban Army, at least he doesn't slaughter indiscriminately, as long as he surrenders He, he won't kill him at all, he will be placed there, just focus on this point, I think we can surrender."

People call it yes. Immediately, one person said: "But it's up to us. Even if we surrender, I'm afraid it won't work, right? I'm afraid that the city gate will not be opened, and we will be cut down first."

That small rate said: "You are stupid, if you want to surrender, then of course it can't be just us! If there are more people, I will contact each other separately, and when enough people are persuaded, we will sacrifice the city and surrender. At that time, it was a big rate, what else could he do?"

One person hesitantly said, "It's not bad for Dasun to wait for me, I have been defeated by Langya, and after being cast into the account of Dasun, the commander will treat me no differently, if you have food, you will give them food, and if you have weapons, you will give them weapons. If we donate the city, it will be implicated in a large rate..."

That Xiaosu said: "After we sacrificed the city, we interceded for Dasu. Zhendong Renyi, if you want to come, won't kill us, nor will Dasu."

Speaking of which, the reason why this small rate was put under Guanhai's account was because they could not enter Kou Langya, which means that they were beaten by Xuzhou soldiers and had to go to Guanhai, but at this moment of life and death, he told Xun Zhen. Good talk.

Glancing down to the city, this little candidly said: "The Huang Qian who defeated me, I heard that he was the Yellow Turban of Jizhou! But after he fell to the east of the town, he is now the captain of Langya, and his troops and horses are strong and prosperous. There is no shortage of wealth and honor. If I contribute to the city, Zhendong will definitely not treat me badly!... If he is generous and has hundreds of thousands of trilogy under his account, Zhendong will not treat him badly. "

Guan Hai was indeed generous in his dealings with the subordinates. Therefore, although these yellow turban soldiers were the ones who were cast in the back, they all thought of him invariably when they were about to descend.

...

On the fourth day of Yi'an County's siege, the Yellow Turban soldiers under Xun Cheng's tent announced a message to the Yellow Turban barracks inside and outside the city.

The news said: Zhao Yun led his troops to capture Zhuangwu and was besieging Jimo, and Jimo would not be safe~www.wuxiamtl.com~ Soon after this news, another news came, saying that Jiaodong ordered Wang Xiu The troops have already left Jiaodong County, and they will cooperate with Xun Cheng, Chen Deng and other troops to besiege Yi'an County in the future.

These two pieces of news quickly spread in the Yellow Turban camps inside and outside the city, and everyone knew it.

Originally, the morale of the guards in the city was low, and there were a large number of people who wanted to surrender. Suddenly, these two news came, and the army was in chaos.

For a while, Guan Hai had nothing to do, he thought about it, and he could only choose to be a handsome man who knew the current affairs.

So on this afternoon, Guan Hai Xiancheng surrendered.

...

Now that Yi'an has been defeated and Guanhai surrendered, the remaining Yellow Turbans in Beihai County, as Xun Cheng said, are no longer a concern.

Xun Cheng ordered Huang Qian, Taishi Ci, Tian Kai, Xun Pu, etc. to divide their troops and advance together. It took only four or five days. Chunyu, Gaomi and other counties were all finished, and Jimo was also captured by Zhao Yun. flee, or surrender.

In Beihai County, only Ju County is left.

Therefore, Xun Cheng led the ministry to return to the opera county.

This time, in Juxian, it was not only the soldiers and horses of Xun Cheng's army, but also thousands of yellow turban descendants who were selected and led by Guan Hai. 20,000 troopers arrived in Juxian, and the momentum grew.

At this time, Jiaodong Ling Wang Xiu, who was falsely claimed by Xun Cheng and others to "attack Yi'an together", had already led his troops to the city of Juxian.

Hearing that Xun Cheng and others led his troops to come, Wang Xiu said to Kong Rong spontaneously, "Xiu wishes to live and die with the Duke, and guard Juxian together."

Kong Rong was very moved, and his courage was strengthened by it, so he gathered in the city and stood firm.

However, he did not expect that after Xun Cheng's troops arrived outside the city of Juxian, they would not attack for several days, but only besieged the city.

What is Xun Cheng doing? Kong Rong didn't understand.

Xun Cheng surrounded the opera county without attacking, what was he doing?

Soon, Kong Rong knew why Xun Cheng did this.