Chapter 734: Reconciliation

Chapter 734: Reconciliation

Chapter 734: Reconciliation (Part )

On the floating bridge, people were shouting and horses were neighing.

Groups of Hu and Han people, carrying their old and young, traveled from east to west and arrived behind the Guancheng on the west bank of the Yellow River.

A temporary camp was built here, with densely packed straw huts and wooden houses, and all the necessary cooking utensils and bedding.

The camp was established not long ago, only two or three months. It was an act of favor by Liu Can, intended to win the hearts of the soldiers and civilians who would cross the river to the west.

The location of Guancheng originally belonged to Linjin County, Fengyi.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao went west to attack Ma Chao and Han Sui and crossed the Puban Ferry at night. This is the place.

But at that time, Linjin Pass on the bank of the Yellow River had already been abandoned.

The soldiers from Guanzhong went out of the pass and crossed the river to Bingzhou. They crossed the river freely without anyone paying any attention.

The soldiers from Guandong crossed the river to invade Guanzhong, and they did it at will without anyone caring.

But things were different during the Eastern and Western Wei dynasties.

By the eighth year of Datong at the latest, Zhongyu City had been built on the sandbar in the river.

In the ninth year, the East and West Pass Cities were rebuilt on both sides of the river, relying on the strategic location as a place of important defense.

At this point, it was no longer so easy to cross the river at Pubanjin, unlike before when Xu Huang, Gao Huan and others could cross the river at will - generally speaking, the war was becoming more and more intense, and the defenses were becoming tighter, and fortresses were popping up like mushrooms after a rain.

There are garrisons at the fort.

There were more than 4,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry in Dongcheng.

The west city is slightly larger, with 5,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.

Zhongyu City was the smallest, with only 1,500 infantrymen.

Those who are retreating now are mainly the families of the soldiers from the three cities of Puzhou Pass.

Within a few years, the Di and Qiang tribes in Fengyi rebelled twice, and after being suppressed, they were dispersed and resettled. In addition, the Di and Qiang tribes in Fengyi had been recruited to fight in the east for many years, resulting in many casualties. Therefore, a lot of land in Fengyi was vacant, and according to the arrangement of Liu Cong and Liu Can, all of it was given to the families of the defenders of the three cities.

The commander of the three cities of Puzhou was Liu Chang, a member of the Liu Han royal family who was promoted to the title of Duke of Henan on the front line. He also served as the magistrate of Hexi and Puyang counties.

Puban belonged to Hedong County.

Hexi County was newly established and belonged to Fengyi County. It was established by dividing the land on the west bank of the Yellow River in Linjin County.

It can be seen that Liu Chang's main task was to guard the Puzhou Pass, and he served as the magistrate of two counties purely for the purpose of fully mobilizing resources. After all, it is more convenient to manage both military and political affairs, and the efficiency is more than one level higher than separating the military and politics.

After inspecting the camp, Liu Chang received a military report. After reading it, his face changed drastically, so he took his personal soldiers to the pontoon bridge.

The floating bridge was crowded with people, vehicles and livestock, making it extremely chaotic.

Liu Chang stopped his personal soldiers who were about to whip the soldiers and civilians who were migrating westward and clear the passage. He walked to the ferry outside the West Gate City, collected several ferries, and rowed eastward.

After arriving on the river, it seems that I can see the whole picture of the east bank more clearly.

The people stranded outside Dongguan City were so numerous that at a glance, there were probably tens of thousands of them!
There was a constant stream of people, livestock and vehicles on the floating bridge.

In the Yellow River, ferry boats, fishing boats and even rafts come and go, also loaded with people, goods and livestock.

"The situation is hopeless!" Liu Chang sighed silently, feeling deeply sad.

After the ferry docked, Liu Chang looked up at Dongguan City.

The defenders on the city wall were on high alert, showing no sign of slacking off.

This was the old army he had led for many years. Over the years, he had spent countless efforts, spent countless wealth and concubines, and had countless heart-to-heart talks with his generals. Now it seemed that everything was worth it.

In the face of a great defeat, the men may have been a little shaken, but it was not to the extent that the generals had no will to fight and the soldiers had no morale.

That's fine.

After landing, the garrison commander Liu Guan came over and reported the latest news in a low voice: "The news is rather mixed. Currently, we can only confirm that Hedong is in chaos, the county city has been captured, and the retreat of the army at Chenguan has been cut off."

"Where are Xue and Liu?" Liu Chang asked.

"It's not clear yet, it's too chaotic." Liu Guan said: "The Xue family of Fenyin rebelled and has now occupied Fenyin County and sent troops north to attack the Pi family. The Wang family of Taiyuan sent troops from the Pi family and faced the Xue family across the river. The Xue family did not attack by force, but turned south to collect the remaining soldiers, people, property, and food."

"The Liu family of Xie County also rebelled, and the Yi County persuaded them to surrender. In the entire Hedong area, probably only the three counties of Puyang, Dayang and Hebei are still in the hands of the court."

"Just now, many officials and their families fled from Pingyang. I sent people to inquire about it. They all said that King Bohai killed 10,000 Silver Spear soldiers in Chihong River and successfully retreated south to Chihong Ridge. I am a little skeptical. After all, King Bohai was defeated."

Liu Chang smiled bitterly when he heard this.

It is true that a lot of Silver Spear soldiers were killed or wounded, but killing 10,000 people? That is not credible.

Moreover, after the Chihongshui village was breached, they retreated to Chihong Ridge. Could they really hold on with just a bunch of defeated soldiers?
How many of the 4,000 imperial guards under the King of Bohai are left now?

Alas, I don't want to think too much about it. Liu Chang calmed down and said, "Send out all the cavalry and keep a close watch. If there is any movement of the bandits, report it immediately. Also, collect as many boats as possible and try to ferry more people, property, food and livestock across the river."

"Won't you send troops to quell the rebellion?" Liu Guan asked.

"I only have over 10,000 soldiers and horses, why should I stop the chaos?" Liu Chang said angrily, "Go and do the work quickly."

The guard took the order and left.

Liu Chang looked at the endless fleeing army again and made up his mind: defending the three cities of Puzhou Pass would be a great achievement, which would not only be justifiable to the emperor, but also to the crown prince in Chang'an.

As for the rest of you, good luck to you.

******
The north wind is howling and the cold is very severe.

Zhao Lu led two thousand light cavalry directly to Hankou.

Half a day later, Shi Sheng hurried over with thousands of infantrymen and looked at the mountain pass from afar.

Fierce sounds of killing could be heard on the mountain.

Shi Sheng looked up and was shocked.

Zhao Lu was ruthless enough! After the two thousand cavalrymen dismounted, they attacked directly along the mountain road and fought with the defenders.

It just doesn’t seem good!

What can two thousand light cavalrymen do if they dismount and fight on foot? Unless the defenders are very bad and have no morale at all, and they will collapse at the first charge, you'd better not dream of dismounting cavalrymen and defeating infantry.

But do the defenders suck? No!

The iron-armored warriors who were carefully trained by the Pei family were in the front, charging along the mountain path and instantly pushing Zhao Lu's men back to the halfway point of the mountain.

On the top of the mountain, there were all kinds of farmhands and serfs, holding spears, short swords, bows and even hunting bows, waving flags and shouting to boost morale.

Well, it would be better if the guards were the farmhands. The elite cavalry could dismount and fight on foot, but it would be difficult if they were led by armored warriors.

After thinking about it, Shi Sheng immediately made a decision and sent two thousand men to go around the mountain through the forests on both sides.

There were also guards in the mountains, and they soon discovered them. With loud shouts, more and more farmhands rushed over, and there were even hundreds of soldiers leading the way.

The dark forest was rugged and difficult to walk on. There was not even a road, so one could only climb with great effort.

The defenders were in a commanding position, and were at their leisure. Arrows fell on their heads, and spears stabbed their chests. For a moment, they were unable to attack, and suffered heavy casualties.

Shi Sheng became anxious and sent another two thousand men to reinforce.

The screams in the dense forest became more and more frequent, but the battle line remained motionless, which made Shi Sheng feel distressed.

"General Zhao was shot by an arrow." A cry of surprise was heard on the mountain road.

Shi Sheng looked up and saw hundreds of defeated soldiers surrounding the Cavalry Commander Zhao Lu, rushing down the mountain.

The defenders rushed down the mountain path like a tiger.

Shi Sheng gritted his teeth and sent out the last thousand men to support the retreating cavalry.

The sun set in the west and the mountains gradually became darker.

Shi Sheng was extremely frightened.

They were clearly only a ridge away from the heart of Hedong, but they just couldn't get across.

If we can't get over this mountain, are we going to be trapped like turtles in a jar?

There is food and grass in Wangwu City, but it is only enough for one month. Hedong is in chaos, the Hankou is blocked, and no more food and grass are delivered. Are we going to eat up all the food?
"Where is the Marquis of Shifu?" Shi Sheng turned around and asked with a grim expression, "Why hasn't he come yet?"

Shi Fuhou was the chieftain of the Jie people who was originally stationed in Anyi. He had an army of tens of thousands. This time he sent out 7,000 infantry and cavalry and had already arrived at Wangwu.

After the shocking change in Hedong, the news came quickly. Liu Xian did not dare to delay and dispatched Zhao Lu, Shi Sheng and Shi Fuhou to lead the army to counterattack Hankou, trying to open up a retreat route to Hedong and Pingyang.

Zhao Lu's two thousand light cavalry arrived first, and they charged and fought fiercely, but most of them were killed.

Shi Sheng led 5,000 Xiongnu and Han soldiers - most of them were tribal men and refugees who had retreated westward from Hanoi - and charged after them, but it seemed that there would be no result.

Shi Fu Hou was the most cunning. He was slow in sending troops and seemed to have ulterior motives.

Shi Sheng couldn't understand. You still have more than 40,000 troops in Anyi. Aren't you worried about them? Don't you want to rush back to save them?

"General." An officer stammered, "We just received news that Marquis Shifu was about to send out troops, but he encountered an envoy from Liu Quan, the commander of Heqing Town. The troops all said they were heading south to join Madam Liu."

"Mrs. Liu?" Shi Sheng was stunned at first, then he understood. Isn't that his aunt?

My aunt Liu Ye Na was the wife of the bandit Shao. Whenever she met the Jie people, she would persuade them to surrender, which was twice as effective with half the effort.

I heard that many Jie people from Youzhou and Jizhou have defected there. The Jie people from Wuxiang who were not originally under Liu Runzhong's jurisdiction have also defected there. Although Shifu Hou moved here from Qinzhou a few years ago, it is not impossible for him to defect there. After all, their customs, language, and appearance are similar...

Your mother is a servant! Shi Sheng threw the whip heavily on the ground and sighed to the sky.

It’s over! It's all over!

Nearly 20,000 troops were trapped in Wangwu Mountain.

Well, the facts are pretty much what Shi Sheng thought.

On the fifth day of November, to show his sincerity, Liu Quan personally led more than a thousand people and walked forty miles along the mountain road to Wangwu.

Wangwu City experienced a lot of fighting.

Hundreds of bloody heads were piled outside the city, and more than 200 captives were tied to the ground, constantly begging for mercy.

Shi Fuhou rode out alone and met Liu Quan from afar.

Liu Quan dismounted and said loudly, "An envoy has already taken a secret route to Anyi. The general's people will be safe."

Shi Fuhou nodded and looked at Liu Quan with a complicated expression.

Liu Quan just used Jie language, which was a little different from what he said in his daily life. Some words were difficult to understand and the pronunciation was also different. But after a few guesses, he generally understood it.

This made him feel a little emotional.

Obviously, they are all believers of Hu Tianshen and grew up in the same place, but there are already significant differences between those who came earlier and those who came later.

Liu Quan's group arrived a hundred years earlier. Now they are dressed like people from the Jin Dynasty, and their names have also been changed to follow the customs of the Jin people.

They have only been here for less than 30 years and have been active in Qinzhou. They have only arrived in the heart of the Central Plains in recent years. Their customs and habits have not changed much, and there are not many people in the tribe who can speak Jin dialect. I'm afraid they will have to rely more on the Shangdang Liu family in the future.

"You speak, and I listen to you." Shi Fuhou also dismounted from his horse and spoke concisely.

"Take these heads to Chenguan." Liu Quan didn't waste any words.

Wait for Fu Hou to understand.

This is to tell the defenders of Chenguan not to fight to the death, because their hometown has been raided.

You are trapped in an isolated city with no reinforcements or food coming. Even if the enemy doesn't fight, they will surround you and kill you. What's the point of resisting any longer?

The Central Plains Art of War: "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's mind, to defeat the enemy without fighting."

(End of this chapter)