Great Han Empire

Chapter 117
XNUM X Year X NUM X Month.

The war in Jizhou resumed.

Jizhou Mu Guodian led an army to attack Luancheng and Jiumen, threatening Zhending; Julu Taishou Feng Yi led an army to attack Xiangguo County in Zhao State, approaching Handan.

Yang Feng, Bai Rao, Wang Dang, and Wulu led the army to meet the enemy, and the battle between the two sides was extremely fierce.

Chu Feiyan immediately ordered that Fan Li lead [-] troops to rush back to Zhongshan Guonulu City to garrison.After receiving the military order, the [-] troops who had stayed behind at Nulu immediately set off and rushed to Changshan Zhending day and night.

Zuo Yan took his attendants, one person and two riders, and rushed to Zhuocheng with Yang Feng's documents to report to Zhang Niujiao.

Chu Feiyan led the remaining [-] troops to Dingxing Ferry to meet Zhang Niujiao's retreat.

After reading Yang Feng's urgent documents, Zhang Niujiao remained expressionless.

Looking at Zuo Yan's uneasy face, he asked coldly: "Junyi, didn't you receive my order? Why didn't you stay in Zhongshan Country and returned to Daying instead?"

"Marshal..." Zuo Yan hesitated to speak.

"Tell me what you want." Zhang Niujiao touched the red silk on the bamboo slips and said slowly, "Is it because the swallows don't want to come?"

"Marshal..." Zuo Yan thought of many arguments along the way, and made a plan to persuade Zhang Niujiao.Now that he was sitting opposite Zhang Niujiao, he felt that what he wanted to say was actually nonsense, and he didn't know what to say.

There was a dead silence in the big tent.Zhang Niujiao touched the red silk in his hand very carefully and gently, with a focused expression.

"Pin Pu, the swallow is also for the Yellow Turban Army, for the common people of the world." Zuo Yan sighed long, broke the silence, and said in a low voice.

A few traces of anger flashed across Zhang Niujiao's face.

He looked at the red silk in his hand for a long time in silence, his expression getting more and more gloomy.

Zhang Niujiao suddenly said desolately: "Junyi, we have been friends for many years, tell me, did we do something wrong?"

Zuo Yan was shocked, frowned, and said nervously: "Pinpu, why do you think so?"

"Before Master died, I went to see him. He was lying on the bed, very sick, and could barely speak." Zhang Niujiao said in a low tone, "He asked me if he had done something wrong. "

"Taiping Dao is well-organized and united. Everyone worked together and carefully prepared for more than ten years. In the end, we led the people of the world to rise up and fight against all the villains and all injustices in the world. We will not hesitate to die. We There is no self-interest, and no grand ambitions. We just want to let the common people eat three meals a day, wear one piece of clothing a year, live longer, live better, and have a little hope. But in the end, we bring the common people of the world What's coming?"

"Death, other than death is death. If you follow us, you will die, if you don't follow us, you will die."

"Those who worked with us, some were killed in battle, some committed suicide by jumping into the river, and some were buried alive by the enemy. There were more than 36 people in the 60 Fang Daqu, except for us who were still alive, and now there are no bones left."

"If you don't follow us, you will die even worse. Those poor people were unarmed, but they were killed by the enemy as our accomplices. Almost every household was killed, and blood flowed like a river. They fought for a year. As a result, the fields were barren and the crops were barren. The surviving people still did not escape the fate of death. They all starved to death, and there were starving people everywhere. Over the course of a year, millions of poor and innocent people died people."

Zhang Niujiao's face was very scary, he gritted his teeth and patted his chest and asked:
"What have we done? What have we done?"

"We originally thought that by doing this, we could keep these people alive, longer and better, but in the end what? They died, millions of people died, more than any plague, any flood, we What did you do? What did you do?"

"Without us doing this, they can live longer and better. Although there is no hope, they are still alive and have a breath."

"Why? Junyi, why do you say? Why is this happening? What did we do wrong?"

"Why can't we kill all those wicked people, those who have robbed us of food and everything from us, why?"

"Heaven? Heaven only protects those wicked people, the powerful and rich. They have always killed poor innocent people like us."

"The sky is dead, and the yellow sky should stand..." Zhang Niujiao muttered in a low voice, bitter and sad, and tears soaked his eyes.

Zuo Yan couldn't bear it any longer, stood up, turned around and left sadly, tears streaming down his clothes.

Li Hong led his troops to rest in Dukang Pavilion for three days, then set off again and lost the news.

He knew that the Yellow Turban Army had inside lines no matter in the county mansion or the governor's mansion, so after the Xiaofangshan ambush plan was leaked, he refused to report the military situation to the county mansion on the grounds that it was difficult for the cavalry to march [-] miles a day to make contact.Xian Yufu got his hint and acted very cautiously.

On this day, he received a message from Li Hong.The Yellow Turban Army Chu Feiyan led 2 horses to the Dingxing Ferry of Jumashui and stationed on the opposite bank, but there was no sign of crossing the river.The grandson at the ferry then pushed the chariot forward for three miles, but there was no sign of leaving.This action of the Yellow Turban Army is very abnormal. [-] horses supporting the front line of Zhuocheng is simply a joke. It is impossible for the existing Yellow Turban Army to take down Zhuocheng in a short period of time.It is really strange that the urgently needed food, grass and supplies on the front line were not transported to the front line when the reinforcements arrived.

Li Hong felt that the Yellow Turban Army must have taken some action.It is obviously unrealistic to continue to attack Zhuocheng, so since the Yellow Turban Army does not fight, it may retreat.In other words, there has been movement on the Jizhou battlefield.Otherwise, they have another plan to attack the city.Li Hong speculated that the Yellow Turban Army might cooperate with the enemy in the city, and they should cooperate with each other to open the city gate.He reminded Xian Yufu to pay close attention to the movement of the Yellow Turban Army camp outside the city, and at the same time send the most reliable people to guard the city gate.

In the early morning, Zhang Baiqi and Zuo Yan walked into Zhang Niujiao's big tent.

Zhang Niujiao didn't sleep all night, his face was pale and haggard.The table was full of documents, and the bamboo slips were scattered all over the place.

"Marshal..." Zhang Baiqi did not wait to sit down, and said loudly: "Then issue a military order to urge Chu Shuai and order him to go north quickly. We have dispatched troops for more than a month, and we are about to take Zhuojun. At this time, withdraw the army and give up our Xin Is the city that has been fought so hard, a bit of a joke? How can I explain it to the soldiers? How can I be worthy of the dead Zuo Xiao and the tens of thousands of brothers who died?"

Zhang Niujiao remained silent, his thick eyebrows frowned, and his eyes were fixed on the scroll of bamboo slips unfolded in his hand.

"Junyi, you supported the Northern Expedition to Youzhou, why did you suddenly change your mind now? What kind of benefits did Chu Shuai give you, and you want to speak for him?" Zhang Baiqi turned and shouted at the worried Zuo Yan.

Zuo Yan smiled wryly, shook his head, and said nothing.

"Ziyin, don't talk nonsense." Zhang Niujiao put down the bamboo slips and said solemnly:

"I've already figured it out. It is indeed too risky for us to go north to attack Youzhou. Even without the leopard Li Hong's Fengyun Cavalry, it would be difficult for us to attack Yuyang. Failure is doomed long ago."

Zhang Baiqi and Zuo Yan were shocked when they heard the words, and looked at Zhang Niujiao in surprise.

"Before the siege, I received a secret letter from Marshal Anding, who warned me about the movement in the direction of Jizhou. Yang Huang, the governor of Youzhou, and several prefects jointly wrote to Mu Guodian of Jizhou, asking him to send troops to attack Zhao and Changshan. The Yellow Turban Army was attacked by the enemy and forced me to retreat. Now the Jizhou army has begun to attack Zhao and Changshan. This shows that my judgment in the early stage was wrong."

"The hatred between Guo Dian and us is too deep. In fact, even if there is no request from Youzhou Yang Huang, he will not let go of this good opportunity to attack us. As Yanzi said, once we are attacked by the enemy, we will definitely fail."

"But that's not why we failed."

Zhang Baiqi opened his eyes wide, looked at Zhang Niujiao's slightly flushed face due to excessive anger, and asked very puzzled: "What is the reason?"

Zhang Niujiao patted the table bitterly, and heaved a long sigh.

"Last year, the Yellow Turban Army was scattered everywhere, and they had no contact with each other to support them. As a result, they were defeated by Huangfusong, Zhu Jun and others. This year, we gathered together and it seemed that we gathered together to form a group and our strength increased, but it was not the case. We It's still a mess. That's the real reason we failed."

"Due to the large and small number of leaders and gangs in the Yellow Turban Army, everyone has great differences in property distribution and tactical arrangements. It is difficult to form a voice and a force, so failure is inevitable. This time the Northern Expedition to Youzhou is the most obvious one. example of."

"According to my vision, we will abandon Zhao State and Changshan, leaving only a small amount of troops to contain the Jizhou government army. Then we will break the boat and concentrate all our troops, about 40 horses, to attack Youzhou, and we will be able to take it completely in two months."

"Why can't it be done?" Zhang Niujiao said with a wry smile.

"Everyone is concerned about their immediate interests, and they are reluctant to give up the city, land, and wealth they have already acquired. They only care about small profits, and they don't think about the future and development of the Yellow Turban Army."

"Although Yanzi and Wang Dang don't have any selfish intentions, they are too conservative and only want to live in peace, and have no long-term plans at all. They always say that they are not strong enough, and they are not strong enough."

"I would like to ask you, when did we have enough strength? Will the imperial court, the government, the official army, and the overlords everywhere give us time to develop our strength? Naive. , to encircle and suppress everywhere, not to mention development, is whether we can survive in the Taihang Mountains. No one will give us time to develop our strength, and our strength depends entirely on ourselves."

Zhang Niujiao kept shaking his head, heartbroken, looking helpless.

"If you occupy Youzhou and live in the frontier, a long winter can buy us enough time to breathe. In the barren land of northern Xinjiang, although everyone is a little poorer, they can survive and develop slowly. In the future Even if you can't beat the official army, you can still withdraw from beyond the Great Wall."

"This summer, I repeatedly explained to them in Changshan, but they all emphasized the difficulties and put forward various reasons. In the end, although everyone reluctantly agreed with my plan for the Northern Expedition, this plan has changed beyond recognition."

"No one is willing to give up everything, no one is willing to burn the boat, and no one is willing to listen to me alone. This is the root cause of the failure of the Beizheng. We defeated ourselves."

Zhang Baiqi and Zuo Yan bowed their heads in silence, having nothing to say.

What Zhang Niujiao said was true, but Zhang Niujiao did not have the absolute authority of Zhang Jiao, which is also a fact.He can't control his current subordinates, and who is responsible for today's situation?

"Marshal, what do you mean..." Zhang Baiqi hesitated for a moment, but did not continue.He was really not sure what Zhang Niujiao was thinking now.

"Let's withdraw." Zhang Niujiao said lightly.

"By the way, find a chance to kill the leopard."

(End of this chapter)