Chapter 11 The Sunset of the Long River Section 31 Peng Lie and Lei Chong's advice woke up Zhong Xuan, who was intoxicated with victory, and he accepted Lei Chong's suggestion and quickly wrote to Lu Bu on the front line of Pengcheng, proposing the idea of taking advantage of the situation to attack Xuzhou.

On the tenth day of the fifth month, the army crossed the Yingshui River and advanced rapidly towards the Vortex River.

The imperial court asked Zhong Xuan to immediately divide troops to support the front line of Luyang and Kunyang, ensure the safety of Yingchuan, and prevent the Jingzhou army from threatening the periphery of Luoyang.

As for the battle of Yuzhou, the imperial court believed that the purpose of the attack had been achieved, and the army not only occupied the Liang State and the Chen State, but also possibly occupied Runan, and Yuan Tan was devastated after this heavy loss, and it was difficult to make a comeback, so there was no need to worry.

Now the West Road army was defeated in Nanyang, and the East Road army was blocked in Pengcheng and Tancheng, if the battle situation was not quickly stabilized, the victory in the Battle of Yuzhou may be fleeting.

Zhong Xuan was dumbfounded, he never expected that the imperial court would ignore the safety of the Yuzhou battlefield, and resolutely ordered Lu Bu and Gao Shun to withdraw from the front line of Pengcheng and Tancheng, and ordered Wang Dang to withdraw from Wuguan.

The meaning of this holy decree is very clear, the war in the south is over, and the Son of Heaven and the general are going to lead the army to the western frontier.

If Lu Bu withdraws from Xuzhou, Gao Shun retreats to Langya, and Wang Dang withdraws to Guanzhong, then the Jingzhou army on the battlefield on the west road can do its best to storm Luyang and Kunyang and threaten Yingchuan, and Cao Cao can also quickly assemble a large army to fully support Yuan Tan's counterattack on Yuzhou.

In other words, in the case of Zhong Xuan's division of troops to return to Luyang and Kunyang, it is impossible to take all of Yuzhou and drive Yuan Tan out completely in the remaining handful of time.

Now for Zhong Xuan, the top priority is to consolidate the existing gains and redeploy the forces to ensure that the army can hold the three counties of Runan, Chen, and Liang, and to ensure that the battle of Yuzhou will not fall short and achieve nothing.

The reasons of the imperial court are high-sounding. At the beginning, Zhong Xuan and Lu Bu strongly requested to attack Yuzhou, and the imperial court also gave three months.

Now that the three-month deadline is approaching, and Zhong Xuan and Lu Bu have basically completed the intended goal, then the imperial court should of course quickly end the war in the south according to the original plan, and turn to fully implement the strategy of advancing west to level Qiang.

But there is a deeper meaning behind this reason. The imperial court did not want Zhong Xuan to take Yuzhou, did not want to see him establish such great feats in just a few months, and did not want Zhong Xuan to gain a foothold in the army and get more opportunities to lead the army.

For the defeat on the battlefield in Nanyang, Zhong Xuan must bear part of the responsibility. He was not only the commander of the Yingchuan army, but also the main planner of opening up the Yuzhou battlefield.

In addition, he failed to take all of Yuzhou within the time limit stipulated by the imperial court, so even if the imperial court raised his noble hand and let Zhong Xuan's merits be offset, he had no possibility of continuing to lead the army.

Today, when the people of Northern Xinjiang control the government, a non-Northern Xinjiang minister like Zhong Xuan, who is sharp, must be the target of the key attack.

Zhong Xuan was furious. Although Changshi Zheng Hun, Sima Yuanba and others were also angry, starting from the overall situation, they still advised Zhong Xuan to calm down and follow the will of the imperial court.

In any case, with Zhong Xuan's contribution to recovering the three counties of Yuzhou in more than two months, even if he cannot be promoted after returning to the court, he will not be punished.

Zhong Xuan summoned the generals of various ministries, announced the imperial decree, and discussed the next offensive and defensive strategies. Peng Lie gloated.

He teased in a weird way, my lord, you should quickly divide your troops and return to Luyang. Lord Lei and I led the army north to Suiyang to help you block the counterattack of Yuan Tan and Cao Cao, lest you lose sight of one or the other, empty-handed, and finally end up with a tragic ending of being escorted back to the capital by Che Feng.

Zhong Xuan glared angrily, eager to smash his fist on Peng Lie's smiling face. For more than a month, the battle of Yuzhou was carried out smoothly under the control of Zhong Xuan, and there was no hard battle from beginning to end, and behind every battle was conspiracy and trickery, which made the generals who had fought a hard war for more than ten years despise Zhong Xuan.

If you continue like this, even if you knock down Xuzhou, the credit will be Zhong Xuan alone. Therefore, the generals in the big tent were as happy as Peng Lie at the moment.

The commander on the battlefield in Yuzhou is about to change, and this sinister and despicable old man is finally going to get out. Lei Zhong stood up in time.

He solemnly warned the generals of all departments that the battle of Yuzhou was not over, but had just begun. With the east and west routes pinning down the battlefield and defeating one and the other withdrawing, the armies of Liu Biao, Yuan Tan, and Cao Cao would soon launch a counteroffensive against Yuzhou from both the east and west.

What ensued was a tough battle, a bitter one. Only after this battle is over, the rebels have been defeated, and the three counties of Yuzhou can be truly recovered, so that we can gain a foothold in Yuzhou, stabilize the counties of Yuzhou, continue to threaten Jingzhou and Xuzhou, and lay a solid foundation for the next big army to recover Jingzhou and Xuzhou.

Peng Lie and Huo Ran, the generals of the various departments, woke up, and their expressions immediately became solemn.

"If we win the next battle, we will all have credit, if we lose, we will not only lose our troops and lose nothing, but we will all be punished by the court." Lei Zhong continued,

"If nothing else, the Son of Heaven and the Great General will lead the army to the west at the end of this month, and the imperial court will not allocate any more money and grain to us. That is to say, the three adults, Lu Bu, Gao Shun and Wang Dang, can only give us some help on the battlefields of the east and west wings, and whether they can hold Yuzhou or not can only rely on ourselves. And the money and food of the army can only be raised from the counties of Yuzhou. The longer the battle is fought, the more likely we are to lose. Zhong Xuan's face changed.

He looked at Lei Chong gratefully, Lei Chong's words relieved him of the siege and stabilized the morale of the army, but at the same time, he also let him see the crisis he was facing.

He thought of the rebels' counteroffensive, but ignored the issue of food and grass. By the end of May, after the stipulated time limit for attacking Yuzhou, the imperial court would not allocate any more grain and grass, which was the heaviest blow to itself.

It seems that the people in the court are determined to put themselves to death. Peng Lie and the generals couldn't help but get nervous, and they became more and more angry with Zhong Xuan.

We all miserably inflicted a misery on this old man, he offended the court, and his life was in danger, and as a result, we also suffered from the plague of pond fish, and we were unlucky with him.

"My lord, immediately write to the imperial court, asking the imperial court to take into account the crisis in Yuzhou and temporarily leave Master Peng and my army behind. Without our 50,000 horses, how can Yuzhou be defended? Lei turned to face Zhong Xuan, bowed down and said,

"In addition, please tell the court again, don't appoint Yuzhou officials for the time being. Before there was stability in Yuzhou, all the officials in Yuzhou were appointed by the adults themselves, so that the adults could quickly raise grain and grass. Zhong Xuan's face became more and more ugly.

Although he has read a lot of military books and boasts of being both civil and military, it seems that today, compared with these battle-hardened veterans, his understanding of the army and the battlefield is almost blank.

Lei Chong first thought that after the change in the battle situation, the rebels would counterattack, and Yuzhou would fall into a crisis, and then he thought of the problem of grain and grass.

Now he reminded himself that it was very likely that the imperial court would transfer Peng Lie and his army back to Yanzhou and Henan to garrison, and that it was very likely that he could not wait to appoint a new commander of the Yuzhou army.

When the new commander of the army arrives in Yuzhou, the officials in various parts of Yuzhou will be replaced immediately, which will not only not help stabilize the counties in Yuzhou, but may lead to chaos in Yuzhou.

The battle in Yuzhou is over, of course, the main army must quickly return to its original station, and Zhong Miao will naturally be transferred back to the DPRK because he did not fight the battle of Yuzhou.

So, whether Yuzhou can hold on to it is unknown if asked. Yuzhou gains and losses, of course, the responsibility is still Zhong Xuan's, and Zhong Xuan's fate can be imagined.

The general is really going to kill me. The more Zhong Miao thought about it, the more cold he became, and he was drenched in cold sweat for a while, and he even fought coldly. Zheng Hun didn't say a word, and immediately wrote the chapter.

Yuan Ba quietly wiped the cold sweat and asked respectfully, "Lord Lei, what are the ......countermeasures now?"

"Kill Xiangxian directly...... Lei Chongsan walked to the map hanging on the side of the big tent in two steps, and pointed to the Peiguo County on the map.

"In the eyes of the imperial court, we have a great advantage on the southern battlefield, and as long as we do not fight, the rebels will never dare to counterattack. But ladies and gentlemen, please see, in the case that Gao Shun and Zang Ba have occupied Langya State, the Pengcheng and Tancheng fronts in Xuzhou have directly faced our threat, if we gain a foothold in Suiyang in Liangguo, Yuzhou, then Peiguo will have no danger to defend, and Pengcheng and Xiaoxian will be under our direct attack, Xuzhou will be attacked on three sides, and the situation is precarious. ”

"The situation in Xuzhou is so critical, Jiangdong will inevitably feel cold lips and teeth, and he will definitely help. The loss of Yuzhou was a fatal blow to the situation of Xiangyi's rebellion trying to form a confrontation between the north and the south, and Jingzhou had to do its best to help Yuan Tan recapture Yuzhou and reunite Jing, Henan, and Xu as one. In this way, Yuzhou will definitely be attacked by the rebels from the east and west for a period of time in the future, and the situation in Yuzhou will continue to be chaotic, and the war may continue. ”

"The imperial court can't afford to fight this battle. When we returned to Beijing at the end of last year, the general repeatedly said that the imperial court was unable to support a two-front battle. Therefore, the imperial court saw that the purpose of inflicting heavy losses on the rebels had been achieved, and immediately ordered the withdrawal of troops from the eastern and western battlefields, and the Yuzhou battlefield in the middle was transferred to the defense, which was consistent with the purpose of the imperial court at the beginning of the year to launch an attack in the south, and there was no problem with this holy decree of the imperial court. ”

"But the imperial court obviously ignored the determination of the rebels to counterattack, and ignored the importance of Yuzhou to the rebels to maintain the confrontation between the north and the south......" Lei Chong paused for a moment and continued,

"Perhaps the imperial court did not ignore these problems, but did not want to change the purpose of launching the southern war at the beginning of the year, and did not want to occupy Yuzhou and plunge the southern battlefield into a protracted war, thereby consuming a lot of financial resources of the imperial court and seriously affecting the imperial court's strategy of advancing westward into Pingqiang." Lei Zhong looked at Zhong Xuan, who had a serious expression, and said with a wry smile: "The reason why the imperial court agreed to the request of the Lord and General Lu Bu to attack Yuzhou is probably to encourage the morale of the army, and they don't want to attack the indomitable determination of the front-line soldiers at this time, and at the same time, they probably didn't expect that the Lord would take Yuzhou within three months, so ......"

"So it's possible for you to return to your respective stations right away...... Zhong Xuan sighed.

"Yuzhou is bound to gain and lose." Lei nodded emphatically,

"If you want to change the current predicament, you can only fight Xiangxian, approach Pengcheng, and quickly start a showdown with the armies of Yuan Tan and Cao Cao, and attract more rebels to the north, so that the main force of the army is all trapped in the Peiguo battlefield, and it is unable to return to the front line of Luyang and Kunyang. When the war on the eastern and western flanks of Yuzhou was critical, the imperial court had no choice but to continue fighting. Because Nanyang has already lost a battle, if it loses another battle in Yuzhou, the morale of the entire army will be hit hard, which will seriously affect the defense of Luoyang and the Central Plains. Yuzhou was defeated again, and we immediately fell into passive defense, and the purpose of the active attack at the beginning of the year was to change the passive defense to the active defense, to attack instead of defending, so the imperial court will never allow Yuzhou to be defeated again. ”

"The biggest problem for the imperial court at present is grain and grass. This year, the Son of Heaven and the great general will definitely go on an expedition to the western frontier, and the financial resources are seriously insufficient. As long as the adults can solve the problem of grain and grass and use the grain and grass of Yuzhou to fight the battle in Yuzhou, the court will not embarrass the adults. Lei looked at the generals and said with a calm smile,

"In this way, the merit of the adults is there, our merit is also there, Yuzhou is also won, and the strength of the rebels is also consumed. In the future, we will continue to quell the rebellion in the south, and we will be the absolute main force, and the credit will still be ours. ”

"Good ......" Peng Lie slapped the case hard and shouted loudly,

"Good idea. Lord Zhong, what do you think? Zhong Xuan did not hesitate at all, waved his hand and said: "Go north, immediately go north to attack Xiangxian." In mid-May, Lü Bu received a holy order from the imperial court and hurriedly withdrew his troops.

Gao Shun and Zang Ba also led their troops to retreat to Langya. In mid-May, Sun Quan wrote back to Cao Cao that the Shanyue Rebellion broke out in Huiji County, and the main force of the Jiangdong Army would go south to conquer Shanyue and intend to attack Jiaozhou.

Because Shixie, the assassin of Jiaozhou, refused to reply to Xiangyi's holy decree, Xiangyi was very angry and planned to let Sun Quan join the army of Guiyang in Jingzhou to go south to threaten Jiaozhou.

Sun Quan said, now I Jiangdong is too busy to take care of myself, and I am responsible for the heavy responsibility of going south to Jiaozhou, and I am unable to go north to help, please understand.

Sun Quan was reluctant to help, which was expected by Cao Cao, but Sun Quan went south to Jiaozhou under the pretext of the Shanyue Rebellion, which was unexpected by Cao Cao.

From this point of view, Sun Quan was already very pessimistic about the situation in Jianghuai, and he had no intention of going north to fight Cao Cao for Jiujiang and Lujiang counties, but instead concentrated on going south to Jiaozhou.

Cao Cao was not worried, but happy. Since Sun Quan went south to Jiaozhou, the Yangtze River defense line was temporarily safe, and the troops stationed on the Huai River line could be quickly transferred to the north of Xuzhou to resist the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Cao Cao immediately ordered the troops of Xiahou Yuan, Man Chong, Yu Ban, Liu Xun and others to go north to support.

In mid-May, Yuan Tan withdrew to Peiguoxiang County and asked Cao Cao for help. Cao Cao ordered Cao Hong and Cao Chun to lead their troops to rush to help, and ordered Man Chong and Liu Xun to lead their troops directly to Xiangxian to help Yuan Tan launch a counteroffensive and do everything possible to recapture Yuzhou.

At the same time, Cao Cao wrote to Liu Biao in Xiangyang, asking him to attack Yuzhou in order to form a flanking attack with him in the east and west.

Due to the loss of Runan, the letter could only be sent to Jingzhou by water, and the time was greatly delayed. In mid-May, Zhong Xuan led an army to attack Xiangxian County, and wrote a letter to the imperial court, describing the current situation of Yuzhou in detail, begging the imperial court to try to transfer troops to support Yuzhou, and to ensure that the army's grain and grass would be raised by Yuzhou, and would not compete with the army of the Western Expedition for the imperial court's wealth.

At the same time, Zhong Xuan wrote to Chen Chen, who was sitting in Yingchuan, Xu Jing, the Taishou of Runan, He Kui, the prime minister of Chen, and Liu Xian, the minister of Liang, to do their best to raise food and grass for the army.

If the difficulty is too great, they will temporarily borrow credit from the wealthy people of the gate lord clan in the Yingru area, and in any case ensure that the grain and grass of the army are heavy.

On May 18, Xuzhou's reinforcements rushed to Xiangxian, and the two sides fought fiercely. On May 24, reinforcements from Man Pang and Liu Xun rushed to Xiangxian, and the battle between the two sides became even bloodier.

On May 25, Zhong Xuan led the army to retreat to Liang Guodang County, and Zi Sui and Xian Rong led the army to rendezvous, and the Han army was replenished, and then killed Xiang County again.

On May 26, the imperial decree was sent to the front, and there was also a handwritten letter from the general to Zhong Xuan.

The imperial court rewarded Zhong Xuan and the front-line soldiers, agreed to Zhong Xuan's request, and dispatched Xiang Tao's 10,000 troops from Luoyang to support the Luyang and Kunyang fronts, and ordered Peng Lie and Lei Chong to stay on the battlefield in Yuzhou, and Xingyang and Chenliu would send another army to garrison.

The imperial court also issued an order to worship Zhong Xuan as the general of the expedition to the west, holding the Jieyue, and supervising the military affairs of Yuzhou, but the post of assassin of Yuzhou was awarded to Wang Ze, a native of northern Xinjiang, and the imperial court accepted Zhong Xuan's recommendation from the Taishou, the minister of state and the main officials of the counties and states of Yuzhou.

In addition, the great Confucian Xu Jing was recruited into Beijing by the imperial court and worshiped as the secretary of the Shaofu. Jia Xu, the former secretary of the Shaofu, was turned to be the general of the Chinese army, commanding the Tiger Benyu Forest Army, and accompanying the Son of Heaven on an expedition to the western frontier.

The imperial court did not let Zhong Xiang supervise the military administration of Yuzhou, but worshiped the old minister Wang Ze as the assassin, obviously because he was worried that Zhong Xiang would support the army and respect himself.

This point was emphasized by the general in his letter to Zhong Xuan. The reason for the chaos of the Han Dynasty is partly due to the fact that Emperor Xiaoling listened to the advice of the minister Liu Yan, changed the history of the state assassin to the state pastor, and let the local governor supervise the military administration.

The imperial court could not make the same mistake again, even if Yuzhou was the front line, and the local governor supervised the military government to stabilize Yuzhou, the imperial court would never agree.

This is not a question of believing or not believing you, but a question of the authority of the authority of the Son of Heaven and the laws of the Han Dynasty, and you must understand the difficulties of the imperial court.

The imperial court would rather lose Yuzhou than repeat the mistakes of the past. The general also explained in detail the imperial court's views on the southern war situation and the Yuzhou battlefield, hoping that Zhong Xuan would not misunderstand the imperial court.

Since the imperial court asked you to command the army, it believed you, otherwise why would you give you the command of hundreds of thousands of troops?

Does the imperial court want to defeat itself? If you can fulfill your promise to recover Yuzhou for the Han Dynasty and defend Yuzhou, you will make great contributions.

But if you can't fulfill your promise and can't solve the problem of food and grass for the army, please be sure to preserve your strength as the best policy, resolutely give up Yuzhou, and hold Yingchuan.

For the imperial court, the strategy of counterinsurgency is to first quell the rebellion of the Qiang people, and first stabilize the northwest and two frontiers, which is the bottom line of the imperial court, and you must not confront the imperial court for personal reasons.

I am about to go on an expedition to the western frontier with the Son of Heaven, and it is estimated that I will not return to Chang'an in two years, so I implore you to put the society first, follow the will of the imperial court, stabilize the court, and stabilize the war situation in the south.

The general's honesty deeply touched Zhong Xuan, and he immediately replied to the general, saying that he swore to defend the prestige of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, and swore to fight for the Zhongxing Han.

In May, Guanzhong, Chencang. The chariot cavalry general Ko Yi made all the preparations, and waited for the Son of Heaven and the general to arrive at Chencang, and then swore to go on the expedition.

On May 25, Jiang Jian, the general of the Xiliang Army, rushed to Chen Cang to report the news. Han Yi, the commander of the Western Liang Army, was killed, and Hanyang was in chaos.

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