At this time, Li Ru received a letter of help from Xu Rong, and he immediately prepared to transfer Wuqiu Yi, who was stationed in Luoyang, and Li Meng, who was stationed in Yanshi City, to Yique Pass to garrison, and Xu Rong, Song Xian and Zhou Yu to be stationed at Dagu Pass. Xu Rong and the three of them are close to Luoyang, so he must be a little more restrained now, and in this way, the defensive strength of the three passes south of Luoyang will reach 30,000, which is enough to resist the attack of the rebels in the south.

But before Dong Zhuo left Luoyang, he explained that Luoyang's military affairs were jointly in charge of him and Zhang Ji, so he found Zhang Ji to discuss this matter.

Zhang Ji was a little hesitant about this, and wrote a letter to his nephew Zhang Xiu, who was stationed in the Tiger Prison, asking how to deal with this matter.

Zhang Xiu immediately replied, advising Li Ru and Zhang Ji not to mobilize the troops stationed in Luoyang, and not to move Qiu Yi's 5,000 men and horses no matter what. Zhang Xiu suggested that Fan Chou should go to support Xu Rong and lead his army south to attack Yingchuan County.

Li Ru originally wanted to mobilize Zhang Xiu's men, after all, the coalition army outside the Tiger Prison Pass had been disbanded, and it would be a waste to leave so many troops to garrison. But he was worried that he wouldn't be able to mobilize Zhang Xiu. Now that Zhang Xiu took the initiative, he pushed the boat down the river and agreed to come down. He immediately wrote a letter to the three guards, saying that in order to defeat the rebels, all the troops were temporarily dispatched by Zhang Xiu, and if anyone violated the order, he would be beheaded.

After Zhang Xiu received Li Ru's order, he left 3,000 men and horses to garrison the Tiger Pass, and sent another 2,000 men and horses to garrison the Xuanmen Pass, and he took 15,000 troops to the south to Yingchuan.

When Zhang Xiu led his army south, Fan Chou had already led his headquarters of 8,000 troops to reach his destination.

Fan Chou was very dissatisfied with Xu Rong's successive defeats, his official position was lower than Xu Rong's, he didn't dare to scold directly, so he made a big fuss about the wanton abduction and plundering of the soldiers in Xu Rong's army, and forced Xu Rong to kill the soldiers who violated the order.

Xu Rong was furious and kicked the table in front of him. Pointing at Fan Chou's nose and scolding: "If you dare to touch a single hair of the lieutenant general of our army, I will cut off one of your legs." ”

Fan Chou has been crisscrossing Western Xinjiang for more than ten years, where can he stand such a bird spirit, he will draw a knife on the spot. The generals and guards on both sides pulled desperately, and finally dragged the two apart.

He roared, "If I am caught for violating the order this time, I will definitely kill a silver seal and green ribbon." ”

The silver seal and blue ribbon were worn by officials of 2,000 stones. And Xu Rong is a Zhonglang general, who happens to be an official of two thousand stones. Fan Chou, this is a name and surname, and he is going to kill Xu Rong. Xu Rong was so angry that he roared and kicked the wall.

"Boom ......"

He kicked a large hole in the foot-thick wall, and the broken bricks whistled everywhere. Xu Rong still didn't understand his hatred, and stomped his foot again, and the house shook when the fog occurred, and half of the wall collapsed.

Xu Rong rushed out with dust and brick crumbs.

Fan Chou and the generals of Western Xinjiang changed color in shock.

………………

In mid-April, Henan Yin. Otani Pass.

Overnight, a dense crowd of soldiers of the Northern Army suddenly appeared on the Dagu Pass, and the battle flags of Li Ru, Hu Zhen, and Niu Fu surrounded Daxu and fluttered high.

At the same time, the scout flew to report that traces of the Xiliang army had been found on the mountain road outside the valley, and his own army might have been surrounded.

Ji Ling didn't say a word and ordered a retreat.

"Urgent report to General Sun Jian. It is said that the main forces of the Northern Army and the Western Liang Army appeared in the direction of Dagu Pass, and we withdrew first. ”

Mid-April. Yuzhou, Yingchuan County.

The Xiliang army suddenly appeared outside the city of Yangzhai in Yingchuan.

Yuzhou Mu Kongling was singing on the piano in the hall, and when he suddenly heard the news, he was shocked and the strings were broken. He was stunned for a long time, and then suddenly smiled: "This is a rumor in the countryside. Not to be believed. ”

Don't drive to report the news, he was in a hurry, and shouted: "Zhang Xiu has already arrived in the city, please make a decision as soon as possible, whether to withdraw or defend?" ”

Kong Ling was stunned for a long time, and then said, "Urgently report to the hussar general in Xiangcheng." General Gongsun Zan of Yingyang, General Yuan Shu of Wancheng, and General Sun Jian, who was attacking Yique Pass, asked them to come to their aid quickly. ”

That engaged in a sound of promise, panicked without.

Kong Ling sat there and thought for a while, then turned to the little boy standing behind him and said, "Burn incense, take the piano, I want to stroke another song." ”

………………

One hundred miles north of Yangzhai City is Yangcheng, and fifty miles north of Yangcheng is Yuyuan Pass.

The new Yingchuan Taishou Han Yin and the capital lieutenant Zhang An stopped after leading 5,000 troops into Yangcheng. It is certainly impossible for 5,000 men and horses to attack Yuyuan Pass, but it is more than enough to threaten Yuyuan Pass and contain the forces of Dong Zhuojun's troops guarding the pass to cooperate with Sun Jian and Ji Ling's attacks in the other two directions.

In recent months, the area has been deserted due to the plundering of hundreds of miles by Northern soldiers. After Han Yin arrived in Yangcheng, he repaired the city wall while appeasing the homeless. He wanted to move all the displaced people stranded in the nearby mountains, so that the soldiers of the Northern Army, who lacked food, could not even eat.

At this time, Han Yin received a report from Kuaima, saying that Yang Zhai City was surrounded by Zhang Xiu. Han Yin was shocked and hurriedly ordered the army to retreat overnight to help. Once Yang Zhai City falls, he can't even go home.

Han Yin led the army along the Yingshui River, and when he came to a hill about sixty miles away from Yangzhai City, he was ambushed.

The Xiliang army suddenly came out. Lieutenants Hu Che'er and Li Yun each led 3,000 soldiers and horses to attack from the east and south. This time was attacked, the Yingchuan soldiers were shocked and frightened, and they ran for forty miles in a row, and they were already too tired to stand, and the army suddenly collapsed and dispersed. To the west is the Yingshui River, so you can only turn around and flee to Yangcheng. Han Yin took the lead and galloped wildly towards Yang City. The Yingchuan soldiers were miserable, they were killed by the Xiliang soldiers, they jumped into the river and drowned, and some surrendered.

After nightfall, Han Yin and Zhang An finally fled from Yangcheng in embarrassment with hundreds of people. Before Han Yin and the others called the door, a sky-high fire suddenly ignited on the city tower, and the city gate was also opened.

Li Su stood under the city and laughed: "Han Taishou, I have been waiting for a long time. ”

………………

In mid-April, Sun Jian, a small city in Yin and Yang, Henan, hurriedly retreated after receiving an urgent report from Ji Ling. The army rushed one hundred and twenty miles to Guangcheng Pass, only to find that the pass had been captured by Zhang Liao first.

Sun Jian scolded, he was once again cheated by Yuan Shu's people. Ji Ling only cared about running away by himself, and he didn't even want Guangchengguan.

Guangcheng Pass was lost, there was the Rushui River in front of him, and there were chasing soldiers in the back, Sun Jian had no way to escape, so he could only retreat into the small city of Yangren and wait for help.

Guangcheng Pass is located in the south of Guangcheng Garden, which was placed by Emperor Guangwu, so it is called Guangcheng Pass. It is known as "two mountains and one river" in the northeast, there are Changworm Mountain, Niangniang Mountain, Monk Mountain, Baiyun Mountain, Panlong Mountain in the northeast, and Dama Mountain and Dahuling in the southwest, which is the fortress leading to Jingchu since ancient times. There is also a Guangchengze near Guangchengguan, around 400 miles, the water flows out of the Langgao Mountain, and flows into Rushui in the southeast.

Fan Chou and Xu Rong then led the army to arrive and surrounded the town.

At the same time, Zhang Xiu's army was rushing from the direction of Yangcheng to join Xu Rong and others in Yangren.

After the challenge of the Tiger Prison Pass and the Kwantung Coalition Army, Zhang Xiu's prestige and morale in the Western Liang Army are now very high. In particular, he also annihilated the army of Cao Cao and Bao Xin with a strategy, which disbanded the main army of the Kwantung princes on the eastern route, which made his prestige skyrocket. Therefore, the people under Dong Zhuo's command were very convinced of Zhang Xiu. Even if he knew that the strategy of annihilating Cao Cao and Bao Xin and defeating the Kwantung coalition army on the East Road was his own Xu Rong, he was convinced by Zhang Xiu's bravery.

When discussing the next plan of action, the recent situation was inevitably mentioned. Zhang Xiu, as the main general, patiently answered many doubts in the hearts of the generals.

The Gyeonggi crisis did not originate from Dong Zhuo's actions, but from the struggle for power between the samurai and the scholars. Only when the affairs of the court are resolved can the Gyeonggi crisis be resolved. The hussar general sent me south to create this opportunity for reconciliation, and Lord Xiangguo took the initiative to return to Chang'an to create this opportunity for reconciliation.

"General Zhang, if Xiangguo reconciles with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, don't we want to fight? Is it possible to live a stable life? Song Xian asked.

Zhang Xiu groaned slightly, nodded and said, "It should be like this." Now the ant thief rebellion broke out in Qing, Yan and Xu Prefectures, the momentum is huge, and the disaster is very serious, if the rebellion is not quelled in time, the Han Sheji is afraid that it will be destroyed overnight. At this time, whether it was the imperial court, Yuan Shao, or Yuan Shu, no one would watch the society collapse. So, the opportunity for reconciliation is at hand. ”

"If we surround Sun Jian, we can force Yuan Shu and Xiangguo to reconcile?" Li Su asked, "Is it that simple?" ”

"Of course it won't be that simple," Zhang Xiu said with a smile, "Surrounding Sun Jian is equivalent to breaking Yuan Shu's hand, which will greatly reduce his strength, which is a prerequisite for forcing Yuan Shu to agree to reconciliation." ”

"So, we're just going to fight?" Xu Rong asked.

Zhang Xiu nodded.

"General Zhang, what about Sun Jian? Cheap him for nothing? Fan Chou asked in a low voice.

Zhang Xiu smiled, pointed to the attendant behind him and said, "Open the map......"

………………

After discussion, Zhang Xiu led the army to fight Luyang, leaving Xu Rong, Fan Chou and others to attack Yangren.

Fan Chou was very happy and stormed the small city of Yangren. Zhang Xiu didn't come, the credit for the annihilation of Sun Jian was him, Xu Rong and others.

Xu Rong, Song Xian, Zhou Bi and others also pretended to be overseers.

Fan Chou's army of 8,000 fought very hard, and attacked the Nancheng Tower several times. Fortunately, Xu Rong gave Sun Jian a lot of face, and whenever Nancheng was in an emergency, his army withdrew. Sun Jian was immediately able to free up his hands to reinforce Nancheng and inflict heavy losses on Fan Chou's besieging army.

After three days of fighting, Fan Chou and Sun Jian suffered heavy losses, and Xu Rong, Song Xian and others were also scarred, but Sun Jian saw a glimmer of opportunity to break through from Xu Rong's "help".

Late at night on the third day, Guangcheng Pass, which was five miles away from the small city of Yangren, suddenly burst into flames, and the sound of war drums and killing was earth-shattering.

Sun Jian was overjoyed and hurriedly gathered his troops and prepared to break through. At this time, it must have been the army sent by Yuan Shu to rescue him who attacked Guangcheng Pass.

Zhu Zhi suggested breaking through from the four gates at the same time to disperse the enemy's forces, with the south gate as the main breakthrough direction of the army.

Sun Jian disagreed. The one responsible for besieging the south gate and the east gate was Fan Chou's army, which had been seriously damaged in the past three days, and judging from Xu Rong's attacks in the past few days, he obviously wanted to lose a lot of Fan Chou's troops.

Sun Jian said: "Is there a contradiction between Fan Chou and Xu Rong, Xu Rong wants to take this opportunity to kill him." If this is indeed the case, it will be foolproof that we will concentrate all our forces to break through from the south gate, because Xu Rong will not go to support him. (To be continued.) )