Yue Fei and Zhao Yun led the army to rest in the city of Lieren for three days, and then set off again and disappeared into the vast Jizhou Plain.

Before Yue Fei and Zhao Yun led the army to leave the city, he received a message from Shan Jing: Chu Yan, the general of the Yellow Turban Army, led 20,000 horses and horses to the ancient city of Ping'en on the bank of Zhangshui, and stationed on the north bank of Zhangshui, with no sign of crossing the river. And Sun Qin, who was stationed on the south bank of Zhangshui, immediately pushed the car forward for three miles, and there was no sign of pulling out.

This action of the Yellow Turbans is very abnormal. 20,000 horses to support the Yecheng front line is simply a joke, and the existing strength of the Yellow Turban Army is simply impossible to take Yecheng in the short term. It is strange that the grain and grass that were urgently needed at the front line were not transported to the front when reinforcements arrived.

Yue Fei felt that the Yellow Turban Army must have made some moves. It is obviously unrealistic to continue to attack Yecheng, so since the Yellow Turban Army does not fight, it is possible to retreat. Otherwise, they have another plan to attack the city.

There are more than 100,000 residents in Yecheng, and there must be spies infiltrated by the Yellow Turban Army. Yue Fei guessed that the Yellow Turban Army might cooperate with the enemy in the city, and the inside should be combined with the outside to open the city gate. He told Li Yi to pay close attention to the movements of the Yellow Turban Army camp outside the city, and at the same time to send the most reliable people to guard the city gates.

………………

Early in the morning, Zhang Baiqi and Xiao Yan walked into Zhang Jiao's big tent.

Zhang Jiao had not slept all night, his face was pale and haggard. The desk was full of papers, and bamboo slips were scattered all over the place.

"Great Sage and Good Master......" Zhang Baiqi did not wait to sit down, and said loudly, "Then give a military order to urge Chu Shuai and order him to advance westward quickly." We have been sending troops for a month, and we are about to take Wei County, so at this time, is it a bit of a joke to withdraw our troops and abandon the city we have worked so hard to fight? How to explain to the soldiers? How can you be worthy of the tens of thousands of dead brothers? ”

Zhang Jiao was silent, his thick eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes looked at the roll of bamboo slips unfolded in his hand.

"Zigan, you supported the attack on Yecheng, why did you suddenly change your mind now? What benefits did Chu Shuai give you, and you want to help him speak? Zhang Baiqi turned his face and shouted at the worried Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said nothing.

"Zize, don't talk nonsense." Zhang Jiao put down the bamboo slip and said with a serious expression, "I have already figured it out, we have indeed done too much risk in attacking Yecheng, which is strong in the city and has strong defensive strength, even if there is no Youzhou Iron Cavalry of the cavalry general Li Yi, it will be difficult for us to defeat Yecheng, and the failure is doomed a long time ago." ”

Zhang Baiqi and Xiao Yan were shocked when they heard this, and looked at Zhang Jiao in surprise.

Zhang Jiao seemed to be recalling something, and said in a low voice: "Before the third attack on Yecheng, I judged that the northern army of the imperial court was newly defeated, the morale of the army was sluggish, and the morale was low, plus the remnants of the northern army were limited, only about 20,000 people. And we have 150,000 troops to attack the city, even if Li Yi will join his 5,000 iron cavalry to defend Yecheng, our army's strength is still six times that of theirs, coupled with high morale, we will definitely be able to capture Yecheng quickly, even if the main general of Yecheng is replaced by Li Yi. ”

Zhang Jiao's voice gradually rose and said, "But I underestimated Li Yi. The forces in his hands are indeed limited, only 25,000 men and horses in total, and these troops are either demoralized or not good at defending the city, but there are not only 25,000 troops in Yecheng, but also countless private soldiers of powerful lords, which is a huge number of troops. This is a force that is difficult to integrate, and it is even more difficult to put it to good use. But Li Yi did it, he not only integrated this army, but also used it well in the defense of the city, causing huge losses to our army. ”

Zhang Baiqi and Xiao Yan nodded secretly, they also recognized this.

However, just when the two thought that Zhang Jiao was going to say that this was the biggest reason for their failure, Zhang Jiao suddenly paused and said in an angry voice: "But this is not the reason for our failure. ”

Zhang Baiqi's eyes widened, looking at Zhang Jiao's face slightly flushed due to excessive anger, and asked very puzzledly, "What is the reason?" ”

Zhang Jiao slapped the table hatefully, sighed long, and said helplessly: "Since we started our army at the beginning of the year, the Yellow Turban Army has risen up in the twenty-eight counties of seven states, captured a lot of territory in a short period of time, and the strength has also been greatly expanded, which seems to have a momentum that has swept the world. But in fact, we were just a plate of scattered sand, and we had no contact with each other to support, and as a result, we were broken by Li Yi, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun and others in Youzhou, Yuzhou and other places, and we were also blocked by Lu Zhi in Jizhou, losing our initial sharpness. That's the real reason for our failure. ”

"Due to the large number of large and small leaders and gangs within the Yellow Turban Army, everyone has great differences in property distribution and tactical arrangements, and it is difficult to form a voice and a force, so defeat is inevitable. Whether it is my second brother Zhang Bao's northern expedition to Youzhou, or Zhang Mancheng's wanton expansion in Yuzhou, or our decision to attack Yecheng, are the most obvious examples. ”

"However, after the defeats in Youzhou and Yuzhou, after we have been defeated by Yecheng twice, I still insisted on going my own way, did not make changes, and insisted on attacking Yecheng."

"Although I made the mistake of going my own way, the fact was that we were able to do it at the time. According to my plan, we will abandon Zhao, Changshan, Zhongshan and other prefectures and counties, leaving only a small number of troops, and make full use of the geographical advantages of many major rivers such as Hushui, Lushui, and Hutuoshui to contain Li Yi, the cavalry general in Youzhou. Then we broke the cauldron and concentrated all our troops of about 400,000 horses to attack Wei County, and we could completely take it in a month. ”

"Why can't you do it?" Zhang Jiao said with a wry smile, "Everyone takes care of their immediate interests, and is reluctant to give up the city, land, and wealth that they have already received." Only greedy for petty profits, where did you think of the future and development of the Yellow Turban Army? ”

Although Yanzi and Niu Jiao, Yang Feng and a few others have no selfish intentions, they are too conservative, they only want to live and steal peace, and they have no long-term plans at all. They always say that the strength is not enough, the strength is not enough. ”

"I'd like to ask you, when did we have enough strength? Will the imperial court, the government, the official army, and the powerful overlords everywhere give us time to develop our strength? It's naïve. Once the imperial court has taken a breath, the army is overwhelmed, and it is encircled and suppressed everywhere, not to mention development, but whether it can survive is a problem. No one will give us time to develop our strength, and our strength depends entirely on ourselves. ”

Zhang Jiao kept shaking his head, heartbroken, and looked powerless.

"If we occupy Yecheng, with the solidity of Yecheng and the wealth of Jizhou, we can completely follow the story of Guangwu, according to the land of Hebei, and then plot the world. I explained it to them repeatedly when I was in Julu, but they all emphasized the difficulties and gave all kinds of different reasons. In the end, although everyone reluctantly agreed to my plan for a westward expedition, it was unrecognizable. ”

"No one is willing to give up everything, no one wants to break the boat, no one wants to listen to my command alone, this is the fundamental reason for the failure of the Western Expedition, we defeated ourselves."

Zhang Baiqi and Xiao Yan bowed their heads and were silent, having nothing to say.

What Zhang Jiao said was reality, and Zhang Jiao was also very prestigious in the Taiping Dao and the Yellow Turban Army, and was supported by almost all the Taiping Dao people. But people are selfish, especially the Taiping Dao who has reached a high position and the various big and small commanders in the Yellow Turban Army, after they have power and status, their respective wings have hardened, and they are no longer the disciples who obeyed Zhang Jiaoyan before. Otherwise, how could there be a local general Zhang Bao's solo expedition to Youzhou? How could there be a plan of Zhang Mancheng and other Yuzhou Yellow Turban Army to attack Luoyang alone? And Chu Yan and other generals do their own thing?

Who is responsible for today's situation?

"Great Sage and Good Master, then what do you mean......" Zhang Baiqi hesitated for a moment and did not continue. He really couldn't figure out what Zhang Jiao was thinking now.

"Withdraw, withdraw the giant deer." Zhang Jiao said lightly, "By the way, find an opportunity to eliminate the 15,000 cavalry of the Youzhou Army of the cavalry general Li Yi and turn him into a toothless tiger." ”