I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 718 Marching into Nanyang

The entire Huisheng Mountain in Luyang County is surrounded by mountains and land on three sides, and not far from these three sides are the other county towns of Nanyang County.

Although tens of thousands of Han troops surrounded Luyang County and its surrounding counties, from a more macro perspective, tens of thousands of Han troops were also surrounded by the entire Yuan Shao force.

Under such circumstances, the location of the center of the army is very critical.

The Chinese Army is the command system of the entire army, and its safety is crucial to the operation of tens of thousands of Han troops.

After Zhang Liao thought about it, he set the location of the Chinese army's tent south of Luyang City.

Luyang County faces Nanyang County and Runan County. These two places are the foundation of Yuan Shao. One is the base where Yuan Shao started his family, and the other is the family nest of the Yuan family in Runan.

For Yuan Shao, once Luyang is captured by Liu Jian, his cavalry can invade his hinterland without any worries.

After Zhang Liao and other generals welcomed Liu Jian, they immediately reported all the arrangements he had made to Liu Jian.

Listening to Zhang Liao's military affairs report, Liu Jian had a smile on his face and felt deeply that Zhang Liao handled things properly.

But after hearing that Zhang Liao arranged his Chinese army's tent thirty miles away due north of Luyang, he did not agree with Zhang Liao's arrangement.

Liu Jian said to Zhang Liao: "Move my main camp ten miles west of Luyang."

Zhang Liao was stunned by Liu Jian's request.

Zhang Liao couldn't help but dissuade him: "Prime Minister, you are the soul of the army, so safety must come first."

After listening to Zhang Liao's dissuasion, Liu Jian's face immediately showed a smile.

Zhang Liao arranged his Chinese army's main tent thirty miles away from Luyang for his own safety. Of course Liu Jian knew this.

But he also has his own considerations.

Liu Jian knew that if his main force was stationed in Luyang with Zhang Liao, then after Yuan Shao knew the news, a large number of reinforcements would arrive outside Luyang County soon.

Especially those forces in Nanyang County who have gathered around Yuan Shao will spare no effort to support Yuan Shao this time.

Different from the attack, if Nanyang County is lost, for some families, it is equivalent to losing their foundation.

But facing the persecution of the imperial court, they will definitely mobilize all their strength and send troops from all sides including Nanyang County, including Runan County.

Among the many directions in which Yuan Jun came to help, Liu Jian's personal safety was the most important.

After all, at the moment of life and death, what the other party wants to do is to capture the thief and capture the king.

In this way, the main target of Yuan's army will be Liu Jian, who has the largest number of troops and is the most elite, but the more so!

But only in this way, relying on his prestige, can the progress of other soldiers and horses be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

Thinking of this, Liu Jian patted Zhang Liao on the shoulder and replied: "Tens of thousands of men are accompanying me to fight. I am the main general. How can I avoid the enemy?"

Although Liu Jian's words were not famous, they clearly showed his attitude.

Seeing Liu Jian's resolute attitude, Zhang Liao stopped trying to dissuade him.

But at the moment, there is one more thing that needs instructions from Liu Jian.

It's about prisoners of war.

The previous pursuit of Yuan's army, in addition to greatly annihilating its effective strength, also resulted in the surrender of many Yuan's troops during the battle. A rough calculation of the number of Yuan's prisoners was estimated to be more than 10,000.

But Liu Jian's military order was to attack Nanyang County immediately.

Therefore, there is currently no effective placement for these prisoners of war.

Except for Zhang Liao, all other schools also had this problem.

These prisoners in the army will become hidden dangers if not handled properly.

After learning the news, Liu Jian pondered for a moment, and then asked people to build a camp a hundred miles away from his Chinese army's tent.

All these prisoners of war were placed in this camp, and Xu Huang, who came from Hongnong County, was sent to lead his troops to personally station here to supervise these prisoners.

In addition, the road from Luoyang to Nanyang was in a mess because of the pursuit.

There are corpses and ordnance everywhere, and these must be cleaned up carefully, otherwise, if left unchecked, it will easily cause a plague.

Most of the princes and overlords in the late Han Dynasty thought every day about how to increase taxes, how to increase the number of people, how to ensure sufficient military rations, and how to obtain more territory.

But in terms of health and epidemic prevention, there is really not much awareness.

Only Liu Jian truly cares about the people here.

His real purpose was never to fight endlessly.

So Liu Jian issued another military order to Xu Huang, asking him to direct these prisoners of war in the rear to assist Luoyang in jointly cleaning up the battlefield and minimizing the chance of plague.

After roughly arranging the disposal measures, Liu Jian held a military meeting outside Luyang City.

After all the generals were seated, before Liu Jian could say anything, Lu Weihuang immediately left the squad and asked Liu Jian for his orders:

"Prime Minister, the city has been surrounded. I would like to ask you to lead your troops to capture Luyang for the Prime Minister and open the door to Nanyang County!"

After hearing this, Xian Yufu, the captain of Youzhou School, said hurriedly:

"In the past, when I was under the envoy's tent, I would take the lead in any battle. Now I am willing to lead three thousand troops to advance first, and capture Luyang for the prime minister within two hours!"

Xian Yufu’s words are full of confidence!

In the past, he was a good general under Guan Yu in Youzhou. He fought with Guan Yu in far-reaching battles in Hanzhou, Liaodong, and made great achievements.

When Lu Weihuang heard this, he felt unhappy!

He looked at Xian Yufu with a rather intense look.

Later, Zhang Nan, Jiao Chu, Ma Yan and other generals came out to challenge Liu Jian.

In the handsome tent, Zhang Liao had a sullen face and said nothing.

Xun You, Jia Xu, and Guo Jia stood aside and seemed a little worried.

With their expressions like this, Liu Jian naturally knew what was going on.

It is a good thing that the military morale is available. Now the morale of the three armies is high.

But the problem is, they are a little arrogant now!

The faces of the generals showed excitement. It was obvious that they felt that they would win this battle!

Under the influence of several victories, or in other words, under the leadership of Liu Jian, the generals began to feel that their side was invincible!

Liu Jian stood up slowly and said, "Everyone is willing to fight. This is a very good thing!"

"You guys, do you know who the guard of Lu Yang is?"

Liu Jian suddenly asked. Lu Weihuang, Jiao Chu, Zhang Nan and others who were vying to fight were all stunned.

The handsome tent, which had been agitated just a moment ago, suddenly became quiet, and you could hear a needle drop.

Everyone, look at me, and I'll look at you.

Lu Yang's guard?

I don’t know exactly who it is, but it seems that I have never heard of Yuan Shao sending any generals to station in Luyang.

At least not a celebrity.

Liu Jian looked around at everyone present and said, "You don't know, right? Well, let me tell you that the man stationed in Luyang is named Gao Gan, and he is Yuan Shao's nephew."

Upon hearing that the person stationed here was Yuan Shao's nephew, the faces of everyone present immediately relaxed, and some even smiled.

In their view, high-ranking officials are nothing more than nepotistic generals and are completely worthless.

However, Liu Jian's words later embarrassed them again.

"Do you know the achievements of these high-ranking officials?"

"Do you know how many defense equipment there are in this city?"

"How much grain does Lu Yang have?"

After saying this, all the generals present fell silent.

To be honest, the attack on Luyang was an impromptu idea. As the coach, Liu Jian may not have understood it clearly. How could they know? "I don't know..."

"Zhang Wenyuan!"

Liu Jian suddenly shouted.

Then Zhang Liao appeared and said, "Here he is!"

"Do you know what I just asked?"

Zhang Liao said solemnly: "Returning to the prime minister, the senior cadre guarding Luyang is Yuan Shao's nephew, but he previously subdued the local barbarians for Yuan Shao in Changsha, Wuling and other places. He has made great military achievements and is talented! He knows the tactics of war!" Shao Shen is highly valued."

"As for the defensive equipment in the city, there are three hundred stones thrown, five thousand bows and crossbows, and the treasury's grain and fodder can last for a year."

"In addition, there are several young generals under Gao Gan, who are said to be very brave!"

"One of the Sima's names was Gan Ning, who was from a wealthy family in Sichuan. When he was young, he was a good ranger, gathering men and horses, armed with bows and crossbows, and doing evil in the local area. Later, he changed his ways and returned to Yuan Yi. Yuan Yi sent troops eastward to come here. Aid Jingzhou, and later Yuan Shao sent him to lead the heroes of Shu and stationed in Luyang!"

"There is also Chen Wu from Lujiang, who is also a hero. Now he is here with the senior officials!"

Liu Jian nodded with satisfaction, and then looked at everyone in the tent.

"Did you hear that?"

Everyone lowered their heads in shame and said solemnly: "Prime Minister, we realize our mistake!"

Liu Jian said patiently: "You are all familiar with the art of war, how can you not know yourself and the enemy?"

"It's just that your pride is getting indulged now! This sincerity is unacceptable!"

"You know, although we have won consecutive victories, the forces of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Yi, and Liangzhou's Ma Teng and Han Sui are still there!"

"Half of the Han Dynasty is still in the hands of others!"

"You can't get carried away with your pride!"

Liu Jian's words made all the generals look ashamed.

Obviously, Liu Jian's words made them realize a lot.

Especially what Zhang Liao said just now shows the gap between him and others.

No wonder Liu Jian made Zhang Liao the commander-in-chief!

It is indeed outstanding!

In fact, the captains and some commanders in Hebei had some complaints about Zhang Liao becoming the commander-in-chief of the five-pronged army. It could even be said that they couldn't stand it.

After all, he had just joined Liu Jian's army not long ago.

Lu Bu didn't care, why should he?

But now, they finally understand what Zhang Liao relies on!

Liu Jian looked at everyone present and asked: "Although we cannot be proud and complacent, nor can we rush for success!"

"However, it is imperative to conquer Nanyang County. Please think carefully about what strategy we should take now!"

The proud school captain and Sima Shi had just received Liu Jian's education, and now they were much calmer.

But now they don't even understand each other's situation, so how can they give appropriate advice?

But Guo Jia stood up with a smile.

"Prime Minister, Guo has arranged for someone who can provide the Prime Minister with beneficial information!"

Liu Jian looked at Guo Jia in surprise and asked curiously: "Who is it?"

Guo Jiadao said: "Nowadays, there is a chaotic war on the Nanyang border. Many people and merchants living in Luyang have moved around during the war. Jia Ming's Bingzhou sergeant intercepted some people, comforted them with kind words, gave them food and wine, and personally paid them After asking about the situation, I feel that what some people said is more appropriate, and I would like to recommend it to the Prime Minister!"

"Okay, let him come quickly."

Subsequently, several merchants who had fled from Luyang selected by Guo Jia were brought to the commander's tent.

Under Liu Jian's kind questioning, these people gave Liu Jian a general explanation of Lu Yang's situation.

It was only through the stories of these people that the generals in the tent had an understanding of the situation in Luyangzhong.

There are about five thousand soldiers and horses in Luyang County. Considering the size of the city, the number of this unit can be said to be quite large.

But the troops and horses Liu Jian brought this time totaled five groups, adding up to no less than 50,000 people!

Surrounding one with ten is enough.

But then as these merchants continued to talk, some solemn expressions appeared on the faces of the generals present.

According to merchants, although the high-ranking officials had 5,000 men, there were no fewer than tens of thousands of disciples willing to help guard the area.

Obviously, these disciples were supported by local prominent families.

The true strength of the Yuan family was finally revealed at this time.

Although the model based on noble families is not suitable for the Northern Expedition, as a stubborn party, the support that the major families in the south can provide to Yuan Shao is absolutely frightening.

Senior cadres are also people who use troops safely and are good at training soldiers and generals.

Now the city is equipped with soldiers, horses, grain, grass and equipment. Although Luyang is not big, if it is a hard attack, the damage to Liu Jian's side will definitely be greater.

After roughly letting the generals in the military tent understand the situation in Luyang, Liu Jian invited these merchants to go down and send someone to reward them.

Then he looked at the generals in the tent and asked: "The situation in Luyang is like this, what suggestions do you have?"

Jia Xu said: "Prime Minister, at this time, we can besiege the city!"

Jia Xu's words were concise and concise, but those who are good at planning understood what he meant in an instant.

Xun You nodded: "Besiege the city and call for reinforcements!"

Liu Jian stretched out his hand, patted the table hard, and said: "That's right! We are here to conquer Nanyang. Luyang is an important town at the junction of the north and the south. Both Yuan Shao and the commanders of Nanyang County regard Luyang as an important town! "

"Once Lu Yang is lost, the door to his family will be opened!"

"Now that we have surrounded Luyang, the powerful people from Nanyang County and Runan County will definitely mobilize all their troops to come to our rescue. Instead of us going too deep and unknowingly plotting against others, It’s better to surround Lu Yang and lure them in one by one to defeat them!”

After hearing these words, all the generals' eyes lit up.

……

Gao Gan had been guarding the city wall. Under his observation, he found that most of the Han army had begun to build camps next to Luyang and at the same time manufactured weapons with great fanfare.

Gao Gan knew that the time for the imperial troops to launch an attack was not far away.

Gao Gan is a man who uses troops all year round. He knows that as long as reinforcements arrive, attacking from inside and outside is the best way to defeat the enemy.

After thinking for a long time, Gao Gan came up with a delaying strategy.

He ordered people to find Gan Ning.

"Are you willing to surrender to Liu Jian?"

When Gan Ning heard this, he was stunned.

"Fake surrender? The general asked me to fake surrender?"

"Exactly! It's just a false surrender, but in reality it's just delay."

Hearing this, Gan Ning nodded suddenly.

"General, are you waiting for reinforcements?"

"Of course!"

(End of this chapter)