My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 142 This is not a risk, it is just a belief in Lord Xuande's ability to win over people

After all, actual combat is not a game. There is no such thing as an army collapsing directly after the main general is killed.

So after killing Ji Ling, Zhao Yun continued to lead his troops to charge back and forth, expanding the results of the battle and spreading the news of Ji Ling's death as quickly as possible.

After fighting for a while, Yuan's army gradually collapsed and fled.

It was a great fortune that Zhao Yun was able to kill Ji Ling this time. It was not a fortune in terms of martial arts, but a fortune in terms of fighting opportunity.

In actual combat situations where two armies engage in a melee, the commanders of both sides rarely have the opportunity to hold on tightly and fight continuously.

Ji Ling's situation this time was special, because he had been suppressing Zhao Yun for three months last year. Zhao Yun hid in the city of Xuyi and just defended the city without fighting. This aroused Ji Ling's arrogance, and he thought that the other party was just a sneak attack and killed an unknown general.

This was a fight that had been prepared for a long time, and both sides felt they were very confident, so they refused to give in.

After killing Ji Ling, Zhao Yun's reputation for bravery could no longer be concealed, and the enemy generals would not easily engage in hand-to-hand combat with him next time.

This time, when Ji Ling arrived at the battlefield, it was already afternoon. The two sides fought for a while before the battle began, so it was dark soon after Yuan's army collapsed.

The number of Han army's spoils and prisoners was actually not that large, accounting for only 20% to 30% of Ji Ling's army, and half of them were captured during the pursuit.

Another 70% of Ji Ling's troops simply retreated or fled. With Zhao Yun blocking them, they could not return to Yicheng City and had to flee in other directions.

It is estimated that a small half of them will be able to return to Xiacai and Shouchun in an organized manner, while the remaining half will flee aimlessly. Even if they can return to the team, it will take a long time to regroup. Moreover, given the current morale of Yuan's army, the proportion of those willing to return to the team after being dispersed will definitely not be high.

Zhao Yun captured more than a thousand prisoners, disarmed them and placed them in his own camp, then rewarded the soldiers and allowed them to rest.

Although Zhao Yun won the battle today, he only had 4,000 infantry and cavalry. The soldiers were exhausted and suffered hundreds of casualties. If he wanted to attack Yicheng again, his hope was very slim, as the number of defenders was three times his.

Considering the danger of being alone in deep territory, Zhao Yun did not want to wait for the enemy's reinforcements from other directions to join the Yicheng defenders. So after a maximum of two days of rest and recovery, Zhao Yun planned to withdraw.

Moreover, during the rest period, a cavalry scout search network should be spread out far away, so that if a large number of enemies are lured over, they can immediately get on the boat and escape downstream.

Even if you have the advantage of a warship, that doesn't mean you can escape on a ship when the battle is imminent. If you do that, you will be attacked halfway across the river and suffer a crushing defeat.

Escaping by boat is based on the premise of sufficient advance reconnaissance. The enemy has not arrived yet and has been discovered by our side when they are still dozens of miles away. Only then can we talk about taking advantage of water transportation to withdraw.

……

After Zhao Yun returned to the camp, he rested his soldiers and treated the wounded. Nothing happened for the whole day.

To the west, in the direction of Yuan Shu's base camp, only signs of continued strengthening of the defense were seen, but no troops took the initiative to advance towards Yicheng. It should be that the news of Ji Ling's defeat had just been reported back, and the Yuan army had not had time to organize new reinforcements.

Seeing that the wounded soldiers on Zhao Yun's side had been bandaged, the seriously injured who could not walk were carried on stretchers to the warships and evacuated in advance. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhao Yun would also be evacuated soon.

But on the night two days after Zhao Yun killed Ji Ling, Zhao Yun, who was in the camp, suddenly received a report from his sentry officer.

The sentry officer was in charge of patrolling the camp that night. He walked quickly into the tent, followed by several sentries, surrounding a frail man in leather armor.

The sentry bowed his head and reported: "Captain, when I was patrolling the camp just now, I found this man sneaking up on me, so I arrested him. He said he had something confidential and had to see you in person, so I searched him and brought him here."

Zhao Yun waved his hand, signaling the sentry to retreat outside the tent and wait.

Anyway, the person had been searched and couldn't hide any big weapons, so it was impossible for the assassination to succeed. Zhao Yun had a sword on his desk, so he was not afraid of the other party playing tricks.

The frail man looked around and then handed over the small bamboo tube that he was holding tightly in his hand. There was a seal on the bamboo tube. Zhao Yun saw that it was the seal of Zuo Nei Shi.

He pulled out a small piece of silk, which had only a few dozen words on it. He read it at a glance. It was signed by Yuan Huan, and there was another seal at the end of the silk, this time it was the seal of Yuzhou Beijia.

The content of the letter can be summarized as follows: "If the general intends to attack the city, he can go around to the south gate at 4 o'clock tomorrow night, and when he sees the fire signal on the tower go out three times, he can open the inner and outer gates and charge in. After the death of Ji Ling, the defending general Xun Zheng has become more vigilant. He is guarding the north gate himself, so we cannot get close.

There are still 10,000 soldiers guarding the city. If you want to seize the city, you need to bluff after opening the gates. Don't be greedy. There is an inner city wall at the south gate of Yicheng. If you don't see both the inner and outer gates open, don't rush in. There may be accidents. Yuzhou Beijia Yuan Huan pays homage. "

Zhao Yun put down the silk and thought for a moment: "Yuan Huan? I have heard that Lord Xuande once recommended him as a talented person. He was trapped by the traitor Yuan Shu, perhaps out of helplessness. Who are you, Yuan Huan?"

The messenger quickly informed them that he was Yuan Huan's nephew.

Zhao Yun held up the silk and asked again: "If I respond, do you need to go back into the city to report?"

The messenger replied, "My uncle is afraid that too much communication may lead to loss of communication, so he does not want me to report back. If the general is willing to keep the appointment, you can make a feint attack on the four gates at the same time tomorrow daytime, and shoot some bamboo or reed arrows without arrowheads at the top of the south gate. If my uncle picks them up when he patrols the city, he will know that the general is going to keep the appointment."

Zhao Yun nodded. It seemed that Yuan Huan was very cautious. He didn't even send the archery book back to the city, probably because he was afraid that outsiders would find it and see the flaw. But if he shot the bamboo arrows or reed arrows that were cut temporarily, outsiders would not be able to see any problems.

Even if it was picked up by the pro-war factions who were determined to resist, they would only think that Zhao Yun's troops were short of supplies and had logistical difficulties, and that the pre-made arrows they carried with them had been almost used up, so they started using this makeshift and crude substitute to make up the number.

Zhao Yun decided, "In that case, you stay in the camp. I will pretend to attack the four gates at the same time tomorrow. Tomorrow night, you will go with me to the south gate to knock on the door."

The messenger agreed and was taken away to rest without further ado.

……

The next morning, Zhao Yun reorganized his troops and prepared to launch a feint attack on the four gates at the same time. In fact, he would not really climb the city like ants, but would just send archers carrying large rattan shields to shoot at the weak points on the top of the city for a while, and then quickly withdraw.

Even Zhao Yun would not choose to shoot arrows near the city gate, so as to avoid the situation where the enemies in the city saw that there were too few archers and dared to rush out of the city to fight.

After all, Zhao Yun only had a little over 3,000 men left, and quite a few of them didn't know how to shoot arrows. It was already the limit to be able to send three to five hundred men to each side of the city.

When the military commander Zhang Zhuo heard about Zhao Yun's actions, he hurried to dissuade him, thinking that this kind of shooting was meaningless.

It was at this time that Zhao Yun told Zhang Zhu the secret: "Today's attack is just a feint, just to test the enemy's strength and communicate secretly. Tonight is the real capture of the city."

After hearing the details, Zhang Zhuo still felt unsafe and asked in a low voice, "What if Yuan Huan tricked the general into entering the city and ambushed him? Even if he agreed to open both the inner and outer gates at the same time, these cities also have gates in addition to the normal city gates. After he opened the inner gate, the general rushed to him, and he suddenly lowered the gate, what should he do?
Whether or not Yicheng can be taken is actually not related to the overall situation of the lord. The general has completed the task that the lord asked him to complete well! This city is not a big deal! Why take the risk? "Zhao Yun said solemnly: "Yicheng is far more important than Huailing and Zhongli. And if Yuan Huan was cheating, why would he be wary of my reply? He could just pretend that 'I can completely control the South Gate, the general can reply without worrying about sending it to outsiders'.

He deliberately designed this reply without words, and used shooting reed arrows as a signal to respond, which shows that he was deeply afraid of being exposed. As for your concern about the risks of opening the inner and outer gates at the same time, these can be compensated by other details. For example, I will first send a group of elite cavalry into the city to ensure that the inner gate is seized at the same time, and then the main force will enter.

And I am not betting on taking risks, I am betting on the virtue of the lord to inspire people from afar. You did not go to Hebei with me last year, you don't know how enthusiastic and humble Yuan Tan was when I accompanied Mr. Kong Ming to meet him. At that time, Mr. Kong Ming had not yet given Yuan Tan any advice, but Yuan Tan was very grateful to the lord for recommending him to be a talented person.

I have always felt that the master has a magical ability to attract people to come to him from thousands of miles away. It seems that it is difficult for anyone who has been befriended by him with kindness and loyalty to him to escape. Even I was thousands of miles away from my hometown in Changshan last year. When Xianhe told me that the master was in a difficult situation, I wandered around and came to him across the sea to seek refuge. "

After listening to Zhao Yun's explanation, Zhang Zhuo realized that his confidence did not come from gambling on luck, but from his confidence in Liu Bei's charm, so he no longer firmly opposed it.

The Han army quickly acted according to Zhao Yun's deployment, sending archers to each gate to make noises and shout to confuse the enemy, and then looked for weak points in the city defense, concentrated superior forces, and suddenly suppressed the city walls with cavalry archery.

Because the defenders on the city wall are evenly distributed, as long as they don't see the enemy troops gathering in a swarm, they won't deliberately focus on the defense of a particular place.

Therefore, when the Han army launched a concentrated attack, they still had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower per unit length of the wall. At one time, hundreds of people were shooting at the weak point on the top of the city where there were only dozens of soldiers, and the counterattack firepower on the top of the city was very weak.

Although the Han army spent a lot of arrows, they had a slight advantage in terms of casualties. When the soldiers on the left and right sides of the city wall rushed over to shoot arrows, the Han army had already retreated.

Yuan's army was harassed on all sides, and dozens of people were killed or injured in vain, which really made Xun Zheng, who had become the main general, very angry.

However, he soon received reports from the generals guarding the walls, saying that Zhao Yun's troops seemed to be running out of arrows, and the arrows shot at them were mixed with bamboo arrows and reed arrows, and their lethality was extremely low.

After Xun Zheng analyzed the situation, he felt much more relaxed. He also took the matter to Yuan Huan to discuss it, wanting to hear what Yuan Huan thought this matter portended.

After hearing this, Yuan Huan congratulated him calmly and said, "Zhao Yun must be about to withdraw his troops, but he was afraid that you would pursue him, so he fired a feint before leaving to scare you.

Moreover, he may have known that the weapons he brought were not enough to sustain a long battle, so he made some bamboo and reed arrows in advance. He was too lazy to transport these crudely made things back when he left, but he was reluctant to throw them away, so he took advantage of the last feint to use them up. "

Xun Zheng was a simple man, but after listening to the interpretation of a scholar like Yuan Huan, he finally felt that the logic was very self-consistent. He proudly thanked Yuan Huan for his advice and stopped worrying about the matter.

……

After returning to the camp after the feint attack that morning, Zhao Yun's army had a hearty lunch and went to sleep in the afternoon.

At the second watch of the night, the fireman got up first and started cooking. At the third watch, the soldiers had eaten their fill and left the camp, bypassing Yicheng County. After walking for one watch, they arrived at the South Gate on time at the fourth watch.

Soon, the fire signal on the city wall was seen to light and go out three times, and then the main gate and the inner gate of the city wall were opened. Zhao Yun did not suspect anything, and first ordered one of his trusted confidants, Qu Junhou, to lead 300 cavalry as the vanguard, rushing straight into the city and seizing the inner gate of the city wall.

After ensuring that nothing unexpected happens after the vanguard reaches the inner gate, the main force will then rush forward to catch up.

Although doing so would waste a little time of half a cup of tea, it would greatly improve safety. As long as the people on the top of the city were truly our own, there was nothing to worry about with this little time difference.

Zhao Yun watched nervously for a few minutes, and sure enough, there were no accidents. The vanguards he sent passed through the two gates smoothly, and some even went back and climbed up the city wall, using torches to flash the secret signal that Zhao Yun had agreed upon -

Yuan Huan didn't know the secret signal from their own people, the brightness, duration and frequency of the fire. Zhao Yun only told his trusted men who were sent in, so when they saw the fire, it must be one of their own people who had climbed up the city wall.

"The entire army, follow me as we charge! After we enter the city, shout and make noise, and set fire to scare the enemy!" With a move of his spear, Zhao Yun finally broke into the city.

The number of defenders in the city is still greater than his. If they fight to the death in the streets, it will be very troublesome and there will be a lot of variables.

Zhao Yun had no intention of annihilating the enemy, he just wanted to take advantage of the chaos to seize the city. It would be best if he could scare the enemy so much that they would flee.

So as soon as the soldiers entered the city, they shouted in unison: "Han Zuo General's 50,000 reinforcements have broken into the city! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

When Yuan's troops at the east, west and north gates saw the commotion coming from the south city, they were really shocked. At first they wanted to organize a counterattack, but after fighting for a while, as both sides suffered casualties and the Han army was indeed brave, when they heard the shouts of "General Zuo's 50,000 troops are entering the city to suppress the rebellion", Yuan's troops became divided and each opened the other gates and fled out of the city.

Knowing that he was no match for the enemy, the defending general Xun Zheng even took the initiative to lead his troops to flee, bringing with him more than 4,000 men, and retreated in an organized manner from the west gate to Xiacai.

As a result, there were only a few thousand people left in the city to fight desperately. When it was completely bright, around the end of the morning hour, the fighting in the city was over.

Zhao Yun did not have to withdraw his troops. He led all 3,000 of his men into the city. It took him a day to completely control the entire city and restore order to a certain extent.

At this point, he was already satisfied and no longer expected any further progress. It was estimated that the attention of the Yuan army in the entire Huainan, and even a considerable part of the Yuan army in Lujiang County in the south, was attracted by his journey.

In the future, he only needs to rely on Yicheng as a transportation hub to make Yuan’s army feel unsafe everywhere and dare not relax their encirclement of him.

……

Zhao Yun finally captured Yicheng County at midnight on the third day and dawn on the fourth day after killing Ji Ling, which was April 22nd.

Since Zhao Yun was a little isolated and deep in the enemy's territory, his victory report could not be directly delivered to Liu Bei in the south, as the area south of him was still occupied by Yuan Shu's army. So he asked the messenger to turn back a little, first retreat to Huailing, then go to Chu County by land, and pass through Zhang Fei's defense zone to Wuhu to report the news.

Therefore, when this victory report was delivered to Wuhu, it was already April 25th. At that time, Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin had already been attacking from Wuhu and Chaisang for three or four days.

Liu Bei himself brought Lu Su with him and stationed in Wuhu, and did not easily go out in person.

The victory report sent by Zhao Yun was a little later than the victory report sent by Zhang Fei on April 17, and captured Wujiang on April 20, and Liyang on the 24th.

Because Zhao Yun pulled the enemy back first, Zhang Fei did not encounter much resistance. The enemy was also in panic, and several small counties with extremely weak military forces were defeated after two rounds of fierce attacks.

Zhang Fei's capture of Liyang was actually two days later than Zhao Yun's capture of Yicheng, but Zhang Fei's target was closest to Wuhu, just across the river from Wuhu, so the victory report was sent back to Liu Bei on the same day the city was captured, one day earlier than Zhao Yun's victory report.

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately sent someone to notify Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin, asking the two armies to take advantage of the opportunity that Yuan’s main force had been completely mobilized to defend Shouchun, and quickly expand their victory and grab territory.

　Sorry for getting up late on the weekend. I have been writing three posts in a row and I have run out of drafts saved overnight. I have to get up early in the morning to write, so I can't update before 8 o'clock these days.

　　Try to recover as soon as possible.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)