The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 200 Expected and Unexpected Gains
Fangcheng is the name of the city.

Fangcheng is also the name of a series of defensive fortifications.

However, in some cases, Fangcheng is actually a synonym for a series of mountains.

From a macro perspective.

Ruying is located on the Huanghuai Plain.

The Nanyang Basin is also a large plain.
A mountain range separates the two plains, forming a natural pass.

This is called Fangcheng.

Since the Chu state built the Great Wall (Chu Fangcheng) during the pre-Qin period, this area has long been a unified mountain pass.

Mi Wei wondered, after the rebel army was defeated near Fangcheng, where could they possibly escape to?
It can only be this mountain.

However, it is still two or three hundred li from Yiyang to Fangcheng.

It's impossible for me to climb every mountain along the way.

Not only did it waste time, it also delayed the opportunity to strike.

The only way is to get the rebels to come down from the mountain on their own.

After careful consideration, Mi Wei immediately ordered the scouting of nearby horse-drawn carriages and deer-drawn carts, and notified Deng Zhi to go north to Pingchun to take charge.

Once Deng Zhi's troops arrived, they marched north from Yiyang in haste.

They swiftly crossed the Bi River, a tributary of the Yu River, and launched a fierce attack on the two small towns on the north bank, Biyang and Wuyin.

Since Guan Yu's northern expedition, the two cities have lost contact with Wancheng, and the people there are already in a state of panic.

Miwei besieged the city for five days, capturing two cities in succession and gaining a new foothold.

After that, the approach was changed from urgent to slow.

On one hand, a messenger was sent to Wancheng to contact Guan Yu, asking him to provide some cover for this side while the city was besieged.

Meanwhile, he ordered Xiang Chong's 3,000 troops to continue north from Wuyin, setting up roadblocks between Shangjie Mountain and Fuyu Mountain to prevent the Wei army from advancing south.

Thus, a temporary safety zone stretching for a hundred miles was set up at the foot of the mountains south of Fuyu Mountain and north of Bishui.

After that, they raised Guan Yu's banner high, using it to call on the righteous army to come down the mountain.

Yes.

Although Mi Wei's historical record against Wei included two governors (one dead and one defeated), two prefects, plus a prefect who also served as a general, Wen Ping, his military achievements were remarkable.

Or rather, infamous for its ruthlessness.

But among these people, four lived far away in the Guanzhong and Guanxi regions.

Although there was one in Jingzhou, the news hadn't actually spread yet because they were heading north so quickly.

Therefore, for those Central Plains rebels who had been lurking in the Funiu Mountains for many years...

All of these combined are not as useful as the title of "Guan Yu's son-in-law".

Who could blame them when their father-in-law had been fighting in Jingzhou for over twenty years and had already become a formidable force throughout China four years ago?

It still has to be a case of the fox borrowing the tiger's power.

In short, over the course of ten days, rebels from different places and with different accents came down from the mountain one after another.

They converged between the cities of Wuyin and Biyang.

As is not surprising, most of those who survived were young and strong.

Mi Wei ordered them to form units according to their place of origin, and then put Ma Zhong, Wang Ping, Jiang Wei and others in charge of reorganizing them and enforcing strict discipline.

We don't need to form combat capability immediately, but at least we should maintain order and prevent ourselves from falling into chaos first.

Jiang Wei: "The rebel armies in various mountains have been roughly reorganized."

"Among them, there were four groups of soldiers from Henan, six groups of soldiers from Hebei, and three groups of soldiers from Nanyang, totaling 5,748 soldiers."

After speaking, Jiang Wei handed over the roster of officers from various garrisons and outposts.

Mi Wei glanced at it briefly, then raised an eyebrow and said:
"Why are there still soldiers from Nanyang?"

Jiang Wei: "They must have fled to the mountains to escape the war over the past three or four years. Now that war has swept through the mountains and forests, they have no choice but to come down."

Is this the last reverse Cao Ren bonus?

Mi Wei: "What is the quality of the troops? Are they combat-ready?"

Jiang Wei: "If the soldiers have sufficient armor, armor, and provisions, and after several months of training, they can still serve as auxiliary troops to defend the city."

"If we were to face off in the open, we would likely waver when confronted by the enemy. It is better to have none than to have something of poor quality."

"In the end, these wandering knights and young men, who have been gathering in the mountains and forests for years, have neither permanent property nor a stable mind, and are not from good families."

Mi Wei chuckled to himself when he saw Jiang Wei's disgusted expression.

Jiang Wei came from a prominent family in Tianshui, one of the "good families from the six commanderies" who were traditional sources of soldiers in the Han Dynasty.

These families owned land and houses, and had parents and relatives. They had been accustomed to the rules and regulations of the law for generations.

Once on the battlefield, one will instinctively follow military discipline.

With a little training and battlefield experience, they become elite troops.

Of course they would look down on a group of undisciplined, easily defeated vagrants. Their fighting skills were inferior to those of the Wei elite troops, and even more so to those of the Qin elite soldiers.

The military hierarchy has always been this way.

But that's all in the past.

The systemic collapse at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty itself included the process by which these "good families" gradually degenerated into vagrants and savages.

When Cao Cao incorporated the Qingzhou troops, and when Liu Bei trained his troops in Xinye and Fancheng, where did these "good families from the six commanderies" come from?

In this era of extreme shortage of human resources, we should be grateful to have readily available young and able-bodied people.

You can't be picky.

He then said to the two generals beside him, Ma Zhong and Wang Ping:

"I intend to take Fangcheng Pass to the north and rely on the mountains and fortifications to prevent the Wei troops from the Central Plains from entering Wan."

"Although these rebels are not suited for open field battles, as Boyue said, they are capable of defending the city. I hope you two and three will hurry up and train the troops, and not slack off."

Both generals agreed.

As they spoke, Mi Wei finished reviewing the rosters of officers from each division and discovered that one person was missing:
"I remember a powerful general from Lu Hun named Sun Lang, but where is he?"

The group looked at each other and shook their heads.

Just then, a scout came to report:
"General, Sima intercepted Wei scouts near Beishan and said that Sun Lang's Luhun tribe is being blocked by a Wei army force inside Duyang City!"

Deer suddenly rose up.

From Wuyin to the north of Fangcheng, Duyang is the only way to pass.

Mi Wei had previously sent Xiang Chong to block the road specifically to prevent the Wei army from advancing south from that direction.

"Are you sure Sun Lang's men are inside the city, or not outside?"

Scout: "Confirmed! Sima Xiang personally went out to scout and saw with his own eyes the banners of Sun Lang's tribe hanging on the city wall!"

"Tell Sima that the Wei army in the city is less than two thousand, and that his troops are sufficient to relieve the siege. Ask the general if he is allowed to send troops?"

Miwei was momentarily tempted!
According to his original plan, he should have waited until the rebel army was properly trained before continuing his northward march to attack cities and capture passes.

This will take approximately half a month to a month.

However, if Ducheng has already been captured by Sun Lang, then there is no need to go to the trouble of attacking it again.

This not only saves time and effort, but also allows us to acquire Sun Lang as a vital force in the future!

Perhaps in less than a month, we can successfully take over the entire Fangcheng Fortress.

Thinking of this, Mi Wei immediately adjusted his strategy.

Let Ma Zhong stay behind to reorganize the army.

Then, together with Wang Ping and Jiang Wei, they led cavalry northward to join Xiang Chong and relieve the siege of Duyang.

……

A day later, Miwei arrived at the foot of Fuyu Mountain.

By this time, Xiang Chong had already thoroughly investigated the military situation in the Duyang direction.

It turned out that after Sun Lang and his men were ambushed by Wei troops in Ye County, they immediately led their men into Fangshan.

During this time, Sun Lang either found a reliable guide or was already familiar with the terrain, and successfully escaped the pursuit of the Wei army in Yingchuan and entered the Nanyang Basin.

Finally, taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the Wei army in Nanyang was concentrated along the Yushui line, they seized the poorly defended city of Duyang.

It is said that there are still a lot of grain and fodder stockpiled by the Wei army in the city.

Miwei briefly recalled the terrain and said:
"Duyang is a stronghold on Fangcheng Road and the location of the grain route for the Wei army in the Central Plains to reach Jinan. How could it not be heavily guarded?"

Xiang Chong said:
"Originally, there were quite a few garrison troops, but then something unexpected happened."

"Firstly, the Prefect of Runan, Man Chong, had previously ambushed the rebel army coming down the mountain north of Bowang and killed many of them. Therefore, he thought that there was no longer any trouble with the supply route and became somewhat negligent. However, he did not expect that Sun Lang and his men would take a detour in the mountains and instead lead even more people south."

"Secondly, since midsummer this year, there have been continuous torrential rains, causing the Yu River to swell. Many of the water dikes originally used for farming have been damaged, flooding the cities and causing many small towns to collapse without being attacked."

"Without external support, Xiahou Shang had no choice but to further concentrate his forces in major cities such as Xinye, Yuyang, Wan, and Bowang. Therefore, Man Chong had already withdrawn his forces towards the Yu River and could no longer attend to this side."

Mi Wei recalled the heavy rains he had experienced in Jiangxia earlier and immediately understood.

In short, Man Chong was not truly underestimating his opponent.

Rather, it was because he lacked the right timing, location, and popular support, and he hadn't expected his troops to suddenly head north from the Three Passes of Yiyang.

From this perspective, Miwei's raid can be considered a preliminary success.

The next step is to expand and strengthen these initial achievements.

Until it can overturn the entire course of the war.

Mi Wei: "Who is the Wei general who led the troops to blockade the city?"

Xiang Chong: "Xiahou Shang's younger cousin, Xiahou Ru!"

Mi Wei's eyes flickered.

Unexpectedly, it was someone I knew.

(End of this chapter)