Summoning the world to be one

Chapter 567
Chapter 568: Gathering Soldiers in Xiapi
Under the city of Xiapi, Zhao Jun camped. At this time, Zhang Jie also received the news that Deng Jun was going north, and his face suddenly became very ugly. In order to quell the chaos in Xiapi as soon as possible, he left Wen Hong and [-] elites as abandoned sons. Delaying Deng Jun's northward march, even though he knew very well that Wen Hong and those [-] elites staying in Yuguo would be more or less fatal, but at least he could last until he calmed down Xiapi, but no one expected that Yu Qi was occupying After arriving in Xiapi City, they recruited a large number of remnants of the former Chu. Relying on the food and grass they hoarded in Xiapi City and the strong city defense of Xiapi City, they carried it for a few months. The exorcist Wen Hong was also wiped out by Deng Jun in Yuguo.

In the large tent of the Chinese army, Zhang Jie said to all the generals under his command with a bitter face: "Everyone, Deng Jun is going northward in a big way, and he will kill Qulu in a short time. It is the secret son of Deng Jun, that is to say, there is no problem for Deng Jun to enter Qulu. Qusi is not far from Xiapi. The arrival of Deng Jun will definitely affect our army's plan to calm down the chaos in Xiapi. What do you think? Is good?"

"General, I don't know the strength of Deng Jun's trip to the north?" General Ye Lun asked. After Wen Hong died in Yuguo, Ye Lun became the highest-ranking general under Zhang Jie's command, and he was the only one left who Zhang Jie could entrust. A heavy duty general.

Zhang Jie said: "There are about tens of thousands of Deng's troops going north this trip, but they are not the Yongping Guards we are familiar with, but the most elite Tiger Wing Guards in the Deng Kingdom. Deng Jun gathered an army of 10,000+ in Guangling, but their movements are unknown, and they must have come for our army."

Thinking of this, Zhang Jie felt helpless. No one thought that the situation would develop to such an extent. Last year, Zhao Jun still suppressed Deng Jun. Who knew that Deng Jun would be so vigorous after the new year. In Changhuan, he beheaded Le Yun, Zhao's most powerful general, and later destroyed Le Ting in Peijun. Although Le Ting survived and retreated to Zhuyi, he lost nearly [-] troops. May be lingering.

Ye Lun thought for a while and said: "General, Xiapi has been unable to attack for a long time. Now, our army has only two ways to go. One is to give up Xiapi and retreat to Siwu, fortify the wall and clear the field, and resist Deng's offensive. Every guard in the country is equipped with 5 troops. Since the Tiger Wing Guards are going north this time, the strength of Deng's army must not be less than [-]. Quite, but considering that Deng Jun still has follow-up troops, it is the best policy to avoid their edge."

Hearing this, Zhang Jie thought about it carefully, then shook his head, and said, "No, Xiapi is the top priority of our army, and we can't afford to lose anything. Besides, after our army entered Xiapi County, most of the food and grass were stored in Xiapi City. If we can't take down Xiapi City, even if we retreat to Siwu, our army will face the crisis of food shortage. Even if we transport food from the country, it will not be possible overnight, and the food stocks in Donghai and Xiapi cities have been taken away by us. All the troops have been conscripted, and without the food stored in Xiapi City, it is very difficult for our army to stand in a stalemate with Deng's army."

Zhao Jun is now caught in a dilemma. Before Chen Bing Central Plains, Zhao Guo not only sent more troops to the Central Plains, but also transported a large amount of domestic grain and grass to the Central Plains. However, for the convenience of transportation and management, Zhao Jun’s grain and grass were large Some of them are stored in important towns such as Pengcheng, Xiapi, Puyang, Dingtao, etc. These important towns are located in the rear of the Zhao army. Generally speaking, as long as there is no major defeat on the front line, there will be no problems in these important towns, but who would have thought , A group of ex-Chu remnants occupied Xiapi, an important town on the eastern front.

Although Zhao Jun still has a large amount of food and grass in Pengcheng, it is not a problem to supply the two armies of Zhang Jie and Kou Fei, but now a group of rebellious troops are occupying the ground. If they transport food from Pengcheng, they must not be bypassed. Under the circumstances, unless Kou Fei personally led the army to transport, it would be difficult to deliver food and grass to Xiapi, which is why Zhang Jie attached so much importance to Xiapi City.

"Since the general thinks this strategy is inappropriate, the only way for our army to go is the last way. Our army still has a large amount of food and grass in Pengcheng, and there is no problem in supplying General Kou Fei's troops and our army. It’s not that easy to get to Xiapi, so let’s invite General Kou Fei to help out, and at the same time bring all the food and grass from Pengcheng, and fight Deng’s army under Xiapi city.” Ye Lun will be the second general If the strategy is said, it means not to retreat. At the same time, Kou Fei is also invited to join forces and fight Deng Jun decisively.

Ye Lun's second strategy made Zhang Jie's eyes shine. I have to say that Zhang Jie believes that this method is the most feasible at the moment. Although it is a bit rash to fight Deng Jun rashly, if he can fight Deng Jun in Xiapi City , and win the battle, the entire eastern front will be under the cover of Zhao Jun's soldiers. Once Deng Jun collapses on the eastern front, it will inevitably affect the entire Central Plains battle. Will retreat south.

Seeing Zhang Jie's expression, Ye Lun knew that he was already a little moved, but how easy is it to defeat Deng Jun?So Ye Lun reminded: "General, although our army has tens of thousands of soldiers after joining forces with General Kou Fei, after Deng's army has all gone north, it is also comparable in strength to our army. There are many fierce generals, and the chances of winning a decisive battle with them are unpredictable, so please think twice."

But Zhang Jie didn't take it seriously, shook his head, and said: "I will naturally know what you said, but once our army joins forces with General Kou Fei, our army will have food and grass, even if we lose to Deng's army in a decisive battle, As long as it is not a big rout, our army can also retreat to Siwu, Liangcheng and other places, as long as we can contain Deng's offensive, as time goes on, there will be a good opportunity to defeat the enemy."

"But..." Ye Lun felt that Zhang Jie had taken it for granted, and planned to say something more, but was interrupted by Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie said: "Okay, I have made up my mind, so I don't need to say much. I will write a letter to General Kou Fei personally to inform him of my plan. In addition, you should immediately integrate the army and suspend the attack on Xiapi City." Attack, preserve strength, and wait for the arrival of Deng Jun."

"Here!" Although Ye Lun still felt that it would be risky for Zhang Jie to choose a decisive battle with Deng Jun under Xiapi City, Zhang Jie had made up his mind, so he couldn't say much, besides, it was still unknown who would win?Who can Zhao Jun definitely lose?If he wins, it will have a huge impact on the entire battle situation. His side can even go south in a big way, break through Guangling, go straight to Jiangdong, and threaten Deng's rear. This kind of temptation is still very strong.

In the 28th year of Qianyuan, on April [-]th, Kou Fei of Pengcheng received Zhang Jie's handwritten letter, after careful consideration, he agreed to join forces with Zhang Jie and fight Deng's army. After packing up, he led nearly [-] elite troops eastward to Xiapi.

In the 28th year of Qianyuan, on April 23, Li Siye led the Tiger Wing Guards all the way to the north. After breaking through Gaoshan, Xutai, Juling and other places, they successively captured Xuxian, Xiaqiu, Tongguo, and Xiaping. After taking Lucheng, Xiang Quan, Guan Ling and others went out of the city to meet them in person.

"Greetings to General Li!" Xiang Quan and others saluted Li Siye at the gate of the city.

Li Siye nodded and said: "There is no need to be too polite, this is not a place to talk, let's talk about it after entering the city!"

After arriving at the county government office, Li Siye sat in the main seat without hesitation. Although Xiang Quan was promised by Deng Sheng that he would be named Duke Xiang after he succeeded, but after all, there was no reward yet, so he was still just an unknown person. It’s just a miscellaneous general, so in front of Li Siye, the tiger-winged general and Tang Guogong, he is not qualified to sit on the throne at all, and even Xiang Quan is not qualified, so Li Fang, Dong Ning, Fan Yang and others are even less qualified. qualified.

Li Siye first greeted Guan Ling. Li Siye and Guan Ling's father, Guan Sheng, were old acquaintances, and they shared the court with Guan Yu, Hua Xiong and others. In terms of seniority, Guan Ling is still his nephew, so there must be some favored.

After everyone was seated, Li Siye said to Xiang Quan: "General Xiang, this general is new here, except for you and Guan Ling, the others don't know much about it, please General Xiang to introduce him."

"Here!" Xiang Quan responded, and then pointed to Fan Yang and said, "General, this is Fan Yang, the second son of Fan Can, the former prime minister of Chu, and the younger brother of Fan Ting. The two are also Li Fang and Dong Ning, both of whom were the last general in Pengcheng in the past, this incident is thanks to the help of the two of them, otherwise it would be very difficult for the last general and General Guan Ling to succeed."

"Fan Yang (Li Fang, Dong Ning) has met the general!" Fan Yang, Li Fang, Dong Ning and others stood up and saluted Li Siye together. After all, they will also go to Deng State in the future, so they should make arrangements with important ministers like Li Siye in advance. relationship is necessary,

"Okay! You don't need to be too polite. My Great Deng has always been open to all people. Your Majesty is also a meritocracy. As long as you have the ability, you will be loyal to Deng and Your Majesty. No matter what your status is, Your Majesty will treat you equally. Immortal meritorious service, it is not a problem to be appointed as an official, even if you stay in the Lingxiao Pavilion, it is only a matter of time." Li Siye said to several people with a smile.

"Thank you, General!" Seeing that Li Siye was so easy-going and did not look down on them because of their status as former survivors of Chu, several people felt relieved.

After everyone was seated, Li Siye asked Xiang Quan again: "General Xiang, I don't know what Zhao Jun is doing now?"

Xiang Quan replied: "Back to the general, Zhang Jie has stopped attacking Xiapi City since he received the news that the general led the Tiger Wing Guards to go north. A decisive battle with our army, and Kou Fei of Pengcheng also led his army eastward, and now the army has passed Lu County, and it will take less than three days to reach Xiapi."

"The itinerary for Pengcheng in Xiapi is only three to five days. If Zhang Jie got in touch with Kou Fei as soon as he received the news, then according to the time, Kou Fei should have arrived in Xiapi long ago. Why is it so far? Haven’t you arrived yet?” Now, Li Siye was a little puzzled, logically speaking, the distance between Xiapi and Pengcheng is not very far, no matter how slow the march was, they should have arrived long ago, why did they only pass Lu County until now?
Xiang Quan explained: "That's how it happened. According to the report from the spies, Kou Fei brought all the food and grass hoarded in Pengcheng with him this time when he marched eastward, so the marching speed was very slow, so he hasn't arrived yet."

Li Siye nodded when he heard the words, so the explanation made sense, but since Zhao Jun assembled so slowly, he gave Deng Jun time. After all, it would take more than ten days for Guangling to get there, even though Yang Yanzhao's army was there a few days ago I left Guangling and headed north, but I will definitely not be able to come if there are only ten days and eight days. Now the Zhao army has not assembled yet, and when Kou Fei leads the army to Xiapi, and then integrates with Zhang Jie's army, by then, Even if Yang Yanzhao hadn't arrived yet, it was coming soon, and as long as he defended the city, Zhao Jun would not be able to defeat him with an army of nearly [-].

"This time our army gathered 10,000+ troops in Guangling, led by General Yang Yanzhao, Duke of Lu and General of Hussars. This general and Tiger Wing Guards are just the vanguard, and General Yang Yanzhao a few days ago So I led the army to leave Guangling and go north, and it would take less than ten days to arrive. The Zhao army was so slow in gathering, but it gave our army a chance. General Xiang, what is the connection with Xiapi Yuqi?" Li Siye said.

Xiang Quan replied: "After receiving the letter from Master Jing, the general calmed down Yu Qi's emissary temporarily and waited for news from Guangling. However, after Zhang Jie slowed down his attack on Xiapi City, Yu Qi The emissary seemed less anxious than before."

Hearing this, Li Siye sneered and said: "What a villain, anyway, General Xiang, go and tell Yu Qi's envoy that our army is going north to fight Zhao Jun. Now give them two ways, one It is to gather troops to return to Deng, and to defeat the Zhao army in the future. After the Dingding Central Plains, there will be rewards. The second way is to continue to occupy Xiapi City. After our army defeats the Zhao army, it will definitely be wiped out and let them Think about it."

"Here!" Xiang Quan replied.

Soon, Xiang Quan told Yu Qi's envoy what Li Siye meant. After understanding Deng Jun's intention, the envoy hurried back to Xiapi to see Yu Qi. After careful consideration, Yu Qi decided to surrender to Deng.

After all, if you don't return, after Deng Zhao has fought in Xiapi, no matter the outcome, the winner will not let you go. As for returning to Zhao, you don't have to think about it, so Yu Qi has no choice at all.

After Yu Qi decided to return to Deng, he planned to lead his army south to meet Li Siye and others, but Li Siye let him stay in Xiapi. After all, it was impossible for Zhang Jie to launch an offensive against Xiapi now, so Yu Qi did not There is no need to leave, and it is also very good for Deng Jun to have a soldier guarding Xiapi City, and it may also be able to play the role of a surprise soldier at a critical time.

In the 28th year of Qianyuan, on April 26, Kou Fei led an army to Xiapi, and on April 29, Yang Yanzhao led an army to Qulu. At this point, all the troops of the Deng and Zhao armies on the eastern front of the Central Plains were at Xiapi. County, a decisive battle is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)