What made Guan Yu depressed was that his harsh words and forced arriving in a hurry did not immediately have an effect. The defenders on the city were just waiting for a long time as if they were facing a great enemy, and then they returned to silence.

After a while, before Guan Yu patiently disappeared, a Yuan Shujun commander who was responsible for guarding the Xicheng Gate of Luoyang shouted and delayed in time: "Former General, I will report to Lei Zhonglang for reply."

Luoyang is the capital after all, so the guards at any city gate are at the level of the captain, unlike Wancheng where one army can guard the gate at most.

Although Lei Bo was originally just a middle-level general who was not very famous under Yuan Shu's tent, in order to fool him to stay in Luoyang, Yuan Shu promoted him from an ordinary lieutenant to the General of the Hu Ben, so that he could barely take charge of the Luoyang defenders.

Guan Yu twisted his eyebrows and his nasolabial folds twitched, but it did not occur for the time being. After all, he came to take courtesy first and then force the troops to surrender. Even if he wanted to launch an attack immediately, he walked over for more than 200 miles and did not bring any ready-made siege weapons.

He had no choice but to say something without losing face: "Let's discuss it for a while! Once you attack the city and want to surrender, it's just a prisoner of war!"

After saying that, he drove back and returned to the central army. Taking advantage of these waiting times, he quietly ordered Zhao Lei, who was responsible for military supplies, to lead people to log and build siege weapons.

Generally, it takes one or two days to build a sufficient number of siege ladders to hit the city. If you want to build a ladder, rush the car, dig the city wooden donkey, it will be difficult to build it in less than three or five days, and the counterweight trencher will be even slower.

Moreover, with Luoyang's city defense level, relying solely on simple equipment such as flying ladders is tantamount to seeking death. Considering that the city is large, the number of defenders may not be enough to cover the entire city, it may take more time to build a building to observe the enemy situation.

Guan Yu is very experienced in this regard, because he participated in the battle against Chang'an three years ago. The city defense facilities in Chang'an and Luoyang are almost the same, and the experience of attacking Chang'an can be completely transplanted.

Guan Yu knew very well that if the enemy was determined to stick to the end, it would be difficult to capture such a huge city with his strength. So while waiting, he had already begun to consider the alternatives he had thought of before departure. For example, whether he could attack some of the surrounding "Eight Passes of Luoyang" and put friendly troops from other fronts in to meet.

If you march south for one day, you can reach the back of Yique Pass. If you succeed in attacking Yique from both sides, you can put Zhao Yun's troops in along the Yishui River.

After marching west on land for two days, you can reach the back of Hangu Pass. If you attack Hangu, you can put Ma Chao's central army in Hongnong. However, the priority of this choice is lower than the attack on Yique, mainly because Ma Chao's troops are also restrained, and the scale of the troops is similar to Guan Yu.

However, the reason why these spare tire plans can only be imagined for the time being is because Liu Bei's camp has little grasp of the enemy situation. For example, Guan Yu has no idea about the defense strength on the back of Yique Pass and Hangu Pass, how many reserve teams the enemy has left after the pass, how deep the defense is, how much grain and other military reserve materials are there in the city of Guan...

Ma Chao and Zhao Yun could not find out this information, and only Guan Yu took the risk of retracing behind the enemy could only find out.

Without further ado, Guan Yu ordered Zhao Lei to build siege weapons, and asked Pan Jun to send scouts to go to Yique Pass and Hangu Pass to inquire about the facts and facts of the enemy.

After these arrangements were completed, the defenders had been delayed for more than half an hour. Just when Guan Yu was impatient and about to launch an attack, the figure of the Tiger General Lei Bo finally appeared on the tower of the Ximen City Tower of Luoyang.

Perhaps Lei Bo had arrived earlier, but he was just spending time. Maybe during this period, some convoys carrying Lei Bo and other guards of private wealth drove other city gates that had not been surrounded and escaped from the city to Yanshi and other places to hide.

Luoyang City is so big, Lei Bo wants to make an excuse that he walked from Deyang Palace to the west gate for half an hour, and it also makes sense.

Lei Bo announced with great enthusiasm at the top of the city: "The General Lei Bo has seen the former general. The General did not investigate and was not careful to deal with the thief. How shameless was that the King of Yan was kind and the General of Cavalry was generous, and gave the General of the General of the General to reform himself.

The last general has surrendered to the court. Former General, you are one step later. Luoyang has returned to the Han Dynasty and does not need the King of Hanzhong to be restored. You are not trying to destroy the alliance of the Alliance Army and start the main evil of attacking each other, right?"

Not to mention, as Lei Bo said this, the morale of the defenders in Luoyang City was immediately boosted. In fact, a few days ago, Lei Bo had been in contact with Yuan Shao's secret envoys. However, he was still negotiating conditions and discussing the treatment after surrender. Some details were not finalized, and ordinary soldiers and grassroots officers had not received any news before, so some people were panicked.

The envoy sent by Yuan Shao for this matter was Xin Pi, who was still in Luoyang City at this moment. The main reason why other Yuan Shao's eloquent counselors were either afraid of death or had a bad temper. They refused to negotiate with generals like Lei Bo, which felt embarrassing. Xin Pi was more utilitarian among Yuan Shao's counselors, and he lacked the opportunity to make meritorious service, so he took on this job.

Although the negotiations between Lei Bo and Xin Pi have not been completely agreed, the conditions brought to Lei Bo made by Xin Pi have stated that one thing is absolutely not vague, that is, if a third party intervenes to seize Luoyang, Lei Bo must immediately make it clear that he surrenders to Yuan Shao.

Otherwise, the tacit understanding between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu would be invalidated, and the preferential treatment conditions for Lei Bo would have to be re-agreed. Liu Bei obviously would not give him a good treatment to a general like him who was born into a thief.

Of course, Lei Bo knew this in his heart. He knew that Yuan Shao had more or less a last resort to Yuan Shu. After all, the two were brothers. Yuan Shu's generals could be treated better than Liu Bei. Even if they temporarily held their original positions, the world would be peaceful after a long time, and these generals who were harming the people would still be liquidated.

Therefore, while just delaying time to transfer property, he also took the opportunity to send someone to send letters to his subordinates guarding Hulao Pass in the east, asking them not to wait for negotiation conditions, and could immediately open Hulao Pass and let Yan Liang and Wen Chou come in.

After Yan Liang and Wen Chou became friendly, he was not afraid of Guan Yu at all, and Yuan Shao must have other supporters.

...

Standing on Guan Yu's side, he was of course quite angry when he heard that Lei Bo had actually "surrendered" Yuan Shao.

But because he has no right to directly undermine diplomatic relations, he will not be able to use force directly without making any clear statement. Whoever fires first will definitely give the people a clear idea.

Guan Yu directly angrily rebuked: "Lei Bo Yi Man! Do you think this kind of three-year-old child can deceive me? Yuan Shao's army is far away from Hulao Pass. You pretend to surrender and want to deceive me not to attack the city. Let you delay time for Yuan Shu any more, and you are delusional! The entire army prepares for war to build equipment and attack the city the day after tomorrow!"

He said this, no longer expected to force the submission directly, but just to boost the morale of the Han army and make the Han army soldiers not believe that they were fighting with their former friendly forces, but were still fighting with rebels.

The different nature of the enemy will also have a great impact on the morale of our side during war.

The two sides were tense and they stood in a confrontation.

After returning to the camp, Yin Guan, a counselor from the army, immediately persuaded: "Former General, since the enemy dared to announce his surrender to Yuan Shao, it is probably because he had contact with Yuan Shao's secret envoy. It will take at least two days for us to prepare for the siege weapon. If Yuan Shao's army arrives, it is not easy for us to retreat. Why not consider withdrawing the troops?"

Guan Yu actually knew that Yin Guan’s statement was the most secure. Now he would withdraw immediately and he would definitely withdraw. But the problem was that the 30,000 army rushed to more than 200 miles, and the return journey was more than 200 miles, or sailed against the current, and even lost dozens of ships. People and horses spent so much supplies, so they didn’t get away in shame in a single battle?

People are unwilling to give up sunken costs. If they lose the capital they have invested, they will easily turn a furious eye and want to turn the tables.

What's more, a man as arrogant as Guan Yu, what if Lei Bo really just cheated on him for surrendering? He was deceived and withdrew from the army, that would be a laughing stock in the world.

Besides, staying west of Luoyang can also threaten the rear of Hangu Pass and Yique Pass. How can you know if you can break through some of these passes without fighting?

Guan Yu said proudly: "Let's not mention this for now. Tonight, take down Henan County, station troops in Xiyang Pavilion, and wait for the scouts to return, and then decide whether to attack Hangu or Yique's side tomorrow."

When Yin Guan heard this, he always felt that it was a bit unlucky. When Dong Zhuo was stationed in Hedong as the governor of Bingzhou, he was summoned by He Jin to lead troops into Beijing, which was stationed in the Sunset Pavilion and stationed for many days until the Ten Constellations Rebellion.

Guan Yu was also stationed in the Sunset Pavilion, and he always felt it was unlucky. But who asked the troops from Hedong to lead him? The normal marching route would be here, and Yin Guan didn't say much.

Both sides spent the night in trepidation. The next morning, the Guan Yu army scout who had sent to Yique Pass to investigate came back, and he reported that there were many defenders in Yique Pass and were prepared.

A trench was also dug at the northern end of Longmen Valley, and a wall of the pass was compacted with the excavated earth, and pointed piles were erected on it, and the deer antlers were long stacked. It seemed that I had prepared to defend the enemy's attack from both north and south directions, and the supplies in the pass should be very sufficient.

Guan Yu was not giving up and waited until afternoon, and even the farther direction of Hangu Pass also sent back information, saying that the enemy was also waiting for the front and back of the dangerous pass.

If you want to win the pass, attacking front and back is of course a relatively efficient tactic, but the problem is that the enemy has prepared a long time ago and both sides are tightly equipped, so it takes time to slowly chew. It is normal for any pass to attack for more than ten days before it can be taken down (it is normal that it cannot be taken down only if one side is attacked for several months).

If Lei Bozhen surrendered to Yuan Shao, Guan Yu would not have so much time. The enemy reinforcements would arrive soon, so don’t talk about breaking any level. Although the total strength of Liu Bei’s camp in the battlefield around Yin, Henan was not weak, the main forces of several divisions were separated by the pass and could not echo each other for support and protection, which was a great loss.

Moreover, what is blocking the pass is not only a cooperative battle, but also a blocking the transmission of military information.

Zhao Yun, opposite Yique, had no idea about Guan Yu's situation at all, and had not even received a notice that Guan Yu had reached the hinterland of Luoyang. Zhao Yun had to wait for Guan Yu to report to Chang'an to send troops. Liu Bei then took him to Nanyang from Chang'an on Wuguan Road and went around a big circle. The time delay was short for five or six days.

The territory of Liu Bei's camp is mainly in the western mountainous areas, with three east-west mountains and steep mountains and ridges running from Zhongtiao Mountain, Wushan and Qinling Mountains. There is no road for communication between the east and west and the south.

However, Yuan Shao's third roads in North Central and South can be directly communicated through the North China Plain. He travels 500 miles a day without taking a detour, so Yuan Shao took a huge advantage in the military transmission rate.

Guan Yu screened for a while and was about to move south to try to attack Yiqueguan. He continued to watch the situation and adapt to the situation. As a result, there was finally news to break the deadlock, which made the situation clear.

The scout who had sent eastwards discovered Yan Liang and Wen Chou Yuan Shao's army. The vanguard was only sixty or seventy miles away from Luoyang, and the main force of the rear army was only one hundred miles away from Luoyang - the straight distance from Hulao Pass to Luoyang was 150 miles.

Yesterday Lei Bocai sent someone to inform the Hulao switch to release it, and then Yan Liang and Wen Chou led his troops into the pass. The infantry marched slowly, but he had only walked fifty miles, and the vanguard cavalry had walked about seventy or eighty miles.

After hearing this, Guan Yu did not want to go to the Funiu Mountain area in the south to avoid being blocked in the mountain area near Yique Pass. He chose to first face Yan Liang and Wen Chou to see the situation. If he could push the current tense diplomatic mistakes to the other party, it would not matter if he started a war with Yan Liang and Wen Chou!

Anyway, he just wanted to fight a field battle to avoid heavy casualties. If Lei Bo was willing to go out of the city to rescue Yan Liang and Wen Chou, it would be even better. He could weaken Lei Bo in the field battle so that he would not preserve his strength in Luoyang's sturdy turtle shell.

After Guan Yu made the decision to "attack the enemy in a siege to fire the first shot first", he ordered:

"The whole army goes east around Luoyang City, advance to Mengjin, Yanshi! Be careful to march against the Yellow River on the north side, and do not give the enemy a chance to surround our army. All caravans should be brought with them, cavalry dismounted, and the horses should be given out to pull the cart temporarily!

Then set up a formation in Yanshi to block Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and they could not be allowed to arrive in Luoyang to meet with Lei Bo! Yan Liang and Wen Chou could not be allowed to enter the city to defend and take over the city defense!"

After the order was issued, the entire Guan Yu army moved eastward. Because they were walking towards Yan Liang and Wen Chou, the approaching speed became faster and faster. On the evening of the seventh day of the fifth month, the two armies encountered near Yanshi.

The location of Yanshi is a very narrow point between the Luoshui River and the Yellow River. The Luoshui River flows into the Yellow River in Chenggao, and to the east of Chenggao, only the two rivers in Yanshi are closest to each other.

The area of ​​Yanshi County is only 17 or 8 miles north and south. It is leaning against the Luoshui River to the south and the Yellow River to the north, and it is facing the Mengjin Ferry between Luoyang and Hanoi County. Therefore, Guan Yu stationed here, whether it is blocking the enemy from Hulao Pass in the east or blocking the enemy from Hanoi to Mengjin in the north, he can do it.

The two armies were waiting for the battle between Heluo. Guan Yu faced east, the Yellow River on the left and the Luo River on the right. Yan Liang and Wen Chou faced west, the Luo River on the left and the Yellow River on the right. There was no room for detour when they met on a narrow road. The atmosphere was very tense.

However, after all, everyone is still fighting against the rebel Yuan Shu, and before the fight starts, he still has to talk and blame the other party. Yan Liang immediately proudly took his sword and rode out of the battle, causing people to scold and blame:

"Guan Yu! Lei Bo has surrendered to the King of Yan and General of Cavalry, and the entire Yin of Henan Province has returned to the court anyway. As a former general, you actually killed innocent people in vain, invaded several counties of Heyin, Henan, and Yanshi, and killed the imperial soldiers and horses, which was simply a Han minister!"

Guan Yu's army on the opposite side also rebuked righteously: "Yan Liang is a man! Lei Bo is a bandit. Since Yuan Shu steals the capture of Henan Yin, this bandit has been very cruel. Why didn't he surrender when I didn't come? It can be seen that he is a scam, or Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu secretly collude!

Yuan’s family is capricious. The King of Hanzhong really misread it back then and still hopes to abandon the flaws and use it. Now it seems that Yuan Shao will only hold the King of Yan hostage and do whatever he wants!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Dog thieves invade the borders of the Han Dynasty, and dare to slander the pillars of the court and die!" Yan Liang shouted loudly, and at the same time encouraged the morale of the soldiers around him, announcing, "Guan Yu rebels, everyone can be punished!"

"The slave who took your husband to die!" Guan Yu was not vague. Anyway, he had mobilized all those who should have mobilized before, and the soldiers knew why they were fighting and would not have any psychological burden.

The most important thing is that before Guan Yu set off, he received a hint from Liu Bei and gave him diplomatic authorization to break out in this regard.
Chapter completed!