After setting foot on the boundary of Jingzhou, the situation was as Guo Jia expected. As soon as he entered Jianping County, the Taiping Army experienced no less than five encounters in the short journey from Wu County to Xinling.

Either the bandits entrenched in the mountains and forests, or the militias in counties, at least hundreds, or two or three thousand. These were all mobs and vulnerable. When Guo Jia's generals followed him into Yizhou, they had long seen big scenes. Facing these shrimp soldiers and crab generals, they could not raise any spirit. Zhou Tai casually brought three thousand soldiers and horses to wipe out the bandits who dared to block the way.

When they arrived at Xinling at sunset, they rested and nine out of ten rooms in the county were empty, which made Guo Jia very puzzled. The war affected his homeland, and the gentry could be exiled everywhere, but the wealthy families took root in the local area. Do they just want to give up the land?

After sending scouts to investigate around Xinling, they found that all the wealthy families in Jianping County had fled, and only a few people stayed for various reasons.

Let's rest in Xinling City. The army will advance towards Yidu County tomorrow. It is expected that the troops will come to Xiangyang City in two days.

Zhou Tai, who came to pay homage to Guo Jia at night, was worried and said to Guo Jia: "Lord, when we left Chengdu, we learned that Jingzhou was in turmoil and the clan thieves were in chaos. When we came to Jianping County, the situation seemed to be the same. The clan members who had heard about the movement had already fled in scattered and fled, but what I wondered in my heart was why there were so many people missing?"

Guo Jia himself was also thinking about this question, strengthening the walls and clearing the fields? It is impossible. Yong'an is not far from Xiangyang, and there is no problem with the supply of the army. Why did the wealthy families flee and bring the people with them?

With his hands on his back, Guo Jia said to himself: "There are three possibilities. First, the people are afraid of us because we are traitors promoted by the outside world. Perhaps we are already a tyrannical god of killing in the eyes of the people of the world. Second, the wealthy clans fled with the people because they did not want to lose their labor. This is also the root cause of the turmoil in Jingzhou. Third, the wealthy clans in Jingzhou were hugged together and gathered the people to wait for me at a certain place, intending to jointly stop the army of the military and civilians from attacking Jingzhou. However, the possibility of this is slim."

After thinking about it, Guo Jia could only find two reasons. The people were afraid of him. In the official history, when Cao Cao raised his troops south, the people were afraid of him slaughtering the city, so they followed Liu Bei to flee. Although the people may have been incited by the people, because Cao Cao had made several massacres of the city. Liu Cong in Xiangyang had already surrendered without fighting on behalf of Jingzhou. Cao Cao unified the north at the same time when he was kind and powerful to gather the hearts of the people. What was the case for the massacre of the city? The people were ignorant and easy to incite under the guidance of public opinion. What Guo Jia did in Yizhou is not important. What is important is that he is a traitor. The gentry and clans outside will slander and exaggerate his image of cruelty and indignant. The bandits in the territory fought to the death, and the rich fled to save their lives. They probably wanted to make a comeback in the future.

No matter what the people fled their homes, Zhou Tai's concerns were still in his heart.

"Lord, what if the people of Xiangyang County and Jiangxia County also fled? If we conquer these two counties, there will be no food and grass supply under our rule. Relying on Yizhou alone to support it, it may not be a long-term solution, and it will be a waste of money and money."

According to Guo Jia's strategic concept when he left Chengdu, he captured Xiangyang and Jiangxia and stationed troops. He did not expect the two counties to be self-sufficient, but he had to bear at least 60% of the supplies. The rest would be subsidized from Yizhou.

In response to this, Guo Jia pondered for a moment and said, "The people in Xiangyang and Jiangxia will not all escape, even if only 10% of the people are left. As long as we conquer the two places and follow the rule, the people will gradually return to our hometown to live and work in peace and contentment."

Facts are better than words. What does Guo Jia look like in Yizhou? People in other places can only let public opinion describe it. As long as Guo Jia can let the people truly feel his benevolence and righteousness, the people's hearts will always slowly move towards him.

After hearing Guo Jia say this, Zhou Tai thought about it and felt that it made sense. The people are not ambitious. The most fundamental benefit for them is the severity of corvee service, the amount of taxes, and whether there will be disasters caused by the power. Guo Jia never issued a conscription order in Yizhou, and the taxes did not increase, restricting the soldiers from disturbing the people and bullying the people. With these three points, it will not make the people grateful, but at least they will give up their worries and live a good life.

After staying in Xinling for a day, Guo Jia's army continued to advance towards Xiangyang and entered Yidu County. The villages and counties passed by were all desolate. It seemed that the Taiping Army was not an army that brought peace to the world.

Along the way, three waves of bandits were wiped out, and Guo Jia's army was about to enter the county before sunset.

The county town is not far away, but there are no less than 5,000 thieves blocking the road on the road to the county town.

Looking at the group of mobs ahead, Guo Jia said to Zhang Yan indifferently: "Feiyan, you can lead the troops to wipe them out, and then explore the situation of the county."

Zhang Yan received the order and led his army to charge immediately. The bandits blocking the road were vulnerable. They retreated step by step in the first battle with Zhang Yan's army, and then fled to the county. Zhang Yan took advantage of the victory and saw that there were no defenders on the building of the county, so he ordered a thousand infantry to enter the city to find out if there was an ambush.

At dusk, Zhang Yan received a report and the situation in the county was like the ones they passed by before. Nine out of ten families were empty, and only a few people were still in the city, but they were all closed to leave. A county town was quiet and depressed.

After reporting this situation to Guo Jia, Guo Jia waved his hand without thinking: "Entering the county to rest for three days, then raising his energy and storming to the city of Xiangyang in one go."

The county is located on the northern edge of Yidu County, and the north of Yidu County is Xiangyang County. The county is located at Xiangyang City and can be reached within two days.

Guo Jia led Xu Chu Dianwei and Zhou Tai's three troops, 25,000 troops into the county, and Zhang Yan and his 40,000 troops were stationed outside the city.

The sky was getting darker, and the Taiping Army, with strict military discipline, did not let the lonely county be buried in the noise, and each followed the steps.

On the west side of the county and Xiangyang, at the back of Jingshan, under the foot of the mountains, forests and plants, a huge army was waiting for the battle. The leader sat on a white horse, wearing a gorgeous crimson robe and a wise crown on his head. His elegant and gentle appearance was expressionless at this time, which was Liu Biao who had just taken Jingzhou.

A young man dressed in a commoner dress hurried to Liu Ping and fisted and reported: "Guo Jia's army has entered the county, but tens of thousands of troops were stationed outside the city. Judging from its size, it is more than 30,000 or less than 50,000."

Waving his hand to signal the man to retreat, Liu Biao looked up at the dim sky, raised his hand to feel the cool breeze of autumn and winter, and asked softly: "Yi Di, what time is it now?"

The generals riding on horses on both sides of Liu Biao were his right-hand men, one was Cai Mao, and the other was Huang Zu who was summoned quickly after Liu Biao entered Xiangyang. The two were wearing armor on Liu Biao, one on the left and one on the right, and Kuai Yue was next to Cai Mao.

Looking at the sky and thinking for a moment, Kuai Yue said to Liu Biao: "It's half way through You."

After hearing this, Liu Biao turned to look at Cai Mao and asked, "Can the 70,000 army arrive at the county within two hours?"

Cai Mao nodded firmly and said, "You can definitely arrive by marching urgently."

Reassuringly, Liu Biao slowly rode his horse out of the formation, turned his head to face the soldiers, and said with a harsh expression: "Guo Jia, a rebel traitor in troubled times, gathered the remnants of the Yellow Turbans to commit rebellion. In Yizhou, he not only massacred the Han clan Liu Junlang, but also killed tens of thousands of soldiers who defended their families in Yizhou, and slaughtered countless cities! It was a sin that was so great that the world could not tolerate! At this time, he had already stepped into Jingzhou. If we wait for death, I, Liu Jingsheng, will be the second Liu Junlang, and Jingzhou will be the second Yizhou to become a scorched earth land! We will separate our wife and children and destroy our family. Today, you will work with me to protect the country and the people, kill the rebel Guo Jia, and return the peace in Jingzhou!"

"Protect the country and the people!"

Seventy thousand soldiers spoke in unison, and the crowd was filled with enthusiasm, raised their weapons and shouted in waves, and their blood burst out.

Liu Biao turned his horse's head again, waved his hand, and Cai Mao immediately raised the long knife in his hand and roared: "The whole army obeys the order and marchs towards the county! No mistakes are allowed!"

With a rising momentum and the belief of winning in the battle, Liu Biao led an army of 70,000 to head straight to the county under the night.

The hour of You (17-19) has passed, and at the hour of Xu (19-21), most of the Taiping Army that entered the county to rest were already lying down to rest. Zhang Yan's army stationed outside the city sent several teams to patrol the surrounding county.

The hour of Xu is about to pass, and when the hour of Hai is coming, a fire suddenly lit up in the county town, which is not obvious, but it attracted the attention of the night patrol guards. When Zhang Yan got the news and stood up from the camp and looked at the county town, he was shocked!

Just as he put on his armor, a fire broke out on all sides of the county town, and the fire was extremely large, almost becoming a siege, completely enclosing the county town.

There was a noise coming from the city. Zhang Yan was eager to protect her master, so she immediately ordered all her troops and rushed into the city to put out the fire.

He ordered his men to put out the fire. Zhang Yan looked at the soldiers in the city who were panicked and at a loss. He didn't care too much and went straight to Guo Jia's temporary residence. Seeing that Xu Chudianwei and Zhou Tai had already put on armor and protected Guo Jia from the residence.

Shortly after he fell asleep, he was awakened by Xu Chu. Guo Jiaqiang calmly put on his armor, took his sword and walked out of the residence. Looking at the fire in the city, he was shocked and even more cold.

This is not a fire! It was someone who sets the fire on purpose!

At this time, the buildings are made of wooden, and the northwest wind in autumn and winter makes the fire spread very quickly, but it is impossible that the place with the largest fire is four sides of the city.

He quickly clarified his mind, and Guo Jia couldn't help but use eight points of strength even when he held Xu Chu's arm.

Guo Jia gritted his teeth and ordered Xu Chudian and Wei Zhoutai and the other two: "Go and notify Zhang Yan quickly and beware of the enemy's attack. His soldiers outside the city must not enter the city. You three, hurry up and order the soldiers out of the city gates in an orderly manner, and don't waste your efforts to put out the fire! Otherwise, the county will be our burial place!"

Guo Jia, who had just given the order, looked up and his face was bloodless.

Zhang Yan was running towards him with an anxious look on his face!
Chapter completed!