The city has been occupied by Shen Chen's army. Except for a small number of soldiers guarding various city gates and taking turns to guard the city, most of the three thousand troops are taking the time to rest.
They arrived in Xiangcheng from noon to about nine o'clock in the evening. For nearly eight hours, the soldiers got enough sleep.
On the contrary, Shen Chen only slept for four or five hours during this period, and it was still intermittently. He had to get up once an hour on average, inspecting various city gates, and then going around to comfort the people.
One after another, Anmin notices were posted all over the city. Shen Chen also personally led his soldiers to visit virtuous old men or Confucian scholars in the city, telling them that he came to attack the Cao thieves in the name of the emperor because of his clothes and the imperial edict. He is not against the party, nor will he harm the people.
What's interesting is that at first, the old men and Confucian scholars couldn't believe it and were unwilling to cooperate. But when Shen Chen told them that he and Sima Hui were very good friends, their attitudes changed drastically and they were all willing to cooperate with his actions.
Sima Hui is from Yangzhai, which is only thirty or forty kilometers away from Xiangcheng. His reputation is well known to everyone in Yingchuan. After hearing that Shen Chen was friendly with Sima Hui and making a guarantee, he naturally believed Shen Chen's words.
After Shen Chen's army entered the city, Qiu also committed no crime. Except for occupying the county government mansion for rest, the soldiers' discipline was strictly controlled and no infringement was made on the interests of the people.
The reason why Huangmenting soldiers have such high quality is due to the extremely high personal quality of the officers and the small number of soldiers, making them easy to command.
The officers of Huangmenting come from the more than 100 clan troops that were first formed from Xuzhou and went south. They are all descendants of the Deng Shen clan and the old Huangmenting clan. They are the most obedient and high-quality people. .
After arriving in Nanyang, Shen Chen asked them all to learn to read and practice calligraphy, and at the grassroots level, each officer must control and restrain the soldiers in his team.
Before this expedition, he wrote a piece of paper and asked for dozens of copies to be given to each officer. The content of the paper was naturally the three major disciplines and eight points of attention. Officers must ask the soldiers to strictly abide by them and disobey orders. Even if they are relatives, they can only be killed with tears.
Under such solemn discipline requirements, after three thousand soldiers lined up to enter the city, they naturally showed the temperament of the Yue Family Army who "will not break down the house to death from the cold, and will not plunder to death from starvation". No matter how tired they were, they continued until Shen Chen took the victory. Only the county government dares to rest.
At nearly midnight, Shen Chen returned from his last inspection on the city wall and arrived at the county government office. At this time, the soldiers were almost rested and had gone up to the city wall to garrison. Only a small number of soldiers who needed to guard the city gates during the day were still at the county government office. There were people lying everywhere in the mansion.
It's not that he doesn't want everyone to sleep on the city wall, but it's the season between spring and summer, and Yingchuan belongs to the hinterland of the Central Plains. The sun is still shining in the morning, but it starts to rain lightly in the afternoon, so he can only let everyone stagger around in the county government office. Lie down and rest.
After arriving at the county government office, Shen Chen began to make a summary.
The strategic purpose of going north alone this time was to mobilize the defenders in Ye County, Kunyang, Wuyang and other places and force them to leave the city for a decisive battle.
If things go well, Gan Ning should have wiped out Cao Hong's troops by now, leaving only the Cao troops in Kunyang and Wuyang, as well as the Xudu Cao troops who may attack at any time.
Shen Chen believed that Cao Jun in Xudu would never let him appear near Xudu, so the possibility of coming to Xiangcheng was very high, and it was even possible to come overnight.
Therefore, according to time calculation, in about an hour or two, he will have to evacuate Xiangcheng and return to Kunyang to attack Liu Dai.
So can we fake it and really capture Xudu?
Gan Ning proposed this idea before, but Shen Chen gave the answer that it is unrealistic. If you really go north to capture Xudu, you can deceive Cao Hong, but you can't deceive Liu Dai and Wang Zhong. They are behind, and you must pass through Kunyang to attack Xudu. I'm not blind.
Therefore, once he attacks Xudu, he will face a two-sided siege from Cao Hong, Liu Dai, Wang Zhong and the defenders of Xudu. Even Li Tong and Manchong in Runan will come back, and they will be surrounded by three sides.
Even if they reach the vicinity of Xudu by then, it will be meaningless. There is a high probability that they will be surrounded and annihilated by Cao's army. Therefore, under the circumstances at that time, it is absolutely impossible to directly capture Xudu.
what about now?
Now, Shen Chen was thinking quickly in his mind.
The strategic significance of his pretending to capture Xudu is that he is very aware of the current situation in Xudu.
The inner city serves as Liu Xie's palace, and the common people and officials live in the outer city. The outer city walls have not yet been built, and the defense is ineffective.
Therefore, regardless of whether he really wants to attack Xu Du or is pretending to do so, as long as he appears in the Xiangcheng area, the entire Cao army in Yingchuan, Runan, and Nanyang will be mobilized and gather crazily here.
Just like Li Yunlong's attack on Ping'an County, it is impossible for Cao's army in the surrounding area to bet on this chance. Therefore, as long as he is in Xiangcheng, Cao's army will come and must come.
It would be interesting if he took advantage of this opportunity and made a time difference. When Cao's army from Xudu went south to Xiangcheng, he chose to go north and directly capture Xudu.
But Shen Chen had to consider another issue.
Even if Cao's army from Xudu comes, it will definitely not be all of them. They will definitely stay behind part of it.
Even if the three thousand of his men were to kill Xu Du, they would at most cause a great shock to Xu Du. As long as the remaining defenders of Xu Du persist for a period of time, the three thousand of his men would still be destroyed.
So Xu Du still can't go.
Now Shen Chen has two options: safe and radical.
The radical approach is to take Xudu directly, which is very risky, but once successful, the rewards will be huge, and it can even directly destroy Cao Cao.
The safe course is to follow the original plan, go south to join Gan Ning, annihilate Liu Dai and Wang Zhong, and then occupy Ye County to threaten Cao Cao's rear.
Considering the benefits, Shen Chen still did not choose to be radical.
Because first of all, he really went north to destroy Cao Cao's rear and welcomed Liu Xie to Nanyang. Liu Biao had a treasonous intention. I was afraid that he would hate him to death, and he might fall out with him. With his strength, he could not compete with Liu Biao. .
Secondly, if Xu Du is forced, Cao Cao will definitely have no intention of fighting the Battle of Guandu, and may even immediately go south to defend. Then Yuan Shao's large-scale attack will inevitably cause Yuan Shao to seize the entire Henan. By then, it will not be Cao Cao but Yuan Shao who will occupy the north. .
Yuan Shao's strength is much stronger than Cao Cao, which will be more harmful to the follow-up. Maybe not until the twelfth year of Jian'an, the entire north, including Guanzhong, Henan, and Hebei, will fall into Yuan Shao's hands.
Even if Yuan Shao died of illness within two years in history, what if he defeated Cao Cao and died prematurely without getting sick? So we have to consider this issue.
The best situation for Shen Chen at present is to neither allow Cao Cao to deal a fatal blow to Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, nor to make Yuan Shao live too comfortably. It is best to let them continue to confront each other in the north for a few more years, giving Shen Chen enough Development time.
Thinking of this, Shen Chen gave up his radical ideas and turned to stability.
Time passed minute by minute.
At this time, Shen Tao hurriedly came to report: "General, the county magistrate is here."
"Let him in."
Shen Chen knelt down on the mat and stared at the door in front of him solemnly.
After a while, the county magistrate walked in and flattered Shen Chen, saying: "I wonder what the general summoned you for?"
Shen Chen stood up and bowed his hands to the north and said: "I have taken the emperor's robes and issued an edict to King Qin. However, due to lack of food and supplies, I am preparing to withdraw my troops and leave. I bothered the county magistrate and asked Haihan to do so. Therefore, I invited the county magistrate to come here because I want to make amends."
The county magistrate was overjoyed, but said on his face: "Why bother the general with such trivial matters?"
Shen Chen said: "People must not be rude. Since we are pursuing righteousness to punish thieves, how can we disturb the people? So I prepared some property to appease the county's respect."
After saying that and clapping his hands, a waiter came in with a plate from the hall on the right.
When he entered the city to appease the people, Shen Chen also inquired about it. He found out that the county magistrate was not a good person. He came from a small and medium-sized family in Zhaoling, Runan, and had a history with the powerful people in Xiangcheng County, so they joined forces and often oppressed the good. Quite greedy for money.
This is also the reason why they want to occupy the county government office. Otherwise, if the county magistrate is a virtuous person respected by the people in the county, doing so will definitely be disgusting.
When the county magistrate saw that the boy was a servant in his county government, he opened the plate and revealed the bright gold. He immediately showed a greedy look, but he said: "No reward for no merit, I appreciate the general's kindness." Already."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "I don't mean anything else, I just want to express my apology to the people of Xiangcheng. I also ask the county magistrate to forgive us for being rude and don't refuse."
"this"
The county magistrate hesitated for a moment.
Shen Chen did not give him time to refuse, and said: "I am going to withdraw my troops and leave Xiangcheng. The county magistrate will say goodbye."
After that, he walked directly outside the hall.
"call out!"
After he went out, a sharp whistle sounded throughout the county government mansion.
The soldiers who were still resting almost woke up instinctively. Under the leadership of officers at all levels, they quickly ran out of the county government office and gathered at the door.
At this time, there were only a few hundred soldiers resting in the county government office. After Shen Chen left the county government office, he ordered the messengers to quickly gather the soldiers and horses stationed at each city gate. In less than ten minutes, the entire army was assembled.
"Walk!"
After giving the order, Shen Chen led the army towards the east gate.
Three thousand soldiers lined up in order, like a long snake, holding torches in front and behind, stepping on the ground of the rammed earth structure of the county seat, making a clanging sound.
The people living in the county couldn't sleep at all that night. Their doors and windows were closed tightly, and the dark streets were already deserted. They occasionally looked out from the urn or wooden windows, and even if there was an Minban, they all watched carefully. .
Soon the soldiers left through the east gate.
About an hour later, footsteps sounded again outside the city, and Xia Houyuan led 5,000 troops and appeared outside Xiangcheng.
Shen Chen's guess was correct. Xu Du did not dare to send out all its troops, so Li Dian led 5,000 men to defend Xu Du.
In order to prevent panic and cause riots among the royalists in the city, Xun Yu ordered the news to be blocked, and Xia Houyuan cooperated with Cao Hong to handle the matter.
Many people think that Xun Yu is a royalist, but in fact he is a die-hard loyalist of the Han Dynasty and not the emperor.
For him, it doesn't matter who becomes the emperor, as long as the world is Han Dynasty. Therefore, even if there is a belt edict, he must resist helping Cao Cao.
Because he has been to Yuan Shao's place and knows what Yuan Shao's virtues are. If Yuan Shao wins, the world will no longer be under the Han Dynasty.
At least for now, Cao Cao still needs the banner of the Han Dynasty, and he can't see any thoughts of usurping the throne in the short term. Xun Yu naively thought that he was at most a powerful minister like Huo Guang.
So until Cao Cao said that Duke Wei had exposed his treacherous intentions, he had been doing his best for Cao Cao.
Due to information differences, Xun Yu was unable to judge Shen Chen's true intentions, but to be on the safe side, he had to keep his enemies out of Xudu, so Xia Houyuan had to appear here.
The scouts who came from Xudu to investigate arrived in the afternoon. When they saw the "Shen" flag at the top of the city, they were shocked and did not dare to waste time. While reporting quickly, they asked the people outside the city how many people had entered the city.
Shen Chen didn't play the trick of leaving the city and then entering the city, but he felt that it didn't matter. The art of war was inherently unreal. Even if it was known that there were only three thousand people entering the city, the enemy would think that they might be the vanguard and there were troops in the rear. Therefore, it does not matter how many people are exposed to Xu Du.
In the evening, Xu Du learned that at least three to four thousand troops had occupied Xiangcheng.
And Xun Yu did think that this might be a vanguard. He deduced based on previous common sense that the enemy would not arrive at Xiangcheng until night, but if they appeared early, they were probably a vanguard unit that was marching in a hurry, and the main force was still behind.
So Xun Yu, Xia Houyuan, Li Dian and others discussed and made three ways to deal with it.
The first was to ask Li Dian to station outside Xudu to guard against enemy raids. The second was to ask Xia Houyuan to rush over and surround Xiangcheng first. The third was to send people to quickly contact Cao Hong, Liu Dai, Wang Zhong, Man Chong, Li Tong and others. They returned to Xudu's aid.
This is the result of information gap.
Xia Houyuan then set out at about five o'clock in the afternoon and arrived at Xiangcheng at about twelve o'clock in the evening. It took him three and a half hours, more than seven hours, to rush to Xiangcheng on Highway 50.
It seems that it only averages seven kilometers per hour, which is not very fast.
But you must know that Xia Houyuan's fastest record in history is "five hundred in three days, one thousand in six days", with an average speed of seventy kilometers per hour per day. Excluding sleeping and eating, including fourteen hours of travel time, that is, the average speed per day Five kilometers per hour.
Therefore, at this time, Xia Houyuan was already faster than his fastest time in history. By the time he arrived at Xiangcheng, many of his troops were exhausted. The soldiers' physical strength, let alone fighting, would be paralyzed by fatigue even after walking a few steps.
In this case, he had to consider whether the soldiers could fight again, so he first let the soldiers rest about ten miles outside the city, and then sent someone to inquire about the situation.
Soon the scouts on the patrol horse reported back. There was no one on the top of the city, and no torches were lit. The whole city was very quiet, the city gates were wide open, and there was no movement.
Xia Houyuan was very surprised when he heard this situation. There was no one on the tower and the city gates were open. It was really incomprehensible.
At this time, he didn't know whether the enemy's main force had already entered the city. He was in the dark most of the night and couldn't find any common people to ask about the situation in the city. He was very anxious for a while. He walked around and thought for a long time before letting the scouts take the risk and take a look. .
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, the scout hurried back and told him the news that there were no enemy troops in the city.
"What? They retreated?"
When Xia Houyuan learned that there were no enemies in the city, he immediately led his troops into the city. He learned from the county magistrate that the three or four thousand men and horses in the city had left an hour ago.
"Yes."
In the county government hall, the county magistrate showed a flattering smile to Xia Houyuan: "Thanks to General Hongfu, the invading thieves must have learned about the general's upcoming arrival and said they were going to retreat to Nanyang."
"is that so?"
Xia Houyuan looked at the county magistrate suspiciously and asked: "When did they come, how many people came, which door they came in, how many people they left, and which door they went out through?"
The county magistrate replied: "Returning to the general, they arrived at about three o'clock in the afternoon. There should be three or four thousand people when they arrived. They entered through the west gate. After entering the city, they occupied the county government mansion to rest. When they left, there were also three or four thousand people. So,
I left more than an hour ago and went out through the east gate."
Enter through the west gate and exit through the east gate?
Xia Houyuan thought carefully about this unusual information. To the south of Xiangcheng is Ru River, so the south gate is by the river, and the west gate is the connecting gate between Xiangcheng and the other side of Ru River.
Because Ru River passes diagonally south of Xiangcheng, and there is a small city called Sicheng opposite Xiangcheng, so after going out from the west gate of Xiangcheng, there is a bridge connected to Sicheng, and people from the south come to Xiangcheng.
, will all pass through here.
Shen Chen's army came in from the west gate, which was consistent with his marching route from the south to the north. So what happens when he leaves from the east gate?
"You go down first."
Xia Houyuan sat on the table, thinking hard.
The next bridge across the river from the east gate is Dongbuteng Township and Dingling County, which are seventy miles away. Does Shen Chen's army want to take such a long way back to Nanyang?
"I humbly resign."
The county magistrate surrendered to him, still thinking about how much the gold Shen Chen had given him was worth.
Xia Houyuan continued to sit and think in the room. At this moment, he suddenly noticed a servant at the door who was bent over, as if he had no spine, with his body hunched and his head poking around.
There was a guard at the door. Seeing him sneaking around, he drew his sword and asked, "Who is he?"
"Let him in."
Xia Houyuan guessed that this boy might have something to say to him.
As expected, the servant came in, knelt down and kowtowed: "General, I have something important to report."
"you say."
Xia Houyuan said.
The servant said: "While I was waiting on them, I saw the leader of the invading thieves, Shen Chen, with my own eyes. I gave a lot of gold to the county magistrate and asked him to tell the general that he had withdrawn his troops."
"What?"
Xia Houyuan was shocked, and then said angrily: "This thief misled me!"
Now think about it, if you go out from the east gate and don't go south, go directly north, wouldn't it be Yingyang?
Although they didn't bump into each other when they came, what if the other party missed the road and went straight to Xudu?
Thinking of this, Xia Houyuan immediately shouted: "Quick, the whole army gathers and arrests the county magistrate."
Suddenly the whole Xiangcheng city was in a state of uproar.
The discipline of Cao's army was not as good as that of Shen Chen's army. There was a lot of noise in the middle of the night, which caused great panic among the people in the city.
Soon the county magistrate was arrested, and the soldier said: "General, gold was indeed found in his room."
The county magistrate was shocked and said: "General, this is what Shen Chen put in the county office."
"You, this traitor, are secretly working as an insider."
Xia Houyuan pulled out his knife and said viciously: "Suffer death!"
"General!"
The county magistrate was so frightened that he was about to explain that the knife was already coming.
Whoosh!
A white light flashed, and the county magistrate who had done evil in Xiangcheng was killed.
Looking at his body, the servants not far away showed resentful eyes. Everyone in Xiangcheng hated this thief.
"Let's go back to Xudu."
After killing the county magistrate, Xia Houyuan immediately issued an order and went straight to Xudu.