Chapter 617: Preemptive Strike, Han Army Comes Quickly
When Zhang Xiong successfully left Zhang's mansion with the help of his old troops, he rushed to the camp as quickly as possible in his life.
Cao Zhang is not stupid after all.
Just in case, he had already sent a confidant named Ren Xiong to take over the military power in the camp with the help of his status as the commander-in-chief.
Cao Wei's military laws were strict, and he was always most afraid of things happening below him, so Cao Zhang thought that after he made this arrangement, he could basically rest easy.
It's a pity that no matter how smart Cao Zhang is, he is still not Cao Cao.
He underestimated the complexity of human nature.
He didn't know what people would do once they became crazy.
For Zhang Xiong, given the current situation, it is difficult for him to mobilize the army in the city.
But there is an army that will obey Zhang He's orders unconditionally. This army is the pro-army that has followed Zhang He for many years.
What's more, although Cao Zhang sent someone to take over the military power of the camp, Ren Xiong did not reveal Cao Zhang's true intentions to others in order to avoid leaks. He knew that there were many eyes and ears in the camp.
In this case, it means that Zhang He and Zhang Xiong are still generals with high status in the Wei army.
So when Zhang Xiong appeared outside the camp, he was not blocked by the sergeants and quickly entered the camp smoothly by virtue of his identity.
After entering the camp, Zhang Xiong remembered Zhang He's instructions and successfully summoned hundreds of soldiers with his token, and led them out of the camp and quickly rushed towards Zhang's mansion.
Everything happened too fast.
In other words, in Ren Xiong's view, Zhang He was just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, and he would not have expected that Zhang He would suddenly behave like this.
This resulted in Zhang Xiong being delayed in getting the news after he led hundreds of troops out of the camp.
Ren Xiong was shocked as soon as he got the news.
It is very dangerous at any time for a general to mobilize his troops privately, let alone the current situation?
But at the moment, Zhang He has not been convicted, and Zhang He's identity is far away from him, which makes Ren Xiong hesitate.
When Zhang He has not been convicted, even if he issues a military order to arrest Zhang He, how many sergeants will obey him?
Ren Xiong also thought that if he rashly issued an order to arrest Zhang He, it would probably ruin Cao Zhang's plan tonight.
After thinking about these two points, Ren Xiong chose a prudent approach to protect himself.
He sent people to Chang'an Palace City urgently to report the matter to Cao Zhang and let him decide for himself.
The people sent by Ren Xiong knew the urgency of the matter, so after receiving Ren Xiong's order, they hurried towards Chang'an Palace.
After the capture of Chang'an, they were greedy for the comfort of Chang'an Palace, so each generation of the Cao family who was in Chang'an would subconsciously set aside a place in Chang'an Palace to build a mansion for themselves.
Regarding this, both Cao Cao and Cao Pi turned a blind eye.
In their view, this is another manifestation of the Cao family's dominance over the Liu family.
However, the palace city of Chang'an is comfortable and comfortable, but it has a hidden drawback.
The disadvantage is that the Chang'an Palace City is located in the southwest corner of Chang'an City, but the military camp in Chang'an City is in the northeast corner of Chang'an City.
One side is in the southwest and the other side is in the northeast, which means that the people sent by Ren Xiong have to cross almost the entire city of Chang'an to see Cao Zhang.
Of course, this is not a serious matter in normal times, but when the situation is critical, it can be very delaying.
Although Ren Xiong's people were flying all the way, he was still a step slower.
Before Ren Xiong arrived at Chang'an Palace City, Zhang Xiong had already led his army to the outside of Zhang Mansion.
After returning with his army, Zhang Xiong did not lead his army into Zhang Mansion.
He knew very well what Zhang He's purpose was in asking him to lead his troops.
Looking at the group of Wei troops surrounding Zhang Mansion, a fierce look appeared on Zhang Xiong's face.
At his order, the hundreds of soldiers behind him raised their weapons without hesitation and slashed at the Wei soldiers who were their comrades just a moment ago.
This sudden scene caught Wei Jun outside the Zhang Mansion off guard.
Like the Wei troops in the military camp, they had no idea that Cao Zhang was going to attack Zhang He.
The order they received was to lead the army to protect Zhang He.
Under this kind of order, and Zhang He's prestige among the Wei army was not low, how could they have expected that Zhang Xiong would suddenly lead his army to attack them?
Caught off guard, those Wei soldiers died under the sword of Zhang Xiong's soldiers with a look of shock on their faces before they even had time to draw out the weapons from their waists.
After clearing the Wei troops outside the gate, Zhang Xiong immediately sent people inside to welcome Zhang He out.
Zhang He, who had been prepared for a long time, soon arrived outside the mansion wearing a military uniform.
Looking at the corpses of Wei soldiers lying on the ground, there was no trace of unbearability in Zhang He's eyes.
Perhaps not long ago, they were comrades who fought with him, but from the moment Cao Zhang was about to attack him, they were already unrelenting enemies.
This is also the point where Zhang He, as a veteran, is obviously better than Cao Zhang and Ren Xiong.
Zhang Heneng is what he is today, relying on his own swords and guns to fight all the way. He knows that he must either do nothing or do nothing.
After joining hundreds of soldiers, Zhang He decisively ordered:
"While Cao Zhang hasn't reacted yet, let's head to Yongmen as quickly as possible!"
Chang'an is a large city with nine city gates.
Yongmen is located to the west of Chang'an City.
There is another reason why Zhang He regarded Yongmen as the direction of his breakthrough-there were many of his old troops among the Wei troops defending Yongmen.
Although those old troops may not follow him in rebellion, there is a high probability that they will not attack him as long as they do not receive precise orders.
Before taking action, Zhang He had already considered everything clearly.
Under Zhang He's order, hundreds of soldiers escorted Zhang He and quickly headed towards Yongmen.
After Zhang He took this step, Cao Zhang, who was located in Chang'an Palace City, received the news from Ren Xiong belatedly.
When he learned that Zhang Xiong had led hundreds of people to leave the camp, Cao Zhang couldn't help but cursed anxiously:
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Ren Xiong deserves to die! Ren Xiong deserves to die!"
Now Cao Zhang may have experienced some of Sima Zhao's emotions in history.
Although Cao Zhang is not as decisive as Zhang He in some aspects because he is a recommended student, his IQ is not low.
It was not difficult for him to guess the reason why Zhang Xiong led his army to leave the camp.
It was precisely because he guessed this that Cao Zhang felt extremely angry.
Why did he agree to Xia Houmao's plan of hosting a banquet and ambush?
In addition to the fact that this strategy seemed safer, it was also because he wanted to control the impact of killing Zhang He to the minimum.
He must have the intention to kill Zhang He, but no matter what, Zhang He is still the left general of the Wei Dynasty.
In terms of Zhang He's status, under normal circumstances, if you want to kill him, you must either have the right to use the false sword in your hand, or you must have an edict from Cao Pi.
But Cao Zhang currently doesn't have either of these.
Even when he had to obey his authority, Cao Zhang did not lack the decisiveness to obey his authority.
But as the commander-in-chief of Chang'an, he had to consider the impact this incident would have on Chang'an's military morale.
After all, apart from his identity, Zhang He, as a famous general, also had considerable prestige among the Wei army.
But now everything has changed.
If Zhang He could be captured by surprise at the banquet, Cao Zhang could use his status as the prince of the feudal lords and the general of Chang'an to announce Zhang He's crimes in public first.
In this way, even if the morale of Chang'an's military and people is damaged, it will be within a controllable range.
But if Zhang He is allowed to lead his army out of the mansion, even if he can lead his army to intercept Zhang He in the streets, this matter will undoubtedly be exposed to the eyes of the people of Chang'an City.
So what will the people think?
In the absence of an edict and a false ax, the people would not think that his plan to kill Zhang He was a legitimate act.
They will most likely think that this is an internal strife among the top brass of the Wei army!
Such an idea will not only make the people lose confidence in the Wei army, but also make the majesty of Wei disappear in the hearts of the people of Chang'an.
Cao Zhang almost went crazy when he thought of this possibility.
He would never allow something like this to happen that would be recorded in history books and laughed at by future generations for countless years.
Cao Zhang quickly took out the tiger talisman from his waist and handed it to Ren Xiong's envoy, and ordered to him:
"Let Ren Xiong dispatch the army to encircle and suppress Zhang He!"
"Go quickly!"
Cao Zhang almost shouted the last sentence.
Under Cao Zhang's roar, Ren Xiong's envoy was frightened and left quickly.
Then Cao Zhang quickly ordered to summon the guards in Chang'an Palace.
He wanted to personally lead his troops to stop Zhang He.
Perhaps Zhang He may have already led his troops out of the palace, but Chang'an City is very large. If Zhang He's actions can be controlled within a limited range as soon as possible, then this can be regarded as a measure to remedy the situation.
Thousands of guards in Chang'an Palace were quickly assembled under Cao Zhang's order.
After gathering the sergeants, Cao Zhang immediately led them out of the palace on horseback.
After Cao Zhang led his army to leave the palace city, he ran into Wei Zhen who came to report the news.
After Liangzhou was recaptured by the Han army, Wei Zhen, the governor of Liangzhou, fled back to Chang'an City in despair.
Because of Wei Zhen's outstanding political ability, he currently serves as the prefect of Jingzhao, and is mainly responsible for maintaining law and order in Chang'an City for Cao Zhang.
Therefore, due to his position, Wei Zhen can be regarded as one of the first people in Chang'an City to learn that Zhang He was raising troops to rebel.
The first moment he saw Cao Zhang, Wei Zhen felt as if he had seen a savior.
With a look of panic on his face, he immediately ran to Cao Zhang and reported to Cao Zhang: "Your Highness, Zhang He is rebelling, Zhang He is rebelling!"
"He led his army to kill the county soldiers sent to stop him, and was escaping towards Yongmen!"
There was both panic and urgency in Wei Zhen's tone.
Wei Zhen's report also let Cao Zhang know Zhang He's exact movements.
After learning this, Cao Zhang was not in the mood to control Wei Zhen, and he quickly led his army towards Yongmen.
Both Zhang He and Cao Zhang accelerated their troops to advance, and Zhang He set off much earlier than Cao Zhang.
But compared to Cao Zhang, Zhang He had many people and county soldiers blocking his way.
Of course, he ordered people to kill the county soldiers who were blocking the way.
As for those people who looked panicked, Zhang and He would not have been merciful in the past.
Just thinking of Mi Yang's oath to the Weishui River, no matter how anxious he was, he could only use intimidation to drive away the people.
The method of intimidation was effective, but it also inevitably slowed down Zhang He's progress.
This led to Cao Zhang finally leading his army to catch up with Zhang He when he was about to arrive at Yongmen.
After seeing Zhang He's figure, Cao Zhang couldn't help but cursed: "Zhang He is a thief!
Dawei has always treated you well, why would you do the same?"
From the very beginning, Cao Zhang placed the charge of rebellion on Zhang He.
But Zhang He also has an attitude of breaking the rules now.
While Zhang He directed hundreds of soldiers to quickly retreat to Yongmen, he also pointed at Cao Zhang's nose and cursed:
"It's not what I want to do!
It's you, the eunuch, who wants to harm me, and the sword is on your body, how can I just sit back and wait for death!"
Zhang He and Cao Zhang were both strong generals, and their tone of voice was very energetic.
This also allowed the people hiding on both sides of the street to clearly hear the conversation between the two of them.
After hearing the two of them scolding each other, some kind of concept seemed to be rapidly shattering in the hearts of the people.
Are these the important officials and clan members of the Wei Dynasty?
How come she is no different from a bandit or a shrew.
Is Da Wei just like this?
For a dynasty to form a majestic concept in the hearts of the people, it requires a lot of effort and a lot of time.
But if you want to collapse, sometimes it is very easy.
Not sure whether he noticed the strange changes in the eyes of the people around him or because of Zhang He's scolding, Cao Zhang finally chose the most direct method.
He ordered the thousands of Wei troops in front of him to quickly surround and kill Zhang He.
At this moment, Cao Zhang also knew that it was impossible to maintain the majesty of the Wei Dynasty.
He only has one thought in his mind right now - kill Zhang He.
The Wei army that was sent by Cao Zhang to guard the palace was naturally an elite division.
Under the fierce attack of thousands of elite Wei soldiers, Zhang He gradually fell into a bitter battle.
If it weren't for the surrounding houses as cover, I'm afraid the situation he would face would be even more dangerous.
But Zhang He also knew that if he continued to fight like this, he would not be able to escape Chang'an City in the end.
Fortunately, Zhang He still had one last plan in mind.
As we get closer to Yongmen, more and more military defense facilities appear around Zhang He.
After seeing those facilities, Zhang He no longer had any scruples in his heart.
He ordered dozens of soldiers to hold flammable materials and quickly set fire to the wooden military equipment.
Fueled by flammable materials, fires soon started burning on those military defense facilities.
The black smoke caused by the fire rose into the sky, surpassed the obstruction of the tall city wall, and reached high into the sky.
Zhang He's actions did not escape Cao Zhang's eyes.
At the beginning, Cao Zhang didn't understand what Zhang He's intention was, but he soon realized it.
Zhang He deliberately caused a fire to tell the Han army outside the city that there was unrest in the city!
Realizing this, Cao Zhang jumped off his horse in a hurry and joined in the action of killing Zhang He's soldiers.
Zhang He really deserves to die!
With the addition of Cao Zhang, a fierce general, it became increasingly difficult for Zhang He's hundreds of soldiers to withstand the Wei army's offensive.
Seeing the soldiers in front of him fall down one by one, Zhang He's anxious eyes were bloodshot.