The crescent moon was hidden in the black clouds, the rain had stopped, and only the blazing firelight reflected the top and bottom of the city. The corpses had been restrained by both Cao and Tao, and the black blood stains still remained.
The evening breeze in the middle of the summer was a bit chilly. Under the red light of torches, a group of people were patrolling the city defenses and condolences to the soldiers. The old man at the head was dressed in a green robe and had an ancient appearance. His eyes were sparkling, and his gray hair showed that he was no longer young.
Tao Qian was from Danyang. He was famous in the county for his wild character when he was young. When he was fourteen years old, he used cloth as a war flag and rode a bamboo horse to play with the children in the village. Gan Gong, the prefect of Cangwu, saw him passing by and thought he had something strange.
After the conversation, he was very satisfied, so he married his daughter regardless of his wife's objections and urged him to study.
First, he was admitted as an official in the county, and later he was promoted to Maocai, worshiped as Shangshulang, and successively served as the magistrate of Shu County and Lu County. Later, he moved to Youzhou to be the governor. Six years ago, he accompanied Huangfu Song on his expedition to Sanfu.
, attacked the Qiang and Hu from the west, but later suspended the army and dismissed due to the slander of Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang.
Until three years ago, there was a severe drought in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, the refugees turned into bandits, and the smoke and dust returned. Tao Qian was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou. He appointed Zang Ba, a native of Taishan who fled to the East China Sea, and his fellow countryman Sun Guan as generals. He defeated the bandits in a battle and forced the remaining troops to flee.
Going to Qingzhou and Yanzhou, the territory was peaceful for a while.
Tao Qian immediately went to pay homage to Zang Ba, and Sun Guan was appointed as the cavalry captain. He ordered him to garrison Langya County in Kaiyang and stationed in the north of Xuzhou to guard against the rogues and Cao Cao. Because of the famine in the whole state, he appointed Chen Deng, a famous scholar from Xiapi, as the captain of Diannong School.
The trial of farming in Xuzhou was earlier than that of Liu Bei and Cao Cao. There was really no shortage of heroes in the late Han Dynasty.
Xuzhou was originally located in the Jianghuai area, and there was no shortage of water sources. However, most of the canals were in disrepair. At this time, the soil conditions were investigated, water conservancy was restored, and farmland irrigation was developed. In the past three years, there was an abundance of resistant rice and the wealth was extremely rich. No wonder Cao Cao coveted Yanzhou.
Patrolling all the way, there was no danger, but my eyes turned to the dark wilderness outside the city. There was the enemy's camp ten miles away, and the military spirit was soaring.
Cao Cao...
Tao Qian frowned and sighed at the Taoist priests who were following closely: "Thank you for your hard work, Taoist priests. Just now, Cao Cao responded with a Taoist raid at night. If it weren't for you, we might have been in danger."
"It's just that I had seen this man assassinate Chang Shi Zhang Rang. I had the impression that he was a loyal and upright man who was angry with the government. When did he become so unscrupulous?"
The Taoist priests all raised their heads and said, "My elders in my hometown are in trouble. How dare you not use your meager strength? Although there are many enemies, fortunately there is no master of the true Dharma. We can still barely resist them."
Tao Qian looked at the silence. In this half-month battle, Cao Cao's magic group showed its power, suppressed the battlefield, and healed the soldiers, maintaining the exchange ratio between the offensive and defensive sides at one to one. They even made a surprise attack into the city at night for internal response. At the beginning,
He failed to take precautions and almost succeeded.
Fortunately, Liu Shijun reminded him, so he recruited local Taoist priests and used sharp soldiers to fight hard to maintain the situation.
This is the result of Xuzhou's ancient prosperity and numerous religious sects. If it had been in another state, it would have been conquered long ago.
This half-month war was miserable, but the soldiers still treated the old man respectfully as they treated their grandfathers - nearly half of the soldiers in the Xuzhou Army were Danyang soldiers, and at this time the name of Danyang County was still its old name.
In Danyang, the mountains have been dangerous and the people have been fruitful since ancient times. This is a legacy of the Wu State, the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. However, livelihoods in the mountains and fields were poor. By the Han Dynasty, the population had multiplied too much. If you could not survive, you could only become a bandit.
Many young people who had no way to survive and were unwilling to become thieves, after hearing about the recruitment, went north together to seek refuge with Tao Shijun, a famous person in their hometown. No matter how hard they fought, it was better than starving to death in the mountains and being beaten to death by the army.
Thirty thousand Danyang soldiers, some of whom were veterans, even followed Tao Qian to suppress the Xianbei in Youzhou and fought against the Qiang in Xiliang. Now they have attracted more followers from the same country. This can be said to be the solid foundation for Tao Qian's rule in Xuzhou.
The backbone of the service.
As the enemy magic groups became more and more ferocious, the secret attacks were defended by local Taoist priests, but more often they were grand offensives on the battlefield. Under large-scale spells, it was this backbone force that was on top. They died and were injured. By this time, 30,000 people were killed.
There are only 20,000 Danyang soldiers left with fighting strength.
Tao Qian's eyes were slightly regretful, and he patrolled a troop station. He put a robe on a soldier who was fifteen or sixteen years old, and then looked at six soldiers. Originally, the full complement of ten soldiers was reduced, but now there were three soldiers who died in battle.
He is a rare elite soldier who can die 30% of the time on the battlefield with cold weapons without losing morale.
"Are you homesick?" Tao Qian asked in a hoarse voice. His hometown, Danyang County, is actually not in Xuzhou, but in Yangzhou. It's a long way from here, separated by Xiapi and Jiujiang counties.
It has been a tradition since ancient times for fallen leaves to return to their roots, but when the soldiers looked at the old envoy, they all laughed: "I thought, I only have food to eat by following the envoy, what can I do when I go back?"
Tao Qian knew that the mountainous area in his hometown could not accommodate the reproduction of so many people, so he sighed: "It has to be like this, but I can't help but feel sorry for the folks who died in this battle."
A few bolder veterans stood up with resolute expressions: "It's better to die sooner or later. The thief Cao is so cruel. He killed my relatives and friends, Pao Ze, and they are sworn enemies. Even if they die, they will have no regrets."
These Danyang soldiers did not know that in later history, when Liu Bei rescued Xuzhou, four thousand Danyang soldiers were assigned to Liu Bei by Tao Shijun in front of him. Since then, Liu Bei has the most solid family background, and these people have also been allowed to march south.
During the Northern War, there was no chance of returning home.
They had been enemies of Cao Cao all their lives, and they got what they wanted in this matter.
At this time, the Danyang soldiers have not yet reached their later stage. Their expressions are resolute, and only a trace of white energy is coming out. They are already elite reserve forces. Unfortunately, the coach Tao Qian is old and weak, and cannot display the strength of the Danyang soldiers, while the enemy is stronger.
——Outside the city is Cao Cao's 50,000-strong army, which is recalcitrant! There are 60,000 Qingzhou soldiers, and other counties and counties are being invaded by more Qingzhou soldiers.
Tao Qian didn't know that he had blocked another disaster for Liu Bei. Everyone in the world knew about this group of Qingzhou soldiers. Their quality was average, but their quantity of 300,000 was terrible. The governor had long been preparing to change the target and use this group of thieves to harm Yuzhou.
Unfortunately, Ye Qing kicked him out of East Henan early.
After a round of inspection, Tao Qian went to the main city gate tower. The lights were bright, showing that several generals were rehearsing the war situation.
Tao Qian pushed the door open and went in. When he saw the generals saluting, he waved his hands and looked at the strong man at the head: "General Zang, how is the situation?"
"Reporting to the envoy, the enemy general Cao Ren captured the east of Peixian County, along the Surabaya River to Pengcheng, and drove the people to attack the city for more than ten cities. These Qingzhou soldiers were originally rogue bandits, plundering places, raping and looting..." Zang Ba responded with difficulty.
: "In short, now we are alone in the city and it is difficult to defend it. This battle is difficult to win."
Sun Guan was also promoted because of his reputation for bravery, but the intensity of the war in the past half month still frightened him, and he couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, is there any news about the reinforcements from Yuzhou and Qingzhou?"
Tao Qian stroked his eyebrows in silence and sighed: "Neither Qingzhou Tian Shijun, Yuzhou Liu Shijun is also a trustworthy person, and he will not let me down... I am afraid that Cao's army will be unable to retreat, and he can only wait for him to run out of supplies and retreat."
Already."
"The army is running out of rations?" When Zang Ba mentioned this, he looked towards the camp outside the city, his tiger eyes flashing with anger: "Cao Cao simply cannot support the consumption of 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers' army rations. I heard that he was killing and destroying the place in Yanzhou.
In terms of production order, he could barely support 50,000 regular troops. He only relied on occupying eastern Henan to maintain finances. This year, he was driven out of Yuzhou by Liu Shijun. What should he feed the 300,000 newly recruited Qingzhou soldiers?"
"These Qingzhou soldiers are not an army at all. They are clearly to drive away the bandits. Cao Cao did not dare to attack Yuzhou head-on anymore, so he robbed our Xuzhou of property, food and grass. This is a desperate act of militarism and fighting to support war. This is an imperative thing. What else can we do?
The excuse that my father Cao Song was tortured and killed by us is really in vain..."
Tao Qian sighed and said nothing about his subordinates' complaints.
"As one of the last veterans of the Han Dynasty, my civil and military skills are not bad. The problem is that I am sixty years old and have reached the end of my life. I have no energy or time to do many things."
Just like the crumbling Eastern Han Dynasty, it was barely supported by natural and man-made disasters and attacks by warlords, trying to maintain it for a few more years. However, the wealth that was barely accumulated in this way was also plundered by jackals.
"Wealth is nothing. If you lose it, you can save it again. If you die, you can't be resurrected." Tao Qian stared at the darkness outside the window and said worriedly: "The Qingzhou soldiers were born as rogues. Once they were rogues, they can't change their ferocious nature, especially if they don't have military rations to indulge themselves."
Looting, if this is released, can it be taken back?"
"The victims of the disaster in Qing and Yanzhou moved south and relied on me. Many of them settled near Pengcheng. When the troops arrived this time, they were all killed, all the chickens and dogs were killed, and no one left the market."
Sun Guan's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he added the latest military situation: "The scouts reported that Cao Ren led the army across the Si River, and broke through the south to seize the opportunity. Juling and Xiaqiu counties were all massacred."
Behind a "genuine massacre" were countless bloody tragedies, leaving everyone silent for a moment.
Although everyone thinks that this massacre was because the Qingzhou soldiers could not be controlled, it may not be Cao Cao's original intention - it is no longer the situation and background of the Qin army god Bai Qi who killed 200,000 Zhao soldiers. Since the unification and integration of the Qin and Han Dynasties, this kind of massacre has been done in the own tribe.
Is it doing more harm than good, unless it is abandoning the position of one's own clan?
But no matter what, half of the crime was attributed to the leader, so Zang Ba still cursed: "This Cao thief will not die well."
Sun Guan sighed secretly and asked: "The governor of Qingzhou Tian is still on patrol, so he can only rely on Liu Shijun of Yuzhou, but I don't know where Liu Shijun is now?"
Pengcheng was under heavy blockade, and everyone was still anxious because they didn't know that the petition against Dong had been issued, so it was difficult to determine whether Liu Bei would send troops as promised.
At this time, a person rushed in: "The Taoist priest saw red air coming from the east, and it was obviously released deliberately. It is thirty feet high and has entered Xuzhou."
"Ah..." everyone whispered, with only one happy thought in their hearts: "Liu Shijun sent troops and surrendered personally.
"You really believe in people." Tao Qian said happily.
Historically, Tao Qian gave Xuzhou to Liu Bei just to rejuvenate the Han Dynasty, hoping that Liu Bei could play the old role of Emperor Guangwu again - otherwise, who could he give it to but the wandering Liu Paopao?
Seeing such a momentum at this time, I was even more happy. I walked a few steps to the top of the city tower and looked at it from a distance.
Although he couldn't see his breath, looking at the continuous rainy night, he couldn't help but murmured to the sky: "Thank God for sending Liu Shijun again. I will follow the old history and follow the new master."
"It's just that I'm old and frail. I wonder if I can see the Three Han Dynasties?"