Although what Dian Wei said makes sense, now is not the time to care about that. They
If China can afford to wait, China cannot afford to wait. Every day it delays, the empire's eyes will be on Jingzhou. This is not right for an empire.
The sooner those troublemakers are allowed to pop up and wiped out, the better China can get out of this internal struggle and use the strength of the whole country to fight a national war against the Kushan Empire.
"Then what if something goes wrong?"
Dian Wei was a little hesitant about Zhang Hong's words. He really didn't dare to confirm whether it was right or wrong to let Zang Ba lead his troops to withdraw to Jin Chun now.
"If anything goes wrong, I, Zhang Hong, will take full responsibility for it. General, don't hesitate."
Zhang Hong suddenly straightened up and bowed directly to Dian Wei. His bow was not to Dian Wei, but to Yuan Shu who was behind Dian Wei. Now only Dian Wei could suppress Zang Ba and let him lead his troops to withdraw from Jiangxia.
Retired to Jinchun to garrison.
"Let's do this. We will send people to Xindu at night to report this matter to His Majesty. If the New Han Dynasty does not attack Jiangxia and Changsha is not lost during this period, we will temporarily let Zang Ba garrison Jiangxia.
If the enemy attacks before the letter is answered, let Zang Ba lead his army to retreat to Jin Chun to see what the consequences will be."
Since Zhang Hong has said so, what else can Dian Wei say, but the current situation is that it is not time to retreat yet, so we can wait until Changsha is captured by Cai Hao and then retreat to Yangzhou.
"Okay, everything is in accordance with the general, but we can no longer stay here. We must go north immediately to meet General Zang Ba for the first round."
Zhang Hong nodded. It was indeed not yet time for a complete withdrawal of troops, but he couldn't stay here anymore. He had to go north to Xiling immediately to meet Zang Ba.
"Okay, then let's go north to Xiling to meet Zang Ba."
Dian Wei quietly marched northward with five thousand guardsmen, heading towards Jiangxia County in the dark.
By the time Dian Wei secretly arrived at Xiling, Zang Ba had already withdrawn his troops and headed north to Anlu to prepare to meet the New Han army heading south.
"It's too late, my lord, please wait in Xiling while I chase you."
Now that they are here, they can't run away in vain, and they can't let Zang Ba lead his troops to Anlu to confront the New Han army heading south.
"Well, general, go quickly, I will lead the people to catch up behind you."
Zhang Hong knew that time was precious now, so he did not want to go with Dian Wei, as that would slow down Dian Wei's progress.
"Then Dianwei will go."
Dian Wei did not hesitate, directly mounted his horse and went north to pursue Zang Ba's army.
After two days and one night, Dian Wei finally caught up with Zang Ba's army. When the army set up camp at night, he sneaked into the camp and came outside Zang Ba's tent.
"Whoosh."
Dian Wei grabbed a stone and threw it directly into the distance.
"If there is any movement, ask the patrol soldiers to investigate."
The personal guards guarding Zang Ba's tent immediately became vigilant. One of them immediately ordered the anxious patrol soldiers to go and investigate, but they stood guard outside the tent and did not move even a step.
"No."
Zang Ba, who was in the tent, naturally heard the commotion, and someone would come to visit the camp. Apart from Dian Wei or the guards under his command, he could not think of anyone else.
"General."
Seeing Zang Ba appear, all the guards directly cupped their fists and saluted.
"You guys can go down and rest for now. I'm not sleepy today, so I don't need to serve you."
Zang Ba glanced at the guards in front of him and directly ordered them to go down and rest, otherwise he would not give Dian Wei a chance to come over.
"General?"
"Go down, this is a military order."
Since Zang Ba insisted, the guards had nothing to say, so they just made a promise and left Zang Ba's tent.
"Come out, I've arranged for everyone to leave."
After everyone left, Zang Ba glanced around, but found no one.
"Whoosh."
A dark shadow flashed past and went directly into Zang Ba's tent.
"General Dian Wei, don't be so careful."
Zang Ba could only shake his head and enter the tent.
"You can't be careful, Xuangao, where are you going?"
Dian Wei looked at Zang Ba in front of him and directly asked him where he was going.
"Nanyang Zhang Fang unexpectedly surrendered to Xinhan. Now all the 50,000 troops of Xinhan who attacked Nanyang have gone south and are heading towards Jiangxia. I am about to lead my troops to station in Anlu to resist the southward army of Xinhan."
When Dian Wei asked about his movements, Zang Ba thought that the other party did not know that Nanyang had surrendered and that the enemy troops were moving south to attack Jiangxia.
"Xuan Gao, order the army to stop moving northward for the time being."
Sure enough, Zang Ba's choice was the same as Zhang Hong said, which was to have a life-and-death battle with the enemy in Anlu.
"General Dian Wei, why is this?
The enemy will arrive in Suixian soon, so why should I stop going north now?"
Now Zang Ba was immediately confused. What happened?
Why stop heading north? Don't you know that if the gateway to Jiangxia in Anlu City is lost, the enemy will be able to march straight in, and Jiangxia will be really in danger by then.
"Xuan Gao, these are what Mr. Zigang meant. He said that the lord wants to play a big game of chess, and as a minister, one must have a spiritual heart, so he wants you to lead the Jiangxia troops to retreat to Jinchun, and move the entire
Jingzhou was given to Xinhan."
Dian Wei directly expressed Zhang Hong's meaning.
"Big chess?
What kind of chess is going to give up the entire Jingzhou to Xinhan?
A general is a man who knows how to fight. Now Nanyang has returned to the Han Dynasty, and Changsha is about to be conquered by Cai Mao. I, Jiangxia, am a wedge inserted in Jingzhou.
If we give Jiangxia to Xinhan, Jingzhou will be connected with all directions and become a whole. Even if your Majesty gathers enough troops, it will be difficult to capture it.
What's more, it is His Majesty's decree that we be stationed in Jiangxia. If we withdraw from Jiangxia now, wouldn't it be disrespectful to resist the decree? I don't understand."
Now Zang Ba is even more confused. Although he is not as stupid as Dian Wei, he is not famous for his intelligence. There is a special meaning for him to be stationed in Jiangxia, and he is stationed in accordance with Yuan Shu's order. If Jiangxia is lost,
, he really didn’t know what to do.
"That's what I said, but Mr. Zigang insisted on doing it and took full responsibility. As for the truth behind it, I'd better discuss it after meeting with the adults."
It is really difficult for Dian Wei, an old man, to explain the truth to Zang Ba, who is smarter than him, so Dian Wei did not prepare to explain. He is here only to bring Zang Ba back. As for the explanation,
Just give it to Zhang Hong.
"Now that my army has moved north, how can I go to see Lord Zigang?"
Hearing that Dian Wei wanted to see Zhang Hong by himself, Zang Ba frowned.
"Didn't I say that the army will postpone its march? You can ride south with me alone to meet Master Zhang Hong. If he can convince you, you will withdraw your troops and return to Xiling. If he refuses to convince you, you can return and lead the army north to follow him.
A decisive battle with those thieves from Xinhan."
Glancing at Zang Ba, Dian Wei was also a little anxious.
"Okay, then we will go south tomorrow to meet Mr. Zigang."
After all, Dian Wei is General Wei, Yuan Shu's personal bodyguard general. It can be said that every general in the Chinese Empire will give him three points of favor. Naturally, the same goes for Zang Ba. At most, he will just run away for a few days, so of course he will go.
"What do you want tomorrow? Let's leave now. Let's travel day and night. We should be able to catch up with Zhang Zigang who is heading north in one day and one night."
When Dian Wei heard that Zang Ba was leaving tomorrow, he immediately became anxious and pulled him to go south overnight.
"General Dian Wei, you must know that I still have tens of thousands of troops under my command. I have to make some arrangements before I can leave. Besides, how can I explain why I am going south under the stars in the middle of the night?
Don’t worry, I’ve made arrangements to go south with you to meet Mr. Zigang early tomorrow morning.”
Zang Ba is also depressed. You are like cumin. You come and go like the wind. You can leave whenever you want. You can't do it yourself. He has tens of thousands of people with him and his family. If you leave without giving an explanation, then what's the point?
No more blowing up the pot.
"Okay, I'll wait for you five miles south of the camp tomorrow morning. Say goodbye."
Dian Wei glanced at Zang Ba, clasped his fists and saluted, then rushed out of the tent and disappeared into the camp.
The next day Zang Ba ordered the army to camp and rest on the spot. At the same time, he summoned the army captain Haosheng to guard the camp. After explaining everything, he and he left the camp alone. After fighting with Dian Wei outside the camp, the two men
Ride and walk south to meet Zhang Hong.
"Mr. Zigang, I brought Xuangao back."
Dian Wei's sharp eyes saw Zhang Hong heading north first, and he slapped the horse's butt and rushed to his side.
"Zang Ba pays homage to Mr. Zigang."
Zang Ba also dismounted his horse and saluted Zhang Hong with clasped fists.
"Okay, General Zang Ba, you've had a hard time traveling all the way."
Zhang Hong also wanted to salute Zang Ba. Although he was a state shepherd in terms of official position, Zang Ba was also a Xuzhou captain. There was not much difference between the two. In addition, Zang Ba was a marching general, so Zhang Hong naturally had to show him corresponding respect.
"It's not hard, Mr. Zigang. Zang Ba is here to retreat from Jiangxia."
Zang Ba glanced at Zhang Hong and directly asked what Dian Wei had said.
"Come on, come on, I'll explain it to you in detail."
Zhang Hong glanced at Dian Wei and knew that he must not have expressed himself clearly, so he pulled him aside directly.
"Xuan Gao, you must have seen the current situation in Jiangxia. If Nanyang is lost, our dominance will be broken, and Changsha County will have to take refuge with Cai Mao. In this way, Jiangxia County is a wedge and an isolated city. This is a great disadvantage in the military.
Act of,
If Your Majesty wants to send troops now, Jiangxia will be the bridgehead and the bridge for Yangzhou to attack Jiangzhou. The question now is, although China is at war on two fronts, the domestic troops and horses are still more than enough to deal with Jingzhou, but why has Your Majesty not sent troops yet?"
Zhang Hong spoke directly, leaving questions for Zang Ba to think about on his own.
"Your Majesty must have felt that the time was not yet ripe, so he did not send troops to annihilate Jingzhou. It is precisely because of this that I have to defend Jiangxia and prevent Jingzhou from colluding with each other. Otherwise, by the time His Majesty sends out troops, Jingzhou will be completely integrated.
