Yuan Shu was rushing towards Xiangyang, when suddenly the scout in front came back to report the news.
"Haha, Wang Lang came very quickly. I ordered the army to stop advancing temporarily and ordered Wang Lang to come to see me as soon as possible."
Upon hearing the arrival of Wang Lang's troops, Yuan Shu immediately waved his hand to signal the army to pause and wait for Wang Lang to come over to meet.
"General Wang Lang, Your Majesty has an order, please go and report to His Majesty immediately."
Yuan Shu's decree was directly conveyed to Wang Lang's army, but Wang Lang did not dare to delay after hearing this, and directly fought with Yuan Shu under the protection of a hundred personal guards.
"Your Majesty, I came a little late and I hope you will be punished."
Wang Lang came to Yuan Shu's chariot and knelt down to apologize to Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu opened the curtain of the carriage and slowly got off the cart.
"You and Dong Zhao first put down the rebellion in Sizhou, and then rushed to Jingzhou to support you. What's the crime? Get up."
He helped Wang Lang up with both hands. Although Wang Lang was only in his forties, his temples had turned gray after years of running around.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"How about it?
Where is Dong Gongren?
Why can’t I see him coming?”
He gently patted off the dirt on Wang Lang's body. Someone around him had already prepared a stool for resting, and they sat on the stool together.
"After receiving a message from General Cai Mao, we traveled day and night and bypassed Yingjian Mountain in advance. Then Gongren and I split into two groups. He led 20,000 troops to attack Xiang Lang who was ambushing in Yingjian Mountain in reverse, while I
Lead an army of 50,000 and come to meet His Majesty."
Upon hearing Yuan Shu's inquiry about Dong Zhao's whereabouts, Wang Lang immediately told him about the division of troops.
"Well, I hope Dong Zhao can return safely. Now, bring your soldiers and horses to join the army."
Yuan Shu nodded to Wang Lang and immediately ordered him to lead his soldiers to fight with him.
Wang Lang came with 50,000 soldiers to fight Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu's army once again surged to 150,000, rushing towards Xiangyang City in a mighty manner.
Huang Wan escaped Yuan Shu's pursuit and restrained his defeated troops. He actually gathered only more than 30,000 people out of the 170,000-strong army.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
The head guard looked at Huang Wan who had calmed down and asked him directly.
"what to do?
Someone, pull Huang Yu down and chop him down."
Huang Wan glanced at Huang Yu, the commander of the bodyguards, and immediately became angry, calling the guards around him to pull him down and chop him down.
"My lord, the captain of the bodyguard is not guilty,"
"Yes, if the guard commander hadn't made a decisive decision, we might have been killed by Yuan Shu by now."
"That's right, you can't kill the captain of the bodyguard."
When they heard that Huang Wan was going to kill Huang Yu, the head of the bodyguard, all the bodyguards around him knelt on the ground and begged Huang Wan for mercy.
"Don't say it anymore. I am guilty of disrespecting my superiors and should be killed. Don't make things difficult for me."
Seeing Huang Wan's livid face, Huang Yu knew the current situation. If Huang Wan was really forced by the pressure of everyone and took his own life, then it might be difficult for Huang Wan to keep more than 30,000 people in his hands.
Difficult.
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Wan turned his back directly, because he knew what Huang Yu was going to do. In fact, he didn't want to do this, but if he couldn't establish prestige now, then he really wouldn't have a chance to take away these people.
"Sir, Huang Yu has gone."
Huang Yu kowtowed three times, then drew a knife and wiped his neck.
"This is the consequences of disrespecting orders. If anyone dares to disobey my military orders again, they will be killed without mercy."
Huang Wan never turned around, but shouted loudly to the soldiers on all sides.
"Respect your Lordship's order."
"Follow your orders."
"Follow your orders."
Huang Wan, who was using Huang Yu's body to show off his power, no one dared to compete with him at this moment. They all knelt down on one knee and saluted Huang Wan with clasped fists.
"If there is no captain, the commander of the camp will be on the top. If there is no senior leader of the camp, the leader of the team will be on the top. If there is no leader of the team, the commander will be on the top. If there is no commander, the commander of the corps will be on the top. And so on. Then all the soldiers and horses will follow me back to Xiangyang."
"promise."
After killing people to establish his authority, Huang Wan finally established a command system again, and more than 30,000 soldiers and horses once again became organized and disciplined and rushed towards Xiangyang.
Although Huang Wan's side temporarily restored the command structure, the problem of deserters was not obvious at first. Now that there is a command, it is directly presented to Huang Wan.
"In just two days, more than 3,000 people have left."
Huang Wan kicked over the table in front of him, and all his calmness and elegance had long since disappeared with this great defeat.
"Sir, there is nothing we can do now. Although the command system has been temporarily restored, we have just experienced a failure, and morale is low. It is inevitable that the soldiers will escape."
A newly promoted captain glanced at Huang Wan, knelt down on one knee and saluted him.
"No, if we keep running like this and wait until we reach Xiangyang, it will be good to have 10,000 people. I will summon the captains from all the ministries to come over for discussion. I have something to announce."
Although Huang Wan knew that what the captain said was true, this situation could not continue, otherwise big problems would really arise.
"promise."
Following Huang Wan's order, a group of newly promoted captains gathered in Huang Wan's tent. Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what Huang Wan wanted to do.
"I asked you to come over. Do you know what's going on?"
Huang Wan looked at the people in front of him. Some of them were originally school captains, and some were promoted from camp commanders and team leaders.
"have no idea."
When Huang Wan spoke, everyone saluted him.
"Then let me tell you something now. There must be desertions in all ministries."
Huang Wan spoke again, and everyone lowered their heads. In the case of deserters, except for Huang Wan's personal soldiers, all of his subordinates were running away.
Seeing everyone lowering their heads, Huang Wan also frowned. He knew that this situation was not theirs. The root cause was the defeat. In the final analysis, it was because of his lack of command.
"I don't care what happened before. Now I will implement the method of sitting together. If someone in the group runs away, the whole group will be killed. If there is anyone in the group who refuses to retaliate, they will all be killed.
By analogy, if there really is a large-scale rout, you captains had better run with you, otherwise I will kill you all without mercy.
But as long as I can successfully return to Xiangyang, everyone will be promoted to a higher position, and I will not be stingy with gold, silver, and silk, do you understand?"
As a planner, Huang Wan naturally knows what it means to get a jujube with a slap. What he said this time was both a threat and a reward. Only in this way can these people sincerely work for him and help him bring people safely to Xiangyang.
.
"promise."
Hearing that Huang Wan wanted to use the method of sitting together, all the captains frowned, but when they heard that they could be promoted to a higher rank after returning to Luoyang, they also accepted Huang Wan's suggestion.
Soon the method of sitting together was spread among the soldiers and horses. Some soldiers immediately exploded when they heard the news.
Originally they didn't want to run, but now that the method of sitting is revealed, these people are all confused, because they can guarantee that they will not run, but they cannot guarantee that their teammates will not run.
Well, nearly 3,000 people fled that night. After hearing the news, the three captains also knew that the situation was not good and escaped without hesitation.
At dawn the next day, Huang Wan woke up and had not done anything. His personal guards came directly to him.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the face of the personal guard, Huang Wan couldn't help but have a bad thought.
"Sir, as soon as the Lian Zufa came out last night, about three thousand soldiers defected that day. Three of the captains also saw that the situation was not good and disappeared."
The personal guard directly told Huang Wan the news he had just received.
"What?
Three thousand people ran away, and three captains followed?"
When Huang Wan heard the news, he was about to explode. The order just announced last night, and now he was given such a blow to the head, he really thought that Huang Wan couldn't move.
