In this way, Dongcheng, which was originally extremely difficult to defeat, fell directly into the hands of Yan Liang because of Zhou Ping's arrangement. It must be said that sometimes a small mistake can cause unimaginable consequences.
Yan Liang sat in the first seat, Zhang Zhao and Zhang He sat on both sides, and Li Zhi stood solemnly in front of the three of them.
"Li Zhi, how long has Zhou Ping been gone?"
"Back to General, Zhou Ping has been gone for four hours."
Hearing Yan Liang's question, Li Zhi immediately answered.
"Four hours is a bit long. We don't have cavalry, so it will be difficult to pursue them."
Zhou Ping walked for four hours, that is, eight hours. If he wanted to pursue him again, he would not be able to catch up without cavalry.
"It doesn't matter, the general trend is now ours. Since the lord has pointed his sword at Shouchun, even if Zhou Ping leads his troops back, it will be of no avail. What we need to do now is not to go to Shouchun, but to the north."
Zhang Zhao thought for a moment, Zhou Ping and his like were just pawns, Shouchun City would be unable to resist the Lord's army, even if he went back, they had more important things to do now.
"Why go north?
Instead of going to Shouchun?"
Hearing Zhang Zhao's words, Yan Liang was also stunned. If he didn't join Yuan Shu to surround Shouchun, he would go to the north to work?
He didn't understand a little bit.
Looking at Zhang Zhao, Yan Liang's eyes were full of doubts.
"General, now the situation in Shouchun City has been decided. Our going to Shouchun is just the icing on the cake. If Chen Wen escapes Shouchun in a critical moment and goes north to Yuzhou, it will be troublesome. Instead of us going to Shouchun, it is better to go north to block Chen Wen's escape.
Passage, trapping him in Jiujiang County."
Zhang Zhao looked at Yan Liang calmly, already thinking about what might happen next.
"Mr. Zibu, since you are afraid that Chen Wen will escape with the Han Emperor, even if we prevent him from going to Yuzhou, what if he escapes to Jingzhou?"
Zhang He also deeply agreed with Zhang Zhao's analysis, but if he could prevent him from going to Yuzhou, what should he do if he went to Jingzhou?
"Don't worry, Jingzhou Liu Biao and Yuan Shao will never dare to let Chen Wen take the Han Emperor there, because now the Han Emperor is a burden. Whoever he is may become the target of our next attack. As long as they are not stupid
, even if Chen Wen escapes, they will send him out respectfully."
In response to Zhang He's question, Zhang Zhao shook his head. He was now sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai and could see many things further than Chen Gong.
"Now that I know it clearly, I will immediately send scouts to find the lord and tell the lord that we will not participate in the Battle of Shouchun and go directly to Yicheng Heping'a to block Chen Wen's passage north to Yuzhou."
Zhang Zhao's analysis is very reasonable, and Yan Liang can now see the general trend clearly and understand what he should do most at this time.
"promise."
Yan Liang gave the order and the army turned north, heading towards Dangtu and Heping'a, blocking Chen Wen's northward passage.
Zhou Ping led an army of 40,000 people and rushed back to Shouchun City without looking back. Chen Wen saw Zhou Ping returning and to be honest, he felt a little calmer. However, Yuan Shu's army was approaching and the war was still not optimistic.
After Yuan Shu captured Liyang, his army marched westward and dredged Qiu. The two cities of Hefei were short of soldiers and horses, so they surrendered directly to the city. After capturing these two places, his army marched north to directly attack Chengde.
"General, my lord's scout is here."
Yan Liang led his troops northward, while the scouts sent by Yuan Shu first arrived at Dongcheng. After learning that Yan Liang was heading north, they ran wildly again and finally caught up with Yan Liang.
"Quick announcement."
Hearing that it was the person sent by Yuan Shu, Yan Liang greeted the person directly.
"General."
After the scout entered the tent, he saluted Yan Liang directly.
"No need to be polite, my lord, what are your orders?"
Yan Liang waved his hand.
"My lord has an order. After General Yan Liang captures Dongcheng, he does not need to participate in the Battle of Shouchun. He will lead his army to the north immediately. General Ma Chao has already led his cavalry to Xiacai. You must lead your army to capture Ping'a and Dangtu, and defend the north with Ma Chao.
, to prevent Chen Wen from fleeing to Yuzhou."
The scout directly conveyed Yuan Shu's military order to Yan Liang, and Yan Liang nodded when he heard the order. Fortunately, he listened to Zhang Zhao and chose to go north. Otherwise, if he really wanted to fight Shouchun, he would have to rush north.
"Yan Liang respectfully obeys the Lord's order."
"Then I will return and return my message to the lord."
Seeing Yan Liang receiving the order, the scouts saluted him with clasped fists, then turned around and left.
"Mr. Zibu, you still understand my lord's heart."
The scout left, and Yan Liang glanced at Zhang Zhao beside him.
"It's not that I understand my lord's heart, but the situation is such that I just do what's best for us."
Faced with Yan Liang's compliment, Zhang Zhao had the same expression as he should have.
"Well, then there's nothing to hesitate about. Let's speed up and head north."
"promise."
Shouchun City is now under full martial law, and Zhang Xun, Zhou Ping, You Yu and other important ministers in Chen Wen's mansion are among them.
"Zhi'an, the current situation is very serious for us. Although Zhou Ping's 40,000 troops have joined, the Shouchun wall is not high. It will be difficult to resist Yuan Shu's army. Is there any way to open it?
The situation of the war?"
Chen Wen glanced at Zhang Xun, his eyes full of expectation.
"Sir, with our strength now, if we want to open up the situation, we can only rely on external forces."
A look of thought flashed in Zhang Xun's eyes.
"external force?
Where are the external forces?”
After hearing Zhang Xun's words, Chen Wen also started to think.
"Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou and Yuan Benchu of Nanyang are the only two who can send troops to support us now."
Zhang Xun directly named the two most likely people.
"Do they two dare to send troops to rescue now?"
When Chen Wen heard their names, his eyes were full of doubts.
"I don't know either. I can only say that we have to do our best to let fate dictate."
Zhang Xun shook his head. To be honest, he didn't know whether these two people would send troops, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Now only these two people had the strength to send troops.
"Okay, then just follow the arrangements and leave if nothing happens."
Chen Wen's eyes were full of loneliness, and then he waved his hand to signal everyone to leave.
"promise."
Zhang Xun and several others, who were also governors, clasped their fists and left.
The three of them walked side by side, none of them spoke, while Zhou Ping looked like he was hesitant to speak.
"Zhou Ping, if you have anything to say, just say it."
Zhang Xun glanced at Zhou Ping, wondering what he wanted to say.
"Zhi'an, do you think we can hope to stop Yuan Shu?"
Zhou Ping looked at Zhang Xun and finally spoke.
"There is no hope of resisting Yuan Shu, but the chance can only be said to be very small."
Zhang Xun shook his head, it was really difficult to block Yuan Shu.
"Then we might as well give up Shouchun, give up Yangzhou, and escort His Majesty north to Yuzhou with troops and horses."
Zhou Ping thought about it for a while and came up with a suggestion that he didn't even want to say.
"Abandon Yangzhou?
Do you think adults do?
Besides, we have a deep foundation in Yangzhou and are being chased by Yuan Shu. If we go north to Yuzhou and have no foundation, not to mention whether Yuan Shu will chase us or not, the princes in Yuzhou alone will not be able to tolerate us."
Zhang Xun also considered going north to Yuzhou, but it was just a consideration. Going from Yangzhou to Yuzhou can only be said to be jumping from one fire pit to another, and it is not worth it.
"I see."
After hearing Zhang Xun's analysis, Zhou Ping also shook his head and decided to defend Shouchun City with peace of mind.
