The first person to learn that Chen Chong was in Chencang was actually not Liu Fan. After the Battle of Duanliuyuan, although Han Sui and others led their troops to withdraw westward, they were not ready to withdraw directly to Longshang. In their opinion
, although Liu Fan temporarily won, they still had to face many tests if they wanted to occupy Guanzhong. Therefore, under Ma Teng's suggestion, they prepared to temporarily occupy Fufeng to observe further changes in the situation.
But after a short rest in Xi County, they were surprised to find that the Shu army did not attack Chang'an directly, but instead a large number of soldiers went to Xi County. The Liang people had no idea of fighting Liu Fan, so they had to abandon the city and continue to the west.
Retreat.
On the way, Cheng Gongying thought about the current situation and suggested to everyone that even if the Shu army continued to press, for the sake of the future, whether it was war or peace, they could not always give in. The most urgent thing now was to take advantage of the Shu army before it could reach them.
, first go to take the four places of Chencang, Yumi, Yongxian, and Qixian. For Liangzhou, having these four cities in hand means that the gateway to Guanzhong is wide open, but it is difficult for the Shu army to attack this dangerous place. Once there
At this time, whether it is rushing to aid Lu Bu or negotiating with Liu Fan, the Xiliang people will take the initiative.
Cheng Gongying especially emphasized the importance of Chencang. For this reason, he said metaphorically: "If the four counties are the wings that can help our eagles fly, then Chencang is the wing bone. Without Chencang as the foundation, the other counties would be nothing but nothing."
Bones, skin and flesh, just for people to laugh at."
Everyone strongly agreed with this, but Li Kan was worried about it. Ten years ago, when Huangfu Song was responsible for resisting the Xiliang coalition forces, more than a thousand people defended Chencang, and the Xiliang coalition forces continued to attack for more than a month. He still vividly remembered the past.
He also remembered that he passed by Chencang before the war and had a discussion with the county magistrate Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji's talent made him even more uneasy. He discussed this matter with everyone: "What should we do if we can't be surrounded?"
Han Sui heard that he and Zhang Ji had discussed and they liked each other very well. He immediately smiled and said: "What's so difficult about this? I might as well let you go first and then invite the county magistrate to come out to meet you. Once we take advantage of the opportunity, the defenders in the city can still
What? I can only open the door obediently."
After hearing this, everyone praised the clever plan. Even though Li Kan was unwilling and had no better plan, he had no choice but to act according to Han Sui's instructions. He led more than 5,000 cavalry to leave the group first, and ran away from the army for more than ten miles before slowing down.
His footsteps passed through Moxing Ridge and Dongguan as usual, and then after crossing the Qianshui River, when he was still about ten miles away from Chencang, he sent the messenger who had met Zhang Ji last time to inform Chencang that he would from now on
The passing news made them wait for a while.
Not long after the whole army crossed the river, the messenger returned to the army to report that the county magistrate had agreed. He just said that the army had arrived in a hurry. He was going to prepare food and cooking utensils, and he might have to wait in front of the door. Li Kan was originally worried, but when he saw
Since Zhang agreed so smoothly, he couldn't help but feel relaxed and felt a little guilty.
He said to his accompanying brother Li Wangtan: "I heard that the kings who conquered the world mostly won in a dignified way. Even if they occasionally resorted to tricks, they were just expedients. But now our army has been avoiding battles one after another and has repeatedly resorted to this devious trick.
, I’m afraid it will make the world laugh at you and ruin the reputation of our army!”
Even though he couldn't bear it, he knew that capturing Chencang was the top priority right now, so he could only continue westward along the Weishui River. After walking for another half an hour, the outline of Chencang City gradually came into view...
Even though it was not the first time to see Chencang, people in Liang couldn't help but marvel when they looked at it from a distance: Chencang City is located under Changle Yuan, on the north bank of the Weishui River. It covers an area of about two miles and was the former recreation ground of Duke Wu of Qin.
It is not a big city. However, after the key repairs by Zhang Wen, Huangfu Song, and Dong Zhuo, Chencang City is one of the few cities in the country that is completely built with wood and stone. At a glance, it is densely packed with blue-black bricks and stones.
, and its wall height of nearly five feet, as well as the deliberately semi-concave curvature in the wall when building the wall, basically eliminated the possibility of any ants attacking the city. And the countless crenellations on the wall mean that the city can be attacked.
The boundless rain of arrows falls from time to time.
The people of Liang almost unanimously recalled several sieges over the past few years. These experiences of being unable to conquer the city by force told them that if they wanted to conquer the city head-on, they would probably have to build mountains of earth on all sides and besiege it for a long time. But thinking that they might not need to attack by force today,
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
When Li Kan led more than a hundred cavalry directly to the east gate of Chencang, he saw some guards guarding the city gate. The defense was much tighter than when he came. He felt a little nervous and pretended to hand over his famous assassin and official seal to the guards for no reason.
They watched and chatted, first asking when Zhang Ji would arrive and then the nearest city.
How is the situation? Is there a snowstorm? Finally, he asked a seemingly casual question: "I have been out of the country since 2016. There don't seem to be so many guards in the city. Are they recruiting soldiers?"
One of the guards looked at Li Kan rather strangely, and then replied: "Why did the envoy forget? When the envoy came with his army a year ago, the county commander was recruiting people to guard against the Shu people!" Li Kan was immediately stunned.
I was relieved when I remembered that when I was separated from Zhang Ji last time, I did see people gathering.
After waiting quietly for a while, Li Kan suddenly heard a commotion in the city. Looking towards the city gate, he could vaguely see a person wearing a black and red wide-sleeved robe walking towards here. Li Kan immediately cheered up and looked at the city gate.
They rode their horses back and patted the followers on both sides with their left and right hands respectively. This was the signal they had made when they came, implying that once they saw Zhang Ji coming, the three of them would immediately mount their horses and capture him quickly. As the figures in the distance got closer and closer, the palms of Li Kan and others could not help but sweat. Just as they were looking at the door with all their concentration, like thunder on the ground, a loud horn sound suddenly sounded from the tower, which was originally dull.
Under the unremarkable female wall, countless heads suddenly appeared densely. They stretched their bows and drew their strings, and their arrow clusters shone coldly in the sun like ice. The guards guarding the city gate also immediately surrounded them, Chang Ge.
Standing in front of Li Kan like a shrub.
Even though the sitting horse was restlessly restless, Li Kan did not dare to make any move. He was not wearing a dagger at this time, knowing that if he resisted, he would be shot into a hedgehog by the arrows from the city. But on the surface,
He still showed an expression of shock and anger, and while holding on to the bridle, he yelled at the surrounding soldiers: "What do you want to do by threatening the superior officer? Rebellious? Chaos?!"
However, as soon as the words came out, Zhang Ji was seen walking slowly out of the city gate, stopping a dozen steps away from him, and said with a half-smile: "The general is leading the army here, I'm afraid it's not in line with the order! I heard that the general is on the front line.
We were defeated and had already retreated to Xijing. Why did the general come here instead? Maybe he had the intention of seizing the city and wanted to harm me in front of the gate!"…
Li Kan secretly screamed something bad. Unexpectedly, Zhang Ji was so well-informed. In only four or five days, he already knew the results of the battle on the front line. If he couldn't handle it properly, he might not even be able to capture Chencang, let alone capture Chen Cang.
It was saved. Therefore, he forced a smile and continued to make his last effort: "De Rong was half right. Our army was indeed defeated by the Shu people, but coming here at this time is just to let De Rong open a passage.
Just let me go back to Longshang, why should we fight with each other?"
Zhang was a little amused when he saw Li Kan's face changing so quickly. He waved his hand and said, "General, there is no need to be so panicked. I met with the general today, and I just wanted to ask the envoy to give you a few words." p>
When Li Kan heard this, some hope suddenly ignited in his heart, and he raised his hand and said: "What conditions does De Rong have, but it doesn't matter. I am familiar with the former general, so I will not let De Rong down."
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ji shook his head and said, "Where are my words? I am just a county magistrate, what can I ask for?" He then bowed to the side and asked the people behind him to come forward, and then said to Li Kan
He said slowly: "Please let me tell you these words in person."
Li Kan only looked at it briefly, and suddenly felt cold all over. After all, he had seen the wanted notice when he was in Chang'an. How could he not know Chen Chong? Suddenly enlightened and full of fear, Li Kan immediately got off his horse and faced the surroundings.
Ru Lin, with his spear and halberd, bowed solemnly to Chen Chong: "I didn't expect you to be here!" After that, he couldn't help laughing at himself and said, "If I knew that you were here, I'm afraid we would have surrendered directly to Liu Fan.
I won’t come here either.”
Chen Chong looked at Li Kan indifferently for a moment. He patted the dust on his sleeves, and then said: "General, why don't you mean what you say? With the wisdom of Han Wen, you should attack with all your strength!"
Li Kan's hair grew cold when he heard this. He didn't even dare to say anything. Chen Chong did not continue to embarrass him, but just ordered the soldiers around him to disperse. After Li Kan got up, he continued: "I have no intention of fighting with them anymore."
, you go back and tell me a few words. If they understand the current situation, surrender to the Bafu now, and fight against me, I can forget the blame. If they still insist on separatist control of Longshang now, I can let go of the return route for the time being, but there will be a war in the future.
Meeting each other is inevitable."
After saying that, all the soldiers immediately made way for Li Kan. Li Kan felt like he was being pardoned and no longer knew what to say. He could only kowtow to Chen Chong again and again, then immediately climbed onto the saddle, lowered his head and did not dare to look around again, then turned around.
The horse's head left in a hurry.
In the afternoon of the same day, the Liang army was frightened when they received the news that Chen Chong was still in Chencang. The generals had many disputes over Chen Chong's words. After all, they did not know the strength of Chen Chong's troops and whether Chen Chong had other arrangements. But in the end, they
Still did not choose to surrender. After all, the current situation in Kanto and Kansai is extremely chaotic. Even if Liu Bei and Chen Chong are the resurrected emperor Han Xin, it is difficult to say that they will win. Moreover, Chen Chong's conditions are too harsh and it is difficult for the generals to accept them.
But at the same time, the Liang people also gave up their plan to occupy Chencang and no longer expected to occupy Sizhou City. Instead, they chose to change direction and travel upstream along the Qian River, returning to Longyou via Fanxukou.
Chen Chong was not surprised by this situation. In fact, most of his conversations with Li Kan were just pretending. After all, the biggest problem before him was how to deal with Liu Fan's Shu army. He did not have the strength to go there.
Provoking others. The situation in Kanto has been delayed for several months, and he has no more time to waste time in Guanzhong.
After arranging the final strength of his troops, Chen Chong rejected the envoy Liu Fan who came to recruit him, and he was determined to fight quickly.