That night, Liu Xiu summoned Deng Yu and others for a meeting.
He circulated his eldest brother's reply to everyone. After everyone in the circle had read it, Liu Xiu asked with a smile: "My eldest brother actually asked me to make my own decision on such a big matter. What do you think it means?"
While everyone was deep in thought, Jiu'er said: "My lord, many people in Cai Yang are dissatisfied with my lord now."
Liu Xiu looked at Jiu'er in confusion and asked curiously: "Why are you dissatisfied with me?"
Jiuer frowned and said in a low voice: "Some people are now spreading rumors that the Lord intends to establish his own business in Chaoyang and build another mountain!"
When Liu Xiu heard this, he slapped the table and said in a deep voice: "This is unreasonable!"
Deng Yu rolled his eyes and said: "It is understandable that some people would say this. Our strength in Chaoyang has expanded too quickly. When we first arrived, there were only 300 people. After an offensive and defensive battle, 300 brothers were left.
There were less than fifty people, but our troops increased to more than a thousand. In the next few days, we increased from more than a thousand to more than three thousand now. With such a rapid expansion rate, it is no wonder that in
Cai Yang has attracted criticism."
Yan Guang answered: "Moreover, we obviously have so many troops, but we neither ask Cai Yang for food, nor money or materials. Similarly, the money, grain, and materials we seized have not been shipped back."
Cai Yang, therefore, some people with ulterior motives will naturally add insult to injury and slander the Lord."
Liu Xiu sighed and said: "I don't want to ask Cai Yang for money, food or materials. I don't want to draw a clear line between me and my eldest brother, but I don't want to cause any more trouble and pressure to my eldest brother."
Cai Yang's food and materials are also stretched thin. He continued: "The money, grain and materials seized in Chaoyang have not been transported back to Caiyang because our own needs are too great. Chaoyang's money, food and materials can only be barely self-sufficient."
Deng Yu shrugged and said: "People with ulterior motives will not consider these aspects. Even if they do, they will not tell them. They will only intensify and spread rumors that are detrimental to the lord."
Yan Guang nodded and said: "I'm afraid it's because of this that the general sent such a reply, asking the lord to make his own decision. The general is not angry with the lord, but with those who spread rumors.
"
Ma Wu jumped up and asked loudly: "Who on earth is having trouble with the Lord? He is spreading such rumors behind his back to disturb the morale of the army. He deserves to be punished!"
Deng Yu waved his hand to Ma Wu and motioned for him to sit down and not be impulsive. He explained: "The situation within our side is relatively complicated, and we cannot just shout and kill at every turn."
In addition to the two brothers Liu Yan and Liu Xiu, there are also a large group of Liu family members such as Liu Jia, Liu Ji, Liu Yong, Liu Gong, Liu Jin, etc. among the top leaders of the Zhu Tiandu Department.
Although they are all grasshoppers on the same rope, there are still various conflicts and problems between them. When it comes to the issue of dealing with clan members, one move can affect the whole body, and it really cannot be solved by shouting and killing.
Yan Guang rubbed his chin and said quietly: "Originally, I thought we could take Shandu County first, and then turn around and take Xinye. Now it seems that this is not appropriate."
Liu Xiu asked: "What does Ziling mean, take Xinye first?"
Yan Guang asked in return: "How sure are you that your lord will take Xinye?"
Although they now have more than 3,000 troops, more than 1,000 of them are cavalry, which will not play much role in siege warfare. The other 2,000 are basically new soldiers with no combat experience.
The level of training is not enough. To drag them to fight the most difficult siege battle is to let them die in vain.
What's more, a strong general like Liu Ji can't defeat Xinye. Even if they go over, it won't help. Liu Xiu thought about it and asked, "Ziling, what do you think?"
Yan Guang said: "We may not be able to conquer Xinye, but I believe that we can definitely conquer Huyang. By helping Li Yi conquer Huyang, Cai Yang's rumors about his lord will be self-defeating.
.”
Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Deng Yu and asked, "Zhonghua, what do you mean?"
Deng Yu nodded and said: "Zi Ling's words are right. Our army can take Huyang first!" After a pause, he said seriously: "The purpose of taking Huyang is not only to break the rumors that are unfavorable to the lord, but more importantly.
One point is that Huyang and Chaoyang are closely related to each other. If both places are occupied by our army, they can form a pincer attack on Xinye. Once Huyang is lost, the morale of the Xinye County soldiers will inevitably be chaotic, which will be very beneficial to our army's next aggressive move in Xinye.
.”
His words deeply touched Liu Xiu's mind. Liu Xiu didn't care about rumors or not, and his relationship with his eldest brother would not be damaged by those rumors. Deng Yu was right about one thing, Chaoyang and
Huyang can form a double-team on Xinye. Losing Chaoyang and Huyang will have a huge psychological impact on the defenders of Xinye. In terms of current strategic value, Huyang is far better than the remote Shandu County.
.
Liu Xiu looked around at the people present and said decisively: "I have made up my mind, take Huyang first!"
With Liu Xiu's decision confirmed, Liu Xiu's First Division finally had a new intention to fight, which was to march into Huyang.
Although we are going to attack Huyang, Chaoyang cannot be left alone. Someone must stay and guard it.
Liu Xiusi thought about it and decided to keep Yan Guang and Zhao Ying. Yan Guang could handle the government affairs in Chaoyang, and Zhao Ying could handle the military affairs. With two people, one civil and one military, staying in Chaoyang, Liu Xiu felt more at ease.
As for the strength of the troops, Liu Xiu carefully considered and left a thousand recruits. These one thousand recruits can be used to defend the city, and Zhao Ying can also train them on weekdays to enhance his own combat power.
Before the army goes out on an expedition, it must make preliminary preparations, such as the preparation and transportation of food and supplies. In addition, Liu Xiu plans to distribute uniform military uniforms to his brothers before going out for an expedition.
Chaoyang County had a lot of spare military uniforms for the county soldiers, but they were all khaki. Liu Xiu had them dyed into the traditional red color of the Han army. Liu Xiu arranged for Zhu You to supervise these matters.
Two days later, the dyed military uniforms were finally distributed. Liu Xiu led the army and marched out of Chaoyang, heading east towards Huyang.
Of the more than two thousand Chung Ling Army led by Liu Xiu, nearly half were cavalry and the other half were infantry. Different from previous expeditions, this time the Chung Ling Army carried a lot of siege equipment, such as ladders,
A battering ram and the like.
Chaoyang did not have any large and advanced siege equipment such as trebuchets, rams, towers, and wooden donkey carts. If they were to be built temporarily, Liu Xiu did not have that much time.
Chaoyang, Huyang, one in the west and one in the east, with Xinye in the north between them, forming a triangle.
Liu Xiu's troops marched for two days and entered the territory of Huyang. Because they carried siege weapons, the marching speed was slower than usual.
Not long after they entered the territory of Huyang, they ran into a messenger sent by Li Yi.
If Liu Xiu's troops were not all flying the banner of the Zhu Tiandu tribe, the messenger would not dare to believe that the majestic army in front of him was his own army.
At present, other members of the Chung Ling Army are still wearing miscellaneous clothes, but Liu Xiu's troops have already put on uniform Han army uniforms, and their armor is also complete.
The cavalry uniforms were uniformly made of silver helmets and silver armor, while the infantrymen wore iron helmets and leather armor.
Looking at it coldly, this does not look like a rebel army at all, but more like a regular army of officers and soldiers from the imperial court.
When the messenger saw Liu Xiu, he immediately knelt down, stepped in and saluted, and said: "My subordinate Huang Yuan, please see General Liu!"
"Did Ji Wen send you here?"
"Exactly! General Liu, this is the letter from the captain!" As he spoke, Huang Yuan opened the cloth bag wrapped around his waist, took out the bamboo slip from it, and handed it to Liu Xiu. Jiuer stepped forward and took the bamboo slip.
, submitted to Liu Xiu.
Jiu'er is now dressed in Tsing Yi and men's clothing. At first glance, he looks like a little book boy.
Liu Xiu took the bamboo slip and unfolded it. The content inside was indeed written by Li Yi himself.
At the beginning of the letter, Li Yi expressed his welcome and thanks to Liu Xiuyi for his arrival. Most of the following content is his description of the battle situation in Huyang.
He talked about how he led two thousand refugees to contain the Huyang County soldiers, how he engaged in psychological warfare with the opponent, etc. In summary, Li Yi's troops were able to contain the Huyang County soldiers for so long in Huyang without letting him go.
The soldiers from Huyang County went north to reinforce Xinye, which was all due to Li Yi.
Liu Xiu only read the beginning and the end of this letter, and basically ignored the content in the middle. After reading it, he rolled up the bamboo slips and handed them to Jiu'er and asked her to put them away. He looked at Huang Yuan
, asked: "Mr. Huang."
Huang Yuan quickly bowed and saluted.
"How many county soldiers are there in Huyang City currently?"
Huang Yuan said solemnly: "Reporting to General Liu, according to our department's various investigations, there are no less than 2,000 soldiers in Huyang County!"
"All in the city?"
"yes!"
"Will you go out of the city to fight during this period?"
"This... ever since our troops entered Huyang, the Huyang County soldiers have been huddled in the city, staying behind closed doors." Therefore, what Li Yi said about psychological warfare with the county soldiers is all nonsense, Huyang County soldiers
The soldiers did not dare to step out of the city at all.
Liu Xiu rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought. For such a long time, the Huyang County soldiers just watched Li Yi's troops stationed outside Huyang City without even making a tentative attack. The Huyang County soldiers
His courage is quite small.
He asked: "Mr. Huang, do you know what kind of people the county magistrate and county lieutenant are in Huyang?"
Huang Yuan said cautiously: "Huyang County Magistrate Lian Feng and County Lieutenant Guo Deng are both natives of Nanyang. Lian Feng's family is in Danshui, and Guo Deng's family is in Wuyin..."
Before Huang Yuan could finish speaking, Liu Xiu interrupted: "Mr. Huang, I want to know how Lian Feng and Guo Deng are like?"
"This... this... I don't know." Huang Yuan, Lian Feng, and Guo Deng had never interacted with each other at all, so naturally they didn't know their personalities.
Liu Xiu sighed secretly. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you fight a hundred battles without danger. If you don't understand others, you are fighting a completely stupid war! He raised his head and said: "Mr. Huang, please lead the way from the front and lead our army to your camp."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Huang Yuan agreed repeatedly, and at the same time secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Huang Yuan really didn't know anything about the situation in Huyang City. Even though there were more than 2,000 county soldiers in Huyang City, he still heard about it through hearsay. As for whether the real situation was like this, he didn't dare to confirm at all.
