The news of the invasion of Ying Zige's army naturally could not escape the guards of Handan and Liang County who had been paying attention to Wu'an's movements for a long time.
When the elite vanguard of the Qin army was still more than ten miles away from Handan City, scouts came to report that tens of thousands of Qin troops were arriving at a rapid speed.
"So fast!?"
Yuan Shao led the elite to attack Youzhou and stayed in Jizhou. To be honest, his ability was not very strong, but it was enough to reach the level of a second-rate or higher general. Of course, in the end, these people were loyal enough. For Yuan Shao
, the people who guard the home may lack in ability. After all, there are countless capable people under their command to help them. As long as they are not stupid and have enough force, there will be no problem.
The only thing above all is loyalty, but there must never be any sloppiness.
After all, Yuan Shao knows very well that his confidence lies in the land of Jizhou. If he loses it, even if he can capture Youzhou, he will just be lingering on. This world war will basically have nothing to do with him.
Therefore, when selecting candidates to stay behind, in addition to the important cities such as Yecheng and Nanpi where senior officials and members of the family were stationed, important places such as Handan in Zhao State, Xindu in Anping, and Leling in Hejian were naturally handed over to Zhang.
Nan, Jiao Chu, Ma Yan, Chunyu Qiong and other generals who have followed him the longest and have been working conscientiously since the time of Bohai County.
Among them, the most important city on the outer defense line of Ye City, the defender of Handan City was Yuan Shao's oldest and most experienced man, and his force was considered to be on the higher side. Most importantly, he was in the hands of Zhang Nan, who had some brains.
Zhang Nan was wearing a military uniform at this time, listening to the report of the spies in front of him with an ugly face. As early as when the Qin army suddenly attacked and captured Wu'an, he had already been mentally prepared. On the one hand, he quickly conveyed information to all directions in Jizhou, and on the other hand, he quickly
integrator
Well, the defense line was deployed, but after all, the time for Yuan Shao to capture Jizhou was still short, and most of the Yuan family's internal strength was invested in Yuan Shu. As a result, although Yuan Shao did not lack middle-level scribes, the strength of the grassroots troops was ultimately
A few points worse.
During the expedition against Youzhou, Yuan Shao left behind veterans like them and county soldiers from various places to guard the city. Almost all of his real elite soldiers and horses were taken away. Except for the three major cities of Yecheng, Nanpi, and Xindu, they were left behind respectively.
Thousands of elite troops stationed in hundreds of battles
In addition to guarding, the entire Jizhou, all counties, prefectures, and checkpoints, the total of 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and horses that can be mobilized are basically local city guards who have received several days of training, or they simply have not had time to see blood.
A strong man of the people.
Zhang Nan knew clearly that if there were Yuan Shao's masterminds such as Ju Sue, Tian Feng, Guo Tu, Feng Ji, Shen Pei, Xu You, etc., or Zhang He, Gao Lan, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Ju Yi and other generals, there would be one or two stationed there.
Jizhou, then they still have the opportunity to gather the forces scattered throughout Jizhou's nine counties, the country, and more than a hundred counties, and unite them to fight the Qin army.
However, Yuan Shao's desire to destroy Gongsun and seize Youzhou was too strong. In order to succeed in the battle, he directly took away the entire Jizhou's elite soldiers and horses, which numbered 60,000 to 70,000, leaving only 13,400 elite troops.
They were stationed in the three important cities of Ye, Nanpi, and Xindu, and together with the Minfu city guards spread across nine counties in Jizhou and hundreds of counties in Guozhou, they guarded the home. Not even the counselors and generals were left behind.
As for the abilities of himself and his fellow buddies like Jiao Chu, Ma Yan, Chun Yuqiong, etc., Zhang Nan really knows it very well. As a deputy general, stationed in one place, with thousands or even nearly ten thousand soldiers, it is no problem. After all,
They were all fought from the grassroots level bit by bit on the battlefield of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. But if they really wanted to defend tens of thousands of people and defend a single state, it would be too difficult for them.
Although the senior cadres and the children of the Yuan family in Yecheng are somewhat capable, they are young and unreliable after all. As long as they can firmly defend Yecheng, Zhang Nan will already be high in his heart.
Looking at them, as well as the aristocratic families and wealthy businessmen all over Jizhou, a wry smile and disdain appeared on Zhang Nan's lips.
He has been with Yuan Shao for a long time, and he knows the nature of these people very well. As long as they don't cause trouble, Zhang Nan already feels that they are enough to give Yuan family and Yuan Shao face. As for helping and supporting them, they are just trying to get rid of them!
"General, now that the Qin army is attacking with tens of thousands of troops, how should we prepare ourselves?" Seeing Zhang Nan say something so quickly, he fell into deep thought. After waiting for a long time, the impatient deputy general couldn't help but stepped forward and asked.
.
Although the land of Handan was the capital of the ancient Zhao Kingdom, it was also one of the nine counties of Jizhou, one of the kingdoms. However, after the Battle of Handan between Liu Xiu and Wang Lang in Handan at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Handan's position began to become awkward.
It became awkward, the population was lost, the territory under jurisdiction was reduced, and the economic status was declining. Especially after Yuan Shao occupied Jizhou, the development and rise of Yecheng in Wei County further accelerated the embarrassing situation of Handan's position.
Now in Zhang Nan's hands, its biggest role is actually to serve as a barrier for Ye City in Wei County. Therefore, facing the invasion of tens of thousands of Ying Zige's troops, it is not advisable to simply defend the city to protect yourself. Zhang Nan also deeply understands that
know this
If he directly defends the city, as long as he holds on, he can get up and drive a nail, which means that the Qin army will divide its troops. But he does not dare to make this choice and easily let tens of thousands of troops go to conquer Wei County, leaving Yecheng to be attacked from both sides.
situation.
However, Zhang Nan also knew that Handan was not the three important cities of Ye, Nanpi, and Xindu after all. There were thousands of Yuan's army's elite troops garrisoned in the city. What he had in hand was just a desperate effort after learning about the fall of Wu'an.
Collect and give up week
The more than 10,000 county soldiers gathered to defend the county town can still fight to defend the city. If they really divide their troops or go out of the city to fight, facing the elite Qin army who are like wolves and tigers, they may charge and be killed by the Qin army.
The general devoured him alive.
Of course, Zhang Nan, as a veteran general in the army with some brains, knew very well that it would be fine if he knew these truths, but he could never say them out, or even show them. After a moment of silence, he pretended to be calm.
The lieutenant general shouted: "The Qin army has experienced many battles. This time it came to Jizhou. It must be taking advantage of the Lord's expedition to Youzhou to use the exhausted army.
To take advantage. However, as a tired army, they must not dare to target Jizhou. The most likely reason is to capture the Handan City of Wei County and Zhao State, which are close to Sili and Bingzhou.
It is a fortified city that the Qin army cannot bypass, so we don’t need to panic, we just need to be ready for war, wait for the work in leisure, and wait quietly for the Qin army to attack."
Under the urgency, Zhang Nan was worthy of being called a wise veteran in the army. He instantly came up with a series of reasonable and reasonable inferences, which stabilized the morale of the army. Looking at the deputy general and everyone whose expressions softened,
Captain, Commander, Zhang Nan took a deep breath in his heart.
