Chapter 93: Cold-faced and kind-hearted Chen Zigui
After noon, it was the end of the afternoon.
After a short rest, Zhang He's army embarked on the journey again.
The soldiers still had a full day's rest yesterday, but they didn't sleep all night until today. They were tired and sleepy.
As a last resort, he could only continue going south and choose to camp in the wild when it was getting dark.
Without quilts, tents, or mattresses, we could only find a forest area, collect some dry grass and dry firewood, and survive the night.
Fortunately, the weather has been pretty good these past few days. Although the wind is blowing from the north, there is not as much snow as there was in early January. As spring approaches in January, the temperature gradually warms up and the snow gradually melts.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang He and Zhao Rui's army united about 24,000 people and set off again. Yesterday's scouts reported back, which further confirmed Zhang He's idea.
Although he had concerns, Zhang He still sent out exploration horses to the vicinity of Yuancheng. He saw that camps had already been set up outside Yuancheng, with tents stretching for miles, and a large number of troops patrolling and garrisoning outside every day.
These soldiers and horses are actually the remnants of Zhang Liao's troops after his retreat, as well as the troops of Guan Cheng, Gao Shun and others. The Qingzhou Army in Qinghe State has about 50,000 troops. In addition to Zhang Liao's troops in Qingyuan, Taoguan and other places, they are now here.
The total number of Qingzhou troops is more than 60,000.
In various battlefields, including the troops that intercepted Zhang He at Wuluxu, the troops that intercepted Yuancheng at Shating, and the troops that defeated Zhang Nan Jiaochu's troops at Shalu Mountain and the troops that went south to attack Yin'an, these troops were actually scattered.
of.
But now, they have been completely assembled. Zhang Liao has 8,000 people left out of 10,000. Guan Cheng also has 7,000 or 8,000 people, and Gao Shun has 5,000 trapped troops. The total number is more than 20,000, pretending to be the main force of the Qingzhou Army.
.
In fact, the main force of the Qingzhou Army was taken away by Chen Mu and Zhang Fei. Chen Mu took Tai Shici with him, while Zhang Fei personally led an army of 20,000 people, totaling more than 30,000 troops, who were already waiting for him in Yin'an.
After a morning of arduous trek, covering a distance of 70 to 80 miles, more than 20,000 troops finally arrived from yesterday until the afternoon of the second day.
Zhang He was at the front of the team, looking at the city on the horizon. He was sure that the main force of the Qingzhou Army had already arrived at Yuancheng, because there was no one to hide on the plain, and he could see the enemy's layout at a glance.
So when he discovered that there were soldiers and horses everywhere outside Yuancheng, Zhang He became more convinced of his judgment and conveyed this information to Zhao Rui, Ma Yan, Jiang Qi and other generals, which made everyone admire him.
As we walked along the official road, there was no one on the road. The fields on both sides were barren with weeds, the trees covered the sky, and the branches were hanging down. The scenery was pleasant, but it felt like something was missing.
The fields seemed to have not been cultivated for a long time, the houses in the villages were dilapidated, and the mulberry fields in the distance had not been pruned. Zhang He thought for a while before he remembered that there was a missing person.
"Yin'an is the hinterland of Wei County. If there are no people in other cities and countryside, it would be understandable. Why is it the same here?"
Zhang He glanced around and frowned.
In ancient times, there were not many people living in a county. In a county, most people lived in rural pavilions outside the city.
The war between Jizhou and Qingzhou has been going on for more than four months. People in many places in Qinghe Kingdom have been relocated. It is normal for the rural pavilions outside the county to be deserted.
But Wei County was already in the hinterland, and the enemies were blocked around Wei County. Although Yin'an was on the border between Yanzhou and Jizhou, Cao Cao did not have the courage to start a war with Jizhou, and there was no reason for Cao Cao to intercept Zhang He and cross the border.
Therefore, in Zhang He's impression of Yin'an County, it is not that the economy is prosperous and the agriculture is developed. At least the fields should not be deserted, the villages should not be dilapidated, and there should not be a single person on the road.
Zhao Rui smiled bitterly and said: "It's all Lu Bu's fault. Since Wang Shijun passed away, no one can restrain Lu Bu anymore. He evacuated from Yanzhou and even sent troops to plunder the people, causing countless casualties. Afterwards, Duke Yuan blamed him,
But he said it was all done by soldiers and had nothing to do with him."
"Is Lu Bu so brave?"
Zhang He frowned even more tightly. In the eyes of various princes, plundering the people was not a big deal. The eighteen princes wanted to challenge Dong, and Hanoi County was the place that suffered the most serious looting by various rebels.
But the problem is that Wei County is not Hanoi County, and Yuan Shao is not Wang Kuang, the prefect of Hanoi who does not regard the people as human beings.
Even if Yuan Shao has never taken the people into his heart, if you rob the people under my rule, it would be a slap in my face. What's more, compared to Wang Kuang, who only robs the people and tortures them for their money, Yuan Shao at least understands that only when the people are stable can he
Someone can continuously provide him with troops, money and food.
Therefore, Lu Bu's behavior is undoubtedly planning to fall out with Yuan Shao.
"It is said that there is some discord here, I don't know whether it is true or not."
Zhao Rui thought of some rumors. It was said that Yuan Shao wanted to get rid of Lu Bu and sent an assassin to kill him. However, Lu Bu noticed it and the two finally broke up. Although Lu Bu is still stationed in Dangyin, he is looting everywhere, probably for
Prepare for escape.
"Forget it, these are all things that give Mr. Yuan a headache, let's take care of ourselves."
Zhang He shook his head and looked forward.
It was not far from Yin'an City, about three or four miles away. Looking from a distance, we could already see the city wall in the distance. We saw that the city gate was closed, and the Jizhou flag was planted on the city tower. We could only see a few scattered figures, like
There are no guards at all.
This city is so unusually quiet that it feels very strange.
After a while, the scouts who had been sent out to report to Yin'an City came back, dismounted, and reported: "General."
"Is there anything unusual?"
Zhang He asked.
The scout said: "All the soldiers in the city are old soldiers, there is no big abnormality. I have handed over the general's seal and ordered them to open the city gate wide."
"Um."
Zhang He nodded. Before Yuan Shao came to the throne, there were only four people in Jizhou who were awarded the title of general. Zhang He had a high ranking in Qu Yi and Yuan Shao. Now that Yuan Shao has come to the throne, his seal of general is still valid.
Since the scouts had checked and found nothing unusual, there should be no problem. The army continued to move forward, and after about two quarters of an hour, they finally arrived at the city gate.
Still half a mile away from the city, Zhang He ordered the army to stop first, and then led his personal guards to get closer to the outside of the city.
There was a pavilion outside the city. An old soldier stood at the door of the pavilion, his face slightly pale. When he saw Zhang He coming with hundreds of personal guards, he quickly went up to greet him and bowed his hands and said: "General."
"Why are you the only one to greet me? Where is the city guard?"
Zhang He was a little dissatisfied. Even if Yin'an was plundered and there were currently only a few thousand weak and old soldiers stationed there, there must be at least one Army Sima commander in the city. How could a small Army Sima not go out in person to greet his general?
The old soldier smiled bitterly and said: "Yin'an was plundered by General Lu's men many times, and the city was also attacked. Wang Sima led the army to resist desperately, but he had no choice but to have few soldiers, so he was killed by General Lu's subordinates."
In fact, he was killed by Zhang Fei, but the old soldier was threatened with his family's life and had to lie.
"I see."
Zhang He's expression softened a lot, and he asked: "How much food and grass is left in the city, and are there sufficient supplies and weapons?"
The old soldier said: "There is still some food and grass, ordnance..."
Seeing his hesitation, Zhang He also knew it and said, "Okay, let's talk about it after we enter the city."
Although there is no one to greet them, there is a city at least. Let's rest for two days. While asking for supplies from Yedu, we can adjust the status of the soldiers. When supplies are sufficient, we can then consider breaking the siege of Yuancheng.
The old soldier led the way and slowly approached the city gate. He saw that there were also more than ten old soldiers greeting him in the city gate cave. Each of them looked pale and pale.
Seeing this, Zhang He felt extremely strange and asked, "Who is the leader?"
"General, it's... a little old man."
A gray-haired old soldier stepped out bravely, his voice trembling.
Zhang He looked at him and asked, "What's your job?"
"Temporarily...temporarily I am Qu Junhou."
Above Qu Junhou is the Jun Sima. The Jun Sima stationed in this city died in the battle, so it is reasonable for Qu Junhou to lead the army temporarily.
However, Zhang He was still a little puzzled. He frowned and said, "Even if the city is full of old and weak soldiers, they shouldn't be all old soldiers with gray hair. And why are you guys sweating like rain in the middle of winter?"
"Because...because..."
The old soldier's teeth were chattering. If he did as the man said, he might die. Would the angry general hack himself to death?
But if he doesn't do what that man says and follows his son who is barely surviving in the army, he will definitely die.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Jizhou, the entire Jizhou was devastated.
After Wang Fen took office, in order to feed many homeless people, he used the disaster relief funds sent by the court to carry out post-disaster reconstruction work while recruiting some people into the army to temporarily survive.
Just like the group of Luo Shi thieves that Liu Bei collected on the road, Hu Zhi, Hu Ping, Hu Yong and his son joined the army in this way at that time.
This old soldier is the same as Hu Zhi, Hu Ping, Hu Yong and his son, who also managed to make a living in the army with one son.
Ten years have passed, and the man who was in his forties has now turned into an old man in his fifties, with even gray hair, as if he has reached his sixties and looks extremely old.
Telling the truth truthfully will save your life.
It's better to do as that person said and save your son's life.
At that moment, the old man had a brief ideological struggle.
But when he saw that Zhang He's face was becoming more and more suspicious, and there was a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.
The old man gritted his teeth and made up his mind, saying in a deep voice: "Because someone asked me to tell the general that today is the day when the general will die!"
Today is the day of my death?
When Zhang Hechu heard this sentence, he was a little confused for a moment and did not react.
The next second, the fire in his eyes burst out.
What's the meaning?
I have just lost so many battles in a row, been chased up to the sky and into the earth, with nowhere to hide, so why are you here to curse me?
No matter what I do, I am still a noble general. How can you, a young man, insult me so lightly?
bass!
Zhang He's horse was carried by someone, but he had a ring-headed sword on his waist. He pulled it out with a clatter, the silver light flashed, and he waved the sword and shouted angrily: "How dare you insult me, old thief!"
The silver blade was slashing at him. The old man seemed to have calmed down at this moment. He closed his eyes and had no desire in his heart. He only hoped that the man would keep his promise and let his son go.
But the next second, a "whoosh" sound was heard, and a feather arrow shot towards Zhang He like lightning. Zhang He was forced to raise his knife to block it.
when!
The arrow was very powerful. After it was ejected, it penetrated into the ground, and the tail of the arrow made a "buzzing" sound.
When this scene happened, many old soldiers in the city gate cave were so frightened that they turned around and ran away. However, there were two loyal ones who pulled the old man back.
Zhang He looked up and saw countless soldiers and horses rushing towards the end of the street in the city. The leader was Taishi Ci, who was good at shooting with a bow. He was shouting: "Zhang He, today is the day you die!"
At that moment, Zhang He felt his scalp numb and almost fell off his horse in fright. Fortunately, he recovered in time and his expression changed in horror: "No, retreat quickly, there is an ambush!"
"kill!"
Arrows rained down from the city tower instantly, and a large number of crossbowmen began to shoot arrows outside the city.
The army outside the city was caught off guard. The former army was shot into hedgehogs, just like harvesting wheat. Large swaths of soldiers fell, countless people fled with their heads in their hands, and the entire army collapsed.
Because Zhang He had just run out of the city gate, which was similar to the safe zone under the waterfall, he was not shot, but he could not rush forward and could only run to both sides.
However, at this moment, countless soldiers and horses suddenly appeared on both sides of the city wall and attacked them. It turned out that the Qingzhou Army came out from the north and south gates, outflanking them on both sides.
There was a rain of arrows in front of him, the enemy troops were surrounding him on his left and right sides, and the pursuers in the city were behind him. For a moment, he was trapped in a desperate situation.
Chen Mu stood on the tower, looked at the embarrassed Zhang He below, and said loudly: "Zhang He, are you going to die?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang He turned around and looked up, showing an expression of extreme fear. If the archers on the city tower turned their arrows at this time, and everyone aimed at them below the city, they would fire a volley.
Death is certain.
Although he could still hide in the city gate cave again, the problem was that the enemy's pursuers had arrived and the city gate cave was blocked, leaving him with no way to escape.
"Oh, what a pity, there are no more arrows."
Chen Mu pretended to mention it, and the rain of arrows gradually stopped. Zhang He looked back in horror at Tai Shici, who was less than ten steps away from him. He raised his whip and hit the horse's buttocks, then ran away.
Before the battle started, the Jizhou army collapsed immediately after a hail of arrows. Zhang Fei led the army and charged out in a brazen manner, with nearly 30,000 troops in total. In the moment of chaos, countless people were trampled to death and trampled.
The outside of the city has turned into a slaughterhouse. The Qingzhou army's tigers have entered the flock, causing chaos on the battlefield. Countless people are running around like headless flies.
The nearly 30,000 Jizhou troops were obviously doomed, because the enemy was too close. Even if they wanted to abandon their helmets and flee, they could not distance themselves. They were pursued by the Qingzhou troops, who were waiting for work, and suffered heavy casualties.
Standing on the city tower, I watched Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci chase them out. Tens of thousands of people were scurrying around in the wilderness like a swarm of ants. It took more than an hour before no one could be seen.
Zhang He's army immediately collapsed and fled. Zhang Fei and Tai Shici's troops also scattered to pursue them. On the contrary, Yin'an County fell silent, leaving only Chen Mu and Hou Xu.
"Si Ming, you asked Tai Shici to deliberately slow down and then asked the archers to stop. You must be making another big move."
Hou Xu smiled, he had already guessed what Chen Mu was going to do.
If you think about it carefully, Chen Mu has done this kind of thing not once or twice. He wiped out the Yellow Turban Army of Xu He and Sima Ju in Qingzhou, dealt with Xu Rong in Sili, and now dealt with Zhang He.
First, let the enemy have a kind of fear and a shadow of him deep in his heart. When he really encounters the enemy again next time, and it is an extremely critical moment, then the psychological shadow accumulated in the previous few times will be very important.
It might be a breakthrough.
Maybe, when Zhang He meets Chen Mu again in the future, he may be so scared that his feet are shaking. Because the impression Chen Mu left on him is so terrible that even the color of his underwear seems to be affected by him.
see through.
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Zhang He comes from a noble family and is a representative of the local wealthy family in Jizhou. He will definitely be reused by Yuan Shao. This person is extremely afraid of death and is by no means a strong-willed person. Can he win Jizhou in the future and defeat the extremely powerful people in one fell swoop?
Yuan Shao's defeat depends on him."
"It's just that these few consecutive defeats may not be enough to shake a general's heart."
Hou Xu looked far away, and for a good general, losing a battle was nothing. If he lost a battle once, it would leave a shadow in his heart for a lifetime, then he would not be able to become a good general.
So Hou Xu felt that this might not be enough.
Chen Mu looked at Zhang He who was being chased by Zhang Fei and Tai Shi Ci in the distance and was already running to the west of the predetermined place. He said calmly: "So I was behind and arranged a few scares for him. I hope he won't be frightened."
Scared to death."
"Ah."
Hou Xu looked into the distance and chuckled.
It's really miserable for someone whose heart is targeted by Si Ming. I can't help but feel a moment of silence for Zhang He's fate.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and no one could be seen on the horizon.
After a while, Chen Mu turned around and walked down the tower. He saw the trembling old soldiers at the foot of the city wall. He said softly to them: "You have made a contribution, and your family will be raised in Qingzhou from now on."
"Thank you, General."
Many old soldiers looked at each other. They were originally homeless and had no choice but to join the army and work as auxiliary soldiers to make ends meet. Now that they were able to survive, they were all happy and knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.
Chen Mu lazily left, and Hou Xu looked at him from behind, who seemed cold and ruthless, but actually had a cold face and a kind heart, with a faint smile on his eyebrows.
The role of these old pawns is actually to serve as a reminder to Zhang He. Otherwise, it would be easy to kill Zhang He by tricking him into the city and shooting him with arrows.
It can be said that the old soldiers were the tools used to scare Zhang He for the first time, and they were also captured soldiers of the enemy. It was very kind and righteous not to execute them. Now Taishi Ci not only rescued them, but also raised them. It was more than just kindness.
As simple as a mountain, they are simply reborn parents.
In the beginning, Si Ming never took human life seriously, but now, he has begun to put the people first, and he will do as little killing as possible.
It seems that Liu Shijun has a great influence on Siming.
Hou Xu was thinking in his heart, and he couldn't help but respect Liu Bei even more.
Being able to still retain the bottom line of humanity in this chaotic world full of cannibalism, and even a demon king like Chen Mu can slowly change, Liu Shijun is truly a benevolent and righteous person.