In the simple county government mansion, Lu Bu got up and slapped the case.
His face was very ugly, with anger mixed with a hint of humiliation.
There is still an official document on the desk.
The imperial court sent someone to Shangdang County, and then it was transferred from Shangdang County.
In addition to Wei Jian, there were also Wei Yue, Cheng Yan, Hao Meng, Wei Xu, Song Xian, Hou Cheng, Cao Xing, etc. on his left and right sides.
He appointed Zhang Yang as the governor of Shangdang, and Li Su as the governor of Taiyuan. The two were responsible for guarding the rear.
In the past two years, Lu Bu has mainly targeted the Xianbei people in the north, trying to recapture Yanmen.
Therefore, when Liu Bei launched an offensive in Henan, he stepped up his attacks on the Huns and Xianbei.
Among the various tribes that were slaughtered, the Xiongnu King Huchuquan, Liu Bao, and others were beaten so hard that they fled from Tingmeifu County in Nandan to Baitu County in the upper reaches of Huanshui River.
This place was very famous in later generations. It was the first county in Shaanxi, Shenmu County, and Wanshui became the Tuwei River in Shenmu County in later generations.
The reason why Chen Mu is interested in Bingzhou is naturally because it has rich coal reserves and is connected to the grassland.
With today's extremely poor chemical industry foundation, rashly developing chemical fibers is definitely a wrong path.
It is technically impossible to overtake in corners, so we have to proceed steadily. It is necessary to occupy coal mine production areas, animal husbandry production areas, and wool sources to develop the textile industry.
Therefore, Bingzhou must be taken back.
Now the imperial court is threatening Lu Bu. Lu Bu is poor and weak due to the Bingzhou, and he only has more than 30,000 troops. Facing the powerful imperial army, he can only be incompetent and furious.
Seeing his thunderous anger, the surrounding generals looked at each other and did not dare to speak for a while. Only Wei Jian pondered for a moment and asked: "General, the court is in urgent need now. If you don't think about changing, it will be catastrophic."
Lu Bu panted heavily, sat down slowly, looked at Wei Zhu and said, "Bo Xi, what do you think?"
Wei Jian thought for a while and said: "I want to know what the general is planning to do. Will he fight the imperial court to the end, or will he obey the imperial edict and surrender to the imperial court?"
"How do you say war, how do you say surrender?"
Lu Bu asked.
Wei Ju smiled and said: "If you surrender, you will naturally accept the imperial decree. As long as you don't disobey, the general will probably be safe and sound. After all, there is a precedent of Cao Cao and Sun Ce. Didn't Liu Bei not kill them either?"
"What about fighting?"
When Lu Bu heard Wei Qian's words, his expression relaxed slightly at first, and then asked again after a moment.
Wei Jian said: "If we want to fight, we cannot face the enemy head-on. We should attack Zhang Fei first, defeat Zhang Fei and then take Hedong, and then join forces with Han Sui, Ma Chao, Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang and others to harass Guanzhong. Now the imperial court is powerful and wants to make peace with the enemy."
It may be difficult for Liu Bei to fight a tough battle, so he can only take advantage of the geographical location."
Lu Bu pondered for a moment and said, "If Zhang Fei is attacked, is there any chance of winning?"
"Surprise should give you a chance of victory."
Wei Jian said.
Lu Bu nodded: "Okay, then let's attack Zhang Fei!"
He is a person who will not give up until he reaches the Yellow River, and will not shed tears until he sees the coffin.
Historically, Xuzhou's army only had a few hundred soldiers, and they were taken in by Liu Bei. After they slowly grew in strength, they immediately turned back.
After defeating Liu Bei, Cao Cao came to attack him. Lu Bu couldn't defeat Cao Cao and refused to surrender.
It was not until Hou Cheng, Song Xian and Wei Xu rebelled that they expressed their willingness to surrender at Baimen Tower.
Therefore, although the imperial court is now powerful, Lu Bu thinks that he has a deep hatred for Liu Guan and Zhang. They can tolerate Cao Cao and Sun Jian, but they may not be able to tolerate him.
Therefore, he controls his own destiny, not to mention he has 30,000 elite soldiers at hand, most of them cavalry, so why can't he give it a try?
Under such circumstances, it was only natural that Lu Bu was unwilling to surrender in the face of the aggressiveness of the imperial court, and instead decided to strike first.
Over there, Lu Bu planned to lead his 20,000 troops to attack Zhang Fei's troops in Xihe County.
On the other side, the imperial troops gathered in Hanoi. Four generals, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Qian Zhao, and Xu Rong, gathered about 60,000 troops and divided them into three groups to surround Shangdang.
In the Eighth Route of Taihang, after Yuan Shao was overthrown, all roads from Guandong to Bingzhou were controlled by the imperial court.
Among them, there are three roads in Hanoi County, one is Zhiguanxing, the second is Taihangxing, and the third is Baixing. From these three roads, you can go to Gaodu County, Changzhi County and Huguan area in Shangdang County respectively.
In history, when Cao Cao conquered the provinces, he took the route Taihangxing, also known as Yangchangxing. "Bitter Cold Journey" was written under such background conditions.
Fortunately, this poem is not included in Chinese textbooks, otherwise middle school students would definitely be scolded if they memorized and recited the full text.
Chen Mu personally went on an expedition, sending Zhang Liao's troops to Baixing to harass Changzhi, and Xu Rong to Taihangxing to surprise Huguan. He himself took Gao Shun and the troops he had recruited to Zhiguanxing to attack Gaodu.
The reason for this arrangement is that the road to Zhiguanxing is easier to walk than Baixing and Taihangxing.
Of course, this so-called easy walking is only relatively easy.
Taihangxing and Baixing were no less dangerous than Sichuan Shudao at that time. Not only were the roads narrow, but there were also a large number of cliffs that required climbing over mountains and ridges, which was very dangerous.
Zhiguanxing is a very ancient road. It is steep, but its steepness is mainly because it passes through the gap between two mountains. It is a gap road at the bottom of the mountain. It has a relatively safe main road, unlike Taihang.
Xing and Bai Xing walk on the precipice of life and death.
Gao Shun's troops are heavy armored infantry, and it would be more dangerous to take the cliff road. Therefore, it would be much better to take the relatively flat road.
However, since Zhiguanxing is relatively easy to navigate, Zhang Yang deployed the largest number of troops here. If he wanted to attack head-on, he might have to fight a tough battle.
By June, the military operation on Lu Bu's side had also begun. A large number of troops had gathered, and food and grass were fully prepared. Except for a small number of 20,000 soldiers and horses who stayed behind to guard against the Xianbei people, most of them followed him through Yanmen Pass and arrived in Mayi County.
In fact, Yanmen Pass was not an important pass at this time, although its geographical location was very important. However, the Han people had always traveled outside the fortress and did not pay attention to the defense of the pass, so no city gates had been built at this time.
It would take until after the Tang Dynasty for this place to officially become the first of the nine frontier fortresses.
The reason why Lu Bu's army left Yanmen Pass was because the Guangwu County where he was located would be Dai County in later generations. After leaving Yanmen Pass, he arrived at Shuozhou City and went southwest, passing by Ningwu and Shenchi, so there was no need to cross the Luliang Mountains and reach Hequ.
County, and went south along the Yellow River to raid Lishi, the seat of Xihe County where Zhang Fei was located.
Lishi County was later known as Luliang City, and was surrounded by large hills and mountains. Most of Lu Bu's troops were from Bingzhou, and most of them were from Shangdang and Taiyuan. They were also quite familiar with Xihe County, so they could rely on their familiarity with the terrain.
Advantage, touch Zhang Fei's department.
It was just that the road was rugged and difficult, and the distance was long, making it difficult to supply. Therefore, the raid brought not much food and grass. It took a long journey, more than ten days of marching, and more than 300 kilometers before arriving at Lishi, located west of Luliang Mountain.
county.
It is midsummer in June, and the climate begins to heat up. The Luliang Mountain area is hilly and lush, and it is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Logically speaking, the temperature should not be too high, with the average daily temperature around 20 degrees. But
This kind of weather is usually fine, but it would be a bit uncomfortable when marching.
The army has arrived north of Lishi County, about thirty miles east of Gaolang County. There are mountains and greenery on both sides. In the Han Dynasty, when there was no industrial pollution, the soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yellow River at this time was not considered
Especially serious, it is the beautiful scenery with blue sky and clear water.
However, the soldiers were not in a good mood because of the good weather. After many days of marching, the soldiers were physically and mentally exhausted. They were already approaching Lishi. If they encountered an encounter, the soldiers' physical strength might not be able to persist.
Under this situation, Wei Jian persuaded Lu Bu to rest where he was first.
Lu Bu saw a vast grassland near Beichuan River, a tributary of the Yellow River, so he pointed there and said: "There is a river beach ahead. Let the soldiers rest first, and then tell the front army to send out scouts to investigate."
Of course, nearly 20,000 people are not crowded together. Lu Bu has been fighting for many years. Although he has no other abilities except strong force, and his command and intelligence are not high, he still understands basic common sense.
His army is divided into three parts: the vanguard, the middle army and the rear army. The vanguard is led by his trusted general Wei Yue, with about 3,000 men, all of whom are cavalry. The center army is led by him personally, with more than 10,000 men, 2,000 cavalry, and the rest.
They are infantry. As for the rear army, they have food, grass and baggage, about four thousand people.
The entire army had a trapezoidal structure, and the front army was already very close to Lishi. The infantry were quite tired, so they rested on the spot. After receiving the order, they all looked like workers who had worked hard for a day, either slumped under the trees to enjoy the shade, or went to
Drawing water from the river.
Lu Bu also got off the red rabbit horse and found a hillside with higher terrain to rest with several generals, followers, Wei Qian and others. There were dense forests standing on the hillside, providing shade and shade from the sun, and the cool summer breeze came slowly.
, which is refreshing and refreshing.
"Bochu, do you think we can succeed this time?"
Lu Bu looked to the south worriedly. Facing the upcoming war, Liu Bei's strength still made him unable to have the confidence to defeat the powerful enemy. His future was uncertain. In addition, he had been running around in Guandong for many years without achieving anything, which made him full of confusion about the future.
and uneasiness.
Wei Jian shook his head and said: "General, do you want to hear the truth or lies?"
Lu Bu said: "What is the lie?"
Wei Ju smiled and said: "Of course the general is victorious in every battle and looks at everything he faces!"
"Pfft!"
Faced with the humor conveyed by his old friend whom he has known for nearly ten years, Lu Bu also laughed and said, "What about the truth?"
Wei Jian said solemnly: "It's as difficult as climbing to the sky. Even if you defeat Zhang Fei, you can unite with Han Sui, Ma Chao, Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang and others. The court's background is there. If you defeat 50,000 of them, you can send another 100,000 over in an instant."
, when will it be the end?”
"Then what should I do?"
Lu Bu was confused for a moment.
He didn't know whether his choice was right or wrong, because he was about the same age as Cao Cao, four or five years older than Liu Bei, and he was already forty-eight years old this year.
Lu Bu found that in the past two years, many things that he could easily do when he was young were now beyond his capabilities. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to face this matter, that is, he had begun to age and his body was getting worse.
Even if you are brave and good at fighting, at this age, all your body's functions will begin to decline, and your strength will continue to decline. No one knows how long you can fight outside at this age.
He knew that his family was always running around with him. The older he got, the more things he had to consider. For the sake of his family and his own future, he even thought about surrendering to the court. Anyway, at least Liu Bei was justified now.
The great emperor...
only.......
Just like Cao Cao, there was still a trace of unwillingness after all.
Seeing that the person he looked down upon back then has now climbed to the top of the hierarchy, how can Lu Bu feel at ease?
Wei Jian looked at his confused expression and asked tentatively: "Has the general ever thought about surrendering?"
Lu Bu was silent for a moment, nodded and said, "I have thought about it, but I'm afraid."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I followed Dong Zhuo and did a lot of bad things in my early years. I also had a bad relationship with Liu Bei and often fought with him. Who knows if he will liquidate me after I surrender?"
"Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence and righteousness spread all over the world. Didn't he kill Cao Cao and Sun Ce when they rebelled?"
"That's because Liu Bei doesn't hate them. I've been with Dong Zhuo, and Liu Bei hated Dong Zhuo to death."
"The general is worrying too much."
Wei Ju smiled and said: "The general once killed Dong Zhuo with his own hands, and everyone in the world knew it. Liu Bei was too late to thank the general, so how could he kill the general?"
Lu Bu shook his head and said, "Bo Xi, your life is in someone else's hands and your life is in your own hands. There are two different things. You don't understand."
He once followed Dong Zhuo, but was almost killed by Dong Zhuo several times.
Later, he followed Wang Fen and was also suspected by others.
When he was in Jizhou, Yuan Shao sent people to assassinate him.
After going to Henan, he engaged in intrigues and deceit with the princes of Henan.
Lu Bu was tired of this life.
He doesn't want to be someone else's lackey all his life, and he doesn't want to be ordered around by others all his life. He just wants to control his own destiny.
But this world will never fulfill anyone's wishes, it will only run in its own way.
So when you are choosing your destiny, once you take the wrong path, the final result will be a disaster and your body will be shattered to pieces.
Just like Lu Bu abandoned Ding Yuan and chose Dong Zhuo.
He chased and longed for the highest power, but in the end, it was nothing more than fetching water from a bamboo basket.
The two fell into silence.
The soldiers around were sitting or lying down, closing their eyes and resting.
The summer wind comes slowly, making people want to sleep peacefully.
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded, and someone came from the south.
In fact, there was a lot of sound of horse hooves, and although most people around were resting, tens of thousands of people dispersed, and some people were talking in low voices.
Lu Bu Army soldiers were everywhere in the nearby grasslands, riverside, and under the woods, and even their voices were as soft as a vegetable market.
There were also people taking their horses to the river to drink water and walking back and forth, making a lot of noise.
The first to notice the sound of horse hooves in the south were the soldiers near the south side of the road. Most of them were resting nearby in the forest, and then they saw the dust in the sky in the distance.
Just as he was wondering, more horses' hoofbeats rang out. The sound got closer and closer, and there seemed to be thousands of troops behind the hills in the distance.
This turn of events puzzled the soldiers of Lu Bu's army. Could it be that General Wei Yue, the vanguard from the front, had returned?
Before they could react, they saw cavalry coming from behind the hills in the distance.
They wore silver-white steel armor that was completely different from Lu Bu's army, and wore red cloaks that symbolized the uniforms of the Han army. They held high battle flags and roared like a wave.
Everyone's expressions changed drastically.
Imperial Army!
"Enemy attack!"
In an instant, warning screams resounded throughout the sky.
The leisurely sound of the horn echoed in the sky.