After the imperial court announced the crusade against Yizhou, the generals under Chen Cheng cheered loudly and waited for their martial arts to be promoted, so that they could be promoted and reach the pinnacle of their lives. But then there was news from the military headquarters that only 100,000 people would be dispatched to attack Yizhou this time, and half of them would be used to defend various places, and only 50,000 people could go into battle and kill.

Where's enough? Every year, so many military cadets graduate, and there are still many government soldiers waiting to fight and make a fortune, and only 100,000 people have been booked out in less than three days. There were many generals who relied on the old headquarters of the great generals, and ran to the military headquarters to make a lot of noise, so they had to join themselves in the sequence of going out to the army.

Yan Xing, the newly appointed secretary of the military department, is the nephew of Yan Zhong, the secretary of the Zhongshu Ling, and he is the largest mountain in the imperial court, how could he be afraid that the generals below will come to make trouble? After several attempts to persuade him to no avail, Yan Xing directly asked the forbidden army to fork out those people. Those who dare to resist will be beaten and thrown into prison.

The prison has not been open for a long time, and the prisoners inside have been either sent to the mines or to the Western Regions, and even the rats are about to starve to death. At this time, a lot of people suddenly came in, and it immediately became much more lively. It stands to reason that after entering prison, no matter how big an official they were before, they have to be careful, but these new arrivals are extremely arrogant.

After entering, not only did he not pay filial piety to the jailers, but instructed the jailers to do this and that. Although the guards of these prisons are dissatisfied, they can only accompany the smiling faces to serve each other. There's no way, these people are too big, and they can talk to the general directly.

Even if this is not the case, they still have a lot of old departments outside, and if they are really anxious, the soldiers will directly kill people in the street. Those fighting men are all lawless lords, and they are not afraid after killing people, so they go straight to the Yamen to surrender, and then pack up and go to the Western Regions to fight.

This kind of thing happened several times, so that as soon as the jailers saw so many generals coming in, they were as big as a bucket, and hurriedly bought good wine and good food to serve them.

The generals below fought for a place in battle, and the senior generals also ran into the palace over and over again. Now that the appointment of the commander-in-chief has not yet come down, they feel that they all still have a chance. Only when he has served as the commander of one party and has the experience of being in charge of his own party can he enter the decision-making circle of the imperial court and have the opportunity to enter the prime minister.

Even Yan Xing took the opportunity to implicitly propose to Chen Cheng that he could not be the secretary of the military department, and wanted to go out to lead the troops to fight. Chen Cheng said with a smile at the time: "You have just stepped down from the position of the state pastor, so let's rest in Luoyang for a few years now." The affairs of the military department are complicated, and it is necessary for a great talent like Ling Ming to manage it. ”

After arguing for more than half a month, when the people were impetuous, the imperial court issued an edict appointing Tian Yu as the commander of the troops. Let them form their own shogunate, and have the right to draw officers from each army. This appointment came as a surprise to many, but when you think about it, it makes sense.

The general's friends and old subordinates at the end of the year have now ascended to high positions one by one. Zhao Yun is Jizhou pastor, Xu Rong is Yanzhou pastor, Liu Bei is Xuzhou pastor, and Lu Fang is Yuzhou pastor. In addition, Xu Wen was the general of the expedition to the west, and he was the commander of the entire army on the western front to fight against the Kushans, and the rest of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Wei Ran, Zhao Si and others were all in high positions, and many of them already had titles.

Tian Yu is an old friend of the general, and it is normal for him to get this kind of opportunity. Originally, Tian Yu was the object of many people's stammering in Luoyang, but now he directly became a hot big man. Many people waited at the door of the Tian family with truckloads full of money, hoping to have a chance to give gifts.

There are also some people who directly bring the beautiful daughter of the family to the door, ready to give it to Tian Yu as a concubine. But it's a pity that although Tian Yu is gentle on the surface, he has his own ideas in his heart, and he is a person who is round on the outside and square on the inside. For these people who came to deliver money and daughters, they were all gone.

He didn't go home at all, but lived in the barracks and began to pick people from the tooth soldiers and the military department. Those who want to send money to their sisters can only give up when they see it. It's just other places, and the barracks are absolutely unbreakable. Even if you stay on the side for a long time, you may be arrested as a spy.

In the past few years, for the sake of artillery, Luoyang doesn't know how many spies have been arrested.

In the spring of the eighth year of Jian'an, Tian Yu was ordered to go to Yizhou. Most of his soldiers and horses were infantry, and the cavalry was only 10,000, but it was equipped with more than 200 large and small artillery, which was an unprecedented firepower. Because of the surrender of Zhang Lu, the Taishou of Hanzhong, the imperial army first took Qi in Nanzheng, and then launched an attack on Yizhou.

This expedition has been known to everyone beforehand, and there is no suddenness, so the fight is also a real hard fight. The army was divided into two routes, the main force went out of the rice cang road, and the division took the golden bull road, and went straight to Yizhou to kill.

Most of the soldiers and horses of the imperial court were equipped with steel armor and artillery, and several infantry battalions of the tooth soldiers were already equipped with heavy smoothbore guns, which occupied an absolute advantage in the battle. The Yizhou army was also equipped with some artillery, which caused some casualties to the soldiers under Tian Yu's command, but it was quickly turned into scrap metal in the frantic shelling.

Liu Zhang sent a group of soldiers and horses to the front, but they were smashed in the roar of guns. After all, times have changed, and gone are the days when you could crisscross the world with your own martial prowess.

In addition to Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Ma Chao, Pang De, Meng Da, Zhang Heng, and Bao Chu, Tian Yu's subordinates also specially transferred Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, and Ding Feng from Yuzhou to the army. The army made rapid progress, and after the first two or three major battles, it was no longer Liu Zhang's soldiers and horses that could cause the most trouble to Tian Yujun, but the bad roads of Shudi.

In many places, the infantry can turn over, but it is difficult for the horses to pass, let alone push the heavy cannons through. However, the number of artillery of Liu Zhang's army was not large, and most of them had been damaged in the previous battles, so Tian Yu ordered Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others to march lightly, carrying only swords, spears, bows, crossbows, tiger squat cannons and other infantry equipment, and they went all the way into Shu.

In the field, lightly armed tooth soldiers can easily defeat several times as many enemies, but they soon run into problems.

Zhang Ren, the general under Liu Zhang, held on to the city and did not come out, but only sent a small force to harass the grain route of Tian Yu's army. Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and the others tried to attack Mianzhu, and then kicked the iron plate with one kick. The tiger squat cannon had no effect on the city wall at all, and the shells bombarded it, but it was just a few more potholes.

After losing more than 100 soldiers, those who are as good at fighting as Zhang Liao and as brave as Xu Huang can only besiege Mianzhu first, and then wait for the rear to send the cannons. If there were no artillery, then we would have to fight for the dead and wounded to seize the city. There is Zhang Ren guarding Mianzhu, relying on traditional methods, it will take at least four or five months to gnaw down the city.

But Tian Yu put a stop to this, and he patiently waited for the twelve-pounder Napoleonic guns to be transported to the front line, and then began to bombard them around the clock. The continuous shelling continued for more than ten days, and the defenders of the city suffered heavy casualties. Zhang Ren could still grit his teeth and continue to persevere, but his soldiers and generals couldn't stand it.

Being beaten and not being able to fight back was the most demoralizing, and the defenders of the city could not stand this situation, so they launched a counterattack out of the city, but they were smashed in front of the smoothbore guns and artillery. After repelling the attack of the defenders, Tian Yu commanded the troops to launch a strong attack, and under the cover of artillery fire, Mianzhu was overcome, and Zhang Ren retreated to Ruocheng with the remnants of the defeated army.

Ruocheng is almost the last barrier in Yizhou, if it is lost here, then there will be no place behind it, and there will be no troops to defend. Even if there is an army, the morale is going to be lost.

Liu Zhang watched Zhang Ren return with the remnants of the defeated army, tears fell out, and he mourned: "The ancestor spent a lot of energy to pacify Yizhou. After it was passed into my hands, he never neglected political affairs, why did he end up like this? ”

Zhang Ren said ashamedly: "It's the last general who is incompetent, this is ......."

Liu Zhang stopped Zhang Ren and sighed: "Where can I blame you?" There are so many cannons in the imperial army, even if Wei Huo is resurrected, what can he do? General Zhang, do you think the city can be defended? ”

Zhang Ren was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "After all, it can't be held." ”

Liu Zhang sighed again, stroked the hard brick wall, and said: "Alas, I also know that it can't be held, since this is the case, then we will surrender, right?" The general is still reasonable, and he will not kill people indiscriminately. ”

Zhang Ren hurriedly said: "This matter must not be done!" ”

"But we can't beat it, what can we do if we don't surrender?"

Zhang Rendao: "The general has leveled all the princes, and the heroes of the world see it in their eyes, won't they oppose it en masse?" As long as you keep going, maybe things will turn around! ”

"Turnaround?" Liu Zhang smiled bitterly, "Although Liu Biao, Sun Ce and the others secretly sent a lot of money, they didn't dare to send troops at all, where could there be any turnaround?" General Zhang, you are a good general in the world, but it is a pity that you have fallen into the current situation with me, a useless person. ”

Zhang Ren couldn't help crying, but he still couldn't stop Liu Zhang's determination to surrender.

Tian Yu led his troops to Yucheng, digging a trench while waiting for the rear to transport the cannons, but the city gate suddenly opened, Liu Zhang was dressed in white, holding the seal of Yizhou Mu, and took the soldiers out of the city to surrender.

Tian Yu first sent a small number of soldiers to control the city gate and set up artillery on the head of the city before sending a large army into the city.

Liu Zhang knelt on the ground, raised the seal ribbon, and said, "Liu Zhang, the criminal minister, has seen the general of the court. ”

Tian Yu stepped forward to help Liu Zhang up, and said warmly: "The general has a magnificent bearing, since the envoy has surrendered, he will definitely not be held accountable." It's just that there are still some places in Yizhou that have not surrendered, and they need to be persuaded by the envoy. ”

Seeing that Tian Yu was not domineering, Liu Zhang's heart was a little calm, and he said continuously: "Definitely, definitely!" ”

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