Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains Section 6 The stars are dim tonight, and the looming crescent moon is carefully haunting the thick clouds.

The night breeze brings a cool breath, and occasionally you can smell a faint fishy smell. At night, Xingyang City was like a fierce beast, quietly lying prone on the waterside and sleeping quietly.

There were several burning bonfires on the towers, the scorching flames swaying in the wind, and long pillars of smoke soared upwards, carving a long trail through the night sky until they were swallowed up by darkness.

The low and violent drum beat of "Dong ......" suddenly tore through the silence of the night, and the fear of death was like a surging cold current, and in an instant, with the increasingly rapid drum beat on the city tower, it invaded the bone marrow of every living being.

The sound of killing rose to the sky. Thousands of people shouted in unison, pulling the rope hard. Thirty stone cannons fired at the same time, and the clay urns filled with fire oil rose into the air and soared into the darkness.

......The sound of the broken urns on the tower of the city was endless, the frightened shouts of the guards of the city were heard one after another, the rumbling drums were frightened, and the intermittent sound of high and low sounds seemed to be low morale.

The speed of the stone cannon projectile became faster and faster, the sound of the broken urns on the city wall became more and more intense, the frightened cries of the guards gradually became inaudible, and the sound of alarm drums gradually faded away.

Dozens of pounds of stones were lifted to the iron nest of the stone cannon. A soldier poured oil on the stones, and a soldier set fire to it.

"Let it go...... Put...... Put ......" The flaming fireballs were like devouring monsters that suddenly roared out of the darkness, one by one with their teeth and claws, and rushed towards Xingyang City with great momentum.

Yan Liang raised his horsewhip and roared excitedly,

"Drumming...... The drums beat ...... "The drums under the city suddenly thundered like thunder." Tens of thousands of torches were lit almost at the same time, and the battlefield suddenly became as bright as day.

Three thousand archers stood in formation, their arrows lit the tarpaulin wrapped in them with flaming torches.

"Let it go...... Put...... Let go ......" the long arrow roared away. A sea of fiery red stars immediately appeared in the dark night sky, which was dazzling.

Xingyang Beicheng Tower fell into a sea of fire in an instant. The tall two-story wooden castle tower was engulfed in flames in the blink of an eye, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

The flames on the city walls soared into the air, and the soldiers rushed to the wolves, fleeing for the road, and the terrible and helpless cries resounded through the night, making people shudder.

Yan Liang waved his hand and shouted,

"Order, Peng Lie in the east city, Xu Yan in the west city, immediately attack the city, siege the city ......" The fire in Xingyang City was overwhelming, and the shouts of killing were overwhelming.

The door of the "......" study was slammed open by Cao Taoyi, the thief under the door. An unpleasant smell of burnt paste rushed into the study, and the deafening sound of killing poured into the city.

"My lord, the Northern Frontier Army has come in, let's go." Han Fan was on the desk, as if he hadn't heard it, and he didn't even raise his head.

"My lord, let's go." Tao Yi didn't wait for Han Fan to answer, turned around and waved to the guards outside the door,

"Quick, take the adults out, ...... quickly"

"No need." Han Fan looked up at Tao Yi and shook his head,

"I'm not leaving." Then continue to bow your head and write letters. Tao Yi was so anxious that he ran to Han Fan's side and shouted,

"My lord, I beg you, let's go. While the city is in chaos now, I will protect you and kill you, and it will be too late to do so. ”

"Let's go." Han Fan put down the pen, picked up the book that had not dried and blew lightly,

"You have a small target, and it is easy to escape." Then he rolled up the book slowly, stood up and handed it to Tao Yi.

"Remember, as soon as you leave the city, go east and flee from the chasm. Lord Yuan's army returned to Henan and would definitely rush to Aocang from the direction of Yangwu. As long as you cross the chasm, you will encounter an army of reinforcements. ”

"My lord......" Tao Yi took the letter and begged bitterly,

"Your Excellency, come with us. The lower officials and their brothers swear to protect you to the death. The fierce killing sound was getting closer, and the sound of stray arrows hitting the roof was clearly audible.

Han Fan's face sank, and he pushed Tao Yi hard,

"Hurry up, hurry up. The Northern Frontier Army may not kill me, but if this letter cannot be delivered, it will be a big mistake. Tao Yi saw that Han Fan had made up his mind, so he no longer insisted on it, knelt down with a group of guards to say goodbye, and hurried away.

Han Fan stood under the eaves and watched everyone's figures disappear into the darkness, not moving for a long time.

There was a loud bang ...... "boom", and the gate of the mansion collapsed. The soldiers of the northern frontier came in like a tidal wave. Early in the morning, outside the city of Xingyang.

Wang Dang reported again that Jiang Qi's army was approaching step by step, and he quickly asked for support.

"Wang Dang now has only 2,500 people, and the rest of the army has come with the adults to fight Xingyang." Zhang He sat on the grass, spread out the map, pointed to Ao Cangcheng and said,

"If Ao Cang is lost, Yuan Shao's army will cut off our eastern retreat, and the cone formation will be broken. At the same time, if the reinforcements from the Luoyang direction conquered Chenggao, the army would be surrounded in Xingyang and fall into a desperate situation of annihilation. Zhang He rubbed his dry eyes, yawned lightly, and continued,

"It is unbelievable that we have been crossing the river to attack Henan for five days, and the reinforcements from the Luoyang direction have not yet made it out of the Tiger Prison Pass, and Guo Tu in Hanoi has not attacked for a long time, which gives us plenty of time to capture Xingyang and complete the cone-shaped formation."

"Now that Xingyang has fallen, the cone defensive formation has been formed, as long as we quickly adjust the deployment of troops and consolidate the cone formation, it will not be a problem to hold here for two to three months." Zhang He groaned slightly, looked at Yan Liang and said, "Let Ding Bo, Lin Jie, and Xue Lan lead the army back to Aocang first." Cheng Gao currently has an army of 15,000, so he can first transfer Lord Zhang Xiu's army to Aocang to support. In addition, the defensive strength of Guancheng is enough, and the Yuan army in the direction of Zhongmu is not capable of conquering Guancheng in the short term, so I plan to personally lead the army with Cheng Lian to support Aocang. Yan Liang frowned slightly, and the horsewhip in his hand kept patting his thigh,

"Although we seized the opportunity and won Xingyang, our goal was not achieved, and Yuan Shao's main force is still on the front line of Baima and Puyang. We spent so much money to attack Henan, and only 10,000 troops from Jiang Qi were brought in. Yan Liang shook his head again and again,

"We have to find a way to attract Yuan Shao's main force to Henan as soon as possible." Yan Liang walked in front of Zhang He, and the horsewhip pointed lightly at Aocang City on the map,

"Jun Yi, you concentrated 25,000 men in Ao Cang and tried to inflict heavy losses on Jiang Qi in order to pull Yuan Shao's main force to Henan. This method is good, but have you thought about it, the target of the imperial court's attack this year is the rebel Hu in northern Xinjiang. Once the war in northern Xinjiang begins, we will have to withdraw to Hanoi, and we will have very limited time to fight in the south. Maybe half a month, maybe a month, but at most it will not be more than the end of April, and we will definitely have to withdraw from Henan. We can estimate this matter, and Yuan Shao can also guess that it is not far from ten. If ......" Yan Liang looked at Zhang He and smiled helplessly,

"If Yuan Shao besieges and does not attack, confronts us here, and waits for us to withdraw his troops, will Jiang Qi still take the initiative to attack Ao Cang and fight you in a decisive battle?" Zhang He closed his eyes tiredly, stretched out his hand and pulled off his battle helmet,

"If you don't fight, you have to fight. Jiang Qi didn't fight Ao Cang, so we took the initiative to beat him. As long as we defeat Jiang Qi and Xu Huang will come to the Tiger Prison Pass again, if Yang Feng of Hedong can take the opportunity to attack Guanxi, Luoyang will be in crisis on all sides. Luoyang is very important to Yuan Shao, and he will definitely come back to help. ”

"But we're running out of time." Yan Liang said worriedly,

"The imperial court will let us withdraw our troops at any time."

"What can you do?" Zhang He asked.

"Kill Han Fan and give his head to Yuan Shao." Yan Liang waved his horsewhip and chopped it down like a war knife,

"One head is not enough, so all the government officials of the three cities will be killed. I don't slaughter the city, I kill these scholars who betrayed the Han Dynasty. Zhang He was taken aback,

"Zishan, Han Fan is a repeat offender of the imperial court, killing him must be approved by the imperial court, and killing him without a holy decree is to bear the responsibility. In addition, Han Fan is a person from Yingchuan Han Valve, and his cousin Han Rong is now in Jinyang, and killing Han Fan will cause you trouble. Liang stared at each other, murderous,

"The Han Dynasty is rebellious, and everyone will be punished under the moon, Luoyang. Due to the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army on Henan, Yuan Shao's letter had to be sent to Luoyang from the direction of Yuyuan Pass via Yingchuan. After receiving Yuan Shao's letter, Fu Zhu sent someone to send Yuan Shao's letter to Guo Tu to Heyang, and urged Guo Tu to immediately attack Pinggao. At this moment, Chenggao has been lost, Xingyang's life and death are uncertain, and Shaancheng in Guanxi is being fiercely attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and Chun Yuqiong and Wang Xiu have asked for help several times. Fu warned Guo Tu that if Hanoi did not go to war again, Luoyang would be in danger. After Guo Tu received Yuan Shao's order, he still did not order troops to attack Pinggao. He wrote back to Yuan Shao, once again explaining his understanding of the war situation in Hanoi and Henan, and stubbornly believed that sticking to Heyang and Wenxian was the right way to ensure the safety of Luoyang. Guo Tu lashed out at Frustration in the letter, believing that the loss of Chenggao and the siege of Xingyang were all caused by Frustration and self-use, excluding dissidents, and deliberately preserving his own strength. If Fu Zhu immediately sent troops to support Cheng Gao when he received Cheng Gao's request for help, the Northern Frontier Army would not be able to capture Cheng Gao at all. In addition, he told Yuan Shao that Li Hong had a close relationship with the officials of the Jizhou Prefecture such as Fu Zhu and the trial match after the Great War of Xiatao, and the personal relationship between them had been very good for many years. Guo Tu said that now that Hebei is strong, these Jizhou people may betray and seek glory, and adults can't help but guard against it. Since these people were able to betray Han Fu and take refuge with adults back then, why can't they betray adults now and turn to Li Hong instead? At this time, he also wrote back to Yuan Shao, explaining that he did not send troops to the Tiger Prison to rescue Chenggao and Xingyang, and block the southward movement of the Northern Xinjiang Army. In the letter, he said that because Yang Feng and Huaxiong led the army in Hedong to attack Guanxi, Luoyang was under the threat of the Northern Xinjiang Army from three sides, and in order to ensure the safety of Luoyang, it could only hold on to the eight passes of Gyeonggi. As for the Northern Xinjiang Army's attack on Henan, Fu Zhu did not care about this, and he made an analysis to Yuan Shao, believing that the Northern Xinjiang Army attacking Henan would soon withdraw its troops in order to avoid fighting on two fronts, so there was no need to worry. The top priority at the moment is to take advantage of the Northern Xinjiang Army's expedition to the Hu Nationality in the desert, quickly take the Central Plains, and prepare for the future crusade against Li Hong, pacify the world, and revitalize Sheji. However, in order to alleviate the heavy losses caused to Luoyang by the Northern Xinjiang Army crossing the river to the south, it is better to force the Northern Xinjiang Army to withdraw from Henan as soon as possible. In order to achieve this goal, the only way was for Guo Tu to open up the situation on the battlefield in Hanoi, threaten the retreat of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and force the Northern Xinjiang Army to withdraw to the north bank of the Yellow River. Frustrated thought that Guo Tu would definitely send troops, but who knew that when he woke up, Guo Tu was still in Heyang. Fu Zhu was furious and ordered the arrest of Guo Tu in the name of Yuan Shao. The news leaked out. When Guo Tu found out, he immediately made preparations, and the officials who were ordered to go to Heyang to arrest Guo Tu were arrested as soon as they crossed the Yellow River. Fu Zhu was mad this time, and he personally led people to rush to Heyang. Guo Tu saw that the matter was getting bigger, and he was a little frightened, but he thought that he had repeatedly disobeyed orders, and once he was arrested, his life might not be guaranteed, so he simply made a heart and fought against Fu Zhu to the end. He immediately ordered the blockade of the Yellow River to prevent Fu Zhi from coming ashore, and at the same time hurriedly told Yuan Tan in Guanzhong with a fast ride of 800 miles. Now the only one who can save him is Yuan Tan. The matter became bigger and bigger, and Xun Chen and Chen Lin, who stayed in Luoyang, persuaded Yuan Shao urgently while persuading peace. After Chun Yuqiong of Kansai heard about it, he returned to Luoyang overnight with a team of people, lest something happen to Luoyang. After Yuan Tan got the news, he sent Changshi Liu Xian to Luoyang day and night, and urgently wrote to his father Yuan Shao, attacking Fu Zhu in a big way. In the second half of March, Chenliu County, Yanzhou, White Horse Camp. Yuan Shao wanted to withdraw his troops and return to Henan. Xingyang is lost, and the head of Yin Hanfan in Henan is now on the table. There are more than 30 heads outside the big tent, and a few of them are Yuan's disciples. What especially made Yuan Shao angry was that at this critical moment, Luoyang was in chaos. Tian Feng tried his best to dissuade him. Feng Ji said coldly: "If the army does not withdraw quickly, I am afraid that it will not only be Henan that will be lost, but even Luoyang will be given to Li Hong." Tian Feng scoffed,

"The matter in Luoyang is very easy to solve. killed Guo Tu, and Luoyang immediately calmed down. As for Henan, it only occupied three cities for the Northern Frontier Army. After the Northern Frontier Army captured three cities, it had become the end of the strong crossbow, and if it advanced, it might fall into the encirclement of regiments, and if it retreated, it would be in danger of losing the army, so it could only hold on to the city. At this time, as long as we make a breakthrough on the battlefield in Hanoi, the Northern Xinjiang Army has no other way but to retreat north. Yuan Shao sneered, reached out and picked up a few books from the desk,

"Yuan Hao, take a look for yourself and see what Han Fan and Guo Tu said?" Tian Feng hurriedly glanced at it, and couldn't help but tremble with anger,

"Guo Tu, a despicable villain, is greedy for life and afraid of death, so he doesn't dare to take the initiative to attack, but he wantonly slanders good people for his own selfishness."

"What is the explanation of Han Fan's words?" Yuan Shao looked at Tian Feng with his eyes and asked angrily.

"Han Fan is purely a communiqué personal vendetta." Tian Feng smashed the bamboo slip in his hand to the ground,

"Han Fan has always been obsessed with us for the death of his cousin Han Fu. He said that we fornicated with Li Hong and betrayed the adult, what proof do we have? Can Fu Zhu's refusal to send troops to rescue Xingyang also be used as evidence of fornication with Li Hong? ”

"Your Excellency wants to go back to Henan, why are you trying your best to stop it?" Feng Ji pointed at Tian Feng and asked in a cold voice,

"Do you wait until the Northern Xinjiang Army occupies Henan and takes Luoyang, do you think we should go back to the army to rescue? I think you are fornicating with Li Hong and plotting against him. Tian Feng's eyes were about to split, and he pulled out his long sword,

"Feng Yuantu, do you dare to spew blood?"

"Take down ......" Yuan Shao took the case and scolded angrily,

"Those who are clear are self-purifying, and those who are turbid are self-turbid, what are you afraid of? Go to the prison camp first, and wait for Luoyang's affairs to be clarified. "Jump to