After setting foot on the boundary of Jingzhou, the situation was as Guo Jia expected, just entered Jianping County, and in the short journey from Wuxian to Xinling, the Taiping army experienced no less than five encounters.

Or the rogues entrenched in the mountains and forests, or the militia in the county, as little as hundreds, as many as two or three thousand, these are all rabble, vulnerable, Guo Jia's generals have long been accustomed to seeing big scenes when they follow him into Yizhou, in the face of these shrimp soldiers and crabs, they will not be able to raise a trace of spirit, Zhou Tai casually took three thousand soldiers and horses to exterminate the thieves who dared to stand in the way.

When it falls, he arrives at Xinling to rest, and the county town is ten rooms and nine empty, which makes Guo Jia very puzzled, the war has affected his homeland, and the exile of the Shi clan can be seen everywhere, but the Hao clan is rooted in the place, are they willing to give up the land?

After sending scouts to explore the surrounding area of Xinling, they found that all the wealthy families in Jianping County had fled, and only a few people stayed for various reasons.

Resting in Xinling City for the time being, the Ming Dynasty said that the army marched to Yidu County, and it was expected that the troops would come to Xiangyang City two days later.

Zhou Tai, who came to see Guo Jia at night, was worried and said to Guo Jia: "Lord, when we went out of Chengdu, we learned that Jingzhou was in turmoil, and the thieves were in turmoil, and when we came to Jianping County, the situation seems to be the same, and the big clans who had heard the news had already fled in all directions, but I wondered why there were so many fewer people?" ”

Guo Jia himself is also thinking about this question, strong wall Qingye? Impossible, Yong'an is not far from Xiangyang, and there is no problem with the supply of the army, but why did the wealthy families flee with their families and bring the people?

Pacing around with his hands on his back, Guo Jia said to himself: "There are three possibilities, first, the people are afraid of us, because we are the anti-thieves preached outside, maybe we are tyrannical and unscrupulous killing gods in the eyes of the people of the world." Second, the Hao clan fled with the people because they did not want to lose their labor, and this was also the root cause of the turmoil in Jingzhou. Third, the wealthy clans of Jingzhou gathered together and gathered the people to wait for my army in a certain place, intending to block my attack on Jingzhou with the intention that the army and the people would work together to block my attack on Jingzhou. However, the likelihood of this is very small. ”

Thinking about it, Guo Jia can only come up with two reasons, the people are afraid of him, when Cao Ying raised troops to the south in the official history, the people were afraid that he would slaughter the city and followed Liu Bei to flee, although the people in it may have been instigated, because Cao Ying slaughtered the city several times for a reason, Liu Cong on the Xiangyang side had already surrendered on behalf of Jingzhou without a fight, and Cao Ying's unification of the north was the time when Enwei gathered the hearts of the people, what else did he do to slaughter the city? The people are ignorant and easy to incite under the guidance of public opinion, what Guo Jia did in Yizhou is not important, the important thing is that he is a thief, and the clans of the foreign scholars will definitely do everything possible to slander and exaggerate his brutal and unkind image. The thieves who were in turmoil in the territory resisted to the death, and the Hao clan fled in order to save their lives.

No matter what the reason for the people fled their homes, Zhou Tai's worries were still pressed on his heart.

"My lord, what if the people of Xiangyang County and Jiangxia County also escaped? We conquered these two counties, and there were no people to cultivate under our rule, so there would be no supply of grain and grass, and relying on Yizhou alone to support it would not be a long-term solution, and it would cost the people and money. ”

According to Guo Jia's strategic concept when he left Chengdu, he captured Xiangyang and Jiangxia and garrisoned the two places, not expecting the two counties to be self-sufficient, but at least he had to afford more than sixty percent of the supplies, and he subsidized the rest from Yizhou.

In this regard, Guo Jia pondered for a moment and said: "The people of Xiangyang and Jiangxia will not all flee, even if there is only one percent of the people left, as long as we are strict with ourselves after conquering the two places and rule leniently, the people will gradually return to their homeland to live and work in peace and contentment." ”

Facts speak louder than words, what Guo Jia is like in Yizhou, the people in other places can only listen to the description of public opinion, as long as Guo Jia can make the people truly feel his benevolence and benevolence, the people's hearts will always slowly turn towards him.

Hearing Guo Jia say this, Zhou Tai thought about it and felt that it made sense, the common people are not careerists, the most fundamental interests for them are the severity of conscription, how much taxes, and whether they will be bullied by those in power, Guo Jia has never issued a conscription order in Yizhou, and the taxes have not been increased, and the soldiers are not allowed to disturb the people and bully the people.

After staying in Xinling for a while, Guo Jia's army continued to advance in the direction of Xiangyang and entered Yidu County, passing through villages and county towns were all desolate, and it seemed that the Taiping army was not the army that brought peace in the eyes of the world.

Along the way, three waves of thieves were exterminated, and Guo Jia's army was about to enter the county before the fall.

The county seat is not far away, but there are no less than 5,000 thieves blocking the road on the road leading to the county seat.

Looking at the rabble in front of him, Guo Jia said to Zhang Yan with an indifferent expression: "Feiyan, you lead the troops to exterminate them, and then explore the situation in the county." ”

Zhang Yan received the order, led the army to rush to kill, the thieves who blocked the road were not vulnerable at all, and Zhang Yan's army was defeated and retreated at the beginning of the confrontation, and then scattered and fled to the county, Zhang Yan took advantage of the victory to pursue, and saw that there was no defender on the upper floor of the county, so he ordered a thousand foot soldiers to kill into the city to find out if there was an ambush.

At dusk, Zhang Yan got a report from his subordinates, the situation in the county was the same as the county they had passed through before, there were ten rooms and nine empty, only a few people remained in the city, but they were all closed, and a county town was silent and depressed.

After reporting this situation to Guo Jia, Guo Jia waved his hand without thinking about it: "Enter the county to rest for three days, and after recuperating and recuperating, go to Xiangyang City in one go." ”

The county is located at the northern edge of Yidu County, and the north of Yidu County is Xiangyang County, which is far from Xiangyang City, and can be reached in less than two days.

Guo Jia led Xu Chu Dianwei and Zhou Tai's three divisions, 25,000 men and horses into the county, and Zhang Yan and his 40,000 troops were stationed outside the city.

The sky was getting dark, and the Taiping Army, which had strict military discipline, did not let the lonely county fall into a hustle and bustle, and they went about their own steps.

In the west of Bianxian and Xiangyang, at the foot of the back of Jingshan Mountain, with the color of the mountains, forests and grasses against the background, a mighty army is waiting for it, and the leader sits on a white horse, wearing a gorgeous crimson brocade robe, wearing a crown of virtuous people, and the face of the elegant Siwen is expressionless at this time, it is Liu Biao who has just been promoted to Jingzhou.

A young man dressed in cloth hurriedly came to Liu Mian and hugged his fists and reported: "Guo Jia's army has entered the county, but tens of thousands of troops are stationed outside the city, and judging by its size, there are more than 30,000 and less than 50,000. ”

Waving his hand to signal the man to step back, Liu Biao looked up at the dim sky, raised his hand to feel the cool breeze in autumn and winter, and asked softly, "Xeno, what time is it?" ”

The generals on horses on both sides of Liu Biao are his right-hand men, one is Cai Mao, and the other is Huang Zu, who was quickly summoned after Liu Biao entered Xiangyang, and the two are wearing armor on Liu Biao's left and right, and Kuai Yue is next to Cai Mao.

Looking at the sky, thinking for a moment in his heart, Kuai Yue said to Liu Biao: "It's more than half of the unitary time." ”

After hearing this, Liu Biao turned his head to look at Cai Mao and asked, "Can the 70,000 army arrive at Bian County within two hours?" ”

Cai Mao clenched his fists and nodded firmly: "The rapid march can definitely be rushed." ”

Relieved, Liu Biao slowly rode his horse out of the battle, then turned his horse's head to face the soldiers, and said aloud with a stern expression: "Guo Jia, a traitor in troubled times, gathering the remnants of the Yellow Turban to commit rebellion, in Yizhou, he not only slaughtered Liu Junlang, the ancestor of the Han family, but also killed tens of thousands of soldiers in Yizhou to protect the family and defend the country, and slaughtered countless cities!" It's a monstrous sin, heaven and earth don't tolerate it! At this time, he has stepped into Jingzhou, if we sit and wait to die, I, Liu Jingsheng, will be the second Liu Junlang, and Jingzhou will be the second Yizhou that has become a scorched earth! We will break up our wives and families and die, and now we say, you will work with me to protect the territory and the people, kill the traitor Guo Jia, and return Jingzhou Yanran to peace! ”

"Protect the land and the people!"

The 70,000 soldiers spoke in unison, the crowd was excited, raised their weapons and shouted, and their blood surnames burst out.

Liu Biao turned the horse's head again, and with a wave of his big hand, Cai Mao immediately raised the long knife in his hand and roared angrily: "The whole army obeys the order and marches to the county!" Make no mistake! ”

With high momentum and the belief that the battle will be won, Liu Biao led an army of 70,000 to take advantage of the night to attack the county.

The time of unitary time (17-19) has passed, and at the time of the month (19-21), most of the Taiping troops who entered the county to rest have already laid down to rest, and Zhang Yan's army stationed outside the city sent several teams of men and horses to patrol the surrounding areas of the county at night.

When the time was about to pass, and when the time was about to come, there was a sudden fire in the city of the county, which was not obvious, but it attracted the attention of the night guards, and when Zhang Yan got the news and got up from the tent and looked at the county, he was suddenly shocked!

As soon as he put on his armor, the city of Bianxian was on fire on all sides, and the fire was so great that it almost became a siege, completely enveloping the county in the fire.

There was already a commotion in the city, and Zhang Yan was so anxious that he immediately gathered his men and led 20,000 people to rush into the city to put out the fire.

Ordering his men to go down to extinguish the fire, Zhang Yan looked at the soldiers in the city who were in a panic and at a loss, and didn't care too much, so he went straight to Guo Jia's temporary residence, and saw that Xu Chudianwei and Zhou Tai had already put on armor and escorted Guo Jia out of the residence.

Woke up by Xu Chu not long after falling asleep, Guo Jiaqiang calmly put on his armor, took his sword and walked out of the residence, looked at the scene of the fire in the city, and was shocked in his heart, but also cold.

It's not a misfire! Someone deliberately set the fire!

At this time, the buildings were all wooden, and the northwest wind in autumn and winter made the fire spread very quickly, but it was impossible to find the four sides of the city where the fire was most intense.

Quickly sorting out the clues in his mind, Guo Jia couldn't help but hold Xu Chu's arm with eight points of strength.

Guo Jia gritted his teeth and whispered to Xu Chudian, Wei Zhoutai, and the three of them: "Hurry up and inform Zhang Yan, beware of the enemy's attack, his soldiers and horses outside the city must not enter the city, you three go and order the soldiers to go out of the city in an orderly manner from the city gates on all sides, don't waste your efforts to fight the fire!" Otherwise, the county is our burial place! ”

Guo Jia, who had just given the order, looked up and suddenly looked bloodless.

Zhang Yan was running towards him with an anxious face!

Rest of the story!