Zhang Xun is not as arrogant as Ji Ling, he led his troops to guard the Yin Tomb on the order of Yuan Shu, and he was also in order, and he did not dare to make the slightest mistake, and after entering the Yin Tomb, he immediately strengthened the city defense of the Yin Tomb, and was ready to rely on the tall city wall of the Yin Tomb to make a long-term defense.

Yinling used to be the county seat of Jiujiang County, after Yuan Shu called the emperor, changed Jiujiang County to Huainan Yin, and the governance office was also moved to the capital Shouchun, but Yinling as a county town, whether it is the height and thickness of the city wall, it is far beyond the general county seat, the fortifications in the city are complete, there is a moat outside the city, there are horse rejection antlers under the city, and there are rolling wood stone arrow tower bed crossbows on the ground, and Zhang Xun's 50,000 horses are in place, the garrison of Yinling City is unprecedentedly strong.

In Huainan, only Zhang Xun can stand side by side with Ji Ling, the first general of Yuan Shu, but compared with Ji Ling's flying and arrogant arrogance, Zhang Xun is much more calm and capable. After experiencing the battle of Xuyi, Zhang Xun knew what Liu Ze's strength was, this time Liu Ze went south, and Zhang Xun commanded the troops to refuse to defend the Yin Tomb, feeling a lot of pressure.

In Zhang Xun's opinion, Ji Ling's defeat was completely his own fault, and Ji Ling really regarded himself as Han Xin Xiang Yu, in other words, even if he replaced Han Xin Xiang Yu, he might not be able to use these tactics to deal with Liu Ze. For Ji Ling, the wisest thing to do is to abandon the isolated counties in Huaibei, deploy fortifications along the Huai River, and use Huaishui as a barrier to prevent Liu Ze's attack. I really don't want to give up the land of Huaibei, and I can stick to Yicheng and other counties. Relying on the city defense to defend, although it is not a good strategy to defend Yicheng, it is really a step higher than Ji Ling's last battle. Ji Ling's backwater array broke the cauldron and sunk the boat, which can be said to be a faint move among the faint moves, and he did not find out the opponent's troop deployment and combat intentions at all, Ji Ling whimsically used this extreme means to boost morale, and it is not surprising that the end was so miserable.

The current situation of the Huainan Army, Zhang Xun has a clearer understanding than Ji Ling, and this time he commanded the 50,000 troops. Half of them were recruited later. Not to mention that he has never been on the battlefield, he has not even completed the systematic recruit training, and the war is urgent, so he was directly sent to the front line of Yinling. Such a soldier can be imagined. Even those veterans who followed Yuan Shu to fight in the east and west to fight in the north and south. Due to the withholding of wages. They are all complaining and morale is low.

With such an army, Zhang Xun didn't think about the confrontation with the Xuzhou army in the field. Although Liu Ze sent only more than 40,000 people this time, and the leader of the army was not Liu Ze's confidant but the newly surrendered Lu Bu's old general Zhang Liao, but Zhang Xun did not dare to be careless at all, the news from Xuzhou that Liu Ze had just completed the reorganization of the army, selecting the good and eliminating the inferior, it can be said that the current battle is the most elite troops, and it is difficult for him to match.

Therefore, Zhang Xun gave up Zhongli, which was adjacent to Xuzhou, and chose to hold on to Yinling, and Zhang Xun ordered that no one should open the city to fight, and those who left their posts without permission would be killed.

After the Fourth Army divided its forces with the First Army in Xiaqiu, it immediately crossed the Huaishui River in the south, set out from Xuyi, and advanced along the south bank of the Huai River in the direction of Shouchun. Zhang Liao did not rush forward with light troops, but marched step by step, advancing slowly, and soon took down Zhongli, who was undefended, and the soldiers pointed directly at Yinling.

The scout soldiers had already explored the situation of Yuan's army on the Yinling side, and Zhang Xun was cowering in Yinling City at this time, and he had no intention of going to war at all. Zhang Liao set up a large camp twenty miles east of Yinling, and urgently summoned the generals to discuss the matter.

The news of Liu Ze's total annihilation of Ji Ling's 50,000 troops on the northern front had reached the battalion of the Fourth Army Corps, and the generals were not only overjoyed, but also deeply stressed. Liu Ze's battle was too beautiful, he simply ate Ji Ling's 50,000 horses neatly, and there was not even a single fish that slipped through the net, and the Fourth Army has not fought a battle with the Huainan Army since the war, and in front of the Fourth Army is Zhang Xun's 50,000 horses. From the deputy governor Tai Shi Ci Gao Lan down, all the generals are eager to try, they all want to be the first vanguard of the siege, the lord has already won a complete victory in Huaibei, and the fourth army has no reason to be hesitant under the city of Yinling.

But Zhang Liao was calm, he didn't want to fight for merit, but he knew that the siege was not child's play, not to mention that the number of troops defending the city was still above his own army.

The lord's victory in Huaibei seems to be infinitely beautiful, but there are extremely accidental factors in it, if it weren't for Ji Ling's stubbornness, this battle would certainly be won, but it would definitely not be so easy to win. Zhang Xun obviously learned the lesson of Ji Ling, and shrunk all his troops into Yinling City, relying on the strong city to defend it. No matter what the situation, holding on to the city is the best means of defense, under the same force, the casualties of the besieging troops will be greater than the defending troops, how to ensure that the casualties are the lowest cost, quickly take the Yinling City, is the first problem that Zhang Liao must consider.

Zhang Liao knows very well that his current identity and status are given to him by Liu Zeli against public opinion, whether it is in terms of seniority or merit, Zhang Liao is impossible to stand shoulder to shoulder with Liu Guan and Zhang, and even surpass Zhao Yuntai, Shi Ci, Xu Rong, and Zhang He, and the appointment of the governor of the Fourth Legion, the top management of Xuzhou has always had different opinions, but Liu Ze always insisted on his decision, and Zhang Liao finally sat on the position of the governor of the Fourth Legion. This is the trust of the lord, but also the expectation of the lord, Zhang Liao felt that the burden on his shoulders was a thousand pounds, in order to live up to the high expectations of the lord, in order to prove his worth, this first battle is a touchstone, no matter what, this battle must be fought well.

Sun Guan, the commander of the Seventh Infantry Division, took the initiative to ask Ying to fight: "Governor Zhang, the last general is willing to lead his men and horses to challenge and lure Zhang Xun out of the city. ”

Zhang Liao shook his head lightly and said: "Ji Ling was annihilated in Huaibei, Zhang Xun has become a frightened bird, and he will definitely not go out of the city to meet the battle lightly, if you want to break the enemy, you have to find another good way." ”

Hao Meng, the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Infantry Division, said: "Now the Yuan army is already frightened, even if they stick to the city, what should they do, Zhang Dudu, the Eighth Division is willing to attack Yinling for the front, and swear to behead Zhang Xun's head!" ”

Zhang Liao frowned slightly, and said: "The walls of Yinling are tall, easy to defend and difficult to attack, if our army is attacked by force, it will inevitably lose its troops and generals, and the gains outweigh the losses." ”

The left one is not good, the right one is not good, the generals' mentions were vetoed by Zhang Liao one by one, and the faces of the generals in the account gradually changed, relying on Liu Ze's instrument Zhang Liao to get the position, but it does not mean that the generals are all happy and convinced. In the barracks, it will always be a place to serve the people with strength, this is the first battle since Zhang Liao became the governor, and it is also the first battle after the Fourth Army became an army, the First Army has erected a ruler for them in Huaibei, and the generals are secretly holding their breath, it cannot be said that they can surpass the First Army, at least they can't lag too far behind, and the battle of Yinling will undoubtedly be an opportunity for them.

But Zhang Liao seems to be a little unpopular, not at all like he has a strong desire to win, the hierarchy in the military camp is strict, Zhang Liao is the commander of the Fourth Army, the generals naturally can't blame at will, but the dissatisfaction that was inadvertently revealed still spreads within the big tent.

The chief soldier of the Fifth Cavalry Division, Yu Poison, snorted coldly and said, "Then according to Zhang Dudu's meaning, this Yin Tomb can't be beaten?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "Yinling is naturally going to fight, but we have to formulate a detailed strategy plan to minimize the casualties of our army." ”

Yu Poison said: "The lord has already won a great victory in Zhunbei, just waiting for our Fourth Legion to join the division in Shouchun City, Zhang Dudu wants a perfect strategy, so when will it have to wait?" According to the report from the scout, Zhang Xun had accumulated grain and grass for at least a few months in Yinling, could it be that the governor of Chengdu wanted to trap Zhang Xun until the food ran out before attacking the city? ”

There was a question in Yu Poison's words, Zhang Liao's face couldn't help but be a little gloomy, but he didn't have a seizure, Tai Shici coughed lightly, and said: "There is some truth in General Yu's words, our army is currently booming, if you are trapped under the Yinling City and cannot advance an inch, morale will inevitably fall, and it will be more difficult to attack the city at that time, and Zhang Dudu must also consider one or two." ”

Zhang Liao looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "I have already thought of a plan to break the enemy, starting tomorrow, I will order the army to attack the city, and within a month, we will be able to take Yinling." However, this governor's order must be forbidden, and all armies must advance and retreat according to the general's order, and no one shall make a mistake, otherwise they will be dealt with according to military law! ”

The generals' hearts were cold, don't look at Zhang Liaoping's gentle and elegant, but when he gave the military order, he was stern and vigorous, and the generals were terrified and bowed and left the tent.

Chen Gong, who joined the army, stayed in the last account, and after the generals went out, Zhang Liao called him and said: "Stay in the public platform, Liao still has something to discuss." ”

Chen Gong smiled indifferently and said: "Wen Yuan has already been a bamboo in his chest, and he is only a yin tomb, so he is not a problem. ”

Zhang Liao said: "I know that I can't hide everything from the public platform, but when I first took charge of the army, the generals are difficult to convince, and among the fourth army, only the public platform is close to me, and I really don't know who to look for. ”

Chen Gong said: "The lord dares to pay an army to Wenyuan, it is the lord who has the wisdom of knowing people, Wenyuan's talent, through the heavens and latitudes, naturally there is no need to be arrogant, if you want to be in the army, you naturally rely on the battle record, the battle of Yinling, will achieve the name of Wenyuan!" ”

Zhang Liao and Chen Gong looked at each other and smiled, all without saying a word. (To be continued......)