Pengcheng, Xuzhou

The moon was hidden in the black clouds, the rain had stopped, only the blazing fire reflected the top and bottom of the city, and the corpses had been converged by Cao Tao and the two sides, and the black blood stains still remained.

The evening breeze in the middle of the summer night is a little cool, and under the red light of the torches, there is a team of people patrolling the city defense and condolences to the soldiers.

Tao Qian is a native of Danyang, when he was a teenager, he was famous for his dissolute personality in the county, when he was fourteen years old, he used cloth as a battle flag, rode a bamboo horse and played with the children in the township, Cangwu Taishou Gangong met when he passed by, thought that there was a strange spirit, and was very satisfied after talking, so he married his daughter despite his wife's opposition, and urged him to study.

First admitted to the students in the county as an official, and then was promoted to Maocai, worship Shang Shulang, successively served as Shu County Order, Lu County Order, and then moved to Youzhou Assassin History, six years ago with Huangfu Song to go out to fight Sanfu, west attack Qianghu, and then because of the slander of Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, he was suspended and dismissed.

Until three years ago, Qingzhou and Xuzhou drought, the displaced people turned into Kou, the smoke and dust returned, Tao Qian was ordered alone, served as the assassin of Xuzhou, appointed the Taishan people Zang Ba and fellow townsman Sun Guan of the East China Sea as generals, a war to break the Liukou, forced the remnants to flee to Qingzhou, Yanzhou, the territory for a while.

Tao Qian immediately paid homage to Zang Ba and Sun Guan as the captain of the cavalry, and ordered him to govern Kaiyang in Langya County, garrison the north of Xuzhou to guard against Liukou and Cao Cao, and because of the famine in the whole state, he appointed Chen Deng, a famous scholar in Xiapi, as the captain of the agricultural school, and tried Tuntian in Xuzhou - earlier than Liu Bei and Cao Cao at this time, and there was really no shortage of heroes in the late Han Dynasty.

Xuzhou was originally in the Jianghuai area, there is no lack of water sources, but most of the canals are in disrepair, at this time to investigate the soil condition, restore water conservancy, develop farmland irrigation, three years of rice accumulation, rich and incomparable, no wonder caused Yanzhou Cao Cao to covet.

Patrolling all the way, there was no danger, but his eyes fell on the dark field outside the city, and ten miles away was the enemy's camp, and the army was in high spirits.

Cao Cao......

Tao Qian frowned, and sighed slightly to a few Taoist priests who followed closely: "Several Taoist leaders have worked hard, just now Cao Cao also attacked at night with Taoist priests, if it weren't for you, it would be dangerous." ”

"It's just that this person assassinated Zhang Rang, I have seen it, and I have the impression that he is a loyal and upright person who is angry with the court, when did he become so unscrupulous?"

The Taoist priests all bowed their heads: "The fathers and elders in their hometown are in trouble, and they dare not use their meager strength? Although there are many enemies, fortunately there is no True Dharma Master, we can barely resist it." ”

Tao Qian looked at the silence, in this half-moon battle, Cao Cao's spell group showed its might, suppressed the battlefield, and treated the soldiers, so that the exchange ratio between the offensive and defensive sides was maintained at one to one, and even raided into the city at night as an internal response.

Fortunately, with Liu Zhijun's reminder, he recruited local Taoist priests, and used sharp pawns to desperately maintain it.

This is still the result of Xuzhou's wealth and many sects, and I am afraid that it would have been broken long ago if it was replaced by other states.

This half a month of war was fought very badly, but all the way to the staggering, the soldiers still treated the old man respectfully, as if to their grandparents - nearly half of the soldiers in the Xuzhou army are Danyang soldiers, at this time the name of Danyang County is still the old name of Danyang, since ancient times the mountains are dangerous and the people are fruitful, there is the legacy of the Spring and Autumn Overlord Wu State, but the livelihood in the mountains and wilderness is poor, and the population of the Han Dynasty is relatively too much, and he can only be a bandit if he can't survive.

Many young people who have no way to live and are unwilling to be thieves, after hearing about the recruitment, they all went north together and defected to this hometown celebrity Tao Yuanjun, no matter how much they fought a vicious battle, it was better than starving to death in the mountains and being killed by the official army.

30,000 Danyang soldiers, some of whom even followed Tao Qian to suppress Xianbei in Youzhou, and fought the Qiang people in Xiliang, and now attract more fellow villagers to follow, which can be said to be a solid foundation for Tao Qian's rule in Xuzhou, and also the backbone of this battle.

Because the enemy's spell group is becoming more and more ferocious, the secret attack has its own local Taoist guard, but more often it is a grandiose offensive on the battlefield, and under the large-scale spells, it is this backbone army on top, killed and wounded in battle, and at this time, there are only 20,000 left of the 30,000 Danyang soldiers and combat effectiveness.

Tao Qian's eyes were slightly regretful, patrolling to a garrison point, he covered a fifteen or sixteen-year-old soldier with a robe, and then looked at six soldiers, originally full of ten people, but at this time he died in battle and was short of three, and he died three percent on the cold weapon battlefield without losing morale, which was already a rare elite soldier.

"Are you homesick?" Tao Qian asked in a hoarse voice, his hometown Danyang County is not in Xuzhou, but in Yangzhou, separated from here by the two counties of Xiapi and Jiujiang, and the road is far away.

It has been a tradition since ancient times that fallen leaves are at the root, but the soldiers looked at the old envoy and laughed: "I thought, I just have food with the envoy, what can I do when I go back?"

Tao Qian knew that the mountainous area of his hometown could not accommodate the multiplication of so many people, and sighed: "I have to do this, but I can't stand the villagers who died in this battle." ”

A few bold veterans stood up, with resolute expressions: "It's just early to die late, Cao thief is cruel, killing my relatives and friends in robes, hating the sky, although there is no regret in death"

These Danyang soldiers did not know what to do, in the later history of Liu Bei's rescue of Xuzhou, there were 4,000 Danyang soldiers who were allocated to Liu Bei by the Tao envoy in front of him, so that Liu Bei had the most solid family foundation, and also let these people fight in the north and south, and there was no chance to return home.

They have been enemies of Cao Cao for a lifetime, and they got what they wanted in this matter.

At this time, the Danyang soldiers have not yet reached the later level, and the current expression is resolute, only a trace of white gas rushes out, this is already a reserve of elite soldiers, but it is a pity that the commander Tao Qian is old and decrepit, and he can't give full play to the strength of the Danyang soldiers, but the enemy is stronger - outside the city is Cao Cao's 50,000 army, which is untamable by thieves! 60,000 Qingzhou soldiers, and other counties are invaded by more Qingzhou soldiers.

Tao Qian didn't know that Lu Dao himself had blocked a disaster for Liu Bei, this group of Qingzhou soldiers was known to everyone on the ground, the quality was average, but the number of 300,000 was terrifying, the governor had long been ready to transfer the target and use this gang of thieves to plague Yuzhou, but unfortunately Ye Qing was driven out of eastern Henan in advance.

After inspecting the circle, Tao Qian turned to the main city gatehouse, and the lights were bright, showing that several generals were deducing the battle situation

Tao Qian pushed the door in, saw that the generals were about to salute, waved his hand, and looked at the strong man at the head: "General Zang, how is the situation?"

"Returning to the envoy, the enemy general Cao Ren conquered the east of Pei County, along Surabaya to Pengcheng, drove the people to attack the city and even more than ten cities, these Qingzhou soldiers were originally rogues, indulged in plundering places, rape and plunder......" Zang Ba responded with difficulty: "In short, now we are a lonely city and difficult to defend, this battle is not easy to fight." ”

Sun Guan was also promoted in the name of bravery, but the intensity of the war in the past half a month still frightened him, and he couldn't help asking: "Envoy, is there any news about the reinforcements from Yuzhou and Qingzhou?"

Tao Qian stroked his eyebrows and was silent, and sighed: "Qingzhou Tian Envoy Jun doesn't need to say that Yuzhou Liu Envoy Jun is also a believer, and he will live up to me...... I was afraid that Cao's army would be difficult to retreat, so he could only wait for his army to run out of food and retreat. ”

"The military rations are exhausted?" As soon as Zang Ba mentioned this, he looked at the camp outside the city, and his tiger eyes flashed with hatred: "Cao Cao can't support the consumption of military rations for 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers at all, I heard that in Yanzhou, he killed and destroyed the local production order, he originally supported 50,000 regular troops reluctantly, and only relied on the occupation of eastern Henan to maintain finances, and this year he was driven out of Yuzhou by Liu Zhijun, what to feed the 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers recruited by this new recruit?"

"This Qingzhou soldier is not an army at all, it is clear that Cao Cao did not dare to touch Yuzhou again, so he looted the wealth and grain and grass in our Xuzhou, this poor soldier is reckless, and it is imperative to use war to feed the war, and he also used the excuse that his father Cao Song was tortured and killed by us, which is really in vain in the past......

Tao Qian sighed when he listened, and didn't say anything about his subordinates' complaints.

"As the last batch of ministers of the Han family, his cultural and martial arts are not bad, but the problem is that he was sixty years old at the time, and he has come to the end of his life, and he has no energy or time to do many things. ”

Just like the crumbling Eastern Han Dynasty, the impact of natural and man-made disasters and warlords was only barely supported and tried to maintain it for a few more years, but the wealth that had been barely accumulated in this way was also looted by jackals.

"There is nothing to have, and if you don't have it, you can save it again, but when you die, you can't come back to life. Tao Qian stared at the darkness outside the window, and said worriedly: "The Qingzhou soldiers are from the rogue family, and if they have been a rogue bandit, they can't change their ferocious nature, especially if they don't have military rations to indulge in looting, can they be recovered if they are released?"

"The victims of the Qing and Yan prefectures moved south, attached to me, and lived near the left of Pengcheng. ”

Sun Guan's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he interjected the latest military situation: "The scout reported that Cao Ren had turned to lead the army across Surabaya, and the three counties of Nanpo and Juling, and Xiaqiu were all slaughtered. ”

Behind a "slaughter" are countless bloody tragedies, which make everyone silent for a while.

Although they all think that this massacre is uncontrollable Qingzhou soldiers, it may not be Cao Cao's original intention - it is no longer the background of the situation in which the Qin army god Bai Qipit killed 200,000 Zhao soldiers, since the unification and integration of the Qin and Han dynasties, doing this kind of massacre in the clan is far more harmful than good, unless it is to abandon the position of the clan?

But no matter what, half of the blame is attributed to the leader, and Zang Ba still scolded: "This Cao thief must not die well"

Sun Guan sighed secretly and asked: "Qingzhou Tian Thorn History is still patrolling, and he can only rely on Liu Zhijun in Yuzhou, but I don't know where Liu Zhijun is now?"

Under the blockade of Pengcheng, everyone did not know that the text of the Dao Dao against Dong Yu had been released, so it was difficult to determine whether Liu Bei sent troops as agreed, and they were anxious for a while.

At this time, a person hurriedly rushed in: "The Taoist priest saw that there was red qi coming from the east, and it was obviously deliberately released, thirty zhang high, and he had entered Xuzhou."

"Ah......" Everyone whispered, and there was only one happy thought in their hearts: "Liu Yuanjun sent troops and surrendered in person."

"I really believe in people. Tao Qian said with relief.

Historically, Tao Qian gave Xuzhou to Liu Bei, just for the sake of the Sanxing Han Dynasty, hoping that Liu Bei could repeat the old story of Emperor Guangwu - otherwise, who would he give it to, run away for the wandering Liu?

At this time, seeing such a momentum, I was even more overjoyed, and walked a few steps in a row to the city tower, looking from afar.

Although he couldn't see it, he couldn't help but murmur to the sky when he looked at the rainy night: "Thank God, and Liu Envoy Jun again, I should follow the old history and follow the new master"

"It's just that I'm old and frail, and I don't know if I can see the three Hans?"