Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 550: Battle of Hanzhong
"Report! General Tian, there is a fire at Yangping Pass! The fire...the fire is reaching the sky, I'm afraid the entire pass is on fire!" A Qiang man came to Ma Chao's tent and reported urgently.
Although it was the third watch of the night, Ma Chao had not slept at all. Instead, he was in strange postures, as if he was practicing some kind of cultivation.
Since obtaining the military talisman, Ma Chao has spent every night in cultivation and has not yet married.
Tomorrow, Ma Chao will be able to enter the Shenwei mode again, so he must conserve his energy tonight.
During the training, Ma Chao's consciousness would get a more complete rest than sleeping, but when the Qiang man who reported it finished speaking, Ma Chao opened his eyes naturally...
"Fire? Haha, you ran away quickly enough." Ma Chao said disdainfully.
Ma Chao seemed very sure that the other party was escaping and not anything else, but he still took people to take a look.
At Yangping Pass, flames illuminated the cloudy night sky red. After Ma Chao put on his armor, he broke the gate with one blow - at this time he was sure that there was no large-scale garrison inside the pass.
After all, when the power of popular will takes effect, even Ma Chao, even when he is fully armed and equipped with armor and jade, will not be able to blow down the city gate so easily!
The power of Hanzhong's people's hearts is comparable to that of the State of Chu. After all, the common people generally believe in Tianshi Dao... Closing the gate can even gather the support of a larger group of people than the city gate.
However, after the garrison inside the pass withdrew, the pass became deserted and ownerless, and no longer had the support of the people.
After Ma Chao broke the door with one blow, tongues of fire immediately gushed out from inside, but Ma Chao dodged them by quickly retreating.
It wasn't that there was some sort of conspiracy, but rather that a large amount of flammable materials were piled up at the city gate. It seemed that... the supplies that couldn't be taken away from Guanzhong, including tents, house beams, and straw, were piled up at the door!
In this way , even if the pass caught fire, it would be difficult for Ma Chao to enter it quickly, and naturally he would not be able to pursue Zhang Wei.
After all, this is a pass, not a city, and you can't just bypass it.
"Put out the fire." Ma Chao frowned but still gave the order.
Not only was the gate closed, but looking inside, the city wall at the pass was also burning, and it was very likely that the interior of the pass was also burning!
It was obvious that Zhang Wei didn't want to leave them any houses or supplies.
The sooner the fire is put out, the easier it will be to repair in the future.
…
Zhang Wei looked back at the Yangping Pass where flames were rising to the sky. He felt heartbroken but also somewhat pleased. He wished that Ma Chao would burn to death in there.
In fact, there were a small number of ordinary people in the pass, most of whom were in various industries serving the army. However, with the appeal of Tianshi Dao, there was no objection to Zhang Wei's plan to burn the pass, and the people who wanted to migrate were also very cooperative.
However, Zhang Wei felt somewhat uneasy at this moment - now he was just evacuating safely from Yangping Pass... What kind of ability was it to evacuate from his own pass?
Especially Yangping Pass, which is not far from the northwest of Nanzheng. Once Yangping is lost, the whole Hanzhong will fall under the butcher's knife of the northwestern barbarians without reservation!
Zhang Wei wiped away a tear sadly, and then shouted a few words such as "The believers in Hanzhong are in trouble", "The barbarians in the northwest are too cruel", "The Ma family are not good people", etc., which made the generals around him very angry.
Convinced that this sentiment would be passed on at any time until it reached the grassroots generals and the relocated people... Zhang Wei then continued on his way.
Zhang Wei was not worried about being punished, and his retreat was not a spur of the moment decision. Instead, he had already reported it to Zhang Lu after Ma Chao's third "transformation" a few days ago.
Failing to guard the pass is certainly a serious offense, but Zhang Wei is Zhang Lu's younger brother after all, and his only brother... All his other biological brothers were killed by Liu Zhang!
Since Zhang Lu allowed him to evacuate, then... Zhang Wei could at most take the blame for Zhang Lu, and then say that he acted on his own initiative , and Zhang Lu would not punish him too much.
only……
What Zhang Wei is worried about now is Hanzhong!
After all, he is a member of the Zhang family and the high priest of the Tianshi Dao, so he still has a sense of ownership.
Meanwhile, Zhang Lu was in Nanzheng, also unable to sleep all night. After all, he knew clearly in his heart that after tonight, the ownership of Yangping Pass would change!
If Yangping Pass can’t be defended, can Nanzheng... really be defended?
Zhang Lu hesitated again and again, wondering whether he should call Yan Pu and others to discuss the matter, but finally gave up.
After all, Zhang Lu didn’t want others to know, or rather… “didn’t want others to know” that it was he who ordered to abandon Yangping Pass.
So we still have to wait for Zhang Wei’s official report!
After a sleepless night, Zhang Lu couldn't even concentrate on meditation, but he finally made it to the next morning and received the news that Yangping Pass had been breached.
After Zhang Lu "learned the news", he immediately summoned Yan Pu, Yang Song and others to discuss the matter.
When Zhang Wei heard that Yangping Pass had been breached, he made a prompt decision to withdraw in advance in order to reduce unnecessary casualties and preserve the vitality of the Tianshi Dao. Yan Pu and Yang Song were both stunned...
Although they knew that the situation at Yangping Pass was not serious, they did not think it was so urgent. Yang Song was even prepared to instigate Zhang Lu and send him to negotiate with Ma Chao. Yang Song had almost written a script in his mind to sell Zhang Lu for a good price, make him a hero in the revival of the Han Dynasty, and make him glorious and famous for all eternity!
Yan Pu was also speechless. Based on his understanding of Zhang Lu, he must have intentionally hidden some key information from their advisers!
Yang Song's eyes turned, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Tianshi! There is no time to lose. We should immediately contact the priests at all levels of the believers, mobilize the people, rush to harvest the summer seedlings, fortify the city, clear the fields, occupy the city, and hold it until the enemy retreats!"
Zhang Lu was somewhat tempted by what Yang Song said - this was exactly the approach that could bring out the advantages of Tianshi Dao. If ordinary princes wanted to fortify their walls and clear the fields, it would not only disturb the people, but would also directly affect their livelihoods in the summer, which would undoubtedly be a move that would lose the support of the people.
But...it does work.
Moreover, for Tianshidao, the negative effects are much smaller. After all, it is easier to "torment" believers than torment the people!
Through the Tianshi Dao and the priests at all levels, Zhang Lu could, to a certain extent, bypass the gentry and directly influence the people. This was something that only the Chu State could do except Hanzhong.
On the other hand, Hanzhong was indeed relatively wealthy and could fully afford the losses of clearing the countryside.
However, at this time, Yan Pu, who was very tired but still loyal to his duties, offered advice to Zhang Lu: "My lord! Once Yangping Pass is breached, Nanzheng will have no strategic location to defend. Even if we fortify the city and clear the fields, the people of Liangzhou can bypass Nanzheng and plunder Xicheng in the east of Hanzhong, or even Shangyong. For now... my lord, you can try to persuade the people to follow you south across Mi Cang Mountain and temporarily hide in Bazhong!"
As Yan Pu spoke, he glanced at Yang Song coldly, feeling that this guy's suggestion was not only stupid, but also had bad intentions.
Zhang Lu also hesitated after hearing the two people's completely different opinions...
At this time, people outside the city of "Xing County", located in the Han River Basin and the northwest of Hanzhong, north of Shangyong and east of Xicheng, discovered that a large number of ships were sailing in the Han River accompanied by morning fog!
At the same time, Zhao Yun finally took advantage of the fact that Xuanhan had few troops, forced his way across the Bucao River, and rushed to Xuanhan.
However, in the southwest of Jiangzhou, Zhang Ren, who was also "not supposed to be there", also came with his troops...
