Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 616: Fierce Zhang Fei
When Zhang Fei was heading west, wanting to disperse the forces in Guanzhong to prevent the Marquis of Zheng from getting angry and taking advantage of Guan Erge to cause trouble, Lu Xun also saw that the Marquis of Xu County was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.
Following Lu Xun's suggestion, Zhang Xiu ordered the second division of Wancheng to attack Xu County directly!
At the same time, Taishi Ci, who was stationed in Yiyang, Runan, also raised his troops and rushed to Shangcai area, attacking Yingchuan from two sides.
Wen Pin, who was also in the northern war zone of Jinghu, was also ordered to lead the 2nd and 3rd divisions of Xiangfan to the north as reinforcements, while Lu Meng advanced from Donglai to the west and joined Guanping to resist the southward advance of Wei State...
The speed of troop transportation within the Chu State once again forced Wei State and Sima Yi to abandon "common sense" and recalculate!
Moreover, after Zhang Xiu led his troops to Xu County this time, an engineering team followed directly behind and laid the "railway tracks" all the way there.
At this time, Wei Guo and Sima Yi also roughly understood what this "railway" was...
The area connected by this thing can basically be regarded as the "absolute territory" of the Chu State - within one day, troops within a hundred miles can be dispatched, and within half a month, any army on the mainland can be dispatched, and the logistics are very smooth.
For other princes, only their own heartland and some places that must be fought for can be considered as territories under absolute control...
Xu County is located in the Central Plains, with flat land and smooth railway tracks.
Yang Feng of Xu County had already retreated to Hulao Pass, and the State of Chu took over the southern part of Yuzhou without much effort. The northern part of Yuzhou, bounded by Chenjun and Liangjun, was still under the control of the State of Wei.
Therefore, Zhang Fei had a smooth path to enter Sili, or Sizhou.
Henei County, Sizhou was a border county of the Wei State. When Zhang Fei entered Henan Yin, where Luoyang was located, the Wei State had not yet sent troops to take over Henan, which surprised Zhang Fei and Jian Yong very much.
However, Lu Xun, the governor of the Northern Expedition in Jingbei of the Chu State, immediately realized that there was a problem and ordered Zhang Fei to slow down.
However, Zhang Fei was far from being willing to return home. Although he was grateful to the State of Chu, he was now worried about his second brother. How could he obey the orders of the "commander-in-chief" who had not yet gathered his troops?
Heading towards Hulao Pass with determination!
As a result, at Hulao Pass, they were surrounded on three sides by the Zheng army guarding the pass, the Wei army and the "Bingzhou army"!
Zhang Fei was not surprised that the Wei army was here, but the Bingzhou army...
Nominally, it was the Bingzhou Army commanded by Gao Gan, but in reality it was a coalition force consisting of a large number of foreign ethnic groups including the Southern Xiongnu, the Hetao Qiang people!
The Hetao area in the central and western parts of Bingzhou was originally the place where the Huns migrated. Since the Western Han Dynasty, it had been a place where the Huns rebelled and were suppressed, and then rebelled again, which produced generations of famous Bingzhou and Liangzhou generals in the Han Dynasty. Since the Huns migrated inland, as long as the court was serious about it, suppressing the rebellion was not a big problem in all dynasties.
However, during the Yuan Shao period, the Han princes fought among themselves, and the local Huns were basically out of control. Gao Gan, the nominal governor of Bingzhou, only occupied a few counties east of the Hetao area, including Yanmen, Taiyuan, and Shangdang.
After Yuan Tan was completely expelled from Hebei, he first wanted to seek refuge with his cousin Gao Gan, but Gao Gan only provided some food and fodder. Yuan Tan had no choice but to continue westward and "seek refuge" with the Khan of the Southern Xiongnu!
Of course, Yuan Tan didn't want to be so embarrassed, so it was an alliance in name only.
With Yuan Tan as the middleman, Gao Gan and the Xiongnu were able to attract each other's help...
At first, Bai Tu thought that this was a huge moral failure, but later, from the attitudes of other people, he found that it was not the case.
Nowadays, the cooperation between the princes of the Han Dynasty and other ethnic groups can only be regarded as "shameful", and they must be "controlled" to avoid losing face. However, there is no strong idea of "introducing foreign enemies" or even "letting wolves into the house".
To the Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu had long been no longer considered an adversary by the dignitaries in the court. Only the soldiers and marshals from Bingzhou and Liangzhou had any impression of their fierce side.
Indeed, the Xiongnu now are more like "domesticated". Even when Liu Xie returned to the east - escaping from Li Jue and Guo Si and coming into the clutches of Cao Cao, the Southern Xiongnu's Huchuquan Chanyu once sent troops to help...
Be it the Qiang people or the Southern Xiongnu, they had not been regarded as "great enemies" by the orthodox Chinese for a long time. Before the Five Barbarians Invasion of China, they were only regarded as "hawks and dogs" who were wild but could be used.
Without the experience of the "Five Barbarians Invading China", even the Chu State could only "mock" the Wei State based on the current situation, and it was impossible for people to have too many other thoughts.
Even in name, the Huns and the Wei Kingdom came to "serve the king", and their laughter was also directed at the Han Dynasty.
After all, what Bai Tu and others are saying now, that the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, and even the Qiang people, will pose a threat to the orthodox Chinese order in the future, or even bring it to the brink of destruction... will only make people laugh!
And after the appearance of Qi crossbows and artillery, this is indeed the case.
Bai Tu did not discriminate against the intelligence and abilities of the Hu people. What gave him confidence was not how much their technology was ahead of others, but that productivity had entered the stage of "national strength competition". It was no longer an era where nomadic peoples with wild temperaments could gain an advantage on the battlefield!
Even if an Edison emerged among the "Five Barbarians" and learned all the Qi guns and cannons, with their productivity, they would still be crushed by the State of Chu.
This time, Yuan Tan was persuaded by Sima Yi, and Huo Qubing was persuaded by Yuan Tan. At the same time, the Qiang people in Bingzhou had been conquered by the Southern Xiongnu. Naturally, given the characteristics of the Qiang people, the Qiang people in the Hetao area also submitted to the Southern Xiongnu...
The State of Wei also specially left them a loophole to "serve the king" - Shangdang County in Bingzhou, which was not far from Luoyang!
As long as Henei County is not blocked, the Bingzhou Army can go directly south.
The Wei State alone mobilized nearly 80,000 Wei troops this time... If the Nanpi area had not been blocked by "An Wei Hou", the Wei State could have mobilized even more.
Originally, these 80,000 Wei troops were enough to force Zhang Fei to retreat.
Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang took away most of the elite troops in Xuzhou, and Zhang Fei had "escaped" from Pengcheng before. Most of the troops left behind in Xuzhou were in Pengcheng and were directly taken over by the State of Chu. Zhang Fei led only the 20,000 troops originally stationed in Xia Pi, some of his own confidants, and newly recruited troops. It was said that there were 100,000 troops, but at most there were only 30,000.
Moreover, 70% of the Qi army led by Zhang Fei were second-line troops, and 20% were new troops, while the Wei State assembled only the elite first-line troops led by Xiahou Dun.
In addition, Gao Gan personally led the Bingzhou Army, which was mixed with many Xiongnu people. Zhang Fei was simply unable to resist...
From Hulao Pass, they fought and retreated all the way eastward towards Xu County, retreating more than 100 miles in seven days.
While crossing the Honggou water system - the "border between Chu and Han" four hundred years ago - the Qi army was almost caught up by the Bingzhou cavalry vanguard.
However, Zhang Fei directly entered the "divine power mode". He looked to be only thirty years old, with a still handsome face and a black armor, like a black tiger general.
Not only did he stand alone at the bridgehead, he even fought for half an hour. When his strength was about to run out in the Divine Might Mode, he let out a thunderous roar, and a huge black tiger shadow fell from the sky...
Along with this thunder, a wave of lightning swept across the battlefield. Even Huochuquan, who was under the golden flag of Khan more than 300 steps away, was frightened and stood still!
After Zhang Fei's divine power mode was released, he put on armor and gold and jade and shot three arrows at Huochequan. When the arrows were just shot out, they were all black and as thick as thighs.
The black light of the first arrow was blocked by a Xiongnu warrior who woke up in time. The second arrow missed the target awkwardly, "booming" and breaking half of the flagpole. The third arrow hit the chest directly, making a fist-sized hole...
