The beginning of the Three Kingdoms Cheng Yuanzhi

Chapter 246
Xu Huang marched to the front army, took the place of Wen Chou, led fifty thousand troops and horses as the front team, and rushed to Xinye in a mighty manner.

It was the day, in the middle of the noon, when I came to Quewei Slope, I saw a group of people and horses standing in front of the slope, holding blue and red flags.

Xu Huang urged the army to move forward, and was about to charge his troops to kill them.But they saw that the two-color flags on the opposite side were divided into four teams, the green flag was on the left and the red flag was on the right, and they quickly retreated into the slope and disappeared.

Xu Huang reined in his horse and stopped the crowd, looked around, and said to the left and right: "Liu Bei used this strategy to defeat our army, don't advance lightly, our soldiers will only go to Xinye, and see what kind of tricks he plays!"

After all, he was about to drive the troops in, but he heard Xu Chu say, "What fear are there for mere suspicious soldiers? There must be no ambushes inside, and besides, there was a big fire before, and the grass and trees were all reduced to ashes, and there was nothing more to burn. The governor can quickly advance the troops." , captured Liu Bei alive, and captured Zhuge Liang alive."

Xu Huang thought about it, so he went back to the front of the slope and raised his troops to enter.I searched around, but found no one.

The day had already set to the west, and halfway through Bowangpo, Xu Huang suddenly remembered Cheng Yuanzhi's explanation: "Don't bother with the side branch and the last leaf, go straight to Xinye, and walk with the camera."

Immediately I was startled.

Fang wanted to go back to the army, but he heard a lot of movement on the mountain, with drums and cymbals shouting loudly.When I looked up, I saw a bunch of flags erected on the top of the mountain, and there were two umbrellas in the flags: Liu Bei on the left and Zhuge on the right. They were sitting opposite each other and drinking.

The appearance and demeanor are very leisurely.

Xu Huang was furious, and led the army to find Liu Bei on the way to the mountain.

After walking a few steps, they saw that the rolling wood and rolling stones on the mountain were knocked down together, and no one could move forward.He also heard the loud shouting from behind the mountain, as if there were endless ambushes.

Xu Huang wanted to find a way to fight, but when he saw that it was getting late, he was afraid that he would fall into that plan again, so he ordered the soldiers to go back the same way, exit Bowangpo, and go straight to Xinye.

When it was getting dark, Xu Huang led his troops outside the city, only to see the four gates wide open.The soldiers rushed into the city without hindrance, and there was no one in the city. It was actually an empty city.

Xu Chu said: "It must be that Liu Bei was desperate for poverty, so he took the people to flee. Our military power will rest in the city, and we will march in Pingming tomorrow."

Xu Huang waved his hand and said, "No! When I came, the prime minister had said something beforehand. If there is no one in the city, you can't enter the city to rest. I'll just stay outside the city, bury the pot and make food, and make plans tomorrow."

At this time, all the troops had been on the road for a day, and they were exhausted and very hungry. Without waiting for Xu Huang's order, some of the soldiers and horses scattered to seize houses to make food.

Seeing that his subordinates were so disorganized and disorganized, Xu Huang said angrily, "Who are these soldiers and horses? Why are they so disorganized?"

Xu Chu replied: "They are veterans of General Wen Chou's subordinates. There are about 3000 people under my command now."

"This..." Xu Huang hesitated for a while, but finally decided not to worry about it, pondered for a while, and said to Xu Chu:

"It's not good for us to punish Wen Chou's cronies when he succeeded Wen Chou. Tonight you will lead this army to station in the city, and I will lead the army to station five miles north of the city to respond."

Xu Chu bowed his hands and took the order, went into the city and rested in the yamen.

In the middle of the night, there was a strong wind, and the gatekeepers flew to report the fire in the city.

Xu Chu woke up startled from his sleep, and said to his left and right: "This must be the sergeant's carelessness in cooking, and he missed the flame. Don't be alarmed."

As soon as the words fell, there were several reports: fire broke out in the east, south and north of the city.

Xu Chu hurriedly ordered all the generals to mount their horses and wait and see, only to see that the whole city was on fire, and it was all red.It is the fire of the night, burning the sky and burning the clouds, and the heat wave is rolling and hitting the face.


Xu Chu didn't dare to stay for a long time, so he quickly led the generals to smoke and fire, and ran around looking for a way, but when he heard that there was no fire at the west gate, he hurried out of the west gate.

On the way, the sergeants trampled on each other, causing countless casualties.

This side just got out of the fire, and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a voice suddenly shouted from behind, and a general led the army to fight.

Thousands of people just escaped from the sea of ​​fire, who would turn around and fight for their lives?They fled to the west one after another, wanting to detour around the north gate and join the large troops.

The west gate and north gate of Xinye are not directly connected. You need to go around the city and pass by the east bank of Baihe River on the way.

As he was running, another general led his troops to the front. Without saying a word, he rushed to kill him.

Xu Chu was defeated and fled.

Not far away, he was stopped by another army and fought for a while.

Until the third watch, people were exhausted and there were only a thousand soldiers left among the [-] soldiers. All of them were exhausted, their stomachs were smoking, and they were sweating profusely. They rushed to the Baihe River.

Seeing that the river was not deep, the people and horses were all happy, and they all went down to the river to drink and wash. For a while, people shouted and horses neighed, and the scene was chaotic.

Seeing this scene with his own eyes, Xu Chu secretly hated him, and felt that it was very unlucky to take over Wen Chou's personal army this time.

Although he is a surrendered general, he has followed Cheng Yuanzhi for 12 years. He knows that the Northern Army has always had strict military discipline. Except for those senior generals who have some soldiers under their command, the rest of the troops are all strong troops. soldier.

The more he thought about it, the angrier Xu Chu became.

At this time, Guan Yu was using a cloth bag upstream to hold back the river, when he heard someone from downstream shouting horse neighing, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to grab the cloth bag and let the water flood it.

All of a sudden, the waves rushed downstream, and the Northern Army was caught off guard. All men and horses drowned in the water, and a large area was swept away in an instant, while the rest struggled desperately to survive.

Xu Huang gathered the rest of his troops, watched the slow water and rushed away.Walking to Boling Ferry, only to hear shouts, and an army blocked the way.

Looking at the leading general, Xu Huang was shocked when he saw that it was Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei yelled: "The bandits take their lives!" He charged forward with a spear.


Xu Chu didn't dare to fight, and fled in a hurry.

When they fled to the north gate, the sky was bright, and they counted the people, and found that there were only a hundred people left.

Xu Chu was dejected, and ordered his subordinates to tie him up, and came to see Xu Huang to plead guilty.

This is not mentioned.

But it is said that Liu Bei attacked and occupied Fancheng.Ask Zhuge Liang's next plan.

Zhuge Liang said: "Fancheng is a small county. You can't live there for a long time. You have to take Jingzhou as a safe place to resist the Northern Army. Now that Liu Congxin is in charge, Jingzhou has not been accepted. Why don't you cross the river to Xiangyang and seize Jingzhou?"

Liu Bei shook his head and said: "The military master's words are very kind, but I have received Jing Sheng's kindness, and I can't bear to take it!"

Zhuge Liang looked south and sighed: "If you don't take it now, you will regret it!"

Liu Bei said: "I would rather die than do such a wicked thing, and ask the military adviser to find another plan."

Zhuge Liang said: "If not, then we have to go to Wuling. It's just that the city is full of people and it's not easy to arrange."

Liu Bei said: "The people have come here together, how can I bear to abandon them and take them to Wuling together."

Zhuge Liang sighed again, and said helplessly, "That's fine."

.........

Xu Huang picked up Xu Chu, cleaned up the remnants of the army, and settled in Xinye, so Xu Chu went to see Cheng Yuanzhi himself and told him about his failure.

Cheng Yuanzhi didn't blame Xu Chu deeply, but only urged the three armies to spread all over the mountains and fields, and went to the village in Xinye.The sergeant was ordered to search the mountain and fill up the Baihe River.He also ordered the army to be divided into eight groups to take Fancheng together.

Adviser Liu Ye said: "When the prime minister first arrived in Xiangyang, he should first accept the hearts of the people and then the city. Now Liu Bei has moved all the people from Xinye to Fancheng. If my soldiers go straight in, they will be terrified, and they will follow Liu Bei and flee south; it is better to first Let people recruit Liu Bei, saying that the disaster of this war will not be as bad as the common people."

"If Liu Bei doesn't surrender, it shows my love for the people, and the people will never go with me; if he comes and surrenders, the land of Jingzhou can be decided without a fight."

How could Liu Bei surrender... Cheng Yuanzhi curled his lips and asked, "Who can be envoy?"

Liu Ye said: "Xu Shu was once close to Liu Bei, now he is in the army, why not order him to go?"

Cheng Yuanzhi knew that this proposal was a good idea, but he still asked, "I'm afraid he's gone and never comes back."

Liu Ye shook his head and said, "If he doesn't come, he will be capricious and make people laugh at the world. The Prime Minister need not hesitate."

Cheng Yuanzhi shook his head, called Xu Shu to the front, and said: "I want you to go to Fancheng and tell Liu Bei to surrender: if he is willing to come and surrender, he will be exonerated and given a noble title; if he is more obsessed, the army will be everywhere, and jade and stone will be destroyed. I know your loyalty, so the special envoy You go, hope to go early and return early, and don't be burdened."

Xu Shu did not refuse, and immediately took orders to leave.

After more than a year of defecting to Cheng Yuanzhi, his heart has changed a lot.

The stability and prosperity of Hebei was beyond his imagination; the Central Plains was full of waste, and it was thriving, and the people's hearts were stable, and there was no trace of war at all.

This made Xu Shu look at Cheng Yuanzhi with admiration.

My lord, it is always popular.

In addition, when burying his mother, Xu Shu carefully watched Cheng Yuanzhi's efforts to save his mother, and was actually moved in his heart.

However, because he said earlier that he "will not set up a plan in his life", it is not easy to change his words for a while.

Seeing that Cheng Yuanzhi needed him for something, Xu Shu was willing to help.

On the way to Fancheng, Xu Shu thought silently: "I said that I would not plan in my life, but I never said that I would not do things. Well, from now on, I will do more things and talk less."

"At least, you have to be worthy of such a high salary..."

(End of this chapter)