Rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 446
Zhang Wei went out of the city overnight, because the road was slippery due to the snow, it was extremely inconvenient to walk, and the journey was delayed a lot.

Just over ten li away from the city, suddenly there was a sound of a drum, and a group of ambush soldiers rushed out from the snow. Zhang Wei was shocked, and hurriedly led his troops to resist and clashed forward.

"Liu Bei, how dare you cross Baozhong to send troops, you are asking for your own death!" Looking back, Zhang Wei felt terrified, and sent someone back to Baozhong to report to Yang Ayong, asking him to intercept and kill the ambush soldiers along the way.

They reorganized their troops and set off. Just after walking a distance, suddenly the front army was in chaos. The soldiers were shot down by random arrows. There was actually an ambush waiting here.

Zhang Wei was startled, and was waiting for his command to form an formation, when he saw two teams of troops coming out from both sides of the road, Liao Hua on the left and Fu Tong on the right, attacking Zhang Wei directly.

Zhang Wei shouted angrily: "You shameless people, I will fight with you!"

Trapped in a tight siege, Zhang Wei was worried, and fought hard, he knew he was no match for Fu Tong, so he led his troops to fight against Liao Hua, as long as he could defeat this man, he would be able to break out of the encirclement.

But he didn't expect that Liao Hua was not easy to deal with. He killed more than ten people without deciding the outcome. At this time, Fu Tong had already killed the left wing troops and attacked. Zhang Wei saw that the situation was not good and knew that the way forward was blocked, so he had to turn around. Retreat from the praise.

Rumbling--

At this moment, the sound of horseshoes on the way came, and a group of cavalry blocked the way under the moonlight. The man on the horse laughed and said, "Zhang Wei, you have nowhere to go, why don't you get off your horse and surrender?"

Zhang Wei saw that there was an interception in front and pursuers behind him, he gritted his teeth and led the remnant soldiers to a mountain on the left to defend. In the dark night, Chen Dao was not in a hurry to chase, he just surrounded the mountain top.

At this time, the mountain was covered with snow, covering the feet, and there was nowhere to escape the wind and cold. The northwest wind was howling, and the soldiers' clothes were all soaked, and they were all shivering under the cold wind.

Chen Dao ordered people to cut down trees, and built a fire at the foot of the mountain to keep warm. At the same time, he also illuminated the surrounding roads to prevent Zhang Wei from escaping.

The deputy general's teeth were chattering, his face was frozen with snot, and he asked: "General, now that the enemy soldiers are surrounded on all sides, what should we do?"

Zhang Wei gritted his teeth and said: "Today, there is one death, so there is absolutely no reason to surrender. Everyone, take a rest and come out with me at dawn."

Waiting until the middle of the night, the wind roared in the mountain, and the firewood below the mountain was crackling. At first, there was some movement on the mountain, but soon it became silent, and even the active soldiers disappeared.

Liao Hua approached Chen Dao and asked, "Did Zhang Wei escape secretly?"

Chen Dao said with a smile: "This mountain is surrounded on all sides, and Zhang Wei doesn't know how to escape from the ground, so he can't escape."

Liao Hua frowned and said, "How can there be no movement on the mountain?"

Chen Dao looked up for a long time and muttered: "Is it possible that they are all freezing to death?"

At this moment, suddenly saw a figure shaking on the left, but a dozen soldiers crawled down the mountain and surrendered voluntarily.

Chen Dao ordered people to take those people to the bonfire to keep warm, and sighed: "Zhang Wei is so stubborn, I don't know how many people will be killed for nothing."

As these people came down the mountain, not only were they not killed, but they were able to warm themselves by the fire. The soldiers on the mountain saw that countless people followed them up soon, and the number of people gathered became more and more.

Before dawn, there were already nearly a thousand captives at the foot of the mountain, obediently gathering around the fire to keep warm. Occasionally, a few miserable screams came from the mountain, but there was no more movement.

At dawn, when the weather was the coldest, Chen Dao ordered people to go up the mountain to search, only to find that many people had frozen to death beside the stone piles and among the weeds. Zhang Wei was found in a hole in the earth, his face covered with frost, and he passed out.

The soldiers carried him down the mountain, and after burning a stick of incense, he woke up slowly. Seeing that he was surrounded by all the generals, Zhang Wei let out a long sigh and closed his eyes without saying a word. He was really unwilling to be defeated.

At this time, Liu Bei had already led troops from Baozhong to meet him. After Yang Ayong surrendered, all obstacles behind him were cleared away, and the army escorted Zhang Wei straight to Hanzhong.

In the city of Hanzhong, Zhang Lu was like an ant on a hot pot. He waited for Zhang Wei all night but did not see him come back. He couldn't help but scolded his brother for being stubborn and delaying the military situation.

At this moment, Yan Pu came in to pay a visit, his face was pale, and he said: "My lord, Baozhong has fallen, General Zhang... is dead or alive."

"What did you say?" Zhang Lu was shocked, and he took two steps back and sat on the steps behind him, dumbfounded. Zhang Wei was not only his most important general, but also his own brother.

Yan Pu sighed: "Master, now that the east and west cities have been lost, and Liu Zhang and Ma Chao have sent troops, Hanzhong is isolated and helpless. We'd better...surrender! To prevent the people of Hanzhong from suffering from war again."

"I was ordered by the Emperor of Heaven to protect the common people. The congregation has a small scale, but they are in such a catastrophe. Why doesn't the heaven bless me?" Zhang Lu sighed, raised his head slowly, and smiled bitterly, "I just want to fight for hegemony. Hongdao keeps one side safe, and now that the matter has come to an end, I can also Hongdao with peace of mind!"

When Yan Pu saw Zhang Lu say this, he knew that he had agreed to surrender, and said: "Liu Bei went to Hanzhong, he came here by order, and the master only confesses his mistakes to the emperor, and cannot ask Liu Bei to surrender."

Zhang Lu closed his eyes and said nothing, nodded after a while and said, "Leave this matter to you. There is no need to destroy everything in the city. In addition... find out the whereabouts of my brother."

At this moment, the defenders suddenly came to report that Liu Bei's army had arrived outside the city, and Zhang Wei was escorted before the formation, calling for a battle under the city, and Zhang Lu came out to answer.

When Zhang Lu heard that Zhang Wei was still alive, he was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the guards to open the city gates and follow him out of the city to meet Liu Bei's army.

With the sound of a drum, the west gate of Hanzhong slowly opened. Zhang Lu took Yan Pu and other civil and military officials out of the city to ask for surrender. Liu Bei stepped forward to help him up, let Zhang Wei go, and comforted Zhang Lu and others.

After the people entered the city, Liu Bei immediately sent someone to transfer Wei Yan to Hanzhong and let him serve as the prefect of Hanzhong. Zhang Lu resigned from his official post and asked to go to Hanshan to build a temple to promote Taoism. Liu Bei asked him to help appease the people first and wait for the imperial edict.

After all the arrangements in Hanzhong were completed, Liu Bei sent someone to report the victory to Yecheng, and at the same time reported Zhang Lu's wish.

And at this time Ma Chao and Liu Zhang's troops are about to enter Hanzhong, and they must be stopped as soon as possible, otherwise the two sides will fight each other again, which is not what Liu Bei wants to see.

Liu Bei took Hanzhong, went out to comfort the people, and held a banquet in the city to reward the three armies. The army and the people were all happy.

Only Liu Bei was unhappy. Although he took Hanzhong, he knew that among the princes Liu Zhang and Liu Biao were unlikely to achieve great things, and he had no ambition to be the king. The only one left was Sun Ce, who was young and energetic. I am afraid he was not Liu He's opponent. It's time to make plans for your future.

If he dominates Guanzhong alone, there is Ma Teng in the west, and Liu Zhang in Yizhou. If Liu He advances from Hedong and Hongnong, how can he resist?
If he obeyed the imperial edict and became a loyal minister from now on, offering to the emperor and Liu He, who should he obey?
(End of this chapter)