Plan to cut off the nine states

One person rushed to the front with a long spear, while Chang Yanzhi and others followed behind with swords or guns. Facing an enemy twice their number, they were not in a hurry.

Xu Chu had no weapons, so he jumped off his horse and stood behind to watch in surprise.

The pursuers were equally surprised. They didn't understand how the group of stragglers on the opposite side had the courage to charge into the cavalry with more people.

The leader of the pursuers wanted to show off his skills, so he asked the soldiers for a long spear, "I will go to fight alone!"

No one dissuaded him, because the enemy was really weak, a young man like a bamboo pole, who ran quite easily, holding a long spear without any effort.

The leader rode his horse to meet him.

It was a simple battle, one round ended, without any tricks, but the result surprised the pursuers.

The young man like a bamboo pole knocked the leader off his horse with a spear, and dozens of pursuers watched their boss fall into the abyss, screaming for a long time.

"Tang Weitian, the general of Yizhou Army, is here. Who dares to touch the commander-in-chief?"

The pursuers only lost one leader, and they still had the advantage in numbers. However, seeing the enemy's strength and hearing the three words "Yizhou Army", they lost all their fighting spirit. They fled to Qinzhou because they could not defeat the officers and soldiers of Han and Yizhou. They were particularly afraid of the latter. No one led them, so they turned their horses around in a panic and fled along the original route.

Tang Weitian chased for more than two miles and confirmed that no one accepted the challenge. He came back with a long spear in a huff, "It's the same again. They ran away after a fight. I thought they had more people and would be more courageous."

Chang Yanzhi and others had returned to Xu Chu and laughed, "You can knock down the enemy general with a spear. Who dares to fight you?"

"I'll be more cautious next time." Tang Weitian leaned against a stone with his long spear, came to Xu Chu, and knelt down.

Xu Chu hurriedly reached out to help him up, but he failed to help him up. Tang Weitian still knelt down, kowtowed three times respectfully, and stood up and said: "Grand Commander, there is no need to refuse. I will kowtow to you only this time, and I will not kowtow again in the future. You are no longer the King of Wu, and I have changed my master. These three kowtows are an apology."

"What crime have you committed?" Xu Chu asked.

"When the Grand Commander went to Yecheng, I did not follow..."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "You kowtowed when you left, and kowtowed again when we meet again, that's enough."

"Grand Commander..."

"Don't use this title anymore."

"Why did you come here, sir?" Tang Weitian asked.

Xu Chu didn't answer, but looked at Tang Weitian first, "It's only been more than a year, you've grown taller."

Tang Weitian has indeed grown taller, but his appearance has not changed much. He smiled and said, "Not only have I grown taller, but I've also become stronger. I've learned spear and sword techniques from a wise master, but my bow techniques are a little worse, and I always miss the target."

"Being good at a set of skills is enough to make a living. Tell me how you met first?" Xu Chu was worried about Tang Weitian's safety before, and he had no time to ask Chang Yanzhi. Moreover, he noticed that the people who came back with Chang Yanzhi were not the original Gong army soldiers, but a group of unfamiliar soldiers.

"When we ran into each other on the road, I knew something was wrong. Old Hong said that we shouldn't meddle in other people's business, but I don't think that's right..."

Tang Weitian was talking incoherently, and Chang Yanzhi interrupted him with a smile, "Let me tell you, we hadn't walked out of the plank road yet, and we met General Tang on patrol halfway. We wanted to hide, but unfortunately we couldn't escape General Tang's eyes and were captured alive on the spot. Fortunately, I recognized him, otherwise we would have been stabbed to death by this long spear."

Tang Weitian said: "You can't blame me for this. I didn't know you well at the beginning, and I didn't recognize you when we met for the first time."

"Yes, it's my fault. Then when I mentioned the situation of the young master, General Tang became anxious and brought more than a dozen men to rescue him. He lost his horse halfway and walked here, just in time to meet the young master."

"Where are your original companions?" Xu Chu asked.

"General Tang thought they were too slow, so he stayed behind."

"Who is chasing you?" Tang Weitian asked.

"It should be the subordinates of Xu Dashi, the Hundred-Eyed Heavenly King." Xu Chu said.

"What a bold fellow, he dared to harm you, doesn't he know your previous identity?"

"My previous identity was only useful to the old army, the new army doesn't recognize it at all."

"So if you don't become the King of Wu, you are just... Forget it, I won't say anything more, let's get on the road, I'll avenge you."

"Are you still going to Qinzhou?"

"Yes, don't worry, it's not just us, there is also the army of the King of Shu behind us, and they will catch up in a few days."

Chang Yanzhi interrupted and said, "The King of Shu sent out 100,000 troops to sweep across Hanzhong and is heading to Qinzhou."

"Which King of Shu?" Xu Chu wanted to confirm.

"Gan Zhao, who else could it be?" Tang Weitian was bold and dared to say anyone's name without feeling it was taboo.

Xu Chu had too many things he didn't understand, "Let's go back first, join up with the Shu army, and then make plans."

Tang Weitian smiled and said, "Young Master is still so cautious. I have fought with these Hanzhou Jiangshi Army many times. They are a group of cowards, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and they will scatter when they are beaten. Don't look at us. There are only a dozen of us. It is not a problem to deal with thousands of people."

Xu Chu was used to bragging, and didn't care about "a hundred thousand troops" or "a dozen people against thousands of people". He smiled and said, "I have something else to see the commander of the Shu army, and I need you to introduce me."

"No need to introduce, it's also someone you know, Tie Yuan, remember? Now it's General Tie."

"Remember, but not as familiar with you as I am, and I haven't seen you for many days, so I still need you to introduce me."

"Okay, anyway, General Tie also said that I should go back in time."

Everyone turned around, and there was only one horse, led by Chang Yanzhi. Xu Chu and Tang Weitian walked side by side, asked many questions, and verified with others, and finally roughly figured out what happened in Han and Yizhou.

Gan Zhao was obsessed with Yizhou, which Xu Chu had recommended. After leaving Dongdu, he gathered his own soldiers and found a way to Yizhou. He was lucky that he did not encounter too many obstacles along the way, avoided a large number of officers and soldiers, and entered Yizhou smoothly.

The world was in chaos, and there was not much news about Yizhou. In fact, it was already a mess here, split into more than a dozen forces, fighting each other, and no one could spare a moment to ask about the affairs outside.

Xu Chu once suggested that after Gan Zhao entered Yizhou, he should use the banner of the old Shu and look for the descendants of the King of Shu, but Gan Zhao soon found that there was no need to be so troublesome. Since Tiancheng was established, a large number of foreign scholars and civilians have moved into Yizhou, and they have no nostalgia for the old King of Shu. He can completely stand on his own.

At the beginning, Gan Zhao still used the banner of the world-destroying army, but found that it was not very useful, so he changed it to an army without a master. He fought for whoever gave more benefits to the various forces in Yizhou. At the same time, he kept sowing discord and preventing opponents from uniting. In just half a year, he had established himself in Yizhou and became one of the most powerful forces, and no longer had to work for others.

But it was only "one of them", which was far from his goal. At this time, there were rumors that the three daughters of King Yidu had fallen into the folk and worked as maids for others, right in Gan Zhao's territory.

Gan Zhao "rescued" the three daughters of King Yidu, married the older one, and promised the two younger sisters to his generals, and then raised the banner of revenge for King Yidu, attracting many people to join him.

About two months ago, Gan Zhao captured Jindu City, the seat of Yizhou, and occupied the entire Yibei area.

Next, everyone thought that the King of Shu would continue to march south to seize the entire territory of Yizhou, but Gan Zhao made a surprise move and sent General Tie Yuan to lead troops to enter Hanzhou in the name of the Yizhou Army. While the Hanzhou officers and soldiers were busy suppressing the rising Jiangshi Army, they seized a large piece of territory.

Gan Zhao no longer used the banner of the Jiangshi Army at this time, because he married the daughter of the King of Yidu as his concubine, but claimed to be a royal relative, and his army was also the army of the court.

The local army in Hanzhou was skeptical about this "official soldier" that suddenly appeared, and only recently formed an alliance with it: the Hanzhou Army pacified the counties in the east and tried to connect with Jingzhou, while the Yizhou Army focused on the west and pursued the fleeing Jiangshi Army.

The situation in Han and Yizhou was completely beyond anyone's expectations, and Xu Chu was no exception. Thinking back to the Gan Zhao Gan Siku he knew, he never thought that this person could achieve such great achievements. The kings of Dongdu at the time could not compare with him.

Chang Yanzhi also found out about the situation in Hanzhou. There is indeed a new governor, who is a member of the Xi family, so the road to Jingzhou must be opened no matter what.

Lou Ai, the sixth son of the Lou family, is not an unknown person. He is also the chief of Hanzhou and the general of Pingxi, and his status is second only to the new governor.

Xu Chu asked again: "All the heroes have submitted letters of surrender to the Chanyu. It is said that all parties in Hanzhou have submitted letters, and some have even gone to see the Chanyu in person. What about the King of Shu?"

Tang Weitian said: "I don't know whether they have submitted letters of surrender, but the King of Shu has definitely not gone to see the Chanyu."

"Is there a lot of grain in Yizhou?" Xu Chu has been in Gongjun for a long time and is very concerned about this matter.

"It's OK. I'm not hungry anyway." Tang Weitian still looked like he knew something but didn't. He preferred to talk about his experience in the war. He was very excited. More than a dozen soldiers joined in, which made him unable to stop. He talked while walking and eating. It was not until that night when everyone gathered around a fire to rest that he said with a lingering feeling: "First, these. There are more interesting things. Let's talk about them tomorrow."

Xu Chu kept listening with a smile and did not stop Tang Weitian's nagging, although he was not concerned about these things.

After sleeping for a while, Tang Weitian suddenly felt that he was a little rude and asked: "How is the young master? I was busy on the road before and didn't have time to ask the general."

"I... was busy bickering with others and didn't do anything else."

"Haha, the young master must win every time he bickers with others..." Tang Weitian fell asleep.

Xu Chu was worried that the pursuers would come again, so he always wanted to set off earlier, but Tang Weitian didn't care, "This road is narrow, I'm not afraid of any pursuers."

Fortunately, the pursuers never appeared again, and the Hundred-Eyed Heavenly King probably thought it was not worth the trouble for a scholar.

After walking for two days, they met the Shu army in the vanguard, with a total of more than a thousand people, most of whom were from Yizhou. They had no impression of the former King of Wu, but they were in awe of General Tang. They gave way and bowed their hands in worship, calling him "General Shake the Sky", which meant that he could always throw his opponent into the sky with a spear.

Tang Weitian wanted to go to Qinzhou with the army, but Xu Chu insisted on seeing Tie Yuan. Tang Weitian had no choice. After hesitating, he decided to send his old master first and then catch up with the vanguard. The Shu army's vanguard could not do without him, General Tang.

After another day's journey, Xu Chu met the main force of the Shu army. What he saw was that the soldiers were in high spirits and had no intention of retreating. He had been thinking about it for several days, but still didn't know how to persuade Tie Yuan not to enter Qinzhou.