Plan to cut off the nine states

The defenders of Hanzhong City were vulnerable. Less than an hour after the Yizhou Army launched the attack, the city shouted surrender and opened the city gate without any conditions. A small number of He Rong's men rode out of the gate on horseback, but were all caught up and killed by Yizhou soldiers.

Hanzhong was almost an empty city. Eighty to ninety percent of the people were missing. There were only two thousand soldiers, most of whom were recruited from Qinzhou and had no intention of fighting. The food and grass accumulated in the city had been transported away, and the rest were set on fire by He Rong's men.

In any case, the city walls were still strong, the streets were still unobstructed, and most of the houses were intact. This victory was worth celebrating. Tie Ying held a celebration banquet and ordered a three-day rest to prepare to attack Qinzhou.

Everyone liked the celebration banquet, but the decision to attack Qin surprised many people.

When the generals toasted, they took the opportunity to remind General Tie Er that the general only wanted to seize Hanzhou and had no plan to attack Qin. Moreover, the food and grass were not yet complete, and the winter cold had not yet dissipated, so it was not appropriate to go on another expedition.

Tie Ying refused to change his mind, but also made a little compromise: "To defend Yi, you must first defend Han, and to defend Han, you must first defend Qin. I am not trying to capture the entire Qinzhou, but just to occupy the entire plank road and make it difficult for the enemy to advance."

Someone else said: "The war on Feng Changshi's side has not ended, and many counties in Hanzhou have not been pacified..."

Tie Ying insisted on his own opinion, "You have also seen that He Rong's people have no intention of defending Hanzhou, and there are not many cavalry left. Feng Changshi's side will soon win a great victory. As for the counties, sending a general to lead 5,000 troops is enough to pacify them. As the saying goes, speed is the essence of war. Once Hanzhou is lost, Qinzhou will definitely be on guard. If you go one day later, the war will be more difficult."

Not all generals opposed General Tie Er's plan. Vanguard General Tang Weitian strongly supported it. "Since entering Hanzhou, the battle has been too easy and not satisfying. We must go to Qinzhou to compete with He Rong's people, avenge the last siege, and go back to my hometown by the way."

No one reminded Tang Weitian that the other end of the plank road was still far away from his hometown.

Tie Ying was stubborn and he was the general's younger brother, so no one could persuade him. The generals had to prepare separately. They first sent scouts to explore the way ahead and urged the rear to transport food and grass as soon as possible. At the same time, they sent people to send letters to Jindu City.

The whole army rested for three days, and Tang Weitian only rested for two days before leading his troops to set off. Before leaving, he came to say goodbye to Xu Chu, "I will open the way so that the young master can see the Golden Saint directly."

Tang Weitian had never figured out the plan of the Yizhou army and still thought that they wanted to seize the entire Qinzhou.

Xu Chu did not explain, and smiled: "Don't rush ahead, at least let me catch up with you."

"Don't worry, General Tie Er has issued a strict order, ordering me to stop as soon as I leave the plank road. The most important task is to ensure that the plank road is unobstructed. Everything will be settled after he arrives."

"Well, you should remember this order."

Tang Weitian said goodbye and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped again, "Everyone says that General Tie Er is rushing ahead, what do you think, young master?"

"Fighting is not my forte, I dare not say anything."

"Haha, young master was so heroic when guarding the Eastern Capital, why do you say 'not your forte' now?"

"I think it's because you are getting timid."

Tang Weitian shook his head, expressing his disbelief, and said goodbye and left.

Xu Chu actually did not support the Northern Expedition to Qinzhou, but he knew that he did not have the trust of Tie Ying, so he did not go to make trouble, and after experiencing the failure of the Jinducheng plan, he did become more cautious, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was "cowardly". He always felt that everything could not be as expected, and even if he had calculated everything, he would still make mistakes.

He preferred to focus on the "big picture", but unfortunately, he could not find anyone to talk to since he said goodbye to Wang Dian.

Tieyi did not wait for the news from Jindu City. He sent out troops on time three days later, leaving 5,000 people to guard the city, 5,000 people to pacify the counties, and the remaining 30,000 people all went north to Qinzhou.

The plank road was narrow and had suffered a lot of damage. It was not reliable after repeated repairs. The army advanced in the shape of a long snake, reinforcing it as it went.

Tieyi was originally in the middle, but he thought the front march was too slow, so he chased all the way and personally urged the soldiers to repair the road. After repairing a section, they could rest on the spot, and the rear soldiers behind would take over.

Three days later, news came from the front that the vanguard encountered enemy soldiers, and soon another news came that the enemy soldiers had retreated. The vanguard continued to advance and would soon enter the territory of Qinzhou.

The rest of the road was easier to walk, so Tieyi did not need to supervise it personally. When he set up camp to rest that night, he sent someone to call Xu Chu and invite him to drink.

"It gets colder the further north you go. Mr. Xu, have a drink to warm yourself up."

"Only one drink." Xu Chu sipped the hot wine slowly and felt much warmer indeed.

Tie Ying said some gossip, and then said: "Everyone thinks it is not appropriate to go north to Qinzhou, what about Mr. Xu?"

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Generals should make their own decisions when they go to war, especially when they have already sent troops. It is useless to say more, which will only increase doubts."

"But Mr. Xu didn't say anything before I sent troops."

"I am not a minister of Yizhou, and General Tie Er may not believe me."

"Haha, to be honest, I really don't believe it. Although Mr. Xu has many strategies, in the end they are all for the sake of others and have nothing to do with my Yizhou."

Xu Chu smiled, too lazy to argue, and just drank in small sips.

"But I still want to hear what Mr. Xu has to say, for no other reason than to compare."

"Since General Tie Er insists - I also think it's too early to attack Qinzhou in the north. If it's just to seize the plank road, it's enough to send the vanguard army, and there's no need for the main army to follow up. General Tie Er personally supervises the battle, so he must have a longer-term plan."

"Hey, Mr. Xu guessed it right. That's right, seizing the plank road is only the first step. The Yizhou army dare not enter Qinzhou, it's nothing more than fear of He Rong's cavalry. After I win a few games in a row, everyone's fear will naturally disappear. I dare not say that I will seize the entire Qinzhou, but at least I have to occupy Xijing!"

"Xijing has suffered the most from the war and is like a chicken rib. Why does General Tie Er..."

Tie Ying raised his eyebrows, "Just to prove that my Tie family is not inferior to King Ning. If he can defeat He Rong, so can the Tie family." Tie Ying softened his tone a little, "The general dare not avenge the King of Shu, it is nothing more than thinking that Yizhou is weak and King Ning is strong. Once the troops leave the gorge, they will be counterattacked. After I defeat He Rong and seize Xijing, who will still think that the Yizhou army is weak?"

Xu Chu was silent, because he knew that he was called here to listen to these words for a reason.

Tieyi took the cup and drank it all, motioning Xu Chu to drink a sip as well, then smiled and said: "Once the general feels that Yizhou has the strength to take revenge, Mr. Xu will also be punished for his crimes. Mr. Xu has been lobbying all the way, urging the heroes to fight against the He Rong people. He never thought that his life would be closely related to the He Rong people, right?"

Xu Chu drank the last bit of wine in the cup, put down the cup and said: "If General Tie Er can defeat the He Rong people and take back Qinzhou, I am willing to commit suicide to apologize."

Tieyi's face darkened slightly, "Do you think I will definitely lose?"

Xu Chu shook his head and said seriously: "I am speaking the truth. Yizhou is a place surrounded by mountains. Those who occupy this state are often contented. It is rare that General Tie Er is brave and diligent. , if we can seize Qin in one fell swoop, we will not only drive out He Rongren, but also have the potential to pacify the world. I am willing to do so and I will not hesitate to die. ”

Tie Ying looked at Xu Chu, not believing it, and said after a while: "You still haven't said whether the plan to attack Qin is good or bad. ”

Xu Chu sighed lightly, "What can I tell? I can only say that General Tie Er is a bit reckless. If there is a change in the rear, he will be unable to advance or retreat. If Hanzhou is stable, it can be called a surprise attack. I have no way of predicting the situation in Hanzhou, so naturally I have no way of judging whether General Tie Er's attack on Qin is good or bad. ”

"It is obvious that He Rongren wants to give up Hanzhou. What else is there to worry about? When I gain a foothold in Qinzhou, I will also recruit Feng Yechou. ”

Tie Ying imagined it for a while, and Xu Chu got up to say goodbye.

Tie Yi said: "No matter what, Mr. Xu has done a great favor to me and the Tie family. Tie Er has a clear distinction between gratitude and resentment. He will avenge the murder of his master and will never forget a drop of kindness. So please rest assured, Mr. Xu, I will not kill you for no reason."

Xu Chu bowed and said: "Thank you."

At the end of the plank road, there was a small city in Qinzhou. Now it has been destroyed to the point that only broken walls and ruins remain. When the defenders fled in a hurry, they set a fire and burned the entire city into ruins.

Tang Weitian chased for a while and finally remembered the strict order of General Tie Er. He did not go deep into the enemy's territory. He led his troops back and set up camp on the spot, using fences as walls.

After Tie Yi arrived, he did not say that he would attack Xijing again, but ordered the soldiers to repair the city walls and send scouts far away to find out the movements of He Rong's people.

His plan was to stabilize the morale of the army first, choose an opportunity to fight with He Rong's people, boost morale with victory, and then advance step by step until Xijing.

A few days later, scouts brought back news from all directions, and also brought some Qinzhou people as evidence: He Rong people seemed to not want Qinzhou anymore, and spent the whole winter looting property and conscripting civilians to move to the north, and the people of Qinzhou suffered greatly.

When the news first came, Tie Yi still didn't believe it. When the news became more and more detailed, he no longer doubted it. He laughed a few times and said "God helps me". He immediately assigned 10,000 people to go with him tomorrow - he had to be faster, otherwise all He Rong people would flee back to the border, and he would lose the great victory he dreamed of.

Since leaving Yi, the war has been very smooth, and the fear of the generals has gradually disappeared. Only a few people advised General Tie Er to be cautious.

Tang Weitian was still the vanguard, and Tie Yi led the central army to follow, bringing Xu Chu with him. Now that they have entered the territory of Qinzhou, he is worried that Xu Chu will escape.

Tang Weitian was unstoppable all the way, and he captured two cities on the first day. Every time, as soon as the troops arrived at the city, the soldiers defending the city opened the gates and surrendered.

There were two things that worried Tie Ying. One was that there were no He Rong people in the city, and the Yizhou army was probably still a step too late. The other was that there was no food and grass everywhere. All of them were looted or burned by He Rong people. After the first two groups of defenders surrendered, the first thing they did was to kneel down and beg for some food. They had been hungry for two or three days.

Five days after sending troops, Tie Ying had to stop and wait for the rear to catch up with the food and grass. The good news was that a team of He Rong cavalry finally appeared in front, and the two sides could fight.

Tie Ying proved that he was not a simple reckless person. As early as when he was in Yizhou, he asked around about the process of Ning Army defeating He Rong people. He had to ask clearly about everything, no matter how big or small. Therefore, he was mentally prepared for this battle. He personally visited the terrain, and then sent troops to challenge, leading He Rong people into a dangerous place, and sending ambushes to defeat them in one fell swoop.

The He Rong army had only a few soldiers, just over 3,000. Tie Yi defeated the enemy with more troops, but it still greatly boosted morale. At least the Yizhou soldiers no longer believed the rumor that He Rong's men could fight ten to one.

Tie Yi was overjoyed and ordered to march straight to Xijing the next morning, and at the same time ordered the 20,000 soldiers in the rear to follow.

But in the evening, bad news came, which made the great victory in the daytime lose its luster.

Feng Yechou, who was still in Hanzhou, was defeated by a Central Plains army and his army was completely routed.