At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 233

why don't you die

If you die, the Chen Empire will be finished, and we can escape in the chaos!

But why don't you die?

Do you have to drag us to die together? !

Yuan Shu couldn't hear these people's desperate cries from the heart, he woke up, recovered his sobriety, and then asked about what happened during this time.

Knowing what Lu Mian had done from Feng's and Yuan Yao's mouths, Yuan Shu was very moved, asked Lu Mian personally, and expressed his gratitude to him.

"The survival of my family is all thanks to Lu Qing. Lu Qing's credit is in my heart alone."

As he said that, Yuan Shu's face turned red, and he gritted his teeth.

"I hate that Guo Zifeng, who was just a vicious dog raised by Gu, dared to bite back and attack Gu! After receiving such a great favor from the Yuan family, he didn't want to repay Gu, but wanted to attack Gu! There is no one more shameless than Guo Zifeng in the world Traitor!"

Yuan Shu took a deep breath, pulled Lu Mian's hand and said, "Lu Qing must work hard, and must not let Guo thief succeed! Must guard Shouchun! Must!"

Lu Mian immediately said: "The weather is very cold now, and there are many Guo thieves going south. The logistics pressure is extremely high. Our army will die to protect Shouchun. If you have the confidence to stick to Shouchun for three months, Guo Zifeng will definitely not be able to persist in withdrawing troops and leave. As long as Guo Zifeng withdraws his troops, things will turn around."

Yuan Shu was overjoyed when he heard this, and praised Lu Mian again and again, but his face was full of sadness after a while.

"I hate that I didn't listen to Lu Qing's opinion as soon as possible. If Gu listened as soon as possible, why did he have today? If Gu can stick to Shouchun with a large army, how can Guo thief be so arrogant in front of Gu? It's all Gu's fault, it's all Gu's fault !"

Hearing that Yuan Shu finally admitted his mistake, Lu Mian didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

This feeling is very complicated.

Is it too late to wake up only when disaster is imminent, and to admit mistakes only when death is imminent?

Lu Mian didn't know, he only knew that he had to do what he was supposed to do.

Yuan Shu was greatly stimulated and fell ill. His physical fitness plummeted and he was very weak, unable to stay awake for long.

The imperial doctor asked Yuan Shu to rest more, eat more nutritious food, and take care of his body slowly, so that he could get better, and he must not be greatly stimulated or get angry.

So Yuan Shu could only retreat to the second line, handing over the front line to Lu Mian and his son Yuan Yao.

"My son needs to listen to General Lu's words, don't make up his own mind, understand?"

In order to express the greatest trust in Lu Mian, Yuan Shu told Yuan Yao in front of him that he would do what Lu Mian said, which was regarded as the greatest trust and support for Lu Mian. Lu Mian expressed his gratitude and said that he would definitely sacrifice for Yuan Shu. out of everything.

So with Yuan Shu's support, Lu Mian took full power, and everything in Shouchun was decided by Lu Mian.

And on the same day that Yuan Shu woke up, on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xia Houyuan sent people to survey the waterway of the Huaihe River, and then began to build a pontoon bridge.

The soldiers of Army Chen on the south bank of the Huaihe River, led by the former general Qiao Rui, tried to stop them. They shot arrows to obstruct the construction of the pontoon bridge, and sent people to drive boats to try to attack the pontoon bridge. Build pontoon bridges for the safety of the army.

On December [-], Xia Houyuan overcame all difficulties and led his army to successfully build three pontoon bridges. The soldiers of Chen Jun who were trying to stop them on the south bank of the Huaihe River were hard to stop.

Facing Xiahouyuan's vanguard army who was the first to cross the river, the defenders of the Chen army led by Qiao Rui were directly defeated, and the Huaihe defense line fell without much persistence.

On December [-]th, Guo Peng ordered the army to follow the pace of Xiahouyuan's vanguard army to cross the river and march towards Shouchun City.

There was no longer any obstacle on the south bank of the Huaihe River that could stop Guo Peng's army from crossing the river, and the countdown to the fall of the Chen Empire began.

Lu Mian was a little surprised when he heard the news that Guo Peng's army crossed the river easily, but he was not completely surprised, because he didn't use many troops to defend the Huaihe defense line.

The real line of defense is Shouchun City.

After being heightened and reinforced, Shouchun City is very strong and can be called a war fortress. This is Yuan Shu's last stronghold.

With [-] defenders and relatively sufficient food and grass, it is definitely not something Guo Peng can easily capture.

Lu Mian believed that even if Guo Peng had the trebuchet as a big killer, it would be absolutely impossible to climb such a high city wall easily.

The condescending advantage is so great, it is definitely not something that can be reversed by a single device.

Therefore, Lu Mian continued to shrink his troops and defense lines, and in the end directly gave up all the defense lines outside the defense system of Shouchun City, relying on the tall and strong Shouchun City to resist Guo Peng's attack.

The vanguard general Xia Houyuan led an army to the city of Shouchun. He was a little surprised when he saw the tall city wall of Shouchun and the dense defensive facilities.

He didn't expect Shouchun to make so many preparations in a short period of time.

Realizing that he could not easily take down Shouchun City, Xia Houyuan led his army back several miles, felled trees and set up camp, prepared barracks for the follow-up large troops, and then waited for further instructions from Guo Peng.

Chapter 420. 410 Jiuzangba began to have strange thoughts

Guo Peng was still very satisfied with Xia Houyuan's actions.

After praising Xia Houyuan for not attacking the city rashly, Guo Peng took a group of counselors and subordinates to Shouchun City to observe the specific situation.

Seeing the heightened and reinforced Shouchun City Wall, sufficient city defense equipment, and a series of preparations outside the city since Yuan Shu planned to proclaim himself emperor, Guo Peng realized that this siege would not be easy and might require a relatively large effort. cost.

According to the confessions of the captives captured by Xia Houyuan, Guo Peng learned that the current Shouchun City is completely dominated by the general Lu Mian.

Sufficient city defense preparations were urgently prepared by Lu Mian after he came back, and Lu Mian also issued a series of orders, which in Guo Peng's view are quite desirable.

Why didn't this guy come out to advise Yuan Shu when Yuan Shu still had a chance to turn things around?

As soon as such doubts arose, Guo Peng realized his innocence.

That's right, it's just an opinion. If Yuan Shu doesn't agree, no matter how much Lu Mian raises his opinion, it will be useless.

Obviously, Yuan Shu didn't support Lu Mian's actions, didn't support Lu Mian's many correct proposals, and decisively sent himself to Huangquan Road, and up to now, the gods can't save Chen Empire.

Can a city stop someone Guo's ambition?

Guo Peng ordered to surround Shouchun City on all sides, and more than 100 trebuchets mobilized from the rear surrounded Shouchun City, surrounded it, beat it, smashed it, and stormed it, leaving no gaps or vitality in it. Destroy it abruptly.

The overwhelmingly superior military force has isolated everything in Shouchun City, and there is no external traffic. Shouchun City has completely become an isolated city. From this day on, it is impossible to get any and all help, and it is impossible to get any help at all. get.

The disintegration of the Chen Empire is just around the corner.

With Guo Peng's order, the real combat effectiveness of the army broke out completely.

That kind of explosion without any reservations in one breath rushed towards Shouchun City like a mountain roar and a tsunami.

Lu Mian looked at Guo Jun who was besieging Shouchun City from all sides with a bad expression, and inspected the city wall at the risk of being hit by a trebuchet. Feeling the extremely tragic pressure, he lowered his tolerance limit for Shouchun City in his heart.

The ferocity of Guo Jun's offensive has never been seen before. The thunderous shouts and strong murderous aura made everyone under Lu Mian's command terrified, and it was almost difficult to face it. When a machine attacks, it always brings huge chaos.

As for this kind of attack, Lu Mian did not have a way to eliminate it.

It can only be said that the opponent cannot use trebuchets when they want to attack the city, so they can send troops to continue defending the city. Although this is very dangerous, there is no better way.

Lu Mian travels between the four walls, and only Qiao Rui can assist him. When Ji Ling recovers from his injuries, Ji Ling will help him share the pressure.

Ji Ling was shot in the left eye by Cao Xing's arrow and became a one-eyed man. The pain that his body was no longer complete made Ji Ling hate Guo Peng, so he became Lu Mian's most important supporter, helping Lu Mian Shared the command pressure of the two walls.

Lu Mian could finally take a breather and hand over the other two walls to Qiao Rui, so he could concentrate on commanding and dispatching the defense of the whole city.

Having said that, Lu Mian is also very clear that if he doesn't do this, it will be difficult to support himself.

After many days of hard work, Lu Mian's health has been challenged. Ji Ling returned to the team, allowing Lu Mian to take a breather, recuperate his body a little, and then continue to devote himself to the intense battle.

Guo Peng is much more relaxed. He has many talents and generals, so he doesn’t need to arrange any tactics by himself. The siege tactics are drawn up and reported by the staff team, and then put into practice. What Guo Peng needs to do is to control the overall situation, not focus on it. on some little things.

Naturally, countless people are willing to share small matters for him, but no one is allowed to make decisions for Guo Peng on major matters.

The final decisive battle between Guo Peng and Yuan Shu is in full swing.

And the news quickly spread to the surrounding area.

Yuan Shu's Northern Expedition failed miserably, and news of Guo Peng's march into Shouchun quickly spread to surrounding areas.

Both Lujiang County and Guangling County belonged to the first batch of areas to hear the news. People rushed to tell each other, happy or sad or nervous, thinking about their own choices in the face of the general trend of the world.

Zang Ba and Chen Deng, who were fighting fiercely with the Guangling defenders of Guangling and Chen Jun, soon learned of the news. After knowing the news, their hearts were very complicated.

Chen Deng understood very well.

His entire family decided early on to abandon Tao Qian and follow a strong man like Guo Peng. He felt happy and excited, but he felt that he was not affiliated with Guo Peng and could not make any contribution to him, so he made a contribution to Chen. Shi feels entangled in obtaining benefits.

Follow a powerful prince, follow his victory, stand higher and higher, and stand higher and higher, this is the choice a family should make.

Tao Qian is already old and faint.

Yuan Shu is about to be finished, the [-] army is finished, Yuan Shu is destined to perish, after Yuan Shu's demise, the land of the Central Plains will be completely occupied by Guo Peng, Guo Peng will become the world's number one prince without any disputes, and when the time comes, Is Xuzhou still a problem?

Chen Deng sneered and looked north.

Can Tao Qian see such a future?

Can Tao Qian predict his own ending?

Can Tao Qian understand what he should and should not do?

Without Yuan Shu, Xuzhou was alone surrounded by Guo Peng's sphere of influence, how would Tao Qian deal with himself?

If Chen Deng were Tao Qian, he would dedicate Xuzhou Mu's seal and ribbon to Guo Peng without saying a word, so as to keep himself and his family safe. Otherwise, would Guo Peng keep Xuzhou from attacking?

Chen Deng didn't believe that Guo Peng would leave Xuzhou with a full and prosperous household registration and would not move. He didn't believe that Guo Peng had no ambitions for Xuzhou.

Otherwise, what is the Mi family used for?

Chen is ready.

On the other hand, Zang Ba's thinking is relatively simple, he is just thinking about how to take the future road.

He is from Taishan, Yanzhou, and his hometown is under the rule of Guo Peng, so he was dispatched to Yuan Shu during the Southern Expedition, while Cao Bao continued to stay in the north to protect the north gate of Xuzhou. It is obvious that Tao Qian was afraid of him. Yanzhou native place.

In this regard, Zang Ba actually has nothing to say, such a native place is not what he wants, and there is really a bit of helplessness in it.

Because of his native place, he was appointed by Tao Qian, and now he is also jealous of Tao Qian because of his native place. Tao Qian is old, and with suspicion, Zang Ba knows that his life is difficult.

He led the army and made contributions to Tao Qian, but in the final analysis, he was not Tao Qian's confidant. It was just because he was more capable of fighting, so Tao Qian had to use it. Tao Qian's confidant would always be Cao Bao, not himself.

Now that Yuan Shu is about to be destroyed, after Guo Peng eliminates Yuan Shu, will Xuzhou be his next target?

Tao Qian and Guo Peng had a lot of quarrels, and their relationship was definitely not good. Tao Qian hated Guo Peng very much, and Guo Peng would never like Tao Qian. If there was any conflict between the two, it was almost certain.

And obviously, is Tao Qian Guo Peng's opponent?

Can Tao Qian compete with Guo Peng?

the answer is negative.

Xuzhou is only a land of one state, while Guo Peng owns five states...now it is a land of six states.

The power of the six states is against the land of one state, and Xuzhou has no danger in the terrain. Even if Tao Qian recruits [-] troops to defend Xuzhou, the result will be the same. No matter how you fight this battle, you will lose the rhythm .

Tao Qian is not a wise man, and the future is even more uncertain. As a Yanzhou native, do you want to work for Tao Qian?

Like Chen Deng, Zang Ba began to have strange thoughts.

Chapter 421 No one in the world can compete with Guo Peng anymore

Within a few days, news of Yuan Shu's defeat by Guo Peng reached Tao Qian's ears.

After Tao Qian heard the news that Guo Peng defeated Yuan Shu and led his troops to the south, he was overjoyed at first, thinking that Xuzhou was safe, then surprised, thinking that Xuzhou was not safe, and then feeling scared, thinking that Xuzhou... was in danger.

This is not a silly speculation, nor is it an unreasonable guess, because his confidant Cao Hong also thinks so.

"Guo Zifeng smashed Yuan Gonglu, and Yuan Gonglu's collapse is now. If Yuan Gonglu is destroyed, all the land in the Central Plains will be occupied by Guo Zifeng, and he has a righteous name, so only Xuzhou in the Central Plains has never belonged to Guo Zifeng. Guo Zifeng has some ideas, but Xuzhou It's at stake."

"I know what you said, and I'm just asking you what to do! Yuan Gonggong won't last long. Once Yuan Gonggong is finished, Guo Zifeng's next goal must be Xuzhou!"

A look of obvious panic could be seen on Tao Qian's face: "In this case, what should I do?"

Cao Hong looked at Tao Qian, bowed his head and remained silent.

"Why don't you speak?"

Tao Qian was in a hurry, and asked Cao Hong's hand.

"It's not that you don't talk, but... Minggong, please rest assured that Guo Zifeng has a righteous reputation for attacking Yuan Shu. As a Han minister, he is righteous and righteous. People in the world can't say anything, but they still have to applaud him and support him." He, but Xuzhou is different.

Duke Ming is the Xuzhou shepherd appointed by the imperial court, and General Anton, who governs Xuzhou in good name and sound. This time Yuan Gonggong proclaimed himself emperor, but Minggong categorically refused and was attacked by Yuan Gonggong. Everyone in the world knows that Minggong is a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and Guo Zifeng is also a Han minister. If you want to attack Xuzhou, there is no excuse at all. "

Cao Hong said so.

"You mean, Guo Zifeng won't attack me?"

"Of course not, because he has no excuses and no sense of righteousness. If he rashly attacks Xuzhou, the world will doubt his intentions. Under the eyes of everyone, as long as Guo Zifeng has no disobedience, he will not attack Xuzhou. rest assured."