webnovelfull Chapter 729 Attacking Hanzhong
Chapter 729 Attacking Hanzhong
Guan Shouchang smiled slightly and said,
"If that's the case, then I'll make the decision. This Western Route Army will be given to..."
He deliberately kept everyone in suspense and looked at everyone.
Looking at the eager expressions of the others and Bai Wuan's expression of wanting to speak but being too embarrassed to do so, Guan Shouchang smiled and said,
"Give it to the Longxiong Army."
"what?"
Everyone was shocked and looked at Guan Shouchang in disbelief.
Bai Wuan also looked at him in surprise.
He didn't expect that Guan Shouchang would choose him.
After all, he was just a surrendered general. Although many generals in the Yan army were surrendered generals, he was a new surrenderer after all. He did not make much contribution to the Yan army and had little experience. Compared with the iron triangle who had fought all the way, he was just an outsider.
Why did Guan Shouchang choose him?
Lao Guan looked at everyone and smiled.
"Chen Qing and Xiao Su both had the merit of capturing the emperor, so this time the credit should go to Bai Wuan."
Bai Wuan immediately said,
"But you haven't done that yet."
"Me? I'm the commander-in-chief of the Western Army. Your achievements are my achievements. The prince will not treat me unfairly.
Besides, I'm not in the army, so the enemy will see through my trick immediately. When you leave, remember to leave some of your flags behind. We'll fly your flags and pretend that the Longxiong Army is still here."
"As you command, thank you, Commander Guan!"
Bai Wuan clasped his hands together with a serious expression.
Guan Shouchang looked at him and said seriously,
"Old White, there are two things I must explain to you in advance."
"I am all ears!"
"First, the opportunity is given to you. Whether you can seize it depends entirely on you. Don't wait until we have defeated the enemy from both sides. We will not wait for you then. We will directly destroy Chengdu.
Don't blame us.
Second, if you enter Chengdu first, remember to focus on capturing the Emperor of Sichuan, his family, and his ministers alive. If the Sichuan army surrenders, you must never kill the prisoners.
The reputation that our Yan army has built up over the years must not be destroyed in your hands.
If you kill the captives, all your merits will be wiped out. I will tie you up and personally bring you before His Majesty and the Prince to face the punishment!"
"General Guan, rest assured. Bai will never kill prisoners again. If you break this oath, you will die a miserable death!"
Bai Wuan issued a military order.
In fact, if it were someone else, Lao Guan would not explain the matter so seriously, but this was Bai Wuan, this guy had a criminal record. He buried alive an entire 400,000 troops, leaving the already barren Liangdi with almost no houses left.
Therefore, for the sake of the reputation of the Yan army and for the future governance and appeasement of the local people, prisoners and civilians must never be killed indiscriminately.
Then, Guan Shouchang said,
"The Longxiong Army is a surprise attack from the west, so let's talk about the distribution of the Eastern and Central Armies.
The central army will take the Jiange Pass, which has the narrowest road and is the most difficult to walk on, so I plan to send only one legion to attack. It will be difficult to walk with too many people.
How about giving this task to...Xiao Su?"
"what?"
Su Wuan had a bitter face.
Guan Shouchang glared at him and shouted,
"What? You're all beaming when you're given credit, but you're all glum when you're given a mission? Do you take all the good stuff?"
"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
Su Wuan saluted immediately.
"That's pretty much it."
"Then, the Weihu Army, the White Robe Army, and the White Horse Army will pass from the east and attack southward, first attacking Nanjiang and then Bazhong.
As long as you hit the chin, the rest of the journey will be much easier."
"As ordered!"
After receiving the order, everyone continued to look at the map.
Guan Shouchang made the final arrangements and said,
"Early tomorrow morning, the Longxiong Army will march directly west. You have a long way to go, so set off early.
Just leave the attack on Hanzhong County City to us.
After the battle, we will split into two groups and march south."
"Yes!"
After the meeting, everyone went to rest.
The next morning, the army set out and officially entered the Hanzhong Plain.
The Longxiong Army put away its flags and the 100,000-strong army headed westward.
Guan Shouchang led the main force southward and arrived at the city of Hanzhong a day later.
Hanzhong is strategically located and the surrounding areas are easy to defend but difficult to attack, but the mountain roads to the north had been opened up by the Yan army, and the Sichuan army was defeated.
The main reason was that the King of Yong, Xiao Lei, who had been guarding the border, died in battle, leaving the northern border of Sichuan State unguarded, which was easily broken through by the Yan army and killed their way in.
Currently, there are only 10,000 central troops and 40,000 local troops left in Hanzhong County.
What they had to face was 350,000 fully armed elite Yan troops.
The Hanzhong County Magistrate was completely paralyzed.
I have no idea how to fight this battle.
Guan Shouchang did not fight directly. When he arrived at the city of Hanzhong, he wrote a letter to the county magistrate, ordering him to lead the entire county to surrender and all the troops to lay down their weapons. The Yan army would never kill prisoners.
The prefect of Hanzhong wanted to surrender, but the commander-in-chief of the army, Peng Yu, was a die-hard who would rather die than surrender.
He flatly rejected the county governor's suggestion of surrender and asked him to stay in the city. If he could not stop the Yan army, he would wait until he died in battle before asking him to surrender.
Early the next morning, because the Yan army did not see the Sichuan army surrender, they started to leave the camp after breakfast and began to prepare for the siege.
In this battle, the three armies each attacked one side of the city wall, attacking the east, west and north directions respectively.
When surrounding an army, there must be a gap to leave the enemy an escape route, which is the South Gate. However, there are still 50,000 White Horse Army soldiers watching covetously. As long as the enemy dares to run, they will immediately chase and kill them, and undermine the enemy's resistance to the greatest extent.
On the top of the city wall, Commander Peng Yu looked at the dense black ocean below, and sweat broke out on his palms.
He only has 50,000 men, and 40,000 of these 50,000 are temporarily recruited local troops who don't even have complete weapons. Can he really withstand so many Yan troops?
But no matter what, he would not surrender.
Peng Yu turned around, faced south, knelt down on the top of the city wall, kowtowed, and then clasped his hands towards the sky.
"My Lord, the Yan invaders are coming today, and I, Peng Yu, am determined to fight them to the death.
The enemy is numerous and we are few, and the strength gap is huge, but I am determined to die and will do my best to kill the enemy and relieve the pressure on my lord.
I hope my Lord will prepare his troops, resist the powerful enemy, and recover our lost territory!"
Peng Yu kowtowed three more times.
The soldiers around him were all moved when they looked at him. They shed tears and shouted that they would fight for their country to the death and resist the Yan bandits!
The Yan thieves outside were already adjusting their guns and aiming at them.
Guan Shouchang led the attack on the north gate. After the Shenjiying gave the order, the artillery lined up in a row roared and fired shells, which fell heavily on the top of the city wall.
Boom boom boom!
As explosions were heard, heavy casualties were suffered on the city walls, and the Sichuan Army soldiers fled in panic and ran towards the foot of the city.
The boiling blood could not make up for the gap in strength between them and the Yan army. When their comrades were shattered beside them, they felt like they were falling into an icy cave.
After all, most of these people are farmers who have just put down their hoes and picked up weapons.