SFS Chapter 751 Wen Ping is startled
Chapter 751 Wen Ping is startled
Wen Dai was wounded and captured, and the soldiers were weak and powerless, completely at a loss in the face of this situation.
Nevertheless, Luo Feng still dared not be negligent. He found some cloth strips to tie Wen Dai's hands and feet to prevent him from resisting, and at the same time sent someone to quickly notify Guan Yan.
Upon receiving the news, Guan Yan dared not delay and quickly rode to the scene. He clasped his hands in greeting to Wen Dai and said, "Guan Yan, a colonel under the command of the Marquis of Shence of the Great Han, greets General Wen Dai. My surname was personally bestowed by the Marquis of Shence. General, you should understand my importance, right?"
Wen Dai said with a bitter smile, "You were the one who shot arrows at me in the street, weren't you? A mere handful of people were able to cripple my five thousand-strong army and seize my Xiling City. I admire you."
Guan Yan laughed and said, "This is not due to my merit, but rather the will of Heaven in Han, so please cooperate and accept your fate!"
Wen Dai said, feeling aggrieved, "My father will be back soon. Are you so sure that Sun Lang will get there before my father?"
Guan Yan laughed and said, "The messenger sent by the general to Zhu County was captured by me as soon as he left the city. However, General Sun Lang's messenger sent a message half an hour ago, saying that the five thousand vanguard troops are less than fifty miles away and will arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest. What do you think?"
Wen Dai's heart sank completely, and he sighed helplessly, "Put down your weapons and listen to the Han army's orders!"
The rest was simple: the five thousand garrison soldiers threw away their weapons and armor and returned to their camp to await orders, while Wen Dai and his family were taken to the north gate for guard.
The news stunned the city's gentry, who then acted swiftly, sending people to curry favor with Guan Yan while simultaneously mobilizing manpower to expedite the transport of grain.
They believed that the Han army would not harm the innocent or make things difficult for them, and they also believed that the Han army would not let their property go. Therefore, in order to prevent the Han army from taking away their clan's wealth, the local tyrants had to seize the opportunity to transport as much as they could while Sun Lang had not yet arrived and the city gates were still open.
Guan Yan not only did not stop them, but also secretly helped them by clearing the road and allowing the gentry to transport their wealth. This was also a way of giving the gentry some trouble. If the gentry had something to do, they wouldn't bother him, but if they had nothing to do, they would probably cause him trouble.
With the tacit understanding between Guan Yan and the gentry, Xiling City fell into an eerie calm, and then it got dark.
Guan Yan didn't dare to rest tonight. Instead, he wore iron armor and patrolled back and forth on the city wall to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
They persisted until the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) at night when suddenly hurried footsteps came from the north. Startled, Guan Yan immediately ordered, "It's probably General Sun Lang's reinforcements arriving. Light torches and check immediately."
Torches were quickly lit on the city wall, and under their light, a large army carrying Han army battle flags swiftly approached and stopped a hundred meters away from the moat. Then, one of the soldiers ran quickly to the moat and shouted, "Is that Brother Guan Yan on the city wall? I am Hu Kun."
"It's me, it's me..." Guan Yan replied excitedly, while lowering the basket and pulling Hu Kun up.
The two old classmates met on the city wall and looked at each other for a moment. Guan Yan pounded Hu Kun's chest excitedly and said, "You've finally come! If you hadn't come, I really wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer."
Hu Kun said, "Quickly open the city gate and let us in. Also, prepare some food and drink for us. We've been running around for several days and everyone is exhausted."
Soon the city gates opened, and the army filed in, where Guan Yan led them to a pre-prepared encampment for meals, water, and rest.
Hu Kun had risked his life to get here and hadn't slept for two days, so the soldiers who had come from afar fell asleep as soon as they touched their beds.
After resting for more than three hours, Guan Yan woke them all up at 9:00 AM and ordered them to divide their troops and guard the city gates.
At the same time, Peng Yu was ordered to lead thirty special forces members to the Wei army camp to officially take over the five thousand Wei soldiers who had surrendered the day before.
The main reason he didn't move the Wei army yesterday was because he was short-handed and afraid of causing trouble that he couldn't control. But now that reinforcements have arrived, he has more options.
Therefore, while taking over the Wei army, Guan Yan appointed Luo Feng as the acting magistrate of Xiling County to temporarily handle all government affairs in Xiling.
He then summoned Luo Feng's cousin, Zhang Bo, to serve as a captain under his command, promptly rewarding this meritorious official who had captured Wen Dai alive. He also led his troops to quickly take control of the mansions of major aristocratic families, and escorted all the officials and aristocrats out of the city with courtesy.
He couldn't trust these people even if they pledged their loyalty. Staying in the city would only pose a threat to the defense. So, he should follow Guan Yu's example in defending Jianye and send them all out of the city. Once they were out, even if they wanted to be his enemies, they would have to attack from the outside. But it was different inside the city; they could stab him in the back.
Guan Yan knew which was harder to guard against, an open attack or a hidden one, so he could only send these aristocratic lords back to their hometowns for a while.
With his troops and confidence, Guan Yan began to frantically copy the work of Guan Yu and his son Guan Xing. He quickly eliminated all the potential threats to the city, including four Wei army captains, and then launched a crazy ideological reform on the five thousand Wei soldiers. Around 5 pm, the Han army flag officially flew over Xiling City.
It was at this time that Wen Ping, far away in Zhu County, finally received news of the fall of Xiling.
As usual, Wenpin went out of the city to inspect the various defense lines. He returned to the county town after finishing his patrol at dusk, but as he entered the town, he frowned and said, "What's wrong? I've been feeling uneasy these past few days, and my right eyelid is twitching a lot."
Deputy General Yang Tai said, "There's no problem. We just inspected the area, and the defenses are all in good condition."
Wen Ping shook his head and said, "I'm still very uneasy. Something must have gone wrong. I'll go back and check again."
Just as he finished speaking and was about to turn around, he suddenly heard a hurried shout. He turned his head and saw a soldier covered in wounds running towards him.
Wen Ping spurred his horse forward at top speed and, upon seeing that the man was a personal guard of his eldest son, Wen Dai, he hurriedly asked, "How did things come to this? Has something happened in Xiling City?"
The guard said with a sob in his voice, "Xiling is about to fall. Please, General, lead your troops back to its aid immediately."
"What the hell?" Wen Ping asked in shock. "Xiling is in the rear, how could it have fallen? What exactly happened?"
The personal guard hurriedly recounted how Sun Lang had led 20,000 troops to be forced into Jiangxia by Tian Yu, how the spies of the Han regime who had infiltrated Jiangxia had received the news and poisoned the Xiling garrison, and how Wen Dai had been shot dead in the street. He concluded by saying, "We were intercepted by the Han army on our way here, which is why the news is only arriving now. Please return to Xiling immediately to provide reinforcements, or it will be too late."
Wen Ping was so shocked by the news that his vision went black for a moment. He had to pull on the reins tightly to keep from falling off the horse. When he came to his senses, he roared angrily, "Tian Yu, you fucking tricked me!"
That damned Tian Yu actually drove 20,000 Han troops into his own territory. Does he want to die even faster?
And then there's that wretched Wen Dai, who led five thousand garrison troops and was not only wiped out by a packet of laxatives, but he himself was almost shot to death. He's a complete idiot, even more stupid than a pig.
Deputy General Yang Tai said urgently, "General, we have to go back to provide reinforcements. If we don't go back soon, something bad might happen."
Wen Ping shook his head and said, "I can't go back. The spies from the pseudo-Han regime in Xiling City have definitely informed Shen Yi about such a big operation. Shen Yi may have already formulated an attack plan and is just waiting to implement it. If I leave now, will the Yangtze River defense line still exist?"
"Here's what we'll do: you take three thousand troops and rush back to Xiling to provide support. At the same time, send a fast horse to inform Tian Yu to come to Xiling. Once Tian Yu arrives, you will follow his orders and he will clean up the mess he makes."
Yang Tai's three thousand soldiers alone may not be a match for Sun Lang. To deal with Sun Lang, it is necessary to mobilize troops. At present, the only reinforcement that can arrive quickly is Tian Yu.
Damn Tian Yu, don't think that just because you drove Sun Lang into your territory, it's none of Runan's business. You can't escape this.