Chapter 1,277: The Wei-Zhao Coalition Appears
As Guo Jia expected, when Handan garrison commander Zuo Xiao received the warning from Luoyang, he had already discovered something was wrong. He had received the warning from Luoyang two days ago. Having been through many battles, he immediately sent out hundreds of patrol cavalry to carefully inspect the situation around Handan. However, among the two hundred patrols sent out last night, the one hundred cavalry in the west and south had successfully returned to the city early this morning, but none of the fifty cavalry in the north and east returned.
So Zuo Xiao immediately sent out another one hundred cavalry in the east and north directions, and ordered them to split into several waves several miles apart. Sure enough, by the afternoon, only less than ten of the two hundred cavalry returned to the city, and the news they brought was that at least 20,000 to 30,000 Zhao cavalry were found in the northeast, including the flag of Zhao Wang Lu Bu.
After receiving the news, Zuo Xiao immediately ordered the whole city to be on alert, and then arranged soldiers to warn the other city passes in Wei County, while personally leading them to climb the northern wall of Handan.
An hour later, in the northeast of Handan City, the enemy army was as dark as a dark cloud, and the number seemed to be nearly 100,000.
Watching the enemy army slowly approaching the city, the Tang army soldiers on the top of Handan City were silent. Handan City was originally an important city for the Tang State to defend against the Wei State. There were originally a part of the left school and a school of guards in the city, totaling 10,000 soldiers. After a series of adjustments, Huangfu Chaobo added another school of soldiers, but 5,000 soldiers were not in Handan City, but distributed in Wu'an, Fukou Pass, Shexian and Wuzhishan Pass around Handan.
After the Tang State occupied Shangdang last year, Zhao Yun adjusted the troops after writing to the court. The 2,000 soldiers in Shexian and Wuzhishan Pass were withdrawn and merged into Handan City. Now there are only 2,000 soldiers in Fukou Pass and 1,000 soldiers in Wu'an City outside the city. The number of soldiers in Handan City increased to 8,000, and 1,000 cavalry were added to the left school.
There are now 13,000 soldiers and horses in Handan City. After receiving the warning from Luoyang, Zuo Xiao immediately ordered the city to prepare for defense, and all supplies have been prepared. Handan City was originally the seat of the State of Zhao, and it was a county city. In addition, since the Tang army took control, it has always been an important city for defending against Yuan Shao's army, so the defense has been continuously strengthened and improved. First release
It is precisely because of this that Zuo Xiao was not too nervous when facing 100,000 enemy troops outside the city. He knew that he only needed to defend the city, and the reinforcements from Wei County would arrive in three to five days at least, and ten days and half a month at most.
Outside Handan City, Yan Liang led 35,000 combat soldiers and 30,000 ordinary county soldiers plus about 15,000 civilians, auxiliary soldiers and craftsmen, a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses, and after joining Lu Bu's 30,000 cavalry, they slowly approached Handan City.
At the center of the army, Yan Liang looked at the city in the distance, which was ready for battle. He frowned and said to a scholar beside him: "Military advisor, didn't you say you had a way to help me capture Handan? Now that the army is at the gates of the city, what should we do?"
"Don't worry, General. Next, you will attack the city according to your own ideas. I will notify you when the opportunity comes." The scholar was Xu You, one of Yuan Shao's military advisors.
As early as before the army set out, Xu You told Yan Liang that he would lend him a helping hand, so Yan Liang asked this question. New 81 Chinese website updates the fastest PC version:
Seeing Xu You's answer, Yan Liang stopped asking and turned to Lu Bu and said, "I'll leave the matter of Tang's reinforcements to you, my king!"
"General, don't worry. If Zhao Yun doesn't come, it's fine. If he does, I'll make him look bad!" Lu Bu raised his long spear and said grimly;
Last year, Zhao Yun led his troops to fight a big battle with Lu Bu's cavalry,
causing Lu Bu's Bingzhou wolf cavalry to lose more than half. Now, with great difficulty, he has gathered 20,000 wolf cavalry. This time, Lu Bu is here to make trouble for Zhao Yun.
With Lu Bu's order, 30,000 Zhao cavalry bypassed Handan and headed towards Liangqi and Yecheng in the south of Handan. Lü Bu did not take the Tang cavalry seriously. According to intelligence, among the Tang cavalry, Hua Xiong's 10,000 Xiliang cavalry had already gone to Shangjun. In Henei and Weijun, except for Zhao Yun's 10,000 white horse volunteers, there were only about 10,000 ordinary cavalry. The army led by Lü Bu this time had 15,000 wolf cavalry alone, plus the 15,000 ordinary cavalry led by Cao Xing, a total of 30,000, which was 10,000 more than the Tang cavalry.
Just when Yan Liang's army arrived in Handan, Geng Wu, another deputy general of Longxiangying in Weixian in the south, also saw tens of thousands of Wei troops rolling in from the east a few miles away from the top of Weixian City.
Weixian was an ordinary county town in Weijun. Together with Chiqiu and Handan, it formed the defense line of Weijun in the east against Weijun. It was the last defense line outside Yecheng. Once these three cities were breached, there would be no barrier to the east of Yecheng, and it would need to face the Wei army directly.
The Wei army that appeared outside Wei County was led by General Wen Chou, an army of 80,000 soldiers, the same number of soldiers and horses led by Yan Liang, and also accompanied by a military advisor, and with him came Feng Ji.
In Ye City, Zhao Yun had received emergency calls from Handan and Wei County one after another. With the intelligence sent back by the two deputy generals, Zhao Yun hurriedly walked towards the direction of the governor's mansion. At this time, the entire Ye City had entered a state of war readiness. Although the city gates had not been closed, the soldiers guarding the city had already begun to climb the city and arrange defenses on the top of the city. Zhao Yun had already sent out 5,000 of his White Horse Volunteers to patrol the situation within a hundred miles around Ye City.
Zhao Yun led fifty personal guards and hurried to the prefect's mansion. After getting off his horse, Zhao Yun didn't care about anything else. He threw the reins in his hands to his personal guards and walked all the way to the prefect's mansion.
Walking to the front hall, the prefect Shiyi, the county prime minister Yan Xiang, and the county captain Chen Lan were waiting there. When they saw Zhao Yun coming in, the three of them hurriedly greeted him.
"General Zhao, how is the situation now?" Shi Yi asked;
The other people also looked at Zhao Yun.
"The combined forces of Wei and Zhao have appeared outside Handan and Wei County. According to the intelligence sent back by General Zuo and General Geng, the combined armies of the two armies total about 200,000, including 30,000 cavalry led by King Lu Bu of Zhao. ." Zhao Yun handed the information in his hand to Shi Yi and said with a solemn expression;
"Yan Liang and Wen Chou each led an army to attack Handan and Wei County respectively. General Zhao, the situation is not optimistic!" After reading the information in his hand, he handed it to Yan Xiang's hand. Shi Yi took a breath. airway;
"Actually, this is good. The most troublesome thing is the 30,000 cavalry led by King Zhao. With their threat, Yecheng will not dare to send out reinforcements easily even if it has reinforcements. It can only watch the two armies attack the city." Yan Xiang muttered;