"Mr., have you surrendered! General Wei's army has been gone for half a day. There is an isolated city in Huaiyin and thousands of old soldiers. What should I use to resist the Han soldiers?" On the Huaiyin city tower, the county magistrate Song Ji bowed his face and made a comment to the county magistrate Zhang Xian again.

"Yes, can..." Zhang Xian shook for a long time, but couldn't say a complete sentence.

Until now, he still couldn't believe that Wei Pohu's 100,000 army was destroyed within half a day.

However, the Han army soldiers all over the mountains and fields under the city, and the Han-character flags everywhere, told him that all this was not a dream, but a fact that had just happened in front of him.

"Mr., when you reach this point, you must not be so stubborn. If the Han family had arrived yesterday, we could have abandoned the city and fled, but today there was no way out!"

"To the north Huai River and to the west canal, these two waterways are now cut off by the Han navy. The East China Sea, Linhai, and Guangling counties are also occupied by the Han clan. As the Song County Magistrate said, Huaiyin is now an isolated city. If we do not surrender, we will only die."

County Magistrate Zhao Zhong sighed and pointed at the soldiers and civilians on the city wall, "Mr., do you believe it? If we have not surrendered tomorrow and before the Han family can attack the city, these military soldiers and civilians may have tied us up and presented it to the Han family."

Zhao Zhong's words are not exaggeration.

After Gao Yang, the founding emperor of Qi, took Huainan from Xiao Liang, he made a "ten-year tax exemption" agreement in order to win the hearts of the people in Jiangbei. However, just after the ten-year period arrived, the taxes in Huainan area were heavier than before, causing the people to suffer.

In fact, the so-called taxes were not collected by the court, and most of the money was lost to the bags of officials at all levels.

The Northern Qi had a land of fish and rice in Huainan, but did not transport the grain from Huainan to the north. Even the troops stationed in Shouyang were self-sufficiency in farmland and did not rely on taxes in Huainan.

These can be said to be open secrets in Huainan. The people used to be angry but did not dare to speak out. Now they can do the Han soldiers surrounded Huaiyin and killed officials and sacrificed their city.

Therefore, as soon as Zhao Zhong said this, Zhang Xian immediately realized that the matter of offering the city could not be delayed.

"Open the city gates, please follow me outside the city to welcome General Han into the city!"

………………………………………

At this time, Han Duan and Zhang He were still continuing their previous conversation.

Zhang He still smiled: "With this group of horses, we can form our own horse army, and there are two thousand armored cavalry. Wei Pohu can be regarded as a big gift this time."

Han Duan was in a particularly good mood: "It was indeed a great gift. When I was under General Wu's command last year, there were only one thousand armored cavalry in the entire army. Unexpectedly, after the battle of Huaiyin, our armored cavalry was twice as many as him!"

"Master Lang, next, should we take Xia Pi and Pengcheng along the Si River north, or will we advance Zhongli and Shouyang along the Huai River west?"

Han Duan asked back, "Jizhi, what do you think?"

"I think..." Zhang He had obviously considered this issue for a long time. After thinking for a while, he spoke, "I think we should take Shouyang (Shou County, Anhui) first, and then Pengcheng (Xuzhou, Jiangsu)."

"Why should I take Shouyang first?"

"Shouyang is the capital of Yangzhou Prefecture of Qi State. If we do not take it, our army will be as bright as a back. We will take Shouyang. We can defend the Qi army from the north to cross the river and go south to Chaohu in the south. We can take Hezhou (Hefei, Anhui), Liyang, and only a little bit, Shouyang must be taken!"

"Well, Shouyang must take it, otherwise even if we take Huaiyin, the counties of Xuyi will not be at ease." Han Duan nodded and praised Zhang He again: "Jizhi has made great progress during this period."

Zhang He smiled: "Actually, when I was in Shanyang, I heard a newly recruited soldier talk about these things. Later, I found some books to read them, and I realized that as he said, the terrain of Shouyang is dangerous and is actually a barrier of the Southern Dynasty!"

"The newly acquired soldiers actually have such insights?"

Han Duan was a little surprised. You should know that in this era, most people were illiterate and had never even traveled far away. Ten soldiers were brought out from the army, and eight people might not even know where Shouyang was.

"Is this man a child of a gentry? Then how could he join the army and become an ordinary soldier?"

"It is indeed a child of a gentry, but there are not many people in the family now." Zhang He smiled and said, "This person's surname is Yang, his courtesy name is Ziping. He was once considered a heir of poetry and books in Shanyang."

"The year before yesterday, the Qi court transported a batch of war horses from Yecheng to powerful families in Huainan. At that time, the Yang family also distributed five horses, but because it was useless, they resold them. Unexpectedly, just one month later, the court suddenly issued another edict to confiscate the local horses."

This is similar to Mingzhe. Han Duan couldn't help laughing: "The Yang family's horse was sold and couldn't be taken out, so he suffered a disaster?"

"That's right, the Yang family couldn't take out the horse. Not only did the government confiscate his family, but he also sent his whole family to Yecheng for sale as an official slave. This time, when the Lord Qi was amnesty, he just saved his life and came back, but his parents could never come back."

"What do you mean is that his parents were both dead in Yecheng, and his purpose in joining the army was to take revenge?"

"After entering Huaiyin City, you will bring this person here and I will see what he has."

Zhang He nodded, and Han Duan returned to the topic just now: "Shouyang is indeed important. When Huaiyin settles down, I will carry troops westward to take control of it. But what is the saying that you will take Pengcheng next?"

"Pengcheng is equally important." Zhang He turned his head and looked at Han Duan and said, "Yang Ziping said that Pengcheng is the throat of the north and south. If you get it, you will lose it. As for the others, you will not say anything else."

When Han Duan heard this, he became more interested in Yang Xi and Yang Ziping.

Although Pengcheng has been the key to the northern country and the southern country since ancient times, it has always been a place where military strategists must compete for. Anyone with a little knowledge knows this, but Han Duan is currently short of such a "slightly knowledgeable" scholar. He will of course be interested in it when he finally meets someone who takes the initiative to vote.

"Yang Ziping said it well, but Pengcheng is not advisable for us for the time being!"

Since it was important but not taken, Zhang He was confused, but he followed Han Duan until now and had long believed in his husband's wife. Therefore, at this moment, he was just looking at Han Duan and listening to him solve his doubts.

"There are three reasons not to take Pengcheng at this time. First, after we take Huainan, we have to spend a lot of effort to make it our foundation, and we will not be able to draw more manpower and material resources in a short period of time."

"Secondly, Pengcheng is the throat of the north and south. The Qi army must have stationed heavy troops there. Even if we can capture it, Qi will not stop there. We must have to mobilize a large army to attack. In this way, we will inevitably be trapped in a mud and a dilemma."
Chapter completed!