After only a moment's hesitation, Zhang Lu gritted his teeth and shouted, "The whole army retreats."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Lu turned his horse and left first.

Before the golden bell could be sounded, Zhang Lu's general's flag had already left first.

The Hanzhong Army, which was originally in great disarray, saw Zhang Lu go first. In an instant, its morale collapsed. The tens of thousands of Hanzhong Army who had not fought turned around and fled.

The cavalry took the lead and fled. More than 20,000 Chinese troops who had not fought followed, but they suffered a lot from the 20,000 front troops who were still fighting fiercely.

Yue Jin, who was fighting a bloody battle, heard the sound of gold ringing and could only retreat according to the order. However, the Chu army who was so close at hand would not let them go easily. These Chu soldiers who had risen up to fight followed closely behind them.

They came to kill like crazy.

Immediately afterwards, the main force of the Chu army, which numbered tens of thousands, also rushed over. With an overwhelming advantage, they rolled forward.

20,000 Hanzhong troops were killed until ghosts cried and wolves howled, blood flowed into rivers, and corpses littered the fields.

The whole army came out. Li Yan used his horse and wielded his sword. He also led 5,000 Tiger Guard troops to kill them all.

The rolling tide of soldiers pursued them all the way towards the Hanzhong camp on a long bloody road.

When Zhang Lu and his frightened soldiers finally escaped to the camp, they saw that the antlers outside the camp were completely destroyed, and the raging flames blocked his way back to the camp.

Behind him, Li Yan's army was coming like the wind. If the Chu army chased him, even if Zhang Luneng fled to the camp, he would be broken through by Li Yan and the remaining camp.

The panic-stricken Zhang Lu had no fighting spirit at the moment. He no longer dared to think about holding Hanzhong. Without even thinking about it, he immediately led his remaining troops to watch Nanzheng retreat.

When the generals and other generals guarding the camp saw Zhang Lu abandoning the camp, they all lost their fighting spirit and fled to Nanzheng one after another.

Of course, Li Yan would not let Zhang Lu go so easily. On the one hand, he divided his troops to seize the Nanzheng camp, and on the other hand, he personally led the army and followed him into Nanzheng.

The valley road was narrow and difficult, making it difficult for the horses to move forward. In desperation, Zhang Lu had to order half of the horses to be abandoned and the cavalry to abandon their horses and walk.

Zhang Lu, who had escaped for dozens of miles, was like a frightened bird. He was afraid that Li Yan would pursue him, so he ordered the plank road to be burned down to block the Chu army's pursuit.

After losing nearly 20,000 troops and 3,000 Liangzhou fine horses, Zhang Lu finally used the burned plank road to stop Li Yan from pursuing him.

Seeing that the plank road was destroyed, the terrain of Nanzheng was complicated, and if he continued to pursue, he might be ambushed by Zhang Lu's troops, Li Yan ordered the withdrawal of troops, and his troops withdrew from Nanzheng and arrived at Zhang Lu's abandoned camp.

With a great victory, Li Yan's strategic goal was basically completed.

As Li Yan had predicted in advance, Zhang Lu was completely driven out of Hanzhong and suffered heavy casualties.

For Li Yan, in addition to defeating Zhang Lu, there was another unexpected gain, which was the nearly 3,000 Liangzhou fine horses left behind by Zhang Lu.

Although Li Yan has always had two cavalry, Shenxingqi and Tiefutu, he has been fighting in the east and west for many years, and his horses have suffered a lot of battle losses.

However, the lands occupied by Li Yan were all areas in the south that did not produce horses. Most of the needed war horses could only be obtained through smuggling by traders, which was far from being able to meet the required supplies.

These three thousand horses were like providing help in times of need, and were of great help to Li Yan in maintaining the strength of his cavalry.

With abundant fruits, Li Yan marched with his head high and led his army into Zhang Lu's abandoned camp. He planned to rest here for one night and tomorrow he would lead the victorious army to Nanzheng City, the seat of Hanzhong County.

As soon as they entered the camp, Huang Zhong, who had entered the camp early, came to greet him.

"General, there are more than two thousand soldiers in the Hanzhong camp. They were all captured by our army before they could escape. There was also an enemy general named Yang Shu who was imprisoned in a prison cart by Zhang Lu. Please tell me what to do.

Disposal."

Poplar tree...

It is indeed interesting that the current general would be imprisoned in a prison car by Zhang Lu.

Li Yan immediately rode forward and at the same time summoned several captives to surrender and asked why Yang Shu was imprisoned.

After asking, Li Yan learned about Yang Shu's advice to Zhang Lu. He also learned that during the battle of Dingjun Mountain, Yang Shu had also advised Yang Ren several times.

"This Yang Shu does have some knowledge. If Yang Ren and Zhang Lu listen to his advice, the outcome is still unknown."

As Li Yan sighed, he began to appreciate the poplar tree even more.

Not long after marching, the group arrived at the rear camp, and saw a military general sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in the prison car. Although he was in the prison car, his demeanor was quite calm.

The general in the prison car is naturally Yang Shu.

"What are you doing to keep him locked up? Let him out quickly." Li Yan raised his whip and shouted.

The soldiers on the left and right rushed forward and opened the prison car.

Yang Shu opened his eyes, glanced outside, and immediately got out of the prison car calmly, walked up to Li Yan, and slightly cupped his hands: "I have heard about the name of King Chu for a long time, and what I saw today is that it is indeed well-deserved."

"How did you know that I am Li Yan?" Li Yan asked curiously.

Yang Shu said calmly: "Only the King of Chu has the courage to assign the authority of the army to various generals, and appoint a commander during the war to coordinate the operations of various ministries. As the commander this time, the general already exudes the heroism of this commander-in-chief.

Although I have never met Baqi, Huai also knows that such a person must have extraordinary magnanimity. Although Huai is not talented, he still has some discernment."

Although he only said a few words, his evaluation of Li Yan was extremely high.

Even so, Li Yan could not detect the slightest hint of flattery. With just these few words, Li Yan could conclude that this Yang Shu was indeed no ordinary person.

At that moment, Li Yan laughed and said boldly: "Well said, Yang Shu, I know you are also a person. If Yang Ren and Zhang Lu had listened to your advice, they would not have been defeated today. Others can't listen.

I am the best at accepting your advice, so please submit to me."

Li Yan didn't mince words and directly blocked the move.

Yang Shu's eyes showed some hesitation, but then his expression became determined.

"Thanks to the General's respect, Huai is willing to serve the General with all his hard work." Yang Shu bowed respectfully.

The previous time he spoke to Yang Ren and was reprimanded by him, but now he spoke to Zhang Lu and was imprisoned in a prison car for the furious Zhang Lu. Yang Shu had already become cold-hearted.

Now that things have happened, there is a hero like Li Yan here, and he is so praised and appreciated. Yang Shu is a man who knows the current affairs, and there is no way he would not surrender.

He defeated Zhang Lu and gained another general who was both civil and military. The harvest from this battle far exceeded Li Yan's imagination.

The proud Li Yan was in high spirits and couldn't help laughing wildly.

The day after Yang Shu was surrendered, Li Yan's army set off, with the newly surrendered Yang Shu leading 5,000 troops as the vanguard, and marched straight into Nanzheng.

Zhang Lu defeated Nanzheng, and his army fled to the junction of Hanzhong and Yizhou. When the news came, the entire Hanzhong was shattered.

Wherever Li Yan's army passed, the yellow sands and the cities in Baozhong all looked down upon the wind.

In less than two days, Li Yan's army had already reached the gates of Nanzheng City.

At this time, most of the scholars and people in Nanzheng City had moved away for Zhang Lu, and there were only a thousand county soldiers and a few hundred military households left in the city.

Before the army arrived, the officials in the city opened the city gates to welcome the surrender.

Li Yan's army wasted no time and he planted his red flag on the top of the city of Hanzhong County.

The capture of Nanzheng was determined by a message from Yu County in Hanzhong. After arriving in Nanzheng, Li Yan ordered Zhao Yun to lead 5,000 troops and horses, march eastward along the Mian River, cooperate with Chen Arrival in Nanyang, and jointly capture the three Nanman counties.

The Shen brothers of the Southern Barbarians were originally a group of men with both sides. They surrendered without fighting when Zhang Lu attacked. Now that Zhang Lu was defeated and retreated from Hanzhong, they immediately surrendered to Li Yan.

Considering the evil record of the Shen brothers' repeated rebellions, Li Yan was not polite to the two brothers. He ordered Zhao Yun to directly behead the two Shen brothers, and forcibly removed all the more than a thousand powerful families from the three counties of Nanman.

Moved to Nanyang.

It was nearing the end of autumn, and the battle in Hanzhong had basically ended, and all three Nanman counties were under the control of Li Yan.

It can be said that the entire Yizhou has belonged to Li Yan.

Although Zhang Lu's army was severely damaged when he returned to Guanzhong, because he had relocated more than 200,000 Hanzhong people in advance, Li Yan could not rely on Hanzhong in a short period of time.

Moreover, after nearly three months of war, Hanzhong has suffered considerable losses, and it will take time to recover its economy and heal the wounds of the war.

Therefore, after capturing Hanzhong, Li Yan ordered to stop his troops.

A month later, Nie Zefeng led the army into Hanzhong. All the Chu troops began to boil. All the generals knew that this meant that they were going to take Yizhou in one fell swoop. At this time, they faced the first city of Yizhou.

, Baidi City.

Of course, in this process, there was still an episode, that is, Fazheng, the number one counselor in Chengdu, surrendered to the Chu army and the King of Chu, Nie Zefeng.

At this time, Huang Quan, who was transferred to the post of Badong Governor, was leading 4,000 Shu troops to guard Baidi City.

As Fazheng said, Huang Quan was deeply suspicious of Nie Zefeng's statement that he would not attack Yizhou. When Nie Zefeng's army had not passed the Three Gorges, the agents in Baidi City sent back intelligence, saying that Baidi City was already completely occupied.

Four thousand Shu troops were on alert, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

And when Nie Zefeng went to camp fifteen miles east of Baidi City and set up camp, Huang Quan did not fulfill his duty as a landlord and did not send anyone to labor. Moreover, in broad daylight, the four gates of Baidi City were closed.

It's like guarding against thieves.

Chinese army tent.

Nie Zefeng stood at the tent door, looking at the Baidi City towering on the riverside in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh: "Xiaozhi, it seems that it is as you said. Huang Quan's defense is really tight. It seems that he wants to take him by surprise.

I'm afraid it won't be easy to capture Baidi City."

Fazheng smiled and said: "Your Majesty's army has successfully passed through the Three Gorges, there is nothing to worry about. Once it comes, make sure it is safe. This Baidi City is not in a hurry to capture it all at once. It will be done slowly."

"I want to take care of it slowly, but the people of the world will not give me time."

At this time, Pang Tong beside him stroked his beard and smiled, and said lightly: "How can we delay this for too long in a mere Baidi City? Let's do this. The king will write a letter and invite Huang Quan to come and meet and see how this famous scholar in Shu copes with it."

.”

This is Pang Tong's strategy to use courtesy first and then attack with force.

At present, Nie Zefeng and Liu Zhang are joining forces in name. The name is that the Chu army is helping Liu Zhang fight against the Southern Barbarian army. Liu Zhang is the host and Nie Zefeng is the guest. As the governor of Badong County, Huang Quan will not take the initiative to welcome Nie Zefeng as a guest.
Chapter completed!