Chapter 340: The Zhao army in Pengcheng attacks

After Fan Yang revealed his identity as a child of the Fan family, everyone present had no doubts about Xiang Quan's identity. At that time, there were four major families in the Chu State, namely the Fan family, the Long family, the Zhong family and the Yu family. These four major families were descendants of capable generals under Xiang Yu, the founding king of the Chu State. The ancestor of the Fan family was Fan Zeng, the ancestor of the Long family was Long Qi, the ancestor of the Yu family was Yu Ziqi, and the ancestor of the Zhong family was Zhongli. They all made outstanding contributions to the establishment of the Chu State. After the Battle of Gaixia, Xiang Yu retreated to Pengcheng and stabilized his power, he enthroned the four families and retired with the country.

Among the four major families, the Zhong family was the first to decline, the Yu family and the Long family betrayed the Chu State one after another, and the Fan family was always loyal to the Xiang family. Therefore, the Fan family had a very high prestige in Chu, even not inferior to the Xiang family of the royal family. Fan Shen, Fan Ting and his son died for their country one after another, and their loyalty and righteousness were unparalleled, and they received the sympathy of many people in Chu.

"It turns out that he is a direct descendant of the Fan family. I am so disrespectful!" After hearing about Fan Yang's identity, an old man stepped out and bowed.

"It's just that, I wonder what this old man is called?" Fan Yang asked the old man.

The old man smiled and said, "I am the head of the Tang family in Wu County. I went to Pengcheng and got the guidance of the Prime Minister Fan. I never thought that I would still meet the descendants of the Fan family in my lifetime."

"It turns out that it is my father's old friend, it's such an honor!" Fan Yang did not expect that he could meet his father's old friend here, and quickly saluted.

Tang Yuan shook his head and said, "How dare you claim to be an old friend of Prime Minister Fan? Back then, I was just meeting with Prime Minister Fan and received guidance from Prime Minister Fan. Today, the descendants of the Fan family led the uprising to resist Zhao Zhao. We should have done our best to support him, but Zhao is powerful and cannot be defeated. We are all burdened by clan affairs, and I am afraid we are powerless."

Tang Yuan's words reached the voice of everyone present. Since the Zhao State annexed Chu State, it has been suppressing the gentry and nobles in Chu, especially the four major families, and they have even driven them to kill them. They also wanted to resist, but they have no strength. Although Xiang Quan and Fan Yang led the uprising today, what can they be compared with the powerful Zhao State? If they rashly support Xiang Quan and Fan Yang, when the Zhao army captured Wu County, what will be waiting for them beheaded, so they dare not.

Xiang Quan and Fan Yang looked at each other, and they also understood that it was not so easy to convince them, and they also understood their concerns.

Fan Yang said to everyone: "Everyone, I understand your concerns, but the people of Zhao have been suppressing us Chu people vigorously and taking them away. If we do not rise up and resist, then there is only a dead end to us. Now that Deng and Zhao are fighting in the Central Plains, all the elite troops of Zhao are placed in the south and north borders, and the heartland of the Central Plains is completely empty. This is our opportunity. As long as we Chu people are united, we will definitely be able to deal with Zhao. Don't you want to get rid of Zhao's oppression?"

After hearing this, everyone was silent and turned their eyes to Tang Yuan. It was obvious that Tang Yuan was the leader of them. As long as Tang Yuan agreed, they would not have much opinion.

Tang Yuan was also pondering Fan Yang's words. As Fan Yang said, they also wanted to resist, but they had never found a good opportunity. Now the elite troops of Zhao State are not in the Central Plains. Except for some local defenders, they are in an extremely empty state. They may not have no chance to take advantage of the situation.

Tang Yuan weighed the pros and cons, and said to Fan Yang: "Mr. Fan, if you occupy Wu County, if I guess correctly, I am afraid that the Zhao army will come to encircle and suppress it soon. If you can repel the Zhao army, then I will make this life bigger and summon the people of the whole city to support you with all their strength. But if you can't stop it, don't blame me."

After weighing the pros and cons, Tang Yuan felt that he could not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he also put forward the conditions, that is, Xiang Quan and others needed to repel the Zhao army that came to encircle and suppress Wu County, and then they would fully support it.

After Tang Yuan's promise, Xiang Quan and Fan Yang smiled knowingly. The result was exactly the same as they expected. They never thought that these gentry and nobles who were good at protecting themselves would support them as soon as possible. But that doesn't matter. As long as they and others can defeat the Zhao army who came to encircle and suppress, when they see their strength, they will naturally choose to support them.

"Okay, Mr. Tang, we're determined!"

After seeing a group of gentry and nobles, Xiang Quan and Fan Yang returned to the backyard again, while Guan Ling, Li Fang, Dong Ning and others had already been waiting here.

Seeing Xiang Quan and Fan Yang coming back, several people hurriedly met and asked anxiously: "How is it?"

Fan Yang smiled and said, "Everything is the same as expected in advance. As long as we can defeat the Zhao army who came to Wuxian to encircle and suppress the enemy, they will support us."

"good!"

"Next, we have to think about how to deal with the Zhao army. This is the most critical. If we cannot defeat the Zhao army, then everything will be in vain." Fan Yang said.

"How is Wuxian integration? How is the military expansion progressing?" Xiang Quan asked. The Zhao army is still far away in Pengcheng and will not be able to reach Wuxian for a while. The most urgent task now is to fully control Wuxian and expand its troops as much as possible, so that we can have more bargaining chips when facing the Zhao army.

Dong Ning, who was in charge of these matters, said: "The more than 400 Zhao troops captured have all surrendered. After we took the banner of Wohu Mountain, a large number of people joined the army. In addition to our original troops, our troops have now reached more than 4,500. After occupying the warehouse in Wuxian County, we distributed a large number of weapons and armor to the soldiers. As long as we step up training, we will be able to gain combat power within ten days."

"Okay, since that's the case, then step up the training and send all scouts to investigate the movements of the Zhao army in the surrounding cities of Wu County, especially the Zhao army in the direction of Pengcheng, which cannot be ignored." Xiang Quan was very satisfied with the current progress, nodded and said.

"Here!"

On August 28, the 27th year of Qianyuan, the news of the capture of the Zhao army and Wuxian by the chaos in Pengcheng had already reached Pengcheng. The garrison of Pengcheng Zhang Long also summoned the generals under his command to discuss.

"General, now our main force is fighting against the Deng army on the southern front and cannot move easily. If you want to wipe out the chaotic army in Wu County, you can only rely on our own strength." The chief clerk of the army said to Zhang Long.

"But Pengcheng only has 5,000 troops, and according to the news, there are thousands of riots in Wu County. It is probably difficult to eliminate them with the strength of Pengcheng alone." Zhang Long said with a frown.

"General, it is certainly not good to rely on Pengcheng's troops alone, but there are still troops in Lu County, Liu County, and Fuyang. As long as we draw some troops from various places and add our Pengcheng's troops, we can dispatch 8,000 elite troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion." said the chief clerk.

"Are eight thousand soldiers enough?" Although it can mobilize eight thousand people, Zhang Long still seems to be a little confident. After all, Wu County has two or three thousand chaotic troops, and eight thousand people enough?

"Don't worry, General!" said the chief clerk with confidence: "It is understood that the riot army occupying Wuxian this time is a group of bandits, purely a mob, while the 8,000 soldiers and horses of our army are elite soldiers and powerful generals. It is easy to defeat the riot army."

Speaking of this, the chief clerk slowly walked to Zhang Long and said in Zhang Long's ear: "General, General Zhang Jie is fighting against Deng's army on the front line, and there must be no trouble in the rear. If the general can rely on his own strength to wipe out the chaos army, General Zhang Jie will definitely be amazed."

The chief clerk's words were exactly what Zhang Long thought. Zhang Long was Zhang Jie's cousin, but because of his mediocre ability, he had never been valued by Zhang Jie, so he could only stay in Pengcheng. Zhang Long also wanted to do some achievements so that his cousin could look at him differently.

Zhang Long thought for a while, and then said, "Okay, since that's the case, I'll send someone to send orders to various places and order them to draw a group of troops to Pengcheng and follow the general to wipe out the riots in Wuxian. They will arrive within five days, otherwise the military law will deal with it."

"Here!"

On the second day of September in the 27th year of Qianyuan, under the order of Zhang Long, the defenders in Liuxian, Luxian and Fuyang came to Pengcheng one after another. After Zhang Long integrated the army, he led his army out of Pengcheng and went south to Wuxian.

Shortly after the Zhao army left Pengcheng, the news of the Zhao army's large-scale southward spread to Wuxian, and Xiang Quan immediately summoned everyone to discuss.

"Everyone, spies come to report that Zhang Long, the garrison general of Pengcheng, has led 8,000 troops to leave Pengcheng and drive to Wuxian. According to the route, it will not be possible to arrive in Wuxian within five days at most." Xiang Quan said.

"Eight thousand soldiers? There are only five thousand Zhao troops in Pengcheng, and this time there are eight thousand people going south to Wu County. No need to think about it. This must be Zhang Long gathering all the soldiers and horses from nearby cities, intending to do his best to wipe us out in one battle." Fan Yang thought for a while and said.

"Zhang Long is really bold. After the main force of the Zhao army went south, the entire Pengcheng County left only more than 10,000 defenders. He actually brought 8,000 people at one time. Aren't he afraid of losing his feet under Wu County and causing the entire Pengcheng County to fall into crisis?" Dong Ning said in confusion.

"This is not the right way. As long as we can defeat Zhang Long's eight thousand men, the entire Pengcheng County will be like taking things out for us. As long as we make Pengcheng County turn over, we can cut off the supply of Zhao's army. Without food and grass, how can Zhao's army be our army's opponent?" Guan Ling, who had been silent, spoke at this time.

In Guan Ling's opinion, the more Zhao army comes, the better. It would be better for Zhang Long to bring all the soldiers and horses of Pengcheng County. Zhang Long wanted to achieve his merits and eliminate him and others in Wu County. Why didn't he want to wipe out all the Zhao army in Pengcheng County? Now is a great opportunity. Although the Zhao army is numerous, Xiang Quan and others are not bad. With 4,000 soldiers and horses, and with the benefits of the city, it is still an unknown number to kill who will be killed in the end.
Chapter completed!