My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 39 A Two-Pronged Approach to Overthrow Zang Ba

So he laid out his long-planned scheme.

“Father, the dangers of Xuzhou lie in Guangling and Pengcheng, but these two places are merely minor troubles. Only Langya County is the real threat to Xuzhou. If it is not dealt with soon, my father and I will have nowhere to live.”

Liu Feng unfolded the third silk scroll: "Father, the matter of Langya is not something that can be resolved overnight. Fortunately, there is still time to help you get rid of this trouble."

"Father, please look."

Liu Feng pointed to the simplified map of Langya Army and said: "The terrain of Langya County is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. From north to south, there are three main mountain ranges, Yishan, Mengshan and Nishan, which extend in the northwest and southeast direction, controlling the flow of the upper reaches of the Yishu River and its main tributaries."

Centered on the Yi and Shu Rivers, it is surrounded by mountains on the west, north, and east sides, forming a fan-shaped plain to the south.

The area is characterized by one river, two mountains, three plains, and four hills, making it the most crucial northern pass within Xuzhou.

As Liu Bei listened to Liu Feng's explanation, he frowned. Such terrain would make it very troublesome to launch an attack.

As expected, just as he had thought, Liu Feng continued, "Zang Ba was born in Hua County, Taishan Commandery, Yanzhou. His father, Zang Jie, was a prison clerk in the county. Because he upheld the law and disobeyed the prefect's order to kill prisoners, he angered the prefect and was imprisoned."

Afterwards, Zang Ba gathered more than ten diners and managed to rescue his father from among more than a hundred soldiers.

Zang Bajianyong was one of the reasons, but the kindness of his father should not be overlooked.

Subsequently, the father and son could no longer stay in Taishan County, so they fled to the East Sea.

However, in a short time, Zang Ba's reputation for filial piety and heroism spread far and wide to several surrounding counties.

Liu Feng first introduced Zang Ba's background, which is information that only needs to be searched on Baidu in later generations, but at this time it was a secret that Liu Bei had a hard time grasping.

After hearing Liu Feng's words, Liu Bei couldn't help but praise him, saying, "This son dares to save his father and is willing to fight against the strong with the weak. He is indeed a filial son."

Filial piety was highly valued in the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei himself was a very filial son, so he naturally appreciated Zang Ba's filial piety.

Liu Feng continued, “When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Zang Ba seized the opportunity to gather fierce bandits and powerful figures to fight against Tao Gong. After defeating the rebels, Tao Gong appointed him as a cavalry captain. He also recruited Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li, and others, gathered troops, and made himself the commander-in-chief. He stationed troops in the Kaiyang area, acting like a vassal, and was no longer under Tao Gong's control.”

"However, although Zang Ba is strong, he is not the Chancellor of Langya State; his official position is only Cavalry Commandant."

The opportunity to seize control of Langya was seized by Xiao Jian, the Chancellor appointed by the court and appointed to govern Ju County.

Liu Bei immediately became excited. "If you're going to say this, I'll be very happy."

"Zang Ba and Xiao Jian have always been at odds. The latter looks down on the former, while the former is quite ambitious and has always wanted to replace the latter."

Therefore, the conflict between the two will only escalate, not be resolved.

At this point, Liu Feng turned to Liu Bei and asked, "Father, in Langya Commandery, neither Zang Ba nor Xiao Jian will easily submit to us. What's more troublesome is that we don't have any leverage to get them to switch their allegiance to us."

Therefore, for Langya Commandery, the only option is to resort to force.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei first nodded, then shook his head with a wry smile: "Feng'er, you're right, but Langya County is such a dangerous place with many mountains. If a local tyrant like Zang Ba were to fortify the city and hold out, then we would be in big trouble."

I have only six thousand yuan in my hands. Even if I add Cao Jianwei's four thousand, I still only have ten thousand men. I also have to send troops to guard Tancheng. I'm afraid I don't have more than six or seven thousand men available.

Although I do not know how many soldiers Zang Ba and his men had gathered, I estimate that they would be no less than several thousand.

In open field battles, there might be a chance to defeat the enemy, but when it comes to besieging a city, there is absolutely no chance, let alone eliminating the enemy within two years.

“Father is right. In my opinion, the Taishan troops are divided into five divisions, each with one or two thousand men, and some with two or three thousand men. If they are combined, they probably have at least ten thousand men.”

Liu Feng nodded in agreement: "If the enemy is defending the city, it will be very difficult to take it down in a short time." In this era, defending a city is a very effective means of defense. If the attacker is facing a famously fortified city, they can often only win by launching a surprise attack or by besieging the city.

Xiapi was historically a famously fortified city. Cao Cao led tens of thousands of troops to besiege it, while Lü Bu only had a few thousand defenders, yet he still held his own.

Cao's army was exhausted and weary, and at one point wanted to withdraw.

It was Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, and others who joined forces to stop it, and they offered a water attack strategy, digging up the Si River and flooding Xiapi.

Even though the city was flooded, Xiapi remained standing and held out for more than a month. In the end, due to internal strife, the rebels opened the city gates and the city fell.

Kaiyang was Zang Ba's base of operations. Even if it wasn't as fortified as Xiapi, it should still have considerable defensive capabilities. Naturally, Liu Bei had no confidence in successfully capturing the city.

However, Liu Feng remained confident: "Father is right. I have two plans. If we use them together, they will surely be very effective."

Before Liu Bei could ask any questions, Liu Feng took the last two silk scrolls from the tray and opened them.

"Father, my first plan is to use the strategy of 'borrowing a path to destroy Guo'. We can pretend to attack Xiao Jian, but in reality, we will first destroy Zang Ba!"

"Father, please look!"

Liu Feng pointed to the map: "Kaiyang, where Zang Ba is based, is near the border between Donghai and Langya. He is in the middle, controlling Changxi below and connecting with Sun Guan above. If we don't take him down, we won't be able to reach Ju County where Xiao Jian is located."

Liu Bei wondered, "If we can really eliminate Zang Ba, that would be great. But as you said, Zang Ba is holding onto his troops and defending the area around Kaiyang, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, we have to pass through Chang Xi's territory. I'm afraid that as soon as we make our move, Zang Ba will receive the news."

As Liu Bei said, the Zang Ba group could not possibly be complacent about Tancheng County, where Liu Bei was located.

Although Liu Bei was wary of Zang Ba, Zang Ba was not having an easy time either.

His Kaiyang County was sandwiched between Liu Bei's Tancheng County and Xiao Jian's Ju County.

Therefore, Zang Ba would definitely keep a close eye on Liu Bei's Tancheng County, and any slight movement would be difficult to keep from the other side.

Under these circumstances, attempting to ambush Zang Ba was nothing short of wishful thinking.

"Father, don't worry. As you think, we can't launch a surprise attack on Zang Ba. But I have another plan for Zang Ba, called 'drawing the firewood from under the cauldron'!"

"Father, please look."

Liu Feng handed the last silk scroll to Liu Bei, which contained a series of numbers.

"What does this mean?"

"This is what I have collected: the grain yield near Kaiyang. My plan is to join forces with the Prefect's family and use snow salt and white sugar as bait to purchase grain near Kaiyang before the autumn harvest."

If this strategy is adopted, the earlier the grain collection operation begins, the better. It will not only assist our land reclamation efforts in increasing production, but also allow us to acquire more of Langya's reserves, and ultimately even lull Zang Ba's bandits into a false sense of security.

Liu Feng laid out the entire plan without keeping Liu Bei in suspense.

After all, this is reality, not fiction.

In matters of national importance, even a single miscommunication can have unpredictable and serious consequences. How could we possibly be playing coy and keeping things mysterious here?

This is the second update. There will be at least one more update tonight, and I'll try to do two!

I earnestly request that you all stop supporting this old man and instead give him more reading, investment, monthly tickets, and rewards. I would be extremely grateful.

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(End of this chapter)