Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 441 Fan Yang
Dingzhou.

When Du Luozhou heard that Su Ze had led troops from Feihu Pass to attack Dingzhou, he fell into panic.

Immediately afterwards, he received an even more explosive piece of news. Han Lou, who was entrenched in Youzhou, had pledged allegiance to Su Ze and also responded to Su Ze's call to send troops to attack Dingzhou.

Du Luozhou summoned his troops at this time, but found that many of them were unwilling to attend the military meeting.

Du Luozhou remembered Erzhu Rong's envoy, and quickly sent someone to invite Erzhu Rong's envoy and asked Erzhu Rong to send troops to help him.

Erzhu Rong's envoy did not disappoint Du Luozhou, but proudly brought Du Luozhou a piece of news that was not sure whether it was good or bad -

Erzhu Rong had already sent his general Heba Yue to lead two thousand elite troops to the north for support.

Are these two thousand elite soldiers here to help me, or are they my death warrant?
But at this time Du Luozhou was already desperate, and he had to drink the wine even though he knew it was poison.
-
Heba Yue stopped his horse and said to Yuwen Tai beside him:

"Black Otter, Dingzhou is ahead. I just got the news that the Duke of Su has already sent troops, and Han Lou of Youzhou has also responded. Now Du Luozhou just remembered to ask the general for help. I don't know how he can survive to this day with such naivety."

Since the death of his brother Yuwen Luo, Yuwen Tai has become more introverted.

Erzhu Rong killed Yuwen Luosheng but spared the rest of the Yuwen family.

Heba Yue pleaded with Erzhu Rong again and asked for Yuwen Tai to be by his side.

"Back then, He Liuhun once told me that Du Luozhou was good at inciting others to rebel, but not good at uniting his subordinates. He was mean and unkind to his subordinates, and was stingy with money and rewards. Now I see that it is indeed true."

When Gao Huan was mentioned, Yuwen Tai's expression obviously changed a little.

Heba Yue knew that he had spoken out of turn.

Among the Heba brothers, Heba Yue had the best relationship with Gao Huan, while Heba Sheng was hostile to Gao Huan.

Originally, Yuwen Tai and Gao Huan had an average relationship, but ever since the death of Yuwen Luosheng, Yuwen Tai has always insisted that it was Gao Huan who killed his brother, and he was very jealous of Gao Huan.

Heba Yue didn't know how to mediate. In his opinion, Gao Huan was clearly pleading for the Yuwen brothers, but was misunderstood by Yuwen Tai.

Yuwen Tai did not say much. In his opinion, the three Heba brothers had little political savvy, so the Heba brothers pleaded for their brother. Yuwen Tai knew that they were old friends.

But Gao Huan was obviously flattering him, and it was useless to explain these words to Heba Yue.

Even Yuwen Tai was a little pessimistic. In his opinion, the Heba brothers now had a vague competitive relationship with Gao Huan. This would not change because of the personal relationship between Heba Yue and Gao Huan. This was a competition between the Wuchuan Group and the Huaishuo Group.

However, as the leaders of the Wuchuan Group, the political immaturity of the Heba brothers made Yuwen Tai unable to see the future of the group.

But I happen to be from Wuchuan.

There was no consensus on this topic. Since mediation was useless, Heba Yue avoided the topic and said:

"Black Otter, do we have a chance of winning against Su Ze?"

Yuwen Tai said calmly:

"There's no chance of winning."

Heba Yue laughed dryly, waved his hand to let his attendants retreat, and said awkwardly:
"Black Otter should not say such things in public in the future if they can shake the morale of the troops."

Yuwen Tai nodded, but he insisted on his opinion and said:
"Unless the general comes in person, no one can defeat Su Ze."

When talking about Erzhu Rong, Yuwen Tai's mood was a little up and down.

His brother was executed by Erzhu Rong, so logically he should hate Erzhu Rong.

But Erzhu Rong just has such charm. As a man from Wuchuan, how could he not be in awe of such a domineering figure?
The Heba brothers and Gao Huan all submitted to Erzhu Rong under this charm.

This is also the reason why Yuwen Tai was willing to join Heba Yue's army.

Heba Yue also sighed and said:

"This Lord Su is truly as decisive as the general. I didn't expect him to act so quickly."

Du Luozhou's guess was actually correct. The two thousand men led by Heba Yue were actually heading north to annex Du Luozhou. However, they received the news that Su Ze had sent troops halfway through their journey, and then changed their plan to support Du Luozhou.

Yuwen Tai continued to remain silent. Erzhu Rong and Su Ze, these two great gods, weighed down everyone, making it hard for them to breathe.

The Heba brothers had seen Su Ze's majestic demeanor in the Six Garrisons, and they could only sigh that God had sent down two such evildoers at the same time. Was he afraid that the land of China would not be lively enough?

"Black Otter, what should we do? We can't return empty-handed, or we will be punished by the general's military law."

Yuwen Tai looked towards the north and said:

"Attack Hanlou first."

"Attack Hanlou first?"

Heba Yue thought of the information about Youzhou.

After Han Lou pledged his allegiance to Su Ze, he responded to Su Ze's call to send troops to Dingzhou. His general Peng Le was seriously injured and unconscious, so the army was handed over to Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong for command.

"The Youzhou army is made up of outsiders, so they will definitely not be able to command effectively. If we can defeat them, we can take advantage of the situation and attack Youzhou."

Heba Yue also trusted Yuwen Tai's judgment. Compared with Su Ze's elite soldiers and generals, the Youzhou army was obviously a weakling.

But Heba Yue frowned again and said:

"The terrain between Youzhou and Dingzhou is vast. Where can we stop the Youzhou army?" Yuwen Tai said firmly:

"It must be Fan Yang."

Heba Yue was not familiar with the geography of Youzhou, so he humbly asked:
"Why Fan Yang?"

"The army will certainly have to pass through Fanyang when it moves south. This place is the river transportation hub of the north and the most important place in Youzhou. Even if we fail to capture it, our army can still disrupt Hanlou's food supply and make it collapse on its own."

"Then let's go to Fanyang!"
-
"The Erzhu family's cavalry moved north."

Su Ze had been making arrangements in Dingzhou for many years. When Heba Yue's army turned to the northeast, he had already judged Heba Yue's strategic intention, which was to attack the Youzhou army sent by Han Lou first.

It has to be said that Heba Yue's decision was correct.

Han Lou's Youzhou army was the weakest among the many forces this time. Once the Youzhou army was defeated, Heba Yue could take advantage of the situation and attack Youzhou.

After losing Dingzhou and seizing Youzhou, this deal was not a good one, but at least it was not a loss.

It’s a pity that Su Ze already knew his intention.

Su Ze said to Murong Shaozong beside him:
"We won't go to Zhongshan (the seat of Dingzhou) anymore."

"what?"

"Go support Han Lou."

Murong Shaozong was a man who sought stability, so he immediately advised:
"My Lord, Du Luozhou is only a breath away. Why don't we attack Zhongshan and take Dingzhou first, and then deal with the Erzhu family's army?"

“If we support Han Lou and let the Erzhu family and Du Luozhou collude, our army will be alone and deep in the enemy’s territory!”

Su Ze shook his head and said:

"Youzhou and Dingzhou are only valuable when they are integrated. If we only get Dingzhou but lose Youzhou, we might as well return to Hengzhou."

Murong Shaozong knew that what Su Ze said was the truth. Dingzhou was located in the heart of the North China Plain and was completely indefensible.

The most classic one is the Battle of Pingjin during the founding of the People's Republic of China. Once the tiger came down from the mountain and killed its way into the North China Plain from outside the Great Wall, there was almost no resistance and it pushed forward all the way to the Yellow River.

Youzhou and Dingzhou are integrated. If Youzhou is missing and only Dingzhou is occupied, it will be a place of war on all sides and it is better not to defend it.

In Su Ze's opinion, Youzhou is a more important place than Dingzhou. It can only be said that the generals sent by Erzhu Rong are indeed capable and can actually see this weak point.

Su Ze was a little curious about who was the leader of this army? Which of the three Heba brothers was it?
But these are not important anymore. Since we are going to participate in this chess game of dragon fighting, how can we expect our opponents to be fools?
The closer the game gets to the middle stage, the more talented people remain at the table.

"Pass my order, bypass Zhongshan City and march directly to Fanyang. We will catch up with the Erzhu family's cavalry!"

Seeing that Su Ze had made up his mind, Murong Shaozong could only ride his horse to notify the front army and head towards Fan Yang.
-
When Han Lou marched to Fan Yang, he suddenly received a report from Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong in the vanguard army, saying that they had received news that the cavalry of Erzhu Rong's family had given up supporting Zhongshan and were heading directly for Fan Yang.

Han Lou was so frightened that he hid in Fanyang City and did not go out. He quickly called back Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong.

When Han Lou saw the two of them, he said in horror:
"The Erzhu family's cavalry is heading for Fanyang. The defenses of Fanyang are exhausted. What can we do?"

Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong looked at each other. When they led their troops to Fan Yang, they couldn't believe that this was the important northern city of Fan Yang.

The most famous family in Fan Yang is the Fan Yang Lu family.

Lu Zhi, a great Confucian scholar in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was famous all over the world at that time.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, Taihe was reorganized into the four noble families of "Lu, Cui, Zheng and Wang", and was known as the "top family of the northern state".

As Fan Yang could give birth to such a prominent family, one can imagine how wealthy it was.

However, after all these years of war and plunder, the Lu family of Fanyang had fled Fanyang, and most of the Fanyang city walls had collapsed during Han Lou's battle to capture Youzhou. They have not been repaired to this day, and the entire city is in a completely undefended state.

Most of the people in the city were scattered, and the remaining people looked pale. Not to mention recruiting people to repair the city walls, if these people still had some strength, they would rush up and fight Han Lou to death when they saw him.

No matter how you look at it, Fan Yang cannot be defended.

Han Lou was also a little embarrassed when he saw the two generals. The state of Fanyang City was naturally caused by Han Lou himself.

After he captured the city, he did not receive support from the local people and nobles, nor was he able to appoint officials, so Fan Yang has been in ruins ever since.

Chen Chong said decisively:

"County Lord, Fanyang cannot be defended."

Wanqi Chounu also nodded.

Han Lou said in despair:
"How about we return to Ji County? Hurry and ask the Duke for help!"

Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong looked at each other again. They had received reports from the scouts that Su Ze had bypassed Zhongshan and was heading towards Fanyang.

However, after discussing it, they both decided to hide the news from Han Lou.

The purpose of Duke Su was very clear. He used Han Lou as bait to lure the Erzhu family's army, and then attack from both sides to destroy this elite cavalry.

What if I tell Han Lou about the plan and the news leaks out?
Erzhu Rong's family had a limited number of elite cavalry, which were accumulated by Erzhu Rong over more than ten years.

In Su Ze's opinion, if he could consume Erzhu's 2,000 elite cavalry in Dingzhou, it would be even more strategically significant than capturing Dingzhou!

(End of this chapter)