Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 339 Xu County Invasion
July 12th, the first year of the Hanxing era.

Yuzhou, Yingchuan Commandery, Xu County.

"Carry the seriously wounded men down from the city walls!"

"You fool, don't try to put out the fire with water, use sand!"

"We don't have enough wood and stones on the city wall. Go and get the able-bodied men to carry some more up!"

"The parapet here is damaged, and where is the curtain? Wet the curtain and hang it outside the city wall!"

As the magistrate of Xu County, Han Hao stood with his hand on his sword, inspecting the city gate tower of the East Gate step by step. He stepped on the blood of whether it was the enemy or his comrades, and his boots even crushed a piece of intestine that had fallen out of someone's stomach. His bloodshot eyes swept over the faces of every soldier. He took a deep breath of the blood-soaked air and forced himself to stay awake with the stench of blood.

The imperial court had just issued its proclamation against the traitor on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month when the rebel Liu Chong responded on the eighth day of the seventh lunar month with a so-called "blood-stained edict."

Although public opinion lagged behind the imperial court, the rebels deployed troops faster than the imperial court itself.

Liu Chong led an army of 30,000 to attack Xinji County in the eastern part of Yingchuan Commandery. The commander was named Guan Hai, who had previously served as a leader of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quickly quelled, the court's attention was once again diverted by the Xiongnu rebellion in Bingzhou and the Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou. Taking advantage of the chaos, Liu Chong recruited and incorporated many Yellow Turban remnants.

Although they were remnants, they had survived the government army's encirclement and suppression and had broken up into smaller groups to move to the Chen Kingdom, so they still had a certain fighting capacity.

Guan Hai was the most valiant of the Yellow Turban leaders recruited by Liu Chong. Liu Chong used several thousand Yellow Turban remnants from Qingzhou as his base, expanded Guan Hai's army to ten thousand, and gave Guan Hai another twenty thousand troops from Chen State and prefectures, ordering Guan Hai to invade Yingchuan Prefecture, especially to capture Xu County.

Yingchuan Commandery had a total of 3,000 commandery soldiers. 1000 of them were transferred to the command of Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou. Of the remaining 2000, 1000 remained in Yangdi, the commandery capital, to garrison the area. The remaining 1000 were divided into five groups and assigned to garrison the five counties of Xinji, Xu, Linying, Yingyin, and Yanling.

These five cities belong to Zhongxian County, and each has two hundred regular officials and soldiers. If you include the armed forces such as border guards and prison guards, you can probably gather an armed force of nearly three or four hundred people.

However, since the emperor reinstated the provincial examinations held in August and September, if county magistrates encountered war, they could urgently summon 23-year-old men who had participated in the provincial examinations and organize an armed force of nearly 10,000 men who had participated in a year of military training.

However, this force is usually only recruited in emergencies. When Emperor Guangwu abolished the "Capital Examination" system, it was partly because it was too wasteful of money and grain, and partly because the "Capital Examination" system could lead to local troops becoming too powerful.

After all, Emperor Guangwu had fully experienced the fighting power of the Red Eyebrows and Green Forest bandits, and had even been defeated by them at one point, so he naturally did not want to repeat the same mistake.

Although Liu Bian restarted the "Capital Examination", he also imposed strict restrictions. Except in times of emergency, conscripting young men who had participated in the "Capital Examination" would be considered a crime equivalent to treason. Therefore, these young men who had participated in the "Capital Examination" were scattered in various counties.

Therefore, the cities adjacent to the State of Chen actually had a garrison of at least three hundred and at most five hundred soldiers. Xinji County, which was almost next to the border between Yingchuan Commandery and the State of Chen, was the first to be attacked.

In just two and a half days, Guan Hai captured Xinji County, suffering approximately 1300 casualties.

The city was captured with a casualty ratio of no more than one to three, not because Guan Hai's troops were particularly elite, but because the county magistrate of Xinji County suggested going out of the city to engage in a risky battle.

The magistrate of Xinji County believed that Guan Hai's troops, having come from afar, must be exhausted, and attempted to startle them with a night raid to boost morale within the city.

The magistrate of Xinji County was unfamiliar with military affairs, so he naturally entrusted all authority to the county constable.

However, not everyone is a war god like Guan Hai. Although Guan Hai came from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he had accumulated experience in battles and had taken precautions against the night raid by the magistrate of Xinji County.

Of the 1000 men who went to launch the night raid, 300 were regular officers and soldiers, and the other 700 were able-bodied men from the city.

However, a night raid requires certain conditions. Just as they reached the outskirts of Guan Hai's camp, a young man tripped and fell, shouting loudly and alerting the rebel army.

The rebels immediately charged forward, surrounded the thousand men led by the county magistrate, and slaughtered them all at the cost of more than 200 casualties.

This defeat completely shook the morale of the city. What followed was a two-and-a-half-day siege. The magistrate and assistant magistrate of Xinji County resisted to the last step, but with low morale and insufficient troops, the city was finally breached after suffering 1100 casualties.

After the city fell, Guan Hai killed the magistrate and assistant magistrate of Xinji County, and allowed his soldiers to plunder for two days before advancing on Xu County.

Xu County was not a small county; in fact, it could be considered the second largest center of Yingchuan Commandery. Located on the main transportation route between Luoyang, Chen State, and Runan Commandery, it was an important trunk line connecting the heart of the empire with the prosperous southeastern region.

Xu County is surrounded by the Huai River system, including the Wei River and Yi River, which provides a certain level of navigation capacity and facilitates the regional flow of goods and personnel.

If Xu County were captured, it would mean that the rebels would have the strength to threaten the Three Rivers. However, Xu County's defenses were not weak; they had been tested during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Moreover, the rapid fall of Xinji County was due not only to the fierce fighting of the Xinji County Commandant but also to the advantage of a surprise attack.

Xinji County was able to recruit more able-bodied men to defend the city, but Guan Hai's attack came too quickly.

Han Hao learned from the lesson of the newly appointed magistrate of Ji County. On the day he heard that the rebel army had invaded Yingchuan County, he began to prepare defensive equipment, strengthen the city's defenses, distribute weapons, and recruit 1100 able-bodied men who had participated in the "Capital Examination" and 2000 other able-bodied men. He increased the garrison of Xu County to 400 regular officers and soldiers, 1100 able-bodied men who had participated in the Capital Examination, and 2000 other able-bodied men, for a total of 3500 men.

Furthermore, Guan Hai's looting and slaughter in Xinji County not only indirectly gave Han Hao two more days to prepare, but also united the people of Xu County.

Several days later, Guan Hai's forces of more than 28000 arrived at Xu County and launched a fierce attack on the county, which was surrounded on three sides but lacked one.

Despite making numerous preparations, Xu County still faced an attack from an enemy force ten times its size.

After two days of continuous fighting, Han Hao personally commanded the eastern city wall, which was under the most pressure. The northern wall was handed over to County Lieutenant Zhou Tai, and the southern wall was handed over to another County Lieutenant, Jiang Qin. The western wall, which had not been attacked, was handed over to County Assistant Lou Gui, and they managed to hold it off.

However, the city's 3500 defenders lost 500 men in just two days.

Just as the city was in a state of panic, an opportunist stepped forward, seized the opportunity, and took the initiative to take charge of the city's able-bodied men, the allocation of supplies, and the reassurance of the people.

Chen Ji, the head of the Chen family of Yingchuan, publicly denounced Liu Chong's rebellious behavior and donated a full 10,000 shi of grain to the soldiers and civilians in the city. He also provided a lot of bows and arrows, organized his family soldiers to participate in the defense of the city, arranged for people to treat the wounded soldiers, and donated a lot of medicine. Otherwise, the situation in the city would not be good at this moment.

Looking at Han Hao's bloodshot eyes, Jiang Qin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Yuan Si, you haven't slept for two days and two nights. Go and rest for a while. Youping and I will take care of things here for you."

Han Hao's reaction was slightly slow as he looked at Jiang Qin and the "Youping" he mentioned.

The "Youping" mentioned by Jiang Qin looked at Han Hao, said nothing, but nodded heavily.

This "Youping" was a native of Xia Cai in Jiujiang. His real name was Zhou Tai. He was a close friend of Jiang Qin, but he was not good at speaking and was usually taciturn. However, he and Jiang Qin led their followers to travel around the Huai and Si Rivers, doing chivalrous deeds.

Then Han Hao recruited the two men to his cause.

There was no complicated persuasion; it was simply a description of the benefits and the imperial court's plan to suppress the bandits in the coming period.

Xu County, being a large county, had two county lieutenants. Although the county lieutenant was a minor official with a rank of 200 shi, it was the first step for them to clean up their name. Therefore, they did not look down on him. Even though Zhou Tai was covered in three wounds, he still stood firmly on the city wall, as if he were an iron man who could not feel the pain.

Han Hao hesitated for a moment, but then casually patted Jiang Qin on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "These remnants of the Yellow Turbans are only attacking the city because they know that the prefectural government and the imperial court's reinforcements will arrive soon. They are just desperate. There is no need for Gongyi (Jiang Qin) and Youping (Zhou Tai) to do it. Please ask County Magistrate Zibo (Lou Gui) to guard the east gate for me."

After saying this, under the astonished gazes of everyone, Han Hao ordered his guards to help him remove his black armor. He wrapped himself in a felt blanket, closed his eyes, and fell asleep fully clothed. Soon after, he began to snore loudly.

But hearing Han Hao's snoring, the soldiers around him felt much more at ease.

In the past few days, from deployment to the battle, Han Hao's performance has won over the soldiers. As the county magistrate, he personally guards the front line, and naturally he is deeply loved by the soldiers.

Since the magistrate was able to sleep peacefully on the city gate tower, the battle situation must have been within his expectations.

The group tiptoed away from the city gate tower, closed the gate, and tried their best not to disturb Han Hao's rest.

But the moment everyone left the city gate tower, Han Hao, who had been snoring with his back to them, stopped snoring, opened his eyes, and stared silently at the wall.

Although he had barely slept for the past two days, how could he possibly sleep soundly at a time like this?
Even with his eyes closed, Han Hao felt a buzzing in his head, as if his brain had been stirred into a mess, and his thoughts were coming and going.

The deaths of his comrades, the casualty figures, the arrow consumption... all these things echoed in his mind these past few days.

In truth, how could he not be afraid?

However, as the county magistrate, he had to appear calm and composed.

Otherwise, if even he panicked, the rest of the soldiers would have already scattered and fled, and where would they have any will to fight?

(End of this chapter)