Chapter 55: The Greedy and Shameless Li Chong

  Li Zhong said in a deep voice: "Now I will analyze the situation, and everyone can add to it. First, Zhang Yan currently has no more than 3,000 soldiers who can fight, while we have more than 1,500 soldiers who can fight, which is enough to defend the city. Whether Zhang Yan withdraws his troops or not, Guangwu is in an unbeatable position."

  "Not bad!" Taishi nodded and said: "As long as we hold out and don't go out, Zhang Yan will definitely have no way to deal with us. The only thing is that I don't know how his grain and grass are doing, and how many days he can persist."

  Li Chong smiled and said: "Although we don't know how much military grain Zhang Yan has, when spring plowing arrives, I won't believe he won't withdraw his troops unless he abandons Changshan."

  Chen Lin smiled and said: "Don't worry, sir, Ji Province is rich and prosperous, Zhang Yan will certainly not abandon it."

  Zhang Cai also smiled and said: "Unless Zhang Yan is suffering from a mental illness, otherwise she will not do such a foolish thing."

  It is said that Zhang Cai's words were humorous, and the county government was filled with laughter. Li Chong waited until everyone had finished laughing before continuing to say: "If Zhang Yan wants to withdraw his troops, the most secure method would be for the infantry to go first, followed by the cavalry bringing up the rear."

  Tai Shi Zi said in a low voice: "Zhang Yan has been through many battles and is well-versed in military strategy. He will definitely adopt the method you mentioned, Lord, to retreat his troops, making it impossible for us to pursue."

  Chen Lin didn't know about military affairs and asked doubtfully: "If Zhang Yan's cavalry goes first and the infantry follows behind, what then?"

  Tai Shi Zi burst out laughing and said confidently: "According to Kong Zhang's words, Zhang Yan can only bring two thousand cavalry back to Changshan."

  Li Chong waved his hand and smiled: "Kong Zhang doesn't have to worry, Zhang Yan will definitely follow the cavalry later. What we need to focus on is these two thousand cavalrymen, or a part of them."

  Everyone fell silent at the same time, not daring to speak easily. To know that this is not as good as attacking a city, in the wild, without using two thousand, one thousand cavalry, can kill Li Chong's more than a thousand people, leaving no residue.

  "After a while, Chen Lin said: 'Your Excellency, I think it's better to be cautious in using troops. Why not let Zhang Yan withdraw from Changshan and take advantage of the conflict between Yuan Shao and others to rest and recuperate, and plan for another place?'"

  "Alas!" Taishi Ci sighed, feeling very disappointed in his heart. This was a matter of strength, and no clever strategy could make up for the difference in strength.

  "Why don't we set up some obstacles on the road and see how it goes?" Li Chong recalled that Zhou Yu had once piled up trees on the road to intercept Cao Cao's horses, so he asked aloud, wanting to hear everyone's opinion.

  "Your plan is excellent... but I don't know when Zhang Yan will retreat and what he will do?" Taishi Ci asked with a frown.

  Tai Shi's question is very critical, Li Chong's method is not to say no, but the timing must be grasped very accurately. If the road is opened too early, it will not work. The vanguard infantry can easily remove these roadblocks.

  It's too late to put it down now, and of course, it's even more useless when everyone has left.

  Zhou Yu calculated Cao Ren's defeat, and Cao Ren was defeated, fearing that the pursuing soldiers would catch up, he abandoned his war horse.

  Although Zhang Yan also retreated in defeat, he did not hurry to march away. His own strength was stronger than Li Chong's and he was not afraid of being pursued by Li Chong.

  Li Chong sighed and said, "For now, this is the only way. Kong Zhang, write a letter to Yuan Benchu and see how Yuan Shao reacts. If Yuan Shao advances on Changshan, Zhang Yan will surely panic and hastily retreat our army, perhaps we still have a few chances."

  Chen Lin nodded and went down to write a letter. Li Chong saw that everyone else didn't have any good ideas either, so he stopped the discussion and told everyone to disperse.

  Li Chung: Here is where I will fulfill my destiny, and lose it by the will of heaven.

  But Zhang Yan's camp was gloomy and depressing. Since learning of Yuan Shao's defeat at the hands of Gongsun Zan, Zhang Yan had been thinking of withdrawing his troops.

  Among the princes of Hebei, except for Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, Zhang Yan had extremely bad relations with Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yang. It can be said that what Zhang Yan hoped most was that Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan would perish together.

  But Zhang Yan was unwilling to return without success, and if he couldn't capture Guangwu, his prestige among the generals under him would be lowered, and how could he lead these unruly bandits. (Zhang Yan and his subordinates were all Yellow Turban generals, similar in nature to Guan Hai's mountain stronghold, not like the strict hierarchy of the Han court.)

  As soon as she thought of this, Zhang Yan remembered the letter she had burned and couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

  Zhang Yan didn't necessarily disbelieve Wang, but Li Chong's letter was too sinister. It explicitly stated that Yuan Shao would win, which made Zhang Yan believe that Li Chong had colluded with Yuan Shao long ago and lured him away from Changshan. Otherwise, why did Li Chong know about Yuan Shao's victory so early?

  At that time, Gongsun Zan's strength was actually greater than Yuan Shao's.

  It can be inferred that Wang had contact with Yuan Shao and Han Fu long ago. This idea emerged in Zhang Yan's mind, and it was hard to get rid of it.

  "Why don't we let Wang be the rear guard!" Zhang Yan suddenly had this idea in her mind.

  Zhang Yan coughed and said in a low voice, "Yuan Shao was defeated at the border bridge by Gongsun Zan and occupied Ji Province. If he were to use troops against me in Changshan, the situation would be extremely dangerous. Therefore, I have decided to withdraw our army back to Changshan to defend against Yuan Shao. What do you think?"

  "What the General says is absolutely right......" As soon as Zhang Yan's voice fell, a chorus of approval rose from within the great tent.

  The families and treasures of these generals were all in Changshan. When they heard that Yuan Shao had occupied Ji Province, they were anxious like fire, hating that they couldn't grow a pair of wings to hurry back to Yuanshi County to protect their families and treasures.

  Zhang Yan glanced around and continued: "In that case, three days later, the army will withdraw to Changshan. Let... Wang take charge of the rear guard."

  "I shall obey!" Wang Da replied loudly at once.

  Li Chong and others stood on the city wall, seeing Zhang Yan's large camp in a state of commotion, with people and horses bustling about, all somewhat tense, thinking that Zhang Yan was going to send troops to attack the city. But after waiting for half a day, they didn't see any soldiers coming out of the camp. Suddenly Li Chong came to his senses - Zhang Yan was planning to flee.

  Taishi Ci also came to his senses and said in a low voice: "My lord, Zhang Yan is likely to withdraw his troops."

  "I know!" Li Chong hugged his arms, tapping his fingers rhythmically on his arm, closing his eyes in deep thought for a long time before slowly opening them and saying: "Zi Yi, Liao Hua, you two come with me."

  After arriving at the back house, he asked the two to sit down. Li Chong said in a low voice: "Zi Yi, Yuan Jiao, Zhang Yan's army must be marching along the Hutuo River. Now the Hutuo River is frozen three feet deep and unobstructed. My intention is to intercept and kill Zhang Yan's cavalry on the Hutuo River."

  "Sir, Zhang Yan must have left behind a considerable number of cavalry after the battle. With just 500 men, they would be stronger than us in a field battle. How can we intercept and kill them?"

  Li Zhongtou said, "If my guess is correct, Zhang Yan will definitely leave Wang Dangdian behind to test his loyalty. So the cavalry left behind won't be too many, absolutely no more than five hundred."

  Tai Shi Zi sighed and said: "Even with five hundred elite cavalry, we are no match for them. Even if we exhaust all our strength, we can only muster three hundred cavalry at most."

  Li Chong smiled mysteriously and said, "Don't be afraid, I have a plan. Even if Zhang Yan leaves behind a thousand cavalrymen, they won't be our match."

  "What?" Tai Shi Cai and Liao Hua Yi exclaimed in unison.

  "Liao Hua!" Li Chong suddenly shouted in a low voice.

  Liao Hua was taken aback and immediately stood up, clasped his fists and said: "What are your orders, sir..."

  Li Zhong's face turned serious as he said: "I want you to gather all the blacksmiths in the mountain stronghold..."