amaotonovel Chapter 747 Wen Pin surrendered to the Han?
Chapter 747 Wen Pin surrendered to the Han?
At this moment, more than two hundred people were gathered in the warehouse, all casually sitting on the ground and boxes, wiping their weapons, their eyes full of fighting spirit.
This group was the team that Guan Yan developed after infiltrating Jiangxia. Although the number of people was small, they were all selected and tested from various villages in Jiangxia counties, and were completely trustworthy.
Therefore, everyone wiped their weapons and waited patiently for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a contribution. After waiting for who knows how long, the warehouse door finally opened with a knock.
Upon hearing the sound, everyone instinctively turned their heads to look, and immediately stood up and lined up when they saw Guan Yan enter.
Guan Yan walked up to the group and looked them over one by one. Finally, he said, "Brothers, Wen Dai has been wounded by my arrow and is no longer a threat. Our chance to make a name for ourselves has arrived. Are the flags ready?"
The crowd immediately stepped aside, revealing a passage. Guan Yan looked through the passage and saw a young man pull out a large flag from behind a box and walk quickly towards them. A large Chinese character was clearly written on the flag.
This time, they wanted to raise the banner of the Han Dynasty and clearly tell the people of Xiling City that the Han army had entered Xiling and that Xiling had returned to the Han Dynasty.
The reason for such blatant actions is quite simple: Jiangxia had only been under Wei control for a few short years, and the people of Xiling certainly still had feelings for the Han Dynasty, or at least they wouldn't be resentful.
Therefore, as long as the banner of the Han Dynasty is raised, people will inevitably join the Han army, and even if they don't join, they will remain neutral. This is a very strong force, and Guan Yan has no reason not to use it.
Seeing that the flags were ready, Guan Yan no longer hesitated and immediately said, "After the garrison is destroyed, Wen Dai will definitely ask the private soldiers of the gentry to help defend the city. However, most of the private soldiers of the gentry are scattered in the countryside, and not many can be gathered in Xiling City in a short time. So we don't need to worry at all. Does anyone have any questions?"
The group exchanged glances and chose to remain silent. They were too lazy to think; they would just do whatever Guan Yan said.
Seeing this, Guan Yan stopped arguing and directly ordered, "Then proceed according to the original plan. One team will follow me to attack the North Gate. After taking it, hold out until nightfall tomorrow. If I'm not mistaken, General Sun Lang's reinforcements will arrive by tomorrow evening at the latest."
"The second team is in charge of propaganda, recruiting soldiers and raising supplies on a large scale. If General Sun Lang cannot arrive in time, we must continue to hold on and take action."
There were only about two hundred people in the warehouse, and it would be difficult to defend the city gate with just that many people. So they had to recruit more soldiers, but time was of the essence and they couldn't go outside the city to recruit people in a big way. They could only recruit from inside the city.
Although the scope of recruitment within the city is somewhat small, it will be enough for a short time, since the recruitment is now open.
Previously, they were spies, and could only be recruited, tested, and screened in secret. Only after their loyalty was 100% confirmed could they be brought into the team. Now, however, it is not so troublesome. They can openly recruit under the banner of the Han Dynasty. Although the quality of the recruited soldiers may vary, their efficiency is definitely several times higher than before.
Guan Yan received the flag, turned around, and led his army out of the warehouse and headed straight for the north gate.
It was late afternoon, the sun was still high in the sky, not a suitable time for a sneak attack, but Guan Yan couldn't wait. He was afraid that the longer he delayed, the more people Wen Dai would gather, so he couldn't give Wen Dai too much time to react. He had to take advantage of the precious moment when the defenders had diarrhea and Wen Dai was injured to kill and seize the North Gate.
The idea was good, but it wouldn't be easy to get to the North Gate smoothly. It was still dark and there were many pedestrians on the street. Guan Yan was waving the Great Han flag and parading through the city. It was impossible not to cause a sensation.
Xiling is, after all, part of Cao Wei's territory. How could raising the Han army's banner within Cao Wei's borders not attract attention?
Therefore, Guan Yan caused a sensation as soon as he stepped onto the street. The nearby people all stopped to watch, and some busybodies even opened their mouths in disbelief and said, "If I remember correctly, General Wenping is still in Zhu County. How come the Han army has suddenly entered Xiling City? Could it be that General Wenping has surrendered to the Han?"
The Han Dynasty didn't have the internet, so any news was severely delayed. The common people were even more isolated and had no way of knowing the situation on the front lines. Without knowing, they would speculate and make wild analyses. And then something interesting happened: everyone's analysis was highly consistent. They all believed that Wen Ping had already surrendered to the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, how could the Han army have bypassed Wen Ping's defenses and stormed into Xiling City? Right?
Poor Wenping, he knew nothing and yet he's been unfairly blamed for this... It's unbelievable...
The chatter of the people quickly reached Guan Yan's ears. Overjoyed, Guan Yan shouted, "General Wen Ping has returned to Han! Xiling City is back in the Han Dynasty! Fellow villagers, make way! We are on a mission!"
The soldiers behind him repeated Guan Yan's words, and the shouts of more than two hundred people carried far, leaving the people who heard them in a daze...
General Wen Ping did indeed surrender to the Han. I knew it! If General Wen hadn't surrendered, how could the Han army have entered Xiling City?
While the common people were smug about guessing the intelligence correctly, they quickly made way for the army. They dared not block the army's path, after all, an army that got angry was more terrifying than bandits, and who would dare to confront soldiers head-on?
The common people left with the intention of watching a show, and the guards who occasionally patrolled the streets were knocked out by laxatives, so they encountered no obstacles on Guanyan Road and arrived at the North Gate without any problems. When they looked up, they found that there was a large yellow flag on the city wall, and the guards of the North Gate were actually the Huang family.
The Huang family is the largest clan in Jiangxia. The previous head of the family was Huang Zu, who caused the brothers Sun Ce and Sun Quan to have nothing to do but cry. After Huang Zu's death, the Huang family gradually faded into obscurity. Although the current Huang family is not as active as when Huang Zu was alive, it is still the leading clan in Jiangxia.
However, the name of the aristocratic family could not intimidate Guan Yan. He and Guan Xing had wiped out many famous families in Jiangdong, so how could they be intimidated by the mere Huang family of Jiangxia?
So what if they're from the aristocratic class? I'll beat them up!
Without saying a word, Guan Yan raised his shield and charged straight up the steps. The Huang family's private soldiers on the city wall immediately fired arrows in response when they saw the Han army charging, but it was to no avail.
Although the gentry had private armies, most of them were scattered outside the city. No official would be so bold as to concentrate all his private armies inside the city; wouldn't that be digging a hole for himself?
Wen Ping was a relatively strong general, so he naturally wouldn't leave a large, disobedient army around him. Therefore, the gentry didn't have many private soldiers in the city, and they couldn't gather many people in a short time. At present, the Huang family's private army in the north city was not as many as the people around Guan Yan.
Not only were they few in number, but their morale was also low. And since they were private soldiers, not the regular army of Cao Wei, how could they possibly fight to the death for Cao Wei?
So Guan Yan, shield in hand and sword in hand, stormed the city wall with almost no effort. The young master of the Huang family, seeing that things were not going well, decisively fled, thwarting Guan Yan's plan to capture him.
Guan Yan was too lazy to pursue. He immediately seized the city tower, blocked the stairwell, controlled the drawbridge ropes, and collected wood to set up antlers on both sides of the city tower to prevent Wen Dai from leading his aristocratic private army to counterattack.
At the same time, Guan Yan's deputy, Peng Yu, who was in charge of the second group, also began to take action.
Instead of immediately going out into the streets to promote the cause, Peng Yu convened a meeting with his prospective teammates.
The so-called reserve teammates are people who have been included in the evaluation but have not yet passed Guan Yan's assessment to be officially recruited into the team. There are about thirty of them, and most of them are from poor families like Luo Feng.
In a room on the second floor of Xunhuan Pavilion, Peng Yu looked at the guests he had invited and said, "Gentlemen, I'm coming clean. My name is not Zhao Yu, but Peng Yu. I am the deputy captain under the command of the Marquis of Shence of the Great Han Dynasty. Today, I was ordered by the Marquis of Shence to capture Xiling City and have already succeeded temporarily. As long as we hold out until General Sun Lang arrives, we will have accomplished our mission. Now, those who are willing to return to the Great Han Dynasty and work with us can stay. Those who are not, please leave. I will give you half a quarter of an hour to consider."