Chapter 006
Qiao Yan had a plan in mind, so he slept soundly in the Yellow Turban camp.
The system really wanted to complain about whether she was too careless, but judging from the reactions of the people outside the tent on the second day, there was obviously nothing wrong with Qiao Yan's actions.
The turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty and the endless fighting during the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties could not change the people of that era's pursuit of elegance and bearing.
Wang Xianzhi's behavior in escaping the fire was often cited as a praise story, and it was obviously not an isolated case.
Liang Zhongning gathered the remaining soldiers and fleeing generals overnight, and he saw this "disciple of Zheng Xuan" walking out of the tent with a radiant look. Although he was dressed in coarse clothes, he could not conceal the aura of a celebrity.
Of course, from Qiao Yan's own perspective, she is still far from being a true celebrity.
In the memories that the original "Qiao Yan" gave her, the Yanzhou Qiao family's requirements for etiquette and manners in walking, living, sitting and lying down were not overly demanding. Qiao Yan's own thoughts on the etiquette of the Han Dynasty before traveling through time were bound to have some mistakes and omissions after a thousand years of changes.
But combining these two together could obviously be used to fool Liang Zhongning, the leader of the Yellow Turbans.
At least now the other party feels that even though this child looks more like a pretty girl in the daytime, he does not look like someone who is easy to bully.
Those eyes, which were already slightly sharp in outline, looked even more intimidating as they looked at the Yellow Turban soldiers around them.
"How many people did Commander Qu bring this time?" Qiao Yan gathered his sleeves and asked.
Liang Zhongning replied: "More than 800."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the other party raise the corner of his lips, as if with a hint of mockery.
However, before he could get angry, she continued, "General Qu was able to capture Puyang City and become the commander of one side of the Yellow Turban Army. I think he is not completely ignorant of the art of war. Haven't you heard of Sun Tzu's Art of War, which says, 'If you have ten of them, surround them; if you have five of them, attack them; if you have twice as many of them, divide them; if you are the enemy, fight them; if you have fewer of them, flee; if you are inferior, avoid them. May I ask, how many people are there in the Tian family's fortress?"
Stunned by the other party's words, Liang Zhongning hesitated for a moment before replying, "About a thousand?"
Qiao Yan was not surprised that he could not give an accurate number.
Since Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has been very difficult to conduct a population census in the Han Dynasty. Although the wealthy and powerful families who colluded with bandits to kill officials were most numerous in the four states of Qing, Xu, You and Ji, there were also quite a few wealthy and powerful families in Yanzhou.
Land annexation reached its peak at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the private armed forces hidden among the powerful families were extremely difficult to detect from outside the fortresses.
But even so, Liang Zhongning dared to bring 800 people to cause trouble for the Tian family, which had at least 1,000 people. In a sense, he was really a capable man.
Liang Zhongning felt a little depressed.
Even though he didn't quite understand what Qiao Yan said about surrounding an enemy if there are ten of them and attacking an enemy if there are five of them, he could still understand the second half of the military strategy:
Since you have fewer people than others, you can either run away or hide away. In short, there is no need to fight.
He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is this what you want to tell me after a good night's sleep?"
To be honest, he didn't really put all his hopes of winning on this boy Qiao Yan.
If it weren't for Zheng Xuan's reputation and the fact that he was somewhat unwilling to lead his defeated troops back to Puyang, Liang Zhongning would not have used such coercion to let Qiao Yan come up with this idea for him, in order to try his best to save the situation.
After a night of calming down, he began to feel that his behavior was a bit ridiculous.
In such a conflicted mood, if this kid came up and said that he could fight, he might have some doubts.
But now that the other party said he couldn't fight, his stubborn temper got out of hand again.
beat! Of course we have to fight!
There is no such thing as having to escape if there are not enough people!
He had never studied Sun Tzu's Art of War, but he had heard about the Battle of Julu in opera, and he knew that it was not impossible to win with fewer people.
What's more, most of the soldiers he brought were young and strong, while the opponents had both old and young. If they were outside the fort, it would be a one-sided duel.
Of course, the guy with super strength is a different matter.
"I didn't say that. I was just explaining the truth to Commander Qu. Let's go to the fort and take a look first."
After Qiao Yan finished speaking, he waved his hand, signaling him to make way, and walked out of the tent calmly.
A night's rest gave her the strength to walk again, so at least she had no problem walking outside Tian's Fort.
Liang Zhongning was somewhat dissatisfied with her reserved attitude, but after thinking it over, he felt that he was not at a disadvantage.
Tian would defend the fortress and would not choose to attack rashly. If the idea she proposed had no hope of being implemented, he could simply not carry it out. At most, it would only delay his return to Puyang City.
After realizing this, he jumped on his horse and followed him out.
But he was good at riding a horse, and most of the Yellow Turban soldiers he brought with him this time were still infantry.
Those who could afford to maintain cavalry these days were either wealthy families who could purchase horses and food resources, or local armies in the northern You, Bing, Yong and Liang states. The Yellow Turban Army was obviously not among them. Even Liang Zhongning, the leader of the army, was only mediocre in horse combat skills.
The entire team still had to move towards the fort at the pace of the infantry.
He slowed down his riding speed and rode side by side with Qiao Yan, who looked much shorter than the other infantrymen. He asked casually, "How much do you know about the defense of the fort?"
Qiao Yan asked in reply, "May I ask if there are any towers or high towers in the courtyard of the Tian Clan's fortress?"
Liang Zhongning's expression softened for a moment.
Obviously, Qiao Yan's question was not something an outsider would ask.
He replied, "No, there is only the outer protective wall and watchtower. We have asked the masons in Puyang City. The construction of Tian's Fortress was not completed until recently. Only last year's harvest and the grain stored before that were stored there."
This is obviously good news.
Later generations divided forts into three types: castle-type, courtyard-type and turret-type. The latter two types, in addition to the four walls for defense, also had high towers as command agencies and sources of high-altitude firepower. If the Tian family fort had such things, even Qiao Yan felt that he would not be so sure of breaking through it.
You must know that the defensive capabilities of the Northern Fortresses in the early days when facing irregular armies and Yellow Turban bandits were truly outstanding.
Leaving aside the Meiwu fortress built by Dong Zhuo later, which was comparable to a small city, there were two extremely famous records of battles between fortresses and large-scale armies in the border area between Yanzhou and the neighboring Yuzhou alone.
One of them was a battle fought by Xu Chu.
At that time, Xu Chu had not yet joined Cao Cao, but was building a fort in his hometown of Qiao County with the able-bodied men of his clan to fight against the Yellow Turban bandits in Gepi, Runan.
With more than 10,000 Yellow Turbans defending the fort and under the arrows and rocks flying around, it was difficult to capture the city.
The other was a defensive battle fought by the Li family of Juye relying on the fortress defense when Lu Bu attacked Yanzhou.
In this battle, Li Jin, who was from the Li clan, even defeated Lu Bu, the fiercest tiger in the world.
It can be seen from this that if the fortress is large enough, it would not be easy to break through it by brute force, especially if the command is integrated from top to bottom.
"It would be better if there were only high walls and watchtowers," Qiao Yan continued.
"Generally speaking, there are only two ways to quickly capture a fortress. The first is to dig a secret passage from the bottom for a surprise attack. If there are soldiers among the general who are proficient in this, you might as well give it a try."
Liang Zhongning shook his head. "This method is not appropriate. I have heard people talk about this method, but the Tian's fortress uses the method of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields to keep alert to the surrounding situation. If we really want to dig a tunnel, we have to start from a farther place. If we really have to spend so much effort, it will be more trouble than it's worth."
She did not show any disappointment on her face, and only said: "Then there is only one other way left, which is to trick the fort into opening."
Liang Zhongning asked suspiciously, "But I have fought with Tian before. They have high walls, strong crossbows, and a rare tiger general. How could they be tricked out by us?"
Qiao Yan: "This is where my role lies."
Liang Zhongning did not miss the dissatisfaction and arrogance that flashed across "Yan Qiao's" eyes when he answered this question.
But although the other party is young, his ability to control his emotions is obviously not bad.
Seeing that she quickly suppressed her annoyance, Liang Zhongning asked again, "Does Commander Qu still remember what you promised me before?"
He replied without thinking: "Of course I remember. If we can capture the fort, the food and money in the fort will be my spoils of war. I can kill those among the Tian family who bully the common people, but I have to let the rest go. If these people have nowhere to go and are willing to join my Yellow Turbans, you don't have to ask about it anymore."
He waved his hand nonchalantly, "I remember all this, but I'll talk about it after I win."
Qiao Yan withdrew his gaze from him and looked forward instead, his steps always steady, "Don't worry, Commander Qu, finish this matter as soon as possible, so that I can return to Gaomi as soon as possible."
In this case, according to the agreement, she would naturally not do anything passive or slack.
The place where they camped last night was only four or five miles away from Tian's Fort. After walking for less than quarter of an hour, a wide open land appeared in Qiao Yan's sight.
And in the distance, surrounded by solid walls, is the Tian family fort.
The best location for a fort is on a high place, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, Puyang is located in the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, which is a flat place.
After finding it difficult to find such a high place to settle down, the Tian family settled for the next best option and chose to build a place far away from the official road but close to a water source.
Originally, Tian thought that this place could form a situation of mutual assistance with Puyang City. Even if there were bandits attacking, they only needed to wait until the garrison arrived for reinforcement.
Who knew that when the Yellow Turbans rose up, the insiders in Puyang City joined forces and let it fall into the hands of the Yellow Turbans first. Instead, the Tian family fortress became a safe place outside the city.
Just as Liang Zhongning said, Qiao Yan looked up and saw that there was no tall tower inside the fortress, only watchtowers and corner towers surrounding the thick fortress walls.
Perhaps also because of the hasty construction, the surrounding trenches were only half dug and there was still some mess that had not been completely cleaned up.
But scattered around were more arrows shot from the fort when Liang Zhongning led his men to attack the fort two days ago, as well as the corpses of the Yellow Turban soldiers who had been left here before.
Of course, Qiao Yan saw the situation clearly, and the Tian clan member who was in charge of patrolling on the watchtower of the fort also saw the returning team.
Even with Qiao Yan's untrained eyesight, he could see a figure flashing on the watchtower in this direction, obviously going to report the news.
"Your Excellency, don't want me to attack again?" Liang Zhongning gestured to the team to stop, and then he saw the crossbows and arrows that gave him a headache appeared again on the wall in the distance.
Tian was obviously well prepared for the possibility that he might return, and an extremely orderly defense system had been formed in the fortress. It is conceivable that if he attacks rashly, the damage will be even greater than last time.
Qiao Yan shook his head upon hearing this.
Of course she wouldn't do such a stupid thing.
Since you're going to cheat, you'll naturally have to be a bit more clever.
Under Liang Zhongning's gaze, Qiao Yan borrowed a sword from a soldier and drew a square on the ground, which was exactly the shape of Tian's fort in front.
Then she used her sword as a pen and slowly drew on the pattern on the ground the places where the arrows shot from the fort landed within her sight.
The people in the fort were wary of what the returning Yellow Turbans would do, but Qiao Yan seemed too relaxed.
With Liang Zhongning's approval, she then led more than 200 people around the fortress.
We should really thank the commander Liang Zhongning. In the two days before Qiao Yan arrived, he had been trying unremittingly to find a breakthrough outside the fortress, and left many traces of fighting.
By the time she returned to the previously carved pattern, half a quarter of an hour later, a few more lines appeared on the ground.
Qiao Yan turned around after doing all this, and as expected, he saw a look of impatience on Liang Zhongning's face.
If he hadn't taken into account her identity as Zheng Xuan's disciple, which had not been exposed, he would have wanted to stab her with the new gun in his hand.
How could he know that every arrow landing point drawn by Qiao Yan was reproduced from the real place and was not just a random scribble.
All he saw was that at the same time Qiao Yan made this move, someone from the distant watchtower made several provocative gestures towards him.
Qiao Yan watched this interaction, and a barely perceptible smile flashed across his lips, "If Commander Qu is free, why not go outside the range and yell some insults first?"
Liang Zhongning: “……?”
"I was just joking."
After saying these six words, she suddenly changed her previous leisurely attitude and lowered her tone, showing a majesty that was different from her age. "Now let's talk about something serious. I would like to trouble Mr. Qu to do two things for me."
Liang Zhongning nodded, indicating that she could speak.
"First of all, please select those who are good at shooting in the team and hand them over to me for arrangement."
This was not a difficult task for him.
Qiao Yan paused and said, "The second thing is, Commander Qu said before that it is not easy to dig a tunnel leading to the bottom of the fort and break it from the inside, so -"
"If we only need to dig a hole big enough for someone to fall into and not be able to climb out, how long will it take?"
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