The most arrogant in history

Chapter 284: Bird in a Cage.

Ye Kun was in a great trouble. He was fully focused on dealing with Hanzhong and was unable to support Shangguan Jifu.

But the brotherhood is there, and Wei Ning is Wei Caiqin's elder brother, so Ye Kun had to show some appreciation and arrange soldiers to send Shangguan Jifu fifty cannons, two thousand thunder bombs, and one hundred chariot pulley crossbows.

At the same time, Ye Kun ordered Yan Liuhai to strictly guard Shuangya Mountain, Xiping Mountain and Pingye County at all costs.

Especially the defense of Xiping Mountain, we must not be careless.

Five days later, the army assembled in Hanzhong.

Ye Kun personally led the front and broke through Micang Road.

The Migang Road crosses the Daba Mountains and the Xiaoba Mountains, and the mountain road section is 300 miles long.

If you look at the map, the straight-line distance is not far, but the winding mountain road greatly lengthens the distance, and the terrain is steep, with many plank roads.

The southern part of Migang Road was controlled by Yizhou.

The northern part was controlled by Hanzhong, and there were passes along the way that were easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Fortunately, Ye Kun had a chariot pulley crossbow. When he encountered a pass, he could launch a sudden attack, shoot from a distance, shock the enemy, and seize the pass.

On the march, they encountered heavy rains, the mountain roads collapsed, and it was difficult to move forward.

Before the real battle even started, the food and supplies at the rear were already running out.

Ye Kun had 50,000 military rations, which were cooked food wrapped in tin foil, but he couldn't bear to eat them. This high-quality military ration was reserved for the most tense moments!

Ye Kun ordered to repair on the spot and wait for the supply of food and fodder while repairing the road.

Gongsun Erniang brought her apprentice sister Ding Ding with her army and comforted Ye Kun, saying, "Don't worry, brother. We can go hunting and replenish our military rations."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Junior sister, fighting is not living. I have 20,000 troops stationed here, and hunting can only slightly supplement some meat. Besides, even if 20,000 people go hunting, there won't be so much prey in the mountains."

Ding Ding was very confident and said:

"Brother, give me a hundred experts who can climb mountains and cross ridges, and I will take them to hunt. It's easy to get three thousand kilograms of prey every day. There are big mountains around here, so we just need to run farther away."

Ye Kun didn't want to dampen Ding Ding's confidence, so he said with a smile: "I'll give you 300 Flying Tigers who can hunt, and give you a guide, and you can go hunting with me."

Ye Kun has already seen Tintin's hunting skills.

She can make many ingenious mechanisms and traps, and they never fail.

For example, Tintin would calculate the path that a python must take and bury a pointed blade in the ground. When the python passes by, its abdomen will be cut by the tip of the blade. It will jump forward in pain and the snake will be directly disemboweled.

Ding Ding can also use bamboo ropes to make snares to catch pheasants and rabbits.

They would also boil the horns until soft, make them into sharp horn spikes, then roll them into a circle, glue them together with fish float glue, and hide them in the bait. When the beast swallows the bait, the horn spikes will expand and pierce the beast's internal organs, causing heavy bleeding and death.

They also use raw silk to make almost transparent bird nets to wait for their prey.

Tintin is very good at using small crossbows, slingshots, flying knives and needles.

"Brother, rest assured. If you give me three hundred people, I can solve the meat problem for one thousand people."

Tintin was very happy and immediately went there with his assistant.

Ye Kun also assigned some people to dig wild vegetables in order to save military rations.

That night, the hunting team led by Tintin brought back thirteen wild deer, as well as many rabbits, pheasants and hedgehogs.

There are also seven or eight pythons weighing hundreds of kilograms.

This girl really has some skills.

However, some northern soldiers in the army did not dare to eat snakes.

Ye Kun issued an order that everyone must not be picky about food, otherwise they would not be allowed to eat!

It should be a very happy thing to have snake meat to eat while marching in the mountains. Why are you still not satisfied?

In later generations, field armies would undergo field survival training and eat whatever they could catch, even raw food!

The hunted prey was chopped up and put together to cook porridge or rice, which actually tasted quite good.

Two days later, the weather cleared up and the food and supplies arrived.

Ye Kun gave the order to continue moving forward.

After taking down another pass, the scouts ahead reported: "Lord Ye, the plank road on Guyun Mountain was burned by the Hanzhong army. We can't move forward. We must repair the plank road."

Ye Kun went to see it in person, and found that the plank road, which was seven miles long, had been completely burned down.

Gongsun Erniang looked at it and suggested: "There are a lot of bamboos and trees here. We can use bamboo to build a simple plank road and then reinforce it after the army passes by."

Ye Kun nodded and asked the engineers to repair the plank road immediately.

The engineers worked day and night for three days before they finally completed the seven-mile plank road, allowing food and baggage carts to pass.

Ye Kun ordered a thousand vanguards to take enough dry food and lead the way forward to cover the large force behind.

The Eastern Army has received good news.

Qin Erwu advanced at a rapid speed. His 4,000 elite cavalry, divided into two groups, had already broken through Hanzhong's eastern defense line and were invading the Xunyang area.

As long as Wang Da Kui's rear troops catch up, they can immediately besiege Xunyang City.

Ye Kun was greatly encouraged and ordered a quick march to approach Nanzheng.

Zhang Mi's defense in Hanzhong was also very tight, and the army was ready for battle at the Hanzhong exit on Migang Road.

On February 25th, the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.

Ye Kun used his advantage of cannons and pulley crossbows to defeat the Hanzhong army and pursue the victory.

Two days later, they approached the city of Nanzheng.

At this point, Hanzhong County was already in Ye Kun's pocket.

Whether Zhang Bi surrendered or not, it would not change the situation of the war.

However, Ye Kun's troops also suffered heavy casualties.

The main causes of casualties were illness, landslides, falling off cliffs during the march, and combat casualties, totaling more than 2,000 casualties.

Qin Erwu and Wang Dagui's 15,000-strong army was originally intended to attack from the flank, but ended up becoming the main force, with only two to three thousand casualties.

Most areas of Hanzhong have been controlled by Ye Kun, only Nanzheng and Xunyang have become isolated cities and are tightly surrounded by Ye Kun.

Sang Buyi asked to see Ye Kun and said:

"Lord Ye, when two armies are at war, the best way is to attack the heart. Zhang Mi is already a bird in a net, a fish in water. I am willing to go and ask him to surrender the city and land."

Ye Kun pondered and said, "I have sent people to persuade him to surrender several times, but Zhang Bi is as firm as a rock. If Mr. Sang goes again, it will be useless and he may be killed by Zhang Bi, so..."

Sang Buyi insisted on his own opinion:

"We have just arrived in Hanzhong, and we must win the hearts of the people. If we attack the city directly, there will be countless casualties in Hanzhong, and the people will definitely blame Lord Ye. If Zhang Mi kills me, Lord Ye will attack the city with all his strength, and the people of Hanzhong will have nothing to say."

Han Chun nodded: "Mr. Sang's words make sense. Regardless of whether Zhang Mi is willing to surrender or not, we still have to pretend to surrender."

"Okay, I'll write a letter and ask Mr. Sang to persuade them to surrender."

Ye Kun had no choice but to agree to Sang Buyi's request and wrote a letter himself, asking him to take it to Zhang Mi.

In the letter, Ye Kun gave Zhang Bi many preferential conditions, promised to guarantee his honor, recommend him as the Taoist Grand Master, build Taoist temples in various places, allow him to move freely, provide financial support, develop Taoism, etc.

Gongsun Erniang learned about this and asked to see Ye Kun:

"Brother, I am willing to pretend to be a servant or a groom and accompany Mr. Sang to see Zhang Mi."

Ye Kun frowned: "Why are you going there, Junior Sister? One more person going there would only increase the danger."

Gongsun Erniang smiled and whispered a few words into Ye Kun's ear.

Ye Kun's eyes lit up: "Junior sister, that's a good idea. Go and prepare quickly, but be sure to pay attention to safety."