309 AD.

In the third year of Yongjia, July, and late summer.

Liu Yu appointed his brother Liu Yi as the general of Zhendong, and Hua Xiu was the agent of government affairs for Qingzhou. The two of them stayed in Linzi and led 30,000 troops through Wumen County in Jibei County and entered Yanzhou.

When Liu Yu led his army to cross the Ji River, which had already dried up due to the drought, and entered the territory of Dongping, Yanzhou, and was only more than 100 miles away from the target Juancheng, the scouts in front received returns and encountered several large groups of refugees in front.

These people were all people from the northern counties of Yanzhou. During the tug-of-war between the Jin army and the bandits and barbarians, they all had to leave their homes and flee.

Liu Yu personally led a few guards to meet him, wanting to find out the situation ahead.

Sure enough, Liu Yu, more than a dozen people walked less than a few miles and encountered a large group of people coming from the south.

These refugees had long seen more than a dozen cavalrymen appearing in front of them. They thought they were suddenly appearing, but soon they realized that these cavalry did not seem to be hostile to harass them.

Several heroes and handsome men among the refugees plucked up their courage and greeted Liu Yu and the others.

When they learned that Liu Yu's horse-riding warriors were reinforcements from Qingzhou, they were surprised in their originally vigilant and fearful eyes.

"Ah, are you the Qingzhou soldiers who defeated the Hulu in Licheng?"

"How many people have you Qingzhou soldiers come? Can you drive away the Hulu bandits?"

"I heard that Qingzhou Governor Liu Jixing, who was brave and defeated Xiao Gou and Wang Mi in a row, would he come here in person this time?"

When they heard that it was the Qingzhou soldiers who had defeated Wang Mishile before, the fleeing Yanzhou people all heard it excitedly.

Seeing that these Yanzhou people who had never met had such high expectations for the Qingzhou army, the guards around Liu Yu straightened their backs and looked proud all over.

If it weren't for the complexity of these refugees in Yanzhou, if someone suddenly launched a sneak attack, a few of the fast-punished guards would have wanted to tell Liu Yu's identity long ago.

Liu Yu answered these questions one by one with a happy expression.

"Yes, we are the Qingzhou soldiers who defeated the Hulu in Licheng. The heads of the Hulu we killed are still hanging in Licheng."

"This time it was Liu Qingzhou who personally led the army."

Immediately, Liu Yu asked them about the news ahead.

These refugee coaches shook their heads and sighed.

"The official army in Yanzhou is all filthy. Since the Wang and the second thieves of Shi entered Yanzhou, they have never won a battle, which has caused us ordinary people to have a home to go back."

"That is, these official troops not only cannot defeat the thieves, but are also experts in plundering good people. My family has not even seen the barbarian bandits, so they were looted by the official troops from Rencheng Kingdom."

"These things that don't have children will sooner or later fill in the lives of the ravines."

Several refugee commanders all shouted at the Yanzhou officers and soldiers, which was much beyond Liu Yu's expectations.

Liu Yu knew that Yanzhou has been taken away by Gou Xi and Sima Yue, and the soldiers in his hands of Yanzhou Governor Yuan Fu are probably all inferior in combat power and military discipline.

However, Liu Yu was surprised that these refugee commanders dared to scold the Yanzhou army in front of the Qingzhou army, which was also an officer and a soldier.

Liu Yu asked this question curiously.

It turns out that in the eyes of these Yanzhou people, the Qingzhou government troops are very different from the Yanzhou government troops.

The current official army in Yanzhou is either a military military soldier or a newly recruited militia. If you don’t become a military soldier, you will be a reserve for bandits.

And they all knew that the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army all had military households that occupied the fields, and had better conditions than ordinary households and good families, which was different from the Yanzhou official army.

Liu Yu couldn't help but feel a little proud. It seemed that the Qingzhou Army had a good reputation.

He inquired about the situation in Juancheng again, but found that the situation was not very good.

"Alas, Juancheng is now besieged. I heard that there are at least 100,000 thieves who are besieging the city."

"Pure nonsense, there may not be 100,000 people in the entire Juancheng. Where did these bandits come from 100,000 people?"

The refuted person refuted anxiously.

"I'm talking nonsense. Wang Mi had 30,000 bandit soldiers, Shi Le had 30,000 bandit soldiers, and Liu Ling from Wei County had more than 30,000 people. Why not 100,000?"

"What, Liu Ling is here too?" Liu Yu asked in surprise.

"Yes, the Yellow River has already dried up. I heard that it came a few days ago. Judging from this situation, these barbarian bandits are bound to win against Juancheng."

"There is the largest arsenal in Yanzhou in Juancheng, and I'm afraid these thieves are just for this."

What is the reason why Wang Mi, Shi Le and Liu Ling attach so much importance to Juancheng? Liu Yu actually doesn't care much about it. No matter what it is, he will always stop them from seizing Juancheng, the largest city in Yanzhou.

However, Liu Yu did not expect that Liu Ling would be attacked and killed by the Jin army in his original history. In Liu Yu's time and space, he was like an indestructible young strongman. He was just defeated by the Xianbei cavalry under Wang Mi, and now he has pulled up tens of thousands of people.

Liu Yu then asked where these refugees planned to migrate.

"Let's go to Jibei County first. If the situation is not good, then go to Qingzhou or Youzhou."

"Hey, even if your Qingzhou army beat these bandits away this time, we would not dare to go back. The four battles in Yanzhou may not have a peaceful life in the future."

After telling these refugee coaches about the land that they could get if they were in Qingzhou, Liu Yu continued to set out.

I met several refugees in succession and got almost the same information.

These refugees said that most of the bandits of Kings, Shi and Liu now stopped looting the surroundings and turned to besiege Juancheng with all their might.

Many of these refugees took out their lives from the people who besieged Juancheng, and their words were also more credible.

Unfortunately, many of them did not have a clear understanding of the three bandits and were not sure what the specific number of troops these bandits were.

The next day, Liu Yu led his army to Dongpingze.

In later generations, Dongping County was named Jiangbei Water City, because the changes in waterways for thousands of years have reduced many rivers and lakes.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, there were even more rivers here, and there was also a large lake swamp area that had long been gone in later generations. The name was Dongpingze at this time.

It is also because of the obstacles of this big lake with a radius of nearly a hundred miles that the refugees I met yesterday were not too panicked.

Although the severe drought in the north in Yongjia for three years caused the Ji River to dry up and the Yellow River flow downstream, Dongpingze still had a large amount of water. Even in places where there was no water, it formed a large squatter of swamps, which was impossible to pass through.

As long as you follow the road close to the Jishui River and bypass this Dongpingze, you will directly enter the Yanzhou Heji Plain. You can reach Juancheng in just one day.

Therefore, Liu Yu led his army to repair it for a day.

When all 20,000 Qingzhou troops bypassed Dongpingze.

Liu Yu personally served as the vanguard, led two thousand elite troops and arrived in Fan County, Yanzhou first.

When they arrived, they happened to encounter thousands of barbarians who came here to plunder food and grass and besiege Fan County.

When these barbarian bandits who bully the weak and fear the strong saw the Qingzhou vanguard, they thought they were Yanzhou soldiers from Taishan County or Rencheng Kingdom, and wanted to go forward and bully them.

However, as soon as the battle broke out, the bandits discovered something was wrong.

These Jin troops were not afraid of the cavalry and shooting of these Hu cavalrymen, but instead used archers and crossbows to fight back. Soon, the Hu cavalry suffered a great loss.

This small victory in the battle caused the civilians and soldiers at the head of Fan County to cheer.

Some of the sharp-eyed barbarians saw that these Jin troops were not easy to mess with, so they suggested that they wanted to retreat.

However, some barbarians and bandits were reluctant to abandon the looted population, food and wealth, and did not retreat so easily.

Soon, these Huhu cavalry planned to take advantage of the Jin army's infantry coming from afar and take the lead in launching a cavalry attack.

If it were an ordinary scumbag, when facing the attacks of thousands of magnificent cavalrymen, they would probably not even have the courage to stand up.

However, Liu Yu and other elite soldiers had long stopped taking these armourless cavalry.

In less than half an hour, these barbarian cavalry threw down all the robbed goods and population and ran away. With them, the bodies of more than 200 cavalrymen were left behind.

Looking at the distance, the barbarian cavalry who soon ran away, Liu Yu couldn't help but think resentfully that if he had cavalry, he wouldn't be afraid that these barbarians would escape so easily.

When he saw the sudden appearance of Jin army easily killing the barbarians and rescuing the looted men and women, the soldiers and husbands at the head of Fan County shouted happily, feeling that they had escaped from death.

Liu Yu soon sent someone to the city gate and asked County Magistrate Fan in the city to come out and answer.

"We are the Qingzhou Army. General Zhendong personally led a large army to rescue Juancheng, and quickly let County Magistrate Fan come out and reply."

The Qingzhou Army soldier was roaming under the city, shouting loudly at the top of the city.

However, everyone on the top of the city looked at each other. After a while, they did not see County Magistrate Fan, or someone answered the County Magistrate.

Finally, after the Qingzhou soldier shouted again, someone finally replied on the top of the city.

"This brother from Qingzhou, the county magistrate of Fan County had already run away yesterday, and there is no chief official in the city now."

When Liu Yu heard this, he frowned. He was still very concerned about his reputation during the Western Jin Dynasty. An official like the county magistrate of Fan County who left the city and fled was also a cruel person.

"Tell him, then let them lead the way."

Soon, a leading military general in Fan County responded.

When he learned that Liu Yu and the others were going to the city to repair overnight, the small military general expressed in a difficult face that the two gates of Fan County had been blocked with rocks and could not be opened for a while. If they were cleaned up, they would probably have to wait until dark to finish.

When Liu Yu heard this, he knew that the Fan County defenders were so ridiculous. If he hadn't arrived in time, the barbarian bandits would have really been able to break through the city.

Since that's the case, after asking for some supplies from the city, Liu Yu directly camped outside the city and waited for the subsequent large troops to arrive.

The thousands of people who were rescued from the barbarians happened to become laborers to set up camps.

Two bandits were captured in this battle, and Liu Yu also took advantage of this to interrogate.

At the beginning, the two bandits dressed in Hu people looked fearless and ignored Liu Yu's questions.

Liu Yu's guards didn't say anything nonsense, escaped and immediately cut off a Hu man's nose.
To be continued...