In the first year of Jian'an, Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu turned the enemy into friends and drove Yuan Shu out of Wancheng, and then Zhang Xiu stationed in Wancheng to control Nanyang. At this time, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had become the two most powerful warlords in Guandong, and Cao Cao had already held Liu Xie, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, who fled east, in his palm, and established the capital for Xuchang.

The war between Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu and Yuan Shu caused a large number of refugees in Nanyang to pour into the peaceful Zhugu area. There was no extra land behind the Zhugu defense line to resettle them. Lu Bu had to temporarily arrange them to Zancheng opposite the Han River. But this could only be a stopgap solution. Lu Bu knew that there would be many wars in Nanyang area in the future. Although Zancheng had hundreds of thousands of acres of land, they were all lands that could not guarantee long-term safety and stable production.

Under this form, Lu Bu was determined to fully attack Hanzhong. In addition to the urgent land demand, another reason [if Hanzhong is not taken down as soon as possible, it would give time to Zhang Luguang to capture a large number of refugees in Liang, Yong, Guanzhong and other places. After a long time of operation, he would probably have to pay ten times more than ten more money to attack Hanzhong.]

Taking advantage of the autumn harvest season, Lu Bu used five brigades of the Hu Ben's standing army, carrying hundreds of Viking ships, and raided the Western City to capture Xicheng, killing Zhang Lu's great priest Yang Bai. Then, Xia Yue led two thousand Hu Ben's partial army to block the river along the tributary of the Han River and defeated a small warlord who was independent in Shangyong. At this point, the three eastern counties in Hanzhong were occupied by Lu Bu. However, the real battle had just begun.

After several months of preparation, the Lu Bu army hoarded a large amount of military rations in Xicheng, mobilized six Hu Ben brigades, and more than 10,000 garrison soldiers recruited from Fangling and Zhugu as the main force of the Western Expedition Army.

...

In March of the second year of Jian'an, the water level of the Han River soared due to the spring flood. The dangerous shoals in the mountains of the past no longer existed, and the water surface became wider. More than a hundred Viking dhows sailed on the east wind and advanced against the Han River.

This is a brigade of Hu Ben led by Gao Shun, who was the pioneer. From time to time, agile figures passed by on the hillside cliffs on both sides of the river. They were the hero hunters summoned by Lu Bu.

Suddenly, the hull of a Viking ship in the front trembled violently, and then stopped. Under the action of inertia, most of the people on the ship rolled on the ground. The helmman said in confusion: "Has it stranded?" With the cooperation of the oarsmen, he barely stabilized the ship and got off the anchor. Then he jumped into the water to check.

The ships following behind also lowered the boats and moored the boats in the water. After a while, the helmman showed his head and shouted: "The river has been blocked with iron locks, and the boat can't get through!"

"Touch ahead and see how many iron chains there are like this." Gao Shun ordered. Then he opened the sheepskin map he carried with him, and the fleet passed through a section of about 20 miles of canyon river terrain, and then reached Chenggu County, the east gate of the Hanzhong Plain. He completed the mission after capturing Chenggu County.

Soon, the soldiers who investigated reported the situation, and there were no more than 30 such iron chains blocking the river. They continued until one mile away. Then, a hero hunter also reported that on the hillside two miles away in the river section ahead, Zhang Lujun set up a camp on both sides of the straits with danger. Judging from the size of the camp, there should be more than 10,000 defenders.

Gao Shun had to build a camp on the spot, confront him, and wait for the main force behind him. During the days of waiting, Gao Shun went to the other camp to challenge the camp many times, but received no response. During this period, Zhang Lujun had many night attacks on the camp, but due to the timely warning from the hero hunter, Gao Shun successfully dismantled these sneak attacks and caused heavy losses to the other party.

...

Inside Zhang Lu’s army camp.

Zhang Wei and Yang Ang were having a banquet, and Zhang Wei asked, "Brother, do you think that Lu Bu can be fooled by us?

"Unless he takes the initiative to retreat immediately, he will only fall into our trap. He must assemble heavy troops to break through our camp. At that time, our surprise soldiers will break into the Xicheng Valley, catch him off guard, and set up river blocking ropes in the water. In the preliminaries, his 20,000 troops had no access, and they were cut off from food and grass, and they could not return along the water. They could only retreat from land, and we would follow them and attack, and we would definitely defeat them in one fell swoop." Yang Ang said confidently.

"If this is true, it will not only be defeated. There are hundreds of miles of mountain roads and no food, so where can he escape? I am afraid that he will end up being wiped out by the entire army. From then on, we can even take his lair in one go, and there is still..."

"And his beautiful lady and the most beautiful BMW...hahaha."

As the two of them talked, they were immersed in the longing for plundering spoils after victory, and laughed out loud.

...

Lu Bu personally led the main force of the Western Expedition to catch up. He knew that Gao Shun was under the camp built by the other side, so he rushed over in advance.

"Lord, I am willing to be punished if I fail to complete the task." Gao Shun said ashamed.

"No, you did a good job. The choice of [camping on the spot] confrontation is very correct. You have indeed changed a lot in recent years. If it were in previous years, you would definitely attack and fight without hesitation." Lu Bu comforted him and said.

Hundreds of light crossbows lined up outside Yang Ang's camp. This was specially designed by Zhuling Workshop for the conquest of Zhang Lu. Ordinary medium-sized crossbows for the Tiger Ben Army were difficult to transport and load and unload on Viking ships.

The size of these light crossbows is relatively smaller, and can be operated with only three people. Of course, the range and power are naturally much smaller.

For example, the big orange stone bombs and the explosive bombs shot towards Yang Ang's camp. The only smoke filled the fire, the flames rose, and the stones were broken and the wood was broken. However, except for the wounding and killing some soldiers, it did not constitute effective damage to the main body of the camp built with large stones and giant trees.

Zhang and Yang had long heard of the power of Lu Bu's crossbows. When building the camp, they specially selected Qiang people who were good at stone construction to build the camp. It was extremely sturdy. Moreover, the wooden products were poured with water, which was always kept damp to prevent being ignited by fire.

Yang Ang ran out of the camp and hid in the bunker with ordinary soldiers, listening to the crackling sounds. He cursed in his heart: "His grandma, he is always going to fight in my camp and won't give Zhang Wei any more."

After the bombardment of the crossbow, Lu Bu ordered nearly a thousand garrison soldiers to conduct an attempt to attack, each wearing two layers of armor, wearing large shields, and using tools to try to flip through the barriers, but soon lost. Dozens of casualties were killed and killed. Lu Bu's good luck paused the attack.

At night, Yang Ang crossed the river and came to Zhang Ren's camp.

"General, we can start. I think Lu Bu has pulled all the main forces of Xicheng over." He said to Zhang Wei.

"Then let's start, our five-dou rice road has a rise and fall in this way." Zhang Wei said as he tightened his fists as if he had made up his mind.

One after another, a very special sound of arrows and arrows spread from east to west in the mountains and forests. Lu Bu, who was closing his eyes and pondering, also heard this sound.

Gao Shun broke in and said to Lu Bu: "Lord, it seems that the enemy will pass on what model to our rear. You must be careful."
Chapter completed!