Zhang Lu paused and glanced at everyone. A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he slowly said, "But Zhou Yu was too timid! He didn't say anything about controlling the court. We were content with preaching and had no intention of expanding, and there was no threat to him at all! In his eyes, I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of my church members would be regarded as an alien! I can't bear it! Even if I use all the power of Hanzhong, I will fight him to the end!"

Zhang Lu's tone is certain, and it is hard to say anything, including Yan Pu. Zhang Lu ordered on the spot to send Zhang Wei. Zhang Xiu's troops were sent immediately to send troops from Nanzheng to rescue Sanguan at night. Ma Chao was brave and the guards there were already very tight. Once these 20,000 troops moved, the guards near Nanzheng would not exceed 5,000. If Zhang Lu knew that Xu Huang's troops had already walked out of the Ziwu Valley, which was in danger of being approaching Nanzheng, he would probably not have made this decision!

Sanguan.

The defending general Yang Ang and Lu Su and Ma Chao had fought several times, but it was hard to defeat the brave Jin Ma Chao. Even his vanguard officer Pang De was also an outstanding martial artsman. He picked up three subordinates of Yang Ang, which forced Yang Ang to stay behind closed doors.

Among the Lusu army, many were private soldiers of aristocratic families in Guanzhong. According to the new dynasty's laws, these aristocratic families could not raise more than a hundred private soldiers. Under the shock of Lusu's force, these aristocratic families simply made a favor and sent the excess private soldiers into Lusu's military camps, and successfully dismissed them in the name of serving the country.

Therefore, the total strength of the troops under Lu Su accumulated in front of Sanguan exceeded 40,000.

No matter how you humiliate and scold each other, Yang Ang just can't defend it. Facing the steep Sanguan, Lu Su knew that there would be a large casualties. Fortunately, there were Ma Jun's disciples in the army, who got the true teachings and used the baggage he carried and the trees on both sides of the road to quickly equipped the siege vehicles, well railings, and catapults. The main force of the new recruits in Guanzhong launched a tide-like attack.

After the attack of a few days, Lu Su's face sank slightly, and his heart was even more painful. With the advantageous siege equipment, there were still nearly a thousand casualties! The defenders at San Pass were not much better. Even with the natural advantageous steep terrain, they also suffered thousands of casualties! More than half of them died at the hands of archers on the well railings.

Lu Su was concerned about Xu Huang and his party who were trekking through Ziwu Valley. He also knew that the more fierce and fierce the battle here in Sanguan, the more it would attract Zhang Lu's reinforcements. Yangping Pass, as the second dangerous pass, would not send troops. If Zhang Lu was tempted by Nanzheng, transferred his most confidant troops out, it would give Xu Huang an excellent opportunity!

Love for soldiers is the characteristic of every excellent commander. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, Lu Su recruited many nearby civilians and built more siege tools day and night. When more and more wells stood outside Sanguan City, the crossbowmen of the Jiangdong Army were condescending, accurately shooting the guards at the pass. They also launched rockets from time to time to ignite the houses and tiles inside the pass. The guards had to spend their energy to put out the fire.

Yang Ang couldn't stand it! The most effective way to deal with the well railing is to send light cavalry out of the city to counterattack, smash the well railing with a skin filled with tinder oil. Then use a rocket or torch to ignite the fire and completely burn it.

As the gate of Sanguan opened, nearly a hundred light cavalrymen who had fought outside the city were blazing their bows and arrows. They had just burned one or two well railings, and the sound of rumbling horse hooves came from the distance. People and horses, armored heavy cavalry in heavy armor, rushed from a distance like ghosts. The fierce murderous aura suddenly filled the not-wide road in front of Sanguan.

The result of heavy cavalry vs. light cavalry is self-evident. With the precise cavalry of the elite cavalry in Xiliang, nearly 100 light cavalry who came out of the pass were wiped out! Hanzhong was short of horses, and all the cavalry had no more than 2,000 people in total, and there were only 200 cavalry in Sanguan. Now half of the loss was suddenly awkward, which made Yang Ang heartbroken and never dared to counterattack easily again.

Yang Ang is worthy of being the number one general under Zhang Lu. He has rich experience in the formation. Seeing this, he quickly made many wooden shields, about four or five times the size of an ordinary shield, which can protect two or three people. Before the Jiangdong Army attacked, the soldiers guarding the city shrank into the battlements to avoid arrows. When the Jiangdong Army infantry set up a cloud ladder to attack the city, the soldiers guarding the city were divided into many groups, using large wooden shields to protect their bodies. The rest could roll wood, stone, and turbulent, and other cities to attack the enemy who climbed up.

The two armies fought at Sanguan for seven or eight days. There were less than half of the defenders in the pass, and most of them were injured. They were about to be unable to hold on. Zhang Wei and Zhang Xuan led 20,000 elite troops to arrive in time!

However, Yang Ang was not happy for long. Two or three days later, a bolt from the blue came, causing everyone to feel distracted. Nan Zheng lost! The lord Zhang Lu was captured!

Nanzheng City, in Zhang Lu's mansion.

Zhang Lu sat upright in the side room without any damage, wearing a neat Taoist robe, a refreshing bun, and a slightly kind face. Everything was as usual, and only the occasional anxious gaze flashed by, confirming that his mood was not as bright as a bright one.

After Xu Huang led his troops to capture Nanzheng City with lightning speed, he treated Zhang Lu with courtesy and did not violate the people of Nanzheng, which surprised Zhang Lu quite. According to his understanding, the court was very wary of the Five Doks of Rice, and most of the Hanzhong people were their followers, and the court might also take heavy measures, otherwise it would not be able to control the situation in Hanzhong in the future.

Xu Huang's move was definitely not something that he did, but what the court thought. This made Zhang Lu see a faint glimmer of hope in the frustration of being captured. Perhaps, there is still room for continued survival in the Five Doks of Rice Road?

For Zhang Lu, since his grandfather founded the Five Dogs of Rice Dao, the entire family treated the Five Dogs of Rice Dao as a lifelong career. After entrenching in Hanzhong and establishing a regime that integrates politics and religion, Zhang Lu's identity was first of all the heavenly master of the Five Dogs of Rice Dao, and secondly, the lord of many civil and military officials and generals. Promoting the Five Dogs of Rice Dao is far more important than separatist kings. Therefore, some subordinates once advised Zhang Lu to advance as King Hanzhong, but were rejected by Zhang Lu.

The door of the side room was opened with a creaking sound, and Xu Huang entered with a high voice. The person behind him was Yang Song. Zhang Lu sighed in his heart. Looking at his expression, Yang Song said that he had surrendered.

The Yang family is the largest clan in Hanzhong. Yang Song is one of the leaders of the Yang family. In addition, his younger brother Yang Bo holds military power. Yang Ang and Yang Ren are both generals who command the troops. Therefore, Yang Song can be said to be the first to call the wind and rain in Hanzhong, with great energy and is the second-ranked second only to Zhang Lu.

However, Yang Song was not very good. Although he was a little wise and greedy for money and forgetting his righteousness when he saw profit, he was fatal weakness. Before the Jiangdong army arrived, he was blocked from Sanguan. He encouraged Zhang Lu to gather troops and resist the enemy outside the country. Once Xu Huang succeeded in the sneak attack on Nanzheng, for his own life, after receiving Xu Huang's guarantee and seeing Lu Su's handwritten letter, he came to be a lobbyist.
Chapter completed!