Chapter 562: Chang'an

Xuande let the people of Xinye, Xiangyang, and Fancheng withdraw. He did not blame Bai Lang for being too ruthless in killing almost all the Jingzhou scholars in one go, and even killing Liu Biao's young son, Liu Cong. When Xuande withdrew the people, he had Zhao Zilong and Guan Yunchang escort them, while Bai Lang took the initiative to ask to raid the Cao army. Bai Lang and ZhangFei took turns raiding, each leading their own elite cavalry to forcefully attack the Cao army, delaying the time for the Cao army to reach Xiangyang.

Of course, it was also to prevent the Cao army from splitting their troops to harass the people withdrawing in the rear. CaoCao's five hundred thousand-strong army faced Xiangyang and Fancheng directly, and also fell into the dilemma of attacking the city. Xiangyang and Fancheng formed a pincer position, using the Han River as a moat. If it weren't for Liu Cong surrendering the city, CaoCao would have had no chance of entering Xiangyang at all. Now he had been beaten out by Bai Lang's raid... If CaoCao occupied Xiangyang and Fancheng, then going downstream, not to mention Xuande, even Jiangdong would be in danger.

Although there were only forty thousand defenders in Xiangyang and Fancheng now, GuanYu had a lot of naval forces in his hands, while CaoCao had no naval forces. Bai Lang suggested at this time, "Send another division into Sili, and go straight to Chang'an." The implication was that Bai Lang was willing to lead another army to attack Chang'an. By then, after taking Chang'an and going through Han Zhong, and Xuande going through the waterway into Shu, the world would be divided into three.

However, the primary goal was not to lose Xiangyang. Only by not losing Xiangyang and repelling CaoCao could they preserve Jingzhou as a foundation. CaoCao also knew this, so he was trying to build a naval force. Since Bai Lang killed the Cai family, the Jingzhou naval force had been reorganized under GuanYu's command. If Guan Er, this half-baked naval commander, led them, Bai Lang felt it would be better to find someone from Jingzhou who could fight naval battles to manage it.

But wasn't there no one trustworthy in Jingzhou at the moment...

Kongming was the world's number one military advisor. You couldn't ask him to command naval battles either. However, he agreed with Bai Lang's proposal to lead an army along the Han River, enter the Guanzhong from Shangyong, take Chang'an, and shake Cao's Bingzhou and Yanzhou. "If you want to do this, only Bai Yuzhu can be used." Bai Lang could take several civil administration talents, such as the remaining scholars of Jingzhou, to go together, which would also make it easier for Liu Xuande to win back the hearts of the people of Jingzhou.

Bai Lang was granted one thousand cavalry, and three thousand infantry were led by Wen Ping, along with more than ten Jingzhou scholars as advisors. Bai Lang secretly led the army to leave Xiangyang, traveling one hundred miles a day and night along the Han River, shaking off the possible spying of the Cao army. Bai Lang led the army across Shangyong and directly entered the Sili Department. In front of him was the pass guarded by the Cao army. Bai Lang ordered the soldiers to sneak in, selected five hundred brave men, and reached the pass under the cover of night. With a roar, they suddenly used flying claws to climb up and attack the city.

Bai Lang rotated his arms and pointed his toes several times, and in the blink of an eye, he climbed onto the city wall. At this time, the Cao soldiers were still shocked by his roar and hadn't had time to react. After climbing up, Bai Lang directly drew his ring-headed sword and hacked, fiercely slaughtering the soldiers on the city wall and constantly charging downward to open the pass gate. There was a Wengcheng here, so after Bai Lang captured one city gate, he had to forcefully attack the second one. This time, he couldn't sneak attack.

After a fierce battle all night, with Bai Lang's steel-like bones and copper-like arms, he inevitably suffered injuries, but he finally captured the pass, allowing his army to enter. After resting for two days, Bai Lang hurried like a spark, beheading the Cao army scouts who were spying on the news along the way, and reached the foot of Chang'an City in seven days. "Chang'an..." Bai Lang sighed. At this time, although Chang'an had been repaired, it could not yet be called a majestic city.

The city wall had many gaps, and there didn't seem to be many residents in the city. However, there were one hundred thousand strong troops of the Cao army here, and several top generals such as Xiahou Yuan were stationed here. Bai Lang pressed straight to the foot of the city, and was too lazy to challenge or build siege weapons. At this time, Bai Lang was at his peak in the world, and he roared like a giant tiger, crashing through the Chang'an city gate, and half of the Wengcheng behind it was also collapsed. Such power could not be blocked by the world, and Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to lead the generals to besiege Bai Lang.

Bai Lang rotated his long spear, taking on the siege of the generals, but after only a few bouts, he had already stabbed one person off his horse. After fighting for less than twenty bouts, Xiahou Yuan was already exhausted and could no longer fight. Bai Lang slowed down his hand, and Xiahou Yuan led the others to retreat. This retreat was the movement of one hundred thousand troops, clattering out of Chang'an City. Bai Lang only took his three hundred personal guards to pursue, directly forcing Xiahou Yuan out of Tongguan. Afterward, Bai Lang handed over all civil and military affairs to the civil and military officials who came with him, and he himself just waited for the subsequent troops to send his family over.

After stabilizing the defense of Chang'an City, Bai Lang saw that his family hadn't arrived and he hadn't received news from Xiangyang City, so he immediately led three hundred cavalry out of the city to start sweeping the Sili Department, striving to drive out the Cao army while opening the road to Han Zhong, at least to walk the road from Sili to Zhang Lu in Han Zhong in the future. Sure enough, Bai Lang, who was known as the three thousand cavalry who never lost a battle and the three hundred cavalry who never lost a battle, was invincible. The Cao army still occupied several cities in Sili, but Bai Lang broke everything he hit.

It had long been said that Bai Lang had the bravery of the Overlord, and now it was just that the whole world recognized it. However, the Overlord could lead one hundred thousand troops to roam the world, while Bai Lang could only lead a thousand cavalry. The Cao army could not hold the cities, and Bai Lang flew back and forth. The Cao army's morale was lost, and coupled with the fact that Xuande's reinforcements constantly tried to attack the city after occupying Chang'an, the Cao army finally had to withdraw from the Sili Department and hold the pass to preserve the hope of making a comeback in the future.

After Bai Lang captured Chang'an, it greatly disrupted CaoCao's steps. LiuBei subsequently transported less than three thousand reinforcements to Bai Lang, but sent many old guards who followed Liu Xuande and some scholars, letting them establish order in Guanzhong and recruit soldiers, and appointed Bai Lang as the Sili Colonel. Gao Shun was also sent to Chang'an to share the two armies with Wen Ping. However, within ten days, the Xuande army in Guanzhong had expanded to more than ten thousand people.

After handing over the political and military affairs, the only thing Bai Lang paid attention to was the Cao army's offensive in the direction of Xiangyang. CaoCao was already unable to continue. Five hundred thousand people were indeed many, but without a naval force, they were all useless and could not capture Xiangyang and Fancheng at all. And Bai Lang's capture of Sili was invincible, and Xiahou Yuan's one hundred thousand-strong army being driven out of Guanzhong was also dangerous. "With one hundred thousand troops, he was unable to counterattack? Yuzhu's bravery is indeed comparable to the Overlord." CaoCao also sighed.

Now it was a chicken rib. There was no hope in Jingzhou. He could only plan slowly after occupying the geographical advantage. At present, it was the right thing to return to Xuchang to reorganize the army and enter Guanzhong to take back the Sili Department. Otherwise, when going south to take Jingzhou, LiuBei's army in the Sili Department would go east to attack Bingzhou and Yanzhou, which would be difficult to handle. Therefore, LiuBei's army must be limited to one direction. Although Bai Lang in the Sili Department had few troops, he had the ability to attack, while Liu Xuande in Jingzhou had many troops but should be difficult to go north to fight for a period of time.

Competing with CaoCao in the Jingxiang area was not the strategic plan Kongming had made for Liu Xuande before. Now that he had taken the Sili Department, the entire strategy had to be redone. But no matter what, it was difficult to fight against CaoCao, who had four provinces, relying on most of Jingzhou and the broken Guanzhong. "So Kongming will probably still enter Shu and take Han Zhong as the rear..." Bai Lang said. ===== CHAPTER 563 =====