Du Fu ordered Wang Ping to take Zhang Wei's head to Hanchang to persuade Yang Ren to surrender. He left Li Hei to guard Xuanhan and took 5,000 elite troops to rush to Dangqu.
Xiduo was eagerly waiting for reinforcements, but unexpectedly, what he received were the corpses of King Ba and the witch god. He was horrified. At this time, the Seven Clans had already been scattered and were no match for Zhang He.
Du Fu was not in a hurry to fight for the throne of King of Ba, but discussed with other leaders. Liu Qi came to attack Zhang Wei, and now that Zhang Wei was killed, the people of Ba also made a contribution. Whether to surrender to Liu Qi was also in line with the ancestral teachings of the Ba people.
Xiduo and a few remnants had already been frightened by Liu Qi's killing and were hesitant. Within two or three months, the tribesmen clamored to break out. Du Fu pretended to be angry and was about to lead his troops away.
Although the seven families were jealous of Pu Hu, they found that there was no one who could take charge of important matters after his death. Pu Hu's death was inexplicable, so Xiduo dared not be the first to speak out, so he had to compromise with Du Fu.
Du Fu immediately sent someone to see Liu Qi, and at the same time, he brought back Pu Yang to mourn his father, transferred Li Hu to lead the troops to guard Hutou Pass, and secretly contacted Zhang He.
While the Ba people were reorganizing themselves, Yang Ren was still in Hanchang desperately awaiting reinforcements. The armies of Liu Zhang and Liu Qi were approaching, and the people in the city were in a panic. Not to mention the original defenders, even the old subordinates who followed them were deserting.
Pang Xi sent 8,000 elite soldiers from the south, with Pang Le and Li Yi as generals. They were old rivals who had fought for many years. The troops were mainly Qiang people who were recruited at a high price and had strong combat power.
The eastern route was led by Zhang Fei, the Jingzhou soldiers. Regardless of their strength, just Zhang Fei's name was enough to make Yang Ren tremble with fear and unable to sleep at night.
It had been raining for days, and Zhang Fei was feeling bored. But then he saw Pang Tong coming into the tent with a group of people. He said with a smile, "Bazhong can be conquered!"
Zhang Fei looked at the man and saw that he was young and dusty. He asked anxiously, "Could it be that the eldest master sent someone to deliver a message?"
Pang Tong smiled and said, "It is true if you say so, but it is also false if you say so."
Zhang Fei's eyes widened: "Why do you need people?"
The man clasped his fists and said, "I am Wang Ping, and I am here to see the general on the orders of the Marquis of Xiongyi. I have a plan for General Liu to offer."
Zhang Fei was confused after hearing this. Pang Tong asked Wang Ping to sit down and told him all of Liu Qi's plans. Now the two major opposition forces in Bazhong, Zhang Wei and Pu Hu, had been destroyed.
Wang Ping rushed to Hanchang with Zhang Wei's head, but did not go to persuade Yang Ren to surrender. Instead, he came to see Zhang Fei first to discuss the matter of taking Hanchang.
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Young Master, you have eliminated these two troubles without any soldiers. You are really amazing. I will kill Yang Ren right now."
Pang Tong said: "Zhang Wei is dead, Yang Ren is no longer a concern, and taking Hanchang is easy. It is important to plan to take Langzhong first."
"What the military advisor said is absolutely right. If we take Hanchang and Pang Xi withdraws his troops, I won't be able to go to Langzhong anymore!" Zhang Fei suddenly realized and scratched his head, "But Pang Xi is a very slick old villain. He does things without any loopholes. It's not easy to find an excuse to start a war."
Pang Tong first looked at Wang Ping and asked, "Pang Xi and Zhang Lu have fought for many years. Since the Ba people respect Zhang Lu as their master, why can Pang Xi recruit Qiang people to serve him?"
Wang Ping sighed, "The quality of plants and trees varies, the Han people are like this, and the Ba people are like this. For hundreds of years, the Qiang tribe has been oppressed by the Seven Surnames, so many people have taken risks and gone out to rob. Countless people have become bandits. Most of the people recruited by Pang Xi are desperate criminals, some are greedy for money, and some are fugitives punished by various tribes."
Pang Tong nodded and said, "Since he is not an ordinary Qiang citizen and has committed many evil deeds, it is not a pity to kill him."
Wang Ping said in a deep voice: "Yes, they have long disregarded the feelings of their own people and have been fighting for many years. They don't know that their own people have died under their swords. They deserved to die."
"That's easy!" Pang Tong looked at Zhang Fei with a smile and said, "It's better to let the credit for killing Yang Ren go to the Brazilian army."
Zhang Fei was dissatisfied and asked, "Why?"
Pang Tong laughed and said, "This is bait!"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Then please let the military advisor make the arrangements and I will follow your advice."
Following Liu Qi's instructions, Pang Tong temporarily left Wang Ping in the army and followed Zhang Fei to lead the troops. He sent someone to convey a message to Fa Zheng, agreeing to capture Hanchang.
In the evening, the road was still muddy. Zhang Fei and Gan Ning divided their troops into two groups and rushed to the city of Hanchang, demanding that Yang Ren leave the city and surrender.
Yang Ren was shocked and came to the east gate, where he saw a black-faced general with a body like an iron tower, a swallow-like chin and a tiger-like beard, a voice like thunder, and a human head hanging on his eight-foot-long snake spear.
Zhang Fei stepped forward and shouted, "Yang Ren, I have beheaded Zhang Wei, and the people of Ba have surrendered to Liu. Why don't you open the city and surrender?"
Seeing the defenders on both sides were shocked, Yang Ren sneered and said, "Zhang Fei, don't use a fake head to confuse our army. King Hanning has divine help and is immortal. How can he be killed by you?"
"You bastard, I don't think you'll cry until you see the coffin!" Zhang Fei was furious. He raised his snake spear and threw the head far over the top of the city wall. "Open your dog eyes and see clearly!"
With a bang, the man's head hit the city wall. Although the wound had turned white due to the rain and was half broken, it was Zhang Wei who was clearly visible in his features. The defenders were all shocked.
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "You are desperate. General Liu is magnanimous and considers that you have been deceived by Zhang Wei. If you surrender, I will forgive you. If you refuse to change your ways, I will kill you in the city without leaving a single piece of armor behind."
Yang Ren's face changed drastically. He ordered the garrison to guard the city gate and called several confidants to the government office to discuss countermeasures. Without Zhang Wei and the Ba people, Hanchang would be difficult to defend and they must find a way to escape.
Zhang Fei and Gan Ning ordered the soldiers to shout and persuade them to surrender. The reward for taking Yang Ren's head would be 500 yuan, and the reward for capturing Yang Ren alive would be 1,000 yuan. This caused an uproar in the city and people were in panic.
At this time, Yang Ren felt that everyone's eyes were full of ill intentions, as if they were secretly glancing at his neck. He hid in his house and dared not go out. He did not allow anyone to bring him dinner and sat alone until dark.
When the government office became quiet, Yang Ren called his confidants together, and they all went to the west gate, opened the city gate, and walked westward.
When the defenders saw Yang Ren escape, they also fled. When the news spread, there was an uproar in the city. The defenders fled in all directions, and some took the opportunity to rob, burn and kill, with screams everywhere.
Zhang Fei stationed troops outside the east gate and waited. Sure enough, someone soon opened the city gate and surrendered voluntarily. He immediately led his troops into the city, sent people to maintain order, and killed all the rioters.
Yang Ren escaped from the west gate and just reached the Nanjiang River, looking for a boat to cross the river, when suddenly an ambush appeared and fired arrows at him, killing more than a dozen people.
It turned out that Fa Zheng got the news about Pang Tong and ordered Li Yi to lead troops to ambush here. As expected, they caught him red-handed. Everyone was overjoyed and wanted to cut off his head and take it back.
Li Yi was leading the Qiang people. Pang Xi did not dare to restrain these desperate criminals too much. Their military discipline had always been lax and they were notorious in Baxi. They also rewarded people based on the number of heads killed. In their eyes, they only cared about interests and had no loyalty at all.
Everyone happily returned to the camp to report, but found that the camp had been moved. Then they learned that Zhang Fei had already taken Hanchang and Fa Zheng had led his troops into the city to discuss matters.
Li Yi came to Hanchang excitedly. Everyone was discussing how much of the bounty they could share. They wanted to get drunk tonight. But when he arrived at the city gate, he was turned away and refused entry by the defenders.
Everyone was like a bucket of cold water was poured on their heads, and they were furious. I led the troops from thousands of miles away to help in the battle, kill the enemy and make meritorious service, but you didn't even wait and left us outside the city to starve
The defenders went to report, but received no reply for nearly half an hour. The Qiang soldiers were used to being arrogant and had lost their patience. More than a dozen of them rushed towards the city gate in a rage.
The defenders did not dare to shoot arrows and could only shout loudly. The Qiang people rushed to the city gate, pushed it open, and rushed straight in.