Yan Yan laughed angrily and decided not to put out the fire. He stroked his beard and said sarcastically, "I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be a treacherous villain who betrayed his master many times. A shameless scoundrel like you who said such a confusing statement, I am too lazy to argue with you."
Zhang He looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, saying, "Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I have led an army to fight against the rebellion, to eliminate violence for the country, and to serve the court. I am a minister of the Han Dynasty and have never betrayed my loyalty. How can I talk about betraying my master?"
Yan Yan cursed: "You first served Han Fu, then surrendered to Yuan Shao, and then surrendered to Cao Cao. Now you are willing to be Liu Qi's lackey. You have changed your master four times. This is unprecedented in history. How dare you still have the nerve to live in this world? I have never seen such a shameless person!"
Zhang He's eyes were slightly stern, but he was not angry. He asked in a deep voice: "Old man, this Han Dynasty, is it named Han, Yuan, or Cao?"
Yan Yan sneered and said, "Emperor Gaozu killed the snake and opened the business. The mandate of heaven should belong to the Liu family. What does this have to do with you?"
Zhang He bowed to the north and said in a loud voice: "Han Shishi is a doorman of Yuan family. He gave way to Lord Yuan. I followed his orders. What's wrong? Although Lord Yuan was the leader of the anti-Dong alliance, he did not know how to use people. He was alienated by villains and had to join another wise leader. In the past, Lord Cao welcomed the emperor and obeyed the edict to fight against the rebellion. He was the popular choice. Who would have thought that his ambitions expanded. Although he was called the prime minister of Han, he was already a traitor to Han! I heard that General Liu wanted to revive the Han Dynasty and uphold justice, and he also abandoned the dark and joined the light. I asked myself that I have always been loyal to the Han Dynasty, not to a certain prince. The rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every man. I am willing to sacrifice my life to support the court and never forget my original intention. That's all!"
"What a great way to not forget your original intention, what a high-sounding rhetoric!" Yan Yan shook his head and sneered, "It seems that the people of Hebei are good at talking nonsense and confusing right and wrong."
"Old bastard!" Zhang He was furious, pointing at Yan Yan and cursing, "Your lord Liu Zhang, as a royal noble, cannot save the emperor and eliminate violence to revive the Han Dynasty, and cannot protect the land and the people. You should let the position be passed to a virtuous person, and reorganize the government and eliminate the usurpation! The old thief does not understand the general situation and repeatedly prevents us from supporting the Han Dynasty. Are the people of Xichuan all frogs in the well?"
Yan Yan laughed loudly and said, "Little Zhang He, I will let you know today that there are only beheaded generals in Xichuan, and no surrendered generals. How can you, an opportunist, understand our loyalty and righteousness?"
Zhang He shook his head and sighed, "The withered bones in the tomb are indeed stubborn and unrepentant. Their death is not a pity!"
Yan Yan was about to reply when Ju Fu, who was thinking with his head down, suddenly stepped forward and said, "Master, Zhang He went to attack Dangqu earlier, why is he suddenly here to transport grain? From what he said, it seems that he intends to delay time. Is there another trick?"
"Not good!" Yan Yan's heart sank. Zhang He was not in a hurry to put out the fire, but was talking nonsense here. He immediately became suspicious.
Just as they were about to discuss, there was a sudden sound of drums in Dianjiang City, and a fire broke out in the direction of the city gate, with flames shooting up into the sky.
Zhang He laughed loudly and said, "You old bastard, if you dare to burn my food supplies, don't blame me for taking your city!"
"Ha Ma Pi, we fell into a trap again!" Yan Yan was furious. He cursed Zhang He and hurriedly led his troops back to provide support.
"Don't run away, old man!" Zhang He spurred his horse and chased after him with his spear.
Ju Fu rushed forward to stop him, but Zhang He was a famous general from Hebei and had been on the battlefield for a long time. How could he, a young man who had not yet started his career, be compared to him? After barely holding out for five rounds, he realized he was no match for him and fled in embarrassment.
Zhang He led his troops to the city and saw that Yu Jin had already seized the city and cornered Yan Yan outside the east gate. He raised his gun and shouted, "Why don't you surrender, old thief?"
Yan Yan was furious and urged his horse to fight Zhang He. Dianjiang was lost and he was falsely accused of burning grain. At this time, the only way to prove his innocence was to fight to the death.
Zhang He charged with his spear, and after more than twenty rounds of fighting, Yan Yan's moves became disorganized and he could not hold out. Seeing this, Ju Fu rushed forward to help.
The master and his disciple fought Zhang He together. At this time, the defenders of Dianjiang were surrounded on all sides, torches were lit, drums were beating on the city wall, and Yu Jin stood on the city wall watching the battle, not in a hurry to rescue.
Yan Yan fought with difficulty for more than ten rounds. Seeing that Zhang He's spear was steady and skillful, he became more and more courageous. Knowing that he was running out of strength, he retreated a foot while Ju Fu was waiting to take the attack, took out his bow and arrow and shot.
When he looked up, he found that he was surrounded by enemy troops. If he killed Zhang He, it would not be a big deal if he died, but he was afraid that Ju Fu and all the soldiers would be implicated.
With a change of mind, he shot an arrow at Zhang He's mount, hoping to wait for him to fall off the horse so that he could rescue Ju Fu in the chaos. This young man had great potential, and he must not be allowed to be taken prisoner!
Zhang He was raising his spear to stab Ju Fu when suddenly the horse under him neighed, and he stood up. He was caught off guard and was thrown off the horse.
"Xiaoxing, hurry up..." Yan Yan called out hurriedly.
Before he finished speaking, Zhang He used his spear to support the ground when he landed, and squatted slightly. Then he swept the spear across and hit the front leg of Ju Fu's horse. The horse rolled to the ground and threw Ju Fu out.
Ju Fuzheng rolled towards the city gate and saw stars. Before he could get up, he was captured by the soldiers of Jingzhou.
Zhang He slowly stood up with his spear in hand, turned half a circle in the air, pointed at Yan Yan and sneered, "You old bastard actually shot someone in the back. Today I'll teach you that the famous general of Hebei is not just for nothing!"
Among the Four Pillars of Hebei, he is not as famous as Yan Liang and Wen Chou because he is slightly inferior in horse fighting. But in terms of infantry fighting, Zhang He is the best among the four.
When he was in Hebei, his halberd soldiers and Qu Yi's vanguard troops were the real elite. In the Battle of Jie Bridge, it was the halberd soldiers who held the front line and the vanguard troops who shot arrows from both sides that forced Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers to retreat.
Yan Yan was anxious to save Ju Fu and wanted to capture Zhang He to replace him, so he rode his horse and rushed over. Zhang He nimbly dodged to the side and his spear swept towards the horse's hoof.
As infantry, the primary target when fighting against cavalry is the mount. As long as the horse falls, the cavalry's combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the infantry.
Yan Yan quickly turned his horse to avoid the attack and swung his sword back, aiming at Zhang He's forehead.
Zhang He lowered his head and dodged. Although he was not as fast as a horse, he was nimble and moved around on the ground with ease.
Yan Yan drove his horse around twice, but still could not find a flaw, so he took out his bow and arrow and aimed at Zhang He again: "If you don't let go of Ju Fu again, don't blame me for my blind arrows!"
Zhang He snorted: "If you, old thief, don't blame me for using any means necessary, since you have no moral principles!"
Gan Ning had said that this old fellow was an excellent archer. It was hard to see clearly in the dark, so he did not dare to be careless and pursed his lips and whistled.
Yan Yan was also afraid and was drawing his bow to intimidate Zhang He when his horse suddenly stumbled and both he and the horse rolled forward.
It turned out that Zhang He had given the order and there were soldiers waiting on the side. They thrust out two long spears and pulled them back, hooking and breaking the horses' legs. The action was done in one go and was extremely skillful.
This is none other than the Da Ji Soldier. Over the years, they have been traveling back and forth between the north and the south. Some of their former members have died or dispersed, and there are not many left. However, the backbone members are still there, and Liu Qi has allocated funds for their retraining.
Although it is not as prosperous as it was in the past, it has begun to take shape. It has fought against the White Horse Volunteers formed by Zhao Yun many times, with both sides winning and losing. With time, it will surely surpass the former.
Yan Yan was caught in a dusty state, and Zhang He raised his gun and shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Yizhou soldiers dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground. Yu Jin led his troops out of the city and laughed, "Jun Yi is as brave as ever. He will surely become the pride of Hebei!"
"The pride of Hebei?" Zhang He couldn't help but think of that man. He looked up to the sky and sighed, then he smiled and said, "It's all thanks to Fengchu's brilliant plan!"