Zang Family Father and Son (52nd Chapter)

  Zhang Kuang continued to think along this line, and suddenly a thought flashed in his mind. The enemy outside the city was in disarray and fleeing, but what about the traitors inside the city? Hadn't they made their move yet?!

  "Good for you!"

  Zhang Kuang let out a loud shout. Shen Fu, who was several steps away, hastily replied:

  "My lord! Please give the order!"

  "Pass down the order, the whole army is on high alert, carefully search every corner of the fort, see if there are any secret passages connected to the outside of the city!"

  Shen Fu loudly promised and turned away. Xie Xun seemed to be thinking deeply, and continued to say:

  "The leader of the enemy army, didn't he lead by example and personally enter the secret passage? In that case, it's possible to understand the movements of the enemy outside the city. Since the enemy commander is in the tunnel, the enemy outside the city must be under someone else's command. The next commander is timid, so the enemy army collapses at the slightest touch..."

  Zhang Kuang listened, and secretly glanced at Chen Deng, seeing him nod slightly, with a hint of admiration in his expression, and also acknowledged this argument. At the same time, Zhang Kuang's hand on the hilt tightened, and his vigilance increased, preparing to meet the enemy general who dared to be so bold, possibly launching a fierce attack at any moment.

  However, as time passed by, the expected attack never came.

  One hour later, Le Jin and Yu Jin led the soldiers to escort more than 200 prisoners into the fort. Although it was at night, with a bright moon and sparse stars, which was conducive to nighttime battles, the enemy took advantage of the moonlight and still escaped in large numbers.

  The Tianping Army, in the process of pursuing them, also truly experienced the ferocity of these enemies. Many fierce soldiers, once pursued by the Tianping Army to the point of having no escape, would often turn around and launch a desperate counterattack. These skilled warriors, fully equipped with armor and weapons, caused a lot of trouble for Yu Jin and Yue Jin.

  If the enemy commander did not flee in panic but instead organized his troops to retreat gradually, there would be at least a 60-70% chance of escaping unscathed.

  The search of the tunnels in the fort also yielded results. In the woodshed of the fort's main residence, a soldier discovered a tunnel entrance. Around the tunnel entrance, several fresh muddy footprints were found.

  Zhang Kuang personally led his men to search around the entrance of the underground tunnel and made some simple inferences about the enemy's actions based on the traces they found.

  The enemy, numbering around ten, did not take any action after emerging from the tunnel, but quickly retreated back through the tunnel. It was probably because they discovered that the Heavenly Army's defenses were strict and the ambush outside the fort had also been detected.

  Such an enemy, with courage but not recklessness, doesn't seem like a simple character!

  But...

  Zhang Kuang smiled coldly in his heart and thought:

  "No matter how powerful this rural tyrant is, if he dares to mess with me, I'll deal with him sooner or later..."

  Just as Zhang Kuang was secretly making a desperate move in his heart, he suddenly received a report from his subordinate.

  The victorious Tianping Army, while counting prisoners in the fort, unexpectedly discovered a big fish.

  This big fish is the proxy lord of Wubao.

  When the Tianping Army captured Wubao, he saw that things were not going well and slipped away very quickly, thus escaping disaster. However, later when Sun Guan led a surprise attack on the castle, this deputy castle lord, although also seeing the situation very clearly and being the first to start withdrawing, was unfortunately caught by Le Jin who led the cavalry in an encircling maneuver.

  So, the castle owner who retreated first ended in tragedy.

  "Bring him up!"

  Zhang Kuang gave a loud order and two of his men immediately brought someone over to the city gate.

  Xie Xun and Chen Deng were also somewhat curious about this unlucky castle owner, and couldn't help but take a look at him.

  The only thing that can be seen is the lord of the fort, who is about 40 years old, with a medium build and not particularly robust, but has a rather large bulge on his belly.

  This is certainly not a six-pack, but a belly full of oil and water. In this era, being able to grow a belly with oil and water is by no means an easy task. Unless it's a wealthy family, there's absolutely no such ability.

  Zhang Kuang saw that although his opponent was stout in build, there was no sign of panic on his face, and he couldn't help but feel a little admiration for him. He asked:

  "Who are you?"

  "I am Hua Xian Zang Jie, styled Shu Bei. Who are you?"

  Zhang Jie? This person's name seems a bit familiar...

  Zhang Kuang saw that this stout middle-aged man, in speech and manner, was not a coarse or unrefined person, and did not want to be too rude. Seeing that there were bloodstains on Zhang Bao's arm, he had his personal guard bandage him. At this point, Chen Deng asked a question:

  "Is this young man from a good family?"

  Zang Jie listened and said with a hint of pride:

  "Has the name of Inuzuka also reached your ears?"

  Chen Deng smiled and said:

  "Zang Xuan was only eighteen years old, yet he dared to lead over a dozen troops of guests and take away the prisoners from under the command of the governor of Mount Tai, who had over a hundred men. The guards who saw this were all afraid and did not dare to move. This happened just last year, how could I not know about it?"

  Zhang Kuang's heart was filled with surprise and joy.

  Damn it! I was misled by those captives!

  I think those captives were illiterate, so they misheard the character "Zang" as "Zhang". If I had known earlier that the lord of the fortress was surnamed "Zang", I would have thought of Zang Ba and Zang Xuan long ago!

  Zang Ba, courtesy name Xuan Gao, also known as Nu Kou, from Huaxian County, Mount Tai.

  This name is not very impressive in later generations and the Three Kingdoms series games. However, Zhang Kuang originally read a book called "The Book of Heaven" online.

  Although he had already forgotten most of the content in this book, he still had some understanding of Zang Ba due to his interest and research on some materials back then.

  To say nothing of the others, this Zang Ba, in history, was once a strong man who had been on an equal footing with Lü Bu, known as the "Flying General". Even if he had once belonged to Lü Bu, it was similar to being an ally or a guest minister, and his status was much higher than that of Gaoshun, Zhang Liao and others who were generals under him.

  When Lü Bu and "the number one man of the Three Kingdoms" Cao Cao were at war in Xuzhou, even with Cao Cao's strength, he suffered greatly at the hands of Zang Ba's troops from Mount Tai. Every time Cao Cao mentioned the "bandits of Mount Tai", he was filled with hatred and his teeth ached with rage.

  Later, Lü Bu was defeated in battle. To stabilize his eastern front, Cao Cao had to hold his nose and grant Zang Ba two provinces, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, to govern. This position was unparalleled in Cao Cao's camp at the time.

  Of course, Zang Ba's revenge on Cao Cao was also quite large.

  During Cao Cao's battle against Yuan Shao, the tens of thousands of troops led by Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Yuan Shao and the governor of Qingzhou, were pinned down at the border of Qingzhou by a few thousand elite soldiers led by Zang Ba, known as the Taishan Army, unable to move or implement their strategic plan to attack Cao Cao's main force from two sides.

  This forced Yuan Shao to lead his army personally and engage in a decisive battle with Cao Cao at Guandu, giving birth to the first strategic war of the Three Kingdoms period - the Battle of Guandu.

  So, in front of Zang Ba, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were extremely weak. He was a truly talented person, if not for the strong like Lü Bu or Cao Cao, he could not be tamed at all. And once tamed, Zang Ba would be loyal to his master, guarding one side, making people worry-free from then on.

  Then, Zhang Kuang's mind turned rapidly, and in an instant, he had thought of three or four attitudes towards Zang Jie and the possible consequences. Finally, a big smile appeared on Zhang Kuang's face, and with great joy, he personally stepped forward to pay his respects to Zang Jie, which shocked Chen Deng who was standing beside him:

  "Haha... So it's actually the father of Zang Ba [Zang Ba's nickname]! I said why this face looks so familiar? Zang... Uncle, brother, it's really 'the flood has washed away the Dragon King Temple, and one family doesn't recognize another'!"

  Zang Jie was shocked. After being captured, he had thought of several possible consequences in his heart. However, Zhang Kuang's move was far beyond Zang Jie's expectations.

  Could it be relatives? But I don't have any impression at all?

  "Uh... leader, do we know each other?"

  Zhang Kuang laughed and said:

  "My surname is Zhang and my name is Kuang, with the courtesy name Wuji. Although you may not know me, I am aware that you and your husband are the predestined auxiliary stars of my 'Taiping Dao'!"

  Character: Zang Ba

  Zang Ba's son. Another strong man who was neglected. Just think about it, in the historical records, he had the qualifications to be an ally of Lü Bu, who dominated for a time, and even served under Cao Cao's command for more than ten years with a semi-independent attitude. Such a person should at least deserve the title of a hero.

  So the author set, Zang Ba's martial arts will be quite strong. If not, it would not be enough to show how powerful this strong man was, who dominated Qing and Xu provinces for over a decade.