Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 898

Chen Shi's mood was worse than Xiao Yuandong's.

Before that, he was suspicious and handed over the jujube, giving up the advantage of waiting for work at leisure.Then they sent scouts to investigate by water and land, and finally got to know about Hu Ting's situation, and it turned out that his guess was wrong again.Hu Ting had indeed encountered a strong attack, and it was not to trap him. If he could respond and reinforce in time, he would most likely cooperate with Hu Ting's crowd in a pincer attack from inside and outside to drive back the Huainan army.

However, it was too late to say anything now. After he gave up Suanzao, Hu Ting's defenders were wiped out by the Huainan Army who suddenly went north. When he sent people to investigate, the Huainan Army had completely established itself in Hu Ting.

The current situation is completely beyond Chen Shi's expectations. The Huainan army suddenly went north and occupied two very important strongholds on the south bank of the Yellow River one after another, directly threatening the foundation of Yecheng. Face the threat of the Huainan Army.

In the current situation, Chen Shi had only two choices, either directly lead the crowd across the river, and wait for the king of Wei to gather the crowd to fight.Or take advantage of the fact that the jujube crowd is still a lone army, take back the jujube first and wait for the king of Wei's army to come to help.

These two choices have their own advantages and disadvantages. The former seems to preserve his strength, but it puts Chen Shi in a very dangerous place.This is no longer a conflict between him and Tian Ni, but a major issue concerning the survival of the North and the South. The Huainan Army took several important strongholds in Henan with lightning speed, and Tian Ni's troops at least fought fiercely. However, Chen Shi retreated back to Hebei without even seeing the enemy. It is conceivable how furious King Wei would be.

As for the latter, they have to directly face the pressure of the Huainan army. Even the enemies of Hu Ting were surrounded and suppressed in a very short time. Reinforcements arrive.The most important thing is that Suanzao, who could have stood by and waited for help, was given up by him in a smart way.And if it was a field battle, not to mention the Huainan army that was moving to Hu Ting to increase its troops, the cavalry of Suanzao alone was a great threat.

The reason why Chen Shi chose the latter was the news from Hebei. Tian Ni already knew about the attack on Hu Ting, but he didn't know that Hu Ting had been broken. The news was sent back to Yecheng.If Chen Shi crosses the river at this moment, he will go straight into Tian Ni's arms. The two sides have already accumulated grievances, and he is now a sinner. If he falls into Tian Ni's hands, he will have no luck.

Chen Shi did not fully believe the news delivered by the spies. The reason why he was able to grow from a general of the king of Wei to a warrior in his own right was that apart from his bravery, he was able to think more about things and never be reckless. .This time it was really because the Huainan Army was moving northward too fast, and he was fundamentally wrong in his cognition, so there was a situation of repeated tricks.

But now that he has realized his mistake, he will naturally stop fighting uncertain battles.Maybe the situation of the Huainan cavalry was really so bad that they had to retreat, but their successor troops were also moving to Suanzao. Under such circumstances, how could they be willing to give up Suanzao.Even if you want to retreat, you probably have to ambush yourself on the way.

Although he understood this point, Chen Shi finally decided to launch a night attack to take back Suanzao.This is his only way out, otherwise, when Tian Ni or the king of Wei lead the reinforcements here, he will be sacrificed to the flag first.

He did have the idea of ​​simply surrendering to the Huainan army, but even if he dismissed it, on the one hand, he is still more optimistic about the king of Wei, and he is not in the dangerous situation of surrendering or dying. The biggest bargaining chip, the Huainan army may not pay attention to him, a rebel general who surrendered to the enemy.

Two days earlier, he had already made preparations to counterattack Suanzao. Although the enemy had a maneuver advantage, their strength was limited after all.So as soon as the spies sent back the information, after a little thought, he immediately dispatched all his followers. The villagers who had been taken captive before also came to use. They all set up torches and spread them out in the wild to deceive the other party's eyes and ears. .

In this way, even if the Huainan army is going to intercept in the wild, they will be confused by the villagers first, and it will be difficult to achieve the effect of a surprise attack.At the same time, his men and horses also carry many weapons against cavalry raids, such as long spears that are more than ten feet long, and refusal horses carried on carts. You can set up the formation as quickly as possible, and bite those rushing people hard!
Chen Shi led more than 3000 horses this time. Apart from the main infantry, the rest of the cavalry scouts were also brought along. They were going to wait until the Huainan cavalry was blocked by the infantry and then pursue them to expand the victory.

The team carried so many weapons, so the speed would naturally not be too fast, and the villagers spread out too widely, requiring the cavalry to restrain them with all their energy, so as not to flee on a large scale.But even so, Chen Shi didn't dare to pack lightly. The marching infantry formation was inherently unstable, and if they were attacked by cavalry again, the chance of collapse would be even greater.

He is now counterattacking Suanzao, mainly to seek stability in danger, rather slow than fighting for the first line. When he learned that Huainan has thousands of reinforcements adding troops to Suanzao, he has given up the idea of ​​​​swallowing this Huainan cavalry. As long as he can return to Suanzao and wait for the arrival of Hebei reinforcements, it will be a great victory for him.

There was no lack of caution in marching all the way, but the expected Huainan ambush army did not appear for a long time. For Chen Shi, he was both fortunate and disappointed.It is certainly best to be able to march steadily to reach Suanzao in this way, but in this way, the opportunity to bite the cavalry of the Huainan Army will be lost.

The spies have been exposed, if the Huainan army really intends to retreat, they will definitely not stick to Suanzao and wait to be besieged to death by him.Through the description of the spies, he was very clear about the strength of the Huainan Army. Field battles might still be a threat. If they defended the city, they would have little strength and few weapons. It was absolutely impossible to persist until reinforcements arrived.

Halfway through the journey, the Huainan Fujun did not appear for a long time, and Chen Shi's face gradually became ugly. He thought he was well prepared, but he ignored the most important point, which was physical strength!

Although he had already gradually moved his troops out of the reed pond to wait for an opportunity to counterattack, in order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Huainan scouts, the distance between them was nearly twenty miles.

Twenty miles away, if he really travels lightly and fast, his troops will definitely be able to support him, but the problem is that the team now carries a large number of weapons to deal with cavalry. Those long bamboo spears are freshly felled and the water is not dry, even if they are held at ordinary times, they are quite heavy.

It is necessary to maintain the formation and carry such heavy ordnance. After halfway through the journey, many soldiers have gradually lost their strength. Originally, each of them carried a bamboo spear. Some people simply throw it away!
In addition, those villagers are also a trouble. In order to confuse the enemy, the front line is too scattered, and cavalry needs to run back and forth to restrain them.Soon after, the horsepower was also severely depleted, and the fur was wet with sweat.

"The southern thief is timid, this battle must be won!"

Chen Shi was running around in the team to boost morale, but he also had doubts in his heart. Could it be that the southern bandits were really too timid to attack but retreated?But if it wasn't, the situation would be even worse if his team advanced by one point.But even so, he is still riding a tiger, so he can only move forward.

Finally, Suanzao City was vaguely in sight, and the first thing that came into view was the mighty fire, like a fire dragon lying flat on the ground!After seeing this scene, although the situation in the city is still unclear, Chen Shi also understands that since the other side has put on such a posture, it is absolutely impossible that they have abandoned the city and fled.

Chen Shi might have been overjoyed if he found out that the Huainan army was staying in the city peacefully and had the possibility of besieging it earlier, but looking at the exhausted appearance of his troops now, he felt a bad feeling in his heart It became more and more intense.

Now that they are in sight, it is impossible to retreat even if they want to. The opponent is now waiting for work, and there are thousands of cavalry who can charge at any time. Chen Shi can already imagine that the next battle will not be easy.

There is still a distance of several miles between them, which is enough for cavalry to charge. Most of his troops are infantry, and they also carry a lot of heavy ordnance. Every step forward will consume huge physical strength.With the distance getting closer to this point, even if you want to throw down your ordnance and encircle them lightly, you can't keep up with the cavalry's assault team.The current situation is like biting the bullet and going to die!
Chen Shi also thought about stationing here for defense, but not to mention that the Huainan army was close at hand, and they would not give them a chance to replenish their strength. Once it was dawn and there was no cover from the night, the situation would become even worse.

"Damn!"

What he thought was a thorough preparation, turned out to be a drag on his physical strength because the Huainan army did not dare to go out to attack far away. It is conceivable that Chen Shi is in a bad mood at the moment.

The only thing he can do right now is to gather the cavalry again, drive the villagers forward, and use these chaotic villagers to attack and curb the momentum of the Huainan army, so as to shorten the distance from the city as much as possible.The Huainan army is only in the thousands, and it is impossible to defend all the Tucheng camps. As long as his army enters one of the camps, it will be invincible.

Soon, the villagers in front were driven up, wailing and rushing forward. Although there were not many people, nearly 2000 people spread out in the countryside, occupying a rather wide space in front of Tucheng.

Seeing this scene, Chen Shi heaved a sigh of relief, returned to the army formation and said loudly: "Huainan's troops are less than a thousand, and they are trapped in Tucheng and dare not attack. Later, whoever is the first to climb up will be rewarded!"

Seeing Tucheng vaguely in sight, coupled with the instigation of Chen Shi and his descendants, the soldiers also mustered up their strength and rushed forward. Thousands of people rushed forward together, and the scene was grand for a while.

Many of these soldiers are not new recruits, they have rich experience in battle, and they know how to deal with cavalry charges.Although these bamboo spears do not have the sharp edge of gold and iron, they are strong enough because the water is not removed. Once the Huainan army hits head-on at high speed, it is enough to pierce through the bodies of people and horses!
All of a sudden, smoke and dust rose up outside the Tucheng. Chen Shi saw the Tucheng getting closer, and he could even see the assembled Huainan army knights outside the city. The villagers who rushed up breathed a sigh of relief again. Although those villagers were unusable, they were enough to have a certain impact on the Huainan army's charge.

At such a critical moment, even a slight advantage is enough to decide the outcome.At this moment, all fancy tricks are useless, and the competition is which side is more aggressive and fearless. As long as his army can rush to the Tucheng, the battle can be said to be half successful.

However, at this moment, the people who were running wildly in front suddenly dispersed, as if an invisible force was pulling them towards the two sides of the earth wall.Outside the camps illuminated by the bonfires, there are many sacks of flowing grain and rice piled up there. For these precarious villagers, it is enough to make them forget their lives!

"Capture and kill the slave general Chen Shi, no matter whether he lives or dies!"

At this moment, there was no longer any barrier between the two armies, Xiao Yuandong suddenly raised the horse in his hand, and the cavalry of the Huainan Army who had already lined up rushed straight towards the enemy like a torrent.

"Kill...kill! Stun your feet and die, fight to live..."

The team was suddenly exposed in front of the Huainan Army. After a moment of astonishment, Chen Shi was stunned, and then a strong bitterness appeared on his face.In this battle, he could not be said to be careless, he prepared a lot, and thought he was thorough, but when it came time to fight, he realized that everything was useless, and in the end he still had to win in this basic fight.

He jumped out of the army formation on his horse, and then turned back from the flank. As he shifted, the thousand people in the front line were suddenly out of touch with the central army.At this moment the strong man broke his wrist, he was giving up the front line of thousands of people in order to stop the Huainan army for a while.

The Chinese army quickly assembled and shrank the formation under his order. The original preparations were not useless after all. The carts that had been arranged on the two wings were overturned, and the loaded horses were hastily lined up. The soldiers were assembled inside. There was confusion, but the most basic lines of defense had been pulled up on the wings.

Even though the soldiers were exhausted, they knew what to do at such a critical moment.This is the experience gained through bloody battles and countless lives, and it is also the most important wealth of an army.

Because both sides are charging, the distance of several miles is rapidly closing. Relatively speaking, the Huainan Army's charge is undoubtedly more fierce.However, the enemy army had already been rushing around in the middle of the night, and they were fighting cavalry with infantry again.When the Huainan army rushed to the range, the enemy's charge had almost stagnated, their faces were terrified, and they howled fiercely.

There was a sharp whistle, followed by a rain of arrows, and the enemy's front line was like seedlings in a strong wind, suddenly knocked down!
"Rush over!"

Xiao Yuandong let out a loud roar, turned his bow and hung it on the saddle, put his upper body on the horse's back with both arms, and the horse and man joined together like a dragon coming out of the water. A bloody passage was pierced through in an instant!

The rest of Fan Li and the others did not fall behind. The horses in the front row dug out the enemy's formation full of holes, while the back row had a long-handled saber, slashing with the blade, laying down corpses in pieces!

(End of this chapter)