Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 913
From June to July, the coast of the Yellow River is always hot and rainless, and the surface of the river is steaming with heat. Even if there is a slight breeze, it is difficult to feel the coolness, and more is irritating and damp.

In such weather, the sound of drums and trumpets has a strong anxiety, and so does war.

A not-too-large-scale island in the river is filled with the flags of King Shikan of Shi Zhao and Wei. There are more than a dozen warships moored around the island, centered on the large-scale Chang'an ship, and there are also fighting ships. The boat was fully loaded with soldiers, and launched attacks on Hezhou time and time again.

The river island has been transformed beyond recognition by various fortifications, tall archery towers, huge crossbows, deep fence walls, and bamboo rafts.

Outside the strong fortress, there is a gentle slope built by giant trees and boulders.Behind the camp wall, hundreds of Hebei soldiers used simple tools such as rollers, leather ropes, and hemp ropes to transport huge oval stones.Under the scorching sun, these soldiers were all tanned, dark and red, sweating profusely. Some soldiers simply took off their clothes, their hands were covered with thick calluses, and they seemed to be unconscious under the friction of the rough hemp rope.

The big rock was finally pushed onto the high wooden platform, and then pushed down with a joint force. Amidst the muffled rumbling sound, it rolled down the gentle slope directly, and a large group of water waves was aroused. The pressure directly crushed the offensive platform that the Huainan army had spent several hours building outside.

There were even two small boats that couldn't retreat in time, and they were all involved in the stirred up vortex. The soldiers abandoned the boat and fled, but nearly half of them were still swallowed by the river!

The Hebei soldiers on the bank saw the result of the battle, and let out a few meaningless howls, and then were driven by the soldier commander, breathing heavily inward, and came to the mining area in the center of the river island. The stone field was originally a small hill piled with rocks, but with the continuous attack of the Huainan Army, the hills were leveled, and the river overflowed to form a shallow swamp.

The offensive of the Huainan army was not disrupted by this setback. The soldiers were scattered on various rafts and small boats, and each launched an attack on the shore with a strong crossbow.However, including the Chang'an ship, they are all trapped by the terrain, and it is really difficult to get close to the Hezhou and launch a large-scale attack.

On the Chang'an ship of the Huainan Army, Li Youzhi yelled loudly and continued to organize soldiers to attack Hezhou.This time was his first chance to lead the army independently, so he cherished it very much. After taking the order, he worked hard, fearing that he would disappoint the governor, and only hoped that he could complete the military order and capture this river island.

This river island is located in the north of Dahe, closer to Liyang. As long as it can be captured, it can be used as a supply ground for the Huainan navy, allowing the Huainan army to control this section of the waterway.

Li Youzhi was a general under Mao Bao, the prefect of Runan, who arrived at the Yellow River from Honggou in early July.Their army is also the main force of the Huainan navy, with a total of more than [-] sailors, and it can even be said to be the main force of the Yellow River battle later.

The army on the front line opened up an extremely superior fighting environment, especially the waterway from Xingyang to Suanzao and Yanjin, which can be said to be completely controlled by the Huainan army.However, in the section from Yanjin to Baimajin, in the vast Yellow River waterway, the Huainan army is still at a disadvantage, or the Huainan navy.

Previously, the front of the Huainan Army not only successfully defended the ferry in Yanjin, but even went north to capture Jijun, Hebei. These results were achieved when the Huainan Army was at an absolute disadvantage, which can be described as extremely brilliant.But in the follow-up process of advancing, it encountered tenacious sniping.

Mao Bao led an army of [-], which can be said to be the main force of the Huainan navy, with a total of more than [-] boats, among which there are more than ten boats like the Chang'an warship.However, after this army arrived at the Yellow River, the results were not outstanding.

After arriving at the Yellow River, the Heluo Taobao troops suddenly rushed out of the Yellow River. Although limited by the difference in strength between them, the Heluo enemy was finally repelled, but it was delayed for nearly two days.

Just two days, in such a large-scale battle, it is actually not too long.Due to the good foundation laid by the front army, the next march was smooth, and they arrived at Suanzao almost without hindrance.

But then, the war turned bad.The Huainan navy tried several times to reinforce Ji County on the opposite bank, but was repulsed by the enemy.The two armies fought three water battles on the Yellow River, only one of which was victorious, and less than 5000 reinforcements were sent to Jijun. The remaining two were all repelled by the Hebei enemy.

Right now, the Huainan army has already used its troops in Hebei with a clear banner, and it is difficult to receive the effect of a surprise attack.The Huainan navy is strong, which is a natural advantage, but the Hebei enemy also exploded with amazing combat effectiveness, completing powerful sniper attacks on the water of the Yellow River several times in succession.

This is not because the combat effectiveness of the Huainan navy is inferior, but because the enemy in Hebei has a geographical advantage.Several successive defeats were due to insufficient supplies of the Huainan Army and had to retreat temporarily.

This section of the Yellow River channel is gentle and vast, so there are as many as five or six river island strongholds on the water surface.However, due to the fact that the main force of the Huainan Navy was delayed for two days in the Xingyang River section, these river islands were all occupied by the enemy and obtained extremely important supply points, so the Huainan Army was completely at a disadvantage in the later contest. .

The importance of the Hezhou supply point is undoubted. The enemy can even return to replenish food and supplies on the way, but the Huainan army does not have such an advantage, and can only be replenished by returning.

Therefore, during this section of the water journey under Yanjin, all the Huainan army can rely on is a burst of vigor.In the hundreds of miles long front, there are almost no supply points at all.Even the wild jujube, after losing the Hezhou winning ground, can only provide rest, but cannot provide supplements.

Therefore, in the ensuing battles, the Huainan Navy attacked several times, all in order to gain the victory of the waterway, and the main focus was on the competition for several river islands.

Due to the previous foreshadowing, the Huainan army had an advantage at the very beginning, breaking through three river islands one after another, and pushing the front line directly below Yanjin.But here, it is very close to the base camp of the Shikan army, and the difficulty of the battle has increased several times.

For example, the river island that Li Youzhi is currently attacking is located between Baimajin and Liyang.But the distance from Liyang is only more than ten miles away, and the enemy can replenish it at any time.However, the Huainan army only had strong boats and ships, but the supply ground was placed in Yanjin, hundreds of miles away.

With such a distance gap, there are too many tricks to do tactically.Li Youzhi led the Huainan General's [-] sailors to attack Hezhou for nearly a day and night, but he still couldn't get close to Hezhou.

In water warfare, the advantages of long-range weapons and boat machinery are the magic weapon for victory.For example, Li Youzhi, the Changan ship, is an invincible behemoth in itself, and it carries a huge amount of bows and arrows. However, it cannot approach the Hezhou at all, so it can only rely on the charge of small boats and rafts to cause damage to the Hezhou. A threatening attack.

The scale of Hezhou is not large, and the size of the defenders is no more than two thousand, but they have resisted for several days, repelling various attacks of the Huainan army more than ten times.This has nothing to do with combat effectiveness. The main reason is that the enemy army relies entirely on the advantages of the terrain, rolling stones and sharp arrows, repeatedly firing.

After this round of attack was repulsed, Li Yang, not far to the north, set sail again and headed straight for the river island.Naturally, Li Youzhi couldn't just sit back and watch the enemy's troops get enough supplies, so he drove his boat to intercept the north. The huge pole on the boat beat the river surface frequently, and the enemy's simple boats and rafts were hardly a match for the enemy. Death!
However, the river surface that the big ship can block is only a few tens of feet, and the enemy boats are scattered on the wide river surface. They are extremely flexible, and with a little slack, they reach the river island.Baskets of arrows and grains were sent to Hezhou, which meant that the Huainan Army's fierce battle for more than ten hours had been in vain.

In such a combat environment, the extremely huge and large warships appear clumsy and slow due to their lack of mobility.The only ones that can stop the enemy are small boats and rafts that have absolutely no advantage in weapons.But many times, when the Huainan army approached the boats fearlessly and then engaged in boarding battles, they found that these warships were just a group of refugees who were completely incapable of fighting.

Those were all trembling, not to mention wearing armor, they didn't even have basic weapons.Once stopped by the Huainan army, it was completely an instinctive stress response, either swarming up, or jumping into the river to escape.

This is completely a rogue's way of fighting. It is not enough to bully the Huainan army. It is not enough to use a group of mobs and a batch of cheap boats to block the Huainan army's elite water army to the west of Liyang with human lives, so they cannot fully devote themselves to the sliding platform, Baimajin, etc. Such essential management.

(End of this chapter)