Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 142 With Xudu behind us, we have no way out
To the north of Xudu, there are thousands of miles of fertile fields.

Cao Cao dug canals from the Yishui and Weishui to irrigate the land, and based on the Qingzhou Yellow Turban captured in the past, he farmed fields outside Xudu City.

The scale of the farmland has reached hundreds of thousands of mu. At a glance, there are densely packed farmlands all over the wilderness. There are countless manors, forts, watchtowers, wall villages, and beacon towers. defense facilities.

When Shen Chen's army passed by here, he was also very shocked. He never thought that there was such a complete military fortress structure in the north of Xudu, and the defense level was comparable to the front line of Guandu.

But it's normal to think about it carefully, because the farmland around Xudu is already Cao Cao's lifeblood, and the food and clothing of the imperial court and the food and grass of the frontline troops are almost all dependent on these fields.

At that time, places like Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Yuzhou were attacked by Yuan Shao, and they could no longer provide taxes for the court. Cao Cao's food and grass expenses were very scarce, and he could only rely on the harvest every time he farmed.

Even so, his grain path has always been threatened by Yuan Shao's cavalry, relying entirely on Ren Jun's personal ability to support it, otherwise, after the battle at Guandu in September, Cao Cao will run out of grain in May's new wheat, and it is impossible to persist to the end of the year.

Therefore, a place like this must be the top priority. Cao Cao has been operating Xudu for four years. The city wall of Xudu cannot be built in a short time due to the high cost, but some of these basic military equipment will inevitably be built.

At this moment, in the field outside the city, it should be the busy time of farming. Looking at the vast field at a glance, there are at least tens of thousands of people working in the field.But now there is no one in the field, and all the villagers have fled.

The black embers of wolf smoke on the beacon tower in the field are still extinguished, and there are some manors standing on the left and right sides of Liguan Road.

The manor economy was popular in the Han Dynasty, and the interior of the manor was more like a small city, with fortresses, walls, archery towers, wells and grain storage inside, which could be used for foreign wars.

Apparently, when Shen Chenjun and Yingyin were resting, the messengers had already lit up the smoke and informed all the surrounding farm households that the enemy was attacking.

Shen Tao has been following Shen Chen's side. He saw that the team was about to pass by the first manor. The manor was about [-] to [-] steps away from the road. The scale of the building was huge. It even took a clear stream from the Zhushui ditch to form a canal to protect the manor. .

"General, look."

He pointed to the top of the manor wall and said.

Shen Chen looked over, and when they were less than a mile away, there were a large number of people's heads lying on the wall of the manor, pointing sharp spears at the outside of the wall, carefully watching the passing Shen Chen army .

"Don't worry, these are just the villagers in the farmland." Shen Chen said so, but he also put his hand on the ring-sword at his waist, and looked at those people vigilantly.

A large manor like this radiates a large number of people and places. A manor is like a small town, which can accommodate thousands of people at the same time. There are gatehouses, corridors, main rooms, wing rooms, toilets, warehouses, and even courtyards and wells. It's like a military town.

But Shen Chen also knows that a small town like this is like the manor built by Huangmenting in Xinye. The walls are not as high as a city, and there are many directions to attack. Scale attacks are bound to be broken.

Therefore, manors like this are generally used to defend against bandits and bandits, and it is difficult to defend against regular troops.People in Xudu would not be so stupid as to put positive power in such manors, so there is a high probability that these manors are defended by those farmers.

"Then shall we attack?"

Shen Tao asked.

Shen Chen shook his head: "No need, the people in Xudu may wish us to waste time here, the soldiers are precious, and attack Xudu directly."

"it is good."

Shen Tao nodded, and continued to lead the soldiers forward.

Soon the army passed by the bunker. A wall about two feet high was built around the fortress, and there was a turret more than three feet high at each of the four corners.There are also people on the arrow tower and watchtower, but the embarrassing thing is that they don't have bows and arrows in their hands, so they can only use short halberds.

When Shen Chen's army approached, there was a commotion inside the wall, and hundreds of people were densely packed above them, all looking at them nervously, and a feeling of uneasiness pervaded all around.

Obviously, this army of more than 3000 people put tremendous pressure on everyone in the manor, and some people even trembled all over.

As if aware of the nervousness of these people, Shen Chen thought for a while, and said to Shen Tao: "Pass down the order, let the soldiers shout slogans together, tell everyone that we are here to rescue the emperor, and we will never rob the people."

"Yes."

Shen Tao immediately turned around and shouted loudly: "Welcome to the Son of Heaven, and honor the Lord. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Resist the Cao bandits and save the people! Don't demolish houses to death from freezing, and don't plunder to death from starvation!"

"Welcome the Son of Heaven, serve the Lord. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Resist Cao's bandits and save the people! Don't demolish houses to death from freezing, and don't plunder to death from starvation!"

Almost at the same time, all the soldiers of Huangmenting raised their weapons high and roared loudly to the sky.

The soldiers of the Gan Ning Army were a little puzzled at first, because they had not received training in shouting slogans before, but now they all shouted together under the orders of officers at all levels.

"Welcome the Son of Heaven, serve the Lord. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Resist Cao's bandits and save the people! Don't demolish houses to death from freezing, and don't plunder to death from starvation!"

This loud voice resounded throughout the sky.

The farmers all looked at them blankly, wondering if they were thinking these people were stupid, or wondering what kind of people they were.

But at least they saw this army slowly passing by the manor, as if they didn't see them, they ignored them, and walked straight to the end of the road, the city named Xudu.

There was an old man in the crowd, quietly watching the figures of those people leave, and suddenly remembered an old man with a yellow scarf more than ten years ago.

He raised the sword in his hand and shouted to his believers: "The sky is dead, and the yellow sky shall stand. The year is Jiazi, and the world will be happy! For the sake of all people, overthrow this dilapidated Han Dynasty!"

Thinking about it, the old man from Qingzhou Yellow Turban shed tears.

It has never been any dynastic struggle for hegemony that has attracted countless people's attention.They never cared who was the emperor. What they cared about was how many acres of land they had in their hands, food to eat when they were hungry, and clothes to wear when they were cold, that's all.

Another man who wants to save the people?

The old man thought.

Hope you can stick to it.

General Shen!
He looked at the "Shen" banner and said silently in his heart.

On the wilderness, there are more than ten manors, large and small, in the more than [-] kilometers from Yingyin to Xudu.

All the villagers hid in the manor. There were a large number of them, tens of thousands, but apart from the old, weak, women and children, each manor had at most two or three hundred young and strong, or even less.

Because the best young and strong were incorporated into the Qingzhou Army by Cao Cao, and then into the Diannong Army, almost all the ones who stayed were old and weak.

If Shen Chen wanted to, he could directly attack these manors without having to manage Xu Du or destroy the farmland, and kill all the old and weak, women and children.

Although it seemed that the manor was easy to defend and difficult to attack, the resistance force of only two or three hundred people was not enough to defend thousands of Shen Chen's troops.

With a frontal attack, Shen Chen was sure to wipe out a manor within an hour.

And there are millions of old and weak women and children around Xudu.

With thousands of people in a manor, only three or four of them need to be destroyed every day, and tens of thousands of Qingzhou Yellow Turbans were killed and dispersed.

Now Cao Cao's main force in Guandu is elite, and their families are all in these manors.

Cao Cao's urgently needed food and grass materials also need these people to cultivate.

As long as Shen Chen starts killing these people, Cao Cao on the front line will undoubtedly be defeated.

When the news reached Guandu, even without Yuan Shao's attack, the soldiers of Cao's army who missed their families would break down and flee.

But Shen Chen didn't do that.

Even though all these manors raised their spears and showed obvious hostility to his army, he still did not choose to order an attack and slaughtered these people.

Because if you do that, what is the difference with Cao Cao?
What is the difference between those who slaughtered the common people in history, and those others?
Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith are not romanticism, but a spirit of inheritance!
In the great China of 5000 years, there may be countless cruel people, but more people still bury this spiritual power in their hearts and pass it down silently for countless generations.

This is also what Shen Chen is pursuing now.

His army ran all the way like this, and in the evening, it was less than ten miles away from Xudu.

At the end of the road, there is a ditch dug from the upper reaches of the Lishui River to irrigate the surrounding fields. Although it is not a big river, it is also two feet wide.

The bridge has been destroyed, and there are farmlands on the left and right sides. On the other side, a group of troops has assembled at this time. The number of people is unknown, but the banners are flying, the camps stretch for miles, and a large number of farmers are digging trenches.

Shen Chen's army was several miles away, and the sound of high-pitched horns sounded immediately on the other side of the ditch. The camp was about one mile away from the ditch, and soon the dense army had assembled on the other side of the ditch.

They have just arrived, and there is already a serious waiting there.The leader rode out on horseback, and the crowd came out. Behind him was a large banner with the word "Ren" written on it.

"General Ren!"

Xun Yu followed Ren Jun, watching from afar the team that had traveled a long distance to surprise Xu Du.

He learned the news of Yingyin's fall in the afternoon, so he immediately left Xudu, went to Ren Jun's camp outside the city, and personally went with him to the official road to build a camp and fortifications.

Ren Jun looked at the big banner with the characters "Shen" and "Gan" in the distance with an extremely serious expression, and said in a serious tone: "The person who came is probably that Shen Chen."

"Ah."

Xun Yu nodded: "I know his reputation, but I want to see him in person."

"That person should be him."

Ren Jun noticed that the enemy had reached the opposite bank, and immediately began to assemble the army. One man rode on horseback and commanded above a small hill, and the "Shen" flag followed him like a shadow.

The distance between the two sides is not far, nor is it close.About 300 meters away, the outline of the figure can be seen clearly, but the specific shape and height are very vague.

"Welcome the Son of Heaven, serve the Lord. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Resist Cao's bandits and save the people! Don't demolish houses to death from freezing, and don't plunder to death from starvation!"

While Xun Yu and Ren Jun were looking at the gathering of Shen Chen's army in the distance, it only took a few minutes for the team to line up, and then marched towards the canal while shouting slogans.

Although the canal was not wide, the bridge was destroyed, so it was impossible for the two sides to fight head-on. Shen Chen's army attacked forward with swords and shields in front and crossbowmen in the back.

The reason for this is because Shen Chen knew that Xudu was in short supply of arrows, most of the bows and crossbows were in Guandu, and a small amount of supplies had to be provided to Xia Houyuan, Li Dian, Cai Yang and others who were defending against Liu Bei's main force in the south. Jun's Diannong army bows and crossbows are pitifully few.

Therefore, adopting such a situation to advance, the sword and shield hand can cover the crossbowman in front. If there are a small number of crossbowmen in Ren Jun's army for long-range shooting, it can give our crossbowmen the opportunity to defend and counterattack backhand.

If Ren Jun's army doesn't have bows and crossbows and can't give them long-range strikes, when the sword and shield players cross the ditch, the bow and crossbowmen can cover the sword and shield players from behind.

Their relationship is like the infantry and tanks in the later generations of the infantry and tanks, helping each other and nurturing each other.

Seeing that they were advancing in such a way, and they were still shouting slogans, and their morale was so loud that it was completely impossible to tell that they were an army that had traveled two hundred miles to attack, Xun Yu smiled wryly: "This Shen Chen is really not Ordinary people. Back then, Mr. Cao, what did you do to provoke him in Xuzhou?"

"It's too late to say anything now."

Ren Jun said in a deep voice: "There are few arrows in our army, so we can't fight against him. After he crosses the canal, we can only retreat into the camp to defend."

In fact, the number of Ren Jun's army is even greater than that of Shen Chen. In history, Cao Cao won millions of Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, and organized the most elite tens of thousands of them into the Qingzhou Army, and the rest were used to farm. The number of the Diannong Army was close to [-]. , all over the surrounding area of ​​Xudu.

Later, when Cao Cao was short of food and grass at Guandu, Yuan Shao sent cavalry to raid the food road. Ren Jun relied on this army and marched with ten grain troops at the same time. He fought back Yuan Shao's cavalry and protected the safety of food and grass in the rear.

But the fundamental reason why this army was able to complete the food protection task was that Yuan Shao did not have many cavalry. "Three Kingdoms" records that Yuan Shao had [-] cavalry before sending troops, but Wen Chou lost most of them in the Battle of Yanjin.

Therefore, the number of cavalry in Yuan Shao's army at that time may only be three to 4000, and the cavalry at that time was not as powerful as the later cavalry. To deal with the cavalry, Yuan Jun's cavalry naturally had nothing to do with him.

But Shen Chen's army was infantry, with a full range of troops and enough arrows, enough for him to fight this battle.On the other hand, Ren Jun himself was in short supply of weapons and equipment, he didn't even have swords and shields, and there were only a few bows and crossbows, which were specially left by Cao Cao to protect his food.

Therefore, in the event of a direct battle, although Ren Jun has a numerical advantage, his equipment is not as good as the opponent's, and the quality of the soldiers is far inferior, which will make him very difficult.

The most important thing is that even if the chance of winning is more than [-]%, Ren Jun is not willing to fight.

Because behind him is Xu Du.

The [-]% winning rate seems to be very high, but if it fails, there will be no defensive troops behind Xudu. At that time, apart from the palace guards used to control Liu Xie, there will only be a small number of private soldiers from the aristocratic family.

Therefore, Ren Jun would rather just defend than take the initiative to attack. He only needs to be invincible. Even if he can't defeat the enemy, he doesn't want to make any mistakes and cause Xudu to fall.

Xun Yu stared at the west from a distance. He listened to the slogan in Shen Chenjun's ears, then raised his head to look at the sky, and said in a deep thought: "Shen Chen is probably a reasonable person, I see if I can go and talk to him, no matter how bad it is. After delaying for a while, the sky will darken immediately, and he may withdraw his troops."

"Mr. Ling."

Ren Jun persuaded: "Don't put yourself in danger."

"It's okay."

Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said, "I see that he walked all the way, shouted slogans, and didn't attack the manors of those farmers. He must be a kind person. I hope he won't shoot me with a bow and arrow."

After finishing speaking, he lightly urged the horse and walked forward slowly.

If possible, Xun Yu would not do this, because he is a life-saving person.

During Dong Zhuo's rebellion, he immediately chose to flee for his life with his family.

Later, seeing that Yuan Shao was not the master of the Ming Dynasty, he immediately went south and returned to Yingchuan, supported Cao Cao with the strength of his family, and started to do logistics work instead.

It can be seen from this that he will not go to the battlefield in person as a last resort.

But now it has reached an extremely dangerous point.

The enemy's army was approaching the city, just a short distance away from Xudu, and the reinforcements were still hundreds of miles away. If there was no delay, Xudu would definitely be attacked.

So with Xu Du behind him, there is no way for him to retreat.

(End of this chapter)