Wei Ni

When you go deep into enemy territory, you will naturally have to use your lightning speed to the extreme.

Zhu Ran, who once shocked the Wei State in Jiangling City, knew this well.

After deceivingly opening the gate of Huaiyin, he divided his troops and asked Zhu Zhi and Tang Zi to lead five thousand soldiers to garrison Huaiyin, and then went down the river non-stop.

Four thousand men from the Liuzan tribe were assigned to attack Haixi County along the river, and occupied the mouth of the Huai River to protect the retreating waterway for the army in case of emergencies. Zhonglang sent Qin Huang's eight thousand troops to besiege Huaipu. While recruiting and surrendering, the scattered soldiers went out to cut wood and build siege equipment; while he continued to supervise the more than 10,000 men in his headquarters, marched north to the fortress and settled in camp. He used his troops to approach Ling County to intimidate Xiapi City and curb the troops of Wei Guoqing and Xuzhou from marching south. Rescue Huaipu.

Due to the fact that the Zhongdu River Basin in Guangling County is all white, Huaipu on the north bank of the Huai River has long been used as an outpost for Xuzhou to guard against intrusions from the east of the Yangtze River. Therefore, there are a thousand soldiers and county soldiers stationed there all year round.

The city wall is also about two feet high.

Therefore, although he was surrounded by dense Wu soldiers, the defender found that the Wu soldiers did not carry siege equipment, so he had no intention of abandoning the city and fleeing or surrendering without a fight.

It is to command the soldiers and boost their morale to wait for help.

But Haixi City is different.

This place is located in the northernmost part of Guangling County and is close to the sea. It almost starved Liu Bei, the leader of Shu, to death. In fact, it is just a large settlement and cannot be called a city. The short Yuan Guo is less than one foot tall, and the more than 500 county soldiers are also poorly armed. They can only maintain order and deter small groups of bandits and pirates.

There is nothing we can do about it.

Much of the land in Haixi County cannot be cultivated due to coastal beach erosion, so the population has never been large.

Therefore, when the Liuzan tribe attacked like a magic weapon descending from the sky, they were so panicked that they didn't put up much resistance and were immediately knocked down.

At this point, the progress of Zhu Ran's Wu soldiers was almost smooth, and they were only one step away from conquering Huaipu County.

Huan Fan, who was in Xiapi at this time, finally reacted.

But the situation was so corrupt that he already felt helpless.

In fact, he is very talented.

Just careless.

After all, who could have imagined that the enemy Wu army was already attacking the new city of Hefei, and would actually use a strategy to conceal the truth and send tens of thousands of troops to Xuzhou?

You must know that the last time Thief Wu made a large-scale invasion of Xuzhou was more than thirty years ago!

Moreover, when Jiangdong marched into Xuzhou before, they attacked Haixi County and almost held the entire Guangling County in their hands. They still just abandoned the land and returned without occupying this place that was worthless in war!
It was precisely because of this idea that Huan Fan felt that the three or four thousand Wu soldiers who had previously claimed to be coming to Huaiyin were just a response to prevent Qingxu County soldiers from rushing to Huainan.

As for the thief Wu Zong’s troops plundering
This kind of thing is easier to understand.

Entering the territory of the enemy's country, the Wei army also carried out plunder. Now what Wu soldiers are doing is just the soldiers taking the opportunity to gain property. What's so strange!

Who would have expected that Thief Wu would be serious this time?

Of course, although he could not understand Wu Bing's actions, Huan Fan also quickly came to Ling County with more than a thousand soldiers to confront Zhu Ran.

It is a confrontation based on the city.

Instead of planning to lead troops to break through Zhu Ran's obstruction and rescue Huaipu County.

Because that's Zhu Ran.

In the past, Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang and Zhang He were unable to defeat Zhu Ran, who blocked the road with more than 10,000 elite troops.

No matter how proud he is, he will not lead troops out to add to his guilt.

Therefore, he also sent a messenger eight hundred miles to Huainan to ask for help.

The only thing that made him feel lucky was that on the fifth day after the announcement, Hu Zhi, the prefect of Dongguan, led 3,000 county soldiers to Ling County.

Dongguan County was established after analyzing Qi County and Langya County, and belongs to Xuzhou.

The prefect Hu Zhi was from Shouchun.

In his early years, he was as famous as Jiang Ji in Jianghuai, but he became an official later.

However, his literary skills and military skills were extraordinary, and he was good at managing affairs. When he was in the county, he was well-known among the soldiers and civilians, so the officials and people were willing to serve him. After receiving the message from Huan Fan, it only took him one day to summon the county soldiers, so he came very quickly. quick.

His arrival made Huan Fan breathe a sigh of relief.

With these three thousand county soldiers entering the city, the people in the city were no longer in panic all day long, and he finally had the confidence not to worry about Zhu Ran's troops coming to attack Ling County.

Although Zhu Ran's tribe seems to have no intention of attacking, who can stand under a dangerous wall and remain calm?

Previously, a thousand soldiers were brought in a hurry to garrison in Ling County. That was their duty. Even if they died, they would not dare not come.

After two more days, he would feel completely at ease.

Because Man Chong, who was far away in Huainan, had no way to allocate more troops to come to Xuzhou for rescue, but he sent an envoy to inform him that the emperor Cao Rui had entered the territory of Yanzhou for his personal expedition. He also sent envoys north to inform Xuzhou of the situation and asked Emperor Cao Rui to send troops to rescue.

As long as the Luoyang Central Army arrives, the thief Wu will definitely flee in panic.

In other words, as soon as they heard the news of the arrival of the Luoyang Central Army, Zhu Ran's troops who had penetrated deep into the Wei Kingdom immediately stopped and returned.

Therefore, after Huan Fan felt at ease, he still said to Hu Zhi, "Master Hu, the emperor's troops will arrive in a short time. We and Xuzhou have no worries! I am very happy."

But Hu Zhi's answer poured cold water on him.

He said: "We, the ministers who cut the talisman, were deprived of their salary and poorly guarded, so that the bandit Wu destroyed the city, tortured the people, and bothered the emperor to send troops to rescue him. We are guilty ministers! What does the general want to do?" After saying this, Huan Fan was blushing and ashamed.

Another sentence stuck in my heart: I regret not listening to Zhi Quan’s good words, which made me so miserable.
And Xia Houhui, whom he missed, had just entered the territory of Huaiyin County at this time.

It was not that he deliberately delayed the march.

But the journey was quite far, and because it was a waterway, many soldiers who were not good at water suffered from seasickness to varying degrees. Even he himself felt dizzy and his limbs were weak due to the shaking of the ship.

Well, he's not good with water either.

Perhaps the reason why he "almost" drowned when he was boating in Luoshui when he was fourteen years old is that he had an instinctive resistance to boating on the water.

In this way, in order to protect the fighting power of himself and his soldiers, and to guard against the danger of being ambushed by Wu soldiers when passing through the waterway filled with small lakes in Huailing County (later known as Hongze Lake), he could only let the soldiers operating the boats let go. Slow down the pace and have to go ashore and sleep in the wild every night to allow the soldiers to relieve their symptoms of seasickness.

There are advantages to arriving late, though.

Along the way, he met stragglers who had escaped from Huaiyin City.

That was because Wu general Tang Zi captured the villages and towns, and some of the county soldiers whose homes were plundered were unwilling to surrender to Jiangdong after the city changed hands, and took advantage of the chaos to escape.

After learning the latest military information, he was a little hard to make a choice.

Huaiyin City was occupied by Jiangdong, which meant that Man Chong's previous general order was directly invalidated.

If you send someone back to ask for instructions, it will be a waste of time.

And if he followed common sense and knew that the Emperor Cao Rui was on his way to conquer personally, he should abandon his boat and go north to Ling County at this moment, assist the local garrison in curbing the Wu soldiers' intention to continue going north, and wait for the Luoyang Chinese Army to come to rescue them. .

Moreover, he led three thousand new soldiers from the Shijia family. After arriving at Huaiyin City, there was no possibility of regaining the city~
just
He was a little unwilling.

We have been actively preparing for war since the spring plowing season. Now that we finally have the opportunity to bring out troops, how can we go to Ling County to huddle up and wait for reinforcements? The soldiers who were eager to redeem their family's military membership did not want to work in vain!

Therefore, he thought about it and summoned his three thousand-man supervisors to discuss the matter.

After the Battle of Guangling, all three of them received promotions in their official positions. Gou Quan and Jiao Yi were both awarded the rank of captain, and Deng Ai, who had three hundred men under his command, was awarded the rank of Yamen General.

The promotion of official positions not only made them full of expectations for the future, but also made them bolder.

When Xia Houhui just said that he would lead troops to Ling County to help defend the city, the three of them actually dissuaded him in unison.

"General, all the soldiers are willing to fight to the death, so that the morale of the army can be used! We are not far away from hundreds of miles this time. It would be a pity if we go to help defend Ling County."

These are Jiao Yi’s words of dissuasion.

As soon as he finished speaking, Gou Quan nodded in agreement, and said in an earnest tone, "What you said makes sense! General, we were commended by the temple at the beginning of the year and praised highly by the emperor, and the emperor's chariot is approaching. If we survive the battle, we will not die." Isn't fighting against the thief Wu a disgrace to the emperor?"

Deng Ai, who has a stutter, doesn't talk that much.

But he is the most direct.

With bright eyes and a gleam of enthusiasm on his face, he made a direct suggestion, "General, the thief Wu doesn't know our army is coming. If we abandon the boat and sneak eastward, we will catch the thief Wu on his way back!" "

Well, it’s impossible to go to Ling County.

Xia Houhui felt the blazing gazes of the three of them, and recalled the scene when Shouchun was about to leave, when all the families were smiling and cheering, and they were happy to hear the battle, and he felt enlightened in his heart.

What's more, he himself is unwilling to do so.

"Shi Zai, pick a dozen soldiers with good agility and good eyesight, and approach Huaiyin City to see the situation."

After a moment of silence, he ordered all the soldiers to abandon their boats and go ashore.

"only!"

With a very excited response, Deng Ai turned around and trotted away. His footsteps were as eager as a newlywed entering the bridal chamber.

"Zixu, let the soldiers eat and rest, and seize the time to relieve the symptoms of water sickness."

"only."

Jiao Yi, who responded loudly, was much more steady, although his steps were also brisk.

"General, what about me?"

Gou Quan, who had not been told his responsibilities for a long time, looked a little confused and asked questions.

Xia Houhui, who had just sat on the floor and wanted to close his eyes and rest his mind, couldn't help but feel a little funny. After thinking about it for a while, he said, "If you can't stop yourself, go and help Xie Zixu."

"only."

Half an hour later.

Deng Ai hurried over and said, "General, the thief Wu has taken Li Shu into the boat and sailed down the river! It seems that he will give up his troops."

Ran? !
Could it be that they found out that the Luoyang Chinese Army was coming for reinforcements?
Xia Houhui stood up suddenly, his eyes flashing.

And Deng Ai's next words made him immediately relaxed, "General, Huaiyin City is still a flag with the word Wei!" (End of Chapter)