Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 229 The Curtain Opens
At the end of the year, the day of Yangsheng.

The sun is shining high and the waves are sparkling, which is the scene of Chrysostom.Xunyang dissipates the coldness of the river and warms the body of Sergeant Cao Liu.

Inside the tent, Huo Jun took off his cloak and tied a black cloak around his shoulders.Walk slightly along the sand table, thinking about the flaws in your strategy.

Kan Ze stepped into the tent, cupped his hands and said, "To the Governor, today is a day of yang, and tomorrow it will turn cold again. According to the Governor's words about the changes of yin and yang in the mountains and rivers and the wind, there will be a strong southeast wind tonight!"

"it is good!"

Huo Jun looked at the model of Cao's army's tent on the sand table and said with a smile: "I ordered Xu Sheng to withdraw his troops and return to the camp. Today's battle is over. I called all the generals to enter the tent and obey orders. He also ordered the rear camp to prepare thatch, firewood and sulfur. After the military meeting, they will be divided into various tribes."

"promise!"

Deng Fan led several of his entourage sergeants out of the tent to convey Huo Jun's military orders to everyone.

Amidst the sound of general drums, the generals arrived at the camp one after another. They seemed to be aware that the atmosphere today was unusual.

Xu Sheng, who came out of the stronghold to invite a fight, entered the tent, raised his hands and said: "Captain, Sheng went out to the stronghold today to challenge for a fight. No matter how much our troops insulted us, there was no movement from Cao Cao's naval forces. In the past half month, Cao Cao's naval forces have not fought a single battle, and they are all behind closed doors. Build the racket and the boat."

Huo Jun, who was looking at the map, raised his head and said: "Cao Cao is a great hero in the world and very resourceful. Although he is in Jianghan, he doesn't know the mountains and rivers of our Chu land, but the soldiers and generals are still there, how could he follow such a shallow strategy. "

After saying that, Huo Jun asked Xu Sheng to take a seat and said with a smile: "We will wait until Yuzhou arrives at the tent, then I will be promoted to the tent to defeat the enemy."

"Break the enemy?"

As soon as this statement came out, most of the generals, officials, and military officials in the tent were confused and started talking about it.Only a few confidants such as Jiang Ji and Lu Su had smiles on their lips and seemed to be aware of Huo Jun's plan.

After a while, Liu Bei put on his armor and walked towards the tent.

"Yuzhou!"

"Zhong Miao!"

Huo and Liu saluted and said hello, then asked the generals in the army to sit separately and raise the tent to discuss the army.

Huo Jungao sat on the couch, looked around at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "Cao Cao entered Jianghan far away. His army was trapped in the swamp and was trapped by the terrain, so he camped along the river. From Bairen Mountain to Zhouling City, it was a hundred and thirty miles along the river. There are more than [-] troops and more than [-] battalions."

"The sergeants in the front abandoned their boats and camped in the hills and forests; the navy in the middle built a water stronghold and used the method of connecting boats; the rear army built a stronghold on dry land with few defenses. Now Cao Cao has the shot presented by two generals Gan and Yu The poles, chariots and boats are already full of ambition, so there is a saying that arrogant soldiers will be defeated!"

"Tonight, on the day when Yang is born, our army has its back against the Tianyue Mountains. When the Yin and Yang change, there will be strong winds from the southeast. The governor wants to use the method of burning, so the soldiers in each department hold thatch and hide the fire material sulfur, using fire as the weapon. Soldiers, we should defeat Cao Cao."

The generals were in high spirits and looked solemn. They raised their hands and said, "Please give me your orders, Commander-in-Chief!"

"Where are Gao Xiang, Xu Sheng, Wei Yan, Lu Meng, and Lu Yi?"

"In order to avoid the Yangtze River and the wet swamps, Cao Cao abandoned his boat and went on foot. He led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to camp in the hills and hills of Chaos with hundreds of people and a large army. Because of the dense water network, he set up camps among the hills. It is winter now. It's cold and dry, and the grass and trees are flammable. I order you to have five men each with [-] sergeants, and a combined force of [-] people. Raise the troops to watch the battle, with General Gao as the leader and Lieutenant Lu as the auxiliary, and burn the enemy's front camp."

"promise!"

The five men stepped forward and each led an order and retreated into the queue of people.

"Where is Yuzhou?"

"exist!"

Huo Jun looked at Liu Bei and said: "When the fire breaks out in the water stronghold, Yuzhou will lead Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, Fu Xi and other [-] people on foot to cross the Yangtze River at night from Niekou in the upper reaches. They will burn the enemy camp and attack with troops. camp."

"promise!"

Liu Bei stepped forward, holding the military order in his hand, and asked: "In the upper reaches, our army has few boats and boats. How can we cross the river at night?"

Huo Jun smiled and said: "Jun has ordered General Yide to complete the preparations in Niezhou. Yuzhou will lead his troops to the Niezhou camp. We can know the detailed arrangements."

After saying that, Huo Jun also warned: "Cao's camp in Zhouling is dangerous and strong. Cao's army is elite and cannot be taken down easily. Only Yuzhou and his troops are brave and may be able to fight. When the water fortress caught fire, Yuzhou led his troops to cross the Yangtze River at night. , take things by surprise, attack things they are not prepared for, and you may be able to accomplish them.”

"promise!"

Liu Bei knew that the responsibility he held was heavy, so he raised his hand and said: "Please rest assured, Commander, I will lead the soldiers to break Cao's camp in Zhouling."

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "Let me send an order to General Xiakouguan and let him prepare for war tonight. If there is news of our army's victory, let him lead his sergeants and navy up the Shuo River to cut off the seven armies. Contact Cao Cao’s army.”

"promise!"

After a pause, Huo Jun looked around at the crowd and said with a smile: "Generals Gan and Yu followed Jun's order and falsely surrendered to Cao Cao. Tonight, anyone you see wearing a hemp scarf on his arm is our soldier. Don't kill him by mistake."

With a sonorous sound, Huo Jun drew his sword and said enthusiastically: "The remaining tribes will go out with the governor to attack the enemy's water stronghold. Today there is good weather outside and there is support inside. In tonight's battle, Cao Cao will be defeated."

"We must defeat Cao Cao!"

"We must defeat Cao Cao!"

After shouting in unison, all the generals returned to camp and rectified the sergeants under their tents.According to the military order issued by Huo Jun, everyone received thatch, torches, and sulfur, and prepared their boats to wait for nightfall.

At that time, the soldiers were packing up their armor, and Huo Jun inspected all the ministries and gave instructions on the details.Liu Bei, on the other hand, led [-] infantry and cavalry and marched cautiously on the shore.

When they arrived at Niezhou Camp, Liu Bei met Zhang Fei and learned the detailed plan of crossing the river mentioned by Huo Jun.

"Unblock the Jinshui and Nieshui, sail on dry land. Use bamboo rafts to cross the river, and attack the Zhouling camp at night."

Liu Bei stood on Chicken Wing Mountain and was also amazed by Huo Jun's idea.

The coalition forces and Cao's army fought on the river at the mouth of 'C', with Niezhou in the middle blocking it. There was actually a Nie River between the two arcs to connect them.During the Yangtze River summer period, the water level of the Yangtze River rises, and the Nie River dredges the upper and lower half of the arc.When winter comes, the river water drops and the Nie River dries up, leaving only the river channel.

However, more than ten miles away from Nieshui River, there is Jinshui River, which originates from Jiji Mountain and flows into the Yangtze River.Huo Jun asked Zhang Fei to dredge the rivers of Jin and Nie Rivers and divert the Jin water into Nie River to flow into the Yangtze River.

Zhang Fei built a bamboo raft on the upper reaches of Jinshui River. With a small amount of river water, he asked his sergeants to push the bamboo raft on dry land and enter the Yangtze River at Niekou.In the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the lower half of the arc, the coalition forces, which lacked boats, conjured up a large number of bamboo rafts out of thin air, without anyone noticing.

As night fell, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Chen Dao took advantage of the darkness to lead [-] infantry and cavalry to lurk at Niekou, facing Cao's army in Zhouling.

Not only were the troops under Liu Bei's account already in place, but under the cover of darkness, the coalition troops poured out, the sailors boarded the boats, the boats left the stronghold, anchored and floated on the river, hiding in the night, waiting for Huo Jun's orders.

The lights on the boat are brightly lit, and the river reflects red light, which is extremely brilliant.The sergeant stood with a bow and spear, and the flag was flying.Deng Fan heard the military reports from various ministries and rushed to report, saying: "I have informed the governor that Yuzhou has come to report that his troops have been prepared. General Gao also came to report that he will divide the [-] soldiers in his account into ten groups. On the river, waiting for orders from the Commander-in-Chief."

Huo Jun was wearing a large cloak and saw that the direction of the flag was changing, so he ordered: "Order Ding Feng to lead the boat out to the outside of Cao Jun's water stronghold, and we can attack with fire!"

"promise!"

Bright torches waved in the night, conveying military orders.

Ding Feng was so proud that he carried ten small boats carrying more than a hundred sailors in thin clothes. Each of them carried an oil gourd on his waist and concealed a fire bag tightly wrapped in oilcloth.

In Cao Jun's tent, Cao Cao, who should have fallen asleep, could not sleep as he listened to the cold wind whistling outside the tent.

By the candlelight, Cao Cao sat up, touched his palpitating chest, and drank a bowl of warm water to moisten his throat.

Then Cao Cao lay down again, pulled the quilt over him, and closed his eyes.However, hearing the cold wind getting stronger outside the tent, Cao Cao felt irritated and asked, "How is the wind tonight?"

The attendant replied: "Your Majesty, the wind is very strong tonight, and it is blowing from the southeast."

"Southeast wind?"

Cao Cao's expression changed slightly and he said: "Wasn't it a breeze the past few days? How could it turn into a strong southeast wind? It's not spring or summer now, so how could a strong southeast wind suddenly occur?"

"Are you summoning the generals?" the attendant asked.

"It's late tonight, what's the use of summoning the generals?" Cao Cao frowned, took off his robe and put it on, and said: "Go down with the order and carefully observe the river surface to see if there are any suspicious enemy ships."

"promise!"

The entourage left as ordered, preparing to keep a close eye on the scouts tonight.

However, at this moment, the hundreds of watermen on the river drank warm wine, and then, under the leadership of Ding Feng, they all jumped into the Yangtze River with a few "plops".

On the dark and hard-to-see river surface, hundreds of large gourds floated on the river surface, heading towards the brightly lit water village of Cao Jun in the turbulent river water.

In the past few days, Huo Jun often sent people to fight outside the water stronghold, and he had already clearly explored the surrounding water stronghold of Cao's army.Moreover, these one hundred sailors were all good at swimming and breath-holding. They were selected from the army by Huo Jun and paid a lot of money for their lives to serve as navy frogmen.

Frogmen have been fighting since ancient times, and in ancient times they were used to build ships.When World War II entered, the Italian army's combat effectiveness was poor, but its frogmen were outstanding in combat.Two frogmen were used to sneak into the military port and sink a British battleship.

However, Huo Junjin used frogmen to carry crude oil into the stronghold, giving him a good start for tonight's fire attack.As for where the crude oil came from, Huo Jun got more than 20 jars of crude oil from Jiangdu in Guangling, and he took all of it out today for use in the fire attack.

They drove the small boat to the upper reaches of Cao Jun's navy and stopped in the middle of the Yangtze River.Then they carried gourds filled with crude oil and sneaked into Cao Jun's water stronghold.Crude oil is lighter than water, so they can use the oil hoist to save effort and swim along the river to Cao Jun's water village.

The water villages are not all blocked off with wooden fences. Most of the time, wooden piles are inserted into the water, planks are laid out as roads, and watchtowers are built on top to observe the situation on the water surface.

On the vast Yangtze River, several small boats patrolled the river, seeming to detect incoming enemies on the river.However, there was still no enemy ship visible on the dark river.As for Jiangxia, can An be able to see just by the lighting range of the torch?
Hundreds of frogmen passed the patrol boat under the river. Taking advantage of the flow of the water, they slid to the water village with ease.

On the watchtower of the water village, several sailors looked down at the river.In front of the approaching camp gate, they vaguely saw several dark things floating on the river with the faint light of the fire, and then disappeared.

"what is that?"

The sharp-eyed soldier pointed at several black figures passing through the water gate and asked.

The companion took a few glances, but found nothing, and said perfunctorily: "Maybe it's a big fish!"

"Big fish?"

The companion glanced at the man and said, "In such a cold winter and late at night, do you think he is a human?"

"Too!"

Although the soldiers had doubts, they didn't think much about it.

After sneaking into the village, Ding Feng emerged from the moored stern, unloaded the gourd from his waist, took out the cork, carefully poured the crude oil from upstream, and let it float around the bottom of the stern.

Ding Feng looked up and looked around. He saw many frogmen and sailors taking out fire sticks from the sealed oilcloth and lighting them on fire.

"call!"

The fire stick was ignited and Ding Feng threw it far away onto the crude oil floating on the river. There was a "swish" sound, and the crude oil ignited at the first touch. The red flames illuminated Ding Feng's face and began to engulf the large ship.

Not only Ding Feng, but also dozens of fires ignited out of thin air in the dark water stronghold. With the help of the southeast wind, they began to devour the Cao Jun navy warships connected end to end.

"go!"

Ding Feng felt the hot fire and hurriedly dived into the river.His mission was accomplished, and now it was up to the others.

The navy's Dazhai caught fire for no reason, and then engulfed the warship.Cao Jun's sailors shouted "Escape" one after another, and the entire water village began to be in initial chaos.

"Captain, Cao Jun's water stronghold is on fire!"

The flames soaring into the sky were picked up by the scouts, and then passed layer by layer to Huo Jun's ears.

"Ha ha!"

"Today I want to let Cao Cao know the interests of me, Huo Jun."

When Huo Jun saw the banner that had been blown up by the strong southeast wind, he laughed loudly, drew his sword, and shouted: "Send the whole army to advance and defeat Cao's army."

"promise!"

"Boom~"

"Boom~"

The drums of marching sounded on the naval warships, and hundreds of warships came to life, like fire dragons cruising on the river, flying in with sails, and heading straight for Cao Jun's camp.

(End of this chapter)