Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 390 Iron Locks Cross the Water

Acting on the advice of Jia Xu and Liu Ye, Cao Cao ordered Zhao Yan, Governor Xu Huang and other generals to lead more than 20,000 elite troops in chariots, abandoning their heavy baggage and lightly armed to attack Huaidong. After Liu Ye took the initiative to ask for help, he was appointed as a military advisor by Cao Cao and accompanied the army.

In order to prevent Liu Bei from noticing his strategic intentions, Cao Cao pretended not to notice Liu Bei's plan. Let all the ministries in Huainan send scouts to closely observe the Feishui dike, and ask the soldiers of all ministries to be careful that the Feishui embankment suddenly bursts.

Under this situation, 20,000 elite sergeants, under the command of Zhao Yan and Xu Huang, rushed towards Huaidong with light equipment, giving the illusion of rescuing Xiapi City.

When they arrived at Ping'a and set up camp, Liu Ye took out the edict issued by Cao Cao and summoned Zhao Yan, Xu Huang and other generals.

In the big tent, Zhao Yan sat in the main seat, while Xu Huang, Liu Ye and others sat on the left and right.

"All the generals have arrived, please ask Military Advisor Liu to convey the king's military orders." Zhao Yan said.

"good!"

Liu Ye took out Cao Cao's edict from his brocade bag and said: "Your Majesty has an order, ordering us to give up supporting Xiapi, divert Huo Jun's retreat, join forces with Zang Xuzhou, and capture and kill his troops."

"Give up support for Xiapi?"

After hearing this, the generals began to whisper among themselves and had considerable objections to this military order.

Xu Huang looked suspicious and said: "Huo Jun entered Surabaya by boat and surrounded Xiapi City. When something urgent happened, the boat sailed down the river and advanced and retreated calmly. How should our army intercept Huo Jun's retreat?"

Among the strategies proposed by Jia Xu, it seems feasible to take Cao Cao by surprise and encircle and suppress Huo Jun. But there is not much room for maneuver, otherwise Liu Bei, Pang Tong, including Huo Jun himself, would not dare to go north to Surabaya easily.

The partial army led by Huo Jun was not afraid of encirclement and suppression by Cao Jun, and dared to fight deep into Qingxu. The key was that Huo Jun marched by boat. In order to ensure a smooth escape route, Huo Jun ordered his confidant General Xu Sheng to take charge of Huaiyin. With this arrangement, even if Cao Cao had an army of 100,000 to encircle and suppress him, Huo Jun could easily retreat by boat.

However, there is no perfect strategy in this world. As a native of Jianghuai, Liu Ye found a workable plan.

Under everyone's doubtful gazes, Liu Ye coughed a few times and said: "Huaidong is sparsely populated and there are few enemy soldiers. What Huo Jun relies on is nothing more than the advantage of the boat. If we can cut off the boat's retreat, we can cut off Huo Jun's minions!" "

Wen Ji sneered and said, "With the boat cut off and our retreat route, could it be that the military advisor can dry up the Surabaya River?"

"Ha ha!"

Hearing this, many of the generals were smiling, and most of them believed that it would be difficult to retreat by breaking up the boats.

Liu Ye was calm and said: "Even if Ye has the power of the immortal family, he cannot let the Si River dry up. But it is not impossible to break the boat and retreat."

As he spoke, Liu Ye collected his thoughts and said: "The Si River leaves Pengcheng, passes through Xiapi, and joins the Huai River at Sikou. The Si River is narrow at the bottom and wide at the bottom, and the water flow is gradually slowing down. If we want to prevent Huo Jun from withdrawing his troops, it is better to camp at Sikou. Block waterways.”

"At that time, the Si River was blocked, and it was difficult for Huo Jun's boat to enter the Huai River. Our army is in the south, Zang Xuzhou is in the north, and the king is in the west. Huo Jun's troops are slightly stronger, and he will be a turtle in the urn. He can only wait to capture you!"

“Clogging Surabaya?”

Xu Huang frowned and said: "During the rainy season, not only the Huaihe River rises greatly, but also the Si River. Blocking the Si River now will not be a long-term success, and I am afraid it will be difficult. If Huo Jun knows about it, he will lead his boat to evacuate quickly. Our army will waste all its efforts!"

It usually takes time to build dykes and flood cities with water. So what if Surabaya is blocked?

"No!"

Liu Ye stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It is not to block the Si River, but to block the waterway, making it difficult for boats to enter the Huai River."

"Although it is the rainy season, Huo Jun built a river weir in Xiapi to store the Surabaya River, so the Surabaya River has not risen significantly. The river channel of the Surabaya River is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and the flow rate gradually slows down. Our army can attack Sikou with light equipment and line up on both sides of the river. Set up camp at the foot of the river.”

"Put an iron lock across it and drive wooden stakes down to block the river surface, which can prevent boats from entering the Huaihe River. At the same time, widen the river channel to divert the flow of the Si River. When the water level drops sharply, how can the boats enter the Huaihe River?"

Then, Liu Ye stroked his beard and smiled lightly, and said: "The boats made by Huo Jun are designed to withstand wind and waves. Most of the boats have sharp bottoms and a deep draft. In normal times, the boats travel in Hangou and the Yangtze River. They are not afraid of wind and waves, and the traffic is smooth. . But when we enter the Xuhuai waters, the river is wide and shallow, so how can we say it is unimpeded?"

Xu Huang and Zhao Yan looked at each other and were surprised.

Liu Ye's move almost grasped the details of the enemy's situation in the waters of both sides. If he was not a local and familiar with the enemy's situation, he would not be able to come up with this strategy. Almost all the details are tied together to achieve such a strategy.

"Great military strategist!"

Xu Huang looked in amazement and said: "Block the river and cut off the retreat. We are surrounded on three sides. Although Huo Jun has unparalleled talents, he is also limited. We can only defeat you!"

Liu Ye nodded slightly and said with a smile: "The way back is cut off. Even if we can't capture Huo Jun, we can still defeat his troops. We will go to Huaidong and cooperate with the king to threaten Jiangzuo. When Liu Bei learned that Huo Jun was defeated, he had to retreat to Hefei. Jianghuai Hundreds of miles of land are back under the control of our army."

In the strategy jointly formulated by Jia Xu and Liu Ye, a counterattack plan was created for Cao Cao. After Huo Jun was defeated in Xuhuai, Zhao Yan and Xu Huang took advantage of the situation and went south, sweeping across Huaidong and threatening Jiangzuo.

Although Liu Bei raised a large number of troops, after the Huaidong flank was lost, he had no choice but to retreat to Hefei and aid Jiangdong from the east. At that time, Cao Cao spared his energy and focused on managing Huaiyin and Shouchun, which would lock Liu Bei to death in Jiangbei.

The Jianghuai River is depopulated, and if one party wins, the army can sweep hundreds of miles. For example, Huo Jun went to Hefei, swept through Huaidong, and pushed the battle line to the Huai River. Only under the pressure of Qingxu's troops, they withdrew from a depth of more than a hundred miles and retreated to Sheyang.

Zhao Yan pondered for a while and asked: "Since the king has handed over the imperial edict and the military advisor, I will ask the military advisor to elaborate on the strategy of entering the army."

"good!"

Liu Ye stood up and walked to the map, pointed at Sikou, and said: "Huo Jun ordered Xu Sheng to guard Huaiyin in order to prevent Huaidong from being lost. Now we are attacking Sikou, and we should be careful not to be noticed by Xu Sheng. Therefore, our army should ride lightly and arrive at night. We set up camp at Sikou and blocked the river all night so that Xu Sheng could not detect it. At daybreak, although Xu Sheng raised an army to invade, there was nothing to worry about with the small number of soldiers."

"Good!" "Since the military advisor has made arrangements, the generals and I will follow the king's order to garrison Sikou and blockade the river overnight." Zhao Yan replied.

Under Liu Ye's arrangement, the Wei army, which had stopped at Ping'a, adjusted its direction, changed its route to the east, traveled day and night, and rushed to Sikou with light equipment.

The distance from Sikou to Ping'a is two to three hundred miles, traveling lightly with chariots and cavalry. At dusk two days later, we rushed to the area around Sikou. In order not to alert the sergeants of Huaiyin City, who were twenty or thirty miles away from Sikou, Wei's soldiers rested on the spot.

As night fell, under the command of Zhao Yan, Xu Huang, Wen Ji and others, various units of the Wei army rushed to Sikou. Fortunately, God was kind and the moon and stars were sparse. According to the previous plan, the civil engineering work started.

Thousands of firelights dispersed the darkness on both sides of Surabaya River, and 20,000 Wei soldiers were distributed on both sides of the river. Amid the shouts of the officers, they did not even set up camps, but devoted themselves to the work of blocking the river.

"quick!"

"Lift the iron rope onto the pontoon!"

Under the urging, sections of iron locks were connected first, which must be more than 400 meters long. Then more than two hundred soldiers carried the iron locks onto the pontoon bridge, walked across the Huai River as the pontoon bridge swayed, and placed the iron locks across the east and west banks.

Many armies carried iron locks with them when they went on an expedition, either to build a fortress or to set up camp on the spot. Of course, the quality of iron locks in ancient times was not as good as that of later generations. After all, iron locks can be burned under fierce fire.

The pontoon bridge is not a wooden bridge. The reason why it can be easily built is mainly due to the contribution of small boats. Use ropes to connect the boats, and then connect the boats to both sides. Planks are laid on the boat surface to instantly form a pontoon that can cross the river.

Iron locks connected the two sides of the bank. Wei's soldiers threaded the dismantled wheels into the iron locks. There were more than a hundred wheels tied to the iron locks several hundred meters long.

Placed in the water, the iron lock and wheel sank slightly under the river. The ink-colored chain and wooden-colored wheel were looming in the waves of the Huai River.

Amidst the sound of chants, more than a hundred strong sergeants held up hammers and nailed the iron locks firmly to both sides of Sikou.

After a busy night, three iron cables crossed the water of Surabaya, and simple camps were set up on both sides of Surabaya.

Hundreds of trees were piled on the river bank. It was expected that the next work would be to nail stakes at the bottom of the river to prevent boats from entering the Huaihe River.

After dawn, the whereabouts of the Wei army at the mouth of Sishui was discovered by scouts and reported to Xu Sheng in Huaiyin City.

After hearing the news, Xu Sheng led more than a hundred people by boat to the south bank of Surabaya to observe the situation.

Looking at the iron cable that was built across Surabaya overnight and the Wei soldiers stationed on both sides of the river, Xu Sheng was both shocked and annoyed.

Lieutenant General Zhang Ba panicked and said: "General, the enemy has locked up iron blocks across the river and planted hidden stakes. The army is stationed on both sides of the Surabaya River. This is a move to block the river. The governor's army is still in Xiapi, and the road from now on is blocked. What should we do?"

The Wei soldiers on the north bank saw Xu Sheng's boat, and Wen Jitong's cavalry came out of the camp. The cavalry galloped along the river, showing off their power there.

"Boom!"

Xu Sheng was so embarrassed that he punched the railing with his fist in anger. Blood dripped from his fist under the force of gravity.

"Will the general mobilize the elite troops in Huaiyin City, sail up in boats, and destroy the iron locks to ensure the general's retreat?"

Zhang Ba held the hilt of his sword tightly and said anxiously: "If we just sit back and do nothing, our army will be destroyed and the governor's life will be in danger."

Zhang Ba was from Lujiang County. When Huo Jun was recruiting troops on the left side of the Yangtze River, Zhang Ba led his fellow villagers to join him. He fought with Huo Jun for more than ten years and made many achievements and promotions. Seeing that his general's retreat was cut off, he was extremely anxious.

Xu Sheng looked at the thousands of crossbows scattered along the riverside, bit his gums, and said, "The enemy invaders have been prepared to intercept the entrance of Surabaya. Last night, they led their troops to rush across the river with iron chains. They have all the bows, crossbows and cavalry. Today, If we lead our troops to attack by force, not only will our soldiers suffer serious casualties, but it will also be difficult to protect Huaiyin City."

Zhang Ba pounded the mast again, looked at Xu Sheng and begged, "The general has always been favored by the governor. Now that the situation is like this, how should the general treat him?"

Xu Sheng forced himself to calm down and said: "The governor's troops are far away from Sikou, and the lone army is going north to Xiapi. Now we will send the cavalry north to pass the information about Sikou to the governor and let him make a decision. Our soldiers are stationed in Huaiyin, which threatens Sikou. We are talking about enemy troops and reinforcements for the governor, so we must not move lightly.”

"In addition, I have ordered the sergeants to march westward and report this battle to the king. Let the king make a plan and send troops to march eastward to support. Recently, I have ordered the sergeants to attack by boat and harass them to delay their progress. If the camps on both sides are completed, the governor will return. It will be completely cut off.”

Then, Xu Sheng paced on the deck and said: "Today's situation is not a dead end for the governor. If the governor is willing to abandon his boat and attack by force, or lead his cavalry to go south, there is also hope of saving his life. Only the army cannot be saved. you!"

"That's all!"

Zhang Ba drew his sword and chopped the boat, sighing loudly.

On the bank of Surabaya River, Xu Huang saw the boat carrying Xu Sheng retreating and asked, "How is the military advisor?"

Liu Ye stroked his beard and smiled, and said: "Huo Jun will soon know that our army has arrived at Sikou. We should quickly block the river to prevent Huo Jun from breaking the weir and dredging the Sishui River, and the boats will take advantage of the current to rush into the Huaihe River."

"Xu Sheng will lead the navy to attack the pontoon bridge in the near future, and General Lao Gongming will lead his sergeants to fight against Xu Sheng. The water thieves must not be allowed to interfere with our army's blockade of the river."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)