Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 514 Ambition dashed
On that day, Cao Xiu sent sentries to contact Lu and Zang, and in order not to waste time, he led his army towards the target Dayi Mountain.

Although Dayi Mountain is not high, only more than 200 meters, due to the flat terrain of the Huaibei Plain, it is a rare high point. From here, enemies can be expected from all sides. There is irrigation water flowing around it, making it a rare military location. Now Cao Xiu wants to go to Dayi Mountain, occupy the dangerous terrain, and join the Qing and Xu armies.

Along the way, because it was the Huaibei Plain, with lakes, depressions, rivers, and plains intertwined, and the water towns were especially muddy, Cao Xiu and his cavalry had no choice but to ford cross-country.

There were 30,000 sergeants in a mighty formation, the team was more than ten miles long, with guides leading the way, large and small carts carrying baggage, sergeants holding bows and flags and moving slowly, and cavalry following the vegetation on both sides of the road.

Cao Xiu held the reins and sat on the horse, his expression gradually becoming proud.

The Northern Wei Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty fought for more than ten years, with many defeats and few victories. They first lost Jianghuai and then abandoned Xiangfan. Important military towns were repeatedly lost. Among them, the greatest threats are Liu Bei and Huo Jun.

Now Liu Bei led his troops to kill Guanzhong and disturbed the capital; Huo Jun's troops reached Xuhuai, and Peng Song suffered losses. Fortunately, Sima Yi led his troops to block Liu Bei, and he also seized Huo Jun's flaw, and finally had a chance to defeat Huo Jun head-on.

Looking around the Huaibei Plain, which is full of jungles and water fields, Cao Xiu felt proud. This should be the place where he would become famous.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Cao Xiu's soldiers arrived at the riverside, and the sun above them was at its hottest.

Cao Xiu blocked the sun with his hand, pointed his whip at the river, and asked, "Where is this place?"

"promise!"

Cao Xiu, who was discussing with the generals, heard the sound of a whistle in the sky. He had the same reaction as everyone else and couldn't help but look up.

Suddenly, Wei Zu, who was fetching water, called out and found four silver boxes placed by the river. They were exquisite in style, black inlaid with silver, and expensive. It seemed that someone had abandoned them here.

According to the arrangement, the Wei army scouts dispersed, while the Wei soldiers moved about individually, either looking for a shaded place to escape the heat, or going to the waterside to fetch water. Cao Xiu pointed to the map and discussed the battle strategy with the generals.

Looking up at the scorching sun in the sky, Cao Xiu wiped his sweat and said, "Let's rest for now and wait until the sun sets in the west before heading in."

"what sound?"

In addition to the flapping sound of wings, each pigeon has a whistle tied to its leg. Under the action of the air flow caused by the pigeon's flight, the whistle makes a sharp sound of "whisper".

Chang Diao's ears were quite sensitive and he asked blankly: "Where did the whistle come from?"

Wei Zu, who was the first to open the box, felt something flying out of the box before he could look at it. He subconsciously covered his face with his hands to prevent anything from hurting him. Instead, a large group of doves flew out of the silver box with flapping wings.

"Let's go over and have a look!"

"do not know!"

"But the enemy?" Zhuge Qian subconsciously became nervous and asked.

"General, this place is called Guanchuan, and it is still fifty miles away from Dayi Mountain." The attendant immediately replied.

One pigeon was good, and hundreds of pigeons flew into the sky together. Their sharp whistles resounded in the sky, attracting all the Wei soldiers under the shade of the trees and on the river beach to look up curiously.

"Whistle?"

"what!"

"Cuckoo~"

At the same time, a large number of pigeons also flew out of the other three silver boxes.

The silver box was extremely eye-catching, and many people on the river beach were attracted by it. Either greedy or curious, they all led him to walk over.

The Wei soldiers moved closer and listened to the sound coming from the box, which made them doubtful. Some of them were brave enough to reach out and open the silver box. With one person taking the lead, everyone who suspected that there was money in the box rushed to open the box first, fearing that the good things would be robbed.

"What's in the box?"

Cao Xiu's eyes were sharp and he quickly spotted the pigeons flying densely in the sky and said: "It's in the sky!"

Everyone looked along the fingers and saw a large number of pigeons flying south.

"Why is this a bird? How can it make a whistle?" someone asked in confusion.

"I don't know!"

The flock of birds and the whistle immediately caused the Wei army generals to fall into temporary confusion.

Although Cao Xiu didn't know the purpose of these pigeons, looking at the sudden appearance of the pigeons in the sky, the sudden change gave him a somewhat bad premonition, and a sense of uneasiness enveloped his heart.

Just when everyone was confused and uneasy, the attendant ran over quickly and said: "General, the soldiers who were fetching water said that they found four silver boxes on the river beach, and doves in the sky flew out of the boxes."

Box, pigeon, whistle!
The three of them were thinking back and forth in Cao Xiu's mind, and he suddenly figured out something. His scalp suddenly became numb, his body became cold, and his uneasiness turned into fear.

"General!" the attendant shouted.

Before he finished speaking, Cao Xiu looked anxious and panicked and shouted: "Order the troops to prepare for war, put on armor and mount crossbows, be careful of the bandit army coming."

"Where did the bandit army come from?" the attendant who was slow to respond asked confusedly.

Cao Xiu called the generals back to their bases and said anxiously: "How can there be a flock of birds in an ordinary box? And why can a flock of birds whistle? This is probably a trap set by water thieves. If our army is exposed, there must be ambushes on the left and right. Break out!"

"what?"

The generals of the Wei army were so frightened that they quickly returned to their respective posts and ordered the sergeants under their tents to put on armor and prepare for battle.

In normal times, in order to march quickly, most soldiers march without armor. They will only march with armor when they are close to the enemy and are about to fight with the enemy. After all, the armor is heavy, and the weather is hot. Marching in armor is simply unbearable for ordinary soldiers.

This is why ancient armies were afraid of being ambushed. Not only was he mentally unprepared, but he was also unprepared for combat.

Twenty miles away, on the irrigation hill. Huo Jun, who was sitting in the top chair, listened to the fast horse coming to report, and called the officials on the left and right, and said with a smile: "Cao Xiu has fallen into my trap, and I will definitely make him frightened now."

"Order Huo Du and Ding Feng to lead the infantry to press forward to prevent Gao Xin from getting into a fight and being defeated by the enemy."

"promise!"

"Woo~"

The soldiers raised the horn, took a deep breath and blew it. The dull sound of the horn echoed in the sky, and the flag flew and danced.

The previously silent jungle was filled with swaying trees and flocks of birds flying. Then, the sound of golden drums sounded like thunder, and the flags seemed to come alive and move in the wind.

After receiving Huo Jun's military order, Huo Du and Ding Feng led their troops forward and killed the Wei army who was about to be attacked by cavalry more than ten miles away.

"Cao Xiu was attacked in an ambush. Ji congratulates the governor for making another great contribution!" Jiang Ji celebrated with a smile.

"Cao Xiu has not yet been defeated, and Zang and Lu's armies are still in the north. It is too early to say victory!" Huo Jun said.

As he spoke, Huo Jun raised his white whip and pointed it forward, smiling and saying, "Let's watch the armies defeat the enemy!"

"promise!"

Cao Xiu gave up the temptation of Dayi Mountain Liangzhai and instead set it as a trap to lure Huo Jun's army here, and attacked Huo Jun from a pinch with the elites of Qing and Xuzhou. Not only can we see the greatness of his ambitions, but we also have to admit that Cao Xiu's military strategy is truly outstanding.

But Cao Xiu didn't know that Huo Jun had already been eyeing him. The reason why he didn't dare to march north to Xuhuai was not because he didn't want to, but because as Man Chong and Jia Kui said, he couldn't move lightly. There are not many troops in Jianghuai. If Huo Jun sends troops in advance, Cao Xiu, who is stationed in Shouchun, will definitely take action.

When Gao Xiang and Chen Yue were defeated, Huo Jun knew that he had to take action, so he went to Huaipu with great fanfare, stating that he would send troops to cross Huaibei and let Cao Xiu make a decision.

In fact, Huo Jun had predicted Wei Jun's several choices.

According to Jia Kui's words, the troops marched towards Hefei. Huo Jun will send troops to Xiapi, directly attack the empty Xiapi city, and then force Zang Ba and Lu Qian to return to the army and attack them in the same way.

After Xu Huai's defeat, Cao Xiu would definitely return to support Xuzhou, and Huo Jun would march eastward to Licheng, relying on Yuzhou to seek an opportunity to fight Cao Wei again.

According to Cao Xiu's plan, he led the army eastward and cooperated with Zang and Lu. Huo Jun will take the initiative to expose his position, lure Cao Xiu into his trap, defeat Cao Xiu first, and then plan to defeat Zang and Lu.

As expected, Cao Xiu was lured by Xu Sheng's troops and pushed eastward. Moreover, Huo Jun's decision to seize the important grain land was also a bait for Cao Xiu. After all, the best hunters often appear as prey.

Huo Jun has been fighting for so many years, and his fighting style is particularly distinctive. In addition to being good at running and attacking, he is also good at mobilizing enemies, choosing the battlefield environment, and setting up pocket formations.

For example, in the battles of Wanshui, Jinkou, Lize, etc., whenever the enemy entered the battlefield laid out by Huo Jun, they were like moths falling into a spider's web, unable to escape easily.

If we compare Huo Jun with Han, Bai and Wei, we can only say that each has its own distinctive characteristics. Han Xing's troops were elegant and outstanding among generals, and he was called the Soldier Immortal, and he was worthy of his name; Bai Qi moved when the opportunity came, and knew the potential at the slightest, and was a hero of military strategists; Wei Qing was bold and careful, combined the right and the strange, and created an original mixed tactic of foot, chariot, and cavalry to drive away the Xiongnu. In the desert.

The reason why a soldier commander develops such a style has a lot to do with the external combat environment and his own personality.

For example, Liu Bei was born in Zhuojun, Youzhou. He was good at using cavalry and had strong frontal combat capabilities. Except for Cao Cao and Lu Bu, Liu Bei was afraid of almost everyone.

In the early stage, Liu Bei and Huo went to the east of the Yangtze River, Huo Jun went by water, and Liu Bei went by land. The two armies advanced together with a great victory, and their troops arrived at Wu Commandery. Without Liu Bei's direct restraint and defeat of Sun Quan's army, Huo Jun would definitely not be able to win.

In the mid-term, Liu Bei fought with Cao Cao several times in Ruxukou and Wuhan, and most of them resisted Cao Cao's main force with a small number of troops. After several battles, Liu Bei established his own authority in the country. After all, he lacked ability, so why did he create the Southern Han Dynasty?
Since the peace in the south, Liu Bei raised his troops for the Northern Expedition, but his own shortcomings were exposed. In the face of large-scale battles, Liu Bei's frontal combat capabilities were difficult to highlight due to various factors. And Liu Bei is not an unparalleled general like Xiang Yu, so naturally he becomes increasingly powerless.

Until this battle, Liu Bei led his elite troops to rush into the pass, returned to his familiar fighting method, charged head-on, broke through the dangerous points of the pass, shocked Wei Ting, and fought to the gate of Chang'an City.

Huo Jun, on the other hand, started by raising troops. Since the enemy had many soldiers but strong horses, most of his battles were fought with a small number of people and rarely fought with superior strength.

In the face of the need to defeat the masses with a small number, Huo Jun not only needs to train elite soldiers, but also thinks about how to defeat powerful enemies. The best way to defeat a strong enemy is to prepare a battlefield, invite you to enter the urn, and attack them separately.

Now Cao Xiu is trying to set up a battlefield and compete with Huo Jun to determine the outcome. It can only be said that Cao Xiu is too young, but he does not know that he has fallen into the trap designed by Huo Jun from the beginning.

The Huaibei plain is vast and there are no hills and dense forests to hide. However, the water and wild countryside of Huaibei has been uninhabited for a long time, so reeds grow in large numbers in the mud.

Four thousand light and heavy cavalry were divided into small groups, each hiding in the surrounding reeds. The scouts arrived around the reed marsh. Because the reed marsh was densely packed and moved by the wind, only white and yellow reeds could be seen, and no ambush could be seen at all.

The four thousand cavalrymen belong to Jianghuai's entire property. After more than ten years of raising horses and practicing riding, they can finally gather for a battle today. In order to quickly defeat Cao Xiu, Huo Jun concentrated on attacking, so that Cao's army would not have time to form a formation.

When the carrier pigeon takes off and the whistle whistles throughout the sky, it is the signal for the cavalry to attack.

The cavalrymen fought out from the reed swamps. Under the influence of flags, horns, and signs, four thousand cavalrymen gathered from various places. Under the leadership of each cavalry general, they attacked Cao Xiu's troops.

"嘘嘚~"

The roar of tens of thousands of horse hooves trampling the ground was like a wave of waves that was about to hit the Wei soldiers. The sound of galloping came from far to near, and the cavalry rushed towards the Wei soldiers who were still wearing armor and forming formation.

"The thieves are coming!"

The Wei soldiers on the periphery were unable to resist and ran away wildly, shouting in terror. There are even those who are timid and fearful, who collapse to the ground, unable to survive several struggles.

Tens of thousands of Wei soldiers acted in different ways, either running away in fear, following the generals, or wanting to fight vigorously. However, the Han cavalry came too fast and fiercely. Some of the Wei soldiers had not yet put on their armor, and some were obeying military orders and preparing to assemble. There were still many steps before they could form a formation and fight.

Listening to the dull thunder, Cao Xiu got on his horse and wanted to fight the Han cavalry with his spear.

Seeing that the soldiers were not uniform, the attendant grabbed Cao Xiu's reins and said, "General, our soldiers are unprepared. It is better to withdraw now!"

Hearing this, Cao Xiu became furious, whipped his servants and said, "How can we lead an army to conquer without fighting?"

"Prepare for war!"

(End of this chapter)