Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 582 A bad start
In August, Cao Ren led his troops across the Huaihe River to Zhongli, joined forces with Cao Xiu, and then sent the soldiers and civilians to carry silt on their backs to fill the moat.

In order to delay Cao Ren's attack on the city, Xu Sheng often led his soldiers out of the city at night. Earlier, because Cao's army was not firmly established, Xu Sheng made occasional gains. However, as Cao Ren built a long siege, Zhongli was besieged tightly, and Xu Sheng no longer left the city.

While the Wei army was besieging Zhongli City, Xiahou Shang led Qingxu's army to Xiapi. Seeing that Huo You had no intention of surrender, he immediately adopted the plan of flooding Xiapi.

In September, when the Wei army's offensive was launched, Lu Xun led reinforcements from Wuhan and went straight from Guangling to Huaiyin. After Lu Xun reunited with Jiang Ji, Huo Du, Ding Feng and other Jianghuai generals, he led his troops by boat to Xu Taixia camp.

Upon learning that reinforcements from the Southern Han Dynasty were arriving, Cao Hong sent Man Chong eastward and set up camp on the north bank of Xutai to contain Lu Xun.

Han army, Xutai Dazhai.

In the big tent, a map of the Huaisi battlefield situation was hung in the tent. Lu Xun and the generals were worried about the current situation.

"Xiapi was surrounded by Xiahou Shang, who wanted to break the city with water; Cao Ren besieged Zhongli, and most of the moat outside the city had been filled in. With the current situation, if the siege of the two cities cannot be solved quickly, there is a risk of losing it! "

Jiang Ji sat on the chair, cupped his hands and said: "The general has come to aid Huaihe on the orders of the Grand Sima. Now it is better to lead the boat to the west before winter comes, so as to contain the rebel troops and make it difficult for Cao Pi to concentrate all his strength on the siege of Zhongli City. "

"How is the situation outside the city today?" Lu Xun asked.

"General, the bandits have camped on Shaoyang Island and built a pontoon bridge to connect the north and south. In order to prevent our army from attacking the bridge with naval forces, they built a high platform on the island and placed nearly a thousand crossbowmen on the towers. Outside the pontoon bridge, there were The thieves' boats are traveling back and forth in the Huaihe River," said Yu Shao.

Lu Xun stared at Shaoyangzhou on the map and frowned slightly.

He led 55,000 soldiers and horses, and combined with the Jianghuai soldiers and horses, there were more than 70,000 soldiers and horses, a mixture of elites, old and weak. Facing the more than 100,000 Wei troops attacking Zhongli City, Lu Xun did not dare to directly engage in a field battle with the Wei troops. Only by utilizing strengths and avoiding weaknesses can we win.

The Southern Han Dynasty relied on boat boats and bows and crossbows. Lu Xun originally planned to take advantage of the boat boats and divide the Wei army into Huainan and Huaibei. Although it cannot cause a lot of damage to the Wei army, it can cause chaos to the Wei army.

Today, Cao's army camped at Shaoyangzhou, built a high platform, and deployed naval forces outside, obviously to prevent him from destroying the pontoon bridge. However, given the current situation, even if there is an obstruction, troops will still be sent to destroy the pontoon bridge. Otherwise, when winter comes and the Huaihe River drops significantly, the Han army will completely lose its advantage in boats and boats.

After pondering for a while, Lu Xun said: "As autumn and winter come, the water of the Huaihe River becomes shallower and shallower. Now it is time to lead the boatmen forward to see if they can break the bridge."

As he spoke, Lu Xun looked at the generals in the tent and asked, "Which general dares to lead the fleet in to destroy and burn the pontoon bridge?"

Fu Xu stepped forward and said with high fighting spirit: "Although the thieves have boats and boats, how can they defeat our army in terms of strength? Only Xu is willing to lead his troops and horses to swim upstream and destroy the pontoon bridge."

"The general is so heroic!"

Lu Xun was very satisfied. He looked at Quan Cong in the tent and said, "General Fu is brave, and General Quan has strategy. I want to take General Fu as the vanguard, and then have General Quan support me. How about that?"

"The last general takes command!"

Quan Cong stood up with his sword in hand and took orders.

The next day, the autumn wind was bleak and the sky was dawning.

Three bursts of thunderous drums sounded in the Han army's water stronghold. Then two generals, Fu Xu and Quan Cong, led ten thousand people out of the camp. Amid the sound of drums, they boarded ships one after another, manned the oars, and grasped the bows and crossbows. Nearly two hundred fighting ships and airships were arranged in an orderly manner and left the camp one after another.

Fu Xi held his gun forward and shouted: "Raise the flag and march!"

"promise!"

In the strong wind of the river, the flags were fluttering, the sergeants shouted slogans, and the boat broke through the waves and sailed against the current.

The turbulence and water volume of the Huai River are far less than those of the Yangtze River. In addition to seasonal problems, the water level of the Huai River is declining day by day. Therefore, Lu Xun did not carry a large warship equipped with a racket. Most of his naval warships were small and medium-sized boats.

Fu Wei and Quan Cong took a boat against the waves, getting closer to Shaoyangzhou upstream. The Wei army upstream discovered the Han navy and issued an early warning.

Drums sounded in the Wei army's water stronghold. At the urging of his father Cao Ren, Cao Tai led his navy to leave the stronghold to fight.

Compared with the Han navy that marched in an orderly manner with flags flying, the Wei navy commanded by Cao Tai had a chaotic lineup and did not look like a strong army. Most of its boats were small warships, which made it weaker in terms of momentum. layer.

Suddenly, hundreds of warships from the two teams appeared on the river together, going up and down, facing each other tit for tat.

"Fire arrows!"

Seeing that the Wei army's navy had entered the shooting range, Fu Xu raised his long spear and shouted loudly: "To meet them, first use bows and crossbows and short spears, and then engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"promise!"

As the bowstring vibrated, hundreds of arrows were launched from the fighting boat and flew toward the Wei navy. Thousands of arrows either fell into the river due to wind and waves, or hit the ship's plank because of poor archery skills. However, among the more than a thousand arrows, hundreds or dozens of them hit Wei soldiers.

"what!"

An arrow hit Wei Zu's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain, and was protected by a kind-hearted colleague with a shield.

"Archers strike back!"

Under the urging of the officers, the archers of the Wei army drew their bows and fired arrows at the Han sailors. As a result, because they were not used to the bumps in the river or the heaving of the deck, they almost didn't hit the Han army.

"Ha ha!"

Seeing the Wei army's archery skills, Fu Xu laughed and said: "Wei's dogs can't even use a bow, how dare they sail a boat to fight against our army?"

"Come forward and greet them with a short spear!"

"promise!"

After discovering the true level of the Wei army's navy, the Han soldiers were no longer polite and emboldened one after another to shoot at the sailors on the boats with their bows and arrows. The shots made Wei soldiers cry for their fathers and mothers, some were shot to death and fell into the Huaihe River; some were hidden under shields and boathouses, and occasionally fired back with bows and arrows.

As the boats of the two armies approached rapidly, they entered the spear-throwing range after about twenty or thirty steps. "Whoosh!"

Fu Wei took the lead and picked up a short spear, aimed at a Wei army shield hand, and threw it violently. But he saw the sharp short spear with a shrill sound of breaking through the air, and immediately penetrated the wooden shield with a 'snap' sound, piercing into the chest of the shield bearer. With a scream, he fell to the ground and died instantly.

Immediately after Fu Xu threw the short spears, hundreds of short spears were thrown out from the Han warships. Although the number was small, they were heavy and heavy. The Wei troops on the boat were all frightened for fear of being shot.

"what!"

Several Wei soldiers were unable to escape in time and were unfortunately shot by short spears. The sharp spear points penetrated their bodies, and hot blood gushed out. With their screams, they fell into the river one after another, and the bright red blood mixed with the river water. , suddenly dyed a piece of water red.

When a short spear is thrown at close range, the spear has a strong sinking force, which is comparable to the critical strike of a strong crossbow, and the vertical wooden shield cannot stop it. In an instant, the Wei army's sailors suffered heavy casualties, and there was an endless stream of wails and screams.

Huo Junxi, the water master, set a four-step procedure for the Han navy's navy, using bows and arrows at a distance, short spears at close range, clapsticks for catching ships, and spears at short range.

Relying on the four naval methods, the Nanhan Navy first defeated the Sun Wu Navy with the weak and the strong, and then destroyed the Jianghan Navy in the Yangtze River. The Huaihe naval division facing the Wei army today is beyond the power of the Wei soldiers in just two steps.

After several waves of short spears were thrown today, the warships in the front row of the Wei army, large and small, moved closer to both sides of the bank, no longer daring to fight with the Han navy.

Cao Tai saw that the boats under his tent were broken up and the Han navy under the command of Generals Fu Xu and Quan Cong was advancing rapidly. He didn't know how to stop them, so he immediately ordered his troops to withdraw.

In less than an hour of fighting, the Wei navy was completely defeated. The Han navy sailed up the river against the river wind, with flags ringing, and they were about to force the Wei army onto the pontoon bridge.

"on!"

Fu Xu stood up holding a spear and shouted loudly: "The bandits were defeated and fled, heading straight for the pontoon bridge."

As the Han navy approached Zhouzhu, the archers on the high platform were clearly visible. Under the waving of the imperial flag in the king's hands, the archers on the high platform condescended to attack the Han army in shooting boats.

"Whoosh!"

Thousands of feathered arrows flew down diagonally. Even though the Han army was on guard, many of them were hit by arrows. Fortunately, the high platform is far away from the ship, so the damage from the arrow is not great. In order to destroy the pontoon bridge, the Han soldiers held up their shields and braved arrows, approaching the pontoon bridge in the middle of Wei Junzhou Zhu.

Suddenly, just as the Han navy was getting closer to the pontoon, a dull horn sounded from Shaoyang Island, which seemed to be releasing some signal.

Then, the water plants and reeds on both sides of the river swayed, as if something was moving inside.

"ferry!"

The sharp-eyed sailor of the Han army pointed to the reed swamp and shouted loudly: "There are ambushes on both sides of the bank!"

Fu Xu then looked at both sides of the river, and saw hundreds of pointed boats emerging from the reed swamps. The fast boats stirred the waves, and with the blessing of the river's downstream flow, they sailed at extremely fast speeds.

In a few breaths, they approached the warships on the periphery of the fleet. Before the Han army could react, the Wei soldiers ignited the sulfur and wood on the ship and tried to ram the outer fighting ships.

There are strong northwest winds in autumn and winter. With the support of strong winds, the fire on the ship becomes more and more powerful, and the fireworks blur the sky. Braving the rain of arrows, the sailors of Cao's army bravely operated the fireships and rammed them directly into the navy of the Han army.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp arrow came through the air and hit the Wei Jun who was manning the ship's stern. He screamed in pain, but endured the pain and continued to operate until it was about to hit the Han Navy's fighting ship, and then jumped into the cold Huaihe water.

When the Han army's sailors saw the attacking Wei army's fireboats, they were so frightened that they forgot their mission of destroying the pontoon bridge and tried to avoid the fireboats.

But how could it be so easy to avoid it in a hurry? Now there are peripheral fighting ships being entangled by the Wei army's fire ships.

"not good!"

Fu Wei caught a glimpse of the fire in the distance, and beat the side of the ship angrily, cursing: "Wei Gou is so cunning. The navy cannot fight, but he uses fire to attack me!"

With a long sigh, Fu Wei only ordered and shouted: "The enemy wants to attack with fire, order the entire army to retreat immediately!"

"promise!"

"Withdraw troops!"

The flag on the flagship flew, and the bugler sounded the signal to retreat. Under the command, hundreds of warships hurriedly turned around in the Huai River.

At this time, the Han navy wanted to retreat but it was a little late. The small boats were nimble and the big ships were slow. Many Han ships had been entangled by the vanguard fire ships. The flames burned from the small boats to the big ships. The wood of the ships was burned by the fire, making bursts of chirping. The sound of hissing. Fire shot up into the sky and engulfed the hull from the bottom of the ship.

On the bank of the river, Cao Ren looked at the scene on the Huaihe River, laughed a few times, and said: "Mr. Ziyang is indeed very resourceful. He expected that the water thieves would use boats to counterattack the pontoon bridge. Although our navy is far inferior to the water, Thief, but under the fire attack, even if Huo Jun is here, he must be afraid!"

If you want to defeat the strong with the weak in a water battle, there is no other way but to attack with fire. Liu Ye knew that his navy was no match for the Han army, so he simply took advantage of the smooth wind and water and used small boats to conduct fire attacks.

Shaoyangzhou is located in the Huai River, and the river between it and both banks is narrow. Once the Han army tried to destroy the pontoon bridge, the fire ships sent out could burn it or force the Han army to retreat.

After laughing a few times, Cao Ren felt much better. He looked at Zhongli City in the south and said in a deep voice: "Instruct all the ministries to fill up the moat outside the city as soon as possible, and then use weapons to attack the city. The city must be broken before winter."

"promise!"

Although many boats and boats under Fu Xu's tent were burned by the flames, fortunately, Quan Cong was behind to respond. Cao Tai wanted to lead the remaining troops to pick up the leak, but Quan Cong scared him back. Fu and Quan's armies were victorious first and then defeated. Now, forced by the fire boats, they had no choice but to retreat to the water village amidst the sound of golden drums.

On the lower reaches of the Huai River, Lu Xun learned about Fu Shu's defeat. His Confucian face became a little gloomy and his heart was full of sorrow.

If the Wei army's pontoon bridge cannot be broken, it will be impossible to cut off the Wei army's communication. Now that Zhongli and Xiapi have been besieged for many days, he must find other ways to relieve the pressure on the two cities.

(End of this chapter)