Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 598 Two ghosts knock on the door
Since the pontoon bridge was burned down, the Wei army and people on the south bank fell into panic.

Cao Xiu was worried that he would be overtaken by the Han army, so he abandoned his baggage and rushed towards Tushan. Jiang Ji and Xu Sheng led their troops to pursue him.

During the retreat, in order to quickly get rid of the Han army's pursuit, Cao Xiu led the Wei army to march seventy or eighty miles a day. Many old and weak Wei soldiers and civilians were captured by the pursuing Han army because they could not keep up with the large army.

In accordance with Huo Jun's military orders, Jiang Ji not only asked Ding Feng and Xu Sheng to lead the army to pursue them, but also led his army to collect baggage along the way and capture the Wei army.

Zhongli was more than a hundred miles away from the Luojianshui River. Cao Xiu led his elite troops towards the Luojianshui River at noon on the second day.

When they were more than 20 miles away from Luojianshui, the scouts discovered that Huo Jun and his troops were already in formation at Luojianshui.

On horseback, Cao Xiu's face was full of shock and he murmured: "It's true, Huo Jun is not a man of conspiracy. He will not let the Han army in Huaishang attack me now. In fact, there are heavy troops in Luojian. From now on, there will be pursuers, and there will be heavy troops in front." , with the Huai River to the north and enemy territory to the south, our army has been surrounded by Huo Jun! "

In fact, after withdrawing his troops from Zhongli City, Cao Xiu vaguely sensed that something was wrong. From beginning to end, Huo Jun never showed up, and the governors he sent were only Pang Tong, Lu Xun, Jiang Ji and others. But Cao Xiu was still secretly rejoicing, maybe Huo Jun's arrangement only ended here.

Now that he learned that Huo Jun had led a heavy army to Luojian, Cao Xiu was shocked not only by Huo Jun's use of troops, but also by the fact that his retreat was cut off.

Zang Ba looked depressed and sighed: "Now that Huo Jun has cut off the retreat, and Jiang Ji is pursuing us, our army will not be able to escape and be destroyed."

Under Cao Xiu's military order, tens of thousands of Wei army soldiers learned that their retreat was cut off. Although they were slightly panicked, they still mustered up their courage and decided to fight for their own way back.

In Huaibei there are 20,000 people under Cao Pi and 30,000 people under Cao Hong. Even if Cao Hong could not save himself due to distance problems, he did not believe that Cao Pi in Yicheng would sit back and watch him perish.

As for sticking around and waiting for help, I'm afraid there is no hope. The Han army will only become more and more numerous, not less and less. Moreover, they had to abandon their baggage, so they were destined to be unable to hold out against the Han army for a long time, so they could only fight quickly!

To be honest, Zang Ba was transferred away from Xuzhou by Cao Pi before. He did not bear any grudge against Cao Pi. He even secretly rejoiced in his heart, feeling that he was freed from Huo Jun's duel. Today, after going around in circles, he still met Huo Jun, whom he least wanted to meet.

On a hillock by the Luojian River, a gorgeous umbrella cover stood on it. Under the umbrella cover, Huo Jun was sitting on a high chair. Dozens of civil and military personnel were lined up on the left and right, with tigers holding axes and axes guarding him. Although his access was like that of an emperor, it was due to Liu Chan's expedition.

"Command the entire army to line up!"

Cao Xiu clenched his fist and shouted: "Break the siege and return home with me!"

Huo Jun looked calm and calmly browsed the battle reports sent by Lu and Pang.

At the same time, the Han army learned the whereabouts of Cao Jun and reported it to Huo Jun.

"Determining the outcome with Huo Jun?"

Cao Xiu's eyes widened and he said sternly: "The two armies have not yet fought, how can we talk about victory or defeat? Our army still has tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, why can't we decide the outcome with Huo Jun!"

Cao Xiu is a strong man, and even if he faces a desperate situation, he still refuses to give in. The worst he could do was to fight Huo Jun, and he didn't believe that Huo Jun had no plans left.

Hearing this, Xiahou Ru was silent. Although he is not strong in military strategy, he can be regarded as a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time. As Cao Xiu said, now that we are surrounded by Han troops, other than surrendering, we have no choice but to fight to the death.

Of course, not only Huo Jun has such a large-scale reliance, but Zhuge Liang also has it, but Zhuge Liang is slightly inferior to Huo Jun.

"What should our army do now?" Xia Houru asked bitterly and fearfully.

Xia Houru was very worried and said: "Our army has been attacking for a long time and our soldiers are exhausted. We may be defeated in the field battle with Huo Jun today!"

"promise!"

"Break through the encirclement and defeat Huo Jun!" Cao Xiu gritted his teeth and said decisively.

"What happened to the defeat?"

As long as he can defeat Huo Jun in front of him, occupy the dangerous position of Huainan, and with the help of the reinforcements sent by Cao Pi, it may not be impossible for him to lead his army out of the encirclement.

"Now that Huo Jun is not willing to survive, I will lead my army to fight to the death to see whose hands he will die!"

Following his orders, Lu Xun led 30,000 soldiers up the Huaihe River, and ordered Chen Dao, Fu Wei, Feng Xi and other generals to divide their forces to attack Shouchun's outlying strongholds such as Xiashi, Xiacai and Yingkou.

Feng Xi was ordered to take Xia Cai in Huaibei, but was blocked under the city because of the strong city. When Cao Pi learned of this, he adopted the advice of his ministers and sent troops to Xia Cai. When Feng Xi saw reinforcements arriving, he had no choice but to retreat with his troops.

Although Feng Xi failed to defeat Cai, fortunately, the strongholds such as Xiashi, Yingkou, and Jitou were captured by Chen Dao and Fu Wei, and they initially established a firm foothold. Lu Xun considered that Cai Cai had not yet been conquered, so he personally stationed troops at Jitou on the south bank and led the army to repair the fortifications. Report to Huo Jun today and ask if he needs his support.

Pang Tong reported to Huo Jun that Cao Hong led the Wei army to burn the camp and leave. The Wei army in Shaoyangzhou was isolated and helpless and would not surrender soon.

"Da Sima, how is the current situation of the battle between Lu and Pang?" Huang Quan asked.

“Except for Xia Cai, everything went well!”

Huo Jun handed the letter to Huang Quan and said: "Land chariots and cavalry entered various positions to cut off the Wei army's western aid to Shouchun. Cao Hong burned the camp and left, and the Wei army in Shaoyangzhou will fall soon. At present, Cao Xiu's troops are the only ones left. If they can be destroyed, they will be destroyed." The Wei army in Huainan can then capture Shouchun."

Just when Huang Quan was browsing the battle report, the scouts rode up the hill and dismounted to report: "Report to the Great Sima, Cao Xiu has led his troops twenty miles away. He has learned about the traces of our army and is leading his army in formation. He wants to fight with us. Military field battle!”

Huo Jun pondered for a while and asked: "Is there any movement of the Wei army in Huaibei?" "Yes!"

Wu Ban took a step forward and said: "The Wei army in the north of the Yangtze River seems to know Cao Xiu's whereabouts, and has formed a formation on the bank of the Huaihe River. It seems to be a floating bridge. Will the Han Dynasty lead his troops to the ferry to form a formation to prevent the rebel army from crossing the Huaihe River?"

Huo Jun smiled and said disapprovingly: "If Cao Xiu can be defeated now, even if Cao Pi can send 100,000 troops and horses across the Huaihe River, he will be defeated!"

With that said, Huo Jun looked at Huang Quan and asked, "Are you ready for now?"

"The military order issued by Grand Sima has been given to all ministries by Quan." Huang Quan cupped his hands and said, "The officers and soldiers of all ministries are ready. All that remains is the order from Grand Sima!"

"good!"

Huo Jun stood up from his chair, looked at the flat Huaihe Plain, and said: "The generals will lead their ministries to form formations in accordance with military orders. When advancing or retreating, you must observe the flag of the Chinese army. You will have no choice but to advance or retreat without authorization."

"I will obey the orders of Grand Sima!"

Generals Shi Ran, Zhu Huan, Wu Ban, and Guan Pingping took their orders in a deep voice and then led their troops into formation.
-
In the afternoon, the infantry and cavalry of the Wei army led by Cao Xiu appeared in front of the Han army's infantry. In the front row were the elite soldiers of the Wei army, marching forward slowly in a neat queue, wearing armor from top to bottom, carrying quivers on their backs, and holding bows and crossbows. .

Behind the crossbowmen, the Wei army's infantry held sharp spears. From a distance, their military formation looked like a forest of moving spears, slowly approaching the Han army. At both ends of the Wei army's infantry phalanx were cavalry formations. Due to the siege, there were only three or four thousand cavalrymen, which could not be said to be a large number.

The Wei army used the yellow flag as its signal, like a vast ocean of earthy yellow. The knights rode their horses slowly, bringing up a cloud of dust. The people were noisy and the horses were neighing, and the sounds of encouragement were endless.

On the other hand, the Han army, under Huo Jun's arrangement, did not form a formation to block the Luojian River, but formed an array from the north to the south. Huo Jun led 15,000 cavalry and stationed himself on Beiqiu. And Huang Quan led 20,000 pure infantry in formation on the low hill in the south.

The troops and horses of the two armies are five or six miles apart, and there is a plain and flat road in the middle. Through it, you can reach the bank of Luojian River, and you can have a panoramic view of the lower part of the hill from the north hill.

Huo Jun's arrangement of dividing his troops from north to south made many Cao Wei generals happy. But it made Cao Xiu and Zang Ba frown. They realized Huo Jun's sinister intentions in this arrangement.

"Huo Jun divided his troops to the north and south to open a way for us to fight with our army, in order to prevent our army from fighting to the death. And by dividing his troops to the north and south, he wanted to take advantage of our army to cross the river, cut off the road and attack our army halfway."

Zang Ba pointed at the 'Huo' banner on the Beiqiu, frowned and said: "Our army cannot directly cross the river as Huo Jun wants. We need to defeat an army first, and then we can cross the river."

Huo Jun's formations in the north and south were beyond the Wei army's expectations. They originally thought that Huo Jun would directly form formations on a smooth road, as if blocking the enemy behind closed doors. Therefore, Cao Xiu instilled in his soldiers the idea of ​​fighting to the death and working hard to defeat the enemy before returning to the general.

Now Huo Jun was fighting from the north to the south and took the initiative to open the door to give the Wei army a way out. However, this way of survival is dangerous. Once the Wei army crosses the river, they will be attacked by two armies. It seems that although this arrangement cannot completely annihilate the Wei army, it can severely damage the Wei army and destroy the belief of the Wei army soldiers in fighting to the death.

According to the news reported by the scouts, Cao Xiu said: "Although Huo Jun has few soldiers and horses today, they are arrayed high up. There is a trench outside, and the soldiers and horses are solemn. It is not suitable to go there. The southern hill is low, and Huo Jun has slightly more soldiers and horses, but it is twice as many. Our army is missing. It is better for our army to attack the rebel army in the south hill and then encircle the rebel army in the north hill. Even if we cannot defeat the rebel army, we can still lead our troops to successfully cross the river."

"good!"

Zang Ba agreed and said: "Huo Jun led his troops in Gaoqiu. It is not advisable to rush. The only way is to take the South Qiu and occupy the North Qiu. After defeating the soldiers and horses of the South Qiu, the general can lead the army to surround the North Qiu and cut off its water and food. Huo Jun will be defeated without fighting. Our army will turn defeat into victory!"

"It makes perfect sense!"

Cao Xiu was a little excited and said: "Although the morale of our army is low, Huo Jun divided his troops to the north and south. Our army concentrated the army to defeat one army first, and then counterattacked Huo Jun's own formation, and we can win a big victory. Huo Jun's formation of north and south formations seems clever, but he has divided his troops. Disadvantages!”

"Then who captures the troops in the South Hills and who captures the enemies in the North Hills?" Xia Houru asked.

Cao Xiu pondered for a long time and said: "Jun Lin can lead ten thousand people on foot and cavalry to guard the North Hill. General Zang and I will lead the remaining army to capture the South Hill. Jun Lin has a heavy responsibility. If Huo Jun sends troops to fight on the lower hill, he must stop him and not interfere with our army. "

"promise!"

The trumpets and drums sounded, and the Wei army divided into two groups. Ten thousand people on foot and cavalry were led by Xiahou Ru all the way to Beiqiu to prevent Huo Jun from going to Nanqiu for rescue. Along the way, about 40,000 Wei soldiers and civilians, led by Cao Xiu, besieged Huang Quan's headquarters in Nanqiu.

Under the umbrella on Beiqiu, Huo Jun watched Cao Xiu's division of troops on the battlefield. There was a bit of sarcasm and a bit of contempt in his eyes. Occasionally, he played with the white whip in his hand, with a slight disapproval.

Cao Xiu and Zang Ba could barely be regarded as famous generals in the late Han Dynasty, especially when they fought against him several times. Although they made slight progress, their military skills were average.

"Bogo!"

"The general is here!" Huang Chong replied.

"Looking at this situation, what strategy can we use to defeat the enemy?" Huo Jun asked his son-in-law Huang Chong.

Huang Chong thought for a while and replied: "Now that we have opened the gate, the morale of the Wei army is not high and they have no intention of fighting to the death. Now Cao Xiu is marching south to attack General Huang's army. If he cannot defeat it for a long time, when his energy is exhausted, our army will win." Opportunity!”

Huo Jun stroked his moustache and said with a smile: "Bo Gao has learned the secrets of military warfare by studying military books. Soon he will be able to lead troops abroad!"

In November last year, after Huang Chong and Huo Jie got married, Huang Chong joined the military according to the wishes of Huo Jun and Huang Quan. In order to train his son-in-law Huang Chong during this expedition, Huo Jun took Gao Chong with him.

With that said, Huo Jun waved Pang De over and said: "Now let the cavalry prepare for battle. If there is a military order from me, I will lead the cavalry out into battle."

"No!" Pound responded with his hands raised.

(End of this chapter)