Great Han Empire

Chapter 613 The Heroes of Troubled Times Like the Abyss
In mid-March, Hongnong County.

The Northern Xinjiang Army launched a full-scale attack on Hongnong County.Relying on their absolute superiority in numbers, the Northern Frontier Army attacked Hongnong County from six directions simultaneously from west to east.

Although the northern army in the six directions of Fenglingdu, Hucheng, Hongnongcheng, Caoyangting, Maojindu, and Dayangcheng had made sufficient preparations, they were panicked for a while when faced with the overwhelming attack of the Northern Xinjiang army. Niu Fu asked for help.

Prior to this, Dong Zhuo and the generals of the Northern Army discussed defense strategies many times.There are 15 main forces of the northern border army in Hedong, and [-] field soldiers. If Li Hong put all these [-] people into the attack, Hongnong would definitely fall. However, considering the shortage of food and salaries for the northern border army, Li Hong's main purpose is to capture Luoyang In addition, Dong Zhuo has repeatedly threatened to burn Luoyang with both stones, so Li Hong must be cautious and dare not risk the destruction of the capital to trap and kill Dong Zhuo.Therefore, Dong Zhuo and the generals of the Northern Army agreed that Li Hong invested at most [-] to [-] troops to attack a certain part of Hongnong County, and then used another [-] to [-] troops to threaten Guanzhong from the direction of Pubanjin to force Dong Zhuo to withdraw from Luoyang.

It was from these points that Dong Zhuo confidently believed that Li Hong would definitely attack Hongnong City with heavy troops.Most of the territory of Hongnong County is steep and high mountains. The road is built along the Yellow River and passes through several cities, except Hongnong City.Hongnong City is located on the bank of the Yellow River, about fifty miles away from the Chidao connecting Chang'an and Luoyang.As long as the Northern Xinjiang Army captures Hongnong City, Chidao will be seriously threatened. At this time, Dong Zhuo can only withdraw from Luoyang quickly while Chidao is not blocked.If the northern border army attacked other places, the road would be cut off immediately. This would not achieve the goal of scaring away Dong Zhuo, reducing their own casualties, and keeping Luoyang safe and sound.

Dong Zhuo deployed heavy troops in Hongnong City, and ordered Niu Fu to station 5000 troops on Chidao to the south of Hongnong City for support at any time. Wrong, Li Hong seems to have mobilized 15 troops from Hedong to launch an attack at the same time, as if he would kill Dong Zhuo at the same time.

Niu Fu wanted to make an emergency to Dong Zhuo, but Jia Xu waved his hand to stop him, "Don't worry, my lord. In my opinion, this is Li Hong's feint attack, and the real main attack has not yet begun."

In order to ensure Hongnong's safety, Dong Zhuo transferred Jia Xu, the captain of the captive school, to Niu Fu's tent, and asked Dong Yue to garrison Tongguan instead of Jia Xu.Jia Xu gave Niu Fu a careful analysis of an urgent report from a general, "In the past three days, the Northern Frontier Army has launched attacks from six directions, but judging from the strength and number of attacks, they were all feints. The spring harvest is about to begin, and Li Hong will definitely not recruit troops to farm the fields. For Li Hong, grain in Hedong is as important as Luoyang, and he will not give up any of them."

"Now our soldiers see the black panther battle flag of the Hussar General, and their souls fly away. When they hear the cry of the Northern Frontier Army, they are heartbroken. These people have lost the prestige of the Northern Army. My lord immediately rushed to write everywhere. , ordered them to strictly guard against death, and whoever lets the Northern Border Army cross the river will take his head to see the Grand Master."

Niu Fu trusted Jia Xu very much, and after hearing Jia Xu's analysis, he immediately felt more at ease, "Brother Wen He, then tell me, where is Li Hong's attacking direction?"

"Hongnong City." Jia Xu said with certainty, "It must be in Hongnong City."

===

In the morning, Caoyang Pavilion.

The sky was hazy, and there was a thick layer of mist floating on the river.The soldiers of the Northern Army stationed on the river embankment fought fiercely for three consecutive days. They were very tired and were still sleeping soundly in their dreams.Sentries in twos and threes held weapons and wandered on the blood-stained embankment.

Suddenly a jian boat rushed out of the morning mist. (The sill boat is a heavily armed ship with double-layer boards on the upper and lower sides. It is an important ship for the navy of the Han army.)
A sentry soldier on the embankment pointed at the boat in surprise and said, "It's so early today? It's not yet dawn."

"It doesn't matter if you come early or come late, you're going to die anyway." Another soldier rubbed his cold hands and yawned lazily, "Guess how many times the Northern Frontier Army will attack today? Is it the same as yesterday? Three times in the morning and three times in the afternoon?"

"Seven times." The soldier laughed, "I came early today, so it must be seven times."

=

"Beating the drum... beating the drum..." Ma Yanghong, the army commander, stood on the embankment with sleepy eyes and raised his hands and shouted, "Get up, get up for me, get ready to fight..."

"Bowmen, line up, line up..."

The rapid and violent sound of war drums broke the tranquility of He'an in an instant, followed by the shouts of officers, the curses of soldiers, and the clash of weapons.Under the command of their respective officers and various battle flags, the soldiers of the Northern Army walked slowly to their respective battle positions.

Yang Hong was very dissatisfied with the laziness of the soldiers, he cursed loudly, then turned to look at the river.

On the river, there is not a lone sill boat, but dozens of sill boats, and behind them are a group of mengchong and red horses of different sizes. These boats are like ghosts, rushing out of the morning mist all of a sudden. The momentum is amazing. (The narrow and long warship that hits the enemy ship is called "Mengchong", and the fast boat that is as fast as a galloping horse is called "Chima".)
Yang Hong's complexion changed drastically, and he couldn't help but screamed at the top of his voice, "Help, help immediately..."

=

Caoyang Pavilion is forty miles away from Hongnong City and fifty miles away from Niu Fu's camp.Niu Fu considered that the three places could support each other, and the focus of defense here was Hongnong City, so he only arranged for two thousand northern troops to garrison Caoyang Pavilion.In the past three days of the war, the northern army's attacks on Hongnong City were relatively fierce, and their attacks on Caoyangting were much sparser. This makes people feel that the Northern Army's attack on Caoyangting seems to be to deal with errands and to contain the troops .

Who would have thought that Cao Yangting would be the main attack direction of the Northern Frontier Army.

"Your Excellency, look, boats...many boats..." The orderly didn't run away, but pointed to the river, yelling in fear.

Yang Hong turned his head again, his expression even more shocked.

Immediately behind the charging boats was a dense mass of tank boats. There were hundreds of them, and all of them were soldiers from Northern Xinjiang with bright armor.

Yang Hong turned around abruptly and ran like crazy, "Brothers, bloody battle, bloody battle, bloody battle today..."

The soldiers of the Northern Army were terrified and uneasy, and everyone was in danger.

=

Holding a long halberd in his hand, Guo Xun stood firmly on the bow of the ship, looking at the chaotic northern army on the other side, with a sneer on his face.

"Beating the drum..."

"The ballista is ready..."

The sound of the drums was earth-shattering, tearing apart the hazy sky in an instant.

Fifty sill boats lined up, with long shields like walls and forests of spears and halberds on the boats. In the center of the deck suddenly stood two ballistas with bloody mouths open.Fifty sill boats and one hundred ballistas were pushed to the front of the deck amidst the sound of thunderous war drums.

=

Yang Hong looked at the boat that was getting closer and closer, feeling more and more fearful in his heart.

The Northern Frontier Army was able to defeat the iron cavalry of the Huns and Xianbei, and was able to sweep across the desert. Its strength is of course not something that our original West Garden Army can resist.Today is probably more or less auspicious, this life is about to be lost here.After fighting for a few days, I always thought that the Northern Xinjiang Army was nothing more than that. Today, it seems that I was deceived.

He looked back at the soldiers behind him.The soldiers were also frightened by the sudden appearance of the Northern Xinjiang army, and each of them looked extremely nervous.

Yang Hong calmed down and slowly raised the saber in his hand.Can't beat, can't I still run?
"Fire arrows..."

=

Long arrows roared like clouds.

Guo Xun stood there with a halberd, staggered to the middle of the deck, raised his head and shouted wildly: "Let...the arrow..."

"Boom...boom..."

The roar of the ballista was like a series of thunderclaps, resounding through the sky in an instant.

=

The arrows were like rain, sharp and dense, and the sound of "boom...boom..." when the long arrows hit the shield was soul-stirring.

"Hoo..." A long arrow whizzed past Guo Xun's helmet, and ruthlessly nailed it into the deck.Just as Guo Xun was about to curse, another long arrow shot towards him.Guo Xun shrank his neck suddenly, his figure flashed, just as the boat was shaking violently, Guo Xun couldn't stand stably, and fell headfirst onto the deck.

Guo Xun was so angry that he cursed viciously, tilted his head and roared loudly: "Order Meng Chong, Chima, to rush up immediately, go up..."

=

"Calista, they are firing the ballista." Yang Hong yelled hysterically amidst the deafening roar, "Raise the shield... quickly raise the shield..."

The shield soldiers had already set up their shields, and the crossbowmen also retreated behind the shield soldiers in time, but the power of the ballista was too great, and the soldiers of the northern army watched helplessly as the dense crossbow arrows shot through Yanghong's small shield, piercing through Yanghong's small shield. Yang Hong's armor and the huge impact force of the crossbow even knocked Yang Hong who opened his mouth and flew into the air.

"Hey...hehe...hehe..."

Countless crossbow arrows penetrated the shield, penetrated the shield soldier, and then got into the body of the archer soldier with a rain of blood.The shield soldier fell without a sound, and the archer fell to the ground, rolling and howling miserably.

At this time, the archers of the Northern Border Army were already standing on the swaying sill boat, and started shooting recklessly at the shore.Countless long arrows shot up into the sky continuously, quickly forming a huge black cloud.

The Northern Army was hit repeatedly, causing heavy casualties and chaos in formation.

Captain Chu Meng appeared behind the army at the right time, "Beat the drum... stabilize the formation and stop the northern army."

=

Mengchong and Chima crashed into the shore one after another, and the fierce soldiers of Northern Xinjiang jumped off the warship one after another, holding up their shields, shouting forward, "Kill, kill..."

As the sill boat approached the shore, Guo Xun took the lead and jumped into the waist-deep icy river, shouting up, "Brothers, go, go, follow me to kill Caoyang Pavilion..."

Up and down the river embankment, the sound of killing suddenly shook the sky, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The northern army was condescending and had an advantage in numbers. The northern army was pinned down on the river beach and suffered extremely heavy casualties.Guo Xunyong was unstoppable, killed 17 people in a row, led the soldiers forward for [-] steps, and finally rushed to the embankment.

When the tank boat arrived at the shore, hundreds of soldiers from the Northern Xinjiang Army successfully landed, and the crowd rushed forward with overwhelming force.

The Northern Army couldn't resist and retreated steadily, and then Chu Meng was shot to death by stray arrows during the retreat. The Northern Army lost its command and suffered a crushing defeat.

===

At noon, General Yushi Zhechong and Zhonglang Liwei led Hua Xiong across the river.

Looking at the bustling crowd on the ferry, Yushi smiled and said to Yang Hua beside him, "Ask me, you made the first contribution in this battle. Without these warships, it would be difficult for us to occupy Caoyang Pavilion easily."

Yang Hua blushed and smiled shyly.

As early as November last year, Li Hong followed Yang Hua's suggestion and rented a large number of boats and boatmen from the merchants in Hedong who were engaged in water transportation.Because the Yellow River was frozen, these boats only had to be towed to the shore, so Li Hong took advantage of this opportunity to quietly transport the boats to Caoshan.Caoshan is twenty miles away from the Yellow River, and on the other side is Caoyang Pavilion.

Yang Hua was in charge of raising the boats for the army to cross the river.He used the whole winter to invite thousands of craftsmen from Hedong, and temporarily converted some of the tank boats into sill boats, Mengchong and Chima.For river crossing attacks, the use of warships can effectively reduce the casualties of soldiers.Li Hong praised Yang Hua several times for this.

"It's a pity that it's a little less, otherwise our casualties would be even smaller." Hua Xiong said heartbrokenly, "It would be great if there were buildings."

"Are there any boats on the east side of the river?" Yushi asked.

"Yes." Yang Hua said, "Hedong Wei Clan, Du Clan, wealthy businessmen Xu Ling and Qu Zhong all have building boats, but considering that the building boats are too big to hide, the general gave up."

"How many people can the largest building boat in the east of the river carry?" Yushi asked, "I remember that when Emperor Xiaowu visited northern Xinjiang, the building boat he took could hold more than 2000 people. Now it has been hundreds of years since Emperor Xiaowu , this building boat should also get bigger and bigger, right?"

"I heard that it can only accommodate more than 1000 people." Yang Hua said, "the building ships of the east gates mainly transport goods in the capital area, and they will not be too large. There are many famous shipbuilders in Wu County and Kuaiji County of Yangzhou. They The built ships can hold more than 3000 people at most.”

Yu Shi and Hua Xiong let out exclamations at the same time.

"During the time of the first emperor of Qin, he sent generals Tu Sui and Zhao Tuo to lead a fleet composed of large ships to attack the state of Chu. For this war, the first emperor specially set up a fleet capable of transporting 50 shi of grain," Yushi said. , "During Emperor Xiaowu's reign, in order to go south to expand the territory, he also built the Han Navy. At that time, there were 20 warships and [-] soldiers."

Yushi looked at the two of them, and said with great emotion: "When can we rebuild the glory of these ancestors, build a huge navy, and have thousands of ships, and then we will also lay down a large territory. "

===

Liang Baiwu and Guo Xun came in a hurry.

"Where has the Vanguard Battalion reached?" Yushi asked.

"It has been pushed forward ten miles." Guo Xun replied, "If your lord allows, I can take the vanguard battalion and fight to the city of Hongnong at dusk."

Yushi shook his head, "Go ten miles further and stop to set up camp. Is there any sign of reinforcements for Niu Fu's army?"

"The scouts reported that Niu Fu stayed put and there was no sign of reinforcements for Hongnong City." Liang Baiwu said, "Should we fight Niu Fu or Hongnong City?"

"For this attack on Luoyang, the commander-in-chief of the forward three armies is General Zhang Yan, so we have to wait for General Zhang Yan and General Yang Feng to cross the river before making a decision." Yushi laughed, "Don't worry, Hongnong City must be attacked. Yes, but we have to wait for Yang Chun to come with a catapult, otherwise the cost of our siege will be too high to pay."

===

(End of this chapter)