Great Han Empire

Chapter 758: A Storm of Troubled Heroes

Under the command of Cao Cao, the Northern Expedition Army forcibly crossed the Qinghe River and the Jiangshui River in succession, advancing 250 miles within twelve days, and went straight to the city of Xindu.

Successive victories have doubled the confidence of the soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and their morale has never been higher.

In mid-August, Cao Cao convened a meeting of generals in the camp of the Zaoting Chinese Army, [-] miles away from Xindu City.

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According to the scouts' investigation, the Northern Xinjiang Army abandoned Dongguang (now Cangzhou) City in Bohai County, and shrank all its troops to the front line of Nanpi City in Bohai County.Due to the critical battle in the direction of Xindu City, Gao Shun and Li Su, the northern Xinjiang generals stationed in Nanpi, have led an army of [-] cavalry across the Jiangshui River and rushed to Xindu City for support.At present, there are only five thousand step cavalry of Wu Xiong and Guo Hua, the generals of Northern Xinjiang, in Nanpi City.

Cao Cao believed that the conditions were ripe for dividing his troops to attack Nanpi and enter the rear of the northern army.

"Now, Qu Yi, Yan Liang, Wang Dang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Li Su, and more than a dozen Northern Xinjiang generals have gathered under Xindu City, and nearly [-] Northern Xinjiang cavalry troops have gathered around Xindu City. A large camp that stretches for ten miles." Cao Cao said happily, "Our fierce attack in the early stage was very effective. Not only did we push the northern army to the city of Xindu, but we also formed a decisive battle with them again. In addition, Bohai County, Hejian Kingdom The Northern Xinjiang forces in the direction are also attracted to the city of Xindu by this decisive battle that is about to begin."

"When we were in Ganling City, we wanted to fight decisively, but Li Hong didn't want to. When we got here, Li Hong wanted to fight decisively, but we didn't want to." Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled. Taking advantage of our attack on Xindu City, the army rushed eastward to Nanpi City, and then entered Hejian Kingdom to conquer Lecheng, threatening the Northern Army's rear and waiting for an opportunity to cut off the Northern Army's retreat."

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Cao Cao's proposal was approved by Liu Biao, Tian Kai, Liu Bei, and Ma Teng. After some discussions, it was finally decided that Tian Kai, the left chariot general, would be the commander of the East Army, and Ma Teng, the general of Zhenxi, would be his deputy.

The army on the East Road consisted of [-] Qingzhou soldiers, [-] Jingzhou troops, [-] Xuzhou troops, [-] Yanzhou troops, and [-] Guanzhong cavalry, a total of [-] cavalry.These [-] troops are now on the south bank of the Jiangshui River, and have not reached Xindu City. After crossing the Qinghe River south, they will rush eastward for three hundred miles along the south bank of the Zhangshui River, and directly kill Nanpi City.

The [-] Yanzhou Army and the [-] Qing, Jing, and Xu Sanzhou troops who stayed under Xindu City will pretend to be [-] troops and launch a crazy attack on Xindu City to cope with the surprise attack of the East Road Army.

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The next day, more than a dozen generals of the Beizheng East Road Army were ordered to rush to Zaoting camp.

Xiahou Dun and Li Dian of the Yanzhou Army, Zou Wu and Tian Yong of the Qingzhou Army, Zang Ba and Sun Guan of the Xuzhou Army, Wen Pin, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan of the Jingzhou Army sat on both sides of the big tent and listened carefully to Cao Cao's speech to the east. Arrangements for road operations.

What Cao Cao, Liu Biao and others were most worried about was the unity among the various armies on the East Road, so Cao Cao repeatedly explained the reason why Tian Kai was appointed as the commander of the East Road Army.

Tian Kai is familiar with many northern Xinjiang generals, and knows a thing or two about their military operations.Tian Kai is familiar with iron cavalry combat, and can make many effective countermeasures against northern Xinjiang iron cavalry.Tian Kai had fought in Jizhou for two years, and he was especially familiar with the terrain around Bohai County, which could help the army quickly complete its combat objectives.

Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei repeatedly warned their subordinates to obey Lord Tian Kai's military orders and not to disobey them in the slightest.

The generals were full of confidence in defeating the northern Xinjiang army, and they promised with a loud bang.

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Guo Jia then stood up and explained in detail the deployment of the East Road Operation. Finally, he mentioned three key issues that could not be predicted and may affect the East Road Operation.

One is the northern Xinjiang cavalry.

According to the information we got, there are Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu's cavalry outside the Great Wall and Zhang Yan's two battalions of cavalry on the west road battlefield.Among Zhang Yan's two battalions of iron cavalry, the most powerful is the Huqi Battalion. It is said that this is the most elite Black Panther Yicong Battalion among the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry.On the opposite side of us is the Huns iron cavalry commanded by Liu Ming, the Right Wise King of the Huns.Another part is the iron cavalry brought by Gongsun Zan from Youzhou.According to our estimates, there are about [-] cavalry on the Jizhou battlefield.

Now the iron cavalry on the West Road battlefield are restrained by Yuan Shao, and Yecheng is more than 500 miles away from Xin, even if Li Hong wants to call in iron cavalry for support, the number of them is limited.In addition, in order to attack our grain road, Li Hong must order Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu to lead cavalry to frequent our rear, so it is almost impossible for Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu to support Xindu on the battlefield.After the rebellion broke out in Liaodong, Gongsun Zan went back immediately. It was impossible for him to go back alone. Part of the Youzhou cavalry must have been taken away by him.

Calculated in this way, the total number of iron cavalry that Li Hong can put into the Xindu battlefield should be between [-] and [-] cavalry.Of course, this is our estimate, maybe the actual number will exceed [-].

At present, we have no effective way to deal with the northern Xinjiang cavalry. We can only use the mutual cooperation of the chariot formation and the arrow formation to prevent the cavalry from rushing into the formation. In order to prevent the Pengting fiasco from happening again.

As long as Nanpi is successfully captured and the army quickly crosses the Zhangshui River to the north, we will completely control the initiative on the Jizhou battlefield.

The second is the terrain of Balhae County.

Although the terrain of Bohai County is basically an endless plain, there are many rivers in its south, especially in the 150-mile range from Panhe to Dongguang. Except for the yellow flood zone, there are four big rivers and as many as many small rivers. A dozen.The year before last, the Yellow River broke its embankment and some rivers were diverted, which made the terrain here very complicated.Therefore, after the army enters the Pan River, it is necessary to ensure the distance. When crossing the river, the front and rear armies must protect each other to prevent the northern army from sneaking in.

Your lords may think that the complex terrain here will also restrict the northern border cavalry. The more dangerous the place, the safer it may be, but my lords, don’t forget that this is the place of the northern border army. They are far more familiar with the terrain here than us. As long as the northern border The Xinjiang infantry used the river to divide the army, and the surrounded soldiers would be torn to pieces by the powerful Northern Xinjiang cavalry.

Iron cavalry is a sharp arrow, it can not only exert its power on the plains, but it can also seal the throat with one arrow on the narrow battlefield.

The army hugged in a group and walked to Dongguang, and there was a flat river in front of it. The army could kill 120 miles straight and reach Nanpi City unimpeded, but this 120 miles is the most dangerous place. Northern Xinjiang cavalry can play its most powerful Therefore, after the adults left Dongguang, instead of maintaining the distance between the various armies, they gave up the distance and joined together closely, so as not to give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage of.

The third is speed.

The speed directly determines whether the East Road raid can be successful.Forty-five thousand troops marched for three hundred miles, and it was too difficult to keep the northern army from knowing, so speed determined everything.If the army can reach Nanpi, capture Nanpi, and successfully cross the Zhangshui River northward before the Northern Xinjiang Army responds, the victory of Jizhou will be decided.Of course, if the northern border army rushes ahead of us and blocks our way northward to Hejian, then even if we capture Nanpi, we will not be able to cut off the northern border army's retreat.

If these three key issues can be resolved, we will win this battle.

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In mid-August, Cao Cao personally visited Xindu City and commanded a large army to attack Xindu City.

The northern army concentrated 150 stone cannons, [-] crossbows, and [-] strong archers, and bombarded the city indiscriminately.

It was the first time for the Northern Expeditionary Army to see such a thrilling scene. Everyone felt a bone-chilling chill, as if the scorching sun above their heads had been swallowed up by the dense arrow stones.

Cao Cao finally believed Yuan Shao's words at this moment, he knew why Yuan Shao failed to reach the north bank of the Yellow River after fighting in the direction of Puyang for more than a month.Today, the Northern Expeditionary Army attacking the city could not get close to a hundred steps below the city. The force of the Northern Frontier Army was too strong.

Cao Cao ordered the siege to be stopped.Fighting like this is no different from sending to death.

In the evening, Cao Cao convened all the people in the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss the method of attacking the city.A strong attack is not enough, but it does not mean that there is no attack. It is necessary to have a full siege posture, contain the northern border army in Xindu City, and cover the attack of the east army.

So, everyone used all the tricks they could think of, even digging tunnels. Anyway, as long as there are fewer deaths, it is enough to make the Northern Border Army feel threatened.

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In mid-August, General Li Hong, Jia Xu, Tian Chou, Sima Yi and others arrived in Hejian County to rule Lecheng.

Zhao Yun, Lu Bu, Yan Liang, Jiang Wu, Li Su, Wei Jun, Liu Ming and other generals who arrived here earlier came out of the gate to meet them.The Prime Minister of the Hejian Kingdom, Wei Zheng, was also among them.

Li Hong and the generals greeted each other.Seeing that Gao Shun was exhausted, Li Hong asked a few questions with concern.

Gao Shun first set off from Nanpi with his army and hurried [-] miles to Xindu City. He had just set up his camp, and immediately received an order to rush [-] miles to Hejian Kingdom.The soldiers just ran around without fighting a single battle, like headless chickens, full of anger.Gao Shun was also full of resentment, but when he saw the generals gathered in the city, he immediately understood that the war had begun.

"Are you complaining?" Li Hong asked with a smile, "I don't think your eyes are right."

Gao Shun smiled awkwardly, "It's gone now."

"General, Ziping has a good temper. If it were Wu Xiong, he would definitely yell at you." Yan Liang said with a smile, "Fortunately, you had the foresight and didn't let that kid run back and forth for five hundred miles like a madman. .”

Li Hong laughed loudly, and the depression of several months disappeared with this joyful laughter.The joy in my heart is self-evident when I see so many brothers following me to conquer the world all at once.

Li Hong chatted with Wei Zheng for a long time.

Wei Zheng is now an official of the county and the state, and cannot participate in such confidential military discussions. Although he also wanted to catch up with the general, he saw Tian Chou coming in and out several times, and he knew that all the generals in the tent were there. Waiting for the general, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left.Li Hong kept sending him out of the gate, "I'll visit the mansion tonight, let's have a good chat."

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Sima Fugan reported the latest battle situation to the generals.

On the West Road battlefield, the right general Zhang Yan led [-] northern troops to confront Yuan Shao.Since Yuan Shao came to Yecheng, he has not fired a single arrow. It seems that he sincerely wants to cooperate with us to defeat the rebels.

On the middle battlefield, Qu Yi, the left general, sits in Xindu City, commanding Wen Chou, Wang Dang, and Xu Huang's [-] troops to defend the city and contain the main force of the rebel army.

There is still no movement on the East Road battlefield. We have not found any signs of the rebels dividing their forces to attack Nanpi.

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According to the general's order, we have assembled an army of [-] cavalry this time, preparing to severely injure the rebels on the East Road battlefield.

Now, Zhao Yun, Jiang Wu, Mustafa and Jifeng's [-] cavalry are on standby at the Zhangshui River.Li Su, Lou Lu, Lu Huanyang, and Gongsun Xu's [-] cavalry were on standby near Gaocheng in Bohai County.The [-] cavalry of Wei Jun and Liu Ming are on standby in Wuyi and Guanjin of Anping, and their cavalry are also responsible for returning to the capital of Xinxin at any time.

The troops of Gao Lan, Zhang He, and Zhang Liao have secretly crossed the Jiangshui River and are lurking in the yellow flood area a hundred miles away from Dongguang City.

Qin Yi and Zhang Zhen's [-] Northern Army elites have rushed to Gonggao in Hejian Kingdom to stand by.Lord Gao Shun's army has also entered Gonggao City.They also undertake the important task of returning to the aid capital at any time.

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Our battlefield is Dongguang.

Dongguang is about 250 miles away from Xindu City, and there are yellow flooded areas and more than a dozen rivers in the middle. Even if Cao Cao wanted to rescue, it was too late.

Although the road from Dongguang to Nanpi is flat and suitable for cavalry combat, the rebel army must have taken precautions after the disastrous defeat at Pengting. If we forcibly attack with cavalry, I am afraid that the loss will be great.

The terrain on the road from Panhe to Dongguang is complex, and it is difficult for us to wipe out the rebels quickly and completely, so we choose the battlefield at the junction of the two terrains, intersperse and divide the enemy with infantry troops, and use iron cavalry Surround and annihilate enemy troops.

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After Sima Fugan finished his attack strategy, Yan Liang immediately asked: "If the rebels don't divide their forces, what should we do?"

Fu Gan extended his hand to Ganling Kingdom, "Regardless of whether there is a battle of Dongguang or not, the army must reach Ganling Kingdom before the end of August, cut off the rebel army's retreat, and encircle the rebel army between Jiangshui River and Qinghe River. Be sure to wipe them all out."

Yan Liang raised his eyebrows, and asked in surprise: "This is why the General asked us to resolutely withdraw to Xindu City?"

"Yes, without enough depth, we will not be able to detour to the rear of the rebels and complete the encirclement."

"There are 10 rebels. Even if we surround them with two big rivers, the rebels will run out of food and grass, and they will break through desperately. It is impossible for us to wipe them all out." Yan Liang said without hesitation, "Unless Dongguang is attacked first. war, otherwise we would not be able to eat these 10 people."

"The battle of Dongguang will definitely be fought, as long as we have enough patience." Li Hong smiled, "The battle of Ganling will also be fought, unless Cao Cao withdraws now. As for Yuan Shao, it depends on how fast he runs gone."

All the generals were immediately excited and burst into cheers.

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(End of this chapter)