Great Han Empire

Chapter 824 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
In April, Yanzhou Dongping Kingdom, no Yancheng.

General Li Hong commanded the army to roar down and kill Wuyan City.Cai Yang led his army to run wildly all the way, and just retreated into the city, he was surrounded by Huns cavalry regiments.

Lu Bu, Fan Li, Yan Rou, Wei Jun and others led their armies to arrive afterward.

Li Hong immediately divided his troops into three groups. One was led by Lu Bu and Fan Li, who commanded a large army of infantry to attack Wuyan City; Commanded by Shan Yu Liu Bao, he attacked Shouzhang City on the south bank of the Wenshui River.

The three cities of Wuyan, Shouzhang, and Dongpinglu are located on the north and south banks of the Wenshui River. The distance between the three cities is only about fifty miles, and they can be mutually supportive.Crossing the river to attack Shouzhang River and Dongpinglu is tantamount to breaking this conical formation, cutting off the two horns of Wuyan City, and cutting off the back road of Wuyan City.

That night, Li Hong and Yan Rou led their armies across the river and went down the river, one of them went east to attack Dongpinglu, and the other went west to attack Shouzhang.Wei Yan followed up with [-] civilians and a large number of siege equipment.

Wuyan originally had 1000 defenders. After Cai Yang led more than 2000 people back to Wuyan, the defense force of Wuyan City was strengthened. In addition, the defenders of Wuyan City received the news that the Northern Xinjiang Army was going south to attack in advance. It took two days of preparation time, so the strong attack momentum of the Northern Xinjiang Army was contained.

Lu Bu was worried that Cai Yang's early retreat would ruin the general's plan of encirclement and annihilation, so the attack on the first day was quite flat, deliberately creating the illusion that the army was exhausted and lacking armaments, in order to induce Cai Yang to continue to stick to Wuyan City.

The next day, Lu Bu received an urgent report that the general was attacking Shou Zhang, and Yan Rou took down Dongping Lu City in a swift and quick manner.Before Cai Yang withdrew, Dongpinglu's defenders obeyed the order of the Prime Minister of Dongping to reinforce Wuyan, but they were surrounded and had no time to return to Dongpinglu.When Yan Rou attacked Dongpinglu, there was only Yiqu's army of 400 people in the city, and they had no power to parry at all, and they were swallowed up by the Northern Xinjiang army in a blink of an eye.

Dongpinglu was conquered, Cai Yang's retreat was cut off, and the Yanzhou army fell into a desperate situation.

Lu Bu and Fan Li were overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered Zhang Xuan to lead 1 infantry to divert the attack in the east city, while the remaining 1000 infantry army attacked in the north city.Now even if Cai Yang wants to retreat from the west and south cities, it is a dead end.The Northern Xinjiang Army assembled more than 50 ballistas and more than [-] stone cannons to bombard them indiscriminately. The soldiers attacked in turn, and the battle was very fierce.

Cai Yang commanded the Yanzhou army to fight hard until noon, but did not let the northern Xinjiang soldiers climb the tower.The siege battle fell into a stalemate of mutual consumption and consumption. Lu Bu and Fan Li were anxious and helpless because of this.

=

In the afternoon, Chen Gong supervised the transport of grain, grass and military equipment and rushed to Wuyan City.

When Chen Gong asked about the situation of the siege, Lu Bu frowned, and explained in detail the difficulties encountered by the army.The army on the left has fewer infantry, and the siege force is slightly insufficient. This is the main reason for the delay in taking Wuyan City.If the army spends too much time in Wuyan City, it will seriously affect the speed of the army's capture of Changyi.

"If there is no breakthrough, I plan to recruit iron knights to attack the city." Lu Bu said helplessly, "Although this will increase the casualties of the army, this is the only way I can do it."

Chen Gong pondered for a long time, and thought of several ways to attack the city, but they all took time, and the Northern Frontier Army just lacked time now.

"Does Cai Yang know that Dongpinglu has been lost?" Chen Gong asked, "If he doesn't know that his way out is cut off, he might abandon the city and run away."

"After receiving the news that General Yan Rou captured Dongpinglu, we have withdrawn the troops surrounding the west and south gates, and concentrated on attacking the northern city. The purpose is also to make Cai Yang abandon the city as soon as possible. Yang obviously knew that his escape was blocked, so he simply gave up the idea of ​​fleeing, and instead wanted to live and die with the city."

"Master Chen, you have stayed in Yanzhou Mansion for many years, and you know Wuyan City very well. Do you know if there is any damage to the city wall of Wuyan City?" Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju's rebellion took advantage of the weakness of the damaged city wall of Jicheng, bombarded the damaged part of the city wall with stone cannons, and talked about conquering Jicheng.Now there are more than 50 stone cannons under Wuyan City. If you find a damaged part of the city wall and blast it, it is likely that the city wall will be knocked down.

"I haven't heard of any damage to the city wall of Wuyan City." Chen Gong shook his head and said, "Even if there is damage, it will be restored quickly. The construction of the city walls in the Central Plains is very different from the construction of the city walls in the Northern Xinjiang. The city walls in the Northern Xinjiang are both It is built with stones, thick and wide, and it is very difficult to repair once it is damaged, while the inner wall of the Central Plains city wall is made of soil, and the outer wall is built of bricks and stones. Although it is not as strong as the northern city wall, it is easy to repair.”

While talking, Chen Gong suddenly remembered something, stood up suddenly, waved his hands excitedly and said: "There is a way, dig a tunnel, dig a tunnel to enter the city."

Lu Bu and Fan Li looked at each other, smiled wryly and were speechless.What kind of solution is this?It takes a long time to dig a tunnel, how can there be such ample time now?
Seeing the disappointed expressions of the two, Chen Gong hurriedly explained: "When the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army attacked Wuyan City, they dug more than a dozen tunnels outside the city. After we took back Wuyan City, we blocked all these tunnels, but Because the conditions at that time were very poor, the tunnel could not be completely sealed, so the two ends of the tunnel were only rammed with soil."

Lu Bu and Fan Li looked at Chen Gong in surprise, "So, the tunnel is still there?"

"Of course it's still there." Chen Gong said, "It's been a long time, Cao Cao has forgotten about it, and will not spend manpower and material resources to refill it. We only need to find the entrance of the tunnel and dig up the soil that sealed the entrance of the tunnel, and then we will be able to refill it." You can enter the city along the tunnel..."

"Let's dig up the soil at the exit of the tunnel, and the soldiers can enter the city." Fan Li excitedly stood up and grabbed Chen Gong's arm, "Master Chen, do you still remember the entrance of these tunnels?"

"You should still be able to find it." Chen Gong said with a smile, "Although I wasn't the one who sealed and filled the tunnels back then, I know several tunnel exits leading to key parts of the city. From the positions of these exits, it is not difficult to judge that the Yellow Turban Army opened Dig the entrance of the tunnel."

Lu Bu jumped up, pulled Chen Gong and walked out, "Quick, find the tunnel entrance first, as long as we can find a tunnel entrance, we can take Wuyan City tonight."

"Master Fan, hurry up and gather a thousand strong civilian husbands, hurry up..."

=

Cai Yang leaned against the icy city wall, slowly wiping the blood off his hands with a black cloth, turning a deaf ear to the sounds of fierce fighting around him.

The speed of the northern Xinjiang cavalry was too fast. Although he escaped the Jishui River, he could not escape the Wenshui River.There is no way to escape, the only way is to fight to the death. I hope that the lives of myself and thousands of soldiers can help save the precarious situation in the Central Plains.

The sound of drums in the city protruded, rapid and violent, making people so nervous that they could hardly breathe.

Cai Yang suddenly turned around and looked into the city.There were killing sounds in the dark city, and the government office in the city was being swallowed by a ball of flames, and the fire burst into the sky.Cai Yang felt a chill in his heart, he never expected that there would be a rebellion in the city at this time.

Cai Yang didn't hesitate at all, and waved his hands and shouted: "Order all the ministries to defend the city."

"Qin Wei Tun, follow me to kill. Anyone who rebels will be killed without mercy."

As soon as Cai Yang rushed down the city wall with a group of troops, he ran into Dongping Guoxiang head-on.The Prime Minister was sweating profusely and terrified, "Lord Cai, the northern army has entered the city and is burning everywhere..."

Cai Yang's scalp went numb, and he blurted out in surprise: "The northern army has entered the city? Can you see clearly?"

"It is indeed the northern border army. They came from the tunnel and appeared directly in the garden of the mansion. They burned the mansion first."

Cai Yang couldn't believe it.What method did the Northern Xinjiang Army use to dig a tunnel nearly a thousand steps long in just two days?The shouts from the distant streets became more and more clear, and you had to believe it if you didn't believe it.

"Withdraw..." Cai Yang raised his hand and shouted, "Order all the ministries to withdraw quickly and break out from the direction of the west gate, hurry, hurry..."

=

In April, Yanzhou Dongping Kingdom, Shouzhang City.

General Li Hong led his army to surround Shouzhang.The number of defenders in Shouzhang City is very small, only 400 people in one song. They were very frightened when they saw the Northern Xinjiang army coming, but they immediately found that the people surrounding Shouzhang were all barbarians with disheveled hair, which immediately aroused their hearts. hate.The magistrate of Shouzhang urgently told the people in the city to participate in the battle of defending the city, regardless of men, women, old or young. All men aged 14 to 60 took up arms and went to the city wall.

Li Hong did not launch an attack, but only sent [-] Xiongnu cavalry to line up under the city, fired a few rounds of long arrows into the city, and then shot a letter of persuasion into the city.

The defenders in the city knew they were invincible, but still refused to surrender.

Liu Bao asked to attack.Although the cities outside the Great Wall were not as big as the cities in the Central Plains, they were far taller and stronger than the cities in the Central Plains. The Huns had experience in attacking cities and villages, and cavalry soldiers could also be used as infantry.

Li Hong did not agree, and flatly rejected Liu Bao's request.Let the Huns attack the city, and the people in the city will suffer. Once the Huns smell the blood and see the treasure, no one can stop them from burning, killing and looting.Although Li Hong had high prestige among the Huns, at that time, Li Hong's dissuasion would not have any effect.Until the critical moment, Li Hong would never release the ferocious tiger, the Xiongnu iron cavalry, from the cage.

In the middle of the night, Wei Yan led a large supply camp to Shouzhang, and at the same time brought the news that Yan Rou had conquered Dongpinglu.

"Wuyan City is surrounded, and Cai Yang won't be able to hold on for long." Li Hong said to Wei Yan, "Urgently tell Wei Jun to bring five thousand cavalry to Shouzhang, and take Shouzhang City immediately."

Li Hong pointed to Juye City on the map, "After Wei Jun takes Shouzhang, let him rush to Juye, encircle him, and wait to join up with Lu Bu and Fan Li's army. Leave the siege to Lu Bu and Fan Li , Don’t force the cavalry to attack the city.”

"The general wants to gallop five hundred miles to the south and encircle Changyi?" Wei Yan asked excitedly with his brows furrowed.

"Yes, I will go south to Changyi right away. It has been six days since the army crossed the river..." Li Hong looked up at the night outside the tent, "No, it is already the seventh day. Those stationed on the line between Dingtao and Changyi Cao Ren has plenty of time to strengthen the city defenses and deploy troops, if it is delayed, it will be more difficult for the army to attack Dingtao and Changyi."

"After the iron cavalry arrived in Changyi, they surrounded Changyi, cut off the connection between Dingtao and Changyi, and cut off all reinforcements, food, grass, and military equipment that supported Changyi, and then moved along the Sishui River to Yuzhou Peiguo and Xuzhou Pengcheng, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Cao Cao and Liu Bei came back to the north of the Jianghuai River.” Li Hong moved his hand slowly from the city of Changyi on the map to the south, “Cao Cao and Liu Bei’s army is eager to return to the reinforcements. Take precautions. If we can severely injure Cao Cao and Liu Bei at this time, and delay their rescue of Yanzhou, the left and right armies will have more time to attack Dingtao and Changyi. Whether we can take these two cities is crucial for us to stabilize the front at The Dingtao and Changyi lines, and the consolidation and stability of most of the counties and counties in Yanzhou occupied by them are crucial."

Wei Yan hesitated for a moment, then whispered: "General, you are taking [-] iron cavalry to the south at a high speed, and there is no time to supply food, grass and supplies. From here to Changyi, the road is the Great Plains. There is no city barrier, and the speed of the iron cavalry will be very fast. I can't transport the food, grass and luggage to the city of Changyi in time, and there is no other way except to grow wings and fly."

Li Hong frowned, and said to Wei Yan: "You march day and night with your men and supplies, and you have to keep up no matter what. I will let Yan Rou lead the army to go with you to protect the safety of the grain road along the way."

"General, the soldiers need food, and the horses need fodder. Even if you bring enough dry food and horse fodder, and even let the cavalry army burn, kill and loot along the way, it is still difficult for you to guarantee the combat effectiveness of the army. Don't forget, you brought They are the Huns and Shan Yuting’s iron cavalry. Once something goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.” Wei Yan hesitated for a moment, and then persuaded, “General, although time is extremely precious to us, at this moment, we must fight steadily and steadily. , Ensuring the safety of the army is the top priority. Only when there is no problem with the army can this battle be fought and won."

"I have calculated carefully, as long as you keep advancing at a speed of eighty miles every day, when I lead the army to Changyi, there will be a distance of at most three days between us. In other words, I only need to bring five thousand more horses I can guarantee that the army will last for six days by carrying grain and horse fodder." Li Hong waved his hands and smiled, "If you don't have confidence, I will let Tian Chou command the supply camp, and you will replace Tian Chou to allocate food and grass to the armies from all walks of life. how?"

Wei Yan's face turned red, and he said loudly, "Don't worry, General. I will meet you at the city of Changyi within six days."

=

Suddenly there was a rush of horseshoes from outside the tent, approaching from a distance, and coming straight to the big tent.

Li Hong turned around slightly, and looked out of the tent intently.Wei Yan stood up and was about to go out of the tent when he saw a fast horse galloping in, shouting loudly: "General, something is wrong, something happened in Wuyan City."

Li Hong was taken aback, and sat behind the desk and waved to Wei Yan, motioning to bring the letter quickly.

"What happened? The attack was blocked?" Wei Yan asked anxiously while taking the letter from the messenger.

"Wuyan City has been conquered." The messenger wiped his sweat out of breath, "After the army entered the city, they slaughtered and set fire to it. Lord Yang Yi, who took the lead in attacking the city, also took Dongping Guoshi and a dozen Guoxiang The subordinates of the mansion were killed, and as a result, several court ministers were angered by this matter, and they forced General Lu to arrest Master Yang."

"What happened next?" Wei Yan handed the letter to the general, and asked impatiently.

"Later, the two adults Guo Xun and Liu Yu led a group of Southern Army officers into the Chinese Army tent, and argued with General Lu. Cui Jun, Jin Shang and other ministers of the court were extremely dissatisfied with this, and threatened to impeach them. In a rage, Lord Guo Xun slapped Lord Jin Shang and knocked him out..."

Wei Yan felt dizzy, smiled wryly and was speechless.

There are many contradictions between the warriors and scholars in the court.In Jinyang, both sides were very restrained and tolerated each other.Arriving here, perhaps the sky is high and the emperor is far away, or it may be because the Central Plains War has brought heavy psychological burdens to many military and political officials. The unprecedented huge responsibility makes all of them walk on eggshells as if they are facing an abyss, lest they will be defeated by their own mistakes and mistakes. This led to the failure of the war and the damage to ZTE's great cause, so everyone has been in high tension and very angry.The anger is high, and there are already conflicts, and the quarrel is inevitable, but I didn't expect the matter to be so serious.

"How is Master Jin's injury?" Wei Yan asked worriedly.

"Master Jin is old and weak, and he was knocked down by Master Guo's slap, as if..." The courier secretly looked at Li Hong, who was livid, and said in a low voice, "It seems that he is about to die."

Wei Yan's back felt cold, and he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He stood beside Li Hong with a frown, without saying a word.

"It's unreasonable..." Li Hong slammed his fist on the case table, and smashed the letter in his hand to the ground, "Lu Bu is in a daze, how dare he shake the morale of the army at this time. Send an order to tell Zhenbei General Yan Rou to rush to Wuyan City immediately , to succeed Lu Bu in command of the Southern Army."

"General, this matter... can't..." Wei Yan wanted to dissuade him, but fearing that Li Hong would be angered, he was a little at a loss and stuttered, "This way the morale of the army... the morale of the army is even more chaotic."

"There's no reason for that..." Li Hong became more and more angry as he thought about it, and he raised his fist and pointed at the case again, "I knew that Lu Bu was so bad, I shouldn't have let him be the commander of the Southern Army."

"General, you have to understand General Lu's difficulties." Wei Yan was intimidated by Li Hong's murderous intent, and took a step back involuntarily, "Although people like Yang Yi and Guo Xun are jealous of fighting, they have followed the general for many years. I have always abided by military discipline, and would not easily violate the law to kill people. If there is no hint and connivance from General Lu, I can say with certainty that people like Yang Yi and Guo Xun would never dare to mess around."

Li Hong glared at Wei Yan, and was extremely dissatisfied with his words in defense of Lu Bu, "How do you know what Lu Bu is thinking? Did he tell you from his own mouth?"

"General, you are the commander-in-chief of the left and right armies, and General Lu is the commander-in-chief of the left army. If the left army fails to reach the city of Changyi as scheduled, General Lu will bear all the responsibilities, and you just followed the left army. Lu Dajun attacked and advanced. You can think about what kind of mood General Lu is at the moment? The heavy burden on his back almost made him suffocate, you know? In order to successfully reach Changyi and capture Changyi, General Lu Not only must the army not be damaged excessively, but it must also be ensured that there will be no problems in the rear of the army. What choice does he have at this time? Apart from killing all the officials in the occupied city, he will eliminate all sources of rebellion and ensure the safety of the rear of the army. Besides, what else can he do?"

"Similarly, the court ministers who went south to appease the counties and counties in Yanzhou are also living with trepidation. They have assumed the great responsibility of ensuring that we can gain a foothold in the Central Plains. They must stabilize the counties and counties in the shortest possible time and prevent the people from fleeing their homes. To allow the people to stay in the counties and counties to continue farming, and to allow the army to be supplemented with food on the spot after the spring harvest in May. General, think about it, at this moment, the original officials in the various government offices are very important to help them stabilize and control the counties as soon as possible. How important the county is."

"But we killed all the officials who surrendered and captured, and forced the ministers of the court to pay hundreds of times and thousands of times of hardships in order to complete the important tasks assigned by the court. Of course, these ministers with important missions were furious. At this time, the military and political Conflicts among high officials have become a headache for General Lu."

"In my opinion, General Lu's order to detain Lord Yang Yi must be an expedient measure to calm down the conflict between the two sides, but Guo Xun, Liu Yu and other adults obviously did not understand General Lu's actions, and they rushed into the big tent in a rage , intensified the conflict, and then slapped it down, complicating what was originally a simple matter."

"Hmph..." Li Hong snorted angrily, "This happened just after Wuyan City was taken down, and Lu Bu cannot absolve himself of the blame."

"General, stabilizing the morale of the army is the most important thing at this moment, you should give a clear answer." Wei Yan persuaded, "Or, you go to Wuyan City in person?"

"I won't go." Li Hong waved his hand vigorously, "The book tells Lu Bu that he is the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army. Regardless of whether he has obtained his acquiescence in this matter, he must bear the responsibility, and the responsibility cannot be pushed away. If he If you don’t dare to offend the emperor and the imperial court, if I come to offend, I will say that murder and arson are my orders. Cui Jun and Jin Shang want to impeach me, let them impeach me.”

"General..." Wei Yan looked at him fearfully, and asked in a low voice, "Then Yang Yi and Guo Xun..."

"It's my order to kill people and set fire to them, it has nothing to do with them." Li Hong roared loudly, "Let Lu Bu release the people to me immediately, and then lead the army to go south immediately."

=

In April, Langya County, Xuzhou, Ju (ju) City.

In the middle of the night, the shu water river is bathed in the light of the moon, elegant and peaceful.

Guan Yu stood on the river embankment on his horse, stroking his long beard with his hand, watching the army quietly attacking the Yellow Turban Army camp under the dim moonlight.

Suddenly, drums sounded everywhere, and a crack was torn open in the night.

(End of this chapter)