Great Han Empire

Chapter 827 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
In April, Shanyang County, Yanzhou, Changyi.

Xun Yu received a letter from Cai Yang asking for help.

After Cai Yang led his army out of Wuyan City, he was attacked by Northern Xinjiang cavalry in the direction of Shouzhang City, and his entire army was wiped out.Cai Yang and a dozen of his personal guards fled desperately to the vicinity of Juye Ze, found a fishing boat, crossed Juye Ze, and rushed to Juye City located in the south of Juye Ze.Cai Yang told Xun Yu that there were only 600 troops in Juye City, and they could not resist the attack of the northern army at all.If my lord wants to slow down the pace of the northern border army's attack on Changyi City, it is necessary to rapidly increase the number of troops in Juye.

"Juye is over." Xun Yu looked up to the sky and sighed, "Wuyan City is only more than 300 miles away from Juye. The northern Xinjiang cavalry is galloping day and night, and the encirclement can be completed within two days. According to the time calculation, the northern Xinjiang cavalry has already arrived at Juye, and we are too late. Sent troops to support."

Li Tong gently stroked his long beard, raised his thick eyebrows slightly, and said with great dissatisfaction: "In Chi (chi) Ping, Linyi and Wuyan, we have 5000 troops and several fortified cities, but Cai Yang killed them within seven days." They were all buried. It is more than 400 miles from Chiping on the bank of the Yellow River to Wuyan City. There are several large and small rivers such as the Jishui River. Even if the Northern Xinjiang Army does not fight, it will take at least five days to march. I really can't imagine, Cai Yang How did he lose seven or eight cities in two days with his 5000 troops. This kid's prodigal has reached the extreme."

Xun Yu shook his hand, "Cai Yang was able to withdraw the main force to Wuyan City and hold on for a day, which is already commendable." He turned his head and waved to a subordinate standing behind him, "Urgently report to Master Ding Tao Caoren, the Northern Xinjiang Army Juye has been surrounded, and Changyi City is about to be attacked by the Northern Frontier Army. At present, Cai Yang’s army is completely annihilated, and Changyi City’s defense forces are seriously insufficient. Please urge Master Simpi to lead the army to Changyi to help as soon as possible.”

"Gao Lan of the Northern Frontier Army has conquered Puyang, and Qu Yi has led his army across the Huzi River to attack Juyang. The situation in Dingtao is very critical. Will he let Simpi lead his army to help Changyi?" Li Tong was worried. He said, "If Xia Houyuan is wiped out like Cai Yang, the situation in Dingtao will be more tense than ours."

Xun Yu sighed for a long time, helpless, "The Northern Frontier Army has made careful preparations to attack the Central Plains. The timing of the attack is very good and the attack speed is extremely fast. If we want to defend Dingtao and Changyi before the prime minister comes back to help, It's very difficult."

Xun Yu pushed aside the document file, revealing the map laid out on the case table, pointed to the Yellow River and said, "From the end of March, the Northern Frontier Army began to cross the river to attack Henan and Kansai, restraining Yuan Shao's main force. Originally, we were worried that Yuan Shao would take advantage of the prime minister's plan to attack Jianghuai and attack Yanzhou, and concentrate his main forces on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi. Central Plains. Under the guise of going out of the frontier to suppress the rebellion, the Northern Frontier Army made a bluff and gathered heavy troops across the south of the Yangtze River to attack the Central Plains, which caught us by surprise."

"It has been nine days since the Northern Army crossed the river. When Yuan Shao and we were still in shock and trying to find a way to fight, the Northern Army had already swept across most of Yanzhou and was about to reach Dingtao and Changyi. "

"The situation in Yanzhou is very serious now. With Yuan Shao's main army being dragged on the Henan battlefield and unable to support us, and the prime minister's army is still half way back to help, we can only fight against nearly ten thousand troops alone with more than 1 troops. Ten Thousand Northern Xinjiang Army." Xun Yu placed his hands heavily on Peiguo on the map, "Even if our army marches day and night, it will take six to seven days before we can return to Yanzhou."

"Seven days, can we hold on for seven days?" Xun Yu looked up at Li Tong who was worried, and asked in a low voice, "If the northern army besieges the city with ten times as many troops as mine, how long can we hold on?"

Li Tong hesitated.He wanted to swear that he could hold on until the main force came back for help, but his confidence was shaken when he thought of Xia Houyuan, Cai Yang and the 5000 troops who had already been wiped out.Xia Houyuan and Cai Yang were not incompetent people. The two retreated in a row and were beaten into a mess by the northern army. It is estimated that they and the 5000 troops in Changyi City were not much better.After all, the opponent's current strength has an absolute advantage.

"It is more than 400 miles from Wuyan City to Changyi, and there are rivers such as Zhaowang River, Wu River, and Peng River along the way." Li Tong looked at the map and said, "It will take five days at the fastest for the infantry army of the Northern Xinjiang Army to reach Changyi. Yi. If they started going south from Wuyan City two days ago, they would arrive at Changyi City in three days. All in all, we only need to hold on for about four days to wait for the main force to return.”

Li Tong frowned, and said with certainty: "If you stick to it for four days, there will be absolutely no problem."

"Perhaps more than four days." Xun Yu drew a circle around Changyi City on the map, "After the Northern Frontier Army surrounds Changyi, it is inevitable that they will divide their forces to block our return army, so as to gain more time to attack the city. If there is no accident, they will deploy heavy troops on the Chengwu and Liangqiu lines to stop the Prime Minister."

Li Tong's face gradually turned grim, and he stared at the map for a long time without speaking.

Xun Yu pondered for a long time, "Urgently tell Cai Yang to abandon Juye and lead the army back along the Zhushui River."

"Urgently report to Wang Xun of Ren Chengguo, ask him to lead the army to take the initiative to attack and threaten the food road of the northern border army."

"Tell Yang Ping, the prefect of Shanyang County, to recruit civilians immediately, dismantle the pontoon bridges on the Sishui River and Wanfu River, and delay the time for the northern army to attack Changyi City as much as possible."

"Demolish the bridge now?" Li Tong asked in surprise, "Is it too early?"

Changyi City is located between Sishui River and Old Wanfu River.This Sishui River comes from the Jishui River, exits from Heze, fifty miles east of Dingtao City, and then travels four hundred miles southeast to join the main channel of the Sishui River.Parallel to this Sishui River, there is also a river called Wanfu River, which is also a river connecting Jishui and Sishui River.If the bridges on these two rivers are demolished, Changyi City will become a veritable isolated city.

"Tear down all the bridges on the Sishui River." Xun Yu waved his hand and said, "Two bridges on the Wanfu River will be left for now. Once the northern Xinjiang cavalry is found near the two rivers, burn them down."

"Wen Ruo, if the Prime Minister leads the army back to help, they..."

"Changyi City is located in the middle of two rivers, and the distance between the two rivers is only ten miles. In such a short distance, the iron cavalry is useless, so the northern Xinjiang cavalry must cross the two rivers and continue south to stop our reinforcements." Xun Yu said, "Your Excellency, the Prime Minister must repel the Northern Xinjiang cavalry before we can help us. If the Northern Xinjiang cavalry is defeated, the northern Xinjiang infantry army will immediately withdraw across the Sishui River and regroup. Therefore, the bridge on this river will have no effect on our reinforcements for the time being." .”

"Isn't Simpi's reinforcements very dangerous?" Li Tong said hastily, "If the northern border cavalry arrives in Changyi before Simpi's reinforcements, his five thousand troops will be dead."

"Let me tell Mr. Simpi, please come to Changyi within two days, otherwise not only Changyi will be in danger, but also himself will be in danger."

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In mid-April, General Li Hong led an army of cavalry to the banks of the Sishui River.

On the other side, Changyi City is quietly bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Li Hong stood on the Mahe embankment, looked far into the distance, and felt excited.The army finally arrived at the destination at the scheduled time, and the next step was to take down Changyi at all costs and try to gain a firm foothold in the shortest possible time.

The scouts came galloping along the embankment.All the bridges on the Sishui River were dismantled by the enemy.

"Order all the ministries to cross the river overnight." Li Hong swung his whip vigorously and shouted loudly, "Don't stop, keep going south and kill Liangqiu."

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In mid-April, General Qu Yi of the Left led his troops across the Pushui River.

Zhao Yun and Liu Ming who were the first to cross the river came galloping on horseback.

"Where is Zifeng (Jiang Wu)?"

"Zifeng has already crossed the river and is heading southward from Chengyang, sixty miles away." Zhao Yun hurriedly replied, "Tonight, he will join me."

Qu Yi nodded in satisfaction, "Qiansi (Liu Ming), after reaching Dingtao, surround the city with two thousand cavalry and cut off the connection between Dingtao and Changyi." Then he pointed to Zhao Yun, "You and Zifeng lead the army Immediately cross the Jishui River and go down to capture Chengwu."

Zhao Yun and Liu Ming bowed to accept the order.

"Can I see the general in Chengwu?" Zhao Yun asked with a smile.

"You must be fast, you must be fast..." Qu Yi tapped Zhao Yun's shoulder with the horsewhip in his hand, "If the general arrives at Chengwu first, I will only ask you."

"Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely capture Chengwu before the general."

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In mid-April, Yuzhou Peiguo, Xiaoxian County.

In the middle of the night, candles were brightly lit in the big tent. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others sat around to discuss urgently the military situation.

The changes in the battle situation in Yanzhou made them very worried.

Dingtao Caoren wrote a letter.The Northern Frontier Army has conquered Juyang and Chengyang, has crossed the Pushui River, and is heading towards Dingtao.Qu Yi and Zhao Yun's cavalry army is approaching Dingtao.Yushi's army is attacking Chengshi City.Xia Houyuan held on to the city, and the two sides fought fiercely.After Gao Gan lost Puyang, he immediately assembled a large army to counterattack Puyang.

Xun Yu from Changyi came to write.The northern Xinjiang cavalry has surrounded Changyi, and it is estimated that Juye City has been lost.The northern Xinjiang infantry army will then go south to attack Changyi City.Because the northern border army broke through the Juyang and Chengyang defense lines at an incredible speed, Cao Ren was forced to leave behind Simpi's reinforcements.Changyi City currently has only [-] defenders. Facing the overwhelming army of northern Xinjiang, it is very difficult to defend and the situation is extremely critical.

The urgent report from Yanzhou shocked everyone, and the atmosphere in the big tent was very depressing.

"It seems that the situation in Changyi is the most urgent." Cao Cao looked at the generals and forced a smile, "The speed of the northern Xinjiang cavalry is too fast. We are still four hundred miles away from Changyi, but the northern Xinjiang cavalry We’ve arrived at Dingtao and Changyi.” He looked down at the map, his face full of worry, “It looks like we’re going to have a face-to-face battle with the northern Xinjiang cavalry, otherwise…”

No one answered in the big tent.The battle of Jizhou the year before last allowed the generals to see the sharpness of the northern Xinjiang cavalry.If you fight face to face with iron cavalry, although the army has a numerical advantage, the losses will be unimaginable.At this time, the best strategy is to ensure the strength of the troops. Once the troops are lost and the superiority in strength is lost, the hope of defeating the northern border army and regaining the Central Plains will become even slimmer.

"Can't fight." Guo Jia stood up, "Prime Minister, it is exactly what Li Hong desperately hopes to fight against the northern cavalry at this time. At present, our only advantage is our strength. As long as we can successfully reach the two cities of Dingtao and Changyi, Relying on our superiority in military strength, we will be able to prevent the Northern Xinjiang Army from capturing the Central Plains, and then stabilize the front line at Dingtao and Changyi, buying time for the Huimeng to assemble the coalition forces to launch a counterattack."

"Feng Xiao, what countermeasures do you have?" Cao Cao asked, scratching his beard.Before the army was preparing to attack Yuan Shu, Guo Jia had speculated that the northern border army might take the opportunity to go south to the Central Plains, but unfortunately the result was right.Cao Cao therefore admired him and liked him very much.

"Let's first take a look at what methods the Northern Xinjiang Army may take to capture the two cities after they reach the front line of Dingtao and Changyi."

Guo Jia continued, "We have speculated several times before about the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army's attack on the Central Plains. According to the information sent by all parties, the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army's attack on the Central Plains is about [-]. It is half. If all the [-] cavalry are assembled on the front line of Chengwu and Liangqiu to prevent us from rescuing the two cities, then the consequences of our decisive battle with the current [-] troops are self-evident. We dare not fight The decisive battle does not mean that we have given up on rescuing the two cities. Yuan Shao in Henan and Liu Biao in Jingzhou will soon enter Yanzhou. We will form an alliance to fight against the northern Xinjiang army. Hebei must have predicted it before the war. Therefore, time is the key to the victory of this war for the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"If Li Hong wants to gain a foothold in the Central Plains, and if he wants to fight us for a long time, he must take Dingtao and Changyi before our coalition forces attack the Northern Frontier Army."

"The Northern Xinjiang Army attacked the Central Plains this time, in order to gain time. If the army of [-] infantry is divided into two, then their strength is obviously insufficient whether they are fighting Dingtao or Changyi. The siege force is insufficient, and the time and consumption of seizing the city will be very large, which is obviously not good for the northern army."

"Now the iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army wants to prevent us from going north to support, and they cannot help the infantry army to attack the city. Therefore, they can only rely on the infantry army to deploy their own troops, and strive to win the two cities in the shortest time." Guo Jia looked at the crowd. , raised his hand and made a siege gesture, "When the northern border army gathers eight times, or even ten times more troops to attack Dingtao or Changyi, they will have very few troops to surround another city."

"This is our chance."

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(End of this chapter)