Great Han Empire

Chapter 839 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
At the end of April, sixty miles west of Dingtao City, Ming Pavilion.

Cao Cao commanded the army to attack the northern army stationed at Mingting.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the Northern Xinjiang Army dug a lot of trenches on the battlefield, and placed thick deer villages and horses between the trenches, and then set up 30 crossbows, more than [-] stone cannons and [-] soldiers behind them. Strong Archer.If the Yanzhou army wanted to get to the front of the Northern Xinjiang army's battle formation, it needed to fill up the trenches and move away from the Luzhai to reject the horses. However, under the stormy shooting of the Northern Xinjiang army, their losses were too great, and the attack was forced to stop for a while.

The northern Xinjiang cavalry army was just to the north of the battlefield, and they attacked from time to time, causing a lot of trouble for the Yanzhou army.Cao Cao needed troops to defend the flanks of the army, and did not dare to devote all his troops to the frontal battlefield, so the fierce offensive gradually weakened.

Three days later, Liu Bei led his army to the battlefield.The two armies merged into one, greatly increasing their strength and morale.The offensive and defensive battle between the two sides suddenly became fierce.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei came to the front to supervise the battle. Facing the tragic battlefield and the heavy casualties of his own side, Cao Cao was very worried and urged to speed up the attack and tear through the defense line of the Northern Xinjiang Army as soon as possible.

"My lord, the Northern Border Army's arrow array is too powerful. We have to pay a huge price for every step forward. If we continue to fight like this, our soldiers will be completely overwhelmed by the Northern Border Army's long arrows." Cao Hong stood at a high altitude. On the slope, pointing to the battlefield in the distance, he said out of breath, "The blocking technique of the Northern Xinjiang Army this time is completely different from the past. They have a lot of civilians. These people are constantly digging trenches and setting up deer villages on the road behind the battlefield." Reject horses. Every time their soldiers take a step back, they can rely on these obstacles to tenaciously block them."

"The soldiers of the Northern Border Army still don't want to fight us head-on?" Cao Cao asked angrily.

"Yes. They used trenches, deer villages, and horses to set up barriers between the two armies, and used dense arrow formations to shoot and kill our soldiers who charged into the barriers. When we rushed to the battle formation of the Northern Army, they Withdrawing to the next obstacle, there is no sign of coming out to confront us head-on." Cao Hong said helplessly.

"The northern border army must preserve its strength." Liu Bei frowned and said worriedly, "The terrain here at Mingting is not good, and the road starts from here and goes upwards, winding along the hillside and forest, about a dozen miles long. If we continue to fight, our loss is indeed too great."

Cao Cao was furious, and waved his hands and shouted: "What if we don't fight? Although the terrain here is conducive to the blocking of northern Xinjiang infantry, it is not conducive to the charge of northern Xinjiang cavalry. In my opinion, it is better to draw more troops from the flanks to participate in the attack." .”

"Your Excellency, absolutely not." Liu Bei waved his hand hastily, "Once the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry is allowed to rush past the obstruction, we may not only be cut off by Li Hong, but also lose our supplies."

"My lord, there are still five days before the army in the city is about to break through." Man Chong also persuaded from the side, "It has only been more than 20 days since the Northern Xinjiang army entered Yanzhou. No matter how well prepared they are in the early stage, it is difficult for them In a short period of time, all the food, grass, and military equipment accumulated in Jizhou were transported to Dingtao City. Based on the arrows shot by the Northern Xinjiang Army in the past five days, the number of their remaining military equipment will not be too much. We will continue to attack , increase the number of feint attacks to reduce casualties, and use this to consume a large amount of arrows from the northern border army. When the army in the city breaks through five days later, the northern border army may not be able to block our front and rear flank attacks due to lack of ordnance."

While everyone was arguing endlessly, drums and horns sounded from the rear of the army, and the cavalry of the Huns began to attack the flanks of the coalition army again.

"Damn the Huns..." Cao Cao lashed out with a whip, and a clump of weeds was cut off in the middle, and flew up, "When I take Changyi, I will kill all these barbarians. "

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At dusk, the scouts brought a shocking news.Northern Xinjiang cavalry quietly crossed the Jishui River, surrounded Jiyang, and cut off the army's food road.

Cao Cao was taken aback.The army's food, grass and supplies had been seriously insufficient a few days ago. If Liu Bei hadn't arrived in time, he would have been hungry.Although Yuan Shao promised to provide him with food, grass and luggage, considering Chen Liu's safety, he only agreed to let the army escort the food, grass and luggage to Jiyang, and then Cao Cao sent people to pick them up.After reuniting with Liu Bei, Cao Cao immediately freed up manpower to rush to Jiyang to carry food and grass, but he did not expect that the Northern Xinjiang Army was one step ahead.

"Aren't you afraid of being surrounded by us when you go deep into the army alone?" Cao Cao rarely showed a smile on his face, "But that's good too. The fewer troops under Dingtao City, the greater our chances of success. Li Hong If you want to cut off my food supply and force me to retreat, well, I will give him a surprise."

"Order Cao Chun and Xu Chu to take tiger and leopard riders to the south to meet Zhang Fei and attack Changyi City."

Cao Cao didn't dare to leave the Dingtao battlefield at this time.Since the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry can surround Jiyang, of course they can also kill Chenliu for five hundred miles.If Chenliu was captured by the northern border army, the original second blocking defense line would not be able to be established, and he would also be surrounded by the northern border army.At that time, even if the army in Dingtao City was rescued, he would have to face the siege and interception of the northern army, so he had to fight his way out of the rain of guns and arrows to escape.

Now, Cao Cao has great confidence in raiding Changyi.Since the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry on the Dingtao battlefield killed him behind, then the northern Xinjiang iron cavalry guarding Changyi must rush to the vicinity of Dingtao so that they can start chasing and killing him when he retreats.With his back route cut off, he could only choose one way to escape from the north and south banks of the Jishui River. Either go north to Fengqiu and join Yuan Shao's army, or go south to Bocheng and enter the territory of Liang State in Yuzhou.If the northern border army wanted to surround themselves, they had to deploy iron cavalry on both sides of the Jishui River. In this way, Changyi City would be an empty city.

After taking Changyi, the Northern Xinjiang Army lost sight of the other, and the battle situation reversed immediately, and he took the opportunity to lead the army to retreat to Yuzhou.Preserving strength is my top priority. As long as I have strength, Liu Bei's strategy will never succeed.After the coalition forces blocked the northern border army on the second or third line of defense, the coalition forces could completely defeat Li Hong and regain the Central Plains with their advantages in strength and wealth.If you have strength, are you afraid that Yuan Shao will annex Yanzhou?

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the Central Plains War is defeated, the northern army will fight against Luoyang and Yuan Shao next, and will not waste time and energy chasing and killing themselves.With a large army in his hands, when Li Hong and Yuan Shao are unable to go south, the counties and counties in Yuzhou and Jianghuai will immediately become the site for his comeback.The army, the army must be kept no matter what, as long as the army is in hand, there is still hope for everything.

"Order the various ministries to focus on feint attacks, make a gesture of indecision and about to retreat, and lure the Northern Xinjiang Army to the north and south banks of the Jishui River as much as possible."

"Report to Yuan Shao urgently, asking him to do everything possible to guard Chenliu, and send troops to support us to withdraw from the Dingtao battlefield."

The change in the battle situation made everyone panic.

The power of the northern Xinjiang cavalry is gradually revealed, and the bloody and cruel leopard has shown its sharp claws.Can the army successfully rescue the army in Dingtao City, and then successfully break through?

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Under April, Yuzhou Yingchuan, Xuchang.

Good news arrived in Xuchang one after another, and Yuan Shao's mood is getting better and better these days.

"Lord Gao Rou said in the letter that the Northern Army has abandoned Pinggao and retreated to Huaicheng." Feng Ji summarized the battle reports of the past few days, and finally said, "At present, the Northern Army has withdrawn from Kansai. On the battlefields of Hanoi, Henan, and Hanoi, the two sides have also returned to the front line before March, and the Luoyang crisis has passed."

"It has been more than a month since the Northern Frontier Army suddenly attacked Henan." Yuan Shao said happily, stroking his short beard, "I can finally breathe a sigh of relief today."

Ju Shou, who was looking down at the document, turned his head and glanced at Yuan Shao, wanting to say something, but then he lowered his head and stopped talking.

"How is the situation in Guanzhong?" Yuan Shao asked, "Does Xiansi (Yuan Tan) have a letter?"

"No news." Feng Ji shook his head and said, "Yang Feng led the army back aggressively. Whether it was Xiansi or Mr. Duan Yan, they could only avoid their edge and temporarily guard the south bank of the Yellow River. Especially Xiansi, he The reason for his reluctance to send troops is that Han Sui threatened Chang'an. Now that Yang Feng has returned with a large army, he certainly has a better excuse to withdraw his troops."

"The book tells Xiansi that without my order, no troops are allowed to withdraw." Yuan Shao frowned, and said loudly, "Now that the troops from Luoyang, Henan, Yuzhou, Jingzhou and other places are all fighting on the battlefield in the Central Plains, of course he must do his best. You Tell him, if he acts recklessly again and refuses to obey the military order, I will let him go back to Luoyang to stay."

Feng Ji nodded again and again, and was about to speak, but Yuan Shao turned his attention to Jushou, "How is the situation in the Yanzhou battlefield? Cao Cao and Liu Bei refused to accept our suggestion, and they did not want to hold on to the cities of Yuanju and Jiyang, and establish a temporary The line of defense is no longer feasible. Look, can Cao Cao and Liu Bei reach the city of Dingtao and rescue the troops of Cao Ren, Xiahouyuan, and Simpi? If they can break through the blocking of the northern border army and enter Dingtao smoothly, the battle may... ..."

"Impossible." Jushou denied, "It is impossible for Cao Cao to break through the blocking of the northern army. If Cao Cao wiped out all the troops under Dingtao City, what else would he have? He has nothing, so Cao Cao will do whatever it takes to preserve his strength. For the sake of the overall situation, I suggest that you immediately organize your army and go to Chenliu, advance eastward along the north and south banks of the Jishui River, and rescue Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army before the northern army encircles them."

"Rescue them?" Yuan Shao was slightly surprised, then laughed thoughtfully, "I still want to rescue them?"

"Of course." Ju Shou said, "Your Excellency, don't think that the Northern Frontier Army can't completely annihilate Cao Cao and Liu Bei because they don't have an advantage in strength on the Yanzhou battlefield."

"Li Hong has been on the battlefield for a long time, and won many battles with less fighting. My lord once participated in the Yicheng battle in Xiliang. You should remember that Li Hong was at an absolute disadvantage in that battle. But what will be the result? If your lord does not send troops to support this time, Cao Cao and Liu Bei will definitely be in danger, and the entire army will be wiped out in all likelihood."

"The entire army of Cao Cao and Liu Bei was wiped out. Although it can buy us time and help us defend the front line of Fengqiu and Chenliu, this is only temporary. Yan Liang of the Northern Army will soon enter the Central Plains, Gao Shun, Zang Ba, and Guan Hai Tens of thousands of troops will also appear in the Central Plains. The loss of the main forces of the northern army to encircle and wipe out Cao Cao and Liu Bei can be solved by collecting prisoners. In this way, the strength of the northern army will surpass ours. On the front line, it is very likely that the army will be defeated like a mountain, and they will be defeated for thousands of miles, so they can only defend Luoyang to the death."

Yuan Shao thought for a while, then raised his head and exchanged glances with Feng Ji.Feng Ji nodded slightly, "Once the main force of our army appears on the front line of Chenliu and Fengqiu, it will be a deterrent to the northern army. Maybe the army will scare the northern army away without dispatching it. For the northern army If you want to wipe out Cao Cao and Liu Bei, you need to pay astonishing losses, and the Northern Army may not be willing."

Ju Shou didn't take it seriously, a hint of sarcasm curled up at the corner of his mouth.

"The armies on the left and right wings of the Northern Army will appear on the Central Plains battlefield soon. The three armies of the Northern Army are advancing side by side, and the 10,000+ army roars up. We can only divide our troops to stop it. At this time, the number of troops will directly affect whether we can Block the Northern Army, drag the Northern Army."

Jushou smiled wryly, and continued: "I have said again and again that we are going to fight the Northern Army in a decisive battle. If we want to defeat the Northern Army, we must first use our advantages to the extreme. Our advantages are military strength and wealth. Cao Cao , Once Liu Bei is defeated, we immediately lose our superiority in strength, and this battle cannot be fought, so we must do our best to rescue Cao Cao and Liu Bei's tens of thousands of troops. Then we will rely on the two blocking lines and Luoyang City, and Northern Xinjiang The army resisted for a long time and dragged the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield of the Central Plains until it was dragged down and defeated."

"However, if we win the battle in the future, people like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu will be full-fledged. We..." Feng Ji whispered with a worried face, but this sentence was obviously out of date. He swallowed back the words that followed.

Ju Shou looked at him contemptuously, and said solemnly: "At this moment, if we want to defeat the rebellious Li Hong, defeat the northern border army, and keep the great Han community, we must work together, otherwise we will all die together."

Yuan Shao didn't hesitate any longer, and waved his hand vigorously, "Urgently tell Xianyi (Yuan Xi), Jiang Qi, Wenpin and others to lead the army to Chenliu immediately, attack Donghun and Jiyang, and support Cao Cao and Liu Bei."

"Urgently report to Xin Ping, immediately go to Baima to join the high-ranking officials, attack Puyang, and block the right-wing army of the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"Urgently tell Xu Wei from Yuzhou Runan, Jian Yong from Xuzhou Pengcheng, Yangzhou Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Ji Ling and others to speed up the speed of going north to support the Central Plains battlefield, and don't waste any more time, so as not to delay the war opportunity."

"Urgently appeal to Luoyang Yuan Wei and Master Shenpei to seize the time to recruit civilian husbands and deliver food, grass and supplies to the front lines of Zhongmou and Chenliu. Urgently tell the officials of Yingchuan, Nanyang and other prefectures to complete the recruitment of civilian husbands and the transportation of grain and grass before the end of this month. event."

"Urgently call Lord Liu Biao, and ask him to urge Jingzhou's follow-up reinforcements to speed up and arrive at the Central Plains battlefield as soon as possible. There is also food and supplies, and please find a way to speed up the delivery."

Feng Ji, Yuan Zhong, Wang Lang and others hurriedly drafted an order.

Ju Shou approached Yuan Shao and said in a low voice: "Yuan Hao (Tian Feng) has arrived in Henan, do you think he should follow Xian Yi (Yuan Xi)?"

"You mean, let Xianyi command the various armies in Chenliu?" Yuan Shao was very surprised by Jushou's proposal.

"My lord can't leave the emperor anyway." Ju Shou said solemnly, "Wherever the emperor goes, wherever you go, you will never leave."

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Under April, Hanoi, Chaoge City.

Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, Wang Dang, Xu Huang, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Liao and others gathered in the tent.

The Northern Xinjiang Army invested 1 troops in the two battlefields of Henan and Hanoi. After more than a month of bloody battles, they lost more than [-] people, and more than [-]% of the casualties occurred during the Pinggao War.

After Zhang Yan ordered Yan Liang to withdraw from the battlefield in Henan, Wang Ling, the middle man in charge, rushed to Chaoge City with 1 reserve soldiers to replenish Yan Liang's army.These 8000 people were temporarily recruited from the military households of the Seventh Battalion in Jizhou.According to the recruit system, each military household can send out one male when going out, but under special circumstances, father and son and brothers will also go to the battlefield together.Yan Liang gave Peng Lie five thousand recruits to garrison Huaicheng.Then he transferred [-] people from other ministries to Zhang Liao, and asked him to fight with him.

Wang Ling was ordered to convey the specific order of crossing the river to the generals of the army.

"According to Master Zhang Yan's request, the five armies crossing the river will cross the river from five places." Wang Ling's hand started from Liyang on the map and slowly rowed to Huating. After the Ministry has rushed to the ferry, you can cross the river."

"Master Gao Lan led his troops to leave Puyang yesterday, and attacked in the direction of Baima City to attract the rebel forces and assist you to cross the river." Wang Ling looked at the crowd and said with a smile, "If there is no accident, your lords can Reach the other side smoothly and kill Baima City directly."

"How many senior cadres are there in Baima City?" Wang Dang asked, "Has Mr. Gao Lan checked it out?"

"Some time ago, the high-ranking warlord army stormed Puyang, causing heavy casualties. It is estimated that there are still about 6000 to 2 people." Wang Ling pointed to Yan County on the map. He also left Henan and rushed to Yan County. Xin Ping has more than [-] people in his hands, and the threat to our capture of Baima is very great."

"My lords' army has rushed to the bank of the Yellow River. It can no longer hide its tracks. It will definitely be discovered by the rebels. Xin Ping's army will immediately support the white horse at the fastest speed. Therefore, my lords must cross the river quickly and attack the white horse. The speed of the city must be faster." Wang Ling said, "Master Zhang Yan has repeatedly instructed that if the white horse is captured, the army can directly kill Yan County, Yanjin, and Suanzao, threaten Mou and Chenliu from the flanks, and contain the rebel forces. This will help the main army capture Chenliu as soon as possible, enter the hinterland of the Central Plains, and quickly form a decisive battle with the rebels."

Yan Liang stood up and waved his hands vigorously, "All ministries set off overnight, crossed the Yellow River, and entered the Central Plains again."

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(End of this chapter)