Great Han Empire

Chapter 855 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
In July, Henan, Guandu.

On both sides of the nearly ten-mile-long Honggou River in the direction of Guandu, more than 20 horses from the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Allied Army entangled and fought fiercely. The battle was very fierce.

The Northern Xinjiang Army has been trying to break through the Honggou River and gain a firm foothold on the west bank of the Honggou River in order to attack Zhongmu City faster. A large number of Juma and Luzhai were placed in the middle to block the advance of northern Xinjiang infantry.

The northern army's attack was blocked, so they built more than a dozen earth hills on the north bank, and let the archers line up on the earth hills, condescending and shooting wantonly. Our own soldiers crossed the river and broke through.

The coalition forces suffered heavy blows and once lost their blocking positions on the West Bank.Yuan Shao immediately mobilized heavy troops and launched a counterattack, knocking back the Northern Army and burning down more than a dozen pontoon bridges that the Northern Army had just erected.

The Northern Xinjiang Army was not discouraged, and its infantry army launched another cross-river attack under the frenzied shooting of crossbow and ballista vehicles.

The coalition forces hastily dispatched more ballistas from the rear. At the same time, dozens of stone cannons were transported from Luoyang, as well as a batch of large ballistas with greater power and longer range.The Northern Xinjiang Army was caught off guard and was beaten head-on and dizzy by the coalition forces.Tushan's archers also suffered heavy losses and were all withdrawn.

Facing the fierce counterattack of the coalition forces, the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army came to a standstill.

At this time, Qu Yi accepted Wang Ling's suggestion, and began to dig tunnels while continuously attacking the coalition forces on the west bank.

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General Li Hong rushed to Guandu from Yangwu City when the battle was extremely tense.

After Li Hong arrived at the battlefield, he immediately rushed to the east bank of Honggoushui to inspect the front line.Gao Lan's army was stationed directly opposite Guandu Pavilion. When Li Hong arrived, Gao Lan was commanding his soldiers to attack the opposite bank.At this moment, the sky was full of arrows covering the sky and the sun, the sound of thunderous drums was deafening, and the shouts of the soldiers in northern Xinjiang were earth-shattering.

Under the cover of a team of shield soldiers, Li Hong climbed up the earth hill and looked at the opposite bank.The coalition army camps on the west bank of Honggou River stretched endlessly, with no end in sight at a glance, and the colorful battle flags in the camps fluttered in the wind, which was spectacular.Teams of heavily armed coalition soldiers gathered in chariot formations and shield formations of different sizes, preparing to attack.The archers lined up at the forefront of the battlefield are densely packed, and they are drawing their bows to the sky, struggling to fight back.

Li Hong looked carefully for a while, then pointed to the densely packed Juma and Luzhai on the other side of the river, turned his head and said loudly to Lei Chong who was standing behind him: "In the past, we used the Juma formation to deal with the barbarians' iron cavalry. We have won many battles. Now, the rebels have learned this trick, and they have used the horse refusal formation to deal with us." Li Hong shook his head, "Our cavalry and infantry have been repeatedly blocked because of this. If we continue to fight, I am afraid that the losses will increase. Bigger."

"We are not only constrained by the rebels' refusal formation, but also blocked by this wide canal." Lei Zhong pointed to Honggoushui angrily and said, "If the general agrees, we can immediately organize troops to fight in Jishui and Honggoushui. cut off the channel at the confluence of the river, let the chasm water flow into Jishui, and then we fill up this river channel, so that we can attack Guandu unimpeded by force."

"It's impossible for the rebels to be unprepared." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "The cut-off of the canal is too noisy and takes too long, and the rebels will definitely find out. At present, Mr. Qu is sending people to dig the tunnel. This method can be tried."

"What's the use of tunnels?" Lei Zhong snorted, "What use can such sneaky activities be used for? General, this is not an attack on the city, but an attack on the rebel camp in the field outside the city. Digging tunnels will also be punished." We found it. Now we urgently need a flat battlefield, and we need a strong army of iron cavalry to attack from the two wings of the rebel army, so as to help us break through the resistance of the rebel army from the middle and defeat the rebel army."

"Aren't you afraid that Master Qu will whip you a few times?" Gao Lan smiled and pushed Lei Zhong aside, signaling him not to talk nonsense in front of the general.

"You're right." Li Hong didn't care about Lei Zhong's complaints, "Digging tunnels is indeed of little use, and the possibility of success is very small, but you must know that our current attack purpose is not to kill the other side, and The rebels fought decisively in the Guandu and Zhongmou areas, but they want to force the rebels to make up their minds and fight us as soon as possible. I hope they will immediately launch a comprehensive counter-offensive and launch an overwhelming attack on us."

"What does the General mean to lure the enemy out?" Lei Zhong asked suspiciously, "Isn't Guandu the battlefield for the decisive battle?"

"Guandu is the battlefield for the decisive battle, but it is not the battlefield for deciding the outcome of the Great War in the Central Plains." Li Hong said with a smile, "At present, we need to launch continuous attacks to force the rebels to shrink their defenses as much as possible and let them put more troops on the battlefield. Concentrate in the Guandu area so that we can wipe out more enemies when we launch a fatal blow, and the first battle will determine the outcome of the Central Plains War."

"General, where is the battlefield that will determine the outcome of the battle?" Lei Zhong asked excitedly.

"Where the iron cavalry is, the battlefield is there." Gao Lan laughed aside, "General, am I right?"

"Yes, absolutely correct." Li Hong waved the whip in his hand, high-spirited, "The key to the victory of this battle is the iron cavalry. As long as the iron cavalry exerts its greatest power at the right place, this battle will surely be won. This day is very It's almost there."

=

The archers on the opposite bank gradually concentrated their shooting targets on the dirt hill.Li Hong waved to Gao Lan, Lei Zhong and the others, "Let's go, lest we accidentally get shot by Liu Ya and cause trouble for ourselves."

A group of people walked down the dirt hill and walked slowly along the stone cannon position.There are a lot of civilians on the stone cannon positions, and most of these civilians are responsible for pulling the stone cannons and pulling cables to launch stones.Another part is the civilian husband of the supply battalion, responsible for delivering arrows and stones to the chariot battalion.

"When Yin Si (Zhong Zhi) used stone cannons to capture Jicheng for the first time on the Youzhou battlefield, I realized how powerful it is." Li Hong stopped and looked at the huge stone cannons that were showing their power in the distance. Pao, said to Gao Lan, "In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed."

"I remember that when Zhongzhi tried to shoot the stone cannon in Jinyang, you thought it was useless and told him not to continue to try, so as not to waste money." Gao Lan laughed, "If Mr. Tian hadn't been secretly supporting him, I'm afraid we would Such a mighty weapon is about to be lost."

Li Hong smiled ashamedly, "My eyesight is poor, but the old man has farsightedness."

"Luoyang had stone cannons a few years ago." Lei Zhong interjected, "I suspect that Luoyang's ability to make stone cannons has something to do with the Hedong Ordnance Workshop. It is likely that they leaked the secret."

"Don't talk nonsense." Gao Lan stopped him, "There are so many brilliant people in Luoyang. After they saw the appearance of the stone cannon on the battlefield, couldn't they go back and imitate it?"

Li Hong smiled at Lei Chong, "I'm getting older, my temper still doesn't change at all, I have to change it." Then he looked at Gao Lan and asked, "This is the first time we have used stone cannons in large quantities on the battlefield, how is the effect? After using it, won't our casualties be smaller?"

"This attack took a long time, but the casualties were not large." Gao Lan replied, "I think the main reason for the small casualties is not because of the massive use of stone cannons, but because there is a chasm in front of us, so we can only use bows and crossbows. Stone cannons attack from a long distance. During the attack, although the casualties of the soldiers were reduced, the consumption of the long arrows, bowstrings and stones of the army has greatly increased.”

"Is the ordnance supply tight?"

"Long arrows and bowstrings can be replenished in time, but stones can't." Gao Lan pointed to the mountains of stones piled up in the distance, "The Central Plains is flat and there are very few mountains and stones. It is too troublesome to mine and transport from Montenegro.”

"It will be fine if we attack Luoyang in the future." Li Hong smiled, "There are mountains around Luoyang, and we can let the stone cannons attack day and night unscrupulously."

=

A group of people talked and laughed and walked into the infantry battle formation, walking through the middle of the formation.The soldiers were accustomed to the Shangguan's inspection, and all of them kept their eyes on the front of the battlefield with all their attention, waiting for the order to charge.

"General..." An excited voice suddenly came from the battle formation, "General..."

Li Hong stopped, turned his head and looked behind him.A young soldier about fifteen or sixteen years old was staring at him with wide eyes, his thin body trembling slightly because of his excitement.

There were very few junior officers and soldiers in the army who knew Li Hong. Most of them thought Li Hong was a Hun when they saw Li Hong with disheveled hair and simple leather armor.

When the people around the young soldier heard the cry, they all looked at Li Hong in surprise.No one believed that the tall and mighty officer in front of him would be a world-renowned general.Seeing Li Hong turn around and walk towards the young soldiers, there was a suffocating silence in the battle formation.

Li Hong walked up to the young soldier and asked with a smile, "What's the matter with you?"

The young soldier was so excited that he couldn't know what to do, tears suddenly came out, he was choked up and unable to speak.

This team is all Lei Zhong's subordinates, but he is very unfamiliar with this young soldier.Just when he saw Huang Tong standing beside the team leader, he waved at him.Huang Tong ran out of the queue in a hurry, and was about to kneel down to salute when Li Hong stretched out his hand to stop him, "No, no. This is a battlefield, so there is no need to make such a salute."

Huang Tong was so nervous that he could hardly breathe.Hearing the tone of his speech, he seemed to be a real general.If this person is a great general, then I have to pay more respects.When he was hesitating, Lei Zhong said, "This is the general, don't be rude."

Huang Tong's mind went blank for a moment, his legs softened, and he was about to kneel down and salute when he turned over.Li Hong quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him up, "No, no."

"The general said no, you can just stand and talk." Gao Lan said with a pleasant smile, "this is..." He pointed to the young soldier.

"His name is Xiao Hei, he just joined the army this year..."

"Xiao Hei?" Li Hong thought of it immediately, and the scene outside Ye City immediately appeared in his mind, "You have grown up and joined the army." Li Hong grabbed Xiao Hei's two slender arms in surprise , looked up and down and looked up and down, "Grow up, grow up, I don't know each other anymore."

"General..." Xiao Hei spoke incoherently, crying unceasingly.

"Where's your father? Is he okay?"

Xiao Hei shook his head, choked up and couldn't speak.

"Dahei suffered from a serious illness last year, and he hasn't recovered yet." Huang Tong tried his best to restrain his excitement and nervousness, and said in a trembling voice.Seeing that Xiao Hei was just crying like an idiot, Huang Tong became anxious and hurried to report on his behalf.Unexpectedly, Dahei also knew the general, this old boy can't understand a word, and he didn't even mention it.When I go back, I must ask him carefully.

"Ill?" Li Hong's heart sank, "Is it very serious?"

"Almost died." Huang Tong bowed and replied, "When we left, he was still bedridden."

"He's old at last." Li Hong sighed, let go of Xiao Hei's hands, turned and said to Any, "After returning to the camp, immediately write a letter to Junyan (Fu Gan) in Xingyuan, and ask him to go back to Handan. Find a good medical craftsman and send someone to Dongwuyang to see Dahei. If the condition is too serious, bring Dahei to Xingyuan for treatment."

"Understood." Ren Ran nodded and said, "The general and Dahei are very destined. It has been more than ten years since the general met him in Yizhou." He looked at Xiaohe and shook his head, " Seeing that Dahei's sons have joined the army, I suddenly feel old."

"You're only a little over 30, how old are you?" Lei Zhong said with a smile, "If you are old, then I will go into the coffin."

"Say something unlucky." Gao Lan stretched out his hand and hit Lei Chong on the head, "Don't talk nonsense in front of the general."

Li Hong smiled, not taking it seriously.Seeing that Xiao Hei's mood gradually stabilized, he bent down and whispered a few words in Xiao Hei's ear, and Xiao Hei nodded with a blushing face.Li Hong laughed, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, "When this battle is over, I will go to Dongwuyang to see your father."

After a few people chatted for a while, Li Hong immediately raised his hand to say goodbye.While greeting the soldiers with a smile, he walked to the back of the battle formation.

"General...General..." The soldiers were ecstatic and cheered.

The cheers became louder and denser, hitting the sky above the Chasm Water like thunderclaps, resounding throughout the battlefield.

=

Divide water on the west bank.

Xu You, who was on the frontline battlefield, was horrified when he heard the loud cheers from the other side. He, Xin Ping, Jiang Qi and others all stopped on their horses and looked up into the distance.

Leopards have arrived at Guandu, will the decisive battle be far behind?
Recently, the northern border army has gone completely crazy. Regardless of their inferior strength, they brazenly put on a desperate posture and continued to attack.At the same time, Lu Bu and Fan Li on the east side of the battlefield also led their troops to approach the Jialu River.The fierce offensive of the northern army made the coalition army panic, and the fear of war and retreat permeated the entire barracks. In the past two days, there were even rumors that the army was about to retreat to Luoyang.

The situation on the Guandu battlefield became more and more tense. At this time, the coalition forces urgently needed a victory to boost morale, so Xu You repeatedly urged Yuan Shao to launch an attack in Hanoi.Liu Bei and Gao Gan have secretly gone northward, stationed troops in Aocang, and can cross the river to fight at any time, so why hesitate?However, Yuan Shao refused to launch an immediate attack on Yizhou on the grounds that the food, grass and military equipment of the Northern Xinjiang Army could still be supported and the morale was high.Yuan Shao believed that the time for a decisive battle had not yet come and he needed to wait patiently.Xu You was helpless.What Yuan Shao said was also true.Before the coalition forces had a decisive advantage in the Guandu battlefield, it seemed meaningless to hastily send troops to attack Yizhou.

Xu You then suggested that Xu Qi (qiu) and Cao Hong on the southern battlefield go north to attack Xiangyi.Yuan Shao was worried that his side would attack too hard and forced all the northern troops to the Guandu battlefield, but he did not agree.In fact, Xu Wei and Cao Hong still had the important task of protecting Xu Chang. Yuan Shao would never let them go north and enter the Guandu battlefield unless they had to.

Xu You was so anxious that he had no choice but to retreat and asked Yuan Shao to quickly order Yuan Tan in Guanzhong to attack Hedong, and Chen Deng and Cao Chun in Xuzhou to attack the border between Qing and Xu.

Yuan Shao still did not agree.Yuan Shao said that the Guanzhong and Xuzhou battlefields have no effect on the decisive battle in the Central Plains. You said this.Now we are all listening to you. Since you said that it has no effect or has little effect, why should we fight?It is better to save food and grass, reduce injuries, and prepare for the decisive battle at Guandu wholeheartedly.At the same time, Yuan Shao believed that the fierce fighting of the Northern Army at Guandu was enough to prove their fear of the long-term confrontation between the two sides at Guandu. They had no confidence in defeating us. , It will be exhausted one after another, and it is boring to fight, so we can only wait for us to fight him, so that we can regain the initiative on the battlefield and regain the advantage in the decisive battle.In short, don't rush now, take your time.

Xu You was out of breath and flung his sleeves away.He knew that Yuan Shao must have consulted Liu Biao, Ju Shou, Yuan Wei, Feng Ji, Xin Ping and others for their opinions.Liu Biao's memory of Jizhou's defeat is still fresh, of course he is not willing to take the initiative to take the risk again, but how can people like Jushou and Fengji give themselves the credit for the decisive battle in the Central Plains?

Procrastination, although it is also a strategy to defeat the enemy, but this strategy is too conservative, not only takes too long, consumes too much, but also has too many variables.Yuan Shao liked this strategy, Liu Biao liked it too, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei naturally liked it even more in order to keep their few troops.Although Yuan Shao also agreed with Xu You's good strategy, he only regarded it as a supplement to the overall strategy of the Central Plains War, and he didn't pay attention to this strategy at all.

Xu You hurried back to Zhongmou, and told Yuan Shao, now that Li Hong has arrived at Guandu, the northern army is about to launch a more violent attack, if you still insist on your views, the consequences will be dire.

Xu You was severely criticized by Yuan Shao.Recently, the gap between the two has become bigger and bigger, and the contradictions have become more and more acute. Quarrels have become commonplace.

The two quarreled for a while, and then Xu You was dragged out of the big tent by Xin Ping, "Ziyuan, my lord's thoughts are not on the northern border army on the east bank of Honggoushui, but on Guandu and Cao Cao."

Xu You suddenly lost his mind, "He wants to kill Cao Cao?"

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(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
(End of this chapter)