Great Han Empire

Chapter 936 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
On the seventh day of May, Hangu Pass.

General Qu Yi of the Left Guard gave the order to attack.

The northern Xinjiang army used ballistas and stone cannons to continuously attack the pass. The arrows and rocks on Hangu Pass were like rain, covering the sky and blocking out the sun. The deafening sound of war drums resounded through Qinglong Mountain.

On the eighth day of May, Xingyang.

General Longxiang Zhao Yun gave the order to attack.

The southern army attacked the north gate under the command of Yang Yi, and the northern army attacked the east gate under the command of Yu Du. The soldiers used various siege equipment to take turns to attack, and the offensive was like a tide.

On the tenth day of May, in the early morning, Xin Ping hurried to the south gate under the protection of a team of personal guards.In front of the south gate is Zhan Ranshui, which is fast-flowing and not conducive to the enemy's attack, so Xin Ping did not invest heavily in this side, but last night there was a lot of noise on the other side of the river, and another army from northern Xinjiang rushed to attack. Arrived at Xingyang City.

In the distance, the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army stretched for several miles, with flags flying, and teams of cavalry were faintly seen galloping back and forth, with the sound of drums and horns one after another.

Xin Ping's face changed slightly, and the strong suffocation made him open his mouth involuntarily, taking a few quick breaths of the cool river wind.

"My lord, there are at least 5 troops on the opposite side." Ma Yan held his helmet in both hands, and said in a heavy tone, "Including the enemies outside the east and north gates, Li Hong has invested at least [-] troops in Xingyang City. We are being attacked from three sides, and the situation is very critical. If..." He hesitated, looked at Xin Ping, and said in a low voice, "If the northern army decisively occupies the Guo Pavilion and cuts off our retreat to Chenggao, We were surrounded."

"My lord, quickly increase troops to Guoting, so as not to be trapped to death by the northern army in Xingyang." Gao Xiang rubbed his hands again and again, urging anxiously, "There are only 3000 people from Lu Kuang in the direction of Guoting, and they can't stop the northern army."

Xin Ping let out a sigh of relief, tried his best to stabilize his nervousness, and then walked slowly on the tower with his hands behind his back.

At present, there are 2000 people in Hulaoguan, 3000 in Chenggao, 3000 in Guoting, and the remaining 5000 people are in Xingyang.If Xingyang was surrounded by the Northern Army, Hulao Pass would be handed over to the Northern Army.I should give up Xingyang now and retreat to Chenggao, but if I retreat so early, I cannot explain to Yuan Shao, and I am more likely to be dismissed by Yuan Shao.He deliberately concealed the fact that Xinpi surrendered to Hebei and served in the Jinyang court. If this matter were revealed, he and the Xin family might be killed by the furious Yuan Shao.However, if Li Hong intended to alienate Luoyang's internal affairs and told the judge about it, then Yuan Shao must have known it at this time. The reason why he forbears it may be because the battle in Luoyang was at a critical moment and he did not dare to mess up his own position.

Retreating now is tantamount to angering Yuan Shao, tantamount to forcing Yuan Shao to kill himself, and tantamount to giving Yuan Shao an excuse to kill himself.what should I do?Did Li Hong tell the judge about this?Was Yuan Shao waiting for him to report the truth?Was he testing his allegiance?
"Add troops to Guoting." Xin Ping stopped in front of Gao Xiang, waved and said, "You personally lead 5000 people to support."

"Urgent report to Luoyang, [-] troops from the northern border are besieging Xingyang. The situation is critical. In order to preserve our troops, Lord Yuan please consider whether to retreat to the front lines of Chenggao and Hulao."

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In May, Ying Chuan.

The Yingchuan battlefield fell into a stalemate, and Yan Liang repeatedly urged General Li Hong to lead the main force to besiege Luyang.At present, there is no good way to cut off the road between Luoyang and Luyang, so we can only fight the rebels in Luyang City.

If Luyang is attacked by force, the troops on the battlefield in Yingchuan are obviously insufficient. Without reinforcements, they can only try to reduce the strength of the rebels on the battlefield.

After careful discussion with Yushi, Fu Gan, Wang Ling and others, Li Hong decided to attack Suiyang in Liangguo, Yuzhou (now south of Shangqiu County, Henan Province).

Suiyang is the gateway of the Jianghuai River, occupying Suiyang, the army can go straight along the Sui River to attack the Huaihe River, which will pose a fatal threat to Cao Cao, but Suiyang is within the territory of Yuzhou, and when the northern troops attack Suiyang, Cao Cao can only stare blankly, there is nothing he can do , he could only ask Yuan Tan for help.

The stability of the situation on both sides of the Yangtze River last year was not due to Hebei's mediation, but because Yuan Tan captured Lujiang, Liu Biao took the initiative to give up half of Jiangxia, and Jiangdong got what he wanted.Cao Cao and Sun Quan stepped on two boats, and the people in Hebei saw it clearly.In troubled times, everyone has their own rules of survival. If you want others to obey your will, you need strong force. The current force in Hebei is not enough to make Cao Cao and Sun Quan surrender willingly. Li Hong can only endure it.

Li Hong generally understood the relationship between Cao Cao and Yuan Tan. He estimated that Yuan Shao would definitely ask Cao Cao for help in order to defend Luoyang, and Cao Cao would definitely make some promises to Yuan Shao in order to take advantage of the fire.At this time, if the northern border army attacked Suiyang and threatened Xuzhou, Yuan Tan would definitely step forward and deploy some troops to defend Suiyang.

At the beginning of May, Li Hong ordered Jiang Wu to take [-] iron cavalry, and Peng Lie who was stationed in Changyi to take [-] infantry to march towards Suiyang quickly.

The armies of all counties in Yuzhou are now on the Yingchuan battlefield, and there are only [-] defenders in Suiyang City. They panicked and rushed to Yuan Tan for help.

At the same time, Cao Cao in Xuzhou has been paying attention to Suiyang. After all, Suiyang is related to the safety of Jianghuai, so he has to guard against it.Knowing that the northern border army was going to attack Suiyang, he urgently wrote to Yuan Tan to defend Suiyang at all costs, otherwise his plan to open up the east road battlefield next year would be in vain.

Yuan Tan was shocked when he heard the news.Whether it is to defend the gates of Jianghuai or to defend Yuzhou, he will send troops to support him.Yuan Tan immediately ordered Chief History Liu Xian and General Liu Xun to lead an army of 2 to support Suiyang and drive the northern army out of Liang.Yuzhou's army only had more than [-] people, and a considerable number of them were recruits just at the beginning of the year. The army was divided into two, which seriously affected the combat effectiveness. Yuan Tan had to give up the initiative to attack and turn to defense on the front line of Linying.

The news of the division of the Yuzhou Army quickly spread to General Xingyuan.Li Hong urgently told Yan Liang that the threat to the south of Yingchuan had been temporarily lifted, and immediately assembled the main force to besiege Luyang.

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In mid-May, Yan Liang commanded an army of 240 troops to set off from Yangdi, advance [-] miles rapidly, and surrounded Luyang with lightning speed.

At this moment, Yuan Xi's army is at Guangcheng Pass, Wenpin's army is at Niulanlei Pavilion at the foot of Huoyang Mountain, and Lu Jie's army is at Kunyang. The three armies are all hundreds of miles away from Luyang, and no one has time to come back for help. , Watching Kuai Yue and the [-] army surrounded.

Yan Liang surrounded Luyang with 1 troops, and deployed [-] troops at Lushan Mountain, ten miles north of Luyang City. Lu Jie, who came to support Yang Yang.However, to the great surprise of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, Wen Pin and his army stopped after thirty miles away from Niulanleiting.Lu Jie, who came to support from the southeast, did not approach Dingshan quickly.

The two armies stalemate for a day.

On the third day, scouts came to report that Yuan Xi of Guangcheng Pass led an army to join Wenpin, and an army of 5 was heading towards Lushan.Yan Liang was overjoyed and rushed to Lushan to command in person.He originally planned to use 1 people to encircle Wenpin's [-] people, but now the enemy has become [-], and the difficulty of encircling and annihilating has greatly increased.When he was discussing with Wang Dang, Zhang Xiu and others whether to transfer troops from the direction of Dingshan, scouts flew to report that a rebel army was found in the east of Luyang and was moving rapidly towards Dingshan.

Yan Liang was shocked.Where did the troops come from?how many people?

The scouts reported that it was the Jingzhou Army, with at least 3 horses.

"Hurry up, report to Master Xu Huang urgently, and ask him to quickly retreat to Luyang City."

Yan Liang's order had just been sent out, and the scouts reported again, Yuan Xi and Wenpin's army had already approached Lushan.

"To fight or not to fight?" Wang Dang looked at Yan Liang who was frowning and thinking, and asked loudly.

Yan Liang thought for a while before making a decisive decision, "Heizi, you take 2 troops and withdraw from the battlefield immediately."

"Stop fighting?" Wang Dang asked angrily, "What are you afraid of? When the two armies meet, the brave will win. Let Gongming (Xu Huang) hold back the main force of the rebel army at Dingshan, and we will encircle and wipe out Yuan Xi and Wenpin here."

"No, it's not that we won't fight, but another place to fight." Yan Liang said very calmly, "Yuan Xi's army has left Guangcheng Pass, and the defensive force on the pass must be weak. We are holding Yuan Xi and Wenpin here, and it's getting dark Finally, you led your army around the back of the rebels, rushed to Niulanleiting, then crossed Huoyang Mountain, and captured Guangcheng Pass."

"As long as we capture Guangcheng Pass, we will successfully cut off the road between Luoyang and Luyang." Yan Liang spread out the map, pointing to Dagu Pass on the map and said, "If Luoyang loses this road, Yuan Shao will definitely Let Zhu Ling retreat to defend the Yuanyuan Pass, so that Wu Xiong can free up his hands and quickly support you from Yangdi, while you continue to attack Dagu Pass northward."

Wang Dang nodded again and again, "I understand. However, the general didn't let us attack the pass. If we do this, don't we..."

"One moment and another moment." Yan Liang waved his hand forcefully, "The situation in Yingchuan is different. Liu Biao in Jingzhou increased his troops again, which caused us to lose the best time to attack Keluyang. If we don't seize this unique opportunity, I'm afraid By the end of this year, we will not be able to clear the periphery of Luoyang."

Wang Dang bowed to accept the order, and galloped away.

"Order Zhang Xiu and Ji Ling to give up the strategy of ambush and assemble an army of [-] to confront the rebels head-on."

=

Xu Huang urgently reported.Lu Jie launched an attack suddenly, and the army was dragged on Dingshan and could not retreat.Enemy reinforcements are encircling from the flanks, and the army is trapped in Dingshan, please support quickly.

"Whose army is it? Is it Liu Bei?" Yan Liang stared, murderous.

"It's Deng Yi and Pang Ji's army." The messenger was out of breath, "We didn't find Liu Bei's army."

"Where did Liu Bei go?" Yan Liang looked at the surrounding mountains, puzzled, "Is he dead?"

Wen Chou urgently reported that Xu Huang was besieged on Dingshan, and his situation was critical. Did he send troops from the besieging army to rush to support?
"I order all the generals and general Zhonglang to immediately let their guards rush to the central army to gather." Yan Liang waved to the messenger and said, "Go back and tell Master Wen to surround the city tightly and don't let the rebels in the city Get out."

At dusk, Yan Liang entered the Dingshan battlefield with 1000 and [-] cavalry, tearing through the rebel defense line and helping Xu Huang's army successfully break through.

After dark, Zhang Xiu, Ji Ling, and Xu Huang led their troops to retreat into the camp, and the [-] northern troops retreated ten miles to set up camp.Wang Dang led his army to go north overnight and raided Guangcheng Pass.

=

Yuan Xi, Wenpin, Deng Yi, Pang Ji, and Lu Jie each led their troops to Luyang City.

Pang Ji was bitter about his failure to encircle and annihilate the Northern Frontier Army in Dingshan today, especially for Deng Yi's cowardice. If it wasn't for Deng Yi's age, he would have criticized him on the spot.

Kuai Yue comforted him.Deng Yi participated in the Great War in the Central Plains, and had an instinctive fear of the northern Xinjiang cavalry. It is normal for the defense line to be torn apart by the northern Xinjiang cavalry.Kuai Yue said to Pang Ji, if it were me, if I saw an iron cavalry sweeping towards them, I would break my heart and run away in embarrassment.Since Kuai Yue said so, Pang Ji had no choice but to laugh, "We prepared carefully for several days, but we failed at the last moment. It's a pity. The northern army failed to suffer heavy losses, and the next battle will be difficult. "

"Although we failed to severely damage the Northern Army today, we have the strength to fight the Northern Army because of your support." Kuai Yue said with a smile, "The next step is to force the Northern Army to a decisive battle."

The troops of Deng Yi and Pang Ji had actually arrived in Luyang many days ago.

The reason why Liu Biao decided to increase his troops again on the Yingchuan battlefield was mainly due to the news from Xijiang.As early as last year after the defeat in the Guanzhong War, Yuan Shao sent people to the western border to contact Han Yi.By the time the envoy traveled all the way to Xijiang via Hanzhong, Xijiang was already in chaos.At that time, Jincheng County was extremely chaotic, and the envoy risked his life to meet Han Yi. After reading Yuan Shao's letter, Han Yi only said one sentence, Xijiang was not only in chaos, but also would soon become the home of the Qiang people. ranch out.The envoy returned to Nanyang with these words, and spent nearly a year back and forth.

Liu Biao was overjoyed.At this time, another news came from Jiangdong.

Sun Quan told the emperor that envoys from Hebei had rushed to Jiangdong to demand taxes. During the conversation, it was mentioned that Hebei had decided to make Chang'an its capital.This autumn, the emperor and court of Jinyang will move to Chang'an City.Sun Quan lashed out at Li Hong's act of usurping, and believed that Chang'an, the capital of Hebei, was purely suicidal.There are Qiang rebellions in the west of Guanzhong, and the threat of Yizhou in the south. If we can hold Luoyang, Hebei will be defeated by Chang'an. Cao Cao sent troops to the Northern Expedition.

The meaning behind Sun Quan's memorial is obvious, hoping to persuade Liu Biao to do his best to help Yuan Shao defend Luoyang, so as to consume Jingzhou's strength.Liu Biao scoffed at Sun Quan's cleverness. I will be able to control Yizhou immediately, and my strength will increase suddenly. I will be afraid of you, a little bastard in the future.However, Sun Quan's analysis of the situation after the establishment of Chang'an as the capital in Hebei was still very correct, and Liu Biao also believed that Li Hong's establishment of Chang'an as the capital was a big mistake.Man Hu is Man Hu, stupid.Back then when Dong Zhuo moved his capital to Chang'an, he died a miserable death, but Li Hong not only refused to learn his lesson, but would follow in Dong Zhuo's footsteps.After Hebei established Chang'an as its capital, no matter whether Luoyang can be captured or not, it will be dragged down by Xijiang.Xijiang is like a curse of a devil, whoever falls under this curse will be defeated soon.

Western Xinjiang is in chaos, Hebei has decided to make Chang'an its capital, Liu Bei has arrived at the city of Chengdu, and Cao Cao and Sun Quan have promised to open up a battlefield on the east road. All these good things made Liu Biao see the hope of a great victory in Luoyang, and he immediately decided to go north to Ying with all his strength. Sichuan, we must completely smash the dream of the northern army to capture Luoyang.

When Deng Yi and Pang Ji led their troops to Luyang, Yuan Tan's letter also arrived.Yuan Tan said in the letter that I was forced to divide my troops to support Suiyang, and I was unable to contain the northern army on the southern front of Yingchuan. It is estimated that Yan Liang will use this opportunity to concentrate his main force to besiege Luyang. Lords, please be careful.Kuai Yue and others were very excited by Yuan Tan's letter, and immediately made arrangements to counterattack the northern army.

When Yan Liang led his army to kill, Kuai Yue realized that he had miscalculated the strength of the northern army, so he immediately adjusted the deployment of troops and urgently told Yuan Xi to lead his army to the south for support.If only a large army of Wenpin went south to support Luyang, nine times out of ten it would be encircled and wiped out by the Northern Xinjiang Army and the entire army would be wiped out.Wenpin was defeated, and even if the strategy of besieging Dingshan was successful, it would not be worth the loss.

Now that the northern army was repulsed, and his own forces had a slight advantage, Kuai Yue decided to take the initiative to attack and fight his opponent.Even if the Northern Army was undefeated without the support of iron cavalry, the casualties must have been astonishing.The Northern Xinjiang Army lost its advantage in strength and failed to clear the periphery of Luoyang, so the strategy of attacking Luoyang naturally failed.

=

Yan Liang fulfilled Kuai Yue's request for a decisive battle, and the two sides fought fiercely under the city of Luyang, winning and losing each other.

For three consecutive days, Kuai Yue did not receive a letter from Guangchengguan, and many of the scouts sent to Guangchengguan were intercepted and killed. He began to feel uneasy.Yuan Xi comforted him, saying that there are still 100 defenders in the pass, so there should be no problem.If the pass is attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Army, the defenders of Yique and Dagu Pass, which are more than [-] miles away from Guangcheng Pass, will rush south to support them, and the pass will not be lost.

On the fourth day, a scout finally came back, and he brought a shocking news that Guangchengguan was captured by the general Wang Dang of the northern border army.

Kuai was so enraged that he almost fainted.After calling back and forth, he was still fooled by Yan Hutou.

"How many troops does Yan Hutou have?" Pang Ji asked angrily, "You haven't figured it out yet?"

Kuai Yue, Yuan Xi and others were ashamed and speechless.After nearly three months of fighting, it is unbelievable that Yan Hutou still has troops.

"Now there is still a hope to restore the situation." Pang Ji said, pointing to the map, "The northern army's capture of Guangcheng Pass only cut off the road between Luoyang and Nanyang, and has not broken through Luoyang's outer defense line. As long as We defeated Yan Hutou under the city of Luyang, so that he would not have the opportunity to increase his troops at Guangcheng Pass, and he would not have time to attack Yique Pass and Dagu Pass, so we could attack with the Luoyang defenders from north to south and take Guangcheng Pass back."

"What if Yan Hutou still has troops?" Wen Pin asked.

Pang Ji looked up to the sky and sighed, "If he still has troops in hand, we have nothing to do."

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I recommend Liu Tianjun's "The End of the Underworld", please read it when you have time, thank you very much.

(End of this chapter)