Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 313 The Battlefield on the Northern Front (4)

In addition to a slight advantage in military strength, the coalition forces of Dai, Jin and Zhai also had an inconspicuous but important advantage, that is, the special terrain around Jinyang.

The terrain around Jinyang is roughly like this. The Fen River flows from the east of Jinyang City, protecting the east gate of Jinyang. The Luliang Mountains are located to the west of Jinyang City, only a few miles away. In the southwest of Jinyang City, another historically famous river, Jinshui, flows out of the mountains, flows from southwest to northeast, flows through Jinyang South Gate City, and flows into Fenshui, forming a natural ditch that connects Fenshui and Fenshui. The narrow terrain between the Luliang Mountains is cut off at the middle.

The result of this is that no matter whether the Han army stationed ten miles south of Jinyang City or the Zhang Han army stationed twenty miles north of Jinyang City, if they want to send troops to attack the opponent, they must first cross the Jinshui River before they can enter.Or take a rather troublesome method, first cross Fenshui to the east, go north or south, to the east of the opponent's camp, and then cross Fenshui to the west again before hitting the opponent's camp.

Prior to this, the Jindi coalition forces had of course destroyed all the bridges in the upper reaches of the Jinshui River, leaving only the bridges near the city of Jinyang unmoved. Easily cross the Jinshui River and directly march south to attack the camp of the Han army. If the Han army wants to go directly north to attack Jinyang City or the camp of the Zhanghan army, there are only two ways. One is to rush to build a bridge across the upper reaches of the Jinshui River, or risk The danger of being covered by the defenders' bows and arrows forced them to cross the river through the bridge under Jinyang City. It was much more difficult to advance troops, so they were relatively passive tactically.

Zhang Han, an experienced battlefield veteran, certainly would not ignore such favorable terrain, especially when the Han army must decide the winner as soon as possible, Zhang Han carefully considered the current psychology of the Han army coach Uncle Zhou, and soon So he worked out a detailed and careful tactical plan, and decided to use this advantage to fight poison with fire, and compete with Uncle Zhou with the intrigues and tricks that the Han army is good at.

Zhang Han's initial attack was also very confusing. Guessing that Zhou Shu would be in a hurry to fight him, he deliberately sent an envoy to the camp with a book first, inviting Zhou Shu to send troops for a decisive battle in the open terrain east of Fenshui the next day. Then, as Zhang Han expected, Uncle Zhou, who arranged for Wang Ling to sneak attack Zhang Han's army in advance, was not in a hurry for a decisive battle, and he really rejected his own initiative to make an appointment.On the second day, Zhang Han personally led more than [-] troops across the Fen River to the south. Pretending to be eager for a decisive battle, he led the army to fight on the bank of Fen River outside the east gate of the Han army camp.

"Uncle Zhou, you are as timid as a mouse, you have the guts to come out and fight us to the death!"

"Uncle Zhou, do you want to avenge your former master Wei Jiu? If you want to, I will grant you, come out and fight us to the death!"

"Shameless bastard, a flatterer who only sends women to Xiang Kang's children, come out and fight if you have the guts! Shameless bastard, don't you only rely on women's nepotism to get promoted? Come out and fight us! Come out and fight us if you have the guts !"

The yelling and scolding of the generals of Zhang Han's army was also very unpleasant, and he also used the matter of Uncle Zhou as a matchmaker for Xiang Kang and Bo Yuanzhi to make a fuss, insisting that Uncle Zhou was the commander of the Han army who became the commander of the Han army through nepotism, and cursed Humiliated Zhou Shu in every possible way, desperately angered Zhou Shu, and lured the Han army to cross Fenshui to fight.Not to mention the result, the generals of the Han army, who were far inferior to Xiang Kang and Liu Laosan, really took this trick, and ran to Uncle Zhou to ask for a fight, hoping that Uncle Zhou could send troops across the river to fight Zhang Han on the west bank of Fenshui. The army will fight to the death.

Fortunately, although Uncle Zhou's face is not as thick as that of Xiang Kang and Liu Laosan, his personality is quite calm, and he flatly rejected the request of the generals of the Han army to fight, saying: "Don't be fooled, if we cross the river for a decisive battle, we will send fewer troops. If we are not sure, if we send more troops, the camp will be empty, and Dong Yi and Sima Xin may take the opportunity to send troops to attack our camp, making it difficult for us to take care of ourselves. At that time, if the enemy suddenly releases fire rafts from Jinyang City Break our pontoon bridge and we'll be in big trouble."

Trying to appease the generals of the Han army, Uncle Zhou ordered people to select soldiers with loud voices from the Han army to go to the bank to scold Zhang Han's army, and strictly prohibited one soldier from crossing the river to fight. In the tent of the Chinese army, he didn't listen to Zhang Hanjun's yelling.During this period, Zhou Shu, one of the old men in Shangshan, asked very strangely: "General Zhou, since you guessed that the bandit army might release fire rafts to burn our pontoon bridge, why didn't you nail down the upper reaches of the pontoon bridge?" A few rows of wooden stakes to prevent the fire rafts of the bandits from approaching our pontoon bridge?"

"If I do this, Zhang Han won't have a chance to win by surprise, and he won't have a chance to win by surprise, so we will use our tactics to win the greatest victory at the least cost?" Uncle Zhou's answer is meaningful, with extra strings Youyin, Zhou Shu, whose name has the same pronunciation as his, understood it, so he simply shut his mouth and never mentioned it again.

Because of Uncle Zhou's calmness and restraint, Zhang Han's army's first day's insulting battle was of course in vain, but Zhang Han refused to give up, and changed his tactics on the second day, sending [-] troops each in the morning and afternoon Crossing Fenshui from the east to the south, they ran to the Fenshui River in turn to shout and fight. Uncle Zhou continued to ignore it and refused to send a single soldier to fight across the river. The army scolded each other across the river, so as not to be scolded blindly and frustrate the army.

Even Uncle Zhou didn't expect that his arrangement would bear fruit. Two days later in the afternoon, because the Han army scolded their hands too harshly, General Zhao Ben of Zhang Han's army, who is known for his short temper, was impulsive and directly urged him to move. The army launched a charge and attacked the soldiers of the Han army who were guarding the crossing of the pontoon bridge. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Han army were closely guarded and retreated in time with random arrows. Not only did they not give Zhao Ben's army a chance to get close, but on the contrary, they shot Zhao Ben's army with bows and arrows and killed many of them. , fled in embarrassment.After the news was reported to Uncle Zhou, Uncle Zhou was not surprised. He just smiled and said, "Good thing, the bandits are starting to make noise. The more they make noise, the better it will be for us."

The matter was not over yet. In the afternoon of the next day, the scouts of the Han Army suddenly caught a man on the Luliang Mountain trail west of Jinyang City. Report to Uncle Zhou face to face.The scouts of the Han army rushed to present Zhao Ben's personal soldier to Uncle Zhou. When Zhou Shu personally came forward for interrogation, Zhao Ben's personal soldier presented Zhao Ben's letter of surrender, saying that Zhao Ben had beaten Zhang Han after returning to camp yesterday. He was reprimanded, angry and hard to calm down, and always missed his relatives in his hometown, so he had the idea of ​​surrendering to the Han army.

In addition, Zhao Ben also reported an important situation to Uncle Zhou in the letter asking for surrender, saying that Zhang Han's daily battle was just to paralyze Uncle Zhou, and he planned to send troops suddenly tonight, cross Jinshui and go directly south. They also said that Sima Xin and the remnants of Dong Yi in Jinyang City would also participate in this night attack. Please make preparations early, and don't give Zhang Han, Sima Xin and others a chance.

After reading Zhao Ben's surrender letter, all the generals of the Han army were of course very excited. They all advised Uncle Zhou to give it a try, make preparations in advance, and surprise Zhang Han's soldiers who stole the camp at night.Uncle Zhou, who is familiar with military books and knows the tricks, has reservations. Although he is not fully convinced, he quickly arranges a countermeasure plan, and waits for Zhang Han's army to come to attack at night with suspicion.

Facts have proved that General Zhao Ben did not deceive Uncle Zhou. It was only half in the middle of the night. Uncle Zhou arranged for the Han army secret post outside the camp to send out a signal to notify the Han army officers and soldiers of the enemy's attack. Uncle Zhou hurriedly mobilized the army to meet the enemy. The ambushes of the Han army who were ambushing at the foot of Luliang Mountain also broke out suddenly, and defeated the Zhang Han army who had sneaked up to attack the Han army camp overnight, and fled. The Jindi Allied Forces of the Han Army.

It's a pity that because Uncle Zhou didn't fully trust Zhao Ben and didn't dare to take risks, the night battle plan arranged by the Han army was not very strong in terms of counterattack, and the coalition forces of Dai, Jin and Zhai were quite cunning. They just found out that they were in an ambush and immediately retreated Fleeing north, all the bridges on the Jinshui River were covered by the bows and arrows of the defenders on the city. They quickly escaped to Jinshui under the cover of friendly troops, and did not give the Han army a chance to expand their victories.Therefore, although the Han army won this time, it is very regrettable that they only beheaded hundreds of people and only achieved a small victory.

Of course, all the generals of the Han army regretted it very much, and Uncle Zhou also regretted it, and said with some regret: "Unfortunately, I was too conservative this time. If I were bolder, I would arrange an ambush by the Jinshui River in advance. If we cut off the escape route of the bandit army first, the situation will definitely be completely different."

"It's a pity, but it doesn't matter." Shangshan old man Zhou Shu encouraged Uncle Zhou: "At least we can confirm that General Zhao Ben is sincerely asking to surrender, and we can rest assured to believe the news of the bandit army he provided in the future. There will be similar reports next time." We will never miss this opportunity.”

Uncle Zhou didn't say a word, because Uncle Zhou clearly remembered that there was such a sentence in the book of war - to lure a class, to attack a fool!
After the night attack failed, Zhang Han lived in peace for a few days. He didn't come to fight again for several days in a row. He honestly hid in the camp and licked his wounds. Uncle Zhou also calmed down and waited patiently before he was turned upside down by Wang Ling Zhang Han made a new move.The result was as expected by Uncle Zhou. Four days later, Zhang Han sent an envoy to the camp. He sent Uncle Zhou a set of women's clothes and a letter about a battle, inviting the Han army to fight to the death on the south bank of Jinshui the next day. He said eloquently: "If the general still has the courage to fight decisively, we will not force it. Please accept a set of women's scarves."

Uncle Zhou laughed out loud, and said: "His Royal Highness Dai Wang, can you be a little new, using women's clothes to provoke opponents to a decisive battle, this move seems to be the first of our Hanwang? If Dai Wang does this, he is not afraid of being laughed at. He imitated it ?”

"Our majesty is indeed imitating His Highness the King of Han." Zhang Hanjun's emissary was obviously a dead soldier, and said very directly: "Although it is an imitation, as long as it is effective, our majesty does not need to be afraid of others behind his back." What gossip?"

Uncle Zhou smiled, and then picked up his pen, and wrote the words "A Decisive Battle in the Future" on Zhang Han's letter of engagement. Zhang Han's envoy was overjoyed when he saw it, and hurriedly bowed his hands to thank Uncle Zhou, and left in a grand manner.Uncle Zhou didn't pay any attention, but immediately asked the left and right: "The scout who steals some smoke from the bandit army's kitchen every day, is he back?"

Left and right replied, saying that they haven't come back yet, Uncle Zhou was not in a hurry, but just ordered: "When you come back, let them come to see me immediately."

At noon, the scout of the Han army who was in charge of stealing some smoke from Zhang Hanjun’s breakfast came back to the tent, saying that the smoke from Zhang Hanjun’s cooking today was nearly half more than usual, and the duration was much longer than usual. Uncle Zhou heard this Nodding his head, he said, "The bandit army will make a big move tonight."

After saying that, Uncle Zhou immediately ordered the Han army's battalions to take out the charcoal they usually accumulated, make a fire with non-smoky charcoal to make rice, make more dry food such as steamed buns and pancakes, and prepare a sufficient number of torches. for fighting at night.Then it was at this time that Shangshan old man Cui Guang and Zhou Shu asked Uncle Zhou: "General, the bandit army is sending people to make an appointment to fight, and at the same time secretly rushing to make dry food. What are they going to do?"

"It's not clear yet." Uncle Zhou replied, "But there should be only two possibilities. One is that the bandits plan to attack our camp at night, and the other is that they are secretly preparing to retreat."

"Preparing to retreat in secret?" Zhou Shu asked in surprise: "How is this possible? Why did Mr. Zhang Han retreat? He doesn't plan to pay attention to Jinyang anymore?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Uncle Zhou replied: "Estimated time, if it goes well, our partial division General Wang Ling's troops should have captured Shanwu. I have explained to Wang Ling before that as long as Shanwu's Grain and supplies, immediately give me the troops to enter Dai County along Chidao and attack the capital of Zhang Han. His rear is in a hurry, so of course he will have the idea of ​​​​saving Dai County first. During this period, Dong Yi and Sima Xin only need to be careful and stick to the supply of food and grass. In Jinyang City, it is not impossible to persist until Zhang Han goes south to rescue again."

"Then what should we do?" Cui Guang asked quickly.

"Not in a hurry." Uncle Zhou shook his head, and said calmly: "I can still tell whether Mr. Zhang Han is planning to launch a night attack, or whether he is pretending to fight and actually playing golden cicada to escape the shell. After our scouts collect more clues, then Only then can I guess what his real plan is."

It's a pity that although Zhang Han, who attacked and killed Xiang Liang in a sneak attack, was not as good as Zhou Shu and Xiang Kang and other big traitors in the world, he was not far behind. , but there were no more suspicious clues, and he could no longer provide useful relevant information for Uncle Zhou. Uncle Zhou began to worry, but there was nothing he could do—after all, Uncle Zhou was not a roundworm in Zhang Han's stomach.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the acting general Zhao Ben, who had already betrayed Zhang Han once before, suddenly sent his confidants to get in touch with the Han army, and reported to Uncle Zhou that Zhang Han decided to secretly withdraw from the Jinyang battlefield tonight. , led the main force of the Dai army back to aid Dai County, intending to clean up the Han army's partial division Wang Ling's department that had already taken down Shanwu, and then go south to aid Jinyang.In addition, of course, Zhao Ben suggested that Uncle Zhou make preparations for interception and pursuit in advance, not to give Zhang Han a chance to escape smoothly, and promised to act as an internal response, and then cooperate with Zhou Shuli to defeat Zhang Han!

"Okay! God help me too!"

After reading the letter, Zhou Shu couldn't help being overjoyed. In addition to rewarding Zhao Ben's messenger, he quickly ordered the generals to be summoned, and quickly arranged a tactical plan to annihilate Zhang Han's main force by night. The generals had long trusted Uncle Zhou's commanding ability, and they all took orders happily, and immediately went down to organize the army to prepare for night battles.

Seeing the high morale of the generals of the Han army, Uncle Zhou was of course also overjoyed. He also planned to go back to his tent and rest quickly, and take the time to sleep for a while, so that he would have enough energy to command the battle at night.But when Uncle Zhou got off his seat to return the account, Zhou Shu, an old man with the same pronunciation as his name, reminded him, saying: "General, for safety's sake, should we let our soldiers hurry up and nail down the upper reaches of our pontoon bridge?" A few rows of wooden stakes, to prevent the bandits in Jinyang City from suddenly releasing fire rafts and burning down our pontoon bridge?"

"You can't do that." Uncle Zhou shook his head and said casually, "At this time, Mr. Zhang Han will definitely understand right away when he grabs the wooden stake. We have already guessed that he is going to retreat overnight. When he adapts to the situation, he may turn around and kill us." One caught off guard..."

When he casually said this, Uncle Zhou's face suddenly changed, because Uncle Zhou suddenly thought of an important question, and secretly said: "I don't want to rush to nail wooden piles to protect the pontoon bridge. Could it be that Mr. Zhang Han expected it?" Middle? As long as he is a slightly more rational army commander, he will definitely make the same choice as me!"

With this doubt, Uncle Zhou quickly settled down again, reorganized his thoughts, and gradually realized that he was eager to win this time, and ignored a very dangerous possibility-if Zhao Ben's request to surrender before was just throwing bricks to attract others? manage?Use a night attack that is destined not to cause too much loss to fail, to deceive yourself into trusting him, and unconditionally believe in the important information he provided for the second time?
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Uncle Zhou quickly came to this conclusion, and said in his heart: "If I were Zhang Han, and the rear was in a hurry, and the enemy insisted on not fighting, patiently confronting me, I could only try my best to win by surprise. , as long as the enemy can be fooled, even if you deliberately lose one or two battles, it is definitely worth it! If I am in Zhang Han's position now, I must hope that the main force of the enemy will cross the Fen River and create a way for me to take the opportunity to attack the enemy's strong camp Opportunity, anyway, with Fenshui blocking, I just need to burn the pontoon bridge and cut off the connection between the enemy and the enemy camp, and I will be invincible!"

"What if my calculations are wrong, and Zhao Ben didn't pretend to surrender?" Uncle Zhou closed his eyes again, thinking quickly in his mind, "The consequence is that I missed the opportunity and gave Zhang Han's main force a chance to withdraw from the Jinyang battlefield. But it is extremely safe to do so. In addition, I have enough cavalry, and all of them can fight on horseback. Their mobility is far superior to that of Zhang Han's bandit army. My infantry battalion has a chance to catch up with Zhang Han's rebel army."

"It's better not to take any risks. Your Majesty entrusted me with the partial division because he hoped that I would sweep the north of Shanxi, and then enter Zhao, and cut off the northern wings of the western Chu rebel army. It was not for me to take risks and gamble. Since I have the assurance of maintaining peace and winning, I can't determine the enemy's specific tactics, so I can only give priority to maintaining peace and winning!"

It was only after he came to this conclusion that Uncle Zhou opened his eyes and ordered decisively: "Come on, call Lu Kuang, Ling Jing, and Chong Da back immediately. I want to rearrange the night battle plan for tonight!"

(End of this chapter)