Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 2083 Mutual testing, mutual understanding

  Xia Houyuan straightened his body and looked out through the sparse tree branches.

  In the distance, there are lifeless refugees, moving forward step by step, densely packed, like a group of migrating sheep, who have to starve and stagger forward for the future grassland.

The Cao family has reached the most critical moment. Only the victor can continue to control Jizhou and Yuzhou. Otherwise, once Cao Cao is defeated, the problems that have been accumulated over the years will burst out, and the Cao family will be submerged like a volcanic eruption. If it is resolved, it will inevitably pay a heavy price.

  Xia Houyuan was originally an extremely impatient person, but now, he waited patiently day after day, and finally the plan unfolded...

  During the previous battle in Yanzhou, Xia Houyuan almost became a joke among Cao Jun's subordinates. Even among his confidants, it seemed that their confidence in him began to waver. This is very unfair. After all, Xia Houyuan's original reputation was obtained through **** fights and desperate battles again and again, but now, just one or two defeats will not only erase the previous record, but even become him. The handle of ridicule!

Later, although it was said that Xia Houyuan followed Cao Cao, fought against Sun Quan in Jiangxia, rushed to the front line, and led the soldiers to mop up and defeated many Jiangdong soldiers, and achieved not too bad results. Was the morale destroyed by the hussars? , it can be regarded as returning some.

But this is not enough.

   After all, there are still people who think that Xia Houyuan is only in Cao Cao's favor. If Cao Cao hadn't attracted the Jiangdong soldiers from the front, Xia Houyuan might not have had any chance of winning the battle. In the final analysis, Xia Houyuan still couldn't do it, at least leading the army alone. This hussars has repeatedly hindered the development of the Cao family since Jizhou, stood in front of them, and repeatedly frustrated them. Now it appears near Jingzhou, as if it is the natural enemy of the Cao family, Xia Houyuan's eternal love Nemesis!

  Xia Houyuan refused to accept it!

  Why? !

  Xia Houyuan held his breath.

   Wanting to completely restore morale and original reputation, Xia Houyuan felt that there was only one thing to do, which was to get up where he fell. Xia Houyuan thought that it might take a while longer to wait for the cavalry to dispatch, but he did not expect that the battle of Jingzhou this time actually attracted the cavalry, although the time was later than Cao Cao and others had expected A few, but it doesn't matter, everything is ready, everything is ready to go, just waiting for the moment when the time comes!

   Among the refugees, someone seemed to have noticed something, and turned to look at Xia Houyuan. Xia Houyuan shrunk back subconsciously, and immediately realized that what could these refugees see at such a long distance and under the cover of vegetation?

  Xia Houyuan stopped looking at the refugees in the distance, turned around, and looked at his own soldiers.

During this period of time, Cao Jun’s cavalry has lost a lot of skilled cavalry due to collisions with hussars. The cavalry in front of us were recruited by the Cao family from Jizhou, and some of them were from the original local tyrants. private soldiers. Because although Yanzhou and Yuzhou are relatively more inclined to Cao Cao, except for Qingzhou soldiers, relatively speaking, they are sources of soldiers with relatively high loyalty, but the problem is that not many people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou can ride horses, so they have to start from scratch. The **** is too bad.

These people in Jizhou, and even some of Youzhou, have some riding skills. Since the change of Cao's banner, some people have a wait-and-see attitude towards Cao Cao, but there are still some people who want to fight and get rich. , It has become a relatively suitable source of cavalry.

After all, not everyone has the perspective of God, and they can observe the world at every turn. More people live in a very small area, and ten miles and eight townships may be their largest range of activities. Naturally, it is impossible to weigh the pros and cons , Choose the best investment direction among the best investors.

   Therefore, Cao Jun collected another cavalry in this way. Except for some of them were given to Cao Chun and Cao Xiu, the other part was gathered under Xia Houyuan again. Of course, in addition to these cavalry, there are more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers and farmers who are responsible for doing chores for these cavalry.

  Xia Houyuan's confidant guard came over and asked from the side: "General, are you going to attack?" 』

  Xia Houyuan nodded, and said: "It's almost there, when this group of refugees pass by, we will follow behind..."

  『Follow the refugees? ’ asked the guard.

  Xia Houyuan said hesitantly, "That's right! So don't get too close and too hasty... Check the equipment and equipment again, and make up for what is missing, and if there is a mistake when you go to the battle, be careful! 』

  The guards hurriedly bowed their hands, "Don't worry, general, the little one is definitely ready!" Just waiting for a battle with the general, out of the previous anger! 』

  Xia Houyuan laughed loudly, waved his hands and said: "My lord is still well-planned and well-planned... I guess this time, even if the hussars are as cunning as ghosts, they will definitely fall into the trap!" You and I have made great achievements, just around the corner! 』

  …(▽)///…

   It is at Jiangdong Daying in Dangyang.

  Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu, dressed in military uniform, stood on the watchtower, looking intently to the north.

  On the other side of the river is Cao Jun's camp.

  Flags fluttered, figures swayed, everything seemed to be all right, but Zhou Yu's heart was full of various doubts.

   During this period of time, Cao Jun suddenly fell silent, and he was no longer attacking the Jiangdong camp tentatively. It seemed that he was going to contend with the Jiangdong soldiers for a long time, and even had a posture of dragging the war from this year to next year...

   How many meanings does this mean?

  Zhou Yu stared at the north, and said slowly: "The Cao bandit is not a person who does not know the art of war when he conquers the north and the south. Now he is fighting and not fighting, and he is not going away, but what is his intention?" 』

   Cheng Pu frowned and said, "Or is it because the Cao thief didn't capture our scouts?" 』

However, Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "When we were dispatched earlier, there was an arrangement for death... Now the death has not been reversed... So the Cao thief must have learned that we are storing grain in Maicheng... According to common sense, if there is strong support , and found the opponent's weakness, is there any reason not to strike? Use the cavalry to attack Maicheng by surprise, disrupt our rear, cut off the food roads, and further disturb the morale of our army. When we are defeated, we will advance the cavalry with infantry to cover up the kill.

   Cheng Pu said: "Could it be that the Cao thief is suspicious?" Don't dare to enter lightly? 』

Zhou Yu took a breath, and then said: "Thief Cao has always been suspicious and worried, and it is inevitable, but... if the virtue is relocated, knowing that Jiangdong Maicheng is hoarding grain and grass, if it is broken, it will be a big victory. Suspected of an ambush, how to deal with it? 』

  『Or as it is now, don’t lose your stability? ’ Cheng Pu responded.

  Zhou Yu shook his head again, "Don't forget Demou, the Cao family and the Fei family are not like you and me, but like a family!" 』

  Cheng Pu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, and slapped the armrest of the observation deck, "Exactly! exactly! If Cao thief seeks stability, he must let Fei's soldiers and horses be the vanguard! 』

  Youdao means dead friends never die poor ones. If Cao Cao became suspicious, he would instigate Fei Qian’s hussars to raid Maicheng.

"That's why..." Zhou Yu said in a deep voice, "Cao Thief didn't move at the moment...I'm afraid it's..." Zhou Yu smiled slightly, "Using the name of hussars to intimidate us... If that's the case...then the so-called hussars...hehe... Cao thief deliberately delayed the suspicious soldiers here, and secretly mobilized his soldiers to deal with the hussars! After repelling the hussars and horses, Fang turned down and took advantage of the victory to fight us! At that time, we will run out of food and grass, and our soldiers will be exhausted. Even if we don't win a big victory, we can split Jingzhou and rule from north to south! 』

  Cheng Pu widened his eyes and said, "So, Fei Cao and Fei Cao didn't join forces, let alone covenant?" It's just that the thief Cao used the banner of hussars? Commander, this...if..."

  Zhou Yu stretched out his finger and said with a smile, "Try it to know if it's true or not!" If someone expected it to be true, the current Cao army camp has already assumed the banner, and the Cao thief is not in it! Good calculation! He even almost lied to someone! I'm afraid Cao thief had already made up his mind when he built this camp that day! 』

   Zhou Yu's words made Cheng Pu raise his eyebrows, "Cao Bandit made a decision when he built his camp? ! 』Cao Cao started planning so early?

  『Otherwise, what is the use of Cao Jun building such a majestic camp? Zhou Yu sighed, "At that time, I only thought that Cao Jun wanted to confront us for a long time, but I never thought of... coming!" Order, prepare to go out! 』

  Zhou Yu flicked his cloak, turned around and stepped down from the watchtower, "If Cao Jun will only rely on the camp and dare not go out to fight, the Cao Jun camp must be empty, and the army has already moved north!" If this is the case, haha, it is the heaven-sent Jiangdong! 』

  With the sound of war drums, the Jiangdong camp burst open, and groups of soldiers slowly came out, layer upon layer, approaching the Cao Army camp on the opposite side! The long silence and confrontation between the two sides was finally broken!

At the beginning of the offensive, those on the front line are always improvised cannon fodder, mainly civilian husbands, and some supervising soldiers. Naturally, it is not a complete array, and the equipment is extremely poor. They didn't even have any armor, not even a few war knives, but more gun heads that didn't consume much steel, or even dung forks and wooden sticks. They formed a loose front and began to wade directly from the shallow water.

These people who survived the troubled times of the Han Dynasty, but under the blows and disappointments again and again, their families were destroyed, or their lives were lost, or they were scattered, or they saw the separation between life and death, or they kept their instincts. , or because of numbness, living with the tide, clinging to the tyrants everywhere in this chaotic world, working for them, getting a few days of rations, dying in the fighting everywhere at any time, or moving on the march at any time If you die on the road, it will be like the present, becoming cannon fodder that consumes the opponent's strength and equipment.

The water in Dangyang River was not very deep in the first place, coupled with the fact that the water was dry in autumn, these people dragged their heavy steps in the shallows, like walking corpses, splashing pieces of water, staggering and trampling Facing the silt and pebbles at the bottom of the river, it swayed and struggled forward.

   More than a thousand civilians cannon fodder filled this section of shallow water in a blink of an eye, but the Jiangdong soldiers continued to order the follow-up civilians to continue to join the ranks of crossing the river, trudging in the thigh-deep water. Some people accidentally fell down, just splashed twice in the water, some got up and continued to move forward, and more were stepped on the muddy place at the bottom of the river, maybe it would take a few days to pass, Only then will it rise again and see the sun again...

  The cannon fodder was almost squeezed into a big lump in the Dangyang River. Even if there were some formations in the past, they were completely disrupted now. All kinds of shouts, mixed with the sound of water and trampling mud, became a mess. For any army, at this moment, attacking the enemy at halfway is the most relaxed and comfortable time, and it is absolutely impossible to let go of this golden opportunity!

  In Cao Jun's camp, Cao Ren stood on a high platform, frowning deeply.

  『Uncle Zixiao, why don’t you attack? Cao Zhen couldn't help asking from the side.

  Under Cao Jun's high platform, some Cao Jun soldiers had already gathered and lined up, just waiting for the order to attack. All of them raised their heads and looked at Cao Ren together.

  Cao Ren fixed his eyes on the Jiangdong soldiers behind these cannon fodder. The cannon fodder of these civilians crossing the river is nothing to worry about. What is more important is the Jiangdong soldiers behind, and according to common sense, these Jiangdong soldiers should also move together and follow these cannon fodder civilians, so that the attack can be effectively connected Rhythm, so that the effect of these cannon fodder will not be wasted...

  But these Jiangdong soldiers stood across the river bank, just watching the cannon fodder advance coldly, which is abnormal.

If the large army of Cao Jun is still in the Cao Jun camp, Cao Ren doesn't care much about bringing the cannon fodder closer, because even if there are some Jiangdong death row prisoners hidden in the cannon fodder, as long as there is a shower of arrows, they can be massacred. clean!

   But the problem is that there are not so many soldiers in the Cao army, in the camp! Not so many archers!

If we talk about the general attack mode of crossing the river, the bands of pawns are closely connected, Cao Ren can send troops directly, but instead use the fear and confusion of these civilians when they are about to fight, counter-pressure the past, and even kill the enemy crossing the river in one fell swoop. A group of Jiangdong troops were directly defeated!

  But now Jiangdong has shown that he has no intention of supporting or cooperating with this group of civilians...

   Could it be that Jiangdong Bing was testing?

  The problem is that if these civilians are allowed to come over, the difficulty will increase a lot if they want to hit after these guys are formed, and there will even be a lot of loss...

  Cao Ren looked at Cao Zhen beside him, pondered for a while, and suddenly said: "If someone gives you three hundred soldiers, will it be possible to defeat this army?" 』

  Cao Zhen said proudly, "Why not?" ! Then ask Uncle Zixiao to order! 』

  『Good! Be careful of the jumping soldiers hidden among these peasants! ”Cao Ren patted Cao Zhen on the shoulder, “Remember! Don't ask for the complete annihilation of his soldiers, but only for interception and defeat! Don't be greedy for merit! Remember, remember! 』

  Cao Zhen took the order, then turned around and got off the high platform, ordered three hundred soldiers, and amidst the roar of war drums, opened the gate of the camp, and killed the group of civilians!

  On the other side of the Dangyang River, among the ranks of the Jiangdong Army, Zhou Yu saw Cao Ying attacking, quickly counted the number of Cao's troops, and suddenly laughed, "As expected!" 』

   Immediately, Zhou Yu turned to Cheng Pu and said, "Next, please ask Demou!" 』

  Cheng Pu laughed and said, "That's easy to say! The governor waits for the good news! ’ Immediately turned around and left.

Although when Cao Jun opened the gate of the camp, the smoke and dust flew up, and the distance was far away. Even Zhou Yu's eyesight was strong, but he couldn't see the reality in Cao Jun's camp, but Zhou Yu could verify his heart based on the reaction of Cao Jun's camp. judge.

  『The so-called false is real, and the real is false... 』Zhou Yu said slowly, "To show someone false, is it to make someone think it is true, but to cover up the falsehood?" If this is the case, how will you respond when a certain child is born again? 』

  At this moment, at the place where the river was crossed, there was an uncontrollable cry of panic! Although Cao Zhen only commanded 300 soldiers, all of them were soldiers with red tassels fluttering on their helmets, armor leaves reflecting the sun on their bodies, strong shields, sharp swords, and sharp spears!

Seeing these soldiers of the Cao army rushing straight at them, even these civilian husbands were ashamed, they could not help but let out screams of panic and became at a loss. The shouts of thousands of people were intertwined in one place, and they couldn't help but draw everyone's attention In the past, after Cao Zhen joined the battle, flesh and blood flew everywhere, blood and stumps fell everywhere, it was like a whole bottle of red ink was suddenly knocked over in the picture, it hurt people's eyes, and in a blink of an eye the The surface of the river was dyed red, and then quickly went down the river bank...

  Zhou Yu still led his soldiers, standing on the river bank here, watching with cold eyes, motionless, like the cannon fodder of those civilians who were hacked and killed, and had nothing to do with him.

Cao Ren looked at the battle in the shallows for a while, and then turned his head to look at Zhou Yu's troops on the other side. The reason why he didn't send more soldiers was because he didn't dare to take risks, and on the other hand, he wanted to show the enemy his strength and express his strength. Jiangdong cannon fodder does not need to dispatch a large number of soldiers at all, and only needs a small-scale army to defeat it.

  『General! there! Jiangdong soldiers! On the high platform, Cao Ren's guard suddenly raised his arm and pointed in another direction, shouting loudly.

Cao Ren hurriedly turned his head to look, and saw that at a far bend in the river, at some point, a team of Jiangdong Antlers came out dangling on the river, and they were quickly hooking up in one place, and then In a blink of an eye, a pontoon bridge was built, and behind the woods at the bend of the river, a large number of Jiangdong soldiers were constantly pouring out. Among the flags fluttering, there was a big "Cheng" character in the middle!

  Swimming in shallow water attracts attention, but in fact it uses floating bridges in deep water.

  Cao Ren felt cold all over his body, turned to Han Hao and said, "It's urgent! A certain leader burned down the pontoon bridge to block the Jiangdong soldiers! The defense of the battalion is entrusted to Yuan Si! 』

  Han Hao hurriedly said: "General! It's better to attack! 』

  Cao Ren waved his hand, asked his subordinates to put on the heavy armor, and said, "There are two Jiangdong governors, one is Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin, and the other is Cheng Pu and Cheng Demou!" Now that Zhou Cheng and Zhou Cheng are both here, it's fine if they don't come out. If they go out to fight, if they don't lead their headquarters to attack, they will immediately see the truth! 』

In addition to the reason why Cao Ren said soldiers against soldiers and generals, Cao Ren also had a hidden worry in his heart, that is, if Jiang Dong really saw through, only Cao Ren himself could make a decisive decision on the spot and decide to see the situation If things are not going well, retreat. If you send Han Hao out, if you are lost and trapped in the formation, if you don't go to the rescue, it will be like cutting off your own arm. If you go to the rescue, if Zhou Yu in the shallows presses forward again , the camp is empty!

  Cao Ren squinted at Zhou Yu's flag on the opposite bank, gritted his teeth, put on his pocket, and said, "Go out!" 』

   This **** Zhou Gongjin is really amazing!

  (end of this chapter)