Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 3324 The fish is dead and the net is broken

 Yuncheng Basin, areas around Anyi.

Henan Village, or Xiaohe Village.

There are many villages here that were originally similar to Henan Village, but are now destroyed and abandoned. There are still streets among the fields, but no one is working anymore.

Summer is supposed to be a time for crops to grow and usher in the final ripening season of autumn, but now there are only weeds in the fields.

The peasants who had bowed their heads in the fields disappeared, and there were only dilapidated shacks and discarded tools, which seemed to be telling something.

The exposed pillars of the burned-out house were pitch black, pointing slantingly toward the sky, like a huge exclamation mark pierced into the ground. There are many traces of looting left around, both by humans and by wild beasts. In other words, they should all be wild beasts, beasts that can only destroy but don’t know how to build.

During Cao's army's attack some time ago, Cao's army once advanced to the foot of the Emei Mountains, so naturally all the villages along the way were not spared.

Nowadays, as Fei Qian goes south from Emei Mountains, the villages he encounters are basically like this.

This may be a "strong wall and clear field" in a sense, so Fei Qian must walk very carefully. Yesterday, the Hussars scouts reported that they had discovered Cao Jun's spies hiding in a ruins, and they had to pay the price of losing two or three people to wipe out those Cao Jun spies.

In the war between Guanzhong and Shandong, both sides are constantly growing.

How could that prince from Shandong think of hiding people in the ruins?

As Fei Qian's army advanced step by step, Cao Jun abandoned some temporary military strongholds and camps, evacuated the surrounding soldiers and civilians, and burned the remaining supplies. Black smoke billowed into the sky.

Fei Qian sat on the horse, took out his telescope, adjusted it, and looked into the distance.

Outside the army, Cao Jun's scouts and Hussar scouts were pulling each other.

Under the "training" of the hussar scouts, these Cao Jun scouts also became a bit more like a barbarian. The current Cao Jun scouts have learned to stare from a distance, then **** up their ears and widen their eyes. If there is any slight disturbance, they will mount their horses and run away without giving the hussar scouts a chance to get closer and attack. Even if they have to get closer for reconnaissance, they will shoot arrows at any suspicious targets, including but not limited to grass, shrubs, treetops, etc.

So it was natural for Fei Qian to see the hussar scouts and Cao Jun scouts going back and forth, chasing each other.

Suddenly, a strange sight appeared in the lens of Fei Qian's telescope.

Fei Qian frowned slightly, then signaled to the guards around him, and after running forward for a while, he arrived at the strange scene he had just seen.

Before he even got close, Fei Qian smelled a foul smell.

Fei Qian frowned slightly, then pulled the horse and stopped getting closer.

The war horse was obviously feeling a little uncomfortable, snorting and shaking his head to express his dissatisfaction.

This stench is basically caused by sulfide, which is simply corpse odor. Corpse odor is caused by ammonia, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, cadaverine, putrescine, skatole, mercaptans, thioethers, various amines, lower fatty acids, lower ketones, lower aldehydes and some heterocyclic organic compounds. The compound odor mixed with smoky substances can combine with the blood oxygen in the alveoli, and even when the concentration is high, it can cause pulmonary edema, leading to difficulty breathing and paralysis.

But it is obviously more difficult to achieve such a high concentration in open areas.

Fei Qian was far away and could only smell the stench, but there was no direct harm at the moment.

The smell of rotting corpses will erode the surface of the ground for a long time, until it gradually dissipates after half a year or more after it turns into bones.

"Lord, this is a corpse pit. "The guard said at the side, "There should have been some kind of covering on it, but then it was pulled open by wild beasts..."

It was this uncovered cover and a large number of flies that were breeding, whining and flying up and down, thus forming a strange shape in the telescope.

The guard took a few steps forward, covered his mouth and nose and looked forward, then hurriedly stepped back, gasped a few times, and said bitterly, "Damn it!" Down here, I don’t know how many corpses have been dumped! Maybe it was originally because of the cold weather, and it was somewhat buried, so it didn't rot out... Now when the weather gets hot, the corpse energy expands, and it is pushed out from the soil... These **** thieves! 』

Fei Qian frowned as he listened.

Shandong's depiction of Dong Zhuo's relocation of the capital is always unavoidable, because Dong Zhuo did indeed do such stupid things, so this has always been a stain on the people of Longxi, and some people in Longxi feel that they cannot hold their heads high. .

But now, people in Shandong are clamoring for Dong Zhuo to kill people every day, and so on. What next?

What is this scene in front of me?

Of course, people in Shandong cannot see these scenes.

Since it cannot be seen, to people in Shandong, it is almost equivalent to "non-existence".

"Go and cut down some weeds and branches, pour some kerosene on them, and burn them." ” Fei Qian ordered, “Cover your mouth and nose with a gauze scarf. Don’t let the disease attack you.” 』

The guard immediately led the troops and whistled to summon the soldiers to deal with it.

Xun Chen came from the rear and was silent when he saw this scene.

This is different from soldiers fighting on the battlefield.

Or simply put, people and soldiers are originally two different things.

The professional characteristic of a soldier is to fight with the other party's soldiers, so when you change jobs and become a soldier, you will naturally be mentally prepared, but the people are not. Although massacring the enemy's people is a tactical method that has been used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it does not mean that this method is glorious.

Especially the civil war.

Fei Qian had been trying to control the intensity of the civil war and was unwilling to invest too much manpower and material resources, so when he saw such a scene, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional in his heart.

Xun Chen said from the side: "Most of these are people from Heluo." The land of Heluo was already in dire straits, and now after this battle, most of the ten rooms are empty. 』

Fei Qian said: "Cao has many soldiers, but their origins are complicated. Looking at this situation, not everyone may be willing to die. Therefore, the most important person in Cao's army is only the leader and the protector of the two armies. The remaining Shandong soldiers, even if they are elite, are not as powerful as the Zhongling Zhonghu Second Army. 』

Xun Chen should be.

There is no doubt about this.

Fei Qian turned his head and looked to the south, then looked at Gufeng Mountain in the distance, and said to Xun Chen: "Anyi should be the most important place for the battle." Cao Jun must be near Anyi, with the middle leader and the middle guard to compete... And this Gufeng Mountain... Do you have any ideas? 』

"There are many ravines on Gufeng Mountain, which is not conducive to fighting and difficult to hold on to. Xun Chen obviously already knew the terrain of this area well, "But there are several springs on the Gufeng Mountain, where troops can be hidden..."

Fei Qian nodded. Although Cao Cao has entered the preset fighting position in the Yuncheng Basin, the core strength of Cao's army is still relatively intact, so they must be forced to go to the plains to defeat the main force of Cao's army.

Or call it Cao Cao's core force.

Once Cao Cao loses his core combat strength, mainly the Qingzhou soldiers, he will inevitably have only defensive strength left.

So now, with Cao Cao's ruthlessness, will he just wait to be beaten in Anyi?

"Send the order," Fei Qian said in a deep voice, "All water sources and surrounding camps must be strengthened for scout detection and prevention!" Order the army doctors to prepare anti-epidemic drugs in case of emergency! 』

Xun Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned his gaze to the corpse cave that was being set on fire not far away, "My lord, what is it that... Cao Thief wants to use this method?" Want to use poison? ! This, this is too... too vicious! 』

Fei Qian looked at the newly rising flames not far away, and the thick black smoke was like a demon roaring silently in the flames, "It makes no sense." 』

…

…

As the summer temperature gradually rises, the war seems to be gradually heating up.

Cao's army gathered in Anyi. In addition to the Zhongling Zhonghu Army directly under Cao Cao, there are also conscripted troops, conscripted troops, county troops, family private troops, etc. Nowadays, these complex troops are concentrated around Anyi.

After Cao Jun knew that the Hussar army was heading south, he abandoned some small strongholds in the north and spread out the battle line in layers with Anyi as the center, like a huge Manzhu Shahua flower. Cao's army built a trench defense line at the front of Anyi, and Cao Hong personally led the military academy to guard the front line. Moreover, this flower of Manzhu Shahua seemed to be blooming bigger and bigger, as if it was going to swallow Fei Qian's army inside. .

The front of Fei Qian's army is like a trident, with the cavalry as the three sharpest blades, followed by solid infantry and slow baggage artillery battalions rolling down.

Today's situation is becoming increasingly confusing.

Fei Qian laid out the overall plan, using the Yuncheng Basin as a network, and successfully forced Cao Cao to have a decisive battle with the Hussars here. After Cao Cao entered the Anyi area, he opened a large network in Anyi mainly against the guests, and it seemed that Waiting for Feiqian to fall into the trap.

Fei Qian's soldiers and horses advanced one by one along the official road. It's not going fast, but it's very steady.

Cao Jun's scouts are also increasing day by day, and the size of his cavalry is also increasing day by day.

Because I was forced...

If there were not many of them, they might be overrun by the Hussars scouts.

Although the forward cavalry of the Hussars have been suppressing Cao Jun's scout cavalry, and Cao Jun's scout cavalry have been avoiding the battle, everyone knows that the final stage of hand-to-hand combat between the two sides is getting closer and closer.

According to the detection situation of the Hussars scouts on the front line, Cao Jun's troops in the direction of Anyi are all in preparation. They have fortified themselves layer by layer and built a large number of sentry towers and military fortresses, forming an extremely large and complex barracks system. , which naturally put an end to the hope of some Hussars Military Academy generals to launch a cavalry surprise attack.

Cao Cao himself set up a banner for the commander of the three armies southwest of Anyi, which seemed to indicate that he was ready to fight Fei Qian here to the death.

As the temperature further rises, the water level of the Sushui River around Anyi is gradually declining.

The grass on King Yu's tomb shriveled and turned yellow under the scorching sun.

It seems that everything has withered under the evil force of war.

Anyi is surrounded by a wilderness and a loess plateau terrain.

This piece of land inherited from ancient times has also witnessed the growth and development of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, Huangdi, Yandi, Chiyou, as well as Yao, Shun and Yu. Yao first had his capital in Puban, and later moved to Pingyang, Shun's capital was Puban, and Yu's capital was Anyi. China's first slavery dynasty, Daxia, was also born here.

Mainly because there is a salt pond here. This kind of natural and convenient area where safe salt can be obtained is a treasure place in ancient times when production technology was insufficient.

But now this area, which was originally suitable for people to live, has completely changed.

Two deep trenches were dug on the outside, and some wooden stakes and spikes were inserted into the two deep trenches. There were reed mats on both sides of the trench for reinforcement. I don’t know whether these reed mats were brought by Cao’s army from Shandong, or whether they were “conscripted” in the land of Hedong...

The official road has naturally been cut off by deep trenches.

As far as the eye can see, there are not many people, only some sparse bushes, woods and the outline of dilapidated villages standing abruptly.

Cao Jun's camp occupies a very large area. Behind the deep trench, a huge structure was built that was about twenty-five miles wide from east to west and at least fifteen miles wide from north to south. In the entire Yuncheng Basin around Anyi, except for Gufeng Mountain in the northwest, there are no particularly large mountains. However, because it is located in the Loess Plateau area, there are many natural ditches, cutting the entire area into different sizes. checkerboard shape.

On these large and small land plateaus, Cao Jun used slings and wooden boards to connect each other in many places, so that Cao Jun could move more conveniently on the land plateau without walking through those curved ditches. As a result, these plateaus and suspension bridges have become barriers.

As the commander of the front line, Xu Chu arrived at the front of Cao's army ahead of Fei Qian.

Looking at the Han army flags flying in the Cao army camp in the distance and the Cao family flags representing the strength of Shandong, Xu Chu couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart.

Shandong is also where Xu Chu grew up.

In fact, he and Cao Cao were both from the same place, Qiao County.

Normally speaking, since they are all fellow villagers, then naturally they will have the bonus of the hometown party, and they may be closer to each other.

But now, he was standing here, and Cao Cao was on the opposite side, and the two sides were fighting each other.

After staying in Guanzhong for a long time, Xu Chu naturally gradually accepted some of Fei Qian's ideas. Perhaps it cannot be said to be Fei Qian's personal philosophy, but rather that of "Guanzhong" or "Hussar"...

In the process of the expansion of Feiqian's power, more and more people joined in, not to mention people from Guanzhong, Longyoubei and other areas. Naturally, there were Shandong people like Xu Chu who entered Feiqian's group. Senior political leaders, military generals, and now people from Shandong like Xu Chu have an important problem that they have to face and solve.

If the Cavalry defeated...

No, it should be that after defeating these people from Shandong, what kind of identity and attitude should I have to face the people from Shandong before?

conqueror?

Or a compatriot?

Or…

The rumble of horse hooves pulled Xu Chu out of his chaotic thoughts.

Under the gully of the plateau, a group of hussars was heading south along the gully.

Cao Jun had withdrawn most of the cavalry scouts on the front, leaving only a few cavalry to monitor the movements of the hussars.

So where did these Cao Jun cavalry who retreated from the front go?

Although these cavalry units directly under Cao Cao's central leading army and central guarding army are not as good at riding as the guys under the hussars who can even sleep on horseback, their loyalty to Cao Cao is unquestionable. So now Xu Chu sent more scouts to the two wings, trying to determine the hiding position of Cao's cavalry and the deployment of troops in Cao's camp to provide intelligence support for the next phase of the battle.

The actions of both sides at this stage are similar. Cao Jun also knows that the Hussar cannot rush into it recklessly, but will carefully test and advance, and then wait until the time is right for a large-scale battle.

Faced with the current situation, Xu Chu felt that Cao Cao would use these plateaus for some tricks. After all, if Cao Jun wanted to pass through these plateaus, he only had to walk on the suspension bridge above the plateaus, but for the hussars, they could only walk along the soil plateaus. This caused Cao's army to form a siege effect in some areas, as if they were standing on a urn city.

And wanting to destroy these suspension bridges is tantamount to attacking these Cao Jun camps. Even though Cao Jun's camp was now blocked by the wall, Xu Chu couldn't see clearly the layout. He knew that in addition to the two deep trenches on the surface, Cao Jun must also have many additional methods hidden. For example, a trap, a horse pit, or a barbed wire...

Anyway, this is not the first time Shandong and the Hussars have fought against each other. It is not difficult for Cao Jun to copy the methods used by the Hussars before.

At the same time, facing these deep trenches, it was difficult for the hussars to cross, but it was not difficult for Cao's infantry to pass. After all, Cao Jun's camp can always have ladders or planks ready. When necessary, he can climb one into the trench and attack. This cannot be ignored at all.

Cao Jun's army is hoarded here. The area is huge, more than ten times the size of the camp down the slope. Although it can also be attacked with artillery that is transported up later to break the surface, it is precisely because it breaks a point, and the network is Even if one point of the structural Cao army camp is broken, other areas can provide support. Therefore, as the general in charge of the Hussars' front army, Xu Chu cannot rush to attack. On the contrary, he must focus on defense first. Not only did he need to deploy the forward cavalry to test and check the movements of Cao's army, he also needed to choose a stable area for Fei Qian's middle and rear troops to ensure the safety of the garrison.

But this area is not easy to choose...

Because of the better land, Cao Jun had already destroyed it first.

Even in relatively poor areas, Xu Chu still needs to arrange soldiers and manpower to conduct inspections and investigations. Otherwise, waiting for a sudden opening of a tunnel in the middle of the night will not only lead to a defeat, but also Xu Chu's first appearance as a frontline commander. It became a case that was ridiculed by others in the martial arts hall.

Be cautious, be cautious.

Xu Chu reminded himself secretly, and then turned back to arrange military affairs.

Here in Anyi, the two sides are each other's net and fish, both the hunter and the prey. The Hussars and Feiqians have the advantage in mobile strength, but Cao's army is in camp and has the advantage of the geographical location. Therefore, whether the swimming fish will eventually die in the net, or whether it will tear through this big net and the fish will jump over the dragon's gate, it is ultimately a matter for both sides. The ultimate test that everyone has to face.