Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains Section 52 July Shang, Henan, Guandu. On both sides of the nearly 10-mile-long chasm in the direction of Guandu, more than 200,000 men and horses of the Northern Xinjiang Army and the coalition army were entangled and fought fiercely, and the battle was very fierce.

The Northern Xinjiang Army has been trying to break through the chasm water and gain a foothold on the west bank of the chasm water, so as to kill Zhongmu City more quickly, but the coalition army has concentrated troops on the west bank of the river, dug ditches on the west bank to prevent the attack of the iron cavalry, and placed a large number of horses and deer barricades between the ditches to block the advance of the northern Xinjiang foot soldiers.

The attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army was blocked, so more than a dozen earthen mountains were built on the north bank, so that the archers lined up on the earthen mountains and fired wantonly from a high position, and at the same time set up ballistas and stone cannons between the mountains to suppress the resistance of the coalition forces and cover the breakthrough of their own soldiers across the river.

The coalition forces suffered heavy blows, and at one point lost their blocking positions in the West Bank. Yuan Shao immediately gathered heavy troops to launch a counterattack, beat the Northern Xinjiang Army back, and burned more than a dozen pontoon bridges that the Northern Xinjiang Army had just erected.

Undeterred, the Northern Frontier Army launched another river-crossing attack under the frantic fire of its ballista wagons.

The coalition forces hastily brought in more ballistae from the rear, and at the same time brought dozens of stone cannons from Luoyang, as well as a number of large ballistae with greater power and longer range.

The Northern Xinjiang Army was caught off guard and was beaten in a daze by the coalition forces. The archers of Tushan also suffered heavy losses and were all withdrawn.

In the face of the fierce counterattack of the coalition forces, the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army came to a standstill. At this time, Ko Yi accepted Wang Ling's suggestion, and while attacking the coalition forces on the west bank without interruption, he began to dig tunnels, intending to use the tunnels to directly enter the rear of the coalition forces, flank the coalition camps in front and rear, and break through the chasm water defense line.

When the battle was extremely tense, the general Li Hong rushed from Yangwu City to Guandu. After Li Hong arrived at the battlefield, he immediately rushed to the east bank of the chasm water to inspect the front line.

Gao Ran's army was stationed directly opposite the Guandu Pavilion. When Li Hong arrived, Gao Ran was directing his soldiers to launch an attack on the opposite bank.

At this moment, the sky is full of arrows covering the sky and the sun, the thunderous drums are deafening, and the shouts of the soldiers in northern Xinjiang are earth-shattering.

Under the cover of a team of shield soldiers, Li Hong climbed the dirt mountain and looked at the opposite bank. The large battalion of the coalition forces on the west bank of the chasm water is endless, and there is no end in sight, and the colorful battle flags in the camp are displayed in the wind, which is magnificent.

Groups of heavily armed coalition soldiers gathered in vehicle formations and shield formations of different sizes, and were preparing to attack.

The archers at the front of the battlefield formed a dense formation, drawing their bows into the sky and fighting back. Li Hong looked at it carefully for a while, then pointed to the densely packed horses and deer on the other side of the river, turned his head and said loudly to Lei Da who was standing behind him: "In the past, we used the horse rejection array to deal with the Hu people's iron cavalry, and won many battles in the border fortress. Now, this trick has been learned by the rebels. They're using the Horse Rejection Array against us. Li Hong shook his head,

"Our iron cavalry and foot soldiers have been repeatedly blocked because of this, and if we continue to fight, I am afraid that the losses will be greater and greater."

"Not only are we under the control of the rebels, but we are also blocked by this wide canal." Lei Zhong angrily pointed to the chasm water and said,

"If the general agrees, we can immediately organize men and horses to cut off the channel at the confluence of Jishui and Rift water, let the chasm water flow into Jishui, and then we fill in this river so that we can forcibly attack Guandu unimpeded."

"The rebels can't be defenseless." Li Hong shook his hand and said,

"The cutting of the canal is too loud and too long, and it will definitely be discovered by the rebels. At present, Koji-sama is sending someone to dig tunnels, so this method can be tried. ”

"What's the use of tunnels?" Lei Zhong scoffed,

"What's the use of that sneaky business? General, this is not an attack on the city, this is an attack on the rebels' camp in the field outside the city, and digging tunnels will also be discovered. Now we urgently need a battlefield with a flat horse, and we need a strong army of iron cavalry to attack from both flanks of the rebels, so that we can break through the rebel resistance from the middle and defeat the rebels. ”

"Aren't you afraid of how many whips Koji-sama will whip you?" Gao Ran smiled and pushed Lei Zhong next to him, signaling him not to talk nonsense in front of the general.

"You're right." Li Hong didn't care about Lei Chong's complaints,

"It's true that digging tunnels doesn't do much, and the chances of success are slim. But you must know that the purpose of our current attack is not to kill the other side and fight a decisive battle with the rebels in the area of Guandu and Zhongmu, but to force the rebels to make up their minds to fight us as soon as possible. I hope that they will immediately launch a full-scale counteroffensive and launch an overwhelming attack on us. ”

"The general means to lure the enemy out?" Lei Zhong asked suspiciously,

"Guandu is not the battlefield of the decisive battle?"

"Guandu is the battlefield of the decisive battle, but it is not the battlefield that determines the victory or defeat of the Central Plains." Li Hong said with a smile,

"At present, we must continue to launch attacks, force the rebels to shrink their defenses as much as possible, and let them concentrate more troops in the Guandu area, so that when we launch a fatal blow, we can annihilate the enemy more and decide the victory or defeat of the Central Plains War in one battle."

"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." Gao Ran said with a smile on the side,

"General, am I right?"

"Yes, exactly." Li Hong waved the horsewhip in his hand, full of spirit,

"The key to deciding the outcome of this battle is the Iron Horseman. As long as the Iron Rider exerts his maximum power in the right place, the battle will be won. The day is coming soon. "The archers on the opposite bank gradually concentrated their shooting targets on the dirt hills.

Li Hong beckoned to Gao Lan, Lei Zhong and others,

"Let's go, lest we accidentally be shot by a stray arrow and suffer for ourselves." The group walked down the dirt mountain and walked slowly along the stone cannon position.

There are a lot of people on the stone cannon position, and most of these people are responsible for pulling the stone cannon rope and firing stones.

There are also some of the men of the baggage battalion, who are responsible for delivering arrows and stones to the chariot operation.

"When Yin Si (Zhongzhi) used a stone cannon to capture Jicheng for the first time on the battlefield in Youzhou, I knew how powerful it was." Li Hong stopped, looked at the huge stone cannons that were wielding in the distance, and said to Gao Ran,

"In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed."

"I remember when Zhong Zhi tried firing a stone cannon in Jinyang, you didn't think it was much use, and told him not to continue the test, so as not to waste money." Gao Ran said with a smile,

"If it weren't for Master Tian's secret support, I'm afraid we would have lost such a powerful weapon." Li Hong smiled ashamedly,

"My vision is poor, but my uncle has foresight."

"Luoyang had stone cannons a few years ago." Ray interjected,

"I suspect that Luoyang can make stone cannons, and it has something to do with the Hedong Ordnance Workshop, and they leaked secrets."

"Don't talk nonsense." Gao Ran blocked the road,

"There are many clever 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 and said,

"I'm older, my temper still hasn't changed at all, and I have to change it." Then he looked at Gao and asked,

"It's the first time we've used a lot of stone artillery on the battlefield, how effective is it? After using it, are our casualties a little smaller? ”

"The attack was long, but the casualties were not significant." Gao Lan Hui Dao,

"I don't think the main reason for the casualties is not because of the heavy use of stone cannons, but because there is a chasm in front of us, and we can only use crossbow and stone cannons to attack from a distance. During the attack, the casualties of the soldiers decreased, but the consumption of arrows, bowstrings, and stones of the army increased considerably. ”

"Is there a shortage of ordnance?"

"Long arrows and bowstrings can be replenished in time, but stones can't." Gao Guan refers to the mountains of stones piled up in the distance,

"The Central Plains has a lot of flat land, and there are very few mountains and rocks, so it is impossible to take them on the spot, and it is too troublesome to travel long distances to mine and transport them from Montenegro on the north bank of the Yellow River."

"In the future, we will fight Luoyang." Li Hong said with a smile,

"There are mountains near Luoyang, and we can let the stone artillery attack unscrupulously day and night." The group talked and laughed and walked into the infantry battle formation, walking through the middle of the array.

The soldiers were accustomed to the inspection of the superiors, and one by one they did not squint, looking intently at the front of the battlefield, waiting for the order to charge.

"Great General......" There was a sudden excited cry from the battle array,

"General......" Li Hong stopped and turned his head to look behind him. A young soldier, about fifteen or sixteen years old, was staring at him with wide eyes, his thin body trembling slightly from the excitement.

There were very few junior officers and non-commissioned officers in the army who knew Li Hong, and most of them thought that Li Hong was a Hun when they saw Li Hong wearing a disheveled hair and simple leather armor, and generally only glanced at him and then ignored it.

When the people around the young soldier heard the shout, they all looked at Li Hong with surprised eyes. No one believed that the tall and mighty officer in front of him would be a world-famous general.

Seeing Li Hong turn around and walk towards the young soldier, there was a suffocating silence in the battle array. Li Hong walked up to the young soldier and asked with a smile, "Is there anything wrong with you?" The young soldier was so excited that he suddenly burst into tears, choking up and unable to speak.

This group of men and horses were all Lei Chong's men, but he was very unfamiliar with this young soldier. It just so happened that he saw Huang Tong, the leader of the team, standing next to him, so he beckoned to him.

Huang Tong hurriedly ran out of the queue, and just as he wanted to kneel down and salute, he was stopped by Li Hong stretching out his hand.

"Excuse me, excuse me. This is a battlefield, and there is no need for such a big salute. Huang Tong was so nervous that he could barely breathe.

Listening to the tone of his speech, it seems that he is really a great general. If this person is a general, then he will have to pay a big salute.

Just as he hesitated, Ray spoke again,

"This is a great general, don't be rude." Huang Tong's mind was blank for an instant, his legs were weak, and he was about to kneel down and salute when he turned over.

Li Hong hurriedly grabbed his arm and pulled him up,

"Excuse me, excuse me."

"The general said that you will be excused, you can stand and speak." Gao Ran smiled pleasantly,

"This is ......," he said, gesturing to the young soldier.

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

"Blackie?" Li Hong suddenly remembered, and a scene outside Yecheng City immediately appeared in his mind,

"You've grown up and joined the army." Li Hong grabbed Xiao Hei's two thin arms in surprise, looked up and down,

"Grow up, grow up, don't know each other anymore."

"General......" Xiao Hei spoke incoherently and shed tears.

"Where's your father? Is he okay? Xiao Hei shook his head, choked and speechless.

"Dahei had a serious illness last year, and he hasn't recovered yet." Huang Tong tried his best to suppress his excitement and nervousness, and said in a trembling voice.

Seeing that Xiao Hei was just crying like an idiot, Huang Tong was anxious and hurriedly returned on his behalf. I didn't expect Da Hei to know the general, this old boy didn't know a word, and he didn't mention it.

When I get back, I'll be sure to ask him.

"Sick?" Li Hong's heart sank,

"Is it heavy?"

"Almost died." Huang Tong bowed and replied,

"He was bedridden when we left."

"He's finally getting old." Li Hong sighed, let go of the hands that held Xiao Hei, turned around and said to Arbitrary,

"After returning to the camp, he immediately wrote a letter to Junyan (Fu Gan) in Xingyuan, asking him to find a good medical craftsman in Handan and send someone to Dongwuyang to treat Dahei. If the condition is too serious, take Dahei to Xingyuan for diagnosis and treatment. ”

"Got it." Nodding arbitrarily and saying,

"The general and the big black are very fateful. It has been more than ten years since the general met him in Yizhou. He looked at Xiao Hei and shook his head,

"Seeing that Dahei's sons have joined the army, I suddenly feel old."

"You're only in your thirties, how old are you." Lei Zhong laughed,

"If you're old, I'm going to be in the coffin."

"Say something unlucky." Gao Ran stretched out his hand and hit the thunderous head,

"In front of the great general, don't talk nonsense." Li Hong smiled and didn't care. Seeing that Xiao Hei's mood gradually stabilized, he bent down to Xiao Hei's ear and whispered a few words, and Xiao Hei nodded with a red face.

Li Hong laughed, reached out and patted him on the shoulder,

"When this battle is over, I'll go to Dongwuyang to see your father." After a few people chatted a few words, Li Hong immediately raised his hand to say goodbye.

He smiled at the soldiers as he walked behind the battle formation.

"General...... The general ...... "The soldiers were ecstatic and cheered. The cheers grew louder and denser, and like bursts of thunder, they slammed into the chasm water one after another, resounding throughout the battlefield.

Divide the water on the west bank. Xu You, who was on the battlefield on the front line, heard the cheers of the other side of the river, and was shocked, he and Xin Ping, Jiang Qi and others stopped at the horse and looked up into the distance.

When the leopard arrives in Guandu, will the decisive battle be far away? Recently, the Northern Frontier Army has gone completely crazy, and they have brazenly put on a desperate posture regardless of their inferiority in strength, and they have not stopped attacking.

At the same time, Lü Bu and Fan Li, who were on the east side of the battlefield, also led their troops to approach the Jialu River. The fierce offensive of the Northern Xinjiang Army made the coalition army panic and uneasy, and the mood of retreating from the battle permeated the entire military camp, and rumors that the army was about to retreat to Luoyang in the past two days were circulating everywhere.

The situation on the battlefield of Guandu became more and more tense, and at this time the coalition forces urgently needed a victory to boost morale, so Xu Yu urged Yuan Shao to launch an attack in Hanoi three times and twice.

Liu Bei and Gao Gan have secretly gone north, stationed troops in Aocang, and can cross the river to fight at any time, what else is there to hesitate about?

However, Yuan Shao refused to immediately launch an attack on Yizhou on the grounds that the grain and grass and ordnance of the northern Xinjiang army were still supportive and the morale was high.

Yuan Shao believes that the time for a decisive battle has not yet come, and he still needs to wait patiently. Xu You was helpless, and what Yuan Shao said was also the truth.

Before the coalition forces formed a decisive battle advantage on the Guandu battlefield, it seemed pointless to hastily send troops to attack Yizhou.

Xu You then suggested that Xu Xuan and Cao Hong on the battlefield in the south go north to attack Xiangyi. Yuan Shao was worried that his side would attack too hard, and forced all the Northern Xinjiang Army to the Guandu battlefield, but he did not agree.

In fact, Xu Xuan and Cao Hong still have the important task of protecting Xuchang, and Yuan Shao will never let them go north to enter the Guandu battlefield until they are forced to do so.

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

Yuan Shao still did not agree. Yuan Shao said that the battlefields of Guanzhong and Xuzhou had no effect on the decisive battle in the Central Plains.

Now we all listen to you, since you say that it has no effect or little effect, then what are we going to fight?

It is better to save grain and grass, reduce injuries, and prepare wholeheartedly for the decisive battle of Guandu. At the same time, Yuan Shao believed that the Northern Xinjiang Army fought so fiercely in Guandu, which was enough to prove their fear of the long-term confrontation between the two sides in Guandu.

They are not confident in defeating us, as long as we hold on for a while, the Northern Frontier Army will inevitably decline again and again after a long period of futility, and it will have no strength to fight, so it can only wait for us to fight him.

In this way, we will take back 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 angry and threw his sleeves away. He knew that Yuan Shao must have consulted Liu Biao, Fu Zhu, Yuan Wei, Feng Ji, Xin Ping and others.

Liu Biao still remembers the defeat in Jizhou, of course he is not willing to take the risk of taking the initiative again, and how can these people like Fu Zhu and Feng Ji give themselves the credit for the decisive battle in the Central Plains?

Although it is also a strategy to defeat the enemy, this strategy is too conservative, not only too long, too expensive, but also too many variables.

Yuan Shao liked this strategy, Liu Biao also liked it, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei certainly preferred it in order to keep their few troops.

Although Yuan Shao also agreed with Xu Yu's good policy, he only used it as a supplement to the overall strategy of the Central Plains War, and he did not pay attention to this strategy at all.

Xu You hurriedly returned to Zhongmu and said to Yuan Shao that now that Li Hong has arrived in Guandu, the Northern Xinjiang Army is about to launch a more fierce attack, and if you are still stubborn, the consequences will be terrible.

Xu You was severely criticized by Yuan Shao. Recently, the estrangement between the two has become wider and wider, the contradictions have become more and more acute, and quarrels have become commonplace.

The two quarreled for a while, and Xu You was immediately dragged out of the big tent by Xin Ping,

"Ziyuan, my lord's mind now is not on the Northern Frontier Army on the east bank of the chasm water, but on Guandu and Cao Cao." Xu You's soul suddenly flew out of the sky,

"He's going to kill Cao Cao?" Jump to