Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains Fifth Section of March, Henan Yin, Xingyang City. The drums above Xingyang City shook the sky, the sound of fierce fighting resounded through the mountains, the faint blood in the air floated in the wind, the breath of death wandered like a ghost on the waterside, and the desperate and tragic screams quietly enveloped the entire battlefield.

Long arrows rained down with a heart-rending roar, and more than 2,000 siege soldiers shouted all the way, rushing across the moat and climbing along hundreds of ladders.

The military candidate Nian Yu jumped over the blood-stained battlement, and the shield in his hand struck down with a thunderous blow.

The oncoming enemy spear pierced the air, and his body could not dodge, and he was smashed by this head-on shield and his head was bleeding, and he turned over and fell.

Nian Junyu's war knife whistled and chopped down, and when the blood light burst out, the long legs of the enemy pawn were split in two. Before the screams were over, a bloody spear fell from the sky, piercing his body as it fell to the ground.

"Kill ......" Nian Junyu landed on his feet and looked back and shouted,

"Kill me ......" The sword waved, bringing up the sky full of wind and thunder, strings of warm blood beads shot straight into the sky, and the severed limbs and stumps danced in the wind with a terrible howl in the roar of anger.

The Nian Emperor and his soldiers were brave and tried their best to fight their way out of the narrow city walls.

"Brothers, form a formation...... Formation ...... Hold the battlement for me. Nian Junyu trampled on the corpse of the enemy, brandished his sword and shield, and shouted wildly.

The soldiers who followed echoed in unison, each occupying their own positions, fighting bloodily with the moon arc formation, and covering more soldiers to rush to the city tower with their own lives.

The enemy's counterattack became more and more fierce, and in a short moment, the three thugs were swallowed up by the stormy attack.

Nian Junyu's eyes were red. Hatred made him lose his mind, and he was like a mad tiger, opening its bloody jaws and roaring forward.

"Archer, shoot him...... Shoot him ......" The commander of the enemy garrison held his bloody severed arm, and retreated again and again, and his hoarse and terrible screams were terrifying.

Three archers rushed to the front with crossbows, and the crossbow arrows roared out. Nian Jun Yu couldn't hide, roared, and at the moment when his body flew upside down, he threw his sword at the enemy in front of him.

The "Kill ......" crossbow arrow rushed out of Nian Junyu's body and nailed it to the city wall with a few traces of scarlet blood.

The young marquis fell to the ground with a bang. The enemy swarmed up, swords and spears roared down, and the corpses were instantly torn apart, and their heads were raised high.

"Kill ......" The anger of the soldiers in northern Xinjiang suddenly broke out, and the killing sound was like thunder. Yan Liang looked at the team of iron horsemen galloping in the distance, and his face showed a hint of joy.

Zhang He hurriedly greeted him. Wei Xu and Song Xianfei dismounted, and the two sides exchanged greetings.

"After Lord Xu and Lord Zhang took Chenggao City, they immediately ordered me and Lord Song to lead the army to hurry over." Wei Xu asked anxiously,

"We're not late, are we?"

"It's just the right time." Zhang He pointed to the battlefield in the distance, and said with a grim expression,

"You were able to arrive in Xingyang a day earlier, which greatly eased the tension in the direction of Xingyang."

"How is the battle in Xingyang?" Song Xian asked,

"Are we going to go into a siege right away?"

"We've been attacking for two days straight." Zhang He shook his head,

"Xingyang City is tall and strong, there are many defenders in the city, and the grain, grass and ordnance are also very sufficient, so it is very difficult to fight." He suddenly thought that Xu Huang could quickly take Chenggao City and divide his troops to support Xingyang in advance, so he must have some strange tricks to attack the city, so he hurriedly asked,

"Chenggao City is very close to Luoyang, and it is backed by the Yellow River, it is a barrier of the Tiger Pass, and the defense is very tight, how did you fight it?"

"We were shot down with stone cannons." Song Xian replied,

"Chenggao City is only fifteen miles from the Yellow River, and the stone cannons were quickly transported to the city. We stormed for a day, and at dusk we ceased fighting. In the middle of the night, Lord Xu ordered the chariot battalion to push the stone cannons under the city, first projecting clay pots filled with fire oil onto the city wall and the houses near the city wall, and then setting fire to the stones coated with fire oil. The fire immediately ignited, and the city of Chenggao was in a panic, and we took the opportunity to attack the city. ”

That night the wind was very strong, and the fire in the houses became more and more vigorous, gradually spreading to the city, and as a result, the storehouse where the grain and grass were stored was burned, and Chenggao City suddenly fell into a sea of fire. The defenders in the city had no intention of fighting and rushed to flee, so we easily took Chenggao City without danger. As Song Xian walked, he told the process of attacking Chenggaocheng.

Zhang He listened attentively and asked for some details from time to time.

"Do you have heavy casualties?" Zhang He asked.

"If we add in the damage to the river crossing attack, we have about 1,200 casualties." Wei Xu asked rhetorically,

"What about your casualties?"

"In the past two days, we have three soldiers who have died on the tower." Zhang He lowered his head and sighed. Three soldiers were killed in two days, and the tragedy of this battle can be imagined.

Wei Xu and Song Xian looked at each other and looked at the bloody battlefield ahead. Yan Liang waved his hand and motioned for Wei Xu and Song Xian to walk to the front of the case.

"This is Guancheng (now Zhengzhou)." Yan Liang patted the map on the table with the horsewhip in his hand,

"This place is sixty miles away from Xingyang and one hundred and seventy miles away from Zhongmu."

"Two days ago, Lord Zhao Xuan led 2,500 people to attack this city, preparing to block the reinforcements in the direction of Zhongmu, but as soon as Lord Zhao Xuan began to attack, the reinforcements from Zhongmu City arrived. Lord Zhao Xuan had no choice but to give up the siege and instead fight to the death with enemy reinforcements at Xinting, five miles outside the city. ”

"This morning, Lord Zhao Xuan asked me for help, saying that the second batch of reinforcements from Zhongmu City had approached Guancheng. If nothing else, there will be fierce battles in the direction of Sinting at dusk today or tomorrow morning. Yan Liang's face was like frost, and he looked up at the two of them,

"The two adults immediately went to support, took the city, and blocked the enemy's reinforcements." Yan Liang whipped at Xingyang, and the murderous aura appeared,

"I need time to lay down Xingyang now. Before the battle flag of the army is planted on the tower, you must defend the city for me, and not allow an enemy to rush to the city of Xingyang. ”

"Don't worry, my lord, if the rebels want to cross the city, they will not walk through my corpse." Wei Xu looked excited and said loudly.

Liang waved his hand vigorously,

"Let's go."

"Wait." Zhang He raised his hand and said,

"There are things that I want to make clear to you. Two adults, please look at ......" Zhang He's finger map,

"With Xingyang as the center, the Yellow River is in the north, Chenggao in the west, Aocang in the east, and Guancheng in the west. The two adults take a closer look, what kind of formation is this? ”

"This is a cone-shaped formation based on the Yellow River." Wei Xu only glanced at it, then pointed to Guan Cheng and said,

"This is the tip of the cone formation. Whether we can gain a foothold in Henan depends on the sharpness of this cone. He nodded and said,

"In this southward attack, the imperial court's will to us is to drag Yuan Shao's army in Henan, so this cone-shaped formation focuses on defense."

"After we conquered Xingyang, we immediately stationed heavy troops in Xingyang, and the role of Guancheng is to build a barrier for Xingyang."

"When Luoyang's reinforcements attacked Chenggao, we supported Chenggao. When Yuan Shao's main force returned from Baima and Puyang to attack Aocang from the direction of Yangwu, we came to the aid of Aocang. Our goal was achieved when Cheng Gao, Ao Cang, and Guan Cheng were attacked at the same time, and then we only had to hold out for a while before retreating to Hanoi. Song Xian hesitated,

"Whether or not we can take Guancheng and stick to Guancheng is directly related to whether the army can drag Yuan Shao's main army in Henan. We know this, but the problem is that we dragged Yuan Shao's main army in Henan to prevent him from capturing the Central Plains, and the final result was to cheapen Cao Cao's butcher. I don't understand, why did the imperial court do this? Why would the general agree to such an unreasonable strategy? Yan Liang snorted coldly, his thick eyebrows furrowed,

"We only care about the war, and don't care about the affairs of the court." His tone was very dissatisfied, and he obviously agreed with Song Xian's question.

Zhang He sighed softly,

"Fight the battle well first and try to avoid losses. The purpose of this battle is just to prevent Yuan Shao from capturing the Central Plains, and we really don't need to pay too much price, so as not to lose more than we gain. Under March, Guancheng, Xinting. Dawn crept in, a faint layer of mist floated in the mountains and forests, and thick blood swept in with gusts of morning wind. Zhao Xuan carried the bloodstained battle helmet and slowly walked on the slope of the corpses, kicking the body lying in a pool of blood from time to time to see if it was alive or dead. Jun Sima Du Tian closed his eyes in a daze, felt that his head was kicked, and suddenly jumped up in shock, opened his mouth and shouted,

"Drums, drums, archers ready to ......" Du Tian's hoarse roar shattered the silence of dawn, and hundreds of soldiers suddenly staggered to their feet from the pile of dead on the battlefield.

Zhao Xuan looked around, his heart felt a cramp, and the muscles on his face twitched violently a few times. The bloody battle continued until the early hours of the morning, and the soldiers, exhausted, fell asleep on the battlefield.

The rebels who came to support from the Zhongmu direction were about 3,000 people, and they had a certain advantage in numbers.

Due to his own lack of preparation, he suffered a great loss at the beginning of the battle, and it was not until nightfall that he regained the disadvantage little by little, but the losses were so great that the army almost lost the ability to continue fighting.

If the rebels' follow-up reinforcements arrive this morning, he and the remaining 1,000 soldiers will be in a desperate situation.

Du Tian looked back at Zhao Xuan and laughed embarrassedly,

"The next time you patrol the camp, it's best not to kick me in the head, it's easy to cause misunderstanding."

"What? You're going to cut me with a knife? Zhao Xuan glared at him, waved at the soldiers around him, and motioned for them to continue to rest.

"How's your leg? Can you still fight? Du Tian looked at the arrow wound on his thigh and grinned bitterly,

"It would have been nice to take Guancheng yesterday morning. We hold on to the city, not to mention 3,000 rebels, even 10,000 rebels are not afraid. Zhao Xuan shook his head regretfully.

The defenders of Guancheng were only 500 men, and they did not defeat them all morning, and as a result, they incurred such heavy losses.

"When the city is taken, Lao Tzu will slaughter the city and kill a chicken and dog." Du Tian scolded viciously.

"Knock knock ......" drums beat loudly in the enemy camp ahead.

"It's coming, it's going to fight." Zhao Xuan slowly put on his battle helmet and reached out to pat Du Tian,

"If you can survive this time, I invite you to drink wine and eat meat." Before the words fell, the direction of Guancheng suddenly drummed like thunder, and the sound of killing was like a tide.

Zhao Xuan and Du Tian changed color in shock.

"My lord, we're going to drink wine and eat meat underground." Du Tian smiled bitterly. Zhao Xuan gritted his teeth, pulled out his knife and shouted,

"Drumming ......"

"Brothers, follow me and kill ......" Zhao Xuan took the lead and fought bravely towards the enemy army in front.

"Kill ......" The soldiers of Northern Xinjiang moved forward, followed closely behind Zhao Xuan, and roared away. Wei continued to be the first soldier, and the sword was invincible.

Five thousand soldiers marched sixty miles in the night, and at dawn launched a tidal attack on Guancheng.

Guancheng is like a light boat in the ocean, which is swallowed up by the roaring waves in an instant. As soon as the army entered the city, Wei Xu asked Song Xian to stay and defend the city, and he led the army to kill Xinting quickly.

The soldiers in northern Xinjiang, who were already desperate, suddenly saw the reinforcements coming, and their morale was like a rainbow, and the momentum of the attack was higher and higher.

The reinforcements of Zhongmu City were taken by surprise and were broken through the defense line from the flank by Wei Xu's army. The army then collapsed and was annihilated.

Zhao Xuan sat on the ground panting, looked at Wei Xu, who was covered in blood, and asked with dissatisfaction: "You came here in the starry night, why didn't you send someone to greet you in advance?" Wei Xu laughed, pointed to the battlefield strewn with corpses, and said, "If I had told you in advance, would you still attack to the death?" Zhao Xuan scolded in a low voice, deploring his loss very much.

"After annihilating these 3,000 people, the follow-up reinforcements of Zhongmu City are insufficient, and they will not be able to pose a threat to us in the short term." Wei Xu sat down beside him, lay down on his back, and stretched comfortably,

"The battle here in Guancheng is stable, so we can dispatch men and horses to support Xingyang and Aocang at any time to block the attack of Yuan Shao's main army." In March, Henan Yin, Xingyang City.

Yan Liang and Zhang He walked out of the big tent, got on their horses and galloped towards the north city gate. After learning that Xu Huang used the strategy of fire attack to take Chenggao, Yan Liang immediately ordered all thirty stone cannons to be concentrated in Beicheng, preparing to launch a fierce offensive at night.

"Wei Xu has already taken Guancheng." Yan Liang looked up at the red sunset in the west, and said with a heavy heart,

"If we can't take Xingyang for a long time, the situation will be grim."

"There's no time." Zhang He was worried,

"It has been five days since the attack on the river crossing. If nothing else, Yuan Shao's army to return to Henan is almost there. "Ride fast and gallop to come,

"Wang Dang's urgent report." Yan Liang quickly glanced at the letter, his face changed slightly,

"Junyi, you're right."

"Yuan Shao came back to help?" Zhang He asked in surprise. Yan Liang shook his head and handed the letter to Zhang He,

"Yuan Shao's main force is still in the Baima and Puyang areas, and only Jiang Qi's 10,000 troops are currently returning to Henan, and there is still a day's journey from Aocang. It seems that we are running out of time. "Jump to