Volume 2 Heroes in Troubled Times Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains Section 10

In April of the third year of the founding of the Han Kingdom (199 AD).

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In early April, Yanzhou East County, on the north bank of the Yellow River.

At dawn, the dawn is just approaching the earth, leading to the north bank of the Yellow River Cangtingdu, Chi (chi) Pingdu and other ten ferries on the road, the endless stream, bustling crowds from all directions converge, like a surging torrent roaring down, the smoke and dust rising in the sky cover half of the sky, all kinds of sounds are mixed together, setting off the sound of the road straight into the sky.

Hundreds of thousands of people drove empty carriages and carried empty baskets, and walked leisurely on the gallop road, talking and laughing, without the tension and fear of rushing to the battlefield.

An army of 100,000 was sandwiched between the tide of the people and slowly marched forward.

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Cangting Ferry.

One hundred and twenty large ships spread their huge sails, shook their mighty long oars, braved the wind and waves, and quickly lined up on the surface of the Yellow River, like a line of eagles flying with wings spread, connecting the two banks of the Yellow River.

The remaining thirty large ships, loaded with strong archers and ballistas, hurried close to the waters on the south coast to prevent the enemy from attacking by boat.

When the morning glow filled the sky and a round of rising sun jumped out of the sky, the dense war drums sounded into the sky.

The big ships on the river quickly lowered their sails and dropped anchor. The boatmen and soldiers on the ship held the boats together with ropes as thick as their arms.

Sima Yi stood at the ferry and commanded the erection of the bridge. After receiving the news that the large ships were already connected, he immediately gave the order. Lay thick planks between each boat.

In the makeshift tent five miles from the ferry, the planks used to build the bridge had already arrived. Lifting the wheat straw and rainproof felt cloth spread on the grain hoard, the grain hoard, which was piled up like a hill, finally revealed its true face. Tens of thousands of able-bodied men carried the wide and thick planks to the ferry in horse-drawn wagons, and began to lay the deck of the bridge as fast as they could.

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Surrounded by a group of guards, Koji Yi and Jade hit their horses and came to the ferry.

"Zhongda, how long will it take to complete the laying of the bridge?" Koji asked anxiously as he waved his horsewhip. "Can you finish it before dusk today?"

Sima Yi was introducing Jade to the five two-story buildings moored in the middle of the river. The laying of the bridge is very particular. The Yellow River is wide. The wind and waves are strong, and the bridge must have several solid points, otherwise once the weather is bad and the water flow becomes rapid, the bridge may break at the waist, and these five huge ships full of baggage buildings play a role in reinforcing the bridge.

Jade listened with relish, but Koji was not interested at all. Sima Yi heard Lu Yi's question, and smiled apologetically at the jade. Turning around, he replied, "My lord, if the rebels on the opposite side do not attack, the laying can be completed before dusk." ”

"Can it be faster?" Koji Yi said coldly, "Now that the intention of the army to attack the Central Plains has been exposed, time is everything. If you go a little faster, you have to finish the laying before dusk. I'm going to attack and seize Cangting. ”

Sima Yi touched the beard on his lips in embarrassment, "My lord." There is one way to speed up the laying of the bridge, but ......"

"What's the solution?" Koji asked eagerly, "I'll help you solve any difficulties." ”

"It can be laid from both ends of the bridge to the middle at the same time, so the speed of building the bridge will be greatly accelerated. Sima Yi said, "There are enough people here. But I didn't have a spare boat to carry the men and the sheets to the other end of the bridge. Sima Yi pointed to the thirty big ships on the river, "There are rebels on the other side, in order to build bridges and safety, we must have protection, these ships cannot bear the responsibility of transportation, so ......"

"So attack now, huh?" Koji Yi squinted his eyes and glanced at Sima Yi appreciatively.

"Cao Cao did not have many troops left in Yanzhou to defend, at most 20,000 people. Cao Ren's 10,000 horses were stationed on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi. Xiahou Yuan's 10,000 men were stationed on the south bank of the Yellow River, and his forces were mainly concentrated in Cangting, Dong'e, Chiping, and Linyi. If we wait until tomorrow to attack. Xiahou Yuan may have requisitioned Dong'a's men and horses to Cangting overnight. This will make it much more difficult for us to attack. In my opinion, it's better to fight now. Hit him off guard. ”

Koji Yi was silent, and his gaze turned to jade.

Jade pondered for a moment, then pointed to the bridge and said, "Because there are rebels on the other side, even if we finish laying the bridge before dusk, this bridge is still about two hundred steps away from the embankment on the other side. If we succeed tomorrow, we will have to build a bridge with a distance of 200 paces, and we will have to delay it for at least half a day. He looked at Koji Yi and waved his hand vigorously, "You can fight." ”

"There are now thirty large ships on the river, five coming back at a time to carry the attack troops, and the other ships are on guard on the river. Wait until all thirty ships are filled with the soldiers of the attacking army, and then attack immediately. After the Cangting battle, the thirty large ships left five to protect the bridge, five to carry the men and sheets to another section of the bridge to build the bridge, and the remaining twenty continued to carry soldiers to the opposite bank to participate in the attack. ”

"Okay, that's it. Koji Yi turned his head to look at Wu Ye, "Which army is closest to the ferry?" ”

"Tiger camp. Wu Ye bowed and replied, "Lord Zhang Zhen has just sent a message, and the army from other places is still five miles away from the ferry. ”

"The herald ordered Lord Zhang Zhen to immediately lead the army to the ferry and attack Cangting. ”

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Xiahou Yuan sat on horseback, looking at the boats coming and going on the river, looking at the boat bridge that had gradually taken shape, his heart was almost out of breath with nervousness, and his wheezing sound was extremely heavy. Horror, panic, doubt, remorse, worry, despair, anger, all kinds of emotions are intertwined, making him suffocate and scream.

Fooled, everyone was deceived by Li Hong, and this cunning and vicious leopard finally opened its bloody mouth and killed the Yellow River violently.

Wang Zhong beat his horse and galloped over, "My lord, my lord......"

Xiahou Yuan looked at him coldly, and slowly squeezed out a few words from between his teeth. "Does the Northern Frontier Army build bridges at other ferry crossings?"

Wang Zhong wiped the sweat from his face, nodded again and again, his eyes were full of horror, "My lord, there have been urgent reports from Puhe, Yang Xu, Lin Ting and other places, and the Northern Xinjiang Army is erecting a ship bridge. ”

"So, from Chiping to Cangting...... Xiahou Yuan pointed to the east of the Yellow River. Sighing helplessly, "The Northern Xinjiang Army launched an attack at the same time on the Yellow River section of the 150-mile region. How do we resist? ”

Wang Zhong swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said nervously, "There are twelve ferries on the Yellow River one hundred and fifty miles from Cangting to Chiping, and according to the posture of the Northern Xinjiang Army, twelve ship bridges may have to be erected. Wang Zhong's voice trembled a few times, "My lord, twelve bridges." How many Northern Frontier troops will there be? Lakh? Two hundred thousand? 300,000 ......" Wang Zhong's voice became lower and lower, so low that he could barely hear himself.

"Shameless, despicable......" Xiahou Yuan suddenly scolded angrily, "We are all fooled." Look at it, look at these ships......" Xiahou Yuan pointed ahead excitedly, "Without more than a year of preparation, how can Hebei gather a fleet of such a scale?" What Liaodong rebellion, Kirby bear disaster in the desert. It's all fake, it's all Hebei's tricks to deceive us. ”

"It seems that after the end of the Jizhou War, Hebei is preparing for you to go south to the Central Plains. Wang Zhong lamented, "My lord, what should I do now? Shall we withdraw or defend? ”

"Withdraw. Withdraw immediately,...... Xiahou Yuan pulled out with a volley, "Our few men and horses are not enough for the Northern Frontier Army to plug the teeth." Ordered the troops stationed at the various ferries to retreat hastily to Dong'e City, and ...... quickly"

"What about Chiping?" Wang Zhong hurriedly asked, "Do you want Cai Yang to withdraw immediately?" He only has 3,000 men and horses, and he will be eaten by the Northern Frontier Army in the blink of an eye. ”

"Hold on to help. Xiahou Yuan said categorically, "If we keep one more day, we will be able to buy one more day for the Prime Minister to return to the Central Plains." It cannot be returned. ”

"Your Excellency," Wang Zhong shouted urgently, "Let's quickly withdraw from the front line ......of Dong'e and Chiping." Stick to Dong'e and Chiping. It's definitely a dead end. ”

"If the Northern Xinjiang Army has erected twelve ship bridges over the Yellow River. When a ship bridges over an army of 10,000, there is an army of 120,000. plus tens of thousands of troops in the direction of Henan. The Northern Frontier Army attacked the Central Plains this time, mobilizing at least 200,000 troops. Wang Zhong kept wiping the sweat from his face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Even if the Prime Minister comes back and Yuan Shao's army supports, we are not the opponent of the Northern Frontier Army." My lord, let's let Cai Yang retreat to Linyi first. As long as the army is there, we have a chance to strike back. Adult ......"

Xiahou Yuan was silent, his face was murderous.

"My lord, we only have an army of 10,000, and we are still guarding various cities, and we can't compete with the Northern Frontier Army in terms of troops. The Northern Xinjiang Army cannot be compared with Lu Bu back then. At that time, Lu Bu only had more than 10,000 people, so Cheng Yu and others could hold Dong'e, Fanxian, and Juan (juan) cities for several months, but now there are more than 100,000 people in the northern Xinjiang army going south, how can we hold it? If the Northern Xinjiang Army took advantage of the speed of the Iron Cavalry to quickly move south to the line of Dingtao and Changyi, and surrounded us in several small cities such as Dong'e, our more than 10,000 people would really stuff the teeth of the Northern Xinjiang Army. ”

The murderous aura on Xiahou Yuan's face gradually dissipated, replaced by a full of grief and pain.

"It's too late. Xiahou Yuan looked up to the sky and sighed, "It's too late for us." ”

"The Prime Minister's army is in the Huaishui area, more than a thousand miles away from the Central Plains, even if he rushes back day and night, it will be half a month later. Yuan Shao's army has returned to Henan. Some time ago, tens of thousands of northern Xinjiang troops went south to attack Xingyang, apparently to drag him in Henan. Even if we ask him for help now, he doesn't have an army to march east into Yanzhou, and he can only watch the Northern Xinjiang Army sweep across the Central Plains. ”

"My lord, it's too sudden, who would have thought that Hebei would attack the Central Plains so quickly? It was only a year and a half after the end of the Jizhou War, and Hebei sent the main force south to the Central Plains, which shows Li Hong's madness. Wang Zhong pleaded, "My lord, let's withdraw to Dingtao and Changyi and meet Lord Cao Ren." If you want to guard, you will also go to Dingtao and Changyi to guard. The military and ground fronts in northern Xinjiang have been lengthened, and the cities have been occupied, and their grain and grass transportation and troops will be reduced. As soon as the Northern Xinjiang Army loses its spirit, we can fight a decisive battle with them on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi, and at that time we still have reinforcements from Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, so we can give it a go. ”

"Okay, let's withdraw ......" Xiahou Yuan carefully weighed the pros and cons, and finally agreed, "Urgently tell Cai Yang, withdraw from Chiping, and defend Linyi." If Linyi can't hold it, it will be withdrawn to Dongping to hold on. ”

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In early April, Yanzhou East County, Stone Oxford.

The remnant sun is like blood.

The galloping horse suddenly stood upright, and the fierce neighing was heard far away with the gust of river wind.

Li Hong held the reins of the horse and roared to the sky.

Liu Bao and Yang Ming followed closely and rushed to the river embankment together.

"It's here, it's the Yellow River. "Driving the ......" Yang Ming kicked the horse's belly, the war horse neighed in pain, the speed did not decrease, jumped off the river embankment, and rushed straight towards the surging Yellow River, "to the Yellow River......" Yang Ming shouted wildly on the horse, and the war horse carried him to run wild in the Yellow River water, and the waves were shining.

It has been fifteen years since I went north to defend the border fortress, and I haven't seen the Yellow River in the Central Plains for fifteen years, and I haven't seen the Yellow River in my hometown for fifteen years......

Yang Ming burst into tears and shouted over and over again.

Liu Bao sat upright on his horse and let out a long breath to calm the excitement in his heart. I grew up by the Yellow River since I was a child, but it was the Yellow River in Hexi, not the Yellow River in the Central Plains. Galloping on both sides of the Yellow River in the Central Plains is an indelible dream in my heart. Today, a dream has come true.

Liu Bao's eyes looked at Li Hong. This legendary general has helped him realize his unattainable dreams, without this general, he is probably still a boring herding horse and sheep in a certain tribe, how could he become a famous figure today?

Li Hong turned his head and smiled at Liu Bao, "Drinking the Yellow River today, what do you think?" ”

"In this life and this life, I am willing to follow the general to conquer the four seas until death. Liu Bao raised his right arm and roared loudly, "Wherever the general goes, I will fight bloodily for you." ”

Li Hong was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting Liu Bao to swear to say such a thing at this time. He reached out to hold Liu Bao's right arm with emotion, shook it a few times, and everything was silent.

Smoke and dust rolled from the distant sky, a loud, low roar came from far and near, and the earth trembled violently in the light of the setting sun.

The Iron Cavalry marched mightily to the banks of the Yellow River.

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He led a team of guards to gallop along the embankment of the Yellow River.

"General, the two generals Lu Yi and Lu Bu urgently reported that Lord Zhang Zhen led the Huben battalion to attack Cangting, and Lord Guo Xun led the army to attack Chiping. ”

"What about the rest of the ferries?"

"The rebels have retreated, except for Cangting and Chiping, the rest of the ferries have been unimpeded, and the armies of all walks of life can smoothly cross the river and go south. ”

Li Hong waved his hand vigorously, "Order all departments to cross the river overnight." ”

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