Chapter 9 Zhulu Central Plains 36th Festival April, Dingtao City West Sixty Miles, Ming Pavilion. Cao Cao commanded his army to launch an attack on the Northern Frontier Army stationed in Mingting.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the Northern Frontier Army dug many trenches on the battlefield, spread heavy deer barricades and horses between the trenches, and then erected 500 ballistas, more than 30 stone cannons and 5,000 strong archers behind them.

If the Yanzhou army wanted to kill in front of the battle formation of the Northern Xinjiang Army, it needed to fill in the trenches and move away from the deer and reject the horses, but under the stormy shooting of the Northern Xinjiang Army, their losses were too great, and the attack was forced to stop for a while.

The Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry Army was just north of the battlefield, and they attacked from time to time, causing great trouble to the Yanzhou army.

Cao Cao needed troops to defend the flanks of the army, and did not dare to devote all his forces to the frontal battlefield, so the fierce offensive gradually weakened.

Three days later, Liu Bei led his army to the battlefield. The two armies merged into one, and their strength and morale were greatly boosted.

The offensive and defensive battles between the two sides suddenly became fierce. Cao Cao and Liu Bei personally went to the front line to supervise the battle, and in the face of the tragic battlefield and their own heavy casualties, Cao Cao was worried, and repeatedly urged to speed up the attack and tear apart the defense line of the Northern Xinjiang Army as soon as possible.

"My lord, the arrow array of the Northern Frontier Army is too powerful, and every time we take a step forward, we have to pay a huge price. If we continue to fight like this, our soldiers will be completely overwhelmed by the long arrows of the Northern Frontier Army. Cao Hong stood on a high slope, pointed to the battlefield in the distance, and said breathlessly,

"The Northern Frontier Army's blocking technique this time is completely different from the past. They had a lot of men, and they were constantly digging trenches and arranging deer bars to keep horses out on the galloping roads behind the battlefield. Every step back of their soldiers was able to rely on these obstacles to resist stubbornly. ”

"The soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army still don't want to fight us head-on?" Cao Cao asked angrily.

"Yes. They used trenches, deer barricades, and horses to set up obstacles between the two armies, and used dense arrays of arrows to shoot at our soldiers who attacked the obstacles. When we rushed very close to the battle formation of the Northern Frontier Army, they withdrew into the next obstacle, and there was not the slightest sign of coming out to fight us head-on. Cao Hong said helplessly.

"The Northern Xinjiang Army must preserve its strength." Liu Bei's thick eyebrows tightened, and he said worriedly.

"The terrain here in Mingting is not good, and the gallop road starts from here and goes up, winding forward along the hillside woods, about a dozen miles long. If we continue to fight, our losses are indeed too great. Cao Cao was furious and waved his hand and shouted, "What if you don't fight?" Although the terrain here is conducive to the blocking of the infantry of the northern frontier, it is not conducive to the charging and killing of the iron cavalry of the northern frontier. In my opinion, it is better to draw more men from the flanks to participate in the attack. ”

"My lord, by all means." Liu Bei hurriedly shook his hand,

"Once the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry rushes through the blockade, we are not only likely to be cut off by Li Hong, but also more likely to lose our grain and grass."

"My lord, there are five days left, and the army in the city will break through." Full of pets also persuaded on the side,

"It has only been more than 20 days since the Northern Xinjiang Army entered Yanzhou, and no matter how well they prepared in the early stage, it was difficult for them to transport all the grain, grass and ordnance accumulated in Jizhou to Dingtao City in a short period of time. Based on the arrows fired by the Northern Frontier Army in the past five days, the number of ordnance they have left will not be too much. We continued to attack, increasing the number of feints to reduce casualties, and in doing so, we were able to consume a lot of the arrows of the Northern Army. By the time the troops in the city break through five days later, the Northern Frontier Army may not be able to hold back our front and rear attacks due to lack of armament. While the crowd was arguing, drums and trumpets sounded in the rear of the army, and the iron cavalry of the Huns began to attack the flank of the coalition again.

"Damn the Huns......" Cao Cao whipped down, and a clump of weeds was broken by the waist and flew up,

"When I defeat Changyi, I will definitely kill these barbarians to the ground." At dusk, the scout delivered a startling message.

The northern Xinjiang iron cavalry quietly crossed the Jishui River, surrounded Jiyang, and cut off the grain route of the army. Cao Cao was taken aback.

The army's food and grass were already seriously insufficient a few days ago, and if Liu Bei hadn't arrived in time, he would have been hungry.

Although Yuan Shao promised to provide himself with grain and grass baggage, considering Chen Liu's safety, he only promised to let the army escort the grain and grass baggage to Jiyang, and then Cao Cao sent someone to pick it up.

After meeting with Liu Bei, Cao Cao immediately freed up manpower to rush to Jiyang to carry grain and grass, but he didn't expect to let the Northern Xinjiang Army take the lead.

"The Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry is deep alone, aren't you afraid of being surrounded by us?" Cao Cao's face showed a rare smile,

"But that's fine, the fewer troops under Dingtao City, the greater our certainty of success. Li Hong wants to cut off my food and force me to retreat, so I'll surprise him. ”

"Ordered Cao Chun and Xu Chu to take the tiger and leopard to ride south to meet Zhang Fei on the front line of defense and attack Changyi City." At this time, Cao Cao didn't dare to leave the Dingtao battlefield.

Since the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry can surround Jiyang, of course, it can also directly kill 500 miles to raid Chen Liu. If Chen Liu was captured by the Northern Frontier Army, the original second line of defense could not be established, and he would be surrounded by the Northern Frontier Army.

At that time, even if he rescued the army in Dingtao City, he would have to face the encirclement and interception of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and he could only escape from the rain of bullets and arrows.

Now, Cao Cao had great confidence in raiding Changyi. Since the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry on the Dingtao battlefield killed him in the back, the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry guarding Changyi must rush to the vicinity of Dingtao in order to pursue and kill him when he retreats.

His back road was cut off, so he could only choose a road to escape from the north and south banks of the Jishui River, either fleeing north to Fengqiu to join Yuan Shao's army, or fleeing south to Bocheng into the territory of Liang in Yuzhou.

If the Northern Xinjiang Army wants to encircle itself, it must deploy iron cavalry on the north and south banks of the Jishui River, so that Changyi City will become an empty city.

After taking Changyi, the Northern Xinjiang Army took care of one thing and the other, and the tide of the battle was reversed, and he took the opportunity to lead the army to withdraw to Yuzhou.

Preserving strength is his first priority, as long as he has strength, Liu Bei's strategy will not succeed.

When the coalition army blocked the Northern Xinjiang Army in the second or third line of defense, with the advantage of the coalition army in terms of strength and wealth, it was completely possible to defeat Li Hong and recapture the Central Plains.

I have strength, but I am afraid that Yuan Shao will annex the Central Plains? Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if the Central Plains is defeated, the Northern Xinjiang Army will next fight Luoyang and Yuan Shao, and will not waste time and energy chasing and killing themselves.

With a large army in his hands, when Li Hong and Yuan Shao were unable to look south, the counties and counties around Yuzhou and Jianghuai would immediately become their own turf for a comeback.

The army, no matter what, must keep the army, as long as the army is in hand, there is still hope for everything.

"Ordered all departments to make a feint attack, make a hesitant posture of retreating, and lure the Northern Xinjiang Army to the north and south banks of the Jishui River as much as possible."

"Urgently report to Yuan Shao, ask him to do everything possible to hold Chenliu, and quickly send troops to receive us from the Dingtao battlefield." The change in the situation of the battle made everyone panic.

The power of the Northern Iron Cavalry is gradually being revealed, and the bloody and cruel leopard has already revealed its claws. Can the army succeed in rescuing the army in Dingtao City and then break through the siege smoothly?

In April, Yingchuan, Yuzhou, Xuchang. The good news has been sent to Xuchang one after another, and Yuan Shao's mood has been getting better and better day by day in the past few days.

"Lord Gao Rou said in his letter that the Northern Frontier Army had given up Pinggao and had retreated to Huaicheng." Feng Ji made a summary of the battle reports of the past few days, and finally said,

"At present, the Northern Xinjiang Army has withdrawn from Guanxi and Henan, and on the battlefield in Hanoi, the two sides have also returned to the front before March, and the Luoyang crisis has passed."

"It has been more than a month since the Northern Xinjiang Army suddenly attacked Henan." Yuan Shao stroked his short beard and said happily,

"I can finally breathe a sigh of relief today." Fu Zhu, who was looking down at the scroll, turned his head slightly and glanced at Yuan Shao, wanting to say something, but then lowered his head again and stopped talking.

"How's the situation over there in Guanzhong?" Yuan Shao asked,

"Does Xiansi (Yuan Tan) have a letter?"

"No news." Feng Ji shook his head and said,

Yang Feng led the army to kill back violently, whether it was Xiansi or Lord Duan Xuan, they could only avoid its edge and temporarily guard the south bank of the Yellow River. Especially Xiansi, he was reluctant to send troops before, under the pretext that Han Sui threatened Chang'an. Now that Yang Feng has returned with the army, he certainly has a better excuse to withdraw his troops. ”

"The book tells you that you are not allowed to withdraw your troops without my orders." Yuan Shao frowned and said loudly,

Now the armies of Luoyang, Henan, Yuzhou, Jingzhou and other places are fighting on the battlefield in the Central Plains, and of course he must do his best. You tell him that if he continues to act willfully and refuses to obey military orders, I will let him go back to Luoyang to stay. Feng Ji nodded again and again, and was about to speak, but Yuan Shao had already set his eyes on Frustration,

"How is the situation on the battlefield in Yanzhou? Cao Cao and Liu Bei refused to accept our suggestion, and were unwilling to hold on to the city on the front line of Juju and Jiyang, and the method of establishing a temporary defense line was no longer feasible. You see, can Cao Cao and Liu Bei fight to the city of Dingtao and rescue the armies of Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, Xin Bi and others? If they can break through the resistance of the Northern Xinjiang Army and successfully enter Dingtao, the battle situation may be ......"

"Impossible." Frustrated with a mouthful of denial,

"It is impossible for Cao Cao to break through the resistance of the Northern Frontier Army. If Cao Cao had wiped out the army under Dingtao City, what else would he have? Nothing. Therefore, Cao Cao will do whatever it takes to retain his strength. For the sake of the overall situation, I suggest that you immediately organize your army and rush to Chenliu, advance eastward along the north and south banks of the Jishui River, and rescue Cao Cao and Liu Bei before the Northern Frontier Army encircles and annihilates them. ”

"Get them out?" Yuan Shao was slightly surprised, and then laughed thoughtfully,

"I'm going to save them?"

"Of course." Frustrated said,

"Don't think that the Northern Xinjiang Army currently has no advantage in strength on the Yanzhou battlefield, so it can't completely annihilate Cao Cao and Liu Bei."

"Li Hong has been on the battlefield for a long time, and many battles have been won with less fighting. The adults have participated in the Battle of Yicheng in Xiliang, and they should remember that Li Hong was at an absolute disadvantage in that battle, but what was the result? If the adults don't send troops to support this time, Cao Cao and Liu Bei will definitely be more auspicious, and the whole army will be wiped out. ”

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei's entire army was annihilated, although it can buy us time and help us hold the first line of Fengqiu and Chenliu, but this is only temporary. Yan Liang of the Northern Xinjiang Army will soon enter the Central Plains, and tens of thousands of troops of Gao Shun, Zang Ba, and Guan Hai will also appear in the Central Plains. The loss of the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army to encircle and annihilate Cao Cao and Liu Bei can be solved by levying prisoners, so that the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army will surpass ours. We can't hold the first line of Fengqiu and Chenliu, and it is very likely that the army will be defeated like a mountain, and we will be defeated for thousands of miles, so we can only defend Luoyang. Yuan Shao thought for a while, then raised his head and exchanged glances with Feng Ji.

Feng Ji nodded slightly,

"Once the main force of our army appears on the front line of Chenliu and Fengqiu, it will be a deterrent to the Northern Xinjiang Army. The army may not be dispatched, and it will be able to scare the Northern Frontier Army back. For the Northern Xinjiang Army, if it wants to completely annihilate Cao Cao and Liu Bei, it will need to pay amazing losses, and the Northern Xinjiang Army may not be willing. Frustrated with disapproval, a hint of mockery lifted up at the corner of his mouth.

"The left and right flanks of the Northern Xinjiang Army will soon appear on the battlefield in the Central Plains. The three armies of the Northern Xinjiang Army marched in unison, and more than 100,000 troops roared up, and we could only divide our troops to block them. At this time, the number of troops will be directly related to whether we can block the Northern Frontier Army and drag the Northern Frontier Army. Fu Zhu smiled bitterly and continued: "I have repeatedly said that we are going to fight a decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army, and if we want to defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army, we must first give full play to our advantages. Our strength is in strength and wealth. Once Cao Cao and Liu Bei were defeated, we immediately lost the advantage of troops, and this battle could not be fought. Therefore, we must do our best to rescue the tens of thousands of troops of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Then we relied on the two blocking lines and Luoyang City to confront the Northern Xinjiang Army for a long time, dragging the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield in the Central Plains until it was collapsed and defeated. ”

"However, in the future, the battle will be won, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, as well as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are full-fledged, we ......" Feng Ji's face was worried, and he whispered half a sentence, but this sentence was obviously out of place, and he immediately swallowed back the following words.

He looked at him with disdain, and said solemnly: "At this moment, if we want to defeat the rebellious Li Hong, defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army, and protect the Great Han Society, we must work together and work together, otherwise everyone will be finished together." Yuan Shao didn't hesitate any longer, and waved his hand vigorously,

"Urgently tell Xianyi (Yuan Xi), Jiang Qi, Wen Ping and others, immediately lead the army to Chenliu, attack to the front line of Dongduan and Jiyang, and support Cao Cao and Liu Bei."

"Urgently tell Xin Ping, immediately go to Baima to meet Gao Gan, attack Puyang, and block the right-wing army of the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"Urgently tell Xu Xuan in Runan, Yuzhou, Jian Yong, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Ji Ling and others in Pengcheng, Xuzhou, speed up the speed of going north to support the Central Plains battlefield, and don't delay any longer, so as not to delay the fighters."

"Urgently tell Luoyang Yuan Wei, judge the adult, seize the time to recruit the people, and transport grain and grass to Zhongmu and Chen Liu. Urgently inform the officials of Yingchuan, Nanyang and other prefectures that the two major events of requisitioning and dispatching people and transporting grain and grass must be completed by the end of this month. ”

"Urgently tell Lord Liu Biao, and ask him to urge the follow-up reinforcements in Jingzhou to speed up as soon as possible and rush to the Central Plains battlefield as soon as possible. There is also a weight of grain and grass, and he is also asked to find a way to speed up the delivery. Feng Ji, Yuan Zhong, Wang Lang and others hurriedly drafted the decree.

Fu Zhu approached Yuan Shao and said in a low voice: "Yuan Hao (Tian Feng) has arrived in Henan, do you want him to follow behind Xianyi (Yuan Xi)?" ”

"You mean, let Xianyi command all the armies in Chenliu?" Yuan Shao was very surprised by Fu Zhi's proposal.

"Your Excellency can't leave the Son of Heaven no matter what." Frustrated and said solemnly,

"Where the Son of Heaven goes, where you go, you will not leave an inch." In April, Hanoi, Chao Song City. Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, Wang Dang, Xu Huang, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Liao and others gathered in the big tent.

The Northern Xinjiang Army invested 50,000 troops in the two battlefields of Henan and Hanoi, and after more than a month of bloody battles, it lost more than 12,000 people, of which more than 40 percent of the casualties occurred in the course of the Pinggao War.

After Zhang Yan ordered Yan Liang to withdraw from the Henan battlefield, he asked Wang Ling, who was engaged in Zhonglang, to rush to Chaoge City with 10,000 reserve soldiers to replenish Yan Liang's army.

These 10,000 people were temporarily recruited from the soldiers of the seven battalions in Jizhou. According to the recruit system, one male soldier from each soldier household can go to war, but under special circumstances, fathers, sons, and brothers will also go to the battlefield together.

Yan Liang gave Peng Lie 5,000 recruits and asked him to garrison Huaicheng. Then he transferred 8,000 men from other ministries to Zhang Liao and asked him to accompany him to the battle.

Wang Ling was instructed to convey the specific orders of the generals of the unified army to cross the river and attack.

"According to the request of Lord Zhang Yan, the five armies that crossed the river to the south crossed the river from five places." Wang Ling's hand started from the dawn on the map and slowly slid to the sliding pavilion,

"The boat crossing the river is already in place, and you can cross the river after you have led your troops to the ferry."

"Lord Gao Ran has led his troops out of Puyang yesterday and attacked in the direction of White Horse City, in order to attract rebel forces and plan for you to cross the river." Wang Ling looked at everyone and said with a smile,

"If nothing else, you can reach the other side smoothly and kill White Horse City directly."

"How many high-ranking officials are there in White Horse City?" Wang Dang asked,

"Has Lord Gao Lan found out?"

"Some time ago, the Gaogan overseer army stormed Puyang, and the casualties were large, and it is estimated that there are about 5,000 to 6,000 people." Wang Ling fingers Yan County on the map,

However, when the lords led the army to evacuate Henan, Xin Ping's army also left Henan and rushed to Yan County. There are more than 20,000 people in Xin Ping's hands, and the threat to our capture of White Horse is very great. ”

"Your Excellency's army has reached the bank of the Yellow River, and it is no longer possible to hide its tracks, and it will surely be discovered by the rebels, and Xin Ping's army will immediately support the White Horse as fast as possible. Therefore, you must cross the river quickly, and attack White Horse City even faster. Wang Ling said,

"Lord Zhang Yan has repeatedly instructed that if the white horse is captured, the army will be able to directly kill the front line of Yanxian, Yanjin, and Suozao, and contain the rebel forces from the flank threat Zhongmu and Chenliu, so as to help the main army capture Chenliu as soon as possible, enter the hinterland of the Central Plains, and quickly form a decisive battle with the rebels." Yan Liang stood up and waved his hand vigorously,

"The various units set out overnight, crossed the Yellow River, and entered the Central Plains again." Jump to