Chapter 9: The Central Plains, Section 18

In April, Yanzhou East County, forty miles south of Puyang, Wuting.

The beautiful morning glow gradually dissipated, the brilliant sun shed its red coat, and the dazzling light shone all over the vast land.

Gao Gan reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the white and elegant white clouds, and slowly cast his gaze towards the sky. There were a few fast horses galloping up a few puffs of smoke and dust.

Gao Gan's heart suddenly beat a few times, and a hint of foreboding suddenly invaded his whole body.

He has always opposed sending troops to support Xiahou Yuan, and this point of men and horses did not help to delay the attack speed of the Northern Frontier Army. In the current situation, it is a fact that the Northern Xinjiang Army swept Yanzhou, and if you want to turn the tide of the war, you can only gather heavy troops on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi to block the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and wait for Cao Cao and Liu Bei to come back.

The Northern Xinjiang Army has traveled a long distance from Hebei and has to leap thousands of miles in a short period of time, whether it is the morale of the army, the physical strength of the soldiers in the Northern Xinjiang or the grain and grass of the army, they will all reach the limit, and they must stop for a little rest. The Yanzhou army on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi was ready to work, fully prepared, and had a strong city to rely on, so they could completely defend the return of Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

After Cao and Liu's armies returned to Yanzhou, the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army no longer had an advantage, and the battle line could be stabilized on the line of Dingtao and Changyi.

Dingtao, Changyi and Zhongmu and Chenliu are about 500 miles apart, and the armies between the two places can support each other, and this battle can be fought slowly, and it is difficult to predict who will win and who will lose. When the two armies are stalemate, Baima and Puyang, which are located on the flanks of the battlefield, are very important. These two cities are three to four hundred miles away from Dingtao, and once they are lost, the flanks of the battlefield will be completely exposed to the attack of the Northern Frontier Army, and the decisive battle situation will be unfavorable to their own side. Therefore, the garrison troops stuck to Baima and Puyang, which played a decisive role in the Central Plains war.

But his opinion was criticized by Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao believes that now that the Northern Xinjiang Army is on the Yanzhou battlefield and the Henan battlefield, there is no extra force to attack Baima and Puyang. Although Gao Ran's army was stationed in the vicinity of Liyang and Chang Changjin to threaten these two cities, Gao Ran assumed the heavy responsibility of defending the southern part of Yizhou and protecting the smooth grain route to Hanoi, and it was impossible for him to rashly launch an attack on Baima and Puyang. In addition, Yuan Shao also believed that Gao Ran now led part of his troops to cross the river, and his purpose was only to contain his own forces and help the Northern Xinjiang Army to advance rapidly to the line of Dingtao and Changyi. Considering the current tense situation on the battlefield in Henan, even though Gao Ran had great courage, he did not dare to send troops to attack Baima and Puyang at this critical moment. Once the attack failed, his army crossed the Yellow River and cut off the grain route to Hanoi, the Northern Xinjiang Army in the Henan battlefield was in danger of being annihilated, and the Central Plains War launched by Li Hong was about to be defeated.

My uncle has a respected position in his heart, and he has listened to his uncle since he was a child, and now he is no exception. There is some truth in my uncle's words, but things on the battlefield are changing rapidly, and the more inconspicuous and easy to overlook, the more likely it is to become fatal. And now Puyang is just such a place.

The scouts rushed in.

"How? Where is Gao Yan's army? Gao Gan calmed down his melancholy mood and asked lightly.

There was admiration in the scout's eyes. The slender and handsome young man in front of him is amazingly intelligent. From the moment the army retreated to Puyang, he sent a number of scouts to travel more than 100 miles along the Lizi River, quietly lurking near the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army, closely watching the movements of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

"As your lord expected, when the Northern Xinjiang Army learned that your lord led the army back to Puyang, it really left the camp overnight and secretly rushed to the outside of the city."

"Where?" Gao Gan hurriedly asked.

"There are too many scouts in the Northern Frontier Army, and we dare not approach." The scout looked ashamed and bowed his head in reply.

Gao Gan waved at them, "Very good, it's good to come back alive." Go down and rest. ”

A few scouts bowed and retreated.

Gao Gan spread out the map and looked at it carefully, then waved his hand and shouted to He Mao beside him: "Immediately send someone to Puyang, order Deng Sheng to lead his troops out of the city, rush to Xiaoliang Pavilion, and attack the Northern Xinjiang Army with me from the north and south." ”

He Mao was stunned for a moment, and asked with a little confusion: "My lord, the road from here to Puyang is full of scouts from the Northern Xinjiang Army, isn't this going to die?" ”

"The prey has reached the mouth, and Gao Ran still dares to startle the snake?" Gao Gan smiled, "Don't worry, you will be safe and sound along the way." ”

Unaware of the danger, the heralds flew away.

Looking at the herald who was gradually moving away, He Mao's eyes showed a trace of pain. It seemed to him that the brave herald was dead.

"My lord, shall we move on?"

"Sleep." Gao Gan lay down on the grass and closed his eyes comfortably, "Deng Sheng's army won't be able to reach Xiaoliang Pavilion until noon at the earliest, so let's sleep first." The soldiers have been running all night and are tired, so let them all rest. ”

He Mao looked at Gao Gan in disbelief and said in surprise: "My lord, the Northern Frontier Army is twenty miles away, and we are actually sleeping here?" ”

Gao Gan ignored him and fell into a deep sleep, snoring slightly from his nose.

Half an hour later, Gao Gan was woken up by He Mao, "My lord, the scout reported that a northern army suddenly appeared fifty miles behind us. ”

Gao Gan opened his eyes lazily and asked sleepily, "Are you from the direction of Xiancheng?" ”

He Mao glanced at him in surprise and nodded, "It's Zhou Hua's army, it looks like he's been with us all night." ”

"Sleep." Gao Gan closed his eyes and muttered in a low voice, "You can only kill when you sleep well." ”

Trabecular Pavilion.

Lei Zhong walked around irritably.

Sean sat on the ground, constantly turning the helmet in his hand, and a few vicious curses came out of his mouth from time to time.

Gao Ran squatted in the shade of the tree, playing with a clump of grass with a horsewhip in his hand, and looked at the ants busy on the ground with great interest.

The scouts hurried in, but the enemy still stopped.

"It's exposed." Ray lifted his foot and stomped a weed under his feet.

"Withdraw." Gao Ran stood up and patted the ashes on his body, and said calmly, "Order all the departments to retreat in the direction of the white horse." ”

"Zhou Hua is right behind Gao Gan, do you want him to withdraw to Xiancheng immediately?" Lei Zhong asked.

"Please keep a distance from Gao Gan and don't retreat too early, so as not to let Gao Gan find out and bite back." Gao Ran waved his hand as he walked towards the war horse, "Order him to move in the direction of Puyang." Once Gao Gan led the army to counterattack, let him quickly retreat to the bank of the Yellow River. ”

The officers and men of the Northern Xinjiang Army quietly left Xiaoliang Pavilion as they came.

When the army marched to the vicinity of the city, the scouts came quickly. The defenders of Puyang poured out of the nest and were rushing in the direction of Xiaoliangting.

"Gao Gan has calculated on our heads." Lei Zhong volleyed in the air and said angrily, "Count the plan, hit him." ”

"Gao Gan's army plus Deng Sheng, who came from the direction of Puyang, has at least seven thousand men." Sean hurriedly shook his hand and said, "We are also seven thousand people, and the strength of the two sides is close. The fight was a bloody battle, and the casualties were too great to be drawn. ”

"You can fight." Gao Ran Lerma stopped and said with a slight smile, "Let's go to Puyang." As soon as Puyang is lost, Gao Gan must beat his chest and cry. ”

"Hit Puyang?" Lei Chong hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "My lord, I'll go to Wuting to drag Gao Gan." ”

Lan waved his horsewhip, "Urgently order Zhou Hua to lead the army to Puyang." ”

"Order all departments to return to Puyang as quickly as possible."

The army then split in two. Lei Zhong led two thousand men and horses to advance towards Wu Ting. Five hundred iron horsemen galloped back and forth in front of the procession, kicking up a sky full of dust.

Gao Lan and Xiao En led 5,000 men and horses to the northwest direction of the city first, and then turned the horse's head and killed Puyang from the southeast.

Wu Ting.

Gao Gan got up leisurely, put on his battle helmet and said with a smile: "Gao Ran can't wait? ”

"The Northern Frontier Army is coming violently." He Mao said anxiously, "My lord, it seems that Gao Ran is going to fight us to the death. ”

"You think Gao Ran will fight us?" Gao Gan asked rhetorically, "He is almost the same as our strength, and he won't fight hard." Even if he had to fight hard, I wouldn't want to. ”

"Does he want to count on Zhou Hua to attack from behind us?" He Mao realized, and his tone of voice became respectful, "If it weren't for the sudden order of the adults to stop the army this time, we really wouldn't have found Zhou Hua." However, Zhou Hua is too far away from us, but Deng Sheng is already close at hand, and Gao Ran is dead this time. ”

Gao Gan looked at the smoke and dust floating in the air in the distance, and a sneer rose at the corner of his mouth, "Order all departments, form a formation, and prepare for war." ”

Lei Chong led the army to stop three miles away from Wuting and confronted the army of senior cadres.

The scouts rushed back and forth, constantly reporting the enemy's position to Lei Chongyu.

"My lord, the enemy army has reached Xiaoliang Pavilion, and it is still fifteen miles away from us."

Lei Zhong looked up at the sky, and looked at the sky with a mocking expression, "Deng Sheng is running fast enough...... Giving the order, all the parts immediately turned around and quickly killed Xiao Liang Ting. ”

"It's a mess." When Gao Gan heard the news, he said to He Mao with a smile, "Gao Lan wanted to eat me, but he never expected that in a blink of an eye, he would be surrounded by me. "Order all the departments to advance towards Xiaoliang Pavilion and surround Gaolan."

However, just when the encirclement was about to be completed, something happened that made Gao Gan stunned. The Northern Xinjiang Army dispersed in a hurry and fled.

Then the scout flew to report, Zhou Hua did not continue to follow, but turned around and killed in the direction of Puyang.

Gao Gan's heart was cold, and he suddenly realized that he had been fooled, "Hurry back to Puyang, hurry, ...... quickly"

In April, Henan Yin, forty miles east of Bianqu, Fengyun gathered.

The night breeze gently blew over the camp, and Daxu fluttered weakly in the night sky, and there was a faint blood in the air.

Inside the tent, the candles were lit up.

Yuan Shao sat quietly behind the desk alone, his eyes silently looking at the pile of papers on the desk. After a long moment, he shifted his body and let out a low, bitter sigh.

In the past three days, the Northern Xinjiang Army has been like a crazy tiger, killing Bianqu and Dingting at all costs, and has been killing itself to Fengyunju.

He had no intention of fighting with the Northern Xinjiang Army, but the Northern Xinjiang Army did not give up, pressed step by step, and had to fight a decisive battle with himself. His own strength was at least twice that of the Northern Frontier Army, but the three people on the opposite side, Zhang He, Zhang Xiu, and Wang Dang, seemed to be held by someone with a knife to their necks, completely ignoring their disadvantages, and commanding the army to fight fiercely. Especially that Zhang Xiu, because he had a grudge with himself in the Hongnong War, he actually led a team of Xiliang soldiers to kill his own Chinese army several times. The Qiang man Hu Che'er under his command was so brave that within three days, he had killed four of his military candidates, three military commanders, and one school captain.

If he fulfills the wish of the Northern Frontier Army and fights to the death with them, his losses can be imagined. But if you retreat step by step like this, the morale of the army will become lower and lower, and you may be defeated by the Northern Xinjiang Army at any time.

To fight or not to fight?

Today, Yuan Wei sent someone to send an urgent report that something had happened on the battlefield in Kansai. Yang Feng, the nine-headed bird in northern Xinjiang, gathered about 30,000 troops to storm Shaanxi. Chun Yuqiong and Wang Xiu couldn't hold it, so they had to abandon the city and leave, sticking to Michi. Chun Yuqiong rushed to Luoyang in person and yelled at Yuan Wei. Without reinforcements, Kansai would definitely not be able to hold it. As soon as Guanxi was lost, the connection between Guanzhong and Luoyang was severed, and Guanzhong would immediately fall into the front and back attacks of Western Xinjiang and Northern Xinjiang, and Yuan Tan was very likely to defeat Chang'an.

Yuan Wei wanted to transfer troops from the battlefield in Hanoi.

The Hanoi battlefield was not going well. Gao Rou had already rushed to Hanoi at this moment, and Zhu Ling and Zhao Rui had conquered Licheng, but Wen Chou of the Northern Xinjiang Army burned Li Cheng when he evacuated Licheng. The fire burned for two days, blocking Zhu Ling and Zhao Rui's army on the south bank of the Jishui River, and the pace of attacking Pinggao had to stop.

Yuan Wei believes that the safety of Luoyang at this moment is far more important than the safety of Henan. At present, the Northern Xinjiang Army only controls the three cities of Xingyang, Chenggao and Aocang in Yin, Henan, and is surrounded by its own large army, which will not pose a greater danger to Luoyang for the time being. On the contrary, the situation in Kansai was much more serious, so he wanted to transfer Zhao Rui's army to the Kansai battlefield. Yuan Wei's opinion was opposed by the trial. The judge believed that Yang Feng's attack on the Guanxi battlefield was only to contain Luoyang's forces to cooperate with the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the Henan and Central Plains battlefields, so he resolutely opposed the transfer of troops to support Guanxi.

Yuan Weiwei resolutely did not go down, and urgently wrote to Yuan Shao to find a way to deal with it.

Almost at the same time, Gao Gan's urgent report also came. Puyang City was lost.

This news shocked Yuan Shao. Gao Gan said in his letter that I had gathered about 7,000 troops before dusk to return to Puyang, but I was blocked by Lei Chong and Zhou Hua's 4,000 men and horses at Punanting, ten miles south of Puyang City, and it was difficult to advance an inch. Gao Lan and Xiao En commanded an army of 5,000 to attack Puyang. Although the 800 soldiers in the city held the city and refused to surrender, due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, Puyang City still fell in the early morning.

Yuan Shao was remorseful. At this moment, he thought of Tian Feng.

Judging from the development of the current situation, Tian Feng was completely correct in advising him to stay in Baima and Puyang. Returning to Henan by himself is tantamount to losing all the initiative on the battlefield.

If he is still in Baima and Puyang, it is impossible for Li Hong's army to reach the front line of Dingtao and Changyi. As for the battlefield in Henan, even if he didn't come back to help, because his army was eyeing the east of Henan, it would be difficult for Yan Liang to do anything after taking Xingyang, at most he would send troops to attack the Tiger Prison Pass.

One wrong step, one wrong step.

Yuan Shao covered his cheeks with his hands and groaned in pain.

The curtain was lifted, and Xu Yu strode in, "My lord, Xiahou Yuan is in a hurry, Fan Cheng is lost, and the army of Liyi and Zhao Yun is rushing south. ”

Yuan Shao changed color in shock, and exclaimed in a lost voice, "So fast? "Jump to