Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains in the third quarter of March, Henan Yin, Ao Cangcheng. The clouds in the sky are very thick, and the deep sky is like a layer of milky white cloud, and the dazzling sunlight penetrates the clouds and gives its powerful power unreservedly to this bloody land.

The wind on the ground was fierce, and the brave warriors, inspired by the drums of war and guided by the battle flags, held high their sharp weapons, stepped on the bones and blood of their robes, and marched forward one after another, shouting fiercely, their passionate and fearless shouts soaring into the sky, shaking the heavens and the earth.

Upstairs in Aocang Castle, huge yellow

"Yuan" Yu Daxu danced wildly in the wind, it was like a fierce beast trapped in a cage, with teeth and claws, roaring and roaring, and its terrible and low roar made the whole city tremble.

A strong smell of blood filled the sky above Aocang City, accompanied by earth-shattering war drums, shouts, and the roar of arrows tearing through the air, and Aocang City gradually fell into the abyss of death.

The defenders did not give up, and in the face of the Northern Frontier Army, which was several times their size, they still fought bloodily. The black walls beneath their feet resembled a wounded giant, howling and struggling, pouring down all his weapons, arrows, logs, rolling stones, swords, spears, and shields, and trying to save his life.

The siege army was like a tide, setting off one storm after another, and the waves crashed fiercely against the city walls, stirring up blood flowers all over the sky, and the huge roar was deafening.

Ao Cangcheng crumbled, gritting its teeth and holding on, letting the blood flow all over its body. The soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army besieged the city on all sides and attacked frantically.

Xue Lan commanded his men and horses to attack the northern city, but after a day of fierce fighting, there was little success. Xue Lan was furious and shouted at several captains and military horses,

"Siege the city overnight, give me the siege ...... overnight" The night fell quietly, and piles of flames rose into the air, illuminating the city up and down.

The king himself came to the battlefield. After listening to Xue Lan's deployment, he shook his hand,

"There are only more than 1,000 defenders in Aocang City, and if it weren't for the strength of the city and the help of the people in the city, it would be difficult for them to hold until now. It's right to keep fighting, but you can't fight like that. ”

"Our casualties are not large." Xue Lan thought that the king should order the army to withdraw, and hurriedly persuaded,

"My lord, Yan Liang and Zhang He will arrive tomorrow. As soon as the follow-up army arrives, Aocang City will be ready to go down, and we will fight in vain today's battle. Now the defenders of Aocang City have suffered heavy losses, and as long as we attack a little harder, we can definitely take the city tonight. Wang Dang smiled and glanced at him,

"I said that you can take Aocang City within two days, there is no need to be in such a hurry. When we arrive in Xingyang, we still have more difficult battles to fight. ”

"How can we give credit to others after a hard day's work?" Xue Lan's face sank, quite dissatisfied,

"You give me two more hours, and I'll personally lead someone to kill them." Wang Dang waved the whip in his hand and shook his head,

"Okay, since you have to fight, let's fight."

"Order all the troops to quietly rush to the north city to assemble while *night* (**please delete) and storm with all their might, and be sure to take Aocang City in the early hours of the morning." Wang Dang turned his head to look at Xue Lan and said with a smile,

"During the day we attacked in four directions, greatly depleting and paralyzing the enemy. In the evening, we changed the siege method, and let some troops make a feint attack in the eastern, southern, and western cities, while the main army of 8,000 took the opportunity to attack the north gate, and tried to surprise the enemy and go down with a drum. ”

"My lord, let my men attack first." Xue Lan excitedly pointed to the big silk on the city tower and said,

"In an hour, watch me cut down that banner." In mid-March, Henan Yin, Chenggao City. Zhang Xiu led his army across the Yellow River and joined Xu Huang at the foot of Chenggao City.

Chenggao City is only fifteen miles away from the Tiger Prison Pass. Tiger Prison Pass is the only pass in the east of Luoyang, the Tiger Prison is lost, Luoyang is not in danger to defend, so if the Tiger Prison Lieutenant does not have Luoyang's order, he will never dare to leave the Tiger Prison half a step, so Chenggao City can only count on Luoyang and Xingyang reinforcements.

"The army of Wang Dang and Lord Zhang He is attacking Aocang and is about to march to Xingyang. The defenders of Xingyang were unable to protect themselves and could not come to support. Zhang Xiu pointed to the mountains in the west and smiled slightly,

"Luoyang is more than 200 miles away from Chenggao City, and Yuan Shao's whip is beyond his reach, so it is too late for a while. Even if he sent reinforcements, he could only rush to the tiger to firmly guard the pass. ”

"Lord Li Feng has led an army of 3,000 to Huxiao Ridge, five miles west of the city, to block the enemy's reinforcements." Xu Huang lightly rode the war horse and walked side by side with Zhang Xiu, with a leisurely smile on his face,

"We have enough time to attack Chenggao."

"Two adults, please stop, this place is about two hundred steps away from the city, and you can't go any further." Xu Huang's personal guard cavalry team suddenly hit their horses forward and raised their hands to stop them.

Xu Huang and Zhang Xiu looked at each other and smiled, and each stopped his horse. Zhang Xiu raised his eyes to look at the city tower in the distance where the drums shook the sky and the flags were flying, and said with a whip indifferently,

"Go fifty more steps and see if there are any ballistas on the tower." The guard cavalry team who followed Zhang Xiu was startled, and hurriedly kicked the horse's belly, urging the horse to rush to the front.

"Please stop immediately, and don't go any further." After speaking, he waved at the guards who followed Xu Huang and Zhang Xiu, and motioned for them to ride their horses around the two adults.

"Forget it, don't embarrass them." Xu Huang smiled and shook his hand,

"Since Yuan Shao has gathered a large army in the area of Zhongmu and Chenliu and is preparing to enter the Central Plains, Henan's defensive forces are naturally insufficient. In the case that our armies from all walks of life gathered in Hanoi, Yuan Shao could only move the defensive focus north to the south bank of the Yellow River, and stationed heavy troops on the front line of Chenggao and Ao Cang, so that they could cooperate with Hanoi Guotu from the flank to defend the three cities of Ha Yang, Wen County and Pinggao, and at the same time prevent us from suddenly crossing the river to attack Henan, so ......" He pointed to the big city in front of him and said lightly,

"Not only is this city heavily armed, but it must also have ballistas. You still don't try, lest you die before you can go on the expedition, leaving you with endless regrets. Zhang Xiu laughed,

"If I was killed by a few stray arrows under the city, it would be a joke in Hebei."

"General Hutou ordered us to take Chenggao within two days, and then threaten Hujiao with one force, and one army to join him in Xingyang." Song Xian urged forward and asked in a low voice,

"Lord Xu, now how do you see this battle fighting?"

"The garrison in the city is no more than 2,000 people, and although they have ballistas and strong bows, the gap between them and our strength is too great to be worried. As long as the attack is right, it can be taken within two days. Xu Huang was confident, his tone seemed very relaxed, and then he frowned, looked up at the sky in the north, and his face was worried,

"I'm not worried about the Henan battlefield now, I'm worried about Hanoi. Hanoi's Wen Chou and Zhang Liao only left Pingao with 10,000 horses, while Guo Tu had an army of 20,000. If Luoyang does not come to support Henan, but goes to support Hanoi, assembles a large army to quickly capture Pinggao, Huaicheng, and cut off our retreat, the matter will be serious. ”

"The intention of the imperial court to order us to attack Henan is very vague, and there is no explanation yet." Zhang Xiu heard Xu Huang's worry, and nodded again and again with the same feeling,

"Could it be that the general has another purpose?" Xu Huang's expression was solemn, and his eyes looked at the enemy troops waiting on the city tower in front of him, and he was silent.

Zhang Xiu felt the tightness in his chest for no reason, and couldn't help but open his mouth wide and take a long breath. Since he was 16 years old, he has followed his uncle to conquer the western and northern frontiers, and for more than 20 years, he has experienced countless wars.

In addition to the Great War of Kansai four years ago, I felt scared for the second time. Now, just like four years ago, although I have a large army, I feel that I am in a deep crisis, I don't know where to go, and I have a sense of loss of direction.

Why should you fight this battle that could be completely annihilated? What will be the future of the post-war war?

Will tens of thousands of soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army still be able to return to Hebei? Xu Huang turned the horse's head violently and shouted,

"Let's go...... Preparing to attack the city......" Zhang Xiu shook his head, put aside all his thoughts, followed Xu Huang, and raised his horsewhip high,

"Command all the troops to attack the city immediately...... Siege ......" in an instant, the war drums thundered, the wind surged, and the war was about to break out.

In mid-March, Kansai, Shaancheng. Chun Yuqiong hurriedly rushed to the castle tower. At the Maojin ferry on the other side, nearly 100 warships of the Northern Xinjiang Army were docking.

On the surface of the Yellow River, more than a dozen building boats that can carry more than 1,000 people are slowly heading towards the ferry. Standing on the city tower, Chun Yuqiong could clearly see that the first class of the building boat was full of teams of heavily armed soldiers.

"Brother Zhong Jian, the Northern Frontier Army is about to attack." Hongnong Taishou Wang Xiu's face was pale and he said very nervously.

"In the direction of Fenglingdu, Taolin Fortress and Hongnong City, the warships of the Northern Xinjiang Army have appeared." Chun Yuqiong looked at the rough river with her eyes and asked thoughtfully,

"You say, where is the main direction of the nine-headed bird's attack this time?"

"Maybe it's Fenglingdu, maybe it's Hongnong City, maybe it's Shaanxi City." Wang Xiu smiled bitterly,

"The current situation is confusing, the Northern Xinjiang Army will fight Hanoi for a while, Henan for a while, and now it will fight Kansai again, who knows what their goal is? Is it Kansai or Kanchu? Or ......" He looked at Chun Yuqiong and asked in disbelief,

"Are they going to fight Luoyang?"

"The Hu people in Northern Xinjiang rebelled, and Hebei was too busy to take care of itself, how could the Northern Xinjiang Army have the ability to attack Luoyang?" Chun Yuqiong's face showed a hint of mockery,

"I think the nine-headed bird is bluffing again this time, it's okay to be poor and happy, leave him alone."

"Leave him alone?" Wang Xiu shook his hand in surprise and said,

"Brother Zhong Jian, although the Northern Frontier Army in Hedong has been bluffing every time in the past two years, the scale has never been so large. I think we should be careful and ask for help from Luoyang as soon as possible. Chun Yuqiong didn't care,

"Whatever you want, you just say that Shaancheng has been lost, and Fu Zhi will not give you a single soldier. You saw Guo Tu's matter, what was the result? Hanoi was almost lost, but did he give him reinforcements? Wang Xiu sighed and scolded in a low voice,

"You defend the city, and I'll go for reinforcements. If he doesn't give it, I'll go to Brother Benchu and sue him. "In the middle of March, Handan, the general marched.

The commanders of the Northern Army, Lu Yi, Yushi, and Zhao Yun, and the commanders of the Southern Army, Zhang Yan and Lu Bu, rushed to Xingyuan. Chang Shi Jia Xu elaborated on the specific deployment of the Central Plains War.

In order to conceal the true intention of attacking the Central Plains, as early as last year, the imperial court began to deliberately take advantage of the opportunity of the Liaodong rebellion to wantonly spread the news of the invasion of the Hu people in northern Xinjiang into the border fortress, and at the end of last year, it began to requisition the northern and southern armies out of the fortress, requisitioned a large amount of grain, grass, baggage and people to go north to Youzhou, and dug a channel connecting the Juma River and the Gushui River, so as to create the illusion that the army would go north to attack the Hu people, so as to deceive and paralyze the rebellion and prepare for the army to attack the Central Plains.

Judging from the current situation, Hebei's policy has achieved the expected results. Now the armies of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce are fighting with Yuan Shu in the Jianghuai area, and the Central Plains are empty.

Yuan Shao recognized that the opportunity for the Central Plains was ripe, severed ties with Yuan Shu, and used this as a condition to force Cao Cao to send their emperor to Xuchang.

Shortly thereafter, Yuan Shao took advantage of the opportunity of our heavy army gathering in Hanoi to threaten Luoyang, and quickly requisitioned the troops of Henan and Yuzhou into the Central Plains, and stationed troops in the Baima and Puyang areas, waiting for the best opportunity to capture the Central Plains.

Now everything is ready, and it is only necessary to attack when the army secretly moving south arrives at the designated position.

At the beginning of the Central Plains War, there were a total of seven battlefields. The first is the Central Plains Battlefield. The main force that crossed the river to the south to attack the Central Plains was the 60,000 infantry cavalry of the northern and southern armies and the 40,000 iron cavalry outside the Saiwai, a total of 100,000 troops.

The goal of this 100,000-strong army is to occupy most of Yanzhou within half a month. The vanguard army wanted to march under the cities of Dingtao and Changyi, squeezed the rebels' army to Chenliu County in the southwest of Yanzhou, and forced Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Liu Biao and others to gather a large army in the area of Zhongmu and Chenliu to confront us in order to form a decisive situation.

The second battlefield is in Xuzhou. Gao Shun has been ordered to enter Qingzhou, and he will join Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Guan Hai and others in Qingzhou to attack Xuzhou from the direction of Beihai, the purpose of which is to contain Liu Bei's forces in order to prepare for our great battle in the Central Plains.

The third battlefield is in Henan. The 40,000 troops of Yan Liang, Wang Dang, Zhang He, Xu Huang, and Zhang Xiu have crossed the river and headed south.

Their purpose was not to attack the city, but to threaten Luoyang, transfer Yuan Shao's troops from the Central Plains, and drag Yuan Shao's tens of thousands of main troops to the Henan battlefield, so as to help the army advance smoothly into the Central Plains.

The fourth battlefield is in the Baima and Puyang areas of Chenliu County, Yanzhou. Even if Yuan Shao returned to the army to rescue Henan, he would still leave a certain number of troops stationed in the Baima and Puyang areas, so as to wait for the opportunity to capture Dingtao and Changyi in the Central Plains and seize the opportunity for him to capture the Central Plains.

The purpose of the 10,000-strong army of Gao Lan and Lei Zhong to cross the river from Liyang and Changshoujin to the south was to hold back this part of the rebel army and buy time for the army to quickly seize Dingtao and Changyi.

The fifth battlefield is in Hanoi. The armies of Wen Chou and Zhang Liao must stop Guo Tu's counterattack at all costs.

Relying on the danger of the Jishui River, Pinggao City was defended to ensure that the army on the battlefield in Henan could be replenished with grain and grass and baggage, and could withdraw to the north bank of the Yellow River safely and unharmed at any time.

The sixth battlefield is in Kansai. In order to ensure the safety of the northern Xinjiang armies in Henan and Hanoi, Yang Feng, Hua Xiong, Sun Qin and others in Hedong had to lead their troops to attack Guanxi and threaten Luoyang, so as to delay the army stationed in Luoyang and force them to be unable to support the Hanoi and Henan battlefields.

The seventh battlefield is in Youzhou. Last year, although we forced Kirby Xiong to sacrifice 3,000 households, he still poses a threat to the northern Xinjiang, if he takes advantage of the critical juncture of the Central Plains War, taking advantage of the Saiwai garrison iron cavalry and the desert Hu tribe iron cavalry to join forces to join the south to participate in the war, the desert is bound to be in danger, which will bring us a fatal blow.

Therefore, Xian Yufu, Xian Yuyin, Li Su and others will join forces with Xianbei people and Karasuma people to send troops to threaten Kirby Xiong before the rainy season comes, and temporarily drive him to Daxianbei Mountain.

According to the planned attack strategy, the armies of all roads heading south to the Central Plains would arrive at the designated assembly positions in late March, and cross the river in early April to attack.

Jia Xu's hand pointed to Cangting and Chiping,

"After the southward fleet entered the Yellow River, it immediately rushed to the area of Cangting and Chiping, and erected ten ship bridges on the river between the two places."

"An army of 100,000 cavalry crossed the river at the same time, and then the soldiers divided into two roads."

"General Liyi, General Yushi, General Zhao Yun, General Jiang Wu, and Liu Mingtong, the right sage king of the Huns, led an army of 50,000 to cross the river from the Cangting area, and then from Dong'e, Fanxian, Juancheng, and Chengshi all the way to the southwest, and went straight to Dingtao City."

"General Zhang Yan, General Lu Bu, General Yan Rou, General Wei Jun, and Xiongnu Dadan Yu Liu Bao led an army of 50,000 as the left road, crossed the river from the Chiping area, and then entered Dongping and Renchengguo from Linyi, and went straight to Changyi City."

"Lord Wu Xiong and Lord Wu Dun of Qingzhou led an army of 10,000 to attack and kill Jibei Kingdom and Taishan County to ensure the safety of the army's grain route." After Jia Xu carefully explained some details, he solemnly instructed: "Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army is now in Huaishui, about a thousand miles away from Dingtao and Changyi, and it will not take more than twenty days at most from the beginning of our attack to the time they receive the news, and then they rush back to the Central Plains day and night. Therefore, the time for our attack was only half a month, and the journey was about 900 miles. That is to say, in addition to marching at a speed of 100 miles a day, the time for attacking the city and pulling out the fortress is only a short six days, and even if it is delayed a little, it cannot exceed eight days. After this time, we were able to capture most of Yanzhou before Cao Cao and Liu Bei's army returned. ”

"If the left and right armies want to kill Dingtao and Changyi within half a month, they must abandon some small cities and mainly capture big cities. At this time, in order to ensure the smooth flow of grain routes, the iron cavalry had to give full play to their advantages, surround these cities that were still controlled by the rebels, and wait for the army to defeat Cao Cao and Liu Bei's armies on the front line of Dingtao and Changyi, and then turn back to appease and kill. Tian Chou hurriedly stepped into the tent, walked to Li Hong's side and whispered a word.

Li Hong's face changed suddenly, and under the suspicious gaze of the generals, he hurriedly walked out with Tian Chou. Jump to