Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains on the 24th Festival of April, Yanzhou Shanyang County, Changyi. Xun Yu received a letter from Cai Yang asking for help.

After Cai Yang led his army out of Wuyan City, he was attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry in the direction of Shouzhang City, and the whole army was annihilated.

Cai Yang and more than a dozen guards desperately fled to the vicinity of Junozawa, found a fishing boat, crossed Junozawa, and rushed to Juye City, which is located in the south of Junoze.

Cai Yang told Xun Yu that there were only 600 people in Juye City, and they could not resist the attack of the Northern Frontier Army at all.

If you want to delay the pace of the Northern Frontier Army's attack on Changyi City, you must rapidly increase your troops in Juye.

"Juye is finished." Xun Yu looked up to the sky and sighed,

"Wuyan City is only more than 300 miles away from Juye, and the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry gallops day and night, and the siege can be completed within two days. According to the time calculation, at this moment, the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry has arrived in Juye, and we have no time to send troops to support. Li Tong stroked his long beard, raised his thick eyebrows slightly, and said very dissatisfiedly: "In Chiping, Linyi and Wuyan, we have 5,000 men and horses, and there are several fortified cities, but Cai Yang actually buried them all in seven days. There are more than 400 miles from Chiping on the bank of the Yellow River to Wuyan City, and there are several large and small rivers such as the Jishui River, and even if the Northern Xinjiang Army does not fight, it will take at least five days to march all the time. I really can't imagine how Cai Yang and his 5,000 men and horses lost seven or eight cities in two consecutive days. This kid is really defeated to the extreme. Xun Yu shook his hand,

"Cai Yang can withdraw the main force to Wuyan City and hold on for a day, which is already commendable." He turned his head and beckoned to one of the subordinates standing behind him,

"Urgently report to Lord Tao Caoren, the Northern Frontier Army has surrounded Juye, and Changyi City is about to be attacked by the Northern Frontier Army. At present, Cai Yang's army has been completely annihilated, and the defensive strength of Changyi City is seriously insufficient, so please urge Lord Xinbi to lead the army to Changyi as soon as possible to help. ”

"Gao Ran of the Northern Xinjiang Army has conquered Puyang, and Liyi has also led the army across the Lizi River to attack Juyang, and the situation in Dingtao is very critical. At this moment, will he let Xin Bi lead the army to help Changyi" Li Tong said worriedly,

"If Xiahou Yuan is also wiped out like Cai Yang, the situation in the direction of Dingtao will be even more tense than ours." Xun Yu let out a long sigh, at a loss,

"The Northern Xinjiang Army has made careful preparations for the attack on the Central Plains, the timing of the attack is very good, and the attack speed is extremely fast, it is very difficult for us to hold Dingtao and Changyi before the Prime Minister returns to help." Xun Yu pushed open the scroll, revealing the map spread on the desk, pointed to the Yellow River and said: "Since the end of March, the Northern Xinjiang Army has begun to cross the river to attack Henan and Guanxi, and has contained Yuan Shao's main army. Originally, we were worried that Yuan Shao would take advantage of the Prime Minister's plan to attack Jianghuai to attack Yanzhou, concentrate the main forces on the line of Dingtao and Changyi, and be complacent about the Northern Xinjiang Army's attack on Yuan Shao, but no one expected that the real intention of the Northern Xinjiang Army was the Central Plains. Under the guise of going out of the village to quell the rebellion, the Northern Xinjiang Army gathered heavy troops to cross the river to the south to attack the Central Plains, which caught us off guard. ”

"It has been nine days since the Northern Xinjiang Army crossed the river. When Yuan Shao and we were still immersed in shock and still looking for a way to meet the battle, the Northern Xinjiang Army had already swept through most of Yanzhou and was about to kill Dingtao and Changyi. ”

"Now the situation in Yanzhou is very grim, in the case that Yuan Shao's main army is dragged on the battlefield in Henan and cannot support us, and the prime minister's army is still halfway on the way back, we can only resist the nearly 100,000 northern Xinjiang army alone with more than 10,000 troops." Xun Yu put his hand on the map of Peiguo,

"Even if our army marches day and night, it will take six to seven days before it can return to Yanzhou."

"Seven days, can we hold on for seven days?" Xun Yu looked up at the worried Li Tong and asked in a low voice,

"If the Northern Frontier Army besieges the city with ten times my strength, how many days can we hold out?" Li Tong hesitated.

He wanted to swear that he could hold out until the main army came back to help, but when he thought of Xiahou Yuan, Cai Yang and the five thousand men and horses that had been destroyed, his confidence was shaken.

Xiahou Yuan and Cai Yang are not incompetent, the two of them have been defeated and retreated, and they have been beaten by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and they and the 5,000 men and horses in Changyi City are estimated to be not much better.

After all, the opponent's current strength has an absolute advantage.

"There are more than 400 miles from Wuyancheng to Changyi, and there are Zhaowang River, Wu River, Peng River and other rivers along the way." Li Tong looked at the map and said,

"It will take five days for the infantry army of the Northern Xinjiang Army to reach Changyi at the earliest. If they had started their journey south from the Saltless City two days earlier, then three days later, they would have reached the city's downhill. In total, we only need to hold on for about four days to wait for the main army to come back. Li Tong frowned and said with great certainty: "Hold on for four days, there is absolutely no problem." ”

"Maybe more than four days." Xun Yu's hand drew a circle around Changyi City on the map,

"After the Northern Xinjiang Army encircled Changyi, it was necessary to divide its troops to block the reinforcement army, so as to gain more time to attack the city. If nothing else, they will deploy heavy troops on the front line of Chengwu and Liangqiu to block the Prime Minister. Li Tong's face gradually turned cold, and his eyes stared at the map for a long time without speaking.

Xun Yu pondered for a long time,

"Urgently tell Cai Yang, give up Juye, and lead the army to return quickly along the Sushui River."

"Urgently inform Wang Xun of Ren Chengguo, and ask him to lead the army to take the initiative to attack and threaten the grain route of the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"Tell Yang Ping, the Taishou of Shanyang County, to immediately recruit the people, dismantle the pontoon bridges on the Surabaya River and the Wanfu River, and delay the time for the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Changyi City as much as possible."

"Tear down the bridge now?" Li Tong asked in surprise,

"Isn't it too early?" Changyi City is located between the Surabaya River and the Lao Wanfu River. This Surabaya River comes from the Jishui River, which exits from Heze, which is fifty miles east of Dingtao City, and then travels four hundred miles southeast to join the main channel of the Surabaya River.

Parallel to this river is a river called Wanfu River, which is also a river connecting Jishui and Surabaya River.

The bridges over these two rivers were demolished, and Changyi City became a veritable isolated city.

"Tear down all the bridges on the Surabaya River." Xun Yu waved his hand and said,

"There are two bridges over the Wanfu River for the time being. Once the Northern Iron Riders were found to be near the Two Rivers, a fire burned them. ”

"Wen Ruo, if the Prime Minister leads the army back to help. They ......"

"Changyi City is located in the middle of two rivers, and the distance between the two rivers is only ten miles. In such a short distance, the iron cavalry had no effect, so the northern iron cavalry must have crossed the two rivers and continued south to block our reinforcements. Xun Remnant said,

"The Prime Minister must repel the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry in order to aid us. The Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry was defeated, and the Northern Frontier Infantry Army would immediately withdraw across the Surabaya River and redeploy its formation. Therefore, the bridge over the river is no longer useful for our reinforcements. ”

"Isn't that a reinforcement from Sinbi very dangerous?" Li Tong hurriedly said,

"If the Northern Iron Cavalry rushes to Changyi before Xinbi's reinforcements, his 5,000-strong army will be dead."

"Write to Lord Simbi. Ask him to rush to Changyi within two days, otherwise not only Changyi will be in danger, but even he himself will be in danger. "In mid-April, the great general Li Hong led the army of iron cavalry to the banks of the Surabaya River.

On the other side, the city of Changyi is quietly bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. Li Hong stationed at the Ma River embankment, looking into the distance, and his heart was excited, and the army finally arrived at the destination at the scheduled time.

The next step is to take Changyi at any cost and strive to gain a firm foothold in the shortest possible time. The scouts rushed along the embankment, and all the bridges on the Surabaya River were demolished by the enemy.

"Command all the departments to cross the river overnight." Li Hong waved his horsewhip vigorously and shouted,

"Don't stay, continue to go south, and kill Liangqiu." In mid-April, General Zuo Yi led his army across the Pushui River.

Zhao Yun and Liu Ming, who were the first to cross the river, galloped over on horseback.

"Where is Zifeng (Jiang Wu)?"

"Zifeng has crossed the river and is rapidly moving south from the direction of Chengyang, sixty miles away from here." Zhao Yun hurriedly replied,

"Tonight, he'll meet me." Koji nodded in satisfaction,

"Qiansi (Liu Ming), after killing Dingtao, take two thousand horsemen to surround the city and cut off the connection between Dingtao and Changyi." Then he pointed at Zhao Yun,

"You and Zifeng led the army to cross the Jishui River to the south immediately and capture Chengwu." Zhao Yun and Liu Ming bowed down to receive the order.

"Can I see the general in Chengwu?" Zhao Yun asked with a smile.

"You have to be fast, you must be fast......" Lu Yi knocked Zhao Yun's shoulder with the horsewhip in his hand,

"If you let the general rush to Chengwu first, I will only ask you."

"Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely capture Chengwu before the general." In mid-April, Yuzhou Peiguo, Xiao County.

In the middle of the night, the candles in the big tent were bright, and Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Xiahoudun, Cao Hong, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others sat together to urgently discuss the military situation.

The changes in the battle situation in Yanzhou made them worried. Dingtao Cao Ren came to write, the Northern Xinjiang Army conquered Juyang, Chengyang, has now crossed the Pushui River, is killing Dingtao.

At present, the infantry army of Liyi and Zhao Yun is approaching Dingtao, and the army of jade is attacking Chengshi City.

Xiahou Yuan held the city, and the two sides fought fiercely. After Gao Gan lost Puyang, he immediately gathered a large army to counterattack Puyang, and the two sides also fought flesh and blood.

However, the high-ranking cadres are insufficient, and if they blindly attack like this again, they are likely to be defeated again, and even the white horse will be lost.

Xun Yu from Changyi wrote that the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry had surrounded Changyi, and it was estimated that Juye City had been lost. The army of infantry in the northern frontier will then move south and begin to attack the city of Changyi.

Because the Northern Xinjiang Army broke through the defense lines of Juyang and Chengyang at an unbelievable speed, Cao Ren was forced to leave Xinbi's reinforcements.

At present, there are only 5,000 defenders in Changyi City, and in the face of the overwhelming army of northern Xinjiang, it is quite difficult to defend, and the situation is extremely critical.

The urgent news from Yanzhou made everyone's hearts tremble, and the atmosphere in the big tent was very depressing.

"Now it seems that the situation in Changyi is the most urgent." Cao Cao looked at the generals and barely squeezed out a smile,

"The speed of the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry is too fast. We are still 400 miles away from Changyi, but the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry has already arrived at Dingtao and Changyi. He looked down at the map, and his face was full of sorrow.

"It seems that we are going to fight face-to-face with the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry, otherwise ......" no one in the big tent answered.

The Jizhou War the year before last allowed the generals to see the sharpness of the iron cavalry in northern Xinjiang. If you fight face to face with the Iron Cavalry, although the army has a numerical advantage, the losses are unimaginable.

At this time, ensuring the strength of the army is the best policy, once the loss of troops and even the advantage in strength are lost, the hope of defeating the Northern Xinjiang Army and recapturing the Central Plains is even more slim.

"Can't fight." Guo Jia stood up,

"Prime Minister, at this time, the decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry is exactly what Li Hong desperately wants. At present, our only advantage is troop strength, as long as we can successfully reach the two cities of Dingtao and Changyi, relying on the superiority in troops, we can stop the Northern Xinjiang Army from capturing the Central Plains, and then stabilize the battle line at Dingtao and Changyi, so as to gain time for the alliance to gather coalition forces to launch a counteroffensive. ”

"Fengxiao, what are your countermeasures?" Cao Cao asked. Before the army prepared to attack Yuan Shu, Guo Jia had speculated that the Northern Xinjiang army might take the opportunity to move south to the Central Plains, but unfortunately the result was successful.

Cao Cao was impressed by him because of this and liked him very much.

"Let's first take a look at what methods the Northern Xinjiang Army may take to capture the two cities after it reaches the front line of Dingtao and Changyi." Guo Jia continued,

"We have speculated several times before about the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack the Central Plains. According to the current news sent by all parties, the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army in attacking the Central Plains this time is about 100,000, and the infantry and cavalry armies are half each. If all these 50,000 iron cavalry are assembled on the front line of Chengwu and Liangqiu to prevent us from rescuing the two cities, then we will fight a decisive battle with the current 70,000 army, and the consequences will be self-evident. The fact that we dare not fight it does not mean that we have given up on rescuing the two cities. Yuan Shao of Henan and Liu Biao of Jingzhou, these two armies will soon enter Yanzhou. They must have predicted it before the war, so time is the key to whether the Northern Frontier Army can win this war. ”

"If Li Hong wants to gain a foothold in the Central Plains and have a protracted confrontation with us, he must take Dingtao and Changyi before our coalition forces attack the Northern Xinjiang Army."

"The Northern Xinjiang Army's attack on the Central Plains this time is to advance in two ways in order to gain time. The two roads marched together, and the army of 50,000 foot soldiers was divided into two, so whether they were fighting Dingtao or Changyi, their troops were obviously insufficient. The siege force is insufficient, and the time and consumption of capturing the city are very large, which is obviously not good for the Northern Frontier Army. ”

"At this moment, the iron cavalry of the Northern Frontier Army wants to prevent us from going north to support, and cannot help the infantry army to attack the city, so we can only rely on the infantry army itself to deploy troops and strive to take the two cities in the shortest possible time." Guo Jia looked at everyone, raised his hand and made a gesture of siege,

"When the Northern Xinjiang Army gathers eight times or even more than ten times the number of troops to attack Dingtao or Changyi, the forces they use to encircle another city are very small."

"This is our chance." Jump to