Chapter 909 Bugle
On the ninth day of March in the fourth year of Taiwu, the morning light was dim on the north bank of Zi River.
This is the second time he has gathered troops on the north bank. Yesterday, he increased his troops and showed off his power on the north bank, and then returned to the camp.
For Ding Sheng, the speed and timing of launching a battle are the most important. After all, they have to cross a river against Cao's army on the opposite side.
From Ding Sheng's perspective, Cao Cao will definitely not sit still and wait for death. After these days of fermentation, Cao Cao must have learned about the situation on the Xuzhou battlefield.
So knowing that Guan Yu was likely to attack from behind, Cao Cao would definitely attack him first.
In fact, Ding Sheng knew very well that his best strategy at this time was to stay on the north bank and wait for help. On the contrary, his initiative to attack actually played into Cao Cao's hands.
But so what?
Ding Sheng, who has fought in wars for so many years, is no longer in the stage of following others' opinions. He has a sufficient understanding of war.
In his opinion, the so-called playing into Cao Cao's wishful thinking is nothing more than wishful thinking. The real victory or defeat always depends on swords and spears. No matter how exhaustive your strategy is, it may still be a joke in the end.
Cao Cao thought that he was taking the initiative to jump into his plan. How could he know that the other party was not falling into Ding Daqi's plan?
But who will have the last laugh will have to be fought to find out.
But even though both sides were strategically eager for a decisive battle, Ding Sheng was still not stupid enough to reveal his opportunity to attack.
For this reason, he pretended to be true and false, so that Cao Jun could not judge his intentions, so that he could achieve unexpected results.
The night before, Ding Sheng ordered all the troops to move to various parts of Zishui, and ordered the entire army to cross the river the moment the morning light emerged today.
At this time, Ding Sheng's army consisted of six armies, namely the Zhonghu Army led by Ding Wu, the Xuanwei Army led by Zhang Hao, the Weiwu Army led by Huang Yong, the Wu Yi Army led by Jin Quan, and the Guangwu II Army led by Zhao Liang. Army, the Guangwei Army led by Xie Hui.
Last night, at the moment the order was issued, except for the Central Guard Army and the Guangwu Second Army who stayed in the camp, the other four armies that had been prepared began to separate and rush to various parts of Zishui.
Among them, Xuanwei led by Zhang Heizi and the mighty army led by Huang Yong were ordered to rush to the upper reaches of Zi River, where there was a shoal for easy fording.
It was about fifteen miles from the camp to Yedu. Along the way, Zhang Heizi and the others marched diagonally, avoiding any possible sentinels from Cao's army on the road.
But the further upstream you go, the closer you get to the hilly areas outside Mengshan Mountain. The roads are rugged and complicated, and the dense woods make the Taishan Army suffer a lot.
Because there are almost no roads here, and all are small groups of woodcutters and businessmen, it was not until dawn that the two armies of Zhang Heizi and Huang Yong, totaling about 10,000 people, arrived at the original ferry.
According to the previous plan, after Zhang Heizi and the others arrived at the ferry, they would need to cross the river as soon as it became light. Then their goal was to occupy an intersection on the opposite side. There was a Populus euphratica forest there, so it was also called Populus euphratica. .
According to the information received from the scouts in the army, the Populus euphratica Kou was of strategic significance on the battlefield at this time.
Because the number of enemy troops is close to 40,000, it is naturally impossible for them all to gather in one place. The overall distribution of Cao's army can be roughly divided into two groups.
One group is the Xiahou Chun Army that is still stationed in the dense forest area of Zishui River, the other group is Cao Cao's own army, and then there are various subordinate legions of Cao Army in other places.
But overall, the Xiahou Dun Army was the largest and most independent army.
Huyangkou here is the most important communication line between Xiahou Dun and Cao Cao.
Once Zhang Heizi and Huang Yong can occupy the transportation area here according to the plan, they can cut off Xiahou Dun's march route to assist Cao Cao.
At that time, Zhang Heizi and the others will serve as a chopping block, and Ding Sheng's army and the east road from Jinquan will be able to suppress Cao Cao from both sides.
In this way, Cao Cao is just meat on their chopping board, and they can cook it as they please.
In order to complete this large hammer-anvil tactic, the key is whether Zhang Heizi and the others can capture Hulinkou as planned.
It is for this reason that the Xuanwei and Weiwu armies, which had been marching all night, were already very tired, but they still gritted their teeth and crossed the river, speeding towards Hulinkou in the south.
It was also at this time that the training exercises that the Taishan Army had been training had an outstanding effect.
In the Taishan Army's unpretentious military tactics, the only exception is the pursuit of troop mobility. Whether it is detouring, going around, or interspersing, the troops need to move to the designated location according to the plan.
So what does the Taishan Army practice the most on weekdays? The most important thing is armed training.
It is about fifteen miles from the ferry to Hulindu. According to the general Han army, it may take a day to walk, but with the Taishan army running at full speed, they can arrive within an hour.
But it is undeniable that even so, even if the troops can reach Huyangkou within this time, how much combat power will they have left?
......
Yesterday afternoon, it started to rain again in Zishui. Although it stopped before night, it still left a little haze in Ding Sheng's heart.
In such an environment, the troops are actually not suitable for mobile attacks, because anyone with a little common sense will see two sudden heavy rains in just four days, which means that the rainy season is really going to happen. Coming.
Therefore, it is very likely that when the army is halfway through the march, it will suddenly start to rain heavily, and by then the entire combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly reduced.
After all, Cao Jun was like this before.
But there is also an advantage. Ding Sheng comforted himself in this way, that is, in this case, the Cao Jun on the opposite side would not expect that he would make a sudden move.
Ding Sheng is still quite proud of this reality.
I was showing off my military skills on the shore during the day, pretending to be crossing the river, and then secretly moved in the middle of the night to cross the river from upstream and downstream.
Who would have thought of this? Not to mention Cao Cao, even I might not have thought of it.
So thinking about it from this aspect, the rain yesterday afternoon really came at the right time. Otherwise, my own strategy cannot be so natural.
In the words of the king, it is silky smooth.
But when Ding Sheng came together this morning, he saw the fog on the Zi River and felt unhappy again.
The ferry upstream is shallow, so the fog is definitely nothing, but Jinquan and the others are crossing the river downstream, where the water surface is wide and the fog on the water surface is so dense, it will definitely bring great disadvantages to crossing the river.
When Ding Sheng's mood turned gloomy, Ya Bing came to call Ding Sheng for breakfast.
Also dining with him were the middle and senior military officers of the Central Guard Army and the Second Guangwu Army.
Having breakfast together before the war is an old tradition of the Taishan Army.
This was passed down from the King's meeting, and he told them the reason behind it at that time.
The king said that as generals at their level, although they no longer need to be on the front line in person, the physical energy consumed in making decisions about military affairs is no less than before.
Therefore, as a leader, you should eat more meat, eggs, milk, vegetables and corn before the war.
The king also said a word at that time, what is "blood sugar", saying that the secret of maintaining sufficient physical energy is hidden in this blood sugar.
If blood sugar rises quickly, people will become sleepy easily, while if blood sugar rises slowly, it will be easier for people to maintain energy.
How to make blood sugar rise slowly? The king said the secret lies in the order of eating. The king taught them to eat vegetables first in the morning, then meat, eggs, milk, and finally corn. As long as they follow this process, they will be full of energy.
In fact, how could anyone understand these things? As for Ding Sheng himself, he felt that the king was talking nonsense.
It’s not about being energetic, it’s about blood sugar.
You are really bullying me, old Ding. Then we, old Ding, don’t know what blood tastes like? Who hasn’t had a few mouthfuls of old blood when fighting for their lives?
Is the blood sweet? Just blood sugar.
But for the others, Ding Sheng and the others still agree. It’s okay if they don’t agree. Who in the army doesn’t know that the king’s energy and physical fitness are as abundant as an elephant’s.
Then the secret secret that the king mentioned to maintain energy must be effective.
In actual operation, this is indeed the case, so the dinner before the battle has become a unique ritual of the Taishan Army and has been preserved.
Once this ritual was fixed, the generals also discovered its other benefits, that is, the generals could exchange news with each other and even encourage each other during the meal, which had a superb effect on stabilizing military morale.
At this time, when Ding Sheng hurried back to the tent, the number 20 and 30 senior military officials present were already full.
In front of each of them was a small table with a plate of green leafy vegetables, two cooked chickens, a plate of lamb chops, and a wooden cup of hot milk.
It can be said that the price behind being able to have such a breakfast on the battlefield is staggering.
In fact, it is not that no one has said that this behavior is inconsistent with the purpose of Taishan Army's unity and fairness. After all, the generals can eat like this, but the Taishan Army officials who will go to the battlefield soon do not have this treatment.
Isn’t this encouraging military generals to be special?
So at that time, some officials of the Xuan comfort system also spoke up several times, but they were ignored by Zhang Chong.
Zhang Chong is an ideal realist
He has ideals, but he will never be pedantic. He is realistic and can settle accounts.
Of course Zhang Chong understands that the victory or defeat on the battlefield depends on all aspects, but the most controllable variable is the energy of the military chiefs.
If just spending this little thing can give these generals enough energy to deal with the battlefield environment on the battlefield, it can be said to be quite cost-effective.
At this moment, all the generals were waiting for Ding Sheng to take his seat, and then the whole curtain was raised.
All the tooth soldiers surrounded the curtain, preventing anyone from entering within ten steps.
At this time, Ding Sheng stood beside the table, first filled his wooden cup with water, and then drank it all.
Then he sat on the mazza and began to eat the green leafy vegetables in front of him.
Actually, these are wild vegetables dug nearby and boiled in water. But let alone early spring, these wild vegetables are full of flavor.
Ding Sheng felt comfortable eating and poured himself another glass. Then he raised his glass and said to the generals:
"Brothers, eat!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the generals below began to eat like crazy. They were all warriors, and they were called rough men when they ate.
Halfway through the meal, the curtain outside was lifted, and You Yi, carrying a flag, ran over and sang loudly to Ding Sheng, who was chewing lamb chops:
"Report, gold , Xie Erbu has arrived at the downstream ferry, and can only cross the river at dawn."
Ding Sheng wiped the corners of his mouth and nodded.
Ding Sheng was not surprised that Jin Quan and Xie Hui could reach the designated ferry so quickly. After all, from the camp to the east, the entire north bank of Zi River was a smooth road. With their march, they could reach the designated ferry within the prescribed time. That's what it should be.
Not enough is the problem.
Now we have to wait for Zhang Heizi and Huang Yong. Their road is all mountainous, so they may be delayed.
But Zhang Heizi and the others did not let Ding Sheng wait long. After he finished the last bite of corn on the plate, another Yu Yi came outside, and the news he brought was that Zhang and Huang The second unit has also arrived at the designated ferry.
At this time, Ding Sheng felt relieved. After drinking all the water in the wooden cup, he said solemnly to all the generals present:
“We are here Let’s start too.”
The generals ate faster than Ding Sheng, but they all left a mouthful of millet on the plate. Only after Ding Sheng had finished eating did they finish the mouthful.
Then everyone stood up, bowed to Ding Sheng and sang.
Then, a group of dragon and tiger generals strode out of the curtain and returned to the camp.
Over there, the whole camp was also filled with smoke. It seemed that while Ding Sheng and the others were eating, the whole army was also eating.
But if someone pays attention to the amount of cooking smoke, it can be clearly seen that there are obviously more smokes than the 10,000 people in the camp.
It seems that our Ding Sheng has also begun to use small tricks to deceive people and sneak attacks on Lao Cao.
As the generals dispersed, the crowded curtain suddenly became empty. Only Ding Wu remained here, waiting for Ding Sheng's further military orders.
Sure enough, the first thing Ding Sheng asked his clan brother was how many war horses there were in the army.
Ding Sheng's current legion is not only his own, but also a considerable part of Dong Fang's. Both legions originally had large numbers of cavalry troops.
Whether it is his Youping Assault Cavalry or Dong Fan's Daibei Assault Cavalry, they are both cavalry regiments with strong battlefield dominance capabilities.
But now that these have been transferred away by the king, Ding Sheng can only reorganize a cavalry unit.
Currently, he needs cavalry for three functions. One is to serve as his tooth cavalry, specifically used to deliver and report Ding Sheng's military orders.
The second one is You Yi’s sentinel power. Even though Ding Sheng is very confident, he still needs You Yi to send him more battlefield information.
And these three are an impact force. Ding Sheng used cavalry a lot, but now suddenly there is no cavalry available, and this battle will not be effective no matter how hard it is fought.
But how much cavalry experience did Ding Sheng raise in the end? Ding Wu told him that there were only 500 cavalry available, excluding the tooth cavalry outside the tent.
There is an army of 30,000, but only 500 cavalry are available. What kind of battle is this?
Ding Sheng sighed, and finally decided to leave all five hundred horses to Youyi General Xu Miao, and let him take him out to look for opportunities.
Xu Miao is a clever kid, he is a cavalryman, give him this chance this time.
After making these arrangements, he suddenly heard the continuous sound of the horn outside. Ding Sheng was stunned for a moment and lost his voice:
"I didn't give the order, who dares to blow the horn?"
After the words fell, the curtain opened again, and the tooth general outside the tent hurried inside to report:
"Commander, Cao Jun on the other side suddenly blew the horn."
Ding Sheng stood up immediately, and his mind There is only one thought:
"Is this old Cao going to fight?"