Chapter 357: The Wind and Lightning
The army set out in the early morning of the 23rd and marched eastward for three consecutive days.
The "tail" on the back is getting longer and longer, but I don't dare to do it.
Shi Le was not ready to go south in a big way, and it was not the time for horses to fatten in the autumn on the grassland. At this time, Zahu was still at home fattening livestock and did not receive an "employment contract" from Dahu.
Shao Xun looked at the cowering Jie, Wuhuan, Xiongnu and even Han cavalry and laughed.
The little train is going through the river and the fields, it’s coming to the end soon, don’t worry.
At this time they had arrived in Dongwuyang.
The battlefield five years ago has been submerged in weeds.
At that time, Gou Xi led tens of thousands of Yan and Henan soldiers to cross the Yellow River north, and won successive victories in Wuyang in the East. He attacked the city and destroyed the stronghold, which was unstoppable.
The likes of Ji Sang and Shi Le were beaten to pieces.
Several years have passed, and the situation has changed, leaving people at a loss as to what to do.
Gou Xi was forcibly driven out of Yanzhou by Sima Yue. After arriving in Qingzhou, he could no longer stand. He was defeated by Cao Yi and returned to Yanzhou.
What would have happened if Gou Xi had not been driven away by Sima Yue? Maybe it will be much better than now.
After all, it was he who led the Yanzhou soldiers to achieve the myth of consecutive victories. It was he who prevented the rebel army from going south and poisoning Yanzhou. He still has some foundation.
But there are no ifs in history. Times have changed and it will be much more difficult for Gou Xi to come to Yanzhou than before.
Now is the time to end him.
If you want to steal my territory, you must be prepared to die.
There is a ferry in Dongwuyang County, called Cangtingjin.
In the sixth year of Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (201), Cao Cao raised his troops across the river and attacked Yuan Shao at Cangting, defeating him.
Shao Quanzhong is also crossing the river now.
In fact, some people have already begun to cross the river and go south.
The boatmen of Cangtingjin were caught before they could escape. They drove their boats dejectedly and ferried boatloads of people and horses to the other side.
Shao Xun divided his troops and occupied Dongwuyang and Yangping counties, recruited manpower, and cut down wood to build a pontoon bridge. There was no need to build a good bridge, it only needed to be used temporarily.
The large army took the opportunity to rest here.
At noon on the 28th, the crudely made pontoon bridge was finally completed. It was rickety and almost overturned.
But it doesn’t matter, as long as you can defeat the enemy.
Shao Xun led more than a thousand cavalry to cut off the rear in person, and occasionally rushed forward to scare off the surrounding Huns cavalry.
Ten days have passed since he appeared in Jijun on the 18th.
For Shi Le and Shi Chao, these ten days should be confusing.
Mobilize the cavalry, I don’t dare to attack, because there are quite a lot of people on the opposite side, and I only fought two or three times, and I suffered some hidden losses.
As for mobilizing infantry, it was too late.
The Jin army marched too fast and did not care for the horses at all. Many injured donkeys, mules and horses were abandoned along the way, just for the sake of speed.
In such a situation, it was really difficult to pursue them, so they watched them march along the Yellow River and rushed to Dongwuyang.
Now we seem to be crossing the river back to Yanzhou. This should be a good thing, right?
What’s the point of just him going back and forth like this?
First leave Yanzhou and cross the river to the north, then cross the river and go south back to Yanzhou. It's a damn urgent march!
The cavalry's rapid march comes at the expense of horses. I really don't understand them.
Of course, it is not that there are smart people who can see the fishiness, but it has nothing to do with them and they should be ignored. Risking being hunted and killed to deliver a message to Cao Yi, Zhao Gu and Gou Xi? Why?
On the first day of July, more than 6,000 troops appeared on the south bank of the Yellow River - or the east bank.
After taking a short rest, I calculated that the remaining food was less than what was needed for seven days, so I stopped delaying.
Wuhuan's light cavalry advanced first, followed by Fu soldiers, mounted infantry, and Shao's own soldiers, and Liangzhou's horses walked at the rear.
The whole army surged southward, passing through Fan County on the afternoon of the second day of the lunar month without entering, and galloped toward the southeast.
We have arrived northeast of Onozawa at noon on the third day of July.
******
On the third day of July in the fifth year of Yongjia of the Jin Dynasty (311), after a long journey, brothers Gou Xi and Gou Chun led their troops to the south of Jinxiang County.
Qiao State Prime Minister Xia Houheng led a vanguard of 3,000 people to Dongmin City and faced the Gou Xi brothers across the He River.
Behind him, large armies gathered one after another, with a total number of no less than 20,000 - most of them were farmers recruited by Qiao and Pei.
For Gou Xi, now is a good opportunity, because after Zhao Gu invaded Mount Tai, he went to Lu and attracted more than 10,000 people from Li Chong's army.
After receiving the news, he left the camp east of Onozawa almost overnight, and the whole army went south and rushed to Jinxiang.
He got a precious window of time: first defeat Xia Houheng's weak soldiers, and then march eastward to fight Li Zhong decisively.
But what puzzled him was that Shao Xun was still raising food and grass in Kaocheng, and the Silver Spear Army had not yet been dispatched, but was only practicing in Chenliu.
Does he really not want to go to war with me?
Gou Xi didn’t believe it at first, but now he is really shaken.
The Silver Spear Army he relies on to control all directions has not moved at all and is still hiding in Kaocheng. Does it look like he is about to take action?
But this is fine.
With the title of Commander-in-Chief of all the military forces in the six states in hand, as long as you give him time, it will be much easier to take over the two states of Henan and Yan. Although Xia Houheng, the prime minister of Qiao State, did not know who listened to the temptation, he actually led Ding Zhuang from Qiao and Pei came to intercept him, and Gou Xi even doubted whether he had acted on his own initiative.
"Brother!" More than ten riders retreated from the other side of He River. The leader was Gou Chun. It turned out that he personally led people across the river to investigate.
"Brother, Xia Houheng's army only has a few thousand soldiers. I don't know which family members got it together." Gou Chun ran over panting and said: "The camp he built is quite good. There are not many people here, why don’t you try to attack?”
The staff looked at me and I looked at you, they all wanted to say something, but in the end they were all downcast and silent.
The staff who followed me here are all relatively loyal. The matter has come to this, and they have no choice but to survive in death.
Gou Xi pondered for a long time.
After traveling for so long, the army was actually a little tired. If it were the old troops he led before, this would be nothing. But the current group of people has too many new recruits, but they are not as durable as the veterans.
However, he quickly made a decision: "You send people to build a bridge. As soon as it is completed, immediately select the elite to cross the river and attack the bandit camp."
"Nuo ." Gou Chun loudly accepted the order and left.
Gou Xi took a long breath.
No time, really not much time. Shao Xun is unable to get away now, but if he is allowed to recover, Gou Xi does not believe that he can sit back and watch her gain a foothold at the junction of Yan, Yu and Xuzhou.
Because he has the greatest capital: a great general, a great governor, and the governor of Qing Xu Yu, who oversees the military affairs of the six states of Jing.
Shao Xun is just a general of the Forbidden Army, not Fang Bo. Therefore, he has always only focused on training the Silver Spear Army, because it is his private army. Regardless of whether he is a ninth-grade official or a first-grade official, these soldiers belong to him.
He himself realized this.
The territory gained entirely by relying on the Silver Spear Army to intimidate all directions is not stable, but no one challenges him.
From now on, the battle for the dominance of Yanzhou has begun. Whoever wins will be the master of Henan.
Fortunately, Shao Xun was hesitant, not decisive at all, and tried to delay himself by delaying the attack.
Ridiculous, ridiculous!
It is not difficult to build a pontoon for a small water. After dark, it was almost done.
In the camp, there are sergeants everywhere who are immersed in eating.
No one said anything, because Gou Shijun (Gou Chun) was not a good person. He was more ruthless in killing people than his great governor.
The recruits didn't know anything before, but after some people were beheaded without warning, they understood everything.
Some smart people even guessed the reason for the final failure of brothers Gou Xi and Gou Chun in Qingzhou, which was probably inseparable from harsh punishment and indiscriminate killing.
"Dong dong dong..." Drums sounded in the camp.
The sergeant who was still eating quickened his movements.
Those who had finished eating stood up one after another, and under the leadership of the officers, formed an array in the open space outside the camp.
The battle has actually begun.
On the south bank of the pontoon, a few warriors wearing heavy armor were already charging forward with large shields and sharp blades in hand.
The Qiao army on the opposite side attacked the pontoon once, but was not moved. After leaving more than a hundred corpses, they retreated hastily.
The heavily armored warriors gave chase and almost broke into the camp, but in the end they slowly retreated due to the lack of soldiers.
But they have already established a foothold on the south bank. The large army can cross the river at any time. It is only a matter of time before they capture this camp.
"Dong, dong, dong..." The drums continued to sound.
Now it is no longer about gathering troops, but about advancing troops.
In the queue, the officers yelled at the clumsy new recruits because they couldn't understand the golden drum and couldn't distinguish the flags, and had to be constantly reminded by the officers.
In the chaos, people from one building after another were driven across the river, formed up on the other side, and then launched an attack on the Qiao army's camp.
Stones flew across the battlefield.
The Qiao army defended the camp, but there were only three thousand people. The good thing is that most of these three thousand people are from various clans, and they have some fighting ability.
Gou Xi's army has a large number of people and some elite veterans. Although this will demoralize them, they can still fight.
Gou Chun, who was in charge of attacking the stronghold, did not hesitate at all. He first let the new soldiers charge, and then decisively threw in the old soldiers, using them as the spearhead to launch a swift and violent attack.
The battle entered the bloodiest stage from the beginning.
At midnight, the second pontoon bridge was also built. More and more Gou Xi soldiers crossed the river, and then began to attack the camp from the other direction.
The battle is getting fiercer.
Although the Qiao and Pei tribes guarding the camp were both good in skills, they lacked combat experience and were thrown into confusion by attacks from both sides.
At the beginning of Yinshi, all the pavilions and barriers outside the camp were breached, the trenches were filled up, and the earthen walls were demolished to pieces.
At half past nine, the sky was already turning white. A camp gate had been breached. The defenders set fire to repel the enemy, and then frantically pulled in debris and heavy vehicles to block the gate.
Gou Chun was furious. He killed more than ten people on the spot and ordered another attack.
Gou Xi also crossed the river and rushed over. Looking at the battlefield where the sound of killing was loud, he frowned slightly.
"Brother, in half a day or at most one day, this fortress will be broken." Gou Chun comforted him, thinking that his brother was worried about the war.
"I just received news that a large group of people is coming from the south, with no less than five thousand people." Gou Xi said.
"Who are they?" Gou Chun was surprised and asked, "Could it be the Yamen Army led by Li Zhong?"
"It doesn't look like that." Gou Xi shook his head and said: "It's not the garrison at Linqiu, it should be soldiers sent from Pei and Qiao."
There are their rangers outside the city of Linqiu in Puyang. They report once a day, but there has been no movement so far.
There are no enemy troops in the direction of Jiyin.
Gou Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
Come on, come on, it's just five thousand reinforcements, fight them all together.
Just as the fighting on the south bank of He River became more and more intense, the army led by Shao Xun had arrived at the eastern border of Juye County at lightning speed.
After taking a short rest, they, who had shrunk to about 5,000 people, continued to move forward - some people fell behind one after another along the way.
At noon on the fourth day of July, just as Gou Chun entered the camp and Gou Xi led his troops to fight fiercely with the arriving reinforcements, Shao Xun had arrived at Jinxiang County, only forty miles away from the battlefield.
(End of this chapter)