Chapter 243 Battle of Yingyang
The Yellow Turban Army is making adjustments, and Liu Feng is also making adjustments.
It’s just that Liu Feng’s actions were more decisive, and the progress of adjustments far exceeded that of the Yellow Turban Army.
When He Luan led five thousand Yellow Turbans out of Yingyin from the west gate, crossed the Gishui River, and rushed to Yingyang, Liu Feng had successfully met up with Taishi Ci's troops outside Yingyang City.
Yingyang is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is close to the Lishui River in the west and even uses the Lishui River as a moat. The terrain in the north is also unfavorable. If we set up an array here, we will be trapped in Yingyang City and the Lishui River. Being surrounded by front and rear, it is like standing against the water, which is a taboo for military strategists.
Contrary to what many people understand, in fact, standing against the enemy has always been a taboo that must be avoided in the art of war, and it is not a particularly powerful tactic.
From ancient times to the present, there are only one and a half people who can stand against the odds and still win.
One is one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty, the initiator of many people's misunderstanding of standing against the odds, Bingxian Han Xin.
The other half is Liu Yu.
Why is Liu Yu half?
Because Liu Yu had a large number of naval forces on the river, which could provide him with a steady stream of support. They could carry the water to continuously replenish arrows, shields and other ordnance supplies, and they could also send away the wounded and replenish the new army.
Others who stood against the odds basically died miserably.
Even if Han Xin was able to defeat Zhao Jun with his back against the enemy, his trump card relied on other coordination methods, not his back against the enemy.
Liu Feng was not big enough to compare with Han Xin, so they decisively set up the camp in the northeast, avoiding due north.
There is a reason why the camp is set up here.
At this time, Xuzhou Army's food supply only had one supply line left, and that was from Yangzhai.
Yangzhai is located to the northwest of Yingyang. Because of the Gishui River, Liu Feng could not set up a camp in the northwest. Otherwise, every time he attacked the city, his army would have to cross the Gishui River first. After the night, I have to go back to the camp to sleep again.
So the main camp can only be set up in the northwest of Yingyang, and at the same time, a small camp can be set up on the other side of the Gishui River to house the transshipped food and weapons.
On the third day after the camp was settled, news came from the reconnaissance cavalry that Yingyin's Yellow Turban Army had dispatched a group of about five to six thousand people and had arrived outside Yingyang City, with still one day to go.
Liu Feng immediately summoned the generals, and except for Guan Ping who was stationed in Xiaoying and Jia Kui who was stationed in Yangzhai, all the other generals were present.
Liu Feng simplified the situation and introduced it to the generals.
Then, the big tent fell into deep thought.
Liu Feng's eyes swept over the generals, including Taishi Ci, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang, and he felt a little excited.
Why are there as many as half of the top cavalrymen in the Northland here?
Taishici, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang may look very similar at first glance, but in fact the inner differences between them are huge.
Taishi Ci was a typical fierce warrior from a poor family in the Han Dynasty. He was a descendant of a powerful family in the process of transforming into a gentry family.
The Taishi family is actually very powerful in Donglai, Qingzhou. Otherwise, Taishi Ci would not have become a county official at a young age, and could even submit key memorials to the prefect.
This is quite valued by people, and Taishi Ci's loyalty made him live up to this respect.
But the power of the Taishi family only ends here. No matter how high it is, it will not be able to use its strength. This will also lead to a very serious problem later. When Taishi Ci risked his life, the Taishi family was embarrassed. They found that they were unable to pick the fruit.
Tai Shi Ci also had a strong and cunning side, which was vividly reflected in his deception of the state's messenger.
But even with such great achievements, what Taishi Ci received in the end was not a generous reward, nor a world-famous reputation. Instead, he fled Liaodong and was not allowed to return home for several years.
In the final analysis, this is because the Taishi Ci family is not a famous noble family and does not have the right to speak. This makes Taishi Ci unable to become famous in the world. He can only watch the cultivated fruits rot in the ground, but there is nothing he can do. .
Not to mention the change of Yuan Shao, but also the change of eunuchs and nobles like Cao Cao, the Cao family's disciples, former officials, and the alliance of in-laws will spread the matter in a very short time. Covering most of the Central Plains, Cao Cao himself will also receive extremely generous rewards.
This is the gap between the powerful and the nobles.
It was this setback that made Taishi Ci become a bit blind to celebrities in the future.
Kong Rong did not trust him. Just from the history books, we can know that Kong Rong expressed condolences to Taishi's mother. In fact, he did not really appreciate Taishi Ci. He just used Taishi Ci as a tool to express his courtesy and virtuousness.
Otherwise, it cannot be explained at all that if Kong Rong appreciated Taishi Ci's righteous deeds so much, why did Taishi Ci rush into Duchang and ask Kong Rong to give him two thousand soldiers, and he was willing to break the siege of the Yellow Turban for Kong Rong.
Kong Rong's reaction was resolute. He not only couldn't trust Taishi Ci's ability, but also couldn't trust Taishi Ci as a person.
His appreciation and respect for Tai Shi Ci is not worth two thousand county soldiers.
But Tai Shi Ci was not discouraged and still stayed with Kong Rong to look for opportunities. If it was just to repay his kindness, this was really unjustifiable given Tai Shi Ci's temper.
Afterwards, Taishi Ci went to Liu Yao. Liu Yao still despised him, but Taishi Ci still refused to leave him.
It can only be said that during the few years Taishi Ci was in Liaodong, he really thought about it. Regardless of whether he was right or wrong, he did sum up an experience, that is, it is not enough to achieve success without being a famous person.
But in this time and space, Taishi Ci only received a blow from Kong Rong. Before he could go south to join Liu Yao, he got Liu Bei's invitation.
At the same time, with Liu Bei, he also got the opportunity to show off his dream skills.
Liu Bei even entrusted his legitimate son Liu Feng with the important task of teaching bow and horse.
Although Gongma is not as good as Confucian classics teacher, this Gongma teacher is also a serious teacher.
Taishici's state of mind changed again. He only felt that being favored by Liu Bei for Zhengpi was the greatest luck in Taishi Ci's life.
Although he didn't say it, Taishi Ci had already secretly vowed in his heart that he was willing to die for Liu Bei and his son.
Zhang Liao is different from Taishi Ci. He is from the border county. Although he values love and justice as much as Taishi Ci and Xu Huang, he has the frivolousness and suspicion of the border commanders in his heart.
This is also the main reason why although he is dissatisfied with Lu Bu, he can never do without Lu Bu.
Because he couldn't trust other princes.
Now I have met Liu Bei and Guan Yu, Liu Feng respects him very much, and Zhang Liao is quite satisfied with his current life, and he is quite eager to try and make new achievements.
Xu Huang is between Taishi Ci and Zhang Liao. He has the most stable nature. Hedong County is also between the border and inner counties.
He is also very satisfied with the present, but he is not as active as Zhang Liao in wanting to make meritorious deeds.
So, after a moment of silence in the tent, Zhang Liao was the first to jump out and ask for a fight.
"Young Master, Liao only asks for two thousand elite cavalry, which can completely wipe out the enemy who comes to help."
Zhang Liao stood up and bowed on one knee to Liu Feng, clasped his hands and said: "If anything goes wrong, Liao is willing to accept military law. "
Liu Feng stood up, helped Zhang Liao up, and praised: "General Zhang's determination to fight is fully known to Feng. Please return to the table first."
Afterwards, Liu Feng. But he said: "This enemy is quite cunning. After leaving the city from Yingyin, they did not go directly to Yingyang, but detoured to Fenqiu in the south, and then turned north from here, relying on the Yingshui River all the way north to prepare for the attack. Enter Yingyang from the south gate.”
I have to say that He Luan’s military ability is really good.
If he rushes directly from the main road to Yingyang, he is really here to bring meritorious service to the Xuzhou Army.
But now that he has taken such a detour, although the journey will take an extra day and a half, the safety will be greatly increased.
Especially the last and most dangerous part of the journey, he marched on Yingshui throughout the whole journey, which meant that there was no need to fortify one side. Facing the Xuzhou Army with the absolute advantage of cavalry, this was undoubtedly a great move.
As we all know, the human army has been particularly afraid of being attacked from both sides since its birth.
In this way, what is even more advantageous is that if Yingyang's army attacks to meet this force, it only needs to worry about danger in one direction.
Liu Feng looked at Tai Shici and Xu Huang, but found that the two people did not intend to speak or ask for help. They only wanted to obey his orders.
As for Pan Zhang, he was not in a hurry.
At present, the infantry in the army in the camp are basically his troops. If it comes to cavalry, he can't even think about it.
If it’s a matter of infantry, then who else?
“I have an idea.”
Liu Feng took the initiative to call the generals to come to the map and asked: "Please see, it is exactly one day's journey from Fenqiu to Yingyang. If we can attack it halfway and use it as bait to lure the enemies of Yingyang Get out of the city. If they can be eliminated in the field, the difficulty of attacking the city will obviously be greatly reduced."
Liu Feng's idea aroused the interest of the generals, and they began to discuss the map. The road from Fenqiu to Yingyang is almost a straight line, no detours are needed, and it is about forty-five miles.
He Luan only needs to urge the troops to speed up, and they will definitely be able to reach Yingyang within one day.
However, He Luan also made several preparations and prepared a large amount of dry food to save time on cooking. It’s not easy to cook rice these days. Just cooking corn takes at least an hour.
At the same time, at the fourth watch of the next day, he urged the troops to get up and prepare. As soon as it dawned, He Luan's troops had already left Fenqiu and rushed towards Yingyang.
In order to increase the marching speed of the team, He Luan brought almost no food baggage and threw all the remaining two hundred stones of food in Fenqiu.
The dry food I brought with me was enough for three days. If we couldn't reach Yingyang in three days, no matter how much food we had, it would be just a burden.
Soon, when it was getting close to noon, the troops had already walked twenty miles away, and they were only half way away from Yingyang.
At the same time, Yingyang also opened the south gate after lunch, and a team of five thousand people came out, five in a row, heading south, obviously to meet He Luan.
All these situations were clearly investigated by Liu Feng's cavalry.
On the contrary, Yingyang's Yellow Turban cavalry were suppressed miserably. They almost did not dare to leave the range of their infantry and bows, and the information they could obtain was very little.
But He Luan came to the rescue from Yingyin. If he sat back and watched the opponent being defeated or even eliminated by the Xuzhou Army, the morale of the Yingyang defenders would also be greatly affected.
Therefore, Huang Shao decided to lead his troops personally to meet He Luan.
Huang Shao brought a total of 5,000 people out of the city. They were all elites. They not only had 500 cavalry, but also 800 crossbowmen, and a thousand yellow scarf warriors equipped with full armor. It can be said that Yingyang City Almost all of the most playable parts are here.
Huang Shao calculated the time correctly. They only needed to go fifteen miles out of the city to meet He Luan.
Then the two parties met, with their backs to the Ying River, and shields, chariots, and bows and crossbows, which were enough to support them for the remaining fifteen miles.
At the beginning, the operation went quite smoothly.
Other than the harassment of the cavalry who wandered outside the range of the crossbows on both sides, Huang Shao and He Luan encountered no other resistance.
In the afternoon, the two armies successfully converged fifteen miles south of Yingyang City.
The successful rendezvous greatly boosted the morale of the Yellow Turban Army. Huang Shao's troops completed the U-turn, and the rear army became the front army and began to return to Yingyang.
At this time, the Yellow Turban Army's front line was divided into three major parts.
The innermost one is the infantry march line near Yingshui. The Yellow Turban infantry marches here with ordnance and other baggage, and is best protected and sheltered.
In the middle are all the cavalry of the Yellow Turban Army, about 800 cavalry, ready to go out to attack the enemy at any time.
The outermost is a long line of carts, with shields erected on the carts, and the crossbowmen are arranged on the carts to ensure that the Xuzhou Army's light cavalry cannot harass the team at all.
In this way, the team's speed is greatly increased.
Liu Feng couldn't help but praise: "I didn't expect that among the Yellow Turbans, there are people who understand the art of war and are so resourceful."
Tai Shi Ci, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang all nodded in agreement. Liu Feng's opinion.
Pan Zhang is not here. He has more important tasks and is arranged elsewhere.
After Huang Shao and He Luan met, they were quite nervous, worried that the Xuzhou Army would take advantage of the chaos to launch an attack.
But when both sides made arrangements, changed direction, and started marching again, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that the Xuzhou Army is afraid to come."
He Luan knew the combat effectiveness of the Xuzhou Army, but in order to boost morale, he still showed contempt for the Xuzhou Army.
"They should have been frightened when they saw Huang Shuai coming to meet us in person!"
Huang Shao knew that He Luan was not so arrogant, and was obviously trying to boost the morale of the army.
Therefore, he also praised: "He Shuai personally supervised the army and came to rescue Yingyang. It was the tiger-like momentum of the reinforcements brothers that was able to frighten the Xuzhou army. The Yingyang elders are really grateful for this."
< br>The two sides complimented each other, and the morale of the army was also boosted. They were about to arrive at Yingyang City, and everyone was very happy.
Unexpectedly, after continuing for five miles, an accident occurred.
"What!? There are officers and soldiers building fortresses in front of me, blocking my way!?"
Huang Shaoben was commanding the Chinese army when he suddenly found that the troops in front had stopped, and then there were the front troops The envoy came back to report the news.
It turned out that only six or seven miles away from Yingyang City, a Xuzhou Army actually appeared and built a simple camp with wooden rafts and carts.
If the Yellow Turban Army wants to enter Yingyang, they must either break this simple camp and pass through it.
Or we have to make a big circle, leave the flank protection of Yingshui, get out of the way of this camp, and enter the city through the east gate of Yingyang.
The latter option is absolutely undesirable. Going in such a big circle and breaking away from Ying Shui's flank protection is simply exposing your own weakness to the opponent's sharp blade. What is the difference between this and committing suicide?
Huang Shao and He Luan went directly to the front line to observe the enemy's situation, and found that the opponent's fortress was indeed quite simple.
This line of defense is centered on large vehicles, and the wooden rafts are only used to cover the gaps between the vehicles.
Huang Shao and He Luan couldn't tell how many Xuzhou troops were in the camp. They just made a rough guess and felt that the opponent would not have more than 3,000 people.
Huang Shao and He Luan discussed it and chose to attack the base because they had no choice.
At the same time, Huang Shao notified the city with smoke, hoping that the city would send troops together to form a two-sided attack on the Xuzhou Army.
What was wedged between the Yellow Turban Army and Yingyang City like a nail was naturally the Three Thousand Parts led by Pan Zhang himself.
Liu Feng was quite bold this time and almost came out in full force. Except for a few auxiliary soldiers, the camp was completely empty.
After all, Liu Feng had more than 5,000 cavalry and completely controlled the battlefield.
Even if the camp is empty, Yingyang City and the main force of the Yellow Turban Army will not be able to attack at all.
Both sides realized the key to the situation, especially the Yellow Turban Army, who came up with all their elites.
Two thousand yellow scarf warriors, under the cover of four hundred crossbowmen, rushed towards the chariot formation.
Pan Zhang's side also pitted the elite against the elite. He did not stay behind at all and directly sent 500 armored soldiers into battle.
Most of the bows and arrows of the Yellow Turban Army are soft bows, which cannot break through the armor protection of the armored soldiers. Only a small number of strong bows and crossbows can pose a threat to the armored soldiers.
But in the same way, Pan Zhang's troops also had archers to fight back. They left the yellow scarf warriors alone and only suppressed the opponent's long-range crossbowmen, making it impossible for the opponent to easily close the distance and aim at the target.
The Yellow Turban warriors wear full-body leather armor, some hold one-handed weapons with a small buckler, and some hold long spears.
The Yellow Turban warriors cooperated tacitly, and the archers behind began to lob, avoiding the friendly forces, and at the same time being able to cross the vehicle formation and cause damage to the Xuzhou Army behind the vehicle formation, while the crossbowmen were tasked with suppressing the armored warriors. , try to increase the risk and difficulty of their taking the lead.
The yellow scarf warriors with spears rushed to the front of the car formation first, using their spears to try to block the space for the opponent to emerge.
Subsequently, the yellow turban warriors built a human wall against the car wall, and then helped their comrades climb over the car formation.
The first batch of yellow scarf warriors who rushed in were almost all war hammers, which are melee weapons specially used to restrain iron armor.
The iron armor of the Eastern Han Dynasty was quite weak in protecting against blunt objects. If this hammer was hit hard, it could even directly break the ribs.
The armored soldiers of the Xuzhou Army did not hesitate at all. They pushed forward directly, and the two sides had the first wave of fierce collisions in the car formation.
In just a moment, more than a dozen people fell down, with blood flowing from their mouths, noses, and nails.
But no one paid any attention to this. The two sides just continued to fight, with only each other in their eyes.
Pan Zhang's car formation received a fierce impact, and the casualties of the armored soldiers gradually increased.
This is not only because the Yellow Turban warriors are not afraid of death, but also because the heavy crossbowmen behind them do not care about life and death, and even ignore the shooting of their companions.
(End of this chapter)