Chapter 216 Fighter
On June 23rd, the sixth year of Guanghe's reign, the two Yellow Turban troops of Ma Yuanyi and Bo Cai, who were entrenched outside Yangzhai City, suddenly moved southward and met directly in the Yingyang area with Pengtuo's troops on Taiping Road in Runan, who were heading north. For a time, the military strength was greatly strengthened. After the Taiping Road in Ruying merged, there were 150,000 troops stationed in companies for more than ten miles, filling the fields of Yingyang.
All this was planned by Ma Yuanyi. He used his prestige within the sect to promote the alliance of Ruying Taiping Dao.
It turned out that Ma Yuanyi had this idea after the Runan Taiping Dao defeated Runan Governor Zhao Qian in Zhaoling. In the battle of Zhaoling, Runan Taiping Road won a great victory, defeating the main force of the Han army in Runan in one fell swoop, and the essence of the county was exhausted. For example, Yuan Yuan of Runan's family, who was a minister of the county at that time, attacked from the prefect. He and other officials in the county defended themselves, but they were all killed by Chen. Only the prefect Zhao Qian escaped with his own life.
At that time, Ma Yuanyi gathered the Taiping people in the Yangzhai area. After hearing about Runan's great victory, he hurriedly sent a message to Peng Tuo's tribe in Runan as the Taiping Taoist envoy, ordering them to rush north to join the decisive battle with the main force of the Han army in Yingchuan.
Peng Tuo's Zhaoling was located between Ru River and Ying River, with a flat river between it and Yingyang. He got the name of Ma Yuanyi and immediately led 80,000 Runan Yellow Turban Army northward.
Peng Tuo was a disciple of Zhang Bao. Like his master, he had always been a Geng Jie. He always ignored the internal conflicts in the teaching and only listened to the teachings and obeyed whoever was there. So Ma Yuanyi sent him an order, and without much thought he took all the combatable troops in Runan and went north.
Runan was originally a large county with a household registration of one million, and Taiping Road, which was rooted here, was even more powerful in terms of troops and horses. Peng Tuo himself had Wu Ba, Gong Du, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, and He Man as his subordinates. The six strong generals are all brave and capable of commanding thousands of people. After that, they defeated the main force of the Han army in Runan in another battle, and they were even more satisfied.
In Peng Tuo's view, he had an army of 80,000, so he had nothing to lose against the Han soldiers. In this way, they attacked Yingyang in a mighty manner.
Bocai's tribe originally received a letter from Yangzhai, asking him to march westward to join forces with Ma Yuanyi. However, Bocai fought fiercely with the Han soldiers and was bitten to death. In the end, he cut off his tail and led 50,000 remaining soldiers to Yangzhai westward. , joined forces with Ma Yuanyi's 20,000 troops here. And taking advantage of the fact that the Han army failed to figure out their intentions, they quickly went south and joined forces with Peng Tuo.
After joining forces, Ma Yuanyi had the highest prestige in the sect. The Ruying army jointly elected Ma Yuanyi as its commander, preparing to fight the Han soldiers in Yingyang to the death.
As the name suggests, Yingyang is on the Yangtze River of Yingshui. Ma Yuanyi chose this place as the place to merge because it is between Nanyang and Runan, making it more convenient for everyone to join forces. But Ma Yuanyi may not have thought that Yingyang was surrounded by flat rivers, which was very conducive for the main force of the Han army to gallop.
Cao Cao, the cavalry captain, combined his two thousand cavalry with Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's legions. The Han army already had about eight thousand elite cavalry, which was a very terrifying number in the entire Central Plains battlefield, and Ma Yuanyi did not take these into account.
Yingyang City quickly fell under the siege of 150,000 Yellow Turban troops. On the day the city was breached, the Taiping Army massacred all the wealthy families in the city, such as the Ji family and the Wang family, both of whom were Guangwu ancestors. You know, when you see your family being slaughtered by moth thieves, you can’t help but feel sad that all the fame, fortune and wealth are in vain.
After that, Ruying Taiping Road took Yingyang City as its base, stationed in the deep trench, accumulated grain, and prepared to make long-term plans with the Han army. At the beginning, the leaders of Ruying Taiping Road did not include Taishan in Puyang in their plans, not because they thought they could not fight, but because they were four hundred miles away.
But in the end, Ma Yuanyi overcame all opinions and selected the Ten Horse Patrol Team to go north to Puyang, allowing the Puyang side to go south and attack the main force of Ruying Taiping Road from north to south. Of course, Ma Yuanyi did not pin all his hopes of victory on Mount Tai. He also sent a message to Zhang Mancheng of Nanyang Taiping Road, inviting him to go north together and join forces with Ruying Taiping Road to threaten the flank of the main force of the Han army.
At this time, Nanyang Taiping Road also had strong troops and horses, with 150,000 soldiers, and had successive victories. First, they attacked and killed Chu Gong, the prefect of Nanyang, in Wancheng, and then besieged Wancheng several times. They kept the Nanyang Taiping Road within the city and took the initiative on the battlefield.
Originally, Ma Yuanyi was confident in mobilizing Nanyang Taiping Road to go north, because these were his old subordinates. Many of the important generals in the army were led by Ma Yuanyi to join the road. Now that Ma Yuanyi has called him, how could they not go north? But Ma Yuanyi still underestimated the differences within the church.
When the letter of appeal was delivered to Zhang Mancheng of Nanyang Taiping Road, Zhang Mancheng was noncommittal.
Ma Yuanyi was previously the divine envoy within the sect, but was later deprived by Zhang Jiao for protecting Zhang Chong, leaving Zhang Mancheng to assume the role of divine envoy. The status of the divine envoy in the sect is similar to that of the Yellow Angel. He has the power to direct Huang Tian's will, in other words, he can support the ji.
Later, Ma Yuanyi came out of the mountain again and became the envoy of the gods. Naturally, Zhang Mancheng could not do this. Problems arise at this moment, and estrangement arises.
Another reason why Zhang Mancheng didn't want to go north was that he was worried about making wedding clothes for others. If he goes north, he will use his own soldiers to perform meritorious service for Ma Yuanyi. He had already competed with Ma Yuanyi. If Ma Yuanyi defeated the main force of the Han army in Yingchuan, he would never have the chance to use others to seize the opportunity to succeed him in the church.
Therefore, Zhang Mancheng said that the strength of the Han army in Nanyang is still there. If he cannot eliminate it now, it may become a threat again. Therefore, he is allowed to wait for another two months. When the millet is harvested in September, Zhang Mancheng will lead 100,000 troops to the north to meet the Han army in Ru. Ying. During this period, Ma Yuanyi could only deal with it.
In fact, the reason for all this is Zhang Mancheng's vision problem. It is not that he has a narrow vision in fighting for power, but that he misjudged the true strength of the Han army. What he fought in Nanyang was only the inner county soldiers of the Han army, and this was when the powerful Nanyang troops were not organized. The elite of the main force of the Han army going south was beyond Zhang Mancheng's imagination. He might doubt Ma Yuanyi's cry again. Did he just want to annex him when he went north?
All in all, due to these limitations and some limitations of vision, Nanyang Taipingdao rejected Ma Yuanyi's suggestion to go north, and this made Ruying Taipingdao once again have to face Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's army alone.
But things took a turn for the better in Puyang.
On both sides of the Pu River, which had been facing off for half a month, the Taishan Army took action again.
The Han army, which was originally fighting in the north and south of Pu River and besieging Taiping Road, welcomed a visitor from Kyoto ten days ago. He took the Huya and Fufeng battalions stationed in Chang'an and two thousand soldiers out of the seclusion. This was the response Liu Hong arranged when he received Lu Zhi’s letter in June.
The visitor who led the troops was named Yuan Pang, who came from the Yuan family of Chen State. As a visitor in the army, he led the Huya and Fufeng battalions out of the border to assist Huang Wan, the herdsman of Yanzhou who had arrived earlier. He was also accompanied by Two hundred thousand stone grains from Aocang.
The arrival of Yuan Pang directly made Huang Wan understand that the original so-called sit-down strategy failed to pass at all with Liu Hong. That's right, just for the Taishan bandit's few soldiers, he spent tens of thousands to build the stronghold wall. Do you think Liu Hong's money was blown by the strong wind?
So Liu Hong's meaning is very obvious. I have given you the best soldiers, powerful generals, food, armor and equipment. Now fight me!
Yuan Pang and Huang Wan did not have a deep friendship. Huang Wan was a staunch anti-eunuch faction in the court, and he and Yuan Pang were centrists. The two did not have much personal relationship, and because of this, Liu Hong chose Yuan Pang. As soon as Yuan Pang entered the Fengqiu camp, he began to find out the situation of the Yanzhou Army. Three days later, he reported to Liu Hong:
"When I arrived in the army, I haven't fully understood everything. And I have few soldiers, so I can't discuss it lightly."
Yuan Pang's cautious report was just to prevent Liu Hong from worrying, but in fact he already knew about the various problems existing in Fengqiu Camp. In a private message to Yuan Wei, who is of the same race but in a different room, he expressed his true emotions:
"On June 25th, I arrived at Fengqiu and met Huang Wan and Zhou Shen. Both of them said that the Taishan army was fierce and unstoppable. I thought they were such a huge bandit, but when I visited them carefully, they found that the thieves were no more than ten thousand Ding women. , Even if you are brave, you are nothing more than a bandit. Now I have 12,000 soldiers in the Fengqiu camp, and they are all capable of marching. However, Huang Wan only patrols and insists on defending, which makes the generals in the army slack. I have asked for battle several times, but Huang Wan refused. I think that if Yi'er is the thief in Mount Tai, just kill Huang Wan in the south."
Yuan Wei was a Situ. After receiving Yuan Pang's private message, he used his own identity to send a warning to Huang Wan in Fengqiu, accusing Huang Wan of having the courage to do his job and not just wasting the country's money and food and accomplishing nothing.
This warning directly made Huang Wan feel sad and frustrated.
In fact, not long after Yuan Pang entered the camp, he was dissatisfied with this and did not go well with others. The essence was to establish his power in front of Huang Wan, Zhou Shen and others. Several military meetings were made to accuse the two of them, causing them to break up unhappy. . Therefore, Huang Wan no longer invited Yuan Pang to participate in the military meeting, but only informed him of the results, which deepened the gap between the two sides.
In the end, Yuan Pang even moved his troops to Suanzao with the Huya and Fufeng battalions because the Fengqiu camp was small, saying that he wanted to stop the Taishan Army's thieves in Yan County.
But now Yuan Pang beat him, and also attracted Sikong's help to give him orders. This directly hit Huang Wan, and he fell ill all of a sudden.
On the one hand, this is indeed a heartache, but on the other hand, since entering Fengqiu, Huang Wan has built this Yanzhou regiment from scratch, and the camp affairs are full of problems. He only eats three liters of millet on a daily basis, and he is already exhausted mentally and physically, and his vitality is severely damaged.
As soon as the inside and outside came together, Huang Wan vomited blood and fell unconscious at the desk.
Huang Wan's illness directly aggravated the chaos in the Fengqiu camp. Previously, with Huang Wan's mediation, these powerful soldiers could tolerate each other and serve the country. But now that the backbone of the army has fallen, the generals are at odds, which further disintegrates the morale of the army. .
This was reflected on the Pu River front line, where the Han soldiers had no fighting spirit and suffered heavy defeats in several small-scale raids against the Taishan Army.
In fact, the Taishan Army and the Han soldiers were not just waiting for more than half a month of fighting. Instead, conflicts occurred on the north bank of Pu River from time to time. The scout rangers from both sides often went deep into each other's rear, ambushing the woodcutters leaving the stronghold or diverting the team. This kind of small-scale combat involves the input of elites from both sides. In the past, the victory and defeat were evenly divided between the two sides. Although the Taishan army was strong in combat, the Yanzhou army knew the geography better, so it could be considered that there was regular contact.
However, in the past few days, the Han soldiers not only attacked less often, but also became more and more exhausted. After being attacked, they often dispersed back to the camp without resistance. These changes were noticed by Feijun Beiqi of the Taishan Army and reported to Zhang Chong in Puyang.
Zhang Chong had just received a letter of appeal from Ma Yuanyi, urging him to go south and attack the main force of the Han army with him. Zhang Chong was still hesitant at first, because the original plan was that he would use Puyang as the base of advance to attack Xingyang Aocang as the last effective force to defeat Yanzhou, threatening the supplies of Lu Zhi's army in the north of the Han army.
But there is a huge change in the current situation, that is, because Ruying Taiping Road in the middle started the uprising earlier than in history, it has developed better and is evenly matched with the main force of the Han army. The turning point of the battle that burned Changshe happened, but because the time was advanced, an unexpected heavy rain suddenly fell, which changed the outcome of the war. It can be said that all wars are the result of the right time, right place, right people, and the right people.
Another big change was Ma Yuanyi, because Ma Yuanyi successfully escaped and went south to Yingchuan. With him as a prestigious leader, Runan's Taiping Road actually went north. This has never happened before in history.
In this way, the current situation is that Ma Yuanyi has gathered 150,000 troops and has camped in the Yingyang area, preparing for a decisive battle with the Han army. And now if Zhang Chong leads his troops south to attack Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's army, will it really be decided in one battle?
Although this prospect seems very tempting, Zhang Chong is clearly aware of the risks involved.
First of all, Puyang is about 400 miles away from the Yingyang battlefield. He devoted 10,000 troops to the south, traveling 40 miles a day, and it would take ten days at the fastest to arrive. There are three rivers along the way: Shebian River, Honggou River and Lishui River. It takes time to build bridges.
What if, by the time he leads the Taishan Army south to the battlefield of Yingyang, Ruying Taiping Road has already been defeated, and his division is exhausted and has no baggage, and is surrounded by Han soldiers, wouldn't that mean he overthrows the army and kills the general?
And even if he arrived, could he really defeat the main force of the Han army?
Ma Yuanyi said that there were 150,000 Taiping Dao soldiers gathered in Yingyang, but to be honest, Zhang Chong didn't believe it. Judging from the situation at Taiping Dao in Yanzhou, he found that the proportion of Taiping Dao's combat-ready troops was about one-third. In other words, there are roughly more than 50,000 capable soldiers stationed in Yingyang. If the Taishan Army goes south, there will be about ten thousand people. Such a comparison is that I have 60,000 troops versus 40,000 Han troops. It seems that I have the advantage.
But the difficulty lies in the fact that the 150,000 men on Ma Yuanyi's side were not organized into combat-ready soldiers at all. Instead, they mixed the old, the weak, and the strong together. This method directly dragged down the combat effectiveness of his troops, so it was really difficult to fight. Hard to say.
Moreover, there are nearly 10,000 powerful Yanzhou coalition forces opposite Zhang Chong. With them blocking the road, it will be difficult for him to go south. Therefore, at first, Zhang Chong planned to continue to act according to the original plan. He could only silently pray that Ma Yuanyi could stick to it. Until he goes south.
However, the frontline military information sent by the flying army scouts directly made Zhang Chong realize that a huge fighter plane was placed in front of him. Something must have happened to the Yanzhou Legion opposite, otherwise the decline in combat power would not have been so obvious.
Regardless of whether he wanted to go south or continue westward, the four Han army stations along the Pu River were all the Taishan Army wanted to destroy. So Zhang Chong immediately made up his mind to launch a surprise attack to at least defeat the mountains on the north bank of the Pu River first. The Yang soldiers and the Rencheng soldiers not far away.
Therefore, Zhang Chong sent a military order to Ding Sheng, Zhao Liang, Zhu Ying, and Tian Junzhi's sudden cavalry, planning three thousand troops and horses to directly attack the Shanyang soldiers on the north bank of Puyang. He also ordered Dian Wei, Yu Jin, Li Bi, and Gao Ya to send troops directly across the Pu River and cross the south bank of the Pu River, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the Renchengguo Corps.
Suddenly, Yu Xi flew outside Puyang City and a battle was about to begin.
What if there was a big battle with the Yanzhou Corps later on, instead of going south for a decisive battle with Huangfu Song?
(End of chapter)