Chapter 247: Getting Turtles
The outcome of the battle in Xingyang was of concern to the whole world, and somehow, the key to this battle was Zhang Dan's troops who were originally stationed in Fengqiu.
Where is Zhang Danbu at this time?
His tribe is located in Yanshi Xiaoyi, which is less than 20 miles away from Xingyang.
This city is not well-known in history, but it guards the intersection of Jishui and Honggou. It can be said that as long as this city is lost, the water network that transports half of the world to Xingyang will be paralyzed.
Therefore, in history, during the Lao Ai Rebellion, Qin Shihuang launched a military operation to frighten the six countries, attacking and occupying the Yan family town of Wei. This battle kept the eastern princes at bay for several years and bought time for Qin Shihuang to consolidate his internal affairs.
And Zhang Dan will lead four thousand troops to garrison here.
It is said that in July Zhang Chong led the main force of the Taishan Army, 4,000 troops, to go south. Zhang Dan stayed in Fengqiu to recruit rebels and train his troops. Now, in addition to the original two thousand troops, there are one thousand surrender troops and one thousand trackers near Nafengqiu.
As an important water transport city at the intersection of Puji and Jilin, Fengqiu is home to many trackers. These poor trackers have been enthusiastically joining the army since the Taishan Army captured Fengqiu. These people are accustomed to collective action and are not afraid of hardships. With a little organization, they can become elite soldiers who can fight hard. Therefore, after Zhang Dan was stationed in Fengqiu, he specially organized and trained four battalions with these thousands of trackers and thousands of Han soldiers.
Later, from July to August, he received military orders from Qu Commander Zhang Chong. During this period, Zhang Dan, along with key military officers drawn from each battalion, continued to reorganize the four battalions. After more than a month, it has formed a certain combat effectiveness, although it is still not comparable to the main force of the Taishan Army.
When Zhang Chong's army came south, he ordered his troops to join forces to attack Xingyang. Zhang Dan led Wei Zhou, Li Fu, Luo Gang, Pan Zhang, Huo Tan, Li Cun, Zhang Neng and other generals with a force of four thousand. They used the canals that the Han army had camped in Fengqiu to move west along the Jishui River. Come.
Previously, Zhang Dan, as Zhang Chong's township party and clan relative, was regarded by Zhang Chong as the cornerstone of the Yuan Cong faction in the army, and he had been cultivating him. Zhang Dan had served as a general several times, and he was also talented, so he also had experience. came out.
This meeting stopped at Yanshi Xiaoyi. Zhang Dan looked at the continuous barracks outside the river and the countless military tents with banners filling the mountain plateau. He sighed to Fan Chang, the chief clerk beside him:
"Sir, I often hear Commander Qu talking about ancient times, saying that Xingyang and Chenggao have been important towns in the world since the Spring and Autumn Period. From Qin up, Jin and Chu competed here for hegemony; from Qin down, Chu and Han divided their powers here. Later. If something happens, success or failure will be determined by looking at this place. I didn’t understand it at the time.”
After taking a breath, Zhang Dan pointed to the vague outline of the mountain plateau to the north and said to Fan Chang:
"But now that I see it, there is Sanhuang Mountain, and Aocang, which stores the largest amount of grain in the world, is located there. As long as it is captured, Commander Qu can summon a hundred thousand troops with a wave of his hand. With this military strength, there is no place in the world that cannot go."< br>
Although Gaoshi Fan Chang was not good at military strategy, he still frowned after listening to Zhang Dan's words and said:
"Young Lieutenant, do you want to attack Aocang directly? Aocang is not defenseless on Sanhuang Mountain. There are two military cities at one end of the mountain, Xiguangwu in the west and Dongguangwu in the east. Two hundred steps away, the chasm passes between the two military cities and enters the river. In the past, Chu and Han fought for hegemony. They were facing each other across a chasm. Therefore, Xiguangwu was also called the City of the King of Chu, and the Overlord of Chu could not cross the chasm. After Qu Shuai goes north, we will take a long-term view."
Zhang Dan was quite narrow-minded when he was young, but after fighting with Zhang Chong on the battlefield for several years, he became much more stable. Now hearing that the military chief did not agree, Zhang Dan did not insist. He just nodded and ordered the sentry to continue the investigation.
——
He Yi felt uneasy.
Just now, he was making military plans on the maza before the formation, but the maza suddenly collapsed. Although his confidant Yin Zhong said wisely:
"Qu Shuai has as much weight as the sky on his shoulders, how can a little horse carry him?"
The embarrassment was resolved with these clever words, but in the eyes of He Yi, who had always been superstitious, a stumble before the formation was really not a good sign.
He Yi took the bag from the guard and forgot about Xingyang with its four closed doors not far away, thinking again in her heart:
"But in a city like this, what kind of surprises can there be?"
It turns out that unlike the fortified city of Xingyang that He Yi, Zhang Chong and others thought, the walls of Xingyang at this time had not been repaired for a long time and collapsed in many places. It was no longer the fortified city in the world.
Zhang Chong and others all knew Xingyang City from books and had never actually seen it. Now after looking at Xingyang City, I realized how shabby this city really is. The main body of Xingyang City was built by South Korea during the Warring States Period, and it is a block-built structure. Its renovation was most prosperous in the Pre-Han Dynasty. Because Xingyang was a top priority for the imperial court in Guanzhong, the capital of Guanzhong, the assessment of Xingyang's city defense was also very important.
But in this Han Dynasty, Xingyang no longer cared too much about the court. And here is located in the heart of the capital, where no weapons have been heard for two hundred years. The Xingyang orders of the past dynasties paid more attention to the waterway instead of spending money to build the city wall.
It turns out that Xingyang City didn't even have battlements. It was after Xingyang ordered Yang Yi to learn that the Yellow Turban Moth thieves had emerged from the Beijing Cableway that he recruited the entire city to oversee the battlements day and night so that the battlements could be repaired. As for the rest, before construction started, He Yi arrived at Xingyang City with a mixed army of 8,000 troops.
He Yi, who had been fighting for a long time, just looked at the city in front of the formation and said to the young commanders:
"I don't know if such a sparse city can stop our army for a day."
When all the young commanders heard this and looked at Xingyang City, they all became very angry and laughed.
Previously, Xingyang ordered Yang Yi to deploy defenses mainly by setting up three barriers in the south of the city and blocking the water gate in the north of the city. But Xingyang still had a big defense loophole, which was a large warehouse in the east of the city.
This warehouse does not belong to the court, but is used by the Xingyang powerful people to collect and store the goods transported by the powerful people along the canal.
Do you still remember that four years ago, Zhang Chong and his friends in Tongli worked with Sun Tingzhang to transport water transport? At that time, along the road of Jishui, all the powerful people were smuggling through canals.
Zhang Chong had noticed a detail before, which was why the powerful men along the way took the goods on the canal without giving them any money. In fact, this is the key to the entire canal transportation network.
These powerful people have been cooperating with each other for more than ten generations, and for as few as five or six generations. Because they involve a lot of money and food, a large number of their transactions are done through bookkeeping rather than cash settlement. Whenever a canal ship departs from Shandong to Xingyang, the private goods carried along the way will be sold along the way. At this time, they had no money in the boat, and no one else could find out if they wanted to. And after they delivered the corn tribute to Aocang Chang, they would pass through Xingyang on their way back. When the time comes, they will replace the goods they need from this warehouse and then transport them to Shandong to sell them.
In this process, everything is hidden under this trading network. Even if people outside know the tricks, they can't do anything to these powerful people along the river.
Therefore, the goods parked in the Dongcheng warehouse at this moment are not only the goods of the powerful people in Xingyang, but also the goods of the powerful people in the entire Jishui River.
But one thing is to say, this Dongchengcang may now become an enemy. As long as the Yellow Turban Army discovers the warehouse here, it is impossible for the Han soldiers in Xingyang to have the strength to defend it. So Yang Yi's initial plan was to burn down Dongchengcang. But this time, the powerful people in Xingyang were filled with indignation, and the people were furious.
Some of them even shouted:
"I would rather give up my family property to thieves than let the county king burn a tile."
Zhang Yi turned pale with anger after hearing this, but he did not dare to burn it, because he knew that if it was burned, Xingyang City would not be able to defend it, so he could only compromise with the powerful people in the city.
It seems absurd for those powerful people to do this, but they have their reasons.
After all, those moth thieves really robbed the Dongcheng warehouse. How much they can use, and how much the following moth thieves rob, let them pay back double. But if it is burned by your Xingyang Order, it will really be gone.
Therefore, a defensive loophole as big as the Dongchengcang outside Xingyang City could only be left because of the interests of the powerful powers in the city.
He Yibu soon discovered Dongcheng Warehouse, opened a warehouse, and found that it was full of iron materials and lacquerware, and other warehouses also contained various materials. All members of He Yibu made a fortune.
The Yellow Turbans were about to divide it up, but this time they were stopped by He Yi. He said to the soldiers:
"The war is coming, money and silk will only make everyone less motivated to fight. We are just one step away. Do you think the destruction of Xingyang City can stop us? Now, I have decided to seal the treasury. When we capture Xingyang, let's discuss our merits together. Reward.”
He Yi's victories along the way have greatly increased his prestige in the army. It was only because of Qu Shuai's decision that they could make such a big fortune. So even if they were unwilling to give in, these Yellow Turban soldiers could only turn their heads and look at Xingyang City and gear up.
The battle began immediately. He Yi, who had moved the Chinese army's generals north to Dongchengcang, put aside the shadow of the fall of Mazha just now and focused all his attention on the most critical battle in his life.
If it succeeds, martial arts will flourish, if it fails, then... it won't happen.
He Yi waved the triangular yellow flag, and then the Chinese army drums played loudly.
He Yi's eight thousand soldiers were surrounded by three and one was missing. They deployed two thousand troops in the south of the city, two thousand troops in the east of the city, two thousand troops in the center, and two thousand troops in the west.
In fact, He Yi's arrangement was for three reasons and one was missing. You must know that the water gate in the north of the city had long been blocked by Zhang Yi himself. So this time, He Yi was actually a lion fighting a rabbit from the beginning, and she tried her best.
In the sixth year of Guanghe, it was August 24th, Sishi.
The Runan Yellow Turban soldiers surrounded Xingyang. Armed with various ordnances from the east city warehouse, their troops carried countless ladders and launched an attack on the dilapidated Xingyang City.
Under the command of their respective military officials, the Han soldiers and brave men defending the city continued to release rolling wood and falling rocks into the city, making people wail everywhere. The siege battle was always the most brutal.
He Yi had no intention of staying behind from the beginning, and those on the front line of the attack at this moment were the two thousand veterans he had chosen before. These people flew arrows like locusts under the city, shooting so hard that the Han soldiers on top of the city could not stand on the city. But the brave man among the Yellow Turbans in Runan took advantage of this opportunity, stepped on the ladder, covered his head and rushed up.
The most intense fighting was in the east of the city, where most of the elite Yellow Turban and Han soldiers in the city were concentrated.
On the east city, Xingyang ordered Zhang Yi to stand on the front line in uniform. The guards around him kept pushing away the incoming arrows to protect the county prince.
Seeing that something was wrong, Zhang Yi yelled:
"Put up the curtain."
After receiving Zhang Yi's order, the four walls hurriedly put up curtains to block the arrows. With these thick homespun cloths in the way, the arrows that had little downward momentum were bounced away, making the Han soldiers slightly more stable. Then they held the bamboo poles and worked hard to push down the hanging ladder step by step.
There were screams and cries everywhere under the city, and the first wave of Runan Yellow Turban's attack on the city was blocked.
He Yi, who was fighting outside Dongcheng, also saw the situation on the front line. He secretly regretted that his men were not strong enough. What he saw was that those who were climbing the city to fight were all veterans under his command, while the newly attached disciples were only waving flags and shouting from behind.
But He Yi was not surprised. Those gangsters were meant to boost his momentum, and he never expected these people to fight with their lives.
However, He Yi did not expect that the Han soldiers in the city were quite determined to resist.
But in fact, He Yi only saw the east side. The Han soldiers on the east wall were elites in the city, and the county prince was personally on the front line, so their morale was naturally extraordinary. But in fact, at this moment, in the south and west of the city, the Han soldiers were already in danger on the city wall.
He Yi, who made a mistake in judgment, felt sorry for the casualties of his elite soldiers and ordered a gold medal.
"Dong, dong, dong..."
The Yellow Turban Army, which was fighting desperately to the east, heard the sound of gold and hurriedly withdrew. But when the yellow turban commander who was fighting in the south heard the sound of gold, he kicked Mazar over and went straight to the Chinese army in the east to ask for information.
But it turned out that the soldiers under this young commander had already climbed to the top of the city, and were about to destroy the outer city, but the east side was in a daze to strike gold.
This young handsome man is called Dian Quan. Just his name indicates that he comes from a poor family, but he is brave in battle and is a brave general under He Yi.
When the tenant dog came running, something unexpected happened to He Yi.
But when the tenant dog questioned He Yi with a tone that was partly puzzled and partly doubtful, He Yi secretly regretted it, but just hearing the tenant dog's tone made him angry.
Huh, he won't think that I'm worried about him entering the city first and getting the upper hand, so I'll give him a stumbling block. He is really a mud-legged person, what he sees in his eyes.
So He Yi didn't tell the truth, but said leisurely:
"Why are you so anxious? It's been growing all day long. Have you ever seen a turtle? If you put it directly into the hot soup, it will struggle very hard, and even crawl out of the pot and bite you accidentally. But if you Put him in cold water and put firewood under it to slowly heat it up, and he will remain motionless and wait for death.”
Dian Quan was a rough man and couldn't bear what He Yi said, so he interrupted directly:
"What are you going to say?"
"I'm telling you, we will kill the Han soldiers from the beginning, and even if we win, we will be shattered. But as long as we withdraw at every critical moment, they will think that this is how we attack, and they will slack off. Go down. When the time comes, if we attack with all our strength, they will not be defeated.”
In fact, Dian Quan still didn’t understand. He frowned and said:
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Then the yellow turban commander from another area who was attacking the west wall also came. He Yi explained his tricks and tricked the commander away again.
But in fact, when He Yi deceived others, he really deceived himself.
Regardless of whether his theory is correct or not, one unchanging fact is:
The Han army in Xingyang City finally got a chance to breathe.
Xingyang was still in the hands of the Han army after all.
These two facts directly caused huge variables in He Yi's battle.
Where are the variables?
Friends who are pursuing their studies can join the QQ group.
(End of chapter)