Chapter 400 Crossing the River
The first year of Chengtian, the first year of Republic, May 28th.
Luoyang North Gate, Mengjin Ferry.
At this time, a bloody battle was going on on both sides of the river. On the south bank was the Eastern Army's partial division commanded by Zhu Jun, and on the north bank was the powerful Western Army of the Hedong series.
In order to compete for this crossing of the Yellow River, the two armies have been fighting for many days.
During this period, the Luoyang court did not let Zhang Chong go. They knew the strength of the Taishan Army better than any force in the world, so even after two large-scale battles with the West, they still paid attention to Hebei. situation.
I originally thought that it would take a while for someone like the Taishan Army to swallow such a huge enemy, but who knew that the most elite Zhao Wei in Hebei would fall into their hands at this moment.
Therefore, the scholar-bureaucrats in Henan are also anxious, knowing that now is the time to fight for speed. If Guanxi cannot be suppressed and the world is unified, then the Han family will be in danger.
As a result, the third Western Expedition began again, but this time they began to attack Hangu Pass openly and cross Mengjin Ferry secretly.
Two days have passed since the fighting, but Mengjin Ferry is still firmly in the hands of the Western Army.
At this moment, a group of hundreds of horsemen were roaming on the north bank, and their formation was not neat.
They were originally responsible for patrolling the river on the north bank, but now they were all looking at the lower reaches of the river in a daze, where thousands of sailboats were racing, and a huge boatman was slowly coming from the lower reaches.
Most of these river patrol horse soldiers came from the Qiang and Hu areas. They had never seen such a scene. Seeing the overwhelming number of boat masters coming, they were frightened and panicked for a moment. If it weren't for the pressure from the chief officials, this group would have dispersed long ago.
This boat division is the trump card and the decisive weapon prepared by the Yanyan princes of the Luoyang court this time.
The entire naval division was expanded based on the Great River Navy. There were a total of forty double-sailed canoes, fifteen sterns, and two tower ships, all coming from the lower reaches in a mighty manner.
The naval commander of the boat division will be Kuai Yue, the commander of the large ship. He was promoted due to his outstanding achievements in the powerful military rebellion in Henan and his familiarity with water warfare. In this battle, he was responsible for opening up the water transportation channel and occupying an area on the north bank. At the bridgehead.
Soon, the large ship where Kuai Yue was on began to beat the military drum, and then the leading generals of each ship started to beat the drum in response to the order.
After that, the Kwantung Army on the deck began to set up their shields, and then a hail of arrows was thrown at the Kansai Qin and Han horse soldiers on the north bank.
The horsemen were knocked over by this hail of arrows, and they began to shoot back with curses, but most of the arrows were blocked by the wooden planks erected on both sides of the ship's side, so the effect was of little effect.
Seeing that the counterattack was futile, these Qiang and Hu horse soldiers could only drag the injured Paoze away and drive away, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses and an empty shore.
Seeing that the Qiang and Hu horse soldiers on the north bank were repelled, the Kwantung Army on the deck shouted in celebration.
Just when the river was echoing with cheers for victory, a crimson tiger-head flag stood on a slope one mile away from the river. There were several large flags on the side, all of different colors. The beast makes the flag emblem.
Standing under the crimson tiger head banner is Li Jue, who has just been appointed as Polu General Sima. During this battle, he led 6,000 Kansai soldiers to garrison here.
At this time, the air pressure in the observation position on the hillside was very low, and the people present were all military veterans. They knew that with such naval assistance on the opposite side, it would be difficult for their own side to defend the river.
At this moment, a man with a beard and a typical Qiang face came out:
"Sima, it seems that this place cannot be defended. Let's withdraw. There is no need to sacrifice our lives for the little money in the west."
The man who spoke out was called Yang Bo, a warrior under Li Jue. He looked like a Qiang, but he had actually been settled there for several generations.
Yang Bo's words revealed the thoughts of the generals, and for a while Hu Feng, Wang Chang, Zhang Bao, Zhang Long, Wang Cheng and others were echoing.
In this mess, Li Jue cursed:
"Shut up, everyone. Is it your turn to talk about war and defense in front of me?"
As soon as these words came out, all the generals were as silent as ice. It was obvious that Li Jue had great prestige in the army.
Li Jue ignored these men who looked more like bandits than soldiers, walked forward and looked at the river bank in the distance. The Han army was building a pontoon bridge in small boats and preparing to land.
Touching his beard and thinking of the secret message the angel had given him when he was summoned, Li Jue squinted his eyes and said solemnly:
"What are you afraid of? We haven't beaten any soldiers and horses before? We haven't beaten the ones who came by boat. Moreover, these fleets have come well. We have captured so many ships, and we can cross the river directly. Then we will go to Luoyang. Go, everyone can grab a few Kyoto aunts!”
As soon as he mentioned this, the tough men behind him each let out an unpleasant laugh. It was obvious that to motivate them, all they needed was a woman.
After seeing each other, Li Jue glanced at his nephew Li Li, who had just arrived, and asked:
"The news I found before said that the Dahe navy was captured by the Taishan army during the previous battle in Xingyang? How did they get so many navy?"
As Li Jue said this, Hu Feng shouted:
"Yes, someone said before that the Kwantung Army only has five or six boats even with its fleet, but now the river is full of them. There is a huge difference."
With that said, Hu Feng continued to apply eye drops to Li Li and counted with his fingers:
"Now, one of those two-sailed canoes can pull fifty people. I'm afraid there are forty or fifty boats on the river. This time, two or three thousand soldiers can be sent ashore. How can we fight just like that?"
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The relationship between Hu Feng and Li Li was not very good. One of them was Li Jue's nephew, and the other was Li Jue's nephew. They were both older and powerful clan generals and occupied the same ecological niche, so the competition was extremely fierce.
Li Li's eyes turned cold when he heard Hu Feng arranging for him, but when he saw that his uncle Li Jue didn't say anything, he was obviously angry, so he was waiting for his explanation.
Li Li knew that Hu Feng wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of him, and he also knew that it was best to give in at this time. However, Li Li himself was also a young man, so he glanced at Hu Feng and mocked:
"Since when did you, Hu Feng, start to be so afraid of the Kwantung soldiers? You don't care where this boat division came from. Can they land on the shore or go to the sky? Just transport those thousands of soldiers to the shore, which is enough for our cavalry to charge. How many times? ”
After saying this, Li Li glanced sideways at Hu Feng, but unexpectedly he was slapped on the ear.
Li Li was knocked to the ground by this next blow. As soon as he got up and was about to jump, he saw that the person who had just hit him was his uncle Li Jue.
This time he muttered a few words and then stopped talking.
After Li Jue finished whipping Li Li, he saw that his nephew was so cowardly that he did not dare to look up at him. He sighed in his heart and said calmly on his face:
"In the army, I am a general and you are a soldier, not your uncle. There are military regulations but no family ties. Don't risk your own life to test a certain family's sword. Do you understand?"
Li Li trembled and muttered:
"You will eventually understand."
"Can you tell me what's going on now?"
Li Li took a deep breath, holding back the frustration and humiliation in his heart, and then respectfully replied:
"As soon as the sentinels patrolled the river and reached the river beach, they saw the Kanto boat master coming up from the downstream. They were so shocked that they didn't know where they appeared from."
This time Li Jue did not punish Li Li, but asked him to go down and gather up the Qin and Hu cavalry soldiers who had been defeated before.
Li Li was ordered to look at the smiling Hu Feng angrily, and then walked down the slope in anger.
Li Jue glanced at his nephew, then saw Hu Feng's undisguised sneer, and cursed:
"You know how to show off your words, and you will lose face to us Kansai people! Remember, we rely on knives, not tongues!"
Hu Feng looked for a moment, then smiled again and said:
"Uncle, you didn't say that Hu Feng and I can't detect the information that Ali can't detect. In fact, I just found out the information about this boat master."
Li Jue looked at Hu Feng in surprise and motioned for him to speak quickly. Hu Feng said to the guards behind him:
"Go and bring up the detective horse just now."
After saying that, the young-looking sentry was brought up.
Then Hu Feng said to Li Jue:
"Uncle, this person is the sentinel who got the information. I just got the information."
Afterwards, Hu Feng turned to the sentry and said:
"You are so talkative. Tell Sima everything you see."
The sentry detective also knew that the overall situation of the war was at stake at this time, so he hurriedly started speaking in Bingzhou dialect.
But after talking for a long time, Li Jue didn't understand a word. He looked at the sentry below with disgust and said to Hu Feng:
"First find someone to listen carefully. It is said here in a gibberish way that waste is a good temper of a man."
Hu Feng over there also smiled awkwardly, then turned his head and started chatting with this person in proficient Bingzhou dialect. After half a day, Hu Feng understood the information and said to Li Jue:
"Uncle, let me ask you clearly. He said that these boats coming up are the first batch, and there are another batch of boats in the later section of water, and they have already begun to land."
As soon as these words came out, the generals present were in an uproar. They did not expect that these Kwantung soldiers were so cunning and cunning, and they also learned how to attack the east and the west.
Hu Feng also saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly finished the rest of the information:
"This group of boatmen anchored at Yedu, ten miles away to the east. There were quite a few people, estimated to be two to three thousand, and there were probably five to six hundred armored men. There were war horses on board at the time, and there were obviously cavalry inside. ”
After telling all the information, Hu Feng stared at Li Jue, waiting for him to give orders.
Li Jue thought for a while, then smiled:
"The Kanto general opposite here is interesting, why should I give it to a certain family? So, Lao Yang, you stay here with five hundred cavalry. As soon as these Han soldiers start to land, you will be responsible for the harassment."
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Yang Bo was called by name and then received the order.
Then Li Jue continued to order:
"Lao Wang, Lao Zhang, you and your troops, as well as Zhang Long and Wang Cheng, are following me. I want to see what happens when the strange soldiers from the east encounter our cavalry."
After saying that, Li Jue was about to go downhill, preparing to leave the general's flag and banner here as a cover.
However, Hu Feng unexpectedly pulled his sleeve, and then he saw his nephew flatteringly smiled and said:
"Uncle, this soldier has made great achievements, how can I reward him?"
Li Jue glanced at Hu Feng, then at the Bingzhou sentry detective who was lying on the ground, and said with a smile:
"You know how to make friends, okay, let him come to your camp and serve as a general."
Hu Feng laughed, grabbed the Bingzhou Sentinel and said happily:
"Brother Cheng Lian, we finally got what we wanted. Haha!"
……
Just when Li Jue was preparing to attack the enemy in the east.
At a wild ferry crossing more than ten miles away from them, there were densely packed Han soldiers. They had just been pulled across the river by the boat and landed.
As soon as they landed, everyone was looking for their own officers and generals, so the river beach was in chaos for a while.
At this time, Liu Bei, along with Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, Gongsun Du, Lu Zhao, Yan Shi, Zheng Yi and other generals, hurriedly found Yuan Shu, the leader of the area.
At this moment, Yuan Shu was leading his men to set up camp, and he was chatting with a majestic warrior.
Liu Bei knew this person. It was Gao Lan, the cavalry commander in this battle, who had defected to Luoyang from Hebei. The more than 500 Hebei cavalry who crossed the river this time were under his command.
As soon as Liu Bei arrived, Yuan Shu stopped talking with Gao Lan and said to Liu Bei enthusiastically:
"Xuande, you came just in time. The freshly iced honey water here is very sweet."
After saying that, Yuan Shu asked someone to take out a bottle of honey water from the secret box and gave it to Liu Bei to drink.
Liu Bei was very grateful to Yuan Shu.
Because it wasn't for him, his brothers would have been sent to fill in the ravines on the southern front, and they wouldn't have had the chance to cross the river.
In fact, Liu Bei's situation is quite bad. Previously on the Western Front, he was hated by the friendly forces because he sat and watched the front troops fight hard, and he had been ostracized by the entire army.
Either Yuan Shu later heard about his plight and specially transferred him to the northern front, or he gave him a hand.
Of course, Yuan Shu is not so pure and loyal, although this is the most important thing. Yuan Jiji never looks at people based on their background, because no one has a background as big as his. When he makes friends, he just depends on whether they can be like-minded.
And Liu Bei didn't know why, but he fell in love with Yuan Shu.
They met at Cao Cao's banquet. At that time, Yuan Shu felt that this northerner who looked more like a soldier than a scholar had a temperament that was unfamiliar to him.
If Yuan Shu is a noble son who wants to travel around the world and sings about brotherly loyalty, then Liu Bei in front of him is a typical hero in Yuan Shu's mind.
Therefore, the relationship between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu was established from that time on.
At this moment, when Liu Bei saw Yuan Shu sharing his honey, he felt both grateful and weird in his heart.
Fortunately, Yuan Shu really regarded him as a brother, but the strange thing was, who led the troops to the expedition also brought ice-cold honey water.
But Liu Bei also knew that this was the style of the direct descendants of the fourth generation and the third prince, so he couldn't say anything, so he could only take it and give it a sip.
Don't tell me, it's really sweet.
After drinking a little, Liu Bei handed the honey water to Zhang Fei and asked him to have a taste.
Zhang Fei was not polite, he drank all the remaining honey water in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and said boldly:
“It’s cool!”
Zhang Fei was happy with the drink, but it only made Chen Dao, Gongsun Du, Lu Zhao, Yan Shi, Zheng Yi and others standing behind him miserable. They looked at Zhang Fei eagerly, thinking that he would share it with everyone like Liu Bei.
Chen Dao knew that these people were Liu Bei's new team, which he had accumulated in the previous two East-West wars. These people, such as Chen Dao and Lu Zhao, were martial arts heroes in Shangluo in many counties in Henan, such as Gongsun Du, Yan Shi, Zheng Yi, etc., all of whom were military officials assigned to his account before.
Not to mention, Liu Bei is quite talented in recruiting people. This time he was dispatched to the northern front, and these military officials followed him without saying a word.
Yuan Shu also saw this, and his evaluation of Liu Bei became even higher.
Now he saw Liu Bei coming in a hurry and knew that he had something to do, so he asked:
"Xuande, I don't know what's going on!"
Family members, who understands that monthly passes are now required? Shouldn't it all be given to Xiao Chen?
(End of chapter)