Chapter 670 Overturn
In the third year of Taiwu, on March 13, there was a wasteland behind Tianjing Pass.
Just in the morning, He Jin, who had already led his army to Tianjing Pass, suddenly received a military report from outside the pass.
"Lü Bu of the Bingzhou army died in battle, and Wu Fu, the captain of Changshui, was captured."
At that time, He Jin was inspecting the armies and was happy to see that the morale of each battalion was high. Suddenly he heard these two bolts from the blue.
He didn't understand, wasn't Lu Bu the one who defeated an army before? Why did he overturn the army and kill the general as soon as he arrived at Tianjingguan?
And the capture of Wu Fu made He Jin even more heartbroken. Wu Fu is not only his humerus, but also his courage.
Now that all the courage has been captured by the Taishan Army, how can He Jin still have the courage to stay here?
Even though the Tianjing Guan was in front of him, there was no way to give He Jin the slightest sense of security at this moment. So without thinking, he ordered the army to move back, preparing to retreat from the south of Tianjing Pass to the Wild King in the rear.
A group of Kanto Junxiu who followed the fight could no longer bear it at this moment, and they all persuaded He Jin to think twice before acting, saying that the army's changing orders day and night was a sign of defeat.
They said that the officers and soldiers of the three armies set out from Luoyang, traveled such a long way and finally arrived at Tianjingguan to rest, and suddenly ordered the army to withdraw southward. What did everyone think?
The army is not afraid of walking, but it is afraid of taking the wrong path.
When the time comes, the three armies will be at odds with each other, and the general's prestige will surely be at its lowest point. Who will be able to restrain such a huge army at that time?
It can be said that He Jin's behavior made the staff who were watching from the wall couldn't help but make sincere suggestions.
If you, He Jin, keep tossing you like this, they won't be able to safely retreat to Kyoto.
He Jin was not stupid. Of course he understood what his staff meant, but at this time, drums suddenly sounded loudly outside the pass, and then the Han army inside the pass reported to He Jin that the Taishan Army had appeared outside the pass and was observing the formation.
But when he thought that the enemy was close at hand, He Jin did not hesitate anymore and ordered the army to withdraw south immediately, regardless of the opposition of many people.
And sure enough, when He Jin's military order spread throughout the three armies, the morale of the officers and soldiers in each camp was greatly reduced.
They all jumped up and scolded He Jin, scolding him for having a chariot, but they could only use their feet to walk, and their straw sandals were all worn out. They finally reached the ground, and they didn't even have time to drink water before they were told to go back the way they came. , isn’t this a pastime, brothers?
But there is no other way, the order must still be obeyed, and the road must still be walked.
Fortunately, the army was still on the march and had not dispersed to camp, otherwise it would have been another struggle.
In this way, the front team of the Kwantung Army changed to the rear team, and the rear team changed to the front team, still heading towards Yewang City on the same road as before.
At this time, although everyone was tired and hungry, there was still a little bit of joy in their hearts, that is, no matter what, there was no need to fight this battle.
Compared to dying and bleeding, sweating a little and breaking some straw sandals are nothing.
But it turns out that this is just a wish.
When the 50,000-strong Kwantung army meandered southward along Danshui River, the defenders at Tianjing Pass knew that they had been abandoned by the general.
So after deliberation, the desperate garrison inside the Pass opened the gate and surrendered to the Taishan Army outside.
The Taishan Army outside was just cruising around. After learning that Tianjing Pass had surrendered, they immediately reported to the rear. Therefore, it can be seen that the Taishan Army's pursuers will pursue them all the way along Tianjing Pass.
But the real fatal blow to these Kwantung Army was not the Taishan Army on the Shangdang side, but the East Route Army, which had been ignored by He Jin before.
The East Route Army was left behind by Zhang Dan in Yecheng. He mobilized the four armies of "Tianwu", "Xuanwu", "Dingwu" and "Yiwu" to go south to Chaoge, but he has remained stationary since then.
When Zhang Chong found out, he didn't send anyone to urge him and gave Zhang Dan full trust.
He believed that Zhang Dan would not let him down.
And sure enough, when He Jin's Kwantung army finally moved north from Heyang, Zhang Dan led the four armies to march day and night, first defeating the local power outside Gongxian County, and then Xiuwu defeating Xue Hong, the prefect of Hanoi.
After that, the troops were divided into two groups, and he led the "Tianwu" and "Xuanwu" armies to continue southward, successively breaking through Huaixian, Pinggao, and Wenxian counties and heading straight to Heyang City.
On the other side, Pan Zhang, the leader of the "Dingwu" army, and Li Fu, the leader of the "Yiwu" army, each sent five thousand troops. They divided their troops to the west and penetrated directly into Ye Wang to block the retreat of He Jin's Kwantung Army.
Zhang Dan's original plan was to capture the Wild King and then attack the Kwantung Army together with the main force of the Shangdang. But who knew that these Kwantung Army would actually come back?
As a result, an encounter broke out directly outside Yewang City.
……
On the Qinshui Plain, on a slope, Pan Zhang, then the leader of the Dingwu Army, and Li Fu, the leader of the Yiwu Army, stood on the left and right under two large banners, each with a line of guards behind them.
At this moment, Pan Zhang was squinting, wearing a basin-collared armor, holding a pergola with his hands, observing the army marching south along Danshui in the distance.
Years of military service and command have long since transformed the former river bandit into an outstanding general.
In the past two years, Pan Zhang could be said to have risen through the ranks. First he got the opportunity to go to Liaodong, where he made many military exploits along the way with Zhang Dan, and then he was transferred to the rank of general of the Left Army when he came back.
Later, he came across the opportunity to reorganize the Taishan Army. Because he was a general in the Right Army system, he was naturally trained as the army leader.
Although Zhang Chong has been dealing with the problems at the top of the mountain in the army, in actual handling, he still has to divide the positions of the 12th army leaders according to the strength of the marshal's department of the fifth army.
The number of the twelve army leaders in the Forbidden Army is roughly distributed as follows: six are from the central guard army, three are from the left army system, one is from the right army system, one is from the front army system, and one person is from the rear army system.
And because General Pan Zhang had just been promoted to the first general of the Right Army, he happened to be selected as the leader of the Dingwu Army. You know, Xie Bicai, who was more senior than him, made Wei Bojun, a foreign imperial army, a military commander.
It can be seen how lucky Pan Zhang is.
As for Li Fu next to him, he was not lucky or unlucky, because he was originally the 12th Cavalry General of the Central Guard Army, and he was supposed to be promoted to the army leader.
At this time, the two looked at the Kwantung Army's sloppy march and smiled at each other.
The mood of the two of them should not be too good. They originally thought that they were assigned a useless task of defending the city, but who could have expected that this kind of luck would come and they could not stop it.
It was the first time that Li Fu and Pan Zhang had cooperated. He modestly asked Pan Zhang what military strategy he had.
Then I saw Pan Zhang holding up his riding whip, pointing at the Han army in the distance, and said contemptuously:
"What kind of military strategy do we need to deal with this kind of stinky fish and rotten shrimp? Let's kill it directly."
Li Fu was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, then put his hands on his hips and said boldly:
"Our old Li also has this intention."
Therefore, the two first combined the cavalry of the two armies, and then asked their respective auxiliary armies to slowly press forward from this side.
Under the control of the two men, the army of ten thousand people advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and appeared on the battlefield amidst the sound of drums and horns.
……
The Dingwu and Yiwu armies have a total of 2,000 cavalry. In addition to the veterans of the former cavalry system, a large number of Pingzhou Wuhuan soldiers have also been incorporated into the Pingzhou Wuhuan army. These people have long lost the grassland tactics under the training of the Taishan Army. of laxity.
At this moment, Pan Zhang was standing in the first row of the cavalry, leading his thousands of men to slowly approach the Kwantung Army on the opposite side at high horse speed.
The same was true for Li Fu on the right. The two armies combined to form a huge wide surface and pressed against the enemy together.
When the enemy army began to slowly become turbulent, Pan Zhang began to pick up the speed of his horse and trot. Finally, with the sound of horns in unison, the assault cavalry on each front began to let go and galloped wildly. At this moment, amid the noisy sound of horse hooves, the military orders of the cavalry generals could no longer be heard. All the knights stared at the flags in each row and charged following the flags.
The smoke and dust that filled the sky directly covered the sky.
The Kwantung Army opposite them fell into complete chaos in this sudden attack.
The person in charge of this department at the moment is Guo Xin, who comes from the Guo family in Luoyang and has been a military officer of the Northern Army for generations.
Coming from a military family, Guo Xin was very cautious. During the march, he still arranged the baggage carts on the east side, so that if enemy troops appeared on the plain to the east, they could use the carts as a way to resist the horses. become a barrier.
It's not that these carts can withstand the charge of cavalry. In fact, their most useful role is to slow down the charge of enemy cavalry.
But this is enough. With this buffer, the Han army who recovered can organize resistance.
It can be said that although the upper class of Guandong has been corrupted, in the middle and lower classes, the children of Gyeonggi are still outstanding, and this is still the region with the richest talent pool in the world.
In fact, it was Guo Xin's arrangement that made the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry obviously give up on this strong point, and instead swept their troops to other armies.
The first thing to do in cavalry combat is to form a rolling curtain in the first wave of impact. Only when people rush into people will chaos spread.
At this time, Guo Xin and hundreds of people were silently crowded behind the car formation, watching the scene in front of them with fear.
The Taishan troops who came in a blitz were massacring the Kwantung soldiers by the river without restraint.
There were everywhere the sounds of horses neighing, the sound of gold and iron, the sound of bones being broken, as well as the sounds of horses falling to the ground, wailing and cursing.
The originally peaceful Qinshui Plain turned into purgatory in an instant.
Most of the Kwantung Army are ordinary people and do not have much military training. At this moment, facing the Taishan Army's Huanshou Sword, they have no ability to fight back.
Blood dyed the killing field red, and the Kwantung Army fell down on the river beach one after another. Many people even tried to run into the Danshui, but except for a few who were good at water and escaped to the other side, everyone else drowned in the Danshui.
The killing did not stop. After the scattered Kwantung Army was defeated, the Taishan Army quickly pointed its troops at the Kwantung Army behind the vehicle formation.
Guo Xinqin was on the front line, loudly encouraging morale, asking everyone to stay in their cars and stand still, ready to fight to the death with the Taishan Army.
And the officials present also knew that if they left the car camp at this moment, they would have a dead end and could only fight against the water.
Afterwards, Taishan's cavalry really came and killed them. They did not attack hard and just shot with bows and arrows from the outside.
Soon, the Kwantung Army on the periphery could not withstand the rain of arrows, and its formation became increasingly loose and chaotic.
At this moment, Guo Xin jumped up with a spear, wearing double armor, and with several troops, he rushed out of the car formation and counterattacked the Taishan Army outside.
The Han soldiers behind him were infected by Guo Xin and rushed out of the camp one after another, trying to make a decisive blow.
But unfortunately, what they encountered was the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry who had fought various battles.
Seeing the Han soldiers rushing out, these assault cavalry did not try hard to resist, but rode their horses to the other side. When these people could no longer run, these people directly changed their bows and arrows, and rushed over with their horses in hand.
One burst of momentum will lead to failure, and three times it will be exhausted.
But in fact, most people just cheered up and didn't have two or three, so when the Han soldiers ran out in a rage and failed to kill Taishan's army, they were discouraged.
So when the Taishan army changed their horses and collided with them, they killed the Han soldiers directly and collapsed.
Half an hour later, when Pan Zhang and Li Fu moved southward with their cavalry, the riverbank was already full of dead and wounded Han soldiers. The Northern Army official Guo Xin was even left half-undressed by the leader, lying on this land and became a ghost in a foreign land.
……
Following the destruction of the rear, a bloody battle followed to the south.
The Guandong here will be Zhang Chou from Yanshi.
After his surname was revealed in Kyoto, his reputation was not good. It is said that this man carried a letter from his bride in his arms when he went to war, and was still thinking about his unborn child on the road.
But passionate people may not be timid.
When the sound of fighting in the north filled the sky, Zhang Chou realized that something was wrong. He first urgently reported to the Chinese army in front, and then set up a camp on the spot with a baggage truck, preparing to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.
It was also here that Pan and Li encountered stubborn resistance.
That Zhang Chou is really a character, appearing directly on the front line wearing a big cloak.
The people around persuaded him, saying that the cloak was too conspicuous, and that he was the general at first glance, and asked him to take off the cloak and feathered helmet.
But Zhang Chou laughed awe-inspiringly, pointed at himself and shouted:
"If they wish to die, they can retreat on their own. Zhang regards this place as my tomb!"
Generals have always been courageous in the army. With such generals who are not afraid of death, how can the entire battalion be afraid of death? Isn't it just death? Then we will face the national crisis together.
They relied on the car formation and shields to resist the Taishan Army's charge. They fought for a moment, but the Taishan Army could not loosen the car camp.
At this time, Li Fu made a quick decision and suggested that Pan Zhang abandon the battalion with him and directly join He Jin's Chinese army.
Pan Zhang listened to the advice and did not hesitate. He took the remaining 1,800 cavalry and bypassed Zhang Chou's camp and went straight to the rear.
……
The sound of killing from the rear reached the middle army, and He Jin, who was still lying leisurely on the chariot, suddenly woke up.
He urgently summoned his staff to ask what to do.
Some people say that the Yewang City is nearby now, so it is better to enter the city first and hold on. It is really impossible to fight the Taishan Army outside.
Someone over there said that our 50,000-strong army is here, but we still want to go to Yewang City? Are you running away now without even knowing how many enemy soldiers there are?
But someone said something depressing, and a husband who was covering his face said sadly:
"With such a large army, how can we hope to win the battle? If we don't take advantage of the enemy's advance, we can enter the Wild King's City first. When the enemy arrives, we won't be able to escape even if we want to. By then, we people will really be dead in a foreign land, and there will be no one to collect our bodies. , It’s hard for a lonely soul to return!”
In the end, the man burst into tears and said sadly:
"All the old wives in the family were buried in Beimang, and now their souls are in a foreign land. Isn't it sad?"
The words of this husband directly aroused the dissatisfaction of some young people, and they all accused:
"We have been favored by the Han family for hundreds of years, but now we don't even dare to fight to the death? In that case, what did we do here that day? We can just kill them in Kyoto!"
In fact, these words are also hypocritical. He has almost become a retainer of the He family. How can he have the face to talk about the kindness of the Han family.
The two sides were noisy, and He Jin couldn't decide for a long time, and finally stood up by clapping his legs.
If so, he said something like this.