Chapter 749 Ganlin
When Yuan Shu's army appeared on the south bank of Luoshui River, Zhang Chong, Yu Jin, Yang Mao, Xun You and others happened to see clearly from the top of Jinyong City.
Zhang Chong rode back to Kyoto the night before.
At that time, the Taishan Army was still confronting Yuan Shao's army in Luoshui. At that time, Yang Mao and Yu Jin expressed concerns about Zhang Chong, wondering if Yuan Shao had some conspiracy behind his refusal to launch a general offensive for so long.
But Zhang Chong knew that Yuan Shao was guilty of his old problem, that is, he was too resourceful and decisive. He is very shrewd and decisive in small matters, but in big matters he listens to both sides, but cannot make quick decisions.
So Zhang Chong said to the second commander:
"This is Yuan Benzhu, there is nothing to worry about."
He spent the next two days reading the intelligence in Jinyong City. During the more than ten days of his westward march, a large amount of intelligence came to him from both the north and the east, requiring his timely approval.
The most important one is the letter from Guan Yu.
He said that after Heifu's Heji Corps arrived, he had another field battle with Cao Cao and won a small victory. Although they have not been able to drive Cao's army out of central and southern Shandong, they have built a defense line in Fenggao and other places with the help of the Wen River.
After a major defeat, Guan Yu clearly expressed his strategy for this battle in the military report:
"Strengthen the walls and fortify the enemy's supply lines with soldiers protecting the fields, waiting for the victory of the capital city to be decided."
Zhang Chong was very happy after reading this and said to Xun You:
"This is just a waste of time, but the future is limitless."
Afterwards, Zhang Chong listened to Yu Jin and Commander Yang Mao's statements about the current situation.
After Zhang Chong moved westward, they followed Zhang Chong's instructions to build a defense line north of Luoshui, relying on the barriers left by the Han Dynasty.
But both Zhang Chong and Yuan Shao knew very well that this decisive battle was not a boring offensive and defensive battle, but a battle of formation and fighting, so both sides only used the barrier as a military station and spent more energy on training. The field capability of the troops.
The battlefield chosen by Zhang Chong and Yuan Shao was to the east of Kyoto, specifically the plain connecting Yishui and Luoshui.
This plain is bounded by Luoshui to the north and Yishui to the south. It can be said that this two-river plain is the most essential area of the Luoyang Basin.
And this place is not small. It is seventy miles long from east to west and ten miles wide from north to south. It can be said to be the most natural place for a decisive battle.
The scene at this time is like a comparison. Taishan's army north of Luoshui and Yuan Shao's army south of Yiluoshui are like two boxers ready to go, and their boxing ring is this two-river plain. .
Once the two armies cross the river and set foot on this place, the final result will be that one side will win or the other side will lose. There is no third possibility.
From this point of view, both Zhang Chong and Yuan Shao are actually quite obsessed with the decisive battle. This is actually inevitable. Which man is not obsessed with gambling, one pressure, and wealth depends on the sky.
In addition to the advantage of being large and flat, the Yiluo River also has the advantage of waterways. Both the Taishan Army in the north and the Chen Guojun in the south can rely on Luoshui and Yishui for supplies.
Even after the Taishan Army had completely abandoned the Yishui line, the entire Yishui became the most important supply line for the Yuan brothers.
Salt, grain, and baggage transported from Nanyang continued to travel on the Yishui River, supplying the two Yuan armies.
Then Marshals Yu and Yang began to briefly describe their results over the past few days.
Zhang Chong had previously ordered them to send more light cavalry and small groups to harass Yuan's army in order to evaluate the strength of each army and battalion, which one was stronger, which one was slacker, and which battalion general was more reckless. It can be tested through this small-scale attack.
After Zhang rushed away, after discussion, Marshals Yu and Yang felt that this method could also be used to attack the enemy's supply lines.
Therefore, the second commander ordered each battalion to send out 300 war drums. Every time they rode out, they would beat the drums to show their power. He also gathered the last remaining cavalry in each battalion and used them. Each time, he sent out 500 fine cavalry, and took turns crossing the river day and night. , went out in four directions to harass the enemy.
Yuan Shao's 70,000-strong army was deployed in the area from Wan'an Mountain to Yishui, and its supplies mainly consisted of two lines.
One comes from Nanyang and takes the Yishui route, and the other takes the more difficult Wan'an Mountain Valley Road.
Among them, Nanyang still needs to supply Yuan Shu's 40,000 troops, but very few can actually leak to Yuan Shao's side, so his most important supply is the narrow land route of Wan'an Mountain.
The materials transported from the Jiang, Huai, Liang, and Pei areas were centralized in Yingchuan, and then the local grain station organized civilians to carry them to the Yuan Army camp in the south of Yishui.
It can be said that on the Dagu Road, packmen and grain carts follow the road one after another every day, and the end is never seen.
The Taishan Army's assault cavalry used their knowledge of the Longmen Mountain and Wan'an Mountain areas, and with the cooperation of Zhaoyi's remnant army who still stayed in the mountains to guerrilla, they often pretended to be Yuan Army's scattered cavalry to attack these food teams.
Yuan Jun tried to enter the mountains several times to encircle and suppress them, but failed because he was not familiar with the mountain conditions.
It was precisely because of this slow bloodletting that it took less than eight minutes to transport ten minutes of grain to the Yinan camp. Coupled with the losses along the way, it can be said that not one out of ten was saved.
It was precisely such huge damage that forced Yuan Shao to choose a decisive battle. Otherwise, according to Xu You and the others' suggestions, they could have continued to confront the Taishan Army, because time was on their side.
However, in Yu and Yang Ershuai's further brief description of Zhang Chong, the situation is not entirely optimistic for one's own side.
The two roughly talked about the results of these raids. They attacked twelve times, with eight wins and four losses.
The two also summarized these failures, and both pointed out that these four failures had a common factor, which was that they were defeated by the enemy's armored cavalry.
Yes, Yuan Shao's army also has armored cavalry.
Historically, the large-scale application of Jiaqi was after the Eight Kings Rebellion. At that time, the decline of the Eastern Jin Dynasty caused the Beihu to go south to the Central Plains and establish their own kingdom.
After entering the Central Plains, the fighting methods of these barbarians changed significantly. In order to maintain their ruling area and avoid being annexed, the traditional nomadic warfare method of attacking together when they win, scattering when they lose, and aiming to plunder was not suitable, so they also began to fight like the Han people.
That is to say, the battle is carried out in an upright military formation. Once this happens, there is an urgent need for the formation, so armored cavalry with full iron armor appears on a large scale.
In this generation, due to the emergence of the Taishan Army, armored cavalry appeared on the battlefield very early, especially in the Hebei war. Therefore, the princes of the Central Plains inevitably did not learn from it.
This is the diffusion of technology after its inception. Technical excellence is only temporary, because no one wants to be beaten forever, and they will learn.
In fact, the Central Plains princes learned more than just armored cavalry from the Taishan Army. The first thing they learned was the bilateral stirrups.
There were stirrups in this world, but they were mostly used for mounting horses. However, it was not until the Taishan Army moved to fight in Yingyang. Although the Han Army was defeated in this battle, they captured the Taishan Army's assault cavalry, so they discovered the use of stirrups on both sides. secret.
After that, the princes of the Central Plains began to vigorously promote this technology, because they needed something that lowered the threshold for knights.
Later, when the Taishan Army relied on armored cavalry to run rampant in Hebei, the princes of the Central Plains also naturally started to imitate it. However, due to limited financial resources and resources at that time, each prince could only raise a hundred or ten cavalry, and this had become an important force in deciding the battlefield.
Later, Yuan Shao pacified the Central Plains, wiped out all the heroes, collected horse armor from various families, and finally built up a cavalry force of about a thousand people. The general of the cavalry was none other than Wen Chou, the number one general in the Chen Kingdom.
The Taishan Army had suffered four defeats in the previous battles, all of which were defeated by Wen Chou's Xifu heavy riders.
So Yang Mao said to Zhang Chong without worry:
"Your Majesty, the iron armor used by the thieves and cavalry is very sophisticated, and is even better than that of our army. They are made of sleeve armor and iron caps, and my bows and crossbows cannot penetrate them."
Yang Mao was still a little embarrassed as he said this:
"Our army once tried to surrender one, but failed."
Zhang Chong attached great importance to this piece of information. Because he understood that the subsequent decisive battle would be a head-on formation battle, and once the enemy was equipped with such heavy cavalry, it would pose a great threat to his own formation. So Zhang Chong wanted to see this Chen Guojia cavalry with his own eyes, so today's daylight attack happened.
The result was no surprise. Although there was also the temptation to test the majority, the enemy's armored cavalry were lined up in a row, and the earth-shaking power was not fake.
Therefore, Yang Mao and Yu Jin both looked a little solemn, thinking about how to deal with it.
Among them, Yu Jin said to Zhang Chong:
"Your Majesty, the enemy's armored cavalry is not difficult to defeat. Our army also has armored cavalry, and there are more of them. In addition, our army also has sharp weapons like crossbows, which are so powerful that the armored cavalry cannot defeat them. But the only thing to worry about is that these two They are all inconvenient to move and cannot be dispatched in time. In the event of a war, if the arrangement is not appropriate, it may not be possible. ”
Zhang Chong nodded. He understood Yu Jin's worry, but he felt that he could not determine the attack direction of the enemy armored cavalry, so he could not respond in time.
Although Zhang Chong doesn't know how long the opponent has been pondering the tactics of armored cavalry, whether they will cooperate with light cavalry, or whether they will cooperate with infantry formations, one thing is certain, this kind of killing move will definitely not be placed on the battlefield. On the surface, it will inevitably be hidden behind, and then strike at the critical moment.
So Yu Jin's method was actually gambling, but Zhang Chong had a method in mind, so he nodded:
"Well, there's no need to worry about this. Let Ma Chao train specifically for this aspect of confrontation later."
In the Battle of Badou Mountain, Ma Chao's formation beheaded Zhang Fei and achieved special honors. After the war, he was appointed as the general of the armored cavalry camp and led thousands of armored cavalry around the camp.
Yu Jin nodded and noted this down.
Just when Zhang Chong and others were about to take a closer look at the enemy camp, they suddenly saw an army coming down from the upper reaches of the Yishui River. Their chariots and horses were neat and their flags were undisturbed. They were good soldiers.
Seeing the countless "Yuan" flags flying on his army, combined with the direction in which they appeared, we can know that this is Yuan Shu's army that has been stationed near Longmen.
But it's strange. Yuan Shu was stationed at Longmen well, so why did he move his troops here?
……
Zhang Chong certainly would not have thought that the reason why Yuan Shu brought his troops here to join forces with Yuan Shao was because of him.
Due to Yuan Shu's nature, he had always been dissatisfied with Yuan Shao, especially when Yuan Shao unexpectedly decided on the Central Plains through unknown fate, and later settled in the middle, he was even more dissatisfied.
So don't say that he was worried about being captured. It was just pure emotion that made him unwilling to raise troops to help Yuan Shao. Don't talk about the overall situation, he, a member of the Yuan Shu family, has always known that he is the overall situation, and has never wronged himself to accommodate other people's overall situation.
But recently Yuan Shu learned the news that the Guanxi Army, which was originally stationed in Weihan and prepared to advance hand in hand with him, was completely wiped out.
He didn't know the specific situation. He also heard from some rebels who had retreated to the Longmen area. There were various theories, some said that the Taishan Army's magic soldiers descended from the sky, and some said that they were defeated by blows.
Anyway, the final result was that tens of thousands of Kansai troops were killed in one battle.
This news frightened Yuan Shu. His own army was less than 30,000, which was all his property. He estimated that his strength was on par with that of Kansai, but now he could keep silent. If you destroy the Kansai Army, you can destroy yourself quietly.
In addition, he was very close to the direction of Weihan, so he was even more worried that the mysterious Taishan army would descend from the sky.
So as soon as he let go of harsh words with Yuan Shao, he led the entire army to join forces with Yuan Shao. There is no way, things like life and death are more realistic than spirit.
So, Yuan Gongli arrived, adding some variables to this already unpredictable decisive battle.
……
At this time, Yuan Shu was accompanying Yuan Shao and was watching a punishment in the Chinese military camp.
A tough military general was tied up in front of the stage, his long loose hair covering his face, and his mouth was stuffed with cloth.
Being held here, he still refused to accept it and was trying hard to hold his head up. It wasn't for the few soldiers behind him who pressed his back and insisted on standing up, but even so, he still glared at Yuan Shao in front of him.
On the military platform, a Dacao official was loudly announcing this person's crime. Below him was a circle of military officials and generals of each battalion, among which the majority were from the former military guard system.
These people looked at the guilty general on the stage with unbearable eyes. They obviously knew this person.
As the official of the law read loudly, everyone also understood what crime the general had committed.
There are three main crimes, namely, roaring in front of the army, disrespecting the general's orders, and embezzling military resources. The biggest crime on the surface is embezzlement of military resources, that is, the general drank the blood of his soldiers and embezzled sixteen of his soldiers.
But in fact, all the former guard generals present knew that this crime was the most undeserving of death, because almost all the battalion generals swallowed up the military resources of the soldiers.
Some of this is done with evil intentions, and some of it is to supply the swallowed military supplies to his own guards. After all, these guards who are kept under tents on the battlefield are reliable and can really fight their best.
But the general above happened to be neither of them. His battalion had been on patrol before, and then lost part of its troops, but it was never replaced by the general. However, the Chinese army still replenished him with actual troops. Military resources.
Despite this, the general also worked hard to replenish his army, and in the end there were only twelve men left. Unexpectedly, he lost his life because of this.
So how did this person end up in this situation? It was because he contradicted the former head coach of the army, Zhang He.
Originally, no one thought it was a problem, even Zhang He didn't think it was a problem, but yesterday he was taken away by the Chinese Army's Red Heart Team.
At this time, Zhang He was standing next to Yuan Shao, not daring to say a word. He was scheming as he had long understood that this was a trap set by his lord to put him at odds with the former guarding generals.
Zhang He knew that he could only feel at ease if his lord was at ease, so even though he knew that this man did not deserve to die, he still did not speak.
On the contrary, this man's old boss, Ju Yi, who was a state captain at that time, blushed. When the official over there finally had to say his last words and was about to sentence him to beheading, he finally muttered:
"Mr. Chen, Jiao Min is a good man. He came from Hebei and has a grudge against the Taishan army for killing his brother. How about letting him die in front of the battle?"
But Yuan Shao wrote Ju Yi and said leisurely:
"What about good men? Anyone who dares to violate our military laws will die! If everyone goes to the battlefield for their crimes, then who will respect our military laws? Where is our military discipline?"
After saying that, Yuan Shao did not wait for the following Fa Cao officials to finish speaking, and directly ordered:
"If you dare to covet my food when the battle is about to begin, you will not regret your death. I will kill you immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier from the Red Heart Team who was holding Jiao Min down drew his sword and killed him, killing him twice.
Seeing Jiao Min die in front of him, Ju Yi was so devastated that his back suddenly bent.
And I don't know if it was a coincidence, but just when Jiao Min's blood was spilled on the stage, there were several loud noises, lightning and thunder in the sky, and then before anyone had time to react, heavy rain poured down.
Under the military curtain, all the civil warriors congratulated Yuan Shao:
"The rain from the sky brings good luck to our army."
And Yuan Shao looked at the heavy rain, and his heart swayed. This is really a sweet dew after a long drought. I, Yuan Shao, really have great luck.
Everyone was congratulating, only Ju Yi and Zhang He stared at Jiao Min who died unjustly, silently.
Jiao Min didn't close his eyes until he died. He didn't understand that so many people really drank the blood of soldiers, but he was doing his work steadily, but he would end up like this? He didn't understand either. He just said a few grumbling words, how could he become a roaring army leader? He also didn't understand why his old boss didn't say a few words of justice for him?
At this point, poor Jiao Min thought he died because of his mouth. How pitiful!
But who cares?
(End of chapter)