Chapter 759: Defending
About six miles away from the center of Yiluo River, there is a typical manor dock wall in the Han Dynasty, named "Lijiabi".
This Lijiabi site was originally the manor of a high official in the court, but the wind and rain always blew it away, and this prominent manor fell into ruins because of the loneliness of the owner's family.
Originally, this manor might have a new owner and be renamed, or it might be demolished and turned into a new manor. However, in the third year of Taiwu, on May 28th, this place will be remembered in history because of this decisive battle. , and will appear again and again in the memories of countless people.
……
When Zhang Nan's order was sent to Zhang Da's and Wei Zhou's armies, the two armies were actually less than three miles away from Zhang He's right wing and began to form an encirclement.
Fortunately, this was the case. If it had been a moment later, once the Xiongwu and Fengxiang armies joined the battle, they would never be able to withdraw.
After receiving the new military order, Zhang Da quickly found the location of Lijiabi on the map and immediately understood Zhang Nan's intention.
It can be said that the location of Lijiabi is exactly a front dock wall in the central area, where it can effectively block enemy reinforcements from moving closer to the central area.
At present, it seems that Zhang Nan really wants to encircle and annihilate 15,000 enemy troops with only the four armies at hand.
At this time, looking at the dense enemy flags swaying in the wind in the distance, Zhang Da felt some worry in his heart:
"Did Anan underestimate the enemy?"
However, Zhang Nan was the commander-in-chief and had given the order at this time. It was extremely urgent, so Zhang Da discussed with Wei Zhou, who was approaching, and decided to simply select the assault cavalry from the army, arrive at Lijiabibi first, and occupy the fortress nearby.
In order to arrange the follow-up troops, Wei Zhou chose to stay, while Zhang Da led a selection of 1,100 fast horses to gallop eastward in the direction of Lijiabi.
The sun was getting higher and higher, and the scorching heat was steaming the ground. At this time, the land on the Hejian battlefield was already a little hardened, so Zhang Da quickly rushed to Lijiabi with his assault cavalry.
As soon as he arrived at Lijiabi, Zhang Da discovered that this place was really a good place to stop an attack.
There is a crossroads to the east of Lijiabi, and to the east of it is a wet path, all the way to the north, straight to Luoshui in the distance.
Obviously, this is a private road built by the original owner of Lijiabi, specifically to facilitate the transportation of the products in the dock to Luoshui Ferry.
There is a straight road to the south of Lijiabi, which is the straight road from Kyoto to Kanto. Business travelers often pass here.
It can be seen from this that Lijiabi must have been a very prosperous dock in those days. After all, it can be seen that it can sit on the edge of a business road and have its own private road.
Then on the north and south sides of Lijiabi, there are lush dense forests, but the northern section is a little neater and more like artificial planting, while the southern section is more original, with various trees crisscrossing and extending all the way south.
Seeing the terrain of Lijiabi, Zhang Da was overjoyed. He shouted to his left and right:
"Brothers, we are asked to defend this dock wall. I am not fooling you. There are about 40,000 enemy troops from the east who are about to arrive, and apart from us, the only ones who are guarding here are the rear robes. In other words, we have to Facing an enemy force four times our size."
Everyone was silent and breathing rapidly. Not everyone had enough courage to face this reality.
But when they wear this yellow clothes and adhere to the way of Huang Tian, they are allowed to be afraid but they are never allowed to retreat.
Therefore, when Zhang Da told everyone, they understood that no matter how difficult the front was, they had to go forward.
After Zhang Da finished shouting, he didn’t play tricks:
"The terrain here is very good. No matter how many enemies there are, they can't take advantage of their numbers. So you follow my command. This battle is not difficult to fight. And there is the king's 40,000 troops on the north bank. He is Will not abandon us.”
When everyone heard this, their hearts cheered up. Yes, the king will not abandon them.
Therefore, all the riders put aside their distracting thoughts and followed Zhang Da into the Li family wall.
Judging from the situation inside the Li family's walls, it has only been abandoned for about a month at most, so both the watchtower and the outer walls are in very good condition.
There used to be some homeless people gathered here, but after Yuan Jun went north, these people knew that the war was coming, so they reluctantly abandoned this dock wall and looked for their homes further away.
In this troubled world, everyone must know how to survive.
The lesson these rebellious people have learned with countless blood is:
"Stay away from the army, stay away from the war."
This dock wall is indeed very large, and it doesn't seem crowded when more than 1,100 people come in, but this does not include these war horses.
Therefore, Zhang Daling ordered his general Xue Ping to move half of the cavalry to the dense forest to the north to take advantage of the cavalry.
Xue Pingyuan, whose name was Chiqian Daping, was a warrior from a small tribe in Tuoba Xianbei. Later, during a large-scale surname change in Pingzhou, his family was given the character Xue, so he was renamed Xue Ping.
Xue Ping is a gold medal warrior in the Xiongwu Army. He has superior ratings in the three skills of riding, shooting, and shooting. He is also one of the best fighters in the Xiongwu Army.
So when Xue Ping received the general's order, he took his own army out of the wall without hesitation and started stationing in the jungle to the north of Lijiabi.
After arranging this, Zhang Da used everything he could find on hand to begin to strengthen the dock wall. Fortunately, this place had been built solidly before, so Zhang Da and others were greatly spared the work.
Soon, the rest of the Xiongwu and Fengxiang armies came over. Although they were tired, they still used the hoes and shovels in their hands to start digging trenches on the east side of the dock wall.
At the same time, Zhang Da and Wei Zhou rode in a circle together. After inspecting the terrain, the two decided to make the following arrangements:
In the dense forest to the north of the dock wall is the tomb originally built by the owner of the family. The platform there is higher. The second general decided to let a battalion of infantrymen be deployed there, and at the same time cooperate with Xue Ping's 500 assault troops stationed there. Riding, as the northern defense line of the dock wall.
Then there was a vegetable garden between the dense forest and the dock wall, close to the wall. The second general decided to arrange a battalion, which mainly consisted of archers and infantrymen, and a certain proportion of crossbowmen, so that they could rely on the strength of this section. Trench for defense.
Inside the dock wall, the second general decided to place the remaining assault cavalry, crossbowmen, and ballistae in the army.
The Fengxiang and Xiongwu armies both belonged to the first batch of the Forbidden Army series. Both armies were equipped with a large number of baggage vehicles and horses, so this time they carried a large number of arrows and ballistae.
About twenty of the ballistae were placed behind the dense forest to the north, and the remaining forty were all mounted on the wall of the dock.
To the west of the dock wall, the second general deployed two more battalions, all surrounding the dock wall.
Finally, in the primitive dense forest to the south, the second general deployed nearly two thousand swordsmen and armored soldiers. They were going to annihilate all intruders in that dense forest.
While they were preparing, the sound of fighting could already be heard from the central area to the west. Even though they were six or seven miles away, they could still hear the carnage there.
It seems that Zhang Nan has led four armies to attack Zhang He.
As a result, Xiongwu and Fengxiang armies prepared faster. At the end of their defense work, dense military flags began to appear from their east.
The footsteps became thicker and thicker.
At this time, Zhang Da, who was standing on the wall of Li's house, couldn't help but look at it, then clasped his hands together and prayed sincerely in the direction of Mount Tai.
"Lord Taishan Prefecture, bless your faithful people, the supreme Zhonghuang Taiyi."
...it was Li Tongbu who came to Lijiabi.
Among the five major military guards of Duke Chen, Li Tong is not considered a direct descendant of Yuan Shao. Even in terms of personal friendship, he is not as good as Li Zheng of the Right Guard Army.
After all, Li Zheng is from a wealthy family in Yanzhou. Although his family name is much worse than that of the Yuan family, he is still qualified to sit outside and listen to things.
What does Li Tong have? He only has one group of Huaishang brothers.
But without the help of his brothers, Li Tong could become one of the five great guards. He was able to sit in this position only because he really worked hard for Yuan Shao.
In the previous battle of Runan, he brought his brothers from Huaishang ashore and directly attacked the southern part of Runan, cutting off the logistics of the Runan prefect at the time and providing Yuan Shao with a huge opportunity for frontal combat.
Later, in the battle against Chen State, Yuan Shao was defeated for the first time. It was Li Tong who led the rear and helped the entire army withdraw, and even took part of the responsibility for the defeat.
After that, whether he was attacking Liang Pei or conquering Jiangxia, Li Tong always led his troops to participate in the battle. Even in the battle of Jiangxia, he directly wore armor and climbed up first. In the end, he was injured because he fell from the city.
It can be said that Li Tong is neither a personal follower of the Yuan family nor a member of the township party. To be able to achieve this level is really worthy of the word loyalty.
Therefore, after the Battle of Jiangxia, Li Tong was worshiped by Yuan Shao as the rear guard, and he commanded the largest number of troops among the five guard armies, with the number of the five soldiers reaching 20,000.
When Li Tong rushed to Lijiabi with 20,000 rear guard officers and soldiers, he was a little anxious.
Because he realized on the way that he might have messed up one thing, that is, he was smart enough to guess Yuan Shao's thoughts and failed to arrive in the center of the Riverlands in time as ordered.
The consequences of this are very serious. Zhang He's troops who arrived there first are likely to be annihilated by the enemy in the process.
This anxiety became more intense as he marched westward, because he had not yet seen any former guard sentries coming from the west, which was impossible for the cautious Zhang He.
Therefore, Li Tong suspected at that time that the enemy's sudden cavalry might have controlled the communication line in this area.
And sure enough, before he arrived at Lijiabi, there was a fierce sound of fighting from the west. It was at least tens of thousands of people fighting.
So obviously, Zhang He's tribe was surrounded.
As a result, Li Tong finally ordered all armies to abandon their heavy carriages and ballistae and accelerate towards the western battlefield.
But after arriving at Lijiabi, Li Tong saw the flag of Mount Tai's general standing there. Looking at the battlefield environment here, Li Tong became even more silent.
He did not rush to attack, but waited for another army to the south, which was Li Zheng's right guard.
While waiting, Li Tong ordered all his troops to take a defensive posture because he was worried that the enemy was calling for reinforcements at the encirclement point and that a huge enemy cavalry regiment would suddenly rush out from the north.
It can be seen from this that whether it is Li Tong or Zhang He, they all suffer from some kind of "fear of riding disease", but how can any general with any sense not be afraid of Wanqi's charge?
Time passed little by little, and Li Tong's cavalry also gradually figured out the enemy's situation on this line of defense. At least based on the current strength of the troops, there were not many enemy troops deployed here.
The dense forest on both sides and the dock wall in the middle have a considerable military force, but the sentinels dare not go deep into it, so there is no way to know how many there are.
At this time, it was noon and the sun was getting stronger and stronger.
Li Tong's 20,000-strong army stretched across the wilderness without shelter and was constantly exposed to the sun. Many people couldn't help but sit on the ground, loosened their clothes and began to rest.
The sky to the west was still filled with the sound of fighting, even louder than before. It seemed that the intensity of the war there had increased again.
Li Tong wiped the sweat from his forehead and was studying the Taishan Army's troop deployment in Lijiabi with a group of generals.
At this time, the Sentinel Cavalry originally sent to the south to look for Li Zheng finally returned, bringing a knight with him.
As soon as the sentry rider came, he went straight to Li Tong, but told Li Tong some bad news:
"Commander, Li's entire army has stopped moving eight miles away from our army. No matter how much I urge them, they will not advance."
As he spoke, he pushed the knight next to him and complained to Li Tong:
"Then Li Zheng wants to send this person over. If he says this person is coming, you will know."
Li Tong's face turned red. He was first angry that Li Zheng dared to act like this, and then he was confused about what Li Zheng was up to.
He looked at the knight next to the sentinel and shouted angrily:
"Tell me, what does your Li Zheng want? Isn't he afraid of death?"
The knight opened his mouth, wondering:
"Li Junshuai, I don't know if I can step back temporarily. My master does have a secret message to tell you."
Li Tong cursed back without even thinking:
"If you fart, let it go. What are you talking about?"
But Li Tong's mind quickly came out of his emotions. He took a deep breath and added:
"Okay, you and I can talk alone."
As soon as he finished speaking, the generals around Li Tong retreated one after another, leaving enough space for him and Li Zheng's envoy.
Then the messenger imitated the tone of his family master and said:
"Since ancient times, we have had a family first and then a country, and we have soldiers first and then power. But now it's the other way around?"
As soon as these words came out, Li Tong's expression suddenly changed, and he understood what Li Zheng meant. This is to tell him that he should take care of the soldiers in his hand, and don't use them all and lose everything in the end.
Li Tong's chest was full of anger, and he scolded:
"What nonsense is this? This war is related to the survival of the country. It is a real national war. It is not enough for you and me to put life and death aside, and we still have time to care about ourselves? Is your head of the family confused? He thinks that if he loses this battle, he will be left alone. What? You know that you, the Qiancheng Li family, have a blood feud with the Taishan bandits, will they spare you?"
Li Tong thinks he is justified and reasonable, but the more important point is that you, Li Zheng, hunted down Zhang Chong and other Taishan thieves. This is a well-known thing. Shouldn't you be more diligent than me, Li Tong?
But his words couldn't even impress the Li clan general in front of him. The man still replied in Li Zheng's tone:
"The Duke of Chen belongs to the lord, and the land he conquered also belongs to the lord. The lord is not in a hurry to cross the river at this time, so why should you and I be in a hurry?"
This sentence immediately silenced Li Tongqian, and he was unable to say a word.
Yes, Yuan Shao is not in a hurry. What are they in a hurry for?
Li Tong raised his head and let out a long sigh, then looked at the west where the killing sound was still there, and said with shame:
"Our army has gone so far as to violate the law, so why are we still talking about the hegemony?"
For a time, the ambition disappeared and there was only desolation.