The city gate captain Deng Yi asked his soldiers to hang down a basket, and a knight underneath put a scroll into it.
Deng Yi took the document and asked his soldiers to get a torch to light it up. When he got closer to see, an arrow shot out without warning and pierced Deng Yi's throat.
The other soldiers were frightened for a while before they realized what was happening. They quickly raised the alarm, but by then a dozen men in black had already arrived at the city gate.
The leader, a man in black, was holding a large iron gun. The Xinta defenders surrounded him, but none of them could get close to the attack range of the iron gun. The one who can force the defenders to retreat is naturally Zhao Yun who holds the iron spear.
In order to ensure that he captured the city gate, Zhao Yun personally led a dozen of the most skilled men in the army to climb to the top of the city and attack the city gate.
Zhao Yun moved quickly and moved behind the city gate. He stabbed out the iron spear at will and killed one person. The big spear swept across and blocked the weapons of all the soldiers. No one in the enemy army could get close.
Just as Zhao Yun was resisting the siege of the defenders, the remaining men in black had already opened the city gate and lowered the drawbridge.
Dozens of cavalry waiting outside the city immediately rushed into the city on horseback. Then suddenly, hundreds of thousands of cavalry appeared outside the city and rushed into the city like a honeycomb.
The garrison who were still sleeping in the city woke up from the sound of horse hooves and the sound of fighting, but it was already too late.
They didn't know how many enemy troops had entered. In panic and fear, the Xinta defenders had no time to organize a counterattack, and the situation became clear.
The streets in the city are not wide, which is very disadvantageous for the deployment of cavalry, but the key to surprise is to attack at night.
Zhao Yun and more than a thousand cavalry were divided into several queues and rode through the streets of the city from different directions to build momentum. When they saw the defenders, they rushed to kill them, leaving no one alive.
When Zhao Yun led his soldiers to attack the government office in the center of the city, the city guard was captured while still drunk and asleep. This was the parent officer selected in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. His system was no longer suitable for the development needs of the time.
When later generations criticized Chen Qun's Nine-Rank Zhongzheng system, they didn't know that it was exactly the system that future generations criticized, but it catered to the development needs of that era. You think it's not ridiculous, because its existence is reasonable.
Forced by the swords of Jizhou soldiers, the guard led Zhao Yun and others to the warehouse where supplies were stored. Although Zhao Yun could not bear it, he still asked the soldiers to carry out the order to burn Tiankai army's grain and supplies. There was no way they were small and could not transport them. out.
There were a lot of flammable materials in the city, and soon Xinta City was ablaze. The fire spread and affected some private houses. You read that right, Yuan Xijun burned down private houses.
In order to cover up the ugliness of Yuan Xi, Emperor Xuanwu of the Jin Dynasty, and to beautify Yuan Xi's great achievements, the historians of the Jin Dynasty adopted the method of Spring and Autumn writing and wrote "Tailing to the Houses of the People".
When the baggage and grain were almost burned, Zhao Yun's army of more than a thousand riders had already charged out of the city again. The remaining defenders were busy putting out the fire and could not pursue them.
In the Han Dynasty, the Yellow River divided Pingyuan County into two, and Pingyuan City was located in the west of the river. The Yellow River at this time was not the same Yellow River that changed its course many times in later generations.
Guan Yu took advantage of the darkness and sneaked out of the city with 500 elite soldiers who followed Liu Bei when he started the uprising.
These elite soldiers were named "White Ear Soldiers". Most of them were veterans who followed Liu Bei in Zhuo County. Liu Bei also added some elite soldiers along the way. The White Ear Soldiers were as famous as the later Soochow warriors.
Although there were not many Bai'er soldiers, they were all tough Yanzhao men. Everyone was very skilled in martial arts. This was one of the reasons why Guan Yu dared to lead 500 men and attack 3,000 or 4,000 men.
It was the day after Xu Huang's army broke camp.
At the Yellow River ferry not far east of the plain, Xu Huangjun was rushing to cross the river with boats collected.
Xu Huang was riding on a war horse, looking at the supplies that had been transported across the other side first, and nearly half of the soldiers.
At this time, a deputy general also rode up to Xu Huang and said, "General, we were too careful. The plain defenders didn't follow us."
The leader of the army, Bo Ye, said anxiously: "General, I have sent two orders to our troops to join together as soon as possible."
Xu Huang hummed, but didn't say anything. He just asked the two hundred mounted guards to strengthen their precautions. His intuition told him that it was better to be careful. After all, the Liu Bei brothers were not just ordinary people.
Guan Yu led more than 500 white-eared soldiers and lurked above the place where Xu Huang's army was crossing the river. He stroked his long beard and squinted at the Jizhou army crossing the river in the distance, sighing that the time had come.
"Second General, do you want them to pass over a few more people before attacking?" asked a leader of the White-eared Soldiers. After all, the other party had too many people compared to them.
"No need, I'll take the general later. You can form a small team and rush over. First, surround and kill the enemy general's central army." Guan Yu said proudly.
Guan Yu mounted his horse and waved his hand for the white-eared soldiers to follow.
When they got close to the crossing point, Guan Yu accelerated his horse and headed straight towards Xu Huang who was on guard.
The white-eared soldiers also shouted in unison to increase their momentum. Each of them had a spear in hand and quickly approached Xu Huang's position, preparing to launch a surprise attack.
At this time, the scouts sent by Xu Huang immediately discovered Guan Yu and others, so horns sounded one after another, and the war was about to break out.
Seeing that he was discovered, Guan Yu fortunately stopped lurking. After Guan Yu directly slashed several Xu Huang's cavalry with his sword, he rushed straight to Xu Huang not far away.
Xu Huang stared coldly at this red-faced man, whom they had seen before at Hulao Pass, so he started his horse and struck Guan Yu with his long ax.
"Bang bang" the two weapons collided with each other, making an ear-splitting collision sound, and the two of them separated. Experts can tell whether there is any as soon as they take action.
Xu Huang's hands were slightly numb and he stared at Guan Yu with squinted eyes. Guan Yu was not in a hurry. It was obvious that Guan Yu was slightly better. Xu Huang clasped his fists slightly and said loudly, "Is this person Guan Yu, Liu Xuande's brother?"
He heard Yuan Xi emphasize many times that the two brothers around Liu Bei were very brave, and he had also witnessed the battle at Hulao Pass, so he did not dare to be careless.
Guan Yu held the Yanyue Sword in his fist and said, "Yes, it's a certain family. How do you like it?"
Xu Huang smiled, narrowed his eyes and said, "It's rare that you will go out of the city to attack our army, but I'm afraid you will disappoint Liu Xuande."
Just when the Bai'er soldiers were approaching, Xu Huang's soldiers retreated in an orderly manner. Two to three hundred crossbow-wielding infantrymen quickly ran out from the high ground next to them. The weapons Yuan Shao equipped for his precious son worked again. Father's love is great.
"Whoosh!" Hundreds of crossbow arrows shot at the Bai'er soldiers instantly.
The people in front of the white-eared soldiers had no time to dodge and fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. The people behind quickly fell to the ground to avoid the arrows.
Guan Yu did not expect that there were crossbowmen ambushing Xu Huang's army. His originally red face became even more rosy. His expression turned cold and he rode forward to fight Xu Huang again.
Xu Huang was not afraid of him, and he swung his ax and chopped with Guan Yu for more than thirty rounds, no matter the outcome. Xu Huang took a breath, but Guan Yu was still cold and arrogant, when the two fought again.
The infantry of Xu Huang's army and the two hundred cavalry of Xu Huang's personal guards also organized at this time and formed a team to kill the Bai'er soldiers. The Bai'er soldiers were suddenly in crisis.
However, the Bai'er soldiers were worthy of being the heroes of Yan. Each one of them used their spears to resist almost two thousand infantry and cavalry of Xu Huang's army, and Dao also maintained a stalemate.
Seeing that the sneak attack with troops this time was unsuccessful, Guan Yu was anxious. After staggering a round with Xu Huang, he galloped towards the Bai'er soldiers. These soldiers were his eldest brother's property. If he didn't give them away, he would be in trouble.
Xu Huang didn't allow him to leave so easily. He took out the divine arm bow and the bow string was immediately stretched like a crescent moon.
There was a "whoosh" sound and it went straight towards Guan Yu.
Although Guan Yu retreated, he always paid attention to his back. The arrow almost flew past him. It was so dangerous. Guan Yu was so powerful. If it had been any other general, it would have been difficult for him to escape intact.
Guan Yu did not dare to stay and ordered the Bai'er soldiers to fight and retreat.
Xu Huang wanted to rush to Yuling, so he did not pursue him.
Yuan Xi's two thousand garrison infantry and Zhang Liao's two thousand cavalry were stationed at Tugu for rest and reorganization.
The battle reports of Yu Ling kept coming from the scouts ahead. Tian Kai had been besieging the small Tucheng Yu Ling for three days, but Xu Huang's army had not yet arrived to join them.
Yuan Xi looked at the sky in the direction of Yu Ling, and said with some worry and anxiety: "I wonder if Junyi can hold back Tian Kaijun."
"Young Master, please be patient. With General Zhang's ability, it won't be a problem to hold on for a few days. What we have to worry about now is whether the surprise attack can be effective. Victory or failure depends on this." Guo Jia said with a faint smile.
Yuan Xi was also very worried about Zhao Yun. Although he heard that the unparalleled Zhao Zilong was very famous in later generations, it was not the first time for Zhao Yun to lead an army alone in battle.
"According to Mr. Tian, there is not much food for the army, only enough for five days. Alas, in the past, I really didn't know how expensive firewood and rice were when I was not a member of the family." Yuan Xi now realized the significance of providing food and grass first before the troops and horses were moved, so he had no choice but to Sighed.
Since Yuan Xi's army crossed the Yellow River, they have only received grain shipped from Jizhou once.
To transport grain from Jizhou to Qingzhou and Jinan, you first have to cross the Yellow River and pass through plains and other places along the way. Fortunately, Jinan in the plains is surrounded, and the defenders in other places are not strong and have a wait-and-see attitude. This makes the grain road unblocked.
If Liu Bei's power and strength were bigger, it would not be fun, it would be fatal. Fortunately, Liu Bei is weak. Could it be that God also thought Liu Bei was too powerful, so he gave him a bad start, and thought Yuan Xi was average, so he gave him How can he achieve the so-called balance with his background?
But transporting grain from Jizhou still costs a lot of money. He has sent Hao Zhao to urge the grain, but I am afraid that the second batch of grain will not arrive until after a battle with Tian Kaijun.
"Now the young master is worried about food and grass. If we want to recruit and surrender the Yellow Turban Army and increase the number of troops, I don't know how many more mouths will be added to eat." Guo Jia analyzed with foresight.
Yuan Xi's heart sank and he felt very unhappy. This food problem was really imminent. If this was a computer game, he would have given up playing it long ago. But now that he was in the late Han Dynasty, he couldn't escape. If he didn't advance, he would retreat. If you retreat, you will die.
"Report! Lieutenant Xu led his troops to join us." A scout came quickly to report.
Yuan Xi and Guo Jia looked at each other and nodded when they heard this, and at the same time secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the decisive battle was about to begin.
Zhang He's army exhausted their arrows on the second day. The next two days were hand-to-hand combat, which was not as calm as before. The close combat was the most brutal.
Tian Kai's army attacked the low earth wall more than once, and Zhang He organized a thousand heavy armored halberd soldiers to drive Tian Kai's army out of Tucheng again and again.
Because the terrain was open, Tian Kai's army outside the mausoleum at night could vaguely see the red light in the direction of Xinta. After a while, various rumors spread among Tian Kai's army.
Zhao Yun's mission of surprise troops has been completed. It successfully disrupted the morale of Tian Kaijun and indirectly helped Zhang He relieve the pressure of defending the city. This is the chess game.
So Tian Kai hurriedly led his soldiers to patrol and appease the camps to prevent the soldiers from mutinying and blowing up the camps. After he killed a few soldiers with his own hands, no one dared to speak nonsense, but the suspicion of the soldiers became even more serious. .
Early in the morning, Tian Kai, who had been awake all night, looked at several subordinates with red eyes and said worriedly, "You think something might have happened to Xin Ta. What should we do? What can you do?"
"Send two thousand cavalry back to Xinta to check what's going on, just in case it's a trick by the enemy." A school captain said.
Tian Kai nodded, and just when he was about to give an order, the messenger sent urgent documents from the rear. Tian Kai immediately opened it and took a look. After a while, Tian Kai's face turned white and red.
A group of subordinates saw his strange expression and asked. After Tian Kai was silent for a long time, he passed the document to everyone.
"The enemy attacked the city at night and burned all the food." The captain took the document handed over by Tian Kai and read it out.
ah! The other generals exclaimed.
"Where did the Jizhou army come from? We didn't let any of the Jizhou soldiers pass by. Xinta is the rear." A school captain asked in surprise.
"Scouts have also been sent to each trail. We must know when they go there." Everyone was talking and talking noisily.
Just when Tian Kai was worried, the messenger entered the camp again and reported, "Sir, there are more than a thousand Jizhou cavalry in the rear of our army. Please tell me."
"Report, in the west direction of Yuling, the Jizhou army has formed a formation and is surrounding our army." Another messenger reported.
Tian Kai looked at everyone angrily and said sternly, "Organize the troops of our headquarters to attack. What are you waiting for! Hurry!"
On Yuling City, Zhang He saw reinforcements arriving and fighter planes available, so he gathered his soldiers to dig out the sealed city gate and prepare to cooperate with the reinforcements to attack Tian Kai's army.
He is not one of those people who cherishes his life. He can take advantage of the opportunity. Zhang He immediately seizes the opportunity and starts to coordinate the attack. This is the way to be a general.
He himself also climbed onto the newly built high platform to direct the actions of the troops outside the city, hoping that the reinforcements could cooperate and coordinate in unison.
With a flag waving, the garrison cavalry led by Zhao Yun first advanced towards Tian Kai's army that had just assembled, and the rear army suddenly launched a test attack.
When Tian Kai saw Zhao Yun's cavalry coming out, he allowed his infantry to form defensive formations while sending his cavalry to attack in order to delay Yuan Jun's offensive.
After a while, Zhang Liao's two thousand cavalry also came from the side to outflank them. Under the command of Zhang He's long-range commander, they responded to the attack of Zhao Yun's garrison cavalry.
Tian Kai's army had been forcibly attacking Yuling for five days. They were already exhausted. Coupled with the fire from the direction of Xinda and the rumors, the army's morale was scattered. From the generals to the soldiers, no one was willing to fight.
Zhang Liao commanded his 2,000 Jizhou cavalry. They formed a column with bows and arrows and fired at Tian Kai's cavalry in order to disrupt the enemy's formation and attack rhythm and relieve the pressure on Zhao Yun's garrison cavalry.
Tian Kaijun's cavalry is worthy of Youzhou's elite cavalry, no worse than Yuan's army's cavalry, and its combat power cannot be underestimated.
Without any instructions, they retreated on horseback, within the opponent's attack range, while preparing for a defensive counterattack.
Through Zhang He's clear command on Yuling City, Yuan Xi's army took a great initiative. As expected, he was a famous general and the first of the five good generals.
While Zhang He was observing the enemy's and ours' formations, he asked his soldiers to raise various flags and command his own troops to advance, retreat, attack and defend. Under his command, Yuan Xi's army advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, without any chaos, and with good coordination, the effective value of its combat power was doubled. .
Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun's cavalry have been at a stalemate with Tian Kai's Youzhou cavalry for a long time. It's not that he is Cao Cao, he is Yuan Xi, he is Zhang Liao, and he is Zhao Yun. He is invincible and crushes his opponent. This is not the case on the battlefield. The competition is about numbers, morale, quality of soldiers, logistics, generals, and many other factors.
On the other hand, after Yuan Xi, Guo Jia, Tian Feng and Xu Huang joined together, they also ordered the infantry to form a formation and confront the main force of Tian Kai's army of more than 16,000 people. The decisive battle begins.
At Guo Jia's signal, Xu Huang's 3,000 infantry were the front army, Guo Huai's 2,000 infantry were the rear army, Yuan Xi's 2,000 garrison infantry were the center army, and the 2,000 infantry sent by Xu Huang and Zhang He were in the rear. More than two thousand horsemen stood on both sides to support them.
At Guo Jia's suggestion, Yuan Xi's infantry formed an offensive cone formation, with the center conducting the attack and the two flanks conducting the defense.
Zhang He also sent his deputy general and two thousand infantry out of the city to set up a formation, so that they could coordinate with Yuan Xi's army and attack Tian Kai's army from afar.
Although Tian Kai's army was slightly more numerous than Yuan Xi's army, their morale was low, so Tian Kai had to form a square formation to defend.
The war drums sounded, and the crossbowmen in front of Xu Huang's army advanced in unison.
After entering the shooting range, they each bent their bows and added arrows.
After another drum beat, feather arrows flew out and scattered towards Tian Kaijun.
"Mighty!" All the soldiers of Yuan Xijun shouted in unison.
Tian Kai's army immediately put up their shields. After the rain of arrows, they did not suffer much loss, but their morale dropped by one point. Obviously, Yuan Xi's army won the battle for momentum.
"You kid bullied me too much, the archers immediately retaliated!" Tian Kai shouted angrily from behind the military formation.
The archers of Tian Kaijun immediately stepped forward, but their formation was slightly chaotic, which made it take a little longer for the archers to assemble.
At this time, the second round of arrow rain from the archers of Yuan Xi's army began to fire, and the rain of arrows flew towards Tian Kai's army formation.
The archers of Tian Kaijun gave up shooting and fled to the protection of the shield bearers. Those who were a little slow were immediately shot into hedgehogs.
"Mighty! Mighty!" The morale of Yuan Xi's army is getting higher and higher. Don't underestimate morale. If the morale of the army is strong, then one elite soldier can kill three enemy soldiers. .
Yuan Xi and Guo Jia looked at each other, nodded and immediately ordered a new round of attack.
The war drums sounded two more times, and except for the crossbowmen who continued to shoot suppressively, the rest of the infantry moved forward in a cone shape.
Two thousand cavalrymen on the left and right also cooperated and began to wait for opportunities to attack.
The archers of Tian Kaijun, suppressed by the enemy's arrows, were never able to organize an effective counterattack.
When Yuan Xi's army reached a certain distance, they could only organize one or two level shots. The soldiers in the front row of Yuan Xi's army stood up with shields to resist, but many soldiers were hit by arrows. There could be no casualties on the battlefield.
The archers of Tian Kai's army all retreated, leaving positions for the halberdiers to fight at close range.
When Tian Kaijun was a hundred steps closer, the infantry of a phalanx of 500 people in the middle of the conical formation suddenly stopped. They opened the crossbow string with their feet, and then added arrows to the crossbow in their hands. The sharp crossbow arrows It fired at the middle part of Tian Kai's army in three waves.
Under the power of the crossbow, even some wooden shields were shot through. The crossbows kept firing, and when the crossbowmen stopped firing, the front army used their halberds to poke away the shields of Tian Kai's army.
The cavalry also attacked and cut a hole, and then continued to rush left and right. Tian Kaijun's originally relatively well-prepared formation gradually became chaotic and out of control.
Zhang He's troops also launched an attack on the right wing of Tian Kai's army at the right time, causing Tian Kai's army to become even more chaotic and turbulent.
Tian Kai wanted to call back the cavalry for rescue, but Zhang Liao was well versed in cavalry warfare. Under his command, Tian Kai's cavalry and Zhao Yun's cavalry kept chasing each other and biting each other.
Seeing that the situation was not good, a deputy general of Tian Kaijun said anxiously: "Sir, we should retreat to Xinta under the cover of the cavalry and then make plans."
Tian Kai's face was gloomy. He didn't want to admit this obscure defeat, and he still lost to a boy of 17 or 18. This was a shame, but he really couldn't get better if he continued to fight.
Just when Tian Kai hesitated, the right army was broken through, and Xu Huang led hundreds of cavalry to rush to the outskirts of Tian Kai's middle army.
It turned out that the elite soldiers of Tian Kai's direct line were all attracted by the Xu Chu garrison sent by Yuan Xi on the left, so the defense on the right was naturally relatively relaxed.
Although Tian Kai's army has been defeated, it has not yet reached the point of defeat. Xu Huang thought for a moment and then rode close to Tian Kai's army.
While dodging the incoming arrows, he took out the divine arm bow. He shot the horse first before shooting the man, and captured the king first before capturing the thief. Xu Huang planned to snipe the enemy general. He didn't know how to talk about Western chivalry.
When Tian Kai saw an enemy general rushing in and heading straight for him, he was immediately panicked and hurriedly asked the spearmen to stop him.
Suddenly Xu Huang stopped stepping forward, his horse galloped to the next ups and downs, and he shot a powerful arrow with his divine arm bow.
"Whoosh" a sound broke through the air.
When Tian Kai felt the crisis, he was already unable to dodge. Fortunately, the arrow was far away and protected by armor, so he only injured the left side of his abdomen.
Seeing that he was injured, several lieutenants immediately rushed forward to cover the general and directed the nearby soldiers to evacuate in an orderly manner.
Tian Kai's army had no intention of joining the battle. As soon as the Golden Bell signaled for retreat, they were immediately defeated and disorganized. The result was very different from what they expected.
Xu Huang, Xu Chu and others seized the opportunity and immediately followed Tian Kai to kill him while he was sick.
The cavalry of Tian Kai's army was not damaged. After they merged with Tian Kai's middle army, they began to withdraw from the battlefield.
Although the cavalrymen of Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun pursued closely, neither side had the intention to fight hard, so the damage was not serious.
But the infantry of Tian Kaijun were not so lucky. They were hunted down by Yuan Xijun, and coupled with the interception of Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun's troops, the war came to an end after an hour.
In addition to the more than 4,000 cavalrymen of Tian Kai's army who retreated, more than 3,000 infantrymen were killed, and the remaining 4,000 people were captured.
Although Yuan Xi's army won a complete victory, they also suffered more than 1,500 casualties, and Zhang He's defenders also suffered nearly a thousand losses, but these costs were worth it.
At this time, outside the mausoleum city, there were stumps of limbs and heads all over the place, a doomsday scene, dark and cold, and the ground was covered with red blood.
Although Yuan Xi had experienced several life-and-death battles, he still felt nauseous. After all, Yuan Xi was a noble son who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, so this scene was really difficult for him.
Guo Jiacai has met people before, but this is the first time he has seen such a tragic scene. Compared to Yuan Xi, his face is even paler, and he is no better than Yuan Xi.
"Does Fengxiao feel uncomfortable? Are you okay?" Yuan Xi asked with a smile.
After all, Guo Jia was very human. He recovered quickly and sighed, "Although I had expected it, I didn't expect the battlefield to be so tragic. Human lives are really like ants."
"But isn't the current world so cruel? If our army fails, then you and I will be the ones lying here." Yuan Xi said quietly.
"In Jia's opinion, there is nothing wrong with a prince acting domineeringly to bring peace to the world. In these troubled times, it is the right time to act like a king. It's ridiculous that I still have the benevolence of a woman." Guo Jia laughed at himself.
Yuan Xi looked at the bloody setting sun with complicated thoughts.
