Baima Jin.
In the dark night, countless torches were lit in front of Baima Jin, and the sound of war drums and horns was endless.
Groups of Yanzhou soldiers, under the cover of shield bearers, threw firewood in front of the Jizhou military camp. The fire was raging. Although the killing effect was not great, there was no doubt that it had a negative impact on the enemy's morale.
Simple ladders, folding bridges, crash carts, trench-filling carts, overhead bridges and other equipment were pushed in front of Baima Jin's camp, and the Yanzhou Army's crossbowmen poured out arrows without hesitation.
Gao Lan's face changed color on the fence wall. He really didn't expect that the Yanzhou Army was so well prepared. With such troops and equipment, it should not be a problem to capture a medium-sized city, let alone this simple fortress.
"General, there must be at least 20,000 to 30,000 Yanzhou soldiers!" the lieutenant general said with a somewhat unflattering tongue.
"The Yanzhou army came to attack at night, but it was just a bluff with too many torches. They can only have ten thousand people at most." Gao Lan said firmly.
The deputy general shook his head and said: "They have prepared so many siege equipment. They have already planned it. Even if we don't send people to cross the river, we can't hold it for a day. Now it's even more critical!"
Gao Lan glared at him and scolded: "Before all the food is sent to the other side, you will die here! Anyone who talks nonsense about the military situation will be killed without mercy!"
The lieutenant shuddered and did not dare to speak anymore.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" A hail of arrows shot out, making the Jizhou soldiers unable to stand up.
War drums were beating, and equipment such as ladders, folding bridges, crash carts, trench-filling trucks, and overpasses were erected on earthen walls and fences. The Yanzhou Army's sword and shield bearers swarmed up and immediately started hand-to-hand combat with the Jizhou soldiers.
On a sacred horse with yellow hoofs, Cao Cao looked at the battle situation on the Baimajin camp. He kept giving orders to the messengers beside him, and used war drums to direct the soldiers to attack.
"In such a situation, the Jizhou Army may not be able to last for an hour." Cheng Yu said confidently.
Xun You nodded in agreement and said, "Our army has been preparing for so long. Both the equipment and soldiers are far superior to the enemy. If we cannot capture Baima Jin quickly, we have failed."
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "My lord knows Yuan Benchu's thoughts well, and he is not expected to take advantage of the more than 10,000 troops stationed in Puyang by our army first. But doesn't he know that Puyang, which seems to have nothing to do with the overall situation, is actually It became a key move to turn the tide of the war.”
Cao Cao said calmly: "Yuan Benchu was eager for quick success, so why would he spend a lot of troops to attack Puyang in the east? He probably only has Chenliu and Xu County in his eyes and the main force of our army!"
"Even if they attack Puyang, our army has been operating there for a long time. It will take three to five months to capture it. This will not only consume a large number of his troops and horses, but also slow him down by the river. This is a dilemma. The layout, no matter what Yuan Benchu does, is still in the master's calculation!" Cheng Yu praised.
"Yuan Benchu had many talented people around him, such as Jushou and Tian Feng, both of whom were highly intelligent. However, he could not listen to unfavorable advice, so he sent Tian Feng to his second son. It is said that Jushou tried his best to dissuade him from crossing the river in Yanjin. But Yuan Benchu just thought he was smart and played those little tricks." Cao Cao sighed.
"I just don't know what Yuan Shao's expression would be like when he heard that Baima Jin and Li Yang were attacked. Will he come back with all his strength, or..." Cheng Yu guessed.
"According to calculations, if Yuan Shao sends troops to help immediately, he will be able to reach Baima Jin early tomorrow morning." Xun You said.
"Lü Bu's men and horses have been sent out to ambush. I'm afraid that the Jizhou army won't come, otherwise the surprise attack from Bingzhou cavalry and flying general Lu Bu will be enough for them." Cheng Yu said with a smile.
"The whole army steps up the assault. We can't let the enemy soldiers escape to the other side!" Cao Cao ordered in a deep voice.
Liyang.
The sky was pitch black under the thick clouds. Disturbed by the tragic sounds of fighting, the insects, frogs, cicadas and birds stopped chirping. The weather was unusually hot, and Li Dian felt even more depressed under the light of the torch.
Li Dian made a sweeping sweep with his spear, opening the halberd tips of three Danyang soldiers, and then thrust hard into the heart of one Danyang soldier.
"Kill!" In such a split second, three other Danyang soldiers surrounded him again, stabbing Li Dian's surroundings with their long halberds.
Li Dian was extremely agitated. These Danyang soldiers were not afraid of death and simply fought to the death. In order to kill an opponent, they even ignored their own lives.
Even Li Dian and his elite soldiers were beaten to a pulp by the brutal force of the Danyang soldiers. Therefore, the Yanzhou soldiers failed to get rid of the Jizhou soldiers, and the two armies were still locked together.
Lu Xiang was very anxious and nervous. He was usually assigned to escort food and baggage and rarely had the opportunity to go to the front line to kill the enemy, so he valued this opportunity to make a meritorious service.
However, this group of Yanzhou soldiers are elite soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles. Even if they are at a disadvantage in numbers, they can still fight and retreat in an orderly manner.
Lu Xiang used all his strength to swing the long sword. His back was soaked with sweat, and sweat seeped through the robe and from the gaps in the armor.
"Come on for me! Anyone who kills an enemy general will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold!" Guo Huai shouted. He rolled his eyes and ordered: "Put out the torches. If you see Yanzhou soldiers holding torches and running eastward, just stab them with your guns!"
Zhang Xiu next to him immediately applauded. So Zhang Xiu led a thousand Jizhou soldiers on the right wing and extinguished their torches. The Yanzhou soldiers holding torches immediately became a very obvious target.
Under the leadership of Guo Huai and Zhang Xiudi, the Jizhou soldiers on the right grabbed the light source of the torch and rushed forward to kill them. However, the terrain was complicated, and they gradually broke away from the flank, leaving one side open to the encirclement of Yanzhou troops.
Yanzhou soldiers didn't know why. They just felt that the pressure on the right wing was reducing, so they all moved closer to the right. Filled the position of Jizhou Army's right wing.
Coupled with the dark night, the entanglement and stalemate between the two sides' soldiers and horses became even more severe, and they even had to collide head-on to distinguish ourselves from the enemy.
Lu Xiang saw a school captain wearing armor and riding a horse in front of him. He screamed and wanted to go up and kill the general.
Lu Xiang had never participated in such a coordinated encirclement battle. So he was eager to win and constantly urged his soldiers to charge and kill. Moreover, due to the dark night and unfamiliar terrain, more than a thousand soldiers on the right wing ran in front of the Yanzhou Army's infantry.
Waiting for the torch to reach a high ground. Lu Xiang was shocked to realize that he was out of the planned encirclement position.
"Oops! Brother, are we running too fast?" the deputy general asked.
Lu Xiang was also surprised, but he pointed to the torch in front and said, "But there is someone running in front holding a torch! I saw a general."
Guo Huai was angry that Lu Xiang broke the encirclement, but now that it was over, Guo Huai gritted his teeth and shouted: "If you catch up with the enemy general in front, you will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins if you behead him!"
He thought that although it was a random promise, as long as the lord Yuan Xi was happy after he had accomplished his merits, the daughter would be rewarded readily.
When Guo Huai and more than a thousand people chased him to the high slope, the soldiers on both sides were shocked.
It turned out that there were more than 400 mules and horses parked on the high slope. There were bags of stuff on the ground. It was obviously the grain transport team of the Yanzhou soldiers.
Under Xia Houyuan's order. More than 400 Yanzhou soldiers chose this highland to station themselves. They wanted to stabilize their position first until Hakumatsu on the other side was captured. Then cooperate with Cao Cao's army to capture Liyang.
But the more than 400 Yanzhou soldiers did not expect that the first ones to come up were not their own people, but a group of enemy soldiers without torches.
Guo Huai screamed strangely and shouted: "Take those grains!"
The Jizhou soldiers on the right responded to the promise and rushed forward one after another.
At this time, Xia Houyuan's Chinese army also rushed to Gaopo, and they hit the rear of Guo Huai's army. Taishi Ci and Mi Wei also pursued Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian. For a time, the soldiers and horses of both sides were divided into four sections, and the fighting became even more chaotic.
As soon as they were flanked, Guo Huai and Lu Xiang's troops were put under pressure, especially Xia Houyuan, who was so anxious that he became violent. Under his supervision, the Yanzhou soldiers pressed forward against Guo Huai's rear.
"There are few enemy soldiers in front, rush up and go downhill from the other side!" Guo Huai shouted.
The Jizhou soldiers on the right saw that their way back was cut off and the number of enemy troops in front was indeed much smaller, so they rushed forward in order to survive.
Guo Huai knew the significance of the hundreds of bags of grain on the ground. When the cavalry attacks, dry food can be carried by each cavalryman. But once in battle, in order to reduce the load on the war horse, unnecessary things are often removed.
Includes food bags for rations. As long as they seize these grain bags on the ground and surround them for another day, when the Yanzhou soldiers are tired and hungry, the Jizhou soldiers can easily annihilate them.
Of course the four hundred Yanzhou soldiers on the high slope knew the importance of these grains, but the Jizhou soldiers on the right wing were attacked from both sides and became even more fierce and ruthless in order to survive.
After a brutal fight, two quarters of an hour later, only more than two hundred Yanzhou soldiers were left out of the four hundred, and they were all suppressed in a small area to the west of Gaopo.
Guo Huai pierced a bag with the tip of his knife, and saw that the polished and heated rice leaked out. It was indeed a grain bag.
"Throw them all down!" Guo Huai shouted excitedly. Then he struggled to drag a piece of grain to the steep north side of the high slope.
"Go!" Lu Xiang shouted and threw the grain bag down the steep slope.
After a period of fighting, the Youjizhou soldiers who were attacked from both sides also suffered nearly 500 casualties. The remaining 500 or so soldiers followed Lu Xiang's example and threw their grain bags down the steep slope to the north.
Then, Guo Huai shouted from a distance to Xia Houyuan who was attacking him: "That enemy general, it's me, Guo Huai and Guo Boji of Qingzhou, who stole the grain and fodder, haha. If you want to do it again next time, grandpa, I will let you know about Heshuo Erlang." sharp!"
Guo Huai did not dare to be careless and fled down the gentler slope to the east with the remaining soldiers.
Xia Houyuan rushed to the top of the high slope and was very angry. He urged the soldiers to go down and retrieve the food. However, looking at the steeper slope in the dark night, the soldiers did not dare to go down.
Hakubazu Ferry.
Lieutenant General Gao Lan kept yelling and cursing. He used a riding crop to drive the soldiers to load the food onto the ferry.
Hearing the sounds of fighting getting closer and closer outside, the Jizhou soldiers who were transporting food also panicked. There were even soldiers rushing to board the ferry.
"Tsk!" the deputy general stabbed to death a soldier who ran onto the ferry.
The deputy general roared angrily: "Who dares to seize the ship!"
More than 400 of Gao Lan's soldiers also raised their spears to protect the ferry.
The soldiers transporting grain fell silent for a while.
"General Gao is still fighting the enemy at the front. He is resisting the enemy soldiers for us! Shouldn't we complete General Gao's military orders and get on the boat to cross the river again!" the deputy general shouted angrily.
"Yes, General Gao hasn't left yet." The soldiers discussed one after another.
"General Gao said he was going to be the last one to get on the ship. He was fending off the Yanzhou soldiers for you!" the deputy general shouted.
Led by several soldiers. The Jizhou soldiers silently picked up the grain bags and carried the remaining grain onto the ferry.
The lieutenant didn't let up. Because one or two Yanzhou soldiers suddenly arrived at the ferry, he immediately led his soldiers to resist.
Cao Cao devoted all his most elite infantry to the battle of Baimajin, so Cao Cao's army's offensive was very fierce. A group of soldiers followed one after another. They jumped off ladders, folding bridges and other equipment in cooperation, and then formed small teams to secure their positions.
After thousands of soldiers gathered. Yanzhou soldiers broke through the gate of the village in one fell swoop. As a result, elite soldiers from Yanzhou outside the camp continued to swarm into Baimajin.
Once the village gate was breached, the morale of the Jizhou soldiers dropped even further. If Gao Lan hadn't sent personal soldiers to supervise the battle, they would have fled long ago.
"The left side of the camp is damaged, let some brothers evacuate from there!" Gao Lan ordered.
The following cavalry captains knew that the camp would eventually fall. After listening to Gao Lan's words, they immediately sent some troops to evacuate from the left side of the camp.
Gradually, Yanzhou soldiers narrowed the siege and forced Gao Lan to the edge of the ferry.
Xiahou Dun held a spear. He swung Gao Lan's spear away, pulled the horse away, and said: "I respect you as a man. So I kindly advise you to surrender my lord."
Gao Lan waved his spear. He sneered and said: "I am a noble son of Jizhou, why do I want to surrender the thieves!"
"How dare Shuzi speak rudely. Look at my iron spear!" Le Jin, who was following behind, shouted angrily.
"Wait!" Xiahou Dun stopped him and said, "Gao Lan is my opponent!"
Le Jin glared at Gao Lan angrily and stopped his horse.
"General Gao, I respect your bravery, but I can't help but be worried for you. Even if you retreat to Liyang and Baima is lost, how will you explain to Yuan Benchu?" Xiahou Dun shouted, "You also know that Liyang was attacked by my elite soldiers. When our Chinese army captures Baimajin and then plans to attack Liyang, do you think we can hold it there?"
Gao Lan laughed loudly: "My lord's army is stationed in Baima. We only need to send one brigade back to recapture Baima Jin. As for Liyang, I believe we can hold it!"
Xiahou Dun also smiled and said: "So you are waiting for Yuan Benchu's reinforcements. Then I might as well tell you that even if he sends 20,000 to 30,000 horses, they will die in vain. Our army is already waiting for them halfway!"
At this time, Cao Cao also rode Huang Feidian to the ferry. He pointed his riding whip at Gao Lan: "You fought very bravely! What Yuan Rang said is true. As long as you surrender to our army, Cao will promote you." You're first level, how about it?"
Gao Lan couldn't help but sneer: "Thief Cao, why do you think you are the one who wins?"
Cao Cao looked around and said with a smile: "Baimajin and Liyang are all in my hands. As long as this news reaches Baima, the morale of your Jizhou army will inevitably collapse. Does Brother Benchu still have the power to recover?"
"It's just as expected by the second young master!" Gao Lan tightened the reins and mocked, "General Cao, your plan is extremely clever, but my second young master is even better!"
When Gao Lan mentioned the word "Second Young Master", Cao Cao's face suddenly changed color.
Cao Cao wanted to ask again, but Gao Lan picked up the reins and galloped towards a ferry. The Yanzhou soldiers wanted to rush forward to intercept and kill him, but were shot back by the crossbow arrows of the Jizhou soldiers on the ship.
Cao Cao had been frowning and thinking hard, and he didn't even notice when Xun You and Cheng Yu came to him.
"Lord, there isn't even a bag of food in the camp!" Le Jin complained.
"What?" Cheng Yu was surprised for a while: "Did they start transporting the food and grass away before we even attacked the fortress?"
"If it's not that there isn't much food stored here, it means that the food and grass were transported to the other side early in the morning. No wonder the scouts from outside came to report that the Jizhou Military and Land Ferry has never stopped." Le Jin replied.
"What's Yuan Xi's plan?" Cao Cao asked himself doubtfully.
Xun You also felt that the atmosphere was strange. He analyzed: "Gao Lan went all out to help Liyang. He even planned to abandon Baimajin from the beginning. His move was obviously to save Liyang, but the fall of Baimajin also meant that the Jizhou army was cut off. A way out. Unless they are prepared to have a new crossing."
Cao Cao was excited and exclaimed: "Puyang!"
