The mountain stream is humid and low-lying, with vegetation growing on both sides. The mountain is sometimes gentle and sometimes dangerous, making it difficult for sunlight to shine in. The Yanzhou soldiers had to guard against enemy soldiers chasing them during the journey, so the entire army was depressed. Several fierce battles in the valleys caused the Yanzhou Army to increase casualties and slow down its marching speed.
Man Chong, Le Jin, and Chewei looked at each other and smiled bitterly. It was all because of insufficient troops that they fell into this situation.
If they were given the same strength as the Qingzhou Army, it would be unclear who would win and who would lose. Unfortunately, there was no if.
"We've arrived at the mountain pass!" the soldiers in front shouted in surprise.
Hearing this, Le Jin felt relieved, but then tightened again. He quickly led his cavalry soldiers to ride out to check.
The strong light pierced the eyes of Le Jin and others, making them feel like they were seeing the light of day again.
But the next scene made them gasp, because there were Qingzhou cavalry outside the mountain pass, probably more than three thousand.
I saw Yuan Xijun Taishi Ci running out with a spear and shouting to Cao Jun: "Listen, you have no way to go. The front is flat, so you should surrender to our army!"
Le Jin snorted coldly and led his soldiers back to the mountain stream.
"Wen Qian, how are you?" Chewei asked with concern.
"Hey, the Qingzhou cavalry has arrived at the mountain pass, I'm afraid there are no less than three thousand!" Le Jin replied in a deep voice.
"Then what should we do?" Chewei's voice was full of anxiety.
"It's not far from Changyi. It's only half a day's journey. We have sent people ahead to inform General Cao Ren. As long as we withstand the attack of the Qingzhou cavalry, we can reach Changyi!" Man Chong said.
"But the ground ahead is flat, and there is no danger for us to defend. How can we withstand it?" Chewei asked pessimistically.
Man Chong looked around the mountain stream and said, "Cut the tree branches to make antlers and let the soldiers wear them to stop the Qingzhou cavalry's attack."
Under the command of the general, Yanzhou soldiers quickly cut down all the branches.
Although it is not as effective as iron horse rejection, it is better than nothing.
Le Jin took the lead and led the Yanzhou Army cavalry to rush out of the mountain pass. Although he faced enemy soldiers several times his own, Le Jin was still brave and courageous. Was he called Saburo for nothing?
Seeing Cao's army dispatched, Taishi Ci galloped his horse and led thousands of cavalry on the right to surround them. The cavalry from both sides immediately fought and fought together.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The two spears clashed several times.
Although Taishi Ci had a slight upper hand, Lejin fought tooth and nail at this time. Taishi Ci was entangled tightly. The two iron spears fought for more than thirty times, and both of them used their own moves.
Taishi Ci slid his left hand to the middle of the barrel of the gun, shook it with force, and moved the tip of the gun sideways to hit Lejin's front door. Although this move of "pulling the gun" is simple, Taishi Ci used it quickly, violently and with sufficient force.
Le Jin screamed strangely and swung his gun with one hand to hit Tai Shi Ci's gun body.
"Cang!" The two iron guns bounced off each other, and they were evenly matched.
Taishi Ci was slightly surprised. Because Le Jin was short in stature and unattractive in appearance, but he didn't expect to have such courage and extraordinary bravery in fighting for his life, so he couldn't help but pay attention to him.
Le Jin knew the pain. He had only been in more than thirty rounds, but he was inferior to the opponent with his quick moves. He had to fight hard to entangle the opponent, but there was a time when he could use up his fighting strength. The person who will suffer the loss will definitely be himself.
Yanzhou has few cavalry. They couldn't get out of the conflict, and as a result, more than half of them were killed or injured in the melee. But their fight to the death was not without effect. The Yanzhou infantry that followed had already gone out to the plains to form a formation, holding weapons and antlers made from tree branches in their hands. In addition, the number of people is twice that of the Qingzhou Cavalry, so the position can be regarded as stable. Le Jin completed his mission and returned to the main formation with the remaining troops.
Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Taishi Ci did not fight hard and asked the cavalry to move out of the way. His task was to hold the enemy back. In this way, using the mobility of the cavalry, he could harass, intercept and kill them midway.
Sure enough, as soon as the Yanzhou army moved, the cavalry on both sides sprinted around them and quickly fired their arrows.
Taishi Ci quickly approached with a group of fine cavalry, and with his bow drawn, he fired a volley at the Yanzhou infantry.
"Yeah!" "Stop!" Yanzhou soldiers can neither walk nor stop. Although the antlers made of tree branches can gather together when they stop to withstand the impact of the cavalry, they cannot always stop, especially as the baggage behind is even weaker. .
Taishi Ci drew his strong bow into a full moon shape, "Whoosh!" The sharp arrow shot through the air and flew straight to the sky.
Run towards the enemy general!
Changyi.
Cao Ren and Cao Xiu's two uncles and nephews stood on the wall to observe the movements of the Qingzhou army. Many Qingzhou soldiers surrounded Changyi on three sides.
This approach of "besieging the enemy must be que" is obviously to let them escape from the side that is not surrounded.
Cao Xiu slammed the wall and stomped on it. They had no way to retreat. If they retreated further, they would reach Jiyin County, which was just across the line from Chenliu. The news they received was that the Jizhou Army had captured Baima, Puyang, and Juancheng, and was following Chenliu at Guandu. Cao Cao's main force relied on him.
Although Cao Cao's instructions to them were to defend as long as they could, if they retreated, they would have introduced tens of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers into Chenliu County, which would undoubtedly put greater pressure on Cao Cao's main force.
"Wen Lie, we cannot let this group of Qingzhou soldiers enter Chenliu, otherwise our army will be dead!" Cao Ren said firmly.
"Well, that's what I mean too. The worst we can do is live or die with the city!" Cao Xiu said rather boldly.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The war drums beat, and the Qingzhou army's stone machine began to bombard again. Stones hit the top of the wall one by one, cleaning the wall and stamping on it.
Rows of crossbowmen also lined up behind the ladder truck. This time, the Qingzhou Army also built charging vehicles, trench-filling vehicles, and nest vehicles, and it was possible to capture Changyi in one fell swoop.
Jushou stood on the watchtower car and looked up. He held a small flag and passed the order to the herald below. The herald then waved the flag to command everyone.
Gu Yong, the guard, supervised the repair and assembly of the equipment. Generals Xu Huang, Hao Zhao, Ji Ling, and Zhu Ling were all in front of their respective square formations, directing the soldiers to attack in an orderly manner.
"Fu Yi, didn't you agree to attack the city at night? Why did General Ju suddenly change his mind?" Li Feng asked.
Ji Ling turned around and looked at Lejiu, Li Feng, Zhang Xun, and Liang Gang behind him, and said, "General Ju has his own reasons. Everyone just obeys the order later and takes advantage of this battle to make meritorious deeds."
A few people didn't say anything when they saw Ji Ling, and a few people didn't ask if they were interested. Instead, they waited patiently for the attack order to be issued.
Zhu Ling led his troops to stop in the east of the city. The south of Changyi was close to Tushan Mountain, which was also the side vacated by the Qingzhou army.
"General, why did the commander give us half the weak soldiers?" a deputy general asked in confusion.
"Those are baggage and firemen, but they are slightly inferior to elite soldiers. Even if they are weak, they will still be strong soldiers if placed elsewhere, let alone in my hands." Zhu Ling retorted.
At this time, the rhythm of the war drums changed. Zhu Ling waved his hand to stop the crossbows from firing, and then allowed the ladder to be set up.
"Kill!" The Qingzhou soldiers below the city beat drums and shouted, and the swordsmen and shieldmen climbed up the ladder.
But the distance of just a few dozen steps on the ladder is enough to be fatal. Not only are there archers fighting back behind the city wall, but the rolling logs are also a nightmare for the siege soldiers.
"Gudong dong!" A rolling log was thrown down and rolled down the ladder. This kind of rolling log has spikes, and its impact is so strong that even if you are wearing fine armor, you can't withstand it.
Screams were heard one after another. If there was no plan or a long-term siege, attacking the city by force was also called "ant attack". Fighting for land would be a waste of soldiers. Therefore, there is a saying that "if a general is overwhelmed by his anger and the ants attack him, and kills a third of the soldiers but the city is not taken out, it will be a disaster." Military strategists do not recommend attacking a city by force.
"Bring the rolling logs up again and let the boiling oil burn!" Cao Xiu urged the soldiers eagerly.
"Change your spear hand and save some arrows!" Cao Ren was also giving instructions.
Although the fight was brutal, this was the effect Cao Ren wanted. More than 10,000 people on the east route consumed a large number of Qingzhou Army soldiers.
"Don't stop, take cover with the crossbowmen!" Zhu Ling shouted, and both sides became red-eyed after the bloody battle.
"Kill!" Suddenly, a cry of killing came from the side of Tushan Mountain, and a group of two thousand Yanzhou soldiers rushed towards Zhu Ling's troops.
"What's going on!" "Where are the traitors coming from!" The Qingzhou Army Regiment was suspicious, but it was an indisputable fact that the enemy soldiers were coming.
"It's Man Chong Le who entered them!" Cao Xiu said happily, "They are finally here. With eight thousand more troops, Changyi will definitely be able to defend it!"
Cao Ren was also excited when he saw a group of Yanzhou soldiers rushing from the mountainside to the city. When he saw the Qingzhou soldiers fleeing in panic below, he felt indescribable satisfaction in his heart. He finally taught the Qingzhou army a lesson! Barely a win back.
"Boom! Boom!" Rapid war drums beat, and Ju Shou mobilized Ji Ling's troops and Zhu Ling to surround the Yanzhou soldiers below the city.
"General Cao, open the city gate quickly!" "General Man is coming!" Yan below the city
The state soldiers shouted.
Cao Ren hesitated for a while, as soon as the city gate was opened, the Qingzhou soldiers would take advantage, but he could not just watch these nearly two thousand soldiers being wiped out.
While Cao Ren was hesitating, Yanzhou soldiers were already climbing the ladder to the top of the wall.
"General Zixiao, look at this..." Cao Xiu was also at a loss.
Cao Ren was so excited that he broke into cold sweat and shouted loudly, "Don't let them come up!"
The soldiers next to him were stunned for a while. They didn't know why the general didn't allow friendly troops to come up, and they were confused for a while.
"This is not one of our own!" Cao Ren shouted loudly.
But it was already too late, a group of "Yanzhou soldiers" swarmed up the wall, and when they saw the Yanzhou soldiers on the wall, they hacked and killed them. They had a cloth belt wrapped around their arms, so they could easily identify ourselves and the enemy.
Cao Xiu finally knew that this was a Qingzhou soldier in disguise, so he picked up his halberd and stabbed a Qingzhou soldier to death.
"Huh!" A long knife suddenly slashed towards Cao Xiu's forehead, causing both Cao Xiu to retreat in surprise.
Zhou Cang grinned and slashed forward with his long sword again. Their hatred towards the Yanzhou army was quite large, so all the Qingzhou soldiers fought bravely.
Sun Guan, Yin Li, and Wu Dun, several of Zang Ba's generals, also climbed to the top of the city. In addition, Xu Huang's attack attracted a large number of Yanzhou soldiers, so the wall here was instantly covered with Qingzhou. soldiers.
"Wen Lie, return to the city and gather your troops!" Cao Ren shouted.
Cao Xiu shouted in response, but he was surrounded by enemy generals and could not escape. When Wu Dun and Sun Guan saw the general Cao Xiu, they immediately surrounded him. Zhou Cang in front was even more ferocious.
"Die!" Zhou Cang shouted angrily. While Cao Xiu was avoiding the attack from behind, the blade struck directly at his neck.
"Gulu!" A bloody human head rolled to the ground.
"Wen Lie!" Cao Ren yelled. He almost fainted, but was finally led back to the city by his own soldiers.
As soon as the defense line of the east city wall collapsed, the Yanzhou soldiers on the other three walls were driven down. The Qingzhou Army firmly occupied the four city walls.
Xu Huang also climbed up the city wall with his soldiers at this time.
He stopped Zhou Cang and others from leading troops to pursue him and said, "We can't push Cao Ren too hard. He still has nearly ten thousand soldiers in the city."
"Then what should we do?" Zhou Cang asked.
"Guard the gates on three sides and open the west gate!" Xu Huang ordered, he was the deputy general of the East Route Army. He is also the leader of frontline command.
Xu Huang did this because he was afraid of a counterattack by the Yanzhou soldiers in the city. There were not many soldiers stationed on the city wall, but the soldiers in the city could attack continuously.
Cao Ren was brought to the city by the soldiers. He finally came to his senses and asked, "What's going on on the city wall now?"
"They were all occupied by the Qingzhou Army, and they opened the west gate." The lieutenant replied in a low voice, obviously trying to persuade him to retreat, but thinking that Cao Xiu had just died in the battle, he couldn't say anything.
"Assemble the entire army!" Cao Ren ordered.
"Are you going to counterattack the city wall?"
Cao Ren looked dejected and said, "Withdraw from Changyi."
As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, the food and grass should go first. The soldiers in the front fought for their lives. The officials in the rear also had a heavy burden.
To raise food and military supplies for 100,000 to 200,000 soldiers, the workload involved is beyond imagination. At least for a month. Tian Feng already only sleeps three hours a day.
Tian Feng not only had to raise food and grass with Xu You, Shen Pei and others, but also checked the military reports coming back from the front. So that manpower or materials can be quickly organized to support the front line.
Those who stayed behind in Yecheng were Tian Feng, Xu You, Shen Pei, Xun Chen, Chen Lin, Xin Pi, and Chen Qun, but they were headed by Tian Feng, the chief official of the household, so Xu You, Shen Pei and others were naturally jealous. .
But there is nothing to do, who told people to follow the Qingzhou ship early in the morning. The two major factions in Qingzhou and Jizhou inevitably compete for power, and Tian Feng, who is in the middle of the two factions, is even more popular.
"Everyone, the general has asked us to prepare another batch of grain and medicinal materials to be transported to Liyang. I will trouble you all in the past two days." Tian Feng said.
"No!" "No!"
Several people agreed, assigned tasks and then left, except for Shen Pei who stayed.
"Zhengnan, what else do you want?" Tian Feng asked.
Shen Pei straightened his expression and said, "Yuan Hao, you know that I am in charge of the affairs of the law, but if someone breaks the law, what should be done?
Where to dispose? "
"Whether it is high-ranking officials or nobles or civilians, they must be dealt with according to law." Tian Feng replied.
"That's good!" Shen Pei said solemnly: "The Yamen below came to report many times, saying that Xu You's family repeatedly violated the law, and Xu You also took advantage of raising food, grass, money and silk to accept bribes from traders and sell their cloth The medicinal materials were purchased at high prices.”
"Is there such a thing?" Tian Feng asked in surprise.
The judge put a stack of paper on the table, "The evidence is conclusive, and it was done through the relationship between his family and guests. They have done many crimes, and one guest and his family members even killed someone and fled to Xu You's home. Xu You forced him to drink Retire the yamen and hide the prisoners."
"Guests and family members?" Tian Feng asked.
"Actually, it's Xu Youdi's eldest son and nephew!" Shen Pei said angrily, "Relying on the protection of the general, he had been prevented from doing many illegal things before. Now that the general is going on an expedition, he has become even more serious!"
"Zhengnan, I think this matter should be slowed down for a while, and we will discuss it later when the general returns in triumph." Tian Feng said.
"Yuan Hao, I thought you were wrong. I thought you were an upright person, but I didn't expect you to be afraid of that villain Xu You!" Shen Pei scolded angrily.
"Zhengnan, I am not afraid of Xu You, but for the sake of the overall situation, there cannot be chaos in Jizhou now." Tian Feng explained.
"Hmph!" Shen Pei stood up and said angrily, "Yuan Hao, take care of your Hu Cao. I will take care of my Fa Cao's affairs. I won't bother you."
After saying that, the judge turned around and left.
Tian Feng looked at the judges who were leaving one after another and shook his head helplessly. At the same time, he did not dare to be careless.
So he picked up a pen and wrote a letter, instructing his subordinates, "Send someone to send it to the general ahead immediately."
The subordinates nodded in agreement. Take the letter and retreat.
