Chapter 173 Water Attack
It has been four days since Zhang Hu came back.
There are police in Kaifeng, and the Henan Prefecture and Huaiqing Prefecture have indeed sent reinforcements, and the number is really quite large, more than 30,000, including nearly 8,000 combat soldiers. Logically speaking, the combat power of these officers and soldiers is not very strong, but at this time Zhang Hu's troops are also not a battle-hardened army. The officers and soldiers have a strength advantage of three to four times, and Zhang Hu is very dangerous.
However, Zhang Hu still won the battle, and he won easily.
The officers and soldiers of Henan Prefecture first drove to Sishui and set up their positions along the Yellow River to cover the friendly forces of Huaiqing Prefecture in crossing the Yellow River. Then they joined forces and crossed Xingyang in two rounds. After a brief rest in Zhengzhou, they rushed straight to Zhongmou, preparing to make an all-out effort for Kaifeng. Rescue.
There is a relatively low-lying area between Zhengzhou and Zhongmou called Putianze, which is more than thirty miles from east to west and more than ten miles from north to south. Legend has it that floods occurred in ancient times and this was a large lake. Dayu listed it as one of the nine lakes in the world. Later, the siltation water level of the river dropped, and the higher ground in the middle rose out of the water, forming more than a dozen connected sand hills. By the Wanli period, these sand hills had been turned into farmland.
Gao Tengdou told Zhang Hu that the military intelligence tentacles of Feishou Camp discovered them hundreds of miles away from Huguang in Hanzhong Prefecture, Shaanxi Province, and stayed there for many days. Zhang Hu was greatly touched by this incident, so he entered Henan Province. Since then, he has been strengthening the training of his own reconnaissance cavalry's detection capabilities. On the contrary, the officers and soldiers of Henan and Huaiqing relied on their overwhelming strength advantage and were familiar with fighting in their own provinces, so they underestimated the enemy. After Tan Ma was blocked by the two military camps used by Zhang Hu as bait in Putianze, he did not conduct further detailed reconnaissance, so he returned to the camp to report to the enemy. The total number of enemies and auxiliary troops was no more than 3,000.
Luoyang deputy general Kou Zhizhang was beaten to a disgrace by Guan Shengyun last time. Fortunately, he had a powerful inspector brother-in-law Wei Buqun behind him. No matter how big a mistake he got into, he was reported as a great victory anyway, and he was finally promoted to registered general soldier. From this, it can be seen that there are not people in the court who understand, otherwise it would be an actual promotion. Of course, none of the civil and military personnel in the Luo Mansion would give this guy a good look. They were very dissatisfied. I heard that the thief only had one-tenth of his own strength. Mr. Kou couldn't hold back his anger when he encountered a coward. Er's violent temper came up on the spot, he ordered his troops and rushed over, making up his mind that he must show his face in front of Qi Xiaoguang and the officials of Luo Mansion.
They rushed to Putianze with great momentum, and the thieves collapsed at the first touch. Commander Kou was even more proud. He shouted "Brothers, come to Zhongmou for lunch" and ordered the army to speed up. After walking for another three miles, the road connecting the two sand dunes was blocked by a trench. Behind the trench was a row of wooden fences, with thieves hiding behind and shooting cold arrows. Dashuai Kou sneered: "You're just a rat, using a mantis' arm as a car!" Don't forget, Dashuai Kou actually studied for a few days back then, and from time to time he could pop out a few words from his mouth to stun people. ! Kou Erye commanded the shield soldiers with a golden sword to cover the auxiliary soldiers and filled the trench with sacks. The archers rushed forward and shot back the rain of arrows. Although there was a wooden fence blocking it, no thieves were shot, but the momentum was immediately aroused on the spot! Besides, the thieves' cold arrows hardly caused any damage, right?
After filling up the trench, before the battalion soldiers rushed over with battering rams, the thieves behind the fence dispersed in a rush! The thieves made the fence quite strong, and it took more than a dozen blows to create a big gap. The sound of the impact was loud, but it still didn't cover Commander Kou's heroic laughter.
Unexpectedly, after walking for more than half a mile, there was another trench in front and a wooden fence behind! Marshal Kou waved his hand: "Fill the trench! Let me continue to hit you!"
After struggling for a long time, the army continued on its way. Then, less than a mile away, there was another ditch. Behind the ditch was the same fence. The thieves hiding in twos and threes behind it continued to shoot cold arrows! Mr. Kou was so angry: "Are you addicted? Are you interesting?"
It's already the fourth trench. The camp soldiers were sweating profusely from being busy in front. Kou Zhizhang raised his head and looked at the sky: It seemed that he could only have dinner in Zhongmou. After shouting for a long time, Kou Erye felt a little hungry. He raised his hand to his mouth, and the soldiers immediately trotted forward. Some took off a small square table from the horse, and some put down a small bench. This one took out an oil paper bag from his arms and tore it open. Inside was a roasted chicken, and next to that one was a stack of hot noodle lotus leaf cakes. The glass was so thin that it was translucent, and one person put the gourd at his waist on the table, opened his mouth casually, and the aroma of wine filled the air. Kou Zhizhang tore off a strip of chicken, rolled it into a lotus leaf cake and put it into his mouth. He chewed it and swallowed it. He took a sip from the wine gourd and rolled another piece. As Mr. Kou ate, he watched the soldiers in front of him bump into the fence. From time to time, he shouted "Hello" loudly. He was thinking in his mind that after being busy for a long time, his throat was smoking. When he entered Zhongmou, he would have to ask the soldiers to find it for him. The two women were defeated... The thieves blocking the road here meant that Zhongmou had fallen into the hands of the thieves. Well, women in the city had no hope. If they could find rough-and-tumble country girls, they would just have to make do with it.
Just when I was thinking about something good, I suddenly heard a big commotion. Could it be a counterattack by thieves? No, the sound came from behind. Just as I stood up, before I could swallow the chicken burrito in my mouth, I heard the soldiers shouting: "Commander, get on your horse quickly, the Yellow River has burst its banks, and the flood is coming!"
When it comes to things like fighting, Commander Kou may be a little less capable, but when it comes to escaping from battle, who in Luoyang City, oh, no, in the entire Henan Prefecture, doesn't know about Second Master Kou's reputation? So much so that the common saying in Luofu no longer says "run faster than a rabbit", but "run faster than a man named Kou". Soon after, Commander Kou kicked over the small table and flew onto his horse. He turned the horse's head and clamped his legs between his legs, raised his arms and raised his whip. He yelled "get out of the way, get out of the way" with his tongue splitting like spring thunder. He walked straight away from the horse. His soldiers bumped into each other all the way, and people made their way through the crowd. The whole set of actions was done in one go!
However, it was still too late.
In fact, Marshal Kou's soldiers made a mistake. It was not the Yellow River that burst its banks, but the Shahe River, known as the "Little Yellow River".
Of course, it was not a natural breach of the embankment. The embankment was dug open by Zhang Hu.
Zhang Hu was also shocked when Tan Ma came to report that there were thirty or forty thousand reinforcements from the two provinces. Regardless of Nanyang or Ruzhou, the officers and soldiers encountered were very weak. Zhang Hu originally wanted to set up an ambush to defeat them. In his opinion, as long as he was caught by surprise, the officers and soldiers would rush for their lives and trample on each other. He would bluff them for a while, and then return to the army. By then, even if Niu Youtian hadn't captured Kaifeng, the city's power would have been almost exhausted. With his new force joining in with the strength of his new victory, he should be able to capture the city in one go, cleanse the Zhou Palace, and then make the next plan. When Zhang Hu discovered that there were so many officers and soldiers, he knew that the ambush could not be fought. Not only is the fight impossible, but as soon as the two armies come into contact, there is a high probability that your own soldiers will disperse in a rush. If you are not able to protect them, it is not uncommon for those who are daring to think of tying themselves up and sending them over. Think of ways to.
There is no way to escape. The battle relies on morale. Tens of thousands of people have been driven all the way. Not to mention Kaifeng, it is hard to say whether his group can escape. Zhang Hu's personal experience is too profound: those who escaped from Baoning Mansion This time, he was bitten by Sun Jie, forcing him to abandon the army. He was bitten by Yan Minwang all the way to Shaanxi Xingdusi, and he also narrowly escaped death. If it hadn't been for the unexpected coincidence of Sun Jie being ordered to return to the army and the life-saving heavy rain, it's not certain whether he would have survived to this day! Zhang Hu had no choice but to bite the bullet and look at the terrain.
This place is simply wonderful! As long as we lure the officers and soldiers over and then flood them with water, not to mention killing them and annihilating them, we won't need to worry about the officers and soldiers reinforcing them in this direction for a long time in the future!
Zhang Hu's purpose was to rob, not to turn Kaifeng Mansion into a vast country. Therefore, he would never dare to dig the embankment of the Yellow River. It would be equivalent to lighting a big fire in his house just to roast a chicken. It was still unknown whether the chicken could be eaten, and it was certain that he would be burnt to death first. The government officials in Zhongmou made a good point. The upper reaches of the Shahe River are composed of three streams: Suoshui, Jingshui and Zhengshui. From Zhengzhou to Zhongmou, the river is almost parallel to the Yellow River in the north. Then it turns a big bend after going around the city in the north of Zhongmou. Flows southeast. Zhang Hu then sent out his personal troops and secretly dug the embankment with more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers until only a thin layer remained.
At the same time, other auxiliary soldiers dug trenches and erected fences on the passages of various sand dunes in Putianze, with the purpose of slowing down the advance of the officers and soldiers as much as possible, and striving to keep all the officers and soldiers blocked in the flood discharge area of the Shahe River.
As expected by Zhang Hu, the officers and soldiers took advantage of the large number of people to fill the trenches, hit the walls and move forward in a meticulous manner. The marching procession was still the old custom. Each battalion had soldiers in the front, followed by a cart full of clothes and armor, which were pushed and pulled by the auxiliary soldiers. Before noon, tens of thousands of people and horses all poured in. Potata Ze. Moreover, the baggage of each battalion not only separated the teams into sections, but also blocked the narrow passages.
After the officers and soldiers crashed the third fence, Zhang Hu's messenger Feiqi gave the order to break the embankment. The auxiliary soldiers dug out the last layer of the river embankment three times, and the raging river water rushed out from the gap. The breach does not need to be very big at the beginning: the river water will expand the breach faster and faster, not to mention that a long section of the surrounding river embankment has been dug up. At first, the Shahe River was diverted at the breach, with part of the river water gushing out from the gap, and most of it still running along the original river channel; however, it didn't take long for the torrent to change its direction, and the original river channel became a trickle or even stopped, and almost all of the river flowed. The river water flows out along more convenient shortcuts, washing away all obstacles encountered along the way.
The water on the ground had reached up to their ankles. The officers and soldiers were in a mess. They could no longer see their feet. In their panic, one after another fell into the swamp next to the passage and dragged the people around them down while struggling. In less than a cup of tea, the water had already reached the calves and reached the knees. At this time, it was difficult for people to stay stable in the water. They were pulled and stepped on each other. Once they fell, it was impossible to get up.
Kou Zhizhang didn't run far before he was blocked by a large baggage truck. No matter how much you yell, it won't help - no matter how loud a person's voice is, what does it mean among the shouts of tens of thousands of people? Several guys reached out to him through the soldiers. They didn't know if they were pulling him aimlessly out of desperation, or if they wanted to drag him off his horse and ride on him to escape. Marshal Kou wanted to reach out and pull out the knife, but his touch was empty. Then he remembered that he had just sat down to eat chicken. He felt that the knife on his waist was in the way and he took it off and handed it to the soldiers. However, the guy was not around at this time... and the situation was full of dangers. However, Master Kou was lucky after all. While he was fighting with everyone under the protection of several personal guards, another big wave about two feet high came towards him. Commander Kou closed his eyes and held the horse's neck with both hands, waiting to open it again. Suddenly, people and horses were washed away from the land by the waves and reached the water. I don’t know if it was the lake or swamp beside the road, but there was already a vast ocean around me. There were people all around, the ones nearby were in the Fu River, and in the distance there were people wading through the chest-high water with difficulty. Not long after, the water rose higher and higher, and gradually, only human heads were left on the water. The body below the shoulders is no longer visible. What's more terrifying than floods are the large objects flowing down the river. It's dangerous to be swept up by tree trunks, big or small, but many people swimming suddenly sink without warning and are never seen again - that's because they were swept underwater. A large car drifting with the current or something nearby hit me hard, and then I was swept away.
Several small boats came on the water. The people on the boat were thieves, and they were prepared to observe the results of the battle. There were too many people and horses submerged in the water, the current was fast, and there were bubbling whirlpools one after another. They were afraid of being overturned, so they watched from a distance for a while, shot a few arrows at the surrounding officers and soldiers, and then walked away. The boat rowed far away. Kou Zhizhang clung to the horse's neck and drifted with the current, one corpse after another drifting around him, each one's stomach was swollen, and he looked like he was still dead.
Zhang Hu received the report that the water attack was a complete victory, and the dog officers and soldiers were drowned with corpses all over the field. In fact, there is no need to report back. You can see the water flow from the city wall of Zhongmou. The water has been waded here, and the fields are cultivated. The terrain there was several feet lower, and at least half of the dog officers and soldiers should have lost their lives.
Zhang Hu decided to immediately return to the east and go to Kaifeng!
However, before he could reach Xinghua Camp, he received a report that many brothers had died after Kaifeng Mansion had been unable to attack for a long time.
