Sixteen days have passed since Chen Chong started planning the northern section of the river bridge.
When Shazhou New City was about to be built, he began to arrange the construction of river bridges. However, considering the importance of the matter, even if the new city took care of it, once the intention was discovered by the Liang people, many variables would still arise in the construction, so he secretly Starting from the perspective, first arrange for the troops to build the required materials on the shore. After the construction is completed, the river bridge will be built in a short period of time.
The first and most important material used is the river pile. The Mengjin River is turbulent, and it is difficult to stabilize the ship with anchors alone. This is also the main reason why it is difficult to build a river bridge here. After thinking about it, Chen Chong decided to set up river piles in the river. As long as the river piles are stable, the ship will have a place to anchor. , the river bridge will naturally be built smoothly.
So he personally took a boat and took Wei Yan between the two cities. He painted a red stone on the river bank as a azimuth mark. The soldiers on the boat shook the oars according to the red stone to maintain the boat's position. Wei Yan was on the bow of the boat, holding a two-foot-three-foot wooden pole, inserted it into the river bottom in the current, and then reported to Chen Chong After reading the values on the wooden pole, Chen Chong sat behind Wei Yan, holding a pen and paper in his hand, marking the water depth and river bed geology at the corresponding positions.
After spending two days sorting out the data, Chen Chong felt confident that although the river was fast, the water was only two feet deep and only half a foot shallow. He could definitely build a river bridge.
He first dug a river stake in the deepest part of the river. This river pile is one foot wide and three feet five feet long. It is made of poplar wood. Different from ordinary river piles, Chen Chong cut the lower part of the river pile into a triangle, wrapped it in cowhide, and inserted it diagonally into the river bed to a depth of one foot. He used the momentum of the river water to get the river pile stuck in the river bed, and then used heavy hammers and pressure stones. The result was in line with his expectations. The river pile met the current without falling, and was enough to moor the boat.
By the fifth day of August, the 216 river piles between Beiguan and Shazhou were driven into the river bed, and all the river piles of the first section of the river bridge were in place.
At this time, the Nanguan offensive and defense gradually became anxious. Chen Chong saw that Dong Zhuo had guessed his intention, so he no longer hid it. Immediately, Chang Xi was ordered to lead his men to drive a boat into the river. They first used ropes to initially maintain it, and then laid wooden planks on the boat. When people could barely stand, they used wedges, mortises and tenons, and iron anchors to connect the river piles to the boat. One body.
In two days, with the help of river piles, the people successfully built a 100-foot pontoon bridge that reached Shazhou New City. In order to confirm that the pontoon bridge was indeed usable, first a hundred people in light armor passed on the bridge, then a hundred people in heavy armor walked across it. Finally, Tao Qiuhong led ten carriages and horses carrying baggage across the pontoon bridge without any harm.
Tao Qiuhong felt his feet sinking and swaying, and looked at the clusters of white waves beside the bridge. Tao Qiuhong was filled with emotion. He said to Chen Chongbai: "When I was in Beihai, I was jealous of Hua Xin, the leader, and thought he had a false reputation. Later, he helped me seek benefits and escape." Only then did I realize that it was my own shallowness, so I had to restrain myself and never ask others for advice. Who would have thought that when I saw the dragon head today, I realized that everything depends on human beings and that rivers cannot cross the ocean." When people heard Tao Qiuhong's words, They admired Chen Chong even more, so they all called this bridge Wangyang Bridge.
But the river bridge is only half completed, and the remaining 100-foot river bridge is the top priority.
The Liang people on the south bank were all horrified when they saw that the river bridge was built to a hundred feet. They also saw the sergeants parading back and forth on the river bridge, and they were even more frightened. They all said that the generals on the other side were not ordinary people, and they could only build this bridge with the blessing of God. According to the divination of the Prime Minister , to say that it is beneficial to cross the great river, I am afraid that it is the other side.
Some people say that when the Yellow Turbans were raging with millions of people and the sea boiled across all nine states, it was Bingzhou Mu who led his army to fight for peace. The traitor Zhang Jiao was known as the Great Sage, immune to all diseases and cured all peoples, and he had just gathered millions of followers. Finally, as soon as he met Bingzhou Mu, he became terminally ill, which shows that Chen Longshou is really a born saint, and he is not something we can resist.
These words quickly spread among the Liang people, and many people in the army believed in them. Some officers even suggested to Dong Yue, hoping that Dong Yue would make suggestions to the Prime Minister and let the imperial court appease the dragon head. Dong Yue kept scolding these people for being ridiculous and drove them out of the tent, but he agreed with it in his heart. However, when he thought of all the discord between Longshou and the Prime Minister, and had no other choice, he simply stopped the southward offensive and concentrated on building a Beimang Defense Line.
After Xiaopingjin captain Jia Xu learned about it, he guessed what Dong Yue was thinking. He immediately came to Beimang to meet Dong Yue and persuaded him: "Why is the general so confused? Even though Chen Chong is extremely smart, he is just an ordinary person. Otherwise, why would he be so confused?" There are three ups and downs in the court? Now, under the Prime Minister's command, all the ministries are damaged, and only the general is intact. This is the general's opportunity to leap over the dragon's gate! The general now indulges in the good opportunity, and is famous for his indolence in the army. This is a self-destruction in the Prime Minister's country. ah!"
Dong Yue was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. He thanked Jia Xu repeatedly and asked, "It's just that Nanguan is really difficult to break. I wonder what Wen He can do?"
Jia Xu frowned and said slowly: "If the new city of Beilu Shazhou has not been completed, we may occupy the sandbar first, cut off the north bank with bows and arrows, and then surround it from three sides on the land, cutting off foreign aid, and we can slowly break it. But now I The army lost the initiative and sat back and watched as the Beibei captured the sandbar and built a new city. Once we besieged the city, the Beibei could come out from the sandbank and help each other from the river. The Beibei were also good at water warfare, making it difficult for our army to match. Now it seems Come on, it’s impossible to break through with external force.”
Dong Yue asked anxiously: "Then what should I do?"
Jia Xu sighed and said: "Even if we can't break the city, we have to stop it from building the river bridge. Once the river bridge is built, the army on the north bank will cross the bridge. The general only counts tens of thousands, but can he really defeat the 70,000 people on the north bank? By that time Chen Chong built a camp at the foot of the mountain, sent another army to attack Xuanmen and Aocang, and lured Yuan Shao's people to join them. What did the Prime Minister do? In the end, he could only abandon the Eastern Capital and stick to Hangu."
Speaking of this, Jia Xu considered that not long ago, he was ordered to build a lot of ships in Xiaopingjin. Up to now, about two hundred ships have been built, which can be put to use. So for the time being, two strategies were given: "The northern barbarians must have exhausted their manpower and material resources to build the city and build the bridge, and it is difficult to prevent them. Our army can send elite troops across the river to harass them repeatedly and drag them down so that they cannot concentrate on building the bridge."
"Secondly, the ship can carry more firewood and set fire to the ship from the upper reaches. The fire ship will float down the river and burn the pontoon bridge on the north bank. If this is repeated, the northern captives will not be able to hold on for long. After all the armies have rested and recuperated, they will Attack it with all your strength."
Dong Yueshen thought so, so he withdrew the surrounding troops that night, and first sent an army of Sima from Pingyin to lead two thousand knights to sneak across the river. This cavalry army cruised between Zhi County and Heyang, trying to find the place where materials for the pontoon bridge were stored, but failed. Instead, they intercepted some baggage on the way. Zhi County and Heyang received the news and blocked the city gates that night. The city is under martial law, and sentries are patrolling the camp day and night.
On the ninth day of August, the cavalry tried to attack the Heyang camp from the flanks, but they only got four miles away when a hidden sentry in the wild forest spotted Liangqi's whereabouts. patrol team. The sound of gongs in the middle of the night made the horses panic, but the cavalry still did not give up. They plugged the ears of their mounts with cloth and marched two miles further. At this time, soldiers had gathered in the camp and there were torches. , in good order.
The leader of the army, Sima, was hesitant when he saw this and said to his subordinates: "We have already succeeded in preventing the northern captives from sleeping peacefully. Why should we bury our lives here?" So he slowly retreated.
On August 11, after the cavalry army returned, Jia Xu launched the ship in Xiaopingjin. At noon, the dry firewood was piled on the boat, and people lit fires and pushed them into the water. The fire boat went down the river, the flames rising into the sky, heading straight towards the downstream river bridge.
The sergeant on the middle route saw thick smoke billowing from the river upstream, and the soldiers from the three cities came out to watch. They saw that the first few fire ships were approaching, and behind them, the smoke columns rose into the sky, and it seemed that a large number of fire ships were approaching. The soldiers by the river stamped their feet and shouted, and their voices echoed across the river. Chen Chong, Wei Yan, and Tao Qiuhong arrived first, followed by Zang Ba, Chang Xi, Tian Kai and others. Everyone climbed up the tower to look far.
Chen Chong had made preparations for this before. He ordered the soldiers in the three cities to be equipped with long hooks and stationed at the western end of the sandbank. When he saw the fire ship passing by, he used the long hook to pull it to the shore.
After three or four ships, when the group of fire ships got closer, the fire ships collided with each other. The flames were soaring into the sky, and the area was extremely hot. Coupled with the thick smoke, many soldiers could not hold on and could only let it go. The fire ship passed by. The two fire boats hit the pontoon hull first, causing the bridge to shake. The soldiers carried buckets of water from the river to extinguish the fire, which was able to put out the fire. But there were still hundreds of fireships behind, and there was nothing we could do for the moment.
At this time, the commander of the army, Ma Taishi Ci, said to him: "Ming Mansion, why don't you take out all the small boats in the city that are going to repair the pontoon bridge, and let people ride on the fire boats. Then put on the long nail-headed locks that lock the pontoon bridge, and go to the south. To the north, just run the iron rope across the water."
When Chen Chong heard Fu Qianzhi's words, his eyes lit up and he kept saying, "What a great idea! What a great idea!" He called Zang Ba and hundreds of soldiers to supervise the matter together.
Zang Ba led his troops on a boat on the river. The soldiers behind him rowed hard, and the soldiers on the riverside cheered for them. When they reached ten feet in front of the fireboat group, they docked the boat by the river and called the soldiers on the shore to join them. Come and pull the iron rope and stand it two feet above the river. The rope heads were pressed together with big rocks and covered with sand and mud, barely blocking these blazing fire ships in the sandbank.
Then Chen Chong ordered his soldiers to get the long awls for chiseling the ships. If there were no long awls, they would look for big rocks on the ground and smash them at the fire ships. When it got dark, half of the fireboats sank in the river, and half of the fireboats were burned up and piled on the shore in darkness. Looking upstream of the river, it was pitch black and there was no fire, only the sound of the surging river could be heard.
A few days later, Jia Xu repeated his old tricks. Fortunately, everyone was more experienced this time and still did not let him succeed. However, this did interfere with the process of building the bridge. The efficiency of the bridge construction was almost halved. By August 26, On that day, all the river piles on the south bank were completed.
By the first day of September, the Nan'an River Bridge was connected to the back gate of Mengjin Nanguan, announcing the completion of the Mengjin River Bridge in the past two months. Chen Chong led Qing Wei from the north bank to the south bank of the river, and it only took half an hour. On weekdays, the ferry at the pass took at least two moments, and when the river was strong, it even took half an hour.
Everyone came across the bridge and looked back at the river bridge, which was one foot wide and nearly three hundred feet long. It seemed like a pillar was flying in the river, separating the east and west. Tian Kai said with emotion: "Meng Jin has built the bridge. From now on, In the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains, there is only one dangerous pass north of Luoyang."
When Chen Chong heard this, he held his whip towards the water and smiled at everyone: "I only hope that when future generations see this bridge, they will know that nothing is impossible in this world."
