The battlefield situation was changing rapidly. By September 20th, the arrangements of both sides were greatly different from the initial plans.
At first, the Qi and Han armies followed Teng Dan's plan and divided their troops into three groups, trying to mobilize the Han army to attack the city. Liu Bei did not fall into the trap, but took advantage of it, hoping to seize the opportunity to separate various places and defeat them one by one. However, as soon as the Han army made a move, Guan Hai immediately reacted. Regardless of the fact that Cao Cao was attacking the rear route, he abandoned the food road and went south. Han Siam Yang Fengze led his troops northward, and then Taiqiu Zhang Fang also successfully broke out. , the three parties met in Guangqi. At this point, the Qi and Han armies totaled about 80,000 people and were on the defensive east of Surabaya.
The reason why Guan Hai was able to successfully join forces was because the Han army was so complex and the distance was further apart, making it difficult to send messages between them. Although the arrangement was good, it was ultimately a step too late, so that all attempts to intercept it were unsuccessful. But Liu Bei was not depressed. His original intention was to fight Guan Hai and achieve a quick victory. Now that Guan Hai joined forces, he took advantage of his own wishes. So he sent a letter to Sima Fang, agreeing that the two armies would move to Naosang and attack the enemy directly in the enemy's country.
In the morning, Yin Guanyu of Henan Province, Huangfuli the governor of Yuzhou, Shejian the prefect of Hongnong, and others led tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry to Surabaya, where they could be seen across the river from the Qi and Han troops on the other side. Then the Han army formed a camp near the river. The cavalry from Bingzhou had been jostling on their horses for several days. They all rushed to the river to get water for bathing and brushing their horses. Horses of various colors were noisy back and forth along the river bank, densely packed and spectacular. The Qi and Han troops on the other side were frightened when they saw it.
When the Han army saw that the enemy troops on the east bank were camped for hundreds of miles, with layers of infantry and cavalry, reaching directly under the branch of Mount Tai. Just drink and watch on the west bank.
The next day, Liu Bei's headquarters also arrived. They marched day and night for the past two days and traveled long distances. When they arrived at the camp, they had not had breakfast yet. The autumn wind is bleak and the weather is deserted. The soldiers on horseback all put on their robes that they had traveled all night to keep out the cold. They looked dusty. The reflections of people and horses filled the ripples of Surabaya.
I don’t know when or where the order came from. Suddenly, as if there was a tacit understanding, the knights took off their robes one after another, revealing the armor they had already worn underneath. It was almost noon, and the late autumn sun rose over the Qinglong Mountain and Leigu Mountain mountains to the south on the left, shining on the armor and stomach of the Han army soldiers on the west bank. Coincidentally, the sunlight reflected by the sparkling river surface was connected with the sunlight reflected by the armor and stomach of the Han army on the river bridge. It instantly reflected a large dazzling light, making it difficult for people to distinguish where the water was and where the water was. It's human.
When the officers and soldiers of the Qi and Han armies saw the armor on the river, they couldn't help being frightened. They said to each other that the Jinyang army from Liu Bei's headquarters must have arrived. Are they simply intimidating by demonstrating like this? Or are you planning to enter the military? Guan Hai discussed with Yang Feng and Han Xian that although the puppet army had arrived, after all, we occupied the east bank of Surabaya. If Liu Bei insisted on crossing the river, we could attack him halfway across the river, so there was no need to worry too much. So they still built forts on the east bank and stood still for the time being.
When Liu Bei heard that the other side was unmoved, he smiled and said to his staff: "Guan Hai and the others are quite calm, and they are not wavering in such a difficult situation. I heard that the soldiers on the other side can only eat two meals a day." ? If he doesn’t take the initiative to fight, does he want to wait for the army rations to run out? "
Xu Shu said on the side: "This is an opportunity. The general can postpone the offensive and send envoys to promise to surrender them one by one. Then the two states of Qingxu can be peaceful without a fight."
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "I have dealt with Guan Hai too much. When he was in the plains, I chased him in all directions, and he refused to surrender. Now he has tens of thousands of people under his command, how can he wait to be captured? Those two Bai Bo, I I also know that, and I am also a face-saving person. Once I rebel, I will not rebel again and cannot surrender."
The implication was that he still planned to fight, but the current situation meant that the enemy army would not be able to cross the river, and the pressure to cross the river was on the Han army. The staff wanted to wait for a while longer, and when the Surabaya River froze, it would not matter whether it was east of the river or west of the river. But Liu Bei refused. Although it was already late September and winter was not far away, he had to wait until at least November for Surabaya to freeze. But this year's war in Yuzhou has consumed too much food and grass, and Liu Bei doesn't want to waste time anymore.
So he decided to build a bridge. But this is not an easy task. It is not difficult to build a bridge and it is not difficult to cross a river. The difficult thing is how to build a pontoon bridge while surrounded by enemy troops. All the staff were in trouble for the moment and had no good strategy. They could only search the surrounding ships first. At this time, someone stood up and said to Liu Bei: "General, I have a plan."
Liu Bei saw that it was Du Ji, a newly promoted scholar from Jingzhao this year. He looked directly at Liu Bei and said: "I have heard that the general always has chariot camps in the Dongping Army. He also used chariot camps to defend himself when facing water. . In this case, it is better to ferry the car camp and the warriors to the west bank first, tie up the car camp, and think that the bridge head is already solid, and then build a pontoon bridge, and it will naturally fall into place."
After hearing this, Liu Bei's eyes lit up and he kept saying: "What a great idea! What a great idea! I almost forgot about my car camp." So he immediately started, ordering people to search and detain ships everywhere, while recruiting warriors from the army. . By noon on the 21st, hundreds of small boats and a thousand warriors had been captured.
The transportation of ships and the repair of bridges were all left to Du Ji, but who would lead the carriages and camp to defend against the enemy? Guan Yu volunteered to Liu Bei, but Liu Bei refused and said: "Now that you are the commander-in-chief of an army, how can you do everything yourself? Give the boys some opportunities!"
Meng Da, the military advisor, was standing by at this time. He was very anxious when he saw that Fazheng, a close friend from his hometown, had offered suggestions one after another and won the favor of the general. He was on the rise, but he had gained nothing. Now I heard Liu Bei's words and knew that it was a good time to make a contribution, so I recommended myself in front of the generals and said: "The general is responsible for the country's peace, and spreads his loyalty widely. I feel deeply about it. Although he is in a humble position, he is willing to do it." The country will do its best!" Liu Bei laughed when he heard this and decided on the candidate.
At night, the waning moon shines brightly in the sky. In the ripples of Surabaya, ships on the west bank were pushed into the water one after another. In order to block the view of the other side, the Han army chose a relatively low-lying crossing point, but the boat still inevitably made a splashing sound when it entered the water. Meng Da, wearing a black armor and leading his elite soldiers, had just boarded the boat when he saw several people on the other side. Black shadows were wandering high above, obviously observing the sounds here.
Immediately afterwards there was a dull and long trumpet sound, which made the Han army sergeant become nervous. Meng Da stood up and looked around. Seeing that the Han troops around him were stunned, he immediately shouted loudly: "The moth thief just blew his trumpet. It will take time to reach the shore! Quickly row across!"
Everyone was excited, sat down quickly, and rowed towards the east bank with the oars. The ships acquired by the Han army were not large, and could not be compared with the large ships built by the Han army the year before. Each ship could barely carry a dozen people. But considering that each soldier was wearing armor and stomach, and the boat was equipped with half a set of vehicles, a boat could barely carry six people.
Fortunately, Surabaya is only a hundred feet wide, and the water in autumn is not turbulent. The night wind is also very quiet at this moment, which makes the soldiers who are bumping on the water feel at ease. After beating the oars for a while, they successfully arrive in the east. shore. After leaving the boats and loading the vehicles, the first batch of Han troops gathered together under the command of Meng Da and quickly assembled the vehicles and set up crossbows.
"Swallowing the Starry Sky: Sign in to Become a God"
When the Qi and Han troops arrived at the river bank, there were about 300 Han troops here. Hundreds of half-foot-high wall carts formed a semicircle on the river bank. The sergeants in front filled the space between the wall carts with long wadding and wooden rafters. Through the gap, the sergeants in the rear were carrying crossbows and crossbows to provide support. In Si River, Du Ji was commanding the ships back and forth, constantly transporting the Han army forward.
The person in charge of this section was Han Xian. After he learned the news, he ordered Chen Bao to lead 2,000 people and Zhang Yu to lead 2,000 people, carrying torches like Song Ming, to attack the front of the Han army all the way east and flank the Han army along the river bank. On the tidal flats, the Han army's wall trucks and ships must be burned.
Although Han Xian had a good idea, he found it difficult to do anything until the two generals came forward. After the Han army came ashore, they poured water on the wall cart again. The Qi and Han troops fired rockets from a distance, but nothing ignited, so they had to shoot at people instead. However, the visibility was not good at night. The Han army was protected by the cart wall and the stomach, so they were injured. There are not many.
The Qi and Han troops had no choice but to get close and fight, trying to overturn the chariot formation. But the Han army was also prepared. They brought the stones from the river and pressed them on the bottom of the wall cart. The soldiers of the Qi and Han Dynasties walked forward despite the rain of missing crossbow arrows, and found that the carriage was extremely strong. It was impossible to overturn it, and the soldiers holding long swords stabbed out from the gaps in the wall carts. Someone was injured with every stab, leaving no chance for the enemy to breathe.
Seeing that a frontal attack was unfavorable, Han Xian thought of another strategy and sent Chaohu water thief Zheng Bao to lead a navy to intercept and block the Han ships. However, his reaction was too late and he had lost the opportunity to wait for Zheng Bao's navy to go into battle. At that time, it was already noon the next day, and the Han army's pontoon bridge had been built to one third. The archers stood on the pontoon bridge, and their bows could not shoot on both sides of the Surabaya River. Already in an invincible position. Zheng Bao braved two arrows and suffered more casualties than his colleagues on the shore, so he had to retreat and report to Han Xian.
In this way, the formation of the floating bridge was inevitable, and the Han army won the first move. Han Xian suggested to Guan Hai that since the Han army wanted to build a pontoon bridge, it would be impossible to attack the enemy halfway across the river. After all the puppet dynasties have crossed the river, we are facing Surabaya to the west and Tianbao Mountain at our back. If we encounter a heavy cavalry of the Han army, the consequences will be disastrous. It is better to retreat twenty miles to the west and reorganize the formation, and then proceed to the battle as appropriate. Although Guan Hai felt unwilling to do so, he had no other choice but to agree.
When the Qi and Han troops broke out of camp, the pontoon bridge had just been built. Liu Bei rode across it and took a picture to personally watch the opponent's arrangement of moving troops. Since the beginning of the war, the opponent has retreated again and again, which made Liu Bei particularly emotional. He said to everyone: "It is not an option to continue like this. Guan Hai cannot make up his mind to fight, so I can only help him."
After the whole army crossed the Surabaya River, Liu Bei sent a letter to Cao Cao and Zhang Xian, instructing his two troops to abandon Fenggao and lead the army southward. He also sent out news that Cao Cao would arrive at Yinping in the East China Sea in the near future and cut off the Qi and Han armies from continuing their westward retreat.
