Most of the Han army caught up with the front team and were stunned after receiving Zhou Buyi's order to rest on the spot. They knew that the purpose of this trip was to attack Hefei urgently, but before they thought about it, they had to conquer Liu'an first. The general ordered them to rest on the spot, obviously intending to leave the city in front of them and continue to attack. Hefei moved forward, which greatly exceeded their expectations. But after running around for a day, they were indeed tired, and they had no intention of guessing the general's intentions. The whole army or soldiers leaned under the tree or lay on the edge of the stone. Under the bright moonlight, they slept in the wilderness with their clothes on.
After a night of silence, when they woke up again, the soldiers felt a sense of dampness on their faces and clothes. They subconsciously wiped it with their hands, only to realize that it was cool dew. A gust of cold wind passed through the nearly dry treetops, beating on them. Their bodies made everyone shiver. It turns out that in Huainan, which is evergreen all year round, autumn is also so bleak. Fortunately, Zhou Buyi had arranged for a hot stove to be lit, and he still allowed the soldiers to have a hot meal.
The Wu army camp that was caught in the flames of war last night had been reduced to ruins, and the Wu prisoners were released by the Han army after their weapons were confiscated. At present, only the Wu people in Lu'an City were still watching them cautiously. Some Han soldiers looked up from below and saw that the people above were still repairing the city ultimatum and making golden soup, obviously preparing to defend the city. Presumably the Wu people on the city did not expect that the Han army had no intention of continuing to break the city.
Before setting off again, Zhou Buji held a brief military meeting. In this battle, his command can be divided into twelve divisions. Except for the headquarters that he personally led, the remaining eleven divisions are composed of Sun Zi, Wen Hui, Yang Qiu, Qu Sheng, You Chu, Du Ji, Dong Yun, Xin Chang, They were led by Hao Zhao, Huo Yi and Hu Du. There are only two veteran generals here, Yang Qiu and Qu Sheng, and the rest are all new generation generals. At a glance, they can be regarded as full of vigor and vitality. Zhou Buyi only said: "The Wu thieves in Lu'an are scattered, and the news of our army's arrival must have spread. Time waits for no one. We must establish a foothold in Hefei before the Wu thieves react. This will definitely be a hard battle. What do you guys do?" Get ready!”
The army immediately set off from Lu'an City, and the two armies marched eastward side by side. After passing Lu'an, the Han army was only two hundred miles away from Hefei. Compared with yesterday's itinerary, the water network between the two places was sparse and the terrain was flat, making it an excellent place for cavalry to gallop. So along the way, the Han army was very fast. The sound of horse hooves crushing dead leaves never stopped, as if the chirping of countless cicadas gathered together to send out their last longing for life before the cold winter came.
Halfway through, a northwest wind suddenly blew in the air, which made the Han army march faster, so much so that Zhou Buyi did not even urge the rear army, and the various departments no longer distanced themselves. Along the way, the Han army saw several scattered groups of Wu people, ranging from hundreds to more than a thousand. They were obviously remnant soldiers who had escaped from Lu'an before and had not had time to assemble. As soon as they encountered the Han army, they immediately hid in the distance and seemed to be out of control.
Estimating the journey, we have walked about ninety miles at this time. Zhou Buyi suddenly called Wang Ji, the reporter, and said, "Go immediately and send a message to General Hu Lang, instructing his troops to change direction and fight straight back to Liu'an." Wang Ji was stunned after hearing this, and asked quickly: "Envoy Sir, what's the point of this?" Zhou Bujie was unwilling to answer, and said to him: "Time is pressing, just let him act, and we will see what happens later." After hearing this, Wang Ji did not dare to hesitate, and immediately turned his horse's head, Run to the rear of the long line of troops.
Of course, this was just an episode during the march. Most of the Han cavalry were still marching quickly, and they didn't even know that the Hu Du tribe had turned around. In the afternoon, the Han riders vaguely saw a small raised foothill in the south, with little purple clouds lingering on it, like a purple yarn between the vast sky and earth. The guide in the army said that it was Zipeng Mountain. It is said that when you see this mountain, it is less than 60 miles away from Hefei.
Seeing this, Zhou Buji ordered his army to turn slightly north. At this time, there were gradually more and more residential houses around, and they were obviously approaching the sacred land of Huainan. The nearby residents looked at the Han cavalry passing by like furious waves, and they all showed frightened and inexplicable expressions. Only then did they Come to think of it, there has been no major war here for twenty years since Yuan Shu was defeated. Many of the scouts were also around. After seeing this scene of tens of thousands of horses galloping across the wilderness for the first time, they did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately went to deliver the message to Hefei City.
At this time, the person in charge of Hefei was Wu Junfu General Zhang Zhao. When he received the news, it was already Xu Shi that day. After receiving the military report, he couldn't help being surprised. He asked the envoy in surprise: "How come the enemy army came so fast? Why is there no news from Dong Xi?" But time did not allow him to hesitate any longer, so he immediately sent someone He went to organize troops to defend the city, and at the same time sent scouts out of the city, and at the same time went to inquire about the Han army and Lu'an.
It was already dark at this time. After Zhang Zhao issued the order, he went out to inspect the defense on the city wall. At this time, the city was noisy, with people gathering and delivering orders everywhere. They were galloping through the streets with torches in their hands. The firelight and shadows intertwined with each other, as if they were dancing a songless dance. This made Zhang Zhao couldn't help but feel a little upset. He thought in his heart: How is Lu'an doing at this time? Where have the Han troops arrived? How will this matter affect the war situation in Huainan?
Fortunately, he was not the only one in charge of the city, but also the partial general Quan Cong. At this time, Quan Cong was supervising the construction of the canal on the city wall. When he saw Zhang Zhao coming to find him, he immediately stated his thoughts to him and said: "The bandit army should have arrived. They just raided here from the Huai River. They are almost at the capital of Liu'an." There is no news. They must have been traveling day and night and are very tired. They will never come to fight with our army. According to my estimation, the bandit army should camp somewhere, wait until the camp is built, rest for a while, and then slowly fight with me."
These words touched Zhang Zhao's mind. Seeing that Quan Cong seemed to be prepared, he asked, "In Zihuang's opinion, how should our army respond?"
Quan Cong did not reply immediately, but after thinking carefully for a moment, he slowly said to Zhang Zhao: "Mr. Zhang, the information is unclear at the moment, so it is not easy to make a decision. It will not be too late to discuss it after the scouts confirm the news."
Zhang Zhao had no other choice, so he nodded slowly and said, "Then just wait." Quan Cong was still looking at the layout of the soldiers in the city and observing any shortcomings, while Zhang Zhao looked up at the sky and observed the changes in the stars in the sky. Only then did he realize that in the deep night sky, dark clouds had arisen at some point and had covered half of the moonlight. The wind at the top of the city also brought more coolness. He was very familiar with this. It should be raining soon. .
At this time, the messenger from Lu'an finally arrived. They were the Wu people who escaped last night. However, they did not have the horses to transfer, so they had to rest several times on the way before they arrived in Hefei. They immediately informed Zhang and Quan about the battle situation in Lu'an last night. Knowing that Lu'an was still in Dong Xi's hands, Quan Cong couldn't help showing a bit of joy. He said to Zhang Zhao: "Mr. Zhang, don't blame the thieves for being so fast. They are looking for death! How can anyone imagine that? Only six As long as An is still in their hands, the rebel army will not be able to transport food and fodder in. Even if they get Hefei, they will just starve to death here. And we have 20,000 elites, so we can consider fighting."
Zhang Zhao was also very happy. He asked, "Should we lead the army and set off after the scouts come back?"
Quan Cong shook his head, and then said: "They have just arrived, and this is the most vigilant moment. I'm afraid they are not easy to deal with. Why don't we just let them build a camp. After one night, they can build a camp of tens of thousands of people? It's just a fool's errand." I think the fence is too much. When tomorrow morning, when they are exhausted and the camp has not yet been completed, we will lead the crowd to press him. No matter how many times the force is, he will be nothing more than a bird in a cage or a fish in a lake. .”
Seeing how confident he was speaking, Zhang Zhao recalled what he had seen and heard during the battles with Sun Ce a few years ago. Before a war, it often took several days to build a camp, and after it was built, the soldiers had to rest and recuperate for it. Using oneself to save others, Quan Cong's plan was indeed perfect, so he said sincerely: "In that case, this battle will be handed over to Zihuang. If this battle is successful, I am afraid it will be the success of Dingding. I will wait for your success in the city." ”
After another half an hour, a scout finally got information about the Han army and came back to Zhang and Quan to report: "The bandit army is twenty miles north of Feishui and is cutting down trees to build a camp." At this time, Whenever it rained, the dampness of the autumn rain wrapped around his clothes like threads. Quan Cong was overjoyed and said: "If it rains tonight, tomorrow morning, the land will be wet and soft, and the Han army's cavalry will be useless! Mr. Zhang, this is God's will." ah!"
He immediately ordered the soldiers in the city to rest and recuperate, and made an appointment to fight to the death with the Han army at midnight tomorrow morning. At the same time, he said goodbye to Zhang Zhao and went back to his room to rest.
However, when he was drowsy in his dream, there was suddenly a knock on the door. He woke up in a daze and asked the person who came, "Is it almost midnight?"
But the visitor said: "General, there are still two quarters at Mao hour, but right now it is not about anything else, but Commander Zhang has something urgent to discuss with the general."
Quan Cong was surprised when he heard what he said, but he couldn't understand it, so he put on his robe, took his sword, and followed the envoy to the general's mansion. It was still dark at this time, and all the lights in the city were turned off. Only Zhang Zhao's mansion was still brightly lit. As soon as Quan Cong entered the door, he saw two men in scout clothes kneeling in the middle of the hall, while Zhang Zhao was sitting in the chairman's chair, looking extremely pale.
Quan Cong was about to ask Zhang Zhao what was going on, but Zhang Zhao interrupted him in advance and said to him: "Zihuang, I'm afraid the plan to attack the enemy will not work." Then he asked the scout who was lying down to ask Quan Cong Report, after Quan Cong heard the news, he couldn't help but be shocked, and the sword in his hand couldn't help but fall to the ground, and then murmured to himself: "What a god! How could it be like this?"
It turned out that these two people brought two pieces of news. The first one was from Lu'an. He said that Dong Xi saw the Han army leaving, so he led his troops out of the city to gather the remaining troops. As a result, he bumped into the Han army who came back to fight on the road, and was immediately defeated. The Han army took the opportunity to capture Lu'an City, while Dong Xi was leading the remaining troops towards Hefei.
The second one is news about the Han army camp. The scouts monitored the process of the Han army's camp building and found that the enemy seemed to have divine help. Without long-term deliberation, the soldiers of each department began to build forts and dig trenches. The number of people assigned to each place was not too many or too little. The task happened to be completed at Yinshi. Now, Overnight, the Han army's camp had been built, and two layers of antlers and a trench were set up on the outside. It was probably impossible to attack it.
Quan Cong couldn't believe this, and he didn't want to talk to Zhang Zhao anymore. He immediately led a dozen of his followers to visit the Han army camp in person. As a result, it was as the scouts said. We also saw that the weapons and armor of Zhou Buji's troops were all new and the army was very powerful. The Wu people took advantage of it.
