Chapter 329: A strange combination of circumstances
A hundred years of worldly affairs are just a dream, a chess game for thousands of miles. ----------"Poetry in Praise of Monks" by Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty
It is said that Xu Huang and Xu Gongming led 25,000 soldiers from Puyang. They stayed on the Yellow River day and night and set fire to the north and south ferries of Mengjin. General Meng Jin was caught off guard and was defeated and fled back to Shangdang without mentioning the defense.
By mistake, Xu Huang and Xu Gongming went upstream from the Yellow River and destroyed the Black Mountain Army's rear supply transfer base in one fell swoop; Chen Long's troops who had already crossed the river and Guan Yu's ambush on the other side of the Yellow River did not wait as expected on both sides of the Yellow River. Puyang rescues troops. It can be said that Man Chong and Xu Huang turned a blind eye to the fall of Juancheng and chose to attack Mengjin brazenly. Strategically, they completely defeated Chen Long's battle plan and caused heavy losses to Mengjin.
But what Man Chong and Xu Huang didn't expect was that Chen Long's real goal was to capture Puyang in one fell swoop. Although Man Chong succeeded in taking the risk, after the troops were divided, Puyang's garrison was reduced by half, making it even less able to resist the surging Chen Long army.
Man Chong's west city withstood the day and night violent attacks by Chen Long's army. The city walls in other directions were obviously very weak. As a result, Guan Yu's army crossed the Yellow River and attacked Puyang from the east, defeating the weak defense of the east city wall in one fell swoop. The army poured into Puyang City. .
The defeated soldiers quickly dispersed into Puyang City to escape. A few of the fast runners fled to the west gate. When they saw Man Chong lying exhausted and resting under the battlements, a few people picked him up, went down to the city wall, pinned Man Chong on his horse, and beat the horse. Go straight to the south gate. Man Chong was unable to stop him and saw the defeated soldiers running around. Hearing that the east city gate was broken down by a red-faced general in green robes, he knew that the situation was over and had no choice but to follow the defeated soldiers and escape from the south gate. The west city gate was immediately breached. Before many soldiers could understand, they were besieged by the jungle of steel swords. Countless people fell at once.
In this battle, Chen Long's army won a complete victory, seizing all the food, grass and baggage in the city and capturing tens of thousands of people. Chen Longling went out to pacify the people in the name of the Black Mountain Army, and did no harm to the people. At the same time, he hired civilian men to repair the damaged city gates and roads.
As for Man Chong, he escaped from the east gate with dozens of horses and headed west along the decaying grass beside the Yellow River. As for why he headed west, even Man Chong himself didn't know. Later on the road, I realized that I was afraid of an ambush if I crossed the Yellow River to the south. Only on the Yellow River to the west might I encounter Xu Huang's fleet returning victoriously. Man Chong subconsciously went west to find Xu Huang.
The sky was getting dark, and Man Chong and others were stumbling on horseback among the decaying grass, looking at the dark and yellow river, really hoping to encounter a life-saving warship. The wind was roaring behind him, and there seemed to be always the sound of drums and horse hooves. Man Chong couldn't figure out how many pursuers were behind him, so he could only fight his horse and run away, using the increasingly dark night to escape the capture of the Montenegrin Army.
Guan Yunchang rode a bay-red horse, and the Qinglong Yanyue Sword in his hand reflected the bloody green light. He had been fighting with the fleeing White Tiger Army of Cao Cao in Puyang City for a long time, and he did not have a single general under his command. Cao's soldiers were terrified after being killed by him. Wherever the Qinglong Yanyue Sword touched, large areas of Cao's soldiers knelt down and asked to surrender. Guan Yunchang stopped his horse and dismounted. He held the handle of the knife with his left hand. A long knife shaft was exposed from behind his shoulder. He held his beautiful beard that reached his belly in his right hand. He looked up to the sky and laughed. At that moment, Guan Gong The image is so majestic and heroic, and the dark, murderous silhouette has been deeply imprinted in the heart of Cao Jun, who was kneeling. From then on, Guan Yu's title of "God of War" spread on the battlefield and became famous throughout the ages.
Guan Yu did have an extraordinary sense of pride in his heart. This pride comes so freely that it cannot be expressed without looking up to the sky and laughing. After smiling up to the sky, Guan Yu stared blankly at the dark clouds in the sky, and suddenly thought of his elder brother Liu Bei. Ever since he followed Liu Bei, he had been wandering around and living an ignoble existence. He had taken refuge with many monarchs, but none of them could realize his ambitions. He could only cowardly be a humble horse archer. Today, I fought with Longzhu and gained full trust. I led the army independently and was able to kill so easily. He is also a human hero, so why does it feel so bad to follow his eldest brother Liu Bei?
Guan Yu suddenly felt guilty. He suspected that Long Zhu secretly killed his elder brother, but now he subconsciously hoped that his elder brother would not wake up. If the eldest brother wakes up and is in a reasonable situation, he will return to his side to serve him. Will he follow his eldest brother to live the life of a homeless man without any soldiers or generals?
Guan Yu couldn't help but become angry with himself, secretly angry with himself for his lack of determination. But this idea has taken root. He would have definitely found out the culprit who killed his elder brother and killed him, but now it started to blur. Guan Yu angrily played with the sword a few times, and the shining Qinglong Yanyue Sword flashed through the void like lightning. The White Tiger Army kneeling around was frightened half to death. They thought that this god-like general decided to kill them all. The sound of begging immediately filled the sky. Guan Yunchang suddenly woke up and shouted: "Come here, take the prisoners of war. Follow me." Solitaire strategist!"
The battle of Puyang was a complete victory, and Cao's army no longer had a base on the north bank of the Yellow River. The loss of Puyang has far-reaching consequences, and Yuan Shao's arrangements will definitely be affected. I wonder if Gongsun Zan can seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight Yuan Shao to the death.
Let's talk about Xu Huang. After cleaning the battlefield at Mengjin Ferry, according to the planned plan, he should immediately sneak back to Puyang and wait for an opportunity to destroy the Montenegro Army's supply line. This battle was a complete victory, but Xu Huang was still not happy. One was because the soldiers who were burned to death died in such a miserable way, and the other was because of an unexplainable uneasiness, always feeling that something would happen to Puyang. .
Xu Huang ordered the entire army to rest for two days and return to Puyang the same way the next night, still lying in bed during the day and going out at night. After this battle, the Juancheng Black Mountain Army should have lost supplies, their morale must have been shaken, and the plan to attack Rencheng must have been delayed. The rest depends on how Xun Wenruo adapts to local conditions and adapts to circumstances.
Xu Huang has always been prudent and gave up the idea of setting up a camp in Mengjin to completely block this transportation channel. Even if there are still ships in Mengjin now, it will take a lot of time to rebuild the port infrastructure and facilities. The Montenegro Army will definitely not be able to supply more than hundreds of thousands of troops with food and weapons. Xu Huang did not easily change the planned battle plan. The army had already taken advantage and needed to return to Puyang to rest before making any further progress. The warship set off at night, sailing along the current much faster this time. Xu Huang was uneasy and stood on the bow of the ship outside the cabin, standing in the wind and letting the night breeze blow his mind. Suddenly he heard several crisp gong notes coming from the shore.
These sounds of symbols came from afar and were not very loud, but Xu Huang felt his scalp explode and his head banged, and he almost fell to the deck. I am very familiar with these gongs. They are the unique rhythm of Man Chong's army when they send messages. Why did Man Chong's army appear on this dark shore? Could it be that he saw a ghost?
Xu Huang immediately sent the order, sounded several gongs in response, and lit several torches in succession. The fire suddenly exposed the position of the warship in the Yellow River, but Xu Huang could no longer care about anything and let the warship dock. His heart suddenly jumped with fright. He saw many dark shadows on the shore. He jumped ashore and shouted: "You Wait, who is General Manchu's subordinate? Why are you here late at night?"
Man Boning was exhausted when he was guarding Puyang, and he ran around day and night for two days and two nights. It could be said that there was no water and rice, and he was only able to hold on with one breath. He must find Xu Huang in order to escape. When I heard Xu Huang's question, a big stone suddenly lifted from my heart. Suddenly, the world began to spin, my eyes flashed, and I suddenly fell down in front of Xu Huang's torch. His men hurriedly rescued him, and everyone hurriedly boarded the warship. Man Chong slowly woke up in Xu Gongming's arms and cried loudly: "Gongming! It's all my fault for predicting the enemy. There are no less than 50,000 enemies. They attacked Puyang from both front and rear. Young general. I am outnumbered and Puyang has been lost! The whole army has been destroyed!" After that, he cried again and fell into Xu Gongming's arms.
The southern bank of the Yellow River in the darkness was the boundary of Chenliu. Zhang Liao had always been cautious in using his troops and had already set up many hidden observation posts. There were no night vision binoculars at that time, so Xu Huang sailed at night and approached the north bank of the Yellow River in the dark, so Chen Liubing never discovered it. But this time a row of torches suddenly lit up, and Chen Liubing on the south bank could see it clearly. The observation post saw someone secretly sailing across the Chenliu border in the river, and immediately flew to report to the general Zhang Liao.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
