Growing up, under the protection of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shang had almost never really seen what the battlefield was like.
Even in the Guandu defeat, which taught him the most painful lessons, he could only get a glimpse of how the Northern Army failed step by step from the battle reports one after another.
Perhaps because of this, Yuan Shang always has a timid mentality and is often unwilling to start a war.
However, today, without the need for Shen Pei and Xu You to persuade him, Yuan Shang knew that it was time for him to put on his armor, ride a war horse, and lead his soldiers to the front line to fight Yuan Tan.
Because the Four Court Pillars in Hebei were gone, the prestige of Ma Yan and others in the army was not enough to support the morale of the army. As the commander, he had to go to the battlefield in person.
Only when he is here can the soldiers risk their lives to fight.
This battle is related to the great cause of the Northern Kingdom. If we win, no one can shake the position of the Lord of the Northern Kingdom. We can only win, not lose.
He walked to Binglan and looked at the sword that symbolized the power of the Northern Kingdom. It was Yuan Shao's sword. He took it off respectfully with both hands and looked attentively. "My father's spirit in heaven, please protect the child and win the victory."
Oh my God, how could you have the nerve to say such a thing? If the old master were still alive, you would be so angry to death. Xu You spit in his heart and expressed admiration for Yuan Shang's face. .
"Lord, Lu Bu has led his army out of the stronghold, and Yuan Tan's men have also been chased out." Ma Yan quickly walked into the account to report the latest situation.
Yuan Shang nodded and said no more. Instead, he tied Yuan Shao's sword around his waist, turned around and walked towards the camp gate.
The way to be safe is of course to confirm that Lu Bu and Yuan Tan's people are fighting together before Yuan Shang sends troops.
But in fact this is not realistic at all.
After all, Luying was still thirty or forty miles away from the ferry. Under normal circumstances, Yuan Tan's pursuers would definitely take action while he was boarding the boat to cross the river. It would probably be daybreak by the time the scouts' express report came back.
Now that he has made up his mind, as long as it is confirmed that Lu Bu has led his troops to leave the camp, he must immediately lead his troops to attack Yuan Tan's camp. You must know that the 20,000 people responsible for intercepting and killing Yuan Tan's defeated troops had already set off at dark, dragging If it takes too long, something might happen.
One hundred thousand troops poured out from the three strongholds like a tide. Even if the formations could not be seen clearly at night, the footsteps and movement alone were enough to scare away the night owls in the woods several miles away.
Chen soldiers confront each other in the wild and in the village. From time to time, surprise attacks on the enemy camps will occur. However, the number of soldiers is usually not too large, because they are worried that if the movement is too loud, they will be discovered by the opponent's scouts, and instead they will jump into the opponent's trap.
There is an army of 100,000 in front of us, and the movement of the formation is like landslides and earth shattering. It is obviously impossible to completely hide.
Yuan Shang knew very well that Yuan Tan would know his movements when the army was less than one-third of the way.
Even so, this can actually be regarded as a surprise attack.
Because this involves the time-consuming issue of troop mobilization, like this time he was well prepared for the stud, and it took two days for the army to rectify.
As for Yuan Tan, from the time he received the military report and his troops arrived, his reaction time would not exceed two hours.
The troops are armored, armed, have bows and arrows distributed, and the cavalry are leading the formation. In two hours, he can prepare 20,000 people for battle, which means he is a god in his military use.
What's more, Yuan Tan has a lot of troops. Even if tens of thousands of people are divided into chasing and killing, the remaining people will not be less than 70,000. With such a large camp, just the transmission of a military order is enough. It would take half an hour. If he still wanted to set up an ambush and counterattack, he would have to give Yuan Tan ten days and eight days to do it.
This is one of Yuan Shang's reliances, and another crucial point is that he firmly believes that the people sent to chase Lu Bu must be Yuan Tan's elite troops.
Among Yuan Tan's troops, the one that Yuan Shang feared the most was his cavalry.
Although on the eve of this war, he also asked Yuan Xi to provide thousands of horses to arm the army. The problem is that the training of cavalry cannot be achieved overnight.
In the battle of Guandu, the Euphorbia soldiers turned against each other. Most of the cavalry were captured and killed, but all the elite soldiers were captured and destroyed.
On the other hand, Yuan Tan's cavalry was very well preserved, and that cavalry was all led by Wen Chou, and its combat power was among the best in the Northern Kingdom.
If he hadn't firmly believed that these cavalry had been sent out, Yuan Shang would not have been able to make this determination.
In this situation where he was dominant in all aspects, Yuan Shang felt that he had no chance of losing.
If not, he would not have dared to personally lead troops to the front line to command operations.
"Marquis Wen, it's almost time. We should go to get Yuan Shang's camp."
Under night in the Xiajin wilderness, a tribe of 40,000 people mixed together, Lu Bu's people and Yuan Tan's people.
But what Lu Bu didn't expect was that the coming general was Han Ju, Yuan Tan's general. When he was in Pengcheng, he heard Wen Chou talk about this person. He was his deputy general and had been with him for many years. In terms of leadership and personal bravery, he was both outstanding. Number one.
Such a person, Yuan Tan, did not arrange an ambush in the camp, but sent him to keep an eye on him. This defensiveness is really not ordinary.
Lu Bu nodded, then turned his horse's head and started heading towards Yuan Shang's military camp.
The two teams had already traveled more than 20 miles in the opposite direction in order to conceal themselves from others. When they turned back, the distance was much further. Not to mention that it was almost dawn when they reached Yuan Shang's barracks in the middle of the night. The soldiers We were already exhausted, so Lu Bu made a straightforward suggestion:
"When the time comes, I will lead my troops to capture the south camp, and the general will lead his men to capture the north camp. After breaking the camp, they will set fire to it. This will knock the mountain and shock the tiger, chill the morale of the army, and may cause the Yuan army in the Chinese army's stronghold to collapse without a fight."
"However, the military order I received is to cooperate with Marquis Wen to attack Yuan Shang's stronghold. His main army has already gone out, and the auxiliary battalion is useless. It is better to follow the prince's instructions and attack the Chinese stronghold." Han Ju said and acted like He is a meticulous person.
Lu Bu glanced at him and sneered, "I'm going to fetch Nanying anyway. As for you, I have no right to make arrangements. Where to go, you can decide on your own."
Isn't that what was agreed upon at the beginning? Han Ju frowned and said in a deep voice: "Why did Marquis Wen go back on his promise? I have read all the letters you wrote to the young master."
"One moment, another moment." Lu Bu didn't lie. He was trying to coax Yuan Tan to take the bait. Of course, whatever he said was what he said. Now, whether you want to go or not, the pressure is on your master anyway.
"I don't understand what this is and that. Please explain it clearly, Marquis Wen."
Call upon the law~
As soon as Han Ju finished speaking, the red rabbit horse neighed and stopped. Lu Bu turned to look at him, "When do I, Lu Bu, need to explain to a guy like you what I do?"
Lu Bu's voice was very soft, and he did not deliberately have a threatening tone, but just such a glance made the deputy general who had followed Wen Chou on the battlefield for many years freeze in his heart, and instinctively avoided Lu Bu's gaze.
The eyes of the old father-in-law are not something ordinary people would dare to look into. Lin Mo thought to himself that even your old boss Wen Chou would be frightened when he saw him. Why are you making such a fuss with this?
"Zilong, are everyone here?" Lin Mo didn't care at all that the atmosphere between the two generals was wrong. If he, Han Ju, really dared to take action, he would be considered capable.
"Three hundred cavalry and archers have already been ordered."
After Zhao Yun nodded, he said with concern: "I also remember his portrait in my heart. As long as he appears, he will definitely not be able to escape."
Lin Mo smiled and said, "Based on my understanding of him, you should be able to succeed."
After saying that, Lin Mo's expression became serious again, and he added in a deep voice, "But if you can't wait until noon, you must rush back to meet us. After Yuan Tan gathers Yuan Shang's defeated army, he will definitely attack us. People like this can’t stop him.”
Although Lin Mo was very sure that he could kill two birds with one stone, after experiencing so many things, he also began to learn to be prepared.
No matter what, Zilong cannot be put in danger.
I want the great cause of the country, and I also want brotherhood!
Arriving in front of Yuan Tan's Chinese army stronghold, Yuan Shang had no time to wait and see and analyze. The army immediately took action according to the deployment before departure.
Ma Yan led 30,000 soldiers and horses to attack from the West Village on the front, He Mao led 30,000 troops to attack from the South Village, and Zhang Jie also led 30,000 troops to attack from the North Village.
Yuan Shang himself led 10,000 people to supervise the battle on the periphery, and at the same time, he could also increase his momentum.
As for Dongzhai, he deliberately surrounded Sanqueyi and released a way for Yuan Tan's people to escape.
The battle of thousands of people relies on the bravery of soldiers and horses, causing as much damage as possible in the first time to form a deterrent, and finally slowly cannibalizing the opponent.
And this kind of bloody battle with hundreds of thousands of people depends not on killing, but on momentum and morale. It reduces the opponent to a state of decline and forces the opponent to escape. In the process, it will cause a large number of tramples. The real battle There are far fewer people who died than those who were trampled to death.
But if you block the last way out, you will force others to fight with you, which is not a wise thing to do.
Yuan Shang was standing under the camp gate of the West Village in front. He didn't know what the two fronts were like between Ma Yan and He Mao, so he could only focus on Zhang Jie.
Zhang Jie led two thousand cavalry and rushed in first, setting off bonfires and setting tents on fire along the way. The process was not a smooth one. Before the cavalry could completely rush into the camp gate, arrows began to rain down on them from both sides.
Although Zhang Jie is not a famous general, he also knows that there is no way out at this moment. The cavalry he leads are the spearhead and tip of Yuan Shang's spear, which is bound to penetrate into the heart of Yuan Tan's army and break their will to fight.
Yuan Shang, who was under the camp gate, looked at the rain of arrows shot from both sides and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
Judging from the density, there were less than a thousand people, which was about the same as he had expected. After all, Yuan Tan already knew the news before his people arrived. If he had no resistance at all, it would make people uneasy.
But if you want to stop your own army of 100,000 people with this few people, it is tantamount to wishful thinking.
When the infantry also began to rush into the military camp, the rain of arrows shot from the gaps between the tents began to weaken. The sounds of fighting, shouts, and the neighing of war horses were intertwined, making Yuan Shang's heart surge.
"Kill Yuan Tan! Kill Yuan Tan! Kill Yuan Tan!" The soldiers and horses rushing into Yuan Tan's military camp were all shouting the same slogan, which not only boosted the morale of the troops, but also served to deter the enemy.
Looking down from above Yuan Tan's military stronghold, Ma Yan, He Mao and Zhang Jie were gathering towards the Chinese army's tent. Their purpose was to break through the Chinese army's stronghold, kill the generals and capture the flag.
As long as the Chinese army's tent is broken and the big banner falls, Yuan Tan's army will definitely collapse. At that time, all he has to do is capture prisoners along the way.
Seeing that he was about to reach the Chinese army's tent in one mile, Zhang Jie could even see the bright bonfire outside the Chinese army's tent and the sound of the "Yuan" banner, which was the goal of his trip.
"Quick! Brothers, my lord is offering a reward. Whoever captures this flag will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins, and whoever kills Yuan Tan will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins!" Zhang Jie also started shouting, raising the spear in his hand and grinning ferociously.
Just after shouting this sentence, Zhang Jie felt that his center of gravity was unstable and he fell forward. It turned out that the front hooves of the galloping mount were missed, causing the horse to roll to the ground. Due to the huge inertia, Zhang Jie himself also fell to the ground.
Although he was in great pain, Zhang Jie did not dare to delay and hurriedly got up. Countless painful lessons told him that if he slowed down at this time, he might be trampled to death by the cavalry behind him.
When he got up, he realized that he was in a pit half a man deep. The cavalry behind him fell into the pit like dumplings.
"Stop it! Stop it!" The centurion shouted after reacting.
The pit in front of him was not small. It had been rolled down for seventy or eighty years, but it could not be filled. Such a big hole could not be dug out in a day. Zhang Jie knew that something was wrong, so he climbed out of the hole.
Before they could move, a burst of flaming arrows were fired towards them. The arrows landed in the pit, immediately triggering a tall tongue of fire that engulfed the men and horses in the pit.
Tung oil had originally been poured into the pit, but at some point, a group of sergeants came out from the surrounding area and smashed the tung oil jars in their hands, fearing that the fire would not be strong enough.
"Ah~!" The pain caused by the burning fire made the cavalry in the pit let out a heart-wrenching scream, and the war horses also neighed in pain, which made people's hair stand on end.
This kind of scream that struck straight to the soul suppressed the slogan of 'Kill Yuan Tan' in an instant.
The people in the pit were engulfed in flames, but their survival instinct drove them to climb out of the pit, like evil ghosts crawling out of hell. The frightened cavalrymen retreated one after another.
In their eyes, they could only see burning men crawling out of the pits, screaming, and then collapsed after running a few steps. The pungent smell of burnt meat made their stomach juices surge.
This is their line of sight. If you look down from above, you will know that the same scene happened on the other side of Ma Yan and He Mao.
With such a tragic scene and such an impact, no one can still have the will to fight.
"Brothers, come out with me and kill the general!" On the opposite side, a horse leaped high, flew over the two-foot-wide pit, and landed in front of Yuan Shangjun's cavalry like a divine soldier descending from the sky.
It was Zhao Rui. He was holding a spear and a horse and rushed into the enemy army, slashing and killing them.
Almost at the same time, Yuan Tan's army poured out from all directions. They held swords in one hand and shields in the other, and they fought fiercely when they got close.
It is true that the cavalry is the vanguard, but once they lose the momentum of charging, their combat effectiveness will not be much better than that of the infantry.
What's more, the tragic scene just now scared them out of their wits, and without Zhang Jie's command, they immediately twisted like headless snakes.
On the other hand, Zhao Rui, the captain of Polu, who relied on his illustrious military exploits, knew very well how to inspire the soldiers. As long as he stood there, it would be enough to make the soldiers fearless of death.
The swordsmen and axemen who surrounded them either chopped at the horse's legs, or used their shields to form an iron wall to force the cavalry to retreat again and again, leaving them unable to fight back.
They wanted to retreat, but found that they were all behind them, blocking their way out. They could not retreat at all, and a layer of despair immediately enveloped their hearts.
The condition of Yuan Shangjun's infantry following in the rear was not much better. Since they rushed into Yuan Tan's army camp, they radiated in a fan shape, hoping to create the greatest momentum in the shortest time.
Halfway through, there was a rain of arrows denser than a swarm of locusts. Countless soldiers rushed out from the side of the tent, clamoring to chop off Yuan Shang's head.
In Yuan Tan's military stronghold, there were burning tents in all directions, horses running randomly and the harsh sound of clashing swords.
Yuan Shangjun, who originally thought it was a surprise attack, was rushed by Yuan Tanjun who had been prepared for a long time, and his will to fight was immediately loosened.
At this time, the sergeant in the innermost position began to shout something. It was only when the shouts got closer and closer that he heard clearly that someone was shouting, "Zhang Jie is killed in action." '
Not long after the war started, such bad news came. Although Yuan Shangjun's soldiers did not escape immediately, everyone was watching and listening in all directions, fearing that they would be abandoned on the battlefield.
With such a mentality, how could he fight head-on with Yuan Tanjun, who had been prepared for a long time? He was killed and retreated steadily.
Yuan Shang, who was standing under the camp gate, still didn't know what was going on inside. The hand holding the sword was already wet with sweat, and he craned his neck to look at the situation inside.
"Lord, it's not good, there are cavalry coming to cover you up!" Before waiting for the news from inside, he heard the captain guarding beside him shout.
Following what he pointed out, a group of cavalry actually fought with the war supervisors outside the stronghold, and he didn't react until he realized it.
There was no way, the fighting in the stronghold was too noisy, everyone's attention was attracted, and no one would have thought that a cavalry could be killed in the wilderness.
Moreover, the cavalry's combat effectiveness was extremely strong, and a single charge tore a hole in the war supervisor's body.
Because the formation was too scattered, this cavalry was like a wolf rushing into a flock of sheep, and no one could stop it.
As they approached, Yuan Shang saw a familiar face smiling ferociously at him through the light of fire in the village.
It's Yuan Tan.
He...how did he appear here?
(End of chapter)
