Chapter 2084 Testing each other and finding out each other’s bottom line
Xia Houyuan straightened his body and looked out through the sparse tree branches.
In the distance, there are lifeless refugees, moving forward step by step, densely packed, like a flock of migrating sheep, having to endure hunger and stagger forward for the future grassland.
The Cao family has reached the most critical moment. Only the winner can continue to control Jizhou and Yuzhou. Otherwise, once Cao Cao is defeated, the problems that have been accumulated for many years will burst out and submerge the Cao family like a volcanic eruption. Even if they can finally
Solving it will inevitably involve paying a heavy price.
Xia Houyuan was originally an extremely impatient person, but now, he waited patiently day after day, and finally waited for the plan to unfold...
In the previous battle at Yanzhou, Xia Houyuan almost became a joke among Cao Jun. Even among his confidants, their confidence in him seemed to be shaken. This is very unfair. After all, Xia Houyuan's original
Fame is gained through bloody battles and desperate battles over and over again. But now, just one or two defeats have not only erased the previous achievements, but have even become a source of ridicule among others!
Later, although it was said that Xia Houyuan followed Cao Cao and fought against Sun Quan in Jiangxia, he rushed to the front line, led the soldiers to sweep and defeated many soldiers from Jiangdong, and achieved not too bad results, but his morale was destroyed to the extreme by the beatings of the hussars.
, somewhat of a return.
But this is not enough.
After all, some people still think that Xia Houyuan was just in Cao Cao's favor. If Cao Cao hadn't attracted Jiangdong soldiers from the front, Xia Houyuan might not have had any chance to achieve victory. In the final analysis, Xia Houyuan still couldn't do it, at least he couldn't lead the army alone. This hussar army horse,
Since Jizhou, it has repeatedly hindered the development of the Cao family, stood in front of them, and repeatedly frustrated them. Now it appears near Jingzhou, as if it is the natural enemy of the Cao family and Xia Houyuan's eternal nemesis!
Xia Houyuan refused!
Why?!
Xia Houyuan held his breath.
Wanting to completely restore his morale and original reputation, Xia Houyuan felt that there was only one thing to do, which was where he fell and where he got up. Xia Houyuan thought that he might need to suffer for a while before the hussars were dispatched, but he didn't expect this time
The Battle of Jingzhou actually led to the cavalry troops. Although the time was a little later than what Cao Cao and others expected, it didn't matter. Everything was prepared and ready to go. We were just waiting for the opportunity.
The moment of maturity has arrived!
Some of the refugees seemed to have noticed something and turned to look at Xia Houyuan. Xia Houyuan subconsciously shrank back and immediately realized that at such a long distance and covered by vegetation, what could these refugees see?
Xia Houyuan stopped looking at the refugees in the distance, turned around, and looked at his own soldiers.
During this period of time, Cao Jun's cavalry lost a lot of skilled cavalry due to collisions with the hussars and horses. The ones in front of them now were recruited by the Cao family from Jizhou, and some of them were from the powerful locals.
Private soldiers. Because although Yanzhou and Yuzhou are relatively biased toward Cao Cao and are relatively loyal military sources besides Qingzhou soldiers, the problem is that not many people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou can ride horses, so they have to start over.
Practice, the timeliness is too poor.
These people from Jizhou, and even some from Youzhou, have some foundation in riding skills. Since the change of Cao's flag, some people have a wait-and-see attitude towards Cao Cao, but there are still some people who want to give it a try and gain wealth.
, thus becoming a relatively suitable source of cavalry.
After all, not everyone has a God's perspective and can observe the whole world at every turn. Most people live in a very small area. Ten miles and eight towns may be their largest range of activities. Naturally, it is impossible to weigh the pros and cons.
, choose the best investment direction among Fiji and Sun.
Therefore, after gathering together in this way, Cao Jun gathered together another cavalry. Except for one part that was given to Cao Chun and Cao Xiu, the other part was gathered under Xia Houyuan again. Of course, in addition to these cavalry, there were thousands of cavalrymen.
Yu Ming's auxiliary soldiers and farmers were responsible for doing chores for these cavalry.
Xia Houyuan's trusted guard came over and asked: "General, are you about to attack?"
Xia Houyuan nodded and said: "That's almost it. When this group of refugees passes by, we will follow them..."
"Follow the refugees?" the guard asked.
Xia Houyuan said cheerfully: "That's right! So don't follow too close or in a hurry...Go and check the equipment again. If anything is missing, make up for it as soon as possible. If something goes wrong when you get into the battle formation, be careful!"
The guard quickly agreed, "Don't worry, General, I'm sure I'm ready! I'm just waiting to follow the general in a big battle, and I'll get rid of my previous bad temper!"
Xia Houyuan laughed heartily, waved his hand and said: "My lord is still well-organized and well-planned... I predict that this time, even if the hussar is as cunning as a ghost, he will definitely fall into the trap! Your and my great achievements are just around the corner!"
……(▽)///……
At Jiangdong Camp in Dangyang.
Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu, dressed in military uniforms, stood on the observation deck, looking intently to the north.
On the other side of the river is Cao Jun's camp.
Flags were fluttering, figures were swaying, everything seemed to be fine, but Zhou Yu's heart was filled with all kinds of questions.
During this period, Cao's army suddenly fell silent, and no longer tried to attack the Jiangdong camp. It seemed that it wanted to compete with the Jiangdong soldiers for a long time, and even seemed to drag the war from this year to next year...
What exactly does this mean?
Zhou Yu stared at the north and said slowly: "The traitor Cao is definitely not ignorant of the art of war when he fights in the north and south. Now he is fighting but not fighting, and he is not leaving. What's the point?"
Cheng Pu frowned and said, "Otherwise the Cao thieves did not capture our scouts?"
But Zhou Yu shook his head and said: "When we were dispatched before, there were arrangements for death... Now there is no room for death... Therefore, Cao Cao must have learned that we are stationed in Maicheng... According to common sense, if
If we have strong reinforcements and have found a weakness in the enemy's hand, is there any reason not to attack? Use cavalry to surprise Maicheng, disrupt our rear, cut off food routes, and further demoralize our troops. When we are defeated, we will advance with infantry.
The cavalry can cover up the kill and achieve a decisive victory in one fell swoop..."
Cheng Pu said: "Could it be that Cao Cao was suspicious? He didn't dare to enter lightly?"
Zhou Yu took a breath, and then said: "The Cao thieves have always been suspicious and have concerns, which is inevitable, but... if De Mou moves to another place and knows that Jiangdong Maicheng is hoarding grain and grass, if he defeats it, it will be a great victory.
I also suspect there is an ambush, how should I respond?"
"Or just like now, don't lose your peace of mind?" Cheng Pu responded.
Zhou Yu shook his head again, "Demo, don't forget, the Cao family and the Fei family are not as close as you and I, they are like a family!"
Cheng Pu was stunned for a moment, suddenly realized, and slapped his hand on the armrest of the observation deck, "Exactly! Exactly! If Cao Cao wants stability, he must let Fei's soldiers and horses be the vanguard!"
If Cao Cao becomes suspicious, he will definitely instigate Fei Qian's hussars to raid Maicheng. If it succeeds, it will be best. If it fails, he will not be the one who suffers anyway...
"Therefore..." Zhou Yu said in a deep voice, "The Cao thief has not made any moves at the moment... I'm afraid..." Zhou Yu smiled slightly, "In the name of a hussar, he is threatening us... If that's true... Then what is the so-called qiao?"
The cavalry... haha... Cao Cao's thieves intended to delay the suspected troops and secretly mobilized their soldiers to deal with the hussars! After repelling the hussars and horses, they turned around and took advantage of the victory to fight with us!
By then we will have exhausted our supplies and our soldiers will be exhausted. Even if we cannot win a big victory, we can still divide Jingzhou and rule it from north to south!"
Cheng Pu's eyes widened and he said: "So, Fei and Cao have not joined forces, let alone an alliance? It's just Cao Cao who pretends to be a hussar flag? Commander, this... if..."
Zhou Yu stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "You will know if it is true or not after you try it! Ruo Mou's prediction is correct. The current Cao army camp has already assumed the flag, and Cao's thieves are not among them! It's such a good calculation! It almost happened.
Everyone has been hiding it! I’m afraid the thief Cao had already decided on his plan when he built this camp that day!”
Zhou Yu's words made Cheng Pu raise his eyebrows, "When Cao Cao set up his camp, he already made a plan?!" Did Cao Cao start planning so early?
"Otherwise, what is the use of building such a majestic camp for Cao Jun?" Zhou Yu sighed, "At that time, I only thought that Cao Jun wanted to confront us for a long time. I never thought... someone is coming! Send the order and prepare to send out the army!"
Zhou Yu shook off his cloak, turned around and walked down the observation tower, "If Cao Jun can only rely on the camp and dare not go out to fight, Cao Jun's camp must be empty, and the army has already moved north! If this is true, haha, it is God's gift to Jiangdong!"
With the sound of war drums, the Jiangdong Camp roared open, and groups of soldiers slowly came out, approaching the Cao Army Camp on the opposite side! The long-standing calm and confrontation between the two sides was finally over.
break in!
At the beginning of the attack, the front line was always made up of improvised cannon fodder, mainly civilians, with some supervising soldiers. Naturally, it was not a complete array, and the equipment was extremely poor.
They didn't have any armor, not even a few swords. They had more gun heads that didn't consume much steel, and even dung-forked wooden sticks. They formed a loose front and began to wade directly from the shallow water.
These people who managed to survive in the chaotic times of the Han Dynasty were hit and disappointed again and again. Some of their families were destroyed, some of their lives were lost, some of them were scattered around, some of them saw the separation between life and death, or some of them still had instincts.
, or because of numbness, living with the flow, attaching themselves to the powerful in various places in this troubled world, working for them, and surviving for a few days with food rations, they will die at any time in the fierce battles everywhere, or they may be moved at any time.
If you die on the way, you will become cannon fodder that consumes the opponent's energy and equipment right now.
Dangyang River is not very deep originally, and the water dries up in autumn. In the shallows, these people are dragging their heavy steps, like zombies, splashing water and staggering.
He swayed and struggled forward against the mud and pebbles at the bottom of the river.
More than a thousand civilians cannon fodder filled this shallow beach in the blink of an eye, but Jiangdong soldiers continued to order the following civilians to continue to join the procession of crossing the river, wading through thigh-deep water. Some people
I accidentally fell down and splashed twice in the water. Some people got up and continued moving forward, while more people were stepped on the mud at the bottom of the river. It might take who knows how many days before they can recover.
Re-floating, seeing the light of day again...
These cannon fodders were almost squeezed into a big lump in the Dangyang River. Even if there were some formations originally, they were now completely messed up. Various shouts, mixed with the sound of water and the sound of stepping on mud, became a mess.
For any army, at this moment, attacking the enemy halfway across the river is the most relaxed and satisfying time, and it is an opportunity that is absolutely impossible to miss!
In Cao Jun's camp, Cao Ren stood on a high platform, his brows furrowed deeply.
"Uncle Zixiao, why don't you attack?" Cao Zhen couldn't help asking from the side.
Under the high platform of Cao's army, some soldiers of Cao's army had gathered and formed an array. They were just waiting for the order to attack. Everyone raised their heads and looked at Cao Ren together.
Cao Ren, however, fixed his eyes on the Jiangdong soldiers behind these cannon fodders. These civilian cannon fodders crossing the river were nothing to worry about. What was more important was the Jiangdong soldiers behind them. And according to common sense, these Jiangdong soldiers
We should also move together and follow these cannon fodder civilians, so that we can effectively connect the attack rhythm and avoid wasting the role of these cannon fodder...
But these Jiangdong soldiers stood on the opposite side of the river, just watching the cannon fodder advance with cold eyes. This was very abnormal.
If Cao's army is still in Cao's camp, Cao Ren doesn't care much about bringing these cannon fodder closer, because even if there are some Jiangdong death row prisoners hidden among these cannon fodder, they can be slaughtered with just a hail of arrows.
Clean!
But the problem is that there are not that many soldiers in Cao's army and the camp! There are not that many archers!
If we talk about the general cross-river attack mode, the soldier bands are closely connected. Cao Ren can directly send troops. Instead, he uses the fear and confusion of these civilians before the battle to counterpress a wave, and can even defeat the people crossing the river in one fell swoop.
A group of Jiangdong troops were directly defeated!
But now Jiangdong shows that he has no intention of supporting or cooperating with these civilians...
Could it be said that Jiang Dongbing was testing?
The problem is that if we let these civilians come over and wait for these guys to form a formation, and then want to attack them, the difficulty will inevitably increase a lot, and there will even be a lot more losses...
Cao Ren looked at Cao Zhen beside him, thought for a while, and suddenly said: "If I give you three hundred soldiers, is it possible to defeat this army?"
Cao Zhen said proudly: "Why not?! Please ask Uncle Zixiao to give the order!"
"Good! Be careful about the hidden soldiers among these civilians!" Cao Ren patted Cao Zhen's shoulder, "Remember! You don't want to destroy all the soldiers, just intercept and defeat them! Don't be greedy for success! Remember, remember!"
Cao Zhen accepted the order, then turned around and got off the high platform, ordered 300 soldiers, opened the camp gate amidst the roar of war drums, and went to kill these civilians!
On the other side of the Dangyang River, among the Jiangdong military columns, Zhou Yu saw Cao Ying's attack. He quickly counted the number of Cao's troops and suddenly laughed, "It's just as expected!"
Immediately, Zhou Yu turned to Cheng Pu and said, "I'll leave it to Demou next!"
Cheng Pu laughed and said, "That's easy to say! Just wait for the news, Commander!" and then turned around and left.
Although when Cao Jun opened the camp gate, smoke and dust were flying, and due to the long distance, even if Zhou Yu's eyesight was strong, he could not clearly see what was going on in Cao Jun's camp. However, Zhou Yu could verify what he had in mind based on the reaction of Cao Jun's camp.
judge.
"The so-called imaginary is real, and the real is imaginary..." Zhou Yu said slowly, "To show someone is illusory now, is it to make someone think it is true, but to hide the emptiness? If so, wait for someone to fall into another trap.
Son, how do you respond?"
At this moment, when crossing the river, an uncontrollable cry of panic broke out! Although Cao Zhen only commanded three hundred soldiers, they were all armored soldiers, with red tassels flying on the top of their helmets, and the armor leaves on their bodies reflecting the sun.
, The shield is strong, the sword is sharp, and the spear is sharp!
Seeing these soldiers of Cao's army rushing towards them, even these civilians were heartbroken and could not help but scream in panic and became helpless. The shouts of thousands of people intertwined in one place, which involuntarily attracted everyone's attention.
In the past, after Cao Zhen's battle, blood and flesh were flying everywhere, and bloody limbs were scattered everywhere. It was like a whole bottle of red ink was suddenly knocked over in the picture, which stung people's eyes and hurt them in the blink of an eye.
The surface of the river turned red, and then it quickly went down the river bank...
Zhou Yu still led his soldiers and stood on the river bank here, watching with cold eyes and motionless, as if the civilians who were killed were cannon fodder and had nothing to do with him.
Cao Ren looked at the battle at the shoal for a while, and then turned to look at Zhou Yu's men and horses on the other side. The reason why he did not send more soldiers was that he did not dare to take risks, and on the other hand he wanted to show his strength to the enemy.
Jiangdong Cannon Fodder does not need to dispatch a large number of soldiers at all, and only needs a small-scale army to defeat it.
"General! Over there! Jiangdong soldiers!" On the high platform, suddenly Cao Ren's guard raised his arm and pointed in another direction, shouting loudly.
Cao Ren quickly turned around and saw that at a distant bend of the river, at some unknown time, a group of Jiangdong stern boats were swaying on the river, and they were quickly connecting in one place, and then
In the blink of an eye, a pontoon bridge was built, and behind the woods at the bend of the river, a large number of Jiangdong soldiers were pouring out. Among the flags fluttering, there was a big word "Cheng" in the middle!
Swimming in shallow water to attract attention is actually using a pontoon in deep water. Jiang Dongbing's strategy was to attack the east and attack the west!
Cao Ren felt chills all over his body. He turned to Han Hao and said, "The matter is urgent! I will lead the troops to burn the pontoon bridge to block the troops from Jiangdong! The defense of this camp is entrusted to Yuan Si!"
Han Hao said anxiously: "General! It's better to attack!"
Cao Ren waved his hand and asked his men to take the heavy armor and put it on, while saying: "There are two governors in Jiangdong, one is Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin, and the other is Cheng Pu and Cheng Demou! Now both Zhou and Cheng are here. It would be fine if they don't come out."
, if they go to war and someone does not lead the attack, they will immediately be able to tell the truth!"
In addition to the reason that Cao Ren said that soldiers will fight against generals, Cao Ren also has a hidden worry in his heart, that is, if Jiang Dong really sees through it, only Cao Ren himself can make a decision on the spot and decide to take advantage of the situation.
If something goes wrong, retreat. If you send Han Hao out, if you are defeated and trapped in the formation, if you don't go to rescue, it will be like cutting off an arm. If you go to rescue, if Zhou Yu in the shallows continues to press.
, there is emptiness in the camp!
Cao Ren glanced sideways at Zhou Yu's flag on the other side, gritted his teeth, buttoned up his pocket, and said, "Come out!"
