Chapter 434 The First Battle in the Central Plains
Zhang Baiqi's words made everyone think deeply. Indeed, at this time, Yanzhou had already been conquered by Yuan Shao. In addition, there was a drought. Not to mention the fortresses in Yanzhou, there were only one or two in Yanzhou. Millions of disaster victims are a huge headache!
At this time, Xu Weidao said: "All our combat plans are centered around attacking Yanzhou. Changing the combat goal now will make all our previous efforts wasted. And even if we attack Guanzhong, won't Yuan Shao and Cao Cao just attack Jizhou and merge the states? Everyone Don't underestimate Yuan Shao. He has been preparing for three years. Yanzhou is not that easy to fight! It takes time to bulldoze the forts in Yanzhou. Liu Bei and Cao Cao know that our cavalry is powerful and they cannot be unprepared. , just fight us in Yanzhou!"
"And I don't think Yanzhou's two million people are a burden. Instead, I think it is a huge wealth. In the end, what is the competition for hegemony in the world? It's not the population. The more the population, the more the army, and the more talents. There are more, and even more fiscal revenue. Now we have a population of 25 million in Daqian territory, and one more Yanzhou has a population of 27 million.
The Han Dynasty only had a population of 56 million before it was divided. After more than ten years of war, Liu Bei and the others now occupy more states than us, but their population is really not as good as ours. The combined population of all the princes of the Han Dynasty may be close to that. 20 million, but after we capture Yanzhou, the gap between the incoming and outgoing populations will be reduced to 4 million. Our population will be twice as large as that of the Han Dynasty, and our army can also be twice as large as that of the Han Dynasty. This is a Huge advantage!”
The generals nodded in agreement after listening to Xu Wei's words. They were able to develop and grow into what they are now, not only because they have the advantage of large numbers of people, but every time they fight the enemy, they continue to have the advantage in equipment and even the number of people. Advantages, this way you will naturally be invincible!
Xu Wei looked at the generals and said: "In half a month, we will fight across the river with all our strength and capture the entire Yanzhou!"
After unifying everyone's understanding, the generals began to act according to their respective tasks!
The end of June in the second year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (195 AD)
Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and Cao Cao took their personal guards and arrived at Dingtao first, and Dingtao was also the headquarters of this coalition of princes!
Yuan Shao found Liu Bei and Cao Cao with the latest information and said: "Xuande, Mengde is in trouble. Daqian's cavalry has entered Bingzhou and Youzhou. According to their speed, they will arrive in Wei in less than 10 days." County, and the Daqian infantry is gathering very quickly. Now three large camps have been built in Wei County, Qinghe State, and Pingyuan State. Jizhou's 100,000 troops have been trained inside. In half a month at most, we will face 300,000 Dagan troops are on foot! If your two armies haven’t arrived at Yanzhou yet, I’m afraid Da Gan army will attack us first!”
Liu Bei was surprised and said: "The Daqian army gathered so fast? You must know that we gathered first this time, and in terms of distance, we are closer than them. Lei Gong's cavalry is in the desert and Liaodong, and the distance alone is longer than ours. With twice as many troops, how could Daqian’s army gather so quickly?”
After Yuan Shao came to Xiangyang and persuaded Liu Bei and Cao Cao to form a coalition to attack Hebei, Liu Bei began to form a large army to prepare for an expedition to Hebei. In late May, Zhang Fei was the vanguard and led an army of 30,000 to join the northern Jingzhou army and march towards Yanzhou at a speed of fifty miles per day.
Dingtao, and Zhang Fei has such speed thanks to the fact that his army now fights on the inside and only needs to march every day. The local officials will prepare food and camps for them, which reduces their logistical burden.
Fast speed.
By the beginning of June, the Jingzhou Central Army of 100,000 men was finally organized and walked out of Xiangyang. The Jingzhou Army then walked out of Nanyang and entered Yuzhou, but it was still half way from Dingtao! At the same time, Liu Bei led the cavalry battalion to arrive in advance.
The fact that Dingtao was preparing to form an alliance with Yuan Shao and the others only appeared here, but at this time Yuan Shao told them that Lei Gong's army was already approaching. How could this not surprise Liu Bei!
At this time, Guo Jia, who was behind Cao Cao, smiled bitterly and said: "Since Lei Gong made the horseshoes, the marching speed of the war horses has more than doubled. We marched 50 miles, which is what the most elite army can achieve, but Lei Gong's
But the cavalry can easily march a hundred miles or more. And they won’t lose their horses!”
The marching speed of the Daqian infantry even exceeded that of the cavalry. Hebei has a huge rail network. Lei Gong used rail carriages to march, and could march 200-300 miles day and night. They could arrive from Youzhou to Jizhou within 10 days. The soldiers of Youzhou
We haven’t arrived at the third camp in Jizhou now. I’m afraid it’s because there are too many soldiers being transported, which affects the speed of the rail carriage!”
Then Guo Jia smiled bitterly at everyone and said: "The orbital carriage is very expensive. Even if Lei Gong became popular in large numbers, we did not keep up. Now it is our turn to pay the price. No one thought that the orbital carriage would be so convenient for the army to gather. Lei Gong's army
Can appear anywhere in Daqian territory within a month.
Now it seems that it is inevitable that Lei Gong will attack Yanzhou first. The only way we can do it is to let Yanzhou soldiers stand still and wait for reinforcements! As long as we hold on for half a month, our army will build a strong defense line in Yanzhou to resist
Great army!"
Then Guo Jia looked at the map and said seriously: "We need to establish a strong defense line in Dongjun and hold back the large army in Dongjun for half a month, so that we can assemble the army in the rear and deploy a new line of defense!"
Yuan Shao said: "Gao Lan, the defender of East County, is a famous general who has experienced hundreds of battles. He has 20,000 troops in his hands. It should not be a problem to hold on for half a month!"
At this time, Guo Jia said sternly: "Not enough, 20,000 troops are far from enough! Lei Gong has 300,000 troops coming out this time. How can 20,000 people resist Lei Gong? General Chariot and Cavalry must find a way to increase the number of Dongjun garrison.
We still have half a month to reach more than 50,000 people, so it’s not too late to add more troops!”
Yuan Shao looked at the map and said: "The only ones who can catch up now are the Xuzhou Army and Meng De's Qingzhou Army!"
Cao Cao thought for a while and said: "My younger brother's Qingzhou Army can garrison Liaocheng and Dongwuyang! My elder brother sent Xuzhou Army to garrison Baima and Puyang. It seems that with these 100,000 troops garrisoned, it will be difficult for Da Gan to break through Dongjun's defense line for a while."
of!"
Everyone looked at the map and found that hundreds of thousands of coalition troops lined the Yellow River. It was very difficult for the Daqian army to cross the river, so they relaxed!
Time flies so fast, and half a month flies by. Xu Wei's 300,000 troops who are preparing to attack Yanzhou are already ready to go. Although the Han coalition forces have not yet been fully assembled, the 100,000 troops who have arrived in advance are already stationed along the Yellow River in Dongjun. , guard the entire Yellow River bank tightly! War on both sides of the Yellow River is about to break out.
On the Yellow River, dozens of warships loaded with soldiers in bright armor spread out their huge sails and rode the wind and waves. When they approached the south bank, the warships lined up in a row, and their black artillery fired against the Han coalition camp on the south bank!
At Baima Ferry, after discovering Daqian's warship, guard Ma Yan immediately lit the beacon tower at Baima to let Gao Lan know that Daqian's army had launched.
At the same time, he asked the soldiers to beat the war drums to improve matters. The sound of killing at the White Horse Ferry was loud, and the morale of Yuan Shao's army was greatly boosted!
"Archers shoot at the enemy, don't let the enemy fleet dock!"
"Hush, rest, rest!" Yuan Shao's camp was full of arrows that were like locusts, shooting at Daqian's transport ship, preventing Daqian's army from approaching the south bank!
Fan Xian looked at these long arrows falling into the Yellow River and shouted: "Fire!"
"Boom, boom, boom!" The roar of artillery sounded, and hundreds of artillery shells rushed towards Yuan Shao's camp at the speed of sound. These shells rushed forward, smashing everything in front of them, whether it was the situation or the wooden walls, which could not stop the artillery. Impact!
Yuan Shao's soldiers were frightened by the power of the artillery. They huddled in the corner to avoid the cannonballs!
The constant roaring sounds frightened these soldiers even more!
"Everyone lie down and don't move. Anyone who rushes out will be beaten to death by artillery shells!" shouted one of Yuan Shaojun's camp leaders. Apparently he was a veteran who had experienced artillery attacks!
From the beginning of the attack, Yuan Shao's soldiers on the south bank of the Yellow River were suppressed by the intensive artillery attack and did not dare to raise their heads!
"Transport ship login!" Fan Xian continued to command!
Dozens of transport ships docked at the White Horse Ferry, and the planks on the bows of the ships quickly opened. Countless soldiers from the Daqian Army rushed to the south bank. Groups of soldiers brandished weapons and ran out of the transport ships, heading towards Yuan Shao's camp!
"The archers counterattack and drive the enemy down the river!" Ma Yan shouted with clenched teeth when he saw the Daqian army landing on the shore!
The archers in the Baima camp drew their bows and shot arrows, and fired countless long swords at the Daqian army under the embankment! "Ding, ding, ding!" These bows and arrows were all bounced off by the shields and armor of the Daqian army. It cannot be said that the bows and arrows There is no result, but it can only be said that it is a result, and it cannot stop the advancement of the army!
"Go up and kill the Han army!" Daqian's soldiers raised their swords and shouted wildly as they watched Yuan Shao's soldiers getting closer and closer!
"Brothers, follow me and charge!" Sima of the Daqian Army led his soldiers and rushed forward despite the enemy's dense arrow array!
Fan Xian stood on the big ship, looking at the bloody battlefield ahead. All he could do was help his comrades fire one more round of artillery!
“Keep firing until this camp is destroyed!
"
"Boom, boom, boom!" The sound of the artillery was earth-shattering, like bursts of spring thunder. The heavy sound waves hit Yuan Shao's army with great momentum. Any soldier hit by the artillery would leave a blood mark!
The soldiers of Daqian were so excited that they rushed through the 100-step distance like tigers. They opened up the horses in front of the camp and slashed their swords at the enemies in front of them. For a moment, blood was everywhere and limbs were broken. Arms flying all over the sky.
Soldiers from both sides continued to fall to the ground. The entire battlefield was extremely cruel, and soon blood flowed into rivers!
With the support of artillery, the vanguard Yan Liang was at the forefront. He was highly skilled in martial arts and held a heavy Mo Dao in his hand. It can be said that no matter how the soldiers were cut off in front of him, under Yan Liang's fierce attack , Da Qian's army was full of momentum, but Yuan Shao's army was demoralized. As soon as they fought, they were defeated by Da Qian's army, and the Baima front camp quickly fell!
More and more soldiers are stepping onto the land of White Horse Ferry. Under the guidance of officers, groups of soldiers are reorganizing their ranks and continuing to attack the White Horse defenders!
Seeing that it could no longer be defended, Ma Yan fled from Baima with his bodyguards. The general, Ma Yan, also fled, and the soldiers lost morale. Facing more and more large-scale troops, they abandoned themselves. With the sword and hammer in your hands, surrender to the Daqian Army!
Since the White Horse Ferry was captured by the Daqian Army.
Then Yan Liang commanded the soldiers, took in the prisoners, and cleaned the battlefield. Seeing his side's victory, the follow-up transport ship quickly approached the Baima Ferry. Some engineers quickly built a gantry crane, and then lowered the ship's artillery, thunder cannons and ballistae to the south bank!
At this time, Yan Liang walked up to Yang Feng and asked: "General, now that Baima Ferry has been captured by us, should we support Puyang?"
Yang Feng said: "There is Huanglong's 50,000-strong army in Puyang. It is impossible for the Han Dynasty to resist it. Let's quickly march into Yan County to cut off Luoyang City's support for Yanzhou! It is best to capture Aocang and force Xingyang City, and Xingyang is At the gate of Luoyang, hitting Xingyang is like hitting Yuan Shao in the throat. By then Yuan Shao will definitely increase the defense power of Luoyang City!"
Yan Liang smiled and said: "If we capture Luoyang City, Yuan Shao will definitely be pissed to death!"
Yang Feng said with a smile: "There are tens of thousands of troops in Luoyang, and there is a danger of Hulao. Yuan Shao's main army is in the area of Zhongmou and Chenliu. Yuzhou is also close to Chichi. Not only is there a man guarding the pass, but there are hundreds of thousands of people around. The army is stationed there, it is so easy to defeat it! We can contain Yuan Shao's army of hundreds of thousands at most, so that Yuan Shao does not dare to easily mobilize the soldiers around Luoyang City! We fought well in the first battle, you have to continue to defeat our large army The majesty!”
Yan Liang also smiled and said: "Okay, my subordinates also want to see how many battalions of Yuan Shao's soldiers can be defeated!"
Yanzhou, Dongjun, Puyang, Changshoujin!
On the battlefield, the sound of artillery, the sound of war drums, and the shouts of killing are loud!
The soldiers of Daqian and Dahan fought desperately in the small area of Changshoujin! Although the soldiers of both sides fought fiercely, not too many soldiers died in the battle.
Lu Kuang, the guard general of Yuan Shao's army, also commanded an all-armored battalion, which could withstand Dagan's swords. In order to deal with Dagan's armor, the soldiers of this battalion were not only equipped with iron armor, but also had weapons in their hands that were tomahawks weighing more than ten kilograms. Wolf Heavy weapons such as dental sticks and hammers are specially used to break armor!
"Boom!" The dull sound of the warhammer hitting the iron armor was horrifying. The Daqian soldier vomited blood and fell to the ground. But the companion behind the Daqian soldier agreed to hack the enemy to death with a sword to avenge his companions!
Artillery and thunder cannons roared continuously on the battlefield, and Yuan Shaojun's soldiers were killed one by one by the artillery!
Lu Kuang was furious when he saw this scene, and felt extremely distressed. The all-iron armored battalion in his hands was an elite among Yuan Shao's army, and was specially used to deal with the Dagan Tengjia army. However, the enemy had not killed a few, but was killed. Daqian's military artillery bombed him to death, how could this not make Lu Kuang feel distressed!