Chapter 142 With Xudu behind us, we have no way out
Chapter 142 With Xu Du behind us, we have no way to retreat
North of Xudu, there are thousands of miles of fertile wilderness.
Cao Cao dug canals from the Yishui and Lishui rivers to irrigate the land, and based on the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans that he had captured at that time, he established farming outside Xudu.
The scale of the farmland reaches hundreds of thousands of acres. At a glance, the wilderness is covered with dense farmland. There are countless manors, forts, watchtowers, walls and beacons on both sides of the road. defense facilities.
When Shen Chen's army passed by here, they were also very shocked. They did not expect that there was such a complete military fortress structure in the north of Xudu, and the level of defense was comparable to the Guandu front line.
But it’s normal if you think about it carefully, because the farmland around Xudu is already the lifeblood of Cao Cao, supporting the food and clothing of the court, and almost all the food and grass for the frontline troops rely on these fields.
At that time, places such as Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Yuzhou were attacked by Yuan Shao and could no longer provide tax revenue for the court. Cao Cao's food and grass expenses were very scarce and he could only rely on the harvest of each farm to sustain himself.
Even so, his food route has been threatened by Yuan Shao's cavalry, and it is entirely supported by Ren Jun's personal ability. Otherwise, after the war at Guandu begins in September, Cao Cao will run out of new wheat in May, and it will be impossible to persist. By the end of the year.
Therefore, a place for farming like this must be a top priority. Cao Cao has been running Xudu for four years. The city wall of Xudu cannot be built in a short time because it is too expensive, but some of these basic military equipment will inevitably be built.
At this moment, in the fields outside the city, it is usually a busy time for farming. Looking at the vast fields, it seems that there are at least tens of thousands of people working in the fields. But now there is no one in the fields, and all the farmers have fled.
The black embers of the wolf smoke on the beacon tower in the field are still not extinguished, and there are some manors standing on the left and right sides of Liguan Road.
The manor economy was popular in the Han Dynasty. The interior of the manor was more like a small city, with fortresses, walls, watchtowers, wells inside, and grain storage, which could be used for external operations.
Apparently while Shen Chen's army and Ying Yin were resting, the messengers had already lit up the smoke, informing all the surrounding farming households that the enemy was attacking.
Shen Tao has been following Shen Chen. He saw that the team was about to pass by the first manor. The manor was about twenty or thirty steps away from the road. The buildings were large in scale. They even took a clear stream from the Lishui ditch to form a canal to protect the village. .
"General, look."
He pointed to the top of the manor wall and said.
Shen Chen looked over and saw that when they were less than a mile away, there were a large number of heads leaning on the wall of the manor. Sharp spears were pointed at the outside of the wall. He carefully looked at Shen Chen's army passing by. .
"Don't worry, these are just villagers in the field." Shen Chen said this, but he also put his hand on the ring knife at his waist and looked at those people warily.
A large manor like this radiates to a large number of people and places. A manor is like a small town, which can accommodate thousands of people living at the same time. It has a gatehouse, corridors, main house, wing rooms, toilets, warehouses and even courtyards and wells. It's like a military town.
However, Shen Chen also knew that a small town like this was just like the manor built by Huang Menting in Xinye. The walls were not as high as the city, and there were many directions from which to attack, so it was only suitable for small-scale defensive operations of a few hundred people. Large-scale attacks are bound to be defeated.
Therefore, manors like this are generally used to defend against bandits and bandits, and it is difficult to defend against regular troops. People in Xudu will not be stupid enough to put frontal forces in such manors, so these manors are most likely to be defended by farmers. .
"Then we attack?"
Shen Tao asked.
Shen Chen shook his head: "No, the people in Xudu are probably eager for us to waste time here, so we can attack Xudu directly with our troops and speed."
"good."
Shen Tao nodded and continued to lead the soldiers forward.
Soon the army passed by the fortress. There was a wall about two feet high on the outside of the fortress, and a turret more than three feet high at each end of the four corners. There were people on the arrow tower and watchtower, but the embarrassing thing was that they did not have bows and arrows in their hands. , only short halberds can be used.
When Shen Chen's army approached, there was a commotion inside the wall. Hundreds of heads were densely packed above, looking at them extremely nervously. An uneasy feeling spread around.
Obviously, this army of more than 3,000 people put tremendous pressure on everyone in the manor, and some people were even trembling all over.
Seemingly sensing the nervousness of these people, Shen Chen thought for a moment and said to Shen Tao: "Send the order and let the soldiers shout slogans together to tell everyone that we are here to rescue the emperor and will never rob the people."
"yes."
Shen Tao immediately turned around and shouted: "Welcome the emperor, serve the high officials. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Fight Cao Cao's thieves and save the people! You will freeze to death without demolishing the house, and starve to death without looting!"
"Welcome the emperor and serve the high officials. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Fight Cao Cao's thieves and save the people! You will freeze to death without demolishing the house, and starve to death without looting!"
Almost at the same time, all the soldiers in Huangmenting raised their weapons high and roared loudly to the sky.
The soldiers of the Ganning Army were a little confused at first because they had not received training in shouting slogans before, but now, under the orders of officers at all levels, they all shouted together.
"Welcome the emperor and serve the high officials. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Fight Cao Cao's thieves and save the people! You will freeze to death without demolishing the house, and starve to death without looting!"
This loud voice resounded throughout the sky.
The farmers looked at them blankly, wondering whether they were stupid or wondering who they were.
But at least they saw this army slowly passing by the manor. It seemed as if they had not seen them, and they ignored them and walked straight towards the end of the road, the city named Xudu.
There was an old man in the crowd, quietly watching the people leaving. In a trance, he suddenly remembered an old man with a yellow scarf on his head more than ten years ago.
He raised the sword in his hand and shouted to his believers: "The sky is dead, Huang Tiandang will stand. If you are aged for a year, the world will be auspicious! For the sake of all people, overthrow the ruined Han Dynasty!"
As he thought about it, the old man from Qingzhou Huangjin shed tears.
What countless people care about is never the dynastic struggle for hegemony. They never care about who is the emperor. What they care about is how many acres of land they have in their hands. They have food to eat when they are hungry and clothes to wear when they are cold. That's all.
Another person who wants to save all people?
The old man thought.
I hope you can stick to it.
General Shen!
He looked at the big banner with the word "Shen" and said silently in his heart.
In the wilderness, more than 20 kilometers from Yingyin to Xudu, there are more than ten manors, large and small.
The farmers all hid in the manors. There were many of them, tens of thousands of them. But apart from the old, weak, women and children, each manor had a fighting strength of at most two to three hundred young men, or even less.
Because the best young men and strong men were all incorporated into the Qingzhou Army by Cao Cao, and then into the Diannong Army, those who remained were almost all old and weak.
If Shen Chen wanted to, he could not even have to take care of Xudu or destroy the farmland, but directly attack these manors and kill all the old, weak, women and children.
Although the manor seemed easy to defend and difficult to attack, the resistance of only two to three hundred people was not enough to defend thousands of Shen Chen's troops.
With a frontal attack, Shen Chen was sure to massacre an entire manor within an hour.
There are millions of such old, weak, women and children around Xudu.
A manor with thousands of people only needs to break three or four every day, and the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans kill and disperse tens of thousands of people.
Now Cao Cao's main elite troops in Guandu and their families are all in these manors.
Cao Cao also needed these people to cultivate the food and grass supplies that he was in urgent need of.
As long as Shen Chen starts killing these people, Cao Cao on the front line will definitely be defeated.
When the news reached Guandu, even without Yuan Shao attacking, Cao's soldiers, who were worried about their families, would collapse and flee.
But Shen Chen didn't do that.
Even though all these manors had their spears erected and were obviously hostile to his army, he still did not choose to order an attack and massacred these people.
Because if you do that, what's the difference from Cao Cao?
What is the difference between them and those who massacred people later in history?
Benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust are not romanticism, but a spirit of inheritance!
Over the past five thousand years in China, there may have been countless cruel people, but more people still buried this spiritual power deep in their hearts and passed it on silently for countless generations.
This is also what Shen Chen is pursuing now.
His army kept running all the way, and in the evening, it was less than ten miles away from Xudu.
At the end of the road, there is a ditch dug from the upper reaches of Tong River to irrigate the surrounding fields. Although it is not a big river, it is still two feet wide.
The bridge has been destroyed, and there are farmlands on both sides. A group of troops has been assembled on the other side. The number is not yet known. We only know that the flags are flying, the camps are stretching for several miles, and a large number of farmers are digging trenches.
Shen Chen's army was several miles away, and a high-pitched trumpet sound immediately sounded on the other side of the ditch. The camp was about one mile away from the ditch, and soon the densely packed army had assembled on the other side of the ditch.
They had just arrived, and they were already waiting for them seriously. The leader was riding on horseback, and came out of the crowd. Behind him, a big flag was fluttering, with the word "Ren" written on it.
"General Ren!"
Xun Yu followed Ren Jun and watched from a distance the team that traveled a long distance to surprise Xudu.
He learned about the fall of Yingyin in the afternoon, so he immediately left Xudu and came to Ren Jun's camp outside the city. He personally went with him to the official road to build the camp and build fortifications.
Ren Jun looked at the big banner with the characters "Chen" and "Gan" in the distance with a very serious face, and said in a serious tone: "I'm afraid the person coming is that Shen Chen."
"Um."
Xun Yu nodded: "I know his reputation, but I would like to meet him in person."
"That person should be him."
After Ren Jun noticed that the enemy had arrived on the other side, he immediately began to assemble his troops. A man on horseback arrived at the top of a hill to take command. The "Shen" flag followed him like a shadow.
The distance between the two parties was neither far nor close. It was probably more than 300 meters apart, and the silhouette of the figure could be seen clearly, but the specific appearance and height were very blurry.
"Welcome the emperor and serve the high officials. Go straight to Xudu and help the country. Fight Cao Cao's thieves and save the people! You will freeze to death without demolishing the house, and starve to death without looting!"
While Xun Yu and Ren Jun were watching Shen Chen's army gathering in the distance, it only took a few minutes for the team to arrange their formation, and then they headed towards the canal while shouting slogans.
Although the canal was not wide, the bridge was destroyed, so it was impossible for the two sides to engage in a head-on battle. Shen Chen's army attacked the front with the sword and shield men in front and the crossbowmen in the back.
The reason for this is that Shen Chen knew that Xudu was in short supply of arrows. Most of the crossbows and arrows were in Guandu, and a small amount of supplies had to be provided to Xia Houyuan, Li Dian, Cai Yang and other troops who were resisting Liu Bei's main force in the south. The formidable Diannong army had very few bows and crossbows.
Therefore, if we advance in such a situation, the sword and shield men can cover the crossbowmen in the front. If there are a small number of crossbows in Ren Jun's army who can shoot from a distance, it will give our crossbowmen the opportunity to provide defense and counterattack.
If there are no crossbows in Ren Jun's army and he is unable to carry out long-range strikes, when the swordsmen and shieldmen cross the ditch, the crossbowmen can cover the swordsmen and shieldmen from behind.
Their relationship is like the infantry and tanks in the infantry-tank collaboration in later generations, helping and nurturing each other.
Seeing that they were advancing in this way, shouting slogans, and their morale was booming. It was completely impossible to tell that they were an army that had traveled two hundred miles to attack. Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said: "This Shen Chen is indeed not Ordinary people. What did Duke Cao do when he provoked him in Xuzhou?"
"It's too late to say anything now."
Ren Jun said in a deep voice: "There are few arrows in our army, so we cannot fight him. After he crosses the canal, we can only retreat to the camp for defense."
In fact, Ren Jun's army was larger than Shen Chen's. Historically, Cao Cao obtained a million Qingzhou Yellow Turbans and organized tens of thousands of the most elite into the Qingzhou Army. The rest were used for farming. The number of the Diannong Army was close to 10,000. , all over the surrounding areas of Xudu.
Later, Cao Cao was in urgent need of food and grass in Guandu, and Yuan Shao sent cavalry to raid his food routes. Ren Jun relied on this force to advance with ten food teams at the same time, and fought hard to drive back Yuan Shao's cavalry, thus protecting the security of food and grass in the rear.
However, the fundamental reason why this army was able to complete the task of protecting food supplies was that Yuan Shao did not have many cavalry. "Three Kingdoms" records that Yuan Shao had 10,000 cavalry before sending troops, but Wen Chou lost most of them in the battle of Yanjin.
Therefore, the number of cavalry in Yuan Shao's army at that time may only be three to four thousand, and the cavalry at that time was not as powerful as the later cavalry. Ren Jun used grain and grass vehicles for cover, and also used infantry, spear formations and a small number of bows. Crossbows can deal with cavalry, and Yuan Jun's cavalry can't do anything to them.
However, Shen Chen's troops were infantry, and they had a complete range of weapons and enough arrows, which were enough for him to fight this battle. On the other hand, Ren Jun himself was in short supply of weapons and equipment. He didn't even have swordsmen and shieldmen, and he only had a few crossbows. , Cao Cao specially left it for him to protect his food.
Therefore, once a head-on battle begins, although Ren Jun has a numerical advantage, his equipment is not as sophisticated as his opponent's and the quality of his soldiers is far inferior, which will make it very difficult for him.
The most important thing is that even if the chance of winning is more than 70%, Ren Jun is not willing to fight.
Because behind him is Xu Du.
The 70% winning rate seems to be very high, but if it fails, there will be no defensive troops in the rear of Xudu. At that time, in addition to the palace guards used to control Liu Xie, there will only be a small number of private soldiers from the famous families.
Therefore, Ren Jun would rather just defend than take the initiative to attack. He only wanted to be in an invincible position. Even if he could not defeat the enemy, he did not want to make any mistakes and cause Xudu to fall.
Xun Yu looked far to the west. He listened to the slogans in Shen Chenjun's ears, then raised his head and looked at the sky, and said in a deep voice: "Shen Chen is probably a reasonable person. I wonder if I can go over and have a chat with him. If we delay for a while, it will get dark soon, and he might withdraw his troops."
"Your Majesty."
Ren Jun advised: "Don't put yourself in danger."
"It doesn't matter."
Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said: "I saw that he was shouting slogans along the way, and he did not attack the manor of the farmers. He must be a kind person. I hope he will not shoot me with a bow and arrow."
After saying that, he gently urged the horse to move forward slowly.
If possible, Xun Yu would not do this because he is a man who cherishes his life.
During the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, he immediately chose to escape with his family.
Later, he realized that Yuan Shao was not the emperor, so he immediately returned south to Yingchuan, supported Cao Cao with his family's strength, and began to do logistics work.
It can be seen from this that he will not go to the battlefield personally if he has to.
But now it has reached an extremely dangerous point.
The enemy army is approaching the city, just a stone's throw away from Xudu, and the reinforcements are still hundreds of miles away. If time cannot be delayed, Xudu will inevitably be attacked.
So since Xu Du was behind him, he had no choice but to retreat.