"Crossing the river? How can they cross the river without a boat?" Zhao Yun was taken aback and shouted immediately.
The scout said: "Lord Qi, I saw that the large forest on the north bank has disappeared. It should be a boat built by the Xianbei people themselves."
Zhao Yun sighed and said: "Negligence! My negligence! Send the order quickly and put the whole city on alert!"
The order was conveyed quickly. The soldiers in the city gradually relaxed their bodies after last night's rest. They took their weapons and put on their armor, walked out of the barracks, and hurriedly gathered at the north gate.
Wangping City is not big, with only two gates in the south and north. The whole city is only 2,500 meters long and 1,500 meters wide. Moreover, the city walls are also dilapidated and the rammed earth is almost falling off.
Zhao Yun asked Bian Xi and Pei Yuanshao to guard the north gate with 5,000 men, while he led Chu Yan, Guan Hai, Yu Du and more than 20,000 soldiers to guard the south gate, because Wangping's north gate faced the official road of Liaohe Wharf.
The Liaohe River is about twenty miles away from Wangping. Zhao Yun estimated the time and found that tens of thousands of Xianbei people crossed the Liaohe River by force. It would take at least noon to assemble the team again. He only left 5,000 people at the north gate to let Chu
Yan and Yu Du took the others back to the camp to rest and conserve their strength.
Zhao Yun stood on the tower, looked at the road to the north, sighed, and said calmly: "If I have a thousand cavalry, I will never let go of this excellent opportunity."
When Guan Hai heard Zhao Yun sigh, he immediately asked: "What chance?"
"As the art of war goes, we should attack the enemy halfway across the river, but it's a pity that I only have a hundred cavalry in hand, and it will be in vain if I go." Zhao Yun said regretfully.
Guan Hai said: "Zilong, my lord asked us to stand firm and not go out to fight. Today is the third day. My lord will definitely come with a large number of cavalry, so we will have time to show off our fists."
"Well, I know this, but it's a pity that I missed this great opportunity." Zhao Yundao said, "Guan Hai, is it true that General Chu Yan brought the army along this way?"
Guan Hai nodded and said: "This is what the lord meant. At first I thought the lord would let me be the general, but I didn't expect it to be given to Chu Yan. I was a little unconvinced at first, but along the way, Chu Yan was strict in managing the army.
Nothing happened, so I couldn't help but admire him. A bandit suddenly transformed into a general."
Zhao Yun smiled and said nothing, but secretly shouted in his heart: "Aren't you the same, from a yellow scarf thief to a general?"
As a Yellow Turban thief, Guan Hai looked down on bandits like Chu Yan. From the time Chu Yan joined the gang until now, he was a little dissatisfied with Chu Yan. However, after Chu Yan led the troops this time, he had the same idea as him.
Many people have changed their views. Perhaps this was Gao Fei's previous intention.
In the afternoon of that day, floating clouds filled the sky, some were light and some were thick, and the sky was like a gray cloth that had faded unevenly. The atmosphere was humid and hot, like a steamer in this August weather. Autumn Tiger was indeed not simple, and Wangpingcheng was boring.
Everyone inside was panicking. Coupled with the tense atmosphere of an approaching war, everyone felt like there was a huge stone pressing on their chests, and they were almost suffocating.
The black clouds piled up into a whole piece, like a thick piece of iron, gradually sinking to the ground, and seemed to have covered the ridges of the roof, giving the impression that the black clouds were pressing down on the city and were threatening to destroy it.
Zhao Yun has been standing on the tower, watching every move in the north all the time, not daring to slack off at all. For him, this was the first time he commanded an army, so he became particularly cautious.
Suddenly, a large number of cavalry flashed on the horizon. There were cavalry in the fields on both sides of the official road. The dark crowd was heading toward Wangping City in a bulldozer-like manner.
"Bang——"
On Wangping City, the big bell in the Bell and Drum Tower was struck instantly, making an extremely shocking sound that spread throughout Wangping City. After three consecutive impacts, the people in Wangping City hid in their homes, with their doors and windows tightly closed.
The old man was holding his child, the husband was holding his wife, and the whole family was trembling and huddled together, as if the god of death was about to pass by them.
The soldiers in the city had their hearts in their throats. Except for the one hundred cavalry, the other 25,000 people participated in a real war for the first time. Chu Yan and Yu Du stood on the tower and saw tens of thousands of cavalry.
They were pushed over like a carpet, and the chaotic sound of horse hooves surrounded their ears unconsciously. They had been fighting with the Han army for more than a year. They were chasing each other in the mountains and forests. It seemed that they had seen such a large formation for the first time, and they couldn't help but feel aroused in their hearts.
A hint of fear.
"Zilong, the Xianbei people are here. It looks like there are definitely more than 30,000 people!" Guan Hai followed Gao Fei and fought against the Qiang people in Liangzhou. He had seen hundreds of thousands of Qiang people. For the tens of thousands of Xianbei people in front of him,
There was no fear at all, but he seemed slightly excited.
Zhao Yun nodded and said softly: "I didn't expect that in just a few days, the Xianbei people would gather so many people. It seems that they want to move south this time. We must stop them here, otherwise, Liaodong will
It will be affected as never before!"
Yu Du was blinded in one eye and watched so many cavalry rolling in with his single eye. Having never seen such a big scene, he already had a hint of fear. He looked around, moved his lips, and said in a slight panic.
: "Didn't my lord go to the Liaodong vassal country to borrow troops? Why haven't you come yet? If your lord doesn't come, what should we do?"
Chu Yan is big, but not necessarily courageous. He is not afraid of fighting the Han army in the mountains and forests in Jizhou, but he is a little less confident when competing with the Xianbei cavalry in this wilderness. However, he is better than poisonous.
At least he wasn't that scared, he was just frightened by the formation of the Xianbei's pure cavalry team. Hearing Yu Du's words, he stretched out his long arms, took Yu Du in his arms, and said calmly:
"Shut up! My lord is true to his word. If he says he can arrive today, he will arrive today. Didn't my lord come the same way last time in Qianshan?"
Zhao Yun and Guan Hai looked back at Chu Yan and Yu Du. The two of them smiled at each other. When they turned their heads, the two of them seemed to understand something. They both vaguely felt that Gao Fei deliberately let Chu Yan and Yu Du come to see the big scene.
of.
The Xianbei people continued to advance, and more and more cavalry emerged from the horizon behind them. The entire Wangping land became trembling under the running of these cavalry, as if there was an earthquake.
"Guan Hai, lead the archers and prepare! Chu Yan, Yu Du, go down to the city tower, each with a thousand swords and shields waiting at the city gate, and act upon orders!" Zhao Yun ordered immediately when he saw the Xianbei people getting closer and closer.
"promise!"
After the instructions were completed, Chu Yan and Yu Du went down from the city tower and blocked the city gate with a thousand sword and shield soldiers each. The other soldiers were scattered on both sides of the road, always ready.
Getting closer and closer, the Xianbei people moved forward at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow. Every time they ran forward, they put an invisible pressure on the people in Wangping City.
After a while, the front of the Xianbei people suddenly stopped advancing and stopped five or six hundred meters away from Wangping City, while the cavalry on both wings detoured from both sides of the city.
"Oops, it seems that the Xianbei people want to surround us all and attack at both gates at the same time." Zhao Yun's brows suddenly furrowed even more tightly, and he immediately turned to Guan Hai and said, "Go to the south gate quickly, and then Bring five thousand men to support Bian Xi and Pei Yuanshao, and leave the south gate to your command. You are only allowed to hold on and not fight."
Guan Hai nodded immediately, ran down the tower quickly, and ran toward the south gate with five thousand soldiers.
Zhao Yun looked at the Xianbei people in front of him, and saw that all the cavalry were wearing thin leather armor, holding a bow in their hands, and hanging scimitars at their waists. Each person's hair was only a few inches long, and there were even more He even shaved off most of his hair, leaving only a long section in the middle.
"These Xianbei people are different from the Qiang people. Although the Qiang people can also shoot arrows, they like to rush forward with their sabers. But these Xianbei people all carry bows and arrows, and they are dominated by bows and arrows. It seems that there will be something going on soon. The rain of arrows covers the sky and the sun." After Zhao Yun looked at these Xianbei people, he thought silently in his heart.
"Give me the order to have all the soldiers under the city tower retreat to the corridors on both sides of the road. Try not to show your face. The rest of the people are blocked in the doorway!" Zhao Yun turned around and called to a follower behind him.
"promise!"
The Xianbei people did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. The cavalry on both wings were still slowly moving towards the south gate, as if they wanted to wait for the troops at the south gate to gather before launching a fierce attack at the same time.
Since the Han Dynasty, after the Xiongnu gradually faded out of the prairie, the Xianbei people who live in today's Mongolian prairie, while "living in pursuit of water and grass", from time to time hold high the wolf-headed banner, come roaring, and suddenly appear like a strong wind. The northern border of the Han people. They trampled crops, looted cities, burned houses, and killed local residents. After looting, they often kidnapped thousands of Han people as slaves. Often before the Han army arrived, the Xianbei people Then they disappeared like ghosts into the endless prairie. Apart from eating meat and drinking wine, these barbarians enjoyed the women's treasures and silks they had captured in the north wind, howling and screaming in celebration. This situation does not happen in a day or two. Not one or two years, nor ten or twenty years, but several centuries.
Seeing these Xianbei people, Zhao Yun felt an unprecedented feeling in his heart. This was no longer a simple war, but a fight between nations. The Xianbei people wanted to conquer the Han people, and the Han people also wanted to conquer Xianbei. People, you come and go between conquering and being conquered.
Suddenly, among the Xianbei crowd, a horse drove out first. The knight on the horse galloped forward for a while and shouted loudly: "Today, our Xianbei soldiers are pressing on the border. If you put down your weapons and come out to surrender, we can spare your life." If you insist on resisting, you will only die!"
"Bah! You don't know who will die?" Zhao Yun replied.
The Xianbei man who came to persuade him to surrender immediately galloped back into the crowd. After a short while, he looked outside the city and heard the sound of whimpering horns from all directions. Groups of Xianbei men galloped out on horseback, holding their hands