About thirty miles west of Wuzhangyuan, there is a stream flowing from the Qinling Mountains into the Wei River, called Fengxi.
Compared with the Weishui River, Fengxi is not too big, but it is very famous.
Because there is a stone platform in this stream, it is called Diaoyutai.
Legend has it that this platform was where Jiang Taigong went fishing when he assisted the Zhou Dynasty in destroying the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty for 800 years.
When the Wei River reaches here, it turns a corner to the south, but the Qinling Mountains extend a section of its veins to the north.
The flat land between the remaining Qinling Mountains and the Wei River is less than five miles, which is the narrowest part of this area.
Not far to the east of Diaoyutai, there is a grain storage ground for the Han army.
Therefore, after Wu Ban led his troops to the Diaoyutai, they stationed themselves here, firstly to protect the food station, and secondly, to rely on the terrain to block Qin Lang.
On the second day after Wu Ban set up camp, the scouts sent to the front to investigate the situation had already dealt with the Wei army's scouts.
Before the Battle of Xiaoguan, the Wei scouts had a strong psychological advantage against Shu or Wu scouts.
Because the great Wei cavalry is the best in the world, this is the confidence of Wei cavalry.
After the Battle of Xiaoguan, the Kingdom of Shu seemed to have a powerful cavalry army overnight.
And it's still so powerful that the world has never seen before.
This battle completely changed the psychology of the soldiers of Shu and Wei.
Especially soldiers like Qin Lang, who had faced the charge of cavalry, truly understood how terrifying that ghost cavalry was as if summoned from the underworld.
So this time, he led the army into Wuzhangyuan and was cautious all the way.
When he learned that there was a Shu army ahead, he immediately ordered the entire army to stop and sent a large number of scouts to investigate.
"Peng!"
An arrow flew past the Wei Jun scout not far away with a sharp sound of breaking through the air. The Wei Jun scout on horseback shook his body subconsciously and cursed in a low voice.
Looking up, the Han army scout in front was hanging the crossbow on his horse, and at the same time taking out the special soft bow for the horse, his movements were easy and smooth.
Before the change, Wei's scouts could make a judgment at once. The other party did not need to say that they had elite equestrian scouts with ten years of experience.
But it's different now.
Among the cavalry troops of Shu, a thing called stirrups was popular.
It allows cavalrymen who have only learned riding skills for one or two years to perform actions that only ten-year-old cavalrymen could do before.
“Not the work of the Son of Man!”
The Wei scout cursed in a low voice.
Shu captives like to make things that are difficult to guard against - whether it is a crossbow or a horse stirrup.
It's simply a win without force.
After riding his horse and running a few steps, he was sure that there must be someone ambushing the opponent around him.
Just like there are companions behind you.
Acting alone may seem heroic, but it is a foolish act.
The Wei scout walked around twice and made a provocative move toward the opposite side.
The Han army scout seemed to be unable to bear it anymore and rushed forward a few steps.
Just when the Wei scout thought that the enemy was about to be fooled, the Han scout laughed strangely.
But he fastened the soft bow to his waist, then picked up the crossbow again, using his feet to help, trying to load the crossbow again on the horse.
The Wei scout couldn't help but cursed loudly, then hit his horse and ran away.
Every time we encounter the Han army, we have to receive one more round of crossbow arrows than the other party, which is already very uncomfortable.
Now that the opponent is making such a difficult move, it's easy to say if it doesn't work, but if it really does happen, it will only make him feel even more uncomfortable.
Anyway, if you can't get any advantage, you might as well leave.
Behind him came the arrogant laughter of the Han army scouts.
This is just a microcosm of what the scouts from both sides saw when they were searching for information.
But when the two armies were facing each other, Qin Lang became a little worried:
"You haven't found out how many Shu captives there are on the other side?"
"Yes, not only did the Shulu sent out a large number of scouts, but those scouts looked different from the previous Shulu scouts."
"What's the difference?"
"Horses, weapons, etc. are all of the best quality, beyond what ordinary scouts can match."
When Qin Lang heard this, he was subconsciously excited:
"The best choice? How good is it?"
The most elite group of people in the army, the scouts must be among them.
Scouts may not represent the overall level of an army, but they can give a glimpse into the level of the elite of the army.
Before the scouts could find out more information, Qin Lang decisively ordered the camp to be set up.
"General, Da Sima asked us to come and attack the Shu captives. If we haven't seen the enemy camp, would it be bad to be so... uh, cautious?"
"There's nothing wrong with it." Qin Lang looked calm, "Da Sima has more soldiers than thieves, but he still wants to be cautious. How many people do we have?"
"If you act rashly and give the thieves a chance to break the situation in the pass, you will die without redemption."
Qin Lang's greatest advantage is that he has always been very clear about his position, sticks to his duties, and does not try to steal the limelight.
This is also an important reason why Qin Lang, the adopted son of Cao Cao, was reused by Cao Rui, but He Yan was despised.
Da Sima's army of more than 100,000 people was unable to do anything to Zhuge Liang. Qin Lang didn't think he could change the situation in Guanzhong with less than 40,000 soldiers at hand.
After all, since Sima Yi was able to hold off Zhuge Liang for so long with his martial arts water and Weishui River.
Then Zhuge Liang could also do the opposite, using the Wei River and Wugong Water to block Sima Yi, and then secretly mobilize his army to turn around and deal with him.
In his opinion, sending Deng Ai to force back the Shu army was the only successful achievement of the Wei Dynasty since the war in Guanzhong began.
Therefore, even if the war situation is so corrupt now, no one can blame him.
As one of Cao Rui's most trusted people, Qin Lang knows one thing very well:
If the Battle of Guanzhong goes like this, someone will definitely be unlucky later.
If you don’t want to be the unlucky person, you have to be more careful and make sure you don’t make any mistakes, lest your efforts fall short.
With this in mind, after Qin Lang ordered the entire army to set up camp, he immediately ordered people to dig trenches, erect ramparts, lay antlers, and erect archery towers...
Wei Jun's abnormal actions not only made Wu Ban confused about his opponent's thoughts, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao were also a little unable to restrain themselves.
It's just that the number of troops on our side is only half that of the thieves at most, and before the war, the Prime Minister repeatedly warned not to advance rashly.
Therefore, after the three people discussed it, they sent out scouts to investigate the enemy's situation and quickly sent the situation to Wuzhangyuan.
After Zhuge Liang received the military report, he smiled and said:
"Qin Lang seems to be attacking but actually defending, but this is timid. There is no need to worry about the east!"
At that moment, Wu Ban and his three men were ordered to guard Weinan tightly and not to advance lightly. Then they sent someone to deliver a message to Sima Yi, asking only when the decisive battle would take place.
Sima Yi wrote back and said that his side was not ready yet and would have to wait for another two days.
Zhuge Liang was suspicious, so he sent out men and horses to try to cross the martial arts water.
Sima Yi reacted very quickly, repeated his old tactics, and tried his best to block the place where the Han army crossed east.
This made Zhuge Liang even more suspicious.
It's just that the opponent's strength is at least twice that of our own, and they also have a good defensive location.
Even if the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty suspected that Sima Yi was stalling for time, he would still be helpless.
Before Sima Yi could set the date for the decisive battle, an autumn rain began to fall again.
If it is said that the rain in summer often pours down, the clouds will stop raining within two or three days at most.
Then the autumn rain is continuous, not to mention two or three days in a row, even five or ten days, which is not a common thing.
This is still at the foot of the Qinling Mountains.
If you are in the Qinling Mountains, it is not impossible to have autumn rain for a month.
Just when the prime minister looked at the misty autumn rain and felt a little depressed, a small boat came from the east bank. Sima Yi sent a messenger again and sent a letter: The battle will begin after the rain.
After receiving this news, Zhuge Liang did not show his face.
A few months after arriving in Yicheng, the grain in the fields had been harvested, and the Han Prime Minister was familiar with the weather here.
According to the descriptions of local natives and my own experience, this kind of autumn rain may not slow down for five or six days.
In this case, the martial arts water will definitely rise again. If we fight immediately after the rain, we have to cross the martial arts water before we can fight.
Even if Sima Yi was kind enough to let him cross the water safely, would he dare to let the Han soldiers cross the water while the martial arts water surged?
If we put it off like this, it will take at least ten days.
Thinking of this, the Han Prime Minister couldn't help but "tsk".
Compared with the continuous autumn rain in Wuzhangyuan, the autumn rain in Hedong and Hexi is much lighter. It only rained for two days in a row and then stopped.
Even so, Xian Yufu, who was stationed in Hexi, breathed a sigh of relief.
This time I finally made the right bet.
Feng Thief seemed to be leading his army south, intending to cross the river from Fengling and attack Tongguan, but in fact he wanted to mobilize the defenders in Hexi and expose the flaws in the defense.
In the past few days, the thieves on the other side have tried to force the crossing several times. Fortunately, he personally led the troops to defend Pubanjin and repelled the thieves' attacks.
As for the news coming from Tongguan, Feng Thief made a big deal out of it from the beginning, saying that he wanted to build a raft to cross the river, but in fact, he has not actually crossed the river until now.
This made Xian Yufu further confirm his idea.
After this autumn rain, the river water has swelled a lot, making it easier to defend.
At the same time, he was a little lucky:
Fortunately, there were Shu captives on the other side, not Wu invaders. Most of Feng's subordinates were from Xiliang. They might be unparalleled in land battles, but they were weak in water battles.
Seeing that there are many people on the other side, but every time we cross the river, it is always chaotic, and we are often forced to go back halfway across the river, which is not something to be afraid of.
The autumn rain had just stopped, and the Shu captives on the other side seemed to have no intention of crossing the river. After Xian Yufu inspected various places, he felt that he could sleep peacefully tonight.
On the second day, when the sky was just getting dark, a huge noise suddenly sounded on the east bank of the river, wow!
A huge raft was lowered into the water, then a second, then a third...
Yang Wanwan personally tied sheepskin airbags on both sides of his horse. There was no bow, no crossbow, and not even the most basic leather armor on the horse.
As for Yang Wanwan himself, he only wore a piece of leather armor, but this leather armor was made of silk leather.
It is made by the best cobbler in Xiliang.
Although it is a bit inferior to real iron armor, it is better than the light weight.
The most important thing is that it does not sink when exposed to water and helps to float on the water.
Zhao Guang came over and helped Yang Qian tie up the hemp rope with his own hands, while saying with some envy:
"Wei Ran, if you successfully cross the river this time, you will be considered a first success."
Yang Wanwan took the spear handed over by Zhao Guang, his face seemed to be happy but also worried, and he glanced at the foggy water.
Compared with the past, I could see the clearness on the other side at a glance. At this time, the sky was not clear, and it was after the autumn rain, so the fog was extremely heavy.
Not to mention that you can see the other side, you can't even see the center of the river.
Yang Wanwan exhaled, turned around, and whispered to Zhao Guang:
"Yiwen, if we can successfully cross the water this time, there will be nothing to say. I will not embarrass our Xinghan Association."
"If anything happens to me, I hope you can tell my brother that my wife, concubines, and children left in the clan can take care of me for me."
They had seen a lot of life and death before the battle, so the two of them didn't have any inhibitions about whether they would die or not.
Zhao Guang patted his chest:
"Even if I don't need to say more, when has brother ever treated his brother badly? Is the Xinghan Meeting just a show-off? Don't worry!"
"If you are worried about your wife and children, I will go and tell General Guan that I am willing to cross the river for you."
Hearing this, Yang Qianwan quickly waved his hand:
"No way, no way!"
"After following my brother for so long, I finally got this opportunity as a pioneer. How could I give it to you?"
"Besides, you still have to lead the cavalry battalion. I'll cross the river, and it's your turn later."
As he spoke, he glanced not far away.
But I saw General Guan riding a war horse and stationed on the shore, standing upright like a statue carved in stone.
The battle flag behind him whirred in the strong wind blowing from the river.
Judging from the news coming from Pubanjin, the main force of the Wei thieves is still guarding Pubanjin.
The other side seems to have seen through the monarch's plan to seize the opportunity to attack the east and attack the west.
But in fact, it is true that the prince went to Fenglingdu as a feint, but Pubanjin's massive offensive was also a feint.
General Guan had already quietly sneaked back to Linfen and took over the reinforcements brought by the prince.
Then he saw the opportunity and led the rested army southward along the Fen River to Longmen Ferry.
The autumn rain seemed to make it more difficult to cross the river, but it also paralyzed the defenders on the other side.
Coupled with this heavy fog, it created a rare opportunity for crossing the river.
General Guan took advantage of this rare opportunity and made a decisive decision to cross the river immediately.
Wei Guo only focused on the weaknesses of its defense, and its fatal flaw was finally exposed at this time.
Even if you don't count Fenglingdu and only count the distance between Pubanjin and Longmendu, it's still about three hundred miles.
Xian Yufu's separate attacks and cooperation against General Shangguan and Feng Junhou, coupled with the cooperation of Liu Hun, Zhao Guang and others, it would be a miracle if he could hold it, and it would be normal if he couldn't hold it.
"Water scouts, enter the water first!"
A dozen soldiers with excellent water skills crossed the mudflats and plunged into the vast yellow water.
They were scattered across the mile-wide river, among the rolling mud waves,
Gradually, their figures disappeared into the heavy fog, and nothing could be seen.
Just as the people on the bank stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks, anxiously waiting for the news, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the river.
"Two long and two short, the water is more turbulent than before, but it can be crossed."
"Cross the river!"
The Han soldiers who had been waiting on the shore for a long time, after receiving the military order, began to lead the war horses into the river. The sheepskin airbags on the horses' backs immediately floated, helping the war horses swim towards the other bank.
The foot soldiers stepped onto the raft one after another and began to row towards the opposite side.
There was a personal guard before and after Yang Wanwan, not just them, but the others as well. The three of them formed a swimming group.
Thirty groups advanced side by side, and the river began to become lively. The sounds of horses and shouts kept coming, and people on the bank were frightened.
Seeing that the first row had pulled away some distance, General Guan immediately ordered:
"The second column!"
"Wow!"
The second batch of war horses began to enter the river.
The use of sheepskins to cross the river was originally a method of crossing the river in the Hexi area. In addition, Feng Junhou planned and acted carefully. The horses and soldiers who entered the water were carefully selected.
As long as you follow the previous training, there won't be any major problems.
The Wei army guarding the west bank heard a whistle suddenly sounded from the river, and couldn't help but look at the river with some vigilance.
But the surface of the river was still hazy and I couldn't see anything clearly.
The companion yawned and asked vaguely:
"What's wrong?"
"Did you hear something in the river?"
The companion laughed, "Are you confused because of the night watch? Doesn't the river sound every day?"
As he spoke, he muttered again: "Why hasn't the successor come yet? I'm almost exhausted..."
"Horse braying?"
"Um?"
"It's a horse braying!"
In the heavy fog on the river, a dark crowd suddenly appeared, and in the waves, there were horse heads floating in it...
The sound of horses braying is exactly what they make.
