Chapter 23 Liang’s army attacks from the north to the south
After the battle on the sandbank, the Central Route Army suffered only a hundred casualties, captured more than 500 people alive, and killed more than 200 people. Only more than 20 generals such as Lu Bu and Wei Yue were lucky enough to survive. Then the Taishan bandits took advantage of the victory and pursued them.
, and towed away nearly a hundred ships from Xiaopingjin. Jia Xu could only shoot arrows in the pass and did not dare to go out to stop them.
Previously, the soldiers of the Central Route Army often heard that the Liang people were invincible in the two rivers, and they were quite afraid. However, when they first saw it, the Liang people came fiercely, but in the end they were disgraced. This greatly increased the confidence of the Central Route Army.
The soldiers discussed privately that it would not be difficult to attack Luoyang directly.
For Prime Minister Dong Zhuo, this was just a test. The loss was not big, but it revealed a very unfavorable fact: if the two armies crossed the river to fight, the subordinates would know nothing about water warfare.
The result will definitely be disastrous.
Fortunately, this battle did not have much impact on the morale of the army. After all, Lu Bu fought with great bravery. Even though he was in a situation of certain death, he actually managed to get out of the river. The soldiers were astonished that he was a god. They all said that Zhonglang would be protected by the river god.
, and then called Lu Bu General Dashi. Therefore, Dong Zhuo did not blame Lu Bu, but instead gave him a lacquered gold gift armor and five hundred red gold.
However, in this way, he could only sit back and watch Chen Chong build a city on the sandbank, which made Dong Zhuo quite unwilling. He was also afraid that Chen Chong would suddenly cross the river to fight, and he would not think about food and drink for a while. He was restless. Early the next morning, he summoned his staff to discuss the war.
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The Prime Minister first said: "Although there was a small setback yesterday, it can be seen that the Chen bandits are just good at water fighting. On the sandbank, Fengxian led the army to fight one against five. They were defeated as a last resort, but they still did not lose the prestige of our army. Now our army is now
There are still 50,000 Ying Yang warriors, and the rebels are only 70,000 locals at most. Can we follow the old plan and send another surprise army to attack his flank like we did with Wang Kuang?"
Mengjin captain Zhang Ji lost cities and territory one after another. Although Dong Zhuo did not blame him, he was extremely ashamed and eager to make meritorious deeds. He took the initiative to go to Hebei and asked for a battle. He said: "At the end of the day, I would like to go to Hebei. I also ask the prime minister to use Ji as the vanguard. I will defeat the rebels."
!"
Dong Zhuo waved his hand to signal him to retreat, but Zhang Ji still stood stubbornly. Dong Zhuo had no choice but to patiently persuade him: "I know you are loyal, but what we are discussing today is how to retreat from the enemy. If there is a war, how can I miss you?"
Please step back."
Zhang Ji silently retreated to the table. Li Ru guessed what Dong Zhuo was thinking, so he expressed Dong Zhuo's worries: "The rebel army is very good at water warfare, so we really can't take it by force. It's just that Chen Chong is not as good as Wang Kuang, and the prime minister sent a strange army."
Cross the river elsewhere to attack the flanks. If Chen Chong cannot hold out, and then send troops to cut off the river channel and isolate the two banks like yesterday, our army will be unable to fight in advance and unable to retreat. By then, we will be in danger of overturning."
Dong Zhuo nodded and said, "That's true. This is exactly what I'm thinking about. Do you have any good advice for me?"
Everyone had different opinions for a while: Dong Yue suggested that it would be better to remove the Mengjin South Pass first; Hu Zhen suggested that he should be put to death and survive later, and the whole army would cross the river instead of fighting quickly. Chen Chong would definitely be nervous; Dong Huang said that it would be better to let go of Pingjin Pass and lure
Chen Chong crossed the river, and we fought decisively under Mang Mountain in Luoyang. What everyone said was somewhat true, but none of them scratched Dong Zhuo's itch, so Dong Zhuo hesitated. After all, he himself had no good plan.
At this moment, Jia Xu, the captain of Pingjin School, finally thought it through. He stepped forward and said: "The Prime Minister's plan to move the capital was originally a preparation for a strong man to cut off his wrists and save the general body. But I didn't expect that the two Yuans were so unlucky. Yuan Shao didn't know about the war, and Yuan Shu
We dare not fight forward. In the battles in Henan and Hanoi, the rebels were all defeated at the first touch. Therefore, we circled Luoyang, hoping to win and put an end to the chaos in the world.
Chen Chong is now leading the Bingzhou army to confront our army. Our army is in danger of Mang Mountain, and Chen Chong is in danger of guarding the river. The one who goes out first is defeated by the latter, and we have no reason to fight with them. p>
The disadvantage of our army is not that it is difficult to cross the river, but that the rebel divisions surround us on three sides and the strength of the army is so stretched that the soldiers are fighting with one enemy against five, fighting in bloody battles. Now if we want to break the deadlock, why not just leave tens of thousands of people behind and still fight in the river?
There was a confrontation in Beimang, and the remaining soldiers turned to attack Er Yuan.
As soon as the two Yuan forces were defeated, Chen Chong could hardly applaud. If he knew the current situation, he would have retreated to the party and defended the courtyard. If he had faced the enemy, by that time, our army would have 90,000 people, so why should we be afraid of fighting with them?" p>
These words finally moved Dong Zhuo. He shouted "Okay" three times and added: "Our army can build a large number of ships on the river bank and prepare for a decisive battle across the river. This can make Chen Chong guard the river beach and deceive Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao."
, Yuan and Yuan are both cowardly people. When they see me and Chen Chong fighting with each other, they will definitely compare themselves to fishermen and watch from the sidelines. When that time comes, I will divide my troops and attack by surprise, and I will definitely achieve miraculous results!"
At this point, he pondered for a while and asked the final question of the strategy: "We are just attacking the two Yuans. Who should go first and who should go last?"
Li Ru did not dare to fall behind and immediately replied: "Attack Yuan Shu first, then attack Yuan Shao."
"Why? Looking at it now, Yuan Shao should be weak and Yuan Shu is strong."
"Although Yuan Shao is weak, he can't destroy the more than 100,000 troops under his command. Luoyang is more than 200 miles away from Suanzao and borders a large river to the north. Our army has been attacking for at least two days, and its tracks are difficult to conceal. Once their whereabouts are exposed, Chen Chong
Even if we contact Yuan Shu to attack from the north and south, our army will not be able to retreat suddenly. Instead, we will go deep alone and risk losing ground from both front and rear."
"Although Yuan Shu is strong, he is limited. He has more than 100,000 troops under his command, most of them are mountain bandits. He also has to be wary of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. The only ones he can use to fight are Sun Jian's 40,000 to 50,000 men. They just come and go for scouts. As the saying goes, Sun Jian trains his troops.
He is very effective, and he is also a good fighter, so he cannot underestimate the enemy Lang Zhan."
At this point, Li Ru paused for a moment, then analyzed the situation and said: "Luyang and Luoyang are more than 160 miles apart, and there are green mountains covering the way. We can hide our traces and attack with surprise troops. Even if we are invincible for a while, Chen Chong can't
Crossing the river to rescue us, Yuan Shao even broke our courage and could not save us. We can safely retreat behind Yique Pass."
The Prime Minister was very satisfied. He smiled and said to everyone: "Wen You thinks about defeat before thinking about victory. This helps me survive a hundred battles."
He was determined, changed his plans on the spot, and issued an appointment.
To the north, Dong Zhonglang's general Dong Yue led ten thousand people to station in Mang Mountain, built a two-foot-high military canopy on the top of the mountain, and then placed a large flag with the word "Dong" on a black background and gold edges. A man who looked like Dong Zhuo was placed under the military canopy to form a suspicious formation.
At the foot of the mountain, Pingjin captain Jia Xu was in charge, recruiting boat people and building large ships at Xiaopingjin. After they were built, they would be used for naval drills. They must successfully confuse Chen Chong.
Dong Zhuo attached great importance to the army going south and planned to conquer Luyang himself.
In order to achieve success with one blow, he came out of the empty nest and mobilized all the elite soldiers under his command: such as Colonel Li Jue of Yique, Colonel Guo Si of Guangcheng, and Hua Xiong, Colonel of Taigu, all of whom were famous in the army.
A good general who is good at fighting and a brave general in hundreds of battles, Dong Zhuo transferred him and his 15,000 soldiers away from the Three Passes as the vanguard of the Southern Expedition.
As for the candidates to guard the gate, Dong Zhuo planned to use Wu Kuang, Zhang Zhang, the non-direct lineage of Xiyuan School Captain, and Zhao Rong, the assistant military school captain, to lead ten thousand people to change the defense. None of their subordinates were strong soldiers, and they were not capable of commanding themselves, but they were good at guarding the city gate.
Useful.
To arrange the main force of the southern expedition, Dong Zhuo transferred Xizhonglang general Xu Rong, Huben Zhonglang general Lu Bu, and Nanzhonglang general Hu Zhen to lead ten thousand people each. The main force came from the south of Yique Pass, Guoyang people, Liangxian, and Huoyang.
The mountain array approaches Luyang.
He also planned to send another surprise force, led by Mengjin Colonel Zhang Ji and Northern Army Lieutenant Zhang Liao, with a total of 5,000 cavalry, to leave Zhiyuan Pass and enter Yuzhou, making a gesture of attacking Yangdi, and waiting for the Yuzhou army to gather for defense.
The strange troops then marched south and west, bypassing Pingding Mountain, flanking Luyang, and then occupied the main channel of Shuishui, which could block Yuan Shao's reinforcements.
The plan to dispatch troops this time was ten thousand more than what was previously announced. This was the result of everyone deliberation and feeling that there was no need to keep troops in Yangwu, so Xu Rong was recalled, so that there would be enough room to divide the troops into feints.<
/p>
After finalizing the plan, Dong Zhuo was very satisfied and left his staff to have a meal together. During the banquet, he raised his glass and sighed to everyone: "Years ago, I didn't know people well, which actually caused rebels to swarm and rebel against the army.
All of you who have accompanied me through adversity can be said to be my humerus ministers. If this battle is successful, let me suppress the rebellion and defeat the thieves, and you can choose all the states and counties in the world."
He also remembered Lu Bu. Lu Bu fell into the river and was suffering from the cold. He was resting at home that day, so he said to his entourage in public: "Send a pot of hot wine to Du Tinghou and let him take a good rest. When will he recover?"
When will the army set off?" The Liang people here used to look down upon Lu Bu. Now they heard this and were a little more jealous, but they didn't dare to show it on their faces.
So Hu Zhen took the initiative to step forward and asked: "The Prime Minister said that we can choose the prefectures and counties in the world, and we should judge them based on their merits!" When Dong Zhuo nodded, he asked again: "But I don't know, if I capture two Yuan alive, what choice can I choose?"
Where?"
The atmosphere around him became heated, and Dong Zhuo smiled and said: "Where would you like to choose?"
Hu Zhen replied loudly: "I would like to be the captain of the Sili school, sit alone in front of the court, and spend my spare time whipping the ministers!"
These words spoke to everyone's heart. Dong Zhuo laughed, and everyone laughed too. Dong Zhuo poured a glass of wine for Hu Zhen himself and nodded to him: "The minister is weak, so you still have to give them some thin noodles. As for Sili
I'll wait for you to exchange the position of school captain with Er Yuan!"
By July 23rd, Dong Zhuo's arrangements were basically implemented, and Lu Bu also recovered from illness and returned to the army. Dong Zhuo led 50,000 cavalry and marched south from Luoyang. As planned, Zhang Ji and Zhang Liao led 5,000 cavalry and dispersed with the army first.
, slanted out of Sheyuan Pass and headed straight for Yangcheng, while Dong Zhuo ordered the army to rest for a day in front of Yique Pass. After the sun set, he immediately ordered the entire army to rush to Liang County at full speed.
But as luck would have it, after hearing the news that Chen Chong's troops were approaching Mengjin, Sun Jian, the Polu general and the governor of Yuzhou, finally thought that the army was ready for use after nearly half a year of preparations, so he reported to the later general Yuan Shu to raise troops today and hold Polu high.
With a large banner, he and Guan Yu, the captain of the Zhenjun Army, rode 50,000 horses together and crossed Mount Lu and headed north to Henan.
Both armies concealed the news at first, hoping to catch people off guard and strike first, and unanimously chose to march at night. Dong Zhuo was mostly cavalry and walked a little faster, covering more than ninety miles in a night, while Sun Jian mainly had infantry and walked a little slower.
Travel more than sixty miles in one night.
The next day, a few beams of morning light peeked out from Songshan Mountain in autumn, and the two armies met unexpectedly in Guangcheng.