Shi Yong's operation to collect ships was not smooth. Although when Zhu Chixiu's rebellion first started, Shi Yong blocked ships and ferries and controlled ships on the south coast. However, the number of ships was actually not enough.
Shi Yong understood that Cao Xiong wanted to lead tens of thousands of soldiers and horses across the Yellow River to attack. Unless all the soldiers and horses were sent to the other side to land on the other side at an extremely fast speed in a short time, he could fight the enemy. Otherwise, he would have to cross the river and attack. In fact, it is a transformation of offensive and defensive momentum. The opponent only needs to rely on natural dangers to defend. When crossing the river, our own troops and horses will be in a passive situation of being beaten.
However, there are only a few dozen ships, and most of them are small fishing boats. This is obviously not enough.
To this end, Shi Yong made two suggestions to Cao Xiong. One is to advance the attack time, use a small number of ships to sneak to the other side under the cover of darkness, and establish a foothold. Then transport his troops back and forth across the river. The advantage of this is , so that the subsequent soldiers and horses can be less harassed when crossing the river. It is like a siege operation. After the soldiers and horses who attack the city wall first gain a firm foothold, the subsequent soldiers and horses can attack continuously, and the entire city wall can be gradually conquered.
Another suggestion was to postpone the attack so that he could organize manpower to build boats to cross the river. Shi Yong believed that in just one day, he could build dozens of boats with the help of the fishermen and soldiers on the south bank. This would make it easier Can meet the needs of offense.
More than a hundred small boats can cross the river at the same time and can transport one or two thousand people at a time. This will provide a guarantee for landing operations.
However, both of these suggestions were rejected by Cao Xiong. He said that the time for the attack had already been agreed upon, and sending hundreds of people across the river in advance would be a recipe for death. Postponing it was even more impossible, and the longer it was delayed, the more beneficial it would be to the enemy. Military Order Like a mountain, if you say to attack in the early morning, you will attack in the early morning. How can you change the order in the morning and at night?
Shi Yong was stunned. On the battlefield, the situation changes rapidly. How can there be any reason to stick to the rules? The correct behavior is to adapt to the actual situation. Cao Xiong's words are totally unreasonable.
Not only was he rejected, Cao Xiong also laughed at Shi Yong's incompetence. He mocked Shi Yong as an unqualified garrison general who couldn't even get some tools for crossing the river. You must know that this is a tool for crossing the river in Lingzhou, on the edge of the Yellow River. It's not just a real boat, there are many other means of crossing the river.
For example, something called a sheepskin raft is a ubiquitous river crossing tool in the local area. It is so common that almost every household has one.
It only took Cao Xiong two hours to send people to collect more than a hundred large sheepskin rafts. They were lined up at the ferry.
Shi Yong was even more shocked. Did General Cao really think that the sheepskin raft could be used as a tool for crossing the river? Those things were just inflated sheepskin bags tied together, with a simple wooden frame placed on top. It was flat. It is indeed possible to cross the river, but this is a cross-river attack. If the rebel archers on the opposite side shoot arrows randomly, these rafts will be destroyed.
Shi Yong quickly expressed his opposition, saying that crossing the river with this kind of raft was tantamount to seeking death. Even a small sampan was much better than a sheepskin raft.
But Cao Xiong ignored his opinion.
"In the battle across the river, casualties are unavoidable. I did not expect to capture the fortress on the other side without losing a single soldier. As long as a large number of soldiers and horses can be transported, a large number of soldiers and horses can be sent across the river at once to occupy the ferry. This will It is a victory. Besides, the rebels may not have expected that we would cross the river to attack them. By the time they realize it, we have succeeded. Procrastinating and prolonging the crossing time will give them time." Cao Xiong said with great confidence.
Shi Yong had nothing to say, because he found that everything he said in front of Cao Xiong was in vain. This military commander had strange thinking and inexplicable self-confidence. His words and deeds subverted Shi Yong's cognition.
He even had a ridiculous idea in his mind: Could General Cao be a spy for the rebels? Of course this was impossible. General Cao might just be stupid.
Shi Yong finally tentatively put forward his idea, whether it was possible to surround these rafts with a circle of wooden boards, or even thicken the floor on the surface of the sheepskin rafts to avoid being shot through by enemy bows and arrows.
of a deck.
Cao Xiong didn't even look at Shi Yong and completely ignored his words. It was pointless to spend time doing such a thing. It would waste a lot of time and delay the attack. What he wanted to think about now was how to attack after landing.
The problem of the rebels was how to capture Song City, Qujing Fort, Heng Castle and a series of other fortresses. Then they were approaching Ningxia City. That was the most dangerous time.
Cao Xiong believed that the real battle would be when he marched into King Anhua's lair in Ningxia Town, not at the ferry.
Shi Yong didn't say a word. The only thing he could do was to order the thousand soldiers under his command to be prepared to defend Lingzhou. At the same time, be prepared to mobilize the people to coordinate the defense of the city.
Shi Yong felt that this river crossing battle would be a disaster.
In the early morning of the 10th day of April, the massive river-crossing operation began.
More than 300 ships and sheepskin rafts loaded with more than 5,000 soldiers began to move towards the other bank in the early morning river fog. The water here was gentle, but that was because the river was wide. The river was more than three miles wide in the north-south direction.
It took half an hour for the sheepskin rafts and the army of dozens of boats to cross the river to reach the center of the river. The morning fog dissipated, and the other side was already in sight. All the boats and rafts were following the flow of the Yellow River diagonally toward the cliffs at the opposite ferry.
Rushed over gently.
When they were hundreds of steps away from the shore, the army crossing the river encountered the first wave of attacks from the other side.
On the top of the cliff opposite, the bed crossbows began to fire. The thick crossbow arrows shot from the top of the cliff with a whistling sound, shooting huge water columns between the ferry and the sheepskin raft. However, because they were few in number, they seemed to have no power.
Several sheepskin rafts were unfortunately shot, and the simple rafts were torn apart. Dozens of soldiers on the rafts fell into the water and screamed for struggle.
But all this is nothing to the entire army crossing the river. It is also expected.
Cao Xiong was riding a large boat, which was a flower boat belonging to a brothel in Lingzhou City. It was requisitioned as a boat for the army to cross the river. Cao Xiong stood on the bow and looked at the situation in front of him, with a relaxed expression on his face.
Everything is as shown by the intelligence. During yesterday's investigation, Cao Xiong received the news that there were not many defenders on the other side, and they were all huddled in Song City. The soldiers sent to investigate said that the ferry was only
About a thousand people were stationed for defense.
Cao Xiong made calculations. Songcheng was fifteen miles away from the ferry, and it would take at least half an hour for a large number of rebels to arrive at the ferry for reinforcements. With the cover of the morning fog, it would not be bright until they passed the middle of the river, and the morning fog would disperse.
Go. Then it only takes a stick of incense to rush to the other side. Before the opponent's large number of soldiers and horses arrive, your own soldiers and horses can already firmly occupy the opposite ferry.
Everything in front of us is as expected. The other party only has three or four crossbows firing, which shows that the news is completely accurate. This shows that the force of the other party's ferry is insufficient. It can be imagined that the ship will be more than a hundred steps closer to the shore.
When inside, the opponent will be blocked by archers. But a force of more than a thousand soldiers and horses can only have a few hundred archers at most. The opponent may cause some casualties, but they can't stop their troops from landing. Once they land, they will have no choice but to escape.
Share.
This is the reason why Cao Xiong dared to ignore Shi Yong's advice before. He had already figured out the situation, and there was no need to worry about the dangers Shi Yong mentioned. Taking advantage of the empty time on the other side, he quickly crossed the Yellow River and landed on a large scale.
That is the focus of this battle.
That Shi Yong was so ridiculous that I didn't bother to explain too much to him.
"Speed up to the shore!" Cao Xiong ordered in a deep voice.
The ship quickly approached the opposite bank, but at the same time, the roaring sound of artillery sounded on the cliff on the other side. After the rising smoke and loud noise, huge water columns suddenly rose from the river. Each solid cannonball carried a roar that broke through the air.
The sound fell into the water, and the towering water column rose several feet high, and the formation was breathtaking.
Cao Xiong was a little surprised. There were actually artillery on the other side? The scouts sent out did not mention this when they came back to report. Moreover, there were seven or eight smoke pillars rising from the top of the cliff on the other side, which meant that there were seven or eight artillery bombarding the river.
.
Moreover, Cao Xiong suddenly discovered that the number of crossbows on the opponent's side seemed to have increased. The attacks of artillery shells and crossbows had become quite intensive. Our ships became more dense as they approached the river bank, and ships and sheepskin rafts were continuously hit.
Hundreds of soldiers fell into the water one after another, shouting all over the place.
If Cao Xiong saw an opportunity at this moment and ordered a U-turn to evacuate, he might only suffer a few hundred casualties. However, at this point, how could Cao Xiong give up. He did not realize that his intelligence was wrong.
"Come to me! Get to the shore, get to the shore quickly." Cao Xiong roared.
The trumpet sounded loudly, and all the soldiers on the wooden boats and sheepskin rafts began to paddle with the simple wood pulp they carried with them to increase their speed. Crossbow arrows and cannonballs kept falling around, which made them all hope to land early.
To avoid being smashed into pieces by crossbow arrows and cannonballs and falling into the water.
They know that once they fall into the water, there is little hope of survival. Although the water flow in this area is gentle, it is only gentle on the surface. The power of the water flow is enough to engulf them. Moreover, the river water gathers the snow water of Helan Mountain, which is biting cold. Even if the water flow
If you don't swallow yourself, you will freeze in the river water.
Everyone's efforts made the boats and rafts crossing the river very fast, and soon they were within 150 steps of the river bank. Then, a scene that horrified everyone happened.
On the top of the cliff high above the ferry, the sound of countless bowstrings vibrating even covered up the roar of the river and reached the ears. The dense rain of arrows was like a dark cloud floating from the top of the cliff, with a sharp whistling sound.
Come down.
Tuk-tuk-tuk! Puff-puff-puff!
The dense ferry formation was attacked intensively by thousands of bows and arrows. For a moment, it was like a violent storm on the river, with no blind spots. Although the soldiers on the boat were well prepared and held up their shields, the wooden boat
It was filled with bows and arrows, and the shield was also filled with bows and arrows, turning it into a big hedgehog.
Fortunately, the wooden boat could still withstand the bow and arrow attack, and the soldiers on it suffered few casualties even though they were holding shields. However, the fragile sheepskin raft could not withstand this dense rain of arrows at all. The soldiers on the raft were also holding shields.
, but they could only cover their own bodies, not the fragile rafts. Those sheepskin rafts tied below only needed the slightest touch from an arrow to leak air and sink quickly.
After a round of arrows, more than thirty sheepskin rafts were hit by air leaks and began to sink. The soldiers on the rafts fell into the water in despair. In a short period of time, six to seven hundred soldiers fell into despair in the torrent of the Yellow River.
Struggling, ups and downs, and became a living target for the opponent.
The second round of arrow rain came. The arrows blocked the sun, like a dark cloud passing by, leaving a fast-moving shadow on the ground. The shadow once again shrouded the heads of the soldiers crossing the river, bringing the god of death.