Chapter 42: Defeating the enemy and conquering the general Xiapu Pass
It is still very hot in May along the Yellow River, especially in the afternoon, but now that the war has begun, there is no need to think about it anymore. Under the scorching sun, the fighting at Pujin Ferry in the west of Hexi has reached a fever pitch, with nearly ten thousand people on both sides.
The army fought hard with all their strength, resulting in heavy casualties and blood-stained beaches!
The Youzhou Army is elite and good, but because they are crossing a river to attack, they naturally lose the advantage of the location; and since they have to cross people, the ordnance and supplies they carry are inevitably a bit small; other than that, as the saying goes, crossing the river in one go
There are only more than a thousand people, so they do not have the upper hand in local battlefield strength!
Correspondingly, although the Guanxi Army only had 5,000 men, and although Chen Cang and Jue Jue were greatly disturbed by the Han army's secrecy, in the final analysis, they not only had 5,000 soldiers, but also a larger number of auxiliary soldiers, such as Ding Zhuang.
Using crossbows and spears can still kill people, and they even have a large camp to rely on.
So in this case, it is natural to inflict a loss of personnel that makes the Youzhou Army heartbroken.
It can even be said that if there is a truce at this time, according to the previous exchange ratio between the two sides, Zhang Ji will definitely be among the famous generals in the world, because there has never been a battle in which the elites of the Youzhou Army faced such a reaction with only 5,000 people.
Big damage.
Although there were a lot of casualties in the previous battle at Hedong, the opponents at that time numbered 100,000!
Take Gao Shun's trapped camp as an example. His troops are rare elites in the world, but they fought continuously, from Jinyang City to Gaoliang Pavilion, from Gaoliang Pavilion to Maojin, and from Maojin to Pubanjin in front of them, almost every time.
The battle took the lead, so the losses were actually the largest and the most tiring... The number of troops had been reduced by 30% in the battle of Gaoliang Pavilion before. After recruiting and replenishing the troops to fight here, the troops were actually far less strong than when they went out for the expedition.
Therefore, his troops should be the first to enter the battle. After a hard battle, more than a hundred people have been killed and nearly three hundred wounded. If this continues, by the time this battle is over, his troops will have been reduced by nearly half, and they will be called into other troops.
, it would not be good to be removed directly.
The trapped camp is like this, not to mention the rest of the troops. Fortunately, one side is fighting with its back to the water and has no escape. The other side supervises the team to patrol strictly and kill those who retreat, otherwise some troops may have started to flee.
The fierce battle on the river beach is still continuing. Among them, the Youzhou Army has firmly occupied three beachhead positions despite casualties, and follow-up reinforcements are also being sent upwards in a steady stream. It seems that they have survived the most difficult moment.
Gained the upper hand.
but……
"Brother Yuan Hao, what should I do if I can't take the camp before dark?" Lou Gui looked at the situation on the other side and couldn't help sweating on his forehead. This was the first time that Gongsun Xun had fully entrusted his command power, and he, Lou Zibo, happened to be...
How can the leader not be in a hurry? "A foothold on the beach is just a foothold on the beach. If we can't take a stronghold to protect ourselves, what will happen if Dong Min and Guo Si arrive here tomorrow? The enemy has an army of ten thousand and five thousand, and we should cooperate with each other from the inside and outside, and we have crossed it.
How can people hold on!"
In other words, Lou Zibo's worries actually hit the point.
The so-called crossing the river to attack, the most important thing is to establish a foothold, but there are two types of footholds, one is naturally a beachhead foothold, and the other is a tactical foothold from the perspective of a large corps, which means establishing a stronghold on the other side to ensure
Follow-up military operations are meaningless otherwise.
There are only two plans for establishing a stronghold, one is to seize the city and stronghold, and the other is to build a fortress yourself.
Judging from the current situation, how can we easily set up a stronghold on the river beach in one night? It is not winter, and we can pour water on the spot to turn it into ice. Therefore, we can only hope to capture the stronghold.
But when it comes to seizing the stronghold, the current problem is that thanks to the courage and hard fighting of the Youzhou Army, the entire army has no worries about gaining a foothold on the beach. However, due to the lack of weapons and manpower to attack the stronghold, the battle has been exhausted.
In the afternoon, the soldiers went to plunder the enemy's stronghold, which had been repaired and prepared for two months, which was undoubtedly a bit difficult.
In fact, the reason why Zhang Ji on the other side can grit his teeth and sit firmly on the general platform of the camp is because he still has a camp, a sufficient number of auxiliary soldiers, and 15,000 reinforcements as back-up troops. There is no need to think about everything.
He knows that when the Youzhou Army transports another two thousand people before dark and the situation is completely reversed, he will immediately start the retreat and defend the camp!
"Then let's fight at night!" Tian Feng looked at the battle situation on the other side with a sullen face for a long time, and finally responded. "You must not hesitate at this time. Once you hesitate, all your previous efforts will be wasted. But once you overcome it, let alone the battle situation, it will be the general trend of the world.
I can suddenly become enlightened!"
Lou Gui opened his mouth. In fact, he really wanted to ask. Not to mention how hard it was for the soldiers to fight at night, and how dangerous the ferry was at night. He only wanted to say that if five or six thousand people crossed over at night, but still couldn't capture the fortress... what would happen if the fortress was still not captured...
On the second day, the elite of the entire army, who were extremely exhausted, were crushed by the enemy on the river beach. Wouldn't the Youzhou Army exist in name only?
When the time comes, let alone others. As the actual decision-makers here, how will the three of them face Gongsun Xun?
However, Lou Zibo did not speak after all. Instead, he nodded fiercely - without him, the soldiers at the front were fighting, risking their lives to win or lose, and were still gaining advantages. As a decision-maker in the military, he could
Consider the worst-case scenario, but never let them down before the real danger arrives.
Now is not the time to give up after all!
At the same time, across the Yellow River, on the rammed earth general platform of the big camp on the other side, at this moment, Zhang Ji, the commander-in-chief of the Kansai Army, had bloodshot eyes and was sitting on his chest holding a blood-stained steel knife upside down.
Under the banner, he looked condescendingly at the battle on the river beach outside the camp, but he also made up his mind to fight to the end.
In other words, after careful calculation, only about half of Zhang Ji's determination came from the war... After all, they are all soldiers. After getting jealous, no one is willing to let their previous efforts and sacrifices go to waste... And in addition
Five points came from personal grudges. Don’t forget that his nephew Zhang Xiu died at the hands of the Youzhou Army!
Zhang Ji himself didn’t have a son yet, so having this nephew by his side seemed like an adopted son. He was raised to be crowned, outstanding in martial arts, and knowledgeable in military strategy. He could trust the future with his own eyes, but he was hacked to death by the Youzhou army without knowing what he was doing.
On the river beach - until now, General Zhang Zhonglang still didn't know who the murderer was. He only roughly concluded from the defeated army that it should be someone like Gongsun Xun's white horse Yi Cong.
And this was the reason why he couldn't calm down when he saw the banner with the character Zhao. He carefully inquired about the leading young generals among Baima Yi who are outstanding now - Zhao Yun, Tian Chou, Tian Yu.
Therefore, it sounds ridiculous, but it is truly terrifying. The appearance of three flags, two fields and one Zhao, on the river beach at this time is what makes Zhang Zhonglang truly strengthen his determination. Otherwise, even if he is red-blooded, considering the casualties before him,
, Zhang Ji had already been shaken.
"Send my order!" The sun was setting in the west. Seeing the Han army on the other side disregarding the hard work and desperately organizing a new batch of fresh troops, a lot of military equipment was also carried onto the ship. Zhang Ji knew in his heart that the other side was preparing.
During the night battle, he simply ordered: "Let the troops retreat from far to near, according to levels, and prepare to enter the camp. You all go out and personally deliver the order!"
The surrounding guards never dared to neglect and went out of the camp to deliver orders in person.
In other words, this is a last resort, because at this point in the war, both sides are extremely exhausted, suffering heavy casualties, and have no intention of looking at the command flag. The sound of the Yellow River water flowing on the beachhead on the other side is loud, to a large extent.
It interferes with the sound of drums and gongs on the battlefield, so if you want to convey orders, you can only let the Lingyu personal guards around these coaches carry them out in person.
However, what no one expected was that the sound of the Yellow River water and the irritating summer sunshine also became a natural cover for another movement.
Even the condescending Zhang Ji inadvertently turned his head to the north after all the attendants left, and then stood up in shock - it turned out that as the sun was approaching, there was actually a puff of smoke billowing from the north, and among the smoke, there was a
A large number of soldiers and horses whose flags could not even be seen clearly appeared.
In other words, Zhang Ji was not only the first person to discover this group of troops, but also probably the only person on the battlefield who guessed the opponent's identity as soon as he came up, so he really panicked... However, at this time...
It's too late for anything!
That's right, the ones coming are none other than Xu Huang and his troops!
After crossing the river from Caisang seven days ago, Xu Gongming first marched hundreds of miles in three days to defeat Xiayang, and then set off again early the next morning, and spent another two days rushing seventy miles to defeat Henyang. Now,
He didn't care about the hard work. He just rested for half the night and then led his troops again and marched sixty miles for a day and a half to Pujin!
Along the way, few of the more than 5,000 soldiers and horses were killed in battle, but during the journey they were tired, fell ill, fainted from heatstroke, and various non-combat casualties, but the number of casualties reached more than a thousand, and only a few from Xia Yang and Heyang
Many of the captured marching mounts fell to death along the way.
Therefore, his troops came to the Pujin battlefield with great hardships, but only four thousand tired men were left.
But, enough is enough.
"Zhang Quchang, with a thousand of you, raise my flag and attack the north gate of the camp!" Xu Huang saw the battle situation from a distance, and simply gave the order directly. "The rest of the army should not stop, follow me to attack the enemies outside the camp!
"
After saying this, the man got off his horse and did not take the spear. He just pulled out the hand ax from behind and led the crowd towards the beach, trying to lead them in a hand-to-hand fight.
Zhang Ji could see clearly from the high platform, but he couldn't help but stamp his feet - how could he not understand the opponent's plot? Xu Huang, a former Baibo thief, clearly saw through the reality of the battle at a glance. He knew that the camp could not suddenly attack
Under this situation, only killing the troops on the beach is the best solution. However, this person did not send the entire army to attack the troops on the beach. Instead, he divided a thousand troops to pretend to attack the camp with great fanfare, so that his troops outside the camp mistakenly thought that the camp might fall into
Danger, and quickly fall into a state of instability in order to achieve maximum results!
So cunning!
On the other side, Lou Gui, Tian Feng, and the generals who had already crossed the river on the other side of the river were all surprised when they saw Xu Huang's flag appearing outside the enemy camp!
The two sides fell together, one disappeared and the other increased. In addition, a full three thousand soldiers and horses silently rushed towards the beach. However, the battle situation on the river beach suddenly plummeted from the direction where Xu Huang came from upstream. It was seen that one wing of the Kansai Army was about to collapse.
Zhang Ji stared blankly for a moment, and then he quickly made a calculation in his mind. He was extremely sober now. If he could not escort the troops outside the camp back to the camp, he would sit back and watch the entire army collapse. Not to mention whether his camp could be held at night, he would only sit back and watch the two wings.
The morale of the army is shaken and the army is defeated. When the enemy takes advantage of the setting sun and follows the defeated army into the camp, how should he defend it?
With this thought in mind, Zhang Ji knew that he could not hesitate, so he hurriedly summoned the last available troops in the camp and collected more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers. Then he personally abandoned his sword and mounted his horse with a spear, opened the north gate of the camp, and prepared to attack the enemy in front of him.
This is the right thing to do, because Zhang Ji's army is a real force, and the thousand-man army carrying Xu Rong's flag was actually exhausted to the extreme after continuous marching. At this time, it all relied on a mouthful of water flowing down the river.
The remaining force is just fighting.
If the feint attack of more than a thousand people can be defeated in public, it is not expected that the troops on the upstream beach whose backs were attacked by Xu Huang will come back alive... It will be really difficult... but it will allow the troops downstream to regain their confidence and retreat in an orderly manner.
In the camp, we can still manage to maintain the camp.
However, Xu Gongming turned around and saw Zhang Jiqi taking the initiative to leave the camp, but he also adapted to the situation and made a decision that completely changed the battle - he actually turned around and led his troops towards the camp gate. Outside the camp,
The feint of attack instantly turned into a real attack!
On the other side, Zhang Ji's generals no longer looked down upon the movements of Xu Huang's main force without a flag. They opened the camp gate and went out to meet the enemy, but unexpectedly bumped into Xu Huang's main force face to face, and immediately fell into a bitter battle!
At the same time, the main soldiers on both wings of the Xiliang Army saw Zhang Ji's flag and were facing the enemy, but they could not defeat the enemy in front of them. Instead, they were likely to be counterattacked. People were panicked and wanted to retreat. In addition, the sunset was approaching.
There was an order to retreat, so the formation loosened up. As Zhang Ji feared, there was a tendency to retreat!
Zhang Ji could not advance or retreat, and the Xiliang army on both wings gradually became exhausted. At the critical moment, what really caused the collapse of the entire front was the newly arrived wave of reinforcements from Hedong. This was the real new force. Since its troops came to Hexi, they were under the command of the commander where they settled.
Zhao Yun led a group of enemy troops and completely defeated them!
Under the setting sun, the Yellow River rolled southward, and the entire Xiliang army collapsed. Zhang Ji saw that the situation was not good, and prepared to forcefully retreat and close the camp gate, but Xu Huang pinned him to death and chased him all the way into the village!
"Victory!" Tian Yuanhao changed his cold expression on the Hedong Camp's rammed-earth platform, clenched his fists and raised his arms while shouting.
But Lou Zibo was already slumped on the high platform.
On the other side, Zhang Ji fled into the camp in panic and returned to the high platform to observe the situation with a spear. However, as far as he could see, he saw only the gates on the north and south sides. Xu Ziqi had squeezed in on one side and even chased him not far away.
, but on the other side, it was Zhao Ziqi who chased the defeated army and was the first to enter the camp!
In this situation, as a veteran, how could he not understand that the situation was over?
As Zhang Ji glanced at the broken limbs and dead bodies of wounded soldiers on the river beach outside the camp, he felt that he had failed not only Dong Zhuo, but also the soldiers, and even more so that he had failed his father who died young.
The nephew simply threw down his spear, picked up the bloody knife on the ground, and killed himself on the general platform... He was forty-three years old at the time.
On May 17, the sun completely set. Thanks to Xu Huang's outstanding performance, the Youzhou Army captured Pujin in one day at the cost of heavy casualties.
At this time, Dong Min and Guo Si of Huayin had just received a summons for help.
——————I am the dividing line half a beat——————
"Huang passed through Cai Sangjin and fought hard for days. The soldiers all complained and prayed for a break, but Huang refused. Some of them advised: 'The whole army is east of the river. Why should we complain to the locals and lose our good reputation?' Huang sighed and said: '
In ancient times, when people were in trouble, they never encountered an enlightened king. Now, when they are lucky enough to encounter one, they often use their merits to take effect. Why use private reputation?" He then urged the army to move quickly. As soon as they arrived at Pujin, they encountered a fierce battle across the river. When they suddenly saw that the battle was in full swing, they raised their voices and raised their flags to attack.
The enemy general Zhang Ji camped, and he secretly went to the beach to fight with a hand-axe. Seeing that the beach was about to be destroyed, Ji sent out more than a thousand infantry and cavalry to fight. He immediately turned around to attack him and retreated. Then he pursued and trapped him, and defeated him. Ji cut him to death.
The generals and the rest of the troops surrendered, and Pujin fell. Taizu heard this and said: "As for those who were good at using soldiers in ancient times, there was no one who ran two hundred miles along the river in seven days to break two cities and capture a stronghold. This battle is public."
, it can be said that the power of the army has been strengthened, just like breaking a bamboo, after a few knots, it will be solved easily. 'Both the left and the right are convinced.'" - "Jiu Yan Shu". Volume 71. Biography No. 21
ps: Let me tell you something. On the first anniversary of the opening of the book, the book friends are very enthusiastic. Although Baimeng failed, it has made people grateful. Therefore, the comrades of the book club management team seem to organize some activities to give back to everyone. How to respond specifically?
I'm confused about the matter, but I was notified today (just like the Baimeng event) that there is an event mentioned in this chapter first, which seems to be the official enhanced version of Qidian's external power - so I hope everyone will actively participate in this chapter.
Speaking of activities, in addition, I solemnly invite all alliance leaders and genuine subscribers to join the book club group 931557287... because there are other feedback activities, I really don’t know what they are specifically.
