Xihua County is located northwest of Ruyang and due west of Chen County.
Different from the location of Xihua County in later Zhoukou City, Xihua County at this time was located on the south bank of Yingshui River, about 20 kilometers away from the later Xihua County.
Ruyang County is just southwest of Xihua County, forming a northwest-southeast diagonal line with Zhaoling County from the direction of Yingchuan.
Among them, the three cities of Xihua-Ruyang-Nandun are connected in a line. They are the bridgehead for Runan to defend Sun Jian, with tens of thousands of troops.
It is worth mentioning that later generations said that Yuan Shao was from Zhumadian, which was actually a wrong statement.
Because Zhumadian was close to Nanyang, there was no city at that time and it was a wilderness. Yuan Shao was actually from Ruyang, which was more than 100 kilometers away from Zhumadian.
Therefore, to be precise, Yuan Shao should be from Zhoukou.
Including Ruyang Nandun in Xihua and even Chen County, they were actually counties under the jurisdiction of Zhoukou City later, and they were not far apart.
On the vast plains of eastern Henan, rows of soldiers marched toward Xihua City.
When Sun Jian led his army to arrive outside the city, he saw from a distance that there was a large army stationed three miles west of the city. A steady stream of soldiers were fetching water from the Ying River and cutting down forests along the river.
The number of forests in the plains of eastern Henan has been very small in later generations, but in ancient times, there were not only primitive forests, but also tigers, wolves, wild boars, and leopards on the plains. Most of them lived in the forests and hilly areas, and occasionally ran away.
Attack humans on official roads.
Zhao Yun was stationed on the bank of the Yingshui River, and there were a large number of wild animals inhabiting the forests along the bank. However, in the face of hordes of soldiers, even ferocious wolves and tigers did not dare to come, and they were allowed to cut down the plants.
.
Before the industrial revolution, cutting down these trees had minimal impact on the ecology, because there were endless jungles and vast mountains under the hills outside the city.
This is a green world full of plants. Human beings cannot be said to be the protagonists in this world, and the impact they can have is extremely limited.
Sun Jian first sent people to report the news, and when they approached the camp, Zhao Yun was already waiting for them outside the gate.
At present, Zhao Yun's official position is that of Hanoi Prefect, which is obviously not equivalent to Sun Jian's Yuzhou Mu. However, because they are soldiers of the imperial court, the two sides are barely on the same level. However, Zhao Yun may be more inclined to listen to Sun Jian's opinions on major matters.
After entering the camp, he ordered his soldiers to cut down trees and prepare to set up camp. Sun Jian and several of his men went to the camp of Zhao Yun's general to discuss matters.
In fact, there is nothing to discuss, it is just a matter of how to attack after the camp is set up in a few days.
Because Xihua County is not like Yinqiang Zhaoling in the north, which is almost undefended. There are seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses in the city. With the strong city walls and the lack of siege equipment, this must be a protracted battle.
war.
Finally, after discussion, we decided to rest for a few days and work hard to make relatively simple siege equipment such as ladders, wooden curtains, and trench bridges. When everything was ready, we would attack with all our strength to capture Xihua as soon as possible.
A few days later, an army of nearly 30,000 people was ready. On the top of the city of Xihua County, guard Lei Bo could see the banks of the Yingshui River in the distance. Groups of soldiers came out of the camp one after another. They lined up.
In neat steps, carrying siege equipment, they headed towards Xihua City.
Looking at the mighty army in the distance, Lei Bo knew very well that Xihua City was not high, only two feet and three feet, almost 5 meters high. In addition, there were not many defenders in the city, so it was impossible to resist it for a long time.
So he had already sent a messenger to Ji Ling who was stationed in Ruyang County to ask for help. However, several days had passed and there was still no movement in Ruyang.
What on earth is Ji Ling doing?
Lei Bo didn't know, he only knew that if he didn't order the entire army to prepare for martial law, the enemy would come to kill them.
"The enemy is attacking, the whole army is ready!"
As the messengers shouted in the direction of the city tower, the gongs and drums on the city wall rang, the horns mooed, and the whole city seemed to wake up from the deathly silence.
Groups of soldiers quickly climbed up the city wall from the stairs, and then emerged from behind the crenellations on the city, unsheathing their bows and swords. There was everywhere the sound of the clanking of armored leaves, anxious and angry urging, and uniform shouts.
, there were also short and urgent orders, sharp police whistles, and the huge buzzing sound when the huge bed crossbow was fired, all of which caused chaos on the city wall.
Lei Bo's soldiers were barely well-trained. In just two quarters of an hour, that is, within half an hour, they had rushed to the city wall and were ready. He must be lucky that Runan belongs to the plain area, and he could see extremely well from the city wall.
If there are too many mountains or forests outside the city, it will definitely be too late until the enemy is discovered when they get close to the city.
After all, the defenders do not live on the city wall 24 hours a day. If the defenders in the city are so tight every day, it will have a great impact on the morale and physical strength of the soldiers. Therefore, even if they know that the enemy has appeared outside the city, they still need to let them go.
Soldiers get enough rest.
Almost half an hour later, the enemy had already rushed outside Xihua City. Without any prelude or any concern, Sun Jian carried the ancient ingot sword and swung the sword, and the entire army launched a fierce attack.
The wooden curtain used to block arrows was pushed to the front, followed closely by the soldiers carrying the trench bridge and ladders, and then the sword and shield bearers preparing to climb the trench bridge and ladders.
In fact, since rockets became popular, there are now many princes from all walks of life who have prepared rockets, such as Yuan Shu.
But it was already early March, during the Qingming Festival, and the plains of eastern Henan were in the period of humid and warm spring rains. The sky was gray, and the cool spring breeze was mixed with a little drizzle, which hit people's faces softly like
It's the lover's hand caressing her gently.
But for rockets, this spring rain is particularly fatal. After all, the rockets at this time are wrapped in fish oil and cloth strips. Not to mention the arrows, a little wind can blow them out. There is no way to deal with the ladders and wooden curtains of the trench bridge.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! So Lei Bo could only wait until the enemy soldiers rushed to the bottom of the city, came out from the wooden curtain, and ordered to shoot when they built a trench bridge on the moat.
Xihua has a moat, which is the only good news.
After all, it is right next to Yingshui. It would be unreasonable not to draw a moat from Yingshui.
The soldiers carrying the trench bridge, under the cover of the sword and shield men, laid the trench bridge one after another. The soldiers carrying the ladder behind them rushed over the trench bridge under the rain of arrows and came to the city to set up the ladder.
Arrows rained like rain, screams and wails continued continuously, and a large number of soldiers were shot into the moat. Soon many corpses floated in the river, and the water turned red.
But Sun Jian took the lead and bravely rushed to the front with his shield. Therefore, even if many soldiers did not want to die, they were naturally willing to die when they saw that their leader was so brave and a state pastor who was not afraid of death.
What Lei Bo didn't expect was that Sun Jian was so brave. The Danyang soldiers under his command seemed to be warriors who were not afraid of death. They hit the city in waves like a tide. Although Chen Guo's soldiers and horses were not as brave as the Danyang soldiers,
But as the saying goes, if a soldier is raging, a general will be raging in a nest.
What's more, the four generals from Sun Jian to Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Zu Mao, Han, and the middle-level Danyang soldiers are all so powerful. No matter how good Chen Guo's soldiers and horses are, they can't perform too badly. They also swarm in, covering the entire North like ants.
The city gate is blocked.
For a time, the pressure on the northern city gate increased sharply. The war lasted from morning to afternoon. Both the attacking and defending sides were very exhausted. Sun Jian climbed onto the city wall several times, but was repulsed. The total number of casualties on both sides was nearly a thousand.
Lei Bo had to move most of the southern city gate guards at the bottom of the line to reduce the frontal pressure.
You must know that Sun Jian was the main force of the attack, with more than 10,000 people in the north city, and Zhao Yun was the coordinator, with 10,000 troops divided into two groups and attacking simultaneously from the east and west city gates.
This is the classic tactic of surrounding three and missing one.
Lei Bo originally left 1,500 men in Nancheng, 2,000 in each of the east and west cities, and led 4,000 men to fight in the north. However, Sun Jian put too much pressure on him, forcing him to transfer 1,000 men from Nancheng.
Five hundred men were left to defend.
Fortunately, this is a plain area. If someone attacks outside the city, he can notice it at any time. Lei Bo is not afraid of a sneak attack by a large group of people.
But what worries him is that if this continues, Xihua County may not be able to survive.
What on earth is Ji Ling doing!
Counting the days, the supporting troops should have arrived long ago, why haven't they come yet?
...
...
Just as Zhao Yun's troops marched into Yingchuan from Luoyang, and when Xihua and Sun Jian's troops joined forces to attack Xihua, there were two other troops advancing in Runan, also in Runan.
Nanyang County.
Historically, this was Yuan Shu's territory. But now, it belongs to Liu Biao.
Yuan Shu at this time is similar to his peak period in history. The difference is that there is less Nanyang and more Jingnan.
The larger the territory, the more difficult it is to defend, especially when there is nothing to defend.
Although the Nanyang Basin is wrapped by the Funiu Mountains, there are still several passages from Nanyang to Runan, such as the Wanye Ancient Road, the Sanya Ancient Road, the Wanxiang Ancient Road, and the Tongbai Ancient Road.
Cao Cao's conquest of Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei's burning of Bowang Slope all took place nearby. It is the most important transportation hub in the Central Plains and Jiangnan region.
Now Nanyang is occupied by Liu Biao, and Yuan Shu is also eyeing Nanyang. The troops of both sides clashed several times in Wuyin, Biyang, and Fuyang areas to the north of Nanyang.
These places are actually Biyang County and Tongbai County in later generations. There are three ancient roads in the Tongbai Mountains that can lead directly to Yuzhou.
In fact, in Yuan Shu's view, his biggest enemy was Liu Biao.
Because Liu Biao occupies a favorable geographical position, he firmly controls several traffic passes on the Tongbai Ancient Road, like a tortoise shell, allowing Yuan Shu to fail several attacks. However, Jingzhou is still in the hinterland of the center of his power, making him
Having trouble sleeping and eating.
In fact, looking at the current location of Liu Bian, we can see that the northern part of Jingzhou plus the Nanyang Basin is equivalent to the Nanyang-Xiangyang-Jingzhou-Wuhan in later generations. This terrain is bounded by Funiu Mountain to the north, Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountain to the west.
, Wushan is to the south, and Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain are to the east.
The entire territory is surrounded by mountains. As long as it occupies the transportation passes of the mountains, coupled with the developed water system and powerful navy, not to mention that Yuan Shu does not have a navy now. Even if he did, he would probably be nothing compared to Liu Biao's turtle shell.
The end result of a broken tooth.
Therefore, Yuan Shu had to send heavy troops to defend Yang'an, Langling, Shenyang, Ancheng and other places, and he personally sat in Pingyu to prevent Liu Biao from sneak attacks. At the same time, he sent Zhang Xun to assist Tao Qian in attacking Yanzhou until Yanzhou was captured.
They then jointly attacked Sun Jian, annexed the entire Yuzhou, and then slowly dealt with Liu Biao.
The abacus was good, but Yuan Shu obviously miscalculated. After the imperial court issued an edict and the envoy sent by Liu Bei explained the key points, Liu Biao, with the support of Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and others, decided to send troops and sent Huang Zu from Wanye Ancient Road.
Pass through Ye County, go to Wuyang in Yingchuan, and attack Xiping.
Just as Yuan Shu did not expect Luoyang to send troops before, he also did not expect that Liu Biao did not send troops from the Tongbai Ancient Road in the east, but entered Yingchuan from the Wanye Ancient Road in the north, and then went south to attack Xiping. Therefore, without any defense, Xiping directly
Fall.
In fact, the location of Xiping is very similar to that of Zhaoling, both in the northwest of Runan. The difference is that the current Xiping is Wuyang County in later generations, but Luohe City in later generations. The two places are separated by more than 50 kilometers.
Therefore, Liu Biao did not know that Sun Jian and Zhao Yun were in Xihua County, 100 kilometers east of him. After all, information was not developed at this time, and they did not have telephones, so they could not communicate.
However, he does not know the specific location of Sun Jian and Zhao Yun, which does not mean that he does not know that Sun Jian and Zhao Yun have sent troops to Runan.
Because the imperial edict had clearly stated that he was required to cooperate with Sun Jian and Zhao Yun's actions. Moreover, after Zhao Yun entered Xihua, he had already sent people to Nanyang to report the news. Soon both sides would know the other's location and cooperate as soon as possible.
A few days later, Yuan Shu learned that Xihua and Xiping counties were attacked at the same time, and that Xiping had been captured. Liu Biao's army was heading south to Wufang and Tiaoyang counties. He couldn't help but feel furious and led his troops northward in person.
There were fifty or sixty thousand soldiers and horses defending Liu Biao in the south. At this time, Yuan Shu relied on his family's foundation in Runan and several years of development in Jingnan, and his military strength was close to its peak.
Historically, he had 170,000 soldiers and horses, and it is not much different now. Except for the 60,000 to 70,000 defenders in Jingnan and Yangzhou, most of the troops are concentrated in Runan. There are 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses to guard against Liu Biao, and 50 to 60,000 to guard against Sun Jian.
There are 30,000 troops and horses. As for Chen Wen, there is no need to defend because he already occupies half of Yangzhou, so he only needs to station troops in Lujiang County.
At the beginning of March, Yuan Shu led an army of 40,000 troops straight to Wu Fang. However, what he did not expect was that the enemy attack he imagined did not come. After investigation by scouts, it was discovered that Huang Zu's army had no choice after breaking through Xiping.
Instead of going south to attack Wu Fang, they went to the east to attack Dingying. It seemed that they were going south to capture Cai Ben and Pingyu.
Therefore, Yuan Shu had to return to Cai. In the end, Huang Zu took advantage of the weak Dingying garrison with only a few thousand people to successfully raid Dingying and occupied Dingying County. In this way, he and Yuan Shu's troops were in Ru River
The upper reaches and the other downstream of Ru River are facing each other at a distance of more than 30 kilometers.
This can be regarded as a trick played by Huang Zu. He pretended to go south to attack Wu Fang, which made Yuan Shu misjudge and thought that he was attacking the Langling area of Yang'an in the south. If this area was captured, Liu Biao's large army could attack from Tong.
The Baigu Road goes directly east.
Although there are advisers under Yuan Shu who believe that with Jingnan and Yuzhang and Jiujiang surrounded by three sides, Liu Biao is unlikely to press in with a large army and come to Yuzhou. However, Runan is Yuan Shu's foundation and there is no room for failure, which naturally makes him mess up.
Array.
For a time, under the three-party attack of Sun Jian, Zhao Yun and Liu Biao, the entire north of Runan was in chaos, with fighting everywhere. Yuan Shu kept putting out the fire, feeling a bit exhausted.