As everyone knows, the most famous generals in Hebei are Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Gao Lan, and Zhang He. They are called the Four Court Pillars of Hebei. They are famous generals in the world and the tiger ministers of Jizhou.
But few people know that there is another person under the four courtyard pillars, who is second only to the four courtyard pillars.
This person is none other than Han Meng.
Historically, Xun You commented that he was sharp but underestimated the enemy. From this point of view, it can be seen that his force was indeed very brave, but he was too reckless and easily underestimated the enemy.
The same is true now. Guan Yu's army has arrived in Neihuang for almost half a month, but Han Meng has not been as vigilant as he should be. Even in the middle of the night, he did not send a large number of people to patrol the city to guard against sneak attacks.
As a result, after the spy opened the city gate, most of the soldiers in the entire city were fast asleep. If it were other more cautious generals, they would never make such a low-level mistake.
However, after Han Meng discovered that the enemy had entered, he responded immediately and immediately led his troops to the camp in the city, hoping to help the soldiers lift the siege and launch a counterattack.
Seeing a powerful enemy general coming, Guan Yu's eyes suddenly turned murderous. He urged Huang Feidian to gallop and shouted: "The enemy general is watching the sword!"
Han Meng heard someone shouting not far behind him. He turned around and saw a fast horse running towards him in the night. Knowing that it was an enemy general, he immediately became energetic, turned the horse's head, raised his sword, and shouted angrily.
: "Just in time!"
Soldiers from both sides moved out of the way, and the yellow claw flying lightning passed over the two surrounding soldiers like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, they came to Han Meng. Guan Yu raised his sword and struck with lightning force.
Seeing the sword coming down, Han Meng did not panic. He pulled the horse and prepared to dodge sideways. At the same time, he made a stance with the sword in his hand, waiting for the enemy to chop the sword into the air. Taking advantage of the opponent's inertia, he had no time to block.
He immediately took out his sword and stabbed Guan Yu under his horse.
However, the next moment, he saw an incredible scene. He saw that the sword that was originally intended to slash down suddenly changed its posture after he dodged it, stopped in mid-air, changed from a slash to a sweep, and stabbed straight into his chest.
throat.
At this time, Han Meng had just dodged the last knife. His body had not yet stopped, and he had no time to raise the knife to block. He could only open his eyes wide and stare blankly at this scene. Almost in the lightning flash, the Qinglong Yanyue knife was already coming.
It reached his neck and instantly scratched his throat.
All the enemy and our soldiers saw Han Meng's head flying high into the sky, blood splattering two feet high. He was still sitting on the horse, his body still maintained the sitting posture, but his head had fallen to the ground, his eyes round.
He opened his eyes with a look of disbelief.
"Humph, you rat."
Guan Yu snorted coldly, glanced at all the enemy soldiers around him, with a terrifying cold look in his eyes, and said lightly: "The enemy general will be beheaded, surrender and avoid death!"
"The enemy general is beheaded, surrender and avoid death!"
"The enemy general is beheaded, surrender and avoid death!"
"The enemy general is beheaded, surrender and avoid death!"
At that moment, the officers and soldiers of Luoyang, whose morale was greatly boosted, immediately shouted, and the waves of their voices were louder than the waves, overwhelming the camp of Yuan's soldiers in Neihuang County.
All the Yuan Jun soldiers looked at each other. After a while, the first soldier who dropped his weapon appeared, followed by the second, third, and fourth...
Yuan Jun knelt on the ground and surrendered, not daring to resist anymore.
Neihuang was successfully captured, and Guan Yu began to attack Fanyang. Sun Jian over there was also heading north. The entire southern part of Wei County was in flames of war. Before Yuan Jun could react, the important town of Neihuang had fallen.
The only bad thing about Jizhou is that it does not have a suitable strategic location. The Yellow River natural barrier is very important to the Qingzhou Army and the Luoyang Army, but it is almost meaningless to the vast Jizhou.
A few days later, Yuan Tan learned that Neihuang had fallen and Fanyang and Liyang were in danger, so he quickly went to Yecheng in person to communicate with Fengji and discuss countermeasures.
After discussion, the two decided to send Yan Liang and Wen Chou to rescue the siege.
After the fall of Anyang that day, Yan Liang Wenchou led the remaining soldiers to escape with difficulty. Yuan Shao asked them to return to Yecheng to defend it. Up to now, more than half a year has passed.
After learning that Yuan Tan Fengji asked them to go and relieve the siege of Fanyang, Yan Liang and Wen Chou began to rectify military affairs while discussing how to deal with the enemy.
The two met at Yan Liang's residence in Yecheng.
Wen Chou said to Yan Liang: "Brother, Guan Yu is much stronger than Lu Bu and Huang Zhong. I'm afraid we two brothers will have to join forces to deal with him."
Yan Liang nodded and said with a wry smile: "Yes, ever since I was almost killed by him in three moves, I have become afraid of him. I'm afraid I will never be able to defeat him in this life."
"Brother, don't be angry. He just had the upper hand that day. If we were to face the enemy head-on, even if eldest brother loses, Lily should be fine."
Wen Chou thought for a while and said: "In this battle, the two of us combined our own troops, with an army of nearly 50,000, can we not defeat Guan Yu? I think Ming Gong is serious, Luoyang is so close, why does he have to attack Qingzhou?
Woolen cloth?"
Yan Liang also couldn't understand, shook his head and said: "Forget it, Ming Gong has his own considerations. Our task is to defend Wei County. Now that Neihuang has fallen, Fanyang Liyang is in danger and must be saved."
How do they know that Yuan Shao does not want to attack Luoyang? But at the Eight Passes of Luoyang, when the 19 princes gathered an army of 300,000 at Hulao Pass, Dong Zhuo's only 780,000 soldiers and horses blocked it for more than half a year. Even if Yuan Shao gathered all his troops,
It's impossible to break through so quickly.
During the meeting in Luoyang, Chen Mu once proposed that once Yuan Shao launched a large-scale attack, Hanoi County would be abandoned immediately, and the main army of the imperial court would retreat to Pingjing Pass, Mengjing Pass, Hulao Pass and other places. Then Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei would immediately attack to seize Bohai, Hejian, and other places.
Zhongshan Kingdom, Changshan Kingdom, Qinghe Kingdom and other places.
As a result, Yuan Shao immediately became very passive. Because the combined strength of Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, one cavalry was unparalleled in the world, and the other infantry was elite and powerful, squeezing his living space step by step. In addition, Luoyang could not be invaded at all, and the final result
There is only one way to die.
Therefore, Chen Mu had already figured out that whether Yuan Shao attacked Luoyang or Youzhou, he would definitely lose. The only way to defeat the strongest Qingzhou first, Hejian Kingdom in the north and Wei County in the south only need to defend their inherent territory, and there are still
A glimmer of hope.
There is no way, Qingzhou is the strongest, if Yuan Shao goes to attack either Luoyang or Youzhou, the destructive power caused by Liu Bei and the other party will be very great, and it will definitely endanger the survival of Jizhou.
However, Luoyang and Youzhou are slightly weaker. Even if he attacks Liu Bei first, with his own strength, he can still defend them without worrying about being defeated.
Therefore, Yuan Shao's group of advisers studied for a long time and finally came to the conclusion that Qingzhou should be conquered first.
Fortunately, for Yuan Shao, the attack on Qingzhou went very smoothly. He first broke through Ling County and Quan County, and then took advantage of the heavy snow and ice to capture Jiuqu of the Yellow River. Then he went deep into Jinan from Jibei Kingdom, forcing Zhang Fei to come back for reinforcements, and then captured Liaocheng.
Bo Ping, endangering Long Min.
When Boping in Liaocheng was captured and lost its strategic location, Liu Bei was left to defend the city alone in the plains. With no reinforcements from all directions, he was forced to evacuate and reached the final defense line of Gaotang.
The Gaotang defense line was the most difficult place for Yuan Shao to fight, because he had no navy, and ships patrolled the river every day, and he could not even sneak across.
In this way, the two sides are at a deadlock. Whether things can turn around or not will ultimately come down to the war between Luoyang and Wei County.
In terms of military strength, after Gongsun Zan and Xian Yufu were repelled, Gongsun Du immediately entered western Liaoning and occupied Youbeiping, Yuyang and other places. Gongsun Zan and Xian Yufu could only rely on Guangyang Zhujun to form a confrontation with Gongsun Du.
In this way, Zhang He and Gao Lan's army will be liberated.
They went south to support Wei County, and the Yuan army lost in the Anyang battle was quickly replenished, and the strength comparison between the two sides was very close.
Luoyang was joined by the Black Mountain Army trained by Ju Yi, with a total strength of nearly 100,000. Yuan Shaodong attacked Qingzhou with an army of almost 120,000. It turned out that Wei County had 89,000 troops. In the battle of Anyang, losses were
It was so heavy that with the help of Gao Lan and Zhang He, the figure was barely restored to 100,000.
But unlike Wei County, which was fully defending the entire county, Luoyang was attacking and had to leave part of its troops behind. So overall, Yuan Jun still had a certain advantage in terms of military strength, but the morale and elite level were far from comparable between the two sides.
Therefore, here in Luoyang, we can see a scene that is rarely seen throughout history. That is, the side with fewer troops takes the initiative to attack the side with more troops, and uses appropriate tactics to suppress the opponent.
Of course, unless the strength ratio between the two sides reaches an absolute ratio of more than 100,000 to several hundred, sometimes 20,000 will defeat 420,000, or 80,000 will defeat 800,000. It is not impossible to defeat.
Therefore, when the strength of the two sides is actually not much different, appropriate tactics and the eliteness of the soldiers are particularly important.
Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others discussed how to defeat the invading Guan Yu.
After hearing what Yan Liang said, Wen Chou frowned and said, "Although we must save him, Guan Yu has an army of twenty to thirty thousand, and Sun Jian cannot be underestimated. How should we fight?"
"Yeah, it's not easy to defeat them."
Yan Liang sighed.
Before he met Guan Yu, he thought he was invincible. However, he was almost killed by three swords last time and lost his courage. This made him have nightmares and haunted him. Now facing Guan Yu, it was even more difficult.
At this moment, the soldiers outside the door suddenly came to report: "General, Duke Ming has sent a message back. The supervisor asked the general and General Wen to come over."
"Did you receive a letter from Duke Ming?"
Yan Liang was refreshed and quickly stood up and said, "Okay, I'll be there right away."
Feng Ji asked him and Wen Chou to relieve the siege of Fanyang and Liyang. He had been rectifying military affairs and preparing for departure these days, but he still had no idea how to fight the battle.
Fortunately, after the fall of Neihuang, Yuan Tan and Feng Ji immediately sent a message to Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao made a decision, he would feel confident.
When the two arrived at Feng Ji's residence, Feng Ji immediately said to them: "General Yan, General Wen, and Duke Ming sent a message asking you to go south immediately to lift the siege of Fanyang and Liyang and drive Guan Yu and Sun Jian out of Wei County.
, we must not let them threaten Yecheng."
"this......."
Yan Liangwen looked at each other ugly, what is the difference between this and the previous order?
Feng Ji smiled and said: "Two generals, do you think this is no different from what I asked you to do before?"
The two did not speak.
Feng Ji continued: "But Ming Gong asked you to defeat Sun Jian first this time."
"Destroy Sun Jian first?"
Yan Liang couldn't help but said: "But isn't Liyang in the south?"
Feng Ji said: "Exactly, Ming Gong ordered General Yan to lead 40,000 infantry to go south first and confront Guan Yu's army outside Fanyang City. Wen Chou crossed from Neihuang to Anyang and raided Liyang with 10,000 light cavalry.
After retreating from Sun Jian, he immediately went north to attack Guan Yu. If we attack from the north and south like this, we will definitely win."
Chen Mu planned to capture Neihuang, but Yuan Shao was not a vegetarian either.
Because the north bank of the Yellow River was still controlled by Yuan Shao at that time, the speed of delivering the message was very fast. The messenger disguised himself as a merchant and set out by boat almost in the morning. He was able to reach Longcuo Ferry the next morning.
This allowed Yuan Shao's group of advisers to quickly conduct careful analysis and come up with countermeasures, which were then delivered to Feng Ji within a few days by fast horses and ordered him to act.
After Yan Liang heard Yuan Shao's instructions, he thought about it and found that it seemed feasible.
Wen Chou took charge of the cavalry of Wei County, and quickly moved south with the speed of the cavalry to raid Liyang. Sun Jian's troops were only ten thousand, and in the plain area, it would be difficult to stop the cavalry offensive. As long as he was defeated, Guan Yu would not be able to join Sun Jian, and their strength would be reduced.
It will not be closer to my own side.
By then Yan Liang, Wen Chou will attack from the north and south again, and Guan Yu's troops will be far inferior to the two, so he will definitely be defeated in this battle.
Thinking of this, Yan Liang suddenly said happily: "You are still wise, okay. I will lead the infantry southward. Uncle evil, you lead the cavalry to attack Sun Jian. As long as Sun Jian is defeated, you will immediately come north to join me."
"good."
Wen Chou nodded. They must faithfully execute Yuan Shao's orders.
At that moment, the two men did not hesitate. Two days later, they organized their army and marched southward, preparing for a decisive battle with Guan Yu.
Neihuang, Liyang, Fanyang, Yin'an and other places are the southern barrier of Wei County. Just like Cao Cao chose to block Yuan Shao's army at Guandu instead of using the high-walled Xudu to resist, Wei County must not let Luoyang's army
He ran to the gates of Yecheng to show off his power.
Yecheng is already the last line of defense. If the Luoyang army is allowed to attack all the outer city barriers, it will be a waste. Even if all the troops are huddled in Yecheng, no one can say whether Yecheng will be lost.
Just like Deng Ai sneaked into Yinping and ran outside Chengdu. All of Yuan Shao's family members are in Yecheng, and most of the family members of the middle and high-level generals on the front line are also in Yecheng. Once they fall, the morale of the army will be immediately dispersed, and Yuan Shao's final solution is to surrender.
undoubtedly.
Therefore, no matter how difficult the situation is, Yan Liang and Wen Chou must defend the southern barrier to prevent the Luoyang army from actually approaching the city.
Soon, at the end of early August, Yan Liang's tens of thousands of troops moved south and stationed on the north bank of Huan River. They were only less than twenty or thirty miles away from the Neihuang and Fanyang areas on the south bank of Huan River, and they were vaguely planning to attack Neihuang.
It seems that he wants to take back this important town.
Guan Yu reacted quickly and immediately stopped attacking Fanyang and led his troops northward. The two sides faced each other across the river, forming a confrontation.
But the Luoyang army did not know that under the cover of Yan Liang, Wen Chou led tens of thousands of light cavalry. After crossing the Huan River from other places, the army quickly went south and headed straight for Liyang!