Chapter 211 The tiger lurks in the east of the river
Gao Lan and the war horse beneath his crotch split into two halves, blood turned into raindrops and scattered in all directions. Zhang Liao was covered in blood and stood like a god and demon.
The Mod Dao of the Tang Dynasty has always enjoyed the reputation of "breaking both men and horses".
But looking at the history books of the Tang Dynasty, only Li Siye, the famous Modao general, has records of killing both men and horses.
So in summary, it is almost impossible for ordinary people to "break up both men and horses". Except for a few monsters with superior arm strength, they only appear under special circumstances.
Zhang Liao now belongs to a special environment. Even though he was a first-class military general in the late Han Dynasty, he did not have the same arm strength as Xu Chudianwei. It would be difficult to accomplish such a thing under non-special conditions.
So how did Zhang Liao do it?
Very simple.
The Qingzhou Army's replacement of high-quality weapons and the Yuan Army's backward equipment.
As mentioned before, the armor weapons of the Han Dynasty were mostly black. Because steel-making technology was not yet developed, the iron tools at this time contained high sulfur content, were generally not bright in color, and were far less strong and tough than steel.
After the Tang Dynasty, metallurgical technology developed, so the weapons and armors at that time were stronger, such as the famous Mingguang Armor.
The materials of the Tang Dynasty's Mo Dao and armor were almost the same, and their defensive power and attack power were equal. Therefore, even if the Mo Dao was very sharp, it was still very difficult to kill both men and horses.
However, Zhang Liao's sword in the Han Dynasty was made of fine steel and iron swords like the double sword, Qinglong Yanyue sword, Zhangba snake spear, etc. The armor Gao Lan wore was just an ordinary iron armor. When encountering the extremely sharp steel sword,
Naturally, the only way out is to drink in hatred.
On the battlefield, Zhang Liao was breathing heavily. Among the four pillars of Hebei, Gao Lan's military force was the weakest. Even though he once defeated Xu Chu, Xu Chu was not strong in the early days. He and Xu Huang were also defeated by Guan Yu, so at that time
Gao Lan's combat prowess should not be at the level of a first-rate general.
Later, Chang Banpo was stabbed to death by Zhao Yun, which can prove this. Throughout the Three Kingdoms of the late Han Dynasty, Xu Chu and Zhao Yun's military strength should belong to the growth-type generals. They were teenagers when they appeared on the stage, and they did not become more mature until middle age.
sharp.
In comparison, Zhao Yun should be stronger than Xu Chu. If Xu Chu's force value grew from 70 to 96 in the mid-to-late stage, then Zhao Yun's force value was already around 90 when he appeared, and then grew all the way to 98.
Therefore, with the relatively weak force value and the huge difference between weapons and armor, Zhang Liao was finally able to complete an almost impossible task, splitting Gao Lan in two with one knife!
Gao Lan was killed in such an impactful way, which shocked all the Jizhou troops. Everyone was stunned and at a loss.
After a while, someone tremblingly shouted: "General... the general is dead!"
"Behead the generals and seize the flag, no matter who else but me, the army will be victorious, the army will be victorious!"
The next second, all Zhang Liao's personal guards burst into loud cheers, and the team of only 500 people rushed toward the Jizhou Army like a huge wave.
The morale of one soared and the morale of the other fell sharply. In an instant, the army was defeated like a mountain. Even if the number of soldiers was several times that of the Qingzhou Army, they lost their helmets and armor and scattered like birds and beasts.
Although Zhang Liao used all his strength to chop Gao Lan with his knife, seeing that the victory was determined, he still held on and roared: "Kill!"
"kill!"
The Qingzhou army swarmed towards Yuan Jun and killed them.
Zhang Liao ignored the soldiers. As usual, he immediately rushed to the location of Gao Lan's general's flag. The flag-bearer simply dropped the flag and fled in panic. Zhang Liao picked up the flag and cut it in two with a knife.
This place is still about a mile away from the frontline battlefield, and it is uphill. It is not easy for the soldiers on the frontline to see clearly what is going on here.
But people everywhere shouted "The general is dead, the general is dead", and the troops were routed like a wave.
The soldiers on the front line were unaware of the situation and looked around, but they happened to see the collapse of General Gao Lan's flag. Suddenly the whole army was in chaos. Everyone was scurrying around like ants on a hot pot, and the front and back formations collapsed.
The defeat only happened in an instant. After Yuan Jun's rear formation collapsed, the chain reaction began to spread rapidly to the front formation. At this time, the front formation was still fighting with the Qingzhou Army, and it was not known what happened.
However, more and more people fled, and the pressure in the front suddenly increased. Looking back, all the front-line soldiers were frightened to death. Only then did they realize that all their comrades in the rear were actually running away.
This directly led to the complete collapse of the Jizhou Army. When Wang Hu and other Qingzhou Army generals discovered this scene, their morale immediately increased and they shouted: "General, the enemy has been defeated, kill!"
"kill!"
Deafening shouts came one after another, and the Qingzhou Army worked hard to defeat the Jizhou Army in front, completely controlling the entire battle situation.
Next, we have completely entered the finishing stage. From the start of the battle at about three o'clock in the afternoon, it has now been more than an hour, almost six o'clock in the afternoon. In the evening, the sun sets in the west, the evening breeze of spring blows, and the air is filled with
It has the fragrance of green grass and the pungent smell of blood.
At this time, on the official road in the distance, Liu Bei's army also arrived belatedly, looking at the battlefield in the distance through the afterglow of the setting sun.
Zhang Liao's vanguard army is located on the front line of Linxi, only 25 kilometers away from Ganling where Liu Bei is. And Linxi is more than 20 kilometers away from Jieqiao. They set off at 6 a.m. and arrived at 2 p.m. on average every day.
Walk 3 kilometers in an hour.
However, because Zhang Liao was the vanguard and had to deal with the enemy head-on, he had to be a little more cautious when marching. He also had to rest for a while and have lunch in the middle, so his speed was slower than that of the rear army.
Since Liu Bei's army had Zhang Liao's army ahead of them, they marched much faster, walking an average of 4 kilometers per hour, and arrived at the battlefield just at this time.
Seeing the Jizhou army fleeing across the mountains and plains in the distance, Gao Shun immediately shouted to the soldiers to prepare to put on their armor.
The enemy troops were heavy infantry. The armor was not worn all the time. Instead, it was carried on horseback vehicles. When encountering an emergency, it was very inconvenient and needed to be temporarily worn. Therefore, once there was any trouble, Gao Shun would order the soldiers to put on the armor first.
Get dressed before talking.
However, Liu Bei's order was conveyed at this time, and the messenger told Gao Shun that Zhang Liao's side was already in the final stage of the war and there was no need to fight anymore. Gao Shun then ordered the soldiers not to wear armor again.
Liu Bei and Chen Mu rode on horseback and looked into the distance. They saw that the morale of the Qingzhou army was like a rainbow, driving the Jizhou army to run around. Some people panicked and fled to the east.
The Guards quickly rushed over, surrounded the hundreds of Jizhou defeated troops, and forced them to surrender.
After a while, a Yuan Jun squad leader was escorted over.
"Liu...Liu Gong!"
The team leader actually knew Liu Bei, and when he saw him, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
Liu Bei asked in surprise: "Do you know me?"
The team leader kowtowed with a mournful face and said, "I am from Guantao. That year, Liu Gong passed by Guantao. I followed the county magistrate to see Liu Gong off."
"oh."
Liu Bei vaguely remembered that more than ten years ago, just after the Yellow Turbans were conquered, the imperial court appointed him as the Prime Minister of Jinan. When he and the three brothers Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Chen Mu were returning north to Zhuojun, they passed by Guantao and thousands of people came to see him in the city.
Sending scene.
There was heavy snowfall that year, but it could not match the enthusiasm of the people of Guantao. Times have changed, and more than ten years have passed in a flash. Time... flies so fast.
"Since you know my brother and know his benevolence and righteousness, why do you still help him do evil?"
Chen Mu asked casually.
The squad leader laughed miserably and said: "I don't want to be an enemy of Liu Gong. However, Yuan Shao forced us to conscript us. There is nothing we can do. If we don't join the army, we will have to pay heavy taxes. To make a living for our family, we have to do it."
Liu Bei and Chen Mu looked at each other. Yuan Shao had actually begun to recruit soldiers instead of forcibly recruiting strong men. This could only mean one thing - successive years of failed campaigns, coupled with the loss of troops and generals in several battles, had resulted in Yuan Shao's insufficient strength.
You can now choose to conscript strong men.
"Since it was caused by Yuan Shao's tyranny, you were also forced to do it, and I will not blame you harshly. The Yuan family betrayed the Han Dynasty and lost the support of the people. One day, they will be abandoned by heaven. And I conclude that this day will no longer exist.
Far."
Liu Bei had no intention of killing the prisoners. He turned his head and looked into the distance and said, "When I eradicate the Yuan family and restore the country of Han Dynasty, you will naturally be able to live and work in peace and contentment."
"Thank you Mr. Liu."
The squad leader was taken away again.
Liu Bei's troops were dispatched to help Zhang Liao clear the battlefield.
Thousands of prisoners were escorted, and weapons and equipment, as well as the Gaolan camp in the rear, were all occupied by Liu Bei's army.
Yuan Jun also deployed troops on the bridge, but when he saw the overwhelming Liu Bei army attacking, he had no choice but to guard the bridge and did not dare to come to rescue.
After a while, Zhang Liao, who had all the blood on his body, came to Liu Bei to see him. The best achievement of a general is to bathe in the enemy's blood. Even if the blood sticks his hair together, it still does not change his demeanor.
"Ming Gong!"
Zhang Liao knelt down on one knee and said: "Liao is lucky to have lived up to his command!"
Liu Bei didn't mind at all that he was covered in blood. He went up to help him up and laughed happily: "Hahahahaha, good, good, good. Wenyuan defeated Yuan's army in this battle. He is really the master of Xionghu!"
"Thank you Ming Gong for your praise."
Zhang Liao stood up and said to Liu Bei: "In this battle, we have to rely on the soldiers at the front to hold back the enemy's main force. Only then did I find an opportunity to detour to the rear and surprise the enemy's main formation."
Liu Bei said: "What was the specific process of this battle? I will personally write a report and report it to the court to ask for credit for Wen Yuan."
Zhang Liao judged that the enemy was setting up an ambush in the east, so he attacked the enemy's main force in the west. After detecting that the enemy had moved the archers on the east side, he then detoured to the east and told in detail the experience behind the surprise attack on Gao Lan.
"Gao Lan made two fatal mistakes in this battle. First, he moved the ambush on the east side to the west side. Second, he did not build more fortifications on the slope. It was too stupid."
Compared with Liu Bei who was more concerned about petitioning the imperial court for Zhang Liao, Chen Mu's focus was on the tactics of both the enemy and ourselves.
Originally, Gao Lan had a great advantage from being condescending, but he did not continue to expand this advantage. If he rebuilt this slope, he created a fortification base, such as digging traps and trenches in the dune area on the west side.
, and arrange some bed crossbows and kerosene, it is not impossible to defeat Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao hurriedly said: "It's Liao's luck."
Chen Mu laughed: "No, Wenyuan did a good job in this battle and accurately understood the enemy's weaknesses. The reason why I say this is to let you analyze the reasons for our defeat and victory in the future and learn from experience.
, only by growing up in the war can we shoulder greater responsibilities."
"Thank you, Mr. Fu, for your advice."
Zhang Liao's modesty should be that he did a very good job in this battle. He was able to adapt to the situation and behave like a general. If evaluated in the future, he might be able to reach the level of the Five Tigers in the future. In terms of battlefield ability, he is probably still above Zhang Fei.
Liu Bei's army successfully occupied the east of the boundary bridge and began to build a new camp based on the river embankment. Building a new camp did not take a day or two. It was getting late today, so the soldiers could only occupy the Gaolan camp first, and then
Will build again tomorrow.
As for Yuan Jun, when the news that Gao Lan was defeated and he was killed reached Yuan Ying, the entire army was in a state of desolation, and there was silence everywhere.
When Yuan Shao heard the news, he felt tight in his chest and almost wanted to vomit blood.
Many counselors had no choice but to advise Yuan Shao to calm down the people first, and then rely on the terrain to fight Liu Bei's army to the death when he attacked.
But the results often exceed everyone’s expectations.
After Liu Bei's army occupied the east of the boundary bridge, the pace seemed to slow down all of a sudden. They no longer started to make any movement towards the boundary bridge. Instead, they built a new camp about half a mile away from the boundary bridge. It seemed that they had the potential to fight for a long time.
Prepare.
A few days later, Yuan Shao led many generals and counselors to the high slopes in the west of the river and looked across the river. They saw that in the east of the river, they were in full swing building fortifications and casting camps.
Wan Shengjun, the trapped army and Liu Bei's headquarters built three large camps. The large camp was divided into several small camps, which were horns to each other. The camps were connected by passages, and there were sand and cement walls on the outside.
To the west of the border bridge, Yuan Jun faced each other across the river.
Neither side took the initiative to attack, nor did they have any interaction. They didn't even have the idea of attacking the bridgehead, or tentatively attacking Liu Bei's camp from the bridgehead. The entire battlefield seemed to have become extremely peaceful overnight.
In fact, it is reasonable for Liu Beijun to slow down his offensive momentum.
It was the time of the spring floods and it was a fool's errand to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river. Liu Bei had no desire to cross the river now. The enemy had the right time and place and would forcefully attack the boundary bridge, which would inevitably result in the loss of troops and generals.
Therefore, Liu Bei's army still acted according to the original plan. The main force first occupied the east of the boundary bridge, and then sent Zang Ba, Zhang Fei and other troops to sweep other counties along the river.
First, bring everything east of Qingshui into your own sphere of influence, and then pretend to attack Weiqiao by pretending to attack the east and attack the west.
And Yuan Shao was not in a hurry.
Jizhou is rich in products, with an area of cultivated land twice that of Qingzhou, and a grain reserve of more than 30 million dan, which is more than Qingzhou's. Yuan Shao is not at all panicked in a war of attrition.
But in general, after all, the enemy has already arrived at the doorstep, and it is obviously too passive to think of a way to deal with it.
Therefore, Yuan Shao also summoned many counselors to discuss countermeasures to see if there was any way to deal with the enemy.