On the north bank of the river, riders patrolled everywhere.
They had nothing else to do but divide into groups and spend the whole day herding horses on the bank, patrolling, and observing the situation on the river.
Starting from August 20th, something went wrong. The Jin army began to send people to the lower reaches to cut down trees, build rafts and boats, and tie them up, making it look like a large pontoon bridge.
After the news was reported, the Jamati camp immediately sent people to row boats to get a closer look.
Stone figures and beasts are being placed on Zhongli City, and it seems that the pontoon bridge will be built towards the north bank. As a result, the newly built pontoon bridge downstream is more confusing...
On the 21st, the general Liu Fu, King of Bohai, arrived at Yewang with more than 10,000 people. In the afternoon of the same day, he quickly rode to the Zhemati camp.
"General." Wang Zhang personally came out of the camp gate to greet him.
Liu Fu is the prince, the king of Bohai, and the general.
Wang Zhang is the general of the Chinese army, with the word "big" added to honor his position, and the level of his office is higher. In fact, there is no essential difference from the generals of the Zhenjun, the generals of the Fujun, and the Zhengzhen Anping.
In other words, there is no essential difference between Wang Zhang's official position in Liu Han and Pingdong General Shao Xun's position in Jin State, and they belong to the same echelon.
Before Liu Fu came, Wang Zhang was the commander-in-chief of the army.
After Liu Fu arrived, he naturally came under his command.
To put it bluntly, Liu Cong still wasn't worried about Wang Zhang, and he didn't seem to have any achievements, so he replaced him.
"How is the traitor situation?" Liu Fu had nothing in his eyes but the Jin army on the south bank.
He has very complicated feelings about the handsome thief Shao Xun.
On the one hand, he was grateful to Shao Xun for defeating Jin Zhun in Gaoping, which made his brother who loved luxury and enjoyment disgraced. Liu Can, the king of Hanoi, was the coach after all, so there was no way he could not bear any responsibility.
On the other hand, he was also worried about Shao Xun's growing popularity.
After the fish watching incident in Fenshui, His Majesty sincerely admitted his mistake and temporarily calmed the dissatisfaction of the ministers.
But Liu Fu knew that his father was already worried.
After King Ye returned to Pingyang, he appointed King Yi of Hejian as General of Chariots and Cavalry, and King Yi of Pengcheng as General of Guards, and ordered his troops to stay on guard.
Wang Kui of Gaoping was the general who conquered the south and suppressed Lishi.
Wang Ji of Jinan was the general who conquered the west and built Xiping City to live there.
Wei Wangcao was the general who conquered the east and suppressed Puzi.
He was the King of Bohai. He led his army to the front line of Zhemati and took over Wang Zhang's position as commander of the army.
The six princes are in charge of the Chinese and foreign armies - although not all, but more than half - is it not clear what the father thinks?
Having more sons has the advantage of helping the father share the pressure.
As the fifth prince, Liu Fu wanted to fight for his own future while fighting for the Han Dynasty.
Wang Zhang was also a straightforward man. He led Liu Fu directly onto the river embankment, pointed his horsewhip and said: "General, please see, the city of Tao Zhu, named 'Zhongli City', has been built. The north gate of Zhongli City reaches up to
At Hepu, we are already burying stone beasts and melting iron chains, intending to lay a pontoon bridge to the north, directly under our feet."
"On the other side of Zhongli City, there is Nancheng, which has not yet been completed. A few miles downstream of Nancheng, the Rangers discovered that the Jin people were cutting wooden boats and seemed to be building a bridge to cross the river."
"News came back from the south bank that the Lord of Jin sent an edict to Heyang, ordering Shao Xun to cross the river quickly and attack Hanoi without any mistakes."
"With these three things in mind, I think Shao Xun is a little impatient and plans to make a desperate move to break into the north bank and build a city to live there."
Liu Fu observed carefully for a while and suddenly sneered.
Wang Zhang looked at him puzzled.
"How do the Chinese army think Shao Xun will cross the river?" Liu Fu asked.
"Maybe we can advance in three directions," Wang Zhang said.
"Try to tell me something."
"The first way is to build a pontoon bridge while marching towards the north bank; the second way is to ferry people by boat and storm up; the third way is to risk building a pontoon bridge downstream to attack the east and attack the west."
"Three ways forward?"
"Advance in three directions."
"I don't think Shao Xun would do this. Of these three routes, one or even two must be false, and only one is true," Liu Fu said.
"General, the most taboo in war is speculation. You still have to be prepared." Wang Zhang advised.
Liu Fu turned his head suddenly and stared at Wang Zhang.
Wang Zhang looked at him calmly, without flinching.
Liu Fu suddenly turned from anger to joy and said: "The general of the Chinese army is old at fighting, and he only listens to you."
Wang Zhang withdrew his gaze from Liu Fu.
It is not difficult to see that King Bohai was not really willing to listen to his opinion.
Speaking of which, although Hanoi Wang Can was extravagant and indulged in pleasure, he was much more open-minded and could listen to opinions.
This King of Bohai lived a simple life, never let go of scrolls, and practiced martial arts constantly. He had a good reputation in the capital, but what kind of character he had was really hard to say.
As far as the Han Dynasty was concerned, he would rather the emperor live a more luxurious life than act recklessly.
"Have arrangements been made for other directions?" Liu Fu asked again.
"It's not that the arrangement is good, it's just that it has been arranged. It's up to God to decide how the outcome will be." Wang Zhang told the truth.
Liu Fu was not very happy.
But he also knows that the outcome of the fight depends not only on himself, but also on the enemy.
Both sides have similar strengths and neither makes mistakes. Even if one side wins in the end, it will be a tragic victory and huge losses.
In most wars, the competition is about who makes fewer mistakes and can catch the enemy's mistakes and win in one fell swoop.
Shao Xun is a seasoned opponent.
It's not that he doesn't make mistakes, but he rarely makes them. Moreover, you only discover many of his mistakes afterwards, and by then you've missed the best opportunity.
However, he was still a little depressed and said bluntly: "Before I came here, I once thought carefully about the two battles of Luoyang and the battle of Gaoping. Shao Xun could at most maintain an undefeated situation. Why did he take the initiative today?"
Attacked?"
"After thinking about it, I really don't understand. The Han Dynasty has no less than 200,000 string control men, and Shao Xun only has tens of thousands of infantry. It is simply unbelievable that he is not pushed to the ground and beaten. Why on earth is this?"
When Wang Zhang heard this, he was also a little silent.
Yes, why?
To be fair, the Han Dynasty has become stronger and stronger in the past few years, its territory is getting bigger and bigger, its household registration is getting more and more, and its money and food are getting more and more.
Even though the siege of Luoyang failed, and even though the southward march to Yanyu failed, they, with the cavalry as their main force, were never severely damaged. On the contrary, they made up for it in other directions, and their national strength increased instead of decreasing.
But as we fought, the battlefield was approaching the north bank of the Yellow River. Why?
A force with almost no cavalry actually relied on step by step to press forward little by little. It was simply outrageous.
To be honest, Shao Xun's strength is not as good as Guanzhong Jia, Liang and others. They can at least recruit a lot of cavalry, and they are not inferior to the King of Zhongshan (Liu Yao) in this aspect.
Within the Han Dynasty, Wang Zhang was most jealous of Shi Le. There was no other reason than that Shi Le could recruit up to 30,000 Jie, Wuhuan, Xiongnu, and Xianbei cavalry from various places at one time. The threat to the Han Dynasty was comparable to 50,000 or 100,000 infantry.
Much stronger.
But now, Shi Le is obeying orders to fight, and Shao Xun is building a city on the river to intimidate Hanoi. It is this man who is the most popular.
"Don't worry, General." Wang Zhang thought for a while and then said: "If our army is defeated, it will not hurt our bones. If Shao Xun is defeated, most of the army will be wiped out. Our army can be defeated many times, and Shao Xun will be defeated once."
If he is wavering, if he loses twice, his power will collapse; if he loses three times, he will die without a place to die. Just wait for him to make mistakes."
"What you say is so unambitious!" Liu Fu sneered.
Wang Zhang didn't answer and just looked at the river.
After a moment, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes and saw a ship sailing away from the anchorage on the river. They were shaking their oars vigorously and gathering on the river.
One boat, two boats, three boats... Gradually, dozens of boats gathered, divided into several groups, and rowed towards the north bank of Jamati.
Liu Fu also saw it, and his expression was both surprised and happy.
"Send the order, gather the cavalry." Liu Fu passed Wang Zhang and ordered directly.
Wang Zhang had no objection, after all, King Bohai was the coach.
What's more, this order is correct.
The infantry camped behind the camp and tried their best to stop the attack.
The cavalry were arrayed in the field. When the enemy's formation was not in order and their personnel were uneven, they suddenly rushed out and drove them down the river in one fell swoop.
The reason why half-crossing attack is famous is because it is really easy to use.
****
Under Xin'an City, another siege ended in failure.
Chen Yong, commander of the base camp, was killed in the battle on the left guard, and more than ten generals under Huang Biao, commander of the forward camp, were wounded, resulting in more than 3,000 casualties.
This time, no one was really sneaking around. The generals and commanders all went into battle shirtless to boost morale, but they still barely breathed a sigh of relief. They stormed the city and were defeated again.
When the troops were retreating, a cavalry force came from nowhere. They circled out from behind the mountains and made a surprise attack. They caused heavy losses to the troops behind them and killed many officers.
The matter has reached this point, and the fight can no longer go on. There is a lot of anger building up in the camp, and it seems that it is about to explode at any time.
"Grand Governor, we can't fight any longer." Pei Kuo, the general of the left guard, had an unkempt beard and sunken eye sockets. He obviously hadn't had a good rest recently and was in a very anxious mood. He just heard him say: "In the past few days, people have been fleeing, and the morale of the army is low. , I’m afraid I won’t be able to fight anymore.”
"I'm just one breath away." Xun Song was a little reluctant to give up.
"It's always a breath away." Sima Huangbiao of the left-back forward battalion who had just wrapped up his wounds did not give Xun Song any face, and mocked: "Wang Mi's casualties are not small, but our casualties are even greater. Those newcomers who are refugees are not the same." Knowing who recruited them, they were greedy for life and afraid of death when attacking the city. They ran away when the rear was cut off. Once night fell, they tried every means to escape from the camp and affected their morale. What's the point of continuing to fight?"
Xun Song stood up and glared at Huang Biao.
Pei Kuo said that he would forget it. Who do you think Huang Biao is? A man who has been farming for generations, how dare you speak so loudly?
The soldiers in the commander's camp looked at Xun Song. As long as he gave an order, Huang Biaoming could be punished.
Xun Song hesitated for a moment and sat back again.
The soldiers were a little disappointed, but not surprised.
If he doesn't even deal with those who cry loudly and play sad songs in the military camp, thus affecting morale, how do you expect him to deal with the generals?
The camp tour seven days ago is still fresh in everyone's memory.
As soon as he returned to the commander's tent, he received a military report: Wang Mi went out of the city to attack at night, and won a great victory. He beheaded more than a thousand people, including several members of the right guard generals, and the number of those who broke up during the night was even greater.
If the angels hadn't arrived later, brought some money and silk rewards, and strictly ordered the camps to continue attacking the city, they would have retreated.
Now we have been fighting for seven more days, except for killing more people, it seems to have no use.
The right guard general Li Yun kept his head lowered and remained silent.
The losses of his troops were greater than those of the left guard, and their morale was even lower, but he did not dare to speak out.
Seeing that Xun Song was still hesitating, he sighed silently in his heart. Fortunately, the wounded soldiers had been sent to Luoyang a few days ago, which reduced a lot of burdens, otherwise the morale would have been even lower during the retreat.
"The enemy cavalry chasing today are probably reinforcements from Pingyang." After receiving Pei Kuo's signal, Xu Lang, the governor of the third division of Zuo Wei, said: "Grand Commander, the Huns have increased their troops, but they are still a fresh force. Our army has been fighting for a long time. We are tired and unable to fight anymore, so we should withdraw our troops."
Seeing that all the generals were unwilling to fight anymore, Xun Song sighed inwardly.
If he goes back this time, he may never get the chance to lead troops again.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Forbidden Army is like a big fire pit, and whoever jumps into it will be disgraced.
Just when he was about to say something, an aide came in a hurry and reported: "Grand Governor, a messenger from Yiyang has arrived. Yan Zhong's military army was suddenly attacked by Shi Le at the Erling Tombs of Xiaoban. Two thousand troops were lost and the rest of the troops fled. Hong Hong Nong Taishou Yuan Yan has summoned all the Wubao tribes to defend Huixibang. This matter is of great importance, so he sent an envoy to report it."
"It turns out he is from Shi Le." Pei Kuo suddenly realized.
Li Yun couldn't stand it any longer and stood up and said: "Grand Governor, our sons and daughters have no intention of fighting. It's time to withdraw and rectify. The Shileduo cavalry are a new force that is recharging their strength. If we drag on any longer, the losses will only increase." big."
Xun Song also felt nervous.
He couldn't help but spread out the map and looked left and right.
Everyone looked at him, with the same meaning in their eyes: Don't fucking look at it, just give the order.
Xun Song glanced at everyone, unable to withstand the pressure, he slowly raised his hand, then lowered it weakly: "Send the order to withdraw the troops."
Chapter completed!