In the sixth year of Guanghe, on June 24, in Guangping, the Han army's Bei Zhonglang general camped at Zhangshui.
After the victory over the Hebei Yellow Turbans in Handan, fourteen days ago, Lu Zhi and his clan members won another great victory in Quliang. The Hebei Yellow Turbans once again retreated north to Guangping, not far from Julu County, where they once again faced off with Han soldiers.
When Lu Zhi led his troops, they realized that this place was obviously a long-planned position of Taiping Road. The thieves built three pontoon bridges on the Zhang River, and built six stone fortresses lined up on the remains of the Zhao Great Wall.
They repaired to the Zhang River.
The east bank of Zhangshui is home to Quzhou and Guangzong, the headquarters of Taiping Dao in Hebei for 20 years. There are nearly 100,000 Taiping Dao believers here, who can cross Zhangshui at any time from the three pontoon bridges built to assist the positions on the west bank of Zhangshui.
Lu Zhi now understood why Taiping Road had to resist all the way from Handan to the north. It turned out that in Guangping, relying on the pontoon bridge over Zhangshui River and the ruins of the Zhao Great Wall, a camp belt twenty miles wide from east to west was constructed to fight against the Han soldiers.
A long confrontation.
Lu Zhi, who was both civil and military, could tell at a glance that the key to this battle lay in the three pontoon bridges on the Zhang River. As long as these three pontoon bridges were there, the Taiping Road reinforcements on the east bank of the Zhang River would be able to continuously cross the river to provide support, so they could only fight with
The Yellow Turban Army has reached a positional battle.
Lu Zhi originally had an army of 20,000, which had been combined with Hanoi, Weijun, Zhao, Julu and 4,000 Youzhou cavalry from the north. Now his army has reached 40,000. It is an exaggeration to mention that this army is rampant in the world.
, but sweeping Heshuo was completely enough, so even if Lu Zhi saw the key to this battle, he only planned to defeat Shihui with one force.
Therefore, he ordered his former army Zhang Ze from Wei County to attack the Lianzhai on the outskirts of Guangping. But unfortunately, except for the loss of troops and generals, they gained nothing. This general Zhang Ze was so angry that his beard exploded, thinking that he had defended Yecheng before and there was peace.
There was nothing we could do against him. Now if he were to attack, he would end up with the same outcome.
After several days of fierce fighting, the morale of the Han army was slightly depressed. As a last resort, Bei Zhonglang's general Lu Zhi personally recruited a hundred brave men who dared to die, and he was led by his general Lu Fang. Taking advantage of the dark night and the mist shrouded in the Zhang River, he rowed a small boat,
He was wielding a big axe, trying to cut off the iron cables and cut off the pontoon bridge. However, in the quiet night, the sound of rowing boats alerted the Yellow Turban Army guarding the pontoon bridge, and the lights were bright for a while.
Lu Fang was horrified, and just as he was about to push his army forward, the Yellow Turban camp was lit with fire and arrows were fired, and arrows rained down. Lu Fang was at the head of the line, and he was hit by dozens of arrows and sank into the river. The other warriors were also hit by fire arrows.
The people lying in the boat kept wailing. After a while, the cry gradually became inaudible, but the mist was filled with red color.
Lu Zhi set up a water stronghold, and his relatives were in miserable condition, but they were silent. The left and right were uneasy, and when Jia Yong was about to invite a fight, Lu Zhi had already held his breath and fainted on the ground. It was night, and the Han army's stronghold was silent all night.
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The next day, as the morning light dimmed, the Han army's morning drums sounded.
Lu Zhi was lying on the couch, his face pale and green with frost. He slowly woke up and looked at the generals gathered in front of the couch, with an anxious look on his face and a warm heart. The Lu family in Zhuojun had been in business for a hundred years and finally gained some prestige. These Han court officials
The important general still obeyed him. As for the soldiers on one side, not to mention, they all had a close relationship with him and were extremely loyal to the Lu family. They were even more heartbroken at this moment. But not long after Lu Zhi was moved,
Then I thought of my nephew Lu Fang's voice and smile, and of the red color that filled the Zhang River last night. I couldn't help but cover my face with my palms and cry muffledly.
After suppressing the turbulence in his heart, Lu Zhi stood up and asked the generals:
"Last night, we failed because I didn't check the situation. The brave men in our army died in vain. If we don't kill the yellow scarf ant thief, it won't be enough to vent my anger. If I don't kill, it won't be enough to comfort my nephew's spirit. But the thieves are cunning and have good location.
By the way, do you have any plans for me?"
Everyone looked at each other speechless, and Lu Zhi sighed, also feeling gloomy and gloomy.
Suddenly, the tent door opened, and a bearded man came in on his knees. The guards outside the tent were shocked and scolded the bearded man.
The beard man was still waiting to advance, but the guard was angry and hit the beard man on the ankle with his knife. The beard man fell to the ground wailing, and the guardsmen on both sides dragged the man out of the tent to deal with him.
Anyone who dares to penetrate directly into the Chinese army's tent will be killed directly.
The bearded man also knew that what he had just done had violated a taboo in the army, and knew that if he did not speak out, he would definitely die, so he shouted:
"Ming Gong, don't try to harm me, I have a plan to defeat the thief."
The guards dared to bark when they saw this man. They were afraid that Lu Zhi would be angry and continue to drag the bearded man for more than ten feet. They must deal with it carefully.
It came suddenly. Lu Zhi was looking sad and gloomy when the bearded man suddenly appeared and was dragged away by the guards. When he heard that this man had a plan to defeat the thief, he didn't care to say anything and rushed towards the beard man.
Later, when he saw that the guard was still dragging the bearded man, Lu Zhi became angry and his eyes turned cold. He even picked up a horse and threw it at the guard who was dragging the bearded man. Lu Zhi didn't care, so the horse brushed against the guard.
The side of his face broke the tent.
But this still made the guard kneel down in shock with a panic-stricken look on his face, just because Lu Zhi was not only the general of the Northern Palace of the Han Dynasty, but also the head of the Lu family in Zhuo County, and one word could determine their life or death.
This guard was prostrate. The other guards did not dare to pull any more and just stood aside. Seeing Lu Zhi suddenly rise up, the bearded man was also frightened. But knowing that life and death depended on this move, even though his body shook, he was still alive.
Tell Lu Zhi to thwart the thief's plan.
This bearded man, whose surname is Meng Mingguan. He was originally a wandering knight in the market of Ye County. He admired the stories of his predecessors, read several military books, gathered with fellow villagers, learned about big words, and said that he had the art of defeating thousands of people. This time
, the Han army sent a large force to attack the Yellow Turban Army in Hebei Province. They were greedy for the money and food in the army, so they enlisted in the army. Because they had a good beard, the generals in the dental gate liked the magnificence of the teeth, so they recruited him as a guard to guard the dental tent.
Before, he heard Lu Zhi lamenting about the inability to defeat the thief outside the tent, and he was moved in his heart. He gritted his teeth and tried to get rich. Unexpectedly, he almost lost his life. If Lu Zhi hadn't lost his nephew this time, he was desperate to solve the problem.
It was a thief's plan. Otherwise, with the strictness with which he ran the army, anyone who dared to break into the Chinese army's tent would have been exposed to the public by the owl.
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Two days later, on June 27, the morning light dimmed and the military drum beat three hundred times.
Lu Zhi led the attack on the villages, and all the armies advanced together. At the same time, the Yecheng navy of the Han Dynasty sent out more than ten iron boats, with cow leather on them and a brazier in front, and they sailed upstream in a mighty manner.
The Yellow Turban Army in the water village had already seen the Han army's cockroach. According to the old plan, they fired fire arrows, but they were bounced away by the cowhide on the cockroach. The cockroach rowed with the oars of the ship, went upstream, and reached the first layer of iron cables.
At this time, the dead man lying at the bow of the ship lit the fire oil in the brazier, and the flames suddenly rose, burning the iron chains red. Another dozen or two big men in helmets and armor, covered with rugs, held axes and fiercely chopped off the iron chains.
If so, the pontoon bridge is broken.
The Yellow Turban Army stationed on the east bank of the Zhang River was furious when they saw that the pontoon bridge was broken. They also saw the Han Army moving down the river, and the walled city on the other side of the river was surrounded by Han troops.
Stationed at the barrier on the east bank of the Zhang River was the Yellow Turban general Zuo Zhaozhangba. He personally led his troops to rescue him and sent troops to the east bank. However, the pontoon bridge was broken and there was a Han army boat division crossing it, so they could not advance. When all the generals were suspicious, Zuo Yanzhangba ordered Zhang Yan, a good traveler in the army, to swim Zhangshui into Guangping in hiding to explore the situation in the city.
Stationed in Guangping is Yang Feng, a young commander of the Yellow Turban Army. He has a sinister temperament and a bit of courage. He is a local tycoon. He has always been a knight and is quite popular among the people. Because he was dissatisfied with the arrogance of the county officials, the Taiping Road uprising broke out in April. At that time, he responded by raising troops, killed the county magistrate, and sent the Yellow Turban Army into the city. After the war, he was the most meritorious and was stationed in Guangping.
At this time, Yang Feng was wearing armor and led his troops to stand in the south city of Guangping, hoping to stop the Han army. However, the Han army sent a force of 40,000 troops and besieged it on all sides. The walls built outside the city were also surrounded by Han soldiers. He couldn't help it. In addition, Yang Feng felt that the defense line was impregnable, and he was not well prepared for falling rocks and rolling wood, so the Han soldiers rushed straight to the city, but he was caught off guard.
But in the face of this critical situation, Yang Feng was upset but encouraged the troops:
"Brothers, the enemy is afraid of the reinforcements from our friendly forces on the east coast, and wants to take advantage of my will to win. But the billions of sons of our rebel army are all brothers. How can Commander Zuo sit back and wait for us when we are in trouble? I I expect reinforcements from Commander Zuo will be on the way. Brothers, we will fight against the Han thieves together."
At this time, Zhang Yan swam in the Zhang River, climbed up the rope to Guangping, and met Yang Feng.
Yang Feng took Zhang Yan's arm, pushed him to the left and right, and said:
"Brothers, do you have any doubts? This brave man is General Zuo Shuai. When you enter the city, tell me that Zuo Shuai's reinforcements are coming soon. I hope we will live up to Huang Tian's kindness and swear to defend Fancheng."
Hearing this, the troops clamored and regained their momentum.
Seeing that morale had recovered a little, Yang Fengcai whispered to Zhang Yan:
"What do you call a strong man?"
"Changshan Zhang Yan"
"Okay! Brother Zhang enters the city alone, he must be a brave and heroic man. My previous actions were nothing more than deceitful tricks, and my strength can be strong or weak. Our army will be exhausted and trapped in an instant. I hope that the strong men will take pity on the thousands of children in my city and return. The east coast informs Commander Zuo to send a large army to help as soon as possible, otherwise all the big things will come to a halt."
At this time, Zhang Yan looked at Yang Feng with a look of sympathy, which was very different from the previous one.
But Zhang Yan had no choice but to tell Yang Feng about the destruction of the pontoon bridge and the blocking of reinforcements by the Han navy's navy. When Yang Feng heard this, he seemed speechless and seemed to have the will to die. He waved his hand and told Zhang Yan to return and do his best.
Zhang Yan descended from the city, killed several warriors, and swam back to the east bank. Without stopping to breathe, he saw Zuo Zhaozhangba, warning that Guangping was in danger. Zuo Yanzhangba did not expect that Yang Feng was so careless and underestimated the Han army. He was so angry that he cursed this bitch in front of all the horses.
But because of Huang Tian's grand plan, Guangping could not be defeated. Once broken, the Zhangshui defense line would be broken, and the Yellow Turban Army would have no choice but to retreat to Guangzong.
There was no other way. The eight generals in Zuo Beard Zhang called over and asked if they had any plans. These generals on the Taiping Road were generally rude, and few of them had plans in mind. They all frowned and racked their brains but couldn't come up with one, two or three. .
But at this moment, a brave man raised up all of them, it was Ku Shai, and he said bravely:
"Lu Zhi came here with the intention of making this move. If our army does not cross, Guangping will definitely not be able to defend it. There is no other way to do it today, but to fight to the death without risking one's life. What plan can I use? I am willing to take the lead.
Brothers under my command, we will recruit soldiers from Qu's commander's bodyguard who are willing to die, and gather three hundred of them together, so that the whole army can ascend first."
As soon as he said this, Zuo Beard Zhangba applauded loudly. Without any delay, he directly selected the 300 bravest men who dared to die from the guards and handed them over to Kushai. Then he took out the fifty small boats that had been hidden earlier and gave them to Kushai.
Cross the river.
Before setting off, Zuo Zhangba personally invited Zhuangxing to drink for all the warriors.
Zuo Zhangba finished the wine in one gulp and said solemnly:
"Brothers, today is a matter of life and death for me in Taiping Dao. I am ashamed and cannot set out with the brothers, but I swear on Huang Tian that you will go first and I will follow, and I will not let the brothers die alone."
After saying that, the left beard shouted loudly:
"Dead ball!"
Kushai and other three hundred warriors all finished their wine and shouted loudly:
"Dead ball!"
Later, Kushai and other warriors were driven across the river by boat with their axes in hand. Kushai's troops were approaching the ship. Arrows were flying on the ship, and their troops suffered heavy casualties. Kushai led his troops to cross the river and seize the upper reaches.
The kerosene prepared in the boat was ignited, and then they took off their armor and jumped into the river. However, there were still those who could not take off their armor and sank to the bottom of the river.
The kerosene boat went down the river and set fire to the Han army's fleet. The Han army on the stern was in a commotion. The fire became more and more intense. Some desperate people jumped into the water to escape, but countless people drowned in the water. Others who saw an opportunity, sailed
The boat went down the river. The Yecheng boat division across the river was directly defeated and could no longer stop the Yellow Turban Army from crossing the river.
The commander of the canal on the east bank, Zuo Zhaozhangba, had been watching the situation on the Zhang River. Seeing this, he worked hard and mobilized all his troops to fight for the crossing of the Zhang River in small boats. After wading through the water, he reorganized his army and went straight to the Han siege of Guangping.
military.
At this time, the south gate of Guangping had fallen.
Yang Feng, the young commander in charge of the army, was still manning Jia Yong, but all the soldiers around him were dead and wounded. At this moment, with a ring-shaped sword in his hand, he shouted loudly and rushed towards the armored soldiers of the Han army who had climbed up the tower.
The soldier just stood still, but before he could move, he screamed, and the tibia of his calf had been cut off by Yang Feng, and he fell to the ground wailing.
Yang Feng moved quickly to face another soldier, ducked to avoid the opponent's blade wind, and instantly stabbed the opponent's ankle with a knife. Then he turned around and ran into the arms of the last soldier, turning the knife horizontally and stabbing his lower jaw.
Blood spurted out, and he was no longer alive. Yang Feng was indeed brave, and he rose up and killed three Han armored warriors in an instant.
Xiao Yang was quite proud of the result of the battle. Just as he was feeling angry and proud, his vision suddenly went dark, his body and head separated and he fell to the ground. However, another armored soldier from the Han Army jumped up directly from the ladder like a divine bird.
Usually, the unprepared Xiao Yang will be beheaded with a swing of a knife.
This armored soldier is unusually majestic, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a leopard's head with eyes, and a beard on his lower jaw. He is a typical hero of Yan and Zhao.
The man jumped onto the city tower, kicked Yang Feng's head away, and then planted the small flag with the surname "Zhang" behind him on the top of the city. He was waiting to greet the long-handed and long-legged fellow soldiers behind him. However, he saw a commotion below the city, and a shot was fired.
The banner with the word "Zuo" came slowly, its smoke and dust were swirling, and the figures were scattered. The eight reinforcements of Zuo Beard Zhang on the east bank had arrived.
The Han army had been fighting for a long time and was exhausted. They were attacked by this brave new army and were defeated for a while. Seeing this, the soldier knew that Guangping was unbreakable today, so he climbed down the ladder in three or two steps and made no sound.
, leaving a military flag with the surname "Zhang" at the top of the city, standing in the wind.
Zuo Zhaozhangba had already crossed the river and stood under the banner of the Chinese army. Behind him he saw hundreds of armies vying for the river, and they were as angry as tigers swallowing thousands of miles. They were confident and ready to join the Yang Feng tribe in Guangcheng, intending to defeat Lu Zhi in one battle.
But at this moment, the south gate of Guangcheng opened, and what came out was not a rigorous pursuit force, but a fast horse galloping towards him.
Hearing that Yang Feng was gone, Zuo Zhangba was silent and speechless.
The Han army was exhausted from the battle, and the Yellow Turban army had lost Guang as its general. Both armies could no longer fight and were in a stalemate.