In the following days, the war developed as expected in Huangfu Song Temple.
In order to take revenge, Bocai mobilized 20,000 troops from the other three strongholds, borrowed 3,000 cavalry from Peng Tuo's tribe on the left bank, and added 2,000 of his own cavalry, for a total of 5,000 cavalry.
Bocai apparently gave up his original strategy of holding on to the wall and providing constant support, and wanted to fight a battle with the Han army. However, the Han army chose to huddle up in the camp and be unable to come out in the face of Bocai's several invitations to fight.
The scorching sun in July was scorching the earth, and Bocai's army was blinded by the sun. Bocai realized something was wrong and immediately ordered the entire army to retreat.
But Bo Cai didn't know that when he retreated, the Han army in the stronghold discovered the opportunity. So Zhu Jun, the former army commander, ordered Sima Sun Jian, the commander of the army, Fu Xie, the guard commander, Zhang Chao, the commander of the other troops, and the knights of Sanhe, a total of ten thousand people to take advantage of the situation. They pursued and defeated the four fortresses in the southeast, and won the battle, clearing the offensive line southward to Yingyang City.
The next day, July 10, Bocai, who was unwilling to lose the outer defense line, came out of the middle wall again and fought fiercely with Sun Jian. At the same time, Liu Pi, a general of Pengtuo's tribe who had come out of the pontoon to support him, came out from behind the stronghold and fought with Bocai. They attacked from both front and rear. Fortunately, Fu Xie, the protecting military commander, and Zhang Chao, the commander of the other troops, arrived with their troops and were able to rescue Sun Jian's troops.
In this battle, Sun Jian's 1,000 Jianghuai descendants were killed, and 200 of them were killed. Sun Jian himself was wounded in three places, and the Sun clan lost four people in the battle. This was the biggest loss for his tribe in the history of the war.
But Sun Jian became more and more courageous the more he was defeated. On the 12th day of the seventh month, Zhu Jun's six troops under the command of You Zhonglang, with a total of 20,000 troops, rushed out and rushed to attack Bocaibi.
Sun Jian led Han Dang, a warrior from the north, and Cheng Pu ascended first. From Chen to Wei, they broke through the two major fortresses, and the smaller fortresses all fled without fighting. After Youchi, the Han Army's Sanhe Knights defeated the Yellow Turban Army on the flank. The five thousand cavalry who got up finally cut off the communication line of Peng Tuo's troops on the left bank to support the right bank.
On July 13, after a fierce battle throughout the day, the Han army could not break through Bocai's military fortress and stopped. At three quarters of the night, Bocai's troops abandoned the central military fortress and retreated to Yingyang in three groups.
At this point, all the four major strongholds and twenty-eight small strongholds in the northeast of Yingyang were destroyed. The Han soldiers went straight to the north gate of Yingyang, stationed themselves in the trenches, and established a long-term siege.
On July 14, Huangfu Song, the general of Zuo Zhonglang who was supervising the battle to contain the main force of Peng Tuo's troops on the left bank, learned of the great victory on the right bank. He quickly sent a message to Zhu Jun, the general of Right Zhonglang, to warn him not to go deep again and defeat Peng Tuo's troops on the left bank first. , and then attacked the city together. But unfortunately, Zhu Jun thought that Huangfu Song's move was just because he was worried that he would take the lead, so he ignored it.
But in fact, Zhu Jun did not know the situation on the front line because he did not go to the front line in person.
From the start of the war on July 8 to the end of the Yellow Turban Army's northeast camp complex on July 14, the Youhan military headquarters had been fighting with high intensity for six consecutive days and was in a state of fatigue among the division veterans. At the same time, because Zhu Jun could not help but plunder , each unit's soldiers were returned to their own country after being surrendered. This was Zhu Jun's morale-boosting move.
However, fights broke out among various ministries due to competition for the captured goods. Especially after Bocai's tribe abandoned the largest Chinese military fortress on July 13, Sun Jian's tribe and Fu Xie's tribe who entered the wall successively fought for the baggage left by Bocai's tribe, and outbreaks broke out. A large-scale armed fight broke out. Although Sun Jian and Fu Xie caught up from behind to stop it, both sides still suffered dozens of casualties. By now, the two groups were far apart and the gap was deep.
This is still one aspect. Zhu Jun's six troops all seized a large amount of baggage when they attacked the Bocai tribe. The soldiers had property, but none of them had the will to fight. Everyone was thinking about how to end the battle quickly and give away their share of the seizures. Back home. These seizures were not only money and food, but also women.
Previously, because the Bocai tribe did not retreat in time, some old battalion personnel were stranded in the central military base. Most of these old battalion personnel were family members of the Yellow Turban Army, including the elderly, weak, women, and children.
When Sun Jian's and Fu Xie's troops broke into the central military base, they directly captured thousands of women and children.
One of these women and children was named Huang, who was only sixteen years old. Both of his brothers were Taoist disciples of Runan Taiping. In the previous battle, both brothers were killed, leaving only her, mother and brother. This time the Bocai tribe broke through, Her family was detained in the camp. When Sun Jian's troops came, one of the old brothers from Jianghuai, Sun Jian, fell in love with Huang. He took Huang out of the prisoner alone and wanted to take her back to her hometown in Jianghuai to be her wife.
At that time, Huang's younger brother and mother were kneeling and begging him to let Huang go, but the evil young man from Jianghuai said harshly:
"You who are thieves will all be killed without mercy. I will kill you all now without any unnecessary words. You still dare to cry and talk here."
But unfortunately, his Jianghuai language was like bird talk to the ears of the old mother and young brother, and they could not understand it at all, so they still begged and cried. In the end, they angered the Jianghuai evil boy and killed them all with one knife. At this time , the eldest daughter-in-law of this old woman ran out from the crowd, lay down on the body and cried bitterly, and was stabbed by him.
There are not a few people who are as ruthless as this evil young man from Jianghuai. These people were wanderers and fugitives in their hometown, but when they came to this cruel battlefield, it stimulated their nerves even more. Humans and animals are just a matter of thought. And these people were The warriors who had been destroyed by the war obviously had no intention of becoming human beings anymore.
Morality is just a matter of one knife! Today I will kill you, and tomorrow he will kill me. Anyway, you will not live long, so of course you have to do it quickly!
Therefore, after this evil young man from Jianghuai killed Huang's mother, younger brother, and elder sister-in-law, he still remained shameless. Facing Huang, who begged for a quick death, he picked her up and laughed while insulting her:
"You have to thank me, you can't live without me!"
When it was finally done, Huang was tied up and still on the baggage truck. Along with dozens of young women who had the same experience as her, they were sent to Sun Jian's Sima camp. They would all be sent to Jianghuai to become those who killed her. The wife of their family's enemy.
In this way, the more battles were fought in the front, the more baggage was captured in the rear camp. The soldiers under General You Zhonglang all made a fortune, and everyone was grateful to this good General General Zhonglang who did not take any cents. This is true He loved his soldiers as his own son. So for a while, the whole army's support for Zhu Jun reached a peak, but the price was the thieves like the Yellow Turban Army and the determination to die that the Han army had in the first battle.
So when Zhu Junzhi was so proud that he deployed his troops at the north gate of Yingyang, he didn't know that these soldiers under his command had no fighting spirit.
Accidents always occur at the most sudden and critical times.
In fact, at the beginning, Zhu Jun’s aide Xin Ping also advised him, the mastermind:
"My lord, our army is exhausted after a long battle. Our troops are heavily laden with supplies, and our soldiers have no fighting spirit. Moreover, our army is the only one to attack Yingyang City alone, with no way back. The Yellow Turban Army on the left bank still holds fast to the wall of Jiahe Village. Our army has attacked several times. , cannot be defeated. If our army suddenly attacks Yingyang City, and the Runan Yellow Turban Army on the west bank moves eastward, our army will be in danger. It is better to retreat to the wall temporarily, recuperate, and then attack the Runan Yellow Turban Army in the west, and fight with General Zuo Zhonglang Together, we must first pull down all the thieves' walls outside the city to have a better chance of winning."
Although Xin Ping was arrogant and looked down on people from a poor family like Sun Jian, theoretically his leader Zhu Jun was also from a poor family. But now Zhu Jun has reached the high position of Han Youzhonglang general, and he has been favored by him, so he Xin Ping was very dedicated to Zhu Jun.
Xin Ping was not a clean figure who just sat around and talked, but was a leader who upheld the practical spirit of Yingchuan scholar-bureaucrats. These days, he often walked around the camps. He knew exactly what the current atmosphere in the army was, so he persuaded Zhu Jun First retreat to the original barriers of Taiping Road.
But at this moment, Zhu Jun was very proud and had a high self-esteem. He felt that he was deeply favored by the country and was about to advance bravely. Moreover, in this six-day battle, the thieves' strongholds were completely shattered. This series of victories did not just show how powerful the Yellow Turban thieves were. Weak, how good at fighting is his unit?
And there has always been a thorn in his heart, that is Huangfu Song, the general of Zuo Zhonglang.
The country valued Huangfu Song and listened to his military strategy before going on an expedition. But what about Zhu Jun? He was dispensable and only took up the post after being recommended by the ministers in the court.
He also knew that the reason why he could take office was because Huangfu Song was from Kansai, and most of the big bosses in the court were from Kanto. They instinctively rejected the monopolization of military power by the Kansai faction, so they elected him.
But whether it was the country or the ministers, who really valued Zhu Jun's ability? Yes, indeed, Human Emperor Fusong came from a family of generals and was a natural general, but he was from a poor family, and he started out as the least popular Nanman. But he, Zhu Jun, is not convinced. Does the prince, general, Xiang Ning have any idea?
And along the way, Huangfu Song taught him several times, almost treating him as a Houmo who didn't know how to fight. Now that he was better, he finally fought for the upper reaches. When he defeated the main force of Bocai on the east bank of Yingshui River, that On the west bank, Huangfu Song is still fighting fiercely with the Runan Yellow Turban Army. Who knows that the soldiers are not clear at a glance?
And now Huangfusong comes to point out to him again, saying that he should not go deep alone and trick him into going to the West Bank to help him break the Runan Yellow Turban. Are you really stupid to think that he Zhu Jun comes from the bottom?
Having said that, Zhu Jun has not lost his mind after all. He knows that Huangfu Song and his staff Xin Ping are right to worry, and they still need to retain troops. Now under the Dunbing City, both troops and military resources are needed. Moving further forward, the supply line can only be protected by garrisoning troops in the many barriers on the original Taiping Road.
Zhu Jun is wise, otherwise he would not have reached this point. He has already seen through some things, and some people will always tell you some right things, but this does not affect them from seeking benefits for themselves. Just like Huangfu Song , he reminded himself that what he was doing was right, but if he was really stupid enough to think that his analysis was right and follow his advice to attack the West Bank, then he would have fallen into someone else's trap.
Now he, Zhu Jun, not only wants to back each other, but also continues to go south to attack Yingyang City. He, Zhu Jun, wants both safety and military glory.
But in this way, the troops going south to attack the city will naturally be thinned out. He originally had 20,000 troops, but he fought fiercely for six days and lost 3,000. Now if he wants to divide his troops and stay in the garrison, he will need to keep another 7,000, so that's up to him. There are only 10,000 troops going south, which is really not enough troops.
So at first Zhu Jun left a letter to the other counties in Yingchuan in the rear, asking them to come and defend the Yi County soldiers. However, both Changshe and Yangzhai, on the one hand, complimented You Zhonglang for his indomitable will and his invincible attack. There is no need for them. On the other hand, they refuse because the county is dilapidated and full of waste, and they cannot allocate extra manpower.
Zhu Jun naturally knew that when he was raising military supplies before the scheduled time, some of his methods offended these powerful toubos. Now that he was in need, he hurriedly refused, just to see Zhu Gongwei's jokes.
Okay, then he will use these ten thousand soldiers to destroy Yingyang City and shock the world.
On July 14, the sixth year of Guanghe, Zhu Jun led a main force of 10,000 Han soldiers, including 2,000 from the expanded left army Sima Sun Jian, 3,000 from the center army Sima Zhang Chao, 3,000 from the right army Sima Fu Xie, and Zhu Jun The two thousand Sanhe knights who were personally commanded were preparing to attack the fortress directly in the north of Yingyang City.
Outside Yingyang City, Ma Yuanyi, the Taiping Taoist envoy, was not idle when the Han army attacked the Bocai tribe. He also built a camp outside the city. When the Bocai tribe retreated south into the city, Ma Yuanyi intercepted half of his elite troops and stayed behind. Hold the fort outside the city.
So, on July 14, Zhu Jun's troops arrived in the north of Yingyang City. What they saw were wooden walls stretching for miles, with more than a dozen forts interspersed in between. These forts were less than a hundred steps away from the city wall. The arrows on the towers They can all be supported. The ones that are far away are as far as two miles away, but these wooden walls are used to form corridors between all the camps to facilitate the soldiers of each camp to support each other.
When Zhu Jun went out to watch the army, he couldn't help but take a breath when he saw the complex and crisscrossing fortresses outside the city. Was this group of moth thieves responsible for such civil engineering works?
It's no wonder that Zhu Jun was surprised. The people who built such fortifications were not ordinary people, but a battalion of civil servants selected by Ma Yuanyi from the congregation. The whole battalion had experience in participating in large-scale Han Dynasty projects, drilling canals, building palaces, and tombs. So Not to mention the corridors of this chain village, even the corridors made of stone, as long as there are enough stones, they can be built for you.
Zhu Jun knew that this chain of villages was difficult to defeat. When he originally broke through the four major villages and the twenty-eight small villages in Bocaibu, he had to use cavalry to intersperse and cut the reinforcements from other villages in order to defeat them one by one. But now, these Yellow Turban troops have obviously absorbed The lesson learned from the previous time was to use the corridor directly as a reinforcement line, so that the Han army's cavalry could no longer cut them off.
What a Yellow Turban Army, what a corridor!
But knowing that it was difficult to fight, what could he do? At this point, Zhu Jun had no choice but to bite the bullet.
In the art of war, when attacking a city, you must first break the fortress.
Since the situation was like this, Zhu Jun decisively ordered Sun Jian to attack the left, Fu Xie to attack the right, and Zhang Chao to attack the center. The three troops attacked at the same time, and Zhu Jun himself had Sanhe Jingqi in reserve to respond at any time.
As soon as the three Han armies attacked, drums rang out from the top of Yingyang City. Then the Yellow Turban Army in each camp under the city began to engage in fighting and began to support the front-line attacked camps along the wooden corridor.
Therefore, Sun, Fu and Zhang spared no effort in fighting from the morning to the afternoon, killing numerous thieves, but they did not see fewer thieves. They were at a low place and had no idea that there was constant peace throughout the morning. The envoys of the Tao sang Huang Tian's hymn and encouraged waves of Yellow Turban troops into the corridor.
Originally, Ma Yuanyi's subordinates were all elites who were developed by him in Jingyang. However, after being betrayed by the traitor Tang Zhou in Kyoto, only he escaped with three or five key members. Now he has 20,000 Taiping Dao soldiers. They were just assembled and generally had no combat experience.
But Ma Yuanyi has one power that other commanders do not have, and that is Fuqi. After several large-scale Fuqi, now the 20,000 Taiping Taoists are devout, some of them are fanatical, and these people have been selected by Ma Yuanyi as the Yellow Turban Warriors, assistants. An army was organized and trained according to the Han military law with armor and weapons.
And now, encouraged by the Taoist envoys within the sect, these Yellow Turban warriors are devoting their lives to Huang Tian, filling the flesh-and-blood millstone in front of them with fearless courage.
The fierce battle continued until Shenshi. At this moment, the Han army was hungry and thirsty, and the Yellow Turban army had only entered the corridor because they had used food in the back. The war was getting stronger and stronger, and the balance of victory was clearly tilted towards the Yellow Turban army.
Sun Jian, who was fighting on the front line, keenly felt that the situation had changed. After fighting hard for a while, he quickly climbed to the high wall and sent a signal to Cheng Pu outside the barrier to ask for reinforcements.
Cheng Pu had been cruising outside the camp with a hundred cavalry. When he saw Sun Jian's flag and knew that his army was in the most danger, he without hesitation sent out a hundred cavalry to prepare for reinforcements in the camp.
But at this moment, a military official who had recently joined the army, Lu Fan from Xiyang, Runan, persuaded Cheng Pu and said:
"General Qu, it won't help if we rush into the camp now. Sima is not short of a hundred of us. I guess Sima must want us to cut off the reinforcements of the thieves. Now these reinforcements are flowing along these wooden corridors. We have to keep entering the front stronghold, and if we don’t destroy this tunnel, I’m afraid this battle will be lost!”
Lu Fan was the future Great Sima of Sun Wu, an old minister who served Sun Ce brothers. According to the original plane, after the Runan Rebellion, he fled the Shouchun of Jianghuai River, and then became acquainted with Sun Ce, the general under Yuan Shu's account, and started his career as a tiger minister of the Sun family. The purple road.
However, due to the emergence of many factors in this world, history has undergone major changes. It turned out that Lu Fan was a county official in Xiyang, Runan. It turned out that the Yellow Turbans in Runan were rising, and Xiyang was quickly defeated, and he retired with the officials in the county. Supreme Cai, together with many soldiers, joined the Runan governor Zhao Qian. But who would have known that in the battle of Zhaoling, Zhao Qian was defeated, and he, Lu Fan, was also captured by the Yellow Turban Army. If he hadn't been clever enough to change into short clothes in advance, he would have been killed by you long ago. The Southern Yellow Turban was beheaded.
Later, he followed the Runan Yellow Turbans all the way north to Yingyang. In the previous battle, he accompanied the Runan Yellow Turbans to support the Bocai tribe on the east coast, and was subsequently captured.
It turned out that he had been tied to a tree stump and was being beheaded as a prisoner of the Yellow Turban Army, and Sun Jian was the supervisor. Well, it was the time when Sun Jian massacred 8,000 prisoners.
After all, Lu Fan had the luck and courage. In that most terrifying slaughterhouse in the world, he suddenly struggled to stand up and shouted to Sun Jian, who was wearing a red turban:
"How can my husband die like a pig or a dog? Please live for me. I, Lu Fan, will go through life and death for the sake of my father-in-law."
Sun Jian was very surprised. You must know the scene at that time. Not to mention those like Lu Fan who stretched out their necks and were beheaded, even the executioners who beheaded them had already been killed with mercy. But now there are still people who have the courage to stand up and still do it. Can speak a lot of words.
Moreover, against the backdrop of a group of Taiping Dao thieves who were so frightened that they urinated like urine, Lu Fan's courage became even more outstanding.
Then Sun Jian let him go and asked about his origins. He found out that he was originally a Han army official and was captured later. He felt unhappy. He felt that Lu Fan was a rat who was greedy for life and afraid of death. He was originally stirred up by Lu Fan's words. The appreciation I had gained has also faded a bit.
Lu Fan noticed it and said one more thing:
"General, I, Lu Fan, was poor when I was young and was often looked down upon by my fellow villagers. Later, I fell in love with Liu, the daughter of a wealthy family in my hometown, and came to propose marriage. But her mother thought my family was poor and refused. I said at that time:' I, Lv Fan, an arrogant husband, have lived as a subordinate for a long time. I have high ambitions, so why not worry about being rich.' After that, I married Mrs. Liu and became a county official."
When Sun Jian heard this story, he felt it was familiar. Isn't it the same as when he was looked down upon by his wife's family?
Fan, even if his face is covered in blood, his high spirit and beautiful appearance can still be seen, and I feel relieved about him.
And then I heard Lu Fan say:
"It's the same now, general. I'm in this mess now, and I don't have anything big to say. But please trust me once, general. As long as I save E Lu Fan, I, Lu Fan, will repay the general with my own flesh and blood for saving my life."
After speaking, Lu Fan knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily to Sun Jian.
Sun Jian twirled his short beard, pondered for a moment, and not only released Lu Fan, but also recruited him as a military officer under the cavalry general Cheng Pu. Afterwards, Lu Fan joined the army and rushed to the front several times, finally gaining Cheng Pu's command.
I agree with him and know that he is brave and wise, and is a talented person.
Now that Lu Fan was admonishing him again, Cheng Pu also paid attention to it and asked directly if there was any way to break down the wooden wall corridor.
Lu Fan spit out two words:
"Fire attack."
So Cheng Pu piled 20 carts with kerosene and firewood, and together with Lu Fan, he personally rushed down the corridor and set it on fire. The flames shot up and made the wooden corridor creak in a moment.
The yellow scarf warriors who were supporting in the corridor also smelled the smell of kerosene and were still wondering. Then the heat wave burned, and then the flames suddenly reached three feet high and flooded this section of the corridor. And because the corridors were connected, the wind helped the fire, and the fire followed the corridor all the way.
The fire reached the next section of the barrier. Fortunately, the commander of the Yellow Turban Army at this barrier was wise and quickly demolished the front section of the tunnel, thus stopping the fire at this section.
However, the corridor for reinforcements was gone, and the front village could only fight alone. As Cheng Pu broke through the corridor, the Han soldiers in the middle and right also followed suit and began to push the train to hit the corridor and burn it. For a moment, flames shot into the sky.
, the heat wave is rolling.
It was also in this hot flame that the three barriers attacked by the Han army were broken down one by one. In this battle, no one from the Yellow Turban army surrendered, and the battle lasted until the last moment. Naturally, the Han army did not leave any prisoners, and took all the prisoners.
The thieves wearing yellow scarves all have owl heads.
In this battle, General Zhu Jun of Youzhonglang was victorious again, but when he was counted after the battle, he shed tears. In this battle, there were 8,000 Han soldiers in the three main attacks, and the casualties in the first battle were as high as 2,000, including several battalions.
The head was killed and the organization was dispersed, so that it could no longer form an army.
And this is only the outermost barrier that has been cleared. There are still several more layers behind, plus the Yellow Turban Army in the city. This battle seems to be won, but in fact it is lost.
Because if the walls of the Yellow Turban army were destroyed one by one in this way, Zhu Jun's few soldiers would be dead and he would not be able to reach the city walls.
Knowing that there was a problem, Zhu Jun did not feel complacent and burned the three fortresses he occupied. He then led his troops to withdraw to the original camps of Bocai. He gathered the 7,000 soldiers here to repair and rebuild the fortress.
Reorganize the entire army. Especially the few battalion heads that have been disorganized need to be reorganized and retrained. After a while, these battalion heads will not be able to achieve combat effectiveness.
Afterwards, Zhu Jun wrote another letter, giving the beginning and end of the battle to Huangfu Song, who was fighting fiercely on the west bank, and asked him if he needed it. After he repaired it, he could cross the river and attack the flank of the Yellow Turban Army in Runan to the west.
It is not without reason that Zhu Jun can rise from a young age. His soft figure is at least something that Huangfu Song does not have, but this is definitely what a good commander should have.
But no matter how soft-spoken Zhu Jun was, he had lost 5,000 of his elite troops in the battles before and after. Now his troops could only lick their wounds in the camp and work hard to restore their fighting strength.
Just when Zhu Jun's troops were feeling gloomy outside Yingyang City, an encounter also occurred in Changshe, a hundred miles away.
This is a contest between Han cavalry and Taishan cavalry!