In the sixth year of Guanghe, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in the wilderness of Changshe.
On the first day of the morning, at dawn, Yan Gang, the general of the Taishan Army's assault cavalry, who was marching, received a military report from the Tunbu Sentry Cavalry, ordering him to capture the barrier two miles ahead in the early morning to protect the official road.
On July 8, the Taishan Army began its southward march and marched continuously for seven days. The Taishan Army's mules and horses finally arrived at Yingchuan Changsha, less than a hundred miles away from the Yingyang battlefield.
It is different from what most people think. They think that the cavalry march means hedgehogs gathering together and marching in a swarm. But in fact, as a military organization, the cavalry march still maintains organization and coordination.
For example, during this trip south, the Taishan Army only had more than a thousand fine cavalry, and the remaining three thousand were infantry dragged by mules and donkeys. It was good enough that these people could barely keep up with the march, let alone be used for reconnaissance and obstruction.
Therefore, when heading south this time, the Tuqi and the Feijun carried flags to cover the outside, leaving the safer center to the three thousand mules and donkeys.
These outer cavalry units act alone, just like bees, going out in groups to scout, obtain supplies, and then return to the main group together.
There was no way, even if donkeys and mules ate less than horses, five thousand combined could eat up a piece of forage. It would be impossible to operate without dividing the troops. It would be too difficult to supply.
At this moment, Yan Gang, who had already become a general, took his fifty cavalry and was preparing to attack a dock wall two miles away. That place was on the march line and must be captured for the safety of the team.
Yan Gang first asked everyone to eat and replenish their physical strength.
There was no way to light a fire to cook during the march, and the millet balls originally prepared when setting off had already been eaten, so now everyone could only bite the dried meat, drink some water, and treat it like a meal.
After eating, Yan Gang rode his horse and walked slowly on the field ridge with fifty of his men.
The warm wind in midsummer blows the yellowing millet, swaying it all the way into the distance. Looking to the southeast, it is the vast and winding quiet plain of eastern Henan. Looking to the northwest, it is the dividing zone between the hilly areas of western Henan and the plain of eastern Henan.
, dark and gloomy hillsides rise one after another, dotting the earth. The rising sun in the sky is as orange-red as a chicken, and wisps of soft light shine on the world through the remaining haze.
Yan Gang's team marched in this poetic morning, carrying military flags one after another.
But all this is an illusion. Yan Gang's team marched on the field ridge. In addition to the poetic morning, what they saw were more corpses and broken spears. Obviously, these were the remains of the Han army some time ago.
The legacy of many days of bloody battles with the Yellow Turban Army. And what they smelled was that in addition to the fragrance of field millet, which represented hope, the smell was more from the smell of blood coming from their own military flags and armor, which was the smell of blood that they had annihilated yesterday.
The residual smell of Haobuqu, bit by bit, cannot be removed no matter how much it drifts away.
Suddenly, a burst of people's voices and the neighing of horses and donkeys came from the official road in the north, destroying the illusion of Yan Gang's team and bringing them back to reality.
The Xiaowubao in front of us is a typical product of ethnic groups living together, and does not have many military functions. After all, Yuzhou is located in the heart of the Central Plains, and it has not heard of war fires for many years.
But this time the Yellow Turbans emerged in Yingchuan, and these dock walls with only earthen fences were in bad luck. I don't know how many local tyrants were easily captured by the chaotic Yellow Turban army, and their whole families were hurt.
The dock wall in front of Yan Gang also suffered the same fate.
At first, it was built by a wealthy family named He, but later it was destroyed by the Yellow Turban Army of Changshe with He's disciples. Later, the Han army came again. Because it was close to the transportation line, the Han army also came to fight for it.
, in the end, the two hundred yellow turbans in the village were taken out and killed, and this became the stronghold of the Han army again.
But later, the main force of the Han army pursued Bo Cai southward, and the place was handed over to the few remaining powerful men in Changshe. However, these powerful people also suffered a lot of losses. There were no extra manpower to manage this enclosure, and it was located on a transportation line.
It was easy to attract enemies to attack, so it was not cost-effective to garrison here, and it was later abandoned.
Finally, some beggars living in the countryside took over this fence to protect themselves from the wind and rain. Now, a group of elite riders greeted them outside the dock wall. Looking at each of them in yellow clothes and yellow towels, you can tell that these beggars are the Yellow Turban Army.
They came back, discussed with each other for a while, and decided to open the wall to welcome these yellow scarves.
They are also poor people, and the Yellow Turban Army in Yingchuan has always had a good reputation. Therefore, when these people see these elite riders wearing yellow forehead scarves, they feel free to leave.
Outside the wall, Yan Gang is still preparing to attack. Their usual method is to pull the wooden gate with a lasso. These village gates on the small dock wall cannot withstand fifty riders. But now that the people inside the village have taken the initiative to come out of the wall and surrender, Yan Gang is not surprised.
, after all, there are not many people who can fight to the death.
But as the people inside the wall came out, all of them were in rags, barefoot, and exuding a stench, Yan Gang realized that these were not local tycoons, but beggars.
Yan Gang's family also has some wealth, and he doesn't really sympathize with these beggars. When he saw these people, he subconsciously thought that this time the food collection was troublesome, and it was obvious that these people didn't seem to have supplies.
The cavalry followed these people into the wall. Looking at the ruins of the wall, Yan Gang still refused to give up and asked:
"Do you have anything to eat here?"
As soon as this was said, all the beggars looked at each other in confusion. Finally, a slightly longer one brought out a plate of roasted rhizomes from the back of the yard. He didn't know what it was.
What Yan Gang actually asked was whether they had any extra food, not that they were hungry and wanted to eat. But seeing how miserable these people were, Yan Gang touched the gold horseshoe in his pocket, and after all, he didn't ask any more, but asked
He went to collect firewood nearby, boiled some hot water, and cooked something to eat together.
Less than ten miles away from Yan Gang, Cao Cao, the cavalry captain of the Han army, was also collecting grain at a fortress. This place was obviously much richer than Yan Gang's place.
At this time, the powerful people on this wall were surrounding the bearded Cao Cao, complaining. For this big man who was only seven feet tall, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and spoke Kyoto dialect with the accent of Yuzhou Peiguo, these local tycoons of Changshe did not
Give too much face.
It's good in peacetime, but now in the war, if they don't be tougher, they will definitely be beaten to the bone by these soldiers. Just like now, when Captain Cao's soldiers come, they will requisition their millet and their draft animals. It is even more excessive.
What's more, they also want to keep some war horses in their walls to raise, saying that they are the royal horses of the country, and if they are well raised, it is an honor.
This is really unreasonable. This is simply blackmail. How could these country tycoons swallow such a breath and block Cao Cao and others at the entrance of the dock wall with the surrounding country tycoons and disciples? I want an explanation.
.
The local tycoons near them are all distant branches of the Changshe Zhong family and have always been strong. In this disaster, they blocked the moth thieves and suppressed the Han soldiers. Now a group of cavalry from Beijing want to knock their bones and suck out their marrow?
How can it be!
But Cao Cao is not to blame for this. He followed the orders of General Huangfu Song from Zuo Zhonglang and led two thousand cavalry to the north. Because he was not sure whether he would encounter the Taishan army going south, he sent out sentries and cavalry these days and traveled hundreds of miles around here.
He wanted to conquer the camels and animals of the Zhong clan because he was short of people and horses. After all, he was leading a cavalry army. Without mounts, what else could we call a cavalry army?
But these sons under his command were all used to being dissolute in Kyoto, and they often did some blackmailing. In the past, in Kyoto, they often used gifts from the royal family to blackmail merchants.
For example, if you go to a shop to drink and eat meat without giving money, but if you insist on money, you will pull out a piece of cloth given by the royal family, say that it is mortgaged here, and ask him to withdraw the money later. But if the cloth has any damage or stains, it is not money.
If it's serious, it's disrespectful to the country, and the whole family will be punished as slaves.
Those wine shop vendors are doing business to make money, not to cause trouble. Seeing the appearance of these people, they basically think that it is better to do less than to do more, and let these people eat well and go home.
And now, these Kyoto rogue soldiers have used their methods in Kyoto in the countryside of Changshe. But they obviously don't know how these rural tyrants can suffer such losses because they are also the tyrannical local lords.
Therefore, when they were forced, they led people to block Cao Cao's camp.
At this moment, there were only a dozen or so people around Cao Cao. Seeing the crowd of disciples outside, he was so sad and angry that he cursed people in Yudong dialect. The atmosphere was very tense.
Cao Cao, dressed in military uniform and wearing a military sword on his head, stood in front of the leading local tycoons, squinting his eyes and pretending to be attentive, and nodding from time to time as if to listen.
Several local tycoons gathered around, complaining and complaining, while openly and covertly saying that they knew some of the big shots in the court and were related to them.
Cao Cao knew that he could only listen to half of these words, but as Cao Cao was also from Yuzhou, of course he also knew the customs of this state. What these people said about the favor was probably true.
But as he listened, Cao Cao began to lose his mind. He was too tired these days, and now he just pretended to listen to these wealthy people. When these people talked, most of the time they introduced their backgrounds, which were very important to Cao Cao.
It was all nonsense, so he took a break from his busy schedule to relax his tense nerves. So his hands were unconsciously twirling his beard. This was his subconscious behavior when he was nervous.
Yes, Cao Cao was indeed nervous, because this was his first time commanding an army, and then he directly became a general with two thousand cavalry. He was about to fight against the Taishan bandit, the most ferocious of them all.
He had heard about it when he was fleeing disaster in his hometown of Qiao County. The two thousand stones killed in his army alone were unknown. Now he, a cavalry captain with a rank higher than two thousand stones, would not be able to fight against others.
Do you know if anyone will get another one?
With this kind of worry, he has been extra careful these days. After all, his reputation is not false. The more he is careful, the more opportunities he will have.
But those soldiers under him could not understand Cao Cao's worries. Seeing that he was searching every hundred steps and stopping every thousand steps, they secretly mocked him as "Cao Cao's wife", not because they were concerned about his eunuch background, but more
These soldiers can say unpleasant things.
With such soldiers, no wonder Cao Cao had to be so careful.
At this moment, those local tycoons are still chattering and it is difficult to think in such a messy environment, but Cao Cao is fine. He has a sharper mind than ordinary people. Of course, one disadvantage is that he now has headaches from time to time.
Symptoms. There is no way, this is every wise man’s little problem.
In the chaotic chatter, the originally hazy thoughts became clearer and clearer, and Cao Cao suddenly gathered together the clues of the past few days of investigation.
The sentry riders said that they had detected a small amount of horse dung, and the baggage team member said that there were fewer wild animals during this period than before. These villages were paying more and more attention to food and were less obedient to the Han soldiers... These all made Cao Cao intuitively believe that,
The Taishan bandits should have arrived, but how could it be so fast?
He was also leading troops, and he knew that the army normally marches about thirty miles in a day, and it is about three hundred miles from here to Fengqiu. Based on the calculation of Fengqiu's fall on July 4th, it would take at least July 10th to get here.
Six days, this is without preparation. But no matter how elite the soldiers are, it will take three to five days for the entire army to set off. In theory, the Taishan bandits will not arrive until at least July 20. How could they come like this?
quick?
Did they fly here?
While Cao Cao was thinking deeply in his mind, he could continue to deal with the increasingly agitated local tycoons, agree with them, and keep nodding. But suddenly, a local tycoon, perhaps because he was aggrieved, suddenly pulled him from the crowd of disciples behind him.
He brought out a war horse that was extremely weak and had broken shoes. He dragged the disabled horse and pulled Cao Cao to speak.
The excessive behavior of this local tyrant not only made the soldiers behind Cao Cao so nervous that they protected Cao Cao, but Cao Cao himself was pulled back to reality from his meditation.
When he saw the horse and the noisy rich man, he understood what was going on.
The rich man was also frightened by the swarming soldiers at first, but then he looked at the dark crowd behind him and regained his courage. He shouted:
"You bunch of killers, look at what kind of horse you gave us. Didn't you see that the horseshoes are broken? This horse can't even stand up, and you still want me to raise it? Is there such a bully? It's not cool.
Are you blackmailing me?"
Cao Cao looked at the horse and found that it was weak but not bad. It was because there was insufficient forage during this period and it had lost weight while running. It would be better to raise it later and eat more night grass to fatten it up. But the most fatal thing was the horse shoe injury.
It is typical that the horse's hoof is worn away, and then the rider keeps riding hard without stopping, causing the horse's hoof to become lame.
This situation is also the main cause of damage to war horses. Those rugged gravel roads can cause horses to become lame if not careful.
But now it was obvious that the soldiers under his command were trying to blackmail him by giving a poor horse to this rich man to raise.
Although he was disgusted with those soldiers, in front of outsiders, especially in this situation, Cao Cao pretended to smile:
"Old man, I understand your feelings, but there is something wrong with what you said. You said that this horse is useless and can't stand up. I think this horse can stand up. Do you believe it?"
After saying that, without waiting for anyone to react, Cao Cao bent down and stroked the mane of the disabled horse. Then in the eyes of everyone in surprise, the horse actually slipped on the ground with its hooves and struggled to stand up.
Then there was a sound of whip, and a whip was struck on the side of the horse with a neighing sound, and blood dripped from it.
At this time, everyone saw clearly that Cao Cao actually pulled out a riding whip from his sleeve, used the whip to intimidate the rogue horse, and made him stand up. For a moment, all the local tycoons were confused and didn't know what to say.
Cao Cao touched the trembling horse and said in the fearful eyes of everyone: