The first year of Chengtian, the first year of Republic, May 28th.
Luoyang North Gate, Mengjin Ferry.
At this time, a bloody battle was going on on both sides of the river. On the south bank was the Eastern Army's partial division commanded by Zhu Jun, and on the north bank was the powerful Western Army of the Hedong Department.
In order to compete for this crossing of the Yellow River, the two armies have been fighting for many days.
During this period, the Luoyang court did not let Zhang Chong go. They knew the combat power of the Taishan Army better than any force in the world, so even after two large-scale battles with the West, they still paid attention to Hebei. situation.
I originally thought that such a devouring attack as the Taishan Army would take a while to digest, but who knew that at this moment, the most elite Zhao Wei in Hebei fell into their hands.
Therefore, the scholar-bureaucrats in Henan are also anxious, knowing that now is the time to fight for speed. If they cannot suppress Guanxi and integrate the world, then the Han family will be in danger.
Thus, the third Western Expedition began again, but this time they began to attack Hangu Pass openly and cross Mengjin Ferry secretly.
Two days had passed since the fighting, but Mengjin Ferry was still firmly in the hands of the Western Army.
At this moment, a group of hundreds of horsemen were roaming on the north bank, and their formation was not neat.
They were originally responsible for patrolling the river on the north bank, but now they were all staring blankly at the lower reaches of the river, where thousands of sailboats were racing, and a huge boatman was slowly coming from the lower reaches.
Most of these river patrol horse soldiers came from the Qiang and Hu areas. They had never seen such a scene before. Looking at the overwhelming boatmen, they were frightened and panicked for a moment. If there were no chief officials to suppress them, they would have been there long ago. Ran away.
This boat division is the trump card and the decisive weapon prepared by the Yanyan princes of the Luoyang court this time.
The entire naval division was expanded based on the Great River Navy, with a total of forty double-sailed cannons, fifteen sterns, and two tower ships, all coming from the lower reaches in a mighty manner.
The naval commander of the boat division will be Kuai Yue, the commander of the large ship. He was promoted because of his outstanding achievements in the powerful military rebellion in Henan and his familiarity with water warfare. In this battle, he was responsible for opening up the water transportation channel and occupying an area on the north bank. At the bridgehead.
Soon, the large ship where Kuai Yue was on began to beat the military drum, and then the leading generals of each ship started to beat the drum in response to the order.
After that, the Kwantung Army on the deck began to set up their shields, and then a hail of arrows was thrown at the Kansai Qin and Han horse soldiers on the north bank.
The horsemen were hit by a lot of arrows, and they began to shoot back with curses, but most of the arrows were blocked by the wooden planks erected on both sides of the ship, so the effect was ineffective.
Seeing that the counterattack was futile, these Qiang and Hu horse soldiers could only drag the injured Pao Ze and drive away, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses and an empty shore.
Seeing that the Qiang and Hu horse soldiers on the north bank were repelled, the Kwantung Army on the deck shouted in celebration.
Just when the river was echoing with cheers for victory, on a slope a mile away from the river, a crimson tiger-head flag stood here, and there were several large flags on the side, all of different colors. Wild beasts as flag emblem.
Standing under the crimson tiger head banner is Li Jue, who has just been appointed as Polu General Sima. During this battle, he led 6,000 Kansai troops to garrison here.
At this time, the air pressure in the observation position on the hillside was very low, and the people present were all military veterans. Knowing that with such naval assistance on the opposite side, it would be difficult for our side to defend the river.
At this moment, a man with a beard and a typical Qiang face spoke:
"Sima, it seems that this place cannot be defended. Let's withdraw. There is no need to sacrifice our lives for the little money in the west."
The man who made the noise was named Yang Bo, a warrior under Li Jue. He looked like a Qiang, but in fact he had been settled there for several generations.
Yang Bo's words revealed the thoughts of the generals, and for a while Hu Feng, Wang Chang, Zhang Bao, Zhang Long, Wang Cheng and others were all echoing his words.
In this mess, Li Jue yelled:
"Shut up, everyone. Is it your turn to talk about war and defense in front of me?"
As soon as these words came out, all the generals were as silent as ice. It was obvious that Li Jue had great prestige in the army.
Li Jue ignored these men who looked more like bandits than soldiers, walked forward, and looked at the river bank in the distance, where the Han army was building a pontoon bridge in small boats and preparing to land.
Touching his beard and thinking of the secret message the angel had given him when he summoned him, Li Jue squinted his eyes and said solemnly:
"What are you afraid of? We haven't beaten any soldiers and horses before? We haven't beaten the ones who came by boat. Moreover, these fleets have come well. We have captured so many ships. We can cross the river directly. Then we will go to Luoyang.
Go, everyone can grab a few aunties from Kyoto!"
As soon as he mentioned this, the tough men behind him each let out an unpleasant laugh. It was obvious that to motivate them, all they needed was a woman.
After seeing each other, Li Jue glanced at his nephew Li Li, who had just arrived, and asked:
"The information I found before said that the Dahe navy was captured by the Taishan army during the previous battle in Xingyang? How did they get so many navy?"
As Li Jue said this, Hu Feng shouted:
"Yes, someone said before that the Kwantung Army only has five or six boats even with its fleet, but now the river is full of them. There is a huge difference."
With that said, Hu Feng continued to apply eye drops to Li Li and counted with his fingers:
"Now, one of those two-sailed canoes can pull fifty people. There are probably forty or fifty boats on the river. This time, two or three thousand soldiers can be sent ashore. How can we fight like this?"
The relationship between Hu Feng and Li Li was not very good. One of them was Li Jue's nephew and the other was Li Jue's nephew. They were both older and powerful clan generals and occupied the same ecological niche, so the competition was extremely fierce.
Li Li's eyes turned cold when he heard Hu Feng arranging for him, but when he saw that his uncle Li Jue didn't say anything, he was obviously angry, so he was waiting for his explanation.
Li Li knew that Hu Feng wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of him, and he also knew that it was best to give in at this time. However, Li Li himself was still young and had a young spirit. He glanced at Hu Feng and mocked:
"Since when did you, Hu Feng, start to be so afraid of the Kwantung soldiers? You don't care where this boat division came from. Can they land on the shore or go to the sky? Just transport those thousands of soldiers to the shore, which is enough for our cavalry to charge.
How many times? No.”
After saying this, Li Li glanced sideways at Hu Feng, but unexpectedly he was slapped on the ear.
Li Li was knocked to the ground by this next blow. As soon as he got up and was about to jump, he saw that the person who had just hit him was his uncle Li Jue.
This time he muttered a few words and then stopped talking.
After Li Jue finished whipping Li Li, he sighed inwardly when he saw that his nephew was too cowardly to look up at him, but said calmly:
"In the army, I am a general and you are a soldier, not your uncle. There are military rules but no family ties. Don't risk your own life to test a certain family's sword. Do you understand?"
Li Li trembled and muttered:
"You will eventually understand."
"Can you tell me what's going on now?"
Li Li took a deep breath, holding back the frustration and humiliation in his heart, and then respectfully replied:
"As soon as the sentry riders patrolled the river and reached the river beach, they saw the Kanto boat master coming up from the downstream. They were so shocked that they didn't know where they appeared from."
This time Li Jue did not punish Li Li, but asked him to go down and gather up the Qin and Hu cavalry soldiers who had been defeated before.
Li Li got the order, and first glanced angrily at Hu Feng, who was smiling beside him, and then walked down the slope in anger.
Li Jue glanced at his nephew, saw Hu Feng's undisguised scorn, and cursed:
"You know how to show off your words, and you will lose face to us Kansai people! Remember, we rely on knives, not tongues!"
Hu Feng looked blank for a moment, then smiled again and said:
"Uncle, you didn't say that Hu Feng and I couldn't detect the information that Ali couldn't detect. In fact, I just found out the information about this boat master."
Li Jue looked at Hu Feng in surprise and motioned for him to speak quickly.
Hu Feng said to the guards behind him:
"Go and bring up the detective horse just now."
After saying that, the young-looking sentry was brought up.
Then Hu Feng said to Li Jue:
"Uncle, this person is the sentinel who got the information. I also just got the information."
Afterwards, Hu Feng turned to the sentry and said:
"You are so talkative. Tell Sima everything you see."
The sentry detective also knew that the overall situation of the war was at stake at this time, so he hurriedly started speaking in Bingzhou dialect.
But after talking for a long time, Li Jue didn't understand a word. He looked at the sentry below with disgust and said to Hu Feng:
"First go find someone to listen carefully. It is said here in a gibberish way that waste is a good temper of a man."
Hu Feng over there also smiled awkwardly, and then turned around and started chatting with this person in proficient Bingzhou dialect. After half a day, Hu Feng understood the information and said to Li Jue:
"Uncle, let's ask clearly. He said that these boats coming up are the first batch, and there are another batch of boats in the later section of water, and they have already begun to land."
As soon as these words came out, the generals present were in an uproar. They did not expect that these Kwantung soldiers were so cunning in their tactics and had learned how to attack the east and the west.
Hu Feng also saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly finished the rest of the information:
"This group of boatmen anchored at Yedu, ten miles away to the east. There were a lot of people, estimated to be two to three thousand, and there were probably five to six hundred armored men. There were war horses on board at the time, and there were obviously cavalry inside.
"
After telling all the information, Hu Feng stared at Li Jue, waiting for him to give orders.
Li Jue thought for a while, then smiled:
"The Kanto general across the way is interesting. Why don't you give it to a certain family? So, Lao Yang, you can stay here with 500 cavalry. As soon as these Han soldiers start to land, you will be responsible for the harassment."
Yang Bo was called by name and then received the order.
Then Li Jue continued to order:
"Lao Wang, Lao Zhang, you take your troops, Zhang Long, and Wang Cheng are also following me. I want to see what happens when the strange soldiers from the east encounter our cavalry."
After saying that, Li Jue was about to go downhill, preparing to leave his flag and banner here as a cover.
However, Hu Feng unexpectedly pulled his sleeve, and then he saw his nephew smiling flatteringly:
"Uncle, this soldier has made great achievements, how can I reward him?"
Li Jue glanced at Hu Feng, then at the Bingzhou sentry detective who was lying on the ground, and said with a smile:
"You would like to be benevolent. Okay, let him come to your camp and serve as a general."
Hu Feng laughed, grabbed the Bingzhou sentry and said happily:
"Brother Cheng Lian, we finally got what we wanted. Haha!"
…
Just when Li Jue was preparing to attack the enemy in the east.
At a wild ferry crossing more than ten miles away from them, there were densely packed Han soldiers. They had just been pulled across the river by a small boat and then landed.
As soon as they landed, everyone was looking for their officers and generals, so the river beach was in chaos for a while.
At this time, Liu Bei, along with Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, Gongsun Du, Lu Zhao, Yan Shi, Zheng Yi and other generals, hurriedly found Yuan Shu, the leader of the front.
At this moment, Yuan Shu was leading his men to set up camp, while he was chatting with a majestic warrior.
Liu Bei knew this man. It was Gao Lan, the cavalry commander in this battle, who had defected to Luoyang from Hebei. The more than 500 Hebei cavalry who crossed the river this time were under his command.
As soon as Liu Bei arrived, Yuan Shu stopped talking with Gao Lan and said to Liu Bei enthusiastically:
"Xuande, you came just in time. The freshly iced honey water here is very sweet."
After saying this, Yuan Shu asked someone to take out a bottle of honey water from the secret box and gave it to Liu Bei to drink.
Liu Bei was very grateful to Yuan Shu.
Because it wasn't for him, his brothers would have been sent to the southern front to fill in the ravines, and they wouldn't have had the chance to cross the river.
In fact, Liu Bei's situation was quite unfavorable. Previously on the Western Front, he was hated by his friendly forces because he sat and watched the front troops fight hard, and he had been ostracized by the entire army.
Either Yuan Shu later heard about his plight and specially transferred him to the northern front, or he gave him a hand.
Of course, Yuan Shu is not that simple and loyal, although this is the most important thing. Yuan Jiji never looks at people based on their background, because no one has a background as big as his. When he makes friends, he just depends on whether they can be like-minded.
But Liu Bei didn't know why, but he fell in love with Yuan Shu.
They met at Cao Cao's banquet. At that time, Yuan Shu felt that this northerner who looked more like a soldier than a scholar had a temperament that was unfamiliar to him.
If Yuan Shu is a noble son who wants to travel around the world and sings about brotherly loyalty, then Liu Bei in front of him is a typical hero in Yuan Shu's mind.
Therefore, the relationship between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu was established from that time on.
At this moment, when Liu Bei saw Yuan Shu sharing his honey, he felt both grateful and weird in his heart.
I am grateful that Yuan Shu really regards him as a brother, but the strange thing is, who leads the troops to go to war and also brings ice-cold honey water.
But Liu Bei also knew that this was the style of the direct descendants of the Fourth Generation and the Third Duke, so he couldn't say anything, so he could only take it and give it a sip.
Don't tell me, it's really sweet.
After drinking a little, Liu Bei handed the honey water to Zhang Fei and asked him to try it too.
Zhang Fei was not polite, he drank all the remaining honey water in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and said boldly:
"Cool!"
Zhang Fei was happy with the drink, but it was painful for Chen Dao, Gongsun Du, Lu Zhao, Yan Shi, Zheng Yi and others standing behind him. They looked at Zhang Fei eagerly, thinking that he would share it with everyone like Liu Bei.
.
Chen Dao and these people are Liu Bei's new team, which he accumulated in the previous two East-West wars. These people, such as Chen Dao and Lu Zhao, are the heroes of Luo martial arts in many counties in Henan, such as Gongsun Du, Yan Shi, and Zheng Yi
etc., are all military officers assigned to his account before.
Not to mention, Liu Bei is quite talented in recruiting people. This time he was dispatched to the northern front, and these military officials followed him without saying a word.
Yuan Shu also saw this, and his evaluation of Liu Bei became even higher.
Now he saw Liu Bei coming in a hurry and knew that he had something to do, so he asked:
"Xuande, I don't know what's going on!"
Family members, who knows, are monthly tickets required now? Shouldn’t they all be given to Xiao Chen?