At this time, there was the Wulitun camp and the Chinese army's tent.
Marshal Zhang Dan of the right army was reading the secret handwritten letter from the king.
This was the first time Zhang Chong wrote a letter to Zhang Dan. In the letter, Zhang Chong described the crisis faced by the Northern Expedition in the tone of an elder brother. He told Zhang Dan frankly that the rush to build a pontoon bridge was still going on here at the base camp, but the pontoon bridge had to be built.
The bridge foundation must be built with giant boats, otherwise the cavalry on the south bank would not be able to cross the Hutuo River.
The cavalry army could not cross the Hutuo River, and even if the reinforcements crossed the river, they would not be able to withstand the attack of Youzhou's sudden cavalry. In this endless plain of Hebei, only the cavalry army could resist the cavalry army.
But Zhang Chong also told him the importance of the Wulitun Camp where Zhang Dan was located, because the pontoon bridge could only be built if it stood firmly on the north bank.
Therefore, Zhang Chong was very emotional. Instead of ordering Zhang Dan to defend the country as the lord of Taiping, he expressed his thoughts with the emotion of an elder brother.
Zhang Chong attached a small poem at the end of this letter:
"I think back then, Lin Zhongyi only wanted to survive. He could see the disciples crying and starving, and he set his ambitions in Mount Tai. After four or five years of cold and heat, he started to dig up the dirt and build a new outlook. Now that the tiger has entered the deep swallow, who is the peace of the country?"
Zhang Dan silently recited this little poem and said the sentence "For whom the country is safe", and his mood was once again wavering.
Yes, Zhang Dan was just an ignorant child in a big family, but now he can devote himself to such a magnificent career.
The heroic ambition to establish virtue for heaven and earth, and establish destiny for the people is full of ambition.
For thousands of years, no one has cared about their voices. For thousands of years, no one has left their names. But now, the Taishan Army is about to shout out the strongest voice in this world:
"Raise swords and soldiers, exchange for peace, and restore the Qingming Dynasty to the world!"
So what if Lu Zhi, an old man, has many soldiers and generals? He is still defeated by his own men. If I, Zhang Dan, can defeat you once, I can defeat you a second time.
Zhang Dan carefully folded this precious letter and put it close to his chest. Then he was thinking about the defense behind it to see what loopholes he had not thought of.
As the king often said, you can despise the enemy strategically, but you must pay attention to it tactically.
At this moment, Luo Gang, who was responsible for the security of the military stronghold, hurriedly entered and shouted anxiously:
"Commander, the northern troops have gone south and are competing with our army to harvest summer millet."
…
In the first year of Taiwu, the millet was ripe in July.
After the Youyan Zhenbei Army became aware of the Taishan Army's attempt to seize summer grains, they immediately took action and sent 4,000 cavalry captain Gongsun Zan to ride southward, intending to use attack as protection and protection as defense to destroy the Taishan Army's capture.
plan.
After Gongsun Zan understood Lu Zhi's thoughts, he divided his 4,000 cavalry into eight groups, each with 500 cavalry, and then sent each group to travel around to attack. In addition, Gongsun Zan also ordered the military officials in the new city and Wuji area to
Send teams out of the city to supervise the people to harvest summer millet, but they cannot be harvested by Taishan thieves.
In order to speed up the capture, the Taishan Army fought with Gongsun Zan's tribe at Xianyu Pavilion on the north bank of Zishui.
Xianyu Pavilion is the capital of the Xianyu Kingdom built by the Di people during the Spring and Autumn Period. It is located on the platform on the north bank of Zishui. The soil is fertile and it is an important land cultivated by Feng Xun.
At that time, Pan Zhang's tribe was heading out to harvest summer grains, and they met Gongsun Yue, Gongsun Zan's younger brother, who was wandering here.
Gongsun Yue glanced at the "Pan" flag fluttering on the pavilion not far away, and his eyes turned red.
In the Battle of Jize last year, as the leader of Lu Zhi's armored heavy cavalry, he shouldered the important task of defeating the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army.
Everything went smoothly. Under the impact of fifty heavy armored cavalry, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban army was defeated.
In the end, this thief named Pan served as the vanguard of the Taishan bandits and defeated him, leaving Gongsun Yue to flee in embarrassment.
His military exploits, Gongsun Yue, were put to shame by this man!
Therefore, even though Gongsun Yue only had a hundred cavalry in hand at that time, he still launched an attack on Pan Zhang, vowing to avenge the previous humiliation.
Although the Han army only had a hundred cavalry, it was still very powerful once it charged, which directly shocked Pan Zhang who was robbing Xia Su.
Pan Zhang was just standing on the hot ridge of the field, cutting handfuls of summer millet.
Suddenly I felt the ground shaking, and then I heard the sound of horses galloping in the northwest direction. I shouted at that time:
"Everyone turn around and retreat to the pavilion."
After saying that, Pan Zhang picked up the one who was still in a daze, swung his big feet wildly, and ran towards Xianyu Pavilion two miles away!
The guards on the pavilion also saw the enemy cavalry running in the distance and rang the warning bell on the police tower. Then the nearby Taishan troops dropped their summer grains and rushed back to the pavilion to prepare.
Defend against invading enemies.
But not everyone has time to run into the pavilion.
On the outskirts of the field ridge, there was a team of ox carts, which were responsible for loading the cut millets back to the pavilion. Because they were the farthest away from the pavilion and the goods on the cart were heavy, they were quickly surrounded by Yan soldiers.
Those driving the bullock carts were just baggage soldiers and nearby villagers, and they had no fighting capacity at all. After a few baggage soldiers with spears were shot and killed, the remaining villagers begged for help.
They said that they were refugees nearby and came to help out just for a bite of millet. They hoped that the Yan soldiers would not kill them.
But Gongsun Yue just replied:
"Don't you deserve to die if you eat the millet of the Taishan thief?"
As a result, more than 20 unarmed refugees were slaughtered by the Yan soldiers, and their heads were cut off and pinned to the heads of horses.
These are all military merits and cannot be wasted.
Looking at the tragedy below, Pan Zhang's gums were broken, but he still could not order the attack.
Because there are only more than 60 Taishan troops in Xianyu Pavilion at this moment, there is no way to compete with the enemy in the wild.
Pan Zhang also hated himself for being careless.
At that time, Zhang Dan had ordered Pan Zhang to just guard Sanhe Pavilion. However, Pan Zhang heard from nearby people that there was a large field of millet in Xianyu Pavilion in the north, which was cultivated by Prime Minister Changshan himself, and no one has taken it yet. Then Pan Zhang
Bring more than 60 soldier cats here to grab a wave.
But now? I am trapped in Xianyu Pavilion because of a small loss.
His own safety is small, but if the defense of Sanhe Pavilion behind him collapses, he will die forever.
…
The first conflict between Yan soldiers and Taishan troops broke out at Xianyu Pavilion.
Soon, Gongsun Zan's troops had already reached the Sanhe Pavilion, and were even advancing towards the Jiumen area behind.
They usually formed a team of fifty or a hundred people, with local rich and rural soldiers as guides, and repeatedly attacked the millet-cutting teams of the Taishan Army.
Not only that, Gongsun Zan also directly ordered that anyone who could steal Xia Su should only hand over half of it, and the rest could be kept for himself.
As a result, the homeless people nearby were ecstatic and went crazy day and night to cultivate summer millet. However, whenever these people returned with loads of summer millet, they would be robbed by nearby "robbers" and thrown to death on the roadside.
.
Not only that, Gongsun Zan also used his ability to divide and combine troops and maneuverability, and under the guidance of nearby local tyrants, he lurked and burned the Taishan Army's food garrison points.
These grain garrison points were all looted by the Taishan Army during this period and had not yet been sent to the Wulitun Camp in the rear.
Gongsun Zan's methods were harsh and effective.
After these few moves, the ripe millet in the field was quickly plundered by the Yan soldiers, and the Taishan Army's early harvest results were also consumed by less than half. So far, the Taishan Army's harvest plan at this stage ended in failure.
The satisfied Gongsun Zan did not stop there. He transported most of the summer grain to Xinshi County near Xianyu Pavilion, and then gathered an army of 4,000 cavalry and thousands of local rich people from Quqian to launch an attack on Sanhe Pavilion.
Obviously Gongsun Zan also discovered the critical geographical location of Sanhe Pavilion. This pavilion is located beside the official road. If this village is not removed, if the Yan soldiers move south from behind, their supply line will be exposed to the Taishan Army's front.
So, on the twelfth day of the seventh month, Gongsun Zan attacked Sanhe Pavilion.
At this time, because Pan Zhang was still trapped in Xianyu Pavilion in the north, Mao Shao was in charge of Sanhe Pavilion.
Because of his repeated military exploits, Mao Shao quickly grew into a general. This time, as the chief general, he went to Sanhe Pavilion to garrison with Captain Pan Zhang.
Facing the Yan army's overwhelming force, Mao Shao, who was on his own for the first time, showed a rare commanding ability. He was calm and calm, not afraid of the Yan army's front. He not only repelled the local Xiangqu's attack, but also surrendered several times.
A night attack on the Yan Army horse farm outside the pavilion.
At the same time, the Wulitun camp, which received the Yan troops moving south, also quickly launched a counterattack against Gongsun Zan's tribe.
First, they took advantage of Gongsun Zan's troops to plunder the countryside and ambush his troops. Then they penetrated outside the Xianyu Pavilion on the north bank of Zishui, joined forces with Pan Zhang who was guarding the pavilion, and defeated one of Yan's cavalry.
But these victories were temporary, because the Taishan Army on the north bank of the Hutuo River lacked horsemen and lost the initiative on the battlefield. They often had to rush on the road in the middle of the night and lurk during the day. After a long battle, all the officers and men were exhausted.
In view of this, Zhang Dan ordered all ministries to give up their plans to continue to seize the goods, and all ministries returned to the defense barriers to wait for reinforcements from the base camp.
Over there, Gongsun Zan also started to be cautious after being defeated by more than two hundred horses.
He is now convinced that the current Taishan Army is still the Taishan Army from last year, and its strength has not been reduced due to massive expansion.
Although he didn't know how Taishan's army did it, it didn't prevent him from using his troops carefully later.
After the failure of the first attack on Sanhe Pavilion, the strength of the nearby local tycoon Xiangqu was greatly depleted. Without these cannon fodder soldiers to attack the stronghold, Gongsun Zan would not be willing to use cavalry to attack the stronghold.
Therefore, Gongsun Zan sorted out the results of the war for a while and sent a very beautiful military report to Lu Zhi in Quyang, Xia.
Of course, he didn't mention anything about his minor setback at Sanhe Pavilion.
Because as far as the facts are concerned, those who attacked Sanhe Pavilion were those rich people. What does it have to do with Gongsun Zan? You can't ignore the facts, right?
Therefore, when Yu Qi was flying in Guangyang Road, Lu Zhi at the rear quickly learned the battle report from the front line.
This battle was the first victory for the Zhenbei Army going south, and its boost to morale was undoubtedly undoubted.
In addition, nearly 100,000 shi of new millet were seized in this battle, which greatly eased the grain pressure of the Zhenbei Army.
Seeing that the front line was progressing so smoothly, Lu Zhi finally made up his mind to lead the main force of the Zhenbei Army southward from Xiaquyang.
In the first year of Taiwu, on July 18th, the main force of the Zhenbei Army was 50,000, and marched south along the Guangyang Road.
…
At this time, in the main camp of Wulitun, the generals of the Marshal's Department of the Right Army and the Marshal's Department of the Rear Army were in gloomy mood.
There was a general at the moment, Lu Xiang from the Marshal's Department of the rear army.
He would now have his arms tied up and his face full of anger:
"It's really embarrassing. When has our Taishan Army ever fought such a battle? Four hundred of our troops came out of the camp and were fooled by the enemy's fifty cavalry. If you give me thirty, no, just twenty cavalry, How can we let him be so arrogant?"
You can't blame Lu Xiang for roaring like this, he suffered a big loss this time.
Previously, he took his 400 soldiers to cut millet in the wild. When he returned home with a full load, he met fifty Yanqi waiting.
Due to the lack of cavalry, Lu Xiang's troops were completely defeated by the opponent.
When he stopped to form a formation, those Yan soldiers would shoot out from the outside, or even hang out from a distance. If he led his troops forward, those Yan soldiers would suddenly appear and attack his rear from behind.
It can be said that these Yan soldiers mastered the art of separation and separation.
Lu Xiang had only seen such a superb cavalry team in the upper five armies of the Cavalry Army.
Later, Lu Xiang became annoyed and directly invited the opponent to play a master game, which was a one-on-one challenge before the formation. The opponent also agreed to this slightly funny request.
It was not until this moment that Lu Xiang realized that the enemy was not the Han army, but the Xianbei people.
These Xianbei people used the standard armaments of the Han army and were restrained by Han law. Their combat effectiveness was really unmatched by those on the grasslands.
A warrior also appeared from the Xianbei people. He had a deep nose and high eyes. He didn't know where he was from. But Lu Xiang didn't care about this. He rushed towards the Xianbei people with a big spear on his back and an iron spear in his hand.
Lu Xiang is quite arrogant, otherwise he would not be able to compete with Dong Fan, but one thing is for sure, his bravery is worthy of his arrogance.
The Xianbei man came on horseback. When he saw Lu Xiang running towards him, he shot the arrow in his hand.
Lu Xiang just tilted his head to avoid the attack, then held the spear in his hand and began to accelerate and rush forward.
When the Xianbei people saw that one hit could not be achieved, they said something, then directly pinched three arrows, and then shot them in succession.
The arrows were very tricky. They were not in a straight line. They were aimed at Lu Xiang's throat, ankles and shoulders respectively. Especially the last arrow that hit the shoulder was shot faster than before.
Lu Xiang only saw the two arrows in front, so he first blocked the first arrow with his big spear, and then turned sideways to avoid the second arrow. But the moment he turned around, burning pain came from his shoulder.
An armor-piercing arrow shot through his armor and entered his left arm.
Lu Xiang endured the pain, and then knocked over the Xianbei man's horse like a galloping horse. The Xianbei man did not expect that his arrows would be dodged by the Han man, so he was stunned, and then he and his horse were pinned down by Lu Xiang.
land.
After that, Lu Xiang only used his right hand to strangle the Xianbei man to death.
The Xianbei knights on the opposite side were stunned and quickly dispersed.
The grassland people are still strong, and the Han people are warriors, and they are not willing to chew this hard nut.
From here, it can also be seen that although the Zhenbei Army recruited ten thousand Hu cavalry and armed them with Han military equipment, which greatly enriched its field combat capabilities. However, the looseness and independence of the Hu people made these Hu cavalry often go on their own.
The Zhenbei Legion's restraint on them was not very strong.