Cao Cao had actually already lurked near this hilly area.
At the entrance of a hilly valley covered with sparse forest, a cavalry group of about a thousand people stood silently with their horses and men in their arms.
Could it be that the Taishan Army failed to detect Cao Cao because they have been lurking here for the past few days?
This is not true. There are more than a thousand people and horses, not to mention people eating horse chews, and the feces accumulated every day can be smelled for miles, so why hide it?
The reason why Cao Cao's army can hide is not because they are latent, but because they are constantly moving.
In fact, when Taishan Army's You Yi were moving around, they did not see several falcons circling in the sky above them.
And this is the fundamental reason why Cao Cao was able to avoid Taishan's army.
Falcon taming is not a specialty of the Han people in the Central Plains. It was first used by the Huns, and this type of falcon tamers is a tribe exclusive to the Xiongnu royal family.
But then the Huns were divided into two parts, and then the base area was also occupied by the Xianbei people. These special skills that used to belong to the royal family also began to flow into the various grassland royal courts.
Among them, the Xianbei and Wuhuan people in the east, who occupy the vast Xianbei Mountains, have a more realistic need for such talents, because there is Haidongqing named Shenying in the Xianbei Mountains.
In Pingyuanjin, Cao Cao met two such falcon tamers from Youzhou's sudden cavalry. They were recruited into the army by the Han family. Later, Lu Zhi's army was defeated miserably in Zhongrenting. The way home was blocked, and they could only
Along with the Youzhou Tuqi, they went south to Qingzhou.
With the help of these falcons, Cao Cao's march south was even more powerful.
On July 10, he received a letter from Xun Yu saying that Licheng had been lost. Although he was alarmed, he did not panic because he felt that Xun Yu could stabilize the rear.
Sure enough, on the next day, Cao Cao received Xun Yu's second letter. The letter described his arrangements for the situation behind him, saying that troops from Qi State were speeding up to return for reinforcements, so that Cao Cao should still focus on the frontline war.
But on the third day, Cao Cao no longer received letters from the south. At this time, he understood that there must be something wrong with Dongping Mausoleum.
At that time, Cao Cao was preparing to withdraw his troops and return to Dongpingling.
But is it so easy to withdraw troops?
Not to mention the reason why Ding Sheng on the opposite side should have received Guan Yu's letter, the attacks in the past few days were like a different person, beating and harassing him fiercely.
The defense lines of Cao Cao's army and Taishan army have been intertwined for a long time. Once Cao Cao orders the withdrawal of troops, the entire Pingyuanjin defense line will inevitably collapse.
It is for this reason that Shen Pei and other plain generals also disapproved of Cao Cao leaving like this.
Of course Cao Cao was unwilling to give up. He had already taken ninety-nine steps and saw that he was about to recruit Pingyuan soldiers. How could he fall short?
So Cao Cao changed his approach. He selected a thousand elite cavalry from all the cavalry in the army, including the Youzhou cavalry, and took six days of food with him to march south overnight.
On the evening of the second day, Cao Cao rode his horse and traveled four hundred miles a day and arrived near Dongpingling.
At that time, the outer city of Dongping Mausoleum had been destroyed, and when all the cavalry generals wanted to fight, Cao Cao chose not to support him despite all opinions, and continued to cruise north of Dongping Mausoleum.
Even in order not to be discovered by the endless stream of You Yi from Taishan Army, Cao Cao always stationed himself in one place and had people in charge of cleaning up horse manure.
Even Cao Cao had to dig a hole with his own hands to bury the excrement of Jueying under his crotch.
But don’t tell me, a BMW is a BMW, even the shit it poops doesn’t stink. But people are different. No matter how beautiful a person is, their poop still stink.
Then Cao Cao relied on the falcons in the sky to move flexibly in advance, and forced him to lurk nearby for five or six days without being discovered.
But today has come to an end, and the dry food they brought with them has been eaten. If they can't seize the opportunity today, they won't be able to survive in the wild.
But God paid off and finally allowed him, Lao Cao, to seize the opportunity.
The enemy army was indeed cunning. They judged and chose to evacuate Dongpingling for some unknown reason. During the retreat, they also prepared to ambush Chen Deng's troops of the Xuzhou Army heading north.
Cao Cao had never met Chen Deng, but it did not prevent him from getting to know him.
As a descendant of the Chen family, Chen Deng's grandfather Chen Qiu and father Chen Gui were both well-known in Kyoto. At that time, Chen Gui died for the country, and Cao Cao even wrote a eulogy for Chen Gui.
Now look at Chen Deng's heroic deeds and his heroic spirit. When the Xuzhou troops hesitated to advance, he was the only one marching northward, showing his heroic spirit as a Jianghuai hero.
So even a proud man like Cao Cao had to sigh with envy when he saw Chen's son acting like this:
"When you have a son, you should be like Chen Yuanlong!"
Now Chen Deng was fighting with the ambush troops of Guan Yu's tribe outside the hills ahead, shouting to kill Zhentian, which could be heard even in the valley where he was.
And compared with Chen Deng, his brother-in-law Bian Bing is just a dead wood.
First, he led an army of more than ten thousand people but was unable to break through the thieves' line of defense. Then he made an appointment with Chen Deng to send troops together, but they were both trying to destroy the friendly forces.
It's not impossible to do this, but what Bian Bing did was too low-level and would only make Cao Cao disgusted.
At this time, Cao Cao's face was covered with stubble. He was already in a miserable state after being in the wild for many days, but his haggard body did not affect his excitement at the moment.
He kept walking back and forth on this piece of earth and rocks, listening to the fierce sounds of fighting in the distance, and the fingers holding the riding whip turned white.
He suddenly felt that the sound of fighting in the distance was more intense than before. He quickly raised his head to look outside the mouth of the valley, and sure enough, a heroic cavalryman was galloping towards him.
The person who came was none other than Cao Chun.
Before Cao Chun had time to dismount, Cao Cao had already rushed over and asked:
"Whose reinforcements are coming from outside Qiuwai?"
Cao Chun took a quick breath and said quickly:
"Is it from Zang Ba?"
Cao Cao wondered:
"Zang Ba? Isn't it Guan Yu?"
Of course Cao Cao knew about Zang Ba, the Langya bandit and the watchdog of Xuzhou. He thought that this person was just a first-rate grass bandit, but he did not expect that he would choose to send troops to assist Chen Deng.
But the results brought by Cao Chun were not what Cao Cao wanted.
He has been lurking here for so many days, suffered so much, and filled himself with so much horse manure. He can't just annihilate a few bastards.
Just when Cao Cao was thinking about it, Cao Chun had already jumped off his horse and asked:
"Brother, do we want to send troops? I just looked at the battlefield from a distance, and Chen Deng is no match for him. The Taishan bandits participated in the ambush of two schools, and they only attacked one school, and Chen Deng's army was defeated.
I'm worried that even if Zang Ba joins the battle later, I might not be able to defeat him."
Cao Cao took a breath of air and said in disbelief:
"I'm afraid it's not possible. The two captains of the Taishan Army only have 4,000 soldiers. However, it was previously discovered that Chen Deng's army had 5,000 soldiers. How could it be so bad? And how many people did Zang Ba have here?"
Cao Chun made a rough estimate in his mind and came up with a rough number:
"There are more than four thousand people who are afraid."
Cao Cao covered his forehead and realized such a terrible fact for the first time.
That is, the Taishan Army actually has stronger ones.
He had only fought against the thief Ding Sheng twice before, so he unilaterally believed that the Taishan Army's combat power was just like this.
It is indeed more powerful than his subordinates, but at most it is similar to his core Tiger Step combat power.
But what now? Then the two captains of Guan Yu's tribe could match twice as many soldiers. This was something he had not expected at all.
By now, Cao Cao suddenly thought that the full name of Guan Yu's tribe was:
"The Taishan Army Left Army Marshal's Department."
If you can be on the left side of the army, you must be the champion of the entire army! It turns out that people have told me this a long time ago.
So now a problem arises, that is, the original plan to use the Qiuwai battlefield as bait to lure out Guan Yu's troops has failed.
Yes, two captains can handle the battle, so why do we need more reinforcements? If Guan Yu's troops don't show up, then there is no point in Cao Cao hiding here.
So, Cao Cao thought for a moment and decisively ordered:
"Mount the troops and mount up, follow me to support Chen Yuanlong!"
The generals of the cavalry shouted loudly in response, and then thousands of cavalry rolled up to the level post.
…
It's still a battlefield outside the hills.
As Zang Bajun suddenly appeared on the battlefield, the officers and soldiers of Taishan Army and Chen Deng Army had different reactions.
In addition to continuing to fight hard on the front line, Chen Guang, who was preparing for the entire army, also stayed in the rear with three troops, so he was the first to see Zang Ba's troops coming from the south.
Chen Guang's heart condensed, but he did not panic. He and Guo Mo had naturally thought about this situation when they chose to line up and fight.
The enemy has reinforcements, don’t I have any?
Therefore, Chen Guang ordered the soldiers around him to decisively shoot three cloud-piercing arrows into the sky.
The sharp sound of whistles and arrows pierced the sky, making Chen Deng on the battlefield startled. His original joy of seeing the source of Zang Ba's army was diluted a bit.
Afterwards, Chen Deng squinted his eyes and saw a black mass appearing from the entrance of a mountain valley in front. Then the black mass gradually enlarged and soon spread on the mountain line in front.
Chen Deng's body swayed, and he supported his whole body on the car roof with both hands before he managed to stand.
He saw clearly the flag coming from the opposite side, with the word "高" written on it. It was the elegance department he had been looking for before.
He should have thought long ago that since the Elegant Department got here before him, it must be nearby.
But just when Chen Deng's mood took a turn for the worse, the ministries under his command were completely opposite.
On the new defense line composed of Chen Duan and Chen Shi, these Jianghuai soldiers naturally had no vision. Like Guo Mo's entangled troops on the opposite side, they were blind men on the battlefield.
But they could hear the wild cheers of the robes behind them.
Just listen to them shouting:
"Reinforcements have arrived!"
These four short words gave these Jianghuai children endless strength. In fact, they relied on these four words to support themselves until now.
This battle was too hard, really too hard.
Is Chen Deng's army weak? No, on the contrary, they can be said to be the most elite in the Jianghuai region.
You say that the Danyang soldiers are proud of the southeast, but Chen Deng's army has not fought with these people and won in battle. From the formation of the army to the present, for more than a year, they have enough food and soldiers, and they have received the kindness of the Chen family.
It can be said that the battle experience, material equipment, and spiritual will are all sufficient.
Let's talk about Chen Deng's two hundred cavalry. Even though they may not be many in number, they travel across the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and earn the reputation of "Jianghuai Strong Cavalry".
There are no horses in the Jianghuai area, so the Chen family was able to support these two hundred horses, which shows how much money and resources were spent.
But, but why did this battle end like this?
It can't shoot as far as the enemy, and it can't stab the enemy's length. Even if they fight hand-to-hand, they are facing armored soldiers wearing armor and fighting equipment, and most of them have Jianghuai's characteristic light leather armor.
Even when it comes to fighting will and fighting skills, they are far inferior.
The thieves on the opposite side can use bows and arrows at a distance, rifles at close range, and swords at close range. Some of them even have their own fighting tools. In short, everyone is a veteran soldier who is good at fighting.
And if the above is just the difference in soldiers, then the grassroots tactics displayed by the Taishan Army made Chen Dengjun feel even more desperate.
Taishan's army marched forward in unison, with Shi's generals commanding from outside.
Once a general dies in battle, he will immediately be replaced by a military officer to maintain command of the front. But if the whole army collapses, they will not withdraw, but will form formations in threes and threes and attack intermittently.
I really don’t know how they solve the problem of command during wartime. They are both civil servants, so why would he listen to another person of equal rank?
It's really puzzling.
In addition, some Jianghuai military officials also discovered why there was such a big gap between the two sides in terms of combat continuity.
In fact, so far, Chen Deng's army has dispatched at least six divisions and nearly 3,000 men. However, the opposite side has only dispatched less than 2,000 men so far. How can they be so resistant to the battle?
It turns out that the gap between the two sides lies in the rescue of the wounded.
Although Chen Deng's army selected Jianghuai brave warriors to form its army, both its organizational construction and military law design followed the Han army's military system and did not exceed this era.
And what is the background of this era? That is, people are divided into three, six or nine levels. The most important thing in the army is naturally the military officers at all levels. Therefore, once these people are injured and fall to the ground, half of their subordinates must protect their own soldiers.
Withdraw to the rear.
This resulted in such a result.
Every time a general of the Han army fell to the ground, at least five soldiers from Quanshi would protect the general and retreat to the rear.
And what about the Taishan Army? Everyone in the army is equal, and the generals and front-line officers only have responsibilities and no distinction in life.
When General Shi was injured and fell to the ground, he was replaced by the commander of the left army, who was also carried back to the rear by the auxiliary soldiers behind him.
Generally, when an officer is injured and falls to the ground, he will first be pulled back to a safe place by the robes at the rear, and then carried back to the rear by the auxiliary soldiers at the rear for treatment.
What is the difference between the two?
The generals of the Taishan Army were very thieves. The hand crossbows in their hands were specially designed to shoot at the Han army's frontline officers, wounding them but not killing them. Therefore, the Jianghuai Army's frontline troops often only reduced one or two men, and every one of their soldiers had to be withdrawn.
As for the Taishan Army? It can kill six or seven people in a row and still maintain an offensive posture.
So this is the result:
That is, even though the Jianghuai soldiers are sharp and willing to die, they are not resistant to fighting.
It can be said that such a high efficiency in the use of force as the Taishan Army is rare in the world.
In fact, both people and forces are capable of continuous growth, but in the past, the Han army that fought fiercely with the Taishan Army in Hebei was either annihilated or captured.
The Han soldiers in the Qingxu area had never fought such a high-intensity battle with the Taishan Army, so naturally they could not learn from the experience of failure.
Now Chen Deng has Jianghuai troops. If they can survive this battle, there is no doubt that a more powerful Jianghuai army will stand in the southeast, which will definitely have a profound impact on the southeastern pattern.
But the premise is that they can survive!
This is the secret of cold weapon warfare, and it is the essential reason why an army will collapse if it loses one third of its casualties.
In wartime, if the problem of manpower allocation for rescuing the wounded cannot be properly handled, then there is no need to mention resilience.