Chapter 447 I'm just pretending, I really don't dare to do it!
The Yangtze River is rolling and the waves are rolling.
Hundreds of warships docked at Jinkou, following the rising and falling waves.
On the bank of the river, a man stood facing the wind, his cloak fluttering in the cold wind. He held the Huanshou knife on his waist and stared at the other side of the river with his bright eyes, wondering what he was thinking in his heart.
This person was none other than Liu Yao's general Fan Neng.
It has been three days since he arrived at Dantu, but he has not yet received an order to cross the river. We must know that troops are very fast, and there is no reason to delay the opportunity of the war.
On the other side of the river bank, preparations for battle must have been made, and reinforcements have even been invited. If this continues, it is still unknown whether they can safely cross the Yangtze River, let alone attack Guangling.
Fan Neng was puzzled.
Even if my lord is mentally retarded, he won't make such a stupid mistake, right? There may be something in this that he doesn't understand yet.
well!
That’s all.
I don’t think about it anymore, I get a headache from thinking too much.
Fan Neng shook his head and was about to turn around and leave when a voice sounded from behind:
"General Fan."
"kindness?"
It's Gu Yong.
Fan Neng could tell it immediately.
He turned around and frowned: "Yuan Tan, why do you have time to come here? The wind in the river is so strong, be careful of getting cold, so you'd better go back quickly."
"No rush."
Gu Yong was wearing a winter coat and a mink velvet cloak, holding a warm hand stove in his hand. He gave Fan Neng a faint smile: "General Fan has stayed here for so long, maybe he is waiting for the order to cross the river, right?"
"this......"
Now that Gu Yong had seen through it, Fan Neng had nothing to hide and nodded affirmatively: "Yes, it is indeed true. If the lord has not given orders for so long, the other side must have been well prepared. This battle is really impossible to fight."
"kindness."
Gu Yong thanked him calmly, without any emotion on his face, as if he had already seen through everything.
But the more he behaves like this, the more curious Fan Neng becomes: "Yuan Tan, what do you mean by doing this? Do you already know the master's intention?"
"certainly."
Gu Yong nodded affirmatively and said casually: "Because, the person who prevents you from crossing the river is actually me, not the main attacker."
Fan Neng's eyes were as wide as bells, and he was suddenly surprised. He said "Ah" and exclaimed: "Mr. Yuantan, what do you mean by this? If you deliberately stay here for so long, won't you give the enemy time to fully prepare?"
"That's right."
Fan Neng originally thought that Gu Yong would at least feel ashamed, but he never thought that the other party nodded without hesitation and admitted his intention, not even feeling ashamed at all.
"I just want to give Guangling Chen Deng enough time to prepare."
This sentence made Fan Neng so angry that he wanted to throw ten thousand Chinese quintessences directly into his face, but when he saw the other person's expression as normal and not ashamed, he always felt that something was wrong, so he resisted it.
, finally exhaled and asked:
"This...this..."
"Yuantan, why are you doing this?"
"This is obviously an eternal opportunity. You are clearly wasting the opportunity. If I can take charge, I will chop off your head. Do you know how much impact your suggestion will have on our attack on Guangling?
?”
"I......"
Just as Fan Neng kept complaining about Gu Yong, Gu Yong interrupted directly, nodded and said: "Of course I know that once Guangling is ready, the difficulty of our attack on Guangling will definitely double, and the casualties will most likely double."
"You...you actually..."
Fan Neng was getting increasingly confused. He took a deep breath and tried to keep calm: "Since you understand, why do you still do this? Give me a reasonable explanation, otherwise I will not let you go."
"Hahaha!"
Gu Yong looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, as if he didn't take Fan Neng seriously at all: "If you really had a way with me, would you do this to me? If I didn't give you a reasonable explanation, would you still be able to eat me?"
Forehead......
Fan Neng suddenly withered.
Indeed, there was nothing he could do against Gu Yong.
He was a popular figure in front of Liu Yao, and the chief steward in Jiangdong. Even Liu Yao had to give him a thumbs-down, let alone someone like himself.
"Okay."
Seeing that Fan Neng was holding back his anger, Gu Yong stopped joking with him.
This time he came here to give Fan Neng a reasonable explanation, otherwise he would not have come here at all: "I can give you a reasonable explanation, do you want to hear it?"
"certainly."
Fan Neng turned his head and glanced at Gu Yong, looking serious.
"All right."
Gu Yong sighed and was too lazy to talk nonsense. He tightened his cloak and went straight to the point: "Actually, the Lord ordered you to lead the troops north to Dan Tu. This was originally a forced action."
"If Yuan Shao hadn't sent people here, hoping that my lord would lead his troops north and attack Guangling while Xu Rong left Xuzhou, my lord would not have sent any troops at all."
These words really made Fan Neng stunned: "With Xu Rong away, isn't it a good time to attack? Why is my lord unwilling to attack? Is it because he is afraid of Chen Deng in Guangling?"
"Although this boy is from the Chen family in Xuzhou, he is too young and has no previous experience in the battlefield. What abilities he has. I, Fan Neng, cannot guarantee anything else. It is more than enough to beat him."
Gu Yong chuckled, shook his head, and said softly: "It's just Chen Deng, so it's not worth mentioning. He has only a few thousand soldiers and horses under his command, and the general has only one chariot. How can he stop the general's powerful army?"
"But general..."
Before Fan Neng could become arrogant, Gu Yong changed the topic and said: "Although Chen Deng is not worthy of mention, he represents Nanyang after all. My lord is not afraid of Guangling, but he is afraid of Nanyang."
"Although Xu Rong left Xuzhou, Nanyang can still send troops and horses. We may be able to capture three or five cities, but how to defend against Nanyang's counterattack is a question worthy of discussion."
"this......"
Fan Neng frowned, not knowing how to answer the question.
indeed.
The strength of Nanyang Hanting lies here.
Once they take action against Guangling, whether it is a complete victory, a narrow victory, or even a defeat, it will all mean becoming Nanyang's enemy and declaring war with Nanyang.
In this case, the other side is bound to launch a counterattack on Yangzhou. The power of the fire and thunder is known to the world. Even if there is a plan to build a city and strengthen it, no one knows how effective it will be.
If they rashly launch an attack in order to cooperate with Yuan Shao, when they are faced with a thunderous counterattack in the future, it will not just be as simple as taking back the lost territory in Xuzhou, the opponent may even go all out to capture Yangzhou.
This is the reason why Liu Yao has been occupying the Lujiang River, but did not cooperate with the troops from Jiangdong to forcefully attack Guangling and push the defense line to the Huaihe River. He had no choice but to bear the consequences of failure.
Although Jiangdong always has the natural moat of the Yangtze River in hand, and on the surface it seems to be in an invincible position, Cheng Pu of Xuzhou is building a navy, and Sun Jian's navy of the new country is even undergoing intensive training.
Their goals are obvious, which are Jingxiang and Yangzhou. Especially Cheng Pu, who is attacking from the sea, is very difficult to guard against. He can attack their coastline at any time and launch a full-scale attack on Yangzhou.
This battle can be fought, but there will be a price to pay.
If you can't bear it, there is only one ending:
die!
Therefore, Liu Yao would not attack Guangling unless he had no choice. When he was preparing to attack Guangling, he had certain abilities and could prevent Nanyang from counterattacking.
Gu Yong sighed and said softly: "After all, we are in alliance with Yuan Shao. What we should do is to show off, but it is impossible to drag us into the water."
"Do you understand this time?"
Immediately, Gu Yong turned his head to glance at Fan Neng and said softly.
"Ming... understand."
Fan Neng nodded, with a confused look on his face: "General, I have simplified the problem. I just feel sorry for you, sir. Please don't blame me."
"Won't."
Gu Yong waved his hand, keeping a calm expression on his face: "As the commander-in-chief, this is an issue you should consider. The incident happened suddenly and I did not explain it clearly. This is my responsibility."
"It's just that even I didn't expect that Nanyang Hanting didn't send troops to support Guangling. This makes us seem more passive. Fortunately, strong winds have swept through recently, which is not conducive to combat. This is a reason."
"But then..."
Gu Yong turned to look at Fan Neng and said softly: "How to delay time is up to you. The lord has one and only one order. No matter at any time, there must be a reason not to send troops unless the lord personally orders it. Do you understand?
?”
Fan Neng leaned forward and handed over his hand, and responded sonorously: "Sir, don't worry, just leave this matter to the generals. I guarantee that they will not find fault. How can they, the northerners, understand this method of water warfare?"
Gu Yongdan smiled: "That's very good."
Fan Neng breathed a sigh of relief: "Sir, why don't you go and sit in my camp? The river wind here is very strong, so be careful of getting cold."
"No."
Gu Yong looked at the rolling Yangtze River in the distance, letting the cold wind blow across his face: "I have to hurry up and rush back. The situation this year is really not optimistic, and I can't waste a day."
"this......"
As a last resort, Fan Neng could only nod his head: "Well, in that case, I won't keep you, Sir. It won't be too late for us to get together again during the Winter Festival."
"kindness."
Gu Yong nodded: "I'll take my leave."
Fan Neng watched Gu Yong leave and immediately returned to the military camp.
******
Qingzhou, Beihai.
The first snow of the second year of Zhongxing came later than usual.
A goose-like blizzard instantly covered the land of Qingzhou. Looking around, it was covered in silver and looked particularly enchanting.
Although the heavy snow in the north is beautiful, it is a huge challenge for marching.
Xu Rong was simply very experienced. When he felt that the weather was not right, he had already ordered to stop the march and set up camp on the spot, preparing to wait for the blizzard to pass before breaking camp and setting off.
Of course, if the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans did not have the cooperation of Yuan Shao, Xu Rong would have stepped up his march even in the wind and snow. After all, the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people was at stake and there was no room for carelessness.
But......
Now that Yuan Shao is involved, Xu Rong must be careful, lest he fails to save people, loses food, grass, winter clothes, tents and other supplies, and even suffers heavy losses to the army, which would be more than worth the loss.
For Xu Rong, the current strategy is one of "stability". Anyway, the advantage lies with me. What should be anxious is the Qingzhou Yellow Turban and the Yuan Jun civil and military forces involved in it.
now.
Xu Rong Camp.
Central army, big tent.
The crackling sound of the charcoal brazier made the entire tent feel as warm as spring.
Xu Rong still stood in front of the map, hands behind his back, staring at the road above, thinking about what to do next.
Now they have successfully walked out of the Langya Corridor and entered the territory of Beihai. A large part of it is plain terrain, and only the part bordering Xuzhou and Yanzhou is close to the mountainous and hilly area of central and southern Shandong.
Anqiu!
Changan!
Zhu Xu!
...
Xu Rong quickly targeted some suspicious county towns because they had rolling mountains that could block the cold wind and were the safest hiding places for the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.
But at the same time, it is also the place where they are most likely to ambush. Once they enter, they will be torn into pieces by the enemy's 500,000 soldiers.
General Hou Cheng stepped forward and said, "General, why don't we send someone to investigate. Anyway, these places are not that far apart, and there will be news soon."
"Let's wait until the snow stops."
Xu Rong took a breath and frowned at the map: "What I'm worried about is not that there are Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in these places, but that there are Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in these places, and we don't know where Yuan Shao's people will be."
"Also, there is no news about which of these Qingzhou Yellow Turbans have been controlled by Yuan Shao and which ones have not been controlled by Yuan Shao. This is really detrimental to our next actions."
Hou Cheng said softly: "Unfortunately, there is no news about the imperial court's flying pigeons delivering messages. Now that we have encountered such weather conditions, I am afraid it will be delayed for a while."
"Don't worry."
Xu Rong kept as calm as possible: "As long as we work steadily and step by step, the people who should be anxious are the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, not us."
Hou Chengdan smiled: "That's true."
"Oh right."
Xu Rong turned around and asked, "Can you keep up with the food, grass and other supplies?"
Hou Cheng shook his head: "We must have been delayed when we encountered a blizzard. Anyway, we haven't arrived at Dongwu County yet, otherwise the cavalry would have come to report the news."
"But general, please rest assured, Zu Mao, Kanze is very capable of doing things. Even if he is delayed for a day or two, he will make up for it as much as possible later. I think it won't delay things."
"perhaps......"
Hou Cheng smiled: "It's not certain that they are on their way here."
Xu Rong whispered: "I hope so."
"Report—!"
At this moment, a long announcement sounded outside the tent.
Xu Rong and Hou Cheng were stunned for a moment, thinking it was Zu Mao coming: "Could it be..."
Turn around and look.
But seeing He Qi hurriedly enter the account, he leaned over and held up his hands and said: "General, there is something wrong."
Xu Rong frowned and asked urgently: "What's going on?"
He Qi said softly: "Our army's secret sentry found a man who was frozen stiff. He kept shouting your name, general, and there was a wound on his body. On the left chest, it was a sword wound."
hiss-!
Xu Rong was surprised: "Call my name?"
He Qi nodded: "Yes, that's exactly it."
"Where is this person?"
"It has been brought back to the military camp. He is currently in a coma. The general will send someone to take care of him."
"Do you know the identity of this person?"
"perhaps......"
He Qi frowned and replied tentatively: "It's the Qingzhou Yellow Turban, and it's very likely that the military rank is not low."
"oh?"
Xu Rong was even more surprised, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Qingzhou Yellow Turban?"
He Qi nodded: "Yes, this person is wearing talisman paper, which is used by Taiping Dao to make talisman water. Moreover, this kind of talisman paper can only be seen among some high-level people. It is not available to ordinary believers.
.”
At this critical moment, the senior officials of Qingzhou Yellow Turban appeared here injured, and they were still calling their names. Xu Rong, who was keen, suddenly realized something and immediately ordered:
"General He."
"exist."
"We must save this person at all costs, do you understand?"
"General, don't worry, military doctors are already doing their best to treat you."
"kindness."
Xu Rong nodded: "If this person wakes up, he must inform this general as soon as possible. He is very likely to know the internal situation of Qingzhou Yellow Turban, which will be of great use to our next progress."
He Qi leaned over and cupped his hands and said, "Here."
Wait until he leaves.
Xu Rong clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth, frantically simulating the possibility of such a situation in his mind. Even Xu Rong was constantly guessing and deducing the identity of the other party.
Although it was easy for Yuan Shao to take advantage of the imperial court's institutional system, it had its advantages after all. It was very useful for small noble families, poor families, and ordinary people.
What is Qingzhou Yellow Turban?
To put it bluntly.
He is a violent anti-imperial group composed of ordinary people in Qingzhou.
Strictly speaking, they are a group of ordinary people, and the decrees of the Nanyang court are definitely very attractive to them.
The only ones who are really causing trouble are the senior officials of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, because once they surrender to Nanyang, they will have no competitiveness at all under Nanyang's survival of the fittest mechanism.
but......
This does not mean that the top brass of Qingzhou Yellow Turban are all selfish people.
There are always some people who really think about the ordinary people in the Yellow Turbans. Once a disagreement occurs, a fight will inevitably occur. It is extremely possible for a lucky person to escape from it.
That evening, it was quiet at night.
In the big tent, a lamp was like a bean, and the candle flame flickered.
Xu Rong is reading at night by candlelight.
suddenly.
A long announcement sounded outside the tent:
"Report—!"
Xu Rong put down the military book and looked up.
However, He Qi hurriedly entered the account, leaned over and handed over his hands: "General, that man has woken up."
"oh?"
Xu Rong was surprised, stood up hurriedly, spared Chang Yu, and moved into the account: "Let's go and have a look together."
He Qi nodded and said, "Here." He immediately followed Xu Rong and left the tent.
Not long after.
The two of them came to the tent not far away.
At this moment, the military doctor was changing the man's dressing, but when the man saw Xu Rong coming, he was ready to get up and greet him.
"Don't move, have a good rest."
Xu Rong stepped forward quickly and waved his hand to interrupt the other person's movements: "You were injured and haven't recovered yet. You need to rest well now. Just lie down quietly. I just want to ask you a few questions."
"May I ask General, is Xu Rong from Nanyang Hanting?"
Before Xu Rong could ask, the other party had already asked first.
"That's right."
Xu Rong nodded affirmatively: "I am Xu Rong of Nanyang Hanting. In the name of Your Majesty, I rushed to Qingzhou to prepare for the recruitment of the Yellow Turbans. I don't know who you are..."
"The villain is in charge of Hai, and the Yellow Turban Qu in Qingzhou and Beihai is in charge."
Guan Hai bowed and held his hands in his hands, tears welling up in his eyes.
"ah?"
Xu Rong and He Qi were both stunned: "Are you Guan Hai?"
Guan Hai burst into tears: "Yes, it's the villain."
hiss-!
They both gasped and were stunned.
Although they expected that it would be a senior member of Qingzhou Huangjinqushuai, they could not believe that the person who fell in the ice and snow was none other than Qingzhou Huangjinqushuai Guanhai!
"What...what the hell is going on?"
Xu Rong took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
"That's right."
At that moment, Guan Hai did not hide anything and told everything about that day: "If Guan Cheng hadn't known that the position of my heart was different from that of ordinary people, maybe the villain would not have been able to escape at all."
"Guo Tu, Yan Liang?"
Xu Rong naturally knew the status of these two men in Yuan Shao's army.
Yan Liang, in particular, is known as the leader of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei, and his military skills and martial arts are all top-notch.
Yuan Shao sent these two people to Qingzhou, obviously to use the hands of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban to fight to the death with the Nanyang Hanting. Anyway, no matter the victory or defeat, it was all a kind of weakening of the Nanyang Hanting, and he was always at a disadvantage.
The place of defeat.
"That's right."
Guan Hai nodded affirmatively: "It is Guo Tu, Yan Liang, and there are also Yuan Shao's troops and horses at Xu He in Jinan. The leader is Yuan Shao's general Wen Chou."
Xu Rong secretly thought something was wrong and hurriedly asked: "May I ask the general, how many people are there in these two yellow turbans in Qingzhou? How many ordinary people are there, and how many are good fighters?"
Guan Hai sighed and explained honestly: "Our two Yellow Turbans are the two largest Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, with a total population of about 1.2 million."
"And the vast majority of them are ordinary people, accounting for about 800,000 people. There are not many people who can actually go to the battlefield, but there are more than 400,000 people."
"certainly!"
Speaking of this, Guan Hai hurriedly added: "They are all ordinary people, and most of the weapons in their hands are picks, shovels, etc. There are only 30,000 to 50,000 people who can hold spears, swords, swords and other weapons at best.
"
"Moreover, we are all wearing coarse cloth clothes. We don't even have much leather armor. We have even fewer bows and arrows, with only two or three thousand handles. The average number of arrows is less than three per person."
Guan Hai seemed to be afraid of scaring Xu Rong away, so he deliberately described the power of the Yellow Turbans in a relatively miserable way. All in all, although this team was powerful, it was definitely no match for the Nanyang court.
"General."
At this point, Guan Hai hurriedly raised his hands and clasped his fists: "I implore you to use your troops properly and strive to defeat Guo Tu and Yan Liang, but try not to use force against our Yellow Turban people, they are all innocent."
How could Xu Rong not know this? He sighed: "Don't worry, I will try my best to find out the situation, and then do my best to save the brothers in Qingzhou Yellow Turban, but you must do your best to cooperate with me."
Guan Hai bowed and held up his hands: "General, don't worry, I will die for Nanyang."
Xu Rong waved his hand to signal Guan Hai to stand up: "Oh, by the way, the man who let you go is called Guan Cheng, right?"
Guan Hai nodded: "Yes, he should have taken over my position now, but the actual people in power should be Guo Tu and Yan Liang. He was forced."
"good."
Xu Rong responded: "I will quickly send a message to Feige of the imperial court regarding this situation, asking them to contact the lackey inside the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, Jian Feng, and try to contact Guan Cheng."
Guan Hai was surprised: "You...you actually still have..."
"kindness."
Xu Rong nodded: "So, we know that you are dead, but we don't know that you can actually escape from death. This proves that Guan Cheng can fight for it, and the Yellow Turban in Qingzhou can still be saved."