"I hope the rain won't stop at this time." Huang Zhong looked outside the tent, stroking his short beard and said, "The stronger the rain and the longer it lasts, the greater the chance of breaking the city."
"What is the plan?" Zang Ba asked.
"Have you ever heard of Han Xin's first battle after he was appointed as a general by Emperor Gao?"
"Build the plank road in the open, and use the Chencang in secret." Zang Ba laughed when he heard this, waved his hand and said: "How can a general not know about such a famous battle?"
In the first year of the Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu led his army to quell the Qi rebellion. Han Xin took the opportunity to propose the strategy of "conquering the east to gain power over the world" to Emperor Gao. Then he sent Fan Kuai first, and Zhou Bo led more than 10,000 troops to repair the plank road that had been burned down by Liu Bang when he entered Hanzhong.
He pretended to send troops from the plank road to confuse the three princes and kings of Qin."
Han Xin himself led his army to cross the Qinling Mountains via a small road, and suddenly attacked Chencang of Yong Wang Zhang Han. Unexpectedly, Zhang Han rushed to meet the Han army, and was finally defeated and fled.
"Exactly." Huang Zhong asked: "After Han Xin takes over Chencang, what will be his next move?"
"The next step is to attack Feiqiu..." Before he finished speaking, Zang Ba followed Huang Zhong's line of sight and saw that the rocks that originally blocked the water had been completely washed away like a dike.
, he is also an outstanding figure retained by Qingshi, and he suddenly realized it, and his heart could not help but beat wildly.
After Zhang Han fled to Feiqiu City, Liu Bang sent people to attack Feiqiu for a long time, so Han Xin planned to flood Feiqiu. Finally, Zhang Han did not want to surrender to his master for the second time, so he drew his sword and killed himself.
Speaking of which, Han Xin, the military genius, was probably the first person to fight water battles since ancient times. He was invincible in all battles in his life, but the four most important battles were all related to water.
In addition to the Battle of Chencang, where the edge was first revealed, there was another classic battle, the Battle of Weishui, in which a small number defeated a large number. Han Xin also faked defeat first, leaving Long Qie to underestimate the enemy. In his eagerness to achieve great success, he ordered the entire army to cross the river to pursue, but he did not know
Han Xin had already ordered people to build more than ten thousand sandbags overnight to block the upper reaches of the Weishui River.
As a result, as soon as the leading troops of the Chu army crossed over, Han Xin ordered the soldiers who had arranged in advance to break the dam and release water upstream, flooding the Chu army. The Han army took advantage of the situation to attack the Chu army, and finally won a complete victory, killing the Chu army's commander Long Qie.
He captured countless Chu troops.
The other two battles, the Battle of Jingxing, are also called the Last Stand.
In the Battle of Anyi, the tactic of attacking in the east and attacking in the west was adopted. While gathering ships and pretending to force a crossing from Linjin Pass, the main force went straight to Xia Yang, which is more than a hundred miles upstream of Linjin Pass. Taking advantage of the unprepared Wei army,
Using wooden poppies as a boat, they sneaked across Xia Yang and with lightning speed, they surrounded Anyi City, an important town in the rear of the Wei army. Wei Wangbao led his army to fight hastily. As a result, the Wei army was defeated and Wei Wangbao was captured alive.
"Brother Huang, you mean... oh, is this possible?"
"Why not?" Huang Zhong tapped his fingers on the table: "Maybe it won't happen today, maybe it won't happen tomorrow. But as long as the rain continues at the current rate, the river in the south of Gaomi City will definitely surge in the next few days!"
"I took a closer look the day I set up camp. Although the Gaomi City is large, the city wall is not high. It has not been built for many years due to the danger of the river. There are many places that cannot be taken into account. The lowest part is only two or three feet high."
"As the saying goes, a good rider will fall from his horse, and a good swimmer will drown in the water!"
Huang Zhongdao: "Our army can follow Huaiyin's old plan and intercept the water in the upper reaches of the river. When the water is full, we can open embankments and release the water. We can take advantage of the situation and follow the low places to flood the city. If there is still insufficient water, another one in the east of the city will be flooded.
A river is only twenty miles long, and it can be dug into a water diversion channel in a few days. If it gathers together in one place, it can flood the high-density defenders!"
While Zang Ba was pondering, the other generals were also thinking, their expressions changing, with surprise and joy, but the soldier Amen couldn't help but said: "If it is true that the city will be flooded as Huang Duwei said, these defenders will certainly
We can’t escape, but there are still nearly 10,000 men, women, old and young who will also be swallowed up..."
Zang Ba didn't hear anything. He grabbed Huang Zhong's hand with his backhand and asked eagerly: "How sure are you?"
Huang Zhong just watched the river from a distance yesterday. After a moment of pondering, he knew what was happening and said, "If it rains for three days and the river flows westward, there is at least a 70% certainty."
The battlefield is changing rapidly, and there is never a foolproof strategy. A seven-point certainty can be said to be a sure thing.
Zang Ba was overjoyed, clapped his hands and laughed and said: "Okay, okay, okay!" He said "good" three times, almost jumping for joy. He nodded to Huang Zhong and laughed and said: "Good, you Huang Hansheng,
He is indeed a talented general with both wisdom and bravery. No wonder he became a captain as soon as he joined the army. Zhou Mu must have a keen eye for recognizing talents!"
Huang Zhong looked calm in response to Zang Ba's praise, without any pride at all. He just thought about it and added: "If this plan succeeds, Gaomi will be able to defeat it without a fight, but if it is discovered by the defenders in advance, it will be prepared."
, and you can deal with it calmly.”
"You don't need to worry about the rainwater. You just need to pay attention to the opportunity. The project of digging the water diversion channel is huge, and most of our batch are new soldiers. It is difficult to do it quickly despite the wind and rain. If we ask to restrain the movement, we can not let the enemy notice it.
It’s a bit difficult, there’s still a two-way question between success and failure.”
"You can only tell if you succeed or not by doing it." Zang Ba didn't care when he heard this. Back then, he dared to rob a prisoner to save his father before he was a crown prince. When he chose to betray Liu Bei, he did the opposite completely. His character has always been decisive and absolutely not
He who looked forward and backward, slapped Huang Zhong hard on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother Huang, I will leave this matter to you... Amon!"
"exist."
"Choose a thousand elite soldiers to monitor the city and guard the Huang brothers. The defensive troops will take advantage of me to dig the river channel and sneak out of the city to attack."
"Here!"
Looking around at the generals, Zang Ba said generously: "The war in the south involves the west. If we do it well here, it will go more smoothly over there! When the state pastor sent a messenger a few months ago and ordered me to send troops,
There are only two instructions: first, let Huang Zhong be the vanguard; second, if we can capture Pingshou, the first success will not be in the west, but in the south!"
"Do you understand? If we win this battle, no matter what happens elsewhere, the first victory will be attributed to our generals! Zhou Mu has high hopes and never hesitates to reward his merits. Do you dare to sacrifice your life?"
When all the generals heard this, they all responded with great pride and eagerness to promise.
...
Zang Ba allocated three thousand new soldiers to Huang Zhong. After half a day of survey and preparation, he set off for the upper reaches of the south of the city on the same day. At this time, the rain was getting heavier, the clouds were dense, and the visibility of light was extremely low, which became a natural
of covering.
In addition, in this kind of weather, most of the defenders on the top of the city were hiding under awnings, which actually reduced the possibility of being discovered.
Three thousand people trudged through the raging rain. From time to time, some people fell and slipped. When they climbed out again, they were like clay figures. They ate mouthfuls of water when they opened their mouths. The wind whipped them on their faces, making them unable to breathe. All are difficult.
The distance of less than twenty miles actually lasted two hours.
After finally arriving at the destination, Huang Zhong first separated a few hundred people to stand guard in case of emergency, and then ordered several uncles to divide the remaining more than 2,000 people into three teams of 800 people to take over. start.
There are many rivers outside Gaomi City. They used to flow in their own way. Now when the rain comes, they all converge near the big river in the east of the city. Together with the washed away soil, the water in the upper reaches rises very fast and rushes like a river. The roaring white dragon.
In the howling wind and rain, several soldiers could not even stand firm. In the end, Huang Zhong personally stepped forward, one step deeper and one step shallower, and climbed up to the high place step by step to plant a big flag.
He raised his eyes and looked around. The mountains were abrupt to the north, the river was surging to the east, and the Gaomi City was looming in the west. There was a semi-circular darkness outside the city. If he looked carefully, he could vaguely see thin lines towering through it. That was where they came from. Xuzhou Military Camp. The thin lines are nothing more than watchtowers, camp gates and other buildings.
An uncle followed him and climbed up. He held Dou Ming with one hand and grabbed a small tree with the other. He raised his head and shouted: "Captain, the teams have been divided. Shall we start now?"
"Let one team go up first and try. Be careful, the soil on the river bank is very loose, don't fall into the water. Pick some people who can swim, tie the trees on the bank with ropes, and be ready to go down to the river to fish for people at any time. Instruct the second team to prepare , the third team went to build the awning, didn’t they bring some ginger and strong wine? Make a fire and cook ginger soup. The brothers who left work were each given a bowl of ginger soup; the brothers who were working were each given half a bowl of strong wine.”
The craftsman camp was there when Wang Zheng was in Qingzhou, and it was later listed as a fixed standard for the Heavenly Army. Each military wing even set up a craftsman battalion. Zang Ba's side was no exception. There were not many people. However, there were only seventy or eighty people. The usual training courses were mainly about digging fortifications, paving roads and building bridges. They all followed during this expedition. Huang Zhong brought most of them. The first batch to go up was a mixed team of them and new recruits.
This congested location was originally chosen by them, so they were allowed to start work with the new recruits. Firstly, everything would be difficult at the beginning, and secondly, it could serve as a demonstration.
When it comes to this congested location, it’s really hard to choose.
Huang Zhong was delayed for a long time. Most of the time was spent waiting for the Jiangying Camp to conduct surveys and calculations. The selected location should not be too close to the upstream source, so as not to overflow with water and risk breaking the embankment in advance. It should also not be too far away, which would consume the accumulated water potential. Not to mention the duration, the momentum of the embankment breach also has an impact, which is difficult to pour back, thus defeating the purpose of submerging Gaomi City.
The results of Jiangying's calculations are more optimistic than Huang Zhong's speculation. According to the current rain and water conditions, not only does it not need to divert river water to the west, but it can be successful in at most three days.
However, the location must be calculated accurately, and the water must be directed to burst the embankment directly at the lowest point of Gaomi City.
Huang Zhong left two personal soldiers behind to watch the military flag, and led the generals to the river to watch carefully the work of the craftsmen's camp to block the river.
At the location they chose, the width of the river was about tens of meters. The waves were rolling, one after another, rolling up violent whirlpools, bringing out the soil at the bottom of the river, and slapping it on the bank, making a huge sound. Rapid raindrops fell densely. , hitting countless water droplets, fleeting and endless.
"How is it?" Huang Zhong asked loudly in the wind and rain.
"The water in the river is too fast. We have to cut down some trees and throw them down first." A leader raised his voice and shouted in reply. He pointed sideways to the shore. There are mountains nearby and there are many trees. At this time, the river is not flowing smoothly.
In the distance, many new recruits were cutting down trees in groups of three in an orderly manner.
"It's getting dark!" Huang Zhong looked up at the sky and reminded: "When it rains and turns to night, you will inevitably be unable to see your fingers. If you tell me, brothers must work harder and complete the first process before nightfall."
"Here!"
Cut down trees and do not throw them directly into the river. The current is very fast, and if you throw them down, they will definitely be washed away. You must use ropes or vines to tie the trees together before pushing them into the water. This is the first step. After completion
, then the second process is to use cloth bags to fill the soil and fill it between the trees to build a dam.
They brought all the cloth bags they could collect. If there were not enough, they had to continue the third process, carrying rocks from nearby, digging out soil, and replenishing them.
In short, the higher the river dam is, the better, and there should be more than just one. Three should be piled up at different locations on the river. When they are all full, the dams will be opened at the critical moment!
In this way, a huge momentum can be formed in an instant. It is a truly huge wave, unstoppable, and it will completely submerge everything that blocks its surge!
...
In the wind and rain, the physical exertion became more and more intense.
Even though many of the new strokes were young and strong, even if three teams of people took turns constructing all night long, they would eventually be unable to hold on. Fortunately, Huang Zhong had predicted it. Early the next morning, Zang Ba sent another three thousand
Substitute, replaced the first batch and returned to the camp to rest.
In this way, like a revolving door, three groups of people were replaced in succession, almost all the soldiers of the Xuzhou Army on this route were replaced. By the third day, all the embankments were completed.
Even Huang Zhong, who considered himself to be extremely physically strong, was overwhelmed by the continuous wind and rain in the past three days and the lack of sleep. When he returned to the military camp again, Zang Ba was frightened.
Jump, seeing Huang Zhong so sluggish, he remembered that this fierce man whose bravery made him ashamed was actually not too young anymore.
Don't let this guy get exhausted.
Zang Ba can naturally see things that Zhang Zhao can detect. Coupled with the opponent's performance during this period, Zang Ba knows very well that if the existence of such a ten thousand enemy is compromised because of a mere high-density city, what will happen to the opponent?
For Wang Zheng, this is an absolute loss-making business!
He immediately did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly ordered the soldiers to change his wet clothes and prepare hot meals for him.
Although Huang Zhong looked tired at this time, his energy was very good, even close to excitement. It may be due to the joy that the great work was about to be completed. "God help me, it has been raining for three days. I went to see it before I came back."
Look, the water in the two dams is basically full, and the third dam is almost full, and the brothers in the craft camp said that even if the rain stops now, the probability of success is very high with just these two dams."
When the food was served, Huang Zhong took a few bites and asked, "We're about to see any movement from the defenders in the city in the past few days."
"Haha, there's no movement at all!" Zang Ba shook his head: "The Beihai Navy is really unbearable. It has no courage to fight to the death, and it can't endure suffering and punishment. How can it compare with us? It's all in vain. Amon
We have been on guard for three days, but there is often not even a soul at the top of the city."
"Such an army, such a country..." At this point, he snorted coldly, then clapped his hands and laughed: "How can we not be defeated?"
He rubbed his hands, the more he thought about it, the happier he became. He could not sit still, so he ordered his own soldiers to call the generals, raised the tent of the commander's tent, and watched the rain and drank tea...
Wang Zheng was lenient to bandits like him and Chang Xi. They were not required by many military orders of the Heavenly Army, but there were only two that were not allowed. Drinking was prohibited while out in battle, and women were not allowed in the military camp. Zang Ba Naturally, I don’t dare to neglect it, and I will carry it out from home to the end.
Dozens of tall and thick-looking men were holding bowls of tea and looking at the pouring rain outside the tent, looking a bit nondescript. Huang Zhong, who was sitting on the couch on one side, finally couldn't bear the sleepiness, his eyelids slowly closed, and he fell asleep, not knowing what he was dreaming about. What? A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
After two days, the rain began to slow down, and after three days, the wind stopped and the rain stopped.
At the same time, Zang Ba gave an order, and the three dams burst simultaneously.
When the high-density defenders walked out of the canopy again, they saw a torrential flood coming!
When everyone was speechless in horror, the huge waves with a height of more than ten feet, carrying a momentum that seemed to never stop, began to hit the city wall mercilessly. In an instant, collapses and gaps appeared, and the river flowed along these large and small walls. A small gap, rolling into the city.
Soon after, Gaomi was completely engulfed.
When Zang Ba led his army into the city, they took a check and found that there were nearly ten thousand soldiers and civilians in the city, and only twenty-three out of ten were alive.