Deng Ai was wearing a straw hat and riding on horseback. If people didn't pay attention, they wouldn't know that he was the commander-in-chief of this army of several thousand people.
The sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight shone warmly on people's bodies. The soldiers all looked absent-minded, and many of them had their heads hanging down, like fruits that had been sunburned.
The Jizhou Army officers and soldiers were not in good spirits, and they were probably quite dissatisfied. They felt that Deng Ai was just tormenting people for nothing!
Not long ago, everyone marched from Anping County to Nanpi, Bohai County, which is two to three hundred miles away. Now they are walking back from Nanpi. It is so far and dragging so many things back and forth. None of the troops know that Deng Ai is there.
What did he want to do? But there was nothing he could do. Deng Ai took the edict and the military orders from General Wei. The military power was in his hands, and the generals had to obey his orders.
Deng Ai seemed a bit silent. He didn't bother to explain to others unless necessary. After all, it was hard for him to speak and it was hard for others to listen.
Occasionally, Deng Aicai reached out and flicked the straw hat on his head, and looked northward warily.
To the north is Zhangshui, but Deng Ai's army did not march close to Zhangshui. On that waterway, some enemy baggage fleets occasionally passed by, coming from Pinglu Canal. Deng Ai did not want the enemy to easily discover his traces.
When he set off from Nanpi three days ago, he had made a move to confuse the enemy. He first sent people to the rebel camp at the intersection of the rivers to issue a challenge, and made a gesture of attacking the enemy camp. Then he
He abandoned Nanpi and left with his army before dawn in the early morning.
There are Qinghe River, Zhangshui River and Pinglu Canal near Nanpi. On the map, the river is like a (clockwise) inclined "human" shape.
The intersection in the middle is the rebel camp, to prevent Deng Ai from attacking the Pinglu Canal grain channel; Nanpi City is on the lower right side of the character "人", close to the Qinghe River, not far from the intersection of the river.
Deng Aijun first crossed the Qinghe River and came to the middle and lower part of the water system with the character "人". Going further west is the Zhangshui River, which is like the lower left side of the character "人".
But Deng Ai did not cross the Zhang River, but located on the southeast side of the Zhang River, heading west. When Deng Ai's army came from Jizhou Prefecture, they took this route, but in the opposite direction.
At first, Deng Ai went to Nanpi City, firstly to prevent the rebels from marching in from the east, and secondly, to attack the rebels' grain roads. However, Guanqiu Jian did not attack Nanpi, but instead walked along the north bank of the Zhang River towards
Went to Julu County.
Moreover, Guanqiu Jian also built a fortress at a key place to prevent Deng Ai from causing trouble.
So Deng Ai didn't catch anything in Nanpi. It seemed like he couldn't do anything here, so he had to find another place to do it!
Just a few days ago, Deng Ai made some judgments of his own. The direction of the main rebel force's movement and the gathering of officers and soldiers towards Julu County made Deng Ai think that the battle might take place in the northeastern part of Julu County.
So Deng Ai decisively moved westward to see if there was any chance to scare Guanqiu Jian. For example, if an army suddenly appeared behind the rebel formation at the right time, it would be good.
Saw the show!
The army marched all the way to the west and had left Nanpi City for more than a hundred miles. At this time, it was located on the plain between Qinghe and Zhangshui, and belonged to the territory of Hejian County (Hejian, Anping, and Bohai counties were composed of three counties in sequence).
A position similar to the north, west and east direction of the word "pin"), and further forward is the boundary of Anping County.
At this moment, in the wheat field on the south side of the road, several horsemen came in the opposite direction and trampled the crops on the edge of the wheat field. One of them should be a general of the Jizhou Army, and Deng Ai looked vaguely familiar.
He must have been someone he had met before. However, not long after Deng Ai came to Hebei to "carry out the affairs of Jizhou Governor", the people in the army still didn't recognize him fully and couldn't name him.
Deng Ai pulled the reins and came to the roadside, reined in the horse and stopped.
The familiar general came forward to pay homage, pointed to the person next to him and said, "Envoy, this is the person sent by General Wei to deliver the message."
The messenger looked around for a while, watched the long line of infantry and cavalry on the road, said, "I didn't expect to meet General Deng here," and then took out the letter and presented it with both hands.
Deng Ai had discovered a habit of Qin Zhongming, who preferred to use paper instead of bamboo slips when writing letters.
After reading the letter, Deng Ai was immediately stunned. He didn't expect that the outcome of the battle would be decided so soon?!
Qin Zhongming did not issue a military order in the letter, but only sent someone to inform him of the situation. Deng Ai read it from beginning to end and could not find the date. This may be because Qin Zhongming was thinking too much on the battlefield and sometimes neglected details.
Deng Ai then asked: "Da, when did the war happen?"
The messenger said: "The day before yesterday, I was ordered to set out early yesterday morning and crossed the Zhang River early in the morning."
Deng Ai nodded and stopped talking. He put away the letter paper and envelope and put them in his arms. Then he turned his head and looked around, and then looked up in the direction of the sun.
What a coincidence! Baima Canal is to the northwest of here. As long as Deng Ai manages to cross the Zhang River, he can reach Baima Canal in one day at most!
If Guan Qiu Jian wants to lead his troops to retreat, the best route is of course to cross the Baima Canal; there must be a pontoon bridge on the Baima Canal, because that is the road Guan Qiu Jian took when he went to the battlefield. If it was time to retreat, the rebels would
As long as the army crosses the Baima Canal, it can go directly north to Youzhou along the east bank of the Sushui River.
Deng Ai almost did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "Send people to the north, to the north of Zhangshui, to build a pontoon bridge. Instead of going west... we will change direction and go to the north bank of Zhangshui."
There happened to be a general from the baggage camp by his side. The general didn't ask any questions and immediately bowed and said, "I obey!"
The battlefield of Julu County is located between the Hutuo River and the Zhangshui River. The Hutuo River leads to the Sushui River. The Baima Canal is the section of the river that connects the Hutuo River and the Zhangshui River.
If Guanqiu Jian's army wants to retreat, they must first cross the Baima Canal eastward, then go around to the east side of the Sushui River; otherwise, they can only choose to cross the Hutuo River north, not to mention the wider water surface. After crossing the Hutuo River, they will soon have to cross the Sushui River again.
.In addition, the pontoon bridge has not been prepared in advance, and the army will surely catch up and attack!
Deng Ai calculated the time and found that it would take at least three to four days for Guanqiu Jian to leave the battlefield the night before yesterday at the earliest and reach the west bank of Baima Canal. Guan Qiu Jian also had to block the pursuit of the delayed army, and it might take even longer.
The distance between Deng Ai's army and Baima Canal is much closer, and they have enough time to arrive before Guanqiu Jian's army!
So Deng Aijun adjusted his marching direction and arrived at the south bank of Zhangshui River that day.
Then the miscellaneous soldiers began to build pontoons on the Zhang River. Fortunately, the baggage camp brought some boats, and Wuyi County and other places on the south bank of the Zhang River also obeyed the orders of the Jizhou Governor's Department, so they could find some small boats nearby.
At that time, Deng Ai led his army over. He originally planned to find a place to cross the Zhang River. Because the battlefield was on the north bank, he prepared some boats and equipment for crossing the river in advance. This was a mistake, and it came in handy.
But everyone couldn't find many boats at the same time, so they could only build a bridge. So the camps crossed the river overnight.
The soldiers who crossed the river first dug ditches and set up strongholds on the other side, waiting for the following people to cross the river one after another. The narrow pontoon bridge was not fast, and there were too many people for fear of trampling over the boats below. It took a long time to ride thousands of steps.
time.
At this time, Deng Ai no longer cared about hiding his traces and marched with great fanfare. Sooner or later, their troops would be discovered by enemy scouts.
The next day, Deng Ai ignored the fatigue of the soldiers and ordered them to continue marching in the direction of Baima Canal. They had walked all day yesterday and crossed the river overnight, and some soldiers had not slept well and were not in good spirits.
At this moment, Deng Ai finally explained the situation to the generals, and then asked in public: "The meritorious service... is right in front of us, do you want the military merit?"
The generals bowed in admiration, mustered up their energy, and restrained their men to continue marching!
After all, there are not many opportunities for you to get military honors. Even if you send troops, you will spend most of your time walking, camping, and doing trivial things. Even if you have a chance to fight, you may still lose the battle. The opportunity is rare, so grit your teeth and persevere.
In the morning, the scouts inquired along the Baima Canal, and sure enough they found several spacious pontoons built by the rebels on the water of the canal! There were also troops stationed there, probably hundreds of people.
Deng Ai immediately led his troops to the direction of the pontoon bridge, preparing to directly defeat the defenders and seize the pontoon bridge!
In the afternoon, Deng Ai's army approached the enemy's camp. Looking from a distance, they could already see the rebel flag. So each battalion began to organize their troops and prepare to fight.
Unexpectedly, a general suddenly came to pay homage and reported: "General, something seems wrong on the other side."
After hearing this, Deng Ai turned his head and looked to the west, but found nothing. The general jumped off his horse, buried something like a leather drum in the soil, put his ear to it to listen, and then said: "There seems to be cavalry, a lot of cavalry!"
After a while, a black line appeared vaguely on the horizon! The cavalry really appeared, and it could be seen that there were very many of them!
Deng Ai's heart thumped, and he thought to himself: Where did this bastard's cavalry come from?
When the rebels retreat, they have to be ready to fight at any time. The cavalry cannot leave the infantry alone and run more than two hundred miles first.
But regardless of whether Deng Ai believed it or not, seeing is believing. The cavalry came here first! Deng Ai looked at the camp on the river bank in the distance. Although there were not many rebels garrisoned, they had built fortifications and were on guard. Deng Ai's army was about to capture it.
The camp is not a big problem, but it takes time. In this case, it is already too late.
Those pontoon bridges were the retreat routes reserved for the rebels. They were built very spacious and the cavalry would rush over very quickly. At this time, it would be very difficult for Deng Aijun to escape, let alone occupy the bridge head first! This is called stealing chickens.
Isn’t it possible to lose a lot of rice?
Because most of the Jizhou Army is infantry. It is not difficult for the cavalry among them to escape. What will happen to most of the remaining infantry?
"It's over, it's over!" The general next to him yelled out what was in his heart, "Our soldiers are tired, we don't have many troops, and we can't outrun the cavalry. We are doomed now!"
Deng Ai frowned and glanced at the general, then shouted sternly: "Stop! No, don't confuse... the morale of the army! Order... each battalion to set up camp near the water, and immediately set up positions to face the enemy. Dig... to trap the horses!"
"
In such an urgent situation, Deng Ai still had trouble speaking, and there was really no other way.
The generals clasped their fists and said, "I have the order!"