In early spring, the weather suddenly turns cold, but above the Yellow River, the cold wind is still as sharp as a blade.
On the big river, hundreds of huge warships were moving slowly upstream.
On the top deck of the flagship, Yan Liang stood with his hands behind his hands, his starry eyes like blades, scanning both sides of the river.
This is close to Puyang waters. The Yellow River gradually narrows in this section, and the water becomes less turbulent. Living in the river, the scenery on both sides can be vaguely seen.
Yan Liang could vaguely see that on the north bank, dust was billowing, flags were fluttering, and there seemed to be a thin black line that was slowly moving.
Yan Liang knew that it was an army of infantry and cavalry sent by Liu Bei to monitor him. This army, mainly cavalry, had followed him from Pingyuan County to this point and never left his sight. It was obviously to prevent his army from landing on the north bank.
Looking at the follower-like Yan army, Yan Liang sneered, rather disapproving of it.
The boat sailed slowly, and soon the image of a fortress began to appear on the south bank. After a while, the outline of a towering city came into view vaguely.
"Your Majesty, Puyang City has arrived." Zhou Cang said beside him.
Puyang City, the seat of Dongjun, is located on the south bank of the Yellow River and is the most important ferry city leading to the Central Plains. Its status is just like Liyang on the north bank.
Yan Liang looked southward and saw a line of Puyang Ferry with tall trees and densely decorated flags, giving the appearance of being heavily guarded.
Zhang Fei, Liu Bei's second-largest man, commanded 30,000 elite troops and was stationed on the front line of Puyang City.
In Liu Bei's view, if Liu Bei wanted to invade Hebei, the first place he had to conquer must be Puyang. Therefore, since he adopted the retreat policy, he ordered Zhang Fei to station troops in Puyang and build the Puyang city line into an indestructible fortress.
At this moment, Zhang Fei, who was in Puyang City, had already received an order from Liu Bei, saying that Yan Liang's navy entered the Yellow River and was very likely to capture Puyang City. Therefore, Zhang Fei was ordered to guard Puyang strictly and never allow Yan Liang's soldiers to land ashore.
"It seems that Liu Bei was frightened and really thought we were going to destroy him." Pang Tong beside him said with emotion.
Looking at the enemy camp that was waiting for him, Yan Liang seemed to be watching a monkey, with a playful look in his eyes.
"Liu Bei likes to be treated like a monkey by me, so just let him continue to pounce. Send the order and the army will continue to advance westward." Yan Liang sneered and waved his hand.
Thousands of sails were fluttering, and the mighty fleet continued to advance westward on the river.
In less than half a day, a long dragon-like Chu fleet passed by the waters of Puyang.
At Puyang Ferry, Zhang Fei, who had been standing there for a long time, was at a loss.
Zhang Fei originally thought that the more than 100,000 troops led by Yan Liang would launch the most violent landing battle in history against the Puyang Crossing he was holding today, and he was ready for a bloody battle.
But what surprised Zhang Fei was that the Chu army seemed to ignore him and his Puyang City as if they were nothing, and the mighty fleet passed directly under his nose.
The 30,000 Yan troops who were waiting in formation breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they did not have to compete with the powerful Chu army.
The subordinates were relaxed, but Zhang Fei did not dare to be careless.
"If the Yan bandits don't attack Puyang, do they want to capture Baima or Yanjin upstream?" Zhang Fei murmured a guess as he looked at the enemy ships going away.
Baima and Yanjin both belong to Dongjun, and are two ferries located upstream of Puyang. Although these two ferries are not as important as Puyang, they can also cross the Yellow River north through these two ferries.
Especially Baima Ferry. On the other side of the ferry is the important town of Liyang, the most important ferry in Hebei. In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's army entered the hinterland of Henan through this ferry.
"Liyang Tun has a heavy army. Even if the Yan thief captures Baima, how can he threaten Li Yang? Moreover, the Yan thief also exposed his flank to Cao Cao. Hmm, if the Yan thief really goes to attack Baima, he really doesn't know the art of war."
Zhang Fei was disdainful, but he did not dare to take it lightly. He immediately sent out rangers to scout the Chu army's movements along the coast.
One day later, Zhang Fei received the latest information.
The Chu army still did not attack Baima Crossing as he thought. The fleet was still mighty but crossed the Baima waters and continued westward.
"If the Yan thief doesn't attack Baima, he will definitely attack Yanjin." Zhang Fei became more and more suspicious, but he still believed.
However, the latest information a few days later left Zhang Fei completely confused.
The Chu army not only crossed Baima, but also crossed Yanjin. Thousands of warships continued to advance westward from the Yangtze River.
Zhang Fei was confused now.
"It's fine if Thief Yan doesn't attack Puyang, and it's okay if he doesn't attack Baima, but why doesn't he even attack Yanjin and continues to go west? What on earth does he want to do?"
Zhang Fei, full of doubts, stood in front of the map hanging on the wall, frowning and thinking hard, looking at me scanning the line of the Yellow River.
"Puyang, Baima, Yanjin, and further to the west..." Zhang Fei muttered, his brows deepening.
Suddenly, Zhang Fei's face suddenly changed, and his eyes burst out with infinite surprise, as if he suddenly thought of something shocking.
"Could it be that Thief Yan doesn't want to offend me, Dayan? His real goal is to capture Luoyang?"
Astonished, Zhang Fei thought more and more that this was the case. After a while, he finally confirmed his guess.
"Damn, we've all been fooled by that fellow Yan Thief!" Zhang Fei gritted his teeth with hatred and shouted: "Come here, send an emergency report to Yecheng quickly. We will report hundreds of thousands of urgent matters to the king."
…
The river is surging, and the sky is about to turn bright.
The loud horn sounded, and the distant sound floated among thousands of ships, waking up the sleeping Chu army soldiers.
The soldiers got up quickly, ate the dry biscuits and mutton that had been prepared, quickly got out of the cabin, and lined up on the deck.
On the huge ship, Yan Liang was wearing a red cloak, holding a green dragon knife in his hand, and looking coldly at the south bank of the Yellow River with blazing eyes.
A few miles upstream from the south bank, the ferry had already passed through the morning fog and was vaguely visible in the field of vision.
Yan Liang's spirit gradually became excited, and all the soldiers on the left and right became excited.
They knew that after many days of boating from Weishan to the Yellow River, their destination was finally in front of them.
The ferry in front is where Xiaopingjin is.
Xiaopingjin is the most important ferry in the north of Luoyang. On the other side of the ferry is Mengjin, an important ferry on the north bank.
After landing at Xiaopingjin, a few miles away is Xiaopingjin Pass, one of the eight passes in Luoyang. After passing through Mangshan Pass, you can reach Luoyang City in less than half a day.
Yan Liang's "whimsical" strategy was to cross Liu Bei's defense zone from the Yellow River to the north of Luoyang, where the defense force was the weakest, and then land on the south bank from Xiaopingjin. The army would break through the barrier and march directly to Luoyang.
Cao Cao's troops in Luoyang totaled 40,000, of which 10,000 were stationed in the Gong County area east of Luoyang to guard against Liu Bei.
The 20,000 main force of Cao Cao's Luoyang Army was stationed on the front line of Taigu Pass to guard against the main enemy Yan Liang.
Of the remaining 10,000 soldiers and horses, 5,000 were stationed in Luoyang City, and another 5,000 were scattered at Heyin, Xiaopingjin and other crossings along the river north of Luoyang.
According to Yan Liang's estimate, Cao's troops on the Xiaopingjin front line only numbered two to three thousand at most.
A hundred thousand troops marched forward, and the three thousand enemies were as vulnerable as ants.
This was exactly the surprise that Yan Liang gave to Cao Cao.
The target was right in front of him, and there was no doubt about it. Yan Liang cheered up, pointed his sword, and shouted loudly: "The whole army is ashore, and I will crush the crossing for my king, and kill all Cao's troops——"
The rumble of war drums soared into the sky, tearing apart the silence of dawn.
"Kill all Cao's troops——"
"Kill all Cao's troops——"
The Chu soldiers on the battleship waved their weapons and roared like wild beasts.
The blood is boiling, and the fighting spirit has reached its peak.
Amidst the sound of war drums soaring into the sky, the more than 30,000 soldiers of the Chu army in the vanguard quickly transferred to the boats, and several small boats, like flying fish, flew towards Xiaopingjin on the south bank.
At Xiaopingjin Ferry, Cao's camp was in chaos.
Those sleeping Cao soldiers came out of the tent in a daze, and were frightened at the sight of the fierce battleships on the Yellow River.
These Cao soldiers, who thought they were in the safest position, never imagined that the Chu army, thousands of miles away, would attack them from the Yellow River like divine soldiers descending from the sky.
There were screams, gongs, and chaos.
In the big tent, Xia Houmao, who was responsible for guarding Xiaopingjin, was still asleep at this moment.
As the son of Xia Houyuan, this second-generation ancestor relied on his father's status to achieve the position of general at a young age.
However, he was a playboy by nature. Although he was in the army, he drank and had fun every night. Last night, he drank until he was very drunk.
There was a mess outside the tent, but Xia Houmao still slept like a dead pig.
"General Xiahou, something bad has happened. The Chu army is attacking!" General Pian rushed into the tent and tried to shake Xiahou Mao awake regardless of the offense.
Xia Houmao woke up in a daze and said displeasedly: "You are all talking nonsense. The Chu army has no wings, so how can it reach the general's defense area?"
"The Chu army came from the Yellow River and is about to reach the shore. General, please come up with an idea." The general shouted urgently.
Xia Houmao's body trembled, and he suddenly woke up. Full of suspicion, he rushed out of the tent and ran straight to the shore.
When Xia Houmao rushed to the shore and saw the countless boats rushing up the river beach, and the boundless Chu army fleet and flags on the Yellow River, he was instantly stunned.
"This...how is this possible? It's impossible..." Xia Houmao was so shocked that he was sweating and his words were incoherent.
The second-generation ancestor, who thought he was outside the clouds of war, never expected that war would come to him inexplicably in an instant.
In the moment when Xia Houmao was at a loss, the boat with the "Gan" flag on the tree had already washed up on the river beach.
Gan Ning jumped out of the boat, waved his two halberds, and was as violent as thunder, like a tiger from the mountain, rushing straight to the shore, killing people all along the way.
Behind them, countless Chu troops landed on the beach one after another, rolling ashore like a tide against the current.
"Retreat, retreat quickly -" the frightened Xia Houmao shouted, turned around and ran away. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)
