Eight Hundred Miles of Taihang is a phrase that people have used since ancient times to describe the majesty and majesty of the Taihang Mountains. But in Xuzhou, people also use the term Eight Hundred Miles of Ma Ling to describe this mountain that is far away from the Taihang Mountains.
Hills and mountains.
Although the length of Maling Mountain runs from north to south for more than 400 miles, it can barely deserve the title of Maling with 800 miles. However, this mountain is far from majestic, and its highest peak is only one meter above sea level.
It's more than 180 meters. Don't compare it with the majestic Taihang Mountains. In the mountainous areas of the south, any small hill will be more steep than this one.
However, since ancient times, the strategic position of Maling Mountain has been very important and it is a battleground for military strategists.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Great Wall of Qi State to defend its southern border was built on the Maling Mountains. The most famous pass was Muling Pass, which was the most powerful pass in the world at that time.
During the Warring States Period, the peak showdown between the famous generals Pang Juan and Sun Bin, two senior brothers, also took place here, which shows the importance of the strategic position here.
The truth is very simple. Only mountains like Maling Mountain can be used by military strategists to launch large-scale battles. If it were a place like Taihang Mountain, there would not even be a place to stay. Even if Xiongguan was built, who would trek through mountains and rivers?
to attack?
The terrain around Tancheng is flat and open, and only Maling Mountain is a dangerous place that can be used. It is logical for Wang Yu to choose this place as the place for the decisive battle.
The camp of the Qingzhou Army is located on the edge of Maling Mountain. It is a gentle slope with a small slope. Judging from the topography, it can be regarded as the entrance to the hilly area. The hillside has no name because Wang Yu stationed his horse here to defeat the enemy, and later the locals came here.
An archway was built to commemorate the battle and was named the Arc de Triomphe.
Zhao Yun and Wei Yan each led a battalion of cavalry and were ordered to ambush in a mountain depression about five miles north of the mountain.
After two days of rest, the fatigue caused by the sniper battle and forced march has almost recovered. Zhao Yun still looks the same, with a calm expression showing a hint of perseverance, but Wei Yan is a little irritable.
The previous harassment battle against Que Xuan was the first time that he led his troops on a mission alone, and he went out with Zhao Yun. Although he didn't say it, he secretly had the intention of competing in his heart.
The result of the contest made him very disappointed. Zhao Yun's harassment made Cao Bao very distressed. His 15,000-strong army was held back by 500 cavalry. Such a result was truly brilliant.
On the other hand, it's very worrying. He has many tricks up his sleeve, but Que Xuan turns a blind eye and hears nothing. He just keeps his head down and rushes on, leaving no flaws at all.
According to Wang Yu's prior explanation, Wei Yan's harassment should be limited to destroying Buddhist-related buildings and totems. But driven by anxiety, Wei Yan went much further than that. Later, he even destroyed the temple and his people.
Burnt!
"Benevolence and righteousness are just for show. Which general doesn't have thousands of bones piled up behind him?" Wei Yan comforted himself, Teacher Chang, the lord is too strong and upright. He is a sharp blade, which is inconvenient for those lords.
, what you don’t want to do is your own responsibility.
Thinking like this, violent anger arises spontaneously.
He is not the only one. This kind of violence has infected almost everyone. On one side is the temptation of victory and survival, mixed with the pleasure of killing. On the other side is the stickiness to the rules and the loss of the territory that has been reached. Everyone is
Know what you should choose.
Maybe when he gets old in the future, he will look at his own eyes in the dark and blame himself on a sleepless night. But now, he has chosen a shortcut as if he could.
Even though this shortcut had to be paved with countless corpses, he had no regrets.
What really depressed him was that this shortcut still couldn't lead to victory. All signs showed that Que Xuan was so angry that the three corpse gods jumped and smoke came out of his seven orifices, but he just refused to follow Wei Yan's play.
As a result, Wei Yanping killed Houqiu and Siwu areas in vain and burned the sky with black smoke, but he failed to achieve his real goal. If he had not received Wang Yu's strict order in advance, he would not have dared to attack Que Xuan's main force without authorization.
, he really wanted to carry out a night attack.
Anger, anxiety, doubt, and a little bit of guilt, all kinds of emotions were mixed together, and finally turned into full violence. Not only the people around him, but also Zhao Yun further away could feel it.
"General, wouldn't it be better for you to give me some advice? In case..." a guard reminded in a low voice.
Zhao Yun looked at Wei Yan, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, but soon relaxed, shook his head, and said softly: "My lord, the way to general is ever-changing. Everyone has their own things that they admire. If you have long-term troubles, you can only do it."
He will handle it on his own, and it is useless to be persuaded by outsiders. Don’t worry, Chang is not a reckless person and will not affect the master’s grand plan.”
Suddenly, Zhao Yun's eyes narrowed slightly and he raised his finger. Not far away, Wei Yan also narrowed his eyes. The cavalrymen covered the horse's mouth with their hands at the same time.
The enemy army appeared, slowly appearing in the distant wilderness along the noon sun.
The moment the silence fell, people discovered that there was a strong wind here, blowing from the southeast to the northwest. At the same time, strong sunlight also shone from the south.
While being discovered by the enemy, Cao Bao also discovered his prey. Judging from the size of the enemy's army, he even guessed that there would be an ambush nearby, so he made adjustments and set up a wedge-shaped attack formation, ordering eight
Thousands of soldiers pressed forward, three thousand soldiers guarded the flanks, and four thousand soldiers served as rearguard.
On the other side of the river, he also deployed two thousand men and horses. The previous experience of being harassed by Zhao Yun was too painful, so he had to be careful.
He did not intend to do what Chen Gui had planned in advance. Although doing so could hold back or drive away the enemy, which would affect the situation in the world and lead to a war in the Central Plains, it would not be of much benefit to Cao Baolai.
What he fears most is that Wang Yu burns grain and retreats. The Qingzhou family has a big business, so it doesn't matter if they don't have these grains, but Cao Bao cares about it. It's spring now, the season when food is most scarce. Without enough reserves, what can he do with it?
Que Xuan fights for the East China Sea, what can he do to resist the Qingzhou Army's revenge?
Driven by this idea, during the last fifty miles, he accelerated suddenly, leaving Que Xuan behind and taking the lead. In order to seize the favorable terrain, he took the initiative to attack the Qingzhou Army in Maling Mountain.
Attack. In this way, after Que Xuan arrives, he can only choose between attacking the city honestly or joining Cao Bao's command.
Cao Bao's actions indeed exceeded the expectations of many people, including Chen Ye.
After Wang Yu took over the Xuzhou Army, veterans like Chen Ye were promoted to varying degrees. This was the reason why Tao Qian had been helping them in life but allowing them to be suppressed in the officialdom. The old man wanted to be a good person and show kindness.
The opportunity is left to Wang Yu.
Among them, Chen Ye was promoted to the greatest extent. He was promoted from the former commander of the army to the captain of the infantry in Xuzhou.
Although he was promoted quickly, no one was envious of Captain Chen because his first task was to lead the county soldiers and organize the people to defend Tancheng.
There are many people who have similar thoughts to Cao Bao. They think that Wang Yu made this arrangement just to facilitate evacuation and had already abandoned Tancheng.
When Tancheng is captured, Cao Bao and Que Xuan may not kill too many people in order to calm people's hearts, but the leading few must not be let go. With the alternation of old and new forces, there will always be some blood, otherwise how can we kill chickens to scare the monkeys?
Before Wang Yu came, Xu Fang and Cao Hong died. Now it is the turn of Chen Ye, the new captain, what is there to envy?
No one is optimistic about him, and no one is optimistic about the prospects of the Qingzhou Army.
No matter how strong the general is, he is still a human being, and the enemy can take advantage of them. Only through strategy can he turn corruption into magic and play a role in reversing the situation. But the opponent advances steadily and fails to fall into the trap, so what's the use of being more resourceful?
War, after all, is still a competition of strength.
In front of the 20,000 troops who were waiting in full formation, Qingzhou's 4,000 troops were too weak.
Tancheng, which was only defended by county soldiers and common people, was as thin as a piece of paper. In recent days, the atmosphere among Xuzhou Army generals has become very strange. There are fewer open exchanges and more private whispers.
When meeting acquaintances, they rarely greet each other directly. Instead, they like to look at each other and say nothing.
In such an atmosphere, the Xuzhou Army's already low morale became even lower. There were fewer and fewer people willing to risk their lives to defend the city. Even Wang Yu's massive wealth dispersion failed to have an immediate effect.
Everyone was wondering whether those unfamiliar people would secretly open the city gate when the enemy was attacking the city, or whether they would drop a rope at night and escape outside the city with heads or information to surrender to the enemy.
After all, the enemy troops outside the city were once our own people. Who knows who has some unknown connection with whom, which in turn led to some unknown activities?
On the contrary, the people in the city are very willing to fight. Those who are officials can be demoted, and those who are soldiers can be demoted. Only the people have no choice. Everyone is worried that after the city is reorganized, the windfall they just made will be robbed.
Walk.
The logic of considering self-interest is very simple, simple, and direct at the same time. However, in a war, the people can only play a supporting role. When the military morale is low and the soldiers have no intention to fight, Tancheng's city defense is indeed worrying.
.
Chen Ye had been worried about this for several days. The moment he saw Cao Bao's army, his heart almost jumped out of his throat. As a result, he was extremely surprised to see that Cao Bao actually gave up on Tancheng, who was as fat as his mouth, and walked straight to Tancheng.
Rushed towards Maling Mountain.
Under the current circumstances, Chen Ye didn't believe that Cao Bao didn't know about Tancheng's arrangement.
Due to the combined effect of many factors such as the amount of information, ordinary people's vision is very short-sighted. They will not consider what will happen in the future or how powerful Qingzhou will be. Most people only see what is in front of them - Cao Bao, Que Xuan's 20,000 coalition troops,
It was difficult to resist, and it also defeated many of Wang Yu's schemes.
Therefore, there were so many people following the trend that Wang Yu could not completely block the news. Cao Bao should know Tancheng well.
But in the end, just as Wang Yu had explained in advance, Cao Bao's army actually gave up on Tancheng, which was within easy reach, and ran away to gnaw on a hard nut.
The conversation between Wang Yu and Chen Ye took place on the day when he reviewed the troops. It was also on that day that he adjusted his deployment and made a gesture of abandoning Tancheng.
His order was very simple and strange. He only asked Chen Ye to work hard to organize a defense and show off. If Cao Bao started to attack the city, even if he surrendered directly, he would not be regarded as a traitor, let alone
will lead to retaliation.
Chen Ye joined the army as a young man and is now over 40 years old. During his long military career, he had never received such a strange order and had never even heard of it. He was stunned at that time.
Later, Wang Yu seemed to explain a few more words, but he didn't listen at all. He only remembered the young general waving his arms very impressively and confidently: "Cao Bao will definitely not attack the city on a large scale. Que Xuan's troop configuration
It is not suitable for siege, so General Chen, you just need to make a show and wait for the final result."
Thinking back on this passage afterwards, Chen Ye was also half-convinced. Now that he saw it, Wang Yu's judgment had really come true!
Just when all the soldiers in the city looked down upon Wang Yu, what Chen Ye, an insider, felt was a shock from the depths of his soul!
Can you guess things like a god? No, Wang Yu simply used Cao Bao as a string puppet. He only had to lift the string to make the other party move. This was not fighting, but doing tricks!
Looking at Maling Mountain from a distance, Chen Ye vaguely saw the mighty figure of a god. The other party seemed to be trying to do something. Suddenly, he had a clear understanding that the outcome of this battle might surprise many people as always.