Three Kingdoms

Although the Danshui River is not very spacious, it is still somewhat difficult to swim across it. Fortunately, in autumn and winter, the water flow is slightly slower, and there are leather ropes connecting the two banks, so Liao Hua can ensure that he will not be deflected by the flowing water. The four hooves of the war horse were also pulling hard under the water. I saw Liao Hua's hands moving forward alternately, and in the blink of an eye, he had already crossed half of it.

In order to ensure that the leather rope does not burst when swimming, the cavalry following Liao Hua can only proceed one after another. Only when one person reaches the river can the following ones follow. Those who are good at water fall behind. A person like Liao Hua, who is water-based, can still be prepared to rescue him if he accidentally misses it.

Even if there is some inconvenience, Liao Hua and others still have to bring war horses, because war horses not only represent mobility, but also mean a larger carrying capacity of logistics materials...

The water in autumn is cold and chilling.

The sun was quite warm, and it felt somewhat warm when it shone on his face and body. However, his lower body was immersed in the water and it was flowing. The heat was taken away very quickly. In just a moment, Liao Hua felt that his upper and lower body were like ice and fire. Zhongtian, enjoying two different treatments, hot and cold, at the same time, what a taste...

When they reached the river, the war horse gradually submerged into the water, with only its head and neck exposed. In order to reduce the burden on the war horse, Liao Hua also tried his best to help paddle, well, really paddle. The war horse can indeed swim, but after all, its limbs are thin. Although the war horse pulls hard, the swimming speed is not fast.

Generally speaking, the speed of river water is not always the same. The water flow near the shore is slower, and the water flow in the center of the river is significantly faster. Some rivers even have undercurrents underwater. These are all determined by the river bed. For example, if there are two huge rocks in the river bed, a raging undercurrent will form between the two rocks, which will affect the downstream river water within a certain distance. All of this is invisible on the river surface.

So sometimes I often see people crossing the river. It was smooth at first, but suddenly they were washed down. Most of them encountered this situation.

Liao Hua also encountered an undercurrent now. The cold river water kept hitting his body and face, making his whole body soaked. The horse under his crotch was also swinging its head uneasily, as if it wanted to neigh, but his mouth However, he was blocked by Qianmei, and in the end he could only move forward desperately.

Liao Hua struggled forward. He didn't know how long it took before he suddenly felt the horse beneath him shake. Then his whole body floated up, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Already approaching the shore, the war horse trampled on the sand on the riverside and twisted forward. Because its feet were sticky, the war horse twisted its neck impatiently and made a louder noise than before.

Several soldiers who crossed the river before Liao Hua stretched out their hands, either pulling Liao Hua or supporting their horses, and quickly brought Liao Hua to the shore.

Liao Hua let out a long breath. He felt as if he had been fighting with others for an hour. His whole body was exhausted, and even his arms felt a little sore. Liao Hua can also swim, but he can only dog ​​paddle. If he really fell into the water, he would not drown, but he would be unavoidable if he drank a few more water.

Subsequent soldiers also entered the water one after another.

Liao Hua took off his outer robe and couldn't help but shiver at the cold wind. Then he quickly wrung out the water on himself and wiped his horse. The war horse obviously felt Liao Hua's kindness and stretched out his head to touch Liao Hua. However, at the next moment, the war horse couldn't help but trembled and threw water droplets everywhere, also splashing on Liao Hua's head and face.

Liao Hua stared at him with water all over his face, and then the war horse stared at him with its big innocent eyes...

never mind.

Liao Hua wiped it off again, then put on the dry robe that he had brought earlier on a sheepskin raft, and then put on his battle armor. He suddenly felt much more comfortable all over his body.

Bird fighting in the mountains and forests is the name of the tactic mentioned by Zhuge Liang. It is said that it was named by the hussar general Fei Qian. The effect was of course very obvious, forcing Cao Xiu to stop his pursuit, so that Cao Jun's fastest troops did not dare to move rashly, thus buying more time for the refugees in Jingzhou.

But this is not enough.

Although the bird fight in the forest is effective, it also consumes a lot of physical energy for Liao Hua and others. They have to lurk, attack and evacuate. If they don't do it well, they may be trapped and die.

Moreover, this tactic also has a big flaw, that is, it has insufficient lethality. It can effectively damage morale and slow down the speed. However, when facing a large number of enemy soldiers, there is still no way to effectively kill and stop its actions on a large scale. After all, cold weapons are completely different from hot weapons. This kind of forest bird fighting requires soldiers to have good training and abundant physical strength than the hot weapons of later generations. If it were not for the logistic support of the hussars, even if others wanted to use them, It's not useful at all.

Therefore, if you want to completely solve the problem of Cao Jun's pursuit, you need to give Cao Jun a hard blow, so that Cao Jun feels very painful, scared, and naturally retreats...

Liao Hua was not too worried about his actions of crossing the Danshui and stabbing in the back. Although he did not have many people with him, they were all good players and strong and capable. As long as Liao Hua seized the opportunity, he would definitely defeat Cao Jun. A pot.

Liao Hua was worried about Zhuge Liang.

Although the Wubao area has been repaired by the refugees in recent days, it looks like a military stronghold. However, after all, it has been abandoned for a long time, and some places are still slightly weak. If Cao Jun...

Liao Hua looked north.

"Kong Ming, you have to hold on!" 』

At this time, Zhuge Liang was somewhat speechless as he looked at the refugees who had obviously accelerated their flight to the north.

Previously, Zhuge Liang not only sent people, but also personally went forward to explain the pros and cons to these refugees, urging them to speed up and leave some unnecessary things behind and head north as soon as possible. However, although these refugees seemed to agree loudly and nodded. Very straightforward, but still very slow in his movements, as if he didn't take the advice of Zhuge Liang and others seriously.

Zhuge Liang knew why, because he was young, and he was reluctant to punish these people...

Therefore, these refugees basically do not regard themselves as one thing. If they were not followed by hussars, these refugees would not even bother to act submissive on the surface. After all, the salt I have eaten, well, the salt cloth I have licked is more than the clothes your kid wears!

But now...

Zhuge Liang didn't know whether he should be sighing or happy, or whether he should express other emotions.

After Cao Ren and Cao Xiu united, Cao Jun's vanguard had advanced to a place not far from Wubao, and then began to capture these refugees. These originally slow-moving refugees suddenly began to howl and scream, and their speed of fleeing north obviously accelerated by at least twice! Some of the things that Zhuge Liang was reluctant to abandon no matter how hard he tried to persuade him, he now happily abandoned them so that he could escape faster.

This made Zhuge Liang unable to help but fall into thinking.

If you don't want to hear good things, or even if you do, you don't care, and then you won't react until you face pain, and then you will act quickly. In this case, isn't "punishment" more useful than "reward"? No wonder when Zhuge was in Jingzhou and talking about civil affairs with some petty officials, most of them would talk about the daily management of ordinary people. Basically, they would say "trick people" when they opened their mouths, and "trick people" when they didn't. "Cunning", presumably most of them belong to this reason.

At first, he refused to listen, but then the clerk realized that punishment was effective, so next time he simply stopped talking and punished him directly.

Zhuge shook his head. Obviously, those who think that punishment is more effective than reward are often lazy petty officials, because they are too lazy to say more or repeat what they say, so they just punish them across the board. Anyway, punishment will make these "unruly people" remember. . But the problem is that what comes with it is not necessarily memory, but maybe evasion, like the "wild people" who fled into the mountains to avoid taxes. Because they know that they will be punished if they can't pay taxes, they might as well just abandon their jobs and run away... …

Zhuge Liang made some notes on this issue in his mind, and decided to wait until he returned to Chang'an to find General Fei Qian for advice. What he needed to face now was the Cao army in front of him.

While Zhuge Liang was looking at the incoming Cao army, Cao Ren and Cao Xiu were also staring at the Wubao on the mountainside.

When there are more people, courage becomes stronger. This is a common phenomenon.

Therefore, after Cao Ren's infantry brigade gathered Cao Xiu, the originally low morale of Cao Xiu's cavalry was restored to a certain extent, but this did not mean that Cao Ren and Cao Xiu had no worries.

"Three days..." Cao Ren said slowly, "This dock must be conquered within three days!" 』

Cao Xiu was silent.

In fact, there was still the second half that Cao Ren didn't say. Even if this Wubao is captured, Cao's army may not have enough food to continue their journey.

The ship that was originally going to be transported to Fancheng was attacked by Gan Ning, so that Xiangyang had to be redeployed. The difficulties faced this time were not only the shortage of boats and the need to switch to land transportation, but also the fact that since autumn, wars have been going on all over Jingzhou, and the grain and grass tax itself has not collected much. Even before, Jingzhou There was a reserve. Cao Cao used it in waves and took away a batch. When Xiahou Dun went to war, it was basically used up.

Both Cao Ren and Cao Xiu knew that when the army was out on an expedition, the people were not allowed to march three times, and the food was not allowed to be transferred three times. But now, the first expedition was burned in the south camp, the second expedition was messed up by Gan Ning, and now it is the third expedition. Called three times...

The food and grass mobilized for the third time are not only to be provided to Cao Ren, Cao Xiu and others, but also to ensure the consumption of the garrison in Fancheng during the repair period. Some are even prepared in case Cao Cao needs to transfer support. It can be said that Quite embarrassed. It is said that both Xiahou Dun and Han Hao have ordered the soldiers and civilians of Jingzhou to disperse. On the one hand, they are searching for Gan Ning who has escaped without knowing his whereabouts, and on the other hand, they have begun to gather as much food and grass as possible from all sides. This shows the current shortage of warehouses in Jingzhou.

Jingzhou has just been recovered. If the oppression is too much and the Qinghe incident in Jizhou occurs, the scene will not be too beautiful...

Therefore, there is not much time left for Cao Ren and Cao Xiu, so they can only fight quickly. Fortunately, the Wubao in front of them is not a military stronghold, and there is still some hope that it can be defeated quickly.

There is not much time left for Cao Ren and Cao Xiu, and similarly, there is not much time left for Cao Cao.

In a dry depression not far from Wancheng, Cao Cao's men are hiding here. In the Wancheng area, there are mountains to the north, and the south was mostly swamps in ancient times. Later, it gradually dried up and retreated, and gradually became depressions. These depressions were originally excellent farming places, but now they have lost their care and cultivation and have become Weeds are everywhere, dry and cracked.

Although it is autumn, camping in the wild is not a pleasant thing after all, let alone staying there for a long time. Fortunately, this Qingzhou soldier who followed Cao Cao was born out of the war. In the past few years, he has been fighting almost non-stop. Although his temper is a bit unruly, his bravery and tenacity are first-rate, whether it is a difficult march or Despite the harsh environment, these Qingzhou soldiers had no complaints. Of course, this is also the basis for Cao Cao's survival, especially after Cao Cao now provides these Qingzhou soldiers with a large number of elite armors, the combat effectiveness of the Qingzhou soldiers has been greatly improved. It can be said that the Qingzhou Army currently in Cao Cao's prime is basically the most powerful infantry of the Han Dynasty.

Now, Cao Cao stood in an abandoned field, pulling the soil in the field, "This is a good land... If we double this land, we can plant some winter wheat before winter comes, and we can harvest it after spring next year." It’s been one season...』

These days, whether because of poor sleep or too much thinking, Cao Cao has almost lost weight, and the beard on his face is also a bit messy. Now he is looking through the soil in the fields, and he looks more like an old farmer than an old farmer. He is the great general of the Han Dynasty.

Cao Cao threw the clod of soil down, then clapped his hands, "... put the sentinel farther away, and let the men bite the bullet again. If you see the enemy scouts, kill them all, leave one out, and let the leader come on his own." Take the blame...』

"...We fought in southern Henan, and Yuan Jiujiu's men and horses were several times larger than a certain number. What happened?" We fought in northern Hebei, and what happened to Yuan Benchu's overwhelming power? We have conquered this world bit by bit. Now that others have sent some partial troops, is it possible that we have to give it up? 』

Cao Cao sneered and looked up at the sky.

The sky is very clear.

It has been sunny during this period, even a little abnormally sunny...

But this sunny day is also the perfect time to use troops.

Dian Wei, who was standing next to Cao Cao, frowned and said, "My lord, will this hussar army come?" If this hussar doesn't come, why are we just waiting here? 』

Cao Cao laughed a few times and said, "This general of the army has probably received the message... But so what?" If they don't move and we move, how can this little Wancheng stop us? ! Even if I bite it with my teeth, I will bite Wancheng off! ! 』

With these categorical words, Cao Cao looked around at the generals behind him with awe-inspiring eyes: "In the past, when Dong's thieves marched against the enemy, all the jujubes were afraid to move forward. They all said they were invincible and should not advance rashly." Wei Mou and Bao Jibei's army pursued him. Even though they were defeated, they still had a heroic spirit in their hearts! 』

"When Yuan Gongluo was in charge of southern Henan, people from all over the world came to him. The Yellow Turbans and Black Mountains were at his knees, the Sun family from Jiangdong looked up to him, and the old thieves from Xuzhou were his wings. Even if he said he could not fight, he was afraid of many defeats. I am the only one who joins you in attacking him, but there is no way to attack him! Wipe away the ghosts and bring peace to the great man! 』

"Yuan Benchu ​​brought troops from Hebei, hundreds of thousands of them, and he was very famous. There were many people in the court who were in league with each other. They were all timid and did not dare to raise their voices. They tolerated his rebellious actions and even consoled the people who surrendered to the Yuan family. also! Hahaha, it doesn’t matter if someone falls down, but where will the emperor do it? There is no reason for such a great man to bow down to rebellious ministers! 』

"Under the whole world, is it the king's land?" On the shore of the land, could it be the king's ministers! 』

"Today there are thieves with disloyal intentions, we should punish them on behalf of the Emperor!" Even if there are thousands of people, I will go! 』

"Soldiers!" May I follow a certain battle to bring peace to the world and help the world! 』

"Ho ho ho!" I am willing to follow my lord! 』

Cao Cao spoke with his hands, or gave orders, or did some encouragement. All the generals following him also responded loudly and looked excited. These Qingzhou generals are basically at their peak in terms of energy, physical strength, battle experience, and fighting skills. Although they know that they are facing the hussars across the north, they still don't have much timidity. Everyone looked eager to try, as if Cao Cao gave an order and they could move forward bravely, even if they were facing the Bloody Sea and Daoshan Mountain, they were not afraid at all!

Cao Cao laughed boldly: "Then follow me to capture Wancheng, and then defeat this mere hussar army!" How can all the heroes in the world not be in Guanxi? We people from Shandong can also dominate the world! 』

The generals responded with a bang, and then dispersed to act according to Cao Cao's previous orders.

Cao Cao smiled and waited until everyone dispersed, then turned around and sat down on the deserted field ridge.

The autumn wind blows and the grass sways.

Cao Cao's smile gradually disappeared, and what remained was his frown that never relaxed. Cao Cao was not worried about the life of the defeated Xia Houyuan. As a commander who had been licking blood for many years, Cao Cao had long known that anything could happen on the battlefield. Even if he planned carefully before the war, when it came to the actual battle, it would not be possible. Changes may occur, so even if Xia Houyuan does not achieve the set goal, Cao Cao still needs to find any available opportunities in this ever-changing battle situation and devote all his strength without hesitation to strive for the final victory. victory.

Although Wancheng is said to have support, it may not be able to hold on against the strong Qingzhou soldiers under Cao Cao. Even though Huang Zhong is highly skilled in martial arts, how many nails can he drive with his iron body? Is it possible that Huang Zhong can divide Wancheng into four gates and be able to defend it everywhere?

Cao Cao was not lying just now. If he really attacked Wancheng, Wancheng would definitely not be able to hold on for long.

Cao Cao paid more attention to Xu Huang.

This general under the command of the hussars seems to be a terrifyingly calm opponent...

When the news of Xia Houyuan's defeat in Wancheng leaked, Xu Huang immediately slowed down and even started building a camp, as if preparing to add a new city between Zhuyang and Wancheng...

If it had been placed before, Cao Cao could have endured and waited, just like he endured Yuan Shao, and finally waited for the final victory. But now, Cao Cao knew in his heart that it was different from back then.

Because whether it is Yuan Shu or Yuan Shao, what they are fighting for is "land", so every city and every pond is very important. Every inch of land must be fought for, which can be consumed, waited, defended, or delayed. Yuan Shao wanted to attack point by point, but Cao Cao could also defend city by city.

And the battle between hussars is about "people"...

Cao Cao muttered something in his throat, it must not have been a good word.

Therefore, facing a new war model, Cao Cao must adapt as quickly as possible on the one hand, and on the other hand, he must try his best to drag the fighting method into the range he is familiar with, or directly defeat the opponent, or directly defeat the opponent. or it could be……