Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3324: Fish die and net break

Yuncheng Basin, Anyi surrounding area.

Henan Village, or Xiaohe Village.

There are many villages here that were originally similar to Henan Village, but now they are all destroyed and abandoned. The fields are still there, but no one continues to work.

Summer is the season when crops grow and welcome the final maturity in autumn, but now there are only weeds in the fields.

The civilians who used to bow their heads in the fields have disappeared, and only the broken sheds and abandoned tools seem to be narrating something.

The exposed pillars of the burned houses are all black, pointing obliquely to the sky, like a huge exclamation mark stuck in the ground. There are many traces of looting left around, some left by humans and some left by wild beasts. Or, they should all be wild beasts, beasts that only destroy and do not know how to build.

In the attack of Cao's army some time ago, Cao's army once advanced to the slope of Emei Mountain, so all the villages along the way were naturally not spared.

Now, Fei Qian has been traveling south from Emei Mountain, and the villages he has encountered are basically like this.

This may be a kind of "fortification and clearing of the fields", so Fei Qian must walk very carefully. Yesterday, the cavalry scout team reported that they had found a Cao army spy hiding in the ruins, and then paid the price of losing two or three people to eliminate those Cao army spies.

In the war in Guanzhong and Shandong, both sides are constantly growing.

Can the prince in Shandong think of hiding people in the ruins to develop tactics?

As Fei Qian's army approached step by step, the Cao army abandoned some temporary military camps and camps, evacuated the soldiers and civilians in the surrounding areas, burned the remaining supplies, and the black smoke billowed into the sky.

Fei Qian sat on the horse, took out his telescope, adjusted it, and looked into the distance.

At the extension of the army, the Cao army scouts and the cavalry scouts were pulling each other.

Under the "cultivation" of the cavalry scouts, these Cao army scouts also have a bit of Hu flavor. The current Cao army scouts have learned to stare from a distance, then prick up their ears and widen their eyes. If there is a slight movement, they will ride on their horses and run away, not giving the cavalry scouts a chance to approach and attack. Even if they have to get closer to investigate, they will shoot arrows at any suspicious targets, including but not limited to grass, bushes, treetops, etc.

So Fei Qian naturally saw the cavalry scouts and Cao army scouts chasing each other.

Suddenly, a rather strange scene appeared in the lens of Fei Qian's telescope.

Fei Qian frowned slightly, then signaled the guards around him, and then ran forward for a distance and arrived at the edge of the strange scene they had just seen.

Before he got close enough, Fei Qian smelled a foul odor.

Fei Qian frowned slightly, then pulled the warhorse and stopped approaching.

The warhorse was obviously a little uncomfortable, sniffing loudly and shaking its head to express dissatisfaction.

This stench is basically the smell of sulfide, in simple terms, corpse odor. Corpse odor is a complex odor mixed with ammonia, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, cadaverine, putrescine, skatole, thiol, thioether, various amines, low-level fatty acids, low-level ketones, low-level aldehydes, and some heterocyclic organic matter, smoky substances, etc., which can combine with blood oxygen in the alveoli, and even when the concentration is high, it can cause pulmonary edema and cause difficulty in breathing and paralysis.

However, it is obviously difficult to have such a high concentration in an open area.

Fei Qian was far away and only smelled the stench, but there was no direct harm at the moment.

The smell of a rotting corpse will erode the surface of the ground for a long time, and it will gradually dissipate after half a year or more after the bones are turned into white bones.

"My lord, this is a corpse pit. 'The guard said on the side, 'There should have been something covering it, and then it was pulled open by the wild beasts...'

It was this opened cover that was breeding a large number of flies and insects, whimpering and flying up and down, so it formed a strange shape in the telescope.

The guard walked forward a few steps, covered his mouth and nose to look forward, and then hurriedly retreated, panting a few times, and said angrily, 'God damn it! I don't know how many corpses are dumped here! Maybe they were frozen by the cold weather, and some of them were buried, so they couldn't rot out... Now that the weather is hot, the corpse gas expands, and they are pushed out of the soil... These damn thieves! '

Fei Qian listened with a frown.

Shandong's description of Dong Zhuo's relocation of the capital is always extremely detailed, because Dong Zhuo did do such a stupid thing, so it has always been a stain on the people of Longxi, and some people in Longxi feel ashamed.

But now, the people of Shandong are shouting every day that Dong Zhuo is killing people everywhere, and then what?

What is this scene in front of us?

Of course, the people of Shandong cannot see these scenes.

Since they cannot see them, then for the people of Shandong, it is almost equivalent to "non-existence".

"Go cut some weeds and branches, pour kerosene on them, and burn them." Fei Qian ordered, "Cover your mouth and nose with a gauze scarf, don't let the plague invade you."

The guards immediately led the troops, whistled and called the soldiers to deal with it.

Xun Chen came from the back and was silent when he saw this scene.

This is different from the fighting of soldiers on the battlefield.

Or simply put, the people and the soldiers are originally two different things.

The professional characteristic of a soldier is to fight with the other party's soldiers, so when you change jobs and become a soldier, you will naturally be mentally prepared, but the people are not. Although massacring the enemy's people is a tactical method that has been used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it does not mean that this method is glorious.

Especially the civil war.

Fei Qian had been trying to control the intensity of the civil war and was unwilling to invest too much manpower and material resources, so when he saw such a scene, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional in his heart.

Xun Chen said from the side: "Most of these are people from Heluo." The land of Heluo was already in dire straits, and now after this battle, most of the ten rooms are empty. 』

Fei Qian said: "Cao has many soldiers, but their origins are complicated. Looking at this situation, not everyone may be willing to die. Therefore, the most important person in Cao's army is only the leader and the protector of the two armies. The remaining Shandong soldiers, even if they are elite, are not as powerful as the Zhongling Zhonghu Second Army. 』

Xun Chen should be.

There is no doubt about this.

Fei Qian turned his head and looked to the south, then looked at Gufeng Mountain in the distance, and said to Xun Chen: "Anyi should be the most important place for the battle." Cao Jun must be near Anyi, with the middle leader and the middle guard to compete... And this Gufeng Mountain... Do you have any ideas? 』

"There are many ravines on Gufeng Mountain, which is not conducive to fighting and difficult to hold on to. Xun Chen obviously already knew the terrain of this area well, "But there are several springs on the Gufeng Mountain, where troops can be hidden..."

Fei Qian nodded. Although Cao Cao has entered the preset fighting position in the Yuncheng Basin, the core strength of Cao's army is still relatively intact, so they must be forced to go to the plains to defeat the main force of Cao's army.

Or call it Cao Cao's core force.

Once Cao Cao loses his core combat strength, mainly the Qingzhou soldiers, he will inevitably have only defensive strength left.

So now, with Cao Cao's ruthlessness, will he just wait to be beaten in Anyi?

"Send the order," Fei Qian said in a deep voice, "All water sources and all campsites are surrounded by enhanced scout detection and prevention!" Order the army doctors to prepare anti-epidemic drugs in case of emergency! 』

Xun Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned his gaze to the corpse cave that was being set on fire not far away, "My lord, what is it that... Cao Thief wants to use this method?" Want to use poison? ! This, this is too... too vicious! 』

Fei Qian looked at the newly rising flames not far away, and the thick black smoke was like a demon roaring silently in the flames, "It makes no sense." 』

…

…

As the summer temperature gradually rises, the war seems to be gradually heating up.

Cao's army gathered in Anyi.

In addition to the Zhongling Zhonghu Army directly under Cao Cao, there are also conscripted troops, conscripted troops, county troops, family private troops, etc. Now these complex troops are concentrated around Anyi.

After Cao Jun knew that the Hussar army was moving south, he abandoned some small strongholds in the north and spread out the battle line in layers with Anyi as the center, like a huge manzhushahua flower. Cao's army built a trench defense line at the front of Anyi, and Cao Hong personally led the military academy to guard the front line. Moreover, this flower of Manzhu Shahua seemed to be blooming bigger and bigger, as if it was going to swallow Fei Qian's army inside. .

The front of Fei Qian's army is like a trident, with the cavalry as the three sharpest blades, followed by solid infantry and slow baggage artillery battalions rolling down.

Today's situation is becoming increasingly confusing.

Fei Qian laid out the overall plan, using the Yuncheng Basin as a network, and successfully forced Cao Cao to have a decisive battle with the Hussars here. After Cao Cao entered the Anyi area, he opened a large network in Anyi mainly against the guests, and it seemed that Waiting for Feiqian to fall into the trap.

Fei Qian's soldiers and horses advanced one by one along the official road. It's not going fast, but it's very steady.

Cao Jun's scouts are also increasing day by day, and the size of his cavalry is also increasing day by day.

Because I was forced...

If there were not many of them, they might be overrun by the hussars and cavalry scouts.

Although the forward cavalry of the hussars have been suppressing Cao Jun's scout cavalry, and Cao Jun's scout cavalry have been avoiding the battle, everyone knows that the final stage of hand-to-hand combat between the two sides is getting closer and closer.

According to the detection situation of the Hussars scouts on the front line, Cao Jun's troops in the direction of Anyi are in full preparedness, fortified in layers, built a large number of sentry towers and military forts, and built an extremely large and complex barracks system. , which naturally put an end to the hope of some Hussars Military Academy generals to launch a cavalry surprise attack.

Cao Cao himself set up a banner for the commander of the three armies southwest of Anyi, which seemed to indicate that he was ready to fight Fei Qian here to the death.

As the temperature further rises, the water level of the Sushui River around Anyi is gradually declining.

The grass on King Yu's tomb shriveled and turned yellow under the scorching sun.

It seems that everything has withered under the lust of war.

Anyi is surrounded by a wilderness and a loess plateau terrain.

This piece of land inherited from ancient times has also witnessed the growth and development of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, Huangdi, Yandi, Chiyou, as well as Yao, Shun and Yu. Yao first had his capital in Puban, and later moved to Pingyang, Shun's capital was Puban, and Yu's capital was Anyi. China's first slavery dynasty, Daxia, was also born here.

Mainly because there is a salt pond here. This kind of natural and convenient area where safe salt can be obtained is a treasure place in ancient times when production technology was insufficient.

But now this area, which was originally suitable for people to live, has completely changed.

Two deep trenches were dug in the periphery, and some wooden stakes were inserted into the two deep trenches, and reed mats were reinforced on both sides of the trenches. It is unknown whether these reed mats were transported from Shandong by Cao's army or "requisitioned" in Hedong...

The official road has naturally been cut off by the deep trenches.

There are not many people as far as the eye can see, only some sparse bushes, woods and the outlines of dilapidated villages stand abruptly.

The area occupied by Cao's army camp is very large. Behind the deep trenches, a huge structure with a width of about 25 miles from east to west and at least more than 15 miles from north to south was built. There are no particularly large mountains around Anyi in the entire Yuncheng Basin, except for Gufeng Mountain in the northwest, but because it is located in the Loess Plateau area, there are many natural ditches that cut the entire area into a chessboard of varying sizes.

On these large and small earthen plateaus, Cao's army connected them with ropes and wooden boards in many places, so that Cao's army could move more conveniently on the earthen plateau without going through those curved ditches. So these earthen plateaus and rope bridges became barriers one by one.

As the commander of the front line, Xu Chu arrived at the front of Cao's position ahead of Fei Qian.

Looking at the Han army flag flying in the Cao army camp in the distance, and the Cao family flag representing the power of Shandong, Xu Chu couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart.

Shandong is also where Xu Chu grew up.

He and Cao Cao are actually from the same place, Qiao County.

If it is normal, since they are all fellow villagers, then there is naturally a bonus of the village party, and perhaps they will be closer.

But now, he is standing here, and Cao Cao is on the opposite side, and the two sides are fighting.

After staying in Guanzhong for a long time, Xu Chu naturally slowly accepted some of Fei Qian's ideas. Perhaps it cannot be said that it is Fei Qian's personal philosophy, but rather that it is from "Guanzhong" or "Qiuqi"...

In the process of Fei Qian's expansion, more and more people joined in. People from Guanzhong, Longyou, Beidi and other regions are not mentioned. Naturally, Shandong people like Xu Chu entered Fei Qian's political high-level and military general level. Now Shandong people like Xu Chu have an important problem that they have to face and solve.

If the Qiuqi defeated...

No, it should be that after they definitely defeated these people from Shandong, what kind of identity and attitude should they use to face the people from Shandong before?

Conqueror?

Or compatriots?

Or...

The rumbling sound of horse hooves pulled Xu Chu back from his chaotic thoughts.

Under the gullies of the earth plateau, a team of Qiuqi cavalry was heading south along the ditch.

The Cao army had withdrawn most of the cavalry scouts on the front, leaving only a few cavalry to monitor the movements of Qiuqi.

So where did the Cao cavalry who retreated from the front go?

These cavalry units directly under Cao Cao's Central Guard Army, although they are not as good at riding as those guys under the cavalry who can even sleep on horseback, their loyalty to Cao Cao is unquestionable. So now Xu Chu sent more scouts to the two wings to try to determine the hidden location of the Cao cavalry and the deployment of troops in the Cao army camp, to provide intelligence support for the next stage of the battle.

The actions of both sides at this stage are similar. The Cao army also knows that the cavalry will not rush headlong and will also carefully test and advance, and then wait until the time is right for a large-scale battle.

Facing the current situation, Xu Chu felt that Cao Cao would use these earthen plateaus to do some tricks. After all, if Cao's army wanted to pass through these earthen plateaus, they only needed to walk on the suspension bridges on the earthen plateaus, while the cavalry army could only walk along the ditches below the earthen plateaus. This led to the siege effect of Cao's army standing on the city wall in some areas.

And to destroy these suspension bridges is equivalent to attacking these Cao's camps. Even though the walls of the Cao's camps are blocked now, Xu Chu can't see the layout clearly, but he knows that in addition to the two deep trenches on the surface, Cao's army must have hidden many additional means. For example, traps, horse pits, or caltrops...

Anyway, it's not the first time that Shandong has fought with the cavalry. It's not difficult for the Cao army to copy the methods used by the cavalry before.

At the same time, facing these deep trenches, the cavalry cavalry is difficult to cross, but it is not difficult for the Cao's infantry to pass through. After all, Cao's army camp can always prepare ladders or wooden boards, and when needed, they can put them on the trenches and attack. This point cannot be ignored.

The Cao army is stockpiled here, with a large area, which is more than ten times the size of the camp below the slope. Although it can also be attacked with artillery transported later, it is precisely because it is a point that is broken, and the Cao army camp with a mesh structure can provide support even if one point is broken, so now Xu Chu, as the commander of the cavalry front army, cannot rush to attack, instead he must focus on defense first. He not only needs to deploy the vanguard cavalry, test and check the movements of the Cao army, but also needs to choose a stable area for Fei Qian's central army and rear army to ensure the safety of the garrison.

But this area is not easy to choose...

Because the better plots have been destroyed by the Cao army first.

Even in relatively poor areas, Xu Chu needs to arrange soldiers to conduct inspections and investigations. Otherwise, if there is a sudden opening of the tunnel in the middle of the night, it will not only lead to defeat, but also Xu Chu's debut as a front-line commander will become a case of ridicule in the military hall.

Be cautious, be cautious again.

Xu Chu reminded himself secretly, and then turned around to arrange military affairs.

In Anyi, both sides are nets and fish for each other, both hunters and prey. The side of the cavalry Fei Qian has the advantage of mobile forces, but the Cao army has set up camps and has the advantage of terrain, so whether the wandering fish will eventually die in the net, or tear this big net apart and jump over the dragon gate, after all, it is the ultimate test that both sides have to face.