Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3324 The fish is dead and the net is broken

Yuncheng Basin and the surrounding areas of Anyi.

Henan Village, also called Xiaohe Village.

There are many villages here that were originally similar to Henan Village, but now they have been destroyed and abandoned. The fields are still there, but no one is working on them anymore.

Summer is supposed to be the season for crops to grow and finally mature in the fall, but now there are only weeds in the fields.

The laborers who had been working with their heads down in the fields disappeared, leaving only the dilapidated sheds and abandoned tools, which seemed to be telling a story.

The exposed pillars of the burned-down houses were all black, pointing diagonally toward the sky, like a huge exclamation mark stuck in the ground. There were many traces of looting left around, some left by humans and some by wild beasts. Or rather, they were all left by wild beasts, beasts that only knew how to destroy and not build.

During 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, as Fei Qian traveled south from Emei Mountain, the villages he encountered were basically like this.

This might be a kind of "fortifying the city and clearing the countryside", so Fei Qian had to be very careful. Yesterday, the cavalry scout team reported that they had found a Cao army spy hiding in the ruins, and then they paid the price of losing two or three people to wipe out the Cao army spies.

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

As for the Shandong prince before, could he have thought of hiding people and developing tactics in the ruins?

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

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

At the outskirts of the army, Cao's scouts and Hussar scouts were pulling each other.

Under the "training" of the Huqi scouts, these Cao army scouts also had some Hu flavor. The current Cao army scouts have learned to stare from a distance, then prick up their ears and widen their eyes. At the slightest sign of trouble, they will ride on their horses and run away, not giving the Huqi scouts any chance to get close and attack. Even if they have to get closer for reconnaissance, they will shoot arrows at any suspicious targets, including but not limited to bushes, shrubs, treetops, etc.

So Fei Qian naturally saw the cavalry scouts and the 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 to the guards around him, and ran forward for a distance, and arrived at the side of the strange scene he had just seen.

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

Fei Qian frowned slightly, then pulled his warhorse and stopped moving forward.

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

This kind of 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, thiols, thioethers, various amines, low-level fatty acids, low-level ketones, low-level aldehydes, some heterocyclic organic matter, smoky substances, etc. It can combine with blood oxygen in the alveoli, and even cause pulmonary edema and respiratory paralysis when the concentration is high.

However, it is obviously difficult to achieve such a high concentration in open areas.

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

The smell of a rotting corpse will erode the ground's surface for a long time, and will gradually dissipate after half a year or more when the corpse turns into bones.

"My lord, this is a corpse pit." The guard said, "There should have been something covering it, but it was torn open by wild beasts..."

It was this uncovered cover that was breeding a large number of flies and insects, buzzing and flying up and down, forming strange shapes in the telescope.

The guard took a few steps forward, covered his mouth and nose to look forward, then quickly 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 has expanded and 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 described in great detail, because Dong Zhuo did indeed do such a stupid thing, so it has always been a stain on the people of Longxi, and made some people in Longxi feel ashamed.

  But now, people in Shandong are clamoring every day that Dong Zhuo is killing people all over the place, and then what?

What is this scene before my eyes?

Of course, people in Shandong cannot see these scenes.

Since it cannot be seen, it is almost equivalent to "non-existence" for people in Shandong.

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

The guard immediately led his troops, whistled and asked the soldiers to deal with it.

Xun Chen came from the rear and remained silent when he saw this scene.

This is different from the fighting between soldiers on a battlefield.

Or to put it simply, civilians and soldiers are two different things.

The professional characteristic of soldiers is to fight with the enemy's soldiers, so when they change their jobs to become soldiers, they are naturally mentally prepared, but the people are not. Slaughtering the enemy's people is indeed a tactical means that has been used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but 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 somewhat touched.

Xun Chen said: "Most of these are people from Heluo. Heluo was already in decline, and now after this war, most of the houses are empty."

Fei Qian said: "Cao's army is large, but their origins are complicated. Looking at this situation, not everyone is willing to fight to the death. Therefore, the most important troops in Cao's army are only the two armies of Zhongling and Zhonghu. The rest of the Shandong soldiers, even if they are elite, are not as strong as the two armies of Zhongling and Zhonghu."

Xun Chen agreed.

There is naturally no doubt about this.

Fei Qian turned his head and looked south, then looked at the Lonely Peak Mountain in the distance, and said to Xun Chen: "The battle site should be Anyi. Cao's army must be near Anyi, and they will fight with the Central Commander and the Central Guard... and this Lonely Peak Mountain... do you have any ideas?"

"There are many ravines on the lonely mountain, which is not conducive to fighting and difficult to defend." Xun Chen obviously knew the terrain of this area very well, "But there are several springs on this lonely mountain, we can hide our troops there..."

Fei Qian nodded. Although Cao Cao had already entered the preset battle position in the Yuncheng Basin, the core strength of Cao's army was still relatively well preserved, so they had to be forced to move to the plains in order to inflict a heavy blow to the main force of Cao's army.

Or it can be called Cao Cao's core main force.

Once Cao Cao loses his core combat force consisting mainly of soldiers from Qingzhou, he will inevitably be left with only defensive strength.

  So at this moment, given Cao Cao's ruthlessness, would he just sit there in Anyi and wait to be beaten?

"Pass the order down," Fei Qian said in a deep voice, "All water sources and the surrounding areas of all garrison camps should strengthen scout detection and defense! Order the military doctors to equip the epidemic-clearing drugs in case of emergency! "

Xun Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned his gaze to the corpse cave that was being burned not far away, "My lord, do you mean... Cao thief wants to use this method? Want to poison him?! This, this is too... too vicious!"

Fei Qian looked at the newly rising flames not far away. The thick black smoke was like a demon roaring silently in the flames. "It's groundless."

……

……

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

The Cao army gathered in Anyi. In addition to the Zhongling Zhonghu Army directly under Cao Cao, there were also conscripted soldiers, recruited soldiers, county soldiers, family private soldiers, etc. Now these complicated troops were all concentrated around Anyi.

After Cao's army knew that the Hussars were heading south, they abandoned some small strongholds in the north and expanded the battle line with Anyi as the center, like a huge Lycoris radiata flower. Cao's army built a trench defense line at the front of Anyi, with Cao Hong personally leading the military school to guard the front line. Moreover, this Lycoris radiata flower seemed to be blooming bigger and bigger, as if it was going to swallow Fei Qian's army into its belly.

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

The current situation is becoming increasingly confusing.

Fei Qian laid a grand plan, using the Yuncheng Basin as a net, and successfully forced Cao Cao to have a decisive battle with the Cavalry Army here. After Cao Cao entered the Anyi area, he turned the tables and spread a large net in Anyi, as if waiting for Fei Qian to fall into the trap.

Fei Qian's troops marched along the official road in order, not moving fast, but very steadily.

The number of Cao's scouts increased day by day, and the size of their cavalry also increased day by day.

Because I was forced...

If there are not many people, they may be surrounded and devoured by the Hussar scouts.

Although the cavalry of the Hussar Vanguard had been suppressing the scout cavalry of Cao's army, and the scout cavalry of Cao's army had been avoiding fighting, everyone knew that the two sides were getting closer and closer to the final hand-to-hand combat.

According to the detection of the cavalry scouts on the front line, the Cao army troops in the direction of Anyi were on high alert, with layers of defense and a large number of watchtowers and military camps built, forming an extremely large and complex barracks system. Naturally, this eliminated the hopes of some cavalry academy generals to launch a cavalry raid.

Cao Cao himself set up the large banner of the commander of the three armies in the southwest direction of Anyi, which seemed to indicate that he was ready to fight a decisive battle with Fei Qian here.

As the temperature continues to rise, the water level of the Sushui River around Anyi is gradually decreasing.

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

It seemed that everything was withering under the tyranny of war.

Anyi is surrounded by a wilderness and loess plateau terrain.

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

This is mainly because there is a salt pond here. This area with natural and convenient access to safe salt was a treasure land in ancient times when production technology was insufficient.

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

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

The official road had naturally been cut off by a deep trench.

As far as the eye can see, there are not many people, only some sparse bushes, woods and the outlines of dilapidated villages standing out abruptly.

The area occupied by Cao's camp was very large. Behind the deep trench, a huge structure was built, about 25 miles wide from east to west and at least 15 miles wide from north to south. There were no particularly large mountains around Anyi in the entire Yuncheng Basin, except for the Solitary Peak Mountain in the northwest. However, because it was located in the Loess Plateau, there were 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 plateaus without having to go through those winding ditches. Thus, these earthen plateaus and suspension bridges became barriers.

As the commanding general on the front line, Xu Chu arrived at the front of Cao's army ahead of Fei Qian.

Looking at the Han army flags flying in the Cao army camp in the distance, as well as the Cao army 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 were actually from the same place, Qiao County.

Normally, since they are all from the same hometown, they would naturally have the bonus of being from the same hometown, and they might become closer.

But now, he was standing here, and Cao Cao was standing opposite him, and the two sides were fighting against each other.

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

In the process of Fei Qian's expansion, more and more people joined in, not to mention people from Guanzhong, Longyou, Beidi and other areas. Naturally, there were also Shandong people like Xu Chu who entered Fei Qian's political high-level and military level. But now Shandong people like Xu Chu have an important problem that they have to face and solve.

If the Hussars win...

No, it should be after I have definitely defeated these people from Shandong, then what kind of identity and attitude should I use to face the people from Shandong?

  conqueror?

Or compatriots?

Or...

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

Below the gullies of the earthen plateau, a team of Hussar cavalry were heading south along the ditch.

Cao's army had withdrawn most of the cavalry scouts on the front line, leaving only a small number of cavalry to monitor the movements of the cavalry.

So where did these Cao cavalrymen who retreated from the front go?

Although these cavalry troops directly under Cao Cao's Central Guard Army were not as good at riding as those under the Cavalry who could even sleep on horseback, their loyalty to Cao Cao was unquestionable. So Xu Chu sent more scouts to both wings to try to determine the hidden positions of Cao's cavalry and the deployment of troops in Cao's camp, so as to provide intelligence support for the next stage of the battle.

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

Faced with 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 bridge above the earthen plateau, while the cavalry army could only walk along the ditch below the earthen plateau. This would result in Cao's army forming a siege effect like standing on a city wall in some areas.

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

Anyway, this is not the first time that Shandong has fought against the Hussars. It is not difficult for Cao's army to imitate the tactics used by the Hussars before.

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

Cao's army was stationed here, covering a large area, more than ten times the size of the camp at the bottom of the slope. Although they could also use the artillery transported up later to attack, it was precisely because they only broke one point, and the Cao's camp with a mesh structure could provide support even if one point was damaged. Therefore, Xu Chu, as the commander of the cavalry vanguard, could not rush to attack, but instead he had to focus on defense first. He not only had to deploy the vanguard cavalry, test and check the movements of the Cao army, but also had to choose a stable area for Fei Qian's central and rear armies to ensure the safety of the garrison.

But this area is not a good choice...

Because the better plots of land had already been destroyed by Cao's army.

Even in relatively poor areas, Xu Chu needed to arrange soldiers to conduct inspections and checks. Otherwise, if a tunnel entrance was suddenly opened in the middle of the night, it would not only lead to defeat, but also Xu Chu's debut as a front-line commander would become a case of ridicule by others in the Military Academy.

Be cautious, be cautious again.

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

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