Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3415: Words and Actions Are Consistent

Youzhou, Shanggu.

The Cao army troops in Shanggu, which were on their way to Yuyang for support, discovered something unusual in the distance.

Several Cao army soldiers were running wildly in fear, and behind them was a group of pursuers with weapons raised.

A Cao Junjun commander standing on the bridge instinctively drew his sword and shouted, "Quick, go up, go up... to support our brothers..."

Where there was a team leading the way, there would naturally be Cao's soldiers following. They originally thought that these Cao's soldiers who were patrolling outside had encountered a scout team of the Hussar Army, so they were not too nervous at the beginning. They ran forward while cursing and raised their weapons to prepare to seize the bridgehead of the small bridge.

There is a river here and a small bridge over the river.

Unnamed bridge.

These Cao army soldiers who escaped were the Cao army scouts who had crossed the small bridge and headed north for reconnaissance.

The leader of the team that was responding to Cao's scouts rushed to the bridge first, but before he could catch his breath, he found something was wrong...

In the distance, a few cavalrymen appeared first and stopped their horses on the hillside. Behind those cavalrymen, a battle flag appeared.

Tricolor battle flag!

Hussars indeed!

But what frightened the captain was not only the cavalrymen on the hillside, nor the tricolor flags behind them, but the smoke rising in the distance on the hillside!

  Then suddenly several battle flags emerged from the slope, all of them were the tricolor flags of the Hussar Army!

In an instant, murderous aura spread across the wilderness.

The team leader's men looked at each other in amazement, then shouted and turned around and ran away.

"The Cavalry! The Cavalry is coming!"

"A sneak attack! The enemy is attacking..."

The Cao army soldiers marching on the other side of the river suddenly panicked.

Some people immediately rang the gong to sound the alarm, others ran forward screaming, and still others turned back, bumping into each other...

The captain's eyes widened, and he kept shouting at the top of his voice, "Line up, line up, protect the bridge, protect the bridge!"

But no one listened to him, and in the end he couldn't help but run back.

Pan Ji, the military marquis of Shanggu County, rushed forward and slapped the captain so hard that he staggered.

Pan Ji's face flushed, "If you run away, what will happen to us brothers?!"

The leader was beaten, but he was not angry. He just calmed down a little from the panic and panic, grabbed the military marquis Pan Ji and said, "Marquis, what should we do? There are more and more cavalry soldiers? It seems that there are thousands of them?! What should we do? !"

The team leader held Pan Ji's hand tremblingly, turned his head to look at the cavalry troops getting closer and closer, and asked anxiously.

"First, notify the captain first!" Pan Ji ordered, "Let the people at the back go back, and the people at the front quickly go to Changping City!"

Pan Ji gritted his teeth and said, "We must inform the general! The cavalry has surrounded Juyonglai... Shanggu is in danger! Go quickly!"

The captain turned around and ran out without hesitation, but stopped after a few steps, "Marquis, then, then... what about you?"

Pan Ji drew his sword and faced the rushing cavalry.

"You must know that there are also great men in the land of Yan and Zhao!"

After shouting, Pan Ji rushed forward.

Behind Pan Ji, the captain called him several times, but Pan Ji did not turn around. He could not help stamping his feet, and then rushed to report the news...

Pan Ji ran onto the small bridge.

Near the small bridge, the scattered Cao army soldiers were at a loss.

Cao's soldiers looked at the cavalrymen and horses rushing from the distant hillside with extremely nervous and frightened expressions. Some were frightened by the momentum of the cavalrymen and retreated repeatedly involuntarily.

Pan Ji kicked the Cao army soldier who was retreating, then pointed at the chaotic crowd behind the bridge and shouted, "Brothers, look for yourselves! Can you run faster than four legs? If we run, we will all die! If we are caught by the enemy, no one will survive! We all have one life! If we all want to escape, we will all die!"

Several soldiers who were retreating stopped.

"We are unlucky today!" Pan Ji spat fiercely, "We didn't come yesterday, and we didn't come tomorrow, but today when it's our turn to guard the bridge! This is our fate! We are ordered to guard the bridge. As long as the bridge survives, we will survive. If the bridge is destroyed, we will die. There is no way to retreat! Even if we run back and lose the bridge, we will be sentenced to death!"

Facing the desperate faces, Pan Ji suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "It's all death! I, Pan Ji, would rather die standing! Not to bring shame to my ancestors, not to be laughed at by future generations!"

Some soldiers were moved by Pan Ji. They silently tightened their swords and guns and stood to his left and right.

Pan Ji took a final look at his men standing beside him, and also at the Cao army soldiers who were still secretly moving back. He smiled, then turned around to face the cavalry army that was roaring down the hillside, raised his sword, and said, "Brothers, kill! Stop them!"

Pan Ji roared, with the veins on his neck bulging, like a beast forced into a corner, howling, as if to intimidate his opponent and also to try to give himself courage.

A dozen soldiers followed closely behind him, "Kill! Kill... "

Then some Cao's soldiers were inspired and rushed forward, "Kill..."

The autumn wind is bleak.

The wind blew on his face and the roar exploded in his ears. Pan Ji felt the coming of death.

His breathing was heavy and rapid, but he still felt a strong sense of suffocation due to the momentum of the Hussars.

At the last moment of the battle, he thought of his father.

A stubborn man from northern Xinjiang, who remained silent all his life, but more often than not, he was the father who used a stick to reason with his father.

Thought of his mother.

A mother who gives everything to her husband and children first, a mother who sits around the stove every day and always has a little food hidden in her apron.

Thought of his wife.

A wife with eyes as pure as a deer, who is willing to share the hardships with him, budget carefully with him, and mend the household expenses with him.

And that brat who always gets on the roof and tears down the tiles if he's not punished for three days...

The thought of this made him feel like dying.

He doesn't want to die, no one wants to die.

But the damn war forced him to face death.

He saw the call of death, saw a gun-wielding warrior rushing towards him, and saw a spear shining with cold light.

Pan Ji used up his last bit of strength and swung the sword in his hand at the general, "Damn your ancestors!"

The spear came through the air and instantly pierced Pan Ji's body.

Pan Ji's blood spurted out.

Bright red and hot.

"Kill..."

The last group of Cao's soldiers who resisted were stimulated by Pan Ji's death. They rushed forward frantically, using their burning chests to withstand the coldness of death.

There is no name on the nameless bridge, and no bones by the nameless river.

……

……

"The Jixian troops have retreated?!" Lin Qing, the defender of Luxian, widened his eyes in disbelief, "His last name is Xiahou!"

"It's absolutely true!" The clerk who was originally planning to go to Ji County to discuss the advance and retreat turned pale, "The tricolor cavalry flag has been planted on the top of the Ji County city wall!"

The clerk felt that he had bravely tested the edge of death, and he still felt terrified when he thought about it now. "Captain, this battle is a disaster! Xiahou from Ji County has run away, what's the point of fighting? !"

"Are you sure that all the people in Ji County have escaped?" The commander of Lu County still couldn't believe it.

"It's absolutely true!" the clerk swore to the sky, "The four gates of Ji County were opened wide, and the people in the city rushed out in panic and sorrow..."

"Stop talking nonsense!" The garrison commander interrupted the clerk impatiently, "How many cavalrymen are there in Ji County? Under whose banner are they? Who is the general leading the troops?"

"Uh! This..." The clerk swallowed his saliva, wondering whether he should make up a story, but the guard Lin Qing noticed it, frowned and snorted, "You'd better tell the truth!"

The clerk fell to his knees with a thud. "Captain, I did go to Ji County... There are indeed no soldiers guarding Ji County... But..."

"But what?" the commander asked.

The clerk then told the truth.

In fact, he never went to Ji County at all. When he was halfway there, he met a group of refugees who had escaped from Ji County. After asking a few questions, he was so scared that he would never really go to the outskirts of Ji County to observe the military situation.

However, in Ji County, it is certain that Cao's troops have all fled, otherwise so many people in Ji County would not have fled...

At first, the minor official was a little bit unconvinced. After all, the three major towns in Youzhou were either owned by the Cao family, the Xiahou family, or Cao Cao's early confidants. These people should be the backbone and core figures. But now, except for Cao Chun who is still holding on in Yuyang, the rest...

"I was thinking..." the clerk said at last, "I was telling the truth...Is it true...we should have given up Youzhou a long time ago...but General Cao didn't know...or didn't want to..."

After hearing the clerk's "truth", the commander was immediately furious, "How dare you!"

The clerk quickly begged for mercy.

"General Cao and Xiahou Changshi are such great men, how dare you interfere with their opinions?" the guard shouted, "If others find out, don't complain even if they chop off your head!"

The Cao and Xiahou families are both the Central Commanders and the Central Guards!

  What is Lu County?

At most, they are just garrison troops in Youzhou counties.

On weekdays, both military supplies and pay are much worse than those of the Zhongling Zhonghujun.

The clerk said anxiously, "Captain, please listen to what I have to say! I am doing this for your sake!"

The guard sneered, "All for me?"

"That's right, that's right!" the clerk said repeatedly, "Captain, can't you see the current situation clearly? Xiahou has fled, what can Youzhou be saved? General Cao is stubborn and seems to be loyal, but in fact he is harming everyone! Captain, I am not talking nonsense. Look at all the generals and lieutenants who fought bravely over the years. What kind of ending did they have? Let's not talk about the distant past, just say..."

"Shut up!" the guard shouted in a deep voice.

The clerk nodded repeatedly, "Shut up, shut up... But it's really not worth risking your life for... Captain, even if you don't consider your own safety, you should think about your family..."

The guard glared at him, "I told you to shut up!"

The clerk quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

The guard walked around the hall like a trapped beast for two circles. When he looked up, he saw that the clerk was still there. He was furious and asked, "Why are you still here?"

The clerk quickly responded, "I will get out of here right now, I will get out of here right now..."

When the clerk walked out of the hall, before he had gone far, he heard the guard shout again, "Wait! Come back!"

……

……

Human nature is always complicated. Some people face death calmly, while others calculate all day long, fearing that even a penny of their own wealth will flow into other people's fields. But no matter whether they face death bravely or just want to escape cowardly, the blood and casualties brought by the war still permeate the entire Youzhou and accumulate in Yuyang City.

Cao Chun's plan was a beautiful one.

Cao Chun's plan was executed miserably.

Cao Chun's plan was to seek victory from defeat and to survive from a desperate situation.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were too many battles where the enemy fought desperately and survived. This seemed to give Cao Chun the opportunity to use himself as bait to attract Zhao Yun, and then surround him from all sides and break through the center...

Unfortunately, Cao Chun forgot one thing.

Youzhou is very big.

When Youzhou was at its largest, its Lelang Prefecture included Pyongyang, Sincheon, and Haecheon, almost reaching Seoul. Xuantu Prefecture reached Shenyang and Fushun. Changli Prefecture included part of Inner Mongolia and the Jinzhou area.

The Dai County in the west reached the Sanggan River. Yes, that’s the river that the sun shines on…

There is also Liu Da'er's hometown, Zhuo County.

But Youzhou is very small now.

No one knows who is in charge of Lelang County now, perhaps there are no Han officials in charge at all.

Liaodong County became the world of the Hu people, and communications were basically cut off.

Xuantu County was lost some years ago and has never been recovered.

In history, Cao once fought against the Wuhuan tribe and reached Bailang Mountain, which was one of the few long-distance trips abroad. He was so exhausted that when he returned to Jieshi Mountain, he wrote a poem with great emotion...

Moreover, in history, when Cao Cao fought against the Wuhuan, he probably wanted to wipe out the Wuhuan completely, so Cao Cao did take some actions to resist foreign races. However, it is not entirely correct to say that all of them were for the Han Dynasty to resist or attack foreign Hu people.

Of course, Mr. Cao has no intention of fighting the Wuhuan now.

Therefore, the Youzhou controlled by Cao's army is actually very small. Of course, this is also a strategic arrangement that must be taken to guard against the Northern Region Army of the Hussars. After all, if the area of ​​Youzhou controlled by Cao's army is larger, it will be easier to be attacked by the Hussars. For example, the Liaoxi part is very weak. If it is attacked and cut off, Liaodong will naturally be lost...

Therefore, Youzhou did not produce war horses, furs, ginseng and other commodities for Shandong people, but had to pay a lot of money and grain every year. Naturally, there were many complaints. The children of the Han Dynasty gentry could not have the spirit of supporting the construction of the frontier without regrets. Therefore, even if Cao Chun wanted to build a solid, large, and effective defense system for Youzhou, he could only be powerless in the end.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China's construction of cities has often developed in line with the intensity of wars. The unity and opposition of contradictions are fully reflected in China's city wall defense system.

Originally, China's city walls were made of rammed earth. Later, it was discovered that rammed earth would be easily destroyed once it was soaked by rain, so an extra layer of blue bricks was added. Then it was discovered that blue bricks needed to be glued together, so adhesives were developed.

Later, as the war intensified, there were women's walls and Fengyuan. In the Song Dynasty, the defense of the city wall almost reached its peak. The urn city basically became the standard, and it was as strong as the original city wall, or even more resistant to attack. The sheep and horse wall replaced the horse-faced wall with a hard wall enemy tower, and the wood was replaced with a brick and earth structure. There were also various other defensive facilities on the city wall.

For example, there were large urns covered with cowhide at intervals on the city wall to listen to whether the enemy was digging tunnels. Even more interesting were the secret doors, which were small hidden doors used to surprise attack the enemy troops. There were also caves for hiding soldiers, etc.

There is only one purpose, so that when you get beaten you won't collapse so quickly.

As for Yuyang in the Han Dynasty, did it suffer the pain of being invaded and beaten by foreign tribes from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the Song Dynasty? Yes, but not much. Without the support of Jizhou, Cao Chun alone could not build Yuyang into an impregnable fortress.

After the Northern Territory Hussars attacked, Cao Chun discovered a very tragic fact—

As Youzhou's territory shrank, it seemed that the people of Youzhou also became less courageous.

How many days have the signal fire been sent out from Yuyang?

However, the troops from Juyong, Jixian, Luxian and Wuzhong counties were nowhere to be seen!

Maybe something delayed...

Cao Chun could only comfort himself in this way, but then he realized a new problem...

  Zhao Yun seems to be training his troops!

It's like sharpening a knife with the Yuyang stone!

First I made a catapult, then a large well sill, and now I have made a giant battering ram...

  Was such a big hammer chopped from that hill?

How come that giant tree didn't crush a few Hussars to death!

  But what can we do now?

If they had gone out of the city to fight from the beginning, they might have been defeated faster, but at least they would have shown their bravery. Now they are being beaten on the head, and the more they are beaten, the more their morale collapses...

  The more terrifying fact is that if Cao Chun’s perception was correct, then where would Zhao Yun place his main force?

Did Zhao Yun see through his central attack tactics?

If so, what should we do?

……

……

Zhang He led the front troops and quickly killed the Cao army soldiers who were resisting the cavalry at the Wuming Bridge, occupied the Wuming Bridge, and quickly dispatched personnel to clear the bridge surface to allow the troops to quickly pass through the Wuming Bridge.

Following Zhang He came the military commander Gan Gan.

"It's just as the Protector General expected. Cao's army wants to use Yuyang as bait..." Gan Gan laughed, "But with soldiers like these... Tsk tsk, you really dare to think so!"

Zhang He glanced at the corpses of Cao's soldiers piled up on the nameless bridge and said nothing.

"map!"

Zhang He waved to the guards.

The guard immediately rushed forward and unfolded the map beside Zhang He.

"The direction is correct," Zhang He said, pointing at the map. "This river, this bridge, are all correct... We are here now..."

Gan Gan stretched his neck to look, "Yes, it seems that we are very close to Changping... Most of these Cao troops have fled to Changping. Should we send some people to take a look? I wonder how many troops the Cao army has transferred there..."

Zhang He nodded, called the scouts over, and asked them to investigate upstream and downstream immediately.