Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3620: The dragon is trapped in Yunmengze, and the dragon emerges from the rain

At Danjiangkou, the sky was filled with war clouds.

Li Dian and Liao Hua joined forces, and on the surface it seemed that their strength had increased, but in fact they were firmly trapped along the Danjiang River by Cao Ren's navy.

Unlike Li Dian's small-scale fighting at Yunguan, the former Jingzhou navy led by Cao Ren far surpassed Li Dian's hastily assembled Hanzhong navy in terms of both the number of warships and tactical skills.

The "navy" commanded by Liao Hua that attacked from Wuguan was just some ships for transporting food and fodder.

Therefore, on land, Liao Hua and Li Dian could suppress Cao Ren's army together, but once on the water, Liao Hua and Li Dian were immediately at a loss.

In two consecutive battles, the combined forces of Liao Hua and Li Dian made progress on land, but then immediately suffered losses on the water.

In particular, the transport fleet that was originally in the rear suffered heavy losses, not only losing food and fodder, but also losing the ability to quickly transfer troops along the Danjiang and Hanshui Rivers.

Li Dian tried to set a trap with the few remaining ships, but Cao Ren changed his previous timid attitude and fought extremely fiercely on the water. Both the ships from Hanzhong and Wugu were temporary navy and were almost crippled. This seriously dampened the courage of these soldiers, making them more hesitant on the water and increasingly unable to compete with Cao's navy.

Cao Ren loaded catapults and crossbow carts on the tower ship, with a range of 50 steps to 200 to 300 steps. Even if Li Dian and Liao Hua tried to ambush on the shore, they would become targets once they entered the shooting range of the tower ship. If they tried to attack the tower ship, they had to break through the battleships in front of the tower ship, or even the Cao army landing troops. This meant that Li Dian and Liao Hua could only be driven away from the Dan River and the Han River. Once they were away, they might be sent by Cao Ren to cut off the food supply and destroy the rear line...

In addition, Cao's army conscripted civilians to build many military camps and water forts along the Dan River and the Han River, which meant that Li Dian and Liao Hua had to pay a considerable price for every step forward. Any troops that might be exposed to Cao Ren's attack range along the river had to guard against sneak attacks from the shore and be careful of Cao's landing troops that might suddenly appear behind them. This greatly increased the difficulty of Li Dian and Liao Hua's attack.

Li Dian and Liao Hua both knew that if they wanted to successfully attack Xiangyang, they must first eliminate Cao Ren’s naval fleet, but the question was how to fight?
Lure and ambush will have certain effects, but the cost is much higher than Cao Ren.

Because Cao Ren was on the water, he could send a small force ashore.

If Li Dian and Liao Hua mobilized a large army to attack Cao Ren's small army, whether they could surround and attack them was one thing, but exposing their own plan was another. At the same time, because Cao Ren was on the water, the soldiers did not need to consume too much energy when they moved, and the oarsmen and other Cao soldiers could rest and recover when the landing troops landed. On the contrary, Li Dian and Liao Hua had to find a suitable ambush site on the shore and run back and forth. Even if they ambushed, it might not have any good effect.

Of course, Li Dian and Liao Hua could also completely abandon the Danshui and Hanshui routes and choose to go directly to Xiangyang via land, but this would also mean exchanging homes with Cao Ren...

Since Cao Ren could travel by water, which was convenient and labor-saving, he might be able to attack Li Dian and Liao Hua's retreat first, cut off their food supply, and then go downstream to Xiangyang.

Changing homes is risky, so act with caution.

This is not a real-time strategy game. If a round goes wrong, just GG and move on to the next one.

Most people, once they fail, have no chance to start the next game.

Therefore, Li Dian and Liao Hua had to advance step by step according to the plan and cover each other's advance.

When Li Dian attacked, Liao Hua provided cover, interception and ambush from behind.

After Li Dian had established a firm foothold in the front, Liao Hua moved his camp forward, and it was Li Dian's turn to provide cover from behind...

This method is slow, but safe.

At first, this strategy did make Cao's army helpless, but soon, Li Dian and Liao Hua fell into a bigger trap set by Cao Ren...

……

……

The heavy rain in summer was like a downpour, covering the sky and burying the sun, plunging the surrounding areas into complete chaos.

The wind was blowing and the rain was falling fast, forming a diagonal line between the sky and the earth, twisting to this side and then to the other side. It seemed as if there was an invisible giant hand in the air, madly and randomly painting the earth with the rain.

Longzhong.

A magical place.

It was supposed to be an unknown place, but because of the existence of a certain person, it became a legend, shining with orange light.

Amid the strong wind and heavy rain, the Cao army defenders in Longzhong County felt the same as the Cao army in other areas of Jingzhou. No one knew when this storm, which seemed to be about to destroy Cao Cao and the Han Dynasty, would stop. No one knew whether they themselves could survive the storm.

Longzhong is to the west of Xiangyang.

To the east of Longzhong are Fancheng and Xiangyang.

To the northwest of Longzhong is Shandu, and to the south is Zhonglu.

There are mountains, water, and people.

In history, Zhuge Liang "lived in seclusion" here, which was actually imitating Mount Zhongnan in Guanzhong.

There is some distance, but not too far.

Throughout history, there were many people who "lived in seclusion" in Longzhong with Zhuge Liang, but in the end they were not as famous as Zhuge Liang.

There are also Cao's garrison troops stationed in Longzhong County now, but Longzhong is not a big place after all, and the entire county has a quota of only 300 soldiers. In addition, they have received 42 empty salaries, so there are only about 200 soldiers.

In the heavy rain, even if you wear a straw raincoat, it is easy to be soaked by the wind and rain, so except for some soldiers who were forced to come out to stand guard, most people hid in doorways or corner towers, half leaning and half lying in a sloppy manner.

They are called soldiers, but in fact they are no different from beggars. Their robes are tattered and their armor is broken. They are neither the elite defenders of key counties nor brave generals who are eager to fight and thirst for guns. They are just a way to support their families.

The commander of Cao's army felt helpless when he saw the lazy soldiers under his command.

If Cao Cao were in his prime now, these Cao's soldiers might have been in better spirits. But now Prime Minister Cao is in danger himself, and these soldiers defending remote areas can only live one day at a time.

Moreover, for Longzhong, there are Fangling and Zhuyang to the west, and at worst there is Shandu. Since no alarm news has been sent, there is naturally no need to be on guard every day and be nervous.

It was raining heavily and I was extremely bored. The few bowls of porridge I drank in the morning sloshed around in my stomach for a while and turned into urine.

Cao Jun led his troops staggeringly to the corner tower, pushed open half of the door, and just as he opened his robe and spoke to the outside of the door, he saw a sturdy face with bushy beard appearing in the rain and fog.

This sturdy man was wearing a helmet and armor. The red tassel on the helmet was completely wet, just sticking to the helmet, and water kept dripping down in the heavy rain. The armor on his body was also washed white by the rain, especially the two pieces of breastplate on his chest, which were held up high by the chest muscles and were clean, as if the coldness of steel was also flashing in the rain.

In his hand was a sword, the blade of which was obviously sharpened to an extremely sharp edge, so sharp that even raindrops could not stand on it and slid down with a gurgling sound...

It was obvious that this burly man was planning to touch the corner tower, but he didn't expect that the leader of Cao's army came out before he reached the door of the tower.

When the two sides' eyes met, the big man seemed to smile, then he stretched out his hand and grabbed the leader of Cao's army like a chicken, and put the sword directly on his neck.

Cao Jun's army leader shuddered and couldn't control his urine, which flowed down his legs and feet. Fortunately, it was raining heavily, so even if the urine was a little yellow, it was quickly washed away by the rain.

The big man's voice was colder than the weapon in his hand, and it also revealed a strange tone, "Don't move. If you move, you will die!"

The leaders of Cao's army were stunned. They dared not even nod or make a sound.

Those who have been surviving in troubled times know when they cannot pretend to be heroes, and if they don't have the ability, they should just be obedient. Moreover, the commander of Cao's army saw with horror that in the heavy rain, there was not only that sturdy big man, but also twenty or thirty figures, with sharp armor and weapons, and the red tassels on their helmets as red as blood, climbing up from the battlements!
……

……

Outside Longzhong City.

Zhuge Liang was wearing a straw raincoat with a layer of oilcloth inside, and a bamboo hat on his head.

This way, even if you are standing in heavy rain, you can effectively avoid getting wet.

But it is hard to avoid it when it comes to shoes, clothes and trouser legs.

It’s like even if Zhuge Liang didn’t kill the person himself, his hands would inevitably be stained with blood.

All the way from Fangling, in order to conceal their whereabouts and cover up the news as much as possible, Zhuge Liang had to order the most stringent means to control the area, and in this process, naturally some people would lose their lives.

Some were guards and some were civilians.

War, war.

Cai Mao, who was obviously much older than Zhuge Liang, stood behind Zhuge Liang with his head down, like a follower. Zhuge Liang knew that Cai Mao was deliberately posing like this, and he didn't care.

He didn't have much energy to argue with Cai Mao now, but was thinking about how to use the existing soldiers at his disposal to maximize the benefits!
Others were rude at first and respectful later, but Cai Mao was prepared to be respectful at first and rude later.

Ever since Cai Mao was tricked by Zhuge Liang in Fangling, he has been very quiet, cooperative, and even a little humble throughout the journey.

But actually...

It’s not that Cai Mao wanted to make trouble, nor that Cai Mao had ulterior motives, but that Cai Mao wanted to gain more voice and gain more benefits for the Cai family of Jingzhou.

Cai Mao was an old hand, and he was very shrewd. Cai Mao knew that if he went straight up to negotiate, asking for this or that, or asking for this or that without giving any conditions, such a lowly method would not only lower Cai Mao's own value, but also lower the "grade" of the Cai family. Therefore, Cai Mao cleverly put himself in a lower position first, cooperated, obeyed, and said nothing.

However, the key point is "no hesitation".

If Zhuge Liang cannot handle certain things or situations, and needs Cai Mao's "extra" assistance...

For example, Cai Mao did not say a word about the strategy of braving the heavy rain, crossing mountains and rivers, not going through Shandu County, but attacking Longzhong and then rushing directly to Xiangyang. Even though Cai Mao knew that such a strategy was very dangerous, he still did not raise any objections, and even handed over his elite Cai family private soldiers to Zhuge Liang for deployment.

This is a smart person.

That’s right, Cai Mao was waiting for Zhuge Liang to fail, and also waiting for Zhuge Liang to come to him for help.

But Cai Mao never expected that Zhuge Liang was about to succeed!

Longzhong is just one step away from Xiangyang!
Cai Mao even felt that if Zhuge Liang did not need to rest and replenish his forces before entering the Xiangyang area, he might have bypassed Longzhong and headed straight for Xiangyang!

In Cai Mao's previous understanding, Zhuge Liang should have been a cautious, careful, and even a little neurotic...

Oh, in the Han Dynasty, there was no word called "neurotic". At most, it should be "sensitive", or "restless", "guilty and frightened", etc.

The reason is very simple. Zhuge Liang lost his father when he was very young, and he also encountered the disaster of Xuzhou. He was forced to flee his hometown and travel thousands of miles. This was undoubtedly a catalyst for Zhuge Liang, forcing him to mature and grow up quickly. But at the same time, because he had no family support and was wandering outside, he was bound to be a little "neurotic"...

But this time, when Cai Mao met Zhuge Liang again, he felt that Zhuge Liang had almost been reborn!
Caution still exists, but at the same time, this kind of "audacity" has also been added!
The key is that such a strategy is about to succeed!

In the heavy rain, Shamoko broke through the rain and mist and strode over, holding a Cao army soldier under his arm, like a dog. When he got close to Zhuge Liang, he threw him to the ground and said, "I caught him! This guy peed on my leg!"

Zhuge was stunned for a moment, then smiled and looked at the Cao army struggling in the mud on the ground, "The cavalry has an order, those who surrender will not be killed, and they will have land when they return home... Are you willing to surrender?"

……

……

It rained heavily.

The Han River surged like a dragon emerging from the abyss.

Liao Hua stood on the muddy embankment, looking at the muddy river water flowing over the tips of the reeds, dyeing the low-lying area where the camp was set up into ink-black.

The rain seeped into his inner clothes through the gaps in his armor, making his back feel a little cold.

He has ordered his men to look for high ground suitable for camping, but no one has come back to report yet.

"Captain, the grain cart is stuck at Shili Slope."

A messenger came hurriedly.

"Have you seen Cao's army?" Liao Hua did not ask about the grain cart because it was a fake grain cart.

Transporting grain on a rainy day is a stupid thing that no one would do unless it is extremely urgent.

However, Liao Hua and Li Dian did not have any real-time battlefield communication system, so Li Dian followed the strategy he had discussed with Liao Hua and sent out fake grain carts...

"I didn't see Cao's army."

The soldiers reported.

This kind of weather is indeed inconvenient, so it is normal that Cao's army did not take action.

"Captain, the grain cart..."

Seeing Liao Hua silent and silent, the soldiers couldn't help but remind him.

"Send two hundred people to help push the cart."

Liao Hua ordered.

Although the grain carts were fake, the weapons and equipment transported in them were real. Even if there were no such weapons and equipment, having more baggage carts in the army would also be helpful in preparing for the next stage of relocation.

The heavy rain came suddenly and heavily.

During the day, the soldiers stepped through knee-deep mud to reinforce the camp, and after nightfall it was difficult to rest in the humid environment.

Although Liao Hua ordered the doctors to prepare medicine to prevent colds, he could still hear some coughing sounds penetrating the rain.

This is not a good sign.

The third day of heavy rain.

When Liao Hua lifted the curtain, he found that the horse post that was nailed into the mud last night had floated half a foot out.

"We can't stay here anymore..."

The newly found campsite is no longer usable.

Urgent roars rang out in the rain, and messy footsteps trampled the mud.

When the first baggage cart got stuck at the camp gate, the military officer in charge of transportation thought that the oxen pulling the cart were lazy. But when the third cart also got stuck in the mud, they realized that the place had been soaked and washed by rainwater and turned into a swamp.

The land of Jingxiang, the ancient Yunmeng Lake.

This was once the most mysterious wetland in the ancient Kyushu, like a piece of emerald glass inlaid in the land of Jingchu.

The waters stretching for thousands of miles are incomparable to the Dongting Lake in later generations.

It is said that in ancient times, the smoke and waves of the Yunmeng Lake surged out from the depths, transforming the entire world of Jingxiang into the state of chaos.

Liao Hua couldn't help but think of these things. It was said that when heavy rain fell, the dormant Yinglong would spread its wings like hanging clouds, and lightning would jump between the dragon's horns, turning the entire swamp into a huge mirror connecting heaven and earth.

There are also legends such as the nine-headed willow and the giant turtle carrying books.

And now, Liao Hua gradually felt the power of these "legends".

He originally thought that because he and Li Dian were attacking Jingxiang from upstream to downstream, they would not be affected by any water attack, nor would there be any situation of flooding the three armies. After all, he and Li Dian were advancing in turns. If Cao's army built a dam upstream, he and Li Dian would definitely know...

But now Liao Hua has a vague feeling that water attack is not limited to the river-blocking dam!
The land of Jingxiang!

Due to the degradation of the ancient Yunmeng Lake, some low-lying areas in the Jingxiang region became land. However, after three or four hundred years of degradation since the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was impossible for these lands to settle into solid rocks.

It seems to be fine at ordinary times, but when it rains and there is water, even the current small hill may be the bottom of the ancient Yunmeng Lake!

The biggest problem now is that even if Liao Hua finds some high ground, there won’t be enough space to accommodate the soldiers under his command…

How big can a hill or a plateau be?

This is Cao Ren’s killer move!
And next, where will Cao Ren's sword, hidden in the rain, come out to strike?