Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 160 Burning Weichuan
Weishi County is located about [-] kilometers northeast of Xuchang, and less than [-] kilometers away from Zhongmou County, where Guandu is located. It is the closest city to the front line of Guandu except Kaifeng.

The reason why Ren Jun had to go north from Wei's to transport grain, not from Kaifeng or Chenliu, was because Chenliu in Kaifeng was the right-wing front line of Guandu.

In history, these two counties were garrisoned by Zhang Xiu. Using Zhang Xiu's Xiliang cavalry, they restrained a large number of Yuan Shao's cavalry.

Coupled with the protection of Xiahou Dun on the left wing, a relatively safe grain road was isolated for the middle passage, and Ren Jun was able to barely transport grain and grass between Xudu and Guandu.

Otherwise, he would have been defeated by the overwhelming Yuan Jun long ago, and he would have been swallowed alive so that there was not even scum left.

Now because Zhang Xiu did not participate in the war, Cao Cao had to put Xiahou Dun in the Chenliu area of ​​Kaifeng to protect the safety of Guandu's right wing, while the left wing let Yujin take precautions in Aocang and other places.

Fortunately, Cao Cao does not lack cavalry now.

Wen Chou sent five or six thousand war horses for the Battle of Yanjin himself, and later Zhong Yao in Guanzhong gave him another two thousand horses, adding a large number of cavalry to Cao Cao, which barely resisted Yuan Jun's attack on the grain road.

However, it was precisely because Zhang Xiu did not participate in the war that he lost a little help, which caused Yuan Jun to do great damage to the rear Wei, Kaifeng and even Yanling.

The people in these places moved south to Yingchuan or Chen Guo and other places, resulting in the desolation of this area.

From the multiplication of Chinese civilization to the end of Han Dynasty, the Chinese nation is far from conquering the land.

The once fertile fields have now been replaced by lush weeds and endless forests. No one has embanked the rivers, no one has dug new canals, and the fields have been submerged by the overflowing water from the Wei River, turning them into swamps and lakes.

Active in this vast wilderness, except for the occasional messengers who occasionally go back and forth between the front line of Guandu and Xudu in the rear, there are only groups of wolves and hungry tigers left.

In the absence of food, those wolves and tigers even dared to rush to the official road to attack the passing people. Only dozens of scouts with knives on horseback could restrain them a little.

Leading [-] infantry, Shen Chen walked hard in the wilderness like this. Weeds and basil as deep as half a person's height could be seen everywhere, swaying in the wind like an ocean.It is also necessary to go through the several kilometers long primitive forest and fight with tigers and wolves.

It is impossible for him to take a relatively better official road. There are too many scouts on the official road. Cao Cao has to communicate with Xu Du every day. Wei's is the middle station, so he can only choose to go in the wilderness.

There were too many unexpected twists and turns along the way, and even a few soldiers were lost. Finally, on October 22, they arrived at Weichuan Pavilion, north of Yanling and south of Weishi.

The location of this place is probably in the east of Weichuan Town and west of Zhuqu Town in the later generations. There are large rolling hills and lush forests. The village that used to be on the south side of the post road has become ruins. The barren fields have long been uncultivated and reduced to wild animals. their paradise.

Wild deer, hares, wild deer, river muntjacs, raccoon dogs, wild boars, pheasants, and wild ducks are countless, and jackals, tigers, and leopards will shuttle freely, walking into the forest and startling countless birds. The scouts came and went, and it was clean, but those who didn't know it thought it was a barren and inhabited southern mountain forest.

It was the end of October, and it was early winter. The mountains and plains were turning yellow and brown, with dead leaves flying, and a thick layer of dead branches and fallen leaves had accumulated in the forest.A scout delivering a letter to Xudu suddenly noticed flocks of birds flying in the distance, and was suspicious for a while, but when he saw a herd of deer passing by, he relieved himself and continued on his way.

Shen Chen led an army of [-] in ambush in the forest about [-] meters away from the official road.

This jungle stretches for several kilometers, seemingly endless, connecting the hills and mountains on the left side of the road. In autumn and winter, it is not rainy or snowy. If you set a fire, it will turn into scorched earth within a few kilometers.

"It's a good place to start a fire."

Under the leadership of their respective squad leaders, the soldiers in Lin Nei scattered in various ambush points, while Shen Chen and Gan Ning and Zhang Fei patrolled the terrain.

This time, it was Zhang Fei who volunteered to come here, saying that he wanted to change his mind and stop acting recklessly.

In fact, it was because this period of time was too boring, there was no fighting every day, and he and Gan Ning were in a hurry, now that they heard that there was going to be a war, they were naturally very enthusiastic.

Hearing Shen Chen's words, Gan Ning said, "Then why don't we just attack with fire?"

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Fire is uncontrollable. If it's just this area, maybe we can use fire. But the surrounding forests stretch for tens of miles. If we use fire, where will we escape?"

"Forehead"

Gan Ning thought so too. Although there are many swamps and lakes around, the swamps and lakes are full of dense weeds. Once a fire occurs, people who get in will be burned directly, which is too dangerous.

Shen Chen glanced around, he had already noticed that fire can be used here, but now it is autumn and winter in the north, if a fire breaks out, it will spread quickly and it is almost impossible to be extinguished, the impact on the ecological environment is small, playing with fire and burning yourself It's a big deal if it's gone.

Although there were cases where Liu Bei burned Bowangpo and Lu Xun burned Yiling, those were special circumstances.The mountains and forests of Bowangpo are not as vast as Wei's side. When Liu Beijun set fire to them, they retreated from the fire area and even pursued them.

The Battle of Yiling is located in the south, where the air is humid in summer and mountain fires are not easy to occur, and it is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, with frequent rainy seasons.So Lu Xun just burned Liu Bei's camp, without causing a large-scale wildfire.

The situation on Wei's side is that there are many mountains, forests, and grasslands. It is autumn and winter, and the weather is dry. The whole area is like a powder keg, and it can easily stretch for dozens of miles.

So unless he intends to die with Cao Cao's reinforcements, otherwise, he still cannot attack with fire.

After all, if you send a few people to light a small fire, you will definitely not be able to burn people. It takes 3000 people to set fire at the same time to create a huge flame in a short time. If the wind direction is wrong, or the fire spreads faster than people can run, then their 3000 people have to explain it's here.

"If we cut down the surrounding trees and piled them on the road, and let the soldiers carry hay and ignite the hay when the enemy passed by, wouldn't it be possible to burn only Cao's army and not us?"

Gan Ning suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Although he is a general, he is also from a wealthy family and has read poetry and books. He is not stupid.

Zhang Fei noticed the sound of horseshoes in the distance, touched his chin and said, "I'm afraid it's not easy. There are too many Cao Jun scouts coming and going on this road."

Shen Chen got Gan Ning's suggestion and fell into deep thought. After a while, he asked, "Uncle Xingba, can you speak bird language?"

"Birds?"

Gan Ning was very happy at that time, pointing to the colorful brocade feathers on his head, he said: "The eight hundred brocade sailors under my command can speak all kinds of birds and animals, not to mention bird language. Back then I was in Berkshire and took them hunting around. The singing of birds can even draw the hooves of a hundred birds."

Shen Chen said: "If we cut down the trees on both sides of the road, and dig a canal to divert water from the surrounding lakes and swamps to isolate the flames, only burn the road and the sides, and then let the soldiers carry dry grass to lie between the roads. Burn immediately, maybe just burn the battlefield and not hurt ourselves."

"What about the scouts?"

Zhang Fei asked.

This post road is the only way for the Wei family to go to Yanling. There are countless messengers traveling between Xudu and Guandu, and they are not fools.

Shen Chen said: "The voice can be transmitted by the language of birds. When the scouts come, we will stop. Once the scouts leave, we will continue."

His idea is very simple, to lay an ambush on the road, with hills to the north and forest to the south, and the [-]-meter forest between the forest and the road should not be moved, and after [-] meters, cut out a isolation zone of tens of meters.

The forest is dense, as long as you don't enter the forest, it's hard to see anything unusual.And the amount of work is not very big, just make sure that the flames don't catch up when their own people retreat.

So in terms of method, this is a completely feasible thing.

They set off on October 21st and parted with Liu Bei at Pingning Pavilion. At this time, it was October 22nd. Although they didn’t know when Cao Cao’s reinforcements would arrive, he and Liu Bei agreed on October 23rd. The day will attack Xudu again, so there should be plenty of time.

So Gan Ning let the Jinfan thieves who knew the bird's language disperse and lie between the official roads. Once they found Cao Jun's messenger, they immediately whistled and imitated the bird's voice. Communicate in bird language that your own people can understand.

Therefore, when the trees were being cut down during construction, Cao Jun's scouts and messengers had no idea that in the jungle [-] meters away from the post road they passed, someone was cutting down trees and digging canals. They could only feel the birds chirping, and the animals in the forest seemed to be more active recently.

With the efforts of 3000 people, the project lasted less than a day.On October 23, they dug out a separation zone of hundreds of meters, with canals on both sides, which can protect the safety of soldiers.

And standing on the road and looking into the jungle, although you will feel a little different than before, but the isolation zone is in the forest, if you don't look carefully, you can't see any difference before.

Shen Chen started the fire attack plan with peace of mind.

On October 25th, in the early morning hours, a sharp bird cry pierced the void, causing the surrounding birds to cry.

On the official road, Ren Jun led the army to walk southward slowly. It was more than 40 kilometers from Weishi to Yanling. They set off yesterday and walked more than 20 kilometers. They rested overnight at Fanting, twelve miles away from Weichuan Pavilion. Start again.

After lunch in the morning, they arrived near the Weichuan Pavilion, which was less than ten kilometers away from Yanling County. After about three pavilions, they arrived at Yanling.

Cao Jun's soldiers moved forward slowly. The reason why they did not march in a hurry was that they had to conserve their energy and keep in touch with Xu Du at all times to prevent Shen Chen's army from Xu Du's side from suddenly coming north to intercept him.

As a cautious person, Ren Jun did not send people to investigate everywhere.

There were too many forests along the way, and he couldn't find them.The most important thing is that there are a large number of couriers who shuttle back and forth on this official road every day. On average, there is one team every hour, and there are no reports of abnormalities at all.

So he's just going on his way now.

After passing the corner of the hills ahead, Ren Jun suddenly heard a group of birds singing, and he didn't care about it in his heart. It is normal for a large group of people to pass through the jungle and arouse the singing of birds.

At this moment, a large number of dry grass and dead trees suddenly appeared on the road ahead, and Ren Jun immediately became vigilant. For no reason, why did so many dry grass and dead trees suddenly appear on the road?
Taking a closer look, the dry grass and dead trees suddenly burst into flames, and there was a loud whistle all around, as if thousands of troops were rushing out.

"Beep beep beep beep beep!"

In the forest on the small slope of the hill on the right, there were suddenly figures of people, and someone shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"

"Enemy attack, raise your shield!"

Ren Jun let out a roar almost instinctively.

"Shhhhhhhhh!"

Arrows rained down on them.

While Cao Jun was guarding against the rain of arrows on the right, a large number of soldiers rushed out of the forest on the left, with hay in one hand and a scythe in the other, and after being lit, they began to throw them on the road.

At the same time, they did not forget to set fire to the ground on both sides of the post road. The ground was full of dead leaves and withered grass. It might not cause any impact if one person ignited it, but it could be extinguished by stepping on it with one foot. But thousands of people ignited the fire at the same time. It jumped up immediately.

Shen Chenjun threw hay into the firepower one after another, thick smoke began to spread everywhere, mixed with billowing flames, the flames jumped up to three or four meters high, and the creaking sound of burning branches continued to ring.

"Withdraw, withdraw!"

In fact, after discovering Shen Chenjun appeared in the forest on the left, Ren Jun knew what was going on, and quickly wanted to order the soldiers to evacuate despite the arrow rain.

As a result, it was never expected that the army had just turned around and was about to flee when flames appeared from behind.

To the west of the post road is the small hill. The mountain is not high, and the highest point is only twenty or thirty feet high. The forest is dense, and there is also a fire below.

To the east of the post road was the woods where Shen Chen's army was ambushing. The flames were not only burning both sides of the post road, but also spread towards the woods. Soon the surrounding area became a sea of ​​flames, and the monstrous heat wave seemed to swallow everything around.

"Shen Chen!"

Seeing this scene, Ren Jun immediately knew who was behind the plot. His face was blackened by the smoke, and he shouted on his horse: "The forest here is spread for tens of miles, don't even try to run away!"

"Don't worry about the general."

The distance between the two sides was no more than a hundred meters, and the voice could be faintly heard. While ordering the soldiers to quickly retreat to the back of the separation zone, Shen Chen turned around and shouted: "If I can escape by chance, I will come here to set up a gravestone for the general."

After all, the voice is getting farther and farther away.

In fact, the isolation zone is at best to make the fire spread more slowly, and it is difficult to completely block the fire, so the surrounding forest of several square kilometers is destined to be reduced to ashes.

In the forest, Shen Chen's army also fled desperately. The fire in the rear had already burned to the vicinity of the isolation zone, and was temporarily blocked by the isolation zone and water canals, but countless hot spots in the forest would fly away. These are impossible to stop by the isolation zone, so the forest behind is still There will be a fire, it's only a matter of time.

Now the soldiers of Shen Chen's army were divided into north and south. The soldiers on the hill first dragged Ren Jun's army with bows and arrows, and there were soldiers behind Ren Jun's army who took advantage of them to pass, and then cut off their retreat with hay and dry firewood.

At this moment, raging flames were burning on the left and right sides of the entire post road, stretching for several miles. Cao Jun’s soldiers were panicking and wanted to rush out of the sea of ​​flames. In the end, what made them desperate was that Shen Chen dug a isolation zone a hundred meters away from the forest, that is, It is said that it is almost impossible for them to rush out of the [-]-meter sea of ​​flames.

In the jungle, thousands of soldiers fled to the east like desperately. Apart from them, there were countless wild animals traveling with them. In the face of natural and man-made disasters like flames, all creatures are equal, but at least there is a separation zone to play a certain role. buffer.

So half an hour later, Shen Chen's army escaped from the forest, and most of the animals also escaped, rushed into a wilderness plain, and then fled in all directions towards the remote forest in three directions: north, east, and south.

The soldiers of Shen Chen's army are now exhausted and paralyzed on the ground. A quick march and a desperate escape are completely different things. It can be said that they have run at least four or five kilometers in half an hour, almost at the speed of a [-]-meter sprint. Those who are slow come out of the woods like crawling, for fear that they will become adults if they take a slow step.

Looking back at the forest, the nearby area has not yet been burned, and the flames are already bursting into the sky a few kilometers away. The mountain that was ambushed before has now turned into a volcano. I just don’t know if the people led by Zhang Fei and Gan Ning have escaped yet. .

There is no forest behind that mountain, and the fire probably burned up the mountain stretching for several kilometers, plus the forest on this side, because after passing through this forest, there is a branch of Weichuan.

There are still a large number of lakes around, and the ecological damage caused is only seven or eight kilometers around.The damage caused by Guandu, Chibi, and Yiling was much smaller.

Shen Chen was panting heavily, with sweat pouring down his head. After resting for more than ten minutes, seeing that the flames were already spreading to this side, he waved his hands and shouted: "Order to gather and evacuate to the south."

"Beep beep!"

The assembly whistle sounded, and many soldiers counted the number of people. If there was no loss, everyone was there, so they lined up and went south.

To the south of Weichuan Pavilion is Nanxi Pavilion, then to Anling Pavilion, and then to the Yanling City.

Shen Chen and Zhang Fei Gan Ning agreed to go to the Nanxi Pavilion to meet after setting the fire. At this moment, the sky was full of fire behind them, and the fire dragon swept across the sky. Even because there were many dead leaves in the forest, an explosion effect was produced, and the sound of roaring explosions sounded.

They left Weichuan Pavilion, headed south all the way, and finally arrived at Nanxi Pavilion. They were still worried about Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and the others, but they didn't expect them to be faster than themselves.

At this time, they have already occupied the pavilions and the surrounding dilapidated villages to rest, and they are all exhausted.

"Achen."

Seeing Shen Chen coming back, Gan Ning went up and said, "How is it?"

Shen Chen said: "The fire is burning, and Ren Jun may not have ashes left. Let's take a rest and take Yanling first when we go south."

"it is good."

Gan Ning came down and was about to deliver the order.

Suddenly the sound of horseshoes sounded, and Zhang Fei came galloping with several riders. The knights around him basically led two or three war horses, and they also held a Cao Jun in their hands. What did I catch."

Throwing Cao Jun to the ground, his nose was bruised and his face was swollen.

"Where did Cao Jun come from?"

Gan Ning was surprised.

Zhang Fei said: "Just now I heard the sound of horseshoes, and I chased after them. It was a group of messengers who wanted to run away when they saw the flames. I killed them all and brought a prisoner back."

Shen Chen stepped on this person, put a knife on his neck and said, "Are you sending a message to Guandu?"

Cao Jun's soldiers begged for mercy: "Forgive me, we are messengers to General Ren, Xu Du is surrounded, and Xun Lingjun asked him to station in Yanling Ce Xudu."

Shen Chen grinned and said, "You can go back and tell Xun Yu that Ren Jun's army has been wiped out and Xu Du is alone and helpless. Let him stop struggling and leave the city to surrender."

After finishing speaking, he kicked Cao Jun away.

Someone next to him returned one of the courier's horses that had been captured before, and the courier hurriedly climbed on the horse and headed south.

(End of this chapter)