Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

In order to play the drama to its fullest, when the Han army arrived at the city and set up camp, Liu Bei ordered a fierce attack on Tongguan City.

The difference in the strength of the two armies was only 100,000, and Cao Cao had the geographical advantage of Tongguan. Of course, it was impossible for the Han army to break through Tongguan.

Just like the previous attack on Qin, after losing thousands of soldiers and repeated unsuccessful attacks, Liu Bei ordered to stop the attack.

The two armies, with nearly 300,000 troops, formed a fierce confrontation on the Tongguan line.

At the same time, the attacks of the other Han troops were also not smooth as expected.

When Zhang Fei's Bingzhou Army was marching south from Xihe County, it was blocked by the 30,000 Qin troops led by Xu Huang and Cao Zhang among the mountains of the Loess Plateau and was unable to pass.

The Wuguan Pass guarded by Cao Xiu and Yan Yan was also impregnable and blocked the successive fierce attacks of Guan Yu's army.

Similarly, the Shu army led by Xiahou Yuan also blocked the attack of the Jingzhou army led by Taishi Ci and Lu Xun in Baidi City.

The two armies thus formed a stalemate on the battle line that stretched for thousands of miles from south to north.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the confrontation and time had entered deep winter.

Inside the imperial tent.

The fire was blazing, and Liu Bei and Xiao Fang were drinking wine around the fire and discussing the current war.

"Jinglue, you said that deep winter has arrived, but the weather seems to be warmer than in previous years."

"From this perspective, we are afraid that this year will be another warm winter and the Yellow River will not freeze over."

Liu Bei sipped the wine from the cup, but a hint of regret appeared between his brows.

It is almost deep winter now, and in a few days it will be the twelfth lunar month, and the coldest days will soon be over.

If the temperature does not drop significantly in the next few days and the Yellow River does not freeze, there will be no chance of the Yellow River freezing again this year.

Hao Zhao's strategy of crossing the river on ice was not implemented this year.

"The weather is ever-changing; cold or warm, sunny or cloudy, is often just a thought away."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Let's wait patiently for a few more days. Who knows, a Siberian cold wave might suddenly come today."

Xiao Fang, however, was calm and relaxed, and smiled as he poured Liu Bei another glass of wine.

"Siberian cold wave?"

Liu Bei was stunned and his eyes became confused.

Xiao Fang coughed dryly a few times, realizing that he had spoken out of turn, and was thinking about how to evade the question.

Sudden.

A strong wind suddenly blew outside the tent, shaking it in a blink of an eye. The curtain was also lifted up, and the cold wind blew in their faces, making both the king and his minister shiver, and even felt a chill in their bones.

Liu Bei and Xiao Fang looked at each other, then they stood up at the same time and rushed out of the tent in a few steps.

The biting cold wind blew in their faces, freezing them so much that they shivered instantly and subconsciously wrapped their fur robes tightly around them.

I saw that the sky above my head was covered with dark clouds without me noticing, and a cold wind as sharp as a knife was blowing from the north to the south, bringing with it a bone-chilling chill.

"Could it be that the Prime Minister's words came true and the world really changed?"

Instead of feeling cold, Liu Bei became excited.

As he was speaking, crystal snowflakes began to float down from the sky, and in less than a moment, a heavy snow fell.

There is snow all over Tongguan!
"Why did the good weather suddenly change and it started snowing?"

"It was supposed to be another warm winter this year, so why did it suddenly become so cold?"

"No, no, let's go into the tent and warm ourselves by the fire. It's too damn cold."

"Please add some more wood to the stove, the fire is too small..."

The Han soldiers complained and went into their tents to keep warm.

Only Liu Bei and Xiao Fang ignored the cold weather. Instead, they looked expectant and smiled at the scene of the heavy snow.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Fang suddenly remembered something, so he went back into the tent, brought out a glass of unfinished warm wine, and poured it on the ground.

Liu Bei understood Xiao Fang's intention, so he squatted down and stared at the water stains on the ground.

Soon, the water stains on the ground froze into ice.

"Prime Minister, it's frozen, it's frozen!"

Liu Bei jumped up and pointed at the thin layer of ice on the ground, ecstatic like a child who had found a treasure.

Xiao Fang's eyes were filled with joy as he pointed his feather fan to the north:
"Your Majesty is truly blessed by God. Even God is helping you."

"I predict that this cold wave will not be a minor one, but a major one, and it will most likely be followed by a severe freeze. The Yellow River should be frozen over in the next few days."

"Your Majesty, please lead Zilong and the White Horse Volunteers northwards to cooperate with Ling Tong, Huo Jun and the others. Before Cao Cao can react, we should cross the river on ice and quickly capture Puban Pass!"

Liu Bei laughed loudly and said happily:
"Quickly send Zilong to the imperial tent!"

At nightfall, three thousand white horse volunteers, taking advantage of the cover of darkness, sped away.

...

The capital of Hedong County was Anyi City.

More than 30,000 Han soldiers were stationed here.

In order to make Cao Cao relax his vigilance against Puban Pass, Liu Bei only ordered Ling Tong to lead 10,000 troops to guard Puban Pass, and the remaining 30,000 troops were all transferred back to Anyi City and commanded by Huo Jun, the prefect of Hedong.

Inside the South Gate Tower.

Huo Jun and Hao Zhao were drinking wine around the stove and discussing military strategies.

As a "good seedling" discovered in the second imperial examination, Liu Bei also had high hopes for Hao Zhao and specially appointed him as the magistrate of Hedong County to assist Huo Jun, the prefect of Hedong.

Of course, this was actually Xiao Fang's suggestion. Hao Zhao was born with a holy body for defending the city. With a little training and cultivation, he would become the second gate god of the Han Dynasty.

Xiao Fang arranged Hao Zhao to Anyi, also wanting him to learn from Huo Jun, the "old door god", so that he could grow into the new door god of the Han Dynasty as soon as possible.

This can be considered as the old leading the new and making progress together.

Another layer of consciousness was to give Hao Zhao a chance to participate in the battle to capture Puban Pass, so that he could gain military merit as soon as possible and improve his reputation.

Only with achievements and contributions can Old Liu have the legitimacy to promote and employ a young rookie like Hao Zhao.

Otherwise, if important tasks are entrusted to them just based on a few papers in the imperial examination, those "old men" who risked their lives to obtain official positions will inevitably feel dissatisfied.

While the two men were drinking wine, Huo Jun told Hao Zhao, a green hand who was eager to learn, about how he had defended Pubanjin the year before and had repeatedly defeated Cao Cao's attacking army.

"The way that Governor Huo defends the city has really reached the level of perfection. No wonder His Majesty and the Prime Minister describe Governor Huo as the Gate God of the Han Dynasty!"

"Zhao, listening to Governor Huo's words today is really better than reading for ten years. I have really learned a lot."

Hao Zhao benefited a lot from listening to it. He was full of praise and admiration, and hurriedly poured Huo Jun a glass of wine.

Huo Jun smiled, and couldn't help but make some self-deprecating remarks.

"Grandmaster Huo, I just wonder if our army can deploy like this in the battle of Pubanjin..."

After complimenting Huo Jun, Hao Zhao changed the subject and expressed some of his own opinions.

As Huo Jun listened, a look of approval gradually appeared on his face.

"Zhao has no experience in commanding an army, and most of his superficial opinions are just theoretical. If there are any inappropriate considerations, I hope that Governor Huo will not laugh at me."

Hao Zhao naturally didn't dare to show off too much in front of Huo Jun, a senior veteran, and he didn't forget to make fun of himself after he finished speaking.

Huo Jun nodded repeatedly and praised:

"Bo Dao, you are too modest. What you just said makes a lot of sense. You have a deep understanding of the art of war. If I had thought of this at the beginning, the battle of Puban would have dealt a heavy blow to the Qin army!"

"No wonder you, Bo Dao, won the third place in the imperial examination and even offered the emperor a strategy of crossing the river on ice. You are indeed an extraordinary strategic man!"

"If your plan succeeds, you will be the first hero of the Han Dynasty to destroy the Qin Dynasty!"

Even though Hao Zhao was a humble person, receiving high praise from the senior veteran Huo Jun, the young man couldn't help but feel a little proud.

The pride only lasted for a moment, and Hao Zhao then bowed and said self-deprecatingly:

"You are too kind, Magistrate Huo. Zhao is still just talking about military strategy on paper. His strategy has not been tested in actual combat. I will need your guidance and instruction in the future."

"As for the strategy of crossing the river on ice, it all depends on God's will. As for being the most meritorious minister in destroying Qin, Zhao would never dare to hope for it."

The words trailed off.

Outside the lobby, a strong wind suddenly blew up, and the biting cold hit us in an instant.

Huo Jun and Hao Zhao were shocked, looked at each other, threw down their wine glasses, stood up and rushed out of the hall.

A cold wind blew from the north, blowing as hard as a knife, causing the copper bells on the eaves to sway and ring, and even causing a few tiles on the roof to fall off.

The soldiers in the mansion were shivering with cold and wrapped their clothes and armor tightly.

In a blink of an eye, snowflakes fell from the sky, dyeing the entire world vast.

"The weather has changed and it's getting colder!"

"Bo Dao, your plan is going to work. God bless our Han Dynasty and your Majesty!"

Huo Jun was extremely excited and turned around and shouted at Hao Zhao in surprise.

Hao Zhao's face was filled with uncontrollable surprise, and he reached out his hands excitedly to pick up the snow falling from the sky.

"The Prime Minister is truly a god. He can even predict the weather changes and predict that there will be a cold winter this year..."

Hao Zhao looked at the crystal snowflakes in his hand, thinking of what Xiao Fang had said when he met Liu Bei in Luoyang. He muttered to himself, his eyes full of admiration.

"Quick, tell all the camps to get ready and set off to Pubanjin at any time to meet up with Ling Gongji!"

Huo Jun suppressed his ecstasy and issued an order immediately.

In the camps outside Fengcheng of Anyi City, the Han army soldiers who had been hiding in tents and enjoying themselves around the fireplace immediately regained their spirits from their relaxation.

The 30,000 Han soldiers were in high spirits, with all their weapons and food ready, waiting to march westward.

Two days later, heavy snow fell in the east of the river and the temperature dropped to the point where water turned into ice.

At this time, the three thousand white horse volunteers led by Zhao Yun also took advantage of their cavalry advantage and arrived in Anyi before Huo Jun sent out his troops.

The two armies met up and Zhao Yun conveyed Liu Bei's order to advance. The three of them then joined forces and headed westward towards Pubanjin.

The army marched for two days and two nights. When they arrived at Pubanjin, Ling Tong and his 10,000 defenders were already ready to cross the river.

Dusk.

Zhao Yun, Huo Jun, Ling Tong, and Hao Zhao gathered on the bank of the Yellow River.

The entire Yellow River is covered with fallen snow, and it is impossible to see the full depth of the river surface.

Zhao Yun looked at the snow-covered river surface, took a deep breath, mounted his horse, picked up his spear, and rushed to the river surface himself.

Wherever the horse's hooves passed, nothing moved, and the feet were as steady as a rock.

Zhao Yun rode his horse as fast as he could, circling the river several times and confirming that the river was indeed frozen, and that the ice was thick and hard enough to support a large army and heavy siege equipment to cross the river.

Ling Tong and others along the coast were relieved to see Zhao Yun return safely, and they all looked delighted.

Zhao Yun rode back and stood by the river. He waved his silver spear and shouted:
"The Yellow River is indeed frozen over, enough for our army to cross."

"Everyone, what are you waiting for? We will cross the river on ice immediately, catch the Qin army off guard, and capture Puban Pass in one fell swoop!" (End of this chapter)