Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 448
"Boom! Wow!"

The sound of boulders smashing into the Yellow River was exceptionally loud and clear, and the splashing waves were several feet high. Also, because the water of the Yellow River in this era was still very clear, it seemed from a distance that the water surface of the Yellow River suddenly bloomed. A large white flower, quite aesthetically pleasing.

It's a pity that the sailors of the Jinbei Army on a sampan next to the huge water splash didn't think much about it. When the huge wave hit, they were splashed all over, not to mention one sailor couldn't stand still, and fell into the torrential water screaming. In the Yellow River, the sampan boat under their feet was also rushed by the current, and almost turned over. The frightened sailors on the boat kept shouting and rolling desperately to keep the hull balanced.

This sampan boat is already considered lucky. The other few Jibei Army sampan boats that were directly hit by the boulder on the hull were miserable. A boulder weighing 150 catties fell from the sky and hit the bow and stern of the boat. The bow and stern of the boat fell directly into the water and overturned. All the sailors on the boat fell into the river and hit the hull. The hull was broken and a hole was formed. The river surged into the boat, and the sampan boat became a piece of garbage floating on the river. , the sailors on board had no choice but to dive for their lives.

The main armed ships of the Jinbei Army Navy are not much better. As long as they are hit by boulders, there is no one that is not hit by a big hole in the deck, bottom or side of the ship. It also gradually tilted, and a particularly lucky armed ship was hit by two huge rocks on the starboard side one after another, but it tipped over in a short time and turned into the bottom of the ship.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of more than [-] large ships of the Jinbei Army Navy to turn around, the Han army catapults smashed three rounds of boulders one after another, successfully smashing more than [-] large ships of the Jibei Army and even directly overturning them, causing these large ships Losing most of his maneuverability, he became a lamb to be slaughtered in front of the Han army navy.However, the matter was not over yet. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Jinbei Army sailors turning around and fleeing for their lives, the fifty counterweight trebuchets of the Han army adjusted their shooting angles, continued to throw stones, and continued to smash boulders at the Jibei Army sailors who were fleeing in embarrassment. The division continued to expand its results, and soon smashed and sunk more than a dozen large ships of the Jibei Army, quickly reversing the comparative advantage of the Han Army's temporary navy and the Jinbei Army's naval forces in water combat.

What made the Jibei Army sailors even more frantic was still behind them. They had already turned around and rushed across the river, but the huge boulders of the Han army were still coming, even though the distance was far away and the Jibei Army fleet had dispersed on its own. The hit rate plummeted due to the drive, and from time to time, they could hit their ships of all sizes and attack their water combat forces. The Jibei Army warships were forced to do nothing but speed up and advance all the way, and the formation became more and more chaotic. Many ships began to go down the river, using the current to flee to the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which also caused the formation of the Jinbei Army's navy to elongate, and they could no longer fight in groups.

Seeing such a situation on the west bank of the Yellow River, he guessed that the Jinbei Army sailors were about to escape from the range of their own army's catapults. Uncle Zhou was about to order the Han soldiers to beat the drums again, so that their own army sailors would charge. But Bian swallowed it back into his stomach, and said to himself: "Wait a little longer, the trebuchet should still be useful."

Uncle Zhou’s decision hurt the poor flagship of the Jinbei Army’s navy. After a little delay, he didn’t know that the boulder dropped from the sky by the Han Army’s trebuchet happened to hit the ship that had been intact until now. Although the flagship of the Jibei Army Navy did not directly hit the vital point, it also smashed a big hole in the bow of the Jibei Army flagship. Suddenly the speed dropped sharply.

Seeing this scene, of course, Uncle Zhou didn't hesitate any longer, and immediately ordered the soldiers of the Han army to beat the second round of war drums. The Han army's catapults immediately stopped throwing, and the Han army sailors who had been preparing for a long time shouted forward, and gathered together without hesitation. It rushed to the Jibei Army fleet, which was already in chaos, and directly rushed to the position where the flagship of the Jibei Army Navy was located.

There was no suspense in the battle. The Han army sailors charged in groups did not pay attention to the enemy ships that were already tilting and sinking. The roars just swarmed up, and the Jibei Army warships in complete chaos ignored Tian Xun's request to protect the flag of the flagship. Order, the scrambling was just to escape in all directions, causing the Han army navy to be like a pack of hungry wolves, and quickly surrounded the flagship of the Jibei Army whose speed had dropped sharply. Seven or eight hooks hooked the flagship of the Jibei Army Navy almost simultaneously. As the distance narrowed rapidly, the sailors of the Han army cheered and jumped ship one after another, wielding their weapons fiercely and stabbing the enemy sailors on the flagship of the Jibei Army.

In just a few minutes, the sailors on the flagship of the Jibei Army were either killed by the soldiers of the Han army or forced to dive for their lives. Tian Xun, the naval commander of the Jibei Army who was quite proficient in water skills, was also one of them. Unfortunately, many Han soldiers The sailors had been eyeing him for a long time. He had just emerged in the river after diving, and several crossbows couldn't wait to shoot arrows at him. A feathered arrow even hit his face accurately, making him let out a loud cry. After screaming, he began to struggle in the water, and soon disappeared into the rolling waves under the continuous shooting of the Han army's bow and crossbow.

Both the flagship and the main general were directly killed. Naturally, the Jinbei Army Navy no longer had any power to fight back. The clever ships desperately fled downstream in embarrassment. The boats were submerged, and for a while, feather arrows were flying everywhere on the not-so-broad Yellow River. Boats came and went, and there were also Jibei Army sailors struggling with the waves and struggling for help, as well as the sinking slowly. Ships of the Jinbei Army Navy.Then, because the remaining Jinbei Army Navy ships fled downstream one after another, most of the Han Army Navy ships also chased downstream and continued to kill the enemy, leaving only some warships to sweep through the river at the plain ferry. .

Seeing such a scene on the east bank of the Yellow River, Tian Da, Tian Ji and others, who spent countless efforts and money to build this temporary navy, of course feel heartbroken. Their faces were gloomy, and they all understood that it was a delusion for the Qiji Allied Forces to rely on water power to stop the Han army from crossing the river. The Han army with sufficient troop transport ships could also cross the river wherever they liked, fully grasping the tactical initiative.

Of course, the civil and military soldiers of the Han army around Uncle Zhou also understood this truth, so while they were all smiling, Li Shiqi, who was quite skilled in military affairs, all said to Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, you don't need to kill the navy of the Jibei bandit army." If we are worried that our troop carrier fleet will be threatened, let's cross the river in another place, which will not only make us more sure of our success, but also reduce our losses in crossing the river."

"Doctor Li, then our next battle will be difficult." Uncle Zhou said with a smile: "If we change the place to cross the river, we can reduce our crossing losses, but correspondingly, we will miss the bandit army." Opportunities to break through."

"Qiji's bandits are not fools. Once they know that we have successfully crossed at another ferry, they will definitely retreat immediately and shrink their troops. Since we are blocked by the big river, we have no way to launch a large-scale pursuit immediately. We will just watch the Qiji bandits retreat easily. All divisions retreated to a favorable position and waited for reinforcements. Once the bandits from Qi and Western Chu came to help us in large numbers, if we tried to destroy the enemy, the losses we would pay would only be greater than if we launched a raid on the plains now."

"That's right, that's the truth!" Li Shiqi came to his senses, and hurriedly said, "General Zhou is still thinking about the long-term. Yes, we can only take advantage of the opportunity of the bandit army to disperse and garrison, and forcefully rush across at any cost, and first take the opportunity to weaken the enemy. The enemy in the plain, and then take advantage of the opportunity of the bandit army to disperse and retreat to wipe out the enemy as much as possible, the next battle will be much easier to fight."

Uncle Zhou nodded, then turned to Chongda next to him and said with a smile: "General Chong, it's up to you, rush me to the east bank of the river at any cost, only success is not allowed, no matter what, we must open the way for our main force to cross the river." the way."

Chongda clasped his fists and sang a promise, and immediately rushed down to organize the troops to board the boat to rush across. Uncle Zhou gave orders to the Han army camp to dispatch the remaining Han troops one by one to the ferry to prepare for the battle across the river, and ordered the rear army to seize the time Prepare dry food torches so that they can build a pontoon bridge to cross the river overnight after the scramble to cross the river. Then, Uncle Zhou sat down on the spot as extremely irresponsible as Xiang Kang, and said with a smile: "We have nothing to do next, let's see." Chong up to their performance."

Uncle Zhou’s decisive decision once again greatly exceeded the expectations of the Qiji coalition forces. Not everyone in this era is as far-sighted as Han Xin and Uncle Zhou. Before taking the first step, they have already thought of the third step. Let's go, so after seeing the soldiers of the Han army boarding the ship and preparing to launch a rush to cross, Tian Da and Tian Bu and others not only failed to understand Uncle Zhou's intentions, but also said angrily: "Uncle Zhou, you are so crazy! They used tricks to harm our sailors. They wanted to cross the river at any crossing, but they even wanted to cross the river on the plain where we were heavily guarded! Fighting with the Han bandits, even if they couldn’t stop the Han bandits from crossing the river, they would have to collapse a few times. Tooth!"

As a result, the Han army's battle of crossing the river became more brutal and bloody. The Han army's troop transport fleet had just entered the range of the Qi-Ji coalition forces, and the dense feather arrows shot at the Han army's troop transport fleet, and then leaned on With local superiority in strength and the river fortifications built in advance, the Qiji coalition once let the Han soldiers rush to the pier, suppressing the Han army very painfully. Even the Han soldiers threw primitive grenades one after another, but failed to explode. Luan was forced by the supervisory team to defend the Jibei Army defenders on the pier.

Fortunately, the vanguard of the Han army is the elite troops under Uncle Zhou's command. Not only are they well-equipped, but they are also very tenacious in fighting. When he personally went to the front line to charge and kill, many brave generals of the Han army under his command immediately went crazy. Regardless of the rain of arrows from the Qiji coalition army, they raised their shields and jumped ashore one after another. After defeating two hundred generals and one five hundred commander, finally a hundred generals of the Han army opened up the situation on the pier, killing the enemy in front of him and took a small foothold, and the soldiers of the Han army rushed forward one after another. Forcibly opened up a space among the enemy group, and opened the way to land for the troop transport ships further behind.

The ensuing battle was still brutal and fierce. Under the persecution of the supervisory team, the Jibei Army guarding the pier, like the tide, repeatedly attacked the east bank position that the Han Army had finally seized, in an attempt to drive the Han Army soldiers back. River, and the soldiers of the Han army competed inch by inch for the dock space. The fight was so dark that the sun and the moon were dark, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The very clear water of the Yellow River was directly dyed pink.

The offensive of the Han army has completely turned into a refueling battle. The troop carrier that put down the troops immediately crossed the river, and immediately set sail and rushed to the opposite bank after loading the new force. Large ships and small boats kept coming and going on the Yellow River. All the naval ships of the Han army also joined the battle, shooting arrows at the enemy continuously on the river to cover the infantry of the Han army crossing the river and landing.

The absolute superiority of troops allows Uncle Zhou to use the refueling tactics that were originally taboo for military strategists to fight with confidence. In the case of the team, he had the cheek to take the initiative to ask Tianbu, the general of the Qi army, to send troops to the pier to help in the battle. Fortunately, Tianbu was selfless and generous, and he sent troops directly to help in the battle without any hesitation with Tianda.

However, as the Han army continued to attack at all costs, and insisted on relying on blood and human lives in exchange for the West Bank position, Tianbe gradually began to realize that something was wrong. After careful consideration, Tianbe simply rushed to the Jibei army flag formation. Xiang Tian Da and Tian Ji, who were nervously observing the battlefield, said: "King Jibei, General, the situation is not right. The Han bandits have clearly damaged our navy, and there are enough ships to transport troops across the river. It must be much easier to rush across at that ferry than to forcefully cross at the plain, why does Uncle Zhou want to forcefully attack the plain ferry at any cost, isn't that unreasonable?"

"Of course he looked down on us, because he had a lot of soldiers, and he didn't want to waste trouble or time, so he attacked on the plain." Tian Da replied without turning his head.

"No, it's definitely not the reason." Tian Bu said, "How treacherous is Uncle Zhou, how could he not seize the opportunity of avoiding the truth, but choose the tactic of attacking the plains that is destined to lose the most? He is so willing to spare the cost There must be some other purpose in rushing across the plains directly."

"General Tianbe, in your opinion, why did Uncle Zhou do this?" asked Tian Ji who was next to him.

"I'm worried, Mr. Zhou Shupi is probably trying to plan our other divisions." Tian Bu replied: "In order to prevent Han thieves from smuggling, we dispersed our troops in Gaotang, Li County, Nanpi and other places. It is difficult to communicate with the order. If Uncle Zhou chooses to cross the river at other crossings, we will have plenty of time to contact the partial divisions in various places and calmly shrink our troops so as not to give the Han thieves a chance to defeat them individually. , Divide up immediately to cut off our partial division's retreat, and our partial division may be in danger."

A word to wake up the dreamer, after hearing Tianbe's analysis, Tian Ji also immediately came to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Yes, this must be the real purpose of Zhou Shupifu's attack on the plain at all costs! He only needs to cross the plain today , we will have the time and opportunity to separate out troops to cut off our partial division’s retreat before our partial division reacts, and will not give us a chance to shrink our troops and reorganize our defense!”

After being stunned for a while, Tian Da suddenly yelled, and then roared: "Quickly, immediately send an order to our various divisions, telling them to immediately give up blocking the bandit army from crossing the river, and all retreat towards the county. Our navy division is finished!" , Dahe will definitely not be able to hold it, only by withdrawing all our partial forces to the hinterland, can we hope to persist until the reinforcements of King Qi and King Xichu come to rescue us!"

It was also a coincidence that at this moment, there was a sudden loud noise and cheers from the pier. When Tian Da and Tianbe and the others hurriedly turned their heads to look, they saw that the Jibei Army guarding the front of the pier suddenly collapsed, and countless soldiers Fleeing to the east, the Han army silted up on the pier took the opportunity to charge and quickly opened up a large space. The Han troop transport ships behind also took the opportunity to dock and quickly put down more Han soldiers to land.

Seeing this situation, Tian Da could only order Tian Ji with a livid face to lead the reserve team to re-establish a defense line to prevent the landing of the Han army. Said: "If we do this, I'm afraid it will still fall into Uncle Zhou's calculations, and he will face consumption at any cost. It doesn't matter how much he has a large number of soldiers, but if our main force is exhausted, it will be withdrawn from all directions. If you are a teacher, I am afraid the situation will only be bad."

The plain crossing battle lasted from late afternoon until it was getting dark. However, as the sky got darker, the situation of the Qiji coalition forces at a disadvantage gradually deteriorated. Almost all combat troops had taken turns to fight. Both physical strength and morale have declined seriously. Although relying on the favorable location, it has indeed caused quite a few casualties to the Han army, but it still cannot stop the Han army from crossing the Yellow River in an endless stream, gradually reversing the comparative advantage of troops on the east bank of the Yellow River. It was only a matter of time left to be captured by the Han army.

It was only at this time that Tian Da also felt the same worry as Tianbe, and secretly said: "I'm afraid it won't work if this continues. The Dahe defense line will definitely not be able to hold. If I want to cause more casualties to the Han thieves, I will use the king's main force If it's all gone, even if this king withdraws to the hinterland of Jibei, he won't have the capital to continue the fight?"

After coming to this conclusion, he discussed with Tian Bu a little bit, and Tian Da could only make up his mind, and quickly ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops, and withdrew the Jinbei Army with the same loss to the camp to regroup, planning to take a rest Immediately after that, retreat to the county, and at the same time go to Linggaotang and Gexian counties again, let the garrison there retreat at full speed, don't have any hesitation, even give up food, grass and military supplies if necessary, as long as the army is kept.

Relying on the rear of the army that had withdrawn to rest for a while, the Qiji allied army withdrew to the camp quite smoothly to regroup, and did not give too many opportunities for the Han army who had already crossed the river to pursue, and Uncle Zhou did not force the Han army to pursue with all their strength. The general Wang Ling immediately led [-] troops across the river, assembled on the west bank of the Yellow River, and ordered the Han soldiers to rush to build a pontoon bridge so that the main force of the rear army could cross the river.

After more than an hour, Wang Ling's army successfully crossed the Yellow River to complete the assembly. The situation report was in front of Uncle Zhou. Uncle Zhou didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately shouted: "Tell Wang Ling to lead the army north immediately to the Lingting Pavilion Go and cut off the road for the bandit army in Ge County to retreat to the hinterland of Jibei. If you fail to stop it one step too late, resolutely pursue it to the county!"

After promulgating this order, Uncle Zhou called Shen Ke, the chief general of the Han army navy, to him, and said to him: "Work hard, and take half of our fleet to Li County immediately, and go there to meet Xia Shuo's army. Cross the river and pursue the bandit army in Ge County. Tell Xia clearly that you will try your best to catch up. The fleet continued down the river, and then went to meet the Yan army to cross the river in Nanpi, and let the Yan army deal with the bandit army retreating from Nanpi."

Shen Ke sang a promise, and immediately flew down to lead the fleet to attack, while Li Shiqi next to him asked worriedly, "General Zhou, is there still time?"

"It's up to people to plan, but it depends on luck." Uncle Zhou replied: "But there should be hope, at least so far, Xia said he hasn't sent anyone to report to us that the bandit army in Ge County has escaped." , we don’t need more, as long as the [-] bandit troops in Ge County are blocked and wiped out, the extra price we paid for the forced crossing of the plains today will be worth it.”

(End of this chapter)