Chapter 884

Old Cao was unconvinced, and some generals under him were also shouting fiercely. Just as Xiahou Dun said, they had to send troops to block. If they didn't fight and pass moves, it was a matter that had to be fought sooner or later. Fighting a battle first to test the reality was just that.

Anyway, Wang Yan would definitely not cross the river within three to five years, and he had to leave time to manage Henan. In fact, this was also what people in the world didn't understand. After all, Wang Yan was strong in soldiers and horses, and with all his elite troops, there was a high probability of ending the battle in a few years, unifying the country, and claiming to be the lonely one.

Just like what old Cao originally did, he kept fighting and almost didn't rest.

So old Cao finally decided to hurry south, and sent Xiahou Dun and others to guard Hangu Pass, and Le Jin, Yu Jin, Wen Chou, etc., to intercept Huang Zhong and others to the north, and then find an opportunity to fight after they retreated almost enough.

It was to fight a battle of soldier against soldier and general against general. After all, it was the critical moment of running away, and old Cao couldn't command on the spot. And Wang Yan was also in Zhending and didn't personally come to the front line. This was a small-scale contest between the generals of both sides.

Old Cao also had the idea of disgusting Wang Yan. He was very clear that Wang Yan sent troops in winter, one side approaching Hangu Pass and the other crossing the river, precisely to sort out the local common people in winter, so that he could directly carry out spring plowing in the coming spring without delaying production and construction.

He was destined not to be able to migrate all the common people of Henan to the south of the Yangtze River, but he wanted to delay the time as much as possible until the farming season was delayed before withdrawing completely.

Unconvinced was unconvinced, but he couldn't deny Wang Yan's strength. In terms of overall hard power, he just couldn't beat Wang Yan. So fighting a small battle was to see the reality clearly, but it didn't delay his running away, and it was even more to make Wang Yan miss the farming season and bear the survival of millions of common people.

In this way, it was originally going to take three to five years to move south for the unification war, but after he was delayed like this, it could at least guarantee four years of stability. Even if it was more disgusting, he would break the river and destroy the city, and the time would be even longer.

Old Cao really wanted to break the Yellow River, but considering Wang Yan's reasons and the family inheritance, he gave up this immature idea. Because once he dared to do that, he would thoroughly anger Wang Yan, and then he would ignore everything and directly move south to fight the unification war. Wouldn't he be stealing a chicken but losing the rice?

So it wasn't that old Cao didn't have the courage to break the Yellow River, but because it wasn't cost-effective. After all, although Wang Yan was a northern army, his navy could sail overseas, and he even put forward the conjecture that the land under his feet was circular. Although the Yangtze River was dangerous, it couldn't block Wang Yan. Not to mention that Liu Bei had old ties with Wang Yan, if he directly incorporated Liu Bei, then his old Cao's unestablished great cause would be completely finished...

"Grand General, Cao Cao's intentions are sinister."

In the large study of the Zhending General's Mansion, Jia Xu reported the news received from the merchants and said, "This move is to delay time, make Yuzhou miss the farming season, and delay our army from moving south of the Yangtze River. His heart is punishable."

Wang Yan of course had an intelligence department, but because of his policy reasons, there was no way to penetrate the enemy's high level. Really speaking, the high-level personnel of all warlords, although they had all kinds of entanglements and filth, were quite united when facing his Grand General Wang. And if they could only penetrate to the middle and lower levels and couldn't contact the core, it would be meaningless.

So this time, Wang Yan's main energy was still used internally. Those who opposed were killed by him, and correcting internal thinking, as mentioned earlier, such as the collusion between merchants and local officials, became the top priority.

The acquisition of external intelligence was through caravan exchanges, observing the social environment, and military movements. In fact, for Wang Yan, having so much was enough. After all, he himself relied on various advanced qualities to challenge all aspects of ancient times. If it wasn't to watch the fun, the situation of other warlords would definitely have some relationship with him, but definitely not too much. This stemmed from his own strength, not afraid of anyone...

And some nails buried by his side were all the same. Wang Yan could even play cards with them. Not to mention that the situation within his territory was not hidden at all. The newspapers basically had it, but the timeliness was poor. After all, the caravans walked slowly.

The contest between the two sides would eventually be decided on the battlefield. Knowing more was useless. Instead, seeing the wealth and strength under Grand General Wang made them feel fear.

And the news on the battlefield was the business of scouts, which was the capture of the entire battlefield dynamics. In this regard, it was definitely very powerful. After all, scouts were the first branch of the army Wang Yan trained. They started training when they wore straw sandals. After so many years, they had cultivated a large batch of elite scouts, with high combat power, strong field survival ability, and keen insight. This was the eyes of the war machine. For so many years, there had never been any mistakes, and they were quite reliable.

Wang Yan nodded and said: "Wenhe's words are very reasonable. Cao Cao is cunning and sinister, and his heart is hateful. The alliance of the three families, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, and Yuan Shu, in the south of the Yangtze River, Cao Cao's main force is in the south, not in the north. In my opinion, Hebei has no more than 100,000 troops, which is not worth worrying about. Since this is the case, it should make him know our military power.

Order Huang Zhong and other departments to attack Yuzhou and Luoyang to attract troops, make Lu Bu and others bypass Hangu Pass, and approach Luoyang. In addition, mobilize 60,000 militiamen in Jizhou to maintain order in Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou."

"Yes, Grand General."

Having decided to attack Cao Cao, Jia Xu responded and resigned, going out to write military orders and stamp the great seal.

Even without Yuan Shao's lesson from the past, as a mature military strategist, Cao Cao was very clear about the principle that defeat is like a mountain collapse. In the confrontation with Wang Yan, Cao Cao had already failed before fighting. Even if he won one or two battles, it would have no impact on the overall situation. The main thing was Wang Yan's deep accumulation and strong people's strength. The gains and losses in one or two places were far from reaching the point of hurting the bones and muscles.

So Cao Cao moved south step by step. Although he had prepared warships, his productivity was really not enough to look at, far from Wang Yan, who could build five or six huge warships and cargo buildings capable of sailing near the sea in a year.

Even if old Cao had many warships, compared to millions of people, it was still not enough. The transport capacity was too poor. This led to the ferry on the Yangtze River running 24 hours a day.

Part of the ships were used to transport ministers, powerful families, wealthy households, and their various family assets. These were all rich people, and they were old Cao's supporters. No matter what, they could not be abandoned.

Another part was used to transport soldiers. Recently, old Cao accelerated the transfer progress, and Liu Bei and others south of the Yangtze River all felt the huge threat and carried out more fierce encirclement and suppression. This required continuous replenishment of troops to block, counterattack, expand territory, and expand space.

Only another part was used to transport common people, sending them to the south of the Yangtze River ship by ship, which could not be sent over at all.

Of course, there were people constantly rushing to build ships, and the production capacity was indeed raised to a certain extent in a short time, but it was in vain; they were all small sampans.

Old Cao had to transfer little by little. There was a lot of knowledge in retreat. Retreating in a mess was looking for death.

Wang Yan gave old Cao some time, or rather, he himself was unwilling to destroy Henan by continuing the war. But old Cao was ignorant and moved too slowly, so naturally, he had to give old Cao an unforgettable experience.

Originally, Huang Zhong and others did not attack with all their strength. They had been clearing order in various places and were not in a hurry to fight old Cao. Now Wang Yan had mobilized militiamen to move south and gave a clear order, so naturally, they fully implemented it.

The north wind was blowing, and Huang Zhong, whose beard had turned white, led the team and hurried along the river. He had crossed the Yellow River downstream earlier and slowly cleared Yanzhou. Now receiving the military order, he went straight to Luoyang, with the purpose of defeating the defenders there, on the one hand, helping the garrison on the other side of the river slide across the river, and on the other hand, helping Lu Bu and others pass Hangu Pass.

At this time, he had reached the Dongjun (Puyang) area, less than 500 li away from Luoyang, and had already entered Cao Cao's strict warning area.

However, Huang Zhong didn't care much. He didn't come by himself. They relied on each other, not to mention that the troops on the other side of the river were all ready to cross the river.

The Yellow River had long been frozen. The reason why they didn't cross here was because it affected actions on the ice, which was easy to give the enemy an opportunity, which was really not good. Only then did they come down slowly from the north, and after they opened up the situation here, they would slide across the river in batches.

Huang Zhong had lived quite well for so many years. His eldest son was still alive, although he was always sick, his state was good, and he had been working in the General's Mansion, which was convenient for Wang Yan to pay attention to the situation at any time. Now he was Jia Xu's deputy. His second son was now more than ten years old, his studies were quite good, and his martial arts were enough. His third son and fourth daughter were younger and were studying in school. His daughter did not inherit his appearance, but followed the wife he married later, and was very beautiful.

The Grand General also reused him. Although there was no general title, no one had it. The troops under his command had been changing, but everyone was changing, which was determined by the complete military service system. His treatment was good, and he had always been by Wang Yan's side. Others didn't have this treatment. This was already Wang Yan's generous treatment.

Of course, he was also clear that it was Wang Yan taking care of his old age, and his eldest son didn't know when he would die, but generous treatment was generous treatment. He was very grateful and lived very comfortably.

It was also because of this that old Huang often felt that life was like this, what more could he ask for.

Sitting on the horse, the old man carrying the horse spear was in a very comfortable mood. Speaking of which, he hadn't made a move for several years.

Although he would compete with Wang Yan every spring and get beaten up, to test whether he, an elderly general, had combat power. But truly going to the battlefield to kill the enemy, it had indeed been many years. The last time he fought was when he fought the Hebei war with Yuan Shao, which had been more than four years ago.

Time passes like this, Confucius' words are not false...

Just when Huang Zhong was feeling emotional, scouts ran toward him. Huang Zhong turned his head and looked at the guard beside him, and then the man raised the horse spear he was carrying on his shoulder, which was tied with a flag.

With this action, the 1,000-plus cavalry under Huang Zhong's direct command slowly stopped. At this time, the scouts on the opposite side also reined in their horses and came to the front.

"Report to the General, 20 li ahead is Dongjun (Puyang). The number of defenders is unknown. According to common sense, it should be no less than 2,000. They haven't discovered us."

Huang Zhong gave a hum, took out a map from the pocket of his armor lining, looked at it for a while, then turned his head to look at the sun, and put the map back again.

"Dongjun is a big city, and it is useless for us to attack the city. It is already dusk now. Order all departments to hide, bury the pot and cook, and have a good rest. We will march at night, bypass Dongjun, and report the news and location to Zhang He's department. Scouts must investigate carefully. If we fall into the enemy's trap, it will be too late to regret."

"Yes, General."

"Go."

After Huang Zhong finished his instructions, the scouts continued to investigate, and the messengers behind ran to notify the other 5,000 troops. And Huang Zhong and the others found a village to station and rest, preparing to set off at night.

Those who can be captains all have war consciousness. These are the people who have made a great name here. They are not white-handed. So although the scouts are very strong, Huang Zhong still didn't believe everything. He should be cautious.

This is war, and to be precise, they are fighting on the road. Although the map here has been surveyed by caravans before, they are not familiar with the place, so careful defense is necessary.

Furthermore, their mobilization of tens of thousands of people this time cannot be hidden from Cao Cao's side. And now they are getting closer and closer to Cao Cao's power center in Henan. Whether it is Luoyang or the place where Cao Cao has retreated and where Liu Xie and the courtiers are stationed, Xu Chang, they are all within the radiation range, and the defense force is still sufficient.

The scouts said they didn't expose their tracks, but he didn't see the enemy's reaction. Who knows if they were exposed before and the enemy had already prepared an ambush.

After all, their purpose is clear, and the enemy is also clear. There are always responses...

After resting, that night, the moon was in the sky, and Huang Zhong led his troops to bypass Dongjun and go southeast, entering Chen Liu and going to Suanzao. He led more than 1,000 cavalry to open the way, and the rear, left, and right wings were mixed with infantry and cavalry to support and lead.

After walking for a while, the scouts reported: "General, 15 li ahead there is a hill, and there may be an ambush on it. The scouts who went to investigate there haven't returned for half an hour."

This was within expectations. Huang Zhong nodded and turned to instruct: "Notify all departments to slow down and rest, and attack at midnight."

The terrain here belongs to the plain and hilly area, basically there are no dangers, only strong cities to rely on. They took a detour to Luoyang, and it was inevitable to take a shortcut. It was not surprising that they were predicted.

Similarly, it was not surprising that they were discovered. Cao Cao's side didn't know how the scouts operated, how many li they explored, how long they communicated, and so on. But even if they knew, for the scouts who discovered their movements and couldn't be bought, no one could let them go.

They also knew they were exposed, so what does it matter if they let them go or not?

This was no longer an ambush by Cao Cao's side, but an encounter between the two sides.

After resting, Huang Zhong made a rough arrangement. He wanted to bypass the hillside and lure the enemy to attack. The enemy would definitely come. If they easily let Huang Zhong approach Luoyang and Xu Chang, they would be very miserable.

The tactics were also very simple. He attacked in the center, and the two departments attacked separately on the left and right. This was a proper field battle. There were not so many strategies to use, just to fight.

Of course, they were the side that took advantage. The main reason was that Grand General Wang was very good to the soldiers and common people under his rule, and with various nutritional supplements, although there were still people with night blindness, they did not exist in the army. And this had already occupied an advantage.

It was not unexpected by Huang Zhong. After discovering that they wanted to take advantage of the night to raid and bypass, the defenders on the mountain panicked.

Yu Jin thought for a while and understood Huang Zhong's meaning. Although he had no bottom in his heart and was indeed a bit panicked, after all, that was the highest combat unit under Wang Yan, and he didn't know who led the troops. Since his debut, the battles Wang Yan fought had never been defeated, and the battles fought by the generals under him had never been defeated. It was hard not to have pressure.

But he didn't have time to think too much. If he let Wang Yan's army pass, they would all be finished.

Immediately, he gave an order, and the whole army pursued.

More than 10,000 people were also divided into three departments. Yu Jin led 3,000 troops in the center, and they went down the mountain in a mighty way, pursuing Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong of course didn't run away. When Yu Jin acted, he had already received the news and directly turned his horse's head to line up to meet the attack.

The moon was more than half round tonight, there were no clouds, the vision was still okay, and Huang Zhong's eyes were not yet blurred. He closed his eyes, carried the horse spear, and the white smoke caused by the cold was steadily drifting on the tip of his nose. The cold wind at night blew his cloak, rustling.

Suddenly, the sound of dense horse hooves came. Huang Zhong untied the wine bag at his waist and took a big gulp of strong liquor. Under the moonlight, the team also began to act with the sound of armor leaves, all drinking strong liquor.

Old Huang Zhong drank the wine and tied the wine bag again. After waiting for a few breaths, the rustling in the rear passed, and he suddenly shouted: "Kill!"

Then, the whole person had already spurred his horse and rushed out.

In an instant, the cavalry in the rear also shouted loudly. Under the night of the moon, they followed Huang Zhong in the front and killed toward the darkness on the opposite side.

Seeing the firelight appearing in the distance, it was the torches raised by the enemy, used to guide the people in the rear.

Huang Zhong's horse speed was faster by three points. He clamped the horse spear and killed toward the place where the torches were most dense. No need to think, that was the position of the main general.

I don't know how many enemies there were, but Huang Zhong and the soldiers under his command launched a charge fearlessly.

Closer, closer, the world was full of the sound of horse hooves, and full of the "kill" shouted by people to exert force.

Although Huang Zhong didn't have blurred eyes, he couldn't see very clearly, but he had a feeling. Perhaps the feeling was not enough, he had even more old and strong bravery.

He swung away the incoming weapon with one spear, twisted his body slightly at the moment of crossing, and used the tail of the spear to knock the unknown person off the horse, and then he was alive and trampled to death by the horses in the rear, without even a scream.

Charging all the way, after killing two attacks that had no threat, and preparing to meet the third person, feeling the power coming from the collision of weapons, Huang Zhong gathered 12 points of spirit, used greater force to swing away the weapon, and then relied on his feeling, quickly, cleanly, and forcefully stabbed out with both hands. Only a scream of "ah" passed, and there was no more.

Huang Zhong shouted: "The main general is dead, surrender and you won't be killed."

One shout, two shouts, gradually, the soldiers in the rear all shouted, and the wilderness was full of the sound of shouting for surrender.

Huang Zhong didn't even know who was on the opposite side. Of course, Yu Jin, who had been trampled to death by the horse, didn't know who killed him.

This general, who had fought many victories in his life and was known for his uprightness, and whose only failure was the achievement of Guan Yu's flooding of the seven armies, died like this, in a way a general should die...