Chapter 999: The Qingzhou War Begins
At four o'clock in the morning, the south gate of Suiyang City suddenly opened with a rumble, and a group of cavalrymen with torches galloped towards the south. They were the two hundred cavalrymen led by Jia Kui's personal guard captain. This was the largest cavalryman that could be dispatched in Suiyang City. There were dozens of cavalrymen left, and they had to be kept to deliver military orders and intelligence to Jia Kui.
There were dozens of cavalrymen who left the city with them. After leaving the city, they went in different directions of southeast, northwest, and northeast. They were cavalrymen who delivered military orders and intelligence to Changyi and several other counties.
After daybreak, the Liang cavalry arrived at Wuqiang Town. The personal guard captain signaled a cavalryman to go to the town gate, ready to let the town open the town gate, and he led the cavalrymen in to rest for a while. Who knew that the civilians on the town wall were like they were facing a great enemy. Before the cavalrymen approached the town wall, they struck the copper gong for warning, and then hundreds of civilians and servants rushed to the town wall, which was about ten feet high.
The personal guard captain, who was also a nephew of Jia Kui, was called Jia Ding. Seeing this, he hurriedly called the cavalry and rode a hundred steps away and said, "I am the personal guard captain of the prime minister. I want the three elders in your town to come out and answer."
There was a commotion on the town wall. After a while, an old man stood up trembling and said, "General, what do you want to see me for?"
"You old man, I said I am the personal guard of the prime minister. I passed by you and wanted to go into the town to eat some hot food and rest for a while. Why don't you open the town gate! Do you want to rebel? If the prime minister's army arrives, you will be in trouble." Jia Ding said angrily;
"General, please forgive me. Yesterday, a large army of tens of thousands of people passed by here. They said it was General Cao's The army wants our town to offer 5,000 dan of grain, but we don’t have much grain to give to the general!” The old man on the town wall was so scared that his face turned pale, and he answered tremblingly;
The old man’s words made Jia Ding wake up all of a sudden, and he said: “What did you say? How many troops passed by here yesterday? When did they pass by?”
The old man immediately told Jia Ding about the situation of the army yesterday, and then said with a sad face: “General, I really don’t have any surplus grain in my town, please spare me!”
At this time, Jia Ding had no intention of entering the town to rest. He turned his horse’s head and whistled to the cavalry behind him. Two hundred cavalrymen roared towards the south.
Two hours later, Jia Ding finally caught up with the tail of the army. Looking up, the entire official road was full of densely packed troops, stretching for several miles, with as many as 70,000 to 80,000 troops. At this time, the army had begun to approach the Woshui River and was preparing to cross the Woshui River and go to the camp north of Qiao County.
Jia Ding could see that countless baggage carts began to pass over the floating bridge, and were heading towards a large camp on the other side of the Woshui River. Just as he was about to observe carefully, the patrol of the army's rear guard discovered their cavalry, so the sound of the horn rang out in the army. In a moment, hundreds of cavalry rushed out of the army and rushed towards Jia Ding and his team.
Jia Ding saw that the situation was not good, but fortunately he had seen the basic situation of these armies clearly. There were several flags in the army, such as "General Jianwei Wang of the Eastern Expedition Army", "General Huangfu of the Right Army of the Eastern Expedition Army", and "General Guan of the Right Jishe of the Eastern Expedition Army". Although Jia Ding did not know who these generals were, he knew that his prime minister must know them. With the basic number of the army and the intelligence of the main generals, his mission was completed.
"Quick, turn the horse's head, we return to Suiyang!" Jia Ding shouted, turned the horse's head, turned around and galloped to the north.
Jia Ding knew that since the Eastern Expedition Army had discovered him, they would definitely not give up, so he ran while telling the several team leaders and garrison commanders around him the intelligence he had just seen, and told them that if they could not get rid of the enemy's pursuit, they should break out in different ways and must send the intelligence to the prime minister.
As Jia Ding expected, less than ten miles after they ran out, a cavalry of hundreds of people rushed towards them from the north.
"Quick, break out in different ways!" As he said, he led more than 20 cavalrymen to run eastward without looking back, and the other generals also led some cavalrymen to flee in all directions.
Half an hour later, the plain was quiet again. The cavalry of the Eastern Expedition Army returned one after another with the captured Liang Guojun cavalrymen and the collected war horses. In the end, about 100 of the 200 cavalrymen died in the battle and more than 80 were captured. There were still more than ten cavalrymen who escaped before the Eastern Expedition Army cavalry surrounded them. However, the personal guard captain Jia Ding was captured by the cavalry of the Eastern Expedition Army because of a misstep. He was soon taken to Wang Ran's camp by the cavalry.
In Suiyang City, the 22,000 troops were ready. Although the cavalry had not yet sent back the news, it was already afternoon, and Jia Kui decided to set off. He believed that he could meet his cavalry halfway.
On the tower, Jia Kui looked at the army that filed out of the city and sighed in his heart. Although he said that he wanted to make a gesture and wait for an opportunity, he could not control the outcome after the army was dispatched. However, whether it was Qiao County or Cao Hong, they were not to be lost for Cao Cao's army, so he could only take a gamble. I hope that the lord can quickly send troops to support after receiving the news.
Just when Jia Kui's army started to set out, Xu Rong of Qingzhou also fell into trouble. Three days ago, that is, on the 15th, Xu Rong discovered that Cao Cao's army on the north bank of Zishui River had unusual movements, and a large army was gathering in Li County, north of Judian. At the same time, the army in Linzi City also had unusual movements. So he ordered patrols to patrol Zishui River day and night. Unexpectedly, just yesterday, tens of thousands of Cao Cao's army suddenly crossed the river from Changguo, upstream of Zishui River. When Xu Rong discovered it, nearly 10,000 troops had crossed the Zishui River and established a defensive camp on the south bank of Zishui River.
In desperation, Xu Rong had to order an emergency warning to Ju County while ordering the army to retreat to Dong'anping and close the city gates for defense. Who knew that the tens of thousands of troops upstream of Zishui River were only a part of Cao Cao's army. Then tens of thousands of troops poured out of Linzi City. With the support of the army crossing the river, they crossed the river overnight last night. After that, tens of thousands of troops surrounded Dong'anping City and launched a fierce attack, almost day and night.
Xu Rong had less than 30,000 troops in Dong'anping at this time, while Xiahou Yuan's army of Cao Cao had more than 100,000 troops. Seeing Cao Cao's army pouring in like a tide outside the city, Xu Rong knew that Dong'anping would definitely not be able to be defended. Instead of defending this small city, it would be better to leave enough troops to defend Ju County, the seat of Beihai.