Chapter 238: Giant Boat Crossing the River

As the morning sun rose, the armored Le Jin stood at the top of Xiangyang City and looked north as hard as he could.

At this time, the morning fog had not dispersed and nothing could be seen, but Le Jin already felt uneasy.

It seems that there is a giant whale capable of swallowing boats across the sea lurking under the Han River, just waiting for the opportunity to come up and crash into other cities, destroying people and destroying other cities.

But these are all conjectures. Where did the giant whale come from in the Han River?

A few drops of morning dew hung on Le Jin's beard. He put aside these disturbing thoughts and waved his hand, and his guards understood what he meant.

Following the loud orders from the generals, dozens of Qingqi scouts quickly rushed out from Xiangyang, splitting into two groups along the way. One group searched southward along the Han River, while the other group dispersed and disappeared into the morning mist.

The news Le Jin received was not as complete as that from Prime Minister Cao at the rear, but as a defender, he just silently transferred Fancheng's grain and elite troops to Xiangyang, vowing to die with the city.

Cao Cheng originally ordered him to garrison Xiangyang instead of Fancheng. Le Jin remembered this very clearly.

The prime minister's grace, Yecheng's family, and dissatisfaction with Guan Yu all made Le Jin unable to take a step back.

The process of waiting for the scouts to send back the news was quite tiring, so my thoughts flew a little further.

In the third year of Jian'an, the prime minister defeated Zhang Xiu and captured Lu Bu in Xuzhou. However, Kong Beihai said that Yuan Shao, Yan Liangwen and Chou, was the bravest in the army, and suggested that the prime minister surrender to Yuan Shao.

Although Xun Lingjun refuted it and pointed out the shortcomings of Tian Feng and Xu You in the trial, Le Jin knew that the prime minister would definitely be resentful.

So in the fifth year of Jian'an, Guan Yu killed Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops and wanted to do it for the prime minister. For this reason, he later ridiculed Kong Rong: What does it mean to be brave enough to win the three armies?

Compared with Guan Yu, his success in Le Jin's sneak attack to kill Chun Yuqiong eclipsed that of Guan Yu.

Therefore, when Guan Yu later abandoned his position as prime minister and returned to Liu Bei, Le Jin had a grudge against him.

But now, Le Jin wanted to see if Guan Yu, who stabbed Yanliang, was in vain.

As the morning dew on the beard was turned into water vapor by the sun, the scouts who had been sent out earlier also returned sporadically, bringing back news.

To Le Jin's disappointment, there were about three to five thousand people who came out of Dangyang, with Chinese characters embroidered on their big flags and yellow characters embroidered on their flags.

And the Guanzi flag that he cherished so much was hung on the navy boats on the Han River, one big boat and dozens of small boats.

After more than a year of guarding here, Le Jin had of course already gotten to know this Dangyang guard general who was good at archery: Huang Zhong, a former general under Liu Biao.

When I sent people to Xinye Wancheng and other places to inquire about the news, they said:

This Huang Zhong had nothing to do with fighting bandits under Liu Biao. He really didn't have any impressive achievements, and he was already very old.

"Definitely used as bait!" Le Jin concluded.

Send a veteran to lure him to attack from the front, and then use the Hanshui navy to attack from behind? Who will be fooled!

It's just that Le Jin's complacent thoughts didn't last long, but in the time it took to eat a meal of soup cakes, several more horses rushed into Xiangyang quickly, and the news was quickly presented.

"Yicheng fell?" Le Jin repeated in disbelief.

Yicheng is located only a hundred miles southeast of Xiangyang. The two cities are at the corners of each other and are very important to Xiangyang.

He just had breakfast with peace of mind, why was Yicheng gone?

The messenger with blood on his head on the opposite side knelt on the ground and cried:

"The enemy attacked the city wall fiercely with huge ships. The east side of the city wall collapsed, and the enemy troops could advance and retreat freely."

"The prefect led his troops to retreat. I didn't expect that there was an ambush outside the city. I fought to my death to escape. Before escaping, I saw the prefect being beheaded by an old general."

Le Jin's face turned slightly pale. He still remembered the huge crossbow arrow that shot down the pontoon bridge when Jiangling City fell.

Can it actually shoot down the city wall? This was a result he had never expected.

This battle seemed a little different from what he was familiar with.

But Xiangfan is a fortified city, so it should be fine, right?

In the end, he had no choice but to order:

"Write down the circumstances of the fall of Yicheng in a memorial and send it to the north."

How to decide is something that the prime minister needs to consider, and all Le Jin can do is ensure that Xiangyang is not lost.

Therefore, the order was issued: "Hold tight and don't come out!"

On the huge ship, Guan Yu stroked his beard and smiled. Although Xu Shu was mentally prepared, he still found it incredible.

The collapse of the city wall was just a misinformation from the confused Cao Jun. The actual situation was that Guan Yu ordered the giant ship to come across and hit the east side of Yicheng with ballistae.

Half of the city wall was blasted and collapsed in several places. The most important thing was that the city gate was shattered, which caused the morale of the defenders to collapse. During the collapse, it became "the wall collapsed."

"Yicheng is a small city with short walls and thin walls. The local governor also believed that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack because it was located near mountains and rivers, so the city walls were neglected."

Guan Yu smiled and stroked his beard. These news were all told by Ma Liang, a local, and continued:

"So a year ago, Mrs. Huang specially made a crossbow arrow. Although it has lost its sharpness, it can be used to destroy city gates and weapons."

Xu Shu took a look at the so-called special crossbow. The top was not sharp, but shaped like a hemisphere.

In addition to this kind of crossbow arrows, Xu Shu knew that there were several types of specially made crossbow arrows carried on the ship, including those with seven or eight blades, those with flying wings, hollow ones, and those with ropes attached to the tails, etc., each with its own characteristics. purpose.

"It really works."

Xu Shu nodded:

"But this way, Ji Chang should breathe a sigh of relief."

After returning to the service of Duke Xuande, the good young man in Jingzhou who surprised Xu Shu was Ma Liang.

When asked about the geography of Jingzhou, the answers are flowing, and when asked about the wars in the world, there are countless treasures.

Copying the battle cases and maps of the light curtain seems to have given the Ma family white eyebrow a lot of reserves, and he has new insights into military affairs and governance, as well as the general trend.

Although he was unfamiliar, Xu Shu could tell that the only difference was his experience.

Therefore, Xu Shu arranged him to be the deputy of General Huang Zhong and the commander of the army. In this way, he could take his family away as soon as possible after breaking Yicheng, without any worries.

Because breaking Yicheng was just a matter of convenience for the navy, the most urgent thing was to continue to move north without stopping.

But speaking of worries... Xu Shu, who was blowing the strong wind on the river, was a little nervous: I wonder what happened to Shi Yuan?

It was Cao Cao who knew Pang Tong's movements earlier than Xu Shu.

Under pressure, Prime Minister Cao temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​enjoying himself, and after selecting several civil officials and military generals, he went to Xudu to take charge.

On the way, he received an urgent report from Xiahou Yuan: urging for food, or reinforcements.

Xiahou Yuan sent a long letter with the military report, which detailed the current situation in Guanzhong:

Liu Bei's army left Hanzhong, with Wei Yan and Huo Jun as generals, stationed a detachment in Wuzhangyuan, and continued to harass and attack.

Moreover, they kept sending light cavalry to spread the news in Guanzhong, saying that as long as they went to Hanzhong, they would be given land and grain to survive the spring famine.

Seeing the refugees fleeing, Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to send troops to gather the refugees and set up military settlements in advance. As a result, Wei Yan set his sights on the military settlements, and every few days he would choose a military settlement, either by whistling a fake attack or by leading troops to really break through.

Similarly, send a small army to attack Wei Yan and Huo Jun. Wuzhangyuan is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the camps are quite organized, so there is nothing they can do.

If a large army is used to attack, the movement of the army will be difficult to conceal, and these thousands of troops will definitely go directly to Baoxiadao, and there is nothing they can do.

So Xiahou Yuan directly showed his cards:

Either send more food to use the settlements to survive the spring famine, stabilize the situation and plan to attack in autumn.

Or send more reinforcements to block the entrance of Baoxiadao, and then immediately lead the main army to do everything they can to break through Longshandao.

Xun You could see that his prime minister's face had become even more sour.

After pondering the situation, Xun You spoke first:

"Guanzhong cannot be given up."

Cao Cao knew in his heart that Guanzhong could not be given up. Hanzhong alone was enough to bother him, so how could he give up another Guanzhong?

But... Cao Cao shook his head:

"Xiangfan cannot be given up either."

Judging from the person and his character, Yunchang's arrogant attitude was a sign of his confidence in his strength.

Therefore, although some people suggested that Guan Yunchang, a warrior, could not understand the navy? It was definitely a false attack.

But Cao Cao judged that if he was not confident, he would never issue such a high-profile proclamation and take the initiative to attack, so he abandoned those remarks and went to Xudu without any hesitation.

"Then it is advisable to order Xu Gongming to lead the army to support Xiangfan. As long as Chang'an is not lost in Guanzhong, it will be fine."

Xun You was understanding and immediately took out the rules:

"After quickly suppressing the rebellion in Xiangfan, we will march into Guanzhong and pacify Yongliang."

This is to distinguish the priorities. Xun You further explained:

"In Yecheng, there are Ma Chao and Han Sui's family as hostages. It is advisable to rely on this as a basis, send envoys to make peace, and lure the two into Hanzhong to resolve the crisis in Guanzhong."

Cao Cao nodded slightly. This was also a last resort.

And after a little thought, he found a suitable candidate, and that candidate happened to be with him.

"Order Sima Yi, the prime minister of the East Cao, as an envoy, to persuade Han and Ma."

He still remembered that the Sima kid used the excuse of rheumatism to refuse to serve, so he just let him go to Yongliang to give him a warning.

As for the danger? There are Han and Ma's family in Yecheng. If they don't want to be ridiculed by the world, they must sit down and have a good talk.

If he died unfortunately... it would be a good opportunity to warn those big families. Anyway, the Prime Minister's Mansion doesn't lack a Dong Cao.

So Sima Yi was given a horse and a team of guards with a confused look on his face. He stood there and watched Prime Minister Cao's carriage go farther and farther.

On the carriage, Cao Cao was still discussing with Xun You about Jiangdong's strange attitude.

If they wanted to attack more powerfully, they should join forces with Jiangdong to attack together, but why is there no news from Hefei now?

Or is it that Yunchang is actually leading the Jiangdong navy, and this offensive is a joint effort of both parties?

Beside Sima Yi, the head of the guards said politely:

"Sima Dong Cao, the military situation is urgent, let's set off immediately?"

Abandoning the regret in his heart, Sima Yi also understood that he needed to fight for his fate and future at this moment.

He jumped on his horse and pulled the reins to the west: "Let's go!"

When the news of Yicheng's fall was sent to Wancheng, Guan Yu's navy also stretched across Xiangyang and Fancheng.

The defenders on the walls of the two cities looked at the dozens of huge ships in surprise.

Many of the defenders of the two cities were locals of Jingzhou, and they knew the water and were good at sailing. But after listening to the general's talk about the navy for a few days, they only knew it was like this now?

Le Jin also looked solemnly at the huge main ship slowly approaching. With the sound of the river, there seemed to be a creaking sound that made his teeth ache. His face changed immediately:

"Retreat!"

The order was still too late. He heard the sound of arrows breaking through the air, like the scream of eagles.

What he saw next was a picture of hell.

He saw a team of his own soldiers. He didn't bring them when he rashly attacked Jiangling, so he escaped, but today it seems that he is not so lucky.

A giant spear that was two centimeters thicker than a spear, with five or six rotating blades on the tip, pierced through his personal soldiers and nailed to the city wall three inches in front of him, with blood all over his body.

Le Jin retreated in panic. For the first time in history, the armor on his body could not provide him with a sense of security.

It was also the first time that he was extremely eager for reinforcements to come quickly.

The giant ship crossed the river and blocked the Han River, and the isolated city was in danger waiting for reinforcements.

The writing was not very good, so I revised it for a while, and I won’t dwell on it for too long.