Chapter 1004 Crossing the River (2)
Logically speaking, among the three places of Longmendu, Pubanjin and Fenglingdu, the best solution for crossing the river is Pubanjin, because the water flow there is gentle.
Unlike Fenglingdu, you still have to face the natural danger of Tongguan after passing there.
As for Longmendu, there is a Yellow River Gorge surrounded by mountains in the north, and a flat plain in the south. The river has a huge drop. It was the place where Dayu controlled the water.
According to the locals, there are three-foot waves even if there is no wind, and the water flow is much faster than that of Pubanjin.
So it is not unreasonable for Xian Yufu to personally take charge of Pubanjin after seeing through Feng Thief's trick.
Especially after this autumn rain, even Pubanjin has seen a lot of water rise, let alone Longmen Ferry?
More importantly, due to the limitations of the times, whoever has more information will have greater initiative.
General Guan started from Yanmen County and swept all the way south, causing great chaos in the entire Bingzhou and Sizhou-related areas.
Let alone the military situation in various places, even Luoyang is completely confused about the current situation in the Hedong area.
Jiang Ji had a keen sense of smell and retreated to Zhiguan, avoiding the fate of being hit head-on by Feng Jishi.
But equally, he also lost the opportunity to find out the news about Hedong.
Jiang Ji knew that Governor Feng or General Guan would most likely be waiting for him somewhere.
But he didn’t know exactly where they were or how many people there were.
As for Xian Yufu who was guarding across the river, it was even more impossible to know how many people Feng Thief had brought with him on the other side.
So what if we successfully send the detailed work to Hedong?
Hedong, as one of the largest farming counties, is now in a state of chaos and war. There are countless thousands of farmers who have risen up in various places.
(Shi Bao: The big dog owner in Hedong, I, Shi Zhongrong, am back again!)
Those so-called volunteers may not have the courage to go into battle and face the Wei army.
But there is still some courage to borrow money and food from various villages in the name of the Han army. Not only is it there, but it is also very bold.
Xian Yufu was not even sure whether Guan Thief and Feng Thief led their troops southward in tandem, or whether they led their troops southward together.
In such a chaotic situation, do you still want to find out how many available soldiers Feng Thief has on hand?
No useful intelligence could be transmitted from Luoyang, no reliable information could be found through careful investigation, and the troops on hand were not enough to secure the entire section of the river airtight.
Xian Yufu faces the notorious Feng thief, what can he do?
Naturally, the priority is to defend Kasakajin, who is the easiest to break through.
Feng Jishi's prediction of the three-layer cake, coupled with the Yi Congjun led by Liu Hun, and the Hu people gathering along the way, made the east bank look like a huge force.
More importantly, Xian Yufu believed in his own judgment: Feng Thief's original intention was most likely Pu Banjin.
Based on this judgment, General Guan once again used the "surprise" characteristic and chose a time when it was least possible to force the crossing.
The river water rushing down from the mountains and canyons stirred up quite a lot of waves, causing the raft to sway.
The soldiers on the raft had to lower their center of gravity as much as possible to prevent their feet from becoming unstable and falling into the river.
After crossing the center of the river, the Wei army on the other side started to shoot arrows at the river after a panic.
Some rough waves caused great difficulties for the Han army to cross the river, but they also created obstacles for the Wei army.
With the cover of the waves, people and horses swimming in the river were rarely harmed by the Wei army's arrows.
On the contrary, it was the officers and men on the raft who were targeted by the Wei army's bows and crossbows.
Although a huge wooden raft had been erected at the front of the raft, soldiers were still constantly being hit by arrows thrown from the air by the opponent's archers.
A village commander stood up from behind the big pillar, braving the rain of arrows from the Wei army, and wanted to see how far it was to reach the other side.
Unexpectedly, an arrow hit him like lightning. The commander was unable to dodge and was immediately shot in the shoulder.
He only heard a scream, and because he had subconsciously tried to avoid the arrow feathers, his body swayed too much. He couldn't stand still and fell into the river.
The waves in the river were already bigger than usual, and the paddling of dozens of rafts stirred up waves of all sizes.
The chief of the village fell into the river, and a wave came over and swallowed him up immediately.
According to common sense, this village chief is basically sinking to the bottom of the water to feed the fish.
What’s unexpected is that after the wave, a head actually emerged from the water again. Who is it if it’s not the village chief?
The raft coming up from behind stretched out a bamboo pole tentatively, and the captain used his last bit of strength to grab the bamboo pole tightly.
“Still alive!”
Someone on the raft was shouting.
“Pull up!”
The raft kept paddling toward the other shore, with no intention of stopping—rescuing people was just a way to save people, and rushing to the other shore as soon as possible was the main business.
The village chief subconsciously held on to the bamboo pole tightly and allowed the people on the raft to continue to retrieve the bamboo pole.
He knew that once he let go of his hand, his fate would not be so good next time.
“Hit by an arrow!”
The people on the raft finally pulled the commander back, and when they saw the half-broken arrow feathers on their shoulders, they exclaimed again.
“Wow!”
The village chief spit out a big mouthful of yellow soup and said intermittently:
“No muscles or bones were injured…”
Before he finished speaking, he fell into a coma.
Someone used a dagger to pry open the clothes around Tuen Chang's wound. When he saw that the silk lining had been brought into the flesh by the arrow, he couldn't help but grin:
“What a great fate!”
Fate is indeed great.
If it had been anyone else, he would have been hit by an arrow and fell into the river, and would have been dead long ago.
Who knew this guy was only slightly injured?
There were two things that saved his life.
The first is the specially made silk lining in the military - this is a treatment only given to elite military personnel who have made meritorious service.
The second is the rattan armor he wears.
The rattan armor worn by the village chief is a specialty of Nanzhong.
Take the old vines from the mountain, soak them in water for half a month to a month, then take them out to expose them to the sun, and then soak them in tung oil for a year.
After weaving it into armor, you need to use tung oil for daily maintenance to prevent it from losing its oiliness.
Although this kind of vine armor is not as protective as iron armor, it is extremely tough and is considered a rare armor.
More importantly, it is very light and not afraid of water. When wearing this kind of rattan armor to cross a river, even if it falls into the water, it can help the soldiers float on the water.
It can be called a water battlefield armor with the function of a life jacket.
But it also has disadvantages.
First, production is extremely time-consuming and also consumes manpower and material resources.
The second is the fear of fire.
It goes without saying that they are afraid of fire, but this thing has never appeared on a large scale on the battlefields of the Han and Wei Dynasties.
Wei Guo has never even seen this kind of rattan armor, so how could he possibly know what its weaknesses are?
And now Wei’s impression of Han is: the local tyrants are rich! Fine iron, fine iron, all fine iron!
Not to mention the armored ghost knight who was summoned from the underworld by the ghost king.
They are the elite armored soldiers of the Han army. Not only are they close to the Wei army in terms of quantity, but they even surpass the Wei army in quality. They are extremely thickly armored and well-trained.
This kind of rattan armor only takes a long time to make a single piece, and most of the materials are produced in Nanzhong.
That is to say, Xinghanhui was very wealthy, which allowed the production of rattan armor to form an industrial chain.
That’s right, it’s the industrial chain.
The three pillar industries of Nanzhong are sugar cane, tung oil and tea.
Where there is flat land, grain is grown; where there is more rugged land, sugar cane is grown; where there are mountains, tea or tung trees are planted.
There are some villages that specialize in weaving this kind of rattan armor and use it to offset taxes with the government or exchange for grain with the Xinghan Association.
The production of rattan armor is a subdivided industry chain in the tung oil industry.
Oil-impregnated rattan beetles from Nanzhong and sheepskin airbags from Liangzhou played an extremely important role at this critical moment.
Because they allowed the soldiers to cross the river, they greatly reduced the fear of falling into the water and even increased their courage.
“Wow!”
The first raft finally hit the west bank.
"kill!"
Some Han soldiers who couldn't wait to jump directly from the raft into the water up to their waists. As soon as they shouted the word "kill", they were shot into hedgehogs by arrows on the spot.
Looking at the ferry that was surrounded by obstacles such as antlers and fences, the leading Han army commander shouted loudly:
“Don’t rush!”
“Raise the pillars! Arrange in formation!”
…
“Dong dong dong!”
The tall soldiers struggled to hold up the large raft, which was only one head shorter than an adult, and jumped from the raft into the water.
The soldiers on the raft also jumped off the raft one after another, following closely behind the raft, lowering their heads and trying to keep themselves under the protection of the raft.
No matter how big the raft was, it was impossible to cover all the soldiers on the raft.
Coupled with the fact that the Wei army occupies a favorable location, arrows are flying like locusts at this moment.
Compared to the time when they were in the river just now, the Han soldiers faced many times more arrow feathers.
Just a few dozen seconds after jumping off the raft, continuous screams were heard, and many Han soldiers were hit by arrows and fell into the water.
Small traces of blood-red began to mix with the turbid yellow water, creating some kind of alluring water ripples.
The leading military officer was half-crouched, leaning closely behind the raft, watching his comrades on the raft being helplessly exposed to the Wei army's crossbows.
His teeth were clenched and he was breathing heavily, trying to suppress his impulse.
The second raft soon followed.
With the lessons learned from the first raft, it was obvious that the impatient soldiers on the second raft did not jump out in advance.
But even so, the same casualties are inevitable.
Without any greeting or communication, the commander on the second raft took the initiative to join forces.
The wooden frames of the two rafts were put together and finally formed a small frame array.
The rafts behind them followed one after another, and when the number of Han troops approaching the shore reached a sufficient number.
A school lieutenant who took the initiative to lead the army finally stood up, raised his spear, and shouted loudly:
“Come on! Come with me and knock the antlers away!”
As he spoke, he kicked open the supporting angles that supported the big canal, and together with the cannon soldiers, he lifted the big canal and began to push it forward.
The soldiers, led by the captains of their respective teams, began to form small teams and rushed forward with the captain.
Standing on the east bank, Guan Ji held up a telescope and saw the soldiers rushing towards the Wei army's fence, falling to the ground one after another.
Her face became extremely cold, and her gaze hidden behind the telescope was extremely deep.
Whether it was the soldiers who fell into the water halfway across the river or the soldiers who were shot to the ground by Wei thieves on the other side, they were all trained by her through hard work over the years.
Watching them lose their lives before your eyes, it is impossible to say that your heart is not shaken.
But no matter how heavy the casualties were, she still had to take advantage of the moment when the Wei army was most likely to be careless and take the ferry.
She knew very well that this battle of forced crossing was likely to be the most costly battle since the Battle of Guanzhong, and even since the formation of the Liangzhou Army.
If we say that from Yanmen County all the way south, the Liangzhou Army did not encounter any tough battles.
So this time, it’s time for the real test.
But no matter how heavy the losses were, the Liangzhou army could not retreat.
Because under the current conditions, we cannot expect to join the army righteously, let alone the barbarians who are threatened.
The only one she can trust is the Liangzhou Army.
“The fourth batch, follow us!”
She raised the telescope and looked at the river again, and gave instructions in a calm tone.
The five hundred soldiers who had been waiting immediately pushed the raft into the river after receiving the military order...
Each raft, depending on its size, has fifty to more than a hundred soldiers.
Crossing the river is not a swarm of people rushing into the river, it is an organized and batched attack.
It is necessary to avoid overcrowding and create a living target for the opponent, and it is also necessary to connect the troops in a timely manner so that the front army does not rush forward and the rear army fails to respond in time.
The telescope in Guan Ji's hands and the strong organizational ability of the Liangzhou Army can avoid this situation to the greatest extent.
But even so, the Han army's attempt to seize the ferry was still severely attacked by the Wei army.
After four or five consecutive batches, more than 2,000 elite Liangzhou troops crossed the Yellow River.
Except for the very beginning, when the Wei army was caught off guard, some of the antlers and fences on the periphery were destroyed.
What's left is no progress.
The Han army, which suffered heavy casualties, had to form a circle under the leadership of Yang Wanwan and wait for reinforcements after seizing a small beach.
Not long ago, the Wei army rushed out twice, trying to drive them into the river.
The three hundred cavalrymen who swam over played a big role.
Yang Qianwan’s war horse was shot to death in the last counterattack.
When the sun reached the top of the mountain, the two armies stopped their actions in unison.
After the truce, the Han army still had no time to rest because they did not have the same geographical advantage as the Wei army.
They must take advantage of this moment to build a camp as quickly as possible.
Even the simplest camp is better than staying on the shore without any cover.
In addition to erecting the large frames that can be collected on the periphery as a temporary village wall, most of the rafts must be dismantled to form a fence.
This means that these Han troops guarding the west bank have never thought of retreating.
“咣咣咣…”
There are strong soldiers who are working hard to pound thick wooden piles into the ground, so that the wooden piles are wedged into the soil as deeply as possible.
A hemp rope as thick as a baby's arm has been tied to an old tree by the river. A raft, carrying the other end of the hemp rope, begins to paddle back.
General Guan, who had been guarding the shore, breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the reward from the west bank.
Even a smile appeared on his face:
“That’s enough, just one night is enough! Tomorrow, the thief will understand what it means to be a real tiger and wolf master..."
Of course, the Wei army would not dare to underestimate the Liangzhou army, but they simply did not understand that what was truly terrifying about the Liangzhou army was not its extremely sophisticated armor and weapons, but its extremely powerful organizational capabilities.
(End of this chapter)