Chapter 3168 I thought there was no choice
Xiaopingjin and Mengjin are both very important ferries of the river.
At this moment, I don’t know how many civil servants work hard, coming and going at the ferry entrance, busy and busy.
The Yellow River is different from the Yangtze River.
The Yellow River has never been like the Yangtze River, and has become an obstacle to military operations.
On the one hand, it is because in winter, multiple areas of the Yellow River are prone to freezing and can pass by ice. On the other hand, it is because the Yellow River water often floods and diverts, resulting in uncertainty in the riverbed of the Yellow River, and the depth and flow rate may change.
In ancient times, it was basically not known that the Yellow River could block the army for a long time, after all, the enemy could eventually find a way to break through.
For example, the current Cao army.
Teams of Cao's soldiers lined up on the pontoon bridge to cross the river.
After the upstream freezing, the water level of the river dropped a lot. The originally wide river surface has not only shrunk, but also exposed Nizhou in the center of the river, which quickly broke out under the wind and snow.
This gave Cao army convenient conditions to quickly build a floating bridge.
As long as you can sacrifice your life and wood.
The surrounding hills are full of Cao's troops.
Further away, there are rows of chariots surrounded by baggage trucks, ready to set off at any time.
Cao Cao's side finally came to an end...
In the face of Guanzhong, especially when Tongguan was unable to overcome it quickly, Cao Cao finally adopted Guo Jia's strategy and turned to Hedong.
From Fengling Du to Shaanxi, Xiaoping, and Mengjin, it is difficult to cross the river directly when the water level of the big river is high, but it is different now...
There was a large amount of flowing ice at Fenglingdu, and the ice surface on the shore gradually extended to the center of the river.
Although it is not clear whether it will freeze in the end, and even if the ice surface of Fengling Du is condensed, it can support people to trample on it, one thing is certain that the Longmen Duke in Hedong and the surrounding river surface must be frozen.
So if we can take over Hedong, it will undoubtedly be equivalent to opening a wider channel.
So since that's the case, why didn't we attack Hedong in an all-round way before?
Isn't this a very simple question?
It was not winter before, how to fight?
『Go forward quickly!』
Cao Xiu was on the side of the road and urged the soldiers to move forward.
After crossing the river, Cao Cao's order was passed to Cao Xiu. He must take down the Zhuo Pass as soon as possible and open up this important passage from the various ferries of the river to the east of the river through Zhongtiao Mountain.
Cao Xiu felt heavy in his heart.
Because the one who originally executed this command should be Xiahou Yuan.
But now...
Since Cao Cao handed over the order to him, it means that Cao Cao himself actually understood that Xiahou Yuan might be in danger.
Although everyone who goes to the battlefield understands in their hearts that their heads are hung on the belt and they fall off as soon as they say, no matter who it is, they will think that they can live for a few more days, months, years, decades...
No one wants to die.
Cao Xiu put aside these complicated emotions and focused his attention on the current tasks.
He is the pioneer.
You must first open the Zang Pass and then capture the entire Zang Pass path.
Then occupy a favorable position in Wangwu Mountain and cooperate with Cao Hong's actions.
In order to ensure the rapid action, the Cao army not only prepared a large amount of supplies, food, and clothes to protect the cold, but also equipped each Cao army soldier with one more labor service, so that the Cao army soldiers could exert their greatest strength during battles.
The extra ration represents additional expectations and naturally there is additional pressure.
From time to time on the way, there were whistle riders returning from the front, and Cao Xiu no longer hid his whereabouts.
They must quickly rush to the combat zone and strive to open up the Zhiguan Road as soon as possible, and prepare for the capture of Hedong and the next attack on Guanzhong. In order to cooperate with this military operation, Cao Cao ordered almost all the people in Henoi and Heluo to issue them to provide convenience for Cao Xiu and other Cao troops to cross the river.
Of course, thanks to Cao Cao's move, Hanoi and Heluo will be very "good-looking" next year. Oh, no, this year's harvest will definitely be very "good-looking"...
The scouts in front rushed back to report that there were about 800 defenders at the gates, not more than 1,000. But he suspected that there might be reinforcements. If Cao's army did not act quickly, then the ones they would face might not be just one thousand.
Cao Xiu nodded and said he knew.
Just as the scouts of Cao's army continued to grow in the confrontation with the scouts of the cavalry, Cao Xiu also became a more cautious general in the war.
In history, when Cao Xiu faced Zhang Sanye, who was famous in the battlefield, he not only did not fear, but instead grabbed Zhang Sanye's flaws and pinched the third master's balls in one fell swoop. If Liu hadn't personally taken the battle, Zhang Sanye would have become a stepping stone to Cao Xiu's reputation. He could almost be regarded as a highlight. Among the second generation of the Cao family, he was the leader. However, a high starting point may not be a good thing. Cao Xiu was more stubborn in the later stages and eventually died of arrogance.
Now, Cao Xiu has been trained and guided by Fei Qian in turn. For this already intelligent general, Cao's general, it is undoubtedly a practice at the edge of the knife. He is learning with his life, so how can he not grow?
Cao Xiu actually liked the combat strategy this time.
Because there is no need to wait, no need to hide, and there is no bad thing, just a wholehearted attack and combat.
Simple and direct.
Life or death.
The same is true for Cao's soldiers.
They had been in the Heluo Land for too long, and felt powerlessness and pain under Tongguan. Now they found a way again. The Cao army soldiers did not understand those complicated strategies, they just obeyed orders, so for these Cao army soldiers, the simpler the orders, the easier it was, the more mistakes they made.
In the Han Dynasty, not all local princes had the leisurely intentions like Fei Qian, allowing ordinary soldiers to study, literacy, and even improve themselves...
Cao's army quickly crossed the river and advanced towards the Zhuang Pass.
This road was originally passed by Xiahou Yuan, so he was basically not attacked by Hussein soldiers along the way. However, Cao Xiu suspected that there might be scouts from the cavalry around him, but these scouts did not show up, but just observed from a distance and then passed the information back.
Cao Xiu is now a little numb about some of the "magical" abilities of the Cavalry Scouts. Therefore, Cao Xiu basically decided that his actions would be discovered by the Cavalry Scouts to make arrangements.
It takes time to discover, pass, and then arrange soldiers, and Cao's army also takes time to march. Now it depends on who can take a step faster in terms of time.
Cao Xiu understood the importance of speed very well. He kept urging the march team, and at the same time, he arranged the soldiers to walk and rest time based on his own experience to avoid excessive physical exhaustion and inability to achieve haste.
Even so, there are always unexpected situations during the march.
Cao Xiu suddenly found that the front was suddenly congested, so he rushed forward and saw a vehicle carrying supplies tilted aside due to damaged spokes, and the axle under the vehicle was also disconnected. Several soldiers were busy repairing it in an emergency.
It's like a road where traffic flows through. Suddenly an accident occurred in one of the lanes. Then, the other lanes can still be smoothly moved, but there will be congestion.
『Discard the vehicle!』
Cao Xiu endured his anger. He knew that under normal circumstances, it was normal for vehicles to be damaged, and the behavior of Cao's soldiers to repair vehicles was also correct, but this time, it was different. He had to speed up, and any behavior that delayed the speed of the march was prohibited. Although this ban was repeatedly urged before Cao Xiu set off, it was obvious that Cao's soldiers might not be able to understand it.
Cao Xiu pointed to the car and said, "People come, push the vehicle to the side of the road! Send the order, no circumstances are allowed to delay the march!"
The road quickly returned to normal.
The vehicle that could have been "rescued" was discarded.
Cao's soldiers walked past the vehicle.
On this road, there may be more things that will be abandoned...
Maybe active or passive.
...
...
There are also soldiers coming and going in the road of Zhuguan.
However, these soldiers were not soldiers of the Cao army or elite cavalry, but only soldiers of Hedong County.
On the road of Zhuguan, people came and went, and new people arrived here constantly, and then they began to repair the earth under the command.
The originally good passage was quickly dug up and full of holes.
The ability to quickly dig ravines on frozen land is due to the large number of shovels and pickaxes provided by Pingyang.
The frozen land is as hard as stones.
But it is just like a stone, not a real stone.
What's more, the hardness of steel is far greater than that of ordinary stones, so these "frost soils like stones can only cause some trouble.
With the technology of steel and large-scale assembly line production, there are ways to provide more tools to deal with stones.
This is the objective law of this world.
As for some magical countries, even if they do not have a large amount of iron technology, they can use stones to smash stones and then build a huge and magnificent stone building. That can only be called "magic" or "alien technology". As for whether they believe it or not, it is a matter of opinion...
Liu Fu from Hedong is the main person in charge of this civil engineering project.
During this Hedong clearance process, more than half of the people died in Liu's family, but Liu Fu did not have much resentment. In other words, even if there was a little resentment, he would not dare to reveal it. After all, Liu's family made more blame, especially after Cui was hung up and mounted on the wall, what Liu's so-called "merits" or "fame" was even more worth mentioning.
If you want to gain status, you must do things honestly.
Two long trenches soon appeared on the ground, and on the other side of the trenches were short walls made of dug soil. These Hedong County soldiers from farmers had no problem doing such work, and they did not think that this job was boring.
I'm afraid of comparison in everything.
Are you willing to face the repair of the earth that will not be too dangerous, or face the repair of the Cao army with higher dangers, these Hedong County soldiers wisely chose the first item.
Until the two trenches and low walls were repaired, there were still people who were repairing them so that Cao's army could attack. Well, strictly speaking, it would be more troublesome when entering.
They won't stay here for a long time.
Their task is to dig the tunnel into pieces.
These dug ditches will become extremely hard after being frozen again, and then after the soil softens in the spring, there will be no big obstacles to the repair of the road...
Liu Fu arranged manpower, allocated the physical strength of these county soldiers and civilians, and controlled the progress of the project.
This is his specialty.
If Liu Fu was asked to go to battle and attack Cao's army, Liu Fu would naturally be afraid, frightened, and at a loss. However, as long as he did not contact Cao's army, even if he knew that Cao's army was coming here, he would not be afraid.
If he has more personnel, he can not only dig out the trench, but also add some spikes buried in the trench, and even try to make some traps...
But his suggestion was rejected.
The Bachelor of Workers, who is responsible for engineering drawings and acceptance, said that the ones that Liu Fu proposed were good, but would increase the consumption of extra time. They only needed to block Cao's soldiers and did not need to pursue how many Cao's soldiers were killed.
The Bachelor of Engineering also said that after this battle with Cao's army, the Cavalry intends to set up a special military camp in the army that is specifically responsible for projects similar to this kind of project.
Unlike the general military, which is a job like infantry or part-time work, the cavalry means to have a dedicated person to do such things.
After all, not everyone has the courage to face the bloody and tragic battles in the battlefield array. Some people have good physical fitness but very little courage. Such soldiers often die in vain when they first go into battle, or change their timid personality through the tempering of blood and fire.
However, most of these people are dead, and only 10% or 20% are lucky enough to survive.
So the meaning of the cavalry is to make these soldiers who are timid but have good physiques and strong endurance and are not suitable for fighting, so there is an extra way out.
Actually, isn’t this just like an auxiliary soldier?
Liu Fu muttered in his heart, but he would not say it out. Of course, he did not realize that not only the great man, but the entire human world, the development process must be a more detailed and professional division of labor, and sooner or later it will be eliminated by humans themselves.
...
...
On the other side of Hedong and in Jinjin, Cao Hong also built a pontoon bridge with a team of men to prepare to cross the river.
If Cao Xiu was to seize Wangwu Mountain, then Cao Hong’s goal was to seize Zhongtiao Mountain.
If the Zhongtiao Mountains are compared with the Taihang Mountains and Qinling Mountains around him, then Zhongtiao Mountains are like a younger brother. They are slender and long, like thin soldiers in the military, and they will never be very conspicuous.
However, such a slender mountain range has implicated the war line of China for thousands of years.
Many people think that some important towns or passes can be called the key points of war, but in fact, this is not exactly the case.
Before, the Cao army could not attack Zhongtiao Mountain, not because Zhongtiao Mountain could not be crossed, nor because Zhongtiao Mountain was difficult to conquer. Instead, on the south side of Zhongtiao Mountain, nature carved deep ditches with magical awesomeness.
From the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain, it stretched to the ditches of the river, and some ditches even exceeded 100 meters deep. Sometimes, they were only a few dozen meters away from each other, or even a dozen meters away, but there were deep ditches of nearly 100 meters below their feet. In the Han Dynasty, when there was no convenient road and bridge technology, these ditches were insurmountable natural barriers. During the time when Cao's army could not cross the river on a large scale, as long as Cao's army dared to attack along the ditches of Zhongtiao Mountain or on the earthen plateau, the cavalry would dare to circumvent Cao's butt through a ditches.
Therefore, only when the icy water flow in the upstream is reduced, the riverbed is exposed, and the frozen soil is convenient for the rapid construction of floating bridges, can the Cao army have the conditions to cross the river in large numbers and advance along several ditches and soil plates.
Moving forward hand in hand requires more tacit cooperation, so the only ones who are responsible for this task are the core generals and soldiers of the Cao army.
So it can be said that this time, Lao Cao really bet his old friends on the gambling table.
If the losses were heavy, even if they could go back, it would be difficult to continue to suppress the Shandong gentry. Even if Cao Cao had two arms out, he would not be able to come out.
In Shandong, there seems to be benevolence, righteousness and morality in daily life, but in fact, there is no military power, so there is no way to make those local big families obedient. Or, let them pretend to be obedient.
But it is obvious that Cao Cao had to fight.
Cao Hong also knew this, otherwise he would not let his own son...
Ah, my son.
Cao Hong's teeth started to bite.
Cao Hong looked back at his back.
That was a neat elite Cao army.
In the early years, Cao Cao gathered 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers, either really or 300,000 real soldiers, but a large group of families with their families. But the advantage is that these Qingzhou soldiers survived the bloody battle without equipment because of their years of war. They have more or less abilities.
And the key point is that the war-wearing threshold of Qingzhou soldiers is quite high, and it can even be said to be comparable to that of Hussar soldiers.
Hussar soldiers were rewarded with merits and military achievements, which could bring about their class improvement, status changes, and economic prosperity. For the Qingzhou soldiers, war was their lives.
Since Huan Ling, Qingzhou was not peaceful, and after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they were fighting almost every day. Therefore, war was like a part of Qingzhou's soldiers' life. Since it was life, there was no disgust or joy, it was just life. When they surrendered to Cao Cao, they promised to sell Cao Cao for a lifetime.
This is a contract.
Perhaps some people in later generations thought that contracts were like a fart, but in fact, it was because these later generations regarded contracts as a fart. In history, these Qingzhou soldiers did abide by their contracts from beginning to end, and they officially ended their life-salary agreement after Cao Cao's death.
So this time, I really worked hard.
Cao Hong thought and calculated, according to his usual habits, measured the costs and benefits since the war started, and then took a deep breath.
This war was indeed a very unfavorable deal.
Losing to an extreme loss.
But I had to fight.
Because if you don't continue to fight, then your early investment will be wasted...
But now when will you get profits if you continue to invest?
Or...
Cao Hong gritted his teeth and looked back at the tallest star in the Cao army camp. Then he turned his head and raised his foot to move forward without looking back or hesitation.
Chapter completed!