My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 643 You thought this was Guandu, but this is actually Changbanpo

After receiving Cao Ren's order and making all preparations.

On June 13, Yu Jin, with more than 40,000 infantry and 7,000 to 8,000 cavalry, hurried south from the Xianshan camp south of Xiangyang City and headed straight for Bian County, which was located between Xiangyang and Dangyang.

Before the attack, Cao Ren and Yu Jin had carefully calculated that such a scale of troops would ensure swift action and would not be held back by weak brigades.

It can also ensure a clear military advantage over Liu Bei's army in Bianxian and Dangyang. Even if Liu Bei's army in Yicheng also sends all its troops to rescue, it cannot change the strength comparison between the two sides.

At the same time, such a scale of troops can also ensure that there are enough troops left behind in Xiangyang, Xianshan Camp and other places, and the rear is absolutely safe.

Even if Liu Bei's army did not go to rescue Bianxian and Dangyang after discovering that they could not defend them, but chose to attack Wei to save Zhao and concentrate their forces to counterattack Xiangyang or the Xianshan camp, they would not be able to achieve a breakthrough.

During the Battle of Guandu, didn't Yuan Shao make the decision that "I thought Wuchao could not be saved and there was no need to spend any more effort to save it, so I might as well take the opportunity to send Zhang He and Gao Lan to attack Cao's camp", but that wave of offensive was finally resisted by Cao's army.

Cao Ren and Yu Jin had both personally experienced the battles of that year, so they would naturally be particularly wary of such situations. This can be regarded as another manifestation of path dependence.

In a nutshell, Yu Jin and Cao Ren made such a cautious decision to send troops after fully considering all factors. The scale and timing were just right.

After Yu Jin set out, he moved vigorously and swiftly along the way.

Readers who have read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" should be familiar with this. Originally in history, before the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao had just accepted Liu Cong's surrender of Xiangyang, and then immediately sent light cavalry to "travel 300 miles in one day and one night to pursue the first lord in Dangyang."

It can be seen that the distance that Yu Jin has to travel today is about 300 miles. If the light cavalry does not consider the physical strength and runs desperately, it can be completed in one day.

Of course, the actual distance between Xiangyang and Dangyang is definitely not 300 li, but only about 200 li. The ancients only gave an approximate number in their records.

However, the route that Yu Jin is going to take today is slightly different from the original route that Cao Cao took to chase Liu Bei to Changban in history.

Because he did not go straight to Dangyang, but had to go to Bian County halfway. At the same time, his destination was not Dangyang County, but Zhangxiang Wharf Water Fort, dozens of miles north of Dangyang and on the banks of the Ju River.

His attack position was not from Xiangyang City, but from the Xianshan stronghold south of Xiangyang City.

In the end, the total distance was about two hundred and thirty to two hundred and forty miles.

The infantry responsible for attacking the enemy can only travel fifty to sixty miles a day under normal circumstances. In the case of a forced march, without carts and heavy food, they can speed up to eighty miles or even faster, but they cannot sustain it for long.

Therefore, Yu Jin's plan was to rush to Bian County on the first day, then divide a part of the troops to besiege the city, and the rest of the troops would continue to move south, arrive in Dangyang within two days, and launch an offensive.

Yu Jin's action was very sudden, at least he felt it was very sudden.

Judging from the enemy's initial reaction, this suddenness seemed to be real. Because on the first day of the march, Yu Jin did not encounter any harassment from Liu Bei's scouts, and he arrived at Bian County smoothly.

After arriving at Bian County, it was already late, and the troops should have set up camp hastily and rested. After all, they would have to continue their journey the next day, and the soldiers had to maintain their physical strength.

It was June and the weather was hot. The soldiers didn't need to set up tents when setting up camp, so they could just sleep in the open air without feeling cold.

However, Yu Jin was extremely strict in his military discipline. He ordered the Jingzhou soldiers in the army to continue working overnight.

After hastily building the fence of the camp, he forced the Jingzhou soldiers to continue digging the earth and building a two-foot-high earth wall outside the four city gates of Bian County.

The soil for the wall was dug directly from the flat ground in front of the wall, which naturally formed a two-foot-deep trench.

As a simple fortification to block the defenders in the city from breaking out, this level is sufficient for the time being.

The soldiers of Jingzhou were angry but dared not say anything about Jin's impatience.

Although Yu Jin did not hear any complaints, he could guess what those former subordinates of Cai Mao were thinking.

So he personally patrolled the camp and supervised the work, and occasionally spoke sternly to the officers of the Jingzhou Army:
"What is there to complain about? We have to continue marching south tomorrow, so we naturally need to rest well.

You can hold your ground tomorrow, just block the city gates, and take turns to rest during the day!"

When the officers of the Jingzhou Army heard this, they realized that this was indeed the truth. They explained the truth to their soldiers, and the complaints of the Jingzhou soldiers gradually subsided, and they worked hard and completed the work without complaint.

While Yu Jin's troops were setting up camp and encircling the city, Liu Bei's troops in the county were always on high alert, stringing their bows and crossbows in turns.

At the beginning, although they knew that the construction site of Yu Jin's army was a little far from the city wall and out of the range of crossbows, the defenders still tentatively fired a few rounds of arrows, looking very alert, just like a hedgehog.

On the top of the county city wall, there were also many flags, among which Huang Zhong's flag was the most prominent.

Before it was completely dark, Yu Jin had inspected the camp. At that time, outside the west gate of Bian County, he saw from a distance an old general with white hair and beard on the city wall, still shouting and giving orders.

But the distance between them was too far, at least two hundred steps, and it was impossible for Yu Jin to see the other person's face clearly.

But Yu Jin had already determined in his heart: this veteran standing under the yellow flag was none other than Huang Zhong himself!
He had fought with Huang Zhong once before when he was robbing grain, and he no longer underestimated Huang Zhong's ability to lead troops.

But today, his surprise attack directly blocked the city gate, and he had no intention of attacking the city. What could Huang Zhong do with his ability?
Within two or three days, Cao's siege camp was getting stronger and stronger. Then Huang Zhong would switch positions and play the role of the attacker.

The number of Huang Zhong's soldiers was even less than that of Cao's army besieging the city, and they had to bear the absolute disadvantage in terrain. There was absolutely no chance of winning!
……

With this confidence, Yu Jin slept soundly that night.

The next morning, he left Cai Mao's former subordinates to continue to besiege Bian County, while he himself, with a refreshed spirit, led 35,000 main infantry and several thousand cavalry and continued to march south.

On the first day, he still did not encounter any decisive interception by Liu Bei's army.

However, one or two groups of Liu Bei's cavalry appeared with quick reactions and harassed Jin.

However, the number of Liu Bei's cavalry was too small, and they were no match for Yu Jin. They could only harass and delay him slightly and then stop when they saw the opportunity.

Yu Jin was a little nervous at first, but after successfully repelling these cavalrymen, he quickly realized: these cavalrymen were definitely not here to deal with his army, but were patrolling and protecting the grain route according to Liu Bei's original plan.

Therefore, the size of these cavalry was only enough to drive away the possible grain-robbery troops of Cao's army, but it was impossible for them to engage in a head-on battle with the main force of Cao's army that was attacking Dangyang.

Liu Bei's army must have misjudged Cao's army's strategic intentions. Plus, time was urgent, as Yu Jin had just surrounded Bian County last night.

It is estimated that Liu Bei's army has just learned the news that Bian County is under siege, and has begun to make corresponding deployment adjustments, so it is inevitable that they will lose sight of one thing while focusing on another.

When he thought of this, Yu Jin became more proud: Everyone said that Zhuge Jin was a man of great foresight and a master at using troops, but he did not expect that Liu Bei's army would also be slow to react sometimes.

However, this was also due to his great general's swiftness and speed. If he had not been so decisive and planned to reach Dangyang City in three days, Liu Bei's army would not have been unable to react.

Time quickly came to June 15th, which was also the third day after Yu Jin sent out his troops.

After another half day's march, Yu Jin's troops finally arrived near Zhang Township, north of Dangyang County, on the banks of the Ju River.

As an aside, if you go south along the Ju River for more than 20 miles from Zhangxiang Town, leaving the hilly area on the eastern foot of Jingshan Mountain, the Ju River will merge into a relatively open plain area. That place is Changbanpo, north of Dangyang City.

……

Liu Bei's status is noble. He has agreed to stay in Yicheng, so he will naturally stay in Yicheng.

Liu Bei didn't need to personally inquire about Dangyang County's plans to lure the enemy or combat plans. He only needed to remotely control the battlefield and listen to reports.

The plan to lure Cao Ren to Dangyang to burn grain was arranged by Zhuge Jin, so it was enough for Zhuge Jin to come to Dangyang County for inspection before the battle and take control of the situation nearby.

At this moment, Zhuge Jin was sitting in Dangyang City, ready to listen to reports from the front at any time.

In the water fort at Zhangxiang Wharf, dozens of miles north of the city, only Huang Zhong was in charge, responsible for the front-line combat command.

Before Yu Jin approached Zhangxiang Water Fort, Huang Zhong had already found out the enemy's movements in advance and sent a messenger back to the city to report the news in advance, so that Zhuge Situ could obtain first-hand information in time and control the command rhythm.

"Yu Jin finally arrived, and Cao Cao could not resist the temptation to burn down our army's food and fodder transfer base.

It can only be said that the tactic that was used to turn the situation around was too easily accepted by Cao's army, and the vigilance against the risks of this strategy was much lower than that of other strategies.

Let Han Sheng defend the camp for a day or two as originally planned, exhausting Yu Jin, and then our army will march north from Dangyang County to fight the exhausted Yu Jin in the field!"

Zhuge Jin gently waved his folding fan and made a few comments with considerable confidence.

Several generals nearby were also convinced by his comments: "Situ is really a brilliant man with a brilliant plan. He has no plan left to lose! Even Cao Cao, who is as treacherous as he is, could not see through Situ's plan!"

Zhuge Jin waved his hand nonchalantly, indicating that it was nothing.

Cao Cao had never studied psychology, and didn't know to be wary of "path dependence". I calculated Cao Cao from a psychological perspective, so it's not surprising that I succeeded.

The messenger sent by Huang Zhong listened to Zhuge Jin's advice and then hurried back to Zhangxiang Water Fort to convey Situ's latest instructions to Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong's confidence increased when he heard that everything was going as planned and he only needed to follow the instructions before the battle.

……

It was already evening when Yu Jin arrived near Zhangxiang.

The terrain near Zhangxiang is still mainly hilly and not very flat. To the west of Zhangxiang is the Jingshan Mountain area.

It is precisely because of the uneven terrain that the valley where Zhangxiang is located becomes the confluence of the Ju River.

In hilly areas, farmland is relatively scarce, but woodlands suitable for hiding soldiers can be found everywhere.

So after confirming that they were not far from Zhangxiang, Yu Jin immediately ordered the troops to rest on the spot and remain alert.

Some of his generals did not understand his decision and came to ask for advice:

"General! We are still more than thirty miles away from Zhang Township. Why are we suddenly resting here? The terrain here is a bit rugged and not conducive to setting up camp."

Facing his subordinates' reminder, Yu Jin told everyone to just execute the order expressionlessly, and then explained briefly:
"Of course I know that we are still some distance away from Zhangxiang, but we are stationed in Jingshan for a while and it is almost dark. The enemy troops in the Zhangxiang water fort will certainly not be able to grasp the specific movements of our army today, and may not expect us to advance so quickly. Now I will let the soldiers take a full rest to recover their physical strength. When the time comes, they will get up at the second watch to eat dry food, rush to the outside of Zhangxiang camp before the fifth watch, and launch a surprise attack with cavalry first, setting fire everywhere, which will surely achieve great success.

Even if we cannot completely defeat the enemy or burn down their camp, we will certainly inflict heavy damage on them. Then we can follow up with the infantry and launch a formal assault."

Yu Jin had never planned to rely on a straightforward assault on the camp from the beginning. He always tried to raid the camp and attack it head-on at the same time.

After all, Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu by relying on a sneak attack.

During a long raid, if there were no battering rams or trench bridges to attack the camp, they would just use a few big trees as trench bridges.

As long as you carry more torches, pine resin and other fire-starting materials, you can rely on fire attacks and surprise raids to break the situation when dealing with a purely wooden camp.

According to Cao Ren's recent reconnaissance, Liu Bei's army's water fort at Zhangxiang Wharf was a temporary expansion with many more granaries. It was inevitable that they were hastily built and crudely constructed, with the entire structure relying solely on wooden fences.

In a camp like this, a surprise attack or fire attack is enough to tear open the outer defense line!
Yu Jin's army rested hastily for half the night.

As soon as the second watch was over, the troops got up.

Because they were camping in a hilly area and there were trees next to some of the camps, Yu Jin's troops did not light a fire to cook for the early morning snack.

I just ate some precious sun-dried salted pork and dry rice balls soaked in vinegar.

All this shows that Cao Ren really spent a lot of money to support Yu Jin's action this time - given the current living conditions in the north, it is definitely not easy to supply the army with jerky.

After eating salted pork and rice balls, Yu Jin's cavalry quickly set out, preparing to arrive before dawn to launch a surprise attack. The infantry also set out quickly, intending to arrive more than a shift later than the cavalry.

In this way, even if the cavalry failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough, the infantry could launch a large-scale general offensive after daybreak.

The coordination between infantry and cavalry, with two continuous waves, will definitely defeat the defenders of Liu Bei’s army!
……

Yu Jin personally led the cavalry and galloped for more than an hour, taking a short rest to restore his strength. Finally, he arrived at Zhangxiang Water Fort before five o'clock in the morning.

Looking at the large camp with torches in the distance, Yu Jin took a deep breath and without further hesitation, ordered the entire army to attack separately according to the plan:

"Everyone, light up your resin torches! Set fire to each gate! There's no need to force your way into the inner camp. Just break through the outer camp and burn as many granaries as you can! Killing the enemy isn't important! Set fire first!"

After Yu Jin announced the order, Cao's cavalrymen lit torches one after another. For a moment, the fields and hills on both sides of the northeast of Zhangxiang Water Fort were covered with spectacular flames, numbering thousands.

These sparks quickly spread across the prairie and rushed towards the water fort at the wharf, and towards the granary area of Liu Bei's army.

Three hundred steps, two hundred steps, one hundred steps...

Just as Yu Jin approached the camp wall, a deafening shout suddenly broke out in the camp, followed by the waving of torches and the firing of crossbows. A huge amount of arrows poured out like a bucket, pouring out without cost.

The Cao army cavalry that charged first were quickly frustrated by such a rain of arrows.

Many cavalrymen fell off their horses and howled in pain, and more horses were shot by arrows and fell to the ground, neighing miserably. The morale of Cao's cavalry was greatly reduced.

Because Yu Jin was wearing good armor, although he was hit by one or two crossbow arrows, they failed to penetrate his armor and injure him.

But he couldn't help but feel a little startled and realized that something was wrong.

The density of the enemy's bow and crossbow firepower did not seem to be something that a mere few thousand weak brigades could produce, and it was completely inconsistent with the results of the scouts' reconnaissance in the past few days.

But things had come to this point, and he had no choice but to bite the bullet and shout at all his troops to intensify the offensive.

The Cao army cavalry quickly rushed to the camp wall, and then, under the heavy fire from bows and crossbows, tried their best to throw the torches far away.

Thousands of resin torches flew towards the wall that should have been a wooden fence.

Some of them flew over the village wall and landed on the tents, haystacks and granaries inside.

However, the tragic scene of the flames spreading rapidly that Yu Jin expected did not occur.

Many torches thrown on the wall of the village burned stubbornly until the resin was exhausted, but they were unable to ignite anything else.

Cao's cavalry could not break through the wall, so they could only rush towards the camp gate.
They used hooks to drag away the chevaux de frise and deer antlers, tear open a path, and rush in recklessly.

The melee soldiers of Liu Bei's army in the camp seemed to have been prepared. Rows of soldiers equipped with steel-filled halberds formed a crescent shape inside the camp gate.

Once Cao's cavalry rushed in, they would face attacks from the front and the left and right sides.

Those chevaux de frise and antlers that seemed easy to be dragged away by hooks now seemed more like a deliberate trap.

At this point in the battle, no matter how confident Yu Jin was, he should have realized that something was wrong and that the enemy had a plan in place.

At this time, the Cao army cavalry who were responsible for throwing torches to burn the camp wall began to cry out:

"Oh no! These pickets have been reinforced! And they've been splashed with wet mud! They can't burn at all!"

"A temporary trench was dug inside the camp wall to divert water! As soon as the fire started, it was put out!"

These strange signs were not something that could be discovered immediately. It would take a long time for the first batch of torches to burn out before Cao's army could confirm that the arson had failed and that the enemy had been prepared.

As the news spread, feelings of indecision and even panic soon began to spread among Cao's cavalry.

On the battlefield, nothing can be more demoralizing than "our troops fell into a trap" or "the enemy was well prepared during the sneak attack."

The combat effectiveness and morale of the cavalry under Yu Jin's command also dropped sharply.

……

Yu Jin rushed left and right outside the Zhangxiang Water Fort, but his sneak attack was ineffective.

Huang Zhong was in the camp, sitting quietly and commanding the troops with confidence.

Thousands of elite crossbowmen methodically launched tricky cross-fire, knocking down rows of Cao's cavalry.

The soldiers with long spears who blocked the gates and gaps, and the soldiers with horse-cutting swords who were responsible for filling in the positions according to circumstances, coordinated their weapons with long and short spears, advanced and retreated in moderation, and firmly curbed the offensive of Cao's army, just like strangling Yu Jin's throat.

At the same time, Huang Zhong was becoming more and more impressed by Zhuge Situ's pre-war deployment to lure the enemy.

A few days before the war, this Zhangxiang water fort was still very simple.

At that time, the camp wall here was really just a pure shabby wooden fence, with no rammed earth foundation underneath and no newly dug water diversion trenches inside.

The wet mud splashed on the wall of the village was just made today. It was only after detecting Yu Jin's advancing speed that they targeted him.

Moreover, the situation of the garrison in Zhangxiang Water Fortress was deliberately designed by Zhuge Situ to show the enemy weakness. The number of garrison troops in the camp was actually much greater than the result of the enemy's scouts.

However, Zhuge Situ recently gave special treatment to Huang Zhong's troops, providing them with dry food prepared in advance to ensure that as few fires as possible were used for cooking in the water fort.

So if the enemy's reconnaissance scouts focus on counting the number of stove smoke and the length of time the smoke lasts every day to judge the number of soldiers eating in the camp.

Then they will inevitably come up with a number that is far lower than the actual number.

It has to be said that in terms of "equipping the surprise attack troops with pre-prepared dry food to avoid making temporary fires and cooking" and "equipping the weak defending troops with pre-prepared dry food to avoid making fires and cooking and exposing their strength", Cao Ren and Zhuge Jin's decisions really happened to coincide.

All of this contributed to the ultimate success of the deception.

Yu Jin intended to launch a surprise attack, rob the camp and burn the food supplies, but he ended up running into a strong enemy who was well prepared.

He didn't even know that Huang Zhong was in Zhangxiang Water Fort, and thought that Huang Zhong was blocked by him in Bian County.

Now, it's finally time to close the net.

After Huang Zhong resolutely attacked Yu Jin head-on for a quarter of an hour, he finally found Yu Jin's flag vaguely with the help of the faint firelight on the battlefield and the dawn gradually emerging in the sky.

Huang Zhong gathered the crossbowmen and the horse-slashing swordmen who were responsible for counter-charging, formed a death squad, and launched a counterattack in the direction of Yu Jin's flag formation.

Yu Jin had never expected that the enemy, who had been on the defensive, would actually launch a counterattack. He was caught off guard for a moment.

Huang Zhong personally held a strong bow and shot arrows at the well-armored enemies under Yu Jin's flag formation, killing several powerful enemies in succession.

If it weren't for the fact that Yu Jin's armor was difficult to distinguish at the moment, Yu Jin himself might have been the target of concentrated fire.

Even so, under Huang Zhong's "evenly distributed" attack, Yu Jin was caught off guard and shot in the heart by a wolf-tooth arrow, but it just hit the forged steel heartguard and failed to penetrate.

Yu Jin felt as if his chest was being hammered, and his blood was slightly boiling.

The sudden attack frightened Yu Jin so much that he was terrified and quickly hid behind the shields of his guards on both sides.

At this moment, the soldiers under Huang Zhong's command on the opposite side also began to shout in unison to cheer:
"Look carefully, thief general, Huang Zhong is here! You have fallen into Situ's trap again!"

After Huang Zhong finished shouting, he also personally urged the counterattack. The Cao army officers nearby saw that Huang Zhong was really here, and the sky was already slightly bright, so they were indeed very frightened.

After all, they had seen with their own eyes the day before yesterday that an old general with gray hair and beard was guarding the city wall of Bian County.

I also heard from General Yu Jin that Huang Zhong was surrounded in Bian County. In the water fort at the wharf north of Dangyang County, there were only some unknown generals of Liu Bei's army guarding it.

Now Huang Zhong suddenly appeared and deliberately revealed his identity. How could Cao's generals not know that they had fallen into a trap?
This psychological blow alone was enough to cause the morale of Cao's cavalry to collapse and military discipline to fall into chaos.

Huang Zhong took advantage of Cao's illness to kill him, and launched a counterattack with all his strength, killing Cao's cavalry and forcing them to retreat step by step, leaving countless corpses.

(End of this chapter)