Tiger Guards

Chapter 457 Rainy Night Raid
That night, on the walls of Puyang.

Cao Cao's uncle, Cao Ding, led a troop of personal guards to inspect the city. Now, those left to guard Puyang were mostly elderly people and children from various families, with less than two thousand soldiers capable of fighting.

Although he was Cao Cao's uncle, they were close in age, only a few years older.

Cao Ding arrived at the city gate and pointed to the moving torches at the ferry crossing: "What is the purpose of that?"

The guard glanced at the ship and said, "General Dang Kou went to Liyang to obtain bows, crossbows and arrows, and is currently unloading them from the ship."

Cao Ding gazed at that spot, slowly nodded, and turned to the head of the guards, saying, "Since it's a transfer of military supplies, why is it being carried out at night? You lead a dozen or so men to investigate and verify the facts."

"Here."

The guard leader selected a group of men who immediately set off on a fast-paced march along the city wall toward the east.

They dared not open the city gates at night, so they had to be lowered down the city walls by ropes tied around their waists.

Cao Ding continued his patrol of the city and saw Cao Cao's younger brother, Cao Bin, leading a group of personal guards to supervise the changing of the guard on the city walls at night.

At this moment, raindrops were falling from the sky, and only the original gate towers and corner towers on the city wall could provide shelter for the officials and soldiers. During this period, wooden sheds were also erected on the city wall every few dozen steps, which could barely provide shelter from the rain and allow the officials and soldiers on night duty to rest.

Cao Bin was also short and stocky. He personally held a torch to light Cao Ding's way, and at that moment he could feel the torch in his hand trembling slightly as it was hit by raindrops the size of beans.

Cao Ding pressed down on the annexation with his left hand and pulled his cloak tighter with his right to keep warm, saying, "Now that Zixiu is locked in a stalemate with the traitor Zhao at Suanzao, I am worried that Yuan Shao may become hesitant and want to wait and see."

"Uncle, you are overthinking it. At this critical juncture, even if Yuan Shao is confused, he will not sit idly by and watch our army decline."

Cao Bin offered a soft word of comfort, but Cao Ding only responded with a sigh.

Cao Bin stopped after escorting Cao Ding to the horse-racing slope. He watched as Cao Ding and his entourage walked up the slope toward the city wall, and then handed the torch in his hand to the guard.

Just then, he felt a cool sensation on the tip of his nose. He instinctively looked up, and then another raindrop hit his cheek, sliding down and seeping into his beard.

Seeing that a considerable amount of autumn rain was about to fall that night, Cao Bin breathed a sigh of relief.

The rain obscured military operations, and the alert level in Puyang was also lower.

Rain began to fall at the ferry crossing in the east of the city. The powerful families, wealthy households, and officials of Yan and Yu provinces who had made connections with Zhao Rong were helping the elderly and children, using light wheelbarrows or carrying poles to transport their personal belongings.

The five transport ships did indeed bring crossbows, arrows, and other military equipment to assist in defense, but the quantity did not match the amount received from the warehouse.

No one cared about this detail anymore, and the men sent by Cao Ding withdrew back to the city after confirming that the crossbows and other military equipment had been unloaded.

More and more people boarded the ship at the dock, and Zhao Rong followed suit, leading more than a hundred soldiers to board the ship.

The five cargo ships were packed to the brim, yet people were still trying to board.

Their valuables have been loaded onto the ship, but the people haven't boarded yet.

At the dock, the Hebei soldiers had removed the footboard, but more people jumped into the icy river and climbed up the tow ropes. On the boat, the Hebei soldiers slashed wildly with their swords, severing outstretched hands.

Some severed fingers that fell onto the deck were so badly injured that they could even jump up due to cramps, and no one paid attention to this detail anymore.

The deck was crowded with people from Yan and Yu provinces. They could only try to huddle and retreat to avoid being hit by the swords and knives wielded by the Hebei soldiers.

In fact, many people from Liangpei did not want to flee, but they had made a lot of money and committed many crimes while following Cao Cao; even if Zhao Ji did not deal with them, the people of Yanzhou would retaliate.

Did the tomb raiders and grave robbers really use all the things they dug up as military supplies and pay the soldiers' wages?

How much money do ordinary soldiers actually earn?

Zhao Ji was able to cover up military pay expenditures by using a grain-based system and an annual salary system for military farmland; how could you expect Cao Cao to honestly pay his soldiers?

If Cao Cao had truly used the unearthed wealth as military pay, things wouldn't have escalated to the point where cloth and grain were used as currency.

While some of this wealth would certainly flow into the hands of soldiers, it would soon be concentrated in the hands of the powerful and wealthy.

In such chaotic times, the prevailing social atmosphere is to value simplicity and abhor extravagance.

They wore fine clothes underneath coarse cloth that had been starched and faded; their homes were furnished with simple and rough utensils, and most of their ill-gotten gains were kept hidden, as they dared not spend or flaunt them.

For example, at this moment, Zhao Rong stood on the mahjong table, looking at the various figures on the deck, and felt that killing these people was too much of a waste.

These people could not have brought all their families with them; they had already scattered and fled.

They only carry a small portion of their valuables with them; the majority are actually hidden in various places.

If they were killed outright, these buried treasures would likely never see the light of day again.

There really isn't that much time for slow torture and interrogation; you get as much as you can, and what you get is what you have.

The five boats, each carrying a torch, gradually rowed towards the north bank.

To meet them, Chunyu Qiong set up a grand bonfire on the shore a dozen miles downstream from Liyang to guide the fleet.

Twenty or thirty miles upstream from Puyangjin, Gan Ning's troops advanced in the rain.

It takes time for rainfall to cause the Yellow River to rise.

Gan Ning couldn't wait any longer. His fleet consisted mostly of small boats and ships, with few warships and not even a decent medium-sized transport vessel.

Therefore, these small boats had no sails and could not catch the wind... but going downstream, with the help of rowing, was enough. More than 500 boats of various types from Gansu and Ningxia, each carrying a torch, glided down the south bank, like a moving fire dragon.

Due to the rain obscuring the view, Yuan's troops on the north bank failed to notice.

Gan Ning personally led the way, wearing no armor, with his left hand holding a half-leather shield and his right arm wrapped in chains, holding a torch in his hand.

The raindrops soaked through his red and green brocade robe.

The more than 3,000 officers and soldiers behind him were mainly from Jing and Yi provinces. At this moment, they had all abandoned their leather and iron armor, and these heavy armors were transported by ship.

These people either wore leather coats or short coarse cloth garments with wooden pieces hanging on their chests as wooden armor.

Even their leather jackets were cut into the shape of a front-opening vest that was easy to take off, so that they could quickly take them off if they fell into the water and wouldn't get stuck and unable to escape.

Around four in the morning, many people in the Cao army's family settlement outside Puyang City had lost control and began collecting timber in preparation for swimming across the Yellow River to the north bank after dawn. Others began bundling reeds.

In the rain, only a minority of people have such awareness of danger and the courage to act; the vast majority of people are still seeking shelter from the rain.

Although I couldn't sleep, I had to wait until dawn and the rain stopped before taking any action.

Previously, Zhao Yun controlled Baima Ford, so Cao Cao's army dared not cross the river on a large scale.

Small-scale river crossings risk being devoured by the people of Hebei.

"They're here! The ship's here!"

Near Puyang Ferry, a boy huddled on a piece of driftwood to avoid the rain saw the lights of the Gansu-Ningxia fleet approaching from the south bank. Overjoyed, he abandoned the driftwood and ran towards the ferry dock.

The dock is more suitable for berthing boats of all sizes, and more and more people are flocking to the dock.

To their surprise, the fleet, led by Gan Ning, did not attempt to cross the river, but instead crashed into the mudflats on the south bank without slowing down.

In autumn, the Yellow River rises, and the mudflats are very close to the embankment.

Some people stood on the shore and shouted, "Are they soldiers under the command of Lord Yuan of Hebei?"

"kill!"

Gan Ning leaped off the boat, ran barefoot for a dozen steps, and then jumped onto the embankment. He hurled his torch at a horrified face, silencing the official instantly.

Gan Ning didn't stop. He threw a torch at an official who was raising his sword to meet him, drew his waist knife with his left hand, and stepped forward. He first used his shield to strike, and then chopped down the other person with a backhand slash.

More and more soldiers climbed onto the embankment and slashed wildly at the crowds on the riverbank, who were filled with hope, disappointment, and horror.

We cannot hold back now; we must quickly defeat the people here and drive them into the civilian settlements to achieve our goal.

In the rain and darkness, only by following these people can you quickly storm into one camp after another!

In the rain, the fire-light matrix formed by Gan Ning and his men advanced and gradually encroached upon the shore.

The knights who disembarked later began to put on their armor, led their horses up the riverbank, and rode in groups of thirty or forty, carrying torches and galloping lightly.

They spread out more than thirty small fire-carrying snakes, which coiled and intertwined like centipedes, causing disturbances outside each camp area, and some even broke into the camp to create chaos.

As the sky brightened slightly, Zhang Liao, who arrived a little later, also joined the battle.

Everywhere were Zhao Ji's officers and soldiers wading through puddles and mud. Because Zhao Ji's troops had undergone a hundred-day closed-camp training in Jinyang before the battle of Chenliu last year, they were called the Jinyang Army or Jin Army by Cao Cao's army.

The Bingzhou Army is short for the Jin Army. At this moment, these Jin Army soldiers joined forces to drive away and capture the families of the Cao Army soldiers whose morale had collapsed and whose order had disintegrated.

These families had completely scattered, and the families could not escape together. Often, the parents would each take their children with them, or the eldest brother or sister would take their younger brothers and sisters with them.

The Jin army's objective was to capture people; capturing even one living person would result in a deduction of one rank in merit.

As for beheading... you must kill a able-bodied young man to be considered a first-class military merit.

Therefore, since the vast majority of people here are women and children, killing them would not yield any additional benefits.

But if they dare to resist, these Jin soldiers will not hold back.

The fierce battle and pursuit continued until noon. When the rain subsided slightly, the Cao army's family camp east of Puyang City completely lost its resistance.

Some of the Jin army cavalry pursued the fleeing soldiers eastward to the east bank of the Pu River, covering a distance of over twenty li, which was the limit of their escape in the rainy night.

However, many of Cao Cao's core family members lived in Puyang City, which was in stark contrast to those outside the city.

Cao Ding and Cao Bin stood in the east city, watching helplessly as the Jin army drove away the people and began to turn back west, completely disregarding them.

At this moment, the Yellow River overflowed, and the water surface was close to the south bank embankment. The boats that Gan Ning had moored on the mudflats had long been washed away.

Gan Ning rode a captured horse, covered with a captured leather coat for warmth, and reined in his horse outside Puyang City. He was disappointed to see that Cao Cao's army inside the city had not made any move.

Zhang Liao was much more relaxed, although he had to share the credit with Gan Ning and also share the jealousy of the veteran officers and soldiers of the Jin army.

However, the officers and soldiers on both sides clearly acted independently, each escorting their own prisoners, without any intention of cooperating in the escort.

When such a large family procession traveled westward and passed through Yan County, how could the more than 20,000 Cao soldiers in the city remain calm?

(End of this chapter)