Han Xiang

Chapter 623: Long Xiang digs a trench to hide Cheng Yu

The Xu capital is connected in all directions in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and there is no geographical condition for ambush at the dangerous passes of Xiongguan.

Fortunately, Cheng Yu has a limited number of moves, so Long Xiang is confident that he can fight head-on.

Taishi Ci and Qiao Min acted very quickly and successfully blocked the two cities of Changshe and Yanling. They also left hundreds of soldiers to monitor outside the city.

Because General Longxiang's order came in a hurry, the bridge workers had no time to take away the excess cement and discarded the excess building materials on the same place, so they took the craftsmen and Taishi Ci to Yingyin.

Before Taishi Ci led his troops to join them, Long Xiang organized craftsmen to build archery towers, beacon towers and other facilities near Tongshui, near Yingyin, as if he would not give up Yingyin.

As luck would have it, the guards were lax again.

Dozens of the previously captured prisoners of war took advantage of their unpreparedness, jumped into the river and swam to the west bank to escape, taking Long Xiang's military information away with them.

Whether Cheng Yu believed it or not, Xu Du and Ying Yinshi were sealed, and among the dozens of prisoners of war who escaped, there were those who participated in the entire construction process.

The construction of arrow towers and beacon towers was a show by Long Xiang to confuse his opponents.

Taishi Ci's previous analysis was correct. If he wanted to deal with Cao Cao's elite cavalry, temporary fortifications needed to be built to slow down the impact. However, the concrete fortifications could not be moved, so Long Xiang planned a cunning plan and deliberately fixed the battlefield at the lower reaches of Tong River.

When Taishi Ci arrived, Long Xiang immediately crossed the river and headed west.

He quickly decided on a location, which was the shortest route from Linying to Xudu. At that time, a sentinel came to report that Cheng Yu was also crossing the river, Yingshui, a large river southwest of Linying.

Due to time constraints, Long Xiang ordered all the soldiers in the army to cooperate with the craftsman battalion in the construction.

No terrain advantage?Long, with tens of thousands of engineers, can create his own advantages.

A low concrete wall to prevent cavalry attacks was built in the area a few miles away from Tongshui, while trenches were dug two or three miles away to the left and right for concealment of ambushes.

In a war with hot weapons, trenches are a routine operation. Longxiang was used in the era of cold weapons, and might only be able to conduct concealed ambush.

Except for the soldiers on the front behind the low wall to lure the enemy, the rest of Long Xiang's troops had to be hidden in the trenches, and then covered with grass as a cover. Even if Cheng Yu had a telescope, it would be difficult to find them.

Although time was tight and the task was heavy, Long Xiang could not withstand the large number of people. Half a day was more than enough for each person to find a hiding place for themselves, not to mention that Cheng Yu was in a hurry to return reinforcements and would definitely rest and replenish supplies when he arrived at Linying.

The Huainan soldiers also had time to rest and recuperate while working. However, in order to ensure that the trenches were not discovered by Cao Jun's scouts, Long Xiang ordered each battalion not to light fires for cooking, and all soldiers could only eat dry food while hiding.

In late March, Cheng Yu's army arrived at Linying.

On the way back to Xudu, new news came from the rear from time to time, as if Long Xiang had already leaked the truth with his 3 men.

The latest information Cheng Yu got was that Long Xiang was setting up defenses in Yingyin.

Yingyin is an important transit point for military supplies in Hebei, and it is also close to Tongshui to facilitate waterway evacuation.

Cheng Yu was also suspicious of Long Xiang's defense against Ying Yin, but it was very reasonable to infer from the results.

Xu's capital city had strong troops. Even if Xiahou Dun was unfortunately seriously injured, Long Xiang thought that with those [-] or [-] soldiers, he would not be able to shake the capital city.

And guarding Yingyin can block a grain road, and if you can't hold on, you can evacuate through the waterway.

Thinking of this, Cheng Yu was sure that Long Xiang was helping Guan Yu. He believed that Long Xiang's move was a containment, similar to Liu Bei's uprising in Runan during the Battle of Guandu.

When Long Xiang led his troops to attack Xinji, the total number of troops garrisoned in Xudu was more than [-]. Cao Cao knew that the military situation was not taken seriously, so Cheng Yu, who volunteered for military service, did not take it seriously either, and only brought more than [-] men from his own army to directly return for reinforcements.

After Cao Cao pacified Hebei, the two major forces in Henan and Hebei fought openly and covertly. Although Cheng Yu was from Dongjun, Yanzhou, he failed to enter the core circle of the Yingchuan gentry. What was even more fatal was that he held military power.Cheng Yu originally planned to help Cao Cao defeat Jingxiang, so he handed over the military power and took a casual position to avoid disaster for his descendants. However, on the way back to the army, he received information that shocked him.

Suddenly, it seemed that more than [-] troops were not enough, but they had no shame in sending people to ask Cao Cao for additional troops.

After much deliberation along the way, the only option was to unite with the Xudu garrison and achieve victory with superior force.

Cheng Yu was afraid that the negative news would affect Cao Cao, so he withheld all the information he received and planned to report it all after defeating Long Xiang.

After stopping for a night's rest in Linying and preparing to march towards Xudu, Cheng Yu, who was cautious, sent sentinels to conduct reconnaissance and found that 3000 people were arrayed with their backs to the Tong River.

Cheng Yu was overjoyed when he heard the news and hurriedly ordered the army to set off. He planned to eat the three thousand and then cross the river to Xudu.

From previous intelligence analysis, Cheng Yu believed that Long Xiang was building an archery tower in Yingyin, but was unable to build it in the entire Tishui basin. Perhaps out of fear that he would cross the river from the lower reaches, he took the initiative to send people across the river to intercept on the other side.

Instead of attacking half way across the river, instead of forming a formation with your back against the water?
Does he think he is Han Xin?madness!
With ridicule of Long Xiang, Cheng Yu led his troops to march quickly to the battlefield, but the 3000 people still stayed in place.

Seeing the friendly word "Cao" on the opponent's flag, Cheng Yu took the initiative to go into battle and wanted to persuade him to surrender with his words.

Cao Xing held his spear in front of the formation, with no fear in his eyes.

After Cheng Yu looked him over, he thought that this man was ordinary, no wonder he was 'sold' by Long Xiang, and then he held up his hands and advised: "Seeing my ten thousand troops coming, he can still stand firm, which is quite courageous." , I don’t know who the last name is?”

"Say my name and you will be shocked."

Cao Xing smiled contemptuously, patted his waist to adjust, and said meaningfully: "Xiahou Dun's left eye was shot blind by my general. If you want to forcefully cross the river today, be careful!"

"It's you?"

Cheng Yu's gentle expression immediately stiffened, thinking that Xiahou Dun's enemies would die if they were afraid of surrendering, but in line with the idea of ​​subduing the enemy without fighting, he still reminded him in good faith:
"Since General Cao has done great service for Long Xiang, why was he sent here to seek death? He formed a formation with his back to the water, leaving no way for himself to escape, and planned to annihilate his entire army here? Do you really think you are Han Xin?"

"Hmph, how will you know if you don't try?"

Cao Xing's disdainful expression made Cheng Yu's face change greatly, and he pointed at him and shouted angrily: "This man is arrogant, does not understand the art of war, and is looking for death. I will capture you to see General Xiahou."

"You don't understand the art of war? You have fallen into my general's trap."

Cao Xing smiled disdainfully, then spread out his palms to make a hook. The scene was extremely sarcastic: "Don't believe it? Come here."

"A common man, using clumsy tactics to deceive me? Cheng's trick is your ancestor."

Cheng Yu had just observed during the march that there was no ambush within a few miles, so he waved his hand forward and shouted loudly: "The whole army attacks, no one is left behind!"

"Prepare to change the formation and raise the flag."

Cao Xing commanded as he retreated, and the soldiers behind him also retreated upon hearing the sound, revealing the low wall hidden behind the crowd.

Cheng Yu twitched his lips when he saw this, thinking that Cao Xing was not a real idiot after all. It turned out that defense fortifications had been deployed in advance, but the immovable fortifications were of limited use.

You will die today, I said.

While Cheng Yu was stroking his beard and sneering, there was suddenly a loud killing sound from the left and right, and there seemed to be countless soldiers, who were shouting and coming to kill here.

No, wasn't there anyone just now?Where did they come from?

(End of this chapter)