Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 669 Dongting
When Liu Bei and Xu Shu were discussing, it was the seventh day when Wang Zheng led his army across the river.

Guan Yu's sudden appearance was beyond Wang Zheng's expectation. Out of certain considerations, he did not go out to fight with the generals immediately, but forbearance. This brought the Jiangling area north of the Yangtze River into a stage of confrontation between the attackers and defenders.

But in the south of the Yangtze River, the struggle between the Jing and Yang armies has entered a fierce state.

To the east of Wuling County, Dongting Lake.

Dongting Lake was originally called Yunmeng in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Meng means "lake" in the Chu dialect. The so-called Yunmeng refers to a vast lake like clouds. Yunmeng is divided into two parts, the north and the south. The north of the Yangtze River has become a swamp area, and the south of the Yangtze River has remained a vast lake, so two new nouns have been derived, one is Yunmeng Lake and the other is Dongting Lake.

But even if it is divided into two, it is still the second largest freshwater lake in China. It is adjacent to the four ports of the Yangtze River, and it is connected to the Xiangjiang River, the Zijiang River, the Yuanjiang River, the Lijiang River and the Miluo River. The widest point is more than tens of miles. There is a saying: Dongting is eight hundred miles away, and the jade plate is full of mercury.

Dongting Lake is narrow and long, and it looks vast and vast, with a vast expanse of blue. Under the sun, the lake surface is shimmering like floating light and gold. The mountains near and far are surrounded by arches.

There is a small island in the south of the lake, named Dingkou, which is located at the junction of Yuanjiang River and Dongting. Thousands of years later, Yue Fei, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, quelled the rebellion of Hunan Rebels Yang Mo The only stain in my life) is the Dongting Lake that I entered from here.

The island is lush and lush with trees, and the shadows of the trees are reflected in the water and spread with the waves. Reeds and Artemisia canopy grow in the low-lying areas. Countless wild birds float here, playing in the water and pecking at food, but they always raise their long necks from time to time. Turn left and right, looking into the distance warily.

Where they looked, away from the shore of the lake, many camps had just been set up not long ago. Looking down from a height, you can see that this camp that stretches for miles is divided into two parts.One is larger and is below; the other is smaller and is above.The two parts are separated by a stream. The larger part of the Chinese army has a general flag with the word "yellow"; while the smaller part has a general flag with the word "king".

Although the two camps are not too small, they are very quiet. Even if there are soldiers entering and leaving in line, the noise is not too loud, but even so, whether the infantry patrols or drills, they are still full of killing spirit on the battlefield. He and Xi Chong were completely clean, and even those birds with immature intelligence seemed to know the danger and dared not fly over here.

This is where the Huang Zhong Department of the Xuzhou Army is stationed.

Dongting Lake has a radius of [-] li and spans more than a dozen counties in Chu, including Linxiang, Linyuan and Hanshou. Therefore, it can be said that tens of thousands of troops from both sides have gathered. I, you in me, have formed a criss-crossing trend, the so-called "pull one hair and move the whole body", that's exactly what it means.

But the battle on the Dongting Lake side actually affects not only this place, but also determines the success or failure of the Jiangling Royal Government Department, and even life and death!
Xu Fang's troops under the city of Linyuan were originally a feint attack, as long as they could pull Hanshou's Wenpin army into it, it would be considered a success, even without all of them, Linyuan is also an important town, as long as Xu Fang stays under the city, Wenpin will come Considering the need to "take care of this" and not "lose the other", it is inevitable that they will not dare to come out in full force. This is actually tantamount to sharing part of the pressure on Wang Zheng.

But Huang Zhong's side is different. His mission is to bypass Hanshou from the Dongting Lake side and take it as the throat of the Tang Dynasty, so as to block the way for Wenpin's army to return to Jiangling. This is a real sword. In a frontal battle, there may even be more than one fierce battle. The attack on the lower city is considered a success, and the person who can stop it is a victory. In terms of importance, this is the most important thing.

It is precisely because of this that before Wang Zheng left Nanchang, he ordered Xiapi to send troops to the front again, and it was Huang Zhong's department that Wang Xiong's department that arrived the latest wanted to reinforce.

In the handsome account at this time.

Wang Xiong, who just arrived yesterday, took out a military newspaper he just got from Linxiang, handed it to Huang Zhong, and said eagerly: "General Huang, this is an urgent military document just sent by Captain Wei Yan. The Jingzhou Army seems to be returning home." The arrow was so sharp that it not only pulled back a lot of the army and horses on Linyuan's side, but also launched a fierce offensive against Luoxian County from morning to night. If Zhou Taibu hadn't heard the news and rushed to help, I'm afraid Captain Wei Yan might not have can hold on"

"The enemy's actions are clearly intended to cut off the general's retreat. It seems that Wenpin's army is preparing to return to Jiangling to help Jiangling. The situation is urgent. The last general came here today to discuss this matter with General Huang. How should we deal with it?"

"Don't worry, there are only a few thousand soldiers in Luo County, but with the ability of Wen Zhang, he will be able to hold on to the city."

Compared to Wang Xiong's gaffe, Huang Zhong's expression was calm, he just waved his hand and said: "What else is there to discuss about this matter? As subjects, how can we just sit back and watch the lord fall into danger? The current plan is to send troops Cross the river, take Zuo Tang immediately, and block Wenpin's army for the lord!"

Hearing this, Wang Xiong's face softened a little. He had a good impression of Huang Zhong. After all, the Han Dynasty favored martial arts. Naturally, Huang Zhong, a brave and ten thousand enemy like Huang Zhong, was more respected in the army. He was also a veteran of Qingzhou. During the Battle of Lu'an earlier, Huang Zhong and Wu Sheng formed a relationship, and they have been at odds ever since. In this case, Wang Xiong's perception of Huang Zhong has also changed.

But Wang Xiong also joined the cavalry and slashing system. With the military order, Wang Xiong will naturally go all out, especially in the current situation where he is facing a strong enemy and the battle is urgent. Hearing Huang Zhong's words, he immediately discussed seriously with him, "What General Huang said is true, and I think so too. It is imminent for our army to cross the lake, and there is no need to delay it. After thinking about it, there are two major concerns.”

"Oh?" Huang Zhong asked sideways, "What concerns?"

"First, Dongting Lake and other big lakes have strong currents. In addition, there have been several heavy rains since the beginning of summer, and the water level has risen a lot. Many of the small boats you collected before are not suitable for riding. In such a situation, you It is not suitable for me to cross the lake with two parts at the same time, I have to choose one first."

"Hmm..." Huang Zhong touched the short beard under his lips, thought for a moment, but he didn't comment, he just asked, "What's the second concern?"

"General Huang, don't forget that most of our soldiers are from the north, and not many can get water," Wang Xiong said, "Although there are fishermen who can be requisitioned, if the news leaks out, the enemy on the other side will get the news in advance, and they will soon I have taken precautions, I am afraid it will not be too easy for our army to go ashore smoothly."

"What did I think it was?" Huang Zhong laughed, waved his hands and said, "In my opinion, these two problems can be easily solved, so there is nothing to worry about."

Wang Xiong was startled, and then asked: "How do you say that?"

"Don't forget that we are not fighting alone." Huang Zhong smiled and said, "Before crossing the lake, go directly to Wei Yan and Zhou Tai and ask them to launch a counterattack in Luo County and Linxiang. , to attract the attention of the enemy army, so that the enemy will only focus on responding to the offensive from the south and west, and will not have a rear, so our army can cross the lake at night and go ashore smoothly, isn't it easy?"

"Let's talk about your first concern. Not to mention this, there is no problem crossing the lake separately. As for this order?"

Huang Zhong glanced at Wang Xiong with a half-smile, and said calmly: "Lieutenant Wang came to help our troops, since I will lead the troops first, I will check the depth of the lake on the other side for you."

Wang Xiong's two concerns can actually be divided into two.

The second concern is indeed justified, so Huang Zhong immediately gave a clear solution. As for the first one, in Huang Zhong's view, it is really selfish!
Even though the small island they are on is the inlet of Dongting Lake, the lake is the narrowest and the water is the most gentle, but after all, it is far from being comparable to ordinary small rivers and streams. It takes at least half an hour to cross to land on the opposite bank about.

The longer it takes to cross the lake, the greater the possibility of being discovered by the enemy on the other side, which also means the greater the risk of being attacked by the enemy halfway. Whoever crosses the river first will naturally have a greater possibility of casualties. Wang Xiong thought of this To put it bluntly, isn't it just that you don't want the Heavenly Army in the headquarters, or the Qingzhou Army to go first?

Although Huang Zhong is not a person like Guo Jian who has insight into people's hearts, is skilled and scheming, but he has lived for most of his life, and he is an old man, so how can he not see Wang Xiong's little thought?But he didn't bother to know each other in general.

Sure enough, as soon as his words fell, Wang Xiong immediately followed suit and said, "No wonder my lord is so trustworthy. General Huang really deserves to be a fierce general. He sees the enemy's situation as a smooth road. The general really admires it. Now that these two problems are solved , the general no longer has any worries, the general will dispatch how to cross the river next, and the general will follow orders."

"I have already started preparing for this matter. From the first day of landing on the island, I have dispatched troops to confiscate fishing boats. Now the search is basically completed. How about crossing the lake tomorrow night?"

"Of course, the sooner the better, by the way, General Huang, how about replying to Wei Yan and Zhou Tai, asking them to cooperate with the cover?"

"We are all the lord's ministers, and no one wants to see the Wenpin army successfully return to Jiangling, so that the lord will be caught in a pincer attack." Huang Zhong waved his hand: "They should also hope that we will cross the lake as soon as possible and seize Zuotang. Stop Wenpin, since that's the case, please ask him to cooperate and cover, there will be no difficulty, I will write a letter later and order Kuaiqi to send it to inform."

"It's so good." Wang Xiong let out a long breath: "Then we will cross the lake tomorrow night?"

"It's a word."

After the military discussion, Wang Xiong didn't stay longer in Huang Zhong's camp, he got up to leave immediately, although he felt that this man was not very powerful, assuming that the other party was Wang Zheng's immediate predecessor, Huang Zhong sent him out of the camp with a smile on his face.

After returning to the camp, Huang Zhong summoned his generals, briefly relayed the content of the military discussion, and then selected the first candidate from among the generals.

What kind of general is there, what kind of soldiers can be brought out. Huang Zhong is old and strong, and all his subordinates are also brave.

Although the crowd was overjoyed, Huang Zhong's eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one, but it was difficult to make a decision for a while.

Without him, his headquarters are all swordsmen and archers of special arms, and the soldiers are outstanding in combat power, and the generals who can reach the middle-level positions like Dubo are naturally even more so. It is rare to have an outstanding archery skill, but.
But it is not good at water!

However, in order to catch people by surprise, they could only choose to cross the lake at night. Under such circumstances, the vanguard in charge of grabbing the beach must not only be brave, but more importantly, be cautious and able to adapt to the situation. There are not many people like that .

After pondering for a moment, Huang Zhong shook his head secretly, so he had to turn his eyes closer to Guo Lu, the captain of his own army.

Speaking of the hostility between Huang Zhong and Wu Sheng, in fact, a large part of it was because Guo Lu was reckless and reckless at the time. From this incident, it can be seen that although Guo Lu was the closest to Huang Zhong because of his time with Huang Zhong For a long time, he received a lot of guidance, and he was firmly ranked first among the generals in terms of martial arts, but in terms of temperament, he was not a person who could take on important tasks.

But Guo Lu is young. The advantage of young people is that they are qualified to make mistakes, and they also have time to correct and improve. After these years of experience, Guo Lu today has indeed made a lot of progress.

Compared with the past, although his intelligence is still mediocre, but his appearance has become more cautious and calm.

Moreover, Guo Lu was not useless in the first place. He had one advantage that Huang Zhong admired, that is, his character was firm and resilient, which was an extremely valuable quality for a soldier.

A resolute general, if the Shangguan has an order, he will go all out and work hard for Wancheng unswervingly. Such a person may disappear from the crowd when the army is fighting a smooth battle, and his performance will be mediocre, but if he meets a strong When the enemy encounters a cruel tug-of-war, they may do things that those heroes and wise generals cannot do, and make miraculous achievements.

Staring at Guo Lu for a moment, Huang Zhong suddenly shouted: "Guo Lu!"

"The last general is here." Guo Lu calmly stepped forward.

"In the battle of crossing the lake tomorrow night, do you dare to be the vanguard?"

The generals in the tent turned their heads, Guo Lu knelt on his knees and said loudly, "But follow the general's orders."

"Okay, then tomorrow I will use you as the pioneer!"

After appointing Guo Lu as the vanguard, Huang Zhong organized another battalion and selected 800 elite warriors, that is, all the elite swordsmen and archers of all the second-tier arms in his headquarters, and selected them for the second time from these [-] people. If there are brothers, keep one person; if there are no brothers in the family, don't, this is to be used as a dead soldier.

Finally got [-] people.

It can be seen that Huang Zhong attaches great importance to this battle. If he has the player rights of Wangzheng and can distribute experience, he will have to upgrade all 500 players to Tier [-] before he can stop.

After the selection was made, Huang Zhong immediately ordered the fireman to put down a dozen cattle and sheep, let them eat to their full, and prepared good wine, but limited to three bowls per person.Teach Guo Lu to take them to rest quickly, and start crossing the lake as soon as the reply from Linxiang and Luoxian arrives.

(End of this chapter)