Gaotang County, located on the south bank of the Yellow River, is also called Gaotang Port.

Because of the geographical location, it was originally quite prosperous, with merchants often coming and going, and there were many merchant ships coming and going in the port.

Now that the war is coming, the people are migrating, and the people are not coming out, and the whole city has no chicken feathers except for the soldiers who come and go, wearing armor, and it looks very solemn and gloomy.

On this day, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Chun, Chen Gong, Chen Deng and others, together with Liu Miao and Tai Shici, carefully explored the ten miles around Gaotang, especially the port, which was the key observation target.

After everyone returned to the city together, Chen Gong took the lead and said: "Liu Taishou, this Gaotang County is easy to attack and difficult to defend!" ”

Chen Deng also nodded on the side: "The city is not very strong, the city walls are not high, and the terrain here is too flat!" ”

"Not bad!" Xiahou Yuan frowned and said: "As we all know, the Youzhou army is the best in the world with cavalry, and the terrain here is flat, if you fight with it in the field, you will definitely be defeated!" ”

"Exactly!" Xiahou Chun also said: "The terrain is flat, this is the number of days, and it cannot be changed." But I didn't expect that there were no defensive facilities at this ferry, and there was not even an arrow tower.

"In this war, either the enemy will be kept out of the harbor and will not be allowed to land, but unfortunately there is not the slightest fortification at the harbor; Either let it land and rely on the city to fight it, and the city walls are too short, and they have been in disrepair for many years, and many of them are aging. So, neither option is the best option! Chen Gong pondered: "The only way to do this is to make up for it as much as possible, and it is right to reduce the loopholes!" ”

Liu Xuan's eyes flashed again and again, and said: "How to make up for it, you have to come up with a charter." ”

Chen Deng glanced at him and said, "First of all, it is naturally the most important place in the port. If you can keep the enemy out of the harbor, it is the best option, so you have to send heavy troops and hurry up to build all kinds of fortifications in the harbor, such as arrow towers, fences, etc., etc. At the same time, the city wall was repaired and more materials were prepared. ”

They discussed it for a few more moments before they came to a conclusion.

Cao Jun and Tao Jun were in charge of the port fortifications, while Liu Xuan's Qingzhou Army was in charge of repairing the city.

When Cao Jun and Tao Jun were in full swing in the port, countless people in Gaotang County were forced to move out of the city on the grounds that the war was approaching and innocent people were inevitably injured, and at the same time, batches of firewood and grass were mixed with various materials and quietly put into the private houses in the city.

Liu Miao did this secretively and meticulously, although Cao and Tao had a lot of eyeliner in the city, but they didn't find anything wrong.

At the same time, an eagle flew out of the county office and flew straight north, carrying a roll of paper on the eagle's legs.

When Ko Yi received a report from Liu Xuan, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he sneered.

"Someone!"

"General!" The soldier walked through the door, saluted, and waited for orders.

"Is the Sailor in place?" Koji asked.

"It's already in place!" The soldier replied.

Koji Yi nodded, his majestic body stood up, and shouted: "Order, within half an hour, the army must be assembled at the dock, and those who violate the order will be killed!" ”

"No!"

Koji Yi waved back the soldiers, turned around and entered, and came out again after a while, already wearing a strong and stubborn one!

"Come on, prepare the horses!"

Koji Yi pushed open the gate and shouted: "The guard battalion is assembled, and go to the dock with General Ben!" ”

"No!"

Thundered

The sound of horses' hooves rumbled, and the whole plain trembled.

Under the leadership of the general, a large army hurriedly walked out of the barracks, like a hundred rivers converging, quickly gathered together, and then under the leadership of the general, quickly looked at the dock and rushed to the pier.

Koji Yi took five hundred guards, stepping on the early spring sun, and soon arrived at the dock.

"General Zhou!"

Koji Yi turned over and dismounted, and exchanged fists with Zhou Tai, who came up, and said, "General Zhou came at the right time!" ”

"I've just arrived, too, but it's only been an hour." Zhou Taidao: "Are you going to start?" ”

Lu Yi nodded, and said solemnly: "Please prepare General Zhou's sailors, and after half an hour, the army will board the ship and march south to Qingzhou!" ”

"Good!" Zhou Tai laughed: "I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" ”

Half an hour later, the elite army of 50,000 Jizhou regiments gathered at the wharf, no one was late, Ko Yi first said two words, boosted morale, and then waved his hand, 50,000 horses under the command of the general, lined up in a neat line, and boarded 800 iron warships at a very fast speed.

Everything was ready, Lu Yi and Zhou Tai stood at the bow of the boat, waved their hands violently, and between the banners, a loud shout came out: "Open up!" ”

Eight hundred warships sailed out of the harbor one after another, lined up in arrays, and headed rapidly south.

"General, look!"

Xiahou Yuan was urging the soldiers to build a water village, and suddenly, the soldiers around him screamed, Xiahou Yuan couldn't help but look up, and his face suddenly changed drastically!

"Not good!"

Xiahou Yuan shouted: "The army is assembled, quickly!" Fast! ”

Xiahou Chun arrived here at the same time as Chen Gong at this time, and when he looked at it, he suddenly became anxious.

"Fuck! What a fleet! Xiahou Chun shook his fist fiercely: "The enemy army is coming so fast, the water village has not yet been built!" ”

Chen Gong looked around, only to see the entire port, the water village has just been established less than half, many defense facilities, arrow towers or something, are only semi-finished products, it is difficult to play a real role at all, and he is immediately very anxious.

"Someone, spread the news to Gaotang City!" Xiahou Yuan ordered: "Order the army to assemble, the archers prepare rockets, and the sword and shield soldiers prepare to cover the archers!" ”

The appearance of the Jizhou fleet made the entire port chaotic for a moment, and under the command of the Xiahou brothers, they finally stabilized their positions, relying on various semi-finished fortifications to line up the military formation, and waited for the battle.

When that huge fleet broke through the mist and completely appeared in Cao Jun's sight, everyone couldn't help but gasp!

In the faint sunlight, the steel hull glowed with a faint glow, and in the steel fence on the side of the ship, rows of infantry, cavalry, crossbowmen and other soldiers wearing fine armor could be faintly seen, standing firmly on the ship, two large flags several feet high were waving in the wind, and the words "koji" and "zhou" were written on them.

On the sides of the iron ship, there are densely packed fixed steel giant crossbows, and on the deck, more massive steel machinery stands, and the faint cold light emits out, and a rush of killing power makes people's hearts tremble. The mast of the ship, when the sails are folded, is simply an arrow tower wrapped in iron sheets, and the tower is five stories high, and several giant crossbows are fixed on each floor!

The whole big ship is a war machine!

Hideous and vicious!

It's like a mythical beast!

Chen Gong looked at the slowly approaching fleet in a daze, and said in his mouth: "The northerners are not good at water, why are the enemy soldiers not the slightest bit uncomfortable?" This ship is really an iron ship, and that giant crossbow is also made of iron, and what is that monster?"

Brother Xiahou's faces gradually turned pale as the fleet slowly approached.

"What to do, brother!" Xiahou Yuan looked at Xiahou Chun with a sideways face.

"Retreat!" Xiahou Chun gritted his teeth and said: "This battle can't be fought!" Can't fight at all! ”

After saying that, Xiahou Chun waved his hand and immediately ordered the army to retreat, Xiahou Yuan grabbed Chen Gong, who was still distracted, turned over his horse, and galloped away.

Xiahou Chun ordered the army to retreat, and the entire 40,000 horses and horses breathed a sigh of relief, and with the two generals, they fled as if they were heading for Gaotang City.

It's horrible!

All the soldiers believed that if they really fought the low-poly steel fleet in this unfortified port, they would die an ugly death!

People's ships are iron ships, and iron ships mean that they will not catch fire, and no matter how much the rocket is prepared, it will be useful! Xiahou Chun originally knew that the Youzhou Navy Division was equipped with iron boats, but he thought to himself, the iron boat is a rare thing, the Youzhou army must not be equipped with too much, and it may not be willing to send it out in the real war, so he still let the soldiers prepare a large number of rockets, fire oil and other things to set fire, but at this time, at a glance, nearly a thousand big ships, all of them are iron ships!

And all of them are iron ships like fortresses of war!

The towering mast crossbow tower, the cold and faint steel crossbow, Xiahou Chun can even imagine the tragic situation of his own army after the battle!

Fighting here is an act of sending people to death.

So he retreated without hesitation!

Chen Gong was caught by Xiahou Yuan, and the bumps of the war horse finally brought him back to his senses.

"General Xiahou, is this a retreat?" Chen Gongdao.

"Exactly." Xiahou Yuanleng replied with such a blue and black face.

"It's good to retreat, it's good to retreat!" Chen Gong said: "If the fortifications have not been built, they will not be able to stop the enemy army at all!" ”

Xiahou Yuan nodded wordlessly.

"In which direction are you retreating?" Chen Gong asked again.

"Gaotang City, relying on the city wall, fight with it!" Xiahou Yuan was concise and to the point.

"No!" Chen Gong was shocked: "No! Gao Tang can't keep it, he can't keep it at all! ”

Xiahou Yuan said fiercely: "Why can't you hold it!?" In the water, we can't do anything about the iron boat, and when we get to the shore, can the iron boat also go ashore?! ”

"Iron ships can't go ashore. But does the general know the role of the monster on the bow deck? Chen Gong said: "I thought about it for a long time, and finally I roughly understood the role of that iron-skinned monster!" ”

"What does it do? Can it be used for siege?! Xiahou Yuan was taken aback and said urgently.

"Yes, according to my opinion, that thing must have been used for siege!" Chen Gong said categorically: "With the city wall of Gaotang County, how can you stop that kind of iron-skinned monster?!" ”

Although Chen Gong didn't fully understand the role of the siege machine, he probably had some guesses.

"Once the city is broken, Youzhou Iron Cavalry will be rampant! With such a flat terrain, how can our army escape the slaughter! ”

Chen Gong said quickly: "The only way to do this is to save your strength, notify General Li Dian and others, give up Qingzhou, and return to Yanzhou!" ”

"It's not going to work!" Xiahou Yuan shouted: "The lord ordered me to take Qingzhou, how can you disobey?!" ”

"This is not disobedience!" Chen Gong shouted: "Youzhou has such siege equipment, which city in the entire Qingzhou can stop it?!" can't stop it at all, Qingzhou has no giant city, no passes, and if you insist on occupying Qingzhou, you can only lose the strength that the lord has accumulated so hard in vain! General Xiahou, you have to think about the hegemony of the lord, and you can't just focus on the immediate gains and losses! ”

Xiahou Yuan was silent.

Seeing that Xiahou Yuan was a little loose, Chen Gong suddenly struck while the iron was hot and said, "I know that it is a shame to retreat without a fight as a general. But we retreat without a fight for the sake of the lord's hegemony! Besides, you can make a compromise. The general can lead the army to hide first, and then observe in the dark to see if the enemy's steel monster is really powerful, if it is powerful, retreat immediately, if it is a silver-like wax spearhead, it is not too late to make a decision! ”

Xiahou Yuan's brows suddenly stretched, and he said, "That's it!" ”

Immediately, Xiahou Yuan pulled out the horse's head, grabbed Chen Gong, approached Xiahou Chun, and said what he had just said as he did while galloping. Xiahou Chun groaned slightly, and then adopted the opinion, so he led the army to make a turn and gallop into the distance.

(To be continued)