Jingzhou, Xinye.

This county town north of Fancheng is strategically important.

From Xinye to the north, march along the north of the confusion, less than 100 miles, you can reach Wancheng, the north gate of the Nanyang Basin.

From Xinye to the east along Bishui, through Biyang County can enter Runan County, and then along Rushui to the north, you can make a detour to reach Xudu.

In the Liu Biao era, Zhang Xiu of Nanyang County was once used as the north gate of Gongwei Jingxiang.

Since Zhang Xiu's surrender to Cao, Xinye County has become a Jingzhou barrier to the north to resist Cao's army.

Now, Cao Ying's army has returned to Luoyang in the north, and Xinye is garrisoned by Liu Biao's old general.

A few days ago, the 60,000 Jingzhou troops of the former general Liu Feng crossed the Hanshui River north and surrounded Xinye County in one fell swoop.

Liu Feng wanted to go north to the Central Plains, and Xinye County at his doorstep was the first nail he had to remove.

Shinno South Castle.

Wen Ping looked at the Jingzhou military camp a few miles away, stretching for miles.

On the knife-like face, there is a complex and dignified color.

Although the enemy is six times larger than himself, Wen Ping does not have the slightest fear, he has full confidence in his ability, with 10,000 people, it is easy for him to defend the fortified city of Xinye.

What Wenpin is really worried about is not whether he can hold Xinye.

The first general hurriedly went to the city and arched his hand: "General Wen, the reconnaissance cavalry returns, and the thief will Wei Yan command 5,000 troops and occupy Bijinyi to the east." ”

The person who spoke was named Deng Ping, and his father's name was Deng Ji, who was originally a subordinate general under Liu Biao, and was captured by Cao Ying many years ago.

Deng is the surname of Xinye, and in order to win the hearts of the people, Cao Ying used Deng Ping, the son of Deng Ji, as the deputy general of Wenzhi to help him defend Xinye.

"So fast, it seems that my guess is really good." Wen Ping's expression became more and more solemn.

Hijin-eup is a small town east of Shinye, by the water, and is the only way to Biyang.

Capturing such a small city did not help much for the siege of Xinye itself, but at present, Liu Feng ordered the general Wei Yan to capture the city with 5,000 people, and his intention was already very obvious.

Liu Feng's move is clearly an attempt to enter Runan in the east and attack Xudu by a detour!

At present, the field soldiers and horses of the imperial court have basically been deployed on various fronts from west to east, and the number of defenders on the Xudu side is limited, and they are all second-line soldiers and horses who have not experienced any major battles.

If Liu Feng's troops enter Xudu, even if he does not have enough troops to capture Xudu, the symbolic surname of his move will inevitably cause a huge shock to the Central Plains, and its impact must not be underestimated.

This is where Wenpin is really worried.

"General Wen, what should we do now?" Deng Ping said anxiously.

Wen Ping was silent for a long time, and sighed: "If Xu Du is lost, the general trend will be suspended." You quickly send someone to sneak out of the siege and go to Wancheng to report to General Cao Zilian and ask him to deal with it quickly. ”

"Whoa."

………………………… North of Xinye City, Jingzhou Military Camp.

In the big tent, Liu Feng sat upright.

A few days before the case, several disgraced and bloodied soldiers of Cao were being pressed on their shoulders and kneeling on the ground.

After glancing at these prisoners under the stairs for a few moments, Liu Feng asked, "Tell me honestly, what order did Wen Zhongye give you?" ”

"Phew!"

An enemy soldier who looked like a leader glared at Liu Feng fiercely and spat bloody spit on the ground.

The Jingzhou soldiers on the left and right were furious, and immediately slapped their fists and slashed their heads and faces.

"Stop." Liu Feng stopped his subordinates in time, and in the face of this rude pawn, his face became more and more peaceful.

He looked appreciative and smiled slightly: "It's a man." In fact, even if you don't say it, I know what Wen Zhongye sent you to do. ”

The enemy glanced at Liu Feng hatefully, but was still silent.

"If I'm not mistaken, Wen Zhongye already knows that I plan to attack Xudu, so he sent you to fight your way out of the encirclement and report to Cao Hong's house."

Hearing this, the enemy's expression was shocked.

A pawn is a pawn, Liu Feng showed his heart after a little temptation.

Liu Feng laughed and said disdainfully: "Even if Cao Hong gets the information, it's useless, the army of Dongwu Zhou Lang is already on the way to capture Xudu, and my two armies are attacking from east to west, even if Cao Hong has three heads and six arms, how can he stop us." ”

The pawn was obviously shocked by Liu Feng's words, and his originally resentful expression gradually became a little anxious.

"I, Liu Fengping, like tough guys the most, come here, untie them, and let them go back to Xinye."

Although the left and right pro-troops were reluctant, they could only loosen the ties of those enemy soldiers.

A few Cao Jun's pawns, who were originally holding the heart of death, actually escaped death at this time, and their expressions were suddenly surprised and suspicious.

Liu Feng said lightly: "After you go back, tell General Wen Zhongye that your first uncle Liu Jingsheng treated him well, and Brother Zide always told me before his death, saying that Wen Zhongye is a loyal and righteous person."

Therefore, I hope that Wen Zhongye will stop aiding and abusive, and if he can realize it as soon as possible and submit to me, I will reuse it. Otherwise, the destruction of Xinye City is the time when his Wen family is destroyed. ”

Liu Feng's words, in addition to luring surrender, he was also deeply afraid of deterrence.

Those soldiers didn't dare to squeak, but silently came out of the big tent.

"What do you think, sir?" After letting go of a few enemy soldiers, Liu Feng's gaze turned to Pang Tong, who was smiling and silent.

Pang Tong smiled and said: "Wen Ping wants to ask Cao Hong for help and let him lead the army south to Xinye, only in this way can we prevent our army from making a detour to attack Xinye, this is certain." ”

Pang Tong's words are exactly what Liu Feng meant.

Earlier, Wei Yan's capture of Biyangyi was a suspicious plan they had discussed, in order to create a false impression of attacking Xudu.

As for the Eastern Wu side, they have just arrived to get information, Zhou Yu's 70,000 Wu troops have gone out of Hefei, and now they have captured Yingkou, and there is a great tendency to bypass Shouchun and go north along the Yingshui to attack Xudu.

The dispatch of troops by Eastern Wu is exactly the "external force" that Pang Tong said before.

In Pang Tong's view, it is still unknown whether Zhou Yu really has the intention of attacking Xu Du. But it doesn't matter how determined Zhou Yu is, the important thing is that the dispatch of troops by Eastern Wu did pose a threat to Xu Du.

In this way, it is enough to create a momentum of the Sun-Liu Alliance to attack Xu Du, whether it is for Sun Quanfang or Liu Feng's side, this momentum can be used to make a big fuss.

"Cao Hong has 30,000 soldiers and 5,000 tigers and leopards, as long as we show weakness, we will be able to lead him south to relieve the siege of Xinye."

Liu Feng stared at the map, a sneer on the corner of his mouth.

Pang Tong leaned closer, his finger pointing at the map, his eyebrows full of confidence and smirk, "The snake will come out of the hole, lord, now is the time to unveil our secret weapon." ”

……………………………… Nanyang, confusing water.

This water originates in the Funiu Mountains in the north of Nanyang, flows south through Wancheng, Fuyang, and Xinye, and finally joins the Hanshui River west of Fancheng.

The entire Nanyang County belongs, except for Wancheng and other counties built near the water, such as Bowang, Xi'e, Jianyang, Chaoyang and other counties, most of which are distributed near the east and west wings of the water.

Controlling the water is equivalent to controlling the entire Nanyang County.

It is located on the west bank of the water, less than 30 miles away from Xinye County.

In the early morning of this day, an army of ironclad and banners came out on the road south to Xinye.

The horses' hooves flew and the sand and dust rolled, and under the rapid march, the dust in the sky was raised, like a huge sandstorm, surging towards the south.

It was an infantry army of about 25,000 people, and it was the most powerful army in the entire Nanyang County.

Two days ago, when Cao Hong received a distress letter from Wen Ping, he immediately made a decision and immediately led 25,000 people to ride out of Wancheng and rushed to Xinye.

Cao Hong did not come to save Xinye, but to stop Liu Feng's attempt to bypass Xu Du.

At present, Cao Ying's 150,000 main force is rejected to the east of Tongguan, and the safety of Xu Du depends on the protection of his Nanyang Army.

As early as the day before Wenpin's distress letter arrived, Cao Hong received information from Shouchun, saying that the 70,000 troops of Eastern Wu had the intention of bypassing Shouchun and attacking Xudu from Yingshui to the west.

In Cao Hong's view, this is a conspiracy between Sun and Liu.

In Shouchun, although there were 50,000 soldiers and horses of Lejin, but after the previous defeat in Hefei and the sharp downfall of the army in the southeast, Cao Hong did not believe that Lejin had the ability to thwart the attempts of the Wu people.

Therefore, Cao Hong had to personally go out to repel Liu Fengjun in Xinye.

As long as Liu Feng loses all the way, Zhou Yu's side will definitely dispel the idea of taking Xu Du alone.

After all, from Yingshui to the west of Xudu, it has to pass through a distance of thousands of miles, and on the way, it has to break through several defense lines of the Cao army, and there is still a Shouchun town behind it.

In this case, without Liu Fengjun's cooperation, with Zhou Yu's cleverness, he would never have ventured into Xu Luodi.

Liu Feng's Jingzhou army besieging Xinye had 60,000, and Cao Hong's army to the south this time, plus the Wenpin Department, had only 35,000 troops.

In terms of troops, the enemy is almost twice as strong as his own.

However, Cao Hong was unscrupulous.

Nanyang is not Nanjun, and the water is not Jianghan, and the power of the Jingzhou army's naval army is limited. And in this flat area, cavalry is the weapon that determines the victory.

Cao Hong firmly believes that the 5,000 tigers and leopards in his hands are enough to reach 100,000 troops.

If it weren't for Cao Ying's previous instructions not to go to war without being forced to fight, Cao Hong would have already waved his army south and defeated Liu Feng's army before he crossed the river.

While running, his gaze extended to the south, and Cao Hong's eyes burst with a rolling murderous aura.

"Liu Feng dog thief, this time, I must avenge my brother's blood hatred!"

His brother is naturally "Cao Ren".

When Cao Hong heard the news that Cao Ren had been captured and that Liu Feng had cut off his tongue as if he had been brutally humiliated, Cao Hong had a surge of anger in his chest, and he swore at that time that he would repay this great shame.

This time, he came with murderous spirit, both for the country and for his own personal vendetta.

When he was stirring in his heart, the scout in front hurriedly came, reined in front of him, and arched his hand: "General Qiyu, ten miles ahead, I found a thief army sailor, and now he is landing on the shore." ”

Jingzhou Water Army? Appearing here, is it because you want to stop me from coming south to aid Xinye?

"How many soldiers and horses are there in the thief army?" Cao Hong asked in a deep voice.

"There were fifty or sixty warships, and it was estimated that there were about two or three thousand soldiers and horses, but the first to land was more than a hundred chariots, and there were more than seven hundred thieves."

"Chariots?"

Cao Hong's expression was slightly stunned, and he felt a little fresh about this word that he hadn't heard for a long time, and he groaned slightly, and immediately understood the enemy's intentions.

Obviously, the enemy knew that he had the advantage of cavalry, so he wanted to use chariots to counter it.

At that time, the Qin Emperor defeated the powerful Beihu with a chariot array. In the plains, the chariot was indeed an effective weapon against cavalry.

However, at this time, the tactics of cavalry have long been far superior to those of ancient times, and to deal with such a bulky thing as a chariot, which is extremely poorly mobile, it only takes a simple detour to easily disrupt the formation of the opponent's vehicle formation, and then launch a surprise attack with a flaw, which can break the formation in one fell swoop.

Thinking of this, Cao Hong didn't pay much attention to it, and ordered the scout to reconnoiter and report again.

The army continued on its way, albeit at a slower pace.

When he was ten miles away from the enemy, Cao Hong once again received new information, and the enemy's chariots and soldiers who landed first set up a strange formation, and also erected white yum in the formation.

The 100 chariots, more than 100 steps away from the water, set up an arc-shaped array, hugging the river at both ends, resembling a crescent moon, and each chariot was set up with seven soldiers.

"Strange formation, what does that kid Liu Feng want to do?"

Looking at the enemy formation from a distance, Cao Hong became more and more confused in his heart.

Logically speaking, even if Liu Feng wanted to fight with his cavalry with a chariot formation, the reason was to set up a phalanx and use the impregnable defense of the copper wall to deal with the impact of the cavalry. But he discharged such a thin linear semi-circular formation, which was really a bit inconsistent with the art of war.

Cao Hong was strange in his heart, and he couldn't figure out the enemy's intentions for a while, so he ordered his troops to stand still and wait and see what happened.

Just when Cao Jun hesitated, Liu Feng led his 2,000 infantry troops, quickly left the ship and boarded the ship, and joined the 700 chariots who landed first.

The two thousand infantry troops who landed on the shore carried a large number of rods, crossbows, hammers, and lances, and twenty more soldiers were added to each chariot, and shields were placed on the wheels in front of them to protect the chariots. The sergeants in the formation are all armed with heavy crossbows and are ready for battle.

The array that Liu Feng placed was called the "Moon Array", which was the "secret weapon" that Liu Feng came up with to crack the Cao Army's iron cavalry.

Liu Feng knows that the advantage of Haw Par riding lies in its impact and mobility.

Whenever they encounter a well-defended infantry iron formation, they will detour to the flank with their mobility, and after disrupting the enemy formation, they will attack with a flaw.

If you encounter an ordinary infantry army, you don't need to make a detour at all, and you can solve the battle in an instant with a strong charge.

Because Liu Feng has the right to control water, he can ensure the safety of the rear and flanks of the car formation, and he does not have to worry about being surrounded by Cao's army on the flat bank with a wide field of vision. A good field of vision also makes it easier to observe the actions of the enemy and the other sides and to grasp the situation on the battlefield in a timely manner.

At the same time, the flat terrain can make the enemy lose the terrain advantage, but the Jingzhou army can overlook the battlefield on the tall Yu boat, which is equivalent to occupying the commanding heights.

What's more, the curved formation can effectively disperse the impact at each point, and the chariot with shields, shaped like a strong mobile fortress, can protect the crossbowmen in the formation and calmly carry out long-range strikes against the enemy.

Liu Feng's "Moon Formation" is exactly the formation of the famous Song Wu Emperor Liu Yu who broke the Northern Wei Iron Cavalry in history.

When he got Jingzhou last year, Liu Feng took out this array to discuss with Pang Tong, and was strongly affirmed by Pang Tong. Since then, Liu Feng began to set up and trained this secret army of 2,000 people, in order to take Cao Hong's 5,000 tigers and leopards to test the knife in the battle of this key surname.

Such a strange formation was unveiled for the first time, and even Cao Hong, who had experienced a hundred battles, could not see the stakes in it.

At this time, Cao Hong, seeing the enemy's follow-up 2,000 reinforcements hurriedly landing, thought that the strange vehicle formation before was just to cover the landing of the rear army, in a vain attempt to establish a stronghold on the beachhead to cover the landing of more soldiers and horses.

Seeing this, Cao Hong immediately made a decision and ordered an attack on the 2,000 Jingzhou troops arrayed against the backwater.

Five thousand heavy horsemen picked up speed at a distance of five hundred paces and rushed towards the central salient of the Jingzhou army's semicircular array.

In the face of the rolling enemy horses, the shieldmen who were guarding the side closest to the chariot were highly nervous.

In his mind, a picture emerged of the village energy: the torrent of iron party energy poured into the mountains and seas, and the impact of the huge mountain slammed into his shield, and under the huge impact, the shield in their hands will be smashed to pieces, and their flesh and blood will also be crushed into flesh and mud.

Even if they are the elite of a hundred battles, they are all flesh and blood after all, and when facing the impact of the demon-like tiger and leopard horse, the fear in their hearts still cannot be suppressed.

The hand holding the shield gradually relaxed, and their legs were also shaking unconsciously.

Even Liu Feng, whose heart is like steel, at this moment, when the old enemy is reunited, there will inevitably be a trace of horror in his heart.

Back then, when Yang Changbanpo, the first battle of his life, he faced the legendary tiger and leopard rider.

At that time, Liu Bei's army led by him was also a veteran who had followed Liu Bei for a long time, but he witnessed the terrifying scene of thousands of soldiers, under the momentum of the tiger and leopard cavalry, without fighting without fighting.

At that time, he had no choice but to flee, and he had a deep thought in his heart: the devilish cavalry in front of him was an invincible army in the world, and there was no possibility of defeating him at all.

After many years, on this plain, he faced the same opponent again.

It's just that this time, he is no longer the newborn calf, a dazed and helpless nameless.

This time, he came with the belief that he would win.

The green sword in his hand was unsheathed, he held the sword high, and roared sharply: "Today is a battle, there is no advance or retreat." Those who dare to retreat from the battle will be killed! ”

When the battle was approaching, the military law was used to intimidate the hearts of the soldiers, and the spirit of the soldiers was solemn, and the fear was slightly restrained.

The tiger and leopard rode like a raging wind, and in the blink of an eye, it was within two hundred paces.

The end of the war is about to break out.

"The enemy destroyed my homeland, plundered my wife and children, sons and daughters of Jingzhou, now is the time for us to take revenge, kill-"

The words of encouragement like a bell completely infected the soldiers under his command, and at this decisive battle of life and death, the blood in everyone's chests was ignited by this spark, and it was instantly on fire.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

In the trembling body, the man's blood was stirring, and the cry of death resounded in the wilderness.

(To be continued)