Deputy Director Tao's declaration of war to Liu Biao is certainly not a joke or verbal threat, in the case of the enemy, Liu Biao's plan to form an anti-Tao alliance is like the first domino that fell, if it is not corrected quickly, it is likely to bring unpredictable chain reactions, and at the same time, the Xuzhou army's too long defense line is also destined to only attack and defend is the best policy, so on the first day of June in the seventh year of Jian'an, Deputy Director Tao did hold a swearing-in ceremony in Xuchang City, and personally led an army of 120,000 to take the general Zhang Xiu as the vanguard, Waving his army went south to attack Jingzhou.

Deputy Director Tao's excuse for sending troops is very far-fetched, one is that Liu Biao rudely detained the imperial court envoy Jiang Gan, and the other is that Liu Biao does not respect the imperial court, has ill intentions and attempts to rebel, and in fact, although Liu Biao does not pay taxes to the Xuchang court controlled by Deputy Director Tao like other princes, the tribute for the New Year's holidays has never been less, and it is more than the tribute of any prince, so when Deputy Director Tao ran to Emperor Han Xian to ask for an order, he was immediately strongly opposed by the Han courtiers led by Wu Shuo, the fish who slipped through the net, and Wang Zifu, pointed out that Liu Biao is a member of the Han family, and he has always respected the Son of Heaven and should not be taken lightly.

Deputy Director Tao did not kill opponents like Cao Boss, but arranged for Yang Changshi, who had been praised by Emperor Han Xian as the first loyal and good in Huainan, to come forward to handle the matter, and as a result, Yang Changshi also greatly impressed Emperor Han Xian and others, and on the same day, he got Wu Shuo and the prince disrespectful etiquette, did not abide by the courtiers, and transgressed words and embezzled bribes. There was no opposition to sending troops in the Han court.

By the way, this incident also made Emperor Han Xian completely see the true face of Deputy Director Tao, and made Emperor Han Xian cry in front of Queen Fu, who had always been quietly remembered by Deputy Director Tao: "Dong Zhuo is a hungry wolf in Xiliang, Cao Cao is a jackal in the Central Plains, and Tao Ying is a smiling tiger in Xuzhou, why is my life so bitter?" ”

In the opposition of the court in Sweeping Pingli, Deputy Director Tao left Gao Shun, Tao Ji, Shi Yi and Xun Chen and others to lead the army to guard Xuchang, supply grain and grass, and lead the army to Jingzhou, passing through Yexian and Duyang. The 120,000-strong army was divided into three teams. The mighty southward march is aimed at Wancheng, the first important town in the territory of Guiyang.

After confirming the news of Deputy Director Tao's dispatch of troops, the Jingzhou army did not dare to slack off at all, and listened to Liu Xian and Kuai Liang's suggestions. Liu Biao took three countermeasures. The first is to send Kuai Liang's brother Kuai Yue to Wancheng in a hurry. ordered Huang Zu, the general of Jingzhou who presided over the defense of Nanyang, to hold the defense line of Wancheng with all his might, give priority to defending the cities of Nanyang, and the deep ditches and high bases could not be easily fought in the field; The second is to quickly assemble troops and horses in the Xiangyang area. Preparing to reinforce Huang Zu by land and water, the third was to brazenly demand that the princes of the Huimeng abide by the anti-Tao covenant and send troops to contain the Xuzhou army to rescue Jingzhou. Most of the representatives of the princes who participated in the alliance had their own ghosts, and on the one hand, they promised to immediately invite the lord to send troops, while secretly rejoicing, and were extremely glad that the plan to lead the water to the east was successful, so that the Xuzhou army, which was as fierce as a jackal and as fierce as a tiger, turned the spearhead and started a war against the Jingzhou army, which is currently the only one that can deal with the main force of Xuzhou.

I have to say that Kuai Liang's tactical strategy of avoiding the enemy's edge, deep ditch and high base to Liu Biao is indeed too correct to be correct, because the Jingzhou army is strong in water warfare and weak in land warfare, and the decisive battle with the Xuzhou army in the field is a typical long way to attack the enemy with its own shortcomings, and at the same time, there are many rivers in the Wancheng area, and the water transportation is developed, which is convenient for the Huangzu army to supply grain and grass and obtain reinforcements, and the Xuzhou army has taken Xuchang for less than a year, and the vitality of Xuchang has not recovered even after the war, and there is no waterway to transport grain to Wancheng, and it is difficult to effectively supply the grain and grass supply of the southern expeditionary army. Therefore, as long as the city defense line around Wancheng is held, there is hope that the Xuzhou army will retreat after exhausting its food.

Although the tactical strategy is correct, no matter how good the tactical strategy is, it also needs people to execute, and Huang Zu's quick temper contained in the history books is destined to make it difficult for this tactical strategy to be resolutely and forcefully implemented, so when Kuai Yue arrived in Wancheng with Liu Biao's order, Huang Zu objected on the spot, saying: "Is it useless to passively defend it? That bad idea given to the lord by the waste, let me only defend and not attack, only defend the city and not fight a field battle, when will I be able to repel the invasion of the pottery thieves? ”

Kuai Liang's younger brother Kuai Yue rolled his eyes, but fortunately, the Jingzhou Lao Kuai family and the Jiangxia Huang family have always had a lot of contacts, and at the same time, Huang Zu is also very smart in the matter of establishing a successor, except for Huang Jie's support for Cai Mao's brother's hatred of the Xuzhou army, and the Kuai family who supports Liu Qi's succession has never clashed, so Kuai Yue does not want to conflict with Huang Zu, so he smiled bitterly: "General Yuanyang, this strategy was proposed by my brother." ”

"It turned out that Zirou brought it up, it was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding." Huang Zu was also a little embarrassed, and hurriedly changed the topic and said, "Different degrees, then in your opinion, is Brother Ling's strategy too conservative?" Our army has 50,000 troops in Nanyang, and a large number of warships can be assembled at any time relying on the river. ”

"Since General Yuanyang asked, then I will also say it bluntly." After hesitating for a moment, Kuai Yue replied frankly: "To be honest, in fact, as early as when my brother proposed this strategy, I was worried that General Huang, you may not accept this tactical plan, but the strategy proposed by my brother is indeed correct, my Jingzhou army commander is in a water war, and it is difficult to gain the upper hand in a battle with the Xuzhou army on land. ”

"I don't think it's right." Huang Zu shook his head and said: "Passive defense of the city will only make the Xuzhou army and thieves more arrogant, which is not conducive to the morale of our army, and the water is in a north-south direction, relying on the city and the river to hold on, the city land west of the river can be saved, what about the city land east of the water?" Xeno, you're so much better than your brother in terms of marching, how can you still agree with this strategy he proposed? ”

When Liu Biao first arrived in Jingzhou, Kuai Yue once mentioned that Liu Biao had done a beautiful thing to kill the leaders of fifteen gangsters, and in one fell swoop he incorporated and eliminated these fifteen bandits, which was quite prestigious in the Jingzhou army. Even if he has some ability to know people, Liu Form sent Kuai Yue to Wancheng to deliver letters, and his purpose was also to let Kuai Yue help some Huang Zu who had a noisy personality, and his intentions were very good. Because of this, after listening to Huang Zu's words, Kuai Yue, who was actually not convinced by his brother's conservative strategy, was still a little shaken, and said: "General Huang, although your words are reasonable, but the lord's order is ....... ”

"The lord's order is that I must not start a field war easily, and he did not say that I am resolutely not allowed to start a field war." Huang Zu raised Liu Biao's warrant to refute Kuai Yue. And he said, "I have made up my mind." No matter what, you have to fight with the Xuzhou thief army, and then act according to the plan, it is really not too late to retreat to Wancheng. ”

"Since General Huang has made up his mind, then I have no objection." Kuai Yue also made up his mind. He added: "But Wancheng is not suitable for field battles with the Xuzhou army." The terrain in this area is too open. The enemy is outnumbered, and it will give the enemy a chance to give full play to the superiority of forces. You should go to Bowang, where the terrain is complicated. The narrow roads are conducive to our army's ranks, which are familiar with geography, and not to the enemy's ranks, and are the ideal of our army's victory over the others with a small number. ”

"That's what you said!" Huang Zu applauded and laughed, and then Huang Zu discussed with Kuai Yue a little, and decided that Huang Zu personally led 20,000 troops north to Bowang, and set up a village in the area of Bowang to meet the Xuzhou army, leaving the general Su Fei and others to guard Wancheng, Jianyang and Anzhong and other important towns in Nanyang and water transport ships, and at the same time, Kuai Yue was not in a hurry to report the matter to Liu Biao, lest Liu Biao quickly send an envoy to stop it.

More than a day later, Huang Zu's army arrived at the small city of Bowang, sixty miles northeast of Wancheng, and stationed all the grain and grass in the city, while the army camped outside the city, and put on a posture of preparing to meet the Xuzhou army here. Xuzhou carefully probed the news and quickly sent the news to the Xuzhou army that had arrived in Duyang, Deputy Director Tao was happy and worried, and said with a complicated smile: "Okay, I didn't expect that Huang Zu's old puppet would dare to go north to set up camp, it seems that this time we have hope to hit the enemy hard in the field." But....... ”

"But what?" Jia Lao Poison said a little strangely: "Huang Zu took the initiative to leave Wancheng Jiancheng, this is a good thing, why is the lord still worried?" ”

"Bowang, Bowangpo." Deputy Director Tao, who was very sensitive to this name, said with a wry smile: "I heard that the terrain in that area is very complicated, the road is also very narrow, and the road is full of reeds and grass on both sides. ”

"Lord, what's wrong with you?" Jia Lao's poison was even more strange, and he said suspiciously: "Although I haven't been to Bowang and don't know the terrain there, even if the terrain there is really as complicated as the lord described, and it is easy to be ambushed by the enemy and launch a fire attack, isn't it just that we are steady and steady?" If it really doesn't work, we can preemptively set fire to the trees and reeds on both sides of the road, and then how will the enemy ambush and fire us? ”

"yes, and the enemy doesn't seem to want to ambush us with fire, right?" Liu Ye, who was not left in Xuchang because he was a member of the Han family, was also a little strange, picked up the topographic sketch surveyed and mapped by the scout, pointed to the location of Huang Zu's military camp and said: "My lord, please see, Huang Zu's camp is arranged in a relatively open area under Bowang City, not in the narrow area of the road southeast of Bowang, let alone at the northwest end of the narrow road. ”

"Huang Zu set up the camp outside Bowang City and choked the end of the narrow road, clearly wanting to make our army unable to give full play to its superiority in strength, and forcing our army to camp in an open area thirty miles away from Bowang, that is, the current location of the camp of General Zhang Xiu, the vanguard of our army." Jia Lao pointed to the map and continued to teach Deputy Director Tao a lesson: "In this way, our army can only take turns and put a small amount of troops into the Bowang battlefield, which is not only conducive to Huang Zu to break through our army in each way, and even rob the camp at night to win more with less, but also allow Huang Zu to calmly withdraw across the water when the battle situation is unfavorable and avoid being pursued by the main force of our army." This is the righteousness of the soldiers who win with righteousness and victory, so what is the plan to attack and ambush with danger? ”

"If Huang Zu wants to ambush us with fire in a narrow area of terrain, there are only two possibilities." Liu Ye added: "First, he grasped the lure of our army's heavy troops into the ambush circle, took the initiative to cross the narrow section of the road to fight, and induced our army to pursue the ambush circle with all his strength to die. The second is to hope that our heads will be in the water, and the camp will be set up in a narrow terrain with a lot of grass and trees - this is a mistake that even a rookie on the battlefield who has just debuted and fought with a military book will not make, how could Huang Zu dare to expect us to make such a mistake? ”

Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye pointed out, and Deputy Director Tao opened his mouth for a minute. finally waited until Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye finished speaking, and after another half an hour, Deputy Director Tao said with an embarrassed wry smile: "I was brainwashed too seriously by Luo Guanzhong, and when I heard the word Bowang, I had a psychological shadow." ”

"Luo Guanzhong? What does it mean? ”

This time, it was finally Jia Lao's turn to poison and Liu Ye to be confused, and Deputy Director Tao, who found that he had leaked his mouth again, hurriedly changed the topic, and suddenly had an idea, and said: "Since Huang Zu doesn't want to ambush us with fire, then we don't want to waste those reeds and trees that are not easy to grow, why don't we set up a fire attack and ambush instead?" First set up an ambush and send an army to fight in front of Huang Zu's camp. Defeat lured Huang Zu's team into an ambush circle and killed them! ”

"There is hope." Jia Lao Poison nodded quickly. said: "Huang Zu is a well-known anxious character, and because of the Yellow Shot incident with our army, he is in a hurry to take revenge, and there is a great possibility that our army will succeed in luring the enemy." Even if you can't get it. You can also burn those annoying trees and reeds first. Eliminate hidden dangers for our army. ”

"This plan does not require the main force. It is enough to arrange for General Zhang Xiu's former army to act. Liu Ye stood up and volunteered: "If the lord does not give up, Ye please order to rush to the front army camp to assist General Zhang Xiu in arranging this plan overnight." Tomorrow we will do what we do. ”

Liu Ye was still very sure in arranging the trap Yin people, so Deputy Director Tao immediately nodded in agreement, and then advised: "Mr. Ziyang, the enemy is my guest, just with the familiarity with the terrain of Bowang, the enemy is far above our army, so when you arrange the lure army to attack, you must be accurate in time, you must let our lure army to the enemy camp when dusk is approaching, and the ambush soldiers must also rush to the pre-booked battlefield to arrange an ambush after the lure army has attracted the attention of the enemy, so as not to give the enemy scouts the opportunity to discover our ambushes." Liu Ye sang a promise, and then hurriedly left the camp and rushed to the south to contact Zhang Xiuqian's army.

………………

An afternoon and a night passed quickly, and the next day, because the camp was not stable, Huang Zu listened to Kuai Yue's suggestion and did not immediately send troops to cross the northwest mountain forest area to fight against the Xuzhou army's forward, but only commanded the army to seize the time to build and strengthen the camp, ready to seek self-protection first and then seek progress, who knew that at about the beginning of the afternoon, the scouts sent out rushed back to report, saying that a Xuzhou infantry of about 2,000 was killing the Jingzhou army camp, and also probed the leading general, It was Zhang Xian, the nephew of Zhang Xiu, who broke through from Nanyang and went to join the Xuzhou army.

"How dare you come and die!" Huang Zu, who had never liked Zhang Xiu's family, was furious when he heard the report, and immediately shouted to the generals on the left and right: "Who dares to go to the battle and behead this Xiliang rebel?" ”

"The child wants to go!" General Huang Shot stood up without hesitation, hugged his fists and asked: "The child had competed with Zhang Xian in Xiangyang three years ago, at that time, it was up and down, the child has not been lazy for a day in the past three years, practicing Sanjiu in winter, practicing Sanfu in summer, martial arts have made great progress, and self-confidence has already defeated the rebel of Na Xiliang, I am willing to take 3,000 infantry to meet the battle, and the head of the rebel of Na Xiliang will be dedicated to the front of the command, please ask my father to give permission!" ”

"Very good."

Of course, Huang Zu also hoped that his only son would become a weapon, and he nodded and was just about to agree, Kuai Yue hurriedly stood up and said: "Marshal, the young general takes the initiative to ask for help, and his ambition is commendable, but there is no need to let the young general take the initiative to meet the enemy, it is better to let the young general lead the army out of the camp and meet the enemy outside the camp, so that even if the major general has an occasional accident, the big general can immediately send troops to respond." ”

After all, he is his only son, listening to Kuai Yue's reasoning, Huang Zu immediately nodded and agreed to Kuai Yue's suggestion, Huang Jie Xiao General was still a little unconvinced, but his thin arms couldn't twist his thighs, and the two sentences had no effect, so he had to be ordered to line up outside the camp, Huang Zu was afraid that his son would lose, and ordered the general Zhang Hu to lead 3,000 troops in the camp to prepare for war, ready to go out of the camp to meet Huang Shot.

Anxiously waited outside the camp for almost an hour, and when the first moment of the unitary hour was approaching, the Xuzhou army led by Zhang Xian passed through the narrow area of the road unhurriedly and came to the open terrain outside Bowang City, and then Zhang Xian did not set up a formation, and directly slapped his horse and speared in front of the Jingzhou formation, pointed his spear at Huang Shot and scolded: "Huang Shot Xiaoer, do you remember my Xiliang Zhang Xian?" ”

"Zhang Xianxiao'er, do you still remember my Jiangxia yellow shot?" Not to be outdone, Huang Jie scolded back, "You, a shameless thief, have received the great favor of my uncle Jingsheng Gong, and even dare to betray the Lord and collaborate with the enemy and surrender to the pottery thief, today is your death date!" ”

"Come on, Huang Jie Xiao'er, if it weren't for Liu Biao'er listening to slander and trying to harm my uncle, how could my uncle abandon the darkness and turn to the light?" Zhang Xian waved his gun, and shouted: "Don't talk nonsense, the yellow shooter who is greedy for life and afraid of death, just because you are greedy for life and afraid of death and betray your subordinates, you are not my opponent, quickly call Huang Zu Lao not to die, today I am here to fight against him!" ”

"Death to the puffer!"

Huang Shot was furious, patted the horse and rushed over to fight with Zhang Xian, the two horses intersected, the spear went back and forth for eight or nine rounds, Zhang Xian deliberately let Huang Shot's spear rub his shoulder, shouted and went back to the horse, Zhang Xian's team that had already been ordered also turned around and fled to the way he came, Huang Shot led the army in hot pursuit, yelling and saying that he would wash away the shame of Lujiang last time. Huang Zu got the news and was afraid that his son would lose, so he hurriedly ordered Zhang Hu to send troops to follow and respond, Kuai Yue also hurriedly came to Zhang Hu and admonished, saying: "General Zhang, the road in the north is narrow, and the sky is already dusk, so you must prevent the enemy from arranging ambushes, so please be sure to remind the major general that the pursuit should not exceed ten miles." Zhang Hu received the order and hurriedly led the army to follow.

Not to mention that Zhang Hu led the army to follow, just said that the Yellow Shot Major General led the army to indeed have a small victory, and killed several Xuzhou soldiers who ran slowly and alone, Zhang Xianjun had Xuzhou grassroots generals who were furious, and returned to Malaysia to fight with the Yellow Shot General, and was also defeated by the Yellow Shot in three or five rounds, forcing the Xuzhou generals to be defeated and left, and the Yellow Shot General continued to chase and kill, and was soon lured by Zhang Hu from the camp for nearly ten miles, and the team also fully entered the narrow section of the road.

At that time, the sky was getting dark, the night wind was gradually rising, Zhang Hu also led the team to catch up, Zhang Hu rode his horse alone and rushed to the front, called Huang Jie and persuaded: "Major General, it's almost time to chase here, the sky is getting dark, and you must prevent the enemy from ambushing." ”

"In Jingzhou here, our scouts are far more familiar with the terrain than the Xuzhou thief army, and there must have been an ambush long ago." Huang Zhu didn't listen, and shouted: "I'm about to catch up with the enemy, you sweep me in the back, and I'm not afraid of an ambush." After that, Huang Shot continued to chase fiercely, and the Xuzhou Army continued to flee for his life, only a few dozen steps away from the Yellow Shot team, Zhang Hu saw that Huang Shot did not obey the order and had no choice, so he could only return to his own team and lead the army to continue to follow the Yellow Shot team ready to respond at any time.

After chasing for more than ten miles, the sky was slightly dark, and the night wind was tighter, seeing that Huang Shot was still in hot pursuit, Zhang Hu hurriedly chased after him, grabbed Huang Shot's reins and yelled: "Enough!" Chase ten miles further, it is the forward camp of the Xuzhou thief army, do you want to attack the camp of the Xuzhou thief army overnight? ”

"Damn!" General Huang Jie scolded a swear word, and then he hated and ordered the team to stop the pursuit, and said regretfully: "I only slaughtered a Xuzhou thief with my own hands, which is not considered a merit." ”

"Boom!"

Before the words fell, there was a sudden loud bang on the mountain on the left, and the sound of killing suddenly rose in all directions, and the woods and reeds on both sides of the road also burst out together, when the night wind was tight, the fire borrowed the wind, and the wind helped the fire, and in an instant the reeds and shrubs on both sides of the road were burned into a piece, and the Zhang Xian team in front of him immediately turned around, and killed the yellow shooting team again, Zhang Xian took the lead, roaring like thunder, "Yellow shooting child, three years ago, my uncle in Xiangyang did not allow me to win you, give you a face and let you have a draw with me, today, I'm going to let you taste my awesomeness! ”

"Sure enough, there was an ambush!"

Zhang Hu complained bitterly, and quickly pulled Huang Shot to turn around and run, but the Major General Huang Shot, who was still full of ambition just now, was like a stupid person, muttering in his mouth, "Why is it an ambush again?" Why is there an ambush in Xuzhou? Don't they dare to fight with me in a dignified manner? (To be continued......)