How long the troubled times that began in the first year of Zhongping will last is a question that is difficult to give an accurate answer. The Central Plains people advocate taking history as a mirror, and the turbulent times of the Chu and Han dynasties lasted for seven years, while the turbulent times of the last years of the Western Han Dynasty lasted for more than twenty years, not to mention the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of the pre-Qin era.

So, no one can predict the answer accurately. But no one likes to live in troubled times.

In the eyes of many wise people in the world, in the eleventh year after the turmoil, the dawn of the end of the troubled times finally appeared! The two major forces that dominate the world have finally ended their tacit understanding of avoiding each other, and they unabashedly pointed the finger at each other!

This is a very iconic signal, indicating that the chaotic era of the melee has ended, and the battle to win the Central Plains is about to begin, and once the winner is decided, the troubled times will come to an end.

Because of this understanding, many people still look forward to it, even though they know the tragedy of this war. Waiting for the peaceful years to come after the intense labor pains.

Onlookers can think so, but the people in the area where the two armies are engaged certainly don't think so, and the coming big war will bring them only endless panic.

There are many theories about when the war began, but if it is counted from the moment when the two major forces made a targeted move, it should be on the 10th day of the first month of November.

On that day, Xu Shu, the general of the Qingzhou Internal Army, and Xu Huang, the general of the expedition to the west, led an army of 100,000, including 50,000 elite soldiers, to leave Wei County and enter Bingzhou through Jingcheng, Fukou, and Baicheng respectively. Without stopping, it crossed Huguan, Jinyang and other important towns, and directly took the Zishi area at the junction of Xihe and Taiyuan and Shangdang.

The Western Liang army was slightly slower to assemble its troops and horses, and it was not until the beginning of December that the main force was assembled at Lishi. After each completed its deployment, the forwards of the two armies were less than 100 miles apart, and it was possible to enter a combat state at any time.

From a diplomatic point of view, on November 20, Zhang Liao, the general of the Yi Division, and Huang Zhong, the general of Zhengbei, led their troops to leave Gaotang and go south, passing through Chengcheng and Lu County, and arrived at Suixiang on the border between Jibei and Dongping in the early morning of the 25th, posing an offensive posture, and issuing an ultimatum to Guo Gong, the assassin of Yuzhou.

Strictly speaking, before the war, Guo Gong did not have a clear inclination, he knew that his strength was limited, and he was not able to blend in such a big scene, and he was fighting the idea of being a wall-to-wall grass.

If it were possible, Wang Yu would not have bothered him, but Guo Gong's territory just blocked the way for the Qingzhou army to attack Cao Cao's flank.

The Yanzhou battlefield was faced with the main force of Cao Cao's army, as well as fortified cities such as Fengqiu, Chenliu and even Hujiaoguan, even if they had the upper hand, it would be difficult to quickly expand the results of the battle, and it was quite necessary to deploy troops from the flanks. And Guo Gong's own strength is not worth mentioning, if you don't know each other, of course you have to fight all the way

Guo Gong is also a temperamental master, and the abacus of not offending both sides can't be beaten, so he simply fell directly to Cao Cao, which can be regarded as an outlet of evil anger.

The only thing known is that almost on the same day that Zhang Liao's army went south, Xiahou Yuan's troops stationed in the Liang and Chen areas marched eastward and entered the territory of Shanyang County. With this backer, Guo Gong resolutely rejected Qingzhou's appeasement, and Chen Chongbing was in Wuyancheng and Dongpinglu, determined to fight with all his might.

But the earliest place where the two armies clashed was not in Yanzhou or Mergezhou, but on the great river in Yangzhou!

Niu Nagisa Rock.

In the scorching river wind, hundreds of ships lined up on the river, the soldiers on the ship were tense and murderous, and on the flagship in the center, two flags were waving in the wind, hunting and hunting. On the slightly higher flag of the main general, the word 'Deng' of Douda is written, and the deputy general flag on one side has the word 'Lu'.

Those who are familiar with the establishment of the Jiangdong Army must know that this is the joint battle of Deng Dang and Lu Dai, the two major descendants of the Jiangdong Army.

In the downstream direction, a slightly smaller fleet was slowly approaching, and the word 'Xu' was written on the flag, and Lu Dai was a little puzzled: "The surname is Xu?" Aren't Xu Huang and Xu Shu both in Wei County? Who is this, could it be the Yellow Turban remnant Xu He? ”

"Dinggong doesn't know, there is a rising star in Xuzhou Yulin called Xu Sheng's ......"

Deng Dang smiled coldly and said: "It is said that he is a rising star, he also fought in Yicheng that day, but he is just a hairy boy, with a bit of brute strength, but at such an age, even if he starts to learn the art of war from his mother's womb, how many means can he have?" Zhang Jaw didn't come in person, but he sent such children to die, but it is no wonder that a certain hand is ruthless! ”

On the same day, Sun Ce and Wang Yu fought in Yicheng, and the result was a complete defeat, and all the generals in Jiangdong were ashamed, Deng Dang's martial arts were ordinary, and he was knocked off his horse in the battle, and suffered a lot of injuries, and he was completely better after more than three months, and he was quite hostile to the enemy generals who also participated in the brawl.

In addition, he has had a difficult career over the years, and he has experienced many ups and downs before he has improved slightly, and he especially hates Xu Sheng, a person who has risen to a high position at a young age and has been smooth sailing. Seeing Xu Sheng at this moment, it is also a new hatred and old hatred.

"It's not necessarily that he doesn't want to come, it's just that he has no time to come. Yuan Shu was capricious, and from the time he attacked Jingzhou with our army, it can be seen that he was unstable and intended to betray the alliance.

At this moment, Jingzhou has fallen, and he is full of ambition, so it is no wonder that he suddenly marched eastward and came to Sui'an. ”

Lu Dai is similar in age to Deng Dang, but he is much more stable, knowing Deng Dang's thoughts, he also followed the other party's words and said: "There is Yuan Shu in the west, Chen Hanyu and his son in the east, and the fleet from Jingzhou is still connected, Zhang Jaw only has 30,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, where can he support it?" It's just that this place is not far from the mouth of the big river, and it is necessary to guard against the sea fleet of Qingzhou. ”

"Fleet at sea?" Deng Dang let out a breath from his nostrils, with a look of disdain: "It's just a group of coolies who carry goods." Not to mention that Zhou Dudu set up a beacon tower along the river, even if he didn't, with the strength of you and me, what are you afraid of him? If he dares to come, he will defeat him and let him know what the real navy is like! ”

Lu Dai wanted to speak and stopped.

Before sending troops, Zhou Yu repeatedly told him that the main purpose of this dispatch was to intercept Gan Ning, not to fight with the Qingzhou naval army. Now that the main force of the Jiangdong Army is in Jiangxia, it is too late to rush back, and there is no accurate information about the Qingzhou Navy for the time being, and I don't know what its combat strength is.

According to Zhou Yu's meaning, the safest way to fight this battle is to cross the river with iron cables, block Qingzhou to receive the naval army, and concentrate on dealing with Gan Ning.

This method of operation is relatively safe, but it is not without drawbacks, the river surface around Niuzhuji is relatively narrow, but there are still several miles away a whole iron cable to pull over, of course, it is not realistic, you have to sacrifice dozens, even hundreds of ships to complete, the cost is relatively large, and it is too conservative.

Deng Dang is a veteran general in the army, and his opinion of Zhou Yu will not be much stronger than that of Xu Sheng, at most, he is not hostile, only a little unconvinced. When he set off from Wanling, he promised well, but now listening to his words, it is obvious that he is going to change his hexagram.

Lu Dai had the heart to persuade him, but he had only joined the Jiangdong Army for a few months, and his status and qualifications were much worse than Deng Dang's.

"Dinggong, come and see, then Xu Sheng Xiao'er can't command the navy at all, how can he not know astronomy and geography? The big river goes east, he comes from the east, the water flow is already unfavorable, fortunately in winter, the wind direction on the river is relatively favorable, now although the wind blows from the northwest, but only after noon, ten will turn to the northeast wind......"

Deng Dangyao pointed to Xu Sheng's fleet, and sneered with contempt on his face: "But he just refused to wait, so he came up, Dinggong, you say, if you let go of this good opportunity to break the enemy, wouldn't you call yourself a Jiangdong general?" ”

"But ......" Lu Dai hesitated slightly, but still persuaded: "Anhui County recently reported that the Ganning fleet had passed Zongyang a day ago, and depending on the time, that is, around noon today, it will go to Niuzhu, and Gan Ning led hundreds of thieves, but he broke through the thirteen passes of Jingzhou in a row, which shows his bravery, if he is attacked from both sides......"

"So be quick!" Deng Dang waved his hand and said coldly: "Since Dinggong is not at ease, he can lead half of the soldiers and horses to stay behind, and he will defeat Xu Sheng'er first, and then it will not be too late to talk!" ”

After that, he drew his sword out of its sheath, pointed the tip of the knife forward, and shouted the order: "Pass my order, beat the drum!" Enter! ”

"Knock knock knock ......" Jiangdong Navy is well-trained, and when they hear the order, they immediately race with a hundred boats and rush forward like arrows from the string. The fleet moved from static to slow, but there was no panic at all, but in the process of rushing and killing, they formed a formation, neatly and quickly killing the enemy.

On the other hand, Xu Sheng's side, this young military general seems to have been said by Deng Dang, and he was indeed pushed out by Zhang Jaw to make up the numbers, in the face of the overall offensive of the Jiangdong Naval Army, he seemed a little at a loss, and issued a bunch of messy and inconsistent orders, which made the already a little flustered, and the fleet that was also inferior in number was even more chaotic.

A few ships responded to his orders and prepared to meet him, but they were struggling to meet the double obstruction of the river and the direction of the wind. Most people are hesitant, watching from side to side, and some people are already secretly rubbing behind.

The most ridiculous thing is that among those who had the intention to fight or flee, they did not know whether they were too panicked or because their original skills in handling the boat were too poor, but they actually spun on the spot, not only failed to achieve the original intention of fighting or fleeing, but instead knocked the ships of their comrades into twists and turns, and some even fell into the water.

"Haha, isn't Xu Sheng'er still obediently tied up?" Deng Dang couldn't help laughing when he saw this, and waved his knife again and again to urge the battle. The Jiangdong Navy is also full of morale and bravely moving forward, even Lu Dai, who was hesitant and watching the battle in the rear, was a little puzzled, was he too cautious? Such a water army, no matter how you look at it, is improvised to cobble together to deal with errands.

Thinking about it, because of the existence of the Chen family, the Qingzhou Army's control of Xuzhou does not include Guangling, and it is naturally impossible to retain many naval troops in the Linjiang area, at most there are some routine patrols. The fleet at sea has to come from the Bohai Sea, the journey is quite long, the time is too late, and there is no guarantee that there will be no accidents. This performance is not surprising indeed.

In this way, maybe this battle was really won?

Lu Dai thought for a moment, and when he raised his eyes again, he found that the two armies had already engaged in battle, and they were unprepared for an orderly attack, and they were like a bamboo, and they saw that the chaotic formation of the Qingzhou Navy Army was washed into a piece of scattered sand.

It was also at this time that the lookout of the beacon tower on the shore suddenly blew the horn, the flag bearer waved the flag desperately, Lu Dai stared and read the flag: "There is a fleet coming from upstream?" It was a coincidence that General Jinfan came. (To be continued,