At the end of February of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, after letting the carrier pigeon go, Shen Chen looked at the order in his hand and pondered. Woo

As a later generation, after perceiving the inconvenience of communication in this era, Shen Chen naturally thought of carrier pigeons a long time ago and began to arrange them.

But the training of carrier pigeons did not go well, because Liu Bei's territory was too big.

From Yizhou to Jingzhou, it spans eight provinces and one municipality directly under the central government in later generations, covering thousands of kilometers, and all of them are areas with relatively harsh environments.

In later generations, carrier pigeons that can fly thousands of kilometers are often carefully selected and bred, scientifically raised and managed, and continuously trained.

The pigeons of the Han Dynasty were different, they were not as well-bred as later generations, and if they were kept at home for a long time, they could lose the ability to fly long distances.

In addition, as a region across the Yangtze River, Jingyi Land is affected by the rainy season for a lot of time every year, and the bad weather and breeding problems cause the pigeons to often only fly hundreds of kilometers.

Therefore, although Shen Chen has always wanted to establish the carrier pigeon system, it is an extremely difficult task to start from scratch. Woo

Fortunately, after years of hard work, he finally succeeded in building this system a few years ago.

I just used something else.

It's not that Liu Bei released pigeons on the front line of Tianshui County, and he could receive them here quickly, but he made a short-distance flight mode, that is, it was delivered station by station.

After the carrier pigeon flies out, first to the Hanzhong pigeon base, and then to Hanchang, Danqu, Jiangzhou, and then from Jiangzhou to send letters to all parts of the country, each station is basically about 100 kilometers, generally from Wudu to Jiangzhou, can be delivered within one day.

However, there are still some other factors in the middle, such as eagles, falcons, withered and other natural enemies of pigeons, harsh weather interference, or occasional magnetic field changes, hunters hunting, etc., plus the carrier pigeon base has to go to the front line, often a few days slower, and even sometimes ten days and half a month slower is also a common thing.

So to put it simply, pigeons are not very stable.

However, for the Han Dynasty, which was severely lacking in information technology, this was already a great progress, enough to support nearly half of military communications. Woo

The other half still has to rely on scouts, and animals are still not as reliable as people after all.

The order in Shen Chen's hand was sent by Liu Bei from Hanzhong half a month ago, and he traveled several times to the carrier pigeon base in the middle, and finally fell to Wancheng in Nanyang, and then sent it to the front line from Wancheng, which took twelve days, which was much faster than the original journey of at least two months.

In the letter, Liu Bei told Shen Chen that because Cao Cao occupied the advantage of the number of troops, the quality of the soldiers, and the first strike in grain and grass, it was very unfavorable for them to stalemate for a long time, so he hoped that Shen Chen could make some noise in Nanyang to relieve the pressure.

After all, Liu Bei had already put a large number of troops on the matter of Sun Quanhui's sneak attack on Jingzhou, resulting in insufficient combat effectiveness on the front line. If you lose Hanzhong in order to defend Jingzhou, it will be worth the loss.

Zhou Budo leaned over and asked, "Senior brother, what did the king say in the letter?" ”

Shen Chen handed him the letter in his hand and said: "The lord is facing off against the main force of the Cao army in Longyou, his soldiers and horses are not elite, and the supply of grain and grass is much more difficult than Cao Cao's, and it is easy to defeat the battle for a long time, so I hope we can make some moves and let Cao Cao send reinforcements to Nanyang to relieve the pressure on the lord's side." ”

"Take the initiative to attack Cao Hong?" Woo

Zhou Budo was so smart that he immediately understood what Liu Bei meant.

Shen Chen nodded: "I think it's also Fa Xiaozhi's idea for the lord, but it's okay, Cao Hong can't beat me!" ”

At that moment, Shen Chen stood tall with an extremely calm and confident expression on his face.

Even if Cao Hong had deployed 80,000 Cao troops on the front line at this time, and 20,000 remained in the counties in the rear, he only had 50,000 people.

But he didn't feel fear at all, but was full of eagerness.

I've been sitting in Nanyang for too long.

It's time for Cao Cao to know how long he has been preparing for today! Woo

"Let's go!"

Shen Chen walked out of the courtyard of his back garden, walked in the direction of the central hall, and said to Shan Yi, who was towering like an iron tower at the door: "Yide, beat the drums and gather the generals!" ”

"Yui!"

Shan Yi hurriedly ran out.

There are three places on the front line of Yecheng, one is the city of Yecheng, one is in the northeast corner of Yecheng, and the last one is at the foot of Lushan Mountain in the west.

Shen Chen is currently in the middle of Yecheng City, sitting in the rear.

Gan Ning was the general in the main camp in the northeast corner, and Lu Chang camped at the foot of Lu Mountain, and the three camps were horns of each other, blocking Cao Hong's way south. Woo

At this moment, Shen Chen beat drums and gathered generals, Gan Ning, Lu Chang, Zhang Xiu, Shen Tao and others got the news, and immediately left their respective deputy generals in the army to take care of the camp, and they immediately rushed to Yexian City.

In the palace in the city, Shen Chen sat on the main seat, on the left sat cross-legged his junior brother Zhou Budo, and on the right sat Cai Mao's nephew, who is also Deng Hong's wife and brother Cai Du.

At the door, Wu Dang and Shan Yi's two apprentices served as guards.

Soon Gan Ning, Lu Chang, Zhang Xiu, and Shen Tao arrived in the middle hall, and as soon as Gan Ning entered the door, he shouted: "General, are you going to fight?" ”

"There's going to be a war."

Shen Chen said with a smile: "This time I am going to fight Cao Hong. ”

"Great." Woo

Gan Ning suddenly jumped up with excitement and said, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time. ”

"Uncle Xingba, don't be impatient, sit down first."

Shen Chen waved his hand.

After a while, Lu Chang, Zhang Xiu, and Shen Tao arrived one after another.

The four main generals under his command and the leader of the special forces Huangmen, only Wen Ping is now defending against Xu Huang in Wuguan.

The rest of the people are everywhere.

As for the middle-level school officials like Zhou Tai, they are definitely not qualified to participate in such high-level meetings, and they all stay in the camp. Woo

After everyone arrived, Shen Chen spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, due to the epidemic the year before last, the Northern Expedition that I had prepared enough was in vain. But this is not a bad thing, the more time you have to prepare, the better the conditions for victory, and now that the pandemic has subsided, it is time to start the Northern Expedition again. ”

The crowd was immediately excited.

Gan Ning even got up and arched his hand: "The last general is willing to be a pioneer!" ”

"This battle must be a pioneer."

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "Cao Hong will not take the initiative to send people to attack, he will only set up camp in Kunyang Wuyang and Taiting to defend himself, so we will also advance steadily, and the three armies of the middle and rear will attack Taiting in the past." ”

Sending the vanguard is more suitable for long-distance and skirmishes, which require the vanguard to clear the obstacles in front, and then the main forces of the two sides meet and then go head-to-head.

For example, in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao sent the vanguard Yan Liang to sweep away Cao Cao's cities south of the Yellow River to ensure that the main force crossed the river safely, and Yuan Shao only marched after occupying Baima and other places. Woo

But now that the main forces on both sides have met head-on, it doesn't make sense to send the vanguard again, and it can't be that Gan Ning can bring 5,000 pioneers to break Cao Hong's Taiting camp of tens of thousands of people, it's not realistic.

Therefore, the way to play is to press forward with the three armies, and drum opposite the gongs in front of Cao Hong's main force in Taiting.

"The general gives the order!"

Lu Chang got up and arched his hand and said.

Shen Chen said, "Where is Gan Ning?" ”

"The last general!"

Gan Ning saluted excitedly. Woo

"Let you be the commander of the former army, and lead 10,000 people to the head of the head to set up camp!"

"Whoa!"

"Where is Lu Chang?"

"The end will be."

"Let you be the commander of the rear army, and lead 8,000 people to transport grain, grass and baggage."

"Yui!"

"Where is Cai Du?" Woo

"Humble."

"Let you be the governor of Yecheng, responsible for the grain and grass in the rear and assist in defense."

"Yui."

"General Zhang and Captain Shen followed the army with me, and I led 30,000 Chinese troops to follow the front army to cover the front army."

"Yui!"

Everyone stood up in unison.

Nanyang had an army of 80,000, and about 30,000 were left behind. Woo

Shen Chen led 50,000 people, of which 48,000 followed him to the battlefield, and Ye Cheng left 2,000 soldiers.

But that doesn't mean his total number is 50,000.

Because a large number of people and auxiliary soldiers were also recruited to help transport grain, grass, baggage, and siege equipment.

So in fact, the number of people facing Cao Jun north of Yecheng is more than 100,000.

Cao Hong's side is similar.

His total strength is about 100,000, and about 20,000 are left in the rear, and if Yan Kuang's Diannong Army is added, the remaining troops are about 40,000.

There are 50,000 main forces in the front-line Taiting camp, more than 10,000 people each in Kunyang and Wuyang, and about 80,000 soldiers. Woo

In this way, the comparison of the forces of the two sides is 80,000 to 50,000, and the advantage is in Cao!

After Shen Chen's order, the Nanyang War Machine suddenly rumbled into operation.

Every day, soldiers inside and outside the city came in and out, and a large number of grain and grass began to be loaded and transported to the front line, and all kinds of siege equipment were countless.

God knows how many catapults, wooden curtains, nest cars, rushing cars, ladders, and cloud towers Shen Chen prepared for the Northern Expedition.

If you count the bows, bed crossbows, arrows, armor, and knives, it's a mountain of piles.

After the start of the war, it was necessary to pack trucks and transport them to the front line.

And this is only for the current equipment of the army, and the follow-up use consumption and Yecheng will continue to send a large number of stores to the front line. Woo

For the rest of the day, it took three days just to carry the weight, and it was not until the beginning of March that I finally set off.

It is the twilight of spring, the spring flowers are blooming, the warm afternoon sun shines on the earth, and the buds on both sides of the road from Yecheng to the north into Henan grow tenaciously and face the rising sun.

As the center of the north and south, the wide official road should have been full of people.

But after many years of confrontation between the north and the south, the Yecheng area has long been turned into a military town, and the people have also been moved. The original village was reduced to ruins, and the countryside was barren, gradually turning into a place where weeds flourished.

Gan Ning rode on horseback and walked at the front of the team, behind him was an endless army, holding the flag high, lined up in full formation, and lined up in several long lines.

As the front army, they did not carry any baggage, and his role was to cover the middle and rear troops, first arrive at the front line of Taiting, and then seize the place used for camping, so that after the arrival of the middle army and the rear army, they can quickly start camping.

At the end of the road ahead, Cao Jun's scouts had already been seen in the distance, Gan Ning suddenly became excited, and with a roar, dozens of scout cavalry poured out of the army, following Gan Ning and rushing forward. Woo

"It's all it!"

Cao Jun's shrill whistle sounded.

The Nanyang Basin is strategically important, but it has been difficult to defend since ancient times because the road to Nanyang is extremely wide.

To the west is the Funiu Mountains, and to the east is the Dabie Mountains, but there is a width of thirty or forty miles between the two mountains.

So not to mention horse racing in this place, even grazing is enough, scouts come and go like the wind, galloping wantonly on this vast plain, and Shen Chenjun scouts and Cao Jun scouts often fight here.

At this moment, the scouts of the Cao army found that the main force of Shen Chen's army began to move north, and they did not dare to fight at all.

Gan Ning chased for three or four miles, seeing that the Cao army scouts did not dare to fight, he came back in the dust, and said regretfully to the left and right deputy generals Zhou Jian and Wu Shuo: "These cubs are really gutless rats, Cao Jun is afraid of us and dare not come to fight." "Whew

Zhou Jian persuaded: "General, General Zuo ordered us to go to Taiting immediately to occupy the camp, and it will delay time to pursue the enemy scouts at this time." ”

"I know, I know, I'm annoyed."

Gan Ning waved his hand impatiently, he felt that he was about to die of staying in Nanyang every day all these years, if he hadn't been able to go out hunting occasionally, he really felt that he would die idle.

The team moved on.

Soon the Cao army scouts had already returned to Taiting and reported to Cao Hong.

"Report!"

In Cao Ying's army, Cao Hong was patrolling the camp. Woo

The scout Pegasus came to report, turned over and dismounted, and said: "Shen Chen's army is out and coming to the pavilion. ”

Cao Hong's face changed suddenly, and he said, "Order all battalions to be prepared, I'll take a look." ”

At that moment, he immediately moved to the front camp.

At this time, a large number of fortifications had been built in the front camp, and there were ditches, horse rejections, high forts, and walled walls.

Cao Hong climbed to a high watchtower and watched.

I saw that on the horizon in the distance, a large group of people had slowly come over, and the black pressure was densely packed.

They spread out on the earth as if they were overwhelming. Woo

At the front was naturally Gan Ning's front army, and not far from about two or three miles away was the Chinese army led by Shen Chen.

The vast plains of Henan are vast and boundless, but those people and horses seem to occupy the entire horizon, constantly extending in the direction of the pavilion.

Originally, there were some villages and farms in Taiting, but now the population has moved to the rear, and the front line on both sides is completely uninhabited, leaving only some ruined villages and wasteland.

Eventually, the men and horses stopped opposite Cao Ying and seized the upper reaches of the river.

The pavilion is facing the Nanyang channel, and at that time there was a river flowing out of the Funiu Mountain, along the Nanyang channel to the east, passing through the north of Wuyang County twenty miles, into the Rushui, into the Huai River.

This river had the same name as Lishui in the south in the Han Dynasty, also called Lishui, but in later generations it was called Lihe, and it was an important tributary of the Huai River.

At this moment, Shen Chenjun swaggered and began to camp on the north bank of Lishui, which was five miles away from Cao's army. Woo

The Gan Ning army led the men and horses to line up four miles away, and the Chinese army in the rear immediately prepared to build a camp, in addition to the 30,000 people in the headquarters, there were tens of thousands of people, auxiliaries, and craftsmen, who cut down trees one after another.

What a scene of nearly 100,000 people in action.

At least in Cao Hong's opinion, the north bank of Lishui in the distance stretches more than ten miles to the south, and it is densely packed with human heads.

Patches of forest fell, and I don't know how many logs began to be carried towards the barracks.

The Cao army within a radius of more than ten miles was just watching, and no one dared to attack.

It was getting dark, and the Shen Chenjun was still casting camps, and the vast plain was as lively as a construction site.

The lights are bright, the voices of people are boiling, and the forest on the north bank of Lishui for more than ten miles has almost been cut down. Woo