Chapter 35: The Decisive Battle of Qinghe (6)
Just when Zhuang Shaoyou had just passed the stone bridge, Huangfu Song decided after a fierce ideological struggle:
The officers and troops of Bohai County, including more than 2,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry behind, pursued the fleeing Yellow Turban Army, and he took his 20,000 horses back to Jingxian County to rest and prepare to encircle and suppress Zhang Bao.
Zhang Bao's subordinates tried their best to persuade Zhang Bao to abandon the camp and transfer, but Zhang Bao was reluctant to let his family background, so he cowered in the camp and hesitated, and there was no movement for a while.
After Zhuang Shaoyou and the others crossed the stone bridge, they marched at full speed to the northeast for about 30 miles, and arrived at a small hillside.
Zhuang Shaoyou dreamed that Zhang Ning was surrounded by 100,000 officers and soldiers, running around, his subordinates died one after another, Zhou Cang also died, and when he arrived at the Yellow River, he was already cornered, Zhang Ning jumped into the boiling river in a rage, and disappeared.
"Don't!" Zhuang Shaoyou screamed, and woke up slowly, it turned out that he was dreaming, he was soaked in cold sweat, and he was so sore that he saw Qin Ling and others looking at him anxiously next to him, and most of the soldiers under him were sleeping on the hillside.
"General, eat something! You've been in a coma for most of the day," Qin Ling handed over a piece of boiled horse jerky and a pot of water.
Zhuang Shaoyou looked up at the sky, it was estimated that it was already afternoon, and it would be dark in more than an hour, so he drank some water, reluctantly ate the horse meat, and recovered some of his spirits
Asked Qin Lingdao: "Are we still in the same place?" Didn't the officers and soldiers chase after them? ”
Qin Ling replied: "General, after you fell unconscious, we haven't changed places, the brothers are quite tired, so we rested, I have sent a lot of detectives out, if there are officers and soldiers to pursue, we will find out in advance." ”
Zhuang Shaoyou breathed a sigh of relief, this Qinling is quite reliable, he does not seek merit, but he seeks no fault, and he is also a good talent.
It seemed that he remembered the things in the dream just now, Zhuang Shaoyou looked into the distance with a sad frown, thinking about the situation of Zhang Ning and the others, and wanted to go to them immediately, but he couldn't do it, the danger on his side had not been lifted, and he had to be careful with every move
Because these people are already rootless duckweed, they will be wiped out if they are not careful. No matter what, I have to be worthy of these brothers who followed me from birth to death.
Zhuang Shaoyou barely cheered up, and began to think about the current situation, after he was seriously injured by Song Tie, no one has chased after him, indicating that the two cavalry of the official army have not chased, it is estimated that Huangfu Song has given up, and it is not worth using a large army to encircle and suppress for the sake of himself, and he can't help but secretly rejoice.
But then there are worries, where do you go next?
There are officers and soldiers all around, and according to the plan, they should go to Liaodong to raise their energy; But emotionally, Zhuang Shaoyou wanted to find Zhang Ning and them;
But the current situation really doesn't allow it, and I can only give up, and I don't have any good ideas after thinking about it for a long time.
I had to walk along the Qinghe River in the direction of Bohai County in the northeast, Jizhou was full of officials and troops who suppressed the Yellow River, and it was not easy for so many people to cross the Yellow River in the south.
Zhuang Shaoyou kept thinking, his thoughts were a little confused, thinking of his grandfather in the original world, thinking of Zhang Ning, and thinking of his master Nanhua Old Immortal, Nanhua Old Immortal?
That's right, the master gave me three volumes of Heavenly Books, and the Mo family, who is proficient in mechanical techniques and forging, remembers that he seems to be living in seclusion on a small island in the Bohai Sea, not far from Bohai County.
But immediately I had a headache again, how to get to the island?
Let's go to the beach first, maybe you can find a way, but if you can't get a few boats to explore the coast.
Zhuang Shaoyou and his subordinates traveled thirty miles to the northeast at a constant speed, and it was completely dark, so they found a hidden place to bury the pot and cook to rest.
The next morning, after breakfast, everyone started to go on the road again.
At dusk, they arrived at a small hillside, where Zhuang Shaoyou ordered to rest and sent someone to investigate the situation.
Half an hour later, the exploration reported that there was a pontoon bridge ten miles ahead, and on the other side of the bridge was Nanpi City, but Nanpi City was now heavily guarded, and the city gate was closed before dusk
Zhuang Shaoyou ordered to eat first, rest for an hour, and then act after dark.
After dark, everyone was full of food and drink, and after preparation, Zhuang Shaoyou ordered to go to the pontoon.
It took a quarter of an hour to reach the pontoon bridge, and soon crossed the bridge to the other side of the Qing River. Everyone slowed down their horses, and avoided Nanpi City from afar, and unconsciously bypassed, Zhuang Shaoyou and his subordinates always looked at the direction of the city vigilantly, and when they didn't want to leave the city, they didn't make any movement.
Just when everyone was most nervous, there was a rush of horses' hooves from the south, and in an instant a large group of cavalry galloped in, Zhuang Shaoyou complained bitterly, but he still had to stay calm, his eyes rolled, he immediately made a decision, and immediately ordered loudly:
"The rear team becomes the front team, return at full speed on the original road, Qinling, set fire to the pontoon bridge after crossing the river!"
"Command!" More than 400 cavalrymen stopped their pace in an instant, turned their horses' heads, and withdrew to the pontoon bridge at full speed. After receiving the order, Qin Ling also began to instruct his subordinates to prepare fire.
The cavalry that suddenly arrived in the south was officially the cavalry that had been ambushed by Zhuang Shaoyu the night before, and those cavalry had been exploring the vicinity for most of the day after repairing at Huangfu Song's place for the night, and they were now returning to Nanpi City.
As a result, when he was about to arrive at the city, he found that there were hundreds of cavalry in front of him, and the commander of the officer immediately thought of the Yellow Turban Army the night before, and immediately hated the root of his teeth, and ordered a full-speed assault, wanting to annihilate this group of Yellow Turban Army.
Zhuang Shaoyou and his subordinates reacted quickly, and soon crossed the Qinghe River, and Qinling, who was walking in the last position, began to set fire as soon as he got on the bridge, and when he got off the bridge, the whole bridge was already blazing and could no longer pass.
The officers and soldiers looked at the burning pontoon bridge and the Yellow Turban Army on the other side of the Qing River, their eyes were on fire, and they beat their chests, and at this time, the defenders of Nanpi City also discovered the movement here and sent some soldiers and horses out to investigate.
Zhuang Shaoyou led his subordinates to gallop west without stopping, and the officers and soldiers could only look at the river and sigh. After running for about two or three miles, Zhuang Shaoyou immediately ordered to turn and run southwest
The next day when it was dark, Zhuang Shaoyou led his troops back to a hidden place near the stone bridge, and Zhuang Shaoyou quietly sneaked nearby on foot to check the enemy's situation.
I saw that there were several camps on this side of the river, with about 1,000 officers and soldiers, 500 crossbowmen, and 500 sword and shield men, and on the opposite bank were of the same configuration
At this time, the officers and soldiers were burying the pot to cook, although they were not tired at all guarding the stone bridge, but it was very boring, and they had been guarding for nearly three days, and they didn't even see the shadow of the Yellow Turban Army, so they were all very slack.
Many soldiers circled around the cauldron, not bothering to be vigilant at all, and the patrols around them were listless, only patrolling in twos and threes.
It's just a routine thing, not enough vigilance, after all, no one can be on high alert for three days, not to mention that there are no high-ranking generals here, only two commanders, sleeping in tents.
After observing the enemy situation, Zhuang Shaoyou quietly retreated, ordered the soldiers to hurry up, wrapped the horse's hooves with old clothes, and then ordered tactics.
A quarter of an hour later, the officers and soldiers were still eating idlely, and they took off their weapons and armor and sat on the ground in twos and threes.
There was a sudden low vibration not far away, and the originally noisy camp didn't notice it much, and when Zhuang Shaoyou's cavalry was about to get closer, he realized that the situation was wrong.
A commander got out of the tent and shouted loudly to order his subordinates to form a defensive formation, and the officers and soldiers on the other side also found that the situation was wrong, but they didn't see the cavalry and just saw that the officers and soldiers on the other side were panicking, so they hurriedly reported it.
The officers and troops on the west side of the stone bridge had no time to organize defense, and Zhuang Shaoyou's cavalry had already stepped on the iron hooves, directly penetrated into the hinterland of the officers and soldiers, and ran directly towards the stone bridge without fighting
The officers and troops on the other side of the river began to form a formation under the command of the commander, but before they were halfway through, Zhuang Shaoyou and the cavalry had already roared.
The commander of the thousand still wanted to resist stubbornly, but was shot into a hedgehog by the archers who Zhuang Shaoyou had prepared a long time ago, and the official army was suddenly in chaos.
As a result, the officers and troops on the west bank were still in defensive formation, and they did not dare to come over to support, and only occasionally fired a few scattered bows and arrows, but they were not accurate.
After Zhuang Shaoyou defeated the officers and troops here, he ordered half of the people to organize a defensive arrow array, and the other half of the people to collect arrows and available supplies.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhuang Shaoyou galloped towards the east with his soldier Shi Shiran, leaving the officers and soldiers on the west bank stunned and at a loss.
The next day, when Huang Fu Song learned of this, he was furious, cut down the commander who was still alive, and punished many soldiers.
Still angry, he ordered Zaoqiang County to take people to demolish the stone bridge.
The county magistrate of Zaoqiang County brought people to demolish it with a bitter face, and it took three days to complete the demolition. No bridges were built here for more than a decade.
Many years later, Zhuang Shaoyou took Zhang Ning's hometown to revisit, saw here, felt a little nostalgic, and ordered to build a huge stone bridge, the name of which is: Changsheng Bridge, change the Qing River to the Ning River.