Three days later, on July 15th, it was the Zhongyuan Festival that was gradually spread to the world due to the popularity of Taoism in later generations. At this time, although there was no such thing as the Zhongyuan Ghost Festival, it was also the day of Mengqiu, and there had always been a tradition of offering sacrifices.

But on this day, not to mention the Han army, even the Taiping Dao believers had no desire to sacrifice to Huang Tian... because they had noticed the strange movements of the Han army on the opposite side since two or three days ago, and they saw it with their own eyes yesterday evening

There was constant smoke from the kitchen opposite, as if they were preparing dry food and cold boiled water for the next day!

Yes, I must give an extra compliment to Aunt Gongsun. Thanks to her teachings and influence year after year, I don’t know when the military and even the common people in Hebei began to use boiled water to avoid diseases.

...There are a large number of Youzhou soldiers, including Zhongshan soldiers, and the commander is also called Gongsun Xun. The Han army on the north bank of the Hutuo River will naturally be like this.

In short, under the overwhelming smoke, even a fool knew that a war was about to begin! What's more, Zhang Bao, the general of the land, was not stupid?

As a result, starting from the fourth watch today, the armies of both sides, which had been fully prepared, began to form formations across the river.

When the sun rose in the early morning, both sides of the strait were already lined with swords and guns, and the armor and armor were dazzling. However, the most shocking thing was that the military formations of both sides naturally formed two huge oceans, one yellow and one red... The Han army was still red.

, so the Han army generally wears red straight trains, and the flag is naturally red. Needless to say, the Yellow Turban Army got its name because they worship the yellow sky and wear yellow turbans!

In such a situation, the bold people will naturally feel powerful and ready to make achievements today; while the timid people may have their legs trembling.

On the early morning of July 15th, the flags were raised gently in the breeze, and the Hutuo River was still flowing calmly. With the sudden sound of drums and horns, there was a moment of commotion between the two armies, and then they split to the left and right, and immediately came from the rear.

A large number of umbrellas, ceremonial guards, flags, and golden drums came out. It was obvious that the coaches of both sides had made preparations and were preparing to come to the battle in person.

Among them, Gongsun Xun led the crowd directly to the bank of the Hutuo River in front of the camp to observe the situation on the opposite side from a distance. Opposite him, Zhang Bao, who had arranged the position overnight, actually personally led the elite of Quyang City and held up his Digong General.

The big flag and Huangtian's big flag came to a hill that had been artificially piled up before, standing high up, facing him from a distance.

The Hutuo River is calm. The narrowest point is only two or three hundred steps, and the widest point is only more than a thousand steps. Both sides have their entire armies deployed. The military formations stretch for more than ten miles, but the confrontation between the Chinese army is very close, and even somewhat coincident.

The smell... This is not accidental. In fact, the reason why the Yellow Turban Army built a mountain on the south bank of this place, and the reason why the Han Army placed the Chinese army's camp here, is because it is convenient to cross the river, and the Han Army had not done so in the past few months.

Several attempts were made to cross the river, but failed.

"That's it!" Amidst the solemnity and tension, Zhang Bao, who was higher up, couldn't help but break the riding whip in his hand. "The umbrella canopy is fully equipped with ceremonial guards, and it also has a white horse guard and a white horse flag. It must be this person!"

All the commanders and commanders around him were speechless. Of course they knew who their general was talking about.

The shadow of the famous tree.

The Yellow Turbans of Guangyang were destroyed under Zhuoxian City, the local generals were forced back under Fanyang City, countless Taoists drowned themselves in the battle on the Yellow River, and the hundred thousand troops of Yingchuan were wiped out in a fire in Changshe. In addition,

In addition, there are also the lives of three Dafangqu commanders, Cheng Yuanzhi, Bo Cai and Bu Ji... The commander of the army on the opposite side, known as the White Horse General, is really a blood debt for the Yellow Turban Army! If he can capture it, he will definitely be killed by a thousand cuts.

Only by cutting it can you relieve the hatred in your heart!

In fact, if this person hadn't arrived, why would the Yellow Turbans in Quyang be so nervous? One hundred thousand versus seventy thousand, how could they be on the defensive and still feel uneasy?

"There are so many blood debts!" ​​Looking at the overwhelming yellow flags on the other side of the river, almost forming a sea, as if facing a formidable enemy, Gongsun Xun, riding on a white horse, also sneered. "You think, if the yellow turban thieves really take over the world,

How will you and I look like in the history books?"

"Don't make fun of me, the wise men with five senses." Changshan Prime Minister Feng Xin couldn't help but said. "How can other generations of shamans and Taoists defeat our Confucian righteousness?"

"Yes." Gongsun Xun seemed to be smiling but not smiling. "How can the shamanic way be better than the Confucian righteous way? However, the Confucian righteous way lives in temples, but the shamanic way is rooted in the common people... Cui Gong of Anping's "Political Commentary" said:

Like a leek, it will come back to life after being cut off; like a chicken, its head will be cut off and it will crow again... I'm afraid that you and I can cut off its head, but we can't stop its crow!"

Feng Xin was a weak man and after hearing this, he did not dare to argue. Zong Yuan and Cheng Pu were pure warriors, and Zhang Chun had other things on his mind. How could they have the heart to say such things?

Only Guo Dianguo Junye, the governor of Julu, who had already finished wearing his clothes, paused for a moment after hearing the words, and then he refuted: "I probably understand what the general with five senses means, the Central Plains of Hebei is the heartland of my great Han Dynasty, but he has turned against me all of a sudden.

, it can be seen that there is indeed something wrong with the government, otherwise the thieves would not have gathered such a large number of troops... However, as you and I are Han officials, we should understand that the virtues of the Han Dynasty are not those of witchcraft, tyranny, and thieves.

What can be shaken, at least, is that there are still 70,000 tiger soldiers today, and six 2,000-ton warriors are willing to die for the country... Therefore, what happens after the war will be decided after the war!"

After saying this, Guo Junye reined up his horse and headed towards his headquarters where the formation had been completed.

"Guo Jun, please stay." Although he was pushed back, Gongsun Xun still calmly called to the other party. "I have one more word."

"Just speak frankly." Guo Dian turned around.

"Although I have long wanted to cross the river, the reason why this battle has been so hasty is partly because of Guo Jun's willingness to die, and I have no choice but to respond." Gongsun Xun pointed at the clearly visible Yellow Turban Army position on the other side with his riding whip.

"Furthermore, the foundation of this battle also lies in two aspects. One lies in the concentrated use of more than 10,000 cavalry by our army, and the other lies in whether the two prefects can successfully cross the river... If they can cross the river and set up fortresses, they will be able to stabilize the river.

If you use your position to attract the attention of the thieves, then the cavalry will definitely win if they come again! But if..."

"I know." Guo Dian's eyes were indifferent and he calmly replied on the horse. "But if neither I nor Zhang Prefect can gain a foothold, then General Wu Guan Zhonglang will not need to let the cavalry attack again, nor will he need to send people across the river to rescue me, so as not to send me away in vain.

The lives of the soldiers! As for those who have crossed the river, including me, their life and death will be decided by heaven... This is what I personally said, and all the gentlemen can testify!"

"Well said." Zhang Chun, who was wearing a filial piety dress as if to demonstrate, gritted his teeth and put on his robe. "This battle is about life and death, success or failure depends on heaven... But I am about to risk my life and fight against the sky.

!”

"The two of you, please go quickly!" Gongsun Xun was equally straightforward. "Chief Commander Cheng, Lieutenant Zong, you two should look at the positions on both sides. When and how to support, you can take advantage of the situation!"

This was a strategy that had been decided a long time ago. Naturally, the four of them had nothing to say, so they turned to their respective directions... The Han army had 60,000 to 70,000 troops, but only 30,000 to 40,000 were mobilized at once.

A few quarters of an hour later, on the opposite mountain, under the banner of Huang Tian, ​​Zhang Bao, with his head wrapped in yellow cloth, saw the Han army's formation begin to move, and he became nervous... because he found that he still underestimated this kind of dozens of troops.

A big scene with tens of thousands of people competing against each other!

There are too many people. If there are more than 10,000 people, there is no limit, let alone more than 100,000 people.

Even if it is defense, even if a special position is set up, even if it is on the plain, the width of the battlefield is more than ten miles. Zhang Bao is not a real god, how can he clearly understand all the surrounding situations?

It can even be said that the only area where he can clearly observe and react directly is the area in front of him where the Chinese army is facing off.

Therefore, when the Han army on the other side of the river was about to cross the river, but he could only see flags and smoke in the distance, the local general immediately became panicked:

The Han army wanted to cross the river, where should they cross?

The number of Han cavalry on the other side was very small. Was it because they had to cross the river that they did not ride at all, or was it that the cavalry had already been dispatched en masse to prepare for a large-scale detour attack?

If we take a detour, where will we come from? When will we come?

How many reserves should we keep? Where should we place them? Are our preparations enough?

Do we need to immediately increase the number of troops at the openings that are convenient for crossing the river? Or should we wait and wait until the opponent comes ashore before gathering troops?

A series of thoughts were running around in Zhang Bao's mind, but he didn't dare to reveal any of them, for fear of affecting the morale of the army... From the end of February to now, he has been the head coach of the army for half a year. At least some things

I still know,

"Where do you think the Han army will cross the river?" Suppressing his anxiety, Zhang Bao put on a calm look, then turned around and asked a group of capable people in the army behind him. "How should we deal with it?"

This group of capable people can be roughly divided into three categories. One category belongs to Taiping Dao, and after the uprising, they naturally became the commander-in-chief, deputy commander, and junior commander-in-chief of the Yellow Turban Army;

The last category is the powerful people who defected to Zhang Bao after the uprising, including county officials, veterans of the frontier army, and even bandit and bandit leaders... but they gradually emerged during the war and appeared next to Zhang Bao.

At this time, the people Zhang Bao was asking were the latter two categories. After half a year, he knew very well that only the latter two categories of people could provide him with truly useful and effective military advice.

However, although there are many people around, they are generally speechless at this time... In terms of small-scale combat, these people may be relatively experienced, but such a large-scale military formation feels like a chilling atmosphere just standing here.

How can anyone dare to say anything when the sky is overwhelming?

After a while, someone just suggested that it would be better to detach two groups of elites from the Central Army with 3,000 men each, and patrol the two wings to supervise the battle while dealing with the breakthrough of the Han army crossing the river.

To be fair, this is already very pertinent advice.

Moreover, Zhang Bao's words were not so much a question as a search for self-comfort. He was very satisfied to receive such a suggestion.

As a result, two teams of Yellow Turban elites with three thousand soldiers each emerged from behind the mountain and headed east and west. The two Han army prefects on the north bank of the Hutuo River also began to take action... The two sides faced off here for several months, tentatively

After crossing the river several times, they had already figured out the river conditions and geography, and had already had experience and preparations for crossing the river. Therefore, as the two enlightened prefects, Guo Dian and Zhang Chun, returned to their headquarters, the Han army immediately launched its attack on Hutuo.

There were thousands of boats on the calm river, and the yellow ocean on the other side of the river also rolled up waves in response.

Both wings of the Han army moved together to force the crossing, and the Yellow Turban Army on the opposite side also mobilized to prepare. Immediately, the Yellow Turban Army's commander Zhang Bao immediately mobilized two elite groups to support left and right. As soon as the battle began, the two sides began to use tricks.

Meaning... However, so far, Gongsun Xun, the commander-in-chief of the Han army, remained motionless. He ignored the situation on both sides and ignored the opponent's movements. He just rode forward to the front of the military formation, and then squinted at

It's just the yellow sky flag on the mountain opposite.

Changshan Prime Minister Feng Xin probably saw such a large formation for the first time. After seeing the opponent dispatching troops, he was already a little panicked. When the shouts of death rang out from both wings, he couldn't bear it anymore and asked cautiously on the spot:

"General Wu Guan Zhonglang thinks our army can win this battle?"

Gongsun Xun at the front was extremely speechless, but he could only turn his head and glare at the other person, and then remained silent.

Feng Xin probably also knew that he had lost face and was suspected of shaking the morale of the army, so he immediately kept silent in embarrassment.

But at this moment, Lou Zibo, who was in the Chinese army formation, thought for a moment and suddenly twirled his beard and smiled: "Don't worry, Mr. Feng. In my opinion, this battle is still very simple, and the outcome of victory and defeat is very clear..."

Prime Minister Feng only needs to stay here with my princes, appease the Chinese army, and then wait for success!"

Feng Xin was not surprised when he heard this.

Think about it, even if he has no military skills, since he can get into the position of the prime minister of a large county with a population of 500,000 or 600,000 people like Changshan, he still has basic qualities... After all, it is impossible for all the two thousand stones to be immortalized.

Xiang Xu was so weird... So, he immediately understood that Lou Gui wanted to take the opportunity to say something big and encourage the officers around him.

After all, he was the one who caused the incident, so even if he didn't believe it, Feng Guoxiang still pretended to be asking for advice seriously: "I don't know anything about military matters. I'm asking Uncle Zi to explain the situation to me. What are our chances of winning?"

"I won't hide it from Mr. Feng." Lou Gui reined in his white horse and laughed loudly. "In my opinion, our army has five victories in this battle, and the thieves have five defeats!"

Even though he was somewhat mentally prepared, Feng Xin was also stunned on the spot.

Gongsun Xun, who was sitting in front of the two men, was also speechless when he heard this. He couldn't help but look back at his confidant and adviser.

"First," Lou Zibo pretended not to see the strange look in his prince's eyes and said proudly. "Since the war in Dongjun and Yingchuan subsided, all knowledgeable people in the world have understood that it will be difficult for this yellow turban thief to achieve great things sooner or later.

Destruction... Therefore, although the rebel army is large, its morale is gradually declining; although our army's strength is slightly insufficient, its morale is high... This is what is called one victory and one defeat!"
To be continued...