Chapter 130: Battle of Crossing the River
The stars and the moon are not clear.
Even the patrol camp fire at the Mengjin ferry pass was not very clear.
Guarding the pass for more than a month was enough to completely exhaust the patience of the Xiliang people, who were used to using cavalry to come and go like the wind.
The defenders left on the city wall were also extremely exhausted. They just mechanically cast their gazes in the direction of the ships. Seeing no movement, they leaned on the guns at hand and began to doze off.
However, it was at this time that the mighty river flowed and its speed slowed down in the Mengjin section. The Bingzhou soldiers, carrying sheepskin bags, were washed ashore along with the river water and quickly lined up.
Some of these soldiers are not yet very used to rowing in the water, but they have already formed groups and pairs during the training a while ago.
Some of those who swam faster had already become the leaders of the team. They also landed on the shore first at this time to complete the task of gathering their followers.
Some who were pushed further away could only land through the arc bend in front and run back quickly.
Within these restrictions and connections, this action, which was not fully rehearsed on a normal day, did not produce any unexpected events beyond Qiao Yan's expectations.
What replaced the scene of "the flowing waves taking the moon away" was the flowing waves bringing people in!
This black line that Qiao Yan saw when he was on the sheepskin raft turned into a neat formation after successfully connecting with the other side.
For these soldiers wearing leather armor, standing on the shore after swimming, which they had already adapted to, did not make them feel too tired or uncomfortable, and the summer night wind did not make them feel too cold or freezing.
They just listened to the movements in the night and caught the sound of a sheepskin raft cutting through the river water.
The next moment, more than 2,000 soldiers led by Zhang Liao ignored the soldiers behind who had not yet landed, and rushed straight to Mengjin Pass in front.
No matter how close the reinforcements from the rear are, the people on the city wall will notice the movement first, and they must launch a quick attack first!
This is indeed a sudden and unexpected attack!
An enemy force that was originally separated by a river suddenly airdropped into the military camp on this side, and was almost indistinguishable from a divine army sent from heaven.
The defenders at Mengjin Pass were awakened by the noise and were shot through the throat by an arrow.
Then, several iron climbing claws were placed on the top of the city wall.
The biggest function of Mengjin Pass is to guard the Yellow River ferry, which is different from ordinary cities. In fact, this pass was supposed to stop the enemy before they successfully crossed the river, which meant that no high barrier was formed during the construction of this pass.
With the help of climbing equipment, the Bingzhou army was able to advance towards the top of the city.
Finally, there was a defender standing in a corner on the top of the city wall who opened his voice and shouted "Enemy attack" after he came to his senses, but -
During the day, Niu Fucai bought a lot of good wine from Luoyang City in order to calm his men's anger that they could not plunder at this time. He got drunk with his bodyguards at dinner time. Now he was sleeping soundly, so how could he be awakened?
He felt that the Yellow River outside the city was a natural barrier, and the pass itself was a shelter. Plus, there were guards in the military camp below the city, so he was in a safe position anyway.
But he never expected that the Governor of Bingzhou, who he thought had no courage to attack, would actually launch a battle to cross the river tonight.
If Qiao Yan had a few more boats on the river, it might have been more obvious, but the soldiers who landed first almost merged with the river water when they came. They were an unstoppable landing attack team.
The soldiers who landed on the shore were divided into two lines like a torrent. If someone could look from a high place above the gate and the barracks, they would see that only a hundred of them climbed up the city gate.
For these soldiers who often move in the mountainous environment of Bingzhou, such low city walls provide countless footholds even in the dark.
They climbed up quickly and occupied the top of the Mengjin Pass. After completely killing the startled defenders on the top of the city wall, they opened the city gate of Mengjin.
The other 800 people who had been waiting outside the city immediately joined these 100 people in attacking Mengjin Pass. The other two thousand people went straight into the camp outside the city.
There were no more than a thousand defenders in the city. Even if they were fully armed and on alert, they might not be a match for the Bingzhou army, let alone at this time.
The Bingzhou army charged directly into the pass, destroying the rammed earth wall barrier. However, when the sounds of swords and axes were heard, the Liangzhou army was either drunk or asleep.
Niu Fu was finally pulled off the bed by his subordinates. He knocked his head on the ground before he finally regained some consciousness.
When he heard the sound of fighting outside, his face turned pale. Finally, he lived up to his Liangzhou Army background and immediately realized what had happened here.
Regardless of the battle situation outside, he immediately shouted: "Sound the alarm immediately... and light a fire to send a message!"
These two military camps are nearly thirty miles away from Luoyang City itself, but the distance between Mengjin Pass and Xiaopingjin Pass is only about eight miles. In addition, the checkpoints set up on Mangshan Mountain are sufficient to quickly transmit news to another place after an attack in one place.
If the number of enemy troops faced by one side is not too large, and they have not yet established a stable foothold on the river bank at this end, the help of the other side will be enough to eliminate the other side.
Niu Fu had a good idea, but he didn't know that Qiao Yan was also prepared for this.
She looked towards the battle scenes on and below the city walls, and saw the lights of fire on the city walls and in the distant mountains. She then looked towards the Xiaopingjin Pass in the west, which was hidden in the darkness and could not be seen clearly. A dangerous smile flashed across her face.
"Captain Qu!"
In the short time since they abandoned the boat and went ashore, four hundred heavily-armored soldiers on two large sheepskin rafts had already lined up with shields and spears in hand.
When Qiao Yan called his name, Qu Yi, who was not originally a member of the Bingzhou army, stepped out.
After he was transferred to the combat readiness front by Qiao Yan, three hundred of the four hundred heavily armored soldiers came under his command, and they also followed him in training how to lie low to the ground and then quickly stand up and attack.
Before this, he had no idea what this would be used for, but from the sound of the alarm horn that sounded in the chaos of the enemy camp, he already had a guess in his mind.
Sure enough, the next moment he heard Qiao Yan's order: "You lead your people to ambush on the road. Once Xiaopingjinguan receives the news and comes to support, you must leave the infantry on the road for me!"
Three hundred people is not a large number, but since the defenders of Xiaopingjin Guanzhong would not risk sending out all their troops, and this section of the river bank is not suitable for a larger number of people to fight, this number is enough.
What's more, the continuous rain made the river bank muddy, which gave these armored soldiers the opportunity to create even greater chaos after the surprise attack.
Seeing Qu Yi taking the order and leaving, Qiao Yan raised his hand.
Along with Dian Wei, another hundred heavy armored soldiers also joined the battle in the military camp under the city.
The advantage of heavy armored soldiers in this kind of flat ground combat is unquestionable.
In this kind of battle, the party with larger stature and weight will undoubtedly have the advantage in the confrontation, not to mention that it was Dian Wei who was leading these hundred heavily armored soldiers.
The fires that lit up one after another in the camp allowed Qiao Yan to clearly see that as Dian Wei and his men advanced, those who had managed to gather together were torn apart as if by a sharp weapon.
Dian Wei led the way, holding a heavy halberd.
Because the sheepskin raft could bear enough weight and Dian Wei was very strong, he simply put on two sets of heavy armor. If there had not been a specially customized larger piece of heavy armor, Qiao Yan had no doubt that a third piece could be put on Dian Wei.
Fortunately, with the ability of Bingzhou, a stronghold on the border, to manufacture chain mail, the combination of these two pieces of heavy armor is enough to turn him into an almost invulnerable war machine in close combat.
With the heavy-armored soldiers leading the way, the team that originally had no obvious advantage in the fight suddenly gained an almost overwhelming advantage.
But that’s not enough!
In order to ensure that the troops led by Niu Fu could gain sufficient suppression power when facing the Bingzhou army, even if there was a plan to attack them halfway across the river, there were four to five thousand soldiers deployed here.
After recovering from the first wave of sneak attacks, these still fierce Liangzhou troops have been trying to launch a defensive counterattack.
If the military camp had not been narrow and flooded, and if they had not been blocked by Dian Wei's tiger guards in front, they would have mounted their horses and charged forward long ago.
But with Qiao Yan personally in charge here, how could he give them the opportunity to fight back?
While Mengjin Pass was sending out a signal for help by starting a fire, Qiao Yan also had people start a fire.
Seeing five torches lit up along the coast, it was clearly not an accident that occurred during the battle, but a signal sent by Qiao Yan to the other side. Zhao Yun and Lu Bu also led the crowd on board the boat.
The purpose of the 3,400 people who went ahead was just to create opportunities for the troops in the rear to land on their ships.
Now that those ships have been built, they naturally need to be used.
With the assistance of Ma Jun, the oars of these boats were installed more like dragon boats than ferries, so that when the boats entered the water, they immediately rushed to the other side like an arrow from a bow.
Even if Niu Fu was not fighting with the Bingzhou army in the city gate at this time, but was able to climb the city wall at this time, he was afraid that he would not have the opportunity to stop it.
In the stalemate between the Bingzhou army, which had landed first, and the Mengjin defenders, it was completely impossible for Niu Fu to spare a well-equipped force to effectively intercept the boats crossing the river.
And these ships are fast enough.
Just when the Xiliang Army had just regained a slight advantage by relying on numbers, the reinforcements of the Bingzhou Army had already arrived on the other side.
The large and small ships built in the past month or so are enough to transport most of them to this side, including the cavalry!
The troops led by Zhao Yun and Lu Bu quickly arrived at this side of the river.
In an environment where no one was stopping them, even if a lot of time was wasted in the process of boarding and disembarking, it did not affect their smooth landing at all.
Qiao Yanren was right on the shore, with a shield in front of him to protect against cold arrows. He immediately made arrangements for the troops led by the two men.
Lü Bu led the dozens of people who had delivered the anti-bandit manifesto at that time, and a hundred cavalrymen, and rushed straight to Luoyang. He was determined to intercept the messenger sent from Xiaopingjin halfway. If the interception failed, he would immediately turn back to report the news when he saw that the defense of the north wall of Luoyang had been strengthened.
Qiao Yan has a way to deal with both of these.
When she was not sure whether there were other fire signals within thirty miles of Mangshan, she could only intercept the war news on the river bank as much as possible.
This is the best situation for her.
If the interception is successful, he can guard the southern exit of Mangshan to prevent any soldiers who successfully escape from heading towards Luoyang.
Logically speaking, this kind of operation that requires more foolproofness should be handed over to Zhao Yun, but Lu Bu had walked along this mountain path before and was more familiar with the terrain than Zhao Yun.
This advantage is especially important during night operations.
The cavalry led by Zhao Yun, after quickly reorganizing the troops, cut into the camp under Mengjin Pass from the side!
A considerable number of infantrymen who arrived later followed her orders and charged into the pass, determined to capture Niu Fu, who was still fighting a desperate battle, as soon as possible.
Niu Fu was complaining bitterly.
The armor on his body was not taken off because he slept with it on after being drunk. Instead, it was used to block several arrows shot at him at this moment, thus saving his life.
But the flickering firelight inside Mengjin Pass made him feel as if he had not woken up yet. There was a chaotic black and red light and shadows in front of his eyes. The news he heard was that one of his personal soldiers was killed on the spot while trying to lead others to fight and break out of the pass.
At this point he was certain that the city wall, which was supposed to serve as a shelter, had become a prison for him.
But he also heard the noise of the enemy sending more soldiers into the city.
At this time, he could only choose to rely on the barrier bunkers guarding the pass, and wait for reinforcements from the direction of Xiaopingjin together with the remaining guards.
He couldn't help but wonder in his heart, how could the Bingzhou army on the other side reach the river bank so smoothly? Could it be that -
Could it be that Xu Rong has already surrendered to the Han army!
Otherwise, how could he suddenly find himself in such a dangerous situation?
If Xu Rong knew what this guy was thinking at this moment, he might regret it. The moment he received the news, he began to deploy soldiers and prepare to come to support.
He could not ignore the distress signal sent from Mengjin Pass.
This is not just because Niu Fu became his immediate superior under Dong Zhuo's arrangement.
Rather, it is extremely important for Mengjin and Xiaopingjin to help each other, otherwise why would two passes be set up within this area of less than ten miles.
But when he was getting ready to climb up to the top of Xiaopingjin Pass, the dark river water in front of him made it impossible for him to infer the situation downstream. All he could see from land was the flickering signals from the distant mountains.
How many people came from the other side?
Although the signal from Mengjin was still flashing, it could not inform him of the battle situation in the most intuitive way.
All he could do was to send someone to deliver the message to Luoyang first, and then get ready and set off himself.
But even if he sent a messenger, he could not guarantee that the message would be received by Luoyang City in time.
These soldiers who rode their horses out of the pass to deliver the message had no idea that they would encounter such a fierce obstacle as Lu Bu on the mountain road.
Of course, the other party’s reinforcements were not very comfortable either.
The reinforcements led by Xu Rong consisted of about 1,000 to 3,000 men, with 500 cavalrymen leading the way and the infantrymen following at a fast pace.
This was originally a safe support divided into two batches.
But who would have thought that Qu Yi led three hundred heavily-armored soldiers, some of whom held shields and lay flat on the shore, and some of whom stood against the mountain wall, and suddenly shouted and killed when the infantry had run halfway, almost cutting the team in half!
If it had been during the day, this ambush would never have had such a good effect, but in this dark night, the lethality and destructiveness caused by this team can be imagined.
In extreme cases, a thousand heavy-armored soldiers who suddenly appeared could even fight against Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers. Now, it is obviously a piece of cake for these three hundred heavy-armored soldiers to kill off the infantry among these reinforcements.
When Xu Rong heard the movement behind him, his heart tightened, and he knew clearly that he had to make a decision at this moment.
He could only choose one of the two options: turn around to support the team in the rear, or continue forward to rescue Mengjin.
But after Qu Yi intentionally controlled the time of his attack, he was unable to quickly understand the situation.
Qu Yi was under Han Fu's command, and even after arriving in Bingzhou, he did not get many opportunities to fight. He had long been eager to prove his ability.
Even though these heavily-armored soldiers had only been under his command for a short time, those who could bear the heavy armor were naturally the best among the soldiers. For him, it was like a sharp weapon. He gathered his breath and rushed directly to the front of these infantrymen, refusing to give them the chance to move forward and inform Xu Rong.
The momentum created by these three hundred people shouting the word "kill" at the same time made people have to make a wrong judgment about how many enemies appeared in the rear.
Xu Rong took a deep breath and finally decided to move forward.
There is a pass leading to Mangshan ahead. Even if the war situation at Mengjin Pass is beyond the scope of his assistance, he can quickly turn back to Luoyang and join the team defending the city.
However, when he ran forward and could see the military camp ahead, he saw that the Bingzhou army had already landed and occupied the mountain tops and passes.
The battle inside Mengjin Pass had come to an end when the numerical advantage no longer existed.
He didn't know where Niu Fu was.
All he could see was the confident-of-victory Marquis Qiao, riding on Zhu Tan's horse that had been sent over the river, standing behind a row of armored soldiers with his spear in hand. In the surrounding firelight, he looked so arrogant that he looked down on the world, and he was looking at him.
Seeing the commander of Xiaopingjin Pass coming to help, Qiao Yan couldn't help but laugh and said, "General Xu, you are walking into a trap. It seems that you are going to hand Xiaopingjin over to me as well?"
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