Chapter 96 Along the Yellow River
There was indeed a Han army that arrived in Luoyang, but the scale was not large. While Wei Yan defeated Cao Ren and captured Ruyang, he sent one thousand Tiefutus under his command to rush to Luoyang for assistance, and also equipped the Tiefutus with deputy horses.
This was also what Lu Bu told me directly. Lu Bu was worried that the thousands of defenders in Luoyang could not withstand Xu Zhu's siege and was eaten before the main force came to help, so he ordered Wei Yan to quickly send Tiefutu to aid Luoyang after defeating Cao Ren. The reason for sending Tiefutu was that they were cavalry who could fight in the infantry and could dismount to defend the city.
Xu Zhu did not know the fact that Cao Ren's 50,000 army was defeated, and Hongnong's Han army Gaoshun's troops were still far from Luoyang, and there were several cities stationed by Cao Wei's army in the middle, so he never expected that the Han army would arrive in Luoyang so soon.
These one-man and two-horse Tiefutu directly inserted into the flank of the Wei army formation west of Luoyang City, rushing around and shaking up and down. Wherever the Tiefututu passed, there would be left with Wei army corpses that were either trampled into meat paste, or lost their heads, as well as wounded soldiers who were broken arms, legs and wailing. The Wei soldiers had no choice but to use these cavalrymen with iron men and horses for a moment.
Tiefutu rushed to the gap where the city wall collapsed on the west side of Luoyang City. At this time, Xu Zhu fought hard against Dian Wei, but Cheng Lian, but when he saw that the Han reinforcements had arrived, he was frightened. He quickly led his personal soldiers to flee. Tiefutu ignored them and rushed into Luoyang City directly from the ruins of the gap.
The Han soldiers guarding the city did not know what was going on and were about to fight back. Cheng Lian had already seen clearly that what was coming was his own people, and hurriedly shouted loudly: "This is our own reinforcements! Welcome them into the city."
The twenty giant catapults in the west of Luoyang City are now out of stone and are about to withdraw, but the crossbows in the city have all been mobilized in Xicheng and began to bombard these catapults. Several rounds of bombs and explosive bombs have attacked one after another, destroying five or six giant catapults of the Wei army. The rest of the catapults have withdrawn from the range of the catapults.
After entering the city, the commander of Tiefutu told Cheng Lian that as long as Luoyang holds for another ten days, a large number of reinforcements will arrive. All the defenders of Luoyang who heard this news were happy and their morale was high.
Sure enough, just five days later, Zhang Liao's 30,000 troops entered Hongnong along the Yellow River channel, joined forces with Gaoshun's troops in Shan County, and then continued to advance eastward, recapturing Hongnong counties again. After obtaining the replenishment of Shangluo's troops, the Han army, which had originally retreated to Hushi County, also began to move eastward. Soon, they met with Zhang Liao's army and continued to advance eastward along the Luoshui River. Wei Yan's main force also left Ruyang and soon stationed troops fifty miles south of Luoyang. Xu Zhu, who besieged Luoyang, was now attacked from three sides.
What was even more anxious than Xu Zhu was Xiahou Dun. He climbed to the city of Guancheng in Hangu Pass every day, looking at the busy Han army ships in the Yellow River waterway. These long boats either raised sails, went up the wind, or lowered sails, and continued to transport Guanzhong food and grass supplies to Hongnong's Han army. Xiahou Dun knew in his heart that it was meaningless to stick to Hangu again, but he had not received the order to retreat, and perhaps Cao Cao's edict could not be sent in at all. Even if he received the order, the Hangu was blocked from both sides of the east and west, and there was no way to escape.
"General, the food and grass stored in our city are almost out of food." A Sima, a soldier in charge of food and grass, came to Xiahou Dun and reported to him in a low voice. Xiahou Dun's one-eyed eyelid twitched a few times and asked, "How many days are there."
"Report to the general that the food supply of the entire army has been reduced by half in the first five days, and even so, the remaining food and grass are only enough for three days." The army Sima responded.
"I understand, please go down first, I will make a decision." Xiahou Dun said indifferently. After the Sima of the army left, Xiahou Dun turned his eyes to the Yellow River again, and he thought to himself [It's time to make a decision.]
Xiahou Dun finally began to break through, and there was only one choice in the direction of breaking through, which was Shan County. Xiahou Dun moved, and the Han army stationed in Tongguan and more than 10,000 troops left by Zhang Liao, divided the troops and followed them to attack.
Xiahou Dun was surrounded by more than 3,000 soldiers and horses in the plains east of Hangu Pass, west of Wushan, and south of the Yellow River. He had more defeats and fewer victories. The more soldiers fought, the less morale was getting lower and lower. In the end, Xiahou Dun, who was only three thousand soldiers and horses, was surrounded by more than 10,000 Han troops at the foot of the Junshan Mountains and the Qinling Mountains, and could no longer escape. At this time, Xiahou Dun's Wei army had run out of arrows and food, and his morale was gone.
At dawn, the Han army launched a general attack on the Wei army's camp. The victory of the battle was expected, but the battle process was unexpectedly smooth and there was almost no resistance. When a Han army's sword and shield heavy infantry team attacked the Wei army's central tent, all the remaining Wei army had surrendered and captured. However, the Han army searched all the corpses and prisoners, but they did not see the one-eyed Xiahou Dun.
Gao Shun repeatedly checked and inquired about the prisoners, and found out that before dawn, Xiahou Dun disappeared into the vast forests of Mount Wu with more than a dozen personal soldiers.
...
Xu Zhu, outside Luoyang City, received an emergency military information from scouts around him, and knew that he was in danger. But he didn't know how to act, whether to retreat east of Luoyang to meet Cao Cao, or wait for Cao Cao to come for help, or stay in the camp and wait for change.
When he was hesitating, even worse news came. The baggage team, which should have been replenished once a week, did not come to deliver supplies on time. After scouts investigated, the baggage team that transported food to Xu Zhu's troops was robbed and killed by the Han army's Hu Ben cavalry who deviated to the east of Luoyang City. This means that Xu Zhu's supply line was always under the threat of the Han army.
The orders sent by Xu Zhu had already sent the military intelligence to Cao Cao's palace in Xingyang. When Cao Cao's 50,000 troops arrived in Xingyang, he realized that Lu Bu had already captured Xudu and had to station 50,000 troops in Xingyang.
After reading Xu Zhu's report, Cao Cao became embarrassed for a moment. Giving up Luoyang is equivalent to giving up the entire Hongnong, Henan Yin and Yuzhou. But if he does not give up Luoyang, he must ensure that Xingyang will not be lost, otherwise Xu Zhu's 50,000 troops will be made into dumplings. Now, the Yellow River channel between Henei County and Henan Yin is completely controlled by the Han army. The passage from Xingyang through Sishui Pass to Luoyang is the only grain channel that can supply Xu Zhu's tribe. In addition, even if he guarantees that Xu Zhu will not be completely cut off, it is difficult to ensure that Xu Zhu will not be defeated by Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Wei Yan and Cheng Lian in Luoyang City.
Chapter completed!