Chapter 181: Liu Ye's "Reinforcements"

On April 6th of the third year of Jian'an (197 AD), the armies of Cao and Yuan clashed fiercely at Huzi, engaging in a full day of intense battle.

Guo Jia scattered a hundred copper coins before the battle, praying to the heavens for victory. All the coins landed on their literal heads, boosting the morale of Cao's troops. However, the road's muddy conditions caused disorder among Yuan's army, leading to the ambush and massacre of a thousand soldiers by Cao's forces. Subsequently, Cao's cavalry, led by General Cai Yang, launched a frontal assault, killing half of Yuan's three thousand cavalry. Enraged, Yuan's commander-in-chief, Wen Chou, personally led his elite spear guards into battle. Unfortunately, Wen Chou was entangled by Cao's top warrior, Dian Wei, rendering him unable to command the main forces. Moreover, the spear guards were suppressed by Cao's archers and faced a three-sided encirclement, resulting in the loss of nearly a thousand soldiers. Upon witnessing this, Yuan's military advisor, Guo Tu, intended to send reinforcements to rescue Wen Chou. However, he was ambushed by Cao's troops, and Guo Tu was captured by Cai Yang. Despite fierce resistance from Guo Tu's followers, Cai Yang's two thousand cavalry managed to break through with less than five hundred men while still capturing Guo Tu.

Yuan Jun saw that Guo Tu was captured and the morale plummeted. Wen Chou had no choice but to order a retreat and personally lead the remaining two thousand cavalry of the Yuan army to hold back the enemy in order to escape the entrapment. Out of the fifty thousand troops, fifteen thousand were killed in battle, fourteen thousand were captured, and only close to twenty-one thousand managed to escape back. The injured soldiers accounted for over seventy percent.

However, the Cao army was also unable to pursue and could only lick their wounds.

战熊军两万五千大军战死超过八千人,伤者不计其数,连典韦都在和文丑搏命的时候被文丑的铁枪刺伤胸口,若非反应及时,险些身受重伤。战熊军的任务是守卫东郡,保证曹军东西两线相连,故而并未追击,收兵退回大营。

待曹军回到大营之时,众人拔取郭嘉战前撒下的百枚铜钱,才发现这百枚铜钱都是两面全是字的特制铜钱。

郭嘉在王姬然的搀扶下笑着对众将士道“这世上哪有什么鬼神?你们信也好,不信也罢,在我看来,不过哄骗世人罢了。何况,就算当真有鬼神,我曹军将校无不是勇士,又何惧苍天?”

Later, Guo Jia returned to Puyang City to recover from his illness for a month. After confirming that Wen Chou would not launch another attack in the short term, he set off to return to the main battlefield of Cao's army.

And on the main battlefield of Cao's army, a major battle also took place.

Late at night, the moon obscured by dark clouds.

The wind blowing from the Yellow River ancient road whips up fluttering flags and banners. The wind is so strong that it makes it difficult to keep one's eyes open. Inside the Yanjin camp, Yuan Shao is raging like thunder. Sure, here's the translation:

Originally thought to have the upper hand in the war, the outcome turned out to be a stalemate, with no clear winner between the two parties. Overall, Yuan Shao undoubtedly still held the advantage. However, upon closer examination, despite having several times the number of troops compared to Cao Cao, the Battle of White Horse stalemate and was even heavily damaged by Liu Yan's desperate fire attack; in the Battle of Yanjin, Yuan's forces made repeated attacks, but still achieved no significant results. Upon careful consideration, Yuan Shao actually lost, and he lost to his least desired opponent. How could Yuan Shao possibly be happy in such a situation?

***

Especially the recent battle report, in the Battle of Bai Ma, almost half of Wen Chou's troops were lost, and Wen Chou himself was seriously injured. Even Guo Tu was captured.

Yuan Shao can afford it, as there is a constant supply of provisions and military equipment delivered daily. However... Yuan Shao's patience is starting to wear thin.

Tian Feng feels somewhat helpless as he knows his lord is growing impatient, but he is unable to persuade him. A war of this scale, with both sides commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, cannot end so easily. Unless their opponent is a fool. But their opponents are none other than Cao Cao, along with the strategic minds of Guo Jia, Xun You, and others.

In the first few days of the battle at Yanjin, things were going relatively well. Taking advantage of their superior numbers, the Yuan army launched an attack on the main camp of the Cao army. Although they didn't achieve victory, they did manage to make some gains. However, several days later, Cao Cao's forces quietly left during the night, leaving behind an empty camp for Yuan Shao. Cao Cao himself withdrew to the fortified camp he had prepared earlier at Guandu.

Yuan Shao took the opportunity to launch an attack on the Cao army at Guandu camp, but little did he know that the Cao army was already well-prepared. They adopted a strategy of waiting for the exhausted enemy and dealt a heavy blow to the attacking Yuan forces, killing 2,000 of their soldiers. The Yuan army, unable to make any progress in their prolonged siege, temporarily retreated. Please note that the @ symbol is typically used in Chinese social media platforms to mention or tag someone. Its usage in this context is unclear and may not have a specific meaning.

袁军初战失利,但兵力仍占优势。在逢纪的建议下,袁绍开始构筑楼橹,堆土如山,凭借人数优势一夜之间造出数丈高的樯橹,命弓弩手日夜交替,在樯橹之中,以箭俯射曹营,不仅造成了曹军不小的伤亡,更是令曹军人心惶惶,出入皆以盾牌庇护身体。

At this moment, Liu Ye, who was at Xuchang Institute of Technology, brought a surprise to Cao Cao.

Liu Ye personally arrived at Cao Cao's camp with the protection of a thousand cavalry. Cao Cao thought that Liu Ye's personal visit meant that something unexpected had happened at Xuchang Institute of Technology, but he didn't expect that Liu Ye presented him with a blueprint.

“主公,我听闻主公受袁军的樯橹所扰日久,便按照古籍记载,加上亲身实践,重现了昔日的投石机!”

曹操的军事嗅觉何等灵敏,瞬间便理解了刘晔的意思,一把抓住了刘晔的双手“子扬真乃孤的及时雨啊!”(真就是指及时雨,不是说宋江,大家别代入)

Indeed, the Cao army has no way to deal with the paddle-wheels of the Yuan army. The archers on the paddle-wheels of the Yuan army have an advantage in height and range over the Cao army. They are also protected by the paddle-wheels, making it difficult to cause any harm to the archers. As for destroying their paddle-wheels, it is even more impossible. Not to mention breaking into Yuan Shao's main camp, even if they manage to do so, it may not necessarily result in the destruction of the paddle-wheels. Those paddle-wheels are not made of wood, and most of the structures are constructed using earth and stones.

曹操接过刘晔的图纸之后,见上面画着一只恍若大天平一般的器械,“天平”一头挂着一个斗,斗里装满大小石头,另一头挂着许多根绳子。

Cao Cao looked at the blueprint and slightly frowned.

"Zi Yang, why are there wheels underneath the catapult? And what are these middle wheels for?"

Liu Ye raised his chest proudly and said, "This is the catapult improved by Ye, and I have named it the 'Firing Stone Cart'!"

"My lord, please look!" Liu Ye pointed at the wheel in the middle of the catapult and said, "The ancient people used a purely manpower-driven catapult. Its principle is to use manpower to pull together the bowstrings attached to the crossbar at a distance from the catapult. The bowstrings are mounted on a wooden frame, with one end tied with a rope to hold the leather pouch containing the stone projectile, and the other end connected to multiple ropes that people can pull to launch the stone projectile. This method consumes too much manpower. Therefore, Ye and his colleagues from the Xuchang Institute of Technology have made improvements to it!"

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