The flow of the Huaihe River is still far less than that of the Yellow River, so even if the Huaihe River embankment and the Pihu embankment were dug at the same time, when the water level under Huaiyin City was the highest at the peak, it was only less than a foot. After the peak, the water level under Huaiyin City dropped again.

It quickly dropped to about six feet, and could only reach the chest of a normal person.

Fire and water are ruthless. Even if the water level at the peak of the flood is not high, the land of Huaiyin will still be devastated after the peak of the flood. There are all kinds of debris floating everywhere in the turbid water, such as branches, sawdust, grass blades, flags, animal carcasses and shrubs.

There are all kinds of things, and more of them are the corpses of Yuan Shujun soldiers. Some were drowned, choked, soaked to death, trampled to death, shot to death by the bows and arrows of the Huaiyin defenders, and some even climbed up trees to escape.

water, but were bitten to death by poisonous snakes that also climbed trees to avoid water, or were bitten and then fell into the water again and drowned. Each corpse was in a horrible death state, and each corpse was swollen and turned white.

The muddy water floated slowly, drifting with the current, and it was so miserable that it was almost unbearable to see.

Of course, because the peak water level was not very high, there were quite a few Yuan Shujun soldiers who survived. At least nearly one-third of Yuan Shujun soldiers escaped the flood attack, and a small half of them fled to the Huaihe River embankment, and most of them escaped.

Scattered high in the hills and mountains surrounded by floods, most of the weapons and baggage of these armies have been lost, and their morale is low. Morale and military morale are close to collapse. Deserters have already appeared in Yuan Shu's army without the Huaiyin army taking action.

, they also fought and killed each other for the small boats that were not stranded. Ji Ling, Gao Ya and others who luckily escaped onto the dam were unable to restrain them at all.

The matter was not over yet. As a confidant of the excellent public servant Deputy Director Tao, Chen Dao naturally learned Deputy Director Tao's famous trick of beating a drowned dog. After the peak of the flood passed. As soon as the water slowed down, Chen Dao immediately ordered people to release countless people from Huaiyin City.

Ten small teams of 100 men were divided into small boats and rafts, led by the generals. They took boats and rafts to capture and kill the stragglers of Yuan's army who were surrounded by floods. Chen Dao personally led an army of 3,000 people out of the city from the north gate and took boats into the water to kill them.

He went to the Huaihe River Embankment to capture Ji Ling, whose flag was on the embankment. Ji Ling, who was on the embankment, was also furious. He personally led more than a hundred soldiers to fight, vowing to avenge his old troops who had been flooded for many years.

The top of the embankment surrounded by floods and rivers was narrow, and neither side could fight on horseback, so Ji Ling and Chen Dao both raised their swords and went out to fight on foot. After meeting, Chen Dao pointed his sword at Ji Ling and shouted: "Ji Ling."

Lingpifu, why don't you quickly put down your weapons and surrender? When will we wait?"

"Bah!" Ji Ling spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm and cursed with red eyes: "Shameless traitor. You are using this treacherous trick to destroy our army. I swear to kill you."

After cursing, Ji Ling strode forward and slashed with his sword. Chen Dao stopped talking and started fighting with Ji Ling with his sword. Ji Ling was tall and powerful, and his swords and swords had the power to cut mountains and rocks, while Chen Dao

Young and nimble, with strong skills, he could dodge and deal with it calmly, and his fight was on par with Ji Ling. The Xuzhou team met behind him. Soon they rushed forward without any anger, taking advantage of the large number of people to bully the small number, and surrounded and beat him.

Ji Ling was surrounded by more than a hundred soldiers behind him. Ji Ling's soldiers couldn't resist it, so they dropped Ji Ling one after another and ran for their lives. Ji Ling, who was still able to resist, was greatly panicked when he saw the situation. He quickly sold a flaw and turned around and ran away. Chen Dao led the army.

The pursuit continues.

Ji Ling's command of the troops was somewhat popular, but when he was about to be overtaken by Chen Dao, his deputy Gao Ya led more than 200 people to stop him. While shouting at Ji Ling to leave quickly, he brandished his sword to fight Chen Dao.

It's a pity that Gao Ya's skills are far inferior to Chen Dao's, and he was hacked to death by Chen Dao in just five rounds. The state troops continued to pursue Ji Ling until they forced Ji Ling to the bank of the Huaihe River. Ji Ling was desperate.

He didn't know how to swim, so he could only run for his life along the river bank. When he was anxious and helpless, he suddenly saw a small boat coming down from the upstream. The three people on the boat were none other than Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai - these three

But he is a great expert in water warfare.

"Gong Jin, save me, save me quickly," Ji Ling shouted ecstatically, "Quickly, get the boat over quickly."

"Gong Jin, what should we do?" Huang Gai asked, "Save or not?"

"No," Cheng Pu rushed to say, "Not to mention the risk involved in saving him, there is no point in saving him. After such a big defeat, Yuan Shu will not reuse him again."

Zhou Yu's expression was grim. After careful calculation, he said coldly: "We must be saved. We need a scapegoat as a shield in front of Yuan Shu's common man. Moreover, Ji Ling is Yuan Shu's confidant. There is still the possibility of making a comeback. For us, he is still valuable."

General, push the boat across."

Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were convinced of Zhou Yu's judgment, and without hesitation, they immediately came to meet him in a boat. Ji Ling was overjoyed and jumped into the boat. When the Xuzhou sergeant rushed to shoot with an arrow, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, both masters of water warfare, had already waved their shields to block the attack.

Zhou Yu also hurriedly took the helm to maneuver the pole and sailed the boat downstream. In the end, although the Xuzhou soldiers shot and wounded Zhou Yu, Ji Ling and other four people, they were still unable to kill the four people. They could only watch Zhou Yu and the others.

After protecting Ji Ling, he went down the river and fled to the lower reaches of the Huaihe River.

However, even though Ji Ling and Zhou Yu failed to escape, Yuan Shu's army almost lost their determination to resist when they saw Ji Ling abandoning the others. They all put down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.

The soldiers were also killed by the Xuzhou soldiers with swords and arrows. They completely wiped out the Yuan army on the embankment and captured more than a thousand people. The soldiers of the Yuan army who were surrounded by floods under the embankment were also captured and surrendered. Only a few people who knew how to swim fled for their lives in the water and fled upstream to the rear.

After the army reported the news, Chen Dao and Xie Yan sent people to salvage weapons and baggage, and seized countless money and grain. Forty large ships and nearly a hundred warships built with Yuan Shu's heavy sums of money also fell into the hands of the Xuzhou army.

At this point, the Huaiyin War was basically over. Yuan Shu's most capable 15,000 elite troops were wiped out. Less than 500 soldiers survived and returned to Xutai to report the news. Chen Ji, Lei Gao, Chen Lanliu, who went east by land,

The tens of thousands of people were unscathed, but they did not have the courage to fight the Xuzhou army with high morale, and were blocked by the floods from heading east. They had no choice but to temporarily camp next to Xutai, a small town with only a few thousand people.

The messenger returned to Shouchun to ask for instructions on the next step. Over there, Chen Dao and Xie Yan happily sent messengers to cross the river and go north to report the victory to Tao Ying. At the same time, in order to reassure Tao Ying, Chen Dao not only sent the messenger to report the victory, but also released

Flying pigeons carried letters and messages, trying to get the good news to Xuzhou as soon as possible.

……………………

Of course, carrier pigeons deliver news faster than messengers on horseback. It only took more than two days to deliver the news to Xuzhou, and when the good news was delivered to Tao Ying, it happened to catch up with a recent great event in Xuzhou - Vice President Tao was killed

The new weapon Fengyu Arrow, which the director had high hopes for, has finally begun its first large-scale production. Tao Ying's infantry ace team Fengyu Army, which Tao Ying has been brewing and preparing for a long time, is finally equipped with this weapon with the same name as their army.

weapons

The name of the Fengfei Arrow is very simple. Its structure is actually very simple, and its function is the same as that of an ordinary arrow. That is, an arrow does not stick to the feathers. Two grooves are dug out at the back end of the arrow where the feathers are supposed to stick.

The inwardly concave grooves generate eddy current resistance, allowing the arrow to maintain stable flight, thus saving expensive bird feathers. However, don’t underestimate this small improvement. The bird feathers used on arrows are not only expensive, but once they are

The damage cannot be repaired, and the source is extremely unstable. Fish bladder glue, bone glue or leather glue must be used for adhesion. The production is time-consuming and expensive, and it is difficult to guarantee the output. The manufacturing cost of wind feather arrows is not only much lower, but also saves manufacturing.

time, ensuring continuous output, and allowing the Xuzhou army to spend a lot of arrows, further improving the long-range attack power of the Xuzhou army.

Of course, the wind feather arrow also has its fatal shortcomings, that is, it requires extremely high manufacturing accuracy, and the effect of maintaining balance is not as good as ordinary feather arrows. Therefore, in order to manufacture and equip the wind feather arrow, the Xuzhou army not only conducted repeated experiments

It took thousands of times to find the ideal groove specifications, and a huge amount of money was invested in the training of craftsmen. A dedicated person was assigned to supervise the production of wind feather arrows, in order to ensure the production accuracy and reproduction of wind feather arrows.

The standardized production of weapons that strengthened the Qin army.

At the same time, considering that the accuracy of the wind feather arrows was not as good as that of ordinary feather arrows, Tao Ying made painstaking adjustments and decided to let the Junzi Army, which had expanded to 1,500 men, continue to use ordinary feather arrows, while other teams used a mix of ordinary feather arrows.

Arrows and Wind Feather Arrows, a separate crossbow troop was formed and named the Wind Feather Army, which specialized in the use of Wind Feather Arrows. The cheap and easy-to-produce Wind Feather Arrows were combined with the ultra-long range of the powerful crossbows, and paired with the Qin Army's crossbows that had gradually been forgotten.

The soldiers used three-stage shooting to create a rainstorm of cheap and powerful crossbow arrows on the battlefield, so as to maximize their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, try to avoid the Xuzhou army's weaknesses in close combat, and give full play to the Xuzhou army's manpower, material and financial advantages.

Closer to home, when the Fengyu Arrows with standardized specifications began to be mass-produced, we received the news of the complete annihilation of Ji Ling elite sent by Chen Daofeige. It was a double happiness. Of course, our Deputy Director Tao was extremely happy and decided immediately.

After generously rewarding Chen Dao, Xie Yan and other meritorious soldiers, he smiled and said: "Well, with this great victory at the bottom, I can sleep a little more peacefully. Those uneasy and kind-hearted neighbors to the north of us should also be honest with me."

It’s one o’clock.”

"My lord, with all due respect, I am afraid that my lord laughed too early." Chen Deng cupped his hands and warned Tao Ying: "The great victory of Huaiyin will certainly prevent our neighbors in the north from peeking into the five counties of Xuzhou at will, but it may not necessarily

It will keep them honest, and it may even be counterproductive and make our neighbors even more uneasy."

"What does Yuan Long mean by this?" Tao Ying asked in surprise: "Our army's victory over Huaiyin has greatly reduced the pressure on the southern front. The main force no longer has to fight on two fronts and be attacked from both sides. Why do our neighbors to the north continue to fight?

"

"My lord, you are a wise man. You must have made a mistake and missed Yuan Shu's reaction." Chen Deng replied with a smile: "Yuan Shu is a small-minded man, and he must retaliate. He suffered such a big loss in Huaiyin, how can he just let it go?"

If Yuan Shu attacks with all his troops then, even if my lord is not afraid, our neighbors in the north will feel they have an opportunity and will not give up."

After listening to Chen Deng's analysis and thinking about it carefully, Tao Ying also felt that he was indeed a little too optimistic. The self-defense army annihilated the elite Ji Ling, but only cut off one of Yuan Shu's arms. Yuan Shu's huge team was still there.

Although these enemies are mostly mobs, if Yuan Shu attacks with all his troops, he will have to mobilize his main force to win. And once his main force goes south, his father-in-law will be the first to lose his composure.

Worried, Tao Ying hurriedly asked Chen Deng: "Yuanlong, since you have seen through the situation, is there any way to help me resolve the crisis?"

"It's not that difficult." Chen Deng replied with a smile: "Ji Ling's entire army was wiped out, and Yuan Shu's rear army was blocked by floods and could not continue to attack Huaiyin and cut off Xuzhou's north-south connection. Even if Yuan Shu mobilized all his troops, there would only be two in Guangling and Pengcheng.

The target is optional, but no matter whether Yuan Shu goes north to attack Pengcheng or goes east to attack Guangling, he still needs to recall Chen Ji's 60,000 troops to prepare again, so our army still has some time to respond. If during this period, let the Lord's father-in-law

I am completely disappointed with Yuan Shu, and I am determined to quarrel with Cao Cao. Then I will kill Xuande Gong’s group of disgusting rabble, and our north will be as stable as Mount Tai."

"Let your father-in-law be completely disappointed with Yuan Shu? Kill Xuande Gong's newly formed rabble? How to do it?" Tao Ying asked, blinking his sinister triangular eyes.

"It's not difficult." Chen Deng smiled more sinisterly than Tao Ying. He whispered: "My lord, you know that in order to spy on our army, Duke Xuande arranged for that person in Xuzhou City, and Marquis Lu Wen also used it as an excuse to facilitate contact.

, and asked his envoy Xu Si to stay permanently in Xuzhou City. In that case, why don’t my lord let them be happy first...?"

………………

That night, the former Xuzhou farewell officer Mi Zhu Mi Zizhong, who had been living peacefully in seclusion, suddenly received a special invitation - the new Xuzhou governor Tao Yingtao Shijun invited Mi Zhu to go to Xuzhou East Gate Primary School early the next morning to attend the Xuzhou New

Mi Zhu was unwilling to go to the formation ceremony of the Junfeng Yu Army. But he couldn't resist the repeated persuasion of Tao Shijun's officials, so he finally nodded and agreed, and the next morning he went to the small campus where the Junzi Army was established last year.

Participate in this great event.

To Mi Zhu's surprise, Xu Bin, the envoy sent by Marquis Lu Wen to liaise with the Xuzhou army, also appeared at the ceremony. When the two met, they had to make a few false statements, but they were both really confused in their hearts. They always valued military secrets more than their lives.

Tao Xiaoshijun, whose wife is even more important, why is he so generous today, even risking leaking military information and allowing himself to visit Fengyu Army, who is known as the ace of infantry warfare? Is there any conspiracy in this?

The inauguration ceremony of the Fengyu Army, which numbered 1,200 people, was similar to the ceremony of the Gentleman Army last year. In both cases, the governor of Xuzhou came forward to talk nonsense about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. The biggest difference was that the governor of Xuzhou had changed people.

And when Tao Ying finished reading the stinky and long speech prepared by Xu Fang, a famous scholar in Xuzhou, something that surprised Xu Bang and Mi Zhu even more happened. Tao Ying actually ordered Feng to leave in front of them and the onlookers.

The Feather Army drills its lineup and conducts actual combat exercises, allowing countless agents and spies to witness first-hand the Feng Yu Army's combat methods and characteristics.

In fact, Tao Ying had nothing to hide about the Feng Yu Army's tactics. Following Xu Sheng's command, the Feng Yu Army simulated a march. They first gathered together urgently, and then pushed their long shields to the front to guard against arrows.

The three teams of Fengyu troops took turns loading arrows and stepped forward. They used powerful crossbows to shoot the Fengyu arrows at the line of straw men 150 steps ahead. They shot the hundreds of straw men into hedgehogs and called it a day.

This simulated actual battle.

After watching the Feng Yu Army's actual combat drill, Xu Bang and Mi Zhu, who were very close to each other on the VIP stage, inevitably looked at each other. They didn't know what was so special about this Feng Yu Army. They even suspected that Tao Ying was deliberately showing weakness and wanted to use himself.

Their mouths told some people that the Fengyu Army was not to be feared, and then the Fengyu Army, like the Gentleman Army, used strange moves on the battlefield to catch the enemy off guard.

While he was doubting, Tao Xiaoshijun had already led Lu Su, Chen Deng, Xu Chu and other Xuzhou upstarts over, and took the initiative to greet Xu Bang and Mi Zhu. The two hurriedly returned the suite, and Tao Ying asked with a smile: "

Mr. Shaoxian, Mr. Zizhong, what do you think of my Fengyu Army? Is it brave?"

"He is truly a man of bears and tigers." Mi Zhu replied innocently.

"This..." Xu Bang is a counselor under Tao Ying's father-in-law, Lu Wenhou. He has a relatively noble position and dares to speak directly. So after a moment of hesitation, Xu Bang said frankly: "Don't blame me, I'm sorry for my poor eyesight.
To be continued...