Dong Fang rode his horse and his body fluctuated with the war horse, and his mood also fluctuated with the ups and downs, and he was nervous.

The troubles that troubled their brothers for many years finally came to an end, but they might not be the best result, and they might even turn into disaster. My brother was in Jizhou for a long time and was not clear about the situation in the Central Plains. He was in Chenliu and had a lot of contact with Yuzhou. He also went to Runan to work on a business trip under Zhang Miao. He had witnessed the wealth of the people of Yuzhou and the sharpness of Runan's weapons. He wore a set of Mingguang armor made in Runan, which he bought for a lot of money. It was 20% lighter than ordinary scale armor, but it was more solid and flexible.

It is said that this is the standard configuration of the generals of the Jiangdong Army Marquis and the head of the garrison. If you get to the lieutenant, you can be equipped with a better quality Nanyang Jia. The Nanyang Jia has better protective performance and more expensive. The set on the black market is worth hundreds of gold and it is difficult to buy. Sun Ce gave two sets of Zhang Miao brothers. Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao loved it and refused to let people take a look at it easily.

Why did Yuan Tan win? None of his household registration, troops, and armies could catch up with Sun Ce. Even his method of training was learned from Sun Ce. The guards of Gaotang City were just the young generals around Sun Ce. Yuan Tan's 200,000 army was besieged by Yuan Tan for a month and failed to break the city. So what if he seized Yanzhou? There were 200,000 soldiers in Yuzhou defending the city. Yuan Tan's attack on one city and one city would probably be out of food before he reached the hinterland of Yuzhou. Sun Ce probably didn't need to take action, and Yuan Tan returned in disgrace.

But he had no choice. The Zhang Miao brothers were not heroes in troubled times. They surrendered to Sun Ce and could live a leisurely life in the future, but he couldn't. His brother Dong Zhao had followed Yuan Shao before, but now he followed Yuan Tan, and led his troops to attack Chenliu, and became enemies with Sun Ce. Even if he surrendered to Sun Ce, he would not have any future. Besides, he could understand that Sun Ce looked down on him. Gao Rou, the minor official back then, became the governor of Yangzhou, but Sun Ce didn't even want to invite him.

Perhaps my brother is right. To get Sun Ce's respect, he must first defeat his subordinates and prove his worth.

Man Chong is a good opponent. Man Chong, like Gao Rou, is from Yanzhou. He is appreciated by Sun Ce and became the governor of Yuzhou. In recent years, he has made considerable contributions to Sun Ce's rectification of the Yuzhou family. This time he got the opportunity to command troops and led his troops to rescue Chenliu. Man Chong is capable, but he has too little experience in commanding troops and has almost no formal combat experience. It is difficult to be able to be able to lead tens of thousands of troops at once.

In particular, he did not have a built-in cavalry, only infantry and some navy troops who transported baggage.

This victory was almost delivered to the door. When Dong Fang thought of this, he admired his brother Dong Zhao so much that he admired him. Dong Zhao served as the prefect of Wei County and would go to the mountains to fight against the black bandits every winter. Sometimes he would cooperate with Yuan Tan, and sometimes he would lead a single part, accumulating rich combat experience. Once he received news that Man Chong came to help, he made an accurate judgment on the pros and cons of both sides and gave him this opportunity to make contributions.

Everyone knows that the combat power of Chenliu County soldiers is limited, and it is not very meaningful to capture several counties. Only by defeating reinforcements from Yuzhou can you truly control Chenliu, otherwise you will lose everything. For him, as a rebel general of Chenliu, defeating Man Chong can prove his ability, prove that Zhang Miao did not attach enough importance to him, and prove that Sun Ce took it aside.

Suddenly there was a riot in front of him, mixed with the shouts of knights and the neighing of war horses. Then, the sound of war drums calling the police came, reminding Dong Je that there was an unexpected situation. Dong Je took back his thoughts and stretched his neck to look forward. After a glance, Dong Je felt a tightening in his heart, as if an invisible hand was holding his heart.

On the side of the official road on the south bank of Sui River, a shiny formation stands behind the river, and behind the formation is a row of tall battlements.

How could the formation shine? How could there be battlements here? Dong Jen was puzzled. However, when he saw that the rigorous formation was in front of him, which was inconsistent with his expectations, he felt a strong uneasiness. Before attacking, his brother Dong Zhao had discussed relevant tactics with him, and specifically mentioned the Jiangdong Army's chariot formation, making him very careful. If the chariot formation is not in order, the cavalry can attack. If the chariot formation has been formed, he cannot break through.

The Jiangdong Army's chariot formation was very famous and played a key role in the Battle of Guandu. Tuo Yi and Shen Pei suffered the loss of the crossbow chariot.

Although Dong Fang did not understand why Man Chong had so many crossbows and why he could complete the formation in such a short time, he still issued an order in time. The cost of cavalry forcibly attacking the formation was too high. Now Youzhou is controlled by Liu Bei, and Jizhou does not have enough war horses, so it is difficult to quickly replenish the cavalry's losses too much.

The sound of war drums sounded, and the knights slowed down and flew over two hundred steps in front of the chariot formation. After seeing the other party's position clearly, Dong Jen was even more surprised. The reason why the formation shone was because the front of these crossbows was not painted with paint to other colors, it was just smooth steel plates, which shone in the sun, like a huge copper splash. Are they not afraid of rain or blood splashing on it to cause rust? However, the benefits of doing this are also very obvious. Facing the position, people and horses can't open their eyes, especially horses, who are very sensitive to this dazzling light and are very frightened.

I have long heard that the Jiangdong Army has many ideas and uses everything to do. Today I have seen it.

Dong Fang commanded the cavalry to re-arrange the formation. While observing the formation on the opposite side, he sent someone to notify Dong Zhao. The cavalry failed to raid and the infantry needed the cooperation of the infantry to launch an attack. The reflection of the crossbow chariot on the opposite side was too dazzling, so Dong Fang had to adjust the position and avoid direct shooting on the front to see Man Chong's formation clearly. Man Chong was lined up with the Wugang chariot on the front, and it was a semicircular formation, with both sides extending to the river bank. Behind him should be a ship transporting supplies, and the ship had something like a tower on the boat, which was very dense and looked like a coherent battlement.

The equipment of these 10,000 people is so good, there are so many crossbows. Dong Guai is envious. But it doesn’t matter. As long as he defeats Man Chong, these weapons are their spoils. With three or even five times the strength advantage, there is no suspense in the outcome of this battle. After all, Man Chong is commanding the soldiers of Yuzhou. Although he has to concentrate on training every winter, he is still a farmer who farms. Not only can he not compare with the regular soldiers led by Lu Su and Lu Fan, but he is slightly inferior to the Jizhou soldiers led by Dong Zhao.

Seeing that Dong Fang on the opposite side gave up the attack, Man Chong felt a little regretful. He wanted to use Dong Fang to test the power of the driving formation, but he didn't expect that Dong Fang wisely gave up the attack. It seems that the Dong brothers are well-known and have some ability, especially Dong Zhao.

This battle is very meaningful.

Man Chong was even more excited. He was from Changyi, Shanyang, Dong Zhao, and Dong Fang were from Dingtao, Jiyin. Although the two counties were different, they were not too far apart. He had heard of Dong Zhao's reputation for a long time. It was what he had been looking forward to to be able to fight Dong Zhao and win him in a battle.

Man Chong sent an order to relax the soldiers and eat something quickly. Dong Zhao's army is still twenty miles away and needs to arrive here for at least half a day. If Dong Zhao is more cautious, he may not be able to really fight today. Long-term tension is exhausting and exhausts energy. When he really fights, he will lose his strength and easily cause riots.

The drum sounded, and the shouts of military marquis and garrisons and garrison commanders were heard from everywhere. Man Chong was very satisfied. This Yuzhou army was a reserve service that had just been recruited, but these military marquis and garrison commanders were veterans with combat experience. Some of them retired due to injuries, while others were older and not as physically strong as young people. They accumulated some credit, but they had no chance to go home and become a small official and live a peaceful life. According to the system formulated by the King of Wu, most of these veterans held public offices in the village after retirement. According to the official positions and merits in the army, as well as their cultural level, they held positions ranging from county magistrates to pavilion commanders, maintaining public order in peacetime, training the people in the village, and acting as subordinate officers in wartime. With them commanding the battle, these soldiers who have not experienced the war will be much more at ease. Many things do not need to be ordered by Man Chong, and they will handle them.

At present, Man Chong doesn’t need to consider how to calm morale and concentrate on preparing for the next battle.

As Man Chong expected, about half an hour later, Dong Zhao did not come, but Dong Guen retreated, leaving only some cavalry to watch from afar. Seeing this, Man Chong also ordered a camp on the other side of Sui River and sent scouts to inquire about the news.

Dong Jian returned along the original road, walked more than ten miles, and met Dong Zhao on a hill facing the river three times.

Dong Zhao was sitting on the side of the road, eating and looking at the map. The officials were busy, shuttled and kept sending official documents to Dong Zhao. Dong Zhao replied casually, with branches flowing like a stream without any stagnation. The guards stood around, looking at the distance with vigilance. The army was spread everywhere, surveillance and camping, in an orderly manner.

Dong Fang secretly admired him. Although he was a brother, he also considered himself talented, but he could not be so calm as Dong Zhao.

"Are you back?" Dong Zhao heard the footsteps, looked up, pointed at the opposite side, signaled Dong Je to sit down and talk, and pushed another glass of water over. Dong Zhao took the water and took a big sip. After running around for a long time, he was indeed a little thirsty.

Dong Zhao supported his thighs with both hands, looked at Dong Fang quietly, frowned slightly. "Is the road delayed?"

"No."

"So, is Man Chong faster than we thought?"

Dong Fang thought for a moment and nodded.

“How fast?”

"I don't know, when I arrived, he had already finished the array."

Dong Zhao touched his beard and said nothing more. He just asked Dong Fang to tell him the formation of Man Chong. Dong Fang picked up some stones from the ground and set them on the table. The chariot formation, crossbowman, and the fleet behind him were soon put out in front of Dong Zhao. Dong Zhao listened very seriously, but didn't say much. He waited until Dong Fang finished speaking, and he sighed softly.

"It seems that Man Chong led ten thousand people to come, not because he did not have more troops, but because he was confident that ten thousand people would be enough."

"One fights three? He led the county soldiers." Dong Fang sneered: "Besides, 30,000 people are not enough, we can recruit more."

"No, if we cannot defeat Man Chong with 30,000 Jizhou soldiers, the Chenliu County soldiers will not be convinced. Maybe I will have to spend my energy to guard against them. To defeat Man Chong, we can only use Jizhou soldiers and cannot rely on others. The trouble is that besides Man Chong, there is another person behind us, so we must not be careful."

"Zhang Miao?"
Chapter completed!