9th of March, dusk.
Xu Rong and Li Meng led 3,000 soldiers from Mengjin to the Yellow River, ready to attack Cao Cao's army.
That was not accurate.
To describe it truthfully, it should be said that they were prepared to kill the Cao troops who were lining up to die.
Three days ago, the 6th of March.
The Cao army was cutting down trees on the opposite mountain. They were right next to the Yellow River. In front of the guards at Mengjin Pass, they started a fire to dry the wood.
On the eighth day of the third month, the Cao army threw wood into the Yellow River.
They were wooden boxes and hollow objects in the shape of cabins that were about ten feet long and two feet wide. They were connected together by ropes.
One had to know that the reason why Mengjin Crossing wanted to build Mengjin Pass was not because it was the most dangerous place.
On the contrary, Mengjin Pass was the place where the Yellow River was the widest and the water flow was the gentlest after the Yellow River had left Shaanxi.
This was why this place could be used as a ferry. It was also the only ferry north of Luoyang that could allow the army to cross the Yellow River.
In other places, the current was too fast to cross the river, or the foothold was too small for the army to settle down and fight the defenders.
In addition, the Yellow River had just thawed not long ago, and the spring flood did not come this year, so the water flow on the Yellow River was particularly gentle.
Therefore, the wooden boats made by the Cao army were quite stable on the water.
By the evening of the ninth day of the third month, the wooden boat was already in the middle of the Yellow River, less than a mile away from the bank of Mengjin Pass.
Therefore, what Xu Rong could not figure out was that if the Cao army was prepared to cross the river with wooden boxes, wouldn't they line up to court death?
Li Meng, who Li Ru sent to monitor Xu Rong, also thought so.
After all, even if the wooden box was covered with wooden planks and made into a pontoon bridge, it could only accommodate two people at a time.
Li Meng advised Xu Rong not to make a fuss. The Cao army was just bluffing, or perhaps it was just a tactic to tire the enemy out.
It was enough to send a hundred people to monitor this place. There was no need to make such a big fuss. Otherwise, what would happen if the Cao army attacked in the middle of the night?
The 3,000 soldiers guarding the pass were also speechless at the fact that the entire army was ready to attack.
After all, no one was willing to believe that Cao Jun would really cross the river on a wooden box.
However, Xu Rong had already been schemed against twice. This time, he did not dare to be negligent.
He knew that if he really lost Mengjin Pass again, he would die.
Therefore, when they first discovered that the Cao army had cut down trees and smoked them.
It was the 6th of March.
He sensed that something was wrong and immediately went to Luo City to report the news to Dong Zhuo.
At the same time, in order to prevent the Cao army from creating a diversion, they deliberately made a bluff on the other side of Mengjin Pass and sneaked across the Yellow River.
Before Xu Rong went to Luo, he sent another 300 cavalry to patrol the upper reaches of the river in three shifts, day and night.
This way, even if Cao Cao really wanted to sneak into the Yellow River, he would have no chance to do so.
When Dong Zhuo first heard Xu Rong say that Cao Cao was cutting down trees to make river crossing equipment, he was excited.
Previously, he had asked Li Ru for a plan to destroy Cao Cao, but Li Ru said that he had no way.
And now, Cao Cao seemed to have really delivered himself to his doorstep. Dong Zhuo was so happy that he threw his head back and held his belly, cursing Cao Cao for being a bastard. He was really Zhao Kuo's Liu Yunyun.
Thus, Dong Zhuo ordered Xu Rong to open up the gap and let Cao Cao cross the river before killing him.
Li Ru quickly objected to this suggestion.
Li Ru asked. What if Cao Cao was really just a diversion?
If Cao Cao was released, then if they wanted to eliminate Cao Cao, they would have to gather people from the other passes.
One had to know that Cao Cao still had six to seven thousand men in front of Tiger Cage Pass. Who knew what he was up to?
Moreover, if Cao Cao was allowed to cross the river, and he stood still after crossing the river, the vassal army would suddenly appear from the opposite bank of Mengjin and cross the river on the pontoon bridge. What would they do?
Dong Zhuo gave up his plan to ambush Cao Cao.
At the same time, he strongly praised Xu Rong's response and praised him for doing a good job. He also told Xu Rong that he trusted him very much and asked him to work hard. When he returned to Chang 'an, he would give him the title of General with a miscellaneous title. It would not be a problem for him to become the Marquis of the Pass.
Xu Rong was so touched that he had tears and snot running down his face. He choked and said," My lord still trusts me."
Dong Zhuo suddenly felt that Li Ru was right to transfer Xu Rong to Mengjin Pass. Cao Cao's plan to sow discord had failed.
The relationship between the monarch and his subjects would be another beautiful story in the future.
In the end, Dong Zhuo ordered Xu Rong to return to Mengjin Pass and continue to patrol the riverbank to prevent Cao Cao from sneaking in from other places.
If Cao Cao really dared to cross the river by stepping on the wooden box, then a beacon fire would be ignited.
Dong Zhuo would personally lead the army from Luoyang to destroy Cao Cao.
On the night of the sixth day of the third month, Xu Rong returned to Mengjin Pass and sent another three hundred men to patrol the riverbank.
At the same time, he also sent ten men to guard the three beacon towers on Mount Mang, in case they were lazy and didn't see the beacon towers on Mengjin Pass in their sleep, which would delay Dong Zhuo's plan to kill Cao Cao.
In Xu Rong's opinion, if Cao Cao's soldiers were still made of meat, he would not dare to cross the river on the wooden box.
He actually knew that everything he did was most likely useless.
But just in case, he had no choice.
He was already scared of Cao Cao.
Three days later, it was the ninth day of the third month.
At noon on the ninth day of the lunar month, Xu Rong discovered that Cao Cao's army had begun to lay wooden planks on the " wooden boats " on the Yellow River to build a pontoon bridge.
Therefore, Xu Rong and Li Meng led 3,000 soldiers from Mengjin to the Yellow River, ready to give Cao Cao a heavy blow.
At the same time, Xu Rong once again confirmed that there were no Cao troops on the north bank of the Yellow River who wanted to sneak in.
Under Li Meng's suggestion and the soldiers 'protests, Xu Rong let half of the soldiers return to the camp to rest, while the other half continued to hold their positions.
Youshi.
The Cao army opposite Mengjin Pass was still laying the pontoon bridge.
Xu Rong estimated that according to the speed of Cao Cao's army, if they did not stop them, they would be able to reach the beach in front of Mengjin Pass by tomorrow morning.
But how could he let Cao Junpu come over?
If they took another hundred steps forward, they would be shot into a sieve!
However, the Cao army suddenly stopped moving and quieted down.
It was strangely quiet.
Even a trace of fire was extinguished.
Haishi.
The drums of Cao Cao's army rang out, and the horses neighed.
Xu Rong had been sleeping on the beach. When he heard the sound, he immediately perked up and called the half-asleep Western Liang soldiers who were lying on the ground behind him to get into formation and prepare to face the enemy.
At the same time.
On Mount Mang behind Mengjin Pass, in the dense forest, the Cao army, which had crossed the Yellow River, began to move.
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