The two cities of Jiaopi and Quanhe are less than twenty miles apart. They are at the horns of each other and hang on the right bank of the lower reaches of Yingshui River.
If Yingshui is like a blue dragon with teeth and claws, then Jiaopi and Quanhe cities are the fangs and claws of this dragon.
However, the nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses of Sikong Mansion were like a life-threatening rope, pinning this black dragon in the mire, making it unable to struggle. What threat could its fangs and claws pose?
In less than a month, more than 40 forty fortresses outside the two cities were captured one by one. It was like peeling off the hard carapace that protected the fangs and claws bloody. No matter how you look at it next, it will be time to smash the fangs.
It's time to pull it off and chop off the sharp claws.
Jiaopi and Quanhe are two formal cities. Their defenses are much more complete than ordinary military fortresses. They cover a large area and there are more than 10,000 remaining soldiers who have withdrawn into them, but that's all.
In the past month, because the several forts adjacent to the two cities have not only been built stronger, but also have the closest connection with the two cities, they can receive reinforcements from Yue Hai Tower and the elite direct descendants of Meng Jie's troops at any time, so???
The storming was postponed until the end - before that, Chen Zixiao had no chance to set up heavy trebuchets and directly bombard the two cities day and night.
However, it’s not like I didn’t do anything in the past month.
To the west of Quanhe River and to the south of Yingshui River is the eastern edge of the floodplain formed by Ru River flowing from Ying River to Huaihe River.
At the beginning of the Battle of Yingzhou, Chen Jin and Chen Su led their troops to the west of Quanhe River, and the military camp was connected to Yingshui River in the north to block the enemy's westward escape route. Subsequently, company camps were built - at the same time, in order to prevent the arrival of the flood season, the war was not over yet.
, and built a long embankment west of the company camp.
In this battle of Yingzhou, Sikong Prefecture not only recruited 300,000 soldiers and horses to participate, but also nearly 400,000 supply troops and civilians participated in the transportation of materials and the construction of roads and fortresses.
This time can also be said to be the most extravagant battle fought by everyone in Beijing and Xiangzhou.
After the long embankment on the eastern edge of the floodplain was built, Chen Zixiao did not just use it to nip the danger in the bud. Instead, as the fortresses outside Quanhe were captured one by one, the embankments connecting the floodplain to the west also moved towards Quanhe.
Build in the direction of the river.
This spring, the Hehuai area continued to rain, which brought great difficulties to the siege; April entered the rainy season, the water upstream of Ruying increased greatly, and the floodplain area became more powerful than at this time in previous years.
The rising water in the floodplain area was blocked by the embankment, and the river downstream of Yingshui was seriously silted up, making flood drainage difficult. The flood was channeled by the embankment and poured under Quanhe City.
The overall flooding of Quanhe City may not be deep. After all, the topography and terrain were very particular during the construction of the city. However, the surrounding areas of Quanhe City were surrounded by rammed earth weirs and embankments, which tightly surrounded Quanhe City. The water could not be drained out.
The Quanhe River turned into a marsh, and even the city walls were soaked in water about a foot deep.
Not to mention the city's counterattack and breakout, how could it be uncomfortable for the 13,000 to 4,000 defenders to trample barefoot in mud and water all day long?
Except for the flooding of the Quan River, there was no direct assault. The troops were organized to attack Jiaopi City, which was on higher ground and located in the downstream direction. The assault lasted only five days.
After piling earth from the outside to completely block the four gates of Jiaopi City, Chen Zixiao
An order was given to suspend the storming, and all soldiers and horses were withdrawn to the surrounding company camps on the spot, and the siege of Jiaopi City continued.
On April 10, in addition to Chen Jin and Chen Su, who each led a force of troops to besiege and monitor Quanhe and the remaining enemies in Jiaopi, Chen Zixiao, together with Generals Fan Zongqi, Jiang Ang, Fu Liang and other generals, led the 80,000 main force of the front army to cross the river. After crossing the Yingshui River, we rested for a while at the Zhangzigou camp, then boldly headed northeast along the north bank of the Yingshui River toward the Taihe enemy camp.
At the same time, generals Yin Peng, Shi Hu, Yu Gong, Sun Yanguan and others led 40,000 elite infantry and cavalry to cover the flanks of the main force of the front army and advance towards the northern part of Taihe County.
No one expected that the Sikong Mansion did not set the goal of annihilating the enemy in Jiaopi to achieve a great victory in the Yingzhou Battle. It did not even wait for Quanhe and Jiaopi to be captured before brazenly launching a larger-scale battle.
In addition to the 120,000 infantry and cavalry assembled by the Prince of Pingyanzong in Mengcheng east of Ruyin, the Prince of Zhennan, focusing on Taihe, assembled reinforcements in Shenqiu, Xiangcheng and other places east of Wanqiu. It is as high as 180,000.
The battle in Yingzhou has been going on for half a year. The Sikong government has no intention of taking a break and wants to launch a larger-scale battle. It is really disappointing. I felt so much shock and surprise.
Generals Yin Peng, Shi Hu, Yu Gong and other generals led the Xuanfeng Army and Jingsheng Army, which were in Ruyin for supplies and resting for nearly four months. When the main force of the first and second towns of Jingsheng Army moved north, Xu Huai also personally rushed to Ruyin to take charge. ——Using the former Tiansheng General's Mansion of Sun Yanzhou as the departure point, he received Yang Ji, Guo Yunkun and other generals.
After the simple banquet, Yang Ji, Guo Yunkun and others couldn't help but cautiously mention their inner doubts.
"Yue Hailou, Zhong Changqing, Meng Jie and other thieves have worked for the tigers over the years, killing countless of their own people, and their hands are covered with blood. If we can capture them alive this time, they will definitely have to be chopped alive to be happy, but we have to admit that , in order to realize their personal ambitions, they focused on operating Xu, Chen, Ying, Zheng and other prefectures north of Yingshui as their core areas. In recent years, they have done some work to restore local farming production. Western Beijing has spent a lot of money The force built a long embankment of three to four hundred miles on the north bank of Yingshui River, which made the flood disaster north of Yingshui River in the flood season much lighter than that on the south bank. This also made it possible to fight north of Yingshui River in the flood season without worrying too much about monstrous floods. .As Sikong Prefecture is fighting north of Ying River, the transportation of grain, fodder and other combat materials can also rely on Ying River shipping. Therefore, if there will be a battle north of Yingzhou this year, there is no need to postpone it until the end of autumn; It is better to fight late than to fight early..."
Xu Huai was very willing to discuss strategies and tactics with his generals, and he was even more patient with Yang Ji, Guo Yunkun and other newly attached people.
"Now we can use the Ying River to transport grain and fodder, and the army can also march forward on the water and fight along the river. However, the Japanese soldiers held on to Taihe, Xiangcheng, Shenqiu and other places and refused to fight a decisive battle with our army. They wanted to drag us to Ying. What will happen when the water freezes?"
Although Yang Ji, Guo Yunkun and other generals also served as capital commanders and other generals, they were afraid of violating taboos and deliberately did not participate in top-secret military strategies. At this time, both armies were dispatched. Seeing that Xu Huai was also approachable, they felt a little confused. Just ask directly.
Xu Huai laughed and said:
"The two cities of Quanhe and Jiaopi have not yet been conquered, and there are hundreds of thousands of generals.
The battle continued for another half a year. At this time, the Sikong Mansion directly sent its troops across Ying to the north for a larger-scale battle. It was difficult to be fully prepared. However, the preparations for the captive troops were only less than ours, and they did not refuse to defend.
The possibility of avoiding war. Think about it. In order to avoid the collapse of the entire Hehuai front, the Chihu people urgently recruited large-scale troops from Hedong, Hebei, Guanshan and more distant places such as Yunshuo, Yanji, and even Liaodong after the year.
Soldiers and horses went south for reinforcements. From February to April, post roads and roadways, large and small, were crowded with soldiers and horses going south. How much of their ability to transport grain and fodder from north to south was left? There were many people and horses going south.
However, there is little food and fodder going south. Not to mention increasing the food and fodder reserves in the west of Beijing, they have only doubled their consumption in the past few months. Why should they hold on until Yingshui freezes again and then fight to the death with our division?"
Yang Ji, Guo Yunkun, as well as Tang Yuan and Yu Mo who played a huge role in the Huaichuan siege, as well as Sun Yanguan, Jiang Ang and others before them, are all outstanding generals in the rebel army who are brave in combat and outstanding in martial arts. However,
Previously, they were limited to leading hundreds or thousands of troops to charge into battle at this level.
In fact, if you want to be the leader of a party, no matter how many troops you have under your command, you can't be limited to charging into battle.
The Chihu people were not completely unaware of the possibility that Huaichuan had fallen early on, but the timing of full mobilization was a full month later than that of Sikongfu. The main reason was the restoration of farming production in the west of Jingxi, Heluo and Xusu.
The resources are limited, and the existing garrison is insufficient to support them. If you want to carry out a larger gathering of soldiers and horses, the required materials need to be mobilized from more distant rear areas.
There is also a considerable part of the area that does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Zhennan Zong Palace and the Pingyan Zong Palace, and requires the coordination of the Khan's court.
Therefore, the Chihu people could only hope that the Han army in the west of Beijing and other places could hold on longer and buy more time for full mobilization.
At present, not counting the garrisons in Xuzhou and other places, the Zhennan Zong Palace has assembled 180,000 infantry and cavalry in Shenqiu, Xiangcheng, Taihe and other places. Of course, there is no need to worry that Sikong Palace has the ability to surround them, but there are so many soldiers on both sides.
The horses were entangled at close range, and it became impossible for the Zhennan Zong Palace to try again to allow Bian and other places to calmly transport grain to the southern route.
The Military Intelligence Staff Department estimates that as long as their food transportation is cut off or frequent interference is carried out, the existing food reserves of the Chihu people in Wanqiu and other places can only last for another two months at most.
Therefore, now that the Sikong Mansion army is approaching, the Chihu people have only two choices, either to abandon Xu, Chen and other places and withdraw directly to the north, or to pull 180,000 soldiers and horses from the barracks and cities for a battle. It is no longer possible.
Procrastinated.
Of course, Xu Huai resolutely decided to advance the final battle of the Battle of Yingzhou from the end of autumn to this time. The more important reason was that after entering mid-to-late March, the Zhennan Zong Palace began to force Xu, Chen and other places to
There was a large-scale evacuation of the population to the north.
Whether it is what the Zhennan Zong Palace claims, this move is to free up battlefields in Xu, Chen and other places, or the Chihu people actually intend to abandon the Hehuai River and turn the south of the Yellow River into a barren land, Xu Huai
They would not sit back and watch the Red Husband generals Xu, Chen and other lands take millions of people into captivity and take them to the north of the Yellow River...
