At dawn, the sky and the earth seem to be covered in a translucent glass cover, and the dark blue mountains and forests and the city wall in the distance outline a vague outline - under the reflection of the bonfire, the garrison soldiers at the head of Xuchang City in the distance look like panicked figures.
The little man is running.
The Yingshui rushing out from the valley is like a beast roaring low underfoot...
"The defenders panicked and sent the Prime Minister and the others to Ruyin. Taihe will once again win a glorious victory - the secret spies in the city also sent a message, and the Xuchang defenders started preparing to leave the city at midnight. They are planning to escape in a hurry!"
Han Qihu strode up to Tang Pan, the commander of Caizhou's camp, and shouted excitedly,
"Please allow me to lead my troops directly from the east wing of Xuchang City to the north to defeat the rebel army!"
"What use are the few men and horses under your command? Can they stop Feng Shizhao's 30,000 soldiers and horses?" Du Wu came over and said.
As a descendant of the Han family who followed Chen Zixiao to Chushan, Han Qihu had already accumulated merit and was promoted to the deputy capital of Yuhou.
In recent years, in addition to the centralized use of cavalry from the vanguard army in Beijing and Xiangzhou, various battalions have also been working hard to develop cavalry units and engage in scouting and small-unit infiltration reconnaissance operations. Han Qihu has stayed with Chen Zixiao in recent years and is responsible for commanding and training the cavalry units.
, and also in charge of military intelligence, scouting and other matters.
After the escape from Beijing incident, Xu Huai took control of the government with the Sikong Mansion and transferred Chen Zixiao to take charge of the Military Intelligence Staff Department. Tang Pan succeeded Chen Zixiao to command the Caizhou camp, and Han Qihu continued to stay in Caizhou camp to command the cavalry troops.
Tang Pan and others knew the overall plan of the Yingzhou battle before the war, but it was four or five hundred miles from Ruyin to Xiangcheng, and there were floodplains blocking the way, so there was no communication
Many things remained unchanged, and they still didn't know the specific situation of the Taihe War at this time.
However, from the reaction of the Xuchang defenders who panicked and attempted to abandon the city and flee, it was not difficult for them to judge that the Sikong Mansion had achieved a critical victory in Yingzhou.
However, the outcome of the Battle of Yingzhou could not be known for sure beforehand, and because of the conflict between good and evil, both sides could not use risky strategies. Therefore, although Caizhou forcibly built a pontoon bridge on the Ying River before the camp, the main force of the camp was stationed on the south bank.
Only two thousand elite soldiers were deployed on the north bank for diversion.
Now the Xuchang defenders are about to flee, and they only have 2,000 elite soldiers in their outpost camp on the north bank of Yingshui River and south of Xuchang City. It is definitely not enough to pursue and intercept the 30,000 Xuchang enemy troops.
What's more, no one knows whether the Chihu people will arrange cavalry troops to cover the retreat of the enemy troops in Xuchang - this is something that will happen with a high probability.
However, the main force of Caizhou's camp on the south bank of Yingshui River wanted to enter the north bank through a simple pontoon bridge only seven or eight feet wide to participate in the pursuit. It would not be possible to cross the river to the north bank with 20,000 to 30,000 horses in an hour or two.
After the Sikong Mansion decided to launch the Taihe Raid Operation, in order to concentrate more cavalry combat power on the Western Front, the Caizhou camp was also transferred by the Sikong Mansion's extremely nervous 1,000 cavalry. Now Han Qihu only has 500 cavalry left in his hands.
Cavalry is available.
Even if the Red Husbands did not arrange cavalry to support and cover them, it would be unimaginable to use 500 cavalry to cross Ying and directly penetrate the heart of the 30,000 enemies who had abandoned the city and fled north.
However, Tang Pan was not in a hurry to reject Han Qihu's request for credit.
Han Qihu's suggestion is too tempting.
If a small amount of cavalry quickly penetrates to the north of Xuchang, as long as the enemy of Xuchang is blocked and delayed for half a day, the main force of the camp will have relatively ample time to cross Ying and go north to annihilate the enemy of Xuchang.
Tang Pan's military commander Zhang Xiongshan, camp commander Chen Songze, Yuan Lei and other capital Yuhou commanded their envoys to come over for urgent consultation.
The Caizhou camp has always been the most important support point along the Huaihe defense line. Xu Huai transferred Chen Zixiao to Sikong Mansion to head the Military Intelligence Staff Department to plan the Yingzhou battle. Caizhou defense line could not be missed, so he moved Zhang Xiongshan,
Chen Songze was transferred to the camp and served as staff military officer and camp commander to strengthen the overall command ability of Caizhou camp.
"The main force on the Western Front must first severely inflict heavy losses on the main force of the captives and cavalry before they can achieve a great victory in Taihe and Ruyin."
Since Chen Songze served as Caizhou Camp Sima, although he was mainly responsible for military affairs and other aspects of the camp, when he learned that the enemies of Xuchang were showing signs of abandoning the city and fleeing north, he clearly advocated that the camp immediately arrange troops and horses to cross Ying to pursue them, saying,
"Even if King Uluru Lie will arrange cavalry to support the enemy of Xuchang as they retreat north, they must all be weak divisions that have just suffered heavy losses, so there is nothing to fear; and the enemy of Xuchang is even more frightened. According to my plan, except for the troops led by Qi Hu,
Five hundred cavalry marched north first
, in the follow-up, we should first arrange for all the horse and infantry to cross the river in batches, follow Qihu and the others, and cross directly to the north..."
The horse infantry is composed of ordinary pack horses, and the generals have not received strict training in riding and shooting. Normally, they rely on horses instead of leg strength to improve their mobile combat capabilities. However, they will still dismount and form a formation to fight when encountering the enemy.
Chen Songze is now advocating that the camp directly uses more than 10,000 elite infantrymen as cavalry. After crossing the Ying River, they rush into the Xuchang enemy array that is fleeing north...
…………
…………
Xu Huai did not receive the news until the afternoon of the next day. He learned that Caizhou's camp troops were using more than 10,000 infantry as cavalry. He crossed Ying to directly pursue and encircle and annihilate the enemy Feng Shizhao's troops who had fled north from Xuchang City.
Although the king of the captives, Uluru Lie, sent 3,000 cavalry from Luyi to the west to respond, the battles between Ruyin and Taihe caused heavy casualties to the Red Husband cavalry, and Uluru Lie did not have an intact cavalry unit to send out.
The 3,000 cavalry sent by the captive king Ululu Lie to meet Xuchang had experienced an extremely difficult day of fierce fighting with heavy casualties, and then traveled more than 200 miles through the night to the northeast of Xuchang. How much combat power was left?
Han Qihu led 500 cavalry to cross the Yingshui River at dawn yesterday. At this time, most of the Xuchang defenders had not yet left the city, allowing Han Qihu and his troops to quickly pass through the gap to the northeast of Xuchang.
Facing an enemy cavalry that was several times his own, Han Qihu showed no fear and led 500 troops to harass Xuchang and delay the enemy's escape to the north of the city.
Every effort was made to prevent the enemy cavalry from joining the main enemy force in Xuchang.
In the next two hours, Du Wu, Yuan Lei and other generals led 5,000 horse infantry one after another, and passed through the gaps in the scattered array of Xuchang enemy troops who fled northward out of the city like a frightened bird. They met up with Han Qihu and completely defeated Wu.
Three thousand enemy cavalry sent by Lu Lie blocked the enemy's northward flight formation in Xuchang.
After that, Zhang Xiongshan of Tangpan personally led 2,000 armored soldiers and 5,000 horse infantry from the east of Xuchang City, from the south wing, into the scattered array of Xuchang enemy troops, and entered Xuchang City; it was almost noon
, they completely defeated the 30,000 Xuchang enemy troops and captured the city of Xuchang.
It is a pity that yesterday afternoon, at the eastern foot of Taishi Mountain, heavy rain poured down in the northern area of Xuzhou. The main troops and horses of Caizhou's camp were forced to withdraw to Xuchang City. There was no way to send out all the horse and infantry unscrupulously to pursue the defeated troops.
However, except for a small number of defeated troops who fled westward into the foothills of Taishi Mountain, most of the defeated troops either surrendered or fled to Wanqiu and other places in the southeast. At that time, the enemy in Xuchang did not know that Wanqiu had fallen into the hands of Jingsheng's army.
Han Qihu, Du Wu and others immediately played a key role in establishing an interception front in the north. Even if they could not be wiped out all at once, they tried their best to drive the defeated troops to the east and west wings. The defeated troops who fled into Taishi Mountain might escape to Shengtianwai.
, but Fu Liang has already led his troops to recapture Wanqiu and other cities, and he is not afraid that the defeated troops fleeing to the southeast will be able to escape the dragnet of Sikong Mansion.
Xu Huai looked at the rain curtain outside the window, folded the letter sent by Tang Pan from the newly recovered Xuchang City, handed it to Jiang Xie for filing, and said to Wang Ju, Liu Shiwang, Cheng Lunying, Xu Xinan, Yang Qiye, Jiang Ang and other generals:
"You may want to consider withdrawing your troops temporarily..."
Although there is no heavy rain in Yingzhou, it has been raining all day and all night since yesterday afternoon. Not only did the water level of the Ying River surge by two or three feet, but the large and small creeks north of Ruyin also tended to be full of water.
——This is most likely to have officially announced the arrival of this year’s rainy and flood season.
Although the swollen streams and rivers facilitated the navy's small and medium-sized warships to penetrate the hinterland of the Hehuai River, without the cooperation of infantry and cavalry, the best they could do was harass and hinder the enemy's movement.
It is no longer possible to look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy's main force on a large scale in the hinterland of the Hehuai River in a short period of time.
"God, this thief is also helping the emperor to do evil! But at this time, the heavy rain poured down, making it difficult for the troops to move lightly!" Jiang Ang clenched his fist angrily and knocked on the table. He ignored the arrow wound on his left shoulder and frowned. He was angry that the rainstorm came too early, so that
They missed the opportunity to take advantage of the situation to regain Zhengbian and other places.
"That's not enough," Xu Huai said with a smile, "We have to be lucky that the rainstorm didn't come two days earlier..."
The impact of heavy rain on infantry marching operations is far greater than that of cavalry. If the heavy rain had come two days earlier, the main force of the front army would have been delayed at Zhangzigou Camp to wait for the weather to change, and it might even have ended the Yingzhou Battle ahead of schedule.
.
Although at this time, no large-scale combat plan will be considered again before the rainy and flood season passes.
, but the three most critical towns of Xuchang, Wanqiu, and Ruyin on the north bank of Yingshui River have been recovered. In addition, Yingshang and Lugou cities in Yingkou have long fallen into the control of Sikong Mansion. In addition to being completely annihilated,
In addition to the remaining enemies surrounding Jiaopi and Quanhe, troops will also be sent to recapture some small and medium-sized cities in the surrounding areas.
…………
…………
In the next two days, moderate rain continued in Yingzhou, and there were heavy rains in Xiangcheng and Dengfeng upstream of Yingshui River, as well as in Ruzhou upstream of Rushui River, officially announcing the arrival of the flood season in the Hehuai area.
Except for Yuan Lei, who led a group of soldiers and horses, quickly marched westward through the muddy post road between Taishi Mountain and Jishan Mountain, and entered the upper reaches of Yingshui River Valley, operations in other places had to be suspended.
Even though the weather cleared up in the next few days, the water levels of Ruyingying, Caisi and other rivers surged.
In Zhecheng, Luyi and other places, the captive soldiers deliberately destroyed river embankments, causing floods in the south of Zhecheng, Luyi and Qiaocheng, flooding the fields and streets, and blocking the way for the southern soldiers to go north.
At this time, in addition to strengthening the siege and suppression of the remaining enemies in Yuehailou and Mengjie, troops and horses from other directions were resting on the spot. Xu Huai signed an order at the same time and began to evacuate tens of thousands of injured and injured people to Xinyang and Chushan.
Treatment and recuperation; arrangements were made for the garrison troops from various prefectures and prefectures to return home, which had been postponed for more than half a year.
At this time, the entire defense line in the northern part of Beijing and Xiangzhou also advanced to the coast of Yingshui River. Xu Huai made new adjustments to the original Caizhou and Shenzhou camp theaters in the name of Sikong Mansion:
The camp in Caizhou was removed and Caizhou was resettled. Tang Tiande came out to know Caizhou and made Wuyang the prefecture. He restored Xiangcheng, Zhaoling, Xiping, Shangcai,
The county seat of six counties, including Runan and Pingyu, was in charge of the excavation of the channel from Lishui River to Yinghe River, the construction of the embankment on the south bank of Yingshui River, the construction of the embankment of Ru River, etc.
With the two cities of Xuchang and Wanqiu as the core, the Jingxi Marching Camp was established, with Tangpan as the capital, Yin Peng and Yu Jin as deputy generals, and Zhang Xiongshan as the military staff. It governed the first and second towns of Tianxiong and the Jingsheng Army.
The first town, the second town and Wanqiu Water Camp have a total of 50,000 combat troops, 10,000 garrison troops, and 20,000 garrison troops and horses for various prefectures.
In addition to being responsible for combat missions in the areas east of Songshan Mountain and on both sides of the Cai River (formerly northern Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, northern and eastern Chenzhou, and southwest Bianzhou), the Jingxi Camp was also responsible for sending troops to recover Yingshan between Songshan and Jishan.
In the upper reaches of the river valley (Yuzhou, Dengfeng, and Yingyang counties), we maintain military pressure on Shenyuan Pass (located between Shaoshi Mountain and Wan'an Mountain) controlled by the enemies of Heluo, and actively send troops to join forces with the Ruzhou camp.
Prepare to recover the Heluo area.
The original Ruzhou camp was renamed Heluo camp, with Wang Xian as the capital commander, Zhou Jing as the military staff, and Fu Liang, Jiang Ang, and Liang Wenjiang leading the third and fourth towns of the Jingsheng Army and the second town division of the Xiaosheng Army.
Marching westward, he was organized into the Heluo camp, with 50,000 combat troops and 30,000 defenders under his command. He was responsible for planning the main combat mission of recovering Heluo.
With Ruyang as the core, the Beijing-South Expedition Camp was established, with Yang Qiye as the capital commander, Fan Zongqi and Xu Ling as deputy generals. In addition to governing the first town of Xiaosheng Army, the third town of Tianxiong Army and Ruyin and Yingkou camps, there were also other camps in Ruyin and Yingkou.
On the basis of the Yin Uprising Army, more than 200 middle- and lower-level military officers and generals were transferred from various routes to form the third town division of the Xiaosheng Army, with Yang Ji as the commander, with a total of 50,000 soldiers, 10,000 defenders, and 20,000 soldiers.
Luzhou Prefecture took turns garrisoning troops and horses.
The Jingnan Expedition Camp also has Yan Xiaoyi as its military staff. In addition to guarding the lower reaches of the Yingshui River and the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River, it will also cooperate with the Shouhao Expedition Camp under the command of Deng Gui to attack the southern Jingnan area controlled by Prince Yan Zong's Palace (Song, Bo,
Combat missions in Susanzhou and southeastern Bianliang area).
Including the Caizhou camp occupying the south bank of the upper reaches of Yingzhou, Sikong Mansion once mobilized 356,000 troops to participate in the Battle of Yingzhou. With the advent of the rainy and flood seasons, a large number of soldiers retreated south to rest or return home. To the west of Beijing,
The troops and horses under the jurisdiction of the Jingnan camp quickly dropped to 160,000; even including the second reserve line of defense garrison composed of Huangchuan, Chushan, Wuyang and other places, the total strength dropped to 200,000.
The siege and extermination of the remnants of the enemy in Jiaopi and Quanhe were also handed over to the Jingnan Expeditionary Camp. In order to prevent the captive troops who had retreated to Qiaocheng, Luyi and other places from becoming restless again, the main forces of the left and right armies were selected to temporarily withdraw south to Huaihe River.
Sichuan for replenishment and rest.
As the water levels of the Ruying River and other rivers surge, the floodplain areas south of the Yingshui River naturally become more flooded.
Not only was Quanhe City completely submerged in four to five feet of water, but Jiaopi City, where Yue Hailou and his remaining soldiers were guarding, also suffered serious waterlogging.
At the end of April, the remaining soldiers of Quanhe could no longer endure the days of being soaked in water mixed with feces and urine all day long. They wanted to leave the city and surrender, but were blocked by the guards Meng Jie and Jiang Zhaode. The soldiers mutinied and attacked and killed Meng Jie. Jiang Zhaode and other generals surrendered...
