It had only been four days since the Red Husband declared war. Liu Yan and Chen Yuan first organized troops to defend the city, and then were intercepted and dispersed by the Red Husband cavalry on the way to break out. They also fled westward in a hurry like a bereaved dog, without even having time to catch their breath.
In one breath, they couldn't care less, or in other words, deep down in their hearts they refused to think deeply about how bad the situation was.
However, Liu Yan and Chen Yuan took refuge in the valley at this time. They could sit down and take a breath in such a slightly safe place. With their status, even if they did not have a strategic vision, they still felt how bad the situation was at this time.
Can there be no counting?
For a long time, Hedong and Hebei bordered Khitan. The borders were peaceful and the border conflicts were not fierce. The imperial troops in the two places were depleted and the troops in the Xiang army were filled with old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers.
Therefore, in the northern campaign against Yan, the imperial court mobilized Xiaosheng from Jingyuan and Yanyan, and the Xuanwu Army marched eastward and entered Hedong to participate in the battle as the main force of the Yan army.
Liu Yan and Chen Yuan didn't know how many generals of the Xiao Sheng and Xuan Wu armies would escape in the end, but the two armies were completely scattered and defeated. In a short period of time, there was only an organized force of the Tianxiong Army in the entire Hedong.
Defense is an ironclad fact.
Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and the others did not expect that the Chihu people would directly declare war four days ago. Naturally, they did not expect that Cao Shixiong and others who surrendered to Shuozhou would surrender to the enemy. If Xu Huai warned Liu Yan at that time,
Their big teeth will fall off when they laugh, but can they still laugh at this time?
Not to mention that Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili and other Shuozhou surrender troops may surrender to the enemy at any time. Even if they are really loyal and courageous, can Tianxiong's army alone be able to defend Hedong at this time?
During the first northern expedition to Yan, the main force of the Tianxiong Army was almost completely wiped out in Datong. In the past year, they were reorganized based on the Qing Shun Army and its remaining soldiers, but there were still quite a few soldiers who did not even have armor or weapons.
So, how much combat power can it have?
In addition to the Tianxiong Army, the Xinbing Dailan Prefectures originally had fifty or sixty thousand Xiang troops and rural soldiers, but most of them were filled with old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers. The few young men and strong men were recruited as auxiliary troops this time.
If you transfer out of Yanmen Pass, you are destined to suffer heavy losses.
Can they alone withstand the torrent of Chihu people's cavalry?
However, if Yanmen, Daixin, and Taiyuan were not guarded, the Chihu people marched straight in, passing through Lu, Ze and other prefectures and heading south. Wouldn't they just kill them directly on the north bank of the Yellow River and at the foot of Bianjing City?
Liu Yan and Chen Yuan had a little chance to breathe. When they heard Xu Huai talk about how bad the situation would be, they felt as if their chests were pressed by a huge boulder, and even their breathing became rapid.
"Why have I been deceived in the past, thinking that these bastard dogs are worthy of trust!" Chen Yuan clenched his fist in anger and slammed it on the snow. The bad breath was blocked in his chest and he couldn't let it go.
Liu Yan felt like crying but had no tears left.
The Liu family has always been the backbone of the main war faction advocating an alliance of troops to conquer Yan. The Chihu people openly declared war. Not only Xiao Shengjun but also the Xuanwu Army suffered a disaster, and the blow to the main war faction in North Korea was equally devastating.
of.
Just like Ge's role in the Tianxiong Army, he, the Liu family, was the general of Jingzhou. During the period when his uncle Liu Shidao and his father Liu Shizhong were in charge of the Xiaosheng Army, in addition to other disciples and old officials, he also promoted a group of Liu family's children to serve in the army.
He served as military officials and generals at all levels. I don’t know if twenty-three out of ten people can escape to Jingzhou this time.
"Liu Junhou, Chen Junhou, I mention this at this time without any intention of ridicule. No matter how hard the Yan army suffers, I don't think Liu Junhou and Chen Junhou will bear any responsibility for this. And the king wants Shuozhou to be able to fight in such chaos.
The bureau hopes to help more generals of the Western Army, hoping that it will be helpful in more difficult crises..."
Seeing Liu Yan and Chen Yuan's heavy expression, Xu Huai opened his mouth and said again.
Although Xu Huai could imagine that after the news of the Red Husband's declaration of war and the destruction of the Yan army reached Bianjing, the government and the public would definitely criticize the main war faction with words and words. However, the main force of the Red Husband's cavalry broke through the Hedong states and reached the north bank of the Yellow River.
, there is a high probability that it will not take half a year. How can Xu Huai fall into the quagmire of party unity and opposition and not get out?
Although the Western Army also had various shortcomings that could not be overcome, and it was unable to stop the torrent of red cavalry in the open river land, the more cruel fact was that Dai Viet claimed to have 800,000 forbidden troops, and only the Western Army could fight a few.
In a narrow sense, the Western Army refers to the regular armies of the five northwest routes such as Fuyan and Jingyuan. However, the Xiang army, rural soldiers and Tibetan soldiers and archers recruited from the Tibetan households in the border states in these places have been fighting against the Party members all year round, and their folk customs are also strong.
He is fierce and martial, and his individual fighting ability is very strong.
In the short term, we really have to hope that there will be an army of troops to participate in the defense of Bianjing and that they can stop the overwhelming offensive of the Red Husbands between the Hehuai River and the Huaihe River. We can only place our hope on the Western Army.
At this time, is it necessary to pull out all the generals from the main war faction who make up the majority of the Western Army for liquidation and purge, or to uncover the past and plan for the upcoming King Qin? Do we still need to weigh the choice?
Most of the generals of the main war faction still wanted to regain the old county of Yanyun. Their lack of strategic vision was restricted by ancestral laws since the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty. They did not need to bear the blame for not being vigilant against the repeated actions of the Chihu people.
At this time, Xu Huai said that the actions of Shuozhou soldiers and horses were ordered by Wang Zhen. One of the most critical reasons was that he also wanted to minimize the impact of Cao Shixiong's surrender to Wang Zhen.
Wang Fan was on guard against him in every possible way. He recommended Cao Shixiong to take charge of the military affairs of Lanzhou in the west without telling Shuozhou, and even publicly parted ways with Shuozhou in front of Lanzhou. It was impossible for Xu Huai not to have resentment in his heart, but he still had to do everything he could.
Means to reduce the impact of Cao Shixiong's surrender to Wang Zhen.
Cao Shixiong was recommended by Wang Fan to take charge of the military and political affairs of Lanzhou on the west wing. Of course, no one in Hedong or Bianjing expected that the situation would overturn so violently, which made people caught off guard. However, Cao Shixiong was really going to surrender to the enemy, and he was also in Lanzhou at that time.
It is difficult for Wang Zhen to escape impeachment.
Although Wang Zhen has his limitations, with so many ministers in power in the court, Wang Zhen can be said to be an outlier.
If all the kings and emperors cannot escape the fate of being impeached and demoted, and there is no minister in the court who really knows the general situation to preside over the affairs of the king, if Bianjing really follows the established historical trajectory and falls before the middle of next year, the Huaihe River area will not be able to survive at all.
There was no time to establish an effective line of defense.
As Wang Zhen could not escape the fate of being impeached and exiled again, probably no one in the court would have thought that the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain were guarding Shuozhou. After the complete fall of Hedong, even if they retreated southwest to Fuzhou and other places, they would probably
He was ordered to undergo reorganization on the spot, and it was impossible for him to reorganize and go south with a legitimate name.
In both public and private matters, Xu Huai had to put aside the past.
And Xu Huai has very little qualifications. Even if he has a favor for Liu Yan and Chen Yuan, Liu Yan and Chen Yuan will think of him privately, but when it comes to King Qin's affairs, who is he?
Even if Liu Yan and Chen Yuan personally recognized him, in the eyes of other remnants of the Western Army and more generals of the Western Army who stayed behind in Yanyan, Jingyuan and other places, who was he?
At this time, only Wang Zhen could be widely recognized by the generals of the Western Army.
In both public and private matters, at this time Xu Huai not only had to put aside the past, but also rescued the remaining soldiers of the Western Army from escaping westward in the name of Wang Zhen, and persuaded Liu Yan that Chen Yuan could stand up to support Wang Zhen in the future and stand in front of the stage to preside over the overall situation of King Qin.
, and even hoped that after Liu Yan and Chen Yuan returned to Jingyuan, they could persuade more generals of the Western Army to abandon their prejudices and support Wang Zhen in presiding over the overall situation of King Qin.
Even if he can predict that there will be all kinds of twists and turns, there will be all kinds of dissatisfaction, and even Wang Fan may not think of them well, but only in this way can we buy more time, gather more strength, and organize effective activities on the front line of the Huaihe River.
Line of defense.
This is also the reason why Xu Huai led 300 cavalrymen to hide in Jingong Mountain for guerrilla warfare, and asked Lu Xiong and Zhu Zhi to accompany them.
In small-scale battles, Zhu Zhi can basically be said to be a liability, but here he and Lu Xiong are more able to convince themselves that these are Wang Zhen's instructions.
"To be honest, after seeing through the evil intentions of the Chihu people, but Cai Qing, Cai Yuanyou and his son, and Liu Linggong could not arouse enough vigilance, Shuozhou spent a lot of effort to wipe out the Xishan Fan soldiers. Currently, Shuozhou passes through Xishan
The road to Fuzhou is open,"
Although a lot of news had been spread by Zhu Zhi, Shi Zhen and others in the Xiaosheng Army and Xuanwu Army in the past ten days, Xu Huai believed that Liu Yan and Chen Yuan had not paid attention to it before. At this time, Shuozhou was
I briefly introduced some of the situation to them and said,
"I said before that I wanted to attract more Red Hussars here, but I am not arrogant. Indeed, this can help more remnants of the Western Army have the opportunity to escape to Shuozhou, Xishan - the weather is fine, the mountains are covered with snow, and at night
The field of view will be quite good. We also need to be prepared for night battles in the mountains. I will also have people go into the mountains to light forest fires to let more Western Army generals know that there are still people who are persisting in fighting at this time and have not been killed by the Red Husbands.
Beat it down!"
If the escape route from Shuozhou to Fuzhou via Xishan is open, they will attract more red cavalry on the western flank battlefield, which will certainly be of great help to more remnants of the Western Army to escape.
Liu Yan and Chen Yuan were still unable to see too clearly how the future war situation would evolve, but they also knew in their hearts that each of them would take three to five hundred remnants to escape back to Jingyuan, and each would take three to five thousand remnants to flee back to Jingyuan. It would be very difficult for them personally.
That said, the meanings are completely different.
No matter how bad the situation in the future may be, their minds are already clear about what to do next.
"Okay, we know what to do!" Liu Yan and Chen Yuan stood up and said.
It means a lot that Liu Yan and Chen Yuan can cheer up.
Even though both Xuanwu and Xiaosheng armies were dispersed, and the remnants of the Western Army who fled hastily to the west were not under each other's control, Liu Yan and Chen Yuan were still in the Western Army.
The prestige in the minds of the generals makes it much easier for them to come forward to gather the remaining soldiers than it is for Shuozhou.
Especially since the road to Fuzhou via Xishan has been opened, Shuozhou is actually unable to greet the remnants of the Western Army who have fled to the west of Shuozhou City, let alone call on the remnants of the Western Army to gather over...
