Although he had many doubts in his heart, Yue Hailou immediately followed the commander's order and ordered the ministries to break away from the remaining troops in the city, withdraw from Zhengzhou City from the North City Gate, and return to the Yangtang'ao Camp to prepare for the departure.
In order to prevent resentment from growing in the hearts of the generals below, Yue Hailou returned to the camp and ordered Dian Bu to plunder all the gold and silver belonging to his name and distribute them as rewards.
The Red Husbands were extremely harsh on the surrendered troops, and could even be said to be cruel. This required generous rewards to alleviate the resentment in the hearts of the generals to a considerable extent.
In the process of expansion, the Red Husbands frequently massacred cities. In addition to shocking and shaking the resistance of the resistance forces, and physically annihilating the resistance forces, there was another extremely important reason, which was to commit catastrophes and wanton massacres as harsh measures.
A kind of compensation for strict military management.
Therefore, in addition to the elites of their own clan, the Red Husbands and the vassals of the tribes of Semu can also fight brutally. The root cause is here.
Now the Han army in Yingzhou dragged their exhausted bodies and suffered thousands of casualties, and finally captured the North Gate of Zhengzhou. As long as the remaining troops in the city were eliminated, they could burn, kill and loot the city with complete abandon.
On the 4th or 5th day, they suddenly received an order to immediately break camp and march westward to attack Hulao Pass. If they did not make amends in time, Yue Hailou was worried that the soldiers below would cause trouble.
Even so, Yue Hailou personally drove his horse to each camp to inspect and appease the grumbling soldiers.
It takes time for the soldiers to return to camp, eat at night, pack their belongings, prepare torches and other items for night travel, and then take down tents and tie them to horses. If more than 6,000 horses can break camp and set off in the early morning, it is considered fast.
Yue Hailou dragged his tired body back to the big tent, sat in front of the brazier, took out a map written on sheepskin from his arms, and looked at it carefully.
Although the surrender army was mainly driven to attack cities and forts when they went south, Yue Hailou's troops were already insignificant among the surrender army, which had exceeded 100,000 people.
Yue Hailou didn't know which direction they would be assigned to fight in after going south.
At the same time, he did not want to cause misunderstandings among the Red Husbands. Ever since he got permission from the second prince, Zhennan Sect King Uluru Lie, to form a tribe, he gathered together more than a hundred of his direct descendants who had stayed with him until the last moment to organize them.
, the Han army in Yingzhou was rebuilt and the Yan army was defeated.
His information channels to the outside world at this time mainly came from reports from the Red Army.
After going south, although there were not many hard-fought battles, small-scale battles were fought one after another with almost no pause for a day. Yue Hailou's soldiers and horses were in full swing, and they did not have much energy to go to the research institute and take charge of the battlefield.
External situation changes.
However, Yue Hailou still knew the significance of attacking Zhengzhou and then marching westward to seize Xingyang, Hulao, Gongxian, Yanshi and other places. He even suggested this to the second prince, Zhennan Sect King Wu Lulie.
Although the military equipment of the Dai Viet Imperial Guard was depleted, and the Bianliang and Gyeonggi areas had not experienced war for more than a hundred years, in order to protect the safety of the Gyeonggi and the capital, even after the implementation of the "General System" for nearly thirty or forty years, the Gyeonggi Imperial Army was deployed every two or three years.
A group of old, weak and disabled soldiers were eliminated into the Xiang army establishment, and then the Xiang army inspected the strong and sharp soldiers from various places to replenish them.
At the same time, the DPRK and China also paid more attention to selecting generals and senior officials from border states to make up for the lack of actual combat experience among the generals of the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army.
As Yue Hailou said, the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army also has a group of outstanding generals like Yang Lin and Han Shiliang who came from the Western Army, and not all of them are of the same generation.
When the Red Army went south to Hehuai for the first time, it was not fully prepared. Most of the cities in Hedong and Hebei had not yet been captured. It was obviously unwise to directly attack Bianliang City, which was tightly guarded by hundreds of thousands of imperial guards.
The first move south should seek to destroy the Hehuai area to the maximum extent and severely damage Dai Viet's military potential for continued operations; at least ensure that Dai Viet is no longer able to reinforce Hedong and Hebei, so that in the next two or three years, Chihu can completely
Devouring the vast area at the two foothills of the Taihang Mountains.
To achieve this goal, the Red Army should stay between the Hehuai River and the Huaihe River for as long as possible, and block it as much as possible to delay the Western Army's eastward advance.
The most ideal plan is, of course, to divide the troops to capture Tongguan, or to fill up with heavy troops in front of Tongguan, and to block the Western Army King Qin's troops to the west of Tongguan. In this way, the Chihu cavalry can capture Luoyang between the Qinling Mountains and Funiu Mountain, and the north bank of the Yellow River.
The entire Fenhe Basin was ravaged in a leisurely manner.
The second step is to seize Xingyang, Hulao, Gongxian, Yanshi and other cities to block the passage at the northern foot of Songshan Mountain.
Although after the Western Army Qin Wang's troops entered Luoyang, they could theoretically advance eastward through the canyon between Songshan Mountain and Funiu Mountain, the weather in the Hehuai area warmed up in February and March, the earth melted, and the spring rains continued, the roads between the fields on the plains
Everything will become muddy, not to mention the narrow mountain roads between mountains and valleys?
As long as the passage at the northern foot of Songshan Mountain is sealed, the main force of the Western Army's reinforcements will almost be unable to enter the Hehuai area before the end of March.
This period of time is enough for the Chihu army to build a pontoon bridge in the north of Zhengzhou to connect the two sides of the Yellow River. If they still cannot capture Bianliang by then, they may also use the pontoon bridge to evacuate calmly and wait for the coming year.
Yue Hailou didn't know how many of the suggestions he gave to the second prince Zhennan Zong Wang Wulu Lie were accepted by King Chihu, or perhaps his ideas coincided with the strategic choices of King Chihu. Entering at this time
The red troops and horses in the Hehuai area, under the command of Xuluhan, the king of the East Sect of Third Prince Town, were obviously following this strategy.
Yue Hailou did not expect that the combat mission of marching westward to the northern foot of Fengsong Mountain would fall directly on their heads.
What he didn't expect was that Xu Huai might have already seen through the core strategy of the Red Hu army, settled in Gong County in advance, and was dispatching reinforcements from Caizhou in an attempt to cross Songshan Mountain to strengthen Gong County's defense.
"General Yue, you called us?" Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong opened the curtain, walked into the tent, and saluted Yue Hailou.
"You guys sit over here,"
Yue Hailou greeted Zhong Changqing. Gao Xiangzhong sat in front of the brazier and said straight to the point,
"The scouts who sneaked into the south of Xuzhou detected that a thousand-man elite force came from the direction of Caizhou and entered Songshan Mountain a few days ago, intending to cross the Songshan Mountain Trail and go north. Combined with the recent changes in the Gong County defenders, Supervisor Yan suspected that this
The thousand elites are likely to be Tongbai Mountain soldiers, and Xu Huai or the people around Xu Huai have gone to Gong County to take over the defense. The Yan Supervisor Army is currently taking over the westward combat mission for us and Cao Shili's troops in the commander's tent.
Before setting off to Hulao Pass overnight, try to capture Hulao Pass as soon as possible. I'm here to ask you: Do you think Xu Huai has probably entered Hulao Pass and is waiting for us to crash through?
"
Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong were recruited at the beginning of the sixth year of Tianxuan. At first, like Chen Zixiao, Pan Chenghu, and Guo Junfen, they went to Xinzhou to serve as inspection envoys, commanders, and other middle-level generals. They still held some real power in their hands.
However, after Xu Huai caused the grain roaring disturbance in Lanzhou, Zhong Changqing, Gao Xiangzhong and most of the generals who were recruited in Tongbai Mountain were relieved of their military command power and transferred to the military and horse supervision departments of various states.
Or the Hedong capital deployed Si Ren to take on ordinary duties as military officials.
During the second northern expedition against Yan, both of them were grain officers under the transfer envoy of the Yan army. The Yan army was defeated and they were in Xinzhou at the time. Xinzhou guard Wen Hengyue surrendered to the city. Of course they
It was impossible to keep the festival for the Yue court, but unfortunately after Wen Hengyue surrendered, he was appointed governor of Xinzhou and marched thousands of households, but he did not treat them lightly. When Yue Hailou sent people to invite them, they patted their butts and threw themselves in front of Yue Hailou's tent.
.
When Yue Hailou surrendered to Chi Hu, he had nearly a hundred direct descendants who would never leave him, but he still squeezed out two marching generals of a hundred households and gave them to Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong, and tried every means to help Zhong Gao and Zhong Gao conquer the Yan army.
Surrender the defeated troops and recruit old troops to form a new branch.
Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong were very grateful to Yue Hailou; after going south, they never backed down whenever there were hard and fierce battles. In addition to fighting for a position in Chihu, they also wanted to challenge Yue Hailou.
Other direct descendants around me can give an explanation.
Of course, when he tried so hard to recruit Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong, Yue Hailou did not deny that he was looking through many confidential documents from the Tongbai Mountain banditry, especially the many secret letters left by Zheng Hui, and saw that although Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong were
He was born as a thief chieftain, but in addition to his extraordinary martial prowess, he also had extraordinary ability to command troops.
thing.
Secondly, the biggest loss Yue Hailou suffered in his life was caused by worshiping Xu Huai and everyone in Tongbaishan.
Yue Hailou could also predict that the Chihu cavalry would be invincible after advancing across the Hehuai River, and that Xu Huai and the people in Tongbaishan might be the main obstacles they encountered.
At present, there are very few people in the Red Army who have a deep and direct understanding of Xu Huai and the people in Tongbaishan. Zhong Changqing and Gao Xiangzhong can be said to be two exceptions because of their special experiences. How could Yue Hailou not recruit them?
?
Of course, Yue Hailou never expected that he would face Xu Huai so soon after going south.
Now Yue Hailou not only suspected that Xu Huai had arrived in Gong County, he even suspected that Xu Huai had led an elite force to lurk in Hulao Pass, waiting for them to crash into him.
"Hulao Pass and the capital city of Gong County are narrow and narrow, and cannot accommodate too many soldiers and horses to launch a strong attack. However, the river ice in the north of Hulao Pass is still frozen solid. The meaning of the commander's tent is that we and Cao Shili's troops should each pick one.
Attack in every city?" Gao Xiangzhong asked with a frown.
Although they were not able to see through Xu Huai's true face when they were in Tongbai Mountain, during the first northern expedition to Yan, Xu Huai claimed the identity of Yaksha Fox in Datong City, and then led his troops to station in Shuozhou. Zhong Changqing,
Gao Xiangzhong reflected on all the confusing details in the past and deeply realized the power of Xu Huai.
If possible, they would not be willing to face Xu Huai, especially since they had just formed their respective tribes and were not yet very powerful in combat.
On the other hand, military orders are hard to disobey.
Although based on the signs currently exposed, Xu Huai is more likely to be in Gong County, Gao Xiangzhong also feels that Yue Hailou's concerns are justified, and suspects that Hulaotou is the real hard nut.
Choosing Hulao Pass or Gongxian as the main attack direction of the Han army in Yingzhou would have too much influence on them.
Gao Xiangzhong could also see that Yue Hailou still wanted to avoid Xu Huai as much as possible at this time.
"..." Yue Hailou nodded and said, "Currently, the Commander-in-Chief has only mobilized our troops and Cao Shili's troops to move westward. Do you think we should go to Hulao Pass or take advantage of the fact that the river ice is still firm and bypass Hulao Pass to fight directly?
Under Gong County City?"
"Since Xu Huai is more likely to be at Hulao Pass, it may be safer for us to attack Gong County." Gao Xiangzhong said with some uncertainty.
"Hulao Pass borders the Yellow River to the north and Mount Song to the south. The city of the pass stands right between the mountains. The terrain is more important than Xingyang, Gongxian, and Yanshi. It is said that Xu Huai had a glimpse of our intentions and hid an elite force in advance.
Hulao Pass is very possible,"
Zhong Changqing frowned slightly. He stood on the city tower at dusk. He heard the details of the general's military orders and the details of Mo Lihu's initiative to ask for war on their behalf. However, his views were completely different from Gao Xiangzhong's and Yue Hai's.
Lou said in a deep voice,
"However, I still suggest that we try to win this battle!"
"Why?" Yue Hailou asked in surprise.
"The strategic position of Hulao Pass is much more important than that of Yanshi and Gongxian. It is possible that Xu Huai is at Hulao Pass. We attacked Hulao Pass with all our strength, and it is true that we suffered heavy casualties and could not capture it, but it happened to be Hulao Pass.
Because the strategic position of Hulao Pass is much more important, the third prince and the generals must also be concerned about the gains and losses of Hulao Pass. Although the third prince and the generals are strict in running the army, if we try our best and fail to enter Hulao Pass, the three princes and the generals will be
The prince and the commander-in-chief generals will definitely send new reinforcements to help attack Guancheng, and will not rely entirely on the gains and losses of Hulao Pass on our unrestricted oppression; the commander-in-chief will also fully order the surrender of Xingyang
The army will do everything possible to support us. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties and will be replenished as soon as possible."
Zhong Changqing said thoughtfully,
"In other words, even if Xu Huai is in Hulao Pass, the situation we face will be difficult, but it will not be insurmountable. However, if Xu Huai is in Gong County, when we attack Gong County, we will run into the hidden elites of Tongbai Mountain.
Because the status of Gongxian County is inferior, and it is separated from Zhengzhou and Xingyang by the Hulao Pass, the Commander-in-Chief may not care about our life and death. If Gongxian County cannot be captured in the end, we will have to bear all the blame!"
