As dusk deepened, almost all the captive soldiers withdrew from the city. It was not clear that the captive soldiers had any intention of attacking Gong County in a short period of time. Xu Huaixian led his troops back to camp to rest and recuperate; the city was also busy rescuing the wounded and repairing war equipment.
Qian Shangduan, Xu Wujiang, Lu Xiong and others accompanied Jing Wang Zhao Tuan down the city tower and returned to the palace to rest first; Zhang Xin, on behalf of Jing Wang Zhao Tuan, continued to sit in the city tower with the generals, staring at the movements outside the city.
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Xu Huai waited for the soldiers and horses to be settled, ate something hastily with Wang Ju, Guo Junpan and others, and rushed to the palace.
It was already dark, Qian Shangduan and others were still with King Jing Zhao Tuan, and no one left to rest.
After several days of hard fighting, although Gong County was not lost, Xingyang, Zhengzhou, Hulao, and Yanshi were all lost, and the captive troops showed no signs of withdrawal. How could everyone really feel at ease?
In the side hall of the palace, in addition to hanging a map of prefectures and counties in northwest Beijing on the north wall, Qian Shangduan also hired craftsmen to make wooden plates with the topography of Gong County, placed them on long tables, and had the craftsmen carve them.
Some tiny ornaments are placed on the wooden plate to mark the enemy's camp and troops, clearly marking the offensive and defensive trends on the wooden plate.
Dai Viet worshiped civility and suppressed military force, and its military preparations were neglected. The generals had not been in the camp and army formation for a long time, and the dynasty also lacked generals who could lead the troops in battle. However, this kind of small skill was better than that of the previous dynasty.
As a scholar, Qian Shangduan was a person who was good at official affairs. In addition to these small tasks, the collection and deployment of materials other than defense were all arranged in an orderly manner.
Now everyone has returned to the palace, but any new movements of the enemy troops will be reported at any time. Zhu Tong and Hu Yu are responsible for summarizing the information and marking it on the long wooden plate.
Zhu Tong and Hu Yu were still young and had not yet entered the official ranks, but it was appropriate for them to stay with King Zhao Tuan and assist Qian Shangduan in handling the documents and delivering orders.
Xu Huai walked into the side hall, and King Jing Zhao Tuan was standing in front of the wooden tray with a long case.
The wooden plate shows that after nightfall, there are still a steady stream of captive soldiers coming from the direction of Hulao Pass; the captive soldiers are expanding and strengthening the camp at the mouth of the river, and they also drive the prisoners overnight to dig on the south side of the camp.
Trenches were built to block horses and other obstacles, making it look like they had to be defended for a long time.
King Jing Zhao Tuan was confused by the new movements of the captives. When he saw Xu Huai walking in, he called him over and asked:
"Although the Japanese troops were reinforced by new divisions, they no longer had the intention to attack Gong County. It should be that the Western Army Qinwang's troops had passed Tongguan or entered the area east of Hangu Pass. Logically speaking, they should retreat to Hulao Pass in order to
Hulao Pass is the vassal screen, blocking the Western Army's eastward advance. How come they built a large camp at the mouth of the Yiluo River and kept adding more troops?"
Defending Gong County certainly does not mean that the situation in the Hehuai River has improved.
At this time, the Chihu people still had the absolute initiative in the Hehuai battlefield. Xu Huai had already expected this. His first and last thought was to hold Gong County to wait for the Western Army.
And during this process, if an unexpected major change occurs, such as the main force of King Qin of the Western Army being defeated by the Red Husbands, or if Bianliang unexpectedly falls, he will not hesitate to withdraw to Songshan with King Jing Zhao Tuan, and from there
Songshan fled back to Caizhou and would not have the slightest nostalgia for Gong County.
In addition, under such a bad situation, Xu Huai didn't think that his small number of troops could really make any waves.
Therefore, he would not cause any disturbance to the soldiers and make them panic.
Of course, he thought so, and he could eat well and sleep soundly at this time, but King Jing, Zhao Tuan and others were worried and hoped to grasp any subtle changes in the situation. It was even normal for them to have trouble sleeping and eating because of this.
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Xu Huai walked to the wooden plate and said: "If the Yuehai Tower is not removed, it will be a disaster for Vietnam. He is too familiar with the imperial court and the Western Army. The Japanese soldiers could not attack Gong County, so they did not retreat to Hulao Pass, but pushed their troops to Yi.
Luohekou should be the result of Yue Hailou's suggestion; of course, it cannot be ruled out that the Chihu people had studied our dynasty very deeply before this southern invasion."
"How do you say that?" Qian Shangduan asked worriedly as he could not understand why the soldiers were deployed in this way.
"Gong County was attacked and defended for several days. In addition to forcing the rebels to surrender and annex the city, the captive chiefs also arranged for some of their own elites to dismount and wear armor and board the city. But everyone has seen the result, right? The captive soldiers are strong, but they are not invincible.
The situation, especially for their southern invasion this time, is far from adequate preparation, and they can’t say how strong they are in attacking cities and villages in a hurry.”
Xu Huai looked at everyone and said,
"Their cavalry is galloping in the plains. Dai Viet currently does not have a troop that can defeat its edge. However, in addition to attacking cities and fortresses, city defense is also an unavoidable weakness for them. In recent years, the Western Army has been in the high mountains of the northwest.
Fighting against the party members, the main focus was on fighting for fortresses. He was able to defend and was also quite good at attacking cities and forts. In addition, the Japanese army failed to capture Luoyang Prefecture. After the Western Army advanced eastward, it relied on Luoyang Prefecture's grain, fodder and war equipment supplies.
, the ability to attack the city will only be stronger. Let’s look at Hulao Pass. It is located between the mountains and the surrounding terrain is undulating. It seems to be easy to defend, but a single Hulao Pass is very weak.
The soldiers also had no way to deploy elite cavalry inside and outside Guancheng to assist in the battle. Defending Guancheng was not their strong point, but it was difficult to defend the city for a long time just by rebelling. As long as the Western Army could regain Hulao Pass, in addition to being able to greatly stimulate
In addition to the morale and morale of the Hehuai armies, they can still form a confrontation with the Gyeonggi garrison. Although the Western Army's Qinwang soldiers still cannot defeat the main force of the captive soldiers in the Hehuai area, the battle between Bianliang and Hulao
It was only 180 miles away, and there were many fortresses in the middle. The Western Army relied on the food, grass, and war equipment provided by Luoyang Mansion to set up camp step by step. It was not difficult to attack the city from west to east. If the soldiers did not want to be melted by the ice,
The Yellow River blocked the retreat, and even when Hulao Pass fell, they had to retreat north! Although the Japanese soldiers failed to capture Gongxian, they may have given up their intention to storm Gongxian, but their leader should be at Yuehai Tower.
Under my suggestion, I clearly understood the points I just mentioned and decided to extend the battlefield with the Western Army westward to the territory of Gong County..."
"Are you saying that the camp that the soldiers built in a hurry at the northern foot of Songshan Mountain cannot be compared with Hulao Pass, but it has a large area for their cavalry to rely on the camp to charge and kill, and the space to maneuver is enough for them to use their strengths and avoid their weaknesses?" King Jing Zhao
Tuan frowned and asked.
"Your Highness Mingjian," Xu Huai said, "It is not even ruled out that they want to attract the troops of King Qin of the Western Army to the northern foot of Songshan Mountain and use the superior cavalry to fight..."
"..." After hearing Xu Huai's analysis, Qian Shangduan and others felt their faces tightening and remained speechless.
Seeing everyone like this, Xu Huai smiled and said: "No matter how bad the situation is, it is better than Gong County falling into the enemy's hands!"
If Gong County falls, the Chihu people will connect Yanshi, Gong County with Hulao and Xingyang.
The main force of its cavalry can directly penetrate Mengjin and gallop in the low mountain area west of Luoyang, making it difficult for the main force of the Western Army to reach Hangu Pass.
At this time, they were guarding Gong County and blocking the Chihu people's entrance to Luoyang from the west. Not only did the Chihu people not dare to go westward, they even worried that the narrow passage along the Yiluo River would be cut off by their small group of troops.
This forced the Chihu people's west wing troops to shrink to Gongxian territory for defensive deployment, which was the best choice.
And this also means that the troops of King Qin of the Western Army can not only leave Hangu Pass and march eastward, but can also easily recapture Yanshi and enter Gong County to join them.
Although this is still far from relieving the siege of Bianliang, compared with the fall of Gongxian, the situation is much better, at least not so desperate.
Xu Huai had no hope that his disadvantage would be completely improved through one or two battles.
He thought in his heart that if he could regain a little bit of his disadvantage with every effort and battle, then if he gritted his teeth and persisted, the final victory would be destined to be favorable.
Obviously, King Jing Zhao Tuan, Qian Shangduan and others have not yet established the concept of this kind of protracted war in their hearts, so they will be trapped in the worries at hand and find it difficult to resolve.
Xu Huai did not expect to be able to help them solve the problem at this time. Instead of worrying about this longer-term problem, it is better to think more about how the Gongxian defenders will cooperate with the Western Army Qinwang's troops after they arrive in Gongxian.
Does he want to be more silent and reduce his sense of existence?
When Dai Viet was first established, Shaanxi Road was one of the fifteen major roads. Its territory ended with Huohan in the east, Longchuan in the west, Shangluo in the south, Xiaoguan in the north, and Chang'an Prefecture as its administrative seat.
During the reign of Emperor Xian, in order to better organize the war against the party, in addition to the entire territory of Shaanxi, taxation, property and grain transfer matters were all under the unified jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Transport Envoy Department. Military and political affairs were divided into Yanyan, Huanqing and Jingyuan.
, Qinfeng, and Xihe Five Roads were under the jurisdiction of the Economic Strategy and Pacification Envoys, which actually divided the Shaanxi Road into five war zones.
Therefore, in addition to the Five-Road Economic and Strategic Envoys and the Five-Road Forbidden Army Command, the Western Army also has the Shaanxi Fifth-Road (Western Army) Soldiers and Horses Command Department, which oversees the coordinated operations against party members in the five theaters.
Before Cai Qing was transferred back to Bianliang to take charge of the Privy Council, he served as a scholar for sixteen years, serving as envoy to the Jingyuan Economic and Social Affairs Bureau, commander of the military capital in Jingsheng, and general manager of the Five Military and Horse Commands in Shaanxi Province.
Although Cai Ting has been imprisoned and the main war faction in the DPRK has collapsed, in order to appease the generals of the Western Army and make them devote themselves to serving the king, the imperial court granted leniency to all the generals promoted by Cai Ting in the Western Army.
Although Liu Shidao, who persecuted his uncle Wang Ju, had long since died of illness, Liu Shizhong died in battle outside Yanmen Pass, and Yue Hailou surrendered to the enemy, but the generals who participated in the imperial edict, benefited from the imperial edict, or later attached to Cai Qing,
They are spread throughout the Western Army, and even all of them hold high positions of authority.
And these people will never let go of all scruples and suspicions towards him and everyone in Tongbai Mountain just because he tried his best to help Liu Yan, Chen Yuan and Chen Yuan gather the remaining troops in Shuozhou. From then on, they will be heart to heart and work hand in hand.
