Shaanzhou Maojin Ferry is located east of Hangu Pass and northwest of Xiaoshan Mountain. To the south is the old Xiaohan Road, which is the only way to cross the river in southern Shanxi and enter Luoyang from the east of Hangu Pass; to the north is the Yu River crossing Zhongtiao Mountain.
Along the Ban Road, heading north is the land of Puzhou on the south bank of Fenhe River.
The Yellow River rushes southward from the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, reaches the northern slope of Huashan Mountain, meets the Jingwei River, and turns eastward. From Tongguan and Hulaoguan, it is surrounded by mountains for hundreds of miles. The water is rapid and the dangerous shoals are densely covered.
The water surface of the Maojin Crossing section is calm, and the canyons on both sides confront each other. Each leads to the hinterland of Henan and Shanxi. It has been an important river crossing for transportation between western Henan and southern Shanxi throughout the ages.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, when the Jin Dynasty pretended to attack Guo, they crossed the river via Maojin and headed south.
The drizzle was pouring, and Xu Huai, wearing a raincoat, stood beside King Jing Zhao Tuan, looking at the majestic peaks and ridges shrouded in mist and rain on the north bank. Without thinking about the bloody suffering that this land had experienced at this time, how magnificent the mountains and rivers were.
Dozens of light boats were crossing the rapids back and forth in the mist and rain. There were still more than a thousand soldiers who had not crossed the river. They all stood silently in the rain under raincoats.
There has always been a pontoon bridge at Maojin Ferry, but it will be removed between the time when the water freezes in winter and the end of the winter flood season, and when floods in the upper reaches of the Yellow River break out in midsummer.
King Jing Zhao Tuan led the mausoleum guarding army to cross the river. No matter how determined Zhou He, Miao Yanxiong and others were, they could not stop them, but they could not provide the slightest convenience for them to cross the river.
The mausoleum guarding army plus the Chushan cavalry galloping over, totaling 4,000 men and horses, had no time to build a pontoon bridge. Instead, they collected thirty or forty small and medium-sized boats from Lingbao and Mianchi, and ferried back and forth to transport generals, war horses and limited supplies.
Supplies crossing the river.
The central and southern region of Hedong (most of today's Shanxi Province) is sandwiched between the Luliang Mountains and the Taihang Mountains, with Taiyue Mountain, Wangwu Mountain and other majestic mountain ranges standing across it. It is divided into the Jinzhong (Taiyuan, Fenzhou) basin from north to south.
, three relatively gestalt terrains: Shangdang (Zezhou, Luzhou) highlands and Hezhong (Linfen Basin).
Taiyuan City, where the Hedong Road Administration is located, is located at the north entrance of the Jinzhong Basin. It is a large pass between mountains and rivers. Taiyuan City cannot be reached, and all red soldiers and horses entering Hedong are not safe.
Therefore, even though the Chihu West Route Army sent tens of thousands of troops and horses south to the Hehuai River to cooperate with the main force of the East Route Army, its main force remained in the northern part of the Jinzhong Basin, heavily besieging Taiyuan City.
The Chihu people only sent a small number of soldiers and horses to Zelu, Jinpu and other places in the south of Hedong Road, mainly to contain the Dayue soldiers and horses who still defended the city wall and refused to surrender.
Even if it is expected that the main force of the Eastern Route Army of the Chihu people, after withdrawing to the north bank of the Yellow River, will retreat eastward from Mengzhou and Weizhou, from the land of Hebei at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, all the way north to northern Hebei or Yanjing Prefecture, even if
It is expected that only Xiao Qian, Cao Shili, and Yue Hailou's tribesmen and auxiliary troops will directly pass through the peaks and ridges of the southern section of the Taihang Mountains and retreat to Shangdang (Zezhou, Luzhou), or pass through Shangdang and retreat to the vicinity of Taiyuan, with
The main force of the West Route Army reunited, but the tomb-defending army had no way to directly capture it.
On the north bank of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the peaks and ridges of Zhongtiao Mountain, Lishan Mountain and the southern section of Taihang Mountain are lined up, forming the southern barrier of Hedong Road. There are only a few channels that can pass through these peaks and ridges and enter the southern hinterland of Hedong Road.
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If the troops guarding the mausoleum were to directly march northward, they would easily be blocked by the surrendered troops in the valleys of the mountains in the southern section of the Taihang Mountains such as Zhiguanxing or Taihangxing.
At this time, the Chihu East Route Army only needed a small number of cavalry to ride back, and they could beat the dogs behind closed doors and catch turtles in the jar.
Another point is that if the soldiers guarding the mausoleum want to directly go northward, they will have to wait until the Chihu people's Eastern Route Army, which is mainly cavalry, withdraws from Meng, Wei and other places between the southern Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River.
Opportunity to cross the river.
If they really had to wait until then, the imperial court would have received new decrees one after another, which would put them in a dilemma.
It was not feasible to go north directly, so it was finally decided to cross the river immediately from Maojin, west of Xiaoshan Mountain, and go north on Yusaka Road between Zhongtiao Mountain and Lishan Mountain, and enter Puzhou.
After arriving along the Fen River, if just expelling the small groups of soldiers in Pujin and other prefectures is not enough, and they want to directly attack the main force of the soldiers, they have two options:
One is to go north along the Fen River, cross the Hanxin Mountains in the northern part of the Linfen Basin, and enter the Jinzhong area, where you will encounter the main force of the Chihu West Route Army; the other is to go east along the Qinshui River, pass through the Taiyue Mountains and enter the western area of Zezhou.
If it is fast enough, it will be able to harass the flanks of Xiao Qian, Yue Hailou, Cao Shili and other troops retreating to the north.
Obviously, Xu Huai was not arrogant enough to provoke the main cavalry of Chihu's Western Army Route in Jinzhong. He had previously arranged for dozens of troops to cross the river in advance, but mainly went to Qinshui County between Wangwu Mountain and Taiyue Mountain for reconnaissance.
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This time when we crossed the river, we mainly tried to find fighter planes from the flanks of the surrender troops retreating from the north.
The soldiers and horses crossing the river were divided into four groups: the front camp, the middle camp, the rear camp, and the wing cavalry camp.
At present, the front camp army, the middle camp army, the Yiqi battalion composed of eight hundred Chushan elites and the Khitan cavalry headed by Zhang Xiongshan retreating from the north have all crossed the Yellow River.
Xu Huaize, King Jing Zhao Tuan, Qian Shangduan, Princess Yingyun, Xiao Yanhan and others who were disguised as men, took a medium-sized ferry to cross the Yellow River.
Xiao Yanhan was standing on the deck wearing armor. She didn't need others to look at her strangely, and she used burnt pine branches to blacken her overly delicate face.
Her figure was originally taller and straighter than most Dai Viet men. Now she was covered in armor, carrying a long blade at her waist, and holding a heavy spear. Her appearance was not much different from that of male generals.
Xiao Yanhan has the strength to crush most of the male generals, and this year the Khitan has not been huddled in the Western Mountains without doing anything. Xiao Yanhan and the generals have led their troops across the mountains and ridges to attack those who are wavering in the Western Mountains and the southern foot of the Yin Mountain, and may threaten
Their power in Xishan is not merciful either - Xiao Yanhan's martial arts skills have been tempered in several life and death battles, and he is no longer Wu Xia Ameng.
Xiao Yanhan looked at the turbid river flowing eastward in front of her, but her mind flew over the mountains. She didn't know what decision the tribe would make after Chen Zixiao galloped back to the Western Mountains.
King Jing led his troops guarding the mausoleum to cross the river and go north, harassing the retreating Japanese troops in the north, and assisting the besieged Taiyuan City. It can be said that this was Xu Huai's greatest effort to retain the remnants of the Yan clan.
Xiao Yanhan knew very well that if King Jing succeeded in taking this risk, not to mention successfully establishing a direct heir, even if he formally obtained the power to command the army and be able to take control of one side, he would be able to push the Southern Dynasty to accept the dependence of the remnants of the Yan clan.
Her people no longer need to be trapped in the Western Mountains, and have trouble sleeping and eating.
Whether the remnants of the Dayan tribe retreated to Fuzhou, where the Gu family was guarding, or further crossed the Yellow River in Fuzhou, and entered Linzhou, Yanzhou and other places where the terrain was more conducive to defense, it was a good choice.
It would even be okay to cut wood and build boats directly in Fuzhou and go south to participate in the defense of the cities on the lower reaches of the Fen River.
However, the sand dune of trust cannot be achieved overnight.
After the Southern Dynasty invaded the North twice, will her people still believe in the goodwill unleashed by the Southern Dynasty?
Furthermore, is King Jing Zhao Tuan really capable of persuading the Yue court and the forces involved to accept the remnants of the Yan tribe?
And even if King Jing is able to take control of one side, it does not mean that he can finally succeed in the fight for the throne, nor does it mean that the Southern Dynasty can withstand the invasion of the Red Husband Cavalry. Is it really the right choice for the remnants of the Yan Dynasty to move to the south?
Xiao Yanhan herself had deep doubts about this, but looking at the backs of Xu Huai and King Jing Zhao Tuan standing side by side, as thick as mountains, she thought to herself that even if her tribe finally decided to withdraw westward, she would still lead some of her troops to stay to see this man.
Have you created any miracles?
King Jing Zhao Tuan originally thought of sending his eldest daughter Yingyun to Caizhou or living in Chushan temporarily under anonymity. However, after escaping from Bianliang, Yingyun, who had experienced a disaster, did not know that he would leave his father and go to a strange place alone.
What will happen to the place?
Seeing so many people's fierce opposition, Yingyun also knew that crossing the river to the north would be a life-and-death journey. However, the more this happened, the more determined she became in requesting to follow him across the river to the north.
If her death was inevitable, she would rather die in front of her father than be alone in a foreign land with no control over her own destiny.
As the ferry docked, the rain that had been falling for a long time finally stopped.
The sky was still cloudy, so Xu Huai turned around and saw that the river was somewhat turbulent. It should be that there had been more rain in the upper reaches in the past few days, and the water flowed into the Yellow River through the mountains and rivers, making the water flow more and more turbulent.
Although Yuban Road crosses the mountains and canyons between Zhongtiao Mountain and Li Mountain, this important road connects Shaanzhou Maojin Ferry and Puzhou Salt Pond at the northern foot of Zhongtiao Mountain. Hundreds of thousands of stones of salt are produced every year.
, after drying from Puzhou, it leads to Hehuai and other places via Yuban Road and Maojin Ferry.
Yuban Road has been repaired in the past dynasties. In order to facilitate the salt from Puzhou going south, the road between Puzhou and Shaanzhou Pinglu is paved with blue stones. It is completely different from the ordinary mountain road Yexing. It is different from the ordinary official road.
The road should also be convenient for carriages and horses to move along.
After Xu Huai and others landed, they were about to catch up with the troops of the middle camp who were marching towards Pinglu City. At this time, they saw a light boat rowing quickly from the south bank ferry to the north bank without following the normal order of crossing the river.
Come.
This kind of light boat and fast boat is often used for reporting purposes and is not subject to the order of the river crossing team.
Now that they have crossed the river, even if there is an imperial edict from Bianliang, they will not be able to turn back. Xu Huai accompanied King Jing Zhao Tuan, and Qian Shangduan still had time to stand at the ferry and watch the boat approaching.
It was clear that Qiao Jien, the envoy guarding the mausoleum, was standing on the bow of the boat waving his head, and it was not known what news he brought.
"Your Highness, I have figured it out - the mountains and rivers are broken, and I am deeply favored by the emperor. How can I dare to stay out of the matter and watch His Highness cross the river in danger? I am an old fool in Gong County, and I am thinking that I cannot let His Highness venture into danger lightly.
But he has forgotten the principle that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." Please allow your highness to allow me to serve the pommel horse!" Qiao Jien jumped onto the pier, ignoring the rainwater on the stone slab, and knelt down in front of King Jing Zhao Tuan with a "plop"
, begging for companionship.
"These guys finally figured it out. Instead of being greedy for life and fearing death and staying in Gong County and unable to escape the punishment of the court, it is better to take a gamble and become a slave to the dragon!" Xiao Yanhan stood next to Xu Huai and looked at Qiao Jien and Chen Yougui who came ashore later.
Gu Dajun and others were so coy, they curled their lips and said.
Xu Huai smiled slightly. Qiao Jien, Chen Yougui, Gu Dajun and others strongly opposed crossing the river to the north at first. After the dispute, they decided to stay in Gong County. Unexpectedly, they finally figured it out: their best choice was to follow the river crossing and give it a try.
