The sky turned white, the night receded, the sky became clearer, and the Qinshui River appeared more clearly in the field of vision.
The Qinshui River originates from the northeastern foothills of Taiyue Mountain, passes through the high mountains of Taiyue Mountain from north to south, and turns to the southeast in Qinshui County. It is early summer, and the mountains and fields are full of rain, and the streams are full of water. The water of the Qinhe River, which is more than 100 feet wide, is mighty.
, isolate things.
The location of Qinshui County is the most open area in the upper reaches of the Qinshui River.
However, the valley on the west bank of the Qinshui River in this section is only about 700 to 800 feet wide at its widest point; the east bank is much narrower, only 134 feet wide; further on the two wings are about ten dozen feet wide.
There are rolling hills and hills ranging in height from twenty to thirty feet.
Qinshui County is located in the northwest, built on mountains and rivers. The terrain to the north of the city is the most steep, the slopes to the west are also steep, the east is adjacent to Qinshui, and the south is the easiest - the enemy troops who have been besieging Qinshui City for more than ten days
, stationed the camp mainly in the south of the city.
The Qinshui River Crossing connecting the post road was built in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and is about four miles away from the south gate of Qinshui City.
The enemy troops set up small camps on the west and southwest sides of the ferry overnight, with hundreds of soldiers stationed in each.
The Red Husbands had always been strict and cruel in controlling the surrendered troops, but every time they captured a city, they would massacre and loot with their troops. As a compensation, this also fostered the brutality and murderous intention of the soldiers.
From the scene in front of us, we can see that the combat effectiveness of soldiers who were ordinary soldiers in the past will indeed be significantly improved after their brutal and aggressive human nature is inspired and coupled with strict military discipline.
In the past, it would have been hard to imagine that the Yunzhou soldiers in front of us could still be so stable after the cavalry troops were wiped out so easily.
Yesterday at Qinjingyi, all the rhythm was under the control of the Yiqi Battalion, but even so, it took three or four repeated pulls on the flanks before the enemy formation was completely destroyed. It was more difficult than expected. The Yiqi Battalion
The casualties were also slightly higher.
"Qinshui County Magistrate Zhong Yingqiu has met His Highness!"
Qinshui City was built on mountains and rivers. It has only two city gates in the west and south. There is another long slope outside the west city gate.
After losing their main cavalry, the enemy couldn't figure out the details of the tomb-defending army. In order to prevent being attacked from inside and outside, they voluntarily abandoned the camps built on long slopes outside the West City, and withdrew to the banks of the Qinshui River, relying on the ferry to rebuild.
Arm your troops.
Qinshui City was also relieved of its siege.
Qian Shangduan stayed in the residual village of Sushui, leading a small number of soldiers and horses to raise grain and fodder from Pujiang and other prefectures and transport it to Taiyue Mountain. Qiao Jien followed King Jing Zhao Tuan and entered Qinshui territory as soon as possible.
In the early morning, it was Qiao Jien who led Hu Yu and others into Qinshui City on behalf of King Jing. At this time, he led Qinshui magistrate Zhong Yingqiu and other officials to the camp at Xiling of the ferry to see King Jing.
Zhong Yingqiu, the magistrate of Qinshui County, is less than forty years old and has a thin face. He has led the army and civilians to defend the city for days, and his appearance is even more haggard. Although he is a scholar, he is wearing a leather armor and a long knife on his belt. His face is full of joy.
He stepped forward and saluted King Jing Zhao Tuan.
Qiao Jien was old and had been camping for days. Now it was quite difficult to climb the hills and hills. He was a little staggering when he walked. However, Zhong Yingqiu's steps were steady, and his haggard face had a look of perseverance.
When the enemy troops gathered at Qinshui City, they took the lead and attacked twice. Seeing that it was difficult to attack, they set up camps in the west and south. In the past few days, they launched several rounds of offensives, but Qinshui City remained unmoved.
In addition to the relatively steep terrain of Qinshui City, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, what is more important is that officials such as Zhong Yingqiu are good at maneuvering and the soldiers and civilians in the city are determined to resist.
There are only more than 300 civilians recruited from the vicinity of Qinjingyi, and the camp about four miles away from Qinshui is still very crude. At present, only a five-six-foot-deep trench has been dug on the gentle slope on the east side, and horses, deer antlers, etc. have been deployed. Behind the obstacles and long trenches are temporary tents.
King Jing Zhao Tuan ignored the dissuasion of Qiao Jien, Zhang Xin and others and rushed to the front line in person to supervise the battle; Xu Huai also agreed with this.
Regardless of the fact that enemy troops may be reinforced from Zezhou, Yangcheng and other places at any time, only the Yunzhou Fan soldiers on the west bank of the Qinshui River and the defending army at the mausoleum are still at a disadvantage in terms of the size of their troops and horses, and the Qinshui defenders need to join the battle.
Neither Xu Huai nor Zhang Xin and others were able to make the Qinshui defenders obey orders; only by relying on the reputation of King Jing Zhao Tuan could we hope that the Qinshui defenders would cooperate in the battle.
The handsome tent of King Jing Zhao Tuan was also very crude, and could not accommodate seven or eight people to sit and discuss matters. They sat directly under an old elm tree in front of the handsome tent, with several benches built overnight and surrounded by a saw tree. A low tree stump was opened, and when everyone sat down, it was considered a military meeting.
First, Taiyuan City, where Lu Si was located, was besieged, and then the Chihudong Route Army entered the Hehuai River later in the year. The communication routes were cut off, and Qinshui City was isolated in the Taiyue Mountains. Zhong Yingqiu and other Qinshui County officials had not received accurate information from the outside world for four or five months. I know that the captive soldiers are wreaking havoc in the Hehuai River.
Although most of the cities on both sides of Taiyue Mountain have not yet fallen, thousands of captive soldiers are wandering and looting between the cities. Zhong Yingqiu and the Qinshui soldiers and civilians have always been in panic.
When thousands of soldiers crossed the Qinshui River to attack, they even thought that Bianliang had fallen, and the soldiers were free to attack the cities in the southeast of the river one by one.
Fortunately, Zhong Qingqiu, Qinshui County Lieutenant, Chief Secretary and other assistants still had the word "integrity" in their hearts, so they refused to be tempted to surrender by the captive soldiers, and held on until the troops guarding the mausoleum came for reinforcements.
Seeing the joyful look on Zhong Yingqiu's face, everyone knew that he must have misunderstood that the Red Husbands were forced to retreat after being defeated in Hehuai. The Vietnamese soldiers and horses went north to pursue the enemy and defeat them, and took advantage of the situation to break the siege of the cities in Hedong. They sat down and opened their mouths. He asked how many soldiers and horses would pass through Qinshui and charge into the Shangdang Highlands through the Qinshui River Valley. He returned to the city so that he could prepare things to reward the generals early.
Zhang Xin, Deng Gui and others were unable to speak. Xu Huai sat silently on one side, but Qiao Jien laughed and opened the conversation for King Jing Zhao Tuan:
"The captive soldiers are fierce and stubborn. This time, the flood season has arrived. The rivers have surged, and the rain has washed away the roads and flooded the fields. The captive soldiers are mainly cavalry. The horses have just crossed the rivers and Huaihe Rivers. Diseases are rampant, so they have to retreat to the Yellow River. To the north, it is still difficult for our army to compete with them. Although our army has assembled 200,000 soldiers and horses in Zhengzhou and Weizhou, and Jingzhao Mansion has once again assembled tens of thousands of Western troops to prepare prisoners, but we sent troops to march northward. It is better to send envoys to discuss peace. There is still debate in the court, but His Highness is concerned about the army and people in Hedong holding on to the enemy. He has been unyielding for several months and led us to lead us to relieve the danger of the army and people in Hedong. As for other reinforcements, it may take another ten days and a half. , it is possible to go north..."
"Your Highness leads only three to four thousand troops?" Zhong Yingqiu asked in a daze.
From the north end of Qinshui City, you can overlook the scale of the troops entering the valley on the west bank of Qinshui River. The total number of soldiers and horses is about three thousand, which is not even as many as the soldiers besieging the city, not to mention that there are tens of thousands of soldiers in the river east of Taiyue Mountain at this time. , Lu and other places are raging, and reinforcements may come at any time.
"The Japanese soldiers seem to be outnumbered in Zelu and other places, but they are not something to be afraid of at this time."
Deng Gui saw that Zhong Yingqiu's face was full of joy and suddenly changed to a sad look. Knowing that he was very hopeful that he only had this few troops to reinforce Zelu and other places at this time, he said in a loud voice,
"Not to mention that the imperial court still has hundreds of thousands of troops about to be dispatched, the bandits in front of us are not enough to withstand our troops. Yesterday, our Yiqi battalion raided Qinjingyi, and the enemy sent thousands of cavalry reinforcements.
Lang Jun saw how many cavalrymen had fled back? If most of the cavalrymen sent by the bandits had not been annihilated by us like chopping melons and vegetables, would they have easily abandoned the camp in the west of Qinshui City and retreated to the side of the river to defend themselves? "
"That's true - Ying Qiu expected too much, was too eager, and neglected His Highness and the generals!" Zhong Yingqiu apologized.
Although Zhong Yingqiu was born as a scholar, he used to like poems, lyrics, and poems more than military books and military strategies. However, since the Red Husband was invaded by the Nankai Army for several months, he personally organized the entire city's soldiers and civilians to do hard work, training, defense, and commanding the troops to fight.
It can be regarded as a first glimpse of the door.
Although he did not see tens of thousands of soldiers and horses coming for reinforcements, he could still tell that what Deng Gui said was true.
On the one hand, he stood at the head of the city yesterday and saw a large number of captives marching westward, but when the mausoleum defenders occupied the slopes on the west side of the valley, only a small number of captives escaped back in embarrassment. Even at the edge of the valley, several incidents occurred between the two sides.
In every small-scale battle, the tomb-defending army had an absolute advantage.
On the other hand, the Yunzhou Fan soldiers gave up the siege of the city and the camp on the west side and retreated to the ferry side at night. We can also see the enemy's guilty conscience and cowardice.
King Jing Zhao Tuan then introduced to Zhong Yingqiu many things that had happened since the Chihu people invaded Hehuai and the current more detailed situation. After Zhong Yingqiu digested the information, he proposed the next battle plan.
Since Xiao Qian, Yue Hailou, Cao Shili and other tribes and tributaries are all in Zelu and other territories at this time, reinforcements may arrive one after another as soon as tonight. Even considering that the main troops of Xiao Qian's tribes cannot be mobilized.
It would be so fast, which would buy them some more time, but they would have to defeat the enemy forces in the West Bank Valley within two days at the latest and take control of the West Bank Ferry.
The troops guarding the mausoleum were limited. In addition to the direct participation of the defenders in the offensive, they also needed to recruit a large number of civilians from Qinshui City to participate in the construction of camps outside the city.
On the one hand, this is to paralyze the enemy forces and mislead them into thinking that they will not be attacked violently in a short period of time. On the other hand, they also need to consider that if the attack fails, they will not be able to defeat the enemies on the west bank before the main enemy reinforcements arrive. There are so many of them.
Can all the men and horses retreat to Qinshui City?
Qinshui City is small and strong, and the defenders of the mausoleum occupy the city to defend it. Of course, there is no need to fear the enemy's attack. But the problem is that the passage in and out of Qinshui City is blocked by the soldiers, and they are surrounded by water. How long can the food and grass in the city last? Or,
Can they expect that after them, a large group of Western troops will arrive in time to help and relieve the siege?
Build a camp in the southwest of Qinshui City and station elites to ensure that the western foothills of Taiyue Mountain to the west of the river valley are not penetrated and cut by the enemy. This will not only ensure the continuous flow of grain from the western foothills of Taiyue Mountain and Pujiang, but also
In order to ensure that new strong and brave soldiers are recruited from these areas to supplement the lack of troops, when the situation falls into the most unfavorable situation, they can be evacuated in time and withdraw into the mountains at the western foot of Taiyue Mountain instead of being trapped in Qinshui City.
Zhong Yingqiu thought for a while, and not only agreed to accept the control and dispatch of King Jing Zhao Tuan, but also agreed to King Zhao Tuan sending Deng Gui and Yang Qiye to lead a small number of troops into Qinshui City to urge the defenders to participate in the next war...
