Taiyue Mountain is located in the east of Hedong River and stretches for more than 400 miles from north to south. It cannot be seen in three or five days.
After Xu Huai, Xu Xin'an and others left the West City Gate, they did not go west into the Taiyue Mountains. Instead, they went north along the east bank of the Danshui River to observe the situation at the eastern foot of the Taiyue Mountains and the Zezhou Basin.
The Zezhou Basin, which occupies the central and eastern part of Zezhou, is located to the east of Taiyue Mountain. To the north is the Qinling Mountains (Danzhu Mountains), a branch of the Taiyue Mountains extending eastwards. It faces Luzhou, to the south is the southern section of the Taihang Mountains, and to the east is the Taihang Mountains.
Southeastern mountain range.
It is said that it is a basin. The central and eastern areas of Zezhou are also mountainous, but the Danshui River originates from Danzhu Mountain and crosses south from central Zezhou. As the first tributary of the Qin River, it has been well managed since the Spring and Autumn Period.
A large number of river weirs and ditches were built along the line to irrigate the cultivated land in central and eastern Zezhou and support hundreds of thousands of people in Jincheng and other counties.
In the past six months, although Jincheng, the prefecture's capital, did not fall due to the efforts of Liu Zhiyuan, Ma Sijing and other generals, a large number of cities and towns in the Zezhou Basin and Lingchuan outside Jincheng have fallen or surrendered, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled.
Either captured or brutally slaughtered.
Xu Huai and others went north along the embankment on the east bank of the Danshui River and arrived at Xiaomeiling, about forty miles away from Jincheng, in the afternoon. They passed more than twenty villages along the way, most of which were in ruins. The fields were barren and covered with wormwood.
A large number of corpses were exposed in the wilderness, and their bones were exposed after being pecked by birds. The crows in the world ate human corpses, grew fat and big, and flew in groups in the air, croaking.
And that's not the worst part.
The Japanese soldiers temporarily withdrew northward. A large number of people who had fled to the surrounding mountains to escape the disaster of the war would soon return to their hometowns after receiving the news. When the Chihu people invaded south again in three or four months, what awaited them would be hope that they would be completely destroyed again.
, once again fell into the cruel purgatory of suffering.
However, at yesterday's banquet, Liu Zhiyuan, Ma Sijing and other local officials urgently expressed their desire to send soldiers to recruit the fleeing people to return home and resume production in Jincheng and other places as soon as possible. Xu Huai could not express his objection.
After taking a short rest at Xiaomeiling, everyone continued to advance along the Danshui River towards Danzhu Ridge in the afternoon. At dusk, they entered the Wuzhai where the outposts and horses were stationed. They confirmed that the surrender troops in Luzhou had basically withdrawn, and the speed was very fast.
quick.
We rested for a night in Danzhu Mountain, walked through several passes in Danzhu Mountain the next day, and then took the road from Lingchuan County to return to Jincheng.
Danzhu Ridge is said to be the boundary between Zezhou and Luzhou, but as a branch of the Taiyue Mountains extending to the east, the mountains are not very steep. The valleys, roads and mountain paths are intertwined with each other, making it difficult for Zezhou to rely on it to become a vassal state.
Ping, reaching the enemy in the north, Luzhou in the north has a higher strategic position.
Of course, the one with the highest strategic value is Taiyuan, which "controls the mountains and rivers, sits on the back of the world, is the fortress of the four fortresses, and controls the capital of the five plains."
Only by guarding Taiyuan can it be possible to keep the northern invaders out of Hedong, and then control Taihang and invade Yanji. Only by guarding Taiyuan can Dayue establish an effective defense line against the Chihu people north of the Yellow River——
More than a hundred years ago, Dai Viet and the Khitan fought frequently and bloody battles north of the Yellow River, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties. However, they were finally able to force the Khitan to retreat, and the two countries were able to generally maintain peace for the next hundred years. The main reason was that the important town of Taiyuan was always in Dai Viet.
under the control of.
At present, the DPRK and China are eager to relieve the siege of Taiyuan before discussing peace, which is also based on this understanding.
Returning to Jincheng, most of Zheng Huaizhong's Qin Feng army and horses had already settled in the city.
At this time, Jincheng was no longer threatened by enemy troops. During the period of being trapped, a large number of young men were recruited from among the people to participate in training and defend the city. At this time, the number of defenders was as high as 20,000. There was no need to draw troops from Zheng Huaizhong's headquarters to supplement the defense.
.
Furthermore, Jincheng was extremely short of food and fodder, and a large number of houses were demolished with bricks and wood to strengthen the city walls during the defense period. Most of the residents and the refugees who fled into the city could only eat and sleep on the ground.
Normally, Zheng Huaizhong should have led his troops directly to Luzhou via Danzhu Mountain instead of entering Jincheng to rest and recuperate.
Including the Qin Feng Route Army soldiers and horses, the Western Army's Eastern Aid did not fight hard or vicious battles. After the captive troops withdrew northward, they were still stranded in Zhengzhou for more than a month, and there was no need for rest and recuperation.
Now that Zheng Huaizhong's troops are in the vanguard and the Chinese troops are stationed in Jincheng, of course he has secretly reached an agreement with King Jing and is using this to delay the opportunity to go north.
After Xu Huai returned to the city, he rushed to the post house to see King Jing. When he saw Qian Shangduan, his eyebrows were dancing and he asked: "What happy event has Mr. Qian encountered? His brows are about to fly up? How come Qin Feng's army and horses have entered the city? They
Shouldn't we go directly to Danzhu Mountain and consider marching into Luzhou?"
Xu Huai would not talk about Zhao Fan intercepting him in front of the camp. Zhao Fan and his benefactor Zheng Huaizhong would not take the initiative to tell Pan the details. That would only make King Jing dissatisfied, so he pretended to be
Have absolutely no idea what happened.
"I'm going to tell you about this when you come back!" Qian Shangduan took Xu Huai's arm and eagerly pulled him into the house like a first-time lover. He met Zheng Huaizhong and Zhao Fan in private two days ago.
The scene of King Jing was described to Xu Huai.
Since the death of the former empress due to illness, the prince, Prince Jing, was no longer favored as the direct descendant of the former empress. Prince Lu and Prince Duan, born to Empress Chen of the Renming Palace, have enjoyed great fame, and there have been rumors of a replacement of direct descendants in recent years.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the official family had no intention of changing the heir, King Jing still had the prince pressing on him, and few officials in the court thought that King Jing would have a chance.
Therefore, no matter how magnanimous King Jing is, his influence in the court is still extremely low.
When we were in Gong County, some people had the idea of helping King Jing fight for the throne, but it was just an idea, and everyone carefully hid it without mentioning it.
After crossing the river and heading north, they won a series of great victories on the east bank of Qinshui River and won great reputation in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Hedong. Everyone finally saw some hope, but King Lu, who was officially awarded the title of governor of Weizhou, was even more prosperous.
On the one hand, the defenders of the two states were forced to present the city and withdraw, so that the number of troops gathered in Weizhou exceeded 100,000. On the other hand, King Lu was officially granted the title of Weizhou Defense Envoy and had formal jurisdiction over these troops.
Generals such as Yang Yanmao and Han Shiliang served in front of King Lu's tent and fought several victorious battles, winning a lot of prestige. In addition, Wang Boqian, the secret envoy to the central court, and other ministers were all figures from Queen Chen's line in the Renming Palace.
Comparatively speaking, King Jing led his mausoleum guarding army to cross the river and achieved a great victory at Qinshui, which was much inferior to King Lu.
Suddenly, Zheng Huaizhong surrendered, and Zheng Huaizhong served as Qinfeng Road's strategic and pacification envoy for many years. He was still a figure of the same level as Liu Shizhong and Ge Boyi in the army. At this time, he led his 30,000 troops to march into Hedong as a system for Hedong.
He was appointed envoy to take full charge of the military and political power in Hedong.
His investment performance, at least at this time, in terms of visible chips, King Jing was not much behind King Lu.
"Although Zheng Huaizhong was born in the army in his early years, he was too cautious by nature after he was appointed as the governor and pacifier of Qinfeng Road. Is he reliable?" Xu Huai asked Qian Shangduan pretending to be confused.
"Zheng Huaizhong said that in all matters in Hedong, His Highness can only take the lead, so he has no way out!" Qian Shangduan said with certainty of victory.
The factional battles between the DPRK and China were raging, fierce and cruel. Zheng Huaizhong had a close relationship with King Jing in Hedong and got along well with him. They jointly signed several memorials. Even if he wanted to distance himself from the relationship in the future, the ministers of Queen Chen's line in Renming Palace would keep an eye on him.
He bites to death.
If King Jing fails to ascend to the throne, Zheng Huaizhong will have no choice but to retire and return to his hometown.
"Then I really want to congratulate His Highness, His Highness!" Xu Huai laughed and said, "Where are the others, Your Highness?"
"Gong Zheng, Langjun Zhu Hang, and Langjun Liu went to Dongcheng to inspect the victims. I had to go there to deal with the matters at hand. I heard that you were back, so I waited for you at the post house." Qian Shangduan said.
"Then let's go directly to see His Highness!"
As soon as Xu Huai finished speaking, King Jing Zhao Tuan walked in accompanied by Zhu Hang, Qiao Jien and others; Princess Yingyun was disguised as a man and followed King Jing.
"Xu Junhou and I are going to find His Highness. Your Highness, why are you back?" Qian Shangduan asked.
"After we finished things over there, we hurried back when we heard that Xu Huai was back." King Jing Zhao Tuan said.
After walking into the living room, they exchanged a few words, and after the servants brought the tea, King Jing Zhao Tuan said to Xu Huai straightforwardly:
"Zheng Shijun came to see me the day before yesterday with his private officer Zhao Fan. He was also worried about the stubbornness of the captive soldiers and rushed north to meet the enemy. However, the imperial court received a new order yesterday and was still eager to relieve the siege of Taiyuan and order Weizhou's soldiers and horses to escape.
Kouxing marched west along the Zhang River to Luzhou, and ordered Gao Junyang to lead the elite Western troops who stayed in Guanzhong to cross the river via Puban, and then go north along the Fen River. The soldiers and horses gathered in the east of Hedong served as the middle route, and naturally had to cross Danzhu.
Ridge, and Weizhou soldiers and horses joined forces at Luzhou and then headed north..."
Although Zhu Tong, Hu Yu and others were present, there was not much time left. Xu Huai no longer avoided anything. He took a sip of hot tea to relieve his thirst and said directly:
"Your Highness's worries at this time can no longer be limited to marching north to meet the enemy. At this time, the Chihu people have assembled as many as 160,000 or 70,000 cavalry and surrender troops outside Taiyuan City. Even after the East Route Army withdrew north, they were still in no hurry to attack by force.
In Taiyuan, I am waiting for work, and my intention to surround the point and call for reinforcements is obvious. But the trap is there. If I infiltrate three groups of soldiers and horses, I will naturally be defeated. If I don't evade it, I will kill 200,000 soldiers by September at the latest.
The soldiers and horses will surely move south again - at this time, His Highness must consider how to leave Bianliang after it falls!"
"We will not rush north to meet the enemy. We will deploy our defenses in Luzhou and Jinzhou steadily. The situation will not be so bad, right?" Qian Shangduan was shocked and unwilling to admit Xu Huai's judgment.
Said, "As long as we can block the Chihu people's West Route Army, and their East Route Army goes south from Hebei, our troops will be stretched thin! What's more, in Weizhou, Bianliang, Chenzhou, and Caizhou, our court still has
There is a large army guarding the city - no, the situation will not be that bad..."
In the past, Xu Huai rarely discussed the overall situation in front of King Jing, Zhao Shangduan, Zhang Xin and others. Even if it was involved, he was never so pessimistic.
However, now that Zheng Huaizhong is on his side, and the new situation in the court has changed subtly, Xu Huai is able to see clearly the next evolution of the situation. There is not even three months left for them, and of course he will not hide it anymore.
Tucked in.
In response to Qian Shangduan's question, Xu Huai just asked: "Can the imperial court really come up with the money and food to support 200,000 horses and horses in Hedong now? I doubt they can support it for three months. The imperial court is now eager to relieve the siege of Taiyuan.
, apart from eagerness for success, there is no other reason!"
