Xu Huaicong decided to go north to attack Taiyuan and took two months to prepare. After the main force of Chihu's Western Route Army moved south, he boldly sent troops from Fuzhou into Lanzhou in late October. He first ambushed Qing Shun Army General Cao Shili and then attacked in Fenshui Valley.
He defeated the defenders of Lanzhou and beheaded the Qing Shun army general Zhou Huan and others, causing Cao Shixiong to flee to Ningwu in embarrassment. Xu Huai then led his troops to fight in Taiyuan, broke the company camp at night, and then attacked the Han army camp in Yunzhou.
Annihilating the Han army in Yunzhou, killing Khitan general Li Chulin and others, in early November the passage from the north of Taiyuan City to Tianmen Pass was completely opened.
It took Taiyuan soldiers and civilians nearly three months to reach the bank of the Yellow River from Luliang Mountain.
The reason why it took so long was mainly because I had two long periods of rest in the Luliang Mountains.
Although too many people still fell during this process, and some chose to stay in the cottage villages they encountered along the way, but more people insisted on walking to the bank of the Yellow River; there were also many villagers along the way who resisted the rebels' choice.
Join the large army retreating westward.
Including the Chushan Cavalry, there were a total of more than 101,000 people when they set off from Tianmen Pass, but in the end, a total of more than 116,000 people arrived at the bank of the Yellow River.
Although many of the 100,000 Taiyuan soldiers and civilians collapsed on the way, and many suffered serious sequelae, most of them have recovered from their weakness.
In addition to the third general of the Tianxiong Army, the Taiyuan Military and Horse Supervisor Sixiang Army, headed by the left and right commanders, the Taiyuan garrison, which maintained a strength of 15,000 troops after the war, came out of Luliang Mountain, including Chu Shanqi, Zheng Jinqing's Department, and Yang Qiye's Department
, the third wing of the Xuanwu Army (the captured soldiers of the Tianxiong Army) recruited Jian Rui from the Taiyuan army and civilians and the Luliang Mountain resistance rebels to make up for the casualties caused by the continuous hard battles.
In addition, there are nearly 40,000 young and strong men among the army and civilians in Taiyuan, and they have also undergone simple reorganization in the Luliang Mountains.
On the day after Zhu Hang and Xu Huai met, Taiyuan's 100,000 soldiers and civilians carried a large amount of supplies and thousands of mules and horses crossed the Yellow River. After entering Yanzhou, they would be escorted from Yanzhou by the Taiyuan garrison led by Wen Hengyue and others.
Continue south.
After Xu Huai and Zhu Hang reunited, he led the Chushan Cavalry, Zheng Jinqing, and the third column of the Xuanwu Army, totaling five thousand cavalry, horse infantry, and went directly south to meet King Jing in Puban.
Xu Huai went south directly along the hills and valleys at the southern foot of Luliang Mountain. Along the way, he saw many scouting activities of the Red Husband.
However, the main cavalry force of Chi Hu on the east and west wings of the river has not yet entered the lower reaches of the Fen River for activities, and currently mainly stays in Jiangzhou, Jinzhou and other places.
The Chihu people's military operations in the lower Fen River valley were not as thunderous as expected. On the one hand, the Chihu people's strategic intention changed from robbery to occupation and control.
On the other hand, it was also the disastrous defeat in Taiyuan, which made them need to adjust the deployment of troops and horses on the east, west and north wings of the river. It also made them no longer dare to easily bypass key cities without fighting, and instead resorted to large-scale detours and intersperses; for the Chihu people, it was not possible for the time being.
This is no longer necessary.
After the soldiers and horses crossed the Fen River, Zheng Jinqing led his troops directly south and rushed to Pinglu City to join the main force of Qin Feng's army that had been organized into the Heluo camp. Xu Wuqi, Chen Zixiao and others led their troops first in Yishi County.
After setting up camp in the territory, Xu Huai and Xiao Yanhan accompanied Zhu Hang and rushed to Puban to see King Jing under the guards of Shi Hu, Wu Chihai and Niu Er.
The soldiers have not entered Puzhou yet, but the refugees heading south from Jiangzhou and Jinzhou are filling the road. The closer to Puban City, the more refugees there are. There are temporary shacks everywhere on both sides of the official road. I don’t know how many.
People were lying directly on the snow, all with sallow complexions and thin bodies, and their clothes were ragged.
This is mainly because the food supply in Guan and Shaanxi is tighter than ever. King Jing and Gao Junyang deliberately blocked the passage to Guanzhong via Puban Crossing River. Of course, the country cannot let refugees into the city at will, so hundreds of thousands of refugees are crowded.
Outside the city, manpower will need to be released to guide the refugees across the river to escape to Heluo in the south.
Xu Huai didn't say anything. He looked at Puban City in front. He was preparing for Shi Hu and the others to negotiate with the military academy on duty first. However, he saw a group of carriages and horses parked in front of the city gate. He saw Gu Jian, Qian Shangduan, and Zhao from a distance.
Fan and others got out of the carriage.
Xu Huai, Zhu Hang, Qian Zerui, Xiao Yanhan and others led their horses to greet us and said with a smile: "Why did Gu Tongpuan rush to Puban ahead of us? Zhu Hang was also worried that he would not go to Fuzhou on the way.
It's rude. By the way, gentlemen, you are standing in front of the city gate, are you waiting for someone?"
"The mountains and rivers are broken, the heaven and the earth are mute, and all the people in the world are helpless, but the military prince has been through life and death. He has saved a hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan from fire and water, slightly boosted the ambition of the government and the public, and has made extraordinary achievements. His Highness specially ordered us to welcome the military prince here, and the princess enters the city.
!" Qian Shangduan, Zhao Fan, Gu Jian and others saluted.
"Ah," Xu Huai returned the salute in panic, "Xu Huai does not dare to accept this gift, and does not dare to steal the merits of thousands of generals who died!"
"I just came to Puban yesterday to see His Highness!" Gu Jian told Xu Huai that Fuzhou had already started arranging the southward evacuation. On behalf of the Gu family, he rushed to Puban first to see King Jing; in addition, Xiao Linshi also sent generals
Shi Hai rushed to Puban and stayed in a posthouse in the city.
At this time, Zhao Fan introduced to Xu Huai that the tall young man beside them was Gao Yi, the eldest son of Gao Junyang, who was the former Yanyan Road Manager and Comfort Envoy and was the general manager of the military and horse capital of Shaanxi camp at this time.
Xu Huai led more than 5,000 horses back to the south. No matter how fast he went, it took him six days to reach Puban.
However, Xu Huai had already sent Yan Xiaoyi to Puban with a letter. In the letter, he urged King Jing to rush to Xiangyang as soon as possible. Even if he did not directly ascend the throne, he would also establish a palace for the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses in Xiangyang.
The Generalissimo's Palace of Military and Horses in the world is no longer limited to the three roads of West Beijing, Shaanxi and Hedong. Envoys must be sent as soon as possible to Jinghu, Huainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Shu and other places to contact them to win their support for the formation of the Generalissimo's Palace of Military and Horses.
support, acknowledge.
In addition to Shi Hai and Gu Jian who rushed to Puban, for this matter, Zheng Huaizhong, Gao Junyang, Gao Chunnian, the transfer envoy of various Shaanxi roads, Zhou He, the Xuanfu envoy of the Northwest Beijing Road, Wu Wenche, the transfer envoy of the Northwest Beijing Road, and the commander of the mausoleum guarding army.
Chen Yougui and others also rushed to Puban one after another before yesterday to discuss important matters.
Although during the period of guarding Gong County, King Jing's family, including Xu Huai, had a very unhappy time with Zhou He, Gao Chunnian, Wu Wenche, Zheng Huaizhong and others, the unchangeable fact is that Zhou He, Gao Chunnian,
Wu Wenche, Zheng Huaizhong and Gao Chunniang's brother Gao Junyang, as representatives of the Guan-Shan Military Group (Western Army), controlled nearly half of Vietnam's capable soldiers and horses at this time.
King Jing also first reconciled with Zheng Huaizhong, and then, with the secret coordination of Zheng Huaizhong and Zhao Fan, and the support of Zhou He, Gao Chunnian, Wu Wenche, Gao Junyang and others, he was awarded the title of Grand Marshal of the troops in the west of Beijing, Shaanxi, and Hedong.
, was able to officially open a mansion in Puban.
Of course, many things could go so smoothly. On the one hand, the extremely bad situation forced the military and political forces of Heluo, Guan, and Shaanxi to unite to the side of Jing Wang Zhao Tuan.
On the other hand, no one can deny that King Jing rushed to defend Gong County, crossed the river to the north to relieve the Qinshui River, surrounded Zezhou, and sent troops to go to Taiyuan in a roundabout way. He greatly won the Heluo, Guan, Shaanxi, Hedong and other places.
Support from the government and the people.
Qian Shangduan, Zhao Fan and others went out of the city to meet Xu Huai and prepared carriages. The two of them invited Xu Huai to ride in a carriage, while the others arranged to take other carriages or ride horses into the city.
"Heluo and Shaanxi can still recruit 200,000 soldiers and horses at this time to resist the invasion of the Red Husbands. Heluo and Guanshaan also have dangerous mountains and rivers to defend, but Heluo and Shaanxi's persistence cannot be separated from the wealth of the southeast.
Support is also inseparable from Huainan, Jinghu gathered troops and horses to counterattack Hehuai, and it is inseparable from King Lu holding firm in Qingzhou and Qizhou to jointly share the military pressure of the Chihu people."
After getting on the carriage, Zhao Fan went straight to the point and mentioned that Zheng Huaizhong, Gao Junyang, Zhou He, Gao Chunnian, Wu Wenche and others did not object to King Jing going to Xiangyang to prepare for the throne.
Of course, it's not that Zheng Gao, Zhou Wu and others didn't want to welcome King Jing to Chang'an to ascend the throne, so that the Guan-Shaanxi military group they represented could get the maximum benefit from supporting him.
Pu Ban has argued about this matter several times.
However, whether it is Chang'an or Luoyang, in addition to the lack of strategic depth and serious shortage of wealth and food, it is a fact that no one can close their eyes and ignore.
Hu Kai and Wang Fan had also sent people to Puban many times before to declare that only when King Jing came to Xiangyang to take charge could he control the wealth of the southeast.
In addition to Xu Huai's letter asking King Jing to make up his mind, there was another key factor that made Zheng Gao, Zhou Wu and others give up their persistence. That is, with the support of King Lu, Zhao Guan, Ge Boyi, Yang Maoyan and others, Hedong and Jingdong Road were also established in Qingzhou a few days ago.
The Generalissimo's Mansion.
Therefore, before Xu Huai arrived at Puban, everyone had reached a consensus on King Jing's march south to Xiangyang.
There is no real difference whether he first establishes the Generalissimo's Mansion of the Army or directly ascends the throne. The real key is the composition of the Generalissimo's Mansion or the new dynasty.
Zheng Gao, Zhou Wu and others had previously sent envoys to Pu Ban, hoping that these matters could be settled early and recommended corresponding candidates. However, King Jing insisted on calling everyone together and waited until Xu Huai arrived at Pu Ban to discuss it together.
Qian Shangduan certainly advocated this.
After all, the direct lineage around King Jing is still too weak. The influence and strength of Hu Kai, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang and others are also weak. King Jing does not want to become a puppet controlled by the Guan-Shaanxi military group. Xu Huai is in his hands.
How could he be so stupid as to allow others to directly determine many details of the Generalissimo's Mansion or the New Dynasty behind Xu Huai's back when he could take out the most critical chess piece?
Although Chushan was outnumbered and weak at this time, with only four to five thousand soldiers to fight, and the area it controlled was only a corner of Tongbai Mountain, Xu Huai led thousands of soldiers and horses to attack thousands of miles deep into the heart of the enemy.
, killing the enemy troops until they howled like ghosts and wolves, and almost miraculously rescued 100,000 Taiyuan soldiers and civilians. Who among Zheng Huaizhong, Gao Junyang, Zhou He, Wu Wenche and others dared to ignore Xu Huai's existence at this time?
Qian Shangduan also knew very well that at this time, only Xu Huai, Hu Kai, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang and others, standing together, could check and balance the Guan-Shaanxi military group represented by Zheng Zhou, Gao Wu and others, and ensure that the new dynasty remained the same.
The Zhao family's temple is not a puppet controlled by others
