Liu Qiong'er nestled in Xu Huai's arms, and, surrounded by many guards and soldiers, rode her horse slowly along the streamside post road.
Thinking of her daily hard work, Liu Qiong'er personally compiled many messages and copied them into a book and sent it to Huaidu. Xu Huai didn't even read it, biting his lip and said angrily:
"...Cao Shixiong was transferred to Puzhou, Jiangzhou Jiedushi, Marching Ten Thousand Households, Yin Chao was demoted to Marching Deputy Ten Thousand Households, and cooperated with the Southern Army General Bastu in Chihu Town to raise 100,000 troops to attack Pinglu City. Is it an imminent event?
? Yue Hailou led 50,000 surrendered troops and stationed in Xuzhou, Xiao Qian led 50,000 surrendered troops and stationed in Zhengzhou, threatening Xiangcheng and Hulao from the east wing. Is this a big deal? The third prince of Chihu, Tu Ge, led the Yan army.
Is the main force’s invasion of Qizhou and Jeju an imminent event?”
"No," Xu Huai said, "These are all expected things. What's the fuss about?"
King Zhao Guan of Huai led his troops from Hebei to go south to Xu and Shou, and planned to abandon the Jingdong area. The Pingyan army on Chihudong Road did not enter Qizhou and Jeju until then, which was later than expected.
Pinglu is the bridgehead of Zheng Huaizhong's troops in Heluo on the north bank of Huang'an, looking north into the hinterland of the lower and lower reaches of Fen River.
Even if the Chihu people's next military operation focuses on Shaanxi, they will inevitably capture Pinglu first, confining Zheng Huaizhong's troops to the south bank of the Yellow River, and unable to attack his flanks.
At this time, the Chihu people had a large number of surrendered soldiers and horses to call on, whether they were the Zhennan Army on the West Road or the Pingyan Army on the East Road. They also continued to recruit Ding Zhuang from Bohai, Yanyun and other places formerly occupied by the Khitans to go south.
Therefore, if Zheng Huaizhong's troops only know how to defend the city passively, the cities such as Pinglu, Hulao, and Xiangcheng will become purely tools for the Red Husband to consume, integrate, and train the subordinate troops.
Pinglu, Hulao and other cities may be able to be defended for a while, but whether they can be defended until next year is really hard to say.
However, judging from the attitudes of Zheng Cong and Zhao Fan in Xiangyang, Xu Huai did not think that he could have any positive effect by dictating the defense of Heluo.
"It has only been more than half a month since His Majesty took the throne. Zhou He, Gao Chunnian and others have already written letters one after another, telling His Majesty to recruit girls to serve as concubines. Wu Wenche is in charge of the censorship, and in the past half month, he has grabbed hold of Wang Qiyong, Li Ji and others.
He refused to let go of his disciples and old officials who were in Jianghuai and other places, and impeached dozens of them one after another; Dong Cheng went to Xiangyang after resigning from Tangzhou, and was also exiled to Yuezhou a few days ago - are these considered big events?" Liu Qiong'er asked
road.
"What difference does it make if we knew these things earlier or later? Can we still intervene now?"
Xu Huai hugged Liu Qiong'er's soft waist and said calmly,
"All events are checks and balances. If you want to establish a defense line along the Huaihe River, you must rely on the military personnel system in Jianghuai, Jinghu, Chuanxia and other places that have not been damaged by the war to quickly and effectively recruit sufficient money and food.
Materials are heading north. Therefore, before the Huaishang defense line is truly stabilized, no one wants the existing system of ministers to be greatly impacted and cause unnecessary chaos. They can only endure the continuation of various shortcomings and cannot expect to be eliminated suddenly.
All at once."
"Mr. Shi also means the same thing," Liu Qiong'er said, "Zhou He, Gao Chunnian, Gu Fan, Wu Wenche, etc. are all extremely smart people. They are very aware of this situation, and they also know very well that although they have the merit of following the dragon,
, but did not gain the true trust of His Majesty. In order to maintain their power, they would naturally take advantage of His Majesty's refusal to use any means to bring the court under their control. It would not be surprising to see how many small tricks they made for this purpose. Previously,
They excluded the Taiyuan officials from the Marshal's Mansion, which was an omen. At this time, they were liquidating the remnants of the rebels and inviting young women from the draft to serve as concubines. Their intention was nothing more than this. However, they were still confident and found it difficult to refute. After all, the clan clan
Having been captured by the Red Husbands in one fell swoop, Your Majesty and Prince Wuwei are still in their prime, so they should have children soon..."
"Yes, so why should he do it?" Xu Huai shook his head and said with a smile.
Most of the prefectures and counties in Hedong, Hebei, Hehuai and other places did not have much strong will to resist. After the fall of Bianliang, most of the captive soldiers had not set foot before, and the attacking prefectures and counties also surrendered. This is a big problem. Something that most people can predict.
This will inevitably lead to the surrender of a large number of forbidden troops and local guards to the Chihu people.
Therefore, whether the Chihu people are on the west route to Zhennan Road or the east route to Pingyan's army, in addition to constantly recruiting young and strong soldiers from Bohai, Yanyun and other places formerly occupied by the Khitans to go south, they can also get a large number of surrenders from Hedong, Hebei and Gyeonggi. Soldiers and horses.
According to the consistent approach of the Chihu people, whether it is integrating and strengthening the combat effectiveness of the surrendered troops, or using all means to eliminate resistance factors in the occupied areas, in the early stage, the surrendered troops will be driven like snowballs in new offensive directions. scroll.
After some adjustments, the Chihu people now transferred Cao Shixiong, Yue Hai, Xiao Qian, Yin Chao and other surrendered generals and rebels to the southern front. They spared no effort to force the surrendered soldiers under their command to fight against Pinglu. It is foreseeable that Hulao, Xiangcheng and other places will launch new offensives.
The early intention of the Red Husbands in launching these offensives was to consume attrition, not only to consume the excessively large surrender troops, but also to consume Dai Viet's resistance.
Xu Huai didn't want to waste Chushan's elite troops in vain, so he restrained the urge to expand on a large scale and reduced the real defense line to Qingyi Ridge, Zhouqiao, and Jinniu Ridge.
Also because the Chushan camp had only 10,000 regular soldiers, Zhou He and Gao Chunnian had no excuse and forced him to lead the Tianxiong army to the coast of Ru River. Zhao Fan and Zheng Cong made noise in Xiangyang. Nor can it become a trend.
However, the time left for Chushan was also very limited.
Xu Huai now doesn't know how long the Xiaosheng Army on the left and the Xuanwei Army on the two wings can support it. Once they cannot support it, Chushan will have to step up to share the pressure.
Xu Huai pulled the reins and rode the horse slowly towards Zhouqiao. He listened to Liu Qiong'er talking in his arms about the various news that had been collected in Zhouqiao these days - it was a hundred miles from Huaidu to Zhouqiao, and they Stop at Huaiyuan (Chushan County) on the way.
Liu Qiong'er was bold and bold enough, but she was also very shy when she was squeezed into Xu Huai's arms, surrounded by many guards and soldiers, and stared at with burning eyes by travelers along the way; the key thing was that there was something that made people panic. After a short rest in Huaiyuan before setting off again, Liu Qiong'er refused to ride on the same horse as Xu Huai.
Arriving at Zhouqiao at night, Xu Huai summoned Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi and other generals in Zhouqiao to have a banquet. Then he sent the guests out of the mansion early, and stayed with Liu Qiong'er until death to comfort his longing after seeing each other for more than a month.
When he woke up the next day, Xu Huai opened the window, letting the cool wind blow into the room, and the morning light was bright.
Liu Qiong'er lay lazily on the bed, covering her delicate body with a thin quilt. Her slender arms as white as jade were pressed on the plain thin quilt, her skin was like gelatin; her black hair spread like a waterfall beside the pillow, setting off her palm. The big little face is becoming more delicate and clear; the cheeks that are about to burst are slightly red.
But knowing that Xu Huai was staring at her, Liu Qiong'er recalled her bone-crushing obsession last night and the early morning ecstasy. She was too embarrassed to open her eyes and look at Xu Huai's teasing eyes; her long eyelashes were trembling slightly!
"Shi Zhen asked me to take a boat to the north bank before noon. If you don't wake up, I will go out by myself?" Xu Huai sat beside the couch and asked Liu Qiong'er's soft cheek with his finger.
"I've been working hard for you all these days, so what if I'm lazy for a day?" Liu Qiong'er pulled up the thin quilt, covered her face, and said softly while hiding herself under the quilt.
"Come with me to the north bank, so I don't have to rush back at night!" Xu Huai said.
At that time, carriages and horses were slow to travel. If you wanted to go out to inspect somewhere, you would have to walk for half a day on a trail of ten or twenty miles, and it would be even slower to take a ferry.
Xu Huai wrapped Liu Qiong'er in a quilt and said, "Don't get up, I will wrap you in a quilt and treat it as if I have robbed Mrs. Aizhai!"
"Ah!" Liu Qiong'er screamed and struggled to sit up. She was only wearing a short silk dress, but her skin was second to none. Her high-stretched breasts were really indescribably alluring.
people.
Xu Huai practiced boxing for a while, and his body was slightly sweaty. After Liu Qiong'er finished dressing and had breakfast, he took the ferry to the north bank with Shi Zhen, who had been handling official duties in the government hall for more than an hour.
Nan'an Zhouqiao Station is located in the transition zone from Nanling Mountain to Jinniuling Mountain in Tongbai Mountain. Although the geographical location is extremely important, the terrain is narrow and narrow. After building two small towns on both sides of Chenjia Stone Bridge, there will be no more room for expansion.
.
In order to ensure that the troops and horses could quickly enter the Pingchuan area on the north bank of the Huaihe River and coordinate the defense of Qingyi Ridge and other places, the main force of the Tianxiong Army camped on the north bank.
To resist the barbarians in the long term, to better control the area east of Qingyi Ridge and Shimen Ridge, and to formally take root in Zhenyang and Shangcai in the future, with military fronts covering both sides of Ru River, it is necessary to build a new city on the north bank.
A ferry bridge was built between the north and south banks.
This is also the biggest complaint among people in Chushan.
The money and wages allocated to the Xiaosheng Army and the Xuanwu Army are initially set at 1.5 million guan each year. In addition to Xiangyang, Chushan is allocated an additional 500,000 guan in money and food every year. Chushan and Xinyang counties can also support their own finances.
, they seem to be almost the same, but the Xiaosheng Army on the left and the Xuanwu Army only need to be responsible for daily training and defense of the city wall, while Nanyang Prefecture is responsible for the construction of defense lines in Wuyang, Fangcheng and other places.
After the merger of Tang and Deng states, Nanyang Prefecture had 14 counties under its jurisdiction, occupying the rich and fertile Nanyang Basin on both sides of the Tangbai River. It was located in Funiu Mountain, Tongbai Mountain and Fangcheng. The inner line protected by the Wuyang Defense Line had a dense population of 140 to 500 people.
With a population of ten thousand, and who knows how many refugees from the south have been absorbed at this time, the financial resources are naturally much richer than Chushan.
But no matter what, the North Bank New City must be built...
