Zhenyang is bordered by the Huai River to the south, and is adjacent to the North Ridge of Tongbai Mountain to the west. The Ru River flows through it to the north and east. Its terrain lies in the west of the North Ridge of Tongbai Mountain, and the low hills and mountains extending eastward from Dafu Mountain (Qingyi Ridge).
To the east is the plain formed by the alluvial deposits of the Huai, Ru and other rivers.
Geographically, Zhenyang is still not as important as Huaichuan, Xincai, Shangcai and other places.
However, Ru River originates from the eastern foothills of Funiu Mountain. Rainstorms are frequent in summer. At the same time, it merges into many tributaries originating from Dawei, the northern ridge of Tongbai Mountain and even the southeastern foothills of Songshan Mountain. Flood disasters are extremely frequent, causing Zhaoling along the Ru River.
Shangcai, Xincai, Huaichuan and other places were particularly hard hit, while Runan and Suiping counties have low-lying terrain. Whenever there is a flood, waterlogging accumulates and is difficult to drain.
In comparison, the upper reaches of the Huai River are much docile, which makes most of Zhenyang less susceptible to flood disasters. Dams, ditches and other water conservancy facilities are also quite complete. It is the most important grain-producing area on the Huai River and has the largest population.
When it flourishes, there are nearly two hundred thousand people.
At this time in Zhenyang, all the villages dotted around the fields were dead silent. Occasionally, there was smoke rising from cooking stoves. There were only a few lonely old people who could not bear to die in a foreign land and stayed to wait for death. They sat in the dusk and looked at the long distance with numb expressions.
Fields full of weeds.
Although the people of Nuoda's Zhenyang City had already fled, the thousands of soldiers gathered at this time seemed to be bustling with people.
Zhong Changqing led his guards into the city and saw that the walls of the courtyards in the city were connected to each other and transformed into military camps. A house outside the county government office was also demolished, and another high and thick city wall was built with rammed earth to isolate the county government office area.
It was used as an inner city.
"Commander Yue is really cautious. Is it possible that he is afraid that the Chushan Army will counterattack from the corner and besiege Zhenyang City?" Seeing this scene, a general behind Zhong Changqing sneered.
Zhong Changqing turned around and glared at the general, his eyes sullen to stop him from talking nonsense.
Zhong Changqing came to the marshal's tent that had been transformed into the county government office, dismounted from his horse, called people to report, and then walked to the office.
Above the Yamen Hall, Yue Hailou, Mo Lihu, Meng Jie, Feng Shizhao, Jiang Zhaode and other generals were all gathered together, discussing matters.
After Chushan soldiers and horses moved all the people and supplies out of Huaichuan City, they piled firewood on the few remaining buildings and the county government compound and lit them on fire, before calmly crossing the river and evacuating.
After occupying Huaichuan, Mo Lihu led the red cavalry across Ru River and came directly to Zhenyang to join Yue Hailou. Zhong Changqing occupied a dilapidated city and stationed his troops and horses. He also had to deploy defense and generals.
After everything was arranged, Zhenyang arrived after a few days' delay.
There are two tall copper braziers placed in the middle of the yamen hall. The charcoal burns bright red, making it much warmer than outside.
Zhong Changqing took off his fur robe to keep out the cold and handed it to the guards. Wearing bright armor, he walked into the Yamen Hall to pay tribute to Yue Hailou, Mo Lihu and others.
Before Xu Huai led his troops to evacuate from Huaichuan, the Huai Palace assembled a group of warships to dock in Ruyang and evacuated Ge Yu's 20,000 defenders.
At present, the Pingyan Army and the Yanjifu Army on the East Route have adjusted their attack direction back to the coast of Wishui River. They plan to first capture Xiacaicheng on the other side of Shouchun and then completely break through the route to Huainan.
aisle.
Their victory over Huaichuan City can be said to have kicked off the winter war extremely smoothly, but they wiped out the Xuanwei Army too easily and captured Huaichuan City, which also changed their initial combat deployment.
At first, they thought that Liu Xian and Fu Qian would defend Huaichuan City. At that time, they thought that Zhong Changqing's troops would contain the Xuanwei Army from the left wing, and Yue Hailou would be able to lead Feng Shizhao, Meng Jie, Jiang Zhaode and other troops to calmly attack Qingyi Ridge and Chushan City.
Launch an offensive.
The main force of Xuanwei's army was wiped out in Jiaopi, and they captured Huaichuan City more smoothly than expected. It is impossible for Zhong Changqing's men to stay in Huaichuan City all winter and do nothing.
However, the generals had different opinions on how to adjust the combat deployment. Most of them advocated gathering the main cavalry troops and crossing the Huaihe River with Zhong Changqing's troops to attack Jiuliguan, Luoshan, Xinyang and other places, forcing Chushan to be unable to move.
Not dividing the troops on the east wing makes it easier for the main force to attack Qingyi Ridge and Chushan City.
Yue Hailou sent people to Huaichuan many times to ask Zhong Changqing for his opinion, but Zhong Changqing did not respond in a hurry.
The first cold wave of this winter has swept across the Hehuai River, and the ponds have been covered with thin ice. In another half month, the Huai River may freeze. They must make new decisions now in order to adjust their deployment as soon as possible.
"How to fight next? I have sent people to ask your opinion many times, but you haven't given me an answer yet!" After Zhong Changqing sat down, Yue Hailou asked straight to the point.
"Xu Huai withdrew from Huaichuan and left behind a ruined city, not even a well-kept courtyard left. The city was in ruins, but I had to settle so many soldiers and horses. I was too busy to do all the work.
I'm so anxious that I can't think too much, so I ask the Commander-in-Chief to be lenient. As for how to fight, it all depends on the Commander-in-Chief and General Na Yan. I swear to follow you to the death." After Zhong Changqing settled several cases, he went to Yue Hai.
"Floor," Mo Lihu said with his hands raised.
Although the ministers of Bianliang supported Li Ji as emperor and established the Kingdom of Chu, and they were also nominally generals of the Kingdom of Chu, everyone knew in their hearts that Zhong Changqing had no say in how to adjust the next combat deployment.
Bianliang did not have the final decision-making power, and had to ask the Zhennan Zong Palace for instructions.
Zhong Changqing believes that the situation here has been reported to the Zong Palace. Instead of wasting words, he should wait for the Zong Palace to decide on the overall strategy and then think about the specific combat strategy.
"The second prince has sent an order. Bianliang and Commander Yue will decide how to fight here. This time I was ordered to lead my troops to help Commander Yue. Everything is under the control of Commander Yue," Mo Lihu said, "What's wrong with General Zhong?"
Please let me know your thoughts."
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhong Changqing smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, the Commander-in-Chief has already made a plan, so why do you need me to say anything?"
"I don't even know what my plan is? Tell me." Yue Hailou pretended to be confused and asked.
"Wang Xiaocheng can be said to be a famous general during his lifetime, and Xu Huai is even better than his master. His military skills can be said to have reached the level of 'single-mindedness', and the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain are loyal to him."
Zhong Changqing said,
"I was a witness to the Tongbaishan Rebellion. Afterwards, I followed Wang Zhen to Lanzhou. Tianxiong's army was destroyed. He was the only one who gained the advantage and was able to defend Shuozhou.
After defeating both divisions, this man was able to retreat completely. Later, he helped the new emperor of the Southern Dynasty to defend Gong County, attack Qinshui, and rushed thousands of miles to attack Lanzhou and Taiyuan. His military skills were as mysterious as ghosts. In the battle of Jiaopi, we failed to win the battle.
I did not expect that he would suddenly appear in Huaichuan. I consider myself to be far inferior to such a fellow. If I were asked to come up with a plan for the lord commander, I would never dare to compete with him and compete with him.
The stupidest method may be the most appropriate and safe, but it may not be able to attack Tongbai Mountain, and the second prince may not be satisfied..."
"You are too ambitious for others!" Feng Shizhao muttered dissatisfied.
They all suffered losses at the hands of Xu Huai, but Feng Shizhao was not afraid of him and lost his own ambition first.
"What's the stupidest way?" Yue Hailou motioned to Zhong Changqing to continue.
"The Commander-in-Chief often says that the Western Army is weak, the party is strong, and there is no cavalry capable of competing with the party's cavalry, so we have no choice but to carry out a shallow attack and fortification strategy," Zhong Changqing said, "The stupid way I can think of is,
It was also given by the commander-in-chief to build more strongholds along Queshan, Zhenyang and Mingxi rivers, set up large piles in the Mingxi river channel to block boats, and build more pontoons to connect the two banks. The right bank of Mingxi river is more needed.
Be cautious, it is best to advance to the Chushan City with layers of fortifications; when attacking the city, build more trebuchets and blast them day and night!"
"What kind of strategy is this?" Jiang Zhaode and others couldn't help shouting and asked, "General Zhong, does he know how much time these deployments will take? I'm afraid that by the time we advance to the foot of Chushan City, this winter will have passed!"
The Western Army's strategy of using a shallow attack to advance into the fort was because there was no other way to suppress the party's cavalry.
Although the Western Army used this strategy to suppress the party members, it took more than ten years to achieve initial results, and it has been continued ever since.
But now we are clearly strong and the enemy is weak, so why do we need to use such stupid methods?
Besides, following Zhong Changqing's strategy was not only time-consuming and slow, but also the main reason was that they followed the Red Husbands southward, burning, killing, and looting along the way. They only knew how to destroy but not to build.
The area where Yue Hailou led Xu Chenying and the Three Prefectures seemed to be quite large, but most of the households had fled when they arrived with their troops, or were massacred by them along the way.
Only in the middle of the year did Yue Hailou decide to tighten military discipline and allow households on the left bank of Yingshui River to recuperate, but at this time, no results had been achieved.
Therefore, the supplies they can mobilize are actually very limited.
Another point is that other soldiers and horses are making progress frequently. They use this stupid method. They have no hope of being able to invade Tongbai Mountain this winter. Will the Zhennan Zong Palace be satisfied with this?
"How can we expect to attack Tongbai Mountain this winter?" Zhong Changqing asked, "Xiangyang is currently the only one who can be called a famous general. Xu Huai is the only one. The others can at best be considered good generals. If the lord commander and I can
It can be considered a special achievement to entangle him in Tongbai Mountain and make it difficult to escape. When all the troops and horses capture Shaanxi, Heluo and Huainan, and finally trap him in Chu Mountain."
Everyone just shook their heads after hearing Zhong Changqing's words.
Yue Hailou looked at Mo Lihu and said, "I want to use Chang Qing as the commander-in-chief of the former army. What does General Yan think?"
