As the Privy Envoy of Da Chu and the Jiedushi of Xuzhou, Chenzhou, Yingzhou, and Caizhou, Yue Hailou had to take care of the military and political affairs of the four states as well as the troop dispatch of the entire Huaishang defense line. He could not keep an eye on the front line at all times, so he needed to
A former military commander will serve as battlefield commander.
However, since Zhong Changqing was so conservative, Yue Hailou still wanted to use Zhong Changqing as his former military commander. Feng Shizhao and other generals were somewhat unhappy, and they all looked at Mo Lihu, hoping that he would recommend someone else.
"The second prince often talks about Cao Shixiong. Cao Shili is a rare hero among Han officials. I looked down on him at first. In the hands of Xu Huai, he did suffer many losses. Cao Shili was even more defeated. How can he be called a hero?
Many generals in Prince Zong's palace were also dissatisfied with Cao Shixiong. The Battle of Taiyuan failed, and many people advocated removing Cao Shixiong from the post of governor of Lanzhou and military governor of Qing Shun. The second prince summoned the generals and repeatedly reviewed various battles in Lanzhou and Taiyuan.
Details, but did not find out anything wrong with Cao Shixiong's response in Lanzhou. I led my troops to help Taiyuan at that time, but I lost my troops in the north of Taiyuan and defeated the Chushan soldiers and horses. In the end, I was rewarded for my merits."
Mo Li suddenly saw the expressions of the generals in his eyes, frowned slightly, and said to Yue Hailou,
"The second prince asked Commander Yue to supervise the battle on Huaishang, but he was worried about the generals' impetuousness. General Zhong has such prudent words, so he can be the commander-in-chief of the army!"
In the first southern expedition, Mo Lihu led his troops to go south with the surrendered vassal troops, so he had the responsibility of supervising the troops and had deep contacts with Yue Hailou, Xiao Qian, Cao Shixiong and other people as well as their generals.
Because of the foundation of the Qing Shun Army, Cao Shixiong's troops originally had the strongest combat effectiveness, and Yue Hailou's troops were the weakest. However, Cao Shixiong's troops encountered the elites of Chushan several times and suffered heavy losses. Cao Shili and other generals also died.
;
Xiao Qian's troops fought steadily and fought for many years. At this time, they were able to pull out 30,000 to 40,000 capable soldiers. After the middle of the year, they successively captured Xingyang, Hulao and other important towns, threatening Luoyang from the east wing.
At the beginning, Yue Hailou had no direct soldiers and horses. During the first southern expedition, he recruited the Yingzhou Han army who was driven to hard labor by the Southern Dynasty, and his strength was also the weakest.
However, during the more than two years of the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, Yue Hailou's military exploits were the most outstanding. Yue Hailou's plans for the Southern Expedition were often successful. In terms of merit, he was the first among all the Han generals, so he was entrusted with the important task of serving as Bian.
Liang Privy Envoy, commanding the Chu army in Bianliang.
Among the generals under Yue Hailou, Zhong Changqing seems to have the weakest foundation. He was just a bandit leader in Tongbai Mountain. He was recruited by the Southern Dynasty and went to Lanzhou as a battalion commander. Later, he served as an ordinary military officer in the state division. It can be said that he is
Little known.
If Yue Hailou hadn't recruited him specifically, who in the world would have noticed the existence of such a character?
However, Zhong Changqing, who was attached to Yue Hailou, was the most capable of planning and fighting, and he was also very brave in battle.
In the battle of Jiaopi, Zhong Changqing realized that Liu Xian, Fu Qian and others were greedy for merit and used their troops as bait to lure the main force of Xuanwei Army north to fight. Only then did Mo Lihu have the opportunity to lead his troops to cover up and kill them, and solved the problem in one fell swoop.
The Battle of the East Wing.
It would have been natural for other generals to be arrogant at this time and send troops across the Huaihe River to attack Huangzhou, Guangshan, Luoshan, and Xinyang to expand their results.
Mo Lihu himself was very hesitant, but the second prince and Mu Chi wrote to him, asking him to pay attention to the changes in Huairu's terrain and water conditions, and to urge Yue Hailou to organize and train the navy, and not to rush for success.
This calls him more
I feel that it is even more rare for Zhong Changqing to maintain a clear mind at this time.
At this time, in addition to the Pingyan Zong Palace on the east road, which was mainly attacking Huainan, and the Zhennan Zong Palace on Huaishang, there were also three battlefields in Pinglu, Gongxian and Weibei where the fighting was fierce.
This also requires the Huaishang to hold steady, contain and consume the enemies of the Southern Dynasty. Waiting for the results of other battles to be achieved one after another, then gathering more elite soldiers and horses, and then forcibly tearing apart the strong defense line of the Southern Dynasty in the Tongbai Mountain area is the best strategy.
Yue Hailou and Mo Lihu both preferred Zhong Changqing to serve as the former military commander, so the generals had nothing to say. They were only worried about Zhong Changqing's strategy, which was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also consumed too much material. Xu Chen
What the four states of Ying and Cai can afford.
"Xu Chen, Ying and Cai's four states are all in ruins, and the people are less than 23% of what they were in their prime. It is difficult to raise 60,000 soldiers and horses with the grain that can be collected at this time." Seeing that Mo Lihu also agreed with Zhong Changqing's move to build a company camp.
Therefore, Yue Hailou began to complain...
As the privy envoy of Da Chu, Yue Hailou had a much higher nominal status than Mo Lihu, but Bianliang was in a state of embarrassment at this time. Yue Hailou sent people to Bianliang several times to demand retribution, but Bianliang received nothing.
At this time, Yue Hai not only hoped that the Zong Palace could put pressure on Bianliang, but also mobilized some supplies from Hedong and other places to go south. However, if he spoke at this time, Mo Lihu might not be able to help him.
"The second prince wants Commander Yue to stop haste and be patient, and will consider the difficulty of raising grain and fodder!" Mo Lihu agreed to submit a letter to the Zong Palace together with Yue Hailou, requesting that a batch of grain, fodder, iron materials and other materials be transported from Bianliang, Hedong and other places for reinforcements.
.
It is hateful to say that if Xu Huai had not appeared, they would have succeeded in attacking Huaichuan immediately. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city, the huge amount of supplies stored by Xuanwei Army in Huaichuan could also be called Yue Hailou's.
Partially used for three to five months.
Of course, even though he was filled with hatred when he saw Chushan soldiers and horses transporting boatloads of supplies from Huaichuan, Mo Lihu also knew that it would be wrong to attack the city guarded by Chushan elites before he was fully prepared.
Extremely stupid move.
He also discovered that the Chushan elite at this time were not only brave and good at fighting, but also had much better weapons and armor than Yue Hailou's troops. It was obvious that the Southern Dynasty still had great military potential that could be tapped. It was not just about conquering Hehuai.
The soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasties were frightened by the news and surrendered. There were still many arduous battles to come.
Seeing that Mo Lihu had agreed so simply, Yue Hailou then proposed to the four states of Chen, Cai, and Ying. In addition to the shortage of grain, grass, mules, horses, iron materials and other materials, there was also a shortage of craftsmen.
Chi Hu attached great importance to the capture of craftsmen. In the first southern expedition, tens of thousands of skilled craftsmen were kidnapped from Hehuai and other places, and they were divided into Yunzhou, Yanzhou and other places; and after the second southern expedition captured Bianliang
, then 100,000 craftsmen of all kinds in Bianliang City were taken captive to Taiyuan, Jizhou and other places, leaving only less than 10,000 craftsmen in Bianliang.
Yuehai Tower occupied the four states of Xu, Chen, Cai, and Ying, and most of the craftsmen had fled south; especially Xuzhou, which had long been wiped out by Hu Kai.
Not to mention Caizhou, Chen and Yingzhou are slightly better, and Yuehai Tower only recruits four to five thousand craftsmen.
However, whether it is building war weapons, casting armor, paving roads, bridges, and cities, as well as building warships and organizing naval forces in Shangcai at this time, a large number of craftsmen are needed.
Without these, how can the generals under Yue Hailou, no matter how rich their combat experience they are after a series of bloody battles, be a match for Chushan's elite who have increasingly improved armor and equipment?
Zhong Changqing is in Zhenyang, Queshan
In order to carry out the strategy of building a company camp, in addition to recruiting tens of thousands of hard laborers, how could there be no shortage of skilled craftsmen who are good at construction and can forge various war weapons?
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The wilderness was covered with hoarfrost, and mist drifted among the withered vegetation. A group of cavalry left the south bank of Shixi River and walked slowly from north to south.
Most of the people in Guangshan, Huangchuan and other places have been evacuated to northern Jingzhou, but Xu Huai cannot easily let the soldiers occupy the two hundred miles between Luoshan and Gushi City in Shouchun Prefecture.
Xu Huai set up six inspection villages in Guangshan, Huangchuan and other places, under the jurisdiction of the Luoshan Inspection Department, with a small number of troops stationed in each.
If a small group of soldiers cross the river to attack, they can defend the city wall tightly. If the Huai River freezes and the enemy troops move large groups of infantry and cavalry into the south bank, the defenders can abandon the city wall and retreat to the Huaiyang Mountains to the south.
Xu Huai deployed the defense on the eastern front and then set off for South Jiuliguan of Luoshan County.
Jiuli Pass, also known as Huangxian Pass, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It is named because of the deep and long pass. It forms a horn with Wusheng (Yang) Pass and Pingjing Pass on the west side.
However, for more than a hundred years since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty, the Central Plains region has generally been peaceful and peaceful. The Jiuliguan Pass in Lishan County, Anzhou, on Jinghu North Road has long been abandoned. Anzhou has set up a patrol military stronghold here to prevent smuggling.
Catch thieves and prevent bandits from fleeing the prefectures and counties.
The main force of the Xuanwei Army was destroyed, and the situation on the east wing of Huaishang was in dire straits. Jiuli Pass became the first line of defense to protect Jinghu Lake; Pingjing and Wusheng Pass are located to the west of Jiuli Pass, and outside Xinyang City, there are Luoshan and Xinyang
Screening the outer wings is much safer.
Xu Huai rode his horse on the post road to Jiuliguan. The post road was sandwiched between Lingshan Huangmaoling, Guanzhen Mountain, and Doubao Mountain, forming the thirty-mile-long Budai Long Gorge that was as dangerous as a throat; Jiuliguan inspected Sijun Village
, located at the south entrance of Changxia, facing Xianshan Mountain in Anzhou to the south, also known as Xianguan.
Chen Zixiao, who was responsible for guarding Jiuli Pass, came out of the mountain to meet Xu Huai and rode his horse slowly with Xu Huai. He said: "The old city of Luoshan was originally located nine miles away from the mouth of Beixiakou. It was destroyed by flash floods decades ago and was moved to Shixi River.
The current situation in the southeastern part of the country will not improve for a while, so it seems necessary to build a new city on the old site!"
"You have to do this for me now. If you need people or food, I will give it to you." Xu Huai nodded and said, "Now the Yuehai Tower is based on Zhenyang and the two cities of Queshan are east of the Mingxi River.
Selecting more than 20 fortresses for reinforcements clearly shows that they are going to confront us for a long time and blockade them, so we must be better prepared."
The location of Luoshan Old City just blocks the north entrance of Jiuliguan Gorge, and also better blocks the passage from the south bank of Shixi River to Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass in the west.
After being destroyed by flash floods, the newly built city was moved about thirty miles north. On the one hand, the new city was undefendable, and a large gap appeared between Luoshan and Jiuliguan.
The current site of Jiuliguan Military Fortress is located on the south side of Changxia. It is too deep to station thousands of soldiers and horses there, and it is difficult to effectively form a horn with Luoshan and Xinyang. Whenever something happens, troops must be mobilized from Jiuliguan.
, it will take half a day to cross the Changxia.
In the past, Chushan was short of money and food, and after entering war preparations, it was unable to do other things. Now Xiangyang not only allocates an additional 500,000 yuan of money and food to Chushan every year, but also supplies the Xuanwei Army sent to Huaichuan, Huangchuan, and Guangshan.
It’s enough for Chushan to survive this winter.
To build a new city on the old site of Luoshan, Xu Huai also felt that it was necessary to implement it immediately...
