Emperor Jianji also summoned Hu Kai and other Privy Council officials overnight to discuss the possibility of Zheng Huaizhong withdrawing from Nanyang and also defending Shangzhou. Early the next morning, Privy Councilor Hu Kai also came forward to summon Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong, Zhao Fan and others to the Privy Council.
Discuss military aircraft.
"Yesterday Marquis Jingsheng pretended to be a fool and made a big fuss at the court banquet, and today he wants to defend Huaishang alone. The Prime Minister and Your Majesty just let him do whatever he wants?" I sat down in the Privy Council and listened to Hu Kai talk about the adjustments to the defense line after moving south to build the new capital of Ye.
Zheng Cong was so angry that he kept his eyes on Hu Kai and questioned him.
Zheng Huaizhong decided to withdraw south mainly because he realized that the Shenwu Army guarding Heluo not only cut off the soldiers and horses of the Red Husbands from entering Shaanxi and Hehuai, threatening the Hehuai flanks, but also stood on the flat land to peek into the Fen River, which had the opportunity to cut off the Shaanxi soldiers from Hedong.
The pressure they have to endure is too great.
This is the key reason why Emperor Jianji decided to let the strongest Zheng Huaizhong lead the Shenwu Army to guard Heluo before he went to Xiangyang to form a general marshal.
Facts also prove that Heluo has attracted a main force of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to attack continuously for more than a year.
The left and right Shenwu Army and the Luoyang Prefecture Army lost Xingyang, Hulao and other cities one after another, and struggled to hold on under Pinglu City for more than a year, losing more than 30,000 soldiers and horses; most of them were elites brought by Zheng Huaizhong from the Western Army, and even
Ten nephews and nephews of the Zheng family also died in the war in just over a year.
Although there are a large number of young men in Heluo who can make up for the losses, the left and right Shenwu Army and the Luoyang Mansion Army are still barely able to maintain the strength of 80,000 troops. However, a large number of backbone military officers and old soldiers were lost in a short period of time.
can be replenished within.
Such heavy casualties also led to low morale in the entire army.
However, after withdrawing from Heluo, Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son still wanted to maintain contact with the enemy.
The Zheng family has been serving as generals for generations, and at this time there are still hundreds of disciples of the Di family holding military positions at all levels. They know very well that if the cunning rabbit dies, the lackey will be cooked. Only by joining the enemy can their value be guaranteed.
Only by maintaining contact with the enemy can we openly approach the court and ask for money and food.
They first secretly approached Gaochun Nian and Wu Wenche, who had a close old friendship, to discuss a plan to move south. They thought that after withdrawing to Nanyang, they could guard Wuyang, Ye County, Xiangcheng and other places, and maintain close ties with the upper reaches of Ru River.
Contact with soldiers.
Compared with the Heluohui, which attracted hundreds of thousands of captive soldiers to fight endlessly, the defense line in the upper reaches of Ru River was narrower, and its strategic position was much lower than that of Chushan, Huainan and even Weinan.
At least before breaking through Chushan's defense line at Qingyi Ridge, Shimen Ridge, Jinniu Ridge and other places, there is Fangcheng and Nanyang has another line of defense. It is impossible for the Japanese soldiers to invest heavy troops to attack Wuyang and other cities located in the upper reaches of Ru River.
.
Zheng Cong didn't expect that Xu Huai was furious at the Zheng family at the court banquet yesterday, and today he was thinking about monopolizing Huaishang. How could he not jump?
Zheng Huaizhong kicked Zheng Cong and said to Hu Kai: "I admire Marquis Jingsheng for having such ambition, but whether Chushan can defend Huaishang alone is related to the safety of the country. The Prime Minister and Your Majesty must consider it carefully.
!”
"This matter was also proposed by King Huai and Prime Minister Zhou first. Your Majesty is also worried about whether Chushan's few troops can guard the target alone.
, sent Xianggong Xu to consult Marquis Jingsheng for his opinion, and then Marquis Jingsheng entered the palace to ask for a battle." Hu Kai ignored Zheng Cong's rudeness and said slowly to Zheng Huaizhong, "Your Majesty should have persuaded Marquis Jingsheng.
, that’s why I asked Duke Zheng to discuss the matter of the Shenwu Army and the leadership of Shangzhou..."
"It turns out that it was His Highness Prince Huai who initiated it!" Zheng Huaizhong said with emotion, "Although His Highness Prince Huai is young, he is also resourceful and wise. There must be a reason for his suggestion!"
"Shangzhou is too remote!" Zheng Cong said anxiously when he saw that his father was about to agree to come down.
Shangzhou Road, also known as Wuguan Road or Lanwu Road, is actually the passage from Jingzhao Prefecture (Chang'an) through Lantian, Wuguan, and Shangluo across the eastern foot of the Qinling Mountains to the mountainous area in the west of Nanyang. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.
Although Luonan County, to which Shangzhou belongs, is located in the upper reaches of Luoshui River at the same time as Lushi County in the southwest of Luoyang, due to the deep ravines and dangerous peaks in the upper reaches of Luoshui River, it is isolated by mountains and rivers, and is only connected by extremely dangerous and narrow trails.
If the Zheng family withdraws from Nanyang to rest and recuperate, and also defends Shangzhou, and maintains contact with the enemy in Lushi County on the upper reaches of Luoshui River, the entire supply and contact line will meander for seven to eight hundred miles deep in the Qinling Mountains, and there will be no one to defend Nanyang to support Wuyang.
The county and Xiangcheng operations are less than 200 miles away from Guanyi's supply. The contact line is convenient and labor-saving?
As a general with rich combat experience, Zheng Cong would of course oppose abandoning Wuyang and defend Shangzhou immediately.
Zheng Huaizhong did not let Zheng Cong argue any more. He just said that he knew about the matter and took Zheng Cong, Zhao Fan and others out of the Privy Council and returned to the post house.
"Father really wants to abandon Wuyang and go to defend Shangzhou?"
As a military general, Zheng Cong was used to riding horses in Xiangyang City, and it was inconvenient to say anything in the street. But when he returned to the post house, Zheng Cong couldn't wait to question why his father Zheng Huaizhong did not strongly oppose Chushan's sole defense of Huaishang when he was in the Privy Council.
.
"It is said that King Huai had a quarrel with Marquis Jingsheng when he was in Lanzhou in his early years, and under King Huai's command, the Ge family and Chushan had a deep hatred." Zhao Fan said with a smile, "King Huai advocated that Chushan defend Huaishang alone. Why?
It can’t be for Chushan, right?”
"Zhao Changshi is saying that Chushan cannot defend Huaishang?" Zheng Cong said with a frown.
"It may not be impossible to defend, but the cost is definitely not small," Zhao Fan said, "Yang Lin and his troops guarded Gong County and Yanshi, and suffered heavy casualties. They retreated to Yiyang County on the upper reaches of the Yihe River. It would take time to rest and recuperate, and it would be difficult to contain many enemy troops;
As for how many enemy troops we can detain in Heluo by dedicating some troops to guard the Lu family, it is also uncertain. In short, it will not be too many. In other words, after winter this year, the focus of the Lu army's attack will inevitably shift to Huaihe.
Above. If we and Chushan defend the Huaishang defense line separately, the Japanese soldiers will not attack Wuyang until the flank threat is solved. Chushan will use elite troops to defend the Qingyi Ridge, Shimen Ridge and Luoshan lines, and the pressure will not be too great.
, but if Chushan defends Huaishang alone, there is no need for the captives to divide themselves among themselves. They will most likely attack Wuyang, Chushan, Luoshan, and Xinyang at the same time, making it difficult for Chushan to have a chance to breathe. Even if Chushan can barely hold on by then.
Huaishang will definitely feel the pain we suffered in Heluo, and it won't be too late for us to divide our troops to defend Wuyang by then!"
"Yes, let's just hold our noses and endure that little bastard for a year or two!" Zheng Huaizhong said.
"It won't take two years, Chushan can sustain it"
If I don't bow my head by this time next year, I will lose." Zhao Fan said with a smile.
…………
…………
After several days of secret deliberations, the final deployment of the southward move was determined. Liu Yan was first appointed as the deputy economic envoy to Jiangdong and the general manager of Jiangdong's military and horse capital. He immediately led the Youxiaosheng Army to Jianye to deploy defenses along the river. In addition,
Qian Zerui was sent out to learn about the affairs of Jianye Mansion, and Zhu Hang and Qian Zerui were sent to serve as outposts for the southward movement.
The Chushan camp was also officially divided into left and right armies.
In addition to Xu Huai, who was also in charge of the left army of the Chushan camp, Xu Wuqi, who had outstanding military exploits and was second only to Xu Huai in fame, was appointed as the commander of the right army of the Chushan camp.
In the Chushan camp, in addition to the right army continuing to garrison the existing defense line, the newly added left army took over the right Xiaosheng army and took over the defense of Wuyang, Yexian, Xiangcheng and other walled cities.
You Xiaosheng's army was previously stationed in Wuyang and other cities, and its annual expenditure of about 1.5 million yuan in money and food was naturally transferred to the Chushan camp.
The money and food the Chushan camp receives from the center has been increased from 1 million guan to 2.5 million guan each year, which is actually still quite low.
The troops of Prince Huai's Mansion guarded the middle and lower reaches of the Huai River. They requisitioned money and food from Huaidong and Huaixi to support 100,000 soldiers and horses. They also repeatedly raised additional levies. The money and food they consumed can be said to be four or five times that of Chushan.
In Gaojunyang, after Gu Jiqian and his troops retreated to Weinan, the amount of money and grain transferred from the Chuanxia Fourth Route increased from the initial six million to ten million.
The ultimate competition in war is the consumption of money, food, and men. Whoever can organize people, money, and food on a larger scale and more effectively will inevitably gain the upper hand and win.
The first step of the left and right Shenwu Army was to withdraw from Pinglu on the north bank of the Yellow River, deploy defenses along the north of Luo and along the Yellow River, and organize the evacuation of the people of Heluo to the south.
Different from the original plan, after the left and right Shenwu troops retreated southward from Nanyang, they would also guard Shangzhou and Luonan, Lushi and other places in the upper reaches of Luoshui River. It was necessary to urgently open a plank road between Luonan and Lushi as soon as possible.
A large number of Heluo people can also withdraw into Lushi first, which will ensure that there is not enough young and strong labor to open the plank road. After the plank road is opened, a large number of people can also withdraw into Shangzhou via the upper reaches of Luoshui River, and go to Chuanxia and Jinghu via Shangzhou.
evacuation.
Once the main force of the left and right Shenwu armies withdraws from Heluo, and only holds the southern mountainous, Weinan, and Huaishang defense lines, it will mean losing the greatest flank containment of the Japanese troops. Gu Jiqian and Gao Junyang will immediately start to attack the northern Qinling Mountains.
Slope, and built additional strong forts at the north entrance of the main Shu roads connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi such as Ziwu Road and Chencang Road. Finally, relying on these strong cities and dangerous fortresses and relying on the support of men, horses, grain and fodder from the Sichuan Gorge Fourth Road, the captive troops were blocked in the Qinling Mountains.
to the north.
It will take almost three or four months to complete these deployments. After that, Emperor Jianji will officially move south to Jianye, and the Shenwu Army will withdraw to Nanyang to rest...
This time, under the persuasion of Zhou He and others, Emperor Jianji finally nodded and agreed to welcome the daughters of Zheng Huaizhong, Gu Jiqian, and Gao Junyang as concubines at the same time, and selected Gu Fan's daughter as Princess Huai.
It has been a tradition in Dai Viet for more than a hundred years for the imperial family to marry the daughters of military generals as concubines, and the daughters of the imperial family to be wives of the sons of generals. However, Emperor Jianji had only one daughter, Yingyun, and was reluctant to marry off early.
