Even though he noticed many abnormal movements in Chushan at this time, it was most likely to support Xu Huaiqin's elite raid on Bianliang and then retreat south through Caihe River, but Yue Hailou did not act hastily, but rushed first with Zhong Changqing, Mo Lihu and others.
Return to the camp on the east bank of Liutiao River.
After more than ten days of tug-of-war, Yue Hailou finally took control of the area on the east bank of the Liutiao River with his absolutely superior elite troops.
However, the Chushan Army built two additional camps on the west bank of the Liutiao River as the bridgehead for its group of camps on the north bank of the Shuishui River, continuing to block Yue Hailou and his troops from crossing the Liutiao River and advancing westward.
The Liutiao River is just a shallow stream on the north bank of the Kuanshui-Rushui River. There is not much rain after autumn, and the river bed is only a trickle. It cannot accommodate the warships of the Yingzhou navy. Otherwise, Chenzhou soldiers and horses would have to enter.
Got every advantage.
When Yue Hailou entered the east bank camp, he did not return directly to the commander's tent. Instead, he, Zhong Changqing, Mo Lihu and others boarded the arrow tower next to the camp gate and looked over:
It was already dark at this time, and piles of bonfires were lit on the west bank of the Liubian River, outlining the outlines of two camps where only three or four hundred people were stationed by the Chushan Army. It can also be seen how denser the camps were further away.
The Chushan army that reached the south bank was still crossing the river to the north in a steady stream.
The scouts on the south bank who were spying on the enemy rushed back to report. They had confirmed that the Chushan Army on the south bank had completely abandoned the remaining city of Zhaoling, and not a single defender was left behind.
The East Bank Camp was built on the basis of a dilapidated village. The Yuehai Tower's headquarters is a local ancestral hall, and the place is quite spacious.
Back in the hall, Yue Hailou took the lead and then lit some candles. He found a larger map of the Hehuai River and spread it on a long table. Yue Hailou personally arranged and marked the Chushan military forces that were known so far.
Go to the map of Kan; then mark the location of Chenzhou’s military and horse troops.
Yue Hailou and his subordinates are mainly responsible for the military and political defense of Xuzhou, Chenzhou, and Yingzhou along the Ying River. After this spring, in addition to controlling the three important towns of Shangcai, Xincai, and Huaichuan on the right bank of the Ying River, they mainly have troops and horses.
At one time, they all retreated to the left bank of Yingshui River to rest.
At present, Xuzhou's administration of Xuchang mainly takes into account the defense of the upper reaches of the Shuishui River and Ru River such as Xiangcheng. Yingzhou and Huaichuan also need to take into consideration the maintenance of a certain military pressure on the west wing of the Huai Palace (Huainan), each with more than 10,000 troops stationed.
In addition, there are more than 40,000 troops and horses under Yue Hailou's command, as well as the red cavalry and soldiers of various tribes under the direct control of Molihu. They are stationed in the middle line area with Chenzhou Zhiwanqiu as the core. It can be said that
He is truly Chen Zhoujun.
In terms of the size of its troops, Chenzhou's army should have the ability to block the southward retreat of Chushan's surprise attack on Bianliang's troops; however, Yue Hailou did not have such confidence.
At this time, he also discovered that he had been too confused by Chushan's actions on both sides of the Shuishui River and the Ru River. In order to annihilate or drive away Chushan's troops on the north bank of the Shuishui River and the Ru River, the Chenzhou Army was actually involved in this battle plan.
Broken apart:
The main force of three thousand red cavalry is currently deployed to the south of Zhaoling, with the intention of intercepting Chushan's reinforcements in Wuyang and Ye County. The new formation has only been trained for more than half a year, and the Yingzhou navy, which has only more than 2,000 soldiers, has also been transferred.
Ru River, there is no way to return to Ru Yin in a short time, and intercept the Chu Shanshui army from driving straight into Ying River.
On the one hand, in order to balance the scarce supply of grain and fodder, and on the other hand, in order to strengthen the ability of his troops to attack difficult battles, in the past two months, Yue Hailou has made great efforts to mobilize elite troops from various ministries to form new troops in Heishigou, Liutiaohe and other places.
of soldiers and horses.
The advantage of doing this is that Yuehai Tower is located in Heishigou, Liutiao River and other places, including various
Including the Clan Jia soldiers, they have assembled a total of about 15,000 elite soldiers and horses with acceptable combat effectiveness, which can be used as Yue Hailou's trump card to conquer the world and compete in the Jianghuai River.
However, due to the removal of elite veterans and a large number of grassroots military officers with rich combat experience, the supply of food and fodder has been reduced by one level, leaving 20,000 men stationed in Wanqiu, Shangshui, Xihua, Shangcai and other cities at this time.
With too many troops and horses, the combat effectiveness drops sharply.
Wanting to intercept the Chushan elites who were returning from a surprise attack on Bianliang on both sides of the Ying River, Yue Hailou discovered that the Chenzhou Army could really come in handy, including 15,000 elite soldiers including soldiers from various tribes and three troops led by Mo Lihu.
Qianchi's cavalry; those second-line soldiers and horses that had a large number of elite veterans and grassroots military officials removed were actually not qualified to appear on the battlefield to intercept the southward retreat of Chushan's elite. The role they could play at this time was to defend the city.
, not to be taken advantage of by the enemy.
The current problem is that once the three thousand red cavalry are transferred from the south of Zhaoling to the left bank of Ru River via Shangcai, it means giving up the blockade of the area south of Zhaoling. Chushan is in Wuyang, Yexian, etc.
The soldiers and horses on the ground can move north quickly, join with the soldiers and horses on the north bank of the Shuishui River and the Ru River, and support Xu Huai to cross the Yingshui River from the west of Wanqiu City and go south.
If he continues to place the three thousand red cavalry like nails south of Zhaoling, Yue Hailou has the confidence to use the Chenzhou Army's fifteen thousand elite infantry to prevent the Chushan Army from returning south from Bianliang and passing through Shu on both sides of the Ying River.
Will the two troops heading north on the north bank of the water meet up?
What is more critical now is to figure out how many soldiers and horses Shan can gather on both sides of the Yingshui River west of Wanqiu!
First of all, it is relatively clear that 7,000 soldiers and horses and 5,000 to 6,000 young and strong civilians from Chushan will be transferred to the north bank of Shuishui River-Rushui River. These soldiers and horses will go north at any time and reach the south bank of Yingshui River from the south.
The rebel forces gathered in Yanling, Weishi and other places have very weak combat effectiveness and can be ignored for the time being. However, the messenger sent by Yang Jingchen did not give an accurate estimate of how many elite troops Xu Huai personally led to raid Bianliang.
It won't be less than two thousand, probably higher.
The more critical point is that after all Yingzhou naval forces entered Ru River, the gate of Ying River was wide open. It was impossible for Chushan to just send water camps into Ying River and go upstream to the west of Wanqiu to support Xu Huainan's retreat.
On the eastern front, they did not contain the military deployment of Chushan garrisons in Qingyi Ridge, Chushan City, Xinyang, Luoshan and other places. It is difficult to imagine that Xu Huai did not mobilize elite troops from Xu Xin'an, Tang Qing, Han Qi and other troops to fight in the water camp.
The ships went north together and reached the west of Wanqiu to meet the south retreat.
Even if Xu Huai mobilizes five or six thousand elite troops from Qingyi Ridge, Chushan City, Xinyang, and Luoshan to go north via the Ying River, he will eventually be able to mobilize more elite troops on both sides of the Ying River than they do!
"Is it too late to block the Yingshui River?" Mo Lihu asked.
"Difficult!" Zhong Changqing shook his head and said, "Considering that Chushan's navy has already been dispatched, even if we immediately send messengers to Wanqiu and Ruyin to send a message, we still have to collect dozens of large ships filled with sand.
If the stone sinks into the river, it will be difficult to do it in three to five days!"
There is a huge difference between being prepared and being unprepared.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Yingzhou Navy, due to the lack of warships, almost all large and medium-sized ships from Chenzhou, Yingzhou and other places were forced to be renovated.
Chenzhou and Yingzhou are not shipbuilding centers to begin with. The shipbuilders and ready-made wood reserves are far less than those in Huangchuan, Huaichuan, Shouchun and other places. When the Hehuai War broke out, a large number of merchant ships evacuated from Yingshui in advance.
out, or were forcibly taken away by Hu Kai and Chushan; the only two newly built large warships have arrived at Shangcai at this time, and tomorrow
You can rush here to meet them.
Now the main force of Yingzhou navy has been transferred to Ru River. In Yingzhou to govern Ruyin, more than ten small and medium-sized warships and 300 navy generals have been left. Now Ruyin, Wanqiu and other places want three to five days.
It is very difficult to find enough medium and large boats within the river that will temporarily block the river after being scuttled.
Apart from this, it is difficult to find any other way to stop the Chu Shanshui Army from marching straight into the Ying River.
The newly trained naval force of the Ping Yan Army was larger, but it was far away in Xuzhou.
The Ping Yan Army even recruited a large number of shipwrights to build new ships in Xuzhou, Suzhou and other places. Unfortunately, the distant water could not save the nearby fire. If the Ping Yan Army's water camp wanted to go up the Huai River, it had to consider the Shouchun Navy of Prince Huai's Palace to intercept it.
, the most they could do was to block the river channel from the Wu River to the Huai River, blocking the possibility of Xu Huai and his troops escaping south through the Wu River.
From this point of view, Chushan's actions on both sides of the Ruishui River and Ru River were not only to attack the east and attack the west, but also to divert the main force of the Yingzhou navy that they had formed simultaneously from the Yingshui River!
"I will rush to Xuzhou immediately and ask the third prince to send troops from Bozhou!" Mo Li suddenly said decisively.
The third prince, Tu Ge, set up his general's tent in Xuzhou, but the main force of the Pingyan Army on the east route was in Bozhou, which controlled the lower reaches of the Guiwishui River.
Normally speaking, they need reinforcements from the Pingyan Army and should ask the second prince to send an envoy to coordinate. However, the second prince is far away in Taiyuan at this time and sends an envoy to Taiyuan to report. At this time, the second prince then sends an envoy to Taiyuan to Xuzhou to meet the third prince.
Brother Tu has settled the matter of relaxation, and the day lily is almost cold.
"On the one hand, we need to send people to see the third prince, and on the other hand, we need to send people to Zhengzhou to see Xiao Shuai, urging him that the reinforcements he sends do not need to go to Bianliang, but should go south directly from Zhengzhou to join our army along the Yingshui River,"
Zhong Changqing frowned and said, "Of course, we should also consider that the third prince, Xiao Shuai, may have his own ideas and may send reinforcements to Bianliang as soon as possible. What we need to do is to stay on the south bank of Yingshui River as much as possible.
Hold back the main force of Chushan until Xiao Shuai, Zhengzhou soldiers and horses, and the reinforcements sent by the third prince arrive to join them and encircle and annihilate Xu Huai's tribe! I think General Yan should immediately transfer three thousand cavalry to the north bank of Ru River!"
Yang Jingchen still had nearly 10,000 elite troops at his disposal, so there was no problem in defending Bianliang City. They should not even care about whether Bianliang City would fall.
They blocked Xu Huai's retreat from the south. What would happen if the entire city of Bianliang fell temporarily?
Do they need to consider that Li Ji, Wang Qiyong and others fell into the hands of Xu Huai?
Compared with the goal of catching the big fish Xu Huai and severely damaging thousands of elite troops on Chu Mountain, the temporary fall of Bianliang City is not worth mentioning.
Of course, not to mention the third prince Tu Ge, Xiao Qian is unlikely to obey the instructions here. They will most likely send reinforcements to relieve the siege of Bianliang first, so that after Xu Huai falls, what Chenzhou needs to do is to
They tried every possible means to hold back the main force retreating south from Chushan, and waited for the main force of the Zhengzhou Army and the Pingyan Army's reinforcement division to catch up from the direction of Bianliang.
This requires that three thousand red cavalry be immediately transferred from the south of Zhaoling to the north bank of Ru River. Together with their main infantry force in Liutiao River and Heishigou, they will cut off the line between Ru River and Ying River in the west of Shangshui County.
contact.
The western area of Shangshui County on the south bank of Yingshui River is also the best interception area.
If they wanted to go directly to the north bank of Yingshui River to intercept, apart from the delay in mobilizing troops and horses, it would be difficult to make sufficient preparations. It would also be difficult to know in advance whether the Chushan Army would erect the pontoon bridge to the east or west of the mouth of the Cai River...
