In the left wing of the Yamen Hall, on top of the long table in the middle, is a Huaishang terrain sand table carefully made with river sand and gum, showing the undulating trend of mountains and rivers such as Tongbai Mountain, Funiu Mountain, Ru River, and Ying River.
At this time, most of the areas in Ruzhou and other southern areas of Heluo where Yang Lin led Zuo Xiaosheng's army were stationed were accurately marked on the sand table.
Xu Huai pressed his hand on the sword at his waist, frowned deeply and stared at Yi and Chu Ershui on the sand table, smacked his lips gently and said:
"With the courage of Muchi, Yuehailou, and Cao Shixiong, they won't be able to attack Huaishang this winter. Look, what advantage can Cao Shixiong take in Song County and Ruyang?"
The source of Yihe River comes from the northern foot of Funiu Mountain, goes straight north, and merges with Luoshui River in the north of Luoyang City to form Yiluo River. It passes through Yanshi and Gongxian County and flows into the Yellow River. The source of Yuishui River leaves Funiu Mountain and passes through Ruyang, Liang County, and Jiaxian County.
, flowing eastward from Xiangcheng, the old road merges with Honghe River, Nanru River and other waters to form Ru River, passing through Shangcai, Xincai and Huaichuan, and flowing into the Huaihe River.
Although the Yihe River and the Huishui River are said to belong to the two major river systems of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, their upper reaches are located in the high mountains at the northern foot of Funiu Mountain. The distance between the two rivers' upper reaches is only more than 20 miles from each other.
Song County, located in the upper reaches of the Yihe River, and Ruyang, located in the upper reaches of the Shuishui River, were once affiliated to Luoyang Prefecture and Ruzhou respectively. However, after Zheng Huaizhong abandoned most of Heluo River, Yang Lin led Zuo Xiaosheng's army to retreat to the upper reaches of the Yishui River and
Ruzhou and Song County were also placed under the jurisdiction of Ruzhou.
Songxian and Ruyang are the southeastern gateways of Luoyang. From another angle, Songxian and Ruyang are the western gateways of Ruzhou. They are also where the Heluo enemy troops marched eastward to Huaishang via the Ruzhou ancient road between Funiu Mountain and Songshan Mountain.
’s West Pass.
After winter comes, the enemy troops from Heluo will advance to Song County and the north of Ruyang, and the enemy troops from west Beijing will mass build up in Xuchang. Based on the situation, there are three possibilities:
The first is Yuehai Tower, where Muchi led the enemy troops west of Beijing to contain the Chushan Army from the north, making it easier for Cao Shixiong to lead the enemy troops in Heluo to attack Ruzhou from west to east.
First, Cao Shixiong led the enemy troops in Heluo to contain Yang Lin's troops from the west, making it easier for Yuehailou, while Mu Chi led the enemy troops in the west of Jing to attack the western front defense area of Huaishang from north to south.
One is the enemy forces in Heluo and west of Beijing. At the same time, they launched an attack on the Left Xiaosheng Army guarding Ruzhou and the Chushan Right Army guarding the western front in Huaishang.
Xu Huai directly rejected the possibility of the latter two. The most likely possibility is that the enemy troops west of Beijing gathered in Xuchang on a large scale, intending to contain the Chushan right army from the north, so that Cao Shixiong could lead the Heluo troops to attack Ruzhou.
As for Songshan and Ruyang, as the western gateway to Ruzhou, they are naturally the first targets that must be eliminated by the enemy forces in Heluo.
"The Zheng family did not even dare to defend Yongning, leaving the narrow area in the upper reaches of the Luoshui River in the hands of Cao Shixiong. Now the Heluo enemy only needs to station thousands of elite troops in Yongning to block the passage of the Shenwu Army from the Lu family to the north along the Luoshui River.
, Cao Shixiong can concentrate the main troops to the southeast and attack Ruzhou without any distractions."
Xu Wujiang frowned and muttered,
"However, Song County and Ruyang are both located at the northern foot of Funiu Mountain, surrounded by mountains and ridges, and we have a side we covet on the flank. Does Cao Shixiong really have the guts to besiege Song County and Ruyang for a long time?"
Zheng Huaizhong was too conservative when he led the Shenwu Army to retreat to the upper reaches of Luoshui River. He abandoned Yongning and other cities in the middle reaches of Luoyang and completely retreated to Lushi County in the upper reaches of Luoshui River.
This allows Cao Shixiong to only need to garrison thousands of elites at dangerous locations in the upper reaches of the Luoshui River.
Blocking the Shenwu Army's northward march along the Luoshui River, it prevented the Shenwu Army from worrying about the threat from the southwest.
Although Zheng Huaizhong was conservative and wary, the Heluo enemy army was able to concentrate its main force to attack Ruzhou without any distractions. Although the Zuo Xiaosheng Army led by Yang Lin was limited in size, Zuo Xiaosheng's army was within the territory of Ruzhou.
What they were defending were solid fortresses that were easy to defend but difficult to attack, and could not be easily captured by the Heluo enemy's superior strength.
More importantly, Ruzhou and the Huaishang West Front are close to each other. The situation in Ruzhou is critical. Who would believe that Chushan chose to stand aside and not help?
"The enemy troops west of Beijing, moving south from Xuchang, will contain our main force on the western front for at most two months, and will inevitably retreat after two months." Shi Zhen knocked on the long desk and muttered, "It seems that Cao Shixiong is very confident that he can attack the enemy within two months."
Xia Ruyang, one of the cities in Songshan Mountain!"
Theoretically, the enemy does not dare to attack Huaishang this winter, nor should they attack Ruzhou.
Unless Cao Shixiong is sure that he can capture Songshan, Ruyang and other cities within two months when the elite troops on the western front of Chushan are pinned down by the enemy forces in the west of Beijing and unable to escape.
Xu Huai was not particularly familiar with Songshan Mountain, but when he followed Wang Zhen to the north, he traveled to Heluo with Tang Pan, Yin Peng, Han Qi and others. They stayed in Ruyang for three days and learned about Ruyang City and the surrounding mountains and rivers.
The water is very familiar.
Ruyang City is built on a high slope on the west bank of the Kuan River. Although it is a small city, the terrain around the city is steep and uneven. It is close to the water and leaning on the mountains.
Not to mention deploying superior troops and horses, there is not even space to place a trebuchet in front of Ruyang City.
Today's trebuchets, especially heavy trebuchets, require at most two to three hundred young men to pull the rope together to exert force, in order to hit a stone projectile weighing hundreds of kilograms two to three hundred steps away. Every time one is placed
A heavy trebuchet, coupled with the operating space for at least hundreds of people, usually requires an open space hundreds of steps deep.
Even a light trebuchet is difficult to maneuver without the open space of thirty or forty steps deep. The threat of a light trebuchet to the defenders is much smaller than that of a heavy trebuchet, and it is basically impossible to collapse the city wall.
There are war sheds, towers and other ancillary defensive buildings above, not to mention threatening the main body of the thick city wall.
Ruyang City was built in a precarious position, and there was no space to place a trebuchet within four or five hundred steps around the city. The enemy troops in Heluo could not use heavy throwing equipment such as trebuchets, nor could they use siege vehicles, rams, and cave houses.
Chariots and other war weapons advanced through rugged terrain to the city, and soldiers were simply driven to attack the city with simple war machines such as ladders. How much did it cost to capture Ruyang City?
Yang Lin took over the Ruzhou Defense Area at the northern foot of Funiu Mountain. For more than a year, he also spent a lot of manpower and material resources to strengthen the defense of Ruyang, Songxian, Liangxian and other places. He stationed 2,000 elite soldiers in Ruyang City.
Horses, young men and women can be recruited from the people when necessary, and the garrison can be expanded to four to five thousand people.
The soldiers and horses stationed in Songshan are very different, but the defensive situation is better than that in Ruyang.
Today, Zuo Xiaosheng's army has 15,000 regular soldiers, most of whom are elite veterans who have been tempered by many bloody battles. There is also no shortage of brave generals under Yang Lin who are capable of fighting. Compared with the two northern expeditions to Yan,
The combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses of various ministries, including the left and right Shenwu armies under Zheng Huaizhong, has been greatly improved. The cruel war can not only eliminate the soldiers and horses bloodyly, but also train the soldiers and horses.
Now it is difficult for everyone to imagine how Cao Shixiong wanted to take Ruyang and Songxian by force and open a gap to enter Ruzhou eastward.
Liang County was the prefecture of Ruzhou, and Yang Lin personally led 6,000 elite troops to guard Liang County. It was hard for everyone in Chushan to imagine that Cao Shixiong would leave Ruyang and Songxian County was not big, cross the narrow valley road to the front of Liang County City, and directly attack Liang County.
Generally speaking, if the Heluo enemy army wants to capture Ruyang and Songxian, the only reliable way is to rely on the superiority in military strength to forcibly cut off the connection between Ruyang, Songxian and most of Ruzhou, and carry out a long-term siege.
However, after the elite troops of Chushan survived until the spring, the water level in Shuili River rose again. Reinforcements from the west were only two hundred miles away. Chushan was not afraid of fighting in the field with the enemy forces in Heluo. It was difficult for everyone to imagine that Cao Shixiong would be under siege for a long time.
Ruyang, Song County’s determination.
"Will the enemy be worried that we may send troops to interfere in the battle in Huainan? Their real purpose is to ensure that the main force of our army is completely pinned down on the western front and unable to move?" Xu Wujiang asked thoughtfully.
road.
"At present, it seems that they may have this intention, but there are too many impossible things in the world," Xu Huai breathed a sigh of relief and told Zhou Jing, "You can go to Liang County for me and see if Yang Shuai has anything there."
There are no other discoveries, so don’t be careless..."
During the Battle of Ruying, Chushan thought that others would not dare to think of a plan to divert water to the north, and finally won a great victory at Ruying.
At this time, the enemy forces gathered in Heluo and Jingxi were two or three times as many as Chushan Army and Zuo Xiaosheng Army. In addition to surrendering troops and horses, there were also a large number of red cavalry and elite Semu troops. Chushan Army
No one dared to be careless at all.
Who knows if they have any foreshadowing that Chu Shan couldn't see through?
Xu Huai not only asked Zhou Jing to go to Liang County to meet Yang Lin on his behalf to learn more about the defense situation of Ruzhou, but also signed a series of military orders to ensure that the military forces that could be mobilized in the winter would be more inclined to the western front than originally planned.
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The population of Chuzhou is mainly concentrated in the three counties of Huaiyuan, Chushan and Xinyang on the eastern front. After the autumn harvest, the Military and Horse Supervision Department sent a large number of generals to be responsible for the training and preparation of rural soldiers and village warriors. They were also mainly concentrated on the eastern front.
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The state army has an actual strength of 30,000 soldiers in winter, of which two-thirds are on the eastern front.
Previously, it was considered that Chi Hu would launch a large-scale offensive in Huainan this winter. If the Huai Palace Army could not support it, the imperial court might urgently order Chushan to reinforce Huainan. After the winter on the eastern front, 20,000 state soldiers and naval forces could be formed.
Although he was mainly stationed at Zhouqiao and other places, Xu Huai still placed four compartments of armored soldiers on the eastern front.
Now even if we speculate on the intentions of the enemy forces in the west of Beijing and Heluo, it is very likely that they are to completely contain the Chushan elite on the western front, making it difficult to take into account the war situation in Huainan. Xu Huai can only make adjustments to combat preparations according to the current situation.
In addition to transferring 5,000 state troops from the eastern front to supplement the basic defense forces of the counties (cities) on the western front, Xu Huai also signed a military order to transfer Yin Peng's troops from the eastern front to Ye County so that they could depart from Ye County at any time.
, passing through the post road on the south bank of the upper reaches of the Shuishui River, to reinforce the cities in Ruzhou.
At the same time, Xu Huai transferred Chen Zixiao's troops to Xiangcheng and joined Tang Pan's troops. Zhaoling was left behind and Wang Xian led his troops to garrison. The selected front troops were also led by Shi Hu, Wu Chihai and other generals, and assembled in Xiangcheng in advance.
In terms of personnel appointments, Xu Huai also made a series of adjustments, so that Xu Wujiang could also serve as the right Sima and the magistrate of Wuyang County, and stay with Shi Zhen, Pan Chenghu, Fan Yong and others in Wuyang to handle military and political affairs, so that he could take care of the tedious military affairs at any time.
Escape and rush to the front line to supervise the battle...
