As dusk deepened, the Chushan Army ended the day's battle and retreated to the camp on the south bank of the Centipede River.
The two sides also maintained a certain tacit understanding, allowing each to send civilians into the battlefield to collect the corpses of their respective generals.
Xu Huai decided to withdraw his troops to the south bank of the Centipede River. In addition to camping in a chariot formation surrounded by enemy cavalry, the generals could not get sufficient rest, which would consume a lot of physical strength and would also be a severe test of the generals' will.
The confrontation between the two armies in this winter was destined to be short-lived. Xu Huai had to use his troops flexibly, and at the same time, he had to consider the distance between the forward position and Xiangcheng to avoid being trapped in the wild by the enemy's overwhelming cavalry.
The south bank of the lower reaches of Centipede River is only more than 20 miles away from Xiangcheng.
When setting up camp here, in addition to storing some grain, grass, coal and other materials in the sentry in the early stage so that they could be replenished nearby, Xu Huai mainly considered this distance. Even if the enemy cavalry surrounded them from all sides, Xiangcheng had elite soldiers and horses to support them.
, there won’t be much of a problem if thousands of elites break out of the enemy’s encirclement.
The Chushan army withdrew to the camp on the south bank of the Centipede River, but Yue Hailou could not lead his troops to retreat to the camp on the south bank of the Yingshui River for rest.
In that case, he would give up the victory he won after a day of fierce fighting and thousands of casualties, and the war would return to its starting point.
The Western Beijing Army not only set up camp in a sloping valley not far from the north bank of the Centipede River, but also dragged heavy heavy tanks to the south of the camp with difficulty, constructed double protective walls, and also provided cover with elite cavalry.
Next, thousands of civilians were forced to transport tens of thousands of loads of supplies from Xuchang across the Yingshui River, and the construction of the fortress was accelerated overnight.
Under the oil lamp, Yue Hailou, standing in the tent, frowned and examined the Ruyingkan map:
Xuchang, Xiangcheng, and Zhaoling are on the upper reaches of the Ruying River, forming an equilateral triangle.
Xuchang is located in the south, Zhaoling is located in the south, and Xiangcheng is located in the middle and west.
The distance between Zhaoling North and Xuchang is roughly the same as the distance from Xiangcheng, about one hundred miles each.
Because the North Shui River connects Xiangcheng and Zhaoling, and Xiangcheng, the south side and both wings of Zhaoling are all city fortresses controlled by the Chushan Army, and the ice-free period of the North Shui River is relatively short. Therefore, the Yuehai Tower has never been
None of them thought that one day they would wedge themselves between the two cities and cut off the communication between Xiangcheng and Zhaoling.
The ruined city of Linying is almost located at the center point between Xuchang and Zhaoling. However, after entering the flood season, Xuchang and Linying were separated by the Ying River. Yue Hailou did not dare to send troops to occupy Linying, and Linying was far to the west.
It is sixty miles from Xiangcheng and more than fifty miles from Zhaoling to the south. In between are shallow mountains and low ridges that are suitable for cavalry. The Chushan army did not dare to occupy it rashly, so it was completely abandoned after the Battle of Ruying.
Yue Hailou's original plan was to station his camp directly at the remaining city of Linying, and then decide which city to focus on according to the troop deployment of the Chushan Army on the western front. However, he did not want the Chushan Army to march out of Xiangcheng to fight resolutely, forcing him to
Let go of your previous thoughts.
He is now a little unsure about directly stationing the camp in the remaining city of Linying. Will Xu Huai ignore the presence of the red cavalry and directly lead his elite troops into the gap of nearly 40 miles between Linying and the camp on the south bank of Yingshui River?
It was difficult for them to transport food and grass.
It would be safer if they first built a strong camp on the north bank of the Centipede River as a relay point for the transfer of soldiers, horses, and grain, and then jumped to the remaining city of Linying with the main force of soldiers and horses, but it also meant that they had to
It was delayed for more than ten days on the north bank of the Centipede River, and tens of thousands of additional supplies were invested.
"Commander, the former army captured a shield chariot from the Chushan Army!" Zhong Changqing opened the curtain, and a cold wind came in, making the candlelight sway, and signaled his entourage to drag the captured chariot directly into the big hall.
account.
"Oh, what's the difference with what was captured before?" Yue Hailou put down the map and walked quickly to the broken shield cart to look at it carefully.
During the Battle of Ruying, Xu Huai sneaked into Bianliang and equipped the army with fine iron shield vehicles. However, in order to pursue a strong structure at that time, the hub, transverse axle and frame were all made of fine iron. Only the spokes, compartment plates, etc. were also used.
hardwood.
At that time, the sturdiness of the refined iron shield vehicle was even higher than that of traditional heavy tanks, but its total weight was close to 400 kilograms, which was still far from the standard of "easy to maneuver".
When Xu Huai led his troops to retreat south along the Cai River, even if the refined iron shield chariots were towed by pack horses, they still could not pass directly through the muddy flooded areas along the coast. They were usually packed into boats heading south along the river, and could only be used when large groups of enemy cavalry came from the flanks
When they are approaching and there is an urgent need to resist the enemy, they will be dragged ashore on pallets to strengthen the infantry formation's resistance to enemy cavalry.
This was also the key reason for the slow evacuation along the Cai River at that time.
As long as there is a large group of enemy cavalry entangled, it will take half a day to release hundreds of fine iron shield vehicles and put them on the ship. How can it be faster?
Of course, during the Battle of Ruying, Yue Hailou's troops also captured corresponding refined iron shield vehicles, and from the armor equipped by Chushan's army, we can judge that Chushan has mastery of smelting and forging that is more precise than the current generation.
technology.
The Coal, Iron and Ordnance Supervision and Ordnance Supervision under Chushan employs nearly 20,000 craftsmen, accounting for almost one-sixth of the population of Chushan, including small families. Chushan also accepts a large number of refugees from the Hehuai River.
Pay attention to strict precautions, there are still many loopholes that are easy to penetrate.
Yue Hailou has now learned that Chushan mines coal (coal) on a large scale for smelting, and that the coal undergoes certain processing before being used for smelting - this is not surprising. Xuzhou iron households have long adopted the method of mining coal to smelt iron.
, but there were various drawbacks before, making it difficult to smelt good iron.
The difficulty now is how Chushan should deal with the coal and overcome the disadvantages. The secret agent sent by the general manager has not yet been able to find out the secret, so they can only summon the work officers and craftsmen to figure it out.
There is no shortage of craftsmen and craftsmen in Chihu, and they even pay more attention to it than the Southern Dynasties. The status of construction officers and craftsmen is not even lower than that of governing officials.
In the north, the iron smelting industry in Cizhou on Hebei Road and Yanji had long developed to a certain scale before the Chihu army went south. Prince Zong's Mansion even learned about the Southern Dynasty's official smelting industry in Cizhou from captured Cizhou craftsmen.
Bottle-shaped blast furnaces have long been used to make iron with twice the result with half the effort.
Although Zhuang Shouxin, Yu Chengzhen, Ding Chong and others brought a group of good craftsmen to Chushan, Bianliang fell, and tens of thousands of official craftsmen, including dozens of great craftsmen who were good in their respective fields, finally
They were all taken captive by the Zhennan Zong Palace and settled in Taiyuan, Yunzhou, Yanji and other places.
Since the rise of the Chihu in the northwest desert, they are far from the barbarian image in the minds of the world. They have long focused on recruiting craftsmen, scholars, and merchants from the Western Regions and the Far West for the king's tent, and the Chihu and various cavalry.
Soldiers and armor have long been superior to those of the Southern Dynasties.
The Chi Hu's style of embracing everything and taking advantage of it was far beyond what the Khitan, Dangxiang and Southern Dynasties could achieve.
Yue Hailou believed that the Zong Palace organized workers and craftsmen in Taiyuan. It would not be difficult to decipher the secret of Chu Mountain's iron-making and forge an equally sophisticated or even better refined iron shield chariot to roam the battlefield. However, he did not expect that in just one year, Chu Mountain would
The chariots equipped by the Shan army have made amazing improvements.
Yue Hailou has been paying attention to the movements of the front battlefield today, and he can judge that the new shield chariot used in Chushan is about the same weight and weight as the traditional light chariot, and can travel faster on rough terrain when dragged by mules and horses.
On a relatively flat battlefield, this kind of shield vehicle can be easily driven by only two or three strong men, and its sturdiness is far better than traditional wooden light vehicles.
This is a key reason why in today's battle, the number of troops they put into the battlefield was more than twice that of Chushan, and the generals fought extremely bravely, but the casualties were twice as high as Chushan's.
Also because the Chushan Army was equipped with a large number of shield vehicles, they deployed elite cavalry on the flanks and never had a chance to bite their flanks.
Yue Hailou picked up the lamp and walked to the broken and twisted shield car. He noticed that the biggest difference between Chushan's new shield car and the previously captured shield car was in the body.
The previous car body was made of flat strips of thick iron as the frame. The thick iron was about one and a half inches wide and three and four cents thick. However, the new car body is made of thin iron about one and a half inches wide and only one minute thick.
Fold at right angles to form a frame.
This change alone reduces the weight of the shield vehicle by nearly 100 kilograms. No wonder it is so light when towed through shallow mountains and low ridges.
Under the heavy blow, the body of the car was twisted and deformed, but it was still generally intact. It can be seen that the sturdiness is far beyond the reach of traditional wooden light cars.
"Immediately arrange for someone to send the broken car to Taiyuan!" Yue Hailou said with a tight frown.
Although the General Administration Office in the West of Beijing also begged two to three thousand craftsmen from Taiyuan and relocated them to Wanqiu, Xuchang, Ruyin and other places to strengthen the construction of armor, warships and various war equipment, and strengthen the repair of river canals and embankments,
But Yue Hailou didn't think that the work officers under the General Manager's Office in the West of Beijing would be able to crack the secret of Chushan's new chariot in a short time.
Yue Hailou has been fighting for half his life. He knows the importance of good soldiers and good armor. He also knows that good soldiers and good armor are born from good iron. Naturally, he also knows the weight of this angular iron bar that seems to be only one minute thick.
Besides, they will confront Chushan for a long time. Even if they can't get any advantage on the battlefield, it won't be difficult to seize three or five more shield vehicles in the future.
First send the broken car to Taiyuan, and when there are new seizures, the General Manager of Western Beijing will organize craftsmen to figure it out.
"The Yaksha Fox is really terrifying!" Zhong Changqing ordered his men to prepare the carriage immediately so that he could send the broken shield carriage to Taiyuan overnight. He saw Yue Hailou standing in a daze in front of the long table with the Kan map, and he endured it.
I couldn't help but sigh.
"..." Yue Hailou nodded. He didn't want to hide anything in front of Zhong Changqing. Even Zhong Changqing had been entangled with everyone in Chushan longer and deeper than him, and his understanding of Chushan and Xu Huai was only deeper than him.
, will not be beneath him.
From the banditry in Tongbai Mountain to the participation of Xu Huai and others in the two Northern Expeditions, the Chushan faction was initially formed in Shuozhou; from returning to Tongbai Mountain to establish a foothold and formally forming the Chushan Army, to assisting Zhao Tuan in guarding Gong County and crossing the river
Attacking Bieshui, Zezhou, and rushing to Taiyuan for thousands of miles; from joining forces with Zheng Huaizhong, Gao Chunnian and others to support Zhao Tuan as emperor, to guarding Chushan, governing Huaishang, and even killing them in the battle of Ruying, how many times
Awakening from a nightmare, Xu Huai and everyone in Chushan showed heights that others could not reach in every aspect.
Yue Hailou used to focus on trying to figure out the strategies and tactics of Xu Huai and the people in Chushan.
When he was forced to withdraw his troops from the banks of the Mingxi River and suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Ruying, he had to focus his vision more carefully on the excellence of Chushan's Gongzao method.
Sometimes he couldn't help but think about what evil he, Yue Hailou, had done in his previous life to meet such a powerful opponent!
Of course, Yue Hailou did not lose confidence in winning.
No matter how strong Xu Huai was, he was only limited to a corner of Huaishang. When the Southern Dynasty's defense lines in Huainan, Ruzhou and Shaanxi were broken through by their armies one by one, and even the Party members were about to surrender to the king's tent, he did not believe that Xu Huai really had the power to reach heaven.
The power to support the entire collapsing sky!
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