Xu Huai, Zhu Hang, Shi Zhen and others rushed to Ye County. They did not rest for a while in the city. They dismounted in front of the Yamen and hurriedly met Chen Zixiao who came from Xiangcheng. They learned that Yang Lin was in Ruyang.
Before the city fell, he was hit by a crossbow and his life and death were unknown. Xu Huai felt heavy pain in his heart and felt unspeakable anger. He punched the osmanthus tree next to him and broke it.
"The enemy troops in Heluo have captured Ruyang and are about to go to Ruzhou to encircle them. Yuehailou will never be satisfied with this winter. They will stay north of the Centipede River and not go south. Xiangcheng needs a commander to supervise the war. Zixiao is willing to go
Ruzhou helps defend..." Chen Zixiao took the initiative to ask Ying to go to Ruzhou to defend against the enemies of Heluo.
"..." Xu Huai shook his head and said, "I can rest assured that you stay in Xiangcheng to supervise the war; I cannot help but come to Ruzhou personally!"
Of course, Yue Hailou would not be satisfied with just marching to the north of the Centipede River. However, in the fierce battle at the Centipede River that lasted for more than a month, the enemy's morale was severely dampened, a large number of generals were injured and injured, and a large amount of supplies were consumed.
After the sharp offensive momentum has been curbed, it is not easy to revive it in a short period of time.
The east-west flowing rivers such as Beishui River, Ying River, Shuishui River and Lishui River will gradually thaw in the next month, forming a natural barrier separating the north and south between Xuchang and Xiangcheng, Zhaoling and other places.
Even if Yue Hailou decides to go south, he must be very careful.
The real danger at this time is Ruzhou.
On the one hand, the morale of the defenders in Ruzhou was turbulent, but the enemy troops in Heluo were showing off their new victory, boosting their morale and high morale.
On the other hand, Ruyang has fallen, and the isolated city of Song County is also in danger and may fall at any time. The enemy forces in Heluo will completely control the western portal of the Ruzhou trough basin.
Both the county and Xiangcheng will have the advantage of being in a strategic location.
In addition to the fact that the battle situation in Ruzhou was much more severe than expected, the more critical factor was that the established troops in Xiangcheng, Zhaoling and other places could not be mobilized on a large scale. Xu Huai could only piece together as much as possible and accumulate thousands of troops first.
Ma immediately reinforced Ruzhou. Unless he personally rushed to Ruzhou to take charge, it would be difficult for the scattered troops drawn from various ministries to coordinate well.
Chen Zixiao and Xu Wuqi were both able to stand alone. They led the elite left and right armies to guard Xiangcheng, Zhaoling, Xinyang, Luoshan and other places. Xu Wujiang, Guo Junpan, Pan Chenghu, Fan Yong,
With Su Laochang, Cheng Yi, Xu Xin'an, Tang Qing, Han Qi, Yin Peng, Wang Xian and other generals helping him, Xu Huai at least didn't have to worry about anything going wrong in the short term.
Chen Zixiao knew that Xu Huai was a very assertive person. Except for his own hesitation, other people would not be able to easily persuade him to make up his mind.
Chen Zixiao took a breath and added with resentment: "For example, Yang Shuai is loyal to the court. He has taken the lead in resisting the barbarians over the years and fought bloody battles endlessly. However, he ended up defeated and his life or death is unknown. Some people fight for power and gain in fear of others.
Afterwards, the imperial guards killed the enemy, but only Gong was the first to win, and yet he was awarded the title of an official. This is really unfair!"
"After I seal the entrance for Yue Hailou to enter from the east from Ruzhou, so that no matter how sharp his teeth are, he can't chew a piece of meat eastward and his mouth is full of blood, he will turn around and attack Lu along the Luoshui River.
Family, Shangzhou!" At this time, Xu Huai had no shame to say that he had ever thought of helping Zhu Hang to persuade Zuo Xiao's army to go south. However, the more he did this, the more he resented Zheng Huaizhong and his like.
However, the way he can now deal with Zheng Huaizhong and his like is to block the eastward passage of Heluo enemy troops through Ruzhou at all costs. When the time comes, Cao Shixiong will naturally turn his troops to the Shenwu Army responsible for guarding the upper reaches of Luoshui River.
Just like after the Battle of Ruying, the Chihu people were forced to completely shift their strategic focus to Huainan; and he should not worry too much about the battle in Huainan and the fate of the Huaiwang Palace Army.
…………
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After bidding farewell to Chen Zixiao and the Ye County generals, Xu Huai, Shi Zhen, and Zhu Hang, surrounded by the elite of the selected vanguard army whose strength increased to more than 600 cavalry after rendezvous, continued westward, stopping at the Yangtze River between Lushan County and Liang County.
By the Lougou River, we caught up with most of the elite soldiers of the right army who were marching westward to Ruzhou for reinforcements.
It was already dusk, the wind was biting, the distant mountains were covered with snow, and the streams and rivers were frozen, but the setting sun was smearing brilliant colors on the blue sky.
Xu Xin, who was once beaten by Xu Huai in front of Huolu Hall, was now a general under the fourth wing of the Right Army. Wearing armor, he and several commanders came to greet them and reported to them that they were setting off from Ye County.
What to do after entering Ruzhou:
"...Marquis Wang Xianjun has led 500 elite troops to Pishan. Let us wait for the commander-in-chief to wait for the commander-in-chief!"
The two thousand elite soldiers of the right army stationed in Ye County were the generals of the fourth wing of the right army under Wang Xian, the Marquis of Duyu. However, during the confrontation at Centipede River, Wang Xian also led some of his soldiers to the north of Xiangcheng to support the operation;
While Xu Huai went to Luoshan to inspect the army, Chen Zixiao temporarily took charge of the former army commander's tent in Xiangcheng, while Wang Xian was on standby in Xiangcheng, Zhaoling and other strongholds, and did not return to Ye County.
After learning the news of the fall of Ruyang, Chen Zixiao followed the established plan and dispatched the soldiers of the Fourth Wing and the Fourth Battalion of the Right Army stationed in Ye County to go westward for reinforcements.
Wang Xian, as the fourth general of the right army, commanded the two battalions of horse and infantry in the fourth compartment in Xiangcheng and 500 fine cavalry under the second general Wu Chihai of the selected front army, and set out directly westward to Ruzhou for reinforcements.
When Wang Xian and Wu Chihai met up with the soldiers and horses marching west from Ye County to Lushan (Luyang) County, Heluo enemy cavalry scouts had already entered the area east of Liang County on a large scale, and large groups of enemy cavalry were ready at any time.
They may all take a detour back to the eastern part of Ruzhou.
In order to prevent the enemy cavalry from raiding, Xu Xin and other soldiers of the right army had to slow down their westward march and assigned troops and horses to cover the two wings of the post road. However, Wang Xian and Wu Qihai did not stay in Lushan County to wait for Xu Huai's further advance.
According to the military order, he led more than a thousand cavalry and horse infantry to pass through Pishan Mountain to the west of Liang County.
Pishan is two parallel low mountains and long ridges ten miles west of Zhiliang County in Ruzhou. The highest peak is only 150 feet, which is far incomparable with the Cuiwei peak of Jishan (southern range of Songshan Mountain) to the north.
However, in addition to the long and narrow mountain body of Pi Mountain that stretches for more than ten miles from north to south and is located on the north bank of the Beikuan River in the Ruzhou Basin, most of the mountain below 100 feet has gentle slopes, while above 100 feet, the mountain becomes steeper and steeper, as if
Two extremely majestic high walls stand on the west side of Ruzhou City.
To the north of Pishan Mountain, the continuous slopes connect to the main line of Jishan Mountain. To the south, there is only a gap of five or six miles wide from Beishui River, which is the throat of the west side of Ruzhou City; the post road from Jingxiang to Heluo is
Pass through this gap.
And because Ruzhou City was built near the North Juishui River and the surrounding terrain is relatively open, the role and strategic value of the mountain as a shelter is even more prominent.
Zuo Xiaosheng's army also built a camp on the south side of Pishan to station its elite troops to prevent the Heluo enemy from approaching from the west.
However, Yang Lin was seriously injured at this time, and his life, death, and whereabouts were unknown. Ruyang City fell, and thousands of defenders were either dead or captured. Only ten of them broke out of the siege. The morale of Zuo Xiaosheng's army was severely damaged. It is difficult to imagine that they
They could also withstand the strong attack of tens of thousands of Heluo enemies with the help of the simple barracks in Pishan.
If the enemy forces in Heluo were allowed to control Pishan and Ruzhou City without any effort, they would be in an extremely passive situation.
Today, Chushan has grown up with a group of military generals who are capable of blocking Duanyi. In addition to Chen Zixiao and Xu Wuqi, the older generation includes Guo Junpan, Pan Chenghu, Xu Wujiang, Fan Yong, Zhou Jing, Zhang Xiongshan, and Xu Wukun.
Others, the younger generation is represented by Tang Pan, Tang Qing, Yin Peng, Han Qi, Xu Xin'an, Wang Xian, Fan Zongqi, Wang Jun, Wang Zhang, Shi Hu, Wu Shehai and others.
As the fourth general of the Right Army, Wang Xian had long seen the importance of Pishan in guarding Ruzhou City without being reminded, so he immediately led the elite cavalry and the Fourth Horse Infantry of the Right Army with Wu Chihai and went straight to
Go to the mountain to avoid losing the shelter.
He learned from Xu Xin that Wang Xian and Wu Chihai went to Pishan first, and Xu Huai also knew that Cao Shixiong, as a long-established general, could not fail to see the importance of Pishan.
At present, only Wang Xian and Wu Chihai have led more than a thousand soldiers and horses to rush for reinforcements. Together with the defenders of Zuo Xiaosheng's army in Pishan, it is likely that they will not be able to withstand the first wave of the enemy's offensive.
Xu Huai immediately said to Zhu Hang and Shi Zhen: "Mr. Zhu Hang, you and Mr. Shi will go to Ruzhou City with the soldiers. I will go to Pishan first to observe the situation..."
Although Pishan is the choke point for advancing into Ruzhou City from Ruyang, Guangchengyi and other places, in the cold winter, the shallow riverbed of Beishui River is also frozen, and the enemy cavalry can easily bypass Pishan from the south bank of Beishui River.
——Currently, there are large-scale enemy scout cavalry appearing around Ruzhou City.
Xu Huai led his troops to Pishan, and there was a possibility of encountering enemy cavalry at any time. If Zhu Hang, Zhu Zhi, Shi Zhen and others accompanied them, encountering the enemy would be extremely dangerous.
Xu Huai hoped that Zhu Hang and Shi Zhen would follow the soldiers and move slowly.
Zhu Hang knew that Xu Huai was worried about his safety, so he shook his head and said: "I can't play any role by going to Pishan, but Zuo Xiaosheng's army suffered a heavy setback, and Yang Hou's life and death are unknown. I can enter Ruzhou City earlier."
, meeting with Yang Qiye and other Ruzhou generals can calm people's hearts to some extent, how can you only care about your personal safety?"
Once the enemy cavalry bypasses Pishan and marches east on a large scale, they will naturally make large-scale detours near Ruzhou City. At that time, the Chushan soldiers will most likely choose to camp and set up formations outside Ruzhou City to confront the enemy——
If this is the case, Zhu Hang only cares about his personal safety and defensive strength, and the more complete array of soldiers is slowing down. Wouldn't it take a long time before he could see Yang Qiye and the generals in Ruzhou?
Seeing Zhu Hang's determined expression, Xu Huai looked at Shi Zhen inquiringly.
Shi Zhen said: "Although it is dangerous, I still want to accompany Mr. Zhu Hang to meet Yang Qiye and the generals of Ruzhou as soon as possible..."
