The rain after spring in Jianghuai is as thin as smoke, and it rains continuously for a whole day without stopping.
"What a hell of a weather!"
Zheng Cong, surrounded by several guards, waded through the muddy field, walked into the dimly lit tent in broad daylight, and cursed the rainy weather in a low voice.
He took off his wet raincoat and threw it to the guards behind him. The clothes and armor underneath were also wet. He didn't feel very cold, but he felt uncomfortable with it wrapped around him.
Seeing his father Zheng Huaizhong, Zhao Fan and others sitting in front of the brazier talking, Zheng Cong walked over and sat down and said:
"No matter how carefully you take care of your crossbow, the string is still soft when you take it out. The arrow can't even penetrate a thin piece of bamboo, let alone break through armor and hit the enemy. It rains continuously, and the raincoat can't stop it from seeping through.
If the armor inside is wet, it will become cold and wet over time, and there are many people in the camp suffering from diseases - I think it is impossible to fight in this damn weather. If the purpose is to delay, we still have to move the camp to a higher place
, in case the river water rises!”
After Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son led the Shenwu Army to Luzhou, the Huainan War officially kicked off to reinforce Shouchun and relieve the siege of Shouchun.
The reinforcements gathered in Luzhou and other places were divided into two routes to go north:
With Zheng Huaizhong as commander, he led the Shenwu Army to the north, and entered near Yanghu in the lower reaches of Feishui River; Liu Yan, as commander, led the Youxiaosheng Army and other elite units to go north, to the west bank of Qingluo River, and around Chuzhou.
Han Shiliang's troops, who were advancing westward from the south side of Hongtaekpo, met up.
The Feishui River (which crosses Yanghu Lake downstream) is one of the most important tributaries on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, dividing Shouchun Prefecture south of the Huaihe River into east and west parts.
Although Shouchun City is located on the west bank of Feishui River, Privy Councilor Hu Kai thought about the Shenwu Army, Youxiaosheng Army and Han Shiliang's troops, and concentrated their efforts to drive out the enemy troops between Feishui River and Qingluo River.
It will be an easy task to send troops to the north to occupy Bagong Mountain on the east bank of Feikou, cut off the enemy navy from entering the mouth of Feishui, and then break the siege of Shouchun.
The enemy obviously also knew that whether they could control the Feidong area was important to their ability to besiege and attack Shouchun City for a long time; after crossing the Huaihe River, and even before they officially transferred a large number of Western Region stone cannons to bombard Shouchun City, they
Two large camps were built on the east bank of Yang Lake (downstream of Feishui River) and on the west bank of Qingluo River, hoarding tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
Zheng Huaizhong led his troops to Shuangmiaoji in the south of Changfeng County, which was about 24 to 5 miles away from the enemy's camp on the east bank of Yanghu Lake. In addition to relying on the reedy swamps east of Feishui River and southeast of Yanghu Lake to set up camp, Zheng Huaizhong led his troops to Shuangmiaoji in the south of Changfeng County.
, and the enemy's fortress.
To the south of Shouchun City, the terrain on both sides of the Feishui River is depressed, forming a swampy land centered on Yanghu Lake and stretching for nearly a hundred miles from north to south. After the first month of the lunar month, the land of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River thawed, and the reeds and grass appeared green.
In the swampy land, it was restricted for the captives and cavalry to make circuitous and interspersed operations, but this also brought great inconvenience to the Shenwu Army generals who were accustomed to the dry climate of the northwest and north.
In the past few months of the confrontation, the Shenwu Army had not been able to clear out all the surrounding camps of the enemy's camp, and both sides suffered considerable casualties.
Zheng Cong is now worried that the war has not progressed. If it continues to be delayed, their camp is located too close to the swamp and is susceptible to flooding. The camp should be moved to a higher place in time.
Although the weather has warmed up, Zheng Huaizhong couldn't stand the humidity between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River, so he still used to burn more braziers in the tent to get rid of the cold and dampness.
Zheng Huaizhong also hesitated about moving the camp.
They had previously set up camp close to the swampy land, southeast of Yang Lake and on the east bank of Feishui River, crisscrossed by streams and swamps, providing maximum protection.
Now they don't know how long the war will drag on before progress is made, but if they leave the watery land and move the camp to a high place away from the watery land, it will be difficult to build the camp extremely tight and difficult to invade in a hurry.
Once a flaw is exposed, it is likely to attract the enemy's superior cavalry to attack.
At this time, Zheng Huaizhong really didn't want to fight a tough battle with the main force of the Japanese soldiers and waste their lives.
"We need to be careful when moving camps and not rush..." Zheng Huaizhong said thoughtfully.
"After Han Shiliang and Liu Yan met along the Qingluo River, they attacked the enemy's camp on the west bank of the Qingluo River very sharply. If we are too slow, will Jianye..." Zhao Fan frowned and said worriedly
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After Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son led the Shenwu Army to reinforce Huainan, the informants they bought in the Nanyang Mansion also promptly reported everything that happened in Nanyang Mansion through secret letters.
However, Zheng Huaizhong, Zheng Cong and his son, and the main force of the Shenwu Army were not in Nanyang, and they did not have the means and ability to restrain the Nanyang government office from negotiating peace with Chushan.
Emperor Jianji did not fully consult the opinions this time, so he overcame all opinions and directly issued an edict to divide Fangcheng and the mountainous area to the north of the city into Liang County of Ruzhou, Lushan County and Ye County of Caizhou respectively.
, under the jurisdiction of Wutong County, ordered Nanyang Prefecture to strengthen Nanyang Prefecture's army to garrison Pishan and Xiangcheng.
Now, after the troops of Liu Yan and Han Shiliang met along the Qingluo River, they launched a fierce offensive against the enemy troops on the west bank of the Qingluo River, consuming the enemy troops regardless of casualties.
Zhao Fan was worried that they were slowly moving their camps east of Feishui and would not be able to take the initiative to launch a large offensive and gain enough achievements to protect themselves. Emperor Jianji would have further means to restrict the Runan County government and Shenwu in the future.
military.
Zheng Huaizhong waved his hand to interrupt Zhao Fan's words, and said in a loud voice: "They are beating them. How should the Shenwu Army fight? Do they still need to teach them? Soldiers are the land of life and death, the way of survival. How can they act rashly without noticing?"
Zheng Huaizhong has experienced countless storms in his life. Of course he knew that he had reached this point. If the Shenwu Army had not actively fought against the enemy and achieved impressive results, the court and Emperor Jianji would definitely become more suspicious of his father and son.
However, he knew better that if this battle accidentally destroyed the main force of the Shenwu Army on the east bank of Feishui River, the Zheng family and his son would probably not even have a chance to stand up.
Why did Han Shiliang work so hard?
Han Shiliang, Ge Boyi, and Ge Yu all belonged to the Huai Prince's family.
Now the Huai Palace’s 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops are besieged in Shouchun. How could the Chuzhou army led by Han Shiliang not fight with all their lives to relieve the siege of Shouchun?
Liu Yan, Xie Zhong and other generals led the remaining troops to break out of Bianliang and go south, and were reorganized into the Youxiaosheng Army in Caizhou. From that moment on, they were regarded as his direct confidants by Emperor Jianji.
This time, Liu Yan led the right Xiaosheng Army and the left and right Xuanwu Army to march northward. Even if they fought with all their strength on the banks of the Qingluo River, as long as they could successfully drive the captive soldiers out of Huainan, they would have to return to the DPRK.
When people want people, they need money.
Just as Yang Qiye led the remnants of Zuo Xiaosheng's army to Xiangyang, Emperor Jianji issued an order to Wen Hengyue to select the best soldiers and civilians from Taiyuan who moved south to Xiangyang, and restored Zuo Xiaosheng's army to 15,000 in ten days.
With thousands of troops and horses, it is possible that the combat effectiveness before the fall of Ruyang can be restored before autumn.
Rather than causing further speculation in the future, Zheng Huaizhong was more worried about what happened to the Shenwu Army in Huainan. After deliberation for a long time, he decided to build two fortified camps on the highlands east of Feishui River and not rush to the east bank of Yanghu Lake in the north for the time being.
The enemy launched a major offensive.
"Ta-ta..."
It had been raining for days, and there was a lot of mud in the camp. The hooves of galloping horses stepped on it, and the sound coming from it was extremely dull, but you could still hear how fast the horses in the camp were galloping.
"Who is galloping in the camp, not following any rules, just trying to test the law?" Zheng Huaizhong was in a bad mood, looking out of the tent with soft eyes, holding the saber at his waist with his skinny old hand.
The army has its own rules and regulations. No matter how urgent the message is, even the minister delivering the order is strictly prohibited from running after entering the camp gate, so as not to disturb the morale of the army.
Zheng Huaizhong was very agitated. He stared at the envoy with murderous intent and galloped directly to the front of the tent before lifting the reins to stop the horse's momentum.
"Mr. Runan! I'm so happy," the envoy dismounted from his horse and strode towards the tent, waving the imperial edict in his hand and shouted, "Concubine Zheng has given birth to a prince..."
"My sister has given birth?" Zheng Cong stood up in surprise.
Concubine Zheng was very weak. When she moved south to Jianye, she caught a cold wind on a boat and almost lost her baby. Fortunately, the imperial doctor gave her careful treatment and she was able to survive the crisis.
But she didn't expect that after Concubine Zheng arrived in Jianye, her belly was getting bigger day by day, but the fetus in her belly had not yet been born. It had been almost two months by now.
Zheng Cong thought that the prince, who the government and the public had high hopes for, was destined to be stillborn. Unexpectedly, news of the successful birth of the prince came.
This is the prince of their Zheng family!
He was also the only prince born to Emperor Jianji after all the disasters.
Several other noble concubines, their stomachs have not even reacted yet.
"Congratulations, Duke, congratulations, Duke!" Zhao Fan also stood up with an excited look and congratulated Zheng Huaizhong.
Zhao Fan knew very well that in order to abandon Heluo and move the main force of the Shenwu Army to Nanyang, many things they did secretly were not hidden from Emperor Jianye.
After the Battle of Runying, Emperor Jianye has been trying every means to impose restrictions on the Runan County government:
Not to mention that the Shenwu Army was limited to less than 40,000 troops, Zheng Huaizhong was not able to concurrently lead the Nanyang Prefecture, could not directly control the government affairs of Nanyang Prefecture, let alone directly control the Nanyang Prefecture Army. Otherwise, how could he tolerate Chushan encroaching on Nanyang's territory?
This time, in order to mobilize the Shenwu Army to reinforce Huainan, Emperor Jianji issued edicts repeatedly. In the end, he did not hesitate to move the remnants of Zuo Xiaosheng's army to Xiangyang for rest and recuperation, forcing the Runan County government to act according to the edict.
As a direct confidant of Zheng Huaizhong, Zhao Fan was also worried about the future of the Runan County Government and the Shenwu Army.
Unexpectedly, just when I was filled with sorrow, I would see a turning point.
What could be better than the birth of a new prince to eliminate Emperor Jianji's grudge and dissatisfaction with the Runan County Government?
Zhao Fan turned his head to look at the imperial edict that Zheng Huaizhong took over. This was a happy message written by Emperor Jianji himself. Even a few corrections were made without re-writing. You can imagine how overjoyed Emperor Jianji was when he had a son in his middle age.
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Zhao Fan said: "My lord, I am so happy. Should our Shenwu Army gain more military exploits to congratulate Concubine Zheng and congratulate His Majesty!"
"Yes, there is indeed no better gift than military achievements," Zheng Huaizhong excitedly grabbed the eunuch's arm and asked with concern, "Yun'er gave birth to a prince, but it is hard work, but is her body still healthy?"
"Concubine Zheng and her son are safe. The prince croaked and screamed loudly after birth! Congratulations to Mr. Runan!" the eunuch said flatteringly.
