After the flood season in Funiu Mountain, Jishan and other places, heavy downpours often come suddenly, and flash floods roll down rocks and broken trees. The water levels of streams and rivers rise greatly, and the area between you and Ying becomes a vast ocean again.
During the confrontation between Chushan, Heluo, and the enemy forces in the west of Beijing, both sides entered a quiet period in which they were unable to attack and each was resting and recuperating. Xu Huai then delegated military and political affairs to Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi, Xu Wujiang, Su Laochang and others.
, and took Liu Qiong'er on their journey to Beijing to meet Emperor Jianji.
On this trip, Xu Huai went to Jianye to meet and report on his duties. In addition to more than fifty personal guards from Luben, led by Wu Chihai, Niu Er, Xu Teng, Su Mi and others according to the imperial regulations, there were also Zhou Jing, Han Gui,
Jiang Xie and others accompanied him.
The group set out from Ruzhou, rode horses all the way through Nanyang Mansion, and met Xu Sheng, the chief steward of Lifengtang, in Xiangyang. Liu Qiong'er couldn't bear the hardship of riding a horse for a long distance, so after arriving in Xiangyang, some of the guards took the horses away.
By land, Xu Huai and the others abandoned their horses and boarded a boat, heading down the Han River.
The Jingxiang area has dense trees, and the vegetation has not been damaged much. The water and soil erosion along the entire upper reaches of the Han River is minimal. After the summer, the river water surges, and the water surface is almost flush with the sand embankments on both sides, but the river remains as green as ever.
Above the Cangdai distant mountains, there were a few clouds in the scorching clear sky, and a few egrets flew out of the reeds like arrows off their strings, and flew away in the sky.
"What Commander Jie saw at this time was Tianmen Mountain in the southwest range of Zhushan Mountain, which belongs to Jingshan County in Yingzhou."
Xu Sheng, who was born in the former Jingsheng Army, has been in charge of the affairs of Lifengtang in the past two years and traveled to and from the Jianghuai River many times. Everyone took a boat from Xiangyang all the way down the Han River. Naturally, he was responsible for explaining the mountains and rivers along the coast to everyone.
"South of Jingshan is Hanchuan County, which used to belong to Yingzhou and later to Mianzhou. His Majesty ascended the throne in Xiangyang, and the Jinghu North Road Metallurgical Institute was moved from Jiangling Prefecture (Jingzhou) to Ezhou. In order to strengthen Ezhou's control over the Jianghan and Han Rivers, the
Put Hanchuan under Ezhou Prefecture! The tomb of Wang Xiang is located southwest of Hanchuan City, at the foot of Xiaoheling Mountain by Suolong Lake..."
Wang Zhen's ancestral home was Hanchuan. After his death, Wang Xuan carried the coffin for his father and returned to his hometown for burial.
Xu Huai couldn't get away from him in the past, so when he passed through Ezhou this time, he naturally wanted to pay homage in front of Wang Zhen's tomb.
Xu Huai looked at the flowing water, but he didn't expect that five years had passed since Wang Zhen passed away...
"What are you thinking about? Do you regret not sending someone to Ezhou Prefecture in advance to report the news?" Liu Qiong'er reached out and pinched Xu Huai quietly, and said with a sweet smile.
"..." Xu Huai took Liu Qiong'er's little hand, which was as white as jade, and said with a smile, "What kind of flavor do you eat?"
That's what Xu Huai said, but the childish face in front of Yingzi's mouth still appeared in his mind again.
Who would have thought that time would pass by like water, and the girl who was still childish at that time would be in her teens in the blink of an eye.
The war in Huainan was temporarily over, but all the soldiers and horses in northern Jingzhou had not been withdrawn. Wang Fan was deployed as the military commander of Jinghu North Road, and still stayed in Luzhou and other places to supervise military affairs.
Although the current world was not so conservative, Xu Huai also wanted to avoid suspicion of others saying behind his back that he had a private meeting with Wang Xuan, the widow of a widower, in the name of worshiping - so he did not send anyone to contact him in advance when he went to worship Wang Xuan this time.
Wang Xuan should be in the capital city of Ezhou at this time.
The Han River is rushing, and Tianmen Mountain is behind it. At this time, the Han River is already the flow section between Hanchuan and Jinling County - and after the Han River passes through Tianmen Mountain, it is entering the Jianghan Plain, which is endless and has thousands of lakes and swamps.
, in the distance of the field of vision, Hanchuan River and the city walls of Jingling are also faintly visible.
"Something's happening!" Xu Huai was about to ask about the preparations for the sacrifices, but he heard Xu Sheng's expression change and he shouted in surprise.
Xu Huai looked ahead and saw a column of black smoke rising from more than ten miles away.
The Han River waterway meanders between the Jianghan Plain, but the view is unobstructed. You can clearly see the column of black smoke rising from a awning boat traveling between the Han River.
Xu Huai didn't like greetings and escorts. They set out from Xiangyang without borrowing a warship from the Xiangyang Navy. They took an armed merchant ship under the banner of Lifengtang and did not fly any flags.
However, Jianghan was not peaceful on land or water, so Xu Sheng did not dare to neglect Xu Huai's escort on this trip.
In addition to the dozens of strong men and women on board the ship, including Niu Er, Su Mi, and Xu Zan, as well as more than thirty guards and sailors carefully selected by Lifengtang, Xu Sheng also sent several crows in advance.
The canopy served as a sentinel ship to explore the route first.
At this time, one of the sentry ships was burning smoke to warn.
Also because the sentry ship was burning smoke as a warning, there were several fishing boats parked on the water in front of them, casting nets for fishing, or fishing in the middle of the river. There was nothing unusual about the fishing boats. At this time, they seemed to be about to leave.
Quickly surround the sentinel ship.
"Did we encounter water bandits? They have entered the territory of Ezhou Prefecture, and there is no peace in the waterways!" Su Mi and Xu Zan not only did not panic, but were a little excited. They took Niu Er and many guards and put on the armor.
The cage was opened and the armor was put on on the deck.
Zhou Jing also acted accordingly and first asked Liu Qiong'er, Han Gyu, Jiang Xie and others to take shelter in the cabin.
Xu Huaizhuo stood on the bow of the boat, frowning slightly, holding the sword on his waist and looking into the distance.
Although we sailed into the vast Jianghan Plain, when the boat was sailing on the water, the reeds on the river beach were very lush, and the beach also had some undulations. After all, the field of vision was greatly restricted. We could not see too far away, and we could only see seven or eight.
A number of fishing boats surrounded the exposed smoke-burning sentinel boat.
The people hidden in these fishing boats also got out of the simple cabins with awnings, carrying simple weapons such as simple knives, wooden shields, and spears. They were waterway bandits who didn't know where they came from.
"... We can't figure out what the situation is at the moment. Everything is about the commander's safety. Let's dock first and meet General Wu Chi to go to Hanchuan City!" Han Gui poked his head out of the cabin and stood next to Xu Huai.
Zhou Jing, Xu Sheng suggested.
"The situation is unclear, so it's not advisable to rush in!" Zhou Jing said.
Xu Huai nodded.
Xu Sheng immediately ordered the boatmen and the sailors to immediately change the rudder and move the ship to the shoal on the left bank - except that the left bank was closer to Hanchuan City, Wu Qihai and other guards were walking along the left bank post road.
At present, it is very likely that there are water bandits pretending to be fishermen and plundering passing merchants in the Han River, and the sentinel boats moving forward to explore the way noticed something unusual - although the armed merchant ships they were traveling on were no worse than ordinary medium-sized warships, they were also
Dozens of elite warriors, in addition to sophisticated armor, are also equipped with crossbows and other weapons. They are not afraid of being attacked by dozens of small fishing boats ridden by water bandits, but there is nothing more important than Xu Huai's personal safety at the moment.
The merchant ship has a deep draft and cannot directly dock on the beach, but there is a sheepskin raft on board for emergencies. The head and feet of the whole sheep are cut off, the sheepskin is completely peeled off, and it is soaked in clear oil to make a skin bag.
A skin bag or several skin bags are used together. Dangxiang people and Chihu people often use this method to carry people and goods across rivers, which is very convenient.
Xu Huai and the others hurried ashore, and Wu Tiehai led more than 40 guards disguised as cavalry from the direction of the post road to join them.
"There's something wrong with the situation. It doesn't look like ordinary water bandits robbing merchants!"
There are naturally formed levees and tidal flats along the Han River, which are very low. Wu Chihai led his guards to surround Xu Huaai and mounted a low hill on horseback. He suddenly discovered that there were fifty or sixty ships of various sizes on the Han River southwest of Hanchuan City.
Boats gathered from the downstream and right bank tributaries and swamps and reeds.
If they had misjudged the situation just now and went straight downstream, they would probably have been surrounded by dozens of bandit ships like a wolf pack.
However, the situation is more critical than imagined. Directly south of Hanchuan City, there is an extremely vast body of water, and more ships, large and small, are sailing out of the depths of the water.
At this time, Ezhou was far from being a land of plenty for later generations, especially the low-lying area south of Hanchuan River. It was usually a group of lakes composed of more than a dozen large and small lakes such as Suolong Lake, East-West Branch Lake, and Lian Lake.
Many streams and rivers, such as Tianmen River, Lishui River, Silong River, and Zhuanshui River, which originate from the mountains at the southern foot of Jishan Mountain, Huaiyang Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, merge into the lakes from the north and east, and then flow into the Han River from the downstream estuary.
In the flood season, the abundant rainwater in the entire north and northeast of Jinghu North Road will gather here, but it will not be discharged for a while. It will form a river stretching for one or two hundred miles south of Hanchuan City, almost connected to the Han River.
A vast ocean of water.
The same is true for the depressed areas west of Ezhou Fucheng and the intersection of Jiang and Han.
There were so many large and small boats, and a rough estimate of three to four thousand men and horses, spread out and ambushing in the depths of the swamp and lake. They were definitely not ordinary water bandits.
Xu Huai turned around and looked upstream of the Han River where they came from by boat. There was nothing unusual...
"The Dongting Lake bandits were ambushing here and preparing to raid Hanchuan City, but were alerted by our sentinel ship accidentally detecting clues?" Han Gui asked in shock.
"That should be the case!" Zhou Jing said with a solemn expression.
Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang and made large-scale adjustments to the organizational structure of Jinghu South Road, Jinghu North Road and the original Jingxi South Road.
It was moved from Jingzhou to Ezhou, and Yuezhou (Yueyang) and Lizhou (Changde), which originally belonged to Jinghu North Road, were included in Jinghu South Road.
Therefore, the entire Dongting Lake waters are under the jurisdiction of Jinghu South Road.
There are too many refugees and hungry people stranded in Huhan, and until they can replenish military resources, they can only impose repeated levies on the local area. The local people at the bottom are also impoverished, and there are many people who take risks. The Jinghu North Road is far from peaceful.
, but at this time, they could mobilize such a large number of troops and lurk so carefully in the swamps and lakes south of Hanchuan River. Except for Sun Yanzhou, the Dongting Lake bandit who had risen three or four years ago and was difficult to exterminate, Xu Huai could not think of a second enemy.
The forces are coming.
At this time, looking at the large and small bandit boats gathering at the mouth of the river, they must have landed on the shoal near the mouth of the river and launched a surprise attack on Hanchuan City in advance.
"Shall we rush to Hanchuan?" Han Gui looked at Xu Huai and asked.
Another general might have turned around and fled, but Han Gui knew Xu Huai's temperament and could not just sit back and watch three or four thousand lake bandits attack the unprepared Hanchuan City.
Furthermore, in addition to the more than fifty elite selected vanguard troops who have experienced hundreds of battles, they are also accompanied by forty or fifty armed guards from Li Fengtang. Together with the defenders of Hanchuan City, they are really not afraid of three or four thousand siege equipment.
None of the lake bandits could capture Hanchuan City before the reinforcements from Ezhou Fucheng arrived.
"Is Xiaohe Ridge beyond the river mouth?" Xu Huai asked Xu Sheng, pointing to the low mountain extending for about two or three miles to the north of the river mouth and apparently only seven or eight feet high.
At the foot of Beishan Mountain, near the Han River, there is a village surrounded by walls. Judging from the scale of the buildings in the village, there are two to three hundred families living together - if that low mountain is Xiaoheling, then the village should be Wang's
Shuangliu Village is where clans live together.
"It is indeed Xiaohe Ridge. At the foot of Beishan is Shuangliu Village, but the thieves are so strong that we can only go to Hanchuan City first!" Xu Sheng said.
Xu Huai looked at Liu Qiong'er and adjusted his armor.
Liu Qiong'er's face turned pale and she sighed: "Be careful, I will follow Han Canjun and Jiang Canjun to Hanchuan City!"
"How can this be done?" Han Gui changed his face in shock and tried to persuade him, "Jie Shuai cannot enter Shuangliu Village, and he will be stopped by thieves - let's go to Hanchuan City first. The Wang clan has a wall to guard it, maybe we can
Support until the reinforcements arrive. Head Liu, Zhou Junjun, you must know that the safety of Commander Jie is related to Dayue Sheji, even if Shuangliuzhuang encounters misfortune, everyone will understand it!"
"Miss Xuan is very likely to be in Ezhou City, but it is also possible that she is in Shuangliu Village. Xu Huai will not take this risk..." Liu Qiong'er shook her head, walked over to help Xu Huai tidy up his clothes, and hugged her gently.
He said, "You must be careful!"
"Wu Chihai and I can just go to Shuangliu Village for reinforcements!" Zhou Jing advised.
"The last general is willing to go with Zhou Canjun!" Wu Chihai said in invitation.
"Take a closer look at what unparalleled generals are!" Xu Huai smiled, patted Liu Qiong'er's shoulder reassuringly, and said, "I have the most elite half of Chushan's selected vanguard army by my side.
Everyone can go there, but how can we let a mere three or four thousand people block the way?"
