In total, Xiao Xun, Wu Sanrong, and Xiao Chunyu's troops returned to Jingxiang through Dali Kingdom with about 3,000 cavalry and more than 6,000 war horses. In addition to a large number of livestock carrying grain and other supplies, it was still a large number of people.
A pretty large team.
Even if the imperial court had not sent another envoy to Dali to refute the edict, such a large team might have been able to pass through the Dali border relatively smoothly. However, the rugged and dangerous road thousands of miles away was accompanied by abundant rain and miasma.
In spring and summer, this trip will take at least five or six months.
Besides, it is still unknown whether we can successfully enter the Dai Viet border from Guangnan West Road. Someone still needs to rush back to Beijing and Xiangtong to report everything.
After deliberation, Xu Pang, Xiao Chunyu, Sun Yanguan and others led a small group of elites to escort Wang Ju all the way back to Jingxiang and Zhangxiong Mountain. Shi Hu, Xiao Xun, and Wu Sanrong led 3,000 pacers and rode slowly eastward along the tea horse road.
Even so, Wang Ju, Sun Yanguan, Xu Zang, Xiao Chunyu and others rushed back to Jingxiang first. It was already the first ten days of February in the fourth year of Shaolong.
The second Battle of Ruying has also lasted into the fifth month.
When he learned that Xu Huai was supervising the war in Ruzhou, Wang Ju took Xiao Chunyu and came directly to Ruzhou to see Xu Huai.
Xu Pang, Sun Yanguan and other generals did not want to stay in Biyang after a long journey. They hoped to reach the front line as early as possible and get the opportunity to unite the army in combat, so they set out from Biyang together.
Everyone went to Wancheng first, went north via the newly renovated Wanluo Post Road, passed through Yunyang and Lushan, and first arrived at Zhiliang County in Ruzhou - they failed to catch Xu Huai in Liang County, so everyone set off from Liang County and headed west.
Go to the Guangcheng front line.
It was raining heavily in spring, and the mist was so light that it seemed to be a veil covering the mountains far and near.
Everyone rushed to the camp on the east bank of the Majian River just in time for the weather to clear up. When they climbed up the hill, they could have a panoramic view of the scene for ten miles to the left and right.
Guangcheng Youzhai is about twenty miles northwest of Guangcheng Youzhai, with Laojun Ridge on the west side of Jishan Mountain to the north.
Under the clear blue sky, the rolling hills of Laojun Ridge were shrouded in thin mist, like a landscape painting. A stream flowed out from the mountain pass on the northeast side of Youzhai. It had been raining for two or three days in a row. Ma Ma
The turbid water in Jianhe River is quite powerful.
From Laojun Ridge (north) on the west side of Jishan Mountain to Dahu Ridge (south) on the northwest foot of Funiu Mountain, there is a gap of nearly thirty miles in depth. The terrain is flat. It is the main passage from Luoyang into Ruzhou, and it is also the main channel from Luoyang to Ruzhou.
The western portal of Ruzhou trough basin.
In ancient times, the water in Guangcheng Ze was so powerful that it not only reached the bank of Yishui River in the west, but also caused the open area between Laojun Ridge and Dahu Ridge to be immersed in swamps. There were only narrow and winding roads in the lake.
Passage.
However, with the proliferation of people in Heluo and other places, a large number of swamps and lakes have been reclaimed into cultivated land. Today, Guangchengze has already retreated to the side of Dahuling, and there are only ten kilometers from north to south in the spring and summer flood seasons.
It is three to four miles deep, leaving a flat gap of more than twenty miles in the north. Fortunately, there is also the Majian River, which gathers many streams from Laojun Ridge, to cut this area.
In addition to the Guangcheng You Village at the Laojunling Mountain Pass in the distance, directly to the west of everyone's field of vision is the Guangcheng Main Village with a width of four to five miles in depth. In addition, there are also Guangcheng Main Village at the mouth of the river six or seven miles downstream.
There is a military stronghold that is only more than 400 steps square, which is Guangcheng Zuo stronghold.
Guangcheng Sanzhai only has 3,000 soldiers and horses stationed on a daily basis, and together with Songxian and Ruyang cities, it forms the western flank defense line of Ruzhou.
After the Second Battle of Ruying kicked off, Cao Shixiong, Meng Ping, Cao Cheng and other enemy generals led nearly 100,000 Heluo enemy troops southward along the Yishui River and filled the valley on the right bank of the Yishui River at the western foot of Jishan Mountain, with camps stretching for dozens of miles.
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Guangcheng Sanzhai and both sides of the Majian River became the main battlefield on the west flank where the enemy and we faced a stalemate.
In addition to the direct garrison troops of Guangcheng Sanzhai and neighboring Ruyang, the total number of direct garrison troops in the two cities of Song County increased to 30,000. The Ruzhou camp also temporarily built more than a dozen forts east of the Majian River. Wang Xian personally led 50,000 troops.
The horse was stationed among them, which was the camp on the east bank of the Majian River under the eyes of Wang Ju, Xu Zan and others.
In the early years, ferries were used to connect the post roads between the main village of Guangcheng and the camp on the east coast. After the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty, both the government and the public noticed the importance of Wan Luo Road and built a pontoon bridge to facilitate business travel.
In the early days of the Battle of Ruyang, Yang Lin and Yang Qiye and their sons led their troops to retreat from Guangcheng and ordered the pontoon bridge to be dismantled. Guangcheng and other places fell into the hands of the enemy for a time. In the first year of Shaolong's reign, the Heluo enemy troops withdrew from Guangcheng and other places.
In order to facilitate the passage of troops and horses, the Ruzhou camp built a crossing bridge on the Majian River.
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It took nearly two years to complete the crossing bridge, but Wang Ju, Xu Pan and the others could only see six stone bridge piers standing empty on the river beach.
Amidst the turbulent water, the wooden bridge that once was more than ten feet long and connected the post roads on both sides has disappeared.
"The bridge was set on fire by the enemy?"
When the bridge was completed, Wang Ju came to inspect it. At this time, he saw only a few bridge piers standing on the empty river. He was a little surprised and asked his eldest son Wang Xian.
Xu Huai passed the newly opened Jiugao Plank Road between Ruyang and Song County and went to Song County to inspect the defense. Wang Xian was still in charge of Guangcheng Camp——
Since Xu Huai might return from Song County today or tomorrow, Wang Ju and the others did not continue their journey, but stayed at the camp on the east bank of the Majian River to rest and wait for Xu Huai's return.
Wang Xian, who stayed in the camp and took charge, introduced the battle situation in the past few months and said:
"Cao Shixiong was still quite resolute in his willingness to attack. The troops once advanced to the east bank of the Majian River and surrounded Guangcheng Village. The newly built crossing bridge, which was less than a year old, was also set on fire by the enemy. Also a few months ago, our organization
The rafts and boats cooperated with the infantry and cavalry to finally regain the river beach on the west bank and re-open the connection with the main village of Guangcheng."
"What are we going to do next? Build a floating bridge first to deal with it?" Wang Ju asked.
"In my opinion, it is better to lead the main force on the east bank across the river and fight to the death with the enemy forces in Heluo!" Xu Zang shouted after looking at the enemy camp situation on both sides of the bank.
Wang Xian smiled and spread his hands, saying that it wasn't that he didn't want to, but even though he was the commander of the Ruzhou camp, he focused on defense and counterattack, chose the opportunity to defeat the enemy's main force, and still obeyed the orders of the commander.
Wang Ju brought Xiao Chunyu to see Xu Huai this time. He not only considered sending personnel to Jianye to mediate the entry of three thousand cavalry from Guangnan West Road and the previous correction of the imperial edict, but also involved a series of matters such as the relocation of the remaining Khitan troops to the south.
Regarding the basic strategy, Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi and others also came to Ruzhou to discuss.
Hearing that Xu Zang rushed to the front line of Guangcheng and shouted that he would fight to the death with the enemies on the west bank, Xu Wuqi frowned and asked displeasedly: "Come on, 50,000 soldiers and horses on the east bank and the defenders of the villages on the left and right."
I leave them all to your command, tell me how we can defeat the hundred thousand enemies on the right bank of Yishui? We won a few battles with a few soft sticks, and then we raised our tails to the sky!" "Okay, okay, Xu.
I have made great achievements and come back, but the reward has not been decided yet. I am not happy to listen to your scolding!" Shi Zhen said with a smile.
Xu Wuqi scolded him, but he still patiently explained the situation to Xu Tan so that Xu Tan could have a deeper understanding of the subtleties of the west wing battlefield.
Even a simple confrontation would consume an unspeakably huge amount of willpower on the generals and middle- and lower-level officials. But could Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi and others be able to sleep peacefully without worries in Biyang?
Yes, relying on the defense line, they did not worry about Cao Shixiong's ability to cross the Majian River and rush into the hinterland of Ruzhou, but it did not mean that they had the strength to counterattack, but it did not mean that they had the ability to suppress the willingness of the generals below to counterattack.
Cao Shixiong was an old rival of Jingxiang (Chushan). After his troops surrendered to the Chihu people, although they suffered disastrous defeats in several battles with Jingxiang (Chushan), no one could deny that Cao Shixiong was a formidable opponent.
In addition to the great improvement in combat effectiveness of Cao Shixiong's troops after the implementation of the military household system, he has a large number of mature generals under his command. This time, there are also 30,000 elite garrison troops (Tanma Red Army) from the Red Hu people to cooperate with the west wing operations.
Not an easy bone to chew off.
????????????????The elite soldiers they are currently dropping on the west flank battlefield are the Tianxiong Army's right army. Before the war, they only had 15,000 soldiers. After the fall, there will be an emergency.
Even if it is expanded to 20,000 people, it is still far behind the elite garrison troops deployed by the Red Husbands on the Western Front.
In addition, part of the troops they invested in the battlefield on the west flank were government troops recruited from Nanyang, Xiangyang and other places for garrison rotation, and the rest were mainly young hungry people recruited from Dongjing in the autumn and organized into the battalion.
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These young and strong men were basically a mob when they joined the Dongjing Alliance Army in the early years. They had not experienced strict training, and even had poor health due to long-term hunger. After they surrendered, they were organized into supply troops and garrison troops.
It only took more than a year for their bodies to recover to what they were before the migration.
The garrison troops and garrison troops are usually responsible for heavy labor tasks such as field farming, transportation, construction of fortresses, roads, weirs and embankments. Before being incorporated into active service, the garrison troops' training usually takes three to five days to organize for half a day, regardless of all aspects.
There is a huge gap between elite soldiers.
Not to mention that the soldiers and armor they equipped were not the most sophisticated.
After all, no matter how powerful Jingxiang (Chushan) is and no matter how strong its management methods are, it will never be possible to produce more than 100,000 or 200,000 sets of sophisticated soldiers and armors in just one or two years.
The combat effectiveness of the government troops in Xiangyang, Nanyang and other places was also unsatisfactory.
Now we have to attack the Heluo enemy forces on the west bank. Even if we can win the battle in the end, the price to Beijing and Xiangzhou will be staggering.
"Give you a precious blade that can cut iron like clay. You may think that there is nothing in the world that cannot be cut. But what if you only have an unedged iron knife in your hand? Are you still thinking about cutting and killing?" Xu
Wu Qi impatiently lectured Xu Pang, "You have made some military exploits by leading troops in battle, but what you really want to think about now is how to sharpen an iron sword into a good blade..."
"Haha, you have plenty of time to teach your son a lesson, so let's talk about the arrangements of the military department here first," Wang Ju said with a smile, "The flood season is about to begin, and the water of the Majian River will be more powerful by then, and the connections between the two sides will be very tight.
It is easy to be forcibly cut off by the enemy again, and it is likely that the time will not be short. It is not ruled out that the enemy will take this opportunity to storm the camp on the west bank. How do you plan to deal with it?"
