In Yimeng Mountain after autumn, the grass and trees gradually turn yellow, and a gust of wind often blows off countless yellow leaves.
Mist billows in the valley, and the morning breeze has a chill in my neck.
An old farmer was squatting under the old elm tree at the entrance of the village with his neck scrunched up and his clothes in rags. He watched more than a hundred numb-looking civil servants, guarded by a small team of soldiers, leading old and thin mules and horses carrying heavy grain bags as they walked slowly from the entrance of the village.
Yes, even the old farmers can't remember how many groups of people passed by the village entrance in the early morning.
The entrance to the village is a post road from Zizhou south to Xuzhou. Except for the Red Hu army passing through this south six or seven years ago, and the first Huainan battle three years ago, Ping Yanzong's palace arbitrarily requisitioned grain and grass from Jingdong East Road, and the people were strong.
Except for a period of excitement and commotion, there were no business travelers at other times, and it was very quiet and desolate.
However, after autumn this year, it suddenly became busy. Groups of soldiers, mules and horses carrying grain bags, and carts filled with soldiers and armors passed through the village entrance in an endless stream.
Many people were aware that another war was about to break out in the south, but they did not expect that the launch would be later than expected.
The main troops under the command of Prince Ping Yanzong did not participate in the confrontation on the middle road in the previous two years. They had already marched to Xuzhou and Bozhou before September.
They gathered in other places and were on standby. However, in the first two years, more than two million stones and grains were allocated and 200,000 people were forcibly recruited to reinforce the western part of Beijing and the Heluo front line, which also consumed a lot of money.
Now Prince Ping Yanzong is about to launch a new round of offensive against Huainan on the east road. It is expected to last for a short time, and the area involved is extremely vast. It will not be enough to gather hundreds of thousands of main troops.
The army crossed the Huaihe River and entered the land of Huainan. They faced a series of strong cities and forts that needed to be conquered. They would also face large-scale reinforcements organized by the Southern Dynasty from other places. Of course, the Pingyanzong Palace needed to recruit a considerable amount of auxiliary troops.
Only through coordinated operations by civilians, such as transporting grain and war equipment, digging trenches, building forts, clearing obstacles, and even driving them to the city, can the main force's combat effectiveness be fully unleashed.
In order to reinforce the middle road operations, the grain reserves in Xusu and other places were also consumed to a certain extent. Now more grains and fodder are being requisitioned from various places to supplement.
Various factors caused the Eastern Route Offensive to be delayed until mid-September. It was not until the autumn grain harvests in various places were completed that it really got underway.
Although the Chi Hu people will not launch another large-scale offensive in the middle for the time being, even if they ensure that the elite soldiers and horses of Beijing and Xiang are contained in Rucai and other places, they will not be able to take care of the Huainan battlefield and Heluo under the jurisdiction of the Zhennan Zong Palace.
Western Beijing, Hedong and other places also launched a new round of military mobilization after the autumn grain harvest was completed.
After autumn, groups of soldiers from Hedong and other places, as well as countless mules and horses carrying grain and fodder, gathered in Xuchang, Linying, Yique, Dengfeng, Huaichuan and other places.
Huaichuan City, located east of the mouth of Ru River into the Huaihe River, is the focus of the Zhennan Zong Palace's winter gatherings; the Yingzhou Navy, which was originally stationed in Yingchuan by the General Administration of Military and Horses in Western Beijing, also gathered its main force in Huaichuan
, the sword guides Luoshan, Huangchuan and other places on the south coast.
This also caused a sudden increase in the pressure on the defense direction of the Beijing-Xiang-Shenzhou camp, not to mention the hidden danger of returning to the German army.
After the autumn grain harvest was completed, the towns and villages under the jurisdiction of Shenzhou's camp recalled some of the people to the camp, and expanded the size of the garrison from more than 5,000 to more than 15,000. The commander also sent additional soldiers from Xiangyang.
Ten thousand state (prefecture) troops were dispatched to Luoshan, Xinyang, Qingyi Ridge, and Queshan to participate in the winter garrison.
In addition, the Tianxiong Army's first to fifth towns also recalled all the generals who had returned home to visit their relatives and recuperate, and restored them from half to full strength.
After the confrontation, the number of soldiers and horses in Beijing and Xiang, including combat soldiers and garrison troops, was once reduced to less than 80,000. However, in order to cope with the tense situation this winter, the number of troops and horses was restored to 120,000. Among them, the Shenzhou camp was under the jurisdiction of
The total military strength has increased the most, with almost more than 40,000 soldiers and horses gathered to guard against danger.
In addition to greatly increasing the number of troops in the Shenzhou camp, after the autumn grain harvest, they also pulled up several iron cables at Panwan Bay at the mouth of the Huaihe River to seal off the waterways from the lower reaches into the upper reaches of the Huaihe River and the Shihe River.
As the Huaihe River enters the dry season, the river channel near Panwan Bay not only becomes shallower, but also shrinks in width by less than 200 steps.
The waterfront fortresses built on the two banks of the embankment are only 600 steps apart. They are also part of the defense line of Mingxi River and Luoshan on both sides of the river. The commander has also built several large stone piers in the shallow silt of the river for daily use.
A floating bridge was erected to connect the north and south.
In the past two years, the Panwan Fortress and its attached pontoon bridges and barrage cables have also been the core water passes to contain the enemy Yingzhou Navy and Xuzhou Navy from invading Shenzhou.
In addition to the multiple heavy Western Region stone cannons set up in the fortress, which can attack enemy warships trying to approach, the main force of the weaker Shenzhou navy is mainly stationed in the dock ten miles upstream of Panwan Bay.
, can be dispatched at any time to assist in blocking the Huaihe River when necessary.
Of course, the rivers that became shallower after winter were not completely blocked with sunken ships because they did not want to be completely passive in defense and wanted to maintain a deterrent effect on the enemy forces downstream to a certain extent.
Of course, the commander-in-chief of the soldiers and horses under the Zhennan Zong Palace mainly went to Huaichuan and other cities to gather troops and horses. They did not want to start another war in the middle. Their main purpose was to contain the soldiers and horses of Beijing and Xiangzhou so that they would have no time to go east.
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Therefore, the generals from the west of Beijing, headed by Zhong Changqing, took up their posts in Huaichuan. In addition to deploying defenses mainly around the mouth of the Rushui River to contain the troops of Beijing and Xiangxiang in Xinyang and other places, they also dispatched naval warships to the south bank of the Huaihe River.
In the valley water of the tributary, it blocked the connection between Luoshan and Huangchuan, Guangshan and other cities guarded by the German army.
In order to encourage and urge the returned German troops to actively defend against the Japanese soldiers moving south in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, the imperial court sent Zou Shixin, a doctor in the Ministry of War, to Huangchuan with an imperial edict in early September.
In addition to bringing a large amount of gold and silver coins, silk and satin and other items to reward the German generals, Zou Shixin himself also stayed in Huangzhou and served as the general judge of Guangzhou and the supervisor of the returned German army.
However, Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others had no intention of actively resisting the Japanese troops crossing the Huaihe River. They even immediately withdrew all their troops from the Wubao Walled City along the coast, abandoning the defenses of Gushi, Shangcheng and other places on both wings.
, all the returning German troops retreated to Huangchuan City.
Since all the generals of the Returned Army were Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others who were wreaking havoc on Dongting Lake, and the direct subordinates brought out during the Jingjiang period, the military supervisor Zou Shixin had no binding force, so he could not really urge Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others to actively fight.
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At this time, the imperial court could only be cautious and try to appease Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others.
October is the beginning of winter. The grass and trees on both sides of the Huaihe River are all yellow, and the yellow leaves are falling in the howling north wind.
The Jianye Navy did not rush northward for reinforcements, but the naval force compiled by the Huaixi pacification envoy was limited and could not compete with the Xu Sishui navy that had been trained for several years by the Ping Yanzong Palace in the Huaihe River. It could only use the limited force
The warships withdrew to Shaopi Lake south of Shouchun City to avoid the enemy.
After the East Route rebels took control of the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River, they did not send troops to besiege Huangchuan and force the German troops to surrender as Xu Huai and others expected. Instead, they set out directly from Lixin, Huaiyuan and other places.
After crossing the Huaihe River and going south, with superior elite troops, they forcibly inserted into the east and west wings of Shouchun, forming an encirclement of Shouchun.
Although Han Shiliang, Ge Yu and others led the 50,000-year-old Shouchun garrison to actively defend, the soldiers on the east route used all their strength to move southward, sweeping like a violent wind, and no one could resist it.
The imperial court deployed a total of 140,000 soldiers from the Guide Army, Huaifu Army, Shenwu Army, Left and Right Xiaosheng Army, and Zuo Xuanwu Army throughout Huainan. In addition, more than 100,000 local civilians were recruited from prefectures and counties to assist in the defense.
Imperial Fortress.
In terms of total military strength, Huainan still has a slight advantage.
However, the imperial court did not want to gather all the troops and horses immediately to fight the Huaihuai soldiers on a certain battlefield.
Therefore, Huainan soldiers and horses were divided into two areas: Huaixi and Huaidong, separated by the vast Hongzepu area.
At this time, Deng Gui, Yang Qiye and other generals led the Shenwu Army, Zuo Xiaosheng Army, and Zuo Xuanwu Army with 50,000 elite troops stationed in Chushan, Yangzhou and other cities in Huaidong.
In Huaixi, not to mention actively resisting the Japanese soldiers from crossing the middle reaches of the Huaihe River from Huaichuan and other places, they even directly abandoned the shopping malls between Huangchuan and Shouchun, Gushi and other cities - the Japanese soldiers crossed the Huaihe River without fighting.
When we get to Gushi and Shangcheng, we will cut the 30,000 German soldiers and horses into the two cities of Huangchuan and Guangshan between Luoshan and Gushi.
In fact, Han Shiliang was able to mobilize only 60,000 troops from Ge Yu, Xu Pu and other troops in the Huaixi battlefield immediately, and the Youxiao Victory Army led by Xu Pu also needed to be mainly responsible for guarding the second line of defense in Huaixi.
Luzhou and other places.
In addition to deploying 50,000 troops and horses on the other side of Chuzhou as a containment, Prince Ping Yanzong's main force totaled 150,000 infantry and cavalry as well as naval troops, all of which crossed the Huaihe River from the two wings of Shouchun and crossed southward.
How could Han Shiliang and Ge Yu withstand such a ferocious offensive when they only had 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops and horses near Shouchun? What's more, the forward generals of Prince Pingyanzong's Palace had already figured out the terrain near Shouchun and had targeted them over the years.
Naval forces were organized and trained in Xihe and Hongzepu near Shouchun, and they were fully prepared for field battles near Shouchun.
Several field battles were defeated and the troops were lost, but they could not shake the enemy's position. Han Shiliang could only return to the strategy in the early stage of the first Huainan Battle, which was to shrink the elite troops to several key cities such as Shouchun and hold on to them as much as possible.
The time for the battle has been postponed until the rainy season next year.
By then, in addition to the muddy and slippery terrain in Huaixi, which would limit the performance of the red cavalry to the greatest extent, the imperial court would also have enough time to gather reinforcements from various roads to participate in the battle.
At the same time, a letter of edict was sent from Jianye to the location of the various road supervisors, ordering the various road supervisors to gather troops and go to Luzhou to prepare for the Second Huainan Battle.
Of course, Beijing and Xiangzhou alone guard the middle road, and do not need to undertake the combat mission of reinforcing Huaixi, and are not included in the imperial recruitment list...
