Entering November, the weather is getting colder and colder. Snow has fallen heavily on the rivers and Huaihe Rivers. Some small lakes and ponds between the rivers and Huaihe Rivers have begun to freeze with thin ice. The ground has turned white with the cold, and the grass and trees are covered with hoarfrost.
Reinforcements were assembled most quickly in Jinghu and other places. At the same time, they also had the convenience of shipping on the Yangtze River. With the prefecture as the unit, reinforcements were continuously sent to Luzhou to gather.
The Huaidong system and the pacification department were put into operation quickly. Gu Fan and Deng Gui were stationed in Chushan and could not escape. Yang Qiye, who was in charge of the army and the military supervisor of Yangzhou with Zuo Xiaosheng, immediately led eight thousand elites to the west.
Stationed in Qingliu County on the northeast side of Chuzhou, in order to better form a corner with Luzhou, the vassal built the northern screen of Ye to prevent the cavalry from crossing unscrupulously to the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Prince Ping Yanzong did not wait for the Huaihe River to freeze. Instead, he quickly built several pontoon bridges on the Huaihe River, and continuously transported more auxiliary troops and grain to the south bank. Once again, he built layers of pontoons around Shouchun City.
The purpose was to encircle Shouchun City, where the elite troops were stationed in Huaixi, and then attract reinforcements from Vietnam to the south of Shouchun for a battle.
Of course, the Japanese soldiers had an absolute advantage in terms of strength. In addition to besieging Shouchun City in the early stage, they also split up their forces to attack Huoqiu and other cities around Shouchun City. At the end of November, they even sent a group of troops to penetrate directly to the north of Luzhou.
After arriving, the navy entered Hongzepo on a larger scale.
???????????????Huaidong and Huaixi naval forces are weak, and the imperial court does not want to prematurely build the Ye navy as the core force for defending the capital when the enemy troops are at their peak.
After entering the battlefield, he immediately ordered Huaidong to set up a pacification department to cut off Hongzepu's water channel into the Yangtze River.
The imperial court's main hope at the moment was to drag out the situation until all the reinforcements from all directions were in place, and then rely on Luzhou and Chuzhou to march north to fight the captive soldiers. However, the captive soldiers became more and more rampant in the land of Huaixi, as if they were in an uninhabited country.
territory.
However, in order to prevent large-scale refugees from flowing southward and causing the Dongjing bandit trouble to reappear in Jiangdong, the DPRK and China not only did not mention evacuating people south of the Yangtze River, they even blocked the ferries in Luzhou, Chuzhou, Shuzhou and other places to prevent evasion.
The war-torn refugees migrated south.
In order to preserve the grain reserves in the city for a long enough time, cities such as Shouchun and Hefei refused to allow surrounding people to escape to avoid war.
The vast majority of the people in Huaixi either formed strongholds to protect themselves, or fled to the nearby Huaiyang Mountains, or gathered on the tidal flats on the north bank of the Yangtze River, waiting for the day when the imperial court would be merciful and send ferries to take them across the river to avoid the war.
The officers and soldiers retreated to the fortified city and did nothing. There are so many villages in Huaixi that have formed strongholds to protect themselves. They are so weak and fragile in front of the captive soldiers whose ability to attack fortresses has been greatly strengthened in recent years. Almost every day, dozens or even
Hundreds of villages were captured.
And every time a village fell, it was often a brutal massacre.
Although the scouts sent by the Military Intelligence Department sneaked into Huaixi to reconnoiter the war situation under such circumstances and the danger increased, they still tried their best to overcome all difficulties, even sacrificing casualties and went deep into the hinterland of Huaixi where the enemy's situation was difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.
The changes in the situation of the army and reinforcements were reported back to Jingzhou in time.
After the Huaixi War began, Yinqingyuan, located in the adjacent lane to the newly established Jingjiang Water Supervisory Office, officially became Xu Huai's temporary residence in Jingzhou.
Although the imperial court clearly refused Xu Huai to lead his troops to reinforce Huaixi, the war in Huaixi was so urgent that Xu Huai expressed concern about the war in Huaixi in Jingzhou, and even transferred part of the production department's functions to Jingzhou to prevent changes in Jianghuai. No one can accuse him of being unreasonable or worrying.
No ulterior motives.
During the two-year confrontation on the Middle Road, although the imperial court had no intention of calling the Jinghu North Road Construction Department to reinforce Jingxiang, it ordered the Jingbei Military and Horse Command to deploy Gao Juntang and deputy envoy Hou Shuishou to lead the state troops and station them in Suiying and other states to prevent you.
If Cai's defense line cannot hold up, the captive soldiers will march straight into Suiying and other places.
Xu Huai usually reviewed various documents in the study room in the front yard of Yinqingyuan, while the left and right wings were used as temporary residences for Han Gui, Zhang Xiongshan and others.
On this day, Zhang Xiongshan walked into the study with an urgent letter in hand, handed it to Xu Huai and said: "There are several troops under the jurisdiction of Prince Ping Yanzong's palace, and their offensive intentions are unexpectedly strong!"
After reading the letter, Xu Huai said nothing and pushed open the door of the combat command room next door, preparing to personally mark the latest developments of the prisoners on the sand table.
Han Gui came over, looked at the letter in Xu Huai's hand, frowned and said:
"The Pingyan Army has five infantry battalions of more than a thousand people. Is it bold to intersperse them? They should be the Uluru Lieutenants who transferred some of their elite infantry from the west of Beijing and Heluo to support the east road operations - this is consistent with the previous intelligence.
Woke up……"
Shi Hu, Wu Chihai, and Jiang Ping, the signing judge of the Military Intelligence Department, who were on duty at the camp, saw Xu Huai enter the war room after receiving the message, and they all rushed over.
After listening to Han Gyu's words, they also took the letter and looked at it carefully.
Tu Ge and Ulul Lie were the two main forces of the Chihu people who swept across the Khitan. Later, Ulul Lie entrusted the vast area east of Yinshan as King Zhennan, while Tu Ge entrusted Liaodong as King Pingyan. In the last years of Tianxuan, Tu Ge
Geyou and Uluru Lie led their troops to first sweep and carve up Yanji, Yunshuo and other places, and then went south brazenly, basically dividing the garrison and war zone between Taihang Mountain and Bianshui.
Among the soldiers and horses under the command of Tu Ge and Ulul Lie, the Chihu clan and the soldiers and horses of the various tribes that relied on the Chihu in the early years were the most elite. Later, on this basis, they also successively absorbed the infantry and cavalry of the conquering tribes such as the Khitan????
????????????The elite were formed to control the west of Jing, Heluo, Jingdong, Hedong, Hebei and other places, and represented the Red Husband to rule these areas.
After Zhennan Zongfu and Pingyan Zongfu went south, in addition to recruiting Khitan and Han troops in Yunshuo, Yanji and other places, there were also a large number of forbidden troops and Han troops in Hebei, Hedong, Guanshan, Hehuai, and even after the fall of Bianliang in the old capital.
Local soldiers and horses surrendered one after another.
On the basis of these surrendered troops, the Zhennan Palace and the Pingyan Palace formed a large-scale Han army, which was also the main force fighting in Rucai, Huaihe and other places in recent years.
Even though Pingyan Zongfu has been attacking the city in recent years, its Han troops have been willing to act as lackeys and are quite active in charging into battle. However, when it comes to combat effectiveness, compared to the Jingxi and Heluo Han troops under Zhennan Zongfu, they are still slightly inferior.
First-line.
In particular, the independent combat capability of hundreds or thousands of people places relatively high demands on leading generals and soldiers, which is often lacking in contemporary infantry units.
The elite garrison troops of the Red Husbands have a strong ability to fight independently in small groups, regardless of whether they fight on foot or on cavalry. This is only an important reflection of the strength of the Red Husbands' soldiers and horses.
In addition, Yuehai Tower, Cao Shixiong's Heluo, and the Han Army in the west of Beijing have been entangled with Jingxiang in recent years. Although they have suffered a lot, they have been beaten hard and have strong combat effectiveness.
The scouts and spies sent by the Military Intelligence Department recently discovered that after the Chihu East Road army crossed the Huaihe River, there were several small infantry teams that were very bold in their roundabouts to the south. Their fighting style was also more brave, and their style was not like those under the command of Prince Ping Yanzong's Mansion.
Those Han troops were more like Heluo and the elite Han troops in western Beijing who had been suppressed for two years in front of the Rucai defense line and suddenly found an outlet.
The Military Intelligence Department had noticed some clues before, and this time it was just further confirmation.
Of course, given the relatively close relationship between Zhennan Zong Palace and Pingyan Zong Palace over the years, Xu Huai and the others would have predicted this even if they had not noticed any clues before, but Jingxiang could not do more.
Even if Heluo, the west of Beijing secretly temporarily transferred 20,000 to 30,000 elite infantry soldiers to join the Chihu East Road army to participate in the second Huainan battle. Zhennan Zong's palace was in Xuchang, Linying, Dengfeng, Yique and other cities.
After winter, in addition to gathering 60,000 to 70,000 second-line garrison troops, an additional 30,000 town garrison troops were gathered in Wancheng, Luoyang and other places.
In other words, Jingxiang has determined in advance that 20,000 to 30,000 elite infantrymen have been mobilized from the west of Jing and Heluo, and they will expand their troops again before winter, and they do not have the ability to counterattack the west of Jing and Heluo; there is far too little time to prepare.
.
Xu Huai was not affected by Han Gui, Zhang Xiongshan and the others' low-spirited discussions, and concentrated on accurately marking the recent movement routes of several bolder troops of the Chihu East Route Army on the sand table.
At this time, Xu Wujiang, Jiang Xie and Su Laochang, who had just arrived in Jingzhou today to report on the collection of summer grain and autumn taxes this year on behalf of Shi Zhen, walked in.
They saw Xu Huai and the generals in the war room with extremely solemn expressions, and were about to ask what happened.
Jiang Xie accidentally glanced at the sand table and subconsciously shouted in surprise: "The soldiers haven't eaten Shouchun yet, are they planning to encircle Hefei at the same time?"
Hefei County is the prefecture of Luzhou and is located to the north of Chaohu Lake. It is the core of the second line of defense of Pingjianye in the northwest of Huaihe River. There are several thin lines representing small groups of soldiers and horses. They have been interspersed on the sand table to the west wing of Hefei City. It depends on the situation.
The purpose is to cut off the connection between Hefei City and Shuzhou.
"No," Xu Huai shook his head and said, "Brother Tu is trying to bully the people of Vietnam. He will probably rush into the Yangtze River from the Laizhou water diversion division. He will meet up with the infantry and cavalry heading south from the west of Luzhou and then directly cross the river to raid Jianye -
- Of course, Tu Ge's plan to cross the river to raid Jianye is more likely to lure Luzhou soldiers and horses to leave the city in a hurry and fight with them in the hills west of Hefei..."
"The navy built by Prince Ping Yanzong in Laizhou, although they built large and strong ships, only had eight or nine thousand soldiers," Xu Wujiang asked doubtfully, "The Laizhou navy directly entered the Yangtze River, can we confirm that it will not be built by Ye?"
The navy drove out??????????????????"
"The Chihu navy was too eager to enter Hongzepu and Shaopi Lake," Han Gui said, "This shows that Brother Tu probably transferred all the big ships in his Xusu navy!"
The waters of Hongzeppo are extremely vast, but the depth is extremely limited. Especially after winter, the water level of Hongzepo decreases, and most areas are very shallow and silted. Only small sampans and small fishing boats can cross it.
Xu Su's navy under the command of Prince Ping Yanzong invaded Hongzepu in large numbers, and they mainly used small and medium-sized warships.
Since the imperial court did not want to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy navy prematurely, it almost completely gave up the fight for Hongzepu and other waters. The naval forces in Huaixi and Huaidong blindly retreated south to avoid the battle. The local government just used traditional clumsy means to
Block the waterway from Hongzepu into the Yangtze River.
This resulted in Huaidong and Huaixi being extremely unclear about the main movements of Xusu Navy under the command of Prince Ping Yanzong, and they would only subconsciously think that they were concentrated in Shaipi, Hongzepu, or nearby waters.
In fact, the Military Intelligence Department was completely unable to grasp the specific movements of the main force of the Xusu Navy at this time - you can't think that the three to five feet long warships in Hongzepur are the main warships of the Xusu Navy, right?
If it weren't for the recent intelligence from the Military Intelligence Department showing that several vanguard troops of the Chihu East Route Army, which seemed to be acting independently, were too bold to cross into the west of Luzhou, Xu Huai and Han Gui would not have realized that Xu Su's navy had probably escaped from the Huaihe River.
Prepare for the possibility of directly entering the Yangtze River with the Laizhou navy.
"This is too much to deceive others," Jiang Xie asked in surprise, "How can Brother Tu conclude that Luzhou soldiers and horses will definitely go out of the city to fight with them?"
Even if the navy under Prince Ping Yanzong unexpectedly charged into the Yangtze River and had a high probability of defeating the Jianye navy that rushed to meet the enemy, the imperial court still had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses garrisoned in Luzhou, Shouzhou and Huaidong, which is closely related to Huaixi.
In the case of a fortified city, would the Japanese soldiers dare to directly cross the river to attack Jianye City, which was guarded by 30,000 imperial guards?
If Brother Tu is really so bold, all he needs to do is to mobilize 10,000 elite troops from Beijing and Xiang and march eastwards along the south bank of the Yangtze River to make them lose their footing.
No matter how arrogant Brother Tu was, he would not have concluded that Jingxiang could not mobilize 10,000 elites at this time, or Brother Tu had concluded that his Pingyan army could capture Jianye City in time before the elite reinforcements from Beijing and Xiangzhou arrived?
Therefore, Jiang Xie is more inclined to believe that such a big move by the Luzhou soldiers is basically to lure the Luzhou defenders out of the city to fight in the field, but in his opinion, the success rate of this is not high.
At present, the imperial court clearly requires the generals in Huaixi to hold on to the city and wait for the four reinforcements to be assembled before joining the battle with the captive troops.
"Other people might not be fooled easily, but Xu Pu might really bite this hook." Han Gyu said with a sigh...
