Huaiyang Hills, as the remnants of Huaiyang Mountain, are composed of a series of mountains such as Fucha Mountain, Zhangbaling, and Lianzi Mountains. The southern ridge, Fucha Mountain, is the boundary mountain between Chuzhou and Luzhou (Hefei), and the northern ridge is the boundary mountain between Chuzhou and Luzhou (Hefei).
Lianzi Mountain is the boundary ridge between Chuzhou and Haozhou; Zhangbaling in the middle is the gateway from Shouchou and Haozhou to the southeast into Chuzhou and Huaidong.
In March, the Japanese soldiers used Hefei, Feidong (Liangxian), Feixi and other cities as bridgeheads, shrinking the defense line to the Nanfei River and Dongfei River. The troops from the east wing of Dayue also entered Fucha Mountain, Zhangbaling and Lianzi in large numbers.
A camp was built on the mountain to threaten the enemy's defense line from Feidong to the north along the Dongfei River from the flanks.
The highest peak of Zhangbaling is only 1560 feet. At the beginning of the Dai Viet Dynasty, Huangfu Hui, a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, stationed troops at the foot of the mountain to prevent the Vietnamese troops from going south, so it was named Huangfuding.
The old site of the beacon tower that was more than a hundred years old is still on the top of the peak. Later generations built a pavilion on it, named Wangdi Tower, and it has become a famous scenic spot in Chuzhou.
Not long after Luo Wang set up camp near Huangfuding, at the end of March, the captive troops mobilized troops and horses from near Shouchun and heavily filled the southern front, assuming a decisive battle on the west bank of Chao Lake.
There was no need for Xu Huai to greet Luo Wang, Gao Juntang and the others, who were all worried that the Lu soldiers might want to attack the east and west, and they did not want to contain the main force of the Qin Wang soldiers on the west wing.
With this idea in mind, he took the initiative to withdraw all the troops and horses west of Zhangbaling and Lianzi Mountain, and overhauled the fortresses in the valley to the north of Huangfuding to prepare for a long-term confrontation.
This four-story wooden building located at the top of Huangfu Peak has now become a veritable enemy watchtower. The Jingnan Army not only has a team of armored soldiers stationed here, but also has civilians transporting wood and bricks to build a small fort.
, to control the highest point of Zhangbaling.
At this time, Ge Boyi climbed onto the railing of the enemy watchtower and stood in a very distant field of vision. He could see the low hills and ridges in the northern part of Feidong County, which were also lined with enemy villages.
In the past two or three months, Xu Huai had broken all the troops of Qinwang into pieces, effectively relieved the capital of Yuhou, and commanded the military power of senior generals above. As far as the Jingnan Army was concerned, after the sieges of Shucheng and Lujiang were lifted, Luo Wang
He had to lead 10,000 remnant troops to Chuzhou to participate in the war on the east wing, while 15,000 Jingnan troops remained on the west wing, accepting Xu Huai's control.
In response to this, Ge Boyi used his power as the pacification envoy of Jingnan to directly recruit new Qinwang soldiers from Xiangtan and other states to march eastward to replace the troops controlled by Xu Huai on the west flank.
The Qinwang soldiers on all roads mainly train rural soldiers in regiments, which itself requires them to practice during the leisure time in autumn and winter and participate in local defense; during the busy farming season in spring and summer, they return to the fields.
The time for regiment training and rural soldier training and participation in local defense is related to the length of corvee service for each person, and corresponding taxes are exempted. In case of war, corvee service can theoretically be extended indefinitely, but after the war is over, corresponding deductions are also required.
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Ge Boyi had no intention of extending the corvee for the Jingnan Army deployed on the west flank at this time, and replaced the important task of King Qin with newly recruited soldiers. Xu Huai had no way to blame him; the only thing Xu Huai could do was to train local soldiers from the returning regiment.
, through recruitment, more than a thousand Jingnan generals who were willing to fight and dared to fight were retained and directly incorporated into the Tianxiong Army directly under the jurisdiction of the Production Department.
However, fortunately, other road warriors are far less tough than Ge Boyi and are not willing to go through such trouble just to have trouble with such a popular and powerful Marquis Jingsheng.
In order to ensure that the newly recruited soldiers would not fall into Xu Huai's control again, Ge Boyi worked tirelessly this time and personally
Since escorting the newly recruited soldiers to the east and handing them over to Luo Wang's control, it also happened to coincide with the large-scale deployment of troops and horses by the Red Army to the southern front.
After Ge Boyi arrived in Chuzhou, he and Liu Yan, accompanied by the generals, climbed to the top of Huangfu Peak in Zhangbaling and looked at the deployment of the enemy camp. They were also full of confusion.
The rainy season is about to enter. The Longshu River, Nanfei River and other Huaixi rivers that flow into Chaohu Lake will all rise due to heavy rains in the Huaiyang Mountains, and there will even be a high probability of floods, which is not conducive to the Red Hussars.
Galloping in the plains south of the Nanfei River.
Furthermore, Xu Huai could completely continue to strengthen the forts along the Longshu River, station troops and horses in the strong camps, and lock the camps to avoid fighting.
Delaying the war would not only allow the soldiers and horses trapped in Shouchun City to take a breather - Shouchun City had stored enough food for the soldiers and horses for two years before the war, but it would also be beneficial to Dai Viet in other aspects.
The war was limited to the northwestern part of Huaihe, and it had no major impact on production and trade in most areas of Dai Viet. Materials such as grain, ammunition, and weapons were mainly transported to the front line through the Xiang River, Han River and Yangtze River waterways, and the cost was extremely low.
Comparatively speaking, after the Chihu people have consumed the materials seized from Hefei, it will definitely be more difficult to transport grain, fodder and ordnance from behind than from Da Viet.
Much more, and the cost will be much greater.
Why do the Chihu people think there is a chance for a decisive battle south of the Nanfei River?
Ge Boyi even suspected Han Shiliang. Ge Yu couldn't stand it anymore and had already surrendered to the enemy?
Of course, no matter how suspicious Ge Boyi was in his heart, he would not reveal it easily.
If both the government and the public suspect Han Shiliang and Ge Yu has wavered and even secretly surrendered to the enemy, not to mention how brutal the blow to the Ge family is, Xu Huai will also have enough reasons to order the disarmament of the former Huai Prince's troops——
This will be something that neither he nor Emperor Shaolong can stop.
Ge Boyi was the Duke of the county, serving as deputy envoy to the privy council and also in charge of the Jingnan envoy system. His status was not lower than that of Liu Yan.
Therefore, Ge Boyi personally escorted the troops and horses to Luo Wang's control. Liu Yan, Yang Qiye and other generals also followed the due etiquette and accompanied them to inspect the defense of the east wing. However, after coming down from Huangfu, Liu Yan and Yang Qiye were guarding the troops and horses.
Surrounded by people, they returned directly to the Xingyuan, which was still located in Quanjiao.
Ge Boyi, surrounded by his direct line of generals, went to Luo Wang's tent at the Maitreya Temple at the northern foot of Huangfuding.
It was only after entering the big tent that Luo Wang said to Ge Boyi: "There is a person in the big tent who needs to be seen by the county magistrate!"
"Who?" Ge Boyi stared at Luo Wang in confusion and asked.
"Zheng Changling." Luo Wang said.
"How is that possible?" Ge Boyi asked in shock.
Zheng Changling was his nephew. Before the war, he served as the official secretary of Guangzhou and joined the army.
After Kong Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and other surrendered generals led the German army and surrendered to the Red Husbands, the military supervisors and Guangzhou Tongpan and others were executed, and the lives of other officials were unknown. Everyone speculated that these officials should have been killed by Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou. The surrender will be presented as a tribute to the Red Husbands.
In other words, if Zheng Changling had not died, he would have been in the prison of the Red Guards at this time. How could he suddenly appear in Luo Wang's camp after not hearing anything for two or three months?
"Kong Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou surrendered to the captives, and the military supervisor Zhou Guangjun and others were killed. Zheng Changling said that he and other officials in Guangzhou were captured and imprisoned in the captive camp. The Chihu people wanted to surrender to them.
So it is not difficult for them to be imprisoned, but Zheng Changling said that he has a heart for Vietnam and is unyielding. He finally found a chance to escape from the prison camp half a month ago and fled to me..." Luo Wang said cautiously.
To be honest, he didn't believe Zheng Changling's words.
Of course, even if he believed Zheng Changling's words, he also knew that if he sent Zheng Changling back to Jianye at this time, he would most likely be detained by the ministers of the Beijing-Xiangxiang Clan on the charge of "pretending to be an escapee, but actually being an internal agent of the Hulu" and be detained for severe scrutiny.
Therefore, Luo Wang detained Zheng Changling in the camp and waited for Ge Boyi to come and make up his mind.
Ge Boyi backed away, and when Luo Wang brought Zheng Changling over alone, he directly drew the knife and put it on his neck, staring angrily at his thin face that looked like a dishonor, and angrily said: "You useless thing, what are you doing?" Hu Lu acted as an internal agent and wanted to kill your wife, children, and children, and I can't save their heads!"
Zheng Changling fell to the ground and screamed to defend himself: "Changling was loyal to Dai Viet and loyal to the prince. He only wanted to not damage the reputation of the prince and refused to be tempted by the barbarian torture. This time he was eaten. He managed to escape after all the hardships. If the Duke of the county didn't believe it, he would have thrown Chang Ling into the wilderness after killing him, just pretending that Chang Ling had never appeared! "
Ge Boyi stared at Zheng Changling suspiciously for a while, then returned the knife to its sheath and said sternly: "Can you tell me how you escaped? You only have half a lie, be careful that I will kill my relatives for justice and will not be merciful!"
At present, apart from the fact that Yang Maoyan has been sentenced to exile in Lingnan, Wang Boqian has been impeached for incompetence every now and then. At this time, Emperor Shaolong could only temporarily keep his official position on the excuse that the Privy Council cannot be without an officer for a day.
Ge Boyi now doesn't know how passive they will be if one of them is found guilty of "pretending to be an escapee but actually being an internal agent".
Therefore, even if Zheng Changling passed the first test, Ge Boyi still did not dare to believe him easily.
Zheng Changling sat on the ground and talked about his experience of escaping from the prison camp:
"... After we were captured, we also pretended to obey. After more than a month, the Hulu gradually relaxed their vigilance towards us. But the others were afraid of death and did not dare to escape. I was thinking about Dai Viet and the Duke, and it was true. I was worried about my wife and children in Jianye City, so I risked my life to escape back. Also, I accidentally heard the captive general say that King Chihu Jingtan seemed to be dissatisfied with the new Khan's accession to the throne, and King Zhennan and King Pingyan were worried about this. , I actually don’t want to use troops against my country, Vietnam. I must report this news to the imperial court and the Duke, so that I can be worthy of the imperial court and the Duke’s cultivation of Changling..."
"You beast, you still say you haven't surrendered to the enemy!?" Ge Boyi suddenly kicked Zheng Changling in the heart, kicked him to the ground, and drew his knife to stab him straight in the heart.
"I didn't surrender to the enemy, I didn't surrender to the enemy!" Zheng Changling screamed in fright.
Luo Wang hurriedly stepped forward to hold Ge Boyi and said: "There may be something hidden, please calm down, Duke!"
"There is such a hidden secret. This bastard who is greedy for life and afraid of death is willing to pretend to be a traitor to the barbarians. He is full of lies. This is going to leave me waiting for death without a burial place!" Ge Boyi was so angry that his white beard trembled and wanted to follow Luo.
Wang broke free from his hand and stabbed Zheng Changling to death before he was willing to do so.
"Everything Changling said is true. The Duke wants me to die, and Changling has no complaints!" Zheng Changling knelt on the ground and kowtowed, insisting that she had not surrendered to the enemy...
