Several knights reined in their horses and stopped on a flat hill. They could clearly see the Huaihe River shrouded in the misty morning light and the plains on both sides. It was like being immersed in the clear lake water, giving them a strange sense of transparency. The water had long receded. , but left an extremely vast reed marsh on both sides of the bank, like a vast ocean. The wind blew and rolled up the reed flowers all over the sky like snow.
At this time, two sailing ships sailed into the Huaihe River from the Huangshui River on the other side, which immediately aroused the vigilance of several knights. Some stood on horseback and looked into the distance, and saw that the Huangshui River mouth on the other side was blocked by the reeds in the estuary delta. To the south, hundreds of warships were sailing toward the Huaihe River like arrows that had escaped from their strings.
The knight's face changed with shock when he saw this scene. He took off the horns from his waist and blew the horn, "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot According Saihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. The wandering sentries and scouts couldn't help but get excited when they heard the sound.
Zhong Changqing was inspecting the military camp at that time. He heard the rapid blowing of trumpets outside the city, and he quickly climbed up the tower with fear.
In addition to hundreds of large and small warships sailing into the Huaihe River from the mouth of the river, there are also several large groups of naval warships that have completed their assembly in the Huangshui River south of the Huaihe River, and will enter the Huaihe River at any time with great momentum.
In the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, densely packed boats are like dark clouds covering the waters outside the mouth of the Rushui River.
Judging from the scale, the navy ships from Beijing and Xiangzhou in Huangchuan, Luoshan, Chushan and other places should be out in full force this time.
However, at this moment, Zhong Changqing felt relieved:
After the Southern Dynasty moved its capital to Xiangyang in mid-June, in order to test the attitudes of Gao Junyang, Gu Jiqian, Han Shiliang and Ge Boyi, Prince Jingpan and Prince Pingyan sent envoys to Hanzhong, Jinzhou, Chuzhou and Yuezhou respectively. Liaison - As one of the core generals of the Zhennan Zong Palace, Zhong Changqing is well aware of the liaison situation in several aspects.
Gao Junyang, the appeasement envoy appointed on the West Qin Road, not only left behind the gifts carried by the envoys sent by Prince Jingpanzong's Palace, but also prepared gifts for the envoys to carry back.
It is not unexpected that Gao Junyang and the Gao family behind him would have such a reaction.
After the "Escape from Beijing Incident" in the Southern Dynasties, not only did Gao Juntang resign from his post at the Jinghu North Road Military and Horse Command, which existed in name only, and led his nephew and more than 200 retinues back to Western Qin, Gao Junyang also fully contracted in the central and western Qinling Mountains. In order to defend the Jingpanzong Palace, some elite soldiers and horses were transferred to Hanzhong, Guangyuan and other deep hinterlands.
In his early years, Gao Junyang served as the military envoy of Xihe Road and was among the five giants of the Western Army. Like Zheng Huaizhong, he never took the people of Chushan seriously from beginning to end. After Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang, he and the people of Chushan The relationship has always been very distant.
The Gao family has always been interested in recruiting the remnants of the Khitan, but Jingxiang not only spared no effort to help the Khitans break free from the Gao family's control, they even secretly crossed over to Chencang in Jiazhou and Lizhou of Xishu, which the Gao family regarded as their back garden, and made secret arrangements to break through at all costs. The Qionglai Mountain Road helped the remaining Khitan tribe to gain a foothold at the western foot of Qionglai Mountain.
This move also made Jiazhou and Lizhou, southwest of Xishu Road, completely out of Gao's control.
These were enough to make the Gao family resentful and wary of Jingxiang.
However, after the Battle of Pikou, the morale of the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Dynasties was only one aspect. The more critical "Escape from Beijing Incident" was that the Qiandi system represented by Ge Boyi, Wei Chujun and others weakly chose to compromise. This made Gao Junyang and Gao Jun
No matter how dissatisfied or resentful he was towards Jingxiang, who was holding the emperor hostage to control the princes, he could only tolerate it for the time being.
Although Gao Junyang said that at this time, he had the intention of relying on the Western Qin Dynasty to become independent, the Gao family did not dare to openly break with the Southern Dynasty, and Zhong Changqing also knew that the Gao family was being suppressed.
Before being forced into desperation, he would not openly seek refuge with Chi Hu easily.
Of course, if the attitude of Gao Junyang and the Gao family can be confirmed, the Jingpanzong Palace can, on the one hand, concentrate more troops and horses in the Guanshan area, and strengthen the control of Dongchuan Road and Jingxiang Road Xichuan through Ziwu Road and Wuguan Road.
The regional offensive can also speed up the conquest of the Tubo tribes, deal with the threat of the remnant Khitan troops who have retreated to the western foot of Qionglai Mountain as soon as possible, and even further advance into the southern Sichuan area through the passage built by Beijing and Xiangxi at the southern foot of Qionglai Mountain, completely
Subdue Gao Junyang and the Gao family behind him.
It is not surprising that Prince Jingpanzong's palace also sent envoys to Dongchuan Road, but they were turned away by Gu Jiqian and ignored.
In his early years, Xu Huai led his troops to garrison Shuozhou. When he was in Xishan, he had close contacts with the Gu family. Not only did he receive help from the Gu family when he initially led his troops to flee south through Fuzhou, where the Gu family was based, but also when he led his troops to raid Taiyuan for thousands of miles, the Gu family
He is also a direct participant.
After Chihu defeated the Dangxiang, the Gu family once wanted to hold on to Lantian and other places at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, and to protect the bridgehead from the Qinling Mountains in the north to attack Guanshan. At that time, the Gu family asked Jingxiang to help defend the Shangluo line, but Jingxiang refused, which made the relationship between the two sides
The relationship became colder. However, Chihu then launched a larger-scale offensive in the middle, proving that Jingxiang's judgment of the situation was more accurate.
This time the Southern Dynasty returned its capital to Xiangyang. Gu Jiqian, the pacification envoy appointed by Dongchuan Road, rushed to Xiangyang in person several days in advance to welcome Emperor Shaolong back to the capital. Later, his brother Gu Jilang stayed in Xiangyang to serve. This shows that the Gu family may not
He was loyal to Jingxiang, but he had no ambition to separate from the Southern Dynasties in a short period of time.
Prince Ping Yanzong sent envoys to Yuezhou to contact Ge Boyi, but they were also turned away.
The Ge family is not as good as the Gao family. Their foothold in eastern Zhejiang is not yet stable. The "Escape from Beijing Incident" has just passed and the aftermath has not yet dissipated. How can they dare to ask Jingxiang to seize the opportunity to collaborate with the enemy?
But it was Han Shiliang's reaction in Chuzhou that was the most thought-provoking.
On the one hand, Han Shiliang gathered all the elite soldiers and horses of his direct line back to Chuzhou City and nearby areas. On the other hand, Prince Ping Yanzong sent envoys twice, asking Han Shiliang to cut off his head and hang it on the gate of Chuzhou City.
Of course, Han Shiliang's troops only have 30,000 troops and no navy. Although they cannot be ignored, they are not of great importance at present. After all, Prince Ping Yanzong's palace is east of Xusi and has 40,000 to 50,000 troops.
Guard the north bank area of the lower reaches of the Huaihe River.
What really determines the future trend is the competition in the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River and the Funiu Mountains at the eastern foot of the Qinling Mountains.
Since the Southern Dynasties moved the capital to Xiangyang, Zhong Changqing has not been waiting for Jingxiang to take the lead in crossing the Huaihe River and launch an offensive. For the past two or three months, he has not thought about tea and food, and has been worried and restless.
Zhong Changqing thought that Jingxiang would take the lead in sending troops to attack Huaichuan and attack Cai and other cities before the adjustment of the troops and horses of Prince Jingpan Zong's palace was completed, and before the western front had to bear much military pressure. However, Jingxiang did not expect that Jingxiang would delay.
It was not until the end of September, when the autumn grain harvest was complete, that the battle to cross the Huaihe River was officially launched.
But when the day came when Beijing and Xiang launched a massive campaign to cross the Huaihe River, Zhong Changqing felt relieved.
He looked calmly at the rows of boats on the surging Huaihe River, looked at the densely packed armored soldiers standing on the deck of the warship, and listened calmly to the low and rapid sound of the horn blowing in his ears.
I just want to see if Jingxiang is confident enough to think that Prince Jingpanzong's palace can mobilize 100,000 elite troops to reinforce Hehuai this winter without fear, or is it true that the internal affairs of the Southern Dynasty delayed until this time to settle down, so that Jingxiang can only
Dare to raise troops and march north?
This winter, Zhennan Town Prince's Mansion and Pingyanzong Prince's Mansion also learned from various clues.
It had long been expected that once the Southern Dynasty launched the Huaihe crossing operation, the focus of the initial attack would be Huaichuan and Xiacai.
Xiacai and Shouchun face each other across the Huaihe River. Xiacai City faces the mouth of the Dongfei River and faces Jiaogang Lake in the west. The soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasties must capture Xiacai before the situation around Shouchun is complete and can better take care of the lower reaches of the Huaihe River.
Wars in Haozhou, Sizhou, and the upper reaches of Huoqiu, Gushi and other places.
The Huaichuan River is opposite the Huangshui River mouth, and it is only more than 20 miles away from the Ru River entering the Huaikou River.
Since the beginning of the year, the gathering and planning of soldiers, horses and supplies in the Southern Dynasties have mainly focused on preparations for these two cities.
Of course, in addition to the important geographical location, even if it is to boost their own morale or consume as much of the Southern Dynasty's effective forces, Zhennan Zong Palace and Pingyan Zong Palace cannot give up these two places easily, and have made careful preparations for this.
deploy.
Zhong Changqing looked into the distance.
At this time, he could no longer think about the situation of Prince Ping Yan Zong's palace guarding Xia Cai and other places. He just thought that Cao Shixiong had occupied Heluo. After receiving reinforcements from the Guan Shaanxi Army and Horses General Manager's Palace, he would go south along the Yishui River and flank you.
Prefecture, try your best to hold back the elite soldiers and horses on the west wing of Beijing and Xiangzhou. The Zhennan Zong Palace can free up hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and horses to gather at you this winter????????????????
, Yingxia, how can we defend the city of Huaichuan?
In the distance, the warships of the Beijing-Hangzhou navy quickly completed the blockade of the Rushui River mouth, and one troop transport ship docked at a high ground fifteen or six miles away from the Huaichuan River.
Zhong Changqing watched with a stern expression as groups of soldiers from the Southern Dynasties quickly landed ashore through several plank roads built on pallets.
Although the defenders in Huaichuan City had to stay put to prevent the Southern Dynasties from forcibly besieging the city, the General Administration of Military and Horses in Western Beijing deployed more than 30,000 elite infantry and cavalry in a dozen military camps north of Huaichuan.
They all came out in full force, and under the cover of two to three thousand red cavalry, they quickly set off to the outskirts of the landing point. The battle was about to break out.
Zhong Changqing immediately summoned the Huaichuan garrison and ordered him to guard the city. Surrounded by more than a hundred horsemen, he left the city and galloped south toward the planned landing point for the troops.
"We cannot let the elites from Beijing and Xiangzhou gain a foothold on the north bank," Zhong Changqing reined in his horse and stopped in front of Yue Hailou, Meng Jie, Jiang Zhaode and other generals who had personally rushed to Huaichuan to supervise the battle. He got off his horse and urged, "No matter how much you pay,
At the cost, we all have to attack and attack again; if we retreat even a little, more elites from Beijing and Xiang will be forced to cross the river and gain a foothold on the north bank, and then it will be difficult to drive them away!"
Although there may be far more than one or two landing points for elite troops from Beijing and Xiangzhou on the north shore, landing thousands of troops and horses cannot be accomplished in the blink of an eye, but also requires a process.
Therefore, during the landing of elite troops from Beijing and Xiangzhou, the troops they deployed in the north of Huaichuan City were mainly horse infantry and cavalry. They also had enough time to gather at the landing point, assemble, and use a tough stance to cancel the landing plan of elite elites from Beijing and Xiangzhou.
.
At this time, there were only a thousand soldiers in Beijing and Xiang using pallets, passing through the muddy river beach, and landing on a relatively flat grassland with the help of more than a dozen accompanying shield vehicles, and they only organized three or four soldiers.
Riders with hundreds of bows approached and attacked, but Zhong Changqing thought that this was not enough.
He believed that Yue Hailou should organize at least two or three times more troops, rush forward to fight, and drive the elites from Beijing and Xiang ashore down the Huaihe River at all costs.
"You have all heard what Chang Qing said, go and deploy the attack quickly!" Yue Hailou also followed suit. He also knew that the gap between the infantry and armor of the two sides was huge. Only a half-crossing attack could close the huge gap between the two sides, so he immediately ordered
The generals will gather troops and horses to attack the landing positions of the Jingxiang soldiers...
