With continuous rain and a severe cold wave coming from the north, the coldest season in Huainan has arrived. Many river sections in the Huai River Basin have begun to freeze. Although most of the ice layers are shallow, it has also seriously affected the Northern Han Dynasty. The grand army's food and fodder transportation and military mobilization. Since the end of autumn, the endless boat traffic on the Huai River has finally come to an end.
Due to the weather conditions, Liu Chengyou simply issued an edict to mobilize all armies in the Huaihe River, each to defend its stronghold and its own city, consolidate the results of the battle, recuperate the soldiers, and accumulate strength so that the weather would improve and the attack could be resumed.
Fortunately, before the cold wave hit, the Northern Han Dynasty had already stocked up a large amount of military supplies, food, clothing, soldiers, and armor before the Huainan camp and even the military camps, which could be used for the Huaibei army for half a year. The price was that Huaibei All the money and food saved were used up, and more than half of it was stored in the treasuries of Tokyo and Kinki for transshipment.
It can be said that the great cause of conquering the Huaihe River has progressed to this extent. The Northern Han Dynasty has already exerted all its strength, and there is no reason to stop or fail in the battle. Judging from the development of the battle situation, the prospects are quite promising.
One thing that is certain is that Liu Chengyou did not need three attacks that lasted for several years like Zhou Shizong in the original history.
Liu Chengyou's preparations for the conquest of the Huaihe River were so thorough that no words of painstaking effort can even describe it. Without going through several strategies to confuse the enemy, the organization of the Forbidden Army, the training of the navy army, the spying on Jianghuai armaments, and the investigation of geographical transportation, The raising of grain and military supplies, coupled with a large-scale extermination of Buddhism, allowed the Northern Han Dynasty to increase its military expenditures for the war.
The development of the war situation since the beginning of the war has been even smoother. Not to mention other major and minor battles, the two great victories at Xia Cai and Wokou caused heavy damage to the military strength of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It was of more strategic significance, establishing a victory situation and putting the Northern Han Dynasty at risk. What turned the advantage into victory was that the capture of the two states of Hao and Chu broke through the Huai River defense line of the Southern Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop.
In the original history, Guo Rong conquered the Huaihe River and besieged Shouchun with the same troops. However, Liu Rengan managed the army well and defended Shouchun. Moreover, the important Huai defense areas of Hao and Si were always controlled by the Tang army. The Tang army's ships galloped, and the Zhou army also Without a water force, there will never be peace on the flanks.
Shouchun was in trouble, and the Zhou army never dared to let go and attack other prefectures and counties. Until they changed their tactics and encircled the points for reinforcements, the Zhou army galloped across the hinterland of Huainan, achieved many results, and directly fulfilled Zhao Kuangyin's reputation.
Moreover, once the Zhou army was exhausted and retreated north to recuperate, the Tang army took advantage of the situation to regain the lost ground, making it difficult to consolidate the Zhou army's results for a long time. It was not until Guo Rong built a usable navy in Bianliang, and the Battle of Purple Mountain Later, the siege of Shouzhou for a year was broken, and the Zhou army was able to truly sweep through Huainan like the autumn wind sweeping the leaves. The southern Tangzhou County was invincible and suffered countless defeats.
Three years of fierce fighting caused Huainan to suffer serious damage, and the people suffered from the war. In addition, the Zhou army's violent policy of "conquering the enemy for food" gave rise to civil unrest and further damaged the morale of the people.
In fact, the reason why Guo Rong's invasion of Huainan was delayed for so long was probably because the Zhou army did too many evil things. At least in the middle and early stages, the looting and killing of Zhou soldiers and the large-scale conquest of Huainan civilians were brutal. Of course, the war During this period, there is no distinction between right and wrong, right or wrong, only the success or failure of interests.
Even so, after the war ended, Zhou Dynasty still expanded thousands of miles and occupied millions of households. After a while, the national power surged and the national power rose sharply.
As for Liu Chengyou, he had circumvented most of the shortcomings of the later Zhou Dynasty's expedition to the Tang Dynasty, and made sufficient preparations to make up for each shortcoming. Moreover, the capture of the Huai River defense line caused Shouzhou's strategic position to plummet, and the grain road was cut off. Under the circumstances, except for some political significance, the military significance of He Jingzhu and others' persistence in Shouchun is no longer significant.
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Under such circumstances, even if the defenders wanted to withdraw, there was no way out and they could only hold on and wait for reinforcements. As for how long they could hold out, it depended on the loyalty of the Tang army generals to the Southern Tang court and the morale of the troops in the city. However, an isolated city can be overwhelmed by defeats. , how long can Shouchun's defense last?
Therefore, it is not difficult to get off Shouchun City at this time.
As for Xu Wenzhen's army stationed in Hefei, it can't be said to be close at hand. It is barely close to the couch, threatening him from a distance. If he doesn't move, he can be ignored for the time being. If he moves, Liu Chengyou will welcome him.
Due to the weather, the Huaiyin line of prefectures and counties, the Han and Tang dynasties, fought on the line. The Han saber was not sheathed and the arrows were not returned to the bag. However, the attack was temporarily stopped and the soldiers were able to rest. After all, the Han army was forced to go on an expedition and turned northward. Going south, being in a foreign land and soil, coupled with continuous battles, transfers, and the siege of Shouchun again, not to mention the end of Qiannu, the division's veterans were tired, and they really needed to rest and recuperate.
As for Shouchun's defenders, they also got a chance to breathe. Although they have not experienced too fierce city defense battles since the war began, the Han army's current tactics are to give people the feeling of being strangled by the neck and gasping for air. The feeling of being out of breath.
Shouchun City is more than three feet high, and the biting cold wind whines and rages violently. The Tang flag is waving unsteadily, and many Tang soldiers are huddled in Weng City. They are not fully prepared for winter operations, and they did not expect the Han army. The determination to besiege the city, coupled with the gathering of a large number of defeated soldiers, resulted in a severe shortage of combat supplies in Shouchun City, especially supplies to keep out the cold.
The soldiers garrisoning the city were in slightly better condition. They were given priority in supplies and still had warm clothes, but they were suffering from the cold wind and cold, which was hard to endure. As for the soldiers of the Tang army in the barracks in the city wing, nearly half of them could only starve and freeze. That is, the military rations in the city There is still enough support, otherwise the morale of the army would have been weakened long ago.
In preparation for the winter, He Jingzhu had already taken decisive measures in Shouchun City. He collected supplies from the homes of the people in the city to supplement military supplies. Those who could cut down all the trees in the city were used to make fires for heating. If the trees were exhausted, houses would be demolished. Already...
In short, the priority of everything is to supply the garrison soldiers, which is extremely disturbing and hurtful to the people. At this point, General He can no longer take care of so many things. Before being an official in Shouzhou, He Jingzhu was first of all a famous general, and the general was only Consider fighting and defending the city.
As a veteran who has experienced three generations of wars in the late Tang Dynasty, the most basic quality of a martial artist is to be ruthless enough when his heart hardens.
In front of the Jiedu Yamen, He Jingzhu returned from inspecting the city defense and looked at the dozens of people standing at the steps, noisy and noisy. The composition of this group of people was very complex, including lower-level officials, noble families, merchants, wealthy households, and people working in various industries. Renji Neng, representing all classes of scholars and people in Shouchun, gathered here to ask for orders from He Jingzhu.
"When the city is in danger, you are restless at home to avoid trouble. Why do you gather in front of the Jiedu Yamen and make noise and trouble?" He Jingzhu stepped forward and asked sternly.
The person who stood up to respond was an old man with a deep groove on his face. He was not much older than He Jingzhu. He raised his head and looked directly at He Jingzhu, and asked: "Disaster has come, how can you tolerate our soldiers and the people if you allow us to do so?"
?”
"Scaremongering and exaggeration!" He Jingzhu scolded: "The enemy has invaded the city, and Shouchun is in danger. The army and the people in the city should work together to resist the enemy. Military supplies are insufficient, so they have been requisitioned. If you are dissatisfied because of the general's order,
Don't blame me for being ruthless in military law when people gather together to cause trouble."
After hearing what he said, the old man's silver beard twitched and said excitedly: "The Northern Han Dynasty invaded and troops surrounded Shouchun. The soldiers and people in the city jumped out to provide food and people to help the envoy to defend against the enemy. The envoy once said that he would resist the Han army.
, is to protect the hometown, but now the Han army has not yet broken the city, so your military orders have violated the people, your words and deeds are inconsistent, your military and political orders are evil, how can you face the people of Shouchun?"
"How dare you, brave old man, to be rude to Commander Ji? Are you going to die?" Before He Jingzhu could react, his tooth general stood up with an angry look on his face, and he even couldn't help but pull out a knife.
Although He Jingzhu's face was also cold, he raised his hand to stop his teeth and bowed his hand towards the old man. His old voice was full of determination and said: "I know that in order to resist the Han army, all the wise men have sacrificed a lot, and I have resentment in my heart.
It's understandable. However, I have been ordered by the imperial court to defend Shouzhou, and everything must be done with military competition first. However, when the country is in crisis, it is a matter of danger and danger. If the city is destroyed, I am afraid that chickens and dogs will not be able to stay. I hope that you can spend time with the soldiers.
You have overcome the difficulties, and I would like to thank you for this!"
Of course He Jingzhu's words were unconvincing to the crowd, but he no longer wanted to listen to his noises. After making nice remarks, he said sternly: "You have violated the commander's prohibition, gathered people in front of the commander's house, and made arrogant remarks.
This time I am pardoned. But if there is a next time, don’t blame me for being ruthless!"
He Jingzhu's threatening words immediately aroused the anger of the people, who wanted to argue with him, but no matter how sharp his words were, they could not compete with the sharpness of the sword. He Jingzhu immediately ordered people to disperse them, and he was extremely tough.
After a group of people were "dissuaded" and stood in the cold wind, He Jingzhu's expression was as cold as the winter wind.
"Who is the military academy responsible for banning the street today?" He Jingzhu asked first, and then said decisively: "Take him immediately and show his head to the public!"
"Also, those government officials were imprisoned just now. If they were in their positions and did not pursue their own political goals, but instead participated in things that disturbed people's hearts, they should be punished for their crimes!"
"Furthermore, if I send another order from my commander to collect military supplies, it will not be to burn, kill or loot. If anyone breaks the rules again, he will not be lenient. The only way is to enforce military laws. I hope the three armies will take heed of them!"
"Yes!" The generals following He Jingzhu saw his murderous look and did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly followed the order.