It is about three hundred and fifty miles from Xuzhou to Songzhou.
More than 33,000 Southern Tang Imperial Guards arrived in Xuzhou, plus the 3,000 Southern Tang Jianwu Army who had been transferred to Xuzhou earlier.
In addition, there were state and county soldiers transferred from Chuzhou, Haozhou and other places, as well as a small number of united rural soldiers, totaling about 45,000 people.
As for why the Southern Tang had so many state and county soldiers and united rural soldiers in Huainan, this is related to the Southern Tang's defense policy in Huainan.
Historically, in winter, when the water flow of the Huaihe River, Sishui River and other rivers decreased, the Southern Tang government would recruit a large number of soldiers to prevent the Central Plains court from attacking southward while the water was shallow. They called this defensive method Baqian.
Of course, the main force of the Qian army will not be the imperial army. The main force can only be the state and county soldiers and the united rural soldiers.
Every winter, during the peak period, the Southern Tang Dynasty would even hoard more than 50,000 soldiers in Huainan.
This is also the main reason why later online estimates of the number of troops in the Southern Tang Dynasty often ranged from 300,000 to 400,000.
It is true that this kind of annual inspection is a passive defense policy that consumes a lot of money, manpower and energy, and the effect is very insignificant.
Because Li Min, the founder of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was still called Xu Zhigao, he started to attack Huainan in Huainan. It has been more than ten years now, but the Central Plains court has never attacked Huainan in the Southern Tang Dynasty at this time.
It may seem like a waste of people and money, but in fact, it greatly enhanced the Southern Tang's mobilization ability in Huainan and also greatly enhanced the martial spirit of the Huainan people.
By this time, the Huainan people, like the Huaibei people, were fond of riding and shooting, and hunting was prevalent, and they often gathered together to play with guns and sticks.
Even Yangzhou, which had the impression of fireworks in March, was affected. Among the Imperial Guards of the Southern Tang Dynasty, there were a large number of Jianghuai crossbowmen from nearby Yangzhou.
It is difficult to say whether the Central Plains imperial court would have attacked southward if it had not been for the control of Qian year after year.
Historically, Guo Rong was very lucky, because more than a year later, Wu Tingshao, the supervisor of Shouzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty, thought that there had been no war in Huainan for a long time, so he asked to stop it because of the inefficiency of the people and the loss of money.
Li Jing immediately ignored the objections of the Huainan generals and directly ordered a stop.
Wu Tingshao was a doctor who was highly regarded because he cured Feng Yanji's headache. It was extraordinary that Li Jing could listen to a doctor's advice on national defense.
But Zhang Zhao was not so lucky. At this time, the Southern Tang Dynasty continued to suppress troops. Therefore, Chu, Hao, Si and other states south of Xuzhou had a large number of state and county soldiers and united rural soldiers gathered.
Then Liu Yanzhen directly transferred half of them. While serving as civilian husbands, they could also go to the battlefield to fight.
So at the end of February, Liu Yanzhen was deployed in the northern camp of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He led the Southern Tang imperial army of 36,000, 7,000 state and county soldiers, 2,000 united rural soldiers, and 3,000 Wuning troops under Hu Cile's command, for a total of 48,000 troops.
, plus the more than 20,000 civilians who accompanied the army, it was called one hundred thousand.
Along the Bian River from Xuzhou, the flags were fluttering, and the boats were connected bow to stern, heading towards Songzhou in a mighty manner.
Bianshui is not the Tongji Canal known as the Ancient Bian River, but a tributary of the Surabaya River, which is called the Ancient Bian Canal at this time.
The names of Bianshui and Bianhe River often change. Sometimes Bianshui will add an ancient character to become Gubianqu, and sometimes Bianhe will add an ancient character to become Gubianhe River.
Not to mention in later generations, even at this time, these two rivers are often confused by people.
When mentioning Bianhe River, many people will subconsciously think that Bianshui and Bianhe River are the same river.
Therefore, when Liu Yanzhen heard from his generals that Xuzhou had the Bian River leading to Songzhou, he immediately applied to the Southern Tang court for hundreds of boats.
The Bianshui River he thought was the Tongji Canal. This grand canal was built by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty with a wide water surface. Because dragon boats were used to row boats back then, the water was deep enough for large ships.
In addition, the Tongji Canal is a canal with slow water flow, and the difference between upstream and downstream is not too big, so it is very suitable for transportation.
But when he actually left Xuzhou, Liu Yanzhen was dumbfounded. The Bianshui River in front of him was narrow, the water flow was not too slow, and the water depth was not deep enough.
However, when the army set out, all the supplies and food were loaded onto the ships. We can't change the Jin army's plan now, right?
If Zhang Zhao were here, he would have to consider efficiency, transportation capacity, the physical strength of the civilian husband, etc., but how could Liu Yanzhen care about these, especially how could he care about the life and death of the civilian husband.
So a military order was issued to requisition an additional 10,000 men and boats, and the army went upstream as planned.
And someone who can hang out with Liu Yanzhen, with a master like him, how can he have kind people under his command.
These people, Liu Yanzhen, will prey on the people if they don't give the order. After giving the order, that's fine!
When the army was first launched, the pro-army troops deployed in the camp rushed to the counties around Xuzhou, raping, raping, and looting all the way, and wiped out all the people around Bianshui.
.
.
"Fuck you, I don't have much ability in fighting, but I'm pretty good at causing harm to the common people!"
Not far from Bianshui, Huang Yingda, Han Tong and a few others were crawling in a small bush.
A soldier who looked a bit bookish, but had thick calluses on his jaw and thumb, was recording quickly.
Hearing Huang Yingda's complaints, Han Tong grinned and said somewhat flatteringly to the celebrity next to his immediate boss and saint.
"That is, we will do our best to harm the people here. When we get to the Huainan states, we will give them a pot of food from those in Nanwu."
Huang Yingda and the soldiers who were writing and drawing rolled their eyes at Han Tong. Huang Yingda pointed at Han Tong and said to the soldiers.
"Feng Jiye, remember this for me. When we get to Huainan, we must stay away from this idiot. Don't let his blood splatter on both of us when he is beheaded by military law."
This soldier-looking guy turned out to be Feng Jiye, the youngest son of Feng Hui, the commander of the You Shenwu Army.
After their father and son violently defeated Meng Shu in Guanzhong, they rushed to the front line of the conquest of the Southern Tang Dynasty without stopping.
Feng Jiye looked at the dumbfounded Han Tong and said: "According to the military law of the Zhou Dynasty, if there are no rank officials, the adulterer will be demoted to the son-in-law, the plunderer will start with twenty army sticks, and five times the penalty will be confiscated, and the adulterer will be killed with one knife.
Got it!"
Han Tong immediately shuddered. He relied on the battlefield to rise up and killed three Khitan Pishi soldiers, and he just got a seventh-grade Wu Yilang.
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This is a good thing, with annuities, land grants, school admissions, tax reductions and other privileges. It would be a pity if your crotch was masturbated because you couldn't control it. As for being stabbed, you would be even less willing to do so.
However, he still couldn't help but murmured a few words, "Then we put our heads on the waistband of our trousers and fight like this, straining our muscles and breaking our bones, without giving any sweetness, so what's the point?"
Feng Jiye snorted, "If you want to be happy, spend a dozen copper coins and someone will take care of you comfortably. You can be as obedient as you want."
When you have no money, you bravely kill the enemy to get the reward from the saint. You have accumulated bad virtue and are happy, but what is the point of harming the miserable people?"
"Yes! Feng Qilang is right!" Huang Yingda knocked Han Tong on the head hard.
"Are you the one the saint said...? Well... Shen Shen is not enlightened enough! Yeah, I will punish you. This time you bring someone up to fight!"
Han Tong was so disgraced by the two men's comments that he felt that he was a bit dirty, so after receiving Huang Yingda's order, he quickly twisted his buttocks left and right and retreated from the bush.
Huang Yingda brought a battalion of cavalry out this time. They placed their horses far away. The so-called going up to fight was the task Zhang Zhao gave them.
Mainly to test the reaction, morale, general command ability, soldier quality, equipment and tactics of the Southern Tang army.
A side effect was that they became even more nervous, making it more difficult for the Southern Tang Army to fight against the current.
It has to be said that the cavalry of the Southern Tang Dynasty really stretched their hips. Han Tong and more than 200 cavalry were only two to three hundred steps away from them, and then the Youyi cavalry of the Southern Tang Dynasty discovered them.
After discovering Han Tong and others, the Southern Tang cavalry did not immediately send an alarm. Instead, seeing that there were few of them, they surrounded them in a noisy manner.
Han Tong took advantage of the situation and mounted his horse, and directly came a cavalry to counterattack.
Because Han Tong's right wing Lin Wei's protégé Qing Yishui wore cloth-covered armor very quickly, by the time the Southern Tang cavalry arrived, they had already finished donning their armor.
The armored cavalry were used to fight against the unarmored cavalry of the Southern Tang Dynasty. They were finished with a single charge. The three to four hundred Southern Tang cavalrymen who came over lost dozens of people and immediately started running around.
Han Tong took advantage of the situation and charged forward, with more than 200 riders running away with such power that the earth trembled.
The soldiers of Nantangzhou County in front of them were in a panic. The officers could not give orders to the soldiers even by beating gongs and drums, and could only use the guards to intimidate them.
Before Han Tong and others arrived, the officers of the Southern Tang Dynasty killed several people by themselves.
These state and county soldiers basically did not wear armor, and some had some tattered armor, but they were still in formation, with spears and shields.
Han Tong immediately did not choose to charge into the formation, but instead placed a hundred cavalry on guard, and the other hundred or so dismounted, and then fired with a hard bow.
This is the advantage of cloth-covered iron armor. As long as you don't shoot ten or eight arrows at once, you can still maintain a certain ability to shoot a hard bow even if you are wearing heavy armor.
Under their direct fire, the surrounding Nantang Prefecture County soldiers were thrown off their backs.
Even a commander who commanded 1,500 state and county soldiers was shot because he stepped forward to give orders. If it weren't for the iron stomach on his head, he would have almost died on the spot.
The Southern Tang Army had no choice but to release a few hundred more cavalry, but they were still defeated by Han Tong's 100 cavalry on guard.
As a result, the thousands of Southern Tang troops on the left bank of Bian River were defeated by more than 200 people from Han Tong and were unable to do anything.
It was not until the Shenwei Army, which was part of the Forbidden Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty, dispatched hundreds of crossbowmen and elite soldiers that Han Tong began to retreat.
Feng Jiye, who had been observing from a distance, clapped his hands, put the file into his clothes, and then said excitedly to Huang Yingda.
"General Lang, the last Southern Wu Forbidden Army has also appeared. It has many crossbowmen and well-equipped soldiers, but basically no cavalry.
It is estimated that it took them three quarters of an hour from receiving the order to finishing dressing and dispatching, so they are quite elite."
Huang Yingda nodded, "Then you should send the information to Wang Yisi as soon as possible, and I will give them some trouble."
The so-called Wangyi Division is Zhang Zhao's wartime staff department. It was established according to the Six Taoist Military Strategy. Zhang Zhao slightly improved it and it is very close to the structure of the general staff department of later generations.
All the information obtained about the Southern Tang Army will be summarized by them and then displayed in figures and tables.
This is also one of Zhang Zhao’s trump cards, knowing yourself and your enemy, which has always been advocated by me, Saint Zhang.
Now under his leadership, the Zhou army, a seasoned tiger, was waiting for the bold hyena of the Southern Tang Dynasty to be fooled.
