After night falls, fires are everywhere in Fancheng and the Qiaodu area in the south of the city, illuminating the night as brightly as day.
There are still hundreds of remnant troops in the city who are fighting stubbornly, but they have been divided into several groups and surrounded. Huang Zuyu moved from the East City to the South City. Standing on the South City Tower, it is easier to pay attention to the war in the city and Qiaodu District at the same time. At present, Fancheng has been surrounded.
The four gates were under control, and the hundreds of remaining defenders were divided and surrounded...
At present, it seems that the defenders of Xiangyang on the south bank of the Han River are unable to cross the river on a large scale to aid Fancheng, but they must completely control Fancheng and Qiaodu area before the enemy troops from Xinye and Nanyang arrive.
In the Qiaodu area, there were still more than a hundred enemy troops defending the western base and resisting. Huang Zuyu successively transferred troops and horses to the bridge area.
Gao Hu came on horseback, walked up to the city tower, and said: "There are young men in the private camp in Xicheng who want to join the army in the war. I think we can pick some people from them..."
Huang Zuyu and Zhou Bin led an attack on Fancheng with only 5,000 troops. By this time, there were already 700 to 800 casualties. Reinforcements would not arrive until three days at the earliest, and before that, the enemy troops in Xiangyang would not give up.
To recapture Fancheng, the enemy forces in Xinye and Nanyang will arrive as soon as tomorrow night. Especially since they intend to use the pontoon bridge to divert the enemy's attention, they are really lacking in manpower.
Before Yanhu transported grain from Hezhong Prefecture to Jingzhou, he adopted the method of transporting grain at separate stations, with Luoyang and Ruyang as one station, Ruyang and Nanyang as one station, Nanyang and Fancheng as one station, and Fancheng as one station.
Crossing the Han River to Xiangyang is one stop, Xiangyang to Jingmen is one stop, and the last stop is from Jingmen to the Jingzhou front line - the advantage of segmented or sub-station transportation is that the transportation efficiency will be improved and the management of civilians will become
It is extremely effective. This was created by Fan Lan, the Yanhu Henan Xuanfu envoy and the prefect of Hezhong. Gao Zongting, Song Fu and others also praised Fan Lan for his political talents, but it was a pity that he was willing to be a slave of Yan.
In order to ensure that the grain arriving in Fancheng could be transported by ferry to Xiangyang on the south coast in time and shipped to Shicheng at Tiezhuang Wharf, Yanhu captured about 5,000 people in Fancheng and set up large-scale private operations in Xicheng and Nancheng respectively. Huang Zuyu
, when Zhou Bin and others launched a sneak attack, these civilian laborers had just returned to the civilian camp to rest after a day of heavy labor.
After the war started, the private camp caused some riots. However, after the Huaidong Army took control of the four gates of Fancheng, the riots in the private camp subsided. Although a considerable number of civilians took advantage of the chaos to escape, more than 4,000 people were intercepted.
Come, at this time they are all temporarily concentrated in private camps.
Gao Hu thought that all the civilians were captured by Yan and Hu, so he could win them over to help defend the city to make up for the lack of military strength.
Huang Zuyu looked at the commander beside him, Deng Qiaoshan, who joined the army, and said: "Qiao Shan, you are responsible for this matter - the civilian husbands who were forcibly brought to join the army are from Haha, just like us, don't embarrass them. For those civilian husbands who want to return to their hometowns
, they will all be distributed food as travel expenses in accordance with regulations, and ask them to leave Fancheng immediately without delay. However, they must first tell them with great righteousness that the Huaidong Army's 200,000 troops are about to go north, and Yan and Hu's army in Jingxiang will not be able to escape and be wiped out.
Destiny, expelling Yan Hu and regaining the Central Plains, is just around the corner. The situation no longer allows Yan Hu and his lackeys to do evil in the Central Plains. We must also tell them that leaving Fancheng at this time is actually as dangerous as staying in Fancheng...
…We welcome anyone who is willing to stay and defend Fancheng with us, and they will all be regarded as Huaidong reserve generals. Some of the policies of the Huaidong army must be explained to them thoroughly!"
Fancheng itself is Yanhu's logistical relay granary. When Huang Zuyu and others came over, almost half of the two thousand carriages were filled with food as a cover. It was also to prevent Fancheng's food from being transported by air. It could be used as a supply to defend Fancheng - as far as the current situation is concerned.
Look, there is no pressure at all when food is distributed as travel expenses.
Of the two thousand carriages, less than half were filled with armor and weapons.
At this time, the chariots equipped with armor and war equipment first pulled into the city. In order to facilitate the control of Fancheng and the Qiaodu area in the south of the city, Huang Zuyu naturally focused on Nancheng.
A cartload of war equipment was parked in Nancheng, and bundles of arrows, swords and guns tied with hemp were loaded onto the cart.
Bed crossbows, scorpion crossbows, tip crossbows, and flying chariots were all urgently needed for the immediate war. They were assembled on the paved long street inside the south city gate. Every time they were assembled, they were quickly given to the enemy.
Send soldiers to the front line to enhance the attack power against the enemy.
Because kerosene cans are light and thin, they are fragile when transported by land. However, the kerosene is packed in thick clay pots, sealed in wooden boxes, and filled with straw as a buffer. It is then packed into thin clay pots for use on the battlefield.
To kill the enemy.
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Due to Chen Xi's unexpected departure from the city, the Huaidong Army would advance its sneak attack on Fancheng to tonight. Otherwise, they would spend the night quietly outside the city, and only launch the sneak attack after all the soldiers and weapons were assembled.
So hard.
Zhou Bin is responsible for commanding the battlefield in the Qiaodu area in the south of the city. The bridgehead and the west base have been blocked, and each has a battalion general responsible for the war. He is keeping an eye on the iron pile pier. Although the iron pile pier is low-lying, but with the guard of Xiangyang Ah
The number of enemy troops entering Tiezhuang Pier in Jige has accumulated to 2,000. Although Zhou Bin personally led three battalions of elite troops to suppress Tiezhuang Pier, the opponents he faced were all elite direct descendants of Yan Hu. They had been on the battlefield for a long time and were tenacious and good.
They were veterans of the battle. They relied on the relatively advantageous terrain of the iron pile dock and fought very tenaciously. Zhou Bin was somewhat under pressure.
At this time, a group of people came from behind. Zhou Bin saw that Deng Qiaoshan was leading a dozen soldiers and more than a hundred ragged civilians. If he wanted to defend Fancheng, he had to make good use of these civilians. Seeing that Deng Qiaoshan chose one so quickly.
Zhou Bin was not surprised when the civilians came to support this side, but the six crossbows that came with Deng Qiaoshan made Zhou Bin very happy: "Grandma, it will be much easier to beat these idiots with these good things..."
Zhou Bin quickly arranged the six bed crossbows to the high ground in the front line and blocked the intersection rushing up from the iron pile dock...
Perhaps a bed crossbow can only kill one or two people at a time, but the deterrence and deterrence brought by the bed crossbow at the intersection is by no means the ability of ordinary crossbows. This is why the Huaidong Army generals like to use heavy crossbows.
s reason.
The soldiers are fully armored. As long as they are not hit in the face and face, they may not be seriously injured under the rain of arrows. However, under the crossbow, even heavy armor and shields will be easily shot through. At this time
I can only pray that the crossbow’s eyes won’t hit me.
The main area of the Iron Pile Pier is on the river beach. There are more than 200 steps of stone steps leading up from the river beach. The terrain is not very dangerous, so Zhou Bin used crossbowmen to block it, and Azige could still organize his soldiers to hold shields.
Suppressing attack is also very effective.
Bows and crossbows cannot block the enemy troops from rushing in. Every time Zhou Bin reaches the end, he can only use his armored soldiers to go forward and fight hand-to-hand with the enemy soldiers in order to repel them.
Every time the enemy troops at Tiezhuang Wharf were repulsed, both sides would suffer casualties. After all, the enemy soldiers were suppressing the attack. No matter how fierce their fighting spirit was, the Huaidong Army was fearless. When the second group of Huaidong generals came to replace them, they were all wearing full armor.
Therefore, smaller casualties can be exchanged for larger enemy casualties each time.
However, the enemy general Azige had no intention of giving up the attack at that time. Zhou Bin could understand his thoughts: the success or failure of Fancheng was related to the victory or defeat of the entire Jingxiang battlefield, even if the enemy general Azige took Xiangyang's 6,000 elite troops
They will all be exhausted, but as long as it causes heavy casualties that are difficult to make up for in a short period of time for the Huaidong Army who came to attack, it will also create favorable conditions for the subsequent reinforcements to recapture Fancheng...
If this situation continues, Zhou Bin will have to consider burning the pontoon bridge and retreating to Fancheng.
Although the generals who accompanied Huang Zuyu and Zhou Bin to attack Fancheng this time, including Huang Zuyu, Zhou Bin and other generals, were all wrapped in horse leather, the casualties were too heavy. If the Nanyang enemy troops arrived at Fancheng earlier than expected, Fancheng would have
It may be gained and lost again, which will be detrimental to the entire war situation.
Huang Zuyu and Zhou Bin wanted to control the attrition ratio of their generals. Sun Zhuang would lead the reinforcements in three days at the earliest, and the enemy might be isolated from Fancheng. Cao Ziang and Zhou Tong gave Huang Zuyu and his troops a plan to attack first.
The battle plan has many variables:
The best result is to retain the pontoon bridge, pin down the enemy forces in Xiangyang at the bridge head, prevent them from retreating, and prevent them from fighting. At the same time, control Fancheng and Qiaodu area, and wait for the Huaidong Army's troops in Huangzhou and Chaishan.
The main force of the horses came to join together and strive to annihilate most of the enemy troops entering Jingxiang.
Obviously, if the pontoon bridge is not lost, and there is still hope to recapture Fancheng, the enemy in Xiangyang will take the initiative to destroy the pontoon bridge and open the westward passage along the Han River. This will require great determination - once the enemy in Xiangyang has the opportunity to destroy the pontoon bridge.
If he is determined, he will inevitably quickly build a ferry at Baiyangguan or Danjiangkou in the upper reaches of the Han River to establish a channel connecting the north and south of the Han River. Although this channel cannot be compared with Jingxiang, the earlier this channel is established, the better it will be.
Quickly, especially before the main force of the Huaidong Army has advanced to Xiangfan, whether Yanhu continues to go from Guanzhong to Wuguan, passes through Wuguan, and Danjiang to transport supplies to the south bank of the Han River, or the enemy troops on the south bank of the Han River move west from Xiangyang
It is very advantageous to cross the Han River and pass through Baiyang Pass, and then retreat from Danjiangkou to Guanzhong.
If the pontoon bridge is left intact, the enemy generals in Xiangyang will become hesitant and put their main elite forces on crossing the river to recapture Fancheng, instead of immediately establishing river crossing channels at Baiyang Pass and Danjiangkou on the west and north banks of Xiangyang.
Once the main force of the Huaidong Army enters the Xiangfan area, it will be too late for the enemy to think about establishing a river-crossing channel to the west of Xiangyang and Baiyang Pass on the north bank. Although the Huaidong Navy will enter the Xiangfan area very slowly, even if it cannot compete with Luxury for the time being,
The Jia Shui Army fought for control of the Han River, but the main force of the infantry camp could go directly north and take the overland route from Xinye and Xichuan counties, detouring around the Wuguan River and the upper reaches of the Danjiang River, cutting off the connection between Jingxiang, Yan, Hu soldiers and horses and Guanzhong.
How successful the Jingxiang battle can be depends entirely on whether the gap in Fancheng is sealed well.
Although Fancheng is the base of the entire Jingxiang region, this base is more than 200 miles wide from Zaoyang in the east to Baiyangguan in the west. The mouth of the Danjiang River is more than 200 miles wide, and both main arteries leading to Guanzhong and Henan pass through it.
Here - the situation of the Seal War has changed greatly, and the requirements for generals are extremely high.
General Huang Zuyu was appointed as the deputy commander of the army. He was the next senior general to be promoted to the commander of the army as ordered by Lin Fu. He followed Yu Wangao, Tang Fuguan and others and led the remnants of the Jian'an army to fight with the She family in the deep mountains and forests of southern Fujian for three years. They were aware of the changes on the battlefield.
His strength and combat resilience were better than most of the middle-level generals of the Huaidong Army; Zhou Bin had been responsible for military intelligence affairs for a long time and was very familiar with the situation in the Jingxiang area. Cao Ziang then decided that Huang Zuyu and Zhou Bin would cooperate with the front to attack Fancheng first, and
It was decided to use Sun Zhuang's troops as reinforcements to support Fancheng.
Sun Zhuang was very dissatisfied with this. Even after he led his troops to support Fancheng, the battle situation in Fancheng was under his command. He was also very dissatisfied, but had to obey Cao Ziang's arrangements. Except for Sun Zhuang's grasp of the complex battle situation in the early stage, he may not be as good as
Regarding the cooperation between Huang Zuyu and Zhou Bin, the more important point is that the front troops and horses are disguised as a food escort team, and the speed does not need to be too fast, while the second supporting troops must move from the hinterland of Suizhou at lightning speed.
Passing straight into Fancheng, no one without a cavalry camp could win.
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The bed crossbows were pushed into the high ground of the front position to block the upward opening of the iron pile pier. The enemy clearly saw this change in the iron pile pier, and immediately withdrew a group of strong attacks to discuss countermeasures.
Deng Qiaoshan came forward and looked at the iron pile pier.
The entire wharf was mainly built on the river beach. In order to expand the transportation capacity, a space nearly a hundred steps deep was even dug to the north bank, making the entire iron pile wharf four to five hundred steps deep. There were several rows of warehouses built outside the wharf, which served as a barracks for the wharf defenders.
It was also used for temporary storage of goods and for the residence of hard laborers. It became a defense for enemy troops to guard the dock.
Since the iron pile wharf has a long history, it was not temporarily built after the Yan army occupied it. These warehouses were built by brick factories and were relatively strong. This is why the Huaidong Army failed to storm the iron pile wharf when they were not well prepared at the beginning.
main reason.
Deng Qiaoshan came over and said to Zhou Bin: "Huang Zhijun said, don't hit too hard all at once, leave some thoughts for the enemy!"
Zhou Bin smiled. Now that the bed crossbow has been assembled and delivered, the scorpion crossbow and tip crossbow will be delivered soon.
The tavern on the pier is a solid defense against the unarmed attacking soldiers. When the enemy's will is not weak, it is difficult to attack by force. However, although the scorpion crossbow and the tip crossbow are not as good as the heavy sling crossbow, they can still be used by twenty or thirty soldiers.
The heavy stone bullets are still a threat to these hotels.
As long as the opening through which the enemy troops rush up is sealed and the enemy troops are suppressed on the pier below, the battle will be much easier for this side. But it is not possible. This time, I brought more than 10,000 kilograms of kerosene, which is enough to destroy the iron.
Outside the pile pier, there is probably a warehouse that contains a large amount of flammable goods and is burned down!
Thinking of this, Zhou Bin said to Deng Qiaoshan: "There are two scorpion crossbows at the head of the bridge. No matter whether the bridge is destroyed or not, we must be prepared. Since the civilians are available, you will take the manpower and dig a long trench in front of the east fortress...
"
There is a distance of more than two miles from the south of the city to the iron pile dock. The east fortress is very small, only a hundred paces square. Although it can block the enemy from the east from attacking Qiaodu area, it cannot be completely blocked. Even if the enemy from Nanyang receives reinforcements,
We will come to Fancheng first and dig a long trench, but we can only ask them to stay in the Qiaodu area outside the city for an extra day or two.
By destroying the pontoon bridge at that time, the enemy generals in Xiangyang can be slowed down by two days to build the crossing channel between Xiangyang West and Baiyang Pass on the north bank and Danjiangkou. At this time, the time of the day will become very critical. If we call the south bank of Han River
If the enemy troops pass through Baiyang Pass and withdraw to the north earlier, it means that there will be two to three thousand more enemy troops on the line from Wuguan to Shangzhou in the west of Zhechuan, and the main force of the Huaidong Army will be added to cut off the Wuguan River from Xichuan and