In the early morning of the 21st, some white mist dispersed from both sides of the river bank, covering the woods in the distance, and the forest tops were faintly visible.
At the front of the Queshan camp, an eight-thousand-step horseman was ready to go. Gao Yi, wearing armor, sat on the horse, tightened the reins, and said to Leng Zilin: "Lao Gao, I will take the first step, and I will wait for you to lead the way in Xinye."
Come over here."
"Remember, if Tu An obeys my orders, he will go with him. If he doesn't obey my orders, he will go with him. Don't try to stop him. After you enter the new field, you are not allowed to take another step forward..."
"What should I do if General Xinye is not allowed to enter the city?" Gao Yi asked.
"Kill! I will explain it to Prince Mu later." Chen Zhihu's scarred face looked even more ferocious in the morning mist, and he said to Leng Zilin, "You gallop back to Wuyang, lead your troops down the west foot of Tongbai Mountain, and enter
Behind Nanyang City, please wait for my further military orders, you may know..."
"I know." Leng Zilin grinned.
Chen Zhihu signaled Gao Yi, and Leng Zilin left the camp first, his eyes looking towards the mist in the distance with a fierce light.
At this time, it was too late to rush to Fancheng. He led the main force to Fancheng. He would arrive at the gate of Fancheng in four days at the earliest. He was afraid that even the cucumbers would be cold.
Xinye is in Fancheng, north of Zaoyang. He sent Gao Yi to lead 8,000 cavalry ahead to take over Xinye's defense, which would temporarily block the Huaidong Army's westward capture of Xichuan and Wuguan. Then he led the main force into Nanyang, filling in
Go to Wuguan and control Baiyangguan and Danjiangkou in the lower reaches of the Wuguan River to avoid losing the entire Jingxiang Battle without even leaving your underwear.
Moreover, the ambush troops in Huaidong will definitely blockade the Zaoyang and Fancheng lines first, in order to annihilate the Beiyan soldiers and horses on the east bank of the Han River first. At that time, a large number of broken troops will inevitably rush to Zaoyang and Fancheng lines. Gaoyi will invade Xinye.
, it will prevent the Huaidong ambush troops from completely blocking the nearly 100-mile-wide gap between Zaoyang and Fancheng, and they can collect some broken troops in Xinye and preserve more strength.
******************
Due to Dong Yuan's deliberate delay, his military order to mobilize troops from Xinyang Prefecture and the troops east of Xinyang Prefecture to go south to attack the Suizhou Army at the northern foot of Huaishan Mountain reached Xinyang even later than Zhengyang County in the northwest corner of Xinyang Prefecture.
When Meng Zhen and Meng Zhixiang received the military order and discovered that Dong Yuan had evil intentions, they crossed the Shihe River to the east bank to see Ning Zechen. It was already bright and it was already early morning on the 21st...
Meng Jin and Meng Zhixiang walked into Ning Zechen's Chinese army camp and saw Song Shixing, Liu Xilin, Yang Shi, He Zongliang, Hu Qiaokou, Ge Yuan, Wang Shou'er and other generals there.
In the Song Dynasty, Xing Xing was Song Fu's cousin and was once the leader of the Song family's army. After the Song family surrendered, Song Shixing resigned from the general position and took up the post of general magistrate of Huai'an Prefecture. Ning Zechen led his troops to Xinyang westward, and Song Shixing was in charge of grain and grain control.
After Luo Xiancheng surrendered to Yan and sent troops to the north of Huaishan to attack Xinyang, not only the farming in Xinyang was paralyzed, but Shouzhou and Haozhou also had all their garrison troops recruited into the army, and the land reclamation work was also greatly affected.
Liu Tingzhou went to Huangzhou to meet Lin Fu, and agreed that Ning Zechen would lead his troops to assist Huaixi. At the same time, he agreed that after Ning Zechen led his troops to march westward, they would need to transport grain and fodder from Shanyang for supplies, and Xinyang City would also need grain and grass.
Huaidong Relief - Although it is a long way from Shanyang, Huai'an Prefecture, fortunately there is a waterway connecting it. Taking the Huaihe River into the Shihe River, grain and grass can be transported directly between Xinyang City and the east bank camp.
Song Shixing had just supervised the transportation of nearly 100,000 stones of supplies four days ago, but at this time, the supplies had not yet been completely unloaded.
In addition to the hundreds of warships previously deployed by the Huaidong Navy in the upper reaches of the Shihe River, the Shihe River has been crowded with large ships and small boats in the past few days.
Yang Shi and Ge Yuan were the generals of the Jinghai Second Water Battalion, and Yang Shi held the position of deputy commander; Liu Xilin, Hu Qiaoguan, and He Zongliang, Wang Shouer and others who were from the Huaisi refugee army were the first town division of Fengli Battalion.
Army, deputy commander, brigade general...
It was not yet bright yet, but candles were still burning in the tent. It was early winter, and it was already a bit chilly in Xinyang. Ning Zechen wore a white robe outside his battle armor, stood in front of the sand table, and looked at Meng Jin.
Zhixiang came in and said: "I was planning to send someone to invite Master Meng, but Meng's troops are ready to come..."
The sand table shows the terrain of Huaixi, with Xinyang, Shouzhou, Haozhou, and Sizhou among them. According to the military orders announced by Dong Yuan, the sand table also marks the advance routes of the Huaixi army.
"Dong Yuan ordered the soldiers of the villages in Xinyang to gather south to attack Huaishan today. Commander Ning will see this." Meng Jin did not remain silent. The situation was urgent and he said straight to the point.
"Well, it was after midnight that Dong summoned his envoys to send someone to tell us," Ning Zechen said. "I was about to send someone to invite Lord Meng, and Meng Bing prepared his envoys to come over to discuss this matter."
The Xincheng garrison was still nominally under the control of the Huaidong camp, so they received the order; Ning Zechen was ordered to fight jointly with the Huaixi army, so Dong Yuan sent the envoy to make the announcement. There were some differences.
"Dong Yuan wanted to immediately empty the troops in Xinyang Mansion to hide his hidden evil intentions," Meng Jin said. "I guess Duke Chong Guo must have expected this, so Meng Jin was hesitant for a while and crossed the river to come.
Commander Ning asked for advice." He also looked at Ning Zechen nervously, fearing that Ning Zechen would say that he was also caught off guard and was helpless.
"Dong Yuan was considered a great hero before and had some reputation, but today he let the enemy cross the border and the incident was leaked, which was enough to ruin his reputation." Song Shixing stood aside, still disdainful of Dong Yuan's behavior, and said coldly
Said, "Dong Yuan still wanted to block Huaidong, but he was just blocking the car with his mantis arm. It's really nothing to worry about..."
"Dong Yuan is indeed acting in a petty way," Meng Zhixiang said, assuming that Ning Zechen and the others had not realized the seriousness of the problem. He stood aside and said, "If Chen Zhihu goes to help Fancheng, it may not be a big harm, but it is just a matter of fear."
Chen Zhihu took advantage of the situation to defend Wuguan and encircle the enemy on the west bank of the Han River. I am afraid that he will not be able to achieve success..."
Meng Jin saw Ning Zechen and Song Shixing exchanging glances, and suddenly realized that Song Shixing's words were to test them. At this time, he concluded that Lin Fu had a backhand against Dong Yuan, and this backhand must be extremely spicy.
No one who is not a direct descendant of close relatives can predict the future.
Meng Jin pretended not to notice Song Shixing's intention to test, and continued to ask: "It might be better if we don't tell Dong Yuan everything about the Chaishan ambush, or delay it for another three or four days..."
"There are only a handful of tricks in the world that can be compared with Dong Yuan. Just tell them about the attack on Fancheng, and he can probably guess a lot of doubts. Furthermore, Cao Shuai will probably attack Suizhou today; once Suizhou is attacked, there will be a lot of doubts between the Huaishan Mountains and Suizhou."
Luo Xiancheng must have been alarmed, and Dong Yuan could have guessed very well from seeing the movement in the Huaishan Mountains. Since the lord asked me to tell him the whole plan at this time, I have considered various possibilities - he must insist
How can we just let him get his wish when he is an enemy of Huaidong?" Ning Zechen opened the locked wooden box on his desk, took out a letter, handed it to Meng Jin, and said, "This is a secret letter from my lord.
At that time, I said that Lord Meng would definitely be able to see through Dong Yuan's scheming, and asked me to give the secret letter to Lord Meng to read together..."
Lin Fu's formal orders, whether they were explicit letters to the world or secret orders limited to people within a certain range, would be issued in the form of Privy Council orders, even within the Huaidong Army - Meng Jinting Ningze
The minister said that there was a secret letter, not a secret order, and he felt a little relieved: it was indeed so.
The secret order of the Privy Council, no matter how secret it is, must be kept on file in the Privy Council.
Dong Yuan is now the general manager of the Huaixi camp, the envoy to Henan, and the minister of the imperial court. Especially when Dong Yuan has made no obvious mistakes, Lin Fu cannot directly draft the Privy Council order to act as a back-up for Dong Yuan's ulterior motives.
The secret letter is Lin Fu's private order, and only trusted people can read it.
Meng Jin thought to himself that it was the right time to come here. If he could not see through Dong Yuan's disloyalty or hesitated because of seeing through Dong Yuan's disbelief, he would passively accept the secret order and would no longer be qualified to sit down and talk to him.
Ning Zechen, Song Shixing and others read Lin Fu's secret letter together...
After reading the secret letter, Meng Jin laughed loudly and said: "Dong Yuan's agencies have been exhausted. I never expected that my lord would have included his agencies..."
Song Zechen said, "I only have two days for Master Meng to prepare. Is it too late?" Ning Zechen asked.
"All the generals and soldiers are in Xinyang City, two days is enough." Meng Jin said.
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In the early morning of the 21st, the fog in Luodian at the junction of Suizhou and Lishan was much heavier than that in Xinyangfu on the north bank of Huaishan Mountain.
Since the channel connecting Zaoyang and Shicheng in the west of Suizhou has been blocked, Luo Xianyi, who was in Luodian in the east of Suizhou City, did not know the news of the fall of Fancheng at this time.
Luo Xianyi led his troops out of Suizhou to aid Lishan before noon yesterday, and marched to Luodian before nightfall, covering a distance of seventy miles. It was not unpleasant, and it looked like an elite soldier.
There are few generals in the Huaidong Army who are blind, but Lin Fu insists on supplying fish and meat to the generals. In the Suizhou Army, even the direct soldiers and horses around Luo Xiancheng, their military and food conditions are not as good as those of the Huaidong Army.
Of the ten people, two or three will suffer from finch blindness, which makes them unable to walk at night.
Luo Xianyi stopped temporarily at Zhangjiawan in Luodian after nightfall yesterday, intending to set off for Lishan after dawn this morning.
When the fog rolled up in the early morning, Luo Xianyi was anxious. He really didn't know when the fog would dissipate before the army could move forward.
"General Zhenguo, we are really worried about the safety of Lishan. We want to take the first step and kill a few more enemy soldiers. Please ask General Zhenguo for permission." Although Zhou Sheng, who Luo Wenhu sent to Suizhou for rescue, was rough-tempered, he was also good at telling lies.
His face does not change color.
Luo Xianyi also doubted him, thinking that he was also a loyal savior, so he allowed him to lead a few soldiers accompanying the rescue on horseback, which could be regarded as a distant outpost to explore the way to Mount Li.
Zhou Sheng led several soldiers and cavalry across the Zhangjia River, and walked eastward along the avenue in the mist. They walked about ten miles away, and suddenly dozens of cavalry galloped out of the mist on both sides. Zhou Shengqing rushed to the scene with his troops.
He was killed by mistake, so he quickly threw away his saber, dismounted from his horse and shouted: "I am Lishan Zhou Gou Sheng. Grandpa Cao Shuai sent me to lure Suizhou soldiers. Luo Xianyi and his reinforcements are just ahead in the meander of the river in Zhangjiawan..."
"Shuai Cao gave you the name Zhou Sheng, how come you lie on the ground and call yourself Zhou Goucheng?"
Zhou Sheng looked up and saw Luo Wenhu holding the reins and sitting on the horse's back to watch his joke. He climbed up and asked happily: "You are already here. Didn't you take action last night?"
"It was already last night, but when I saw Luo Xianyi resting at Zhangjiawan and seeing white mist rising from the river, I didn't take action. I changed my plan and waited until the main force behind arrived." Luo Wenhu signaled Zhou Sheng to ride with him to the short road south of the road.
Go away uphill.
The fields on the roadside have been barren for years and are covered with wormwood that can kill people. After Zhou Sheng followed Luo Wenhu to the short slope, he saw that there were people and horses hiding in the wormwood bushes on the roadside. They were already preparing for an attack.
.
Zhou Sheng was about to ask Luo Wenhu when he would attack, when he heard the faint sound of drums. The generals hidden among the wormwood rose up upon hearing the drums, and the sound of armor plates striking each other was like a tide coming from a distance -
—
Zhou Sheng and Luo Wenhu stood on the top of the slope. The white fog had not dissipated. They could only vaguely see one or two hundred feet away. However, there were crowds of people between these two hundred feet.
The weapon inside shone with a cold light, like the sparkle of the tide, which was intoxicating to watch.
At this moment, Zhou Sheng thought: He should fight side by side with them.
Luo Wenhu was also fascinated when he saw the army attacking in the morning mist. He thought: As a general, it is only when he leads such elite soldiers on the battlefield that he can make life happy.
Lishan City was taken over by the Huaidong Army led by Wang Xiang, and Luo Wenhu led 3,000 defenders to temporarily join Tang Fuguan's headquarters and march westward with the army.
It's a pity that no matter how ruthless the soldiers and horses in Zhangjiawan were before them, they all had a comradeship with them. They sought refuge in Huaidong for a new life, but they couldn't bear to trample on their former glory. Fortunately, Cao Ziang didn't force them.
They should attack Luo Xianyi first.
After a while, I heard a loud killing sound in the white mist ahead, which seemed close and far away, far and near.
After a long time, a little more than a stick of incense, the sound of fighting showed signs of moving westward. Luo Wenhu and Zhou Sheng looked at each other: Is Luo Xianyi unable to stop his retreat to Suizhou? Luo Xianyi at least has 5,000 soldiers in his hands.
Horse.
At this time, several horses came galloping, led by Cao Peng, the personal guard beside Cao Ziang. He reined in his horse and listened before Luo Wenhu. He dismounted and said: "Cao Shuai ordered you to lead your troops to prepare immediately. After the fog cleared, follow Liu Zhenzhi to Pinglin Port."
…”
"Ah," Luo Wenhu was stunned and asked, "Didn't we plan to ambush Luo Xianyi and lead my troops to go directly to Zaoyang with General Tang Fuguan? Why did the plan suddenly change..."
"In the early morning from the north of Huaishan, there was a letter riding into Lishan. Dong Yuan intended to let Chen Zhihu go south. Cao Shuai and General Zhou thought that setting up a blockade directly to Zaoyang was too weak and could not stop too many defeated troops, so they changed their plan temporarily.
General Liu Zhenzhi led his troops to set up an ambush at Pinglin Port..." Cao Peng said, "Commander Cao wants me to tell you that the first batch of enemy troops fleeing north are most likely the cavalry led by Meng Anchan. You must be prepared to resist the enemy troops.
Prepare for the attack! On the way, General Liu Zhenzhi will give you some shield carriages and crossbows."
Pinglin Port is fifty or sixty miles south of Zaoyang, between Dahong Mountain and the Han River. If the enemy soldiers want to flee north from the western foot of Dahong Mountain, Pinglin Port is a must-go place, but there is no solid city to rely on, and the infantry camp must
Intercept enemy cavalry fleeing north in the open field.
Luo Wenhu was a little confused: Since Dong Yuan intended to let Chen Zhihu go south, shouldn't they rush to Fancheng to join together to prevent Chen Zhihu from attacking Fancheng? Of course, he had just surrendered to Huaidong, and many of the inside stories of the Huaidong Army were not clear. Although he had doubts in his heart
, also kept his mouth shut and didn't ask many questions. After receiving the military order from Cao Peng, he sent Zhou Sheng and a few people to contact Liu Zhenzhi to control the army. He went to the slope first and then temporarily led his troops to the west...
It was 2,780 miles from here to Pinglin Port. They couldn't compete with the elite members of the direct line of the Huaidong Army. If they didn't fall too far behind, they had to seize every moment to hurry up.