On the defense line in eastern Hubei, the luckiest person was Zhong Rong, who guarded Tiemen Mountain and was once a giant bandit in Tongbai Mountain and was known as the Butcher General.
Tiemen Mountain is located in the middle section of the defense line in eastern Hubei, but it is geographically farther inward than Huangpi and Fengshan. If the Huaidong Army wants to pose a threat to the enemy in Tiemen Mountain, its two wings will inevitably be exposed, so it will fight with Chizhou
The army let go between the Tiemen Mountains in the middle section, and pointed the main force at both ends of the eastern Hubei defense line.
When Lin Fu ordered a general attack on the eastern Hubei defense line, he could only temporarily let go of Tiemen Mountain, giving Zhong Rong a chance to retreat to Xiaochang calmly.
When Zhong Rong stationed in Tiemen Mountain in the early stage, he had 40,000 troops. Precisely because he was not in the active direction of the Huaidong Army, Shewenzhuang continued to send troops to supplement Huangpi and Hanjin lines in the later period. On the 21st,
, Zhong Rong's troops in Tiemen Mountain were already less than 15,000.
Tiemen Mountain is also close to Xiaochang, only more than 80 miles away. In Xiaochang, Luo Xiancheng also deployed an additional 10,000 troops as a backup. In fact, before the Baita River defense line collapsed, Zhong Rong made up his mind to abandon Tiemen Mountain.
Fleeing to Xiaochang. Zhong Rong also knew in his heart that once the main force of the Huaidong Army on the Huangpi side was freed up, he would not be able to escape the Huaidong Army's trap even if he had ten legs.
Zhong Rong had to escape north as quickly as possible while the main force of the Huaidong Army returned its attention to Huangpi and was attracted by the defeated troops on the Hanjin front line, in order to have a chance of survival.
In the early morning of the 22nd, the sky turned slightly white, and the horses' hooves were as fast as a rain shower. They galloped straight to Xiaochang City and knocked on the door.
The gate of Xiaochang City was tightly closed. The primary school guard who guarded the gate picked out the lantern. His nervous hands were trembling, fearing that a sharp arrow would suddenly shoot him into a hedgehog.
"You are so blind that you don't even recognize me! Tell Wang Xian'er to get up and open the city gate." Zhong Rong reined in the panting war horse, raised his head and shouted towards the city tower.
There was an explosion in the school's ears.
"General Zhong!" The guard general Wang Xian'er then poked his head out in fear and asked the guards to lower the suspension bridge and introduce Zhong Rong into the city.
It was not without its advantages to surrender to the Northern Yan. Zhong Rong had acquired two to three thousand good horses before the war, and he had a rare direct line cavalry team. At this time, it was these two or three people who followed Zhong Rong and retreated to Xiaochang.
Thousands of direct line soldiers and horses.
When Wang Xianer saw that only two or three thousand cavalry came in with Zhong Rong, he thought that the Huaidong Army was defeated in Tiemen Mountain, and asked Zhong Rong in a low voice: "Why did General Zhong bring back such a few people?"
"Goulaozi, how many people can run away in the middle of the night?" Zhong Rong was still panting.
Zhong Rong was worried that one step too late would block the Huaidong Army's retreat route at Tiemen Mountain, so he retreated at night with only his direct troops and horses, leaving the rest of the troops behind.
The 15,000 soldiers and horses left for Zhong Rong in Tiemen Mountain can be said to be the elite soldiers of the Suizhou Army, but elite soldiers are also divided into grades. Not all "elite soldiers" can march quickly on a starry night. Zhong Rong insists on taking all of them.
The soldiers and horses followed the speed of his direct cavalry. If they had to evacuate to Xiaochang before dawn, most of the 15,000 soldiers and horses would be scattered during the march.
Wang Xiang, Luo Wenhu's surrender to Huaidong has now been confirmed. Zhong Rong is not sure that all the soldiers and horses in Tiemen Mountain are willing to follow him and flee north. If some people think that surrender can save their lives, they only ask for their lives.
Why should they be asked to flee north together?
At this time, we can only capture the loyal and reliable direct line soldiers.
If there is too much greed at this time and the troops are in a panic, who knows if anyone will think of using his head to go to the Huaidong Army to claim credit and atone for his sins?
"What's the situation over there in Suizhou?" Zhong Rong walked into Wang Xian'er's residence, drank the hot tea brought by the maid, and asked Wang Xian'er several questions. He was in a hurry that night and had no time to pay attention to the defense line in eastern Hubei.
Movements on other segments.
Wang Xian'er is a person that both Luo Xiancheng and Zhong Rong trust, otherwise they would not ask him to lead the troops to guard Xiaochang.
Wang Xian'er was also frightened and said: "The Tanma can't get close to Suizhou City, but according to the noise, Suizhou has not completely fallen. Huaidong has a troop of troops in the north moving very fast to the west, fearing that they are going to capture Zaoyang. This whole place is
It’s Huaidong’s big conspiracy..."
"Why are you panicking?" Although Zhong Rong couldn't help but feel his heart trembling when he thought about the terrible things, he still calmed down Wang Xianer and said, "What's the situation over there at Huangpi? Has Chen Hansan withdrawn?"
"Huangpi has been lost, and most of the soldiers and horses have fled to the northwest. The Huaidong Army is currently mainly chasing to the northwest. No soldiers and horses have come to Xiaochang yet. There is no movement from Chen Hansan's side. He wants to withdraw.
It’s not easy..." Wang Xianer said.
Chen Hansan was stationed on the north side of Fengshan. He was stationed on the other side of Fengshan. Behind him was the steep Fengshan and Chaqi Mountain. If he wanted to escape, he could only escape to Fengshan and Chaqi Mountain. If he wanted to cross Fengshan
, retreating from Chaqishan to Qishan is not an easy task, nor can it be accomplished in a short time.
Zhong Rong thought about it. With the 30,000 main force of the Chizhou Army watching, it would be difficult for Chen Hansan to withdraw. If he wanted to survive, he could only escape deep into the southern section of Huaishan Mountain. But after the Jingxiang War, Huaishan Mountain would become Huaihe River.
Under the control of the Eastern Army, how long can Chen Hansan survive and survive?
Zhong Rong could not control Chen Hansan. At this time, the Huaidong Army in the direction of Huangpi had not sent troops to attack Xiaochang. This was good news for him. However, to the north of Xiaochang, there were still a large number of Huaidong troops between Suizhou and Lishan.
Army, it is still not easy for him and Wang Xianer to lead his troops through the blockade of Suizhou and Lishan, enter the northern range of Huaishan Mountain, and join Luo Xiancheng...
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After fully breaking through the enemy's Baitahe-Huangpi-Xiongjiagang defense line, Lin Fu dropped everything and went to sleep, but Fu Qinghe, Gao Zongting, Song Fu, Ao Canghai, Zhou Pu and others still couldn't relax.
They should sit in the central military tent, coordinate, and adjust the deployment of troops to pursue the enemy's defeat.
Xinqi continued to shuttle and gallop on the front, and the officers of the Military Intelligence Department constantly adjusted the progress of the chasing armies on the hanging map. As the war progressed, Huangpi, Hanjin, Xiongjiagang, Xiaonan,
Yunmeng waited for an enemy city that was located in a strategic location. The enemy fortress was recaptured, and the small red flags were constantly thrust toward the northwest.
Zhou Pu sat listlessly on his chair. He could not personally lead his troops to pursue the enemy, and staying in the Chinese army's tent to strategize was not his specialty. However, he had to stay in the Chinese army's tent, so he would inevitably doze off. Very soon
I want to find a corner to catch up on my sleep.
"The Chizhou Army in Fengshan reported victory, Deng Yu defeated Fengshan Village, and Chen Hansan led the remaining troops to flee to Chaqi Mountain!" Another military message came in.
Zhou Pu was greatly refreshed when he heard the news and suddenly came to his senses. There are many people who have been harmed by Chen Hansan over the years, but when it comes to hating Chen Hansan, a thief, few people are more profound than Zhou Pu. Back then, they were harmed by Chen Hansan.
Han San was killed and the brothers suffered heavy casualties, so they were forced to leave Huaishang and flee to Huai'an...
Fu Qinghe was calm and composed. He took his remaining right hand and planted a small flag on Fengshan. After discussing with Gao Zongting and Song Fu for a while, he ordered on behalf of Lin Fu: "Order Yue Zhi to lead his troops to clear Qishan."
The enemy is remnant, order Deng Yu to lead his troops to bypass Fengshan and attack between Tiemen Mountain and Xiaochang to pursue the enemy and defeat them..."
Song Fu looked at the map and said worriedly: "The inner city of Suizhou has not yet been conquered. Zi Ang wants to concentrate more troops in Suizhou. If there is a gap between Suizhou and Lishan, Zhong Rong can escape..."
There is a low hilly belt of 140 to 50 miles wide between Suizhou and Lishan. Cao Zi'ang sent Liu Zhenzhi to lead his troops westward to intercept the enemy's defeat south of Zaoyang. There were only 24,000 to 5,000 troops in Suizhou, and there were no
The ability to completely block the line between Suizhou and Lishan gave Zhongrong and some of the enemy soldiers in Xiaochang a chance to pass through and escape to the northern range of Huaishan Mountain.
Fu Qinghe said: "With such a big net, there is no way to catch all the fish in one catch, and there is no way to escape even one or two..."
The 160,000 soldiers and horses of Yan and Hu in eastern Hubei were concentrated in Huangpi in the later period. There were 110,000 troops on the Hanjin front line. The Huaidong army naturally concentrated its forces in front to surround and annihilate this part of the defeated enemy.
Moreover, the defeated enemy mainly fled towards Shicheng. Shicheng is located in the upper reaches of the Han River and is an important node for the continued development of the war. The next step for the Huaidong Army is to gather at Shicheng, or cross the Han River from Shicheng and enter the west bank of the Han River, or continue from Shicheng
Proceed north along the Han River to Xiangfan and Nanyang.
The main battle direction of the Huaidong Army's main force must be gradually moved to the west, and too many troops cannot be dispersed eastward.
Ao Canghai said: "We can send a group of infantry cavalry between Xiaochang and Tiemen Mountain to encourage the enemy to disperse..."
Gao Zongting nodded and said: "That's fine. We can't ask Zhong Rong to take the entire army to the northern front. Let him take his direct descendants to escape to meet Luo Xiancheng. It's already being polite to him." We can't do it now.
Let the enemy generals on the southern front flee comfortably to the northern front. Even if Zhong Rong, a big fish, cannot be freed to catch for a while, we must intercept as many defeated troops as possible.
The reconstruction of Jingxiang after the war and the subsequent expansion of the war on the Korean Peninsula require a large number of young men, and prisoners are the cheapest source of young men. Naturally, the 25,000 enemies in Xiaochang and Tiemen Mountain cannot be comfortable.
They were convinced and fled to the northern foot of Huaishan Mountain. What's more, Luo Xiancheng had the possibility of surrendering to Dong Yuan, so Dong Yuan couldn't be allowed to go comfortably with all these men.
At this time, someone came in and reported: "Zhang Gou's army sent people to take Shewenzhuang and Wen Chengyun over..."
Everyone in the tent stopped what they were doing and looked towards the entrance of the tent.
Zhang Gou first sent his cavalry back to report the capture of Shewenzhuang, and Fu Qinghe sent an order to Zhang Gou to escort the people back to the camp immediately. At this time, Zhang Gou escorted the people back, but everyone still felt that it was a little unreal.
Gao Zongting sighed softly and ignored the matter. Instead, he sat there and continued to sign the military order to send infantry and cavalry to attack Xiaochang.
Fu Qinghe glanced at Song Fu and said, "I still need to trouble Mr. Song to confirm the identity of Shewenzhuang..."
Shewenzhuang has a great reputation, but Song Fu is the only one present who has actually met Shewenzhuang, and only Song Fu can confirm the identity of Shewenzhuang.
At this time, Song Jia came over and asked, "I heard that Duke Wenzhuang was escorted here?"
"My lord, are you awake?" Gao Zongting raised his head and asked.
Song Jia shook her head and said: "Your Excellency is still fast asleep; if possible, I have made an unkind request and would like to see Duke Wenzhuang before you wake up..."