In early May, both sides of the Huai River also entered the rainy season. It rained continuously for several days.
Lin Fu ducked into the war tent, took off the raincoat, and exposed his wet green armor at the collar. He placed his pocket on the cypress wood table and greeted Liu Tingzhou with fists clasped: "I went to the Sushui River to have a look, Mr. Liu.
Long wait, where is Governor Yue’s messenger?”
"Master Lin, Tao Chun, the last general, serves in the left camp in front of Yue Du's tent..." The man standing behind Liu Tingzhou walked forward and saluted Lin Fu.
Lin Fu saw that he was about thirty-two or thirteen years old, and he looked familiar. He seemed to have met him in Jinan. He should be the general Shao Wujun had won over for Yue Lengqiu. He was quite strange when he saw that he was wearing a lake blue Confucian shirt.
Tao Chun seemed to see the confusion in Lin Fu's eyes and said: "Although the bandits have not yet surrounded Xuzhou, from Xuzhou to the south, they are all sentinels of the bandits. In the end, the general will have no choice but to put on the clothes of the bandits and go to Huai'an City.
Only after seeing Mr. Liu did he change into clean clothes and come to see Mr. Lin... This is a letter from Governor Yue to you."
Lin Fu took the secret letter signed by Yue Lengqiu, opened it and read it. He knew that Yue Lengqiu must have other instructions for Liu Tingzhou, so he was not too busy to express his position. He handed the secret letter to Liu Tingzhou first, and he went to sit behind the long case.
After coming down, Liu Tingzhou and Tao Chun were invited to sit down.
Liu Tingzhou read the secret letter and said: "The letter from Governor Yue requested Mr. Lin to immediately lead the Jiangdong Left Army north along the east bank of Yishui River to break the blockade of the refugee army. When the Jiangdong Left Army approaches Linyi, Governor Yue will send troops from Xuzhou to attack Xuzhou."
Rogue bandits in the northeast to break the siege of Xuzhou..."
Lin Fu looked at Liu Tingzhou intently for a few seconds, then looked away and said to Tao Chun: "General Tao sneaked from Xuzhou, from Xuzhou to Suining, then to Yusu, then to Yancheng, until the bandits were in Shuyang
General Tao must have seen with his own eyes what the situation is like in the camp in the south. I dug out all the bases of the Jiangdong Left Army in Chongzhou and brought together 5,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people. According to Governor Yue's instructions, you
How do you think I should implement it?”
Tao Chun was slightly startled. He knew that it was not easy for Lin Fu to send troops, but he did not expect that he would shamelessly describe the five thousand elites as five thousand old and weak soldiers. He said: "Master Lin recruited three thousand people to go north to King Qin the year before last.
The feat of a lone army marching straight into Yannan is something we still long for. Mr. Lin has five thousand soldiers under his command today, and the rogue bandits are nothing more than ants in front of Mr. Lin..."
"We shouldn't be afraid of rogues, but if we really want to catch them and fight them, we really can't treat them like ants and despise them." Lin Fu shook his head, but he didn't expect Tao Chun to speak in a formal manner, "General Tao would think that killing rogues is as easy as ants, Huai'an
There are still three to five thousand soldiers and horses in the city. I will hand them over to General Tao to lead and cooperate with Governor Yue to relieve the siege of Xuzhou. I will return to the south bank to defend Huai'an City..."
Tao Chun looked quite ugly.
Lin Fu added: "General Tao might go to Jiangning. Maybe the Cheng Bingbu and Prince Ning will have some good ideas."
Lin Fu looked at Tao Chun and Liu Tingzhou in a state of indifference.
When Lin Fu said this, Tao Chun didn't know how to persuade him. How could the 5,000 defenders in Huai'an City be compared with the 5,000 elites here? But what he just said in praise of Lin Fu was too full. What did Lin Fu say about Lin Fu's rate?
Three thousand civilians dared to penetrate behind enemy lines alone. Lin Fu gave him the five thousand defenders in Huai'an City at this time. Even Yue Lengqiu could not blame Lin Fu for standing still. After all, he could not abandon Huai'an City and not defend it!
When Lin Fu said this, Liu Tingzhou couldn't say anything. He was really afraid that Lin Fu would transfer the five or six thousand garrison troops in Huai'an City to relieve the Chang Huai Army who was trapped in Xuzhou. Those troops could defend the city, but five or six thousand Liu Tingzhou could fight in the field.
The bandits are still alive, but in the south of Xuzhou, there are nearly 200,000 bandits. Aren't they going north to give people meat to eat?
Lin Fu pierced the north bank of the Huaihe River like a nail, which really made the bandits uncomfortable.
From the day the camp was established, the rogue bandits organized six large-scale offensives against this area. After losing nearly 2,000 troops and abandoning their armor, Chen Hansan was forced to give up his plan to encircle Shuyang City.
Two river-blocking camps were set up on both sides of the Yishui and Shu rivers. They used 20,000 elite rogue soldiers to block the passage of the Jiangdong left army along Yi and Shu north. Wu Shiyi, the commander of the rogue bandits, also led the elite rogue bandits to storm the city of Yan, and further
Strengthen the encirclement of the two cities of Xuzhou and Linyi on the periphery.
At this time, the Jiangdong Zuojun was still building a defense line against the She family on the Shengsi Islands.
Judging from these two points alone, the contribution made by Jiangdong Zuojun to Jiangdong Zuojun and the imperial court has far exceeded the status achieved at this time.
Not to mention that Lin Fu and Yue Lengqiu have deep conflicts. Even if there is no conflict, few people will pay attention to Yue Lengqiu's orders, right?
When King Ning and the Six Ministries of Jiangning discussed in Jiangning the temporary establishment of the Huaidong Jingkou envoy, Xuzhou and Jiangning had lost contact. Lin Fu's temporary dispatch of the Huaidong establishment envoy had nothing to do with the Jianghuai Governor's Mansion and was only subject to Jiangning.
The control of the Ministry of War.
Under the current circumstances, the Jiangning Military Department may not necessarily have the determination to let Lin Fu lead the Jiangdong Left Army to venture north to meet Yue Lengqiu.
It would be good if the Chang Huai Army can be rescued. If Jiangdong Left Army also falls in and something goes wrong, who will be able to defend Huaidong?
Based on Liu Tingzhou's understanding of Cheng Yuqian, the Jiangdong Military Department would definitely not issue any fatal orders to Lin Fu. In the end, whether he would advance north or not would depend on Lin Fu's attitude.
Yue Lengqiu probably saw this and forgot about the grudge between the two, and directly sent Tao Chun to break out to Lin Fu to ask for help.
When it comes to heading north, Lin Fugang's army was the best opportunity. At that time, the refugee army was in Surabaya, and there was still a big gap between Shu River. Yancheng County had not yet fallen, so there was no defense.
Lin Fu did not go north decisively at that time - according to Liu Tingzhou's observation, Lin Fu was able to go north to meet Yue Lengqiu - then Lin Fu had no intention of going north at all. After setting up a stronghold in Huaibei, he attracted refugees
The army continued to gather between Shuyang and Huai'an. It was really difficult to go north at this time.
Lin Fu couldn't pour the water in, and Liu Tingzhou didn't help to speak. Tao Chun had no choice, and he didn't dare to let loose in the Jiangdong Zuo Army's camp even if he had a temper. He left and hurried south to find Shi Zhang Xitong, the head of Prince Ning's palace, for advice.
***********
After Tao Chun and Liu Tingzhou left, Zhang Yubo escorted military supplies over in the rain in the afternoon.
"I heard that Yue Lengqiu sent someone here to ask for help?" Zhang Yubo got into the dark, humid and slightly stuffy war shed and sat down, asking about Yue Lengqiu sending Tao Chun to ask for help.
"Yeah." Lin Fu responded as he was looking through the official letter from Chongzhou.
"If the Changhuai Army suffers a big setback in Xuzhou, it will be very detrimental to Jiangdong..." Zhang Yubo said.
Lin Fu put down the official letter in his hand and looked up at Zhang Yubo.
What Lin Fu admires most about Zhang Yubo is that although Zhang Yubo has been seen as a core member of the Lin Gu family, he always has a more impartial stance, so in Gu Wuchen's mind, his status is not as high as Chen/Yuanliang.
Zhang Yubo and Zhao Shuhan were of the same type, loyal to the sluggish Dayue Dynasty. Although Lin Fu didn't want them to be like this, they were always much nobler than the two-faced people there.
"Yes, I still have some troops in Chongzhou that can be transferred temporarily. It is not impossible to disperse the river-blocking camps established by Chen Hansan on both sides of the Yishui River and go northward. I will relieve the siege of the southeast of Xuzhou. I will
What's the use?" Lin Fu asked Zhang Yubo. Without waiting for Zhang Yubo's answer, he directly answered, "Between Huaisi, Liu An'er and Ge Ping have more than 400,000 soldiers and horses. Liang Xi and Cao Yiqu both have
After holding down the troops and relieving the siege of Xuzhou, Yue Lengqiu will definitely lead the Huai army to retreat to Huainan... Under this situation, Yue Lengqiu retreated to Huainan. I can't say anything about him, but Xuzhou and Linyi did not defend, and they only blocked the refugee army from going south.
Passage, where will the refugee army swarm?"
Qingzhou!
Zhang Yubo said with shame: "I didn't think as deeply as you, so I distracted you."
"I'm not a generous person," Lin Fu laughed. "I didn't give Yue Lengqiu a chance to break out of the encirclement. I also tried my best to divert the refugee army to Yi and Shu, blocking the passage for Yue Lengqiu to break out and go south.
, I just want him to guard Xuzhou and Linyi well and prevent the refugee army from swarming eastward... We cannot lose food in Qingzhou, and I will not lose even if I bring this lawsuit to the emperor."
"But there is no way to hold on like this. The food and grass in Xuzhou and Linyi may not be sufficient..." Zhang Yubo had a worried look on his face. He was not worried about the life and death of Yue Lengqiu, but about the situation in Huaibei. If Xuzhou and Linyi fell, three bandits would be on the run.
An army of 400,000 soldiers was approaching from the south, and Lin Fu's three to five thousand elite troops were unable to gain a foothold on the north bank.
"I didn't expect that the Donglu were still unwilling to withdraw from Datong's periphery," Lin Fu also sighed and said, "otherwise the imperial court would have more troops to mobilize in the north, and the Liang family or the Cao family would be more active in sending troops. At the moment, we can only
Wait... No matter what, I am confident in guarding Huaidong, Dongyang seems to be lacking..."
The Huaihe River and Hongzepu River lie across the hinterland of the Central Plains in the north of Jiangdong County, becoming the most important geographical obstacle for the northern army to move south.
The Huai River flows into Hongzepu through Haozhou Prefecture, and flows out of Hongzepu from Huai'an Prefecture. Haozhou, located in Huainan, to the west of Hongze Pu, and Huai'an, located in Huainan, to the east of Hongze Pu, are the two important places to guard the Huai River.
Nowadays, important places such as Haozhou and Sizhou on the west bank of Hongzepu have been lost to the refugee army one after another. Lin Tingli's Dongyang in the south only has five or six thousand elite troops available, but he has to bear the resistance to prevent the refugee army from moving south of Huainan. Today, the refugee army is mainly composed of
Wanting to eat up the Chang Huai Army trapped in Xuzhou, the main force was concentrated in the Huaisi area. Lin Tingli could not feel the pressure yet. Once Xuzhou was lost, the refugee army continued to move south. If it could not break through from the east of Huaibei, it would naturally move to the west of Huaihe.
Already...
"Speaking of this, I think we should suggest Mr. Gu to transfer the Jiangning water camp to help defend Dongyang." Qin Chengzu had been listening to the conversation between Lin Fu and Zhang Yubo. At this time, he interrupted, "Compared with your worries about Xuzhou falling, I see the turtle in the urn.
Look at the situation, Liang Xi is in the north, Cao Yiqu is in the northwest, we are in the south, and Yue Lengqiu is in the east, leaving four to five million refugee troops stranded on the Huaisi line. They can still raise food and grass at this time, so don't panic
, but if they hold on, the situation will only be unfavorable to them. When the time comes, Cao Yiqu's troops will leave Tongguan and go south along the Yellow River into Yingshui or Bianshui, which will be very fast; Liang Xi's troops will leave Jinan and go south along Beisi River and Sishui River. That's great.
Is this a situation of catching turtles in a jar? There is no way for the four to five million refugee troops to escape!"
After Qin Chengzu said this, Zhang Yubo felt that the situation would gradually become more favorable to his side if it dragged on, and said: "Mr. Qin is really insightful, and Uncle Yu has been taught..."
Lin Fu smiled: "If Liu An'er thinks so too, then Yue Lengqiu will feel better!"
Zhang Yubo then thought about it and wanted to understand what Lin Fu meant. If Liu An'er saw through the changes in the situation of catching a turtle in an urn, he would never dare to delay it any longer. He would either give up the siege of Xuzhou and go south immediately, or attack Xuzhou by force and break the situation in the urn. He also wanted to understand what Lin Fu should do.
Qin Chengzu had already agreed on the overall situation, so he didn't explain it clearly because he was afraid that he would persuade him to save Yue Lengqiu.
Zhang Yubo sighed in his heart. If Lin Fu could achieve this step, he could no longer be blamed for standing idly by.
In a series of battles in Chongzhou, the Jiangdong Left Army annihilated 12,000 Japanese soldiers and suffered more than 2,000 casualties. However, under the obstruction of Yue Lengqiu, Jiangdong County and the imperial court had not yet paid the silver reward and salary allocated to military merits last year.