Chen Zhi and Zhang Gou led their troops to forcefully cross the Yishui River and rush to the east bank of the Sishui River. The northern part of Hedong Daying in Suyu was caught in a sea of fire, burning the dark sky at dawn red.
Seeing that the camp could not be defended, Li Liang, the defender of the Hedong camp, set fire to the camp before finally withdrawing.
Before Lin Fu, Qin Chengzu, Ning Zechen and others attacked the camp, they considered that the refugee army would set fire to the camp and chose to attack from the upper wind.
Fortunately, the southeasterly wind did not change overnight.
When the refugee army set fire to the camp, they basically didn't have much determination to resist. After setting the fire, they were downwind of the spread of the fire. Under the fierce attack of the soldiers here, the refugee army quickly withdrew.
The refugee army had earlier smeared mud on the fence walls and shacks in preparation for setting fires when the Jiangdong Left Army attacked the camp. Although it was primitive, it also effectively prevented the spread of fire. The Jiangdong Left Army completely occupied the Hedong Camp, and only the area near the Beiying Gate was burned.
If you remove a large area, the damage is not particularly serious.
Chen Zhi and Zhang Gou could not imagine how the 4,000-strong Jiangdong left army could forcibly capture the Hedong camp from nearly 6,000 defenders when Chen Hansan led his cavalry to peer into the rear flank.
Chen Hansan did not fail to do his best this time. Chen Zhi and Zhang Gou ordered their subordinates to form a formation on the gentle slope east of the Hedong camp and rushed over to see Chen Hansan. They saw that many of Chen Hansan's men were injured and fought hard all night.
There are probably hundreds of casualties.
Chen Zhi, Zhang Gou and others, like their commander-in-chief Sun Zhuang, were quite dissatisfied with Chen Hansan, but they also knew that Chen Hansan was able to fight so hard this time, and he was already very dedicated.
The guard on Suyu's side is Malantou's deputy general Li Liang. He is just in his early thirties. In his early years, he escaped from the border army with Liu An'er and others with Malantou, and joined the bandits as water bandits. Later, he rebelled. In the past two years,
It was difficult, but life was refreshing, and there was nothing to regret. Li Liang was fair and fair, and did not look like he was from the refugee army. He came with his confidant Li Shen'er, full of troubles that the camp was taken away, and came to Chen
In front of Han San, he smashed the metal bag to the ground and cursed: "Damn, this battle is so depressing. The Jiangdong left army took a shield chariot, and Gao Dun pushed in to break through, and in the middle he took a ram chariot and a mule.
If the horses demolish the camp sheds, there will be no chance for a free fight! If I had known this, I would have set fire to the camp from the beginning! Zuo Hujun, how do you think this battle will be fought?"
Li Liang finally withdrew nearly 2,000 troops. The large number of soldiers before had been scattered, defeated, and escaped from the east and west gates. The casualties were not serious. It was not easy to gather the scattered soldiers at night, but it was also difficult to gather them.
Li Liang was asked to gather nearly 3,000 troops in the north.
Although Jiangdong Zuojun captured the Hedong camp at night, including the newly arrived Chen Zhi and Zhang Gou's troops, their troops still numbered 8,000, twice as many as Jiangdong Zuojun.
, Li Liang was unwilling to lose the Hedong camp like this.
Chen Hansan stared fiercely at the northern part of the Hedong camp, where the fire had opened a gap more than twenty feet wide. If he wanted to counterattack the Hedong camp, the most suitable place to attack was from there, but he hesitated to say anything.
.Everyone knows that the situation is critical, but they are still unwilling to fill in all his elite troops.
Not to mention Chen Hansan, Chen Zhi, Zhang Gou felt slightly dissatisfied.
They and the three armies of Chen and Han pursued and fought all night, and the soldiers were very tired. It was hard to say how much combat power they could unleash. They did not want to exhaust all their troops in one battle.
What do you rely on to survive in troubled times? Don't you just rely on the few soldiers you have?
If we really want to counterattack, we still need Li Liang to lead his troops as the main force.
Li Liang had just led 6,000 troops to guard the Hedong camp and was driven out. Can he be expected to lead his troops as the main force and suppress the arrogance of the left army in Jiangdong? In order to ensure the front line in Siyang, he was sent from Suyu
The deployment of elite soldiers is too powerful. The elite soldiers Li Liang can attack are too limited.
Although in the past two days and nights, Jiangdong Zuojun has fought one or two more tough battles than them, and their combat effectiveness is not as good as at its peak. However, in addition to personal bravery, the soldiers of Jiangdong Zuojun also emphasize battlefield discipline and cooperation in combat. Soldiers, armor and equipment
and supplies are much superior to them, so after continuous marching and fighting, they can still maintain a combat effectiveness above the standard - this is far beyond the comparison of the refugee army.
Sun Ganzi once said that if he had the armor and equipment of Jiangdong Zuojun, he would dare to carry the king's elite cavalry of Donglu.
This may be true, but in addition to soldiers and equipment, food and grass supplies are more important.
As long as they fail to capture Xuzhou and occupy a place where they can establish a stronghold, even if they can capture and equip a group of sophisticated soldiers and armor, the bodies of the soldiers will be severely damaged by the long-term forced movement.
Compared with the two days and nights of forced marches and continuous fighting by the Jiangdong Left Army, Zhang Gou, Chen Zhi and others have been fighting in various places for two years. Due to the difficulty of supply, they rarely stay in one place for more than a month to rest.
It is an extremely severe test for everyone's body.
Over the past two years, Zhang Gou is no longer the small frontier army commander, and Chen Zhi is no longer the small leader of the water village. Their ability to rise up and be Sun Ganzi's support is not only due to their ability to fight bravely, but also because of their ability to fight bravely.
They are more willing to use their brains when fighting than others. I can't help but think, if Xuzhou cannot be conquered like this, what will happen in the future?
At this time, the left army in Jiangdong had the advantage of defending the camp. How would they fight this battle? Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi couldn't help but wonder in their hearts.
At this time, a long line of people holding torches came from the south to the north on the west bank of the river. Li Liang shouted excitedly: "Okay, Marshal Ma's reinforcements are back!"
They were far apart and couldn't see clearly. There was no doubt that reinforcements from Siyang came back overnight. Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi were thinking in their hearts: In such a short period of time, did Ma Shuai and Gan Ye manage to cross the Huaihe River under Liu Tingzhou's command?
The army is completely wiped out?
Although most of Liu Tingzhou's troops crossing the Huaihe River were newly recruited rabble, the Shanyang County soldiers were rare elites. Since they raised their troops, they have not been able to get much benefit from the Shanyang County soldiers. Liu Tingzhou said in the early morning of the day before yesterday
In that case, he was still defeated but not defeated. The people who supported him were the elite soldiers of Shanyang County in the Sixth Battalion.
Besides, the pontoon bridge on the Suyu side has been almost destroyed, and Dongkouzi is under the control of Jiangdong Left Army. The reinforcements from Siyang can only ensure that Suyu City is not lost, but they still cannot support the war here!
Chen Hansan had a gloomy face. Although the soldiers and horses of the refugee army on the east bank of the river were divided into three groups, he still had to take the lead in making decisions at this time. He said: "The left army in Jiangdong is also at the end of the war. Although the soldiers and armor are good, the defenders can't do it."
The defense is so tight that it is difficult for our army to break through their defensive formations, but it is also difficult for them to attack our army in the field..."
During the attack on the camp, Li Liang's troops were beaten to the point of panic. Even the cavalrymen of Chen and Han's three troops could not enter the camp to support the battle. If Chen Zhi and Zhang Gouneng had led their troops to arrive a moment earlier, the camp might not have been easily captured by the Jiangdong Left Army.
.
In the field battle, Chen Hansan was afraid of the Jiangdong Left Army's armored cavalry attacking in the middle of the infantry array, and did not dare to easily attack the Jiangdong Left Army's defensive formation. However, if the Jiangdong Left Army attacked, it would inevitably have weak flanks.
If it is exposed, you can then use light cavalry to attack its flanks.
As reinforcements arrived from Hexi, Chen Hansan gave up the idea of counterattacking the Hedong camp and ordered Chen Zhi, Zhang Gou, and Li Liang to lead their infantry into formation. The soldiers were ordered to work tirelessly to dig more barrier trenches in front of the formation.
, confining the Jiangdong Left Army to the Hedong Camp, and taking advantage of its strength to form a counter-encirclement.
They could even mobilize more troops and horses from Tancheng and Zhaiqiao Camp. Even if they gathered the scattered soldiers who were scattered and defeated in the first two battles, they would still have considerable troops and horses available.
Chen Hansan intended to suppress the Jiangdong Left Army in the Hedong camp, but his plan was quickly shattered.
In the morning light, the tall masts of the Shuiying warships were fluttering like huge war flags. The Jiangdong Shuiying, which had not been dispatched for two days, was finally revealed and appeared in the Surabaya River.
The measures taken by the refugee army to seal the Sishui River mainly consisted of hidden piles, iron cable pontoons, and broken river trees in the upper reaches. The broken river trees had been broken, and after Lin Fu occupied the Hedong camp, the iron cable floating bridges and hidden piles became no obstacles.
Lin Fu immediately asked people to dive into the water, find out the location of the hidden stake, tie a rope, and dozens of people worked together to pull a hidden stake out of the river and open the blocked river channel.
The Jiangning Water Camp arrived, and in addition to taking the Fengli Camp and the Cavalry Camp, which had been fighting for two days and two nights on the east bank, to the west bank of the Sishui River, they also brought the Changshan Camp's five battalions of 3,000 soldiers.
Although on the west bank of the Sishui River, the refugee army transferred reinforcements from Siyang overnight, but this reinforcements also trekked all night after continuous fighting in Siyang and was quite exhausted.
Jiangning Shuiying arrived, and some warships anchored on the east bank. Jie Fengli and cavalry officers boarded the ship one after another. Some warships anchored on the west bank. Ao Canghai, wearing a crimson armor, stood on the deck and commanded Chang Shan.
The elite battalion landed directly in front of the enemy.
Lin Fu boarded the ship and waited for Ao Canghai. Ge Cunxiong briefly reported the situation in Siyang and Shanyang, and breathed out: "It's good if Liu Tingzhou can take a breath. Can you catch up and send the refugee army to the west of the Sishui River?"
The deployment was completely disrupted. It depends on whether the Changshan Battalion can gain a foothold on the west bank and drive the refugee army back to Suyu City... I entered the cabin and slept first. I didn't close my eyes for two days and two nights. I was really like an iron man.
I can’t bear it!”
Sun Zhuang was quite depressed. After receiving the report from here last night, Malan stayed in Siyang and continued to lead the main force to surround Liu Tingzhou's troops who had begun to break out from yesterday afternoon. He pulled more than 4,000 elite troops along the west bank of the Sishui River to aid Suyu.
After running around all night, when they arrived at Suyu, nearly a thousand people still fell behind.
If they had continued their march and forced the Jiangdong Left Army to cross the river after fighting for two days and two nights, Sun Zhuang could still have fought hard. However, what landed on the west bank were the lively and vigorous Changshan Battalion elites who had just been transferred to Huaisi to fight?
After a long period of exploration, the Jiangdong Left Army has a mature landing operation mode in front of the enemy.
Although there are still some weaknesses that are difficult to overcome when landing in front of the enemy, the enemy is tired and strong, and they have the advantages of armor and equipment, as well as the near-shore support of warships and crossbows. It is not difficult to force the landing.
Sun Zhuang led his troops to counterattack several times, but they were unable to knock down the small soldiers of the Changshan Battalion who had landed ashore. The more they fought, the larger and firmer the Changshan Battalion's position on the shore was, while his two wings were also severely weakened.
The threat of crossbows caused heavy casualties. The soldiers continued to fight and were very tired after running all night. Even Chen Zhuang, who was fighting in front with a saber, was exhausted. He fell off his horse and was almost hacked to death.
He was rescued by his subordinates desperately and retreated into Suyu City, where he watched helplessly as Jiangdong's left army landed on the west bank of the Sishui River.