Lin Fu's original plan was to keep Gu Siyuan and Suining, so he led the Jiangdong Left Army's Shuibu Battalion to launch a two-pronged attack to break the siege of Siyang by the Huai Army.
Liu Miaozhen led the elite cavalry of the refugee army to go south quickly, disrupting Lin Fu's original battle plan, and was forced to leave the water camp to help guard Suining. He led the Changshan camp, Fengli camp, and the cavalry camp to go south by land, and crossed the Huaihe River
The army met northwest of Siyang.
Since the water camp was left in Suining to guard, after Lin Fu joined forces with Liu Tingzhou, he was no longer in a hurry to go north and rested for two days in the remnant fortress called Gaojiazhai in the northwest of Siyang.
Not only should the remnants of the Huaihe Army be fully rested, their armor and equipment strengthened, and their ability to advance and fight on the move restored, but the wounded soldiers should also receive more adequate treatment so that their injuries could be more stable and able to support the accompanying troops.
transfer.
In addition to the more than a thousand wounded soldiers of the Huaihe Army, the Jiangdong Left Army forced its way from Suining to Siyang, and there were also more than 300 wounded soldiers.
Although the refugee army's strength in Siyang once exceeded 30,000, they did not dare to spread out to encircle Gaojiazhai. They only set up three large camps in the northeast, northwest and due east, with Bianshui in the west and Bianshui in the south.
The road to the Nanhuai River was cleared.
It's past the middle of July, and although it's still very hot under the scorching sun, it's been easier to endure in the past few days.
At noon, cicadas were chirping loudly. Lin Fu, accompanied by Zhou Pu and others, climbed up to the watchtower at the north corner of the village to look at the enemy's situation.
"Looking at this situation, are the refugee bandits planning to withdraw from Siyang?" Zhou Pu looked into the distance with his hands on his hips. In their field of vision, the refugee army was already evacuating to the north in groups. He frowned slightly and said, "If it were me,
Withdraw from Suyu and Siyang and build a new line of defense north of Suining. Maybe there is still a chance to fight..."
"Yue Lengqiu had only 20,000 soldiers and horses in Xuzhou, and the refugee army surrounded them five times. They attacked for more than two months without defeating them; Liu Miaozhen, Ma Lantou, and Sun Ganzi only had 30,000 soldiers and horses in Siyang, and they could not defeat them.
Do you have the guts to swallow my more than ten thousand elites?" Ao Canghai said.
Lin Fu went south from Suining and led the Changshan Camp, Fengli Camp, and Qi Camp. There were more than 7,000 elites in the camp. After reorganizing the Huaihe Army, there were more than 10,000 elites capable of fighting.
Lin Fu frowned slightly and said: "The bandits also know that even if they are used to encircle our army, it is easy for our army to take advantage of the weak points. It is better to simply withdraw and threaten the grain, grass and livestock as soon as possible."
Go north to change the problem that Siyang's soldiers and horses are large but bloated and inconvenient. It is really hard to say whether all the rogue bandits will withdraw. You see, they have no determination to attack Gaojiazhai, but we leave Gaojiazhai and leave.
If Kuangyuan withdraws the Huai River to the south and the Bian River to the west, they may not be able to attack..."
Xiao Kuian was confused.
The bandits have more elite soldiers in Siyang, but after removing the miscellaneous soldiers with poor combat effectiveness, the remaining elite soldiers are at most 14,000 to 5,000. No matter how elite these 14,000 to 5,000 bandits are, they cannot compete with Jiangdong.
The left army compared with the 10,000 elite troops after crossing the Huaihe River.
Lin Fu and his generals not only did not take the initiative to attack the bandit's three camps to the north and east of Gaojiazhai, but they were worried that when they retreated south, the bandit elite would come to cover their retreat. Is this too conservative?
At this time, Xiao Kui'an could not see the sharpness from Lin Fu when he entered Yannan alone. He led his troops from Shukou to the west some time ago, broke through the Yishui camp and the Sishui Hedong camp, and captured Sui.
Ning Cheng's sharpness is completely different.
Liu Tingzhou was silent in his heart. He could guess at least half of Lin Fu's thoughts.
The Siyang bandits, in order to protect the overall situation of Xuzhou, the 14,000 to 5,000 people who stayed behind must be elites who can fight tooth and nail and dare to fight hard. Since the Jiangdong Left Army can chew off this hard bone, it must pay a heavy price.
If Lin Fu was loyal to the court, he should annihilate the elite bandits in Siyang regardless of casualties.
Although the bandits have 30,000 to 50,000 elite soldiers, they have 14,000 to 5,000 elite soldiers in Siyang. The three tribes of Chen Han and Sun Zhuang also have more than 10,000 elite troops who are blocked on the east bank of Si River and unable to cross. Although Liu An'er surrounded Xuzhou with
There are 100,000 soldiers and horses, but the elite troops are constantly being transferred. It would be great to be able to collect 20,000 elite troops in Xuzhou.
As long as Lin Fu could annihilate the bandits in Siyang regardless of casualties, he would lead his troops north and attack together with Yue Lengqiu from both inside and outside, and the possibility of defeating Liu An'er was extremely high.
Lin Fu is not doing what he can't do, but what he doesn't want to do.
The Liu tribe was defeated, Huaisi was pacified, the Central Plains was stabilized, and the left army in Jiangdong suffered heavy casualties. How could Lin Fu continue to be his hero?
Only then did Liu Tingzhou realize that no matter whether he took out Yue Lengqiu's three seals or not, it would be impossible to change Lin Fu's mind. He thought to himself: It would be better to burn the three seals later, otherwise it would really happen.
Disaster.
Lin Fu looked at the sparse forest in the distance, his thoughts far away. The Liang family was in Jinan and the Cao family was in Tongguan. They were both waiting for Huai Si to break the situation first. He tried his best to break Liu An'er's main force surrounding Xuzhou.
What's the use?
Liu An'er's troops have lost all their elite troops. The remnants of the refugee army who were forced to evacuate to Shandong will become the Liang family's meal. The remnants of the refugee army that were forced to evacuate to Zhongzhou will become the delicacies of the Cao family who left Tongguan in the east. Liu An'er's work in the Haosi area
The tribesmen may join Luo Xiancheng who has entered Shouzhou on Huaihe River. At that time, Luo Xiancheng will replace Liu An'er and become a major problem in the Huaihe area again.
Among the three families of Liang, Cao and Luo Xiancheng, the one who benefited the most was the Liang family.
In the Northern Army in Xuzhou, although the Tianyi army led by Ge Ping was inferior in combat strength, it was the largest in number, with nearly 200,000 men. If Lin Fu used all his strength to break Liu An'er's main force surrounding Xuzhou,
Eventually pouring into eastern Shandong, the remnants of the refugee army in eastern Zhongzhou are likely to number as many as 300,000.
Although there are a large number of three hundred thousand people, all the elites are lost, and the rest are short of clothing and food, with incomplete soldiers and armor, and an unorganized team, like a bereaved dog.
At the same time, the Liang family's troops occupying the four prefectures of Jinan, Pingyuan, Daming, and Hezhong have expanded to 50,000 to 60,000 troops. They have been training for three or four months. They are sharpening their swords and ready for action.
Once the remnants of the refugee army are defeated and recruited by Liang in large numbers, Liang's power will expand again.
By that time, even if Lin Fu tried his best, he could not guarantee that their forces in Qingzhou and on both sides of the Jiaolai River would not be driven out by the Liang family.
Lin Fu wants to drive the refugee army to Shandong, but he also wants to make the refugee army withdraw from Shandong a hard nut that Liang can't chew. In the longer term, even if Xuzhou is given up to the refugee army at this time, it will not be easy for the refugee army to occupy it.
It is much better than trying all your efforts to cripple Liu An'er.
Lin Fu walked down from the watchtower, stood on the muddy ground with a layer of loess, and said to Liu Tingzhou: "Should the imperial court allow us to recruit the refugee army? These refugees are like leeks after spring, growing one after another.
, we can’t just kill them all, most of them are thieves and just have a piece of their bread, so who would have the heart to raise a butcher’s knife against them?”
"..." Liu Tingzhou was slightly startled. The whole situation was slowly changing in the favor of the court. Why did Lin Fu suddenly bring up the issue of recruiting peace? He said, "Tolerating thieves is not a long-term strategy; even if he wants to recruit peace, it is not a long-term strategy."
The bandits must be crippled and beaten painfully. Besides, how can Liu An'er, the bandit's leader, be a coward?"
"Our army occupied Suining, blocked the Bian River and Surabaya River, reached his waist and cut his throat. He is invincible. We can no longer tolerate him!" Lin Fu smiled and said, "For the purpose of recruiting peace, we may have to send people into Xuzhou.
, ask Governor Yue for his opinion!"
Xiao Kui'an thought to himself: How can it be easy to send people into Xuzhou at this time?
Liu Tingzhou secretly thought: If we can really send people into Xuzhou, although Yue Lengqiu has the title of governor, the overall situation of the war is in Lin Fu's hands. How can Yue Lengqiu decide whether it is peace or war? In order to escape, Yue Lengqiu,
Is it possible to just bite the bullet and fight it off?
Rather than sit back and watch the Xuzhou city be destroyed and Yue Lengqiu and the Changhuai army destroyed, it was easier to accept the peace talks.
Thinking of this, Liu Tingzhou resolutely said: "If we discuss the matter of recruitment, I am willing to enter Xuzhou as a messenger! I don't think the bandits will make trouble for me, an old man with a white head."
"Then thank you for your hard work, Mr. Liu." Lin Fu said.
Recruiting peace and negotiating peace would still benefit Yue Lengqiu, but given the current situation, it was the best policy.
Compared with the She family who engulfed eastern Zhejiang and the Donghu people who surrounded Datong and watched the Central Plains, Yue Lengqiu was not a big problem at all. Even if Yue Lengqiu still held the position of governor of Jianghuai, he still had considerable restrictions on the left army in Jiangdong.
It was limited. Even the Liang family who was recruiting troops in Northern Shandong and the Cao family who was waiting at Tongguan had more headaches than Yue Lengqiu.
It is still beneficial to keep Yue Lengqiu at this time.
****************
Sun Zhuang was sitting at the curtain of the big tent, silent with his sword in his hand. He wanted to fight, but Liu Miaozhen and Ma Lantou wouldn't let him.
Sun Zhuang led his troops to assist Siyang. He only had more than a thousand men. At this time, less than half of them were left. The other troops and horses were blocked to the west of Si River and could not pass. He wanted to act without authorization and mobilized troops to attack Gaojiazhai.
.
The Jiangdong Left Army took refuge in Gaojiazhai to rest and recuperate. Liu Miaozhen and Malantou also arranged for rest and reorganization. At the same time, they arranged for the less powerful troops to retreat from Siyang toward Xuzhou.
These soldiers and horses who are not good at fighting can't be of much help if they stay. During the battle, they are often the first to be defeated, forming a surge of troops that disrupts the entire battle formation. Especially when fighting against the left army in Jiangdong, the Yishui Camp and the Hedong Camp in Sishui
Being taken away is a precedent.
It would be great if Liu Miaozhen led his troops to come to the rescue and be able to defeat the Jiangdong left army and recapture Suining.
Once this goal cannot be achieved, we must consider the unfavorable situation of the main attack on Xuzhou.
The east bank of the Sishui River is dominated by the three tribes of Chen and Han. Chen Hansan has surrendered himself and has never been under much control. At this time, he can no longer be controlled. But there are more than 20,000 horses on the Huaisi corner of Siyang and Suyu.
Soldiers have always been the core combat force of the refugee army. They must receive reinforcements and move northward. After the Jiangdong Left Army occupied Suining, so many soldiers and horses were blocked at Huaisi Corner and unable to get out.
Sun Zhuang was dissatisfied. He clearly still had the strength to fight. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, the Jiangdong left army was killed in a heap.
At this time, a fast horse came galloping. Sun Zhuang looked over and saw that it was a sentinel horse galloping back from the front base.
If you don't hear the horn, what's going on at the front base that would make you rush forward?
"The Jing invaders in Huaidong have sent envoys in front of the battle. They want to see the three commanders. They say they are here to recruit people and want to use the road to Xuzhou!" The sentry knelt down in front of the tent and reported.
Liu Miaozhen, Ma Lantou, and Sun Zhuang were all shocked. They walked to the tent together and asked, "Who are you sending?"