When Tian Chang led his troops into Dongyang County, there was no hope of overcoming the siege of Shengzhou.
The river water dyed red with blood was also diluted by the water from upstream and became clear again. Outside the west city gate tower, the Taibai River that looped around the city sparkled with golden light in the setting sun.
The Huaidong Army was sending people to clean up the battlefield on the east bank, take off the armor of the soldiers who died in the battle, and transport the bodies to the river embankment, waiting for ships to be sent back here.
Farther away, the main force of the Huaidong Army occupied a slope of just over ten feet at the northwest foot of Luohe Mountain. This slope was blocking the entrance to the valley road from Dongyang County to Shengzhou.
At the foot of Poyuan, the Huaidong Army used a large number of carts, shields, and baggage carts to surround a simple camp wall, and the soldiers were on guard behind the cart camp; more troops cut down trees and built camp fences on the inner line, some on the east bank of Taibai River.
There are signs of a long-term standoff between troops stationed at the foot of Luohe Mountain.
Counting the remnant troops that retreated to the west bank, the defenders of Dongyang County, and the reinforcements from Zhuji, She Feihu could mobilize approximately 10,000 troops in Dongyang County.
But the battle on the east bank of the Taibai River was too brutal. Although half of the soldiers withdrew, more than half of the remaining 2,560 soldiers were injured, the establishment was almost completely disabled, and the loss of soldiers and armor was severe.
It took a long period of rest to recover the fighting strength; the morale of the Dongyang County defenders was also very low. If Zhuji reinforcements were rushed forward rashly, if things went wrong and Dongyang County could not hold on, the Huaidong Army would be able to pass through Dongyang and attack western Zhejiang.
Go south to attack southern Zhejiang and go north to attack Kuaiji - rather than relieving the siege of Shengzhou, the most important thing at the moment is to stabilize our position in Dongyang County.
She Feihu held the wall with his hands, his face was calm and his eyes were sharp, but his fingers were so strong that he almost broke the wall into pieces.
As dusk grew heavier, campfires were set up in Poyuan from the east bank of Taibai River. They looked like campfires scattered in the pasture.
Preparing for a sneak attack by the Dongyang garrison across the river at night, Lin Fu listened to the howling wind in the mountain forest and looked up at the sky. The clouds were rolling, and the rain after dark was probably not going to be light.
"God is helping Huaidong!" Lin Fu turned around and followed behind Zhang Gou, Chen Enze and other generals and said with emotion.
Zhang Gou raised his head and looked at the sky. If it rained heavily last night, although it would make the attack more concealed, it would actually make the attack more difficult and the possibility of failure would be greater. Once She Feihu takes advantage of the heavy rain in Dongyang
With the assembly and adjustment of the county's complete military strength, the difficulty and danger of the Shengzhou War will be greatly increased.
Lin Fu said that it was appropriate for God to help Huaidong. It was also the continuous cloudy weather and no rain in the past few days that allowed Huaidong to take advantage of the weather and prevent the war from being unexpectedly hindered. When fighting, we must have the right time, the right location, and the right people - next
Although rainy weather will make it difficult to build strongholds and transport supplies, it will also make it more difficult for She Feihu to counterattack from the west bank.
Walking to the military medical camp, thousands of wounded soldiers were crowded here for treatment, which seemed chaotic. Lin Fu frowned, quite dissatisfied. He walked past tent after tent, and finally couldn't help but asked in a questioning tone.
Asked the people behind him: "How long will it take for the valley road to be vacated? The wounded who can be moved should be moved to Shangyu as soon as possible to recuperate!"
In such a short period of time, what is more important for Zhang Gou, Chen Zhi and others is to prevent She Feihu from counterattacking from the west bank of Taibai River. It is inevitable that there will be things here that cannot be taken care of. Furthermore, they must do their best in a short period of time.
Many supplies and reinforcements were transported over to stabilize the front here. The valley road from Shengzhou to Dongyang County was occupied by the westbound carriages and people. There is a waterway in Shengzhou connected to Shangyu, but it is not much better.
Go, there is no free passage for thousands of wounded soldiers to evacuate from here, and they are all staying in the camp for centralized treatment.
"It will take about three to five days..." Zhang Gou replied.
"It's too slow," Lin Fu frowned and said, "Post roads and valley roads pass, and both carriages and horses must follow one principle, keep to the left..." Lin Fu clenched his left hand into a fist and raised it, deepening the relationship between the two generals.
The concept of "left" and "right" means that "no matter how urgent it is, carriages, people and horses must give way to the right-hand reverse passage. Of course, it is difficult to really do this. As a measure of friendship, you can follow
A flag should be placed every 50 feet on the valley road to guard a baggage soldier to maintain order. Two roads must be separated as soon as possible that can travel in opposite directions. The road heading west can be wider, but it must be ensured that the road heading east to Shengzhou is also maintained at all times.
Smooth! The valley road is dangerous, and where it is not wide enough, we must send out troops to widen and repair it; we must also be prepared for flash floods after the rain to wash away the valley road!"
Afraid that the generals would not understand for a while, Lin Fu squatted on the ground, drew the diagram and explained it again.
Although it takes three to four hundred troops to travel nearly a hundred miles from Shengzhou to this valley, it still costs a lot to ensure that the roads between Luohe Mountain, Shengzhou and Shangyu are smooth at this time.
Zhang Gou and the officials in charge of material transportation carefully recorded Lin Fu's words and arranged for people to implement them. Sun Zhuang was lying on the hospital bed, leaning forward, and said: "Just withdraw the heavily disabled soldiers.
With all the wounded soldiers withdrawn, how can we continue to fight here?"
"You need to recover from your injuries first," Lin Fu said. "Not only the wounded have to be withdrawn to recuperate, but also the Chongcheng Infantry Camp has to be withdrawn to recuperate. We will transfer troops from Changshan Camp to guard them! They will be completely replaced within three to five days!"
"Who will attack Shengzhou City?" Sun Zhuang asked with concern.
"The Chongcheng infantry camp is responsible for the siege in the early stage, and we have to wait for the troops from the Changshan camp to be mobilized before attacking." Lin Fu patiently explained the next deployment to Sun Zhuang.
The battle at Taibai River was almost the limit of Huaidong, and it no longer had the ability to expand outward. If the She family transferred their troops from western Zhejiang to the east, Lin Fu would even consider pulling back to prevent the entire front from losing and collapsing.
The strength of the Chongcheng Infantry Battalion before the war was limited, with only over 6,000 men. After landing, the battles were very depleted, and nearly half of the troops were lost. A large number of wounded soldiers had to be moved to the rear to recuperate.
If the Chongcheng infantry battalion is thrown into a high-intensity battle to seize the city, this powerful army may be crippled accidentally.
Even though the morale of the Chongcheng infantry camp was available, Lin Fu still insisted on withdrawing the Chongcheng infantry camp for rest and recuperation, leaving the defense line in the east and west of Zhejiang and the siege and capture of the city in the inner line to the Changshan battalion, which had relatively sufficient troops.
On the other hand, the Chongcheng Infantry Battalion was more specialized in cooperating with the Shuiying Battalion in landing operations, while the Changshan Battalion had more sufficient training in siege and evacuation of the city.
According to the established plan, as long as there is no violent counterattack by the Dongyang County defenders within three to five days, Chen Zhi will lead the first brigade of the Chongcheng Infantry Battalion to evacuate the soldiers and wounded to Shangyu to rest and recuperate, and Ao Canghai will also lead his troops to fight with Zhou.
Together they completed the handover; Lin Fu arranged for Zhang Gou to be in charge of the defense line at Luohe Mountain.
Chen Zhiyi is qualified to be used as a general who can attack the enemy, but compared to Zhang Gou, he lacks the patience and toughness to engage in a long-term military confrontation with the enemy, and he also lacks the ability to stand alone.
The east-west line of Zhejiang will be headed by Ao Canghai. Ao Canghai also chose Zhang Gou as the brigade general of Changshan Camp to be responsible for the construction and garrison of the Luohe Mountain defense fortress.
On the basis of the 2,000 elite Changshan Battalion who accompanied Lin Fu to Luo Heshan this time, some new soldiers were recruited and organized into the first brigade of Changshan Battalion. In addition, Lin Fu also left two battalions of heavy troops for Zhang Gou to assist in building
Regarding the defense of the stronghold. Of course, the Luoheshan defensive stronghold is in urgent need, and the reinforcements from Shengzhou can arrive within one day.
After nightfall, it began to rain in a steady stream, and towards the middle of the night, the rain gradually intensified. Except for a few campfires under the shelters, all other campfires were extinguished by the heavy rain, and the sky and the earth were pitch black.
The rain continued until the second day of April before letting up, as if announcing the early arrival of the rainy season in eastern Zhejiang.
The continuous rainy weather greatly slowed down the construction of the stronghold in Luohe Mountain, but it severely restricted the Dongyang County defenders from crossing the Taibai River to launch counterattacks. The Dongyang County defenders built a trestle bridge with fishing boats on the Taibai River, which also caused a sudden increase in the number of troops.
The heavy water flow and the broken trees washed down from Dongbai Mountain were destroyed.
The tension on both sides of the Taibai River was temporarily relieved due to the rainy weather that lasted for three or four days. The fence walls of the Luohe Mountain defense stockade and the chest-high protective fences outside the camp were erected one after another. Deep trenches were also dug on the flanks of the easy defense attack.
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After Luohe Mountain's defense system took a preliminary shape, Lin Fu left Dongyang County and returned to Shengzhou on April 5.
Several days of rain in eastern Zhejiang caused the water in the Yanxi River to the west of Shengzhou City to swell and become as vast as a lake. More than a dozen warships from the Third Water Camp were dragged up against the current by hand and laid down on the Yanxi River to cooperate with the infantry camp.
Completely besieged Shengzhou City.
Ao Canghai and Zhou Tong have completed the handover in Shengzhou. The soldiers and horses besieging Shengzhou are mainly the elite ten battalions of the two brigades of the Changshan Battalion. There are also two battalions of engineering troops to assist in the attack and defense. Follow-up soldiers and horses are also being mobilized one after another. Crash, charge
Heavy equipment such as carts, nest carts, cave house carts, city climbing ladders, sling crossbows and bed crossbows were all transported to the outskirts of Shengzhou City through the Yanxi River waterway.
On the west bank of the Yanxi River is the transfer terminal and material station connecting Shangyu and Luoheshan Fangzhai.
When Lin Fu led his troops to Dongyang County for support, the dock was still a barren beach covered with weeds. At this time, piles were driven into the water, and the inside of the piles was filled with earth and rocks. In a short time, a dock was built that could be used to berth at the same time.
A small wharf for three hundred-stone ships. The material station was originally an earthen village on the west bank of the Yanxi River, which was requisitioned for reinforcement, hoarding, and transfer of materials.
The main siege camp was on the east bank of the Yanxi River, close to the south gate of Shengzhou City.
Lin Fu boarded the ship from the west bank transfer terminal and rushed to the main camp surrounding Shengzhou City. Zhou Tong happened to have not left Shengzhou yet.
Together we went to the foot of Shengzhou City to inspect the enemy's situation. Looking at the defenders at the top of the city holding swords and halberds from a distance, their military appearance was quite neat. Lin Fu frowned and sighed: "It is also a tough battle to attack Shengzhou City!"
"The Tian family finally refused to surrender, so the chief secretary of Shangyu County volunteered to go to the city to persuade him, but he came out with his head lost!" Ao Canghai said.
"Then fight!" Lin Fu said, "In the future there will inevitably be fierce siege battles! Before the fight, all six thousand new soldiers will be organized into the Changshan Camp..."
"When will the Chongcheng Infantry Camp be expanded?" Zhou Tong asked.
Changshan Camp had 12,000 troops before the war. Although it was reduced after landing, after Fu Qinghe led the reinforcements, the troops of Changshan Camp were quickly replenished. This time, 6,000 new soldiers were recruited.
The strength of the Changshan Camp will be expanded to 18,000 men, making it the largest elite force in Huaidong. No wonder Zhou Tong is envious of it.
Chongcheng Bu Camp and Fengli Camp both maintained a strength of 6,000 people.
"Although the marching army in eastern Zhejiang will be composed of 20 battalions, the camping army mainly guards local cities and is not enough to form military pressure on Kuaiji and southern Zhejiang. The Changshan Battalion will temporarily stay in eastern Zhejiang as a field infantry camp.
Coordinated operations are subject to the restrictions of the Zhejiang East Camp," Lin Fu said. "There are only thirty battalions of soldiers, and the strength is still small! As for the Chongcheng Infantry Camp, it will be expanded after the rest, and you will be given another five battalions...
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In the past, the infantry camps of the Huaidong Army were mainly composed of Changshan Camp, Chongcheng Infantry Camp, and Fengli Camp. They were all elite soldiers. They continued to increase their troops. Before the war, Huaidong already had 24,000 elite infantry soldiers.
In conjunction with the water camp, it is enough to defend the land east of Huaihe.
With the expansion of the scale of the war, especially this step, it jumps directly to eastern Zhejiang and engages in a comprehensive military confrontation with the She family from the rivers and seas to the mountains.
While we have to take into account the situation on the northern front of Huaisi, we still have a serious shortage of troops that can be dedicated to the southern front to fight against the She family for a long time.
Not to mention the pressure of supplies and money, Huaidong could not produce too many sophisticated soldiers and armor at this time. To expand based on the standards of elite infantry soldiers, the number of troops that could be increased in a short period of time was limited.
In order to resolve this contradiction, Lin Fu differentiated the infantry camps within the Huaidong Army based on different combat purposes of field operations or garrisoning. While continuously strengthening the Changshan Camp, Chongcheng Infantry Camp, and Fengli Camp, he would also follow suit
The government army set up a camp army as the main force to garrison the place.
There is a Haidong Travel Camp in Haidong and a Zhejiang Travel Camp in East Zhejiang.
Yanjing was under siege and the roads were blocked, so Lin Fu could only submit the information to Prince Ning's Palace and the Six Ministries of Jiangning to ask for instructions on how to deal with the Mingzhou Prefecture.
Lin Fu recommended Liang Wenzhan as the magistrate of Mingzhou in the document, and Li Wei succeeded Liang Wenzhan as the magistrate of Shanyang County - I don't know how Ning Prince's Mansion and the Sixth Ministries of Jiangning will deal with Lin Fu's recommendation document, but Lin Fu did not give up Mingzhou Prefecture at all.
In his mind, among the Mingzhou government offices, it was already within his clear plan to set up a camp in eastern Zhejiang.
Of course, if Jiangning agrees to let Liang Wenzhan serve as the Mingzhou Prefecture, then the administrative and financial rights will be transferred to the Mingzhou Prefecture; the Zhejiang East Military Camp will be responsible for defense and military confrontation with the She family. If Jiangning must give Huai
To increase the blockage in the east and force others to come to Mingzhou to serve as magistrates and other officials, we can directly use the Zhejiang camp in eastern Zhejiang to implement military control over Mingzhou Prefecture.