Sun Zhuang and Li Liang each led a cavalry unit and sneaked at night to capture the traces of the Yanhu outposts that had penetrated into the front line of Huaiyang at the northeastern foothills of Mangdang Mountain.
Mangdang Mountain is the commanding height of the plains in eastern Henan. The mountain is not very high. There are 13 hills scattered in Yongcheng County, which are only four or five miles deep, including Fuyazhai in Mangdang Mountain and nearby Yongcheng.
The county seat has been destroyed in the wars in recent years.
Yongcheng County was under the jurisdiction of Henan. After Tao Chun was appointed as the envoy of Henan, Jiangning sent new Yongcheng county magistrates and other officials to recruit young men from the people who were returning home one after another, and raised a county soldier team of 200 people.
They don't even have enough spears and spears, let alone the ability to repair the dilapidated city.
Although Lin Fu had always coveted Mangdang Mountain for a better city building terrain than Huaiyang, there was no legitimate reason to extend the Huaiyang defense line to the northwest for another 40 to 50 miles.
Before nightfall yesterday, Yongcheng County was defeated by the elite Yanhu outpost that had infiltrated into the city. The three to five hundred households that had finally gathered in the city were massacred, and only a few people escaped.
After the captives passed through Yongcheng County, they were also worried that their traces would be exposed and the Southern Dynasty soldiers would outflank them, so they moved to the remaining village of Fuziya on Mangdang Mountain in the east of Yongcheng County to rest and recuperate at night.
After detecting the enemy's traces, Sun Zhuang and Li Liang first communicated with each other. Seeing that it was already dawn, the Japanese troops would probably move after dawn. Before the cavalry in the middle came to join them, they would outflank them from the southwest and due east.
The ruined village of Fuziya in Mangdang Mountain.
The troop sentries were posted ten miles away, and they would blow the whistle and run back at the slightest contact. Sun Zhuang led his troops to the northeastern foothills of Mangdang Mountain. In the clear morning light, he saw more than 400 mounted troopers coming from Fuzi Cliff.
They galloped out of the remaining village and spread out over a radius of two or three miles.
The Huaidong cavalry camp was all veteran pawns who were skilled in bow and horse. The enemy cavalry rushed towards them and scattered towards the northeast, blocking the enemy cavalry's northward escape route. The enemy cavalry shrank, then spread out to bite them, waiting for Li Liang and his troops to arrive and besiege them.
Of.
The sound of hoofbeats coming from Li Liang's troops was getting closer. The soldiers broke out urgently, peeked at the direction, and got through the gap on the north side of Confucius Cliff, even if their flanks were exposed. Of course, Sun Zhuang did not hesitate and led his troops.
He bit the exposed flank of the captive cavalry, and when he got close, he fired with bows and crossbows. Thousands of arrows rained down like a heavy rain, and like locusts crossing the border.
Both sides are armored and light cavalry, and they are both within the opponent's shooting range. It depends on which side shoots more dense arrows and has a better shooting situation. In the first round of shooting, the Huaidong Cavalry Battalion led by Sun Zhuang pounced from the flank.
Naturally, he had a great advantage, and his shots caused the enemy cavalry to fall off their horses.
The captive cavalry is unable to fight, and just wants to take advantage of the horses to break out of the encirclement. As for the captive soldiers, they learn the way of horse thieves and travel deep into the enemy's territory. They usually only attack targets that pose little threat. Otherwise, even if there are a few wounded, they will still move forward.
Or it would be a huge burden during the retreat. When they saw that the encircled Southern Dynasty cavalry had an obvious advantage in numbers, the captive cavalry naturally took the lead in breaking out of the encirclement.
However, the first breakout of the enemy cavalry was false, to lure Sun Zhuang to lead his troops to pursue him. After the first burst of arrows, the flanks of the army cavalry seemed to be bulging, and a group of men and horses quickly separated. With the speed of the horses,
, galloping diagonally through an arc, the bright and curved sword was raised high, and came directly to impact Sun Zhuang's left front wing.
The Huaidong cavalry camp was also divided into two teams. One team continued to bite the flanks of the Lu cavalry, and the other team led by Sun Zhuang rashly attacked the counterattacking Lu soldiers.
Generally speaking, the standard equipment of the light cavalry is a crossbow, a bow and a light and long saber. The outposts of the prisoners are also equipped with bows and sabers. Without the accompanying infantry, Sun Zhuang cannot use a large bow and a horse sword at the same time on horseback.
Sun Zhuang was able to shoot with a step bow while riding on a horse. Others shot an arrow with a crossbow, and he had already shot down three people. When he saw a group of soldiers coming back, he immediately put away his big bow and drew a sword that was more than a foot longer than the saber.
Sun Zhuang's sword was unsheathed, clamped under the horse's belly, and collided with the counterattacking soldiers. The two enemies in front of them leaned over each other's horses' heads and raised their swords to knock each other. When they were about to miss, Sun Zhuang used the hilt of the sword between the lightning and flints.
He hit the man's side armpit horizontally. Although the man was also Yan Hu Yongrui, he couldn't bear the heavy blow. His body was weak and he was about to collapse. The Huaidong cavalry who came after him took a knife and stabbed him in the neck. Blood spurted from his neck.
Come out, it's four to five feet away...
The two groups of cavalry rushed over quickly, and Sun Zhuang was also quick, and he only had time to kill three of them. Fortunately, the people behind him helped two of them with finishing blows.
When the captive soldiers saw that the Southern Dynasty cavalry they encountered was very powerful, they did not dare to show off any more aggressive attacks. They turned their horses' heads and dispersed in all directions. Sun Zhuang put his sword back into its sheath, took his long bow in his hand, and looked for the captive generals wearing thick armor.
Shoot the horses he dismounted from. The captive soldiers also had the same idea. Many of them were good at using long bows on horseback. In the time of burning incense, Sun Zhuang dismounted and shot three of them.
The Huaidong cavalry has one man and one horse. The ordinary cavalry shoots the horse and follows the other cavalry with swords and bows to kill the enemy. Sun Zhuang is the leader, so the retinue on the left and right will naturally let him ride the horse, and they will close to his side to cover and kill.
enemy.
Li Liang came with his troops, but the captives did not dare to fight anymore, so they fled away. Li Liang charged from the flank for a while, but there were many captives, and after resting all night, most of them escaped.
In just one stick of incense, the Huaidong and Huaiyang cavalry wounded more than thirty people in total.
Regardless of whether it is the Huaidong Cavalry Camp or the Huaiyang Cavalry Camp, they are both the best elites. They at least wear light armor. Arrow wounds and knife wounds are hardly serious injuries. However, two people were shot off their horses and trampled by the enemy cavalry.
And died.
However, the cavalry were eager to escape, and some of the wounded soldiers who landed were not able to be saved in time. After the battle, they cleaned up the battlefield and beheaded thirty people and captured seven or eight prisoners. It was a good little victory, at least for this group of prisoners.
I don’t dare to wander around Huaiyang City anymore.
The scouts were dispersed, and Sun Zhuang and Li Liang rested on the spot.
Many injured horses had to be treated on the spot to prevent them from being destroyed, so they had to wait for Huaiyang Town to send infantry to respond.
Few people were injured, but many horses were injured. Fortunately, forty or fifty injured horses abandoned by the captive cavalry were collected, otherwise Li Liang and Sun Zhuang would have complained endlessly.
At noon, Liu Miaozhen personally led the fourth battalion of Huaiyang Town infantry to come to support. Lin Fu, Zhou Pu, Gao Zongting and others also accompanied them to Mangdang Mountain to observe the destruction and massacre in Yongcheng County.
Between the Hehuai River and Huaihe River, except for a few cities that were repaired after the war, most of the cities were like Yongcheng County. The soldiers were weak and the cities were dilapidated. Yanhu outposts infiltrated like horse thieves and could not resist.
If the defense line along the Yellow River cannot plug the leaks and prevent the infiltration of small groups of horsemen, the recovery of production on the inner line will naturally be impossible. Even the transportation of grain and fodder will be greatly affected, which will make the Changhuai Army want to defend the north.
Several cities will also become difficult.
Yongcheng County was completely slaughtered, but no one stood up to stop the Huaiyang Town Army from establishing an outpost in Mangdang Mountain.
The significance of the defense line is not only to require soldiers to defend the city and fortification, but also to go out of the city to intercept the enemy outside the area, so that the production in the defense area is not damaged.
Although the Huaiyang town army was equipped with a large number of flying chariots, under the threat of large groups of cavalry, the infantry relied on the shield chariots to leave the city, and the scope of their activities was also very limited. A certain number of cavalry must cooperate in combat in order to have more success.
The long-distance attack capability can ensure that the Huaiyang defense line is tight and effective. Transferring more Huaidong cavalry battalions to Huaiyang for coordinated operations can also increase mutual familiarity and trust.
Returning to Huaiyang from Yongcheng, Lin Fu took up the post of deputy commander of Sun Zhuang's Cavalry Division, specifically responsible for allocating the cavalry camp in Huaiyang in Huaidong and cooperating with the Huaiyang town army.
The news obtained after returning to Huaiyang to interrogate the prisoners was surprising.
In September, Yanhu adjusted his army and troops in southern Shanxi and Yannan. With the elite cavalry of his headquarters as the core, he equipped a considerable number of Yanxi cavalry and new auxiliary troops, forming Yeji Luorong,
The eastern and western front armies led by Ye Jiduo Dy.
Before Lin Fu returned to Chongzhou from Mingzhou Prefecture, and then set off from Chongzhou to Shanyang, Yanhu's Shannan and Yannan armies launched together. Ye Ji Luorong left Zezhou with 60,000 infantry and cavalry as the main force.
Encircle Qinyang and plunder the cities at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain and the north bank of the Yellow River.
Qinyang lies on the north bank of the Yellow River. It is also the most important city in the middle reaches of the Yellow River besides Zhengzhou and Daliang. The Liang family's ancestral home is Qinyang. Liang Xi's son Liang Chengyi once served as the garrison of Qinyang. The Qinyang army was also the leader of the Liang family after the defeat of Chen Tangyi.
The only elite force they could control. Later, when the Liang family expanded to Hezhong, Luxi and other places, they all expanded their troops based on the Qinyang Army.
When the elite of the Qinyang army was exhausted, although the Qinyang defenders never fell below ten battalions of armored soldiers in the later period, their combat power was no longer the same.
When Yanhu controlled the entire Jin County and Tao Chun retreated south from Qinghe and other places to Daliang and other places on the south bank of the Yellow River, the Liang family also knew that it was difficult to defend Qinyang alone on the north bank. However, after the Huaisi War, the Liang family captured
After Jining, the tribesmen in Qinyang were moved to Jining and dispersed in Jinan and other places.
The outpost that penetrated the front line of Huaiyang this time was the distant outpost separated from Qinyang soldiers and horses on the Yanhu West Road. Since they did not encounter strong interception after crossing Daliang, they went all the way south until they were in Huaiyang.
He returned after suffering a loss outside the city.
Although it is said that the commander of Yanhu's troops and horses when they came out of southern Shanxi was Ye Jiluorong, the commander of the army that surrounded Qinyang was Chen Zhihu.
Although there were only one outpost that penetrated the front line of Huaiyang, and Lin Fu spent the next few days in Huaiyang peacefully, the news that came one after another from the northern line was very disturbing.
It doesn't make people optimistic.
After the incident of King Lu's secret edict, the Liang family was finally forced to give a congratulatory statement and recognized the Jiangning regime, but their wariness towards Huaidong increased greatly. With the northern defense line tight, the Liang family also sent General Gao Yanhu and 10,000 elite troops to garrison in Yinan.
, and strengthened their control over the southern part of Yishan and the middle and upper reaches of both sides of the Yishui River. While guarding Huaidong, the Liang family also completely blocked the possibility of Huaidong entering Shandong by land.
After Liu Yefei left Zhidengzhou Prefecture and took control of the Dengzhou Town Army, the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula, including Laizhou, was under his control. The people in Qingzhou were deeply hostile to Huaidong, so it was difficult for the Huaidong Military Intelligence Department to detect horses.
Get timely news in Shandong.
Yang Xin, for the military situation on the plains, it will take several days to go around the sea route than to go by land quickly.
The news of the east road reached Huaiyang several days late, but the situation was even more worrying - Ye Jiduo left Pingyuan Mansion aside and surrounded Yangxin with 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and about 20,000 elite cavalry bypassed Yangxin.
Attacking Linzi and Qingzhou...
"Although Yan Hu has no plans to break through the Hehuai defense line in one fell swoop this winter, he has no intention of allowing the Hehuai defense line to continue to be strengthened..." Facing the news coming from the northern front, Lin Fu could only come to this conclusion.
in conclusion.
Just like when Yanhu bypassed Yanbei's defense line and attacked Yannan and Jinjun, Yanhu repeated his old plan this time, but he didn't have a good plan to deal with it.
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