Chapter 122 The end of the war in southern Zhejiang
(6,000 words is less than a little, so it counts as two chapters)
The sky was gloomy, the clouds were billowing, and the sky suddenly dimmed. Qin Zitan lowered his body, almost lying on the horse, turned his head to look at the sky, and couldn't help but scream in his heart: "Is it going to rain heavily at this time?"
After passing this river valley and climbing over a low mountain, we arrived at Yongjia. It was raining heavily at this time, so we could only squeeze into the river valley to take shelter, and the pursuers behind us were close. Thinking of this, Qin Zitan lost his composure.
He has a calm demeanor but can't hide his panic and embarrassment.
During the Battle of the East China Sea, Qin Zitan broke his arm and it was inconvenient to ride a horse. However, when withdrawing from Yongjia, his left leg was penetrated by a stray arrow and he could not walk. He could only lie on the horse surrounded by his left and right retinues. Su Nan
The mountain road up the river was rugged and bumpy. Although Qin Zitan didn't have to worry about falling off his horse, he still suffered a lot.
Nearby, there was a faint sound of fighting. Unexpectedly, in such a short time, the Huaidong Army caught up with them again and collided with their rear troops.
"What a thief..." Wen Tingrui held the reins in his hands, looked up to see that it was going to rain, and cursed angrily.
No wonder he was so resentful. When they planned to evacuate from Yongjia City at night three days ago, a heavy rain in the upper reaches of the Nanxi River triggered flash floods and washed away the mountain roads in many places, suddenly disrupting their retreat plan.
When they were about to withdraw and their military morale was fluctuating, the Huaidong Army launched a large-scale attack on the city, seizing the top of the city from the southeast corner.
The Huaidong Army changed its previous tactics and used kerosene cans to ignite and intensively throw them to clear the way. Although the Bamin soldiers were wearing strong armor, a large amount of kerosene was splashed on their bodies and ignited. They were caught off guard and were thrown into chaos.
, heavy casualties.
The Huaidong Army stormed the city and captured the east city gate tower with overwhelming force. Then they poured oil and set fire to the trestle bridge across the Nanxi River, connecting Yongjia and Shangtang, cutting off the connection between the two cities.
The situation was so dangerous that Qin Zitan and Wen Tingrui fled in a hurry. Shangtang fell quickly. Even the city of Yongjia relied on nearly a thousand wounded soldiers who volunteered to die to stay behind and the main force was able to withdraw in a hurry.
The Yongjia garrison numbered ten thousand before the war. During the war, She Feihu dispatched about 3,800 Fujian soldiers from Dongyang County to reinforce Yongjia. In the end, less than 4,000 soldiers were evacuated from Yongjia City, including wounded soldiers.
The Huaidong Army did not stop there and pursued them closely, forcing Wen Tingrui to throw hundreds of dead soldiers into the rear in batches to stop the pursuers.
The wounded soldiers and the generals' families took the waterway by boat, but the upper reaches of the Nanxi River were narrow and fast, and there were many dangerous shoals. After going more than a hundred miles deep, the waterway was no longer suitable for large ships with more than a hundred stones to pass. A large number of the wounded soldiers and the generals' families were trapped.
Forced to abandon the boat and land.
Although it is two hundred miles from Yongjia to Xianju, the mountain road is rugged and has been washed away by heavy rains in several places, making it even more difficult and dangerous.
It may not be a problem for a small number of people to pass through, but when three to four thousand people are squeezed in with a large number of injured and sick people and their families, it becomes extremely crowded and chaotic. Even if they abandon all their baggage, it will be difficult for them to walk thirty miles in a day.
.
At present, we can only hope that the Taizhou garrison will withdraw to Xianju first and be able to send troops and horses to support them.
However, after the heavy rain three days ago, it has been sunny for three consecutive days. It seems that God is helping the Huaidong Army to hunt them down. How can Wen Tingrui not feel resentful?
It rained continuously all night when the house was leaking, and when he saw the Huaidong Army catching up from behind, it happened that there would be another downpour at this time - Wen Tingrui even cried with tears in his arms when he saw the anxious and uneasy faces of the tribesmen crowded in the narrow valley.
An impulse.
"Tingrui, look at the mountains to the northwest, there seems to be something wrong!" Qin Zitan sat up straight with difficulty. The three days of hasty escape had made the sides of his thighs bleed from the saddle. He pointed to the northwest
The high mountains and ridges reminded Wen Tingrui to take a look.
"There's nothing wrong!" Wen Tingrui followed Qin Zitan's hand and looked over. The hilltop over there was very quiet and nothing unusual could be seen.
"It's too calm," Qin Zitan said although he was embarrassed, but he had not lost his ability to analyze, "thousands of us entered the river valley, and the mountains and forests on both sides should be frightened. No movement is abnormal!"
Ambush! Wen Tingrui suddenly thought of this possibility and broke into a cold sweat.
Although there are high mountains on both sides, which is not conducive to the passage of large groups of soldiers and horses, it is not impossible for the Huaidong Army to have three to five hundred elite soldiers sneaking through the mountains and forests to the front. Normally, the three to four thousand and eight thousand Fujian soldiers are not afraid of being killed by three soldiers.
Five hundred soldiers made a sneak attack. But at this time, there were pursuers. They fled in a hurry for three days. They were exhausted and panicked. Their morale was severely damaged. Moreover, a large group of soldiers were crowded in the river valley and became chaotic. At this time, Huaidong
A surprise attack by three to five hundred soldiers lurking over the enemy's territory would be disastrous.
"Wang Jianxiong!" Wen Tinggrui shouted loudly, and asked his trusted subordinate to personally lead the scouts to the mountains and forests in the northwest to conduct reconnaissance. He also ordered all ministries to strengthen the vigilance on the left wing, sent half a battalion of elites, and organized a group behind the rear to intercept the pursuers.
The palace soldiers barrier.
As soon as Wen Tingrui deployed, heavy raindrops fell down on his head and face.
In today's world, the means of command and communication are limited. Under heavy rain, apart from being able to mobilize the elite troops around him, Wen Tingrui loses effective means of controlling the surrounding troops.
At this time, the heavy rain blurred the vision, and the two people were shouting at each other a few steps away, and they could hear the confusion. People were crowded everywhere to take shelter from the rain, and the queues were chaotic. It was difficult for the messengers to pass, trying to find the general below to convey Wen Tingrui's order.
It's difficult - anyone in Wen Tingrui's position would be helpless.
Qin Zitan dismounted, and the retinue pulled away the cloth to let him take shelter from the rain. Qin Zitan was worried that there was an ambush in the mountains to the northwest. The situation at that time could only make him hope that the ambush would not take advantage of the heavy rain to launch an attack.
The scout came back soaked and reported the situation of the deserters who had entered the valley.
Zhang Jiheng stretched out his hand to wipe the rainwater from his face, and with a straight face, he called out to the two camp generals and sentry generals who had sneaked over with him. One of the sentry generals licked the rainwater that fell to his mouth and asked
: "Touch him and beat him?"
The so-called surprise attack is to move in a direction that the enemy is not aware of, and when the enemy is unprepared, quickly form a local strength advantage, carry out a strong attack, and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.
To prevent the enemy from being aware of it in advance and to conceal their march, it is naturally impossible to have many troops capable of carrying out surprise attacks. Especially since Zhang Jiheng and the others have to cross the North Yandang Mountains through a steep path, not to mention the slow speed, it is impossible to send too many troops to the enemy.
Bring the horse in.
Of course, the number of troops was too small, and the majority of the troops mobilized were elites from Fujian. The soldiers were rich in experience. Once the rain stopped, they could gather thirty or fifty people to fight back. Zhang Jiheng just gathered as many people as possible to hold the position.
Fortunately, due to the location in the center of the river valley, a small group of broken troops escaped from the south soon. This showed that Liu Zhenzhi led his troops to defeat the Zhejiang and Fujian troops at the rear.
Soon Liu Zhenzhi led five to six hundred elite troops to rush over to support him. He joined Zhang Jiheng and attacked north together. He defeated a few small groups of Zhejiang and Fujian troops that had finally gathered together, occupied the north entrance of the valley, and defeated most of the defeated troops.
Keep it in the south to prevent it from escaping to the north; and also to prevent the Xianju defenders from coming to rescue you.
Xianju's reinforcements arrived belatedly, and the Huaidong Army's follow-up troops had already moved over, firmly occupying the important area at the source of Nanxi, and repulsed the Zhejiang and Fujian troops coming from Xianju. However, the mountains and forests around the Nanxiyuan Valley were attacked.
The search lasted until early May.
In the Battle of Nanxiyuan Valley, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops who fled from Yongjia North to Xianju were almost completely destroyed.
The Yongjia general Wen Tinggrui and his retinue hid in a depression in the North Yandang Mountains. They were discovered by Sou Shan soldiers and horses, and they resisted and were killed.
The Soushan soldiers and horses did not know at first that they had killed a big fish. Wen Tingrui also put on ordinary clothes and armor at that time. However, the resistance was so fierce that the Soushan soldiers and horses lost more than ten people before they were annihilated. This caused a stir in Nanxi.
The vigilance of Liu Zhenzhi, who presided over the search for the mountain in Yuanhe River Valley.
It was only after Wen Tingrui's body was stabbed to pieces by the angry search troops and his almost unrecognizable head was sent to Yongjia City that he could be identified.
In the battle at the source of Nanxi River Valley, more than a thousand enemies were captured and thousands killed. About 1,400 to 500 people fell into the Nanxi River in chaos and drowned. Only 3 to 400 people escaped through the mountains and forests into the fairyland.
Residence.
At this time, the Taizhou garrison fully retreated westward into Linhai, Xianju held firm, and the Zhejiang and Fujian troops in Hengyang and Pingming also fully retreated to Cangnan County, which was less vulnerable to sea attacks - Chen Zhi led his troops to take over Huipu, Wenling and other
County; Geng Quanshan led his troops to take over Hengyang and Pingyang - the war in southern Zhejiang that started in mid-February has come to an end after nearly three months.
In this battle, the Zhejiang and Fujian rebels were forced to abandon the coastal counties in southern Zhejiang, and the Huaidong Army regained six counties: Yueqing, Ouhai, Yongjia, Pingyang, Hengyang, Wenling, and Huipu, and established a land route to connect with Ninghai County, the capital of Mingzhou in the north.
channel.
In the past three months, in more than ten battles in southern Zhejiang, more than 16,000 enemy troops were annihilated and captured. Among them, nearly 10,000 were soldiers from Fujian Province, more than 5,000 rural soldiers and civilians were recruited, and one soldier was captured.
More than seventeen thousand sets. The battle in the Nanxiyuan Valley could only bring a perfect end to the war in southern Zhejiang for the Huaidong Army.
In the war in southern Zhejiang, although the Huaidong Army also suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, due to the recruitment of brave soldiers and civilians from the countryside and the continuous recruitment of brave soldiers from the local area, at the end of the war in southern Zhejiang, the various tribes participating in southern Zhejiang successively entered, and their military strength was not only
No losses were suffered, and the strength of the newly formed Zhejiang Southern Army even increased from more than 9,000 before the war to more than 12,000.
In early May, drought turned to rain in southern Zhejiang. Rainy days were frequent and the mountain roads were difficult to navigate. The various tribes gradually withdrew to Yongjia and gave up the search for the Nanxi source valley.
"Qin Zitan was allowed to escape this time. This shitty luck is really unjust!" Lin Fu never saw Qin Zitan's name in the list of captured and killed enemy generals, and he couldn't bear it.
It's a pity to stay here.
"The terrain of the Nanxiyuan Valley is complex, and there is no way for three to five hundred people to escape." Gao Zongting said with a smile.
Not only the Nanxi source valley has complex terrain, but also the entire southern Zhejiang and eastern Fujian regions.
The terrain is fragmented by high mountains and ridges, and the movement of troops is strictly restricted to a few limited roads.
These make it difficult for the Huaidong Army to fight a happy battle even if it has a local advantage. It usually has to fight bloody battles city by city. The Battle of Nanxiyuan Valley was the most exciting battle since the opening of the battlefield in southern Zhejiang.
It’s a battle for people’s hearts.
The more Lin Fu complained like this, it showed that he was more satisfied with the results of the battle in Nanxiyuan Valley.
In this battle, almost all 4,000 elite fleeing enemies were wiped out, and the Huaidong Army's casualties, including the loss of troops during Liu Zhenzhi's pursuit, were only six to seven hundred people - such a great victory seemed to be in line with the Huaidong Army's style.
Even if Qin Zitan could be caught, Gao Zongting didn't think it was important in terms of the battle situation. However, he knew Song Jia's identity and knew that Lin Fu had risen from Jiangning and was entangled with She Feihu. Qin Zitan wanted to conquer Huaidong
's old enemy.
Fu Qinghe lost an arm and almost died while guarding Xisha Island. It was also thanks to Qin Zitan. Qin Zitan was involved in all the battles between Huaidong and the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, and even the battle with the Koreans on Danluo Island.
Among them, among the people in the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, apart from the She family father and son, the one in Huaidong who wanted to win quickly was Qin Zitan.
"You can't be too greedy. Killing Wen Tingrui this time is also an unexpected gain." Lin Fu threw the latest battle report on the desk. "The Wen family should be in ruins now, right?"
The She family rebelled again, and the other seven surnames followed suit, extending their control to southern Zhejiang, western Zhejiang, and eastern Jiangxi. The seven surname clans also expanded outward with the army and divided their territories. The Wen family sent the most children to southern Zhejiang.
, not only did the Yongjia garrison headed by Wen Tingrui, many generals and soldiers come from the Wen clan, there were also a large number of Wen clan descendants who came to southern Zhejiang with their families to compete with local forces for land and monopolize trade...Nanxi
In the Battle of Yuan, almost all the Wenle clan members who entered southern Zhejiang were wiped out.
Gao Zongting knew the situation in East Fujian best. In Zhejiang and Fujian, the Wen family was the most trusted by Shewenzhuang. Not only did Shewenzhuang's first wife come from the Wen family, but Shewenzhuang also ordered his eldest son She Feixiong to marry a daughter of the Wen family.
.Although the Wen family still has many important positions in the Zhejiang and Fujian Governor's Mansion, it is impossible for the Wen family not to decline after experiencing such a heavy blow.
Song Jia was standing next to Lin Fu. Although she regarded herself as Lin Fu's woman from the bottom of her heart, she still couldn't help but feel a little entangled deep in her heart after the Zhejiang and Fujian troops had been beaten so miserably on the eastern front.
Not to mention that the Wen family was in ruins, if Yan Hu could not break through the Huaisi defense line and force Huaidong's military focus to move north, the She family would be in ruins at least on the eastern front, and would not be able to regain its disadvantage by relying on its own strength.
The war in East Fujian lasted for nearly ten years, and a large number of young people died on the battlefield. When East Fujian rebelled for the second time, although more than 100,000 Fujian soldiers were quickly gathered and the armies were expanded, East Fujian was already seriously overstretched.
population resources.
After She Feixiong led his troops to capture eastern Zhejiang, the Zhejiang and Fujian armies gave up their original maritime development strategy and shifted their military focus to western Zhejiang. In addition to the She family not paying enough attention to the maritime strategy, the more important thing may be that the She family did not pay enough attention to the maritime strategy.
Are you eager to compete for territory and population to make up for your lack of resources?
From the earlier Battle of the East China Sea, to Huaidong's attack on eastern Zhejiang, to this time's war in southern Zhejiang, almost more than 30,000 Fujian soldiers loyal to the She family were annihilated or captured by Huaidong.
After ten years of war in East Fujian, how many loyal and reliable soldiers from the Eighth Fujian family can be consumed by the She family?
Although the Zhejiang and Fujian armies could recruit brave soldiers from Quzhou and other places to make up for the shortage of troops, since the second rebellion of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, they were eager to protect the interests of the clan forces and plundered the local area too much, making their rule over Zhejiang County very unpopular.
Once among the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, the proportion of soldiers from Fujian and Fujian is reduced, and the number of soldiers recruited from local areas increases greatly, which will seriously weaken the combat effectiveness of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies.
At this time, Zhou Tong came in from outside, stood at the door, looked at Lin Fu and others sitting in the hall, clasped his hands in front of his belly, and laughed: "Haha, caught that big fish! Ren Qin Zitan
As cunning as a dog, I didn’t let him escape this time!”
"Oh!" Lin Fu raised his eyebrows and said, "It's been several days, why did he just be caught today? I don't even have hope!"