Of course, Chen Hansan was ready to remove Zhang Yubo's prefect's Yamen and the Prince of Chu's Mansion as soon as possible. He had already stationed four battalions of soldiers around the prefect's Yamen and the Prince of Chu's Mansion. However, he could not really kill him before openly defecting.
The prefect's Yamen and the Prince of Chu's Mansion were surrounded by water, but Zhang Yubo and Liu Xilin reacted faster. They rushed out first, led their troops to avoid the Prince of Chu's Mansion, joined forces with the Prince of Chu's Mansion, and defended the Prince of Chu's Mansion.
Chen Hansan's subordinates reported to Zhang Yubo that he had led his troops to escape into the Prince of Chu's Mansion first. He was so angry that he gnashed his teeth and smashed the wall with his fists.
"It seems that the East China Sea Fox is also playing tricks on us!" Ma Zhen said.
"Damn it, Huaidong only has 20,000 soldiers and horses, they can go to the sky!" Chen Hansan said in anger.
At this time, the general asked for more troops to attack the Prince of Chu's Mansion. Chen Hansan groaned and didn't respond. Ma Zhen advised: "We can't waste too many troops on attacking the Prince of Chu's Mansion at this time..."
Chen Hansan was an experienced soldier and had his own calculations in mind.
Although the guard camp of the Prince of Chu's Mansion was insignificant, the three hundred soldiers who accompanied Zhang Yubo back from Huaiyang were all elite. The terrain around the Prince of Chu's Mansion was complex, so Zhang Yubo and the soldiers of the Prince of Chu's Mansion were in one place, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
At this time, troops and horses need to be sent to attack the Prince of Chu's Mansion. Coupled with the garrison troops on the city wall, it is said that six or seven thousand troops and horses must be left in the city to ensure that there is no trouble. Then the troops he pulls out to attack Huaidong may be less than one
Thirteen thousand people, plus Zhou Zhizhong, who led his troops to attack the Huaidong Army in a pincer attack, was very determined. The victory of this battle was only 50-50, and it was really dangerous.
Chen Hansan suddenly felt his scalp tightening and cursed: "This thief Donghai Fox is really cunning!"
Lin Fu only sent 300 elite soldiers into the city. At this time, he joined forces with the King of Chu's palace and restrained his 6,000 or 7,000 men from entering the battlefield. This must be said to be extremely clever, which made Chen Hansan feel very uncomfortable.
Without Ma Zhen's persuasion, Chen Hansan knew that he didn't want to risk a decisive battle and had only two options at the moment.
First, leaving only a small number of troops to block the north and south gates of the Chu Palace, he tried to pull as many troops out of the city as possible to join forces with Zhou Zhizhong to attack the Huaidong Army.
For more than a hundred miles around, except for the main force of Huaiyang Town led by Liu Miaozhen, who came at full speed, no other troops approached; Jiuli Mountain was only ten miles away from Xuzhou North City, and Chen Hansan left 3,000 troops in the city.
If you lead the main force into battle, even if something goes wrong, you can quickly return to Xuzhou City.
Lead the main force to join forces with Zhou Zhizhong to defeat Liu Miaozhen's troops first. The overall situation is settled. There are a few small fishes in the Chu Palace, but they can't make much waves. Don't look at the extra three or four thousand troops, but there are more.
The odds of winning are several points. When seeking victory, you should seek stability. At this time, there is really no need to gamble on a narrow victory of 50 to 50.
If he didn't want to take the risk of going into battle, the second option would be to ignore everyone's position and let Chen Hansan lead 20,000 troops to defend Xuzhou City and get rid of the miscellaneous fish in the Chu Palace first.
But at this time, Chen Hansan had sent cavalry to attack Sun Zhuang's troops. Everyone knew that he might have led the main force of the partial division from Wei Miaopo. If Chen Hansan did not decisively lead the main force out of the city to fight at this time, everyone knew that
It is very likely that the army will give Liu Miaozhen a big defeat in the middle of the battle.
Chen Hansan didn't know that He Xiongqi had led 10,000 elite troops and was on his way to Xuzhou. He only knew that if Zhou Zhizhong was defeated by Huaidong, Dayan would probably not send any more troops until the Dongping problem was solved.
Come to Xuzhou. Furthermore, he will surrender to Yanhu in the future. How can Zhou Zhizhong and Yuan Lishan, who lost their troops and generals under Xuzhou City, spare them?
Another possibility is that after the Huaidong Army defeated Zhou Zhizhong's troops, it would join forces with Guoyang to solve the Xuzhou problem first.
As long as the main force of Yanhu soldiers and horses no longer dares to send troops southward before solving the Dongping problem, Lin Fu and Dong Yuan can work together to gather 50,000 or 60,000 troops to attack Xuzhou City. Only then did Chen Hansan begin to make an agreement with the generals to defect to the capital.
Yan, if you can defeat the Huaidong Army in one go, the morale of the army will be stable; if instead it falls into the siege of the Huaidong Army, it is really hard to say whether the morale of the army is good. Maybe some generals will persuade them to rebel - Chen
Han San didn't dare to take this risk.
Chen Hansan immediately ordered his generals to lead two battalions of soldiers to block the north and south gates of the Chu Palace. He also emptied the houses around the Chu Palace to prepare for the attack on the Chu Palace. However, at this time, he did not attack the Chu Palace by force.
Only half of the battalion was left to guard the city gate, and all other troops were gathered outside the north city. When Zhou Zhizhong led his troops to arrive, he led the main force out of the city to attack Liu Miaozhen's troops.
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Chen Hansan sent two thousand cavalry out of the city to capture Sun Zhuang's troops. After a brief battle, Li Liang led his troops to come from behind. The number of cavalry troops entering the southwestern foot of Jiuli Mountain from Huaidong increased to more than 3,000.
The cavalry was very valuable, and if the strength of the cavalry was not superior, Chen Hansan did not dare to fight hard and sent troops to attack in a pincer attack. He only wanted to let Zhou Zhizhong understand his intention and invited Zhou Zhizhong to lead the main force to attack the Huaidong Army in a pincer attack.
After achieving this goal, Chen Hansan ordered the cavalry to retreat slightly by issuing gold coins, and formed a formation on the south bank of the Jingma River to defend the confrontation. At the same time, he sent the infantry out of the city and approached the battlefield at the southwest foot of Jiuli Mountain.
Although the Jingma River in the north of Xuzhou City and at the southern foot of Jiuli Mountain has frozen solidly at this time, the ice layer will be one or two feet thick, so people and horses can move freely. However, going down from the river bed, a natural path is formed that is about twenty feet wide and several feet deep.
Ice trenches. Although ice trenches cannot prevent infantry and cavalry from passing through, they can somewhat disrupt the enemy's formation when they charge. Instead of retreating to Xuzhou City, the soldiers and horses chose to form an array behind the Jingma River Embankment. That was the right choice.
Here, there is a small village on the south bank of Jingma River, just tens of feet away from Jingma River. This is also after Huaidong chose Jiuli Mountain as the battlefield, Chen Hansan marched to Jiuli Mountain battlefield for his troops
The garrison was selected on the periphery so as to suppress the Huaidong Army at the shortest distance and always form a pincer attack to prevent the Huaidong Army from trying to defeat them one by one.
Zhou Zhizhong, the general of the front wing cavalry, Zhou Fan, saw Chen Hansan's troops engage in battle with Huaidong, killing each other until more than a hundred people fell off their horses. He did not break contact until Huaidong's follow-up cavalry arrived, and then he was convinced that Chen Hansan had surrendered.
There will be no repetition if you attach your heart to it.
Zhou Fan led his troops to hesitate to retreat at the northwest foot of Jiuli Mountain, keeping an eye on the Huaidong Army who entered Jiuli Mountain. However, he sent a fast horse to Wei Miaopo to report that Zhou Zhizhi knew the situation here and asked him to lead the main force to come to the battle immediately.
.
It is possible to drive the generals to fight to the death, but using the lives of more than a hundred generals to lure the enemy is in vain. Even if they win in the end, the impact on the morale of the army will be quite serious. Therefore, the desperate strategy of using the lives of his soldiers to lure the enemy is not a ruthless character like Chen Zhihu.
Can't be made.
Even so, after the Qingzhou War, Zhou Zhizhong also fell out with Chen Zhihu and refused to be controlled by Chen Zhihu anymore. Other generals also avoided Chen Zhihu and ran away, not wanting to be used by Chen Zhihu to die in vain.
As long as Chen Hansan's troops engage in battle with the Huaidong Army and there are more than a hundred casualties among the generals, Zhou Zhizhong's previous fear of Chen Hansan's repeated worries will be greatly reduced. If he stops advancing again, he will be held accountable afterwards.
The guilt of fighting against a cowardly enemy.
Furthermore, Zhou Zhizhong led his troops from the north, and together with Chen Hansan's troops, they formed a pincer attack on the Huaidong Army entering the southern foot of Jiuli Mountain, instead of falling into a pincer attack. Is this situation not obvious enough?
of?
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With Sun Zhuang and Li Liang each leading their elite cavalry as the front wing, and Zhou Pu leading three thousand cavalry to cover the two sides, Liu Miaozhen led the main force of the Huaiyang infantry camp with more than a thousand baggage vehicles and rushed to the southwest foot of Jiuli Mountain calmly.
Zhou Zhizhong also had more than 3,000 cavalrymen coming to join Zhou Fan. About 4,000 cavalry were at the northwest foot of Jiuli Mountain, keeping an eye on the Huaiyang army.
Inside and outside Shajiaji, when the road into Xuzhou City was blocked by the Huaiyang Army, they could only occupy the three villages around Shajiaji as a camp.
This was also the place where Chen Hansan had agreed in advance for Zhou Zhizhong to camp. After Zhou Zhizhong led his troops to enter, he felt even more the intention of Chen Hansan's combined forces to attack from a pincer attack.
If it is too close to the preset battlefield in Jiuli Mountain, it is likely to fall into chaos before the position is stable; if it is too far away, there is the danger of being divided and attacked by Huaidong - the Huaidong Army is famous for its ability to fight at night, so it cannot be
There is no defense, so the force of the pincer attack must be tight.
After Zhou Zhizhong led the main force of the infantry to stand on the ground, Zhou Fan and other generals also led the cavalry to retreat slightly, not in a hurry to fight to the death today.
The southwestern foothills of Jiuli Mountain are relatively open, and there are no current villages that can be used for garrisoning. It would take a long time for the 20,000 infantry and cavalry to retreat. With enemy soldiers approaching from both sides, it is impossible to calmly cut down trees and erect fences to build camps.
We can only make a crude camp around the car and bundle up guns, thinking it is a temporary camping. It is getting late and the setting sun is spreading on the snow.
Liu Miaozhen wears a bronze mask, rides astride a green and black horse, wears two layers of thick armor, a red cloak, a waist knife with a black sheath handle, and looks like a Valkyrie in the sunset.
Liu Miaozhen looked at the camp of Chen Hansan's headquarters on the south bank of the Jingma River, and there were smoke pillars burning in the Xuzhou city in the distance. The Xuzhou city defense was controlled by Chen Hansan, while Zhang Yubo, Liu Xilin and others who were trapped in the Chu Palace had no choice but to
Every once in a while, a fire was lit to raise smoke to tell the outside of the city that the situation in the city was not out of control.
Even if Chen Hansan's main force was defeated outside the city, his remnants may still retreat to Xuzhou City. The Chu Palace is the most important deployment to ensure that Xuzhou City can be successfully captured in the end, but the progress of the Jiuli Mountain War cannot develop as expected.
, Liu Miaozhen ultimately had to ensure that the main force could not be annihilated, and could only fight and retreat, evacuating from the outskirts of Xuzhou. Zhang Yubo, Liu Xilin and others who were trapped in the Chu Palace were destined to die.
Under this situation, Liu Xilin still took the initiative to ask Ying to accompany Zhang Yubo back to Xuzhou City.
Liu Xilin had served in Xuzhou for more than a year before following Gu Wuchen to the north. He also had feelings for Xuzhou and did not want to see the city of Xuzhou ruined by Chen Hansan.
Liu Miaozhen, Zhou Pu, Li Liang and other generals around him said: "The main force of Chen Han's third division has indeed come out!"
It's not enough to lure them out. Now the three armies are very close. If Liu Miaozhen leads his troops to attack Zhou Zhizhong, Chen Hansan will attack from the back. If he leads his troops to attack Chen Hansan on the south bank of Jingma River, Zhou Zhizhong will attack from the back.
, without the means to effectively isolate Zhou Zhizhong from Chen Hansan's headquarters, he would be at an absolute disadvantage.
"It's best to lure them to the north bank of Jingma River and keep pushing them back. At this time, the ice of the river breaks open. That would be fun!" Li Liang said with ease, licking his lips with his tongue,
He was so greedy that he wanted to immediately eat the more than 10,000 soldiers and horses led by Chen Hansan's troops who entered the south bank of Jingma River.
"Tonight he doesn't dare to cross the river to attack the camp. Tomorrow he will definitely attack our army with the generals!" Liu Miaozhen said, "Will you worry about him not crossing the river then? But the timing may not be so coincidental. How to fight then, we have to rely on it.
Act according to the situation and don’t be rigid.”
Although Zhou Pu is naturally the oldest in terms of qualifications, Lin Fu agreed that Liu Miaozhen would be the main general, and Liu Miaozhen had been fighting with his brother for several years, and his reputation as a good warrior was well known all over the world. Zhou Pu, who was accustomed to leading troops in the front line, naturally would not follow him.
What command authority is Liu Miaozhen fighting for?
At this time, dozens of people came, the leader of whom was a commoner wearing hemp shoes.
Liu Miaozhen took the lead for this purpose, but when he saw this group of people approaching, he dismounted to greet them and asked, "Master Ge, are you sure you can break the ice of the river tomorrow?"
The man who made the hemp shoes and common clothes was none other than Huaidong, who was in charge of making them. It was Ge Siyu who was under Huaidong and had the most experience in the study of miscellaneous craftsmanship.
Huaidong You Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. Ge Siyu's status is equal to that of Sun Jingtang, Sun Jingxuan and others. The commanders and generals in the army regard him as their superior. Huaidong had previously agreed with Chen Hansan to set up an ambush in Jiuli Mountain.
, Ge Siyu came here first to survey the hydrology and geography and prepare for breaking the ice.
Ge Siyu, Valkyrie Liu Miaozhen, Zhou Pu and others met and said: "Look at the weather, it will be sunny tomorrow. The river ice is covered with a layer of snow, which will melt when you sprinkle salt. According to your advice, it is not possible to break the ice."
It’s difficult, but the timing is hard to grasp..."
"That's enough," Liu Miaozhen said, "all armies will be careful not to set foot on the river ice for tomorrow's decisive battle!"
"There is a stream in Xiaogushan that is connected to the Jingma River. The direction of the water under the ice is also suitable. There is slow flowing water under the ice. The flow rate has been measured. The mileage difference in one day is only two miles. Tonight, we will transport salt to Xiaogushan and dig the holes.
By opening up the river ice and filling it with salt, this section of the Jingma River can be turned into a salt river before dawn tomorrow. If there are several ice layers here that need to be sprinkled with salt and carbon dioxide, General Liu will send people to do it at night...
…”
"Miao Zhen, don't worry, just follow Mr. Ge's orders," Liu Miaozhen said.
In addition to a small amount of rice and grain supplies, these more than a thousand baggage trucks mainly contained white crystal sea salt and coal slag mixed with sea salt. To implement this strategy, Lin Fu transferred nearly 20,000 bags of salt from Shanyin and other places for urgent use.
In terms of official salt, 20,000 bags of salt are worth 500,000 to 600,000 taels of silver. Fortunately, Huaidong itself controls a large number of private salt farms, but 20,000 bags of salt will almost use up the Huaisi area's annual salt reserves.
It's really amazing.
This battle is a technical job, and it also consumes money, but in order to successfully capture the city of Xuzhou, it is worth the price.
Salt and charcoal can break ice. Liu Miaozhen and others had never heard of it. However, after Lin Fu led everyone to personally test it, they confirmed that this ice-breaking method was definitely not something Chen Hansan could see through.