Huaishan Mountain is the three-water boundary between the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River, and the Han River, and is also the dividing line between the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River, and the Jinghu Lake. It stretches for more than a thousand miles. The southeastern section is also called Huaiyang Mountain, and the northwest section is also called Tongbai Mountain. It crosses Nanyang and is 800 miles away from the Qinling Mountains.
connect.
Xinyang is located at the northern foot of Huaishan Mountain. Huaiyang Mountain stretches for more than 400 miles in Xinyang, and Tongbai Mountain stretches for nearly 200 miles in Xinyang. The Huaihe River also runs through Xinyang, and the streams flowing down from Huaishan merge into it.
The Huaihe River also cuts Xinyang into many blocky terrains connected by hills and valleys.
The special geographical location made the horse thieves and bandits in Xinyang very rampant, and the bandits also gathered in groups. However, the disaster caused by the horse thieves and bandits to Xinyang was far less than the disaster that started in the ninth year of Chongguan and swept through the Central Plains.
disaster.
From the great chaos in the ninth year of Chongguan to the twelfth year of Chongguan, until Chen Zhihu was appointed as the envoy of Henan, Xinyang was occupied by several groups of refugee armies, and several prefectures and cities were invaded. The people of Xinyang were either coerced into joining the gangs,
They either left their hometowns and fled, leaving only ten households with empty houses. Local clans were also the key targets of the refugee army's plunder, and were severely hit.
However, the complex terrain of Xinyang can be exploited by rogue bandits and horse thieves. In the steep mountainous areas, many clans naturally survived tenaciously. They built forts and fortresses in the steep places to form strongholds to protect themselves, accommodated the refugees, and organized and expanded the rural soldiers.
The power has even expanded to a certain extent.
Thirteen years after Chongguan, the war in Henan and Huaixi became peaceful, refugees returned home, and the dilapidated situation in Xinyang gradually recovered. However, this state ended when Chen Hansan led the dilapidated army into Huaishan.
Chen Hansan was unwilling to decline like this. Three thousand people still wanted to survive and expand. In addition to looting, they also looted. In mid-February, Xiao Kui'an led his troops into Xinyang, Zhengyang, and Huangchuan counties, and successively surrendered to Chen Hansan.
After Han San broke through and looted, the newly appointed magistrate of Huangchuan County in Jiangning hung his corpse on the city wall, and countless villages in Xinyang were looted.
Huangchuan County was defeated, and the county magistrate hung his body on the city wall. The Xinyang magistrate was frightened and abandoned the city and fled. However, he was captured by Dong Yuan in Shouzhou and reported to the Ming Dynasty. He was beheaded in Shouzhou City.
Speaking of Xinyang, it was a fluke. The prefect abandoned the city and fled. However, under the leadership of Meng Zhixiang, a small official in the government office, the clan forces in the city became one and managed to defend Xinyang City until Xiao Kui'an led his troops into Xinyang City.
Although Xinyang City is close to the northern foot of Huaishan Mountain, Liu An'er and Luo Xian Chengdu regarded Xinyang as the northern screen of Huaishan Mountain. Although they were forced to abandon Xinyang several times, they were determined to recapture Xinyang to defend Huaishan Mountain. Even when they retreated, they did not damage the city wall of Xinyang.
.Although the prefect appointed by Jiangning did not breed, the clan forces that had experienced the war had gathered some defensive strength, so that Chen Hansan, who was weak at this time, did not dare to attack Xinyang.
When Chen Hansan was in Xuzhou, he still regarded himself as the Xuzhou Zhizhi envoy conferred by the imperial court, and he was a little more restrained in doing things. At this time, he simply broke the jar and smashed it, and did not hesitate to do anything evil. And the three thousand remnant soldiers under him were also
Extremely vicious and ferocious.
After Dong Yuan welcomed the representatives of the salt merchants in Haozhou, he rushed to Xinyang. Even if Luo Xiancheng was not considered, Chen Hansan posed a great threat to Xinyang. If this cancer is not eliminated, there will be no peace in Xinyang or even Shouzhou.
After Dong Yuan went to Huaixi, he didn't sleep well for a few days. His thin and pointed chin made his face look a bit feminine. He was also used to wearing armor. Standing in the southwest of Xinyang City, he had just been sent to Chen Hansan's headquarters.
In the village that had been looted by the remnant bandits, people looked at the majestic Huaishan Mountain to the south with a sad look on their faces.
To the south is the junction of Huaiyang Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. Different from the tall and majestic mountain ridges in the east section, the terrain of the junction is relatively broad and gentle. It is dominated by low mountains below 300 feet, with hills in between. Further west
It is the steep east ridge of Tongbai Mountain - it is also the passage from Xinyang to Suizhou Prefecture at the southern foot of Huaishan Mountain.
Luo Xiancheng's army wants to go north. If they don't go through Nanyang, they can only go this way.
At the north entrance of the Huaishan Mountain Road, Minghe Village was once a very prosperous town, but now it has completely declined. It has just regained some vitality in the past two years, and today it was looted again. In addition to burning down the houses and plundering money and food,
More than a hundred of the strong men and pretty women in the village were robbed, leaving only the old and the ugly sitting on the ground crying, with the corpses of dozens of villagers lying strewn on the ground.
"The bandits have horses. After hearing the news, a certain man came with his infantry. The bandits have already looted the village and left..." Xiao Kui'an said breathlessly.
Dong Yuan's face was gloomy. After the defeat of Xuzhou, it was surprising that Chen Hansan did not lead the remnants of his troops to flee north. Indeed, Chen Hansan's remnants of troops who escaped from Xuzhou had many horses, and the entire Huaixi army had only a few horses.
Tao Chun had more than a thousand cavalry, and Xiao Kui'an was able to make up a hundred horses if he had enough.
Coming out of Huaishan Mountain, there are low mountains and hills. Especially since Xiao Kui'an has just led his troops, the blockade of Huaishan Mountain is far from strict, and it is inevitable that there will be mistakes.
Dong Yuan didn't want to let Xiao Kui'an go, and said: "Without war horses, can mules and horses be ridden? You can find a way to get three to five hundred mules and horses, chase the enemy on horseback, and dismount to fight on foot. This shouldn't be difficult, right? I don't want to do it again."
I saw it happen that a hundred bandits were able to rob a village!"
"Yes." Xiao Kui'an responded in a muffled voice. Not to mention war horses in Huaixi, there is also a serious shortage of mules and horses. Xiao Kui'an collects some money and food per head every quarter, and he cannot disturb the people. Where can he get three to five hundred mules and horses? I just want to think about it.
Then he sent someone to find Mr. Liu to find a solution. The situation in front of him also gave him no confidence to argue with Dong Yuan.
Xiao Kui'an excused himself to see the general burying the corpses of the villagers below, and walked away. A close aide following him said softly: "Pengcheng County Duke's big day will be in a few days. Why hasn't the general thought of sending someone to deliver one?"
Have you passed the ceremony?"
"..." Xiao Kui'an stopped and glanced east, thinking that he almost forgot about this matter. He didn't feel anything when he was in Huaidong. Only then did he realize that everything in Huaidong was much smoother.
Xiao Kui'an was originally a lieutenant in the Huai'an Prefecture Military Academy, and could barely be regarded as a mid-level military attache. Lin Fu rectified the military government in Huai'an, and he was able to take charge of the government army. Then he followed Liu Tingzhou to organize the Huai Army to cross northward, and suffered a major defeat. He was not severely punished afterwards, and was able to
Continuing to command the government army was due to Lin Fu's mercy on him. Even when Liu Miaozhen led the army to march eastward, Xiao Kui'an was able to lead his troops to cross the Huaihe River to guard Shuyang. This step allowed Xiao Kui'an to truly develop and serve as the northern commander of the Huaidong Army.
Not to mention the military commander, the number of troops also expanded from more than 2,000 to 12,000. Only then did he have the opportunity to follow Liu Tingzhou out of Guoyang and truly become the leader of an army.
Xiao Kui'an knew that his current status was directly related to Liu Tingzhou's promotion and trust, but without Lin Fu's help, he would never have been able to sit where he is today. He was still grateful to Lin Fu in his heart.
Now that Liu Miaozhen married Lin Fu as his concubine, the whole world knew that Xiao Kui'an was going to give him a gift, but thinking of Liu Tingzhou's attitude, Xiao Kui'an gave up. No matter what, he could not betray Liu Tingzhou's acquaintance.
Zhien, without saying a word, continued walking outside the village.
Seeing Xiao Kui'an leaving, Chen Jingrong said to Dong Yuan: "I'm afraid Xiao Kui'an can't handle Chen Hansan..."
Dong Yuan just glanced at Xiao Kui'an and said nothing.
Xiao Kui'an was a general promoted from a lower level by Liu Tingzhou, and his subordinates' foundation was from the Huai'an Prefecture Army, which was not a very good foundation.
Sun Zhuang abandoned Suining, and the two armies in Suyu and Liu Miaozhen marched eastward. The Huaidong Infantry Division Sibei Army at that time had no choice but to be disbanded. Lin Fu gave the establishment of the Huaidong Infantry Division Sibei Army to Liu Tingzhou in exchange for Liu Tingzhou's presence in the army.
Liu Miaozhen remained silent on the matter of moving eastward.
On the basis of the Huai'an government army, Xiao Kui'an also recruited brave refugees from Shuyang and Haizhou to achieve the size of the Xinyang army today. Xiao Kui'an was a general who was promoted from the bottom and had some talents, but most of his generals had no experience.
It's hard to say it's a tough fight.
We can't say that the Xinyang Army is useless. Fortunately, after Liu Tingzhou was transferred to the west, he followed the example of Huaidong in reclaiming wasteland and farming in Haozhou, and most of the families of Xinyang Army generals moved to Haozhou for resettlement. Liu Tingzhou withstood the pressure and gave the generals in Haozhou
Tens of thousands of acres of land were allotted to the generals and their families were small, so that although ordinary generals were not fearless of death, they were still disobedient to military discipline.
As long as an army maintains strict military discipline, it will have the foundation of elite soldiers - Xiao Kui'an's Xinyang Army cannot be said to be vulnerable.
Xiao Kui'an's rise is directly related to Liu Tingzhou. Dong Yuan also knows that he is not something he can win over, and he also believes that Huaidong has not won over Xiao Kui'an - it is precisely Liu Tingzhou who can rely on Xiao Kui'an in Huaixi, and in many matters in Huaixi,
Even though he could stand up to Dong Yuan, Xiao Kui'an also had Liu Tingzhou to rely on, and he was openly dissatisfied with Dong Yuan, his immediate boss.
Dong Yuan thought that it would be good to ask Xiao Kui'an to suffer some hardships in Xinyang, but after all, Xinyang could not rely entirely on Xiao Kui'an.
"Master Meng is here!" The guard rode over to report.
"Okay, you can come with me to greet me quickly," Dong Yuan said.
This "Mr. Meng" is not Meng Zhixiang who guarded Xinyang some time ago, but Meng Zhen, the former prefect who was dismissed from his post as prefect. He and Meng Zhixiang came from the Huangchuan Meng family together, and are one generation older than Meng Zhixiang in terms of seniority - Meng Zhixiang.
Meng Jin was a disciple of Chen Xibo and was regarded as a member of the Western Qin Party. He believed that the Chu Party was gaining strength in the last years of his life. Meng Jin was implicated in a case in Xinyang and was dismissed from office. He is still living in the countryside.
The prefect of Xinyang abandoned the city and fled. Meng Zhixiang led the clansmen in Xinyang City to finally defend the city, which made Dong Yuan realize that the clan power in Xinyang was much better preserved than most Shouzhou in the low hills and plains. Although Xinyang is said to have
Xiao Kui'an was asked to lead his troops to garrison, but what Dong Yuan really wanted to do at this time was to use the local forces in Xinyang to suppress Xiao Kui'an and then suppress Liu Tingzhou's influence in Huaixi.
Now that Huaidong is at its peak, Dong Yuan knows that there is not much time left for him. If there is no scale in Huaixi within a year or two, it will be difficult to predict what will happen next.