At the eastern foot of Guanxiling, there is a remnant village called Fenglin Port at the source of Fenglin River. It is also the only passage from Guanxiling and the southern ridges to Jiangshan County.
The She family built the Shangrao defense line, and all the civilian villages east of Guanxiling, except for a few extremely dangerous ones, were forcibly moved westward, and the villages were set on fire.
Fenglinbu is located at the source of Fenglin River, about fifty miles west of Jiangshan County. Starting from mid-November, Tang Fuguan led his troops to gradually move in. A large army stronghold was quickly erected on the ruins of Fenglinbu, and
Li Baidao led his troops to build a simple defense on the ridge of Guanxi Ridge, only six or seven miles away.
The troops currently assembled in the west of Quzhou are led by Zhou Tong, while Fu Qinghe remains in Tongziwu on the upper reaches of the Qianjiang River for the time being.
Compared with frontline supervision, the actual significance of continuously transporting material resources from the rear to the frontline is more important. Not only is the land and water channel to Wuyuan dangerous and narrow, the supply route to Quzhou is even longer and tortuous. As autumn enters winter, the Lanxi River
, the water channel of the Qujiang River is shallow and narrow, which increases the difficulty of transportation. Of course, the difficulties encountered by the She family in Shangrao will inevitably be twice that of Huaidong.
On the eastern front of Shangrao, with Changshan City as the core, the She family built eleven solid fortresses at the peripheral passes such as Xiangkou and Litang, filled them with 20,000 elite troops, and stormed Xiangkou Pass and Litang.
Tang, it is not easy to capture Changshan City and get through to the west to Shangrao.
Since the She family can spend so much money building fortifications to guard the eastern frontier, why not ask them to build many more fortifications in the upper reaches of Shanxi?
Winter has already entered Jiangning, but Quzhou is located deep in the mountains, and the cold has not yet blown in. The climate is quite pleasant, which provides many conveniences for the war after winter.
Fenglin River becomes shallow and narrow after winter. After the supplies arrive in Quzhou, they must be replaced by small black-topped boats with a load of only twenty stone to continue westward.
Fortunately, the valley road on the south bank of Fenglin River has been developed for several generations and is quite easy, with quite a few sections even paved with stones.
Hundreds of mules and carriages are continuously transporting supplies along the valley road on the south bank of Fenglin River to the depths of the northern foot of Wuyi Mountain. In addition to the carriages requisitioned from Quzhou, there are also new Huaidong four-wheel carriages.
The wheels of the cart creaked along the mountain road. The Sichuan horses pulling the cart had short heads but strong endurance. Two horses and one cart could carry twenty or thirty stones of cargo, which was more convenient than sailing against the current.
Surrounded by more than a hundred horsemen, Zhou Tong passed the mules and horses that were carrying supplies and advanced ahead. The commander of Fenglinbu was Tang Fuguan, the deputy commander of the Chongcheng Army. Zhou Tong rushed to Fenglinbu Military Village, and there were soldiers and civilians around the military camp.
Reclaiming wasteland.
"The newly handed order from the Privy Council instructs us to pay attention to the combination of military and military operations. The tiger who climbed into the city was so stubborn that he was unwilling to do so. He asked me to send military officers to him. If he hadn't asked the lord to give him a hard lesson last time,
"Dun, I really don't worry about letting him go in front this time. I'm afraid that he will be impatient, so it's better for you to worry less!" Zhou Tong said to Tang Fuguan who came to greet him.
Tang Fuguan said: "Back then, I was trapped in the mountains of southern Fujian, with no supplies of food or fodder. It was difficult to survive, so I had more patience. The war is nothing more than to eliminate the tension between one and the other, and to increase one's own strength, no matter how small the matter,
It’s worth doing too!”
Zhou Tong nodded and walked toward Guanxiling, accompanied by Tang Fuguan.
From Fenglinbu to Guanxiling, although it is only six or seven miles deep, the road is steep and dangerous. When you reach Guanxiling, the mountains rise abruptly and lie in front of you.
At this time, on Guanxi Ridge, Li Baidao led his troops to build a simple defense fortification, stationed with two battalions of elite soldiers. The defense fortification stood between the mountains on the ridge of the ridge, felled trees, erected fences, and tamped the mountain soil.
Since it was extremely difficult for the Zhejiang and Fujian troops to storm the ridge from the western foothills, they surrounded Guanxiling and robbed it four times, leaving more than 200 corpses behind, but they were unable to recapture the Guanxiling highland.
The Huaidong Army's armor and weapons have completely surpassed the Zhejiang and Fujian Army. When both sides have equal fighting will, the Huaidong Army uses defense and offense to occupy the terrain advantage. Even if the Zhejiang and Fujian Army is willing to pay double casualties,
They may not win.
As time went by, the Huaidong Army's control over Guanxiling became increasingly tight. After initially climbing over the mountains, in just ten days, a trail had been created between the mountains for the mules and horses transporting supplies.
Come. On the steep slope at the east foot of Guanxiling, a simple plank road was also built using iron cable pallets to supply materials and personnel.
At the western foothills, the Zhejiang and Fujian armies never cleared a passage that could allow a large number of troops to pass through and attack Guanxiling.
Zhou Tong also used his hands and feet to climb up Guanxiling from the temporary simple iron rope plank road. The bodies of the enemy and our soldiers had been separated and buried, but the blood stains in front of the fortress showed that the enemy had never wanted to take back Guanxiling.
The western foot of Guanxi Ridge is relatively gentle, but there are also several undulating hills. To the northwest, the terrain sinks rapidly, forming a basin-shaped valley. The streams converge to form the main source of Shanxi River, which flows northward until it meets the north of Hengshan City.
The Xinjiang River converges.
Between the mountains, the sparkling waves of the Shanxi River flash.
"Indeed, if Guanxiling does not become an obstacle, attacking Hengshan and Shangrao directly from Shanxi will have more advantages than Qiankou and Litang, and it will be easier to gather troops," Zhou Tong said.
You will suffer the consequences of not guarding the dangerous terrain of Guanxiling!"
"It's not that the She family doesn't care, it's that the She family couldn't have imagined that we would sacrifice the near for the far, and give up the easy to choose the hard!" Tang Fuguan said with a smile, "From the west of Jiangshan City to Fenglin Port, the mountain road has been abandoned for a long time and needs to be repaired.
; From Fenglinbu to the heel of Guanxiling, it is only six or seven miles away, but it has to climb two low ridges in a row, and the wild trail is difficult to distinguish. The main peak of Guanxiling forms a ridge like a city wall, which separates the fir trees.
The source of the stream is guarded on the west side. Guanxiling extends for fifty or sixty miles deep into Wuyi Mountain. We can only forcibly dig a road with iron drills. If we want to go around it, it will only be more time-consuming and troublesome. We need to build the channel to Guanxiling
It is extremely difficult. And it is not easy for the She family to build a defense fort on Guanxi Ridge. The She family always has to make choices, and cannot leave any gaps in the jaws or the Litang..."
"That's right," Zhou Tong smiled, summoned Li Baidao, the chief of Guanxiling's defense, and pointed to the slightly shorter mountain ridge in front, and said, "The real danger of Guanxiling is between these two ridges.
, not only can we not allow the enemy to gain a foothold there, but we also have to build the defenses there and build this area into a base for advancing troops towards Shanxi Fortress..."
Li Bai Dao wiped his bearded face and said to Tang Fuguan: "There is a lot of strength in Fenglin Port. Two to three hundred people carry supplies up the mountain with baskets every day, but there is no way to push the army to the Shanxi Pass.
Go..."
"Then I will give you two months to open the mountain road to Guanxiling," Zhou Tong said to Tang Fuguan. "In two months, the Changshan Army will also enter Quzhou to participate in the war. Be careful that all the credit will be taken by others.
gone."
"I don't know how to keep it!" Li Baidao rushed to issue a military order.
Zhou Ting smiled and went down the mountain with Tang Fuguan. As he walked, he said: "I give you three thousand troops now, but you won't be able to use any more. When the mountain road is opened deeper and there is more space to evacuate people, I will draw out more people."
Here you go; you can recruit mountain people, but be careful of the She family’s scouts sneaking in..."
****************
The previous speculation turned out to be true. The Huaidong Army massed troops on a large scale on the back of Guanxiling and built a road through the mountains. They wanted to open a channel for troops to enter Guanxiling from the upper reaches of Fenglin River, and then go down Shanxi to directly attack Hengshan.
Shangrao.
Once the main force of Huaidong's troops is allowed to cross the natural obstacle of Guanxiling and go down the Shanxi River, the Zhejiang and Fujian Army's defense line on the front of Hengshan will be far weaker than the Jinchou and Litang defense lines that were strengthened in the early stage.
It’s not that I didn’t realize that Guanxiling was too thin in the early stage, and it might become a passage for Huaidong soldiers to enter. It’s just that before that, the construction of the Jinchou and Litang defense lines was more important. At least there was Guanxiling as a barrier in the upper reaches of Shanxi.
It is difficult for Huaidong's large army of soldiers and horses to pass through at once.
After weighing the priorities, when Deng Yu was in charge of Shangrao, he only built the beacon pier in Guanxiling first, not even a defensive fortress. Instead, he asked the Huaidong Army to seize Guanxiling from the other side and build a defensive fortress first.
In the current situation, Huaidong was particularly concerned about the gains and losses of Guanxiling and sent more than a thousand soldiers to defend it. The path at the western foot of Guanxiling was not smooth, so it was difficult to send a large force to attack immediately.
Four consecutive small-scale counterattacks were repelled, which proved that the Huaidong Army's will to defend Guanxiling was difficult to shake. Next, they had to consider whether to fight a tug-of-war around Guanxiling or withdraw and stop at Shanxi.
Additional fortifications were built between Hengshan City and Hengshan City to complete the defense line in front of Hengshan City.
She Feixiong summoned the generals to discuss the matter.
"In Shangrao, Huaidong's troops have already surpassed our army by a large margin, and there is even the possibility of continuing to increase the number of troops. The tug-of-war and attrition around Guanxiling will put our army into a more unfavorable situation," Wang Hui
He was once the guard general of Kuaiji. After the soldiers from the two Sichuan counties were defeated, he chose to join Shefei Xiong. He has been fighting on the Western Front these years. Unlike Tian Chang, Su Tingzhan and other generals, he had the opportunity to directly face the Huaidong Army, but
His choice was to be cautious and conservative, and did not recommend a counterattack on Guanxiling. He said, "For our army, defending Shangrao is the most fundamental thing. Waiting for Jiangzhou or Guanshaan Cao Yan to decide the winner, a turning point will naturally appear.
Instead of spending our troops fighting for the wings..."
"Once the Huaidong Army is asked to open the passage from Guanxiling to Shanxi, Shanxi Village and Hengshan City will be the only ones on the southern line to prevent the main force of the Huaidong Army from approaching Shangrao," Shi Hejin said, "outside Shanxi and Hengshan City
, the terrain is open, which is convenient for the Huaidong Army to launch a siege with superior forces, but what can we do?"
"Our army can mobilize 20,000 soldiers and horses to the Shanxi Valley to fight the Huaidong Army. The Huaidong Army will not come in easily, but it wants to dig a channel for 20,000 soldiers, horses and supplies to pass through in Guanxi Ridge.
It can be done in May," Deng Yu said. "During these three to five months, we can fight out from Qiankou or Litang, or we can build additional defenses between Xiaxi Col and Duxian Valley..."
"Both options are probably what the Huaidong Army wants!" She Feixiong said with a heavy expression.
Huaidong's tactics on the front in Shangrao became extremely conservative. In Litang, they also built forts and faced off on the front of Jianchou. They were not in a hurry to attack by force. They even wanted to open up a channel between Guanxiling and Guanxi Ridge at the expense of spending three to five more months.
Doesn't the new troop dispatching channel force this side to invest more troops in Hengshan and Shanxi and build more defense fortresses?