On the eighth day of March, three thousand reinforcements that came from Jiangzhou with Su Tingzhan entered Fuliang City. Han immediately led his troops eastward and approached Qimen.
Spring starts early in the south of the Yangtze River, and March is already blooming. From Fuliang to Qimen, there are mountains and ridges, and the Changshui River Valley winds like a snake between the mountains. The river gradually becomes richer in spring, and large stretches of river beach are exposed on both sides covered with gravel.
They are all polished to have no edges and corners, and are crystal clear and white.
Under the trampling of people and horses, the wild grass tenaciously grew new green, and the dirt road on the north bank also extended into the distance along with the winding river bank.
A group of cavalry stood in the middle of the road with their reins reined in. They were all wearing armor and carrying bows. Their ebony sheathed sabers and quivers were tied to both sides of the saddle. In the distance, there were figures jumping on the ridge, blowing the bamboo whistles they held in their mouths, as if walking through the mountains.
Birdsong singing in the wind.
Without the need to be reminded by the whistle on the ridge, this team of horsemen had already noticed the smoke and dust rising on the road coming from Fuliang.
Seeing the Zhejiang and Fujian troops coming from Fuliang City, this group of cavalry quickly dispersed into the mountains and forests on the north side. Except for the fresh creases left by the weeds trampled by horses on the side of the road, there were no traces of the cavalry in the river valley.
Calmness quickly returned.
Soon, the scouts of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army who were responsible for detecting the enemy on the outside appeared in the river valley. They were in a group of fifteen, all riding horses and wearing armor. Jiangxi is mountainous and there are many mules and horses. From the walking horses, we selected those with good endurance and strong feet.
As war horses, they were barely usable. The outpost scouts of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army looked at the frightened birds flying among the treetops, reined in their horses, and were confused. For a while, they couldn't figure out how many ambushes were hidden in the woods. They just separated out three people.
He galloped back and forth, telling the people behind him to be more vigilant, and then several people got off their horses, holding shields and heading into the woods carefully.
"Swish, swish, swish" three sharp arrows were shot, and they all hit the hand shield of the scout who was approaching the woods. The bow string of the arrow was extremely powerful, and the arrow almost penetrated the shield. The tail wing was still vibrating violently, making a buzzing sound.
sound.
When the people in the forest saw that their arrows failed to hurt the enemy, they put away their big bows and fled on horseback from the forest path to the ridge.
Two of the scouts who were parked in the middle of the dirt road couldn't bear their temper. They were harassed non-stop along the way, and their patience was stretched to the limit. They cursed at their mothers, pulled out their swords, and drove their horses to chase them into the forest.
.
The leader was too late to stop them, and saw that as soon as the two men approached the woods, dozens of arrows were shot out from the woods. The two men roared angrily, and swung their swords to pull out the arrows, but how could they kill them?
Stop all these arrows?
The arrows were heavy and sharp, and the two men were hit by three or five arrows each, and the leather armor they wore could not protect them fully. One man fell off his horse, and his body twitched on the grass beside the forest with new grass;
The other man had an arrow hanging from his shoulder, ribs, and abdomen. He barely managed to avoid falling off his horse, and he beat his horse and fled back...
At this time, dozens of archers with swordsmen shot out from the forest, and were covered by dozens of cavalry on both sides. The scouts of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops saw the opponent's overwhelming force, and had no time to snatch the man who had fallen off his horse on the grassland by the forest. He protected the injured and then beat the horse.
They fled back; while escaping, Luo Wei and the other two were hit by arrows and dismounted from their horses, and there was no time to save them.
By the time Han Li and his two hundred armored soldiers arrived to respond, the men and horses who had attacked had already withdrawn from the ridge to the north.
"Fuck, mother!" Han Li tightened the reins and dismounted from the horse to vent his anger. After only walking fifty miles from Fuliang City, he had eaten nearly ten masters due to this constant harassment, but around Fuliang
The mountain people and hunters in various counties all turned to Huaidong. The small-scale elite outposts called the Gandong Advance Army were at home in the mountains and fields around Qimen and Fuliang, but Han Li and his troops did not dare to do so at all.
If you leave the main road and rush into the mountains, you will suffer even greater losses.
Not to mention the mountain people and hunters, the local gentry and wealthy families had no sense of identity with the She family. They were previously intimidated by the She family's soldiers and horses and did not dare to resist and struggle. Now that Yu Wencheng has captured Qimen and officially unveiled the banner of the advance army, they all
The local people who were originally appointed by the She family to serve as county officials also left one after another citing illness and did not want to be driven by the She family anymore. Even the new soldiers who recruited the She family to make a living and recruited into the army gradually
Escape--few people can see that Yan Hu is unstoppable in Guan and Shaanxi, and the current predicament facing the She family is clear at a glance. Who is willing to leave a stain on the She family at this time and be liquidated after the war?
The balance of the situation in eastern Jiangxi has completely tilted towards the disadvantage of the She family, making it difficult for the Zhejiang and Fujian troops to move forward once they leave the center of gravity.
The harassment continued. People in the Changshui River continued to throw broken logs from the upper reaches to prevent the naval warships from going up the river. There were many roads along the river that were damaged. The farmers along the villages were also quite uncooperative. A small group of scouts
And they cannot disperse too far. It will be difficult to effectively detect and grasp the conditions of mountains and mountains more than ten miles away, and the entire marching speed will be delayed. The faster the marching speed, but the soldiers who are always highly nervous are very tired -
- Han Li is used to fighting tough battles, but he is not used to this kind of guerrilla attack. But Han Li also knows in his heart that the Changshui River Valley stretches eastward, like an open beast's mouth, and he really cannot take it lightly.
, I can only suppress the irritability and anger in my heart, and restrain the troops to slowly march eastward.
No matter how slow we walk, there is only less than a hundred miles left outside Qimen City, so we can still make it!
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Zhuqi River is a branch of the Changshui River in the southwest of Qimen County. Ma'anling is located between the streams and cities. It is the key point into Qimen City. It is now the camp of the Eastern Jiangxi advance army on the outskirts of Qimen.
Sentinels and cavalry kept galloping back, bringing news that Han Li's troops of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops were approaching.
Hu Qiaozhong stood on the ridge and looked into the distance. The water of the Changhe River within his field of vision was still very calm, and there was no trace of the enemy troops advancing eastward.
Han Li once again led his troops out of Fuliang City and headed for Qimen. He was very cautious all the way and could not ambush him——
"At this time, Su Tingzhan and Han Li's intentions are not difficult to guess. They are not in a hurry to attack, but they will definitely approach Qimen City step by step." Yu Wencheng came over, followed by Yu Wenbei, Pan Wenshu, and Chen Yuqin, the former Ganzhou army.
He came over and said, "The enemy will never dare to attack Qimen City suddenly. Our intention of using Qimen as a bait fell into vain. But once Han Li is asked to take a stand at the source of Changshui and control the source of Changshui,
Its naval warships are constantly transporting supplies. If we strictly guard Qimen City, it is very likely that the communication between Qimen City and the surrounding areas will be cut off..."
"I think there isn't a single weakling among the people in Ganzhou who is fighting against the enemy at Ma'anling!" Chen Yuqin said.
Yu Wencheng raised a banner in Qimen and recruited brave men from the mountain people and hunters in the surrounding counties. In just three to five days, the number of his troops nearly doubled from just over a thousand.
With the troops sneaked in by Uncle Pan Wen, the advance army of eastern Jiangxi could gather 5,000 soldiers and horses outside Qimen. Han Licai led 2,000 soldiers. From brothers Yu Wencheng and Yu Wenbei to Uncle Pan, Chen Yuqin and other former Ganzhou Army troops, all advocated
Engage the enemy outside Qimen City.
However, Yu Wencheng and Yu Wenbei themselves were sent by the Jiangning Privy Council. Pan Wenshu, Chen Yuqin and other former Ganzhou Army troops also agreed to be incorporated into the advance army of eastern Jiangxi and accept the jurisdiction of the Privy Council - the decision-making power whether to fight or avoid, or Hu Qiaozhong, a special sent by the Privy Council
on the special envoy.
Nowadays, there is not much shortage of soldiers, armor and weapons in Qimen City, but what is lacking is food and grass.
There is no way to transport much food from the trails between Yishan Mountains - a transportation team of a hundred people can carry 10,000 kilograms of supplies in one trip across the mountains. If it is salt and iron, tens of thousands of kilograms are enough to support an army.
short-term consumption; but ten thousand kilograms of grain is nothing compared to the consumption of thousands of people.
For the moment, the advance army in eastern Jiangxi can only rely on requisitioning supplies from the surrounding countryside, exchanging salt, iron, gold and silver with the surrounding villages, or even issuing IOUs first. But after the She family entered Jiangxi, they began to attack the coast of Poyang Lake.
Heavy taxes were levied to support the army, and the people's food reserves in the countryside around Qimen were limited.
The people and local forces have been very cooperative with the eastern Jiangxi advance army, but the purchase of grain and grass requires a large number of manpower and mules and horses, which is very fast. In just three to five days, Yu Wencheng stored less than ten grains in Qimen City.
Thousands of kilograms.
Requisitioning grain from places such as Duchang and Yongshan further away would require more time and manpower, and would be even more dangerous under the noses of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops.
Once Han Li's troops are asked to approach Qimen City, the recruitment of food and grass will inevitably stop - if more than 5,000 people from the Eastern Jiangxi advance army are gathered in Qimen City at this time, they can only last for ten and a half days at most.
moon.
Even if only Yu Wencheng's troops are allowed to defend the city, it can only last for more than a month. If the Zhejiang and Fujian troops cruelly drive a large number of people into the city to take refuge, food will be even more scarce. In this case, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops cannot be asked to cut off the city.
Qimen City became an isolated city due to its connection with the surrounding areas.
"If you want to fight, you must first defend Ma'anling and lure Han Li to attack in order to tire out his army. Then, two groups of soldiers and horses will wait for the opportunity to attack Han Li's troops from the west bank of Zhuqi River and from Qimen City.
"At the rear," Hu Qiaozhong said to Yu Wencheng and others, "In this way, I will guard Ma'anshan Jianzhai, and Yu Wenbei will be responsible for dragging the reinforcements that Su Tingzhan may have sent from Fuliang from the direction of Daishan. Yu Wencheng and Pan Wenshu's troops will be dormant first.
…”
"The army can just stay in Qimen City, and I will guard Ma'anling!" Yu Wencheng said.
Ma'anling is not very dangerous. It faces a stream on one side and gentle slopes on three sides. In just three to five days, there is no way to build a strong fortress. After all, more materials must be ensured to strengthen the defense of Qimen City first.
In comparison, Qimen City stood on a mountain and was defended by more than a thousand soldiers and horses, which was enough to deter the elite Zhejiang and Fujian troops from attacking by force.
Hu Qiaozhong shook his head and said: "If you want to fight, you must follow my arrangements!"
Yu Wencheng, Yu Wenbei, Pan Wenshu, Chen Yuqin and other generals were all in their youth, but Hu Qiaozhong, who was only 24 years old at the time, was the youngest. Although Hu Qiaozhong was appointed by the Privy Council to temporarily lead the advance army in eastern Jiangxi, if he did not defend the death ground, he would fight a tough battle.
Courage, only knowing how to hide in a safe place, how can you convince the generals - Yu Wencheng, Uncle Pan Wen, they are all new generals who joined Huaidong. They all have their own arrogance. They won't say anything with their mouths, but they won't admit it easily in their hearts.
Hu Qiaozhong's previous status in the Huaidong Army; on the contrary, one might even think that Hu Qiaozhong just took advantage of being a member of the Chongzhou Boys, and gained the trust and reuse of the Privy Council.