Watching the Huaidong fleet abandoning Hengshan City, treating them as if they were nothing, heading northwest along the river, She Fei Xiong's hands and feet were cold.
The generals looked at each other speechlessly, with almost despair in their eyes. Who would have thought that the Huaidong Army could create a huge water camp out of nothing in the upper reaches of Shanxi River?
There are as many as sixteen Jiyun-class warships, and there are as many as forty or fifty small and medium-sized warships such as sterns, fighting boats, and car-wing clippers, and as many as five large-winged warships used for transporting troops in inland rivers.
More than ten ships.
Such a large-scale fleet can send tens of thousands of Huaidong Army's elite troops along the river directly into the hinterland west of Shangrao. However, the cities west of Shangrao, including Deng Yu, who is retreating westward along both sides of the Xinjiang River, and Wang Hui's tribes have no idea about this.
Be prepared.
There were no warships to intercept or hinder in the river channel ahead, and at this time it was the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The river was rising, the current was turbulent, and the southeast wind was strong. The Huaidong fleet set sail and sailed down the river.
As fast as a galloping horse.
Even if they send a fast horse to the west to warn, it will be difficult to get ahead and give the cities on the western front and Deng Yu and Wang Hui's troops too much warning time!
By this time, She Feixiong could also guess that these warships must have been secretly built by the Huaidong Army at the western foot of Guanxiling. It was a shame that they had been facing off in the Shanxi Valley at the western foot of Guanxiling for four months.
, the Huaidong Army secretly built warships on such a large scale deep in the Shanxi River Valley, and he was not even aware of it. How could he feel so embarrassed?
The confidence built up in past battles collapsed at this moment. Shefei Xiong felt his throat was sweet, his mouth was full of the taste of blood, his head was heavy, and he was about to fall over. He just reluctantly took off the saber from his waist and propped himself up on the ground.
And stand.
"Young Marshal, Young Marshal!" Shi Hejin called softly.
She Feixiong came back to his senses and looked at Shi Hejin, who was calling him, with a bitter look on his face, but he also knew that if he couldn't hold on and collapsed immediately, all the soldiers and horses in Shangrao would not be able to escape the disaster.
Shefei Xiong swallowed the blood in his mouth into his belly, gasped for air, grinned an ugly smile, and said to the generals: "Huaidong wants to scare you and me with these empty ships.
If you really bully the people of Fujian, you are a coward..."
When the generals heard She Feixiong speak, they recovered from their shock.
Even though they knew that the Huaidong fleet had bypassed them and moved westward, with greater ambitions and wanted to surround the tens of thousands of Zhejiang and Fujian troops near Shangrao in the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River, the Huaidong troops did not land immediately to attack them.
The disaster has not yet come over, and they have regained some composure...
"Immediately ride along Jiangxi to give a warning, and order Deng Yu, Wang Hui, Tian Zhengming and other tribes to retreat to the stronghold and form a formation to stand firm. Don't mess up the position..." She Feixiong ordered in a deep voice, no matter how calm he was
, one can still hear the uncontrollable absoluteness and frustration in his voice, but no matter what, he must send a fast horse to the west to report the news, even if it can buy an extra warning time for the cities on the western front and the troops withdrawing from the west.
It may also make the development of the war situation less disappointing!
It was useless to light the beacon smoke at this time. Without sending people over, Wang Hui, Deng Yu and other generals retreating to the west would have difficulty guessing that the Huaidong Army's pursuers were coming by water when they saw the smoke rising in the sky.
"How should we advance?" Shi Hejin asked.
They still have more than ten thousand elites in Hengshan, but the grain and grass stored in Hengshan City can only last three to five days, and Hengshan City is no longer a place to defend for a long time.
The remnants of the navy in Shangrao could not even delay the westward journey of the Huaidong fleet, but they were defeated and defeated.
Although they were only twenty or thirty miles away from Shangrao City, they were across the fast-flowing Xinjiang River, and there were warships from Huaidong on the Xinjiang River guarding and monitoring them. They had no ability to cross the river and go north, so they could only retreat westward along the south bank of the river.
But how to retreat westward?
Traveling west to Guixi County, there is a trail to go south to Shaowu and retreat into northern Fujian. However, on the south bank of the Xinjiang River, mountains and mountains meet the river, and the road is narrow and rugged. From Hengshan to Guixi, it requires a forced march of nearly two hundred miles. These two hundred miles
The roads are all close to the south bank of the Xinjiang River. Once they move their troops and horses in a hurry, they will call in Huaidong troops and horses to launch a strong attack from above the Xinjiang River at any time...
"Leave camp immediately and march westward!" She Feixiong said with a serious face, "Abandon all the baggage and tell every general that the movement is urgent. Only by reaching Guixi within two days can there be a chance of survival.
!”
To cover the two hundred miles of rugged roads on the south bank in two days, the troops and horses must be fully deployed and forced to march. There is no doubt that the Huaidong Army will be called to attack them!
However, Shi Hejin also instantly understood She Feixiong's intention. This was to make the Huaidong fleet stop and attack them - in this way, Deng Yu and Wang Hui's tribes, who had already withdrawn to the west one day in advance, would be able to
More time to retreat into Fuzhou without worrying about being intercepted in the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River.
In fact, as long as Deng Yu and Wang Hui's tribes can reach Huating Village west of Hengfeng County early, there will be a road that can leave the north bank of Xinjiang River and pass through the valley road of Yumailing at the western foot of Huaiyu Mountain, so that they can quickly evacuate into Fuliang
Within the territory, he met up with Su Tingzhan.
If the Huaidong Army is not immune to the enemy's tactics and insists on intercepting the main force of Deng Yu, Wang Hui and other troops on the north bank, and will not be able to allocate too many troops to attack the south bank, then they may make a decisive move westward.
Enter Guixi one step ahead of time.
At that time, even if the road to retreat to Fuzhou in the west is blocked, we can still cross the western foot of Wuyi Mountain and go south, retreat into Shangguan and Shaowu, and stick to northern Fujian.
The dozens of warships of the Zhejiang and Fujian naval forces in the Xinjiang River were severely defeated, and it was difficult to stop the speed of the advance fleet. Within an hour, the city of Shangrao on the north bank was eagerly awaited.
There was no need for the Zhejiang and Fujian troops stationed in Hengshan on the south bank to report the news. When the guards at the top of Shangrao City saw such a large fleet approaching from the Xinjiang River, they naturally knew what was happening. At that moment, alarm bells started ringing.
Wang Hui withdrew westward from Shangrao yesterday afternoon and stationed camp at Qingxi, about thirty miles west of Shangrao. At this time, he should break up camp and continue to withdraw westward toward Hengfeng. Wang Hui led his troops to withdraw westward, leaving Shangrao City behind to wait for Shangrao.
Fei Xiong led his troops to fill in. At this time, there were less than a thousand guards left in Shangrao.
Facing the surging Huaidong fleet, the Shangrao garrison naturally did not dare to send troops out of the city to intercept them at the Jiang'an Wharf at the south end of the city. Apart from sending fast cavalry to the west to report the news, he could only guard the city gate tightly.
The south of Shangrao City is the most important water and land terminal in the middle reaches of the Xinjiang River. There are several miles of stone revetment piers along the coast, and the port's berthing conditions are excellent. Shangrao City is also built along the river, and the south city gate is less than a thousand steps away from the riverside pier.
Such a short distance from the river bank is an excellent place to fight against the city, but there are too few guards in Shangrao, and the Chuáng crossbows, scorpion crossbows and other war weapons exposed between the stern cabins of the Huaidong battle cover a very deep strike range.
As a result, the Shangrao garrison did not dare to enter the Jiang'an pier and fought to the death to prevent the Huaidong soldiers from landing from the pier.
This area was less affected by the two water releases from the upper reaches of Shanxi River. There were only aquatic plants and residual branches hanging on the stone shore pier, which did not affect the approach of large warships. First, two Jiyun-class warships approached, and they were shot down by a hail of arrows.
Two giant crossbow arrows were fired into the defensive formation. Five light-armored soldiers were nailed together and howled to death. More than a hundred defenders on the pier scattered like birds and beasts and retreated into the southern city, guarding Caimen.
There was no need to even set up a trestle. The warships directly docked on the revetment and lowered their side planks. More than two hundred lightly armored soldiers with bows and blades rushed onto the pier to form a formation to cover the big-bellied troop carrier behind them as they docked.
Guard Tian Zhong stood at the top of the city, watching four Huaidong warships docking one after another. Nearly a thousand soldiers boarded the shore and rushed towards the south city gate. Then he looked at the entire Huaidong fleet.
There were more than fifty big-winged ships coming to transport troops, and the big tui couldn't help but tremble!
Watching four more large-winged ships docking, one of the ships opened its side door, set up a trestle, and then rolled out war equipment such as crossbows, scorpion crossbows, and half-part ladders, Tian Zhong thought.
The confidence in fortifying the city also began to waver.
Although he was frightened in his heart, as a descendant of the Tian family in Bamin, Tian Zhong was not completely frightened.
The eldest son's troops were blocked on the south bank and could not cross the river, but Wang Hui and his troops in Qingxi could go no more than forty or fifty miles. Tian Zhong thought that as long as he defended the city and Wang Hui and his troops came to help, it would not take half a day at the fastest!
What Tian Zhong thought was true, but how could the Huaidong Army give him a chance?
At this time, a black smoke rose from the direction of Laohuai Street in Xicheng, where the poor people in the city lived.
At first, Tian Zhong thought there was a fire on Laohuai Street, but then several fires broke out in the camp where soldiers and civilians lived in Beicheng. The fire spread rapidly, and Tian Zhong realized that the situation was much more complicated than imagined.
When Zhejiang and Fujian build fortifications to confront the Huaidong Army, in addition to generals, it is indispensable to recruit a large number of strong soldiers from the local area to help defend the city, build weapons of war, or build city pools, jaws, litangs, and rivers.
When the fortress was at its greatest strength, there were as many as 60,000 to 70,000 craftsmen and civilians accompanying the army, which was more than the garrison.
She Feixiong decided to abandon the front line defenses and use the hinterland along the Xinjiang River to delay the Huaidong Army's advance in Jiangxi. Naturally, he would not follow the strong soldiers and civilians to ask the Huaidong Army to increase its strength.
In addition to some civilians who surrendered to Deng Yu, Wang Hui and others led their troops to retreat westward, there were nearly 20,000 civilians in Shangrao.
The She family itself was unpopular with the people in Jiangxi. Most of these civilians were local farmers who were forcibly coerced into joining the army. Whether they were forcibly coerced into joining the army or forced to leave their hometown and follow the army to retreat westward, they all had deep resistance and resentment.
Even under the brutal suppression of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops, there were countless camp escapees, but there were no conditions to form large-scale riots and resistance.
In the three previous batches of Huaidong's entry into the secret rooms of Jiangxi, twenty or thirty people had mingled with these civilians. In addition to passing on information and thinking they were internal agents, they had also secretly communicated to develop resistance forces with the army and the people.
At this time, many Shangrao garrison soldiers were attracted to the city by the Huaidong warships approaching from the outside. There were less than a hundred soldiers guarding the private camp. How long would it take for a riot to start without breaking the camp?
First, they set fire to the civilian camp and started a large-scale riot. While the guards and soldiers were attracting attention to the rioting people, more than 600 rioters were organized secretly in Huaidong, either with bamboo spears, wooden spears, or with bare hands, and attacked from both sides.
, almost in the blink of an eye, more than a hundred guards outside the gate of the civilian camp were killed.
Minzhuang, who was in chaos, broke out of the camp without being suppressed by the defenders, and ran rampant in the city. When Shangrao was in short supply of supplies, Minzhuang received less than five taels of food a day and was hungry. Someone pointed out that the Zhejiang and Fujian troops were in the direction of the granary in Shangrao city.
, nearly 20,000 people rushed towards the Shangrao garrison and military warehouse like a swarm of locusts.
And Huaidong Mijian seized the bows, swords and armor, organized more than 300 armed men, and directly attacked the North City, which was the weakest defense and the farthest from the river bank...
Tian Zhong knew that the situation was over and could not be changed unless he died in battle, so he could only lead the remaining three to five hundred people to abandon the city and flee westward.
At this time, it was only an hour before the Huaidong warships appeared under Shangrao City and docked, and the two thousand soldiers from Huaidong who were the first to land had formed a formation and swarmed under the Nancheng...
Chen Zhi pursed his lips and his eyes were full of greed. He called his general Hu Jinxiong and said, "You son of a bitch, given you three thousand troops, do you have the confidence to defend Shangrao City to me?"
The main force of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, nearly 30,000 soldiers, threatens tens of thousands of civilians, a total of 60,000 to 70,000 people. They left Shangrao City the day before yesterday and gradually retreated westward. Now these 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers are scattered from Qingxi to the west of Shangrao City to Hengfeng County.
In the narrow strip of about 150 miles between Xihua Pavilion - Chen Zhi let She Feixiong lead the more than 10,000 elite soldiers without fighting, so naturally he would not just seize the almost empty Shangrao city.
Hu Jinxiong said: "The general knows that if Shangrao cannot be defended, the city of Shangrao will be burned to the ground before the general escapes, so as not to miss the master's plan to annihilate the enemy!"
"Get out of here, damn, I'll be embarrassed. I'll peel your skin off later!" Chen Zhi, his teeth itching with hatred, rushed Hu Jinxiong to the shore without saying anything else.
What Hu Jinxiong said was a strategy drawn up by Lin Fu himself. Once Chen Zhi led the main force to land at Huating, and intercepted the main force of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army in the upper reaches of the Xinjiang River, unable to withdraw westward, the Zhejiang and Fujian Army would probably turn around and capture Shangrao City again.
Stick to it.
At this time, burning the supplies in Shangrao City and leaving them with an empty city will not affect the development of the entire war situation, but will be more conducive to the later siege and forced surrender - but Chen Zhi's style is not in line with this, and he always feels that if Shangrao City is in his hands,
Gaining something and then losing it again cannot be considered glorious! g@.