On the night of the seventh day of June in the fifth year of Yongxing, at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain and within the territory of Ruyang, dozens of cavalrymen were on the road, waving their whips and driving away the refugees blocking the road to the roadside. **Pao! Book. Bar*
Liang Chengyi took advantage of the fact that the main force of the Yanhu troops and horses were on the north bank of the Yellow River. On the fourth day of June, he abandoned the river and fled south with his troops.
Last year, he led his troops across the river to aid the Cao family, but was severely defeated by Chen Zhihu in the reed swamps on the north bank of the Yellow River. Liang Chengyi had less than 30,000 troops left in Hezhong Prefecture, including the families of officials and generals and the families of Luoyang City.
There were about 60,000 to 70,000 wealthy households, dragging their families and families to flee south.
In order to increase the military pressure on Guanzhong, Yanhu transferred Chen Zhihu across the river to fight in western Shanxi last year. Yanhu's troops in Henan are mainly concentrated in Daliang and other places, Ruzhou and Ruyang between Hezhong and Nanyang.
Xuchang, Yuzhou and other places were all disabled, and there were no large-scale garrisons. However, the troops fleeing south were mixed with soldiers and civilians, and the carriages and horses were chaotic, which greatly delayed the speed of the southward retreat. Especially the people in the counties in the southern part of Hezhong
, after learning the news that Liang Chengyi withdrew to guard the river, he also frantically dragged his family and fled southward, crowding at the front of the southward retreating team, crowding the avenue that had not been repaired for many years, coupled with the occasional rain and sunshine, causing soldiers and civilians to flee southward.
It is even harder to increase the speed.
Although there were no large groups of enemy soldiers on either side that could pose a fatal threat, Liang Chengyi really couldn't rest at ease.
Riding his horse up an unknown hilltop at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain, looking at the slowly moving flow of people under the moonlit night, Liang Chengyi no longer had the same high spirits as when he first met Lin Fu on Zhubobo in the East China Sea.
Ahead is the Beiru River, which comes out of the Huangbai Valley in Dayu Mountain. It is the main tributary of the Ying River. Since the beginning of summer, the water has swelled greatly. The distance between the north and south banks is one or two miles wide. Although it is far from the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, it is also volcanic.
The largest natural obstacle on the north-south highway at the eastern foot of Niushan Mountain.
In the early years, there were pontoon bridges and ferries on the Beiru River. In recent years, there have been endless wars, and the pontoon bridges have long been burned down by the war, and the ferries are also dilapidated. Since the southward retreat was a secret plan, although Nanyang was notified, preparations were made less than ten days in advance.
In Ruzhou, people's livelihood is in decline, there is not even one out of ten Dingkou, and there is no sound of roosters for thousands of miles. Even if we can prepare ten and a half months in advance, how many ferries can be prepared at the upper reaches of Beiru River?
Although it was possible to cross the river after summer, a large amount of baggage, mules, horses, and dependent women and children still had to be carried across the river by boat. The speed suddenly slowed down. A large number of soldiers and civilians were crowded on the north bank, making it impossible to cross the river for a while.
go.
Liang Chengyi, who was only thirty-five years old at the time, had skinny cheeks, deep sunken eye sockets, and a mess of stubble on his chin that he had not bothered to clean up for several days.
It took three days to reach Ruyang and the north bank of the Beiru River, less than a hundred miles, which made Liang Chengyi extremely anxious.
Although we were only over 200 miles away from the outskirts of Nanyang at this time, at this speed, even if we could successfully cross the Beiru River, it would take several days to evacuate into Nanyang.
However, given the current situation, how can they cross the Beiru River as quickly as possible?
Within three days, Chen Zhihu gathered his troops on the north bank of Mengjin. Once Chen Zhihu was able to successfully cross the Yellow River, his troops were moving very fast, and it would not take four or five days to catch up.
Although Chen Zhihu led his troops to cross the south bank, it is more likely to go west along the Hangu Pass Road to attack Tongguan, which is empty of troops. However, there is no guarantee that the Cao family will withdraw southward from Guanzhong, and Chen Zhihu's troops may also follow their southward retreat.
Give chase.
"Ask Gao Fangyi to drive Baiqi to drive the refugees blocking the road upstream toward Huangbai Valley; ask Fang Keshan to lead his troops three miles to the inner port and station them on the north bank to prepare for a small group of enemy attacks." Liang Chengyi said with a gloomy face.
Huangbai Valley is in the upper reaches of the Beiru River, where the water is shallow and easy to cross. Since Liang Chengyi was reluctant to leave these refugees behind and had no way to take them across the river together, he could only drive them upstream.
Even if the enemy soldiers were chasing after them, they would not bite the refugees and not let them go, leaving relatively sufficient time for the refugees to escape from the upper reaches.
Sixty or seventy thousand horses were crossing the river in such a mess that it might take four or five days. In the current situation, four or five days were foreseen, so Liang Chengyi had to send troops and horses to build a few more temporary camps behind the ferry.
, to prevent enemy soldiers from chasing closely from behind.
At this time, a group of people and horses were galloping north from the ferry, going against the flow of people fleeing south, which was particularly clear under the moonlit night.
Soon someone led the group of people and galloped here to join them. When they got close, they shouted and announced their names. The person who came was no one else, but Yuan Jinsheng, the second son of Yuan Guizheng.
Yuan Jinsheng, Liang Chengchong, and Liang Chengyi are aunts and cousins, and they had been staying in Nanyang to help Liang Chengchong.
Looking at Yuan Jinsheng leading his horse up the mountain under the moonlit night, Liang Chengyi came over to meet him, held his hand and asked: "How is the situation in Nanyang?"
"Luo Xiancheng has not made any changes for the time being. Even if the She family wants to go north, they must ensure that Hu Wenmu does not send troops from Jingzhou to cross the Han River to attack him. He will not be able to go north to attack Nanyang for a while," Yuan Jinsheng said, "Yue Lengqiu has gone to Yuzhang to meet Chong.
Duke, but there was no communication with Yue Lengqiu before abandoning the defense in Hezhong, so it is hard to predict how Yuzhang will react..."
"We don't care about Yuzhang's reaction," Liang Chengyi said. "Once we ask the Cao family to withdraw from Guanzhong first, and Hezhong wants to withdraw, it will be difficult to get rid of the pursuing troops."
Now the troops and horses of Yanhu that invaded Guanzhong are mainly blocked by the Cao family on the north bank of the Wei River, unable to cross the river. Even if the Cao family does not abandon Guanzhong, once the Yanhu troops and horses are sent to cross the Wei River and leave Tongguan in the east to attack Hangu Pass, Liang Chengyi will want to complete the task from the river.
To withdraw becomes a delusion.
The only solution now is to take advantage of the main force of Yanhu to gather on the north bank of the Weishui River and decisively abandon the river, so as to gain the crucial seven or eight days for the southward retreat.
However, after Liang Chengyi abandoned the defense in Hezhong, whether the Cao family could successfully withdraw from Guanzhong was not something Liang Chengyi could consider.
Hezhong and Guanzhong are horns with each other. Since Hezhong can protect the flanks, the Cao family has very few troops stationed in Tongguan, only one or two thousand people.
Now that Liang Chengyi has abandoned Hezhong Prefecture without notifying the Cao family, he will give Yanhu a way to directly attack Tongguan. If Tongguan falls because of this, the east wing of the Cao family's retreating troops to the south will be threatened. I think the Cao family will hate Liang Chengyi.
It penetrates into the bones.
However, Liang Chengyi couldn't care less. Neither the Cao family nor Jiangning would agree to him giving up Hezhong Prefecture so easily. If he informed the Cao family in advance, he would probably ask the Cao family to retreat south first, and instead call the Hezhong army behind.
It is possible that the pursuers will bite you
These days, things that harm others and benefit oneself are not worth doing, but things that harm others and benefit oneself must be done.
"Where is that traitor Chen Zhihu and his troops?" Yuan Jinsheng asked.
Yanhu appointed Chen Zhihu as the general manager of Henan, but after the autumn of last year, the main force of Chen Zhihu's command was transferred to the north bank of the Yellow River to attack Guanzhong from Jinzhong along the Fen River to the west, and never returned to Henan.
Although there are tens of thousands of new auxiliary troops under Yuan Lishan between Henan and Shandong, Yuan Lishan has to face Taochun in Wuyang and Liu Miaozhen in Xuzhou in the south, and his troops dare not move westward to attack Liang Chengyi, so the threat is not great.
Therefore, if Liang Chengyi wants to withdraw from the river safely, the biggest threat is Chen Zhihu.
"Chen Zhihu has led his troops to the north bank of Mengjin and is ready to cross the river at Huaihe River," Liang Chengyi said. "The river water is rising. It will not be easy for Chen Zhihu to cross the river, but we cannot be careless. In addition, there are a small number of enemy cavalry approaching from Changge.
I have called Ju Tao and Fang Dai to lead the army to fight in order to cover our flanks."
The water potential of the Yellow River is much greater than that of the Beiru River, but the north bank of the Yellow River has always been under Yanhu's control. The boats used to cross the river are well prepared. Liang Chengyi only left a small number of intercepting troops on the south bank. Chen Zhihu led his troops to cross the Yellow River, which may not be possible.
Slower than them here.
Yuan Jinsheng nodded and said: "Eldest brother is also most worried about Chen Zhihu in Nanyang. As long as he is still on the north bank of the Yellow River, it will be difficult for him to catch up with him. Yuan Lishan is just an old member of your Liang family. Since he doesn't miss the old relationship, he can't
I don’t have the guts to send troops to attack the west.”
Liang Chengyi nodded. Yuan and Liang had been generals for several generations. The Queen Mother of the Liang family helped her in the inner court and overpowered other generals. Even if Yuan Lishan did not defect to Yanhu, the relationship between the Liang family and them was not good.
However, Yuan Lishan was cautious in using his troops and would not easily divide his troops into dangerous strategies to attack, so Liang Chengyi was not too worried.
However, Chen Zhihu was good at using his troops to take the wrong lead. When he was fighting in the Central Plains, he was on par with Lin Fu. His troops marched very fast and were elusive. Once Chen Zhihu was asked to cross the Yellow River, Liang Chengyi would not be able to avoid Nanyang for a day, and he would not have peace of mind for a day.
Yuan Jinsheng looked at the flow of people under the moonlit night, and at the Beiru River in front of him shining with sparkling waves under the moonlight, and felt anxious.
The cavalry was at the front to expel the crowded refugees on the road. The retreating southward team was mixed with military and civilian vehicles and horses, and dragged for more than ten miles at the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain and on the north bank of the Beiru River.
On both sides of the avenue and on both sides of the ferry, there were refugees retreating south with the army. Judging from the situation, there were probably hundreds of thousands of them.
If Nanyang Prefecture wants to restore its livelihood and develop, it cannot do without Dingkou. In the past two years, Liang Chengchong has tried his best to run Nanyang. There are less than 200,000 people in Dingkou of Nanyang. If these refugees can go south with the army,
That is of course the best, but who knows when the enemy soldiers will catch up from behind?
Rather than greed for too much, Yuan Jinsheng hoped that Liang Chengyi would lead his elite troops to avoid Nanyang first.
"Eldest brother has sent envoys to Huaixi to persuade Huaixi to send troops into Luohe and Dancheng," Yuan Jinsheng said again, "Nanyang and Huaixi are dependent on each other, which is humiliating. Dong Yuan should not refuse to send troops! But this
It’s also difficult to move slowly.”
Liang Chengyi said: "The generals and their families are marching with the army, refugees are constantly joining the army along the road, and there is a big river in front of them. How can the marching speed be fast?"
Dancheng is located in the northwest of Woyang and protects the east wing of Ruzhou Road. As long as Tao Chun sends troops from Woyang and enters Dancheng, Yuan Lishan's troops can be isolated in eastern Henan, so that Liang Chengyi does not have to worry about the threat from the east wing.
Nanyang Fangcheng is only more than 300 miles away from the river. If Liang Chengyi leads his troops and horses in a hurry, he can evacuate to Nanyang in two or three days. However, it is not enough to just pull the soldiers out, and the soldiers and their families cannot be abandoned in the river. Otherwise, it will be difficult to restrain them.
Generals and soldiers are worried about the whole army being defeated.
Nanyang is also in ruins. Liang Chengchong has been working hard for two years, but he still relies on Huaidong and Huaixi for grain and grass supplies to barely get a foothold. If Hezhong Prefecture's baggage materials cannot be transferred to Nanyang as much as possible, 60,000 to 70,000 horses plus a large number of
Refugees are pouring into Nanyang. How can Nanyang bear it?
"How about the second brother lead his troops to Wuyang first?" Yuan Jinsheng said, "Once the Cao family abandons Guanzhong and retreats south, the Yanhu army will rush in. Therefore, Wuyang will be attacked soon. The second brother will go to Wuyang first to reorganize the defense and prepare
Fight."
Wuyang is located to the north of Nanyang Fangcheng and at the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain. It used to belong to Yingchuan. Henan was in ruins and Wuyang City had long been destroyed by war. In order to strengthen the defense in the north of Nanyang, Liang Chengchong built forts at the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain as the outskirts of Nanyang.
.
After the Cao family retreated to the south and Yanhu occupied Guanzhong, there were two channels for sending troops to directly attack Nanyang. One was to go from north to south and attack Fangcheng and Wuyang in the north of Nanyang Mansion; the other was to attack the west flank of Nanyang from Guanzhong via Wuguan.
In addition to Yanhu, Luo Xiancheng or Shewenzhuang may also send troops from Xiangyang northward to attack the south of Nanyang at any time.
Now, the small Nanyang Mansion is about to face three enemies. Liang Chengchong only has 30,000 troops in Nanyang. He hopes that after Liang Chengyi retreats to Nanyang, he can work together as brothers to defend Wuyang and Fangcheng in the north of Nanyang to relieve the pressure on Nanyang.
"If I go first, others will think that I have abandoned them and left, and the morale of the army will be in chaos." Liang Chengyi shook his head and refused Yuan Jinsheng's suggestion to abandon the large army and go first, "Jinsheng, you go back to Wuyang first and call Yanshun
I will lead a group of soldiers and horses to follow you first, and first strengthen Wuyang's defense..."
"The child will stay with his father until he leaves." A young general next to Liang Chengyi said.
"Stop talking nonsense, Yanshun, you are also seventeen this year. When your uncle and I were seventeen, we both led troops into battle. What will happen if you still stay by my side now?" Liang Chengyi said with a straight face.
Liang Yanshun is Liang Chengyi's eldest son. Shu Jia has been in the army for three years, but has not yet had the opportunity to lead an army.
Liang Yanshun stayed behind to advance and retreat with the large army because he was worried that the large army would be too slow to cross the river and be dragged behind and the enemy soldiers might catch up. However, Liang Chengyi was so excited that he blushed and stopped talking nonsense. He immediately expressed his willingness to talk to Mr. Yuan Jinsheng.
Go to Wuyang.
Liang Chengyi had no intention of coexisting with the army and the people. He stayed behind to calm people's minds, hoping that one more person could cross the river and go south to avoid Nanyang, which would increase Nanyang's strength.
At dawn, Liang Chengyi ordered 3,000 troops and horses, and asked his two trusted generals to accompany Yuan Jinsheng, his eldest son, to cross the Beiru River to the south and take over the defense of Wuyang. The Beiru River was crossed with a long rope, and more than 40 fishing boats carried it back and forth.
, only a thousand people could be ferried across at one time. Following Yuan Jinsheng and Liang Yanshun, the vanguard heading south, the crossing was completed at almost noon.
On the other hand, many refugees who knew how to swim threw away their heavy objects and just crossed the river. In half a day, two to three thousand people crossed.
Not long after Yuan Jinsheng and the others left, as the sun was setting, a scout horse came from behind and reported to Liang Chengyi: "There are enemy soldiers chasing them day and night, and they have reached the north of Yushan Mountain."
Zhishan Mountain and Da Meng Mountain stand opposite each other from east to west, leaving a gap seven or eight miles wide in the middle. Unfortunately, Ruzhou is disabled and cannot be defended. Otherwise, building forts and gates at the entrance of Zhishan Mountain would have been able to block the Yan and Hu soldiers and horses.
.The Yushan Pass is less than thirty miles away from the Beiru River. In order to prevent it from being too late to cross the river, Liang Chengyi had already ordered his troops to temporarily camp there to stop the pursuing troops.
Liang Chengyi was supervising the troops to cross the river at the ferry. He heard that enemy soldiers were chasing him, and they were already very close to Yushan Pass. He asked: "How many people are chasing the enemy? How many cavalry are there?"