Liang Chengchong looked at the mountains in the distance. All he could see were the deep mountains and old forests at the eastern foot of the Qinling Mountains. The Wuguan River was hidden among them, shining with sparkling waves, winding toward the southeast, like a silver swimming dragon.
Previously, Liang Chengchong intended to hand over the defense of Fangcheng and Wuyang to the north of Nanyang to Chengyi, but the Hezhong army was defeated by Chen Zhihu in Ruyang. Liang Chengyi only led less than 10,000 remnants to retreat to Wuyang, making Nanyang's military strength suddenly stretched thin.
stand up.
For the Liang family, losing Nanyang will completely reduce them to a tree without roots and water without a source, but the mentality of the soldiers below is different.
The defeat of the Hezhong Army in Ruyang seriously affected the morale and will of resistance of the Nanyang generals.
A few days ago, a small school student wanted to lure 20 or 30 people to flee into the mountains to become bandits. They were discovered before they fled, and Liang Chengchong dragged them to the school grounds and beheaded them in public. However, there are still many people among the middle and high-level generals.
He advocated withdrawing from Nanyang to avoid the attack of Yan and Hu's 200,000-strong army.
Retreat, where should we retreat? Liang Chengchong felt bitter in his heart, could Dong Yuan let Xinyang out and ask Nanyang soldiers and horses to avoid it?
They retreated without a fight, but Yan Hu was able to go to Nanyang without any effort and open a passage south to Jing Lake. Will Lin Fu bypass them?
There are still choices for Huaixi and Huaidong, but for the people of Nanyang, the battle in Nanyang must be fought. It is a pity that the generals below are not determined.
Twenty or thirty people led their horses up the mountain and stopped halfway up the mountain. Yuan Guizheng lifted up his robe and climbed up the steep mountain with difficulty alone. He followed Liang Chengchong's gaze and seemed to be worried about the enemy soldiers coming from Guanzhong.
Bypass Wuguan and penetrate from the Danjiang side to the south of Nanyang.
"Yue Lengqiu should be arriving in Nanyang soon," Yuan Guizheng said, "How about I go back to see him first?"
Yue Lengqiu came to Nanyang, and Liang Chengchong was unable to escape on the Western Front. Yuan always wanted to meet him when he returned to power.
Liang Chengchong shook his head and said: "I will also go back to Nanyang." Liang Chengyi suffered such a big defeat in Ruyang that Fang Cheng, the guard of Wuyang, might not be willing to be controlled by him, so Liang Chengchong could not stay in Wuguan.
We must return to Nanyang to take charge.
Yuan Guizheng signaled the surrounding guards to go down the mountain first. He and Liang Chengchong stayed behind alone and said in a low voice: "If Huaidong does not help each other, what should Cheng Chong do?"
Liang Chengchong stopped for a moment and glanced at Yuan Guizheng. In terms of seniority, Yuan Guizheng was his uncle. In terms of closeness, the Queen Mother and the Yongchang Houfu wanted to breathe a sigh of relief in Jiangning City, but the military power of the Liang family could not
Complete devastation.
Liang Chengchong licked his lips and said, "Please teach me, uncle."
"The most important thing is to protect Qinyang." Yuan Guizheng said.
The Nanyang Basin is geographically connected to the Western Henan Plain in the north through Fangcheng Road, and connected with the Han River through the Juehe River (today's Baihe River in Nanyang), serving as the key point between the north and the south.
The Weihe River originates from Yuhuangding in Funiu Mountain, traverses the western part of the Nanyang Basin, passes through Xinye County to the south, and joins the Hanshui River at Fancheng. The Weihe River is the main river in the Nanyang Basin, and because of the Weihe River, the Nanyang Basin is located in the topography
, more integrated with Xiangfan.
Nanyang City is located on the bank of the Weihe River and is the center of gravity for controlling the entire Nanyang Basin.
Qinyang County is located on the eastern edge of Nanyang Basin, close to the western foothills of Tongbai Mountain.
Compared with Nanyang City, the only advantage of Qinyang County in terms of terrain is that it controls the Tongbai Valley Road connecting Xinyang Prefecture in Huaixi to the east. Focusing on guarding Qinyang actually means that the last remaining troops of Nanyang can be used as a last resort.
Withdrew into Tongbai Mountain and into Huaixi.
Although if Nanyang is lost, the Liang family will lose its last foothold, but it is better to retreat into Huaixi than to destroy the entire army with Nanyang City.
"I am here in Nanyang, and the Queen Mother has given me an extra instruction," Yuan Guizheng continued in a suppressed voice, "leave the green hills there, so you don't have to worry about running out of firewood."
Liang Chengchong nodded and said nothing more.
At this time, he transferred the family members and baggage of Nanyang City to Qinyang, which was undoubtedly a very obvious signal to the soldiers and civilians that he would abandon Nanyang and withdraw to Huaixi. How could the peripheral defenders hold on to Fangcheng and Wuyang?
, the confidence and determination of Wuguan, Danfeng, Xinye, Xichuan and other peripheral cities?
It is said that hesitation is a taboo for military strategists, but when things came to a head, Liang Chengchong was really hesitant to make a decision.
At this time, there were several sticks of black smoke rising from the mountains to the west, and under the clear sky, straight pillars of smoke shot straight into the night sky.
This is a beacon signal, it should be that enemy soldiers are approaching Danfeng County.
Liang Chengchong, Yuan Guizheng and the retinue who stayed halfway up the mountain all looked to the west nervously, but Danfeng City was seventy miles away from Wuguan, so there would be no further news until after dark.
came.
Unable to figure out the enemy's situation, Yuan returned to power, and Liang Chengchong was worried about returning to Nanyang.
Returning to Wuguan City, when night fell, Danfeng City came with a horse to report, only to learn that the enemy's 2,000 infantry and cavalry troops had entered Danfeng territory and were advancing towards the county town.
The Danfeng garrison and the enemy's infantry and cavalry engaged in an unfavorable battle outside the city and lost dozens of soldiers and horses. At this time, they retreated to Danfeng City.
There were less than three thousand garrison troops in Danfengcheng County, and their morale was low. Liang Chengchong did not expect the garrison troops to be able to repel Yanhu's elite infantry cavalry in a field battle. He just ordered the garrison troops in front to guard the city and not to go into battle rashly.
At that time, Liang Chengchong discussed with Yuan Guizheng, and Yuan Guizheng first returned to Nanyang to see Yue Lengqiu, while he stayed in Wuguan to wait and see for another day.
Although Yanhu's vanguard troops did not carry siege equipment, if Yanhu wanted to enter Nanyang from Wuguan, the Chicheng Pass fortress could not be avoided. After all, unlike field battles, Nanyang has a dangerous city to defend, and it must be occupied.
Cheap.
Although Yanhu had a large number of surrendered troops to join them, and in the direction of Wuguan, they used Sun Jichang, a surrendered general who was good at attacking cities, as their main general, and mainly used infantry to attack the Wuguan Pass, but it was not easy to attack the city.
Since Yan and Hu's invasion of the south, although hundreds of cities have been captured, there are only a few cities that have been conquered by force. On the contrary, they have suffered losses under the cities of Yangxin and Datong.
They invaded Yanji in the early stage, Shandong in the mid-term, and Guanzhong in the recent period. Yanhu used infantry to surround key cities without attacking them. Then they used the advantage of cavalry to penetrate and wash the remaining land, weakening their military potential, and finally reached the point where they could not fight.
The purpose of fighting for victory.
Even in the first year of Yongxing, Yanhu attacked Jinhai, investing nearly ten times the force and inflicting several times casualties. It took half a year, but it was only after the main force of the Tianjin Navy retreated that they successfully captured Jinhai City.
Liang Chengchong was in the frontier army and had been fighting Yanhu for many years. He had a city to defend, but he was not afraid of being captured suddenly. He was just worried about how long the war would last and how long Nanyang could hold on.
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After passing through Wuguan, the Wuguan River flows south-east until it merges into the Danjiang River. However, east of Wuguan, there is a narrow valley that leads directly to Xixia County in the west of Nanyang Prefecture.
Liang Chengchong still wanted to defend Nanyang. At this time, the valley roads in Xixia County and Danfeng County were filled with supplies transported from the west. Oxen and horse carts almost crowded the narrow valley roads.
It is two hundred miles from Xixia to Wuguan. Nanyang also had to take over the defense of Wuguan after the Cao family withdrew. It only took more than ten days. It was not expected that the Cao family would leave much food. Now Liang Chengchong is in Danfeng
, Wuguan, Baiyangguan and other city fortresses were filled with nearly 10,000 defenders. If we wanted to attack and defend the city for a long time, a large amount of materials needed to be transported from the rear.
Although Yuan Guizheng was eager to meet Yue Lengqiu, the road was full of westbound baggage trains traveling at night, so he could not gallop away. Sometimes he would rein in his horse and stop aside to ask the baggage trains to go ahead.
Under the moonlight, looking at the dozens of westbound carriages jammed in the canyon, Yuan Guizheng was worried about how long Nanyang's supplies would be able to hold on even if the defenders were determined.
Food is still the most critical issue.
Luo Xiancheng never had the opportunity to occupy the Nanyang Basin. He was afraid of Chen Zhihu in the early stage and did not dare to offend Jiang Ning in the later stage. However, before Liang Chengchong entered the Nanyang Basin, Luo Xiancheng still succeeded in turning Nanyang into a ruined land and ruined city.
Although 120,000 to 30,000 refugees followed Liang Chengchong and moved into Nanyang in the later period, and although Yuan Dynasty also engaged in large-scale farming when he was appointed as the prefect of Nanyang, Nanyang's military strength has always been maintained at more than 30,000 people. It is difficult to maintain food self-sufficiency with only 112,000 people farming.
of.
Before that, in the early stage, Huaidong sold the grain that was lacking to Nanyang to maintain Nanyang's defense line. After the Jiangning Incident, Nanyang, Huaixi, and Chizhou chose a side. The grain that Nanyang lacked was mostly sent to Huaixi in money.
Domestic acquisitions.
Now the war preparations in Huaixi are also tense. Nearly 60,000 soldiers have all been recruited into the army, which means that the income of the military camps in Huaixi will drop significantly and food will be suddenly tight. In the end, they will still have to rely on the control of Huaidong.
of Jiangning.
Although Lin Fu promised to transfer grain to Huaixi and Nanyang, less than half a month has passed since Lin Fu nodded and agreed to today. The transportation of grain from the lower reaches of the Huaihe River to the west is a long period. When the Yuan Dynasty returned to the government, he was worried that the war would begin.
, the Yanhu cavalry penetrated into Nanyang on a large scale, and even if the grain from Huaidong was transported to Xinyang, it would be difficult to replenish the outer city forts of Nanyang.
Focusing on retreating to Qinyang City at the western foot of Tongbai Mountain, in the view of Yuan Guizheng, it was the only feasible strategy for Nanyang soldiers and horses at present, which could advance, attack, retreat and defend. However, Liang Chengchong was still hesitant.
After the team of baggage trains passed by, Yuan Guizheng continued to drive his horses at night, and it was almost dawn when they arrived in Shangnan.
At this time, there were galloping horses approaching, and the guards rushed to contact them. Only then did they learn that there was urgent military information coming from the direction of Wuyang to report to Liang Chengchong.
Yuan Guizheng came to Nanyang this time to bring an order to the army. He was an envoy sent by the imperial court, but his status in Nanyang was extremely high, and all military information could be obtained by himself without going through Liang Chengchong.
Unfortunately, the urgent military situation coming from the direction of Wuyang cannot be good news: Yanhu's troops in Guanzhong sent 2,000 infantry and cavalry as an advance yesterday, sending troops from Shangzhou City to attack Danfeng County; while Yanhu's troops in Ruyang
The main force of the horsemen also sent 5,000 cavalry as the vanguard yesterday, crossing the Beiru River and Shahe River and advancing towards Wuyang City.
The outpost battle in Nanyang has begun, and the Yanhu army is not far away.
When the Yuan Dynasty returned to the government, he returned the letter to Yiqi and ordered him to gallop forward to report to Liang Chengchong. He reined in his horse and looked southward in the clear morning light.
The Yanhu army is approaching, and Liang Chengchong is confident that he can resist the Yanhu in the short term with the help of the dangerous terrain and city fortresses. However, Luo Xiancheng in the south, how can Shewenzhuang be honest, and what is the East China Sea Fox in Yuzhang thinking about?