Wei Zhang returned to Suizhou on the second day of August, and Luo Xiancheng also returned to Suizhou from Fancheng.
Wei Zhang presented the secret letter from the king, and Luo Xiancheng sat on a high seat in the palace to open the secret letter and read it.
Luo Xiancheng had a rough knowledge of pen and ink, and often boasted of it. However, Wei Zhang knew that Luo Xiancheng had limited pen and ink, and Wang Xiang was from a serious family background. He did not know whether there were any profound words written by Wang Xiang in his letter.
Luo Xiancheng couldn't understand.
Not only did Wang Xiang not come back to Suizhou, but Wei Zhang, who went to Chaishan on his behalf, could not even see Wang Xiang. So he sent a letter back. Luo Xiancheng's good temper was exhausted, and his black face was as gloomy as if it had been wiped with ink.
of.
But when Luo Xiancheng opened the letter, his face turned from black to red, his eyes were as wide as copper bells, his eyes were cracked and he pointed, and he slapped an angry palm on the nanmu table, smashing the letter written on rice paper into four pieces.
The dendrobium and fruit plate on the long table were shaken to the ground, and the wine pulp and fruit were splashed everywhere.
Luo Xiancheng is cruel by nature and can handle big things, but he often angers the people around him when it comes to small things.
Luo Xiancheng's letter to the Prime Minister was so infuriating that Wei Zhang and the people waiting nearby were so frightened that they did not even dare to breathe.
Wei Zhang lowered his head. He could guess that Wang Xiang's attitude would anger Luo Xiancheng, but in the end he didn't know what Wang Xiang said to Luo Xiancheng in the letter. A piece of broken letter happened to float in front of his feet. He glanced at it,
I can only see a few words such as "self-destruction" and "Han people's clothing".
"Take care of him later!" After all, Luo Xiancheng did not express his anger at others. Instead, he left these words and walked to the dormitory, leaving Wei Zhang and others behind.
Wei Zhang then picked up the fragments of the letter, put them together and read them. He was surprised: Under such circumstances, Wang Xiang actually wanted to make a show of parting ways with King Luo? He thought to himself, this is fine, there is no one else with him in front of King Luo.
Competing for favor, Wei Zhang thought in his mind, and tore the letter into pieces completely, pretending that this had never happened.
This was just an incident in Changle Palace, but the atmosphere in Suizhou City was solemn.
The large army of soldiers and horses had been gathering from the counties in the south to Suizhou City since the day before, and then passed through Suizhou to Yindian in the north. In two days, no less than 20,000 soldiers and horses passed through Suizhou.
In addition to the 80,000 soldiers originally on staff, Luo Xiancheng also ordered all garrison soldiers from all over the country to assemble in villages and villages and stand ready.
Although the Changle Army's 80,000 soldiers are all under-armored and can be called elites, only three or four out of ten, at this time, a larger army of 120,000 soldiers will be organized into camps, and their combat power will be higher than that of a mob.
It wasn't too much, but it couldn't match the strength of the crowd, and it suddenly caused a sudden change in the situation at the southern foot of Huaishan Mountain.
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In Suizhou City, even ordinary people can feel that the war is coming, not to mention the spies of other forces lurking in Suizhou City?
The moment Luo Xiancheng made up his mind, he ordered a complete blockade of the southern foot of Tongbai Mountain and cast a large net in the deep mountains and old forests.
The agents deployed in Suizhou in Huaixi saw the sudden changes in the situation in Suizhou and were eager to return to Huaixi to report the news. They were arrested one after another while walking to Tongbai Mountain. However, Tongbai Mountain and Huaishan Mountain stretch for more than a thousand miles. No matter how many troops there are in Changle, it is difficult to blockade the two mountains.
There is no leakage. Entering August, the situation in the northern foothills of Tongbai Mountain and the counties south of Nanyang Prefecture suddenly became tense.
Although it was not unprepared that Luo Xiancheng might use troops against Xinyang, precautions were still precautions. When this moment came, the pressure exerted on the people of Xinyang was completely different.
The fast horses galloped through the territory of Xinyang, and the sound of their hoofs seemed to trample on people's hearts.
It has only been stable for three or four years, and now it is involved in war again, and this war is completely different from the past.
Although Nanyang is the main direction of Yanhu's military deployment, to the north of Xinyang, Chen Zhihu led 50,000 elite troops to advance along the Yingshui River to the north bank of the Huaihe River, and Luo Xiancheng was even more prepared to move with all his troops. From the valley road between Tongbai Mountain and Huaishan Mountain, they will
At most, more than 100,000 soldiers and horses poured into the hinterland of Huaixi.
If you are not careful, Huaixi will be completely overturned.
Xinyang Prefecture governs seven counties and one prefecture. The northernmost Zhengyang County controls the eastern foot of Tongbai Mountain, controls the valley road in Tongbai Mountain to the west and is connected to Biyang County of Nanyang Prefecture. It controls Shenshui, the most important tributary on the north bank of the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, and also controls the Huaihe River.
The upstream water channel is protected on the inside.
To defend against enemies in the north and guard Huaishang, you must guard Zhengyang.
At this time, in Zhengyang, with Xiao Kui'an as the chief general and Jiang Bao as the deputy general, there were 20,000 soldiers and horses in Huaixi guarding the city fortress, waiting for Chen Zhihu's 50,000 elite troops who were coming fiercely along the Yingshui River.
From Zhengyang to the southwest, all the way to the inner side of the western foothills of Tongbai Mountain, and along the Huai River to the deep east foothills of Tongbai Mountain, Pingchang and Changtai, Xinyang built additional forts, which were also key defense areas.
Dong Yuan considered that the Yanhu army did not have the ability to cross the Huai River on a large scale at this time. Instead of spreading its troops thousands of miles along the Huaihe River, it would be better to concentrate its forces to control the eastern foot of Tongbai Mountain. The source of the Huai River came out of the eastern foot of Tongbai Mountain. Once the Yan and Hu soldiers
If the horse advances to the east foot of Tongbai Mountain, Huaixi will also lose control of the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, and it will be even more difficult to defend the Huaihe River.
After entering July, although the number of soldiers and horses in Xinyang increased to 40,000, they mainly focused on Zhengyang and concentrated in the northwest to guard the upper reaches of the Huai River and the mountains of Shen River.
In the south of Xinyang Mansion, including Xinyang City close to the southeastern foothills of Tongbai Mountain, the four counties of Luoshan, Guangshan and Huangchuan have less than 10,000 garrison troops.
At this time, it was almost impossible to use these 10,000 garrison troops to block Luo Xiancheng's troops, which may exceed 100,000 troops and horses, coming from the valley road between Tongbai Mountain and Huaishan Mountain.
In Xinyang City, the wind was roaring, and everything was covered with soldiers. The big families who got the news earlier, as early as late July, saw that the wind was in the wrong direction, and fled Xinyang with their families early, heading to Shouzhou and Haozhou in the east to escape the disaster of war.
went.
Ordinary people were kept in the dark until August. They did not believe that Luo Xiancheng, who had been at peace with Xinyang all these years, would use troops in Xinyang. But as news of the sudden change in Suizhou spread further from the south of Tongbai Mountain, Xinyang City also
A large-scale recruitment of strong men and village warriors made ordinary people restless.
However, Meng Zhen, the prefect of Xinyang, and Meng Zhixiang, the defense commander, are still in Xinyang City. For many years, they have led the township warriors and county soldiers to resist the raids and looting of Xinyang City by rogue bandits, and ordinary people have more confidence in them.
Meng Jin stood at the top of the city, looking at the mountains in the distance, the worry on his face not diminishing.
Under the city were all the villagers who had fled to Xinyang City from four villages and eight fields, making the road in front of the city that four horses could pass abreast became crowded and chaotic. Among the people fleeing, there were mixed cattle, horses, chickens and sheep. In the arms of peasant women
The babies were crying loudly, seemingly more sensitive than adults to sensing the coming of war.
Tongpan Jiang Wenya climbed up to the top of the city from behind, looked at the chaos below the city, frowned, and said to Meng Jin: "The secret letter from the recruiting envoy asked us to defend Xinyang City no matter what, how does Master Meng view it?
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"Although there are still 30,000 soldiers and horses in Shouzhou, it is not advisable to attack early," Meng Zhen said. "General Xiao's 30,000 soldiers and horses are also restrained from moving in the north. We only have more than 10,000 garrison troops in our hands, plus
How can you, the country warriors, secure the four cities of Xinyang, Luoshan, Guangshan and Huangchuan without fail when the Luo bandits are coming? It makes sense for the envoy to ask us to focus on defending Xinyang!"
At this point, the situation became increasingly clear. Yanhu's main attack direction was in Nanyang. Luo Xiancheng's use of troops against Xinyang was mainly to contain Huaixi's troops from supporting Xinyang. He was not here to engage in battle with Huaixi's troops.
Dong Yuan's 30,000 troops prepared in Shouzhou, sooner or later, would not be able to capture Luo Xiancheng's main force in the north of Tongbai Mountain for a decisive battle.
The most critical thing is that at this time no one is sure how long Nanyang's soldiers and horses can last.
If Dong Yuan's 30,000 soldiers and horses in Shouzhou enter Xinyang too early, and Yanhu quickly breaks through Nanyang's defense, then Yanhu's main force can quickly enter Xinyang through the valley road of the northern mountain range of Tongbai Mountain for a big battle.
By then, the enemy's troops in Xinyang, including Chen Zhihu's troops, will join forces with Luo Xian, and will far exceed Huaixi's forces. Huaixi's last remaining mobile forces will most likely be surrounded and annihilated.
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Under this situation, even if Huaidong's 30,000 elite troops in Luzhou entered Xinyang, they would not be able to change the balance of forces between the two sides.
Throughout the ages, wars have always been won by a combination of regular troops and a combined force. When a war starts, who would risk all their remaining troops?
When the enemy's force is strong, he can only defend key cities first and wait for the war to drag on. Once Liang Chengchong holds Nanyang and Xinyang City is not lost, Dong Yuan will be able to find a turning point that changes the situation of the war.
When Jiang Wenya saw that Meng Jin actually agreed to Dong Yuan's military deployment, he was surprised and said: "If we obey the order of the envoy, then we will have to make a decisive decision and abandon the three counties of Luoshan, Guangshan and Huangchuan. Should we send people immediately?
When we go to Luzhou, even if we hand over the defense of Luoshan, Guangshan and Huangchuan counties, it is better than giving up directly."
Luoshan, Guangshan, and Huangchuan are all to the east of Xincheng. Once these three cities are abandoned and Luo Xiancheng can go, Huaidong's soldiers and horses in Luzhou will be cut off from the channel to aid Nanyang, making it difficult to quickly aid Nanyang from the north.
Dong Yuan did not want to use his last 30,000 mobile troops in Shouzhou immediately. He wanted to defend Xinyang City with more than 10,000 troops. It was impossible to defend the four cities at the same time.
Jiang Wenya meant that even if they could not defend the four cities at the same time, before giving up the three counties of Luoshan, Guangshan, and Huangchuan, it was still an option to hand over the defense of the three counties to Huaidong's troops in Luzhou.
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Although Jiang Wenya and Meng Jin made such a decision behind Dong Yuan's back, which would probably anger Dong Yuan, as representatives of local forces, it was their fundamental interest to protect the countryside from being devastated by war.
Meng Jin shook his head and said: "The recruiting envoys can't send the last 30,000 troops from Shouzhou to Xinyang. How can Huaidong's 30,000 troops in Luzhou be in a hurry to march north?"
It was Dong Yuan's responsibility to defend Xinyang. Dong Yuan wanted to keep 30,000 mobile troops in Shouzhou. How could Huaidong go beyond his own agency and send reinforcements into Xinyang first?
Jiang Wenya looked sad. As a local person, no one would want to see the country people destroyed by the war. Once they give up the three counties of Luoshan, Guangshan and Huangchuan, it means that Huaixi and Huaidong will give up at the same time.
Rescue Nanyang.
If Nanyang wants to escape the disaster, it must sustain the most difficult early stage of the war alone before it can turn around.
Luo Xianchengdu began to send troops to Xinyang. It was obvious that in Xiangfan, the remaining elite troops of the She family would march north along the Han River and attack Xinye south of Nanyang.
How long can the demoralized Nanyang troops and horses withstand attacks from three sides without reinforcements? Three months, one month, or ten days and a half?
But then again, if Nanyang's soldiers and horses cannot even survive the first one or two months of the war on their own, if Huaidong and Huaixi send reinforcements to Nanyang, they will only be trapped and unable to get out. Even if they ask for reinforcements,
Nanyang must survive the most difficult early stage of the war first.
Of course, behind the scenes that Jiang Wenya didn't know, Meng Jin had received a secret letter from Cao Ziang from Luzhou the day before yesterday. In the secret letter, Cao Ziang's instructions to Meng Jin were also to ask the Meng family to guard Xinyang City and wait for the situation.
The turning point is coming.
On the surface, Meng Jin, Meng Zhixiang and other representatives of the Meng family are all serving as officials in Huaixi, but the Meng family is deeply rooted in Xinyang. The Meng family does not have too many ambitions, and more hopes that the family inheritance can
If it continues, it will not lose wealth and honor in the local area, nor will it be rigid. The royalists who are loyal to the Yuan family will have a clear choice between Dong Yuan and Lin Fu.
In fact, Dong Yuan did not give enough trust to Meng Jin and Meng Zhixiang.
Before Dong Yuan entered Huaixi, the Meng family independently led the rural warriors to defend Xinyang City from the refugee army. At that time, the number of rural soldiers under the control of the Meng family was nearly 10,000. Up to now, the number of soldiers and horses controlled by the Meng family has also been reduced.