Thousands of miles away, on the south bank of the Yellow River in Hetao, in Dalat City.
After more than 20 days of rest and recuperation, supplies of grain and grass materials from Datong Prefecture have been gradually arrived. More than ten days ago, the border troops from Yulin Sanwei were ordered to march northward and reoccupy Baichengzi, south of the Hetao. At the same time,
The Northern Expedition Army divided three thousand soldiers and horses and arrived at Dongsheng City to garrison.
As a result, all the army supply routes in the Hetao area are connected. There are two supply lines in the southeast, one from Datong Prefecture to the Yellow River Ferry at Piantou Pass in the north to Dalat City. The other one is from Yansui Bian Town to Baichengzi, via
Dongsheng City is delivered to the north.
All supplies, food, grass, ammunition, and things needed by the army were continuously transported to Dalat City. Dalat City became the springboard and logistics base for the second phase of the Northern Expedition's offensive.
For more than twenty days, in addition to rest and training, the soldiers cleaned up the ruins of Dalat City after being bombarded by artillery fire. Based on the original city walls, they carried out expansion and reinforcement work. At the same time, they re-planned the city.
As a city on the bank of the Yellow River, Dalat City will surely become the most important hub of border towns in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to work hard on this city.
At noon, Zhang Yanling and Zhang Lun rode their horses into the city from the south gate, dripping with sweat. They had just been galloping on the grassland for an hour. It was not to experience the pleasure of riding horses on the grassland, but to ride along the grassland.
He patrolled the south bank of the Yellow River for thirty miles, trying to find a place where the army could sneak across the river.
The supplies, food, grass and ammunition have all been replenished, and the army has rested for more than 20 days. The second phase of the battle is about to begin. Gunbili defeated Mori and was already in a hurry. He urged Zhang Yanling and the others to fulfill their promise and cross the river to attack Blackwater City in Moxi.
.Although Zhang Yanling certainly would not act because of his urging, it was indeed time for the second phase of the operation.
The reason is very simple. It is already mid-to-late July, and autumn will begin in August. Winter will begin in October at the earliest in the North, and the goal of the Northern Expedition must be achieved before winter comes. Once winter comes, the situation will take a turn for the worse.
.Zhang Yanling would not be stupid enough to brave the cold to march into battle like Yang Yiqing and others.
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Zhang Yanling's expectation was to help Gunbili defeat Mori to capture Blackwater City in the west of the country before the end of autumn, allowing him to consolidate his territory. This put a knife in Batu Meng's heart. In addition, as much as possible,
Sweep the Yinshan and Daqing Mountains on the north bank of the Yellow River to the north and south, as well as the large-scale Tatar villages and gathering areas in the Modong area, attack their population supply and manpower, and greatly weaken their military strength.
If we can seek a decisive battle and defeat the main Tatar cavalry in one fell swoop, that would be the best. If not, it doesn't matter. Destroying their fortresses and weakening their logistics and personnel supplies can also achieve the goal of forcing them to retreat to Mobei.
In short, before winter comes, the army must withdraw southward. When winter comes, it can shrink to the line on the south bank of the Yellow River in Hetao and hold the defense line of the Yellow River in Hetao. By then, in addition to Bayanchuoer and Dalat, it will also have to defend two fortresses.
Establish two or three garrison points in between.
Some of the Yansui and Ningxia frontier armies, as well as the Fourth Outer Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the Datong frontier army will jointly defend this new line of defense. As for the cavalry and naval forces in the capital, they cannot tolerate the water, soil, and severe cold, so they cannot be stationed here.
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The crux of the problem is that after winter, the Yellow River freezes, and if the Tatars want to counterattack, they can cross the river southward everywhere. Therefore, on the one hand, they must set up forts and garrison troops at several crossing points with passes, and use the high cliffs on the south bank for defense.
On the other hand, and most importantly, it is necessary to neutralize the opponent's strength, greatly weaken its military strength, logistics supplies, etc. This is actually the essence of active defense.
Only by making the Tatars unable to attack is the best way to defend. And passive defense that relies solely on the defense system is actually a passive defense method. From this, we know that the second stage of the Northern Expedition is extremely important.
The result of recapturing the Hetao was of decisive significance.
Zhang Lun and Zhang Yanling rode into the city. Inside the city, soldiers were busy building walls and buildings, and smoothing roads. On the streets, a large number of vehicles and materials were shuttled back and forth, heading to various military camps, creating a busy scene.
The two of them rushed to the square in the center of the city, where the Chinese army's tent was located. Since there was no suitable place to cross the river upstream and downstream, the two of them had to decide whether to force a crossing from the old site of the ferry here. This was a great test.
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The two of them entered the Chinese army's tent, and the guards offered them tea. The two of them sat down to drink tea and rest, both frowning.
Zhang Lun said: "Brother Yanling, things are a bit tricky. If we really want to force the crossing, the Tatars have heavily fortified themselves on the other side, and our losses will definitely be huge. What do you think we should do? The location of this crossing is neither west nor east, so there is no suitable location.
The location is really confusing.”
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Zhang Yanling took a sip of tea and said solemnly: "It is indeed a bit troublesome. But there is no need to be too anxious. We still have time, so we can wait a little longer."
Zhang Lun said: "Wait a minute? What are you waiting for? Do you have plans?"
Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and said: "To tell you the truth, I did make arrangements before. But this time I am not sure. When I sent out troops, I once investigated whether the Yellow River channel could pass large ships. I originally wanted to order two ships
The big ships went upstream from the mouth of the Yellow River in the Bohai Sea, arrived here, and fought together. In that case, the battle would be much simpler. It's a pity that the Yellow River is silted up and the big ships can't pass. It's a pity."
Zhang Lun exclaimed, "Isn't that true? It's such a pity. If your navy ship comes here, crossing the river won't be a problem. It's a pity that it can't be done. It's useless to talk about it."
Zhang Yanling said: "Yes. But I still hold on to hope. I ordered the navy to mobilize three wooden sailing boats to come upstream. These boats have a shallower draft and are smaller in size. I hope they can pass here. But if we send troops
At that time, they started sailing to the river here, but there is still no sign of them today. I guess they were stranded halfway. I'm afraid there is no hope."
Zhang Lun rolled his eyes and said: "There is still no hope. It has not been three months, even if we have walked, it must be useless. Saying it means not saying it."
Zhang Yanling said: "Yes, as I said, there is indeed little hope. For now, there is only one way, which is to forcibly build a pontoon bridge. If the Tatars can do it, we should be able to do it too. I have ordered the Piantou Pass to pass the ferry
All the boats are heading north. They should be arriving in the next two days. We still use the old method, hinge the boats side by side, lay wooden paths on them, lay down fixed piles, and build a pontoon to cross the river. What do you think?"
Zhang Lun smacked his lips and said: "That's all we can do, but when we get to the other side, it's probably going to be quite difficult. The Tatar archers and catapults are probably going to cause huge casualties. Are you really going to do this? A guy who doesn't
If you are careful, you will ruin a good game."
Zhang Yanling said: "I understand your worries, but at this time, if you don't muster up the courage to attack, I'm afraid there will be no chance to cross the river. Our army has won a great victory, and the Tatars have been defeated. One is going down, the other is going up, and morale is strong. It must be
We must work hard without hesitation. Besides, we have other means to cover the crossing of the river."
Zhang Lundao: "What method?"
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Zhang Yanling said: "The Yellow River here is more than four miles wide. The Longyin heavy artillery is set up on the cliff and can directly bombard the fortifications on the opposite river bank. It will provide a good cover for our army to cross the river."
Zhang Lun said: "It's a good idea, but it's a pity that there are only ten cannons, so I'm afraid it won't be very effective."
Zhang Yanling said: "We can build a floating fort. We use logs to build a platform on the river, extend it to the center of the river, and push our Tiger Roaring Cannon, which has insufficient range, onto the floating platform. Isn't this enough range? Dozens of artillery.
Bombarding the fortifications on the other side will make them miserable, which can effectively cover the construction of the pontoon bridge. In fact, if there are not a large number of carriages and horses that need to cross the river, the infantry alone can charge directly to the other side in small boats."
Zhang Lun nodded and said: "This method is not bad. It just takes a little effort, but it will save a few people from dying. If we can successfully cross the river, it will be worth it."
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Brother Lun has a Bodhisattva heart now. It is normal for people to die in war."
Zhang Lun said: "Hey, dead people are not a good thing after all. Too many people have died in the Ming Dynasty in recent years. There are internal and external troubles. If we continue to toss, I don't know when we will be able to stabilize. I just hope that everything will be safe and nothing will happen.
, don’t want anyone to die, it’s best if everyone is safe.”
Zhang Yanling nodded and laughed, thinking: I'm afraid the tree is quiet but the wind is not stopping. You want to enjoy your glory and wealth, but someone wants to put a knife on your neck. If you don't want to kill someone, you will be the one who dies.
The two of them were chatting about things. Suddenly Feng Gang strode in from outside and reported loudly: "Two princes, there are many boats on the river. General Chen asked me to invite the two princes to take a look.
Look."
Zhang Yanling said happily: "The boat from Piantou Pass Ferry must have arrived."
The two people quickly left the tent and rushed to the north of the city. They climbed up the stone steps to the top of the high cliff near the river beach. Looking around, they saw a large number of boats coming upstream from the east river.
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At a glance, Zhang Yanling saw a bunch of small boats in the fleet, mixed with several large ships, sailing upstream. Zhang Yanling raised his telescope and took a closer look, and recognized that they were three medium-sized wooden sailing ships of the Navy.
These wooden sailboats are pulled by ropes in the middle. The wooden sailboat in the front is pulled by dozens of small boats in front, and there are more than ten small boats on both sides. The three wooden sailboats seem to be pulled by trackers.
Zhang Yanling said with great joy: "Those three big ships have arrived. It's much easier now."
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