Chapter 689 Guo Mou has been waiting for a long time
The bystanders could not help but sigh, still immersed in the bad news, and still couldn't believe the fact that Jiang Fang was breached so easily.
Luo Zhao was worried and uncertain, and the melancholy in his heart was lingering. Huge variables! He knew that he might be facing a huge variable.
Although the Song State still has an absolute advantage so far, even if Jiang's defense is breached, it will be difficult to solve the Yan army's dilemma. Logically speaking, defeating the Yan army is not a problem at all. However, Meng Shanming's defeat of Jiang's defense in one fell swoop still left an indelible shadow in his heart.
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The crux of the problem still lies in Meng Shanming, who can turn the impossible into possible and break through Jiang Fang in one fell swoop. Who can guarantee that Meng Shanming will not be able to counterattack in desperate situations?
"Yanshan Ming, Qi Wuhen..." Luo Zhao looked up to the sky and sighed again while wandering.
He thought of his extremely rude behavior of giving Meng Shanming the white horse, and also thought of Meng Shanming's reply, saying that he would receive a generous gift in return!
He regretted a little, not that he regretted his rudeness. It was a way to provoke the generals. He wanted to provoke Meng Shanming to pursue him, but Meng Shanming didn't fall for it. What he regretted was that he should not have gone deep into the army, but should have fought with Meng Shanming himself.
Ming faced off in a head-on confrontation, but who would have thought that Jiang Fang could be defeated so quickly?
From his standpoint at the time, this was a war of annihilation against the Yan State. He had to strive for the greatest interests for the Yan State. It was unwise to waste his troops in the duel with Meng Shanming. It could only be an advantage.
In South Korea, he must stay strong enough to compete with South Korea for Yan's territory.
The situation has changed so much that he cannot go to the front line in person and command the Jiang defense troops in time. Is he really worried that Wu Qunlie can be Meng Shanming's opponent?
Although Wu Qunlie has an absolute advantage, he really has no confidence at all now!
What's even more troublesome is that in the court, if you win the battle, whatever you say is reasonable. Just saying "You don't understand war" can make some people speechless. Once the battle is defeated, those people in the court can give you some advice.
Pick out countless mistakes, and the ones you faced before can also be said to be wrong for you...
His new strategic plan has just been issued, and a battle at the Hukou Defense Line has begun again. The army is fighting, and the sound of killing is loud!
Qingqu Liao Nanqing's 300,000 troops and Xu Laiping's 130,000 remnants jointly attacked and attacked at all costs. Zhang Hu's troops who had just occupied the Hukou defense line were defeated.
The Hukou defense line that Yan's troops had just gained was snatched back by Song's troops.
During the retreat, Zhang Hu's subordinates were a little dissatisfied and complained to him, "General, we didn't try our best. It would be unjust if we lost the Hukou defense line."
"What are you talking about? Just retreat when I ask you to do so. How come there is so much nonsense?" Zhang Hu scolded and immediately ordered, "The army stops advancing and takes a rest."
He had just jumped off his horse, and Gong Lince also jumped off his horse and came over and asked, "This place is not far from the enemy. Stop now. Aren't you afraid of being pursued?"
"Pursuit?" Zhang Hu snorted with disdain, "We finally managed to get the Hukou defense line back. Do you think they dare to lose it? Do you think they dare to lose it? They don't dare to disperse their troops to chase! The Hukou defense line was dug by Meng Shuai.
Trap, Meng Shuai’s trap, you’ve fallen into it and you still want to climb out?”
Gong Lince thought thoughtfully, "Is this what Commander Meng only allows defeat but not victory?"
Zhang Hu nodded: "This Song army horse has been nailed to the Hukou defense line, and it is already a turtle in the urn!"
Gong Lince said, "When will we take it?"
Zhang Hu: "No rush, let them be complacent first. How can Meng Shuai's advantage be so easy to take advantage of?"
As for the details, Zhang Hu refused to say anything, only saying what had been done.
But since he knew what he knew, Gong Linche didn't ask any more questions...
The Hukou defense line was in a mess, surrounded by ruins and broken walls, and there were still blazing fires.
Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping inspected the ruins and found that the Yan army had left nothing for them. Everything that could not be taken away had been burned or destroyed, and there was not even a house left for them to stay.
The army rushed to attack urgently, rushing for time, traveling lightly and without any luggage at all. In this rainy season, hundreds of thousands of people and horses were probably going to have to sleep in the open.
What makes this side even more troublesome is that the Yan army did not retreat far and came to harass them from time to time.
The enemy's purpose is very simple. To bully this side into not giving up their defense line, pursue them from afar, and repeatedly harass them, just to make this side unable to rest.
As soon as the pursuit came here, the attacking troops and horses immediately ran away, but the pursuing troops did not dare to run far for fear of being surrounded and annihilated by the main force of the Yan army.
…
"Good news! Good news!"
In the Governor's Mansion of Jiangfang, a general rushed into the Zhenjiang Hall with the good news.
Wu Qunlie, whose eyes were red, suddenly stood up from behind the case, showing an extremely expectant look.
The young general who entered the hall presented the victory report with both hands in front of all the generals, "General Liao and General Xu joined forces and recaptured the Hukou defense line in one fell swoop!"
"Ah!" All the generals in the hall suddenly burst into joy.
Wu Qunlie grabbed the victory report and watched it. After reading it, he was very happy and said: "Okay! Very good!" He raised the victory report in his hand and said to everyone: "According to the report of the second general, the Yan army only has about 200,000 troops, so it is difficult to
Blocking our offensive, it was conquered in one fell swoop. It seems that during the battle across the river, Zhang Hu's men and horses suffered heavy losses, exceeding our estimates. The losses were not only 200,000, but probably more than 300,000.
!”
As he spoke, he threw the good news to everyone to read.
After looking at it, a general said: "Under such conditions, we crossed the river to attack forcefully, and we only relied on a few rafts. Heavy losses are inevitable."
Another general looked at it and said: "It can also be seen that Xu Laiping really tried his best at that time."
Someone frowned and said: "All the river defense facilities were destroyed by the Yan army. Once Xu Jingyue's troops rush to cross the river, and there are Zhang Hu's remnants behind him, it will be difficult to stop the internal and external attacks."
There was silence in the hall. This was indeed a troublesome matter. Zhang Hu's remnants would definitely not give Liao and Xu the opportunity to collect materials to reconstruct the river defense facilities. They would definitely continue to harass them in order to cooperate with Xu Jingyue's troops to cross the river.
After Wu Qunlie fell silent for a while, "For now, we can only let Liao and Xu block it at all costs. I will then mobilize 400,000 troops to support."
Someone else reminded: "The army moved in a hurry and did not bring enough food and supplies. The sergeants only carried two days of rations with them. The supplies for the Hukou defense line must be in place as soon as possible."
A general said: "The supplies will be in place soon. As soon as the people and horses clearing the canal set off, the food and grass will be sent soon."
Wu Qunlie reminded in a deep voice: "Tell Liao and Xu to keep a close eye on Zhang Hu's men and beware of them robbing food. As soon as the food and grass arrive, order them to immediately send out a team of men and horses to respond! Tell them that they only need to hold on for a few days.
By the end of the day, my 400,000 reinforcements will arrive."
…
On the other side of the Hukou defense line, Xu Jingyue's men and horses hurriedly arrived and immediately prepared rafts for crossing the river.
While Xu Jingyue was checking along the river, a message came from Zhang Hu's side. It said that the crossing of the river should be suspended and only preparations should be made in advance. Please listen to the notice from the other side when crossing the river.
After reading the news, the deputy general on the side frowned and said: "The Hukou defense line that we finally obtained has been lost. We should cross the river to attack before the Song army has a firm footing. Do we have to wait for the Song army to build up the defense facilities before attacking?
What the hell is Meng Shuai doing over there?"
Xu Jingyue looked at the other side of the river and said slowly: "Commander Meng will not target without aim. He must have some arrangement. We will just obey the order."
…
In Jiangxia County, a mountainous wilderness, a convoy of grain trucks is like a long queue, escorted by 20,000 horses.
As they approached the mountains and forests, several monks who were scouting the road rushed over and urgently reported: "Quickly retreat, there is an ambush in the mountains and forests!"
While he was speaking, the sound of horns was blown in the mountains and forests ahead.
Countless men and horses rushed out of the mountains and forests and rushed towards them.
"Remove!" the grain officer exclaimed.
The convoy hurriedly turned around, but it was carrying so much baggage that it could not escape. The army escorting the grain immediately cut off the rear to protect it.
When the army faced off, Guo Xianfu came out of the crowd on a horse, holding a long gun. He showed off his power in front of the battle and said: "Shuai Meng expected that the reinforcements would be coming in a hurry, and the baggage must be behind. Guo has been waiting here for a long time! Those who lay down their weapons and surrender will be spared death!"
"
Zhang Hu only had about 200,000 horses left. Guo Xianfu led the 100,000 horses to grab the granary but failed to do so. He immediately secretly traveled to Jiangxia County at night and hid on the road where the grain and fodder convoy must pass.
.Zhang Hu’s actions had already been taken in advance. Liao and Xu had already made a mistake by keeping a close eye on Zhang Hu’s men and horses.
The other party refused to listen and refused to surrender. Instead, the grain guard ordered the grain to be destroyed. When he saw it, he began to cut open the grain bags with his knife, trying to scatter all the grain on the muddy ground.
Guo Xianfu's eyes were about to burst. Now food was the lifeblood of the Yan army. Otherwise, why would he have to spend so much effort? He immediately shouted: "Kill!"
Suddenly the sound of killing was loud in the plain below the river, and the men and horses from both sides collided with each other.
One hundred thousand elite Yan troops faced off against 20,000 grain transport soldiers. The outcome was not difficult to predict. The latter suffered a disastrous defeat. After leaving a pile of corpses, thousands of grain transport soldiers fled in all directions.
Almost all the ten-day grain prepared by the Qingqu reinforcements of 300,000 men fell into Guo Xianfu's hands. After a short period of gathering, Guo Xianfu retreated with the grain.
At the same time, a golden wing flew quickly through the air, reporting to Zhang Hu that the food had been obtained!
…
In the Governor's Mansion of Jiangfang, there was a lot of discussion. Governor Luo Zhao's new strategic deployment had arrived, and he wanted this side to abandon Jiangfang and implement the new strategy.
"It would be a pity to give up Jiang Fang like this."
"Sir, the Commander-in-Chief does not know the battle situation here. He does not know that we have already retaken the Hukou defense line. If he knew, he would not let us give up the defense line again. Why not wait for the Commander-in-Chief to receive the battle report here?
You can then make a decision based on your reply?”
"Yes, it is our duty to keep the war outside the country's borders. Once the main battlefield is brought into the country, it will be the people of the Song Dynasty who will suffer."
Faced with the voice of remonstrance, Wu Qunlie, who was sitting behind the case, looked at the new order on the case and was a little hesitant.
At this moment, there was a cry from outside, "Report!" A young general rushed in to report, "Sir, the grain and grass taken to the Hukou defense line were robbed in Jiangxia County!"
Wu Qunlie suddenly stood up and said angrily: "Who robbed me?"
The young general said: "Guo Xianfu, the left commander of the Chinese army under Zhang Hu, personally led 100,000 troops to set up an ambush in Jiangxia County to rob the grain!"
"Zhang Hu still has 100,000 troops ambushed in Jiangxia County?" Wu Qunlie was shocked. At this time, he finally realized that he had been tricked. The Hukou defense line was not broken by the enemy due to lack of troops, but the enemy faked a defeat.
They deliberately gave up the Hukou defense line to them, inducing them to continue sending food to the front line.
A group of generals in the hall also stood up in shock, realizing the seriousness of the problem. They did not expect that the other party would go around in such a large circle, even using the Hukou defense line as bait, just to grab such a small amount of food.
For them, this amount of food may not be much, and it is indeed not much for the Yan army. The food for 300,000 people and horses for ten days is only the ration for three million people and horses for one day. But for Mengshan Minglai
He said that the Yan army was really short of food. Three million people and horses could survive for a few days if they only needed ten days of food for their three million people and horses.