Zhi County was Zhao Hongrun's ultimate goal of "forcibly crossing the Huihe River", but "Xiangcheng" was the strategic location that the Wei army he led must first conquer.
"Note: Zhi (zhi) is now Linhuan, Suixi County, Anhui Province. Xiangcheng is the ancient name of Huaibei. The explanation here is mainly to let book friends understand where the battlefield of the attack on Chu took place, so as to have a reference, but
Don’t tie it to reality.』
Xiangcheng was still a border garrison of the Song State more than ten years ago. Later, Nangong Yao defected to the Wei State and the Song State was destroyed. Nangong Yao, who was in charge of the Song County at that time, was at loggerheads with the rebels led by Song Yun.
The area was seized by the Chu State.
After that, the Chu State deployed heavy troops in the Xiangcheng area and responded to Fu Li Si's fortress.
Two days later, Zhao Hongrun rushed to the end of July and led his army to a location about twenty miles northeast of Xiangcheng. He ordered the three Wei armies, Yanling Army, Shangshui Army, and Fenxing Army, to cut down the trees on the spot and build military camps.
At the same time, under the protection of more than a hundred Su Wang guards, Zhao Hongrun led Wei Jiao and other five Zong guards, as well as General Xu Yin of the Fenxing Army, Qu Cheng and Yan Mo of the Yanling Army, and Wu Ji of the Shang Shui Army.
, a group of people quietly headed south to spy on the landscape in the Xiangcheng area.
According to the map given by Zhao Hongzhao, although Xiangcheng cannot be said to be surrounded by mountains, it is undeniable that it is surrounded by high hills in the northwest, east and southeast, including "Mengshan" and "Longji Mountain" in that order.
and "Fierce Mountain".
For the Wei army currently located in the northeast of Xiangcheng, if they want to conquer "Xiangcheng", they must find a way to remove the Chu army stationed on "Mengshan" and "Lieshan".
As for Longji Mountain, Zhao Hongrun felt that there was no need to move it for the time being, because according to the location on the map, Longji Mountain was located due east of Xiangcheng and due north and west of Fuli Sai. The distance to both places was very close, so
No matter how you think about it, Longji Mountain is a tough nut to crack.
After all, if Zhao Hongrun was from the Chu State, he would definitely deploy heavy troops in Longji Mountain to support Xiangcheng and Fuli Fortress.
Therefore, unless the right time comes in the future, Zhao Hongrun is not going to attack the hard nut of Longji Mountain, so he will simply ask Qi Wang Lu Xi to solve it. Anyway, Longji Mountain is not on the march route of his western division led by Zhao Hongrun.
superior.
But having said that, looking at the location of Longji Mountain on the map, Zhao Hongrun also felt a sense of crisis.
Longji Mountain, as the name suggests, is a mountain range composed of continuous hills, which means that once the Wei army approaches Xiangcheng, Longji Mountain, a natural barrier, will separate the Wei army, the allied West Route Army, from the Qi King Lu Xi.
The main force of the Qilu Allied Forces was separated, forming two different battlefields.
This means that Zhao Hongrun cannot support Qi King Lu Xi, and Qi King Lu Xi cannot support the Wei army unless they bypass this mountain range.
After looking at the map for a while, Zhao Hongrun decided to focus his Wei army's first battle on "Tanshan".
The reason is very simple, just because it is the least difficult to attack Tanshan - it is just an ordinary hill with only one hilltop.
Under normal circumstances, these hills with only one or two hills are the so-called highlands. The general explanation is that the terrain is high. However, the most correct explanation is that the terrain is high and you can overlook the surroundings, which makes it easier to control the surrounding areas.
The location of the view.
The reason why we chose hills with only one or two hills is because the space of this type of terrain is relatively narrow, which means that a small number of troops can seize the high ground, which is very advantageous for the small but elite Wei army.
The rolling hills like Longji Mountain cannot be said to be a suitable strategic location. If Zhao Hongrun rushes to attack rashly, it is very likely that the Wei army under his command will be trapped and the long battle with the Chu army will begin for Longji Mountain.
of battle.
The so-called secret to victory on the battlefield is to penetrate the enemy's defense line before the enemy penetrates your defense line.
This sounds like nonsense, but if you think about it carefully, it actually makes sense.
And how to penetrate the enemy's defense line first?
It means concentrating limited forces at one point and using various conspiracies and intrigues to achieve strategic goals.
"The number of Chu troops is really no joke..."
On the left side of Zhao Hongrun, Fenxing Army General Xu Yin looked at the Chu Army camp on the top of Tanshan Mountain in the distance and murmured: "Such a small hill has such a wide camp..."
No wonder Xu Yin was surprised. After all, according to visual inspection, the bottom of the mountain in Tanshan is only two miles in radius. To the Wei people who were used to seeing the bottom of the mountain in their ten or twenty years, it was just a small slope.
For this kind of "small soil slope", do you think it's enough to deploy more than a thousand troops?
However, the Chu army on the opposite side was lucky enough to build a camp from halfway up the mountain, transforming Tanshan into a military camp fortress.
According to preliminary estimates, the Chu army on Tanshan Mountain numbered at least five thousand.
"It's good to have more people..."
After listening to Xu Yin's murmur, Zhao Hongrun sighed secretly in his heart.
Regardless of comparison, the Chu army in Tanshan is only about one-tenth of the Wei army. The problem is that Tanshan is just a very ordinary stronghold near Xiangcheng. Calculated in proportion, there are about 30,000 to 50,000 Chu troops in Xiangcheng.
Not counting the Chu troops at Longji Mountain and Fulisai for the time being, there were approximately 40,000 to 70,000 Chu troops stationed in Xiangshan City alone.
What's even more terrible is that "Xiangcheng" is only the first Chu city that must be conquered on the route of forcibly crossing the Hui River when Zhao Hongrun was ordered to do so.
Based on this calculation, on the way to the Huihe River, there were more than 200,000 to 300,000 Chu troops stationed along the way.
This number is already equal to the strength of the entire Qi, Lu, and Wei coalition forces, not to mention that after the forced crossing of the Huihe River, there is still the Chu State's second natural river danger - the Guohe River.
"It seems that in the future we will have to find ways to kidnap people from various countries. Otherwise, when we encounter a country like Chu, we, the Wei Dynasty, will be like a natural deficiency..."
Zhao Hongrun sighed secretly.
After being distracted for a moment, he turned his attention to Qu Cheng, Yan Mo, Wu Ji and other generals of the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army, and asked them with a smile: "Are you feeling stressed?"
The first person to speak was Qu Cheng. He smiled and said in a friendly manner: "Yu Gong, our army is here to "liberate the Chu people in eastern Chu who are oppressed by the Xiong clan." Yu privately... Prince Su, I'm afraid
It’s hard to imagine the resentment that I, the Qu family, have towards the Xiong family, but even the general, a concubine of the Qu family, would feel angry..."
On the side, Yan Mo, the deputy general of the Yanling Army, also echoed: "Your Highness, the Xiong family nobles in Chudong are more decadent than you can imagine. Even as a Chu army, hum...
…”
He sneered and did not continue, but it was easy to guess from his expression that he seemed to have a strong dislike or even disgust for the Xiong family nobles of Chu Dong.
This is not surprising, because as a country with strict class status, Wei State can still restrain the aristocratic forces in the country, so that the latter dare not blatantly exploit the interests of the common people. To put it harshly, it is still covered with a fig leaf; but in
In Chu State, the nobles only nakedly exploited the common people.
It is precisely for this reason that rebellions broke out all over the Chu State. After being suppressed, they emerged again, and they were suppressed again, and they emerged again. They were suppressed endlessly, so that the powerful Chu State clearly had the power to aspire to be the hegemon of the Central Plains.
The country was always sanctioned by the three kingdoms of Qi, Lu and Song.
Everyone waited and watched for a while. Originally, Zhao Hongrun planned to get closer to the ground and take a closer look at the general outline of Chu Camp in Tanshan.
But unfortunately, the Chu camp on Tanshan Mountain discovered their group of knights and sent about 500 soldiers down the mountain to drive them away.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun had no choice but to retrace his steps and return to their Wei camp, which was still under construction.
After returning to the Wei camp, Zhao Hongrun was about to assign tasks. After all, although the Wei army he led was only a partial division on the west route, it still numbered 55,000 people. Moreover, there were several generals under his command who could act independently.
It is a waste to tie the general to his side.
Seeing this, Qu Cheng and Yan Mo of Yanling, Wu Ji of the Shang Shui Army, and General Xu Yin of the Fenxing Army were all very excited.
After all, this is the first battle of their Wei army, and it is of great significance. As long as the resort is beautiful, it can definitely become famous.
No, Qu Cheng, who was very utilitarian, asked Zhao Hongrun for help immediately, and he was even willing to issue a military order.
"Your Highness, the first battle of our Wei army must be handed over to our Yanling army... If we cannot win, please behead Qu."
Hearing this, Xu Yin and Wu Ji, who were a step behind, both looked at Qu Cheng speechlessly.
You know, the Yanling Army has 20,000 soldiers, while the Chu Army in Tanshan only has five or six thousand soldiers at best. Even if they can't win, is there still a need for the Yanling Army to exist?
But Qu Cheng was ahead of the curve, what should we do?
Wu Ji thought for a while, took a step forward and said, "Your Highness, please leave it to our Shang Shui Army. Our Shang Shui Army only needs to dispatch five thousand people to conquer Tanshan for Your Highness!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Mo, the deputy general of the Yanling Army over there, said with some displeasure: "General Wu Ji, last time we went back to the Battle of Sanchuan, your Shang Shui Army took the lead. Aren't you satisfied?" After that, he
He arched his hands towards Zhao Hongrun and said seriously: "Your Highness, our Yanling Army only needs four thousand men!"
"General Yan's words are serious. Wu didn't mean to take credit. It's just that Wu felt that the first battle should be won brilliantly and severely damaged the enemy's morale... Therefore, Wu thought that it was best to leave the first battle to the elite."
"Wu Ji, what do you mean by this?...You mean, our Yanling Army is not as good as your Shangshui Army?"
"General Yan has misunderstood. Wu just thinks that the officers and men of our merchant navy are all brave men who have been tempered in Sanchuan... and have a little experience in dealing with larger enemy forces." Wu Ji said with a smile.
.
Yan Mo narrowed his eyes and wanted to refute but couldn't. After all, the Shang Shui Army had indeed withstood the attack of more than 200,000 troops from the Jiejiao Tribe, but this did not mean that he would back down.
He turned to look at Zhao Hongrun, clasped his fists with a serious face and said: "Three thousand people, Yan Mou, captured Tanshan for His Highness! If you don't win, please behead me!"
Wu Ji frowned and said to Zhao Hongrun: "Your Highness, our Shang Shui Army only needs two thousand people!"
"Our Yanling Army only needs a thousand people..."
"I only need five hundred people to trade water..."
Seeing that the words of the two of them were getting more and more outrageous, Zhao Hongrun, although he was amused in his heart, turned serious, pretending to be displeased and scolded: "That's enough! If you keep talking, you two will be left alone!"
As he said that, he ignored Yan Mo and Wu Ji, who looked gloomy. He turned to look at Xu Yin, and saw that the latter was hesitant to speak, so he said without refutation: "Let's leave the first battle to you."
Fenxing Army!"
After hearing this, Xu Yin, the general of the Fenxing Army, looked straight.
"General, I will obey your order!... Many thanks to His Highness, King Su!"
He, Xu Yin, really needed a convincing military exploit to redeem the prejudice and suspicion that the Wei people in the country had against him because of that rumor.