The intelligence received by Xiang Ji and others came from Huainan, thousands of miles away. After twenty days of fast horse racing, the attack on Huainan by the Jiangbei Northeast Expeditionary Army in early July was reported to Linjin.
The order for this "Battle of Crossing the River" was issued after Heifu captured Wuguan and was determined to seize Guanzhong before the autumn harvest. It also entered the Han Dynasty by a fast ship along the Dan River, and went straight from Xiakou to the Dajiang River, traveling thousands of miles along the water and wind.
Then, it was passed to Wei Yang and others.
It seems that everything happened within more than a month, but three feet of ice did not freeze in a day. Heifu's strategic outflank and his coveting of Huainan began to prepare a year ago.
No one knows this better than Xu Shu, the governor of Wu County. As early as the end of the 37th year of Qin Shihuang, when Heifu was still confronting Wang Ben in Jianghan, he gave instructions to Jiangdong: build a large number of ships, hoard food, train soldiers, and wait.
opportunity.
"Although Jiangdong is small, with an area of thousands of miles and hundreds of thousands of people, I am using the people of the five counties of Jingzhou to fight against Guanxi and the strength of the Central Plains. Although Jiangdong will not fight with the enemy, there is no need to go back to the river to carry grain for relief.
There is still a need to contribute to this fight.”
Although the Jiangdong disciples are here today, they have just passed by Xiang Yu. The two sides have no historical intersection, but were occupied by Heifu first. They must make good use of it.
Heifu also made a promise that after the war, Jiangdong, together with Nanjun, Hengshan, Changsha, Yuzhang and other places, would enjoy the "three more years" of the old revolutionary base areas, that is, three years of rent and tax exemption.
But the promise that has yet to come cannot be trusted at all. Fortunately, Heifu asked the county governor Xu Shu to do it easily. He only had twelve months to complete the task.
Xu Shu had been an official in Jiangdong for a long time and understood that compared with the local people, the number of the Northern Expeditionary Army was too small. Although Jiangdong also implemented a rent reduction policy in early 1938, the local Chu people were still dissatisfied and the Yue people were restless.
Xu Shu must use the Yue people to coerce the Chu people, and use the Chu people to check the Yue people. He must use deception, blackmail, promises, suppression and other means to ensure that they serve the Northern Expedition honestly.
He announced that those Yue tribes living in the mountains were not required to pay rent taxes, but they had to join the Northern Expedition with arms. The Chu farmers who lived concentratedly in the Taihu Plain were responsible for the main force in producing rice and were also drafted to assist in shipbuilding.
On the other hand, although the land of Wuyue used boats as horses, it was not easy to build large ships anywhere. Shipbuilding and hull renovation alone were a huge project, requiring a large amount of wood, glue paint, linen, ropes, and copper manufacturing.
Copper and iron required for nails, anchors and other equipment.
In order to obtain these resources, people searched all over Jiangdong. Large high-quality timber was cut down by the Yue people from the virgin forests around Taihu Lake and floated along the Wusong River to Huating on the seaside. This is the new shipbuilding center, but a large part of the work is
It is carried out in small docks scattered throughout Taihu Lake.
For a whole year, the air in various ports in Jiangdong was filled with the sound of hammering, sawing, the clanging of axes, and the sound of filing adzes; the hide glue boiling in the cauldron was bubbling and rolling; the iron furnace reflected the red light.
Light; ropemakers unfurled hundreds of feet of twisted hemp rope; materials were worked, chopped, sewn, and forged into oars, pulleys, masts, sails, and anchors.
Gradually, on the basis of the keel, the hull gradually took shape; some ships were also reassembled from old ships of the Southern Expeditionary Navy, but they had served in the hot and humid Lingnan for several years and had experienced countless battles with cannibals.
Already riddled with holes...
In the workshops of Tongshan, people are making war instruments, hooks for water warfare, and hundreds of thousands of arrows waiting to be stocked.
In progress, almost all hunters have to submit the task of feathering birds every month. Taihu waterfowl have suffered a lot.
After a year of unremitting efforts, the Jiangdong Navy has regained its former strength, with more than 300 large and small ships, which is enough to dominate the world. Whether it is lakes, rivers or offshore seas, it is the absolute overlord, and no one can compete with it.
After a large number of Yue people were recruited into the army, the soldiers of the three counties of Jiangdong: Wu, Yue, and Danyang were sharply armed, and their total strength reached 30,000...
It was twice the number of soldiers left behind by the Chu people in Donghai and Jiujiang.
So, from the moment the attack order arrived at Wu County, the war drums were beating loudly, and Xu Shu stood at Huating Port and watched Weiyang set sail.
For Bo Ji, who had been pregnant for several months and came with a group of "sisters" who also had big bellies to see her husband off, the spectacular scene in front of them shocked them deeply:
Hundreds of ships set sail at the Wusong River Estuary, their large and small flags fluttering gently in the breeze. Standing out among the clustered fleets were some giant castle-shaped ships, standing like tall towers on the sea, with shining flags hanging.
The flag was raised, and boats from the Yue people from Kuaiji, Dongou, and Minyue in the south continued to join.
The sailors who had been practicing in Taihu Lake and offshore for a year crowded on the decks, raising their arms and shouting for the Northern Expedition. As the sound of drums and bells filled the entire river mouth, the wooden oars of the galleys broke the waves and headed towards the river.
Driving towards the entrance of the river.
The leading ship, a dark ship named "Liaoning" by Marquis Wuzhong from afar, was Wu Junwei, general of the ship, Wei Yang.
Looking back at such a majestic boatman floating on the sea, and looking at the narrow river compared to the sea, Wei Yang couldn't help but sigh:
"My uncle is the captain of this boat, but he only asked us to use it to cross the river to attack the Chu people. Isn't it overkill?"
The task of the Lou Chuan division is not difficult. It is nothing more than to defeat the remaining Chu boat divisions on the river and protect the pontoon bridge at Dantu so that the 20,000 soldiers from Wu and Yue counties commanded by Wu Rui can cross the river to attack Guangling.
Guangling was Yangzhou in later generations, and it was not yet a prosperous land with splendid fireworks. Although there were fish, salt, grain and silk, most of the areas were still notoriously poor and remote areas with swamps and swamps. The local people could only eat hairy crabs during the lean years.
Japanese.
However, the strategic value of this place became apparent as early as when Wu and Yue were fighting for hegemony: it was based on Huaizuo, covering the east of the Yangtze River. When Fu Chai and Qi were fighting for hegemony, they went north from here.
The man guarding Guangling was Duke Han of Chu State and Zhao Ping, a native of Guangling.
Zhao Ping was responsible for the defense of the eastern section of the Yangtze River and had certain abilities. However, Zhao Ping had only 5,000 men under his command. He originally wanted to send people to attack with stern boats and burn the pontoon bridge, but was blocked by Weiyang Zhoushi and missed the opportunity.
Seeing Wu Rui crossing the river, Zhaoping had no choice but to retreat to Guangling. However, the Vietnamese soldiers were fierce, and the navy transported siege equipment made by Jiangdong and set it up outside the city. After ten days of storming, a corner of the city was broken. In order to save the lives of the rural party, Zhaoping surrendered.
.
In accordance with the policy of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Xu Shu accepted the surrender of Zhaoping and the Chu soldiers, and forbade everyone to slaughter the surrendered soldiers. Instead, after entertaining them with delicious food and drinks, he gave each of them a few coins and asked them to return home, and the Northern Expeditionary Army
The policy of forgiving those who surrendered was publicized.
The Chu soldiers then dispersed, while Wu Rui and Wei Yang continued to march north. Their goal was to go north along the Hangou Canal, sweep across Donghai County, enter Surabaya, and eventually threaten Chu's new capital: Pengcheng.
This is the East Route Army, and the West Route Army is under the leadership of Li Xian. Anpu of Danyang County will also take the opportunity to cross the river from Danyang and sweep Huainan. He will join up with Wei Jing who came from Hengshan County and lead 20,000 troops.
If the enemy's navy attacks Shouchun, Weiyang will send part of his fleet to help.
Most of the Chu people followed Xiang Ji to attack Qin in the west, but the rear area was relatively empty. In this way, in mid-July, Lou Chuan's boat division cooperated with the Vietnamese soldiers to defeat Gaoyou and other places all the way to Huaiyin City on the north-south thoroughfare...
Unlike the fierce resistance of the Chu people in Guangling, Gaoyou and other places, Huaiyin actually surrendered without a fight. The locals expelled the county officials sent by Xiang Ji and opened the city gates to welcome the Northern Expedition.
After asking, I found out that Huaiyin was the hometown of Han Xin, who was ranked as the "favorite general" in the Northern Expedition. Han Xin had won many great victories in the past few years and was famous in the south, and Huaiyin had also been heard of more or less.
So when the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived at home, the county that had despised Han Xin and forced him to leave, regarded the wanderer as a talisman and quickly sacrificed it, hoping to get preferential treatment...
The Nanchang pavilion chief's family, who had been freed by Han Xin many times in the past, was even pushed out by all the elders in the county. They forced themselves to worship in front of Wei Yang, saying:
"I dare to tell the general that the head of the Nanchang pavilion is Han Xin's old friend. Han Xin regards him as his brother."
The Nanchang Pavilion Chief showed an embarrassed smile to Wei Yang.
The three local elders pointed to the wife of the Nanchang pavilion chief who had embarrassed Han Xin in the past and deliberately ate dinner secretly first to embarrass Han Xin:
"And he treats his wife as his sister-in-law!"
The wife of the pavilion chief of Nanchang was frightened by the overwhelming force of the boatmen and the heavily armed soldiers covering the Huai River. She lowered her head and dared not speak.
But the three elders never expected that the amulet they brought out not only failed to please the general in front of them, but actually angered him.
When Wei Yang heard them mention Han Xin, he was very angry and said with a smile:
"Han Xin is my sister-in-law and a brother to me. Listen to what you say. The Nanchang pavilion chief is also Han Xin's brother. Shouldn't he sit with me at the same table as a protest?"
