A man wrapped in a black Ge robe in the wind and snow, standing on the riverside like a sculpture, is looking at Fancheng on the north bank. His eyes are cloudy, hiding inexplicable and complicated emotions, as if he is worried about the city in front of him that has been famous for thousands of years.
The cities in the world are so dilapidated today and I am filled with emotion.
A single-masted awning boat sailed over, stopped in front of the river beach, and took the man in Gepao aboard.
"It's only October, and it's already so damn cold in Xiangzhou! If the army continues to go north until November or the twelfth lunar month, the cold clothes worn by the generals may not be enough." A thin man with a sallow complexion said,
He got out of the cabin, squatted on the narrow bow of the awning boat, and talked to the man in Ge robe.
At this time, two patrol boats came from the upper reaches of the Han River. They thought that the single-masted awning boat going upstream was a merchant ship heading to Liangzhou (Hanzhong), so they passed by without paying attention.
There was no intention to intercept and question him.
Liangzhou is located at the source of the Han River. It has been a battleground for military strategists for thousands of years. At this time, it was the territory of Wang Jian, the king of Shu. Wang Zongji, the Jiedushi of the Xingyuan Army who guarded Liangzhou and also served as the governor of Liangzhou, was from the Shu Kingdom.
General, the adopted son of Wang Jian, King of Shu.
The Liang Kingdom was powerful, and Shu and Chu were both threatened by Liang's army. Therefore, although Xiangzhou and Liangzhou were connected by the Han River, and Jingzhou and Rongzhou in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River belonged to the two countries, the borders were all peaceful and they could trade with each other.
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The tribes of Shu and Xifan traded with each other, and most of the troops and horses needed by Chu were trafficked from Liangzhou through the Han River.
The yellow-faced man on the prow of the black-awned boat sighed slightly when he saw the Xiangzhou patrol boat passing by like this, and said to the man in Gepao: "Du Chongtao, the governor of Xiangzhou, has strengthened the defense from Nanyang Old County.
We sent elite troops to inspect the mountains and forests to guard against Xuzhou and Ruzhou’s elaborate operations. However, they did not know that in the past few days, many suspicious characters had taken advantage of Hanzhong and infiltrated into Xiangfan and Yingzhou to investigate the truth. According to what your Excellency has shown, we
I don’t dare to act rashly, but this year the Liang Army in Ruzhou and Xuzhou have been greatly strengthened. If the Liang Army is able to control the entire territory of Caizhou, there is no guarantee that they will not have ambitions in Nanyang (Dengzhou) and Xiangzhou..."
The man in Gepao sat on the bow of the boat, looking at the mountains covered with thin snow on both sides of the bank.
In early October, Emperor Tianyou ordered the third prince, Linjiang Marquis Yang Yuanpu, to serve as the commander of the Longque Army and to lead the northwest camp to recruit the deputy envoy. It was finally decided that the Longque Army would join the war from the direction of Deng and Xiang.
Even if the Longque Army escorted the Longque Army on the waterway with naval vessels, it would take only three to five days to go upstream and catch up to Xiangzhou. The man in Gepao was the personal guard in the Longque Army tent who went to Xiangfan and Nanyang first to inspect the military situation.
The deputy commander, Zuo Sibing, was Han Qian; the yellow-faced man was the head of the household in Zuo Sibing, Tiancheng.
Han Qian arrived in Xiangzhou first together with Li Zhigao, the capital of the Longque Army. Li Zhigao was going to Xiangcheng to see the camp in the northwest to recruit envoys. Du Chongtao, the governor of Xiangzhou and the defense envoy of Deng Xiang, was about to hand over the Longque Army.
Han Qian did not go with Li Zhigao to see Du Chongtao about the garrison.
Seeing that he would not be taken seriously after seeing him, Han Qian took a boat to Tiancheng to pick him up, and went west to inspect the terrain and military conditions, and make more preparations for the Longque Army to enter Xiangzhou to avoid big leaks somewhere.
In the former dynasty, the feudal vassals were divided and warred. Xiangfan and Nanyang, located between Daba Mountain, Qinling Mountains, Funiu Mountain, Tongbai Mountain, and Dahong Mountain, were the areas most severely damaged by the war.
In the middle and early stages of the previous dynasty, the Nanyang Basin between the mountains was once one of the most important granaries in the Central Plains, nourishing and breeding millions of people. However, during the centuries of feudal separatist wars and bandit rebellions, it was completely destroyed.
disabled.
Within the Nanyang Basin, and further south to the northern part of the Jianghan Plain, there is almost no decent city to be seen at this time. Even if there are still refugees living in the area, most of them are gathered in the Xiaoshan Forest, unwilling to return.
Accept the rule of any party.
Da Chu has only controlled Jianghan, Jingnan and even Xiangfan, Nanyang and other places for a few years. At present, the northernmost city has only rebuilt Xiangzhou City on the south bank of the Han River, and has been resting for three to five years.
Fancheng, which is adjacent to the north bank of the Han River, is still in ruins, not to mention Xinye, Wancheng, Fangcheng and other strategic places further north in the northern part of the Nanyang Basin.
However, the Ruzhou soldiers and horses of the Liang State and the Shouzhou Army commanded by the Chu State General Xu Mingzhen have been facing each other on the Caizhou line for many years. They are currently building defenses in the key mountain passes in the north and south of Caizhou.
Divide Caizhou.
Caizhou is located on the east wing of Fangcheng, the entrance to Nanyang Basin.
Although in the Nanyang Basin at this time, there were only three to five thousand soldiers and horses under the control of Xiangzhou to guard the key areas in the north - the main force of the Xiangzhou Defense Envoy mainly guarded the cities along the Han River - defense was out of the question.
How strict, but before the battle for Caizhou was decided, every time Liang Jun used troops, he mostly just dispatched a partial division to bypass the strong walled city and harass Nanyang, Xiangfan and other places. He had no intention of occupying the Nanyang Basin for the time being.
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This is mainly because the Nanyang Basin has been completely crippled. Before the battle on the Caizhou front line can determine the winner, the Liang army forcibly invades the Nanyang Basin. On the one hand, it needs to send a large army to confront the Chu State that controls Xiangfan. On the other hand, it has to worry about
The grain route from the hinterland of Liang State could be cut off by Xu Mingzhen's troops at any time, causing his troops to occupy Nanyang to be completely isolated.
It's just that the situation won't remain constant forever.
Regardless of whether it is Liang or Dachu, although there have been internal fights and fierce factional entanglements in recent years, there has been no large-scale war for three or four years after recuperation, and the strength has improved to a considerable extent.
In the past, when the Liang State used troops on the Huaihe River, they mostly focused on Xuzhou to gather troops and horses. But since the autumn of this year, in addition to Xuzhou, the Liang State has recruited many troops and horses from the states on the west coast of Shannan to go to the south of Ruzhou, that is,
There are a lot of people gathering in the northwest of the Nanyang Basin. It is difficult to guarantee Liang Jun's troop deployment plan this winter. It is not to sum up the long-term competition between the two countries in Caizhou, Guangzhou, and Nanyang in one fell swoop.
Of course, if the Liang State does not use troops this year, the Chu army will also consider crossing Xiangcheng to strengthen the defense north of the Han River.
This is not just the conclusion that Han Qian and Tian Cheng came to after Zuo Si scouts spied on Liang Jun's movements. The Privy Council is also full of such worries about the West Wing. This time, in addition to dispatching the Dragon Bird Army to reinforce Xiangzhou, it also sent troops from
Jiang'e and other twelve states along the Yangtze River mobilized troops.
Together with the Xiangzhou garrison, Longque Army and reinforcements from Jiang'e and other twelve states, it is expected that 50,000 troops will be assembled by the end of October to prevent Liang's army from moving south.
Han Qian and Tian Cheng didn't take the boat for long. Although the place they were going to was connected by waterways, the speed of a traditional dhow sailing upstream against the turbulent current was still too slow.
The awning boat docked at the river beach ten miles west of Fancheng. Here there were more than a dozen Zuosi scouts holding horses waiting for Han Qian and Tiancheng.
Han Qian then headed west along the dilapidated trail on the north bank of the Han River, and then went north from Danshui Port to the hinterland of the southeastern foothills of the Qinling Mountains. What he saw along the way were all abandoned and dilapidated cities.
There were more or less refugees living in houses or cultivating fields inside and outside each city. When they saw Han Qian and the others passing by, their eyes were full of vigilance. Even if they did not come in large numbers, they were not afraid to reveal the rudimentary weapons they had. Mechanical, as a warning.
Of course, leaving the Danjiang Ancient Road and heading towards the deep mountains and old forests at the southeastern foothills of the Qinling Mountains, there were more mountain villages controlled by refugees, but they were not under the rule of Da Chu at this time.
The consequences of hundreds of years of chaos are fully displayed here.
Danjiang Road, also known as Wuguan Road or Lantian Pass, was a key pass between Qin and Chu for hundreds of years during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. As one of the four fortresses in Guanzhong, Wuguan was in place as the southwest gateway of the old Qin Dynasty. In the gorge on the upper reaches of Danshui River.
However, for such an important passage, both Liang and Chu were temporarily unable to fully control it. Each of them only established outposts and fortresses with a small number of soldiers and horses stationed at both ends of the Danjiang Road or the Shangyu Ancient Road.
However, compared to the enemy's troops attacking from this passage, the outposts built by the two countries were more worried about the invasion of rogue bandits in the deep mountains and old forests on both sides.
After hundreds of years of chaos and war, millions of people were wiped out. Those who managed to survive and even thrive in this area were mostly rogue bandits who gathered in the mountains, and many of them fled after the refugee army was defeated. The remnants that entered the mountains.
The Longque Army entered Xiangzhou, went directly north to Fangcheng, the northern pass of the Nanyang Basin, and confronted the main force of the Liang Army assembled in the north, which was very unrealistic.
After all, the northern part of the Nanyang Basin is desolate. Even if Liang Guo sends a partial army to attack, there will be nothing to plunder.
On the contrary, the west wing can even take the initiative to send the main force of the Liang Kingdom to attack the Nanyang Basin. In this case, on the one hand, they can open up the Liang Army's battle line and supply line, and on the other hand, the Chu Army can intercept it along the Han River. More combat conveniences.
The problem is that in the early stages of the war, it was impossible for the Liang Army to break into the Nanyang Basin without authorization. Could it be that the Longque Army was waiting in Xiangcheng or Fancheng?
In this way, there is a possibility that there will be no battle to fight in the end.
Han Qian, Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu, Li Zhigao and others repeatedly discussed in Jinling the plan that could be implemented after the Longque Army arrived in Xiangzhou, and finally decided that in the early stage, they should go up the Danjiang River. On the one hand, they could try to threaten Liang Guanzhong from the direction of Shangzhou. area, on the one hand, they regained the cities and towns along the Danjiang River and used the bandits along the route to train troops, so as not to delay the war until the later stages of the war, allowing the new soldiers to directly face the brutal and capable Liang Army.
Even if we can't fight with the main force of Liang Army in the end, it is still a good achievement to recapture and consolidate the Danjiang coast.
According to this drafted plan, Han Qian rushed to Xiangzhou first and did not follow Li Zhigao into the city to meet Du Chongtao. Naturally, he first wanted to go southeast from Wuguan to Danjiangkou to experience the situation again.
Changing horses on the north bank of the Han River and heading north, we walked along the dilapidated ancient road for a day and a night and entered Jingzikou, west of the former Xichuan County.
This place was where Prince Jing of the Chu State defended the Qin Army in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it was named Jingzikou. It was also the place where six ancient cities were built along the 800-mile Dan River in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was where the Liang Guanzhong troops came west from Wuguan to attack the Nanyang Basin. The key point.
The defenders of Xiangzhou reorganized the ruined city here and set up an outpost fortress with a battalion of soldiers and horses to guard against the possibility of a surprise attack by the Liang army from Shangzhou.
Fan Dahei and Lin Haizheng were sent by Han Qian to the Dengxiang area to collect information as early as mid-September. At this time, they were also ordered to enter Jingzikou first and wait for Han Qian's arrival.
