After the military meeting, the third prince, surrounded by the guard battalion led by Chai Jiansuo, first followed Du Chongtao and Xu Zhaoling to settle in Xiangzhou City on the south bank of the Han River. Han Qian temporarily stayed on the north bank to assist Li Zhigao in arranging the front troops and horses.
Danjiang's northward march.
Of course, Yang Yuanpu did not take all the troops from the guard camp to Xiangzhou City.
Yang Yuanpu knew that he was safe in Xiangzhou City. At least he didn't have to worry about a large group of enemy soldiers attacking and killing them directly. If it really came to that point, Deng and Xiang's defense line would have collapsed.
Yang Yuanpu only asked Chai Jian to lead more than a hundred people to escort him to Xiangzhou City. The rest of the guard camp, led by Li Chong, followed Han Qian and Li Zhigao to the west.
"This year the Liang army is coming fiercely, and Deng Xiang's defense deployment on the west wing is still too passive." After sending the third prince Yang Yuanpu and others aboard the ship, Li Zhigao stood in front of the snow-covered river beach and said worriedly.
Li Zhigao had fought with his father and brother in the Jianghuai River since he was a child, and he was familiar with the art of war. Of course, he could see the advantages and disadvantages of Du Chongtao's defensive deployment at a glance.
The West Wing was so passive in organizing defenses in the southern part of the Nanyang Basin, which meant that the military pressure Liang had organized on the western front in the early stage would be exerted on the Shouzhou Army, which was actively defending in the south of Caizhou at this time.
Although they, as the lineage of the three princes, their biggest enemies within Da Chu are the Anning Palace, the prince and the lineage of the Xu family, and the Shouzhou Army is one of the foundations of this lineage, it does not mean that the Shouzhou Army
If they are frustrated in front of Liang Jun, they will definitely benefit.
If the Shouzhou Army feels too much pressure from the Liang Army, it is very likely that it will give up its defense in the southern part of Caizhou and shrink its troops. However, this also means that the entire Fangcheng gap in the northern part of the Nanyang Basin will be completely exposed to the Liang Army.
Under the prying eyes.
"I'm afraid His Highness won't be able to comment on this matter. Let's do what we should do." After Han Qian said this, he wrapped himself tightly in his cloak and curled up a little. He felt warmer, but he regretted it in his heart. In order to save money, he
I didn't even prepare a leather robe for myself before coming here. This winter is much colder than before.
Han Qian looked up at the sky, and it became gloomy again. The snow hadn't stopped for two days, and it looked like it was going to fall again. He didn't know what Liang Guo was thinking. He couldn't live a good life, and he had to have this cold day.
Thinking of the reckless war, I thought that before the Dragon Bird Army went out, the cold clothes that were urgently distributed to each general were quite thin. I secretly thought that maybe after this war, those who died directly on the battlefield might not be as many as those who died from freezing, right?
As for Deng Xiang's strategic deployment, Han Qian didn't want to think too much about it at this time.
Generals who can stand alone are all arrogant people. For strategic-level suggestions, perhaps Du Chongtao's direct followers can have a say. If they encourage the third prince to forcibly reverse the defense strategy of the entire Western Front, they will return to Du Chongtao to cross the river.
The situation at that time.
The third prince, Yang Yuanpu, might be able to force Du Chongtao to bow his head by relying on his status as a prince. However, Du Chongtao will hand over the important task of advancing to the northern part of the Nanyang Basin to the Longque Army. He will lead the Xiangzhou Army to stabilize the southern line. What should he do?
What kind of family background does the Dragon Bird Army have?
No matter how arrogant Han Qian and Li Zhigao were, they would not dare to let the main force of the Longque Army leave the Nanyang Basin and fight to the death with the elite Liang Army!
The two thousand Longque troops who arrived in Xiangzhou first had not yet entered Fancheng after landing. It was still early at this time. Li Zhigao and Han Qian ordered their troops to march westward along the north bank of the Han River. After arranging all this, the two of them
Then he and Li Chong returned to Fancheng and met with the reinforcement generals from Huangzhou and Yingzhou.
Both Huangzhou and Yingzhou did not have forbidden camps to garrison. A thousand reinforcements were drawn from the state camps for reinforcements, and the leading troops were all soldiers from the two states. Zheng Hui, a soldier from Huangzhou, and Xia Zhen, a soldier from Yingzhou, were both from the two states.
The powerful son of the land.
After Emperor Tianyou led the Huainan army to lay the foundation of Chu in Jinling, he fought fierce battles with the Yue King Dong Chang for several years. The states west of Jiangzhou, including Tanzhou Ma Yin, were basically determined by propaganda.
In order to stabilize the situation, the E-Huang Jing army and Ying followed the states, and in order to win over local powerful people, they rewarded a large number of powerful people's sons as officials. Most of the local state camps were also in the hands of local powerful people.
In the land, he sent his direct line generals to lead the Nanya Forbidden Camp Army as defense envoys to Deng Xiang and Rongzhou to strengthen control.
Du Chongtao dispatched reinforcements from Huangzhou and Yingzhou, which were controlled by Li Zhigao, but it is difficult to say whether Li Zhigao could really mobilize these two reinforcements.
The reinforcements from Huangzhou and Yingzhou were still stationed in the west of Zaoyang for the time being. However, after the new allocation, Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen no longer followed Du Chongtao to Xiangzhou City, nor did they lead the guards back to the garrison for the time being.
, but stayed in Fancheng to wait for Li Zhigao to come back to discuss garrison matters.
Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen were dissatisfied with part of the left wing stationed on the north bank of the Han River, but they did not show it in front of Du Chongtao and others.
They are all over thirty years old, thin and muscular in appearance. Just because they are the sons of local powerful men and the soldiers and horses they lead are generals recruited from the local area, it does not mean that they are weak in combat effectiveness.
In fact, due to the separation of vassal towns and the civil unrest in the late years of the previous dynasty, in addition to Xiang and Deng, there were also frequent wars in Jianghan and other places. The combat effectiveness of local soldiers and horses was actually quite strong.
In comparison, Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen even looked down upon the Dragon Bird Army's combat effectiveness.
The people infected by the epidemic and starving were recruited into the Dragon Bird Army. Although they had tried their best to select and train as strong as possible, the Dragon Bird Army had been short of supplies in the past year. Most of the generals were still weak and had not experienced actual combat. How could they be respected by others?
As for the higher-level factors, people at the level of Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen must have considered the possible impact of the fight for heirs on them and their clans in the future.
Han Qian, Li Zhigao, and Li Chong rode into Fancheng again. They also discussed on the way that Zheng and Xia might have attitudes, and decided to ask reinforcements from these two states to station in the area northeast of Danjiang, where the Qinling Mountains and Funiu Mountains intersect, and the terrain is relatively flat and open.
There are two ruined cities in Xichuan and Neixiang.
In addition to the Xiangzhou Army's two to three hundred garrison troops in each of these two places, thousands of people also gathered inside and outside the remaining city for farming, and the conditions were relatively good.
To the east of these two places is the hinterland of the Nanyang Basin. If the Liang army goes south and becomes unstoppable, it will be much faster to retreat south from these two places than to garrison troops stationed in the hinterland of mountains such as Jingzikou.
Han Qian believed that if he chose Zheng Hui or Xia Zhen, they would be more willing to lead their troops to garrison in these two places.
With this arrangement, the Longque Army can control the Danjiang Waterway more completely and independently without interference from other factions; otherwise, we don’t know what Xu Zhaoling, Jin Rui and others might be doing with them behind the scenes.
.
When they met again at the General's Mansion in Fancheng City, Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen also accepted this arrangement, but their attitudes towards Li Zhigao, Han Qian and Li Chong were very cold.
Even when Han Daoxun was on his way to Xuzhou, when Han Qian stayed briefly with his father in Huangzhou, he met Zheng Hui, who was a soldier in Huangzhou's army. At this time, he was quite indifferent to seeing each other again, and he did not want to have a private relationship with Han Qian.
Too deep a communication.
At present, the main thing is to ensure that all military deployments are in place as quickly as possible. There is a lot of detailed work, and even too many subtleties inside the northwest camp, and there is no time to figure out the trade-offs. After meeting Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen, Han Qian
Accompanying Li Zhigao, Li Chong marched westward along the north bank of the Han River, and met up with the front Longque Army who camped at Laolongkou on the way. They stayed overnight. In the early morning, they led 300 cavalry ahead and arrived at Danjiangkou to camp before noon.
The place where the Danjiang River merges into the Han River was originally where the administrative seat of Junzhou was located.
The ancient city of Junzhou, which previously straddled the Han River and three banks of the Danjiang River, had been destroyed by war. Currently, Du Chongtao rebuilt a city fort with a radius of about a mile on the south bank as an outpost fort against the Shu army in Hanzhong to the west. However, on the north bank of the Han River,
The towns and ports located on both sides of the Danjiang River are still in ruins.
In terms of terrain, Junzhou Ancient City is much more open on the north bank, almost ten miles deep, and the flat land formed by silt is located among the mountains.
From the remaining traces, we can see the traces of our ancestors building embankments along the Han River and Dan River for reclamation. Otherwise, the area where Daba Mountain and Qinling Mountains intersect, even if it is located in the depression zone, would not have tens of miles of depth.
Flat areas exist.
Han Qian could also see that many of the river embankments built in the early years had been destroyed. When the water rose in summer and autumn, the two sides were severely flooded. Almost half of the ruined building sites on the north bank were left with ruins that had been damaged by the floods in recent years.
Traces of soaking.
"That's Canglangzhou," Han Qian pointed to a small sandbank island in the middle of the river where the Han River and the Dan River meet, and told Li Zhigao and Li Chong, "The "Shui Jing Zhu" says that the Han River is also called the Canglang River.
This is how the island got its name - when we built a new walled city here, we called it Canglang City..."
Regardless of the fact that there were 2,000 Xiangzhou Army elites in the fortress on the south bank, Han Qian insisted on rebuilding a walled city under the control of the Longque Army at Danjiangkou on the north bank.
It not only controls the Danjiang River and Hanshui River, but is also a key node for reinforcements from Xiangzhou City to the middle and upper reaches of the Danjiang River.
Li Zhigao reined in his horse and looked at the flags on the fortress on the other side of the water, which were shaking in the cold wind. He frowned and said, "Xiangzhou has built a fort on the south bank. The Longque Army wants to build another walled city on the north bank. Du Chongtao
It’s very likely that they won’t provide financial support, right?”
Even though Li Zhigao knew the strategic importance of this fortress, he was quite hesitant to build a fortress here when the Dragon Bird Army was in such short supply.
Han Qian advised:
"Now that the Longque Army has entered the Dengxiang area, on the one hand, it is striving to gain military merit in the winter defense of Liang Army. Another thing is that even if the Marquis and others in Jinling cannot immediately restore the establishment of Junzhou, the walled city needs to be restored as soon as possible.
Build it. As for the money and food needed, we can raise it from the many cottages hidden in the mountains and old forests on both sides. I will ask His Highness to take care of this matter..."
Li Chong looked at Han Qian suspiciously.
Previously, Zuo Si Zhi was required to provide food supplies, but Han Qian resisted in every possible way. Instead, he did not hesitate to risk a quarrel with Du Chongtao and suggested that the Longque Army directly enter Fancheng on the north bank to force Du Chongtao to accept their terms. At this time, Han Qian took the initiative to send the troops to Fancheng.
After taking this matter over, Li Chong became suspicious, wondering if Han Qian had other plans that he hadn't told them clearly.
Facing Li Chong's scrutiny, Han Qian put his hands in his robe sleeves and just waited calmly for Li Zhigao to make a decision.
Xinchang Hou Lipu and the women in black veils were not allowed to come. Regarding the Dragon Bird Army's presence in Xiangzhou, Han Qian only needed to discuss a plan with Li Zhigao and then obtain the permission of the third prince Yang Yuanpu. Even Chen De and Guo Rong
, Shen Yang came over, and he didn’t have as much say as Li Zhigao.
Of course, it is not something Han Qian can decide how Chai Jian, Li Chong, Zhou Shu and others will influence Li Zhigao's decision behind the scenes.
Although winter has entered and the water level of the Han River has dropped, the clear water is still turbulent under the cold wind.
At this time, the three warships led by Yang Qin were sailing slowly from the downstream.
"Okay, tell your highness, it is indeed important to build a stronghold here for the control of the Longque Army." Li Zhigao said.
As long as Han Qian could think of another way to raise money and food, Li Zhigao would certainly not restrict him from building a city at Danjiangkou.
Han Qian immediately agreed with Li Zhigao that Li Zhigao and Li Chong would continue to lead their troops to garrison in Jingzikou and other places, leaving him to take charge of the construction of the city wall at Danjiangkou and be responsible for the communication between Xiangzhou City and Jingzikou.
After Li Zhigao led his troops to station in Jingzikou, in addition to leaving a group of spies, Zuo Si's manpower left in Jingzikou at this time could also be withdrawn here.