"Why are we letting them take the lead in attacking Lishui City when we clearly use our troops?" Feng Yi asked in confusion as he watched Xinchang Hou Li Pu take Gao Shao and Zhang Ping to discuss a specific plan to attack Lishui City.
A large number of young and strong slaves came to join the army. Gao Shao led two battalions of the Chishan Army, with more than 2,000 soldiers and horses. They had just won a great victory here and were in great momentum. The attack on Lishui City was to take advantage of the victory and pursue it to expand the results. There was no need to attack it.
The initiative is ceded.
What's more, the supplies in Lishui City, especially the armor and weapons, are no less than those in Shangjiabao. They are all in short supply for the Chishan Army. Whoever takes the lead will get the right to distribute the spoils. There is really no need to talk to Li Pu about this.
They are polite.
Besides, Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, has been showing off to this side a lot these days.
Han Qian stood in front of the fort wall with his hands folded, looking at the old and weak women and children who were moving south from the southern foot of Maoshan Mountain, and said quietly: "The question is not whether it is difficult to capture Lishui City, nor is it where more or less troops are sent.
In fact, the Chishan Army is fierce in appearance but weak in spirit. This battle is already extremely risky, and there is no way to stay in the front and fight a tough battle - Li Xiu and Li Qi are representatives of the young generation in the prince's palace in eastern Zhejiang Province, eager to make achievements.
, after they capture Lishui City, Li Yu’s name alone can help us take a lot of pressure off of us, so why not?”
In terms of the size of its troops, the Chishan Army will become larger and larger like a snowball, but it will also bring more and more problems and hidden dangers.
After all, there are too few veterans and grassroots military attachés who have been systematically trained in the Chishan Army.
After the Jinling Incident, Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, gathered all the fighting-age men from Taowu Jibinghu and Changchun Palace Zhuanghu's official slaves. There were only 7,000 soldiers and horses. In the battle of Jingshan Nunnery, they were used as bait by the Chuzhou army.
The casualties were too heavy, and due to the lack of medical treatment and medicine, Han Qian took over and only had 3,000 soldiers left.
Han Qian transferred 300 military attachés from Xuzhou, and together with the elite generals who returned from the Longque Army, Han Qian had enough veterans and military attachés to fight, so the total number was about 3,500.
However, in order to attack Shangjiabao and the early capture of Zhaibao, they suffered more than 2,670 casualties, more than half of which were borne by veterans.
The total number of elite veterans and military attachés in the Chishan Army who can fight is just over 2,000; in addition, there are only more than 500 wounded and sick veterans.
It was a good thing that the Chuzhou army did not dare to bring all the elites up to attack their flanks. Otherwise, even if they were able to win in the end, their victory would be extremely dismal, desolate, and they would be covered in bruises.
At present, they have successfully captured Shangjia Fort, which is another breath of relief. Encouraged by this momentum, the size of the Chishan Army may expand to 20,000, 30,000, or even 40,000 or 50,000 in a very short period of time. However, the growth of the elite soldiers will be difficult.
needs time.
When the time comes, the few old soldiers and military attaches who are left are shared out. The result will only be that the combat effectiveness of each unit of the Chishan Army will be seriously reduced. However, military attachés and old soldiers must also be sent out, otherwise thousands of soldiers will join the army.
The slaves cannot even be organized into a basic battalion, let alone other aspects of restraint.
In the past, the Chuzhou Army and An Ning Palace looked at each other with bared teeth, neither wanting to spare their hands to deal with the Chishan Army, giving the other side an opportunity to take advantage of it, but what about after the fall of Shangjiabao?
The Chishan Army had no way to stop. It had no time to eliminate the weak and retain the strong, and there was no time to train new soldiers and train new military attachés.
With so many slaves and their families coming to surrender, if the Chishan Army expands to 40,000 to 50,000 troops in a short period of time, the number of vassalized old, weak, women, and children will exceed 300,000. Next, they will need to make arrangements to disperse and obtain food.
.
The grain they had collected before could only barely maintain a month's supply.
After the Shangjia Fort was captured, nearly 20,000 stones of grain and grain were seized, which seemed like a lot. However, after incorporating the slaves of Shangjia Fort, the size of the Chishan Army's soldiers, women, and children further expanded to 120,000. The grain and grain collected this time
, divided equally on everyone's head, there is less than fifteen or six kilograms of grain, which is only half a month's ration.
If you concentrate on one place, eat up all the food stored there, and then move to another place, it will only completely destroy the production system in one place after another, creating more refugees and hungry people.
At that time, it seems that the people and horses will be like a snowball, which will expand to millions, but it will also be a snowball that can explode and fall apart at any time.
Once they are dispersed to get food, the areas that the Chishan Army needs to take care of will become scattered and miscellaneous, and more and more flaws will be exposed.
By concentrating their strength at this time, they were able to capture Shangjia Fort.
Once they are dispersed, and the opposing aristocratic families become more and more antagonistic and sharp because of their conflicts with the Chishan Army, they will inevitably become more united. Will they still be able to win the battle without exposing any flaws?
And if a flaw is revealed, even if there is no movement from the Chuzhou Army and An Ning Palace, how many aristocratic families who hate them to the core will pounce on them and bite them?
Throughout history, the uprisings at the bottom of the dynasty in the last years of the dynasty have always been huge and overwhelming, sweeping across the Central Plains with devastation, but how quickly they turned from prosperity to failure, and how lightning-fast they were!
The destructive power of the grassroots uprising is extremely great, but what is more difficult is to solve the problem of one's own survival, and even more difficult is to solve the problem of one's own team building.
Those generals who rise from the bottom can serve as military attaches or even generals by virtue of their bravery, but their desires for the world are also very simple and direct. When their desires expand, once they reach the point where they are unstoppable, they will accelerate the entire snowball.
Fall apart.
To be honest, Han Qian is not afraid that Li Pu will take credit, but that he will not take credit.
Even when Li Pu and the others recruited strong soldiers and kicked out the old, weak, women and children, Han Qian endured it, hoping that they could tap the potential of the Prince's Palace, block one wing, and share all the pressure for him, while also winning for him.
More buffer time.
Of course, he now hopes that King Xin Yang Yuanyan and the Chuzhou Army can step forward to share more pressure for him and attract the hatred of the family...
…………
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Zhao Zhen packed up the remaining troops and abandoned the temporary camp at Baihuling. Wang Wenqian also retreated to Liyang City with the army.
Although this battle was far from damaging to the Chuzhou Army, they felt extremely bitter in their hearts. Not only did they lose troops, but they also watched as Shangjiapu, a key node in the expansion from Maoshan to the south, was captured by Han Qian.
middle.
What makes Wang Wenqian even more headache is that the situation in Jinling has become more complicated, and King Xin and the generals of the Chuzhou Army will become more restless and impatient.
The casualties were also officially calculated at this time. In this battle, they suffered more than a thousand casualties, including more than 400 injured. Nearly 600 elite soldiers were either killed in battle or captured by the Chishan Army. They also lost more than 600 precious war horses.
The Chishan Army had no affection for the Chuzhou Army's war horses. The disabled war horses were slaughtered on the spot, along with those killed on the battlefield, and their meat was cut and cooked to reward the entire army. The horses were skinned and sheathed to make up for the shortage of weapons.
Late at night, several fast horses galloped into Liyang City and issued an order: "Your Highness has an order, Sir Wang. After receiving the order, General Manager Zhao quickly went to the camp to attend the military meeting!"
Wang Wenqian ignored him and waited for Zhao Zhen to arrange the defense, then he took advantage of the dim light of dawn, surrounded by more than a hundred elite cavalry, and galloped towards Jingshan Nunnery.
Wang Wenqian's riding skills were good, but they were only good, and his body and bones were not comparable to those of generals who endured physical exertion every day.
After driving 150 miles a day, Wang Wenqian arrived at the Jingshan Temple camp before dusk. Wang Wenqian felt that his body was about to fall apart. There was no pain anywhere, and the inner thighs were bruised and bruised.
Only with the support of Yin Peng, he limped into the big tent with Zhao Zhen to participate in the discussion.
Rao Geng, Su Xingzhou, Ruan Yan and others had already taken their seats. Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan's eyes were sinister and deep.
It has only been a month since Danyang City was attacked and destroyed. Who would have thought that the situation on the southern front would be so disrupted by Han Qian?
Jingshan'an Camp planned to send troops to the west of Qiuhu Mountain in the near future to cut off the connection between the Qiuhu Mountain defenders and Jinling City, forcing the Nanya Forbidden Army and the Shouzhou Army to fight with them in the field, but now this plan obviously cannot be implemented rashly.
.
Seeing this scene, Wang Wenqian ignored his leg injury and saluted King Xin. He walked behind the case and listened to Ruan Yan and others discussing for a while. He also guessed that before he and Zhao Zhen came back, King Xin, Ruan Yan, Rao Geng and others were discussing the matter.
The current situation on the southern front has been discussed for a long time.
Wang Wenqian supported the long case with his hands, sat up straight, and said to Wang Xin Wang Yang Yuanpu:
"The Chishan army is fierce in appearance but internally weak. It threatens the mob. It swells quickly, but it also perishes quickly! The great bandits of the previous dynasty threatened the slaves and slaves of the refugees and invaded the Jianghuai and Central Plains. The army was so powerful when it was at its peak, but its demise was so sudden.
! Shangjiabao fell, and the Chishan Army's troops were directed towards the north of Xuanzhou. The noble families in Xuanzhou must be extremely frightened. When the Anning Palace is beyond the reach of the whip, we should divide our forces to respond. In addition to being able to collect the soldiers of the noble families for His Highness's use,
His Highness divided his troops to help guard Langxi and blocked the Chishan Army's passage from Fuyu Mountain to Jieling Mountain to Huzhou, forcing the Chishan Army to move around in a narrow space to the south and west of Jinling. When the troops were strong again, they would inevitably try to attack by force.
When the time comes to paint, quarry and wait for the south bank city west of Jinling, An Ning Palace and Shouzhou will not tolerate him, and we will reap the benefits of the two tigers fighting..."
"Although it is close to Yueyang to the west, the terrain is narrow. Why did Mr. Wang conclude that they will attack Dangtu and quarry stones instead of forcibly attacking Langxi to open a passage eastward to the two Zhejiang provinces?"
Ruan Yan, the Zhongmen envoy, was also a direct descendant of Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan for many years. He served as military counselor in Chuzhou and was highly valued by Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan. His status was not lower than that of Wang Wenqian. He was forty-six years old and had a long beard.
chest, piercing eyes stared at Wang Wenqian, and asked,
"After the Chishan Army captured Shangjia Fort, they recruited the slaves and maidservants in the fort. The number of soldiers and horses was almost 15,000, and I believe it will soon expand to 20,000, 30,000 or even higher. In the past, the generals looked down upon them and thought they were just a ragtag group.
It’s hard to believe, but at this time, which general just said that ten thousand soldiers and horses would be used to seal the Chishan Army’s eastward passage?”
Wang Wenqian wanted to say that although Zhao Zhen failed to contain the Chishan Army from attacking Shangjiapu on the southern front, it also greatly consumed many of the Chishan Army's precious veterans and made the Chishan Army more vulnerable. But thinking about the elite soldiers before
The cavalry didn't even have the courage to tear apart the bamboo pole formations formed by the Chishan Army's new soldiers on the flanks. It was obviously not convincing enough.
Wang Wenqian pondered for a while and said: "Reduce the garrison here and strengthen the southern front - Your Highness should have more patience..."
"Will Jiang Cheng's military plan for Qiuhu Mountain be completely abandoned?" Rao Geng, the forward general, asked.
"I just want to put it down for the time being and move the main force into Dantu and Danyang cities first." Faced with the opposition of Ruan Yan and others, even if the battle failed, Wang Wenqian still insisted on his opinion and explained to everyone what he had thought about along the way.
listen.
The Chishan army is heading directly towards Xuanzhou. The aristocratic families in Xuanzhou can't count on Anning Palace at this time. They will be able to win them over if they divide their forces. Then, together with the aristocratic families in northern Xuanzhou and southern Runzhou, they should be able to seal off the east.
line channel, blocking the Chishan Army in Jieling Mountain and west of Fuyu Mountain.
Not to mention Dangtu, Wuhu, and Yongan counties, Chizhou and Jiangzhou along the river to the west, and even crossing the river to the north into Chaozhou, Chuzhou and other places are the core areas controlled by Anning Palace and Shouzhou.
At this time, they can not only draw troops from Jingshan'an and go south, but they can even go one step further and withdraw all the troops and horses of the Jingshan'an camp to the Dantu, Beigushan, and Danyang lines. In addition to strengthening their control over the counties on the southern line, they can also
It can free up An Ning Palace to deal with the Chishan Army.
They can have the opportunity to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, why not?
Of course, Han Qian will never be easily forced to go westward by them. After all, it is not easy to open up the mountains and rivers between Yueyang and Yueyang in the west. He will definitely try his best to go eastward and enter the south coast of Taihu Lake and both sides of the Qianjiang River where grains are abundant.
Just food, but the offensive and defensive momentum has changed, and it is extremely fragile. Most of the people have no soldiers and armor, and there may be less than 2,000 old soldiers left. The Chishan Army still has the ability, or dares to attack several times in a row like the Shang family.
A strong fortress like a fortress?
What's more, if they withdraw their main force from the southern foot of Baohua Mountain and don't engage in a tense confrontation with Anning Palace, the mobilization of troops and horses will be much calmer than now. It's still a matter of debate whether Han Qian will dare to break through from the eastern front.
Woolen cloth.
"Han Qian may not be successful. If he gets to Xuanzhou, he can take a big breath. Mr. Wang, don't forget the Han family. The Feng family's connections in Xuanzhou are not weak," Ruan Yan said.
Wang Wenqian said: "Except for the two northern counties in Xuanzhou, which are slightly rich in grain and grain, the counties in Ningguo are located in Fuyu Mountain and Yishan Mountain. There are many mountains and few fields, and grain and grain are scarce. Unless the Chishan Army does not continue to expand, but if there are two to three hundred thousand women and children attached
In the past, the Chishan Army needed to support them, so how much grain did the Xuanzhou family have for them to exploit? Not to mention that Han Qian recruited slaves to join the army, which shook the foundation of the entire family, and the Xuanzhou family could not survive alone. "
Seeing Ruan Yan and Wang Wenqian having different opinions and arguing, Yang Yuanyan asked Zhao Zhen with a gloomy face:
"Zhao Zhen, what do you think?"
"Master Wang is very thoughtful, but as Master Ruan said, Han Qian may not always act according to Master Wang's ideas." Zhao Zhen glanced at Wang Wenqian and said.
Compared with Wang Wenqian, who is better at planning the overall situation, Zhao Zhen, as the leader of the army, prefers to seize the initiative in his hands.
Especially this time, if he could recruit three to five thousand local soldiers to defend the cities of Danyang, Jintan, and Liyang in advance, he would be able to mobilize all three thousand elite infantry of the Chuzhou Army from the defense of these three cities.
Then the outcome of this battle would be completely different, and he would no longer be ashamed to look at His Highness's cold eyes.
Zhao Zhen would not choose to stand on the same side as Wang Wenqian just because he had been with him these days.
At this time, Wang Wenqian predicted the situation. One premise was that Han Qian would abide by the oath he made after arriving in Jinling and would not abandon the old, weak, women and children. However, Zhao Zhen did not care about this. His views with Ruan Yan and others
They agree, and don’t think that Han Qian will really remain stubborn for a so-called oath.
Even if it is impossible for Han Qian to reconcile with the aristocratic families in Xuanzhou, as long as hundreds of thousands of old and weak women and children are moved into Xuanzhou, regardless of how fierce the competition for food between hundreds of thousands of old and weak women and children will be with the local aristocratic families in Xuanzhou,
He himself led 10,000 to 20,000 strong soldiers to defend the front line of Maoshan and Donglu Mountain. The grain and grain were enough to sustain him for a year. How could the Chuzhou Army spend another year with them on the eastern front?
Of course, there is another key reason why Zhao Zhen thinks so.
That is, Chuzhou is located on the battlefield buffer zone on the eastern front between Liang and Chu. Similar to Shouzhou and Xiangzhou, the old local aristocratic families have long been destroyed by decades of repeated wars. He and Rao
Geng and other generals who grew up in the army also lacked an intuitive and profound understanding of the stubbornness and strength of local aristocratic families.
Another point is that under Wang Wenqian's dissuasion, they did not completely take over the military administration of the counties in Runzhou and the counties to the east and south after crossing the river, let alone large-scale conscription of troops and grain. But they waited.
For so long, the local forces in these prefectures and counties are still sitting on the fence, calling Zhao Zhen, Rao Geng and other generals. How can they have the patience to continue waiting?
Wang Wenqian saw that not only the envoy Ruan Yan, but also most of the generals in the army were no longer patient. He looked at Yang Yuanyan and tried to persuade him: "I hope your highness will think twice before acting."
At this time, the guard standing outside the big tent handed a letter that had just arrived to Yang Yuan in front of the case.
Yang Yuanyan read it, but had no intention of circulating it. Instead, he held the letter in his hand, pressed down the long case, and said ruthlessly: "The envoy of the middle gate, Ruan Yan, is also the captain of the Beigu Mountain Military Prefecture. Incorporate Run."
The strongest slaves from Dantu, Jingkou and Danyang counties in Zhouzhou are serving as soldiers of the army. Anyone who disobeys will be treated as treason and will be killed without mercy!"
The land annexation in Dantu, Jingkou, and Danyang counties is serious. The three counties have a population of 300,000, and almost 100,000 are slaves. The establishment of the Beigushan Army Mansion to recruit the slaves of the three counties will provide nearly 30,000 new soldiers, which will greatly alleviate the problem.
The Chuzhou Army was short of troops on the south bank.
However, after the Chuzhou army crossed the river, the area under direct and strict control was these three counties. At this time, of course, they could recruit slaves from these three counties, and they were not afraid that the local forces in these three counties would dare to struggle and resist. But outside the three counties,
In the eyes of the noble families, how are they different from the Chishan Army?
Of course, speaking seriously, King Xin's decision is somewhat different from that of the Chishan Army. They only recruited the young and strong among the slaves. The aristocratic families in the three counties can continue to keep the old and weak women and children to do farming and other labor. At the same time, they did not say
Ask the noble families to hand over all their lands.
"What prompted His Highness to make this determination?" Wang Wenqian asked.
"See for yourself." Yang Yuanyan handed the letter to Wang Wenqian and said coldly.
Wang Wenqian glanced over, but it was Tan Ma, who was stationed on the west wing of Maoshan Mountain, who confirmed in the afternoon that the Chishan Army had more than 3,000 soldiers and horses, surrounded by a group of war equipment, heading towards Lishui City.
The Chishan Army made it clear that they would take advantage of the victory to divide their troops and attack Lishui City.
This seems to be in line with the judgment of Ruan Yan, Zhao Zhen and others:
Han Qian had no intention of leading the old, weak, women and children eastward to the south bank of Taihu Lake to get food. Instead, he wanted to lead the young and strong soldiers to stay at the front line of Maoshan and watch them fight with the two tigers of Anning Palace. Otherwise, why would they bother to attack Lishui City?
At this time, Wang Wenqian didn't know that Xinchang Hou Li Pu was interested in competing for merit, nor did he know that Xinchang Hou Lipu's judgment of Han Qian was actually no different from Ruan Yan, Zhao Zhen and others...
Wang Wenqian was speechless at this moment. After all, his previous judgment that the Chishan Army was fierce in appearance and inwardly weak seemed to be untenable?
"Can we wait and see for another two days?" Wang Wenqian said with difficulty.
"The opportunity is fleeting, why can't we wait here to look forward and backward?" Yang Yuanyan no longer listened to Wang Wenqian's advice, and signaled the central envoy Ruan Yan to act in accordance with the order, and quickly went to Beigu Mountain to recruit young slaves from three counties, but input
Camps were formed to make up for the lack of troops...
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Lishui guard general Xu Bin was a general in the Nanya military camp. As a mid-level and senior general promoted after the Jinling Incident, he only had one battalion of Nanya forbidden troops under his command. After the Chuzhou army crossed the river, he led it and took charge.
Stationed at Lishui.
There were only 500 soldiers in one battalion of the Forbidden Army, and the local officials and gentry were not very cooperative. Seeing the Chuzhou army's victory at Jingshan'an so sharply, Xu Bin felt depressed for a time.
The Chishan Army stationed in Maoshan caused chaos in the surrounding countryside, and the wealthy families in the county fled into the county town with their families in panic.
Xu Bin was also able to gather the aristocratic clan soldiers, and the county sword archers who were mainly composed of aristocratic clan soldiers no longer acted in secret. At one time, he had more than 2,000 generals in his hands. Especially since the aristocratic clan soldiers were quite effective in combat, he felt quite good.
Well, I have a secret feeling that even if the elite Chuzhou army comes over, Lishui City may not be unable to defend it.
But this feeling didn't last long, and was shattered as Shangjiabao fell into it.
Seeing the Marquis of Xinchang, Li Pu, and the military supervisor Zhang Ping slowly approaching with 3,000 horse infantry and stationing their camp outside the east city of Lishui City, Xu Bin sent people out of the north city to Jinling to ask for reinforcements.
In addition to maneuvering an elite force of 500 men, two sentry teams from each of the other three cities were transferred to the east city to strengthen the defense.
At night, together with the county magistrate, the county magistrate and other officials and gentry, they gathered all the heads of the aristocratic families in the city and asked them to send troops and food to guard the city.
The night was gloomy, except for the torches lit up and down the city wall, there was no light from the stars and the moon, hazy clouds shrouded the night sky, and the streets and alleys in the city were also dark. There were very few people showing off their wealth here and hanging lanterns under the eaves.
Even if the painting boat at Wanhong Mansion does not fold up its pallets and declare closure, no heartless children from aristocratic families will come here tonight to have fun.
In the dark night, the boat left its previous mooring and slowly headed downstream of the Mingshi River. No one noticed anything unusual.
The painting boat was moored at the end of Dongliu Lane. The pallets stretched out and were connected to the waterfront pier of a backyard house. The bottom cabin where the boatmen and maids lived suddenly opened, and dozens of figures filed away and entered the building.
A quiet house.
In this sultry summer night, everyone was wearing robes. Even if they were sweating, they were tied tightly with belts to prevent the armor plates they wore underneath from flapping and making too much noise, alerting everyone around them.
Yao Xishui's eyes, as deep as a spring, were hidden in the night, staring like poisonous snakes at the North City Gate Tower shrouded in lights to the north, where they would immediately launch a surprise attack from within.
