The source of Meizhu River comes out of the western foot of Jialing Mountain. Although the stream is shallow and slow, it is the boundary river between Runzhou and Xuanzhou and flows westward into Jingzhao Prefecture.
It’s mid-autumn in early August, but the weather on the south bank of the Yangtze River has not completely cooled down yet. The scorching sun at noon is still scorching the heat. In the shallow valley surrounded by low mountains on the south bank of Meizhu River, there are broken battles everywhere.
There were flags and corpses lying everywhere.
The blood seeped into the black soil and solidified, and the faint smell of blood spread in the breeze blowing between the sky and the earth.
Seeing the Chishan Army generals on the south bank crisscrossing and retreating to Nantang Village, Yin Peng was not overjoyed at repelling the Chishan Army at this moment. It was a fluke that their generals did not collapse, and they no longer had the ability to catch up and fight, but Shang Shang
The Chishan Army, which had spare strength, took the initiative to withdraw to Nantang Village at this time, which meant that a fact they were extremely unwilling to see had happened!
In the further direction, a black smoke rose straight up, which should be conveying some signal.
Yin Peng looked at Wang Wenqian with a sense of disappointment. Did Langxicheng fall so quickly?
Even though the elite members of the Ya army who were direct descendants of Gu Zhilong were transferred away from the mountain, there are still more than 4,000 Xuanzhou soldiers guarding Langxi City.
What's more, Gu Zhijun had personally been in Langxi for several months before, and it was impossible for him to do nothing. How could Langxi's defense be so weak, and it only lasted for more than a day before it fell?
At this time, dozens of probing horses galloped over from behind:
"His Royal Highness has personally led the Silver Halberd Guards here. They are less than ten miles away from here. He is asking you to use all your strength to entangle the Chishan Army on the south bank!"
The scout reined in the reins. The weather was getting colder, but the horse was running so wildly under his legs that he was dripping with heat and sweat. Sweat beads fell down like rain.
After hearing the news, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen looked at the Chishan Army on the south bank, where half of them had withdrawn into Nantanghan, and felt a stifling bitterness, unwillingness to bite their hearts.
A slight difference can make a difference a thousand miles!
If the defenders of Langxi City hold on for a moment longer and do not fall, if the Chishan Army on the south bank delays for a moment longer and does not withdraw to Nantang Village, or if His Highness can come earlier, the eight hundred silver halberd guards will surely be able to fight like a sharp sword.
With his sharp blade, the six to seven thousand Chishan Army on the south bank were torn into pieces, and after annihilating them, they first captured Nantang Village.
Even if Han Qian captured Langxi City first, his troops would still be remnant. They could use Nantang Village as a springboard to join the main force of the Xuanzhou Army and in turn besiege the remnants of the Chishan Army in Langxi City.
How are they going to fight now?
In the war that broke out in just two days, the Chishan Army suffered extremely heavy casualties. On the south bank of Meizhu River alone, the Chishan Army left two thousand corpses. The number of injured should still be above this number. I believe that the Chishan Army attacked Lang.
The casualties in Xicheng and the Xuancheng reinforcements intercepted in Honglinbu should not be lower than this number.
But no matter what, the Chishan Army still has 17,000 to 8,000 troops that can fight on the Eastern Front in a short period of time.
They and the Xuanzhou soldiers were unable to defend Langxi City, nor were they able to defeat any Chishan Army that intercepted them along the way. What's the next step?
Yes, the Chishan Army suffered heavy casualties in order to intercept them on the north bank of Meizhu River. The reduction was at least 4,000. However, after joining the reinforcements from the east, the soldiers and horses that had withdrawn into Nantang Village in an orderly manner at this time were still there.
There are nearly seven thousand people.
And their casualties here are not necessarily better than those of the Chishan Army.
Joining forces with reinforcements from Jintan, Yangyang, and Danyang, they invested a total of more than 11,000 troops in the valley west of Nantangzhai and south of Meizhu River, which was three to four miles wide. However, there were no casualties.
There are also four thousand people.
In other words, with a considerable number of elite troops, they only had a draw with the Chishan Army on the battlefield?
Now that the Chishan Army can withdraw to Nantangzhai to rest and recuperate, the remaining soldiers who retreated to the north bank of Meizhu River to rest and recuperate are exhausted and their morale is extremely low. They are not defeated. The main reason is that the veterans of the Chuzhou Army are more resilient, but their overall condition is worse than that of the soldiers on the south bank.
The Chishan Army was even worse, on the verge of collapse, and urgently needed to retreat to Liyang City for rest.
We can’t expect His Highness to lead a group of only 800 Silver Halberd Guards to storm Nantang Village, right?
I believe that Gu Zhilong's Xuancheng reinforcements who attacked Honglinbu from the south should also be exhausted. Langxicheng has fallen by this time, which will also be a heavy blow to the morale of the Xuancheng reinforcements in a short period of time. At this time, they can only be forced to retreat first.
If we go to Xuancheng, we won't be able to continue fighting in a short period of time.
The Chishan Army is so resilient, it's really hard to imagine that these low-life bastards dare to fight like this and don't take their lives seriously at all.
After the fall of Langxi City, the Chuzhou Army and Xuanzhou Army were forced to withdraw. This would not only boost the morale of the Chishan Army, but also give them a rare opportunity to breathe, allowing them to use the materials captured in Langxi City to quickly recover.
, it can even make the Chishan Army's combat effectiveness even better than before.
After all, the material conditions of the Chishan Army were so poor and crude before.
But if not, so what?
Wang Wenqian deeply regretted that even if the original suggestion to blockade the eastern flank of the Chishan Army was not adopted, after the Chishan Army marched southward to Fuyu Mountain, he should have insisted on increasing the garrison on the southern front to more than 20,000 people.
If they could have 10,000 more elite troops here at this time, the outcome would definitely be completely different!
But what's the use of regret?
Since the Chishan Army has not yet completely withdrawn to Nantang Village, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen have to keep an eye on them here and cannot go to meet King Xin Yang Yuanyan in person.
After burning the incense, thousands of horse hooves kicked the land on the north bank of Meizhu River like a violent storm.
Yang Yuanyan did not expect that he would come with his personal guards in person. After all, he was a step too late. Seeing that only a few generals of the Chishan Army were still stranded outside Nantang Village on the south bank, he angrily stabbed Ma Shan towards the creek.
in the soft mud.
"Your Highness, please give me eight hundred cavalry!" Wang Wenqian said.
"..." Yang Yuanyan looked at Wang Wenqian in confusion.
"Before the attack on Langxi City, Gu Zhilong sent people to ask for help and surrender to His Highness, but Langxi City should have fallen by now, and Gu Zhilong may change his mind at any time," Wang Wenqian said, "At this time, the Chishan Army should not be able to blockade it.
As for the passage between the west bank of Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain, I want to rush to Xuancheng to find Gu Zhilong to finalize the matter to prevent him from changing his mind!"
Gu Zhilong most likely wanted to eat Han Qian alive at this time, but in the face of the cruel reality, especially the Chuzhou Army, which was temporarily unable to attack the Chishan Army on a large scale from the north, to help Gu Zhilong recapture Langxi City, the remaining Xuanzhou Army was almost the same.
Will be forced by the Chishan Army on the inside line south of Nanyi Lake. At this time, Wang Wenqian really has no confidence that Gu Zhilong will not succumb to the force of Yueyang and the Chishan Army.
If that were the case, the situation on the southern front would be too bad for the Chuzhou Army. It might be the heaviest blow the Chuzhou Army had suffered since they crossed the river, and it would also trigger a series of uncontrollable chain reactions.
Now he is requesting to lead 800 cavalry to Xuancheng. In addition to strengthening the confidence and strength of the Xuanzhou soldiers to resist the Chishan Army, another point is that even if he cannot ask Gu Zhilong to send some of his children to Dan Tu to serve as hostages, he must
He urged Gu Zhilong to immediately kill Han Wenhuan, Han Daochang, Han Jun and others who fell into his hands to ensure that Gu Zhilong would never fall to Yue Yang.
If the Chishan Army can achieve this step, even if the Chishan Army temporarily takes away Langxi City, it does not mean that the Chuzhou Army will definitely lose on the southern front.
After listening to Wang Wenqian's explanation, Yang Yuanyan could also realize the seriousness of the situation.
Zhao Zhen's cavalry had fought hard, but less than 400 men were left to continue fighting. Yang Yuanyan was just about to transfer 400 men from the Silver Halberd Guards for Wang Wenqian to take to Xuancheng to meet Gu Zhilong. At this time, several cavalrymen came from the cavalry.
The mountains to the southwest are bypassed by horses.
"Langxi City has been captured by the Chishan Army, but except for the wounded soldiers, the Chishan Army's besieging troops have no intention of entering Langxi City to rest. More than 4,000 remaining soldiers surrounded by a group of war weapons went straight to Honglinbu in the south.
And go - in addition, there are a large number of soldiers and horses moving towards Langxi City from the direction of Guangde, and will enter Langxi City in an hour!" The scout did not bother to take a sip of water, and with a smoky throat, he shouted at the soldiers on the southern line.
The intelligence was reported to Yang Yuanpu and Wang Wenqian knew about it.
"Han Qian is going to attack Xuancheng next? Where can he mobilize troops from the eastern front?" Yang Yuanyan's face was as gloomy as water, and he also took a breath of cold air at this time.
The Chishan Army had already assembled 30,000 troops. On the eve of the launch of the surprise attack on Langxi, 3,000 troops were left at Jiudu Mountain and Xianshan Lake on the eastern front, together with the 4,000-year-old army led by the coward Li Pu to guard against Huzhou.
There was no movement, but in addition to leaving more than a thousand garrison troops and horses in Guangde Village, in just two days, Han Qian almost devoted all the main force of the Chishan Army of nearly 26,000 people to the three battlefields on the Western Front.
It can be said that Han Qian had already drained all the Chishan Army's strength during the raid on Langxi City.
The Chishan Army fought fiercely for two days and suffered at least 8,000 casualties, leaving 17,800 exhausted soldiers, 7,000 of whom were at Nantang Village, and more than 10,000 exhausted soldiers on the front lines of Langxi and Honglinbu.
Soldiers, why should Han Qian continue to attack Xuancheng? How could there be soldiers and horses in the east for him to continue recruiting on the western front?
"Han Qian is not necessarily eager to capture Xuancheng by force. His first step is to block the passage through which we can enter Xuancheng to communicate and meet Gu Zhilong."
Wang Wenqian was filled with a sense of powerlessness at this moment.
Yes, how could Han Qian be satisfied just by taking over Langxi City?
Yes, after the Chishan Army showed its superior combat effectiveness, how could Han Qian just sit back and watch Gu Zhilong join the Chuzhou Army and continue to threaten the Chishan Army's western flank?
How could a man like Han Qian fail to see the strategic significance of connecting the three states of Hengzhou via Raohong and Yuan after opening the Xuanshe Channel?
Wang Wenqian said bitterly,
"The Chishan Army is no different from the refugee army. The old, weak, women and children can be mobilized regardless of their health. At this time, Han Qian only needs to mobilize a group of women and children to help him defend the city for two or three days. But in the past
The most serious mistake we made was to seriously underestimate Han Qian’s ability to mobilize and organize the elderly, weak, women and children..."
At present, Zhao Zhen's troops are exhausted, the casualties are too heavy, and the morale is extremely low. It is extremely lucky that they are not defeated and collapsed.
Although the eight hundred Silver Halberd Guards under Yang Yuanyan were able to fight, they had already driven nearly two hundred miles on the muddy road. If they drove another hundred miles and collided with the Chishan Army in the north of Xuancheng, what chance would they have of winning?
?
What's more, if Zhao Zhen leads the remaining troops to retreat to Liyang for rest and recuperation, Han Qian will be able to mobilize two to three thousand capable soldiers from Nantang Village to go south. Even if Gu Zhilong dares to lead Xuancheng's five or six thousand remaining soldiers to fight out of the city, what are the chances of winning?
Before yesterday, Wang Wenqian would have suggested that Wang Wenqian give it a try. After all, the combat resilience of the Silver Halberd Guards was unimaginable for ordinary elites. But now Wang Wenqian has backed down. He really doesn't know that the ragged Chishan Army is in Han Qian's hands.
How much potential can be squeezed out?
Once these low-life bastards unleash their fearless ferocity, they will have unimaginable combat power. Just like the Dragon Bird Army back then, who would have dared to imagine that they could withstand the elite Liang Army for so long while guarding Xichuan.
bloody siege?
In this battle on the south bank of Meizhu River, the Chishan Army suffered more casualties than they did, but even so, their morale was still very high. However, their generals were too physically exhausted and too weak, otherwise they would have suffered an embarrassing defeat in this battle.
Return to Liyang.
Who could have imagined this before the war?
It's just that we don't send troops to Xuanzhou to join Gu Zhilong at this time. After two or three days, the front line from Nantangzhai to Langxicheng to Honglinbu, and even the key pass between Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain will be firmly held by the Chishan Army.
With it in hand, wouldn't Gu Zhilong's contact with the Northern Front be completely cut off?
Is it possible that the main force of the Chuzhou Army could completely ignore the threats from the Shouzhou Army and the Nanya Forbidden Army and move the main force southward?