Han Qian and others led the dwarf horses that were trafficked into Xuzhou from central Guizhou. They stood in the woods to the west of the river mouth and looked at the lake to the north with frowning eyes. They could vaguely see the boats protruding from the north.
mast.
He, Kong Xirong and others all wore a simple piece of leather armor outside their worn-out coats. Bows, halberds and sabers were hung on both sides of the saddles. They were all rusty and old, making them look like scouts sent by the refugee forces to inspect the horses or
A poor ranger who wanders around Hongze Punan.
It was freezing cold, so it was obvious that no ordinary people would wander around Hudangkou in the north of Shiliang County at this time.
Only in this way can they conceal their true identities and avoid being accidentally discovered by scouts sent by the You Shenwu Army or other refugee forces, and encounter sudden attacks.
In the dream world, in later generations, the south bank of the Yellow River burst its banks, floods invaded the Huaihe River channel, and a large amount of silt accumulated, causing the Huaihe River's entrance to the sea to be blocked, forcing the water from the upper reaches of the Huaihe River and the Yellow River to enter Hongzepu, and then through Hongzepu to the
To the south, it enters the Yangtze River waterway and enters the sea.
This caused the water level of Hongzepo to rise, forming the size of the great lake that later became known.
Although Hongzepo in that era covered a very wide area, the water level was not as deep as in later generations, and a complete lake area had not yet been formed. It was actually composed of large and small lakes, swamps, and depressions such as Fuling Lake, Pofutang, Nidun Lake, and Wanjia Lake.
A group of shallow lakes.
The terrain of Hongzepu is complex, even worse than that of Dongting Lake at that time.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Sui Dynasty, in order to connect Fanliang Lake and the Huaihe River, the rulers at that time would rather spend more effort to dig and repair the waterway in the northern section of Hangou, rather than borrow a road from Hongzepu. This was mainly because the terrain in Hongzepu was complex.
It is easy for water bandits to breed and hide, and the terrain of the lake area is easy to change.
As the most elite naval force in Da Chu, the Louchuan Army had always used Hongzepu as its main stronghold to control the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers when Emperor Yanyou first rose to power in Huainan. The changes in water conditions in Hongzepu in the past ten or twenty years were naturally
He understood it very well, so he was able to calmly retreat to Hongzepu after the defeat of Jinling.
As for the left and right Wuya Army, except for a very few surrendered generals from the Louchuan Army such as Fan Xiang, most of the generals and military attachés were also extremely unfamiliar with the water conditions in Hongzepu.
From this point of view, if Han Qian had the opportunity to participate in the political affairs hall, he would also firmly oppose the main force of the Dachu Navy entering the Hongzepu battle in such a hasty manner.
Even if the whole thing is not a trap set by Liang Jun and Xu Mingzhen, the main force of the Dachu Navy is not sure of victory in this trip.
Seeing hundreds of sails turning westward in the distance, it was expected that the remnants of Lailou's fleet had already received the news and were ready to fight or avoid, but they just didn't know where the first battle would be or when it would break out.
At this time, several people entered the woods from the west. Guo Xiao, who was disguised as a refugee, led two members of the congregation who were dedicated to criticizing the military situation. They used the secret messages left by Han Qian, Kong Xirong and others to find and rendezvous.
"From Bieziding and Yandun Mountain to the north and west, there are hidden sentries deployed by the Shouzhou Army to detect horses. There is no way to penetrate through, and there is no way to see the situation along the west flank of Hongzepu up close," Guo Xiao
He came forward to report the situation of their exploration into Haozhou territory in the past two days, and said, "We acted on the spur of the moment without making any preparations. Penetration was difficult, but even if the scouts and spies sent by the Youshenwu Army and the Zifang Division were prepared in terms of time,
It needs to be more comprehensive, but it should not be able to detect the military situation north of the Huaihe River mouth!"
The Huaihe River flows from the west of Hongzepo and Zhongli County, Haozhou, and from the east of Hongzepo and Huaiyang County.
In other words, a Huaihe River connects Hongzepu to four major areas: northwest, northeast, southeast and southwest.
In the previous dynasty, part of the northwest area of Hongzepu was under the jurisdiction of Suyu County, Sizhou, and part of it was under the jurisdiction of Suyu County, Sizhou.
Xiaqiu County in Haozhou, but after several battles, the Liang and Chu countries were almost stable with the Huaihe River as the boundary to the west of Hongzepu, so that the northwest area of Hongzepu was completely returned to Xuzhou of the Liang Kingdom.
On the contrary, the northeastern part of Hongzepu, that is, the eastern area of Sizhou, Haizhou and other places east of Hongzepu and north of the Huaihe River, has been under the control of Dachu due to the aggressive offensive of King Xin Yang Yuanpu in recent years.
At present, Guo Xiao and others are in a hurry and cannot even penetrate into Zhongli County, Haozhou, let alone cross the Huaihe River to Xiaqiu County and Suyu County to spy on the military situation. From Xiaqiu and Suyu to the north, Xuzhou City is even more difficult to penetrate.
An important military town in the southeast of the country.
"Let's go back. The results should be available in the next two days!"
Knowing that Haozhou, currently under the control of the Shouzhou Army, was so difficult for even a small group of scouts to penetrate, Han Qian was able to determine what was going on.
He did not wait for the main vanguard of the Five Tooth Army to formally engage with the Lou Chuan Army at the bank of Hongzepu, so he took Kong Xirong, Guo Xiao and others directly back to Baitigang.
Han Qian returned to Baitigang. Lin Zongjing, Wei Chang and others, who were responsible for escorting three Xuzhou merchant ships this time, were already waiting at Baitigang.
Since the speed of the ship would be much slower when going upstream, and it would also be subject to interrogation and surveillance along the way, the several messengers who rushed to Xuzhou to deliver orders all chose to take the land route, and naturally they would pass by Xuzhou merchant ships.
Lin Zongjing and Wei Chang only realized that the situation was likely to change drastically at any time after they rushed to Guazhou Port in the south of Jiangdu County and received a report from the Chishan Society.
At present, Hangou is still under the control of the cavalry of the You Shenwu Army. Xuzhou merchant ships are also prohibited from entering Hangou, so they anchored at the Guazhoubu River. Lin Zongjing and Wei Chang first rushed to Baitigang to see Han Qian.
"Since the weirs and dams of Hangou are controlled by Chang Guogong Li Pu and the right Shenwu cavalry, and Xuzhou merchant ships are prohibited from entering Hangou, then your Excellency should rush to Guazhou Ferry with Lin Zongjing and Wei Chang at this time, and take this opportunity to sit down
For merchant ships to leave Yangzhou and head west, it is best to go to the waters near Chizhou or Jiangzhou and wait for the main force of Shuiying to arrive from Xuzhou to meet up." Feng Liao advised Han Qian, "I can just stay here."
"Master Feng, please follow me and leave first," Dou Rong said. "For the rest of the matters here, we will just follow the plan and nothing will go wrong."
Han Qian pondered for a long time and felt that if he continued to stay, he might not be able to play a greater role. He told Feng Liao and Dou Rong: "The situation is unpredictable. You may need to contact Wang Wenqian in advance, or you may need to evacuate to Yangzhou first.
In order to avoid the enemy's front, Feng Liao, you stay here with Dou Rong, Su Lie and others - we and Zong Jing will rush to Guazhou Port first, and Donghu and the others will be newly assembled in the elite congregation near Guazhou Port.
take away……"
The three Xuzhou merchant ships that have arrived at Guazhou Port are all carrying 4,000 stone and have extremely deep drafts. They are slow to enter Hangou, let alone Hongzepu, where the water conditions are more complicated, and it is impossible to sail from the shallow silt of stone.
The Tang River and other streams and rivers come and go.
However, as quasi-armed merchant ships, the three Xuzhou merchant ships retained their oar holes and oar-operating rooms. They only needed simple modifications to be used as galleys on the Yangtze River waterway.
As for a four-thousand-stone galley, each ship requires at least sixty oarsmen, in addition to the normal boatmen and helmsmen, and can also arrange for two hundred soldiers.
Lin Zongjing and others did not know that the situation would change like this beforehand. When they came from Xuzhou, there were only 150 sailors and armed guards on the three ships.
At present, in addition to the hundreds of guards accompanying Han Qian, it is also possible to pick up four to five hundred elite members from the south bank to board the ship, directly fully arm the three merchant ships, and wait in the Yangtze River waterway first...
…………
…………
As the remnant of Qianshan extending to the area east of Chaozhou, the Wujian Mountains stretch from southwest to northeast, more than 200 miles long, and are located between Chaozhou, Chuzhou, and Haozhou.
The mountainous terrain of the Wujian Mountains is far from dangerous. It is dominated by low peaks with a height of 30 to 50 feet. However, it is the watershed of the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River in Huaixi.
Mopanling in the middle section of the Wujian Mountains is located just north of Chuzhou City. The terrain here is relatively gentle, with many valleys. There are post roads built in the early years. It is a shortcut that goes directly south from Haozhou City into the western area of Chuzhou, approaching the north bank of the Yangtze River and
Important place.
There was originally a camp for the Youshenwu Army here, with more than a thousand soldiers and horses stationed there to prevent the enemy from suddenly attacking Chuzhou City from the north.
However, at this time, the Mopanling camp was full of flags, and in the biting cold wind, Li Chong was wearing armor, holding the reins and reining in his horse, stopping beside Chen Mingsheng, and looking at the elite soldiers on the school field.
Gao Chengyuan, the commander of the Wuya Army on the left, has personally led the main warship group of the forward force of the Dachu Navy into Hongzepu. Fan Xiang, the commander of the Wuya Army on the right, has led the main rear force of the Dachu Navy and has entered Fanliang Lake to advance north.
As a coordinating force to monitor the main activities of the rebels in the direction of Shouzhou, Li Chong, the Sima of the Right Shenwu Army, has cooperated with the capital commander Chen Ming, the capital general Gao Long and others to gather a total force of more than 12,000 here.
The rest of the troops were horse and infantry.
They are about to pass through the valley of Mopanling and enter the northern foothills of the Wujian Mountains to station themselves. Their main task in the early stage is to delay the main force of the rebels from moving eastward to reinforce Zhongli County and other cities. In the later stage, they will assist the Dachu River.
The main force of the division occupied many fortresses in the southwest of Hongzepu.
At this time, a small group of men and horses galloped past the camp. Li Chong looked over and found that it was Xu Jing, the head of the Staff Division who had followed his father, Li Xiu, Li Qi and others to the west of Yangzhou to control the Hangou waterway. He came with a group of subordinates.
.
"Are you still honest over there in Yangzhou?" Li Chong opened his mouth and asked when he saw Xu Jing reining in the reins and stopping his horse to come over.
Huaidong was forcefully ordered to give up control of Hangou, so that the main force of the Dachu navy could pass through Hangou and move northward. The government and the public were all excited. The Zhifang Division also arranged a considerable part of its reconnaissance force to Shaobo Lake and Fanliang.
In the area east of the lake, monitor every move of the 50,000 Huaidong troops stationed in this area.
"King Xin's troops are quite honest. The Duke is worried that once Hongzepu is developed, the main force of the Shouzhou Army may move eastward for reinforcements at any time. He asked me to come over to strengthen the reconnaissance of the enemy's situation in the east of Shouzhou and the west of Haozhou..." Xu Jing said
.
Xu Jingnai was born in Honglou in the late 1980s and was recommended by Li Pu to join the Privy Council's Staff Department as chief official. However, his qualifications were still not comparable to those of Zhao Mingting in the early days. He did not have very strong soldiers and generals under his command. The military intelligence scout team had just been established.
Formation.
However, Xu Jing is one of the few candidates in Changguo's government who can take charge of the Privy Council Staff Department.
"By the way, I heard the news yesterday that three Xuzhou merchant ships were heading to Yangzhou again. Did you see the Xuzhou merchant ship before you came here?" Li Chong asked.
"Well, it was blocked outside Hangou by the Duke's order. It should still be anchored in Guazhoubu at this time, right?" Xu Jing said.
"My father is really honest. As I said, he will directly recruit these three Xuzhou merchant ships and supplies into the army to see if Xuzhou has any nonsense to say." Li Chong said with a smile.
"After the rebel navy is severely damaged this time and Haozhou is successfully recovered, it will not be too late for the Duke to free up his hands to teach Xuzhou a lesson." Xu Jing said with a smile.
Li Chong could hear Xu Jing saying that they couldn't afford to offend Xuzhou at the moment, and he felt a little unhappy. However, he thought that a great victory was in sight, and the reputation of the Changguo Duke's Palace would be the same for a while, and it was indeed only then that he would be completely proud.
