Mobilizing troops and horses, assembling supplies all require a process.
The two sides have been confronting each other for many years along the Chu River and Fucha Mountain. Not to mention the secret spies who infiltrated each other, the scouts of both sides were staring at each other at a distance of three to five hundred paces when they were closest to each other.
It is difficult to hide the mobilization of thousands of troops and horses from anyone, let alone the mobilization of troops and horses on a larger scale and the accumulation of combat materials.
Taking advantage of the need to protect the bride along the way and to demonstrate force, the most elite combat forces from Tangyi, Puyang, Tingshan, and Wushou cities were mobilized and gathered near Liyang City. It may be very possible to paralyze the enemy forces in the north.
Neglect of response, but the most critical question is what is the goal of gathering these elite troops to launch a surprise attack, or what is Han Qian's intention in launching this surprise attack?
This was also the first reaction when Feng Liao, Han Daoming, and Han Daochang crossed the river and heard that Han Qian had a new battle plan; but the old man Han Wenhuan was as steady as a rock, sitting in the hall, looking at the people in the hall with the help of the slightly swaying candles.
layout.
It was only after Zhao Ting'er came with his son that Lianyuan was officially opened. However, Han Qian still handled official duties at the East Lake Camp. Except for the study room in the back house, the layout of the main hall and other buildings here was very simple.
This time, because I wanted to give a grand gift in Lianyuan, I added some decorative objects, but they were far from being rich and powerful.
Han Daoming, Han Daochang, and Feng Liao were far less relaxed and contented than the old man.
In the past year, in order to reduce military resources and expand farming, the Shouzhou Army also reduced its active troops to 80,000. This time, as the Zuowu Guards moved to Yingshan and Lishan counties in the northeast of Suizhou, they also
Some soldiers and horses will be transferred to Guangzhou and Huozhou to strengthen the blockade and security of the eastern foothills of Tongbai Mountain west of Huaiyang Mountain. However, the Shouzhou Army still has nearly 50,000 elite soldiers and horses on the southern front.
As well as the Zuo Longque Army who stayed behind the Lujiang defense line.
At this time, there were 20,000 Liang Army elites led by Liang Army General Chen Kun in Zhongli and the northern part of Shiliang County.
There are a total of 20,000 soldiers in Tangyi along the Chu River and Fucha Mountain. Even if we can quietly gather 4,000 or 5,000 elite soldiers to Liyang or Donghu County, and take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to penetrate deep into the enemy's territory, how can we
do what?
Feng Liao has been in Jinling for more than ten days. Taking advantage of the Youlongwu Army's expansion of defense along the river and coastal areas east of Runzhou, he is cooperating with Han Daoming and Han Daochang to coordinate the eastward movement of merchant ships from the Chishan Conference, and has also expressed his opinions on the new battle plan here.
Nothing is known.
However, Han Qian did not mention this matter in the correspondence before, mainly out of the need for confidentiality. Now that Feng Liao, Han Daoming, and Han Daochang have all arrived in Liyang, Han Qian will directly proceed with what the General Intelligence Staff Department has drawn up these days.
The battle plan is put out for everyone to review and see if there are any omissions or areas that need to be added, subtracted, or adjusted.
At present, Tangyi's army consists of one navy, one cavalry, four infantry, the Tianping independent infantry led by Tan Xiuqun, and the Wujianshan guerrilla infantry led by Kong Xirong.
In addition to the guerrilla infantry that has always insisted on relying on Wujianshan to fight, the Tangyi soldiers' defense focus for the past half year has been on the eastern front where there are no terrain obstacles.
At present, the main force of the navy is stationed in Dongguan Town outside Donghu and Ruxukou, and there is no need for additional assembly.
Other plans were to use the generals and troops gathered to welcome the bride and participate in the wedding banquet, including Zhao Wuji and Han Donghu, who commanded the cavalry and guard cavalry; in Tiancheng, General Su Lie led two battalions of elites to be transferred from Tangyi City, leaving Feng Zhang to stay in Tangyi City; Feng Xuan
He led two battalions of elites to be transferred from Puyang. Liuxiao Dahu, with Puyang City as the center, was responsible for the defense along the middle and lower reaches of the Chu River. Dou Rong led two battalions of elites to be transferred from Tingshan. Liuzhou was responsible for the defense with Tingshan as the center.
For the defense along the upper reaches of the Chu River, Lin Haizheng and Tan Xiuqun's troops are currently mainly stationed near Fucha Mountain and will not be mobilized for the time being. However, there will be three battalions of elites led by He Liufeng, Lin Jiang, Dong Tai and others to prepare for direct operations.
Preparations for dispatch from Fuchashan.
In addition to the main force of the navy led by Yang Qin, the troops planned for the raid this time were headed by Han Qian and included Tian Cheng, Zhao Wuji, Feng Xuan, Tan Xiuqun, Han Donghu, Su Lie, Dou Rong, He Liufeng and other generals.
, a total of nine battalions of cavalry and infantry will be mobilized, with a total of 5,000 elite combat forces.
Among them, the seven battalions of infantry will also be assigned horses to replace their legs in the name of escorting the bride and showing force.
Although in the past nearly a year, the cavalry and cavalry guards have only numbered 1,500 soldiers and horses (including the auxiliary soldiers who take care of the horses, there are only 1,200 soldiers), Han Qian has spared no effort to win the battle from Qianzhong
A large number of oxen, horses, donkeys and mules were purchased locally to supplement Tangyi's shortage of livestock for farming, land transportation and crafts workshops. At this time, an additional three to four thousand military horses were used as foot power, and these infantry were upgraded to horse infantry.
No pressure.
For the elite soldiers of various tribes, they also have horseback riding training in daily life. Marching on horseback is not difficult. It is just the usual training and the configuration of soldiers and armor. When encountering the enemy, they still have to dismount and form a formation to face the enemy.
After reading the battle plan, Feng Liao and Han Daoming realized that Han Qian suddenly came up with the idea of this raid after seeing a copy of the Shuzhou memorial. It was a temporary idea, so he wrote a letter asking them to persuade the Shou King Yang Zhitang.
Promote the move of the Zuowu Guards to Suizhou as quickly as possible.
As the Zuowu Guards moved to Suizhou in batches, the Shouzhou Army was forced to adjust its troop deployment between Chaozhou and Huozhou. This process would inevitably cause some confusion in defense connection, which would allow them to seize opportunities.
opportunity.
The first batch of scouts from the Military Intelligence Staff Department were dispatched a few days ago, sneaking into the hinterland behind Chaozhou City to monitor the enemy's movements and the Shouzhou Army's defense adjustments to prepare for subsequent raids.
With such frequent military reconnaissance, even if the enemy is aware of it, it will not alert the enemy.
All the preparations made here are more like Han Qian's preparation to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack here on his wedding day.
Obviously, enemy generals such as Wen Bo and Zhao Mingting who were guarding Chaozhou and Chuzhou would never stand still for fear of spoiling Han Qian's interest.
Of course, no matter what, this battle plan is extremely bold.
After all, the Shouzhou Army was in Chaozhou, and Chuzhou's front-line troops would not be weakened too much. In terms of total strength, they still had an absolute advantage over the Tangyi Army.
Assembling five thousand elite soldiers and horses here to launch a raid into the hinterland of Chaozhou, how many results can be obtained before the troops of the Shouzhou Army react?
Han Daochang was in charge of family affairs in his early years, and he only served as the envoy in recent years. He knew very little about commanding troops to fight. However, Han Daoming has been in charge of local military and political affairs all year round. Even if he did not achieve many dazzling achievements, he was rare in the DPRK.
The pragmatic minister, after pondering for a long time, still felt that there were too many difficulties to overcome in carrying out such a surprise attack, and he also knew that there were too many risks involved, so he asked:
"If we want to fight like this, Tangyi only has less than 2,000 war horses. How can we ensure the rapid maneuvering of the raiding troops? Even if the Shouzhou Army fails to be alert at the first time, it can be carried out within two days.
Tens of thousands of cavalry have been gathered from various places. How can the raiding troops escape calmly as quickly as possible..."
"I have no idea how to escape calmly, and the most elite soldiers and horses of the Tangyi soldiers are conducting surprise attacks on the enemy territory. Without the courage and combat power to face tens of thousands of enemy cavalry, the training and preparations for the past year would not be considered worthy.
It works." Han Qian smiled confidently.
"After raiding one or two targets, you didn't withdraw in time?" Han Daoming was slightly startled and asked hesitantly.
The combat plan drawn up by the Military Intelligence Staff Division, in addition to formulating the early marching direction, goals and feasible marching channels, logistical supplies along the way, and several feasible evacuation plans in case of setbacks to make preliminary preparations, there is more to it.
Collect various military intelligence such as enemy fortresses, transportation roads, food storage, troop deployment, etc.
However, when combat troops enter enemy territory and really have to collide with the enemy's main force, how the battle is fought and how the situation will evolve mainly depends on the decisions made at the time. It is difficult to say that everything has been fully considered now.
"It's just a sneak attack on one or two enemy forts, or the destruction of one or two facilities. If Tangyi spends so much effort on a raid, the gains outweigh the losses. What worries me the most now is that the enemy might slow down and attack me.
The Fucha Mountain and Chuhe defense lines launched a counterattack - the enemy didn't even need to slow down, maybe they were secretly planning to launch a large-scale offensive at this time, so as to spoil my interest in the bridal chamber." Han Qian said with a slight frown.
.
Han Daoming nodded, this was what he was worried about.
According to common sense, Han Qian should do everything possible to strengthen the defense of the Chuhe River and Fucha Mountain at this time to prevent the enemy from launching an offensive on his wedding day, instead of leaving the bridal chamber closed and leading the enemy.
Enter enemy territory and launch an attack.
Of course, maybe everyone in the world thinks so, so when Han Qian leads his troops into the enemy's territory, it will be more sudden and the effect of the surprise attack will be more significant.
"Even after the raid troops and horses are dispatched, I will sign a military order to conduct a more extensive military mobilization to supplement the lack of combat effectiveness in each camp, but the pressure on Fucha Mountain and along the Chu River is still not light," Han Qian continued
He said, "Of course, the old man and so many relatives and friends of the Han family braved the severe cold to cross the river to attend the wedding banquet, but I can't stay in Liyang City to accompany them. It's really disrespectful."
"It is not easy for Tangyi to be in such a situation, but as long as you feel confident, you don't need to consider me," Han Daoming said, "and I will wait here and take care of the wedding for you. You don't need to worry about it anymore."
These trivial matters distract..."
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Liyang City is still immersed in the atmosphere of welcoming the wedding. Han Qian's residence in Liyang City and the interior and exterior of Lianyuan have already been decorated with lights and colorful decorations. Many places are even decorated with red silk; the doors and windows have also been painted with tung paint;
Twenty or thirty servants were also added to take care of the house.
"It is said that a man with a lot of gold cannot sit down in court. As the commander-in-chief of Tangyi, you can just use Tian Cheng or Gao Shao to lead the army this time. Why do you need to lead the army yourself? Besides, Wang Jun came to Liyang City to fight with you.
You are getting married, but you are not in Liyang when the time comes. Do you want me to go to her to marry her on your behalf?" Zhao Ting'er held her slightly protruding belly in her hands, looking at Han Qian who was sitting under the lamp reviewing letters, and said softly
Advise.
Han Qian put down the ink pen in his hand, looked at Zhao Ting'er's beautiful face as white as a freshly peeled egg under the lamp, grabbed her little cold hands, stuffed them under his clothes to cover her hands, and said with a smile:
"To be honest, there are a lot of risks in using troops this time, but the morale of the soldiers is the key to achieving the expected results - tell me, how can a commander be happy and happy in the bridal chamber in the rear, but have to go deep into the enemy's territory to fight in bloody battles?
The reason? Just confronting the Shouzhou Army, Tangyi's military strength does not have an advantage. This is because the main force of the Liang Army is gathering at the Liang-Jin border. Song Ying, Rucai and other Huaibei states do not have many Liang Army defenders to have a rare fighter opportunity. Wang Jun can also
It’s rare to understand fighter planes!”
The reason why there was an opportunity to launch a surprise attack this time was that in addition to the mobilization of the Zuowu Guards, which forced the Shouzhou Army to adjust its deployment among Chaohuo and other states, the main reason was that the turmoil in the Jin Kingdom in the north attracted Liang Emperor Zhu
Yu gathered an army and entered the Liang-Jin border on the north bank of the Yellow River to wait for the opportunity.
Otherwise, if Tangyi has 20,000 soldiers and horses to guard the Chuhe River in winter, the pressure on the Fucha Mountain line will double. Why wouldn't he dare to take the risk of deploying elite troops to raid the enemy's territory?
This time, the opportunity was really rare, so he did not dare to miss the opportunity easily.
"Although I say that, as a woman, who would want to stay alone in an empty room on her wedding night?" Zhao Ting'er frowned and sighed softly.
"As long as you and Xi Rong don't bully others, that's enough." Han Qian said with a smile.
"Ahem! This doesn't have anything to do with me, does it?" Xi Rong was standing aside cutting candle flowers with scissors. When she heard Han Qian bring the topic to her side, she looked over with anger and said.
Xi Lin turned around and walked out. After a while, she brought a bright red wedding robe and said, "I stayed up late these days to make your wedding robe bigger so that you can wear the armor inside. You have to be early."
Knowing that you can arrange me, I won't do such things to please you."
"I'll bring you the armor. Let's try first to see if this wedding robe fits. If it doesn't, we'll change it overnight, so that we won't have to wait until tomorrow morning when you leave to change the robe in a hurry." Zhao Ting'er stood up holding the table.
.
"Don't move, be careful and let Qingyun try on the armor." Han Qian grabbed Zhao Ting'er's hand and told Qingyun who was waiting in the outer room to bring his scale armor.
After the wedding team crossed the Wanshou River, they entered Liyang County.
According to the plan, he would rush to the Wanshou River early tomorrow morning to greet the bride-to-be in person, and then stay there for a day, waiting for the wedding day before officially setting off to enter Liyang City.
He will also use this day to prepare and mobilize the first batch of soldiers and horses gathered to take on the important task of raiding on the bank of Wanshou River.
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The Wushou River is a tributary of the Chu River that bends obliquely to the south on the west side of Tingzi Mountain, and flows into the Yangtze River thirty miles southwest of Dasi Mountain.
The Wushou River is silted up and shallow. Affected by the terrain of the river beach, it has changed its course frequently over hundreds of years. It has never been the main waterway connecting the Chu River to the Chu River.
However, in the past half year, the Wushou River, Yuxi River and the estuary channel downstream of the Chu River have been the top priority of Tangyi's dredging work. At this time, in the cold winter, the Wushou River can also be used for large-winged boats.
, Red Horse Boat and other warships passed by.
In order to welcome the bride, more than 20 boats were connected with each other on the Wushou River in the northwest direction of Dasi Mountain, and they were fixed with iron ropes to build a pontoon bridge nearly a hundred steps long.
A village with more than 100 households on the west bank of the pontoon was also temporarily vacated to serve as a temporary camp before the escorting procession entered Liyang City.
The gate of the village is tied with colorful silk.
In addition to the village, an additional large camp was built, with two to three hundred tents set up, stretching endlessly.
Even at the moment when Han Qian rushed to the banks of the Wushou River to pick up his bride, thousands of able-bodied people were hired to brave the biting cold wind to repair the post roads along the way.
Cover all potholes with a layer of fine sand.
All this was done to show that everyone in Tangyi attached great importance to the wedding, as if they wanted the bride to walk all the way into Liyang City without feeling a single bump in the road.
At this time, not only on both sides of the Wushou River, but also along the south bank of the Chu River, there were groups of brightly-armored soldiers carrying big flags and hunting in the low wind.
There were constant cavalrymen galloping back and forth, shouting loudly to inform them of the location and distance of the wedding party.
"The Marquis of Qianyang is so impressive!"
This time Yin Peng resigned from the post of Sima of Yangzhou at the same time as Wang Wenqian and Yin Peng, but he did not want to follow Wang Wenqian to Chuzhou, but insisted on being an elder and marrying Wang Jun to Tangyi as his elder.
Han Donghu welcomed Wang Jun and sent his relatives and horses into Tangyi City, and first rested in Tangyi City for a night.
This morning Tian Cheng wanted to personally lead his elite troops to escort Wang Jun's car. At the same time, he personally rushed to Liyang to watch the ceremony and drink the wedding wine.
As the number of people and horses increased, the speed slowed down. When they heard that Han Qian would come to the Wushou River to welcome him, Yin Peng, Wang Tang, Huo Xiao and other Wang family children rushed over to meet Han Qian first. They also took the opportunity to discuss the wedding. During the marriage process, they might
Some etiquette that require special attention.
When they came out of Tangyi City and saw the troops and horses arrayed along the south bank of the Chu River, they were sincerely moved.
Yin Peng didn't think much about it. He thought that in addition to showing off his military power, Han Qian was mainly prepared to guard against what the enemy troops in the north would do on his wedding day, so he took Wang Zang, Huo Xiao, Huo Li and other Wang family nephews to cross first.
Crossing the Wushou River to see Han Qian.
In addition to Zhao Wuji, Gao Shao and others, Han Qian was accompanied by Han Daochang.
Han Daochang also seriously grabbed Yin Peng and the two elders of the Wang family to discuss many etiquette issues for the wedding.
At dusk, Wang Jun crossed the Wushou River and met Han Qian in Tiancheng, escorted by many soldiers and horses led by Feng Xuan and others.
According to the rules, Han Qian could not meet Wang Jun again before worshiping in the church.
Therefore, Han Qian temporarily lived in the village, while Wang Jun and his relatives and horses lived in the temporary camp on the east side of the village.
That night, Han Qian held a banquet in the village. He first invited Tian Cheng, Feng Xuan, Yin Peng, the elder of the Wang clan, and his descendants Wang Tang, Wang Yan, Wang Che, Huo Li, and Huo Xiao to attend the banquet.
When they were full of wine and food, Han Qian was about to arrange for Yin Peng and others to stay in a temporary house to rest, when Wang Jun, wearing a bright red wedding dress, opened the door and walked in.
A cold wind came in, causing the lights in the hall to sway.
"Why did you break in? No matter how late you are, you won't miss it until this day!" A member of the Wang clan said with a smile.
He wouldn't blame Wang Jun for not knowing etiquette. At this time, he would jokingly laugh at her for being too eager. Who could not wait to meet her husband the night before they got married?
"You can't wait to get married, so you want to lead the army to attack Chaozhou?" Wang Jun held up the wide skirt of his wedding dress, careful not to get it stained with mud, and looked at Han Qian and asked.
After hearing Wang Jun's question, Yin Peng, who was about to tease her, suddenly sobered up from his drunkenness and looked at Han Qian blankly.
"How did you guess it?" Han Qian ignored Yin Peng and others' surprise and asked with a smile.
