Facing Li Xiu's huge surprise, Han Qian just said calmly:
"We built two trestles nearly twenty miles long between Xihua and Yanling to pass through the floodplain area, so that when the enemy's main force is completely attracted to the south and southeast sides of the Chen-Bian Post Road, the Bianjing soldiers and civilians can
Evacuate as quickly as possible!"
Two trestles nearly twenty miles long!
Li Xiu suddenly understood why the war in Xia Cai was so urgent during this period. The number of craftsmen Tangyi invested in Xia Cai was so demanding. They actually built two trestles at the same time to the west of Chen-Bian Post Road to pass through the floodplain.
, ensuring the rapid withdrawal of soldiers and civilians from Bianjing.
Li Xiu had never thought about the possibility of building a floating bridge before, but the terrain in the floodplain area is complex. Even if the impact of water flow is not considered, the difficulty of building a floating bridge is far greater than that of a stream with gentle flow.
The flooding in floodplain areas may be deep or shallow, but generally speaking, shallow siltation is common.
Especially after autumn, with the reduction of upstream water and the decrease of rainfall in the Hehuai area, the floods gradually receded. In many places, the water has receded, but the remaining mud in the yellow flood area is deep, like a swamp, causing mules and horses to sink.
It's extremely difficult to walk in there.
All pontoons used to build trestles need to be specially built before they can be used to build pontoons in floodplains. Existing civilian boats cannot be requisitioned for modification.
The total length of the two trestles is thirty to forty miles. Just this kind of special pontoon boat would require building three to four thousand new ones, right?
Li Xiu guessed that it would not be later than May at the earliest. Han Qian then began to mobilize a large number of craftsmen and craftsmen and concentrated them in several shipbuilding yards in Shouzhou and Huoqiu. However, in just five months, he was able to build such a
With a huge number of special-purpose pontoons, how strong is Tangyi’s shipbuilding capability?
As long as these pontoons are pre-made at the shipbuilding yard, then go north through the Yingshui River, and after arriving at the predetermined location, they can be quickly laid from the central river channel to the edge of the floodplain. Naturally, there is no need to worry about being noticed by the Mengwu scouts who are blocked by the floodplain.
Of course, if hundreds of thousands of women and children want to evacuate to Yanling and near the entrance to the floating stacks in Xihua County, it cannot be done in three to five hours. Before that, the main force of the enemy must be completely isolated in the floating stack passage.
outside.
Previously, everyone thought that Chen Bianyi Road was the only channel for Bianjing soldiers and civilians to evacuate to the south and west before the Hehuai River was frozen. The early combat deployment of the Tangyi Army and the Bianjing garrison also centered on Chen Bianyi Road.
Even the 6,000 advance troops led by Kong Xirong were being held back by the Mongols at the south end of the Chen-Bian Post Road. They only had elite troops but could not deploy.
Now it seems that all this is a plan to attack the east and attack the west. The purpose is to attract the main enemy force to the southern front, to the east and south sides of Chen-Bian Post Road. Hundreds of thousands of Bianjing soldiers and civilians will move from the west of Chen-Bian Post Road.
The floating stack was newly built on the side, and the golden cicada successfully escaped from its shell.
Perhaps until now, Wu Su Dashi, Xiao Yiqing or Xu Mingzhen still thought that hundreds of thousands of Bianjing women and children and more than 50,000 Liang-Chu coalition troops had been successfully blocked north of Chenzhou.
"The so-called big battle is just a bait to lure the enemy?" Li Xiu asked in shock.
"Not necessarily. If the main force of the Mongolian cavalry does not go south, I still want to drive all the Shouzhou army to the east bank of Wushui. In that case, the situation will be more favorable!" Han Qian said behind his hands, "Now we can only
Said it was a tie with them!"
With more than 10,000 casualties, they successfully evacuated hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians from Bianjing, and even diverted more than 300,000 people from Danxian, Wuting, Xiacai, Woyang and other places to go south. How can you call it a draw?
Even if this move is far from reversing the situation in Hehuai, it can't be said to be a tie, right?
This situation is infinitely better than hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians being annihilated in Bianjing City and millions of people between Yingshui and Guoshui being controlled by Zhu Rang.
Han Qian had no obligation to appease Li Xiu's shock. He immediately asked him to go to the long desk where the map was spread out and introduce the battle plan for the Wuting garrison in Danxian County.
In one day, the soldiers and civilians of Bianjing will be able to completely withdraw to Yanling and Xihua. The advance troops are quickly withdrawing southward through the two long floating bridges, and then go to the new embankment on the south side of Wanqiu via the military and civilian boats staying in the upper reaches of Yingshui River.
evacuation.
On the north side of the two floating towers in Yanling and Xihua, there are several strong small fortresses built on the two wings, which can be used by Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun to withstand the enemy's rank after he led the Bianjing garrison and the aiding Bian army to withdraw.
We had to pursue them from behind, but all the troops and horses on the northern front were withdrawn within half a month, so it was not a big problem.
What is more troublesome now is that the Danxian and Wuting villages guarded by Wen Bo and Tan Xiuqun are completely surrounded by enemy forces.
Since the main force of the aiding Bian army left behind enough war equipment and food when they moved north, the two cities were not afraid of the enemy's strong attack in a short period of time, but the Tangyi army still needed to support them.
The plan is to use the special container ships and pallets removed from Yanling and Xihua at the mouth of Danxi River - the Danxi River is relatively shallow, floods in summer and autumn, and the river is silted up with sediment, making it unnavigable after the water level drops in winter -
—Build a trestle bridge to Yatou Ridge on the west side of Dancheng to form a support point to aid Yingdan City to the east and Yingwu Pavilion to the northeast.
If the enemy army does not give up the siege of Dancheng and Wuting, and considering that the muddy ground will freeze solid in another month at most, and the Mongolian cavalry will be able to gallop freely, then Li Xiu will need to lead his troops at Crow Head.
Ridge, taking advantage of the steep terrain to hold on until the ice and snow melt in the spring of next year, and then make other plans.
Of course, in the future, Yatou Ridge will also be considered as a front camp fortress on the west bank of Yingshui River that directly threatens the enemy's foothold in the central and western parts of Bozhou, but in the later stage, it will basically be considered to hand it over to the Liang Army for garrison.
"You don't need to worry about the safety of the Li clan. After you lead your troops north, I will arrange for Dou Rong to lead an elite brigade to station there to protect Cai's east wing." Han Qian could see a hint of worry in Li Xiu's eyes and said.
.
Once it is discovered that the soldiers and civilians of Bianjing have successfully escaped from their shells, the enemy, unwilling to be frustrated, will most likely launch a more violent offensive against Xia Cai. However, if Han Qian orders Dou Rong to lead his troops to defend Xia Cai's east wing and use the Li family's new village as the main camp, Li Xiu will
But he wasn't too worried that the Li family's new village would be captured by the enemy.
After all, the core combat strength of Tangyi's military level is more than a little stronger than the more than a thousand rural soldiers he leads; and after two months of construction, the Li Family Xinzhai, as the main support point of the east wing, has already improved its defensive strength.
been greatly strengthened.
And Li Xiu also understood that with Han Qian's arrangement, he still had to use the main battle camp to resist the enemy's crazy counterattack against Cai's defense line. In comparison, Yatou Ridge's early defensive operations were not heavy, so he called in the Xiangyong auxiliary troops to garrison.
That's enough. Later, when the main force of the reinforcement army withdraws from the north, Han Qian's troops will be completely abundant.
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"Day, day, day, let me tell you, where have all the craftsmen and craftsmen of his grandma gone? In the past few years, no one has played dirty tricks with adults!"
Li Xiu brought Li Chi back with a new combat mission. After knowing the details, Cao Ba could only curse and lament.
Li Xiu knew deeply that all this could not be covered by conspiracy and tricks.
It was impossible for the Mongols not to be prepared for Han Qian to take a secluded route to evacuate the soldiers and civilians from Bianjing. They chose the right time to push the war to its climax before the river in Beidi was completely frozen for a month. The calculation can be said to be very accurate.
After the main force of the Mongol cavalry went south to participate in the war, both the Shouzhou Army and the Xu Si Army showed considerable combat effectiveness and morale.
However, who would have thought that in just four or five months or a little more than half a year from the beginning of preparations for the Northern Aid to today, Han Qian would secretly prepare to build two bridges across the floodplain area in the upper reaches of Yingshui River, with a total length of nearly forty miles.
What about the floating stack channel?
In addition to the nearly 4,000 new special-purpose pontoon ships, considering that the floating stacks need relatively reliable stability when large numbers of people and horses pass quickly, hundreds of sets of giant anchors consume up to three to four million kilograms of iron, which is almost the same as the Jinling official
The total output of the iron smelting yard over a year.
Military strength can never be simply measured by the size of troops and horses.
Since Tangyi has the ability to build ultra-long floating stacks to pass through floodplains, the floodplains on both sides of the Yingshui River can be said to be more of an obstacle to the Mongol troops marching from east to west than from Yingshui.
The water is an obstacle for troops advancing to the west and east.
This will also directly limit the subsequent control of the Shouzhou Army or the Mongols over the area between Yinggui.
Even the Mongols were aware of Han Qian's plot at this time, and wanted to bypass the main force of the aiding Bian army that was blocked in the west of the middle section of the Chen-Bian channel, and mobilize troops from the periphery to attack Yanling and Xihua, but it was too late.
Is it possible for the Mongols to turn their backs on the defensive and attack from the south at all costs to support the main force of the Bian Army?
Li Xiu thought that the Mongol people would not be so impulsive.
The forces of both sides near the Chen-Bian Post Road were of similar size. In particular, more than 50,000 enemy troops entered the south side of the Chen-Bian Pass in a hurry. They had previously considered cutting off the Chen-Bian Pass.
There were more than 50,000 enemy troops on the south side of the Chen-Bian Pass, especially when there were more than 6,000 Kong Xirong's advance troops in the south threatening their back and flank. They hurriedly reversed the offensive and defensive momentum and took the initiative to attack mainly with the cavalry infantry.
With the main force of the Bian stronghold to rely on, the chance of winning will never exceed 30%.
Li Xiu and Cao Ba gathered more than ten troops to convey the new battle instructions. When Dou Rong led the guard battalion to station and handed over the defense, Li Xiu left Li Chi and Li Yan brothers behind.
He and Cao Ba gathered more than a thousand warriors from the countryside to take a boat up the Huaihe River and enter the Yingshui River.
On the 6th, we arrived at the mouth of Danxi River on the west side of Danxian County.
This was the first time Li Xiu entered Yingshui by boat, and the first time he entered the core of the floodplain.
Although it has already entered winter, the water levels in the upper reaches of the Huai River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River have dropped, and even the water levels in the upper reaches of the Yu River have dropped to the same period last year. However, after the Ying River merges into the incoming water from the upper reaches of the Yu River, the flow rate will be higher.
It is seven or eight times larger than the same period in previous years.
Even though the water levels in most of the flood plains on both sides have receded at this moment, the remaining embankments on both sides of the Yingshui River are almost still submerged under water. At most, a large number of houses have collapsed in the mud.
Along the way, you can often see the rotten corpses of people and animals along the coast. Groups of black crows are hovering in the air like oppressive black clouds, making noisy cries.
It’s hard to imagine how the two sides of Yingshui River are flooded when the water level is at its highest in summer!
"General Li, Brigadier Cao..."
At this time, there was already a boat bridge water camp, which was stationed at the mouth of Danxi River in advance. A dozen large floating boats were linked together with iron ropes, and a giant anchor was lowered to build a floating dock sixty or seventy steps square in the middle of the river.
A military attaché from Zhouqiao Water Camp waited for Li Xiu and Cao Ba to board the floating dock and reported the situation nearby.
The scale of the southward retreating troops and civilians in Yanling is more than half smaller, and they have all withdrawn. The first batch of flat box ships and pallets can be transported to the mouth of Danxi River at night for paving to the western foot of Yatou Ridge, 17 or 18 miles to the east.
Floating stacks pass through floodplains.
The weather was not very cold at this time.
Yatou Ridge extends no more than four miles from east to west, and its eastern foot is about eleven or twelve miles away from the remaining city of Dan County. Its main peak is only more than twenty feet high, and its surrounding areas are depressed. When the flood recedes, it is filled with mud, like a swamp.
When the floating stacks are laid, even a tall horse cannot wade through the deep mud.
In fact, the enemy had already realized that they had succeeded in a plan to attack the east and attack the west, but the situation was already established. In a hurry, they did not dare to attack the main force and the defenders of Bianjing in the north. They could only withdraw part of them to Wuting.
Between Danxian and Danxian, they planned to eat up the two elite Tangyi troops who stayed behind in Wuting and Danxian County to satisfy their hatred.
The enemy army obviously also saw the key node of Yatou Ridge and realized that the Tangyi army would lay floating stacks leading to Yatou Ridge to assist Dan City. Wuting, yesterday a group of enemy cavalry tried to drive their horses directly across the floodplain area.
Stationed at Crow Head Ridge.
Walking in the mud was much more difficult than expected. It was only at night that more than two hundred enemy troops struggled through the four-mile-wide mud field on the east side of Crow Head Ridge. However, they were ambushed by the auxiliary soldiers from Zhouqiao Water Camp.
The soldiers killed more than fifty people head-on.
At this time, there were still more than 130 enemy troops entrenched at the eastern foot of Yatou Ridge.
Although there are 200 men and horses in the Zhouqiao water camp staying at the western foot of Crow Head Ridge, as auxiliary soldiers, their armor and personal physical fitness are much inferior to those of the main battle camp. They can kill a wave of enemies when they are unprepared, but there is no way now.
Eat the remaining one hundred, thirty or forty enemy elites.
And more enemy troops are driving people to the east of the floodplain to harvest reeds and cut down trees, trying to build a simple passage in the mud.
"Send me and the trap team to Crow Head Ridge first!" Cao Ba said.
This Zhouqiao water camp first brought over a dozen pontoon boats, which were flat and flat, and could barely hold long poles for sliding in the muddy mud. It took more than two hours to work very hard to first
Cao Ba and a hundred-man elite team were sent to Crow Head Ridge.
Li Xiu led the second group of the remaining trapping troops into Crow Tou Ridge. Cao Ba did not wait for him to come over. He had already led the first batch of elite trapping troops to attack the eastern foot of Crow Tou Ridge. The enemy could not figure out Tangyi's army.
Due to the traffic conditions at Yingshui, reinforcements were not sent to Donglu in time in a hurry.
When he rushed to the top of the eastern foothills, he saw fifty or sixty remnants of the enemy fleeing in a hurry into the mud, unable to move. Cao Ba, the grandson of Cao Ba, was calling the new soldiers in the formation and facing them with crossbows before escaping.
Enemy soldiers outside are practicing shooting.
In the distance, you can see that the enemy is using cut grass and trees to lay a simple passage. There is about four miles of muddy ground from the eastern foot of Yatou Ridge to the east. Thanks to the main force of the previous reinforcements from Bian, they have been here with the Shouzhou Army for more than a month.
The nearby trees were cut down, so that the enemy army had not been able to build this four-mile-long simple passage until now.
As the Xinzhai soldiers ascended Yatou Ridge in batches, the enemy had no choice but to abandon the construction of simple passages.
The simple passage is more unstable than the floating stack and is extremely narrow. It cannot pass many soldiers at a time. Even if it can be successfully built to reach Yatou Ridge, if we really want to send troops over, wouldn't it be to deliver food to the elite Tangyi Army who have already been stationed in Yatou Ridge?
?
Even though more than a thousand soldiers were sent to Yatou Ridge in batches over two days, Li Xiu still did not dare to be careless, and Zhouqiao Water Camp continued to lay the floating stacks as planned.
By the end of October, there is a high probability that the mud fields around will be completely frozen. By then, thousands of enemy troops will be able to surround you from all directions. The main peak of Crow Head Ridge is only 20 feet. No matter how dangerous the terrain is, it is limited and there is not enough
Without supplies, war equipment, and 1,200 soldiers and horses, it is impossible to defend Crow Head Ridge.
With ready-made flat box ships and pallets, more professional pontoon and water battalion soldiers were mobilized, and the floating stacks were built very quickly. On the fifth day, they were all repaired to the west foot of Yatou Ridge, and bulk supplies continued to flow from there.
It was transported by water and then transported to Yatou Ridge via floating stacks; when the main force of the reinforcements to Bian retreated south, a group of elite combat forces would come over.
Of course, Xinzhai Xiangyong, who led Li Xiu to ascend Yatou Ridge early, also seized the time and worked day and night to dig trenches according to the terrain, build earth slope retaining walls, and try to widen the internal passage between the east and west ridge heads as much as possible.
A large number of military supplies and weapons were transported here to continue strengthening the defense of Crow Head Ridge on the existing basis.
In the past few days, although the enemy's offensive against Wuting and the remaining city of Dan County was very fierce, Li Xiu stood at the east foot of Yatou Ridge. On a clear day, he could vaguely see the offensive and defensive situation of the two cities with the naked eye. Wuting and Dan County
Under the command of Wen Bo and Tan Xiuqun, the guards in the two cities in the county did not panic at all when they were surrounded by the enemy, and suppressed the enemy troops under the city very steadily.
This also reflects the significance of their establishment in Crow Head Ridge.
They are separated from the Yellow River Flood Zone, and even though they are currently unable to threaten the enemy forces on the east side, their appearance on Crow Head Ridge will greatly boost the morale of the defenders and make the enemy feel a thorn in their backs.
At this time, not only the women and children of Bianjing evacuated to the west bank of Yingshui River, Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun also led their troops into the western area of Chenzhou. After a simple rest, they could pass through the dangerous plank road in the north of Ruzhou and enter Heluo at any time.
In the southern region, the main force of the Liang Army led by Liang Emperor Zhu Yu was reunited to launch a final strong attack on the rebels in Luoyang and other cities...
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"Your Highness, this is Han Qian and his Tangyi army! In the past three or four years, I have ordered Guanjiang Tower to allocate one-third of its manpower to keep an eye on Tangyi and study Han Qian's every move in Huaixi, but I did not expect that
The Tangyi Army attracted the main force of our army to the southern front, and even built a floating stack at all costs to take out the soldiers and civilians from Bianjing. We still lost a bit between the Hehuai River and Huaihe River. Fortunately, His Highness gave Tian Weiye a death order.
We need him to capture Yongzhou City before November regardless of casualties. Otherwise, the situation will be really ugly."
Xiao Yiqing was wearing a gray robe, and she and Huainan County Prince Xu Mingzhen stood beside a tall and strong middle-aged Mongol man, looking towards the direction of Crow Tou Ridge.
The middle-aged Mongolian is the Mongolian prince, and Wu Su Dashi, the privy envoy of the South Courtyard.
In recent years, they have accepted the nobles who fled north, and even set up their own fiefdoms as prefectures and counties thirty years ago, and fully implemented the Han system.
And the soul and core characters of Jin Dynasty.
Looking at his burly, muscular body and full beard, the first impression may give people that he is an invincible military general. But at this time, he was wearing a gray fur to keep out the cold, and he was holding a bronze lookout captured from the battlefield.
He used the mirror to observe the defense situation of Crow Head Ridge more clearly, and said to Xiao Yiqing:
"Zhu Yu's body can't bear it for too long, and the outcome of the battle with Tangyi is no longer the same."
"That's true. Zhu Yu's condition may not be able to survive next spring. The remaining generals will be led by Zhu Zhen's son. Why should we be afraid?" Xiao Yiqing said with a smile.
Wu Su Dashi pointed to the direction of Crow Tou Ridge and asked: "By the way, who is the general Han Qian sent to Crow Tou Ridge? Can you find out? His deployment and defense are very organized, and his advance and retreat are well-founded. The Xuzhou and Tangyi armies
It only takes ten years to rise to full strength, and Han Qian has many capable officials and generals under his command!"
The scouts couldn't get close to the reconnaissance team, and with the help of the captured lookout, they couldn't clearly see faces four or five miles away. Xiao Yiqing didn't know yet that the guards who entered Crow Head Ridge at this time were Li Xiu and Cao Ba, but
Yatou Ridge and Dan County were in ruins, and Wu Pavilion formed a horn. Han Qian's intention of making such a military deployment was clear in his heart.
The guard general of Wuting was Tan Xiuqun, who was able to surrender Tanzhou to Han Qian. He and his brother Tan Yuliang were used by Han Qian to cause civil unrest in Sizhou, and finally forced Jinling to recruit An as the capital of Tianping.
The Wuting walled city is relatively complete and difficult to gnaw, while the Danxian city is dilapidated, but the person responsible for guarding the remaining city of Danxian County is Wen Bo, who is famous for his defense of the city in Jianghuai.
In fact, the war here has become useless, and they have not withdrawn their troops until now, and they are not thinking of encircling the point to bring reinforcements.
One of the main reasons is that Tian Weiye has not yet received news of the capture of Yongzhou City. Regardless of whether Zhu Yu's body can survive until next spring and summer, the gains and losses of Yongzhou City are too crucial to the entire Western Front. There is no need to ensure that the victory before the year is over.
fell into their hands.
Another is to organize the Shouzhou Army and Xu Si Army at this time to attack Dancheng and Xiacai in turn, which will also help Zhongshuo and their confidence in establishing a foothold on the southern front, so that Zhu Rang, Xu Mingzhen and other troops can truly contain the Tangyi Army from the east...
…
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On October 18, Shen Peng and Zhao Ci led 3,000 soldiers and horses into Yatou Ridge to join Li Xiu's troops and strengthen their support for the besieged soldiers and horses in Dan County and Wuting.
At this time, thin ice had just formed on the shallow water swamp.
At this time, the main force of the troops aiding Bian also retreated southward by boat from Xihua County in the north of Chenzhou.
The advance army led by Kong Xirong is still anchored in Wanqiu for the time being. It peeks at the enemy troops in the north from the south side of Chen-Bian Post Road, which also restrains the enemy's flanks and prevents them from attacking the main force of the aid-Bian army that has withdrawn into Xihua County.
.
Judging from the weather in mid-October and the cold current going south, the Yingshui River will be frozen in half a month. The Mongol cavalry may cross the Yingshui River and head west at any time. By then, Kong Xirong's troops will not be in a hurry to retreat south.
, but will temporarily withdraw to the walled city on the west bank of Yingshui River to assist Liang Jun in strengthening the defense in the west of Chenzhou.
As the main 30,000 generals of the aiding Bian Army retreated southward to Xia Cai and Linhuai lines, in the last half month, they made a crazy counterattack against Xu Si Army, Shouzhou Army and Mongol cavalry on Xia Cai's defense line, and finally on the 21st
Returning without success, they retreated to Woyang and the east bank of Woishui.
In Dancheng, the enemy troops outside Wuting also relieved the siege at about the same time. Some of the troops withdrew into Bozhou and Luyi, and some of the troops withdrew to the Bianjing Nanji Walled City in the north.
The Hehuai War between Wuying and Ying finally came to an end with loud thunder and light rain. In the end, the Mongols did not want to use the defenders of Danxian and Wuting as bait to attract the main force of the Tangyi army northward.
Launch a major battle in the Pingchuan area south of Dancheng.
Except for Wen Bo who led a group of troops to continue to guard the remaining city of Dan County and handed Yatou Ridge to Liang Jun for defense, Tan Xiuqun and Li Xiusuo's troops, who suffered heavy casualties, all retreated south to rest and recuperate.
On the way back south, Cao Ba kept nagging Li Xiu'er for more than two days, complaining that the battle was really unsatisfactory because of the loud thunder and light rain. If he had known better, he would have stayed in Xia Cai.
At least we can get some tough defensive battles by going to Cai Dongyi, which is much better than going to Crow Head Ridge just for decoration...
