Seeing the thick smoke rising over Xingyang City gradually dissipating, Xiao Yiqing walked down the tower in low spirits and walked to Wusu Dashi's palace in the city.
Lu Qingxia wore a gauze mask and followed him silently.
The Mongolian army assembled 60,000 to 70,000 elite troops in Mengzhou, while Zhu Rang also gathered more than 70,000 troops in Bianliang and Wuzhi. However, Liang Shixiong could not hold on for ten days and a half longer. They could only watch Xingyang fall.
"I will not forget the great contributions that my father and son have made for your Majesty, but today our Liang Mansion is full of blood and stains Xingyang. If your Majesty shows mercy, he will assemble a large army to attack Yingxi!"
Xiao Yiqing walked into the palace and climbed up the steps. Before anyone could say anything, she heard the sad and angry voice of Wuyang Hou Liangren, and there was even a vague intention to threaten Wusu Dashi in his tone.
Just like when they wanted to take Heluo directly into their pocket, they asked Liang Shixiong to withdraw from Luoyang, Yanshi and other places at the end of last year. Liang Shixiong and Zhu Rang wanted to secure the area east of Songshan and Funiu Mountains and west of Yingshui.
After being able to return to Dongliang, he couldn't wait to move his family to settle in Xingyang.
It is still unclear how many members of the Liang family survived, but more than a hundred women and children in the Liang family were shot to death on Chen Kun's order, and not a single one was left alive. This incident has already begun with the hundreds of women and children who swam across the cold Yu River and fled to Mengzhou.
From the soldier's mouth, it reaches the ears of everyone.
This also means that the entire Liang family, except for Liang Ren, Marquis of Wuyang, who served as the national messenger of the Dongliang Army before the war and was in Mengzhou, including Liang Ren's wife and children, has been exterminated.
Considering Liang Ren's current situation, even if the tone of his words was a little offensive, it was nothing serious. Xiao Yiqing walked into the hall and saw all the generals and officials sitting aside in silence. Wu Su Dashi also tried his best to speak as gently as possible.
to appease Liang Ren.
Xiao Yiqing shook his head slightly towards Wu Su Dashi before sitting down behind the long case.
Wusu Dashi nodded slightly, indicating that he understood what Xiao Yiqing meant.
Lu Qingxia was also well aware of the current situation. The role of the newly built Wanhong Building was becoming more and more limited. She sat quietly at the bottom. Seeing the little moves between Xiao Yiqing and Wu Su Dashi, she knew that regardless of Liang Ren
No matter how you plead, Wusu Dashi cannot launch a large-scale offensive against Yingxi this winter.
Thinking about it, they could theoretically gather 150,000 or more soldiers and horses this winter, but after the Dongliang Army lost its most elite Wei Bo soldiers, its combat effectiveness would inevitably decline severely.
When the army crossed the Yingshui River and attacked Funiu Mountain and the Yingxi area east of Songshan Mountain, including Xiacai, Xingyang, Xuzhou, Chenzhou and other places, the Liang army had more than 60,000 main troops that could be used directly for Yingxi operations.
Since the Liang Army was on the inside line of defense, in addition to mobilizing more troops from other places to strengthen Yingxi's defense in a short period of time, it could also recruit a large number of young and strong men on the spot to form a battalion. Finally, on the west bank of Yingshui River,
The number of available troops will not be much less than them.
There is another key reason. After autumn, their main consideration was to reinforce Xingyang, and they did not prepare many weapons to attack the city and seize the stronghold.
If they had not been more prepared and had killed Yingshui like this, Liang Jun would have easily defused their offensive simply by clearing the country at Yingxi, allowing them to gather hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to enter Yingxi but ultimately return without success.
.
Rather than urgently carrying out a retaliatory attack on the Yingxi area, what they need to pay more attention to at this time is to be wary of Liang Jun's ambitions towards Guanzhong.
Currently, the troops and horses of the Mongolian army stationed in Guanzhong and Longyou are mainly composed of Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian and Li Yuanshou, the leader of the Qiangping Xia tribe. The total number of infantry, horse infantry and cavalry is more than 70,000. However, at this time, Liang Jun is in On the south side of Guanzhong and Longyou, and on the east side are Li Zhigao's Liangzhou Army, Kong Xirong's Shangluo Army, and Jing Zhen's Huatong Army. Their elite soldiers total more than 70,000 people.
At present, it seems that Li Zhigao led the Western Expedition Army to take very active actions in Longyou. The entire Liangzhou Army got nearly a year of rest and recruited troops after entering Longyou. Nearly 30,000 elite troops were willing to be used by Han Qian. This directly changed the situation between both sides. Military comparison in Qinling.
If the elite Mongolian and Dongliang troops attack Yingxi from the east without much success and will be forced to withdraw after spring next year, then if Han Qian immediately launches an offensive against Guanzhong, the elite Mongolian cavalry on the eastern front will You need to go north from the east bank of Yingshui River, cross the blocked and dried-up Yu River near Bianjing, then go north through the gap between Wangwu Mountain in northern Mengzhou and the southern foot of Taihang Mountain, and then cross through Hejin (Puzhou, Jinzhou) Yuhe, entering Guanzhong for reinforcements, making a big circle back and forth, it will take two or three months of marching time no matter how fast it is.
However, Han Qian will deploy it in Yingxi after the spring of next year, and all the troops and horses in Heluo will be transferred to the western front, and it will only take half a month.
This time difference will be extremely fatal to the battle situation in Guanzhong.
Another crucial point is that the combat power of the Luoyang navy must be higher than they imagined.
Without taking advantage of the rare ice-free period of the Yu River for more than two months to strengthen the military defenses on both sides of the Wei River, the connection between Guanzhong and Hedong will be temporarily severed after next spring. Even if they gather a large number of people north of Xiangshan, We received reinforcements but did not cross the Yu River. Would we have to watch the tragedy of the fall of Xingyang happen again?
Their most important task this winter is no longer to rush to carry out a retaliatory offensive, but to make good use of the coming Yuhe River ice period to strengthen the defensive military strength in Guanzhong as much as possible. At the same time, the Dongliang Army must strengthen Ying Fortifications on the east bank of the water, instead of blindly thinking about ineffective harassment.
Of course, Wu Su Dashi showed great sympathy for Liang Ren's resentment, and patiently comforted him repeatedly, but he never let go of the story of the invasion of Yingxi.
Perhaps understanding Wusu Dashi's unshakable will under his seemingly talkative demeanor, Wuyang Hou Liangren said goodbye in despair.
After Liang Ren resigned and left, the somewhat exhausted Wu Su Dashi looked at Xiao Yiqing and asked: "Xingyang has been lost, and the Liang army's navy is extremely sharp. Except for the ice in the Hehuai River, we will not be afraid of the threat from the east wing." Next, we must turn our sights to Guanzhong - where does Xiao Qing think we should go now?"
Xiao Yiqing pondered for a while and then said to Wu Su Dashi: "Your Highness, please step back..."
What Xiao Yiqing was going to say next, if Wusu Dashi did not adopt, would have a huge negative impact, so he asked for a secret discussion.
Wu Su Dashi waved his hand and signaled the generals to retreat to the outer hall and wait.
"The tribes that had moved into Guanzhong and Hejin were all withdrawn to Taiyuan, Shangdang and other places for resettlement. Wang Xiaoxian was granted the title of Fengxiang Jiedushi, Wang Yuankui was granted Weinan Jiedushi, and Li Yuanshou was granted Longyou Jiedushi. In addition to being granted the title of Chehou, , local officials are recommended and appointed by themselves..." Xiao Yiqing said solemnly.
Wusu Dashi fell into deep thought.
Xiao Yiqing's suggestion can be said to be a major reversal of previous strategies.
This also requires him to officially admit that the Mengwu did not move further south in a short period of time.
To seize Heluo, Yingxi, and march into Jianghuai, in addition to retracting the direct jurisdiction to Hedong, Heshuo, and Yanyun, and strengthening the deep cultivation of these three areas, we must also divide the Weihe Plain and Longyou into
The three vassal towns were handed over to Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian and Li Yuanshou as separate rulers in exchange for their determination to defend the vassal screen.
Liang Jun's combat power was extremely strong, but in order to capture the isolated city of Xingyang, he lost nearly 20,000 elite soldiers. This shows that Liang Jun was not so strong that it was invincible.
The most critical thing at this time is that Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian, and Li Yuanshou must be determined to stay in the Weihe Plain and Longyou to fight to the death, so that they can ensure that Guanzhong does not fall into Han Qian's hands at a relatively small cost.
As for withdrawing the tribal people from Hejin and Heyang areas at the same time, it is also to alleviate the conflicts among the tribes moving south to compete for land as much as possible, so that Tian Weiye and Zhao Mengji can better win over local forces and contain Liang Jun from the north and east.
expansion.
By achieving these points, Liang Jun's rapid expansion can be curbed.
The most critical reason why Liang Neng, Shu and Chu were able to negotiate peace talks, and Shu and Chu were able to allow Liang's trade to be dumped into their country on relatively broad terms to make huge profits, was that their previous attack on Hehuai was extremely powerful.
Both Shu and Chu deeply felt the direct threat they would face if Heluo was not protected.
Now they are switching from offense to defense. They can even send people into Shu and Chu to publicize the misfortune of their defeat in Xingyang and weaken Shu and Chu's vigilance against them. Correspondingly, Shu and Chu will naturally increase their vigilance against Liang who is close at hand.
Military vigilance.
At this time, Liang Jun was in the middle of the world, surrounded by powerful vassals or countries, with only five million people. Even if Han Qian had extraordinary talents, he would never be able to turn his hand into clouds or rain.
Of course, to make these changes, Usu Dashi needed to withstand the pressure within Mengwu. At the same time, he also needed to communicate well with Zhu Rang, Xu Mingzhen, Sima Tan and others to avoid making any more fatal strategic mistakes.
Thinking back to Zhu Rang and Liang Shixiong years ago, if they had followed his advice and built a weir road between Xingyang and Wuzhi regardless of the cost, how could they have been reduced to a situation where they only had 130,000 reinforcements on the periphery, but had to sit back and watch Xingyang fall into an isolated city?
The embarrassing situation that ended up being captured by Liang Jun?
…………
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"Xiao Yiqing is really not simple..."
Han Qian stood outside the window and looked at the heavy snowfall outside Lingyun Pavilion.
At this time, the Yu River and the streams in the Hehuai area had been frozen, and the enemy's possible retaliatory attack on Yingxi did not occur.
The Dongliang Army forcibly evacuated the people between Woying and Woying to the east of Woishui, forming a buffer zone between Yingshui and Woishui. At the same time, they built cities in Bianliang, Weishi and other counties south of Wuzhi, and on both sides of Woishui.
The more than 20,000 Mongolian cavalry also retreated to Puzhou via Zhiguanxing between Wangwushan and Lishan after the Yu River froze.
Although Wusu Dashi's plan to divide the Weihe Plain and Longyou area into three vassal towns to be defended by Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian and Li Yuanshou has not yet been officially implemented, Wusu Dashi has clearly ordered to stop the Mongol and Wu tribes from migrating south to Guanzhong.
The plan was to allocate millions of acres of fertile official land on both sides of the Wei River to recruit strong refugees to be cultivated as military households in the camp, thereby enhancing the military strength of Wang Yuankui and Wang Xiaoxian on both sides of the Wei River.
In addition, Xiao Yiqing's other strategies for Wusu Dashi's defense of Daliang were also revealed by insiders at this time and presented to Han Qian's desk.
Liang and Chu negotiated a peace treaty. Although Daliang became a vassal of the Chu court and received nearly one million yuan in tribute every year, the trade between the two sides was not interrupted and the enclave of Xuzhou was retained.
The commercial relations with Shu need to be more open, and it is more convenient to transport goods to Qianyang, Nanzhao and other places, as well as to the Lingnan states through the Zheng family.
The trade channel maintains the most direct benefits. In addition to the sustainable development of the industrial and mining industries in Huaixi, Nanyang Basin and Heluo, it also imports more than 20,000 livestock, nearly 2,000 war horses, and 600,000 stones of salt to Daliang every year.
Two to three million kilograms of copper and gold and silver precious metals, hundreds of thousands of barrels of tung oil, and various materials such as dyes, paper, tea medicine, etc. also brought a net inflow of more than 30,000 people, mainly young adults.
In addition to the population, due to Daliang's foreign trade, except for the part directly under the jurisdiction of the Chishan Society, other parts are currently mainly controlled by more than 40 merchants. Since these merchants have a close relationship with the center, they are basically
They can guarantee that all profits other than expanding production will be deposited in Daliang First Savings Bureau.
This model, coupled with the corresponding taxes, basically guaranteed a considerable part of the materials imported from the outside. Han Qian could transfer them to military use, but only part of them was converted into debts to the Daliang First Savings Bureau.
It is also because of this that Daliang can so quickly switch from defense to offense while ensuring the continued development of farming, industry, mining and other industries within the territory, supporting the continuous enrichment of the new academic research system without harming the people's foundation.
If Xiao Yiqing's plan succeeds, the relationship between Daliang and Chu and Shu will become increasingly tense, trade will be further restricted, and the losses in material and population imports will be enough to make them suffer.
"The secret agents of the Military Intelligence Staff Department lurking in Taiyuan and Yunzhou have secretly spread the news that Xiao Yiqing bribed Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian, and Li Yuanshou to recommend the sealing of the fertile land in the pass, so as to delay the Mongol attack on Wang Yuankui, Wang Xiaoxian, and Li Yuanshou as much as possible
and others," Feng Liao, Gao Shao, and Han Yuanqi stood behind Han Qian and suggested, "Since the Dongliang Army forced the people on the west bank of Wushui to move eastward, then on the west side of the embankment breach and Changge
Building water weirs to divert the Yu River's floodwaters into the Guoshui River will cause little harm to the people. At the same time, the defensive fortresses built by the Dongliang Army to the west of the Guoshui River and the southern part of Bianjing will be flooded with floods and the work will be wasted..."
Liang Shixiong initially opened a gap of tens of feet in the embankment on the south bank of the Yu River. However, as the floods released over the years, the gap between Xingyang and Wuzhi has expanded to several miles long.
Before capturing Wuzhi and Bianliang, they could not close the Long Gap and return the Yu River to its original course. However, they could build a stone weir on the west side of the breached embankment and force the gap to expand eastward. In fact, they could reach summer and autumn, allowing more
The purpose of diverting the Yu River floodwater to Wuzhi territory and to the southwest of Bianliang can limit the flooded area in eastern Xingyang, Xinzheng County and northern Changge.
At the same time, in Changge, if we choose to build a diversion weir with shallow sedimentation on the east coast, we can further achieve the goal of diverting part of the floodwater into the vortex water.
In the future, if we have the ability to build a weir dam that completely cuts off the upper reaches of the Shaying River, we will be able to completely divert the Yu River water into the Guishui River.
It's just that this dam has to completely block the flood peaks coming from the upstream in summer and autumn, so it is too difficult to build; the diversion weir needs to be more realistic. After all, it only diverts part of the flood. At the same time, the dam will tilt to the southeast, and the impact of the flood peaks in summer and autumn will be greater.
will be greatly weakened.
Times changed and the situation changed, Han Qian nodded and agreed to the various departments to implement the plan he had suspended before, which can be regarded as following the good news.
"Since the Mongols intend to send people to sneak into Chu and Shu to spread the news that they have been seriously injured in order to stimulate Chu and Shu to be wary of us, we should also temporarily restrain ourselves in the next military operations and convey the message to Chu and Shu.
We are not strong enough, we are just trying to ensure
The east wing of Heluo was safe, so we had to sacrifice tens of thousands of elite soldiers and casualties in exchange for news of Xingyang and keep the peace talks with Chu and Shu from being undermined," Feng Liao said.
Even if Xiao Yiqing's plan succeeds and will bring great trouble to Daliang, in Feng Liao's eyes, the situation they face will always be much more optimistic than when Han Qian just succeeded to the throne of the country.
At present, Feng Liao still hopes that Liang can rest and recuperate for two or three more years so that the national strength can be further recuperated and improved.
Although Daliang currently has 5.17 million registered households, which is only the same as that of Shu, the increase in the number of young men in Daliang is much higher than that of Shu.
This is mainly directly related to the large-scale promotion of new medicine.
Jianghuai, Sichuan and Shu can be said to be prosperous places. In the past two years, famines have rarely occurred in various states and counties. However, even in the so-called prosperous times in the middle and early periods of the previous dynasty, only 40 to 50% of the newborn population successfully reached adulthood.
This also means that nearly 50% to 60% of the newborn population will die due to various diseases and accidents before they grow up.
However, Han Qian established a systematic public health and epidemic prevention system in Xuzhou very early, and the mortality rate of newborns has dropped significantly to less than 10%; the mortality rate of minors in Huaixi has also dropped significantly in recent years.
The public health and township department-level medical and public health systems in Heluo and Yingxi have just begun to be established, but Feng Liao believes that immediate efficiency will be achieved soon; after all, they have gone to Heluo and Yingxi.
Other places directly import a large number of experienced medical staff to promote relevant matters.
This also means that with the same population base, the number of new adults in Daliang every year is two to three times that of other regions. Taking into account the extension of adult life span, the net number of new adults in Daliang at this time will not be higher than that in other regions.
The area controlled by the Chu State and the Mongol people was slightly lower.
Under this situation, even if everyone gets a rare opportunity to recuperate, and even if Daliang's engineering and new learning stagnates and no longer develops, Daliang will not be at a disadvantage as time goes by.
Han Qian walked to the map hanging on the wall of the west chamber and stared at the topography of Heluo and Guanshan.
Wang Yuankui lived in Yongzhou and Wang Xiaoxian lived in Fengzhou and Qizhou. In addition to having strong towns and dangerous areas to defend, the Mongol cavalry also quickly came in as reinforcements from Yanlin and other states in the north, making it difficult to capture them directly and suddenly.
If you really want to fight, you have two options.
The first is to send all the cavalry to Chengzhou to join Li Zhigao's Western Expeditionary Army, defeat the Pingxia tribe and capture Qinzhou. However, according to Qinzhou, they pass through Longshan, enter Fengxiang territory, and go down the Wei River to recover the scattered cavalry one by one.
Guan, Chencang, Fengxian, Hanxing, Qinchuan, Fufeng and other pass cities to the west of Yongzhou, and finally joined forces with Shangluo Army and Huatong Army to resist enemy reinforcements from the north, and encircled Yongzhou to defeat it.
This is also the safest strategy, but the key is to transfer the four cavalry brigades of Li Xiu, Cao Ba, Zhao Ci, and Zhu Zhen to Chengzhou. How to solve the problem of supplies?
Even if they march westward in summer and autumn, the war horses can eat fodder, but the extra 20,000 soldiers and auxiliary troops moving westward will increase the material consumption by nearly 20,000 dan per month, which is already more than the total population of only 120,000 to 30,000.
The supply capacity of Chengwu and Wuzhou has been greatly improved.
Ruyang and Songyang County, where Songshan Mountain and Funiu Mountain intersect, mainly have Qiuyuan terrain. The construction of the Songshan Plank Road is already extremely expensive. The two wings of the Niuji Road are steep cliffs. It is much more difficult to further widen the path.
Even if you go further up the Stone Cow Ridge Road at all costs, you won't be able to compete in one or two years.
Furthermore, the Mongols could also send a large number of cavalry to Longyou to reinforce Li Yuanshou.
Beyond that, there's a more adventurous strategic option.
That is to directly cross the Yu River from Mengjin and attack Yuanqu County. That is to say, attack from Zhiguanxing between Lishan and Wangwushan all the way to the north. The main force of the army will be like a sharp war blade, directly inserted into the Mengwu.
The heart of the Fenshui River Valley currently occupied.
At present, Chen Yuanchen and other generals have led their elite troops and horses, which have penetrated into Lishan and Wangwushan on both sides of Zhiguanxing. This is an advantage for them to take Zhiguanxing northward.
If this strategic road can be opened, we can attack Fenzhou and Taiyuan Prefecture by going north along the Fen River. We can attack Hejin by going west along the Fen River and reach the west bank of the Yu River (the Yu River is also the Yellow River, starting from the west of Xiangshan Mountain and heading north to the south).
direction), if you advance eastward, you can attack the Shangdang Basin that occupies Ze and Lu prefectures.
However, the enemy also knew the importance of this strategic road. In addition to sending Tian Weiye to lead his troops to guard Puzhou, Yuanqu and other places in the early stage, after the Xingyang War ended, Wusu Dashi sent more than 20,000 elite cavalry through Zhiguan.
Go north to Xing and strengthen the defense of the fortresses in the northern section of Xing, Zhiguan.
Moreover, since Zhiguanxing is located at the junction of three enemy strategic areas, once Daliang soldiers and horses pass through this road to the north, enemy reinforcements will continuously gather from the three directions of northeast and west.
Zhiguanxing has Jiangshan Mountain to the north, Lishan Mountain to the east, and Wangwushan Mountain to the west. The Xingdao is also crisscrossed by peaks and ridges. Almost every section of the road has strategic points that the enemy is firmly controlling. Soldiers and horses must pass through this road.
Attacking all the way here is definitely no less difficult than attacking Yongzhou City directly.
Of course, if you choose to go north from Zhiguanxing, from a purely tactical perspective, you can take advantage of the Daliang soldiers and horses.
In addition to Chen Yuanchen and other elite troops who have penetrated into Lishan and Wangwushan on both wings, the most important point is the convenient supply.
Yuanqusai, the main entrance to Zhiguanxing, is directly opposite Yanghu Village on the west side of Mengjin County. As long as Genqusai is captured, supplies can be transported in from Mengjin and Mianchi nearby.
Convenient and direct supply transportation means savings, which means that the consumption of grain and grain can be minimized, which means that the consumption of the country can be minimized, and soldiers and horses do not need to worry about the possibility of the grain route being cut off by the enemy.
The most difficult thing to overcome in peripheral operations is that, in addition to the safety of grain routes, transportation consumption is extremely terrifying.
Generally speaking, a 50,000-strong army fighting for a year may only need 500,000 shi of grain. However, in order to ensure that these 500,000 shi of grain are transported to the frontline camp, the transportation consumption on the way may be as high as millions of shi of grain.
So huge.
The valley road along Zhiguanxing Road has many gorges and rugged terrain. This kind of terrain is actually more conducive to the use of sophisticated crossbow equipment.
Valley roads and mountain gorges were difficult to maneuver around, which in turn put the greatest restrictions on the superior cavalry of the Mongols.
If we engage in a tug-of-war with the Mongol people around Zhi Guanxing, it will consume even more of the Mongol people's vitality.
Another advantage is that next year, if the Mongolians really seal the vassal Wang Yuankui in Weinan and they organize troops to attack Zhiguanxing, Wang Yuankui will most likely be more lazy in order to preserve his strength and strengthen his control over the Weinan area.
Yi attacked Huazhou, and Tongguan contained them...
"The next one is to build more fortifications along the south bank of the river between Mianchi and Mengjin. At the same time, Chen Yuanchen and others are required to enter Lishan and Wangwushan's troops and horses, and gather more troops and horses on both sides of Zhiguanxing and extend," Han Qianna said
He took out a charcoal pen and directly circled Zhi Guanxing from the map, saying, "Since Xiao Yiqing is trying every possible means to prevent us from counterattacking on Wusu Dashi, when the time is right next year or the next year, we can consider inserting this way into the heart of Hedong...