(Thanks to Sheng Taoyu, the first leader of this book, for the reward. There should be another chapter to be updated in the afternoon...)
The dry and cold wind in the afternoon passed over the peaks of Luliang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain and blew into the Fenshui River Valley, completely blowing away the thin fog.
At this time, most of the simple camps in Jiang County and Quwo had been destroyed, corpses were lying everywhere, and more generals fled to the outside like headless flies.
Wusu Dashi knew that if they held on to Jiangxian County, not only would they be unable to gather their troops into disarray, but once they were surrounded by Liang's army, they would be unable to fly.
Of course, He Liufeng, Zhao Ci, and Tan Xiuqun led 13,400 elite infantry and cavalry to advance to Jiang County. Wu Su Dashi did not dare to take out the last 6,000 elite troops in his hands to fight. He just peeked into the gap and fought his way out of Jiang County.
County, they broke out all the way north. By the time they fled in panic to Yicheng County, the sky was already dark.
The frightened cavalry entered the city to rest. Xiao Yiqing sat in embarrassment holding the saddle, looking at the sky to the west. The clouds seemed to be covered with purple mist, and the purple mist was dark, and there was a faint bloody light, like an omen.
This bloody disaster.
At present, there is news that the two cities of Quwo County and Jiangxian County have been captured, but almost 70,000 to 80,000 Liang troops entered the valley on the south bank of Fenshui River. After occupying Quwo and Jiangxian cities, they cut off the battlefield on the south bank of Fenshui River.
, but still not satisfied.
As dusk approached, Liang Jun divided two groups of soldiers and horses to cross the Fenshui River and headed towards the two cities of Jishan and Gaoliang on the northwest side where there were no guards.
Late at night, Wusu Dashi gathered the fleeing soldiers and horses in the southern part of Yicheng County. Together with the original defenders of Yicheng, he finally had more than 14,000 soldiers and horses available, but he didn't know how many soldiers and horses he had at this time.
Escape to Anyi, Pujin, Linyi, Wanrong and other counties in the east.
Xiao Yiqing was about to cry but had no tears. She never thought that Liang Jun had predicted the coming of heavy fog in advance and made all preparations to launch the attack before the heavy fog rose.
As he had guessed before, after the raid, more than 3,000 Luoyang Navy generals took advantage of the cover of heavy fog to land ashore, and advanced on the post roads from the cavalry camp to Quwo, Yicheng and Wenxi.
Prepare an ambush.
When Dai Minshan, Zhehe and other generals learned that Liang Jun had launched a surprise attack during the heavy fog, they were immediately worried that Liang Jun would directly attack the cavalry camp. Even before Wu Su Dashi's order came, they each led their cavalry units.
Abandon the simple camp and evacuate along the post road to the two wings.
They wanted to avoid Liang Jun's surprise attack from the south, but they didn't want to run into the ambush laid by the Luoyang navy generals who landed on the shore.
Under normal weather, Luoyang|Navy generals did not wear heavy armor and did not have much heavy land warfare equipment. The defense line deployed along the post road in a hurry was unlikely to be very strong. Perhaps the cavalry could be gathered for one or two assaults, which would be enough.
Can be easily punched through.
However, in the thick fog in the early morning, the enemy cavalry was completely confused about the authenticity of the ambush ahead, and dozens of cavalry were shot down by arrows. Quite a few cavalrymen and horses were tripped by horse ropes, and their horses' hoofs were pierced by iron nails.
, he was immediately frightened and did not dare to rush forward in the chaos.
The troops were in panic and panic. They hesitated and did not dare to advance. They saw another Liang army coming from behind. Not long after the battle, they were completely broken up in the heavy fog and fell into a melee of separate formations.
Of course, the Mongol cavalry were brave and good at fighting. They left the post road in the chaos and charged into the surrounding fields and riverbanks. It was relatively easy to distance themselves from Liang Jun.
Some of the dispersed Mongol cavalry gathered towards Jiangxian County based on vague impressions, some of them were smarter and evacuated either north or east along the banks of Fenshui River, and a considerable number of cavalry were hanging around like irrelevant flies.
Walking around in the heavy fog, if you encounter Liang Jun, you will fight. If you can't kill him, you will disperse in a crowd. The more you fight, the more scattered the team will be.
Fortunately, on such a large-scale battlefield, there was heavy fog. In the early stage, Liang's army had to use sentry units as units and gather together as much as possible to advance and retreat along obvious landmarks such as creeks and canals, and could not disperse at will.
This left a large gap on the battlefield, and a large number of Mongol cavalry could successfully break through with their fast speed and strong maneuverability.
Most of the defeated troops collected by Yicheng at this time were Mongolian cavalry.
The terrain to the east of Jiangxian County is more open, and Xiao Yiqing believes that there will be more cavalry that can escape to Anyi, Pujin and other places.
However, the Yanyun Han army, which was mainly infantry, the Bohai vassal army, and the vassaled Jin soldiers were weak in their roundabout ability and were easily chased and surrounded by Liang Jun. How many of them could finally escape from Liang Jun's encirclement was really questionable.
is an unknown quantity.
And this directly determines how severe the blow they will bear will be.
The biggest problem now is that they no longer have the ability to counterattack in a short period of time.
In the melee, Liang Jun must have suffered a lot of casualties, but they must have been much lower than them.
More importantly, the morale of both sides and the fighting will of the generals were completely different at this moment, not to mention that all the combat materials they had assembled in Jiangxian and Quwo had fallen into the hands of Liang Jun.
They do not have the ability to counterattack Jiangxian and Quwo, and if they cannot withdraw the soldiers and horses who fled to Pujin, Anyi, Linyi and other places as soon as possible, they will be destined to become the turtles in the Liang army.
It's just that Pujin, Anyi, Linyi and other places are bordered by the Fen River to the north, Xiangshan Mountain to the south, and the Yu River to the west. Jiangxian County and Quwo to the east have been occupied by Liang Jun. How can they withdraw?
"Go to Minshan, Xiao Siqing, and we will definitely break out from Jiangxian and Quwo to the northwest tomorrow night. I will personally lead the cavalry to meet them..." Wusu Dashi's face was livid, and he held the saber at his waist to ensure that he
His hands did not tremble, and he stayed as calm as possible and asked the commander next to him to draft a military order.
At present, only Minshan and Xiao Siqing sent people from Linyi and Anyi to contact him. There was no news from the other cavalry general Zhehe in front of his tent. He didn't know if he got separated from his own troops. He was still trapped in the
In the encirclement of Liang Jun, it may be said that he was killed or captured.
Now they don't know when the Yu River will be completely frozen. If they order all the soldiers and horses west of Jiang County to gather at Pujin (Puzhou City) on the bank of the Yu River at this time, it is very likely that they will not wait until the Yu River freezes over.
They broke through and went to Guanzhong to join Wang Yuankui. Liang Jun had already surrounded Pujin City tightly.
When the time comes, can they expect Wang Yuankui and Wang Xiaoxian to launch a desperate campaign to relieve the siege of Pujin?
To be realistic, Liang Jun has not yet been able to completely control the areas south and east of the Fen River. At this time, Liang Jun has not yet been able to block the valley on the southeast bank of the Fen River without leaving even a gap. To the west of Jiangxian County,
The soldiers and horses broke through the encirclement to the northwest at night, which not only allowed more cavalry to escape and join them, but also brought a considerable number of infantry out of the encirclement.
Of course, they
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You can't stay in Yicheng for too long either.
Yicheng County is located on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Fen River, and the surrounding terrain is open. They have lost the ability to fight the main force of Liang's army. Even if they can gather 40,000 to 50,000 remaining troops, they will be dead ends if they try to defend Yicheng.
First, it is difficult to mobilize a strong enough reinforcement from Taiyuan, Zezhou, and Luzhou in a short period of time. If the reinforcements that arrive are weak, they will only be eaten by Liang Jun while waiting for work.
Second, Yicheng is located on the edge of this battle. The city is low and supplies are scarce, so it is not a place for long-term defense.
Before the main force of the Liang Army moves north, they must withdraw part of their troops to Huo County, a hundred and twenty miles north, and use the dangerous terrain there to guard the north entrance to Taiyuan along the Fen River Valley; they must also divide another part of their troops.
Withdrew to the Taiyue Mountains, eighty miles east of Yicheng, and guarded the gateway eastward to Zezhou along the Meihe Ancient Road.
Only by guarding these two passes and blocking the passage for Liang Jun to march north to Taiyuan and west to Zelu can we not be completely defeated and have the opportunity and time to attack from Taiyuan, Shannan, Heshuo, and Yanyun.
, Bohai mobilized more troops and horses.
…………
…………
Mengzhou was separated from the southern battlefield of Jinzhou and the eastern battlefield of Puzhou, where the two sides were fighting fiercely at this time, by the Wangwu Mountain that stretched for two hundred miles.
There are two main channels for Mengzhou to communicate with Jinzhou:
The first is to take the narrow road on the south slope of Wangwu Mountain on the north bank of the Yu River and go north via Zhiguanxing.
The second is to start from Heqing County in the north of Mengzhou City, take Taihangxing Pass through the mountains at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain, pass through Jincheng, Qinshui, take the Qinshui River Valley and pass through the ridge valley at the intersection of Taiyue Mountain and Wangwu Mountain, then you can enter Jinzhou
In Yicheng County in the south.
After Tian Weiye and his troops were annihilated in Yuanqu City, Lu Qingxia and Yao Xishui did not go north to stay in Puzhou or Jinzhou, but returned to Mengzhou.
In Wusu Dashi's plan, he predicted that the Liang army might not dare to launch a battle this winter, and would most likely use the dangerous terrain of Wangwu Mountain and Li Mountain to build forts and forts to confront the main force of the Mongolian army. At this time, he would need Zhao Mengji to join the Mongolian army.
Zhu Rang sent troops from Bianliang, Xu Mingzhen from Songzhou, and Sima Tan from Xuzhou. Cooperating with Wang Yuankui on the west wing, Wang Xiaoxian violently attacked the east and west wings of Liang State, forcing Han Qian to withdraw from Yuanqu so that the Mongolian army could retake it.
Zhiguanxing is an important pass.
Wusu Dashi had such a plan, but Han Qian had no intention of showing weakness. After September, he was very determined to recruit troops and horses from all the counties in Liang State.
Although half of the more than 100,000 Liang troops who gathered in Yuanqu in early October were reserve brigades with weak combat effectiveness, Han Qian's determination to carry out the battle could not be ignored by anyone.
Although Han Qian's determination to launch a battle cast a shadow over Zhao Mengji, Lu Qingxia and others, they also clearly realized that after so many troops were deployed, Liang Jun's defense in western Henan and other places would be difficult.
His physical strength has become quite weak.
Perhaps because the shadow in their hearts is getting deeper, Zhao Mengji, Lu Qingxia, Yao Xishui, and Zhou Yuan are all more eager to look forward to the Yu River being frozen earlier this year.
In this way, they can unite with Zhu Rang and Xu Mingzhen as soon as possible to send troops to Xingyang, Western Henan, and Huainan, forcing Han Qian to withdraw from Yuanqu.
Perhaps because of his anxiety, Yao Xishui felt more and more that the strategy adopted by Xiao Yiqing and Liang Shixiong to dig up river embankments and build a dam downstream of Wuzhi to cut off the river water and force the Yu River to flow into Yingshui was too unwise.
Mountains and mountains separated them, so Yao Xishui and others did not know how the war in eastern Puzhou and southern Jinzhou was going at this time. Before noon, she asked Lu Qingxia if she would send someone to go to Jinzhou via Taihangxing to inquire about the progress of the war. However, the Wuzhi garrison on the south bank sent several cavalry to report to Liang generals Li Xiu and Shen Peng, who led a cavalry force of five to six thousand people in the early morning. They crossed the Shaying River on floating stacks and entered Weishi in the southwest of Bianliang. Raid within the county.
Yao Xishui didn't pay special attention to it at the time, nor did he think it was directly related to the war north of Wangwu Mountain. He just thought it was an attack launched by the Liang Army in western Henan.
Liang Jun's ability to specifically lay out floating stacks to pass through floodplains, even if it was extremely time-consuming and laborious to lay out dozens of miles of floating stacks, gave Liang Jun the ability to raid the east coast.
This kind of harassment had happened seven or eight times before the beginning of autumn, and Lu Qingxia didn't think there was anything worth making a fuss about.
Even if they did not think that the Mongolian army would definitely win the final victory in this battle, they absolutely did not believe that Usu Dashi had assembled 120,000 elite soldiers and horses in the valley on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Fen River, including more than 50,000 elite cavalry. It is believed that the main force of the Mongolian army has been defeated by this time.
In the afternoon, they heard reports that Li Xiu and other cavalry were approaching the south bank of the Yu River. Yao Xishui and Lu Qingxia had not yet thought about sending people to Wuzhi and Bianliang on the south bank to observe the enemy's situation, but casually climbed up the tower. .
The message was correct, they climbed up the tower and saw a group of people from a distance, densely clustered on the embankment on the south bank of the Yu River in the east of Wuzhi City.
Although they were far apart and could not see the flags clearly, it was confirmed that they were the soldiers and horses led by Li Xiu who crossed the Shaying River and entered Bianliang territory in the early morning to harass.
Yao Xishui was filled with bitterness when she recalled the time when they got along with each other back then, but she knew in her heart that from the moment Li Changfeng died in Jinghaimen, they were the mortal enemies of the remnants of the Li family.
"What's going on? Is Li Xiu coming to provoke, or is their retreat to Changge blocked by Zhu Rang's generals?" Zhou Yuan asked in confusion as he looked at the scene in front of him.
Yao Xishui looked to Hulao Pass and Xingyang City in the southwest. He did not expect that the navy stationed there by Liang Jun showed any signs of dispatch, and he was also full of confusion. Liang Jun's navy did not cross the river and approached the north bank to cooperate. Li Xiu led a cavalry team to go around such a long way. , what are you going to do when you enter Mengzhou?
Yao Xishui did not believe that Li Xiu and the others' retreat to Changge was blocked.
Liang Shixiong and more than 20,000 Wei Bo's elite troops were in Xingyang, and after Mi County was annihilated, Zhu Rang was in Bianliang, and Wuzhi seemed to still have 60,000 to 70,000 troops, but there were really not many elites in the field, and they might not even be able to defend them. Xu Mingzhen from Zhuzhou County on the east bank of Wishui River.
It was hard for her to imagine that without the cooperation of the two wings of the Mengzhou Army and the Shouzhou Army, Zhu Rang was determined to mobilize all the garrison troops near Bianliang to encircle and annihilate these five or six thousand Liang cavalry.
In the seventh year of Yanyou, Xiao Yiqing recruited tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to transport earth and build a dam between the north of Wuzhi City and the east of Mengzhou to cut off the Yu River waterway, causing the Yu River bed to the east of the dam to have dried up for several years. This allowed Li Xiu and his troops to appear near the embankment on the south bank of the Yu River and be able to cross the dry river bed at any time and directly enter the territory of Mengzhou on the north bank.
At this time, the horns on the Mengzhou city gate tower were blown, and several teams of horses rode quickly to Qinyang in the northeast, Heqing in the north and other places to warn.
Before this, no one thought that it was possible for Li Xiu to lead such a Liang cavalry into Mengzhou.
At this time, Mengzhou City seemed somewhat in a hurry.
Zhao Mengji hurriedly climbed onto the tower, his face gloomy, and he looked into his eyes
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Due to the hesitation, Yao Xishui guessed that he was probably hesitant to send troops out of the city to cooperate with the Dongliang Army on the south bank to encircle and annihilate Li Xiu's troops in the Yushui River bed?
Before Zhao Mengji could make a decision, he saw that the cavalry on the south bank had already divided into groups and rushed down the dry river bed. Hundreds of war cavalry roared and soon entered the desolate land on the north bank.
Liang Qixian occupied a low-lying land to the west of Nanguan River. Like a torrent, more and more people and horses gathered.
"What nonsense did those idiots from Wuzhi send?" Zhao Mengji shouted anxiously as more cavalry entered the north bank.
At this time, Yao Xishui also understood why Zhao Mengji was so anxious.
The Liang cavalry who entered the north bank first were all one man and one horse. They looked like standard raiding cavalry. But when they saw the groups of war horses behind them and the army horses entering the north bank, many people realized that something was wrong.
A rough estimate shows that the Liang cavalry that entered the north bank under the leadership of Li Xiu was equipped with three horses per rider.
This is the standard configuration for long-distance running.
The intelligence sent by the generals of the Dongliang Army guarding Wuzhi City before noon ignored this key detail, so that they always thought that the Liang Army entering the east bank of the Shaying River was at most harassing Weishi County, and they did not expect it at all.
There is a possibility of entering Mengzhou.
At this time, Liang Jun sent five to six thousand cavalry and brought so many replaceable horses. What did the horses want to do when they entered Mengzhou?
Yao Xishui and Lu Qingxia looked at each other.
In addition to being equipped with double war horses or war horses, the five or six thousand cavalry obviously did not carry any war equipment, and Liang Jun's navy in Xingyang and Hulao Pass showed no signs of being dispatched. It did not look like they were planning to raid Meng.
Zhou, Heqing, Qinyang and various cities and pools.
However, even if the Dongliang Army did not come to the north bank for reinforcements, and no matter how weak Zhao Mengji was, he could still muster 40,000 troops and horses in Mengzhou. How could the Liang Army's cavalry of five to six thousand be left alone in Mengzhou?
In a hurry, Zhao Mengji was unable to organize strong enough troops to go out of the city to fight in formation. At that moment, the general led a group of infantry out of the north city and rushed to reinforce the Shuiying Dazhai in the northeast and strengthen its defense.
He was still worried that Li Xiu was leading the Liang enemy, and that they were coming for Mengzhou's navy that had been crippled after the battle of Xingyang.
However, Li Xiu led his cavalry into the north bank. Instead of going north, they headed west along the north bank of the Yu River. At lightning speed, they sent troops to seize the Nanguan River pontoon southeast of Mengzhou City. In addition to detaching a group of cavalry to go
Mengzhou South City Gate is approaching, but the main cavalry is heading west from the south of Mengzhou City, heading towards the south slope of Wangwu Mountain...
"Han Qian mobilized Li Xiu's troops to reinforce Yuan Qu?" Zhou Yuan asked as Yao Xishui looked at Lu Qingxia in shock.
From the narrow slope between the south slope of Wangwu Mountain and the north bank of the Yu River to the west, it is the direction from Zhiguanxing to Yuanqu. The main force of Liangqi went in this direction, and the destination was naturally Yuanqu.
A cavalry force of about six to seven hundred people was separated from the main force of Liang Cavalry. At this time, they rushed directly to the south gate of Mengzhou City. Li Xiu obviously used this cavalry to prevent them from sending troops from Mengzhou City to attack them.
side rear.
Zhao Mengji was also full of doubts and did not order troops to attack his flank. Soon he saw the cavalry that separated from the rear stopped six or seven hundred steps away from the south gate of Mengzhou.
The leader of the cavalry, Liang Jun, walked closer, reined in his horse and placed the horse crosswise in front of him, then took off his helmet, revealing his young and thin face.
Seeing this man's face clearly through the copper telescope, Yao Xishui's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.
Li Changfeng’s second son Li Yan.
Yao Xishui still remembers that Li Yan must have been only sixteen years old when the palace changed. Unexpectedly, he had already become the cavalry general of Liang Jun.
At this moment, Yao Xishui also understood that Li Yan deliberately took off his helmet in front of them. He seemed to feel the suppressed and gloomy hatred in Li Yan's eyes. For a moment, his mind suddenly became clear, and Li Yan led his troops to the west before returning.
God comes.
Although Mengzhou was located at the southeastern foot of Wangwu Mountain, several fortifications were built based on the difficult terrain to station elite troops to control the narrow river-side road on the south slope of Wangwu Mountain.
However, these fortifications are mainly to prevent Liang Jun from attacking from the west. All the tornado cannons, bed crossbows and other war weapons are deployed towards the southwest. Who would have expected that there would be an elite cavalry passing through from east to west?
And passed?
After a while, the guard over there sent someone over to ask what was going on. They even doubted whether the soldiers and horses passing in front of the stronghold were enemy troops.
Zhao Mengji did not realize at first that Li Xiu led his troops into Mengzhou and only took the road to Yuanqu, but did not send anyone to report the news to Fangzhai there.
When Li Xiu led a large force into the north bank, he sent scouts in advance to block the channels south and southwest of Mengzhou City. Zhao Mengji had not realized this yet, and the vigilance of the villages in the west was even lower. When Liang Jun's cavalry approached,
Just woke up with a start.
However, the defenders of the western villages were in a hurry and did not dare to go out to fight, and had no time to adjust their weapons. They watched in horror as the large group of cavalry swarmed across the gentle slope in front of the village, which was only three to five hundred steps wide.
Yao Xishui was still a little confused at this time.
Even if it can be confirmed that Han Qian sent Li Xiu to reinforce Yuanqu, he still can't figure out why Li Xiu took the risk of crossing from the west of Bianliang to the south of Mengzhou?
It would be much faster if we walked this way. After all, there are many sections of the post road from Changge to Xingyang and Xingyang passing through Hulao Pass that pass through floodplains, so horses are not allowed to gallop.
Walking along the post road honestly, you will encounter carriages and horses coming towards each other from time to time. A large-scale cavalry unit can cover hundreds of miles a day and it will be like the sky.
What's more, if you don't want to waste time ferrying upstream from the mouth of the Yiluo River, you have to go around from the post road at the southern foot of Mang Mountain to the crossing bridge in Mianchi, and you have to make a detour of nearly a hundred miles.
In contrast, Li Xiu led his troops to bravely travel through the areas controlled by the Dongliang Army and the Mengzhou Army, riding three horses at a time. Maybe they could reach Yuanqu early tomorrow morning, which would save two days less than taking the southern route.
days time.
The problem is that Han Qian has more than 100,000 troops at Yuanqu. Even if he is defeated, and Li Xiu's troops are urgently transferred there, it will be of no use.
When Yao Xishui was about to ask something, he saw Zhao Mengji coming downstairs from the city entrance with a gloomy look on his face...
"..." Seeing this scene, Yao Xishui woke up in shock. The Mongolian army was defeated. Han Qian needed to urgently mobilize more cavalry to pursue and defeat them in the Fenshui River Valley?
How can it be?
The Mongolian army could muster 120,000 elite troops in and around Jiangxian County, and Usu Dashi personally took command in Jiangxian County. It had only been a few days since the battle began, and neither side had even put their main troops into the battlefield. The Mongolian army then
Defeated?
And if this were not the case, it would not explain why Li Xiu led a cavalry of five to six thousand men and risked crossing through Mengzhou!