"Ahead is Yezigou. There used to be a wooden bridge over the gorge leading to the east bank. But two days ago, the scouts came back to investigate. The bridge was destroyed by a flash flood just a few days ago. It was not marked on the battle map. Although the stone foundation of the bridge was
It is still there, but there are no big trees to the left and right, so it is difficult to repair the wooden bridge in a short time. In addition, there is Daoyuzi more than ten miles to the south. When you go there, the river bed suddenly expands by more than 20 miles.
Zhang, the river beach is not deep, the cavalry can swim directly through..."
Feng Xuan watched as the combat staff laid the map on the saddle, sketched the army's route with charcoal, and asked:
"Where did Cao Ba's troops go?"
"General Cao Ba divided his troops into three teams, taking the northern route all the way to Hengshan Valley and all the way to Nantang Bamboo Bridge. He personally led all the soldiers and horses to the east from the valley river crossing beach before noon. At this time, they should repair at Gaolong Plateau.
." The combat staff circled a plateau on the east side of Yezigou and marked Cao Ba's route before noon.
Feng Xuan looked up and saw the gloomy sky and said, "There may be heavy rain. Can we send people north along Yezigou to keep an eye on the water conditions?"
When swimming in the shallows, I am most afraid of encountering sudden rains upstream and causing the river water to swell.
Although there is a dedicated person responsible for scouting and reconnaissance of enemy situations in nearby terrain, when Feng Xuan implements a new combat plan, he always confirms all the details to avoid omissions.
After receiving a positive answer from the combat staff, Feng Xuan signaled his cavalry to move towards the valley downstream. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the rising sun in the east. It had been a night since he had received the latest news from the Baqiao camp.
, at this time, it was not clear whether the main force of the German army had crossed the river and headed northward last night, and I was somewhat worried that it was a little too early for him to lead his troops eastward.
Although Wang Yuankui sent his secret envoy to see Jing Zhen and Kong Xirong and promised to unconditionally hand over all his troops and surrender to the city, the Chengde Army sent another direct lineage force across the Wei River the night before to further strengthen control over Liquan and Chiyang on the west bank of the Jing River.
Jing Zhen and Kong Xirong expected that the so-called surrender promised by Wang Yuankui was probably a delaying strategy. He would most likely lead his troops to flee along the valley on the west bank of the Jing River to Qingzhou and Yuanzhou deep in the Weibei Plateau.
Previously, the Longyou Army sent troops from Tianshui, crossed Longshan to the east and entered Fengxiang. The troops were divided into two groups:
Along the way, Li Zhigao led Zhang Song, Deng Tai, Zhao Ci and other troops to advance eastward from the south bank of the Wei River. Later, he joined forces with Zhou Tong and Hao Zixia to go outside Qizhou City and besieged the remnants of Wang Xiaoxian's troops in Qizhou.
Along the way, Feng Xuan led Hou Mo, Cao Ba, Lu Ze, Li Zhi and other troops to advance eastward along the north bank of the Weishui River. Along the way, they recaptured Longxian, Qishan, Yongxian and other cities on the north bank of the upper reaches of the Weishui River. At the same time, they were responsible for blocking Wang Xiaoxian from the north bank and fled north.
Combat missions in the Weibei Plateau Passage.
Unexpectedly, Wang Xiaoxian was very courageous. Not only did he rather die than surrender, he even showed no intention of leading his troops across the Wei River and fleeing to the mountains and ravines of the Weibei Plain to resist. This made Feng Xuan and his troops on the northern route intercept the plan.
Fall into the void.
The defenders of Longxian, Qishan, and Yongxian all surrendered in defiance of the wind. They had not won any battles these days, and Cao Ba and other generals were very depressed.
Although this time they also took on the task of cutting off Wang Yuankui's German army from the north as they fled north, Cao Ba was still worried that Wang Yuankui, a useless piece of shit, would directly choose to surrender, leaving them with no choice but to occupy the city and gather surrendered troops.
Trivial things to do.
Feng Xuan was more inclined to the judgment of Jing Zhen, Kong Xirong and others.
When Zhao Mengji led the Shu soldiers to the northern expedition to Guanzhong, Wang Yong launched a mutiny to seize the power of the Shu state. Zhao Mengji and tens of thousands of Shu soldiers were forced to live in a foreign land. At first, they occupied Qifeng and other places, and their life was extremely difficult. Later, even if they surrendered to the Mongols,
Leading his troops to garrison in Mengzhou, life was not comfortable, and the generals and soldiers even had to tighten their belts to live a comfortable life.
Zhao Mengji himself also lived an extremely frugal and difficult life. After the great victory at Zhiguanxing, Zhao Mengji finally chose to surrender, but he did not put forward any conditions that were too high and too high.
Of course, apart from the Liangzhou army led by Li Zhigao and Chai Jian, Zhao Mengji was the first enemy general to lead his troops to reorganize and surrender. Han Qian would treat him favorably even if it cost him thousands of gold to buy horse bones.
Of course, although Zhao Mengji led his troops to participate in the war against Heluo, he was not able to take advantage.
Furthermore, Zhao Mengji's surrender to the Mongols was forced by the situation, and Zhao Mengji fell into such a bad situation because Han Qian helped Wang Yong launch a mutiny.
Therefore, the monarchs and ministers of Liang State had a high degree of acceptance of Zhao Mengji.
My impressions of Wang Yuankui and Daliang Junchen were much different.
Wang Yuankui was the most direct culprit of the sudden change in Heshuo. Not only did he lead the Mongolian army to invade south, he also willingly served as the pioneer eagle dog of the Mongolian army. He chased and killed a large number of Liangjun troops along the way, and had a deep blood feud with the old generals of Liangjun.
If Wang Yuankui had a bigger trump card, or the surrender of the German army could greatly change the direction of the war, Han Qian might try to persuade Gu Qian, Zhou Daoyuan, Jing Hao and others to recruit and surrender to the German army on more preferential terms.
However, compared to Zhao Mengji, at this time Wang Yuankui was in a predicament of having no external reinforcements and being attacked from three sides. The Daliang soldiers and horses took the absolute initiative in Guanzhong. Not to mention Gu Qian and others, even Han Qian would not avoid three to five thousand people.
casualties and what hidden dangers are left.
Therefore, the conditions for Wang Yuankui can be to retain the title of the Yongzhou County Prince, so that each generation of Wang family descendants can be demoted to the next level. The Council can also leave a place for Wang Yuankui, but Wang Yuankui must unconditionally hand over all his troops.
Accept the reorganization.
Unlike Zhao Mengji, Wang Yuankui served as a frontier official for more than twenty years. After joining the Mongolian army, he attacked cities and plundered territory smoothly.
In Wang Yuankui's view, it was military power that brought him all this, which made it unlikely that he would give up military power easily even when the situation was exhausted.
When Li Zhigao led his troops to attack Qizhou, Feng Xuan had already prepared to lead his troops to blockade from the north and intercept the German army fleeing north to Qingyuan. After Wang Xiaoxian was buried in a sea of fire and regained the entire territory of Qizhou, he led an army first
Entering Qishan Mountain in the northwest of Qizhou.
However, after the Longyou Army invaded Guanzhong from the west wing, the edict sent by Han Qian clearly stipulated that the three groups of troops attacking Guanzhong, Huatong Army, Shangluo Army, and Longyou Army, needed to coordinate their operations, and made it clear that
Jing Zhen was the commander-in-chief, and Kong Xirong, Li Zhigao, and Feng Xuan were the deputy commanders, and they jointly discussed the follow-up battle plan.
Perhaps Jing Zhen himself had no intention of recruiting Wang Yuankui to surrender. He sent messengers several times to Qishan to meet Feng Xuan, asking Feng Xuan not to be too eager to gather troops and horses from the north of the Wei River to Qishan, let alone to send troops eastward into Jingshui too early.
Along the coast, in order to give Wang Yuankui the illusion that he could still escape north along the Jing River if the negotiations failed.
Kong Xirong and Li Zhigao did not oppose Jing Zhen's decision.
Compared with mobilizing countless soldiers, horses, and war equipment to besiege Yongzhou City, which is the most fortified city in the world, I don’t know how long it will take.
How long will it take to defeat Yongzhou City? If possible, they all hope to lure the German army from Yongzhou City into the Weibei Plain north of the Wei River and west of the Jing River to fight a battle of annihilation.
Only in this way can they end the battle in Guanzhong as quickly as possible.
Whether the Guanzhong War can be brought to a clean and tidy end, or whether it can be delayed for half a year or more and fail to capture the Yongzhou Army, will have extremely subtle implications for the subsequent battle situation on the northern and eastern fronts, and even on the relationship between Liang Chu and Liang Shu.
And direct, far-reaching impact.
Feng Xuan also waited until Wang Yuankui sent troops to further strengthen his control over Chiyang and Liquan, and then ordered Hou Mo, Cao Ba, Lu Ze, Li Zhi and other troops to march eastward from Qishan and other places on foot and cavalry.
It is only over a hundred miles from Qishan Mountain to Chiyang City in the south of the Jingshui River Valley, but wars have continued in the Weibei Plain in recent years, and the roads have been severely damaged, and no one has repaired them.
In addition to Jingshui, the largest tributary of the Wei River, there are a large number of streams and rivers developed in Laolong Mountain, Saga Mountain, Yaowang Mountain, Yao Mountain, Huanglong Mountain, Liangshan, etc. on the Weibei Plateau, flowing longitudinally into the Wei River from north to south, plus
For thousands of years, the land on both sides of the Wei River has been fully developed, and the channel system for irrigating farmland is also quite developed.
However, the pontoon bridges and wooden bridges originally erected over these streams, rivers and channels have not been repaired by anyone over the years, or have been destroyed by floods, or have been damaged by man-made damage.
These greatly hindered the speed of Feng Xuan and other troops' eastward advance.
Of course, they had expected this a long time ago, and even knowing it, they deliberately delayed the dispatch of labor camps to the north to build roads and bridges.
All this was strategically intended to create the illusion that Wang Yuankui and Wang Mao still had a chance to escape north.
Of course, when Feng Xuan pushed forward from Qishan and other places to Chiyang and Liquan, he found that there were damaged roads and bridges along the way, and he was really anxious to curse his mother.
In order to overcome the difficulty of advancing the army and complete the assembly as soon as possible at the passage where the Chengdu Army fled north, Feng Xuan could only split more than 12,000 infantry and cavalry into dozens of groups and disperse them to advance into Chiyang County.
Wang Yuankui had been running the German army for more than 20 years. Nearly half of the 40,000-strong German army were cavalry. Feng Xuan split up more than 12,000 infantry and cavalry and moved forward. Naturally, he had to take a lot of risks, but compared to leaving the entire German army in Wei
We must carry out annihilation in the northern plains, and prevent the escape to Qing, Yuan and other places in the north from becoming a hidden danger like maggots attached to the bones in the Guanzhong plain. These risks must be borne.
What Feng Xuan wanted to know urgently at this time was, firstly, whether the main force of the German Army had crossed the Weihe River and headed northward; secondly, if the main force of the German Army had crossed the Weihe River and headed northward, how could they delay the formation of the German Army by entering the few troops in Chiyang first?
How long is the main force?
Also, Feng Xuan is not sure at this time that the main force of troops will be able to cross the Wei River before nightfall tomorrow and enter the north bank to join the battle.
Because Wang Yuankui sank a large number of boats in the bend where the Bahe River merges into the Weishui River, the Luoyang Navy and the auxiliary troops cleaned up these sunken boats, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. The warships will not be able to enter the upper reaches of the Weishui River and the Jingshui River for a while.
Combat...
…………
…………
In order to clear the escape route to the north, Wang Yuankui not only strengthened his control over the cities of Liquan and Chiyang north of the Wei River and west of the Jingshui River, but also led his son Wang Mao to lead tens of thousands of elite cavalry troops into Chiyang, the western area of Liquan and Wuhan.
Within Ting County.
Wang Yuankui also knew very well that the floating boats and wooden bridges on the Jing River were destroyed. Before Luoyang |
The main force escaping poses a threat.
The greatest threat to the Chengde Army at present is the Liang Army, which had swept through more than 10,000 cavalry troops in cities north of the Wei River and southwest of Longshan half a month ago.
This is also the main force of Liang Jun's cavalry unit.
Liang Jun's cavalry units have always been very limited in scale. They mainly assist heavy armored infantry on the battlefield and are responsible for covering the flanks or containing the opponent's cavalry units. They rarely engage in battlefield operations independently.
In addition, because heavy weapons such as spring-arm bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows are highly dependent on roads and bridges, cavalry troops cannot carry these heavy weapons when maneuvering quickly, and their ability to attack difficult situations is obviously weaker than that of heavy armored infantry.
A big chunk.
The cavalry unit of the Chengde Army was stationed in the southern part of Yantan and other states in the early years. It has long been responsible for resisting the Mongolian army going south. It can be said that it is the most elite cavalry in the Jin army. It joined the Mongolian army with Wang Yuankui, and its combat effectiveness was not weakened.
At this time, Wang Mao led 10,000 Chengde Jingqi, and he still had considerable confidence in resisting Liang Qi's attack from the direction of Qishan and covering the west flank of the north retreat passage.
At this time, he was more concerned about the speed at which Liang Jun's main force circled around to the west flank of Xianyang to cross the Wei River.
In addition to 20,000 cavalry, the Chengde Army also had 20,000 infantry, plus nearly 20,000 Wang family members, slaves, and generals. After abandoning Yongzhou City, the withdrawal speed along the west bank of the Jing River would not be too fast.
Counting from crossing the Wei River, even if Liang Qi's interception and harassment were not taken into account, this group of troops carried a large number of boxes and cages filled with jewelry and treasures, and wanted to safely evacuate to the Jingshui River Valley north of Chiyang. It took only eight or nine days.
To cover ten miles, it may take at least three days.
These are also the most dangerous three days, and in Wang Mao's view, the most critical thing is whether they can successfully block the main force of the Liang Army on the south bank from crossing the river within these three days.
When Cao Ba led his troops into the northern border of Wuting County, Wang Mao led more than a thousand guards to garrison in a village in the northeast of Wuting County. At the end of April, the Guanzhong Plain was already a bit hot in early summer. He boarded a mountain in the north of the village.
From the short mountain, one can see a large group of horsemen gathering on the east bank of the Moyu River, which is more than ten miles away.
The Moyu River originates from the plateau valley in the west of Chiyang, goes south in Wuting County, joins the Qishui River flowing from the northwest, and then flows into the Weishui River through Baishitan.
The Moyu River is also the most important natural barrier on the west flank of the northern retreat route of Wude Army.
It was early summer at this time, and the rainfall in the Weibei Plateau began to become abundant, causing the water levels of the streams and rivers developed in the Weibei Plateau to generally rise.
The bridges along the Moyu River were destroyed, and the water level was slightly shallow. There were only four or five riverbanks where the cavalry could swim directly. Wang Mao mainly deployed his elite cavalry on the east bank of these four or five shoals to intercept Liang Liang.
Ride across the river.
"Li Yuanshou's son, Li Siqi, led 3,000 cavalry troops from Yuanzhou. He has arrived at Yongshou and sent a messenger to Chiyang to contact him. He has agreed that his troops will leave the Jingshui River Valley tomorrow and enter Chiyang to support our northward retreat..."
Several probing horses came galloping from the north. They dismounted and knelt down to report.
"They say Li Yuanshou is a cunning fox, and it seems that's true!" Wang Mao snorted dissatisfied.
Taiyuan and southern Shanxi are facing great military pressure. Even if Wusu Dashi transferred some of his own elites from the North Courtyard to go south for reinforcements, the main purpose is to strengthen the military defense of Taiyuan and southern Shanxi.
In order to reinforce the Guanzhong area, Wusu Dashi mainly ordered the troops to occupy Yinxia and other places.
Pingxia and other vassal tribes sent troops southward.
While Wang Yuankui secretly negotiated with Liang Jun, he did not give up and sent people to Xiazhou to ask Li Yuanshou for help. However, Li Yuanshou's son Li Siqi led 3,000 cavalry and stayed in Yuanzhou at the northwest foot of Longshan Mountain, and has not moved south.
.
To put it bluntly, no one is stupid.
Li Yuanshou must have been worried that Wang Yuankui might lead the German army to surrender.
In the face of the Longyou Army before, he did not dare to defend Qinzhou. At this time, it was uncertain whether Wang Yuankui would fight or surrender. How could he dare to easily send the elite cavalry, which accounted for 30% of his troops, into the Weibei Plain to reinforce Wang Yuankui?
?
Two days ago, Wang Yuankui sent his troops to strengthen control of Chiyang and Liquan, and Li Siqi led his troops slowly southward.
Wang Mao believes that it must have been the early morning of this morning when the main infantry force of the Wude Army began to protect the family and children across the Wei River. After Li Siqi learned about it, he decided to lead his troops out of the Jingshui Valley and into Chiyang to support their northward retreat, right?
Regarding Li Yuanshou, Wang Mao also knew very well what Li Siqi and his son had in mind.
The two prefectures of Qing and Yuan, located deep in the Weibei Plateau, have always been barren. The combined population of the two prefectures is less than 100,000. Wu De's army of 40,000 to 50,000 troops withdrew into Qing and Yuan. Not only did they defend Liang Jun along the Jingshui River Valley for Li Yuanshou,
The gateway to the north will also rely on the Pingxia tribe for food and fodder supplies.
Li Yuanshou saw the defeat of the Mongolian army and had the ambition to annex Hexi and become independent according to Yinxia. However, the Pingxia tribe did not have many elites and was not good at farming and manufacturing. Even though the Mongols were forced by the situation, they agreed to annex and embezzle them.
In the Hexi prefectures, it would be difficult for them to block Liang Jun's front on the west flank.
The retreat of the Chengde Army to the north can strengthen the strength of the Pingxia people in all aspects.
Of course, as long as they could firmly hold the military power of the Wude Army, Wang Mao and his father Wang Yuankui had no objection to whether they should join the Mongols or the Pingxia people.
If the Mongolian army can successfully attract the main force of the Liang army in Taiyuan, southern Shanxi, and Dongliang army in eastern Henan in the future, or even severely damage it, they may not be able to seize Qingyuan and seize control of Yinxia and Xia from Li Yuanshou.
possible.
Wang Mao said to the scout who delivered the news: "You immediately go to Yongshou to see Li Siqi and ask him to lead his troops into the vicinity of Heiniutan west of Chiyang before noon tomorrow. The Li family's support for the Pingxia tribe will be worthless."
Don’t forget…”
Heiniutan is a shoal in the upper reaches of the Moyu River in Chiyang County. Although it is not the easiest way for Liang Qi to swim across the Moyu River to the east, after crossing the Heiniutan, heading east is the exit of the Jingshui River Valley.
Wang Mao could not ignore the possibility of Liang Jun concentrating his forces to forcefully cross Heiniutan and directly cut off their northward retreat route.
He had previously deployed more than two thousand cavalry to the east of Heiniutan to intercept Liang Jun's crossing of the river. However, considering that more and more Liang cavalry entered the Moyu River, he planned to continue to the east of Heiniutan before noon tomorrow.
More troops and horses were sent to the shore.
If Li Siqi could lead 3,000 Pingxia cavalry to reinforce Heiniutan in time, Wang Mao could concentrate his limited troops and not be in a hurry to reinforce troops to the north.
…………
…………
Towards evening, Feng Xuan, surrounded by hundreds of horsemen, rushed to the east bank of Sanghe Bay to meet up with Cao Ba.
Sanhe Bay is located on the north side of the intersection of Moyu River and Qishui River. Since Moyu River suddenly increases in water potential after it joins Qishui River, Sanhe Bay is also in the downstream direction of Moyu River. The last place is suitable for cavalry to directly
A shallow beach crossing the river.
In the end, the Chengde Army did not cross the Moyu River to intercept the eastward advancing cavalry troops. However, the Chengde Army firmly controlled several shoals on the Moyu River on the east bank and the Sanhe Bay. Cao Ba moved his troops in the afternoon.
The horses were rallied and were driven back several times across the river.
There were many broken-up floating rafts on the beach, and the corpses of men and horses were floated and sank downstream.
"Damn it, Cheng De's army killed them really hard. They lost more than 300 generals. They were unable to occupy a foothold on the east bank." Cao Ba watched Feng Xuan step over and greeted him.
He went up and spat into the grass, and said angrily.
Cao Ba's cavalry brigade only had 3,000 elite troops, and more than 10% of its troops were reduced during early tentative contacts. This shows how determined the enemy's sniper attack on the east coast was.
The enemy forces in the north and east also reinforced Sanhe Bay very quickly. This was obviously not the most suitable crossing point for organizing a strong attack.
However, even if the enemy's intercepting force is dispersed and delayed, the cavalry is assembled at every location suitable for crossing the beach to actively prepare for the crossing attack.
Feng Xuan climbed up a gentle slope and saw that in addition to more than 3,000 enemy cavalry on the other side, there were also a small number of infantry on the outside of the river beach using horses and antlers to build a simple defense line to restrict their front cavalry from crossing the river and quickly heading deeper into the other side.
Interspersed everywhere.
In addition to these, the enemy also had a small number of naval warships in the upstream direction. Cao Ba had previously organized people to build floating rafts, but it was difficult to scale up in a hurry and it had no effect.
This is also the most embarrassing place.
If they were given enough time, it would not take half a month, or even only three to five days, and the supply camp could withstand the enemy's harassment and build a 200-step-long tower on the shoal of Sanhe Bay.
The wooden bridge comes.
Even if there are two more days, tens or twenty spring-arm bed crossbows and scorpion crossbows from the heavy armored infantry brigade on the south bank can be transferred to shoot at the river beach on the other side, which can reduce the difficulty of the cavalry crossing.
However, the current situation is that even if they delay crossing the Moyu River for two days, almost 40,000 to 50,000 German troops will be able to escape into the Jingshui River Valley north of Chiyang. Then they are south of Chiyang and on the west bank of the Jingshui River.
The operational intention of encircling and annihilating the German army will be completely in vain.
It seems that this does not prevent them from successfully regaining Guanzhong, but if they let go of the main force of the German army so that they can continue to have the strength to threaten Guanzhong's flanks, this battle cannot be considered a complete victory.
However, faced with the temporary predicament, Feng Xuan said very calmly: "Now everyone in the enemy army knows that they have to flee for their lives. Let's fight harder to avoid surprise..."
In order to completely annihilate the German army on the north bank of the Wei River, they expected that the interception battle would be quite fierce, but Feng Xuan also believed that as long as they successfully cut off the enemy's escape route to the north, the enemy's morale and fighting will would finally be restored.
Disintegrate quickly.
"I heard from the scouts that a Pingxia cavalry has entered Yongshou. It is possible that they will leave the Jingshui River Valley and enter Chiyang before noon tomorrow?" Cao Ba asked.
The size of the Chengde army's cavalry itself was stronger than theirs, and now another Pingxia Qiang cavalry was about to step in. Cao Ba was inevitably a little impatient and said: "The weather will not be bad tonight, and it is half moon again. We must be there tonight."
Choose a breakthrough point between Sanghewan and Wutingdu to organize a night crossing and fight to the east bank."
"Pingxia people should not be able to leave the Jingshui River Valley..." Feng Xuan said with a hint of uncertainty.
