Yang Xingmi took several close associates to review the recent war.
The Xia army must have quietly reached the vicinity of Xucheng, and then continuously intercepted and killed messengers, scouts, and attacked woodcutter sergeants. Chen Hanbin, the defender of Xucheng, did not know the enemy's situation and recklessly left the city. As a result, he was besieged by the superior force of the Xia army, and almost the entire army was wiped out.
As soon as Chen Hanbin died, the remaining Haizhou soldiers in Xucheng had no intention of defending and collapsed.
To put it bluntly, this battle was nothing. It was about concentrating superior forces and annihilating the disadvantaged enemy forces, but - alas! Chen Hanbin deserved to die.
After this battle, the Xia army's morale was greatly boosted and they began to move around. Infantry groups appeared, and their ability to collect food and supplies was enhanced. The cavalry also handed over trophies and prisoners to them, and went into battle lightly, becoming increasingly active.
The four generals Zhang Xun, Zhang Jian, Feng Jingzhang, and Jia Gongduo refused to accept defeat and jointly organized a large army to try to regain the lost territory. However, they sent out troops in three directions, and were defeated one by one. They were wounded along the way, annihilated along the way, and retreated in fear.
At this point, they dare not move anymore.
When the review was over, Yang Xingmi was silent, Gao Xu frowned and thought hard, and the other generals were also dumbfounded.
"Fighting like a blind man!" Zhang Hao sighed.
Yang Xingmi glanced at him and said: "That's the point. From the beginning to the end, I didn't figure out how many Xia thieves there were and where they were. They were running around and being defeated easily."
After traveling across Jiangnan and Huainan for so many years, Yang Xingmi encountered this kind of opponent for the first time. Everyone has to get out of their comfort zone. They can no longer fight with the old methods and have to think of a way.
Yang Xingmi turned his attention to Gao Xu.
Gao Xu took a deep breath and said: "Your Majesty, I thought about it. The Xia bandits had many cavalry troops, and each man had more than one horse. They marched extremely fast. Regardless of the gains and losses of a city or a pond, they won the battle and won the land.
I didn’t send people to defend them properly, but I wandered around, provoking my defenders, and then looking for opportunities to annihilate them. This style of play reminded me of the Northern and Southern Dynasties."
Yang Xingmi looked at him with encouraging eyes.
"Since the Liu Song Dynasty, the Northern Dynasties have repeatedly moved south, relying on high chariots and six-town sudden cavalry. The Hu people were trained according to the methods of the Central Plains, restrained by the military discipline of the Central Plains, and supplemented by Central Plains armor, so they continued to encroach on the Huaibei territory of the Southern Dynasties." Gao Gao
Xu said: "The six towns of sudden cavalry will fight if they can beat them, and if they can't beat them, they will run away. They come and go like the wind, leaving the Confederate army helpless."
"Is there any solution?" Yang Xingmi asked.
There must be a way, otherwise the Southern Dynasty would have been destroyed long ago. I just don't know if he can use this method. This is the key.
Gao Xu sighed and said: "Huai Ying rides suddenly."
The name Huaiying Tuqi was really a bit unfamiliar to the Southern Army at this time, so Gao Xu further explained.
"After Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty established the country, there were heroes from Hebei and noble relatives from Nanyang, so they used these two as the core to form the Yingchuan Assault Cavalry and placed it in Huaibei. It was not successful at first, because Yingchuan was the hinterland of the Later Han Dynasty.
The combat effectiveness of the assault cavalry was declining and they were no longer useful. However, after the fall of China and North Korea (Western Jin Dynasty), Yingchuan became the front line. The assault cavalry fought with the enemy and became increasingly powerful. Liu Yu relied on infantry to destroy Nan Yan's cavalry, but
He still loved the Xianbei Tiger Spot Cavalry so much that he incorporated it and placed it in the north and south of the Huai River, thus creating the Huaiying Cavalry."
"The Huaiying Assault Cavalry of the Southern Dynasty and the Six Town Assault Cavalry of the Northern Dynasty have been fighting for hundreds of years, and they have achieved brilliant results. For example, General Xue Andu of the Liu Song Dynasty defeated the Six Town Assault Cavalry in Shaanxi City, and killed Zhang Shilian, the governor of Wei Luozhou.
carry."
"Your Majesty, the only way to deal with the Xia traitor cavalry is to defeat them with cavalry. The Huaiying cavalry of the Southern Dynasty was initially formed by attracting the refugees from Nantou who failed in the rebellion of the Northern Dynasty. Later, it incorporated the soldiers who surrendered from the Northern Dynasty and became more and more perfect. Your Majesty may start from this aspect.
.”
Yang Xingmi was a little disappointed.
What kind of suggestion is this? This is no longer the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The cavalry tradition in the south has been greatly weakened. It is far worse than it was hundreds of years ago. How to form the "Huaiying Assault Cavalry"?
Tuoba Renfu, Zhu Jin, Zhu Xuan, Hu Gui and others are indeed rare cavalry talents, but the racecourse and the number of troops are not as good as before, making it even more difficult to establish them.
"Other than that, is there any other way?" Yang Xingmi asked again.
"Other than that, perhaps we can only learn from Liu Jinu's example, use the boat division and infantry to cooperate, move along the river, fight without waste, and wherever they pass, either use chariots to cover the flanks of the infantry, or build cities to defend them.
To use the grain road, we can simply transport grain and troops directly to the boat division." Gao Xu said.
In fact, there is an implicit premise here that he did not mention, which is that your infantry needs to be able to fight.
Liu Yu's infantry did not panic at all when they saw the overwhelming rear Wei cavalry. They dared to fight and defeat the cavalry with their feet. Can the Huai army do it now?
To be fair, the combat effectiveness of the infantry in the South has been greatly improved in recent years. But after all, it has been peaceful for many years, and everyone is comfortable, and few people dare to fight with their lives. However, the North has been in war, and they are brave and ruthless, and they dare to fight and fight.
Generations are emerging one after another, and the gap in the number of soldiers between the two sides is huge.
This can be seen after the Cai people went south to Jiangnan. In fact, the real Cai people of Sun Ru's soldiers are not the mainstream, but the Huainan and Jiangnan soldiers who were "Cai-ified" have rapidly improved their combat effectiveness, and the progress is obvious to all. But what happened before the improvement?
?The combat power is very weak.
Gao Xu was actually not very optimistic that the Huai army infantry could defeat the Xia army head-on.
The infantry and cavalry are not as good as each other, so this battle will not be easy to fight.
Yang Xingmi actually realized this and remained silent after hearing this.
The Huai army's infantry marched forward in large numbers. When forming a formation, they might not be afraid of the Xia army's cavalry, but they also had infantry. This thief, Shao Shude, was more difficult to deal with than the Hou Wei army. He actually made his fortune by relying on infantry.
"Bring the map." Yang Xingmi sat back on the bed and ordered.
Xu Wen trotted away and spread the map on the table.
"On Henan Road, there are Ru, Ying, Cai, Wo, Huan, Bian and Si rivers that merge into the Huai River from north to south." Yang Xingmi pointed to the map and said: "Don't worry about the Ru, Ying and other rivers for now, just look at the Bian River.
,Sier River.”
Everyone came together and watched carefully.
"If we send the boat division to Bian and Si, will it cut off the Xia cavalry's movement route?" Yang Xingmi asked.
These two rivers both lead to Bianzhou and merge into the Huaihe River. Xu, Su, and Sizhou are sandwiched between these two rivers. With so many horses in the Xia army, it is impossible to maintain logistics supplies by robbing them alone.
It was transported from Bian, Song, Bo Ying and other prefectures. If the river could be cut off, it might be possible to cut off the supplies of the Xia army and force them to retreat.
"Your Majesty, the Bian River is not wide enough, so it is difficult." Gao Xu thought for a moment and said, "The Sishui River is wide and deep, so you might want to give it a try."
Yang Xingmi frowned again.
This means giving up the vast area west of Surabaya, and there are also Li Tangbin's troops east of Surabaya. Do you also have to give up? How is that different from giving up Xuzhou?
In fact, from a rational point of view, it is not appropriate to fight the Xia people in Huaibei. But if you want to win the Central Plains, you have to pass this hurdle. After finally gaining a northern state and county, you give up so easily? Then be a partisan
Government in the Southeast?
The old foundation of the Huai Army is actually not southerners, but northerners.
Among the trusted generals, Li Shenfu is from Mingzhou, Hebei; Yuan Zhen is from Chenzhou, Henan; Li Tao is from Zhaozhou, Hebei; Liu Cun is from Tangzhou, Henan; Xu Wen is from Haizhou, Henan; Chai Zaiyong, Li Jian,
Li Hou and others are all from Caizhou, Henan...
Initially, most of them were soldiers from various towns who followed Gao Pian to the south. Later, they recruited Sun Ru's surrender troops, and now they recruited the famous Xuzhou soldiers, so they galloped between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. Qian Liu, Zhong Chuan and others were beaten hard.
support.
Yang Xingmi really liked the strong soldiers of the Central Plains.
Xuzhou, he really couldn't bear to give up.
"Your Majesty, it is better to abandon Xuzhou and defend Huaisi." Gao Xu couldn't help but suggested: "Shao Shude cannot hold troops in Huaibei for a long time. As long as he leaves, our army can also send troops southward or attack Qian Liu could either destroy Zhongchuan or attack Qi, Shou and other places with ease. The water network in Huainan was dense, so the rebel cavalry could not drive, and their power was greatly reduced. The people of Hao, Lu and other states were brave and not inferior to the powerful soldiers of the Central Plains. After a long time, you can always practice it. First south and then north, first easy and then difficult, it is worse than fighting with Shao Thief at this moment."
"No!" Yang Xingmi subconsciously refused.
Xuan felt that his tone was too harsh, so he explained: "I'm worried that once Xuzhou is lost, it may be difficult to get it back in this life. It is right to go from south to north, first easy and then difficult. But if we attack Qian Liu
, after Zhong Chuan, with the treasures from Zhejiang and Jiangxi, will the soldiers still have the heart to continue the Northern Expedition? People are greedy for ease, and I am already forty-nine this year..."
Gao Xu shook his head and sighed, feeling a little sad.
King Wu is fifty years old, how many years can he still have to fight hard? If he retreats this time, it may be difficult for him to set foot on the land of the Central Plains again in his lifetime.
Looking to future generations? Alas, Gao Xu is not optimistic about it.
Even though I have been through life and death, I can't conquer the Central Plains. My son, who has been pampered since childhood, will do. Who believes it? I'm just deceiving myself.
In the end, it may just be a small political power that prefers Jiangnan. After losing its fighting spirit, it may not even be able to get money. Because the soldiers have long been satisfied and do not want to fight anymore.
"I have made up my mind to prepare ships, chariots and horses, and supplies, and march along the Huaixi River to Sizhou." Yang Xingmi finally made his decision and said.
Everyone had no opinion.
"Xu Wen, Zhang Hao." Yang Xingmi said again.
"The end will be here."
"The two of you will lead your troops to stay at Qingkou Camp, and you and Li Chuzhou will guard the army's retreat."
"As commanded."
"Send another order to Xiapi Zhouben." Yang Xingmi ordered: "Don't be careless. Pay attention to the movements of Li Tangbin's troops. If there is any news, report it immediately."
"I am sending an order to Zhu Jin and Zhu Xuan. Between Xu and Pei, they all rely on your strong cavalry. If we win this battle, I will not hesitate to reward you generously."
"Order Tuoba Renfu to cross the river immediately and head north to Shanghai to contain Li Tangbin's troops."
After the clerk finished writing the order, he immediately handed it over to the courier for dispatch.
"I will pull the black clouds out of the mountains, and I will ride on the troops in the yamen to the west. If the Shao thieves come, I will fight with him." Yang Xingmi took the risk and his attitude was very determined.
The local soldiers defended the city, the navy provided support, and the main elite troops marched westward. Now that the commander had made up his mind, everyone had nothing more to say and accepted the orders one after another, and their morale was somewhat boosted.
Gao Xu also accepted the order. At the same time, he was also wondering whether he should give Li Shenfu, Zhang Xun, Zhu Yanshou and others a warning so that they could be prepared to respond. Once the front line was defeated, the Xia thieves would not be allowed to invade.
Uninhabited territory, all the way to Guangling, causing the overall situation to rot.
In addition, we have to find a way to send people in disguise to go north to urge Li Keyong.
