Lu Ming climbed to the top of a dock and looked down to the south.
Qishui flows windingly, all the way south, through the flat and boundless wilderness.
The wilderness is desolate and quiet, and wild meadows can be seen everywhere.
When reaching Fangtou, Qishui seemed to have encountered great resistance and was tamed by the earth. It turned eastward and merged into Baigou.
In the triangle area where Baigou and Qishui intersect, there are many flags and crowds of people.
Countless men were shirtless, laying foundations.
A large group of auxiliary soldiers carried nets woven with hemp ropes and repeatedly sifted the fine soil.
There are still people pointing and planning the layout of the city.
What a lively fortification scene!
To the north of the fortification site, a trench has been dug, and a second trench is being excavated.
The trench connected to the Qishui River and acted as a moat.
After the trench, a low earthen wall was built. There were sergeants guarding behind the earthen wall, looking quietly ahead. At intervals, they even placed strong crossbows, and the sergeants operating them sat on the ground, ready for action at any time.
Before the trench, it seemed flat and endless, but in fact many pits were dug for horses, and they had already suffered losses.
Needless to say, this posture must be based on the idea of ​​​​holding for a long time.
"Bang!" The suspension bridge on the first trench wall was lowered.
The cavalry filed out and lined up in the field.
Lu Ming didn't even look at it and continued to observe the huge camp.
"General, do you want to fight or not?" someone came up and asked.
"You choose the men and fight with them." Lu Ming waved his hand casually and said.
The men took the order and left.
Lu Ming sighed, feeling even more worried.
The imperial court was still asking them to attack the northern city of Heyang. Before setting off, Lu Ming learned that Dahu had received two edicts one after another, and seemed inclined to mobilize troops and go to Heyang.
But what should we do here in Fangtou? They will definitely change their tune, right? This place is only two hundred miles away from Yecheng. Once the Jin people gain a foothold and march all the way to the north, Yecheng will face a siege, which will be a huge blow to Dahu's prestige.
.
Heyang or Fangtou, we have to make a choice.
Or they could resume their old tricks, choose a location to cross the river, invade Henan, and force the Jin people to retreat.
Three choices, three endings, all seem quite difficult.
The cavalry from both sides were already fighting as a group, but Lu Ming didn't want to look any further, so he went directly down from the high building and came to the Wubao courtyard.
Wubaoshuai's family stood aside respectfully.
Lu Ming glanced at them casually, and suddenly found Wubao Shuai's young son peeking at him.
This is not surprising. He looks different from Jin people. He is often peeked at, so he has long been used to it.
But today he felt something strange, which made him alert.
The Jin army crossed the river in large numbers. This has not happened for several years. Some people will speculate whether the situation is about to change significantly. After all, they are all Jin people, so they naturally have a close feeling and it is easy to hook up.
Lu Ming's heart trembled, and he suddenly felt that Da Hu had no choice.
Yes, all three options are bullshit, he only has one option: push the Jin army down the river and keep them away from Hebei.
Otherwise, it would be ordinary for the Hebei gentry, the powerful, and the Wubao commanders to hook up with Shao Xun and get into trouble.
In the final analysis, people still support it.
Sima Yue may not have a good reputation in Hebei, but Shao Xun may not.
This man conquered Hebei twice, and in one of them he regained Yecheng. He set up a monument to commemorate his achievements, and created a great reputation in Hebei.
Although those people from Hebei who were good friends with Shao Xun either moved south to serve as officials under Shao Xun or died, there were still many who stayed. This was a huge hidden danger that had to be guarded against.
"Come here, give a message to the General..." The more he thought about it, the more nervous Lu Ming became, and he immediately summoned the messenger.
Shi Le had actually left Yecheng and came straight to Dangyin.
After receiving Lu Ming's letter halfway, he read it with his staff, then threw it on the ground without even reading it.
"General." All the generals looked at him.
Shi Le suddenly smiled, drew out his sword, and said: "No need to look, just go south to Fangtou."
The generals are awe-inspiring.
The autumn harvest is coming, and the army is not yet ready. The only ones that can be dispatched now are cavalry and a few infantry.
But Da Hu's order was very firm, which made everyone abandon all kinds of distracting thoughts and cheer up.
It’s just a fight to the death, what else is there to say?
"Kong Dolphin, Zhao Lu." Shi Le wiped his sword with a cloth and called.
"The general is here." They both stepped forward.
"You two each lead five thousand riders, and bring more horses..."
"Zhiquliu, you lead three thousand cavalry and go to..."
…
In an instant, Shi Le had issued several orders and sent out more than 10,000 horses.
When autumn is high and the horses are fat, it is the time when the cavalry is in the best condition and has the strongest combat effectiveness of the year. It is the right time to drive.
After the three generals left with their men, the number of troops going south suddenly decreased a lot.
"Your Majesty." Diao Ying, the commander on the right, stepped forward but stopped talking.
Shi Le waved his hand and said, "Don't say any more words."
Diao Ying was stunned.
Shi Le smiled softly and said: "How long have you been, do you still care about that? Shao Xun is a bold man, but also extremely stable. He has put the knife on my lower abdomen. If I still think about this and that, wouldn't it be a joke?
?If Ye City is lost, will the imperial court send troops to capture it for me? Haha. If we gather all the troops and go south, even if the emperor comes in person, this army will not be able to withdraw."
Diao Ying was silent, and after a moment he cupped his hands.
"Your Majesty, Wild King, we still need to make some changes over there in Pingyang." Zhang Bin reminded.
Shi Le followed Shan Ruliu and turned to look at Diao Ying.
Diao Ying immediately accepted the order and said, "I'll go there myself."
"Thank you for your hard work," Shi Le said harmoniously.
After seeing Diao Ying leave, Shi Le looked at Zhang Bin again and asked: "Meng Sun is quite wise and well versed in military strategy. He has many good strategies during the expedition. Why is there nothing he can do against Shao Xun?"
Zhang Bin was silent for a long time, and finally just sighed and said: "In ancient times, some warriors were eager for success, so they used troops to advance rashly, without equipment, or only with crude equipment, so that there would be opportunities to take advantage of; if you look ahead and look at the latter, you can take advantage of it.
If you scare someone by creating a suspicious formation, they will slow down their movements, and you can take advantage of it. There are also those who claim to be wise generals, who may move around in various ways, or show the enemy that they are weak, or alienate and attack people's hearts. It is not difficult to deal with them.
He has a thousand songs, but I seek from the truth. In battles and military battles, we still have to rely on swords and spears to fight, so there is a chance. I want to ask the king a few words-"
"But there's no harm in talking."
"Is Shao Xun taking the plunge?"
Shi Le thought for a while, shook his head and said: "It seems like he likes surprise attacks, but in fact he has deployed a large number of troops and has many back-ups. This is not a one-time deal."
"Does he look forward and backward?"
"I'm afraid I can't scare him. In the battle of Zhemati, the entire army crossed the river on a rainy night and acted decisively. This time they went to Fangtou to build the city and took risks themselves. This is a very brave person."
"Does he like to play tricks?"
Shi Le burst out laughing: "He is just a killer warrior who wins over the troops all day long and is good at using overwhelming force to overwhelm others."
"He has very few flaws." Zhang Bin sighed: "If someone were in his position, he might be able to assemble an army of more than 50,000 and march directly into Yecheng. The outcome depends on God. But he built the city and prepared a camp step by step to deal with this kind of situation.
People can only spend time with him."
Shi Le pondered for a while and said: "It's too risky to go north from Fangtou and go straight to Yecheng. Even I won't do it. Once the army is under the fortified city, the food road is repeatedly harassed, and the morale of the army is disordered, so they retreat.
At that time, it will be a huge defeat.”
Speaking of this, Shi Le also sighed a little.
A few years later, when they encountered Shao Xun, they could only rely on their superiority in cavalry to protect themselves.
The side with a large number of cavalry is happy because they have the initiative on the battlefield. They can choose to fight or not, where to fight, when to fight, and how to fight. This advantage is so great that they could have swept Henan.
But after several years of fighting, before we knew it, the initiative in the war suddenly disappeared.
Shao Xun is building a city at Fangtou. Can you choose to fight or not? You have no choice.
The initiative lies with others.
It's really inexplicable when you think about it, the side with the advantage of cavalry actually lost the initiative on the battlefield.
Judging from the current situation, the battlefield chosen by Shao Xun can only be at Fangtou.
The style of play was also chosen by Shao Xun - siege warfare.
The time for fighting is also limited - the sooner the better, because once the city is successfully built, it will be more difficult to fight.
This is so fucking bad!
****
In the north of Fangtou City, the fighting between the cavalry from both sides ended quickly.
Like Lu Ming, Shao Xun didn't read much, but sat directly behind the desk and started writing a letter.
The letter was written to the shogunate. There were no other requests, just one: transport more grain.
The construction of Fangtou City is a big project. The construction of water gates outside the north and south cities may take until the middle of winter, and the consumption will be huge.
This is also the limitation of city-building tactics.
But facing the side with the advantage of cavalry, there is no other way and the only choice is to play it safe.
The cities he built were actually military stations, which not only had to be able to station troops, but also had warehouses, which were quite large in scale.
The four directly governed counties have already collected taxes, and the rest can only be obtained from the powerful families of Henan.
In fact, they have already given a batch of military rations, but it is not enough and they still have to ask for it.
Shao Xun first wrote a letter to his father-in-law. What he didn't say was that his relatives should take the lead.
The Yu family doesn't provide food, so you expect other families to provide food?
After writing this letter, he wrote to his two military advisers in the Yanzhou shogunate, Bian Dun and Lu Qiuchong.
Especially the Bian family of Jiyin is a wealthy family in Yanzhou. During the heyday of the Six Dragons of the Bian family, I don't know how much benefit they brought to the family, but now the family has a solid foundation.
What I didn’t say, provide food!
Next came the relatively close noble clans such as the Wang family of Chen County, the Yuan family of Yangxia, and the Taiyang family.
After you finish writing it, take it back in a sealed envelope.
Awkward? It seems a bit.
But that’s the background of the times.
Shi Le withdrew his troops from Gepi, and the powerful families of the aristocratic family could only fortify their walls and clear the country, so that Shi Le's large army could eat each other.
Even Liu Cong, who was known as the "two hundred thousand horseman", had to be polite to the Pei family, Liu family, Xue family, Song family, Wang family and other Bingzhou noble families.
They can't beat you, but they can hold you back and make you fail in the competition with your opponents.
Once the city-building tactics are pushed all the way, the wealthy families in Henan will definitely "want to die", and Shao Xun seems to have seen the expressions on their faces.
Haha, the cash machine smells terrible.
After putting down his brush, he climbed onto the city wall again and looked at the sunset on the horizon.
At the end of the horizon, a team of carriages and horses is returning.
The officers and soldiers of the Silver Spear Army escorted thousands of auxiliary soldiers and returned after cutting grain.
It's August, and the autumn harvest is around the corner. There is a lot of grain waiting to be harvested in the fields, which can be used to supplement military rations.
This move will certainly offend the powerful nobles in Hebei, but it can't be controlled that much.
If we win, everyone will forget these bad things.
Even if you can't win, there is no need for this hatred.
The night had completely fallen, and it was dark inside and outside Fangtou. It was so quiet that it didn't look like a war was about to break out. Or maybe, this was just the calm before the storm.
(I forgot to update regularly this morning...Starting from tomorrow, I will be updated three times a day. All the soldiers will supervise me. If I don’t achieve it, they will kill me and I will get gold coins. After midnight tonight, the monthly ticket will be doubled, so kill me.)
Chapter completed!