The first thousand one hundred and eighty-four chapters go north
The tense situation of the war does not only occur in Haizhou. In the remote northern grasslands, a team composed of hundreds of large vehicles is driving mightily on the grasslands.
This is a team transporting siege weapons, starting from Yanshan Prefecture, passing through Juyong Pass, and heading north along the Yanghe River.
The cart carried two hundred siege ladders and seven heavy trebuchets. The trebuchets were dismantled into parts and transported. When the nomadic army attacked Taiyuan Prefecture, specialized craftsmen would be responsible for assembling them.
The Taihang Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains are connected into one. The majestic and dangerous thousands of miles of mountains completely isolate the connection between Datong Prefecture and Yanshan Prefecture. Only two large rivers, Sanggan River and Yanghe River, break through the barrier between Taihang Mountain and Yanshan Mountain, thus forming
Two important strategic passages were established, Feihuxing and Junduxing.
Feihuxing starts from Daizhou in the south of Datong Prefecture and leads to Yizhou in Yanshan Prefecture, while Junduxing runs along the Yanghe River from the northern periphery of Datong Prefecture, passes through Juyong Pass, crosses the Yanshan Mountains, and enters the hinterland of Yanshan Prefecture.
It was already early March, and everything on the grassland was revived, warblers were flying, grass was growing, and everything was full of life.
Five hundred Jurchen cavalry escorted this convoy northward to the Tata Department's station.
At this time, night was about to fall, and the team stopped advancing. The leader of the thousand captains shouted loudly, and the carts surrounded the city. The mules were unhooked from the carts and grazed and rested with the horses in the circle. The soldiers also lit fires in the circle.
He lit a fire and lit several fires around the perimeter.
This is mainly to prevent the invasion of wolves. The mules pulling the cart are the targets of wolf attacks.
As night fell, the Jurchen soldiers were roasting mutton around the fire and drinking heavily. It was very lively. At this moment, dozens of arrows were shot "Whoosh! Whoosh!". The Jurchen soldiers were hit by arrows one after another and fell to the ground screaming.
The other soldiers lay on the ground and did not dare to move. After a while, no more arrows were fired. The captain picked up an arrow. The arrow was roughly made. At first glance, it was the arrow of a nomad.
He looked to the west again and saw dozens of herdsmen on horseback on the lower hills in the distance under the moonlight.
The captain got angry and stood up and shouted something. Five hundred Jurchen soldiers mounted their horses one after another and divided into two groups to surround the herdsmen hundreds of steps away.
There were still more than a hundred steps away from the herdsmen. The herdsmen turned around and continued to run westward. They were not running very fast. They felt that they could catch up. The Jurchen cavalry shouted loudly and fought hard to catch up. They chased farther and farther.
Not long after they left the station, hundreds of Western cavalry quietly came from the east. A dozen Han craftsmen first discovered the cavalry and shouted in surprise, but the dense arrows shot through their chests mercilessly.
Although they were all Han Chinese, they served the Jurchens and were enemies of the Western Army. The Western Army cavalry did not hesitate to kill them.
More than a dozen craftsmen were all shot dead. They immediately took out the kerosene bags, poured kerosene on the siege weapons, and lit them with torches. Before leaving, they cut off the axles of the large wheels with a knife.
The Jurchen cavalry chased for three miles, but still failed to catch up with dozens of herdsmen. At this time, a soldier suddenly shouted. When the Jurchen captain turned around, he saw their camp with flames rising into the sky.
"Oops!"
The Jurchen captain suddenly realized that they had fallen into a trap and that the people they were chasing were not herdsmen at all.
.......
In Dangtu County on the Yangtze River, more than thirty thousand-stone cargo ships docked slowly at the Dangtu County pier. Groups of soldiers walked off the pier, with a total of 10,000 Western troops, led by the commander-in-chief Liu Qiong and the commander-in-chief Tang Qian.
Their target is also Haizhou. Liu Qiong will lead 10,000 troops to seize Donghai Island.
Haizhou is actually composed of two parts. Most of the land is land and is governed by Qushan County, which is close to the sea. The other part is Donghai Island. A narrow strait separates the island from the mainland.
The island is quite large, with several fishing villages scattered around it, and a county seat, Donghai County, on the far west.
Although the strategic goals of the Western Army and the Song Army were both Haizhou, the strategies of the two sides were different. The Song Army attacked on two fronts, focusing on attacking the land, while the Western Army attacked on a single line, abandoning the land and only attacking the islands.
Liu Qiong and Tang Qian came to the military camp, and Wang Qing, the garrison commander of Dangtu County, invited them to the big tent.
"How is the situation of the imperial army?" Liu Qiong asked.
"I just received news that the imperial court's 100,000 troops have entered Haizhou. Wang Jianbu's 30,000 troops fought a fierce battle with Jin Bing's signing army in Liguo Town, west of Haizhou. The signing army retreated and retreated to Qushan County. Currently, ten thousand troops have entered Haizhou.
Ten thousand troops surrounded Qushan County from three directions."
"How about the navy?"
"I heard that Han Shizhong sent troops, but the number was not large. He only sent 5,000 troops and 30 large ships. This is information from within the Navy and should be more accurate."
Liu Qiong laid out a map and asked: "How many naval forces are there in the imperial court at present?"
"About 20,000 people!"
"Since there are 20,000 troops, why only 5,000 troops are sent? What is the reason?" Liu Qiong was really puzzled.
Wang Qing whispered: "I heard that Han Shizhong wrote to the emperor to oppose the Northern Expedition. Could it be that he does not want to cooperate with the Song army in fighting?"
Liu Qiong shook his head, "Impossible. Han Shizhong is very loyal. He is opposed to it, but once the imperial court decides on the Northern Expedition, he will definitely go all out. The fact that he sent five thousand troops should be the imperial court's will, not his decision."
Tang Qian, who had been silent, said: "I guess this has something to do with the imperial court's offensive strategy. The imperial court is advancing from south to north. The land part is crucial to the imperial court, and the island part is dispensable. Perhaps the imperial court believes that by capturing the land, the island
It will be done naturally without spending too much manpower and material resources.”
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Wang Qing said quickly: "General Tang is right, all supplies of Donghai Island come from land. Once the imperial court captures Qushan County, it will be equivalent to cutting off the island's supplies. The soldiers and civilians of Donghai County will not be able to hold on for a few days!"
Liu Qiong looked at the map and asked: "Which line did the opponent's navy take?"
"They went north along the canal, reached the Huaihe River, then headed east into the sea, and then took the sea route around to Donghai Island."
Liu Qiong nodded, "Let's rest for two days and then set off according to the established plan!"
........
Two days later, the Western Army's fleet continued to set off. Instead of following the Song Army's example of taking the canal, they set out directly from the Yangtze River and then took a detour northward.
Tang Qian only half-guessed the intention of the Song Army to send only 5,000 troops. The Song Army's strategic goal was to advance northward. After seizing Qushan County, they would be able to obtain a large area of land and a port to go to sea. The East China Sea Island belonged to the Song Army.
It's worthless to get it, but it's a pity to throw it away, so I only sent five thousand troops to attack Donghai Island.
Tang Qian guessed this point correctly, but he failed to guess half of the answer, which was that the Song Army's naval force was established too young and its training was far insufficient. Only 5,000 men could barely go into battle. This was the most important reason.
Thirty large ships with thousands of stones sailed on the old route of the Huaihe River, which was also the new Yellow River. The river was surging and the fleet was flowing down the river.
Han Shizhong stood on the big boat, staring gloomily at the river in the distance. Seagulls appeared on the river, and he was about to reach the mouth of the sea.
In fact, Han Shizhong did not approve of this Northern Expedition. The imperial court simply did not have the strength to participate in the fight for the Shandong Road. Without self-awareness, it would inevitably lead to a bloody blow.
It was entirely because of the emperor's impulsive mind that although he had canceled the decision to attack Shandong Road in an all-out manner and changed to a cannibalization strategy, Han Shizhong still had no point. Since occupying those states could not change the overall situation, it would also cost a huge amount of money, which was not worth the gain.
, might as well use this money to build a navy army.
Speaking of the naval force, there is only one new recruit of Han Shizhong. It has been almost a year since he formulated the plan of 100 new warships last year. Not even one of them has been started. It is still in the state of drawings. After several visits to the ordnance supervisor, nothing happened.
He said that he had no money to build ships, so his current naval force was still mainly civilian cargo ships, and the court could not even come up with the money to renovate civilian ships.
But it cost millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of dan of food to carry out a meaningless northern expedition. How could Han Shizhong feel happy?
At this time, Lieutenant General Wang Gui stepped forward and said: "Commander, the entrance to the sea is just ahead. I heard that the wind and waves are quite strong, so why not wait a day or two!"
Han Shizhong immediately ordered: "Send a ship to have a look. If it is not a strong wind and huge waves, then we will continue to go north!"
