To Li Ye's expectation, at the same time that the Jianghan Tang army entered Guanzhong, An Qingxu personally led an army of 80,000 people and also entered Dengzhou with force.
This was not a precisely prepared battle, but a temporary raid without adequate logistical support.
An Qingxu originally wanted to attack Songzhou and Bozhou, but he received an urgent order from his father, ordering him to immediately attack Xiangyang, surround Wei and rescue Zhao, and force Li Ye's army to retreat from Chang'an.
Only then did An Qingxu know that Li Ye had led an army to attack Chang'an. He made a decisive decision and immediately led an army of 80,000 people southward.
They still have some grain reserves in Ye County, Ruzhou, which can support the 80,000-strong army for about half a month, which is enough for the Yan army.
Luyang Pass was completely destroyed when the Yan army attacked Jingxiang for the second time. Li Ye did not repair it for the time being, and the 80,000-strong army marched directly into Dengzhou.
It was already winter at this time, and the autumn wheat and corn had been harvested. Almost all the people in Dengzhou had withdrawn to Xiangzhou. The Yan army went all the way south, and there was not a soul in sight. Even the county town was deserted.
Four days later, the Yan Army once again arrived at the north bank of the Han River. In fact, the Yan Army did not have a good means of crossing the river, so they could only use a pontoon bridge.
Of course, pontoon bridges can also be built very solidly. Just like the three pontoon bridges built at Mengjin Ferry in the Tang Dynasty. It took several months to complete. The cavalry and baggage could pass through. The premise is that there is no interference. If there are enemy warships,
If there is harassment, then it cannot be built at all.
Another way is to wait for the river to freeze in winter and directly cross the river on horseback, but the Han River does not freeze in winter, which makes it difficult for the Yan army.
Yan Jun's previous research on large-scale new pontoons was actually to build very stable 100-stone wide-bottomed boats, fastened together with iron chains, fixed with wooden piles driven into the river on both sides, and covered with wooden boards, which was the best pontoon, but
Transporting ships requires special large ox carts to pull them. This time the Yan army set off in a hurry and did not carry any baggage. Naturally, they did not carry this new type of pontoon bridge.
We should still adopt the previous method, use a large sheepskin raft to support the bottom, and then lay rafts on top, and then find a way to drive piles in the river to fix it, and use Jiangxin Island as a springboard, so that we can cross the Han River.
Of course, they have made progress. They will pull an iron chain thirty steps away on both sides of the pontoon bridge to prevent warships from colliding. They also trained hundreds of water ghosts to deal with the Tang army's water ghost attack.
That night, hundreds of craftsmen began laying the pontoon bridge under Yan Zhuang's personal supervision.
On the other side of the Han River, 40,000 Tang troops were ready, with Li Mi taking overall command of the defense of the Han River.
Li Mi deployed 80,000 troops on the Han River, divided into three defense zones: east, middle and west. Li Baozhen led 20,000 troops to take charge of the defense of the west zone. Lei Wanchun was responsible for the defense of the central zone, which is Xiangyang. The central zone deployed 40,000 troops, while Dengzhou
The governor Lu Jiong led 20,000 troops to take charge of the defense of the eastern region.
Hundreds of scouts were deployed between the three defense areas and on the other side to monitor the enemy forces at all times. In addition, 500 medium and large warships were deployed on the Han River, and 20,000 naval troops were invested in them. It can be said that they were quite well prepared.
Li Mi and everyone agreed that the enemy would still cross the river from the Xiangyang area, where there is a river in the middle of the river, and crossing the river would save half of the force.
At this time, Lei Wanchun, the chief general of the central region, hurriedly found Li Mi.
"Reporting to the military advisor, the scouts have reported that the enemy has begun laying a pontoon bridge on the north bank!"
Li Mi nodded, "Everything will proceed according to the original plan. If there are any changes, I will notify General Lei!"
Li Mi is the overall defense commander. He does not care about specific operations. He is only responsible for major decisions and coordination of the three areas. The operations of the three defense areas are under the responsibility of their respective commanders, and Li Mi does not interfere.
Of course, the entire battle plan was drawn up by Li Mi and everyone discussed and approved it, so the plan must be implemented strictly. If the plan needs to be changed, it will be up to him to decide.
Lei Wanchun crossed the Han River by boat and went up to Jiangxinzhou. He came to the northernmost point, where three thousand Tang troops were deployed and two hundred large yellow crossbows were placed. The shooting range of the large yellow crossbows could reach 600 steps, and the arrows were as long as
Two feet, made of jujube wood, the arrows are very heavy and very powerful. They are specially used to deal with craftsmen laying pontoons and water ghosts underwater.
"How is the situation?" Lei Wanchun stepped forward and asked.
Wu Ling, the commander of Jiang Xinzhou, said quickly: "Reporting to General Lei, the enemy has laid a pontoon bridge for nearly a hundred steps, which is already within our shooting range. They have to drive a pile every fifty steps, and they are driving the pile now."
"Are there any water ghosts underwater?"
Wu Ling shook his head, "It's too far away, I can't see it!"
Lei Wanchun stared for a moment and immediately ordered: "Launch!"
"Launch!" Wu Ling shouted.
Two hundred large yellow crossbows were fired at the same time, and powerful arrows were shot at hundreds of craftsmen and soldiers who were laying the pontoon bridge. "Whoosh! Whoosh!" The arrows fell from the sky. The craftsmen were caught off guard. Dozens of people were hit by heavy arrows and their bodies were seriously injured.
The arrows penetrated, and they screamed and fell into the water.
Other craftsmen and soldiers were so frightened that they turned around and ran away, and many people fell into the water during the impact.
The Yan army had to stop building the bridge. An Qingxu got the news and led the generals to the river. An Qingxu gritted his teeth with hatred and said: "Send the navy to paddle rafts to the island and kill all the enemy troops on the island."
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In order to seize Xiangyang, An Qingxu specially selected 7,000 soldiers with excellent water skills from the entire army of hundreds of thousands, and recruited 3,000 water ghosts along the Yellow River, forming a navy army of 10,000, and handed it over to his subordinates.
General Xue Fang led the army.
Xue Fang is a famous pirate in the Bohai Bay. After being recruited, he became a general under An Qingxu. Because of his excellent water skills, he finally came to the fore and was named Wave-Treading General, commanding ten thousand naval troops.
Xue Fang gave an order, "Follow me, the former army!"
Three thousand sailors rowed single-person rafts towards Jiangxinzhou, followed closely by five thousand sailors, and finally two thousand rear troops. In addition, there were three hundred water ghosts protecting them underwater.
Lei Wanchun could see it clearly, and he immediately ordered: "Fire the gunpowder arrows!"
Three gunpowder arrows shot into the sky, emitting a bright red light, and eight three-thousand-stone ships appeared, lining up in the darkness and heading this way. The ships were all filled with Tang Army soldiers. In a moment, they were close to the enemy.
The soldiers on the boat raised their crossbows and fired. On the water, the Yan army soldiers were hit by arrows and fell into the water. The big boats rushed into the crowd one after another, knocking over a large number of rafts.
But this time the soldiers of the Yan army were all sailors. Even if they fell into the water, they could hold on to the raft and swim. The water ghosts clung to a big boat and tried to climb on board from the back. The sides of the big boat were smooth and there was no way to start.
Climb onto the ship from the rear.
But the Tang army was already prepared. Twenty dozen Tang soldiers stabbed the stern of the boat with spears, knocking the front few water ghosts off the boat. At this time, a large boat sailed past diagonally, and the soldiers on the boat burst out with arrows.
Shooting, more than a dozen water ghosts were hit by arrows and fell into the water.
Five thousand Yan army soldiers arrived, and the soldiers on the rafts shot arrows at the big ships. The battle began to become fierce. "Woo--" the Tang army's horn sounded, and more than a dozen big ships came in the distance, including one.
A thousand-stone warship, An Qingxu took a breath of air.
"Send the order to retreat the troops! Retreat the troops!" An Qingxu shouted urgently.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The closing bell rang, and the soldiers of the Yan army and navy turned around and rowed towards the north bank. The big boats chased and shot countless people behind, and several soldiers threw down several cans of kerosene and smashed them on the pontoon bridge.
On top, another torch was thrown down, and the pontoon suddenly burst into flames.
The first attack failed, with the loss of more than 1,300 sailors and dozens of craftsmen. The pontoon bridge built halfway was also set on fire by the Tang army.
Helpless, An Qingxu could only order to return to camp to rest and wait until daybreak.
Yan Zhuang also returned to his tent with a lot of worries. As soon as he entered the tent, a follower came forward and said: "To inform the Prime Minister, Wang Shaoxuan's staff are here and are waiting in the side tent!"
Yan Zhuang was startled and hurriedly walked to the side tent. The reason why he was worried was that he was worried about his eldest son Yan Hanhai, who served as governor of Shangzhou. Li Ye led the army to attack Chang'an from Shangluo Road. Is his eldest son safe?
Yan Zhuang had a bad feeling. Wang Shaoxuan was his eldest son's staff. He came, but the eldest son didn't come. Could it be that his eldest son was gone?
Walking into the side tent, Wang Shaoxuan stood up and saluted, "I am humble enough to see the Prime Minister!"
"Mr. Wang, how is my son?" Yan Zhuang stepped forward and asked urgently.
Wang Shaoxuan sighed and said: "The eldest son is still alive, but he became a prisoner of the Tang army!"
"Ah!" It was like a thunder strike, and Yan Zhuang was stunned for a moment.