The weather in Xuzhou is actually not that bad. The climate here is closer to that of the north and is relatively dry.
Of course, this is also a relative term. In fact, it also rains in Xuzhou, but overall, the rainfall does gradually decrease from the Yangtze River to the north.
After Yang Xingmi retreated, Shao Shude's cavalry camped on the west bank of Surabaya and could not go anywhere.
Zhou Ben led the navy to the north, but the half-built pontoon bridge in Suqian was destroyed again. Wang Jingxuan was so angry that he scolded his mother, destroyed it, and ignored it.
Li Tangbin's main force also withdrew north to Suqian. However, the marching speed was appallingly slow, the vehicles kept getting stuck in one mud pit after another, and the damage rate soared. The sergeants were covered in mud, their morale was low, and no one wanted to fight anymore.
Zhu Zhen led his troops to Xiao County first. After attacking for a day, heavy rain poured down. With this ready reason, he stopped moving and started digging trenches.
More than 20,000 people from Longxiang, Gongchen and Yi Congjun from the left wing of the army invaded Xuzhou and set up camp. With their troops and horses, they would definitely not be able to defeat Xuzhou, or even besiege it, but this battle does not have to be fought forcefully.
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In such a situation of complete silence, Zhou Ben led more than a hundred naval ships to arrive outside Xuzhou City.
"It would be a pity to give up such a majestic city." Zhou Ben said with emotion as he looked at the towering theater stage from a distance.
The Horse Theater is located on Nanshan Mountain in Xuzhou, south of Xuzhou City. Xiang Yu built it to watch horses, hence its name.
Xi Ma Tai is now a military town. City walls have been built, a large amount of military supplies have been hoarded, and soldiers are left to guard the city.
There is also Shifo Mountain (Yunlong Mountain) nearby, and there is Shifo Village on the mountain. A military town was also set up and soldiers were sent to guard it.
In fact, Xuzhou (today's Tongshan) has mountains on all sides, and the middle is like a small basin. As Su Dongpo said, "The mountains of Pengcheng are surrounded by hills and mountains, and they are like a big ring."
The surrounding mountains serve as a barrier, and at the same time, the ancient Bian River and Si River flow through it. While irrigation is convenient, the city is surrounded by water on three sides: east, west, and north. It is difficult for the attackers to deploy their troops, and there are military towns on the mountains behind for sneak attacks.
, a frontal attack is more difficult.
At that time, Zhu Quanzhong was fighting with Shi Pu, and they spent an unknown amount of time near Xuzhou, changing generals one after another. In the end, Shi Pu was killed by a life-and-death struggle, rather than by force.
After this city fell into the hands of Shao Thief, there was no way it could be taken back.
Zhou Ben wiped the rain off his face and sighed.
"General Zhou." Zhang Tingfan, the governor of Xuzhou and the Jiedushi of the Reform Army, came to the south dock of the city and met with Zhou Ben.
"Zhang Shuai." Zhou Ben returned the greeting.
Although the Xia army was close to Xuzhou, it was very difficult to launch an attack from the north of the city. If they really wanted to attack by force, they would still have to go around to the south of the city to avoid the ancient Bianshui River.
But when we got to the south of the city, we had to take down the theater stage and Shifo Village first. Especially the former, which was only a mile away from Xuzhou City. After setting up camp, there was not much space left, and it was almost close to Nanshan Mountain.
If we don't capture this place, we won't be able to attack the city with peace of mind. At present, the Xi Ma Terrace and Shifo Mountain Village are peaceful, so Xuzhou City will be safe both inside and outside, and there will be no need to leave the city.
"The king asked me to pick you up." Zhou Ben didn't hesitate. He just heard him say: "I am the first batch of fleet, and there will be more behind, so you can go in peace. I don't think the Xia thieves have any intention of attacking, so don't worry.
.”
Zhang Tingfan sighed repeatedly. How could he not know the current situation? The Xia people were just waiting to take over Xuzhou peacefully.
It is indeed more difficult to attack hard. The Huai Army Navy warships sail directly into the Sishui and Gubian Rivers. Even though this is not downstream and not so wide, there is no need to maneuver on the river and it can directly serve as a mobile crossbow launching platform.
That's it. It's raining continuously now, and it's difficult for fire attacks to be effective. The Xia people probably don't want to kill anyone, so the two sides have reached a silent understanding.
"In the past, Xue Huzi, the governor of Xuzhou in the Later Wei Dynasty, once said, 'The land and water around Xuzhou are fertile and clear, with clear water and flowing water, sufficient for irrigation. Among them, there are more than 100,000 hectares of fertile land.' Today's Xuzhou has more than 100,000 hectares of fertile land."
Zhang Tingfan said with a sad look on his face: "Xuzhou grows mulberry and hemp, and the people are good at weaving. The grain is good for wheat and rice. Once it is ripe, you can live for several years. There are also several iron smelting towers. The advantages of armor and soldiers are famous far and near. Alas! This battle was fought in a fool's errand!"
Regarding Zhang Tingfan's complaints, Zhou Ben pretended not to hear them and would not report them in front of the King of Wu. It was meaningless.
It is a fact that the war was not fought well, and everyone is responsible. So what’s the point of complaining twice? It’s just human nature.
Xuzhou has convenient transportation and business travel, and collecting business taxes is a large source of income. The surrounding river network is crisscrossed, irrigation is convenient, and there are many fertile fields, rich in mulberry, grain, and beans. The city is surrounded by dangerous mountains and rivers, and there are iron smelters to make armored soldiers.
The folk customs are strong, martial arts is popular, and there are many qualified soldiers. When Li Guangbi was in Xuzhou, he brought over his elite soldiers who had fought in quelling the Anshi Rebellion. Xuzhou has a very strong military tradition. The generals have been passed down to their families for more than a hundred years, and there are many talents. Come on.
Who is willing to give up a place like this?
"Stop talking nonsense." Zhou Ben frowned and said, "We don't have much time, so we should evacuate quickly. When the yellow plum season is over, the navy will not be able to come over so arrogantly. If we wait until the water is shallow in winter,
At that time, it was even more troublesome.”
Zhang Tingfan regained his composure and said, "That's right. I'll have to thank General Zhou for this trip to the south."
"Nothing to mention." Zhou Ben said: "I was disgraced this time. Qin Shiqiu retreated south with me, and almost the entire army was wiped out. Only three or four hundred of the four thousand army escaped through Surabaya. It was miserable.
Your Majesty has an order, take away everyone you can this time. Don’t force anyone who doesn’t want to go, so that everyone can gather and disperse.”
"Your Highness is indeed a gentleman." Zhang Tingfan sighed: "Then we won't waste time. I will go back to the city to gather people to transport the goods, supplies, and equipment."
"Okay." Zhou Ben said, "I will sail the warship into the ancient Bian River later to stop the Xia thieves. Please hurry up."
Zhang Tingfan left in a hurry.
He didn't really want to surrender, and he didn't dare to surrender. There were still soldiers and horses led by Huai general Li Tao in the city. He was not sure whether he would be killed directly if he showed his intention to surrender. King Wu also wanted to face shame, and Pei County had already
After that incident, it was rare that the King of Wu did not pursue the matter. Some things were better not to be taken risks.
Furthermore, his nephew Zhang Chao has already arrived in Xia and went south to Guangling. Both sides of the Zhang family are serving as officials. From the perspective of family continuity, this is not a bad thing - he has secretly sent Zhang Chao's wife and children out of the city.
Xuzhou, farewell!
****
Starting from May 21st, there has been a lot of traffic inside and outside the city of Xuzhou. The movement of evacuation was so loud that it could be clearly heard even from far away on the other side of Surabaya.
Ge Congzhou, He Delun, and Li Gongquan climbed the mountains north of Xuzhou City.
There was continuous rain and fog in the mountains, almost covering the towering Xuzhou city wall.
After Zhu Quanzhong captured Xuzhou, he made great efforts to renovate the farmland and water conservancy facilities in the counties. At the same time, he sent troops to repair the city walls and peripheral forts, and repaired the city defense facilities that had been seriously damaged during several years of battles.
Today's Xuzhou City is indeed somewhat majestic.
Outside the city wall, there are criss-crossing rivers and harbor branches. The river has a forest of masts and is covered with ships of all sizes. Occasionally, a few warships use sails and oars together and slowly drive to the north of the city, showing off their power and then adjusting.
Sail and return with the current.
This is a warning to such arrogant thieves!
As the recruiting envoy to the north of the Xuzhou camp, Ge Congzhou did not wait for the Huai people to evacuate as Zhou Ben and Zhang Tingfan thought. In fact, he tried hard, but in this terrible weather, fire attacks were ineffective, and there were no cannons around him.
It is difficult for the craftsmen of the chariots to deal with the Huai army navy.
What's more, what if the navy doesn't come to stop it? When building the pontoon bridge, every move is under the eyes of the defenders. If they are attacked halfway across the river when crossing the river, the losses will be huge. Take another ten thousand steps back.
Let’s talk, so what if we successfully crossed the river? The muddy land is impossible to run on. When the soldiers hesitated with difficulty, they would only become a living target for the arrows from the opposite side.
There was no point in encircling them on a large scale. At this marching speed, they could cover more than ten miles in a day. If they had that time, they would have already finished their retreat.
In a word, I can only watch people run away. I am exhausted. At the end of the retreat, I want to catch the Huai people's eagerness to retreat and see if I can scare them into chaos and catch a little bit of their tail.
"As soon as we get to Xuzhou, we will probably not be able to leave for a while." Ge Congzhou said: "Xuzhou will definitely send people to stay behind and suppress the area. There may still be cities in Huaibei that have not been conquered, so our army must go south."
"The good thing about staying in Xuzhou is not ours." He Delun said with a smile: "The Yi Congjun must be stationed in various important towns in Xusi. Longxiang, Longhu, Gongchen, Fengri, Fengshen and the Five Armies are still working hard.
By autumn at the latest, most of the troops will have to go south. If Yang Xingmi had not withdrawn his troops from Sizhou, he would still have to gather all the troops to besiege, which would be difficult!"
A miscellaneous army is a miscellaneous army, and this is their fate.
After this battle, a number of "meritorious soldiers" may be recruited to supplement the battle losses of the Xia King's direct troops. And these meritorious soldiers are generally brave and good at fighting. A group of them were already selected in Yanzhou last time.
Not only was the army injured, but its strength was also severely damaged, and it has not yet recovered.
If the deployment is repeated a few times, Longxiang's armies may be torn apart - the backbone is gone, what's the use of relying on those stupid ordinary sergeants, don't they have to spend efforts to train them again?
But everyone was tired and no longer had the energy to cultivate.
"Will Zhu Zhen take a detour to the south of Xuzhou to grab some of the credit?" Li Gongquan suddenly asked.
There was a trace of sarcasm on Ge Congzhou's lips.
Forget it, Zhu Zhen is like the abacus bead now. It won't move until you pluck it.
The Yicongjun envoy, Bu Zang Jieming, did have meritorious deeds. He might bypass Xiao County and try to march eastward to Xuzhou to create chaos. But most of the baggage vehicles could not keep up, and he would not be able to carry a few days of food and grass, so he might not choose to take risks.
But Li Gongquan is a very interesting person, and he is very eager to perform meritorious service! The Gongchen Army only has 5,000 people, and the possibility of being merged after the war is quite high. He may also be making a final struggle. In fact, why bother? So what if it's good, but what if it's not a good fight? It's boring to achieve unparalleled feats, but only to provoke the hostility of Xia Wang Guanxi Yuancong.
Li Gongquan, I can't think of it. Don't you know that the warriors of Weizhou are the least favored by the King of Xia?
"Let's go, there's nothing to see." Ge Congzhou said: "Look for a hidden crossing point in the past few days. A large group of people can't cross the river, but a small group of elite soldiers is still possible. Call that Zhang Chao again. , ask him if there is any way to contact the sergeants in the city, it doesn’t seem like a problem to do this all the time.”
