On the fourth day of July in the third year of Jianji, Shao Shude ascended the throne and went to court in Taishan Palace.
After the civil and military officials finished their work, they dispersed and performed their duties. He then convened important officials in the side hall to discuss matters.
He does not get involved in the specific battles on the front line, but he is still very concerned about every move on the front line and wants to know about it immediately.
"Your Majesty, the main force of the East Road led by General Zang is stationed at the Ma Wudi Canal." Chen Cheng, the assistant minister of Zhongshu, pointed to the map hanging on the wall and introduced: "The front army rushed a little too fast."
Tu Yuhou Li Yanwei, the general who served as the vanguard of the Qing Dynasty envoy, passed through Wudi and Rao'an like a whirlwind, defeated the Cang soldiers blocking the road, and advanced towards Cangzhou. However, the main force led by Zang Dubao had just arrived in Wudi
, there is a slight disconnect between the front and back.
"Even Wudi was easily captured, and Cangjing's defeat is inevitable." Shao Shude said happily: "Lu Yanwei is only interested in looting and has no strategy. It would be more comfortable to fight against such an opponent."
Wudi County is actually a strategic location, but Sergeant Cangjing failed in the first battle and was lost immediately, which surprised everyone. Is it because General Tu was too strong, or Sergeant Cangjing was too bad, or they didn't pay attention at all
?
This is not important anymore. What is important is that the soldiers of the Xia army continued to move northward and approached Cangzhou.
The reason why Wudi is important lies in Wudi Canal.
In the Tang area, the development of Hebei is actually based on the Yongji Canal as the core, supplemented by major branch water systems, forming settlements along the river, irrigating farmland, developing commerce, and transporting materials.
After the Anshi Rebellion, taking Weibo Town as an example, it can be seen that the large-scale water conservancy projects they built were either along the Yellow River or related to the Yongji Canal.
For Cangzhou, Wudi Canal is a very important water system.
This canal is not a natural river. It is said that it was dug during the flood control period of Dayu, but gradually became silted up in the late Sui Dynasty. During the Zhenguan period, Xue Dading, the governor of Cangzhou, opened the river, vigorously cleared and dredged it, and widened the river channel so that it could reach the sea eastward and become a transportation artery.
Once the river was opened, it not only brought convenience to transportation and commerce, but also reduced the flood risk caused by Cangzhou's low terrain, allowing a large amount of flood water to flow into the sea through Wudi Canal, which was a great contribution.
At that time, the people of Cangzhou sang: "The new river can be reached by boat, and the fish and salt of the sea can be reached directly. In the past, I walked on foot and today I am riding a horse. How beautiful is Xue Gongde's quilt."
It is a pity that after the Anshi Rebellion, the maintenance and repair of Wudi Canal was not in place, and it was somewhat silted up. Originally, large ships could sail into Wudi Canal from the sea and go far inland, but now most of them can only anchor at the mouth of the sea.
It's nearby, unless you change to a small or medium-sized seagoing ship.
What's more, the navigation industry of coastal vassal towns such as Cangjing and Ziqing plummeted after the Anshi Rebellion. It may be too much to say that it has disappeared, but it is true that there is nothing left, so the vassal towns and their superiors lack the motivation to dredge the Wudi Canal again.
"Is it appropriate to set up a general grain station in Wudi?" Shao Shude turned his attention to Pei Di, the transfer envoy of Henan Road, and asked.
Pei Di was Qizhou's military envoy and was responsible for handling military supplies and logistics.
"Your Majesty, the Wudi Canal cannot pass through large ships, but small and medium-sized ships can sail in with confidence. At this time, there is strong southeast wind, so sail straight up, which is light and effortless." Pei Di said: "At this moment, ships have already passed, and there are also masters.
You can't miss anything by stretching along the way."
Shao Shude was relieved after hearing this.
As a city deep inland, Wudi can of course also exist as a seaport.
The Kingdom of Spain, the pioneer of the Age of Discovery, had one of its most important ports, Seville, deep inland. Sea ships departed from here and sailed to the American continent through the Guadalquivir Canal.
The Wudi Canal is equivalent to the Guadalquivir River, shouldering the important task of communicating with the ocean.
After Wudi County was set up as a general grain station, the materials shipped from the sea were found and stored here. It could not only support the army heading north to Cangzhou, but also assist the troops on the Yongji Canal on the west line. The cost was much lower than that of land transportation.
, the transportation volume is even greater - Wudi Canal can sail sea-going ships and is an important channel for the outbound transportation of Hebei's inland materials. Since it can be transported outbound, of course it can also be transported inward.
Zang Dubao, the head coach of the East Route Army, also agreed to set up this place as a logistics transfer base.
He is a Northwest landlubber, but he is not stubborn. After so many years of fighting, he has a deep understanding of the importance of water transportation.
The economic water transport of materials in Henan eventually enters the sea in Qingzhou. How to transport this batch of materials to the front line at a low cost has always been something that military envoys need to study.
Now it is basically confirmed that it will go out to sea from Qingzhou and enter Cangzhou via Wudi Canal as a backup logistics line for Yongji Canal.
In addition, there is a river in the north of Cangzhou that leads to the sea, that is, floating water. Cangzhou itself is also a deeply inland seaport city, especially before the Anshi Rebellion.
Later, when the army besieged Cangzhou, it would be much more convenient to transport food by sea.
"Okay. It's easier to conquer Cangjing than to conquer Germany. It's easier to conquer Germany than to conquer Hedong. Just one military feed and transportation will save a lot." Shao Shude had a plan in mind. Cangzhou has a lot to do in the future. In fact,
Before the Anshi Rebellion, this was an important logistics supply base in Liaodong.
"After transporting the grain, the ship will return to Denglaiqing and wait for orders." Shao Shude said as he stroked his fingers along the Hebei coast.
Chen Cheng gently stroked his beard and stared at a large area north of Cangzhou.
It's not the right time yet, we have to wait.
******
Before the camp, the army was ready to fight.
"Dong dong dong..." As the intensive sound of war drums sounded, the four thousand infantrymen under two orders ran quickly and rushed forward.
During the advance, there was no noise at all, only the sound of heavy breathing and the clanging of beetle leaves.
Excited emotions are contagious.
In a large and brave group, even cowardly people will be affected by the surrounding environment, and they will get carried away and forget themselves.
The distance got closer and closer, and the pace of the sergeants became faster and faster.
Dense arrows were fired from the opposite side.
Many people were shot. But they just fell to the ground with a groan and did not scream loudly.
The sergeants were not afraid, bypassing their fallen comrades and continuing to charge forward.
The enemy camp is in front of us, and the deep trench has been filled in by Confucius.
Everyone's breathing quickened unconsciously, goosebumps appeared all over their bodies, and their hands subconsciously clenched their weapons.
"Kill!" Deafening roars rang out in unison.
Hundreds of warriors took the lead and rushed to the trench wall. They stabbed with spears and waved axes and axes.
"Get out of the way!" A strong man like a black iron tower jumped over the trench wall and threw himself into the crowd of enemy soldiers behind.
The Cang soldiers' spears made a harsh scraping sound from the heavy armor. The Black Iron Tower didn't care and jumped into the crowd to kill them.
Dozens of brave men followed him and climbed over the wall. They ignored the enemy's spears and just leaned on their armor to push themselves into the crowd.
The Cangzhou soldiers were shocked by their brave fighting style, and subconsciously stabbed with spears and chopped with knives and axes. The iron armor could not protect their whole bodies, and many Xia soldiers fell to the ground with blood dripping from the cuts. But more
The people rushed over, gnashing their teeth and fighting bravely, as if they were facing the enemy who killed their father.
The two sides fought in a melee, each holding weapons and greeting each other.
After fighting like this, my ears were filled with the roars of fighting, the sound of weapons clashing, and the screams of death. I lost my formation, my coordination, and my sanity.
At this time, the only thing to rely on is the muscle memory gained from hard training, the battlefield instinct acquired through long-term fighting, and the ferocious spirit like a beast. Either you die or I die, whoever is more ruthless and less afraid
If you die, you will be more qualified to live.
The melee formation retreated bit by bit, slowly but firmly, unstoppable.
It is very obvious who is stronger, who is more fierce, and who is more beast.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Ye Li Kecheng fired his bow from left to right, shooting down two Cangzhou soldiers, then climbed over the trench wall and jumped high.
The arrow grazed his helmet and disappeared behind him with a sharp sound.
Ye Li Kecheng didn't have time to feel scared. He had already thrown himself on an enemy general, pressed him down quickly, and strangled his neck with a bow string, exerting all his strength.
The thief general's elbow kept hitting his ribs. Yeli Kecheng couldn't feel the pain, he only knew to strangle the enemy's neck until he could no longer move.
Countless soldiers crossed the trench wall and continued to charge and kill. The Cangzhou soldiers retreated step by step, and the grass was covered with corpses.
"Kill!" Ye Li Kecheng looked excited, picked up a long spear and stepped forward quickly.
His followers chased him and protected him secretly. As a military envoy, he should not lead the troops to kill himself, not to mention his sensitive identity.
Ye Li Kecheng impatiently pushed away the sergeant who was blocking the way, yelling and moving forward.
The fastest sergeant had already rushed to the camp gate with the enemy behind him.
They calmly cut down the defeated enemy troops who had nowhere to escape, and then chopped with swords and axes to destroy the camp gates.
Arrows were shot from the wall of the stronghold, and Xia soldiers kept falling. But the people behind were rushing forward, and they were so red-eyed that they didn't even know what fear was and what death was. Some people were walking with wounds and blood dripping all over their bodies.
They fell down, and more people didn't even look at them, only the enemy's camp was in their eyes.
A group of fresh troops rushed over, raising their large shields to cover the arrows shot diagonally from the left and right.
Someone used a walking bow to fight back, without aiming at all. When adjusting, he raised his hand and shot. It all depended on feeling. What is tested at this time is how good your martial arts is. Your performance directly determines the outcome of the battle. Sometimes the victory or defeat lies on a thin line.
.
"Xilulu!"
"Boom!"
The horses panted and rushed into the distance, and the camp gate collapsed.
Thunderous cheers rang out, and the warriors of Longxiang Army swarmed in.
Cangzhou soldiers rushed out of the camp, and the two sides collided head-on.
Veterans who had served in the army for more than ten years died together.
The great swordsman, who was skilled in swordsmanship, opened and closed, completely disregarding defense, and killed people after they were killed.
The veteran who rolled out from the pile of dead people was calm and collected, and quickly stabbed the enemy's vital part with his spear, only to be decapitated by another knife.
Ye Li Kecheng also rushed in, and what he saw was that there were weapons coming from all directions. His followers tried their best to block them, and blocked most of the attacks. He also went up to the head, stabbing straight with the spear he had practiced hard for many years.
The technique is as smooth as flowing clouds. You don't need to think about it carefully, you just do it subconsciously.
"Poof!" An enemy soldier was stabbed in the abdomen and fell down.
"Poof!" Another enemy soldier was stabbed in the throat.
Then Wu Shan swept across, and with a sudden roar, the spears of several thieves were swung away.
The followers shouted, rushed forward, and slashed with their swords, causing the thief to scream in agony.
"Kill!" Ye Li Kecheng was covered in blood, and he didn't know how many people he had killed. His heavy breathing could still be heard clearly even on the noisy battlefield.
He held his long spear and advanced step by step, as if he were a ghost or a god.
The enemy could not resist and retreated step by step.
Xia Bing's morale became higher and higher. Under the stimulation of adrenaline, he forgot the pain all over his body and the fear in his heart. He just killed until he fell silently.
The Cangzhou soldiers launched a desperate counterattack, but were quickly dispersed.
After all the brave veterans were killed or injured, the remaining people finally had a mental breakdown and turned around and ran around like headless chickens.
The camp of the bandit army changed hands in less than half a day.
But this is not the end.
In the afternoon of the same day, Longxiang's army sent 3,000 soldiers to break another stronghold.
On the fifth day of the seventh lunar month, three villages were defeated in one day, and the momentum was like a rainbow.
Between Dongguang and Anling, the corpses of Cangjing warriors can be seen everywhere, stretching to the end of the north.
Lu Yanwei was horrified after receiving the news. On the surface, he made a desperate resistance and sent a large army to try to recapture the camp. However, that night, he quietly withdrew the army with his direct followers and fled into Dongguang County.
The warriors of Long Xiang's army continued to pursue, and they were extremely brave. They fought all the way to the bottom of the city. After showing off their power, they retreated.
Face to face, head-to-head, this is a game for the brave, don’t come if you are afraid of death!