From Wangwu County to Qiziling, and then to Zhiguan; from the north bank of the Yellow River to Heqing County, and then to Baiyacang, the pasture has turned green.
Of course, the Bian army would not take the initiative to plant grass. This is the credit of Shuofang army.
Transportation is difficult and costly, which has always been the Achilles heel of Shuofang's army. Forage can at least offset part of the consumption of livestock. From a logistical point of view, this is food, and it is under the enemy's nose. It can be used in every corner.
food.
On the rugged mountain road in the south, mules and horses were walking heavily loaded with grain and beans, breathing heavily.
The gravel slid down the steep slope into the valley.
At the bottom of the valley, a large number of dead mules and horses lay scattered everywhere. Food was scattered on the ground, and birds were chirping, chasing the delicacies dropped from the sky.
A group of crows flew over, staring intently at the master who was bleeding to death at the bottom of the valley, also preparing to enjoy their gluttonous feast.
In the mountain road leading to the square track in the north, the old horse suddenly fell to its knees.
A lame cow was lying on the roadside, letting the whip hit him, with big tears streaming from his eyes.
Two narrow mountain roads, tens of thousands of draft animals, and more than 100,000 masters are busy.
The money and food in the four prefectures in the river are declining at a speed that is almost visible to the naked eye.
The masters complained and even cried bitterly, but no one sympathized with them. Almost every day, someone was beheaded in public, and the whole family was distributed to Feng, Sheng, Jie, Cheng, Min, Lan and other states.
Since Marshal Shao came to Hezhong, the life of the people has plummeted. They were beaten every day, killed every month, and fought every year. Compared with Wang Chongrong, Wang Chongying's period was really far behind. The only good thing is probably that Li Hanzhi no longer dares to go down the mountain at will.
, broke into Shanxi and burned, killed and looted. But the problem is that after Wang Ke married Li Keyong's daughter, Li Hanzhi never left the mountain again. It is difficult to say that it was Marshal Shao's credit.
At the foot of Zhiguan City, more than 10,000 Tutuan peasants from the river, plus 3,000 men from Wangwu County, have already formed a formation.
However, they will not launch a fierce attack with all their strength, but will conduct a diversionary feint attack to let the enemy know that the front line of Zhiguan must be paid attention to and reinforcements must be sent here continuously.
In the Heqing County area in the south, the military strength seems to be about the same, but the real swords and guns are not as good as those in the north.
The three thousand infantry of the Wuwei Army lined up in the wilderness, just like the Tianxiong Army before, Sen Han's swords and spears were raised forward.
In front of them, 5,000 Tibetan people from the Hewei states were already pushing siege equipment and began to attack.
It was not easy to save some food and send it to the front line, and a huge price was paid for it. There was no time to lose, and Heqing County must be captured as quickly as possible.
Two thousand mounted infantrymen of the Feilong Army were resting on a gentle slope on one side.
They closely monitored Baiyacang and were ready to fight at any time.
"Gaozong first built Baiyacang, and the location chosen is too damn good." Gao Renhou stood on the watchtower cart and carefully observed the sturdy and huge mountain city.
Yes, Baiyacang is a mountain city built on Baiya Mountain. It is huge and can store hundreds of thousands of grains. Cangcheng faces deep valleys on three sides, and only has an avenue on the south side leading to the dock at the foot of the mountain: Liaowu.
Liaowu is also a fort with sailors and garrison soldiers.
In other words, this area of Heqing County is actually guarded by three fortresses, namely Heqing County Town, Baiyacang, and Liaowu.
Zhao Keyu said that Heqing County and Baiyacang each have two thousand people, which should be correct. Heqing County is not big, with at most three thousand defenders. Baiyacang is very large, but the water source on the mountain is limited, and two or three thousand people can hold up to the sky.
, but there should be more than a thousand people in Liaowu.
The entire defense system of Heqing County has not 4,000 people, but probably around 6,000 people, but we don't know the quality of the defenders.
"General Gao, the thieves probably didn't expect that I would mobilize all my troops to besiege Heqing. Zhang Shensi's troops are limited and Huaizhou is newly harassed. He shouldn't have sent more troops to Heqing. Most of the people guarding this place are nothing.
Elite soldiers, otherwise other battlefields will not be able to support them." Lu Huaizhong also looked at it for a long time, and finally said: "In my opinion, Baiyacang is the most difficult to attack. If the defenders are determined to defend, they may not be able to capture it in a year.
.”
This mountain city is a bit like a stone castle. There is only a winding mountain road leading to the fortified city on the mountain, and there is no way to deploy troops. In the Tang Dynasty, it was built by force with human lives. Tens of thousands of people died, which shows how difficult it is.
Nothing works in this damn fortified city. It doesn't matter whether it has a wall or not, because most of the casualties occurred halfway through the attack on the mountain.
Strictly speaking, it is in the same category as Qiziling, Zhiguan, Xin'an County, Xiashibao, and Xiaoshan. It relies on mountains and rivers for defense rather than city walls. Cities that are truly on the plains are actually not that difficult to attack.
"Whether it is difficult to fight or not, you will know after you fight. Attack Heqing County first. It would be best if the defenders of Baiyacang and Liaowu go out to rescue the city. The Feilong Army is waiting." Gao Renhou said nonchalantly: "We have brought so many people with us.
Coming here, it’s difficult to transport food.”
Having said this, he paused and did not say anything else.
In fact, he doesn't like this kind of battle very much. What he likes most is setting up ambushes in the field and making sneak attacks, attacking in the east and west, and taking things by surprise. This kind of head-on siege warfare does not reflect Lao Gao's level at all.
"If more people die, food will not be so tight." Lu Huaizhong sighed in his heart, and then looked firmly at Heqing County.
Some battles have to be fought, and some casualties are inevitable.
As long as there is peace in the world and the people can recuperate, no matter how big the sacrifice is, it is worth it, although not everyone agrees with his philosophy.
…
The golden eagle landed on the cliff.
Two thousand cavalrymen led their horses and wandered in the wilderness east of Heqing County.
On the bank of the river to the southeast of them, there were three thousand mounted infantrymen of the Feilong Army, who also led their horses on foot, looking for the enemy.
The three thousand mounted infantry led by Qibizhang had just returned to Baishui to rest and recuperate.
Sun Ru was a swindler, Li Han was a swindler, and Zhao Keyu was a swindler. There were not many people in Heyang and Heyang, and there was no way to raise food in the wild.
When Mengzhou was established during Wuzong Huichang's reign, the combined population of the ten counties of Meng and Huai was estimated to be 700,000 to 800,000, but now there are not even 100,000, and it would be good to have 80,000. The villages in the countryside are empty, and there are hundreds of miles of uninhabited people.
No wonder even Li Hanzhi was not interested in this place and refused to plunder it.
Clearing the country, whether passively or actively, has always been the most annoying thing for the Shuofang Army, which has a large number of cavalry, because it limits the scope of the cavalry. Yang Liang now even wants to fight to the other side of the river, and Heyin County is in this area
The largest docks and cargo distribution centers should be able to obtain sufficient supplies.
But he finally sighed, the river had thawed.
"Go to Mengzhou!" He waved his hand, and instead of getting on his horse, he continued to lead the delicate horse on foot.
In Mengzhou City, Zhang Shensi had just received news that Zhiguan and Heqing County were attacked at the same time.
Outside Zhiguan, the Xia army camped for more than ten miles, with banners covering the sun and people shouting and neighing. It looked like there were more than 50,000 troops.
Outside Heqing County, there are probably more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, far less than those in the north.
This is in line with everyone's understanding.
Zhiguanxing, the first of the eight passes in Taihang, is also the southernmost pass and can be used for square rail carts.
Qin State went eastward and followed this road.
In the second year of Yongjia, Emperor Huai of the Western Dynasty (Western Jin Dynasty), Wang Mi went to Luoyang and took this road.
In the third year of Xianhe's reign in the Middle Jin Dynasty (Eastern Jin Dynasty), Duke Zhongshan of Later Zhao Dynasty, Shihu, attacked Hedong, also entering from Zhiguan Pass.
Fu Jian, Murong Chui, Hu Luguang, etc. also followed this path.
Who is a serious person who takes the narrow road?
"Can Zhiguan be defended?" Zhang Shensi thought about the troops at hand and scratched his head.
There are 2,500 people in Heqing County, 1,000 Heyang Yamen troops, and the rest are soldiers from Xuzhou.
There are more than 2,000 people in Baiyacang, half of them are Heyang yamen soldiers and half of them are countrymen from Tutuan.
There are more than a thousand people in Liaowu. Except for a few key members who are from the Heyang Yamen Army, most of them are soldiers who surrendered from Xu Town.
Originally, there were more than a thousand soldiers from Puzhou who surrendered, but they were attacked by Xia cavalry a while ago and the entire army was wiped out.
These people should be able to defend themselves enough, right?
There are still more than 7,000 defenders at Zhiguan, more than 1,000 Heyang yamen soldiers, 3,000 Biansong yamen soldiers, and the rest are Tutuan countrymen.
There are still more than 3,000 people in Jiyuan County, most of whom are Tu Tuan villagers.
In fact, these two roads are not the most dangerous. After all, the location is favorable and there is a strong city. The most dangerous route is the direction of Huaizhou.
At present, there are only about 7,000 people in Huaizhou, half of them are government soldiers transferred from the south, and the other half are local peasants or state and county soldiers. Facing the erratic and elusive Xia bandit cavalry, they are now basically huddled in Hebei, Wuzhi,
The three counties of Xiuwu are basically not allowed to go out for activities. This is actually very dangerous, because it is easy to be cut off from each other, leading to individual defeats.
There are still more than 10,000 defenders in Mengzhou. They are basically the capable Bian and Song yamen troops. They are the largest field force in Heyang, including 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. In theory, they can defeat any Xia thieves invading army.
.
But they may not be willing to confront you head-on, which is a headache. You can’t find someone, or if you find someone, w. They turn around and run away, what should you do?
Zhang Shensi always felt that he was playing a very dangerous game.
The troops were so tight that they seemed to be able to barely cope with it, but if there was a breakthrough, he would have to invest the last field troops. From then on, the situation was no longer under his control and headed in an unpredictable direction.
But he didn't dare to ask for help anymore.
It is said that the king of Dongping County is focused on attacking in the east and defending in the west, but ask yourself, is it true that he has not sent more troops to Heyang in the past year?
No, there were indeed more troops. Although the number of government troops sent was very small, only three to four thousand people, there were no less than ten thousand soldiers from the prefectures and counties and local villagers. This was also real support.
More than a month ago, Xu and Pu surrendered 4,000 troops. They were already providing support to the greatest extent. Unless the strategy was adjusted immediately and the focus was shifted to the west.
In addition to military strength, material assistance is actually greater. This is actually "military strength", because Zhang Shensi can temporarily recruit Heyang men to join the army and expand the size of the army. Although it is powerless in the field, under the leadership of veterans, it is still possible to defend the city.
of.
Does it make sense to complain again and ask for help? This determination can only be made by Prince Dongping himself, and no one else can comment, and may even offend the commander-in-chief.
"Capital, Zhang Quanyi has entered the city." While he was distressed, the general came in to report.
"He's here for a useless purpose." Zhang Shensi cursed secretly, but still adjusted his robes and went out to greet him.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Happy New Year to everyone!
During the Chinese New Year, there are a lot of things going on. I may not be able to update twice a day, sorry for that.