The heavy rain turned into light rain, and Pang Shigu climbed to the high platform and looked to the west.
Yesterday we received a military report that the Xia thieves came out of Taihangxing with thousands of riders. After attracting the attention of the Changzhi Army, they sent people to break through the blockade of the Bian Army at night. With the support of the defenders in the city, more than a thousand people rushed in
Huaizhou assisted in the defense.
According to this, there should be no less than three thousand Xia thieves in Huaizhou City. If they attack repeatedly, they should be able to defeat them, but how much will it cost? How long will it take?
The front line of Zhiguan and Jiyuan has become a sore. Although Dai Siyuan's Feilong Army, the elites in the hall, and Zhang Shensi's more than a thousand cavalry can drive away the Xia thieves' cavalry outside, they can still manage to maintain this front.
Over time, it's always a problem.
The biggest problem is actually the inability to attack Heqing from the front.
It seems that the Xia bandits have increased their troops in recent days. According to the prisoners who were tortured, they learned that the Tielin Army and a large number of Shaozhou native regiment villagers have been added.
The situation in Shaozhou is now more or less understood. The Shao thieves almost recruited soldiers one by one from each household and asked them to die...
Heqing and Baiyacang lost thousands of lives in the early stage. They were so heartbroken that so many men died. Why didn't they rebel?
Smoke was rising from the camp, and the smell of smoke was faintly carried in the wind. It had been raining for days, and the wood cut back was wet. It was difficult to make a fire, and it was no longer possible for the soldiers to eat hot meals every time.
In fact, we have just entered the rainy season for a few days, so it is still bearable. If it goes on for a long time, morale will definitely be affected.
Pang Shigu suddenly remembered his expedition to Xuzhou with Prince Dongping two years ago. It rained continuously for days and had to retreat. It was so similar to this event, and it seemed to be a bad omen.
"It's so elegant to watch the rain upstairs." Footsteps came from the wooden stairs.
Pang Shigu looked back and saw that it was Xiao Fu, the grain envoy.
"What did General Li say?" Pang Shigu asked as he continued to look at the Heqing County town that was looming in the heavy rain.
"General Li" is Li Hui, one of the eighty-yuan servants of Prince Dongping, who is in charge of the navy.
"General Li said that he has sent people to Luokou and Biankou to collect ships, and they will arrive soon." Xiao Fu replied.
Pang Shigu nodded.
Although it has rained in the past few days, the Bian Army has been strengthening the camp. Especially at a high place on the bank of the Yellow River, two camp fences and a trench were built. They are building simple bridge slabs and plan to build a trestle bridge with piles.
The navy responded.
This matter was confidential, and he was taking advantage of the rain to prevent Xia Jun from knowing about it.
The order to withdraw the troops has been issued, personally issued by Prince Dongping.
To be honest, Pang Shigu was very unwilling, but he had no choice.
A few days ago, the Xia army counterattacked, sweeping away the previous situation of being passively beaten. The army moved forward and attacked fiercely, catching the Bian army by surprise.
Although the Xia army's fierce counterattack was contained, the frontline soldiers were psychologically shocked, especially the maimed Jianrui army, which was unable to fight anymore and could only be allowed to withdraw first.
The Tutuan peasants, whose combat effectiveness is relatively low, will evacuate in the second batch.
The main force of the elite and skilled Yamen army stayed at the camp to assist all parties.
"General Xiao" Pang Shigu hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "The general ordered the withdrawal, but because of changes in other directions?"
"Yes." Xiao Fu nodded and said: "In the direction of Puzhou, Zhu Xuan suddenly led his troops out of the city for some unknown reason. The Xia traitor generals Li Renyu and Tuoba Renfu roared in with six thousand cavalry, and Wang Zhongshi
, He Delun fought and repelled the Yun soldiers. The Xia cavalry attacked the Changjian Army once and suffered heavy losses. Then they avoided fighting and focused on looting. These Tibetan people were unwilling to sacrifice their lives for Shao Shude, but they were very interested in wealth.
We are very hungry for goods, and I heard that there were many robberies in Yuncheng, and now they are plundering Caozhou, which is very troublesome."
Zhu Xuan's action was the last straw that prompted Zhu Quanzhong to order a retreat.
It is foreseeable that the Zhu brothers will become active. Although this may not be a good thing for Yunchen itself. But no one can control these martial artists and no one can make them surrender. He felt that he saw an opportunity and took action.
,It's that simple.
"Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, come back to life." Pang Shigu sighed.
When Shi Pu was defeated, he originally planned to move his troops to attack Yan and Yun, but Zhe Zongben sent troops on Nanyang Third Road with such great momentum that he forced the Bian army to change its strategic direction.
After Zhe Zongben was pushed back, Ding Hui took advantage of the opportunity to invade Tangzhou and Suizhou. In order to relieve the pressure on his father-in-law, Shao Shude launched an offensive from the direction of Heyang. The two men, son-in-law and father-in-law, cooperated wonderfully!
Now, the main force of the Bian army is on the west side, and Zhu Xuan on the east side is active again.
Henan, a land connected in all directions, suddenly turned into a place of four wars, which is extremely frustrating.
"General, it has been raining for days, and neither side can mobilize troops. Seeing that the rain is about to stop, why not recall General Kou's troops and slowly retreat to Mengzhou? Or, first recall the local villagers who are not good at fighting? To avoid haste
In the meantime, they scattered everywhere and were captured by the Xia thieves in vain." Xiao Fu suggested again.
"Zhang Shensi just arrived in Jiyuan, and he couldn't bear to leave the thousands of people at Zhiguan." Pang Shigu said: "The Shao thieves seemed to have smelled the wind, and sent troops to attack Zhiguan fiercely, regardless of casualties, and bit the defenders."
The garrison at Zhiguan originally numbered more than 7,000, but now it should be less than 7,000. How do you want them to withdraw?
Withdraw some of them? Then the morale of the remaining people will collapse, and they will probably compete with you to see who can escape faster.
If we don't withdraw and let them stay there, that would be abandonment.
This means someone is destined to be sacrificed.
Not willing to give in!
Master Pang Gu Zuo calculated again and again and did not think this battle would be lost.
Even though Huaizhou was occupied by others, and the Xia thieves increased their troops at Taihangxing, our troops on the battlefield in Huaizhou are still sufficient, and there is Qinshui River to transport grain, so there is no worry about the way back. Even if the Zhiguan grain road may be attacked,
However, Guancheng itself has the food, grass and equipment needed for March, so it is not a big problem.
You can still fight for at least three months! Why withdraw now?
"Why don't I go to Jiyuan and convince General Zhang to make up his mind?" Xiao Fu suggested: "There are not many people in Heyang. Let Thief Shao go if he wants. We will come back later. As long as we keep the army,
There is still a chance. With the three cities of Heyang in hand, our army can move forward at any time."
The pontoon bridges in the three cities of Heyang are huge in size and easy to pass. The bridge boats were manufactured in Tanzhou and Hongzhou, and then transported north to Heyang, where they were connected and divided into two bridges, the north and the south. They were traffic arteries and were called "Juliang" in the country.
", equipped with 250 sailors and ten carpenters to maintain it all year round.
With these three cities in hand, there is still hope of counterattack, although it is probably just hope.
"That's fine." Pang Shigu nodded.
Retreating is an art, and Li Keyong is a master of it, and his self-confidence is not bad.
After Xiao Fu left the camp gate, he looked at the muddy road and sighed.
Taking a distant look to the west, he buried some thoughts in his heart and headed north without hesitation.
This behemoth Bianzhou has not yet shown its ruin, so it is not worth it.
…
In Huaizhou City, Qi Binzhang looked at the continuous rain, feeling both happy and sad.
Fortunately, the Bian army's offensive stopped and retreated into the camp, which made him breath a sigh of relief.
Worryingly, the continuous heavy rains and muddy roads were a nightmare for them, mounted infantry, and their mobility was greatly reduced.
However, the Bian Army Dai Siyuan also had eight thousand mule-mounted infantry, and the one thousand heavy cavalry in Tingzhidu were of no use. He knew who would take advantage and who would suffer.
Yang Liang is also wandering outside with a thousand cavalry and three thousand mounted infantry. He doesn't know where he is hiding now.
"Military envoy, there is movement in the Bian Army camp." Xue Li came from outside and said hurriedly.
"You guys, don't lie to me again!" Qi Banzhang scolded.
A few days ago, Xue Li came to report in the middle of the night. There was a lot of noise in the Bian military camp, and torches were raised, as if he was about to withdraw from the encirclement.
Qibizhang had just won a bet and attacked Huaizhou. After thinking over and over, he decided to take another gamble and attack the Bian army at night. If they really wanted to withdraw from the siege, they would probably not be interested in fighting at this time, so they could take advantage.
Damn it, I rushed to the Bian military camp and saw that the lights were brightly lit, and the Changzhi army was waiting in full formation. They lost hundreds of people on the spot. The rest of them rushed back to Huaizhou in embarrassment and were almost followed by others.
"Military envoy, this response should be true." Xue Li said helplessly: "There is a military report coming from the south. The envoy personally sent troops to fight back and killed tens of thousands of thieves. The thieves were too scared to fight anymore."
"Tens of thousands of shit!" Qi Binzhang continued to scold: "I beheaded two thousand people and dared to report ten thousand to the police. Don't you understand these nonsense? Thousands of people were killed, and most of them were brought by Pang Shigu who doesn't know where they came from.
scapegoat."
"Then do we want to chase him?" Xue Li asked.
After being told this by Qi Banzhang, he was a little unsure. That Kou Yanqing was really ruthless. He defrauded them of hundreds of Paoze brothers' heads. If he was fooled again, the city would not be able to defend it.
"Tonight, we will find a way to send people to break out of the encirclement and send a message to Yang Liang, asking him to pursue him." After thinking about it, Qibizhang decided to kill his Taoist friend rather than the poor Taoist.
"I don't know where General Yang is yet."
"Just those few places, you can always find it if you search one by one."
"The roads are muddy, so it's difficult to break through, right?"
"Why do you say so many weird things?" Qi Binzhang said angrily, "How about you break out and deliver the message yourself?"
"The general will find someone to take care of it immediately." Xue Li said on the spot.
…
At the foot of Zhiguan City, the returning German troops also huddled in the camp.
Fu Cunshen looked at the continuous rain and was silent.
He knew the whole battle situation well.
In the main battlefield of Heqing, the two sides were fighting inextricably. As Gao Renhou's troops became stronger and stronger, the possibility of Bian's army capturing Heqing became less and less.
And if the attack cannot be taken, and there is such a heavy rain, the soldiers cannot eat hot meals. Over time, morale will be damaged, and it is more likely to cause epidemics in the army. What will happen if we don't return it?
Huaizhou is stuck behind Jiyuan. If the Bian army wants to take back the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on the front line from Zhiguan to Jiyuan, they must pay close attention to this key point and prevent them from leaving the city to pursue. Otherwise, most of these thousands of people will not be able to escape.
In the context of a major retreat, if the main force is fine, the sergeants have been fighting for many years and know how to alternate cover. However, he has observed the soldiers here in Zhiguan, and they are definitely not the main force of the direct line of the Bian Army. They are not that powerful. Their morale has declined.
It must be very amazing.
There are more than 7,000 soldiers who returned to the German army, as well as thousands of Hezhong native regiment soldiers brought from Qiziling. The latest military order from the commander-in-chief has also been passed on. General Wang Yao, the governor of Hezhong Jiedu, will lead 10,000 government troops and 10,000 native regiment soldiers.
He went eastward, reinforced Qiziling, and stormed Zhiguan.
It's a pity that it hasn't arrived yet. It would be best if the Bian army left a little later.
In the evening, the rain for many days finally stopped. The setting sun revealed half of its face from behind the clouds, spreading its red light all over the earth.
Fu Cunshen climbed up to the watchtower in the camp. The setting sun on the grass and trees in the forest seemed to him to be faintly bloody.
A few scouts who looked like mud monkeys ran back from outside the camp. They were leading horses, and there was a person tied to the horse's back, who seemed to be a prisoner.
Du Yuhou ran over, exchanged a few words in a low voice, then waved his hand and asked someone to take the prisoner to the tent, intending to interrogate him personally.