The people of Luoshan and Zhongshan counties have been requisitioned and driven to the banks of the Huai River, where they cut down trees, erect fences, and build pontoon bridges.
They have to bring their own dry food and pickles to do this strenuous work.
However, Shen's fortune changed hands, and the people were poor and had insufficient food. Everyone was so hungry that their stomachs growled. Some people fainted while doing it, and they didn't know whether they were dead or alive.
We had no choice but to disperse some of the grain "borrowed" from the people of Caizhou to let these people eat first.
This year's battle in the South has been fought so far, and all the units on the battlefield have performed well, but logistics is indeed a big problem.
This is because Zhao and others neglected local construction, but perhaps they did not have the energy to carry out construction because the Liang people did not give them a chance.
Zhao Kuangning and Zhe Zongben on the Western Front launched a counterattack.
Zhao attacked Sanya Town but was repulsed, and almost failed to defend Luyang Pass.
Zhe Zongben fought well and made some small gains, firmly holding Ding Hui back. However, after Ding made up his mind to counterattack, he was repulsed again.
All kinds of news were continuously transmitted to the west bank of Peishui River through the station system. After being annotated by Chen Cheng, they were handed over to Shao Shude.
Marshal Shao is quite satisfied with the performance on the Western Front battlefield. Being able to hold off the enemy is victory. Ding Hui has been in Ruzhou for so long, and he must have been irritable. Zhe Zongben is old, strong and experienced. You can attack with all your strength.
, he defends everything tightly; you pretend to retreat and lure him in, and his eyes are very vicious, knowing whether you are really retreating or pretending to retreat; if you really leave, he will pounce on you.
Moreover, after more than two years of fighting, Wei Shengjun is really growing.
From Yi Zhe's army to the so-called ragtag group of troops sent down from Xiangyang, they fought step by step. After being tempered by the fire of war, the entire army of 20,000 people became more and more experienced. After another two years of battlefield training, it is estimated that it will be a powerful force.
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Compared with Ruzhou and the Huai River battlefield, Shao Shude is now most concerned about the northern line. Unfortunately, Qibizhang is deep into enemy territory, and it is difficult to spread the news to the outside world.
But no matter what, the war must continue. I hope Qi Banzhang can fully mobilize the Liang people's troops, disrupt their deployment, and give himself a surprise.
On the east bank of Feishui River, Liang people's cavalry appeared in twos and threes. Zheng Yong, as if facing a formidable enemy, was on strict alert to prevent Liang people from sneaking across.
Zhu Jing, the governor of Shouzhou, came to the Peishui camp and met with Shao Shude.
"Zhu Dalang has figured it out?" In front of the small temple surrounded by green shades, Shao Shude set up a table under the ancient tree and tasted the yellow buds of Huoshan leisurely.
The weather this year was a bit strange. It was already the bright spring season in March, but the howling cold wind blew from the north, which caught people off guard.
This is an anomaly caused by the alternation of old and new climate cycles, and Shao Shude knew it well.
"King Xia is a true hero, I am willing to be the king's pioneer." Zhu Jing's waist was very low and he did not dare to look directly at Shao Shude.
"Sit down." Shao Shude gently pointed to the chair opposite and asked curiously: "I heard that Zhu Dalang was traveling in Huoshan and was not interested in fame and fortune. Why did he come to see me again?"
Shao Shude's question was not polite. In other words, "How can you be so arrogant before and then be so respectful?"
But with his status and status, he was qualified to make such a show, so Zhu Jing could only answer honestly: "I have a close friend who I met in the past. He just came back from Bianzhou and relayed some situations in Bianzhou."
"Best friend" can be understood as a best friend, a life-long friendship. For example, Chai Zaiyong from Caizhou became close friends with Sun Ru, a junior high school student in the army. This man was accused of rebelling, and Sun Ru arrested Chai Zaiyong together.
Chai Zaiyong said: "If you make a dead friend with him, you will turn against him. If you punish him, why should you ask?"
"Tell me about it." Shao Shude said calmly.
"Yes." Zhu Jing sat down calmly.
Now that he had made up his mind to surrender, he no longer hesitated. The King of Xia gave him the title of governor, and then he was punished with death.
"My friend arrived at Huoshan at starry night. He heard that the Xia people were fierce. Thousands of horse soldiers crossed the river and went south, crossed the state and counties, attacked everywhere, destroyed Lingchang, and rushed to the white horse. The Liang people could not control it." Zhu Jing said: "I don't understand.
Quanzhong has hundreds of thousands of victorious troops, why can't he even control thousands of horsemen? Asked again, the Yanxia people pressed the territory with heavy troops, and Quanzhong's troops were insufficient for use.
The state has no troops left. I think carefully about it, and if Quanzhong continues like this, he will definitely be exhausted and defeated sooner or later, so he came to surrender."
"Lingchang, Baima..." The map automatically appeared in Shao Shude's mind.
Judging from the direction of this activity, they are heading towards Zhu Xuan's territory. They should be increasing their distance, fully mobilizing all departments of Liang Jun, and looking for opportunities.
It feels a bit like Li Cunxu’s surprise attack on Liang Liang!
Before 923, although Li Cunxu defeated the Houliang army several times, he was never able to achieve a decisive victory. The two sides faced off across the Yellow River. Hedong's strength was severely depleted, and most of the Weibo that had been captured was captured by the Houliang army.
In 923, the last emperor of Liang Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen, sent General Duan Ning and others to attack in four directions, aiming directly at Jinyang, with the intention of destroying Hedong. Li Cunxu knew that if he continued to waste his money, he would probably end badly, so he wept goodbye to his wife and took a risky gamble.
If you do it, you will succeed, if you don't, you will die. So he started the idea of detouring to the empty Yunzhou and making a surprise attack on Bianzhou, and succeeded in one fell swoop.
Shao Shude could not imagine that Qibizhang could capture Bianzhou.
Zhu Quanzhong is not Zhu Youzhen, and he is not good at killing veteran generals at this time. The Xuanwu Group has not yet begun to decline, but it should still be possible to use this opportunity to gallop across the hinterland of Henan, undermine Zhu Quanzhong's prestige, and look for opportunities to eliminate the enemy's vitality.
Moreover, it seems that the first "result" has been achieved: Zhu Jing accidentally learned that the Feilong Army broke into Huazhou and Liang Jun was at a loss, so he decisively surrendered.
"Zhu Shijun is a smart man." Shao Shude asked his soldiers to serve him tea, and said kindly: "As you can see, if the Liang people go south this time, and there is no result, I don't know when the next time they go south will be.
"Liang Jiang's uncle Cong is stationed in Shouzhou, gathering troops and horses, and marching westward day and night. What does Zhu Shijun plan to do?"
"My subordinates have thousands of soldiers. They are familiar with every plant and tree in Shouzhou. They also have unique skills. They hide in the mountains, rivers and forests. The people of Dingjiao Liang complain endlessly." Zhu Jing said with emotion: "As the saying goes, no merit will be rewarded.
"Lu. If I don't make great contributions to the king of Xia, I won't be able to accept the post of governor."
Shao Shude couldn't help but take another look at him.
This is a straightforward person, much better than many people who want money and official positions but have no moral integrity.
Zhu Jing was born into a wealthy family. He was disliked by many people as a young wanderer in his hometown. Now it seems that he has some chivalry and can be put to use.
"Thousands of people are still too few." Shao Shude said: "Take two thousand bolts of silk back and recruit strong men. There must be at least two or three thousand people. There is no need to fight frontally, just harass the enemy from the flanks and tire them out."
"Yes." Zhu Jing stood up and responded.
As the days passed, more and more Liang Jun gathered.
It was no longer easy for the rangers to go to the east bank of the Peishui River. Every time they went there, they almost escaped death and were hunted by others. Later, they simply detoured there and, with the help of Zhu Jing, reconnoitred the enemy's situation.
Everyone judged that perhaps the war was not far away.
The battle broke out earlier than Feishui on the north bank of Huai River.
After all, they were heading south from the hinterland of Bian and Song Dynasties, so Pang Shigu's army came faster.
In fact, they had arrived in Caizhou a long time ago. After learning that Xia Jun had retreated early, this journey had actually lost most of its meaning.
On the tenth day of March, more than 3,000 cavalry from the army that captured the soldiers were transferred back to the north, leaving Pang Shigu with only more than 26,000 men, almost all of whom were infantry. Hundreds of cavalrymen were killed. Combat strength is further weakened.
Pang Shigu actually suggested that Caizhou should focus on defense, transfer most of its troops back, guard some key bridges and only roads, and intercept the scurrying Feilong Army of the Xia Army. However, after some exchanges of letters, Zhu Quanzhong ordered He went south to "attack the Xia thieves".
As for the attack method, he didn't interfere too much, allowing him to "take advantage of it".
On March 15th, after recruiting some native Tuan villagers in Caizhou, Pang Shigu and Yang Shihou combined 40,000 troops to go south. Within a few days, they arrived outside Baigou City, set up camp, and built a siege. instrument.
That night, Yang Shihou led thousands of people to leave the camp quietly without setting off torches, and headed towards Tangzhou.
On March 16, Niu Li personally rushed to White Dog City to boost the morale of the defenders.
These three thousand people are all Hengshandu warriors. They have fought for many years, are skilled in battle, and are not afraid of death. If the Liang people come to attack the city, they will definitely look good on them.
On March 18, Shi Shucong rushed to the Yingkou camp. According to scouts, more than 20,000 Liang people had gathered here. The first war between Liang and Xia finally broke out.
…
The location where the two sides fought was surprising.
Zhe Conggu took two thousand tired cavalry across the Yingshui River westward and entered Yingshang County. Suddenly, he encountered a marching Liang Army unit.
It was almost an encounter, and both sides discovered their opponents at the same time.
Liang Jun had more than 5,000 men, mainly infantry, driving large and small carts in a meandering way.
After the officer issued the combat order, the soldiers immediately lined up to meet the enemy.
The auxiliary soldiers quickly gathered the baggage vehicles together to form a vehicle barrier to intercept the Xia army's cavalry rushing towards them.
The powerful infantry bows fired from behind the vehicle barrier, arbitrarily bullying the weak cavalry bows whose range could never match theirs.
Zhe Conggu led the cavalry away from the front, moving in a leisurely circle.
Liang Jun's soldiers were arrayed in the front. They looked like they were no ordinary people. They all had resolute expressions on their faces. They seemed to have long been used to being surrounded and watched by cavalry.
Yes, they have been fighting Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin all year round, and they may have fought Qin Zongquan and Li Keyong before. These four brothers all have a lot of cavalry, and they have rich experience in resisting cavalry with foot.
Liang Jun's auxiliary troops in the rear formation are still making adjustments in the inner circle of the vehicle barrier. Small vehicle formations spaced seven or eight steps apart are taking shape. This provides an opportunity for the infantry to rest and reorganize in formation to occupy the enemy.
It is particularly important to maintain sufficient physical strength when riding in an open field.
Car barriers and crossbows were their most powerful weapons in blocking cavalry attacks, and they were also the only guarantee for them to be able to reach their next resting place.
"It looks like a turtle shell." Zhe Conggu galloped up a gentle slope, looked at Liang Jun's infantry who were retreating into the car formation in batches, and cursed.
At the same time, a doubt arose in his mind: Why did he meet Liang Bing here?
In fact, if you think about it carefully, the reason is not difficult to guess: Shi Shucong showed up at the Yingkou camp and constantly sent scouts to check the depth of the Feishui River and look for places to ford, creating a situation where he wanted to break through the Feishui defense line.
Feel.
But what about in reality? Where did these more than 5,000 people come from? And where do they want to go?
Could it be that they went back to Huoqiu County in the rear? A sneak attack cut off the retreat of the 10,000 troops on the west bank of Feishui River?
Thinking of this, he immediately summoned several close aides and ordered them to cross the river south immediately and report to Shao Shude.
As for the Liang army in front of him, he planned to follow him again. If the enemy army really didn't panic and relied on carts to advance despite the cavalry harassment, there was nothing they could do but delay as much as possible. Anyway, these thieves were discovered.
Most of their plans have failed.
The southeast wind blew the military flags.
On the west bank of Yingshui River, more than 7,000 people from both sides of Liang and Xia stared at each other cautiously, just like the current situation on the entire battlefield.