On April 20th of the third year of Qianning, drizzle began to fall in the sky again.
The National Protectorate Army and the Wuwei Army arrived in Luoyang one after another, with a total of more than 16,000 troops on foot and cavalry.
At this point, the army in Luoyang camp has almost been assembled. Among them:
Most of the Jinglue Army (full strength: 7,500 men) was stationed in Dengfeng, with a partial division stationed in Gicheng.
The Dingyuan Army (full strength of 8,000 men) has returned to Yingyang County and is preparing to march westward to the rear of Yique Pass.
The left wing of the Feilong Army (with a total strength of over 10,000) has returned to Yangzhai County in Xuzhou, trying hard to get in touch with Chengcheng and Dengfeng to ask for food and supplies.
The Chishui Army (full strength of 8,000 men) is still stationed in Luokou, Gongxian, and Yazigu areas, guarding the direction of Xuanmenguan.
Tianxiong's army (full of ten thousand people) was stationed in the north of Yique Pass, with deep ditches and high fortresses to monitor the enemy and be able to launch attacks at any time.
The Shunyi Army (full strength of 7,000 people) and the Henan Fuzhou Army (now more than 3,000) have been stationed in Taigu Pass and Taigu. The Shunyi Army just left Taigu yesterday and escorted grain and grass supplies to Yingyang. It should be before it rains. Arrived.
The three armies of Guide (full strength of 8,000), Wuwei (full strength of 9,000), and Huguo (now more than 7,000) are still in Luoyang and have not yet gone south.
An army of 70,000 to 80,000 people, plus an equal number of native Tuan peasants from Shaanxi, Guo, Hua, Tong, Luo, Pu, and Meng prefectures, the scale was astonishing.
The Yamen army was responsible for field operations, and some participated in the siege. The Tutuan peasants were responsible for transporting supplies from the rear to the front, and some participated in the siege or field operations. There were 150,000 to 60,000 horses deployed from the north bank of the Yellow River to Ru and Xu. The scene was huge and magnificent.
Shao Shude left Taigu Pass and headed west to the north of Yique Pass, where he camped with the Tianxiong Army.
The Tielin Army's 26,000 infantry and cavalry, plus the 2,000 bodyguards, are the reserve force for this battle. Shao Shude has already made it clear to Li Tangbin. Don't cherish the troops, just invest them when they are needed. If it is not enough, Xin'an County The Tianzhu Army can also come over for reinforcements, and the Tielin Army and bodyguards can also come forward to fight.
Li Tangbin was rational. He did not send Luoyang troops out immediately. Because the tens of thousands of troops piled up on the front line had already caused huge logistical pressure, and under the predicament of poor road conditions, he believed that it was better to stock up on supplies for a period of time, and then Launch a large-scale attack.
It's a bit like a "worship offensive".
However, the army did not move, and the operation against Yique Pass was launched as scheduled after three days of rest. The plan was for the Dingyuan Army to march westward, set up camp after reaching the pass, and the Shunyi Army should be deployed. In other words, from the three passes of Luonan, From the south, from west to east, Dingyuan, Shunyi, and Jinglue armies were lined up. The Feilong Army was still standing in Yangzhai County at the southeast end, peeking at Xuzhou.
There are many siege equipment accumulated in the Tianxiong Army camp, and the Tutuan fellows from Hezhong Prefecture are already in place, ready to launch a fierce attack at any time. In fact, a tentative attack has already begun today.
"Your Majesty, there is news from Zhengzhou that a large force of Liang Jun is heading south, aiming directly at Xinzheng." Zhao Guangfeng came to a large tent.
There was laughter and laughter in the tent, as Shao Shude, Chen Cheng, Zang Dubao, Niu Li and others were drinking and eating meat.
"Zhao Sima, come and sit down." Shao Shude waved his hand and said with a smile.
Zhao Guangfeng sat down and reported again.
The tent became quiet, and everyone subconsciously moved softly, trying not to make any noise.
"Xinzheng..." Shao Shude thought for a moment and said, "Is this Pang Shigu's army?"
"Maybe more." Zhao Guangfeng said: "The Liang people may have mobilized soldiers and horses in other directions."
"Have you ever sent people to Zhengzhou to capture a few people?"
"Heavy rain, muddy weather, difficult."
"Is there any news over there?" Shao Shude asked vaguely.
"It's raining continuously, transportation is inconvenient, and the news is blocked. There is no news yet."
"Send more manpower, even if you carry the horse over, you have to find out the enemy's movements." Shao Shude ordered: "Tingwangsi, Datong Horse Racing, takes away so much money from selling horses every year, so we can't stop working for nothing.
live."
"Follow your orders." This is Zhao Guangfeng's business, and he has no shirk from the responsibility.
"Actually, with this information, we can already make a judgment." Shao Shude said: "I ordered the Shunyi Army not to rest after arriving in Yingyang, but to immediately move westward with grain and grass baggage and advance towards Yique County."
Yique County, forty-five miles away from the south entrance of Yique in the north, is a county under Henan Prefecture and the logistics distribution center of Yique Pass. It is the same as Dengfeng County south of Shenyuan Pass and Yingyang County south of Taigu Pass, and these two
This county is also a county under the Henan Prefecture. The administrative divisions of the imperial court are also quite interesting. All three passes in Luonan are in the hands of the Henan Prefecture.
The tactics are still the same, just bet that you don't dare to come to the rescue. If you come, it won't matter. On the contrary, you can delay the Youguo Army in Ruzhou for a longer period of time, creating better opportunities to severely damage or even annihilate them.
"Ordered through the Luoyang camp." Shao Shude added.
Li Tangbin quickly added a formality to Shao Shude's order. On the 21st, Shunyi Army envoy An Xiuxiu led his troops to the west. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity when the rain was not heavy, he escorted the grain, grass and baggage and headed west with difficulty.
At the same time, the campaign to persuade the Yique Pass defenders to surrender was also launched. This undoubtedly required Ding Hui's "cooperation".
…
On the bank of the mighty river, the water is turbulent.
The turbid river water overflowed the Tiaowu Pier, and the ship tightened the mooring rope and began to unload the cargo nervously.
Bags of grain, boxes of equipment, and bags of materials were sorted out, sorted into categories, and transported to Cangcheng on Baiya Mountain.
The terrain of Yuan, Wangwu, Heqing and other counties north of the river is still relatively high, but Heyangguan, which is located on a sandbar in the middle of the river, is not so optimistic.
Three thousand Mengzhou soldiers are evacuating in batches.
The river has swollen a lot, and a bigger wave of rain is about to come. Zhongli City is already in danger, and it's time to evacuate.
However, the sergeants were relatively calm. They packed up most of the supplies and transported them by carriage to the north and south cities for temporary storage. The state soldiers withdrew two thousand people, leaving a thousand people to guard and monitor. If Liang Jun's navy attacked, they could withstand it for a while.
Waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
The pontoon was extremely busy, even more than before.
Almost all the carriages and draft animals in Menghuai Prefecture were recruited and doubled to transport supplies to Henan.
They are seizing the last moment to transport more supplies to the south bank and increase the reserves of the Luoyang camp before the floods occur.
Heyang Jiedushi made Song Le board the Heyang Pass.
He was very anxious in his heart, but his expression was very relaxed. He even joked and asked the sergeants to catch all the Yellow River carps raised in Zhongli City, slaughter them on the spot, make them into salted fish, and send them to Luoyang.
Of course, he also took away more than a hundred tails himself, intending to give them to Mengzhou officials to appease everyone for their hard work during this period.
Yes, Meng Huai's water conditions cannot be ignored.
During the heavy rain recently, the Qinshui River rose three feet overnight, carrying a large amount of sediment, dead branches and leaves, and even human and animal corpses rushing downstream.
Thanks to his first priority over the past two years was the overhaul of water conservancy. The silt in many ponds has been dug out, the storage capacity has been greatly increased, the dams have also been reinforced to a certain extent, and the weeds and sediment in the canals have been swept away.
The overall water storage capacity is greatly increased.
In addition, the most critical thing is to vigorously dredge the Qinshui Channel, including but not limited to widening and dredging, cutting bends and straightening, strengthening embankments, etc.
In the past, these tasks had no results, and the people were even made miserable and complained. Many people died of exhaustion on the construction site. But looking at the continuous rain this year, who dares to say that these tasks are not important?
"I'm afraid the river water this year will flow back into Luoshui and Bianshui." Song Le sighed.
The city of Zhongli is lush with greenery, trees, and melons and fruits. If there is a flood, all of this will be destroyed, which is a pity.
Judge Su Junqing followed him and comforted him: "Situ, don't worry too much. The people of Heyang place Huaizhou as their top priority, and the river embankment is considered stable, so the problem is not big."
Huaizhou does account for the majority of the population of Heyang Town. The five counties including Hanoi and Xiuwu have a total of about 44,000 households and a population of more than 220,000, while the three counties of Heyang, Jiyuan and Wen in Mengzhou have only more than 24,700 households and a population of 120,000.
There are more than 9,000 people, and Jiyuan accounts for more than half.
This kind of population layout is inseparable from the battlefield situation.
The closer it is to the Yellow River, the more likely it is to be attacked by the Liang army. Especially when Guanghe, Banzhu, Heyangguan and other cities were all in the hands of the Liang people, the threat was particularly great, so priority was given to Huaizhou, or to be more precise, Huaizhou
North of Qinshui River and south of Taihang Mountain, far away from the front line of the war.
Of course, changes may be made later.
In the event of an enmity with Li Keyong, it would be easier for Li Hanzhi's men to rush down from Zezhou and plunder.
He is not so bold yet, and there is a richer Wei Bo for him to grab, but it will be a matter of time before he falls out, and he will definitely have to make adjustments in the future.
"Which place is the most dangerous when crossing Zhujin east of Heyang?" Song Le looked at Su Junqing and asked in a questioning tone.
"I can really answer Situ's question." Su Junqing smiled and replied, "It must be Huazhou."
Song Le smiled and nodded.
"Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, every time the Yellow River overflows, other prefectures and counties may not be in serious trouble, but Huazhou often suffers." Su Junqing continued: "In the spring of the ninth year of Yuanhe, Xue Ping, the governor of the Yicheng Army, threatened many times in view of the overflow of the Yellow River. Huazhou, so I reported to the imperial court to dig an ancient river in Liyang, Weibo Town, Weizhou. It is fourteen miles long from north to south, sixty paces wide from east to west, and one foot seven feet deep. The old river is cut to flow into the new river, and the people of Huazhou are free from flooding. Huazhou is the weak point of this section. If there is a flood, it will definitely happen in Huazhou."
This is actually the famous "Weihu River Diversion" project, and Weibo Jiedushi Tian Hong made the sacrifice because Weizhou in Weibo Town actually served as a flood diversion area.
The water conservancy projects of the Guo Dynasty can be roughly divided into several categories: dikes, dams, embankments, ponds, and discharge rivers. The river dug in Weizhou is undoubtedly a flood discharge channel, and flooding is inevitable.
This is what only the Xianzong Dynasty could do. At that time, the Shence Army was relatively capable of fighting. In addition, the imperial prime ministers were very good at dividing and drawing together, and used various tricks to win over the towns in the world. A prick like Wei Bo is willing to act as a flood discharge area, but also wants to protect Huazhou under the imperial government.
"If this rain gets heavier, I think something big will happen to Huazhou." Su Junqing said with certainty: "This time, is Luo Hongxin willing to open the gate and release water to discharge the flood in Huazhou? I think it is unlikely. Situ, There’s something good to watch this time.”
Song Le laughed and said: "The people are still suffering, so what's the fun? Let's do our own thing first, and don't cause problems with the dam. In addition, it would be good to speed up the transportation of grain and grass equipment to the south. It would be good to transport one more truck."