Yique, also known as Longmen. The two mountains face each other and look like a tower. The Yishui River flows north in between, so it is called Yique.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the military importance of Yique was already valued.
Zhi Shuo, Zhao Yang, the commander of the army, accepted the king and asked Ru Kuan to guard the pass. The pass here is Que Fortress, that is, Yique Pass.
Wu Qi also mentioned the importance of the fortress to Wu Hou
However, the Yique Pass at that time was far more dangerous than it is now. For the sake of transportation during the peace years, successive dynasties continued to open up mountains and open up roads, so that today's traffic crossing was not achieved overnight.
Shao Shude lived in Xiangshan Temple, located on the east side of Longmen Mountain.
This temple is the residence of Bai Juyi and has an antique look.
There are not many monks, and there are a few monk fields at the foot of the mountain. They farm and live by themselves. It can be seen that under the drastic population loss caused by the long-term war, even the monks have to do it themselves to have enough food and clothing. In fact, Shao Shude was very surprised why they didn't
He was coerced into joining the army by Qin Zongquan.
Hu Zhen joined the army as a consultant to the palace, and now his seat is getting closer to Shao Shude, and his status is very aloof. There is no other way, who persuaded Xu Huaiyu and Zhang Guiba to surrender one after another, and allowed the two strong cities of Xin'an and Yique to fall without a fight?
The generals in the army who loved their soldiers as their sons were very polite to him because he reduced the casualties of the Xia army and allowed many veterans who had fought for many years to survive.
I came to the Zen room of Xiangshan Temple today mainly because of the upcoming attack on the cities along the Ru River. Shao Shude had something to ask him.
"Do you know Li Renhan?" Shao Shude asked bluntly.
"I don't know." Hu Zhen was a little ashamed, but still answered honestly: "This person is a young general, and Ding Hui single-handedly promoted him. In the past, I was in Luoyang, and although Ruzhou was said to be my state, in fact Ding Hui controlled it and I couldn't get in.
hand."
Shao Shude understood. The strategy of divide and conquer is normal. It would be strange if Zhu Quanzhong handed over the two major groups of Luoyang and Ruzhou to one person.
From this point of view, a newly rising young general like Li Renhan should be Ding Hui's confidant, and it is not easy to surrender him.
But it doesn't matter, he only has more than 3,000 soldiers, and he is in a hurry to leave. He has no intention of fighting. Even if he encounters them, defeat will be easy.
"Lu Hun, I don't want to send troops to attack the two counties of Yiyang. Hu can join the army for a trip? I will ask Duan Ning to take 300 people with you to persuade these two counties to surrender." Shao Shude asked.
"Yes." Hu Zhen responded immediately.
In fact, it is not a difficult task. These two counties have not taken the initiative to surrender so far. Perhaps it is because of heavy rain and muddy roads and impassable roads, or perhaps they are really unwilling to surrender. But no matter what it is, in the current situation, the Xia army is invincible, and the Luonan Three
The whole line of Guan Guan was lost, and the gates of Ruzhou were wide open, so they couldn't help them. Even if the county magistrate didn't want to show his face, someone would help them face it. It was really just a matter of "taking a trip".
It’s all a waste of credit!
The 300 soldiers Duan Ning led were Henan Fuzhou soldiers led by Ma Sixun. Yesterday Shao Shude ordered a thousand prisoners to be given to him, which expanded his army to just over 4,000.
Luhun and Yiyang are both counties under the Henan Prefecture. After they are captured, the number of counties actually controlled by the Henan Prefecture will reach 19. Except for Mi County, they have basically captured all of Mengzhou, which was led by Song Le. Now
Only the three counties of Heyang, Jiyuan, Wen, Sishui and Heyin were still in the hands of the Liang people.
Of the seven counties in Ruzhou, Lushan has been conquered, Longxing is about to be conquered, and Ye County is tightly surrounded and will be captured sooner or later. Now there are still four counties: Linru, Liang, Jiacheng, and Xiangcheng, along the Ru River
Going down the river, lined up in a row, is the next target.
After Ruzhou is captured, the two towns of Dongji and Tang and Dengsui will be geographically connected, which is of great strategic significance.
Unfortunately, after Shao Sheng entered the sage's time in Jinxian Temple, he thought calmly many times and imagined how many times he would see the beautiful scenery connecting the northern and southern battlefields. Now that success is in sight, he is of course overjoyed.
From then on, Shao Shude, Zhe Zongben and Weng's son-in-law were able to save a large number of troops and marched east from Ruzhou to attack Xu and Cai with all their might, further weakening the Liang people's strength and will.
Yes, after capturing Ruzhou, the main battlefields in the next stage will not be Zhengzhou and Huazhou, but Xuzhou and Caizhou. For this reason, some people have suggested adjusting the plan. The newly arrived Tibetan soldiers will be prioritized in Ruzhou 7.
The county, rather than the Henan Prefecture, farmed and grazed nearby to provide the food, grass and livestock needed for the army to fight.
Anyway, Henan Prefecture currently has more than 51,000 households and a population of 200,000. Although it cannot compare with the population of 1.2 million during the Tianbao period, it is no longer a shabby state with nothing.
Ruzhou had less than 300,000 people during the Tianbao period. It is difficult to count now. After the war, it would be good to have 30,000 people. There is an urgent need for a large number of people to fill the vacancy.
Of course, some people think that the area around Ruzhou and Xuzhou has become a battlefield and it is not appropriate to invest too much. Heluo is barren, so it is better to immigrate to cultivate it, produce money and grain, then transport it to Linru, and then ship it to the front line. Wouldn't it be safer?
This is bottom-line thinking, which is more to Shao Shude's taste. He is a person who likes to consider the bad consequences of the party before doing things. Bottom-line thinking is a habit he has had for many years and needs to be reconsidered.
On April 27, Li Tangbin, the commander of the Luoyang camp, personally went south, accompanied by the three armies of Dede, Wuwei, and National Guard. More than 20,000 soldiers and horses escorted a large amount of grain and grass, and swarmed into Yique Pass.
The Tianzhu Army was transferred eastward and entered Luoyang, where it was formally incorporated into the Luoyang camp battle order and served as a reserve force.
The heavy rain also stopped at the right time.
The various units of the Xia army marched toward Yishui from Yique and Taigu directions with great momentum.
On the 29th, after a difficult journey.
Part of the Shunyi Army entered Linru. After sending people to conduct reconnaissance, they found that it was an empty city and immediately occupied it. Then they ordered the auxiliary troops to go outside to cut wood and build ships.
Before leaving, the Liang people destroyed almost all the boats they could find, and it was clear that they wanted to prevent the Xia army from quickly using waterways to pursue them.
At this time, there was chaos inside and outside Liang County.
Since a few days ago, people have been heading to the countryside with their families to escape the upcoming war. Ding Hui doesn't care, he only concentrates on collecting wealth, food and grass, and then transporting them away by ship.
Finally, on the 25th, he waited for Li Renhan who was heading south by boat, and then ordered him to stick to Liang County for a few days to clean up the front and rear, while he took a group of boats behind the party and sailed towards Jiacheng and Xiangcheng. go.
Today is the 29th. Li Renhan, who had stayed behind for four days, ordered the extra ships to be burned, and then hurried south to Jiacheng.
There is no doubt that everyone has given up on the Yexian garrison who are fighting on the southern front.
During the great retreat, there are always people who are abandoned. This is the case in Yique, and the same is true in Ye County. As for the people who escaped from Three Crows Valley, it depends on their fate.
Qi Xinzhang, who had rested in Yangdi County for some time, finally waited for key supplies.
To be honest, they will almost run out of food before this happens.
The 240-mile road from Luoyang to Yangzhai is difficult to walk on ordinary days, and even more difficult on rainy days. There are carriages abandoned on the roadside all the way, and the deep valley next to the Twelve Curved Mountain Road in Jingyuan Pass Inside, there were overturned vehicles, dead mules and horses, and even the corpses of husbands everywhere. It took several carts of grain to transport just one cart of grain to Yangdi. Logistics in mountainous areas were too difficult!
Qibizhang couldn't sit still in Yangzhai County because he had just received a report that Pang Shigu's army had approached Xinzheng, and its number was very large, almost thirty thousand.
This is the intelligence obtained by several scouts who paid a huge price and repeatedly approached for reconnaissance. The reliability is still very high.
Qi Bizhang pulled up the map and took a look, what a boy! Xinzheng County is just northeast of Yangzhai, not too far away. Pang Shigu's intention was very obvious with this move, to join forces with Ding Hui's Youguo Army.
As for what to do after the merger, whether to support them in retreating to Xuzhou or to continue the war, it is difficult to say.
According to common sense, rainy days should be more beneficial to the Liang Army. Because it is not conducive to cavalry movement, the Xia Army's advantage has been weakened.
Just look at the state of the Leopard Cavalry City! Some more people have arrived from Guanbei, and their strength has been expanded to more than 1,600 cavalry. However, they are grazing at the foot of Mang Mountain all day long and are of no use at all.
It is not unimaginable if Liang Jun comes to fight at this time. But so far, only Pang Shigu's route has been explored, and it has stopped due to heavy rain. It is said that they are waiting for supplies of food and grass. If there are other troops and horses, then You need to be more vigilant, maybe Liang Ren's intentions are not simple.
"I originally wanted to go south to Yingqiao to see if I could stop some Liang thieves, but now it seems that it is all a delusion. Alas." Qi Xinzhang sat back on the bed, staring at the moldy wall, speechless.
Since the expedition, the Feilong Army has not actually made any conspicuous achievements. In addition to attacking and killing the Liang people's logistics transfer nodes and burning grain and grass equipment, they scared off Zhao Lin and Wang Yanzhang of the Po Xia Army, captured Du Yanqiu, and barely managed to carry out a thousand people. It needs to be put on the table. Everything else is not worth mentioning.
There is no killing generals and capturing flags, no surprise attacks to defeat thieves, no siege of cities and territories, nothing.
"Military Envoy
The general called softly outside the door.
"Get in!" Qi Banzhang shouted.
"Military envoy, Marshal Li of the camp asked if we need to retreat to Yangguan to gather?" the general asked.
Yangguan is located more than thirty miles northwest of Yangzhai County. Wang Mang once sent Wang Xun and Wang Yi to send millions of troops to Yingchuan, and Liu Xiu sent thousands of soldiers to Yangguan. In fact, they are two buildings facing each other across the Yingshui River.
Tucheng has disappeared now, but the place name remains.⑤
"Does Li Tangbin look down on others?" Qi Xinzhang was a little annoyed.
People in Gaocheng County were already building small boats, preparing to take advantage of the rising Yingshui River to transport supplies. What did he mean by asking?
Yes, Xuzhou heard that they were recruiting new soldiers to expand the remaining Yamen army from less than 7,000 to 15,000.
Yes, Ruzhou Kong led eight thousand people to arrive at the town of Yingqiao.
Yes, it was rumored that Master Yang wanted to lead thousands of troops up Ru River to Yancheng.
Now Pang Shigu is marching towards Xinzheng again, and there may be several other groups of troops coming to kill him one after another.
But so what?
"Reply to Li Tangbin and tell him that the weather has improved. If the weather is clear for a few more days, I will go south directly, penetrate the hinterland of Chen Xu, jump behind the Liang thief, and fight him. What can he do to me?" Qi Banzhang
Said.(
General Nuonuo left.
Qibizhang settled for a while, then pulled up the map to check. Li Tangbin fought, and he was no different from a king.
Asking the Feilong Army to retreat to Yangguanju was simply an idea to flee immediately and then retreat to Dengfeng because of something wrong.
It will then be up to Liang Jun to make a choice.
Should you pursue them, go more than a hundred miles deep, and then besiege Dengfeng? Or do you simply do nothing, just send people to monitor, and then march westward to Ruzhou with the main force?
Qibizhang estimated that if the Liang people really marched westward, Li Tangbin would definitely give up the territory he had already won, retreat to Yique, and let the Liang army in. The situation would be almost the same as before the war, and he would also control the three passes of Luonan.
, you can advance, you can attack, you can retreat, you can defend. Pang Shigu, just tell me whether you want to follow or not?
If you follow us, hundreds of thousands of troops will gather in Ruzhou, under the strong wall, and they will be unable to fight. Once there are changes in the rear, will it be that easy to retreat?
Qi Banzhang felt that Liang Ren was not that stupid, but what was their plan?