On the west side of the army, a messenger with feathers on his head was galloping on the road. Amidst the clatter of horse hooves, dust was splashed on the dirt road.
There were no troops on that road, only some cavalry. The cavalry of the Wei army saw the feathers on the messenger's back and that he was coming from the south, so they did not stop him. The messenger saw Qin Liang's banner, crossed a wheat field, and passed the general.
After questioning, he went to the grassland on Qin Liang's side.
The messenger took out a letter sealed on Saeki paper with a lacquer seal and presented it with both hands. Fu Gu handed the letter to Qin Liang.
"Her Royal Highness the Empress Dowager sent a letter, and ordered General Wei to send an envoy to deliver the letter to the Governor's Mansion of Changshan County." The messenger's voice said.
Qin Liang took a look at the words on the envelope. The handwriting was elegant and thin, but it was not the handwriting of Empress Dowager Guo. He asked: "Who sent the edict?"
The messenger paid his respects and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Huan, is here to visit you in the Great Changqiu Period."
After hearing this, Qin Liang pinched the contents of the envelope calmly, but did not tear it open to look at it after all. He handed it to Fu Gu and said: "Send someone to send it to Zhending, Changshan County quickly. Don't destroy the lacquer seal. We are
I trust Governor Zhen."
Fu Gu nodded and said, "Here."
Most of the army on the road next to it had passed, and there were more and more vehicles on the road. Qin Liang was about to leave when another person from the north came riding from the opposite direction.
The visitor was Duan Zhuo, a young man recruited by Deng Ai when he was the governor of Nan'an County. He presented a slip written by Deng Ai. However, the content of the letter was not very detailed. Duan Zhuo also dictated Deng Ai's story to Qin Liang.
Views.
Deng Ai stuttered and had problems dictating, but the person he found was clear in speech and quick in thinking.
Duan Zhuo said: "The bandit army mobilized most of Youzhou's elite troops and marched southward with Hu soldiers from Wuwan and other clans. The force was very large. There were few soldiers in Jizhou and there was no danger to defend. General Deng thought that the Jizhou army alone could stop the bandit army from Zhangshui.
,cannot be done.
Jizhou Prefecture's Anping City is located in the center, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend. If the Jizhou Army sticks to Anping, it will be of little use once it is surrounded.
Therefore, General Deng has led most of his troops out east to Nanpi. He has prepared tung oil and firewood in the granary of Anping City. Once the city is defeated, he will ask his trusted followers to set fire to the granary, leaving the rebels with an empty city."
When Qin Liang heard this, he immediately nodded.
Sure enough, people who come from a poor family and can leave a name in history always have a few brushes and some vision. At least Deng Ai is not a mediocre person. He can detect the enemy's opportunities first and can predict the situation in advance. He can almost see it and it is not easy to happen.
Obvious error.
Just now, Qin Liang was looking at a map next to his mount. At this time, the map in his hand was also taken away. He looked at the drawing again.
Most of the maps that can be found at this time are very rough. However, in places like Hebei, the terrain is relatively simple, and obvious signs such as rivers and cities are very convenient to map. The situation on the plain is very suitable for drawing a plan map.
The southern part of Bohai County is on the Qinghe River. To the north is the intersection of Qinghe River and Zhangshui River, and to the north is Pinglu Canal.
From the name of this artificial canal, we can see that the purpose of its construction is to communicate waterways between water systems and to be used for the mobilization of military supplies. If the location of artificial canals were not critical, the imperial court would not be willing to spend the money.
There are so many manpower digging ditches.
Just like the canal connecting Ru River and Ying River in the south of Luoyang, it is called Toulu Canal, and it is also something like this.
Deng Ai's limited troops stationed in Nanpi can play at least two roles. The first is to threaten the waterway used by the rebels to transfer grain from Youzhou.
Because ships going south through Pinglu Canal can go directly from Ji County (Beiliang) and Zhuo County of Fanyang County, which are the most important cities in Youzhou and places where grain is collected.
Secondly, Nanpi is on the bank of the northern section of Qinghe River. Blocking it here can prevent the Youzhou Army from being crazy and abandoning the retreat, advancing by land and water, and directly inserting itself into Yecheng, Wei County!
Qinghe is probably the largest and longest river in Jizhou. There is a county called Qinghe County. Qin Liang's birthplace, Pingyuan County, is right next to Qinghe County. This river can almost pass through the territory of Jizhou.
The river transport of this era was a transportation line, similar to the main railway lines of later generations. It had great advantages for the mobility of large armies, because ship transportation had a large loading capacity, was fast, and saved manpower. It did not need to recruit too many people to transport grain, and it could The army's baggage needs to be maintained for a period of time through shipping.
Qin Liang looked away from the map and said to Duan Zhuo: "You go back and tell Deng Shizai that he will be fully responsible for the Jizhou Army. Before receiving the order from the Chinese Army, you can make your own judgment on everything. You only need to send someone to inform you of the situation."
Duan Zhuo bowed and said, "General Wei is wise!"
Deng Ai's army was small, so it was probably impossible to stop the rebels from entering Zhangshui, let alone cut off the Pinglu Canal. As long as Guanqiu Jian sent troops to keep an eye on Nanpi, Deng Ai's army would not be easy to attack from the north. But this allowed Guanqiu Jian to divide his troops.
Nanpi is on the Qinghe River, and Guan Qiujian's boat cannot go around it if he uses the Qinghe River. If he tries to pass through, there will be losses. If Guanqiu Jian wants to pass by Nanpi, it would be extremely risky to drive straight in, so he should not dare to do that.
In this way, Qin Liang can gather the five armies first, and then the attack and defense will become calm and predictable.
In Qin Liang's understanding, once entering the battlefield of a decisive battle, first of all, they should not be too dispersed. The most avoidable tactics in a decisive battle are to add fuel to the fire. After sending off one wave of kills, another wave will not be able to destabilize the momentum.
Secondly, the Hebei Plain is vast, and there may be omissions in the reconnaissance scope of the scouts. Once the two armies are close, it is impossible for the army to run around on the plains. It is necessary to predict the opponent's position and actions to avoid accidents such as being surprised.
Some people in the court had the impression that Qin Liang was a very bold man, especially the generals in Yangzhou.
But Qin Liang is actually more conservative when it comes to war. He doesn't like big surprises and too many uncontrollable factors, so he relies entirely on gambling. War is gambling after all, but generally speaking, there must be a context to follow in order to lose the sense of control. Before, build confidence up and down!
...At this time, facing the vast plains and the invisible enemies far to the north, Qin Liang gradually had a clue in his mind.
He planned to gather as many troops as possible in one area first, and then push the battle line as far north as possible. This would squeeze the depth of the rebel army, reduce the source of supplies for food collection, and prevent it from lasting long.
The person who wanted to buy time in the early stage was Qin Liang. Qin Liang was more impatient than Guanqiu Jian. Because the sooner Qin Liang's army gathered, the more they could push the battlefield north.
Qin Liang pressed his finger hard on the map and placed it on Changshan County at the west end of the Hutuo River.
Changshan County cannot be abandoned so early! Otherwise, Tian Yu would not be able to go east directly. He would have to go around the Taihang Mountains. In addition to taking time, the distance would be long, and the amount of food, food and manpower needed to be prepared would not be the same. In this way, the Qin Dynasty in the early stage Liang directly lost more than 10,000 elite soldiers! The Bingzhou Army is still quite capable of fighting, and the veteran Tian Yu is also quite experienced and talented.
There were not enough men and horses that the imperial court could mobilize for this expedition. Tian Yujun, who came to help in times of need, suddenly became important.