As the troops from Huozhou and Shouzhou moved south, the defenders of Chaozhou were mainly led by Xu Mingzhen's second son, Xu Sizhao.

According to the original plan, Xu Sizhao succeeded Wen Bo as the Chaozhou garrison, and led his troops to be mainly responsible for the defense of the southwest flank or the attack on the Huaixi Forbidden Army under Li Zhigao's command.

After the initial rest, Wen Bo's 20,000 elite infantry will enter Chuzhou to join the main cavalry force of the Shouzhou Army, which is convenient for mobile operations. On the one hand, they will suppress Han Qian and Xuzhou Shuiying who appeared in Tangyi.

On the one hand, they cooperated with Chen Kun to send troops from Zhongli to harass Huaidong from the west wing, and in cooperation with the elite cavalry of the Liang Army led by Liang Emperor Zhu Yu, Han Yuanqi and others, Xuzhou soldiers attacked Huaidong from the north.

In the last few days of Yanyou's second year, there was no problem with such a plan.

Since the Jinling Incident, the Forbidden Army and the Shouzhou Army controlled by Anning Palace have not fought smoothly, and supplies are extremely scarce, so many aspects need to be adjusted.

They also thought that the main force of the navy and the most elite right-hand Shenwu army had been annihilated, and that the Huaixi Forbidden Army suffered heavy losses and was unable to capture Chaozhou City and was forced to withdraw, and that it needed more rest and recuperation.

The combat effectiveness of an army has never been measured by the number of people. Therefore, Han Qian recruited troops and horses on a large scale in Tangyi, and organized thousands of strong people into the army in a short period of time. The Shouzhou generals also did not think that Han Qian

Qian has the possibility of launching a large-scale offensive in a short period of time.

Xuzhou has only 3,000 standing troops. In fact, they have repeatedly confirmed that Han Qian transferred 2,000 troops from Xuzhou - the Xi family of Chenzhou, the Yang family of Sizhou, and the Tian family of Yezhou have always been at odds with Xuzhou.

, Sizhou people are in trouble and Siye two states, they all speculate that Han Qian is behind the scenes. Under such circumstances, it is impossible for Han Qian not to leave any troops in Xuzhou - including Jiangzhou soldiers, Guangde soldiers

Han Qian only had 6,000 trained soldiers available in Tangyi.

We should also consider that Jiangzhou soldiers and Guangde soldiers are weaker than the elite of the Forbidden Army as local military equipment, and their armor, equipment, and training are weaker than them.

Han Qian originally formed the Chishan Army in Maoshan. In addition to gathering the remnants of troops from Taowu in the early stage, he also mainly took advantage of the confrontation between Chuzhou soldiers and horses and Anning Palace and could not distract himself from looking south.

Valve hands-on training.

After capturing Shangjiapu, Han Qian quickly led his troops to move to Langxi between Fuyu Mountain and Jieling Mountain, where he conducted training in Guangde and opened contact with Chuzhou soldiers and horses.

After delaying again for a period of time, and after all conditions were relatively mature, Han Qian finally took on the Xuanzhou soldiers, who were also experiencing a hasty and large-scale expansion in a short period of time, to a decisive battle, opening the way for the Yueyang soldiers and horses to advance eastward.

In any case, Zhao Mingting, Wen Bo, Wen Ruilin, and even Xu Mingzhen would not underestimate Han Qian's ability to lead troops in combat. They also believed that Han Qian would need time to organize a force of more than 20,000 people with combat effectiveness.

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After all, Han Qian is a human being, not a god.

Not to mention that the battlefield has experienced many bloody battles, and there is no big problem for new soldiers without adequate training to help defend the city, but in the field or participating in fortified operations, a lot of problems will be exposed.

Han Qian launched two large-scale battles on the north bank of Chuzhou in such a short period of time, which the Shouzhou generals felt was understandable.

Han Qian relied on the vast territory of Jinling and Jiangdong to defend Tangyi, and he would not be willing to be suppressed in an isolated city on the north bank.

As long as the military strength allows, even at the cost of a few casualties, mastering a deep area is what a famous general does.

However, everyone including Wen Bo, Zhao Mingting, Wen Ruilin and others believed that after these two battles, the Tangyi soldiers that had been organized early had been squeezed to the limit, and no big move could be made in a short period of time.

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In the previous two battles, the Tangyi soldiers relied on their weapons and equipment and suffered much fewer casualties than the Shouzhou army. However, the number of generals who died on the battlefield would not be less than 2,000, and the number of generals who were injured and lost their combat effectiveness in a short period of time should also be more than 2,000.

two thousand.

They have reason to believe that the elite soldiers in Han Qian's hands were greatly exhausted in these two battles.

Even though the scale of the Tangyi soldiers will continue to expand in the next ten days or so, the Shouzhou generals also have enough reasons to believe that the combat effectiveness of the Tangyi soldiers will only be spread thinner in field battles and fortified operations.

ability will become weaker.

Before the main force of the Da Chu Navy was destroyed in Hongzepu, the old Zuo Guangde Army that had lost its territory secretly formed the Chishan Hui, which was unexpected by Xu Mingzhen, Wen Bo and other Shouzhou generals.

In addition to the two thousand elite members, the Chishan Society also provided more than two thousand boatmen and sailors and incorporated them into the Xuzhou Water Camp, ensuring that more than three-quarters of the two thousand elites transferred by Han Qian from Xuzhou would serve as

The backbone is organized into soldiers who can land and fight.

With these two points alone, Xu Mingzhen, Wen Bo and other Shouzhou generals estimated that Han Qian could use nearly 3,000 fewer soldiers.

Tangyi's troops rapidly expanded to 24,500 troops and horses in a short period of time. Calculated by the former, the proportion of elite and veteran soldiers was only slightly more than 20%.

In addition, Xu Mingzhen, Wen Bo and others mistakenly believed that the Tangyi soldiers suffered heavy casualties in the two battles of Puyang and Tingzishan, which would lead to an even greater decrease in the proportion of veterans in the Tangyi soldiers.

Based on the latter calculation, the proportion of elite and old soldiers in Tangyi's army is nearly 40%.

If the people of Guangde Mansion, who were mainly composed of the old troops of Zuo Guangde Army, are included, the elite veterans of Tangyi soldiers accounted for more than 50%.

In the two battles of Puyang and Tingzishan, Tangyi soldiers seemed to have suffered heavy casualties, but this was not the case.

Han Qian organized troops in Tangyi. The new and old soldiers were not evenly distributed, but were divided into Category A battalions and Category B battalions.

The proportion of elite veterans in Category A battalions is much higher than that in Category B battalions, with one accounting for almost 70% and the other only 20%.

In the Puyang and Tingshan battles, Category B battalions were mainly used as the main force, while the more elite Category A battalions were deployed on the flanks, mainly through forward penetration and counterattacks to stabilize the situation and share the pressure of the Category B battalions.

Han Qian made such an arrangement. Firstly, in such a cruel war of attrition, he could only be ruthless and use more new soldiers as consumables. Secondly, he wanted to paralyze the judgment of Xu Mingzhen, Wen Bo and others.

In fact, the casualties of more than 4,000 people in the two battles of Puyang and Tingshan had a very limited impact on the combat effectiveness of the Tangyi soldiers.

There is another point that Xu Mingzhen, Wen Bo and other Shouzhou generals ignored, and that is Xuzhou's military attaché training system.

They thought that Shouzhou had a standing force of 3,000 troops and the number of grassroots military attaches would remain at three to five hundred at most.

Even if a large number of veterans can be promoted during the expansion, it will still take a long time for these veterans to adapt to commanding a team of more than ten people to fight.

Even learning battle signals such as golden drums and battle flags is an extremely complicated and painful task for those who don't know a few words.

In fact, in addition to seven counties and five counties in Xuzhou,

In addition to the subordinate staff groups formed in more than ten townships based on Zuo Si's children, more than half of the three thousand standing generals have received more than one year of training in literacy and basic combat command.

After the Jinling Incident, Lin Haizheng, Zhao Wuji, Zhou Chu, Feng Xuan and others left the Xuzhou military command system for a time and went to counties to take charge of county administration.

Han Qian's arrangement was not only to free up positions for Zhao Qi, He Liufeng, Xiao Dahu, Dou Rong, Wei Xu, Guo Que, Xi Faer, Lin Zongjing and others to serve as generals at the battalion command level, but it was also convenient for Lin Haizheng and Feng Feng.

Xuan, Zhao Wuji and others adapted to handle more complex military and political affairs in addition to uniting troops in combat.

At the same time, Han Qian divided the 3,000 state soldiers into sentinels and sent them to various villages in turn to participate in garrisoning, construction, reclamation, reclamation of rivers and canals, arresting bandits, etc. In addition to making full use of the manpower of the 3,000 state soldiers, it also made

Grassroots military attachés at the team leader level have received sufficient practical training - transfers between team leader level military attachés and township inspectors and township assistants also occur frequently.

When Han Qian coerced Zuosi's scouts, disciples, and engineers into Xuzhou, he had already begun to use limited resources to systematically train various talents.

Xu Mingzhen and the Shouzhou generals headed by Wen Bo were unable to fully understand this. How could they accurately judge the combat effectiveness of the Tangyi soldiers, which had rapidly expanded to 24,500 men in just one month?

Determine Han Qian’s combat intentions?

Even when they received the news that Tangyi soldiers entered the Yuxi River in warships and attacked Dongxiguan, the vast majority of Shouzhou generals still believed that Han Qian was eager to gain control of the Chaohu River waterway and ensure that the Chu State

The connection between the east and west will not be weakened.

At this time, the defenders in Chuzhou and Chaozhou still responded slowly.

Everyone knows that Yuxi River is seriously silted up.

Even if Dongguan Village is temporarily lost, it will be extremely difficult for the warships of Xuzhou Shuiying to enter and leave Chaohu Lake.

The vast majority of Shouzhou generals believe that they control most of the strategic locations on the east and west sides of Chaohu Lake. Not to mention that they think Dongguan Village can hold on for many days. Even if Dongguan Village is temporarily lost, they can easily recapture it from the left and right sides.

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Wen Bo was aware of some problems at the time, but it was difficult for him to convince other generals who were slacking off or thinking about more secure reinforcements to Liyang and Dongguan Village.

When the main force of the Liyang defenders was mobilized from the mountain and lured out of the city, when Zhou Chu led his troops to encircle Liyang City, when Lin Haizheng, Zhao Qi, and Su Lie led their troops into the predetermined interception area, Xu Mingzhen, Zhao Mingting, and Wen

Ruilin and others fully understood Han Qian's combat intentions.

At this time, the reinforcements they sent from Chaozhou City and Chuzhou City were only 4,000 in total. On the other hand, these few reinforcements were slow to move under the harassment of a small group of reconnaissance cavalry from Tangyi soldiers, and they were still in their infancy.

It is located on the Chu River in Fucha Mountain and to the north of Zhegao River.

At Wen Bo's suggestion, Xu Mingzhen immediately ordered two lines of reinforcements from Chaozhou City and Chuzhou City to reinforce Liyang, as well as the Liyang garrison that was led out of Liyang City and arrived at the southern foot of Ruxu Mountain to set up camp on the spot for defense, to avoid

Hastily fought in the field with Tangyi soldiers.

General Liyang was a subordinate of Wen Bo, and Liyang County was temporarily included in the Chuzhou War Zone. Not only did he receive the military order jointly issued by Xu Mingzhen and Wen Bo, but his troops were already at the southern foot of Ruxu Mountain, together with Xiao Dahu.

The troops fought for a whole day without getting any advantage.

General Liyang has realized that the problem is serious.

Seeing Zhou Chu leading his troops to attack Liyang City, he did not expect to defeat the enemy in the south of Ruxu Mountain in a short time, nor did he expect to withdraw into Liyang City in time without solving the enemy in Shannan.

, General Liyang chose to lead his troops to retreat into a shallow valley at the southeastern foot of Ruxu Mountain, where they formed a formation and awaited reinforcements.

In fact, as long as his troops can stick to the southern foot of Ruxu Mountain and not be annihilated, more Tangyi soldiers will be restrained in Liyang, unable to advance or retreat, and will not be able to free up their hands to enter other battlefields for reinforcement operations.

In addition to the fact that Liyang's generals obeyed orders immediately and responded without mistakes, the generals who led troops from Chaozhou City and Chuzhou City to reinforce Liyang, even after receiving military orders from Xu Mingzhen, still believed that they were elite cavalry.

He tried to take advantage of the Tangyi soldiers' unstable foothold on the east and west wings of Fucha Mountain to kill the Tangyi soldiers by surprise.

Wen Bo personally rushed to the western foot of Fucha Mountain to take charge, mainly because the second wave of reinforcements of 4,000 troops coming south from Chaozhou City were the subordinates he had left in Chaozhou City who had not yet had time to transfer to Chuzhou.

However, when he and the second wave of reinforcements entered the battlefield at the southwest foot of Fucha Mountain, the first wave of two thousand reinforcements coming south from Chaozhou City had already suffered severe injuries on the crude defense line established hastily by the Tangyi soldiers.

The loss of more than 800 elite soldiers, not to mention the dispersion of the positions established by the Tangyi soldiers in the upper reaches of the Zhegao River, did not even lead to many casualties from the Tangyi soldiers.

From the south of Fucha Mountain, from the east foot to the west foot, there is no direct river connection.

The Chuhe River originates from the southeast foothills of Fucha Mountain and flows eastward, while the Zhegao River, which is connected to Chaohu Lake, flows directly westward from the southwest foothills. There is no stream connecting the Chuhe River and the Zhegao River.

And even the upper reaches of the Chu River in the southeast of Fucha Mountain have become shallow and narrow. If it were not ice and snow, the cavalry could directly cross the river.

It is difficult to transport large-scale supplies to the west of Fucha Mountain in one or two days.
To be continued...