The soldiers and horses drawn from various ministries and interspersed with Han Qian into Huaiyang Mountain can be said to be the elite of Tangyi soldiers. This can also be confirmed by the outside world from the lineup of Tangyi generals who followed Han Qian.

It is hard to imagine what kind of turmoil it would cause to the situation in Jianghuai if these seven or eight thousand elite soldiers and horses suffered irreparable damage in the Huaiyang Mountains.

Although Han Qian was on an expedition, signed military orders, and bravely recruited tens of thousands of strong people into the army, which even increased the number of generals on the Chuhe River and Fucha Mountain defense lines, uniting the troops in battle was never a nod.

The most valuable thing lies in the essence, the less expensive thing lies in the quantity.

The situation in Huaidong is already extremely difficult. If the situation in Huaixi that has finally been stabilized changes again, will the princes and ministers of Jinling City be allowed to have a good sleep with their arms around the girl?

Everyone knows that if Li Zhigao does not withdraw his troops from the defense line, it can be said that he has done his best. He has no obligation to send the elite of his direct lineage without sufficient preparation for the arbitrariness of the Marquis of Guizhou Yang without any warning and to take the wrong direction without considering the casualties.

Attack the enemy's defenses.

If you want it, you have to come up with conditions that are tempting enough.

Perhaps it was a rare opportunity for Cishou Palace and the Han family to stand together again, or perhaps many princes and ministers did not want to play with their hearts anymore, so they appointed Li Zhigao as minister of war and leader, Shu as governor of two states, and governor Shu Suiying and Deng Xiangjun as commanders of all states' armies.

, the commander of the Zuo Longque Army, the imperial edict to control the Zuo Wuwei Army was transmitted to Shuzhou on the last day of the first month.

As a condition, we cannot wait until the soldiers from all the states following Ying, Deng, and Xiangjun gather in Yingshan County and Lishan County before taking action. It will take several weeks to receive the imperial edict before leading thousands of Zuowu Guards who have already entered Yingshan County and Lishan County.

The elite troops immediately advance from Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass to the northwest foot of Huaiyang Mountain, and try to attract as many elite soldiers and horses of the Shouzhou Army to the west of Huozhou as soon as possible.

At the same time, Yuan Guowei, the chamberlain's young eunuch, and Han Daochang were ordered to cross the mountains at the southern foot of Huaiyang Mountain from Shuzhou and rush to Wujin Ridge to comfort the raiding troops.

Of course, it was a token of condolence in name, but the intention of the court officials was to ask Yuan Guowei to arrive at Huaiyang Mountain and, based on the actual situation, advise Han Qian to see that the situation was not right and to have the determination of a strong man to cut off his wrist, so as to prevent the main elite from being inflicted in Huaiyang Mountain.

Make up for the heavy damage.

The straight-line distance from Shuzhou into Huaiyang Mountain to Wujin Ridge was probably only two hundred miles, but Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang, accompanied by dozens of retinues, arrived at Shenjiaji to join Han Qian on the fifth day of February.

In just ** days of journey, Han Daochang lost shape and was very haggard, and almost fell off the slippery cliff several times; but Yuan Guowei was getting stronger and more energetic.

When they arrived at Shenjiaji, the Shouzhou Army just launched a new offensive, so they went directly to the Yingzui Cliff to the north to meet Han Qian.

The Eagle's Mouth Cliff is located on the north side of Shenjia Village. It is a brown boulder protruding from the steep slope. It looks like an eagle's mouth. It is about 300 steps away from the outermost fence wall. When you walk up, you will see the dilapidated fence wall.

A large number of smashed chariots and war weapons were lost, as well as dozens of corpses that were hacked and shot by swords, crossbows and bows. Several corpses were also hit by stone bullets thrown by cyclone cannons, which was even more horrific.

Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang rushed over to see Han Qian. After passing the wounded soldiers camp in the stockade, they saw that there were many wounded soldiers with broken limbs and arms. They also knew that the Tangyi soldiers suffered heavy casualties even at this moment.

When you climb up Yingzui Cliff and look to the north, you can see that more than 500 steps north of the outer fence wall, the outpost position of the Shouzhou Army has occupied the river beach two to three miles wide.

Thousands of generals and racks of cyclone cannons stood in criss-crossing trenches and behind the protective walls - it was extremely difficult for the elite Tangyi soldiers to break out of the barrier walls to launch a counterattack.

From the forward position to the north, the enemy camps under the steep hillsides stretched for several miles along the river beach.

The enemy's wave of offensive had just been repelled, but new troops had been organized, and soon they were surrounded by shield vehicles, scorpion cannons and other war weapons. They made it clear that they would use wheel tactics to defeat the Tangyi soldiers who were holding the pass and refused to retreat.

It was consumed bit by bit, and then the morale of Tangyi soldiers was completely crushed.

Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang stood beside Han Qian and watched the battle for more than an hour. They saw the Shouzhou Army launch a total of five charges of varying sizes, and even once successfully entered through the gap in the fence torn apart by the cyclone cannon.

In the end, it was the fierce general Han Donghu who led his armored elites to fight forward and drove back this wave of enemies.

In just over an hour, nearly a hundred people died in Tangyi soldiers, which made Yuan Guowei frown.

For more than an hour, Han Daochang continued to talk about the changes in the situation in Jinling in the past ten days and Li Zhigao's trip to Suizhou to supervise the army.

In front of Yuan Guowei, Han Daochang would not say clearly that this behind the scenes involved a transaction between the Han family and Wanhonglou, but he believed that Han Qian could understand.

Han Qian stood with his hands folded and did not comment on Li Zhigao's matter, or he did not want to say too much in front of Yuan Guowei. He looked at the clear sky in the north and said: "The southeast wind blew yesterday, and the day seems to have changed..."

Yuan Guowei thought that even if the southeast wind gradually picked up, the weather inside and outside the mountains became warmer, and the river ice melted, the Tangyi navy wanted to pose a fatal threat to the Shouzhou Army from Chaohu and force the Shouzhou Army to the north to withdraw.

It cannot be achieved in ten days and a half. He lowered his voice and said:

"Master Marquis, the Marquis of Xinjin may follow your majesty's order and let the Zuowu Guards advance into Huozhou as quickly as possible. However, the Zuowu Guards are alone on the west wing and cannot stand alone. Thousands of elite troops pose little threat to the Shouzhou Army. Xu

Mingzhen should be able to tolerate the Zuowu Guards advancing into the hinterland of Huozhou's west wing, even if one or two cities are lost, but the war on the Marquis' side doesn't seem to last too long, right?"

He and Han Daochang crossed mountains and ridges, first met up with Kong Xirong who was stationed at the upper pass of Longtan River, and then Kong Xirong sent people to escort them across the northeastern slope of Huaiyang Mountain and rushed to Shenjiaji.

They had a two-day journey and passed

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The mountain stronghold controlled by Tangyi soldiers also learned about the latest situation in Huaiyang Mountain.

In addition to taking advantage of the Shouzhou Army's unpreparedness in the early stage, the Tangyi soldiers quickly occupied and captured more than forty villages. Later, because the fighting on Wujinling became fierce, Han Qian had to concentrate the main elites on the northern front and go deep into the Huaiyang Mountains.

The expansion will stop.

In the past twenty or thirty days, Xinzhan has only controlled seven or eight cottages.

The speed of recruitment of new soldiers has slowed down significantly, far from being able to offset the consumption.

In addition to the fact that the resistance of the copycat forces has become more resolute, and the poor people and slaves at the bottom are greedy for life and afraid of death, it is more difficult to mobilize. Another major factor is that Xu Mingzhen, in addition to the offensive from the front of the valley becoming more and more intense day by day, also sent out multiple troops at the same time.

A small group of elite soldiers and horses climbed over from the surrounding mountains and entered the hinterland of Huaiyang Mountain to harass everyone.

Yuan Guowei could not say that Han Qian's strategy was wrong, but Xu Mingzhen was a famous general in the world. To attack fiercely with such determination, to put it bluntly, he must not give Han Qian time to cultivate and manage the hinterland of Huaiyang Mountain at all costs.

Of course, Han Daochang and Han Qian did not say something clearly in front of him, but Yuan Guowei had rich experience and extraordinary knowledge for most of his life, and he could guess some things.

Most of the Han family hoped that Li Zhigao could lead the Zuo Longque Army directly north from Lujiang County and launch an offensive against the Shouzhou Army's defensive stronghold on the west bank of Chao Lake. In this case, in addition to the Tangyi navy landing from the west bank of Chao Lake, Han Qian could also mobilize some elite troops.

Soldiers and horses attacked the enemy stronghold on the west bank of Chaohu Lake from west to east along the Longtan River, forming a three-sided attack.

In this way, even if Han Qian gave up Wujin Ridge, he could only force the Shouzhou Army back from the west bank of Chaohu Lake, which would open the passage from Chaohu Lake to the east slope of Huaiyang Mountain through the Longtan River, and at least be able to control the east slope of Huaiyang Mountain to a certain extent.

of peaks.

However, this is obviously not a situation that Li Zhigao and Lu Qingxia want to see.

Therefore, the final agreement the Han family formed with that side was that the Zuowu Guards would march north from Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass between Huaiyang Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, and contain part of the Shouzhou Army from the west flank of Huozhou.

But this is not very helpful to the situation in the Huaiyang Mountains.

If it were Xu Mingzhen, he would rather temporarily abandon the city on the west wing of Huozhou than drive Han Qian and the Tangyi soldiers out of the Huaiyang Mountains.

At present, the Shouzhou Army on the west bank of Chaohu Lake has not assembled troops and is attacking upstream along the Longtan River. In addition to guarding against the Zuo Longque Army, it is probably also a strategy of encirclement with three shortcomings to prevent Han Qian from being determined to defend the hinterland of Huaiyang Mountain.

Bar?

Yuan Guowei pointed out these thoughts in the hope that Han Qian could understand that not only Li Zhigao, Lu Qingxia, but also His Majesty, the Queen Mother and most of the ministers in the court had the same thoughts.

At this time, the vast majority of people do not want the elite Tangyi soldiers to suffer irreparable damage at Huaiyang Mountain, lest Tangyi's defense line becomes unstable, but most people also do not want to see the Tangyi soldiers really stand at Huaiyang Mountain.

Steady feet.

In other words, even if the war here has improved, the attitude above the court and even in Huaidong and Prince Shou's Mansion is likely to undergo subtle changes.

No matter what, Yuan Guowei felt that Han Qian had made a decision at this time.

These words of Yuan Guowei were spoken by Han Daochang who took the trouble to go to Huaiyang Mountain to tell Han Qian, but he did not expect Yuan Guowei to say it first. He secretly felt that Han Qian had made countless enemies in both the government and the public, but there were also people who treated him sincerely.

Han Daochang said no more at this time and just looked at Han Qian, hoping that he would make a decision early.

The situation in Tangyi is excellent, and Han Qian is so young. If he takes a step back, the world will be brighter. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future, and he will not waste the elite troops of Tangyi at all.

Han Qian frowned slightly and looked into the distance, as if too many thoughts were churning in his chest. After a long time, he sighed quietly and said:

"Yes, this war cannot go on any longer."

Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang felt relieved, thinking that Han Qian had been persuaded by them.

Han Qian turned sideways and said to Tian Cheng and others: "Master Yuan and my second uncle trekked through the mountains. It was extremely hard. Wang Jun and I will accompany them back to the camp first. You just have to follow the plan..."

Yuan Guowei thought that Han Qian had already prepared an withdrawal plan for the current unfavorable situation, and that the generals of the Tangyi army would be responsible for everything. He came here to work on the army, and it was not appropriate to interfere too much, nor to ask too detailed questions.

…………

…………

Yuan Guowei's body could barely hold up, but Han Daochang needed someone to support him, otherwise it would be difficult to even stand; this time it was really hard.

Han Qian and Wang Jun first invited Yuan Guowei, Han Daochang and their entourage to return to Daying Yazhang. After a simple banquet, they arranged for them to rest.

Yuan Guowei was also very tired, and he didn't pay attention to the simple arrangements in the barracks. He fell asleep before it got dark. He slept until it was light the next day, and then he regained his energy. When he opened the door, he saw Han Daochang coming over in a hurry, his face looking bright.

It's better than yesterday.

Han Daochang hurriedly ran over and grabbed Yuan Guowei, saying: "Master Yuan, let's go see Han Qian."

Seeing Han Daochang's anxious expression, Yuan Guowei asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"

"I woke up just now and wandered around the camp. I saw the defense troops of many villages in the south were gathering in a steady stream. Isn't Han Qian thinking of breaking out from the north?" Han Daochang said.

"No way?" Yuan Guowei said doubtfully, "Shouldn't we abandon Shenjiaji at this time, lead our troops to withdraw to the upper reaches of Longtan River to meet with Kong Xirong, and then break out along the Longtan River to the west bank of Chaohu Lake?"

"I think so too. Now I'm afraid that Han Qian, who has never suffered a big loss from others before, will gather his troops on the river beach in the north to fight to the death with Xu Mingzhen - how can Xu Mingzhen be as famous as Li Yu?

Aren't you prepared for him to jump over the wall in a hurry?" Han Daochang said, he was somewhat arrogant when he was impatient.

Last night, Yuan Guowei thought that Han Qian would make up his mind to withdraw his troops. At this time, he was confused about the situation and decided to go to see Han Qian with Han Daochang first.

On the way, he met Chen Qian's niece and son-in-law who accompanied Han Qian on his expedition to Huaiyang Mountain.

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Zhiyong, Han Daochang saw that he had an indescribably strange look on his face. He seemed shocked and excited. He seemed to know something. He stepped forward and grabbed him and asked, "Zhiyong, do you know what Han Qian is planning?"

Are you going to gather troops and horses for a decisive battle with the Shouzhou Army?"
To be continued...